Til I Change Your Mind (Mass Effect Krogan SI)

Well at least you're not like some other fanfic authors who do that and leave their current works forever unfinished. Kudos there.

Also, 30-60k in a week. I struggle to do 30k in a month, good job.
What I did was write everything in notepad; one go, no editing, no formatting options, no distractions. When I hit a point I was tired of writing a scene I ended it under the assumption that the audience would also be tired of reading it. I load the .txt file into a word processor later for editing.

You can't edit as you go. There's a reason that Authors employ professional editors. Editing is an important and valuable skill, but it's also kind of oppositional to the sort of mind set you need to just write.

So just write. Write as fast as you can. If the scene is bad you can fix it later in editing. It's not like anyone is going to judge your work until you post it. So write the entire story as much as you can and only edit when you plan to post something.
 
That's an amazing piece of advice, Strat. I honestly didn't really think about my writing process (academic work, mostly) and this is quite an insight for me and my workflow. Thank you!
 
Just to throw my two cents in, my top 3 crossover picks (in order):

Marvel
Scooby Doo
Pokemon

If it was AtLA instead of LoK I would be with it, but I just could not get into the sequel.
 
Krogan Mythbusters would be awesome. I'd really like to see Scooby Doo, maybe with Krell doing some kind of mentorship thing with shaggy and scoob. Jurassic Park would probably be hilarious, as would Teenage Mutant Pirate Rats and Pokemon. Can't say I care much for the other five options, with the possible exception of marvel.
 
1. Digimon Adventure - going from a "computer game" to "Real life." A story about the nature of fiction and stories.
2. Marvel Comics (No specific timeline, but that setting with me picking and choosing fun details from that universe) - Krell deciding to sight see, visiting Peter Parker at his school, being mistaken from a super villain, and everything going hilariously wrong and out of control from there. People think Krell is a Mutant. Or an Alien. He insists he just has a weird Skin condition. Mostly about the horrors of Discrimination, and also fun superhero fights.
3. Avatar: Legend of Korra - A dense legal nation-building story about the importance of just laws and the horrors of Genocide. Everyone thinks Krell is a Spirit for some reason.
4. Azumanga Daioh - Krell applies to become Great Teacher Krell. A story about the education system.
5. Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated - Krell just wants to live his life normally in Crystal Cove as a law abiding citizen, but those Meddling kids keep trying to unmask him and thwart his evil plans (which don't actually exist). A story about unconscious bias and prejudice.
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Krell finds a bunch of Rats doused in Mutagen and raises them to be pirates. I didn't actually have a theme here, I just thought a giant turtle man raising 4 teenaged Rats named after famous composers to be pirates would probably be funny.
7. Pokemon - Krell pretends unsuccessfully to be a 10 year old child and go on his Pokemon journey. This does not work. he ends up running Brock's gym while Brock is on vacation.
8. Ace Attorney - Krell is framed for a murder he did not commit. A story about the Justice System.
9. Mythbusters - Just random shorts of Krell on Mythbusters as a host, but like, still in the Mass Effect Universe.
10. Jurassic Park - Krell gets a job designing safety devices for a theme park. His boss continually finds ways to turn these safety devices into increasingly unsafe rides. Krell ends up punching dinosaurs when everything goes wrong.

my top 3 picks:
Digimon
Avatar
MythBusters

my first thoughts:

1. I really like No.1 Digimon needs more quality fanfics

2. has potential, would give it a chance

3. Oh, yes! I love Serious takes on the Avatar-verse

4. if its from you, I might give it a read

5. Good theme for a short story or one-shot.

6. I what year is this set? Are the regular Ninja Turtles also around? Could be comedy gold.

7. I think there is a Brock Self-Insert, that reads similar title: "Hard Enough" pretty good and goes into more social and moral Issues of the pokeWorld

8. Set in the ME-verse or AceAttorney?

9. Oh, yes. an Omake series for this fanfic!

10. So Krell is the only responsible Adult in that Park. sounds nice, but not outstanding.
 
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If you're serious about taking this on a tour of various settings, isn't there one obvious choice..?

Mr. Rogers. It was May 1, 1969 when Fred Rogers gave his legendary speech before congress on the worth of public television. 76 days later, Apollo 11 blasts off for the first arrival of man upon the surface of the Moon. What they find there surprises everyone involved.

