PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
ME-Verse
Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Illium
Dr. Liara T'Soni, up-and-coming information broker extraordinaire, looked up from her terminal as Shepard entered her office.
"Shepard," she said, "what can I do for you?"
Shepard had a seat, pulling out a datapad. "ONI found and gave me data on how to find the Shadow Broker. Interested?"
"Absolutely!" She stood up. "I had no idea… Let me see what you've got!"
Liara grabbed the datapad.
"It looks like a leaked transmission between Shadow Broker operatives. Some hints as to the location, and…"
The image changed to a Drell.
"It's about Feron" Liara said, eyes lighting up. "He's still alive."
"Your friend?" Shepard asked. "The one who helped recover my body from the Shadow Broker?"
"The same. He sacrificed himself to save me. I'd never found anything suggesting he was alive. After two years, I hadn't even dreamed…"
"Sounds like you and he were close."
"It's funny. He betrayed me more than once. He was double-dealing for Cerberus, for the Shadow Broker… But in the end, he sacrificed himself for me. I owe him."
"Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. What's the next step?"
"I… I don't know. I need to prepare, to think. I'm going home. Use my terminal if you need any local intel."
"You okay?" he asked as she headed for the door.
"I've spent two years plotting revenge. Now I have the chance to make it a rescue."
"Let me help. I'll come by your apartment this evening?"
"Okay. Hopefully I'll have a plan by then. Thank you, Shepard."
-SCENE BREAK-
Liara's Apartment
1745 Hours (Local Time)
It was a confusing sight that greeted Team Shepard when they arrived at the apartment: Nos Astra police officers were all over the place, with the entrance cordoned off by a holographic 'Do Not Cross' line. Shepard had brought along Garrus, Samara, and a DDF volunteer – a fairly-endowed young woman wearing dark blue jeans with (armored) brown boots, a light-brown jacket over a midriff-baring green shirt, and a brown Stetson hat, with straw-blonde hair, green eyes, and a few freckles on her slightly-tanned skin. Anyone with sufficient magical sensitivity (of which there were none amongst the NAPD detachment) would detect a thorough Transformation Spell on her – her current human form was not her true one.
"What's going on here?" Shepard asked the NAPD Sergeant near the door.
"This area is sealed off" she replied. "Please step back, sir."
"I'm Commander Jason Shepard, Citadel Special Tactics & Recon. My friend, Dr. Liara T'Soni, lives here. She & I were working on something together, and she told us to meet her here at this time. What's happened?"
"Someone tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard" a new voice replied.
The woman descended the stairs – an Asari in blue armor. "Thank you, Officer" she said. "Your people are dismissed."
"Y-You can't do that!" the officer said as Group Shepard walked through the holographic ticker-tape.
"Already done. With two Spectres and a Justicar on-scene, your people are no longer necessary."
As the officers left, the Asari turned to Shepard. "Tela Vasir, Special Tactics & Recon" she introduced herself.
"A Spectre?" Shepard asked.
"I heard your status was reinstated. Good. You're one of our most famous operatives. Might even get you to sign my chestplate. So, I assume you had business with your friend this evening, Commander?"
"Liara was following a lead on the Shadow Broker."
"That's a dangerous enemy to have."
"What are the facts so far?"
"About 25 minutes ago, someone took a shot at T'Soni." She gestured to the cracked glass of the large window overlooking the city. "She stuck around for almost four minutes before leaving the building. Whatever she was doing was important."
"Did the police find anything when they arrived?"
"Just the mess and the bullet holes. I gave them a gold star for finding the bullet holes."
"Liara was expecting me. She would have left a message here – her office wasn't safe."
"I'm not surprised. Illium is just Omega with expensive shoes. I haven't found anything useful for tracking her down yet. You know her better than I do. Where would she have hidden her backups?"
"Lemme take a look around."
The group spread out, looking for clues. AJ tilted her head in confusion while looking at a fragmented Prothean artifact on display, while Samara checked out a photo of "the old team".
"The rifle used to do this wasn't standard-issue" Garrus said, inspecting the bullet holes. "The kinetic barrier deflected the shots, but they still managed to penetrate the glass."
The search turned up random knickknacks, like a painting of Ilos, Liara's university degree, and a portion of Shepard's (badly damaged) old armor. Finally, up in the loft next to Liara's bed, Shepard found a picture of the Normandy I… and when he picked it up, the picture changed to an image of the Prothean dig-site on Eden Prime, where the damaged beacon had been found and started Shepard's journey.
"The frame must be keyed to your ID" Vasir said.
"A Prothean dig-site… Liara did leave a message."
Another quick search led them to one of the Prothean artifacts in a display case at the base of the stairs. When Shepard touched it, a small hidden compartment opened up, ejecting a small circular data disk. They took it over to the apartment's terminal and slid it in, showing a recording of a Salarian.
"What have you got for me, Sekat?" Liara's voice asked.
"It was tricky, but you paid for the best. I can narrow it down to a cluster, maybe even a system."
"How soon can you have it?"
"Shouldn't take long. Come by my office – Baria Frontiers, in the Dracon Trade Center. Gotta say, though, T'Soni – you're making me a little nervous. How big is the trouble that could come out of this?"
