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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Collector War	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6240 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or it's characters. They belong to Bioware and EA. No money/profit is made by me from this.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Yes! Finished at long last! Thank you all for being so patient and I am so sorry for this being delayed so long.
Hope you enjoy the changes. It gets really interesting after the Collectors leave.
The First Encounters title doesn't just elude to the first meeting with the Collectors...

Chapter 12
First Encounter
At the moment, the where up to date. They had all the people on the dossiers so far. Austin had a feeling though that something else was bound to turn up soon.
Without anything to do at the moment, Austin decided to see how well Grunt was settling in. Sure enough, he found the Krogan where he was usually.
"Shepard." Said the Krogan as Austin entered.
"Just checking in. Making sure you're acclimatizing." Said Austin.
"The hold is to open. Not enough cover. Armour is limited. Warlord Granth would target here to scatter cargo, then focus on engines. That's what tank imprints show about human ships, anyway. It's how I learned from the tank – old pictures where memory is. Like holding a book for a child. Just "remember this," picture after picture. No help with finding a reason to care.
"What other human info is floating around in there?" Austin asked.
"Less that finger deep to sever your spine. Humans are soft. Salarians, asari, all soft. Quarians, not so much. Helldivers also are tough to take down. Turians, you have to work the blade, I guess. Don't see much point to it though. Heh, much point?" said Grunt.
"Ha! That's a good one!" Austin laughed.
"Had a feeling you'd get that joke seeing as you use a sword. I've seen you sparing with that Asari." said Grunt.
"What did Okeer want you to feel about this stuff?" Austin asked.
"Hate. But the pictures, the aliens in them, they don't do anything. i see blood, craters. But so what? My guts were grown from a thousand more worthy. The dead were weak. If they were strong, I wouldn't be needed. I don't' know why Okeer started teaching... When he turned on the tank the first time, I screamed. Weak, pitiful." said Grunt.
"So you started small. But you became what you are. Not everyone gets that chance." said Austin.
"I'm built for strength but didn't earn it. I just am. Those dead were strong enough to try, even if they lost. The perfect Krogan. Ignoring what made me. No strength in that. I'll take another look at what happened to the Krogan. Find a reason to care about it." said Grunt.

As Austin proceeded into the CIC. Kelly got his attention.
"Major, the Arkane Council wish to speak to you in the debriefing room." she said.

Austin nodded and went to the comm room. The table disappeared into the floor and the holograms of the Council appeared before him.
"Shepard, we think we have them! Horizon - one of our colonies in the Terminus Systems - just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be." said Spartan.
"Have we heard anything from the Helldiver team stationed there?" Austin asked.
"Nothing. We're going to have to assume the worst. Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure for the seeker swarms?" Tarnack asked.
"Not yet." Austin replied.
"Let's hope he works well under pressure." said one of the unnamed Councillors. "There's something else you should know. One of your former crew, Ashley Williams is stationed on Horizon."
"Last I knew, Ashley was still Alliance. Why would she visit a colony out in the Terminus systems?" Austin asked.
"Officially, it's meant to be the Alliance's attempt to improve relations with the colonies. But they're up to something." Said Tarnack.
"We'll head straight there." said Austin.
"This is most warning we've ever had, Shepard. Good luck." said Spartan as the comm ended.
"Joker, set a course for Horizon. I've gotta go see the Professor." said Austin.
"Aye aye, Major." said Joker.

Austin found Mordin examining one of the seeker swarm drones. The bug flew around inside the case it had been placed in.
"Tell me you have something." said Austin.
Mordin looked at the bug for a minute and then turned back to Austin.
"Yes."
The Salarian walked up to his console and showed Austin the holographic plans that he had for the countermeasure.

Ashley Madeline Williams watched some of the children colonists playing a ball game in the fields. She couldn't help but smile a bit as she saw the sight. Walking next to her was another one of the colonists on Horizon, Lilith.
"Lilith, we've got a problem." she said.
"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix?" Lilith asked.
"Those defence towers are useless if we don't figure it out." said Ashley.
"Sorry, Chief. Getting our comm systems back online takes priority." said Lilith.
"Yeah. Okay. Surprised people haven't tried to blame that one on me too." said Ashley coldly.
"People out here don't trust the Alliance. It's nothing personal." said Lilith.
At that moment, several Helldivers turned up. They were the team stationed here to protect the colony.
"Lilith, why are communications down?" asked the leader.
"We're not sure yet. We're still trying to get them back up." Lilith replied.
"Hope that's soon. If the Arkane Council doesn't hear from us for too long they'll send people to investigate. We don't like to raise false alarms. Especially when the Alliance is involved." said another, looking coldly at Ashley.
Ashley was not happy with that.
"I..." she said.
But before she could, everyone suddenly looked to the sky. There was something in the clouds.
"What is that?" asked Lilith.
Ashley un-holstered her M-8 Avenger and looked through the guns scope. The clouds slowly cleared to reveal a massive ship made out of what looked like rock. Several swarms of bugs started to fly out of the ship and right at the colonists.
"Get everyone to a safe house." said Ashley as the swarm got closer.
"Go! We'll cover you!" one of the Helldivers yelled as they and Ashley opened fire.

All the colonists ran for a shelter as the whole colony became surrounded by swarms of bugs and gunfire. Lilith tripped as she ran and Ashley stopped firing in order to help her up.

