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"You are not one of us…" The voice of Harbinger violated Casnar's mantle of protection and he fought the scourge trying to take over the shell he was in—standing back-to-back with Braith as they fought off Collector and husk alike with her companions…"Release from this vessel…" and Harbinger threw itself at Casnar's shields—

"…Shepard!"

She spun to him and grabbed onto the back of a rib or some part of the Collector body he was fighting to commandeer, "….Down!"

"Shepard!—Kill me!"

"No!"

Casnar turned into her and crushed Braith down with the cage of his body's armor, bearing upon her the weight, firing off into the mouths of three husks coming to them—"I cannot resist much longer—the one wanting this body is coming!"

"What the fuck are you talking about—" she was hauled up by his claws around her arm, the Collector captain's other limb turning in his shoulder socket to flatline a beam across the Collector troops rushing them and pushing these off the ledge of the landing before a console they protected by the force of his rifle's blast—"Harbinger?!" Her voice was not heard screaming through her headset by her squad—Casnar and Isole blocked them from listening to their channel of connection…He threw her to her feet again and aimed in a swiveling pivot, plugging off single blasts into the skulls of glowing eyes about them.

"…Yes!"

"Don't let Harbinger in!" She grabbed onto him and thrust her face—her visor—before the four eyes and mouthless visage of the captain…."Don't let Harbinger—We've come this far!—Only a hundred left to launch!"

"If it takes me while I fight by your side—" His claws latched onto her gauntlet and they struggled with each other—"Harbinger will use me to betray you when your friends think I am on your side!—Kill this body!"

"No!"

Thane and Samara backed into each other and turned to see Braith struggling with their rebel Collector friend, "…What's going on!" Samara's biotics were wild and bright as Thane's…"Why are they fighting each other!"

"Siha!" The Collector Captain threw her off and aimed at more husks climbing over the ledge of the console they fought upon—separate from her squad and freeing the hostage humans from the vast chamber of pods…Thane could not hear what was going on between them, but as he saw the Collector captain spin and kill another drone like it flying down to land atop them—shielding Braith—Thane thought he detected the rebel captain look directly at him and begin to glow—"Siha!"

"No!" Casnar fended off another drone as Harbinger thrashed at the protective inner mantle separating his Collector from its control—he turned the rifle on the command console, the one obstacle delaying Braith from either killing him or getting free of the Collector ship he needed under control—Braith saw what he was about to do and turned her rifle on him—"No!—You said we'd save all of them!"

"I said I would see you off this ship alive!" Casnar held the rifle ready as Braith reached for him—he caught hold of her wrist and twisted, controlling her downward as he screamed into her head, "….I cannot hold on much longer!"

Braith froze—"Wait!—" the particle beam shot out and cut through the console—a concussive blast followed and Braith with Casnar were thrown off the landing by force of the explosion (Thane and Samara gasped). Casnar wrapped about her as they fell—and shielded her body from the landing three levels below her squad. And when she tumbled off him, the body of the captain beneath her was crushed into pieces…"No!"