Whatever Shepard had been expecting, and to be honest she wasn't sure, the sight before her was not it.
Liara led the way inside, and immediately began typing away at a console. Shepard took that opportunity to look around the room. It was like a cramped version of her office on the Normandy. Monitors showed video feeds of various locations, presumably on Thessia. Shepard recognized various important Matriarchs. Other consoles were filled with data files on various figures, much like those Shepard once found on the Shadow Broker's base above Hagalaz. Phone records, medical history, recent activities, sexual history, bribes taken. Shepard fought to resist the urge to read it all, understanding just in that brief moment why Liara was doing what she was doing. Having this type of information at your disposal, the power that information provided you, would eventually drive even the best of people to madness and corruption. Forcing herself away from the console, Shepard leaned against a wall, keeping her sight focused on Liara as she worked, and the monitors went dark.
To say that Liara's decision to quit her position as Shadow Broker brought Shepard relief was a massive understatement, along the lines of saying Shepard didn't particularly care for the Reapers. Not just because she personally believed no one should have that type of power, but also because she didn't want to see Liara consumed by that power. The change that took place over the two years Shepard was being rebuilt by Cerberus was jarring enough, and that was without nearly the power that came with being the Shadow Broker. Shepard had personally seen how Liara would withdraw into that identity when she felt grief, how she would work herself without food or rest, eyes glued to her monitors. Shepard never wanted to see that again, and thankfully would never have to, it seemed.
Boredom eventually set in as Liara worked, and Shepard couldn't resist wandering over to the monitors, lazily looking at each of them in turn. One showed one of the top floors of a skyscraper, the structure itself basically completed, except for the walls, roofsand wiring. The workers currently present were finishing that, it seemed, hauling desks and finishing the wiring. The camera seemed to be on one of the workers, following others around. Any doubt as to the awareness of the filming was erased when the person wearing the camera stopped, rotating around so the entire level of the tower was caught on film. An asari, presumably the foreman, or at least this person's boss, shouted at him to get a move on, and they hurried to join the rest of the crew.
This construction crew seemed to mainly consist of salarians, and a quick peek towards the ground revealed that the cameraman was a salarian as well. "You need to pay more attention," one of the others said, talking to the cameraman. "You're going to get fired at this rate."
"I do my job, she has nothing to complain about," the cameraman insisted, and his friend shook his head. There was something very familiar about a couple of the salarians, something that made Shepard search the depths of her memories. It came to her when she heard the cameraman's name, Telon. When Telon called the one who talked to him before Chesith, Shepard knew she was right. They were the salarians from Nassana Dantius's tower, when Shepard first met and recruited Thane. It made her smile, knowing they were alive, but it also made her wonder if Telon had been a Shadow Broker spy then, too. Unbidden, her thoughts returned to that day, at the disgust she felt while leading her squad through Dantius Towers.
"Telon, Telon move!" Chesith said, his normally overactive brain completely shut down by fear. Telon was limping, the result of hurting his leg after tripping over a dead body that used to be one of their coworkers. His eyes were wide, looking at everything but seeing nothing. Somewhere behind them, not very far away, someone screamed until three gunshots rang out. "Telon, please, we have to go now!" Chesith grabbed his brother's hand and pulled him along as fast as he could.
The enormity of the situation they faced still hadn't sunk in. Chesith wasn't even sure what was happening. The day had been entirely normal to that point. He woke up with the normal aches and pains. He ate breakfast, came to work with Telon, where Nassan'a foremen shouted at them for being two minuts late. It was a boring day working a boring shift with the rest of the crew at Dantius Towers. He and Telon were watching as Jassut and Marik finished the last of the wiring, when the omnitools of the Eclipse mercs standing guard chirped. Chesith tried to appear uninterested as he listened, overhearing that some incident was taking place on a lower level. The mercs ran off, and the crew immediately began talking, until the foreman shouted at them to keep working.
