AN: First off sorry for the delay, was a little under the weather. On the bright side this is my longest chapter to date.
I got one vote for me to continue the story as is, another for me to jump ahead, and a third abstained, so current plan is to wrap this one up like originally planned and then to move on to ME 1.
Song: War Horse by Jason Creer
Liara and Shepard Theme: Roslin and Adama by Bear McCreary
S&S
2181 CE
Liara was rather confident at this point that if the Goddess did indeed exist, she took an inordinate amount of pleasure in mocking her, she finally received her first solo dig and what does she get? An Prothean pyramid that has resisted all modern methods to open it. The structure had been discovered when the Humans first began to scout the planet Chasca for colonization, and the investors backing the colony had asked the Serrice University for assistance, wanting to find leverage any windfalls they could this early in development.
She had thought it was a reward when the University sent her, but now she realized it was just another prank on the pureblood. She sighed, sitting down on the grass to look up at the sky, Chasca at least had a beautiful view. The ring that surrounded the planet was artificial, designed to reflect light into the upper atmosphere in numerous breathtaking designs, at the very least she could write about the significance of patterns they reflected she supposed.
She would admit that at she did enjoy the solitude of this dig compared to her previous team efforts. Aside for herself there were maybe two other survey teams of humans on the planet, which suited her just fine, she wasn't that great at social interactions at the best of times.. Plus she had to admit there was something exciting being on an untamed world, knowing that she may be the first being since the Protheans to walk these hills thrilled her.
But she had wasted enough time, she needed to get back to work. Standing up she made her way back over to the tent that held all of her equipment, with a groan she lowered herself into her desk chair. She grabbed a datapad that held all the notes she had taken at the site, satisfied that everything was in order she activated the recorder on her omni and began to record her elaborated thoughts on the structure thus far.
"The structure is akin to those we have found at other Prothean sites, the visible portion of the structure is pyramidal, though attempts to scan the portions of the structure still buried have been inconclusive. Based on the more excavated sites of a similar nature we can assume that somewhere an entrance to the lower structure is present, though it too may be buried due to changes in the topography since the construction of this structure. At the apex of the structure there appears to be a vault of some type, but it has no visible mechanism to trigger its activation. The entirety of the structure is covered in glyphs and symbols that are identical to those from other sites, perhaps these buildings were pre-fabricated elsewhere and transported here, rather than being built on site."
She sighed, none of this was new information, and she really needed a win after how her thesis had been received. She tilted back in her chair, it still hurt how readily they had just ignored all of her work. Catching a glimpse of the planet's ring through the tents opening she began to speak on it.
"The planets ring is artificial, I'm waiting on confirmation but I believe the ring may predate the Prothean's. Perhaps it was their discovery of the ring that led them to settle here." An involuntary groan escaped her lips. "Yes more rampant conjecture is just what my career needs, like they need more ammunition against you, and why am I saying this out loud!. Goddess, note to self edit recording." She buried her face in her hands, "How can I embarrass myself this badly when there isn't even anyone around."
The sound of a ship breaking atmo brought her attention out of her pity party, making her way out of the tent she frowned when she spotted the ship, the vessel looked distinctly Asari but that didn't make any sense. The university wasn't due to send a supply ship for another three weeks, and this world didn't have enough people on it to justify the expense of getting out here if it was pirates, and there was no colonists here yet to attract slavers.
She rushed to the other side of her camp, practically diving into the tent she used as her living space, hurriedly shuffling through her belongings until she found what she was looking for. Pulling out the pistol she kept on her for emergencies she checked the power cell, then the ammunition block, satisfied with both she headed out of her camp, moving towards high ground.
She crested a hill near the pyramid, giving her a view of the whole valley before her. The Asari ship had settled down not too far from her location, but the sole figure exiting the ship still had a ways to walk before they reached her. She wished she had a viewfinder of some sort, so instead she decided that getting out of sight was a better plan than standing out here in the open. But just in case her luck held out she patted herself down to make sure she had the beacon Shepard had given her, the Spectre had promised to come running, and Liara had an ominous feeling that she would need the human to keep her word.
