Disclaimer: I don't own ME


Both Jacob and Tobias focused on Maya when she exited the comm room. She was frowning and she was holding a pistol in her hand. She pressed it against Jacob's chest as she passed him by and the Cerberus agent quickly caught it into his arms before it could fall. Both men followed Maya with questioning looks as she headed to the vending machine.

It took Miranda some time before she left the comm room as well. She was pale, but otherwise seemed like she had shaken off the surprise of seeing Rebecca die by Shepard's hand. Jacob and Tobias frowned when she closed the door behind her.

"Is Rebecca still talking to the boss?" Jacob asked simply and Miranda shot him a quick look. Then her eyes slowly moved to Shepard who was happily chewing a chocolate bar form the vending machine. Being a biotic was a hungry job.

"Rebecca…won't be joining us," she said simply, tearing a laugh from Maya's throat. "Right. She won't," she consented.

Jacob slowly looked at the gun he was still holding, his eyes widening. "What happened?" he asked.

Miranda cleared her throat, trying to buy herself some time. "She exceeded her authority," she uttered eventually.

"Nicely said," Maya nodded, taking another bite.

"You shot her?" Tobias asked quietly looking at Maya as if he'd seen her for the first time in his life. Sure, he knew Maya had killed many people in her life, and would yet kill much more, but…Rebecca? If she had killed her only because she was Cerberus, then he wasn't sure the Lazarus project had been successful. That wasn't the Maya he knew.

"Twice," Maya remarked, tossing the rest of the bar into the nearest garbage bin.

"Why?" he demanded.

Her features hardened. "She murdered someone I held dear, nearly killed my brother as well and as a result of those actions – I died, too. That's enough reasons, don't you think."

"She did?" Jacob wondered. He didn't look as shocked as Tobias. "How do you know?"

"Because she left her signature on the place – the atypical way of making sure they stay down," she hissed and he frowned, remembering Maya's strange reaction. "A bullet above each of her victim's eyes. Not to mention her own eyes." Thanks to the mixed races back on Earth, it was now very uncommon not to have dark hair and eyes. Green irises, even dark green like Rebecca's, were rare. "My brother saw the attacker and though he suffers a sort of amnesia, he managed to remember one tiny, yet very important detail about the attacker. Her dark green eyes," she explained, then hung her head. "It makes me sick to think of how many people suffered because of a simple delusion that I was responsible for killing her father. Jereth Raynolds." Suddenly, Maya wasn't sure killing Rebecca was such a good thing. She'd always thought revenge was beyond her, but here she was; committing something she had always despised and condemned.

The name rang the bell. She could see it in their eyes. They all had been told what had happened on the Citadel. Obviously safe for Rebecca, which led Maya to believe the woman wasn't supposed to become part of her crew.

"I know my way of handling the matter wasn't ideal," she let her surfacing regrets loose, giving in the feeling. "It was spontaneous rather than elaborated, but she deserved every bit o fit," she added firmly, letting them know that despite her remorse she wouldn't hesitate to do it a second time. Paragon turned renegade, the grim thought flashed through her mind.

"Commander," Miranda slowly said, punctuating the uncomfortable silence she created with her confession. "You need to know that Rebecca was acting on her own account, just like Adam had." There was no need to explain who Adam was. "We didn't know about her intentions. But it at least explains her strange behaviour during the Lazarus Project."

Tobias sucked in the air as it dawned on him. "I thought you were just paranoid, watching her all the time! But…oh my god, Miranda, you were right!"

Maya frowned at Miranda, dropping her shoulders a bit. She didn't say anything, but she suddenly realized she didn't have to be here if not for Miranda's hunch. Who knows what Rebecca might have done to her, what changes she might have wanted to perform on her if she had been given the opportunity. She shifted her weight. "So…you and Jacob are supposed to brief me. Here?" she asked in quiet voice.

Miranda smiled slightly, glad they moved to another topic. Or maybe she saw something of May's thoughts surface on her face. "No. I would like to ask you to follow me to the armoury. We've got your equipment ready. If it's sufficient, we'll brief you on our way to the colony."