They came back shooting ten minutes later. Chesith heard the gunfire on the floor below, and stupidly didn't run immediately. Another worker, someone knew that he didn't know the name of, came running through the door, shouting, "They're killing everybody! They're killing…" before a bullet exited out with a sickening crunch. Someone screamed, Chesith didn't remember who, maybe it was him. Two mercs came into the room shooting, the foreman the first to fall. That was when Telon grabbed Chesith's arm and the two of them began to run.
Gunfire echoed throughout the tower, intermingled with more screams from the crew. After they ran from the room, they didn't stop until they reached a maintenance closet. Chesith's lungs were screaming by then, all rational thought fled from his mind. Telon shivered uncontrollably, and jumped at every gunshot. "Wha-What is happening?" he asked to no one in particular. "Why are they doing this? What is happening?!"
Chesith tried to answer, but found no words. Where the Eclipse mercs turning on Nassana? It was the only thing that made sense. They hadn't finished building the tower, so Nassana wanting them dead made no sense. "I…" he managed to squeak out. "I don't know."
The elevator outside chimed, and Chesith immediately held his breath. Telon began to shake and whimper, and Chesith immediately placed a hand over his mouth, trying to shush his brother. Hurried steps spread around the area outside, one set coming towards the closet. Chesith looked around frantically. They were about to get caught. They were unarmed, with no where to run. Outside, someone began hacking the door. Chesith frantically looked around, but there was nothing else in the closet. No way to hide. Telon began whimpering again, and this time Chesith did not stop him. There was no point, that door would open any moment now and there was nothing they could do. Chesith closed his eyes and crouched, not wanting to see the shots coming.
"Chesith? Telon?" a voice, a Salarian voice, asked questioningly. Slowly, Chesith opened one eye, then the other, exhaling with relief when he saw three other Salarian workers standing there, seemingly every bit as shocked as he was. He knew the man talking, Daroth. "You're alive! We didn't think anyone else made it, we passed by a lot of dead workers on our way to the elevator. Why are they trying to kill us?"
"I don't know," Chesith said, standing back up. "They just started shooting. We only got away because of luck. I don't know how else to explain it."
Daroth stared glumly at the ground. "We saw them send the mechs to round a bunch of workers up. I was in the restroom, near the bottom of Tower Two, and ran into Shelum and Ludom while running to the elevator. We took it to level fifteen and crossed the bridge to Tower One from there." He paused, clearly shaken. "We saw so many dead. The mercs and mechs seem to be searching for something, they're tearing the building up. I don't know why they would have to kill us to find whatever they're looking for."
Chesith thought hard, and could come up with nothing either. "It doesn't matter to us. We need to get out of here. Is the elevator still working?"
"Yes."
"We should take it to the first floor, and run."
Daroth looked at him like he was an idiot. "Are you crazy? Did you not hear what I told you? They're clearing the building from the bottom up, looking for something or someone. There's no way we can walk out the front door."
"Then what do we do? Chesith asked desperately.
"Why not hide in the closet like you were?"
"Because it would only take two seconds to hack it and kill us. We were only hiding in there to catch our breath. Staying would be suicide."
All five of them stayed quiet, thinking over what exactly they could do to escape a death that seemed inevitable. "We could take the elevator to the top floor," Daroth suggested. "Maybe there's a shuttle we could take, or at least a better hiding place."
Chesith thought about it. "That would be our best bet. Especially if they're moving from the bottom up, like you said they are." It really was their best option. "Okay, let's hurry up before the mercs find us here."
They were too late. The elevator was still making its way from the top of the tower when the voices of the mercs could be heard, followed by more screams and gunfire. "Hide!" Chesith said, and all five of them ended up crouching behind a barrier of stacked floor tiles not yet laid.
Again, Chesith found himself holding his breath, to the point of pain, as mercs spread around. "Keep sharp, he could be anywhere," one of them, an asari, said. Chesith dared a quick look, ducking back behind cover before he was seen. They were not looking for the workers. They were looking for someone else, they're attention drawn to the ceiling. "He's been using the ducts, watch each other's backs," the merc said. The elevator chimed, every gun in the room whipping towards it and opening fire the moment the doors opened. "Damn it, he's fucking with us!" the asari shouted, kicking a toolbox along the ground.
