Shepard watched as the Normandy disappeared into the blackness of space, before she turned her attention to Kasumi. "So what exactly are we doing?" Kasumi hadn't been forthcoming with the details regarding the op, but now that they had some privacy, Shepard was hoping the thief would be in more of a sharing mood.

"I had a… partner a while back. He had a kind of black box in his possession. We took a job and it… well it didn't exactly go our way. And the man who killed my partner, Donovan Hock, stole the black box. We are going to steal it back."

"And how are we going to do that?" Shepard inquired.

"You aren't going to help me, but Alison Gunn, will." Kasumi reached into a bag she'd brought with her, and produced what looked like a kind of mask to Shepard, which she handed to the Spectre.

"What is this?" Said Shepard as she accepted the device.

"It's a marvelous little device that can alter your appearance to look like whoever I program it to. You being the first and only Human Spectre, we wouldn't want anybody recognizing you, now would we?"

"How are we going to get inside?"

"Donovan is hosting a party, and the worst scum in the galaxy are invited. The worst of the worst of war profiteers and arms runners will be in attendance. Alison was invited, but ran into some complications on her way tere, so you will be taking her place."

"Won't she ruin the op if she shows up?"

"I wouldn't worry about that. We'll be long gone by the time she shows up, if everything goes according to plan."

Shepard resisted the urge to ask when anything went according to plan, instead saying: "And if they don't?"

Kasumi grinned. "I took the liberty of putting together a gift you'll be presenting to Donovan. A statue of your dear friend Saren. Your arms and armor will be inside. They'll take the statue straight to Donovan's vault, so getting in there is our priority."

"And how are we going to do that?"

Kasumi smirked, and filled Shepard in with the rest of the details as the shuttle came in for a landing. They were going to look for a LZ safely out of sight, then take a sky-car the rest of the way to Donovan's estate.

As the shuttle settled down, Shepard donned her mask while Kasumi activated her cloaking device, intent on following Shepard from a safe distance.

Once Kasumi confirmed the mask had completed the disguise, Shepard opened the shuttles door, and stepped out into city. The shuttle had landed in an isolated alley, located in one of the poorer districts, so nobody would pay too much attention to the LZ; but even if there were some curious onlooker, the shuttle would be gone by the time they arrived.

Shepard made her way through the slum as quickly as she could, Kasumi not far behind. "Reminds me of my childhood." The thief said absentmindedly.

"You grew up in a slum too?"

"Yeah. I remember my first heist. My partner, Keiji and I spotted a truck delivering food. Keiji pretended to get hit, while I helped myself to as much goodies as my little hands could fit in a basket."

Shepard smirked. "Could you have been any more cliché?"

"Yeah, it's been done before; but In our defense we were just starting out. And what do you mean by too?" Kasumi said defensively.

Shepard hummed. "I grew up poor too. My parents tried their best, but... we struggled. I enlisted as soon as I was old enough."

Kasumi was silent for several seconds, and Shepard knew what she was going to ask next. "What happened to them?"

Shepard frowned as she remembered her parents fate. "They saved up enough for passage to a colony on the frontier... Mindoir." She said solemnly. Mindoir had been attacked by Batarian slavers, and Shepard's parents had been some of the lucky few who were killed outright.

Kasumi remained silent for the rest of the trip, choosing to take in the skyscrapers and buzz of the traffic above them. Shepard however, remained squarely focused on her objective. They arrived at the pick-up, but just as they were enter the sky-car that would take them to Donovan Hock's estate, Shepard's comms pinged. The Normandy was trying to hail her, even though she was on strict radio silence. She paused briefly, unsure of what to do, before patching the transmission through, deciding that if someone decided to break silence, they'd probably have a good reason. And unfortunately, they had a damn good reason.


Joker sat in silence as the Normandy decelerated, trying (and failing) to keep his composure, which EDI noticed.

"Mr. Moreau." She said, to no response. "Mr. Moreau." She repeated, more loudly this time. Again, no response. "Jeff!" She shouted.

