This was it. We were heading for the Collector base. The gunship didn't have the strongest inertial dampeners, so we were feeling it as it shook, turned, bobbed, and weaved. Baker was going over the plan once more, and updating as we got more intel from the scout ships. It wasn't just us, we had an escort, and even one of the asari ships had peeled off to cover us as we moved.
"We have one advantage," Baker was saying. "They're not expecting us. They never expected anyone to come through."
A projection came to life, and I recognized it immediately. The map of the base Pathize had put together based on what I remembered. There was more detail now, which was coming from our scouts.
"This ventilation shaft is the main route for our tech expert to bring us in and disable their security system," Baker said, nodding at Sokel. So the drell was our tech expert. Made sense, if collector tech was based off prothean tech. "And team alpha will be clearing the route for blockages. Intel from the marines boarding the collector ships confirmed most of the collectors to be sporting biotic barriers, so keep the phasic rounds handy. Once we have cleared it, and the internal systems are hacked, we'll rendezvous here."
"Sir," I said. "What about the crew of the Chadwik? If they're in here, they'll be in the central chamber."
"We don't know that," the Commander replied. "But if they are, the marines will handle it."
I nodded and kept quiet. No room to complain really, and he had a point. The question was whether the marines would be ready for that or not. I mentally shook myself and tried to stop thinking about it. No reason to borrow trouble before we got there, and we had enough of it as it was. I looked around. The rest of the N7s were taking it in like just another Tuesday.
"Once we get past all that, the objective is up here. Main controls, where we'll be able to overload the main reactor if necessary. The idea is not to do so unless necessary, but it will depend on what the situation is. We have the equipment to modify the blast into a neutron pulse, assuming the reactor technology they have is compatible," he added, pointing at the two cases two of the N7s had taken, "so as to not damage the superstructure. Space debris from a place this big could be quite dangerous to the fleet."
"And how are we getting to the top?" one of the N7s said. "Looks like a lot of empty space."
"The collectors do not rely on established structures," Sokel, of all people, replied. "Large spaces like that are used as a flexible habitat. Modular structures and platforms are put together as needed. We will have to hijack some of them."
"And you know how to do that?"
"There should be no security involved, it is nothing more than a generic tool."
I was pretty sure he was talking about the protheans, not the collectors, but it fit perfectly with what I knew.
"We're approaching the target!" the pilot called, in a voice that was unexpectedly frantic. "You better hurry or we'll be sitting ducks!"
"Let's move people!" Baker called.
I felt the ship shift around as we approached, and we got ready for drop. Pre-established order, everyone in two rows. Despite the fact that I had a pretty good idea of what was coming, my heart was pounding. A lot depended on whether I had been right about what I thought I knew, and even more so if something went south and I had to be the one to figure it out. Or maybe I didn't remember everything. Or who knows what. I hesitated, contemplating whether to hit the stims or not, but decided against it. I couldn't abuse them, or I'd risk a critical implant failure again mid-mission, and this time there was a good chance nobody would pick me up. Also, nobody else hit the stims either.
Freaking N7s.
The doors opened.
"Go go go!"
I pushed forward and followed the N7 in front of me. There was very little gravity at first, and I floated for an embarrassingly long time due to not having pushed myself down hard enough, but eventually my boots found the surface, and the magboots kicked in to keep me in place. Rock, but enough metal going through it to keep me in place. Luckily, no shots greeted us. No collectors waiting for our arrival. I looked around as we pushed towards our respective entrances, and could barely see anything. Flashes of light in the distance, the fast movement of indistinct points of light in the distance. Space is big, and space battles are, too.
There were no shouted orders, no frantic words. Baker gestured as we approached, and the teams split. Alpha was Baker, Pathize, one of the N7s, and me. Yes, after all that, I still didn't have any of their names. A quick look told me that was "Three". I still wasn't sure if they always just used numbers, or they were screwing with me. Sokel headed for the hatch, while the bulk of the team - six in total - made for the main passage.
