12 April 2186, Menae Orbit

Within a few hours, Engineer Adams had everything aboard Normandy in good order once more. Even the staging bay had become neat and tidy once more, thanks to a squad of efficient Alliance technicians. All of us worked hard, repairing and resetting systems damaged during EDI's battle against the Cerberus mech.

After some initial surprise, EDI's mobile platform quickly won the acceptance of the crew. Word had already spread that Normandy possessed a full-fledged AI, integrated into ship's systems. Most of the crew had no difficulty dealing with the notion of that AI "wearing" a humanoid platform and assisting directly in their duties.

Joker, of course, was ecstatic.

The pilot had already become EDI's closest friend on board, their relationship dating back to the war against the Collectors. The new platform matched many of his criteria for feminine attractiveness. He immediately asked EDI to keep it on the bridge, "for morale purposes." Since it could make itself useful as Joker's sensor operator and copilot, EDI agreed at once.

Of course, Joker's morale was not the only issue at stake. Engineer Adams soon discovered other male crewmen manufacturing reasons to visit the bridge. After two hours of this, he ordered EDI to have the platform put on an Alliance undress uniform. Purely to comply with military protocol, of course. Joker tried to complain, but Adams put on his not-putting-up-with-your-bullshit face, and the pilot subsided.

Thus Normandy had become a healthy and reasonably happy ship by the time Shepard returned, his squad in good condition and several turians in tow.

About a dozen of us stood ready on the staging deck when the shuttle arrived. Once it touched down, the hatch opened and Shepard's Marines emerged, taking up an honor-guard position on the deck, standing at attention with weapons at port-arms.

Shepard stepped down and took a position at the head of his squad. "Honors!"

A crewman produced a small pipe and blew a piercing call upon it.

All the Alliance personnel on the staging deck snapped to attention and saluted. For an instant I felt quite out of place, the only civilian and the only non-human present, but then my own old lessons in deportment came to the rescue. I assumed a traditional asari posture of dignified respect.

Adrien Victus stepped down onto the deck.

He didn't look like one of the galaxy's foremost heads of state. He stood at average height and build for a male turian, wearing a scuffed suit of combat armor with no unusual insignia. His face-paint showed signs of long inattention. One could be forgiven for passing him by in a crowd, until one looked into his eyes, burning with strength of character.

Shepard completed his salute. "Welcome aboard Normandy, Primarch Victus."

"Thank you, Commander." The Primarch didn't sound like a great leader, either, his flanging voice a smooth, very soft baritone.

"May I present my other officers? Lieutenant Gregory Adams, our chief engineer and XO. Dr. Karin Chakwas, our ship's surgeon. I believe you know Dr. Liara T'Soni, our intelligence officer and chief scientist."

"Lieutenant Adams. Dr. Chakwas." Victus turned to me, his mandibles wide in a turian smile. "Dr. T'Soni. I somehow suspected you would appear at the Commander's side."

I bowed slightly and gave him a smile. "Primarch. It's good to see you again. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"On that we can agree. Commander, my aides, Arran Lapadian and Tyrus Skavros. You already know the propraetor Garrus Vakarian, of course. Now I think we've observed all the ceremony we can afford. May we be shown to our quarters, and then to your command center? There's a lot of work to be done."

"Certainly, Primarch." Turning to the humans in attendance, Shepard barked, "Honor guard, dismissed!"

The crew broke formation and set out for their duty stations. Lieutenant Vega led Cortez and the other Marines of the landing party to disarm and start maintenance of their gear.

"Commander, Normandy is in good order and ready for deep space," Adams reported. "Do you have a heading for us?"

"Yes. Have Joker set a course for the Gemmae system. Primarch Victus tells us the Reapers are already there, but not in strength. We may be able to free up some turian forces for Palaven if we carry out a hit-and-run raid."

"Aye-aye."

"Thank you, Commander," said the Primarch. "I will admit, I'm still trying to comprehend the whole strategic picture. If I could have an hour or two with any intelligence feeds you have available?"

