CW: Mild Gore
Kacey progressed through the ship cautiously with the squad; something didn't feel right. And it wasn't just the disgusting insect-like enviorment, but it was the lack of any living thing aside from their group. No Collectors. No colonists. It was concerning to say the least. Only the sounds of their footsteps echoed around the alien vessel, rarely did they ever hear another noise. It was deathly silent; it didn't feel right.
Kacey turned the corner, gun raised. A few metres away, she saw something brown and gravely disfigured on the ground, with a pile nearby. She gestured for the squad to move carefully; Grunt and Garrus moved in line with her while Kasumi, Thane and Jacob covered the rear. As they drew closer and the pile became more clear, Kacey was relieved that she couldn't smell anything; it was horrific.
"What the actual fuck?" Jack broke the silence loudly. Kacey shared the sentiment.
"Horrible. Despicable." Mordin shook his head, furious.
"It was bodies. Corpses. The colonists they took from Horizon…slaughtered. And left to rot on the ground."
The bodies were mangled, disfigured. Limbs missing, limbs left behind. Singular torsos, some with only an arm or a head. Some had bits of clothing still on, others were stripped bare. Brown blood stains painted the bodies, small strands of hair sticking out of the pile. Organs of various sizes littered the pile, all at vary stages of decay. Bits and pieces of human bodies tossed in a pile like trash. Discarded. It made Kacey sick to her stomach.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Miranda replied, stepping away from the scene.
"Likewise." Kasumi added, "Blech."
"Why would the Collectors just leave a pile of bodies lying around?" Garrus asked.
"Test subjects from control group." Mordin answered the turian, scanning the pile with his omni-tool, "Discarded after experiment was over."
"What bloody experiment were they doing to cause this?" Zaeed questioned.
"Hard to say. Brutal, unethical ones no doubt." Mordin replied, clearly angry.
"Why though? Why go through the trouble of capturing the colonists just to kill them?" Tali asked.
"Who knows?" Jacob replied, "Commander?"
Kacey nearly jumped; she had mostly tuned out of the conversation, "Maybe they're better off this way. There are worse things than death, like being a test subject for twisted aliens."
"This was wrong. Inhumane." Mordin said sombre, "Even if Collectors needed to kill for experiments, could have ended lives painlessly."
"You're probably right." Garrus added, "Doesn't feel much better, though."
"It is still a horrible end regardless." Samara spoke up, "We must put an end to this."
"Agreed." Kacey replied, "Come on, let's move."
Stepping away from the bodies, Kacey moved further inside. Miranda and Kasumi seemed to be okay all things considered but Kacey? She didn't know how to feel. A sense of failure hung over her; maybe if they had reached Horizon sooner, they could've saved some of the colonists.
As they turned another corner, a while light could be seen among the sickening orange hues. Technological science equipment could be seen towards the end of the path, catching Kacey's attention. This must've been where they preformed the unethical experiments Mordin was talking about. As the squad approached, Kacey headed towards the control terminal to try and get some information off it while Mordin showed a lot of interest in the machinery.
"That's a Collector." Garrus mused, "Were they experimenting on one of their own?"
"This just keeps getting weirder." Miranda mused.
"EDI, I'm uploading the data from this terminal." Kacey said through the comms, "See if you can figure out what they were up to."
"Data received." EDI chimed, "Analysing…..The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity."
"Why? What are they looking for?" Kacey asked.
"I have no hypothesis on their motivations." EDI explained, "All I have are the preliminary results. They reveal something remarkable. A quad-strand structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the protheans."
"My god. The protheans didn't vanish. They're just working for the Reapers now."
"The Collectors were protheans?" Kaidan asked.
"Yeah, in the same way marauders are turians." Kacey replied.
"Holy shit."
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly."
"These are no longer protheans, Shepard." EDI explained, "Their genes show distinct signs of extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed then to suit their needs."
"That is fucked up." Jacob mused.
"Yeah, you'd think somebody would have picked up on this." Kacey added.
"No one has had an opportunity to study a Collector genetic code in this detail." EDI explained, "I have already matched two thousand alleles to recorded fragments. This Collector likely descends from a Prothean colony in the Styx Theta cluster. But there are signs of extreme alteration. Three fewer chromosomes. Reduced heterochromatin structure. Elimination of superfluous 'junk' sequences."
"The Reapers didn't wipe out the Protheans." Kacey said sombre, "They turned them into monsters and enslaved them."
"Still, they're working for the Reapers now." Garrus replied.
"Yeah, and we have to stop them." Kacey added.
"No species should have to suffer through that." Garrus mused.
"Agreed." Thane replied, "They must be stopped."