Maya shrugged. "Well, sufficient or not, my protests won't make you change your decision. So, armoury, huh?"

This station proved to be just as vast the Lazarus station. It took them quite a time, several elevators and countless long hallways before they finally reached the place. Jacob and Tobias immediately headed to the other side of the small room to a couple of lockers, while Miranda led Shepard to a different corner of it. On a table lit with a bright light were pieces of pitch black armour, an omnitool and two weapons. Maya's breath got caught in her throat when she recognized all the equipment. Phalanx, Mattock and of course the black N7 armour. Even the ICT designation was there. The only difference was, all the equipment was visibly brand new. Not even a scratch or it or a dent. It was perfect, like it had been before she used them during the Skyllian Blitz.

"You did take many efforts to make me happy," Maya commented finally, tracing her fingers over the drop of blood next to the seven.

"It's part of your image. And we also thought you'd feel more comfortable with something you are familiar with," Miranda explained their choice.

"I appreciate it," Maya mumbled and then raised her eyebrow. She touched a spot on a sleeve of the armour. It looked like someone had been hastily trying to get something off it, and just as hastily repairing it. It wasn't sloppy, no…but she just noticed.

Miranda sighed. "It didn't occur to the team putting together your equipment that the Cerberus emblem emblazoned on your armour would upset you."

Maya narrowed her eyes, studying the brunette. "The man that greeted us…"

"…was one of them," she nodded. "I told him to solve the problem."

"Okay. Thanks for the thought, Lawson," she said, surprising Miranda.

"Ah…well…anytime, Commander. I'll…go change as well," she said and excused herself.

Without much ado – or caring she had nothing beneath the laboratory garments - she stripped and reached for the pile of clothes neatly folded next to the guns. Whoever had chosen the clothes under her amour, they didn't forget to add some underwear which Shepard appreciated. It wasn't exactly her style, but beggars can't be choosers. She was smiling softly when she was binding her hair into a tight ponytail; she hadn't done it in so many years...

Her heart was beating quickly as she put on the enviro-suit. Something over eight hours ago, the journey from the Lazarus station excluded, she recalled putting it on at the start of her last duty. It was a boring shift as they didn't find anyone responsible for the disappearing ships, or the rest of Saren's geth they had been sent out to hunt. She could vividly remember Ashley and Liara hand-wrestling to kill the time. She remembered talking to Adams in the engine room, pondering how Tali was doing. She remembered trying and finally successfully beating Joker in Battleship after Kaidan had disclosed he really did cheat, using the bridge camera to literally look over her shoulder. She remembered playing poker and hopelessly losing. She remembered Kaidan's quiet promise to make up to her for the defeats later. She remembered the way her heart quickened when he whispered it into her ear.

Don't think about him, don't think about him… she chided herself, closing her eyes to hide the tears and trying to suppress her fear. Two years. Two years had passed for him. What if…what if he…

He growled angrily, then took a few shaky breaths as she fumbled for two familiar and yet strange weapons to slap them into their slots. Then she grabbed the helmet with both her hands and looked at it. She frowned as she studied her reflection in the visor. As twisted as it was, she could see she had the strange red scars on her face too. She touched the one on her cheek tentatively and felt a little confused when it didn't hurt much. More than like pressing a wound it felt like touching a bruise which wasn't anything she couldn't handle without flinching.

Then she shook her head and turned the helmet in her hands, intending to try it on to see if it fitted just like the rest of the armour.

Suddenly, she was on the floor on her hands and knees, panting heavily, her eyes closed tightly. She could feel someone's hand on her shoulder.

"Commander, it's okay. You're safe here. Can you hear me? It's okay now."

"What happened?" she mumbled, her arms trembling uncontrollably. She sat down on the floor, hesitantly looking at them as they were kneeling and crouching around her.

"You seem to be having problems with putting your helmet on, Commander," Miranda explained patiently. Her voice sounded like Maya was six years old and was being told why she had to stay in a bed with flu.

"Huh?"

