Graphic violence warning...if you don't want to read it, stop when you get to Aria T'Loak and her tunnels... and skip to the next chapter. Those who do read...I know different folks define "graphic" differently, so I'm curious as to if you think this deserves the graphic violence warning or not. Please advise. Appreciate the feedback.

Ch 4: The Gates of Hell

Aria growled at Bray, "What do you mean, they got away?"

Bray was used to the attitude and shrugged casually as he responded, "There was a Salarian. The Drell called him Tazzik; apparently a Shadow Broker enforcer. He stepped off the transport with a grenade launcher and caused a bit of a ruckus. By the time the dust settled, he and the Collector were on board and the ship was leaving the station."

Aria rose off her couch and took a step toward Bray and the Batarian raised his hands in a blocking motion. "Settle down. I placed a tracker on the ship as soon as we found it, so we know where it is and can guess where it's headed. Plus, the Drell had a ship that we are also tracking, and before they left he said he had the docking protocols and could get them to the Broker base. It's on Alingon and once they arrive, we'll have the exact coordinates. This isn't over yet."

Aria paced and thought about her options. "Damn it, Bray! I already have the fleet blockading the relay just in case this happened, but I had hoped for better results from you. Nothing, and I mean nothing, leaves this sector until we know for sure the Collectors do not have Shepard's body." Aria spun on Bray as she finished, "And then, you're going to blow the base on Alingon to hell or die trying. This is my domain. No one, not even the Shadow Broker, fucks with Omega."

Bray canted his head to the side, contemplating, and then responded simply, "Don't blame me for the results, I was never meant to be part of the fight. The lack of 'results' is on T'Soni, but as far as Alingon goes, you got it, Aria. And what about the Blue Suns?"

Aria flashed a feral grin. "Oh...I think perhaps they are due a change of leadership. Don't worry about that now. I'll take care of that...personally." She turned on her heal and returned to her couch, sitting leisurely and stretching her arms out to her sides across the back rest. Her eyes narrowed menacingly as she spoke, "Yes, I'll take pleasure in handling that task myself."

True to his word, Feron got the little ship onto the base; when they bypassed the outer defenses, the tension in the little ship dropped considerably. Against Riana's vocal disagreement, Liara decided the huntress would stay onboard and secure the ship, while Liara would pose as Feron's prisoner to get them to the Shadow Broker's data center. Feron was convinced the Broker would want to see the Asari in person, so after fitting Liara with a fake slave collar, they headed directly to the communications room, where a shadowy holo figure hovered in the center of the room. As they approached the doorway, Feron hesitated and looked at Liara. With a quick nod from her, he clipped the leash on her collar and dragged her toward the console. "Shadow Broker, I have brought you a gift."

A voice spoke, obviously scrambled to conceal the Broker's true identity. "Ah, Dr T'Soni. We finally meet. I must say, your interference has caused my agents no small amount of difficulty. You are very persistent. Too bad we are opponents instead of allies. I wonder why you are so adamant to pursue a corpse."

Liara's job was to keep the Broker distracted and talking while Feron logged into the system and found any and all available information pertaining to Shepard and the Collectors. Feron was pleasantly surprised; none of the data files had any type of user restrictions or security protocols, so accessing the Collector information was very easy. Unsure how long it would take and how much information was available, Liara just had to keep the Broker busy long enough for Feron to finish his download. She spoke slow and deliberate, pausing wherever she could for effect. "Shepard has many friends, and... we want her body returned. We simply cannot accept for her to just...disappear. That is not how... civilized... cultures deal with death."

The Broker chuckled. "I find that amusing, Dr T'Soni. Your blatant inference that I am not civilized. That could not be farther from the truth. I am merely a business man."

"What good business could it possibly be to sell a human corpse to something like the Collectors? The Collectors are a bane to our very existence!" Liara could not help but let her hatred shine through the tone of her words.

"The Commander is dead either way. Why should it matter to you? Let us just say, the Collectors gave me an offer I couldn't afford to pass up. You realize the extent of their technological lead on the rest of the galaxy, do you not? It would be negligent for someone in my position to not take advantage of that."

