Still strapped to a table Miranda was blinded to make sure that no one knew what they were doing. But the forgot to cover her ears. She listened to what they were doing, but then she wasn't 100% sure what they were doing. She knew that her blood was being used for something, but what she had no idea. Being strapped down to the table for a while, she dozed off every now and again. Recently when she woke up she found herself being moved. Her eyes had not been blindfolded allowing her to look where she was. Her eyes widened in shock and fear.
"Is that…" she muttered as her eyes looked on at a supermassive black hole.
"The black hole in the centre of our galaxy? Yes," the clone said with a smile. "It took me a while to find this place, but I'm glad I did,"
Miranda then looked around making her shock and fear grow. What she was on was the collector base, or at least part of it. Looking up she could see a dome covering some parts of the damaged sections. Given what the clone was like, it was likely he did this for ego reasons. He was nothing like the commander, and she felt responsible for that. She never told anyone this, but if the original John died, she made sure that the clone would only have feelings for her. With what she had seen now, that was a mistake. A very, very big mistake.
Saying nothing, she was then taken into a laboratory which was filled with vat tanks. It was clear that the clones were growing people, cloning them. This was similar to her storm soldier project, but unlike the project it was not focused on creating people, but replicating people and augmenting them with the remaining Reaper tech. This was getting worse and worse by the second. Impossible or not, she needed to escape now.
OOOOO
Using the Normandy's stealth abilities Shepard, Garrus, Ashley and Wrex made it past the main battle zones and headed to the Warlord's former place of residence. If the cult leader was still here, this was probably the best place to find her. Instead of dragging out this war John felt the need to end this now. Something told him that if he didn't, then something big was going to happen and he needed his military back before then.
The ship flew low allowing the four to jump out and land on the planet. Weapons up they looked around in case of an ambush or attack. Satisfied with the area clear the four moved up to the mansion fast. The door was already open as the four moved in. the building was in ruins, likely due to the riot and raid of the place. They moved slowly, carefully trying to not make too much noise. There could be someone here and they didn't want to alert them.
This was a little harder for Wrex due to being a krogan, but he had experience in this field of work. Eyes darted around and ears were alert as they moved up. It took a while but the three found the main office of the former Warlord. Splitting up the four began to look around to see what they could fins. Ashley moved up to a ruined desk and found a terminal still active.
"EDI I'm linking you to an active terminal," she said as her omni tool activated. "See what you can find,"
"Accessing," the AI said as she began to look though the files while the others looked around for anything interesting.
The room was trashed to all hell and none of the four could find anything. As they looked EDI scanned though all the files there was something here that she could not pin down. Her eyes slowly widened as she found a pattern with the files. This wasn't normal, it was a frequency. Activating the comms systems, she began to such for the frequency as fast as she could.
"EDI to ground team I found something," she said making the four stop what they were doing. "I found something in the files, it seems that Limgata was in contact with Shepard's clone around the same time as the Prophet Shiala. It seems that he was gauging who would be the better ally,"
"I think we know which one he chose," Garrus muttered.
"Agreed, however it seems he was offering Reaper tech to the one who would help him the most,"
"Help him in what way?" Ashley asked.
"People, according to the message he was wanting people. I cannot find the reason why but that's not's what's concerning me,"
"What is?" Ashley asked.
"The location of the broadcast, it comes from the centre of the galaxy," EDI said making Ashley, Garrus and Wrex look to each other.
"Canter of the galaxy? How is that possible?" John asked but Ashley ignored him.
"EDI do you still have the Reaper IFF?" she asked.
"Yes,"
Ash then turned to John with a very worried look. "I'll explain latter right now we need to get to Omega 4,"
Seeing the urgency of the situation he nodded in agreement. "Jack do you read?" He asked hitting his comm.
"Loud and clear!" she responded.
"I need to go off world for a priority mission, I'm leaving you in command,"
There was a moment's silence before she responded. "Understood, I will do what I can," she said in an unsure voice.
"You'll do fine, just trust your instincts and listen to what the other commanders say," he said trying to give her some confidence.
"I'll do my best," was all she said as the four ran outside as the Normandy landed.
John was the last one to jump on the ship before it took off. "Ash care to tell me what's going on,"
Ashley sighed and nodded. "It's a long story but we have time…"
OOOOO 1 week before the crucible firing
"Approaching Omega-4 relay," Joker announced.
Ashley stood behind him along with Miranda who was wearing an armoured variant of her bodysuit. It took them a long time trying to find this place, and now it was time to bring the fight to the enemy. Around six ships including the Normandy were bringing an assault force to bare on the collector base. The collectors had been harassing and impeding the galaxies forces by cutting supply roots and kidnapping people from planets, now it was time to stop them.
"Everyone! Stand by!" Joker said over the comm.
"Let's make it happen," Ashley said. "Tome for some revenge,"
"Reaper IFF activated across the fleet," EDI said. "Signal acknowledged,"
"Commander, the drive core just lit up like a Christmas tree," Tali notified over the radio.
"Drive core electrical charge at critical levels," EDI said in a panicked voice
Joker frantically adjusted controls. "Rerouting!"
The fleet made its approach to the giant red mass relay. The electricity of the relay grabbed each of the vessels and flung them forward to their destination.
"Brace for deceleration," EDI warned.
The ships came out of the jump only to see the way block with the wreckage of dead ships.
