The shuttle lifted off behind us as we fanned out and moved through the colony. We had landed on the outskirts and didn't see anyone. I don't think I can really state how creepy it was. Even a small colony like this should have some signs of life, but there was nothing. It was quiet. Way too quiet. Nothing moved, animals did not make any noise, nothing was happening. Doors were open on the ugly little human homes and a quick glance inside showed that there was still steaming hot coffee in one mug.

If I didn't know any better, I would say that every single person here just up and left for no reason. No warning, no talking about it, they just got up and walked away.

"Mordin, are you sure that the armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?" Shepard asked.

"Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory." Mordin answered in his usual rapid fire way.

"In theory?" I asked, feeling just a bit concerned.

"Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive!"

With that, Mordin signed out, leaving us all just a bit concerned. "Looks like we're about to get our test." Miranda said and pointed at the seeker swarm that was moving towards us. We raised our weapons but held our fire. I don't know about the others but I held my breath and waited. The alien four legged bugs with their insect wings buzzing so fast that we couldn't see the wings flew towards us….and flew on.

"I guess it worked." Shepard said, sounding a little relieved. We turned a corner and found them. The Collectors. No one knew what they were, but they stood a bit taller than me with black chitinous armor and four glowing eyes. They honestly looked like bug-aliens with rifles. Rifles that they knew what to do with as they didn't hesitate to open fire on us. We dove for cover as the first rounds snapped over our heads and where we had been standing.

The heavy firing continued for a couple seconds before it paused and I snapped out of cover to fire a short burst at a Collector. It staggered a bit before it fell back into cover. Grunt laughed as he grabbed a Collector that had gotten too close to him and he headbutt it so hard that it flew off of its feet. I put three bullets into its chest as it fell and it died.

Moving from cover to cover, Shepard and Grunt led the way with myself in the middle and Miranda in the rear. Miranda and I used our biotics to knock the Collectors around and get them out of cover for Shepard and or Grunt to kill them.

That isn't to say that Miranda and I weren't shooting them, but it wasn't really our priority. We started to make good progress, until we turned another corner and moved deeper into the colony and more and more Collectors literally flew in. I don't know why they had giant bug wings, but they made good use of it.

Three Collectors landed and a shockwave sent them back into the air before they could get into cover. When we weren't fighting, we moved through the cube-house things looking for people. They were all the same, as if the people just up and left. It was disheartening to not be able to find anyone, not even children hiding under the bed.

We had just cleared out another building when Shepard stopped to stare at a human-husk that she had just shot and killed. Shepard toed the corpse-thing and rolled it onto its back. I barely resisted the urge to shoot the thing again. Damn thing was creepy even as a corpse. The blue lights that passed for the eyes had dimmed to a dull-blue glow and its mouth hung open, as if in a silent scream.

It's skin was a dark grey, with blue tubes running along parts of its shoulders and rib cage. "This husk." Shepard said. "What about it?" Miranda asked, suddenly by Shepard's side and staring at the thing. "It's different from the ones on Eden Prime. More advanced."

Miranda actually knelt down next to the thing and I started to raise my hand to do….something. Not sure what. I don't know why I wanted to help the Ice-Queen who remained loyal to a terrorist organization but whatever.

I'll unpack all of that later.

"I don't think it was made by the Geth." Miranda said.

"I didn't see any of those spike-things here either." I added. "The Collectors brought them with them." Shepard said as Miranda stood up. "I think we can confirm that the Collectors are working with the Reapers." Shepard said as she took point again. "Lets go. We can't help whoever that was but we can save as many people as we can."

We rounded a corner and spotted several Collectors moving amongst a large number of cocoons and people just standing there. Frozen. "Don't let them take them." Shepard ordered and then opened fire. A few Collectors were dropped instantly as we moved forward as a team, moving from cover to cover. A few shots bounced off of our shields and armor, but that was all that they could do. We had torn through them like a pack of Varren through some Earth- puppies. (Easily one of the most disturbing things that I've seen.)

I stopped and peered into one of the cocoons and shouted "There's a person in here! Looks like the colonists."

