This horizon colony is quite charming in its own little way. The metal prefab homes are stacked and layered in a unique configuration that balances aesthetics and function. It's spring time, guessing by the buzz of insects in the background. I may have to put in a summer cabin. The locals are a little weird. Very laconic. They seem alright. Bunch of outdoor lovers. None of them have moved out of the sunlight. In fact, they aren't moving at all.

Miranda hollers "********* stop doing that" as I repeatedly flick the eyeball of not my future neighbor. The stasis field around them is freaky. I feel like I am flicking a marble bust. The eyes don't move. I get the feeling they can't see or hear. It would be unwise to leave this to chance.

"We need to get the defenses back online. The turret tower is to the east. Hold on" Shepard uses the rifle on his scope.

"The path is blocked. We need a different way in. Everyone, search the homes. Find a map or something that can help us" Shepard yells.

Thane pairs up with me while everyone else does their own thing. The third story modular home will give us a better view of our surroundings. The path to the area we have to go is blocked by a fallen building. Insurance won't cover that. A map will tell us where to go and hopefully the armory containing thermal clips is on the way. Since the technology is new, they are expensive. One of the residents is stuck on the patio with his hands up. I assume this is his place. I wipe my feet on the welcome mat and say "you have such a lovely home." Thane sharply inhales. The drell checks the desk for any useful information while I check the fridge's exterior. Strangely only humans like to place lists and other important notes on the fridge. Every species has its own quirks. While I am here, I examine the contents of the interior. WATERMELON SLICES! Don't mind if I do. Thane disapproves.

"Collectors in bound" Zaheed's voice comes from our omnitools. I stuff my cheeks with the remaining fruit and head to battle. I munch my food like a hamster as I count the number of insect men. First the swarm comes through, trying to sting us. Mordin's device works. The swarm dissipates. Collectors drop into the battlefield. Miranda blasts the two closest to her and I hear "assuming direct control." The collector Harbinger is controlling has the strongest shield. I know If I kill him first, another collector will gain the power ups. The smart move is to keep a distance and pick off the mobs then deal with the big baddie. Ammo is now limited and I need to maximaize damage per bullet ratio. Thane and I provide cover fire as we move to a better position. The distance is too great for any accurate shots. I started firing quickly until I observed Thane pausing in between each shot. "It extends thermal clip usage and increases combat time which helps in this scenario." I follow his lead.

Jacob finishes off the leader. Zaheed plants explosives on a few of the bodies in case they come to retrieve their friends. We regrouped at the far side of the town square. Shepard found the map. The collectors are desperately trying to stop our advances. Husks come from nowhere as we fight our way through. Were these things even present in this mission in the game? Don't care, I got to see the particle beam in action. Looks cooler in game.

After several intense lead trading sessions, we are at the door to one of the turret buildings. Zaheed forces Shepard to step aside. The Australian grandpa pulls a small electronic device from his kit which connects to the control panel. His hacking skills are barely better than mine, which are nonexistent. What is he doing? The door opens in one inch increments until Zaheed did something to make it stop. He points out a thin copper wire. Shepard takes a couple steps back and Zaheed gets to work disabling the bobby trap.

"Finished" Zaheed is flown back from the bullets lighting up the doorway. Miranda throws up a biotic shield.

"STOP FIRING. We're humans. I am Commander Shepard. We got an alert that the colony is under attack. We need to turn on the guns now if we have any chance of surviving" He yells.

"Oh, thank God! I thought I was the only one left. It all happened so fast. Come on in I'm putting my gun away" the mystery man said. Stepping inside the tower was a bit of a transition. The dimly lit interior forces my eyes to adjust. It takes a moment for the blackness to morph into moving images.

As Shepard investigates what the operator knows, I have a chat with my workout hombre and his ex girlfriend.

"What are you thinking?" I ask.

"Not sure. I have been out of the alliance long enough for things to change. During my years of service, the turrets were controlled only by the alliance. No one wanted to risk another interspecies war. Systems were put in place to ensure a bored teenager or paranoid village crank could never fire off anything. The turrets were supposed to eliminate any shuttles without specific access signals, but it didn't. No casings outside" Jacob folds his arms and thinks.

Miranda asks "could it be sabotage?"

Jacob answers "Maybe? The issue is who would have the skills to break through the firewalls?"

"Couldn't someone cut off the power?" I ask.

Jacob shakes his head "Not with these. The alliance built them to have their own separate power sources. The lights are on and I can hear the emergency generator running. Whatever did this was high tech. Higher than what Cerberus has access to" Miranda slaps Jacob's chest.

"Don't tell him that!" she yells.

"Who is he going to tell?" he asks. The former lovers look at me.

"I don't understand tech that well. I'm not even sure what a firewall is. I know it defends against hackers. What's the fire for?" I'm not kidding. I never learned to understand code. My brain isn't wired for that.

BOOM! BOOM!

