The Normandy was preparing to deploy onto the colony of Horizon. Shepard sat in the com room, explaining to Thrawn, "... And that's part of the reason we believe there may be a hostile force coming. We've got the Anti-Seeker 'cure' that Mordin developed at the ready and we can send the formula your way, but we might need the backup from something heavier than the Normandy..."
"I understand," Thrawn replied calmly from the holographic com, "I will detach the Tribunal to assist you against them, but I'm not certain she will arrive in time. Good luck out there, Commander..."
"Yeah. To you guys as well," She nodded, "Don't rough the Batarians up too much. Might start a war or the Council's gonna be peeved at you..." before she shrugged. She honestly really gave no shit what happened to the Batarians. The two then gave each-other a nod and the com shut off. Shepard walked out, letting the table raise, before immediately taking the elevator up to her room and finally pouring herself a shot.
After downing about four more and taking a quick nap, the Commander had awoken to the news they were, in fact, arriving near Horizon. She gathered herself off of her couch, stood to her feet and immediately took the elevator down to CIC and entered the armory, donning her gear. Activating her Omni-Tool and connecting it to the PA allowed her to order, "All crew, to the briefing room."
Shepard had upgraded her armor and checked over her M96 Mattock. She then slid it onto her back, letting it fold and walking to the deck with Jacob. Entering the briefing room, she saw the entire team that had been gathered so far, prepared and waiting. Jack herself donned some clothing, thank the maker. A leather jacket, gloves, jeans and some light armor. The others wore the same gear they'd worn when they headed out last.
She spoke, "Alright. We're nearing Horizon, so I want to have a plan of attack at the ready in case these actually are Collectors..." then walked over to the table, activating its holographic transmitter and showing a two-dimensional map with images taken by an orbiting satellite Cerberus must've hacked. She said, "The Colony of Horizon's a decently large place. We'll cover as much ground as humanly possible by splitting up into three teams:Two that will go in immediately and one that will act as QRF in case the shit hits the fan."
"So, basically, Third Team's going in regardless," Jack murmured, grinning. A few murmurs agreed with her statement.
Shepard sighed and said, "Point is, we might finally have a way to stop them, or at least figure them out here," then she pointed at the map again. Calmly, she ordered, "I want everyone packed and ready to go. Jesse and the General are leading team two, I'll take one. Fred, you're Two with Ahsoka and the Clones. Keep your eyes peeled for civilians and make sure we have the gear at the ready to help evacuate them."
"Commander, with all due respect," Miranda started as she powered on her omni-tool, "Our primary objective should be attempting to take a Collector prisoner and attempt to interrogate it," and the screen switched to the collage of images taken by the security cameras on Freedom's Progress. Enhancing the image through the Omni-Tool's functionality and with some obvious help from EDI, Miranda locked the image onto a Collector soldier.
The four-eyed bipedal creature seemed to be staring at the camera, its insectoid eyes glowing white and its carapace shifting colors with the light that fell upon it. It held an organic weapon, shaped exactly like a standard assault rifle. Shepard could even make out the slot where the weapon heat sink would eject from or be re-inserted into, though it was covered by flesh and chitin.
She wanted to reply, but Fred leaned forward and said, "If we're capable of hitting these things with anything that could knock one out, miss Lawson, who's to say it'll even cooperate?" only to look at the Commander, "Do we even have a means to shut these things down and to grab one?" only to pause as one of the Clones cleared his throat. The entire room looked at the squad of white and blue-clad soldiers.
"Technically?" Jesse voiced, stepping forward, "We have a stun setting on our blasters. I can't promise anything, but we might be able to put one to bed, nab it."
Shepard paused for a moment, considering their options. She sighed deeply and replied, "If you can afford it without taking casualties, Jesse. I don't wanna be responsible for the General losing men under her command. Otherwise, operational objective remains:Clear the place and find survivors. If we can hold until the Tribunal arrives, we might even be able to do some damage to the enemy ship."
