Jane walked down the darkened corridor, never letting her left hand to stray too far from her pistol that was holstered on her thigh. She had been doing this for a long time and knew to always be ready for the worst. Her line of work didn't really allow her to business with what one would call trustworthy people.
I don't need to trust them, just their credits.
She smiled at the thought as she arrived at the end of the long hallway. The door in front of her was closed, the panel glowed red indicating that it was locked.
Great.
She crossed her arms and leaned back on her back leg as she looked up at a camera expectantly. Then she heard a voice echo from the ship's comm.
"Are you the one?" The voice asked simply, the camera above her head was swiveling about trying to get a better look at her.
"No, I'm the fucking pizza guy," She replied while rolling her eyes with contempt. "We are out in the middle of nowhere. I had to travel for six days and make eight relay jumps just find this tin can you call a ship. I know you aren't getting any other visitors," She continued while glaring at the camera.
Idiot.
"You didn't answer the question. You have one more chance or I vent that corridor, this isn't a fucking game," the voice replied angrily.
"Fine, yes I'm the one. Now open the damn door!" She replied resignedly while pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Enter," the voice replied as the door hissed open, revealing the ships main control room.
She walked forward through the doorway and found a man standing alone the center of the room. Along the edge of the circular room, there was at least fifteen mercenaries, including to her disgust several batarians, all with their guns trained on her.
Fucking batarians. You guys are lucky I'm getting offered a lot of creds here or you'd already be dead.
"Welcome to my ship, I hope you understand my precaution," The man in the center of the room said, gesturing to the mercenaries around them. In person his voice was much smoother than what she'd heard over the comm.
"Yeah, nice manners. Love being welcomed by firing squad," Jane hissed sarcastically.
"You're the best in the business so I hear, and I have to assume that you are here trying to collect a bounty on me," the replied casually.
"Whatever, just tell me who to shoot. Half the creds up front, or I walk," she said as she glared around the room at all the guns trained on her.
"Fine, fine. Take this datapad, it contains all the info on your target, although I think you know him," the man said with a menacing grin.
Frowning, she reached out a grabbed the datapad from the man's hands. The she nearly dropped it when she saw the picture of her target. Tall, built, he would be nearly 6' 4 now, easily. His face possessed those piercing blue eyes that stared down potential Alliance recruits on nearly every one of their recruiting posters. The flaming blonde hair, short on the sides but longer on the top so he could still style it. He looked just like her father, the same way she looks just like their mother. Her own blood red hair, and rather small physique wouldn't even suggest that they were related. On the top of the picture read his name. Commander John Shepard.
She looked up at the man in front of her, he was smiling now, bright and warm. "Who are you?" she asked weakly.
This guy knows I'm his sister, the way he was smiling before… No one should know who I am!
"My name is Elanus Haliat. I have a debt that needs to be settled with the illustrious Commander Shepard, as I believe you do… Miss Shepard," He replied, making sure to emphasize her name.
She looked back down at her brother's photo, and felt her blood begin to boil. She hadn't seen him in years. He was always so…perfect. Everything he did, he was always the best at it. She was "Shep's little sis", always in his shadow. Whether it was by her parents, her friends, her teachers, it didn't matter- she was always treated as second-best. It didn't matter that she was the Valedictorian, because Johnny did it first. It didn't matter that she was a top-ranked soccer player, because Johnny was the Captain of the Wrestling team. It didn't matter that she passed her officer's exam with flying colors, because Johnny achieved N7-designation the same weekend. He was so focused on success that he turned his back on them. Always her parent's favorite, she doubted to this day that their father even saw it coming. The hero of Elysium, killing his own father in cold blood to advance his career.
Oh yes, I believe that I do have a debt that needs to be repaid.
"I'll take care of it on one condition," she said not moving her eyes from the datapad.
"Yes?" Haliat asked, his eyebrows arching questioningly.
"I do this alone, no batarians," she spat as she raised he face from the datapad and glared at one of the aforementioned aliens.
"Of course, I will wire 250,000 credits to your account," He replied with a grin.
Nodding, she turned away from Haliat and began her long trek back to the docking tube. She had her mission, one that she'd been waiting a long time for.
