The red glow from the relay filled their worlds. The dark color permeated their vision as the hue washed over everything. In the cockpit, the pilot grunted as he struggled with the controls, eyes wide as he fought his ship for command.
In the blink of an eye, the glare from the Omega 4 relay dimmed but was replaced by a light more intense and a deep orange. Joker gasped and Shepard was astonished as the Normandy rose above the dusty cloud to perceive the brand new world they had stumbled across.
In the distance, they could see several discs of black, light and matter orbiting and warping around it. They were tears in the actual fabric of time and space, black holes. They were numerous and dotted the landscape as they emitted their deadly radiation, churning in the dense broth that was the galactic core.
Ships of all shapes and sizes littered the landscape. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, lay in sight, crumbling against one another as the intense gravitational forces bent and reaved their way through. The implications of this development was staring them right in front of their face. This is what happened when ships drifted too far after coming out of the Omega 4 relay. The black holes had torn the ships apart and gradually added to the pile that would become another obstacle for other foolhardy explorers, looking to chart a missing piece of the galaxy. Over time, the drift into a black hole did not become the most prominent danger anymore, but by colliding with a dead ship.
The IFF data had provided the Normandy to land within a close proximity to the relay on the other side, but that still didn't prevent it from having a near miss with one of the hulks. A quick course correction and soon the ship was flying over the field entirely, their target in their sights.
The Collector base looked like a larger version of the ship that had kept on dogging them in the past: tall, cylindrical, constructed with a combination of rock and metal. The only noticeable distance was that it was the length of ten Collector ships. It certainly gave the Citadel a run for its money in the size department.
Pieces of what looked like small drones floated by the craft as it headed for the huge station. They looked like circular drums with small stubby wings, but their positioning in the middle of such a vast array of space was rather peculiar considering the mean amount of wreckage that lay behind them.
But the hard part still lay directly ahead.
Without any incident, oddly enough, the ship touched down near a small platform and cooled its engines to prevent detection. They needn't have bothered, the station did not have any security systems that were focused on detecting intruders. The Collectors, in their arrogance, had assumed that they were unreachable behind their relay, an achievement unbroken until now.
The airlock opened and six people stepped out first heading toward where the hallway forked. Shepard, Garrus, and Tali walked off onto the right pathway while Kaidan, Liara, and Mordin headed to the left. Two squads of Alliance marines then burst out to follow each group, culled from the rest of the ships in the Alliance fleet who wouldn't be able to make it through the relay, rifles at the ready.
Barring Tali, everyone had their helmets off because EDI's initial scans had detected that the atmosphere here had been rendered breathable, by a fair margin. This was much different than the atmosphere on board the Collector ship but the AI hypothesized that the added oxygen was necessary so that any humans on board would survive long enough until the final stage of the Reaper's grand scheme was unveiled.
EDI's scans of the area had provided everyone in the group a map to link to their omni-tool. The two passageways that the groups were heading down eventually combined again, but the only problem with this is that they were both behind a set of locked doors. A quick examination of the layout revealed that there was a tube used for venting heat that led into the room, past the locks and would enable them to continue to the core, where they could overload the ship from there.
Much to Shepard's anguish, Tali had volunteered, raising her hand almost immediately before he even fielded the opportunity for anyone to step forward. She stood by her decision firmly, stating that the team needed someone who was good with tech, as they would be able to efficiently hack open the doors directly and quickly, preventing any lives from being lost by wasting as little time as possible. It was only by her logic and determination that Shepard had granted her request, internally wishing that it was him who would go in her place.
Kaidan's group was already reporting contact. Shepard could hear the small pops and snaps of gunfire, with the occasional yell of self-congratulation coming over the comm. Shepard would have rolled his eyes but the gripping tension was calling on all of his senses to be on full alert, seriousness high.
Tali tapped Shepard on the shoulder as she spied the entrance to the vent, heading towards it. Twisting the valve all the way and pulling back, the internal air whooshed out as the seal opened, sending a burst of heat forth and making Shepard's skin itch uncomfortably.
This felt wrong but he was unable to stop himself from letting her go, choosing instead to gently hold her arm. "Stay safe in there," he indicated, fingers seemingly locking in place as he fought the urge to protest.
At the lightest touch, her hand pushed aside his arm as she turned around to give him one last hug, "You'll see me soon, I promise." Somehow that didn't entirely assuage Shepard as she slipped into the vent, seeing her sad eyes peer longingly at him before she vanished from sight. He started to back away and soon followed Garrus, making sure that the large pipe was in sight as they headed down the corridor.
The heat must have been incredible for her. If he had felt it through his suit then she certainly could as well. To her everlasting credit, she did not whimper or complain once the searing temperatures assaulted her form. Tali pushed forward, like a good soldier, her eyes stinging with nothing but her objective within her mind's eye, only wanting what was best for the mission. What was best for Shepard.