"Let's find what we need before the Collectors come to salvage this vessel. Move out!" Kacey said.
Kacey started to walk off in the direction she hoped would lead to the access node EDI needed. This whole ship was one fucked up gallery the Collectors carried around with them. It made her wonder what they would find on the other side of the Omega 4 relay.
There was still no sign of life as they progressed through the ship's claustrophobic walls. Not a single Collector nor a single human to found. Kacey's unease grew; this felt like some type of trap. A general rule of thumb was that if you infiltrate an enemy ship and see no enemies, its most likely a trap. Kacey was taught that lesson years ago, and it was something that she remembered her father saying to her when she was much younger.
"Look." Garrus broke the uneasy silence, "On the ceiling. More of those strange pods."
Kacey looked up; the pods were hanging around on the ceiling, with a sickening, sticky orange hue that made Kacey feel as sticky as it looked. She could see two separate areas above where the pods were stationed around a circular hall, making it look like two separate throats of a large beast. What had disturbed the veteran soldier the most, was that a few of the pods were completely black, with no orange shine on them at all. It made her wonder if the unfortunate souls within the pods were dead inside, or if they were the mangled corpses they had passed by earlier.
"Hundreds, at least." Mordin mused, "Wonder how many are full."
"Too many." Kacey replied through gritted teeth.
"I detect no signs of life, Shepard." EDI chimed, "It is probable the victims inside died when the ship lost primary power.
Kacey sighed; deep down, she already knew that. Difference was, that she did not want to accept the reality of it. She led the squad up a ramp, avoiding their gazes as she marched on forward. She didn't need another reason to hunt them down; they had killed her, tried to buy her corpse from the Shadow Broker and were the main reason she was stuck cooperating the Illusive Man in the first place.
She pressed on, ignoring the weird and unsettling screeching noises that could be heard periodically as the moved deeper inside. Kacey took it slow and cautiously moved around the corner. While Mordin picked up samples of Collector tech, Kacey started to head up a steep ramp when Joker suddenly spoke through the comms.
"And Joker dropped arguably the biggest bombshell on the mission. I was already on edge, but after hearing what both he and EDI had discovered, I was majorly pissed off."
"Commander. You gotta hear this." Joker said via the comms, "On a hunch, I asked EDI to run an analysis on the ship."
"I compared the EM profile against data recorded by the original Normandy two years ago." EDI explained, "They are an exact match."
Kacey stopped in her tracks; this ship…this ship was the one that killed her? Any unease she felt was replaced quickly by anger and an unusual sense of…dread? That wasn't like her. Dread? Kacey didn't feel such emotions on missions. Never did.
"The same ship dogging me for two years?" Kacey replied angry, "And we didn't bring a bomb?"
"Could probably make one." Mordin mused.
"Or I could trash it for you." Jack said with a devilish smirk.
"As much as I want to trash this thing, this is way beyond coincidence." Kacey mused, "The same ship that killed me, was on Horizon and now is floating through space? Way too convenient."
"Something doesn't add up, Commander. Watch your back." Joker added.
"I can't be the only one that thinks this is a trap, right?" Kacey said.
"Nope, this definitely feels like one." Kasumi mused.
"Agreed." Zaeed added.
Once they had reached the wide-open main chamber of the ship, Kacey couldn't believe what she was seeing. There had to have been millions upon millions of pods covering every inch of the walls, some glowing orange, but many were dark. The pods have big vines weaving in between them as several large pillars stuck out of the ground covering in sticky black slime. The pods themselves covered every inch of the interior, except for the floor the squad were currently standing on.
"Holy shit." Kacey mused.
"This is unbelievable." Garrus commented.
"So many pods." Mordin mused, "Could depopulate all Terminus Space, still wouldn't fill them."
"Shepard, they're going to target Earth." Garrus said.
"Not if we stop them." Kacey replied, determined.
"Are you sure that we can, Commander?" Jacob asked.
"Are you doubting me, Jacob?"
"No, ma'am." Jacob replied, "Just not sure if we'll be able to pull this off."
"I think we'll be able to." Kacey said optimistically, "You've just gotta have a little faith, Jacob."
"I know your reputation, Commander. You've pulled off some crazy shit. But this? This doesn't come close."
"I don't know about that." Zaeed mused, "Fighting off thousands of batarians alone for hours on end? That's impossible."
"So was Ilos." Garrus added, "And the fight through the Citadel that followed."
"And the thorian on Feros." Tali added, "Can't forget about that."
"I wished I did." Garrus replied.
"Is there a point to this?" Kacey asked.
"Just sayin' that this mission isn't any crazier than the stuff you seem to do on the regular." Zaeed replied.