Joker flinched in his seat, and he turned to face EDI's holographic display. "What?"

"You were not responding to my request." EDI said, her voice returning to it's more typical tone.

"S-sorry, what were you saying?" Joker asked, his voice betraying his fatigue.

"We should contact Kara, and inform her of the crews capture."

"Yeah... yeah that sounds like a good idea... what about Shepard?"

"Shepard instructed us that we were not to contact her until after her mission. Doing so might comprise her and Kasumi's safety."

Joker, being too tired from his recent experience, didn't question EDI. "Okay. Call Kara, and let's hope she handles this better than I did."

EDI paused, regarding Joker's condition. "There was nothing more we could have done to help the crew, Jeff." She said, her voice almost sounded concerned.

Joker was quiet for several seconds. "I know, I know... I just... I just wish we could have done more..."

"As do I, Jeff."

Kara had just finished a briefing with the rest of Artemis, informing them that the assault on the Collector base was imminent, and they were to regroup with the Normandy at the Omega relay, when she saw that the Normandy was attempting to contact her.

She patched the communique through, and heard Joker's voice on the other end. "Hey Kara... we uh, we just got hit. Me and EDI are the only ones left."

Kara felt her blood run cold. "What's your status?"

"The Normandy's fine now, but the Collectors captured the rest of the crew, and I have no idea what the fuck we're supposed to do." Joker whimpered, teetering on the edge of shock.

Kara clenched her fist. She sent an order to her team to converge on the Normandy's position ASAP, then turned her attention back to Joker. "Stay where you are, my team will be there shortly."

"Whatever you say. Normandy out." Joker terminated the transmission.

"Serina?" Kara snarled.

"Already on it ma'am." Serina said as the Dreadnought opened a wormhole. The AI was silent as Kara stormed her way to the hangar, only speaking as Kara climbed into her fighter. "Rocket will be fine, Kara." She said reassuringly.

"Not if we don't hurry." Kara hissed.

Joker tapped his foot anxiously as he watched Artemis's ships enter the system two kilometers off the Normandy's port bow. The sensors alerted him to Kara's fighter and a dropship fast approaching.

Kara moved to enter the cargo bay, while the dropship was going to board the Normandy's docking tube. EDI handled the docking procedures, while Joker sat in silence, staring at his feet. He heard the metallic clangs of the dropship dock behind him. The door opened, and Laura, Nora, Samantha and Machiko all burst through, their weapons at the ready.

Joker raised himself out his chair, and turned to face them. "There's nobody else here but me." He said. "You can put the guns away."

Laura relaxed as she addressed Joker, while the rest of the team moved down to the CIC, clearing the deck. "The Normandy was compromised Joker, we need to give it a once over ourselves, just to be safe."

"Whatever." Joker sighed. After a few minutes, Artemis declared the Normandy secure, and Kara joined Joker on the bridge.

"Have you contacted Shepard yet?" Kara asked tersely.

EDI's hologram appeared. "Shepard ordered us to maintain radio silence until she contacted us." The AI said.

"Are you-" Kara roared, so full of rage, Joker flinched as his eardrums trembled under her voice.

Kara's jaw snapped shut like a bear trap as she caught the outburst. She took a deep breath before she continued. "Be that as it may," She growled, her voice barely containing her frustration, "I'm sure Shepard will forgive our breach of protocol when she understands the situation. Now, call her." She snarled.

EDI was silent for a moment, before responding. "Contacting Shepard."

Another moment passed, then Shepard's irritated voice echoed through the ship. "You'd better have a-"

Kara cut Shepard off. "The Normandy was attacked by the Collectors, and Joker and EDI are all that's left. I'm scrapping your op; get back to your shuttle and regroup with the NormandyASAP, over." Kara paused, giving Shepard time to process what she said.

After a few moments, the Human responded. "Solid copy, we're on our way, Shepard out."

Kara turned her attention to EDI and Joker. "EDI, is the IFF still functional?"

"Affirmative."

"Good. Get the Normandy combat ready ASAP." Kara growled.