"Oh shit!" Joker exclaimed. "All ships evasive!"
Joker steered the Normandy upwards over the wreckage. The ship flew to the side as a large part of hull came at them. It accelerated forward getting out of the way. Three other ships followed but two of them didn't react in time and slammed into the debris.
Joker breathed a sigh of relief. "Too close,"
"We lost the Osaka and Berlin," EDI said with a said tone.
"Down to four, we can still do this," Ash said with fire in her eyes.
The area of space was filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of dead, broken ships. In the distance the crew members of all the ships could see the large black hole. It was beautiful and horrifying.
"These must be all the ships that have tried to go through the Omega-4 relay," Joker observed. "Some of them look ancient,"
"I have detected an energy signature near the edge of the accretion disc," EDI said.
"Must be the Collector Base," Miranda said. "We should try to get in closer before they notice us,"
"I'm getting something on my sensors," EDI said as she opened her eyes
Several drones activated as the four ships flew by.
"Incoming contacts!" one of the pilots yelled over the comms
The drones fired particle beams at the intruding ships.
"Taking evasive manoeuvres," Joker notified.
Most of the drones focused on the Normandy while the other ships managed to move out of their way. It seemed that due to the Normandy the drones needed to focus their attention on them due to the danger they posed. This allowed the ships to move and take out the drones but this meant that the Normandy wasn't so lucky.
"Bastard's just pissing me off!" Joker muttered.
The Normandy fired two torpedoes, destroying two of the drones. The other ships flew it and fired their particle beams. Each attack was able to slice right through any of the drones. One of the drones fired a particle beam at the Normandy's side in two successive shots. The attacks made the Normandy shudder, but did no real damage.
"Seems that the mixed plating is holding," Miranda commented.
One of the drones flew right through the Normandy's hall into the cargo bay.
"Intruder alert!" EDI warned.
"We have one of them in the cargo bay!" Joker reported.
"I'll take a team to clear it out," Ashley said as she ran towards the elevator. "Miranda, you're with me!"
Shepard met up with Garrus and Miranda in the elevator as she went down towards the cargo bay. James was already in combat against the Collector drone.
As the doors opened he yelled, "About damn time you got down here," he yelled as the three ran towards cover next to him. James popped out of cover and fired a few rounds from his heavy assault rifle at the drone.
"We need to take it out before it does any major damage to the ship," Ash said as she looked to Miranda and Garrus. "Keep to cover and don't let it get near you. We need to destroy it!" The two nodded.
Ash took the left and Miranda and Garrus took the right while James stayed put trying to keep the drone's attention on him. They fired shot after shot at the drone. Its armour was thick making it take very little damage even for their weapons making Ash curse for not grabbing heavy weapons.
"Its armour is too thick!" Miranda called out.
"Commander," Garrus said. "That red optic sensor is its weak point!"
"Focus on the red light!" Ashley ordered.
The ocular was facing Ash who came out of cover and fired, this gave the team the opportunity to hit it. The ocular fired its particle beam at the two just barely missing Ash as she jumped out of the way. As the beam died down she came out of cover and returned to her volley. She then noticed the glass starting to crack. As it did, the ocular retreated out of the cargo bay.
"I can't seem to shake them, I'll have to lose them through the debris field," Joker said over the radio.
OOOOO
The Normandy flew towards a thick section of debris with few openings for it to go through. Debris drifted behind the Normandy. Several of the drones collided with the wreckage.
"Our barriers were not designed to withstand debris of that size," EDI notified Joker as a massive piece of debris came at them and fast.
"Well it's a good thing we upgraded. We're going in,"
The small tunnel was starting to close from the debris. Another drone crashed into a passing metal girder. The Normandy scrapped against the size of a destroyed what looked like an old Quarian ship.
Joker was looking increasingly frustrated. "Come on! Find some room!"
"Kinetic barriers at 40%," EDI reported.
"Rerouting non-critical power! This is going to hurt,"
Ahead Joker could see the exit out of the debris. The Normandy went downwards and then up through the change tunnel. The exit was starting to close.
"Almost, almost, almost," he said to himself as he flew the Normandy.
The Normandy flew right out of the field right before the exit closed shut, destroying the drones that pursued the Normandy.
"Hell, yeah!" Joker cheered. "Alright, damage report,"
"Barriers steady at 30%. No significant damage,"
Joker smirked and nodded but it dropped as a drone that followed close by fired its particle beam at the Normandy hull.
"I've detected an enemy heading towards the cargo hold," EDI notified.
"That thing, again?" Joker thought out loud. "This one's up to Williams,"
OOOOO
"It's back!" Garrus called out as he jumped back into cover.
The drone flew in through one of the holes it made.
"Everyone fall in!" Ash ordered. "This ends now!"
They held their position as the drone approached. The volley of attacks on its optic sensor started cracking the glass more and more. There was a small hole in the glass that gave Ash an idea. She aimed carefully as the drone turned to her. Time slowed as she pulled the trigger. An explosive round flew through the air and flew through the hole before detonating inside. The drone started to shake and yellow cracks appeared all over it, seeing this she jumped out of the way. The drone exploded, launching parts of its all around the hold.
"Looks like it'll stay destroyed," Ash quipped.
"Better get up here, Commander," Joker said over the radio.
"We must be about to clear the debris field," Miranda added.
