Chapter 7: Horizon
Operations Chief Ashley Williams was not having a good day. It was her third day on Horizon, her third day amongst colonists who distrusted her or even downright hated her. They'd left Alliance space to settle out here in the Terminus Systems, to get away from the bureaucracy and politics of the Systems Alliance and The Council, like the pioneers of the Old West they wanted to set up their own land, answerable to none but themselves. But that 'freedom' came at a heavy price and that price was safety. So The Alliance had graciously sent them a battery of GARDIAN Defence Towers, so that they would be better protected from Terminus Slavers and Pirates.
Well that's what she told them anyway.
In truth, in the course of their investigation into the missing Human colonies in the fringes of the Terminus Systems, Alliance Intelligence, which Ash thought of as the biggest oxymoron she'd ever heard, had picked up chatter that Cerberus might be behind it and that Horizon had a high chance of being the next hit. The very thought of Cerberus made Ash shudder slightly, she'd been groundside with Shepard when they'd hit their base on Binthu and had seen the experiments they'd done there. She could still picture Rear Admiral Kohoku's body, covered in injection sites and bruises from where he'd strained against restraints. And she'd heard of the other atrocities Cerberus had committed from the other members of the ground team: the experiments on Rachni who, although they freaked her out personally, were still sentient beings, they didn't deserved to be vivisected like she'd heard about and then there was that business on Akuze, where Cerberus had deliberately led fifty Marines to their deaths by the hands of Thresher Maws. The very thought of brave men and women being sent to their deaths for no good reason made her blood boil.
But that wasn't all Alliance Intelligence had pulled up. In her briefing for this op they'd told her that there were rumours out there that Shepard, her Shepard, the man she'd loved and had seen perish above Alchera, was not only alive but was working for them. If anybody but Councillor Anderson and Admiral Hackett had been the ones to tell her she'd have laughed at the idea. But the Councillor and the Admiral were not men to be swayed by hearsay, if they believed that there was nothing to the rumours they wouldn't have mentioned them. But still, why would Shepard-
Her thoughts were cut off as one of the head colonists, a woman named Lilith, fell in beside her.
"Lilith," She said, keeping her tone even. "We've got a problem."
"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix? Lilith asked as they made their way through the daily hustle and bustle of the colony.
"Those defence towers are useless if we don't figure it out."
"Sorry Chief," Lilith replied, apologetically. "Getting our Comm Systems back online takes priority."
"Yeah, okay." Ash said, stopping and turning to face her. "Surprised people haven't tried to blame that one on me too."
"People out here don't trust the Alliance, it's nothing personal." Lilith answered, trying to sound conciliatory.
"Like hell it isn't." Ash thought, but before she could say so she heard the BOOM of a ship entering the atmosphere.
Immediately her gaze shifted to the skies above the colony, where, from behind the clouds, a cruiser that looked more like a giant termite mound than a space-going craft hove into view.
"What is that?" Lilith asked, shock evident in her voice. Around the two women a crowd of other colonists were gathering, all looking to the heavens, and upon each face was the same look of shock and awe that was plastered across Lilith's.
Whilst lightning erupted in the clouds, due to the atmospheric disturbance caused by the cruiser's entry, Ash took the M-8 Avenger from its clip on the back of her armour. Looking through the weapon's sights she confirmed what she'd suspected; it was the same ship she remembered seeing through the porthole of the escape-pod above the frozen planet, Alchera. The ship that had destroyed the Normandy, the ship that had killed Shepard.
"Get everyone to the safehouse." She told Lilith, her tone strong and commanding. As she looked back to the ship she saw a broiling, twisting, black cloud emerge from its belly and start moving towards the colony. "I'll cover you! Run!" She yelled at the colonists, depressing the trigger of the Avenger and sending a flurry of mass-accelerated rounds at the dark cloud that was encroaching ever closer towards the colony. The colonists were nearly paralyzed by fear at the black cloud rapidly descended on them and only as it reached them did they start running. Ash heard Lilith fall to the ground and so she turned from firing at the dark mass to help her to her feet. That act cost her dearly. As she turned back to resume firing Ash felt a sharp, stinging, pain erupt from her neck, just above where the armour's elasticized suit's collar ended. Her hand flying to her neck, she felt that something was there. Ripping it from her neck she saw that it was some kind of mechanical insect. Disdainfully she threw it away and moved to resume firing but halfway through the movement she simply stopped.
"What the?" She thought, willing her body to move but it still didn't respond. Behind her she heard screams and yells and the bugs fell upon the colonists, freezing them as they had her. "Oh no."
Operations Chief Ashley Williams was not having a good day.
Shepard hit the ground not long after the initial attack, joined by his chosen groundteam of Garrus, Ethan and the new member of the squad, Kasumi. Ethan's head had shot up when she'd appeared in the shuttle bay, ready to join them.
"Here I thought I had the monopoly on hood-wearing." He'd said with mock distress, throwing up his hood and enveloping most of his features in shadow.
"Sorry to disappoint." Kasumi had replied, in her ever-present cheery tone of voice.
Ethan had laughed in response "It's fine, nobody around here seemed to appreciate it anyway." That had gotten a suppressed snort of amusement from Garrus.
At that point he'd had to intervene "You do realise we have a colony to save?" he'd asked them, before they'd all had filed in and the shuttle, piloted by Crewman Goldstein, as she had been stationed on Horizon before joining Cerberus, had taken them down towards the Collector beset colony.
Over the Comm system, Shepard contacted Mordin, who had upgraded all their armor, including Ethan's vest, with a device that confused the Seeker Swarms by scrambling the wearer's biometric data.
