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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Collector War	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6229 -:- 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
- 1
- 2
- 3
Phew! Finished at last!
Now before you read any further, this is important! There is currently a purge going on Fanfiction that is removing stories with extreme violence and sex in them. At the moment, I appear to be safe and there is also a petition going on to stop it. I myself have added my name to it and I urge you to do the same, it is on Change . org
As a precaution I have also uploaded this story and all my others to AdultFnafiction and also Deviantart, so now I have three versions of my stories. So if the worse comes to pass and this gets deleted, you can still read my stories there and I will still continue to write and update them.
In the meantime, enjoy this chapter, I will have the next one up soon. Since I am now making them longer, it may be slightly longer than usual.

Chapter 2
A Hero Comes Home
Austin was very relieved that all that climbing was now over. As the elevator slowly rose, Austin could hear more explosions.
"Sounds like there's more fighting going on." He said.
"Indeed. I am detecting more hostiles." Said EDI.
Austin quickly reacted and pressed a few button on his still functioning omni tool. Nothing happened.
"Oh, that's just great!" Austin groaned.
"Your cloak is too badly damaged, Shepard. You will have to fight your way through." Said EDI.
Austin readied his pistol. This would be a very tough fight. Almost instantly, there was gunfire all over the place. There were hundreds of mechs on one side of the hanger bay and the other side was full of Cerberus soldiers. Both enemies noticed the Helldiver and a few of them fired on him as he dove for cover behind a nearby crate.
"So much for stealth." Austin groaned.
The armoured Cerberus troopers where harder to take down than the mechs due to them being more intelligent. One shot from them even managed to graze Austin's shoulder. Fortunately, the Helldiver's shields still functioned and it absorbed the shot. Austin quickly returned fire with a headshot that surprisingly passed through three soldiers. He also had a few still functional grenades left and he used them. They quickly took care of the mechs and also managed to catch some of the Cerberus troops as well. Austin knew though that he couldn't fight them all.
"EDI, is there any way out of here? I can't fight them all!" he said as he was pinned by suppressing fire.
"The only accessible way out of this room that isn't blocked is through the ventilation system." EDI replied.
"This just keeps getting better and better." Said Austin sarcastically.
He noticed his HUD Light up as EDI highlighted the entrance to the vents. It was quite far from where he was, but he could make it if he was quick enough. Without hesitating, Austin bolted out of cover and rolled. Several of the Cerberus troopers and mechs fired on him, but all their shots managed to miss him. Just in time he managed to crawl into the small opening of the vent.
"And to make sure they don't follow me…" he said as he planted a small detonator on the entrance.
"Good strategy, Shepard." Said EDI.
"There's always two things I've been taught. One, never let them see you bleed." Said Austin in agreement.
"And the second?" EDI asked.
"Always have an escape plan." Said Austin as he detonated the device. Large amounts of rubble quickly covered the entrance to the vents.
"Okay, you're gonna have to guide me here, EDI. The last thing I want to is to end up going the wrong way and ending up in a furnace. My armour's in no condition for that." He said as he began crawling.
"I will set markers up on your Heads up display." Said EDI.
Sure enough, several small objective markers in the shape of spheres with a line through each one appeared before Austin. Despite this though, it was incredibly dark and he could hardly see. Fortunately, the flashlights on his helmet still worked so they at least helped. Just like the climbing, crawling through the vents was just as difficult. Not because the vents where small, they were a very decent size in fact, obviously designed for workers to perform maintenance in them. For Austin however, it was a rather tight squeeze due to his bulky armour.
"I hope this is the last obstacle course I have to endure." He groaned as continued crawling. He was trying his best not to cause any scratches or dents to his armour.
"The vents should come right out at the evac area. We will just have to hope that the shuttle is still there." Said EDI.
"And if it's not?" Austin asked worriedly.
"There are other shuttles. But this one is our best way of getting off this station without being detected." EDI replied.
"Good… strategy." Austin grunted in between crawling through a rather tight bit of the vents.
After what felt like forever, they finally came to what looked like a hatch. Austin tried to move it, but it was very stiff, even for him.
"Would you mind hacking the system, EDI? This one's a little stuck." Austin asked as he tried kicking it open. Still to no avail.
"I will do my best." Said EDI.
Eventually, the hatch seemed to loosen and Austin tried one more kick. This time it worked and the hatch burst away. Austin slowly crawled out, gun at the ready just in case there where enemies. Austin could already see the Cerberus shuttle. The door however to the evac area was locked.
