Champion of the Naked Apes

Shepard descended into the bowels of her ship. For some reason their newest compatriot, Viral, had decided to live down in the dark storage area underneath engineering. Shepard had offered him a normal room but the strange man had curtly declined. In the few days since they'd taken him aboard, he hadn't left once, not even for meals. Shepard knew so little about the man that she wasn't even completely sure that was a problem. Did he eat? What did he eat? She'd tried to ask Kamina what he knew but his answers had mostly been incoherent. However the two knew each other, it was clear there was no love lost. Shepard had to admit that she was getting very curious about the origins of the two now. She had pushed aside the question of where Kamina came from as fairly inconsequential. Now, though, she was starting to see that the connection between Kamina, Viral, the Illusive Man and even Leeron was important. She wasn't sure what she would learn by solving the mystery but she was growing increasingly sure that she had do so.

Viral was seated on the edge of a crate when she walked in. For the split-second before he noticed her, Shepard noted that he seemed quite pensive. That washed away instantly, however, and was replaced by an arrogant smirk. "I've been wondering when you were planning to come see me, Champion of the Spiral."

Shepard leaned against a bulkhead, affecting an air of nonchalance. "You've called me that before. What do you mean by it?"

Viral shrugged. "Just a term I like to use." She studied him as he spoke. He really was a very strange creature. Humanoid but with sharp teeth, cat eyes and huge clawed hands. Kamina had called him a 'beastman.' She wasn't sure if that was an insult or actually what Viral was supposed to be. I certainly haven't heard of any aliens matching his description. Shepard stared at him silently, waiting for him to continue. Viral finally did, his smile dimming a bit. "You know of the cycles?"

Shepard nodded. Know of them? I've seen it. "Every fifty thousand years or so the reapers come and wipe out all advanced civilizations."

"The reapers," Viral repeated. "That's not a bad name for them. Anyway, in every cycle there always seems to be one person that rises up and becomes the crux of the resistance against them. I call that person the Champion of the Spiral." Viral shrugged again. "Maybe I made it up or maybe I heard it somewhere. It's hard to keep track."

Shepard had to work to keep her cool. The way he was talking so casually about the reapers suggested that must have serious information on them. Shepard knew she was practically the expert of Citadel space and she also knew how profoundly ignorant she was about the sentient machines. If Viral had even a few scraps of information then rescuing him from that prison was more than worth it. "Why spiral?" she asked, deciding to start slow.

Viral sneered. "You naked apes. Must you invariably be ignorant?" Shepard made sure to keep her spike of irritation from her face. Viral sighed. "What is it that you call the ability to travel through space?"

"The mass effect," Shepard responded.

"Right. And you call the creatures that can manifest energy bi...bioates? Biotees?"

"Biotics." Bioates?

Viral grunted. "Your physics is at least advanced enough to know that these phenomena are linked?" Shepard nodded. "Good. Your civilization isn't completely hopeless then." Shepard bit her tongue, wanting him to continue. "Spiral energy is the source of those powers. The…" Viral thought for a moment "...mass relays, right? Yes? The mass relays are simply tools to make it easier. Truthfully, if you have the right kind of ship, piloted by a person capable of generating enough spiral energy, something like a mass relay wouldn't be needed at all."

"That would be incredibly useful," Shepard said speculatively. Did the protheans have that power? I always wondered how they managed to build the relays in the first place.

Viral gave her a flat look. "Indeed." He leaned back and lifted up his paw-like hands. "Anyway, it is the same with your 'biotics.' They are people who can use spiral energy, even if it is in the most rudimentary way possible."

"So, wait. Why would you call me the 'Spiral Champion?' I've never shown any ability to use biotics."

Viral gave her a pitying look. I'm starting to see why Kamina wanted to punch this guy the moment he saw him. "Do you have double-helix DNA?"

"Well...yes. Of course."

"Then you can you spiral power, to one degree or another" He shrugged. "It hardly matters, though. The important thing is that you possess the will and the ability to lead the fight against the anti-spiral."

Shepard ignored the last part for the moment. "Are you saying that any human can use this 'spiral power?' Biotic power?" Viral nodded his head impatiently. Shepard touched her forehead. "No, that doesn't make any sense. To use biotics you have to be exposed to eezo in the womb. You need amps." Though now that I think about it, Kamina doesn't have any amps at all, does he?

Viral snickered. "Alright, let me make this a little simpler for you. Take fire. Now when you naked apes were sleeping in your own filth and poking each other with sharp sticks, fire must have seemed like magic. Little by little you learned why it might appear and eventually you were able to harness it in the most rudimentary way possible. You used the most basic effects of fire for light and heat and destruction without truly understanding the underlying principles." Shepard nodded. What he said was factual if leavened with contempt. "Understanding the mechanics of fire, however, allows you do more than any ancient naked ape could have conceived of, though yes? Harnessing it and using fire was the first revolution. Understanding it was the second."

It hit Shepard where he was going. "Combustion."

Viral gave her a narrow smile. "Perhaps you are a little smarter than I gave you credit for."

Shepard's mind swirled, trying to process all of this. In a way, it made sense that humans were like savages playing with fire. After all, they'd only left Earth a generation or so ago. But what about the salarians? The asari? "Who are you, Viral? How do you know all of this? Are you a scientist?"

Viral's good humor slipped. "I'm nobody. Just a soldier who lived too long. The only reason I know any of this is because it was common knowledge before." Viral sighed and leaned back. "It always gets suppressed by the anti-spiral, though."

Just like knowledge of the reapers themselves is suppressed. Some pieces were falling into place for Shepard but at the same time she was scrambling to make any sense of what she was hearing. "Are you saying that you were alive when this was common knowledge? When was...was it during the time of the protheans?" Shepard suddenly remembered Ilos. The protheans had stasis pods that theoretically could have lasted fifty thousand years. Was Viral from that time? Was Kamina? That can't be right. Kamina, at least, was a modern human.

