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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
- 21
- 22
- 23
Hello everyone! Nice to be back!
I must say, a lot certainly has happened during my break from writing. In particular, my time away has led me to discover something remarkable. It would seem that someone has made a mod for Mass Effect 3 which makes a few more changes tot he ending. Best of all, it reunites Shepard with the crew and removes the star child. I can honestly say that I wept with joy when i saw my Shepard being reunited with Liara and I can at last enjoy Mass Effect again rather than thinking that it's worth it. I'd certainly recommend you should try it out, it's called Mass Effect Happy Ending mod.
That's also put a bit of fire back into me to put more effort into this, therefore I am looking to see if I can make anymore interesting changes to ME2.
One another thing I'd like to say in this, my good friend LegionnaryPrime has asked me to spread word about a little challenge he has. Here's what he said:

I have a challenge that I am also going to post as a fan fic as well for every Mass Effect fan out there. My challenge is that Shepard is an alien instead of a Human. How he/she is an alien instead of Human is up to you as long as it make sense. You can mess with the timeline and fiddle with canon if you want. Ex. First Contact War never happened, Turians made peace and Shepard is a Turian instead of Human. A Female Turian Shepard can be with Garrus.
You can use Fan Fics or Fan Art for this challenge as long as it fits the criteria above and Shepard has a descent background that fits it.
Good luck!
I am attempting at my second attempt for an Asari Shepard for this challenge.
And you can use the canon ending of ME3 or make up your own ending. However you write the games story is up to you as long as it fits the challenge.

There we go. Now, on with the chapter. Given the recent release of the new multiplayer DLC which features the Collectors, I've also come up with another original chapter idea which will be based off of that. The Collector Captains will also be in this chapter, and I've even based a particular fight scene off of one from Red Vs Blue. Once again, liek to thank LegionaryPrime for suggesting that series to me. I t will prove helpful in the future.

Chapter 22
Belly of the Beast
Once again, things had been rather quiet. No Collector attacks, no calls from the Arkane Council, nothing. Austin was beginning to wonder now if they'd ever get another shot at the Collectors. Had they given up? No, impossible. It was just a matter of time.
The Helldiver major was currently looking through the galaxy map randomly trying to think of somewhere the Normandy could stop off and resupply for a while. Before Austin could contemplate further though, Kelly spoke up.
"Major, the Arkane Council wish to speak to you in the debriefing room." she said.
"Good. About time we got a new update on the situation." said the Helldiver as he made his way to the debriefing room.
As usual, the table in the middle of the room slid down into the floor and the familiar holographic grid enveloped him. The Arkane Council once again stood before him.
"Major, it would seem we've had a stroke of luck. We've intercepted a distress call from a Turian patrol. It seems they stumbled on to a Collector ship beyond the Korlus system." said Spartan.
"The Turians unfortunately were wiped out, but not before they crippled the Collector vessel. We need you and your squad to board that ship and get some hard data on the Collectors. Find us a way to get to their home world." said Tarnack.
"If they had a patrol out there, why aren't the Turians sending a recon team in?" Austin asked.
"They already have. But you're close enough that you can be in and out before they learn the truth. They might not take kindly to us investigating first. It's better that we handle this under the radar." Spartan replied.
"Got it. Send us the coordinates, and we'll take care of It." said Austin.
"Already sent. Once you're aboard the ship, establish an uplink with EDI. She'll mine their data for information regarding the Omega 4 relay." said Tarnack.
"Good luck, Major." said Spartan as the holograms vanished and everything returned to normal again.
"Coordinates punched in. Let's go find us a Collector ship." came Joker's voice.

Sure enough, the massive Collector was there, floating in space. There were also the few bits of debris of a few Turian ships. No chance of their being survivors.
"We have a visual on the Collector ship, Major." said Joker.
"Very low emission. Passive infrared temperatures suggest most systems are offline. Thrusters are cold." said EDI as her avatar mimicked a person using their omni tool. She often seemed to use these sorts of gestures to indicate that she was doing something.
"That thing's massive. How the hell did the Turians take it out?" said Joker, mesmerized by the Collector ship's massive size.
"Ladar scans do not detect any hull breaches on the side facing us. I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the drive core is offline." said EDI.
"Rendezvous in 30 seconds, Major. Good luck." said Joker.
Austin gave Joker a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he made for the cargo bay.

Austin felt it best to stick with a fairly small squad for this mission, rather than taking everyone. He ultimately ended up going with Liara, Tali and Griffin. Overall, that had the best outcomes, heavy and explosives, biotics and tech. they'd hopefully be able to handle anything they encountered.
"Can we expect hostiles?" Griffin asked as he strapped several of his explosives onto his belt.
"Most likely. This time though, we have the element of surprise. If we're lucky, we might not even have to fire a single shot." said Austin.
The Hellhound touched down gently and everyone disembarked. Naturally, the Collectors didn't breathe oxygen, so their ships weren't equipped with life support systems. Not that this troubled the team though. Helldiver suits where designed to survive and function in vacuums and Tali's enviro suit also kept her safe from that sort of thing.
"I've never seen a ship design like this before." said Griffin.
"Looks like a giant insect hive." said Tali.
"Penetrating scans have detected an access node to uplink with Collector databanks." came EDI's voice. "Shepard. I have compared the ship's EM signature to known Collector profiles. It is the vessel you encountered on Horizon."
"Hmm, guess the defence towers softened it for the Turians." said Austin.
"That probably means the missing colonists are aboard. If they're still alive." said Liara.
The ship was indeed very haunting as the slowly made their way through. It was very dark as well. So dark in fact they'd resorted to using their flashlight attachments. A few minutes later, they saw some of pods they'd seen on Horizon. One in particular looked as though it had recently been opened.
