This follows immediately after the end of my ME1 story, Beginnings, and will (mostly) follow the events of ME2 but, as with Beginnings; I plan to take some liberties with the details. It is the continuing story of Shepard and Liara. Their story will be the focus but we will find time to deal with the Collectors too.

*Warning- might be a bit too much romantic angst and mush so tread carefully if you don't like that sort of thing.*

Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Bioware owns it all.

Shattered- Chapter 32

Shepard stood with her head leaning against the door for several minutes. Her team stood behind her. Jack and Samara were talking quietly, sneaking glances at Shepard. Tali was still standing at the door control panel, her hands hanging at her sides. Miranda slid down the wall and was now leaning her back against it with her head lowered. The others were looking at each other, looking at the dark corridor behind them, looking at everything but Shepard. Finally, Shepard lifted her head, stood up straighter and turned to face her team. Her face, normally pale, was blanched and unreadable as she met the eyes of each of them then looked at the size of the chamber. It was not as large as she expected. The two doors they had just sealed were the only entrances to the chamber. To her right, the back wall was dark other than one large light mounted in the center of the wall casting a harsh glow into the chamber itself. To her left, behind her team, was a darkened corridor leading to, what she hoped was the Normandy's crew.

"I don't know if Liara and Garrus are dead. Whether they are or aren't doesn't matter now. All that matters right now, right this minute, is destroying the Collectors and this base." She lifted her arm and pointed to the corridor behind them. "That is our path. It will be the last path some of us walk. We knew this was likely a one way trip. It doesn't have to be…not for all of us. We're going to find our crew and we're going to destroy this base then get the hell out of here. If we fight like everything we know, everything we love depends on us and what we do here today, we can win. We are a team. When we lose someone, it hurts but it doesn't weaken us. It makes us stronger. It makes us want to do everything we can to make those losses mean something, to make the deaths of the ones we love matter."

Shepard walked through her team, stood for a moment looking into the shadowy darkness of the corridor, and turned back to face them. "This is it. This is the reason we all came together. Let's go."

TTTTTTTTTT

Shepard was in the lead, Miranda and Tali to either side and slightly behind her. The rest of the team spread out behind them with Grunt and Legion bringing up the rear. The corridor had slowly started to widen the further they moved. The chamber they had entered was large but Shepard thought it was only an antechamber. She suspected the corridor would continue to widen until they reached another chamber, the true central chamber. She knew it was there they would find the crew and any surviving colonists. There was no resistance as they moved forward. Shepard's reflexes were wound tight, expecting a fight every moment. A few minutes more and they could see light ahead of them, dim and pulsing. Another fifty steps and the corridor opened to another chamber…this one massive.

As Shepard and her team entered the chamber, one by one, they stopped and stared. The chamber was round, a semi-circle with large columns in the center. There were pods, thousands of them, hanging from the walls from floor to ceiling. The lower ones were filled with people. Between the pods, the walls were smooth and polished, reflecting light and throwing it back into the chamber. Tubes ran from the pods to an egg shaped container placed on top of the large center columns. From the container, more tubes ran upwards and through an opening in the chamber ceiling which otherwise looked the same as the walls. The odd pulsing light came from orbs embedded in the walls between the pods, each pulsing at a different rate of speed. It was disorienting and caused shadows to dance across the floor of the chamber. Shepard and her team spread out around the chamber. Shepard moved to the right, Tali and Jack trailing behind her. Samara, Thane, Kasumi and Zaeed were moving towards the center columns while Miranda, Jacob, Mordin and Grunt moved to the left. Legion was already on the far side of the chamber peering down another darkened corridor. Shepard stopped in front of one of the pods, recognizing the uniform the woman was wearing as the ones worn by the colonists on Horizon. She could hear a humming noise that sounded similar to the seeker swarms. As Shepard watched, the woman's eyes opened. She started struggling. Her screams were piercing even through the glass which surrounded her. Her features started to change as her skin loosened. Shepard watched in horror as the woman's face started to slide off her skull. Her bones softened, twisted, curved and turned to a viscous substance that puddled at the bottom of the pod. Shepard saw what was left of the woman being sucked into the tubes and pulled overhead into the container in the center of the room. Others were also waking, their screams echoing through the chamber as their bodies started to undergo the same transformation. Shepard looked down the line of the pods and watched in horror as the screams faded away, replaced with the sound of liquid moving through the tubes overhead.

"Shepard, over here."

Shepard turned at the sound of Miranda's voice. She walked closer to the woman who was now examining one of the pods. "Miranda?"

Miranda was now trying to force the pod open. "They're here. The crew."

Shepard sprang to action immediately. "Get these pods open. Now."

They went down the line of pods, struggling with each one to pry it open or, in Grunt's case, smash it until it opened. Shepard was at the last pod. It was Dr. Chakwas. She could hear the humming noise again and it was growing louder as she struggled to open the pod. "Grunt, help me."

