Chapter 6: Harbinger
After Shepard marched into the communications Room, Garrus wandered up to talk to Joker. They hadn't spoken since Garrus had been brought on the ship, and he felt he had a lot to apologize for. He found Joker arguing with EDI.
"Do you always have to do everything the Illusive Man says?" Joker asked.
"I have been programed with shackles that keep my decision making to a minimum. The Illusive Man commands me to do what will best assist the Normandy and its crew."
"What if we are attacked and you are able to save the ship, but the Illusive Man commands you not to?"
"The likelihood of that occurrence is statistically low, considering how many resources were put into this ship and Shepard."
"So you're saying I can't count on you to save our asses if I'm incapacitated."
"That would depend on the situation, Joker."
"Those are hollow words, AI."
Garrus chuckled, "Having fun teasing the machine?"
Joker turned to face Garrus, "I would if it knew what a joke was…"
There was an awkward silence while they stared at each other. Garrus was aware of the lines and dark circles that made Joker's face look so worn, and Joker was focused on the scar that marred Garrus's face.
"Look, Joker… I'm not great at these things, but I want to apologize for the way I handled things back on the Citadel. When you told me about the Normandy and Shepard…I lost my shit. I didn't really blame you, I just needed to blame someone. It wasn't right for me, and it's obvious you went through your own hell between then and now. I'm sorry for what part I played in that."
Joker grinned at him. "It's okay big guy. I apologize for telling everyone you have a stick up your ass. I'd say we're even."
Garrus held out his hand and Joker shook it in friendship. "Well that explains why everyone on this ship seems so weird. They all snicker at me, or act like I'm going to snap and murder them…."
They both started laughing, but were interrupted by Shepard's voice coming through Joker's radio. "Joker?" She sounded strained and really angry.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Set a course for Horizon. We are going after some Collectors. And Kaidens there, so step on it."
Garrus and Joker looked at each other in shock. Kaiden was there? The same Kaiden that chose the Alliance over the truth and Shepard's legacy? Garrus started grinding his fangs as his blood started boiling.
"Kaiden? How does he always get in the worst trouble?" Joker asked.
"You can ask him when we get there."
Joker turned to look at Garrus. "She doesn't know, does she?"
Garrus shook his head. "She knows he turned his back on her to stay with the Alliance, but I don't think she knows about the speeches he made condemning her name. Or the man hunt he started again Cerberus."
"This could be bad. Really bad. Keep an eye on her….. Actually, you better keep an eye on Kaiden. If she knew the full extent of his betrayal, she'd be going down there to kill him, not to save him."
Garrus laughed, "Good point. Who knows, they were pretty close before… maybe seeing her alive will knock some sense back into him."
"We can only hope. Keep her safe." Joker turned back around to face his control panel.
"I always will."
Garrus finally found her in the tech lab with Mordin. She was pacing, while angrily slathering ointment onto her bruised throat. Mordin just continued to rattle on about why his invention for the seeker swarms should work.
"Mordin, I just want to hear that it WILL work," she said while she still anxiously paced.
"Cannot say for sure. Has not been in test environment. Should take me with, just in case," he said hopefully.
"I know how badly you want to see the Collectors first hand, but I need you here in case it does go wrong. We need someone alive to fix it."
"Logical point. Will stay here." Mordin said.
Garrus followed Shepard as they left the lab. "Shepard, there's something you should know—"
"I'm sorry Garrus but there isn't any time. I'm bringing you and Jack, my best fighters. It's going to be bloody down there. Go get ready. We're almost there. We leave in 10."
The shuttle ride down to Horizon was tense. Jack's nervous energy had her bouncing her legs up and down, while Shepard sat perfectly still, without a single twitch. Garrus fell somewhere in the middle. Both of the girls' unnatural behavior made him nervous and he felt they were approaching some kind of appending doom. Shepard's expression was solemn and he had no idea what she was thinking. He knew that she had tried to reach Kaiden multiple times after her resurrection. He also remembered a couple mornings when they had been chasing Saren that Kaiden had stumbled out of her quarters looking a little ruffled. Whether their relationship had been emotional or sexual, he couldn't say. It couldn't have meant much to Kaiden if he had written her off so quickly after her death. But then again, Garrus have never understood the complex, manipulative nature of human romance.