OOOOO
Ashley and Miranda reached the cockpit and saw what the two were looking at.
"There it is," Miranda pointed out. "The Collector base,"
The base itself was of an unusual construction. There was no artistic design involved in its creation. It was purely mechanical and minimal in its design, just to fulfil whatever purpose it was meant to serve. It must have been an asteroid at one point but hollowed out and converted into a space station.
"See if you can find a place to land before we get their attention," Ash said as her eyes darted around looking for any enemies.
Joker looked to the LADAR. "Too late. It looks like they're sending an old friend to greet us,"
Two Collector vessels unclamped themselves from the base and backed away from the dock. The cruisers slowly spun around to face the incoming ships. Their particle cannon charged as it turned around. It fired as soon as it was facing forwards. The Normandy flew towards the left to dodge the initial attack while the other ships did the same with only one being hit by the beam
Ashley looked at the destroyed ship and the memories of the SR1 came flooding back to her. looking away she closed her eyes as she felt the pain of that day return. A moment later and she opened her eyes burning with a desire for revenge.
"It's time for some payback," she smiled bearing her teeth like a wolf. "Joker. Fire the main gun, show them what they get for messing with us!"
At the bottom of the Normandy a gun with two barrels appeared while the holes on the front of other three started to glow. At that moment the Normandy fired its canon that hit the closest collector ship.
"How do you like that, you sons of bitches?" Joker roared as the impact of the beam hit the ship taking off a part of the hull.
The beam fired again hitting critical point causing secondary explosions and braking the ship apart. But as they flew close Miranda noticed something.
"LOOK OUT!" she yelled as the ship exploded and a shockwave hit the ship sending it out of control.
Thankfully the shockwave hit the other collector ship disabling it allowing for the other ships to fire nukes at it. They hit home and the ship detonated with force sending another shockwave out.
"Mass effect shield generator's offline," Joker said as they experienced some turbulence. "EDI give me something,"
"Generators are unresponsive. All hands brace for impact!" EDI called down the speakers.
The Normandy flew one of the rings on the station but hit the side causing it to lose altitude and fall onto the hull of the station. The ship slid along the hull of the station and ripping part of the Normandy's hull until it stopped near an entrance to the station. Ash pulled herself up from the fall as did Miranda.
"Joker, you ok?" Ash asked.
"I think I broke a rib," the pilot moaned. "or all of them,"
"Multiple core systems are offline overloaded as a result of the crash," EDI said as she looked at her screen. "Restoring all main systems however will take time,"
"We all knew this was a one-way trip," Miranda said.
"I didn't expect anything less," Ash muttered as the other ships landed near the Normandy.
Looking to the commander Miranda noticed that in Ashley's eyes she had a look that she never expected that she would come back alive. If anything, she could swear she was expecting it or wanting it.
"Well then we're off to a good start," Joker said sarcastically. "What's next?"
Looking out of the window Ash could only think of one thing. "How long until the Collectors find this landing zone?"
"I do not detect any internal security network. It's possible that the Collectors didn't expect anyone to reach them," EDI said.
"If we're lucky their external sensors where hit just as bad as ours, they might not even know we're alive," Joker said.
"Ok then let's get ready," Ash said walking off
OOOOO
After landing their ships what was left of the assault force set up a checkpoint with portable shields and gun turrets at the entrance to the station itself while a portable holotable was set up with the different commanders looking at it. The commanders checked their weapons as they waited for the intel to come around. The assault group was mostly human but there was a turrian platoon, an asari commando team and an Salarian STG team as well. Other then Ashley the council has also sent another Spectre with the assault group by the name of Tela Vasir a former Asari commando.
Ashley walked up to the table with a chip in her hand. "This isn't how we planned this mission but this is we're at. We can't worry about whether the Normandy will get us home. We came to destroy the collectors, and that means coming up with a plan to take out this station," she said as she slid the chip into the console connecting it with EDI.
The commanders watched as a holographic model of the Collector base appeared before them.
"You should be able to overload their critical systems if you get to the main control centre here," EDI placed a marker near the top of the Collector base.
"That means going through the heart of the station," one of the commanders said as he activated some controls which revealed the interior of the base. "Right passed this massive heat signature here,"
"That's the central chamber," Ashley stated. "If there are any colonists are still alive, they're being held there however they are secondary to the mission at hand,"
Jacob walked up to the console then set up another marker is placed on the model. "Looks like there are two main routes. It would be a good idea to split up to keep the Collectors off balance and regroup at the central chamber,"
"No good," Vasir said as she noticed a problem. "Both routes are blocked. See these doors? The only way passed them is to get someone to open them from the other side,"
Ashley looked more closely at the base. "This place isn't a fortress. Here, look," she said as she highlighted a ventilation shaft. "We can send someone through here. They can get to the other side of these doors and open them,"
"Practically a suicide mission," Jacob said. "I volunteer,"
"I appreciate the thought," The salarian commander said, "But you couldn't shut down the security system in time. We need to send a tech expert, I will handle it, I'm the best you got,"
Ashley just nodded with a stern look. "Ok, do what you can," The commander nodded as he cocked his weapon. "The rest of us will break into teams that will fight down each passage. Garrus I want you to lead the second fire team,"
"You can count on me," he said.
