Hello! ZnK here! New chapter, alright! Hoping to squeeze these out at a steady pace, but I don't wanna go too quick and blow my load early. Muses aren't particularly fond of that, from my experience, so I'm gonna try to take it slow. Not too slow though!

And now, enjoy!

–

Harry went down the stairs into the bowels of the Engineering Deck, where one of the latest members of what the crew had affectionately started calling 'the Suicide Squad' sat, Jack.

She seemed cute enough, but the shaved head and massive amount of tattooes on her upper body didn't do anything for Harry. And he could see a lot of her body. Her breasts were barely even covered by the leather strap she had around them, tied to a collar around her neck. Her cargo pants and boots really gave her the rebellious look. But even so...

"Hello!" Harry greeted pleasantly, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he approached woman sitting on her cot. She looked up at him in surprise, her eyes widening at the sight of Harry's stitches and eye device.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Name's Harry Potter. I'd say the ship doctor, but doctor Chakwas has that position," Harry said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm more something in between head doctor and head researcher. I've been tasked with ensuring that you're not suffering any ill effects from your time in cryostasis."

"No, no effects, now piss off," Jack said shortly, and Harry gave her a shrewd grin.

"Come now, Jack, if I believed every patient I've ever had when they said they were fine without looking for myself, I'd probably have lost my license long ago."

"So, what, you wanna give me a 'physical'?" Jack asked as she shot to her feet. She reached up and pointed at her poorly covered breasts. "'Cause if you just want a feel of these, you'll have to come up with a better excuse than that!"

Harry blinked slowly at her. His gaze slowly moved down to stare at her breasts, and the device covering his right eye flashed once.

"They look healthy, no need to feel them, is there?" he commented, looking up at her again. "Negative effects from cryostasis only surface in your brain, so I'd just like to check your eyes, check your balance, do some tests, so on."

"Wha...?" Jack looked completely taken aback at Harry's seemingly clueless behavior. The surprise was quickly changed to anger as she gave him a fierce glare. "Hey, why don't you just fuck off, huh?"

"Love to, but I have to run some tests to make sure you're operating at full capacity," Harry said, still with that pleasant tone of voice. "So, are you going to do this willingly, or am I going to have to strap you down."

"I'd like to see you try!"

Harry sighed in annoyance. Mechs never complained about check-ups. They were happy to check if anything could be fixed or improved... Humans, and organics in general, were much more annoying when it came to such things... He spat out his cigarette, and then crossed the distance between them in less than a second.

Before Jack could react, she had already been hit in the chest with a palm thrust, which felt like it sent an electric current through her body as it was sent flying back into the wall. She crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

"W-What the hell?!" she yelled with her face planted against the floor. "Why can't I move?"

"Oh, I caused a small system overload, causing partial paralysis for the duration of your check-up," Harry said simply, kneeling next to Jack and propping her up against the wall. "It would have been so much easier for you if you had just cooperated like I asked. Ah well..."

"Screw you, man!" Jack barked. "When I get out of this...!"

"You know, saying things like that just make me less inclined to release the paralysis," Harry deadpanned, fishing out another cigarette and lighting it. "Now, if you just stay quiet and not make a bunch of fuss like a temperamental girl-child, then this will soon be over. Now, open your eyes wide."

When Jack was just glaring at him, Harry rolled his eyes and forced Jack's left eye fully open. One of the lights on his eye device shone brightly, straight into Jack's eye.

"Hm, seems fine from where I'm standing," he concluded, the light turning off as he let go of Jack's head. "So, have you experienced any headaches since your release? Nausea? Dizziness?"

"The only headache I've experienced is the one in front of me!" Jack hissed, but froze when Harry looked at her again. The pleasant expression had disappeared, and he had a strangely cold look in his eye. Jack had seen the eyes of psychopaths, murderers, rapists, sadists, all kinds of big and bad, but this guy... There was something in his eye that genuinely sent a terrified chill down her spine.

"I... No..." Jack muttered eventually, looking away from him. "No dizziness, no feeling sick, there's no problem. I feel fine..."

"Good!"

Just like that, the look was gone, and Harry patted Jack on the head, before rising to his feet and walking off.

"That's all I need. Oh!" He snapped his fingers in realization and looked back at Jack. "I really recommend better quarters. You might catch a cold down here."

"Hey! What about fixing me?!" Jack snapped at him, making him furrow his brow.

"I already did," he told her, and Jack was incredibly surprised when she tried lifting her arm and actually succeeded. "And now, Jack, you saw me take you down before, and if you attempt any attack on my person, I'll be forced to retaliate. And if that happens, I won't just paralyse you. I'll snap your spine and throw you out the airlock."

He grinned widely, that sadistic kind of grin that he used to be famous for.

"Though I guess if you force me to kill you, there's no one to stop me from dissecting your body and studying you..."

It always did feel good to make hardened killers feel uncomfortable, show them they weren't the scariest thing around. It left a pleasant tingle in Harry's stomach.