"We're groundside. Mordin, you sure these armour upgrades will protect us from the Seeker Swarms?"
"Certainty impossible," Mordin replied, his voice made slightly tinny by the radio. "But in limited numbers should confuse detection; make us invisible to swarms...in theory."
"In theory?" Garrus asked, whilst to his left Ethan looked to the ground, trying to hide anger, irritation or fear.
"Experimental technology," Mordin explained. "Only test is contact with Seeker Swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive."
"Mordin I want you to know," Ethan said into his radio as the squad moved forward, towards the stricken colony. "If this doesn't work, I'm coming back to haunt you." At which point he severed the Comm line.
Rounding a corner, a rustling noise filled the sky. In the air above them a dense mass of Seekers flew through the air, the mass twisting and changing like a flock of birds back on earth. Immediately thrusting a clenched fist into the sky, Shepard called his squad to a halt and they all bunkered down, Garrus turning and watching the way they had come, his eye to the Incisor's scope. Shepard's heart began to pound and silently he began praying to whoever he could think of, including Ethan's 'Cosmic Seniles', that Mordin's countermeasure would work. Thankfully, with a collective sigh of relief the swarm passed over their heads.
"Let's go." He said into the radio, which was relayed into each team member's earpiece
They hit first contact not long afterwards. Moving briskly into the outskirts of the cluster of pre-fab buildings that formed the colony, they turned a corner and found half a dozen Collectors gathered in a landing pad, upon which was a pick-up as well as several scattered boxes of cargo. Shepard was momentarily stunned at the appearance of the Collectors. He had only seen them briefly on a fuzzy, spliced together, reel of security-camera footage on Freedom's Progress and those fuzzy images compared little to the definite article. Each Collector stood at exactly 6 Feet tall, with a wide head that sported four orb-like eyes and that sloped backwards, tapering to a point. Their chitin-covered bodies sported powerful muscles and they gripped an assortment of weapons, which all looked more organic than metallic, in their three clawed hands. But that stunned feeling barely lasted a second.
"Contact!" He yelled into the squad's radio frequency and immediately a Collector was snatched backwards as Garrus put three mass-accelerated rounds into its head.
"Scoped and dropped!" Garrus exclaimed exultantly, causing a brief smile to spread across Shepard's face.
Diving into cover behind a tall stack of crates, Shepard pulled out the M-22 Eviscerator shotgun from the small of his back. The edges of the crates were quickly falling apart as the Collectors poured fire on his position, using both assault rifles and a few weapons that emitted a continual beam of destructive energy. With a lurching sensation in his stomach he realised they were simply scaled down versions of the weapons that had ripped apart the original Normandy and had led to his death. Focussing, he mentally thrust away the memories and span from cover. In one quick movement he sighted and fired at a nearby Collector. The serrated shards of metal flew through the air and plunged deep into the Collector's chitinous hide, which spurted yellow fluid and gore and caused a low, distorted, howl of pain. Pumping the shotgun, Shepard unconsciously blinked as a few rounds smacked into his shields, causing the blue field to flare briefly, but he ignored them, his shields were far away from overloading. Firing again he watched as the Collector was sent flying through the air by the force of impact, until it hit the side of the pickup and lay still.
He would have kept firing but one of the Collectors armed with a beam weapon sighted on him and fired. Immediately warnings started sounding from his armour's shield generators as the beam of energy rapidly degraded his shields' strength. Ducking back into cover, he saw Ethan notice his predicament.
"Hey Garrus!" Ethan called into the radio, grabbing the Turian sniper's attention.
"What?" Came the reply.
"Target practice!" And with that Ethan raised one arm, pointing it at the Collector who was keeping Shepard in cover with the beam weapon. Blue witchfire flowed across his arm and then a blue corona of energy surrounded the Collector, which slowly hovered into the air, causing it to look around, confused. Then, with an almost dismissive flick of his arm, Ethan sent the Collector rocketing into the sky, before severing the connection and letting gravity do its job. Garrus saw the opportunity and succeeded in drilling six rounds, in two highly disciplined bursts, into its head and torso.
Switching from his shotgun to the M-8 Avenger he had clipped to his back, Shepard sprang from cover and unleashed a burst of fire at a Collector that was huddled in the back of the pick-up. But before the rounds could hit the Collector did something and a yellow shield sprang into existence in front of it, which absorbed the volley with no discernible sign of weakening.
"I got this one Shep!" Kasumi called out as the team shifted fire to the few remaining targets they could actually hit. Then, as Shepard looked at her, she simply vanished. A few seconds later she reappeared behind the Collector that had thrown up the shield. As it turned to face her she struck it in the throat, the tips of her fingers driving into its chitinous hide like a spearhead. But that wasn't all; as she withdrew her hand she deftly deposited a small device into the wound. The device detonated in a tightly controlled explosion, which shredded the Collector's Central Nervous System. Then, as quickly as she'd appeared, she disappeared before retaking her place in her cover.
As she did so Ethan finished the last Collector, ending its life with two bursts of fire from his guns. As they moved further into the colony, he turned to Kasumi.
"A Stealth Net? Nice." He said approvingly, flashing the thief a grin.
"Thanks." Kasumi replied in between breaths. The sprinting pace Shepard was setting was hardest on her. Shepard had the advantage of N-7 Level Gene Mods, Garrus had Turian physiology to his advantage Mods and Ethan had spent his life running, be it after Varren, targets or assailants who had gone after his protectees.
"So it was you that was on the elevator."