Joker's jaw dropped in disbelief, realizing Kara's intent. "Are you serious?"

"Now." The Hunter snarled as she turned to leave.

Kara stood inside the Comms room with Joker as she waited for Shepard, resisting the urge to slam her fists into the table. Laura approached her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine boss."

Kara simply growled. "Only if we get there in time." Footsteps reverberated through the deck as Shepard approached the comms room.

The door opened, and Kasumi and Shepard entered the room. The Spectre was silent as she came to a stop, taking note of Kara's dour state.

"Kara wants us to attack the Collector base." Joker muttered, obviously believing her to be insane, and hoping someone else would back him up.

An uncomfortable silence followed. The odds were already stacked against them before, but now, there were only three members of the Normandy's crew left (not counting EDI or Kara), and Kara was saying they were going to proceed anyway. It was insane, but eventually Shepard came to the same conclusion Kara had. It didn't matter what losses they suffered, they had a mission, and they had to see it through.

Shepard broke the deathly silence. "What's our plan of attack?" She asked, hoping Kara actually had a plan.

Kara uncrossed her arms, and leaned on the table. "We are going to use the Normandy for reconnaissance, to map out the "safe zone" on the other side of the relay. Once that's been determined, I'll use the ship as a beacon to receive reinforcements from my battlegroup. My ships will handle whatever defenses the Collectors have, while we assault the base directly."

"Who's we?" Kasumi asked.

Before Kara answered, the rest of Fireteam Artemis entered. Samantha, Machiko, Nora and Laura entered the room. The Comms room suddenly felt small as it barely managed to fit them all inside. "I already called the Dreadnought here so we can re-arm. Our odds weren't great before, but now, with less friendly's to worry about, my team will be able to field deadlier arms and armor to compensate, and so will you."

Shepard's brow twitched upon hearing "so will you", but she remained silent as Kara gestured for her and Kasumi to follow. They took the shuttle to dock with the now present Dreadnought, and Kara quickly took them to the armory.

Kara ordered a mule be sent to her position, and in the meantime, selected her equipment. She swapped out her usual plasma based weaponry for a more destructive loadout.

She replaced her plasma rifle for a micro-missile launcher. A belt fed cannon that fired rocket propelled 40 millimeter explosive rounds at 400 rounds per minute. For her armor, she attached an armored "backpack" containing a nuclear fusion reactor, that powered not only her shields, but also the two attached shoulder mounted plasma lances connected to it, each would fire a concentrated beam of plasma.

Laura didn't change her gear much, keeping her plasma cannon, and replacing her armor with a powered armor set, with plating 3 inches thick and weighing nearly 30 tons. The combined shields and armor plating meant she was effectively a bipedal tank. The reactor she wore had an attached unstable plasma mortar. Unlike the stabilized plasma rounds that expended all their energy upon impact, once these rounds impacted their initial target, the ball of plasma would explode in a 10 meter radius of superheated flame and gas, disintegrating everything caught in the blast.

Nora pulled out a five and a half foot anti-material railgun. The weapon had a magazine of 10 rounds, each seven and a half inches long, accelerated to mach 10. The weapon would obliterate practically anything on the receiving end. Her reactor also powered plasma lances.

Samantha chose gear that emphasized speed and CQC, keeping her SMG's, but swapping out her usual armor for a set that connected to her helmet (and therefore brain) allowing her to utilize the suit at speeds that significantly enhanced her already supernatural abilities. She also carried two shoulder mounted coilgun LMG's, each loaded with blocks of metal, firing rounds 1.5 inches long.

Machiko chose a more defensive loadout, carrying shield projectors rather than additional weaponry, allowing her to defend anyone who's shields collapsed, although the nature of the protective fields would prevent that person from returning fire. Serina would control all the auxiliary weapons systems Artemis was wearing, providing them with much needed fire power.

Kasumi and Shepard were armored with makeshift metal plates made from disassembled spare armor. The plates had been hastily re-shaped to render them usable by the much smaller human women. The two put on the "soft" armor undersuit, composed of snake like scales that would disperse kinetic energy across their bodies, then slipped into the "hard" armor plating. The plates were eight millimeters thick, and rather than the fully body armor most Alliance soldiers wore, they covered the human's heads, shoulders, arms, legs and torso's.