S&S
"Guess who managed to become the Systems Alliance most disliked Spectre this year?"
Shepard turned in her chair to glance at the Nihlus seated on her couch, he waved a datapad in his hands almost mockingly at her. She sighed, reaching out her hand for the datapad that Nihlus handed over with a grin.
She glanced across the data in front of her, the pad listed all the negative mentions that Spectres received from that various news agencies in the galaxy.
"Really, I managed to beat Saren. I mean I expect the negative press from Westerlund, and ANN is just the Alliance's bullhorn, but EBC I expected more from you, why do you hurt one who loves you so much."
Nihlus chuckled from his seat, "According to EBC the constant interference of Spectre Varan in Alliance space is an insinuation that humanity is unable to handle its own affairs." He waved a talon at her, "I told you taking out those pirates would just piss of the Alliance."
She sighed, "You know that if they knew I was human none of this would matter."
"Now that is a lie and you know it, if they knew who you were they'd be claiming that you had been indoctrinated by the Council into believing that the Alliance is incapable of protecting their own people. And that would just be according to the respectable outlets, I'm sure Westerlund would be claiming that you were screwing both the Consort and the Councilor of their current choosing."
Shepard took a swig of the beer in front of her, "Definitely Sparatus, then they could run an expose on how I was betraying my parents legacy."
"Oh that is good, I can see it now plastered on every screen in Zakera ward."
She smirked as she finished off her beer, she stood up moving through the living area to her fridge. She opened up the door, glancing over it to look at Nihlus, she held up a dextro beer, "Want another?"
"I suppose I could have another, after all I'm pretty sure that those are the one's I brought here last time."
As she settled herself back into her chair she noticed Nihlus was glancing pointedly at the entrance to her workshop. "What Nihlus?"
"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if you ever plan on letting me know what your doing in your lair."
"If I did, then I would have to kill you."
"Right like you coul-"
Before he could finish his boast a shrill alarm trilled from her console.
"Spirits what is that Shepard."
But she was already in action, leaping up she charged into the now opening doorway of her workshop. The arm and accompanying nannites were safely stored away so she had no worries there, and as she pulled on her combat suit she decided that decorum wasn't high on her list if Liara was in trouble.
"Tess prep Shanxi,and find out where the hell Liara is!"
Nihlus poked his head inside the doorframe, "Do you need my help in saving your not-girlfriend? Also Tess is still creepy."
"Unless your ship can keep up with mine then no, because I need to keep the second seat open for Liara. And she is not creepy, and she wants you to know that you hurt her feelings."
As she finished pulling on the last of her armor she hurried over to her weapon locker, grabbing her kit she turned pushing past the worried Turian. The workshop door slid shut behind her, not that she didn't trust Nihlus, but friendship could only be taken so far when Spectres were involved.
"She didn't actually say I hurt her feelings did she? Because that really isn't helping with the creepy factor."
She ignored the Turian as she pulled on her helmet while moving towards the entryway that led to her dock, she was too busy to deal with Nihlus' insecurities concerning advanced intelligences. As she exited the room she yelled over her shoulder to the Turian still standing in her living room, "Show yourself out Nihlus, if something comes up cover for me will you."
"Sure, I'll just tell them that you are off having a heated affair with one of the elites of Asari society."
"That's not funny!"
S&S
Liara was scared, panicked, and more than a little confused. She had recognized the individual that had approached her camp as one of her Mother's commandos who responded to T'Nal, but even before Liara revealed herself she was acting peculiar, everything about her movements seemed a little off, almost like each motion was a chore.