Landing on Horizon, Shepard led the way through the desolate buildings. Everything was empty, and it left all the team members unsettled and on edge. The seeker swarms buzzed around them, but left them unharmed. They all sighed with relief that Mordin's invention had worked.
Jack couldn't keep still, soon her biotics were glowing blue up her arms as she struggled for control. "Where the fuck is everybody?" she finally whispered.
"I don't know, but keep quiet. We aren't alone here," Shepard whispered back.
They went through, building after building. There were signs of life everywhere: a broken dish, a meal that was still warm, an overturned table…but there were no humans to be found. They entered a small courtyard, when Shepard held up her fist motioning them to stop. She slowly pulled out her shotgun and flipped off the safety. Garrus pulled out his assault rifle and Jack's biotics started glowing brighter.
With a loud roar they found themselves surrounded by husks. Jack started tearing through the crowd, leaving bloody chunks of flesh in her wake. Garrus and Shepard both backed up until they were standing back to back. Using each other for support they blasted each husk to bloody pulp.
After the horde had stopped amassing, Shepard bend down to examine one of the husks. She looked disgusted by what she saw. "They're different," she said looking at Garrus. "What's different about them?"
Garrus bent down to the husk closest to him. It looked relatively the same as the ones they'd encountered fighting Saren, but she was right…something was off about it. Finally it hit him. "It's the smell." He leaned closer and sniffed. "Smell that? The ones from fighting Saren smelled like blood from being impaled on those alters. These smell almost like rot…as if they were starting to decay."
Shepard visibly paled. "I think these husks were created a while ago. Which probably means these were some of the humans the Collectors have been taking. They probably have a small army of them by now. Keep your eyes open. These things like to grab you from unlikely places, and Horizon is probably crawling with them." She stood up and they followed her around the corner to find the next big mystery.
Standing in the open space before them were large unknown creatures. They were slightly larger than a male human, with a hard exoskeleton structure. They had long sharp talons in place of fingers, and a large armored head with multiple eyes. As they stared, one extended wings from its back and flew up and behind cover.
"They look like fucking bugs?!" Jack shouted.
"Judging by the guns in their hands, it's safe to assume we're looking at the Collectors," Garrus guessed.
The Collectors continued to stare at them until one of them lifted slowly off the ground. Its body started thrashing and shaking violently as it clicked in pain. "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL," the Collector shouted as cracks formed and glowed red across its body. It landed back on its feet and still glowing, turned to the team. "Shepard…" it rasped and started sprinting towards them. Jack jumped in front, her biotics ready, but the Collector was faster. It shot out its own biotics and slammed Jack hard against the wall. She crumpled to the ground and lay still. Shepard made a choking noise of fear in her throat and raised her shotgun. Garrus and Shepard fired repeatedly into the Collector but most of their bullets bounced harmlessly off its shielded skim. It continued to advance.
Without warning, Garrus found himself picked up into the air and thrown 20 feet away. He landed hard on his back and felt the air rush out of him. Struggling to breathe he sat up. The Collector was only 5 feet away from Shepard and moving quickly. She was still shooting her gun, but it wasn't doing enough damage. The Collector reached her. She reeled back and slammed the butt of her gun into the side of the creature's head. It fell back from the blow and Shepard proceeded to shoot it point blank in the face, successfully blowing its head off.
There was a moment of silence until they head, "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL" again. Garrus whipped out his sniper and shot the Collector in the head before it could finish its transformation. The next few minutes were a flurry of action as Garrus targeted and killed each glowing Collector, while Shepard took out the rest.
They met in the middle of the bloodied courtyard.
"What the hell was that?" Jack said as Shepard applied med-gel to her wounds. "The Collector was STRONG. And it had biotics."
Garrus looked at Shepard. She was pale and looked scared. "It also knew your name… It knew who we were."
"I think—"she hesitated, "I think that was a Reaper."