We hadn't taken three steps in before the Collectors showed up. There was a buzz in the air as a bunch of seeker swarms came rushing out, and I was on pins and needles just watching them, but to my infinite relief, they ignored us. I looked at Pathize, and she was wreathed in biotic energy, hand up as if she was ready to put a biotic bubble up. She nodded at me and lowered her hand, reaching for her heavy pistol instead. The actual collectors followed soon, buzzing down with their insectoid wings and shooting at us as they did. I rushed to cover while the rest of the team returned fire, and pulled out the mamba. It was a wide space, very wide. Wider than the training scenario, but not by much.
"Morgan!" the Commander called.
"Pipe's right ahead sir, terminal shouldn't be far from here," I replied.
"Good, keep your eyes open, and stay at the back. Move!"
We pushed forward as the collectors opened fire again, but Baker didn't wait for another second. He vaulted over one of the barriers under a barrage of fire, while I laid down as much cover as I could. The Mamba was doing well, but it still took three or four shots to get through the drones. Too close to scope, and a bit far with all the stuff in the way. Adapt and overcome. I switched to three-shot burst on the Mamba and started shooting again.
"I've reached the first bulkhead," Sokel said. "It's warm inside, but nothing too serious."
Damn, we had to move. Bad things happen if one let the tech expert in the tube for too long. I was about to vault over and push when I caught a glimpse of something else. A straight beam. Crap.
"Beam weapon! Get to cover!" I yelled, tracking the beam back to its origin. I heard someone yell. Shit. It was quite far. I took a deep breath, and jumped out of cover.
Implants kicked in. Aim. Fire until it's dead. My gun tracked the collector as it darted around in the air. They moved fast, far faster than I had anticipated. Burst. Burst. The Mamba overheated, but the last burst punched through and the collector's head snapped back, falling to its doom shortly after.
"What the hell's that!" Baker yelled.
"Portable thanix," I said. "It's a lot stronger than I expected!" Did I mention it? I was sure I had mentioned it at some point during the training. Maybe I didn't exactly highlight how dangerous it could be. I didn't remember it being dangerous, but it had literally cut one of the short walls in half as it fired. I racked the Mamba and pulled the Widow out. Time to see what it could really do in a pinch.
"Three, status!" Baker said.
"No damage, I'm good!"
"Then let's go!"
I jumped out of cover, trying to catch up with the rest. As I did, a second batch of collectors flew down, taking defensive positions in front of the pipe. A barrage of bullets hit my kinetic barriers, forcing me to backtrack and fall rather ungraciously into cover. Shit, they were a lot more trigger happy than I expected. I saw a collector take flight again, high enough to shoot over my cover, but a moment later he was covered in biotic energy, and was instantly yanked off the air to slam on the floor with a resounding thud.
"Morgan, don't get bogged down!" Baker called. "Cover me!"
Shit!
I pulled out of cover as the Commander did, barely taking a moment to assess the situation. Pathize, Three, they had the wider cover handled. The implants kicked in, and I lined the shot. The Widow kicked as always, and a collector's head turned into a splatter as I pulled on the load lever. The heatsink hadn't touched the ground and I had already lined the second, the implants pushing close a second time. There was a narrow window between him and the Commander from my position, but I had to take the collector out and give him a free run. The bullet passed just above his shoulder, and once again the collector turned into a lifeless, headless husk.
And I turned for a moment into jello, so had to drop in cover to get my bearings back.
"It's getting dangerously hot in here," Sokel called.
"We're coming!" Baker replied.
With a deep breath I poked my head out, but there was no need. What I needed to do was push, because the others had it under control. The last two collectors were shooting from a very precarious position, and their flimsy cover was getting pummeled by biotics and bullets. I racked the very heavy Widow and legged it up, already looking for the terminal. It all looked like I expected, with just a few differences. But while the simulation had the safety valve as a big, easily pushable green button next to the pipe, I couldn't see anything of the kind.
"Where's the release?" I called. "I don't see it!"
"Scanning," Three called, his omni-tool scan running over the pipe as he spoke.