"These are the same containers the Collectors used on Horizon. Only these are empty." said Griffin.
"Must've been horrible. Completely at the mercy of the Collectors and trapped inside a confined space unable to move." said Liara.
"I can definitely sympathise. I know that experience all too well." said Austin, remembering how he'd been trapped inside his suit for two years while he'd been dead.
"I'm sorry, my love. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories." Liara apologised.
"It's alright. I wasn't even conscious for most of that time." said Austin as he put his arm reassuringly on Liara's shoulder. The Asari's mood brightened a bit.
As they proceed further through the ship, things got all the more creepy. To make matters worse, they were starting to see the faintest signs that there'd been a struggle and they could even see dry patches of blood on the floor. Then they found the source. Lying in front of them was a large pile of dead bodies, some were mostly intact, others where in very bad shape. Some even had their limbs missing.
"Goddess, it can't be." said Liara.
"Why would they just leave a pile of bodies lying around?" Tali asked.
"Test subjects. What else?" Griffin answered.
"There are worse things than death, like being a test subject for these creatures." said Austin, trying to make light of the situation.
"I appreciate you trying to make us all feel better, Austin. But I'm afraid it won't really help." said Liara.
"This galaxy never gets any brighter, does it?" said Griffin.
After several more long minutes, they finally found something different and of interest. There was some sort of terminal on a nearby wall. Next to it was an open pod of some kind which contained a dead Collector.
"A Collector? These things experiment on one of their own?" said Griffin, rather surprised that the Collectors would do that sort of thing.
"EDI, I'm uploading the data from this terminal. See if you can figure out what they were up to." said Austin.
"Data received. Analysing." said EDI. There was short pause while she analysed the data before she spoke again. "The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity."
"Are they looking for similarities?" Austin asked as EDI's avatar appeared out of his omni tool.
"I have no hypothesis on their motivations. All I have are the preliminary results. They reveal something remarkable. A quad-strand genetic structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans." said the AI.
Austin stood back slightly in surprise as EDI said this.
"What?! That can't be true. Send the data to Liara." he said.
EDI did so and Liara analysed the data herself. Within seconds, she shared Austin's shock.
"Goddess! She's right. The Collectors are Protheans." she said.
"My god. So the Protheans didn't vanish. They're just working for the Reapers now." said Austin as he looked at the Collector inside the pod. He could barely begin to imagine what sort of pain and torture it had gone through to end up as it was.
"No. These are no longer Protheans, Austin. Their genes show distinct signs of genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed them, changed them to suit their needs." said Liara.
"You think somebody would've picked up on this." said Austin. He was especially surprised that Liara hadn't known about this. She was an expert on the Protheans after all.
"No one has ever had the opportunity to study a Collector in this much detail. Even I would never have even thought of this. All my knowledge of them, and still I always manage to find something new about them, from you." Liara said, smiling at her bond mate under her helmet as she said the last bit.
"There's a time and a place, you two." said Griffin.
"So the Reapers didn't wipe out the Protheans. They turned them into monsters and enslaved them. Still, they're working for our enemy now. And we have to stop them." said Austin.
"We are not going to suffer the same fate as the Protheans. We'll kill every single one of them before they get the chance!" said Griffin, confidently as he banged his fist into his other palm.
"That's the spirit. Now let's find what we need before more Collectors come to salvage this vessel. Move out." said Austin.
The team made their way further through the ship. As they did, more and more pods began to come into their field of view.
"Holy… more pods." said Griffin.
"There must be hundreds of them. How many do you think are full?" Tali asked.
"Too many." said Austin coldly as he scanned one of them with his helmet's computer.
"Anything?" Liara asked.
"No. There are no signs of life at all. The victims inside must've died when the ship lost power." said Austin regrettably.
Joker then spoke over the radio.
"Major. You gotta hear this. On a hunch, I asked EDI to run an analysis on this ship." he said.
"I compared the EM profile against data recorded by the original Normandy two years again and also with the data recorded by your suit. They are an exact match." said EDI.
Everyone froze when they heard this. The exact same ship?
"The same ship dogging me for two years? This is way beyond coincidence. I've got a bad feeling about this." said Austin.
"Something doesn't add up, Major. Watch your back." said Joker.
The team took it even more slowly and made sure they scanned the hallways properly with their lights. The darkness was the perfect weapon for the Collectors to attack them. A bright light then illuminated the area and they found themselves inside a massive room. It was clearly the inner cylinder of the ship, and it was simply massive. This alone could hose an entire army of Collectors, or hundreds of thousands of innocent colonists.
"Keehlah!" said Tali.
"They could take every human in the Terminus systems alone and they'd still have pods left over." said Griffin, almost speechless at the sight.
"They're going to attack earth!" said Liara.
"Not on my watch!" said Austin.
"There. A control panel. That' should be what we're looking for." said Tali as she indicated to a nearby control panel.
"Strange though. No bodies, Collector or Turian. Careful, Shepard. Something's horribly wrong here." said Griffin suspiciously as he took safety off on his minigun. A voice in his head kept telling the demolition expert that something wasn't right about this.
"EDI? I'm setting up bridge between you and the Collector ship. See if you can get anything useful from the data banks." said Austin as he activated his omni tool and set up the connection.
"Data-mine in progress, Shepard." said EDI.
Joker watched as three holographic screens appeared in front of him. They went through millions of lines of code within seconds. Suddenly, they all stopped and flashed some sort of warning sign, as though a virus had just infected them.
Joker then heard an unwelcome sound. He looked at where EDI's avatar should have been only to find it replaced by the Collector general. It was only present for a moment before it quickly vanished and everything went dark.
