III: Requiem

by RedCenturionG

The Collector threat is done; and the Normandy crew survived. The Shadow Broker has eyes watching a friend of Shepard's. Loyalties will be questioned, lives put on the line. And Peta will stop at nothing to get the girl of his dreams. In this, the crew is never safe. And in the end, Marcus Shepard will have to make a decision that could cripple his resolve forever.

25. Chapter 24 Honeymoon Shakedown

REQUIEM

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:

HONEYMOON SHAKEDOWN

November 7, 2185

1819 hours.

The Shepards' Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy.

Hot water flowed over his body like a jet of liberation; the warmth freeing up tense muscles and giving him a relief like no other. Water impacted off the bathroom walls and flooded the bottom of the floor in crystal clear wet, but he didn't care. White foam bubbled and frothed as he washed his hair, barely moving an inch from the spot he was rooted on as he just let the shower's water consume him.

He thought of the day's past events; and as he did, a hand travelled up to his forehead, caressing the area that the line of ink occupied. He smiled. It had only been...how many hours? At least nine hours since he got married to the woman he loved. The feast had ended a couple of hours ago and the crew had dispersed, with a few people staying behind to clean up the aftermath. But the entire time, Marcus and Tali had never left the cabin, the quarian walking around completely free of her suit, and EDI had made sure that noone disturbed them.

All day, they had either lay in bed, cuddling and talking about past events, danced or watched movies; Marcus deciding to introduce her to the Marvel movies, starting with Iron Man, a movie she had taken a particular liking to. They made love several times, and done almost nothing else since. It was heaven.

The last time they had made love was little over an hour ago, and Marcus was prepared incase Tali got alittle...needy. He smiled at his own thoughts, but quickly brushed them away as he finished washing his hair and moved to turn off the shower itself. Just as he moved to do this however, the door shot open and his wife moved into the doorway, a devillish grin covering her mouth.

He turned towards her, and grinned. She stood there, one arm leading against the doorway while her hips leaned to the otherside with one hand on said hip in a seductive pose. She grinned at him, flexing one of her toes as she wore a purple nightgown Kelly had acquired for her, which took only a few tugs to take off.

He was having trouble getting used to seeing the third line down the center of her forehead, but kept reminding himself that it was a symbol of their union; their marriage. The aftermath carried heavily on both of them, and they knew it would take some time getting used to their new titles and their position together. But they were both more than willing.

She spoke in her best sultry tone, "Mind if I join you?"

His grin didn't get any smaller, "Of course."

Neither did hers as she stood up fully and her hands pulled at the cotton ribbon holding her gown together. Tossing it out of sight she pulled the nightgown, revealing a lack of clothing beneath. In the nude, she tossed the gown inside and stepped into the bathroom with him, joining her husband under the hot water.

She sighed happily as her long hair became soggy instantly and latched to her skin, the quarian closing her eyes. The ink provided was strong, so it didn't wash off, which was an added bonus for them; it served as permanent tattoo. Using both of her hands, she pushed her hair out of her face and pressed into his chest, Marcus relishing in the sensation of her bosom pressing up against his pectorals, and her face inches from his.

She smiled as she opened her eyes to meet his, the flash of her ring easily seen in his peripheral vision. He took her ring hand and caressed it, bringing it to his lips and kissing the palm. Her grin turned into a loving smile, her voice a whisper, "Hard to forget that we're now officially together; oath, praise and banner."

He chuckled, "Indeed; can't complain with the results though."

She nodded in agreement, pressing further against him, kissing his neck as she tucked herself under his chin. Quickly, his hand let go of her hand and up to her back of her head, getting deliberately tangled in her long raven hair as she stroked the back of her own neck, both of them just letting the water wash over them in blissful silence.

Slowly, and gradually, Tali's hands raised up and placed themselves on his shoulders, the quarian pulling away, keeping her chest firmly pressed against his. He frowned at her as she gave him a sultry smirk, not taking her eyes off of him. Getting curious as to her intentions, he spoke, "Mrs. Shepard, just what are you doing?"

"Oh," she began, one hand lifting off his shoulder and tracing a line down the left of his body, all the way down to his hips, "I don't know," she continued, hand lifting off his body and moving inbetween them. A heat built between them, "I'm feeling alittle...bored," her three-fingered hand quickly found his limp manhood and grabbed it, "Maybe we should have some fun, what do you say?" Marcus' manhood almost immediately became erect as she began to slowly stroke it, the man's breaths becoming shorter and labored as he tried not to moan loudly at the sudden sensations she was giving him.

"Al-a-alrea-d-d-d-y?" He stuttered, trying to delay the inevitable pleasure and tease her, "Y-yo-u're-q-qu-quite e-ager, aren't y-y-y-you?"

She could only smile as her stroking actions increased and she began to lean down into a crouch, "What can I say? Getting married makes me...alittle bit more eager. What about you?"

He nodded, watch as her head became level with his manhood and he realized what she was about to do, "I-in-c-c-compl-ete agree-agree...agree..." he didn't get to finish due to Tali roughly cutting him off at 'in' as she navigated his cock into her open mouth, and she began to suck. The rest was moaning as he let his hand find its way around to the back of his wife's head, and held on as he gently urged her on. Moaning came from both parties as Tali continued, the quarian occassionally opening her mouth to get so breath, lick the tip, smile at him or ask if she should continue, and then do just that...continue.

Keeping it short and simple so he doesn't climax too early, Tali released him and stood up, licking her lips. She smiled at him, grabbing some antibacterial soap, wiping her lips and then putting it away, almost dropping it as Marcus reached and began to kiss her softly, the quarian moaning as she only just managed to successfully put the soap away. Her hands latched around his head and held him there, the kiss growing in tension before it turned into pure, unhinged lust.

Marcus pushed forward and Tali's back collided with the wall, his erection smacking against her stomach. Still stroking it, Tali continued to kiss her husband before lust began to overcome the passion; when they first made love this day, it had been full of love, but as they went on, lust gradually took over; and this was the breaking point.

Marcus pulled away from Tali's lips and took one full breast into his mouth, Tali cooing in delight as he did and cradling his head as he tended to her larger-than-depicted bosom. Eventually, he pulled away and Marcus leaned down, his head coming to level with Tali's womanhood. She smiled at the thought of what was to come and barely had any time to prepare before he stretched her lips wide open and plunged his mouth inside, tongue going to work as it explored her insides, the quarian moaning as she cradled his head in a similiar fashion to what she did with him.

The sexual tension occurring beforehand and the tending her breasts got made sure that Tali's orgasm came quickly and euphorically, almost blinding her in its intensity as she emptied into Marcus' mouth. When it was over, Marcus repeated the same action she did; antibacterial soap, wash lips, put away, kiss.

This one was short and tender as Marcus proceeded to pull away, grabbing Tali by the hips and quickly turning her around so she faced the wall, her back facing him. He pressed her against the wall, her cheek against the cold surface as he leaned in and began trailing kisses down the line of her back, making her hum in content. After a bit, he stopped at the area just above her posterior, and lifted himself, pressing his chest into her back as he leaned in and kissed her on the neck.

Despite the lust, he still had the love and care to ask, "Ready?" he asked, breathing heavy. She nodded erratically, eagerly wanting him. He sighed and pulled back, opening her legs slightly as he positioned his manhood at her entrance. And without further hesitation, he pushed forward and penetrated her, both of them crying out in ecstasy as the water became cold, still rushing over their skin; but they were too heated to care or notice.

He pulled her slightly away from the wall, the quarian using her hands to brace herself against the wall as her body almost went horizontal; Marcus using his left hand to clasp around her left hip and his right to gently grasp her right shoulder. His cock still throbbing inside her, she nodded and he continued. He pulled out and back in, out and in, out and in, thrust after thrust, moan after moan.

It wasn't long before he came; a familiar warmth flooding inside of her as she gave a low moan of ecstasy. Marcus allowed himself to completely empty his seed into her before pulling out, Tali turned around just as he crashed forward, chest pushing against hers as he leaned his chin on her left shoulder, Tali caressing the back of his head as they breathed heavily in and out.

Quiet. Total silence.

Marcus finally, after two minutes of doing nothing, reached out and turned off the shower, the water ceasing its pitter-patter on the bathroom floor. The silence returned once more as little pecks on the lips were exchanged.

More silence.

Finally, Tali spoke, "You know...we really need to...find something else...better to do."

Marcus laughed, kissing her bare shoulder as he pulled back and looked into her eyes, "Damn right we do," a thought occurred in his head, "And there's a thing we humans do just after getting married. We go out for a week, just us, rent a temporary hotel suite and we do whatever we want; and like I said, its just us. You and me, noone else. And there's no last minute things we need to worry about; no enemies trying to kill us."

Tali smiled, "And what do humans call that? Because I like the sound of it more and more," she gave him a peck on the lips to urge him on.

He smiled back, "We call it a honeymoon. What do you think honey? Would you like to go on a honeymoon? Just the two of us? None of the worries of the future to plague our thoughts?"

She smiled and thought about this for a couple of moments, before finally responding, "I would...I would like that, Marcus. Just us. What place do you have in mind?"

Marcus pretended to think on this for a bit, before finally turning back to her, a loving, caring smile creasing his wet lips, "Nos Astra, Illium. There's this one hotel I remember in the catalogue that is top of its class, and you are definitely a girl deserving top class."

