"Woah, woah, don't shoot!" The man clad in a black-and-white shirt, cap and cargo pants said as he raised his hands. He had hidden behind one of the boxes in the garage, but immediately noticed that the people who'd entered were human or humanoid, at the very least. He commented, "I'll be damned. More soldier types..." his accent audibly strange, voice gruff.
Shepard blinked as they descended, stowing her Mattock on her back and asking, "There more soldiers nearby?" before giving a wave of her hand for the team to secure the area, form a perimeter, that kind of thing. She wanted to have an uninterrupted conversation with their newfound buddy. Going by the looks of him and the tool box sat on top of the box he was taking cover behind, he was the mechanic. And he was tense.
Raising her hand, she spoke, "Relax. We're here to help. Even have a ship incoming with a lot more troops to get these bastards off your lawn."
The man blinked, staring at her, then crossed his arms and asked, "It ain't Alliance, right?" with concern. Shepard was willing to ask the man what was so bad about the Alliance, but, as far as she knew, in the two years they'd come to think of her as dead, not a lot happened. A short surge of military enlistments to help rebuild the Alliance fleet, followed by a drawdown as the losses felt at the Battle of the Citadel were being felt.
So, she shook her head and answered him straight, "No. My buddies over there," while jabbing a thumb back at Ahsoka and her Clones as they searched the place for useful intel, "Have a warship coming up. They're a fairly new addition to the Galaxy, though, so it's taking them a little while to pinpoint Horizon," and she crossed her arms. She asked, "Take it there's another Alliance troop here?"
"Just one," The man scoffed, "She was s'pposed to be helping us set up the GARDIAN lasers you saw outside."
Shepard sighed deeply, "Didn't get to do it before the bastards hit. What happened to them?"
"Targeting's scrambled," He replied, then leaned against the box, "Ain't got a damn clue how to fix it. And I can't reach the com tower and sensor suite alone to try," and he tilted his head toward the other door in the garage, sitting opposite the one they'd come in through. He shrugged, "Maybe you'll have better luck. You made it this damn far, right?"
"We'll get those guns online, get that ship to scramble," She offered, "Thanks. Any name you can give me on the possible Alliance casualty?"
"It's W-" The man was about to speak as the ground suddenly shook, the locked door next to them groaning under stress. He swore, "Damn!" then ran toward the security camera screens installed nearby. He activated them with his Omni-Tool and panned the camera at the locked door. A squad of enemy Drones were pounding at the door. A couple were firing their weapons at it to try and breach, while the others prepared to join in.
"Great. Stay here," Shepard ordered. She whistled to her team and gave a chop of the hand left and one right, to each flank of the door, then one in the middle behind a few boxes, one of which she lifted with her biotics and positioned as cover. She looked at everyone and said, "Breach and clear. Move fast for the antenna and let's get those targeting sequences in order. Bold?"
"Ma'am," The man tilted his helmet to mimic raising a brow.
"Right down the middle," The Commander ordered with a grin. The man seemed to let out a noise of excitement as he set up with his gun behind cover and started spinning it up. She looked at the man on the control console and ordered, "Unlock the door..." as she charged her biotics. Ahsoka beside her ignited her lightsabers. Shepard also drew her rifle off her back, while the others set up to engage.
Garrus quipped, "This is gonna be fun..."
Grunt let out a short, slow laugh as he racked the pump on his Claymore, Mordin checked his SMG and Zaeed simply zeroed his own rifle's scope, stating, "Bunch'a bloodthirsty lunatics, heh. More and more like my kind of gang," before properly pressing the Avenger into his shoulder. The lock ahead turned yellow, its central haptic interface connectors starting to glow a faint green, before it collapsed in on itself and the main door opened.
When the first Collector's eyes could peer inside, it staggered as Bold quipped, "Say hello to my little friend!" before squeezing the trigger. The gun started spitting blaster bolts, causing the aliens to scatter back. Bolts boiled the air as the other Clones began their own fussillade, while the Spartan and Zaeed lined up their shots. Shepard's biotics flared as she sent a Singularity in-between four troops, catching them all and causing them to float around the oscillating ball of dark and light matter.
Ahsoka surged forward, the flurry of her azure blades like a dance of light as she cut into the aliens. Screams of pain, obviously modified by the aliens' physiology, escaped as she cut them into halves, then quarters. She danced around the Singularity so as not to get caught herself, spinning and stabbing another alien creature in the chest, before severing a second's head.
