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Chapter 11

While Liara was getting a crash course in self-defense, Shepard was debriefing Garrus and Tali on how she planned to draw their enemies out. She had ordered Joker to land at a busy criminal port where they could blend in with the crowd without being totally swallowed up in it. Fortunately, it was a stopover she happened to be familiar with. She had done more than a few jobs in the seedier parts of the city.

Shepard hoped that after the dismal failure of the geth last time, Saren would send someone else after them – someone of flesh and blood that she could interrogate. She really wanted to get a handle on what Saren's ultimate plan was for getting Liara back so that she could ruin it. Shepard knew that killing Saren was probably her only choice in the end, but she wanted to pick the time and place for that final confrontation. To control the situation, she needed information. She certainly wouldn't be getting that information out of the geth, so Shepard needed someone she could pry the details from.

"Okay, guys, here's the plan. I'll go out first and hope they follow me. I'll use the back alleys so we have the advantage. If Saren's goons follow me, I want you two to take them out one at a time, but leave whoever seems to be the leader for last. He's more likely to know something useful, and I want him to tell us about Saren. Stay in communication at all times, and keep me updated on your progress while I'm leading them around."

They'd only had a quick briefing before gearing up and heading down the gangplank. Sill, Shepard could tell that Garrus and Tali weren't thrilled with her idea of using herself as bait, but it was her choice, and they wouldn't question her orders.

"Joker, I want the ship locked down. No one leaves, and you sure as hell are not to allow anyone on board. Let me know if there seems to be any uncommon interest in the ship, and we'll tweak the current plan. Keep everyone on alert and be alert for a potential breach," Shepard said once she and Garrus and Tali were on the ground.

"Roger that, Captain," Joker said over the comm. He knew that Shepard always wanted the ship protected at all cost, although this time he thought it might be partially because the Captain's new slave girl was on board instead of because the ship was their livlihood. As much as he enjoyed speculating about it, now was not the time to rile Shepard up, or focus on what might be happening down in the Captain's cabin once Shepard got back.

While Shepard had been talking with Joker, Garrus had been studying the roofs of the buildings around them. He was familiar with this port as well, but in a different way than Shepard - he knew all of the best sniping spots. "There's an Elkoss Combine Warehouse a few streets in. You know where it is, Shepard?"

The Captain nodded. She didn't insist on the use of her rank when she was with her squad unless they were entertaining clients who cared about that sort of thing. They had all saved each other's lives too many times to get hung up on formalities.

"I'm going to be on top of it. When Saren's men start to follow you, don't be surprised if a few of their heads explode."

Tali gave Garrus a smile, although it was smudged and mostly hidden behind her nearly opaque helmet. "I'll take out their shields for you, Vakarian. And I'm sure Chiktikka will shoot any of the targets you miss..."

"Miss?" Garrus bared his pointed teeth in the turian version of a grin. "I don't think so..."

"Stop flirting and get moving," Shepard ordered, although she was amused rather than annoyed by the banter. "I'll go first and take the long way through the alleys. You two split up after I'm gone and meet me there."

Tali bowed her head beneath her hood, and Garrus checked to make sure that his rifle was still strapped tightly to the back of his armor so he could move fast. Both of them turned to Shepard, waiting for her command. "All right. Make it quick and neat. Try and leave at least one of them alive if you can. We need some answers."

Without another word, Shepard was off, slipping seamlessly into the crowd at a moderate pace among the various criminals and lowlifes going about their day. She knew that she blended in fairly well. There were plenty of humans working as mercs in the Terminus system, and although her armor was fairly expensive, she didn't stand out too much otherwise. Saren's men, however, would have been briefed on her usual appearance, and she knew that if they were following her, they would be able to pick her out. At least they would if they had half a brain in their heads.