Krell taking on the likes of Nixon and Reagan would be delicious, and he'd have to adapt to a planet (if not necessarily an entire setting, that's up to you) without eezo. I don't know what a two thousand year-old Krogan engineer could do with an unlimited budget and an A-10 warthog, but I'd love to find out.
 
CHAPTER 36: Hit me With Your Best Shot
CHAPTER 36: Hit me With Your Best Shot

I didn't pay all that much attention as we drifted past Omega to the relay. We weren't stopping; none of us wanted to risk the Collectors noticing this close to our goals.

There was a weirdly somber tone on the ship as we approached the relay. There was really nothing more I can do to prepare us in the time we have left, so I decide to check my email instead. The first was from Wrex, and oddly enough it was it was unusually verbose for him.

'Krell,

Thanks.'

He didn't sign it, of course, but I could tell from the email field it was him.
__________________


Dear Dad,

Liara contacted me already. Had a funny story to tell. Said she couldn't wait for me to contact her to tell it.

Something about citation. Sound familiar?

Stay alive, okay?

In conclusion,
Fuck You
________________

2185 CE

There wasn't anything from Liara, but I wasn't expecting there to be. The coordinates I'd sent her would take a little longer to get to, and Liara wasn't the sort of Asari to make a statement if she felt she didn't have all the facts available to her first. Honestly I think that's what makes her such a good researcher, and also so insistent on proper sourcing, for that matter.

Suddenly, Shepard's voice echoed from the intercom. 'All hands brace! It's time to hit the relay!'

Time to face the music.
________________

2185 CE

Joker's fancy flying got us past the relay. Everything was going smoothly. Then a giant floating laser eyeball robot broke into my cargo bay.

'Why didn't you warn me about these things?' Shepard groused.

'I warned Joker!' I shot back.

'Joker isn't down here fighting the damn things!' Shepard complained.

'No! I'm up here fighting the things while EDI gives you a hand with those turrets, now stay the hell off the radio so I can think!' Joker shot back.

I ducked behind a console and toggled my radio off before popping up and covering for Shepard while she did the same.

'Does the warning really matter? These defense cannons Krell suggested are stripping the thing's armor very efficiently!' Miranda observed.

'Hah! My idea, my kill!' I laughed when the cannons finally destroyed the damn flying mecha-laser eye.

'I believe, that as the guiding intelligence behind aiming the cannons, credit for this kill should go to me.' EDI corrected, playfully.

'You know what, excellent point. EDI, I now pronounce you a killer robot!' I agreed.

We cleared the debris field easily enough after that, only for the Collectors to finally show up to shoot at us as well.

'I guess Collectors have windows, huh?' Joker quipped at us.

"Fire the main gun!' Shepard ordered. The entire ship spun as we twisted to avoid their counter fire.

'Direct hit! How do you like that you sons of bitches!' Joker announced.

'Great! Now get in close and do it again.' Shepard commanded.

Several seconds later we heard a loud whoop! 'Target destroyed, Commander! '

The entire ship rocked.

'Sorry folks, just got a little rocky there for a second! We're fine. The armor held!' Joker reassured us over the radio.

'Please brace for landing.' EDI warned.

A few seconds later I could feel the gentle yet distinct bounce of the ship landing on a surface and equalizing gravity.

'Check your gear everyone! I want everyone in the briefing room in ten!' Shepard announced.

____________________

2185 CE

Ten minutes later Shepard walked into the briefing room with us and strode to the head of the table.

'Alright everyone, we're off to a great start and I want to keep that momentum! We came to stop the Collectors, and that means coming up with a plan to take out this station. EDI, bring up your scans.'

The holoprojector in the middle of the table showed a map of the base.

'You should be able to overload their critical systems if you get to the main control center here.' EDI highlighted on the map.

'That means going through the heart of the station. Right past this massive energy signature.' Jacob explained.

'That's the central chamber. If any of the colonists are still alive, the Collectors are probably holding them in there.' Shepard elaborated.

'Looks like there are two main routes. Might be a good idea to split up to keep the Collectors off balance, then regroup in the central chamber.' Jacob proposed.

Miranda disagreed. 'No good. Both routes are blocked. See these doors? The only way to get past is to get someone to open them from the other side.

'The ventilation shaft.' Shepard realizes.

'That's practically a suicide mission. I volunteer.' Jacob offers.

