A/N: We've reached the climax folks...the final battle against the Shadow Broker starts NOW!
I don't own Mass Effect
The Shadowed Light appeared just above the planet Hagalaz, the shuttle launching from the underbelly and heading into the atmosphere. 'Be careful down there guys. I'm getting a lot of screwed up readings from all the storm activity.' said Cat over the intercom.
Rez piloted the shuttle through the clouds toward a large ship that was positioned within the epicenter of the large storms. In the troop compartment, Liara looked out the viewport, "Hagalaz. The oceans boil duting the day, then snap-freeze ten minutes after sundown." "The perfect place for the Shadow Broker to hide his location. Especially if his ship follows the sunset." said Eric.
"So how the fuck do we get inside?" said Rico who was sitting next to Talon across from them. "The shuttle bay is locked down. We'll need to land on the ship and hunt for a hatch. But we can't stay outside for long. There's a constant lightning storm where the hot and cold air collide." said Liara. They all pulled on helmets and sealed their suits to block against the strong winds.
The shuttle pulled up next to the ship and the hatch opened, "Careful down dere guys! Call for back up if ya need it!" Rez called over the high winds. Eric, Liara, Talon and Rico all lept out of the shuttle and landed onto the surface of the ship. The shuttle hatch closed and the craft took off back to the Shadowed Light.
The team drew their weapons and started to move across the hull. "It's hard to pinpoint in this lightning, but I'm picking up signals from a communications array near the back of the ship. Theres nothing below but maintenance equipment. We have to find an entrance near the back shielding." said Liara.
They navigated across the hull, when a few glowing red orb-like devices came out of small compartments around them. "Maintenance drones." said Liara. "Why are they attacking us?" asked Eric downing one of the drones quickly. "They must think we're debris from the storm." replied Liara also taking down the drones.
When the drones were down, the squad kept moving toward the back shielding of the ship. On the long stretch of walkway toward the rear end of the ship. A lightning bolt struct two posts on either side of the platform, "Shit! Those things just lit up like a christmas tree!" shouted Rico. "Be careful around those conductors!" said Liara as a group of mercs came out of a hatch and fired upon them.
With no cover around, the team pushed forward, dropping the mercs before they could get any shots off. When the conductors powered down, the team bolted through before another bolt of lightning struck.
Rounding a corner, two LOKI mechs came out. But Talon took them down with well placed bursts from his rifle. They rounded the corner and saw more mercs and a few Maintenance drones waiting. Rico sprayed bullets everywhere, one stray round hitting a lightning capacitor causing it to explode taking the enemies with it.
The rest of the squad looked at the large man a moment, "It worked didn't it?" he asked with a shrug.
They fought through several small waves of mercs and security mechs across the ship's hull. Liara fired a singularity sending three mercs flying off of the ship and plummeting into the storm clouds below. "Looking down was a mistake." she muttered backing up from the edge.
Stepping over the dead, the squad entered a door into what looked like a chamber that housed the electrical energy absorbed from the storm. "This ship is incredible. It must have taken a long time to build in secret." said Talon as they looked around. "Guess we know what happened to the contractors then." commented Rico.
Liara surveyed around them, "Navigating this storm is brutal. If the ship's engine's stop even for a moment..." she let the though hang in the air. "Then we don't take out the engines." said Eric simply. "In any case...at least the Shadow Broker would go down with us." said the Asari. "Great...thats fucking comforting." said Rico.
They entered through another door back outside on the walkways on the side of the ship. They encountered more of the Shadow Broker's agents and attacked. Eric and Talon shot the two lightning capacitors frying the mercs with the contained energy while Liara and Rico took out the ones who avoided the explosion.
An agent got behind Liara and tried to grab her, but the Asari saw him coming and slammed her palm in to his throat launching him back a few steps before shooting him in the head with her pistol.
The rest of the trek was more of the same. More mercs and LOKI mechs came out attempting to stop them. But the squad flew through them, pressing with all their strength toward their target.
They walked down a long catwalk when Eric made a witty observation, "No guardrails. The Shadow Broker's men must love patrolling the hull." "At least it has a nice view." said Liara. Rico laughed as they approached a doorway on the otherside of the catwalk. "There! The data leads directly to the communication signals." said Liara as she ran to the door.