"Uh… that can't be good."
The ground seemed to shake slightly as several panels seemed to pop up inside some kind of cylinders on the walls.
"What just happened? Give a status report, now!" Austin said into his comlink.
"Major power surge. Everything went dark, but we're back up now." Joker replied.
"I managed to divert the majority of the overload to non-critical systems. Shepard, it was not a malfunction…"said EDI.
"THIS WAS A TRAP!" Harbinger's voice boomed throughout the ship.
The whole floor then shook again and seemed to start rotating and slowly lifted into the air. The control panel had very cleverly been on the platform, right where they were vulnerable.
"We need a little help here, EDI…" said Austin as he and the other struggled to keep their balance.
"I am having trouble maintaining connection. There's someone else in the system." said EDI.
The platform then stopped spinning abruptly causing everyone to briefly lose their balance and stumble. Liara even fell right over and Austin fell on top of her. Despite the circumstances though, the couple didn't seem to mind.
"Why do you always seem to end up on top?" Liara smiled under her helmet.
"A lower centre of gravity?" Austin smiled as he helped his lover up.
EDI then once again appeared out of the control panel. She knelt down and activated omni tool, as though she was trying to send a message while under enemy fire.
"Connection re-established. I need to finish the download before I can override any systems." she said.
"Then you better get a done fast, EDI. We've got company." said Austin as he noticed two more platforms heading their way; both of them had Collectors on them.
Everyone immediately unholstered their weapons again and went into cover. The two platforms quickly joined onto their one and the Collectors started firing.
"Go get 'em Chiktikka! Good girl!" said Tali as she activated her omni tool and a pink combat drone appeared.
Despite this occupying some of the Collectors, most of them still concentrated on where the team was.
"Well, out of the frying pan and into the fire." Austin sighed.
"Think I could take about 50 of them. How about you?" Griffin asked.
"How about you save your jokes until we get out of this, Griffin?" Austin replied.
"No argument there, sir." Said Griffin.
The demolition expert hoped out of cover and began firing. His gun ripped through several of the Collectors before he had to go back into cover again.
Gunfire was all over the place and pretty soon it turned into a mini war zone. Explosions, shrapnel flying all over the place and plenty of Collector blood stains.
"I'm out! Throw me a mag!" Liara shouted as her Avenger clicked.
"Here! Make it count!" Austin yelled over the loud explosions as he took a magazine clip from his combat belt and threw it to Liara.
The Collectors didn't last long, but another wave quickly replaced the one they had just killed.
"Eighty-four percent." Said EDI.
"EDI! Get us out of here!" Austin yelled.
"I am simultaneously fighting Collector firewalls in over 8,000 nodes. I am tasked to capacity." Said EDI.
"Whatever you say." Liara sighed as she armed her shoulder cannon.
"Watch it! They've brought out the big guns!" said Griffin who also activated his dual shoulder cannons.
The next platform this time had several Collectors and a Scion. At first, that didn't look like a problem. But then one of the Collectors started to glow.
"I will show you true power!"
"Watch it! Harbinger's back!" Austin yelled as the Collector feel back down, now once again covered in orange cracks and with glowing eyes.
"Go for the optics, Chiktikka. Go for the optics!" said Tali.
The little combat drone hovered around the scion who tried to swipe at it, but to no avail. Harbinger threw several dark biotic attacks at the team. Liara blocked some of them with a barrier, but a few did make Austin and Griffin stagger back.
"We could use some heavy artillery here, Griffin! Anything new you wanna try out?!" Austin shouted as he ducked back into cover to avoid the oncoming gunfire.
"I've got something, but it's mad!" Griffin replied.
"Anything's better than this!" said Liara who ducked just in time to avoid one of Harbinger's warp attacks.
"Fire in the hole!" Griffin yelled as he threw a surprisingly large cylinder object at the four Collectors.
The insect humanoids briefly looked at the device puzzlingly as it landed at their feet. It then suddenly opened and seemed to explode with some kind of liquid which sprayed over the floor and even splatted onto the Collectors. One even slipped and fell over.
"You cannot beat us!" Harbinger continued, completely unfazed by the fact the Collector he was possessing was now covered in this substance.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Austin asked, ducking back slightly as a shot impacted on the side of the bit of wall he was taking cover behind.
"Wait a second!" Griffin said. He looked as though he was waiting for something else to happen.
Sure enough, it did. The device then exploded in a rather large fire ball, causing the fluid it had dispersed to ignite. The three normal Collectors seemed to screech in pain as they caught fire and the one that had fallen on the fire desperately tried to put out the flames by rolling. It was panicking so much though that it simply rolled in more of the flames. Harbinger even exploded since he'd been covered in most of the substance.
"Releasing control!"
The Scion meanwhile was still swiping desperately at Tali's combat drone, Chiktikka who was still hovering around the Husk's face and shocking its eyes. The Scion couldn't use its arm cannon since Chiktikka was too close. Plus, the Scion had extremely stiff joints, despite its huge muscular form.
Tali saw an opening and aimed her shotgun. The Scion fell as Tali shot out its knee and it lost its balance. As the Husk tried to get up, it saw Tali standing over it, shot gun aimed right at its head.
"Bosh'tet."
Tali fired and the Scion's face was blown to pieces.
Everyone took a moment to get their breath back. That had been a tough fight
"Everyone alright?" Austin asked.
Everyone gave a silent nod.
"Shepard, you must manually re-establish my link to the command console." said EDI.
Austin nodded to Tali who walked up to the control panel and reactivated the link. EDI's avatar, which had been crouched down on top of the panel this whole time, stood back up and turned to face everyone.
"I have regained control of the platform, Shepard." she said.
"Good work, EDI. I knew you wouldn't let us down." Austin smiled.