Grunt poked one of the frozen colonists in the forehead and grunted as the human fell over. "That's weird."

"Tell me about it." I said as we jogged to catch up to Shepard and Miranda. "More Collectors!" Miranda shouted. We fell into cover and I raised my rifle and one Collector seemed to convulse and fall over and then rocketed to the air to hover. Orange flames and light erupted from its body as an impossibly deep voice thundered "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."

"This hurts you." It said and I ducked just as a shot snapped off of my helmet and knocked me back. I popped up just in time to see this dark-orange orb hit me in the chest. I staggered back and then started to swear violently as flames washed over me.

I smacked at the flames and sweat broke out all over me as my armor shrieked several alarms about the heat and the fact that my shields were gone. That must have been the signal because the surviving Collectors turned their guns on me and the rounds snapped off of my armor knocking me back. Thank the Goddess for armor, even if I was going to be bruised purple tomorrow.

Well, more purple than I already am.

I felt my feet leave the ground as I felt a thick arm wrap around my midsection. I was flung behind a bullet ridden wall and landed in something of a dignified heap. Grunt landed next to me in a loud crash. "Thanks." I said as he righted himself. "Don't mention it." We both leaned out and opened fire, with Grunt's massive form taking most of the shots.

Something that I was fine with, as his thick-assed hide and armor can tank those shots so much better than I could. His help was greatly appreciated, but I could have gotten myself out of that situation. Eventually. "Everyone target glowie!" Shepard shouted. Four people turned and opened fire on it, and the sheer weight of fire seemed to stagger the damn thing.

"You merely prolong the inevitable."

Another biotic strike hit Shepard and had her rolling to put out the flames. Fast as lighting, she was back up and shooting the thing. After several agonizing minutes the glowing Collector collapsed into dust and died. As it died however, it said with its terrifying deep voice "This form is irrelevant."

The other Collectors died quickly and we cautiously moved forward. Shepard's and I's armor still smoked in places. "Team 2, can you hear me?" Shepard said. The sounds of gunfire echoed through the radio. "We hear you Shepard." Garrus responded, sounding completely unbothered about the gunfire.

"A new Collector has shown up, has some sort of biotic skills. If you see it, destroy it quickly. Damn thing glows so it's easy to spot."

"Understood."

Shepard cut the link and took the lead. We fell into a diamond formation, with Grunt and I at the flanks and Miranda in the rear. Moving through the colony, we eliminated another patrol before the glowing Collector made its return. We tried to shoot it out of the sky as it hovered there, but the other Collectors fired at us and prevented us from getting a good bead on it.

"I will direct this personally." it thundered.

Grunt headbutted a Collector and its skull broke audibly. "Leave the dead where they fall." it said and then set me on fire again. I was really starting to hate this guy. Like really hate him. Miranda hit the thing with a biotic blast and Grunt charged it, only to be sent flying backwards and on fire. I barely had time to dodge before several hundred pounds of flaming armored Krogan landed on me.

"Brilliant move kid." I quipped as I shot a Collector.

"Shut up." Grunt said as he heaved himself up and threw a grenade at the glowing Collector. A few bullets from everyone else killed it. "Everyone good?" Shepard asked. It was only when we all gave various okays that Shepard again started to move. We entered an empty garage and each called out that it was clear. That was until a human stepped out from behind some boxes. "Oh my god!" he shouted.

I'd like to point out that for the future, if anyone finds themselves in a rescue situation or any kind of active combat-zone, perhaps don't just start shouting and stepping out of hiding. It's a great way for armed personnel to shoot you by accident. Like I almost did with this guy. I did feel slightly better by the fact that Miranda and Grunt had also almost shot the idiot.

Shepard holstered her rifle and helped the guy to sit down as she checked him over. Aside from being in shock, he was fine. I gestured and directed Grunt and Miranda to different corners of the garage. We peered out as Shepard talked to the guy.

"I don't know where they came from. We lost comms and I came down here to fix them and then I heard screaming. I looked outside to see these swarms of insects and everyone running and they froze." He trailed off in a stammer. "It all started after the Alliance sent that marine here and set up those defense towers! Got their attention and brought those bastards. If she had just left those towers alone we wouldn't have been attacked." He stammered.