"We have to move," Telon whispered. "We have to get on that elevator." Chesith held a finger to his lips, signaling to be quiet. He knew his brother was right, but they couldn't risk making any noise. Chesith looked at Daroth, knowing that he was thinking the same thing. There was no chance to move, though. The mercs were standing right there, and with no cover or places to sneak to the elevator, they would have to run, which would be suicide. For the second time in five minutes, Chesith found himself accepting that he would die this day, for he could see no way to avoid it.
A deafening gunshot rang through the building, similar to what Chesith remembered a sniper rifle sounding like, and he heard a body hit the ground, followed by a lot of shouting and cursing. The Eclipse mercs ran off, screaming, "Get him! Damn it don't let him escape!" Suddenly, the room was empty, everyone running off to kill whoever had fired the sniper rifle.
Chesith realized this was the best chance they would get to escape. "Let's go, the elevator should still be here," he whispered.
Daroth shook his head. "No way, we'll die. Let's go to the closet, we can lock ourselves in there, it's the safest option."
"We talked about this, they could hack that door with ease," Chesith argued, struggling not to yell at his friend. "Let's go to the top floor, its our only option." Daroth shook his head again. There was no time to argue, as much as Chesith wanted to. "Okay, who else wants to try hiding in the closet?" Shelum and Ludom both raised his hand. "Then go. How about you?" he asked Telon.
"I'm with you, brother," Telon said.
Chesith smiled faintly, glad he wouldn't be alone. "Daroth, you and these two should run to the closet. I helped program a lot of the locks in this building, I can make it harder for the mercs to hack them, maybe I can make it impossible if there's no one tech savvy among them. We'll use the elevator. If we get out, we'll send help as soon as we can."
Daroth looked at him sympathetically. "Are you sure?" Chesith nodded. "Are you sure?" he repeated, more insistently.
"I'm not staying here, but I'm not leaving without doing what I can to help," Chesith insisted himself.
Daroth, Shelum, and Ludom ran first, directly for the maintenance closet. Once inside, Chesith immediately began locking the door, adding in the security measures to make it harder to hack. He was nearly done when someone dropped down from the ceiling. Chesith stopped what he was doing, eyes growing wide. It was a drell, which was a strange enough sight. This drell was armed to the teeth. A large sniper rifle was draped across his back, with two pistols in holsters at his side. Two combat knives were sheathed on his belt and in his left boot. There was a strange calm about the man, and for some reason Chesith felt like there was no danger to him.
He wasn't going to stick around to find out though, especially not when the elevator chimed, and Telon shouted, "Chesith, hurry!" Chesith did just that, running as fast as he could. To his right, he saw mercs running back, and heard one of them shout. Behind him, the drell walked over to the door, working on it quickly, and it looked as if he was locking it. The elevator doors closed as the mercs reached it, and they banged against the doors as hard as they could manage. It wasn't until the elevator began to move that Chesith finally relaxed, slumping to the ground as his legs gave out from the strain placed on them.
With every floor the elevator passed on its way to the top of the tower, Telon's dread only grew. Fortunately, his head was finally clearing. He had never seen someone murdered before, and having his first experience with such brutality involve people he knew, people he was friends with, it nearly shut him down. If Chesith hadn't been there to drag him along, Telon knew he probably would have stared numbly while the Eclipse mercs shot him, back when they first opened fire. He could see now that his brother was beginning to crack, the enormity of the situation weighing on him. It was to be expected, neither of them had ever been this close to death. Not even on those long days, overworked and underfed, when both of them went home feeling lucky to still be alive. Telon would have to be strong for Chesith now, to make up for his brother's strength so far. Thankfully, his leg was no longer hurting. That was a small victory.
The elevator opened, and the two of them hurried out, pressing their backs to a wall ahead. A large window gave them a view outside, where cars flew by, the other rich and powerful of Illium. Telon wondered how many of them knew what Nassana was doing, and how many of them might do the same. He felt a sudden inclination to leave this planet behind. He and Chesith could take their families and move back to Sur'Kesh. Or maybe the Citadel. Anything would be better than this, working long hours with no pay for rich scum.