As she did, one of the bugs suddenly latched onto the Chief's shoulder and bit her. Ashley groaned in pain as she pulled the seeker off of her. Just as she tried to move she suddenly froze all over and couldn't move. She could only watch as the seeker swarms began doing the same to the other colonists. She saw Lilith disappear into the crowd.
Several minutes passed as things slowly got quieter and quieter. The swarms had found the colonists one by one. Then something new appeared. Ashley couldn't move, but she could move her eyes. She saw a large humanoid figure walk within her field of vision. It was insect like in appearance. It had four eyes and carried a long insect like gun. A few other of these creatures soon followed. Hovering next to them were some strange kind of pods. Then suddenly, one of them started to act odd. A deep menacing voice rang through the air as it happened.
"Assuming control!" it said.
The Collector was then suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force. Then it's skin started to crack, emitting several lines of fire all over its body. The Collector then seemed to curl up as though it were ready to unleash something. Sure enough, it did and then landed back on its feet. All four of its eyes were now glowing very brightly.
The alien slowly walked up to the frozen Ashley who had been accidentally knocked over earlier.
"We are the Harbinger of their perfection. Prepare these humans for ascension!" said the lead Collector.
Ashley watched helplessly as another Collector picked up one of the frozen colonists and gently dragged him to a pod.

Austin didn't want to take any chances on this mission, given that this would most likely be their first encounter with the Collectors. As a result he'd chosen to take all of Alpha Squad with him.
All of the Helldivers, except for Austin were seated in the Hellhound. The drop ship would just occasionally shake as it descended.
"Approaching drop off point. EDI, you picking up anything?" Austin asked into his comm.
"I detect no activity of any kind." EDI replied as her holographic avatar appeared on the small holographic display that Alpha Squad were sat on either side of.
"Anything from the Helldivers? They have the latest in communication gear." Alaara asked.
"Nothing. I do not detect any suit signatures either." said EDI.
"It's quite ironic isn't it?" said Dash.
"What is?" Garrus asked.
"When we first came here, this colony was under attack by slavers. Now here we all here several years later and it's under attack again." said Dash.
"Sounds like there's a story behind that." said Griffin, now interested in what many knew as Alpha Squad's most intense and finest mission.
"Many years ago we came to this exact same colony world to stop Batarian slavers. They'd acquired some sort of massive ship that they were using to attack our outposts. We were unprepared for it though. They drove us from the planet and the colony was lost. After we defeated them though, colonists soon came back." Leena explained.
"How'd you beat them?" Griffin asked.
"We tricked them into a black hole. We got them to chase us across the Terminus Systems and engaged them in an intense dog fight until we both ended up in the pull of an unforeseen black hole." said Austin.
"We just managed to escape to safe distance using our Mass Effect core. The Batarians however had damaged theirs and they were unable to do the same as us. We all watched as their ship was crushed by the black holes gravity." said Ventra who was checking his snipe bow.
"That feels so long ago. And to think that it was what got us all the cross of glory." Dash smiled he sat back in his seat slightly.
"Shame I didn't join this team sooner." Griffin grinned slightly.
"You're not alone, Griffin. Liara and I are even new to this team than you are." said Garrus.
"I'm sure you'll prove yourselves too. This mission in particular is cross of glory worthy in my opinion." said Austin.
"Still seems a bit unfair though. It makes me feel out of place here." said Griffin.
"Don't say that! You may have only been with us for a year but you're no rookie. I made sure I only picked the best to join this team." said Alaara.
Griffin's mood brightened slightly and he smiled back at Alaara. "Thanks." he said.
"Just be patient, Griffin. Many of the best rewards are not given to you, you earn them." said Austin.
"I understand, Major." said Griffin.
At that moment, the alarm sounded indicating that the drop ship was beginning final approach.
"Alright everyone, gear up! Look sharp." said Austin as everyone stood up from their seats.
The ones that hadn't had their helmets on picked them up and fastened them on. The doors slowly opened revealing Horizons bright sunlight and wide open fields.
"Okay, two at a time. Alaara, Sandra, you first!" said Austin.
The two Helldivers walked over to the edge of the dropship and jumped.
"Next two, Ventra and Leena!" said Austin.
The same procedure was repeated until only Austin and Liara were left. The two lovers nodded to one another and both jumped. Like all the others, as they landed they created small craters.
"All clear. We'll radio when we're ready for pick up." Austin said to the Hellhound pilot through his communicator.
"Copy that, Major." said the pilot as the drop ship flew off.
"We're groundside. Mordin, you sure these armour upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?" Austin asked as he and Alpha Squad un-holstered their weapons.
"Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection. Make us invisible to swarms... in theory." came Mordin's reply.
"In theory? That sounds promising." said Garrus.
"Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive." said Mordin.
"I'm gonna have a word with that Salarian after this." said Kraan.
At that moment though, the social interaction was interrupted by the arrival of several Collector, each of them flying on insect like wings.
"Contact! Contact! Get to cover!" Austin yelled as the Collectors all shot laser beams at them.
All of Alpha Squad immediately dove for cover, some even returned fire. The Collectors were definitely smart fighters. Despite this though, they hadn't counted on Alpha Squad's teamwork and coordination. One Collector however snuck up behind Dash and knocked him down. Before the insect creature could do anything though, Griffin impaled it on the large blade attached to his minigun. With the Collector dead, Griffin helped Dash up.
"Thanks. I'm gonna have to owe you that beer." said Dash.
"You already owe like five." said Griffin.

As Alpha Squad proceeded further through the colony they could see the massive Collector ship in the distance. Its sight was familiar to Austin. In fact it looked like the ship that had attacked the original Normandy two years ago.
"Major, we're getting all interference! Can't maintain a signal!" they were just able to make out of Joker's voice as the comm went static.
"The Collectors are disrupting communication." said Sandra as she tried to clear up the signal.
"We're on our own now." said Austin.
At that very moment, more Collectors appeared, this time though they weren't alone. Several human like figures were with them. They moved and looked like zombies. Well, cybernetic zombies to be more precise.