"Let's end these fuckers," she said and the commanders nodded before breaking to brief their teams, but as they did Ashley stopped Garrus from going anywhere. "Garrus, I don't expect to come back, if I die you are second in command,"
The turian looked at her for a few moments before speaking. "Ashley I…" he tried to say but she cut in.
"We both know this is a suicide mission, if I don't make it don't come back for me," she ordered.
Garrus hung his head for a second as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you meet Shepard on the other side, tell him that he's the best friend I ever had,"
"I will," she said before letting the sniper go.
OOOOO
With the plan set Ashley and her group set out weapons ready and headed to the location. As she walked Garrus with the second group looked over at Ashley, he was worried that she might try to get herself killed for revenge. he was sure that John would like that at all. Steeling himself he made a promise to Shepard in his mind, that if she was too reckless then he would stop her.
"Commander," the Salarian commander called over the radio. "I have infiltrated the ventilation shaft. A little hot, but nothing I cannot handle. No obstacles ahead,"
"Assault group two, are you in position?" Ash asked.
"In position," Garrus responded. "Meet you on the other side of those doors,"
Ashley's group rounded the corner and found the area filled with over a dozen Collectors. Miranda unleashed an electrical shot at the group taking down most of the shields while the force took to cover. Thankfully they had a mix of heavy and light units in. While the collectors did head into cover they were supressed by the heavy machine guns allowing the lighter units to move around and take them out.
"Commander, we are taking heavy fire," Garrus reported as more collectors came in. "But we are moving forward."
Ash fired a blast from her shotgun. The impact knocked a drone off of the edge down into the abyss. A couple more drones tried to get in close to the group but they were incinerated by the flame troopers. Three more drones flew in, Miranda grabbed one by the scruff of the neck and shor it's face off it while Ash kicked another one off the ledge.
The group exited the room into a new corridor. At the beginning of the corridor was a section of the ventilation pipe that the salarian commander was travelling through. The pipe was blocked, but there was a terminal in front that could be used to unblock it.
The commander reached it reach the obstacle and notified, "I cannot move forward!"
Miranda approached the terminal and activated it. The gate opened allowing the commander to move forward. "Proceeding forward,"
There were more Collectors ahead. Williams' group was in an even bigger hurry to go through their pathway, to ensure the salarian commander to make it all the way through the pipe. They went out on the walkway with the ledge on the right. Ashley fired a volley of rifle fire to take out the drones which was supported by the heavy machine guns while the regular solders moved up taking pot shots at the drones opening up a way for Miranda to move up and activate the terminal before continuing forward.
The next terminal wasn't too far ahead. Miranda activated it and rounded the corner to discover a large area with a dozen Collector drones, guardians and assassins in wait. She used a shockwave attack to lower their numbers. Ash moved from cover to cover, taking shots at Collectors with her rifle as the rest of the assault group rounded the corner and opened fire.
One of the drones started glowing and then a burst of energy came from it. Yellow cracks appeared all over it and its eyes glowed.
"HUMAN, YOUR INTERFERENCEC ENDS-"
Ashley didn't even give Harbinger the benefit of ending his sentence as she ran up to him, pressed her rifle into his gut and sent him flying with a concussive blast. Once that was done she activated the next terminal. The group then regrouped. They went around the corner of the corridor they entered and encountered a small squad of drones. Miranda summoned a singularity which pulled the drones together into a floating ball. One of the flame troopers then just set fire to them as if they were a wasp nest.
The next area had a lot of cover. Ahead were the last two terminals to be activated and the door they needed to get through to regroup with the others. Ash stayed to the rear using her rifle to keep the Collectors in the back of the room with the heavy machine guns. A Collector fired a particle beam on their location but Miranda fired back from her cover when the beam stopped. The Collector released a shield barrier in front of it.
She loaded disruption rounds into her pistol and fired at the drone's shield as one of the soldiers moved up to finish the Collector. Miranda then moved up with Ash to keep the Collectors occupied while one of the soldiers moved forward to activate the second last terminal. Harbinger flew into the area and released its energy attacks. One of them hit the soldier who fell down but that didn't stop him to get to the terminal and activated it. Harbinger the walked up to the soldier and looked at him.
"Prepare for ascension," it said.
"Fuck you," the soldier said making the avatar finish off the soldier before its own head exploded from a sniper round
"Keep pushing forward!" Ash yelled to the group.
Miranda used pull on two Collectors pulling them towards them. Ash fired her shotgun killing one of the Collectors. There was a break in their attack which Ashley took advantage of. She jumped over her cover and rolled to the last terminal. She activated it and called to her squad mates, "Move it!"
Miranda and the rest of the group regrouped with her. They fired back at the approaching Collectors while they retreated to the blast doors. Ash slammed the door and called in through the radio, "Come in! We're in position. We need this door open. Now!"
Harbinger launched an energy ball towards her which barely missed. Suddenly the door opened. Miranda went in first followed by Ash. The salarian commander was next to the door readying it to close. Ashley backed in through the door while firing her pistol at nearby Collectors along with a few of the group's soldiers
"Here they come!" Ashley screamed. "Fall back!"
Garrus and his group came up next to Ashley.
"Suppressing fire!" Garrus ordered his group. "Don't let anyone through that door!"
They created a wall of gunfire that eliminated any Collector that got too close to their position and kept other drones in cover. The salarian commander finally activated the door's command, closing it shut. But Garrus was hit. Ash waked up to him but he was ok as it was just a graze.
