"So that's it," said Donnelly. "We're ninety-five percent of the way there. The only thing left is some extra breakers and spares."

Shepard looked around the conference table. "Okay, then. Let's run through the rest of it. What about the IFF?"

"The IFF is ready to go," said Oriana. She looked a little skittish to be in the same room as the senior staff. "Honestly, I wish we could run a full test of it but that would involve actually going through the Omega Four relay."

The Commander smiled. "Yeah, this is either going to work or it won't. Weapons status?"

Garrus looked up. "We're good. The main cannons are set perfectly, and I've even managed to shave a good chunk off of our recharge time."

Shepard turned to look at Zaeed. The big mercenary almost looked as nervous as Oriana. "Zaeed, I want a second opinion on the ground team. How are we doing?"

"Honestly?" replied Zaeed, "I wish I'd had this bunch in the Blue Suns. We'd be in charge of half of the galaxy by now, and have the other half soilin' their drawers."

The Commander nodded. "I thought so too. And our software? No more backdoors?"

"All set," said Tali. "There are no problems with our code anywhere in the ship; it is now clean."

"You're sure? I don't mean to question your expertise, but we did get caught flat-footed the last time."

Tali nodded. "Both EDI and Legion have scanned the code. There's nothing left."

Shepard blinked in surprise. "You trust Legion?"

She looked down, almost as if embarrassed. "I do. We...understand each other now." Then she straightened back up. "Also, I concur with Marcus that we should have extra safeguards in place. Just in the event of an electrical system overload."

Shepard leaned back and nodded. "Right, then. Where can we get those extra breakers? I'm guessing Omega will have them, but honestly I've had my fill of dealing with a certain purple-skinned Asari mafioso."

Donnelly opened his omni-tool. "Well, there's always Imorkan. It's in the same system as Omega, so we won't waste time flying back and forth. There are some refueling depots in orbit as well as what they like to call a layover station. We should be able to find what we need there."

"I thought these 'layover' stations were more or less flying bordellos," said Dr. Chakwas with a hint of irritation. "Lord knows I've had to treat my fair share of nasty diseases in my time in the Alliance. It always seemed to coincide with a visit to one of those places."

Kelly spoke up. "They also act as a sort of trading post for, shall we say, items of questionable origin."

Shepard tapped the table as he thought it through. "Right, I don't want to waste too much time on this. I also want to keep a low profile. Marcus, you know what we need. Kelly, you're the one with the checkbook. I want Kasumi and Thane with the two of you. Get in, get what you need, get out."

"One more would be good, I think," said Kelly. "It's a bit selfish, I know, but I'd like to have one more of the ground team with us if possible."

The Commander thought a bit more. "Jacob is still off active duty. Take him too."

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Miranda felt Jacob's hands grip her shoulders and begin a very welcome massage. "You need to take a break, babe," he said softly.

She shook her head and didn't take her eyes off of her screen. "We still have plenty of Shadow Broker data to plow through. I can't just sit by during this whole thing." That had been a bitter pill for her to swallow. The final assault on the Collector base, the mission that she'd been working towards for this whole time...and she wasn't going to be able to take part. Jacob was also sidelined, although at least he had been allowed to take up his old role as armorer for the ground team.

"It's okay," he said. "We did our part. We plugged the Cerberus leak."

"That's not enough." His hands really felt wonderful, but she couldn't lose focus right now.

His voice was calm and methodical. "It will all be over soon enough. One more visit to Imorkan, and then we're heading through the O-4. There will be plenty of time to look through all that stuff once we've dealt with the Collectors."

Assuming we survive it was the unspoken assumption hanging in the air. Miranda reached a hand back and patted one of his hands as it gently kneaded her shoulder. "I need something to do, Jacob. Otherwise I'll be climbing the walls. You said we were headed for Imorkan?"

"Yeah. Picking up some breakers or something."

"Hmm..." Miranda re-set her search to look for 'Imorkan' in their mass of purloined data.

Jacob's omni-tool buzzed. "Jacob?" said Shepard's voice. "You're back on duty. I have a little bodyguard job for you. Report to the main airlock."