The unfamiliar yet recognizable contours of the vessel wrapped around them as they drove deeper into the hive. Occasionally, they would encounter a walkway that looked out onto a great chasm, with brown columns pulsing with a yellow-white light. It was unlike anything Shepard had seen before. If he weren't here to destroy the station, he would have liked to linger a while. Five minutes passed as the lot briskly jogged along, searching every corner for an ambush but wanting to hasten their presence in this ugly place.
Their boots hit a harder but straighter material, causing them to look down. In place of the dusty rock was now a shiny metal surface, black as onyx. The metal ran along and created a bridge over a steep crevasse. A platform was positioned on the far side, on which a control panel was perched. Beyond that, lay the flat impasse that was the door that would connect both of their groups.
"John," Tali started to cough from the heat as she spoke, her voice coming into his helmet.
"Tali?" he asked, alarmed. "What is it?"
"There's…" she gasped, "There's a valve blocking my path. I can't get through."
Oh god, no. "Get out, Tali," Shepard was frantic, "Go back the way you came, I'll be there waiting for you."
"I...I can't," she cried, "T-There isn't enough time…"
"Shepard!" Garrus roared, pointing to the far side of the platform, at the panel, "The venting controls! We can get her out that way!"
Shepard shot off towards it, running to a wall that was waist high when a low voice seemed to split the air around them.
"You will not succeed, Shepard. You and the others will all perish on this day."
With a stomp, the familiar glow from the Collector materialized out of the ceiling and dropped down to the floor with a growl. The alien raised its arm and a ball of dark energy burst out of it. Shepard and Garrus ducked and the blast hit a marine in the chest and he fell, chest smoking.
"You are unprepared for our arrival. One by one, you will fall."
The room erupted in a firefight as more Collectors joined their leader in repelling the intruders. For every brown, mottled form Shepard took down, their marine escorts were paid back in kind. Screams and clicks echoed in the chamber as, one by one, the crowd began to thin.
Shepard rose to step over the wall, a few shots impacting his shields, snapping him back a bit. He whirled to face a pair of Collectors standing on a ledge overhead and swept his rifle sideways as he fired, the bullets tearing parts of their legs off. Without proper support, the aliens collapsed, leaving Shepard all the time he needed to place a bullet in each of their heads, red goo bursting forth.
"John, please," Tali begged, "It's...it's so hot…"
"I'm coming," he whispered as he sidestepped quickly across the ravine. A few more seconds and he would be in arm's reach of the panel. He looked to see if there were any more enemies in his way before making a lunge for it.
"I will destroy you if I have to, Shepard."
Something slammed into his back and he fell, the organs encased in his body rattling uncomfortably around, making him cough in agony. He rolled over on his back and whipped out his pistol, not even bothering to hesitate as he fired. Harbinger growled as its aim was thrown off by the shots. One...two...three...four times the alien jerked and its eyeballs burst as energy seeped through every fiber of matter as the demon tried to keep its host alive. It was all for naught, though, as the Collector could take no more punishment and with a wrathful scream, it departed.
"I...I...don't have any…" Tali was sobbing quietly as the heat smothered her, "I...I...I...want...to see...y-"
"Goddamn it, NO!" Shepard screamed as he scrambled to his feet, reaching the green hexagonal icon and punching the button for the valve release. Tali had been sitting upon the exit and gave a tired cry as she was deposited a few feet down, a little cooked but alive.
A roar sounded from the edge of the chamber as multiple Collector guardians flew from behind the smoky pillars to land on the edge of the platform. Shepard and his squad were forced to take cover as the beams of the particle rifles swept over them. He grunted as a beam tore into his side briefly, a burning sensation coming from where the plasma had made contact through his shields. His skin would be blistered underneath the suit, if it wasn't burned off, so he engaged the medi-gel application and groaned when whatever flesh he had left down there felt like it had been submerged in water, the healing properties already at work.
Behind him, he heard a rumble as the huge door finally granted access to the group by sliding open. Shepard shouted for everyone to follow and they all scrambled simultaneously to reach the exit. One man was hit in the head as he tried to reach the door and he dropped, body soundlessly tumbling off the side into the cavernous depths below. Shepard stood in front of the door, providing cover fire as he methodically picked Collectors out of the air one by one, screeching as many of their wings were clipped by his aim.
Once the last man had passed him by, he skirted into the room as the door slid shut behind him. He turned around to see Tali collapsed by the door controls in the center of the room as Liara, Kaidan, and Mordin hustled in from the opposite door. Weakly, she reached up and depressed the icon for that door as well, watching it close as the survivors grouped together and breathed heavily until they got their air back.
They had lost nine men in total. Four from Shepard's group and five from Liara's. The others looked a little worse for the wear but the only person Shepard was concerned about at the moment was Tali. He ran over to her and set her limp body upright so that she was leaning against the console. Before he could apologize, she was already beginning to speak.