Miranda, gently, turns him down. 'I appreciate the thought, Jacob, but you can't shut down the security systems in time. We need to send a Tech expert.'

'It's your call, commander. Who do we send into the shaft?' Jacob asked.

'Krell? Your advice?' Shepard asked.

'Talis an expert with tech, Legion's an expert who is tech. Both of them should be able to fit in the shaft.' I advised.

'We need someone with the skills to hack that security system. Tali, you're up.' Shepard decides.

'I won't let you down.' Tali declares.

'The rest of us will break into two teams and fight down each passage. That should draw the collectors' attention away from what you're doing.' Shepard decided.

Miranda immediately volunteered. 'I'll lead the second fire team, Shepard. We'll meet up with you on the other side of the doors.'

'Any advice, Krell?' Shepard asked.

'Pretty much anyone with experience leading fire teams will do. But there's only one person I know here aside from you who built a team of all sorts of aliens and tied them to a common purpose.' I admitted.

'You're right. Garrus -- You're in charge of the second team.' Shepard decided.

Garrus nodded.

'Well, at least he knows what he's doing.' Miranda stated, miffed.

'We only have the vaguest idea of what we're going to find in there, and from all accounts it's gonna be bad. You signed up for a suicide mission, but I expect you all to do your best to live through this. Our goals come first, then our team. We don't know how many the Collectors have stollen -- thousands, hundreds of thousands. It's not important. What matters is this: Not one more. That's what we can do, here, today. It ends with us. They want to know what we're made of? I say we show them, on our terms. This ends today!' Shepard pronounced.

'Mordin, Miranda, you're with me. Tali. Vents. Everyone else, you're with Garrus.' Shepard selected her team.

'Shepard, there's no way in hell I need twelve people just to equal you, Mordin and Miranda.' Garrus protested.

'Of course not, you just need me.' I joked.

'No, you're right. I'll take Zaeed and Samara as well.' Shepard agreed.

With that, we were dismissed.

___________

2185 CE

Garrus stood before us as we prepared to enter the base.

'All of us have different reasons for to going on this suicide mission. What I do know is this. This isn't just a battle for the fate of Humanity. This is a battle for our future too. The Collectors are the remains of the Protheans after the Reapers got a hold of them. They don't just abduct humans; they abduct everyone. That breifing Krell gave on the various Reaper forces out there? That's the Collectors' doing, and it's what they plan for all of us if someone doesn't stop them. Now I've looked around, but I don't see anyone else here willing to step up.'

That got a chuckle out of all of us.

Garrus grinned. 'We might not survive this mission. But let's make damn well sure we don't fail it!'

We cheered.

The doors opened and our descent into hell began.
________

Author's Notes: I legitimately forgot about the giant mecha laser eyeball fight. Did anyone else remember fighting a giant mecha laser eyeball in the cargo bay in ME2? I promise it's actually in the game. It's a really fun fight, so I have no idea how or why I forgot about it.
 
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'Does the warning really matter? These defense cannons Krell suggested are stripping the thing's armor very efficiently!' Miranda observed.

'Hah! My idea, my kill!' I laughed when the cannons finally destroyed the damn flying mecha-laser eye.

'I believe, that as the guiding intelligence behind aiming the cannons, credit for this kill should go to me.' EDI corrected, playfully.

'You know what, excellent point. EDI, I now pronounce you a killer robot!' I agreed.
Aw, little girls' dreams do come true!
 
Now I've looked around, but I don't see anyone else here willing to step up.'

That got a chuckle out of all of us.

Garrus grinned. 'We might not survive this mission. But let's make damn well sure we don't fail it!'
Holy shit. Garrus put some major points into his Speech craft.
That was actually moving and probably get him some respect even from Krogans!
... I now want Garrus and Kirrahe sharing a drink with Krell...
Also I love how Garrus pointed out the ridiculousness of him having a giant team to Shepard's tiny squad.
Although I believe the game gave them reason... Wasn't it that Shepard was taking a smaller route with less enemies? Something like that. Still 10 to 5 is a decent balance. Especially when one team has such super badasses like Shepard, Zaeed, Mordin and Samara. The other has all the snipers, Garrus, Thane and Anti Material Rifle wielding Legion. The main Tanks, Krell and Grunt. Assassin Kasumi. And Jack and Kaiden.
... I guess Jacob and Miranda exist too.
Who am I missing?
 
