A/N: And because I'm feeling generous and I neglected you yesterday (I believe) . . . have Chapter 13. And, like I said before, reviews are shiny.

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Chapter 13: The Admiral Ackbar Gambit

"We have a visual on the ship, Commander," Joker reported as he dropped the Normandy out of FTL. The ship loomed ahead of them, its hulking mass outsizing their ship several times. Kaidan swallowed. It definitely looked like the ship that had attacked the SR1 . . . and killed Shepard. Even more so from this angle.

Miranda wedged herself through the group, including Thane and Samara, and into the cockpit behind Shepard. Kaidan stared after her.

"What? You hate the cheerleader bitch too?" He glanced back. Jack was leaning against someone's chair with her arms crossed across her chest, the poor operator glancing back up at her repeatedly.

"I wouldn't say I ha—"

"Eh. Face says different, stiff."

"Very low emissions," EDI said from Joker's elbow. "Passive infrared temperatures suggest most systems are offline. Thrusters are cold."

"That thing is massive. How the hell did turians take it out?" Shepard was silent. Joker started to move the ship forward. "Hey, Commander, this is easy. There's no way this is a trap!" He glanced back again, unnerved by the blank expression on Shepard's face. "I'm not serious, Commander. This is totally a trap."

"Joker, your grasp of the obvious is inspiring." Kaidan's stomach twisted when he remembered Shepard delivering the same deadpan line to himself and Garrus on some world they'd investigated for Hackett. A mission involving a nuke and a guy who didn't particularly like her. He swallowed heavily, glancing back at the airlock. "Take us in anyway."

"Ladar scans do not detect any hull breeches on the side facing us," EDI continued. "I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the drive core is offline."

"Rendezvous in thirty seconds, Commander. I don't like this."

"Neither do I."

"Good luck."

Shepard stepped back. "Down to the shuttle, everyone. And get your damn hardsuits on. Quickly."

#

The ship was enormous. It reminded Shepard of a mine – carefully tunneled out by who-knew-what for a horror-vid, husks-around-every-corner zombie movie. Even though EDI had detected no life, Shepard held her shotgun very close to her as they tromped through the ship.

Husks weren't alive, after all.

She'd wanted everyone – Mordin and Tali to study the ship and collect data; Grunt and Zaeed as heavy guns; Garrus as a field commander, if necessary; Kaidan, Samara and Jack as heavy biotics; Thane and Kasumi as scouts, if necessary; and she figured that neither Miranda nor Jacob wanted to sit this one out, so she let them tag along. She felt more comfortable with more firepower at her back, especially if she ensured that they were willing to follow either her own or Garrus' commands if necessary. She wasn't that concerned.

"Shepard." Tali's voice cut through as they jogged along the passage, trying to get through the ghostly ship as quickly as possible. The quarian pointed to a stack of bodies in the hall ahead of them. "Up there."

They reached them quickly, Mordin starting to scan the stack. "Lots of dead meat," Grunt commented off-handedly. Shepard glared at him through her mask.

"They must have been used for testing," Tali said, nudging a loose arm with her foot.

"This is unfortunate," Samara murmured from behind them.

Shepard glanced down the hallway. "What are they doing with live victims?" she murmured, glancing back at the environmental-suit-clad individuals behind her.

"Show evidence of genetic testing. Little else." Mordin's omni-tool disappeared from around his arm.

"Whatever it was, I'd say they didn't pass."

Shepard sighed. "There are things worth than death."

"Makes it feel a lot better." The answer came from Jack, who was staring at the bodies uncomfortably from behind her mask.

"We can't do anything for them now. Mordin, have you collected all your data?"

"All necessary data drawn from subjects. Won't know applicability until back in lab."

"Good." Shepard nodded. "Incinerate the pile. We owe these people that much."

With that, she trotted further into the ship, the others slowly starting after her. Kaidan watched as Mordin tapped a few commands on his omni-tool, encouraging the bodies to ignite. With a half-hearted glance back at the burning pile, Kaidan followed.

What were they doing with the colonists from Horizon?

The entire team was deathly quiet through the base, weapons out and ready at all times. Their steps echoed, from the rough stomping of Grunt to the light footfalls of Kasumi. Everything was magnified, giving the interior of the ship the same air possessed by a tomb – a deserted tomb. "It's too quiet," Shepard finally murmured, finger tensing on the trigger of her shotgun. "I don't like this."

They rounded a corner, Shepard holding up her hand. "Whoa. Blind turn here. Looks like a console." She glanced back. "Maybe we can hack in here, get access to their systems, and high-tail it back to the Normandy. Just in case. Mordin, Tali . . ."