Shepard breathed a sigh, "Otherwise, that's all. Pack your gear. I'll see you in the Hangar in an hour," then she waved over Grunt, Mordin, Zaeed and Garrus. As they walked out, she told the four, "I think we're about to have one hell of a welcome party from the Collectors. I wanted to ask you four specifically to tag in with my team. Miranda, Jacob and the others are Team Three."
"Jack's gonna be upset she ain't tagging along," Joked Garrus.
Zaeed replied, "Yeah, well, she's probably jinxed herself and her goddamn team. Three's probably gonna have to back our asses up down there," as they took the next exit to the left and armory. Each member of the team geared up with their respective weapons, Shepard grabbing her M96 Mattock, M4 Shuriken and the M6 Carnifex she'd managed to grab when she went to retrieve Mordin.
Mordin himself racked back the charging handle of his own Shuriken, slid a new heat sink in and spoke, "Indeed. Possibilities of allied force engaging Collectors endearing," then he scratched his chin, "Do wonder if countermeasures against Seekers work. Haven't had much time to test full effects," only to pause as he felt all eyes on him. He corrected himself quickly, "But should be fine."
"Not sure of yourself, doc?" Zaeed asked, cool as a cucumber on the surface, but goddamn concerned after what Mordin had just said. He saw the Salarian simply smile at him, to which he replied with a 'calm' and sarcastic, "Well, I feel safe..." as he grabbed an Avenger off the table and slid it onto his back holster. He then grabbed a Katana shotgun, slotted that onto his back at the lower magnetic connection point and, finally, he grabbed a Carnifex off the table.
"Relax, Zaeed," Garrus quipped as he slammed home a fresh heat sink and racked the bolt of his Widow. He flashed the human an alien grin, slid the weapon onto his back and said, "We'll only make sure you're first if you start being annoying," while looking the old mercenary dead in his eyes, all while Mordin remained surprisingly silent, but still smiled.
Grunt let out a chortle, picked up the Claymore shotgun Okeer had given him as a gift and racked the pump, then boasted, "A few bugs don't scare me."
"Keep that confidence up throughout the fight and we'll be fine, big man," The Mercenary replied as he put a few extra heat sinks into his rig. He looked at Shepard and said, "Do you trust these 'extra-galactic' newcomers, Commander? I mean, I haven't seen'em in action, but half of'em looked like they were wearin' plastic. The other half looked like something from the History Books."
"They covered our asses just fine when we retrieved Grunt and Okeer," Shepard replied as she finished loading up on everything, including Grenades. She told Zaeed, "Keep calm and carry on, Massani," with a smirk, then waved everyone out. Taking the elevator down to the hangar, the group soon saw the rest of their comrades were already armed. Obviously, a chunk of the crew only needed to stow smaller gear. SMGs, pistols, the likes. The others, however, never left their specific accommodations without their weaponry.
Shepard then spoke, "Team Three's with Helo. One takes the Kodiak, two takes the LAAT," and pointed to each respective aircraft.
Jack boarded the Raptor first and said, "Don't fly us into a mountain, soldier-boy," to Helo as she sat down. The man let out a fake laugh while his co-pilot glanced back at the Psychotic Biotic. The others followed her close behind, while the Clones, Spartan and General boarded the LAAT. A ripple filled the cargo hold as the vessel decelerated, having reached the AO above Horizon.
Joker spoke over the radio, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we've arrived at our destination. Stand by for Atmo Insert. That means brace for a choppy entry, by the way," all while the ship began to rattle. Joker's channel was still open as he let out a quiet, "Woah," before EDI chided him, though what she said was barely audible. The man then spoke, "Alright, all teams, green light to launch..." a little more subdued and seemingly concerned.
As the hatch opened, the groups looked ahead, to the sight of the sprawling hills and fields of golden crop, the growing trees, the distant mountains and gathering clouds, only for their eyes to finally settle upon the centerpiece of it all. Situated above the prefab buildings of the decently-sized colony stood a single, monolithic ship. Protruding out from what seemed to be a dug-out asteroid, the alien warship was tubular in shape, almost perfectly so. Despite that. Semi-circular prongs of armor plate poked out from amidst its body, like ribs holding the rocks that would probably act as camouflage normally in place. Sat upright, its thrusters and mass effect fields glowing, the vessel was the centerpiece of a localized lightning storm whose lightning glowed golden. Various gasps filled the com, but Shepard could only focus on the vessel.
