Chapter 12: Elaborate Ruse

"Thanks Kelly. I haven't laughed like that in what seems like years." Shepard grinned to the other red-head.

"Any time Shepard." Kelly grinned back.

"So." Shepard spoke, turning things back to a more serious topic. "Anything else I should know about with the crew?"

Kelly let out a sigh of exasperation. "Yes unfortunately. The last few days some of the ground team have left notes for me to ask you to see them."

"I figured something like this would happen. Everyone has loose ends to tie up before we, to quote Donnelly, 'kick the Collectors in the daddy bags'." Shepard and Kelly both smirked at Donnelly's comment. Both knew that the crass engineer had a soft side under all the tech talk, one that Daniels could reach with ease.

"It certainly seems like it. Let's see." Kelly pulled up her omni-tool.

"Mordin told me he wanted to see you, He seemed overly stressed when he did so. Jack grabbed me the other day, said something about you holding up your end of your deal. Tali also asked for you, she seemed even more nervous than usual. And then lastly Grunt..."

"Wait Grunt? He actually talked to you?" Shepard asked, shock on her face.

"No, but he's been getting more and more agitated down in the cargo hold lately. You and Garrus are probably the only ones that would even be able to talk to him and get anything out of him."

"Alright Kelly thanks." Shepard responded and stood up. "Tali is usually up by now, I'll go see what's wrong."

"Of course. I'll clean up." Kelly said standing up as well.

"Commander Shepard. Yeoman Chambers." EDI's voice spoke over the stereo system in the cabin.

"What's up EDI?" Shepard spoke to the AI, heading towards the cabin's door.

"The Illusive Man needs speak with you Commander. He has labeled it as priority red."

Shepard froze in her tracks. If Cerberus used the same code for priority messages then this meant she was either in deep shit, or that she needed to be somewhere a year ago. As an N7 and even as a Ghost she had only had only had two priority red messages. Both of those where to go after an annihilate some of the biggest merc groups there were. Both of them had turned out to be a blood bath, on both sides.

"Briefing room?" Shepard asked the AI simply.

"Yes Commander." EDI replied just as simply.

"Tell him I'll be down in a minute." Shepard walked through the door to her cabin, leaving Kelly to stare at her back.

After an agonizingly slow elevator ride and a few short steps, Shepard found herself in the briefing room. She stepped into the center of the lowered conference table and let the QEC device show her the room on the other end.

"Illusive Man, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Shepard spoke, her voice laced with sarcasm and annoyance.

The Illusive Man stood looking out at the star his office overlooked, standing behind his chair. He lit and took a drag from one of his hand rolled cigarettes before responding.

"Shepard, we've caught a break." He spoke ignoring the tone Shepard had used.

"I've intercepted a distress beacon from a Turian patrol. They've stumbled across a Collector ship in the Korlus system." The Illusive Man moved around to sit in his chair.

"The Turians were wiped out, but not before crippling the vessel. I need you to get on that ship and find us a way to get to their homeworld."

"The Collectors cut through the old Normandy in seconds, and that was the top of the line ship. How did they manage to cripple the Collector ship?" Shepard asked, a major concern starting to rise in her mind.

"We've sent unmanned scout ships ahead already. The scans of the ship show no hull damage but all major systems were offline. They could be making repairs as we speak." The Illusive Man spoke with urgency, he was hiding something.

"Why aren't the Turians investigating this?" Shepard asked, trying to guess what he was keeping from her.

"They will but I intercepted the distress call. Until you get there I'll be feeding them false reports."

The Illusive Man either knew she was digging or was being genuine, she couldn't tell which. She decided to merely take everything with a grain of salt until she could see the ship herself.

"Send Joker the coordinates, I'll have him get us there as soon as he can." Shepard replied, careful not to give anything away.

"Already done." He replied, almost smugly.

"Once you're on the ship, have EDI break into their systems. She will get any and all information that she can before you leave." The Illusive Man took a drag from his cigarette.

"Good luck Shepard. This is a one time opportunity, make the best of it." Without another word The Illusive Man cut the transmission.

"EDI, get everyone back on the ship. Soon as everyone is back onboard I want us at that ship." Shepard spoke, leaving the briefing room.

"Yes Commander. ETA once all crew is aboard, thirty six hours." EDI spoke, already anticipating Shepard's question.

"Thank you EDI. Please inform all crew of our destination when they are aboard. If anyone needs me I'll be in my cabin in two hours." Shepard entered the elevator and pushed the button for the engineering deck.

"And until then Ma'am?" The AI inquired.

"Chambers gave me a laundry list of things to do, so I'll be checking those off." Shepard felt the subtle jerk of the elevator moving downward to the lower levels.


Garrus stood in the Normandy's cockpit with Shepard ad Joker. The two soldiers looked out the forward windows at the massive ship before them. Garrus let out a low whistle.

The ship before them was massive, if he had to guess it had to have been at least twice if not triple the size of a dreadnaught class ship. The side that was facing them was completely unscathed. If Shepard and The Illusive Man were right, then the Turian patrol must had gotten off a very lucky shot to cripple this massive monster.

"EDI, scan the ship. I want to see the readings on this thing myself." Shepard spoke, her face a mask of utter concentration.

"Scanning." The AI replied. No sooner had the words left EDI's speakers had the charts and graphs of the Collector ship appeared in front of Joker.

"Our scans show no outward hull damage Shepard." The AI spoke after only a minute of silence.

"The internal readings are faint, all major onboard systems appear to be inactive. The emission readings show that the drive core is currently offline." A look of unsettlement passed over both soldiers.