The duo trotted forward while the others guarded the turn, weapons ready for anything headed around it. "Establishing link," Mordin said.

"Shepard." Mordin continued to establish the link, but Tali waved Shepard over. Almost unconsciously, Kaidan followed with a suspicious glance back at Miranda. "This is a Collector."

That caught everyone's attention, even though their eyes remained focused on the door. "So it is," Shepard said, poking it. Yellow goop seeped onto her glove, and she groaned. "That's disgusting."

"Were they experimenting on their own?" Kaidan asked, leaning over her shoulder. Shepard unconsciously wiped her finger off on his shoulder. He made a face, but didn't argue.

"Maybe EDI can figure out what they were doing." Miranda leaned over the Collector corpse, skimming it.

::The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity,:: the AI almost immediately answered.

"Looking for similarities, perhaps. No. Why would they? It –"

::I cannot hypothesize on their motivations. All I have are the preliminary results.:: The AI paused. ::They lead to something remarkable. ::

"Which is?" Shepard asked impatiently.

::A quad-strand genetic structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans.::

A variety of oaths in a variety of languages accompanied the proclamation. Shepard stumbled back from the dead Collector, directly into Kaidan's chest. He steadied her, and she jerked away uncomfortably. "My God," she murmured. "They didn't vanish. They're just working for the Reapers."

::Technically, these are no longer Protheans. Their genes show extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed them to suit their needs.::

"That's a load of shit," Jack said.

"No it isn't." Shepard had gone pale behind her mask, her hand rising as if to rub her forehead. "It's what Saren said. They have a need for organics. This is the need."

"No species should have to suffer through that," Garrus said, staring down at the dead Collector. His expression was unreadable through his mask, but he sounded sad about it.

"We should end their suffering," Samara murmured. "This is unjust."

"This is fucked up," Jack corrected.

"If we get to kill 'em –"

"EDI. Do we have everything you –"

::No. There is a central hub that will allow me better access. Marking its location to your hardsuits.::

"Come on. The sooner we're off this ship, the better." Jacob voiced everyone's opinion. This ship was creepy, and the sooner they were off it, the happier everyone would be.

"Move ou—ooh. What's that?" They turned back to see Shepard bending down, picking up a shiny, tubelike weapon. It sprung into an enormous rifle, nearly as tall as she was. "I like this."

"It's a sniper rifle," Miranda said.

"I noticed."

"You're a vanguard."

"I don't care. I like it." Shepard snapped it onto her back. "Besides, I use sniper rifles. Sometimes they're more fun. Now come on." She retook the lead, still alert, but nearly bouncing in her boots.

Kaidan was always amazed at how much happier Shepard was when she had a new gun to play with. Even in the middle of a creepy insect ship.

#

Shepard stumbled back to the console, slamming her omni-tool into the panel. "Come on, EDI."

The Collectors had set an ambush in the middle of the ship, effectively trapping them on mobile platforms with little to no cover. As Shepard and Tali fought the argumentative console, Kaidan and Mordin moved through and patched up the wounded. Some high-quality tape fixed rips in environmental suits for some; Tali was in the middle of sealing off a section of her arm while trying to help with the console.

The AI finally appeared above the console again, flickering slightly. "I have regained control of the platform, Shepard."

"Thanks."

"I always work at optimal capacity."

A few glances were exchanged behind Shepard's back, not entirely sure what the AI meant. "Right . . ." Tali muttered.

The platform lifted up as EDI took control. "Did you get what we needed?" Miranda asked.

::I found data that could help us navigate the Omega-4 relay. I have also found the turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. The Collectors were the source. It is . . . unusual.::

"I don't think it's that surprising, since they set it," Garrus commented.

::It is unusual because turian emergency channels have secondary encryption. It is present, but corrupted in the message. It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the distress call was genuine.::

"Would ya look at that," Jack said. "Cerberus settin' us up again."

Shepard clenched and unclenched her hands. "Why are you so sure?"

::I located the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols. He wrote them.::

::He knew it was a trap? :: Joker sighed. ::Told you it was a trap.::

"That son of a bitch sent us right into Collector hands." Shepard's hands balled into fists and stayed there for a while. "I swear I'm going to use his head as a coaster."

There was a small pause. "I think that's physically impossible, Shepard," Kaidan said.

She glared at him. "I'll figure out a way to do it."

"I'm sure he had a good reason," Miranda defended.

Tali threw her hands in the air. "Seriously, Lawson? He could have gotten us all killed!"

Garrus shook his head. "And here I thought I'd had my betrayal and attempted murder for the year."

