A room. Cold. Dark. Empty, other than a single chair, and a bank of monitors ahead of it.

The reports are the same on each of them.

Death.

Destruction.

Overwhelming force.

There is nothing I can do. The Reapers are here, and all the knowledge in the galaxy can not stop them.

I try... I pressure governments as yet unaffected by the war to send rescue ships. I depose corrupt and indoctrinated leaders, placing my own agents into their place. I use what limited military force I command to hold frontiers. I funnel every resource I have access to into building a veritable army, fortifying what little concerted effort is left amongst the people of the galaxy.

But it is not enough.

The reports are still the same.

Death.

Destruction.

Overwhelming force.

And I sit alone, in my cold, dark, empty room, in a ship orbiting a planet nobody cares about.

Helpless.


Fuck.

Volunteer to hold the damn bubble... stupid bitch. Should have let the fucking cheerleader do it.

Jack's teeth flashed in the cold, rancid air of the Collector ship, while gunfire erupted around her. There was another ledge in front of her.

As if holding this isn't tiring enough... damned if I'll let somebody carry me though.

Keeping her arms askew, she gritted her teeth and hauled herself up, legs feeling as though they were made of lead.

Don't care, don't care about the swarm, don't care about that groaning, don't care that I'm probably going to get shot, don't care that the girl scout's already been shot, don't care!

Another step. Every step was running a mile. Every tiny impact on her barrier, every one of the bugs trying to force its way through, was like somebody poking her, hard, in the back of the head.

Fucking bugs, fucking Collectors, fucking Cerberus, fucking fucking fuck!

A husk appeared in front of her.

Damn they're gross... hope somebody kills it...

She could smell the rotting flesh of the thing as it slumped towards her, like a zombie from some ancient movie. She was about to take a step backwards away from it, wincing at the effort it would take to regain that single step forwards, when an orange glow erupted from its chest before dissipating. It dropped to the ground, revealing a pissed looking Shepard behind it.

Heh... those glowy eyes are cool... maybe I'll get myself some...

Shepard was shouting something, but Jack's exhausted brain could not make sense of the words.

Hopefully she's sayin' we're there... and they've got beer...

Another step. She was barely keeping her eyes open, the effort of looking, of processing what she was seeing, detracting from the insane amount of focus needed to hold the barrier.

I'm supposed to be tearin' shit up, not... this pussy thing!

Wha-

She stumbled as the ground sloped away from her. She instinctively threw her arms forward to catch herself, when a rough hand grabbed the collar of her light armour from behind, and hauled her back to her feet.

Damn... would have been nice to turn the biotics off for a second...

Starting to hurt...

Her head was throbbing with what she knew was biotic exhaustion.

And, as always, the sick pleasure accompanied it; from some implant, or the conditioning, or whatever... she did not know. She just knew it warmed her, made her tingle just right.

Cerberus bastards, making me practically killing myself feel so... damned... good.

She forced her eyes open. They were heading down a slope now, and...

Door?

Just a few more steps there... maybe... ten?

She started to stumble forward, pushing reserves she never knew she had into her legs.

They would make it.

She would be the big fucking hero.

Wonder if anybody else died... too tired to even look around...

The pain stopped.

The tiredness went away.

The fuck?

Too relieved to even question it, she pushed herself forward the final few steps.

Ha...

'There's too many!' Shepard's voice, now clear as the buzzing in Jack's head stopped, rang over the gunfire.

Jack turned to look... and saw a nightmare.

Dozens... hundreds... of Collectors, of husks, were right there.

'Kasumi, get that door!' Shit... she sounds scared...

Shepard never sounded scared.

'Gonna take a few secs, Shep!'

'Ok people, open fire! Jack, keep that damn barrier up!'

Fuck that!

I'm a fucking powerhouse!

Teeth bare, she turned to fully look towards the horde approaching. Some were being cut down by the firepower coming from Shepard and her team... but not nearly enough.

