AN: Been a while, huh?

I admittedly did take a break for about a week, but after that I had to prepare for exams/finals. Still doing those actually, but it was more cause I just had trouble writing this chapter. I had to rewrite quite a bit of it a few times but I'm happy with it now. I was originally planning on delaying the collector ship mission a bit longer but I felt like the plot was getting a bit bogged down, so this is what resulted. The next chapter won't take nearly as long, and it's going to be a fun one.

Chapter 36:

[POV: Jack]

"How's your holiday been?"

Grunt mumbled something under his breath, definitely derogatory. They grow up so fast.

"Must have been awfully relaxing." I teased him. He flipped me off in response, much to my amusement.

Grunt had finally been allowed to resume duties by Karen, which meant he could do more than sit around and grumble. It was quite entertaining for me as I'd never seen him act more like the child he technically was. It was a good distraction for me, gave me something to do so I wasn't just thinking about my talk with Miranda. I'd taken the chance to read over what she'd given me, and while there was a lot of information, little of it was useful for me. It was mainly a list of all the experiments they had done and what the useable findings were. I didn't want to read that though. I didn't want to know how the others had suffered, how it had been used for my gain … I already knew how it ended. (use I too many times)

"Can we just do this?" Grunt practically pleaded, not looking me in the eye. Was … was he embarrassed? Oh, that's just precious. I may or may not have been needling him for the last few days.

"Alright, I've had my fun. Let's get you warmed up shall we?"

We moved over to the sparring area and got set up, having to clear a few things away to make enough room for even a small sparring area. It got the job done, but I missed Aria's abandoned mine.

"Hands up."

Grunt raised his fists into a stance, as did I. Nothing happened for a moment, as I would be the one to decide when this started. He wouldn't know when, which meant he had to remain focused on me the whole time. It was a little technique I'd picked up from Aria. It was nice to be on the other end of it, much more fun.

Without warning, my fist lashed out at Grunt's stomach. He reacted a little too slow to block it though, as it slammed directly into him. What was that? Ease him back into it? Nah. He wheezed a little from the blow, but his tensed core stopped anything else. He would normally try to retaliate immediately, but he seemed to be acting more defensive this time. Interesting.

I used my other fist to attack from the side. This one he blocked. I tried for his chest next, blocked. His head? Blocked that one too. Huh, I'm not trying anything fancy here, basically just brawling with the Krogan, but he was doing better than normal. Our bouts had for the most part been trading blows, something he had been getting good at.

Grunt kept his eyes peeled on me as I ramped up the difficulty as much as I could. Doing so without using Jia'nor or my biotics certainly posed a challenge. He was like a brick wall, blocking everything he could and accepting only minor hits. This continued for a minute with me trying everything I could before he finally took a quick shot of his own. It caught me by surprise, and I barely had time to bring my arms back in front of me to block the blow.

I staggered back, hissing from the impact. That kind of hurt. I made sure to keep my eyes on Grunt in case he decided to keep pushing, but he remained planted in his spot.

"Good. Let's pick things up a little." I let the power within me flicker out, lightly coating my form. With my reinforcement in place, we resumed our bout. This time he couldn't just shrug my blows off though, he had to block them or it would hurt.

Truthfully he had already surpassed my brawling ability. It was just something I developed during my time in the facility and when I first learnt under Aria. It didn't really suit my frame, not nearly as much as it did his. Jia'nor was far better for me, but it wasn't something I could really use against Grunt as he wouldn't learn anything. Acting in the place of another Krogan though … well that was just fun. There was something immensely satisfying about just trying to beat someone's head in.

"Hah!" I exclaimed, putting a little more juice into a right haymaker that I slammed into his arm. I'd done this before, and it had ended the fight multiple times. That changed though, as instead of blocking it he deflected to the side and charged forward shoulder first. What?!

I had to jump back and out of the way to prevent myself getting trampled. Grunt didn't give me a break though, finally going on the offense. He started putting more power into the blows, enough that blocking was beginning to get tricky. I could still do it, but I didn't have the inertia to do so without damaging the ship, which Miranda might have something to say about. … I wonder if she knows about the hump-shaped dent?

Even though I wanted to try and stop him in his tracks, I found myself dodging more and more, having to resist the instinctual reaction to slip into Jia'nor counters. It left me a little slow to react at times, but I don't think it would help. In the end Grunt managed to slip his arm fully within my guard and struck me in the gut full on. The force knocked the air out of me completely and threw me back off my feet. I hit the ground solidly but rolled with the momentum, standing up with a wheezing groan. I raised my hand for him to stop, admitting defeat as I gasped for breath and held my stomach. By the Goddess he could punch.