"I always work at optimal capacity." EDI seemed to smile back.
"Did we get what we needed?" Liara asked.
The platform they were stood on once again moved. This time though, it was intentional. EDI was in control now.
"I found data that could help us successfully navigate the Omega 4 relay. I have also found the Turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. The Collectors were the source, but it is unusual." said EDI.
"I don't see why. It seems logical to me that the Collectors would've sent the original message as bait." said Griffin.
"Turian emergency channels have secondary encryption. It is present but corrupted in the message." said EDI.
"Are you sure? The Arkane Council would definitely have noticed that if it was. And I refuse to believe that they'd just send us into a trap unknowingly if they did." Austin asked.
"Your beliefs are correct, Shepard. The Arkane Council did not know about the corruption either because it was fixed in the message they received." EDI explained.
"I fear I'm beginning to see where this is going. We're not the only ones that received the message, are we? Someone else intercepted it, and changed the encryption." Said Liara.
"Correct, and I have found out who: The Illusive Man himself." Said EDI.
"That son of a bitch!" said Austin angrily.
"Only a matter of time before Cerberus tried another hit on us, but I never would've expected this. They're not as stupid as we might think." Said Griffin.
"Uh… Major. We've got another problem. The Collector ship is powering up. You need to get out before their weapons come online. I'm not losing another Normandy." Said Joker.
As the pilot spoke, the large tunnel they'd been in earlier started was filled with some sort of wind. Obviously that was first sign of the ship powering back up.
"I do not have full control of their systems. I will do what I can. Sending coordinates for dropship extraction." Said EDI.
"Come on. Let's move!" said Austin.

This time, they didn't bother trying to take it slow. The Collectors knew they were here now, and they were coming for them.
Pretty soon, the team where once again in another large room of the ship. There were more platforms in the way of where they needed to go.
"I am opening a door on the far side of the room." said EDI.
Sure enough, the door on the far side of the room opened.
"Careful, this is a good place for an ambush." Austin advised.
They made their way gently across the platforms. Within seconds however, they was another sudden lurch. This time though, the platform they were on stood still. Instead, the platforms that had been joined to the one they were on detached and started hovering. This was a problem since there was a massive drop between the platform and the door. Not even the Helldivers would be able to jump that far, let alone Tali.
The hovering platforms then started to circle around the main platform, which also started very slowly spinning in the other direction.
"This ain't good." Griffin growled as he readied his mingun.
"Let us see how you deal with these odds, Shepard. Release the Captains!" Harbinger's voice echoed throughout the ship.
Five of the outlining platforms suddenly opened one dispensed a crouched Collector. But these weren't ordinary Collectors, they looked different. Unlike the usual Collectors, these ones had a lighter skin colour, a more muscular build and larger heads with oriented horns on them. These, Captains as Harbinger seemed to call them also had two extra eyes compared to normal Collectors and each one of them had a special weapon on their back.
Two of the Collector Captains had Collector assault rifles, one had a sniper, and another had what looked like a pistol. This particular Captain also appeared to have a very small swarm of seekers flying around it. The final one had the usual Collector particle beam and was being controlled by Harbinger.
The team stood their ground as the Captains all stood up and glared at their targets.
"Made some upgrades have you? Still won't save you." said Griffin as he fired several shot at one of the Captains.
To everyone's utter astonishment though, the Captain leapt high into the air, avoiding Griffin's fire and then landed on their platform. The Captain charged at Griffin and grabbed his mingun. The two opponents started wrestling with one another trying to shake their grip. Austin and the others would've helped him, but the other Captains then opened fire. They took cover inside the inner part of their platform, behind some of walls it had.
Austin took this time to scan one of the Captains. To his surprise, he could clearly see signs of advanced speed implants, reinforce metal on the exo skeletons, harder skin tissue and armour, and even other bits of technology which clearly looked like copies or knock offs of Helldiver technology.
"Helldiver Collector hybrids. They've learned." said Austin. He then turned to the other who kept their heads down to avoid all the constant gun fire and pieces of platform flying all over the place. "Be careful, they've copied some of our tech!" he said.
Liara threw up a few biotic barriers to try and deflect some of the Collector fire. Tali once again activated Chiktikka and fired three shots from her shotgun. Griffin meanwhile eventually managed to kick the Collector Captain he was wrestling with away. As he swung at the Captain with the blade end of his gun however, the Captain suddenly flew over him and back onto one of the rotating platforms. Even these Collectors had wings.
Griffin quickly decided to abandon this fight and headed back to his teammates.
"They seem to have advanced combat training too. Hand to hand included." he said.
"We can still..." Austin said, but he was interrupted by a sudden groan of pain.
Everyone looked to see Tali staggering back and clutching her stomach. The Collectors had shot her.
"TALI!" Austin yelled as he ran over to the Quarian.
"Nnnngh! I'm alright, Austin! But they punctured my suit. Think I took one in the hip," Tali groaned. She did indeed sound alright, just slightly injured as though someone had simply punched or kicked her. She'd live. At worst she'd probably just get a bit ill from this, but not die.
Still, she wasn't in any shape to fight any more. Austin put her net to Griffin while she started applying some medi gel to her wounds and trying to patch her suit back up. Griffin went to return fire, but an order from Austin stopped him.
"Griffin, protect Tali! She can't fight with suit punctured!" he said.
Despite that Griffin preferred to attack rather than defend, he did as he was told and refrained from firing. Just as he was about to go back into cover however, he spotted another Collector Captain aiming at him, this time with a sniper rifle. Griffin went to fire, but wasn't fast enough ant the Collector fired. The shot hit the demolition expert in the chest and he slumped onto the wall. The shot hadn't killed him, he was too tough for that. At worst, the bullet would simply be a flesh wound, Griffin's shields and armour had slowed the bullet down considerably, plus all Helldivers were given special injections which made them stronger, faster, more resistant to pain and more immune to diseases than their normal kind. So although Griffin was down but not out, he was vulnerable.