Shepard snorted. "They were going to attack you anyways and there was nothing that you could have done to avoid it. What did you say about the towers?"

"Defense towers. The Alliance sent out that woman to upgrade them and make sure that they were ready for someone if they attacked us. She fucked that up."

"EDI?" Shepard asked.

"The colony had GARDIAN defense towers are capable of destroying the Collector ship." Edi informed us.

The guy told Shepard that we would have to get to the spaceport in order to get the defense towers operational. Shepard thanked him and directed him to stay in hiding as well fell in on her and got ready to move out. "Team two this is team one. Start making your way to the spaceport. We're going to get the GARDIAN defense towers up and destroy that ship." Shepard ordered.

"Acknowledged. On our way." Garrus said.

We moved out and quickly made our way to the starport, which unsurprisingly wasn't all that large. "Not seeing a lot of cover." Miranda said with surprising calmness for someone running around in a catsuit.

"Hah! That's not a problem!" Grunt said.

I rolled my eyes, though it wasn't visible because of my helmet. "Not everyone's a walking tank like you or Shepard."

"I'm not a tank!" Shepard protested.

"Sure you're not, Shep."

Shepard muttered something that didn't sound all that complimentary and Grunt and I laughed at her. Laughter stopped when we heard zombie-like moaning. "Company." Miranda said before husks swarmed us. The lack of adequate cover meant that we couldn't just duck behind something and shoot them as they lurch-ran towards us. It didn't help that they were coming at us from all directions. Instead we formed a loose pentagram facing outwards and opened fire. Husks died in droves, but one or two managed to get in close.

Grunt being Grunt, shrugged off any blows. The rest of us weren't as lucky. Getting hit by a husk was like being hit by a battering ram. Strong enough to even deplete our shields after a couple hits! I staggered from a hit to the head and responded by clubbing it with the butt of my rifle. It fell to the ground and I put three slugs into its head. I swore violently when another husk got a lucky blow in on my hip. A blast sent it flying away where it didn't get back up again.

Husks were starting to move up the ranks on my hate list.

It took several minutes of fighting through wave after wave of husks but we finally reached our destination. In the center of a square stood a tower with a computer on the front of it. "Team two, what's your status?" Shepard asked as she directed us to what cover there was. Different size boxes and the like along with piles of equipment.

I crouched and scanned the area.

Gunfire rang through the radio. "Heavy resistance. Going to be a few minutes." Garrus answered in between breaths.

"Take your time, I don't think we're going anywhere." Shepard said cheerfully. "EDI, can you get the towers ready?"

"I can Shepard. However, it will take time to realign the towers and charge the weaponry. I recommend that you take defensive positions as I will not be able to disguise the charge." EDI answered. Miranda and Shepard groaned at hearing that. I think EDI took it as an acknowledgment because she announced that she was beginning to work. "Get ready everyone. We're going to have company!" Shepard called out.

My heart hammered and I briefly closed my eyes. There were times that I enjoyed myself in a fight. The chance to prove myself to be better, to meet a match and prove myself the superior fighter. This was true even when I was human. That fight against Shepard and Jack aboard Normandy comes to mind.

Despite everything that was going on, I found myself enjoying this moment. Here, with friends making a stand against an all powerful enemy. "Ready Grunt?" I called out. Grunt laughed. "I was born ready. Are you?" He challenged.

"Always!"

Miranda's sigh of annoyance was loud and dramatic enough to cut through our conversation. I was willing to bet that she practiced it in the mirror. "If you two are finished with your chest pounding, the Collectors are coming."

I glanced over the box and spotted several Collectors sprinting towards us. I had time for one last challenging dig. "Bet I can kill more than you Grunt!" I called out.

"Hah! You're on!"

"Open fire!" Shepard yelled.

As one, we popped up and opened fire. We staggered our shots so as to avoid reloading at the same time. Collectors went down as if scythed. "Team one this is team two!" Garrus said. Through the radio we heard the firing.