"The protheans?" Viral scratched his cheek. "Oh, you mean the four-eyed bugs from the last cycle? No, they were further along than you but still primitive. They used spiral power in some unique ways but generally they were too narrow-minded and stubborn." Viral spread out his hands and grinned. "Honestly, they put up one of the weaker fights against the anti-spiral."

I can only imagine Liara's reaction to someone speaking so familiarly of the protheans. "So you actually witnessed the last extinction event?"

Viral laughed. It was shrill and mirthless. His cat-like eyes took on a glint of madness and Shepard wondered if she should be listening to him at all. "Witnessed it? I've seen them all. I've seen the anti-spiral come again and again, killing everyone, extinguishing all hope. It's the same every time. Every time."

Despite herself, Shepard found herself believing him. "But why?" she asked. "Why do the reapers come? Why do they kill everything?" Another question hit her. "And why do the let you live?"

"Good questions," Viral said, settling back down. "I wish I had the answers to any of them."

"You don't?" Shepard asked skeptically.

Viral shook his head. "The anti-spiral's motivations have never been something I understood. I thought I did, once, but I was wrong."

Shepard sighed. So much of this still didn't make sense to her. She couldn't even think of what questions to ask. Then something came to her. "What about Kamina? He knows you and you know him but he doesn't know anything about the reapers or, well, anything really."

Viral snorted. "Of course he doesn't. That fool of an ape doesn't know anything."

Shepard narrowed her eyes. "But you know him."

Viral hesitated. "I did. I thought he was dead. As for how he came to be here...I can't answer that question."

"Can't or won't?" Shepard shot back. Viral just smiled enigmatically. Shepard rubbed her forehead and then pushed herself off the wall. "Fine." I'll leave it there for now. He's given me plenty to chew on as it is. "We'll talk later, Viral." Shepard turned and began to leave. Viral called out to stop her.

"Wait." Shepard turned back. Viral dithered for a moment. "I am honestly not certain how he came to be here but the fact that he is here is important, I think. You must have seen that he is unbelievably reckless. Keep him alive, if you can."

Shepard nodded. "You have my word." Not that I needed you to tell me that. Shepard liked Kamina and she'd always had a gift for recognizing the extraordinary. It was obvious to her that Kamina was important.

She left the hold and made her way to the lounge area of the ship. Her mind was spinning, trying to fit all of this new information into the murky picture she already had of the reapers and the cycles of destruction. Lord, I wish Liara were here. The asari scientist was incredibly smart and had helped Shepard put together the fragments and clues on the reapers into something approaching coherence. Shepard brought up her mail and saw that there was still nothing new from Barla Von. "Shit."

"Something wrong?"

Shepard glanced up and saw Garrus. She hadn't even realized that she'd made it to the lounge. The turian was seated on a couch, datapad held up in front of him. Shepard chuckled mirthlessly. "Do you really have to ask that anymore?"

Garrus' mandibles twitched with amusement. "Touche, Shepard. But what has you cursing at the moment?"

"I just had a chat with Viral," Shepard said, pouring herself a drink.

"Ah. Learn anything worthwhile?"

"Maybe." Shepard quaffed her drink in one go and shuddered. "What are you working on over there?"

"I was going over the specifications of your new ship, trying to see if we could increase the power of the main guns at all. Last time, the Normandy hardly scratched that collector ship."

Shepard sat down next to him and glanced at the datapad in curiosity. "Any luck?"

"My people have recently developed a gun called the Thanix Cannon based on what we recovered from the reaper that attacked the Citadel. I think this ship has the power to fire it and it would give us a much heavier punch."

"No kidding," Shepard said, reading the technical details of the new Thanix. "Not bad. You think you can arrange for us to get our hands on one?"

"I think I can make it happen, if you don't mind the cost."

"Hell, Garrus, I didn't demand an open credit line from the Council for nothing."

"You have no idea how happy you just made me, Shepard." They both laughed and Shepard shifted position so she could lean back on the couch.

As soon as the pleasant distraction of the new guns left her mind, the various problems and questions she had no answer for invaded again. She covered her eyes and groaned. "What the hell, Garrus? What the fuck? How is this even happening? Unstoppable sentient machines that wipe out organic life that gets too advanced? I've seen it with my own eyes and I barely believe it. How am I supposed to unite the galaxy against that?" Garrus didn't have any answers for her, which was hardly surprising. She wasn't asking easy questions. Impulsively, Shepard twisted around so that she was lying down on the sofa, her head resting on Garrus' leg.

The turian coughed uncomfortably. "Shepard...can I ask what you are doing?"

Shepard kept her eyes closed and grunted. "When I was kid and got upset, my mother would let me rest my head in her lap." Shepard sighed. "Her leg was a lot softer than yours, though, damn your hide." Shepard snickered at her own dumb joke.

Garrus chuckled too. "It's true. We turians aren't really built for...what was the word you humans use...snuggling? I once had a colleague of mine in C-Sec say something about going home to snuggle with his wife. The whole ordeal seemed...unpleasant."

Shepard opened her eyes and grinned up at him. "Snuggling turians. There's a thought."

"Like I said, Shepard. It's not something that a turian is built for. Neither physically nor mentally."

"So what do turians do when faced with the big questions of the universe?" Or the crushing weight of responsibility for the lives of everyone you've ever met?

Garrus' mandibles twitched. "Honestly, I don't think very many of us ever do. We're conditioned to believe in and take comfort in the chain of command. All of us trust that if we carry out our orders, we're are making the universe a better, safer place. If the stress does build up, however, most turians will take care of it with a good fight or a good fu-" Garrus stopped himself mid-word and tried to cover it with a cough.

Shepard laughed. "It's fine, Garrus. We're both adults here. It's not like no human has ever gotten it on because she needed to blow off some steam."

Garrus peered down at her. "When I was being briefed on humans, I was told that romance and sex are intertwined in your cultures. I thought the idea of recreational sex was offensive to humans."

"Depends on the human. Some might be offended but I most of us aren't that different from turians. I used to get into fights in high school to take out my frustrations." Used to do the other thing to. Shepard sighed. "I kind of feel like I could use a good workout right now actually."