Question, due to Krelltopia and the Council races abduction of the Protheans, did the Particle Rifle get butterflied away? Which would be a shame, as they are perfect for anyone not in Shepard's crew dealing with the Reaper threat due to not needing to reload and not needing a logistics supply chain of thermal clips to remote locations.

It's kind of an easy button for a lot of ME3
 
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Question, due to Krelltopia and the Council races abduction of the Protheans, did the Particle Rifle get butterflied away? Which would be a shame, as they are perfect for anyone not in Shepard's crew dealing with the Reaper threat due to not needing to reload and not needing a logistics supply chain of thermal clips to remote locations.

Why would it be butterflied away. If anything, getting access to the Prothens months/years ahead of schedule might improve it.
Though if they want to get rid of the issues of Thermal Clip logistics, all they'd need to do is bring back the heat sinks of ME1.
 
Why would it be butterflied away. If anything, getting access to the Prothens months/years ahead of schedule might improve it.
Though if they want to get rid of the issues of Thermal Clip logistics, all they'd need to do is bring back the heat sinks of ME1.

I'd agree with you, but Krell prefers his 47 and for everything to be 'Krogan tough'. That, along with particle weapons not being a feature of ground or space combat in this fic, even after potential decades of R&D, manufacturing, and roll out to make it 'Krogan Tough', might mean that Krell prevented, either intentionally or unintentionally, particle weapons from proliferating throughout the galaxy. Which, while not much of a difference versus the thermal clip for infantry armament logistics, could make a potential difference for things like the MAKO or as potential weaponry as turrets for space stations or spaceships like the Normandy.

What the particle rifle represents is basically a path of research that the Reapers didn't want those they harvest researching, and is very handy against the biological armor of their troops as well as their tiny collector fighter drones. It also is beneficial in size, meaning that you could have independent batteries of particle weapons on hulls without needing all the gunnery railguns every faction uses with pinpoint accuracy.

Krell might have been sitting on a game changer tech that could have radically altered how space combat is fought in the same way humans introduced carriers to space combat.
 
As a matter of fact, I DO remember fighting a giant mechanical eyeball laser.

My thoughts on it were 'there's literally nothing but a layer of glass and a reinforced wall between this thing and the core, why is it shooting at me?'

And then I shot it with my Cain.
 
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Though if they want to get rid of the issues of Thermal Clip logistics, all they'd need to do is bring back the heat sinks of ME1.
I believe the thermal clip thing was addressed in an earlier chapter. Something to the effect of "For most people, a few clips is all you need, because you can rotate between them while letting the used ones cool down (the implication being that that was the Mass Effect 1 style). Shepard, however, is insane, and regularly leads teams of three against armies of hundreds with little to no breaks, so we can't afford that kind of luxury anymore."
 
CHAPTER 37: Invincible
CHAPTER 37: Invincible

2185 CE

Garrus led us down into the oddly organic-looking hive the Collectors had created. I'd never actually had time to ask Javik about Prothean Ship design or social habits. Might not have helped anyway, since with the Reapers controlling the relays I doubt Javik's period of the Prothean extinction actually had much use for ships, and with the constant battle for survival the only social structure was probably military in nature. Still, it makes me wonder how much of the Collectors' hive mind behavior is taken straight from the Protheans.

Maybe it was developed by the Reapers as a way to distract other sentients and throw them off their game? If so it wasn't really working on me. I'd grown up fighting Rachni. It would take more than a few bugs to unsettle me.

We headed down, Legion and Garrus taking up the rear as the snipers; in front of them were Jacob, Thane, Kasumi, Jack and Kaidan. Finally Grunt and I were out in front. While the hive itself was empty as we walked, there was a menacing buzzing in the infrasound band; Humans couldn't hear it, but they could certainly feel it as a looming sense of dread. For Krogan like me and Grunt it manifested as a slight ringing in our eardrums; all six of them. It was dull but persistent; I could hear over it but it was still annoying to deal with. Unfortunately there was also nothing I could do about it.

Garrus signaled us into position as we approached a large chamber, directing us into cover and signaling Legion and Kaidan into a flanking position.

Tali's voice came over the radio. 'I'm inside the ventilation Shaft, Shepard. It's hot in here, but it's clear as far as I can tell.'

Shepard's voice followed it. 'Second team, are you in position?'

'In position. Meet you on the other side of those doors.' Garrus replied once we were all in cover.