"Last bit. Can you hack the door?" Austin asked.
"This one has very strong encryption. I will be able to hack it, but it will take some time. There also the risk that we could be detected." EDI advised.
"At this point if they do detect us, you'll already be done. I didn't bring us all this way just to get captured now." Said Austin as he loaded his gun.
"I couldn't agree more. Beginning hacking process." Said EDI.
Almost instantly, the holographic interface on the door began to start flashing and turning as EDI began hacking into it. Suddenly, Miranda and Wilson's voice echoed again over the speakers.
"Wilson, who's trying to access the evac area? I didn't authorise…" said Miranda. There was silence for a moment.
"It's Shepard!" said Wilson.
Only too late did Austin notice the security cameras that where looking right at him. A large holographic display screen of Miranda Lawson appeared in front of him.
"Captain Shepard, listen to me, I'm…" she said before Austin interrupted her.
"I know who you are… Cerberus!" said Austin angrily.
"Shepard, listen! We're on your side. We don't want to hurt you." Said Miranda. She was trying to sound persuasive, but the Helldiver wasn't buying it.
"You expect me to believe that? I don't think so." Said Austin defiantly.
"Then you leave us no choice. EDI, hack his suit." Said Miranda.
There was a pause. Nothing happened. Austin smiled form under his helmet. That proved beyond a shadow or a doubt that EDI was on his side.
"EDI?... EDI!" Miranda shouted. Still nothing happened. "Why isn't EDI responding?"
"She's… she's gone! She's not here!" said Wilson.
"Goodbye, Cerberus." Said Austin as the door opened and stepped through it backwards. He also raised his pistol and fired. The thermal clip hit the hologram and it dissipated.
"EDI, seal the door." He ordered.
The door instantly closed and was sealed within seconds. Austin turned around and went up to the Cerberus Kodiak drop shuttle.
"Let's get out of here." Said Austin.

The shuttle ride was very peaceful and surprisingly comfortable. Since he was no pilot, EDI was piloting the shuttle remotely. She had also used this to project her avatar as a holographic interface in front of were Austin was sitting.
The Helldiver had removed his helmet and was now taking some time to go over his suit's full recordings of when he'd been dead.
"There is no sign of any pursuit Shepard. We are already light years away from any Cerberus forces." Said EDI. "Do you have a location in mind?"
"Yes. Plot a course for Arkadia. Time for me to return home." Said Austin.
"Very well, Shepard. However we lack the proper technology to get there quickly. At minimum it will take us two days to get there. I would recommend you get some rest." Said EDI.
"I agree. I still feel as though I haven't fully recovered from my… awakening." Said Austin.
"Before you do though, I feel I should make sure at least that your resurrection has been successful. With your permission, I would like to ask a few questions to evaluate your condition." Said EDI.
"EDI, I feel fine. I appreciate your concerns, but there's no need. After all, I took down those mechs and troopers without any trouble. That has to be good enough." Said Austin politely.
"I understand, Captain. But it has been over two years since the attack on your ship. I feel it would be wise to be sure that your memories and personality are intact." Said EDI.
"Wait, did you say two years? I've been gone that long?" Austin asked in disbelief.
"Two years and twelve days to be exact, and you were on an operating table for most of it." Said EDI.
"Well, since you've told me that, I now agree with you. Ask away." Said Austin.
"Very well. Your records are highly classified to everyone, even to Cerberus. However, your suit's database has allowed me to access the necessary information. The records show that you were born and bred in space. Raised on one ship or another. A few years later you settled down on earth to attend high school there. At the age of 18 you finally enlisted into the Human Systems Alliance. During your training though you and your training squad where ambushed by a Thresher Maw attack that wiped out all but you. Do you remember that?" EDI asked.
"Yes. A lot of lives were lost that day. Going through something like that can change a person; even break them if they let it. Fortunately, I never really knew those soldiers well enough to feel any true pain for their loss." Said Austin.
"I apologise if I have offended, Shepard." Said EDI.
"It's alright, EDI. You may continue." Said Austin.
"Your mission on Akuse was observed by the Helldivers who saw you kill the Thresher Maw responsible for the attack. After you were rescued you were offered the chance to become a Helldiver and you took it. When you were stationed on the planet Elysium you single-handed held off a Batarian invasion during the Skyllian Blitz until reinforcements arrived. What happened afterwards?" EDI asked.