"Nice job," Ash congratulated to no one in particular but it was meant for all.
"Williams, you need to see this," Miranda said to her.
She turned around to Miranda who guided her and the rest of the group around the corner where they saw the central chamber. There were pods all over the walls. Only a couple of them had people in them, making Ashley wonder what happened to the other colonists. She approached one of the pods. Inside was a woman in a colonist outfit.
"Looks like one of the missing colonist's," Miranda noted.
A soldier walked up to the pod and stroked it.
"There more over here," Jacob called.
Seam then came out of the pod, just then the woman woke up as her skin started to dissolve revealing the muscle underneath. Her eyes opened and she started pounding on the glass.
"My god," one of the soldiers gasped. "They're still alive!" he looked to the others.
Ashley then began to try and find a way to open the pod. The release the woman who was pounding on the wall of the pod she was in. but she stopped and looked the woman's skin had become black as coal and she was being sucked down the pod screaming as she went
"Get them out of there hurry!" she ordered while pointing to the group.
Garrus started pounding on the glass with his assault rifle. The two groups began to try and get the pods open, but despite their numbers trying to open them they wouldn't budge. They watched in horror as people were melted into a black liquid and disappear.
"GODDESS DAMN IT!" Vasir yelled as she slammed her fist against one of the pods
Everyone fell silent as they began to form a large group.
"These Colonists were... processed. They melted their bodies into grey liquid and pumped it through these tubes." Miranda noted. "We have a job to do. We've done well so far, Let's hope we can finish the job,"
"Joker can you get a fix on our position?" Ash asked over the radio.
"Roger that, Commander," Joker responded. "All those tubes lead into the main control room above you. The route is blocked by a security door, but there's another chamber that runs parallel to it,"
"I cannot recommend that," EDI said. "Thermal emissions suggest that the chamber is overrun with seeker swarms. Mordin's counter measures cannot protect you from so many at once,"
"There have to be a way," Ash said. "What about biotics? Can we create a bubble to protect ourselves from the swarms?"
"I might be able to generate a biotic field to keep them at bay," Samara said. "I won't be able to protect all of us, but I could get in a small team if they stay close,"
"I could do it too," Miranda added. "In theory, any biotic could handle it. Williams, who do you want to maintain the field?"
"Miranda and I will take in a small team in through the seeker swarm. The rest of you provide a diversion by going through the main passage. We'll open the security doors from the other side and meet you there."
"Who should lead the diversion team?" Miranda asked.
"Garrus."
"I'll keep the Collectors busy while you slip in through the back," Garrus said.
OOOOO
Ashley, Miranda, James and Jacob entered through the door. Miranda activated her abilities and created an energy field around them all. "Moving out," she yelled out. "Stay close if you want to live," she then moved forward taking the field with her.
"Garrus, here *keesh* ready to *keeish* waiting for *keeish* orders," Garrus called in, but his voice was broken up with static.
"Damn!" Ash cursed. "The swarms are interfering with radio contact,"
James, James and Ash walked alongside Miranda. They got to the area before the slope down into the area below. Miranda stopped and looked to Ashley.
"You ready for this?" Ash asked her.
"I was born for this," Miranda answered.
"Ok, move out," Ashley ordered, but it didn't take long for them to be spotted.
"Collectors!" Miranda called out
Ash fired at a couple of the drones. Jacob used a biotic slam to grab one of the Collectors and slam it into the ground. James was able to take out the Collectors from a distance with his sniper rifle.
Garrus briefly chirped in through the radio, "Acquiring target."
The Collector that was slammed into the ground exploded with energy and stood up. "STOP RESISTING, WIILIAMS,"
"Not until I've had my revenge!" she yelled back.
Jacob fired his SMG at Harbinger taking away its biotic barriers. Harbinger fired a warp in their direction. James fired a heavy pulse shot at Harbinger causing it to stagger back before it's head exploded from Ashley's concussive round.
Ash then looked down into the area below and just saw one. "Just one guy left."
"Then take him out!" Miranda yelled.
James fired one round from his rifle round into its head. "Let's keep moving."
They continued down the ramp to the lower area, a platform flew by in the distance and Garrus came in again on the radio, "Nice shot!" Several Husks pulled themselves up from the edge of the walkway ahead. Shepard fired a concussion round in their direction to knock them back down. Another three tried to climb up, but Ashley repeated the attack clearing the last of the Husks.
The familiar sound of beating wings came into the area. A couple Collectors flew into the area. Jacob quickly used slam on the drone in the front sending it downwards. As it was flung downwards, energy exploded from it revealing its possession.
James followed with a fire attack on the other drone. Miranda jumped down on a lowered area and took cover behind a wall as four Collectors moved into the area ahead. "I need you three to take care of the Collectors ahead,"
James threw a grenade at them taking down their shields before bringing up heavy machine gun and shredded them to pices.
Jacob popped out of cover and launched a warp. The explosion blew the Collectors apart and cleared the area ahead.
"It's clear ahead, Miranda," he yelled.
"Then let's move out," she said.
They continued forward. Garrus popped in over the radio, "Enemy down." The squad rounded the corner of the walkway and saw several Husks and a Scion.
"Looks like a real fight ahead," Miranda noted. "I'll take cover until you've dealt with them."