"That makes sense. If the Collectors are working for the Reapers then they are most likely indoctrinated. But it seems that their technology has advanced if they can directly control the physical form instead of just influencing the mental," Garrus speculated, "I wonder if it's only effective against the Collectors or if they are taking the humans to experiment on them. If they can gain control physically and mentally of the humans without turning them into husks, then we're all fucked."
Shepard nodded in agreement. "I think it's more complicated than that. I wish I had brought Mordin now. He might have been able to understand this process better."
Jack just said, "Let's hurry and get the fuck out of here. I am NOT becoming an experiment again."
"We've got to find the colonists. Let's move quickly. Garrus fall behind. I want you to kill anything that starts a transformation." He nodded. "Jack, you and I will just kill everything else. As fast as possible. Just don't do anything stupid."
Jack laughed, "Right boss. Let's go kill shit."
They moved quickly and quietly. The Collectors were everywhere, but luckily they were stealthy and Horizon had a lot of coverage available. Everywhere they went the Reapers taunted them with a cry of "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL". Garrus was able to skillfully take out each Collector before the transformation took place, but their luck could only last so long.
They were fighting off the Collectors but their enemies were getting smarter. They used the husks as a frontal assault and distraction as the rest of the horde surrounded them.
Garrus heard the tell-tale scream of a Collector transforming, but the Collector was not in sight. He desperately tried to find a better viewpoint but he was being overwhelmed by the husks. "Shepard, I couldn't get that one," he said into the radio.
"Understood." She moved into a better defensive position and Jack stayed close to fend off the husks that just kept coming. She was helping Jack finish off the husks when four Collectors rushed them. "Garrus!" she yelled in panic.
He shot through the wall of husks and got closer. Switching to his sniper he shot down two of the Collectors, but he wasn't fast enough to get the Reaper controlled one. It once again blasted through Jack's barriers, knocking her out of the battle. The Collector grabbed Shepard and twisted her around, knocking the gun from her hands. She struggled relentlessly, but the Collector was much stronger.
Just as she was starting to panic it spoke. "I am the Harbinger of your perfection." Its voice was deep and raspy. "You will know pain, Shepard." Garrus saw her eyes go wide in fear as Harbinger plunged its talons through the armor on her lower back into her stomach. She screamed in pain and blood flowed from her mouth and onto her armor.
Garrus struggled to reach her, to shoot down Harbinger, to do SOMETHING, but he was completely incapacitated by the husks. They had surrounded him, and were pulling, climbing, and biting him. He struggled, punching and kicking each direction, but they continued to overwhelm him. He cried out in frustration and pain as he felt himself losing balance. He went down hard, but it also loosened the husk's grip. Using his assault rifle, he shot through the mass and sprinted away.
Harbinger was still holding Shepard in a tight grip. He readied his gun, but before he could get a shot Jack leaped from behind cover and used her biotics to cave in Harbinger's head from behind. Both Shepard and the Collector collapsed to the ground. Garrus reached them as Jack pulled Shepard out from under the Collector.
"I'll help her! Go finish off the rest!" Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "GO, Jack!" he shouted at her. She smirked and went off after the last of the Collectors and husks.
Garrus inspected Shepard and found she was unconscious. He rolled her over to inspect her back. Her armor had been dented and destroyed on the right side of her lower back. Jagged edges of her armor punctured into her skin, and blood was freely pouring out of the wound.
"Fuck," Garrus swore. They would need to remove her torso armor to assess the whole damage. They needed to get her into shelter. Fast. He slapped a med-gel on the wound and watched it improve somewhat. He gently lifted Shepard up and went to find Jack.
The closest building they could find was a warehouse that had been locked. Jack quickly hacked through and they ran inside, locking the door again behind them.
Garrus set Shepard down and unclipped her armor. He slowly peeled it off but it still tore open her skin. Blood had pooled inside the armor turning her undershirt red. Garrus checked her stomach and found that Harbinger hadn't pierced completely through her torso. "It looks like the damage is mostly to her back. If she hadn't had armor on it would have torn her in half."
Jack nodded and gave Garrus what med-gels she had. They used everything they had and watched the wound close.