Liara's unease only increased once she revealed herself, all T'Nal would say was that Benezia required her presence, when Liara pushed she was either unable or unwilling to give a more detailed explanation. And so Liara had informed the commando that she would not be coming with her, the commando did not take this statement well. T'Nal had lunged at her, attempting to fasten a set of biotic dampening cuffs that had been on her belt on to the younger T'Soni, but her slowed movements enabled Liara to dodge, and her barriers were just as well maintained. And so Liara had sent the Asari flying down into the valley below with a well placed throw, and deciding there was no time to lose she quickly triggered the beacon that Shepard had given her. And while T'Nal had been taken out of the equation for the time being, Liara still didn't know her fate having not had any time to ascertain what had happened to her afterwards, the ship the commando had arrived in had more than made up for it with the reinforcements it ushered forth.
They were mostly Turian, a few Asari, and a single Krogan who towered over the rest of them, but Liara was thankful that they were not the brightest examples of their species. She had managed to keep out of sight of their foot patrols thus far, but Chasca had only a small amount of land that was actually safe for the majority of modern sentient species to live in, and with the ship now performing passes through the valley she was limited in what she could do. So she had followed a hunch she had on her first day here, and she had finally managed to track down the entrance to what she believed to be the rest of the Prothean structure.
As she began to move inside the labyrinthine structure she hoped Shepard was hurrying. Though she wasn't sure what was more foolish, holding out hope for the Spectre to save her in time, or assuming the human woman was going to show up at all.
S&S
It took the better part of a day to reach the system Liara was in, her location was a small garden world in the early stages of colonization by the Alliance. Luckily the planet had only a small area near the equator that was in the tolerance zone for human colonization, as such it narrowed down the search radius significantly.
'Ma'am the beacon appears to be moving off the planet. I am also detecting a transport vessel exiting the atmosphere.'
"Shit, that complicates matters. Alright Tess I need you to try to take over that ship when we are in range, or at the very least get control of their navigation. I hate space walks" The last she muttered more for herself than for Tess, she was of course trained, all Alliance troops were. But it didn't mean she had to like relying on a pressure suit to keep her alive.
Shanxi raced towards her target, a sleek but not heavily armed Asari transport. The vessel was an older model, but when you were talking about a race that lived for a millennium longevity was a trait to be expected. It also meant that she couldn't risk using her weapons on a ship as lightly armored as that, at least not without putting Liara's life in danger.
The target ship's upper turret flared to life, but it was still an outdated model available on the civilian market, something that she knew her shields could essentially ignore.
"How we doing Tess? If they jump this becomes a race as to who gets to the relay first."
'If we were closer I would be having an easier time at this.'
She smirked underneath her helmet, and piled on the speed. Once upon a time Shanxi had been the personal ship of a high up Alliance general, to be used in case he had to get off world in a hurry, and while the ship had never been used in her intended role she was more than capable of outracing the Asari ship. She brought her ship in closer to her targets starboard side, where logic dictated an airlock would be. It also brought her out of the line of fire of the turret, and while it was simply a minor annoyance, it was better to not have to worry about it.
'I have locked them on their current course, if you match speed you should be able to safely cross over to the hostile ship Ma'am.'
Shepard did a quick check of her suits seals, she didn't plan on asphyxiating during her daring rescue attempt. She tapped a command into the ships console, causing the air to be cycled from the cockpit, once given the all clear she triggered the canopy to retract. Standing up in her seat she glanced across at the hatch on the hostile ship that she needed to reach, a sea of nothingness separating her from her goal.
"Well, here goes nothing."
And with that she hurled herself into the void, the micro-rockets in her suit fired occasionally to keep her on target. But like some of the most stressful things in life, this event didn't live up to the horror story she had thought up in her head.
Firmly taking hold of an handhold next to the airlock she ripped open a panel next to the hatch, working quickly to trigger the manual depressurization cycle and gain access to the ship. Shortly afterwards the door opened, and she slipped inside the airless box. As she checked her gear she smiled, she knew that they would be ready for her once the airlock finished cycling, and she was looking forward to it.