"Relax, Sekat. I'll see you in a few hours."
"This must be important" Shepard said. "The Shadow Broker's people have already tried to kill her once."
"I know where the Trade Center is" Vasir said. "My car's outside. Come on."
-SCENE BREAK-
Dracon Trade Center
25 Minutes Later
The bronze-colored skycar set down in a parking lot in front of the tower. People of various species milled about outside. As the car set down and everyone got out (Garrus, Samara, and AJ had squeezed in back, and were thankful to be able to stretch their legs again), everything looked peaceful.
"The Baria Frontiers offices are located on the third floor" Vasir said. "I don't hear police chatter; we must've missed the party."
Suddenly, several powerful explosions ripped through the building's lower floors. Glass shattered, stone & metal warped and collapsed, and people's lives were snuffed out. Team Shepard was thrown off their feet by the blast.
"By the Goddess…" Samara murmured.
"Killin' all these folk just to silence one woman…" Applejack muttered. "What the hell kinda people are we dealin' with here?"
"They just took out three floors just to try and ensure she's dead!" Vasir said. "I'll go up in the skycar and seal off the building from the top!"
"We'll start down here and work out way up" Shepard replied as Vasir got in her car.
"Just leave some for me" she said as her vehicle took off.
"Weapons ready," Shepard ordered, "just in case."
The other three nodded – Samara and Garrus readied their M8 Avengers, while AJ unholstered the two M6E pistols she'd brought along, also ensuring the M90A shotgun slung across her back was ready. The team entered the building, moving through rubble, smoke, and sparks from severed wires.
"The elevators and building security are disabled" Garrus said, observing a terminal.
"No alarms, no police" Vasir said. "Very professional."
On the second floor, they found a dying employee, who mentioned mercenaries and bombs before expiring from his wounds.
"This man was killed by bullets, not a blast" Samara said.
"Watch yourself, Vasir" Shepard said. "They've got military-grade hardware."
Up more stairs and into the Baria Frontiers entrance, Shepard inspected the sign-in terminal. "I'm at the BF office" he said. "Liara signed in just a few minutes ago."
"Understood, Shepard."
As the quartet moved into the offices, a small object rolled across the ground. Garrus' eyes widened as he recognized it.
"Flashbang!" the Turian shouted.
The team took cover, closing & averting their eyes, while (something either technological, magical, or magitek that the author couldn't decide on) auto-triggered to protect their hearing. As soon as the flashbang grenade went off, soldiers in full armor and with voice modulators came pouring out, opening fire on them.
"Vasir, we've got mercs, and they're well-armed!"
"Say hello to the Shadow Broker's private army, Commander."
Shepard and Garrus used their sniper rifles to start picking Broker Agents off. Samara tossed out a Biotic Pull that yanked two of them into the sights of AJ's pistols, and the farmgirl gunned them down. The team made their way along the hall, going left and moving past a burning hole in the building's side, AJ's shotgun making short work of an enemy Vanguard. They looped around through the offices, Shepard using an Overload/Warp combo to take out an enemy Engineer while the other three dealt with the foot soldiers.
The next corner led to a stairway blocked off by fire from damaged pipes; it was easy enough, though, to find and trigger the fire suppression systems and move on. The next floor held a few more troops that Samara and Garrus easily dealt with. As they neared Sekat's office, they heard a single pistol shot from inside. The door opened to reveal Vasir, gun drawn and pointed at where the now-dead-and-on-the-floor Broker agent's skull had been a second ago. In the corner, slumped against the wall, was a dead Salarian, his chest blown open by a shotgun blast.
"Damn it" Vasir said. "If I'd been a few seconds faster, I could've stopped them."
"Is this Sekat?" Shepard inspected the body.
"Must've been."
"No sign of that data Liara talked about. Looks like a dead end."
"So~…" Vasir said. "Did you find your friend's body?"
"You mean this body?" Liara said as she stepped out from the shadows, pointing her gun at Vasir.
"Liara?" Shepard said. "This is Tela Vasir, a Spectre."
"I know. She's also the woman who tried to kill me."
"You've had a rough day," Vasir said as she slowly backed toward the large window, "so I'll let that slide. Now why don't you put that gun down?"
"I saw you! I doubled back after I left. I watched you break into my apartment!"
"I knew we couldn't trust you" AJ said as he drew her shotgun, pointing it at Vasir. "Had a bad feelin' the second I laid eyes on ya."
"You didn't know where Liara went," Shepard summed up as he, Garrus, and Samara readied weapons, "because she hid the message. You used me to find it for you."
"Thanks for the help" Vasir replied with a smirk.
"Once she had my location," Liara said, "she signaled the Shadow Broker's forces. They bombed the building to take me out. She found Sekat, took his data, and murdered him. I'm guessing she's still got the disk on her."
"Good guess" Vasir said as she showed the data-disk in her hand, while her other hand went behind her back. "Not that you'll ever see what's on it…"
A flare of Biotic power from Vasir's hidden hand shattered the window.
"…you Pureblood bitch!"