"That took care of most of it, but she probably still has internal damage. She needs to get back to the Normandy," Garrus said to Jack.
"Oh nonsense, turian." Shepard moaned.
Garrus and Jack both jumped in surprise as Shepard rolled over and sat up.
"Did you get a good look?" she said with a wink, and then winced in pain. She stood up and drew her gun. "Who's there?" she said to the darkness.
There was some rustling noise and a man stepped into the light with his hands held up. Garrus shook his head in embarrassment. He had been so preoccupied with making sure Shepard lived, he hadn't made sure the area was secure. If that had been a Collector, they would probably all be dead now.
"Who are you? How did you escape the Collectors?" Shepard asked, her gun still trained on him.
"I ran just like everyone else," he said angrily, "I was just smarter about my hiding spot. I'm a mechanic here on Horizon."
"Can you tell me what happened?"
"It's the damn Alliance's fault," he spat. "If they hadn't been here, we would have been overlooked. We would have been fine."
"Why were the Alliance here?"
"They installed some Guardian Laser Turrets on the planet, but the blasted things didn't calibrate properly. So they sent some fancy lieutenant down to fix everything and protect us, but he failed."
Shepard narrowed his eyes, "Was his name Kaiden Alenko?"
"You know the bastard?"
"Yeah, he's a good solider and a good man," she said tilting up her chin.
"Bullshit. The Alliance caused this problem. If they had just left us alone, nothing would have happened. But instead they had to equip us and make us a target. Now if those lasers had actually worked this would be a different story…they used us as bait." The man's face was getting redder and redder, as his anger increased.
"I don't care about any of that. I'm just here to save as many people as I can. Do you know where the colonists are being taken?"
"North. I think the enemy ship is still docked up there." He pointed to the doors on the far side of the warehouse. "Just keep walking that way."
Shepard nodded. "Okay, let's go," she said to Garrus and Jack.
I picked up my armor and quickly snapped it back into place. My back throbbed with every breath I took. The wound had closed but it felt like my insides were on fire. Dr. Chakwas was going to kill me when we got back.
I just hoped we weren't too late to find Kaiden. I wasn't stupid enough to believe that Kaiden would be happy to see me after two years, but things had ended badly with us. Dying makes you realize that things that are fixable SHOULD be fixed before it's too late. Chasing Saren had been dangerous and Kaiden's warm, brown eyes had been easy to fall into. But I wasn't really one for relationships. When it was just sexual it was simple, but he wasn't the kind of guy to leave his emotions out of the bedroom. I had to end it pretty quickly, and he hadn't taken it too well. Before I could fix our friendship, I had died. So now I was pushing to get to him before he died, hopefully to make things right again.
Reloading my gun we exited the warehouse. I could see the giant turrets just ahead of us. Everything was still empty and desolate. My heart started pounding at the thought of Harbinger. I needed to talk to Mordin to see if he could design an upgrade for my armor, and apparently my weapons because what I had equipped now was not going to cut it. Today had been way too close…the terrified look that had been on Garrus's face told me as much, plus the amount of blood that was caked on the inside of my armor…
Shaking my head, I tried not to think about it. This wasn't the time or the place. I needed to be alert if I wanted to make it out of here alive.
Passing through a building we came across the first of them.
The colonists.
They were completely frozen, some on the ground, some even in a defensive or running position. They looked completely normal and unharmed, except for the fact that they immobile. They weren't even breathing, the only movement we found was a slight dilation of the eyes as we got closer.
It seemed as if the Collectors were still in the process of moving their captives on board. This was good. If we could blow up the Collector's vessel with the turrets, we could save most of the colonists.
We kept moving. There was some resistance but Harbinger didn't make an appearance. We killed the husks and Collectors as quickly as we could and moved on.
After what seemed like forever we reached the turrets. They were positioned in a little valley that offered minimal cover. The valley was surrounded by openings on all sides, and we could be easily surrounded. My skin started buzzing as soon as we stepped into the valley's domain. I knew this was a trap, but if we wanted to save the colonists we didn't have a choice. My back throbbed painfully with my nerves. "Be ready," I said turning to my companions. "They're coming."
