(Abby)
"The headache is getting worse," I told Shepard, grimacing in pain. "And the ringing. Do you hear that?"
"Yeah," Jacob said.
"The more unbearable it gets, the more the Reaper is trying to indoctrinate you," I surmised. "Until you submit, I suppose. We need to lean on each other here - if something starts feeling out of the ordinary, we have to say something."
"Here they come," Shepard said, retreating to a safe distance. Above us, the injection tubes continued to open and close sporadically. "Zaeed, take out the scion on the left. Abby - right."
I dropped behind cover and took aim through the sniper scope, my finger twitching in anticipation of the shot. As soon as the incoming platform connected with ours, I fired. The bolt penetrated the scion's strange, lopsided head and pushed it back a few feet, but it was still coming. It took three more solid headshots to put it down entirely.
As I worked, Shepard and Jacob focused on the smaller objectives. The Collectors were coming in fast, accompanied by husks and the like. One after one they were picked off either by a subtle display of biotic power or their superior aim.
I heard the tubes above us begin to open. I laid down on the floor and aimed upwards with my sidearm, squeezing off as many rounds as I could before the tubes closed again, but not before I saw satisfactory white cracks appear on the tempered glass.
"Focus on the rightmost one when it opens up again!" Shepard ordered.
When they opened up again, all four of us turned and concentrated our fire on the opening. It was actually kind of cool in hindsight. All at once, the glass seemed to break and shatter. The lift holding it up broke off with a loud screech of metal. The orange liquid inside of it spilled like an egg out of its yolk, falling down, down, down into the abyss below. One of the bigger pieces of the lift fell on one of the platforms, disengaging it from the others and bringing it down with it.
"Look at the workers," I breathed, ducking down behind cover again. About half of them were scattering away from their positions to fly down to the fallen debries. "There's no way they can lift that by themselves."
"Something's telling me that they're a lot dumber when Harbinger isn't paying attention to them," Shepard said. "Zaeed!"
I whipped around just in time to see a group of abominations leap at the grizzled warrior. Harbinger followed close behind him, his fists clenched.
Zaeed's body suddenly jerked backwards and slid along cover until it rested right beside Shepard, who was humming with biotic energy. "Jacob, now!" she yelled.
Jacob stood up and fired his assault rifle at the abominations as Harbinger raised his hand to attack. Just as the Reaper lurched forward, Jacob's biotics suddenly came into play - Harbinger's arm was pulled down with brutal strength until it was touching the floor. Confused, he unleashed his attack...but it wasn't going where he'd intended it to.
The abominations flew off of the platform and Harbinger's body dropped to the ground, its neck broken. The body dissolved away into ashes.
However, it wasn't long before Harbinger possessed another form, making a proclaimation that if we killed one then one hundred more would take its place. It simply reinforced the fact that there were many, many Collectors here... and they meant nothing to Harbinger. They would simply keep coming and he would simply keep possessing one after another.
Another wave of enemies came us, a combination of husks, scions and Collectors. And this time, there were three Collector snipers armed with particle beam rifles.
"Shit," Jacob cursed, "looks like they're pulling out all the stops."
"They want to protect their new abomination," Zaeed deduced.
"The others have it worse," Shepard said, and then there was no more time for talking. We were too busy taking out enemies left and right to focus on anything else.
Suddenly, the tubes opened again. Shepard barked an order and all of us spared as many shots as we could on the rightmost one she had indicated before. It did the trick; the glass cracked, splintered, and then burst. The fluids within spilled out, and the Reaper began to lean a bit as some of the support from above gave out.
The fighting continued, and I no longer paid much attention to how much time passed. It mostly consisted of following Shepard's orders, using my own judgement at times, and aiming at the correct tube when they became visable. One by one, we managed to take each of them down.
Finally we had only one tube left, and from the way the human-Reaper was swaying, it seemed that the final support structure was barely holding it up. Perhaps if it stayed that way long enough-without repair-it would eventually fall on its own. But we weren't here to wait, we were here to finish it off.
"Now!" Zaeed yelled.
And that did it. The final tube shattered and bled its vile contents as the final support structure gave out.
"Hell, yes!" Zaeed cheered.
The human Reaper seemed to bow before us, straining against the various wires and tubing holding it up. Orange liquid spilled out of the spinal discs and gathered on the bottom to drip off into the darkness. Metal groaned and shook as it collapsed in upon itself, and the four of us backpedaled quickly to the platform behind us as the one we were standing on collapsed and fell from the strain.
There was something about the Reaper's fall that was mesmerizing in a way I couldn't explain. It was such a huge, colossal thing, after all. The workers on it scrambled for purchase, some even flying to repair the wires, but there was no helping it. The Reaper broke the last wire and fell beyond all sight.