His wife frowned, "I don't know, Marcus. Seems awfully expensive-"

"For my gorgeous wife?" He smiled, "We just got married Tali; we deserve to love every second of it. As far as I'm concerned, it isn't expensive enough."

The only response he got was a gentle, gender suck on the lips as Tali leaned in, a warm show of contentment on her face. Marcus smiled and moved in to kiss her with extra fervor, but was interrupted as EDI spoke over the comm.

"Shepards, I apologize for the interruption," EDI spoke, suffering through Tali and Marcus' irritated groans and annoyed glares, "But Liara's pickup team has just returned from Illium, but have declared a medical emergency."

In a flash, both Marcus' and Tali's annoyed glares disappeared and Marcus was off of her, getting a towel from the dry rack and beginning to dry himself off as he left the cubicle, Tali left to recover her own towel as she also dried herself off. Marcus was quick to demand answers.

"Medical emergency?" he asked, "I thought it was a simple pickup? How could the Broker know? Who's hurt? Status?"

EDI was just as quick to provide answers, not hesitating for one moment as Marcus finished drying himself off and began to put on his clothes, starting with his boxers, "XO Lawson is in critical condition; she is currently comatose and Doctor Chakwas is rushing her to the medical bay; Professor Solus and Senior Assistant Vael have been informed, but her condition is fragile. Liara has suffered a broken arm and has also gone to the medical bay, and has required your presence to speak with you about the mission. Grunt has suffered minor injuries and Thane has but lashes, but nothing serious."

Marcus scoffed as he finished buckling up his pants and reached for a shirt, "Not serious? I think a coma and a broken arm classify as serious. What the hell happened? We weren't expecting them until tomorrow."

EDI's voice was instant, "Doctor T'Soni has stated she will explain everything to you in the medical bay; I have been told of nothing else. All she said is that the Shadow Broker is involved."

He sighed, turning to Tali who had come out of the shower dried and was now putting her robe back on. He gave her an apologetic look before approaching and giving her a gentle, tender kiss on the lips, cradling her cheek as he pulled away, "I'll be back soon sweetheart," with that, he turned and put his shirt on, followed by his cap as he unlocked his cabin door and entered the elevator, slamming the button for the Crew Deck. As the elevator began its descent, he let out an angry growl.

Miranda comatose? Liara with a broken arm? Thane injured, along with Grunt? What the hell happened to the simple 'snatch-and-grab?' How the fuck did it turn this serious? That, and she turns up early? What the hell is going on? If the Shadow Broker is involved...goddamn it, I should have told her to stay and wait until after the wedding...we don't need another Zaeed...

The elevator took a while to finally reach the third deck, and when it did, the doors shot open with double the speed. Within a heartbeat, Marcus was moving through the doors and had rounded the corner, moving towards the med bay. Grunt stood outside, orange blood crusted at his lip, and upon seeing his battlemaster approaching, he smiled.

"Battlemaster!" Grunt boomed, "Glad to see you're here. Asari told me not to tell you anything; only to usher you in."

He nodded to the krogan in appreciation before tapping the haptic interface for the door and moving inside, finding the room to be a bustle of activity. Liara sat on the end of one bed, her arm in a omni-cast and looking to be extremely uncomfortable. Thane sat on the bed next to her, Lia tending to him with bandages. And to the left, Marcus saw it. It was a pretty gruesome sight.

Miranda looked worse than Zaeed had. Sure, the man had taken a gunshot to the head twice, and riddled with bullets over the rest, but he hadn't broken both legs to a pulp, crushed the bone in his left wrist, blown open his lower lip and didn't have a failed kidney and a possible hemorrphage, if the readouts were anything to go by. She was running solely on life support at this point, and she wasn't even wearing her uniform; no, that was sitting in a mangled pile on the med bay floor as she was covered in a blanket, most likely completely naked underneath.

Upon his entrance, Mordin heard him enter and turned to greet him, only to have Chakwas yell at him to keep Miranda stabilized while she spoke to the commander. Liara noticed him as well and raised a hand to speak to him, but was shot down by his glare as he turned to speak to Doctor Chakwas, the doctor's face creased in worry and specks of blood running down her cheek from intense surgery, surgical mask on.

She took it off for a second, letting it hang around her neck, "Have you come to check up on Miss Lawson, Marcus?"

He nodded, crossing his arms as he traded glances between Chakwas and Miranda's slumbering form, "That and something else," he nodded to Liara before turning back to her, "How is she, doctor?"

"Bad. Worse off than Zaeed, and that's saying something," Chakwas jabbed a finger at the poor woman, "Her recovery isn't going to be a fast one, and I used up most of my resources just keeping Zaeed from bleeding out. Now we've got Miranda with enough shattered bones to kill a regular human being, and I don't have the supplies to save her."

His eyes widened in shock, "What does that mean for Miranda?"

"What will happen?" She sighed and never had she looked as tired as she did at that moment, "Well, if the internal hemorrphage doesn't kill her first, then the crushed bones will. Bits of bone have fallen off and are causing serious damage to her muscle which is causing more internal bleeding; we need to cauterize the wound or she won't make it. Something we don't have the facilities to do. Only option is a hospital; they can give her all the care she needs, and asari hospitals have always been the best when it comes to human physiology and overall medical technology."

Marcus nodded, hitting a realization as a smile came to his face, "What a coincidence; asari can save him, and what colony is nearby that is full of asari?"

Chakwas smiled as well, "Illium; they'll have the resources we need. We'll have to take Miranda to Nos Astra City Hospital if we want to save her, Marcus."

He nodded, accessing EDI's pedestal, "EDI? Could you relay to Joker to set a course for Illium immediately? And have Jacob prep the shuttle for medical transport; we'll need it soon. We'll need it for one comatose patient plus two others."

EDI was quick to respond, "Message received. Setting a course."

He nodded, turning to talk to Liara, but Chakwas placed a hand on his chest, stopping him. He frowned, turning towards Chakwas. She, in turn, frowned at him, obviously confused, "Plus two? Who else is going?"

His frown turned into a smile of realization and he nodded, shrugging Chakwas' hand off his chest, "Me and Tali; we've chosen to have our honeymoon on Illium and were planning to go before this happened."

Chakwas nodded, "I understand; I hope you two have fun. Miranda won't be awake in a week though; if I'm honest, I don't know when she'll wake up. She might never; we just don't know. Her life will be in Nos Astra's nurses' and doctors' hands. We'll just have to hope for the best."

He nodded to her, gently squeezing her shoulder, "Thank you Chakwas. You did all you could."

She gave her own nod before pulling up her surgical mask back over her mouth and returning to Miranda's side, while Marcus headed over to Liara, who was waiting for him with a scolded look. He crossed his arms once he reached her, anger in his eyes, "What the fuck happened Liara?" he asked in a soft tone so only the asari and Thane could hear, "I'm with my wife, and the next thing I hear is that Miranda is borderline dead and the other three have injuries? Explain, now. I want to know exactly what happened and how the Broker got involved."

Liara nodded, taking a deep breath before responding, "It happened extremely fast, Shepard, I don't know how to explain this to you. We went there to pick up the data disk from Sekat, and everything was going alright at first; but then he asked me if the Broker wouldn't find out about the transaction. I reassured him, and then...he betrayed us."

He raised an eyebrow, "He what? I thought you said he was reliable, Liara."

"Yeah, well I thought so too!" Liara replied angrily, looking at him with fury in his look. He barely flinched from the action and she calmed down, wiping the scowl from her face before inhaling and exhaling. Finally calmed down, she turned back to him, "We...he betrayed us, and the next thing I know, we have the Shadow Broker's private soldiers attacking us from behind. Apparently Sekat hadn't defected afterall; he was working for the Broker all along and was luring me in so he could take me out, once and for all. He just didn't expect backup; which explains why Sekat looked so terrified."

He nodded for her to go on, and she did, "Sekat tried to escape with the disk, but Grunt rammed him through the window and crushed him below. I went after him while Miranda and Thane took the long way down while fighting more of those damn mercs. They reached us eventually, but we...security tried to stop us. I retrieved the data disk," her uninjured hand reached into one of her pockets and pulled out the red flashing object and waved it in the air, "But it seems the Shadow Broker already had a continegency plan in action."

"I don't see the part that involves a broken arm, slashes and a comatose patient," he growled and Liara once again shot him a scowl, which she wiped away as quickly as before and finished her sentence.

"Yeah, well like I said, he had a continegency plan," her eyes met his, and he saw the hate in them, not for him, but for the Broker, "Bombs. He...he had his loyal, skilled thugs rig the entire building with explosives and detonated them when his troops failed to take us out. Miranda pushed me out of the way when the explosion reached us. I woke up two hours later with a broken arm, and buried under rubble. I managed to free myself, and found Grunt, who had already woken up and gotten Thane out."

"Miranda..." she trailed off, swallowing, "We found her under two concrete slabs, one of them pinning her left wrist to the ground. We couldn't tell the extent of the damage, but we knew it was serious and that we had to get her back to the Normandy as soon as possible. I should have taken her straight to the hospital...I was so foolish...all I could think of was the data..."

Thane was at her side, a reassuring pat on her shoulder, and she quickly faced the drell, who gave her a piercing, calm gaze, "You have done the right thing, and Kalahira smiles upon you. If you had not extracted the data, and Miranda died, her death would have meant nothing. This way, if she does die, we got the information and are able to put an end to the Shadow Broker, making her death mean something. It was not in vain."