Ash noticed two of the Husks were Abominations. Jacob used pull on then and then followed with a throw to launch them directly at the Scion. The dual explosions sent the Scion back. It got to close to the ledge and it lost its footing and fell over the edge. James took down the two regular Husks. "Nice job with the Scion," Ash said as more Husks pulled themselves up and started charged at the group. James opened fired on them, the amount of rounds that she shot shredded them to pieces.
Seeing that the area was clear Miranda decided this was the best time to move. "Area clear, moving out, Commander,"
As the moved forward, a couple more Husks pulled themselves up. James stomped one in the face knocking it back down, and fired his pistol into the temple of the other.
"I-I can't hold on much longer," Miranda groaned. "I can s-see the entrance from here. I need to get there... soon!"
"You can do this, Jack," Ash encouraged. "we need to stop the collectors!"
Miranda forced herself forward knowing what was at stake. Another Husk climbed up to the right. Ashley kicked it away off of the walkway. Another Husk revealed itself which Jacob shot it with his pistol. The group went down the ramp to the entrance. Miranda was almost out of energy to hold the shield together.
"Hold up, we're almost there," Ash told Miranda.
Collectors flew into the area behind them. Jacob, Ash and James gave Miranda cover fire as they approached the entrance. They moved to the entrance, one by one, covering each other's retreat.
"We need to leave here, Williams," Miranda urged.
"Alright, let's move," Ash yelled the order.
She fired four shots from her pistol at the charging drone. The Collectors still continued to advance on their location.
"They're pushing, keep it up!"
"Hurry, Ashely," Miranda roared.
The entrance opened for them. Miranda turned around and charged up the biotic shield and pushed her arms forward. The shield exploded in all directions, sending the drones and seeker swarms all over. They retreated through the door. James fired a couple more rounds at any approaching Collectors before going through. The doors closed shut.
As the doors closed shut, the radio static finally cleared up. "Repeat, Williams do you copy?" Garrus called in.
"I copy," Ash answered. "What's your position?"
"We're at the door. They got us pinned down."
James and Ash got to the door and took positions ready to fire. Miranda went over to the console and went through the controls to open the doors.
"We're coming, just hold on," Ash said she looked to Miranda. "Get this door open!"
The doors opened and the rest of the squad's poured in. There was a small army just outside, shooting from every direction. As soon as they entered the room Ash ordered Miranda, "Seal the door!"
The door closed shut. Garrus clutched at his stomach. Williams went to him and noticed he was uninjured. "Their shot just skid my armour," he said.
Ash just gave a smile patted his shoulder. "How many made it?"
"We came with 50 people, we are down to just 17," Garrus said as he looked around. "Better then nothing but it does lower out changes of taking this place out,"
"EDI, what's our next step?" Miranda commented.
"There should be some nearby platforms that should take you to the main control console. From there you can overload the systems and destroy the base," the AI said.
"Commander, you got a problem," Joker warned. "Hostiles are amassing just outside the door,"
Ash turned to the platform EDI mentioned and climbed on top of it. She turned to face her squadmates. "A rear guard can defend this position and keep the Collectors from overwhelming us."
"Pick a team to go with you, Williams," Miranda said. "Everyone else can bunker down here and cover your back."
"Garrus and Miranda, with me."
The two called upon, climbed onto the platform and stood by Ashley.
"I'm ready, Commander," Miranda said.
"So am I," Garuus added.
"The rest of you, secure this point for as long as you can, if the fire gets to heavy fall back to the ships," she ordered with a series of nods following.
As platform flew off towards the main control console they could hear one of the commanders yell at the others organising them into a combat formation. The platform went a good distance before stopping. A platform came into the area with three Collectors on it. Miranda used a singularity attack mixed with an electric aura on the platform. The drones were yanked off and left floating in the air, their shields were down thanks to the electric pulse. Garrus just sniped at them taking them down.
Another platform appeared. This one with just two Collectors: one drone and a guardian. Ashley jumped over to cover and fired a few rounds at the drone. Miranda used a warp to destroy the guardian's barrier allowing Garrus to finish it off. The squad moved onto the new platform.
A spinning platform came into view. Three Collectors rode this platform. One of them exploded with energy. "WE ARE ASSUMING CONTROL."
Ash in cover suppressed fire into the group to distract them allowing Garrus and Miranda to move in. The turian fired at the Avatar while Miranda threw a warp that ripped the Avatar apart. A double platform spun into the area. This one had five Collectors on it. Miranda used a singularity which managed to pull three Collectors off of the platform. The platform connected to theirs. Ash and Garrus moved in quickly to the right. Miranda used a warp on the guardian. Ash shot it with her assault rifle.
"GIVE UP, HUMAN."
Ash ran up and stabbed Harbinger in the face with her knife. "Never," she muttered before punching it in the face and leaving a grenade inside. She jumped away as the grenade detonated.
A platform with two Scions and three abominations flew into the area.
"Just how many of these do we have to deal with?" Ash complained out loud.
The platform connected to theirs. The Abominations charged at Miranda who used a biotic push to send them back. The three hit the Scion on the right and exploded which tore the creature apart.
The Scion on the left fired a shockwave at Ashley sending her to the floor. Grunting, Williams pushed herself up off of the ground. She closed in the distance and kicked the Scion back off of the edge on the platform. The creature squealed as it fell into the abyss. They didn't hear anymore platforms. The group finally had a chance to catch their breath.