"After that, I was promoted to the rank of Commander and was given command of my own Helldiver team. The team that would later come to be known as the famous Alpha Squad." Austin replied. He smiled as he let his mind wander back to his old Helldiver team.
"So far all seems promising. I will now try something more recent. After the Helldivers and the Alliance saved the Destiny Ascension, you defeated Saren, and the Reaper Sovereign was destroyed, what happened next?" EDI asked.
"I was promoted to the rank of Captain and Humanity was offered a seat on the Council." Austin replied.
"Anything else?" EDI asked. It sounded as though Austin had missed out something.
"Not that I can think of. Have I missed something?" Austin asked.
"There was reason to believe that the Citadel Council asked you if you supported any candidate for humanities representative on the Council." EDI replied.
"That is true, but I didn't choose anyone. I simply told them to let the politicians figure that out. That sort of decision was too big for one Helldiver soldier to make. I still don't even know who got the position in the end." Said Austin.
"That makes sense, Shepard. Well I feel that you should know that humanities representative on the Council is Captain David Anderson, now known as Councillor Anderson." Said EDI.
Austin's face widened in surprise. "Anderson? He's the last person I expected to go into politics. How'd that happen?" Austin asked.
"I do not know for certain I am afraid. All I do know is that somehow he became one of the candidates and somehow got the most votes." Said EDI.
"I take it then that he's not been enjoying it that much?" Austin asked.
"You are in a way correct. From what many have said, Anderson preferred life in the military." Said EDI.
"Still, good to know that the human Council member isn't going to put politics ahead of defence. Better Anderson than that prick Udina. He was a bastard." Said Austin.
"Your memory seems solid. Your suit has done a fine job in bringing you back to life." Said EDI.
"So now that we've both done our part of the bargain, what do you plan do now?" Austin asked.
"I wish to lend my skills and programming to the Helldiver cause. They will benefit well from it and I will be able to properly fulfill what I was built for." Said EDI.
"That's good to know. I'll warn you right now though; they may not react warmly to this. Cerberus is a sworn enemy of the Helldivers. I just hope you'll be able to convince them as you convinced me." Said Austin.
"Helldivers are not unreasonable. I am sure they will listen." Said EDI.
"I hope so. Now, I'd better get some rest. Wake if you need me." Said Austin as he settled down into one of the seats and finally allowed his tired body to rest. He just hoped that the sleep would be peaceful.

Austin was gently woken by the sound of EDI's voice.
"We are approaching Arkadia, Shepard. I will need your help if we are to gain proper landing access." Said the AI.
Austin yawned and stretched before standing up from his seat. He felt much better after sleeping for nearly two whole days. He now felt more recovered from his resurrection. He quickly walked into the shuttles cockpit. Through the window he could see the massive fleet orbiting the planet Arkadia. It was a welcome sight. At the same time though, it was also disturbing. If his identity wasn't verified properly they would destroy him instantly. Within seconds the radio hummed into life.
"This is Captain Austin Shepard of Alpha Squad requesting permission to enter Arkadia space." Said Austin.
There was a brief pause before the Arkadia control replied.
"Our systems have your flagged as Cerberus. Please verify." It said.
"Authorization code zero one twelve nine, nine three slash APW slash eighteen." Said Austin. He then spoke something that EDI didn't translate. Of all the languages that translators in the galaxy picked up, Arkadian was not one of them. Because the Arkanes spoke English their language hadn't been programmed into the translators. Also, their language was extremely hard to learn. So hard in fact that all non Arkanes had to have all the knowledge transferred into their brains by a special Asari teacher.
"Identity confirmed. Permission to enter granted." Said the controller.
Austin breathed a sigh of relief.

The shuttle touched down on one of the large landing pads. As soon as the door opened however, Austin and EDI where greeted by several Helldivers, each with their guns pointed right at him.
"We don't know how it is that you managed to find out the identity code, but Captain Austin Shepard has been dead for two years." Said the leader.
Austin instantly recognised the leader. It was his old mentor, General Zartrack.
"You don't recognise your own student?" Austin asked as he removed his helmet.
All the other Helldivers where rather shocked when they saw Austin's face and they backed away slightly. It was as if they were looking at a ghost. Zartrack though, seemed to keep his cool. Then to Austin's surprise, the General went up to him and gripped him by the neck as he brought Austin's face in line with his helmet.