Liara smiled at him and nodded, and the drell lifted his hand off the asari as he leapt from the bed, giving a nod of thanks to Lia, "Thank you, Miss Vael. If I am free to leave, I believe I have congratulations to pass on to...Mrs. Shepard."

Lia nodded, "You're free to go; do try and keep it easy though, those wounds need time to heal. Broken arm is different; technology allows for fast healing, but those need proper healing. Remember that."

"I will doctor, thank you," Thane nodded his thanks and Lia nodded, moving over to assist Chakwas and Mordin with Miranda. Thane turned to Marcus and smiled, bowing, "Congratulations on your bonding to Tali'Shepard, Commander. My only regret is not being there to witness it."

"I'm sure Samara would love to talk to you about it," Marcus bowed back, smiling, "And thanks, I appreciate the thought. I'm sure Tali does too; just try not to disturb her; she's in the cabin and we're kinda...having some private time."

"I understand," Thane gave a final bow before clasping his hands behind his back and walking away, a barely noticable limp to his step, "I will be in Life Support if I am needed again," and with that, the drell left, door closing behind him.

Marcus turned back to Liara, a worried frown on his face, hands landing on his hips as he shakes his head, "The Shadow Broker must know now Liara; he'll have looked at the casualty reports, not to mention unscreen footage. He'll know you're alive and he'll know you're a bigger threat than ever before. Because of that, I can't allow you to leave the Normandy until he's dealt with, understand? I'm not risking your safe-"

"I know, Shepard. But I don't need to leave the ship anymore. I have him. We have him," she waved the disk in his face again, "Don't you remember? This disk may be encrypted, but that's because this information will lead us straight to him. I'll need EDI and Legion's help in cracking the encryption, but once we do we'll have him and we'll be able to end this. He can't hide anymore, and he knows this, but soon, what he knows won't matter. We're going to bring down the biggest information broker in galactic history and save Feron, a man...a lover, I thought long dead. I've waited a long time for this moment; I never thought it would come."

He smiled, slapping her playfully on the shoulder, "You never thought Cerberus could revive either; remember how that turned out? The Shadow Broker is writing his last words, don't doubt that. And you will see Feron again, I promise."

Liara gave a long, drawn out sigh and nodded, Marcus giving her a smile before turning and leaving, door shutting behind him. When he turned around, he saw that Grunt was gone, most likely having returned to the cargo hold due to a lack of need to stay there. All Marcus could think about was this sudden turn of events. One point he's married and relishing in it, and the next thing he knows, he's dealing with another mortally wounded teammate but gets the location of the Shadow Broker in return.

Sometimes he wondered if fate liked playing these tricks on him.

Most likely they did.

{Loading...}

November 8, 2185

1429 hours.

VICINITY UNKNOWN. DATA INCOMPLETE.

The Shadow Broker.

The reports came in once more; and just like all the times before, they did not show success. The Broker roared as he slammed a fist into a screen behind him, tearing through the device in one swoop due to his massive grip. He roared, turning his head around and ripped the screen from its tether and threw it across the room to land on the ground nearby, scattering pieces of tech and its innards all over the floor.

He spun to face the desk once more, his enormous form now standing and looming over the table. He leans on it, only to hear a creak as it begins to bend and he immediately lifts his weight from it, eying his terminal with a scowl of pure vehemence.

His men had failed again; their men. He had sent them on one simple task; link up with his agent on Illium, Sekat, and prepare the trap for T'Soni. But not only does Sekat get himself killed, but his men fail to kill the damn asari even after planting bombs throughout the building! He didn't care if she brought a drell, krogan and the perfect human; noone should be able to survive multiple bomb blasts; but apparently they had.

And he could only assume that T'Soni had handed the data over to Shepard. Data that held the location of this base.

The Shadow Broker had never shown fear in his entire life; he was the top of his chain in a galaxy like this, and being the co-master of a galactic network as elaborate as this one, noone could challenge him. But soon, due to his incompetence, he had lead T'Soni straight to him. And if she had given the information to Shepard...no, he had to be eliminated. He didn't care what the quarian thought...he had to kill him and Tali'Shepard now before he can amass a strong enough force to reach and assault this facility.

He slowly edged himself into his seat, eying the terminal with a fixed gaze; an almost panicked gaze. He had never had to deal with something like this before; he had always used to be the person who was one step ahead of everyone else and could assassinate them if he thought they were getting too close, but now...they were one step ahead of him, and on their way. They had to be stopped. First off was finding out just where the Normandy was...

He was answered pretty quickly. His terminal beeped with a new message as he checked it, and found out they were now on Illium having Miranda Lawson transported to a hospital for treatment; she wasn't a priority, but Shepard and his new wife heading for the MesoReso Hotel suite was.

He searched through his terminal, and had his agent in the Nos Astra Surveillance Main Hub give him access to the camera located in the reception area of the hotel. Quick as always, he was given instant access to the camera and watched Shepard and Tali as they conversed with the asari receptionist. Accessing the audio, he was in time to hear the asari hearing them their access codes.

"-and these are your codes. Enjoy yourselves," the asari said goodbye as the two waved at her, Shepard carrying their bags as they moved off screen, Tali following behind him with a bag of her own. Noticing the asari's terminal was still open, the Broker zoomed in the picture to the orange screen before the asari before she turned it off, finding the name 'Room 04, Level 39.'

He sent a message of consent to the agent in the main hub and then closed the tab, opening a new one and leaving it blank. He pondered his next option as the cursor flashed, waiting for him to submit commands. He glared at the screen, as if willing it to give him ideas. A way to eliminate the Shepards that doesn't involve troops...kill them in their apartment before they know what's happening...

He growled. He couldn't do it; not without directly involving his soldiers somehow. Planting bombs could be traced back to him, and gassing the room could be traced back to his units. There was no way he could do it; and even if he did send in his soldiers, he didn't have enough left in proximity to mount a successful assault. He only had a full two squads, and they wouldn't be able to eliminate them without...

Air support. They needed air support. And that meant a gunship. But who could he get to help him who had a A-67 Mantis? The Shadow Broker didn't need any because of their location, and hiring any of the mercenary companies was out of the question due to them being untrustworthy and most of all, and more importantly, traceable.

Why was he worried about being traced? Because of her. The quarian was disturbingly overprotective of the Shepards, and he still failed to see why. Why was their survival so important to the point where it jeopardized not just their operation and location, but their own roles and lives? She never explained, only ordered; and therefore, he couldn't send one order to his own soldiers without having the same orders read to her so she can know what he was doing and when.

But this operation would require his men, and a gunship he didn't have. How the hell was he going to get these orders past her? He needed to act now or they were finished; they would be found, his forces overwhelmed and their reign ended; sure he could kill some of Shepard's team, but not before being overwhelmed and eventually taken down.

He pondered his options, thinking through every possible scenario. He wracked his head for ideas, but it was clear that his species' brain was not made for thinking. He snarled as he stood and spun around, bracing himself against a barricade seperating his main hub desk from his working desk, and overlooked the massive room before him. He looked up and saw a massive glowing tank in the ceiling; the tank filled to the brim with pulsing electricity and other deadly entities he didn't want to think about. If that tank opened; anyone standing under it would be vaporized in a seconds.

The white color of it gave him an idea as to who could help him, but before he could go into it in detail, an idea on how to take care of his counterpart came into his head; incapacitate her. She can't harm him then, can she? Not only that, but with her out of the picture, he could take over the entire network and run it himself. He could take care of her, kill the Shepards in their hotel home, kill Liara when she shows up with his bare hands, and no longer be the pet of the Broker and be the Shadow Broker himself. The thought caused an uncanny grin to erupt across his face.

If he tried to knock her out with his fists, he'd probably end up smashing several of her bones, so he decided to try a different tactic; more cowardly, but so was hiding in a place like this, so he didn't care anymore. Accessing the vents in the back room that the second broker occupied, he vented just enough air to knock her out, and then returned it back to normal when finished. He also locked the door for extra caution and severed all her communications to the outside world, allowing him to fully take over. She could hack the lock any quarian could, but by then, the people she so desperately wanted to protect would be dead anyway.

With that taken care of, he takes to dealing with his other idea as he sat behind his desk and accessed his terminal, linking it up to the screen directly infront of him. With an exhale of breath, he entered the contact details for The Illusive Man.

After a moment, his screen was replaced by a voice volume recorder, the Illusive Man's disinterested voice coming through the feed, "Shadow Broker; we haven't spoken in awhile. And I do believe Shepard is still very much alive."

He growled, "Wouldn't be if you hadn't sent so many troops just to take Omega from Aria. Congratulations are in order for that, I believe."

There was no smugness in the man's tone, "A military necessity; I need that station in preparation to fight the Reapers. But that has nothing to do with this. Shepard is still alive and needs to be eliminated quickly. I assume that's what you have contacted me about?" A puff of smoke was heard and the Broker nodded, although the Cerberus leader couldn't actually see it. Instead, he responded vocally.

"Yes," he responded in the low growl of his species, "He and his wife, Tali'Shepard, have just arrived at the MesoReso hotel in Nos Astra. I have two squads in the area ready to deploy and kill them on a moment's notice in their apartment; but they need air support. They need a gunship watching the skies."

The Illusive Man was quick to understand the situation, "And you need a Cerberus gunship, correct? I understand that you cannot muster your own."

The Broker sighed, "That would appear to be my situation. Can you provide?"

