The praetorian evaporated. Shepard stood up and caught her breath. "Everyone all right?" she asked.

Various murmurs of assent.

Her omni-tool beeped. "Shepard, this is Garrus. What's happening?"

She turned, surveying the battlefield. "We fought a praetorian. We're OK, but the particle beam is out of juice." She made a "move out" hand signal, and the group resumed its forward movement. "Have you seen anything?"

Garrus clicked his mandibles. "We just killed a couple of scions. We're fine, for now. But I really hope we don't see any more."

Nog chimed in. "This doesn't make sense. There shouldn't be any heavy troops there."

Kira stopped, her eyes widening. "Of course! They were supposed to die on the collector ship. But we damaged it earlier."

Shepard turned, realizing. "The collectors had to fix it. And to do that, they must've moved collector drones onto the ship, to make repairs. I can't imagine a scion or praetorian using tools."

"That doesn't explain why they left the ship," objected Thane.

"They'd get in the way," replied Miranda. "It's always easier to make repairs with a skeleton crew than a full complement. It may also have scared the collectors." She turned to Kira. "You fired a never-before-seen energy weapon and took out their shields in a single hit. If I were in Harbinger's place, I'd be hedging my bets against something like that. Maybe they assumed the ship would be destroyed soon anyway."

"So this is our fault," said Kira

Shepard shook her head. "Fault doesn't enter into it. You did the right thing." She motioned for the group to continue walking.

Legion's monotonous, gravelly voice made itself heard. "Shepard-Commander, we have reached the central chamber."

"You're not gonna like this," added Dax.

Shepard stopped again. "There's another praetorian, isn't there?"

"Pretty much. It's blocking the entrance. I don't see an obvious way around."

"There is insufficient cover for an extended firefight," added Legion.

"Commander," said Nog. "Your crew is in the central chamber, in these pod... things. They're alive, but not for much longer. I don't know if they would survive a whole praetorian fight."

"Noted," said Shepard. "Legion, let bravo team in. Bravo, once you're clear of the door, get to work on the pods. Legion, stand by and be ready to open the other side."

"Acknowledged," the geth replied.

The group advanced slowly, with Shepard on point and Thane at the rear.

"Where are they?" asked Grunt. "This is worse than the dead reaper."

"They know what we are doing," replied Samara. "They have withdrawn their forces and rallied at their most vulnerable points."

"Well, that's reassuring," remarked Kira.

The comm crackled to life once again. "Shepard, Garrus. We've got the crew, but Bashir is missing. Also... we lost the last of the Horizon colonists."

"You couldn't have saved her," replied Nog.

"A colonist was still alive and Bashir isn't?" mused Shepard. "No, that doesn't add up. They must be keeping him somewhere else."

"Well, we'd better find him quick," said Garrus. "We'd have lost half the crew if we'd waited much longer."

EDI brought up her avatar. "There are a number of unexplored locations within the base. It would be impractical to search them all. I suggest trying to determine what the collectors wanted with him. It would be most efficient to mine their databases for relevant entries."

"Last time you tried that, Harbinger nailed us with an overload," reminded Joker.

"Last time, it expected me and I didn't expect it."

Shepard thought about it. "Do it. We don't have any other options."

As Shepard rounded another corner, she spotted the final stretch and stepped back, signaling the group to halt.

"Praetorian's still there," she whispered. "Legion was right, there isn't nearly enough cover."

"Shepard-Commander: We are awaiting your order to open the door."

"Hey, while you guys are screwing around with that," began Jack. "Try not to get the rest of us killed! If that door opens too soon, this isn't gonna be pretty."

Shepard risked another peek around the bend. She did some rapid mental arithmetic.

"Legion, I want you to open the door 30 seconds after my mark, then close it as soon as everyone's through."

"Acknowledged."

"OK, everyone. We're charging the door."

"Weak!" objected Grunt.

"Are you some kind of idiot?" asked Kira. "We're about to do something insanely risky, almost suicidal, and you have the gall to call it 'weak?' Let me tell you something. When you're in a real fight for your life, you stop caring about how you look real fast." She took a breath. "In real life, nobody cares whether you stand your ground or run your ass off, just so long as you get things done."

Grunt glared at her. "What would you know about that stuff, anyway?"

"I spent years fighting aliens who occupied my planet. Managing risk is important when you're not a 'real' army. Supplies get tight, and good personnel are irreplaceable. Sometimes, yeah, we did some pretty scary things. But they were calculated risks. You run in there, guns blazing, charge that praetorian, and you're not making it out of here alive. You know that. I know that. So let's stop the bullshit and save the damn galaxy already."

Grunt's face took on a surprised expression. He said nothing for several seconds. "My people don't 'calculate,'" he replied. "'Calculating' is for salarians." Mordin started at this, but Shepard elbowed him. "We fight, and we destroy. We don't run."

"Maybe that worked before the genophage," said Kira. "But you can't keep it up. Every time you take a stupid risk, you could lose someone, and you can't afford it. That's what's killing your people. Not the genophage. You have to adapt."

"Why should we adapt to the turians' war crime?" demanded Grunt.

"'War crime?'" repeated Mordin. "Tsk-tsk-tsk. Krogan population growth dangerous, unstable. Needed intervention. Would not have-"

"All right!" interrupted Shepard. "This is a fascinating political discussion, but we have more pressing issues right now. Now, I don't think we're going to survive if we just run at the door, so I'll need Samara to hit the praetorian with a reave." Samara nodded. "Then, I want Thane to detonate it with a warp. As soon as you see that biotic explosion, you run. No gunplay, no looking back, just run. Everyone ready?"