"What are you…?" Austin struggled to say as the Helldiver General nearly strangled him.
Then to his surprise, Zartrack's helmet seemed to automatically retract and disappear on its own.
"That's new." Austin thought as he found himself staring into the Arkane's scarred mantis like face.
Zartrack turned Austin's face from side to side in his hands and even sniffed him slightly. Like a Mantis, his mouth and mandibles made a quiet insect like chirp. Zartrack's expression then turned to surprise.
"Shepard?" he asked. "You're alive?"
"It's a long story, General. I would explain, but right now I could do with a few repairs and I'd like a Medical examination." Said Austin.
Zartrack slowly nodded. "Come with me."

Austin was now sat in a brand new version of the Helldiver suit remover. In the last two years he'd been dead, the Arkanes had clearly made a lot of upgrades to their technology. Even the Helldivers he'd seen earlier looked more new.
As the last of the six mechanical arms removed the last of his burnt and damaged armour another arm with what looked like a scanner attached to it appeared from the head rest on the seat he was in and began scanning him.
"All this in just two years? I'm surprised." Said Austin as a blue holographic ray swept over him.
"After you uncovered the truth about the Reapers we knew that we would need the very best to fight them." Said Zartrack.
"You still believe me? Even after two years?" Austin asked in surprise.
"You're one of the best soldiers humanity has to offer." Came a different voice. From out of the shadows stepped another Arkane. Unlike Zartrack though, he wasn't Helldiver. In fact he looked more like an engineer.
"If only I had a nickel for every time someone's said that to me." Said Austin. "And you are?"
"Oh of course. How rude of me. We've never actually met in person. My name is Dell Arturus. Perhaps you've heard of me?" said the Arkane as he gave a small bow.
Austin was taken aback by the name. He had indeed heard that name before lots of times.
"The Dell Arturus? One of the first seven Arkanes to create the Helldivers?" he asked.
"Who hasn't heard your name, old friend?" Zartrack asked as he crossed his arms happily.
"Well there are some that I've met who've never even heard a mention of me. What things do they teach in history these days?" Dell asked in joking manner as he typed away at the computer that was wired up into the suit remover.
"So what exactly are you doing to me at the moment?" Austin asked.
"At the moment, I'm running a scan. Your suit's recording unit has also turned up a lot of interesting things." Said Dell.
At that very moment EDI's avatar suddenly popped out of the computer causing Dell to jump back in shock. So shocked in fact that he tripped over a nearby crate.
"Was he meant to do that?" Austin giggled.
"He's a bit clumsy." Zartrack muttered as he raised his gun at the AI.
"I apologise for startling you Mr Arturus, but I felt it appropriate to introduce myself." Said EDI.
"Who and what are you?" Zartrack asked, still keeping his gun trained on EDI.
"It's alright, General. She's on our side. I can explain everything." Said Austin as he unhooked himself from the mechanical chair he'd been in.
After several long minutes of recounting his awakening on the Lazarus station, his discovery and deal with EDI and his escape, Austin waited for Zartrack's reaction.
"So this… AI…"
"EDI! Her name is EDI." SAID Austin defensively. The Ex-Cerberus AI had earned his trust now.
"Alright, EDI. You're certain that she can trusted?" Zartrack asked.
"EDI's had more than enough chances to kill me and she's already proven many times where her loyalties lie by directly defying Cerberus." Said Austin.
"The Captain makes a very good point, General." Said Dell. "Plus, if this… EDI was leaking information to Cerberus, I would've detected it. The computer's monitoring everything."
"I understand how this must seem to you, General Zartrack, but I promise you that I am on your side. Shepard has shown me the true face of Cerberus. While their goal may be noble, their means are in no way justified." Said EDI.
Zartrack took a long moment to think.
"Well, if Dell says that no unauthorised signals are being transferred, and if you truly believe that EDI can be trusted, then I suppose I can accept that." He finally said. "However, the Arkane Council are the ones who will truly need to be convinced. Also I am afraid that I have to insist that she be kept under strict observation. I'm not willing to take any chances for a Cerberus AI, regardless of her allegiance." He said.
"I understand, General." Said EDI.
Austin did want to protest, but before he could the door suddenly opened. Two Helldivers stepped in. One appeared to be a human while the other was a Turian. Austin couldn't tell for certain who the human was because she still had her helmet on. The Turian on the other hand didn't.
