[Author's Note: I don't think I mention this enough, so here goes. Thank you, my lovely audience. Everyone who has reviewed, everyone who has followed, everyone who has favorited…hell, if you're reading this right now, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Whether you enjoy our journey or not, those numbers and text keep me going.]

"No? How about just 'screw that', then?"

The facility itself appeared to be little larger than the Main Deck of the Normandy on the outside. The picture their LADARs painted when they filed into the entrance hall told them no differently, though it wasn't a stretch to assume this base would have lower levels, like the last.

Initially, there wasn't any particular heavy resistance. In fact, Jeddah assured them that there were no signs of thermal activity on their level for the first dozen meters or so. Garrus had assumed the forces outside were a typical guard force, but now he realized it was also possible that they were retreating. That distress beacon had to be there for something, after all.

"RoE, Admiral?" Vaya asked from behind him.

He motioned Jack forward to secure a crossroad, turning his head to the side. "I think we demonstrated the terms pretty clearly outside, Corporal. If it fires at you, kill shots."

"But keep the scientists alive if possible." Miranda interjected. "Some of them might be more helpful than the late Dr. Stevenson."

"I thought about that." Kerrin added. "I cobbled together a…I suppose 'truth serum' would work as a moniker. But it causes hives in Batarians. Just so you are aware."

"I'll take what I can get." Miranda moved forward as Jack's nod. The team proceeded further into the facility, keeping a wary eye out for hostile forces. After a time, Miranda held up a hand, signaling the others to stop, and checked a door. It was solid, but translucent.

"Jackpot." Miranda opened it immediately. It appeared to be a relatively small science lab of some sort. Various charts and pictures of skeletal areas and organs lined a medical 'whitewall', and a covered body lay atop a metal cart.

Kerrin, for his part, seemed mildly relieved to find something here within his area of expertise. Garrus and Vaya guarded the door, but turned their heads when Miranda jumped back and exclaimed "What the hell?"

The body was that of a salarian, but he didn't look like a salarian at all. The skin where his mouth should have been was smooth and featureless, his eyes were much smaller than normal, and had been replaced with what looked like small balls of lava. His hands had double the typical amount of fingers, and they were all curled into positions no one could manage if they had bones there. His horns had been replaced with what looked like semi-organic radio antennae.

"I…ah…concur." Kerrin sounded suddenly nauseous. Garrus didn't blame him. "Most…major features appear to have been replaced by...tech of some kind."

'Replaced by tech…'

Where had Miranda heard that before? Mordin had used the exact same phrase on the SR-2 while describing the changes the Reapers made to…

"Dammit, Cerberus." She growled. Kerrin looked at her in surprise. "They're trying to turn the sentient races of our galaxy into Collectors."

She heard Garrus inhale sharply, and Jack bounced her helmet off a nearby wall in exasperation. Kerrin looked at them in confusion. "Eh, what?"

"They were responsible for the abduction of a few human fringe colonies just before the war." Garrus explained. "Turns out, the Reapers spent a while genetically engineering the Protheans to be a race of slaves. Like husks, but more…insectoid."

"Wait a sec." Jack cut in. "Wouldn't they need something to go by to pull this off?"

Garrus and Kerrin looked at each other. They reached an unspoken agreement and both left the room, searching the rest of the hallways at a near run.

"Where the hell are they going?" Miranda asked, running after them.

There was only one more room to check, a bunkroom likely for the various guards with no personal belongings or computers inside, and a stairwell directly across from it. The others had to hurry in order to keep pace, and thus had little time for questions (not that they were answered anyway).

Kerrin and Garrus both stopped quickly halfway down the stairs when a feedback of static blasted through their comm units, stunning them briefly with loud white noise. A large form charged past them and began tapping on the wall. The sound faded slowly, but soon enough they were coherent again. Garrus' first thoughts were angry ones until he took a look at the geth besides him and realized that it wasn't tapping the wall - it was tapping a bomb.

"Apologies." Jeddah said. "But an audio warning had a lack of expediency that may have resulted in your deaths."

The turian clenched his jaw and mandibles together. He wanted to chew the geth out, but it wouldn't serve a purpose. And, worst of all, it was correct.

