Dekosuke

Kamina sat in the cockpit of his horsehead gunmen, arms crossed, affecting the most confident and relaxed aura he could. Most of the rest of the crew were nervous because the were about to depart on a so-called 'suicide mission.' Kamina knew that a key component of leadership was seeming confident, even if you were the opposite, so he maintained his self-assurance no matter what the circumstance. He also didn't want to move. I'm never drinking again. Kamina had woken with a sour taste in his mouth, a splitting headache and strong desire to vomit. He was glad he'd had his sunglasses with him to hide behind. Shepard had ordered him to visit the ship's medbay but he'd demurred. Kamina didn't want to embarass himself by going to a doctor with such minor concerns. Especially since Grunt had seemed to suffer no ill-effects from the drink at all.

His gunmen stood on top of the Gurren Senken, legs apart and arms crossed under its gargantuan head. Kamina didn't know exactly how he did it but he had no problem maintaining his balance, even as the ship burned toward the Omega 4 mass relay. "You alright up there, you crazy bastard?" That was the ship's captain, Joker, over the com. Kamina liked the name but the man was entirely too pessimistic.

Kamina laughed. "Who do you think you are talking to?" he puffed. "Just punch it. Let's go and kick these 'collectors' right in the ass." His mind drifted back to the corpses on the collector ship they'd destroyed. He barely kept the meager contents of his stomach down. "We'll show them not to take humans so lightly."

Instead of responding to Kamina, Joker switched to Shepard. "Commander, are really going to let him stand on top of the Normandy like that?"

"Your complaints have been noted, Joker," Shepard said. "Extensively. Now hit it."

Joker gave a massive sigh but said, "Roger. Let's see what happens." The Gurren Senken blasted forward, heading for the giant mass relay with the disturbingly brilliant scarlet mass effect field. As they approached both EDI and Joker began to shout about what was happening to the ship or something. It all went over Kamina's head so he tuned it out. His stomach was starting to cramp worse than before and he knew it wasn't just an effect from the hangover. Something was on the other side of that mass relay. Something more than the collectors. Kamina didn't know what it was but he started to sweat and have trouble breathing.

Then they hit the mass relay and there was no more time to think.

"Shit!" Joker yelled while Kamina thought the same thing. They had come out in a debris field and Joker had to jerk the ship up hard to avoid crashing into anything. Kamina kneeled down so he could put both the gunmen's hands on the ship and anchor himself more securely. Joker weaved the ship around a few more metal hulks before making it to a relatively empty patch of space and breathing a sigh of relief. Kamina was impressed with his quick reactions. "This must be all the ships that tried to make it through the Omega 4 relay before us," Joker breathed. "Some look...ancient."

"I have detected an energy signature near the edge of the accretion disk," EDI reported.

"Has to be the collector base," Shepard said. "Take us in for a closer look." The Gurren Senken shifted and accelerated. Kamina stood back up and walked toward the edge a little, swiveling his gunmen around and taking it all in. There was an incredible amount of debris floating around. Kamina could hardly believe this many ships existed, much less were all destroyed trying to come here. Insect freaks. You won't stop us the same way! Kamina shook his gunmen's fist at the distant collector base and then had to duck to the side as a hunk of metal nearly hit him in the side of the head. He tottered to the side and fell as the Gurren Senken rolled slightly. Kamina rolled his gunmen over and pushed himself back up, hoping nobody had seen him.

Now facing away from the direction the Gurren Senken was heading, Kamina saw something curious. It looked like a glowing red eyeball. Kamina cocked his head and stared at it. He got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Sukeban!" he commed. "Eyeball!"

"What?"

"Oh, shit. Commander!" Joker said. "There is something coming up behind us!" Just as he finished speaking, the eyeball let loose with a beam of energy that burned across the back of the Gurren Senken. Kamina barely hopped out of the way in time. The beam left a black scorch mark on the ship but, to Kamina's unpracticed eye, there didn't seem to be any real damage. You'll have to do better than that, Eyeball! As Kamina glanced back up, though, he noticed that the eyeball wasn't alone anymore. There were three...no, four of them now. Joker was shouting but Kamina ignored it, aiming his wrist-mounted guns at the eyeball. Just as he shot, though, the eyeball bounced up and away. What the-?! Kamina fired again with the same results. Can it sense the gun powering up? Kamina growled, wishing he could grab the stupid eyeball with his hands.

He had to jump away from another energy beam and a slab of metal hit him in the back of the head, causing him faceplant into the hull of the Gurren Senken. Damn all this debris! He thought, reflexively rubbing the back of his gunmen's head with one hand. Then he froze as an idea came to mind. Then he smiled. Kamina got the gunmen back on its feet and glanced around. The Gurren Senken was weaving and rolling continuously now but Kamina was feeling it and his adjustments to keep the gunmen steady were nearly unconscious. Instead he focused on finding what he needed. There! Kamina jumped up and snatched a triangular hunk of metal out of the air. He turned back to the eyeballs and picked the closest one. Try dodging this! Kamina reared back and threw the metal arrow. It hit dead center and the eyeball exploded.

"Eat that!" Kamina crowed. He cheered again when Joker bobbed the Gurren Senken so that the thrusters fried another one of the eyeballs. Two down, two to go. Kamina was about to search for another likely shard of metal when the ship rocked from two impacts behind him. Kamina whirled his gunmen around and found himself looking at two new gunmen. One was skinny with long arms and legs and a scowling face. The other was squat and square with a massive horn sprouting from its forehead. Kamina snorted and smirked. "Two on one?" He smashed the fists of his gunmen together. "Good odds. For me!"

The scowling gunmen reached out toward him and Kamina was startled when its arm suddenly extended. He danced back and right into the path of the other gunmen. The horned one was charging at him with its horn leveled. It would have speared Kamina's gunmen right in the cockpit if Kamina hadn't spun at the last second. He couldn't get all the way out of the way, however, and the horn took his gunmen's left arm off. Kamina cursed as his gumen spun around like a top, trying to find his footing before he fell right off the Gurren Senken. In the background, he heard something about one of the eyeballs infiltrating the hold of the ship but he tried to ignore it. His Sukeban would deal with it, just like she dealt with everything. In fact, maybe it should have been her in this gunmen.

Kamina shook his head violently and forced his gunmen to stop tottering. Keep it together, fool! You're Kamina-sama of Team Dai-Gurren! He twitched his remaining arm up and fired at the scowly gunmen. Annoyingly, its legs extended and the beam passed underneath it. Pleasingly, a piece of debris smacked it the back of the head. The now super-tall gunmen crashed into the Gurren Senken. Kamina took the chance to find the other one. Just in time, too, as it was charging straight at him again. Kamina leapt over the hard-charging gunmen and fired a beam as it passed underneath. The beam slashed a black mark in the top of the horned gunmen's head but didn't seem to do much real damage. Kamina landed and then charged right at the horned gunmen that was skidding to a halt. Kamina felt energy surging in his blood, pouring out and fusing with the gunmen. By the time he shoulder-checked the horned gunmen, he was so charged up that the enemy gunmen flew off the Gurren Senken and tumbled through empty space until it started to hit debris. Soon the horned gunmen was little more than pieces mingling with the rest of the drifting bits of metal.

That was good. The bad news was that his horsehead gunmen's other arm had been mangled in the collision. Kamina cursed and tried to move it. This had been the same problem he'd had with Gurren. Somehow Lagann seemed to be much tougher and the fusion of Lagann with Gurren had made Kamina's own gunmen able to take more punishment. A perfect vehicle for my blood brother. Kamina's chest got tight at the thought of Simon but he didn't have much time to dwell on it.