She threw her hand forward, launching a barrage of razor-sharp glass shards at the group. Liara formed a Biotic Barrier to protect everyone, and Shepard ran out after Vasir, tackling her out the window. The two struggled as they fell, ending with Vasir kicking Shepard down into the ground and slowing her own fall with her Biotics. Liara leapt down after her, the younger Asari chasing the fallen Spectre as she ran, quickly taking out the two Broker mooks who tried to get in her way.
As Shepard got back onto his feet, more Broker Agents came pouring out from the far door. Samara hovered down to join him and then used her Biotics to safely lower Garrus and AJ down as well. Garrus used his sniper rifle to pick off about half of them from afar, and they then mowed through the rest while on the move, running to catch up with Liara. They hurried down to the first floor, fighting through the enemy infantry in the lobby; Shepard and Samara did most of the heavy lifting. They rushed out to the parking lot, just in time to catch sight of Vasir remote-summoning her skycar, leaping in, and speeding off into the sky. Not missing a beat, Liara commandeered a nearby taxicab; Shepard got in the driver's seat, while Garrus, Samara, and Applejack (shifting back to her smaller real form to give the other two more room) piled into the back. The vehicle closed up and took off in hot pursuit.
The two vehicles sped through the skyscrapers of Nos Astra, Shepard's never losing sight of Vasir's for more than half a second. They moved through an under-construction building, down a crowded highway, and between two freighters that were moving to dock with each other, into a major skyway.
"Traffic!" Liara shouted. "Oncoming traffic!"
"We'll be fine" Shepard said as he piloted the skycar through deft maneuvers in his pursuit.
Vasir started dropping proximity charges, and Shepard threw the skycar through some sharp and sudden moves to dodge them. As he chased her into another tunnel, Broker-piloted troop transports joined in.
"What kinda guns does this thing have?" he asked Liara.
"It's a taxi; it has a fare meter!"
"Wonderful…"
"Truck."
"I know."
"Truck!"
"I know!"
Liara screamed as the car came within meters of a crashing transport in the tunnel.
"There we go!"
"You're enjoying this!"
As they moved back into another skyway, flying against traffic, dodging and weaving through oncoming cars at a worrying speed, the poor trio in the backseat held on for dear life.
"Is Shepard's driving normally this… volatile?" Samara asked Garrus, paying little mind to the fact Applejack was clinging to her desperately.
"Oh, yeah, definitely!" Garrus replied, one hand with a death-grip on the handle above his door. "This is just like old times! You should see what he can do with an M35 Mako!"
"Yeah, well," AJ said, "all I know is, after this I'm never gonna harp on RD when she brags about those high-speed aerial obstacle courses again-SWEET FAUNA LUSTER!-!"
The skycar performed a barrel roll to avoid an oncoming truck, its roof passing about a foot from the larger vehicle. A pursuing Broker Agent vehicle couldn't follow suit, bouncing off the transport and slamming into a skyscraper.
"A head-on collision at this speed…" Liara said nervously.
"Yeah, I hear those can be bad for you" Shepard snarked.
They went right (dodging another truck), keeping Vasir's vehicle in sight. Suddenly, Garrus rolled down his window and pulled out his Mantis, leaning out and taking aim. After a few seconds he fired, the bullet hitting something vital in Vasir's car's thrusters, sending it drifting to the right… where it made a glancing blow against an oncoming skycar, sending it hurtling off to the side, smoke spewing from its engine. It came to an abrupt stop just outside a hotel parking lot, sliding a few dozen meters along a balcony. Shepard brought their skycar around, setting down in the lot, catching sight of Vasir running/limping deeper into the area as he was setting down.
"She can't have gotten far" Liara said as everyone disembarked (AJ taking human form again and readying her pistols).
"Reinforcements inbound!" Garrus pointed out a pair of incoming Broker Agent transports. "They're trying to slow us down!"
Shepard tossed out a Shockwave Chain that sent the first transport's troopers flying just as the vehicle set down; they were left easy pickings for Liara and Garrus. The next few minutes were spent fighting off dozens of Broker Agents, coming in by half a dozen transports one at a time. Finally, one transport lost control and slammed into the barricade of the nearby building, knocking it over and making an opening.
"Come on!" Liara said. "We can climb over and get to Vasir's car."
They moved up, heading into an apartment; three destroyed LOKI mechs were on the living room floor, and some slightly… risqué entertainment was playing on a big-screen television.
"What kinda 'hotel' is this?" Shepard asked.
"Azure" Liara replied. "It's a luxury resort with an… exotic edge. 'Azure' is slang for a part of the Asari body in some areas of Illium."
"Where?"
"Mainly the lower reaches, near the bottom."
"I meant, 'Where on the Asari body?'"
"So did I."
They left the apartment and headed over to the crashed car, finding large drops of bluish-purple leading away from the crash.
"Asari blood" Samara said. "Her injuries will betray her location to us."
"And should slow her down" Garrus added.
They followed the blood trail through another apartment and down a path leading to an outdoor diner.
"It's over, Vasir" Liara said as she and the rest of the team pointed weapons.
Vasir stopped walking, growled, and then in a flash of motion she grabbed a random human woman, wrapping an arm around her neck and holding her as a shield while drawing her own gun. The other patrons panicked and ran.