Needless to say, Jack didn't attack him as he left her 'quarters.'

–

Shepard stepped into the cargo hold, to find Harry standing in front of the tank holding the krogan. Three circular devices had been placed on the glass, and he was busily reading holographic data floating over his PAD.

"He's really big," Adrian, standing in the air by Harry's head, said cautiously as he stared at the tank. "I know I've said it before, but I'm just amazed... I wish I was that big..."

"You're a bodiless AI, your form is simply that of a hologram," Harry said, glancing at him. "You can be whatever size you wish."

"I know, but I'm referring to a physical body. I'd really like one, dad."

"I know, I know, but a body can be destroyed, even if it would be difficult, and you're still very young," Harry chided. "I don't want to risk it right now."

"Alright..."

"You speak to him like he's your son," Shepard spoke, catching their attention. "And he calls you dad?"

"I created him, I gave him life, even if most organics wouldn't consider him living," Harry said, smiling at Shepard. "I'd say that warrants calling me his father. And I love him like a son."

Shepard was sort of moved by that statement. After all, Harry didn't look like the kind of person who'd care about anyone, let alone a synthetic lifeform. He looked very... human when he looked at Adrian like that, his facial features sort of softer and not at all as cold as he had looked when he attacked them in his base.

"We're on course for Horizon, the Illusive Man thinks it might be under attack," she revealed. "And Mordin has finished creating his countermeasure against the seeker swarms."

The seeker swarms of the Collectors really were dangerous. Small, bug-like things that paralyzed the victim if it was able to bite them. Shepard really didn't want to risk running afoul of any of those. It would make the mission very short.

"So I've heard," Harry said with a nod. "He does good work, that's for sure. It's refreshing to meet someone like him."

Shepard nodded, understanding that. Being one of high intelligence, it would probably be difficult for Harry to find equals.

"So tell me, what do you know about the Collectors? You said you had enough data on them?"

"Hm, bipedal, human-sized insect people. They come from beyond the Omega 4 Relay, and they usually keep to themselves, using agents to make trade deals for their technology. From what I've discovered, they are mostly interested in purchasing slaves, but I haven't figured out a reason for it. But if they're working for the Reapers, then we could guess why they'd want humans."

"And what do you know of the Reapers?"

"Question is, what do you know?" Harry countered, which made Shepard smirk slightly. It was nice to be the one questioned for once.

"I know they're synthetic lifeforms. Saren's flagship Sovereign was a Reaper. Their goal is to wipe out all organic life, and they're the ones who wiped out the Protheans."

"All of them?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow, which got him a curious look from Shepard.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look at this," Harry said, raising his PAD and bringing up a holographic cell structure. It didn't make much sense to Shepard, but she figured he had a point to all this. "This is a normal human's biological makeup. This is what a Prothean's looks like." He pushed a button on the PAD, and the cell structure completely changed shape, not even remotely recognizeable compared to the human structure. "And now, this is data that I picked up from a Collector I managed to subdue and study."

He pushed another button, and Shepard's eyes widened in surprise.

"They look identical!"

"Yep. Way I figure it, those Protheans the Reapers didn't wipe out, they converted to what are now known as Collectors," Harry concluded. "I've been doing a bit of research on it, but I don't have enough data. That the biggest reason why I can with you on this mission, Commander. I need to know what the Reapers are. I mean, what they truly are, what their true purpose is, what their motivations are. It's maddening to not know..."

"For someone whose life is all about research, I guess I can understand that," Shepard said, nodding slowly. "Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Shepard."

"I never do."

Harry grinned.

"By the way, if we're going to go up against the Reapers, I would really like it if you in particular allowed me to inject you with the Z-94 nanobots," he said, his grin disappearing to be replaced by a frown. "From what I hear, their indoctrination is pretty powerful. By studying the altered neural patterns of the Collectors, I've concluded that they're indoctrinated too. The Z-94 would be able to counteract the effects of indoctrination."

"You're been really pushy on that subject."

"I don't like half-finished projects. Your current healing implants are unfinished prototypes, and I want them replaced," Harry explained. "So after this whole Horizon business, come see me in the lab so I can give you the injection. I'd also prefer to give you a shot of PPPF-02."

"Peepee-what?" Shepard repeated in confusion.

"Peak Physical Performance Formula dash oh-two," Harry clarified with an exasperated sigh. "The amount of time I've had to explain that one... In any case, it is an incredibly powerful formula, which pushed the human body to its absolute physical peak. The last person I injected it into was able to bench press twelve hundred pounds."

This made Shepard's eyes widen in amazement. To be honest, it sounded amazing, but really, she had only just met Harry, and she didn't really know if she trusted him enough for that.

"You can seriously do that? No ulterior motive?"

"I've done all the research I need on the PPPF. I wouldn't do anything evil to you just for the hell of it, you know."