"What are you two after, anyway?" Miranda asked angrily, grabbing Kerrin's shoulder before either of them could run off again.

"We need a full sample - a Collector body. Something inhabitable by a Reaper." Kerrin answered.

This did not make her feel any better. "Why in God's name do you need that?"

"It's for Shepard." Garrus growled. "Let's move."

"What?" Jack and Miranda said in unison, shocked.

"Shepard's alive? What the hell?" Jack continued.

"Ehh, comatose." Kerrin held up his hand and rolled it from side to side. "Now is not a perfect time to explain."

That was when a hole appeared in the wall just above and behind Garrus' head. He reached a hand up slowly, unconsciously, to check if his fringe was alright. "Now is a perfect time to mention we have hostiles." He said coolly.

"Five semi-organic life forms in close proximity." Jeddah confirmed.

"Those I can deal with." Kerrin said brightly.

"We'll talk later." Miranda told him warningly, releasing his shoulder.

The salarian nodded and ducked around the corner, extending his left arm, omni-tool already glowing with the effort of forced neural scrambling. Three Cerberus goons were huddled close together, behind cover. They stopped in their tracks and fell over simultaneously, rattling the nearby walls with a crash.

Vaya was already in the middle of the action, as a nearby soldier with a hole in his mask could attest. She took another shot at one behind cover and ducked around another corner before he could retaliate. Jack launched him out of position, and Miranda hit him with a warp that caused a chain reaction and blew the three stunned troopers into the wall, where they collected as a heap of bodies.

"Not too many personnel." Garrus commented. "That might have been their entire security force."

"Keep your guards up, though." Miranda said. "We're not done here."

Jack and Vaya took point at the next intersection of hallways, and, as they unanimously decided that splitting up would be a phenomenally bad idea, took the one heading towards what would be that level's center of the facility. As it turned out, the room's main entrance was locked from their side.

But with a geth around, a lot of things are possible. The unit hacked in to the panel while they were midway towards it, and the orange coloration turned to green almost instantly.

"Warning." Jeddah halted just short of actually going in. "Now detecting multiple security defense systems. Currently inactive."

"Perfect." Miranda grumbled. "Jack, Dr. Solus, in the back. Jeddah, Garrus, take point. Vaya, do you have any anti-synthetic countermeasures?"

Vaya nodded, loading an armor-piercing cartridge into her assault rifle.

"We'll be right behind you, then." Miranda readied her omni-tool for a quick deployment of a system scrambler.

Garrus counted to three, struck the console with the side of his fist, and threw a mine inside. It was only then that they all realized exactly how much security constitutes 'multiple'. In this case, a dozen turrets and seventeen LOKI mechs. In less than two seconds, it was nine turrets and three mechs. None of them could deny that Jeddah's trick with the shields was effective.

The turrets began to return fire while the mechs were still trying to process what was going on, but the door closed before they could do any significant damage. Miranda looked over at Garrus, whose hand was still hovering over the lock console.

"That's cheap." She raised a brow at him. Unseen, of course, but the effect was there.

"But effective." He pointed out, readying another mine. "Say when, Jeddah."

"When." The geth responded immediately.

"Ah, I meant say when you can-"

"Affirmative. I only require one-point-six seconds to continue repetition of a systems failure modification."

Garrus paused, then, trying to mull that over. Then he realized that he'd just been told to open the door. He did, still as yet bemused despite the explanation. He tossed his mine in at the same instant.

It landed on the torso of a massive beast. The wreckage of turrets surrounded it, wires still sparking from having been ripped to shreds by powerful claws. Up close, it looked like a massive turian monstrosity with the lower half of its jaw missing. The mine exploded on its chest, but it was more an annoyance than anything; the creature looked down at the smoke, then at the party in front of it.

"Brute." Miranda said numbly. "Brute. Run." She then proceeded to follow her own advice.

Jeddah grabbed Garrus and Vaya by the arms and tore off after her. Jack and Kerrin, both quick on the uptake, were not far behind. But neither was the Brute. It tore through metal ceiling and wall, chasing after them with the ferocity of a krogan from which it spawned and the destructive power of a runaway train.