Time to step up, bitch!

She tapped deep into her power, those reserves she had only learned about with Shepard, and turned her bubble...

Pussy ass defence... eat this you fucks!

… into a massive wave, pushing the seekers back, knocking Collectors and husks alike to the ground and walls, bones audibly cracking, skin shredding off bone, sending them all flying away from herself and Shepard's team.

'Got the door!'

'Move it!' Shepard's voice brooked no argument.

Finally allowing herself to relax, she turned, and took a couple of steps through the door.

Probably should be hurting right now... not going to complain...

The door slammed shut behind her.

'Hey... that was pretty hardcore, wasn't it?' She grinned at the rest of the team she had just saved: Shepard, Kasumi, Grunt and Miranda. Her vision was still a bit fuzzy, but she could see they were all looking at her, eyes wide. 'The fuck you all looking at?

She took another step... but her foot did not catch her. Her arms did not rise fast enough, and she felt her nose shatter on the hard ground of the base.

Isn't that supposed to hurt?


'What the hell's happening to her?' Shepard's voice broke through Miranda's stunned silence, and she snapped back to attention.

Jack was lying on the floor, an oddly serene smile on her lips a horrific juxtaposition to her wildly flailing body, the trails of smoke streaming from her eyes, the blood pouring from her nose.

She knew what was wrong... but she had only ever hear about it. Read about it in medical textbooks. To see it...

'She's overloaded her biotic implants... I... dammit Shepard, there's nothing we can do!' It was not often she felt helpless, and she did not like it.

'Shepard, do something!' Kasumi's worried voice rang out.

Shepard, we're at the door, get it open!

Garrus' voice joined the chaos through the comms, and without being asked Kasumi ran over and started tapping the console, and Grunt took a firing position.

'Can't we... shit... cut it out or something?' Shepard was kneeling by Jack, holding the girl down by the shoulders, the armour straining beneath the soldier's firm grasp... but Jack's legs continued to kick madly, helplessly...

If it was anybody but her, maybe...

'Sh...' What do I care? The girl hates me, and I hate her! ...Right? 'Shepard... there's nothing we can do!' She tried to keep her voice neutral, to stop it wavering at the sight of Jack's kicking legs, of the smoke now also billowing from her ears. 'Her implants are too extensive, too embedded in her flesh, it'll kill her.'

Cold, calm, rational.

The perfect human does not get emotional about somebody she does not even like...

'No! I won't lose anybody else!' Shepard apparently felt no such reservations, as her voice wavered with fear and denial.

The other doors slamming shut provided a small distraction... the others were all scarred and beaten up... but alive.

'What's happening?!' Garrus' exclamation broke the tension as he ran alongside Jack.

Miranda heard herself speak, voice cold... detached... 'Jack is dying.'

'No!' Shepard's cry was terrible, piercing the eerie silence with which Jack struggled.

Jack's body continued its sick dance, that horrific smile still plastered across her face, despite the smoke escaping from her lips.

It would be better if she was screaming, or... anything... just, not... this!

'Shepard, she-'

The soldier was suddenly thrown back as the convict pulsed with another biotic wave.

The mood in the room was thick as Jack continued to twist and contort on the floor, everybody standing back, nobody knowing what to do.

'I... can't watch...' Kasumi muttered... but did not turn away.

Shepard pulled herself up and stood alongside Miranda, watching Jack write silently on the floor. 'How long?'

This is horrible...

'A minute, maybe...'

The soldier shook her helmeted head. 'I can't let her suffer.'

Without any further ceremony, Shepard strode over to the writing form, pulled out her pistol and shot Jack through the forehead. The body went instantly limp, but smoke continued to trail from her face... now through the gunshot wound as well.

Several shocked gasps accompanied the gun crack, but nobody said anything... she had done Jack a favour, in some small way...

The silence fell again as Shepard stood over Jack's corpse for several more seconds, head bowed.