I nodded. "I can see to that, Primarch. We have already integrated information from Palaven Command and the colonial militias into our own data stream, which I think you will find very rich."

The Primarch's eyes gleamed for a moment as he stared at me, his mandibles wavering in obscure amusement. "Of that I have no doubt. Thank you, Doctor. I will meet you in your command center in half an hour. Then, Commander, this evening I would like to hold a planning session with you."

Shepard nodded. "Of course, Primarch. I'll block out some time in the conference room starting at 1700."

With that, he turned to lead the turian party toward the lifts, clearly planning to arrange for their accommodations personally. I stayed behind, with Garrus.

"Propraetor?" I asked at last.

Garrus made a discontented rumble deep in his chest. "You know how we turians are. We love to spread empty titles around."

"That is not an empty title."

"I suppose not." He sighed. "Long story, Liara. Let's just say that with a lot of help, I finally got my own people to start paying some attention to the Reaper problem. And since I'm the closest thing the Turian Hierarchy has to an expert on the Reapers, they had to move me a few steps up the ladder so the right people would take my advice seriously." He paused again, looking uncomfortable. "Well. More than a few steps."

"Good. It was well-deserved." I rested a hand on his cowl, just brushing his hide with affectionate fingertips. "I'm glad you're here, Garrus. This is going to be a terrible war. We're going to need all our friends."

"Hmm. I suppose I had better go find the gun room. Alliance engineers don't get turian systems. They've probably fouled up the weapon calibrations no end. Maybe I'll throw down a few rugs, make it nice and homey."

I could see the pain deep inside him, no matter how much dry wit he tried to muster to defend it. "Garrus . . ."

"I'll be okay, Liara."

"Your family?"

He shook his head in silence.

"I'm sorry."

"Last I heard, they were bugging out," he said wearily. "My mother doesn't travel easily, given her condition, but my dad and my sister are pretty damn resourceful. If anyone can get out of that mess, they can. There's nothing I can do to help them. All I can do is support the Primarch from here. And you and Shepard, of course."

"That's more than enough. Come on, we have a planning session to prepare for."

12 April 2186, Interstellar Space

"My name is Liara T'Soni. I am the Shadow Broker."

I stood at the head of Normandy's conference table, my back to the large display screen. Primarch Victus, Garrus, and the Primarch's aides sat along one side of the table to my left, Shepard, Lieutenant Adams, and Specialist Traynor along the other to my right.

I found it very interesting to see who did not show any evidence of surprise at my announcement. Shepard and Garrus already knew, of course, since they had been present when I took over the former Broker's network. The aides, Lapadian and Skavros, suddenly went very tight-mandibled and sharp-eyed. Adams did a double-take, and Samantha Traynor nearly dropped her mug of coffee.

Primarch Victus, on the other hand, did not so much as blink.

I thought as much.

"I request that fact not leave this room," I continued. "It's rapidly becoming one of the galaxy's worst-kept secrets. With the Reapers here, there may soon be no point in further concealment. I would still prefer to keep the information at the level of rumor for the time being."

Shepard sent a significant glance down his side of the table. Adams gave a decisive nod, Traynor an anxious one.

"I agree, Doctor," said Victus. "Please continue."

I called up a galaxy map on the wall behind me. My voice fell into a professorial cadence.

"Five days ago, the Reapers attacked Khar'Shan. The Batarian Hegemony does not appear to have put up any significant resistance. My analysts believe that the Reapers indoctrinated a number of senior civilian and military leaders in advance, conditioned their minds to act on behalf of the enemy. These 'sleeper agents' shut down defense and communication grids, turned weapons platforms against their own people, and took other steps to prevent any effective defense. Khar'Shan fell within hours.

"Yesterday, large Reaper forces surged across the mass-relay network, to attack both Earth and Palaven.

"Alliance forces put up more resistance than the batarians managed, but they failed to prevent a large-scale invasion of Earth itself. The Reapers wrecked the Alliance's civilian government, and destroyed Arcturus Station. The remnants of the Alliance fleet, about two-thirds of the total, have withdrawn and remain operational under the command of Admiral Steven Hackett. Scattered forces on Earth are organizing a resistance against the Reapers, although it is not clear what they will be able to accomplish.

