Chapter 11: Shocking Discoveries in the Cronian Nebula

"I swear I'm going to kill him when I get back," Liara said angrily as she tapped violently at her Omni-tool. After Aethyta had called and told her Shepard wasn't home she had contacted Feron and asked him to send her any security video of him on Thessia or leaving the planet; it wasn't long until he had sent her a video of him and Garrus boarding a Turian vessel and leaving Thessia's atmosphere. They didn't tell the officials at the port where they were going so there was nothing in their records for her to find, that didn't help ease the anger that was building within her. Kaidan was sitting across from her trying to mend the situation but wasn't having much luck.

"It's not that big a deal if he left is it? I mean he's with Garrus, what's the worst that could happen?" Liara eyed Kaidan viciously as she deactivated her Omni-tool and held eye contact with him coolly.

"Kaidan how can you say he's with Garrus and what's the worst that can happen in the same sentence?"

"Well I don't really-" Kaidan was interrupted by Liara who was on a verbal tirade.

"After Shepard found Garrus on Omega they went drinking in after life, got kicked out for harassing strippers and got into a fight with a triad of Blood Pack Warriors."

"That was a favor for Aria," Kaidan pointed out but instantly regretted it after seeing Liara smile menacingly. "My mistake Kaidan, if Aria asks them to do something reckless and life threatening it's no big deal. But when I ask him to stay home to get rest he goes OFF PLANET!" Liara took a deep breath and put a hand to her brow trying to calm herself down. After a few moments Liara opened her eyes and Kaidan saw tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes while her angry expression was replaced by a look of worry.

"I already lost him once, and I almost lost him a second time. I just want him to take it easy so he can recover." Kaidan reached out his hand and put it comfortingly on her shoulder. When she looked up at him he smiled at her, rewarding him with a small smile of his own.

"Shepard will be fine," Kaidan assured her. "Garrus may be reckless but he would know better than to drag him somewhere where he could get hurt. Worst case scenario they went to Tuchanka to go drinking with Wrex reminiscing about the old days." Liara gave off a weak laugh as she looked back at Kaidan with a smile.

"Until they find a Thresher Maw and try to kill it,"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Kaidan said with a smile. Suddenly, Joker's voice came from over the PA system addressing Kaidan directly.

"Captain we've got a planet on radar, its uncharted like the rest of this System. Do you want to approach?"

"Yes Joker, do that. Javik said that it would be the only planet in the system." The PA went off without another word and Kaidan sighed sadly. "He hasn't been the same since EDI died; he does his job well, as always, but he doesn't make jokes anymore or speak to anyone unless it's necessary."

"Have you tried talking to him about it?" Liara asked.

"Yeah, so has Chakwas. Every time we bring it up he storms off muttering under his breath."

"He just needs time, losing a loved one is hard to cope with. It'll take a while." Kaidan nodded not willing to speak more about the topic of loss. He knew Liara was speaking from experience after Shepard had died on the SR1, they hadn't been in touch much after his funeral but he knew that she had barely been able to accept his death when he had returned. Liara spoke, snapping Kaidan out of his train of thought.

"I'm sorry what was that?" he asked. Liara stared at him quizzically before saying,

"I said, we better get suited up. We'll be in the planet's atmosphere soon." Kaidan nodded and the two went to the weapons locker in the cargo bay. They outfitted themselves in their usual armor and taking their usual weapons and only a few extra thermal clips. They didn't expect to meet any hostile forces on the long abandoned planet but they had learned from experience that walking into the unknown unprepared was a bad idea. They then found themselves in the Med Bay where Javik's body was being kept. Liara had kept Javik's body in cryogenic stasis being guarded by Feron until Liara was able to hold up her end of the bargain. She had had Feron deliver the body to Kaidan seconds before the Normandy had left for Thessia; no one knew how the stasis pod had appeared in the med bay so suddenly, even though everyone was expecting it to arrive. It was just another example of Feron's skill in stealth. They opened the pod and found Javik's limp form lying within, the smile on his face from the day he died still eminent.

"And so the Prothean race is finally extinct with his death," Liara said sadly as she looked at the corpse of her friend. While they rarely agreed on anything they had formed a respect for one another after losing to Cerberus on Thessia. Kaidan tried to lighten the situation to ease Liara's mind.

"Well after the beacon on Eden Prime and that Janigri Kai business, Shepard's probably more Prothean than human now." Liara laughed as she shut the stasis pod once again.

"We better get going, the sooner we put Javik to rest the better."