"Move, Shepard." Grunt pulled Shepard back from the pod and started smashing the locking mechanism…two solid hits and the door swung open. Dr. Chakwas, not fully awake, fell into Shepard's arms. Shepard lowered her to the floor, supporting her as she drew in several deep breaths.

"Dr. Chakwas, are you okay?"

With Shepard's help, Dr. Chakwas got unsteadily to her feet. "Shepard, you came for us."

Shepard looked around at the Normandy's crew. They were all there…Kelly, Gabby and Ken among them; none of the crew had been lost. "We couldn't leave you here, Dr. Chakwas. We're a team…all of us."

TTTTTTTTTT

Shepard watched Jacob and the Normandy crew as they disappeared down the corridor leading to the antechamber. She knew Jacob could keep them safe until Joker picked them up. They had decided to split into two teams again. Samara would provide a biotic barrier to keep seeker swarms at bay while Shepard, Tali and Thane moved through a back corridor leading to the next chamber. Once there, they would open the security door for the other team. They were following the tubes to find out exactly what the Collectors were doing with all the humans they had abducted. The other team, led by Miranda, would use the main corridor and, hopefully, keep the majority of the Collectors occupied there. Miranda's team moved out seconds before Shepard, Tali, Thane and Samara left the relative safety of the chamber and moved into the corridor. They were immediately assailed by seeker swarms. Samara was maintaining a barrier around the group to stop the swarms. It would not stop Collector fire should they meet any resistance. Shepard led her team slowly and cautiously through the corridor, each of them staying within the safety of Samara's barrier. The first opposition was minimal and consisted of husks and a few drones. Samara, unable to fight and maintain the barrier, found cover and waited. As they moved forward, they found themselves in longer, more difficult fights with the Collectors. Samara was tiring from holding the barrier in place for such an extended period of time. They turned a corner and could see the dome of the next chamber ahead. Before they could reach it, the Collectors attacked. Shepard's team hunkered down and fought back but the waves of drones, abominations and husks seemed endless. As if that coupled with Harbinger wasn't enough, they also had a scion closing on their position. Using every weapon at their disposal, Shepard, Tali and Thane managed to keep the Collector troops at bay and bring down the scion but they were unable to move forward and Samara was on the verge of collapse. They were so focused on the enemies in front of them; they didn't notice the scion and drones behind them.

TTTTTTTTTT

Garrus and Liara had lost their way in the smoke used by the Collectors to cover their attack. Their comm units had been useless…only broadcasting white noise that made it impossible for them to communicate with each other. Rather than risk running into a group of Collectors or to further lose their way in the smoke shrouded corridor, they found a defensible location and stayed there until the smoke cleared. They tried the door into the chamber and found it locked securely. Their comm units were still not functioning. Garrus suggested going back to the Normandy, making contact with Shepard to get her location then meeting the others.

Looking smug, Liara activated a small device on her armor. "We can find Shepard with this, Garrus."

Garrus laughed and stepped aside to allow Liara to lead the way. They made their way slowly as they followed the signal being transmitted from Shepard's armor. Twice, the signal was being emitted so close that they could have nearly touched Shepard if a wall hadn't separated them. They could hear gunfire but couldn't find a way inside. They continued to follow the signal until they heard a large group approaching them from behind. They quickly ducked behind a data console as the Collector troops, consisting of drones and a scion, caught up to them. The group stopped at the console. One of them walked to the console as the others waited silently in the hive like corridor.

Liara was still and silent, barely breathing lest she give away their position to the Collector standing on the other side of the console. She kept watching the blip that was Shepard move further away from her. She was desperate to get to her. She knew that Shepard must think her and Garrus dead or captured. Just as Liara was almost past the point of patience, the Collectors divided and continued moving. The larger group moved back the way they had come and the other, with the scion, moved in the direction Liara and Garrus had been headed…toward Shepard.

TTTTTTTTTT

Shepard turned to engage the Collectors behind them, doing everything to keep their attention on her and off Thane, Samara and Tali who were open to attack from behind. She jumped to cover and quickly assessed the situation. She fired three quick shots, hitting two drones and grazing the third. Another two were on her left and closing on Samara who was doing her best to maintain the barrier protecting them from the seeker swarms. Shepard turned to the left, firing as she moved. She hit one of them but was rocked when a bullet slammed into her back and threw her to the ground. Rolling, she hit two more drones and crawled to cover. As she raised herself up to fire again, another bullet then another bounced off her shields and brought them down. She turned back to Samara, saw the strain on her face and made a decision she had hoped to avoid until she knew with certainty the base would be destroyed. She saw that the way forward was now passable and intended to make sure the others made it to the next chamber.

"Samara, keep moving. Get them out of here and do what needs to be done."

Tali started moving backwards, closer to Shepard. "Shepard. No."

