AN: Well, it was faster than the last? Either way, here's the next chapter. On a side note, there are a lot of movies coming out in the last few weeks and the next few. Kind of weird how bunched up they are, but I'm not complaining. Across the spiderverse really was amazing, I've never even read a comic book and it felt like I was watching one. Some of the other films were/look decent as well.

Chapter 37:

I shot off a singularity at the leading member of a group of husks. It hit straight on, the tendrils furling out and capturing the rest of the group in its grasp. Sending off one final blast of energy, I whirled back around and ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

The singularity exploded behind me as I moved, the sound deafening in the enclosed space. I hope it managed to bring down the hallway as well, but I didn't have the time to check. It didn't really matter as there was another entrance to our section of the hallway shortly after, but it would at least delay the collectors some. That was my hope at least, considering all the effort I'd put into doing so. I just had to hope it would be enough.

I caught up with the rest of the group quickly, crouched behind another console as they were. We were stuck at a crossroads, fending off collectors from 3 different directions, the whine of the lasers almost drowning out the gunfire. It was unfortunate how prevalent the particle beams were, as there was no good way of dealing with them. I could withstand one for a few seconds, but that didn't help when there was half a dozen targeting me. We couldn't stay here though.

"Fury, clear a path! Samara, cover her!" Shepard ordered when she noticed I'd rejoined.

Which way do we go? I had no idea at this point, I'm not sure If Shepard did either, there were too many collectors harassing us to check the map for every turn. Looking around as best I could, I noticed the path right had more cover than the others. There were large ribs circling around the hallway and several large crate-like shapes sitting in the centre for reasons unbeknownst to me. The other two paths didn't hold these crates.

"I'm going right." I told Samara, who nodded, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on fully enhancing my body. The enhancement joined the soft glow of the barrier already enshrouding me, settling close to my skin.

"Go!" Samara shouted as she leaned out of cover and threw two large blasts down the left and forward paths. I didn't waste the chance she gave me and leapt forward and over our own cover. My feet had barely touched the ground when I launched towards my chosen path. I used all the strength in my legs to leap up and to the right, my feet impacting high up on the side of the right path. I didn't pause here as I leaped even further up and to the left, flipping through the air as I did so that I struck the ceiling feet first.

Even so, I barely dodged the three particle beams fired at me from the collectors down this path. The one saving grace of their advanced weaponry was that it was tricky to aim. The same didn't hold for the more traditional weaponry the collectors used, but I just let my barrier absorb them as I concentrated biotic energy to my fist, packing as much as I could into it with the moment I had.

I pushed off the ceiling as the charge built up, flipped back around, and punched the ground to stop my momentum. I released the charge, the biotic energy exploding forward in front of me and knocking the collector's around. They were only disoriented unfortunately. I didn't have the time to charge enough energy to do more, even with how close they were. It was enough though.

I pushed off the ground using both hands, pushing back up to my feet in an instant. It let me lunge forward almost immediately, giving the collectors as little time to recover as possible. I swung my hands out, forming an Omni-blade in each that I reinforced in the time it took me to travel the dozen metres to the fallen collectors.

The first drone had only started getting up as I passed it, swiping out with the blade and bisecting the new corpse. The blade shattered straight after unfortunately, breaking on the natural armour of the collectors. I ignored that though, using the now free hand to grab the head of the glowing particle beam cannon being aimed at me and forcing it to point over my shoulder. I felt the heat of the beam pass me by but ignored it as I jabbed forward with my other arm and pierced the collector straight through its helmet.

I kept the blade inside of the corpse, using my biotics to keep the corpse in place. I then charged towards the final collector firing its weapon at me. It paid no mind to the corpse acting as my shield, but I made great use of it to close in on the collector. I proceeded to pierce it with the end of blade sticking out of the back of the collector I was still supporting with my off hand.