"I think my Holiday's been going well for me, maybe you should take one?" he shot me a shit-eating grin, incredibly pleased with himself.

"Maybe we should do a proper match then, just to be sure." I told him, slipping into my Jia'nor stance with my hands flat and letting a far larger amount of biotic energy surround me. My threat was a little empty as I was still trying to regain my breath, but he didn't have to know that.

Grunt's grin slipped a little at that, suddenly not so confident.

"Ah, I'm good. Ribs still hurt a little." He rubbed his chest with a wince, playing it up. I had little doubt it would still hurt though. I sighed and stood up normally, letting the energy return inside me when a voice called out from behind.

"I wouldn't mind a go." The soothing timbre caught me off guard and I whirled around to find Samara leaning against the wall at the entrance to the room. What the … when did she get here?

I tensed up a little as she straightened up and started striding over to me, her red jumpsuit a little distracting but that wasn't important right now, how did she get inside without me noticing? I'm normally pretty aware of my surroundings. Was I too focused on the fight with Grunt?

"Can I help you, Samara?"

"You can." She nodded "I came down here to introduce myself to the both of you properly as you are the last of the combat team I need to do so with." She said offhandedly, looking around the small area. "I didn't realise you were in the middle of sparring, but I found myself interested so I didn't interrupt."

Okay?

"What did you want to know exactly?" I decided to just ask her straight out, still a little put out by her sudden appearance.

"How you fight to be exact. I seek to learn of your abilities firsthand, as I've heard some interesting things from the rest of the crew." Samara started walking around the room, looking around with casual interest even as I kept watching her.

"It's a shame we don't have the room for a proper spar, it's been some time since I was last able to with a true practitioner of Jia'nor."

"Many maidens learn the art."

"Yes, but they don't use it." Samara said as she turned to face me, a subtle gleam in her eye. "They cannot fight with it. Cannot account for the chaos of the battlefield, the effects of terrain. They don't know the limitations of pure Jia'nor, and they certainly wouldn't have adapted it for use in the field." Samara words were almost hypnotic, the cadence of it superb. I had to blink a few times to stop staring at her. Every day I thank the Goddess for this opaque helmet.

"… perhaps. How could you tell? I wasn't exactly using it just now." I had to ask how she'd noticed, I didn't think there was enough information for her to see. I'd grown to love the movements, but they hadn't been terribly useful for me in my time on the Normandy. The foes we faced often require less … finesse.

"It was in the way you reacted to the young one's movements." She glanced over at Grunt, who seemed weirded out by Samara. It was something I'd seen before in the oldest of the Asari. They all felt a little … disconnected isn't quite the right word.

It could rub people the wrong way the first time they met one. I'd found Aria to be the exception to this rule, rather than the norm. I'd witnessed her meet many other Asari her age, and this disconnect was rather common among them. Aria was something of a Rebel though and she would still rub people wrong, just in a completely different and often intentional way.

"You paused momentarily during the spar. The moments you did were the beginnings to Jia'nor counters that would have disrupted Grunt. That, and the way you move is all I needed. The fluidity of movement is always a sign of experience in the art." Samara ecplained.

That was … impressive, to say the least. Samara had suitably raised my curiosity.

"If you desired a spar of your own, I'm not against it. It has been a while for me as well. Grunt, would you like to start us off?" I turned to the Krogan who, while a little confused, was happy to do so. He liked anything to do with fighting though, so I wasn't surprised. This would at least be a nice change from sparring with Grunt.

Don't get me wrong, it was fun fighting against him, but constantly holding back got aggravating after a while. It didn't really let me scratch the itch in the same way a spar with Aria might. Samara certainly looked like someone who would put up a challenge.

"Thank you for humouring me. I don't suppose we will be removing our armour?" Samara queried. It was technically traditional to use no armour, but I'd long since stopped holding to that tradition. Practicing without armour was of little help to you when you fought in it. Jia'nor was particularly effected, as the flexibility required was rather restricted by Armour.

"Feel free to strip if you want to. No biotics. let's dance shall we?" I joked with her as we slipped into our stances. They were similar in nature with some subtle differences. My form was more tense, shoulders hunched up with one hand stretching out in front of me whereas Samara looked completely relaxed, her arms swaying around her.

We started circling around each other, silent. I tried looking for anything to exploit, but her dynamic stance was surprisingly hard to read. The movements oscillated in an odd tempo that was hard to get a read on. I couldn't find any weak points to target immediately, so I'll just have to see what emerges as we fight.

I rushed forward, staying low as I pushed my right foot forward and planted it in front of me, using it as a pivot to whip my other leg around at Samara. I kept my eyes on her, which let me see how she swayed around my kick, my foot brushing pass with almost no room to spare.