"You put it on," Tobias stepped in, "then shrieked like someone was killing you and tried to take it off. You smashed it against the floor so hard it cracked."

She chuckled mirthlessly, then started laughing like Tobias wasn't describing her having yet another panic attack but telling her a joke. "Oh my…just look at me! Commander fucking Shepard and she can't put a goddamned helmet on!" She wasn't laughing anymore. She was deeply scowling, sick of her own incompetence.

Yes, she knew it wasn't her fault. But she hated her inability to fight her body's instinct. It remembered the helmet, together with percentage and stars, as the last thing. Jumping to conclusions, it had decided that wearing a helmet meant death. And Maya, as strong-willed as she always considered herself, was unable to reason with her own body.

"I should try again," she mumbled. Maybe it was the surprise. Maybe she wouldn't react so strongly again now that she knew what to expect.

"I don't think it is a good idea, Commander," Miranda uttered slowly.

She looked at the operative. "I'm not going to fight without a helmet. I've seen too many people get killed because they weren't wearing a helmet," Maya replied, shaking her head.

Miranda reached behind her neck and took off some soft of a black collar. "This I use instead of a helmet," she said and handed it to Shepard. "It has its own kinetic barrier so even when the one of your armour collapses, this one still work and keeps on protecting your head."

Maya took the piece of…armour…between her index finger and the middle finger hesitantly. "Handy…" she mumbled.

"And it will also give some time to come to terms with your d…" Miranda started saying, then abruptly stopped and cleared her throat. "…disability, until you are ready to face the causes of your panic attacks."

"So…" Maya drawled, her narrowed brightly green eyes examining the innocently-looking device, "I'm just running away from the problem."

"Yes," Miranda shrugged.

"Fine with me…" she shrugged. She put the collar between her teeth while she was redoing her ponytail she'd ruined by tearing the helmet off her head. Then she put it on. "So…does it work now?"

Miranda nodded, smiling softly. "Like a charm," she said and reached her hands toward Shepard to tuck the collar under her regular armour to make it less visible. Then she rose to her feet. "Now if you excuse me, I need to get myself a helmet. I'll meet you at the shuttle," she excused herself, leaving them.

Maya smiled when she finally noticed her attire. Still skin-tight – all enviro-suits were after all - black and white and actually had a few plates of armour on it for extra protection; but still not enough to elevate the armour into the category of medium armours.

And the heels were gone, too.

"I think you made a mistake," Maya smiled lovingly, tilting her head to her left shoulder slightly. She watched their hands, their intertwined fingers, as they had raised their joined arms in the air. On her finger a simple golden ring with a transparent rock glistened in the light, throwing reflections all around them.

"No, I didn't," Kaidan said simply, turning his head to a side to watch her as she lay next to him. She bit her lip, tugging at his hand to let him know she wanted to drop her arm back on the bed. Then she turned her head to him, her green eyes focusing on him.

She looked thoughtful. "You sure?" she asked, lowering her voice slightly. She looked at his lips, but when he started moving closer to kiss her, she let go of his hand and sat up. "Something isn't as it should be…" she mumbled, looking in the distance. But there was nothing around them. Nothing unusual anyway.

The door was closed, the table lamp was on, her computer was softly whirring. Nothing out of place.

She moved to the edge of the bed, easing her legs slowly on the floor.

"Maya?" he called her when she stood up and headed to the door. She opened it and walked out.

He followed her quickly. He felt like if he didn't catch her, something terrible would happen. "Maya, wait." He was trying, but he was moving so slowly.

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading to the upper deck, looking in the corridor. His heart was pounding. He was afraid she'd walk up and then he'd lose her. He just knew he'd lose her if she climbed the stairs. But she was waiting, looking up into the narrow hallway. When he finally reached her, she turned to him, smiling.

"May…" he said, breathless. He felt like he'd just run a marathon. He could hear ringing in his ears.

"I know what you did wrong," she told him. She leaned closer to him and a strange wave of relief spread through his body. She was about to kiss him. She'd stay with him. Everything would be fine.