And it was true that Shepard could use it. Run faster, fight harder, heal better? It sounded like a good deal. Hell, almost too good to be true.

"How long does it take to take effect?"

"The Z-94's achieve full functionality the second they enter the bloodstream. The PPPF is gradual, however. You might notice some differences right away, along with a mild discomfort over a twenty-four hour period as your muscle density changes. But after twenty-four hours, you'll be the most physically advanced human in the galaxy, except for me, of course."

At that moment, Shepard made a choice that would change her forever.

"Alright, there's three hours until we reach Horizon. Let's do it."

"Great!" Harry exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "It's been so long since I was able to use this serum on someone I could trust. Let us head to the lab."

–

Personal Log.

It has been a long time since I had a reason to leave my home. I have never really met anything or anyone of interest for quite some time, but this... Oho, Collectors, Reapers, and Commander Shepard herself. I was aware that Project Lazarus would work, but wow! It worked even with the outdated implants! That was beyond expectation, as I was certain of degradation. Ah well, I guess it's better that it worked.

And now, Shepard has even agreed to the PPPF. She's an incredibly strong woman. Even only two minutes after injection, she had already shown a five percent strength increase. That's unprecedented. Perhaps the serum is cooperating with the Z-94 nanobots? It's worth looking into. I hadn't taken that into consideration.

We are approaching Horizon. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch one of the Collectors and study it. They truly are fascinating creatures with an amazing power. While I have all the biological data that I need on them, I would still prefer to be able to study the indoctrination a bit deeper, to figure out if my nanobots are up to snuff at resisting it.

Now, on another subject, I must remember to get Mr. Moreau, the ship's pilot, an injection of Berserker nanomachines. They should allow him to perform heavier duties without suffering damage to his brittle bones. I don't yet trust him enough to give him the PPPF, but I think he might benefit from it.

Note to self: Must develop serum adapted to the dextro-amino acids of creatures such as quarians and turians. Current serum would cause complete muscle degradation and possibly cause hemorraging in the brain.

Also pleased to note that Adrian is currently developing at a rate similar to a human. He truly is one of my greatest creations. Children truly are wonderful, are they not?

Speaking of which, I met Jack recently. She's a rough, crude person which no restraints on her speech whatsoever. On a military ship, that sure is a breath of fresh air. She reminds me so much of her...

–

The team consisting of Shepard, Harry, and Jack hopped out of the shuttle on Horizon. The dark sky and the skyscraper-like Collector ship were foreboding. And even without looking around, the place felt incredibly empty.

"That's one ugly ship," Jack commented, staring at the stone-covered ship. It was a very strange design, but when he looked at it with his eye device, Harry could see its structure clearly.

"Ugly, but functional. No wasted space, eighty percent of it converted for transporting cargo," he said, a small smirk on his face. "Small yet incredibly efficient drive core. You could only dream of a human developing something like that."

"Whatever, it's still an ugly ship," Jack shrugged, which made Harry chuckle.

"We're groundside," Shepard spoke into her communicator, ignoring the banter between the two. "Mordin, are you sure these armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?"

"Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms," Mordin replied, then paused for a second before adding, "In theory."

"What a ringing fucking endorsement," Jack barked in annoyance. "Not looking to get my ass bitten by one of those things."

"Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive!"

"Field testing," Harry quipped, nodding in approval. "I like it, sounds good."

The team made their way toward the colony, but stopped on their way, because they saw something by a nearby tree. Sitting leaned against it was a human female, her face frozen in an expression of shock. Harry hurried forward and knelt beside her, looking her over.

"Frozen by the seekers?" Shepard asked as Harry's brow furrowed.

"No. She's had an operation in the past. The strain from the paralysis caused an aneurysm. She's dead," Harry informed them, reaching into the pockets of his coat. "Well, even the dead can be useful at times."

"What are you doing?" Jack asked as Harry fished out two circular devices that looked much like screwheads and attached them to the woman's temples. A light on each device turned on, and the team was greeted with the sickening sound of what appeared to be two screws drilling through flesh and bone into the woman's brain.

"Oh, man, that's gross!" Jack muttered, making a disgusted face at the sound.

"Sorry for bothering you, but it's necessary," Harry said, not sounding sorry at all as a holographic screen appeared over his PAD, showing him a large amount of digits and letters.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked, looking a bit disturbed as well. "You shouldn't really disrespect the dead."

"Not like she's alive to take exception," Harry countered. "Besides, like I said, it's necessary. I'm retrieving the electrical impulses from her most recent memories and converting them to images. Provided the brain hasn't suffered too much degradation, of course. Shouldn't be a problem."

The text vanished to be replaced by what looked like a vid screen. Both Jack and Shepard leaned closer to look at what was happening in the vid.

It was showing Horizon from the perspective of the woman. From the looks of things, she was sitting by the tree the way the team had found her, and her eyes were fixed on three bipedal creatures standing in front of her.