"You did everything you could," her voice was weak but it wasn't wavering.
"It wasn't enough," he said forcefully, trying to make her see things from his point of view for once.
She clung to his shoulders, wanting him to lift up. His gaze flickered to astonishment before she clarified, "I can stand, John. I was only in there for a moment."
Reluctantly, he obliged, one hand on her back to steady her in case she fell. When he had stood up fully, he let go but amazingly, she stayed in place.
"It felt like an eternity to me," Shepard protested, despite Tali's quick recovery. "You sure you don't feel dizzy or ill?"
She shook her head, "Medi-gel is taking the edge off and my suit's internal temperature is doing a good job compensating the after-effects. I...I should be fine in a few minutes."
Fine? Just a few minutes ago she was screaming and crying, trapped in the blistering heat of the vent. Now she was on her feet and waving the entire thing off like it was just a bad sunburn? He crossed his arms as he was visibly exasperated.
"Trust me," she said, seeing his worried face. "It comes with being a quarian. We're much more adaptable than humans when it comes to injuries."
"If you say so," Shepard shrugged, not finding any other reason to continue this argument. Not here at least. Another time and place, perhaps. He glanced over to find Liara and the rest of the second group who were still looking rather worn out. "What the hell happened to you guys?"
It was Kaidan who answered, "It...seeker swarms...never seen so many…"
"Zone contained swarms in larger numbers than previously recorded," Mordin clarified, seemingly unfazed. "Countermeasure was insufficient to handle all at once."
"But...Liara," Kaidan wheezed, "You should have seen her, Shepard. She put up this barrier and...I don't know why I didn't think of it, but it was brilliant…"
"Liara?" Shepard tilted his head.
The asari gave a smile in between her panting, "Just a...simple barrier...over all of us. Wasn't that difficult but…maintaining it...was a chore."
"It kept out the swarms," Kaidan interjected. "She held it up all the way. Completely fantastic."
Shepard was beside himself, "I'm so proud of all of you right now. You've done very well. Any lesser team wouldn't have made it this far." He saw the smiling faces of his friends back at him, glowing from his praise. A feeling of invincibility came over the commander. If they had made it this far, then they could make it even farther.
He settled back into "commander mode" as his crewmates finished recovering. "All right, EDI's scans show two more paths heading towards the central chamber so we're going to have to split up again." He glanced to the right where he spotted two metal platforms that lay docked against a sheer drop, he had seen the Collectors use those in the background to transport large objects. They would be perfect to cover a large amount of ground in a short time.
"Garrus," he gestured, "You have the most energy. Switch with Kaidan and you'll lead the second team."
"Got it, commander," Garrus grinned as he took the human's place, pausing to grasp the biotic's arm in passing, a gesture of brotherly trust.
As Kaidan settled next to him, Shepard pointed up, "The platforms that you see are most likely going to lead you to the same destination but we're going to take separate routes to avoid putting all our eggs in one basket. Follow the tubing above you, it leads exactly where we're going."
Everyone made a note of that in their omni-tools, setting the platforms for their appropriate routes as the software molded to the commands it was given. Shepard now stepped forward to the eleven marines that were left in his group, addressing the leader with a grim tone.
"Sergeant," he sighed, "If I didn't have to make this order, I would, but I just can't risk it. I know how hard you men have fought with the Alliance and I just-"
"Not to worry, sir," the marine's face was unreadable behind his helmet. "We know what we have to do. We'll stay behind and hold off the enemy and give you enough time to blow these fuckers to hell."
"You do know that there will probably not be enough time to evacuate, right? In all likelihood, you may be pinned down and under pressure. If this bothers you, I'll think of another way…"
"There is no other way, sir. The mission is clear for us."
"I'm sorry…" Shepard drew his eyes to the man's chestplate, "Sergeant Donner."
"I'm not," the man shrugged. "It was an honor to serve under Commander Shepard regardless." With that, Donner snapped a crisp salute, the ten behind him catching on and mimicking him. Shepard was touched at the gesture and made sure to make his answering salute the quickest and snappiest he'd ever made in his life. He broke the action and the marines relaxed.
"Good luck, sir," Donner nodded at the six in front of him.
"Good luck, sergeant," Shepard replied, getting the strange feeling like he wouldn't see any of the marines again. He made a mental note to recommend them all for honors later. It was the least he could do in this situation.
The six of them stepped onto their respective platforms, an odd clanging sound coming from the corner of Shepard's. Tali hit the controls and the entire floor lurched, sending them on their way. Shepard glanced back one last time to see the marines already start to prepare for the oncoming waves, setting up cover and reloading their weapons.
Garrus' platform was soon out of sight and they were quickly whisked into another large room. This one, unlike all of the rooms they had seen before, was coated with the carrier pods that they had seen in the Collector ship, the pods containing the humans. On the walls, thick tubes ran from the tops of the pods, all converging into even larger tubes and again into the tunnel sized ones that ran across the ceiling. The material inside the tubes was a thick, orange substance, and it seemed to have quite a large viscosity as it traveled.