I jerked my blade arm upwards once it was inside the collector, taking off the head as the blade finally broke. Wasting no time, I grabbed one corpse in each arm and whirled around to face the other direction. Samara's earlier distraction had brough me about 10 seconds, which was all I needed to clear out this path. It didn't leave me the time to get behind cover though.

I'd passed by a ribbed section in my approach, and that was my goal. I moved as fast as I could, but the blinding light of the particle beams filled my eyes as the tow corpses in my hand were pushed back from the impact. I could also feel some other gunfire pinging of my own barrier, but I ignored that in favour of the larger threat.

I walked briskly towards the cover, too weighed down to run. That was with my enhancement mind you. I moved as fast as I could, but when I was only a metre away from safety one of the beams broke through the corpse on my right. It struck my stomach with a vengeance, my barrier and shield halting it only briefly before they too broke.

I jumped forward out of panic, slamming into the rib with great force as I left behind the two corpses. I put my back to the rib as I sank to the ground, holding my side. I could see one of the corpse basically disintegrating from the particle beam, it must be the one I'd already used as a shield.

The sound of my shield recharging calmed me enough to check the damage. Looking down, I found my armour blackened but otherwise alright. It hadn't pierced through, thank the goddess. That was too close.

"Fuck me."

"Fury! You alright?!" Shepard shouted out from the path I came from. My comms had been off, hadn't they?

"Yes! Give me a second and I'll cover you!"

I pushed against the rib to stand up, not having much room left beside me, but it was enough. There was no-one coming from the hallway I could see heading down, so I took a moment to first reform my barrier.

Next, I drew on my biotic well, pulling a much larger amount of energy than before. I directed it all to the hands I placed in front of me, rotating them slowly in a mimicry of my normal gesture. I didn't have the room to do it properly, but I almost didn't need the gestures at this point.

The sphere was small at first, but it grew larger the more energy I fed into it. After 3 seconds I whirled around the rib and thrust my hands forward, shooting the ball forward. It was now the size of my head, and it took less than an instant to hit the cover the collectors were hiding behind on the opposite path from me.

It didn't matter though, as the small sphere exploded into a massive singularity. Its grasp filled the entire hallway and then some, pulling every collector within 4 metres into its well. They were joined by a spiral of dirt lifting off the ground and spiralling around the gravity well.

This mass of collectors and other debris formed a giant clump that filled the hallway in its entirety, shielding us from any new collectors that would approach from that direction for as long as the singularity lasted.

This was the opportunity Shepard needed, as they could advance forward without worry of being hit from the side. In the meantime where I took out the right pathway the squad had been doing the best to occupy the rest of the collectors.

"Now!" Shepard shouted, and the rest of the squad charged forward to take out the remaining path. They did so quickly, and with great prejudice.

I stepped out fully from behind the rib now that the cover wasn't needed, meeting up with the squad a short ways into the path I was currently on.

Looking the squad over, I noticed that I'd joined Shepard and Garrus on the scorched side of the squad, the rest still unmarked in the fighting retreat we had been doing. I did make sure to keep my eye on the singularity humming behind them in case it failed early, however, which happened occasionally.

"Which way?"

"You picked a good guess." Shepard pointed behind me. Guess we won't need the other paths then. I held back for a moment as the others swept past me before I threw another biotic bolt at the singularity.

Its explosion was even more violent than the last, the sheer increase in size seeing to that. The preparation time I had showed, as this one ripped apart the collectors it held and destroyed the path in that direction. The shockwave it produced knocked me back a little, but the increased number of paths it could travel stopped it from being debilitating at the distance I was standing at.

"Come on! We're getting close now. We should be back on the path we took after the next turn." Shepard told us after consulting her map once more, turning off the Omni-tool after she did. At least this nightmare will finally be over.

We held a fast pace for the next minute, encountering no new paths or enemies. It was good to finally get a breather, as well as to be back on familiar ground. It let the tension I felt ease somewhat, I assumed it was much the same for the others. We weren't out of the woods yet, but we were getting close.