"Morgan, focus!" Baker called. "We have incoming!"
Crap. Sokel was in the pipe, no terminal to be found, and still trying to figure out how to shoot these things. The Widow was doing a good job, sure, but I had just so many thermal clips on me. The freaking collectors flew fast, were agile, and were tougher than I had been led to believe. But there was nothing to it now, we were in the thick of it, and we had to blow the place to kingdom come. I took down two more flying collectors with the Widow, and dropped deeper into cover as more bullets started chipping at it.
"Found it!" Three called. "Opening now!"
A moment later, and to my infinite relief, Sokel answered.
"It's open, temperature dropping. Moving on to the next one."
One down. And if anything I knew was right, seven more to go. With my luck, it'd be two dozen. I just hoped the rest of the fleet were having more luck, Shepard included.
"Suppressing fire! Nothing gets past these doors!" the Commander yelled.
Which was kind of funny when the doors slammed shut basically the instant he stopped talking. I wished for a moment that I was actually good at reading drell facial expressions. Alas, it'd have to stay a mystery, because I was damn sure he'd deny it to his deathbed, whether he did it or not.
"Status," the Commander called, unfazed by it all.
"Everyone accounted for," one of the N7s responded. "Tough bastards, but we made it through."
"I am unharmed," Pathize added.
"Morgan?"
"All good Commander," I replied.
I had gone through most of my extra thermal clips for the Widow, so I had to economize. The big fight was still ahead of us, I expected the platforms to get to the top of the base were going to be a hell of a fight. And... Well, I hoped there wouldn't be a freaking baby reaper waiting, but at that point, nothing was going to surprise me. It had ended up being eight blockages, as expected, and while the first one had taken some effort to get to, find, and open, the rest followed the same pattern as the first one. And N7s know how to adapt, so one less thing to worry about was great. Still, never really felt like I got in the groove of the fight. While we were taking stock of the situation, I took the chance to go through the Mamba's VI and reprogram the burst mode. Four shots. That meant three bursts and no room for anything else before overheating. Not great, but the situation seemed to call for it.
"What's it look like?" Baker said, gesturing around while looking at me.
I followed the gesture with my eyes. It was a wider space, and the tubes going over the ceiling were coming down over the wall and around the corner from where we were. A few bugs still buzzed around, but were ignoring us.
"Looks like what we expected, sir. Pods should be around the corner."
"Codes have been scrambled," Sokel said. "It will take them some time to open this door."
"Was... was the code what you expected?" I said, hoping he'd get my meaning. Was it prothean?
"Largely, yes. It gives us an advantage, I don't believe they expected us to be able to easily access it."
"I'll take any advantage we can get," Baker. "Move out people."
With well practiced ease, everyone fell into step, with Sokel and Pathize in the middle, and Three and I at the rear. The path brought us around and towards the wide open area, and just as expected, the pods. Hundreds and hundreds of them lining up the wall. I braced for what could potentially be a grisly sight, but instead, we found... nothing. Empty pods all over the place. Shit. Did they... process the crew of the Chadwik?
This isn't good.
As we moved along, we just found empty pods. The crew moved along, scanning, searching. Sokel found a terminal and started getting into it, while three of the N7s took positions to cover us.
"Anything?" I called over the comms. "All I find are empty pods."
"Same."
"Here too."
"Damn," I muttered.
"Morgan, what are you thinking?" Baker said.
"Just what happened with the crew of the Chadwik. If they're not here, what did the Collectors do with them."
"It might take some time to find that information," Sokel replied.
"We don't have a lot of time," Baker replied. There was a pause. A dense, meaningful pause. "Let's move out people, but keep your eyes open."
Thus, we continued, while my nervousness increased. I kept checking the combat scanner, but it looked like we were in the clear for now. Strange. Very strange.
"Any sign of increased swarms?" I said.
"Negative," the reply came.