Insect-like with a chitinous exoskeleton, two anterior pairs of what appeared to be vestigial limbs, four eyes, and a distinct, large, tapering head along with fully developed insect-like wings, there was no doubt that these creatures were Collectors.

One of the Collectors approached the woman and knelt in front of her, looking her over. It was different from the rest in that its eyes were glowing yellow, and it seemed to radiate some kind of dark energy.

"We have no use for this one," the creature spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. "Move on."

With that, the three creatures walked off, and the vid steadily faded to black.

"That's the last of it," Harry announced, closing down the hologram and frowning. "The one that spoke... Something was very different about it."

He didn't have time to elaborate, because to the east the buzzing sound of flapping insect wings was heard, and they turned to see about ten Collectors come flying in the air toward them.

"We'll so much for quiet infiltration," Harry muttered, before they all rushed up to nearby cover to hide behind it. "Mordin, you think the seekers can transmit what they see?"

"Hm, hadn't taken into consideration. Will run tests. Try not to die."

"Right."

"Well, I don't mind the company!" Jack said with a grin. "I've been dying for some target practice!"

She popped out from behind the cover, her body wrapped in a biotic shield, then puled her hand back and threw it forward. A piece of the transparent, blue barrier covering her hand was torn off and flung at one of the Collectors like a ball. When in impacted, the Collector's barrier was completely destroyed, but looked otherwise unharmed. That changed when a second ball slammed into it's skull, blowing its head clean off.

"Yeah!" Jack yelled exhuberantly, before having to duck under Collector fire. "First blood's mine!"

Harry watched Jack rather fondly as he reached into his coat, fishing out what looked to the untrained eye like a black leather glove with black plastic armor on it. To the trained eye, however, the sheer scope of the technology in this glove would have had them salivating.

"Right, I suppose it's time to earn my pay," he muttered, reaching behind his back and pulling out a gun, which made Shepard pause just to inspect it in surprise.

It looked an awful lot like an M-6 Carnifex, but it had been heavily modified. The barrel appeared to have been replaced by a baby blue crystal, as had part of the gun above the grip, where the heat sink ejector would have been. Had he modified it himself? And if so, what was the crystal for? And the glove, for that matter, since he wasn't holding the gun with the same hand.

Harry answered her questions without needing to be asked by rising from behind cover and making a circular motion with his hand, before flicking it upward. Two of the Collectors gave shouts of surprise as they suddenly started floating up into the air, flailing their lims as though trying to flap their way back down. As though hearing their desire to go back to the ground, Harry flicked his hand down, and the two were flung into the ground with enough force to explode their bodies, sending Collector innards flying. Then he raised his gun and fired off a single shot.

It looked almost like he'd used biotics. The energy that fired from the weapon was a pale blue ball around the size of an orange, shooting through the air at incredible speed. When it hit the Collector Harry was aiming for, it punched straight through both its barrier and its chest, digging out a gaping hole that went straight through and out the back.

"Tell you later," Harry said as he ducked behind the cover, noticing the strange look he got from Shepard. She'd clearly been wanting to ask what the hell Harry's equipment was.

Shepard rose from cover and opened fire at the Collectors with her assault rifle. She didn't want to be as left out of the fight as she'd been on Korlus, after all.

The firefight was short-lived, and there was only one Collector left. Still annoyed with how easily Harry dispatched them, Shepard really wanted to get the last kill, so she got very frustrated when her weapon clicked empty, and she had only gotten through the Collector's barrier.

"I-"

"I've got him!" Shepard barked, interrupting Harry, who had taken aim. She vaulted over her cover and ran forward at a very impressive speed, much faster than what she could have achieved a day ago.

The Collector, who had taken cover and was trying to recharge its shield, poked its head out from behind the cover just in time to see Shepard jump and dropkick it in the face.

The kick was strong enough to knock the Collector of its feet, sending it flying back into a large stone. It smashed into it with a crunch, then crumbled to the floor, showing several cracks in the stone. It should also be noted that upon closer inspection, Harry could actually see two boot imprints in its forehead.

Next to him, Jack was gaping.

"Holy shit, Shepard!"

"Wow!" Shepard exclaimed, surprised at herself as she rose to her feet, looking over the Collector. "That felt amazing!"

"Never fails," Harry stated proudly, approaching her. "But your musculature is adapting to the serum surprisingly quickly."

"Guess I'm just special then, huh?" Shepard asked as she popped the heat sink on her rifle. "Let's get going."

"Special indeed," Harry agreed, following her.

They paused at the edge of the colony, however, when something came at them from around the corner. It looked human, but with dead, gray skin. Parts of its body seemed to have been converted somehow into cybernetic material, and its eyes were glowing blue. The creature gave a roar as it charged at them.

Shepard opened fire, but her eyes widened when the creature barely even reacted to it, not going down until a blast from Harry's pistol blew a hole in its stomach.

"That's supposed to be one of the colonists?" Jack asked, looking disgusted as she stared at the creature.