Shepard noticed with some intrigue that the undersuit and plates fit shockingly well, considering the short time frame in which they'd been made. When the truck sized, four legged mule arrived, the group of women returned to the Normandy's cargo bay, and while Joker approached the Omega relay, the ground team began their final preparations.

The mule knelt, and its spine opened, revealing its internal storage compartments. Everyone began to stuff the drone full of as many weapons, grenades, and spare ammo as it could carry, totaling several hundred pounds of gear.

Kara sealed the mule, and gave the simple AI controlling it the order to stay close to her as the Normandy began its approach to the Omega relay.


Rocket slammed his fists against the pod he'd been stuffed in as hard as his cybernetically enhanced body could manage, his heart pounding in his ears, his breathing ragged.

His mind was as trapped as his body, caught in a never ending slideshow of his memories of Half-world, of the months spent as a lab rat. Only now, they weren't just memories, they were a premonition. He knew exactly what the Collectors would do to him, and this time, his captors would have no intention of putting him back together again.

He began hyperventilating as his panic grew, his eyes squeezed as tight as possible as he felt the shadow of death looming over him. His wild eyes caught sight of his wedding ring, and a small glimmer of hope flickered to life. He clutched the ring tightly against his body, pouring all his hope into it.


Kara and the rest of Artemis joined Shepard, Joker and Kasumi on the Normandy's bridge, watching silently as the ship sailed towards the Omega relay.

Joker inhaled deeply as he calmed himself. "Alright ladies and… bigger ladies, commencing suicide in three…two…"

Shepard clenched her fist, steeling herself. "One." Joker muttered as the Omega rellay enveloped the Normandy in a mass effect field.

In an instant, the Mass relay launched the Normandy across the galaxy, dropping them in a scrap heap. Or to be more accurate, a graveyard.

Outside the viewport, they could see that they were surrounded by hundreds, possibly thousands of destroyed hulks, if not more, the remnants of exploratory vessel now endlessly dancing in death.

Joker hesitated, gazing upon the remnants of the foolish and brave that had preceded them, a small part of him wondering if the Normandy was about to join them.

He was snapped out of it when he spotted a wormhole being ripped into existence off the portside bow. Three ships emerged from its depths. Two destroyers, and a transport carrying mechanized infantry and armor support, which would play a vital role in easing the pressure on Shepard's team.

Joker sighed, and coaxed the Normandy into following the two destroyer escorts as they plowed through the corpses of ships that surrounded them.

The difference between the atmosphere inside the Normandy and the lack of one outside felt non-existent, both drowning in deathly silence. What felt like an eternity had passed before Kasumi spoke, the sudden, unexpected noise causing Joker to flinch. "What's taking them so long?"

Kara let loose a low grumble in response. Kasumi had a point. Their entering the system wasn't exactly subtle, so the Collectors had to know they were here. Kara gazed more intently at the debris passing by them outside. Their progress was painfully slow. The destroyers could push through the scrap heaps without worrying about being damaged, but the Normandy didn't have such luxuries. impatient, Kara consulted her mission timer, which informed her that nearly five minutes had passed since their arrival.

Her frustration only grew with every passing second; visions of the Collectors inflicting unspeakable horrors upon her beloved, and her comrades threatening to invade her mind, when the Normandy's sensors suddenly displayed numerous contacts, surrounding them.

Almost as soon as the sensors lit up, Joker sent the Normandy lurching forward, narrowly avoiding fire from a Collector ship hidden on their starboard.

The Collectors knew they were coming, and had positioned their ships amidst the graveyard. And now the Normandy was dead center in the killzone.

The destroyer escort reacted swiftly, firing scores of beams of plasma that effortlessly burned through the junk in their way, before impacting their target, resulting in lines of superheated slag scarring the Collector ship's surface, followed by a series of explosive decompressions.