Miranda looked around. Grunt had taken several shots, literally standing in the way of the Collectors shooting at Jack, but his regeneration was already at work. Kasumi was so far unharmed, the only sign that she had been fighting her slightly scorched armour, and heavy breath. Shepard herself had taken at least two bullets that Miranda had seen; one in the shoulder and another near the hip, but showed no signs of discomfort.

Probably swimming in medi-gel...

Scanning the team, purposefully avoiding looking at Jack's corpse, she analysed the others. Garrus' face was bleeding from a wound she could not identify, and Samara was tying a bandage around her thigh, the armour torn away leaving an expanse of pale blue skin. Thane looked as calm and serene as ever, apparently unharmed, and Mordin was muttering to himself, seemingly oblivious to whatever caused some nasty looking burn marks across the front of his armour.

A swift movement startled her; Shepard's dark, armour clad form suddenly knelt by Jack, turning the still obscenely smiling face away from the team with a surprisingly gentle touch, before she rummaged through the packs at Jack's belt.

How can she just... do that?

Wordlessly, their leader handed out Jack's medi-gel to those who had been injured.

Nobody said anything.

There was nothing to say.

But Miranda knew they were all thinking the same thing.

Am I next?


Jacob looked at the flagging crew of the Normandy, then at the ship itself, still smoking from the impact on the base. They were wounded, exhausted, terrified and probably worse...

He shuddered, remembering one of the operations workers dissolve in front of his eyes.

… but they were still going. The Illusive Man had picked only the best to man the ship: not just those technically proficient, but also those who would stand strong in the face of adversity. Most were ex-Alliance, just like himself, and he knew how to get soldiers moving.

'Listen up people!' His voice rang out like a whipcrack, and he was pleased when he saw most of them straighten automatically. 'Anybody too weak to work, go with the doctor. Anybody with the balls to keep going; the Normandy's in bad shape and we need all hands! Report to Specialist Zorah for your assignments, now move!'

He was pleased when nobody followed Chakwas, who hurried to tend to Joker, who was hopefully still strapped up in the med bay.

'That's what I like to see!'

Tali appeared from on top of one of the Normandy's engines, and began shouting down orders to the crew, who immediately began limping around the ship, picking up tools, welding, hammering, or, in his case, simply carrying and lifting. He, and many of the crew, knew next to nothing about ship mechanics but Tali was a smart girl, and knew how to use resources at her disposal, even if it was just muscle mass.

They would have the ship ready in no time.

Operative Taylor, I have picked up incoming Collector signals. Platoon strength, eta five minutes. Heavy support detected, Classification: Praetorian.

He groaned at EDI's words.

Was going too well...

He looked towards Tali. 'We need as many people as possible with guns in hand... what do you need to finish fixing the ship?'

The quarian pulled up her omni tool and considered it for a brief moment. 'If I leave Donnelley and Daniels in charge of repairs with two people who know something about ships, less than an hour.'

'And you?'

'I'm more useful with a gun right now and you know it. You're the soldier here... we'll need you to lead the defence.'

Damn... she's right...

Jacob was confident in his abilities... but he was no leader.

Shepard was the leader on the ship, and he was happy with that. She had been through one of the most intense special forces training programs in the galaxy, coming top of every class. Leadership. Tactics. Ship warfare. She knew it all...

And he was just a soldier.

A good one, but still just a soldier. He preferred to follow rather than lead...

But above all of that, came duty.

'EDI, patch me into shipwide comms.'

Speak when ready.

Time to step up...

'Crew, we have incoming Collector forces. I want everybody other than the names Tali sends out armed and ready in two minutes, now move!'

x-x

The Collectors arrived all too quickly. It had been all he could do to get the crew, already tired and weak, to haul some of the crates from the cargo bay to form some basic cover, before they were there.