As we moved, we came to a split. It didn't look exactly like I remembered, but it was close enough that I recognized it. This is where the team split. This is where the biotic had to put up the bubble for the small team to go through. But... nothing. Unsettling as fuck. And Commander Baker must have been thinking the same, because he signaled for us to stop, and came towards me.
"This is the spot," he said.
"Yes sir," I replied.
"There's no sign of the seeker swarms you warned us about," Baker said. "If we all go through, we'd bypass the security door."
Was he actually asking me for advice? Shit. Like I didn't have enough in my mind. "It's pretty narrow, sir. Numbers wouldn't be useful, and if the swarms come down halfway through we could be in trouble. It takes a very strong biotic to keep those barriers up."
Baker nodded, taking it all in but keeping his eyes on the rest of the team. I went over what I had said in my head a couple of times, realizing I had been non-committal and rather useless with it. Before I could say anything else, Baker gave his orders.
"We stick with the original plan. Alpha and tech expert through the secondary, the rest through the main chamber. Remember, expect heavy resistance, teamwork will be essential. One, you're in charge."
"Aye sir," the N7 replied.
"Let's move people. Patty, warm the biotics up."
"Quite warm Commander, I assure you," the Justicar replied.
We filed in. The Commander took the front, I took the rear, and Three stuck close to the Justicar, assault rifle in hand. I stuck to the Mamba for now. The chamber opened to a twisty, narrow platform with plenty of irregular walls, columns, and obstacles on the way. No sign of the swarms. No collectors.
And no husks. I pierced it together when we didn't find the crew of the Chadwik. They might have processed them into reaper goo. Or into husks.
Nothing. It was unsettling.
Until we traversed most of it. The final ramp leading to the open area and what seemed to be the security doors. We hadn't heard anything from the other team, except the two times the Commander pinged them for updates. And as we approached, a hostile target pinged the edge of the combat sensors.
"Heads up!" Baker called.
A moment later, a thick beam cut through the platform, while the five of us dove into cover as soon as it appeared. It looked like it had come out of the wall, a good twenty feet above the arch to the security gate. I opened fire, almost blindly, and had to get into cover quickly when the beam cut straight towards me. It was just a moment, but it managed to take a huge chunk off my kinetic barriers.
"What the hell's that?" Three yelled.
The beam moved away, chasing someone else, and I poked my head out of cover, keeping the Mamba ready but not opening fire. I had to be the one to look. Whatever it was, I was the one who had to recognize it. I saw a large form floating high, turning while the beam chased the Commander around. It looked like a mound of chitinous flesh, with four long legs dangling down and several plates of flat, smooth armor-like attachments on the front. It was hard to tell if it was a face it had, or just a series of lights that gave the illusion of a face.
"I can sense a powerful biotic source," Pathize said.
Then, recognition struck. It didn't look as I remembered, it was more... grotesque.
"That's a fucking Praetorian!" I yelled. "What the fuck is that thing doing here!"
"A what?!" Baker called.
"Sir, we're sitting ducks here! We need better cover!" I called.
As I spoke, the comms lit up. Shooting and yelling as One started barking orders. But the one thing that got my attention immediately was when someone repeated the exact thing Three had said.
"What the hell's that?" one of the N7s called.
"If you have a huge thing with four arms floating high, that's a praetorian," I replied.
"Morgan, we need intel!" Baker called.
"Strong barriers and they regenerate fast. Doesn't move quick, but- shit!" I had to dive in as the praetorian turned its attention towards me.
"I will handle the barrier," Pathize said, stepping out as biotic energy visibly whirled around her. She reached forward with both arms, dark energy gathered around the praetorian, and as she forcefully parted her hands, her biotics literally stripped the barrier off the praetorian. Like magic. Bullets that were bouncing off it tore through the armor instead. All guns barked angrily, and the praetorian turned to the Justicar. It stopped shooting, almost like it was looking at her. Then...
"Oh fuck, get to cover! Now!"