"Griffin! Sniper!" Austin yelled.
Both he and Liara ducked to avoid the sniper next shot before Liara threw a warp at it. The Captain quickly sped to one side to avoid it and went back behind cover.
Another Captain then suddenly landed right in front of Griffin's currently unconscious body and pointed it's assault rifle at him. Austin was too preoccupied with Harbinger and the others at the moment, so Liara went for it. She ran and jumped over Griffin's body. As she did, she holstered her own rifle and kicked the Collector Captain's one out of its hands. The Captain looked only to then be kicked back by Liara.
The Asari had had over two years to learn a few new things. One of them, was advanced hand to hand. Plus, Xun and Zartrack had taught her a few things as well.
Liara turned back to see if Griffin was alright, but she failed to notice that her kicked hadn't kicked the Collector Captain as far back as she'd hoped. The Captain's left hand seemed to change into some sort of knife and it swung at Liara. The Asari just managed to hear her attacker in time though and she ducked her head under it. She then swung her left leg at the Collector as it missed its target and swung over her. Unfortunately, the Collector did the same and ducked under Liara's leg.
The two opponents exchanged several elbow blocks and swings at one another. At the same time, Griffin had now regained consciousness. He groaned as he tried to get back up. The Collector Captain then deployed it's wings and hovered up slightly very fast. At the same time, it kicked Liara, causing her to stagger back and almost fall of the edge. Just in time though, she regained her balance just as the Captain went to shoot Griffin in the head, pushing him down with its foot in the process. Liara noticed this just in time and did a running kick in the Collector. Unfortunately, they Collector had still been flying and it simply returned the attack with a violent push.
This time, it was enough to send Liara other the edge. Fortunately, the Asari just managed to grip the edge and held on. Unfortunately however, the Collector Captain she'd just been fighting once again aimed for Griffin's head. Just as it was about to pull the trigger however, Austin suddenly appeared from behind and charged the Collector. The insect was sent flying and its head banged into one of the other platforms that was floating around their one. It's neck snapped in the process and it plummeted into the abyss.
Liara then pulled herself up and then jumped at the hovering platform opposite her. Two of the other Collector Captains where waiting for her. The one that was flying fired on her, but she ducked behind cover. Rather shockingly, the other one ripped away a large section of the platform and threw it at Liara. The Asari rolled out of the way and the piece instead hit very close to where Austin and Griffin where. The two Helldiver only just dodged it.
"Whoa! Would you quit throwing shit?!" Austin shouted.
Austin then noticed the Collector Captain sniper again. He wasn't going to make the same mistake this time.
"Griffin, on your nine!" he yelled.
Griffin immediately looked to his left and threw one of his grenades at the platform the sniper was standing on. The platform and exploded and was sent plummeting down to join the dead Collector Captain from earlier. The sniper however had somehow survived and had been sent flying by the explosion. It quickly regained control of its flight using its wings, but this short lived right before it flew straight into Griffin's left gauntlet. The massive fist hit the Collector so hard, he snapped the Captain's spine. The sniper fell into the blackness to join its comrade and the destroyed platform.
Two down, three to go. Liara was now in a fist fight with other two captains and Harbinger had now hooped onto their platform brandishing what looked like some sort of organic blade in place of his right arm.
"You will know pain, Shepard." Said the Reaper as he raised the blade challengingly.
Austin didn't even hesitate as he drew Excalibur from his back. Griffin immediately knew that Austin had this one. He turned his attention to the platform Liara and the other two captains where on. He readied himself to jump once it had got close enough.
"Watch it... Watch it..." said Austin cautiously.
Griffin leapt onto to the platform, lunging at the other Collector Captain at the same time. The Collector unfortunately noticed this and flew out of the way just in time. Griffin still landed on the platform however, rolling back onto his feet as he did, and he immediately charged at his opponent. He gave a somewhat intimidating growl as he charged.
The Collector Captain brought it's fist up, stopping Griffin before he could punch back. In two swift moves, it then elbowed him in the stomach and then delivered a swift kick to his helmet. The demolition expert staggered back and soon ended up back to back with Liara.
Despite that the odds where now even, Griffin still felt as though they weren't quite right. The Collector Captain he was facing seemed somewhat more agile, while the one Liara was facing had a slightly heavier build. This quickly made Griffin remember a chess move that Helldivers could sometimes put to good use in situations like these. Castling!
"Switch!"
"Got it!"
Both Helldiver immediately switched positions and where now battling the other opponent. Sure enough, Liara was able to keep up with the fast high kicking and sweeps of her Collector Captain while Griffin was quickly putting his boxing exercises to good use with his Collector Captain. He didn't have all those muscles and his massive build for nothing.
Both Austin and Harbinger charged at one another, sword's raised. Austin ducked under Harbinger's first swing before the Collector whirled around and swung at him again. This time though, the Helldiver blocked it. It was odd actually, Austin wouldn't have figured he'd be fencing with a Collector, let alone a Collector being controlled by a Reaper.
Still, he hadn't used Excalibur in a while, he was at least glad to someone duelling with him.
"Liara, catch!" Griffin yelled as he tossed his mingun to Liara who caught it and immediately used it to counter or block several shots from her Collector Captain's pistol. She then whirled around another shot and then used the blade end to stab the Captain in the abdomen. As the Collector struggled to push the blade out however, it threw it's pistol to the other Captain that Griffin was fighting.