Shepard headed for the network of alleyways so that Garrus would have a good view from the top of the Elkoss Combine Warehouse, but she didn't feel the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up until she was nearly out of the busy market. Her instincts had always been her guiding force and she'd learned to listen to them. They had kept her alive and mostly in one piece on more occasions than she could count, and she wasn't going to start ignoring them now.

"Garrus, what do you see? Give me a status check." All Shepard got in return was silence with a few clicks of static, and she sighed in frustration. Why couldn't any of her missions ever go smoothly? It was like she was paying for something that she'd done wrong in a past life.

Shepard took a steadying breath and focused. She felt as though there was danger in front of her, but even more behind, so she pushed ahead into the alley and continued as planned, making sure that her biotics were flickering close to the surface if she needed to call on them. This wasn't the first time their communications had cut out on them, but it was a rare occurrence, since Shepard made sure to purchase top of the line equipment.

The longer she traveled down the dark, twisting alleyways without an attack, the more anxious Shepard became. It wasn't herself that she was worried about. She had brought along the two most tech savvy people in her crew, and they still hadn't been able to get the comm link back up. She wondered what kind of trouble Garrus and Tali had run into along the way, and hoped they were handling it well...

"Fuck," Shepard shouted as she rounded a corner and almost literally ran into a group of geth, including a Colossus. She managed to throw up a biotic barrier shield just in time. A powerful ball of energy crashed into her, throwing her backwards into a nearby wall. As soon as she hit the ground, she rolled away, getting behind the wall she had just hit. Unfortunately, she had also been right in guessing that there was danger behind. Several turian mercs who had been tailing her from the market launched their own attack.

'Well, that was nicely coordinated,' Shepard thought angrily as she dove into a small recess that would offer a little protection from either side, but not nearly enough if she had to stay there for any prolonged amount of time. Shepard knew she had to take out one side quickly, or she was going to be very dead in a few minutes. She had nowhere to retreat to, and no place to find substantial cover. And as much as Shepard wanted a living, breathing person to interrogate when this was all over, the turians had weaker shields to contend with, so they were the group she would have to go after first.

Pulling out her pistol, Shepard began firing from around the corner, aiming for the nearest turian's head. She missed her first shot, but the second one took off the unfortunate merc's helmet, and Shepard dipped back into her protective crevice, popping her heat sink. When she peeked back out, the turians had advanced several yards, and were almost on top of her. She had no choice.

With a loud shout of exertion, she flared her biotics, strengthening her shields and charging the nearest turian faster than a normal human should have been able to move. When she collided with him, the force knocked him backwards, killing him instantly as he thudded against an alley wall with a sickening crunch. The other turians were startled, but they raised their weapons higher and clambered forward, firing several shots.

Surrounded on all sides, Shepard aimed her fist down, grunting as she pushed all the biotic energy from her shields towards the ground in a massive outward explosion. The mercs were knocked back like toys, scattered to all sides. But, unfortunately, that move came with a price - without her shields, Shepard's back was vulnerable. She turned only to see the geth that she had been trying to avoid standing right behind her. Several of their rounds barreled into her chestpiece, sending her stumbling backwards...

Then the nearest geth's head exploded in a shower of wires and sparks. The unit toppled over, and Shepard hurried to recharge her shields. A few of the turians had been killed by her own blast, but others were stirring, and she was standing right in the middle of them, with several geth still facing her. Another unit fell, its head bursting into flames as it crumpled into a heap of scrapmetal.

"About time, Vakarian!" Shepard said, unsure if her friend could even hear her. She grunted, killing another turian as he tried to stagger to his feet.

"Looked like your ass needed saving again," he drawled, and Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as she popped her heat sink and charged one of the nearby geth. This time, she didn't punch the ground, unwilling to sacrifice her shield with so many units firing on her. She finished it off with her pistol instead. "Of course, I had to kill a few more of our geth friends to get up here in the first place... you weren't they only one they followed."

"Where's Tali?" she shouted in her helmet, ducking behind a crate to hide herself from the Colossus's targeting even though she knew it wouldn't offer much, if any, protection. "We could use a hacker right about now..."