Joker had been keeping up a running commentary of the battle, which Kamina had mostly been ignoring, but he did hear the pilot say, "I'm going into the debris field." Huh? The Gurren Senken drifted right and then sped right toward an area of space that was especially thick with debris. Kamina glanced up and saw that two more eyeballs had joined the fight, maybe in addition to the one that had gotten inside the ship. Kamina could see why Joker was getting desperate. I have to help him. But first..

Kamina turned back toward the scowling gunmen just in time for the extendo-arms to grab him. "Huh?!" With unexpected power, the scowling gunmen lifted him straight up, extending its arms even more. Just as they entered the debris field. Kamina flinched as a hunk of metal slammed into the front of his gunmen. "Damn it!" He struggled in the scowling gunmen's arms but his one attached arm wouldn't work, so he just ended up flailing his legs around. Meanwhile, his own gunmen was under constant assault from shards of metal, one of which took off his ruined arm. His one consolation was that he saw an eyeball crash into the side of a bulkhead.

The detached nose of some old spaceship hit him square on, rocking his gunmen hard and warning lights flashed on. Damn it. Is this how I go? Kamina thought, still fruitlessly kicking his legs. Is this how Kamina-sama of Dai-Gurren meets his end? Kamina snarled. "Hell no!" Biotic energy swirled around him and he reached out with it. He found the joints on the extendo-arms of the scowling mech and wrapped them in energy. Then he jerked down hard. Both arms snapped. Kamina was freed but now he was floating in space with no way back to the Gurren Senken. His gunmen shuddered from more hits.

Kamina glared at the scowling mech. He didn't quite know what he was doing but he knew that he wanted to attack. "Ready?" he asked the scowling gunmen, spiral power pulsing out of him and surrounding his gunmen. "Final attack!" Kamina screamed, his gunmen twisting around. "Horsehead Rocket!" The gunmen shot forward in a blaze of green and smashed headlong into the scowling gunmen.

The enemy gunmen flew off the Gurren Senken in two pieces and was reduced further almost instantly. Kamina, meanwhile, was sliding across the back of the ship so fast that his had no hope of arresting his progress before he flew right off as well. Alarms were ringing through the horsehead and, though he couldn't exactly understand all of the things the gunmen was trying to tell him, Kamina did understand that horsehead was done for. Kamina cursed but didn't waste time with regrets. He activated the helmet of his armor and the opened the horsehead's mouth. Kamina leapt out of the gunmen just in time, anchoring himself to the hull of the ship with his biotics. The horsehead skidded off the front of Gurren Senken, destined to join the debris field. Kamina saluted the mech that had served him well, if for a short time.

He scampered across the hull of Gurren Senken until he found and entry hatch and worked it open. Kamina dropped inside and breathed a sigh of relief-just in time to get smashed into a wall as Joker jerked the ship again. Kamina rubbed his arm. What are doing, Joker? Damn. Kamina hurried through the ship and came to the bridge just as Gurren Senken was exiting the debris field. Shepard was on the bridge too and glanced at him without surprise. "Glad you're okay, Kamina," was all she said.

He forced a laugh. "My gunmen has seen better days."

Shepard nodded in sympathy. "EDI told me what happened." She grinned. "Sounds like quite a fight. You'll have to tell me about it when we have some time."

"Which is not now," Miranda interrupted, striding onto the bridge. "Look, that must be the collector base," she said, pointing at a hulk in the distance.

"Hmm. Do a flyover, Joker," Shepard commanded. "Let's see what we're dealing with and look for a place to land."

"I think we're going to have to deal with whatever that is first, Commander," Joker responded. The 'that' needed no further explanation, as they could all see that something was detaching itself from the Collector base. As they got closer, Kamina could see that it was a gunmen. It looked like a helmet with arms and legs but the most notable aspect was the giant cannon on top of its head. Goosebumps pebbled Kamina's flesh. He'd seen that gunmen before. "Holy shit," Joker continued. "Are we dealing with a full-fledged reaper here?" The cannon gunmen was easily ten times the size of Kamina's now destroyed horsehead gunmen.

Shepard quickly shook her head, though. "No, it's bigger than the mini-reapers but nowhere near the size of King Kittan."

"Well, that makes it all better, then," Joker quipped.

"Warning," EDI sounded. "Energy buildup detected."

"Shit!" Joker yelled, jerking the Gurren Senken up and to the side. Just in time, as a massive energy beam shot out of the gunmen's cannon. Kamina gaped at the beam. That's nearly the same size as our entire ship! It would completely disintegrate them if they caught it head on.

"No choice but to fight!" Shepard yelled. "Fire the main cannon!"

"Fuck!" Joker cursed. "I hope all of Garrus's damn calibrations actually amount to something!" He slammed his hand on a button and a blue beam of energy shout out of the Gurren Senken. The gunmen attempted to get out of the way but one of its arms was caught in the fire. When the beam faded, the arm was gone. "Ha! How'd ya like that, you son of bitch!" Joker crowed.
"Too early to celebrate," Shepard said, steady as ever. "Get in close and finish it off," she commanded.

"Shepard, I don't know if that's a good idea," Miranda objected.

"We're finishing this now," Shepard said with a steely glance.

"Let's do this," Joker said, swinging the Gurren Senken in line with the enemy gunmen. Kamina could see that the cannon was charging another strike but approved of Shepard's desire to finish the fight. The Gurren Senken and the armored gunmen fired at the same time. The gunmen's massive golden beam passed right by the Gurren Senken's smaller azure one. Joker drifted the Gurren Senken to the side as much as he could without ruining the aim of the cannons. Kamina's heart started pounding and he began to sweat underneath his armor as the beam came at them. Miranda was white-faced. Shepard watched with seemingly mild interest, her arms crossed.

The Gurren Senken's shot hit the armored gunmen right in the eye, drilling through it. Before Kamina had a chance to cheer, the gunmen's own beam passed right over the top of the Gurren Senken. The ship shuddered and then went dark. It flopped to port, slamming Kamina into one wall. Shepard maintained her balance but Miranda would have smashed into something if Kamina hadn't caught her in a biotic field. "Mass effect field generators are offline!" Joker was screaming. "EDI-give me something!"

"Generators offline," EDI calmly explained. "All hands brace for impact."

The Gurren Senken careened toward the Collector base. It caught a strut and began to spin. Kamina kept himself and Miranda in place with his biotics. Joker had a deathgrip on his chair. Shepard, standing in the middle of the bridge, with her arms crossed and her legs in a wide stance, hardly seemed affected. Kamina's found himself appreciated her all over again. He glanced out the window and, whenever the ship spun so he could see in that direction, he could see that the armored gunmen was floating dead in space. Suck on that.

Kamina didn't have much time to gloat before the Gurren Senken touched down, bouncing a couple of times before starting slew around. Kamina had to concentrate hard to keep himself and Miranda from being dashed against something. Even Shepard had to grasp the back of Joker's chair to stay upright. Kamina could hear the shriek of metal on metal as the Gurren Senken skidded across the Collector base. By luck or fate, though, the ship bled off enough momentum that it screeched to a stop before hitting anything unyielding.

Once the ship came to a complete stop, Kamina let his biotics go and nearly stumbled to his knees. Sweat was pouring off of him. Shepard, who had somehow remained on her feet, leaned forward and touched Joker lightly on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Joker?" she asked with genuine concern.

"I think I broke a rib," Joker groaned through gritted teeth. "All of them."

"Multiple core systems overloaded," EDI reported, unconcerned as only a computer could be. "Restoring operations will take time."

Miranda cursed under her breath but then shrugged. "Well, we all knew this was likely a one-way trip."

"Well, then we're off to a good start," Joker muttered.

"I have no intention of dying again," Shepard said sharply. "Joker, get those ribs looked at and then you and EDI get this bird ready to fly again."

"Will do," Joker said with a happy bob of his head.