The Collector caught it and delivered several fast punches to Griffin, knocking him back. Griffin simply growled at this and swung his gauntleted left hand at his opponent. The Collector Captain blocked the Helldiver's attack with its palm. The Collector's other hand, which had the pistol in it, then thrust into Griffin's chin and fired. The bullet didn't go through due to Griffin's shields and hardened armour, but it still disoriented him.
The Collector Captain used this opening and threw Griffin to the ground. It pinned the demolition expert to the ground as he tried to get up and then fired several more shots, this time at Griffin's neck. The demolition expert seemed to stop trying to resist.
"No!" Liara yelled as she charged the captain and knocked it back. Taking the advantage while the Collector was down, Liara swung the blade end of Griffin's minigun at it. Just in time though, the Collector Captain rolled to the side as the blade became imbedded in the ground instead. The Collector captain delivered a swift kick to Liara's stomach and she staggered back.
As the Captain went to attack the Asari though, Liara was faster and attacked first. She punched and then kicked the Collector before it eventually managed to seize and opening and swung at her. Once again though, Liara backed away and the swing missed.
Liara then did something that she hadn't yet tried before. She activated her biotics and used them to speed herself up. She had been taught this by Alaara but hadn't tied it out herself, let alone in combat. But she didn't have much choice. These Collector Captains could compete with them on nearly every level.
Liara punched the Collector Captain several times with such speed that she became a blur. All the while, the Collector that Liara was fighting failed to notice Griffin slowly getting back up. Once again, despite being shot several times, he wasn't dead. In fact the bullets hadn't even impacted into his skin. His shields and armour had deflected them and Liara had managed to intervene just before his shields gave out.
The Demolition expert picked up his mingun and loaded a new set of round into it. These Collector Captain's where about to find out what happened when he got pissed off. Right as he pulled the trigger though, a small shot to his shoulder from a Collector Captain. The charge shot from his mingun hit the platform instead of the Collectors. The explosion sent both him and Liara flying back onto the platform that Austin and Harbinger where currently duelling on while the platform they'd just been on was half destroyed and was sent plummeting, taking the two Collector Captain's with it. Liara and Griffin slowly sat up as they watched the platform disappear into the abyss. It was only then however that they became aware of the sword fight still going on behind them. Liara wanted to help her bond mate, but at the same time she didn't want to get in the way.
Austin and Harbinger clashed blades back and forth across the platform. Austin was starting to regret that he'd been enjoying the prospect of sword fighting again. Harbinger was not what could be called a worthy opponent. He never seemed to tire and he also seemed to try and punch Austin more than trying to strike at him. Austin reckoned he'd have a dent in his helmet at this rate.
Eventually, the Helldiver decided he'd had enough of this. Harbinger managed to get another punch at him, but that was the last time. Austin ducked under another one of Harbinger's swings and then he performed a mover very similar to how he'd killed the Terror Geth 3 years ago.
His left arm and hand became completely armoured and he now had what Helldivers often called "Fist of steel." He immediately thrust forward and smashed Harbinger's face in.
The Collector staggered, blinded slightly at having lost nearly one side of its face. The Captain swung frantically at Austin before attempting a blind lunge at him. The Helldiver however simply blocked it, his sword ending up in the gap between Harbinger's pincer like sword arm. Austin didn't waste this opportunity while he had Harbinger's arm locked like this. He activated his left omni tool.
Harbinger only regained his sights for a moment before Austin brought the orange blade down and severed his blade arm completely.
"Kill one, and a thousand more shall replace it!" said the Collector just as Austin plunged the blade into Harbinger's face hard and then severed his neck with Excalibur. The decapitated body fell to floor, completely lifeless.
"Griffin, are you alright?" Austin asked urgently as he saw Griffin struggling to get up without wincing in pain from some of his wounds. He didn't look too bad, but there was some sign s of blood.
Don't worry, Shepard. You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'll be fine. Just need a bit of medical care."
"Then we'd better get back to the ship. Tali's not to good herself." Said Liara.
Austin helped the Quarian up and they made for the door. Just before they could head through though, it closed.
"EDI? We've got a problem here." said Austin. He banged on the door several times, but it wouldn't open.
"A temporary setback on Firewall 3217. Rerouting commands through Firewall 7164." said EDI.
"Just get another door open!" Griffin ordered.
"I have successfully opened a door on the opposite wall. I will keep it open as long as I can." said EDI.
Sure enough, a door on the far side of the room opened. The team didn't even hesitate to head through it.
"Down there. That's where we came in." said Tali as she saw the room where they'd seen the Collector body earlier and where they'd learned the Collector's origins.
"Better to go the short way. Jump!" said Austin. He then turned to Tali. She wouldn't be able to do a jump that high, especially in the state she was currently in. "Sorry about this, Tali."
Austin scooped Tali up in his arms and jumped. Liara quickly followed. The landings where hard, but left no damage. Helldiver armour was designed for this sort of thing anyway.
Griffin quickly followed and jumped. As he landed however, he fell to his knees clutching his bullet wound in pain. Liara quickly ran to help him up.
"I'm alright. Just stings." Griffin groaned.
"Uh, Major? Hate to rush you, but those weapons are about to come online. Might wanna double-time it. You know, so we can leave before the blow the Normandy in half."Austin heard Joker say.
The Major quickly put Tali back down on her feet and they continued their journey back to the Hellhound.
"We're out of time, Major! We have to go." Said Joker.
"You heard the man – into the Hellhound! Move!" Austin yelled, providing cover fire as the other got into the dropship.
"Strap in people – gonna make them work for it this time."
The dropship locked into place in the hanger. Liara rushed Tali and Griffin to the med bay while Austin ran back up to the bridge. He could already see the beam of the Collector Ship's main cannon as the Normandy spun and dodged to avoid it. Joker really had his work cut out for him.