Once he was sure the way was clear, Telon led the way forward, not making it far before he stopped. He heard two people talking ahead, discussing an assassin. That must be the drell, he figured. The appearance of the drell nearly made Telon soil himself, but to hear these mercs now, he was the good guy in all this. The two mercs appeared to be the only ones around. Telon looked around the room. There was stack of roof tiles they could hide behind. A barrier had been hastily constructed at the other end of the room. "Follow me," Telon whispered, and Chesith nodded, looking like he might freak out.
Telon noticed the others almost immediately after beginning his crouching sprint to the roof tiles. Two salarians lay on the ground, looking beat up but not dead. Both looked up at the mercs near them, and if they saw Telon and Chesith, they showed no sign. "We have to help them," Chesith said, surprising his brother.
"Are you crazy? We'd have to deal with those mercs. We can't do anything to them, we're no fighters." Chesith looked around, and reached for a nearby toolbox. He pulled two large wrenches out, and handed one to Telon. "This is still crazy. We'll hit them, and they'll turn around and shoot us."
"We can't leave them to be killed. The least we can do is try." Chesith glared deep into Telon's eyes, trying to persuade his brother to do the right thing. Telon knew there was no use arguing. He still couldn't believe what his brother wanted to do. "I'll take the one on the left," Chesith said.
Telon began to tremble, assuming that the mercs would turn around any second and shoot him. He looked over at his brother, unbelieving of the strength he showed under such obvious duress. It was enough to make Telon feel ashamed. They closed to within a couple feet, and Chesith counted down from three. They swung their wrenches at the same time, and the mercs fell to the ground, their guns sliding away along the ground. Neither was knocked out, and both Chesith and Telon swung again, this time knock both cold. Telon jogged over to the two beat up workers. Both were frightened, hesitant, understandably so. "We need to go, before they wake up," Telon said.
"We, we can't," one of them said. "They told us not to. If we don't listen, they'll shoot us. We don't want to die, please, we don't want to die."
Telon began to say something, when he saw a shadow at the edge of his vision. "If we stay here, we will die. Our only chance is to get out of here, before the mercs catch us." The shadow returned. "There's someone here, someone following us."
Chesith looked around. "I don't see anything."
"I'm telling you, I just saw someone."
One of the workers stood. "I don't want to die. I didn't do anything. I don't know who he is." A panic overtook him, and Telon backed away warily. "Please! I don't want to die!" He ran off, and the other worker got up, shouting for him to wait as he ran after them. Telon hurried to catch up, Chesith right behind him.
They didn't get far before the panicking worker was shot, three slugs entering his upper body and sending him sprawling to the ground. Telon and the others stopped immediately, raising their hands above their heads. A single merc emerged from behind a column, an assault rifle in his hands. "Don't you fucking move!" he shouted. When he reached the workers, he searched each of them individually. Telon suddenly regretted not grabbing the guns from the other two. Why hadn't he grabbed a gun? Even if he couldn't hit anything, he could have at least created a distraction for the others.
After searching them, the merc circled to their front, eyes afire with rage and panic. His armor had blood stains on it, belonging to someone else. Telon tried not to think about whether it belonged to a worker or another merc. Or maybe even the drell they saw. "Please, we didn't do anything, please don't kill us!" Chesith pleaded.
"Shut up!" the merc shouted. "Shut up!" He looked around. "Move to that door!" he ordered, waving his gun to an door to his right, their left. Telon, Chesith, and the other worker did not hesitate to do as told. This merc was dangerously on edge, and would shoot them if given the slightest provocation. When they reached the door, the merc said, "Open it." Telon did so. The merc ejected the thermal clip from his gun, and loaded a fresh one. This was it. They were done. Telon began to shake, and felt tears come to his eyes. Chesith closed his eyes. The other worker trembled as well, audibly crying. Telon waited for the shot.