S&S
Liara groaned as consciousness returned to her, she had managed to evade her pursuers for some time in the Prothean structure, but eventually their sheer numbers had eliminated her ability to hide from them. She had tried to fight back, though her resistance was short lived once the Krogan arrived. It was he who had knocked her out when he struck her in the head with his rifle, a malicious grin on his face as he did so.
That grin was gone now, replaced by a look of uncertainty, though Liara had no idea what had changed since she had last been conscious. Glancing around she found herself in the cargo bay of what looked to be one of her Mother's light transports. Benezia possessed a small fleet, gathered over the course of her long lifespan, and while Liara hadn't been on many of them this ship had been one of Benezia's favored vessels.
Trying to draw as little attention as possible she glanced around the room, along with the Krogan there were five other armed guards, three Turians, and two Asari. The sound of gunfire drew both her attention, and that of her captors to the entrance of the hold. Their attention quickly rewarded by the sight of a body flung through the open doorway, it slid across the ground until crunched sickeningly into a cargo container somewhere behind Liara.
The Krogan grunted, waving forward the guards. "That door is the only way in here, you see anybody move shoot'em."
They moved up, more anxious to avoid the Krogan's wrath then fearful of the mystery attacker. They spread out putting crates between themselves and the door. But what neither Liara, or they noticed, were the two small turrets deploying from the corpse that had just arrived in the room.
The first hint they had was when a missile struck one of the Asari, it shattered her barrier leaving her open for the hail of projectiles that punctured her body. The rest of the hostiles, including the Krogan turned to find out where the attack had come from. Only for one Turian to suddenly find himself engulfed in flame as an armored figure charged into the room, omni-tool blazing angrily on the figure's wrist.
The rifle in her potential savior's left hand quickly took out the second Asari with a precise shot to the head, taking advantage of the fact that her barriers had been taken down by the combined efforts of the turrets. A pulse of blue from the figure and one of the Turians found himself hurled across the room, landing heavily as he collided into a wall near the turrets, one of which proceeded to promptly roast him alive with a flamethrower before he recovered.
The remaining two Turians had charged her rescuer, apparently hoping that their shotguns would give them the advantage in close combat. They soon realized how mistaken they were when one of their guns detonated from a heatsink overload, taking both gun and owner out of the fight. The last remaining guard, aside from the Krogan of course, tossed his weapon to the ground.
"I surrender, just don't kill me!"
There was no chance for a response, as his body pitched violently forward, a smoking crater in the center of his stomach. Two more shots rang out, and the small turrets that had done so much work, became so much scrap.
The Krogan smirked at her as he approached her, the cannon of a shotgun in his hands still red from its discharges. "Been a while since I had a good fight, and I didn't want any distractions." With that being said he charged at her rescuer, an ugly battle cry issuing from his throat.
Discharges echoed throughout the room as the Krogan closed the distance to his target, but his blasts were absorbed by a barrier that was projected from his opponents right arm, the rifle in their left arm firing quick but accurate bursts at the charging Krogan.
The Krogan slammed his shoulder into the barrier, causing his opponent to give ground from the assault, but seconds later the barrier was engulfed in flames, causing the Krogan to instinctively recoil. The smaller fighter used this chance to strike out again with the barrier which shifted mid thrust into a blade, one that found itself buried deep in the Krogan's neck. His only response though was a smirk, followed by a viscous headbutt to his opponents helmet.
They reeled back, the flash constructed blade on their arm fizzling out. The Krogan tossed aside his gun, pulling out a blade that was affixed to the front of his armor. "The old fashioned way then, been a while since I got the chance to gut a pyjak." He let loose another roar as he once again charged.
Before he could get a swing in though his opponent flung an outstretched hand forward, the pull field that hit him was weak, but it was enough to unbalance the thug. He fell forward face crunching against the deck, his opponent lunged on top of him before he had a chance to react.
