If you have not read the other stories in my "Beacon's Effect" series, I gotta warn you now: None of this story will make sense.

If you HAVE read them, then welcome to the last chapter of my Mass Effect SI/OC series! I know I said January in BE:3 - Awakening's last chapter, but because you guys have been so supportive my my writing, and have been with me for so long on Kevin/Ko'le/Beast's journey through the Mass Effect Universe, I decided to give you a guys an early Christmas present!

For those who have PM'ed me asking about it, I have to say that I have no current plans to extend the series into "Andromeda", but you never know…? We'll have to wait and see what the game is like. #soexcited

Special thanks to Katkiller-V, for the unofficially beta-reading and idea-bouncing. If you guys are fans of Mass-Effect (which I'm assuming you are, if you're here), go check out Katkiller-V's stories!

Please continue to send me Reviews and PM's with you guys' thoughts/suggestions/constructive cricisms. It means a lot to me, even if it's just "I liked it, good job." :D

Ee-RAH, my friends!

-Tusken1602

*COLLECTOR BASE
GALACTIC CORE*

ORDAINED.

No….

AWAKEN.

No, no, no, NO!

Why am I NOT DEAD?

YOUR TASK REMAINS UNFINISHED.

I failed in my task.

SO LONG AS LIFE REMAINS, FAILURE HAS NOT OCCURRED.

I reached up to pinch the bridge of my nose with my left hand… and nearly stabbed myself in the face.

WHAT THE FUCK!?

Taloned fingers extended from a massive hand that was nearly the size of my face, reminding me of a Banshee's hands. In place of my normal armor, a hardened carapace covered my chest and limbs. I reached up gingerly, and tried to remove the helmet that I suddenly realized was covering my head. At my mental command, something gave way at my neck, and the thing almost slid off my scalp. The ugly, misshapen thing looked to be made of obsidian and… some kind of organic material. Turning to look at the polished visor, I saw that my dreadlocks had been replaced with… cables. Small, almost fiber-optic cables connecting every square inch of my scalp with my spine.

Fucking hell…

"What…the hell… did you do to me?"

As if in answer to my question, suddenly, a blade extended from my left vambrace.

Not just any blade.

Even in its twisted, deformed shape, I could see the remnants of my own sword, Lieutenant, had been utilized to make this… arm-blade.

YOU WERE DAMAGED, ORDAINED. TO REPLACE LOST LIMB IS AN EASY MATTER. WE UPGRADED YOU, UPLIFTED YOU, BEYOND THE ABILITIES AND SCOPE OF YOUR FORMER SHELL.

"GAAAAHHH!"

A scream of fury tore from my throat, and my biotics flared. And that is when I noticed that they were no longer green. Not the greenish-black of most Protheans, nor even the golden-black of Harbinger.

The flare that seeped from the very pores of my skin, extending out and around me in a massive display of furious energy, was pitch-black, like midnight on a moonless world, or the dark of the deepest cave.

The black emptiness of space, given form and harnessed for incredible energy.

"FUCK YOU!" I screamed, my rage threatening to tear my head apart, "What more could you POSSIBLY TAKE FROM ME? My friends, my former life, my ship, my rank, my family, and my brothers, now my very body: Have I not given ALL to you?!"

There was a moment of silence as my defiant query echoed in the vast chamber. Then the Leviathan answered:

HAVE WE NOT GIVEN YOU… ALL?

"…Fuck you."

"YOU ARMY STANDS READY," Levi (I didn't know its name, and frankly I didn't care) droned on, oblivious to my pain. " YOUR SHIPS NEAR COMPLETION."

"My… army?"

The Leviathan moved aside. Before me, filling the wide chamber, were rows upon rows of… Collectors. These had been altered, just as I had. If the Collectors could be compared to roaches, these were massive armored wetas. Shields were on their left arms…wait, no, their left arms were wide and long shields, behind which they could fire wrist-mounted plasma rifles.

Brothers….

My Mind-Share went unanswered.

I had been bracing for the pain or the despair I felt the last time I melded with a Collector. With this many gathered in one place, the agony should have been overwhelming. Instead, silence reigned, both audibly and on the Mind-Plane.

I… I cannot sense any of them? Where are their memories? Their… personalities? Their… their souls?

THEY ARE GONE.

An incredible sinking feeling came over me as my chest tightened and my breaths came short and shallow.

"What?"

SEVERED FROM THE CONSTRUCT'S CONTROL, MOST OF THE SURVIVING SOULS SOUGHT SELF-DESTRUCTION OVER CONTINUED EXISTENCE. RESTORING THE MEMORIES OF THEIR PAST LIVES ONLY SERVED TO DRIVE THEM TO DESPAIR AND SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. WE PURGED THEM, IN ORDER TO PREVENT THEIR TOTAL DESTRUCTION.

"You… you… PURGED THEM? They… they… my friends… my soldiers…"

ARE DEAD. THESE ARE PERFECTION, GIVEN FORM. HOLLOW SHELLS: EXTENSIONS OF YOUR OWN WILL, ORDAINED.

Ko'le's anguish and torment threatened to overwhelm us: sorrow, grief, and despair welled up in my mind, blocking out all other conscious thought.

I failed.

Father and Mother, I failed.

Ko'le… we cannot give up…

What is the point?

There is no victory.

Not after this.

How can there be?

Enough!

The overwhelming despair ebbed and faded in my mind.

Beast?

Ko'le is… broken right now, Kevin. We must press on.

I don't… I don't…

You are out of your depth.

Beast's words were understanding, without accusation or condemnation. Almost… kind.

The games did not prepare you for this.

Yeah… I don't know how to…what to…

We are doing no good sitting here, with the galaxy swirling around us. We must get back into the fight.

Ok… how?

This is a task for a Warrior. A Weapon. Not a boy who is only now becoming a man. Do you trust me?

I really have no choice, do I?

Not really.

"You left my mind intact," I said, turning back to the floating Leviathan.

"WE DID," it confirmed. "THE OLD ONE SAW FIT TO LEAVE YOUR MIND UNALTERED. WE BOW TO HIS WISDOM."

"You really should not have."

The poignant words hung in the air between us.

"I will be your weapon, sword and whatever the fuck else you wish of me, Leviathan," I continued. "The Reapers are my enemy, and to destroy them is the very purpose of my creation, and the Ordained's journeying across the Void. BUT AFTER THEY ARE DESTROYED…"

I paused to let the full weight of my words sink in.

"After the Reapers are destroyed, I WILL COME FOR YOU. YOU erased each and every one of my friends and left me these useless drones, because in your arrogance, you could not imagine victory without CONTROL. AND YOU WILL ANSWER for those deaths. YOU WILL ANSWER FOR the creation of THOSE MONSTERS.

THIS I SWEAR, by ALL that abides in this Universe."

I swear the damn thing chuckled.

YOU MAY TRY, ORDAINED.

"Also… fuck you."

I spun on my heel, surveying the ranks of drones spread out in front of me. As I strode forward, they parted ranks in perfect synchronization. Even with the information the Leviathan had given me, I sent out mental probes to each of them as I passed, hoping against hope that I would find an echo… a whisper… of their former selves.

Nothing.

These were upgraded empty drones, waiting for my slightest mental command. At a single thought, they could form ranks, advance, retreat, or even spread their reinforced wings and fly over the enemy if need be.

All in total silence.

Not a whisper.

Not a single moment's hesitation.

Father and Mother, I'm tired of being the last survivor. It's a shit gig.

"Right," I said aloud, shaking down the sorrow and loss that clawed at the back of my mind and still had their talons firmly in Ko'le. "First things first… I need a ship."