"Shepard to ground team," the Commander snapped. "Status report!"
"It's Thane. We are holding, but they keep coming. A quick exit is preferable."
"Head to the Normandy," she ordered, jogging towards the center of our platform. "Joker, prep the engines. I'm about to overload this place and blow it sky high."
"Roger that, Commander!"
She knelt down and popped open the core with a twist of her hand. A cylindrical computer buzzed to existence.
"Shepard," Joker buzzed back in. "We're getting a signal from the Illusive Man. EDI's patching it through."
Shepard glanced up at me, and I merely nodded. Jacob activated his omni tool, and a life-sized figure of the Illusive Man sprang forth. He was dressed in one of his designer suits, as usual, and his hair was combed back to perfection. His vivid blue eyes stared at the Commander indicatively.
"Shepard," the Illusive Man said, his arms clasped behind him, "you have done the impossible."
"Not yet I haven't," said the Commander, turning to open up the computer. "I still have to destroy this base."
"Not necessary- I have a better option," he said smoothly. "I'm looking at the schematics EDI uploaded. A timed radiation pulse could kill any remaining Collectors, and we could utilize any remaining technology and machinery intact." He looked triumphant. "This is our chance, Shepard. They were building a Reaper. That knowledge, that framework, could save us."
I refused to look at her, staring at my boots.
I heard her stand and cross over to the Illusive Man until she was standing right in front of him. Her sharp brown eyes searched his. "It's not exactly portable. What are you suggesting?"
"Our best chance against the Reapers is to turn their own resources against them. They were working directly with the Collectors - who knows what information is buried here! This base is a gift, we can't just destroy it."
Zaeed made a noise in the back of his throat like he was about to interrupt, but didn't.
Shepard shook her head. "You're a ruthless bastard. Next thing I know, you'll want to grow your own Reaper."
"My goal is to save humanity from the Reapers at any cost," he said, his mouth forming a grim line. "I've never hidden that from you. Imagine how many lives could be saved if we keep this base intact and use this knowledge to fight the Reapers. Imagine the lives that will be lost if we don't."
Shepard was already shaking her head. "No. No matter how many kinds of technology we may find, it's not worth it. You should know that."
"Shepard!" The Illusive Man was getting tense. I could tell. "You died fighting for what you believed. I brought you back so you could keep fighting. Some would say what we did to you was going too far, but look at what you've accomplished. I didn't discard you because I knew your value. Don't be so quick to discard this facility. Think of the potential!"
"We'll fight and win without it," Shepard said firmly. "I won't let fear compromise who I am."
I grinned. I couldn't help it. Seeing the Illusive Man lose the upper hand in a conversation was entertaining.
The Illusive Man turned around. "Jacob, stop this."
Jacob looked at Shepard, and then he snorted. "Or what? You'll replace me, too?"
"I'm giving you an order, Jacob!"
"Then consider this my resignation," he said. "Team Milky Way - out!"
And he shut off the link. The Illusive Man disappeared.
I stared at him blankly. "How did you just come up with that?" I demanded.
He shrugged.
"I hope I just made the right choice," Shepard said, placing a data disc into the center of the drive. Tali and Mordin had prepared it before the jump.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "But it feels right. They will turn on you, you know. I believe the Illusive Man may become indoctrinated in the future."
Shepard placed the computer back into the core. "There. We'll have ten minutes to get out before we blow this place to hell-"
Pain.
I screamed and fell to my knees, holding my head in my hands. The pain had suddenly intensified with no warning, like a jackhammer was drilling underneath my skull. The ringing was louder than I'd ever thought it could become - my head was splitting open, it had to be.
I had the vague sensation of our platform moving like a ship at turbulent seas, and the sound of screeching metal. A robotic scream.
Hands dragged me behind cover and forcibly opened my eyes - Shepard's face floated in front of me, her expression drawn with pain. "My head," I whispered. "It hurts so bad."
Shepard suddenly hugged me, drawing me closer to cover. My vision was filled with orange light, and the smell of burning metal seemed to permeate everything. She'd saved me, for the moment.
You have hurt me.
I whimpered. The voice… that voice was not Harbinger's.
You have defiled this place. You have killed my caretakers.
"I'm SORRY!" I yelled. The pain only grew, until I was screaming.
I bleed because of an adolescent human. You may be older, but I contain a wealth of experience far beyond your own limited horizons.
I thought that I could hear sounds...maybe. The voice and the consciousness were all that I could pay attention to. I was reduced to a shaking, crying little girl in a corner. I couldn't even remember where I was, only that I had done a great wrong.
I will not bleed again for you.
I had the sudden urge to stand up, so I did, sniffing and rubbing my eyes. My weapons fell from my hands.