I had too much momentum behind the kick to stop it, so I let my still planted leg bend forward and placed my hands on the ground as I rotated around. It meant I took my eyes off of Samara, but it was going to happen anyway so I did what I could to dodge her retaliation. The leg travelling over my head proved the necessity of doing so.

I tried to grab the leg as it retracted, but she moved it out of the way masterfully and pulled back before I had the chance to do anything else. This whole sequence of events happened near instantly and when I returned to my full height after finishing my rotation, it left us back where we started.

Samara stood there in her dynamic stance, waiting for me to move again. Was this her normally technique or was she purposely acting passive. For what reason? Hmm …

I leaned forward and lunged forward again, attempting a palm strike from the left. She deflected it and returned one of her own, and I had to juke my torso to the left and retreat to try and avoid it. Even with that she hit a glancing blow to my side that I ignored. Instead, I crouched down even further to get into her guard, but she was ready and lifted her knee to prevent it. Fast

I barely managed to get my still guarding left hand in the way, her knee slamming into my palm with extreme force. I grasped the appendage tightly in the moment and took a risk. I jumped up from my crouching position and used the knee as a contact point, pushing off it and inverting my centre of gravity, my legs now facing the ceiling.

I tried to wrap them around her neck, going for an advanced takedown, but just before I could seal the technique Samara hit my inner thigh with a palm strike. It was painful and made that leg spasm a bit, making it open up rather than close like I wanted it to.

This left me in a bad position, and I did my best to improvise by tightening my grip with the left leg wrapped around her neck and shoulder, letting myself fall back and grabbing onto the first leg with my hands and pulling. This was to manufacture some centrifugal force to flip her over me.

Instead of that happening, I felt my entire world spike as she kneed me straight in the spine. I don't know how she generated enough force through the armour, but it threw any control I held over my limbs out the window as my entire body flinched. Samara wasn't finished here though, as she didn't relent and pushed even more with the knee and continued the rotation.

I slammed down onto the ground in a full front splits and Samara's entire bodyweight was dropped down onto my back through my knee, sending another jolt of pain through me and rendering me neutralised as she pinned me in the very uncomfortable position.

My entire back hurt, the pain radiating from the point of contact with her knee and the wind knocked out of me even greater than earlier. If I thought Grunt had hit hard before, I couldn't even gasp in this position. Mercifully, Samara deemed it enough as she got off my back and let me flop down onto the ground.

"Hmm, decent." She nodded as I looked up at her in silent agony. … why?

I laid there while I regained my breath with a shuddering gasp. Finally able to breathe, I rolled over onto my back and wheezed for a minute. That may have been a mistake, as my back was really feeling it. I just know that's going to leave a bruise.

Samara seemingly took pity on me as she leaned down and offered her hand. Coincidentally, her chest was also in perfect view. It was as good a distraction as any from my back. I took her hand gingerly before she pulled me up, holding me steady for a moment while I regained my balance.

"Was that really necessary?"

"You took too great a risk in your Jusha takedown, how will you learn without incentive?" she raised a brow at me. Her face gave nothing away, but I could see the mirth in her eyes, she enjoyed doing it.

"I didn't think that would happen."

"Because you still have much to learn. You're movements are inefficient, and you are impatient. You are also rusty, when was the last time you had a pure spar?"

Does she mean with just technique? Could I count what I did with Bari before she left Omega, it wasn't really a challenge at the point.

"… a while since there was someone capable enough for me to spar with."

"Yes, I can see you having that problem. You are talented, and you are better than most of those I have sparred." Samara praised. "I will assume you outgrew your instructor, as I don't believe you have sparred at the level you are capable of." Samara shook her head at me.

"None the less, it was enjoyable, and I thank you for agreeing to my request. I have seen your capability in the pure art, would you be interested in trying the true version?" she smirked at me, and I suddenly felt much more interested in another bout.

"Care to start us off Grunt?" I grinned at the Krogan who was watching us with a grin. I didn't know if it was just because we were fighting, or if it was because we were fighting, but I chose not to think about it.

I settled back into my stance and biotic energy began streaming around me, the subtle blue glow infusing itself throughout my form. Samara did so as well, if with a far subtler glow. Her fine control was impressive. Grunt stared between the two of us to make sure we were ready before raising his hand.

"Alright - "

"Attention Combat team - the commander had called an urgent meeting. All members are required to attend. The meeting starts in 10 minutes." EDI's voice called over the intercom the room held. It was the only device of its kind after I'd checked the room over, I'd also made sure it was only an intercom.

… possibly with the help of a little sabotage.

"Well, this is poor timing." Samara sighed, her biotics fading away, as did mine.

I'll say, this was just about to get good. "Still, it sounds important."