They took a turn and already Miranda saw the problem - they were quickly running out of room to flee. She heard a noise over the comm and turned to warn the others, only to discover they had stopped.

Jack had apparently decided that this was far enough a ways to retreat, and turned in place, stopping just short of the corner Miranda and the others had thrown themselves around. Whether the Brute had been surprised by the action wasn't especially important, as it didn't slow down regardless. The situation seemed familiar, somehow, but why…

Jack charged the beast at a run, a raging yell escaping her lips. It struck Miranda that the reason why the scene looked familiar was because she had witnessed it firsthand before, and now knew what the outcome would be even before it happened. True to previous events, the biotic blew a hole through the creature's hide and emerged out the other side, sending it careening forward unstoppably and into another wall.

"What are you all waiting for?!" Miranda shouted, close to hysterics. "Shoot it!"

"Please take note that husks and individuals having undergone the same process are not sentient!" Kerrin shouted over the gunfire.

"Acknowledged." Jeddah's omni-blades sprung to life, dripping fiery plasma. The geth jumped on the Brute's head and readied its arms in a scissor-cut position. Miranda brought a warp to bear after Vaya and Garrus brought down its shielding, blasting through the barrier it had naturally erected in its defense. That just left its tough skin.

But there was an interesting fact about geth units, even ones of recent design. Geared for combat or not, they were much stronger than humans or even turians of the same size. With a hissing sound accompanied by a frantic but brief struggle, the Brute collapsed for a final time, head and body lying separate on the ground.

"Alright." Garrus threw his hands in the air, utterly exasperated. "That was definitely easier than it should have been."

"There are six of us, loverboy." Jack told him, smacking the back of his helmet. "Shut up before two more come around the corner."

At that, Miranda glanced ahead unconsciously. True to her personal suspicions, there were not in fact more of the things ahead.

"Thank the Spirit of Victory, don't question the Spirit of Fortune." Vaya added.

A piece of metal that had been knocked slightly loose from the ceiling during the chase earlier fell to the ground in the ensuing silence.

"Well, it definitely escaped from here." Miranda remarked dryly.

The lab area in which they now stood looked less like a professional examination room and more like a disaster area. Several body parts, still adorned in lab coats, were scattered haphazardly around it, and multiple broken panels were still smoking. A massive table lay on its side in one corner, undoubtedly where the Brute had been when it was asleep.

"Looks like you were right." Garrus told Miranda. "They're experimenting with Reaper tech, they just have no idea what they're doing."

"We should hurry." Kerrin said urgently. "There is no telling what they might have done to a Collector specimen."

"Right," Miranda looked him over sternly. "Remind me - why is obtaining a Collector so important?"

"In short:" The salarian began. "Admiral Vakarian's main hypothesis is that Shepard is possessed by the same force that called itself 'Harbinger' during the Reaper War."

"The 'you cannot resist' guy?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Garrus answered tersely.

"Thusly, we need a second host to…'kick out' this Harbinger into. At least, that is the theory." Kerrin finished.

"Sounds a little far-fetched." Miranda said.

"Now you sound like Udina." Garrus jabbed. "The existence of the Reapers used to be 'far-fetched'. Besides, do you have anything better to go on?"

"No, but neither do you." Miranda warned. "Don't get your hopes up too high."

"People need to stop telling me that." Garrus growled.

"Locked door." Vaya drew their attention to a second exit from the lab. By the time all eyes were on it though, it was already unlocked.

"Correction." Jeddah stated. "Unlocked door."

Every step inside they took confirmed their suspicions further. More husk-creatures, ranging from Cannibals to Marauders, adorned various sterile slabs, though no scientists were in the immediate area.

Miranda looked around in disgust. "Jack, did you bring another bomb?"

"Bad idea." Garrus reminded her. "The Council would space us for destroying this planet's ecosystem like that."

"Well what do you want us to do, just leave all this lying around?" Jack asked angrily.

"No." Garrus motioned for a pistol and immediately put a round through the skull of a nearby Cannibal. Then he went around the room, riddling the potential enemies with holes.

"I'll contact Empyreus when we get back." He continued. "He can send someone to secure the facility."

"Since when do you play by the rules?" Jack asked.

"Since I started making them." He shot back.