"What's your name, hun?" Vasir said to her hostage.
"M-Mariana" the woman whimpered.
"Mariana… You wanna live, don't you? Tell those people you want to live."
"Please…"
"We'll get you out of here safely, Mariana" Shepard said.
"Well, that's good to hear" Vasir snarked. "All you had to do was just walk away, Shepard. Now it gets ugly." She put her pistol to Mariana's head.
"Please" Mariana sobbed. "I have a son."
"A son? I hope he gets to see you again. I've heard losing a parent is just horrific for children – scars 'em for life."
"I'm going to pulverize every bone in your body" Liara growled.
"It's okay, Liara" Shepard said. "We'll handle this. The usual way."
"You want Mariana's little boy to grow up without a mommy, Shepard?" Vasir shouted. "Thermal clips on the ground, now. Power cells, too."
"Is that it?"
"What?"
"Vasir… I sacrificed hundreds of human lives to save the Destiny Ascension. I stopped Saren from growing his own private army of Krogans by setting off a nuke in the middle of his base. I spared the last Rachni Queen so that her children could live again in this galaxy! So for your sake, I hope your escape plan doesn't hinge on me hesitating to shoot a hostage!"
"You're bluffing."
"Well… not exactly 'bluffing'. More like… stalling."
And then the table that Liara had, unnoticed by Vasir, Biotically picked up came hurtling in from behind and the side, slamming into Vasir and knocking her into the nearby pond. Garrus motioned for Mariana to run for it, and she did. After a few seconds, Vasir came leaping/hovering out of the water, her body glowing blue and a look of raw, bloodthirsty rage on her face. She Biotic-Charged across the courtyard, appearing on a raised area overlooking Team Shepard, and pulled out her M15 Vindicator rifle.
Everyone dove for cover as Vasir opened fire on AJ, Liara, and Garrus while firing a pair of Warps at Samara and Shepard. Liara and AJ returned fire with their pistols, but Vasir's shields deflected their shots, and she forced them back into cover before they could bring her shields down. Shepard Biotic-Charged in next to her, firing his Tempest SMG at close range. This took her shields down and started chewing through her thick armor, but she let out a pulse of Biotic energy that staggered him, and then Charged up onto a balcony of the nearby building. Rocket drones came flying in, opening fire; Shepard and Garrus used Overloads to bring them down. At the same time, a Broker Agent transport landed on the far side; Liara tossed out a Singularity that grabbed the disembarking troops, leaving Samara and AJ free to cut them down.
Vasir leapt back into the fray, and quickly had to fend off an assault from Samara, the Justicar and the Rogue Spectre getting into a Biotic showdown, appearing evenly matched. They segued into a Biotic Push-of-war, which Samara was slowly winning. With one final shove she sent Vasir tumbling across the courtyard, draining her shields and stunning her. Garrus moved to attack, but Vasir made a blind Charge backward to get some distance, by pure luck avoiding a smack into a wall. She surrounded herself with a Biotic Barrier long enough for her shields to recharge, and then hit a Warp from Shepard with one of her own, the two masses of Biotic energy canceling each other out.
A shotgun blast from behind heavily drained Vasir's shields, and a second follow-up shot drained them the rest of the way and damaged her armor. She spun around and Biotically gripped Applejack by the throat, lifting her off the ground. AJ tried and failed to breathe as it felt like a super-strong hand was constricting around her neck, crushing her windpipe. She flailed and kicked, starting to panic. Then Garrus' fist impacted the side of Vasir's head, knocking her to the side, and AJ dropped back to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. Vasir Biotic-Charged up to a higher level again, as another wave of rocket drones and a transport full of Broker Agents flew in. Samara and Liara used a Singularity/Warp combo to create a Biotic explosion that took out the mooks, while Garrus and Shepard again used their Overload modules to down the rocket drones.
When Vasir reappeared again, Liara was ready for her. A Biotic Punch sent the rogue Spectre reeling, and Liara followed up with a barrage of close-range fire from her SMG, chipping through Vasir's shields and armor. Vasir pulled off a Biotic Charge to get away, only to appear right in front of AJ, who lashed out with a punch to her midsection; even in her present human form, she still had her real form's super-strength, so her blow cracked Vasir's armor like an egg and nearly caved her chest in. Weakened, Vasir was unable to avoid the dozen or so rounds that Shepard and Samara put into her. She staggered back into a wall, sliding down it into a slumped/sitting position, her blood slowly pooling beneath her.
Liara walked up to the still-struggling Vasir, grabbing Sekat's data-disk from her.
"This is what we need to find the Shadow Broker" she said.
"You're dead!" Vasir said in a ragged voice. "The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades. He's stronger than anything you've ever faced!"
"Is that why you sold out the Council to work for him?" Shepard asked, glaring.
"You think I betrayed the Council, like Saren?! Go to hell! The Broker's given me damn good intel over the years – intel that saved lives and kept the Citadel safe! So if the Broker needs a few people to disappear, I'll pay that price without hesitation!"
"Spectres don't blow up buildings filled with innocent people!"