"Want to continue this after the mission?" I asked her hopefully. Samara blinked at me a few times then the corner of her lips twitched up and she nodded.

"Of course, but for now the commander awaits."

[POV: Shepard]

"Shepard." Samara greeted me as she walked in, accompanied by both Fury and Grunt. Were they talking before this? For acting as antisocial as she did, Fury seemingly got around. I will say her presence had been rather polarising, what with what happened with Tali. She'd been rather quiet about the whole Fury angle she'd had since then, so I'm not sure if she'd listened to me or had found what she wanted.

The last few trickled in after that, Miranda arriving last despite her office being the closest. She took a seat next to Fury which had been left open for her.

I don't know exactly what went on in Miranda's mission, but the pair was much closer after it, something I was grateful for. I didn't need any more drama than I already had. I will admit though, it was kind of novel not being the biggest source of drama.

"Alright, let's get this started." I called out, gaining everyone's attention as I stopped leaning against the wall. I projected an image on the main console in front of me, using it to display a derelict collector ship. At least, I was told it was derelict. I can't actually see why that was the case.

"I received word from the Illusive man in the last 30 minutes about this, it's a derelict Collector vessel."

"What happened to it?" Garrus asked.

"Apparently, a Turian fleet came across it and disabled it." I reported what I'd been told, but I was wary. The Turians shouldn't have been capable of that, at least not to my knowledge. The first Normandy was a cutting-edge ship developed with the Turian's help, and the collector's dealt with it with ease.

"With what, a taser?" Tali snorted. The rest of them were quiet, but I didn't hear anyone else disparaging the suggestion.

"Who knows what the Turian's have been cooking up for their sole use?" I shrugged. "Whatever they did doesn't matter. We have a defenceless Collector ship that we can use, provided we get there in time." I took a deep breath and placed my hands on the console, looking around the room.

"We know little of the collectors, and what we do know is that they are very capable of killing us, and that as of now we can't do anything to stop them. We need to learn how they get through the Omega 4 relay, and I don't think this chance will come again."

"Can we not learn anything from their personal systems?" Fury asked, breaking the silence.

"Computers semi-biological in nature. The soldiers aren't natural. Their systems are in-built. When they die, the computers do. Nothing we can learn after that. All we know is based off of experimentation as I have retrieved zero data from the collector corpses brought onboard." Mordin answered with a scowl. I disliked it as much as him, I had hoped to gain some sort of advantage over the collectors with the corpses.

No-one had anything else to say, so I pushed on.

"The ship is disabled, but we know nothing of what happens on board the ship, no schematics, nothing about the defences. I'm authorising the entire crew today."

I was taking this very seriously, as this was extremely dangerous and my instincts were screaming at me, but we didn't have a choice. T.I.M had made that clear to me when I asked about using Mechs. Any delays could see us losing this chance.

"Miranda, you Tali and Jacob will stay near the entrance ramp in case it's attacked. Warn us if that's the case because if we lose the dock, every one of us will die." My tone brooked no argument from the three. They were also the three weakest links of the team, and I was giving them what I deemed the safest job. The only reason Mordin was coming with me was that he had the greatest working knowledge of the collectors among us, which might come in handy.

If Tali had actually been able to analyse any of the tech I might have brought her, but probably not. I was worried for her and while she was competent as a solider, she was young and still had much to learn. She could very easily be taken out by the particle beam weapons of the collectors, it would only take a single prick and who know what could infect her.

That being said, neither Miranda nor Jacob were particularly competent either. Who else can I leave?

I looked around the room with my eyes narrowed, before I paused on Grunt. He would still be a little tender after his Rite, and his effectiveness only grew at close quarters. Their might be larger areas further inside, but they wouldn't be at the docking area.

"You stay with them as well Grunt."

He started to grumble something before Fury hit him in the ribs, making him fall silent. Grunt sighed but nodded his assent to my plan. Good, Grunt was probably better at close range than I am at this point. I wasn't bad at it, but mid-range was where I excelled and Grunt had learned that quickly. I couldn't tell if Grunt was that good a student, or Fury that good a teacher. Perhaps a bit of both. Either way, I expected the area around the dock to be in the close ranges he excelled at.

"The rest of you, we will be advancing in formation. I will be up front with Samara, while Garrus, Mordin and Fury will follow. Fury?" She tilted her head at me. "You're on babysitting duty. Help out when you can but make sure none of get hurt. Just like Horizon."

"So as long as only I'm hurt then?"

"You didn't die." I retorted, not as amused at her comment as I should have been. I was nervous about this mission; we had so little information and were going directly into enemy territory. God knows what was waiting for us, but it was taking a not inconsiderable amount of my willpower to supress the shaking in my hands. My instincts were screaming at me that this was a trap, I'm just hoping I'm wrong.