It happened in an instant, and the violence of it made my implants kick in without even having to think about it. The praetorian gathered its biotics and slammed into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that hit Pathize straight on, sending her tumbling. For a moment I saw all of this in slow motion, then my body moved. I had never had done much with the implants other than using them to line two or three shots, this time I needed to get off my feet and run my ass towards her. I caught it as she fell, pushing her to the ground as the praetorian started shooting again. I felt one of the shots slam on my kinetic barriers, but fell behind a barrier and into safety.
"What the shit!" Three called. "Its barriers are up again!"
"That's how it recharges!" I replied.
As I spoke, I put Pathize on the ground properly and shook her. Shit. She was out cold. She had taken a massive hit, and I had reason to believe it was biotic too. Overpowering an asari's biotics usually created blowback. And blowback from a praetorian landing looked like a serious fucking blow.
"Morgan!" Baker called.
"She needs medical!"
"And we need you here!" Baker replied. "You know this thing better than us!"
Shit, he was right. I dropped the medical pack on the ground by the Justicar, and got out of cover, rushing to a different one. As the praetorian took to the air, cover became more and more scarce, and I had to get it away from Pathize.
"I will attend to her," Sokel said.
"No! Get the door, we need to coordinate. Three, you look after her," I said. I set the Mamba to full auto and just let the praetorian have it. "Just have to time it right, and keep moving."
"Go!" Baker said, spurring everyone to action. "Alpha, we're opening the door, maneuver away from your praetorian, we'll coordinate on this side. Stay away once its barrier is down, it lands like a bomb."
"Copy that, we're moving in," the reply came through the comms.
I racked the Mamba and took my assault rifle out. Fast fire for barriers was the best combo, after all, and the praetorian didn't look particularly worried about keeping its distance. It turned to face me after the first barrage, and I stayed up just long enough for most of my kinetic barriers to go before I had to dive again. As I did, I saw Baker running across the platform out of my peripheral.
Keep moving, keep moving!
"Get ready to move Morgan," Baker called.
"The Justicar is unconscious," Three said.
"I need an EEG of her frontal lobe," I replied, "and give me her synaptic rhythm."
"Morgan, focus!" Baker said.
"I'm focused sir, ready!"
The praetorian had turned its attention to the Commander, which had given Sokel a chance to get to the door, and let me jump out of cover and run towards the gate, too. Away from Three and Pathize. It was open terrain, but I had to trust the Commander.
"Diving!" Baker said.
"Got 'im!" I replied, and started shooting in full auto as I crabbed towards the corner, where I would have cover. The praetorian continued to chase after Baker, so I did a quick swap of my overheated assault rifle and gave him the beams with the Mamba again. Chunk after chunk of the barrier disappeared, so I had to stop short of taking it down.
"Don't stop shooting!" Baker said.
"Sir it's too close to you, need to give it a moment," I replied. The beams from the praetorian nicked my shields, and I burrowed into myy cover. Just wait for it. Wait... "Now!"
I poked out of cover with the Mamba at full tilt, and so did Baker and Three. The combined firepower of our guns finished breaking the barriers, and started taking chunky bits off its armor. Without strong barriers, the Mamba could shine, but so did the Widow. I made the fastest swap of my life to pull the Widow out, and shot twice from the hip before the praetorian dove again into the ground. Implants kicked in, I saw it coming, and used my time to give a very quick prayer that I got the timing right. I waited to be the last out, and dive into cover as the praetorian took me as target for its next attack. It almost worked.
Almost.
The hit to the kinetic barriers was hard enough to take them down, and the excess force cracked against the ceramic plates of my hardsuit. I fell into cover in a less than graceful way, but the pain, I knew immediately I was still in one piece.
"Morgan!" Baker said.
"I'm good!" I replied. "He's on me, your turn Commander! Three, talk to me!"
"What?" Three said.
"The EEG!"
"Thirty percent fluctuations, half under expected value," Three said. "Synaptic rhythm is at sixty."
I did some desperately quick Maths, hoping I had the right end of the stick. "Azomyxene, 5 milligrams, and a full dose of Brazen as soon as she hits ninety." I came out of cover again, but had to dive immediately. Shit. The Commander was shooting, but the praetorian was on me, and I was running out of cover. "Goddammit, I have to move!"