All the pods Shepard could see were devoid of life but several were still filled with the orange sludge. What was the actual point of filling the pods with humans if they were eventually going to store it with-
Shepard's mouth dropped a noticeable inch because Tali immediately picked up on it, worried at his horrified stare. "John?" she asked, tugging at his arm. "What? What is it?"
He slowly turned to face her, feeling as if he just aged a lifetime, "It's them."
"Who's them? What are you talking about?"
He waved up at the pipes, at the horror flowing within, "The colonists, all the humans. That's them."
Tali gasped and Kaidan stared, stunned. "The Collectors break the humans down into that?" he asked. "For what? Why?"
"Those fuckers," Shepard hissed. It was very rare, even now, that Shepard used such harsh language but it made it quite clear to both Tali and Kaidan that he was very, very pissed off. "A hundred thousand humans might mean nothing to them, but the Collectors mean nothing to me for what they've done. I'm going to kill every single last one of them that they become an extinct species overnight."
"Then let's go and kill these bosh'tets," Tali agreed, racking her shotgun.
They did not have to wait long. Soon enough, the pipes angled upward as a new room was revealed to them. Based on the location on the mini-map, the central chamber was just ahead. The platform jolted upward and they found themselves looking at a horrific sight as all of the tubes led to one point housed in the center.
The tubes fed into a gigantic metal structure that seemed to support it as the orange fluid was pumped in from the top. It stood six stories high and twice as wide. It appeared to have arms and it curiously looked like it had a head. For that matter, the smooth black material looked familiar, somehow. He had seen it before, on Virmire, on the Citadel, the dull reddish color, with the orange light hidden behind it. Suddenly, it all clicked.
"It's…" Tali breathed, "A Reaper."
"A Reaper," Shepard clarified, "With a human core."
The orange goo was being streamed into the central cavity of the Reaper itself. Shepard could see tubes of the stuff act as the machines veins, the skeletal structure reminding him of what lay beneath his fleshy facade. The true monster locked away.
Kaidan was slowly shaking his head in disbelief, "Hundreds of thousands of humans collected, just to power this?"
Shepard's voice was grave, "They want us to be the basis for their newest addition. We provide the power and they provide the body and the mind."
"It doesn't even appear to be awake."
Shepard looked down, the form now definitely starting to look like a human skeleton now that its true purpose was revealed. The Reaper didn't even look remotely completed yet. There was only tubes extending below the waist, the hands lacked the appropriate amount of fingers, and the core itself had yet to be encased in the cuttlefish-shaped shell that was a complete Reaper.
"Awake or no, it's not even finished," Shepard noted out loud. "That means the Reapers are still targeting millions of humans so they can finish their little science project."
"What do you want us to do, John?" Tali stepped forward.
He looked around the room, "We can't afford to wait for the others right now, this thing has to be destroyed. Look for a weak spot, something that we can use to topple this thing."
"Up there!" Kaidan pointed to where four main tubes connected to the superstructure. The metal piping continued on but just where they intersected, the orange liquid was encased in a glass pipe. A few well placed bullets would shatter it good and proper.
"Bring it down," Shepard nodded, raising his pistol. Two shots from the Carnifex shattered two tubes, a high tinkling added to the massive boom. Glass and sludge rained down upon them, a foul odor coming from the orange liquid. Tali and Kaidan both raised their weapons and shot the final tubes, sidestepping the massive panes that were fracturing on impact with the platform.
A groan passed through the structure and the material holding the Reaper up stretched, metal straining under the increased weight. Slowly but surely, the struts snapped, one by one, until the core was in free-fall. There was a full second of silence before a deafening crash echoed as the machine impacted with the ground. The platforms, being suspended in the air, were unaffected from the intense vibrations that the falling structure had with the station, the nearby walls were visibly shaking. An enormous plume of dust was rising from the ground. Shepard and Kaidan coughed, trying to clear their passageways as Tali simply stood there, unaffected as the particulates merely clung to her helmet, her breathing unimpared.
Kaidan, in between coughs, was grinning from ear to ear, "Not as bad as I thought. Eh, Shepard?"
"A bit anticlimactic," he admitted, peering over the edge, making sure that the Reaper wasn't going to rise a bit perturbed from its dethroning. "But considering what we prevented, I'm not complaining much."
"Speak for yourself," Tali grumbled. "I almost got roasted alive trying to get here. All you got was-"
"I thought you said you were fine, Tali!" Shepard spread his arms in mock ire.
"I am," she laughed at his reaction. "I just like messing with you."
He was going to playfully berate her some more before a glow to his right in his peripheral vision appeared. His gun was automatically out and trained on the source through the rising dust. The light looked like it took the form of a man, oddly, and it seemed to be heading right towards them. There were no footsteps as the form moved closer and the three of them backed up half a step unconsciously.