I saw the end of our current path after we rounded the corner, the opening releasing us into one of the main hallways of the ship. It was unfortunately also wide enough for far more collectors to be able to strike at us, and much straighter. The winding paths in the ship had actually been largely too our benefit, as the collector beams could strike from a ridiculous range if nothing interrupted their line of sight.

"YOUR RESISTANCE IS FUTILE! IT ONLY DELAYS THE INEVITABLE." the booming voice caught me off guard as a single glowing collector stepped out from behind a pillar further down the path, catching our attention. Its words were ominous, and for good reason as the screaming started soon after.

I couldn't tell from where though, the hallway large enough to be an echo chamber that bounced the sound around. That wasn't all though, as more drones started appearing. Something new as well, another collector which looked flightless, but it was also bigger. Much bigger.

"Form up! Fury, cover us." Shepard ordered as they opened fire. The collectors in front of us were still a long distance away though, so I looked around for something to throw at them or use as a shield. We were too exposed in our current position.

This let me see the husks charging towards our backs. Dozens of them streaming out from smaller paths that joined this hallway.

"Behind us!" I alerted the others.

Shepard glanced back to see the husks, then looked between them and the charging big drone coming from the front and cursed as her shots bounced fruitlessly off its carapace.

"Mordin, deal with the husks, use grenades if you have to. Fury, take out the big one, my gun's not doing shit."

"Got it."

I trusted her judgment, and they were just husks. The most dangerous part about them was they could grab you, but there was enough space for Mordin to comfortably deal with them.

I started running towards my opponent without a second thought, my biotics shrouding me once more. I only had a few omni blades worth of omni-gel left, so I need to ration them, but I would say the situation calls for it.

Dealing with the big one would be simple if it wasn't for the flying drones. The golden one seemed content to just hover where it was, but I couldn't worry about that now. Breaking away from the rest of the group took me out from behind cover, and a few of the drones were taking the chance to fire at me.

I weaved between the pillars supporting the hallway, just trying to move around as much as possible while I approached. In the time I was doing so, I charged up a singularity that I threw at the drones closest to the big one. It wasn't really enough to entrap more than one or two but served as a good enough distraction.

I formed an enhanced Omni-blade in the last moment, leaping up to stab the big collector in the brain. I'd expected this to be enough, as the blade went through its armour as easily as it did the regular drones, but I was wrong.

I found this out when its large hand wrapped around my leg and pulled me off. I barely even realised this before I was slammed violently into the ground. My barrier trembled from the impact, as it was the only thing that protected me from the blow, the armours shields were only really designed to deal with gunfire.

Particle beams could eat through shields so easily because they'd grown specialised, designed for use against massive spikes of kinetic energy, not directed energy.

Rather than let me go, the big collector pulled me up again and swung me around to hit the floor behind it, shattering my barrier this time as my breath was forced out of me. I couldn't take another hit like that, so I pushed through the pain to reform another Omni-blade on my arm and swept it through the creature's arm. I did so while it was swinging me again, so it sent me flying back towards the rest of the crew, the hand still wrapped around my leg.

I was in no position to stop myself, so I braced myself as best I could for what was going to really hurt. Luckily, another biotic glow surrounded me as Samara realised my plight, lowering me down to the ground beside her. It was almost a second thought for her, as I saw her form a singularity and throw another blast at the same time. None of this was particularly powerful, but the multi-tasking ability it showed was still impressive to me.

"You alright?" she queried, glancing down at me for a moment. I sighed raggedly as I pushed myself up from the ground. Feeling around my ribs for a moment I didn't find any sharp pains, so I don't think anything was broken.

"Just bruised, thank you."

"Of course."

I turned my eyes back towards the big bastard as I kicked away the hand. It was currently being fired upon by Garrus using his sniper rifle, but the impact was only knocking it back a little, stalling it rather than deal with it. The number of collectors flying about had decreased from the other efforts, and I couldn't hear nearly as much howling as before, but that didn't mean there was none, or that more weren't coming.