Several of them lunged at the Helldivers, but like normal zombies they were pretty easy to kill once their heads were shot off. The rest of the Collectors quickly shared this. One husk however managed to jump onto Austin; the Major however retaliated by grabbing it by the neck, throwing it to the floor and smashing his armoured foot down on its head.
"Those things looked like the Husks the Geth used on Eden Prime." he said as he got his breath back.
"I thought the Geth got that technology from Sovereign." said Leena.
"Guess we've been right all along. The Collectors answer to the Reapers." said Alaara.
Alpha Squad carefully made their way around a corner and found themselves staring at a still intact Husk body.
"Looks human. Think it's one of the colonists?" asked Griffin.
"No. The Geth impaled their victims on giant spikes to turn them into Husks. But we haven't seen any." said Liara.
"The Collectors must have already had the Husks. Said Garrus.
Austin knelt down in front of the Husks and scanned it with his omni tool.
"These aren't the same creatures I fought on Eden Prime. These Husks are more advanced, evolved." he said.
"They still die like the others did!" said Kraan.
"The Collectors aren't getting away with more victims! Let's move out!" said Austin.
They quickly left the shelter they'd been in earlier. As they rounded the corner they found themselves staring at several pods. Still there were no colonists to be found.
"Everyone's gone, just like before." said Garrus.
"What the hell?" said Griffin as he examined one of the pods.
"Don't touch them!" Austin ordered.
Griffin did as he was told and stepped away from the pod. He could swear though that there was something inside it, something moving.
This thought however was interrupted by the arrival of more Collectors. This time though, something unexpected happened. One of the Collectors started to pulse violently and its skin cracked open in multiple places. The creature was then lifted into the air by an unseen force.
"I am assuming direct control!"
Bellowed a deep voice. The Collector then unleashed an orange shockwave of energy and landed back on its feet. Its four eyes were now glowing and small bits of fire were seeping from the hundreds of cracks in the Collectors skin.
Alpha Squad quickly went to cover as the Collectors fired on them. Even this new Collector was throwing biotics at them.
"We are the Harbinger of your genetic destiny!" boomed the Collector. "You will know pain, Shepard!"
"How does that Collector know your name?!" Liara yelled over all the noise.
"I don't know, but it's certainly not in a friendly way!" said Austin as he returned fire.
"You will know pain, Shepard!" Harbinger yelled as he threw a massive singularity at Austin.
Alaara however was quick to throw her own at Harbinger's attack and both singularities disintegrate before they could cause any damage.
Harbinger however was ready with more attacks and started hurling dark biotics all over the place.
"These things are really starting to piss me off now!" Ventra swore.
The Turian quickly loaded a round into his sniper rifle, sighted along the scope and let the string loose. The round hit its target and half of Harbinger's eyes were blinded as the round went right through and even killed another Collector.
Griffin then took this as an opening and unloaded his entire mini gun right into all the Collectors and lastly Harbinger who was still trying to see through his blindness.
"Releasing control!" it said.
Harbinger left the Collector body just as the rounds tore it to pieces.
"Remind me to never piss you off, Griffin." said Ventra as everyone recovered.
Just as they had all regained their breath though, the HUDs in their suits detected motion in the next building.
"Go in quietly. If it's one of the colonists, we don't want to scare them." said Austin as they all readied for entry.
The door opened and Kraan and Griffin went in first to make sure it was clear. Leena and Ventra soon followed and then everyone else. Just as the door closed however, there was s clanging sound and a paint can rolled out from behind some crates.
"Come out where we can see you!" said Austin.
Very slowly, a woman came out from behind the crates. She had a pistol in her hand. For a moment, the two sides had their guns pointed at each other. The woman seemed to hesitate though when she saw them more clearly.
"It's... it's you!" she said surprisingly. The woman put the gun away. She looked very happy to see them. Austin couldn't deny though that there was something familiar about her.
"Have we met?" Austin asked as he and Alpha Squad lowered their weapons.
"I don't suppose you'd remember. You and your squad rescued me and my friends two years ago on the planet Maltoor.
Now Austin remembered where she'd seen this woman before.
"Lilith? Well, this is a surprise." said Austin.
"It's okay, Delan! They're on our side." said Lilith.
Another colonist appeared from behind a nearby crate. He looked like a mechanic.
"Helldivers! Boy, am I glad to see you. We thought those things got you." he said.
"We're not the same Helldiver team that was stationed here. We're here to investigate the attack. Stop the Collectors from abducting humans." Austin explained.
"Those things are Collectors? You mean they're real?" said Lilith, rather shocked at this bit of news.
"I thought they were just made up. You know - propaganda to keep us in Alliance space. No! They got damn near everyone!" said Delan.
"What exactly happened? The slightest detail may be important." Austin asked.
"I came down to check on the main grid after we lost our comm signals. Then I heard screaming." said Delan.
"That massive ship then suddenly appeared out of the clouds. The Helldiver team covered us while we ran. I owe them for that." said Lilith.
"When I looked outside and there were these... swarms of bugs. Everyone they touched just froze. Just as I was about to seal the door, Lilith managed to get in. We had no choice but to seal the doors." said Delan.
"I wish we could've done more." said Lilith sadly. "It's just like last time."
"It's not your fault. The Collectors have very advanced technology, it's no surprise that you were all caught off guard." said Austin.
"Damn it - it's the Alliance's fault! They stationed that Chief Williams here and built those defence towers. It made us a target. The Helldivers were doing just fine without them." said Delan.
"If you have defence towers we can use them against the Collector ship!" said Ventra.
"You'd need to calibrate the targeting system first. It's never worked right." said Delan.
"Either me or EDI should be able to figure it out. We just need the location." said Leena.
"Head for the main transmitter on the other side of the colony. Pretty hard to miss. The targeting controls are at the base." Said Lilith.
"It's probably better if you two stay here. The seeker swarms can't see us, but they might see you. We don't want to lose any more people." said Austin.
"Yeah, that's what I was thing too. Plus, Lilith may have a gun, but she's no soldier." said Delan. "I'll let you out, but we're locking the door behind you. I'm not taking any chances. Good luck. I think you're gonna need it.
"Good luck, Commander. It was good to see you again." Lilith smiled.
"Major now actually. I haven't been a Commander for two years now." Austin corrected.