You see the future. Did you see this?
Step. Step. Step. The sounds of the battle faded away. All I could hear were my own footsteps on the heated metal, all I could feel was the cloying consciousness surrounding me, and all that I could see was a large, metal face so reminiscent of a skull, in front of whom was a glowing Collector.
I thought I heard the screams of humans. It pleased my controller.
I stood next to Harbinger, looking him in the eyes. A burning consciousness looked back, and I almost thought that he seemed... happy.
I walked past him without incident, close enough to brush his burning and cracked flesh.
I stood at the very edge of the platform, staring at the human Reaper's skull-like face. He looked like Death himself. This comparison pleased him.
Harbinger's harder, much more deft consciousness joined with the other Reaper's, and I felt as though my mind was about to break from the sheer strain of it.
Tell us.
I groaned. "Visions..." I whispered. "Visions..." I panted heavily. "Ungh..."
A vision of Sarah's corpse stood before me. HK's wide eyes.
Shepard's dead eyes stared up at mine unseeingly, next to the bodies of Jacob and Zaeed. The Collectors knelt down to remove the destruction order in the core computer.
It was no good to resist. They would die anyway. They would... win.
"It started... with... a wish..." I whispered. "And it ended... here. But... can't... won't... tell. Kill me."
She screams for you to help us. Can you not hear her?
I thought I saw Shepard's tear-streaked face appeared in front of me. "Tell them - look, you tell them what they need to know. They said they'll let you go. Damn it, that's an order! Tell them!"
That couldn't be Shepard. She'd never tell me to work with the Reapers – and she'd never cry about it, either. "Won't let... fear... compromise who I... am. Kill me."
TELL US.
"Kill..."
I had the urge to take several steps forward. I acted on it instinctively, trembling. The ringing became very intense, and for a moment I thought that, maybe, it was music.
I could see my death before me. A couple of more steps and I would fall off of the platform and to my salvation. Only death could free me from this pain. I would be like an angel spreading its wings, free from the hurt of this unclean existence.
I prepared myself to jump.
A hard, muscular body wrapped its arms about my chest and dragged me back. I struggled vainly, to no effect. I saw a blur of black grapple with Harbinger. Jacob released such a wave of biotic energy as I'd never seen before, pushing Harbinger and the husks I hadn't noticed surrounding him off of the platform. I'd never seen something that powerful from him before.
The human Reaper screamed in pain. From what, I did not know. My hearing was gradually coming back.
The arms around me disappeared and I was left standing there. Another Collector turned into Harbinger and walked right in front of me, too close for my shields to engage.
And suddenly, I knew how I was going to die.
He brought his assault rifle up with one glowing arm and pulled the trigger.
I dropped.
And now, I could hear the world perfectly. I heard the screams - Shepard's, mainly, yelling at Jacob to get back to cover. Zaeed was shouting at Harbinger, expelling round after round into the Collector's frame. Jacob yelled, "I got her!" and then I felt arms picking me up, bringing me back to cover.
And then in one, glorious second, the ringing in my head disappeared entirely.
The human Reaper was screaming now, screeching in pain. My eyes were squeezed shut. The platform rocked violently, and suddenly we were falling.
"Zaeed!" Jacob shouted, holding on to me tightly.
"I have him!"
The platform shifted again, and from the drop in my stomach I surmised we were falling, and falling quickly. Jacob and I were sliding along the platform, and I could hear his heavy breathing in my ear, smell the stench of his sweaty armpits. He pulled me up, mumbling words I couldn't hear, and then I heard him gasp.
Something hit us very, very hard, and then I didn't feel anything at all.
"Do you copy? Come on, don't leave me hanging here, Commander, do you copy?"
"We're here, Joker, I copy." I blinked, confused. Jacob's face was suddenly all I could see. "Did the ground team make it?"
"One casualty. But we're waiting for you now."
Jacob was bleeding pretty heavily from a head wound. That's all I could think about as he picked me up like a kid and cradled me in his arms. I'd dropped my weapons somewhere… somewhere else.
There was a flapping of wings that I didn't quite understand, but Jacob suddenly took off. My head kept bouncing against his chest. There was a pain in my chest I didn't really understand, and breathing… breathing hurt so, so much…
HUMAN.
I groaned.
You've changed nothing. Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater.
Jacob was running fast. I could hear gunshots and the telltale sound of bullets being deflected off of a biotic barrier. Behind us, I heard an explosion.
Slower, now. Going uphill. "Keep it steady, keep it steady," Jacob was growling. "Ungh, you're heavy, damn it."
I chanced a look around, gasping for air. Everything seemed brighter, more vivid, than I'd remembered. The colors blurred together.
"Hold on. You just need to hold on."
But even as the words processed, my eyes closed.