'Open fire!' His voice rang across the dozen or so ragged crew, armed with simple but effective Avenger assault rifles, and then the air was thick with gunfire. Some of the Collectors fell...

Not enough!

There were just too many, running towards them in a loose formation, returning fire.

One of the Normandy crew instantly called out in pain, and Jacob winced as he saw the gaping wound in her chest.

Fatal, nothing to do!

'Keep shooting!' If their line broke the Collectors would overrun the Normandy... he would not let that happen. More fell, and he began to hope...

Oh crap...

An enormous form, glowing with unnatural biotic power, floated into sight. He saw the Normandy crew begin to shift, to aim their weapons...

'Keep on the bugs! We'll get the big one!'

He raised a fist, tapping into his rapidly exhausting biotic power, and the air around the thing shimmered as he tried to warp its barriers away...

But still it came. It flew closer, and he recognised the glow forming at its eyes.

'Down!'

The beam swept over the crew's fortifications, most ducking out of the way... but not all. Not fast enough. He winced as he saw out of the periphery of his vision a pair of the crew members literally cut in half, screaming for several seconds before their brain recognised that the bodies were dead.

Dammit... But I can't let that thing win, not now!

'Eyes front people, keep shooting!' He poured every ounce of power he had into his words, knowing just how important it was to lead from the front, and stood himself, opening fire with the heavy rifle, nailing the Collectors closest...

Need to kill that Praetorian!

Suddenly an enormous crack sounded, and the bestial machine fell to the floor.

I have temporarily disabled its systems, I recommend an offensive.

EDI's voice boomed from the Normandy's external speakers, and he wasted no time.

'Tali, Legion, with me! Everyone else, keep shooting!'

He charged towards the Praetorian, shooting as he ran, grateful as the bullets tore into its harsh metal exterior rather than flash against a barrier, but it was already struggling to right itself, razor sharp legs digging into the stone and metal construct beneath it.

The battle raged on around them, but he only saw the Praetorian. He saw Shepard, somehow leaping onto the back of the one on Horizon, tearing something from the top of it and unloading her gun into its innards.

I'm not her...

He gritted his teeth, white flashing against dark skin and darker atmosphere.

He was there, the thing still struggling to its "feet".

'Tali, Legion, keep it off the Normandy!'

The pair ran to the side, still shooting, so its return firepower would not hit the Normandy if it missed them, and with a savage grin he leapt straight towards it, grabbing onto the sharp metal lip above its "eyes", and hauling himself up.

Now... what did she...

He saw it, a small panel, but suddenly had to flatten himself out as it lurched into the air.

Hell no!

Forcing himself not to panic, he reached over and began to tug at the panel.

The Praetorian beneath him was flailing, sharp limbs trying to impossibly bend to dislodge him, while shots tore into the sick collection of skulls just beneath its "head".

Come on you son of a-

Yes!

He pried the panel away finally, the sudden shift in pressure almost sending him sprawling from the abomination's back.

Now... He pulled out his pistol, when time suddenly stopped.

He glanced up, and saw both Tali and Legion ahead of him.

The Praetorian's eyes beneath him were glowing.

No no no!

He planted his pistol into the hole and began to unload... too late.

The beam shot out, right towards Tali.

No!

The beam cut out almost as soon as it fired, as the Praetorian screeched and bucked into the air, sending Jacob sprawling to the floor.

No, Tali, need to...

He pushed himself to his knees, and looked up.

Oh, shit.


I wake with a start, pulling my head from the cold desk.

It is so cold in here... so dark.

I look at the time readout. I only slept for a few minutes, but... Goddess...

So cold! So empty!

This ship... I cannot stay here.

I cannot sit here, safe, helpless, alone, while others fight the battles that decide the fate of the galaxy.

Taking a deep breath to calm my pounding heart, an idea forms in my mind... a realisation of the thoughts and wishes I have been having for some time now.

'Info drone... bring up a requisition order. Specification: top grade hardware for mobile platform information processing.'