"Maybe you're just getting too military."

He was about to delicately defend himself when Kerrin came in excitedly from another room. "I found one!"

They all rushed to his location. Garrus confirmed that it was definitely a Collector. He'd seen too many through the scope to not recognize one when he saw it. There was silence in the room, hanging over them like clouds. They all knew what they needed to do. But it was clear that each of them was afraid of what would happen when they did.

Garrus stared down at his old foe, and reflected on it as it was. The start of something new. If his hunch was right (and he refused to believe that it wasn't) Their entire galaxy was about to change. For better or for worse, though? Did he even need to ask?

"How are we going to do this, Doctor?"

For the third time that week, the Med Bay was crowded. While Davisson, EDI, Joker, Jeddah, and Vaya were in different areas of the ship (albeit still listening in), Liara, Garrus, Dr. Chakwas, Kerrin, Kaidan, Tali, Miranda, and Jack were all crammed inside. It wasn't…comfortable. At least Chakwas had given up entirely on trying to get any of them to leave, though she had donned a breathing mask, likely an ironic gesture.

Kerrin was looking between Shepard, the Collector body on the bed adjacent to her, and various data and scans. "Well, after we begin the seizure…" He began.

"Excuse me?" Garrus raised his eyeridges.

"I intend to induce major neural oscillation in Shepard's brain." Kerrin explained calmly. "A malfunction of sorts. If our hypothesis is correct, this Harbinger will recognize only that its current host is failing, and 'jump' into the nearest suitable body, if at all possible."

"That could be incredibly dangerous." Liara warned.

"Sorry, I'm still stuck on the part where you want to induce an epileptic seizure in Commander Shepard's brain." Miranda intoned sardonically. "On what planet is that a good idea?"

"None of them." Kerrin admitted. "But I am of course open to suggestions."

There was a very loud silence.

"Very well, then." Kerrin motioned to Chakwas. "Oscillators, please."

He hooked up two pairs of devices to Shepard's skull, connected to a computer screen on which only one word appeared, blinking green inside a virtual box. 'Commence'.

Chakwas leaned over it, but hesitated. She looked at Kerrin, asking without words whether he was certain about this. He fixed a steely gaze on her, not especially reassuring, perhaps, but a confirmation on his part to continue. She tapped it with a shaking finger.

The effect was immediate. Shepard's eyes flashed open, her hands clenched tight into fists. Her whole body was rigid and convulsing. Within moments, a deep, commanding voice echoed through the bay.

"Releasing Control."

The Collector next to her began shaking as well, body lighting up with orange lights, streams, like lava rivers just beneath the surface. Each eye turned the same color.

"Assuming Direct Control."

Liara reacted more quickly than the rest of them. She pushed hard down on the sedated Collector's shoulder, forcing the torso down, and put a glowing blue hand atop its head. "I can create a biotic field in your nervous system capable of turning you to dust in less than a second." She whispered softly. "Move and die."

While that commotion was in progress, Chakwas had deactivated the oscillators the moment Harbinger had announced his evacuation. Shepard fell back in the bed, unmoving.

Garrus grabbed a shoulder and shook it roughly. "Shepard…" He muttered urgently. "Come on, wake up…"

A flash of violet. A wave of relief. Crushing relief, borne of the utter satisfaction in knowing that everything, somehow, was going to be all right. Relief brought forth by one little word. Not for the first time, it struck him how much meaning they could pack.

"…Garrus?"

[Author's Note: Well, that's all, folks! Thanks for reading!

…

Hah! As if. The next Chapter should involve a lot of talking (I've been meaning to run a bunch of long conversations between the crew since forever, but I wanted to wait for Shepard to be able to do it), not so much on the explosions. I'm so sorry.

Which segues nicely into my next bit of news; Erratic as my posting schedules have been lately, I decided to get my rear in gear. The good news is, I should be managing one chapter every Sunday on the dot, assuming I don't run a super-huge extra length chapter like the next one should be. The bad news is, that's an assured week-long wait between chapters. Luckily, the lengths won't suffer. If anything, I should be able to cram in a little bit more than usual per week.

Cheers, everyone! Oh, and Happy Not-Quite-New Year!]