Doctor Liara T'Soni wiped her brow as she turned off the mining laser she was using to help her excavate some Prothean ruins on Therum. The young asari preferred the cooler climate of her home, Thessia, to the oppressive heat of the volcanic planet she was working on. One thing Therum was good for though was solitude. Liara was socially awkward at best and threw herself into her work so as to avoid the social trappings associated with being Matriarch Benezia's daughter.
Speaking of Benezia, Liara had not spoken to her mother in months. Not since they had gotten into that fight back on Thessia over Benezia's decision to become a partner of sorts with the Turian Spectre Saren Arterius. Liara kept up with the galactic news enough to know that Saren had been stripped of his Spectre status and was now being hunted down by the first ever Human Spectre. A female Systems Alliance Soldier by the name of...Shepard. This Shepard was undoubtedly also looking for Benezia. Liara made a mental note to call her mother and convince her to turn herself in and cooperate with the Council when she heard a noise above her.
On the platform above Liara was a geth rocket trooper and some Krogan mercenaries. Saren. That was the logical conclusion; Saren had sent men to find her. Liara flared her biotics tentatively before making a mad dash for the Prothean ruins she had unearthed; there was a security device she could enable there. The Krogan mercs smiled at her as they closed in on her, she was just as easy a target as they had been told. Liara desperately enabled the security field only to find that the device didn't work quite the way she had anticipated.
Liara was being held several feet in the air, immobile, by a blue energy field similar to her biotics. A barrier thankfully stood between her and the now irritated mercs.
"Don't worry Doc," one of them snarled. "We'll find a way around." He gestured his head towards the other end of Liara's dig site and his companions followed him, he was clearly in charge.
Liara unlike many of her Asari sisters was not a soldier. Though every Asari had biotic talents Liara had spent more time focused on her studies than strengthening her biotics. She had never been a situation at a dig site that she couldn't handle with her biotics and some quick thinking…until now.
Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams double checked her Thunder Assault Rifle as Commander Shepard drove the Mako across the ashy surface of the planet where they were hoping to find Matriarch Benezia's daughter. Ashley's rifle hadn't been cleaned properly on their last mission a few days ago on Noveria and had jammed right as the Matriarch slammed Commander Shepard with a biotic blast that hurled her so hard into the wall that the glass in her facemask shattered, cutting up her face. Thanks to a heavy application of medi-gel the wounds were just bright pink scars now.
"Think she knows her mother is dead?" Ashley asked.
"No idea, Chief," Shepard shrugged as they came to a halt. A passage too narrow for the Mako to fit through sat before them. "Hopefully not, I don't think she would be too keen to help the woman who killed her mother."
"What if she's working with her mother," Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko asked.
"Don't make any assumptions Alenko," Shepard warned as she led the way down the path. "You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar."
"Aye, Aye, Ma'am," Kaidan agreed.
Shepard and the others quickly dispatched the geth they ran into on their way to the dig site. "Hope Saren's men didn't get to her first," Shepard commented as they waited for the elevator to come back up.
"Dare you to spit over the side," Ashley said.
"Chief that is so juven-," Kaidan stopped short when Commander Shepard did in fact spit over the side.
"As you were LT," Shepard clapped him on the back as she got into the elevator.
Liara was beginning to think she would never get out when she heard footsteps headed her way. "Please, somebody help me. I'm trapped and I need help."
"Doctor Liara T'Soni?" a human woman with fresh scars on the left side of her face asked. When Liara nodded the woman continued. "I am Commander Kasey Shepard of the Alliance, and a Council Spectre. Are you working with Benezia?"
"I am nothing like my mother, Commander," Liara snarled angrily. Though the woman had not come out and said it she was basically accusing her of being just as bad as Saren. "Saren's men are after me, isn't that proof enough?"
"Don't worry Dr. T'Soni," Shepard said. "We'll get you out of there."
"The shut off switch it over there," Liara inclined her head to the console to her left.
"On it," Shepard nodded before heading in the same direction as the mercs from earlier.
A few minutes later Commander Shepard and her two human companions were in. "How did you get here?" Liara asked astonished at the male who introduced himself as Lieutenant Alenko deactivated the security field.
"The mining laser you were using," Shepard said. "It made a nice hole underneath here."
Rock began to shift. "Time to leave," Chief Williams barked as they all headed to the rear elevator.
"Joker," Shepard radioed over her comm. "Zero in on my signal, on the double mister!"
The mercenaries from earlier were waiting in the elevator for them. The Krogan who was clearly in charge opened his mouth to speak when something landed at his feet. A few seconds later and the grenade exploded, killing him and several others instantly. "I don't have time for this," Shepard said as she aimed her rifle at the geth troopers now firing at them.
The planet was crashing down around them; Liara wasn't in the kind of shape for this. Commander Shepard turned around and saw her lagging behind and ran back for her. "Come on Doc, you can rest later," Shepard practically lifted Liara into the air as she ran to the Normandy.
Liara couldn't believe it; this human had come into contact with actually working Prothean technology. In order to help the Commander further she offered to meld her consciousness with the Commander's, to make sense of the images the Commander had seen. Regrettably, the information was distorted and of no use to either of them, too many missing pieces. Kasey Shepard had a particularly strong will and the joining process was more exhaustive than Liara had anticipated and went to the medbay to be checked up on by Doctor Chakwas.
Commander Shepard came down about an hour later to check up on her. "Doctor Chakwas informs me that you'll be just fine."
"Yes," Liara agreed. "Her knowledge of Asari physiology is impressive. Commander, I just wanted to say that I appreciate you rescuing me. I will help you and try and convince my mother to help you."
Shepard stood a little straighter, if that were possible, she looked really apologetic. "Your mother did cooperate with us for a little while, Dr. T'Soni."
"What happened?" Liara asked.
"When was the last time you spoke with your mother, Doctor?" Shepard asked.
"It has been a few months since we have spoken. We fought over her wanting to partner with Saren," Liara admitted.
"Your mother was under Saren's control and attacked us. She was fatally wounded during our altercation but before she died she had a moment of lucidity and helped us. We're tracking down some leads. I am terribly sorry for your loss."
"Who killed her?" Liara asked, her biotics flaring as tears welled in her eyes.
The image of Ashley shooting the Matriarch after hurling Shepard across the room flashed before the Commander's eyes before she responded, "I did."
Liara cried out in anger and pain as her fist collided with the Commander's nose, a torrent of blood cascading down the Commander's face. Shepard was knocked hard enough back by Liara's biotics that she broke the door and tumbled into the medbay where Kaidan and Doctor Chakwas were talking.
"Shepard, are you alright?" Kaidan asked as he helped the Commander to her feet.
"I'm fine," Shepard said as she grabbed a paper towel and tried to staunch the flow of blood.
"Should I make arrangements for Dr. T'Soni?" Kaidan asked.
"That won't be necessary," Shepard said as Doctor Chakwas went about mending her broken nose. "See to it that if she needs any assistance making arrangements for her mother's body that she has it Lieutenant."
"Aye, aye, Ma'am."
Liara was surprised that the Commander reacted the way she did. Liara knew she shouldn't have hit Shepard and she was sorry but she was hurting and didn't know what else to do. She retreated into the office that Doctor Chakwas had agreed to let her use as her own private quarters.