The airy sound of smoke passing by the terminal speaker is heard before TIM's response, "Yes. I have a Cerberus facility in the Penams Canyon, where the troops there currently have three gunships on station; send me the coordinates of this hotel, and I can have a gunship directed there immediately. The sooner this is over, the better. The loss of Shepard weighs heavily on Cerberus, and the longer this takes, the more pain we suffer."

The Broker practically glared at the screen, but knew it was pointless, "Of course. Send the gunship to the coordinates I'm uploading on November 11. My soldiers will assault first, followed by gunship fire acting as supression," knowing there would be questions as to why not now, he answered it before it was asked, "As for the date; it would be better to let them settle in and believe they are safe. People are usually the most vulnerable when they believe they are safest. Their guard will be down, and that will be the perfect time to strike."

A few moments passed before the Illusive Man responded, "Excellent. You will have your gunship; send the coordinates and give me access to your squads' communication radios so we can operate in tandem. Once done, I will leave you to running your business. Hopefully, we can end this charade in three days. If not, then its on your head. I wouldn't mess up now Shadow Broker; Shepard is relentless to taking down something when he sees a threat," a pause, "Just look at the Collectors. Or what's left of them."

The Broker growled once more, something he was becoming far too accustomed to, "Shepard will die; if your pilot does his or her job, I'll see to that. Shadow Broker out."

With that, he cut the connection and immediately sent the coordinates and radio access codes to the Illusive Man. After that, he typed up a message and sent it to the two squads currently operating in Nos Astra, telling them to meet at the same coordinates on November 11th, and to expect Cerberus gunship support.

Their reply was positive. This operation was a go. All that needed to happen now was for it to execute.

He leaned back in his seat, a grin replacing his scowl as he looked at all the screens around him, all showing pending conversation requests from various agents from all over the galaxy. It all belonged to him now; this entire operation was now at his fingertips. He was no longer the pet of a much bigger part of the Broker; he was now the Shadow Broker itself.

He was the king of information, the ultimate handler of commodity. The ability to start wars, end them or bring more people into them at his disposal. So much power...did one man deserve to have any of it? The truth was that no, he didn't, but he didn't much care. The Shadow Broker had been in business for hundreds of years; why stop now? Noone could find him, noone could stop him, and therefore, noone could do anything about him.

Unless Liara T'Soni finds him and Shepard aids her. She will find him, that's inevitable, but if he killed Shepard? Then what was left? Nothing. Liara couldn't hope to kill him in a one-person assault; she needed Shepard, the Normandy and his squad, and she knew that, and without Shepard, the rest was moot...like cutting the head off the animal.

He just watched the screens as more information flooded onto them. Pretty soon, the Shepards would be dead, and he could continue his domination over the information network for as long as he lived. It began here today. He was not a pet anymore.

He was the Shadow Broker.

{Loading...}

November 9, 2185

1504 hours.

Room 04, MesoReso Hotel, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy.

He was glad he had chosen this hotel for their honeymoon; it was perfect. Everything about it was perfect; from furniture to view; from compartmentalization to comfortability. It was serene, peaceful and inviting; the very defintion of perfect, if he thought so himself. He sat at the kitchen counter, plate infront of him and a salad sandwich sat before him. He simply gazed out through the windows of the room, watching the skycars fly by and the sound of people below.

Room 04 was one of the most luxurious parts of the MesoReso Hotel, which was short for Meso-Resort Hotel, Meso referring to the Mesomorph body type; the name was chosen due to the human stereotype of all celebrities being well-built people who didn't fit the Ecto or Endomorph types, and were largely Mesomorphs, hence the name. The observation windows, which essentially served as the obstruction to the outside world, were huge; they spanned as far as the ceiling, which was at least five meters above them; the glass was completely transparent, allowing a glorious view of Nos Astra down below.

He sat behind a black, marble kitchen counter, with the main kitchen behind him, counter stools facing outside. There was an indoor swimming pool covered up by a sliding door that could be heated or cooled, a living room with a large 88 inch flatscreen in the wall, with two loveseats and one whole sofa that definitely outdid his in size; and that was all to the right of the kitchen. Infront of the kitchen was a long dining table; with one table at back and front, with six on each side.

To the left was the bedroom; a large master bed that, according to Tali's reaction, could have fit half the Conclave, with the bed post lying against another set of windows allowing a view of the city. In the same bedroom was a bathroom, complete with a large bathtub and shower, along with a sink and outside the bathroom, a closet. Everything in their private apartment was set to perfection.

He had heard asari always sought pleasure and luxury when it came to living arrangements.

They didn't disappoint.

He sighed as he leaned back on his stool, humming as his jaw crunched and swashed the food in his mouth into a fine paste before swallowing. He enjoyed the sound of it, the sound of freedom. The galaxy, for once, wasn't on his shoulders and noone was relying on him to keep them safe; himself, and Tali, could just enjoy their week together before, inevitably, going to find the Shadow Broker and take him down once and for all.

And then they would continue their mission; rally the galaxy for war. Starting with getting the quarians and the geth to work together.

Shaking those thoughts away, he thought of the three people he couldn't stop thinking about. Peta was a traitor and had tried to murder Marcus and his wife in bed, only to be caught, Tali to be okay, and for the man to be exiled. Marcus would forever hate the man's guts, and would probably tear him apart if he saw him again, but he felt a strange sense of...pity for the man. He was like an animal that needed to euthanized to stop its insanity from overtaking it.

Zaeed had almost died protecting Marcus from the Broker's men; there had been a moment where he thought the mercenary had died, suffering so many gunshot wounds, especially taking two to the face. But the son of a bitch had lived; he had almost died and suffered through a coma, but he had lived, and now he was out there, somewhere, rallying the Blue Suns, and possibly the Blood Pack and Eclipse, to fight the Reapers. But he was no longer with them. No longer on his squad. And that thought brought up one particular memory. Something Wrex had said to him upon his arrival on the Normandy.

Somehow, I think that's how its going to end up. All of us, split up and fighting alongside our respective armies...

Was Wrex foreseeing the future? What if the krogan was right and-

No. That wasn't going to happen. Tali would always be by his side, and Garrus...they were family. Nothing would tear them apart. Nothing. Not even the Reapers.

And Miranda...damn it, why did she have to go and get herself blown up? The poor woman was in a worser state than Zaeed had been, and she too was in a coma; Chakwas had transferred her to Nos Astra Hospital and as far as she was concerned, that's where she'd stay until she woke up and recovered. Miranda, the perfect human, wasn't so perfect afterall. She would recover...or would she? Not everyone wakes up from their coma...some are permanent...

No. He wasn't going to lose anyone. Not one more. He swore he would never lose another soul under his command. Not after Jenkins...Not after...after...not after losing Ashley on Virmire...

He thought of all the people under his command, depending on him, and all those who weren't. His mother. Anderson. He cared about both of them and those of his crew, and he would do anything to protect them; to keep them safe. But in war, you can't save them all...and sacrifices would be made, but as long as he lived, he would protect those he cared about most as much as he could. No excuses. No compromise.

His wife. Tali. He fought for her; for both of them. To give them a future; a house on Rannoch...children even. The Reapers weren't going to be the end of everything like Sovereign said; no, Marcus, with the galaxy's armadas at his back, would be the end of the Reapers; one way or another. Their reign of terror would end with this cycle.

And once again, he shook away those thoughts, concentrating his focus on the sound of the shower turning on, Tali obviously having now woken up and now showering. He smiled, picking up his sandwich and taking another bite. Usually he would join her, but this time, he would let her have one in silence and by herself. She earned it. There was plenty more time for themselves later.

Thoughts of the war evaporated. Thoughts of the Reapers. Everything vanished and all he thought of was now; the bliss he was feeling as a newly-wedded husband. Today, he wasn't Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy Marine Corps, N7 operative and Council Spectre. No, today he was just Marcus Shepard, husband of Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, the most wonderful woman in the world.

He finished off his sandwich quickly, licking his fingers as he did before opening the bin and disposing of the crumbs, placing the plate in the sink and rincing it before letting it join the rest of the dishes which he would do later. Standing from his stool, he approached the bedroom, entered it and stood outside the bathroom, leaning on the door frame as he listened to the water. But then he heard something else.

Humming. Feminine. The more he listened to it, the more he realized who it was coming from; it was coming from Tali. She can hum? What tune is that anyway? It wasn't one he recognized, but it was soothing; very alien, in fact. He listened to the quarian humming her alien tune, all the while closing his eyes and rocking his head. His smile grew thicker the more he listened.

It was a while before he realized the water had stopped running and Tali had stopped humming. His eyes slowly opened, a drunken, lop-sided smile on his face as his head leaned against the wall, Tali's face filling his gaze. She wore her trademark purple gown, door to the bathroom closed while she leaned against in a similiar fashion to him, a smile on her face as she looked at him. Her smile grew as she saw his eyes land on hers.

"Good morning," she greeted, leaning forward and pecking him on the lips, before leaning back, hand caressing his cheek, "What were you dreaming about?"

He shook his head, "Not dreaming, listening. I heard you humming. It was soothing. I guess it made me sorta sleepy. What was the tune?"

Tali shrugged, "I can't remember. Something my mum used to sing to me when I was little; get me to stop crying and fall asleep," she sighed happily, eyes never leaving his, "You wouldn't know it; its a khelish tune, one that was made very long ago, when my people walked with uncovered heads while the sun beamed down on our unmasked faces. The days when we were the masters of our own world, our own resources, our own civilization," her smile dropped, taking on a sadder note, "Days three hundred years long gone. Rannoch is just another fairy tale for all quarian children to listen to. A story. A fable."