More Collector ships opened fire, and Joker was forced to fly close to one of the destroyers, but in spite of his and EDI's best efforts, one of the rounds impacted, and the Normandy shuddered in response. "The cargo bay has taken damage, and is now inhospitable." EDI reported. Joker breathed a sigh of relief as the Normandy entered the nearby destroyer's protective aura, the vessels shields tanking the rounds meant for them.

The Collector vessels continued to fire at the Normandy, ignoring the other destroyer even as it returned their fire tenfold, a beam bisecting another vessel from stem to stern.

Fire continued to pour in from every direction, and Joker moved the Normandy under the belly of the nearby destroyer for further protection as they pushed through the storm, coming within 100 meters of the ship, close enough that Shepard could see a plasma battery roughly the size of the Normandy swivel, targeting a cruiser that maneuvered behind a sizeable chunk of debris. The battery fired, and twin beams of searing plasma burned through the vacuum, impacting the chunk of metal. It resisted the heat for only a moment before the plasma burned angry white hot holes through it, and impacted the cruiser behind it, skewering the vessel.

Shepard clenched her teeth in frustration as she watched the battle outside. She hated the fact that there was nothing for her to do but wait and watch the exchange of fire from inside the Normandy, and a sideways glance at the rest of the crew showed they shared her frustrations. The Collectors had more ships at their disposal than she'd realized; there were dozens of the insectoid cruisers prowling the void.

Shepard's patience was rewarded however, when the Collector base appeared in front of them.

"Finally." Nora muttered.

"EDI, we got any idea where we're landing?" Joker asked.

"I do not." EDI responded. "We don't have enough information on the Collector base."

As the station came into view, the transport ship accelerated, shooting past the Normandy and its escort, and Shepard could see what looked like missiles being fired, and seemingly endless swarms of the flying drones Kara used launching from the vessel.

"What's it doing?" Kasumi asked.

"It's launching boarding torpedoes. We'll need the distraction once we're in." Kara said.

Another volley lanced forward from the destroyers, aimed at the final hostile vessel between them and the station, but the ship managed to perform evasive maneuvers just before impact, resulting in a sizable chunk of the station's hull being blasted away.

Kara winced, hoping nothing (or nobody) important had been caught in the line of fire. A second volley finished off the vessel, impacting the ships reactor, resulting in a spectacular detonation, adding hundreds of pieces of debris to the graveyard.

The small battlegroup drifted closer to the Collector station, and once they were in range, Kara transmitted a sensor ping. Every member of Artemis carried with them an IFF transponder, including Rocket, and Kara was hoping that she could use it to find him, and the rest of the crew.

After a few seconds, Kara received the return signal, indicating Rocket's IFF was near the core of the station. Kara growled, then sent the data to EDI. "Find us an LZ as close to here as possible, then stand-by to receive survivors." She ordered.

Joker looked to Shepard, who nodded. "Do it."

"Aye aye, Commander." Joker replied, before accelerating. "EDI, got anywhere we can land?"

"Affirmative, head to these coordinates Joker."

The Normandy drifted past the remnants of the station's defense forces, settling in for a landing near the hull breach from earlier. From there, it was nearly half a kilometer trek to Rocket's IFF tag.

Kara cleared her throat. "Alright everyone, let's get to the cargo bay, I want to move as soon as the Normandy touches down."

"Agreed." Shepard commented. The less time they wasted, the better. Shepard and Kasumi donned their helmets, and joined Artemis as they entered the gutted cargo bay.


The ground crew stood assembled at the cargo bays loading ramp, ready to descend the instant the ramp was lowered. Artemis was positioned in a wedge formation, approximately five meters between each of them. Kara, Laura and Nora, being the most heavily armed, were at the front of the wedge, Sam and Chiko at the rear. Shepard and Kasumi were positioned at the bottom of the formation, forming the base of the triangle. The mule (which was miraculously undamaged) was inside the wedge, ensuring it was close enough to provide a quick resupply, and relatively safe.