"Guilty." Kasumi replied, grinning herself. "How do you know I was there?"
"Not often that there's a draft on a spaceship."
"Not often there's somebody who notices."
Their conversation, which had been barely tolerated by Shepard, was interrupted by Joker's voice coming over the Comms; it was badly distorted and laden with static. "Comman… tting all kinds… ference. We can't maintain…" he said before the signal faded.
"Perfect," Ethan complained "not only do they look like crap; they're blocking our communications too."
"We're on our own now." Shepard said, before turning his head to face Ethan and Kasumi "So no more talking unless it's important. All he got in reply were nods.
Turning a corner, the squad reached the residential area of the colony. The air was deathly still and even Kasumi, who revelled in the silence, taking it as a sign of a job well done, was uneasy. Suddenly the air was rent by a tortured, rasping moan and around a dozen Husks burst from hiding, charging straight down a corridor formed by two buildings, followed by a few Collectors who opened fire on the squad, forcing them into cover while all the while the Husks grew ever closer.
"What are these things?" Kasumi called out, having never seen the swarm troops of the Reapers with their synthetic flesh and artificial augmentations.
"Husks!" Garrus called back to her, forcing a Collector armed with a beam weapon back into cover with a burst of fire from his Vindicator Battle Rifle. "Don't let them get too close!"
"On the contrary Garrus!" Ethan interjected, putting his guns back into his holsters and drawing his blade from its sheath, the metal gleaming in the early afternoon sunlight. "Cover me!"
At that Ethan launched himself biotically from cover, flying high into the air, before crashing down in the middle of the group of husks, crushing one beneath his boots and sending the others tumbling to the ground. Whilst around him a fire-fight raged shots from the Collectors occasionally impacting on his shields, Ethan was calm and collected, somehow, he didn't know why, this felt right. Their groans echoing in the wind, the Husks scrambled ungainly to their feet and charged the lone figure in black and gold.
Sidestepping, Ethan avoided a wild swipe and in turn sent his blade singing through the air. Synthetic flesh parted before it like rice-paper and the Husk's legs fell one way, its torso and arms the other. Picking up the viscera biotically he threw it into one of its brethren who was about to attack him. Ducking under another wild blow, feeling the air part above his head, Ethan span around and stabbed a Husk clean through its torso, right in the ring of metal below what would've been a ribcage. Twisting the blade he pulled it upwards, splitting the Husk's body practically in two. Then a pair of clawed hands clamped down on his shoulder, tearing the black fabric.
"Hands off!" He yelled, making good on that threat by taking the Husk's hands off at the wrist. Yet still the twisted monstrosity still came on, trying to bludgeon him with now handless arms, which leaked black liquid. Adopting a two-handed grip Ethan rammed the leather-bound grip into the Husk's head, staggering it, before bringing the Kopis down in a diagonal slash that cut it virtually in half.
A Husk reared up behind him. Hearing its groan Ethan tossed the blade into the air before catching it in a reverse grip. Just as the Husk made its attack he thrust it into its abdomen, before spinning round and decapitating it with a reverse slash across the neck. The one he had knocked down grabbed his leg but he just stamped on its head and the blow, aided by his biotics, ended its half-life. Another Husk swung at him and he parried its strike blade-on, as he would another sword. In this situation however the Husk's arm was rent in two as it forced it against the keen blade. Stepping past it, he struck off its head with a backhanded cut.
All the while Ethan was involved with fighting the Husks Shepard and the rest of the squad were busy putting down the Collectors. He had been momentarily stunned by Ethan's actions, but had quickly assimilated it into his battle plan. It was actually a reasonably good strategy. Ethan, a proficient close-quarters fighter, would engage the Husks, who had no way of attacking but via melee, leaving the others to focus on the Collectors and they didn't have to worry about being forced from cover by a Husk.
A snap of fire that tore at the walls of the building he was taking cover in, forcing his mind back into focus. Breathing slowly, he leant out of cover and sighted on a Collector. First he fired a burst right above its head, drawing its attention away from Ethan, who was quickly losing his screen of Husks as he moved among them, cutting them down with ruthless efficiency. Then, as it turned, he fired a continuous stream of fire at it, aiming at the bottom of its torso and letting the assault rifle's recoil draw itself upwards, causing the stream of rounds to strike at the Collector's upper torso and head, slamming it into the ground where it lay still. As he searched for a fresh target he noticed Ethan had practically defeated the Husk's, only two of the original twelve remained.
But then, as he ran to meet the charge of one, he was struck in the back and sent tumbling forward by the other. But as he plunged through the air, he turned the fall into a roll, which landed him right in front of the Husk he'd been going for. Springing into the air, he cut the husk straight through as he ascended, gaining extra height by virtue of his biotics. Then he spun round and bisected the Husk who had struck him, his sword in a two-handed grip, roaring an explosive battle cry.
His shields flaring from Collector fire reminded him there was still a battle going on. Running as fast as he could he dove over a stack of crates, landing in cover right next to Garrus, who wasn't fazed at all by his sudden appearance.
"What d'ya think of that last move?" He asked the Turian, who was peering round the side of the crates, searching for a target. "Pretty good huh?"
"Meh," Garrus replied, glancing back at the young fighter. "I think you over-worked it, just a bit. The shout was a bit much."
As Ethan spluttered in indignation Garrus fired a Concussive round in between the remaining two Collectors. As they flew through the air he dropped them both with two, expertly aimed, bursts of fire from his Incisor.
"Oh," Ethan replied, raising an eyebrow beneath the shadow's of his hood. "And I overworked it?"