"Perhaps we are jumping to conclusions." Thane had been silent throughout the trip, but finally spoke.

"Not with the Illusive Man. Nothing happens on that ship he doesn't know about."

"Perhaps was necessary. Needed the information. Would have –"

"He could have told me it was a trap. We would have been better prepared." Shepard finally unclenched her hands, taking a deep breath.

"Don't get paid enough for this shit," Zaeed muttered under his breath.

"All right. Either way, we need to get off this ship before the Collectors get on our asses—"

::Uh, Commander?::

Shepard used an incredibly inventive phrase to describe the Illusive Man as Joker finished describing the situation, finishing with a simple, "great."

#

"Hopefully we'll have a straight run to the ship now," Shepard said, dropping down past a ledge. "I don't know how many Collectors they can throw at us, but if they've got scions they've probably got husks." She swung around the corner, shotgun held ready. "I don't know about you but – son of a bitch! Get into cover!"

They did so. Samara risked glancing over the ledge they were on. "Commander, what is . . ."

"Oh, boy," Garrus said, risking the same glance. "This is gonna be fun."

"Garrus." Shepard wrenched the particle beam off her back, one hand prepping it. "Split the team. Anyone good at close quarters, go with Garrus to the floor. Keep shit from getting up here. Everyone else, stick near me. That thing's coming right up here."

Kaidan glanced at the flying bug-thing, then back at Shepard. "Why?"

"It really likes 'er," Zaeed answered.

Shepard glared at the mercenary. "Go."

They split, most of the biotics staying up top with Shepard while the others sprinted down the ramps with Garrus. Almost immediately, a bright blue beam seared the pillar next to Shepard's head as a low, surreal moan filled the chamber.

::Husks!:: Garrus' warning echoed over their headsets. ::Take 'em down before they get in close!::

Shepard poked her head over the side, steadying the particle beam and training it directly on the praetorian. She opened fire, the beam scoring the construct's side. It screeched, a blue beam slamming into her shields as it started towards the platform. She flared, sucking a barrier around her.

Underneath them, Grunt swung his shotgun into a husk with a sickening crack.

"Move! Around the corner!" Shepard motioned with her arm, sending Samara and Jacob running immediately. Samara pushed a few husks out of their way. "Kaidan, go! I'll cover you!" She swung the particle beam as the praetorian started to appear over the rise, a bright yellow beam erupting from the weapon.

Kaidan started to argue but moved out of cover, heading back after Jacob and Samara. The praetorian spotted him, distracted from Shepard for the briefest moment. The blue beam slammed into him, knocking his shields out.

Something else slammed into him as well, sending him flying to the ground. Their comms erupted with a pained yelp, then a burst of static as someone's shorted out. Kaidan rolled onto his back, looking back behind him.

A very confused praetorian was trying to figure out where Shepard had suddenly disappeared to.

::Shepard!:: Garrus' voice erupted over his comm. ::Alenko, we're gonna need you down there! ::

Shit. "Where is she?" Kaidan rolled away from the praetorian, sliding down to the base of the rise.

::Right at the bottom. :: He looked up as Garrus motioned with his rifle before slamming it into a husk's face. Samara was already guarding a crumpled collection of armor that he assumed was Shepard, sending a drone soaring back into one of its companions as it tried to approach her.

Kaidan sprinted across the room, shields flaring as Collectors focused their fire on him. Shepard wasn't moving, her body curled in on itself protectively. His omni-tool flared to life, skimming over her. "Shepard," he whispered, carefully turning her over when the omni failed to indicate serious injuries to her back or head. The praetorian had blasted her armor apart, a large flap of ceramic hanging loose off her side. Underneath, the fitted underarmor she wore was burned away, leaving a large and ugly burn on her side. Kaidan fumbled with some medigel, smearing it onto the wound. "Come on, Shepard."

::Alenko! Status report! :: He suddenly became aware of the others yelling through their comms as they focused fire on the praetorian. He glanced back – the thing was being held back, but still trying to reach them.

Joker cut in on the comm. ::Alenko! What the fuck is going on? Answer us!::

"She's unconscious, but stable," Kaidan reported, scanning again for internal injuries. An injection of medigel took care of the ones the scan found. "She's going to have a hell of a headache when she wakes up."

::Great.:: Garrus' voice silenced debate, the turian switching out his sniper rifle as he spoke. ::Focus on the praetorian! Take it down!::

"Come on," Kaidan whispered, scanning her again. "Don't do this. Not again."

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A/N: Ooh, our first real cliffy! Except that it really isn't . . . ah well.