The Old Guard

WARNING, The following contians spoliers for Mass Effect 2, read at your own risk.

The cracks and whines of beam weaponry echoed throughout the cavernous interior of the Collectors base, the blazing projectiles lighting up the cave-like space like a lethal light-show or firework display.
Commander Alex Shepard knelt behind the metal façade of one of the stations floating platforms, calmly listening for a lull in the Collectors fire, despite his calm façade however; tremors of nervousness shook him on the inside. 'Can't let that show' he thought, 'nobody follows a scared leader, I just have to plough right through them. Just like Elysium…'
The chatter of beam weaponry dulled somewhat, and without wasting a second Shepard rose up from cover, aimed his rifle, and fired a five-round-burst into the chest of an unprepared Collector. The insectoid alien gave a gurgling screech and fell backward, its weapon firing uselessly at the darkened ceiling. Shepard shifted his aim towards another Collector, but was beaten to the punch as the aliens head exploded in a splash of greenish-gray ichors.
"Well, that one is definitely dead." Said a calm flanging voice that was slightly laced with sarcasm.
Shepard fell back into cover as the Collectors resumed firing, and was both surprised and pleased to see that Garrus Vakarian had taken cover next to him. "Nice of you to join me Garrus, good shot by the way."
The battle-scarred Turian grinned, "I try."
"Did you get a head-count on the enemy before you ran over here?"
Garrus nodded. "Yes, excluding the two we just bagged, there are approximately twelve Collectors spread out over two forward platforms. Three-fourths of them are Drones; the other four is a mix of guardians and assassins. Plenty of them for the three of us."
Suddenly, one of the forward platforms exploded in a storm of fire, molten metal, and cooked Collector flesh. The wrecked platform then plummeted back down into the depths of the control room with a weird scream of wrecked metal, taking about half of the attacking Collectors down with it.
Garrus and Shepard gave each other surprised looks. "That wasn't you, was it?" they asked each other cautiously.
"Hardly," said an oddly mechanical voice on Shepards left. "It takes a lot more than just sitting on your ass to disable a platforms propulsion system and overload its reactor core you know…"
Shepard looked over his shoulder to see the helmeted face of Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. "Good to see you too Tali."
"Likewise Shepard," she said, her voice conveying an invisible smile.
"How the hell did you do that?" asked Garrus, sounding impressed.
Tali shrugged. "I just cut a few wires, overloaded a few systems, and taped a few grenades close to the reactor core… Easy stuff for a Quarian when you guys are busy busting heads."
"Sounds good enough for me," said Shepard, "How many of them are left?" he asked Garrus.
Garrus peeked over the edge of his cover, casting an analytical eye over the enemies' position. "Seven I think, all well entrenched. I doubt you'll be able to hack their platform Tali."
Tali shook her head. "Not a problem," she said, holding up a small metal sphere. "Little Chikktita here can chase them out of cover."
Shepard gave her quizzical look. "Little who?"
"Chikktita," said Tali, slowly growing more and more embarrassed "My…combat drone…"
Garrus snorted. "You named your combat drone?"
"It's a good drone!" Tali protested, "It survived Haestorm, the Alarei, and the Heretic station! That's pretty impressive considering the average drone lifespan!"
In spite of their dire situation, Shepard found himself grinning and shaking his head. "That's nice Tali, could you teach to roll over too? Or perhaps fetch me some more ammo?"
Tali narrowed her silver eyes. "Oh, shut up Shepard. Mr. He-Who-Names-His-Space-Hamster "Ash"."
Shepard paled as Garrus laughed. "A space hamster named Ash you say?" said the Turian wryly. "As in our old friend Ashley Will-"
"This conversation is over." Shepard said forcefully. "Tali, leave Ash out of this."
Although it was difficult to to tell, Tali seemed to be smiling vindictively under her opaque visor. "You leave Chikktita alone and I'll leave Ash alone, simple as that Commander."
"Fine…bitch." Said Shepard, muttering the last part under his breath.
Garrus, who had been grinning throughout the entire conversation, suddenly frowned. "Hold on a second. If nobody goes into the Commanders quarters without his explicit permission… how did you know he has a space hamster?"
Tali and Shepard gave each other awkward looks. "Well crap," said Shepard. "This is going to be awkward..."
"How so?" asked Garrus obliviously. Moments later, the truth hit him, causing his avian eyes to widen. "Oh, no way! You two!? You can't be serious!"
"Sorry Garrus," Tali said sheepishly. "We really should've told you…"
"Damn right you should have!" Garrus said angrily, "Actually, on second thought, don't tell me a damn thing… Nobody really does anyway…"
"Aww Garrus…" Tali said sympathetically. "I'd give you a hug, but that might get one of us shot."
"I can hug him for you." Shepard said jokingly.
Garrus chuckled. "You can be such an ass Shepard…"
Shepard shrugged. "Hey, your conversation about "flexibility" and "reach" inspired me to expand my horizons. You should be proud."
"Flexibility and reach?" Tali said curiously. "What are you two talking about?..."
"Absolutely nothing." Garrus said quickly. "Why are we talking about this anyways? We're supposed to be saving the universe! Not talking about…intimate…things…"
Shepard grinned, "Well said Garrus," he said, slamming a new thermal clip into his rifle. "Let's get back to work."