"So." Garrus spoke drawing out the word. "Trap?"

"Trap." Shepard replied calmly turning to look at Garrus.

"Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking." Garrus spoke, for once hoping that she wasn't thinking what he knew she was thinking.

A mischievous smirk made its way to Shepard's lips. "Alright then. I am not thinking about springing the trap I expect to be there."

Garrus groaned. They both knew that they needed to get on that ship, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Shepard chuckled next to him again.

"I'll make it up to you Garrus don't worry." Shepard tapped the side of her fist against his shoulder reassuringly.

"Promises, promises." Garrus muttered, eliciting a slight laugh, almost giggle, for the woman.

Joker shuttered in front of them. "Could you two get a room? Or at least not do that here?"

"You're just jealous Joker." Shepard teased the man, earning a snort for her efforts.

"We'll be in shuttle range in an hour. That should give you plenty of time to do… whatever." The pilot spoke through grit teeth, clearly resisting the urge to say something that could get him a slap upside the head, or worse.

"I'm going to go check on the others." Shepard spoke turning around to leave the cockpit. "See you down in the shuttlebay Garrus."

"So Garrus. Who is that and what has she done with the real Shepard?" Joker asked once Shepard was out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" Garrus asked dumbfounded by the strange question.

"Well, the Shepard I know doesn't even understand the concept of what a giggle is. That woman that was just here just giggled." Joker spoke exasperation in his voice.

Garrus chuckled. "Joker, she is a woman of many sides. I just know how to bring the ones out others haven't seen before."

Joker shook his head. "Nope I still don't believe it."

"Believe what you will Joker." Garrus turned around. "I need to get my gear ready. Make sure we get there in one piece will you?"

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny." Joker shouted over his shoulder to Garrus' retreating back.


"We're now in shuttle range of the Collector ship. You're free to deploy when you're ready Commander." Joker's voice spoke over the shuttle's speakers.

"Copy that Joker." Shepard replied and turned to Garrus in the pilot's seat. "Whenever you're ready big guy."

Garrus nodded and started flipping switches, a dull hum of the shuttle's engines powering up filled the air. Shepard turned around and entered the passenger area of the shuttle.

"You two ready?" Shepard asked Grunt and Jack.

Both the Krogan and the biotic were fiddling with their respective helmets. While the Krogan was making sure everything was in place before putting it on, the slim biotic was having trouble getting her helmet open.

"Why the fuck do I need to wear this fucking thing Shepard." Jack glared at Shepard, finally getting her helmet open.

"As far as we know the Collector's don't have life support. Whether that's at all or it's just offline we don't know." Shepard spoke, holding back a smirk at the woman's ineptitude with armor.

Jack muttered under her breath a slew of curses Shepard didn't catch and shoved the helmet on her head. Shepard stepped up to the woman and sealed the helmet for her.

"Turn around." Shepard ordered the other woman.

"What? Why?" Jack snapped harshly, Shepard rolled her eyes.

"So I can check your seals. I'm not having you risk losing oxygen because you didn't buckle something right." Shepard spoke. Jack turned around without another word.

Shepard checked over the other woman's armor, fixing a loose clasp on her arm and another on her leg. She gave her a thumbs up and ordered Grunt to do the same. Grunt complied, unlike Jack, without a word.

"Twenty seconds til touchdown. Be ready ladies." Garrus spoke over their comms.

Shepard released her helmet, the reassuring thump of the seals clasping echoed through her ears. She turned to the Krogan and biotic again.

"We don't know what, if anything, we're going up against in there. I expect it'll be either a lot of Collectors or a complete ghost ship. Either way be on your guard at all times." Shepard heard the whine of the shuttle's engines power down.

"Jack I want you to stick to Garrus, keep him safe. Anything gets within a stone throw of him, kill it." Shepard spoke and Garrus walked up behind her.

"You know I use a shotgun right? What am I supposed to do if nothing gets in range? Sit there with my thumb up my ass?" Jack spouted out.

"Use your biotics. Pull them for me to charge or smear them to walks, long as you keep an eye on Garrus' six I don't care what you do." Shepard felt Garrus' hands pat down her sides, feelling for any seal breaches. Jack nodded, accepting the free reign she was given.

"Grunt, just enjoy yourself. Long as you don't get yourself killed feel free to smash heads in." The Krogan slaped his first into his palm, a low laugh filling their comms.

Shepard checked over Garrus' seals before opening the shuttle's door. She stepped out into the dark cavern they had landed in. Her crew right on her heels.

Only two steps into the ship and it already looked like the stuff of nightmares. The hall that they landed in as dark, only the faintest of ambient light from farther in the ship could be seen. The entire place was cloaked in shadows, forcing her helmet to switch to night vision, lighting up the area in an eerie green light. The walls and floor seemed to made of a strange combination of sinew and chiton. The erie organic feel of the place was only broken only by metal support struts.

Shepard took a step forward and felt the floor under her cave slightly under her weight and give off a wet low squish. Everything about his place felt wrong, as if everything here was an atrocity to anything natural.

"Uh." Jack spat out in disgust. "What the fuck is this shit made of?"

"I think I'd rather not know." Garrus responded, his own disgust in his voice.

"This place it feels… wrong." Grunt spoke, his voice holding hints of anger.

"The Collectors work for the Reapers. Everything about the Reapers is wrong." Shepard grit out, forcing her revulsion down.

"Let's get this over with. The faster we get the information we need, the faster we can leave." Shepard walked forward cautiously, her Vindicator raised.

The others fell in behind her, following her caution.


"Hey Shepard." Joker spoke over the team's comms. "On a hunch, I asked EDI to run a full scan of the ship."

