AN: WOO! Sorry for the late update people, just got a new computer for Christmas and was busy with that and before THAT I was dealing with a bunch of other crap none of you want to hear about so here it is! The next chapter of Changing Universes!

POV: Commander Shepard, 1879 hours on Horizon colony

A few moments after utterly annihilating the group of Collectors, the mech had set off at a speed that even Shepard had a hard time competing with, even though she was using her biotics to lower her mass to run faster. When Shepard rounded the corner, the mech had plowed through another group of Collectors and Husks this time. She was about to give chase when a larger group of Collector reinforcements flew in and landed, blocking her path. She rolled into cover and started firing at them with her Shuriken SMG before her barrier fell, forcing her back into cover.

'Dammit' Shepard thought as she knew that the mech would be long gone by the time she had finished off the group. Suddenly, one of the Collector's was pulled into the air, glowing golden. It landed and was about to throw a biotic attack when it encountered a problem. It no longer had a head. Grunt charged forward, throwing the group of enemies in random directions. As this happened, Garrus slid into cover next to Shepard and sent a trio of rounds into a Collector's head with his Vindicator before ducking back into cover. Mordin sent an overload into the group of bugs, killing a small amount of them. Shepard quickly came up with a plan to get past the Collectors, but it would involve leaving the team behind, for now.

"Cover me!" Shepard ordered after a moment's debate, "I'm going after that mech and I'll drag it back here." After receiving a curt nod from Garrus, her second in command on the current ground team, Shepard biotically sprinted past the remaining Collectors and Husks towards the unknown.

POV: Spartan 239, Unknown location and time, 16 hours, 45 Minutes after crash

I slammed my knee into the glowing bug's gut, causing it to double over before I promptly slammed my fist through its throat in an uppercut. I saw a small blip on my motion tracker and as such, reacted. I spun, lifting my magnum. I hadn't expected the target to cross the distance so fast and as such, the target ended up running head first into my raising arm so fast it ended up flipping head over heels before finally slamming into the ground. I saw that it was a female human. That was the most I saw before I was forced into cover by a surprisingly large amount of round from what I assumed was a machine pistol. The moment the fire ceased, I vaulted over the crate I had positioned myself behind and charged, causing my right shoulder to hit her in the stomach, sending her on an unexpected(for her, at least) flight until it abruptly ended with her hitting a wall and dropping to the ground. She stood up, glowing blue and was suddenly in front of me, a large force causing me to stagger back, shields nearly gone from the force at which she had hit me. I shoved my surprise to the side as I reacted quicker than any other human could have, sending a quick, but brutal, punch into her solar plexus. She doubled over in pain. I delivered a savage kick to her sternum that should have broken it with a loud snap. Instead, she merely ended up on her back. As she attempted to stand up, I planted a boot on her chest, pinning her to the ground while forcing what air she had left in her lungs out with the small impact. I took in her form. She was clearly in the military. She had red hair that was dyed, but it was so unnoticeable that I barely caught it. Her eyes were glowing purple.

'Might be cybernetic replacements.' I mused as I continued to look at her. She had a resigned look on her face and her eyes didn't even have a sliver of fear in them.

POV: Commander Shepard, 1886 hours on Horizon colony

Shepard had lost few battles, but never had she been so thoroughly beaten nor so fast. Now that she was closer and NOT fighting for her life, she could see that the "mech" was not actually a mech, but rather was either Human or Batarian based on both the number of fingers(there were five) and the shape of the person's head, though she didn't look at it for long due to the pure black and thin visor on a cobalt colored helmet. The rest of the person's armor was the same color except for a few darker blue lines down the chest plate, along down the outward sides of the leg plates, and along the forearms. Shepard decided the the person was a man as his figure was larger than females and not as feminine. Then again, he was taller than most species in the galaxy. The armor seemed rather beat up with a large amount of scratches and it appeared to be held together by a patch job.

Shepard was broken from her thoughts by a question. "Where am I?" the giant asked. Based on his voice, Shepard could tell that he was human as every Batarian she had encountered had a raspy voice while his was not.

Shepard quickly decided that lying to the person holding her fate in his hands was a very bad idea. "You're on the planet Horizon." Shepard slowly stated.

"Who are you and why are you here?" the giant asked, only slightly easing the weight on her chest.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance and I'm here to save the colony from the Collectors. Look, how about we discuss this AFTER the colony is safe?"

"Very well." the giant acquiesced as he stepped off of her chest. He reached onto his back and drew the rifle located there. He set off at a quick run(for Shepard anyway, for him it was barely more than a jog). Shepard picked herself up quickly and chased after the man.

"What should I call you?" Shepard managed to ask between rapid intakes of breath.

"Spartan." was the simple response. They continued on and ended up at the colony's GARDIAN Laser arrays. There was a pod that was in the center of the courtyard. The Spartan walked over to it and ripped the door off, causing Shepard to take an unconscious step back, her face contorting in surprise. He reached in and pulled out a large object that was similar in shape to a missile launcher, but was obviously not one as it was too thin for a missile.

Shepard brought up her hand to her ear and called the Normandy. "EDI, I'm near the GARDIAN Laser Batteries. Can you get them online?"

"Yes Shepard, however, it will take time to calibrate the targeting systems. There are Collectors inbound. You will have to defend the arrays until I am finished."

A large group of Collectors flew in, a trio of them dropping from the sky due to bullets going through their heads. The remaining Collectors landed and one of them immediately started to glow golden as it was hoisted into the air. The Spartan charged forward, and was sent flying due to the biotic energy released from Harbinger's possessed drone. To the Spartan's credit, he did manage to flip in midair and land on his feet, sliding on the ground, dragging dirt up. He slammed a hand into the ground to slow him down. When he had finally stopped, he stood up and snapped up his weapon and pulled the trigger, sending a flurry of rounds at Harbinger. Shepard watched in surprise as the rounds ripped through the barrier and seemed to ignore the armor as they slammed through Harbinger's eyes. The Spartan switched to another target and killed it just as efficiently as he had Harbinger. Shepard shook herself mentally and biotically charged towards a husk, sending it flying as she sent a pull field at a group of Collectors, dragging them towards her before she sent a warp field at them, blowing them all up together. Shepard stumbled as a Collector rifle butted her in the back. She spun and hit it with a biotic fist, sending it flying across the battlefield. Shepard heard the Spartan's rifle bark one last time before she was suddenly tackled by him. A split-second later, a large flying beast landed. It let out a screech, allowing both humans to see the large amount of Husk skulls in it's mouth. It's eyes glowed, and sent a beam of energy at the humans.

POV: Spartan 239, Unknown location and time, 17 hours, 6 Minutes after crash

I rolled out of the way, bringing the Spartan Laser up as I did so. The targeting laser was in the center of the beast's face. The weapon gave a high pitched whine and a laser shot out, melting half of the thing's face off. The bug let out a screech of what I assumed was pain as I set up for another shot. It flew out of the way just as the weapon fired. My laser was out of charges for now. I cursed internally as I stood up, dropping the laser to the ground. I charged at it and when I was less than three yards away. I launched myself at it, raising my fist as I ascended.

AN: Alright. I apologize for the lack of updates for all stories, but I've been a bit busy dealing with PT for my leg, my grandmother is in the hospital, and a bunch of other BS that I had to deal with. Next thing to apologize for, the semi cliffhanger, though it isn't really a true cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 3 of Changing Universes!