Still there was no sign of any more colonists. This was a bad sign. It obviously meant the Collectors were finishing up here. They could see more Collectors around the corners. At the moment, they were unaware of the Helldivers presence.
"Call your targets. We'll take 'em all at once." said Austin as he lined his sight up with one of the Collectors.
Alpha Squad did the same and lined up their weapon sights with their targets.
"Targets marked. 3... 2... 1... Fire!"
All Helldivers fired simultaneously and most of the Collectors fell. The Husks that had been with them roared and started running towards their enemies. The other Collectors fired on the Helldivers as Harbinger once again possessed one of them. It was nothing Alpha Squad couldn't handle, but it seemed once again that the Collectors had another surprise for them. Bringing up the rear of the attack was a different type of Husk. It was twice as large as a normal husk and had way more mass. Its right arm was replaced with a massive plasma cannon and its entire left shoulder was one massive storage of blue plasma.
The Scion, as it was called took aim at Alpha Squad and fired. The plasma caused a massive explosion which sent some of them flying. As it fired another however, Alaara threw up a huge biotic shield to shield them from it.
Harbinger however noticed this and threw a massive barrage of biotics at the Shield, causing Alaara to falter slightly. Austin fired a few shots from inside the shield as he tried to help Alaara up.
What happened next though took everyone by surprise. Sandra suddenly uncloaked behind Harbinger and grabbed him by the neck.
"No one tires out my wife, but me!" she yelled as she started punching Harbinger in the face really hard. Harbinger struggled violently to free himself, but Sandra refused to let go.
The Helldiver even took out her combat knife and stabbed Harbinger several times.
The Scion meanwhile had once again focused its attention on Austin and the others and fired another shot. Just before Alaara's shield could give out though, Liara threw up her own just in time. Hers was the same size but it seemed to be twice as strong. Alaara relaxed and allowed herself to recover briefly before she then went on the attack and threw a singularity at the Scion. The small black hole didn't lift the husks off its feet but it did seem to tear a few patches of skin off.
All the while, no one had noticed that Griffin had cloaked out of sight and was sneaking up behind the Scion. Just as the husk noticed him uncloak right behind it, the Helldiver impaled it on his minigun's blade many times. It took several stabs but eventually the Scion drew its last breath.
With that and the rest of the Collectors dealt with, Sandra finished dealing with Harbinger as the two wrestled with one another violently. As Harbinger was just starting to loosen Sandra's grip around his neck, Sandra took a small blue vial from her belt. With enough force to punch through a wall, Sandra smashed the vial into one of Harbinger's eyes and the fluid released.
"I will find you again!" Harbinger bellowed as he released control of the body again, leaving the Collector to be eaten alive by the liquid.
"Remind me to repay you deeply for that later, darling." Alaara smiled seductively at Sandra.
"Would've thought we'd see more of the colonists by now." said Kraan as he made sure all the enemies were definitely dead.
"They've probably been loaded onto the Collector Ship by now. We should hurry." said Garrus.

Alpha Squad quickly made their way to where the main transmitter tower for the anti-ship guns was located. Leena walked up to the nearby control panel and took off one of the plates.
"Right, keep me covered, guys. Time for me to do what I do best!" said the Quarian as she cracked her fingers back and began her work on the wires and the targeting system.
After a few minutes, Leena had managed to get the system online and had erased what bugs and errors she'd been able to. EDI would need to handle the rest since some of the errors and bugs were far too complex for even Leena to handle.
"Okay, I've done all I can. Time to let EDI take over." she said.
"Normandy, do you copy?" said Austin into his wrist communicator.
"Joker here. Signal's weak, Major, but we got you." came Joker's reply.
"I think these uninvited guests have overstayed their welcome long enough. EDI, bring the defence towers online!" said Austin.
"Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified, but it will take a few minutes to bring the towers to full power. I recommend a defensive posture. I will not be able to mask the increased generator output." said EDI.
"This is beginning to sound like something you'd do in a video game." said Dash.
"Don't start that again." said Ventra.
At that moment though, the banter was interrupted by the arrival of another new enemy.
Once again, it was another unwelcome surprise. This time though it looked more the sort of stuff out of a nightmare. The thing was some sort of massive spider creature. Unlike a normal spider though it only had four legs rather than eight. Like a Collector it had a triangular and insect like head with four eyes. What was the most intimidating feature about this... Praetorian though was that it's open mouth was filled with Husk skulls.