"What did you find?" Shepard asked the pilot, checking around yet another deserted corner of the ship. Garrus felt a sense of foreboding wash over him, whatever it was couldn't be good.

"I have scanned the ship and matched it against the readings from both Horizon and the data from the old Normandy." The AI spoke. "The signatures are an exact match."

In front of him, Shepard stiffened. "No Goddamned way." She hissed out.

"A ship following me for the last two years? No bloody way this is a coincidence." Shepard spoke to the AI.

"It is possible that the Collectors only have one ship, though unlikely. I do not have data from any other Collector encounters to be able to know for sure."

"Let's hope it's their only ship." Shepard spoke to the AI and turned around to face the rest of them.

"Let's get a move on people. The faster we can get off this fucking abomination, the faster we can blow it straight to hell." Shepard accented her point, by jogging ahead, discarding their cautious movement thus far.

"You heard the lady!" Garrus spoke to the other two and jogged to catch up to Shepard, his powerful stride easily eating up ground.

Grunt and Jack quickly caught up, following their lead. Only a handful of seconds passed before Grunt spoke up.

"Sheard! I smell meat!" The way the Krogan sounded both joyful at potential food, but somehow disgusted at the same time instantly put Garrus on his guard.

A few seconds later and Garrus could smell it too. The smell made him gag on the reeking stench of rotting flesh. Garrus quickly turned off his helmet's sent receptors before he started puking up his lunch.

"Yep that's definitely meat. Not the good kind either." Garrus spoke up after taking a deep breath to clear his nostrils of the putrid smell.

They came up into a large room. Oddly enough it was brightly lit, but the source of lit was indiscernible. The four quickly spread out, Jack loosely staying close to Garrus. They swept the nearly empty room, and found the sources of the stench nearly instantly.

Square in the center of the room, sat two large piles of bodies, all of them human. The repulsive sight sent shivers through Garrus' spine and brought Shepard to her knees. Garrus felt his heart break for Shepard. One of the things he loved most about her was her ever ongoing strive to protect everyone, to save everything that someone somewhere held dear. To see this was a massive middle finger to Shepard and everything she stood for.

Garrus moved to stand next to Shepard. He kneeled down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Her head turned to him, her eyes holding the thankfulness she held for him that the rest of her face couldn't show.

Garrus looked around the rest of the room and found that the piles of bodies weren't the only thing here. On the other side stood a terminal with an insectoid stasis pod sitting on a table next to it. The stasis pod appeared to be open, but Garrus couldn't see what was in it.

"Go." Shepard spoke and nodded with her head to the terminal. "See if that has what we need."

Garrus looked to her, hesitating. Shepard placed a hand on his arm. "Go. I'll be fine."

Garrus nodded and moved away from her, albet reluctantly. He looked over his shoulder when he reached the terminal. Shepard's head was bowed, he could faintly hear her muttering something akin to a prayer through their comms. Garrus turned back to the terminal in front of him, pulling open his omni-tool. He forced the device to sync to the terminal. A screen popped into existence over his arm, information scrolling past at a million miles an hour in a language he couldn't understand.

"Um We might have a problem." Garrus spoke over his shoulder. He began downloading the information, someone might be able to understand the information written in here.

"What's wrong?" Shepard spoke, now standing next to him. Garrus glanced at her, though her eyes were staring intently at the screen above his arm, he could see the wetness that had streaked down her cheeks.

"The stuff here is in a language I don't understand. I've never seen anything like it before." Garrus spoke as if he hadn't seen the tear streaks, he made a note to talk with her about it later.

"Really?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "You can't read that? It's even in english. Is your translator broke or something?"

"Shepard, that shit's sure as fuck not english." Jack spoke coming to stand next to the two.

"It looks familiar, but I can't place from where."Garrus spoke making to scratch the underside of his chin but his helmet got in the way.

Garrus turned to look at Shepard, but his eyes came to a rest on the stasis pod sitting up next to them. His eyes widened at seeing a Collector body, cut open as if it had been dissected, laying in the pod.

"What the…" Garrus spoke in shock, taking a step back from the pod.

Shepard and Jack both looked at Garrus in confusion. They followed his gaze to the pod next to them and reeled in shock themselves.

"Holy shit! What the fuck were these bastards doing?!" Jack backed away from the pod in fear.

"Garrus upload that info to EDI. We don't have the time to piece it all together but she sure as hell does." Shepard ordered, turning her back to the open pod.

Garrus tore his gaze away from the pod and did as Shepard ordered. Shepard brushed past him, her stride speaking volumes of how eager she was to leave this place.

"Grunt! Let's go!" Shepard yelled out over their comms. In seconds the thundering steppes of the Krogan filled the air.

Shepard and Grunt both headed to the other side of the room to a large archway leading deeper into the ship. Garrus and Jack looked at each other, the small woman's eyes still held the inklings of fear in them. Jack glanced at the pod again, a visible shudder running down her spine.

"Come on Scarface. I don't want to be left here." Jack whispered, barely audible through his helmet's speakers.

Jack headed off to follow Shepard and Grunt, leaving Garrus to stare at the pod once more. Garrus looked at the pile of human bodies and his grip on his rifle tightened, making the metal creak in protest. Garrus bowed his head for a moment in respect to the dead.

"Garrus! What's the hold up?" Shepard barked through his comms, snapping his head up.

"On my way." Garrus replied automatically.

He jogged in the same direction the others had left in, his stride eating up the ground in no time. Barely a minute passed before he caught sight of the others, they were cresting over the edge of a long ramp. Shepard's armored form turned around and having spotted him waved. Garrus in turn waved to keep going.