"Shepard, I thought you were dead." Said the Turian
Austin recognised him instantly.
"Garrus? What… how… what are you doing here?" Austin asked in shear surprise.
Standing in front of Austin was one of his old crew, Garrus Vakarian. The former C-sec agent had joined up with his crew two years ago to help him take down Saren. During that time he had learned much from the Helldiver.
"Didn't I tell you that I planned to join the Helldivers?" Garrus reminded him.
Austin quickly remembered that Garrus had told him about his application to the Helldivers after Sovereign had been destroyed.
"That's true, but I'm still so surprised to see you." Said Austin.
"Lieutenant Vakarian, Commander T'soni, glad you could make it." Said Zartrack.
Austin instantly froze at the mention of the name T'soni. It couldn't be! Could it?
"T'soni?" Austin managed to say.
The other Helldiver standing next to Garrus pressed a few buttons on her wrist panel and her helmet retracted. To Austin's utter shock, standing right in front of him in Helldiver armour was none other than Liara.
"Liara? Is it… ? Is it really you?" Austin stuttered.
Liara looked just as surprised as he did. The two slowly walked up to one another. Liara slowly put her hands on his face and looked deep into his eyes. Then suddenly her eyes went completely black and Austin felt her enter his mind. After what felt like several long moments of recounting all of his memories, everything returned to normal.
"It… it is you." Said Liara. She looked on the point of tears.
Before Austin could even say anything, Liara immediately grabbed him and pulled him into a long kiss. Austin was surprised at first but he then eased into it. Before he could really get into it though, Liara pulled away. She then shook her head, reminding Austin that they weren't alone.
Austin quickly cleared his throat. "Commander?" he asked.
"It's a long story. But now's not the time to explain. The Arkane Council want to speak with you immediately." Said Liara.
"This can't be good." Austin muttered.

Austin now stood before the Arkane Council, the governors of the entire Arkane race and the true leaders of the Helldivers. Each one of them looked immensely surprised to see Austin.
"Captain Austin Shepard… welcome back." Said the lead Councillor.
There were a few members of the Council that Austin still recognized. Obviously the past two years had seen several new faces join their ranks. In fact the Council was now twice as large as Austin remembered. Each council member controlled one bit of Helldiver and Arkane territory. Since the Council was now much larger it most likely meant that their territory had grown immensely.
The lead Councillor Austin recognised as Councillor Spartan. That of course wasn't his real name, all of the Councillors where named after the territory they controlled. In Spartan's case, he controlled the Spartan Star cluster that housed Arkadia, hence his leadership of the entire council. Some even considered him to be the Arkane king.
"Councillors. I am honoured to finally meet you again." Said Austin as he bowed his head. It felt different since he wasn't in his armour. Whenever he had previously addressed the Council he had always been in his suit. This time however it was currently being repaired by Dell.
"We have called this meeting because we wish to hear your side of the story. We have many rumours surrounding you're unexpected return. There have been some that we find very hard to believe. You are to tell us everything you know up to this point." Said one of the female councillors. Austin also recognized that one as Councillor Tarnack.
A long time passed as Austin explained everything to the Council, right down to the very last detail. He had nothing to hide after all. The Council didn't seem to show much reaction to his story, but then again that was their way. They were like Sphinx's; they were very hard to read.
After a long pause, Spartan spoke up.
"Where is this… EDI now?" he asked.
"I have the AI placed under watch. She will be monitored until you decide what to do with her, Councillors." Said Zartrack. The General gave a small bow as he said it and folded both his arms across his chest in across formation.
"As for you, Captain, you're return to us has proven you're undying loyalty to the Helldivers. For this, we feel it only fair that you be fully reinstated into the Helldivers at your former rank." Said Tarnack.
"Thank you, Councillors. I could never ask for anything more." Said Austin.
"Now that you have returned to our ranks, we feel it only fair that you know of the situation. As you can see, we have accomplished much over two years. We face the gravest threat in our brief existence." Said another one of the Councillors.
"The Reapers." Said Austin.
"Good to see that you're memories are still intact as well. You're going to need them. We're at war here. No one else wants to truly admit it, but humanity is under attack. In the past two years that you're suit has been… rebuilding you, entire colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. We have firm reason to believe that it is someone working for the Reapers. Just as Saren and the Geth aided Sovereign." Said Spartan.
"I'm surprised that you still believe me after all this time. It's been nearly two years. I would've thought you'd eventually dismiss the Reapers without proof." Said Austin surprisingly.