"The rest of you, let's get to the conference room." The word went out and soon the rest of their small team was gathered together. Once they were all settled, Shepard said, "That didn't exactly go as planned but we're here. We have a chance to shut down the collectors for good." She smirked. "And when I have somebody in my sights, I don't miss. EDI, bring up your scans."

A holographic representation of the Collector's base appeared over the conference table. "You should be able to overload their critical systems if you get the main control center here."

"Look, though," Miranda said, stalking around the table. "Getting there means going through the heart of the station. EDI, what is that massive energy signature?"

"Unknown."

"Well, I wouldn't want to blow up this station before checking it out anyway," Shepard said.

"Of course you wouldn't," Miranda muttered, studying the Collector base. "Look, there seem to be two paths leading to that central chamber. Perhaps it would be better to split up the risk, in case one path leads somewhere we can't get out of."

"No matter which way we go, it looks like both routes are blocked off," Garrus said. "Do we have a way to force open those doors?" Kamina searched the base with the rest of them but didn't even know what he was looking at.

"What about this?" Shepard said. "There is a shaft here that seems like it extends beyond the doors. If somebody could get through and then override the doors…"

"Seems like an incredibly dangerous job with a small chance of success," Miranda said.

"Just like this entire mission," Shepard countered. She glanced at the individuals in the room and scratched her chin. "Legion, you seemed to have a good handle on the collector's tech when you were aboard their ship. Think you can do this?"

"I will do as you order, Shepard-Commander," Legion responded.

"I'll take that as a yes," Shepard muttered. "Alright, then. To give Legion time to do what it needs to do, the rest of us will break into two teams and fight down each passage. The goal is to create as much chaos and damage as possible to keep the collectors focused on us." Kamina grinned. That seemed like an excellent job for him.

"I'll lead the second fire-team," Miranda instantly volunteered. Kamina winced a little at the look that passed over Shepard's face and prepared for Miranda to get taken down again.

But, surprisingly, Shepard said, "That's fine. Take Kamina and Grunt with you. Tali, too. Me, Garrus and Thane will make up the other team. Kamina tried to smile at Miranda but the woman didn't even notice. She was too busy preening over finally getting Shepard to let her lead. "Okay," Shepard continued. "We all know what's at stake here. Watch each other's backs. I want us all here for the ride back. Let's take down these bastards for good."

"Damn right!" Kamina yelled. Grunt roared and smashed his fists together.

Shepard led them off the ship and gave Kamina's team a simple nod before leaving with Thane and Garrus. Kamina was practically vibrating with pent-up energy, his exhaustion from the earlier fight and crash-landing already forgotten. Miranda had them huddle up and Kamina thought it was cute how excited she was. "Alright," she said. "Kamina, you take point. Tali and I will flank out to either side of you. Grunt, you watch our six and move up for fire-support if we get pinned down. Got it?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Most importantly, don't get out of sight. We're a team."

"No problem!" Kamina said. Miranda eyed him suspiciously but Kamina meant it. With Shepard, it felt like he could go haring off as he pleased but he wasn't about to risk abandoning Miranda to fight on her own. He wasn't sure about Tali, either. He'd hadn't gotten to see her in action much and she seemed kind of small and sickly. She's got that mask after all. When he'd asked about it, he'd gotten an explanation about immune systems and little bugs or something that didn't make any sense at all. It sounded bad, though. Kamina was surprised she could even fight.

They moved into the interior of the collector base and nothing much happened at first. The base was eerie and surprisingly cavernous. Movement in Kamina's peripheral vision had him turning his head this way and that but no attack came. "Careful," Miranda said over the com. "They're surrounding us." Kamina gripped his shotgun with a snarl. He hated that kind of thing. An attack should be straight on, preferably while letting your opponent know who you were. He wasn't about to put up with it.

"I'll get these bastards fighting," he announced, gathering his biotics.

"Kamina, wait!" Miranda shouted but he was already in attack-mode. Kamina unleashed a shockwave of energy that rushed in front and above him. As he expected, it knocked some collectors loose from their perches and they started to fire at him. Kamina laughed, let his shield soak up the damage and let loose with another shockwave. Chaos was what Shepard had asked for and nobody was better at creating it than Kamina. His armour gave a whine that he'd learned meant the shields were about to give out, so he ducked behind a strut and exchanged his shotgun for his machine gun. The fight was in full-swing now and Kamina could see that there were dozens of collectors in the cavernous chamber with them. "God damn it, Kamina!" Miranda shouted. "You are supposed to be following my orders!"

"My bad," Kamina said, though he didn't feel the least bit apologetic.

Miranda sighed. "Damn. Okay, close ranks with Kamina. Fire free." I guess that means I'm supposed to stay where I am? Stationary fighting went against his instincts but he didn't want to piss of Miranda unnecessarily. Kamina leaned out from the strut and sent a stream of bullets from his Locust at two close collectors, blasting them off their feet. A beam drilled into the strut where his head had recently been. Kamina found the collector that fired it on the ceiling and used a biotic wedge to force it off. The collector fell and landed with a satisfying splat. In the meantime, he kept an awareness of the other three converging on his position. Grunt was mowing down collectors of course, while Miranda was using an efficient combination of biotics and bullets to keep them at bay. An explosion that seemed to rock the entire base told of Tali's own adeptness at killing collectors. Kamina was forced to reevaluate his opinion of the seemingly sickly woman.

Kamina heard a squawk that prompted him to peek around the strut he was taking cover behind. Three creatures were charging at him and Kamina froze out of sheer shock. They were birdmen. Not like bird-like the way that Garrus was but an actual mishmash of bird and human parts. I knew it! Whatever was behind the collectors was the same thing behind the beastmen. The birdmen crashed his position before Kamina could mentally recover but he didn't sweat it. Using the trick that Shepard had shown him, Kamina created a blade with his omnitool and dispatched the birdmen quickly.

By the time he was finished, the others had reached him. Miranda glanced at the dead birdmen with curiosity but then put a hand to her ear and got a faraway look in her eyes. "Legion almost has the door open," she reported. "We need to move." She made a diamond in the air with one figure. "We head toward the door in a diamond formation so we have three-hundred and sixty degree vision, understood? Keep pace. We need to go. Getting to that door on time is more important that killing every last collector in this place." Kamina raised an eyebrow at that but decided he would follow her orders.

The moved out in a similar formation as the one they had started in. Kamina was point with Miranda and Tali to either side and Grunt followed. The only difference was how close together they were. Kamina used his biotics and Locust to clear a path forward, resisting the ever-present urge to shoot off and engage them face-to-face. It was especially frustrating when one of the collectors would duck away before he could finish them off. He grew even more incensed when Miranda called for a halt, though he could see why. While they had been moving between areas of cover, there was a wide gap between where they were and the door with nothing to take cover behind. But as he watched, the door began to creak open. "Door's opening!" he cried.

"Go, go, go!" Miranda responded. They sprinted pell mell toward the toward the door. Kamina threw up and biotic barrier behind them to soak up the damage. Though he reached the door first, he stopped to the side and ushered Tali, Miranda and Grunt in before him. He glared out at the collectors raining fire on his position. There really are a lot of them. Still, the thought of just cutting and running made him sick. He twitched up his Locust. Maybe now that the others are safe...Before he could even finish the thought, Shepard reached through and yanked him back behind the door. Legion quickly shut it.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Kamina said, adjusting the neck of his armor. "I'm good. How are you?"

Shepard arched an eyebrow at him but before she could respond, Garrus said, "Shepard, I think there is something over here you'll want to see."