He heard it, but felt nothing. When he looked over at his brother and the other worker, he saw they had not been shot. The worker he didn't know was still crying, but Chesith was looking dead ahead, towards the merc. A drip fell down from Telon's face, and he saw that it was a dark red color, not a tear. Only then did he notice the merc on the ground at his feet, the place where his head was supposed to be nothing more than a pulpy mess. Chesith pushed the other worker into the room, and grabbed Telon's arm. Telon pulled away, reached down, and grabbed the merc's pistol from the holster at his waist. He would have grabbed the assault rifle, but the pistol was the first thing he saw. Chesith grabbed him again, threw him into the room, and closed the door.
Shepard watched the monitor until went blank. Once it was black, she looked over at Liara, who was watching her with interest. "Something catch your eye?" Liara asked.
"Yeah, a salarian I recognized, one of the construction workers I helped when Thane hit Nassana Dantius."
Liara frowned. "I was happy when that horrible woman turned up dead. I know that's cruel to say, but I really was. We should have killed her after we killed her sister."
Shepard's eyes crinkled with worry, her own frown forming. She didn't like hearing Liara talk like that. It was one reason she was glad Liara was giving up her position as Shadow Broker, that darkness within her would no longer receive an easy outlet to capitalize on revenge. "She's long dead now, Li," Shepard said. "No reason to hold any grudge you may have."
A few tense moments passed, dark thoughts brewing behind Liara's eyes, those beautiful blue eyes that Shepard drowned in. Eyes that Shepard too often saw lost in sorrow and darkness, causing both of them pain. "You're right," Liara said, the brilliance returning to her pupils. She went back to work, and within another two minutes was done. "There. Everything is gone, and completely unrecoverable." She smiled at Shepard. "That's one office done, one more here on Thessia."
"I'm assuming you have offices like this on every homeworld?" Shepard asked, the question obviously rhetorical. This was the Shadow Broker, after all.
Liara nodded. "I hope you like to travel. I'm planning on dragging you with me whether you want to or not."
Ludicrously, she sounded worried that Shepard might actually protest. Shepard had to scoff at how ridiculous it was. "Like I'd say no. I swear, sometimes I don't think you know me that well." Liara frowned, and looked away, making Shepard feel guilty for saying that. "Li, I'm sorry, it was a joke."
"It's somewhat true, though," Liara said. "We've never had time with each other that wasn't colored by constant conflict and risk of death. Even this past year, you've been in rehab and around doctors, and I've been attending to various duties as Shadow Broker, as much as we've spent time just being around each other. It's going to be new to be free of such burden. Right now our knowledge of each other stems almost exclusively from watching each other face the risk of death, deal with the burden of billions of lives."
Shepard moved forward and wrapped her arms around Liara's waist. The beautiful asari placed her own hands on Shepard's shoulders. "It's going to be great," Shepard said. "Spending days together, with no worries besides our own. Sleeping late into the morning, and then waking up together. Traveling around doing whatever we want, not what others want." Shepard grinned. "I mean, you're still just hitting your maiden stage. I have to keep up with that."
Liara rolled her eyes. "I'm not the typical asari maiden, Jane. I'm not going to go wild and join mercenary groups and have random sex with various partners."
"You say that now," Shepard teased. "Let's see if you feel the same in twenty years, when I'm beginning to slow down and you're barely different than now."
Liara slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "In twenty years, I expect I'll be a mother. At least, I hope so." She immediately blushed, looking away.
Shepard's heart warmed, and she felt the goofy grin on her face, unbidden. "I don't think either of us is ready for that just yet," she said. Upon the look of disappointment that formed on Liara's face, Shepard kissed her cheek. "But we will be one day. I'd say finishing this little job of yours and figuring out our own futures should come before having to worry about another life."
"How responsible of you," Liara said, slightly teasing. "You sounded quite responsible right there. Almost like a family woman, what do you know?"
Shepard giggled, and kissed Liara on the lips, soft, lovingly. "Yeah, I'm getting there. I have plenty of motivation."
Even the smallest acts make a person heroic. :) I took some liberties with Thane's recruitment mission, but nothing that divergent.
Definitely going on to ME3 from here.