They had thrown aside their rifle when Liara was distracted, and now a pistol filled their left hand. What followed was an exercise in brutality, the pistol's discharges accompanied the sound of cutting flesh as the remade blade joined in.
The Krogan during this time struggled to stand, but eventually he stilled. Liara could only stare at the carnage in front of her, transfixed by the utter slaughter she had witnessed. She knew that Shepard was dangerous, but sometimes seeing is believing.
Her rescuer sat on her knees for a few moments, body heaving from the exertion of taking down the Krogan. But soon she rose, placing her pistol on her hip, then turning to retrieve her rifle.
She walked forward towards Liara, who flinched away from the hand she extended to the Asari. Shepard's hand hovered, before it shifted down to the cuffs binding Liara. The cuffs beeped as their internal security was hacked, clattering off of her wrists.
Before Liara could respond Shepard took off, taking a direct route towards one of the dead Asari. Then she began to strip the armor off of the deceased sentient.
"Goddess, what are you doing?"
Shepard continued at her task, not bothering to glance in her direction when she responded. "My ship can't dock with this one, I'll need to cobble together a suit for you, I didn't come here just to have you die in the void." She plucked the helmet off of the Asari's head, but upon noticing the bullet hole through the forehead she quickly tossed it over her shoulder.
"Liara can you check the helmet on the other Asari, otherwise you will have to make do with a human helmet, it will be uncomfortable but you won't need to wear it for long."
Liara could only numbly nod, stumbling over to the other corpse. Her shaking hands managed to pry the helmet off, which she rolled over to Shepard. The human grabbed it, turning it in her hands to examine every angle. "This will do." She waved Liara over, "Come on lets get you suited up and off this ship."
The next few moments were akin to a hazy dream, Shepard pulling the suit over her body with military precision, being led through the corpse strewn hallways, and lastly that terrifying leap through nothingness to reach the escape ship.
It was only when the ships cabin had pressurized that Shepard's posture relaxed, her hands raised up yanking off the helmet on her head. She glanced back at Liara in the passenger seat, "I'm sorry you had to see that, once I've got you to someplace safe then I'll get out of your way."
Her hands reached for the controls, both natural and unnatural limbs shaking before they made contact. Liara felt her a wrenching sensation in her chest, this woman had just risked her life to save hers, and she seemed to be more terrified of what Liara thought of her, than she had during the entire battle to save her life.
She reached a hand out, placing it on Shepard's shoulder. The human woman jerked in her seat before she seemed to remember where she was. "Shepard, I, I just wanted to say thank you. If you hadn't come, I don't want to know what would have happened to me."
Shepard just nodded to her, an almost invisible smile playing on her lips.
S&S
"The survivor reported that it was a single operative. The description he gave matches that of a Spectre known as Mirix Varan, an alias used by a human female known as Evalyn Shepard."
"This human has interfered with our works before, however she is not your concern. The loss of your daughter is a setback, but there are other Prothean experts that can be acquired. We must find out what the Prothean's did to the Citadel before we are forced to take alternative measures. You may leave Matriarch."
Benezia bowed towards the projection, "As you say." She turned, and sauntered out of the room. Once she had left the room the projection turned towards Saren, who was seated in an almost throne like chair.
"This human will become a problem. We have seen it before, in other cycles where a Catalyst has appeared early. It will be unfortunate to lose such a potential resource, but sacrifices must be made in order to continue the cycle."
Saren frowned, he had never heard that term before, and it worried him that it was being applied to a human, much less that human in particular. But more importantly he needed to make sure that Sovereign, as Benezia had taken to calling it, was not doubting his usefulness. For now that was all that was protecting him from what had happened to Benezia, to know that such a strong willed individual could be turned into a puppet, was a terrifying sight to behold.