Kamina turned with Shepard and instantly saw what Garrus was talking about. They were in a high-ceilinged room and pods were everywhere. The same kind of pods that had been on the Collector ship. A sick feeling came to his stomach as he walked up to one of the pods. A young woman with dark hair was inside. Kamina put his hand on the soft, clear case of the pod. And then jumped when the woman suddenly opened her eyes. She banged on the cage and started to scream. Kamina reacted instantly, using his biotics to rip of the front of the pod. The woman stumbled out and Kamina hurried to catch her. He glanced over his shoulder at Shepard. "The people in the pods are still alive!"

She nodded grimly. "You heard him," she said to the rest. "Sweep the area and bust open any pods with people still inside." Kamina gently sat the coughing woman against a wall and then joined in the search. In all, they found a depressingly small amount of living humans. Only seven. Most of the pods were empty and Kamina had the queasy feeling that they were only empty because their contents had already been used, not because of a lack of captives.

"But what in the world were they doing with them?" Tali asked aloud, once the seven had been gathered together.

"Beastmen," Kamina said with conviction. "They're using them to create beastmen."

"What is a beast...men?" Tali asked.

"They're like humans but with beast-parts!" Kamina shouted, waving his hands. "Like a cat or a shark or, or, or a monkey! They lived on the surface of where I am from and were always smashing any humans that dared to come up."

Tali cocked her head and didn't respond. Though he couldn't see her face, he somehow knew she was looking at him like he was crazy. Kamina was about to yell at her when Miranda said, "For what it's worth, there has been something like that mixed in with the collectors. Creatures that seem human but have animal bits. Beaks and claws and such. It is very strange."

"Why would they create such things?" Tali asked.

"The same reason they created the collectors out of the Protheans," Shepard said. "It makes them better individual fighters while at the same time making it impossible to be what they were again." She sighed and glanced up. "I should have seen this. Indoctrination pointed to it. What's more ruthlessly efficient that turning our own people into soldiers to fight against us? It's not only psychologically devastating but it means that their forces increase exponentially as ours decrease." Shepard shook her head. "No wonder they've been able to wipe out every sentient species that has ever existed."

A cold weight settled into Kamina's stomach as she spoke. He hadn't thought about it like that but they way she put it made fighting them seem impossible. Going by the averted gazes and silence of the rest of the team, he wasn't the only one thinking that way. Come on...Come on, Kamina! Nothing is ever impossible. And even if it is, that's no excuse not to fight! Kamina clenched his fists and roared. He startled the rest of the team and once their eyes were on him, Kamina pointed to the ground. "Isn't that what we're here for?! We came here to destroy this facility so they can't keep doing this! If there are more, then we'll wreck them too! If their forces increase, then so will our will to fight! We only lose if we give up!"

Shepard smiled at him and then shouted, "Exactly right, Kamina!" Heads swiveled to her. "The odds have been against us from the very start but that doesn't mean one damn thing. This was referred to a suicide mission but I never thought that even once. We're gonna kill everything here and we're going to survive so that we can send the reapers back to whatever hell they came from."

"Damn straight." Garrus said as Grunt roared his approval.

"That's all well and good, Shepard," Miranda said, unmoved somehow. "But perhaps now we should refocus on the first step. What do we do from here?"

"Good point," Shepard said but then she muttered something to low to hear that was undoubtedly less than complimentary. "EDI, you have our location, right? What's the best path forward?"

"There are two routes forward, Commander. One is blocked by a security door that I have been unable to gain control of. The other seems to be full of seeker swarms. I have consulted with Leeron and he believes that his countermeasures will not be able to protect you from so many at once."

Shepard crossed her arms. "Well, if you can't open the door, we have no choice but to try the seeker swarms. There must be some way through them."

Nobody spoke at first and Kamina was getting ready to suggest they just run really hard and fast when Miranda spoke, "Perhaps we could generate a constant biotic field to keep them at bay." Shepard glanced at her. "I've been thinking about it since we first ran into them. It would take a lot of energy but for a short period, I don't see why it wouldn't work."

"Okay," Shepard said. "Okay, that gives us some options."

"What about the people we rescued?" Tali asked. "If we leave them here, there's no telling what might happen to them."

"We've got flight systems back online," Joker said. "I could move the Normandy a little closer but we'd still have to land back of your position."

"Hmm, that's good," Shepard muttered, glancing at the huddled humans they'd broken out of the pods. "At least we have a sure ride off this rock now." Kamina could see the wheels working behind her eyes and relaxed. Shepard would come up with the best plan. He had utter faith in that.

Some did not, however. "Shepard," Miranda said. "You can't possibly be thinking of turning back now. We need to press on."

"How can you be so heartless?" Tali objected. "These people will die if we leave them."

Miranda shrugged but Kamina could read the tension in her body. She wasn't making her argument out of callousness. "We can't put the mission at risk for a few lives. Failing to destroy this base could cause hundreds of thousands of more deaths."

"That's no excuse to abandon people in need!" Tali fired back. Kamina had to agree. Miranda's arguments made sense but they reminded him of that horrible village and that forehead boy. What was his name?

"Enough," Shepard said, cutting of their argument. "I've decided what we're going to do." She turned to Kamina and said, "Kamina, you and Miranda will escort Legion through the seeker swarms so that it can hack the security door blocking us off. We don't know how long you can main that kind of barrier so I'm sending two biotics. Kamina, don't get stubborn. If you can't maintain it, let Miranda take over for a spell." Kamina nodded but he was quite certain that he could keep it up for the duration. Quite certain. "While, you are doing that, Tali, Grunt and I will head down the main passage and draw the collector's eyes and bullets. It'll be up to you to open that door for us." She turned to Thane. "Thane, I need you to escort these humans back." The lizard-like alien nodded. Miranda seemed displeased but didn't voice it. "Garrus, you trial behind them and keep them covered. The moment that they reach the ship, make your way to my location as fast as you can. The same thing goes for you, Thane. If we do this right, we should all be able to meet again deeper in the facility." Shepard waited for them all to give their affirmative. Kamina liked the determination that he saw. "Alright," Shepard said. "You've got your assignments. Let's move."

With Miranda and the odd robot Legion, Kamina headed for the path with the seeker swarms. Once he could see them buzzing in the distance, he stretched and rotated his arms, loosening them up. "Alright, let's do this." He summoned his biotic powers up, still surprised about how easy it was to do now. He constructed a bubble of energy around them that gave them plenty of room to walk. Okay, this isn't too hard.

"How does it feel?" Miranda asked, a note of concern in her voice.

Kamina smirked and slapped his bicep. "Easy." Miranda gave him a skeptical look but just leveled her machine gun and said, "Alright. Keep close, Legion. One step outside Kamina's bubble and those seekers will be all over you."

"Affirmative," the robot said. Kamina wasn't sure how he felt about the robot. The things Tali had told him about them had been pretty messed up. Besides, how could a robot have the proper manly spirit?

Soon enough, Kamina didn't have much to think about besides keeping the biotic barrier up. The seekers were relentless and he constantly had to reinforce areas that they crashed into. It was only a bit of energy at a time but it was constant. Keeping the barrier itself up was also more exhausting that he would have imagined. It was like maintaining the tension in one muscle for an extended period of time. Kamina was used to exploding, not maintaining. He had the urge to just force his biotic field out and blow all the seekers away but he didn't know if he could make a new one before more came.

Then a new complication presented itself. Collectors and beastmen both, coming from the other side of the room and firing at them. Kamina's barrier could keep the seekers at bay but bullets had too much concentrated force for him to stop with such a wide bubble. The one benefit to that was that Legion and Miranda could fire back from the confines of his barrier. He wanted to help them fight but his arms felt like dead things and his eyes stung with sweat. They really didn't seem to need it either. Legion was murderously efficient with its sniper rifle, picking off an enemy with every shot. The ones that got close then had to deal with Miranda's biotics and machine gun tearing them apart. So Kamina decided to let them handle it because he had no choice. Putting one foot in front of the other was the extent of his ability at the moment.