He closed his eyes when their lips almost touched. He could smell her perfume, feel the tickle of her breath on his cheek. He felt the heat radiating off her skin. He was about to close the distance between them, when she whispered. "You let me die…"

Kaidan sat up, cold sweat running down his sweat, as he gasped, staring into the darkness of his bedroom. He reached for his omnitool and quickly silenced the ringing of the incoming call. He got out of the bed as quietly as he could and crept to the living room. Shutting the door behind him, he answered the call, but didn't switch to visual.

"Commander?" came a familiar voice from the other side.

"Yeah?" Kaidan whispered, crossing the living room, too. He walked to the bathroom, closing the door.

"We've got an alert from Freedom's Progress. Sir. We're to depart immediately."

"They abducted another one?" he asked, closing his eyes.

"I'm afraid so."

"Right…I'll be there in…forty minutes tops."

"Understood, sir. Eh…sorry for waking you up."

"Don't worry about it…" he mumbled and hung, rubbing his face. He headed to the basin, fumbling for his toothbrush. As sleepy as he still was, he only knocked it off. He froze. What would have been almost inaudible sound during the day, was as loud as a bomb at night. Then he relaxed. Maya wasn't here to be woken by the sound and Rahna didn't have troubles sleeping.

Maya…

Damned dreams… he swore inwardly, finally capturing the elusive toothbrush.

A few minutes later he left the bathroom. He went back to the bedroom and opened his wardrobe, fishing for some clothes he could wear. Casting wary glances at Rahna he pulled out a pair of socks, simple jeans and a shirt. He knew he had his jacket in the entrance hall, so he didn't bother with anything else. He laid the clothes on the bed as he went around it. He lifted the datapad Rahna had left on the bedside table and left her a quick message. Then he looked at her. She was smiling from her sleep, looking calm and happy. Making a sad face, he bent to cover her up to her neck so that she wouldn't feel cold. Then he grabbed his clothes again and headed to the living room to dress.

On the ship, nothing looked like it was a middle of the night on the Citadel. Part of the crew was always up, carrying out their duty as a crew.

"Sir!" a young man welcomed him as soon as he stepped onboard, saluting him. "Captain's waiting to brief you in the comm room. The rest of your shore party has already arrived. We're cleared to go."

"Thank you, Private," Kaidan nodded, heading to the comm room. He felt chills running down his spine as he entered the room and saw the serious faces watching him. "Everybody again?" he simply asked. They knew what he meant. Not a single colonist left behind. Never. He wasn't sure he wanted to go there to explore the ghost town. He was sure they wouldn't find anything, just like they hadn't found anything or anyone on all the previously kidnapped colonies.

"Okay, this gives me the creeps," Maya mumbled when she got off the shuttle. At first sight the colony, Freedom's Progress, looked just like any other colony out there. It looked just like she remembered Mindoir used to appear. Living containers everywhere, piled up to make more space, crates, paths…All the lights were on, she could even hear the sound of TV coming from somewhere nearby. As if the people just left their homes, intending to return, but never came back.

And that was what rubbed her the wrong way. No one was here. Not a single person.

Whatever had happened, it had to be quick. "No signs of battle or resistance," she noted, her eyes scanning the surroundings. How come they hadn't fought? They had to have at least some security measures. The AA towers she'd spotted from above wouldn't leave much evidence on the ground, maybe safe for ruins of ships if they had shot down any, but she couldn't believe it was their only protection. Even Mindoir had a garrison.

She looked on the ground. There was a thin layer of fresh snow and it was still snowing gently. Her breath steamed in front of her face in white puffy clouds. She frowned. If she'd manage to put on a helmet, she'd be protected from the cold. This way she had a feeling like something was trying to eat her ears, biting with small sharp teeth.

"I hate when a place is this quiet," Jacob said as he stopped next to her.

"Quiet? I hear a telly," Tobias opposed. He jumped off the shuttle and turned to help Miranda down. She smiled at him briefly.

"I understand, Jacob," Maya mumbled and took a hold of her Phalanx. "Let's search the place," she said and headed towards the closest container. The snow crackled under their feet as they set off.