"Go," Baker said.
There was only one way, and it was towards the security door. Except that's where Sokel was, trying to get it open. So the only way was a run across the platform if I didn't want to put Sokel in danger. And I couldn't run towards the Commander or towards Three. There was no way I could make it, those beams were brutal. Shit. I couldn't endanger them, we needed all of them.
I was out of cover. Time to improvise.
"Moving out, get it off my ass!"
I yelled as I jumped out of cover, running straight towards the closest edge of the platform. I tore through the platform as fast as my gene enhanced legs would carry me, while the praetorian swept with the beams towards me. I felt the beam hit the kinetic barriers, break them, and I slid down on the ground under it before it could cut me in half, sliding right past the edge of the platform.
And catching onto it before I fell to my doom. I didn't even know what was at the bottom.
"Morgan!" Baker called.
"Still here!"
As I looked up, I saw the praetorian come into view, right behind the lip of the platform I was hanging onto. And a moment later, a veritable shitload of bullets started raining on him from every direction as the rest of the N7s finally joined us. So much so I could barely see it under the flashes of its biotic barrier. Then the barrier shattered, and it visibly started falling apart as bullets and explosives just hammered it. It trembled, readying itself to dive, and instead was brutally thrown against the wall by a biotic push, slamming into it and getting crushed in the process.
The only reason I didn't just drop in relief was that I was holding on for dear life. I tried to pull myself up, but several hands did the job for me before I could.
"Are you insane?" one of the N7s said, wasn't sure which one.
"It's been said," I replied. "Is everyone okay? We still have another one of those things."
"Yeah, you're taking point too," Baker said.
Son of a bitch.
Insanity. That's what it was. Insanity. Praetorians on the way, collectors that buzzed around like freaking hummingbirds, and scions were literally falling from the sky. The first two had scared the hell out of us, and had cost us. Two of the N7s were wounded and down for the count now. But dropping units that can't fly from up high is not a good idea once a Justicar who can hit like a freight train with biotics at practically any distance. They weren't dropping on the platforms anymore, they were dropping to the bottom of the wide open space below. And making a very big splash.
Yeah, I looked.
So at this point, we were all running on fumes. I knew Pathize was pushing herself much harder than she should, specially after the cocktail I had had to put in her after the praetorian. Some of the N7s had swapped guns after their ammo blocks had been depleted. And for me, the Widow and the Mamba were now dead weights on my back and I was on my assault rifle. Which wasn't as good as the shit the N7s used.
Any dreams we had to making a clean wipe of the base were out of the door. We were barely holding the perimeter while Sokel worked on the reactor controls.
"How much longer!" I yelled.
"We get there when we get there," the Commander replied, with such aplomb I nearly started laughing. Despite everything we were into.
"Another scion!" an N7 called.
"I'll.. handle it..." Pathize replied.
The visible flare of biotics hit the scion, but while it was nudged out of its trajectory, it didn't push it enough to fall out. It wasn't a good idea, but I did it without thinking. Implants kicked in, giving me a moment to calculate. Or, rather, guess. I jumped to my feet, and rushed towards the falling Scion. It dropped with a heavy thud, right before I shoulder charged at it with all my might. It stumbled, took a step, another, and one too far as it tumbled down towards its doom. I scrambled to my feet, trying to get to cover, and saw that Pathize was on the ground. Shit. I rushed towards her instead, implants kicking in again, and as I dragged her to safety, I realized the implants were off sync again. I was teetering close to the edge of what they could take.
Still, we waited. It took maybe another minute. Another long, long minute before the call we had all be waiting for.
"Done," Sokel said, still calm in the middle of the chaos. "Time to exit."
"Everyone, move!" Baker called, then hit the comms. "This is Baker, we need extraction, eta..."
"Two minutes," Sokel said.
"Two minutes," Baker echoed. "Bring an escort."
"Copy that, extraction en route," came the answer. There was nothing else. Crap. Could have used a bit more of an explanation of what was happening outside.