"We hear you." Shepard answered. "We're not going to make it to you anytime soon. There's so many of them." Garrus said, his words being punctuated by gunfire.

"Understood. Fall back then. Don't get yourselves killed trying to reach us." Shepard responded.

"What about you?" Garrus asked with a slight twinge of concern in his voice. "We'll be fine. EDI will have the turrets up soon." Shepard said. "That's six!" I yelled as a Collector crumpled from my accurate rifle fire.

"See? We'll be fine, Garrus. Fall back. That's an order."

"Understood. Team two out."

I had just sent a husk flying when this...thing stepped out from around the corner. The lower half of the thing started off as a generic husk, but the upper half was completely different. Massive growths on its back created this hunched over figure, like a fucked up hunchback. The biggest concern was easily the oversized rifle where its right arm should be. It made this weird sound, a snarling moan and raised its rifle-arm.

There was a deep whump followed by several deeper whumps and the next thing that I knew, the boxes next to where Grunt was crouched behind was launched into the air and Grunt staggered, long enough for several husks to attack him. He roared and swung the shotgun and his fists around. Anything that met either of the two crumpled instantly if they weren't knocked off of their feet.

Another one of those hunch-backed things aimed its rifle arm at Miranda. She swore and then swore louder when Shepard kicked her hip and sent her rolling out of the way. Not a moment too soon because a series of whumps and their cover ceased to exist. Reaching out with my mind, I staggered one of the things, drawing its attention.

"That's right ugly! Pay attention to me!" I yelled. Both of those things turned towards me and raised their rifle-arms. "Fuck. What was step two?" I asked myself before I threw a couple biotic blasts and they staggered. I jumped and rolled to avoid the shockwave blasts and a blue uppercut floored a husk and sent it flying away.

That's when several hundred pounds of roaring Krogan slammed into one of those things and layed it the fuck out. Laughing, Grunt unloaded the shotgun into its face. "Moira! Go low!" Shepard yelled. I dropped and lashed out with my biotics. The thing staggered, just in time for a grenade to slam into its face. It was blasted to its side and I fired several shots into its face.

"EDI? Status?" Shepard asked as I crouched behind a wall and reloaded. I huffed a sigh and felt the exhaustion starting to settle in. "Lasers are charging. It will be a few more minutes."

"Of course." Shepard said, and I think that was the first time that I have ever heard someone do a verbal eye roll. "Incoming!" Miranda called. I picked myself up with a light grunt, only to have a flaming biotic-ball thing to hit me in the chest. I swore violently as pain exploded all across my chest. I beat the flames as they spread across me and rolled in the dirt. Snarling, I rose to my feet and shot the glowing Collector. It turned its head towards me and rumbled "Asari; reliance upon alien species for reproduction shows a genetic weakness."

Oh fuck you buddy. Shows what you know about my people. I opened fire and snarled a curse as glowie simply stepped behind a regular Collector and let it take the shots. "Leave the dead where they lie. Focus on Shepard."

"Moira! With me A wave!" Miranda yelled. The two of us gathered our energy, and glowing blue we launched a massive wave at the Collectors. Hit by the wave, the Collectors were either knocked completely off of their feet or were staggered. Grunt and Shepard concentrated their fire on the downed Collectors while Miranda and I shot the others. All the while we dodged attacks and ignored the taunts from Glowie guy. Once the other Collectors were dead, we concentrated our fire on Glowie. As the sheer amount of bullets hit it, it staggered back and glared at us. After all this time, I never forgot the look that thing gave us as it died. It wasn't...malevolence. Like we weren't worthy of being hated. Like flies suddenly having the temerity to bother this great being. Flies, that should have kept quiet and not bothered it.

"I am limitless. You are bacteria. Your victory here merely delays the inevitable. I am releasing control." It thundered. Glowie collapsed into dust and silence descended on the port. "Shepard! Shepard!" Garrus shouted into the radio. (Nearly blowing out my ears)

"What is it?" Shepard asked.

"Something big just flew over us! It's on its way to you!"

