I kind of ended up on a roll with this one so I'm gonna go ahead and post it. Sorry for the randomness of all my posts, I will try to keep posting quickly, but... life... you know how it is. Hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Please let me know what you think, and thanks so much for sticking with the story through the long spaces between chapters. Y'all are awesome!
000
Luke panted heavily as he opened his mask and wiped the blood from his nose. His and Liara's biotics were doing nothing against the broker. That damned yahg was simply too big, and that force-field he kept bringing up was nearly impenetrable.
"Have I told you how happy I am that you pissed this ugly bastard off?" Luke shouted.
"You may have mentioned it," Liara answered firing at the broker, but the rounds bounced right off yet again. She had made some smart remarks about how the yahg might have ended up on the ship saying that he might have been a trophy or a pet of the last broker. It really seemed to touch a nerve. Normally, Luke would have been all for pissing the enemy off to make them loose their focus, but not when the opponent had 300 pounds on him and three times his strength.
"Nothing is getting through that field. Projectiles, biotics, nothing," Luke snarled jamming a fresh clip into his pistol.
"Maybe something slower that bullets, but but solid," Liara suggested looking around. Luke smirked... it was worth a try.
Sprinting a full speed, Luke launched himself forward and slammed his heels into the broker's face. To his surprise the kick made it through and knocked the yahg backward a few steps. Luke rolled backward as he landed on the floor regaining his feet quickly.
"Bring it on, ugly. Let's dance," Luke snarled lifting his fists.
The yahg said nothing but swung at him with all his might. Luke ducked the punch and delivered a jab of his own into the beast's throat. It felt like he was hitting a bag of concrete. There was almost no give at all. Luke needed a little bit of distance to try his next strike.
Pulling an old poly-carbine knife from his boot, Luke flipped the blade in his hand and moved in a little closer. He spotted Liara out of the corner of his eye moving in to try and get a shot at their opponent too. They might be able to finish the bastard off if Luke could keep his attention on him.
Luke moved in as fast as he could, jamming his blade into the wrist of the broker's right wrist. He twisted the knife inside the joint hoping to make the creatures hand completely useless. He could feel the knife scratching the bones and ripping through the muscle. Ripping the weapons free, Luke jumped back out of the broker's reach as he howled in pain.
The yahg reached out and caught Luke by the shoulder and hurled him across the room and into the far wall. Luke gasped for air as he collided with the floor. Even in hand-to-hand combat, he and Liara were out classed. This bastard had an unbreakable defense and a killer left hook. As much as Luke wanted to finish this fight fast, both he and Liara would have to pace themselves or risk getting exhausted in the middle of the fight.
"Luke, do you think you could get him to bring up that barrier again. I've got an idea," Liara informed him over the helmet to helmet radio.
"One insanely strong force-field coming up," Luke responded as he pushed himself back onto his feet. His body felt so weak all of a sudden and he found himself reaching for the pocket where his serum would have been. No, damn it. I'm clean now. I don't need it. Come on. Focus, trust Liara, and kick this bastard's ass. It wasn't one of his better pep talks, but it got him moving.
He pulled his pistol and emptied the clip at the broker before launching the largest warp he could must then a throw to try and get a biotic detonation, but before the two could hit, the broker brought up his shield again... just like Liara had wanted.
Luke spotted her on the other side of the room as she unleashed her biotics and broke the seal on the power source behind the force-field. The energy poured down on the broker like lava from a volcano reducing the yahg to ash in front of them. The lights flickered and went out for only a moment leaving Luke and Liara in complete darkness.
When the lights and power came back, the interface console near the desk lit up with communication screens. Every one of them asking for confirmation on an operation. There were so many... who could that yahg have been to be able to keep track of so many different operations at once? Luke was hardly able to keep his AEIS, Wolf Pack, Cerberus, and Normandy missions straight in his head.
Liara approached the console looking rather scared. They had not come to kill the broker, but now that they had, what needed to be done? The shadow broker was one of the most powerful entities in the galaxy with ties to every government, intelligence branch, military force, and civilian corporation. If he just disappeared, would the galaxy even be able to hold itself together?