"Shepard. I've picked up a small power source in your area. It should only be fifty meters ahead." EDI's voice came over the team wide comm.

"Copy that EDI. Thanks." Shepard replied.

"Garrus double time it." Shepard barked and her form disappeared from his view.

Garrus sprinted up the steep incline, his bounding stride nearly bringing him to all fours for extra speed. In seconds he had climbed the nearly hundred meter ramp and was once more in the midst of the team. Grunt looked at him in appreciation of his speed, while Jack spun around with her shotgun leveled. Jack sighed in relief at seeing it was Garrus and not a Collector, she lowered her shotgun.

"Damn it Scarface! I almost blew your fucking head off!" Jack barked for once without malice in her voice.

"Glad to know you care Jack." Garrus smirked at her, thought she couldn't see it through his helmet.

"Screw you." She muttered and turned her back on him.

Garrus and Shepard both chuckled.

"Come on. That power source EDI brought up is just up ahead," Shepard spoke, motioning with her rifle.

They all nodded and fell back into the level of seriousness that they had a momentary reprieve from. They moved together, more cautiously than they had been before. If they truly had walked into a trap there was no better place to spring it.

Minutes passed before they came to a stop at a console in the center of a dead end circled by ledges. In the entire time they had been on the ship, there had only been one Collector and it was probably dead before the Turians attacked.

"Shepard." EDI's voice came over their comms once more. "The console in front of you is the source of the power. If you establish a link to the Normandy through it, I might be able to get the information we need."

"Garrus. Get on it." Shepard spoke and swept the ledges above them with her rifle.

"I see how it is Shepard." Garrus prodded her while he opened up his omni-tool to begin the process. "You just want me around for my tech skills. Don't even want to try and learn some yourself do you?"

"Hit the nail on the head Garrus." She joked back. "But your reach certainly has it's benefits."

"It just complements your… flexibility." He practically purred to her.

"Oh my fucking God. Get a room you two." Jack rolled her eyes. Garrus chuckled, from her body language he could tell she wanted to hear more.

"I am in the system." EDI's voice from the console's speakers broke the moment. "Beginning data mine."

"I have found something odd Commander." EDI spoke after only a few seconds.

"What is it?" Shepard asked on edge.

"The signal used to bring us here is a Turian one, but Turian signal waves have an underlying encryption level. The one in this signal is corrupted. There is no reason for The Illusive Man to think this to be the real thing."

"What?! What do you mean?" Shepard barked, her voice seething in anger.

"The Illusive Man himself created this fake signal. Simply put this was a trap."

When EDI spoke the word 'trap' as if it was a trigger, the floor beneath them shuddered and a loud series of thumps filled the air. The area around the console lifted up out of the floor knocking Jack and Shepard off balance.

"What the shit!" Joker's voice came over their comms. "EDI what the hell happened!"

The platform stopped moving in a jarring halt, causing the two women to fall to the ground. Garrus offered a hand to Shepard to help her up, Grunt did the same for Jack.

"Joker! Sit-rep! Now!" Shepard barked out with a grunt when she stood up.

"Major power surge on our end Commander. No clue what caused it." Joker's voice held a ting of distraction.

"Get Tali and make sure everything is fine. I don't want to lose another Normandy."Shepard spoke, picking up her fallen rifle.

"Shepard!" Grunts deep voice spoke out. "Contacts incoming!"

As one, Garrus, Shepard, and Jack all turned to see Grunt pointing at three platforms similar to the one there were standing on flying towards them. On each platform stood several Collectors. Garrus sighted down his Mantis' scope at them, his sights came to rest on a disturbingly familiar yellow glowing form.

Garrus' entire body tensed up at the memories that yellow form brought back. His grip on his Mantis tightened, making the metal creak in protest.

"Garrus? Are you ok?" Shepard asked, a hand on his arm.

"It's him." Garrus spoke simply.

"Harbinger?" Shepard asked. Garrus only nodded in response.

As with their time fighting Saren and Sovereign two years ago, Shepard was able to name the Reaper they had talked to. She hadn't know why then nor did she know now, but she just knew what the Reapers called themselves.

"Good." Shepard could hear the grim smile in her voice.

"Jack you better keep Garrus safe. You don't and it's on your head." Shepard spoke next to him.

Garrus sighted on another Collector form. With no warning to the rest of the team, his rifle bucked in his hands and its tell-tale crack filled the air. He smiled with a grim satisfaction when the Collector's head exploded, it's headless body collapsing to the floor. Garrus sighted another Collector and put a round through it's throat before any of them had the chance to get into cover.

"Jack pull!" Shepard barked.

Two Collector forms rose out of cover, suspended in midair, a biotic blue glow around them. A pair of blue energy bolts raced towards the two Collectors. The air shook with a resounding crash when the biotic fields of Shepard's biotic throw collided with Jack's pulled victims. The two Collectors went flying and dropped out of sight, falling into the depths of the massive ship.

The platform slowed and got closer to theirs, but the only standing enemy left on it was Harbinger's glowing form. Garrus spun around, letting the others deal with the possesed Collector. His skills were better used picking off the weaker targets.

Garrus spun around just in time to see and feel the second and third platforms connecting to theirs. Collector rifle started coming towards their team, the air sizzling from the bolts and lines of energy. Garrus sighted and his rifle bucked in his hands, another Collector falling.

"Behind us!" Garrus barked and dove into cover behind their platform's console, his shields screaming at him that they were failing fast.

"I! AM! KROGAN!" Grunt's battle cry sang out through their comms and the air around them.