"Sure we do. We get our hands dirty so the Council doesn't have to. The councilors might complain about our methods to soothe their consciences, but they never look too closely. Besides, you're with Cerberus. You have any idea what your terrorist friends have done?"
"You haven't heard, then? First off, I was never working for Cerberus; it was a collaboration to reach a shared goal, to stop the Collectors, and was never intended to be permanent. Second, I am fully aware of and disgusted by a lot of their past actions; I killed a few handfuls of their people back during my hunt for Saren. And finally, I'm not with them anymore. I cut ties with them after The Illusive Man and I had one too many ethical disagreements. I'm exclusively with the Dimensional Defense Force now.
"So your attempts to gain the moral high ground aren't going to work, Vasir. You betrayed the spirit of what Spectres are supposed to do. You murdered dozens of innocent people to try to kill one woman, not because she was a threat to galactic stability, but because you were hired to by a paranoid information broker who sees living, thinking, feeling beings as disposable assets. …I'm going to give detailed info on everything that's happened to the Council, so they'll know that you became a mercenary, a traitor, a mass-murderer just because the Shadow Broker paid you to. They'll know that, in the end, you were just as bad as Saren."
Vasir growled, trying to call Biotic power to her hand, when suddenly a single bullet tore through her skull, killing her instantly. Garrus holstered his sidearm, and he & the rest of the group moved on to catch up to Liara.
-Mini-Break-
"Eliminate T'Soni and retrieve the data" an impossibly deep voice ordered in the recorded conversation. "Civilian casualties not a concern."
"Vasir's dead" Shepard said to Liara as she deactivated her Omnitool.
"I'm putting the data through to the Normandy-2's computers" Liara said. "We can be at the Shadow Broker's base in a few hours. He'll know about Vasir before long. If he decides to kill Feron…"
They kept talking as they started walking back to the car.
"We'll get Feron out of there alive, Liara" Shepard replied. "I promise."
"I know. You're here to help, just like always."
"That's not a good thing?"
"When we first met on Therum, you saved me from the Heretic Geth. You fought a Krogan Battlemaster while I cowered. Now you're doing it again, and I'm still leaning on you for help."
"That's what friends do, Liara."
"…I can get us there, based on Sekat's data. The Normandy's stealth drive will keep them from detecting us. The Shadow Broker's agents are still shooting their way through Illium. With luck, they won't notice we've left until it's too late."
"That's a little cold. They killed innocent people."
"You know what I mean."
"Do I? When I hit the ground back at the trade center, you went after Vasir without a backward look."
"I knew there was no way a little fall like that would kill you, Shepard. I had to stay on Vasir. I had to stay rational, make the call… like I did with Sekat."
"That was Vasir's fault, not yours."
"Sekat had no idea what the stakes were. I put him in harm's way to get the data I needed. I got him killed. And I'd do it again. But from here on out, things will be simple – get in, get Feron, get out. And kill anyone who tries to stop us."
-SCENE BREAK-
Hourglass Nebula, Sowilo System, Hagalaz
DATA: "Hagalaz is a second-tier garden world that receives little attention from the galactic community. A Salarian mining expedition initially discovered the planet, which was promptly strong-armed away from them by organized crime figures. Hagalaz's exploration rights were then sold to the highest bidder, which led to a brief burst of mining colonies in the 2000s, but most of those were abandoned when other planets were found with more accessible resources.
Though Hagalaz has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere capable of supporting life, its rotational period is slower than Earth's, making its day and night 98 Earth hours long. The intense heat on one side of the planet and the extreme cold on the other make for violent storm cells wherever the sun is rising or setting. As a result, the flora and fauna of Hagalaz have developed the capability to live in cycles of ice, flooding, baking heat, and dramatic air pressure changes. The biota of the planet has been largely unexploited by the exotic pet and gardening trades, since simulating their natural conditions is problematic for the average consumer."
A UT47 'Kodiak' shuttle flew through the tempestuous storm, carrying Shepard, Liara, and – from the DDF – Ishtar Solos, who was checking her blaster cannon while resting against her shield. Soon, a large ship came into view, flying high in the skies amongst the storm clouds, a massive shield-looking thing of sorts at the rear.
"Hagalaz" Liara said. "The oceans boil during the day, then snap-freeze ten minutes after sundown."
"The Shadow Broker lives in this?" Shepard asked.
"His ship follows the sunset. It's completely undetectable in the storm… unless you know where to look."
"How do we get inside?"
"The shuttle bay is locked down. We'll need to land on the ship's hull and hunt for a hatch. But we can't stay outside for long. There's a constant thunderstorm where the hot and cold air collide."
The Kodiak flew in close to a flat portion of the ship's top near the bow, being buffeted by the winds as it hovered a meter or so above the hull. The hatch opened, and out hopped Team Shepard (all of them in hazard-sealed armor). Once its cargo was dropped off, the Kodiak immediately bugged out, letting the wind carry it out.
"It's hard to pinpoint in this lightning," Liara said, "but I'm picking up signals from a communications array near the back of the ship."
They moved down a 'level', making their way along a catwalk, and a pair of red electronic spheres emerged, blasting at them with electric shocks before Shepard destroyed them with an Overload.