The Praetorian flew gracefully into the area and landed hard, creating a biotic shock wave as it landed.
"Great. This just keeps getting better and better." said Alaara sarcastically as the Praetorian slowly edged towards them.
"We need a little help here, EDI!" said Austin.
Alpha Squad assumed defence positions as the Praetorian lifted back up into the air. It's four blue eyes started to glow brightly. Just as everyone noticed this it suddenly shot a massive blue beam of energy out of them. Sandra just managed to avoid the beam, but it still damaged her shields slightly as it scraped her.
"You should not have done that!" said Alaara coldly as she fired on the attacker. It didn't do much, but it did seem to cause a bit of damage.
Seeing that the Praetorian could be weakened, the rest of Alpha Squad fired on it as well. Angered by the irritation, the Praetorian went for another attack and suddenly slammed itself down on the ground with tremendous force. Not only did this create another shock wave but the Praetorian also unleashed several more as it screamed.
"Get back! Get back! Don't get too close!" Austin shouted as he managed to pull Dash out of the Praetorians attack range. "Right, you can mess with me, but you do not mess with my friends!" he said coldly as he set his Revenant to fully automatic.
Rolling out of cover, Austin let the machine gun loose and the Praetorian was bombarded by round after round. Despite that this caused plenty of damage it didn't hurt the Praetorian enough for it to cease its attacks. The creature's eyes once again went bright and it shot a beam from its eyes. Austin however had enough time to dodge it and rolled back behind a nearby crate.
"EDI! We need those guns online, now!" Austin yelled into his comm as Griffin distracted the Praetorian with his minigun.
"Target anti-ship batteries at 100%. I have control." said EDI. "Firing at Collector vessel!"
In the distance, the anti-ship guns started firing at the Collector vessel overhead. All the while the Praetorian continued firing and screaming at the Helldivers.
"We're wearing down its armour! Keep it up!" said Alaara.
The rest of Alpha Squad, Griffin especially, unloaded all they could right into the Praetorian. The machine screeched and seemed to clutch its head as it slowly disintegrated itself from all the damage.
In the distance, the Collector vessel was really taking a pounding now. The bottom of the ship readjusted itself and its main engine fired, causing the whole colony to shake.
"They're pulling out!" said EDI.
Two more shots were fired before the vessel took off and blasted into space.

"And stay out!" Dash yelled triumphantly.
Delan and Lilith came out from where they'd been hiding. Delan watched helplessly as the ship vanished from orbit.
"No! Don't let 'em get away!" said Delan desperately.
"There's nothing we can do. They're gone!" said Austin, trying his best to sound reassuring.
"Half the colonies in there! Do something!" Delan repeated.
"They did all they could, Delan! If it wasn't for Shepard we'd be in that ship too!" Lilith said defensively.
"Shepard? Wait, I know that name. Sure, I remember you. You're some type of big Alliance hero." said Delan.
At that moment, a very familiar face came out from behind one of the crates. It was Ashley.
"Captain Austin Shepard. Captain of the Normandy, the first human Spectre, the hero of Elysium, saviour of the Citadel." she smiled at her old childhood friend. She then turned towards Delan. "You're in the presence of a god, Delan, and a ghost."
"All the good people we lost and you get left behind. Figures. Screw this! I'm done with you Alliance types." said Delan as he walked off and left the area.
Lilith could see were the conversation between Austin and Ashley would be going, so she decided to give them some space.
"I'll check on the other colonists." she said.
Lilith left and Ashley slowly walked up to Austin. The two looked at each other for long time before Ashley finally gave in and hugged him tightly. Austin didn't resist and hugged her back. He couldn't believe it was really her. He'd missed his old friend a lot.
"I thought you were dead, Shepard. We all did." said Ashley, sounding near the point of tears.
"I'm glad to see you too, old friend." Austin smiled as he retracted his helmet. "How've you been?" he asked.
"I've been well, thanks. First things first though. You owe me an explanation. I spent the past two years believing you were dead. You've been one of my oldest friends, Austin and I would've followed you anywhere. Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you let me know that you were alive?" Ashley asked.
"It wasn't my choice, Ash. I actually was dead. I spent two years dead while my suit slowly brought me back to life." Austin explained.
"You're suit brought you back to life? That's the best excuse you can come up with? You expect me to believe that?" said Ashley crossly.
"That's the truth, Ash. I swear to you." said Austin.
"He shouldn't have to explain himself. To you least of all, Ashley." said Liara defensively.
"Liara? You're a Helldiver?" Ashley asked surprised.
"It's a long story." said Garrus.
"So what about all these reports about you and Cerberus? Care to explain those as well?" Ashley asked.
"You believe those reports as well?" Alaara asked, crossly.
"Alliance intel said Cerberus could be behind our missing colonies. We got a tip that this would be the next to get hit. I went to Anderson, but he wouldn't talk. But there were rumours that you weren't dead, worse, that you were working for the enemy." said Ashley.
"Ashley, listen to me. Those reports about me and Cerberus are false. They let slip all these rumours to try and turn everyone against me." said Austin. "Plus, would the rest of my squad work with me if I was with Cerberus?"
"He's right. We'd rather die than work with those terrorists, regardless of whether Shepard was with them or not." said Alaara defensively.
"So you're still with the Helldivers?" Ashley asked, starting to sound persuaded.
"Yes. When I escaped the Cerberus facility I was on I went straight back to Arkadia. I'd never work for Cerberus, regardless of the situation." said Austin.
"But if that's true, why didn't you try to contact me? Let me know that you'd come back. You're file still lists you as killed in action and you're Alliance rank hasn't been reinstated either." Ashley asked.
"This mission required a lot of secrecy. We couldn't afford for the Collectors to know that we were on to them. We had to keep a low profile." Liara explained.
"Trust me, Ash. I wanted to contact you. Letting you know that I was alive was one of my first concerns but we couldn't risk tipping the Collectors off. I'd have let you know if I could. I can only tell you that I am so sorry." said Austin.
Ashley still didn't look happy, but it did sound as though she had been convinced now. Her mood seemed to brighten.
"So now that the Collectors know about you, what'll you do now?" she asked.
"Now, we wait until they make their next move. Since the undercover work is no longer required though, I think I may also get my identity reinstated. I think I'm ready to come out of hiding now and let the galaxy know that I'm back." said Austin.
"What about the Reapers though? Aren't they more of a threat?" Ashley asked.
"We have firm reason to believe that the Collectors are working for the Reapers. Don't worry, i intend to finish what we started two years ago." said Austin.
"I'm glad to hear it." said Ashley. Her anger looked as though it had gone now. After all, she could never truly stay mad at Austin.
"Tell me honestly though, Ash. Why are you here? I don't really buy the whole story of you trying to improve relations with the Alliance." Austin asked.
"I was... investigating you." Ashley admitted.
"What? I thought you were his friend! Besides, Anderson knows the truth as well. Why would he approve of this?" said Alaara.
"I was given this mission long before news reached us that you were alive. We didn't know about you at the time. Plus Anderson wanted to be sure that Cerberus wasn't behind the colony attacks. It's not that he doesn't trust you, but he had to know the truth." said Ashley.
"I think I need to have a word with him about his later." said Austin. He then turned back to Ashley. "So what will you do now? If you don't have another mission after this we'd be glad to have you on the Normandy. It'd be just like old times."
"I wish I could, Austin. I really do, but I can't. I have another assignment that I can't ignore." said Ashley regrettably.
"I understand. Do you want a ride back to the Citadel at least?" Austin offered.
"That... that sounds wonderful. Thanks, Austin." Ashley smiled.
Before the conversation could continue further though, there was a sudden loud boom and the whole place briefly shook.
"What's that?" Griffin asked as he pointed to something in the sky. It was leaving a crowd trail behind. As all of Alpha Squad looked up however, only too late though did they realise what it was.
"Missiles! Get clear!" Austin yelled.
Alpha Squad and Ashley didn't need to be told twice and the ran as fast as they could. Despite managing to clear of the impact area though, they weren't out of range of the incoming explosion though. The whole yard exploded as the two missiles impacted on the ground. Dirt, rocks and rubble were thrown everywhere and everyone was sent flying. Ashley could only briefly see Griffin trying to shield her from the explosion before it sent him flying and a hard rock collided with her head. Everything went black.