Soon even the noise of the fight faded into the background for him. He trudged forward staring at the exit to the gigantic chamber they were in. It was getting closer but agonizingly slowly. Kamina kept striving for it, his entire being focused on that exit, until his legs just stopped. He stared at the exit, so close yet so far. I can't.

"Kamina!" Miranda shouted. "What are you doing?!" She sounded very faraway.

"Come here," he mumbled. Miranda was still yelling at him but she did come closer so he ignored it. When she was next to him, he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, struggling against him.

"Legion, you too," he said, not bothering to answer his question. The robot obeyed without hesitation and Kamina wrapped his other arm around...I guess it's its waist? With his two compatriots secured, Kamina finally did what he'd been wanting to do for what felt like forever. His barrier exploded out in every direction, throwing seekers, collectors and beastmen away. Then Kamina poured power into his legs and burst forward. He blasted through the exit in one leap but didn't have the energy to land properly. They all went down in a heap.

Kamina took a second to breathe. He was lying on top of someone and based on the hardness of the body, he was pretty sure that it was not Miranda. At least, I really hope not. He pushed himself up and opened his eyes. Legion was indeed underneath him, its eye spinning and adjusting in a way that made it seem curious. Or embarrassed. Man, this isn't the way it's supposed to go.

"If you two lovebirds are finished," Miranda said, seeming faintly amused. "Perhaps Legion should close this door before we are inundated with collectors?" Kamina rolled off the robot, who swiftly got up and hustled to the door. Kamina watched it work, feeling completely drained. Miranda squatted down next to him and asked, "Are you alright?"

Kamina didn't like to show weakness in front of anyone but most especially not in front of a pretty woman. So he popped to his feet and winked, "You know the great Kamina is always feeling alright!"

Miranda arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she languidly stood up. With a hiss the door to the room with the seeker swarms closed. Miranda nodded and then touched her ear. "Shepard?" she said, "We're beyond the seeker swarms. Are you in position?" Miranda nodded at Shepard's response and then glanced at Kamina. "Let's hurry." Kamina didn't need any more prompting. His energy was already starting to return to him and he had no problem keeping up with Miranda and Legion as they sprinted for the other door. Legion kneeled down and started working on the door. "Get ready," Miranda said stepping in front of the door with her gun leveled. Kamina stood beside her. The door opened and Kamina was stunned for a moment at the amount of fire that was raining down on Shepard's position. Miranda gasped and then stepped forward, throwing up a biotic shield. "Hurry, Shepard!" she shouted.

"Hold on," Shepard said, standing up from the cover, "get ready to drop the shield at my mark." Kamina was surprised when she said that but them he saw Garrus in the distance. He had a wide chasm between his location and Shepard's. If they retreated beyond the security door now, he was a dead man. Or dead whatever he is. "Now!" Shepard's command was so forceful that it actually seemed to startle Miranda into dropping the shield without arguing. "Suppressing fire!" Grunt and Tali stood up, adding their fire to Shepard's. Legion stepped beyond the door to shoot as well. Kamina hurried to join them, bringing his Locust up and spraying bullets to keep collector heads down. Garrus didn't miss his chance, sprinting toward them with his long legs. He blew past their location and then wheeled around to add his own shots to the party.

"Okay, Shepard!" Miranda said, ducking behind the door. "He's here. We have to close this door now!"

"Not yet!" Shepard called back. Kamina saw why. Thane had used the opportunity to sprint closer as well but he was still far away. Worse yet, Miranda wasn't the only one who had stopped firing. Their weapons were all overheating from the continuous barrage. Collectors were popping their heads back up and starting to shoot at both them and the lone Thane. Kamina saw Shepard throw down her locked-up Viper in a rage and jerk her side-arm out. Kamina was tempted to do the same as his Locust refused to fire but he knew his shotgun didn't have the range to be effective in a fight like this.

Since they couldn't keep up the same rate of fire that sprung Garrus, Thane was getting hammered. The lizard-like alien was forced to put up a biotic barrier but it steadily shrunk and Thane came to a halt, obviously no longer able to maintain his barrier and move at the same time. "Shepard, he's done for," Miranda said. "And so are we if we don't get behind this door!" As if to prove her point, a sniper bullet smashed right into her face, the only part of her poking out from beyond the door, but was just barely fended off by her shields. Miranda jerked back with a gasp and Kamina heard the whine indicating her shields had collapsed.

"Damn it," Shepard grated. Her pistol had also locked up. Kamina could see she was about to give the order, even though it was killing her to do it.

No way. Kamina didn't know much about Thane but he was part of the gang. Kamina didn't leave anyone behind. "I've got him, Sukeban," he said.

"Kamina!" Shepard said, holding out her hand but he was already in motion. He burst forward so fast that he startled himself and actually overshot Thane. That turned out not to be a bad thing, though, as Thane was getting hit with a veritable hailstorm of bullets. Kamina was impressed his barrier was still holding. Okay, got to get him so fast that my shields hold up. Kamina licked his lips. Was that possible? He shook his head and answered his own question. Of course it was. Kamina took three quick breaths and then shot forward. He scooped Thane up in his arms and bolted for the door, even as his shields whined and collapsed.

Without hesitating, he sprinted for the door, blowing through it so fast that he nearly lost his balance when he tried to stop. He managed to stay on his feet, though, and breathed a sigh of relief when he did do. He glanced down at Thane, who stared back up at him with big, dark eyes. "You have my gratitude, human." Kamina sighed again, though this time it was with set the lizard-like alien down. As all this was going on, Shepard commanded the crew back behind the doors and Legion slammed them shut.

Shepard gathered them together and glanced at each person in turn. "Is everybody alright?" Affirmatives all around. Shepard closed her eyes and relaxed for a moment. When she opened them, she looked at Kamina and gave him a nod that made him feel a thousand feet tall. Then she turned to Thane. "What about the prisoners?"

"All of them made it to the Normandy, Shepard. There was little collector activity between us and the ship."

"Good work."

"Yes, we've been lucky so far," Miranda said, just a hint of chastisement in her voice. "Let's make sure we make it count." She put a hand to ear. "EDI, what's our next step?"

"There should be some nearby platforms that will take you to the main control console," EDI reported. "From there you can overload the system and destroy the base."

"There's a problem, though," Joker cut in. "All those hostiles you left behind are massing outside the door. Sooner or later, they'll bust through."

"Wonderful," Shepard said. She surveyed their location and sighed. "I think our best bet is to have a rearguard remain here and hold them off. This is a narrow spot so their numbers won't count for much and I don't want a mass of collectors hitting us from behind while we face whatever is in the central chamber."

Miranda nodded and said, "I was about to suggest the same. We'll stay here and hold them off for you, Shepard."

Shepard shook her head and said, "No, Miranda, you're coming with me."

Miranda seemed truly stunned. "Me? Why, Shepard?"

Shepard smirked. "You started this. Don't you want to see it through to the end?"

Miranda and then nodded. "Of course I do, Shepard, I just never thought…"

"I trust you, Miranda," Shepard said, seeming to stun the other woman again. "Kamina, you're coming, too." Then she added, almost too softly to hear, "Something seems to be telling me to bring you." Then she shook her head and said, in her normal tone, "The rest of you will stay here and hold off the collectors." No one protested. Grunt seemed excited, Thane calm and Kamina had no idea what Tali and Legion were thinking. Only Garrus seemed perturbed and Kamina was sure it was because he had to let Shepard go ahead, not because he was afraid of holding off the collector swarm.