"Maintenance drones" he said. "Why were they attacking?"
"They must think we're debris from the storm" Liara replied.
They made their way a little further down and then up, moving along the ship's spine. Up ahead, two angled-back fins with glowing bases. A lightning bolt struck one, and the glow grew brighter; an instant later, a powerful discharge of electricity shot out in all directions except down from the fin, and its base went dark.
"Be careful" Liara said. "Those capacitors discharge built-up lightning."
Up ahead, a squad of Broker Agents emerged, firing a few shots at Team Shepard. Shepard fired a single pistol round at the charged capacitor, and it discharged its stored electricity into the enemy troopers, frying them. With the way clear, they hurried past the capacitors and down to the ship's right (their left) walkway again; two blasts from Ishtar's cannon took out the LOKI mechs that tried to stop them. The next bend brought them before another squad of troopers… who happened to be right next to a charged capacitor, so that problem was taken care of quickly. A huge fin was in their way, but the turning of a switch made it retract. The trio made their way across the ship and down to the portside catwalk, fighting through a few more LOKIs.
"Okay…" Liara said. "Looking down was clearly a mistake."
They made their way along the catwalk, Ishtar leading through a squad of Broker Agents (their puny bullets were no match for her shield), and into an interior part of the ship, where rows of huge, electrically-charged panels moved in & out in waves.
"This ship is incredible" Liara said. "It must have taken decades to build in secret."
"I wonder what happened to the contractors" Shepard snarked.
"I think we can guess. …Navigating this storm is brutal. If the ship's engines stop for even a moment… At least the Shadow Broker would go down with us."
"That's comforting."
They made their way back outside, along the catwalk and back up onto the ship's back. Another pair of fortuitously-placed capacitors made clearing out the next squad of Broker Agents much easier, and another pack of LOKIs were easily dealt with as well. The next, squad, however, had good cover, a rocket launcher, was led by a Vanguard, and was not near any capacitors. Shepard used his Viper to snipe the launcher-wielder, while Liara tossed out a Singularity that snatched up three foot-soldiers who were then taken out by Ishtar's blaster cannon. Shepard used a Biotic Charge to stun the Vanguard and then used his SMG to take her down, while Liara dealt with the rest.
Once the way was clear, they moved up a ways, lowering a section of panels to progress further down the ship's spine. Another, larger pack of Agents came out to meet them, but their proximity to capacitors eased Team Shepard's progress as they carved through them. Up ahead, a lightning rod on a rail was quickly lowered, exposing a path that led further down the ship, but included a trek across a thin metal bridge over a 'pit' of electrically-supercharged parts.
"Not even a guardrail" Shepard said. "I bet the Broker's agents love patrolling the hull."
"At least the view is nice" Liara quipped.
They emerged right outside a locked hatch leading to the comm. signals. Liara ran up to it.
"It's locked" she said. "Hang on; I've got a bypass shunt program that can crack it."
She walked up to the door, calling up her Omnitool. A yellow circle appeared at the center of five red displays forming a larger circle around it.
"How long will it take?" Ishtar asked.
"I don't know. I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before. …Well, not this one, anyway."
Broker Agents attacked from the left.
"You sure that shunt is working?" Shepard asked as he triggered a capacitor discharge, frying a trio of Agents.
"It's illegal even on Illium" Liara replied as she Biotically launched a flailing & screaming Agent off the side of the ship. "It didn't come with a warranty."
"But you tested it, right?"
"Uh… Here come more of them!"
"Tell me you tested it!"
"Sorry, no time to talk!"
After another minute or so of this, the Agents started coming from the right instead, sporadic and poorly-organized but still an annoyance.
"Liara…" A LOKI mech exploded.
"I'm sure it won't be much longer!" A Warp to the face took out an Agent.
"Remember the old days when you could just slap Omnigel on everything?"
"Yes, that security upgrade made a lot of people unhappy."
Ishtar's blaster cannon blew the head off a Vanguard, while an Overload from Shepard left an Engineer exposed to a barrage of SMG fire to the face from Liara. Rocket drones came flying in from the front of the ship; Shepard used an Overload to take out two, while Liara grabbed three more with a Singularity, so a couple shots from Ishtar's blaster cannon scrapped them easily.
"Their attacks are disorganized" Liara said. "They'd be more effective if they all attacked at once."
"Please don't give the mercs ideas" Shepard replied.
Another small wave of Agents attacked from the left, with Team Shepard making short work of them. However, their long-range motion trackers then lit up on both approaching directions.
"The next wave looks like a big one" Liara said.
"You just had to give them tactical advice" Shepard quipped.
"But now there'll be fewer left to deal with inside."
"Keep dreaming, T'Soni."
Shepard took the right while Liara and Ishtar took the left; they got into position just as Broker Agents came storming in from both sides. Shepard tossed out a Singularity that grabbed three of them, and moved them high up enough for the gale-force winds to grab hold of them and whisk them away. Ishtar relied on her massive metal shield and her armor's personal energy shields to protect her as she rushed in close amongst the Agents, using her blaster cannon to blow holes in chests and heads. Liara hung back, using Biotic attacks to support Ishtar and keep attackers off-balance.