"I've got it Garrus, go back to the flyers." I voiced through the comms. It was easier than trying to shout over the chaos around us. I saw him glance at me and give a thumbs up before turning his rifle away to his task.

The golden being was still hovering there, observing us. It had to be for a reason, was it seeing what the big one could do? I'll think about it later. How many omni-blades have I got left? Checking my reserves … I had 2. It'll have to do.

The one good think about the larger collector was with its increased brawn, it lost much of its mobility. It couldn't fly, at least not easily, and its shambling run forward, while decently fast, was far from graceful.

I reformed my barrier, this time a much stronger one. It would only last for about a minute, if that, but I would say it was called for. I then resumed my other enhancements and ran towards the bastard. It saw me coming and anticipated I would do something like earlier as it swiped through the air in front of it. It would have hit me if I used my earlier plan, but I had been too confident then. I knew how much punishment this thing could take now, and I wasn't taking any chances.

I was running at full tilt using my enhancements when I reached the beast. I formed another omni-blade, then let my legs collapse beneath me. My knees slammed into the ground as I leaned back and started to skid forward along the ground. The speed I had been moving at was more than great enough to keep me moving on the floor. I slid with my back nearly touching the ground as I passed beside the collector and swung my blade into and through its leg, taking it clean off.

The instant I was past the collector, I slammed my free hand into the ground and used it as leverage to turn around and return to my feet. I skid back another metre as I did, leaving behind a furrow in the ground, but I stopped before the dismembered leg even hit the ground. I didn't waste any time before I charged towards the falling creature and stabbed my Omni-blade through it's back. Just to be thorough, I pushed my arm down and tore the blade diagonally through its torso, eviscerating it. The internal organs began falling out of the body even as it finally collapsed to the ground, dead.

I stood there for a moment out of breath. Taking that enemy out had been difficult, and I was starting to get tired. There were still more to do however, so I jogged back towards the group that had been advancing forward slowly as they kept the rest of the collectors off me. It seemed we'd managed to make a dent, but more would come.

".. you need to hurry, I managed to sabotage some of the operating systems but in doing so I was locked out, there isn't much time." EDI's voice came through the coms. Fuck! This was bad. I could still see so many collectors coming from both sides of the hallway. The ground was already slick with their blood and littered with corpses, but it made no difference, they were never-ending.

"Son of a bitch!" Shepard swore, taking stock herself. I agree, we were fucked here. It wasn't even that much further to the ship, but I remembered a large room close by that sounded like a great spot for a horde, or an ambush.

There was no time to worry about it though, I could hear the difference in the engines, the low hum they had fallen into was finally growing louder. They were powering up.

"Shepard, we need to run!"

"I know!" she snarled, shooting another collector down even as I pulled a collector into the way of another's particle beam. "There's too many of the fuckers though!"

I jerked my hand up, throwing another flying collector into the ceiling and making it fall on top of the husks running beneath it.

"We don't have the time!" I slammed my glowing hands together, crushing a group of three husks together that suddenly exploded. What the … that's new. The explosion managed to knock over a few more as well.

"I have an idea. The husks are different than before, they explode." Shepard sprayed out another magazine into the horde getting close to us at the front. There was a few of the big new ones scattered among the husks, which Garrus was focusing on. I'd taken over downing the flyers in the meantime, not that there was that many of them anymore, and Samara was doing a good job keeping the ones behinds us from getting closer. Our roles had basically swapped since the start of the mission.

"I noticed the explosions!" Shepard called out, swapping over her heat sink for the umpteenth time. How many of those can she possibly have? "You think you can use it?"

"Yes, now someone take over the fliers!"

"I got it!" Shepard nodded. Good, I would be an easy target for any of them soon. let's just hope this works.

The husks were pretty fast, but they were also spread out. I don't know if it was by design or coincidence, but the largest clumps were only groups of 3. When half a dozen were showing up every 10 seconds, it took too long to take them out. I had to group them up.

I pulled deeply from within, pulling up a decent chunk of the energy I had left. It streamed around my form in a fiery mass that I did my best to condense, but it didn't matter much either way. I needed to get closer before I could do this.

