A/N: Apologies for the delay. Writer's block's a bitch. I'm starting to think this story is getting less reviews than it used to and I really depend on your feedback to motivate me, so please leave your two cents even if it's telling me how much you hated it.

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Zu was the leader of the band of Stalwarts Ko and Va belonged to. Standing at almost nine feet tall, he was one of the most ancient Stalwarts at almost four thousand years old. A living legend among his followers, a cautionary tale to Grassa children. It was said that in his glory days as an organic Zu was a warlord on the great crystal plains, his mind so powerful the very ground would rise up under his control and crush whole armies in one. His fiefdom grew until it was the largest on the planet, and from across the world Grassa would come to seek his aid or protection. The adulation got to him. He began believing himself to be a god, his fiefdom descending into anarchy as he retreated into his crystal keep, swiftly transforming his once mighty fortress into a den of hedonism and debauchery, taking young females from across his kingdom and imprisoning them for his own use as slaves and entertainment. Eventually his own warriors rose up against him, demanding he face them. Under the misguided belief that he was a god, he went out to face the army of ten thousand alone, naked and drunk. Instead of killing him, they imprisoned his mind in the crystal walls of his own keep, fated to be a slave to whoever ruled the fiefdom. At least, that was the story.

Regardless of his origins, Zu was the largest, the fastest and the most adept at morphing crystal that Ko had ever seen. He was a crack shot and a master swordsman, nigh invincible on the battlefield. He stood in the centre of the encampment, his followers gathered round as his deep voice boomed out.

"Brothers and sisters, I bring grim news. It is as we feared. A child suffered a heart failure and his body rejected the crystal replacement. The boy did not survive. To that end I have made a decision. As many children as possible are to be placed in cryogenic suspension."

He held up an enormous crystalline hand, halting the murmurs spreading through the crowd.

"The nurses have agreed with my recommendation and are drawing up a tabulation as we speak. Priority will be assigned based on a child's genetics and gender, with a ratio of three female to one male until all female children are in suspension. To that end, warriors will be sent out to secure supplies of ice-blood. The remaining components will be constructed from morph-crystal and set up in the lowest cave. Warriors, prepare for your assignments."

Exchanging a glance, Ko and Va gathered round with the rest of the warriors. He couldn't say he agreed with Zu's scheme but he wasn't there to debate. He was there to follow orders. They listened as Zu assigned them to their teams and objectives. They would be moving in strike teams of four. Ko and Va were partnered with two Stalwarts they didn't know called Re and Su. Re was an enormous tank of a creature, his horn long and thick, looking like it could be used as a melee weapon in its own right. By contrast Su was a waif, the smallest and frailest Stalwart Ko had ever seen. She cowered behind Re, seemingly afraid of the others. Re nudged her forward.

"My daughter."

Su anxiously held out a hand in greeting before scuttling back behind her father, who put a protective hand on her shoulder.

"Come. We have much work to do."

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Lizzie's rifle spat rounds downrange, the weapon barking as she fired on the Collectors protecting whatever device they had in their possession. The flurry of bullets splashed across the linked barrier of a soldier trio, barely diminishing it before she ducked back into cover.

Although the Collector jamming algorithm was protecting the squad from being frozen in place by seeker swarms, it turned out the Captains could wield the bugs as a tactical weapon, manually directing small swarms to latch onto her and disrupt her Omnitool and biotic amps. She considered herself incredibly fortunate her signal jammer and weapons hadn't been affected yet. All four of them had tens of the tiny creatures crawling on them, biotics and tech locked down tight, relying on bullets and foul language to get the job done.

Her rifle still held loosely in one hand, Lizzie pulled out her Arkbuster and checked the three lift grenades within, then pumped all three into the advancing soldier group. Their fire directed at Taeri, they didn't even see the grenades until the first two broke their barrier and the last one yanked them off the ground, the force of the lift snapping bones and the slam to the ground finishing off what was left.

Her cackles were abruptly halted by a familiar roar.

"Brutes."

The team immediately backed up to the end of the corridor.

"Taeri, how many rockets do you have left?"

Quickly checking, Taeri answered.

"Three. One HE, one incendiary and one arc."

Lizzie noticed that without the line of sight to the Captain hiding at the far end of the corridor the Seekers had seemingly lost interest and flown off. The familiar tingle of her biotics returning to her bolstered her confidence.

"Bring it on!"

The first Brute rounded the corner, only to be hit full in the face by Taeri's incendiary rocket. White hot plasma spread across its form, the blast washing the flames round the corner and most likely incinerating several Collectors. The Brute continued advancing as Saren threw a warp field, biotic energy playing across its armour and eliciting an enraged roar. Lizzie followed up with a Throw, the biotic detonation blasting chunks off the Collector creature. Garrus finished it off with a volley from his sniper rifle.

Brutes Two and Three chose that moment to charge. Sheltered behind the corpse of the first one, they managed to weather the initial onslaught that felled their compatriot. The squad broke into a sprint, moving into a slightly wider corridor just as the Brutes caught up.

The first one swung its claw, catching Saren in the gut and sending him flying into a wall. Lizzie Reaved it, the extra energy in her barrier saving her as the second one blindsided her, bowling her over. She barely managed to roll out of the way of the creature's claw as it came crashing down towards her. She was well aware that a single smash could put her out of commission. Her rifle skittered out of her gasp and she fired up her Annihilation Field and her Mak-Chan amp. Both amps would suck biotic energy away from her other amp circuits, decreasing the speed with which she could deploy them, but the extra close combat boost was worth it.

She kicked off a wall, coming in behind a Brute that was preparing to charge at the downed Taeri. With a grunt she leaped onto its back, a fist raised, surrounded in a biotic aura shaped for maximum force on impact. The creature's head jarred sharply forward, eliciting an enraged roar as synthetic tendons and bones snapped. Inexplicably the Brute was still standing despite its head being attached by a thread, something that took Lizzie by surprise. The beast flipped, almost crushing her beneath its armoured bulk. She managed to roll out of the way in time, taking advantage of the belly-up Brute and leaping onto its stomach, unleashing a blistering flurry of biotically infused blows as her Annihilation Field chewed away at the beast's metallic skin.

The Brute finally fell to her assault and she hopped off its corpse just in time to witness Saren finishing off the last one with a colossal biotic detonation.

"Everyone good?"

There were a series of nods all round.

"Good. Blow up that whatever it is and let's get out of here."