The Possessed
From FABT
A prothean Immortal, an example of a Possessed Collector. | |
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The Possessed, also known as the Augments, is a term used to describe a husk that has been transformed and augmented by a Reaper when it seizes personal control over the husk, allowing them to direct it personally and attributing the husk with upgraded abilities that it would not normally possess or be capable of possessing on its own. The traits of a Possessed differ from husk to husk, as the augmented aspects of the husk being possessed entirely depend on its original capabilities: these augmented husks are considered "evolved" variants, more powerful than the original but only lasting half as long as a result of the degenerative nature of the possession and the toll it takes on the body. Possession places enormous stress on the husk's cybernetic implants, boosting them into overdrive, resulting in the husk's augmentations being temporary, an ad-hoc arrangement before the husk's body ultimately breaks down and disintegrates, which is why a possessed husk, either after being killed or after they've served their purpose, will break down into a pile of ash, as their body collapses at a cellular level. Whilst possessed however, an augmented husk is extremely dangerous, capable of turning even the weakest cannon fodder into a deadly combatant through possession alone. Possession is often confused with super husks, which uses a similar system in which a Reaper takes direct control of a minion, although the difference lies in that possession requires minimal power from a Reaper and can only be done on a husk, whereas a super husk requires a more powerful signal that can super-transform an implanted victim into a husk without need for a dragon's tooth: this process is far more dangerous for the Reaper however, as it requires them to divert enormous amounts of power to maintain the signal, and a super husk killed whilst the Reaper is in this state can cause a feedback loop that will cripple the Reaper, leaving it vulnerable to attack: such an instance occurred to Sovereign during the Battle of the Citadel in 2183 CE when his super huskified puppet, Saren Arterius, was killed by the Normandy Squad. This process is rarely used, with possession effectively replacing it as a lower risk alternative and more easily usable method of seizing control of a husk on the battlefield.
The characteristics of a possession change depending on the Reaper performing it, but the general transformation is the same. When a possession begins, the Reaper utilizes the indoctrination signal to hijack a husk's mind, imposing an overdrive of its implants, causing the husk enormous pain and agony as its augmentations flair up, producing immense heat and radiation in the process: this heat and the explosive energy produced cause fissures and cracks to appear in a husk's exoskeletal structure, reminiscent of magma, and the heat and radiation build up continues until the possession is completed, activating secondary implants that are only triggered during the possession: this heat and radiation buildup continues to simmer over time, leading to cellular breakdown and the eventual disintegration of the husk's body, but during this time the Reaper is able to personally direct the husk at will, using it as a puppet and making it far stronger, faster, capable of advanced tactical and strategic thought, and even making use of abilities not normally available to the husk such as, with certain husks, the ability to temporarily summon biotics. The eyes of a Possessed husk will grow brightly with the chosen color of the Reaper inhabiting it (for example, husks possessed by Harbinger have an orange glow), and it overall becomes a far more dangerous adversary in combat. Examples of possessed husks included Abominations, an augmented variant of the standard human husk seen in the asari cycle, whose fragile bodies succumb faster to the disintegration of their bodies, which the Reapers decided to turn into a weapon, making abominations into walking bombs, the colossal buildup of radiation and energy allowed to explode when an abomination reached a victim. The Immortal was the possessed form of a Collector, possessing improved shields, tougher physical resistance and strength, and limited biotic power, and were almost always created by Harbinger. Each type of husk could be possessed, each with their own unique abilities and strengths, all extremely dangerous. Due to the volatile nature of a possessed, and the fact they broke down not long after being created, allied forces were never able to capture any for study, and husks captured with the implants were unable to have their implants triggered in the way the Reapers could, as the signal required was long gone, and such efforts were abandoned post-Reaper War.
The only known case of a Reaper not just being able to possess a husk over a long period of time, but using it as a conduit to control other husks, was with Harbinger and the Collectors, in which the Reaper leader possessed the Collector General for two years from 2183 CE to 2185 CE in order to direct the Collector campaign, and using the Collector General as a conduit from which to possess individual Collector soldiers on the battlefield, turning them into Immortals from which Harbinger could personally survey the situation, command local Collector forces and interact with its enemies or oversee abducted colonists. This was extremely irregular for the Reapers, as the Collector General was largely entrusted to follow Reaper orders blindly and therefore did not needed to be directly controlled, and Harbinger taking personal control represented a significant switch in Reaper strategy at the time. In a particularly unique case, the Leviathans were able to use their own form of possession to seize control of small amounts of surviving Collector forces during the latter stages of the Reaper War, and this group of defecting Collectors joined the UGC, forming their own faction known as the Awakened. These Collectors were kept in a greatly prolonged state of possession, one which could last months instead of minutes/hours, in due part to the superior and more refined form of indoctrination the Leviathans used compared to the cruder version wielded by the Reapers. This effectively turned every Awakened Collector into an Immortal, giving the UGC a small army of biotic-capable augmented Collectors to deploy for special operations, and most were present at the final Battle of London, wiped out in the conclusion of the conflict when the Crucible fired.