The dust cleared for one brief second and the figure was revealed to them. It indeed was a man but he was glowing as if light extended from every pore on his body. Shepard could now see a glowing ball embedded in the man's chest, ejecting light across multiple angles. A portable hologram projector.
The man was well dressed in a custom black suit, white undershirt, black shoes. His greying hair was combed back and in a hand he held a cigarette, a rather rare vice that had gone out of fashion a few decades prior. His lined face held a cruel look and his eyes glowed an unnatural blue, even through the hologram.
"Who are you?" Shepard spoke loudly, curious as to how a hologram had found themselves in this location.
The man calmly took a drag on his cigarette, eyes never leaving the commander. "Relax, Shepard," his voice was well-worn and firm, a calculated tone that indicated a sense of amusement. "I'm no threat to you here."
"That doesn't answer my question."
A small smile was betrayed by the man, "I am the founder of Cerberus. I am the one who wanted to bring you back. I am the Illusive Man, Shepard."
Tali stiffened next to him as she slowly drew her shotgun, pointing it at the hologram anyway. The human clucked, "Come now, Miss Zorah. What would that do to me anyway if you fired? You would miss what I would have to say."
"It would certainly make me feel a lot better," Tali snapped. "You attacked the Rayya. You tried to kill me. You tried to take John. Why not cut you off right now?"
The Illusive Man nodded in interest, "You going on a first name basis with your crew these days, Shepard?"
"That's none of your damn business," Shepard growled. "What the hell do you want and how did you even get here?"
"The second part is none of your concern, only that my ship's AI unwittingly played its part perfectly. It provided us with the knowledge to travel to the Collector base so that its technology could be used to better humanity. All when you inserted that IFF into its databanks."
"Use the tech? What tech? The ones that liquefy humans and turn them into fuel for the Reapers? That won't make anything better, that's just sick."
"Shepard, I'm disappointed," the man sighed. "I would have thought that you, of all people, would be willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the human race."
Shepard smiled grimly, "That's where you're wrong, asshole. You and I both know that your causes are not for the betterment of anyone except Cerberus. Don't insult me by pretending that you have humanity's best interests at heart, because you don't. And I will not let humans, or anyone else, access this technology. No good can come from it because its uses were tainted."
"You're only scared of what you may find," came the man's chiding. "Only too dense to see the entire picture here. With what this base holds, we can unlock the secret to stopping the Reaper forces, you and I can-"
Shepard laughed suddenly, "So that was why you wanted me. You wanted your very own Commander Shepard puppet, not to destroy your enemies like I originally thought, but to be used to hand any Reaper technology over to you on a silver platter."
"You would have been the perfect tool for either occasion. Only you've been a liability before the beginning. You owe us, Shepard. You owe me." The man was now leaning forward, face set as he became more and more visibly agitated.
"I owe you nothing. I didn't ask for you to bring me back and I certainly did not ask to have the opportunity to work with Cerberus." Tali glanced over at him and he caught himself, giving her a knowing smile before turning back to face the Illusive Man, "But I am grateful for the second chance that you've given me. So I suppose I must thank you, at the very least. But that's all you're going to get out of me."
"I don't want your words, Shepard," the Illusive Man seethed. "I want you to step aside and hand over that base to me now."
"Words are all you've been giving me this whole time. I still don't see why I should continue to let the Collectors live so that you can play mad scientist with your brand new toys."
"They don't have to live! A timed radiation burst will kill everything living in that station. The Collectors will be gone and the attacks will stop."
Shepard ignored the man, walking over to a terminal on the platform, glowing green at his approach. Typing in command sequence, he spoke over his shoulder, "The attacks will stop, but on my own terms."
"What are you doing?!"
A final punch of a key and the screen closed. Shepard turned back around with a smug smile, "Watching you lose. I just set the station to overload its core systems in about ten minutes."
"You what!?"
"Ah, well," Shepard theatrically sighed. "Guess my finger slipped. Whoops."
"Disarm it right now!"
Shepard gave an exaggerated shrug, "Can't. Security systems here have no failsafes. That's rather unfortunate. Regardless, we're done here and I'm done talking to you."
The Illusive Man scowled, "As am I." He gave a curt turn of his head, never taking his eyes off Shepard, "Leng."
The last of the dust had dissipated by the time a crackling of static sounded. Just off to the left of the hologram, on the edge of the platform, the tactical cloak disabled and Kai Leng bellowed as he sprinted at Shepard, feet away.
Shepard was not expecting the man to be so quick but he managed to throw up his omni-blade just in time to block the slice from the ninjato. Leng, expecting a hasty reaction, whirled and thumped the cyborg solidly in the midsection with a well-placed kick, knocking him down and momentarily stunning him.