Garrus popped out of cover just in time to see the Krogan leap headlong into a group of Collectors on the third platform, his shotgun blasting away in front of him. One of the Collectors had managed to not get caught in Grunt's onslaught and was taking aim on the Krogan's back. Garrus had other ideas however and the Collector dropped to the ground, a large hole in the center of it's chest.

The air next to Garrus lit up blue and shuddered. Garrus glanced next to him to see Jack's armored body standing next to him, alight in her blue biotic glow. He turned back to the other Collectors and found all but one left standing. The lone Collector soon found a hole in it's throat, courtesy of Garrus' deadly aim.

Garrus swept the area to find that there was only one form left out of all the Collector's that had attacked them. Grunt had dealt with the group he had run into with ease, the inky black blood of Collector's nearly covered the Krogan. Jack had helped take out most of them with her shockwaves and didn't have a scratch on her. Shepard however was locked in combat with the yellow glowing form of Harbinger.

Shepard, her arms alight in an azure radiance, ducked a high punch Harbinger threw her way. She quickly stepped into his reach and thrust upwards with her fist. The biotic blade that was formed around her fist caught Harbinger's glowing form in the stomach, but if it harmed him he didn't show it. Harbinger tried throwing a roundhouse kick at Shepard, who dropped to the floor avoiding the clumsy kick.

Garrus saw the opening both he and Shepard needed. He brought his scope up and sighted Harbinger's head. Once he had a shot lined up, he didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger. The Collector staggered, taking a step back. A spray of bullets raked up Harbinger's form from groin to head.

"You only delay the inevitable." Harbinger's voice, before lost in the sounds of combat, rang out. "Releasing control."

The Collector lost it's yellow glow. It had a moment to look around in confusion before it disintegrated into ash. The ash rained down on Shepard's prone form sprawled out on the ground, her azure glow gone.

Garrus' heart stilled and his eyes widened. Shepard's chest wasn't moving.

"Kate!" Garrus shouted and rushed over to her prone form.

He dropped to his knees and slid up to her. His hand came to the side of her helmet, turning it to face him. Her eyes were closed and he could see the top of a trail of blood just under her nose. Her eyes snapped open and an audible suck off air could be heard even through her helmet. Her back arched with the intake of air. Almost immediately she began coughing and sat up, trying to get her breathing under control. Garrus let out a sigh of relief.

"You ok Kate?" He asked.

"Yeah." She coughed. "I'm fine. Just pushed it too hard."

She stood up, using Garrus for support. She looked to Grunt and Jack, both seemed fine. If they could see his face, Garrus bet Grunt would've been grinning ear to ear at the needless bloodshed.

"EDI." Shepard coughed out once more. "Can you get us out of here?"

A minute went by without a word from the AI. "Joker, what's going on?"

"EDI's tasked nearly to capacity Commander. Someone else is in the Normandy's systems."

"What?!" Garrus, Shepard, and Jack all spoke at the same time.

"He got in with the powersurge. EDI's doing everything to stop him, but it's taking up most of her processing power."

"Get Tali and Mordin. Maybe they can get us out of here while EDI's busy."

"Copy that Shepard. I'll report back when they can help you." Joker replied and clicked off their comm.

Garrus took the time that he hadn't had before to look around them. His jaw slackened at the sight of the massive cavern around him. His guess of fitting at least two dreadnaughts in here was completely founded. the entire ship seemed to be a giant cavern, the walls lined with a horrific sight.

"Kate." Garrus spoke in fear and awe. Shepard gasped, having looked around herself.

The walls of the cavern were lined by tightly packed stasis pods. hundreds of millions of the things lined the walls, each able to hold a single person.

"How many of them are filled?" Jack asked, awe and anger in her voice.

"I'm more worried about how many aren't filled." Garrus mumbled. "They could take every human in the Terminus systems and not have enough to fill these pods."

Garrus turned to Shepard, away from the horrid sight. "Kate, they're going after Earth."

Shepard's fist balled in rage. "No they're not."

She turned to him. "We're going to send these fuckers to Hell before it happens. Even that isn't enough punishment for these twisted creations of the Reapers."

Garrus looked around more, glancing over the edge of the platform. He spotted a possible way out.

"Kate, there's a ledge down there. Think you and Jack can float us down there?" Garrus said pointing over the edge.

Shepard and Jack both came and looked over. They looked at each other and nodded.

"I'll lift Garrus, you lift Grunt." Shepard spoke, and Jack nodded again.

"Grunt! Come on! We're going to find more shit to kill." Jack spoke to the Krogan, who laughed gleefully in response.

Grunt lumbered over to the three over them. Once he was only just out of arm's reach of the slim biotic, Jack and Grunt both lit up in a biotic haze. Grunt looked around in confusion, but Jack payed him no mind. Jack lifted Grunt off the ground, and threw him over the edge, towards the ledge below them. Their comms filled with booming laughter coming from Grunt, much akin to that of a kid on a rollercoaster.

"FOR THE BLOODRAGE!" Grunt's booming roar came through their helmet speakers. The load thundering boom of his shotgun discharging filling the air around them.

The three looked over the edge of the platform to see Grunt once more in the midst of a squad of Collectors. They had to have come from a nearby hallway, and a way out.

"Save some for me fucker!" Jack yelled into their comms, hoping that Grunt would hear her.

Jack took a running leap off of the platform, throwing herself towards the ledge below them. Half way down, she lit up in a biotic glow, slowing herself down. Jack touched down on the ground of the ledge and trust her hands forward, a shockwave crashing through the air towards the Collectors.