"Its locked. Hang on, I've got a bypass shunt program that can crack it." she said starting on the door. She passed her omni-tool over the door, painting a large holo-diaplay. "How long Liara?" Eric asked as he and the others watched her back. "I don't know Eric. I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before...well, not this one any way." she replied.
Mercs started to come at them, Eric, Talon and Rico took cover and fired back to keep them away from Liara as she worked on the door. Eric pulled out his sniper rifle and propped it on the wall he was using for cover, firing off several three-round bursts at the advancing agents.
Rico pulled out his grenade launcher and lobbed several explosive rounds at the advancing mercs sending bodies flying with each explosion. Talon stood in a crouched position emptying his machine gun into the agents.
"You sure that thing works?" asked Eric as he reloaded a thermal clip. "No warrenty came with it. It's illegal even on Illium." replied Liara. "So we might be screwed." said Rico swapping his grenade launcher with his assault rifle.
Mercs kept pouring out of the woodwork keeping the squad on their toes. Eric nailed another merc with a head shot as a group of rocket drones flew up into the air. "Aw shit!" he exclaimed. "I got'em!" shouted Rico taking out his rocket launcher and firing a shot. The following explosion took out half the drones and weakening the others allowing the rest of the team to bring them down.
"Their too disorganized. We'd be in trouble if they attacked at once." said Talon. "Don't give them ideas dumbass!" shouted Eric. Liara joined them after a while and added her own bullets to defend the onslaught. The fight seemed to be endless, but they kept it up, going through thermal clips like clockwork at the Shadow Broker's men fell left and right.
Behind them, the door opened. "Inside now!" Eric shouted. The team backed into the door keeping the mercs back. Liara sealed the door preventing them from following. They contiuned into the ship, getting into cover just as a missile exploded against a wall. Eric pulled off his recon hood and took out his Mattock rifle before he shot the heavy merc before they could shoot again.
"More guards? How many does the Shadow Broker have?" asked Liara as she shot another merc. "Enough." Eric summed up as they took out the remaining resistance. They pushed into the corridors, through the prison area, and into several rooms. Not a single merc was left standing as the squad blasted, shot, and blew their way through.
They made it to one final door and entered the room beyond. It was a wide room, dimly lit save for what appeared to be a large amoung of pure energy above them behind a reinforced glass dome. In the back of the room was a large desk with several displays. And behind the desk, sat a large hulking figure.
The squad stood a ways away from the desk and aimed their weapons at the creature before them. It was huge. Bigger then a Krogan and looked even stronger. Its head was a dark red color with eight black beady eyes. Large horns adorned the top of its head with small spikes on the sides. This thing...was something else entirely.
A large, upside down Y-shaped mouth full of sharp teeth twitched, possably in an irritated manor as it put its arms on the large desk and steepled it's fingers together. Eric glanced a Liara who glanced at him before going back to the creature.
"Here for me?" the Shadow Broker asked in a deep, grave voice. "Wreckless, even for you Lachance." "That bombing on Illium wasn't very subtle." Eric said back. "Extreme...but necessary." said the Shadow Broker. "No it wasn't! Dozens of innocent lives were lost because of that!" exclaimed Liara.
"Dr. T'Soni. Your interference caused all this. The Drell betrayed me, he was to pay the price. The civilian's got in the way." said the Shadow Broker. "It'll be hard to run a ship with all your help dead." said Eric keeping his handcannon trained on his head. "They're replaceable. Your arrival is barely an interruption." replied the creature. "Enough talk. My operations are too crucial to be hindered by a band of misfits."
"You're quite confident for someone with nowhere left to hide." said Liara. "You travel with fascinating companions doctor." said the Shadow Broker. "Talon, Rico Santigo whom both have high bounties that are unclaimed. And Lachance, the one who possesses the lost power of the Protheans."