Miranda activated the terminal. "This is it. All the tubes lead to this spot. EDI what can you tell us? What are they doing?"
The platform slowly spun as it made its approach to the main control console.
"The tubes are feeding into a super structure," EDI replied. "According to my readings, it must be massive,"
Ashley looked up at the super structure in question. She felt a chill go down her back and stomach twist and turn. Miranda and Garrus turned around to see what Ash saw, their eyes widened.
"Williams... If my calculations are correct, the super structure... is a Reaper."
"Not just any Reaper," Ashley corrected. "A Human Reaper,"
The creation before them was an incomplete Reaper. It was a sickening imitation of a Human skeleton. It had two eye sockets, but its right eye socket had two eyes. Its jaw hung open with mandibles along both sides. The lower half of its body was not complete so it was just its spine. The monstrosity hung from four supports.
"Precisely," EDI said.
The platform they stood on connected to the other platforms in the area. The tubes that connected to the Reaper had their protective covers retract, revealing the genetic material being injected into the Reaper larva.
"Holy shit," Ash gasped. "I knew the Reapers were monsters, but this..."
"It appears the Collectors processed tens of thousands of Humans," EDI concluded. "Significantly more will be required to complete the Reaper."
"They're building it to look like a Human," Miranda observed. "Why?"
"It appears that a Reaper is based upon the species used to create it."
"Reapers are machines. Why do they need Humans at all?"
"Incorrect. Reapers are sapient constructs. A hybrid of organic and inorganic material. The exact construction methods are unclear, but it seems probable that the Reapers absorb the essence of a species utilizing it in their reproduction process."
"Oh spirits," Garrus muttered.
"This thing is a monster," Ashley stated. "EDI, how do we destroy it?"
"The large tubes injecting the fluid are a weak structural link," EDI answered. "Destroying them should cause the supports to collapse and the Reaper to fall,"
The shutters on the tubes closed shut.
"Give us a minute EDI. We have to take care of some old friends first,"
A platform came into the area. Two drones, a guardian and a possessed drone stood on it. The squad moved to higher ground and fired upon the platform's occupants. Miranda used slam on one of the drones. The biotic move lifted the drone off of the platform and slammed it downwards to the area below. Ash used a heavy pulse blast to knock the other drone off of the platform, leaving just the guardian and Harbinger left.
Ash then fired a volley of rifle fire distracting it allowing Miranda took the opportunity and launched a warp at the Collector to destroy its barrier. Garrus pulled out his pistol and fired two rounds into its head. Ash then moved to Harbinger which gave Miranda the few seconds she needed to move in and finish him. She fired three rounds from his pistol at Harbinger's head at point blank finishing the Reaper Avatar.
The shutters in front of the tubes retracted. All three fired at different tubes. As they shattered they then focused their fire on the other tube. They shattered before the shutters closed. The Reaper came loose and jerked forward. The Reaper then dropped down out of sight. Ashley and her squad watched as the abomination fell to the ground, hundreds of feet below.
"Ashley to ground team, status report!" she called over the radio,
"This is James. We've abandoned the checkpoint and heading back to the ships. A quick exit is preferable," James said over the radio.
"Understood, don't stop for anything," Ash ordered. "Joker, prep the engines. I'm about to overload this place and blow it sky high,"
"Roger that, Commander," Joker replied.
Ashley and Garrus crouched down by the main control console and pulled it out.
"Uh, Commander... I got an incoming signal from the Illusive Man. EDI is patching it through,"
The two worked through the controls on the console and localizing points at which would cause the most damage with an overload. Miranda activated her omni-tool and the hologram of TIM appeared.
"Williams, I never thought you'd get this far, you've done the impossible," he stated.
"Blow it out of your ass traitor," she said with venom.
"Now, now we are all in this together I'm looking at the schematics that one of my agents uploaded. A timed radiation pulse would kill the remaining Collectors, but leave their machinery and technology intact. This is our chance Shepard. They were building a Reaper. That knowledge, that framework, could save us,"
Ash felt rage course through her. She jumped to her feet and faced TIM. "They liquefy people and turn them into monsters. We have to destroy the base,"
"Don't be short-sighted!" TIM scorned. "Our best chance against the Reapers is to turn their own resources against them. They were working directly with the Reapers. Who knows what information is buried there. This base is a gift. We can't just destroy it,"
"No matter what technology we find, it's not worth it!"
"I don't think Shepard would agree with you," TIM said making Garrus stare at him with daggers and Miranda's eyes darken, but Ashley's blood just boiled. "He knew what needed to be done and was willing to take risks, don't be so quick to discard this facility. Think of the potential!"
"How dare you use his name in front of me, how dare you think you know him better then me!" she yelled. "This is not your call, you have no right to tell me what to do. But mark my words if we ever meet, I will rip you piece by piece for spitting on his name!"
"That goes second for me," Garrus added as Ashley joined
TIM turned around to face Miranda. "Miranda. Do not let Shepard destroy this base!"
"No, you abandoned us, you abandoned Cerberus," Miranda replied with a cold deathly stare. "You abandoned humanity, traitor,"
"I gave you an order, Miranda,"
"You lost that right when you disappeared,"
TIM panicked and tried one last attempt to convince Ashley. "Williams think about what's at..." TIM tried to say before Miranda cut the signal.
"That guy was starting to get on my nerves," Ash commented.
"Here," Miranda handed Ash a charge for the console.