"Well, it seems we really did beat the Alliance here," Tobias murmured.

"That's a good thing," Miranda nodded, "at least we can search for clues undisturbed."

"Let's not speak too soon," Maya mumbled. She noticed neither of them was talking loudly as if afraid to actually raise their voices. The colony really felt out of place and somehow it felt wrong to be here.

"So what's behind the door number one?" Tobias mumbled when Maya approached the first container. She frowned as she found out the door was unlocked, but that was only understandable. She doubted the kidnappers waited until the residents secured their houses. She shook her head and pressed the button at the side of the door. Instincts told her to raise her gun and so she found herself aiming the Phalanx at a group of quarians.

Her team – or not her team, but the team tagging along – raised their guns as well and the quarians didn't hesitate to follow suit.

"Stop right there!" one of them shouted. Thanks to the blinking light in his helmet it was easy to identify the speaker and Maya's eyes shot towards the quarian as he made step forward. She couldn't resist a smirk when he actually stepped in front of a gun of his colleague. That was a rookie mistake which told her that this one probably wasn't the brightest of the group.

"Friendly fire, you know what it is?" she couldn't resist asking.

"Commander," Jacob hissed, but Maya didn't hear him. Another quarian suddenly appeared in front of the clever one. She was just as tall as the rest of them, slim, and quick. Her clothes were mostly purple, but in the dusk of the room they seemed more greyish. "Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this!" she said in the typical quarian accent and Maya found herself suddenly lowering her pistol. "Tali?" she mumbled wordlessly as she recognized the voice.

Tali however didn't seem to notice her immediately. She stood between her team and Shepard's – the team that just tagged along with Shepard anyway – her arms outstretched towards both groups as if her body was enough to actually stop gunfire from happening. And then she slowly turned to address the intruders and went completely still. The light in her helmet blinked few times, but no words came out.

"Lower your weapons," Maya barked, looking back at the Cerberus behind her.

"Do you think…" Miranda started, but Maya cut her off with even harsher: "I'm not used to repeat myself, Lawson!"

"You too," Tali turned to her people. "They won't harm us."

"They're Cerberus!" Prazza protested, jerking his head towards Jacob. "I'm not taking any chances with them."

"Put them down!" she raised her voice and Maya smiled sadly. A lot had changed indeed. The Tali she knew wouldn't probably stand up to a whole squad of quarians armed to teeth. But there she was, holding her ground. If Maya had considered her a little bit naïve and childish back on the Normandy, she now had a grown up woman in front of herself.

"Shepard?" Tali turned back to her, dropping her shoulders. "Is that really you? Are you…alive?"

She smiled brightly. "I see the files about geth I gave you helped with your Pilgrimage. Look at yourself. You're leading your own team," Maya gestured to her, feeling so proud of her as if Tali was her child.

"The files…so it is you," she mumbled. "But…you died. It was everywhere! You died!"

"Maybe she just faked her death to join Cerberus?" Prazza offered a possible explanation.

"Come on, Tali," Maya started saying, shooting a murderous look at the other quarian. "You know me better than that. And I don't work for Cerberus. I wouldn't have been here if I hadn't…" the words got stuck in her throat. "If I hadn't…" She could feel her heart quickening. So she gave up, not wanting to risk another panic attack. "They…found me and spent two years nourishing me back to health after the attack. They told me about the abductions and…Tali, Cerberus agents behind my back or not…I'm not working for them. I'm trying to investigate what has happened here and make sure it won't happen again."

"Likely story," Prazza blurted out, crossing his arms. Maya only hoped he had the safety catch on on the gun as he did so. "No one would commit so many resources to bring back one soldier."

"I don't care about your opinion," Maya growled, finding she had little patience with the quarian. "You know nothing about me."

"I know you're Cerberus," he shot back. "That's enough for me."

"Quiet!" Tali snapped at him. Then she turned to Shepard. "Maybe we could work together, Shepard," she offered. "You want to search this place and so do we. We're looking for a young quarian on his Pilgrimage named Veetor."