Liara almost spit her next words, "Sometimes a price is too high! Have you no conscience that you would sell the galaxy's future for a technology trinket that will do you no good when the Reapers come?"

At this point, Feron had downloaded all the data he needed, and signaled Liara by tugging on her leash and growling, "Watch your tone, slave!"

In accordance with their plan, Liara pulled on her biotics and completely destroyed the communications center in front of her. The Broker wouldn't be talking to anyone on this base for the near future. Feron moved to Liara and handed her the data disk as he unclipped the leash. He spoke quickly, "Liara, I know you still don't trust me, so I give the data to you in a hope you can believe that I would never have worked for the Collectors. I have nothing else but my word and my actions to prove this to you."

Liara looked at the data disk in her hand, then up at Feron. "I am not yet ready to forgive you... maybe after we get Shepard back. Where are we headed?"

Feron answered promptly. "The transaction is taking place at the docking bay of the base's north port. It's not far from here."

As they approached their destination they could hear Tazzik speaking, and as they entered they saw what they assumed to be a Collector. Liara breathed a sigh of relief as she realized the negotiations had not yet been completed, so the pod was still somewhere onboard. Feron grabbed Liara by the back of her collar and propelled her across the floor by the scruff of her neck, clipping the back of her legs and throwing her down to her hands and knees as they approached the Salarian. "Down, slave!" Feron then rolled his gaze to the enforcer, his voice level and controlled as he spoke, "Tazzik... Good to see my little diversion gave you time to get out of there. That grenade was awesome. It allowed me to eliminate the bodyguard and it stunned the little princess here enough that I was able to subdue her. The marvels of modern medicine...not very dangerous after I injected her with a biotic blocker and put a shock collar on her."

As Liara sat on the floor, breathing heavily, she surreptitiously surveyed the room. She did not see the pod, so assumed it was still on Tazzik's ship. She also assumed the being who Tazzik was speaking with was the Collector currently negotiating the trade. They had stopped speaking as soon as they saw Liara and Feron enter the room and Tazzik eyed the two newcomers suspiciously as he asked Feron, "Why have you come here?"

Feron laughed, "Oh, the Krogan on Omega told me the Broker was interested in the good Doctor and had some questions for her, but he's done with her. He gave her to me as a bonus, told me I could do whatever I wanted with her...as long as she was 'punished appropriately,' and ended up dead at the end." Feron leered lecherously, "I figured I'd keep her a while for some... entertainment... first. Without her biotics, she really is quite harmless. She'll learn her place soon enough."

Tazzik scowled in disgust. "That does not answer my question, Drell. Why are you HERE?"

Feron suddenly looked surprised, "Oh, right! Sorry...the Broker is having trouble with the station comms and wanted me to pass on that with all the trouble this deal has caused him, he wants all the money up front now, instead of half now, half later."

Tazzik tried to contact the Broker for confirmation, and realized communications really were down; all he got was static. Still, it felt odd that the Broker would send that message through the relatively newly hired Drell and not a more trusted station agent; he would have contacted Tazzik more directly, somehow. Just then the Collector spoke and reinforced his suspicions, "The Drell is lying. He is a traitor!"

This time, Liara was ready and waiting; as Tazzik started to raise his weapon, Liara slapped him with a stasis field, freezing him in place. Both she and Feron bolted for Tazzik's ship, not realizing the Collector was also armed. As the Collector pulled his weapon and fired, Feron and Liara ducked behind some crates. Feron looked at Liara and said, "Go! Take the ship! I will hold them here and give you a chance. It is the last thing in my power to give you, to make up for what I have done!"

Liara looked at Feron, not truly believing he was willing to sacrifice himself, but she had to gamble and took him at his word. Throwing a last warp at the Collector, Liara turned and ran into the ship; she punched the door locking control as soon as the hatch closed. She took a quick glance at the stasis pod, but did not waste any time getting to the cockpit. The arrogance of the Shadow Broker and his agents astounded the Asari; Tazzik also had no type of user restrictions or security on his ship controls, so it was easy for Liara to fire up the engines and make good her escape. As she departed Alingon, she signaled Riana to rendezvous at the Aletheia and Sellis to take the shuttle to Thessia; then she wondered if she would ever see the Drell again.