"Here, Shepard! The comm link is fixed, the geth were blocking it with a jamming signal. I'm in a position about thirty meters to your..."

Shepard didn't hear the rest of her explanation, because the Colossus had targeted her despite her best efforts. She had no idea how the damn thing had gotten planetside anyway, despite Saren's influence. Criminal ports rarely allowed geth anywhere near them. A huge white blast knocked her backwards, taking out her shields and nearly tearing through her armor. She felt the cold wash of medigel flooding through her veins as her suit auto-dispensed it, but for a moment, she couldn't speak because of the crushing pain in her chest.

Swallowing back the urge to vomit, Shepard rolled to her side and flipped up the visor on her helmet, needing the illusion of extra oxygen. She dragged shallow, hard fought breaths into her lungs even as she told herself that she had to move. Any moment, the Colossus could lock on to her again, and this time, she didn't have the protection of an almost useless crate or a full strength shield. If she got hit now, not even a healthy dose of medigel would do her much good.

Shepard staggered to her feet before she was fully recovered, tripping along because she couldn't regain her balance completely. She fell heavily into another wall, but was able to use its stability to stand herself up and pull more air into her lungs.

A shot ricocheted off the wall a few inches from her head, and she looked up at one of the last remaining turians. Without a second thought, Shepard fired two successive shots at the mercenary's head with the pistol she still held in her hand. If she had learned anything after all her years in the military, and then as a merc, it was to hold on to her weapon at all costs, because you were defenseless without it. It was a hard learned lesson, but one that stuck.

With the last of the turians out of the picture, Shepard was able to focus on the geth. She was surprised that she hadn't had another close call with the Colossus yet, but she sure as hell wasn't unhappy about that stroke of luck. Her good fortune was explained as she turned back to the geth and saw that they were ignoring her. They had turned on each other instead. Tali's hacking skills were only getting better with time, and they were invaluable to Shepard and their missions.

For a moment, Shepard watched in amusement as the shocktroopers attacked the Colossus, and the Colossus – acting as confused as a machine possibly could – fired back in self-defense. "As soon as the troopers take out that Colossus, fire on them," Shepard ordered as she saw the Colossus's shields start to falter.

Shepard took out her assault rifle and braced it against her shoulder, sighting one of the geth in her crosshairs. As much as she enjoyed being on the ground in the middle of a fight like this, Shepard almost wished she was up on top of the warehouse in Garrus's place. Sniping was an art all its own, and the satisfaction of taking down enemies one at a time while they were unable to reach you was a lot of fun. Still, Shepard knew that her rightful place was exactly where she was, leading the charge.

Knowing that her body probably couldn't take another biotic enhanced charge, let alone another hit from the Colossus, Shepard did her best to take out the few geth that Tali hadn't managed to hack yet with her assault rifle. Several times, she lined up a target only to see its head explode before she could fire her shot.

"Hey, Vakarian, stop stealing my kills!" she barked into the comm.

"Don't blame me. The giant flashlights on their heads make good targets."

Shepard popped her heat sink and allowed the rest of the smaller units to finish off the Colossus, letting out a cry of triumph as blue sparks flew along the seams in its body. It collapsed to the ground with a loud grating sound, and several more of the geth were crushed beneath it. As Tali finished off the last few geth, Shepard took stock of her injuries. Her chest felt like a building had fallen on top of it, and although the medigel had done its job, she suspected some of the rounds had been armor piercing. She would definitely need Dr. Chakwas to take a look at her when they were back onboard the Normandy.

A minute later, all firing stopped, and Shepard looked up to see Tali approaching her. The quarian was a relatively new member of the crew, but she had already proven herself a useful addition. Shepard was grateful that they had a tech expert on their side, especially since they were probably going to run into a lot more geth in the near future while Saren was still chasing after them.