Miranda was deep in her searching, but she could hear the smile in Jacob's voice. "I'll be right there, sir." He kissed the back of her neck. "Duty calls, babe. Finally. I'll be back in a little bit."

She nodded without taking her eyes off of the screen and gave his hand one final pat before he got up and headed out the door. "Be careful," she called out absently.

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Kelly thought that their contact on Imorkan was a greasy little bastard. But then again, almost everyone on the station looked like a greasy little bastard. It didn't help that he was so damn obsequious. "Madame, would you be so kind as to give me your account number? It would make the transaction much easier." This particular greasy bastard had a little 'office' which was really nothing more than a big closet made of prefabricated structural paneling. He had a 'desk' made out of a discarded cargo container. It was about as swanky as things got inside of the 'layover station' orbiting Imorkan.

She channeled her inner Shepard and gave him her best badass look. "No. You tell us how much, and then you'll get a credit chit in your hand when we get our breakers. That's how this is going down."

He shrugged. "Understood. It will take some time to pull these items together, of course."

"Look, me lad, do ye have the breakers or no?" Donnelly crossed his arms and also gave his best 'Do Not Mess With' glare. With the bulk of the Chief Engineer added in, this space was just about filled up.

The man held up a hand. "Of course we do! It's just the number of them that is a trifle unusual. Given the rush of it, I'm afraid I'll have to ask for twenty thousand."

"You'll get fifteen," said Kelly. She could feel that Donnelly wanted to get in on the haggling, but he followed her lead.

"Seventeen," replied the greasy bastard.

"Done." She and the man shook hands. "How soon can we get them?"

"It will be a couple of hours, I'm afraid. If you like, we have plenty of entertainment available while you wait. I can recommend a particularly fine establishment."

Kelly was sure that the only reason for the 'fine' label on that 'establishment' was that it gave the broker a hefty kickback. "We'll just wait, thanks."

They left the 'office' and rejoined Thane and Jacob in the corridor. Kasumi was nowhere to be seen, of course, but that was not surprising.

Jacob looked a little uncomfortable, and Kelly could sympathize with him. After all, having an invisible person in the vicinity who also bore a grudge would make anybody nervous. The armorer twitched his head around at a rustle from a nearby piece of litter.

"Oh do relax, Jacob," said Kasumi's voice. "I'm not going to indulge in any payback. Although now that I think about it, this is a perfect time to..." Her disembodied voice trailed off as Jacob's face grew even more worried. Suddenly he yelped and jerked as if something had shocked his stomach. Even though he was next to Jacob, Thane didn't even twitch at the armorer's movement.

"Kasumi!" said Kelly severely. "That is not appropriate behavior. Don't hurt him."

"I didn't," replied Kasumi's smug voice. "I just indulged in a little tummy-stroking."

Jacob held up a hand. "It's okay, that's all she did. It was just the surprise that got to me. Please, Kasumi, can we call a truce?"

"Of course," replied the thief's voice. "I love my cute little dinosaur, but I must confess I am just a teensy bit jealous of Miranda. She does get to have full access to those wonderful abs of yours, after all."

The armorer coughed in embarrassment and didn't comment further.

"So we still have two hours," said Donnelly. "Anybody bring some cards?"

Kelly laughed and shook her head. "No. I guess it's not that big of a hardship, right?"

Thane gave a rare smile. "I consider it an opportunity to cultivate stillness." The drell leaned against the wall as if he was perfectly content to wait for the wall behind him to crumble into nothing.

"Right, then," said Kelly. "I spy, with my little eye, something that begins with 'D'..."

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Miranda looked up from her terminal in alarm. "EDI?"

"Miranda." The AI's voice had lost its coldness when addressing her, but it was still very businesslike.

"Can you contact Shepard? Tell him it's urgent. There's a problem."

"Standby, patching you through."

Shepard's voice filled the room. "What is it, Miranda?"

"Imorkan's dirty."

She heard the amusement in his voice. "We knew that. I assume you mean something more?"