Once clear of the station, Liara entered the coordinates of the rendezvous point and instructed the VI to provide a ten-minute-out call. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then released it very slowly. She stood from the pilot's chair and slowly made her way to the side of the pod, her hands rested gently on the lid and she closed her eyes as she concentrated on trying to keep her body from trembling. Liara slowly steeled herself to open the pod. She told herself she would have to be quick. Open it, look, close, and reseal the pod as fast as she possibly could, but she had to verify the pod actually contained Shepard. Goddess help them if somehow there had been a miscommunication or deception and she had just stolen the wrong pod; the very thought terrified her.

The pod vented as she typed in the release commands; Liara's heart felt like it was ready to explode from her chest and her breath caught in her throat. She opened the lid and gasped at the sight of Shepard inside; she quickly closed the lid and reactivated the stasis before her legs gave out and she fell to her knees, finding it difficult to catch her breath. Based on the condition of the armor they had found on Alchera, she expected it to be bad, but nothing had prepared her for what she saw in that pod. Shepard's head, neck and upper left torso seemed relatively intact, but beyond that her body was utter ruin. The rest of her torso was nothing but charred remains, and her right arm was completely gone below the elbow, her right leg missing and left leg gone below the knee. Though Liara had only let herself look for an instant before resealing the pod, the image was permanently burned into her memory.

As the initial shock wore off, her body began to tremble uncontrollably and Liara heaved the entire contents of her stomach onto the deck. She slowly crawled over to some benches along the side wall and used them to support herself as she stood shakily to her feet. She forced herself to focus on the image of Shepard's head and took a few slow, steadying breaths; the Illusive Man had said if the brain was intact she could live again...so Liara thought about what she had seen. Shepard's face was darkened, as if she had been severely beaten and bruised, but not burned; her hair was singed on the edges but still the wonderful splash of Auburn in an otherwise black and white picture. Her helmet served its purpose and protected her head, so there was a good chance she could live again; Liara had to focus on that and deliver the pod as promised to the Cerberus rendezvous coordinates. She found her way to the bathroom on the little ship and rinsed her mouth before splashing water over her entire face to cool the heat and reduce the lingering clammy feeling from having thrown up. She went and cleaned the deck before returning to the bathroom to wash up and place a cold wet cloth on the back of her neck. When she heard the ten minute call, she toweled off her face and hands and made her way back to the pilot's chair.

While huntress Sellis was already on her way back to Thessia with the shuttle; both Feron's and Tazzik's ships floated in space next to the Aletheia. Liara directed Riana to dock Feron's ship first and once it was in the Aletheia's hangar, Judea performed a standard security sweep and notified Liara that it contained a tracking device. Liara directed the tracking device be removed and then instructed one of the commandos to take Feron's ship back to Thessia and park it in dry-dock storage until Liara could determine the Drell's fate. Once the commando was out of the hangar and on her way, Liara landed Tazzik's ship and directed Judea to pilot the Aletheia to the prearranged coordinates provided to them by Miranda Lawson, removing any tracking devices along the way.

Liara was hoping their destination would be Lazarus Station; she really wanted to know where Cerberus would attempt the impossible, but it was not to be. The coordinates turned out to be some backwater mining colony with a breathable atmosphere, where they could easily transfer the stasis pod between ships. Not knowing where they would be taking Shepard, Liara questioned her decision and reconsidered Garrus' arguments, but still seeing no other options, she and Riana grudgingly took the pod to the surface for the exchange. They downloaded the pod and Liara stood next to it, both hands firmly on the lid, once again her heart debating with her intellect over the decision she knew she had to make.

Miranda showed little compassion. "Dr T'Soni. I realize this is difficult, but you know it has to be done. You can take her home and bury her, or you can give her to us and we can do our best. Every delay lessens our chance of success."

Liara refused to let go just yet, still wanting some answers, some form of reassurance, "And what if your best isn't good enough? What will you do with her? Can you promise me you'll give her back to me, to give her a proper burial? Can you?"