As Garrus and Shepard watched Grunt and Jack tear through the collectors more and more seemed to pour out of the wall. Garrus pulled his rifle up to his shoulder and sighted, quickly blowing a hole in a Collector that had flanked the raging Krogan.

"Go. I can do more damage from up here." Garrus spoke to Shepard, but she hesitated.

"I'll be fine." Garrus spoke reassuringly, his rifle bucked again blowing the head off a Collector that had flanked Jack.

Shepard put a hand on his arm and Garrus looked up. He could see the conflict in her eyes behind her visor. He cursed himself for having a standard turian helmet that had a completely polarized visor. He took a hand from his Mantis and placed it on the side of her helmet. He leaned towards her and placed his helmet against hers, his forehead resting against hers.

"Go. I'll be fine." He whispered to her.

He could still see the reluctance in her eyes when she nodded and pulled away. She took a few steps away from the ledge before running at it. She leaped off the edge of the platform, thrusting herself outwards.

That's my girl. Garrus spoke in his head, smiling to himself.

Garrus sighted back down his rifle and had enough time to put a round through the throat of another Collector before a horrifying scene unfolded before him.

To his horror, Shepard didn't use her biotics to slow herself and land safely like Jack had. Instead she used them to speed up. She dove head first towards the ledge, aiming straight for the center of the Collector squads. At the last second she flipped around, her feet now to the ground, before slamming into the ground. The fall should've shattered her ankles and had her reeling in pain, but the biotic field around her flashed to a blinding intensity just before she hit the ground. When her feet did touch solidly on the ground, she dropped down into a crouch. Her biotic field expanded outward in all directions, like she was the center of a massive biotic bomb. Any Collector that was hit by the rapidly expanding biotic blast, was knocked either off it's feet or off the ledge.

"Kate never do that again." Garrus mumbled to himself, not bothering to see if his comm was on.

Under the combined firepower of Grunt's, Jack's, and Shepard's shotguns, Grunt's reckless full body charges, Jack's shockwaves, and Garrus' deadly sniper fire, the seemingly endless amount of Collectors finally stopped appearing on the ledge.

"Shepard? Are you there?" Tali's hesitant and nervous voice crackled over their comms.

"Jack get Garrus down here." Shepard spoke before replying to Tali.

"Yeah we're here. What's going on up there?" Shepard asked and a field of blue energy enveloped Garrus' body.

Garrus had been punched, kicked and pummeled by biotics before, mostly from Shepard, but he had never been encased in the energy like this before. His entire body was able to move, yet he was floating off the ground and being floated gently to the rest of their squad. His entire body tingled at the strange prickling sensation that the field caused around him.

"EDI's still trying to purge the Normandy's systems of whoever it is that is in her. Mordin and I tried to help but we weren't making any difference. We still have full control of the Normandy but our FTL targeting computer is being held hostage."

Shepard cursed under her breath when Garrus was let out of Jack's biotic field.

"You get anything out of the info Garrus sent up?" Shepard asked, hoping that there was something.

"Yes. While most of this stuff is in a language that I've never seen before, I did manage to find a map of the ship you're on." Tali replied and everyone let out a breath none of them knew they were holding.

"Good. Can you use it and our armor sensors to get us out of here?"

"Yes. I've already set up a marker for where you parked the shuttle."

Garrus looked around to see a blue pulsing arrow appear in his helmet's HUD. Under the arrow was a distance monitor thankfully it pointed as only being half a kilometer away. Unfortunately that was also in a straight path.

"I've also got a route planned. I'm uploading it to your omni-tools now. there should be a white bar along the walls now."

As promised a bright white bar lined both walls of the corridor that they had just finished clearing of Collectors. The bars lead in the same direction as the arrow was.

"You're a life saver Tali. Anything else we need to know? If not I want you to get on getting our systems back."

"From the map here it looks like you might need to get through a few doors. I'll be in touch if you need to get through them. I should be able to hack them open through your omni-tools."

"Alright, let's go!" Shepard turned and made her way into the corridor, her Scimitar shotgun raised and at the ready.

"Ummmm. Shepard? You might want to sprint your way here." Joker's usually easy and calm voice, now nervous, came over the team's comms.

"Why, what's going on?" Shepard asked and the group turned a corner in the ship.

"There are massive power fluctuations coming from the Collector ship. If what I'm seeing is right, then they're powering up." Joker's voice filled with nervousness and panic. "I'm not losing another Normandy Commander."

"I'm not either. I want our drive core hot and ready to jump as soon as we get on. How long do we have?"

"If I'd have to guess five minutes."

Shepard stopped in her traces and turned around to face Garrus. "We'll be there before then Joker."

Shepard walked up to Garrus and held her Scimitar out to him, grip first. He looked at the gun with a brow plate raised. Seeing his confusion Shepard offered her reasoning.

"We'll need to flat out run to the shuttle Garrus. That means no time to aim. We'll be running an' gunning. Neither your Mantis nor your Vindicator can do that well."

Garrus looked up to Shepard's eyes, seeing the imploring look in their emerald green depths. Garrus nodded and holstered his Mantis then took her shotgun.

"Come on! We've got no time to lose people! Let's move!" Shepard barked and everyone jumped into motion.

Shepard lead their fast running pace with both her Locusts in hand. Grunt and Garrus had no trouble keeping up with her on their own, but Jack was another matter. The lithe woman was built for bursts of speed not distance like the rest were and had to rely on her biotics to keep up. Her blue glowing form kept pace next to Garrus. But a glance to the woman showed that her continued use our her biotics was beginning to take it's toll, just as Shepard's were. Jack had her own nose bleed forming just under her nostrils.