"Just a bit." Garrus joked, indicating a small amount with what equated to his thumb and trigger finger.
Shepard cut across their light-hearted banter. "Focus you two."
"Sorry Shepard." Ethan replied, bowing his head like a naughty schoolchild whilst all the while he was grinning under his hood.
"Well I guess this confirms The Illusive Man's intel. If the Collectors have Husks then they must be working with the Reapers."
"Those...things," Kasumi began, her tone showing she was quite disturbed by the Husks. "They used to be Human didn't they? Are they the Colonists?"
"No." Garrus replied, answering before Shepard could. "The Geth impaled their victims on giant spikes to turn them into Husks but we haven't seen any. The Collectors already had the Husks, they want the colonists alive for something else."
"The Collectors must be experimenting on the colonists." Shepard said, using the Intel Cerberus had supplied which had told him that the Collectors were suspected to use whoever they captured for genetic experiments. "What are they up to?"
"Am I the only one who really, really doesn't want to know?" Ethan asked, looking up from inspecting his blade, looking for nicks or cracks.
"Guess we'll find out when we stop them." Garrus interjected.
"These aren't the same creatures we fought before Garrus." Shepard stated, tone inquisitive. "They're more advanced, evolved."
"They still die if you shoot them." Garrus replied.
"Or stab them," Ethan said from the back, where he was furiously trying to wipe off some of the Husk gore from his blade with the hem of his tattered greatcoat. "That works just as well."
"Come on, let's move out." Shepard said and the team fell in behind him, Garrus taking the rear-guard. Ethan gave up trying to clean his blade, which was practically caked in gore. And so, not wanting to put it back in its scabbard where the gore could make it stick when he needed it, he drew one of his guns, leaving the other in its holster.
Everyone moved slowly between the pre-fab walls and warehouses as they made their way to the main control building of the colony, the colonial equivalent of a town hall. As they moved, the growing silence began to feel unnatural. Even their breathing felt cacophonous in that silence. Moving through the colony they came to a square, formed by four pre-fabs with the only exit being the way they'd come or a narrow alleyway that led towards the main building.
"If someone wants to say 'It's quiet...too quiet.' "Ethan whispered to the others, trying to lighten the mood. "Now would be the time." This got a grin and a mandible twitch from Kasumi and Garrus but any reply was cut short when Shepard's closed fist shot into the air, bringing them all to a halt.
"Kasumi," He said quietly, pointing back at her without even looking. "Use that Stealth Net and recon the square. I don't like this it's..." with that he turned back to Ethan with a sardonic stare "too quiet."
"You got it Shep." And with that Kasumi vanished from view. The minutes they spent crouched around the corner from the square were nerve-wracking. Every second they were just waiting for there to be the sound of gunfire or even just a scream as Kasumi was discovered. But they all gravely underestimated her. Five minutes after vanishing she reappeared in their midst. "Five Collectors around the corner in the alleyway, another with a beam weapon on the upper-floor of a two story pre-fab. Colonists as well but they seem to be paralyzed, probably due to the Seekers."
"Alright, here's the plan." Shepard explained, keeping his voice low. "Garrus, you get into the pre-fab directly opposite the two-story one and take out the Collector with the beam weapon. After that give me, Ethan and Kasumi cover while we take out the other Collectors that will come running. And everyone? Pick your targets, there's civilians around, no wild suppressing fire. "
"Got it." Came the unusually simple reply from Ethan, who set his pistol to single-shot fire.
"On three." Shepard instructed his squad. "One...two...THREE!"
The Collectors didn't stand a chance. Garrus took out the Collector with the beam weapon within seconds, taking out the most dangerous opponent before the fight even began. Responding to the shot, the other Collectors poured round the corner and ran straight into disciplined volleys of fire from Kasumi, Ethan and Shepard. They didn't stand a chance and the last one fell just as the death rattle of the first faded away.
As they made their way towards the alleyway at the far end of the square Ethan turned to Kasumi. "Kasumi, you said there were civilians but I don't see any-"His voice cut off in shock as they turned the corner into the alley. "What the?"
A colonist in his late forties stood frozen as he was leaning over to help another, younger, woman, possibly his daughter, who was similarly immobile, to her feet. Around them a black cloud swirled and as Garrus took a step closer to them the man's eyes, fixed in an expression of alarm and panic, shot up to meet his.
"Looks like some kind of stasis field. Leaves victims helpless but fully aware." Garrus said while privately wondering how much those slaving bastards on Omega would pay for tech like this.
"They've been like this a long time." Shepard said, moving up the stairs of the two-story pre-fab. If he wanted he could take whatever he wanted from the buildings surrounding him but he wasn't that kind of man, men like that sickened him. A further sweep of the area revealed three other frozen colonists, all sharing the same wide-eyed look of panic that they'd adopted hours earlier as the Collectors descended on them. The sweep also turned up strange pods, which Ethan hypothesised were probably for the purpose of transporting the colonists to the ship.
Finally, unable to do anything for the colonists at that point, the team headed out again. They hadn't gotten far before the air was filled with a rustling sound. Suddenly, Collectors, borne aloft by rapidly moving wings landed directly in front of the squad, to the left of one of the GARDIAN turrets and beside an entrance to the central building. Immediately each member of Shepard's team dived into cover, Garrus and Kasumi on the flanks and Shepard and Ethan holding the center.
Then, as the Collectors advanced on them one of their number, who carried a beam weapon, doubled up, letting out a twisted growl of pain. Then, unaided by its wings, it floated into the air. Orange light danced across its carapace as it screamed in pain and a deep, threatening voice echoed across the battlefield.