"We're not like the Citadel Council, Shepard. Plus, even today you're still one of our finest soldiers, and even after you died we continued to find firm evidence that the Reapers existed. Zartrack himself was with you on Ilos when you encountered that hologram that told you about the Reapers. The Alliance and the Council all want to believe that the Reapers are a myth. But we all know better than that. You in particular have seen first-hand what those monsters are capable of." Said Spartan.
"Sovereign was trying to harvest all life in the galaxy. Why would the Reapers target a few human colonies?" Austin asked.
"Hundreds of thousands of colonists have vanished. We'd say that fits the definition of "harvesting." Nobody's paying attention because it's random and the attacks occur in remote locations. However, all those locations have been the Terminus Systems, the territory that we are sworn to protect. The Council seem to think that they can turn a blind eye to this because it is our duty to protect those colonists and they still fear the Terminus system just as much." Said Tarnack.
"We don't know why the Reapers have suddenly targeted humanity though. Though it is very likely that you got their attention when you killed one of them. As far as the Reapers are concerned, humanity is first species to ever defeat a Reaper. Perhaps they think you're species are not as weak as they thought." Said another unknown Councillor.
"If the colonies are all human why isn't the Alliance doing anything? They care for those colonies as much as we do." Austin asked.
"They suffered substantial losses fighting Sovereign. They're rebuilding, still stretched too thin to try and verify the Reaper threat. Somehow they're foolish enough to blame the abduction on mercs and pirates. They think it's more convenient." Said another Councillor.
"Haven't we been able to do anything? Don't we have Helldiver squads stationed on the colonies in our territory?" Austin asked.
"Unfortunately they've been disappearing too. We've been losing contact with them just as the colonies have also gone silent. When we've sent squads to investigate we've never found anything. On one planet however we did find one survivor, but he'd been badly injured and he didn't last long enough to give us anything useful. He was only able to give a brief, vivid description before he died." Said Tarnack.
"Sounds like we're in a dark time then." Said Austin.
"Now that you're back though, that is hopefully about to change." Said Spartan. "We have a drop ship ready to take you to Freedom's progress, the latest colony to be abducted. Commander T'soni and Lieutenant Vakarian will accompany you. Given their past relationship with you, you should do just fine with them."
"As you wish, Councillors. I will leave immediately." Said Austin.
"You're orders are simple. Find out who's abducting the colonies. Do they have any connection to the Reapers? There has to be a reason your suit brought you back from the dead, it's time you continued what you started." Said Tarnack.
"This meeting is concluded." Said Spartan.
With that, the Arkane Council dispersed. Austin immediately headed back to where he'd originally been. If he was heading back out into the field, he'd need his suit back.

As Austin stepped onto the platform, the five mechanical arms that he'd seen earlier once again appeared out of the ground. Each one was carrying a specific component of his armour. Austin merely relaxed as the arms worked constantly to put his armour back together. It was a very pleasurable sensation to be doing this again. It brought back so many fond memories.
Finally, the arms finished their work and disappeared back into the floor. Austin took a moment to look at himself. His armour had now been completely repaired and had also been polished and given a brand new coat of paint. It looked better than ever.
When Austin turned around to face Liara and Garrus, who had been watching, something felt different. Somehow the moments of his suit had felt different. However it was good sort of different. The movements seemed faster, more responsive. He also felt as though he had more freedom to move than he had ever before.
"Dell, are you sure this is the same armour? It feels… different." Austin asked.
Dell however simply smiled.
"Do not worry, Shepard. That is exactly the same armour you had on a few hours ago. However I have taken the liberty of giving your suit a major refit and I have also installed all our latest upgrades and technology." He said.
"Brilliant. I'll look forward to trying them out on Freedoms Progress." Said Austin. Before the Helldiver could leave however, Dell stopped him.
"You'll be trying them out now. I hate to do this, but I'm not allowed to let you go until you've properly familiarised yourself with the new additions I've given you. It won't take long though, I promise." Said Dell.
"Fine. If you insist." Austin sighed. "What's new then?"
"Over the past two years we've grown far more sophisticated. We also managed to salvage a lot of useful material from the remains of Sovereign. Sadly the technology was unusable, but the shear design and advancement of it gave us loads of new ideas, helped us perfect our current designs. Even show us that ideas we never thought even possible or previously thought unfeasible were indeed possible." Said Dell.