"Start running after me! I'll clear the path!" I called out to the group but didn't wait for a response as I took off. I ignored everything coming from behind me, tuning it out as I focused on my biotics. I grasped every bit of energy I could and began condensing it towards my arms. My hands would be better, but I didn't even bother trying what I know would fail. My arms were steaming already, the crackling energy too much for me, fatigued as I was.

I waited till the first husk was maybe 5 metres in front of me, then slammed my foot in front of me solidly and threw my arms forward with a roar. I pushed all the energy out in front of me in one, gigantic, pulse.

The shockwave tore off me, a visible wave of blue shooting forward. The recoil of doing so knocked me back, but I tensed my form up in anticipation and stiffened my legs. This meant I simply skidded back a short distance rather than fall over. That was in no way proportional to what was happening in front of me though.

The initial dozen husks straight out exploded when the wave hit, chunks of gore and energy shooting out everywhere only making my continuing attack even more violent. One of the big ones was hit next. It was picked up and flung back, and it was far from the last.

The pulse of energy continued forward, far faster than I could chase it. It slammed into and through dozens of the husks and big ones, the kinetic energy preserved by the enclosed space making the attack go far further than normal. It continued on, the pile of broken collectors building up until a giant mass of them finally hit the floor, close to the curve at the end of the hallway.

Many of the collectors were broken, their bodies misshapen, but they were still alive. They were also grouped up in one massive pile. I ignored the sudden pounding in my head as I gathered a little more energy into my right fist. I put enough for a decent blast, then threw it in the very centre of the pile, where the husks were clustered.

The resulting explosion was violent, visceral, and exactly what I'd hoped for. The shockwave slammed into me harshly, but aside from a small wobble in my stance I ignored it. I stood for a moment, my breath ragged as I gasped for more air than my suit could provide, but I didn't have the time to rest.

"Keep going!" Shepard shouted as she ran past me, Samara, Garrus and Mordin following soon after. I pushed past the burn in my lungs as best I could to follow.

Blue flesh littered the hallway near where the pile had ended up, the wall scorched and dented. The big one's were getting up unfortunately, too damn resistant for their own good. Luckily, they were pretty easy to dodge, as their limbs had suffered the most damage. One was better off though. It was about to slam into Mordin, the Salarian distracted and seemingly ignoring the sight.

I slammed a reinforced fist into the collector, knocking it over before it could hit Mordin.

"Watch your surroundings." I barked at him, ignoring his stammering after he noticed what I had done. We'll debrief later. For now, we just rounded the corner and were coming up on the home straight. The big chamber was just up ahead and after that was the opening to the final tunnel.

"It's the second left after the tunnel, hurry!" Shepard shouted, taking the lead. I was flagging back at this point but did my best to keep up. I had been running around a lot more than the others, and it was showing. Even Mordin was keeping a better pace than me. He was half a dozen metres ahead, to say nothing of the rest of the squad. It was the thing that saved my life, as I saw movement out of the corner of my eye just as I entered the chamber. I glimpsed a large moving body out of the corner of my eye.

"… look out …" I tried to shout at Mordin, but I was too out of breath to warn him in time. I barely had the time myself, as I had to throw myself to the left to dodge the beam that nearly hit me. I'd barely had time to dodge, my uncontrolled leap leaving me tumbling across the floor, vulnerable. The world turned around me as I was unable to focus on anything other than the aches and pains I was gathering from my tumble.

I finally managed to slam my elbow into the ground, stopping my uncontrolled movement. It hurt something fierce to do, but I'll worry about it later. I pushed myself up in an instant and slammed my hands together, pulling from within to form the strongest shield I possibly could. A pulse of energy was released around me as I did, the glowing shroud near white from the intensity it was letting off. I wasn't taking any chances here, I recognised those beams …

My heart was pounding and my lungs heaving even as I turned to find my personal nightmare slamming into the ground. It landed right next to Mordin's sizzling corpse …

FUCK! He didn't have a chance. I barely survived when it hit me the last time, and I was lucky. The laser had pierced right through his shield and I could see hid guts spilling out onto the ground.