He smiled warmly, wrapping her in a hug, "Don't think of things like that; think happy things. Your people won't be banished to the stars forever, Tali. I promise."

"I know. Where there's a will, you'll find a way. You always do," she laughed, "If you can come back to the dead without becoming a zombie, then anything's possible."

He laughed out loud, looking at her, "Zombie? You've been watching far too many movies."

She grinned, "I admit, you humans are a bad influence on me. Still don't know what a zombie is though. Joker mentioned it to me in reference to you, so I guess it stuck."

"You've offended me Tali," Marcus shook his head, trying to hide his smirk as he turned away, crossing his arms, trying to put on his best scowl, "How dare you call me that," he sound almost too good. Scarily convincing.

Tali's skin paled, "Keelah I-I'm so-I didn't mean to-keelah, ancestors help me, I-"

She stopped when she heard him break into laughter, the man turning towards her, chuckling non-stop. She blushed for a moment, knowing when she had been tricked and punched him in the shoulder, "You bosh'tet!" She slapped him across the same shoulder, but his laughter didn't cease and soon it became contagious, with the engineer quickly joining as they fell onto the floor, barely able to contain their humor at the scene.

Finally, when they gathered themselves, they sat against the walls, hands locked in a tight embrace of fingers. He leaned in and kissed his wife on the cheek, letting his chin land ontop of her head, eyes boring into her black mass of long hair. After a long, brutally honest silence, Tali spoke, "So...just what is a zombie?"

He chuckled quietly, sighing afterwards as he leaned further into her, "Its...complicated. Its a monster of a sort; its this creature made of human flesh."

Tali frowned, "So wait...humans thought of themselves as monsters?"

He shook his head, "No, nothing like that. Its...there's a human genre where a certain monster is involved. We call them zombies, or the undead. They are basically people who become infected with this plague that strikes them with a huge fever, followed by death," he held his breath, and looked into her eyes with a grim look, "Or at least, the human dies. The plague then takes control of the brain stem and...reanimates the corpse into a zombie. A human body, but the actual human is dead and all that is left is a blood-thirsty creature that will rip you apart."

Tali paled once more, "That's...disgusting. Horrible. But I can understand now why Joker compares husks to zombies. They are pretty much alike; just with cybernetics involved."

"And alot more uglier. Not as terrifying, but husks are definitely uglier," he swallowed, "They transmit the infection by biting or scratching you. Once you're bitten or scratched, you will soon die and turn into a zombie; no stopping it. Lucky for us, husks can't do that."

"Thank the ancestors," Tali sighed in relief, "We'd be all dead if that happened. Even you, Mister Superman. And before you ask, yes, I know about him too."

He chuckled as he pulled back from her, standing up as he did. Once on his feet, he gave her hand up, before taking the same hand and escorting her over to the kitchen. He had tried his luck at dextro meals in the cooking catalogue, and he thought he might try to make something for her; sterilized, of course.

Seating her at the kitchen bench, he kissed her on the scalp before turning back around and scraping his palms together, eying the many pieces of equipment he would need for his venture. He had never been terribly good at cooking, but he would try; anything for his wife. God he loved the sound of that word; especially associated with Tali.

He heard her spin around on the stool to face him, elbows ontop of the bench behind her as she leaned into it, watching him, "What are you up to, ebla'dol?"

That one ain't translating...

"I'm cooking something for you. Something special..." he trailed off, before craning his head to face her, "What's an eblaaa'dol?"

She grinned, giggling to herself, "Its 'ebla'dol.' And its a khelish term of endearment. Kinda like how you humans call your loved ones 'sweetheart' or 'dear' or 'honey.' I don't get why you call them that though. You explained honey to me, but why dear? Or sweetheart? You humans are just...so weird."

"Just as much as you quarians are weird to me," he retorted playfully, "To each their own."

Her only response was a chuckle and he continued working. He quickly did a check in his mind that he was doing it all right. Ingredients, pan, stove, 30 degrees, throw in...that green stuff...okay, seems like its all in order. Just have to wait...He placed the ingredients on the pan in the order shown before placing said pan on the stove and turning the heat up to thirty degrees. Once that was done, he threw in...the green stuff, and watched it begin to boil as he leaned back and waited.

"Is it ready yet?" Tali teased, her voice deliberately trying to sound like an impatient child.

He laughs, turning to look at her, a finger on his lips, "Have some patience, love! It'll be ready soon."

A few more minutes passed as Marcus cooked until eventually her lunch was ready and he presented the mushy substance to the quarian on a milky white porcelain plate. Sliding it infront of her, she nodded courteously and thanked him for the meal by giving him a peck on the cheek. Smiling at her, he watched as she went to pick up the piece of food in her hands.

"Aren't you going to use a knife and fork?" He asked suddenly.

She looked at him with a frown and a cock of the head, "Knife and a...fuck?"

He almost spat out his drink as he chuckled, grinning at her in mirth before he noticed her frown turning into a glare. Coughing, he regained his composure and straightened himself, looking at her, "A knife and fork. They're utensils we humans use to eat, and the other species."

"Can't I just use my hands?"

"Its considered..." he tried to find a word to describe it that wasn't too offensive, and eventually landed on one, "...unclean."

She sighed heavily, moving to pick it up in her hands, the food sludging through her fingers as she looked at him with a wink, "And I don't care. I'm a quarian; I like to defy the archetype."

He chuckled and made no further sound as he leaned back and allowed Tali to enjoy the meal he had cooked. This was what life would be like when the war was over.

He liked it already.

{Loading...}

November 11, 2185

1619 hours.

Room 04, MesoReso Hotel, Nos Astra, Illium.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy.

The elevator doors slid open with a ding, the catchy music playing in the extravagant transport ceasing and the corridor of Level 39 of the hotel appeared before them, a numerous assortment of similiar apartments to theirs ranging from 01, 02, 03, 04, 05. The entire corridor wheeled in a circle, allowing access to all five of the 'premium' apartments on the level.

Marcus stepped out of the elevator with a satisfied grin on his face, having just enjoyed a pleasant evening with his wife. Said wife quickly joined him, still in her enviro suit, this one being her normal one, with an equally broad grin; this one hidden behind a mask. He held out his arm and she chuckled, sliding hers inbetween his and they both marched towards the entrance to their room, labelled 'Room 04.'

"That was nice," Tali piped up as they closed in on the entrance to their room, the door's interface a bright red, "I haven't enjoyed a dinner like that for a while. And I mean really enjoy it; nothing to worry about; just you and me, and the food I taste."

He nodded in agreement, "Damn right. I feel like I've eaten enough to fill a horse," noticing her confused look, he shrugged, "Nevermind; let's just say I'm very full. They had a pretty nice view of the city gardens too."

They reached the doors, Marcus opening his omni-tool and keying in their code to open the door. Tali stood there, hands at her side, thinking over what they could do tomorrow. But it was ultimately Marcus who had an idea. A look hit his face, and he beamed as he turned towards her, finally finishing keying the codes as the room ran a decon protocol before the door finally opened and they walked inside, and he tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face him as they moved into the living room, the quarian taking off her mask, and facing him.

"Hey, how about we go to the cinemas tomorrow night?" Marcus suggested, "I heard they're showing previews for that new Avengers movie. I think its called The Avengers: A New Menace."

Tali frowned at him,"What's it about?"

Marcus just shrugged, "Its about these superheroes conjured up by a company called Marvel that band together to fight evil. They've made many movies, but this one is about SHIELD, which is what Cerberus wants to be and fails, and the Avengers, who are the superhero squad, battling it out with the turians in the First Contact War. Its supposed to be action-packed."

"I think I've heard of it," Tali thought, nodding, "Yes! One of my friends talked to me about it. Said humans have a weird obsession with 'super abilities' and that Marvel has an infatuation with it."

"My favourite's Iron Man," he replied, adding a grin as a new thought hit his mind as he scanned her, "You know, considering the man's background, you actually remind me of him. He's a brilliant mechanic, has an ego, and wears a suit. I know its a battle suit with weapons and jet thrusters enabling flight and is made of steel, but its pretty similiar. Tali'Zorah, also known as...Iron Maiden!"

Tali almost burst out laughing, "Iron Maiden? I'm pretty sure I've already lost my virginity," she shook her head, "Besides, I'm not egotistical. But I can see what you mean. If you're not careful, I might actually make a combat suit, bosh'tet. And you'll be my test subject."

He shuddered mockingly, "Oooooh, the horror. Anyway, you in? I know I want to see it."

She shrugged in indifference, "Sounds good," she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He moaned into the gesture, including Tali and they stayed like that for a bit, Marcus grabbing the back of her head and pulling her further in. The kiss continued for a bit until he began to reach for her suit belts, to which she gently pushed him away, smiling.

"Oh no you don't," she wagged her finger infront of his face before shaking her head, picking up her mask and turning to the bedroom, "I'm going to have a shower. Why don't you load up the first episode of Dead Men? I've heard its a really good show. Apparently its about an asari, turian, salarian, quarian, hanar and a human who find mischief on the Citadel; meant to be a comedy."

"I'll see if I can find a link on the extranet," he shouted his reply, as the quarian was already reaching the door to their bedroom, "Then we can sit down and watch it! Don't take too long!"