Shepard walked to him and they moved away from the rest of the group. They spoke too softly to be heard and Kamina wasn't one to eavesdrop anyway. When they tenderly put their foreheads together, he hastily looked away, a little hot under his armor. When she was done speaking to Garrus, Shepard went to the other four and spoke some words of encouragement to each of them. Then she returned to Kamina and Miranda and said, "Let's go." They trailed her to the platform and watched Shepard silently tap in a few commands. The platform lifted off and sailed toward the central chamber.

Kamina could tell that Shepard was feeling grim and couldn't abide the silence. He slapped a hand to her shoulder and said, "I feel bad for those collectors," he said. "They don't even know they are about to walk into a massacre!" He shook his head in pity. "Grunt, Garrus, frog guy, the robot, the, uh, the sick girl…"

That finally made Shepard grin. "The sick girl?"

Kamina snapped his fingers. "Tali! I mean, by the time we get back, those guys will probably bored waiting for us. No way some measly collectors can take them down!"

Shepard returned his gesture and slapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Kamina."

He shrugged. "Just telling the truth." Shepard smiled and returned to the platform. They were closing in on the other side of the gap and Shepard slowed down the platform so they could dock. She silently ordered Kamina and Miranda to sweep out wide and took the center position for themselves. They crept forward but nothing attacked him. They came to a large security door and, creepily, it opened when they got close. The three of them stepped through into a wide, dimly lit room. The first thing Kamina noticed was the gunmen in the center of the room, on a short platform. It was grey and very plain-faced, with stern eyes and a frown. In front of the platform was a single human sitting on a throne-like stone chair. It was hard to make him out in the poor lighting.

"What are you waiting for?" the person said. "You've come all this way."

Shepard gave both of them a warning look and then cautiously advanced, her Viper held at the ready. Kamina followed, straining to see the mystery person. The voice had seemed somehow familiar. As they closed in, Kamina began to make details out. The man was tall and thin, with dark hair and eyes. His hair was long and swept back into a ponytail, a forelock slanting across his face. Kamina narrowed his eyes. There was something about the man that was just so familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it.

When they finally reached him, the man sat back in his throne, his legs crossed and his hands steepled. "So, Commander Shepard. Saviour of the Citadel. We finally meet." Despite addressing Shepard, Kamina couldn't help but notice that the man's eyes continually flicked to look at him.

"You have me at a disadvantage," Shepard said.

The man smiled slightly. "No, you know me. I am Harbinger."

"That's impossible," Miranda said. "The reapers are machines. Gigantic sentient ships."

The man spared her a quick look of contempt. "We are beyond your understanding. It is pointless for you to speculate. It is pointless for you to fight. We will do what needs to be done, whether or not you struggle."

"So why are you even bothering to talk to us?" Shepard asked.

The man smiled gently. "I wish to convince you not to fight. Live your remaining life in peace and acceptance, not futile struggle." Kamina noticed that the man's eyes, cut toward him again.

I know him. I know I know him. It hit Kamina like a hammer. He's older but… "Forehead boy! It's you, isn't it?!" Kamina stepped forward, waving his hands. "It's me! Kamina! The leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade."

"So it is." Rossiu angled himself more toward Kamina, recrossing his legs. "And if you remember me, then you really must be Kamina. After all this time. How strange. You were the only one Simon never brought back. Why now? For what purpose?"

"Simon!" Kamina gasped. "Where is he?!"

Rossiu glanced up and to the left. "Darkspace somewhere. On his way here, to end this cycle."

"Wait," Shepard cut in. "Who is Simon?"

"The god of this universe," Rossiu answered. "You might call him the anti-spiral, though I don't think he likes that name."

"No," Kamina interjected. "That's not right. He's my brother." His drill was going to drill open the heavens. Kamina was starting to feel cold and numb, though. They were approaching something. Something he knew but didn't want to face.

"This isn't making any sense!" Miranda snapped. "Kamina, how do you know a reaper? This reaper and now this Simon?" she laughed. "A reaper named Simon?"

"He's not a reaper!" Kamina shouted. "He can't possibly be!"

Rossiu was gazing at him, his black eyes half-lidded. "You truly don't know?" he asked. "Stranger and stranger. Simon brought the rest of us back with full knowledge of what had to be done. I can feel his will at all times."

"Feel his…?" Kamina shook his head. "No! Tell me where Simon is! I need to see him." Kamina's mind churned and churned, trying to make sense of any of this. "What happened after he captured the Dai-Gunzan?"

Rossiu leaned forward, shock finally on his face. "Is that the last thing you remember?" He shook his head slowly. "But that is when you actually…Astonishing. And strange. The cycles have become flawless. Why add such a variable?"

"Enough of this!" Shepard cut in impatiently. Her tone reminded Kamina that they had friends holding the horde back while they had this conversation. "Explain to me what the cycles are. Why are you and this Simon bent on exterminating sentient life?"

Rossiu gazed at her for a moment and then sat back. "I could explain but it wouldn't do any good. You wouldn't agree, even if you could understand. You lack the weight of time and experience that Simon carries. He is doing what has to be done." Rossiu suddenly, for just a moment, seemed incredibly sad. "And if you did know, believe me, it would bring you nothing but despair." His gentle smile came again. "Now, though I know it is futile, I must beg you again to leave and live the rest of your lives in peaceful acceptance. Have faith in us, who have lived and despaired longer than you would possibly believe."

Kamina was boiling with rage. He hated the way Rossiu was talking to them like they were pitiable. He hated that Rossiu was acting like he had all the answers. And, most of all, he hated the despair he saw in Rossiu's black eyes. I am going to knock some damn sense into you, forehead boy! Get ready! Kamina burst forward and swung a furious right hook at Rossiu. Somehow the stick-thin man casually caught his fist with one hand, not even bothering to uncross his legs. "Kamina," he said with a slight smile. "You really are Kamina."

Part 2

Shepard watched in dismay as Kamina tried to punch Harbinger in the face. She hadn't given up getting the reaper to spill his guts about what exactly they were doing. Her dismay shifted to shock and a tendril of fear when Harbinger caught the punch so easily. Kamina was wreathed in green energy, telling that the punch had been biotic powered. Harbinger threw Kamina back with one hand, sending the young man bouncing across the room. "Kamina!" Shepard shouted, taking a step towards him. At the same time, Harbinger stood up and sighed.

"It's always the same," he said. He stepped back and the mini-reaper with the flat-face behind him opened its mouth. Harbinger stepped inside and the mini-reaper came fully to life, stepping forward. Shepard fought down panic. Now what? She glanced over and saw that Kamina had gotten to his feet, seeming none the worse for wear. We have the three of us and of our weapons, the particle beam I stole from the collectors is probably the only thing that can penetrate.

"Miranda!" she yelled. "Keep that thing slowed and off-balance as much as you can." Shepard had no idea how much the woman's tech skills would work on reaper-tech but her biotics should at least bother it. "Kamina, we need to work together to try and disable it. Try to…" Shepard trailed off, realizing that Kamina wasn't listening to her. He was glaring at Harbinger with overwhelming rage.

"Forehead!" he screamed. "Get ready! I'm gonna peel you outta that thing and teach you a lesson you won't ever forget!" The spiral energy around him was so fierce that Shepard shied away from it. Kamina launched himself at Harbinger with his fist cocked back...and was swatted out of the air like a bug. He slammed into the floor and bounced up at hit the wall. Son of a bitch. Shepard triggered her particle gun, raking the beam across the front of Harbinger. It didn't even seem to leave a mark. Miranda, flouting Shepard's directions like she was Kamina, boosted up onto the top of Harbinger's mini-reaper and jammed her omnitool against it. Shepard almost shouted for her to get off but hesitated. Nothing else seemed to be working so maybe Miranda's tech skills could do something.