When Shepard made contact with the ground, his finger involuntarily clenched the trigger on his pistol, causing it to go off harmlessly in the air. He groaned as he tried to sit up but his vision filled with red as a silver blur passed in a diagonal arc towards his face. There was a long sting and blood flew as the sword scraped across his face, trailing above his eye, across his nose, and just above his mouth. He fell back on the ground, wincing as it felt like his face was on fire.
Tali cried out in surprise as she saw the shocking silver and black of his metal endoskeleton exposed underneath the thin layer of flesh and partial cartilage. Part of his jawline was revealed as blood dripped from his wounds. Tali tried to run over to help but was forced to jump backward as Leng started after her. Before he could strike, however, an azure wave slammed into the operative, knocking him to the side but still maintaining his footing as he skidded along the ground.
Kaidan clenched a glowing fist, "Here, you son of a bitch!" Snarling, Leng rushed the biotic, using his sword to bat away the weaker attacks Kaidan pushed forward. For a moment, it looked like one push would connect solidly with the human but he launched off on a foot and cartwheeled over the incoming blast. He performed a series of complex flips and crouched, studying his opponents and grinning.
"Hold still!" Kaidan yelled as he now produced his assault rifle. Checking to see if there was a clip in the gun, he brought it to his shoulder and fired. Leng, watching the human's every move, jumped to the side as the bullets passed him by. Kaidan cursed and adjusted his aim, firing again. The operative jumped once more as he now began to run, pace ever increasing. Kaidan, starting to panic, fired at will but Leng held up his arm and the kinetic barrier blocked all incoming shots, dissipating harmlessly against the invisible shield.
Before Kaidan could hastily swing his rifle at Leng, the other man ducked underneath his gun, pushing it aside and shoved his sword up through his armor, between his ribs. Shepard could only watch in horror as the biotic collapsed, clutching at the wound, blood spilling from his chest. He roared in response for his fallen comrade and charged at Leng, who jumped aside to dodge his mighty swing.
"Any more takers, Shepard?" Leng taunted as he stepped from his evasion.
"Come on then," Shepard spat, Tali behind him and out of harm's way. "Time's wasting."
"As you wish."
Leng jumped and thrust out a food in mid-air, looking for it to land on the cyborg's damaged face. Shepard ducked and held up an arm to collide with the blade as it clanged near his legs. Leng disengaged and backed up a bit before lunging in a thrust. Shepard barely moved aside and chopped his arm down to bring his omni-blade cutting across the man's back.
Impossibly fast, Leng threw himself bodily aside, Shepard's arm passing through air. Looking up, he saw the man produce a pistol and fire a glowing blue pulse at him. Shepard's weakened shields broke and electricity shot all over him but the armor conducted the brunt of the blast, allowing him to still stay coherent even as the disruptor rounds sparked in his face.
There was a boom and Kai Leng stuttered backward, face emblazoned with fury. Tali moved around Shepard and fired her shotgun, pushing the human back with each burst of her gun. Leng's shields fizzled but did not fail as he planted his feet firmly on the ground, being knocked back less and less with each salvo.
"Tali!" Shepard shouted, "Get back! Get away from him!"
The shotgun clicked as the heat sink automatically ejected and Leng seized his chance. He broke into a roll and as he exited, he swept his foot across in a quick arc, catching Tali's legs and sending her to the floor as well, her breath knocked out of her. Shepard ran towards Leng before he could strike her but the agent was prepared for this sort of attack. He lazily ducked Shepard's swing of the blade and used the commander's forward momentum to push him aside, turning him so that his back was now facing him.
There was a sharp pain in the back of his left knee and Shepard collapsed, temporarily unable to support himself. His leg felt sluggish, it had been critically damaged by the sword's swing. He tried to get on his knees so that he could face Leng, raising his right arm in defense when pain suddenly blinded him and he fell on the ground, momentarily blacking out.
For some reason, he couldn't feel his right arm. He tried to move his fingers when he tilted his head up, nerve endings firing blankly. A hand and set of fingers lay in front of him, wrapped in the black and red N7 armor he usually wore. Numbly, he looked at his right side and saw that his arm was gone. It ended halfway up his forearm as the black chassis sparked uselessly and the synthetic layer of skin was drained of blood. There wasn't as much pain as he thought, the replicated nerves only delivering so much data to detect mere flesh wounds. They just weren't programmed in to consider the effects of dismemberment, resulting in a tingling sensation from where his arm should have been. Horrid whirring noises came from his ruined arm and leg, servos desperately trying to work past the devastating damage as he faltered.
"John!" Tali cried from on the ground, lying on her stomach. "John, get up! Get- AAAHHH!" She screamed as Kai Leng's blade bit through the back of her shoulder and through her suit, pinning her to the ground. Blood ran down the blade as she shrieked, metal biting into bone.