"The Reaper force attacking Palaven met with considerable resistance. Under Fleet Admiral Irix Coronati, the fleet managed to destroy several Reaper capital ships, over a dozen destroyer-class ships, and many troop transports. The turian fleet still remains in place to contest Palaven orbital space. Despite these successes, Reapers ground troops have landed in force on Palaven. Turian ground forces, including local militias and armed civilians, are contesting their homeworld almost meter by meter.

"The Reapers' objectives are clear. They intend to eradicate every trace of high-technology civilization in the galaxy. To that end they are killing as many as they can reach. They are also harvesting batarians, humans, and turians at every opportunity. We believe some of the harvested will eventually be used as raw materials, for the construction of one or more new Reapers. For now, the rest are being repurposed as ground troops. Warped batarians, humans, turians, and even krogan appear to make up the bulk of the Reaper army.

"Not all the news is bad. Reaper forces have not yet entered salarian or asari space in significant numbers, nor has the Citadel come under threat. Reaper attacks in the Attican Traverse have been minimal, and there appear to be no Reaper forces as yet in the Terminus Systems. For whatever reason, the Reapers appear to be concentrating on batarian, human, and turian space for the time being."

"Not surprising," said Skavros, his voice deep and harsh. "With all due respect to Dr. T'Soni, her people are not a military power on the same level as the species under attack. Neither are the salarians. Clearly these Reapers are concentrating first on the points where they expect the strongest resistance. Once those have been reduced, the rest of the galaxy will be nothing but a long mop-up operation."

I nodded. "My analysts concur with your assessment, sir."

"There's something I don't understand," said Lapadian, staring at the galaxy map. "Quite a few high-population worlds exist out in the Terminus Systems, vulnerable since they don't have the protection of any of the major powers. Why aren't the Reapers attacking out there?"

"Cerberus," said Shepard flatly.

"Hrr?"

"We've received reports that Cerberus is operating quite widely in the Terminus Systems," I explained. "Several days before the Reapers arrived, a large force under the command of General Oleg Petrovsky took control of Omega, driving Aria T'Loak into exile. Using Omega as a base of operations, Cerberus forces have mounted raids and full-scale assaults across half the galaxy. My network has very little visibility into Cerberus at the moment, so I have no clear assessment of their immediate objectives. I can't even say for certain where Cerberus is getting so many ships and troops. However, I have evidence to suggest that Cerberus is at least temporarily allied with the Reapers."

"What?" For the first time, the Primarch lost his bland composure.

"It's true," said Shepard. "Yesterday my team defeated a Cerberus raiding party on Mars. We discovered Cerberus troops that had been augmented with Reaper technology. This makes them better soldiers, but I think we have to assume that it also places them under at least indirect Reaper control."

"Cerberus leadership may or may not be aware that they are working to support Reaper objectives," I pointed out. "The Illusive Man appears to believe that he can seize control of them."

"That sounds a lot like some of the delusional ranting we heard from Saren Arterius," said Victus.

"Yes," Shepard agreed. "It would be just like the Reapers to use Cerberus as a proxy, the way Sovereign used Saren. That would free up their main force to attack our strongest points."

"That's the strategy of an enemy who believes himself to possess overpowering force."

Shepard nodded silently.

"Nonsense!" said Skavros, leaning forward. "We've already destroyed a few of these Reapers. We can destroy more. Palaven will never fall!"

Victus only shook his head.

I stepped in, framing my body language to project respectful regret to turian observers. "Sir, with all due respect to Fleet Admiral Coronati, he had tactical surprise and was able to take advantage of his position near the mass relay. The Reapers countered almost immediately, forcing him to withdraw in order to defend Palaven. The correlation of forces since then has been entirely in the Reapers' favor. They have lost no more of their major platforms."