I picked up Pathize in a fireman's carry, despite her initial and rather weak protest - which she didn't repeat, mind you - while others picked up the rest of our injured, and we all made for the platform Sokel was already working on. The controls on them were easy enough, thankfully, so we were on our way in no time. More collectors were making their way towards us, and there was diddly squat I could do. Thankfully, it didn't matter much. N7s were excellent snipers, not that I could help with my Mamba and Widow used up, and the only thing that let me more or less keep up, namely the implants, were on the verge of another failure, which we couldn't afford. So, I took cover, and laid fire down as best I could with my pistol.
Shit, I should have kept my right hand free, not my left.
There was an ambidexterity mod. I wished for a moment I had taken it instead of the goddamn implants. I was in for a massive headache.
"Don't let up we're almost there!" Baker spurred us.
Two minutes is a very long time when under fire. Very, very long time. We took down another wave, gained a few injuries, and when it looked like the collectors were ready to throw literally everything they had left at us, three gunships came roaring in, two of them laying down covering fire while the third opened up and matched the movement of the platform.
"Go go, wounded first, go!" the Commander yelled as he stood at the front, shooting wildly at all the collectors buzzing around us.
I was the third to jump in, landing precariously and dropping to one knee. I managed not to drop Pathize, and several hands pulled us out of the way to make room for the rest of the team. One by one they came in. I kept counting. Eight. Nine. Ten. Sokel was second to last. Commander Baker was the very last, jumping in and slamming his fist on the door controls before yelling at the pilot to floor it.
"Let's go! Four minutes, and it's dirty, relay that to the fleet! Go!"
Inside, it was chaos. If the ship that brought us in felt like a rollercoaster, this one felt like a blender. The pilot had clearly thrown caution to the wind because we had to book it and book it fast. It was a massive structure, and it was about to blow up in the middle of an even bigger debris field. We had to book it, our escort had to book it, the entire fleet had to book it, and that was assuming they had finished off the collector ships. But that was it. Four minutes. And in those four minutes, my head raced through everything we had gone through, trying to figure out what was the piece that was still missing. I knew something was missing.
Then, as the wave from the explosion hit us, realization hit me.
We never saw Harbinger.
3̷̯̝͐͜1̷̢̱͒͆8̶̳͑̏̚C̵̜̱̑̆Ä̸̭́́F̵̜̉̿͒6̵̼͔͂̀7̶̦͆͗͘A̸̦̖͗6̷̖̥̂̃C̵̠͚̉ͅ8̸̧̒͘͘È̵͕̫̇̀B̵̖̍̊8̶̡̅̕8̸̭̜̃6̶͈͐̄̍1̸͎̺̓̑̉0̸͚̜͑9̵̨̰͑͆Â̷͉̏Ậ̶̣͐B̸̜̦͛6̴̳̦̬̃7̵̙̲͙́3̴̞̀̕͝1̵͚̗̀̾͝D̴̛̻̹0̵̛͔̗̘́͝9̵̖̽B̴͖̘͆̔̓C̵̲̓͑8̸̡̪̐0̴̘̄̒9̵̨͗̀͒8̸̯̋̄9̴̫́̄̐7̸̢̹̓̚F̶̖͓̻͑̎0̷̲͇͚̎9̴̲͓͖̀̃͝7̶̯͙̊A̴̰̎͗A̵̞͖̜̓͒
Connection had been lost. Activation of gateway 0x00DA5476FF preceded loss of connection. Activation event 33143 of current cycle. First successful transfer of current cycle. Likelihood of defeat of servant forces with cycle technological advancement below established danger thresholds.
Trillions of calculations ran through the semi-synthetic core of the nation known as Nazara. Possible paths. Probability of event linked to prothean cycle above statistical noise. Servants purged of all organic will. Deactivation of central bridge signal also above statistical noise. Technological progress of the galaxy beyond estimations above statistical noise. Origin of technological progress unknown. Remnant cycle technology to set path of evolution accomplished. Previous cycle technological prowess insufficient.