"This is the shadow broker. We had a slight malfunction in our data streams , however, we are now back online. I want a full report on all active operations in the next solar day. Shadow broker out," Liara spoke. A filtration system on the console manipulated her voice into sounding exactly like the broker had in every communication Luke had ever heard. No one would ever be able to tell the difference.
The door opened as Feron, Miles, and Abby charged in with their weapons drawn. Luke cocked his head to the side as he removed his helmet and tried to clean the rest of the blood off his face. Feron made his way over to Liara. It was obvious he was feeling pretty weak, but Luke was impressed that he made out of the chair in that small window when the power was out. He wasn't as good as Thane, but he certainly was better than most.
"Holy shit, boss. How the hell did you two... I mean, what happened in here?" Miles asked.
"I slapping you two with a gag order. This mission will not be discussed with anyone, not even the rest of the pack or the Illusive Man. As far as anyone knows, this was a rescue op that was a success. Understood?" Luke said rolling his shoulder. He felt like he got hit by a truck and considering how strong that yahg was, that wasn't too far off.
"Understood," Miles answered immediately.
"Wait, what about Captain Shepard?" Abby asked.
"Claire will be told enough to sate her curiosity. We will write up the mission report together on the shuttle back," Luke stated collapsing his helmet and clipping it to his belt. Claire did not need the extra headache of knowing Liara was the new broker.
"So, what now?" Abby inquired. Luke smirked and looked over at Liara. She wanted this, but not just for herself. There was something in her eyes that made him believe that she would not abuse this power.
"Get the active security feeds for the ship and eliminate any remaining crew. Anyone that might know that we were here might spill the beans about there being a new broker," Luke ordered using his omni-tool to access the security systems. It was surprisingly easy to get in, like there was no security o the terminals within the broker's office at all. He quickly forwarded the security feeds to Miles and Abby before they headed out again. Cutting the access for everyone else would give his team the advantage, which was all those two would need to finish off any and all mercs still on board.
"Luke, I don't know what to say. You came to get me, even though you knew I betrayed both of you," Feron said bowing his head.
"From now on, you only have one boss. Make sure you remember that," Luke responded placing a hand on the drell's shoulder.
"I will. Liara has my complete and undivided loyalty. I swear," Feron promised.
"Good. Get some rest. I'm sure she is going to have some work for you pretty soon," Luke stated before heading over to Liara.
The asari was looking around her newly acquired office with wonder and bewilderment in her eyes. It reminded Luke of the Christmas morning back on Mindoir when Mallory had gotten the collectible doll from Earth she had been wanting for years.
"Shadow Broker... it suits you. I hope that means I'll get a discount on any future intel I ask for?" Luke jested leaning back against the desk.
"Is it wrong that I want this for myself? With all of this, I can help you and Claire fight the Reapers. I just..." Liara stopped as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"It's okay. I know you won't abuse this power," Luke said pulling his friend into a hug. She needed a friend to tell her that it was okay , that everything would be okay.
000
"Why am I unable to track the shuttle you are on?" the Illusive man asked as Luke motioned for his team to stay out of sight and quiet.
"The transponder and IFF have both been shut down. I could not risk anyone tracking this ship during this mission, not even you," Luke reported taking a seat and folding his arms.
"Do I need to remind you that you are a Cereberus operative? You work for me," the man snapped.
"No, as per our arrangement, I work with you until you bring Claire back. She's back, therefore now, I'm under her command and she signed off on this mission. Understand, Mr. Illusive, this was a black on black operation. All necessary details will be in the final report. This had nothing to do with Cerberus, I personally financed this mission and received approval for use of the shuttle from Captain Claire Shepard. Even people like me have scores to settle," Luke stated narrowing his eyes.
"I will eagerly await that report," the Illusive Man replied taking a drag of his cigarette. "Be careful of what lines you cross, Operative Shepard. There are some you cannot come back from."