"She's right," said Victus. "Even Coronati took out less than two percent of the force that's attacking Palaven. We have to face facts. We can slow this enemy down, we can bloody them if we get lucky, but that's all. Palaven almost fell during the Krogan Rebellions, and the Reapers are much worse . . ." Suddenly the Primarch trailed off, his eyes losing their focus.

"So what's the plan?" demanded Skavros. "The Alliance is doing all it can to defend itself and start the construction of this Crucible device. What about the salarians and the asari?"

"Busy shoring up their own borders," said Shepard, a trace of cynical irony in his voice. "Unless they've been more responsive to your calls for help than they were to ours."

"No," said Lapadian. "Although the Salarian Union has at least expressed willingness to attend a war summit, even with Primarch Fedorian dead."

"Well, that's a start . . ."

"The krogan," said Victus.

Everyone fell silent, staring at the Primarch.

His eyes focused once more, watching Shepard. "Commander, we can't put any faith in the Council, as your own people have had cause to discover. Much as I would like to have Destiny Ascension, ten thousand asari commandos, and the STG fighting for us, I know that's not going to happen right away. I still need to take some of the pressure off my own people before I can promise any help for yours. I need something to stop these Reapers in their tracks. That only thing I can think of that might do that is a lot of krogan boots on Palaven."

Shepard suddenly looked as uncertain as I had ever seen him. "That's a very tall order. Sir."

"I know. The krogan hate my people, and they have good reason." Slowly, still holding Shepard's gaze, Victus leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table, lacing his fingers together. "I can't ask the krogan to come help us. But you can."

"Maybe," said Shepard. "Urdnot Wrex is a friend. He trusts me. I don't know if he trusts me that much."

"All we can do is ask. See if he will attend this summit."

"What incentive can we give him?"

Victus tilted his head back slightly, giving Shepard an ironic look. "A formal alliance with your people? Circumventing the Council entirely? I think he might be eager to take that chance. Even if it means allying with the Turian Hierarchy at the same time."

Shepard shook his head in disbelief. "I'll ask. But only from a safe distance."

The planning meeting broke up. Shepard finally went off-duty. We retired to the crew deck for a late dinner, where I found myself almost too tired to chew. The past two and a half days had included many hours of intensive work, several episodes of combat, extensive use of my biotics, all the stress of the Reaper invasion, and four hours of not-very-restful sleep.

If the whole war is going to be like this, I have no idea how I'm going to survive to the end of it.

Of course, Shepard had several billion credits of Cerberus implants to help him stay active and alert. Nothos.

I will admit that it felt very, very good to strip down, take a hot shower, stumble into the bed, and then have a large warm human wrap himself around me.

"Tomorrow," he murmured in my aural cavity.

"Must we?" I said, turning my head slightly and opening my eyes to gaze into his at close range.

"I think so. Liara, maybe Primarch Victus is willing to sit down with the krogan, but we still have to convince the asari and the salarians to come to the summit. Not to mention persuading Wrex that it's in his people's best interest to give us the time of day. In the morning, can you and Traynor start working the Broker network?"

"I think so. I assume you want recommendations on the best angle of approach for each party. Also any leverage the Broker might have to encourage everyone to sit down together."

"Yeah." He closed his eyes and rested his head on my shoulder, his arms around me tightening a little, his breath very warm on the folds of flesh along my neck. "In the morning."

"In the morning," I agreed, closing my eyes once more and feeling a certain heat. "Hmm."

"Liara?"

"Shepard, do you suppose you could make love to an asari who is too exhausted to be very responsive? Knowing full well that she might fall asleep halfway through the process?"

He raised his head to give me a sharp-edged grin. "I don't know. That sounds like a challenge."

"Whatever it takes to engage your attention."

I didn't fall asleep. Certainly not after the first few minutes. Toward the end I looked up into his face, gasping at the waves of pleasure rolling through my body, and felt such a tide of desire that I could hardly bear it.

I want. I want so much. I want him with me, calm and at peace. I want . . .

I didn't know quite what I wanted, aside from more of him. Not then.