Going to be quite the family reunion Johnny. Wonder what traitor the Alliance will laud next when I put a round through your skull at a hundred meters.
Liara followed the human up the stairs. She rubbed her hands nervously as she walked.
Goddess he's large… and the way his crew looked at me, they think I'm a traitor. Where is he leading me, the brig? Do human ships even have a brig?
Liara was snapped out of her thoughts by the hissing of the door at the top of the staircase and followed the Commander through quietly. She followed him as they turned left and entered another room. It was mostly gray, and very large. The predominate feature was several chairs arranged in a circle.
A meeting room?
She blinked out of her thoughts and realized that the Commander had gestured for her to take a seat, without a word. She quickly did and watched as he sat down next to her. He folded his hands onto his lap and looked at her for a second, as if sizing her up. It made her kind of nervous, he didn't look particularly happy. Then, he surprised her for not the first time that day.
"Dr. T'Soni, it is good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?" The Commander asked, his face showing what appeared to be genuine concern.
Or at least I think that is concern. Goddess, I can't read him!
"Um- yes I'm feeling a lot better actually. You physician was very nice, I was impressed by her knowledge of asari physiology," she stammered, and chanced a smile. She was pleased to see that he visibly relaxed and returned it warmly.
"Chakwas is the best, you're in good hands," he replied while nodding fervently.
How am I in anyone's hands? Is that one of those stupid human idioms I've read about?
"Um, yes, I'm pretty sure I agree," she replied slowly, still smiling slightly. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you Commander. It is likely I would have died down there if your team hadn't shown up," she said and felt herself visibly shake at the thought.
"It was my pleasure Doctor, I'm just happy you're ok," the human replied with what appeared to Liara to be sincere happiness.
Not what I expected from a human I've always heard they were a aggressive species. Goddess, since I've met him he has succeeded in carrying me out of a volcano and taking the time to ensure I was feeling ok. Maybe I should begin making my own judgments on his species?
She once again shook her head to clear her thoughts, and noticed to her embarrassment that it had gotten uncomfortably quiet. "Oh, sorry Commander, I was lost in my thoughts," she said quickly, and felt her face flush.
Great, now he thinks you're an idiot!
"Anyway," she continued quickly, noticing that he was smirking at her now purple face. "I wish to assist you in any way I can with your investigation," she finished with more confidence then she necessarily felt.
"Thank you Doctor, I really appreciate that. I know this is probably very hard for you," the Commander replied as he rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
The effect of the small gesture was immediate. She felt her insecurities recede and her confidence grow ten-fold. It was at that moment she realized that he hadn't saved her because he needed to, it was because he wanted to. The distinction made her smile radiantly at the Commander before she spoke.
"My knowledge of the Protheans could be useful on your mission Commander, I also am an accomplished biotic, and received some Commando training when I was young" she said with confidence she definitely now felt.
"I'm sure it will. We will have to have a meeting later with the rest of my ground team to decide our next move, I will debrief you then, we will need to know everything you know about Benezia's involvement with Saren," He said lightly, still smiling warmly.
"Yes Commander, that won't be a problem," she said seriously, although she could feel her heart rate jump up at the mention of her mother.
"Good, and you can call me Shepard, Doctor," he said as he stood up from his chair.
Taking the cue, she rose as well and faced him. A grin plastered on her face. "Only if you call me Liara."
Shepard laughed at this. She noticed how perfect his laugh was. Clear, rich, and completely carefree. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed like that.
"You drive a hard bargain, Liara," he emphasized her name for effect. To her surprise she felt her heart flutter at the sound of him saying her name. It was strange, but wonderful. She hadn't really felt that before.
Stop it! You met him six hours ago! What are you, some little girl with a crush? You don't know anything about him!
However, he interrupted her with a question. "You said you were a biotic?" His eyebrows were arched as if they themselves had asked her the question.
"Yes why?" She asked, and watched his face light up with an idea.
"I think I know how to introduce you to our crew, and maybe put a certain Lieutenant in his place if we're lucky," he said as his smile turned into a scheming grin.