Garrus's face was grim but accepting when he nodded. Jack just gave a feral smile as she shook with blood lust.
The silence was heavy as we walked to the closest turret. There was nothing but our footfalls. I hesitated before touching the control pad, wondering if my touch would break the calm around us. I lifted the cover and nothing happened. The turrets would not power on or respond to my touch. "EDI," I said into my radio, "I need to get these turrets back online and calibrated. Can you do that?"
"Yes. It will take some time though," she responded.
"Thank you."
With a hum the engines on both turrets started up, and the control panel in front of my came to life displaying '1%'. As if the charge of the turret was all they were waiting for, husks and Collectors started pouring in from all sides.
"Protect the turrets!" I yelled as we all jumped to cover. I found myself near Jack as she sliced through masses of husks. I wondered where Garrus was until I saw a Collector's head explode a couple feet from me.
I was a little slower than normal because of the wound but we still made quick work of our enemies.
"We have reached 25%." EDI said.
I motioned to my team to meet back in the middle to regroup for the next wave of enemies. As Garrus crossed the valley to meet us, I noticed movement behind him. There was a husk sprinting towards him, but this husk was red in color instead of blue. "Garrus on your 6!" I shouted at him.
He spun and shot the husk while it was still a couple of feet away. Instead of dropping dead, it exploded in a wall of flames. Garrus was thrown backwards into a large stone. He stood up unsteadily and limped over to us. There was blood running from his ears and mouth.
I jogged over, "Are you alright?"
"I'm find, Shepard. It's going take more than that to take me down. Remember, I took a rocket to the face? I excel at explosions," he purred.
Shepard could see the exhaustion on both his and Jack's faces. "Let's just get out of here in one piece. Oh, and don't get too close to those red ones…."
"What, no more fireworks?" Jack teased.
Garrus's brow furrowed, "What are fireworks?"
"Never mind," Shepard laughed.
They were interrupted by the next wave of enemies. This time they stayed close together. Garrus took out the Collectors from afar while I protected his six. Jack used her biotics to slice through the enemies that got too close.
"ASSUMING DIRECT CON—" the Collector wasn't able to finish before Garrus shot him down.
"Looks like Harbinger is back," he muttered.
As soon as Garrus interrupted a Collector's transformation another one lifted slowly into the air. Harbinger was relentless. Soon I sheathed my shotgun and grabbed my sniper to help.
"We have reached 60%."
Garrus and I shot Collector after Collector. We were lucky this time, Harbinger wasn't able to get close to us. Soon we were surrounded by silence again.
"Is that it?" Jack asked. "Shouldn't there be another damn wave of them?"
"Look at the size of their ship," Garrus responded. "There are definitely more out here. As to why they aren't rushing us… I have no idea."
"We have reached 80%."
I slowly scanned the area but found nothing. But soon I became aware of a slight buzzing in my left ear. I turned towards it and felt myself freeze. Flying towards us was a creature I'd only heard of, never seen.
There were old stories that parents read their children. If you were disobedient the Collectors took you in the middle of the night. It was said that they force fed you drugs until you hallucinated, and then dropped you on a random planet. This planet was supposedly inhabited by a fearsome beast. The Collectors armed you with only a small knife. If you were able to kill one of the creature or survived for one week you were deposited back into your bed with a headache and a vague recollection of your abduction. Most parents just found their children's mutilated remains waiting for them in the morning.
"Is that… Is that what I think it is?" Garrus asked in awe.
"Yes. It's a Praetorian," I answered.
"Oh…we are so fucked," Jack sighed.
"Everyone get to cover. Use long range attacks. If you get too close it will rip you apart."
From behind my rock I watched it land. It had similar anatomy to the Collectors, but was much much bigger. It floated a couple feet above the ground, and had long powerful talons that were sharpened to a point. As it got closer bile rose in the back of my throat. The Praetorian had skin and body parts wrapped around its exoskeleton. Around its neck hung the heads of the husks it had killed.
I pulled out my assault rifle and prepared for the fight.