"Well, I'm here if you really want to," Garrus said casually. Shepard stared at him with wide eyes. Garrus coughed and quickly added, "If you want to fight, I mean. I would be willing to have a bout with you. That's all, Shepard."

"Oh." Of course that's what he meant. Still her face was flushing with heat. Shepard quickly sat up. She glanced at Garrus out of the corner of her eye. Sex with a turian? That's insane. An asari is one thing but what is turian sex even like? Does he even have a penis? Shepard covered her eyes with one hand. What the hell am I thinking about?

"Shepard," Garrus said nervously. "I've learned that human's faces only go red like yours when they are angry or humiliated. It was just a misunderstanding."

"I'm not mad, Garrus," Shepard said without looking at him. I'm just embarrassed and...And what? She wasn't disgusted. The tight ball in her stomach told her she was actually...interested. She took a deep breath. "Garrus...what would you think if I said I might be interested in blowing off steam the...the other way?"

Garrus slowly turned his head toward her. Shepard never lamented the fact that turian faces had no discernible emotions than she did now. "What do you mean?"

What do I mean? Shepard wasn't even sure. Why in the world would she want to have sex with Garrus? She liked the turian and trusted him but she'd certainly never been attracted to him. He's practically a dinosaur for Christ's sake! And yet…Shepard opened her mouth, completely unsure what she was about to say. For better or worse, however, EDI spoke before she could. "Sorry to interrupt you, Commander, but you have an urgent call from the Illusive Man."

Shepard leapt to her feet. "Is that so? I suppose I shouldn't keep him waiting." She glanced back at Garrus. "We'll talk later...okay?"

He stared back at her with an unreadable gaze. "Sure, Shepard."

Shepard practically sprinted from the room. When she was in the elevator, EDI buzzed into her ear, "If you like, Commander, I could gather information on turian/human sexual intercourse and prepare a document for you."

Shepard slammed her head into the door of the elevator. "It's not polite to eavesdrop, EDI."

"Forgive me, Commander. I don't have the discretion to close myself off from any portion of the ship."

"Yeah, yeah," Shepard grumbled as the elevator doors opened. "Just do me a favor and pretend that you never heard any of that."

"I also do not have the discretion to delete any portion of my memory."

"I know that," Shepard said. "That's why I said 'pretend.'"

"...Understood."

Shepard shook her head and marched to the briefing room. She stepped into the quantum entangler and found herself in the same dim room that she'd first spoken to the Illusive Man. He was standing in the center of the room, a silhouette against the red sun behind him. He was as massive as she remembered. Shepard met his eyes, which had those concentric circles spreading from the center. Now that she had spoken with Viral, she couldn't help but think...spiral?

"Shepard," he said quickly. "A colony in the terminus systems, Horizon, has just gone dark. I suspect the collectors. I want you to head straight there."

"Damn How long ago?" Shepard exclaimed, all other worries driven away.

"Minutes. This is the best chance we've had yet. Has Leeron concocted a countermeasure to the seeker swarms?"

Shepard shook her head. "I don't know. He hasn't told me anything if he has."

The Illusive Man's spiral eyes narrowed. "Well, I hope he has something. We can't wait any longer."

"I agree," Shepard said. "It's time to do some damage to these bastards." The Illusive Man nodded and Shepard stepped out of the entangler. "Joker," she said, activating her com. "Set a course for the colony Horizon in the Terminus right away." He acknowledged her crisply and without sarcasm. I guess even he can read the mood sometimes. Shepard sprinted to Leeron's lab and found the man tipped back on a stool reading a datapad. She caught a glimpse of what he was looking at and blanched. That is not work related. Or work appropriate. "Leeron," she said, causing him to glance at her over his shoulder. "Have you developed a measure for the seeker swarms?" I hope for your sake that the answer is a resounding 'yes.' The odd man smiled and winked.

Part 2

Kamina stood in his room, staring out into the vastness of space. When he was in Giha, all he could think about was how cramped the village had been. It was no place for a man as great as him. For almost as long as he could remember, he'd been obsessed with escaping. Now it seemed like the space around him was infinite. And he'd started to feel that creeping emotion that he'd buried since he was a child. Fear of the unknown.

It was Viral. The existence of the beastman, the fact that Viral knew him, that had thrown Kamina's confidence into a tailspin. He'd begun to believe that his death had transported him into a new world. Following Shepard was ideal in that case. She was a great woman and was fighting a great enemy. But if Viral was alive then...what about Simon and Yoko? Shouldn't he try and find them? Shouldn't he force Viral to tell him? But there it was again. The creeping fear. Viral knew something about Simon. Kamina was sure of that. But something deep inside was terrified to learn was that was. Kamina didn't even know why. It was pure instinct. Kamina clutched his head with both hands and screamed. He hated this. Nothing was worse to him than indecision and hesitation.

"Are you finally having an aneurysm?" a bored voice asked from behind him.

Kamina spun around and saw Miranda leaning against the doorframe. His heart sped up slightly at the sight of her in her skintight black uniform. "What is an aneurysm?" he asked.

Miranda tapped the side of her head with one finger. "A brain hemorrhage."

"Ah," Kamina nodded. "And what is a hemorrhage?"

Miranda gave him a flat look. "Sometimes I think that you must be kidding. Didn't they have any kind of education in that village you purport to be from?"

Kamina's irritation spiked. "What's an education?" he asked sarcastically.

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She stepped into the room. "I've been meaning to speak to you. How is that you know Jack? Even I know next to nothing about what he really is."

"So ask him," Kamina snapped. "You work for the same master after all."

Miranda's face tightened but then she just sighed and glanced away. "He makes me uncomfortable," she admitted. "I know the Illusive Man keeps secrets from me but something about Jack has always eaten at me. He knows things."

Kamina snorted. "I don't know about that. He's always just seemed like an asshole to me. I fought him a few times after I left Giha Village but we never really talked or anything. I don't know if he knows anything about anything."

Miranda's shoulders slumped. "Of course. I was fool to think a meathead who punches first and asks questions never would know anything worthwhile."