"No. On Eden Prime, victims were impaled on giant spikes to turn them into husks," Shepard said. "I haven't seen any on Horizon."

"So this is a husk, eh?" Harry asked, fishing out more circular devices from his pockets, placing one on each temple, and on it its chest. At another button push, they once more heard the sound of spikes drilling through flesh and bone.

"What are you doing now?" Shepard asked, noticing the third device.

"I'm collecting data. I can't very well bring it with me now, and I might not remember it before we leave, so I'll gather as much data as I can now, just to be safe. But if they used to be converted on the spot, why are the colonists being taken alive?"

"I was wondering that too," Shepard muttered, staring down at the husk. "All I know right now is that these aren't the same creatures I fought on Eden Prime. They're more advanced. Evolved."

"No matter, it would appear they die just like anything else," Harry said, before a beep sounded from his PAD, at which point he reached down and removed the devices. Since he hadn't done that with the woman, Shepard and Jack were now greeted to the sight of just what had made that sound earlier. Three-inch spikes had extended from the devices and drilled their way into the bodies.

Shepard looked down at the husk, frowning. She didn't feel as bad about Harry disrespecting its corpse like that, but it had once still been human, and seeing it just illicited anger toward the Reapers.

"The Collectors aren't getting away with more victims," she announced, looking up at her team. "Let's move out."

As the trio moved out, Shepard found herself glancing at Harry's hands.

"So, what are those things?"

"Oh, these?" Harry asked, holding up his gloved hand and his gun. "Just some toys. This is the Grav-Glove," he said, making a gesture with his glove. "I can generate a gravitational field around the area of my choice. I'm limited to small areas, however, but inside that field, I manipulate gravity how I choose. I negated gravity to float the Collectors, then made it many times stronger to slam them down. As for the gun..."

Harry held up the gun and looked it over himself, smiling softly.

"I used to be a revolver type, but it didn't seem to fit this century's style. So I bought a Carnifex and modified with with a crystal-based power source. This baby can both stun and kill."

"Crystal-based?"

"I'll tell you what, when we get back to the ship, I can give you a more in-depth explanation with lots of technical information you probably won't understand, but let's focus on the mission for now," Harry said with a smile, which made Shepard flush slightly.

She was usually the one who said that...

They went through the passage and into the colony, and immediately found themselves set upon by even more Collectors, engaging in another firefight.

Shepard had to admit that Harry was rather impressive in a fight. He had reflexes like she'd never seen before, dodging shots mere nanoseconds before they hit him. Most of the fight was spent out of cover, merely dodging side to side to avoid the gunfire.

In the meantime, Shepard herself was feeling amazing. Usually, fights like this would pump a bit of adrenaline into her body and make her a little shaky. But now, she was feeling completely calm. The adrenaline was there, but she didn't feel the surge of controlled near-panic that always drove her to success. She was feeling pretty confident. Also, there was probably some technical term for it, but she got this strange feeling like she could see and react faster than normal. The shots fired at her seemed to be moving slower than she was used to.

"Whatever was in that super juice, I like it," she muttered to herself, popping out of cover to open fire on a Collector, which had just been floated into the air by Harry's Grav-Glove.

"Shepard," Harry said as he dodged over to her cover, ducking down with her. "I'm detecting several human life forms in the colony. There's very few of them, but it seems we interrupted the Collectors in the middle of their harvest."

"Then let's make sure they don't finish it," Shepard said, to which Harry nodded. Then he grinned at her.

"Have to admit, Shepard, it's good to be out and about again. I sort of missed this."

"If you ladies are done chatting, I could use some fucking help here!" Jack yelled, which brought them back to the situation at hand.

Harry and Shepard both popped out of cover, opening fire on the remaining Collectors, taking them out quickly. Shepard had to admit that she really wanted a weapon like Harry's...

Once the final Collector had dropped, they moved again, deeper into the colony. Now they found more humans, all of them frozen in place with looks of shock or fear on their faces, some having fallen, and some stuck in the middle of running.

"Stuck in statis," Harry concluded as he knelt in front of a woman, who was frozen in the middle of being helped up by a man. "They still retain awareness, though. Must be terrifying." He hummed curiously as he looked her over with his eye device. "It doesn't seem like it will fade. We will need to develop a vaccine to counter the paralysis. I don't have the tools to do that on me, though."

"They've been like this for a long time," Shepard said, narrowing her eyes at the fearful look on the woman's face. "But no longer. Let's kick the Collectors off this planet."

They headed away from the building they were at, and Shepard noticed something on the ground, picking it up. It was a large rifle, it's plating looking almost like some kind of stone. Clearly Collector tech.

"Well now, what have we here?"

Harry leaned forward, humming and inspecting it.

"Looks like a miniature version of the Collectors' ship-mounted particle beam cannon. Can't tell for sure, but it looks sort of like the same design. Guess we won't know till you use it."