With that, Garrus signaled us to open fire. Since Harbinger was dealing with Shepard, we didn't get to enjoy his glowing golden possession move, but we did get to deal with Collectors; a whole shitload of Collectors.

Playing the games, something that always bothered me about the final push in the Collector Base was how few Praetorians you end up facing, even on insanity. Back when this was still all just a game, all throughout the mission I would think to myself, 'Where are the Praetorians? Shouldn't I be fighting Praetorians?'

We had found the Praetorians.

'There are only three of them! We outnumber them!' I joked to my fellow squadmates.

'How do we beat them?' Garrus asked, having not actually faced Praetorians before.

The Praetorians were already loosing their eye beams at us, trapping us in cover.

'USE MORE GUN!' Kaidan shouted, panicking as an eyebeam missed incinerating him by less than a foot.

'Should have brought the Normandy. She would've been enough gun.' Grunt grumbled as he stomped the head of a Collector into mush before rolling back into cover to avoid three different sets of eye beams.

'Strip the barriers, burn through the shields, and then whittle down their health!" I explained, throwing one of my few remaining warp grenades at a trio of Praetorians who had managed to end up grouped together.

'Focus fire on the trio! I want those Praetorians out of action!" Garrus commanded, and instantly a half dozen biotic and tech attacks launched at the trio, tearing through their armor and triggering a bunch of explosions both biotic and technological in nature.

'They're still up!' Kasumi warned.

'Assault rifles, sniper rifles! Focus Fire! Everyone else keep the drones off us!' Garrus commanded. The Praetorians didn't die easy, each one crashing to the ground before detonating and taking out a swath of the Collectors in an almost perfect sphere around them.

The Collectors were closing in, but I had a solution for that. Back on the Alarei I had had the materials and opportunity to make an absolutely obscene number of overload discs; honestly it was a truly unreasonable amount of the things. The only way I'd ever need that many discs would be if there were so many enemies that they literally blotted out the skies.

I looked up.

Not quite there yet, but certainly more than enough to use some of the discs.

'Overload!' I threw a handful of the tiny taser-like disks at the swarm, enjoying how they arced and incapacitated the Collectors, some of them falling into the abyss before they ever even reached the platform.

The team had taken out another two Praetorians by the time the discs stopped sparking. Only three left.

'Garrus here. We're taking heavy fire but we're moving forward.' He stated as he motioned us to go to flank the remaining Collectors.

We moved, shooting and using our abilities to slowly whittle down the storm while Garrus directed specific members of the squad to focus on the Praetorians.

It took almost a full minutes, but eventually the chamber was empty of every living thing save us.

Tali's voice broke the silence. 'I'm stuck. Something's blocking the pipe. Look's like some kind of gate.'

Garrus quickly looked over at me, alarmed.

I couldn't reassure him. There was nothing we could do on this side to help her.

A few seconds later, Tali's voice rang out again. 'The gate is open. Moving forward!'

We advanced to the next room as well.

I took a bit to look over the room. It was a funnel, really; a long hallway full of waist high wall of dubious utility leading to a large room beyond. Also, it was filled with Scions and Abominations.

'I'm blocked again. You need to find another valve out there.' Tali explained to Shepard over the radio.

There's definitely something disconcerting about facing the flaming red forms of a mass of abominations, knowing that the only defense against them was to keep them at a distance. There was strategy at work here, the Scions would rain down a hail of explosives to keep us distracted while the Abominations advanced. I wasn't a fan of this new development. I hated it when my enemies got clever.

Tali's voice rang out over the radio a few seconds later. 'Nice work Shepard. Continuing down the tube.'

'Grunt, Jacob, Jack, Krell. I want you on point with Shotguns. Blast those damn firetraps before they get to us. Legion thane and I will pick off the artillery. Everyone else, work on Crowd control.' Garrus commanded and we went to work immediately blasting our way down the hall.

'I don't have a shotgun.' I reminded Garrus.

'You have grenades! That's just as good for killing those damn things!' Garrus snarked back.

He had a point.

'You know, when you all recruited me for this suicide mission, I thought there would be a lot more thieving involved!' Kasumi complained, firing her Kassa Locust at the Collector monstrosity coming towards us.

'But you've been constantly stealing, Kasumi! You've stolen all of our hearts!' I teased back over the roar of my NK-47.

'Those have very little resale value, Krell!' She shouted before firing an overload and taking out three more abominations.