Luke smirked and disconnected the video link before closing the console.
"That guy needs to switch to a different kind a cigarette," Miles said flopping down in the seat next to Luke.
"Even if he did that, I doubt it would loosen him up enough to matter. That guy is more of an asshole than most politicians I know, and I've gotten to punch one before," Luke said smiling at the memory of knocking the ambassador out cold.
"I heard about that. You knocked out Ambassador Udina and released the lock he put on the Normandy right?" Abby asked sitting down across from them.
"For the most part," Luke started, but suddenly an alert came in over the radio.
"Shuttle 2, do you copy? This the Normandy," Joker called over the channel.
"Roger Normandy, this is Shuttle 2," Luke answered activating his headset.
"Luke, glad to heard your voice, man. We just caught a huge break. Picked up a turian patrol's distress signal. They encountered a collector ship and managed to disable it before they were wiped out. The Illusive Man wants us to check it out and get some intel if we can," Joker informed them.
"Sounds like fun. Send us the coordinates and we'll meet up with you there," Luke answered.
000
Mallory sat at her desk reading through the reports from the last patrol. The Athens had been tasked with monitoring the bordering systems along the Terminus border. As of yet, there was no sign of the Normandy, nor anything else except for a few civilian freighters. She had run her men through drills and hand-to-hand combat training, but she could tell they were getting bored. They would either need some leave time at the next port, or something to let them unwind.
"Commander, there's a new report. I was told to bring it to you immediately," her orderly called from the door.
"Enter." A new report? But she already had the latest patrol's report in front of her. What could this be?
The orderly handed the datapad over to her with a salute before leaving quickly. The data had a classified seal on it... could this be about Claire and Luke? Punching in her code, the files opened revealing a AEIS file. It was from an agent on Illium who had several incident reports ranging from a few hacked systems to the destruction of several buildings. Unfortunately, every incident had something in common. Either Luke or Claire was seen in the vicinity before the incident, or there was security footage of them in combat. There was a holo of Luke with two others. The personnel files on his companions sent up all kinds of flares and warnings. A convicted criminal who was supposed to be in solitary confinement in an undisclosed location and a mercenary with a body count that rivaled most Alliance combat teams. The mercenary was understandable, but why would a criminal with this girl's past be consorting with Cerberus. None of this was making any sense to her.
Maybe Kaidan would know more about it? A gun fight in a baggage area near the transport hub, destroying a skyscraper and killing the security personnel inside, even the death of a council spectre was mixed up in all of this. Even if Kaidan did not know more himself, he could get more information from AEIS, right?
There was a small note in the file that worried her. Apparently, Liara had been part of some of the commotion and had since gone missing. Maybe she should call her first?
Mallory punched up her vid-comm screen and sent a request to Liara's line. It took a little while but the screen opened revealing the asari.
"Mallory, it is good to see you again. It has been some time since you contacted me," Liara greeted her. She was obviously busy with something as she wasn't paying much attention to the vid screen.
"Good to see you too, Liara. It really has been too long. I was hoping to talk to you about something. It's personal," Mallory began leaning back in her chair.
"Of course, is everything alright?" Liara asked.
"I actually heard some worrisome reports that you had gone missing from Illium... not long after Claire and Luke were spotted in Nos Astra," Mallory stated a little more accusingly than she had meant.
"They needed information on some recruits and did me a favor in return. I can see how my leaving could be worrisome but I assure you, I am alright," Liara replied.
Did she really just play off Mallory's mentioning of Luke and Claire like it was old news? No one from the old team had gotten in contact with her except for Kaidan and if he had not been allowed to tell her about Luke and Claire, she would still be searching for answers.
"I only recently learned that Claire and Luke were still alive. How long have you known about them?" Mallory demanded pointing at the screen.
"I thought you knew they were alive. They already met Kaidan on Horizon, I assume he told you," Liara stated calmly. If she was offended by Mallory's outburst, she didn't show it.