The four made their way through the winding corridors of the ship with ease, following the white bar Tali had made for them. There were several times where Jack stumbled next to him but each time Garrus thrust out an arm to catch her.

A minute had passed and nothing had blocked their way, but a growing prickling sensation began to crawl up Garrus' neck. They rounded another curve in the twisting corridors of the ship and a low moaning filled the air. The strides of the team faltered but for only a moment. All of them brought their weapons up, ready for the owners of that dreaded moaning.

They kept their pace up, all eyes on full alert lest they be caught by surprise. only a handful of seconds paced before a large group of Husks entered their vision at the bottom of a ramp.

The four charged headlong into the Husks, Shepard leading the way with steady bursts of fire from her Locusts. The Husks all turned to greet the incoming team, shambling towards them. Garrus opened fire along with Grunt and Jack when they came into range for their shotguns. The Husks didn't stand a chance against the overwhelming firepower from the three shotguns and Shepard's Locusts.

They raced past the fallen bodies of the Husks, ignoring them altogether. The halls and corridors of the ship began to illuminate in an eerie yellow light as more and more systems in the Collector ship came online.

They blasted their way through countless groups of Husks, destroying them under their ruthless onslaught. The ever present dread of their tight time hung over all of their heads. The end was almost in their grasp when they reached a large open room, one that they had passed through on their way in. The room was no longer empty however, instead a squad of Collectors and another of the strange beetle creature were holed up in the room. The door leading out was closed.

"Son of a bitch." Shepard mumbled, barely audible in Garrus' helmet.

"Tali I need your help." Shepard called out over their comm to the ship.

"Miss Zorah is not available Shepard." EDI's voice responded, the the relief of everyone. "She is currently getting the drive core ready for quick FTL jump once you return."

"Fine. I need you then. We've got a door here and I need it open now."

Garrus took the chance of Shepard's distraction with the Collectors to clip her shotgun back on her back. They would need his Mantis here weather she liked it or not.

"Acknowledged." EDI's voice spoke and the door that was blocking their way opened to the surprise of the Collectors in front of it. Garrus took his Mantis off his back and sighted on a Collector.

"GO!" Shepard barked.

Soon as the words left her mouth, Garrus' rifle bucked in his hands, the farthest Collector dropping to the floor.

Grunt, Jack and Shepard all vaulted over their low cover, none of them wasting a second. Garrus rifle bucked again, dropping another Collector before the others had the chance to even run forward a dozen steps.

The sounds of a fully fledged skirmish began, the other three's weapons barking and the sizzling of the Collector rifle's filtered into Garrus' helmet. He drowned out all of them. He needed to take care of the Collectors so the others could deal with the giant beetle.

Garrus' actions were clockwork; sight, breathe, fire, reload. The others picked up on Garrus' deadly fire and turned their attention away from the Collectors to the metal beetle. Garrus's deadly aim couldn't have been more of an asset than it was now. With every second his rifle's crack filled the air. With every crack, a Collector fell.

Only a handful of seconds and only the metallic beetle was left. Garrus turned to sight on the beetle, it's shields and barriers still holding under the fire from Grunt, Jack, and Shepard. Garrus sighted and fired on the beetle and it's shields finally fell.

"Minute twenty Commander!" Joker's panicked voice broke through the load barks of the team's weapon fire.

""You heard the man! Let's go!" Shepard barked out.

Garrus vaulted out of his cover, swapping his Mantis out for his Vindicator in one fluid motion. He sprinted towards their only exit, needing to make up the ground that he'd lost by sniping the Collectors. He met Grunt and Jack just before the door and looked back to see Shepard coming towards them, the beetle hot on her tail.

"GO! GO!" Shepard shouted at them, waving her arm forward.

The beetle stopped and reared back, it's eyes lighting up.

"Kate!" Garrus shouted. Shepard looked over her shoulder and the beetle fired it's twin beams of blue white energy at her.

At the last second, Shepard dodged and rolled to the left of the beam, which narrowly missed her. Without missing a beat, Shepard sprinted up to and passed him. Garrus turned and followed her.

At the end of the corridor, their shuttle awaited. Grunt and Jack had already reached it and the door was open and waiting for them. Grunt stood just outside the shuttle, his grenade launcher in hand. If he could see the Krogan's face, Garrus knew that there'd be a massive bloodthirsty grin plastered all over it.

"GRUNT! FIRE THAT FUCKING THING!" Shepard shouted at the Krogan, increasing her speed.

The Krogan happily obeyed the order and began lobbing grenades at the beetle still on their heels. The Krogan began laughing after the first explosion and it only grew deeper and louder with the more shots that connected.

Shepard and Garrus slid into the shuttle, Grunt following just behind them. Garrus raced into the cockpit of the shuttle and fired it up in the blink of an eye, throwing all the standard start up protocols to the wind. The engines roared to life under him and he gunned it back to the open and waiting cargo bay of the Normandy.

"Joker! We're in! EDI! Get us the hell out of here!" Shepard barked, into their comms once they had passed the cargo bay threshold.

"Specify a destination please Shepard." EDI's cold calm tone replied, angering both Shepard and Garrus.

"Anywhere that's not here." Shepard snapped at the AI.

"Very well. Engaging FTL drive."

The four stumbled out of the shuttle in time to see Normandy spinning away from a fully lit up and active Collector vessel. The stars blurred and turned into lines of light rather than their usual pin points. A heart beat latter and the Collector vessel vanished from view.