"Shepard!" I shouted through the comms, just in case they didn't hear its arrival.

"I see it. I'm coming! Just stay safe …" Shepard's voice came through the comms, too far for me to hear otherwise. The colossus was in front of the exit, my only way though. Its glowing eyes were pointing at me and I tensed, ready to jump away, when gunfire hit it from behind me.

The giant bug screeched and turned around to find what was hitting it. This gave me my chance. I ran over to Mordin, hoping I was wrong and it wasn't as bad as it looked … I found his eyes staring at nothing. He was already gone. I grit my teeth but bottled it up for now, looking for a way to pick him up. That was when I heard the husks screams. More were coming from behind, … Shit! I don't … I can't …

I reached down with my hands to pick Mordin up, looking for the best way, but I knew it was no use. There wasn't the time. I snarled and ripped off his Omni-tool instead, putting it in a storage compartment. I locked my eyes onto the bug in my way.

I wanted to kill it. I wanted to so bad. But I didn't have the time. We didn't have the time. We'd already lost one squad member, let's not lose anymore.

"We're pinned! Fury? How are you and Mordin, can you find another way?" Shepard asked through the comms. She didn't know … I'm not telling her, not yet. She would stay here trying to rescue us until it was too late.

"Keep going and I'll catch up." I reported.

"What do you mean Fury? … Fury?!"

I ignored her calls, drawing upon my biotics once more. I didn't have much left in me at this point, but I put all of it into enhancing my body one last time. I burst forward a moment later, charging towards the giant bug full speed ahead.

I don't know if it was a coincidence, but the moment I started moving it slammed its legs into the ground violently, making it shake beneath our feet. I was far enough from the bug that it only threw off my balance, but it gave the bug the time to turn around to face me. I could see the damage the rest of the crew had done, it's face a wreck. We had learnt what those eyes were capable of. Still left the mountain of muscle though.

The bastard didn't stop there though, it started moving towards me. Husks had also emerged from the hallway behind me, so I didn't have a choice. I had to meet the charge head on. Fine.

I grit my teeth as I concentrated on the energy still reinforcing me. I pushed it as far as I could and started running.

Each step pushed me closer to the bug, and I quickly reached it. The bug raised its legs to repeat the earlier shockwave, and this time I was close enough that it would hurt. I wouldn't let it. I crouched down slightly on the last step I took before hitting it, and I launched myself up using all the strength I could from my right leg. My left foot was high enough to land on one of the bug's upraised legs, and I used it as a stepping stone to reach the head.

I flipped around as I moved up towards it, my right leg stretching out below me. I waited until I was slightly behind the head that snapped at me, missing narrowly, then I concentrated all the energy in my body to my right foot. Now!

I snapped myself around and struck the head with my metal foot. I burst the energy around my foot at the moment of impact, releasing all of it in an instant. Air exploded from the impact and the head snapped over to the left. That wasn't all, as the head visibly moved more than it should, a large crack echoing through the chamber. This momentum carried forward even further, the massive body falling forward due to the front two legs being lifted off the ground. It hit the ground and squashed a few of the husks, even as I was blown back myself.

I had no support in the air, and the sheer strength of the impact threw me back violently. I was an uncontrolled sprawl of arms and legs flipping around through the air, but before I hit the ground I was diverted through the air in a blue shroud. It pulled me into Samara's arms for the third time today. She grunted when I hit, still moving at high speed, but it would have been far worse for me if I hit the ground like that. My head was aching fiercely after that stunt, I was basically spent.

"I have you." Samara nodded down at me. I grunted in thanks, still breathless. Samara looked me over, then back over to the colossus that was standing up.

"Fury, where's Mordin?!" Shepard interrupted us as she shot manically at the husks even as she did.