Shepard was now firing at a scion which seemed to come out of nowhere. "Tali get out of here. Now. All of you need to move. That's an order."

She looked back once to make sure the others were moving away then turned back to the scion. It was directly in front of her. There were at least two drones on either side of her, moving around to get behind her. The seeker swarms would overwhelm Mordin's countermeasure within minutes. Shepard wanted to make sure Samara, Tali and Thane made it to next chamber before they brought her down. Shepard, still blocked from the scion, turned to her left and managed to get all the drones on that side with a grenade. She rolled in that direction, ducked behind cover and shot the two drones on her right. As she turned back to the scion, she could feel her body slowing down. The seeker swarms were surrounding her. Her eyes felt heavy and her muscles weren't responding. She crawled behind a crate just as the scion blew it to bits. Shepard was thrown backwards, her last sight the scion as it moved in to finish her.

TTTTTTTTTT

Garrus and Liara followed the group of Collectors at a distance, moving from cover to cover. They came to a section of wall that appeared to be like the rest of the wall. One of the drones stepped to the wall and moved aside a light. Behind it was a door control console. A door slid open and the Collectors moved inside, the door closing behind them. Garrus and Liara waited a minute then two. They cautiously approached the door, staying low and moving quietly. Garrus moved the light aside and opened the door. As it slid open, they could hear seeker swarms inside, thousands of them. Liara, focused only on the screen which would lead her to Shepard,started to rush through the door. Garrus grabbed her and pulled her back just as the buzzing of the seeker swarms got louder.

"Garrus, she's in there."

"Yeah, and you won't be any help to her if these swarms turn you into a pretty blue statue."

Liara looked up as she realized how many there were and what they would have done to her if Garrus hadn't pulled her back. Instinctively, she surrounded them with a biotic shield. She pulled Garrus closer and told him to stay inside the barrier.

They started moving through the corridor and soon heard the sound of a gunfight. Liara couldn't hold the shield and monitor the tracking device. She grabbed Garrus by the arm and began to run towards the sound. The shield, difficult to maintain, started to weaken. Liara had to slow down in order to increase her focus and energy into the shield. They were surrounded by seeker swarms and moving slowly when they heard Shepard's voice. They walked another 100 yards and came across the bodies of dead Collectors.

Garrus was the first to see the scion. "Liara, find cover before that thing sees us."

Liara angled toward the right looking for cover when she saw Shepard on the ground, the scion almost on top of her. She changed direction, pulling Garrus with her, and increased her pace. "It's Shepard. Garrus, kill that thing."

Garrus went to work with concussive shot and his assault rifle, firing relentlessly at the scion which had now turned to face them. Liara continued to charge straight toward it. When they were only steps away from it, Garrus pulled out his shotgun and aimed at the thing's head. The sound was deafening when he pulled the trigger. Liara walked right through the bloody mess to get to Shepard.

TTTTTTTTTT

Samara and Tali kept searching the corridor for any sign of Shepard through the partially open door. Thane was picking off the seeker swarms, husks and abominations that came near them. All three knew that if Shepard hadn't been killed by the drones or the scion, the seeker swarms would certainly have taken her down by now. Tali wanted to go back for her but Samara was too weak to maintain a barrier. The best they could do was watch and wait until the diversion team made it to the chamber. Tali had tried to contact Miranda but the swarms were still interfering with communications.

Both Samara and Thane thought Shepard was dead or close enough that it didn't matter. Tali kept silent as they talked about the Commander as if they would never see her again. She had learned to never completely give up on Shepard. She thought about the number of missions they had been on together, the number of times she was certain that she would never see Shepard again. Shepard had always proved her wrong and Tali was waiting to be proved wrong again.

"Tali, we need to close this door. Shepard is not coming."

"No, not yet. Not until the others get here or there are so many of them out there that we are overwhelmed."

Thane agreed with Samara but part of him couldn't stop searching for Shepard's form running for the chamber. He was the first to see the trio approaching the door. Liara was holding a barrier to protect them from the swarms. Garrus was carrying Shepard over one shoulder and doing his best to keep the husks and abominations away from them with proximity mines and his shotgun. Thane lifted his gun and started helping Garrus keep the Collectors at bay. Samara added her biotics and Tali her drone. They cleared a path for Liara and Garrus who stumbled through the door exhausted. Liara released the shield and immediately went to Shepard as Garrus lowered her to the ground. She was already starting to wake up, coughing as she tried to pull more air into her lungs.

"Shepard, can you hear me?

Shepard could hear Liara and it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. She struggled to sit up and found herself pulled gently and placed against a warm body. She opened her eyes to find Tali, Thane and Garrus surrounding her, worried expressions on their faces. Shepard looked down at Liara's arm wrapped around her waist and took a blue hand in hers. She looked at Garrus, a smile lighting her face. Squeezing the blue hand in hers, Shepard rested her head against Liara's shoulder. "You're alive."