"Joker's on route and we'll be there in an hour, be ready." I ordered before I left to don my armour.

[POV: Jack]

"Alright, the Normandy's docked. Good luck commander." Joker reported.

"Open it." She ordered. We all waited with bated breath, our weapons raised and aimed at the airlock opening. Anything waiting on the other side was in for a rude awakening. The hiss of the door fell silent once it finished opening and I strained my eyes and ears to search for enemies.

Nothing.

There was no movement. No noises other than the squad shuffling around. We were alone.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Garrus sighed, lowering his gun. He got a few chuckles from the others, the relieved tension probably being part of it. I remained alert all the same, as I'd already been ambushed by the fuckers a few times.

"Let's get moving, we aren't staying here any longer than we need to," Shepard ordered, ignoring the banter for once. That wasn't like her.

The corridor in front of us was empty, and even then it was barely big enough for the squad who set out. That was both good and bad, but I didn't like it either way.

"Where are they?" Garrus muttered, keeping his gun fixed to his shoulder even if he'd pointed it down.

"I don't know." Shepard responded as she readjusted her grip on her assault rifle a few times. The corridor soon ended and opened up into an intersection, a bigger one. This must be one of the main thoroughfares in the ship, no matter how big the ship was it could have only so many paths inside.

"EDI, which way?" Shepard asked quietly into our comms.

"Unknown Commander, too little data. I have found no wireless systems in operation, is there anything nearby you can hook me into?"

"Everyone check around, keep watch Fury." Shepard glanced at me before beginning her own search. It was hard to tell with the ship, everything was just so … different. The lighting was dim for one, I'm not sure how the others were handling it as they were only using half-masks for air. Shepard and I were the only two with HUD's, which I was using to enhance my vision. It let me see how organic the ship appeared in its construction.

There appeared to be strands of muscles joining sections and acting as supports, the walls both curved and ribbed. There were some obviously mechanical bits, most I could only assume as supports, but what was strangest was the floor. It looked almost like … dirt, and was that a puddle of something? It wasn't water, so what could it –

"I believe I found something!" Samara called out behind me. I didn't turn around even If I was curious, it was better I keep watch. I seemed to be the only one doing so as they all rushed over.

"Yes, yes this will do nicely. I can see similarities to the damaged biosystems in the collector drones. It shouldn't take me more than a moment to gain access." Mordin reported, excitement evident in his voice. Sure enough, we were done within a minute and EDI had access.

"You will need to go right Commander." EDI told Shepard.

"Can't you use this console?" She asked.

"I'm sorry Commander. It appears this is little more than a maintenance console. It gives me access to some of the secondary power distribution systems. It only tells me of the area nearby, but I can see a concentration nearby that I believe to be a console."

"Fine." Shepard sighed and stepped away. "Let's just get moving."

That being said, we didn't actually move any faster than before, still cautious. I kept my eyes peeled as we went. It meant I spotted the pile first.

"20 metres." I called out to the group softly, getting their attention.

"What is it?" Garrus asked, squinting. He mustn't be able to tell.

"Bodies." I could hear the grimace in Shepard's voice.

"I see nothing else dangerous."

"Neither do I, keep moving." Shepard confirmed, so we approached the mound of corpses. There must have been more than a dozen of them, just dumped out haphazardly on the floor. What possible purpose could that serve?

Now that we were closer, I could see that these corpses were relatively fresh. They hadn't had a chance to bloat, but that doesn't mean they were a pretty sight either. Their flesh was riddled with holes and gashes, all of them small in nature. They may have been small, but some of the punctures were deep. I could tell from the shade of the blood.

More than that, some of the corpse showed signs of healing from these marks. They weren't fresh, which means these people must have been held captive for a while. I remembered the seeker swarms, and I came to a sickening realisation. They must have been frozen, incapable of even reacting as the Collectors practically dissected them.

The bright light above me and the brush of air within me –

I shook my head, pushing aside the memory.

"Were they from Horizon?" Shepard asked softly, staring down at the bodies. Mordin stepped closer and poked and prodded a few things.

"They have been dead for between 12 and 24 hours, but signs of malnutrition indicates captivity -" Mordin coughed, interrupting himself. He must have known Shepard don't want to hear the details. I know I didn't. "I believe so, yes," he finished lamely.

"It's been almost 2 weeks, and they've been dead less than a day. What must they have been through in that time?" Shepard muttered.

"They are at peace now." Garrus said, placing his hand on her shoulder and squeezing. Shepard shook her head then nodded her thanks to him.

"How much further EDI?"

"It is just around the corner, Commander."