Shepard pushed forward, throwing a Warp at a nearby Collector Assassin, one of the aliens with the Particle beams. Its biotic barrier blocked the hit, but it did catch flames of a purple hue and stagger, causing its aim to go wide and cut into the outer walls of one of the nearby houses. Grunt slammed into the beast next with a mighty Krogan battle cry, sending it flying backward.
The Clones and Lieutenant moved up next, their weapons barking as they pushed through. Zaeed and Mordin knelt, with Mordin looking over the data in his Omni-Tool as another swarm of Seekers flew overhead. However, something caused a collective chill to go up the spines of everyone present. A commanding voice bellowed, "Assuming direct control..."
... And the Collector Assassin that Grunt had managed to punt into a wall glowed, its chitinous skin cracking for beams of golden, irregular light to poke through. It landed, then glared at Shepard and said, "The architect of your ascension has come, Shepard," before glaring. Grunt surged forward, roaring once more, only for the being's powers to manifest. A bright white, fluttering burst of biotics sent the Krogan flying backward a few feet backward, the scream being of 'terror', or whatever could pass as such, for Grunt as he flew.
The enhanced Assassin balled its fist and another platoon of Collector units emerged ahead of them, opening fire with their organic assault weapons. Bursts of metal spat out like sharpened, jagged teeth breaking from the maw, denting and striking metal and forcing everyone to run for cover. Amid this scramble, the Alien in charge aimed its particle beam at the group and fired, the weapon letting out a blood-curdling screech as the focused beam of gold energy struck.
Bold took a hit from the beam right to the chest, causing him to stagger back. Ahsoka was quick. She lifted her hand and then yanked it back, pulling the Clone toward her as soon as she felt her Force power 'latch' onto him. Grunt, who'd joined them in cover, grabbed the man mid-flight, set him down in cover and watched Shepard apply medi-gel. Bold, to his credit, groaned and let out, "That's gonna scar...!"
"That can't be anything normal," Ahsoka spoke as she readied her lightsabers. She stood up and used the Force, feeling the weight behind her push slam into the biotic barrier of the monster. It replied by firing back at her, which she deflected into the ground with her lightsaber. It shifted its aim toward Mordin as the Salarian man tried to engage and he narrowly escaped being turned into a microwaved meal.
Shepard barked, "Taking a guess you're the Collectors' leader?! Why are you doing this!?"
"Humanity's Ascension is at hand," It replied as its troops advanced on the group. What it couldn't see, however, was Shepard preparing her team to take it down. Fred poked out and fired two shots at the monster, causing it to halt its advance and aim for him. Beside him, however, Fives and Jesse popped out, firing their blasters at the escorting platoon of Collector drones, cutting several down in the volley.
Shepard powered her biotic amps to the max and threw a Warp at the bastard, watching as its biotic barrier detonated. She stood to her feet, marched toward the monster and squeezed the trigger of her mattock as many times as was necessary to put it down. Ahsoka's lightsaber flew in from behind and above Shepard and nearly hit the bastard. IT caught the blade mid flight by the hilt and threw it back while Shepard reloaded.
The Commander then charged, powering her Biotics and slamming into the controlled Collector with the full might of a biotic hammer blow. It only staggered the Collector, however, causing Shepard to call out, "ALL TEAMS, FOCUS FIRE ON THIS CRYPTIC SON OF A BITCH!" as all her anger boiled over. She jumped back using her Biotics and joined the teams in focusing down the bastard.
A dozen gun barrels started spitting out hellfire, cratering the monster's armor and body and causing it to stagger back. Each shot pierced a chunk of its body, either tearing off a limb or vaporizing a part of its chitin plate. The light seemed to wink out from the cracks as the creature was torn to shreds by the heavy fire. When it collapsed and the light completely faded, the monster's body scattered to the wind.
Shepard slammed her hand into the heat sink ejection button, dropping a spent, boiling-hot stub from her rifle and slotting in a fresh one within moments. The Clones hit their weapons' cooling modes, hissing steam exuded by the vents as Fives commented, "I think we burned out some grass, too, ma'am," before pointing with the barrel of his DC-15 at the scorch marks on the floor.
"It's dead," Shepard sighed deeply, "Though I've got a feeling that isn't the only time we're gonna see the Collector leader."
"Seems like he has a bone to pick with you all," Ahsoka commented, keeping her Lightsabers at the ready, "How'd it deflect my Lightsaber...?" and she looked at the shorter blade she'd thrown, noting a small 'scorch' mark in the shape of the Collectors' three-fingered hands on the hilt. She hummed, then decided to shut that blade off for now, stowing it on her belt.