The excessive number of paths led to the inescapable conclusion: Not enough data. The Turian servant, known as Spectre, had been expected to provide information. Find what the previous cycle accomplished to interfere with the activation signal. But the new event pointed at more interference than previously estimated. More unknown variables.
Additional resources needed to be gathered. Additional intelligence. Additional data.
In the mind of the nation known as Nazara, doubt was not a concept that found root. Information would be gathered, variables would be filled, and outcomes would be determined. And after that, the cycle, immutable, inescapable, would continue.
With that, the powerful engines of the ship came to life, and Nazara departed towards the edge of the galaxy, where servants could be gathered.
Ẁ̵̲e̴͍̣͛ ̴̥̖̄̅w̴̩̕i̶̢̒͂l̴͎̑l̵̐͋̄͜ ̵̤̩̈͂̌ķ̴͎́̕ñ̴̤͉ȯ̸̩͕̀w̵͈̉͒̀.̵͖͔͐̄ ̵͙̺̽͠͝A̶͉̳͐̃̾n̸̟̽́͗d̴͖̖̾̔͠ ̸̢̈̏̌ṭ̵̂ḥ̷̂̿̓e̴͖̟͖͛ ̵͚͖̥̈̔ç̷̈́͐̍y̸̭̗̫̔̓̽c̸̫̯̣͌̀͝l̷̞̲͑ẽ̴͖̱̅ ̸̙̜̝̾͝w̷̲̭̤̾̈́̅ï̸͕̔̊͜l̸̹̟͛̈́͒l̷͓̥̀͝ ̴̲̋̀̓ĉ̶͉̰̗o̷͖̦͝ͅn̸̩͗t̵̘̟̪͋i̴͚̾n̸̬̈́̾ṵ̵͚̘̌̕ë̴͕̖́́.̴̢͑͛͋
Author's Notes: Here it is, the assault on the base. The attack on the Collectors. The end of the last remnant of the Protheans. And with it, the change that ensures that the galaxy will never be the same. Because hiding from the reapers is easy, until you hit them where they can hear you. I thought about who'd make it out, and considered two things: One, Shepard makes it in-game with a much more heterogeneous and less cohesive group than a bunch of highly trained N7s; two, I decided that this outcome did play well with the reputation N7s seem to carry in-universe. So everyone makes it, though not in good shape, and Roy struggles a bit and scrapes by (more on that next time, don't you worry).
Also, now Nazara knows. Or rather, Nazara doesn't know - but wants to. And the reapers have done this thousands of times.
That was a big one. For a while I juggled with the idea of having the reaper show up as the Einstein dealt with the last of the collectors. The general plot, had it gone that way, would have been something like wiping the Collector base with the radiation pulse, and that being felt by the reaper. It'd show up while the Alliance is poking around. Then... well, that was the thing. It's not a fight the Einstein can win, so it was a matter of deciding how they either bluffed their way through it, or ran away and what they lost to accomplish it.
But, instead, I think this is more in the style of the reapers. No need to flex unless you have to. Observe, learn, and ride that (admittedly, somewhat deserved) sense of superiority to decide how to win.
Shit will happen to the galaxy.
But before that, we'll be dealing with the aftermath. Next time.
So! If you like what you see, you can always throw a bit of support (which is GREATLY appreciated) my way at:
tinyurl (period) com (slash) y2q9cop6
Thanks for all the reviews! Let's get this published so we can move on to the next step. But a couple of general things that have been brought up:
Several of you asked: The asari Shepard found will be revealed a bit later, they're not anything canonical (so OCs!)
Rabcor: Thanks for all the feedback. As for Saren, we don't have the exact date, but we know that Sovereign/Nazara was "found" in 2162 by a batarian group and that Saren got involved with them shortly afterwards, so yeah, Saren/Sovereign were a thing even before Roy made it to the galaxy :)
Next time, on Mass Effect: Divergence: Aftermath, and someone gets a scolding. until then, ta-ta!