Miranda rolled her eyes impatiently, "You know that's not possible, Doctor. The only way you will ever see Commander Shepard again is in living, breathing flesh and blood. I know we can do this. I just don't know how long it will take. It depends largely on her condition when we actually open the pod, and we're wasting time here."

"You know she hates Cerberus, don't you?" Liara made direct eye contact with Operative Lawson as she said, "Cerberus was responsible for the death of her father. She will never work for you."

Miranda shook her head. "Oh yes, we are aware of everything in her history. But she will work for us, Dr T'Soni. The Illusive Man can be very persuasive. And Commander Shepard has always been one to put duty first. She will see the necessity, and she will see our resources, and she will see that working with us is the only chance she has of stopping the Collectors and the Reapers. So yes, she will work for us. I guarantee it."

Liara's eyes flashed angrily at the thought of Cerberus manipulating Shepard into doing something that would tear her apart from the inside out. But she also realized the truth behind Miranda's words, and hated herself for it because she had no other options open. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes and stepped back from the stasis pod, praying to the Goddess that this was not the last thing she ever saw of Commander Samantha Shepard. She opened her eyes and looked at Lawson. "You take care of her, and if at all possible, I would like to know of your success..." Liara choked on her next words, "...or your failure."

Miranda waved to some technicians waiting in the background, and they moved forward to take the pod. As they hauled it to the Cerberus shuttle, Miranda gave one more qualifier to the transaction. "Not going to happen, Doctor. You'll just have to wait to see if we are successful. You will not be contacted again... and do not attempt to find Project Lazarus. You don't want to know the consequences if the project should somehow become...compromised, shall we say? This is your one and only warning. I don't make a habit of repeating myself."

Having just done Cerberus' dirty work and turned over the commander's body, Liara stood incredulous at Lawson's threat. Miranda simply turned and joined the stasis pod in the shuttle. As the door closed and the shuttle departed, Liara glared at it until it vanished from view; her omnitool beeped and indicated the tracer she had placed on the pod had been disabled...Liara was not in the least bit surprised, but knowing it was coming did nothing to soothe her anger.

Her mind and heart torn by a myriad of emotions, Liara turned to Riana, fuming. "Once this is over, if I ever see that woman again the Goddess herself won't be able to save her!"

Directing Riana back into the ship, Liara punched the door secure panel then turned to her companion, her eyes still simmered with anger but her voice was gentle. "Riana. Take us back to the Aletheia, please, then home to Thessia."

Liara sat alone in her cabin on the Aletheia. She had asked to be left undisturbed for the entire journey, and Riana stood outside her door to make sure her desires were followed. Liara sat on her bed and tried to focus on the various pictures she had of Shepard, looking for inspiration, but the pictures were impossible to see through the tears that streamed down her face. She truly wondered how Shepard kept going through all those missions while pursuing Saren. How did she keep feelings of hopelessness from becoming overwhelming? Even facing seemingly insurmountable odds, she somehow kept going and got the mission done. Liara needed to find that strength to continue and to honor Shepard's memory by not giving up. She squeezed her eyes tight against the stinging salt of her tears and her hand grasped the dog tags hanging around her neck until the metal edge dug painfully into her palm.

Her tears eventually stopped and by internalizing her pain, Liara's face slowly became an image of grim resolution. She would start by finding the Shadow Broker and figuring out what befell Feron; the Broker would rue the day he ever agreed to help the Collectors, and Shepard and Feron would both be avenged. How anyone could place shortsighted greed over the long-term survival of the entire galaxy was so contrary to Liara's thought process, she couldn't begin to understand it. All the sacrifice in the war against Sovereign would be for naught if the Collectors and the Reapers succeeded; Liara was furious that a figure as powerful as the Shadow Broker was unable see that! While she collected every piece of data she could to avenge the attack on the Normandy and continued her research into the Reapers, she also needed to figure out some way to stay apprised on Shepard's status; she would either hack into their information network or somehow make the Illusive Man give her updates. There had to be something the Illusive Man needed that Liara would be able to find and provide in trade for the information. He had needed her once, she would somehow make him need her again so she could stay connected to Shepard; Liara could not survive another nine centuries with a heart that would turn to stone without her bondmate...she vowed to either see Shepard again in this life or join her quickly in the next.