'Hey Garrus, Something's been bothering me. You ever figure out what true love was?' Kaidan asked as he threw an Abomination into another, blowing them both up in one move and clearing a swathe in the army arrayed against us.

Had Kaidan been snooping on Grunt's foe-tossing lessons? Because that was exceptionally efficient of him.

'Krell-Professor has provided us with a definition of love.' Legion replied.

'Legion! I was joking when I said that!" I cut off, trying to limit the damage as I switched briefly to my Widow to headshot a Scion.

'No, go on, Legion. I want to hear this definition.' Garrus urged, unhelpfully.

'Definition: 'Love' is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using a widow sniper rifle with a thermal scope... Love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticule, and together, achieving a singular purpose against statistically long odds.' Legion recited; exploding the head of the last Scion in the process.

Silence took hold of the hallway.

'Wow, Gramps. That's kinda really fucked up.' Jack stated when it was clear no one else would.

'I told you, it was a joke!' I protested,

'Looks like another one of those things in the way. Gotta help me out again, Shepard.' Tali providing a well-timed distraction as she notified the Commander over the radio.

Garrus smirked at me before activating his own comm unit. 'Garrus here. We're making good progress. Meet you at the rendezvous.'

'All clear. Moving on.' Tali suddenly announced.

We advanced towards a set of huge mechanical doors, an oddity in this otherwise barren hive of rock and chitin.

'We're in position. Just waiting for the doors to open.' Garrus radioed the other teams.

'You think there's any way to fly this base through the relay?' Grunt asked as we funneled into the next room. A ramp. No cover at all, no railings, just an open ramp.

'I think we have bigger problems.' Kaidan replied as he caught sight if the ramp; and the Collectors flying towards it on our left.

'Alright. It's a small swarm. Weapons free. Let's take 'em down here and move on.' Garrus commanded.

'I'm blocked again. You need to find another valve out there.' Tali's voice crackled from the comms.

We unloaded our fire at the Collectors, managing to shoot about half of the small swarm of sixteen or so down before our comms crackled again.

'Hurry Shepard! It's heating up in here!' Tali complained.

I don't think anyone else realized what it would be like, knowing that Tali's life was in the hands of Shepard and there was nothing we could do about it. We had trusted our lives to Tali's skills and now there was another wrinkle to it. We all trusted Shepard, but even so there was a nervous sort of resentment to the knowledge.

I can't imagine what it would feel like for someone who wasn't expecting it; someone who wasn't loyal. Like a gnawing pit opening up beneath them unexpectedly, perhaps. It would certainly be enough to throw someone off their game.

'The gate is open. moving forward.' Tali announced as we cleared the room.

The worry was there of course; worry for a friend; a squadmate. But we all knew Shepard. We all trusted Shepard. So we weren't afraid in any serious sense of the word.

Our lives were in Shepard's hands, and all of us, even Kaidan, felt sure that Shepard wouldn't spend them foolishly.

_________________

2185 CE

'One more valve to go, Shepard. You know the drill.' Tali radioed in as we entered the last room. I didn't like it. The whole thing was shaped like an amphitheater with the locked door to the rendezvous point at the very bottom of it. The controls thereto weren't visible; but we all knew that wherever it was Tali would reach it far begore we ever could.

There was cover at the bottom of the room, but a waist high barricade was piss poor protection when all your enemies had the high ground on almost all sides.

'That's a fucking deathtrap.' Jack cursed.

'Looks like the ventilation shaft opens right there in that kill zone.' Kaidan observed.

'Fuck.' Jack agreed.

'Fuck indeed, Jack. Fuck indeed.' I agreed.

'Okay. I know how to handle this.' Garrus decided, activating his comms.

'Tali, your vent empties out into a kill zone. We can't defend it long term, so we're going to grab a defensible location as near as we can. Warn us before you get out and we'll be there to cover you as you head for the door, okay?' Garrus ordered.

'Yeah. I can do that.' Tali agreed

Garrus turned to us.

'We're gonna take that right corner of the room. It's closest to Tali's tube, it minimizes the distance we'll need to cross. When I give the signal advance to the cover at the bottom of the room and hold until the door opens.' Garrus ordered.

We breached cover shooting, choosing a path towards our preferred corner. The Collectors streamed in quickly as we dashed for the goal; the bright blue actinic discharge of our shields defending us from their shots until we could get to cover.