"Pilgrimage?" Maya echoed. "Here? There's not much to discover, is there?"

Tali shrugged. "Veetor was always nervous in crowds," she said slowly, carefully choosing her words.

"He was unstable," Prazza said unscrupulously. "Combine that with damage to his CO2 scrubbers and an infection from open-air exposure, and he's likely delirious."

Tali nodded hesitantly. "When he saw us landing he hid in the warehouse on the far side of the town. We suspect he also programmed mechs to attack anything that moved."

The info about the mechs was useful. It was always nice to know in advance what you were up against. Maya nodded. "Then let's go find Veetor. And when we do, could I ask him a few questions about what happened here? He's probably the only survivor and his testimony might be very important."

"If you're careful enough," Tali nodded.

Prazza snorted. "So now we're working for Cerberus?"

Unperturbed, Tali turned to him. "No, Prazza. You're working for me. If you can't follow orders, go wait on the ship."

Maya smirked. That's my girl, she thought happily. Then she turned around. She had her own people to scowl at "Do I want to know the reason why these quarians hate you so much? Apart from the obvious we-hate-anything-non-human credo?"

"It has no relation to our mission, Commander," Miranda replied immediately.

She frowned. "You know, the more I think about it, the more I find TIM's decision not to meet me face-to-face smart. He might have joined Rebecca," she said coldly and shook her head, following Tali.

"Drone down!" one of the quarians shouted after the colony had fallen silent after the rapid firefight.

"Anybody hurt?" Maya asked, consulting her own omnitool. Not being able to wear a helmet was becoming bigger and bigger nuisance every second. The information that would have been displayed on the inside of the visor she now had to get by scanning herself with her omnitool, which of course took some time and was unthinkable during the actual fights.

Tali looked at her, intending to say that all her people were okay. But then Maya suddenly tensed and paled. Her nostrils flared, her eyes wide, and she started shaking. "Shepard…" Tali started asking if she was right when one of the Cerberus darted to the Commander. The man Maya called Tobias wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him with such a force that Tali was afraid he would crush her.

He was talking quickly, but too quietly for Tali to understand a word of it. Then she looked at the rest of Cerberus agents to find them watching the Commander intently, worry written over their faces. What was going on?"

"I'm fine…" she finally heard May's voice rasp out.

"You sure?"

"Yeah…I am only the greatest idiot in this galaxy and checked the status of my kinetic barrier. And suddenly I had only eighty percent of oxygen left."

Tali frowned. Eighty percent of oxygen left? "Shepard, are you feeling alright?" she asked finally, stepping closer to the two of them. Tobias finally let her go and so Maya looked at her. She was still pale, but she nodded. "Yeah. I am. Don't worry about me." She took a deep breath. "Lawson? Jacob? You okay?"

"Not even a scratch, Commander," Jacob replied, while Miranda only nodded.

"Your people, Tali?"

"Fine…" she replied hesitantly. She still couldn't shake off the feeling something was seriously wrong about Shepard.

Prazza, not giving a damn about the Cerberus, was checking his omnitool. "Veetor should be right behind this last door," he pointed to the large gate leading to the colony's small square. He didn't wait for Tali or anyone else of his own team and headed to the panel next to it. He pushed it and headed inside when the gate opened enough for him to walk through.

Gunshots of an automatic weapon punctuated the silence. Clanking of bullets as they ricocheted off the concrete ground filled the air as both quarian and human teams scattered to find a cover. The biggest mech Maya had ever seen stood in the middle of the square, showering them with bullets from its built-in machine gun mercilessly.

One of the quarians reacted swiftly. He threw a gas grenade in to create a screen. "Go in!" he screamed and ran from his cover.

No one hesitated. Their weapons didn't have that long range and they simply needed to get closer to the mech in order to get rid of it. Bullets wheezed through the air around them as they ran inside the square.

Erecting a barrier around herself, Maya left her cover as well and briskly ran through the door. Keeping along the walls, she managed to find a container to hide behind, and she crept by it to its end. Before she managed to peek out, the mech stopped firing finally. The quiet that stretched was but only a lull for the next second an explosion shook the place violently.