Williams set the timer and placed it on the console. "Let's move. We have ten minutes before the reactor overloads and blows this station apart," As soon as she injected the timer into the platform, the platform shook violently. It caused them all to lose their footing.
A large metal hand grabbed onto the left side of the area. A mechanical roar echoed throughout the area. The Reaper larva rose up and looked down at the four.
"Dear god," Miranda gasped.
"Shoot it!" Ash ordered. "Give it everything you have!"
They opened fire on the glowing orbs that were its eyes and chest orb. Red energy began to charge around the Reaper's mouth.
"Everyone takes cover!"
They all ducked down in time to dodge the energy attack. It was a spread shot of red energy. It impacted the area and caused miniature explosions.
"Keep firing it has to die at some point," Ash yelled as she switched to the Nuke launcher.
As soon as the Reaper came back the all sot at hit. Drips of the orange liquid seemed to fall from it eyes as they fired. Just then Ashley fired into its mouth. A few seconds later its eyes burst into flames and explosion's burst all over it.
"Fuck you!" Miranda said.
Flames erupted from where the Reaper's mouth was. It bent backwards and then fell forwards. It caused the front platform to lean towards it. The platform it impacted broke away from the rest of the platforms. Miranda was standing on that platform and when it titled, she lost her footing and slid downwards to the edge.
"Ashleuu!" she cried out.
Ash ran forwards and jumped and slid down after her. "Miranda!"
They both reached for each other. Their hands barely touched each other. Miranda fell over the edge, but Ash grabbed her hand in time. She hung there as the two watched the Reaper fall to the ground below and explode. The explosion's shockwave gave them to boost to get back onto the platform, but it always tilted the platform in the other direction, causing Miranda and Williams to roll in the other direction.
They stopped rolling when they landed back onto the platform that Garrus was on. A renegade platform flew into their direction and before they could react, everything went black for all of them.
Ashley woke up on her stomach with a weight on her back. She didn't know how long she was out, but since they're not dead, they might still have time and she couldn't wait any longer. As she got up she gathered her thoughts. Realising what happened she looked around desperately and saw Miranda on the edge of the crashed platform. Ash ran over and turned her to face her. Her eyes opened she smiled. The commander helped her up before running over to where Garrus was helping him to his feet before all three of them found the exit and began moving.
"Do you copy?" Joker's voice came in over the radio. "Commander? Come on Shepard, don't leave me hanging. Do you copy?"
"I'm here, Joker," Ash replied. "Did the ground team make it?"
"All survivors are on board. We're just waiting for you,"
"Don't wait!" Ashley ordered. "If we don't get there in time just get out of here!"
"Understood!"
A swarm of seekers appeared. The three ran for it down the tunnels.
"HUMAN," Harbinger addressed. "YOU CHANGED NOTHING."
Ash fired a copy of rounds at the swarm to slow them down while her squadmates went ahead. She followed as they went ahead.
"YOUR SPECIES HAS THE ATTENTION OF THOSE WHO ARE INFINITELY GREATER. THAT WHICH YOU KNOW AS REAPERS ARE YOUR SALVATION THROUGH YOUR DESTRUCTION."
Williams and her squad encountered several Collector guardians during their escape. They had no time for a fight, so they just ran towards where the Normandy waited. The guardians gave chase after them. Explosions went off all over the place.
The Normandy rose up over the ridge. Its side door opened to reveal Joker with a pulse rifle. He gave them some covering fire. A column crashed down near the Normandy. Miranda and Garrus jumped onto the Normandy. Garrus, Miranda and Joker stayed in the doorway to wait for Ashley.
A column crashed down and took out some of the platforms near the Normandy. She stopped and looked at the gap before looking at the others.
"GO!" she yelled as a pillar threatened to fall onto the Normandy.
The three looked to her before going inside, Garrus was the last one but nodded towards her. The Normandy then took off as Williams looked towards the oncoming collectors. Rifle at the ready she took a deep sigh.
"I'm coming John," she said as she took aim and fired.
One by one the collectors fell down to the onslaught of her gunfire until she ran out. Drawing her knife, she took a close quarters stance. The Collectors advanced, she was about to charge in but machine gun fire stopped them from advancing. Turning Ashley saw a Kodiak waiting for her.
"GET ON!" one of the soldiers yelled.
Wasting no time, she ran and jumped into the craft. The door's closed as they exited the station and docked with an alliance cruiser. Unknown to them all something was attached to the underside of the craft.
"Detonation in ten, nine, eight..." one of the officers started counting down.
The countdown reached zero and the station blew apart. A wave of energy and flames exploded outwards eliminating everything in its path. The light of the explosion was blinding. Wreckage and dead ships were engulfed by the dozens from the explosions. The fleet got closer and closer to the relay. The energy of the relay reacted and charged the Normandy. As the shockwave reach the fleet, it launched forward leaving the graveyard system.
Exiting the jump the ship Ashley was on was nowhere near the rendezvous point. The shockwave caused the ship's navigation systems to jump to another system. Ash smiled slightly as she sat on a crate. The collectors were done, over. Now they only had one threat to deal with.
OOOOO Present
"A few hours later the Huskifacation plague infected the ship and I crash landed on New Olympus," Ash finished.
"A human reaper?" John muttered, "If my clone get's his hands on that…"
"We all done for," Wrex finished.