Eventually, the horde dwindled to nothing, and seconds later the door finally opened. Cautious, the trio hurried inside.
-Mini-Break-
The team took cover as a rocket came streaking in from down the hallway, while bullets pinged off the support beams they were behind.
"More of them?" Liara asked. "How many guards does the Shadow Broker have?"
"I told you~…" Shepard said.
Shepard pulled out his Viper, using it to snipe most of the Agents down the hall. He then Biotic-Charged in, stunning the shielded Engineer, and followed up with an Overload/SMG combo that took him down as well. The other two caught up, and they hurried through the corridors, fighting through another pack of Agents along the way.
"Hold your positions, no matter the cost" the Shadow Broker's distorted voice ordered.
"I've downloaded the ship's layout" Liara said. "We're headed toward the prison block… and Feron."
Up another flight of stairs, a pair of Vanguards and an Engineer were guarding a doorway. Shepard Overloaded the Engineer's shields, leaving him open to a headshot from Liara's pistol, and then used a Throw and a close-range Sniper shot to kill one of the Vanguards while Ishtar bashed the other with her shield and then fired two point-blank blaster cannon shots. Shepard hacked the door, leading into a walkway that included a terminal overlooking a low-set room. In the center was a chair, and restrained in it was a Drell, hooked up to multiple machines.
"Feron!" Liara called out.
The Drell stirred, weak. "Liara?" he rasped out.
"Hang on," Liara ran for the control panel, "we're getting you out of here!"
"No, wait!"
Too late. As soon as Liara tried to access the terminal, Feron screamed, his body twitching as electricity coursed around, over, and through him. After a second or so, it cut off.
"What the hell is the Broker trying to do to you?" Shepard asked.
"The equipment is sensitive to tampering" Feron replied, sounding a little strained. "This chair plugs into the Broker's info network. You have to shut off the power; pull me out now, and my brain gets cooked."
"Do you know where we can cut the power?" Liara asked.
"It won't be easy. You'll have to go to central operations."
"What do you know about the Shadow Broker?" Shepard asked. "What is he?"
"I never got a good look, but he's big. The guards are terrified of him."
"A Krogan?" Liara asked.
"No. Bigger."
"What's the point of this cage?" Shepard asked.
"It's a neural grounding rod" Liara replied. "The medical equipment is to make sure he doesn't… expire. Getting him out of it won't be easy."
"Easy or not, we're all getting out of here."
"Central operations is down the hall" Feron said. "You know the Shadow Broker's waiting for you, right?"
"I'm counting on it. We'll be back for you."
"I'll try not to go anywhere."
Team Shepard moved on, carving through a couple more Broker Agent squads. Finally, they reached the door to central ops, stepping through and entering the Shadow Broker's office. At the far end of the central area of the room was a desk, partially in shadow. Seated at it was a massive being with a crimson hide; even sitting down, Shepard could tell he was as tall as a Sangheili and twice as bulky. His impeccably-pressed suit looked tight on his heavily muscled frame, two curved 'horns' vaguely resembling a Salarian's crowned his head, and he appeared to have eight eyes and a three-jawed mouth (two upper, one lower). He sat calmly, hands folded on the desk.
"Here for the Drell?" he asked, with a natural voice that was somehow even deeper than the modulated one he used to issue orders. "Reckless, even for you, Commander."
"That bombing on Illium wasn't exactly subtle" Shepard replied.
"Extreme, but necessary."
"No, it wasn't!" Liara said. "Neither was caging Feron for two years!"
"Dr. T'Soni. Your interference caused all this. Feron betrayed me when he handed you Shepard's body. The Drell is simply paying the price."
"Someone was bound to come after you for working with the Collectors" Shepard said.
"It was a mutually beneficial partnership. Fortunately, the Normandy's IFF will let me salvage the remains of the Collector Base."
"It'll be pretty hard to run a base this size with no crew."
"They're replaceable. Your arrival is barely an interruption. Enough talk. My operations are too crucial to be compromised by a traitor."
"You're quite confident for someone with nowhere left to hide" Liara replied.
"You travel with fascinating companions, Doctor. Cerberus will pay me handsomely for the chance to dissect a new member of the Homo genus; they'll certainly consider Ms. Solos' 'contributions' worth any price I ask for."
"You're not laying a hand on anyone!"
"It's pointless to challenge me, Asari. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark."
"Is that right? …You're a Yahg, a pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the Citadel Council's first-contact teams because they're tribalist pack-hunters who consider the concept of 'equality' to be disgustingly insulting. This base is older than your planet's discovery, which probably means you killed the original Shadow Broker 60 years ago, and then took over. I'm guessing you were taken from your world by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave… or a pet. How am I doing?"
The Shadow Broker slowly, quietly stood up to his full height, his body trembling lightly with barely-suppressed fury. Then, with surprising speed, he slammed his fist down on his desk, breaking it in two, and then picked up & tossed one half at Ishtar, who barely got her shield up in time, being shoved back by the impact. The Broker stepped forward, his footsteps shaking the ground, and roared as he pulled out a Revenant heavy machinegun, wielding it one-handed with ease.