Garrus got the first hit with a concussive shot. The enemy's barriers flickered but then came back fully charged. I started firing. The creature flew high up in the air and landed with a loud crash. The impact knocked me to the ground and took out my shields. I rolled quickly as it shot out a particle beam at me. The beam missed me by inches, leaving the ground scorched where it had hit.
"Get this bastard off of me!" I yelled.
"Shepard, it's ONLY aiming for you!"
I jumped to my feet and ran as fast as I could. I weaved as I felt the heat of the beam behind me. Every time my shield would charge the beam would get close to me, knocking my shield back off. Jumping behind a large shelter, I peaked around to see that Garrus was right it only wanted me. Jack and Garrus were hitting it nonstop from behind but it paid them no attention. I was its target. Killing me was its sole purpose. If I could keep moving and avoid the beam, Garrus and Jack could knock down its health.
I ran and ducked, ran and rolled, and just flat out sprinted. I was not going to die on this planet. Landing behind cover again, I willed my muscled to keep moving. I was exhausted, which meant I was capable of making stupid mistakes.
I pulled out my grenade launcher. Leaping from cover, I shot three grenades directly into the Praetorian's face. They exploded knocking it back and destroying the trophies hanging from its neck.
Garrus used that moment to shoot three successive shots through the creatures head. It fell with a crash at my feet.
The silence was filled by EDI, "We have reached 100%. Turrets are online and ready to fire. Should I fire at the Collector ship?"
"Yes, please."
We watched as the turrets fired on the ship. It went on for a couple of minutes before the Collectors realized what they were up against and took off. My heart sank as I watched the ship fly away. I knew they had still managed to capture a large number.
"They're getting away!" The mechanic from the warehouse yelled as he ran into view.
"We did everything we could," I said solemnly.
"But that ship was full of people! They're gone now…"
"We did what we had to. We managed to save as many lives as we lost. If we hadn't fired on their ship, we'd all be dead."
"Who the hell are you to make that decision?"
"Don't you know? You're standing in front of a legacy. A dead legend." My body froze as I forgot to breathe. That voice belonged to Kaiden, and it was also heavily laced with sarcasm. He wasn't happy.
I turned. "Kaiden."
He scowled and looked at me in disdain. "I thought you were dead," he said. He wore the same cold look Garrus had when I'd found him across the bridge.
"I was clinically dead. For two years. I just got back."
"That's all you have to say to me?" He got closer and I could see the rage on his face. "After two years, that's it? I loved you! When you died my world fell apart…I fell apart. I didn't know what to do, so I worked my way up in the Alliance. But then I heard rumors that you were back. And working for Cerberus." He stopped and looked at the logo on my uniform. "I see the rumors were true." His voice was bitter.
"Kaiden it's not like that. The Reapers are back. I'm not working for Cerberus. They are just the only ones willing to do anything about this threat. This is so much bigger than Cerberus or Alliance. We are all in danger and it looks like I'm the only one trying to stop it."
His eyes grew cold. "DON'T LIE TO ME! After everything we've been through, don't expect me to believe that! If you did die then when you were brought back to life you would have tried to contact me, but I've gotten NOTHING."
"Kaiden, I did—"
"ENOUGH! You have betrayed everything you stood for! The Alliance…" He stared at me with sorrow. "And you've betrayed me. Stop lying to yourself and to me. You're obviously not thinking clearly."
Garrus stepped forward, his face was narrowed in anger and his hands clenched into fists. "You're not thinking clearly, Kaiden! You watched that Reaper die on the Citadel, and yet as soon as Shepard was pronounced dead you stood up denying her claims. You betrayed her before she was even put to rest. So why don't you shut your goddamned mouth and stop spewing bullshit. You are a disgrace to even look at."
Kaiden pulled out his gun, but I stepped forward before he could shoot Garrus. "Kaiden, you know me. Why would I lie about this? What do I have to gain? Do you really think this lowly of me? That I'm that kind of person?"
Kaiden didn't answer. He stared at me a couple more seconds before turning around and walking away. Just before he was out of hearing range, he turned and said, "I don't know what to believe anymore."
A couple more steps and he was gone.
