On the shuttle to Admiral Hackett's ship, Liara attempted and failed to meditate. They hadn't beaten the Reapers as assumed. The crucible had been a dud, giving them only a temporary reprieve, and the Citadel was gone now too. Who knew where the Reapers had taken it. Shepard's death was for nothing. Or maybe she had been captured and that's what the dream meant; Shepard twisted and indoctrinated to be a tool of the Reapers. That would be worse than killing her. All Liara's attempts to meditate ended in a vision of the Shepard husk reaching for her.
Liara hid her face in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut against tears that kept threatening. Her whole body thrummed with pent up biotic energy and a need to lash out at anything or everything, to rip the world apart for its unrelenting cruelty. If she could face one of the Reapers now, she felt certain she could burn it to the ground on her own.
When she looked up, Liara saw Tali watching her. "You look ready for a fight."
"I don't want to, but we might not have a choice. I don't know how long we'll have to regroup."
"It's just like Javek said it was in his cycle, war and battle after battle until they wipe us out. Just fear and death."
"It won't be like that," Liara said, but her words lacked conviction. "What do I know?"
"I trust you to figure it out. You always figure it out."
"No. No I don't. I wasted time and resources on the crucible, then sent us all on a pointless chase across the galaxy to get the catalyst. If I hadn't, maybe we would have had more ships, more people to fight." Liara put her face back in her hands. "What do I know?"
"You know that wouldn't have made a difference," Tali told her. "Not enough to win this war."
Liara looked up and gave her a tired smiled. "It's all a delaying tactic now. We need time to record what we know, preserve our knowledge and hide it away where the Reapers won't find it." She had to make sure that contingency plan continued forward. She could put all the Shadow Broker's resources, her resources, toward it. Maybe in the next cycle they can use what we've learned, start earlier, and prevent this.
Cortez called from the front of the shuttle, "Liara, we're ready to dock."
"Thank you, lieutenant."
Kaiden waited for them in the landing bay and stepped forward as shuttle hatch opened.
"Liara, welcome aboard."
"Thank you, Kaiden."
"The admiral is waiting for us in the conference room. The last representative should be here any moment."
As he finished another shuttle came in to land. Before it even stopped, its hatch slid open and Wrex jumped the last two metres to the deck.
"Liara! Kaiden!" His voice boomed. "Back together again. That was a hell of a fight wasn't it, but Shepard kicked their asses. I didn't think some scrawny, human female could do it, but damn, she was one hell of a warrior."
Liara turned away.
"Did anyone tell you she died?" Kaiden asked.
"Yeah, I know that. But she died taking down the worst enemy this galaxy has ever seen. That's a hell of a way to go. Wish it could have been me. They'd be building statues with this handsome face on them."
In that moment, Liara also wished it had been Wrex. Anything to have Shepard back.
"So what am I here for? The message from Hackett was pretty mysterious."
"I can let him tell you that," Kaiden said.
Kaiden led them to the conference room near the command center. Admiral Hackett greeted them. In the room were representatives from the Asari fleet, several of the Quarian admirals, Geth mobile platforms, and Turians. He activated the holo display. In it the broken mass effect relay floated. He zoomed in until it showed a reaper amongst the debris pieces.
Gasps and curses came from the assembled crowd.
"That's right," Hackett said. "We fought and sacrificed much; thousands dead and lost. We won a temporary victory, a break in the fight. And I have to ask all of you to fight again. As an old Earth playwright once said, 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more'."
"Or close up the wall with our English dead."
Liara turned and saw Samara recite the line, to the humans' surprise.
"It was a good play," she said. "And appropriate for now. Let us hope the battle turns out the same way for us."
"I don't give a shit about any play. But I'm all for a fight," Wrex said. "When do we get to it?"
Primarch Victus stepped forward. "The Turians will fight."
Admiral Raan exchanged a glance with Admiral Koris, who nodded. "The Quarian heavy fleet will fight," Raan said in a tired voice.
"The Geth will offer any assistance necessary," said one of the mobile platforms.
"Thank you. I'm proud to call you allies," Hackett said. "We are gathering intelligence, prepare your fleets. As soon as you are all able to report readiness, we'll move out.
I'm never going to get that drink." Liara overheard Garrus say as the Turian answered Primarch Victus' summons. Tali walked to where Raan and Koris stood discussing something with the Geth before all of them walked out. Wrex left them to make plans for troop transport. With their companions leaving to their races' ships, Kaiden and Liara stood alone in the conference room.
"Everyone going their own way. It feels a lot like the first time we lost her." Kaiden said.
"It does. And we don't even get time to mourn." Liara fought for control over her emotions.
"No."
The silence stretched out and moments passed. When she looked up, she saw Kaiden's eyes were bright and knew he too was on the edge of self-control.
"Liara, I don't think I ever told you, but when we were chasing Saren down and both you and I were making a play for Shepard… I want to tell you that I was happy for you two."
"That's a very kind thing to say. And not easy."
"I mean I was envious as hell at first. But seeing you two together, I knew you really did love each other. And you made her happy."
"It seems like such as short time now." Her voice cracked as she spoke. "And what did I do when she came to me on Ilium? Instead of helping her—" Liara's control broke and the tears came. Damn it, she cursed herself. Pull yourself together.
"I did the same. I'm not sure she ever told you, but when she came back, I met her on Horizon. All I could see was her working for Cerberus. I should have trusted it was really her. After everything we'd been through, I wish I could have done that."
"Thank you for telling me. I never knew that." Liara wiped her eyes then put her hand on his shoulder. "She wouldn't have held it against you."
"And do you think she held Ilium against you?" Kaiden asked.
"No. No, that wasn't her. I needed the reminder."
"Looks like it's time to go," Kaiden said, looking past her.
She turned and saw Admiral Hackett approaching.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but, Major Alenko, we need to discuss plans. And Doctor T'Soni, Matriarch Lidanya would like to speak to you."
"Thank you, Admiral."
"Liara, good luck," Kaiden said, and Liara heard the finality in it. The war would be over for them soon. Hopefully others could carry on the fight. She looked at the hand he held out to shake in the human gesture for hello and farewell. Instead she put her arms around him in a hug.
"Good luck, Kaiden. You were a good friend to Jane, and you're a good friend to me. Take care." She turned and left. The Matriarch waited for her.