I didn't know exactly what the commander was feeling, but I remined quiet out of respect all the same. I get that I wasn't really attached to humanity in the same way as her, she had grown up as part of it. Our experiences were too different, so while I may be relatively unaffected by this, she clearly wasn't. She cared, deeply. Is that why she had the rest of the human's stay behind at the ship?

The console was exactly where EDI said it would be, but it took a minute for Mordin to figure out how to interface with it. It was noticeably more sophisticated than the previous access point.

Collector technology was just so different from that of the rest of the galaxy, basically all tech seemed to be influenced by what was left behind by the Protheans, their influence on the galaxy lasting long after them.

"What have you got for me EDI?" Shepard asked after a long moment without a response.

"My apologies Commander, their security is advanced, but I have access now. It seems that the collectors are experimenting on the humans, trying to alter them. I am uncertain for what purpose, as it isn't stated."

"Anything else on there?" she asked. Such as what we were looking for?

"Yes … you will want to see this commander." EDI brough up a screen on the console, displaying what I could see was a diagram of a collector as well as some other things I didn't understand.

"These collectors, they too are a result of genetic modification. If the records here are correct, the collectors were formerly Protheans."

They were what?

"Did you just say Protheans?" Mordin asked excitedly, peering closer at the screen.

"Affirmative."

"Fascinating, how were they altered? This is the closest look we've got at their Appearance. I wonder, … do they have the original template still stored on there? Or would I be able to undo the process manually …" Mordin started rambling, focusing intently on the screen.

"Enough." Shepard commanded. "EDI, send all the genetic data you have to the Doctor, but is there anything on what we came for?"

Mordin looked properly chastised at that as he stepped back, now silent. I can sort of understand his excitement, but this wasn't really the time or place. He could look at the data to his hearts content once we got back to the ship.

"Not on this terminal. Its sole purpose was for the genetic modification projects, but I have found the data transmission logs it contains. I am incapable of accessing the main ships computer from here, but I know where it is and can direct you to it."

"Do so."

EDI directed us through a veritable maze of twists and turns. This was a big ship, so I can understand there being so many, but the logic behind the ship's layout was bizarre. We would be heading up an actual ramp for one minute before another turn would bring us back down, which was apparently the most direct route up according to EDI.

Many of the corridors we passed were small, barely large enough for two of us to walk side by side, while others could have fit a vehicle. Stepping forward into another pathway, I had to stop and stare. We were … now in a bloody cavern of a room. There were freestanding pathways crisscrossing the entire section, and many seemingly empty platforms littering the walls. Some platforms were just plain floating. What in the hell? This ship didn't make any sense! Maybe if …

"Mordin?" I asked the man beside me quietly in an effort not to disturb the Commander. She Samara and Garrus were discussing how best to approach this room, the console we were looking for was higher up on the other side, I think I might actually be able to see it.

"Yes?" he turned to me.

"Are the collectors a hive mind?"

"Hm, … perhaps?" he mused, regaining some of the energy he held earlier. "I saw no real evidence of it under dissection, but I was usure of the purpose of 11% of their brain matter, why do you ask?"

I waved my arm at the room before us.

"The layout of this ship is a nightmare to use. Flight would help, but some of the corridor's seemed too small for some of the troops. I can't make sense of the reasoning as even moving in a straight line would take a while, I've seen no faster ways of travelling through the tunnels. They are insects, so …" I shrugged. It was just a passing thought. I was a little desperate to break the silence as well, the only sounds in this entire ship seemingly coming from our squad. I kept waiting for something to jump out at us from the shadows, and it was starting to wear at my nerves. I wasn't used to so many unknowns.

"Hmm … solid reasoning. The layout would indeed be inefficient for normal use. Horizon mission report talked about the Psionic being called 'Harbinger' taking over collector bodies. … Your idea has merit. Hopefully data gathered today will help in answering question." He sounded intrigued by the idea, I think. Something about his face also made me think he was grinning, but I didn't really understand Salarian emoting, so I couldn't be certain.

"Fury, Mordin, we've planned our route." Shepard interrupted our conversation. "This room's too open for my liking, so we're going to rush over to the console, issue is there is no way possible on foot." I hadn't noticed that myself, but I'll take her word for it.

"Samara said she would be able to deal with it but asked for your help. Samara?"

Samara stepped forward.

"Are you capable of propelling yourself biotically?" Not sure exactly what she means by that. Does she mean fly, or pushing off the ground or something?

"I normally leap using biotically enhanced muscles."

"The crudest method, of course." She sighed. Should I be a little offended at that? Because I am.

"I am only capable of taking 2 with me, but I am unsure of the exact height needed as well. It is both my preference and now necessary that we use my other proposed method. You are talented at biotic reinforcement, that much I know from earlier. Would you be able to throw us up several metres?"

Considering Grunt wasn't here? Yeah.