It had been a year of hard work, and Miranda was finally starting to see real progress. There was still a lot to do, but she now knew that unless something drastic happened, Shepard was going to make it. She went by the lab to make one final check on Shepard for the night; one can never be too cautious. Lazarus had become her sole project, one that she spent every waking hour on. If she wasn't actually in the room, she was doing research on advanced cybernetics developments, or more importantly, nanite research. The self replicating nanites were Miranda's crowning achievement; they would give the commander an amazing healing rate. In an odd sort of way, Miranda was looking forward to the first time Shepard got seriously injured, to see just how fast she'd be able to heal and get back into the fight.

As Miranda walked into Shepard's room, she glanced at the status monitors, just as she always did, only this time there was something wrong and she drew her assistant's attention to it. Wilson glanced up from his terminal and calmly said, "She's reacting to outside stimuli. Showing awareness of her surroundings." Miranda moved urgently to the bedside.

Wilson seemed to pick up on Operative Lawson's concern and his voice rose a bit in panic, "My God, Miranda! I think she's waking up!"

Miranda was not pleased and made it very plain by her tone of voice. "Damn it, Wilson! She's not ready yet! Give her the sedative...Now!"

Miranda was much more soothing as she looked down. Shepard could see the fuzzy shapes of Wilson and Lawson floating over her bed, and her breathing was fast and labored. She tried to reach out to Miranda, who captured her hand and gently pushed it back down to the bed. "Shepard...don't try to move. Just lie still and try to stay calm."

Shepard needed her attention; she just wanted to know where Liara was. Why isn't she here? Did everyone on the Normandy make it?

Shepard focused on Miranda, but she could hear Wilson mumbling in the background. "Heart rate still climbing. Brain activity is off the charts." Miranda moved out of her range of vision as Wilson kept speaking. "Stats pushing into the red zone. It's not working!"

Shepard looked around and found Miranda again, just in time to see her shove Wilson toward the machines regulating her medication. Miranda was urgent in her request, "Another dose. Now!"

Wilson seemed to hesitate, and then finally pushed the dispenser, calling out the progress report to Miranda. "Heart rate dropping. Stats falling back into normal range. That was too close. We almost lost her."

As he finished, the words started to sound garbled, and Shepard's vision started to blur. She saw Miranda lean over her, concerned. The concern was replaced by irritation as Miranda looked at Wilson and spoke harshly. "I told you your estimates were off. Run the numbers again." The sedative finally worked and Shepard's world disappeared once again, her questions unanswered.

Aria T'Loak loved her tunnels; they let her travel pretty much anywhere on her station completely undetected. She trusted very few people with the knowledge they even existed, and even fewer still with the codes to actually get into them. Bray was one of the few, and he was the only one to accompany her on this vendetta mission. The Blue Suns leader, a Batarian named Galim, had made three gross errors in judgment; the first two unforgiveable, the last resulting in his death sentence. The first was when he decided to work with the Shadow Broker and the Collectors; the second was when he decided to do so without telling Aria and paying the appropriate transaction taxes. The third was when he made the assumption that when everything went to hell he didn't need to leave the station. He thought staying in his secure room at the heart of Blue Suns territory was safe. The Queen of Omega clenched her fists. He thought wrong.

What she really wanted to do was storm the office and tear him apart with her biotics in a good old fashioned knockdown, drag out fight, but that would cost the lives of a lot of her loyal warriors and throw off the balance of power among the gangs on the station by depleting the strength of the Blue Suns. She didn't want one Batarian's bad decision to cause an all-out gang war on Omega; she just wanted to send a clear message that no one was above her reach and power; on Omega you played by Aria's rules or you didn't play at all. So, much to her chagrin, she and Bray opted to use the tunnels and emerge undetected, right in Galim's personal conference room, for a more...personal approach. Aria tapped a quick code into her omnitool and all the surveillance cameras in the sector went down. Bray stepped around the corner and shot Galim with a shock dart, causing the Batarian to collapse onto the floor in convulsions. The effects only lasted about ten seconds, but it was sufficient time for Aria to walk over, gag him, and pin him upright against the wall in a stasis field.