Harbinger reached up and casually plucked Miranda off the top of his head. He wrapped his hand around her body, squeezed once and tossed her over his shoulder like she was a trash. The sound Miranda's body made when he squeezed made Shepard sick to her stomach. If Miranda was still alive, she was out of the fight. This is bad. This is really bad. He has to have a weak spot somewhere? Shepard knew that Harbinger might very well not have any weak spots but she had to believe it to keep going.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kamina rising to his feet again. His insane biotic power may be the only thing that can hurt Harbinger right now. Gotta keep his focus on me. Shepard triggered her particle beam again, aiming at where the right leg joined the giant face of the mini-reaper. Maybe I can drill through it or fuse it? Harbinger walked forward, unbothered by the beam. "It is futile," he said, the voice coming from the mini-reaper deep and reverberating. He swept his hand down, backhanding Shepard. She barely managed to brace herself and get her arms in front of her head.

Shepard sailed the length of the chamber and smashed into a wall. She blacked out when she hit the wall but came to a moment later. Shit, shit, shit. Though all she wanted to do was drift off, Shepard forced herself to her hands and knees. Her head hurt. Everything hurt, in fact. But a quick test of her arms and legs suggested nothing was broken and she could breathe just fine. No serious damage. I might owe my very life to the muscle weaves and implants Miranda gave me. Shepard got to her feet and turned back to the fight. Just in time to see Kamina get elbowed in the ribs. The red-eyed boy flew back and crashed to the ground, only to instantly hop up again. It was impressive but Shepard knew that no matter how tough Kamina was, he had to be about out of gas. And they hadn't done a thing to Harbinger yet.

Fighting down panic, Shepard looked around the chamber. Think, think, there has to be something. She jerked in fear when she saw another mini-reaper just a few steps away but was able to breathe again when she saw that it wasn't moving. It was sitting up against the wall, in the shadows. What is that? A backup? The way it was carelessly shoved against a wall suggested a neglected trophy. Shepard walked closer. It was the same size as Harbinger's mini-reaper but quite different. It was bright red with yellow eyes and kind of a leering face. Kamina piloted one of these before. If he can use this one, we'll be on equal terms! She glanced back and saw, to her horror, that Kamina had been caught by Harbinger. He was getting squeezed by both hands of the mini-reaper. The swirling green glow around him proved he was still alive and fighting but Shepard wondered how long it cold possibly last.

Dithering and indecision had been ground out of Shepard during her N7 training. She had two choices, try to rescue Kamina somehow and let him pilot the mini-reaper or try to pilot it herself. One had too many variables. Shepard raced for the mini-reaper. Or what did Kamina call it? A gunmen? That sounded better than saying she was about to try and activate a mini-reaper. Shepard grasped the upper-lip of the mouth and heaved with all her augmented-strength. The mouth creaked open and Shepard rolled inside. It was pitch-black once the mouth closed. She used feel to sit herself in the seat and grasp the two control sticks. Now, how the hell did Kamina start this thing? She had no idea. He just seemed to get in it and go.

She gripped the control sticks harder and concentrated. These gunmen seem to react to biotic...spiral power. That was no good. Shepard had been tested when she enlisted and she wasn't a biotic. Yet Viral said that I had the ability, just like all humans. Harbinger seemed to think the same thing. Humans are spiral beings. Dangerous ones. She grit her teeth and tried to will the gunmen to life. Come on, come on! Something flashed. A red hand. What? The red hand flashed again. Shepard was torn between despair and hope. It was rejecting her and yet she had provoked a reaction. "Come on," she whispered, not giving up. She was starting to sweat underneath her armor. The red hand flashed again, this time followed by a simplistic picture of a human face with short red hair. Exactly like her own. It was overlaid with a circle-backslash symbol, clearly indicating her further rejection.

Shepard slacked off the control sticks and stared at the picture. "Are you kidding me?" she asked aloud. "Are you kidding me?!" She re-grasped the control sticks so hard she was afraid they might splinter in her grasp. "You're rejecting me, you hunk of shit?!" All of her despair and fear, her calm and collected demeanor and even her rational mind were swept away in a torrent of blinding rage. It wasn't going to end here. She would not let it. Certainly not because this ridiculous-looking gunmen wouldn't work for her. "I'm Commander Shepard!" she shouted. "I killed a real reaper! You think you can defy me? You work for me now or I will rip you apart with my bare hands. Now get up!" she screamed, punctuating the last command with a stomp.

She stopped for a second to catch her breath. The picture of her face with the circle-backslash overlay blinked twice and then was replaced by a green thumbs-up. Huh? The thumbs-up spread across the entirety of the front of the gunmen and then cleared, letting her see outside. I...can't believe that actually worked. There was no time to dwell on just that the hell reaper-tech actually was though. Shepard stood the red gunmen up, wobbling a little. Now that she was connected to it, moving it felt instinctual, if still a little awkward. Kamina, somehow, was still holding off being crushed by Harbinger. The reaper's back was still to her so Shepard rushed forward. The gunmen stumbled a bit but she managed to slam into the back of Harbinger.

The reaper staggered forward, dropping Kamina, who landed on his hands and knees. Harbinger spun and Shepard could swear there was a look of shock and dismay on his gunmen's face. "You! I should have expected this. You're just like Kamina. And Simon before he learned. But your ingenuity and guts are only prolonging the inevitable. Trust me. You will only cause yourself more suffering in the end. Give up. I beg you."

"Give up?" Shepard asked. She glanced down at Kamina, struggling to get back to his feet. She glanced at the unconscious Miranda. She thought of her friends holding back a horde of collectors to give her this chance.

"Just who the hell do you think I am?"

Shepard surged forward and punched Harbinger in the face with a right hook and then hammered him with a left. Harbinger reeled and Shepard kept the pressure on, hitting him again and again without giving him a chance to counter. Come on, fall, you bastard. Somehow, though, Harbinger stayed on his feet through the onslaught. And then the left arm of Shepard's gunmen shattered during a punch. What?! Shepard hopped back. What the hell?

Harbinger chuckled. "In the end, that is still nothing more than an old and inferior gunzar." He straightened up his own gunmen and stepped forward. Shit! Now what?

Shepard's gunmen rocked as Kamina landed on its back. "Your wrong, Forehead," he said. "You know what this beautiful boy is. It's Gurren." Shepard felt energy being poured into the gunmen and green glow permeated the cockpit.

"Kamina!" Harbinger spat, rushing forward.

"Get him, Sukeban." Shepard reacted instinctively, moving Gurren with the same smoothness and precision she moved her own body. She turned so that Harbinger's haymaker was only a glancing blow, at the same time throwing a vicious punch of her own that hit straight on. Cross counter! Harbinger spun the ground, the mouth of his gunmen opening and coughing him up. Harbinger glared at her for a moment and then scrambled up and raced to the center platform.

"This is all futile, Shepard," he said, turning back to her. The platform started to sink down. "You will know that by the end."

"Get back here, you bastard," Kamina shouted, jumping off the back of Shepard's gunmen.

"Kamina, wait!" Shepard snapped, popping open the mouth of her gunmen. He jerked to a halt and spun back toward her, his face warring between confusion and rage. "Let him go for now," she said. "We need to blow this place up and get out of here." I can't believe how long I've already asked Garrus and the rest to hold position. "Go and get Miranda," Shepard ordered, praying that she was still alive. At the mention of Miranda, Kamina's anger and impatience melted away. He nodded and sprinted to her. Shepard, meanwhile, jumped to the ground and ran to what seemed to be a control console. "EDI, can you help me out here?" Shepard was confident in her hacking ability but EDI was an AI, after all. While they worked, Shepard patched into Garrus. "How are you holding up?"