"I am."

Samara nodded before looking back to Shepard.

"I will go first in case Fury misjudges."

Shepard looked between the two of us, a bewildered look on her face before sighing.

"I guess we're doing that then … let's go." Shepard lead us through the room following a path only she seemed to see. I was more focused on keeping watch around us, there was so many places a collector could leap out from, so many they could fire from. I get why we were rushing through the room, we were sitting ducks here.

I suppose that's why we were jogging up a ramp without rails that was 10 metres above the ground. We were most of the way across now, and I saw what Shepard meant about there not being a path.

"Stop here!"

We halted and they quickly let me through before stepping back How much higher is the platform? … around 11 or 12 metres is my best guess. That's … a lot. This should be interesting.

"This is higher than I assumed, are you capable?" Samara queried me. I ignored her and turned around before channelling energy through my body. I pushed it into every muscle I had, as much as possible. It wasn't quite my normal aura, but the energy suffusing my form still left me glowing a bright blue. I put my hands together in front of me and crouched down, ready for Samara.

She took the hint and biotics began shrouding her form as well. She jogged forward the two steps it took to reach me before planting her right foot into my clasped hands. The moment I felt the contact, I tensed my muscles and pushed up as hard as I could. I put every ounce of force I could into throwing Samara up above me. She jumped in turn and the combined force cracked the ground beneath my planted right foot. I ignored it to watch the Asari above me. She was thrown even higher than I thought, able to do a flip above the platform before landing where I could no longer see her.

"That was sufficient. I will be waiting to assist the others, then you." She spoked through the comms. Next up was Shepard, who was glancing between me and the platform nervously. I crouched down again, hoping she got the hint.

"This better not be filmed," Shepard grumbled, swallowing deeply as she repeated Samara's motion bar the biotics. I threw her just as hard as the Asari, there was plenty of room above the platform and I didn't know if Samara had assisted, so it was better to be safe. I might have been a little too safe though, as Shepard definitely went higher. She wasn't entirely pleased at this, cursing, and flailing about before a biotic glow pulled her out of sight.

"You filmed that, didn't you?" Garrus asked, next in line. I nodded, Shepard must have forgotten but Garrus didn't. "Send it too me later would you?"

"Sure."

Garrus then began running towards me as well, I crouched for him, but he was a lot heavier than he looked. Thinking fast, I channelled the energy into my hands and released it just as his foot left my hands, hoping it would create enough of a boost. He shouted when I did, unprepared for the sudden noise and force. Sorry Garrus. The uncontrolled addition also sent him tumbling through the air far less gracefully than even Shepard was. At least Samara was there to catch him?

"Was that really necessary?" he asked through the comms after he was solidly on the platform.

"You were heavier than I thought."

"Rude."

In comparison to Garrus, Mordin was far easier to throw, but that doesn't mean it was easy. I was out of breath after throwing the four up. I was an old hand at biotic enhancement, but I had never really gotten it past a certain point, and it still used the muscles you enhanced. It just let you do more with them. I could only put so much energy into my muscles as well, it's why I adopted the 'explosion' method that I'd somewhat used for Garrus. Not really ideal for this purpose though.

"I'm ready for you Fury, leap as high as you can." Samara leaned over the platform enough that I could see her. I moved a ways down the ramp again before turning to face her. Enhancing myself again I breathed in and out deeply and took up a running stance. Now prepared, I sprinted forward. The enhanced strength let me run at super-human speeds up the ramp. A few metres before the start of the overhang, I planted my right foot against the ground and leapt up. I released all the energy surrounding me downwards in the final instant to try and get some extra lift, the concentrated pressure cracking the ground.

The air whistled around me as I burst through the air, the platform growing closer at an alarming rate. I didn't seem to be slowing down either, so I began the motion to form a barrier before I was caught in another biotic field, my rapid approach to the platform halting. I looked up to see Samara's amused gaze.

"Your aim needs improvement."

Screw you.

Samara helped me up and lowered me down gently where I found the other 3 already surrounding a green console. It certainly looked bigger than the first. They didn't need my help though, so I took the chance to turn around and look down at how high I'd jumped. I'd never tried using a burst like that before, at least never with my legs. I didn't realise quite how high it let me go as it certainly looked like a lot. I'll need to practice that more at some point.

"Brute force isn't always the answer." Samara spoke up from beside me.

"It always works for me."

"You still wasted too much energy." Not that much of a concern for me.

"Odd, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the ship … Commander, it's a trap! Harbinger is trying too ..." EDI cut out, and I turned around in alarm.

"EDI! … EDI speak to me! What's going on?!" Shepard shouted at the console.

…

"Harbinger tried to use the data-mine to breach my systems. I managed to halt it, but that still left him access to the rest of this ship."