"So, that's what took down the SR1," Murmured Sam, feeling a light chill up her spine. Images of the fight flashed in her mind. The boiling plate, the particle beam cutting through the Normandy's armor, the wanton destruction, floating pieces and the failing life support and worthless firefighting. Her chest suddenly felt tight. She grabbed onto the top of her armor's chest plate and gently tugged back, trying to make some room for herself to be able to breathe as the air in the ship felt like it'd suddenly disappeared.
"Force," Ahsoka murmured over coms, "That's a big ship... Its mass effect fields must be incredibly powerful to keep it upright..."
"Good to know you've done your homework, General," Shepard replied, then breathed a deep sigh, thankful Ahsoka's words had taken her out of her fugue. She looked at the ship's console and said, "Setting us down," as she tapped a few buttons on the haptic interface. The Kodiak's landing engines fired as the ship slowly angled its nose up to thirteen degrees. It slowed down and landed in a clearing near by the colony.
As they dismounted, the LAAT touched down next. Karl contacted the groups over the com, stating, "This is Helo. Electronic Warfare systems are online... For all the good that might do against that ship," before they heard Miranda mumble something. He added, "We're holding position five klicks out and maintaining contact with Orbital. Call us if you need the help."
"Roger that, Helo. Thanks," Shepard replied, then gazed over to Fred and Ahsoka. The Jedi gave a wave to the Commander, who waved back, while Fred simply nodded. The two then moved forward with the Clones, marching for another entry point. Shepard looked over her own team and showed them to follow as the flaps of hundreds of small, chitinous wings filled their ears. The group started moving forward as small, fast-moving black clouds began to appear overhead. Only, they were not clouds. Resolving into the forms of the famed 'Seekers', decently-sized, chitin-covered bioengineered insects, the swarms soon started descending toward the crew.
Shepard suddenly held her breath as she balled her fist, showing the group to stop. They did, holding position as they watched the bugs descending toward them. She caught Mordin cast a sideways glance at their Kodiak, then look back up at the alien swarm. Zaeed caught onto that and mumbled something that Shepard immediately silenced with a low side-swipe of her open right hand.
Their hearts all beat in their throats for a moment as they watched the buzzing insects slowly descend toward them. As they were coming down, the group grew more and more tense, Garrus thumbing the safety off of his Vindicator Battle Rifle as he watched. The descent grew a little steeper for the bugs as they swept over a rock and some of the trees.
Then a moment where everyone held their breaths came as the Swarm drew close enough for each individual bug to be visible...
... Then a collective sigh of relief echoed as the swarm flew over their heads, completely and utterly ignoring them. Shepard scratched her chin, shook her head and smiled, then gave a thumbs-up to Mordin. She then radioed, "This is Shepard... Countermeasure successful. The Seekers can't detect us," before hearing muted jubilation from all teams. She balled her fist up and then opened her palm, chopping forward.
The group began to move slowly down the hill, guided by broken fences put up by the civilians. In the distance, heavy GARDIAN turrets rose up above the Colony, dead in the water, quiet and pointed away from the Colony. She spoke, "I have sight on the GARDIAN defense system that was being prepared. They look almost completely ready..."
"And guns of that size were supposed to scare off that thing," Zaeed scoffed, "Might as well be goddamn throwing pebbles at it."
Garrus corrected, "GARDIAN systems ain't anything to scoff at. Something must've gone wrong with their calibration sequence, though. They're not even tracking the enemy ship," and he pushed up next to Shepard. She nodded in approval at Garrus's assessment of the situation, then tapped her com twice, trying to signal Fred. Fred tapped back twice as well, confirming they were in the clear for now.
As they pushed into the Colony itself, there were no signs of battle damage. No stubs from spent heat sinks, no bullet holes marking the walls, no nothing. Fives commented over the com, "This place is dead..." which got a stifled chuckle out of General Tano and out of Ahsoka. He spoke, "Was Freedom's Progress like this when you got there, Commander?"