Only a chuckle answered him as he heard the bedroom door shut, Marcus sighing happily as he engaged the room's heater; it was freezing outside at the moment. With that done, a large amount of warmth poured into the room, almost seeming to lift the cold instantly. He sighed happily as he moved across to the sofa and plopped down onto it, making sure to get comfortable before he accessed his omni-tool and selected the TV, turning it on.

Now, let's see if I can find this show she's talking about...As he began to run through the extranet TV selection, he began a new round of thoughts in his head. This honeymoon has been great. Three days of pure bliss, and it promises to get better. Still got a few days left, so I wonder what we can do? Going to cinemas is part of it, but what else?

He heard voices. They spoke loudly and he heard shouting, but he guessed it was just some of the neighbours. He finally located the show Tali spoke of, and flagged it for watching soon, the man leaning back as he eyed the TV, returning to his thoughts. Maybe I can take her to the beach; I've heard Nos Astra's got one several klicks away. I can teach her to swim in the room's pool...oh that'll be fun...He grinned at the thought of Tali wearing a swimsuit as he taught her how to swim.

The voices grew in crescendo, and then suddenly stopped. He frowned, and turned to the door, expecting it to open for some reason; but it didn't. He also thought he heard the thrum of engines nearby, but when he turned to look outside the room's gargantuan windows, he saw nothing. Just my imagination. He turned back to the TV just in time to hear Tali shout out from the bedroom.

"I'm done!" she declared, "I'm just getting dressed; have you found the show?"

"Yeah!" he shouted back, ignoring the so-called sounds he heard, "I've flagged it for watching. Just waiting for you, dear."

He sat there for a few more moments, waiting for Tali to finish. Finally, after a minute, he heard the door open and he turned to face it, watching Tali move from the bedroom towards him in her now signature purple robe. Really need to get her proper clothing...but she looks so damn sexy in it...

She didn't wear her suit; the quarian enjoying her freedom for as long as she could. She advanced towards him, smirking as she moved to cross the kitchen, only having eyes for him.

"Well, lets see if it-"

Darkness; it suddenly engulfed the entire room; only his omni-tool lit up anything. Tali stopped in her tracks, suddenly confused; her eyes left him and turned to eye the room, and irritated look on her face. Marcus was just as annoyed, turning to see that the TV was blank. He tried to activate it again, but nothing worked. Tali tried some light switches, but they failed as well. Even the door's haptic inteface was absent, leaving the door unopenable except by hand. The bedroom was inaccessible as well, and the room was left in total darkness; only the neon lights from outside, Tasale's sun, and the skycars racing by provided any light in the total blackness.

"Shit," he cursed, "Looks like a power outage. Only my omni-tool works."

Tali sighed, moving towards him in the darkness, the quarian's nocturnal vision guiding her towards him easily. She plopped down next to him, arms crossed, "Keelah, and I was so looking forward to this. Seems odd though; why wouldn't a building like this have an emergency generator?"

That was a good question; wouldn't they have kicked in by now? Maybe there was a fault with them. But then memories of the shouting voices came back to his mind. The sound of a vehicle's engines that wasn't there. None of it added up; and it scared him. And the more he thought about it, the more it sounded like...

"Tali, get on the ground. Now," he ordered, turning to the windows. The quarian gave him a quizzical look.

"Why?" Tali asked, "Is something wrong? Marcus, its just a power failure. They'll have it back up soon, I'm sure. What's wrong?"

Then he saw it; a rappel dropping from the roof. A long piece of rope dangling from the top as it lowered past the window. More followed it, until they covered every window in the room. And it all came to him in an instant; his head whorled to Tali, and an arm slammed into her back, throwing her onto the ground.

"Stay dow-" He never got to finish as he leapt after her.

As he spoke, the numerous black armoured forms of Shadow Broker soldiers slid down the rappels, weapons held in one hand and rope in the other. Once they were level with the window, they seemed to signal each other, motioning to Marcus who had just shoved Tali onto the ground. As he shouted at her to stay down and moved to leap after her, they pulled back, and fired.

The windows around the room shattered from the bursts, sending shards of glass exploding inwards to coat the ground in deadly sharp objects. The agents came in after, metal boots connecting with the ground before they combat rolled into a defensive crouch, disconnecting the rappels from themselves as first squad landed, the squad leader, being a turian, scanning the room with his Phaeston assault rifle.

Tali made no sound as she sat up, dragging her feet towards her and entering her own 'Commander Shepard' mode, as Marcus was currently doing. Her husband winced as a piece of glass wedged in his shoulder caused him pain, but he gritted his teeth and pulled it out, throwing it onto the ground. Tali was bare feet, but luckily she hadn't had to step on the smashed glass fragments just yet.

"Clear the room," the turian barked, "You four, wait here and await second squad. Once they're deployed we'll rein in the gunship. Sweep the area and mind me the Shepards; dead or alive, it doesn't matter. Just make sure you find them. Hugh, make sure the power stays down; we don't want them escaping through the doors and keep their visibility to a minimum. The rest of you, activate your night vision and fan out."

Marcus met Tali's eyes and nodded, and they both crawled across the room until they sat on the other side of the sofa, hiding from the Shadow Broker's troopers. He poked his head out to see how many were headed their way, and saw only two of them; a krogan with a scimitar shotgun, and a human with a Tempest SMG, both wearing helmets. Must be tough rope to be able to rappel a krogan...

"You see anything?" the krogan growled through his helmet, kicking over one of the loveseats to see if anyone was hiding behind it. Disappointed he moved further inside as his human companion replied.

"Nothing over here," he scanned the back of the sofa that the two hid behind and a plan formed in Marcus' head as he told Tali to remain still as he began crawling behind the back of the couch towards the human's position, "Just a sofa."

"Can't have gone far," the krogan replied, moving into the far side of the living room, shotgun raised in fervor as he obviously looked forward to blowing Marcus and Tali's heads off with it. The human soldier shook his head, mumbling to himself about 'pointless search. Could just blow the building.' All of a sudden, a sound came from behind the couch and the man immediately leaned over, weapon raised, a smile on his face as he prepared to shout, 'gotcha!'

Marcus didn't give him a chance.

He suddenly found himself falling over the couch, head first, in the darkness and landed on his back with a thump. He faced the ceiling, the SMG suddenly being relieved from his grip. He looked to see his quarry staring down at him, an angry scowl on his face, now holding the soldier's SMG. He looked at him with fear, but didn't get to yell out as the man's elbow suddenly acellerated into his face, the force augmented by his cybernetics and killing the man instantly.

"And I was having such a good day," Marcus mumbled, making sure the SMG was set to incendiary rounds before he rejoined Tali. The quarian looked at him with wide eyes as he joined her.

"What do we do?" She eyed his weapon, "You don't plan on charging them with that do you?"

"I plan on killing them with it," he told her, showing his wife the thermal clips he had taken from the dead soldier's body before checking that the weapon's chamber was full. He turned back to her and motioned to the krogan across the room, "And soon, you'll have a shotgun. You take him out, and I'll take care of the rest of these assholes. I've had enough of this."

"What?" she almost shouted incredulously, but lowered her tone slightly, "You want me to take on an armoured krogan with a shotgun while I'm in a robe? That's suicide!"

"They're using night vision," he told her, "Use your omni-tool and get him to face you. When he does, take a picture and make sure the flash is on. It should blind him long enough for you to take care of him and take his weapon; you have to be quick. I'll then cover you while you get to the bedroom; you need to get your suit back on."

She nodded and leaned in, kissing him deeply on the lips before pulling back, cradling his cheek, "Please be careful."

"You too. Make sure to contact the Normandy too and let them know what's going on," he told her before stroking her cheek. She nodded before she got into a crouch and disappeared into the darkness, the krogan not knowing what he was in for. At that thought, he smiled and turned back to face the invaders. He lost the smile instantly and it turned into a cold look of fury.

This has to stop. When this is over, Liara better have that location. I'll go knock on the Broker's door myself when this is through.

"Second squad's inside!" one soldier reported, "Calling in the gunship!"

The turian's response was immediate, "Hold on that order; Jensen hasn't reported in. Somebody find him and get me a damn sitrep. We're on a deadline, and I don't want to work alongside Cerberus any longer than I have to."

A silent growl escaped Marcus' lips. Cerberus. Of course they'd be helping the Broker kill me. Maybe I'll find the Illusive Man and pay him a visit too...He quickly reentered the present as he rose from behind the sofa however, making sure to summon his biotics in case he was needing to fight.

He heard a scuffle behind him followed by a thump; Tali must have taken down that krogan. That was good. He continued to edge forward, SMG in hand as he activated his omni-tool, opening the camera and aiming forward, finger hovering over the 'capture' button. Soon, a salarian came around the corner, vindicator raised. As he did, he turned to face Marcus.

"Jense-" then he spotted him and moved to shout, "Oh-"

A flash and the salarian was spinning, stunned and blinded by the sudden flash of light that overwhelmed his night vision sensors in his helmet. He let out a scream before Marcus could silence him, his omni-blade semi-decapitating his head from his body as the salarian fell forwards into a dead heap. Shouting was heard and an asari wheeled the corner, followed by two human females with carnifex pistols, the asari carrying an asari-made disciple shotgun. She eyed him with wide-eyes and then scowled.