"I'll take care of it, I can convince the council to assign her a high risk mission, the type of mission that if you don't return it isn't questioned." He paused, wary of how to finish his sentence. "It will take some time to arrange, months, possibly a year to make sure that everything will be in place."
"We have existed for eon's before your species even drew breath, our patience is infinite, but remember our tolerance for failure is not. Remember Saren, your mistakes will be reflected upon your species."
His talon's bit into his plates at Soverign's statement, how could he ever forget the one thought that consumed his every waking moment. He could only hope that one day his people would be able to see that his choice, was indeed the correct one.
S&S
Liara awoke when the ship touched down, she could hear Shepard quietly talking to someone, but she couldn't here the other member of the conversation.
"Where are we?"
Shepard glanced back at her, the blonde mane shifting around her face. "The Citadel, this dock leads to my apartment. You're welcome to stay for as long as you would like, once your settled I'll get out of your crest."
Liara frowned, "I'm not sure I understand that last bit."
Shepard's laugh was unexpected, but welcome if she was being honest. "I forget how baffling human idioms must be to other species. Especially when I'm not speaking English so I'm certain it makes even less sense than normal, it's an expression that means get out of your way, or not bother you."
Shepard flicked a switch on the console, causing the canopy to retract. She stood up, standing on the nose of the ship before turning around to offer Liara a hand. Liara of course blushed like some vapid Maiden having her first crush. While her reasons for not seeing Shepard were sound, it didn't change the fact she enjoyed the human's company, plus she was very attractive. She reached out and took hold of the hand offered to her, noting that it was the arm she knew to be synthetic.
She had honestly expected to be more off put by the cybernetics, but she wasn't, they were seemingly as much a part of Shepard as her natural limbs were. While most Asari wouldn't even look at a cybernetic limb, let alone touch one, however Liara felt no such revulsion. Perhaps it was because she emphasized with a fellow ostracized individual, she too knew what it was like to be judged based on something that was outside of your own control.
"Liara, you okay?"
Liara blinked, blushing further when she realized that she had been daydreaming while holding Shepard's hand.
"Y-yes I'm fine, just tired from all the excitement is all." She offered Shepard a small tired smile, which earned her a mirrored reaction from the human.
"Come on then, you can have the bed. Hopefully Nihlus' bony ass hasn't wrecked the cushions of my couch yet."
"Shepard we can share the bed, I recall us doing so before." Liara did her best to ignore the blush she could feel spreading across her face.
Shepard glanced back at her, her voice was softer than it normally was, like she was wary of voice her thoughts. "Lets just keep this is uncomplicated as possible, so please take the bed, it isn't a hardship on my part. I promise."
Liara only nodded, she didn't want to admit it but despite sleeping most of the journey back she was still exhausted. "The bed would be lovely."
S&S
Hannah frowned as she made her way to her terminal, normally she would ignore it and go back to sleep, but the tone being issued meant that Miranda considered this an emergency. Her knee caught the edge of a chair causing her to stumble, cursing the treacherous piece of furniture she made her way to the blinking monitor nursing her smarting kneecap.
Tapping the icon Miranda's face quickly snapped into focus, the young woman was breathing heavily, and Hannah could see her hands shaking on the desk. "Miri what's wrong?"
Realizing she had gotten though Miranda both looked relived and more agitated, "Mom you need to get off that ship now! Leng and Rasa botched the recruitment with Gates, and of them tipped her off about your connections to Cerberus. I-I can't get anything out there to pick you up, you'll need to steal a ship, disable the transponder, protocol dictat-"
"I'll be fine Miri, I'll contact you as soon as I'm safely away."
"I don't know if Gates has gotten word yet to any authorities, I'll try to disrupt any communications, but please hurry."
Hannah was already moving, her emergency bag was already packed. She quickly pulled off her sleepwear, and slipped into the same gear she had worn to the Citadel. Grabbing the bag she turned to the console, seeing that Miri was still on the line she smiled reassuringly at her.