Ashley groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. Her head hurt like hell, she could see a bit of blood trickling from her forehead, her chest felt like it had been crushed, one of her ankles had been twisted and her right arm was pinned rather painfully under some debris. The marine winced in pain as she felt it all at once.

The she started her hear something. As her hearing slowly came back she could hear voices. They were muffled at first but they slowly started getting clearer. Then she started seeing a silhouette through all the dust and smoke of the explosion. It was humanoid and female in appearance, but it looked like it was clad in some sort of armour. It also had something sticking out from its right hip and its right hand looked odd, almost... machine like.
"They have to be here somewhere. Those missiles weren't designed to kill, but even a Helldiver will take time to recover from that." it said.
As Ashley's vision slowly got better, a few more silhouettes appeared. One was another female, and the other a male. Guessing that they might not be friendly, Ashley tried to get herself free from the rubble but her arm was pinned very hard by the debris and her twisted ankle didn't help either. She couldn't see Austin or any of the other Helldivers either. This was very problematic.
"Spread out. Search the area! I want them found!" said Shadow as her eyes, or eye and cybernetic eye scanned the area.
Thanks to the data from the Illusive Man, she and the others had been tipped off that this colony would be the next to get hit, not only that, but Ashley Williams would be here too. This was the perfect opportunity for them to strike. With Ashley as a hostage, they could draw Shepard right to her and then she would be able to have her much wanted revenge. However, taking Williams hostage probably wouldn't be necessary since Shepard was actually here somewhere in the wreckage.
Miranda, who was stood near Shadow separated from the group. Wilson went to go with her but Shadow motioned for him to stay with her.
"Wait, she's here! I can sense her." said the Phantom coldly.
Upon hearing this, Ashley remained absolutely still. Despite that her heart was pounding inside her chest, she did her best to keep her breathing under control. The silhouette of Shadow edged closer and for a moment, she felt she was done for. Some of the dust and smoke slowly cleared and she was able to see Shadow a bit more clearly. Only now could she see the Cerberus logo and the Phantom's arm and also on the arm of Wilson. At that, all thoughts of Austin being with Cerberus vanished. Why work with a Helldiver just to screw them over now?
Shadow was now really close now. So close in fact now that she could hear the Phantom breathing inside her armour. Her fright began to increase even more when she saw Shadows cybernetic hand and her sword. The hand flexed several times, clearly ready to punch through a ribcage and tear a heart out. Ashley hadn't seen many things that scared her that much, but Shadow definitely went on top of that list.

The Phantom took another step closer to Ashley and then seemed to look right at her. For a moment, Ashley saw the blue glint from Shadow's cybernetic eye which was causing the eye optics on the right side of her mask to glow blue rather than the usual red.

Luckily for her though, the Phantom then changed direction and walked off. Breathing a sigh of she groaned quietly as she used all her strength to push off the debris that had her arm pinned. She suppressed a scream as it was finally freed. From the feel of things, the combination of the explosion and the debris had dislocated it. Her wrist didn't feel right either and had probably been twisted as well.

Very slowly Ashley kicked away some the heavy rubble that was covering her legs and feet and slowly pushed herself up using her functional left arm. Now able to see clearly she looked around. There was no sign of anyone else, or any traces that a Helldiver had been buried here. Worry started to cloud her thoughts. Was Austin still alive? Had the blast killed any of his squad?
Right at that moment however, her thoughts were interrupted as something hard and metallic latched onto her neck and gripped tightly. Ashley looked immediately at the source of the attack... straight into the piercing optic eyes of Shadow. The Phantom had found her. Ashley tried desperately to loosen the cyborg's grip but the hand was just too strong.

"Well well well... what have we here?" Shadow grinned evilly as she slowly hoisted the Gunnery Chief up by her neck. "Found her. She's a tough little girl."
More of the dust and smoke cleared and Miranda, Wilson and a few other Cerberus troopers, along with several combat mechs appeared.
"This her?" asked Wilson.
"Oh, it's her alright. I'd know this bitch anywhere." said Shadow. The Phantom turned back to Ashley who was still struggling against Shadow's cybernetic grip. "Now... what are we going to do with you, my dear?"