"He's got you there, Shepard." Miranda said with a smirk.
"Don't forget. Drove tank through Mass Relay. Still don't understand how such a feat was possible." Mordin mused.
"You did what?" Jack exclaimed.
"That is a conversation for later." Kacey replied, "And I think you've all made your point. I'm glad to see that you're all so optimistic for the mission."
"Speak for yourself." Kasumi mused.
"What can we say? You are quite a soldier." Miranda said.
"Shepard is an excellent leader." Tali said, "We'll make it."
"I agree although you might end up questioning your sanity by the end of it." Garrus quipped.
"Thanks, I guess?" Kacey replied.
"There, on the platform." Garrus pointed out, "Looks like some kind of control panel."
"Way to change the subject." Kacey said.
"Lack of Collectors seems odd." Mordin mused, "Alive or dead. Suggest caution."
"Yeah I thought so too." Kacey replied, "Is it just me, or does that look like a trap?"
"I think you're being a pit paranoid, Shepard." Miranda said.
"I'm not so sure I agree, Miranda." Samara spoke up, "The lack of Collectors is rather strange."
"Perhaps it is a way to lure us into their trap, by making the ship appear abandoned." Thane speculated.
"Trap or not, I'll tear through those weaklings." Grunt added.
"Yeah, same here buddy." Jack snorted.
"Yeah, well I'm going to start tapping buttons if that's okay with everyone?" Kacey said, "Just stay sharp and be prepared for anything. I don't trust this."
"Roger that." Garrus said.
"EDI? I'm setting up a bridge between you and the Collector ship." Kacey said, "See if you can get anything useful from the data banks."
"Data-mine in progress, Shepard." EDI confirmed.
Not even two minutes later, the control panel exploded and shut itself down. Kacey took a few steps back.
"Well, that doesn't bode well." Kacey mused.
"Uh…that can't be good." Kacey heard Joker say through the comms.
The sounds of heavy machinery moving did nothing to alleviate Kacey's concerns. The squad surrounded the control panel, waiting for Kacey to say something.
"Everyone's all right, Joker." Kacey said through the comms, "What the hell just happened?"
"Major power surge." Joker replied, "Everything went dark, but we're back up now."
"I managed to divert the majority of the overload to non-critical systems." EDI explained, "Shepard, it was not a malfunction. This was a trap."
"Fucking knew it." Kacey said as the platform shook.
The platform began to rise as the squad attempted to keep their balance. With so many of them packed onto the platform, with little cover, Kacey knew this was going to be difficult. This was the largest squad she had to lead after all. And this trap was going to be the perfect stress test for the squad.
"We need a little help here, EDI…" Kacey said.
"I'm having trouble maintaining connection." EDI replied, "There is someone else in the system."
The platform stopped suddenly, knocking Garrus, Miranda and Mordin over. Kacey could just about keep her balance. One she was steady; she could see another platform with Collectors on it heading their way.
"Connection re-established." EDI confirmed, "I need to finish the download before I can override any systems."
"Then you better get it done fast, EDI." Kacey said as she moved into cover, "We've got company people! Stay sharp!"
As two platforms landed near them, Kacey began the fight by killing one of the Collector drones with a fiery concussive shot that caused said Collector to explode. Bullets were flying everywhere, with the odd biotic and tech attack thrown in for good measure. The Collectors were plentiful, but the squad's versatile gear and abilities more than made up for the lack of numbers.
"This is insane." Jacob said after several minutes, "We can't fight like this."
"Consider this a stress test Jacob!" Kacey shouted.
Even for a stress test, the squad's performance was not ideal; the group wasn't as coordinated as Kacey would've liked. Sure, they followed her orders, but often they seemed to collide with each other; Garrus couldn't get clear shots with his sniper rifle because Grunt was constantly in the line of fire, Jack and Miranda refused to cooperate with each other or cover each other, leaving Miranda more susceptible to enemy fire and Zaeed keep shooting Tali's combat drones down and running off on his own. Even Thane and Kasumi were unable to take the enemy down with running into each other accidently in the close quarters. The team were not working together as well as she hoped, which meant she needed a plan.
She stopped shooting and took a good look at the squad; Garrus and Tali could work together; they had done so under Kacey's command previously. However, both required someone else who was more combat orientated; since Tali was mostly support and Garrus usually worked better at long range. Jacob was Alliance trained and was more than able to work with the tight space and his biotics, as Kacey noted, were similar to Kaidan's, albeit a bit weaker. Garrus and Kaidan worked well enough with each other, and so Kacey could see it working again with Jacob. It was then the idea hit her; if she divided the squad into pairs that complemented each other rather than work against one another, they might actually get somewhere, rather than the disorganised mess that sat in front of her.