Mordin voiced, "Collector leader, interesting. Seems capable of remote control, enhancing specialized drones when seizing it. Assassin armor and barriers replenished when he took control," then he approached the scorch mark as the Clones, Fred and Garrus made a perimeter. Kneeling and activating his omni-tool, Mordin continued, "Control seems almost psychic in nature. Direct link via biotics? Implants? Hm. Would like Collector corpse for study if possible..." And he looked to Shepard, "With your permission, of course, Commander," then smiled.
"Rather not risk it taking control of that corpse aboard the Normandy and causing any damage," Shepard replied warily, then sighed. She approved Mordin's inquisitive mind, but this just stuck a whole new, painful variable in front of them. The Collectors were already capable of coordinating, but with an officer on the ground, things would get a hell of a lot worse. She looked up at the ship still hovering over the planet, then radioed, "Helo, we got an ETA on the Tribunal's arrival?"
"Next ten minutes, ma'am. Suggest you get those guns up if you wanna push the enemy ship out of position," The Colonial pilot replied. Shepard saw the Raptor flying overhead, 'orbiting' the colony and the warship itself. He spoke, "Also... Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, ma'am, but you'd think that thing would've picked me up on sensors and shot me down by now."
"It didn't shoot at us when we landed, either, and it has a fairly long-range particle beam. It was forward-facing only, though, I think..." Shepard hummed, then said, "Let's just count our blessings and get moving. Prep to land Team Three, because I feel like we might need the backup," and she motioned for the team to rally up. Helo gave an affirmative reply and started preparing to land, all while the rest of the team pushed forward.
"A Collector officer that can take control of Drones, biotics being available amidst their ranks," Ahsoka recounted as the squad formed into a diamond, covering each-other's backs. She looked to Shepard and said, "There may be more to these creatures than the nickname you gave them lets on..." and she looked at one of the Drones as they passed by it, its corpse filled with bullet holes and blaster marks.
"Remind me to brief you all properly on the Reapers when we're back aboard the Normandy, including the Husks we saw back there," Shepard stated. She didn't recall if she did do a complete briefing on the matters, but she'd probably sound like any rambling old buffoon or insane person talking about the End Times. Still, they had open evidence of the Reapers back there, Husks and all.
As they advanced toward the central area of the colony, where the defense guns' control center and antenna were, the group heard a distant scream, like a dozen voices at once merged into one. Jesse said, "We aren't done quite yet," as he looked at Fred. The Spartan nodded and quickly exchanged the half-spent magazine of his DMR for a fresh one, slamming it home and letting it click into place.
Shepard looked back, meanwhile, asking, "You having fun, Grunt?"
The Krogan grinned, smashing his fists together and stating, "I've been looking forward to the thrill of combat. Glad to see you weren't lying about worthy enemies, Shepard. The Collector officer that sent me flying..." And he sniffed the air, proud, "Truly, a hard feat to deny. Lifting me's like lifting a tank. The armored kind, not the artificial womb you found me in."
"Glad to hear it," Shepard smirked, then mumbled, "Thank God the Perfect Krogan's with us..." as they dropped a step down into what seemed to almost be an arena. Shepard mumbled, "When's the last time I've seen an open area with very little cover and a lot of open sightlines...?" as they approached the central area of the Arena, where a console and the targeting antennae for the guns resided on top of what seemed to be a raised portion with four stairs leading up. The console itself was sat on the North-Western corner.
"All units, fuckin' Irene," Joked Jack as the Raptor landed behind them, disgorging the rest of the team. The Psychotic Biotic joined the group and said, "We saw some pretty nasty shit headed this way. Seems like it's gonna be a tough fight," while Miranda and Jacob followed along, weapons at the ready. Jack didn't seem distraught by the idea, either. Shepard knew she reveled in killing and that was what they needed right now.
"If the Collector Leader's around, too, yeah, it is," Shepard replied as she approached the console and started checking it. When she started getting errors, she sighed and threw her hands up, then ordered, "Garrus, you get on it. Helo, back up in the air. We're gonna need any further jamming and the link to Joker," then watched Garrus moving up to the console. She spoke, "Everyone else, grab cover and prep. If we've actually got a lot of incoming, I wanna be ready."
Replies and salutes affirmed the Commander's orders. Every member of the team was soon taking cover behind a box or some form of hard, bullet-resistant piece of something, forming a concentric defense ring around Garrus as he was setting up the console. Shepard thought for a moment, then radioed, "EDI, can you link the weapon battery to the Normandy's targeting systems if Garrus gives you an opening?"