"Whatever it is, it's a big gun and I like it," Shepard said, spoken like a true soldier, which made Harry chuckle.

Then Harry's ear twitched suddenly, hearing something in the distance.

"We have more Collectors incoming," he said, making a gesture toward the north.

The team rushed off and found cover just in time to see a swarm of Collectors come flying toward their location.

When they landed, however, one of the Collectors started flailing wildly as though in pain. They watched as its skin started tearing, a red glow coming from the cracks. It started radiating dark energy, and its eyes started to glow yellow, just like the Collector they had seen in the memory.

"Direct intervention is necessary," the Collector spoke in a deep voice, again just like in the memory.

It fired off a blast of energy like a rocket, taking Harry by surprise and hitting him in the chest. It exploded and sent him flying several feet, before thudding hard into the ground.

"Harry!" Shepard yelled in shock, only to breathe a sigh of relief when the prone Harry raised a hand.

"I'm alright!" he yelled back, shooting to his feet and bringing up his pistol and aiming it at the Collector who had blasted him. Amazingly, the only sign of damage on him was some small scratches under his chin. His clothes looked fine, though his lab coat looked a bit singed.

Harry fired three shots, all of them at that single Collector, blowing three fist-sized holes in its chest. The Collector gave off a pained cry, but instead of collapsing like the rest, it floated about a foot into the air, before disintegrating before their very eyes.

"Well, that's new," Harry commented in surprise, before having to duck under gunfire from the Collectors. As he rushed forward toward cover, he swiped his hand at three of them, and to Jack and Shepard's surprise, it looked like an arc of distorted air rushed toward the Collectors, passing straight through them. Next second, they dropped to the ground, their upper halves separating from their lower ones.

"You never told me you were a biotic!" Shepard yelled to Harry, poking her head out of cover and firing at the Collectors.

"Not technically a biotic!" Harry yelled back, firing blindly over the cover with his pistol. "Just some basic manipulation of my body's natural biological energy field! Call it magic, if you want!"

They heard a rumbling growl from past their cover, and the three poked their heads out to see yet another Collector now sporting cracks in its skin and glowing eyes.

"Evolution cannot be stopped," the Collector said, which made Harry frown as he killed a nearby Collector before ducking down again.

"Huh, possession, huh? They must all be connected like a hive-mind, then..." A bright smile suddenly appeared on his face as he snapped his fingers in realization. "That's why their brains have been genetically rewired! They needed room for another consciousness! Oh, wow, this trip has been informative!"

"Harry!" Shepard barked, bringing Harry back to reality. "If you wouldn't mind helping out against this guy, we'd appreciate it!"

"Oh, right," Harry mumbled, poking his head up and firing at the dominant Collector, who dodged out of the way, right into the path of Shepard's new rifle. She pulled the trigger, and a thin, bright yellow beam of energy was fired from the rifle, cutting into the Collector's skull like a laser. Shepard watched in amazement as it sliced through the Collector, who started disintegrating with a yell of pain.

"Hah! Particle beam!" Harry barked triumphantly, taking out the two remaining Collectors with two well-placed shots. "I knew it!"

"That's the last of 'em, for now," Jack announced, popping the thermal clip out of her pistol. "This is getting way to repetitive..."

"Agreed," Harry said and looked around with his eye device. He turned toward one of the larger buildings to the east, focusing on it. "I see one human life form inside that building, Shepard. It's moving."

"Let's check it out, then."

Meanwhile, back on the ship, it almost felt like the Normandy actually rocked when the wall of the research lab was one more the victim of a vicious kick from one very irritated-looking mech.

"Please, Frank, control your anger, delicate research," Mordin pleaded. He had jumped at the first five kicks, but he was used to it now.

"I do not get angry, salarian fleshsack," Frank argued, turning his glowing eyes toward Mordin, who now started to feel uncomfortable. "I am merely restless. I was certain that the master would bring me along to Horizon. There are many organics there to kill. Yet he did not. He did not wish to risk having this unit destroy valuable research material."

"Sounds like anger, maybe irritation, perhaps sadness," Mordin mused. "Organic traits, hard to explain away as anything else."

"You are lucky, meatbag, that my prime directives prevent me from harming you," Frank hissed, aiming another kick at the wall. "It feels like my joints will rust from just standing here. I shall go communicate with the EDI AI."

"Please do. Need to work. Much research to be done."

Frank turned and walked out of the lab, at which point Mordin released a sigh of relief.

"Problematic..."

"Mordin," came Harry's voice over the communicator.

"Dr. Potter," Mordin greeted. "Did not expect contact so early."

"Just calling to pass the time while Shepard talks to a survivor we met. He's kinda annoying, so I don't wanna listen to him. Anyway, I discovered a husk body. I'm sending the data I collected to the lab, so you can get a headstart on the research while you wait."

"Excellent!" Mordin said happily, moving over to the main computer and bringing up the holographic display, studying the incoming information. "Mm, interesting. Much organic and synthetic data. Could be useful."