"We need to hurry before the collector ship returns. Everyone move!" A race for the door happens. Stepping outside into the bright light forces my eyes to adjust once again. It stings a bit and agitates me. The deafening noise of the gun behind us causes me to wince. The spectacle of collector shuttles exploding in the air like fireworks distracts from the pain. I run only to get away from the loud sounds. The collectors we encountered were easy. Harbinger didn't take control of any this time. I see why when I feel and hear a large landing sound behind me followed by high pitched hissing. I look over my shoulder. Huh. Yep, that is a big bug. I rush for cover and barely make it. My shield provides some protection but only for a second. Two tops.

I killed a bunch of large videogame bosses in real life before. I'm getting burned out. When you do it so many times, it loses the edge. Shoot the weak spots like the wing joints to bring it down to the ground. Roll left or right, whichever is closer to cover to dodge laser beam/fire/acid/etc. I'll let Shepard have his fun and I'll focus on the husks. I feel bad for them and wish to end their suffering. I haven't heard back from my people if death will reset or remove the indoctrination effects from their souls. A reply right now would be a little soon and the unknown mechanism of indoctrination is a complicated factor. Based on my experience, dying removes a large portion of negative data from our beings and hopefully they can advance towards the apogee, but I'm not risking my soul to find out.

I turn to see collector soldiers landing to the right of me. I am far away from everyone else, except Thane whose specialties are little help with dealing with giant mutant alien bugs. AHH! A sneaky husk jumped on my back. Instinctively I pulled it off, threw it to the ground, and crushed its partial metal skull with my foot. Thane witnessing my capability momentarily stun him. My shield pops and retreat to cover. Thane takes out one of the collectors while I recharge. It is a good thing my shield popped as I can warn Thane to dodge the energy blast from the mini boss. It was a stray blast. Thane shouts he is out of thermal clips. My shield is mostly recharged, and I toss my sidearm to my cool jacket brother and finish the remaining collector soldiers and husks.

A scream full of anguish comes from the creature. Its health must be low. Thane and I ran over to help. I focus on shooting the legs while Thane throws mini poisoned knives. Oh, that is where they were or are? I'll check later. The creature collapses to the ground. In one final attempt to destroy us, a beam starts to charge up and it is coming my direction. I don't think my shield will be able to take it. I don't want to die. I like this universe. I want to stay a bit longer. A huge biotic blast knocks the creature's head off, exposing the cables and wires around the vertebrae.

"Thanks Miranda I owe you one" I said.

She replies "That wasn't me." A shiver goes down my spine. I turn around and see two people dressed in head-to-toe black armor with creepy large round orange eyepieces. A man and a woman. Crap this is why I don't like changing things too much. I raise my gun towards them. The man sends a energy blast at me. A biotic stasis field surrounds my body. I know this feeling.

I shout "Kaiden?!"

The man and the woman remove their helmets. It is him and Ashley. It's a welcome sight to see both of them. I haven't seen or talked to them since Shepard's service. I should go embrace them. I do a special little thing to break Kaiden's hold and drop my gun. Arms spread wide to hug my former patient. In the corner of my eye, I spot Shepard jogging towards me.

"Thanks for the assist. I thought that thing was going to kill me, and you know what would have happened next" Kaiden and Ashley are pissed.

"YOU of all people joined Cerberus?" Ashley said.

"What the hell *********? I thought you were a good man. How could you willingly join a terrorist organization?" I take a step forward and Kaiden uses his biotics to stop my advance.

"You guys haven't talked to me in years and never came to visit me at Tuchunka and I'm the bad guy?" Shepard is almost here. He'll explain better than I can.

"We trusted you. How could you even… OH MY GOD'' Ashley turns and sees Shepard in cerberus gear. Her tanned complexion is turning pale. Kaiden is in disbelief, even more than when I showed him my other side.

"Kaiden… Ashley" Shepard drops his weapon. Miranda and Jacob hide.

"He came to Tuchunka for help with a tank bred krogan. One thing led to another, and I have been helping spectre Shepard, yes, the council reinstated him, with fighting the collectors. Those flie boys are seriously bad" I said. They didn't hear me. Kaiden and Ashley are too focused on Shepard.

"Shepard, how could you?" Ashley is crying.

"Ash…"

"You were my best friend. I don't even know who you are" Kaiden spat those words like poison.

"I didn't have a choice" Shepard's voice cracks.

"Bullshit! We always had a choice" Ashley screams.

"You're not the Shepard we know" Kaiden said.

"At least give him a chance to defend himself. He has been through alot these past couple of years" I said.

"When the collectors destroyed the normandy, I was spaced and I…" Shepard is interrupted.

"I don't care what happened! I heard the rumors but I didn't think they were true" Ashley yells.

"You're not the man we knew. You are a disgrace to the alliance" Kaiden said. That broke Shepard.