"I mean I just found out that whole damn station is infested with Shadow Broker agents. They probably called the Collectors as soon as we came within hailing range."

"Shit." Shepard sounded pissed. "All right, I'm calling off the mission. We'll just have to do without the fucking extra breakers. EDI, call Kelly and tell her..."

The air in Miranda's office was suddenly filled with a klaxon. "Proximity alert!" yelled EDI. "Collector vessel has just come out of FTL next to the station!"

----------------------------------------

A slight rumble ran through the deck. Donnelly didn't like the feel of it, and looked curiously at Kelly. "What was that?"

Her reply was cut short by a beep from her omni-tool. EDI's voice came out of it, but broken up and full of static. "Kel..get...ship...Collectors..."

They all straightened up at that last word. "That's our cue to leave, methinks," said Donnelly.

"I agree," replied Thane. Jacob just nodded.

The engineer looked around. "Er, Kasumi?"

"I'm right behind you, my big strapping man," replied her voice out of thin air.

Donnelly nodded and the group began to walk 'casually' down the corridor.

There sounded out a click from behind them, and they all froze. "Leaving so soon?" said the voice of the greasy broker. Donnelly slowly looked over his shoulder and saw that the bastard now held a gun which was pointing right at Jacob's head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist that..."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A hooded form flickered into existence behind Mr. Greasy. The blue muzzle of Kasumi's thin-gun made a single low thwap as Jacob ducked out of the line of fire from the bastard's gun. His evasion wasn't necessary. The broker now lost the side of his head, and there was a huge gout of blood sprayed against one wall of the corridor. The body slumped to the deck as Kasumi flickered back out of visible sight.

"What an idiot," said the thief's voice.

Jacob's head swiveled as he scanned the rest of the corridor and un-holstered his own pistol. "Thanks a bunch, Kasumi."

"Anytime, Jacob. Shall we run?"

They ran. The group made it to the junction of the corridor before they were attacked again. This time it was a large merc who came out of nowhere and took a big swinging strike at Donnelly. The engineer managed to sidestep most of the hit and only got a glancing blow on one shoulder, but it still staggered him.

Neither Kasumi nor Jacob had the chance to shoot the merc, but only because Thane got there first. One quick and snapping blow to the man's elbow, and his arm now bent at an angle not intended by nature. The man opened his mouth to scream in pain, but he never got the chance as a green scaled hand made a knife-edge strike into his throat. The merc gagged and slumped against the wall, his face turning purple as he tried to breathe through a crushed larynx.

"I will pray for myself later," said Thane. "We should be moving." They ran down the corridor and left the twitching body behind them. As they reached another junction there was another, more violent shudder that nearly threw them off of their feet.

EDI's voice came again through Kelly's omni-tool. "Breach...pod, get...evacuate."

"We read you, EDI," said Kelly. "We're trying to get back to the Normandy-"

A buzzing noise came from down the corridor. Donnelly knew what the buzz meant from his time working with Mordin. "Those are the Collector bug-beasties," he said shortly.

Jacob looked down the corridor towards the sound. "Not great news, but we should be okay. We're wearing Mordin's countermeasure, after all."

A dense black cloud of teeming biomechanical insects became visible. The cloud filled the width of the corridor and looked like an onrushing dark wall.

"Yeah," replied Donnelly. "But there's a shite-load of 'em. Run like ye stole somethin'!"

They all turned and ran.

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Miranda reached the cockpit entrance and suddenly realized she might not be welcome there. She dismissed her qualms and kept moving forward. Shepard was there, fully armored and with a look of grim death on his face. He flicked his eyes over at her but didn't say anything. "What's going on?" She could hear the edge of panic in her own voice. "Have the Collectors attacked? Did the crew make it back?"

Shepard shook his head. "No and no. The Collector ship is using the bulk of the station to shield themselves from us, and we can't move to hit 'em without disengaging from the airlock. Just relax, Miranda. They'll make it out."

"Two more breacher pods have attached to the far side of the station," said EDI. "I am now receiving multiple reports of Collector insect infiltration."