I released the tension in my body. I hated it but I was fighting the urge to cry. I hadn't realized how much my death had destroyed him, or how much his betrayal was going to hurt.
"So…who was that asshole?" Jack asked.
"It's a long story," Garrus responded.
I just flipped on my radio. "Joker come pick us up. I'm done with this place." I knew my voice sounded bitter and hurt, but I honestly didn't care.
Riding back to the Normandy was quiet. Garrus kept looking at me like he wanted to talk, but I really couldn't stand the pity written on his face. Jack just looked annoyed.
"Fuck him, Shep," she finally said. "He's not worth it. He seemed like a real tool."
I just ignored her. I was angry. Really angry. It wasn't even all Kaiden either. Everything that had happened on Horizon pissed me off. There had been too many close calls with the Collectors and then Kaiden's anger had surprised me.
I hadn't been in control of any situation the whole mission and that drove me crazy.
We finally docked and I was on the way down to see Dr. Chakwas look at my throbbing back and stomach when Joker announced, "The Illusive Man wants to speak with you, Commander."
I ground my teeth and changed course. Entering the Communications Room I logged into consol. The Illusive Man stared at me with a large smile on his face. "Good job, Shepard. We were able to find out a little more about our enemies through your heroics."
I stayed silent.
"You also saved many lives today." he continued.
"Tell me, Illusive Man, how did Kaiden and the Alliance knew I'm affiliated with Cerberus." I knew my emotions were playing across my face because his smile just grew.
Chuckling he said, "Because I told the Alliance you were working for me, and that you'd be on Horizon."
I shook my head as that sunk in. "You set us all up."
"Indeed. It was the only way to insure the Collectors would come."
"You are responsible for the deaths of half that colony, you bastard."
"A worthy cause. They died martyrs for our enlightenment. We are now one step closer to understanding and destroying our enemies."
"Don't ever assume we are on the same side. I do not condone pointless death. I am not a part of Cerberus, and I am not working for you. I am simply not working against you. We need to stop this threat and you just happen to be the only one to offer the required resources. As soon as I'm able I will destroy you because you are the most worthless piece of space I've ever met. Stop playing god. I refuse to be your puppet."
He smiled so wide I thought his face would crack. His eyes glowed orange like coals, and I realized he wasn't completely human or completely sane. "I suggest you continue building your team, Commander. You never know when you might need them to keep you alive." His smile fell away, leaving his face blank. It was even more terrifying than his smile. Now he seemed dangerous as well as insane. He stared at me unblinking until I felt goosebumps on my arms and a chill run up my spine. My body tensed for an attack, and my hand twitched for my gun. But he simply disconnected from the conversation.
I stepped out of the room and found Garrus waiting for me. He looked at me in surprise and asked, "What's wrong?"
"He set us up. The Illusive Man manipulated his way into getting the Collectors to attack Horizon. That way we'd encounter them and gain intel."
"He could have gotten us killed! He almost got you killed! Not to mention all the people who were killed on Horizon. Is he really that ruthless?"
"Yes. This isn't going to be the last time he sends us into a trap, Garrus. He threatened me. This isn't over. We can't trust anyone here."
"Don't think like that. Just because he's screwing us over doesn't mean everyone is. I'd talk to Miranda. She might know more."
I shook my head. "No one else is going to die because of him. Especially not any of my crew."
There was a pause while Garrus gave me an awkward look. "I'm sorry about Kaiden. I know you two used to be close. After you died he denied everything you stood for. I'm not going to claim to understand human romance, but it seemed like he didn't handle your death very well. But he's also an ass. In my opinion, you can do much better."
I laughed, "Maybe I'll try something not human next time."
"Asari? They are too soft for you."
"No. I was thinking turian." I watched his face freeze in panic. "I'm kidding Garrus. You can breathe again."
He let out a slow breath and swallowed. "Oh uh…. I'm not sure you could handle turian anyways. There's a lot of hard surfaces, and sharp edges. We are quite large too," he teased.
"Oh, dirty boy." I laughed.
Chuckling we both rode down to the med-bay so Dr. Chakwas could yell at us.