"Fuck!" The asari shouted, backing away as she and her men opened fire, "Shepard's armed! I repeat, Shepard's got a fucking gun! Jensen and Orto are dead! Open fucking fire!"

Marcus managed to roll to the side as a hail of gunfire ripped into the floorboards where he had been before, the man managing to take one of the chairs and slam it down to the floor, taking cover behind its steel surface. Darting from cover, he took aim with his camera again and flashed it, causing all 21 of the hostiles in the room cry out as their night visions turned into deadly weapons. The turian managed to bark one order as he ripped his helmet off and threw it outside.

"Take off your helmets!" he ordered, "He's fucking with our night vision! Take off your damn helmets, find him and kill the spirits-be-damned asshole! And where's my fucking gunship support!? Well what are you waiting for!? We need it now!"

A shotgun blast rang out and the asari's head disappeared in a purple mist. Her body fell backwards just as a purple form joined him behind cover, shotgun smoking as she pumped the depleted shell out and the chamber automatically injected a fresh clip. Tali smiled at him, body in a crouch.

"Miss me?" she asked playfully, eying the hostiles behind them, "We've got quite the wake-up party; I counted twenty-one...well, twenty now. How do we deal with them all?"

"That's not all. They've got a-" he barely got to finish as a Cerberus gunship adorning Cerberus colors shot up to level with their windows and both of their eyes landed on it. He gulped and Tali's eyes widened as it searched the room and immediately locked onto them, its chin-mounted main gun revving up with a whir...

He immediately jumped infront of her and brought up his omni-shield, a long winded gust of heavy rotary gun fire slamming into it and causing him to grunt from the force, but he held his ground, not willing to drop his guard for even a second, as it could mean life or death.

Before he even knew what hit him, he was thrown into Tali as a rocket flew from the gunship's lower wing and impacted his shield, causing both of them to go flying across the room. He fell ontop of her, winding both of them as they scrambled to get back up, now shielded from the gunship's vision by the sofa.

Marcus rolled away, letting his omni-shield wink out of existence as he turned to face the Shadow Broker's soldiers who now had whorled on him and Tali, weapons raised and pressing their respective triggers.

A swarm of gunfire unleashed itself on them and impacted a vibrant blue shield of energy that Marcus erected before himself. The biotic field absorbed the enemy shots, and they soon ceased fire, the soldiers spreading out to flank them while the gunship did the same, flying behind Tali. Instead of reacting, Marcus formed a biotic flare and threw it into the enemy's middle ranks.

With Tali close behind, they confiscated both the krogan's and Jensen's shield generators and attached them to their clothes and activated them. Meanwhile, the flare detonated and 3 soldiers died as they were instantly vaporized. A few others stumbled and moved to regain their footing and the turian sergeant was quick to begin barking orders again. But then a creaking was heard, and just as Marcus and Tali arrived to engage the troopers and the gunship got into position, a snap was heard.

Turns out the soldiers were standing ontop of the cover for the pool.

And said cover snapped from the heat of the flare destroying the welding.

The turian cried out as he fell inwards, the entire roofing for the pool coming apart. Water splashed as a total of five of the agents fell and begin to flail around, their armor dragging them downwards as they flailed; Marcus watched as the turian showed how much of a terrible swimmer their species was, the turian choking and splurting as water filled his throat and slowly got dragged down. The other soldiers quickly got their shit together and some tried to help get their comrades out of the water, but Marcus and Tali weren't as merciful.

Taking aim with his SMG, he fired a short burst directly into the head of one salarian who had been raising his weapon. The shot impacted his shields, but the second burst ruptured them, followed by the third piercing the soldier's skull. The salarian fell backwards, dead, as his other comrades moved to engage, the Cerberus gunship looming over them.

One human soldier moved to encircle Tali, moving to punch her in the face, but quickly found it blocked and a three-toed foot swatting her rifle away. Before she could recover, Tali had punched her in the face and had then extended her omni-blade, slamming it into her throat. She continued towards the bedroom without even looking back as the woman's neck ruptured and dark red blood spat out, her body falling to the ground in an already thickening pool.

Noone seemed to notice Tali moving for the bedroom and all weapons moved to land on Marcus' form, along with the gunship. He sent a biotic shockwave into their ranks, causing them to stumble for a bit as he rolled back into cover, narrowly avoiding a burst from the Mantis' rotary cannon. His relief was run short though as he tried to catch his breath, but couldn't.

A flash, burning heat on his skin, and he was thrown into the TV screen, the gunship's rocket ripping apart the sofa he had hid behind and incinerating it, along with the decking around it, the screen he had smashed into cracking and hissing with static. He fell back to the ground, groaning from the pain that shot up his back. That gunship was really starting to piss him off.

Two more soldiers, these two being krogan, approached him, ready to finish him off. Just as they raised their shotguns, he formed a biotic fist and slammed it into the ankle of the one on his right, causing said soldier to cry out in agony as multiple bones cracked and he fell onto his back, but unwilling to let go of his weapon.

The krogan on his left growled and a burst from his weapon almost hit Marcus in the torso, if it weren't for his quick spin to the side, resulting in a mere graze. Omni-shield appearing in hand, the spectre leapt forward and smashed the krogan in the face with it, the trooper stumbling backwards and hissing in pain as hot energy seared his face.

Still regenerating, the krogan with the broken ankle stumbled to get up but was sent back down by an augmented kick from Marcus as he turned back to face his other opponent, who was already rushing him, half his face blackened by the heat of the omni-shield. Unable to do anything else, Marcus raised his shield just in time for the krogan to slam into it, said beast almost screaming as his elbow was close to disintegrated from the impact and he stumbled backwards, cradling the seared stump.

Pushing the advantage, he quickly morphed his shield into the familiar form of an orange blade and rammed it into the krogan's open mouth. The krogan stopped moving almost immediately, orange blood gushing out onto Marcus' shirt and out the other side of the krogan's head. A choking sound was heard, before the soldier went limp and fell backwards, off the blade, and onto the ground.

Still recovering, Marcus was unable to notice the krogan behind him before it was too late; five hundred pounds smashing into his back and sending him onto the floor. He tried to wriggle free, but it wasn't working and the krogan had him completely pinned. Unable to think of anything else, Marcus raised his omni-tool to the soldier's face and pressed capture, hoping he was still using his night vision.

He wasn't lucky enough for that, but it did stun the krogan enough to allow him to spin around to face him, and without further hesitation, he used his biotics to slam a warp into his face, the resulting proximity of the blast ripping the krogan's face into atoms and bits of gore as it was completely blasted. With the decapitated krogan dead, he pushed his dead body off of him and moved to stand up, only for the turian leader and four other salarians to come into positions around him, the turian's phaeston lowered, along with the salarian's many shuriken and tempest SMGs.

"That's one," the turian smugly stated, "Just leaves the qua-"

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Three sniper shots, all of deeper, louder and faster crescendo, echoed through the room. The turian's torso was completely torn off his body and was sent flying, while the salarian on his right simply fell to the ground with a hole in his head and the one on the left with a hole through his throat, green blood pouring out.

Covered in green, blue and orange blood, Marcus got to his feet, using the distraction to sweep the closest trooper's feet out from under him, while simultaneously using a biotic blast to send the second one flying. Once that was done, he spun back around and grabbed the downed salarian's neck, snapping it in one fell swoop.

Leaping to his feet, back still aching from the krogan charge he had received, he quickly retrieved his Tempest and moved to deal with the rest of the hostiles in the room. With only eight troopers left in the room, this should have been a walk in the park, especially with their attention divided; four asari heading for the bedroom while two turians, one human and another salarian headed for him, but no...

There just had to be a gunship, too.

This time, two rockets raced towards him, and he managed to roll free of them too, with one rocket blasting open the room's entrance and destroying the door in a single shot, while the second rocket impacted a support column and completely destroyed, causing half the ceiling to come down with it; rubble, dust and concrete and all.

He was temporarily blinded by the blasts, but quickly learnt to jump into cover as a wave of death from the gunship quickly followed its heavy assault. He landed near the windows and looked out across the city to try and locate his friendly snipers; he found a building of similiar height to theirs that stood three blocks away and, hoping they could see him, he signalled to take down the Cerberus vehicle.

Worry began to overtake him though as he remembered the four asari moving to kill Tali, and he hoped she was alright. Desperate to learn of his wife's fate, he leapt back up and right-hooked an approaching turian in the face, before following up with a knee to the stomach. Grabbing his head, he slammed it into the edge of a nearby table. Driven by worry and pure rage at the Shadow Broker's attack, he then followed up his momentum, picked up the turian and threw him outside and down into the streets below, the turian screaming as he fell.

A gunshot impacted his kinetic barriers followed by more and he quickly brought up a biotic field to shield himself, the usage of his biotics quickly draining him; he wanted this over, now. Spinning around, he rushed forward, and into the group of three that now bothered him, taking the Broker's soldiers offguard.

Dropping his SMG, he swatted the salarian's Saber rifle aside and straightened his arm; before ramming his elbow into it, breaking it cleanly as the soldier cried out in pain and slipped away, cradling it. Without even waiting, he turned to the human who had also dropped his weapon in favor of hand to hand.

The familiar whirring of engines sounded behind him and a blinding beam of light illuminated both their bodies. An idea forming in his head, he quickly used the light that blinded the human to his advantage; kicking him in the balls, and quickly ducking behind his body...