Miranda gave a little gasping cry, and saw a little bit of sympathy on Shepard's face.

"They've got Mordin's countermeasure," he said. "They will make it back, all of them."

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Donnelly's breath panted loudly in his own ears, and he felt a dull ache start at the junction where his prosthetic leg attached to his stump. This was his first time running with it, and that was starting to show. He tried to ignore the flutter of tiny wings that surrounded him. Donnelly also tried to not think about how effective Mordin's countermeasure might actually be. Even if it was 99.999% effective, that last little gap in the countermeasure could be discovered if there were enough of these little bastards.

There was a sharp pain radiating from his prosthetic's attachment, and he started to fall behind the others. Jacob and Thane looked back towards him in concern, and Donnelly gestured further down the corridor. "GO!" he yelled, just as he felt a mild pinch on his calf.

He had time to look down and see one of the Collector insects attached to his good leg...and then it was as if he was locked up in a transparent brick of Lucite. He couldn't move a single muscle. All he could do was swivel his eyes as Jacob ran up to him. Dark flitting shapes swirled around the two of them as Jacob tugged at Donnelly's paralyzed arm. The engineer couldn't speak, or he would have screamed at the armorer to leave him and flee.

Then Jacob stiffened as well, and Donnelly saw a Collector insect crawl up and over the man's shoulder. The armorer was now encased in an orange glow just like he was. All Donnelly could do was watch as Thane ran off down the corridor. He hoped Kasumi was still with the drell. The engineer felt a disturbance in the swarm around them; something larger and more substantial was coming up the corridor towards the two paralyzed men. In his current paralyzed position Donnelly couldn't see what was coming, but Jacob could. From the panicked look in the armorer's eyes it was almost certainly the Collectors themselves.

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Thane saw Kelly suddenly 'lock up' and tumble to the deck, her body held in its running posture by the stasis field which now surrounded her. The teeming insects buzzed loudly in the drell's ears as he turned back towards the redhead. Her eyes met his and then glanced further down the corridor. Even though she couldn't speak or move, her message was clear.

Run.

Thane did the only thing he could do. He ran. So far the biomechanical insects had avoided him. He was a drell, after all, and these units were most likely programmed to seek out humans. The Collectors themselves, however, would kill him for sure if he stayed. He estimated that they were about two thirds of the way back to the Normandy, but his lungs had a rasp in them that he didn't like. "Kasumi?" he gasped. There were times that having an invisible companion was not ideal; he had no idea if the human thief was still there.

"I'm still here, Thane," came the equally gasping reply. "I think my cloak is helping throw them off-"

Kasumi gave a little squeak and then suddenly her prone form became visible. There was a Collector insect attached to the back of her hood, right where her neck met her body. Her body was surrounded by the same orange stasis field as the other humans.

Thane thought briefly about grabbing the small thief and dragging her towards the Normandy. But the ululating moan kept getting closer, and he saw approaching the tall and bulbous forms of the 'Scions' that the Collectors liked to use. The drell turned and ran. A shockwave ripped along the deck and chased his heels.

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"Report." Shepard's voice could cut glass. He stood in the cockpit with his helmet under one arm. "Where are our people?"

"I am still unable to raise the crew on board the station," said EDI. Her voice sounded like she was going to break out the AI equivalent of worry beads. "There is significant interference from the Collectors. I have received other sporadic reports from within the station. The Collectors appear to be retreating back towards their breacher pods. Do we engage?"

"Our people are still on that station," he grated. "We can't leave the airlock yet. Do we have an ID on the Collector ship itself?"

Joker had called up a schematic on the screen over his pilot's chair. "It looks like the same size as the one we fought at the Omega Four relay. It's definitely smaller than the original Collector ship from Alchera and Horizon."

"Have we heard from the ground team?" said Miranda. She hugged her stomach and told herself not to panic. Jacob had been in worse situations...probably. The salarian's countermeasure was fully effective...probably.

"I received one message fragment from Kelly earlier," said EDI. "But I have not heard anything...hold on, Thane has reached the airlock."