"Exactly the same, Fives," Shepard replied as they scanned the Prefabs for movement. They found nothing. The place was, in fact, dead, save for the light groans of metal here and there, the thunder of the electricity coursing onto the kinetic barriers of the Collector vessel above and the chirps and chitters of the alien harvesting force. As they entered the place, Shepard asked, "Team Two... Any civvies?" while walking up the stairs.
"Negative so far," Ahsoka replied, "Seeing a lot of pods, however," and that made Shepard cast a glance at a pileup of those same pods. Chitinous, biomechanical and shaped like the cocoons of butterflies, though with an orange-tinted, symbol-marked window to view whatever was inside through, they sat quietly in the street corners, waiting to be gathered. Some were empty. Others were occupied, obviously, though it was hard to tell who was inside.
The Commander breathed, then replied, "We're seeing the same here," as she scanned the rooftops and the tinted windows for movement. Lights were still on in some of the buildings as they trekked through the place. As they trekked deeper into the area, the group soon found themselves near some sort of loading ramp and an area that was concerningly open.
She chopped her hand forward, then tensed with the rest of the squad as she heard Fred comment over the radio, "Contact on the Motion Tracker, airborne. Incoming hostile," very matter-of-factly. She heard Ahsoka's lightsabers ignite, then Fred told her, "Looks like we're about to be engaged, Commander. Godspeed," only for the rapid, almost supersonic flap of chitin wings to play over the com. And close to them.
"Contact, dead-ahead!" Zaeed barked. Indeed, as the group scattered into defensive positions in the loading dock, behind boxes and armored drums, they saw them. Descending like predatory birds or giant wasps, clad in the same chitinous armor and glowing due to their own personal kinetic barriers, Collector Soldiers landed amidst cover, one of them bellowing orders to the others in their chittered language.
They numbered about twice Shepard's squad here and they'd arrayed themselves tactically, like proper soldiers. Their first shots rang out and zipped over Shepard's and the others' heads, scraping barrels and hitting kinetic barriers as they pressed the advantage. Shepard poked out from behind her cover, firing from down low with the semi-automatic Mattock and feeling and hearing its thundering punch.
The Collectors took cover when return fire started coming, with Zaeed immediately standing up and firing his Avenger at the enemy force in bursts to keep them pinned down. He barked, "Vakarian! Their leader is open!" before pointing at the unit with biotic barriers and a beam weapon in the back. Garrus immediately switched over to his sniper rifle, shouldered it and peered through the scope.
Even as bullets from the hostile units zipped past Garrus, the Turian remained steady in hand, scoping out the hostile leader as it aimed its own beam weapon at him. A heartbeat and Garrus's mandibles clicked, followed by the thunderclap of the Widow. The mass effect-assisted bullet zipped through the air and slammed into the shields of the monster Collector, its chitinous plates seemingly shifting as its kinetic barrier collapsed.
Shepard was next, popping up and doming the bastard with her Mattock. Two shots clean through the mouth tore through it, painting the wall behind it a pallid, glowing white thanks to the bug's blood. She then aimed for other advancing Collectors and fired, but her shots missed the same as theirs. Garrus immediately flipped his weapons, switching over to his Battle Rifle and firing a burst toward the monsters.
The Commander ducked again as a shot struck her biotic barriers, then another. She powered her biotics next, her entire body glowing a deep lilac. A ball of energy formed in her hand, which she cocked back and, upon standing up, threw toward the first enemy she met. The Warp blast struck the monster, staggering it and boiling away skin and armor. It stumbled, allowing Mordin to hit it next with a headshot.
She then jumped over cover, while Mordin called out, "Simply amazing! Biotics interesting field of study, Commander!" With a smirk as he pushed up behind her, firing his SMG at the enemy. Grunt followed up next, roaring happily as he slammed into the next Collector and flattening it against one of the raised walls. He dented the frame of the already-damaged prefab, causing part of the wall to collapse before he turned about and fired his Claymore.
The high-caliber Krogan-made shotgun barked loudly, like an angry Alpha Varren on the hunt. The shot ripped the Collector's chest cavity wide open, revealing the internal 'wires' and enhancements done to this presumed thrall to the Reapers. The Krogan then proceeded to throw a punch at one of the two advancing on his flank and peppering him with bullets.
