Chapter One Hundred And Thirty-Six

Horizon Colony. Lera System.

No sooner had I gotten off the shuttle than I ran into Shepard's team. The Spectre had decided to send in her team despite my people having this all well in hand. That had been bold of her since her shuttle could have been shot down if it hadn't been recognised as friendly.

"Alliance!" someone shouted "What good were you, huh?".

Oh great it was that anti-alliance guy. The kind of person who'll blame everyone but himself for things that went wrong.

"We're not Alliance," Shepard replied

There were no Alliance people around here as far as I could tell.

"You still took your damn sweet time to save us!" shouted the man.

I wondered if I could have him taken away and turned into a servitor without anyone noticing?

"There was nothing we could do," replied Shepard.

He was deaf to reason.

"Half the colony's in there!" shouted the man frantically. "They took Lilith, Ed, and Simon!"

I had to correct the man.

"Oh hardly" I said "The Collector vessel was scared off by my bombers and disabled before it could flee the system. I have people moving to secure it right now. There's a good chance that your friends are either still here somewhere or will be recovered".

The N7 commando confirmed that over her comm system. I heard EDI, who sounded human, report that the Collector vessel was indeed disabled. The plan had worked well, once the first of the fighters and bombers had struck the Collect ship it had decided to run with what human plunder it had onboard, abandoning hundreds of Collectors on the ground.

Then as planned further wings of bombers and fighters, which the Collectors hadn't been prepared for since they had not seen that I had such craft the first time I'd run into that at Freedom's Progress went in for the kill as the Collector ship made orbit. Before it could use its advanced Mass Effect drive could bring it to safety.

I'd not been surprised to learn that the Deathwatch marines were already on their way up into orbit so as to help secure the Collector ship that my people were already starting to secure.

"Is there any chance of my people getting a look inside that ship?" requested Shepard.

I should point her in the direction of the IFF, and let events from the game progress as much as possible.

"Sure" I said "If you're going after their base of operations you'll want to find out how they safely use the Omega Four relay. Anyone who tries is never heard from again so they might have some code or other means of securing safe passage".

That should be enough of a hint and once Shepard had a team of badass people she'd go after the Collectors on their home turf.

"Shepard now would be a good time to gather some samples," Garrus said.

They'd need some material evidence to convince the Council to support the mission since very soon Cerberus would start to fall apart. I had no doubt that Black Widow was preparing to cut the head of the serpent while exposing as many Cerberus cells as possible.

"Wait, Shepard...?" asked the colonist. "I've heard that name. You're some kind of big shot Alliance hero".

Indeed she was.

"Commander Shepard" said a voice.

And right on cue Ashley Williams appeared.

"Captain of the Normandy, the first human Spectre, saviour of the Citadel. You're in the presence of a legend, Delan, and a ghost" she said.

The colonist crossed his arms over his chest.

"Figures," he says bitterly "All the good people get taken away, and you're left behind. Screw this. I'm done with you Alliance types".

As the colonist walked away, never knowing how close he came to becoming a cyborg slave, Ashely stepped forward, then she and Shepard locked eyes for a few moments. The two of them stood directly in front of each other, not saying a word. The silence went on for about a minute, and then the two of them pulled each other into a hug, which they ended before long.

"I thought you were dead" the Alliance marine was now saying "We all did"

She had been dead as I understood it.

"It's been too long, Ash" Shepard was now saying "And I was clinically dead. It took Cerberus two years to bring me back".

At the mention of Cerberus, Ashley took a step back.

"We've been getting reports about you and Cerberus" Ash told Shepard "Alliance intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies. We got a tip that this colony might be the next one to get hit. Anderson sent me a message letting me know you were alive, but then I heard that you were working for the enemy".

"Cerberus and I want the same thing," Shepard said next "To save our colonies. It doesn't mean I joined them, I'm just using their resources".

Ash suddenly became hostile.

"Do you really believe that?" she asked "Or is that just what Cerberus wants you to think?".

At least Cerberus was actually doing something about the colonies going dark.

"I wanted to believe you were back" Ashley said, while taking another step back "And Garrus. You joined her!".

Wow she'd gone from hot to cold really fast must be a byproduct of the stress or today or possibly something to do with her time of month not that I would say that out loud.

"You betrayed everything you believed in" Ash said to Shepard "You betrayed everything you fought for. You've betrayed me".

"Ash you know me," Shepard reasoned "I wouldn't be doing this unless I had a damn good reason".

The N7 commando then gestured to the colony.

"You saw it yourself. The Collectors are taking entire human colonies, and they're working with the Reapers" Shepard said.

Ash's expression remained cold.

"I want to believe you Shepard," she replied. "I really do. But I don't trust Cerberus. They could be using the threat of the Reapers to manipulate you. What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collectors?".

Shepard reached out for her old crew mate.

"You're letting Cerberus's history get in the way of the facts" the commander argued.

When playing the game it was always surprising to me that Garrus' presence here didn't immediately tip Kaidan or Ashely off that Shepard wasn't really with the terrorists. Cerberus had a reputation as xenophobic group. So if Garrus was there, then why the hell didn't that tell Kaidan or Ashely that maybe he/she should have listened to Shepard? Then I remembered that Ash was a bit racist despite having worked with aliens, so perhaps in this case it made some sense.

"Maybe," said the Alliance marine. "Or maybe you feel you owe Cerberus because they saved you".

Ash backed away some more.

"I know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier, not a Cerberus lackey" she said, while turning her back on us "I'm going back to the Citadel. I'll let them decide whether or not to believe your story".

Shepard, perhaps needing a distraction right now, used her comm device to contact the ship.

"EDI, I want as many people as we can spare to come down here and start collecting evidence. Their priorities are clues about the Collectors and giving aid to the colonists that are still here. See what you can do for them and let's hope the stasis fields wear off in time"

Looking around I saw that Ashley was still here. No doubt conflicted about simply leaving.

"Ash, come with me," Shepard requested. "We can present our evidence to the Council and the Alliance together. If we mobilise the fleets, get moving on this while there's still time, maybe we can stop this from happening again".

Assuming that the Collectors even had more than one ship I'd never been clear on that when playing ME2.

"So what, you come back from the dead with no explanation aside from some pretty-disturbing rumours and you just expect me to drop everything to follow the great Commander Shepard and her gang of terrorists across the galaxy?".

Shepard was not happy about being called that.

"Damn it, Ash" she said "Fine, whatever I don't have time for this".

Shepard then got back on the radio as more people from my ship came down. We had medical staff ready to patch up anyone who'd gotten hurt.

"Well that was dramatic, '' I said as Willams wandered off.

I left the N7 commando to go pick up some alien tech for her superiors who would try to deny that any of it existed while I sought out someone who was in charge around here. I wanted to strike while the threat was still fresh in everyone's mind so that the colony's leaders would be more willing to set up a garrison here or two here and by laser weapons.

"Hello I'm Samantha Traynor" said a woman who came over to me "I know you must be busy, but I have so many questions about the Imperials we've been hearing about".

I knew her to be an Alliance tech type and considered luring her on to my ship so that I could add her to my collection of females, but she played for the other team and I didn't know if I'd be able to change that. Then I realised that Shepard looked rather down in the dumps, maybe if I introduced them they'd get along.

"Why not" I replied "But first let me introduce you to Commander Shepard the savoiur of the Citadel".

That fan girl sound that came from the woman's mouth was impressive in volume.