Her suit's breached, Shepard could only think. Clenching his eyes shut, willing his lame leg to move, he shook on the ground and howled in misery, spit flying from his mouth.
The Illusive Man still stood to the side, sadly shaking his head, "Did you not think that there would be consequences, Shepard? That you could get away from us all this time? You thought that you could run roughshod over us. You've been arrogant and sloppy. Now you pay the price."
Kai Leng grinned as he knelt between Kaidan and Tali, the former groaning and rolling on the ground, the latter moaning and clutching at her shoulder where the blade was still embedded, as if she was trying to seal her suit from any further infections.
"She's not dead yet, Shepard!" Leng yelled victoriously. "This was just a taster, but you get to decide who gets the axe in the end." He pointed furiously at the incapacitated Kaidan, then at Tali as he wiggled the blade a bit in her shoulder, making her scream some more in pain. "Who's it going to be?! Your fellow human, or this disgusting alien bitch?"
Shepard's vision was turning hazy as he fought to clear it. He reached out with his left arm as his fingers grasped for purchase. Hate and all things unholy were flooding through his mind, focused on the figure standing over Tali. The thought of pulling the man's guts out through his mouth came to mind, and Shepard kicked out with his foot, pushing himself forward. Fifteen meters to go.
"You're going to crawl to the one you want to save, fucker," Leng hissed as Shepard groaned on the ground. The man's ugly face was the only discernable object as he reached out again and slid his body over the rough ground.
Next to him, Kaidan coughed and rolled on his back. His eyes widened, as if perceiving the commander for the first time. Far away, Shepard continued to uselessly clamber forward, still not towards any particular person, driven by rage alone.
Reach, grab, drag. Ten meters to go.
"Crawl, Shepard," Leng said quietly through clenched teeth. "Crawl."
Reach, grab, drag. Seven meters.
"If you lay with animals, you deserve to be treated as an animal," Leng roared. "Crawl, damn it!"
Reach, grab, drag. Three meters.
Kaidan winced as he started to sit up, unnoticed by Leng who was busy towering over the quarian with glee, basking in her agony, her sorrow. He craned his neck at Shepard, who was still pathetically crawling away. Kaidan's lips were flecked with blood as he coughed, trying to will his punctured lungs to retain enough air to speak.
"Shepard," the voice was little more than a ragged whisper.
The commander's head came up, white and black metal seeping underneath a pink covering as his eyes focused in despair. Kaidan smiled as he concentrated, letting dark energy fill his person, letting it overpower his injury for a short time. Shepard's look was confused as Kaidan continued to glow.
The biotic breathed in deeply, "I've...used up my...chance. It...isn't fair to...save me twice."
Kaidan, Shepard mouthed. No.
He shook his head, perfectly content, "Save her." Before anyone could utter a final word, form a final thought, Kaidan roared and shunted his hand out, a purple force bursting forth and catching Kai Leng in the side. The operative was pushed back a few feet, still clutching the sword that had stabbed Tali, who had grunted when it was pulled out of her. Kaidan got to his feet, blood streaming out of his mouth, trying to breathe around the red liquid when Leng sat up and hurled his sword. It spun three times in the air, point glinting in the dull light as it sailed over Tali, across Shepard's field of vision.
Kaidan grunted as he felt the point puncture him, the blade rudely pushing aside skin and organs as it continued on its preset path. He stumbled backward a few steps, nearing the edge of the platform, coughing lightly, staring mildly at the sword embedded in his chest. Shepard's face was held in pure horror as Kaidan gave a small smile, enjoying the moment together.
With a final look, he tilted his body back and let himself fall, face peaceful as his body tipped off the edge. And then he was gone. Without a trace, without a sound. Just gone.
Oh no...Kaidan…
Leng groaned as he leaped to his feet, drawing his pistol as he now stalked toward the edge, perhaps to confirm for himself whether the biotic was truly dealt with. He shook his head, remembering that his boss was watching and stepped over Tali's prone body to take a look.
In that instant, she struck.
Tali's arm scythed inches across the ground, her boot knife in her hand. The sharp blade bit through the achilles tendon in Leng's right foot and he screeched, tumbling to the ground, his pistol knocked over the edge of the platform. The second his guard was down, Tali was on him, rolling across and gripping his head in a lock. She wrapped her good arm around the human's neck as she pulled with her other. Her legs wrapped around his body, holding him in place. Leng spluttered in her grip as he wildly kicked his legs around trying to get free.
Shepard got to his feet and moved to pull Leng off but Tali screamed, "No! No, he's mine!" Startled, he backed off, limping as she continued to constrict her grip.
The Illusive Man stood, watching, his cigarette smoldering in his grip, a sour look on his face as his top operative was strangled before his very eyes. Leng's tongue was now darting out of his mouth, bloated, as his desperately tried to clear his airway for the slightest shred of a breath. Tali was grunting as she closed her eyes, feeling every cord of muscle in her body tense. She felt a bead of sweat drip down her nose as she fumbled with her breathing.