"I'll be fine Miri, just you watch. Love you."
Miranda nodded vacantly a few times, before a soft "I love you too" came from her lips.
Hannah entered a quick command into the console, causing it to short itself out, taking any evidence with it.
She turned and opened her door, resulting in both herself, and the three marines on the other side of the door to stare at each other in surprise. She got over it faster.
The marine on her left she took out at the knees with a well placed kick, she ducked under a swing from another. Grabbing the now unbalanced soldier and slamming his unhelmeted head into the bulkhead, his body slumping to the ground a streak of red staining the wall. The remaining soldier now recovering from his shock went to level his weapon at her, but she rolled towards him ripping his gun out of his hands before smashing the butt of the gun into his head.
She looked down at the first marine she had knocked to the floor, activating the current generator in her gauntlet. "I am sorry about this so you know." She placed her hand on his neck causing an electric current to run through his body, his body convulsed for a few moment before she removed her hand.
"No time to lose then."
She walked swiftly through the halls of the ship, but she didn't run, that would only draw more attention. She had to assume that Kahoku hadn't informed anyone aside for those who needed to know, or at least that is what she would have done.
Entering one of the port docking bays she saw what she had come for, a small high priority courier ship, most often used for eyes only bulletins, but also by the officers when they had somewhere to go and didn't want anyone to know.
She was in a hurry so there was no way to do this with finesse, she activated a program that Eva had given her at Christmas a few years ago, a smile ghosted across her face as the ships canopy opened up. Slipping inside she quickly went through the boot sequence, before quickly guiding the ship out of the hanger. The moment she cleared the hanger she fed all available power to the engine. She needed to hit the relay before the CAP could be tasked to intercept her.
The comm unit began to buzz angrily, but she had no urge to have a verbal debate with a pissed off Admiral, so she shut off the unit altogether.
Luck was on her side this time, as she manged to hit the relay before they could even enter weapons range. However a weight settled on her chest as she realized where she had to go, she knew this wouldn't go well, but she set a course towards the Citadel anyway.
S&S
Liara woke up to find herself alone in the room, though there was a doorway leading to another room that she did not recall from when she had first entered the apartment. She padded across the room, glancing inside to see Shepard working on something contained in a tube.
Her muttered thoughts carried through the room, "I can program them, but then they change to a different pattern. I swear it is like something takes over once it realizes they are active, not going to put something that I can't control inside of me."
"You'd put those things inside of you!" Liara's sudden outburst caused Shepard to curse and tumble from her chair, Liara could only grin lightly at the human woman glaring at her from the floor.
"In a heartbeat if I could get them to work, they are more advanced than anything I have ever come across. And if used correctly they could help with my, um, condition."
Liara sat down at the edge of a nearby desk, tilting her head at the human's statement. "How so? From what you told me it can't be reversed."
"And that still wouldn't change, but with these." She hefted the vile for emphasis, "These can if programmed properly create synthetic tissue that is nearly identical to what occurs naturally. I'd still be replacing natural with synthetic, but it, it would just be better, lets just leave it at that."
She set the tube back down, "Of course all of this is just talk, not like I can get the damn things to work." She raised her arms over the head, stretching them while making a sound that Liara rather enjoyed. "So, not to be rude but we haven't actually talked about why you were kidnapped."
Liara bit her lip as she considered how to respond to the question, she sighed deciding that Shepard deserved to know about her Mother's involvement. "I was first approached by one of my Mother's commandos, she was the one who told me that Mother requested my presence. I asked why Benezia needed to see me, she didn't give me a reason, just repeated that I was required, eventually she just lunged at me." Her breath involuntarily hitched, "That was when I tried to hide underground, but there were so many of them, I tried to fight but, well I'm no soldier."
She starred down at her shaking hands, trying to banish the memory of that brutish Krogan smirking at her. She jumped slightly when Shepard took hold of them, she glanced up to see a small smile on the Human's face.