The other was gunned down rather rapidly by both Zaeed and Shepard. It was so, moments later, that everything went dead quiet, with the only gunfire now being from the guns of their Comrades. Lowering their guns allowed Shepard to speak, "We're clear in our AO, General! We're moving up to a possible meeting point!" before she waved her squad forward. Breaching into a building, the group pushed through, passing abandoned trays with cooled food, empty chairs and bunks and safes(Though not without Shepard emptying them of funds).
A Collector soldier, plugged full of blaster bolts going by the plasma scores on its body and drilled by a Lightsaber, flew backward under the combined weight of a Force Push and the Spartan Lieutenant's titanium boot. It fell to the floor, hissing and chittering before the Lieutenant put his boot into its face and caused its outer plates and inner skull to cave in. Pulling his foot out of the now-dead collector, the Spartan looked to the Commander and nodded. He spoke, "They managed to take down my shields by focusing me, but it didn't help them much."
"One of'em damn near cut my head off," Bold spoke next as he hefted his Z6, "Bastard with a particle beam rifle."
"I deflected it back at the Collector officer," Ahsoka smirked, to which the Clones laughed, though there was a certain level of unease to that laugh. Fred looked to Ahsoka and gave a nod, before the group formed up again and started pushing deeper into the colony at Shepard's wordless orders. Horizon seemed to be rather occupied by the enemy. Their invasion forces held much of the area around them.
As they advanced, Karl reported over com, "There's fluctuations in the ship's fields. Almost like alarms. Seems like you woke them up by killing that patrol, Commander," all while the audible requests of the crew for the Pilot to bring them down filtered through.
Shepard clicked her com and replied, "Well, tell the gang they'll have to get down here soon enough, so Jack oughta stop busting our collective balls about it."
After a moment of pause, Karl replied with, "While I'd love to give the full reply, Commander, I'll just say she confirmed. Give us a ping when we gotta roll in. Helo, out," and the com went quiet. Shepard and the group continued advancing in a staggered column, Fives, Jesse and the Clones scanning the area with their blasters as they pushed on through.
Marching past, the group immediately came under fire as another squad of enemy units engaged them from above. Fred was quick on the draw, doming the first enemy unit he caught in the scope of his DMR before taking cover. Shepard and the others watched the monsters landing amidst the buildings, taking cover behind boxes that were strewn-around and moving to flank them.
A volley of blaster bolts soon erupted from amidst the ranks of the Clones as they formed a perimeter around the group. Shots scarred the buildings or drilled holes into tempered glass, shattering it, all while the squad engaged. Mordin spoke, "Enjoy the sight of these new weapons! Might wish to acquire pistol for self-defense later!"
"Just get in contact with BlasTech, doc!" Fives quipped as he took cover beside the Salarian, then poked out and fired a burst at one of the Collector drones. Ducking back down, the Clone joked, "Pretty sure they'll be happy to expand their business into this Galaxy, too!" while waving Bold over. The heavy-weapon clone moved up, hefted his rotary cannon up and let loose a volley that pinned several of the enemy units down.
Meanwhile, Shepard sniped with what was basically a Designated Marksman Rifle in all but name, doming another and narrowly missing its sibling. She reloaded, then looked over to Garrus as he was trying to line up a shot before asking him, "You ever think we'd be doing this!?" and preparing for either the dumbest or funniest answer from her old comrade in arms. For all attempts at being a smarmy guy, Garrus was still a bit of a nerd.
"Fighting side-by-side with my dead former CO two years after we defeated a Geth invasion and an ancient machine, or shooting at the mythical Collectors?!" Garrus quipped, garnering a laugh out of the Commander.
Another shot snapped over her head, then a burst, then a beam from one of the Collectors' heavy weapons.
The reply was a snap-pop from Fred's DMR, then another, then a burst. Fives followed up with his own blaster, putting down two enemies as they advanced with five shots altogether. It was getting fairly dangerous, with the Collectors seemingly able to co-ordinate properly in their flanking maneuvers. Thankfully, it seemed as if Shepard's picked squad was working well together...