Austin groaned as he regained consciousness. The explosion from the missiles had sent him and the others flying while Ashley had become separated. He had seen her get hit by a rock, but after that everything had gone black. It was times like these that he was really thankful that Dell had taken some his personal feedback into account and had made some upgrades to the lockdown mode on the Helldiver armour so that they now activated immediately upon the user passing out rather than waiting a few seconds.

Austin's HUD lit up and came back on as the suit scanned all his systems and armour for damage. After a quick few seconds, the lockdown deactivated he found he could move again. As he sat up, he could hear voice in his comm. It was a bit distorted, but it slowly cleared itself up.
"Alpha Squad, do you copy?! Shepard!" came EDI'S voice.
"Damn it, Major, talk to us!" Joker continued.
"I'm okay, Joker." Austin groaned.
Noticing that his visual feed was rather distorted, Austin gave his helmet a small punch and the feed managed to return to normal. He then quickly set his omni tool to scan for the others. Several holographic silhouettes showed up beneath the rubble. The first one he noticed was only partially buried, it was Liara.
"Are you alright, Shepard? There was a massive explosion down there and we lost contact with you." EDI asked.
"Some sort of missile. Knocked us out, but everyone looks okay." Austin replied as he quickly kicked away the rest of the debris and slowly lifted a huge plate off of his lover. The Asari's own lockdown deactivated and she started moving. Austin gently helped her up and gave her a small hug.
"Are you alright?" he asked concernedly. Liara's exterior didn't look damaged at all, but he never took any risks when it came to her.
"I'm alright, Austin. Just a bit shook up." Liara replied.
"You sure?" Austin asked.
Liara nodded and that was enough to convince Austin.
"Alright, help the others." he said.
The two separated and Austin went over to help Ventra out of the rubble. Liara meanwhile started digging Leena out. Slightly further away, Alaara had also woken up and was helping Sandra up.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked as she and her wife re-joined the squad.
"I think so. What the hell was that?" said Dash as he struggled to get himself out of a large amount of rocks that he'd become trapped in. "Errrr, can someone get me out of here?"
"Got it." said Kraan, grunting as he used all his strength to move away some of the heavier rocks. Dash managed to do the rest himself.
"Where's Griffin?" asked Garrus as he looked around.
Right as the Turian had spoken Griffin's name, a Helldiver arm punched out of some of the rubble right next to where Garrus was standing.
"I'm alright. Wow! I've heard of going out with a big bang, but that was way too explosive." he said as he climbed out and picked his minigun back up.
"You sure that wasn't you?" Ventra joked slightly as Austin helped him up and handed him his sniper bow.
"Missiles aren't explosives, my friend." Griffin replied.
At that moment, Austin suddenly heard something. It sounded like choking. Austin activated his magnetic view to see through the dust. What he saw, caused to stand back in shock slightly.
There was a small army of Cerberus agents gathered around another body. He guessed that was Ashley. Even through the magnetic view, he recognized the leader immediately. It was one of his oldest and most dreaded adversaries, Shadow.
"It can't be." he said.
"What? What is it?" said Alaara.
"Keep your voices down and switch to magnetics." Austin whispered as he crouched down and activated his cloak.
Alpha Squad activated their magnetic views first. Upon seeing that they weren't alone here they quickly followed Austin's example by crouching down and also cloaking.
"What are we gonna do? They've got Ashley." said Griffin.
"I've got a plan. It's risky, but we don't have much choice. Listen carefully." said Austin as he started going over the plan for rescuing his friend.

Ashley still continued to struggle as Shadow's cybernetic grip contracted around her windpipe. Still the Phantom glared at her through her mask.
"What do we do with her now?" Miranda asked.
"Now we simply wait for Shepard to come to us." said Shadow.
"In the meantime though, there's nothing saying that we can't have a little fun with this Alliance marine." said Wilson.
"I was thinking similarly." Shadow grinned evilly as Shadow unsheathed her sword and readied it to cut away some of Ashley's armour.
The Phantom hated the Alliance as much as she hated the Helldivers as well. That was why she joined Cerberus. Plus, she was bisexual so she had no objections to watching some of the others teach the Alliance marine a lesson. Just as the Phantom's blade started cutting however, a voice sounded behind them.
"Put her down, Shadow!"
Everyone instantly whirled around to see Austin standing on a nearby hill that had been caused by the debris. Only his plasma cannon was trained on them.
So... the great Major Shepard, at last!" Shadow said coldly as she used her left arm to sheath her sword and unclip her pistol which she then pointed at Ashley's head.
"I said put her down! I won't tell you again!" Austin demanded as the targeting laser for his plasma cannon pointed at Shadow's face.
"You're in no position to give orders, Shepard!" Shadow shouted as she now moved Ashley in front of her and pointed the gun right at her head. The other Cerberus soldiers and the mechs all pointed their guns at Austin. "Power down your suit now or this little bitch will be joining her pathetic grandfather in hell!"
At the mention of Shadow calling her grandfather pathetic, Ashley started struggling violently. Despite her best efforts though she was too weak from the missiles and the cyborg was too strong.