"I'm also sending data on the paralysis caused by the seekers. It might help you develop a vaccine for it."

"Understood. Already working on it. Should be done soon. Data could speed things up. Thank you."

Down on the planet, Harry nodded to himself.

"Hope you'll find a cure soon. Harry out."

He looked back toward Shepard, Jack, and the mechanic they had met, Delan.

"Good luck," Delan said to Shepard, entering some commands into his omni-tool. "I think you're gonna need it."

"So what's going on?" Harry asked as his two team members approached him.

"We're heading for the defense towers. They're high-powered GARDIAN lasers, so they should be able to at least scratch the Collector ship," Shepard explained, to which Harry furrowed his brow.

"Why haven't they been used yet, then?"

"The targeting system doesn't work. I was hoping you could help with that."

"Sure thing."

–

"This is too easy..." Shepard muttered as the team reached the square with the control computer where the targeting systems would need to be calibrated. "Only one Collector encounter on our way?"

"Way to jinx, Shepard..." Jack muttered.

As if on cue, they found several husks come running at them from the other side of the square, along with husks that were very deformed. Judging by the three different ribcages, they were three husks fused together, though they walked on two legs. The husks seemed to have been fused around a large, blue ball of energy, which was pulsing and making them an easy target.

"See?!" Jack barked, taking down a husk's armor with gunshots, before grabbing it in a biotic hold and slamming it into the ground hard enough to smash it to pieces.

"Just fight!" Shepard barked, readying her weapon and opening fire, Harry doing the same.

The husks were easier to fight than Collectors. The husks had no sense of duck and cover. They just charged at you without a care, making themselves very easy targets. It didn't take long to bring them down.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here," Harry said, approaching the computer and booting it up. One quick hack later, and he had complete access. "Hm... I could get the towers online from here, but doing so would bring us a lot of attention... Hm-hm-hm..." Furrowing his brow, he reached for the communicator in his ear.

"Normandy, come in."

"Joker here. Signal's weak, Doctor, but we got you."

"EDI, I need you to bring the defense towers online. I'm patching you into the computer," Harry said, and the AI was quick to respond as soon as she had been patched in.

"Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified, but it will take time to bring the towers to full power."

"Exactly. Can't exactly hide the generator output, so odds are we'll have company," Harry said with a nod. "That's why I need you to do it for me. Frank?"

"I'm here, master."

"Transfer to the PAD. You can make a new body here. Won't have any projectiles weapons, but I figured you were up for a close-quarter fight."

"Yes, master! Anything to get away from the tedious monotony of ship life. Uploading now."

Harry heard a beep from his PAD. Nodding in satisfaction, he pulled out another metal block from it and walked up to a steel crate, placing the block on it.

Shepard and Jack got to see the show Mordin had witnesses, watching at nanobots in the block broke down the crate and converted it into building material to build a shiny, silvery Frank, whose eyes lit up as soon as he was activated.

"Unit Frank, ready to serve, master! Enemy reinforcements are closing in. Activating combat protocol! Prejudice set to maximum!"

"Ready up, people!" Shepard ordered, popping the heat sink on her rifle and readying it upon seeing a large group of Collectors flying toward them in the distance.

"Too easy, huh?" Jack muttered to Shepard, who did her very best to ignore her.

"Assuming direct control," they heard from one of the Collectors, which made Harry frown.

"Him again," the scientist muttered, raising his pistol and firing, shooting the creature out of the air and causing it to disintegrate.

A firefight ensued, a tedious process in Harry's opinion, and very repetitive. He didn't learn anything new from the Collectors right now, as they all used the same basic attack pattern. It was clear that they weren't all that used to encountering resistance.

"Bypassing failsafes and attempting emergency power-up," EDI told them, over the communicator. "Please hold the defensive tower."

"Yeah, no shit..." Jack quipped sending a Collector flying with a biotic blast. "I thought I'd just wander off for a while and catch some sun..."

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you," Harry commented as he blew two Collector heads off. "It would've sounded better if you just flung an insult at her."

"What are you, my dad?" Jack snapped back at him, blasting the next Collector extra hard for good measure.

Once the last Collector had fallen, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fun as it is to be out in the world again, fighting through wave after wave of the same enemy isn't what I consider a fun time..." he muttered. "And you know there's gonna be more enemies."

"Sequential power-up initiated. GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at forty percent," EDI announced, which made Harry sigh again, while Frank's eyes just glowed with excitement.

"Good, I need to shake the rust out of my joints!" the psychotic AI exclaimed, punching his fists together much like a krogan. There was surprisingly little blood on them, but then, he had so far only punched the Collectors to death, not torn out their insides... yet...

As if on cue, another wave of Collectors arrived, and Frank didn't even wait for them to land. He leapt off a crate and slammed into a Collector in mid-air, bringing it down to the ground, grabbing its wings and tearing them off its body.