The Collectors were starting to fill up the room at an unsustainable pace. Unsustainable for us, anyway. I just hoped it was also unsustainable for them.

'You know, next time someone offers to pay me to go on a suicide mission I think I'll say no.' Kasumi uncloaked already in cover as I arrived.

I snorted as Kaidan arrived beside us, tossing a biotic throw behind him and taking a second to recharge his barriers.

'Hear that, Kaidan? Suicide missions. Just say no.' I teased.

'Krell, no shuttle could possibly be worth all this, right?' Kaidan complained.

He seemed to lack perspective. Well, that was easily remedied!

'You know, you're right.' I agreed.

'I am?' Kaidan asked, shocked as he fired his pistol over the barricade.

'Yeah. I gave you a chance to enjoy some of the best fights in the Galaxy, and a chance to save your race from destruction by a vastly technologically superior foe interested in turning you all into their toys because of your prowess in battle. That really is worth far more than my shuttle, isn't it?' I pointed out, subtly, as I handed him some overload discs from my belt pouch full of them.

'Well, when you put it that way...' Kaidan trailed off, accepting the armaments.

'When I put it that way what, Kaidan?' I asked, tossing another overload disc over the cover at the oncoming drones.

'Oh look, Krell! There's Tali! What a wonderful distraction.' Kaidan finished dully, as he joined me throwing his own discs.

'You've finally given up pining for Shepard then? I cannot support you in this suit. I have pledged Garrus my support prior to your asking.' I let Kaidan down, gently.

'What? No! That's not what I meant at all, Krell!' Kaidan protested.

My worst fears were realized. Kaidan took my refusal so badly that he's denying his suit ever existed! Revealing his crush ended up becoming so awkward that he's just going to pretend it never happened!

I frown. Maybe I've gone too far in teasing Kaidan. But it would be really awkward to try and talk him through the experience.

Damn it! If only there were a conveniently timed distraction!

'Alright! Everybody in traveling order. Hug the wall. Get to cover quickly.' Garrus ordered just as I needed a convenient distraction!

He really was perfectly suited to command.

___________

Author's Notes: Pat Benatar is really underrated. So, there are 42 Chapters (more or less) in the ME2 arc (including ME1 chapters, I'm too busy to count how many of those there were). That's with me speeding through fight scenes, by the way. I can write a lot better fight scenes than this (and indeed I did so in the Kaidan mission), but the focus here isn't to write a really satisfying fight scene, it's to write a fun action sequence that builds up to a satisfying fight scene at the end.

There's a trade off with these chapters in terms of what you can accomplish. a good fight scene takes a lot of words to write. It also takes a lot of choreography and physical detail. Those physical details run in direct opposition to banter. Banter needs to flow freely. It doesn't work if one guy says one thing, then there's five paragraphs of physical detail before the snappy response.

The Collector Base assault lets me focus on what missions look like without Shepard in them, with a large cast of squadmates in a large group. Because of that, I decided to prioritize banter and character interaction. Does that make the fight scenes worse? Absolutely. But hopefully it makes the chapters more enjoyable and humorous instead of a dense slog of extremely detailed fight scenes. There's a danger here that the Collector Mission is going to feel like a log And the way to fix that is to severely abbreviate the fights. Each fight can, theoretically be summed up with a sentence or two.

I'm trying to strike a balance here and I don't think I've got it quite down yet. The Marvel films actually strike that balance really well, and for all the flack they get nowadays on the internet, that's incredibly hard to do. I'm writing this story to challenge myself and improve my skills, so inevitably I'm going to find areas where I'm not up to where I think I need to be. Finding those areas is, in some respects, the entire point of doing this.

I think in these sorts of cinematic fight scenes are a weakness of mine which I'm going to have to address through practice. Luckily, ME3 is going to give me a lot of freedom to try and work on them. Since I'm not releasing any of that until it's finished; I can spend the time I need to make them land better.

As a final note, in ME1, Kaidan has no powers other than Biotics (he can do shit like Stasis, but he can't use anything else but Biotics and pistols). In ME3 Kaidan has Reave, Overload, and Cryoblast. That implies that he spent his time in ME2 not just practicing and getting better with his biotics, but also learning enough about tech and engineering to be useful as a combat engineer. Honestly, it's really impressive and I just wish that the actual narrative in ME3 had, you know, mentioned it at all.
 
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