Austin reluctantly accepted. He disengaged his weapon systems and then deactivated his armour all together.
Austin slowly dropped down to his knees and the mechs surrounded him.
"Put this on him." said Shadow as she handed a small device to Miranda.
Miranda did as she was told and walked up to Austin. The Helldiver looked at her for a very brief moment before she placed the device on his chest and it activated.
"What's that for anyway?" Miranda asked.
"That'll prevent him from turning his armour back on without us knowing." Shadow replied as she lowered her guard and her gun now pointed away from Ashley. She then smiled evilly at Austin. "I'd take a good look at her face if I were, Shepard. It's a fitting last sight for a doomed soul." she said as she now pointed the gun right at Austin helmet.
Austin couldn't help but panic slightly. He hadn't planned on this. Even without his shields and with all his suits systems turned off the bullet wouldn't do any damage, but at point blank range there was a heavy risk that it would shoot through his helmet. The armour was strong, but not that strong.
"So, what revenge is it this time? This is quite far just to get revenge for a lost arm." said Austin.
"How blind you are, Shepard. Have you forgotten the Cerberus soldier you killed on the Lazarus station? One of them was my brother!" said Shadow angrily.
"I do hate it when these things get personal." said Austin, doing his best to keep his cool.
"Always the modest one, even in the face of certain death. I'd give it up if I were you. Face it, Shepard. You've lost." said Shadow.
The Phantom however had been so preoccupied with Shepard however that she hadn't noticed Wilson walking up behind her with gun in one hand and a small EMP device in the other.
"Actually... you all have!" he said.
Before Shadow could react in time, Wilson placed the detonator on Shadow's cybernetic arm and it detonated.
Shadow screamed in pain as all her arm's motor functions were disabled. Her cyborg fingers sprang open and Ashley fell to the ground. Shadow also fell to her knees, clutching her now disabled arm in sheer pain.
"Wilson, what the hell..." said Miranda as she reached for her SMG. But Wilson already had his down gun pointed right at her head.
"Don't try it, Miranda! That includes you too!" he shouted to Miranda and the other Cerberus soldiers. The mechs simply remained where they were since Wilson had secretly hacked them, just as he had back on the Lazarus station when Austin had escaped. "Now if you'll relieve yourself of your firearms." he said.
The Cerberus soldiers did as they had been told and so did Miranda.
"You backstabbing..." Shadow swore between gritted teeth.
Despite being disabled, the arm was still causing her extreme amounts of pain. Too much pain for her to fight back or get up.
"Well I learned from the best, Azula." said Wilson as he took Miranda's SMG from her and threw it out of her reach.
"So it was you. You were the one who hacked the mechs on the Lazarus station!" said Miranda coldly as she stood back slightly.
"Shepard's escape was not part of the plan but it did serve as a fitting distraction." said Wilson.
"But why, Wilson? Who bought you off?" Miranda asked.
"I wasn't bought off. I never had any love for Cerberus anyway. I've worked for the Shadow Broker for a very long time." said Wilson. "Shepard's body originally belonged to the Shadow Broker, and he wants his property back."
"Wilson, you can't trust the Shadow Broker. He worked for the Collectors." said Miranda.
Unknown to anyone, Shadow had secretly powered her arm back up and had removed the small EMP device. True the EMP had disabled her arm's systems, but the Phantom was very smart. Her cyborg arm's main systems weren't EMP resistant... but her backup systems were. Her arm quietly powered back up and she readied for sneak attack on Wilson.
"Oh, enough of this, Miranda! Nothing more tires than last minute heroics!" said Wilson.
Shadow seized her chance and lunged at Wilson. The two wrestled with one another violently as Shadow's cyborg arm punched Wilson hard in the face causing blood to spurt from his mouth. Miranda also tried to attack but Wilson noticed this. He managed to free his gun arm from Shadow's grip and smashed her in her in the face with it, knocking her to the ground.
With Miranda temporarily knocked out, Wilson's attention went back to Shadow. Seeing an opening, he kicked the Phantom hard in the stomach, causing her to loosen her grip on his arms. Just as he recovered though, Shadow disappeared completely from view as she activated her own cloaking device.
The other Cerberus soldiers moved to pick up their weapons but Wilson saw this and fired a warning shot at them. He then went back to looking for Shadow.
"Ah, hide and seek is it? Or should we play, search and destroy?" he said challengingly.
Miranda, who had recovered from her head blow, noticed Shadow hiding behind a crate just out of Wilson's view. She decided to at least try and help the Phantom. Perhaps her attitude towards her would improve.
"Wilson!" she yelled.
Wilson whirled around to face her. Sure enough, Shadow uncloaked right behind him and grabbed his right wrist with her cyborg hand. Before Wilson could react in time, Shadow gave his wrist a violent twist, snapping the bones and causing the gun to fall free. Shadow then performed a very fast move, twisting Wilson's arm around as she did so. Using her left hand, she unsheathed her sword from her right hip. Wilson only had a few seconds to realise this before Shadow thrust the blade right through his heart and twisted it violently several times to cause as much pain as possible.
"No one betrays me, Wilson. Nobody! " Shadow snarled.
Wilson only looked helplessly at the blade sticking out of his heart for a few seconds before all life left him and he went limp.
"Get off my sword!" said Shadow as she carelessly pushed Wilson's dead body off her blade.
"Good moves, Azula." said Miranda as Shadow rather surprisingly helped her up.
"Smart move with the distraction, Lawson. Gave me a perfect opening at that bastard." said Shadow as she put her sword back in its holster. The rest of the Cerberus soldiers picked up their guns and relaxed.
"Now, were we?" said Shadow as she picked up her dropped pistol. "Ah yes, you."
During the whole commotion, Ashley had tried to crawl to safety, but with dislocated arm, and a twisted ankle, she hadn't got far. She froze as Shadow pointed the gun at her.
"Killing her wasn't part of the plan, Azula." said Miranda.
"Plans change, Lawson. And you would do well to cease questioning me." said Shadow.
"We had a deal!" said Austin.
"You killed my brother, Shepard! Now I will make you feel my pain! Now, you will suffer for it!"
"No!"
There were two loud shots as Shadow fired...

To be continued...
See you soon and please do comment!
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Collector War