Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.
If you like how Shepard is a total genius badass, you should check Arrival : Ruptures to enjoy more of the same.
—
Normandy
"Shepard, there is a problem." The Illusive Man was smoking as always when he called Shepard to report a situation.
Shepard crossed his arms, annoyed. "Did your scientist screw up again?"
"It's not us; it's the Omega. The station is face-to-face with this." TIM ignored Shepard spewing facts and pressed some buttons, and the image of a ship, a dreadnought, similar in build to the Collector cruiser but one and a half times larger, and a fleet of Oculi surrounding it.
"Damn, that's big." It was comparable in size to Destiny Ascension, and with the modifications it underwent, Shepard wagered the Collector dreadnought was the stronger in an all-out fight.
"Yes, but that's not all. The Collectors demanded that Aria T'loak hand over all the humans in Omega, but she is resisting it, and a confrontation seems inevitable." The Collectors must be getting desperate to take such a blunt and direct action, and the Illusive Man knew they were feeling the pressure.
"She is too prideful to bow down to anyone's demands." The asari had somehow managed to use the Asari Republics to stop humanity from attacking Omega; the Collectors, even with their advanced technology, would not scare her.
TIM took another drag from his cigarette. "Correct, in fact, Aria was the one who contacted us to ask for you."
"Any intel on the ship?" A dreadnought was far more than just a bigger cruiser, and any intel on it would be useful.
"With you linking the Collectors to the Protheans, it is obvious that the ship was of Prothean origin; as such, we can expect to face the most dangerous technologies of the Collectors yet. I relayed what Aria managed to gather to EDI." Which wasn't much, but Jack was sure Shepard would pull through, as he always did.
"The Alliance and the Citadel have already collected a trove of valuable information from the cruiser. If you can request what they have, we might learn more about the Collector homeworld and what lies beyond the Omega 4 relay. If not, this dreadnought might be your only remaining chance."
—
Shepard gathered his team in the situation room, and EDI projected the dreadnought after everyone was seated.
"Listen up, people. The Collectors are stepping up their game. A dreadnought the size of Destiny Ascension, along with a small fleet of Oculi, is threatening Aria T'loak to surrender the humans in Omega. She is stalling for time, and we are heading there right now to take over the dreadnought." He informed the team of the situation, and there were murmurs, though none in refusal.
"Any intel on how many Collectors on board?" Garrus asked. A turian dreadnought would have around a thousand crew members on board in wartime, and the Destiny Ascension had a crew complement of ten thousand. The Collector cruiser was mostly automated, so it had a relatively small crew size, but a dreadnought of this size was bound to have a sizable enemy presence.
"None, we are going in blind, but expect heavy resistance. There will be a two-pronged attack. Samara, Jacob, Thane, and Zaeed are with me. Garrus, you'll take Tali, Miranda, Grunt, Jack, Mordin, and Kasumi."
"Where are we landing?" Samara knew this battle would be a difficult one, but fighting it with comrades would be sure to result in victory.
"Going by the cruiser's schematics, we will use two low-yield torpedoes to create breachheads on port and starboard to divide enemy presence into two." Red dots glowed on the indicated breach locations. "I have already prepared a small arsenal of laser weaponry, and everyone will be armed."
"Any questions?" Shepard asked, ready to dismiss the crew for preparations.
"When do we reach Omega?" Grunt grinned, thirsty for battle.
—
Omega
Afterlife
"Are you sure Shepard is coming?" Bray wouldn't usually question his boss, but the Collectors were getting awfully close to attacking Omega.
"The Collectors are here, and humans are in danger. Of course he is coming; now shut up." She already had a problem with those damn drones buzzing around her station; she didn't need anyone's questions.
"Aria, there is movement near the ship. Two explosions, port and starboard." The salarian technician called out, and Aria leaped out of her chair, leaning over to look at the screens.
"There he is. Start firing on those drones; we can't let Shepard have all the fun." The bugs came to her station, making demands of her, and Aria T'loak would be damned if she let it slide.
—
Aboard the Collector Dreadnought
"Team Alpha on board, heavy enemy presence confirmed. Scions are more present in addition to an increased number of Collector Assassins. No other enemy type sighted, but be on your guard." Shepard reported as his team laid fire on the Collectors.
"Understood. We'll be inside in two minutes. Will let you know then." Garrus, as the leader of the second team, informed him through comms.
"Zaeed, Samara, focus on the Scions. Thane, you have the Assassins. Jacob, cover me." He ordered,
"Understood."