"Yes. It should help expedite the preparation process for the GARDIAN weapons system..." EDI replied, "However, be advised, Commander. I have detected a large concentration of enemy forces on approach to your current location. If you have not done it yet, I suggest preparing defenses," all while Shepard scanned the area around her to see all the troops they'd set up, Jack's own biotics giving her a dark purple hue while she grinned.
"Thanks for the warning," The commander quipped, "Shepard out..." then she approached Garrus and told him, "Set up the link and grab your gun. I feel like we'll need every barrel pointed at the Collectors before we're off Horizon," only to hear the deep hum of the repulsorlifts from the LAAT overhead. The gunship swept in and Shepard smiled at that, "Speaking of..."
"Right," The Turian nodded. Tapping a few more lines of code in, then opening his Omni-Tool, he spoke, "EDI, you've got your opening," then drew his rifle. The pair then joined the rest of the team in taking up defensive positions. The ground slightly shook as the feet of dozens, if not hundreds of Collectors trampled across the place. The Console's diagnostics screen started flashing as the antennae powered on. The Gunship hovered overhead, its guns and turrets scanning for targets.
The Commander stabilized her Mattock on top of a box of what seemed to be recycled materials, peering through the in-built scope at shadows moving in the alleyways around them. The entire group tensed, fingers hovering over the triggers of their weapons, with Fred being the only one that wasn't twitchy. Jack mumbled, "Come on, you sons of bitches... I've been waiting, cooped-up in that dropship for too long for you to chicken out on us now..."
Fred, meanwhile, had boosted his armor's scanner and sensor suite, giving his motion tracker greater range. He zeroed in on one of the alleys, stating, "Platoon, approaching from nine o'clock," before shouldering his rifle properly and supporting it on the other hand, which was pressed against one of the taller walls he was using for cover. The Gunship shifted its cannons to face the area.
When the first Drone appeared, the volley of energy and kinetic weapons that struck it (and the one following it) came down like a hammer blow from the lord himself. The Gunship's anti-infantry cannons spat emerald bolts at the target, with Shepard calling out, "CONTACTS! WE'VE GOT INCOMING ALL ACROSS NOW!" as she spotted more enemy troops on the rooftop. She, Garrus and Fred opened fire, bullets zipping past the Collectors as they advanced, taking up positions and coordinating to hit back.
The Gunship took fire from a pair of Assassins with particle beams, their shots cutting into the side of the armor, but doing minimal damage. The crew manning the composite-beam laser ball turret powered his weapon. The emerald beams of light coalesced into one centralized one in the dish of the weapon, then screamed out, the beam cutting a swath into the ranks of the enemy force and boiling away part of one of the Prefab houses.
Biotics and Tech attacks mixed with plasma bolts, gunfire and particle beams, Commander Shepard grabbing the beam of one of the fallen Collectors to utilize as her own with what few heavy power cells she still had at her disposal. Short, one-second bursts turned some of the monsters into smears, while Bold let loose with his Z6. He walked over to the Commander and told her, "Thanks for the patch-up, Commander! That Medi-Gel stuff really kicks in quick!"
"Stick to cover, Bold! Don't wanna have to patch your ass up a second time!" The Commander quipped, garnering a laugh out of the other clones. She could still see the marks where the particle beam had made contact and cut through the 'plastoid', but the man was spry as could be and even firing his weapon with relatively little issue. Fives approached, drawing his twin pistols and engaging a few enemy units that had managed to jump down. "EDI, ETA?!" Shepard then demanded.
"Unknown. Encountering minor issues... Odd... Stand-by, ETA is approximately five minutes," EDI replied, though she seemed confused. Her articulation of the issue was, however, interesting. She spoke, "Coincidentally, the Tribunal has nearly arrived..." before stopping again. Something was messing with her. Shepard cocked her head left, looking at the console, then paused.
... A blue dot swept the console, moving in the shape of a wider wedge, left to right, then right to left. It moved in a pattern, worryingly enough, before the holographic eye seemed to lock onto Shepard. She blinked, about ready to blow the console open and rewire the targeting manually(if that was even possible), only for the pattern to wink off, the console returning to normal.
"Large aerial contact, incoming!" Helo reported...
And the crew paused as a giant bio-mechanical monster landed ahead of them. Sat on three spindly legs, tinted blue by the nanomachines probably flowing through its body, with two narrow, blue-burning eyes glaring at them. It opened its mouth, letting out a scream of anger that revealed... Dozens of Husks' heads within its belly. Ahsoka, who was cutting down swathes of enemy forces, froze when she saw it.