"We can't dodge this guy forever, EDI. Get us the hell out of here!" said the pilot.
"Specify a destination, Mr Moreau." Said EDI.
"Anywhere that's not here!" Joker yelled as the ship gave violent lurch.
"Very well. Engaging mass effect core." Said EDI.
The ship immediately accelerated to mass relay speeds and they soon lost sight of Collector Ship behind them. They were in the clear.

"Call coming in from the Arkane Council, Major. Figure they're just as pissed at the Illusive Man as you are." said Joker.
Austin once again walked into the comm room and the council appeared before him. They didn't look happy.
"Major, we heard about what happened. It would never have occurred to us that someone had fixed the encryption. We've notified the Turians that the message is fake. They should stay clear. We can only tell you that we're sorry the lives of your squad where risked." said Spartan.
"It's not your fault, councillors. It's Cerberus you should be angry with." Austin replied.
"It would seem that they're not going to leave you alone. We'll have to do something about that." said one of the Arkanes.
"We'll put a plan into motion to try and keep Cerberus occupied. This'll remain secret though. We're not taking any chances unless Cerberus has spies in our ranks." said Tarnack.
"Good. And I know now to be a lot more careful. With the Collectors and with Cerberus." said Austin.
"Maybe, but things are about to get a lot tougher. EDI confirmed our suspicions. Both the Reapers and the Collector ships use an advanced identify Friend/Foe system that the relays recognize." Tarnack replied.
"All we need to do is get our hands on one of those IFFs." said Spartan.
"If only I'd been told that sooner. I was just on the Collector Ship." Austin sighed.
"As we said though, Major. EDI just confirmed it. Besides, even with your squad's skill, you wouldn't have had enough time to extract it. But not to worry, there are other options." said another Arkane.
"I'm listening."
"An Alliance science team recently determined that the "Great Rift" on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon." Spartan explained.
"A very old mass accelerator at that. Cerberus unfortunately acted before we did and they sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. Our spies tell us they found both." said Tarnack.
"The weapon was defunct, but it helped Cerberus and us plot the flight path of the intended target – a 37 million year old derelict Reaper. Cerberus found it damaged and trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf." said Spartan.
"I saw first-hand what Sovereign did to the Citadel fleet. Hard to imagine anything could stop something that powerful." said Austin.
"This vessel is a relic from a battle wagged while mammals took their first steps on Earth. There's no trace of the species that took the shot. Perhaps it was their one moment of defiance before they were wiped out." said an unknown councillor.
"I take it there's a catch though? Even a dead Reaper can still cause trouble." Austin asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. Cerberus lost contact with their team shortly after they boarded and we lost contact with our spy a few days later. His last entry only mentioned something about Indoctrination. I fear we will have to accept the worse. It's a shame; he was one of our best." said Tarnack regrettably.
"If the Reaper's IFF can help Shepard stop the Collectors, his sacrifice will not have been in vain." said another councillor.
"Have Cerberus done anything about their missing Science team?" Austin asked.
"They sent an initial reconnaissance, but it revealed no clues. They committed more resources either; they say it's too risky. Though to be fair, the same goes for us. But this time, we need that IFF. This may be the only chance we have left." Spartan replied.
"I agree. Though if it's this dangerous, I'd feel it best to wait until we're ready. Some of the crew are still distracted, not focused on the mission." said Austin.
"Do what you have to do, Shepard. Just keep this mind. We'll forward the coordinates to Mr Moreau for when the time is right. Good luck, Shepard. And don't worry, from now on, we'll deal with Cerberus." said Tarnack.
"Also, in the meantime, we'd recommend you still keep an eye on Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson. They may be on our side now, but we still don't trust them completely." said Spartan.
"Nor do I, Councillors. Nor do I." said Austin as the call ended.

"So the Illusive man tried to sell us out. Was wondering when he would." said Jacob.
Austin had gathered him, Miranda, Mordin, Dell, Sill and Alaara in the comm room. Jacob's reaction to the Illusive Man trying to get them killed had been better than Austin had thought. Miranda hadn't really said anything on the subject. Austin did have to admit that her attitude had improved a bit recently. Perhaps now she was starting to see that Cerberus wasn't what she had thought it was and that the Helldiver's weren't the enemy.
"Lied to you. Used you. Unacceptable." said Mordin, agreeing with Jacob's statement.
"What do you expect? Are far as he's concerned, Jacob and I are the enemy now." said Miranda.
"He should be looking at the bigger picture. He says Cerberus looks out for humanity, yet he tries to stop us from helping. Just shows that he's wrong." said Alaara.
"Exactly. And if he tries to put my squad or any of this team in harm's way again, losing two of his best operatives will be the second worst thing that happens to him in his life!" said Austin. He then turned back to EDI's avatar that was currently stood on the table. "EDI, are you sure this IFF is going to work?" he asked.
"My analysis is correct, Shepard. I have also determined the approximate location of the Collector home world based on navigational data from their vessel." said EDI.
A huge map of the galaxy then appeared in front of her and it zoomed in on the centre. EDI's avatar pointed right at the galactic core. Everyone fell into a surprised and somewhat confused silence.
"That can't be right." said Miranda.
"EDI's never wrong, Lawson. You should know, you built her. The Collector home world is somewhere inside the galactic core." said Austin.
"But it can't be. The core is just black holes and exploding suns. There are no habitable planets there." said Jacob.
"Could be an artificial construction. Space station protected by powerful mass effect fields and radiation shields." Mordin suggested.
"Is that even possible?" asked Sill.
"Even the Collectors don't have that kind of technology." said Miranda as she shook her head. Austin on the other hand knew better.