Shepard leaped out of the cover, a biotic blur through the hangar bay, each massive biotic attack carving a path through the Abominations and the lighter Collector units. Zaeed and Samara were working in tandem, with the human mercenary using his laser rifle to punch through the tough armor of the Scions, while Samara's magnetically guided laser bolts took out the ones in cover.
Thane, who had quickly proven that it was a good idea to give the drell a ricocheting sniper rifle, was taking out more than one Collector Assassin in each shot.
Jacob was enjoying the battle, raining down explosive bolts with his three-barrel minigun.
"Team Beta on board. There is a Praetorian here. Grunt, use that new rocket launcher." The krogan bellowed a laugh before something exploded.
"It's gone now. No additional heavy units. Proceeding towards the bridge. No swarms yet." Garrus informed him. Shepard, as the primary target of the Collectors, would draw the larger enemy presence, which would give Garrus and his team the opportunity to connect EDI to the ship's systems.
"Understood, keep radio contact."
His omni-blade pierced the head of an Abomination, and Shepard ordered his team. "Move, move, move."
Leaving the hangar bay, they found that the corridors were filled with more Collectors but with less cover.
"Deploying the reflector." Shepard removed the new device generator secured to his back and pushed it forward. A barrier of dark energy popped out, working by reflecting attacks rather than blocking them, whether mass accelerator fire, particle beam, or the Scion cannons.
A reflector could offer far more protection than any biotic barrier, as reflecting the enemy fire took less power than outright blocking them. As it offered no protection against energy weapons, Shepard and his team were free to fire.
"Assuming direct control." One of the Collectors glowed and began to attack with Harbinger's signature biotics.
"Watch out, Harbinger is here." Shepard informed both his and Garrus' teams. He knew the Reaper would show itself eventually.
Garrus found it amusing. "It just can't stay away from you, can it?"
"What can I say? Some of my fans tend to be the clingy type." Not that any had ever attacked him like this.
"Shepard, this transgression will not go unpunished." Harbinger called out, its guided biotics no match for Shepard's speed and agility.
"How about I shove my boot up your ass and you repeat that?" Shepard asked and launched his own biotics, blowing the possessed Collector's lower half to dust.
"You achieved nothing. We will be back." Harbinger spoke before the drone turned to ash.
"Pest." Grunt spoke over the comms, listening to the whole exchange.
Shepard chuckled and pointed to the left, where Collector Drones surged into the room. "Jacob, on the left. Keep those drones away."
"Got it."
—
With Team Beta
"Grenades out." Garrus ordered, and three laser grid grenades fell amid the enemy position, carving through dozens of Abominations and drones.
He looked through the scope, picking out the most troublesome enemies as his team led a legendary battle against an enemy that severely outnumbered them. Garrus loved this, though not as much as Grunt, who was laughing to his heart's content.
The turian was sure it would demoralize the enemy if the puppets before them were capable of feelings.
"Tali, how is the uplink going?" It was a small competition between Garrus and Shepard to see who would be faster in their tasks, and he didn't want to lose.
"This ship's cyber security is far more advanced than the cruiser's. It is taking time, but we are making progress." The quarian wasn't happy about working with an AI of all things, but she wasn't complaining.
No VI that she knew of had the capability to infiltrate the dreadnought's systems.
The quarian had to duck as the enemy concentrated fire on her position, and Garrus switched his rifle to the beam mode, cutting down the enemy forces en masse. "Jack, Kasumi, and Mordin, keep the pressure on the right side. Don't give them a shot at Tali."
"Yeah, yeah." The volatile human biotic grunted, and a biotic singularity pulled the unprotected enemy forces out of cover.
Garrus went back into cover, changing the power pack, and contacted Team Alpha. "Shepard, we linked EDI to the dreadnought, but it's taking time. There might be a slight delay."
"Don't worry, we are busy too. Harbinger just figured out how to possess a Praetorian. The blasted thing is taking its sweet time dying."
"Grunt's going to be disappointed it wasn't us."
Shepard just chuckled.
—
Team Alpha
"Alright, that's it." Shepard was annoyed at the new form of Harbinger. It fired a continuous barrage of dark energy blasts, and Shepard had to shut down the reflector field due to the anomalous effects caused by the unknown form of dark energy. It wouldn't do to have the reflector destroyed here.
"Keep them off my back for a second." He ordered. Shepard didn't have the time to prepare heavy ordnance except for the rocket launcher he gave Grunt and would have to do this by hand.