"No injuries?" Shepard asked, trying to strap her assault rifle back across her shoulder and wincing in pain as she lifted her arm.

"None here," Tali said. "What about you, Garrus? No wounds that need nursing?"

"Approaching your position, Shepard. And actually, Tali, I think a shot grazed my inner thigh."

"Cut out the flirting, you two..." Shepard rolled her eyes, taking off her helmet and tucking it underneath her arm. Her hair was plastered to her forehead, and she was relieved as the air washed over her. Technically, the helmet was supposed to ventilate itself to keep her from overheating, but she had worked up quite a sweat during the skirmish.

Before Tali and Garrus could make excuses, Shepard noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was a turian near her feet - still alive and twitching. It was scrabbling at its wrist, almost as if it was trying to get at something. Shepard's brow creased in confusion. "Tali, cover me," she said, and the quarian obediently drew her weapon, holding it on the dying merc as Shepard dropped to one knee, bending down for a closer look despite the discomfort it caused her.

A pool of blue blood was forming beneath the turian, and Shepard frowned as it grew larger and the body finally stopped moving. Already dead. "It almost looked as if he was reaching for his Omnitool," a flanged voice said behind her, and Shepard recognized it as Garrus's without turning around. He had caught up with them faster than she'd expected.

"I think you're right." Shepard reached out, taking the armored wrist of the corpse in her hand and activating it.

A 3D holographic projection of Saren came to life, the picture showing the menacing turian from the top of his shoulders up. "Greetings, former Commander Shepard," the recording stated, the disdainful barb obvious to everyone listening. Shepard clenched her fists at Saren's words. She was as annoyed with herself for reacting to the bait as she was with Saren for taunting her in the first place.

While Saren was certainly not the only reason she had broken with the Alliance and the Council, their protection of him up until the very end was what had finally strengthened Shepard's resolve to leave. They had condemned Saren and his actions too late to salvage Shepard's loyalty, and the former Commander could not forgive such grievances.

Shepard shook off the disappointing memories of her past – memories that still had the ability to anger her – and focused back on the message that Saren had left. "As enjoyable as it has been for me to send my minions after you, I am quickly tiring of this game. We're both reasonable, if not respectable, business people, so I am willing to make you a deal. You took something that belongs to me." Even through the imperfect imagery of the hologram, Shepard could see the rage quivering Saren's mandibles, and knew that she had pissed him off more than she had realized by stealing Liara right out from under him. The thought pleased Shepard more than it should have, especially since she knew exactly what Saren was capable of in his quest for revenge.

"I will give you the chance to return my property to me with no questions asked, and in return, I will stop hunting you. You will find me in the Omega Nebula. I'm sure your tracking skills will uncover the exact location. You have a week to contact me before my good nature is lost once again. Don't make me regret my generosity, Shepard." The hologram flickered once before disappearing, the prerecorded message obviously over.

Shepard could feel Garrus and Tali watching her, waiting to hear what she would say. "Well," she said, with as deep an exhale as she could manage while her ribs were still sore, "I think we can safely assume that he's setting up a trap." She knew Saren, and there was no way he would run up a flag of peace for anything other than an underhanded move.

"Absolutely," Garrus agreed. Ever since he had met Shepard, Garrus had known her to be very astute, but his time in C-SEC had taught him that those in command positions were sometimes blinded to what was really going on. It was one of his reasons for joining Shepard's crew and for staying when she no longer had the official sanction of the Council.

"Let's go back to the ship, and we'll get everyone together to figure out how to proceed."

Truthfully, Shepard already knew exactly what she was going to do – she was going to take Saren out once and for all. But Shepard wasn't selfish enough to bring the crew along on her own personal vendetta, so she would give them the opportunity to sit this mission out if they chose. There were safe ports within the Omega system where she could leave her less inclined crewmembers if they so desired. Still, a confrontation was coming, and Shepard needed to make sure she would come out the winner, both for herself and for Liara.