Shepard face became even grimmer. "Just Thane?"

"Yes, Shepard." EDI's voice was muted.

The Commander turned towards the inner airlock doors as the coughing drell all but fell through them. "Commander," he rasped. "I'm sorry. They took the others." Miranda caught the drell and helped him lean against the bulkhead next to the airlock.

"The breacher pods have left the station and are back on board the Collector ship," said EDI. "I will repeat my question. Do we engage?"

"The other crew were hit with Collector insects," said Thane after he cleared his throat. "Just paralyzed. I saw..." he coughed and then drew in another breath. "I saw them collecting other humans from the station as well."

Shepard gripped his helmet hard. "Damn it. What is the Collector ship doing now?"

"It is moving away from the station on an intercept course to us," said EDI. "The odds are in our favor. We can destroy them, if desired. What are your orders, sir?"

"The Collectors took them on board!" cried Miranda. "If we hit that ship, then we'd kill our own people!" cried Miranda. "We'd kill.." She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence as her guts churned.

"We'd kill Jacob. I know," replied Shepard. "We'd kill all of them. Marcus, Kelly, Kasumi, Jacob."

Hearing the Commander speak the names made it suddenly all very real to Miranda. She clutched her stomach again and told herself to breathe.

Shepard looked at the assassin with barely contained rage. Miranda knew that anger was not directed at Thane. "Are you sure they were taken and not killed?" he said very quietly.

The drell nodded, unable to speak in the middle of another coughing fit.

Shepard let out a roar that could probably be heard throughout the Normandy. He turned and threw his helmet. The Commander kept enough presence of mind to just throw it at a bare section of bulkhead and not at something important. He stood like a cornered bear, his armored fists clenched and trembling as he glared out the cockpit windows. Finally he dropped his gaze to the deck.

"Evasive maneuvers," he said in a low voice. "No firing at them. We...we run."

Thane clutched at his middle and fell to his knees as he continued coughing. Miranda got a hand under his shoulder and helped him stand back up again. The drell wiped his mouth and stared with a fixed expression at the bright smear of red blood on the back of his hand.

----------------------------------------

Jack stared at the wall of her...no, their quarters. Marcus was still alive. She had to hold onto that thought. The Collectors didn't kill humans, they just...took them away. She gripped the edge of the bunk in her hands and tried to not give into the urge to punch something. If she started now, she wouldn't be able to stop until the Normandy was a gutted hulk.

Her first instinct was to go and take Shepard apart. Why had they run from Imorkan? Why hadn't they hit that damn ship while they had the chance? But she knew the Commander had made the right call. If they'd shot the shit out of the Collector ship, then her Marcus would be dead for sure. They were going to get him back. No, she was going to get him back. She would rip open every Collector which stood in her way.

There came a soft knock at the door. Jack ignored it. She wasn't in the mood for company right now. Right now she was in a killing mood, and was going to stay that way until Shepard pointed her at the Collectors. At that thought, Jack realized how much she had changed since coming on board. She hadn't been one for planning. Her old self would have already stolen a ship and gone chasing after the Collector vessel in a ultimately doomed rescue attempt.

But now she knew in her gut that Shepard would make the right call. That was what he did, all the time. She would trust him no matter what. Marcus may have captured her heart and soul, but the Commander had managed to earn her loyalty.

"Jack?" Samara's voice came through the thin door. The biotic sagged a little. The asari was probably one of the few people on board who she could face right now. After all, the 'father' of her child had also been taken by those Collector bastards. Jack stood and opened the door.

Samara's face was no longer one of perfect, ageless composure. Her steely-blue eyes were watery and her face looked like it was going to crumble. "I...I wanted to see if you were okay," said the former justicar. Her voice was hoarse and taut, as if Samara was keeping herself under iron control.

Jack just nodded. She tapped one of her fists on her thigh and tried not to meet Samara's eyes. The asari reached out hesitantly for one of Jack's shoulders, and when the biotic didn't snap at her she completed the gesture. At Samara's touch on her shoulder, Jack felt her face scrunch up and tears leak from her eyes. Without a word Samara gathered the human in her arms. Jack hugged her back and gave a single strangled sob into Samara's chest.