Garrus and Jack both ripped their helmets off as soon as they could, both wanting to be rid of the damned things. Garrus looked to the biotic to see a trail of blood leading from her nose all the way down her neck. Either the bleed had simply gone unchecked too long or the biotic had been pushed to her very limits. Jack dropped her hands to her knees, bent over in exhaustion, trying to take in as much air as her lungs would allow. Garrus placed a questioning hand on her shoulder, but the biotic waved him off, without her usual crassness.

Garrus looked over to check on Grunt. The Krogan too had taken his helmet off, but was grinning ear to ear. The Krogan was rubbing, almost stroking, his grenade launcher as he beamed at Shepard.

"Best fight I've been in yet Shepard. You're making me more and more glad to have let you live." Grunt spoke with a laugh.

Shepard chuckled weakly. "Glad you had fun Grunt."

Garrus turned to inspect Shepard last, and almost wished he hadn't. Like Jack, Shepard had a nosebleed of her own, having pushed her biotic limits to the very max and even beyond. Her face was flushed a deep shade of red, and her breathing was heavily labored, as she tried and stay conscious. She evidently decided that breathing on her own wasn't going to happen and let her helmet reseal itself around her head, letting her armor's life support force the air into her lungs.

"Grunt take Jack up to Chakwas. I want her to check both of you out, make sure you aren't going to keel over in the next day." Shepard spoke once she had gained her breath.

"What about you?" Garrus asked, coming to stand before her.

"You and I need to talk with The Illusive Man." Shepard spoke and began hobbling her way towards the elevator on the far side of the cargo bay.

Garrus followed her and allowed her to lean onto him for support. Everything about her body told him that she was screaming in pain in her head. The way her gait was slow and short, almost stumbling. Her shoulders were slouched forwards in pain and her eyes would be closed in pain whenever he looked at her.

In the elevator, he held her. He held her close from behind, letting her slacken all of her weight against him. Letting her be weak when she needed to be strong for others. Her head lolled back to rest against his shoulder. When he looked at her, her eyes, though squinted in pain, held only joy and thanks for his being there.

Their moment was over too soon for both of them. When the door hissed open, Shepard somehow managed to stride proudly out and quickly made her way to the briefing room.

"EDI. Get me The Illusive Man. Now." Shepard barked to the AI, her voice seething in anger.

Without delay the table in the center of the room lowered into the floor and Shepard stepped into the middle. A orange wall circled around her form.

"You mother fucking backstabbing asshat!" Shepard shouted at the person on the other end of the call. The Illusive Man must have been expecting her to call.

"You sent me into a Goddamned trap and you bloody fucking knew it too!" Shepard shouted, her stance shifting forward aggressively.

"I knew that I couldn't trust you to respect me as a person, I at the very least expected you to try and protect your fucking money sink! I know what I am to you and that's just a Goddamned tool! A means to an end! Yet you casually throw me into the worst fucking situation that you can with absolutely no fucking info!"

"If you don't give me one very, very good reason as to why you did this you can kiss our deal and your head good bye!"

"Then why the fuck didn't you tell me we needed a Reaper IFF! I was just on their fucking ship! I could've gone in and taken theirs!" Shepard shouted in exasperation.

"FINE! But if this shit ever, EVER, happens again, I will personally find out where you are, storm into your office, killing everyone I see and then have my Turian boyfriend blow your Goddamn head off!"

Without another word to the other side of the line, Shepard turned around and stormed off the QEC device. Garrus looked at her in shock. She had just admitted to The Illusive Man that they were indeed a thing and shoved a massive middle finger in the face of everything that Cerberus stood for.

"What?" Shepard breathed out at him, letting all the hot air out of her system.

"I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that was the hottest thing I have ever seen you do." Garrus spoke, his mouth working without his brain.

Shepard smirked at him. "When I don't feel like complete shit I'd be happy to challenge that."

She groaned in pain, the adrenaline of her rage was starting to run it's course. "But for now, I think I'll take Chakwas up on that overly invasive medical exam now." She groaned out.

Garrus chuckled and let her lean on him. "One minute you give the largest 'fuck you' to the head of Cerberus, the next you're promising more things that I'm sure you can't cash, and then the next you're actually wanting to be treated by Chakwas."

"Your point?" Shepard glared up at him.

"Nothing, just history in the making." Garrus smirked at her.

"Ha Ha. Very funny." Shepard mocked him.

"I try."

"EDI Please get us to the Citadel. I think I need a few days off." Shepard spoke aimlessly to the AI when they stood outside the door to the elevator.

"Yes Shepard." The AI replied.

Garrus could feel eyes on the back of his head and turned to two of the CIC crew men, Johnson and Rogers if he remembered right, turn to look away from the pair and to each other. Garrus saw Johnson mouth the words "shore leave' excitedly and the two shared a high-five before Shepard guided him into the elevator.

Garrus chuckled once the doors closed again. "Your crew certainly wouldn't mind it either."

"Good." Shepard replied her voice light. "They don't get a choice in the matter either. They will have shore leave and they will like it!"

The small elevator was filled with their much needed laughter.


A/N:

Hey all, sorry that this Chapter is a bit later than usual, but hopefully it's good enough to make up for the delay. I recently picked up (finally) Dishonored, and have been playing quite a bit of it lately, and thus putting off writing.

I have also come to realize that while in the game there may be no setback for using biotics constantly, there should be some repercussions from doing so. As such my Shepards are all idiots in that they all rely on their biotics. Maybe this one will learn her lesson, or maybe Garrus will do something about it. Not quite sure yet.

As always thank you all for reading, following, favoriting and the like! Hope you all enjoy this chapter! if nt please let me know and I'll do better. Please let me know what you think!

Until next time!