Kamina smirked. "What can I say? A man doesn't become great by talking and deliberating." Kamina slapped his stomach. "A real man feels it in his gut and takes action." Kamina nodded as his own wise words. I need to get back to that.

Miranda, however, clearly disagreed. She pressed her fingertips to the sides of her head. "You are a world-class moron."

Kamina barked a laugh. Somehow he was feeling better. "Oh, I'm world-class alright." He walked forward and a startled Miranda backed into the wall behind her. Kamina braced one arm along the wall over her head and loomed over her. "And I think you like me more than you want to admit."

Miranda's eyes were wide. Kamina was gratified that he finally managed to disturb her haughty attitude. "Move," she said. Her voice lacked its usual command, however.

"Why? Am I making your heart race?" Kamina's certainly was. He idly wondered how much older she was than him but didn't really matter. She was almost hypnotically beautiful. Her superior attitude was somehow both annoying and attractive.

Miranda laughed. If it was forced, she was a good actress. "It takes more than a boy like you to get my pulse pounding."

Kamina cackled right back. "Sure about that?" He leaned forward so that their noses were almost touching. He stared directly into her eyes. Her icy blues glared right back for a moment but she looked away first. Kamina's smirk grew a little wider and he dropped his arm and stepped back. He was happy to have gotten under her skin but he wasn't sure what to do now.

Before Kamina could figure it out, EDI said. "Kamina, Miss Lawson, Shepard is requesting your presence on the in the briefing room." Kamina frowned. He couldn't say he was especially fond of the omnipresent AI. Was she watching me and Miranda?

"Well...I guess we should go," Kamina said, lamely. Miranda brushed by him without a word, icy cold once more. Kamina followed, wondering if he had just made everything worse. I don't understand women. I really don't. Shepard, Garrus and Grunt were already waiting in the briefing room. Kamina smiled at the big krogan. "How's it going?"

"Bored," Grunt snapped. "I hope Shepard called us here to announce a battle." Kamina frowned at the undercurrent of anger in the krogan's voice. He had hoped that joining the crew of the Gurren Senken would cheer him up.

"What's going on, Shepard?" Miranda asked.

"I'll tell you when we're all here," Shepard responded crisply. All? Kamina saw who she meant a moment later when Viral walked in. Kamina's stomach turned. Viral glanced around and when he saw how unwelcome he was, he just smiled, showing off his rows of sharp teeth. Shepard didn't notice or didn't care about the shift in the room. She nodded. "Good. We have an emergency. Right now, Joker is taking us to the colony of Horizon. According the Illusive Man, we can expect to find the collectors there."

"How does he have that kind of information?" Garrus asked.

Shepard hesitated. "I don't know. That will be something to figure out later. Now we need to focus on doing what we can to foil this attack." Shepard's omnitool lit up and she punched a button. A hologram of the planet appeared over the table. Horizon colony was lit up in red. "I have no idea what is actually going on down there so I want us to split into two teams. My team will consist of Viral and Miranda and we will enter here." She gestured to the top of the colony city. "The other team will enter the opposite side of the city. Garrus, that is you, Kamina and Grunt." Shepard glanced at Kamina. "Kamina, I want you to follow Garrus' orders as if they were my own."

Kamina eyed her skeptically. Following her orders was one thing. Shepard was a singular type of presence. Kamina didn't know the turian very well and, frankly, he didn't like following anyone's orders. Before he could voice his objection, Miranda snapped, "I am supposed to be your second-in-command, Shepard. What qualifies the turian?"

Shepard spitted her with a glare that could have melted steel, making Kamina swallow his own protest. "Garrus is qualified because I say that he is. Show me some actual leadership skills before you start complaining, Lawson." Miranda subsided but Kamina could tell she was fuming. He felt like he just dodged a bomb himself. Shepard glanced around to see if there were any more protests. When nobody spoke up, she continued, "Our first priority down there is rescuing as many colonists as we can." Kamina watched as Miranda struggled to hold her peace. He silently encouraged her to keep her mouth shut this time. Luckily, she did. "The second priority," Shepard continued, "is to gather any information we can on the collectors. The the third," she said grimly, "is to kill as many of the bastards as we possibly can." At that, Grunt smashed his fists together and nodded, Garrus chuckled softly and Kamina grinned. His doubts were washed away by her fierceness. Somehow, he was sure that he belonged here, with her. He had no logical reason for thinking this but Kamina was a man who listened to his gut. And right now it was telling him to wreak destruction on this woman's enemies.

Shepard nodded. "Alright, let's get to the shuttle." The six of them hustled to the armory and kitted themselves out. Then they took the elevator down and piled into the shuttle. Kamina didn't like this part. Being crammed into the small, windowless shuttle reminded him too much of being underground. He closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths. It helped that he could feel his new power rise up in him. For some reason, he began thinking of a green spiral, glowing and pulsating. Like Simon's drill key. The stray thought seemed important, somehow, but Kamina couldn't nail down why before the shuttle swung around and opened. Shepard, Miranda and Viral leapt off. Kamina noticed that Viral wasn't wearing any armor or carrying any weapons. It kind of made Kamina feel a little ashamed to be in his silver armor. As the door of the shuttle closed, Viral smirked at him as if he could tell what Kamina was thinking. Kamina twitched with the desire to jump out and punch the smirk off the beastman's face.

The shuttle soared on before he could. Shepard's voice came through the com, "Leeron's countermeasure seems to be working for now. I'll contact you if any problems crop up."

"Roger," Garrus confirmed. Soon the shuttle swung around and the door opened again. Kamina was out of it before it even opened all the way. Grunt was close behind. The turian followed them out a little slower. Kamina glanced around at the city in front of them. It reminded him that first colony he'd visited with Shepard. Like that one, this one was utterly and eerily silent. "Alright, you two," Garrus said. "We have no idea what is waiting for us in this colony so I want to be slow and deliberate." Kamina stared at the turian skeptically. Slow and deliberate? That doesn't sound very fun. He glanced sideways at Grunt and saw that the krogan was glowering at Garrus.

"Spineless," he rumbled. "Typical turian."