"Sovereign did. And besides, you're forgetting that the Collectors are just servants of our real enemy. We've all seen what the Reapers are capable of. They built the mass relays, the Citadel, the Keepers and have wiped out countless other races before us. Who's to say that they can't build a space station surrounded by black holes?" he said.
"Well, just about every law of physics would say that." said Dell.
Everyone looked at the Arkane engineer for a moment. Dell quickly finished his sentence as they did. "But since when do the Reapers play by the rules?"
"It certainly now makes sense why no one's ever returned from a trip through the Omega 4 mass relay." said Alaara.
"Miss T'onrak is correct. The logical conclusion is that a small safe zone exists on the far side of the relay. A region where ships can survive. Standard relay transit protocols would not allow safe transport. Drift of several thousand kilometres is common, and would be fatal in the galactic core. The Reaper IFF must trigger the relay to us more advanced, encrypted protocols." said EDI.
"So what's the plan, Major? We going to get that IFF?" Alaara asked.
"Not yet. Just because we can follow the Collectors through the Relay doesn't mean we can take them out. I don't want to go after them until I know we're ready." said Austin.
"Sooner or later we need that IFF. I say, why wait?" said Jacob.
"Your opinion is noted, Taylor. But you're not the one in charge here, Shepard is." said Alaara defensively.
"For once, Alaara, we agree. It's a derelict Reaper. Suppose the Collectors are waiting for us? We may want to still keep building up this team before we take that kind of risk." said Miranda.
"I didn't think you cared about that." said Alaara, rather surprised by Miranda saying something like that.
"Don't presume to know me all the time, T'onrak. I may not act it, but I want the Collectors stopped as much as you." said Miranda.
Alaara didn't say anything, but simply gave Miranda and acknowledging nod.
"That's why you're all here. We all need to be strong and focused for this mission. Besides, Tali and Griffin need some time to recover from their injuries." said Austin.
"It's your decision, Major. Whatever you decide we're with you." said Jacob as he saluted.
"Everyone get some rest. We could all use some. Dismissed."

"You had me so worried when you were trapped on the Collector ship. Thank goodness for EDI." said Kelly.
"That sounds like more than just professional concern, Kelly." said Austin. He hoped this wasn't going to start ending up like that dream he'd had.
"You're more than just my commanding officer, you're my friend. EDI brought you back to us. If she had a body, I'd give her a big hug." Kelly smiled.
Austin relaxed. There was nothing wrong with Kelly being a friend. Plus, as Austin recalled, Kelly seemed to be spending a lot of time talking with Jack. It did certainly give him the feeling that something was going on between the two.
"Fair to say that so would I. We might not have made it out alive without her." he said.
"The Arkane Council made sure EDI was installed for this mission. Now I see why." said Kelly. "Anyway, is there anything you need?"
"Anything I need to know? I imagine some of the crew might be on edge after all this." Austin asked.
"At the moment, the crew seems fine. You do however have a new message at your private terminal. It arrived from a Helldiver scouting team while you were on the Collector ship." Kelly replied.
"Thanks, Kelly. Can I quickly ask you something personal though?" Austin replied.
"About you or me?" Kelly asked.
"You. I've recently noticed you've been spending quite a lot of your free time with Jack. Is there anything going on there?" Austin asked. He did his best to ask politely. He wasn't intruding, he was just curious.
"I... I'll admit I care about her. She's been through so much in her life. Despite her attitude sometimes, she'd confided in me a lot. I don't know if she feels the same way about me, but we are at least friends." said Kelly.
"I see. Well, thank you for telling me. I do hope that there is something going on between you two. Personally, I think Jack needs someone, considering all that she's been through. Someone like you." said Austin.
"Thank you, Shepard. It means a lot to me to hear you say that." Kelly smiled. "If you'll excuse me, I should get back to work. But thank you for the talk. It's always nice chatting with you."
"You too, Kelly." Austin smiled as the Yeoman went back to work.
The Major then went to his private terminal and accessed the message that Kelly had told him about. Turned out he had more than one. Mostly, they were just a few bits of junk mail that had somehow ended up here. Austin simply deleted them. He then found what he was looking for. Surprisingly, it was a message from Arnold. It said:
Shepard
Xun told me how I'd be able to get in touch with you. I hope things are well with you and that your mission is progressing well too.
I can only say thank you again for saving me and my squad on Omega. The Arkanes have now got us doing scouting mission most of the time. Some of Omega squad want to see some action again, but they don't complain.
Recently we found something I thought you might be interested in. The Arkane Council also felt you should have a look.
We recently found some Intel on a Cerberus base that said that the MSV Rosalie, a survey ship with Cerberus connections, has gone missing. The survey team was field-testing a new prototype: the Hammerhead planet-side exploration rover. In addition, scientists Dr Manuel Cayce and Dr Robert O'Loy where aboard the MSV Rosalie and where conducting research for them.
There was even a very small bit of data that made reference that they'd found some Prothean ruins. Given that you have Liara with you, and that you've now discovered the Collectors where once Protheans, I felt this might be of some help to you. I don't know how exactly, but I'm sure you'll find some use.
Good luck out there, old friend.
Give the Collectors hell for us!
Captain Arnold Winchester, Omega Squad.
Austin finished reading and gave a small smile.
"Good old Arnold." he thought to himself.

Was going to have two crew conversations in this as well, but I've decided to move them to the next chapter, which as you probably know be now will be the Firewalker DLC. At the moment, I only plan on including the fist and last missions of that DLC. The other missions don't seem that important, and I like to try and not include too many side missions unless they're important later on int he story or in ME3.
Until next time...
Don't forget to keep leaving those comments.
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Collector War