"Are they truly part of Cerberus? Both of them?" Mallory asked standing and leaning in on the screen.
"As far as my sources have been able to uncover, Luke joined as part of a negotiation to get Cerberus to bring Claire back from the dead. Claire is now with them to fight the collectors in the Terminus systems. As far as I can tell, Claire is using Cerberus for their resources," Liara assured her.
Mallory sat back down. If that was all Claire was doing, then why cause so much trouble? The gun fights on Omega and in Nos Astra did not seem necessary for any mission involving the collectors. Then again, Liara mentioned something about recruits, so they must have been gathering a team. Maybe Claire was just assembling a team she could trust? One could only hope.
"And Luke? Now that Claire is back, is he still officially with Cerberus?" she asked.
"According to everything I have found, Luke is a well respected operative for Cerberus, but he is serving on the same ship as Claire, so he could be working for just Claire," Liara answered.
"We can only hope," Mallory replied rubbing her forehead.
000
Claire watched as her team prepped their weapons and armor. Her team was rather large now. Moving though the enemy ship with this many people would be difficult. Maybe she should break everyone up into smaller teams, but who worked well together and who could lead them?She trusted Garrus, but he had a bit of a wild side and his confidence had not completely returned since the death of his team. Miranda had the command ability and the experience, however, not too many of her team would obey her orders. Jacob could handle the other Wolf Pack members easily, but he was not as adaptable to unexpected circumstances as the rest of the group. Everyone else either were use to working alone or didn't trust each other.
"Shuttle Two is at the rally point, Captain. Bringing them in now," Joker announced.
"Thanks Joker. Have them come up to the armory to refit and run a diagnostic of the shuttle, make sure it is good to go," Claire responded grabbing the datapad with the mission briefing.
"Captain, who's going with you? I'm assuming you are not taking everyone," Miranda asked holstering her pistol.
"No, I'm not. Tali, Garrus, Grunt, Samara, and Kasumi are my infiltration team. Jacob, stand by with the Pack. If Luke and his group are rested enough to join the mission, give him the details. The Wolf Pack is to remain on stand by on the Normandy, but be ready. If this goes sideways, I may need you to infiltrate too. Thane, Jack, and Zaheed, you three will be our rear security. Board with us and keep our extraction point secure. Miranda and Mordin will remain on the Normandy to analyze any information and data we come across. You two can pick out any critical details and relay them to us during the mission," Claire stated scrolling through the briefing.
"Understood, Captain," Miranda responded.
"Shuttle Two has landed and they say that they are rested and ready," Joker reported.
"Wolf Pack, rally on Luke in the hanger. Jacob, make sure you fill him in on the mission plan," Claire ordered as Tali stood up right.
"Why would the Wolf Pack follow Luke?" Tali asked looking over at Claire and Garrus.
"No one told her yet, huh?" Garrus said slipping his rifle onto his back.
"I thought Luke should be the one to tell her," Claire replied grabbing her helmet and tucking it under her arm.
"Tell me what?" Tali asked looking around at the rest of the group.
"Well, their identities are declassified aboard the Normandy," Miranda said pinching her chin.
"Will someone just tell me what's going on?" Tali snapped.
The door to the armory suddenly opened revealing Luke and the four members of his team that had accompanied him and Liara, but where was she? Luke would have said something if Liara had been injured or killed right?
"Reporting as ordered, Captain. Hey, Tali, its good to see you," Luke said embracing the quarian.
"Good to see you too, but maybe you will tell me. Why would the Wolf Pack answer to you?" Tali asked taking a step back while keeping a hold of Luke's arms.
"Because their my team. They were formed specifically for me," Luke stated casually before making a couple hand gestures. The Pack members immediately scooped up their gear and headed for the door.
"Then on Freedom's Progress, and on Cyniad, that was you?"Tali said looking up at Luke.
"Yep, please don't hit me. I got enough abuse from Claire when she found out," Luke said raising his hands slightly.
"I'll wait until later," Tali replied. Claire couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like Tali was smiling.