Garrus' mandibles twitched. "Mistaking carefulness for cowardice is something many krogans do. Dead krogans."

Grunt took a step forward. "What was that?"

Kamina put a hand on his arm. "The real enemy is back that way, Grunt." Kamina glanced in the direction of the colony and froze. He saw one. It was hard to make out more than the fact that it was green and not human but that was enough. "I see one!" he shouted. Grunt and Garrus immediately forgot their argument and stepped up next to Kamina, staring in the direction he was pointing.

"That's a collector alright," Garrus said. "Alright, Kamina you flank left, Grunt you flank right. We don't know how many more there are so let's take it down quick and quiet. We'll attack on my signal."

Kamina frowned and sighed. "That could work but how about this? I'll charge in and Grunt charges after me and then you charge in third?" Kamina smiled. Now that's tactics.

Before Garrus could respond, Grunt snapped. "I should charge in first."

"Like hell!" Kamina shouted back. "It's my plan!" They eyed each other for a few seconds more and then Kamina realized what he had to do. He spun around and sprinted at the collector. Grunt was was only half a second behind.

"Wait!' Garrus cried. Then Kamina heard him mutter over the com, "Shepard, what have you saddled me with?"

Kamina started laughing. He summoned biotic energy to speed his steps, surprised by how fast the giant and clumsy-looking krogan was. The collector saw him and started spraying bullets in his direction. Kamina started zigzagging to counter. This did keep the collector from hitting him but it also let Grunt get into the lead. The krogan never slowed, simply running over the collector. Kamina winced as the bugman bounced off Grunt and smacked into a building, twitching feebly. Grunt reduced the top half of its body into green jelly with a blast from his massive shotgun. Kamina raised an eyebrow. He liked his own shotgun but that thing was impressive. He'd have to ask Grunt about it later.

The rattling of a gun told Kamina that the collector hadn't been alone. He sprang up with the aid of his biotics and landed on the top of a building. He surveyed the colony and whistled. "Ten of you, huh?" He clenched a fist. "Don't you bastards think you're taking me a little too lightly?!" Kamina drew his other, smaller gun, deciding to see what it could do. What did Shepard call this? That's right, the Locust. Kamina leapt down and leveled his Locust at one of the bugmen. The thing practically sawed the collector in half. Kamina whistled and inspected the small gun. Very nice.

A roaring Grunt charged into the fray, firing his shotgun wildly. A collector spinning and falling announced Garrus' arrival as well. Kamina laughed. He threw out a wave of energy and watched two collectors fly into the air. He brought down another with a burst from his machine gun. That left none standing that he could see. At this rate we'll be at the center of the colony in no time. Kamina walked forward but paused as he noticed one of the collectors he'd thrown with his biotic wave twitching. Kamina brought up his gun but before he could fire, he heard something say, "Assuming direct control." Kamina glanced around. He couldn't put a direction to the voice, almost as if he heard it directly in his brain. What's more, the voice seemed familiar to him somehow. He was sure he'd heard it before but the identity of the speaker remained elusive in his mind.

The collector shot up, grabbing Kamina's attention once more. Its arms spread out wide and it started to tremble and glow. Kamina took a step toward it. What the hell is going on? The next instant, a burst of energy from the collector knocked Kamina onto his ass. The collector fell back to Earth, only now glowing orange lines of energy ran through it. All four eyes were blazing. Kamina stared at it as it advanced toward him, frozen for the moment. The bugman stopped in front of him but didn't attack. Instead it studied him. Kamina watched as the bugman looked him up and down and then shook its head slightly.

Kamina clenched his fist and activated his omnitool blade. He surged to his feet and drove the blade right between the eyes of the bugman. "Who The Hell Do You Think You're Looking At Punch!" he screamed. The collector twitched once and then disintegrated. What the hell was that? Kamina vaguely felt like he'd seen something important but he couldn't figure out why.

"You good?" Grunt asked, landing a heavy hand on Kamina's shoulder.

The human nodded and grinned. "Sure. I just thought that thing would be tougher."

Grunt chuckled. "These things are hardly worth the ammo."

"You two!" Garrus said, walking up to them with his sniper rifle slanted across his chest. "What were you thinking, charging off like that?"

Kamina shrugged. "It worked didn't it? We got them all?"

"What if there had been twice as many of them here? What if there had been civilians? Our priorities are supposed to be saving the colonists and gathering information on the collectors."

"Ah, grow a quad, turian," Grunt rumbled. "The best way to save the colonists is to kill every last one of these bugs."

Garrus argued back but Kamina ignored them, noticing something weird. He entered a nearby building and saw that there really was a human inside. Only the man was completely frozen. Kamina tapped the body and was repelled by some kind of forcefield. "Oy!" he shouted. "Come look at this."

Garrus walked in and studied the man. "Huh. The seeker swarms impart some kind of stasis field." Garrus looked closer. "I think he's still conscious in there." Kamina shuddered. That would be horrible. "I wonder what they want with all these live humans." Kamina's stomach curdled. New world, same shit. I'll stop these bugmen, the same as I stopped the beastmen. Kamina was sure they were stopped. He and Simon had managed to capture the Dai-Gurren. Simon should've been able to take it from there. His blood brother had more determination than anyone Kamina had ever met. "Shepard," Garrus called over the com. "We found a man in stasis on our end. Have you seen anything like it over there?"

"No," Shepard said. She sounded out of breath. "Can you free him?"

"I don't know. I'm not familiar with the technology," Garrus responded.

"Then leave him for now. Focus on driving to the center of the colony. We'll see if Leeron can get them out after the collectors are gone."

"Understood." Kamina jerked his head as a sign for Kamina to follow him. They joined Grunt outside the building. "Alright, you two," Garrus said, fiddling with something on his rifle. "It seems that you're not willing to follow standard squad tactics."

Kamina smirked. "Ducking and crawling aren't really in my nature."

Grunt rumbled a laugh. "Well said, human."

Garrus glanced at both of them and then, surprisingly, chuckled. "Well, hell, I was just worried about keeping you two greenhorns alive but if it's like that..." Garrus pointed right and then left with his rifle. "Kamina you go left, Grunt you go right, I'll take the center. Try not to get too far ahead of one another and call if you need help."