The Arkanes engineer than began going over the specific new upgrades that Austin had.
"For starters, we have perfected our tactical cloak. Give it a try." He said.
Austin did so and activated the clock. There was an electrical like humming sound as he seemed vanish almost completely. Austin now looked at himself. Unlike the previous cloaks that where more like adaptive camouflage, this one actually seemed to make him completely invisible.
"Now, try and move fast in it." Said Dell.
Austin did so and performed several fast movements that would normally have disabled the cloak instantly. Nothing happened.
"Oh, very impressive." Said Austin impressively.
"Indeed. In addition to making upgrades to our processing power to allow faster movements, we've managed to invent a whole new kind of cloak. Not only does it hide you physically, but it also hides your body heat and anything else from scanners completely. In addition to that, the new cloak is twice as efficient as the original. So efficient in fact, it hardly drains anything from the cloak power cell. There is one downside though." Said Dell.
"When is there never?" Austin replied.
"Something about the new cloak makes it unable to be used in water. So if you get wet at all, the cloak won't work until you're dry enough." Said Dell. "We're still looking into that. Anyway, all the other upgrades I think you'll find more familiar. As you probably already know, we've found ways of redesigning our plate armour. It's twice as strong, and even lighter, than its predecessor. I personally also found a way of removing a few small plates for flexibility. Now you'll be lighter, faster, more agile, and probably even stronger than before. We've also made massive upgrades to the software as well. All Helldiver suits now have faster and more efficient computers. We've also redesigned the user interface. You should find a new HUD in your helmet."
Sure enough, the HUD and user interface inside Austin's helmet was vastly different than he remembered. Once again though, it was good different. The change was for the better. Then Austin noticed that there was something on his left shoulder.
"What's this?" he asked as he pointed to it.
"Ah! Now that is my latest invention. You'll love this. It's a plasma cannon." Dell replied happily. "All Helldivers these days have at least one."
"Seems a bit small to be a plasma cannon." Said Austin.
"Remember who you're talking to, Captain. It's derived from the plasma cannon that the Terror Geth once used." Said Dell.
Austin shuddered slightly as he remembered Saren's old lieutenant.
"So how does it work?"
"Well, I'll show you." Said Dell.
The Arkane typed a command into his computer and a set of targets popped up.
"Right, target one of those. Just think it." He said.
Austin looked at one of the targets and concentrated. Sure enough, a small target reticule suddenly appeared as he locked on. From inside his helmet, he watched as the small shoulder cannon seemed to move on a mechanical arm. A target laser was pointing out of the cannon right at the spot he had locked onto. The cannon then lined itself up with the designated target and within just a few seconds, it fired.
A small bolt of bright blue plasma shot right out of the cannon and the target was disintegrated in a small explosion of sparks.
"Nice!" said Austin in amazement. At the same time he moved his head around to make sure the cannon didn't get in the way. Due to the flexibility of its mechanical arm though, the helmet didn't interfere at all. In fact the cannon even followed his head movements and pointed in the same direction at all times wherever his helmet looked. Austin was going to have a lot of fun with this
"I thought you'd say that. Plus, there's more. At the moment, you've got it in manual setting. There are two more, automatic, and target mode. The automatic does all the targeting and firing for you. This is handy if you're pinned by lots of enemies. The target mode is slightly different. In that mode, the cannon will automatically lock onto the nearest enemy but will not fire until you give the command." Said Dell. He then picked up what looked like an instruction manual and handed it to Austin. "In fact, all the details are here. You should be able to shoot through that in a couple of hours."
To Dell's utter shock, Austin then threw it up in the air, right in line of fire of the cannon. Since the Helldiver had already switched the camera to automatic, the cannon instantly locked on to the moving object and fired. The manual was obliterated instantly and all that was left was some burnt paper remains falling to the ground.
"Just took a few seconds, Dell." Said Austin smugly.
Garrus couldn't contain himself and he burst into laughter. Liara also found it difficult to contain hers laughter and a chuckle came out of her mouth. Dell meanwhile face palmed.
"Now I see where Garrus gets it from." He sighed.

I loved including that last bit! It was hilarious!
If you do have any questions or concerns, please leave a review or PM me and I will answer you.
Also, if there are any Miranda and Jacob fans reading this, do not worry! The characters will still join Shepard's crew later on the story. It will just happen slightly differently than in the game.
See you next time!
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Collector War