Joker's voice echoed through the speakers as Kara felt the Normandy decelerate, causing the ground beneath her to shift. "And we… are… go!" He shouted, the ramp descending the instant the ship touched ground.

Kara, Laura and Nora rushed forward, stopping at the base of the ramp, ensuring the LZ was clear.

Nothing but silence greeted them. Kara waved the team forward, and they approached the edge of the breach, the metal still glowing white hot. She approached the edge, and peered over, keeping her weapon at the ready. She could see that there was a passageway not far below, a good ten meters; hopefully it would lead to the where the crew was being held. "Careful." Serina cautioned. "Artificial gravity is still functional." Kara huffed Artemis would be able to jump down and back up the hole without issue, but the rest of the crew would have to climb out.

Kara plucked a rope from her belt, and Samantha pulled out a metal spike. Kara tossed down the length of the rope while Sam plunged the spike into the hull. Kara secured the rope around the spike, then tested the knot, leaning over the edge while holding the rope.

Satisfied, Kara pulled herself back over the edge just as Shepard and Kasumi caught up to her. She opened a channel to them. "Our first priority is to find a terminal to upload Serina. From there, we'll get a layout of the station, then we'll find the crew."

"Sounds good. We'll follow your lead." Shepard said.

The members of Artemis jumped down the hole two at a time as Shepard and Kasumi stowed their gear in preparation for their descent. As she gripped the rope, Shepard noticed that it was composed of remarkably thin metal fibers, more than enough to hold any and all of the Normandy's crew.

Shepard descended quickly, albeit a bit awkwardly at first. The lack of gravity required her to pull herself down the rope head first, ensuring she kept one hand gripping it as tightly as possible at all times. When she suddenly felt the artificial gravity kick in, she flippled head over heels, and she stifled a curse as she tightened her grip.

Like all N7 operatives, Shepard had trained extensively in zero-gravity operations, but it didn't mean she liked them. She contorted her body as she fell, making sure she didn't dislocate her arm as she twisted around the rope.

Kasumi did the same (although with more fluidity and grace) and the two reached the bottom of the passage, joining the rest of the ground team.

They pushed through the insectoid station for a little ways, before reaching a large bulkhead.

Laura and Machiko stacked up on either side, and dug their claws into the seam, waiting for Kara's word. With no cover in the chamber, Shepard and Kasumi positioned themselves on Kara's flanks, while Sam and Nora stood on either side of them.

Kara nodded, and they started to pry the bulkhead open, the metal screeching in protest. It opened to reveal an entire platoon of very surprised Collectors on the ground floor of the chamber, with two dozen more manning the two walkways on either side of the ceiling.

"Make them bleed." Kara roared, launching a single round from her cannon which impacted one of the Collectors near the center of the formation.

The detonation blew apart its torso, ripping it in half and turning bone and bloody chunks of the aliens exoskeleton into shrapnel, which tore apart four more Collectors, and wounded two more.

the Collectors room had (what would normally be) more than enough solid cover to hide behind. Many flew up into the two passageways on either side of the ceiling, and began to rain down retaliatory fire on the intruders.

Shepard flinched involuntarily as the sound of hundreds of rounds impacting against Kara's shields assaulted her ears. She overcame her initial surprise, and took aim at one of the Collectors that had been wounded by Kara, putting it out of its misery with a burst through its skull.

Laura took aim with her weapon, targeting the walkway overlooking the right side of the chamber, and fired. An unrelenting stream of shrieking plasma spewed forth, catching three Collectors in the open, killing them. The rest ducked behind the edge as Laura fired down its length. With her targets suppressed, Serina fired her plasma mortar.

The air screamed as the crackling ball burned through its arc, leaving a hauntingly beautiful trail of ionized gas behind it.

When the round impacted, there was a second scream as the energy that shaped and guided the orb collapsed. The Collectors caught in the immediate vicinity flash vaporized, leaving nothing behind but the shadows of their ghosts. The ones not fortunate enough to die in the initial explosion spontaneously combusted, and began to writhe and dance in agony as their fiery shells cooked them alive.