"Are you sure you won't be the one calling, turian?" Grunt mocked.

Garrus chuckled lightly and a shiver ran up Kamina's spine as he suddenly realized how predatory the turian could look when he wanted too. "Don't you worry about me, baby krogan. Compared to Omega, this place a stroll in the park."

Kamina grinned. "Let's do it, Garrus. These bugmen won't know what hit them."

The turian nodded and then said, "Go." Grunt lumbered to the right and Kamina sprinted to the right. He ran until the turian was just barely in sight and then charged into the colony. A group of five collectors appeared in front of him after a few moments. Kamina activated his omniblade and boosted into them. This is gonna be fun!

Part 3

Shepard sighted a collector through her scope and pulled the trigger twice. Both shots lased through the alien and it collapsed. She lowered the rifle and glanced around. The only live collector in sight was in the massive paws of Viral. The strange man was holding it aloft with one hand around its neck. The other hand drove forward and through the collector. Viral threw the dying alien to the side like it was so much trash. Shepard had initially been very concerned about Viral's complete lack of weapons and armor but he was tearing through the collectors in disturbing fashion.

"Shepard," Miranda called. "I think I found one of the colonists." Shepard hustled over to her. "It's just like Garrus said, some sort of stasis field." Shepard studied the frozen colonist and blanched when his eyes moved. They are taking them alive. Why?

"We've got company!" Viral shouted. Shepard twisted around and saw that a new squad of collectors was flying in. With a muttered curse, she braced her rifle against her shoulder and shot one of them out of the sky. Miranda knocked another out of the sky with a biotic wave but the rest managed to land safely. Shepard took cover behind a crate and sighted in on another collector. She was shocked when it shot up into the air and stretched out like it was being crucified. Orange energy shot out of its every crevice before it crashed down to the ground. Shepard initially thought it was dead and was wondering who or what killed it when it staggered up.

"Shepard." Shepard flinched back. It felt like the collector was speaking directly into her brain. "I am Harbinger. The harbinger of your end."

Shepard took a step back. "What-what the hell? Are you a reaper?"

"We are the anti. We are the preservers. You are ignorant. You will learn and you will regret, Shepard."

"Right back at you, you son of a bitch," Shepard muttered. She triggered a volley of shots and the collector disintegrated under the onslaught.

"This form is irrelevant." The voice was growing fainter now. "You cannot escape your destiny, Shepard. You cannot stop us."

Watch me! Shepard snarled silently. A hand on her shoulder made Shepard jump. "Sorry, Shepard," Miranda said. "Are you...are you alright?"

Shepard nodded. "Fine." Her eyes sought out Viral's. He was frowning and Shepard had the feeling that he'd either heard Harbinger or at least had some idea of what had been happening.

"Commander," EDI said over the com. "May I have a moment of your time?"

"What is it, EDI?" Shepard said impatiently.

"It seems the colonists were installing GARDIAN towers to defend the colony. The targeting system needs to be calibrated before they can fire. The colonists were having trouble but it should be an easy fix for me."

That could be a godsend. I had no idea how we were going to drive that ship out of here. But… "How did you learn this?"

"It is standard protocol for me to learn what I can of any planet we visit. Of course, I would never act on any information without you direct order."

I know it is just a backwater colony but to be able to slice into their defense systems like that...just what did Ouroboros create here? Shepard shook her head. Thoughts for later. "Great work, EDI. Fire as soon as you can align the guns. Target the engines." Maybe they could cripple the ship and bring it down. She could only imagine what kind of information they could get from it.

"The laser banks will take several minutes to charge, Commander. I have no doubt that the collector ship will read the energy. It is also possible they will dispatch forces to sabotage the towers."

Of course. "Understood, EDI. Get the towers ready to fire asap anyway." Shepard switched frequencies. "Garrus, how are things going on your end?"

"Not bad,' Garrus responded. "I'm staying ahead of that baby krogan but I think the blue-haired punk has a couple of kills on me."

"...What?"

Garrus coughed. "I mean, we are making steady progress. I estimate two minutes until we reach the center of the colony."

"Great. EDI should have a navpoint for you to make for. There are GARDIAN towers on the planet. We need to protect them until they are ready to fire. Move to that position as fast as you can."

"Can do, Shepard. See you there."

Shepard brought the navpoint up on her own omnitool and was pleased to see it was close by. "Shepard," Miranda said.

"Hang on, Miranda."

"No, Shepard! Something is coming!"

"Huh?" Shepard glanced up, annoyed. That was quickly forgotten when she saw what Miranda was freaking out about. Hurtling toward them was a giant face. With arms and legs. The face was grey and skull-like. Shepard's stomach tightened. It was like a miniature, crude King Kittan. A miniature reaper? It was roaring. Shepard instinctively leapt away from it as it crashed into the ground. The shock wave from the landing threw her back further than she had planned and she slammed hard into a building. She slid down, coughing and trying to get her breath back. Even though she was rattled, Shepard quickly took stock of the situation. Miranda was in the same shape as Shepard, on her hands and knees after being thrown by the mini-reaper's landing. And Viral was...charging straight at the reaper?!

The strange man hopped onto the thing's head and proceeded to start pulling at the top of its eye-socket. The mini-reaper tottered backward and Shepard thought for a moment that Viral would succeed in upending it. Then the reaper lifted one hand and a beam shot out of the palm. It lanced straight through Viral and he tumbled off the head. Shepard went cold. Viral couldn't die yet. She still had too many questions for him! Her brain went into overdrive, trying to come up with a way to take down the little reaper as quickly as possible. Her rifle and pistol were anti-personnel. She doubted they would even penetrate the face's armor. Miranda had her biotics but she would have to be an Asari Huntress to be able to tear that thing apart. Or Kamina.