Her earpiece crackled quietly. "It has a rocket launcher!" Maya could hear Miranda state the obvious.

Maya frowned, feeling desperate. This could very quickly end in the most terrible scenario possible. The smoke screen, which gave them the opportunity to move in closer, was also their disadvantage. It was covering more than a half of the square now and was still spreading, and it made it impossible to see where everyone was. With the limited visual, it was unlikely to come up with any possible strategy to finish off the mech before it would massacre them all. And according to the screaming and the renewed gunfire, it had already found someone.

"Lawson!" Maya screamed, despite knowing the brunette would hear her loud and clear over the comm. "You're a biotic, aren't you?" She didn't ask for her to confirm. Maya always could tell when meeting another biotic, and according to Kaidan it was a talent all biotics shared. "Can you create a singularity? We need to get rid of the smoke now!"

"Negative, Commander!" the Cerberus replied immediately. A sound of fire came from the other side as well, so she had to be near the action. "But you can!"

"What? No, I can't. I'm more a tech than a biotic!" Maya protested immediately.

"Yes, before Alchera, you were. Now you're L5 biotic! I should know. I was there when they installed the implants! Surely you must have noticed the boost in your pow—" Whatever she was about to say, she screamed instead, cursing into the comm.

"Lawson!"

"Miranda's been hit!" Jacob came in as well.

"Lawson! But I don't know how!" Maya screamed as another rocket exploded, this time much closer to her cover. The fact she was L5 instead of L3 somehow didn't register as weird. She had more pressing matters at hand. Like yet another explosion very, very close to her.

"How did I do it?"

"How do you lift a finger?"

"I just…do it."

"But how?"

"I don't know. It's an impulse from my brain that makes the muscles move."

"With biotic it's the same. You don't have to know how, just know that when you want you'll do it. Just like now."

She closed her eyes. Hope you knew what you were talking about, Kaidan, she thought fervently and jumped from behind her cover. She couldn't see the mech safe for the flashes of light from its machine gun. The sight quickly disappeared when she closed her eyes once again, trying to focus.

Even through her closed lids she could she the blue aura when biotic energy enveloped her body in a heartbeat and she tried to concentrate it into creating the most destructive biotic attack that had ever been used. Singularity was the most powerful kind of mass effect fields created by a sphere of dark energy. It had the power to create gravity well that could drain light or air, power of any nearby kinetic barriers, depleting it like it was under heavy fire, or even other biotic barriers or attacks.

Because if not, we're dead before I can say…"Singularity…" she mumbled when she finally opened her eyes. Her body jerked forward, following the pull of the black and dark blue whirling cloud of mass effect fields. Maya quickly dived behind the much heavier crate that was still resisting the gravity of the singularity, hoping it wouldn't get out of hand. She wasn't confident she knew how to stop it if it had.

"Damned rocket drones!" one of his soldiers swore, kicking what was left of the machine after it fell. Ever since their shuttle arrived they had been under constant fire from them or the mechs, and according to the distant shooting coming from the other side of the colony they weren't the only ones.

Kaidan still wasn't sure what to think about the gunfire. He'd never before heard about anyone surviving the abduction, but there simply had to be some survivors still fighting.

But what was the most weird, what had made him tense and made the hair on the back of his neck raise, was what he felt right now. His fingers were tingling and he could hear and feel and sense the crack of statics nearby.

"Sir? Is something wrong?" a voice asked him, the only woman on their team.

"Singularity…" he whispered, his head turned towards it. He could feel it. He knew it came from the direction and it was very powerful.

"What, sir?"

"Biotics. Someone's just used the dark energy to create a very tiny version of a black hole," he explained, already used to dealing with people who had no idea what singularity meant. Somehow he doubted any of the colonist could be that powerful biotics without the Alliance knowing it – and he'd read all the information about Freedom's Progress on his way here. That meant that those weren't the colony's citizens after all.


To be continued. Thank you all for reading, guys!