"I agree lets go," Kaidan said in agreement. As they headed to the pressurization chamber Kaidan put on his space helmet while Liara put on her breather. The atmosphere was toxic to Asari and more so to humans, if they were to go out without the necessary breathing equipment they wouldn't last the hour. With their masks on and the pressurization complete the hatch of the Normandy opened revealing a dead world all around them. The planet had been destroyed by the Reapers Eons ago and nothing living remained on the former Prothean world.

"Any idea what planet we're on?" Kaidan asked. As he spoke he activated the stasis pod's mobility function, lifting the pod off of the ground and allowing it to float several feet off the air making it easier to transport.

"Not a clue," Liara replied as they moved on with the pod in between them. "The only Prothean worlds that are known of are Eden Prime and Ilos, any others that have been found are unknown and unnamed."

"Well that's charming," Kaidan said sarcastically. The two continued moving for what seemed like several hours when Kaidan finally asked if Liara knew where they were going. Liara shook her head and had admitted that she didn't, but that they'd know the place to place Javik's corpse when they found it. As they continued to walk Kaidan began looking around the area worriedly, after several minutes of his frantic searching Liara finally asked him what was wrong.

"You ever get the feeling your being watched?" he asked as he continued to look around.

"Of course," Liara replied. "As an information broker there are always people keeping an eye on me, what they don't realize that I have eyes everywhere." She said that last part almost maniacally; Kaidan however was too paranoid to notice the tone however.

"Yeah that's great Shadow Broker, but what I meant was do you feel like were being watched now?" Liara stopped and furrowed her brow. He was right, for the past hour or so she had the strangest feeling that someone had been watching them, she hadn't wanted to say anything lest to sound paranoid but now that Kaidan acknowledged it she couldn't help but agree with him.

"Your right, I've felt like that for a while now. Do you think we should worry?" Kaidan laughed morbidly as he turned to look at Liara. "After all the shit we've been through I don't know anymore, I'm surprised I haven't been shooting at random dogs in the street lately." Liara was about to ask what he meant when they heard the flapping of what sounded like wings followed by a series of gun shots. Liara reflexively threw up a barrier while Kaidan began firing at where the shots were coming from. They didn't seem to hit anything but the flapping sound was growing louder; it wasn't until they were right on top of them that they saw who had fired the shots.

"COLLECTORS!" Kaidan shouted as he pointed to the oncoming foes. There were three of them landing in front of them with guns raised just as four more came flying towards them from another direction. Liara threw a singularity at the grounded Collectors, temporarily immobilizing them, while she gestured that they should head for cover. As soon as the four new Collectors landed they began firing at Liara's barrier, she was able to hold it but at the speed they were approaching she would give out before reaching cover. Kaidan was doing his best to fight off the mutated Protheans but as his shots connected with its target the Collectors barely faltered as they continued approaching the duo.

"We have to leave the pod behind, it's slowing us down!" Kaidan yelled over the gunfire. Liara cursed but saw that there was no other way to get out of the line of fire without dying first. She spotted a group of rocks that would settle as cover for the moment, she pointed it out to Kaidan and signaled for him to activate biotic detonations. She first threw a singularity in the way, catching several of the Collectors in its reach, while Kaidan ignited it with a warp sending the Collectors back staggering. Liara then dropped the barrier as they both ran behind the cover of the rocks. As soon as they were there they continued to open fire on the Collectors. Suddenly another trio of airborne Collectors arrived and sent groups of seeker swarms towards Kaidan and Liara. Kaidan threw up a barrier of his own to effortlessly hold off the swarms. The Collectors noticed this and began sending dark biotic orbs at the barrier; Kaidan strained from each of the impacts but maintained the barrier with few groans.

"Are you alright?" Liara asked as she replenished her gun with one of her few spare thermal clips. Kaidan nodded and wiped his nose, where he then noticed that he had acquired a nose bleed; a sure sign that he was over using his biotics.

"If they keep it up there going to blow a hole in my head," Kaidan cursed as he struggled to maintain his barrier. Liara threw up a barrier of her own and forced Kaidan to release his; suddenly a group of seeker swarms began surrounding the area, not them but the stasis pod with Javik in it. As soon as several of the swarms made contact with the pod the Collectors shot their heads in its direction, now fully ignoring Kaidan and Liara as they approached the pod.

"We can't let them take him!" Liara shouted. Not waiting for conformation from Kaidan she jumped from behind the rocks and threw a singularity at the Collectors lifting them off the ground. She then slid into place in front of the pod and erected a barrier around it. Kaidan shot up from behind his cover and aimed at the Collectors, readying to take a shot when a voice came from nowhere.