The face turned toward her and sprayed it's palm laser at her before she could call her biotic friend. Shepard dived and rolled behind a building. When she came to her feet she was next to a dead collector. Its broken neck attested to who killed it but Shepard was much more interested in the weapon next to the body. She smiled grimly. Alright, let's see how well you stand up to a dose of your own medicine. Shepard snatched up the collector particle beam cannon and contacted Miranda. "Are you alright, Miranda?"

"Yes but that...thing...is headed your way, Shepard. I don't know how to stop it."

"Do you think you can grab it with your biotics? I just need you to hold it for a few seconds," Shepard responded.

"Yes, I think I could," Miranda said cautiously.

"Then do it now." Shepard jumped out even as she was speaking. The mini-reaper hesitated for a moment when she raised the beam cannon. That second was all the time Miranda needed to snag it with her biotics. Miranda's arrogance could be grating but she certainly backed it up with some skills. Shepard fired the cannon. A bright beam drilled into the face. Shepard spontaneously decided to target the same eye that Viral had. After a few seconds, the beam punched directly through the eye. None too soon, either, as a moment later, the particle beam flickered and died. Shepard glanced at the cannon with curiosity wondering how to reload it. Maybe it'll charge itself back up?

The reaper keeled over and didn't move. With a sigh of relief, Shepard attached the cannon to her back. She would need to carry heavier weapons if there was a chance she would face more of the small reapers. She drew her pistol and advanced cautiously on the downed machine. Was that Harbinger? Somehow Shepard doubted it.

"Nice work." Shepard started at the sound of Viral's voice. The strange man was walking toward her as if nothing was amiss. And there wasn't a scratch on him. How in the hell? Shepard's stomach flip-flopped when she saw that there was indeed a hole burned through his jumpsuit on the right side of his chest. Is his skin invulnerable or something?

Viral jumped up onto the face and and braced his feet on the bottom half of the mouth. He pushed down and Shepard watched in fascination as the mouth of the face opened. Viral reached inside and dragged something out. He flung it on the ground and the creature landed spread-eagle. Shepard stared at it, having no idea what she was looking at. The creature was humanoid but covered entirely in black fur. Half its face was melted off from the particle beam but it didn't look like any species Shepard was familiar with. A new type of alien?

"What the hell is that?" Miranda asked, joining them.

"It was the pilot of the face machine," Shepard said. "I've never seen anything like it though."

Viral hopped down from the machine and snarled, "It's a beastman." He kicked the corpse. "That's why the bug-folk are collecting humans. The little twerp has no imagination. Copying his betters."

Shepard and Miranda glanced at each other. "What?" the asked almost simultaneously.

Viral squatted down, grasped the top of the creature's head and lifted it up. "The point is this used to be human. The humans that were taken today, that were taken from the other humans, they are going to come back at you. Just like these collector things are corruptions of the species that came before."

Shepard tensed. "You're saying that the collectors used to be protheans?"

"Of course! Where did you think they came from? The reapers took the protheans and corrupted them and twisted them into servants, taking away all their power."

Shepard put a hand to her head. She knew about indoctrination, of course. It was one of the most insidious methods the reapers used. But that the enemy's own foot soldiers would be mutated humans? "Will they do this to the others?" She didn't need Viral's affirmative nod. Of course they would. What would suck the life out of resistance faster than the fact they were facing their own people?

"That's monstrous," Miranda said. "Shepard, we have to stop this as quickly as possible. Every colonist they take is more than just one loss now. It's every person one of these things kills as well."

"I know, I know," Shepard said, feeling drained. And knowing, can I simply drive the collector ship away? Should I attempt to board and rescue all the colonists?

"Commander," EDI said in her ear. "The collector ship has noticed the charging GARDIAN towers. It is lifting off now."

Damn it! "EDI, do whatever you can to charge those towers faster. Prioritize one over the other if possible. I want the thrusters destroyed before it escapes."

EDI was silent for a moment. "Commander, I have explored all contingencies will not be able to fire with enough power to damage the thrusters before the ship exits the range of the towers."

Shepard cursed. "Well, just do your best, EDI!"

"I am incapable of doing otherwise," came the flat reply. Oh. Right. Shepard sighed and waved her companions to follow. "Let's get the rendezvous point, at least." They hustled away, taking care of a couple straggling collectors before reaching the GARDIAN towers. Garrus, Grunt and Kamina were already there. Judging by the collectors littered around them, they'd had quite the fight. None of them looked worse for the wear, however.

Shepard glanced up and saw that the collector ship was starting to disappear into the upper atmosphere. The GARDIAN towers still weren't firing. "How long until you have those guns online, EDI?" Shepard groused.

"Twenty seconds, Commander." Too late. Just as EDI had surmised.

"Wait!" An unfamiliar voice shouted. "Half the colony's on that ship!" Shepard half-turned to see a man running toward them. "You can't let them just leave!"

"Sorry, I…" Shepard shook her head. I made a mistake. There was bound to be a massive amount of collectors on that ship but the six of them probably could have done something. Rescue the colonists at least.

"Without us, every one of you would be on that ship," Miranda cut in. "We did what we could." Shepard stared up at the retreating ship and EDI's parting shots. It wasn't enough. She glanced around and saw that Kamina was also glowering up at the ship.

"Who are you people anyway?" the colonist asked angrily.

"Commander Shepard," a familiar voice called out before Shepard could say anything. "The first human spectre, savior of the Citadel." Ashley Williams stepped into sight and glanced at the colonist. "You're in the presence of a god, Delan."

Delan snorted with derision. "Figures. All the good people we lost and somehow you survive. Fat lot of good your 'protection' did us." Delan waved in disgust and walked away. "I'm done with you Alliance."

Ashley watched him go and then turned back to Shepard. Shepard gazed back at her with some consternation. Ashley was the only one of her old squad she hadn't really considered contacting. The woman was Alliance through and through and very...forthright. Narrow-minded some might say. It made Ashley a good soldier but Shepard didn't think it was a very good mindset for the kind of mission she was on at the moment. Her former squadmate walked up and stuck out her hand. Shepard shook it with some relief. "I thought you were dead, Commander."

"I was. Or the next thing to it," Shepard said with a smile.