... Until a familiar groan filled her ears. Cocking her head to sight where the noise had come from, she went bug-eyed, watching as a pair of what was once humans marched over toward them, their mouths wide open, eyes wide. Their skins were a sickly blue tint thanks to the nanomachines in their bodies, pipes poking out of their stomachs, concentrating into where the belly-button had once been. They roared and switched from shambling to running.
"Husks!" Shepard barked, then stood up and fired at the charging melee units, "The bastards have Husks!"
Garrus was quick to realign his shots. He hit both in their heads, breaking apart what little remained of their human skulls. He watched their headless bodies stumble and drop, the lights from their bodies extinguishing. He reloaded his weapon and said, "There's certainly gonna be no doubt about them working with the Reapers now...! Especially considering this is the same tech we saw Sovereign and his Geth employ..."
"Yeah," Shepard scoffed.
Zaeed stepped forward and threw two grenades, then hit another creature in the head with his shotgun's butt. He told the others, "Might as well start pushing! Sitting ducks are dead ducks!" before aiming his Avenger and firing. The others nodded, with Fred taking point to protect the squad. He grabbed a Husk by the throat and slammed it into the floor, stomping its head clean off.
A few more bursts and the place went quiet again. They pushed deeper into the place, encountering more resistance even as they climbed up the stairs at the center of the colony. There, however, they found them:Humans, frozen in place by the Seeker swarms. Some tried to help their friends. Others carried weapons, attempting to fight back the Collectors here, with the unsuccessful attempts marked by bullet holes. Mordin spoke, "Interesting. Marks of resistance here. Colonists' doomed attempt to hold enemy off, no doubt."
"Seems like they did their best, but without the Seeker defense..." Fred spoke as he approached one of the frozen civilians. He felt for a pulse underneath the field that held the man in place, then said, "Confirming, ma'am. Colonists are alive. You think they'll recover?" as he turned to fully face the woman, cradling his DMR in hand. There was something going on here, alright...
"If given enough time," Ahsoka spoke, though she seemed tense.
As they entered a building, Shepard asked her, "Something the matter, General? You seem a bit... Out of it right now..." all while wondering just what could spook a Force User. They seemed almost like Biotics, but more powerful, even though she didn't participate much in the fight. She couldn't blame the woman, though. There was a lot going on here.
The girl nodded, then sighed, "There's something about these Collectors. Something dark... I can sense it." Then, she leaned against a table, staring at the civilians around them.
"Oh, boy," Fives started as he entered the building, too. Noting that all eyes were on him now, he told them, "Look, when a Knight like General Tano feels something 'dark', I'd be worried..." before looking at Shepard. The Commander seemed to pause for a moment, realizing what that might imply, then nodded. Fives immediately picked up on that, stating, "And, yet again, they're proven right."
Shepard told everyone, "You heard Garrus mention the Reapers, right?" to which they nodded. She continued to explain to the extra-galactics, "It's a long story, but to put it simply, they're ancient alien machines that are hell-bent on eradicating all advanced sentient life in the Galaxy," then, she pointed at a few pods piled up in a corner and added, "And it seems the Collectors are their puppets."
"Oh," Jesse blanked, then sighed, "Never a dull day in the Grand Army of the Republic."
Fives snorted amused with his brother.
"Trust me when I tell you, you'll find very few dull days with Shepard beside you," Garrus quipped, well aware of the type of shenanigans they got up to while working together. Ahsoka let out a short laugh at the joke, then sighed deeply. She obviously hated being proven right, understandably enough. Especially about a situation this god-damned sensitive.
"Alright, people... Let's keep moving," Shepard then ordered, "We've still got a lot of Colony to cover and very little time left," and the group descended to the other side, marching toward what seemed to be a garage of some kind. Shepard chopped with her left hand twice, on one side and the other of the door, before approaching the emerald-shining haptic interface of the lock. Hitting the button and covering the rear, she let the massive garage door slide open, revealing a ramp leading down to an underground point. A place filled to the brim with boxes, from the looks of things.
The Clones and Spartan breached first... And met their first living Civvie.