"… dead …" I grunted, returning to wobbly feet with Samara's assistance. Shepard whirled around to me, eye's wide and a furious scowl on her mouth.

"You better not be fucking with me right now." She growled. What the fuck is wrong with you? We don't have the time for this.

"Let's go!" Samara narrowed her eyes at Shepard. I tried to protest when she put my arm around her shoulder, but I could use the help. Garrus was located at the tunnel entrance but turned around at the sight of us retreating. Shepard followed soon after and we made our way to the airlock with haste, passing by dozens of collector corpses.

"We're leaving, now!" Shepard shouted once we were within sight of the three. They followed her order immediately seeing the rush, and we dived into the ship straight after.

"Crew on board. Initiate take off." EDI called through the intercom.

"Roger. Everyone brace themselves." Joker's voice followed up before we were all thrown to the side. I wasn't sure exactly what happened next, but I assume we escaped as the flight levelled off shortly after.

"Fury! What the hell happened to Mordin?!" Shepard slammed me into the wall. No, you don't fucking blame me for this. I slammed my fist into her arm and kicked her back into the others. Grunt restrained her for me, thank the goddess.

"What the fuck do you think happened?! That bug almost killed me the last time we saw it. Mordin's armour isn't nearly as good as mine. Its laser burned straight though him." I reported, pushing down the anger I currently felt. Emotions were high right now, we can talk about this later.

"I only had time to grab his Omni-tool, it will show the medical data if you need proof." I spat, pulling out the device and chucking it her way. Tali was the one to catch it. "Now, if that's all?"

Shepard didn't say anything, so I took it as my dismissal. I need to go lie down, I could barely think through the pounding in my head. I should probably go to the med-bay, but I can't be fucked right now.

[POV: Shepard]

Mordin was dead.

His omni tool was connected to his armour before it … happened. By default, Omni-tools record the last hour of the vital signs the armour was sending to it. It showed exactly what happened to Mordin, how he was almost bisected using the laser. I imagine it was a gruesome sight, one I didn't feel like asking Fury for the recording. Fury would have had no chance to save him after the laser hit, and it's not like the rest of us noticed it as we ran through the chamber. The bug had just decided that Mordin was a good first target.

We'd had some close calls before, but then we always pulled through before. Everyone came back alive, if injured. Not this time. I hadn't wanted to lose another one, not after Virmire … considering how many close calls there'd been I'd almost believed that it wouldn't happen at all. I should have known better. Who knows if Mordin will be the last on this mission.

It should have been me. I should be dead in the first place, but no, Cerberus just couldn't leave me alone. Dying would certainly show them.

I knew I should have listened to my instincts, it was too good to be true. But the Illusive Man insisted.

"Commander, I have finished analysing the data from the Collector ship. There are a few anomalies in the data I am unsure of."

Well, I suppose this is what we came for, isn't it? Let's make sure something came from this shit show.

I didn't like the sound of anomalies though.

"What are they EDI?"

"I was going over the ship's logs, searching for how they traverse the Omega relay. In doing so, I found how the collector ship came to be waiting where it was. There was no mention of any Turian ships that I could find, as far as I can tell the ship travelled to its location and powered down fully. It laid there until we alerted the Harbinger."

There had been no Turian fleet? How did we even know about it in the first place then? I had been told by the Illusive man, but what were his sources? Had he been wrong … no. No, he wouldn't be wrong.

He would, however, lie to me. Make me go to the ship fully knowing the danger we would be in.

He didn't tell me!

He knew it was a trap! He knew, and he withheld that information. And for what!?

"Commander, the illusive man is waiting for you to call him."

Is he now? My eyes narrowed and I clenched my fists, my face remaining otherwise impassive. I think I'd like to have a little chat.

I stalked over to the meeting room and closed the door behind me, locking it so we wouldn't be interrupted. I stood there with arms crossed as the hologram surrounded me and the Illusive man's visage appeared before me.

"Shepard." He nodded, taking a sip from a glass next to him. "Congratulations on a successful mission. My condolences for the doctor."