"I AM ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL"
Upon hearing it Garrus and Shepard's blood ran cold as they remembered the echoing, monotone voice of Sovereign two years ago, who had professed the destruction of all sentient life. Finally, with a burst of energy, the Collector sank back down to the ground, fiery lines running across its cracked and broken hide.
"Well that's interesting." Ethan said to Shepard, as they were knelt behind a stack of crates.
"I know." Came the reply, Shepard not really paying attention.
"Who would've figured they could fly?" That got him a look of complete incomprehension.
"That's what you find interesting, not the whole 'Reaper Possession' thing?" He asked the young fighter. But before Ethan could reply the thunderous voice sounded again.
"WE ARE HARBINGER. FLEE WHILE YOU CAN SHEPARD."
That got Shepard's attention. "Light it up!" He roared to his squad, who, as one, began to pour fire onto the altered Collector. But something was different; it just seemed to shrug off their attacks. Stepping forward, it raised its arm and a bolt of golden energy shot forward, striking Shepard full on as he stood to let off another burst another burst of fire. The pain was unlike anything he'd ever felt before, that one attack had felt like he'd just been targeted by an entire squad of Asari Commandos simultaneously. His armor twisted and threatened to buckle as the biotic energy tore at it.
"THE FORCES OF THE UNIVERSE BOW TO ME." Echoed the voice once more.
"You're not the only one they bow to!" Ethan yelled back, standing up, ignoring the fire of the Collectors. Biotic energy swirling across his body, he launched an attack of his own. A bolt of blue energy leapt from his finger, sundering the biotic barrier the Collector had sheathed itself in. A second bolt soon followed the first and it rent and tore at the Collector, ripping at its hide. His attacks were joined by the other team members, who were determined to aid their Commander, who was breathing heavily, slumped against the crate he'd been taking cover behind. Seconds passed as they poured fire on it until, finally, the body of 'Harbinger 'went lax, before the energy that had coursed across it turned it to ash.
"THIS CHANGES NOTHING, SHEPARD." The voice echoed as its corporeal form failed.
"Sore loser." Ethan said to himself, ducking back into cover as Collector fire once again zeroed in on him. "You alright Shepard?" he asked, clasping the Commander's shoulder.
"I'm fine." Shepard replied, composing himself both physically and mentally. "Come on. Let' get it done."
Firing a burst of fire, Shepard took out another Collector and then rushed forward and moving to the next bit of cover, followed by Ethan and Kasumi whilst Garrus stayed behind to provide covering fire. As they ran by near to where 'Harbinger' has been struck down, Ethan bent, holstering his gun, and swept up the fallen beam weapon.
"Hey, Shepard!" He called to the Commander, who slid into cover behind an auxiliary generator for the nearby GARDIAN turret. "Souvenir!" and with that he threw the weapon to the Commander, before drawing his gun again and ducking behind a low wall. Shepard caught the weapon and, putting away his Assault Rifle, aimed it at a Collector who had emerged from a maintenance shack next to the turret. Depressing what counted as the trigger he let loose a continuous stream of directed radiation which cut through the Collectors defences like a hot knife through butter.
Grinning at the new weapon's performance he motioned for the rest of his squad to move up and engage the fresh wave of enemies who were abandoning their attempts at hacking their way into the central building in order to engage the enemies that threatened their rear. They put up a strong resistance but 'Harbinger' luckily did not appear again and so Shepard and his squad crushed them without mishap. As they walked up towards the door into the central building, Shepard unclipped the grenade launcher from his back and passed it to Garrus, who secured it on his own armour, before putting the Collector Beam Weapon in its place
"Kasumi, get that door open." Shepard ordered, signalling to the others to form a perimeter around the thief as she worked.
Showcasing her skills, Kasumi had the paltry security measures undone in just over a second and it slid open. Stepping inside, the squad found themselves in what seemed to be a generator bay. They moved through the room, which was only lit by the glow of the generators' status lights, at a cautious pace, anything could be waiting in the shadows.
Suddenly something metal struck the floor. Immediately Shepard's pistol was out and pointed at the place of the noise's origin. "Company." He said to his squad, who made ready to engage, before addressing the darkness between the generators. "Get out here, now!"
A tentative glace preceded the appearance of a human male as he stepped out from behind one of the generators. He was in the later stages of middle-age, with a thin moustache above his top lip, and he was dressed in the typical, utility-focused, garb of a colonist.
"You're… you're human! What are you doing here? You'll lead them right here!" the colonist nearly yelled, his tone panicked.
"Relax. We took care of the Collector's so far. You're safe now," Shepard assured.
The man's eyes widened in shock before he turned away, face the wall. "Those things are Collectors? They're real?" he mumbled to himself. "I thought they were just made up. You know – propaganda. To keep us in Alliance Space," then his head snapped up and he span round. "No! They got Lilith! I saw her go down! Sten, too! They got damn near everybody!"
"We need to know what we're up against here. Tell me everything you remember," Shepard demanded.
The man took a breath, trying to calm himself. "We lost our comm. signals a few hours ago. I came down to check on the main grid. Then I heard screaming," he started with a shudder. "I looked outside and there was… swarms of bugs. Everyone they touched just froze. I… I sealed the doors." He started to pace agitatedly. "Damn it – it's the Alliance's fault! They stationed that Chief Williams here and built those defense towers. It made us a target!" he declared angrily.
Shepard's heart nearly skipped a beat. It was the first mention of Ashley he'd heard since landing. "Tell me about this Alliance Rep." he asked.