Kai Leng was turning as red as a tomato, starting to weakly scream as the last of his breath was expelled. His blows on the quarian's arms were starting to fade as they meekly slid across her suit. His legs were becoming more feeble as the staccato pattern they beat across the ground soon quieted.
Now was the moment.
With a yell that encompassed her anger for the man she was throttling, and for the love she held for Shepard, Tali wrenched her arms ferociously and Leng's neck twisted in an unnatural angle with a mighty SNAP! Instantaneously, all movement in Kai Leng ceased, his legs stopping in place, arms falling to the side. All of his muscles relaxed as the severed nerves failed to pass on the brain's instructions, head lolling to the side.
Tali continued to tightly clutch the humans neck with all her might, still unconvinced that the man was dead. Her body was shaking horribly as small sobs came from her voice modulator, tears ran unseen down her cheeks as she cried. It was only until she felt a gentle touch at her hands did she relax, gratefully grasping it and letting go of the hateful man as Shepard guided her up to her feet. The second she reached the top, she flung herself at him in a hug, trying not to look at the stump of his ruined arm.
A nearby glow caused the both of them to look to the side as the Illusive Man walked back into view, livid. "You may think you have won here, Shepard, but all you've done is weaken humanity. You may very well have already doomed us all with your misguided-"
Tali's hands shot to Shepard's back and yanked his pistol from its magnetic strip. She pointed it in the middle of the man's chest, right at the projector and snarled through her hot tears, "Shut up, you bastard." The tiny sphere exploded in a sea of jagged metal and molten plastic, the last view of the Illusive Man was of complete shock, his image winking out in a mass of static.
Tali's arm dropped to her side, "I hate him."
Shepard laughed weakly as he awkwardly hugged her with one arm, "God, I love you so much. Do you know that?"
A giggle burst out of her, "Yeah, kinda." Her hand lightly brushed the huge scratch on his face, the diagonal one that had cut down to the metal. "Are you in any pain? How badly does it hurt?"
He interrupted her impromptu examination by reaching up with his one hand as he looked at her shoulder, which was stained red around where the ninjato had entered and exited her body. "It's not that bad, actually. But...are you going to be okay? That blade punched clean through your suit, how much-"
"Arm's a little sluggish," she cleared up for him. "Auto sealants in the suit should have prevented any airborne infection from setting but I still think that I'm going to spend a few days bedridden regardless."
"As long as that bed is next to mine and you're fine, I'm okay with that."
"You bosh'tet," she teased.
When Garrus and the others finally arrived to pick up Shepard and Tali, they could see why it had taken them so long. Collectors of every shape and size had been swarming the platform while they had been busy in the central chamber. It was a wonder they had held out for as long as they did.
Not bothering to stop, Mordin maneuvered the platform close to theirs, so that they hopped on at the last minute. Once everyone was on board, it zoomed away, leaving their pursuers far behind. One minute later, the edge docked against the stable rock of the main structure, everyone scampering off and making for the ship at the far end of the hallway.
Shepard could not keep up with the rest of them so he yelled at his crew to go without him. This had the immediate effect of everyone ignoring his order, falling back to help their crippled commander. Garrus took Shepard's left side while Tali took his right, helping him along while Liara and Mordin covered them all.
The edge of the craft seemed to shine in the distance as they rounded the final corner. Aside from the quarian at his side, it was the most beautiful thing Shepard could recall seeing. Harbinger was on their tails, screaming the most vague threats as Shepard disregarded him. The Collector screamed in wrath as the Normandy departed, his voice touching Shepard's mind as he hobbled over to a spare seat.
"You have changed nothing, Shepard. Your free will is a concept long eradicated that you erroneously believe to be an irreversible truth. This is not a victory, this is only the beginning. Prepare yourselves for the arrival."
Then the spiderweb of red cracks vanished from the Collector willingly, the departure still turning the creature to dust, causing its cohorts to look at it with incredulosity, wondering why Harbinger had chosen now to leave.
The decision became obvious as flames hot enough to melt flesh exploded out of every wall. Shrieks and clicks filled the air as the methane rich atmosphere ignited with a whoomp! Pressure building inward, the flames burst in a wide radius, shattering every support, breaking into the beyond.
As the Normandy streaked away from the doomed station, it became rocked by the shockwave as the Collector structure detonated. A sphere of fire spread out from the pieces that were flung away, reaching toward the tiny frigate as it tried to escape, engines straining to stay ahead.
Thankfully, the rear of the craft glowed and it disappeared into the FTL void, the inferno engulfing the area it had just inhabited seconds before, undulating and churning the molten matter within. The light from the Collector's pyre eventually bent and angled away from the path sent from its momentum, turning towards the rip in space that lay millions of kilometers away.
The black hole calmly consumed the light as it brought forth the dark.