Goddess couldn't things be quiet for five minutes? I'm great but a little break would be nice. I rested against the wall and looked up, scanning the sky for...whatever it was. "Twelve o'clock high!" Shepard yelled. We all looked straight up and saw this...thing flying towards us. It looked like a mockery of a cyborg beetle. It had four dagger-like legs, and glowing blue eyes. Four of them. Who needs so many eyes?!

The real fucked up part of it was the part where any other creature would have a mouth, it instead had several dozens of husks inside of it. Only the upper half of the bodies were visible. Blue lightning crackled around its...head. "Damn that thing is fugly." I said in horror. "Doesn't make it any less dangerous. Open fire!" Shepard yelled and we opened up on it. The bug thing tanked the bullets and charged straight down to us. It slammed to a stop and then these beams erupted from its eyes. Shepard dodged and rolled as the beams burnt the ground and followed her.

Grunt nailed it in its...face thing twice and it turned its attention to Grunt. Grunt roared a challenge and charged….and went flying backwards on fire. Once again I had to jump out of the way to avoid having several hundred pounds of flaming Krogan land on me. I swear that this better not be a habit.

I checked my thermal clips and swore. "Running low!" I shouted. I reloaded and fired. The bug-thing convulsed and then slammed into the ground. The ground shook and we fought to stay on our feet. It glowed for a second and then blue-white waves erupted from it and along the ground.

The waves slammed into our cover and annihilated the boxes and cargo, the walls shook and were cracked. "Grunt with me as soon as that thing stops with the waves! Moira get to Miranda and help her!"

"Acknowledged!" I shouted. Once the last wave ended, I keyed up Miranda's location on my HUD and sprinted towards her. I had to dodge a couple laser blasts before it refocused its attention on Shepard and Grunt. I slid to a stop in front of a comatose Miranda. Blood mattered her hair and her left arm was at an odd angle.

Moving slowly and gently, I lifted her up and leaned her against the wall and checked her over. "Shep, Miranda's going to need to see Chakwas. Broken arm and collarbone and a head injury. Stabilizing her now."

Breaking a couple pieces of a container, I made a makeshift splint and bound her arm. "Best I can do right now. Sorry." I slung her groaning form over my shoulder and sprinted away from the fight. Putting her down as gently as I could, I turned to rejoin the fight.

And by rejoin I mean get hit by those beams. Blasted off of my feet, my suit's alarms shrieked as the shields failed and it heated up to intolerable levels. I bounced along the ground until I was out of the beam's path. My eyes welled with tears and I tried to get to my feet. I was on my knees when it slammed into the ground. Knocked down again, I rolled over just in time to watch one blade leg descending. I grabbed it and my biotics flooded out of me. Pain exploded behind my eyes as I strained to stop myself from being impaled.

I pushed and snarled, my arms strained as the leg was gradually pushed back. I screamed in agony as the other limb impaled my thigh. It went straight through the armor as if it wasn't there and I lost grip on the other limb. I screamed again as it went through my shoulder. The monster shrieked as several explosives hit it in its eyes.

It took to the sky and took it with me. I screamed as it shook its legs and tossed me aside. I landed heavily on my back and felt something crack. I gasped and watched as blood fountained from my shoulder and leg. My eyes started to blur and I reached for my belt. I had to stop the bleeding. I felt a hand on my shoulder and start to push me up. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming again.

Panting, I turned to look at the still bloodied Miranda. "Keep still. I'll stop the bleeding." With one arm, she grabbed med back and got to work. The bug thing was trying to fight Shepard and Grunt at the same time and both were tossing as many explosives as they could at it. When it slammed into the ground again, I grabbed Miranda around the waist and we shuffled and climbed over the wall into safety.

Just in time to dodge the waves.

I blinked at the sudden sunlight on my face. I hadn't realized that Miranda had collapsed my helmet. "Wha?" I slurred. "Your helmet is broken. I need to check your head."

"Oh. Okay." I said. I felt myself fading out of consciousness. "Hey! Hey stay with me. You've lost a lot of blood."

"No shit." I snapped. "Take my pistol. Go help Shepard and Grunt. Kill that thing."