She waited until the current group of Collectors were dealt with and the squad was given a brief grace period. She then rounded them up, ready with a hopefully decent plan this time around.
"Okay, so we need a better plan, because this isn't working." Kacey said, "If we're all going on a suicide mission together, we've got to learn to fight together without tripping each other up. Got it?"
"You sound like you've got an idea, Shepard." Garrus mused.
"I do. And you and Tali know exactly where this is going." Kacey said, "I'm dividing you into pairs. You stick to your partner, and you watch their back. No matter what. Understood?"
"Yeah, as long as I'm not with the Cerberus cheerleader." Jack snapped.
"You aren't." Kacey replied, "Garrus, you're with Jacob, Miranda, you're with Mordin, Zaeed you're with Kasumi, Grunt you're with Thane and Jack you're with Samara, leaving me and Tali to work together. Stick to your pairs and cover each other."
"And just in time, here comes more of them!" Garrus shouted.
Kacey's idea worked well enough in practice; naturally herself and Tali were able to work well, prior experience being one of the main reasons. Garrus and Jacob worked as well as she thought, albeit without the quips and snarky remarks this time. Miranda and Mordin covered each other well enough, and Jack and Samara worked extremely well, delivering some extremely powerful biotic attacks. Zaeed and Kasumi bounced off each other well and Grunt and Thane took the term "watch their back" literally as they ploughed through the Collectors. Even when Harbinger possessed Collector arrived on the scene, the squad's coordination was much better than it was previously. Even the scions didn't stand too much of a chance against the better coordination of the squad.
"Forty-one percent complete." EDI chimed.
"Come on, EDI. Speed it up." Kacey said, "Zaeed! Kasumi! Watch your flank!"
Another scion arrived on a platform on the left; Kacey order Jack and Samara to kill it with cover fire from Grunt and Thane.
"Eighty-four percent." EDI chimed.
"EDI! Get us out of here!" Kacey said firmly.
"I am simultaneously fighting Collector firewalls in over 8,000 nodes. I am tasked to capacity." EDI replied.
"Here they come again!" Garrus shouted.
"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL." Harbinger announced, "NETURALISE COMMANDER SHEPARD."
"Why me?" Kacey complained.
"Why not?" Grunt said, "You can take them."
Kacey fired a concussive shot, knocking Harbinger off the platform. Harbinger simply possessed another Collector and began targeting Kacey specifically.
"FOCUS ON COMMANDER SHEPARD." Harbinger ordered.
"What the hell did I do?" Kacey mused as she shot the drones down, "Guys? I'm gonna need you all to backtrack here and hold position ASAP."
Tali had thankfully deployed a combat drone to keep Harbinger occupied while the rest of the squad ploughed through the remaining Collector forces. Once they were dispatched, Kacey ordered for the squad to shoot down Harbinger.
"Shepard, you must manually re-establish my link to the command console." EDI chimed.
Kacey ran over to the console and managed to establish the link as EDI asked. After a few minutes passed, EDI appeared on the console.
"I have regained control of the platform, Shepard." EDI said.
"I knew you wouldn't let us down, EDI." Kacey replied.
"I always work at optimal capacity." EDI replied.
"Did you get what we needed?" Kacey asked as EDI flew the squad away from their previous battlefield.
"I have found data that could help us successfully navigate the Omega 4 Relay." EDI explained, "I have also found the turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. The Collectors were the source. It is unusual."
"Seems logical to me that they would send the initial message as bait." Kacey said.
"No, it is unusual because turian emergency channels have secondary encryption." EDI explained, "It is corrupted in the message. It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the call was genuine."
"You seem sure."
"I found the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols. He wrote them."
"Fucking knew it!" Kacey said, "That bastard set us up!"
"Told you, you couldn't trust Cerberus." Jack sneered.
"He knew it was a trap?" Joker mused through the comms, "Why would he send us into a trap?"
"Behaviour within norms for Cerberus." Mordin mused, "Not unexpected."
"Either way, we don't have time for this." Garrus replied.
"You're right. We've got to get out of here first." Kacey replied.
"Uh…Commander. We've got another problem." Joker said, "The Collector ship's powering up! You need to get out before their weapons come online. I'm not losing another Normandy!"
"Yeah, and I'd rather not get blasted through space again, remember?" Kacey replied.
"I do not have full control their systems." EDI said, "I will do what I can. Sending coordinates for shuttle extraction."
"Come on, lets move!" Kacey shouted as the squad bolted down the hall towards the exit.