Its eyes glowed, fury seemingly gathering within its maw. Shepard called out, "TAKE COVER!" to Ahsoka, before watching Fred dash forward at a speed that made him seem a blur, grab the General, then move out of the way just as the alien monstrosity's attack came. Twin beams of blue hatred coalesced into one, cutting down the center of the area, burning grass, boiling dirt and nearly shearing the cover Garrus was behind in one go.
Garrus, in fact, took a hit to his shields, which nearly crumbled. Ahsoka, meanwhile, used her Lightsaber to deflect a burst from another assassin while she and Fred were fleeing, with Fred immediately drawing his pistol and shooting at the bastards as he ran. Ahsoka said to him, "You can put me down, Lieutenant!" with urgency. He nodded, set her down and she said, "Thanks for the save! Now, let's end this!" before deflecting another shot from the particle beam. Her hand shot out toward the bastard that was firing. She saw it stagger and grinned, then, turning her palm to face upward, pulling back and closing it into a fist, she crumpled the Collector Assassin.
Shepard barked, "All units, focus fire on the big bastard! EDI, ETA?!"
"Thirty seconds!" The AI replied urgently.
Shepard looked over at the Gunship, flagged the pilot with a wave and radioed, "Fire EVERYTHING!" and marked the machine ahead as it marched forward. Grunt charged it, unsurprisingly, slamming into it and staggering it before putting several shotgun shells into its face. Shepard barked, "GRUNT, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" to which the Krogan immediately jumped back.
The Gunship once again came in clutch. As the monster seemed to be charging something, Mordin struck it with a tech attack that staggered it, followed by Jack and Miranda utilizing their combined Biotics(though nearly hitting each-other) and staggering it. It was then followed up by Shepard's own Warp attack, which ignited the beast in lilac fire, before the Gunship's missiles, guns and laser ball turrets let loose in an awesome display of Republic firepower.
Lacing the creature with plasma and laser bolts and striking it with high-impact anti-everything missiles from the upper tubes caused it to stagger, double over and scream out in pain. It tried to charge its energy cannons again, glaring at the gunship, but the Pilot commented, "Not today," before firing a higher-yield missile he'd loaded ahead of time from the launcher. The shot nailed the beast square in the mouth of many heads it had, vaporizing it and sending a shockwave that staggered much of the crew.
In the place of the monster and explosion, only ashes remained. Shepard sighed deeply upon seeing that, relieved, then said, "All units, cease fire! EDI?" and paused as the whirring of the turret motors of each GARDIAN gun echoed. The weapons swiveled about on their mounts, traversed and raised their barrels before opening fire. Flashes of energy left the barrels, striking the hull of the alien vessel in volleys. The vessel's engines lit up in reply, a small gust of wind and the ripple of altering mass effect fields filling the air...
Overhead, however, something else thundered. Emerald and azure bolts followed up, striking the body of the alien vessel, ripping through the advanced kinetic barriers and into armor. When they looked up, they saw them:Republic ARC-170 fighters and Y-Wing bombers swept in hard and fast, their engines ripping and roaring through the air as they appeared from amidst the clouds. Not far behind them, breaching through the clouds like an armored whale or the arrowhead of a god, the Venator-class Carrier Tribunal appeared, its commander radioing, "All ground elements, this is Tribunal. We're engaging."
EDI butted into the com, stating, "Republic Warship Tribunal, be advised, hostile ship is exiting atmosphere. It may have civilians on board. Recommend targeting the engines to disable it!" while the rest of the people on the ground, civilian and soldier alike, watched the Republic vessel's main batteries swivel about.
"Copy last, Normandy. All squadrons, load Ion torpedoes. Strike the ship as it enters orbit. Ground forces, deploy and assist in securing the colony," The Captain of the warship replied. The Republic vessel opened up, turbolasers zipping through the clouds and striking the vessel's armor, overloading its kinetic barriers and damaging part of its engines as it tried to flee under the pursuit of the Republic's bombers.
Shepard smiled at the sight, then scratched the top of her head and said, "And you people give me more reasons to be glad we're on the same side..." while Ahsoka stepped up to join her. The General let out a short giggle, watching the cannonade and the pursuit. Shepard sighed and radioed, "Normandy, tell the Illusive Man we might have our in..."