"Chief Williams? Heard she was some kind of hero or something," he shrugged. "Didn't mean nothing to me though. Would've rather she just stayed back in Council Space."
"What is she doing here?" Shepard asked, trying to keep his voice even, despite the fact that the man before him was continuously insulting the government he'd fought-and died-for.
"Supposed to be helping us get the defense towers up and running," he answered before scowling. "I got the feeling she was here for something else. Spying on us, maybe."
"Ash a spy?" Shepard thought to himself "That'd never happen in a million years; she'd blow her cover in five seconds flat."
"If you have defense towers, we could use them against the Collector Ship." Garrus interjected.
"You'll need to calibrate the targeting system first." The colonist replied, " It's never worked right."
"Don't worry about that." Ethan told the man, clapping Garrus on the shoulder. "We've got the best calibrator in the known Galaxy here."
"Head for the main transmitter on the other side of the colony." The man instructed, "The targeting controls are at the base."
"Thank you, I think it's best if you stay here." Shepard replied, not mentioning the real reason was that he really didn't like this guy.
"Yeah," The colonist agreed relief plain on his face. "That's what I was thinking too." He then brought up the holographic interface of his omni-tool. "I'll let you out but I'm locking the door behind you. I'm not taking any chances." He finished keying the commands needed and the orange hologram dissipated. "Good luck. I think you're gonna need it."
Just under half an hour later, Shepard stood in front of the main transmitter. It had been a tough fight getting there, the Collectors knew they were coming and had dug in, using everything they had on hand to stop he and his team's approach, including strange, horrific creatures that looked like a bunch of Husks thrown together. They possessed a large Element Zero cannon which was, as best he could tell, fed by the immense throbbing sack on its back. However tough they were though, they hadn't been able to hold against Ethan's biotics, his and Garrus' gunfire and Kasumi's trickery. Behind him Ethan was putting the last of the husks to the sword while he used the transmitter to contact the Normandy, which was lying in wait, stealth systems engaged, behind the next planet in the system.
"Normandy? Joker, do you copy?" He asked the ether.
"Joker here. Signal's weak, Commander, but we got you." Came the slightly tinny and distorted response.
"Let's show these things we give as good as we get." He said with an almost savage delight at finally being able to strike back in a meaningful way. " EDI, bring the defense towers online."
"Errors in the calibration are easily rectified, but it will take time to bring the towers to full power. I recommend a defensive posture; I will not be able to mask increased generator output."
"Great," Shepard complained inwardly "Why can't things ever be simple?" "Anything else I should know?" Shepard asked quickly.
"Just one. Enemy reinforcements are closing in. I suggest you ready weapons," EDI replied.
Immediately Shepard started running for a spot he'd found earlier. It was a walkway that ran between two pre-fabs, accessible only by two stairwells. The squad saw him running and joined him, hunkering down beside him. From their position they had good line of sight to practically the entire compound that surrounded the transmitter, including the transmitter itself. It wasn't long before their enemies made themselves known; the groaning of Husks was accompanied by the thrumming of Collector wings as a wave of opponents threw themselves into the fight. In response Shepard adopted the strategy that had served the squad well so far. Ethan flipped over the walkway railing and into the open where he could better engage the Husks whilst the rest of the squad started picking off Collectors.
It was a tough fight, for every Husk Ethan struck down or every Collector that was brought down by the rest of the squad, another seemed ready to take its place whilst Shepard's squad didn't have that luxury. Ethan's greatcoat was slashed and torn so much that he simply abandoned it, whipping it into a Collector's face with a biotically reinforced throw, which provided Kasumi with the perfect distraction that she used to deadly effect, putting two pistol rounds in between its four eyes. Garrus took a round to the shoulder, making it practically impossible for him to take the recoil of his rifles without growling in pain, so instead he propped the barrel of whatever rifle he was using on the top of the railing and thus kept firing. And Shepard, for all his accuracy, was running out of heat sinks, without which his weapons would cease to fire.
And added to that was the return of Harbinger. Every so often that ominous would ring out across the compound. It would've been more intimidating if the squad didn't have a sure-fire strategy for putting down whatever Collector found itself possessed. Either Ethan would pause in his husk slaying and biotically rip away its defences or whoever had a free moment would fire the beam weapon they'd acquired, which seemed to be very good at taking down the Harbinger's defences, at it, at which point the rest of the squad would all pour fire on it till it was defeated. And so, the repeated booming threats began to become less scary and awe-inspiring and more annoying.
""I AM HARBINGER." The voice sounded again. "YOU CANNOT STAND AGAINST ME."
"Oh will you shut up!" Ethan yelled, his patience worn thin. Spinning on his heel, he threw his sword, the blade of which was practically black now due to all the gore that lay upon it, with all the strength he possessed. The blade span end over end before striking the most recently converted Collector right in the face, where it sank deep, ending its life even before Harbinger's boast had finished echoing off the plasteel walls. Then, stretching out a glowing arm, he returned it to his hand just in time to cleave a Husk's head in two.
Then, all was quiet, save for the sound of the now-active GARDIAN turrets pounding the Collector Ship. No more Husks charged forward heedlessly, no more Collectors opened fire upon them. And yet something wasn't quite right.
"Keep an eye out, there's bound to be more of them." Garrus said, wincing slightly as he pulled his Vindicator Battle Rifle, the action stressing the injury to his shoulder.
Suddenly a screeching filled the air and a strange construct, something that seemed to be a metallic cross between a crab and a scarab beetle came streaking out of the sky.
"You just had to be right." Kasumi said wearily.