Stop, the voice said clearly in Liara's mind. She could see that Kaidan heard it to for he looked around frantically for the voice. The Collectors also responded by holstering their weapons and backing away from the barrier. Liara finally looked up and saw a Collector flying down towards her; it landed in front of her barrier but maintained a respectable distance away. Liara kept the barrier up not wanting to risk the Collectors swarming her; she raised her gun at the new Collector as the voice spoke into her head again.

Peace Asari we mean you no harm. It took Liara a few moments to realize but the Collector was speaking to her.

"You have an odd way off showing it, firing at us out of nowhere," Liara retorted not lowering her gun. The Collector did not react but stood there looking at Liara through the barrier.

We assumed you were a thrall of the Creators, we now see our mistake.

"The Creators? You mean the Reapers?" Liara snapped as she tightened her hold on her gun.

No, the Collector said calmly undisturbed by Liara pointing a gun at it. Not the Reapers, their Creators. The ones your people called the Leviathan.

"You're hiding from the Leviathan?" Liara asked confused.

Yes, in their battle against the Reapers they used their own powers of indoctrination to control us. Most died from the force of two powerful beings trying to own their minds, those that survived were free from the enthrallment of the Reapers.

"So what, your cured now?" Kaidan called from behind, his assault rifle aimed on the Collectors in front of him.

No. The Leviathan did not successfully indoctrinate us in the way it did to other species. The Leviathan awakened our long dormant memories of being Prothean; instead of becoming the Leviathan's thralls we regained are will.

"So you are Prothean again?" Kaidan asked confused by the logic.

No. Eons of modifications from the Reapers have changed our race completely; we are still Collectors but remember what it was to be Prothean. Many could not survive the transition and were immediately killed, we are what have survived.

"Why is the Leviathan looking for you?" Liara asked lowering her gun ever so slightly.

The Creators believed they had us in their enthrallment, they were wrong. They were enraged that they had no power over us and wished to destroy us. We may no longer be alive but we do not wish to be killed. The other Collectors looked at one another and Liara could have sworn that several of them would be showing fear if they could.

"So you came here," Liara stated not asking a question.

Yes, one of the last major battles between Prothean and Reapers was on this planet. We felt it was a suitable place for us to inhabit. The Collector then pointed past Liara at the stasis pod behind her. You have the body of a Prothean, a real Prothean. Liara nodded as she lowered her barrier, more from exhaustion then trust however.

"I am honoring his last wish and bringing him here where he is to be put to rest." The Collectors looked at one another before turning back to Liara.

We would like to see him.

"Why?" Liara demanded. The response the Collector gave wasn't what Liara expected.

We wish to know his journey. Liara stared at the Collector for a few moments before dropping her weapon and holstering it. She looked over at Kaidan who was doing the same thing but was shrugging, unsure of what was going on. Liara then walked over to the stasis pod and opened it, allowing the Collector to approach. It wasn't just the one who came but all of them approached Javik's corpse and placed a hand on him. For several minutes the Collectors stood over the Prothean doing nothing but looking at the form, Kaidan came jogging up to Liara with a confused look on his face.

"Well this is a strange turn of events," he said casually.

"Indeed, who would have thought the Leviathan would give sentience back to the Collectors. I wonder how Javik would feel about that."

"If I had to guess, he'd be pissed that they weren't dead." Kaidan replied sadly. Liara nodded in agreement as the Collectors finally moved from their positions, the Collector who had been speaking approached Liara and Kaidan.

Thank you Liara T'soni, we see the part you played in the final Protheans life and we thank you for it.

"How do you know my name?" Liara asked worriedly.

We maintained are abilities to learn through touch, while weak it showed up the last year of his life. His sacrifice will be honored among the last of his people, whatever that is worth to him.

"So… what now?" Kaidan asked addressing the elephant in the room.

You said that you wished to put him to rest? Leave him to us. We will insure that he receives the burial that he deserves as the Prothean who survived the end of the war. Liara and Kaidan looked at one another hesitantly, unsure of what to do.

"You know what he wanted done to his corpse?" Liara asked.

Yes, he wished to be buried amongst the indoctrinated troops he was forced to kill. We know the place and will take him there; you have done your part. We only wish that you not relay are existence to anyone, excluding Commander Shepard. We will trust the knowledge of our existence with no one else. Not waiting for a reply the Collectors returned to Javik and gently removed his corpse from the pod. The Collector's wings then sprouted from their backs as they flew off with Javik in their arms. Liara and Kaidan watched the Collectors fly away until they were out of sight. Finally after a few minutes of silence Kaidan spoke.

"We can never get an easy job can we?" Liara laughed gently.

"No, it seems we can't."

AN: How'd that go? I wanted to put what I think would have happened to the awakened collectors after the war, hopefully you all liked it. Please review, you know I live for those. I'll have the next chapter up ASAP, so until then.