Miranda opened her mouth and I shoved the pistol into her hands. "Go. I'll be fine. I'll always be fine."

Miranda frowned and took the pistol. I slumped against the wall and closed my eyes. "Fucking hell" I groaned. Explosions and gunshots echoed through the air and it was all so muffled. My head bobbed and I muttered something. I don't even know what I said.

"Really hoping that I don't die here. Don't want to do that again." I whispered. My eyes closed and I fell over.

Blackness.

"Hey! Hey Moira!" I opened my eyes and stared at Shepard. "You have pretty eyes." I said, the first thing that popped into my head. Shepard laughed. "I think you'll be okay." She slung my uninjured arm over her shoulder and picked me up in a bridal carry. I think I might have protested the act. I was still very out of it. I turned my head to the thunder of the defense cannons opening up. The shots were dead center on the Collector ship.

It was only a couple volleys before the ship's engines fired to life and it started to lift off. We watched impassively as it took to the sky, the cannons firing on it the whole while. "They have most of the humans on board. They got what they came for." Grunt said, his voice harsh and devoid of any sympathy.

"No!" a voice shouted. We turned to see the mechanic sprinting towards us. "Don't let them get away!"

"There's nothing that we could do." Shepard said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"No! Half the colony is in there! They got Egan and Sam and Lilith! Do something!"

The mechanic waved his arms, his desperation plain on his face as he seemed to try and reach up to drag the Collector ship back. "We did what we could." Shepard said as she passed me to Grunt. Grunted lifted me as if I was a small child and I took note of his cracked and burnt armor. "It was a good fight Shepard." Grunt said. "Aye. It was." I agreed.

A hell of a fight. Even if I had almost died.

"Shepard..Wait I know that name." The mechanic said and turned around. He glared at us accusingly. "Aren't you supposed to be some big Alliance hero?"

"Commander Shepard. Captain of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. Savior of the Citadel." A voice said. A human woman in white and pink armor came out from around a container. "You're in the presence of a god, Delan. Back from the dead." this human snapped at Delan the mechanic.

"All the good people that we lost and you get left behind. Figures. Screw this. I'm done with you Alliance types." He stalked off in a huff and before he could get very far, I screwed my eyes shut and flattened him with a light biotic blast against his chin.

He slammed into the ground, unconscious. "Moira!" Shepard snapped. "What?" I asked just a bit defensively. "We could have died here and he wants to be an ungrateful dick?"

"We'll talk about this later." Shepard promised. I rolled my eyes. "We thought you were dead, Commander. We all did."

"Technically I was. It's damn good to see you Ash." Shepard said, warmth flooding her voice. "Cerberus took two years to rebuild me."

This Ash stepped back in horror. This wasn't going to end well. "You're with Cerberus? The reports were right." Ash snapped. Betrayal written all over her face. "I'm working with Cerberus to stop the Collectors. I haven't joined them." Shepard snapped. I glanced at Miranda's face who looked a little annoyed at that.

"We got word that colonies were going missing and that Cerberus was behind it. We got a tip that this colony was next. That's why I came out here."

"Cerberus isn't behind the abductions. We want the same thing, to save the colonies." Shepard said. "Do you really believe that, or is that what they want to you to believe?" Ash snapped right back.

"Typical Alliance. Always willing to ignore the evidence right in front of their face." Miranda sneered. Shepard had taken her helmet off at some point and turned around to fix an almost demonic glare at Miranda, who retreated half a step before regaining her composure. "All of you go stand over there." Shepard snapped and we quickly got out of ear shot.

"Grunt." I said as soon as we were out of earshot.

"Yea?"

"Everything's killing me. Going to pass out now. Don't drop me."

I closed my eyes and let sweet sweet oblivion claim me.

Sorry for taking so long, this was enjoyable to write but took longer than I thought it would. Tried to stay as true to the original campaign as much as I could with some slight alterations that I think would have had things make a little bit more sense. Such as a team 2. I'd like to thank the people on the Mass Effect wiki and those that uploaded videos on Youtube because they were a tremendous help. As always, I hope you all enjoyed.

-C.H.