Ashley's eyes traveled over the people assembled around Shepard. "I see that you've assembled a new crew." Shepard could hear the faint hurt and recrimination in her voice. "Or almost new. Hello, Vakarian."

"Nice to see you again, Williams," Garrus said coolly.

Ashley's face trembled a bit and Shepard could see she was trying to hold tight to her professionalism. It cracked. "Two years, Shepard! Why haven't you contacted us? It was devastating to think you were dead. You were more than our commander...I…" Ashley trailed off, clearly trying to regain control of her emotions.

"I'm sorry, Ashley," Shepard said calmly. "Honestly, I was completely out of commission for most of that time." Shepard pointed at Miranda. "It took her two years just to get me back on my feet again."

Ashley glanced at Miranda and her eyes widened. She stepped back. "There were rumors that you were working for Ouroboros but I didn't believe it. What are you thinking, Shepard?"

"I'm working with them not for," Shepard clarified. "They are trying to do something about all these colonists going missing."

"What if they're the ones behind it?!" Ashley exploded. "We were tipped off that Ouroboros was monitoring this colony. That's why I'm here."

Miranda scoffed. "You're being ridiculous. You saw what's happening. It's the collectors that are abducting colonists."

"And maybe you're working with them," Ashely shot back.

"Ash, that's just not true," Shepard said. "It was the collectors that took the colonists. Ouroboros had nothing to do with it."

"Maybe the collectors and Ouroboros are working together," Ashley insisted. "The reason I'm here is that we got a tip that Ouroboros was monitoring this colony. The next thing we know, the collectors are hitting it."

That's interesting, Shepard thought as Garrus said, "Damn it, Williams, you're trying to twist the facts to support your preconceived narrative. That's the most dangerous mistake an investigator can make."

"I can't believe you're with them, Garrus," Ashley snapped. "They're xenophobes!"

"I don't trust them," Garrus said calmly. "But right now we have a common enemy."

"That's right," Shepard cut in. "I don't trust Ouroboros either but the real enemy here are the reapers. I am certain the collectors are working with them." Ashley looked shaken and didn't retort immediately so Shepard continued, "You know me, Ash. Everything I've done since I became a Spectre has been to combat the reapers. You were with me on Ilos. You saw what one of them did to the Citadel. That's the real fight."

For a moment Shepard thought that she had won Ashley over but then the woman shook her head. "I'd like to believe you, Shepard, but I don't trust Ouroboros and I never will. This isn't the way to do this. Come back to the Alliance."

Shepard sighed. "I can't do that. The reason Spectres exist is so they don't have to deal with bureaucratic red-tape and chains of command. I refuse to be slowed down or compromise fighting the reapers. I can't afford it."

Ashley's glare sharpened. "Are you sure they didn't fiddle with your brain when they rebuilt you?"

"How dare you?!" Miranda hissed. Shepard glanced at her sideways, amazed at how indignant Miranda could get about something she absolutely would have done given the chance.

Ashley shook her head sadly one more time and turned to leave. "Wait!" Shepard called after her. "Even if you don't believe in me anymore, don't forget what you saw. The reapers are coming and the Alliance needs to be ready for it." Ashley paused to hear her out and then gave a nod before setting off again. Shepard watched her leave with frustration. She hand Ashley had never seen perfectly eye-to-eye but Shepard hadn't expected such a negative reaction. You die for a couple years and suddenly everybody loses faith.

"You alright, Shepard?" Garrus asked, stepping up next to her.

"Yeah but let's get off this colony."

Garrus nodded. "Sounds good to me."

A short time later, Shepard found herself in the chambers of the Illusive Man. "Good work on Horizon, Shepard. Hopefully the collectors will think twice before hitting another colony so brazenly."

Shepard's hands curled into fists. "It wasn't a victory. The collectors took half the colony. The people that they took..." Shepard trailed off, unsure of how much the Illusive Man knew and how much she wanted to divulge.

The Illusive Man's eyes flashed. "It's more than anyone else has done. We learned valuable information on Horizon but trying to defend all the colonies in the Terminus is a fool's errand. We need to hit them where they live."

Shepard nodded. "I can agree with that."

"Good. I'll find a way to get you to the collector home world, Shepard. You focus on making a crew that can handle anything."

"So far that is going better than expected." Shepard saw a chance to try and knock a little information loose. "Viral has been a welcome addition to the crew."

The Illusive Man didn't even blink. "Is that so? I'm glad he trusted you enough to tell you his real name. Viral can be prickly and secretive."

"Yes, I've noticed. That Viral has a lot of...interesting theories."

The Illusive Man smirked. "Viral is an interesting man and an excellent soldier."

"I agree." So the Illusive Man isn't going to volunteer any information. Shepard felt the urge to demand he tell her what he knew of spiral power and the anti-spiral and everything else but she repressed it for now. The Illusive Man was still a valuable ally.

"Miranda has information on a potential recruit," the Illusive Man said after the silence had stretched. "He's on Illium now but he's hard to track and predict so I suggest you head there straightaway."

"I'll take it under advisement," Shepard responded. The Illusive Man smirked again and then he and his chamber fizzled out. Ass. Instead of leaving the conference room, Shepard sat at the table. She was finally alone and there was an urgent message from Barla Von that had been waiting for her since she returned to the Normandy. Shepard mentally crossed her fingers and opened it up. It was brief and to the point.

Shepard, I have located the asari. Apologies for the delay but many of my information sources were strangely reluctant to divulge anything regarding her. This is speculation but I believe she has crossed the Shadow Broker. If this is the case, she is undoubtedly in danger. You will find her at Dilinaga University on Illium. This message and its path to you will be erased the moment you close it.

Shepard closed the message after reading it through twice. "Illum," she mused aloud. "How serendipitous." And if the Shadow Broker is really targeting Liara, he is about to learn a hard, hard lesson.

Author's Notes: Whew, this one was a bit of a labor. Lots of exposition. I hope everything made sense. I can't say that I am totally happy with it but I want to move on. Next up we're heading to Illium and Tuchanka, which should be a lot of fun. As always, thanks for reading!

Kuragari