Biotic energy gathered and condensed in Shepard's hand, causing him and the surrounding small debris to float, with bigger pieces rising each second.
"Surrender yourself, Shepard. You cannot stop us." Even as it attacked, Harbinger did not stop taunting the team, no matter how ineffective it was.
"Stop this, you little bitch." Shepard launched the biotic supernova straight at Harbinger. The walls of the corridor buckled in, and the enemies between Shepard and Harbinger were obliterated.
The possessed Praetorian's thick armor and new barrier offered resistance for a second before giving way to the superior force of the biotic attack.
—
Team Beta
The ship shook ever so slightly, and the lights kept flickering for a couple of seconds before stabilizing.
"Shepard, try not to destroy the ship. You wanted to take it in one piece, remember?" Garrus chuckled over the comms. There was only one person that could cause this kind of destruction after all.
Shepard snorted very audibly. "If the ship goes down that easily, maybe I don't want it."
"I have downloaded their database, but the lack of an index makes it difficult to peruse the information." EDI, who was too busy with the dreadnought's systems and assisting Joker against the remaining Oculi, finally could spare the time to contact the teams.
"I think the research teams retrieved one from the cruiser. We can use that." ı
"Understood."
"Since you are done, I want you to cause chaos in the ship. Do whatever you can to harass and kill as many Collectors as possible."
—
Doors randomly closed and opened, crushing the Collectors one by one and cutting them off from supporting their forces. Atmospheric disturbances, overloaded conduits, and timely opening of airlocks slowed and killed the Collectors, sometimes in large groups.
—
"Shepard, there is only one bulkhead left before the bridge. Where are you?" Their sensors did not function properly because of the material of the walls, and the Commander was running late.
"Here." Shepard called out from the door on the left side of the room, flanking the enemy.
"Just in time," Garrus muttered. "Keep on them; this is almost over." He ordered his team, picking off a particularly annoying Collector Assassin.
Flanked, the Collector particle beam and mass accelerator fire were quickly drowned out by laser bolts. The final shot came from Tali's shotgun, bisecting an Abomination in half.
"Shepard, there is a heat signature beyond the door; it's huge. Whatever the Collectors got there, it's nothing we faced before." Tali, whose advanced sensors went crazy as she neared the door, realized that the Collectors had one last surprise for them.
"Alright everyone, equipment check; make sure you are ready."
—
"Really? Using me to defeat me?" Shepard snorted. This was a first, even for him, to fight a clone, but it wouldn't deter him at all.
"What in the name of the spirits is that?" The monstrosity, a mockery of Shepard, had a cannon mounted to the left arm and an energy blade on the left.
"Ancestors." Tali breathed out, and there were several other exclamations of disbelief regarding different gods and beliefs.
What they saw inside wasn't a giant weapon, a monster like a Praetorian, or even the proto-Reaper they were expecting.
No, inside, they found a clone of Shepard, eight feet tall, armored with the same material the Sovereign had as armor, bulked up and full of cybernetics, though it did appear to be in stasis.
"Assuming direct control." The clone Shepard lit up with the orange glowing cracks, a sign of Harbinger possessing it.
"How the heck did you even find my DNA to clone this?" Was that how the Shadow Brooker fooled the Collectors? By giving them the remains of a clone?
"Irrelevant. You have proven to be an annoyance unlike any we have faced before. This vessel of your flesh will be the tool to bring you down." Harbinger spoke, its gravelly tone brought down a notch by the body it was possessing, and fired the cannon, a large laser beam that left red trenches across the stony walls of the room as the team scrambled to dodge.
—
The Citadel
"I don't believe it; Commander Shepard is live streaming a battle?!" A salarian surfing on the extranet shouted, drawing attention to himself, and several people around immediately searched for the stream as well.
"What is that? A clone of him?" A human saw what they were fighting and watched it with his jaw dropped.
"Ladies and gentlemen, or whatever you call yourself, today I and my team will be fighting a genetically and cybernetically enhanced clone of me brought to you by the Collectors, the remnants of the Protheans enslaved by the Reapers."
Naturally, this raised a lot of denial and questions.
Within seconds, the viewer count of the stream exploded, and across the galaxy, wherever Normandy's QEC could reach, hundreds of millions watched something they would never see elsewhere again.
"Look at the size of it, and those weapons? Goddess, this will be the fight of a lifetime." An asari C-Sec officer commented, watching the stream with reverence.