Liara's glare intensified, "Your not putting your hand on anyone!" "Its pointless to challenge me Asari. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark." said the Shadow Broker not at all threatened. "Its that right?" replied Liara. "You are a Yahg, a pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the council's first contact teams. This base is older than your planet's discovery, which probably means you killed the original Shadow Broker sixty years ago, then took over."
"I'm guessing you were taken from your homeworld by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave...or a pet. How am I doing?" asked Liara finishing with a smirk.
The Shadow Broker stood up. The squad took a step back seeing the Yahg's full size as he towered over them. "Oh...shit." mumbled Rico. In one swift motion, the Shadow Broker snapped the large desk in half and hurled a chunk of it at them. Eric grabbed Liara and dove aside, Talon threw himself back and rolled.
Rico couldn't move in time and was struck with the debris, hitting the wall and laid unconsious on the floor while the others got the their feet. the Shadow Broker let out a loud roar before pulling out a large, custom made Revenant machine gun and opened fire on them.
The remaining team took cover and fired back, their rounds being absorbed by the Shadow Broker's shields. "Talon! Whats Rico's status?" asked Eric reloading his rifle. "Hes out cold! But alive!" Talon called back using his own Revenant charged with disruptor ammo to drop the Shadow Broker's shields faster.
They eventually shattered the Yahg's shields and the rounds started to cause damage. The Shadow Broker backed up a few steps before charging ahead. Seeing this, Liara fired a wave of mass energy that stopped him in his tracks.
The large alien shook his head before charging again with more fury. Liara and Eric managed to dive aside, as the low wall they were behind was shattered like cheep glass when the hulking figure crashed through it. "Shit! Hes worse than a Krogan!" shouted Eric as he started shooting again.
The Shadow Broker staggered for a second under the assault. Then he knelt down and a massive fortification shield appeared around him. Liara fired several rounds, but they all bounced harmlessly off the heavy shielding. "The shields kinetically sensitive! Energy and projectiles are bouncing off!" she said frustrated. Eric glared at the Yahg and cracked his knuckles, "Then we do this the hard way!"
He charged forward and punched the Shadow Broker as hard as he could in the face causing the shield to drop and the creature's head to snap back. Eric struck again with a right-cross, then again with an uppercut that forced the Shadow Broker back a couple of steps. Eric charged and lept into the air with his arm cocked back for another hit.
The Shadow Broker brought out his omni-tool and a shield made of energy formed on his left arm. He swung the shield out and struck Eric hard sending him flying back to the other side of the room. Eric got to his feet while the others got up and attacked. The Shadow Broker hid behind his shield and fired around it.
Liara fired a singularity causing the Shadow Broker's shield to go wide, giving them an opening. Eric took out a handful of grenades and primed them before throwing them all. Several explosions went off around the Shadow Broker, a few of them going off under his shield dropping him to a kneeling position.
His fortification shield appeared again, Eric and Talon ran at him. Talon smashed the Yahg in the face with the butt of his rifle. Eric followed him with a swift roundhouse kick to the chest. The Shadow Broker brought up his shield and used it to keep Eric back. Talon went to hit him again, but the large creature backhanded him with his large fist launching him to the floor.
Liara charged forward, mass energy gathering around her. The Shadow Broker sent out a shockwave from his shields sending both she and Eric flying backwards. Liara got up and looked above them at them, "If you can get him to bring up that shield again. I've got an idea." she said to Eric.
Eric followed her line of sight and nodded realizing what she was thinking. He looked across to Talon and gave a hand signal, the Turian nodded as they focused fire on the Shadow broker again. The creature's shields started to drop rapidly again, but this time the Shadow Broker wasn't going to just stand around.
He charged with a loud roar straight at Liara. Eric shoved her aside, but was struck hard with the energy shield on the Yahg's arm. His rifle skidded away from him as he tried to bet back on his feet. He suddently saw the barrel of a large rifle in his face.
"You and your subordinates will die here. You cannot win." the Shadow Broker growled. "Thats what you think you ugly sonovabitch!" shouted a voice. The Shadow Broker shook when an explosion went off of his back causing him to roar out in pain. Looking past the Yahg, Eric saw Rico standing again with his rocket launcher in hand. Rico fired again, the following explosion giving Eric the opprotunity to pull out his knife. He lept up and stabbed the blade into one of the Shadow Broker's many eyes.