I scream at the top of my lungs "ALENKO! HOW DARE YOU. YOU KNOW SHEPARD AND YOU KNOW ME. Whatever you think is happening I can guarantee it's not. Shepard has been risking his life to save colonists that the alliance is neglecting. You could at the very least shut your mouth and hear Shepard out. Afterall, you owe me for saving your life" Kaiden's scornful look vanishes and turns into realization.

"Ashley we are leaving" Kaiden pulls her away.

"What?" she asks.

Kaiden drags Ashley away. Shepard attempts to talk to both of them. Kaiden turns around and makes a stay back gesture.

I give Shepard a moment to process. He puts on a strong stoic demeanor, but I know and can even feel his suffering. It has to be very intense for me to sense it despite my suppression techniques. I remind Shepard of all the good things he did today, he saved the colonists, killed a giant bug creature, restored the defenses. He appreciates my attempt, but it doesn't work. He whispers "things won't get better between us, will they?"

"Oh, I am going to have a talk with Kaiden later" I let my rage affect my voice.

"He won't answer your video calls now" Shepard said.

"He will be coming to me."

We radio the Normandy to pick us up and I do everything I can think of to distract Shepard from his thoughts. I reassured him about the mission, asked him about good memories with his mom, told him some of my stories, and cracked some jokes. Offered to cook his favorite dish. Whatever I can do to help his depression.

Aboard the Normandy, I check one last time if he needs anything and Shepard wants time to himself. I used to need the same. I tell him if he needs me, I'll be there in a heartbeat. I head down to my room and find Garrus doing the last touches of the cannon system. I tell him to leave. He tried to persuade me to let him finish but when he saw my face, he knew today isn't the day. He quickly leaves and I wait for Kaiden to call. It wasn't long but also too long.

"I am risking my entire career talking to you" Kaiden said.

"You made Shepard upset and pissed me off. What was that?"

"You tell me mister I never lie" Kaiden attempts to mock me.

"And I didn't. Cerberus is no doubt monitoring this call so I am going to be careful with what I say and you better listen carefully. That night. I left out a lot of crap because you didn't ask. I did not lie. I was not expecting you and Ashley" come on take the hint. The gears in his head are turning.

"I think I understand," Kaiden said.

"Yeah it's like that. No guarantees. You want to explain to me why you thought it was ok to go off at Shepard like that?"

"I exploded when I saw him. I was angry and…" Kaiden's interrupted.

"ENOUGH! I don't care how upset you were. I get angry all the time and you never see me snap unless I have a good reason too. What you did was cruel. You will apologize to Shepard immediately or when I see you again, there is going to be trouble. Do you understand!?"

Kaiden is terrified "Yes."

"Say it again!"

Kaiden nods his head "Yes."

"Repeat back to me what you are going to do. I need to make sure it's in your head."

"I'm going to apologize to Shepard and I'll talk to Ashely. Don't worry I won't tell her your secret. I owe you that much. Honestly, I feel terrible about what I did. *********I don't think you know how bad cerberus is. I know you're… whatever, but watch yourself."

"Always do."

"I have to go or else I'm getting into trouble" Kaiden looks behind him.

"Eyes on me, You're already in a lot of trouble."

"I realize that, but I have to go before I lose my job. I guess I'll see you later" Kaiden hangs up.

I remove the omnitool parts off my hand and toss them aside. I rub my hand across my scalp and lean back into the wall. I figured something like this was going to happen. It did in the game, but I was not anticipating how much worse it could have been. I just feel terrible for the commander. Shepard knew Kaiden since forever and I think him, and Ashley got together. I never figured it out for sure, but imagining your best friend and girlfriend believing you are a traitor and a disgrace. I should go check on Shepard in an hour or so. Make sure he isn't doing anything stupid. Garrus knocks on the door and cautiously pokes into the room.

"Is everything ok? Do you need me to do anything?" Garrus asks.

"We ran into Kaiden and Ashley today and things did not go well" I flop my arm on the cot.

"Spirits… How did Shepard take it?" Garrus feels comfortable enough to sit down next to me.

"He is strong but hurting. He'll need time for things to run its course. Kaiden called and I chewed him out. Said he is going to apologize. That is a start' I said.

"I bet. I could hear you outside. Besides that, one time in the kitchen, you yelled at me after I burned myself, it is weird seeing you angry" Garrus mentions.

"Yep. I hate being angry. I felt enough of that, but it has its uses. I'll go check up on Shepard in a while, but afterwards would you go hang out with him? Don't care what just makes him have a good time. I think he has had enough of humans for a while.

"No problem. I could use a break from all this calibrating. Eww it still feels weird saying that around you. I think you should get some rest. You look beat. See you later *********" Garrus heads out.

I lay down on my cot and go to sleep. I'm still so very angry at Kaiden and Ashely. Did Anderson not warn them? What the hell happened? I'm seriously considering astral projection into Kaiden's dream and… no no don't go down that road. I deserve peace and love, not hatred. I think happy thoughts. Push the negativity out. Breathe in and out. Inhale deeply, hold, and let the air rush out. Repeat until... repeat un-til... repeat... Zzzzz.