"It's all right Liara, you did the hardest thing that anyone can do in a situation like that, you didn't give in to panic. You know the first time I entered combat I just froze up, stood there like the biggest idiot in the universe just starring across this field at this Batarian tank that is coming right at us." Shepard drifted off, seemingly lost in the memory, Liara gave her hand a small squeeze to bring her back to reality.
"So what happened to the biggest idiot?"
A small laugh escaped from the human, "Well she got knocked off her ass when the Batarian blew up the Mako behind her. I got the last laugh when I hacked their guidance and drove them off of a cliff, why they needed a V.I to drive a tank is beyond me."
Liara giggled a little, it was of course a horrible image but she would take anything to laugh about right now.
"So what is your plan Miss T'Soni? Not that I'm going to kick you out, but something is obviously going on with Benezia."
She nodded absently, "I have some resources to my name, when Mother and I parted she gave me a portion of the estate to live on, and I'm not so prideful as to not accept it." She raised her head, looking Evalyn right in the eyes. "I'm going to find out what is going on with my Mother, but I, I think I'll need some help to do that." She idly ran her one of her fingers over the top of the Spectre's hands.
Shepard glanced down at the traitorous digit, "You know you have my help, but I thought you said that, this, was something you wanted to avoid." Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper, and it tore at Liara's heart a little.
She leaned her head down, bringing their foreheads together. "I was scared, and while my logic was correct, the reasoning behind it was wrong. And, and I have truly missed you, more than I dared to imagine I would, that night we had, it was one of the few truly happy moments of my life."
It was in that moment she decided that even if Shepard said no she wasn't going to allow herself to regret this, she surged forward capturing the human's lips in hers. She felt herself grinning into the human woman's lips at the moan that emerged from Evalyn. Though that was soon replaced by a squeak as Shepard picked her up and brought her into the other room.
Liara could see the playful glint in Shepard's eyes, "Do not toss me Shepard!" That only brought a grin to the human's face. "I am the heir of House T'Soni, and I demand that you do not toss me!"
The scion of house T'Soni couldn't stop herself from screaming as she was tossed into Shepard's bed.
S&S
Shepard agreed to accompany Liara in the guise of her bodyguard when she went to access some funds, so Shepard was following her wearing one of her prototype armors to hide both her identities. It had been a long and rather tedious day, but she had managed to begin the process of accessing many of the resources at her disposal.
The day was interrupted sometime in the afternoon, Liara was getting fitted for a set of armor, figuring that it would come in handy in the long run, when Shepard had received a call. She hadn't said who the call came from but it had obviously put her on edge, so Liara had suggested they call it a day.
She honestly was looking forward to getting back to Shepard's apartment, to simply be able to see her face again would be welcome.
As they approached the door though Shepard had suddenly drew her weapon, rushing ahead she had barreled into the room. Liara coming inside closely behind her found herself starring at what looked to be an older version of Shepard.
The human woman glanced at Liara, offering a small nod of greeting. "Hello Liara, I'm Hannah Shepard, Eva's mother."
Shepard never took her gun off her mother, "You forgot the part about being a terrorist Mom."
Hannah glanced up at her daughter, "Yes, I suppose I did. I'm not going to ask how you found out, I came here because you deserve to hear the truth, not because I thought you already knew. So I know you have questions, and I will do my best to answer them. Just, keep an open mind when I do answer them."
S&S
AN: EBC stands for Earth Broadcasting Corporation, pretty much just a modern variant of the BBC or CBC. Kind of struck me as odd that you had ANN which from the name alone would imply it is the official mouthpiece, and Westerlund which is a modern day sensationalist agency.
Thanks to those who have hit the buttons below thus far, special thanks to The Silver Ebon Hawk, Gunman666, and the guest reviewer for their votes. And to my other guest reviewer no Shepard is not going to fall for Nihlus, my plan was from the beginning more of a heterosexual life partner vibe.