"We shall get them back, dear heart."

"Too fucking right, Blue." Jack sniffed and looked up at her. "You and me, right? We'll stomp a new mudhole in them and walk it dry."

Samara was about to reply when EDI spoke through the ship-wide intercom. The AI sounded eerily composed. "All hands, meeting in the hangar deck. Ten minutes, be there or I'll blow your ass out the airlock myself. Logging out."

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Jack felt a little guilty pang when she saw Garrus. Her fretting over Marcus had blinded her to the fact that others were suffering as well. The turian looked carved from granite as he stood in the center of the hangar, his deep-set blue eyes blazing with a contained fury. He had apparently, in all seriousness, advocated that the Normandy go back and destroy the Imorkan 'layover' station after they'd managed to avoid the Collector ship.

She could sympathize with that sentiment. Right now she wanted to punch a hole in the world. The other crew filled the space around her. Through long experience they knew enough to leave her the hell alone.

The she-bitch Miranda stood apart from the rest of them, her perfect face smooth and expressionless. Her eyes, however, matched the turian's in rage. Jack saw Ennesby walk over and murmur a few words to her sister. She-Bitch didn't say anything and just nodded to her sister. Her face and eyes didn't change.

Thane was there, the only survivor of the attack at Imorkan. He was now wearing a breathing mask. Dr. Chakwas was hovering nearby and clearly keeping an eye on him.

"Commander on deck!" barked Garrus. They all snapped to attention, even Jack.

Shepard strode into the hangar with Tali at his side. He took up position next to Garrus while the quarian stood by his other side. The Commander was clad in full armor, and already had his rifle slung on his back. The Spectre's steel-blue eyes took in his assembled crew. "At ease," he said quietly. Then he looked them over again.

The moment seemed to stretch out forever.

Then Shepard finally spoke.

"You all know the situation. It's on. We hit the Omega Four relay in forty minutes." He met Jack's eyes and then looked away. "Our people are on the other side. The remaining drones caught sight of the Collector ship heading back through the O-4 after the attack at Imorkan. We're going to get them back. We're going to get all of them back."

He shifted his weight and tucked his helmet under his other arm. "I've lost people under my command. Usually in the middle of some firefight or other. Just bad luck, or so I always told myself." He paused. "But there was one time. On Vermire. I had to make a choice. It was not some random battlefield chance. It was me. And as a result of my choice, one of the finest soldiers I've ever known didn't come home."

Shepard looked down, his face impassive. "Hell, I didn't even get a chance to retrieve her body. She was vaporized." He looked up again. "I swore a sacred oath on that day. Never again. I will not allow the sacrifice of one more member of my crew. Not while I have strength enough to stand, to hold a weapon. I will never, ever make that choice again. We will ALL come home, or NONE of us do. AM I CLEAR?"

His yell echoed through the hangar, to be met as one voice by the responding cry of the crew. "YES, SIR!"

The response seemed to give Shepard strength. He smiled grimly and looked them over. "Good. Because I want you to realize something. The Collectors are cowards. Fucking cowards who have no stomach for a stand-up fight. They hit and they run. The only time they've tried a real fight is with us. And we have kicked them in the balls, every FUCKING time, and made them run like the scared little shits that they are. But now they have nowhere left to run. WE are coming for them, right where they live. We are not there to steal their technology. We are not there to understand or to negotiate. We are going to wipe the Collectors out. We will destroy them utterly, root and branch. No quarter will be asked, and none shall be given. I WILL have this Reaper-made cancer gone from MY GALAXY."

The hangar was silent for a long moment. Jack was utterly energized and merrily enraged. Her scalp felt like it was on fire, and she could feel little blue sparks fizzing from her head. Right now, she would happily take on a Reaper bare-handed if Shepard asked her to.

Shepard checked his watch. "Thirty-five minutes. Take up battle stations. You all know your duties. Go do them. And this time...this time we bring everyone home."