Kara pushed forward, focusing on the hostiles that remained on the ground floor. She ignored the rounds fired at her from above, and shot at the ground close behind the Collectors cover. Her rounds bathed them in shrapnel and organ shattering concussive energy, their cover doing nothing to protect them from the indirect fire.

While Kara mopped up what little was left of the Collectors on the ground, Serina fired Kara's plasma lances at the support pillars holding up the left walkway. The metal turned white hot as the plasma turned it into slag, and the walkway began to sag.

"Kara, hit the supports!" Serina barked.

Kara spun, and fired into the weakened pillars, blowing apart the superheated metal, and sending the walkway crashing into the ground. Most of the Collectors that had previously occupied the walkway had reacted quickly, but were left floating in the open air, and Serina dragged the lances through them like a paintbrush, their bodies exploding in spectacularly gory fashion as the beams passed through them.

What few Collectors were left began to retreat. Artemis cut down as many as they could, but a handful managed to escape. Kara hoped the mechanized forces elsewhere in the station would distract them, but past behavior from the Collectors kept that hope faint.

The Collectors were expendable, and Shepard was clearly their priority. Now that they knew where she was, they should expect trouble, and lots of it.

A shout from Samantha roused Kara from her thoughts, and she rushed to join her. Sam had found a terminal, damaged, but functional. Kara pulled Serina's chip from her Ancilla, and inserted the AI into the device.

Artemis assumed a defensive position as Serina began her infiltration. There were three more bulkheads in the chamber, to the left, right, and in front of them. Not to mention the doors to the walkways above them. This meant the Collectors could attack from five directions, and who knew how many were coming? "How long do you need?" Kara asked as she crouched, taking aim at the right bulkhead.

"A few minutes, at least. They've made some upgrades in counter-intrusion, and there's a lot of data to sift through." There was an uncomfortable silence for several seconds as Serina worked. "Heads up ladies, those squealers are back, and they've brought plenty of reinforcements."

The team separated into three groups; Laura and Nora were watching the left door, Shepard and Machiko were watching the center, and Kara, Samantha and Kasumi were guarding the right side.

The teams had just barely gotten into position when the first group of attackers arrived, breaching the left door, only to be greeted by a hail of plasma fire from Laura.

She managed to kill nearly a score of them as the door opened, but the Collectors quickly took flight. So rather than being trapped on the ground and forced into a death funnel, they were able to disperse throughout the room, forcing the rest of the ground team to return fire.

Kara snarled in frustration. The targeting systems belonging to her weapon and armor, as well as her augmentations made hitting the Collectors easy enough, but there were so damn many of them. For each one Kara killed, two more would enter the room. The Collectors were (almost) literally dropping like flies. Laura's plasma mortar would light dozens at a time ablaze as the orbs sailed through the air, sending their flaming corpses crashing to the ground.

The plasma lances created a dazzlingly gory lightshow as they burned through the air, and their targets. Shepard was grateful her helmet was sealed and had its own oxygen supply, otherwise the smell of charred flesh would have sent her reeling.

"Got it! I've got control of the security systems!" Serina shouted in exuberance, and just in time, the doors the Collectors had been pouring through slammed shut.

The ground team began mopping up the many stragglers inside the room. As Shepard took aim, she felt something grab her from behind, and she let out a yelp of surprise as she was hoisted into the air.

Shepard was nearly twenty feet in the air when someone shot the Collector. Unfortunately for Shepard, it was Kara who had shot it.

As the Collector exploded, Shepard felt her armor be pelted by the shrapnel, and the blast wave threw her to the ground unceremoniously. She landed with a hard thud, and she felt an entirely alien sensation as the scaled under-armor rippled in response, attempting to disperse the kinetic energy across her body.

Shepard stood groggily, and after a few moments, her balance returned. The last of the Collectors fell, torn apart by a hail of fire from Samantha, and the air fell silent.

"Serina, status." Kara ordered, taking a moment to check on Shepard, who flashed her a weary thumbs up.