I could hear the whine of what could only be a drive core. Oh, oh no …

"The ship is powering up. I'll do my best to slow its progress, but I am unsure how long I can give you."

"Do what you can EDI." Shepard turned around "Let's move!" I turned around to jump down, but a familiar humming stopped me. Where's it coming from? I can't tell, we're in a bloody echo chamber. I saw a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye and slammed my fists together out of instinct, flooding as much energy as I could into the barrier in the short time I had.

The barrier barely formed before the laser hit me, the burning heat of it noticeable even through all of my protection. I jumped back as fast as I could, knocking Into Samara and saving her from another beam that just passed in front of her head.

I rolled back onto my feet and channelled some biotic energy down my arm, shooting a burst of it at the collectors coming out of the wall nearby from a previously closed hatch. They were still inside of the hatch and unable to dodge the blow that caused one of the weapons to explode, so at least those two were dealt with.

I reached out and helped Samara up from her position at me feet now that the immediate threat was dealt with.

"My thanks."

"Sure." I nodded.

I had a perfect view to look around and see a horde flooding into the main chamber from all sides. There was so many of them … how could we miss so many Collectors on the ship? I wouldn't be able to protect us in here, there was too many, too many angles of attack.

"Shepard! Where do we go?" I called back.

She glanced up at me from her position focused on the screen.

"I'm looking! EDI gave me a schematic, there's a door behind us but it's sealed shut. I don't know how to open it."

Glancing behind me again, I could see the collectors getting closer. There wasn't the time for this. It was easy to spot the door she mentioned considering how large it was. It looked Sturdy.

Well Shit.

I ran forward to get in front of the console.

"Everyone get behind me, now!" I shouted at the rest currently surrounding Shepard. She glanced at me then back to the console, abandoning her efforts with nary a thought. I have no doubts she was getting nowhere, none of them understood the tech properly, especially me. I did understand one thing though.

"Cover me." I told them as I spread my feet and started to concentrate. I pulled from within me, surrounding myself with Biotic energy quickly. I didn't stop there though, pulling even more energy out, enough to create a fiery aura. It surrounded me in a veritable blue blaze as I focused my eyes on the door. Pushing my hands out, I began to pull.

A biotic shroud surrounded the door in an instant and I put all my mental weight behind it. I strained my muscles as much as I could to get the door to budge, but it just started creaking, the hinges holding up.

"Hurry!" Shepard shouted from behind me as I heard them start to shoot at the collectors.

"I'm! … Trying!" I growled, narrowing my eyes. The door just didn't want to budge, but it will. Taking a deep breath, I began to release more energy from within me. I doubled the aura around me from the excess energy, and while some dust came from the door, it held still.

Fine, you asked for it. Letting even more energy surround me, I continued to pull. But not just that, I started to condense the aura around me, pulsing it ever smaller as the air started to crackle around me. My vision took a whitish hue and the air began to waver from the excess heat I was putting out. I grit my teeth from the focus required but condensed it once more to barely around my skin. This was starting to get hot, but I was done. Using all that energy at once, I pushed it all into the pull I was sustaining for one moment of incredible force. The door couldn't withstand it this time and I ripped it off with a scream.

It was 6 metres wide, 3 tall, and travelling straight for me. Out of sheer reflex I directed it to rush over me. I turned around and made sure I didn't hit anyone else, even as my shoulders drooped from the sudden release of tension. I was in time to see the door slam into a pair of collector's flying towards us, splattering them across the surface as it crashed down and through one of the ramps close to us.

"Good Job Fury! Retreat!" Shepard ordered as she took another shot, beginning to step back. The other joined her as we moved to the door, so I turned around to make sure we weren't going to be attacked from behind.

Hearing the howling coming from the tunnel leading away from the platform, my intuition had been right. Damnit!

I stepped inside the corridor far enough to be protected from the rest of the collectors and then waited for the husks to get close enough. It didn't take long for them to appear at the end of the corridor, the group running forward in a chaotic horde. Suffusing my arm with a good amount of biotic energy, I slammed it down in front of me and released a shockwave that they couldn't have avoided even if they wanted to. We were in an enclosed space, so they were sent tumbling back. Of the near dozen that charged down the corridor, 7 of them were crushed against the walls, the rest laying broken along the floor.

"Lets get moving people!" Shepard shouted from behind me as they were all in the corridor now. I let Samara and Shepard pass me before I started jogging myself as we fell into the earlier ranks.

"Do we even know which way to go?"

"I have a map! We have to hurry though. We need to take off before the ship restarts fully, or we'll be sitting ducks in here!" Shepard responded hastily as she shot at another oncoming collector, piercing it through the head.

Well, that's comforting.