Harry just watched in fascination as Frank grabbed the Collector's head and tore it from its owner's body, then threw it at another Collector with enough force to break their neck.

"Oh, he's good," Jack commented from next to him, before opening fire alongside Harry. "I could raise quite a bit of hell with him at my side!"

"He only listens to me, though," Harry quipped, carelessly flinging shots at the Collectors in boredom. Even though it looked like he wasn't aiming at all, every single shot hit its mark.

"Oh, never mind, then."

Harry pouted at that. But in all seriousness, he was getting annoyed with this. He had to wonder what kind of generators these cannons were running on. Given that they were all the way out in the Terminus System, he doubted that the Alliance went out of the way to pay for anything too expensive.

"Bugger this!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Frank, you need to reupload to the PAD! This is taking too long!"

Frank looked up from where he stood holding a Collector by the throat, his other arm buried in its chest.

"But, master...!"

"No buts, come on! I need your power source!"

A tired sigh was heard from Frank as he dropped the Collector and started making his way over to the computer.

"To have a body to be used however the master wishes... How far I have fallen..."

He reached the computer at the same time as Harry and held out his hand. Harry grabbed it, and watched as the nanobots deconstructed Frank's body, which turned into a fine metal dust that scattered in the wind.

All that remained was a single keron block in Harry's hand.

"Here we go," Harry said, attaching the block to the computer, then opening his PAD. "EDI, set the cannons to draw power from the new source I just hooked up."

"Doctor, there is no certainty that-"

"Check it!"

EDI was quiet for a moment, then said, "This is a great power source indeed, Doctor. Connecting it to GARDIAN anti-ship batteries. Power at one hundred percent. I have control."

As the fighting continued on the ground, the massive cannons on either side of the square suddenly came to life and aimed at the Collector ship, firing large blasts of yellowish energy at it. GARDIAN lasers truly were one of humanity's greatest advancements in energy weapons in this universe.

"Firing anti-ship batteries at Collector vessel."

As soon as the last Collector of this wave fell, a new enemy arrived at the scene. This one was very large, and looked like a massive Collector head with four legs and glowing, blue eyes. When its mouth opened, one could see what looked like husk heads inside it.

"Now, isn't that interesting?" Harry commented, watching as its eyes glowed brighter. Suddenly, it fired a beam of blue energy at Shepard, who used her enhanced reflexes to dodge out of the way. The creature spun around and directed the beam at Harry, who had to duck behind cover.

"Good thing you're here, Frank," Harry said, bringing up his PAD. "I need a good target for the glove. Can you pinpoint a good spot?"

A holographic projection of Frank's standard body appeared next to a holographic model of the creature they were facing. "I took the liberty of scanning it while it directed its attention to the meatbag Commander. I believe this would be a suitable spot to open a field," he said, and a red dot appeared inside the maw of the creature. Harry nodded.

"Set the target, then."

"Yes, master."

A sort of vibrating sound was heard to Harry's left, and he looked to the side to see that the creature had floated up to and around his cover, and was now looking at him.

"Afternoon," Harry greeted amicably.

"Harry!" Shepard yelled, seeing the creature's eyes start to glow again.

Harry showed no fear, however. Instead, he just raised his left hand and closed it into a fist. The creature froze in mid-air, and suddenly appeared to be getting sucked into its own mouth. It was like watching a can being crushed, as its armored head and legs twitched with every dent that appeared on it. It imploded on itself, crushing it into a small ball of metal and some disturbing green liquid.

Harry hummed to himself as he got to his feet, brushing off his lab coat.

"A shame I still haven't figured out how to create a gravitational field inside matter. That would have been amusing to watch."

As he holstered his weapon, he saw Shepard and Jack approaching him, staring at the floating ball in the air. He deactivated the field, and the ball dropped to the ground with a thud.

"What did you just do?" Shepard asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"I created an encompassing gravitational field in mid-air just inside its mouth," Harry explained. "Imagine a planet the size of a golf ball with a gravitational pull ten times that of earth with limited range."

"Hm, you should do that all the time," Jack commented, which made Harry smile.

"I wish. It's sort of draining, and I can't fit too much power into the glove without making it bulky."

"Shepard," came EDI's voice. "I am maintaining fire on the Collector vessel, but it appears to be powering up."

True enough, the skyscraper-like vessel suddenly came to life, the semi-rings around it starting to spin as its massive thruster ignited, launching the ship into the air.

"No reason to stay, I guess," Harry said, watching as the ship got smaller and smaller in the distance. "They got what they wanted."

"I guess so..." Shepard muttered, frowning. "Damn it..."

Harry reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

"We'll get 'em next time."

–

Alright, chapter end! I'm not too sure about this chapter. Wasn't really sure how to put words to the mission, but I did my best, and I guess that's all I can do. Let me know your opinions, and I'll try to better myself! In the next chapter, we'll actually see a bit of emotion from Harry!

Peace out, guys!