Heavy fire forced the trio into cover, as the Shadow Broker slowly stalked toward them. His energy shield was strong enough that an Overload from Shepard only drained it by half, and Revenant fire forced Shepard back into cover. Several shots from Ishtar's blaster cannon and Liara's SMG took them down the rest of the way, but the Broker then took a crouching position as energy flowed down from the glowing bluish-white structure in the ceiling, a powerful kinetic barrier forming around him that easily deflected Team Shepard's shots. A Warp from Liara accomplished no better.
"The shield's kinetically sensitive!" Liara said. "Energy and projectiles are bouncing off!"
"Then we do this the hard way" Shepard replied as he rushed in, dealing a cyborg-strength punch to the Broker's face. Another blow sent the Broker staggering backward (and deactivated his Overshield, as he had to stay in place to keep that up), and Shepard charged, only for the Yahg to activate his newest invention: an "Omnishield" that formed from the Omnitool on his left arm. He swatted Shepard away with it, draining his shields, and would've killed him had Ishtar not moved in to block the Revenant shots with her own shield.
Ishtar charged shield-first at the Shadow Broker, her metal defense deflecting the bullets sent her way, and as she closed in she stored her cannon and drew one of her large swords. The blade of dense and very durable heat-resistant metal clanged against the Broker's Omnishield with enough force to stagger the Broker back a little. Then he stowed his HMG and, with his right arm's other Omnitool, formed a glowing curved blade (actually heated, nigh-invisible flash-fabricated matter 'highlighted' by holograms, like his shield) and charged her, Omniblade trying to slip around her shield and failing. The two engaged in a swords-and-shields duel, the Shadow Broker displaying surprising speed and dexterity for his muscular bulk, and the comparatively-small Elvaan showing her centuries of combat experience and more strength than her lithe frame would suggest.
A metal shield stopped an Omniblade stab at the heart. An Omnishield blocked a large metal blade's decapitating swing. Back and forth they went, neither holding the advantage for more than a few seconds at a time. Finally, Shepard and Liara started pitching in again, using their weapons and attacks to wear down the Broker's energy shield as he fought Ishtar. Finally they succeeded, and the Shadow Broker leapt back, another tendril of energy flowing down from the device built into the ceiling as his Overshield came online again… exactly where Liara wanted him.
Liara launched a Warp into the lens-like structure full of volatile energy, and then with effort she forced the containment to shatter. The energy flowed down and into the Shadow Broker, 'drenching' him and overloading his body. He was engulfed in a silvery glow, and then with a tremendous bang he exploded with great force; most of him simply ceased to be, a few tiny scraps of charred, burning biomatter fluttering to the ground like loose paper, breaking down into ashes as it did. Catching her breath, Liara walked over to the room's control panel.
In the torture cellar, the power flickered off. When it came back on a second later, the chair was empty.
At the central holo-display, an Operative called in to report the brief connection failure, asking for status. And then another called in. And another, and another, and two more, and four more, and so on. Liara looked overwhelmed for a moment, but then walked up to the display, calling up a holographic 'microphone'.
"This is the Shadow Broker" she said, her voice being broadcast to all listeners in the same deep, modulated tone they (thought they) knew so well. "The situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily." She paid little mind to Feron rushing in, gun drawn. "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."
As one, the flashing red connection screens turned blue.
"Goddess of oceans…" Feron said as he limped in. "It's you. You… how?"
"Well…" Liara said. "Besides the four of us, everyone who's ever seen him in person is now dead, so…"
"…You're the new Shadow Broker."
"Is taking over as the Shadow Broker really a good idea?" Shepard asked.
"It was either that or lose everything" Liara replied. "His contacts, his trading sources… Those will really help us. With the Shadow Broker's information network, I can give you… I-I can…"
She choked up, as the adrenaline rush left her and it finally sank in what had just finally happened.
"I'll, uh… check the power systems" Feron said as he turned and left, Ishtar accompanying him.
"It's over…" Liara whispered, tears falling. "It's finally over… after two long, bloody years…"
"It's alright…" Shepard said softly, giving her a light hug until she regained herself.
"I spent… two years mourning you and Feron. And now I've got you both back… I… Let's see what we've got" Liara walked over to the terminal. "No safeguards or user restrictions. It's like he never anticipated anyone other than himself being here. And it's all ours."
"What kind of information do we have?" Shepard asked.
"I'm not sure; I'll need to go through his files. Come back later, and I'll try to have something useful for you. …All I wanted was to rescue Feron, but… is it wrong that part of me wants this? With the Shadow Broker's network, I can help you; maybe I can turn this operation into something better."
Shepard nodded. "Don't be a stranger this time."
"Come by when you have the chance. The doors are always open. …Thank you, Shepard. For everything."
Shepard smiled, and then turned and walked away. Fighting the Reapers if… when they came would be hard. But maybe now it would be a teensy bit easier.
-BOOK 18 END-
And that's it for Book 18. Look for Book 19 – Darkness from the Moon; it'll be in the 'Lyrical Nanoha / Transformers X-Over' section. Oh, and in case anyone's curious, the events of "Arrival" will be an end-of-Book bonus chapter for Book 21.