"Scatter!" Shepard yelled to his teammates, who promptly did so. Just as they got into cover the thing touched down. Its armour was more uniform than anything they'd seen before, sleek and smooth. But that exterior belied a hidden horror. As it moved the forward two of its four claw like extremities it displayed the true method of how it was powered. Within its carapace lay the remains of over thirty ordinary husks, fused together in an abominable creation. Slowly, this new horror slowly turned to look at Shepard, who raised his assault rifle to his shoulder and started firing. Having sighted him attacked.
Hovering above the ground, it let loose a beam of blue energy from its eyes which toe through Shepard's shields as they hadn't even been there, which forced him to duck back into cover. Though Garrus and the others were firing at it, the construct's sole focus was on Shepard. It floated to the pillar Shepard was huddled behind, waiting for shields to come back online. Just as they did so, the construct punched one of its claws straight through the pillar. Responding on pure, animal, instinct, he ran for it, adrenaline coursing through his veins that, aided by synaptic upgrades Cerberus had implanted, seemed to slow down things around him. Spinning around, he fired his assault rifle whilst all the while moved backwards, heading for a new piece of cover. The rounds tore into the thing's armor plating which only seemed to anger it. Ripping half the pillar off, it freed its claw and made for Shepard.
However, before it could do so, the back of its armor crumpled as Ethan, sheathed in blue biotic energy, slammed into it with all the force of a battering-ram. Turning around, the construct launched an attack on its assailant, sending its forward two claws screaming towards the lone figure before it, ignoring the bug-bites of fire that it felt in response to the rest of the squad's gunfire. However its attack did not go as planned. As its claws swung in, Ethan sidestepped, letting them whip past him and then, biotic fire burning across his arms; he brought the gore-coated blade down on them. The black-coated metal bit deep and, aided by its master's own biotic power, severed the first foot of both of them.
In response to this, the construct let out an almighty screech that echoed through the air. Then energy began to pulse all along its armor, crackling and humming in intensity. It slammed itself into the ground, the force of which caused Ethan to stagger back and the energy only built in intensity. As it did so, Ethan noticed that the Husk skulls within its carapace where glowing and pulsing in response to the growing energy output.
"Get out of there!" Shepard roared at him, to which Ethan obeyed, shooting away in a blur of biotic energy. It had been the right thing to do because, just as he darted away, the air around the construct, which was screeching like a choir of damned souls, exploded in a burst of energy. And as it raised itself from the ground once more, the air before it shimmered as biotic energy swirled around it.
"Damn it." Shepard cursed under his breath, slamming a fist into the plasteel wall he was crouched behind.
"Shepard, it's Garrus." The Turian said over their private Comm link. "I've got an idea." He'd seen what Ethan had seen, thanks to the magnification capability of his visor.
"What is it?" Shepard practically demanded.
"What's the first rule of military demolition work?"
Immediately Shepard's thought process snapped back to his days in N-7 Boot Camp. "If the exterior's solid-"
"You've got to take it out from the inside. We've got an exposed power source. We take that out then this thing is going down."
"Good idea." Shepard agreed and then he switched the Comms onto the group-wide frequency. "Ethan, Kasumi, get that thing to follow you, give Garrus a direct shot at the opening in its armor. Garrus, you use the grenade launcher to take it out once they've taken out its barrier. If any of you get into trouble I'll draw its attention." Affirmative replies came from all of them.
And so, once again, Ethan charged into the construct's midst with Kasumi sprinting after him. Kasumi poured fire on the construct with her sub-machine gun whilst Ethan launched a warping blast of biotic energy at it. Eventually the construct turned its focus to the two of them and pursued them, firing its energy weapon, the beam of which Kasumi avoided by an impressive display of acrobatic and Ethan either avoided or shielded himself via use of his biotics. All the while Garrus, unused to using the M-100 Launcher, was letting his visor do the lion's share of figuring out a firing solution, compensating for wind and, in this case, projectile drop ratio. Finally the solution came up.
"Get down!" He yelled to Ethan and Kasumi, who did so, bringing down the construct's biotic barriers with one last burst of fire and biotic energy. As soon as they hit the ground Garrus fired the Grenade Launcher. The High-Explosive flew through the air, landing straight in the center of the hole in the construct's armor and detonating inside it. The explosion rent open parts of the construct's armor and within it had blown of the Husk skulls to pieces. But, even as gravely damaged as it was, the construct still came on. That was until Garrus fired another grenade into the gaping chasm in its armor. The second explosion obliterated its insides and, screeching like nothing any of the squad ever heard in their lives, the construct rose into the sky, blue energy coursing across its devastated carapace until, in an action that momentarily stunned all present, it simply disintegrated.
"All right. Fall in." Shepard said across the Comm system, whilst around them the GARDIAN turrets continued their bombardment of the Collector cruiser. Eventually they were all gathered before the main transmitter. Garrus was breathing hard, Ethan was looking around, almost forlornly, for the remains of his coat and Kasumi was pretty much making sure she was still intact. But just as Shepard was about to outline the next stage of the plan, there was a massive explosion and a surge of heat and pressure, which forced the squad to plant their feet more firmly on the ground and shield their eyes.
The Collector cruiser, not seeming to even register the attacks of the GARDIAN turrets, was leaving.
"They're pulling out!" Garrus exclaimed. "They've got no reason to stay, most of the colonists are onboard. They've got what they came for." He continued, his tone icier than usual.
"Damn it!" Shepard mentally yelled. At least half the colony had to be in the hold of that ship, terrified people who he'd failed.