"It's a relief to hear your voice, Shepard," Garrus said. He paused and Shepard heard the staccato of an assault rifle. "We were close to being overwhelmed but the collector's suddenly just seemed to lose cohesion. Your doing, I assume."

"Yeah, I punched Harbinger in the face."

There as a pause. "Say again, Shepard."

Shepard smiled. "Sent him running scared. I'm about to blow this place. Can you break off and lead the team to the ship?"

There was another burst of gunfire and then Garrus said, "Yes, should be doable."

"Good. Go now." Garrus signaled affirmative and Shepard shut down the connection. Good. Now I just have to worry about getting us out of here with enough time to clear the explosion.

She saw Kamina approaching with Miranda in his arms. A quick glance told her she was still breathing but Kamina looked stricken. "Sukeban…"

"I know, Kamina." Shepard hit the final commands and said, "Let's get her back to the ship now. We have ten minutes before this place explodes." Even as she said it though, an explosion from deep in the base caused the floor to rock under her feet. "EDI! What's going on?"

"I believe a different self-destruct sequence has been activated," the AI reported.

Harbinger! "We gotta move!" Sheaprd took Miranda from Kamina and raced back toward her stolen gunmen. She laid the wounded woman down on the floor of the cockpit as gently as she could and then sat down, activating the mech. Kamina jumped up and clung back again, like a parasite. No, she could feel him feeding energy into the machine again so she supposed that made him a symbiote.

Shepard raced out of the room and to the platform that had carried them across the gap. Damn it, do we even have time to ride this? She didn't see what choice they had though. She activated the platform and sweat bullets as it drifted toward the other side. Continual vibrations told of the base starting to shake apart. As the other side of the gulf came into sight, Shepard was relieved to see Garrus and the rest were gone. That feeling was almost instantly replaced by dismay when the platform hitched and then started to sink. Of course. Shepard backed up to the end of the platform, sprinted forward and jumped the gap. She barely made it, crashing into a roll on the other side. Sorry, Miranda, Kamina! She kept control of the mech, though, and managed to get it back on its feet and running forward with the momentum from the jump. She was certain Kamina had remained attached, since she could feel his spiral power.

She kept her gunmen at a dead sprint through the rest of the base, stumbling this way and that as the base continued to break apart. If a collector dared get in her way, she swept it aside with her remaining arm or just ran it over. As soon as the Normandy came into view, Shepard patched in to Joker. "Lower the bay door!" she ordered.

"Commander!" Joker cried out in relief.

"Has everybody else made it aboard?"

"Yeah, they just got here."

Shepard wanted to scream her victory. Suicide mission, my ass. It wasn't over yet, though. "The second I get aboard, take off. We need to move."

"No shit. Commander." Not exactly proper protocol but Shepard supposed she could forgive it this time. She rushed up the ramp of the Normandy and, following her orders exactly, Joker started to depart before the bay doors even closed. Shepard popped open the mouth of her gunmen the second she came to a halt and leapt out. Summoning a medical crew to the gunmen as she ran, Shepard made her way to the bridge. Joker, sweaty and will full concentration on his instruments, didn't even react to her arrival. She reigned in the impulse to tell him to hurry.

"Brace," was EDI's one word warning, a few seconds before the ship started to buck wildly due to the massive explosion behind them. Shepard grasped the back of Joker's chair and held herself steady until it was over.

She nearly slumped over when the after-affects of the explosion passed them by. We survived. There would be time for that later, though. For now, she said, "Joker, swing around. I want to see the collector base." He obliged and they did a quick flyby of the wreckage. It was completely destroyed. Building a new facility would be easier than trying to rebuild this one. We did it. Shepard wondered if Harbinger died in the explosion. She didn't think so, though there was no evidence of an escape vehicle. Even if he did, that's only two reapers so far. Just two have caused this much trouble. What is it going to be like when there are dozens. Hundreds? Thousands? Shepard steeled herself. It didn't matter how many there were. She would find a way to kill them all.

An hour later, she was sitting in her cabin, too tired to even move to the bed. The bill had come in for the destruction of the collector base. Though, miraculously, nobody had died, that didn't mean they had come out unscathed. Worst off was Miranda, of course. Both of her arms were broken, her left in two places. She also had a number of broken ribs and a pierced lung. She would likely make a full recovery, though. Tali and Thane were probably the worst off after her due to their preexisting conditions. Tali's suit had been punctured by a shot that grazed her hip. The hip wound was nothing major but because her suit was opened, she was now isolated and on antibiotics. Thane, despite claiming his condition wouldn't affect him in any way, had collapsed shortly after returning to the ship. The doctors said it was exhaustion. Beyond that, injuries were light. Grunt had been shot three times but his krogan physiology meant that all he needed was three bandages-and they probably weren't even necessary. Legion had suffered more damage to its platform but that didn't really mean anything to it. Garrus, that beautiful bastard, had come through without a scratch.

Oh, and then there was Kamina. He had suffered multiple fractures to his arms and legs, along with several cracked ribs. He shouldn't have been able to move after what Harbinger did to him, much less fight the way he did. Yet they hadn't been able to keep him confined to the medbay either. He was a good match for Grunt. Except he actually suffers real damage, unlike that tank of a krogan. Shepard would have to keep a closer eye on him to make sure he didn't kill himself by refusing to acknowledge injuries.

Shepard sighed and leaned back in her chair, letting her arms dangle. She needed to sleep and she knew it. They were heading back to the Citadel and she needed to have her wits about her when she talking to the Council. If they'll even see me. She couldn't stop thinking about what she'd learned aboard the collector base. The more she learned about the reapers, the less sense it all made. They were human but not. After all, the reapers had been around and killing protheans when humans were barely learning to use stone tools and fire. Considerably longer than that even, if Liara was right and Shepard was certain that she was. Shepard had always assumed they were immortal because they were machines but now they seemed to be immortal humans operating machines. How was that possible? And what was Kamina's connection to them? He had known Harbinger and Harbinger had known him.

So was Kamina a reaper? He seemed to know nothing and Harbinger seemed shocked to see him. So...was he from the past? From the birth of the reapers? That seemed absolutely ludacris on paper but nothing about the reapers made a lick of sense. Simon. Kamina had reacted to the name and Harbinger had spoken as if everything that was happening was part of his plan. Kind of a lame name for the boss of the reapers. Yet it was without doubt a human name. How? How? How? Shepard wondered if she made a mistake by letting Harbinger go. At the time, she had been more concerned with her comrades' lives but...perhaps that was the wrong choice. She needed information badly. Shepard cast away the thought. What was done was done. There were other avenues to gather information. I need to contact Liara. She also needed to talk to Kamina again. No matter how painful it was, she had to know what he knew about this Simon. I should talk to the Illusive Man again, too. He knew more than he was letting on.

Power welled up in Shepard. Spiral energy or biotic, it was yet more evidence that humans were babes in the woods when it came to the secrets of the universe. She had been definitively ruled to have no biotic ability, after all. Harbinger had acted like that ignorance was bliss but Shepard was no stranger to hard truths. Besides, the only truth that really mattered was that Shepard would never let the reapers exterminate humanity. She released her energy in a wave that knocked some of the items on her desk over. Come, Simon. Come, Harbinger. If you really are human, I'll make you remember something you never should have forgotten.

Author Notes

I'm back! Hopefully you enjoyed that chapter. There was a version of this where Rossiu gave a long speech laying out a lot of the background/motivations/explanations for Simon and the rest of the Gurren gang but I decided to cut it. Number one, l'm not a big fan of exposition dumps and number two, I don't think there is any way Kamina would just sit there and let Rossiu talk. But believe in me! I have a coherent explanation for how Simon got from the end of Gurren Lagann to this point and why many of the rest of the gang are here. I'll find a way to work it in an organic fashion going forward.

As always, thanks for reading!

Kuragari