...before using it as a human shield as a fresh wave of rotary cannon fire tore the Broker's henchman asunder, bits of bone, muscle and blood flying everywhere as the gunship completely tore him apart. And just to make sure the gunship was completely distracted, he used his biotics to pick up the unrecognizable corpse and threw it at the assault ship, the flying object forcing the pilot to break off.

The turian wheeled on him, but it was too late for him to do anything. Marcus' omni-bow extended and blew his head clean off, and the salarian with the broken arm's shields didn't save him from Marcus' headbutt, the salarian's delicate skull cracking instantly from the impact and his limp body crumbling to the ground.

In the silence, he heard no gunfire coming from the bedroom and his rage almost immediately melted, concern driving him as he sprinted for it, and straight into the pool room...

...right into the gunship's line of sight.

He stopped and turned, the Cerberus pilot bringing his chin-mounted cannon to bear on his still form, and he could only stare at it, powerless and out in the open. Before just as the gunship moved to fire, a sniper shot slammed into the hull, followed by two more, and the gunship turned around, trying to identify its new target, but to no avail. Marcus smiled and scanned the room, trying to find something to help him while the pilot was distracted.

And he found it. Using his biotics, he turned around and picked up the burnt remains of the door leading into the room and picked them up, all at once, and turned back to the gunship, which now turned back towards him, as if in slow motion. Mustering all his rage, he glared, as if meeting the pilot's eyes and suddenly set piece after piece hurling at the Mantis gunship, all targetted at hitting the cockpit.

There was no time for him or her to turn and the first slammed into the cockpit, smashing the cockpit window and most likely killing the pilot instantly. The other three pieces hit other, unintended, locations as the Mantis spun out of control; one piece shredded the right wing clean off, the second ripped off the tail, and the third hit it in the belly, dealing the finishing blow. With a thunderous wail, the angel of death erupted into flames in midair, bits of debris flying in all directions as it exploded, the heat easily reaching the spectre and warming his skin.

Brought back to reality, his eyes snapped back to the eerily quiet bedroom and he raced over there, begging for her to be okay. At that moment, power came back online throughout the room, and bright lights illuminated the areas that had been damaged or destroyed in the ensuing battle. His omni-tool beeped with an incoming communication, but he ignored it as he reached the entrance to their bedroom, now forced wide open and looked inside.

A smile reached his face, and a sigh of relief.

His worries were rendered moot.

Lying, strawn across the bed was the dead form of one asari soldier, head snapped in an awkward position and arms stretched out across the mattress. A second soldier's body lay kneeling on the ground, her head poking out through a nice hole in the balcony window, head now soaked with purple blood and shards of glass. A third asari had a shotgun shell wedged clean through her abdomen.

The fourth was still alive, and being held up against the wall to his right by Tali, one hand wrapped around her throat and a glare piercing the asari's gaze, the soldier's right leg visibly broken and one eye missing, now replaced by a glass shard where purple blood leaked out. A smoking scimitar shotgun was cradled in one hand, and Tali was now in her full suit, now speckled with barely noticable pecks of blood.

Tali's voice was ice, laced with anger and irritation, "You made a bad decision coming here, bosh'tet. I swear, if my husband is injured, or dead, I will find your boss, and I will show him just what I helped do to the Collectors. I will make him beg."

Marcus almost shuddered at the words; once again, it was a darker side of Tali he had never wanted to see, one he had given birth to. Tali had followed in his footsteps; she had become a great leader, an excellent soldier, a living legend among her people, a person to depend on and ruthless when it came to protect the people she loved and cared about. This darker side...he hadn't seen it since her brutal flaying of the Montgomery's captain a month ago.

What have I created? I still love her, no doubt about that, but...where's my Tali? Did I murder the cute, shy, nervous little quarian I once knew, and replace her with a ruthless clone of myself in quarian female form, and with the same name?

Clearing his throat, he stepped inside, catching both parties' attention, "I'm fine Tali, don't worry about me. Got some sniper support; gunship is gone, and so is the rest of the Shadow Broker's men." Don't be like me, Tali. You don't want to be like me. Noone does. I've done things I'm not proud of...please...

She nodded, turning back to the asari, "Then we are done here," her voice was a sneer.

The asari just spat in her face, further aggravating the wound in her missing eye socket, "Fuck you, quarian. I wish I could have been there for Aeda's assault on the Rayya. Seeing so many suit-rats die must have been-"

Tali dropped her shotgun, and in a fit of vehemence, grabbed the piece of glass in the asari's eye, twisted it, and pulled it out, letting the purple blood flow freely. She screamed in agony, but was cut short as Tali leaned in, unsheathed her boot knife and slit the asari's throat, letting her dead body crumble to the floor in a heap as she sheathed it again. Again, Marcus looked at her in momentary horror, before embracing her, worry kicking in.

Maybe its too late...

The embrace lasted a moment before breaking apart, Marcus' omni-tool once again chiming. He answered it, and Garrus' familiar form appeared on the holographic interface, "Hey! Been trying to call you for a few minutes now. How are you? You guys alright?"

"We're fine, Garrus," Marcus replied, rubbing his forehead to get rid of a drop of green blood collecting on his brow, "Going to need some cleaning up though. I want you to stall the police for as long as you can while me and Tali get a skycar. We're going back to the Normandy. Thanks for the sniper support."

"You're welcome," Garrus replied with a grin, "But Legion and Thane may have helped alittle. Not much, but enough. I did most of the heavy stuff. I'm sending Legion and Thane back now, but it seems the geth has some good news for you that you'll want to hear; time for some payback."

"Good. We'll see you back at the Normandy," by this point, Tali was leaning over his shoulder, eager to see what the good news was as Garrus' face disappeared from view and Legion appeared.

"Shepard-Commander," the geth began, "T'Soni-Broker has ordered us to transmit information correlating to the Shadow Broker's location. We, T'Soni-Broker and the Enhanced Defense Intelligence have broken the encryption of the Sekat-Traitor's information. There was approximately 1,229,832 million versions of the encryption located on the disk, but we were-"

"We get it Legion," Tali interrupted, "What did you find?"

"The Shadow Broker's Base of Operations," Legion deadpanned, or was it just being logical?

They both sighed, "Yes, we get that Legion. But where is it?"

A few seconds passed as the geth gathered the required data before relaying it, head flaps moving as it did, "Location as specified: Hourglass Nebula, Sowilo System, Located inside the planet Hagalaz, third planet of the system."

Marcus and Tali grinned in triumph, but stopped long enough to process the information. One question hung in the air, and with a gulp, Tali asked it, "Um...what do you mean, Located inside Hagalaz?"

"Self-explanatory," Legion stated, "Hagalaz is classified by organics as a 'gas giant.' Rated a second tier garden world by Salarian Union upon discovery by mining corporation of unknown name. It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere capable of supporting life, but its rotational period is slower than that of most organic homeworlds, including Earth. Extranet Codex entry as follows:

"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."

Marcus whistled as he looked at Tali, and the quarian seemed to return the 'WTF' expression. As both of them began to approach the exit to the building, he continued to speak to Legion, "Thanks for the information dump Legion; much appreciated. Return to the Normandy and we'll meet you there. Also, have EDI inform all ground team members to meet in the Conference Room immediately. We've got alot to talk about."

"Affirmative, Shepard-Commander," And with that Legion, deactivated Garrus' omni-tool, cutting the connection.

Shutting down his own omni-tool, the two of them moved through the now empty doorway and through the thickening crowd of onlookers who had come to examine the destruction. Ignoring their lingered looks, Marcus and Tali climbed into the elevator and hit the button for the bottom floor. Tali turned to him then, looking at him.

"What are you going to do, Marcus?" Tali asked, curious.

He turned to her with a serious expression, "I'm going to bring the pain down on the Shadow Broker, that's what. I'm going to attack his base."

She widened her eyes, "Really? You're just going to attack? He'll be ready for us."

"Saren was ready for us on Virmire. The Collectors were ready for us beyond the Omega 4 Relay, and they were far greater threats," Marcus stated with confidence, "Trust me, the Broker has signed his death warrant. This is his judgment day," with a sympathetic look, he turned back to his wife, "I'm sorry we have to cut our honeymoon short, but you know its not safe until-"

A hand landed on his cheek, and he immediately relaxed at her touch, "I know Marcus, its too dangerous. We'll take out the Broker, and then we'll continue our honeymoon in peace."

He smiled back at her and kissed her hand, letting it drop back to her side as his own hand grasped it tightly, "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Silence gripped the elevator for the rest of the ride.

"Judgment Day. Perfect name for it."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"As soon as Liara told me she was hunting down the Shadow Broker, I looked forward to the day I'd meet him, face to face, for real. But when I saw him that day...that was a whole different thing. I never expected what I saw. None of us did."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

Incase you're wondering, the Codex is kinda like the extranet's version of Wikipedia.

And I owe all of you a sincere apology! This chapter came out alot later than I thought it would, and days turned into weeks! I'm so sorry for possibly making you think this story is dead; its not. A combination of school work, Walking Dead, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones Season 4 has kept me away from this story, along with my recent...34th? Playthrough of the Halo Franchise. I know its no excuse; I just want you to know how sincerely sorry I am.

Hopefully the next chapter will come out soon. The next chapter will also signify the end of the Shadow Broker arc, just so you know. With Zaeed gone and Miranda still in a coma, the rest of the Normandy crew has a major information broker to take down; just what will they find on that base? And who is this quarian broker that you've apparently heard of before? Stay tuned.