"... So, this is the kind of backup you bring when one of your old friends has problems, eh?" A familiar voice spoke, full of joviality. Shepard looked down, catching sight of a tanned woman with her hair caught in a bun, her dirty, battered armor a fading white with red accents. The woman smiled at Shepard and crossed her arms, "Hell of a 'welcome back' party, Commander..."
"Ash," Shepard breathed, then smiled... Then paused as her mind started racing, "What're you doing here?"
"Helping the locals fix up defenses," Ashley Williams replied, lowering her arms by her side. She examined the crew around, noting the multitude of aliens, the Clones and immediately wrinkling her nose at Cerberus. She sighed and said, "When I heard from admiral Hackett that you were still alive, I almost didn't want to believe it. Especially since rumors started about you working with Cerberus."
"It isn't exactly charity work," Shepard replied, shrugging, "Plus... I'm not working just with Cerberus."
"Yeah," Ashley nodded, then approached and extended her hand, "It's why I'm not ripping you a new one right now, verbally. Hackett also told me you managed to get three other alien factions to befriend each-other so you guys can deal with these... Things," She looked down at the corpse of a Collector beside her, "Whatever they are. Some sort of interdimensional incident?"
"Intergalactic," Ahsoka clarified.
"Uh-huh..." Ash blinked, "And you are...?"
"General Ahsoka Tano of the Three-Twenty-Second Division, Grand Army of the Republic," The girl replied, "You are...?"
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Alliance Marines, ma'am," Ash shot back, then saluted more out of common respect. She looked back at Shepard, who was smiling, then said, "You always had a bad habit of gathering the strangest people aboard the Normandy. Glad to see not even Death managed to change that, ma'am," all while looking around at the 'rest' of the crew.
"Gunnery Chief, huh? I missed a lot," Shepard rubbed the back of her neck, a look of unspoken apologies and thousands of unsaid words on her face, "I would've let you all know ahead of time that I came back if I could, but things were hectic, what with the Colonies going missing and shortness of time," and she almost seemed to be trying to find some way to rationalize it all.
"Yeah," Ash nodded, though it seemed understanding instead of hostile, as she would've expected. She knew Ash hated aliens and hated Cerberus, so... Gunnery Chief Williams told her, "No kidding..." then sighed deeply and asked, "What the hell are these things anyway?" as she motioned to the dead Collectors, "I've been hearing all sorts of rumors on the ExtraNet," and she knelt beside one, poking at its broken carapace with the barrel of her pistol.
"Collectors," Shepard replied, her tone grave.
Garrus stepped up and added, "That are probably working with the Reapers, going by the husks we found all over the place," and he smirked, or did whatever could be considered a smirk from anyone else's viewpoint, when he saw Ash stare up at him with wide eyes. He greeted, "Nice to see you, too, Ash. We aliens still getting under your skin, or are ya finally past that?"
"Still working on it, Garrus," Ash sighed, then smiled, "At least I know someone from our old crew has your back, Commander. Was worried you were stuck with the Cerberus squad."
"Yeah, the Cheerleader's a pain in the ass," Jack mumbled, staring at Miranda, who scoffed.
The Gunnery Chief glanced over at Jack, blinked and chose to ignore her presence for her own sanity. She only paused when she heard Shepard say in a low, pleading voice, "Come with us, Ash. I could use the backup," to which she turned to face her. Shepard said, "I promise I'll explain everything, but I need people to make up the core of the team. People like you and Garrus, like Tali, like Liara, Wrex..." Like Kaidan, though that remained unspoken...
A glint of sadness appeared in Ashley's eyes. She breathed a deep sigh, then said, "Sorry, Commander. As much as I'd love to join you in saving humanity and the Galaxy again, I've still got duties as a soldier of the Alliance," all while looking her in the eye. She did offer, "But I can already tell you've got a good few crew members here that aren't pushovers. Nothing quite like the old crew, but they'll tide you over. Keep me posted when you come back to the Alliance, okay?"
Shepard's shoulders sagged. She nodded, "Alright," then she shook Ashley's hand properly, stating, "I'll see you around, Gunnery Chief."
The two did one last thing, a quick goodbye in the form of a salute, before Shepard called down the shuttle and asked, "Status on the Collector vessel?"
"It has been disabled by electromagnetic weaponry the Republic has employed, Commander," EDI replied, "We may be able to board it and learn more about the Collectors' plans now. Rescue the Civilians of Horizon, as well," and that marked another bit of great news in a long line of otherwise middling-to-sometimes-terrible ones. The crews boarded their respective Dropships, immediately taking off for the Normandy...