"No! Don't let them get away!" Came a plaintive voice. It was the colonist they'd met in the main building, he came running past the assembled squad, as if he somehow intended sprint on to the ship. Eventually he slowed, staring upwards towards where the ship was hastily achieving escape velocity.
"What do you want us to do?" Ethan replied before Shepard could, his tone a mixture of angry and derisive. Shepard would've talked to him about that but at this point he was actually feeling the same way. "Get on our invisible hover-bikes and chase after them?"
"Half the colony's in there!" The man continued, either not hearing Ethan's words or just not choosing to respond. "They took Egan and Sam…and Lilith! Do something!"
Shepard forced himself to be diplomatic. "I didn't want it to end this way. I did what I could." He said, his tone neutral.
"More than most Shepard." Garrus interjected, clapping a hand to Shepard's shoulder.
"Shepard?" the colonist said, narrowing his eyes in thought. "Wait. I know that name…" He said, turning round, his eyes afire with suspicion. "Sure, I remember you. You're some type of big Alliance hero."
"Commander Shepard." Said a voice seemingly from nowhere, but it was a voice three of the people knew and two of them knew very well. From out behind a stack of shipping crates, none other than Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, walked into their midst. She'd narrowly escaped being loaded aboard herself. Just as she was about to be put into one of the pods she'd been forced to watch others be loaded into, all the Collectors around her had started chattering wildly in their deep, guttural, voices. One had pointed to the east where, unbeknownst to her, Shepard and his squad had just defeated Harbinger's first appearance. "Captain of the Normandy, the first Human Spectre" She continued to list Shepard's achievements before finally stopping just a few steps in front of him. Then she turned to the colonist who was just as shocked as Shepard and Garrus and, to a lesser extent, Ethan whose surprise was tempered by a faint glimmer of morbid amusement, "This should be interesting." he thought to himself. "You're in the presence of a god Delan, back from the dead."
"All the good people we lost and you get left behind. Figures." Delan replied, his contempt open. "Screw this, I'm done with you Alliance types." With which he waved his hand dismissively and walked off, going to salvage what was left of his life.
Delan dealt with, Ashley walked up and embraced Shepard, emotion plain in her eyes. "I thought you were dead Shepard. We all did." It was obvious she was happy to see him, but there was something else in her tone, something harder.
"You sound angry Ash." Shepard replied, picking up on it. "What's wrong?"
"I'll tell you what's wrong." Ash said, breaking the embrace. "I thought you were dead! Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you tell me you were alive? " Her voice began to crack slightly from emotion. "We...had something Shepard. Something real…How could you put me through that?"
"Ash," Shepard said, his tone apologetic. "I was clinically dead. It took two years for Cerberus to rebuild me."
At that revelation Ash began to take steps backward. "You're with Cerberus now?" She asked, her tone suspicious, her eyes accusatory. Her gaze then flicked over Shepard's shoulder where her old comrade, Garrus, was standing. "Garrus too?" She shook her head. "I can't believe the report were right."
"Reports?" Garrus asked, inquisitive. "You mean you already knew?"
"Alliance intel said Cerberus could be behind our missing colonies. We got a tip that this one could be the next to get hit," she explained. "I went to Anderson, but he wouldn't talk. But there were rumours that you weren't dead. Worse: you were working for the enemy." Her eyes then flicked over Shepard's shoulder to Ethan. It would take him a while to figure why she'd looked at him when she'd said that but when he did he'd laughed, realising that his outfit shared the same colours as Cerberus: Black, White and Gold.
"Cerberus and I want the same thing, to save our colonies." Shepard said, trying to explain to Ash why he was now working alongside a group they'd hunted across the galaxy. "That doesn't mean I answer to them."
"Do you really believe that?" Ash demanded, she was angry now and it showed. "Or is that what Cerberus wants you to think? I wanted to believe you were alive, but I never expected anything like this." Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed in anger and the next words she spoke were like a hammer-blow to Shepard. "How could you just turn your back on all of us? You betrayed the Alliance…Anderson. You betrayed ME."
"Ash, you know me." Shepard replied, almost pleading with Ash to see things his way. "You know I'd only do this for the right reason. You've seen it yourself, the Collectors are targeting Human colonies and they're working with the Reapers!"
"I want to believe you Shepard, but I don't trust Cerberus. And it worries me that you do. What did they do to you? What if they're behind it? What if they're the ones working with the Collectors?"
"Damnit Williams!" Garrus practically yelled, abandoning Turian stoicism. "You're so focussed on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat!"
"You're letting your history get in the way of the facts." It was only until Shepard uttered the words that he realised how condescending they sounded, regardless of intention.
"Or maybe you feel like you owe Cerberus because they saved you. Maybe it's you." She waved a hand to cut across any denial. "Doesn't matter. I still know where my loyalties lie. I am Alliance soldier. It's in my blood."
"Melodramatic much?" Ethan thought to himself, but had the good sense to stay quiet.
"I'm reporting back to the Citadel." Ash continued, her tone still hostile. "I'll let them decide whether to believe your story or not."
"My guess? Not."
"So long Ash." Shepard said, resigned to the fact things would never be the same.
"Goodbye Commander." Shepard noticed the change from 'Shepard' to 'Commander' and the good luck she wished him seemed like little more than a formality.
Sighing inwardly, Shepard opened up the Comm link to the Normandy. "Joker, send the shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough of this colony."
Author's Note: Well here's a big one done. Any changes to the Ash/Shep dialogue were done deliberately. Hope you leave a review and I hope I can get a new chapter out quicker than this one.