The Yahg let out another loud roar and clutched at the knife sticking out of his face. Eric scooped up his rifle and started shooting again, the others followed suit driving him to the center of the room under the glass dome. "We have him!" shouted Liara. Eric charged forward, wisps of white mass energy started to gather around him as he charged it all to his right fist.
He punched the Shadow Broker as hard as he could, the feeling of bones breaking under the contact. Black colored blood flew out of the Shadow Broker's mouth and he staggered back under the glass dome. "LIARA NOW!" Eric shouted. Liara charged her own mass energy and fired a blast into the dome, she raised her arms and then brought them down hard. The dome shattered and energy shot down like a pillar of flames directly down onto the Yahg.
The Shadow Broker struggled under the energy the rushed over him. He sent one last glare at the squad as his form started to glow. With one last roar, the Yahg exploded in a large ball of energy sending everyone flying onto their backs. The ashes of what was once one of the most powerful figures in the galaxy faded in the air.
X
Liara breathed heavily from her spot on the ground, until she felt someone pick her up and set her on her feet. Eric smiled at her and started chuckling. Liara started to laugh with him just as Rico and Talon joined them, all four laughing uncontrollably after the heavy fight they had just had.
When they calmed down and relaxed, "So the fuckers gone for good huh?" asked Rico. "Indefinately." said Talon.
Suddently a voice rang out, 'Shadow Broker, this is Operative Murat. We had a momentary connection failure. Can you confirm status?' They walked over ot a large terminal that had a wall of holo-screens just as another screen became active, 'Operative Shora requesting update. Are we still online?' Then another, 'Shadow Broker, I've lost our feed. We are online and awaiting instructions.'
"This isn't good." said Talon as more screens became activated. Liara looked at all the screens before she bowed her head. She raised her head after a few moments and walked up to the terminal, bringing up a small screen infront of her. "This is the Shadow Broker." she said, her voice sounding just like the dead Shadow Broker's. "The situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily. However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures. I want a status report on all operations within the next solar day. Shadow Broker, out"
Liara waved the screen away, everyone looked at her wide eyed. "...woah" was all Rico could say. "Everyone who's ever seen him in person is dead. So..." she paused. "Your the new Shadow Broker." said Talon in slight awe.
"Is taking over for the Shadow Broker a good idea?" asked Eric. "It was that, or lose everything. His contacts, trading sources. Those will really help us. With the Shadow Broker's information network...i can...i can..." Liara couldn't seem to find the words.
"We'll...go check the status outside." said Talon as he shoved Rico back toward the door they came in.
Liara put her hands over her eyes and started to sob. Eric walked up to her and put a hand on her arm. She turned around and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "It's over...finally. After all this time..." she said silently. Eric nodded, "Its over. Everythings going to be alright." he said gently. They remained in the same position for a little while before Liara backed up and wiped the tears away, "Lets see what we got." she said. Eric smirked and followed her to the large terminal.
"No safeguards or user restrictions. It's like he never anticipated anyone but himself being here." said Liara. "Guess he was to cocky for his own good." commented Eric. Liara looked back at her mate and smiled, "And now...its all ours." "What do you think he has in all of this?" asked Eric motioning to the terminal. "I'm not sure, I'll have to go through the files...but..." she looked at Eric again, "Is it wrong, that part of me wants this? With the Shadow Broker's network, we can help Shepard stop the Collectors and the Reapers when the time comes. I could turn this operation into something better."
Eric walked up to her, "Liara. If you can turn this into something to help us put an end to the Reapers...then I'm behind you 110%." Liara shed another tear, "Thank you...my love." Eric smiled and cupped her azure cheek, "Thats what other halfs are for."
Eric brought his face forward and kissed his mate, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed back. After well over a year of fighting...they had put an end to the Shadow Broker. And a new one had risen from the ashes to use his once powerful infulence for good.
A/N: There you have it...the Shadow Broker's dead, Liara has assumed control, and everything seems just a little brighter in the universe. There is one more chapter to this fic before I wrap it up. So stay tuned guys!