Bray moved to the main office door to ensure it was locked as Galim recovered his faculties. His eyes widened in panic when he recognized Aria and he screamed into his gag. When he realized the volume would be completely insufficient to attract assistance, he attempted to beg for his life. Aria curled her lips in disgust. "What makes you think I have any interest in your pathetic mewling?" She reached over and pulled Galim's own knife out of his sheath before unclipping his upper body armor plates and pulling them out of the stasis field. As she placed them against the wall next to him, she grinned. "How do you think your men will react, when they didn't hear a peep and yet find you skinned alive in here when they finally come to check on you?"

Galim's eyes widened again and he doubled his efforts at begging, especially when Aria set the knife point to his chest. "Oh, don't worry. I don't really intend to fillet you. That would be too...messy. I don't want to get blood on my clothes." She slowly dragged the blade around to his side. "I know you have a ribcage... but I also know if I go low enough it will slip right under the last rib... like this!"

Galim's body jerked with the force of Aria's thrust and he screamed uselessly in pain, no one able to hear him through the gag, and completely unable to defend himself with Aria meticulously maintaining the stasis field. She wiggled the knife around a little, to antagonize her victim and to stir his insides in the most painful way she knew how. She then dragged it out and switched it to her other hand, preparing to thrust it in again on the other side. "I've heard gut wounds are very painful...and a very slow death. That's very good from my perspective. Gives you lots of time to contemplate what you've done. I'm sure you already regret your decisions, but it's too late for me to care."

The second time she stabbed Galim, on the opposite side of his body, she pushed it in slowly, making sure he felt every centimeter independently, wiggling it a bit every couple of seconds as it bit deeper and deeper, working up the fifteen centimeter blade until she reached the hilt. Galim's eyes were starting to roll with pain as she continued. "You know, I only have one rule...and everyone tells me it's easier that way. Yet, every once in a while, someone seems to forget it and I need to make an example."

Aria stirred his insides from the other side, and then suddenly ripped the knife out quickly and unzipped Galim's shirt. She poked him in the stomach a few times with her fingers, watching as he sweat and his face contorted in pain. "Sorry. Does that hurt a teensy bit? Now for the real lesson. The one everyone will see and understand."

Slowly, using his own knife against him, Aria slowly carved the symbol for Omega into Galim's bare chest, first the complete 'O' and then the vertical line from the center of the 'O' down to Galim's bellybutton. She put the knife on the desk, then used his blood to write the words 'Only One Rule' on his desk, and wiped her finger off on his shirttails. She reached up and gripped his throat as she spoke, "One rule. Just one. Don't. Fuck. With. Aria. Is that so hard?"

Galim was attempting to shake his head as he started to choke under Aria's grip. Her eyes went black with a forced meld that Galim was in no condition to stop. "Oh, rule breakers don't get off so easy. I'm not choking you to death...I'm simply making you uncomfortable while I rip your mind apart one layer at a time, steal your secrets, find your hidden caches, and learn everything I want to learn as I slowly destroy your mind."

Aria ransacked Galim's memories and discovered his greatest fears, turning his own nightmares against him, planting visions in his mind. Galim died screaming into the gag, all four of his eyes wide open in stark, frenzied terror. Aria snorted in contempt, "Yes, you really can die of fear, can't you?"

Aria removed the gag and the shock dart, then picked up Galim's knife and buried it to the hilt in the center of the Omega symbol on his chest. Calling Bray over, she released the stasis field and they stretched him out on the floor spread-eagle in front of his desk, facing the doorway. Bray unlocked the office door, and he and Aria disappeared through the hidden entrance to the tunnels, no one the wiser. A few omnitool taps later and the surveillance system came back online, the picture feed from Galim's office causing shockwaves of fear to run through the ranks of the Blue Suns. Galim's second, another Batarian named Tarak, was the only one truly happy with the recent development.