"You don't get to say that!" I snarled, slamming my hands down onto the console, my apparent calm disappearing almost immediately. How dare he?! That was his fault in the first place. He didn't get to be sorry for it! He would be though.

The leader of Cerberus observed me for a moment after that.

"I take it you discovered my little lie then?"

"Of course I did! You put us all at risk without even telling me about it! We could have all died today, your mission for humanity would have been doomed, and it would be your fault." I grit my teeth, taking a few deep breaths to stop myself from just destroying the console in front of me.

"It was necessary. I had faith in your crew." He took another sip of his drink even as his mechanical eyes stared at me unflinchingly. He didn't appear remotely sorry about it. "We needed the information from the ship, and do you think a chance like this comes around often? No," he snorted, shaking his head. "Make no mistake, this was the best choice we had. I'm not sure the Normandy could even bring down a collector ship as it is now, and it's the best Cerberus has to offer."

"One of us died." I snarled.

"Mordin's use was largely over, it could have been worse, we could have lost Fury. We already have what we need about the collector biology, and Mordin wasn't much of a combatant."

How … how could he be so … callous? To just dismiss the death of one of my crew because they were no longer useful?! … he was a monster.

"Now, EDI has forwarded the data to me already, and we have what we need. The collector's use a Reaper IFF to get through the relay. We have a stroke of luck there, as I actually know where you can get one," he took another sip of his drink.

"I sent a team of scientists to research a derelict reaper we found in the Hawking Eta. They sent me back good data at first, but slowly stopped responding. I would be wary of what you find there. Further details will be sent through to Miranda."

The call then fizzled out leaving me alone. I took a deep breath, then whirled around.

"You mother fucker!" I punched the wall hard enough to dent it, leaving a sore hand than I didn't care about right now. He can't keep doing this, can't keep jerking me around without my say so.

The worst part was that he was somewhat fucking right. The collectors took a big risk trying to trap us today, powering everything down. It must have been a spur of the moment thing because it took the ship far too long to power up if it had been designed to be used for this purpose.

It left a bitter taste in my mouth that Mordin's work was the best support for this mission's necessity. He had tried to harvest data from dead collectors many times with no luck. They just stopped working once the drones dies. We needed a console, and they could only be found on their ships. This was the best chance we had, and I hated that I could even think that the illusive man was even somewhat justified in what he did.

He could have told me that though! He could have explained it, and I would have known the risks. I would have left Mordin behind If I did, I knew he wasn't as capable as the rest of the main combatants. And even with all our prowess, it had been too close. We didn't anticipate such a heavy response, as I would have brought bigger guns if I did.

Fury was a big part of our success today, I knew that. She likely saved all of our lives today. Not Mordin's though.

I was in the wrong when I blew up at her, I knew that. I was just so … angry. Angry at the illusive man. Angry at the collectors, … but even angrier at myself. Fury had responded with hostility as well, but I was at fault. Fury had deserved none of my anger, hell she probably tried to save him as well. She just didn't have the chance to do it, or to explain herself before I blew up at her.

She deserved an apology, but I didn't know how. I would like to say she was a friend, but 'was' might be the operative word. Tali was the initial sticking point between us, and when I took her side, it changed things. Avoiding her after that even more so, at this point it felt at best awkward.

I wanted to tell Fury, but the mission came first. It came before any of us, including me. So, even if it pained me to withhold information from her, I would do it. Our mission was too important, and I didn't know if Fury would stay if she knew what Tali had done. I'd like to think she would, but I didn't know her well enough to say, and she wasn't human. It wasn't personal for her like it was for me.

After all of this is done, I'll tell you everything Fury, that is my silent promise to you. … I just hope you'll accept my explanation, but I'll understand if you don't.

The mission comes first however, and the Normandy just wasn't cutting it. Miranda had mentioned that the ship could be upgraded further based on some of the new tech developed in the last two years while the ship was being constructed.

I'm going to abuse that.