"Just… about… found them! The crew is being held here." Serina pushed the location to the team, and Kara saw that the Normandy crew was located a few hundred meters above their current position, on the western side of the station. She checked Rocket's IFF, and snarled.

Rocket was being moved, and he was on the complete opposite side of the station. Kara turned to face the rest of the team, a scowl plastered on her face.

The rest of the team already knew what was going through Kara's mind

"Who's going with you?" Machiko asked, completely aware of Kara's intentions.

Kara consulted the data Serina pulled. There wouldn't be much resistance on the way to Rocket. The routes to the Normandy crew on the other hand…

"No-one." Kara said tersely as she began to move.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Nora said, moving to follow.

"No, but it's mine to make. Besides, there's more resistance where you're headed, you'll need everyone for a chance to get through." Kara responded as she exited the chamber.

Kasumi gazed at Shepard. "Do you think she'll be alright?"

Shepard nodded in response. "We should worry more about ourselves. Come on." She said, following Serina's waypoints, the rest of the team close behind.


Kara moved as quickly as she could, forgoing stealth, knowing full well that Rocket didn't have long. As she ran through the cavernous halls of the station, she noted that their plan seemed to be working. The majority of the Collector stations forces were either tied up dealing with the boarding parties under Kara's command, or had been enroute to attack Shepard and the rest of Artemis, and were subsequently trapped when Serina took control of the stations security.

But all that really meant, was the mission had gone from a suicidal one, to an extraordinarily difficult one. Kara came to a stop as she reached another bulkhead; the other side of which contained a small but dangerous force. Serina patched Kara into the cameras, and she saw three of the larger, armored husks she'd previously encountered on the derelict Reaper, accompanied by an upgraded version of the crustacean-like creature they'd engaged on Horizon. No doubt accomplished by increasing the number of human corpses used in its creation. The chamber they resided in was characteristically massive and sparse, giving Kara plenty of room to maneuver. She rolled her head and shoulders in preparation, and readied her weapon as Serina opened the door.

As soon as the seam was large enough, Kara let loose on the first target. Its body was torn asunder as the rounds detonated, effortlessly tearing through its armor. The next two fell just as quickly, leaving only the crab left.

The creature angled its "maw" upwards, and fired its particle beams. The energy impacted Kara's shields, and drained them a full quarter.

Before it could fire again, Kara bolted into the chamber, firing at the monster. The rounds impacted with earth shattering force, pushing the Collector back, leaving deep dents in its armor plating.

It let out an ear-piercing shriek in anger as Kara continued to fire, running circles around the creature. Its armor took a beating, but withstood the attack, forcing Kara to adjust.

She shifted her aim to target the creature's limbs, aiming for the more lightly armored joints. It screamed again as its mechanical limbs snapped, sending the creature crashing into the ground; immobilized but alive, the monster continued to roar in anger as Kara left it behind, not bothering to waste anymore time on it, and followed her waypoint.

Kara came to a halt as she saw Rockets IFF was now below her, on the other side of a chasm. She sized up the distance between her and her objective, then backed up for a running start.

The Hunter holstered her weapon, and with her jaw and fists clenched, she exploded forward, pushing herself as hard as her body could manage. The reverberations of her feet colliding with the deck beneath sounded like bombs with the force expended.

In less than the blink of an eye, Kara reached the edge, and launched herself with all the force of an RPG across the chasm. There was a brief sensation of weightlessness as Kara sailed through the air, as if gravity itself was stunned by the display, before she began to fall.

As she drew closer to the ground, Kara tucked herself into a ball, placing her left hand over her right, and placing them both near her left foot.

When she hit the ground, she rolled, once, twice, three times before she unfolded, and dug her claws into the deck, the metal screaming as her claws cut through the floor.

When she had slowed down enough, she ripped her claws out of the floor, and sprinted to the door Rocket was behind, slamming her claws into the bulkheads seem. The metal groaned as Kara pried it apart, the massive metal doors struggling to resist their assailant.

Kara clenched her teeth and hissed as the doors slowly, but surely opened. Her Rocket was on the other side, and alive or dead, he was coming home with her.