A/N: Since we're at an uncomfortable spot where we're fairly close to catching up to what I have written (I've got about a 12-chapter buffer right now, with up to 61 loaded into FFnet and 62 being written) so this is probably your last double-chapter day. At least, until I finish it in its entirety and therefore have no more reason to worry about being buffered. :)
Also, I have a UFO show on for background noise while I'm writing, and they're talking about aliens guiding the path of humanity through intellectual, genetic and religious direction. This means that the aliens are either Reapers, a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings that'll disguise themselves as mice, or Daleks.
None of these are comforting thoughts.
Anyway, on with our regularly scheduled updating.
###
Chapter 50: Everyone Hates Vanguards
"Shepard." Liara greeted them without even looking up. "It's good to see you again." She finally finished whatever was keeping her busy on her terminal and looked up. "I heard you took the Omega-4."
"We took care of the Collectors," Shepard confirmed. "Brought you something."
Liara glanced at the group behind the Commander, eyes lingering briefly on Miranda, then back at Shepard.
"It's about the Shadow Broker," Miranda confirmed, handing over the datapad. Liara's eyes widened as she took it. "From Cerberus intel."
Liara played the message, then replayed it, a progressively more hopeful look growing on her face. "It's a leaked transmission between operatives. Some hints to the location and . . ." she nodded, a small smile playing over her face. "It's about Feron. He's alive."
"Feron?"
The asari glanced at Shepard, then Miranda, then back at the datapad. "He was a-a friend. He helped me rescue your body from the Shadow Broker."
The silence that met her announcement was readily similar to the sort of one found by stumbling across the site of a bloody massacre. Kaidan managed to recover first, after Shepard seemed to have lost her ability to vocalize. "What?"
"The Shadow Broker was going to sell Shepard to the Collectors. We stopped him. Feron sacrificed himself so I could escape with her body."
"So how'd you get your hands on me?" Shepard asked, glancing at Miranda. The former operative sighed.
"We – Cerberus – approached her with the proper intelligence for your recovery. We put Feron with her."
"They told me they could bring you back. What else was I supposed to do?"
Shepard rubbed the back of her neck. "You at least kept me out of Collector hands. There's no telling what they would have done with me."
"But why didn't you tell us?" Tali asked. "If you'd told us it was to keep her away from the Reapers –"
"By handing her to Cerberus?" Liara was suddenly on the defensive. "None of you would have agreed. None of you!"
"Of course not!" Garrus confirmed. "But we might have helped if you'd just told us –"
"I asked for your help finding her. Neither of you –"
"Right." Shepard retracted their attention. "So the 'she' you're referring to is right in front of you and doesn't appreciate being fought over, okay?"
Liara sighed. "I didn't know how you'd feel about Cerberus restoring you. I know how you felt about them and . . ." She looked back down at the datapad with a heavy sigh.
"He must mean a lot to you."
She answered with a half-laugh. "It's funny. He betrayed me more than once, double-dealt with Cerberus and the Shadow Broker . . . but in the end he sacrificed himself for me. I owe him."
Kaidan knew that Shepard would help Liara, if only for the fact that she'd go out of her way to help her friends (and nearly everyone else), no matter what. So as much as he really did not like Liara at the current moment, he was prepared for Shepard's next question.
"So what's our next step?"
"I don't know. I-I need to prepare. To think." She stood, starting for the door. "I-I'll head home."
"Liara. Let me help. We'll come by?"
She paused, glancing back. "Yes. That . . . hopefully I'll have a plan by then."
As soon as Liara had disappeared and the door had closed, the clamor started.
"You're seriously helping her, Shepard?" Garrus started.
Tali spoke at nearly the same time. "She handed you over to Cerberus, and you're fine with that?"
"Cerberus, Shepard, she knew their reputation and did it anyway!"
Miranda said nothing, folding her arms across her chest.
Shepard held up her hand. "Look. I know. I'm not happy about it either. But if both she and Miranda are right then the Shadow Broker is willing to work with the Reapers. If that's the case, then he is a liability. He's the most powerful person in the galaxy. He can pass any information to them that they want. We can't risk that."
"You are the most single-minded person I know," Miranda muttered. Shepard chuckled.
"Seriously. But considering that we're the only people who are messing with the Reapers it's pretty good that I'm single-minded."
#
Three hours later, Shepard collected Garrus, Kaidan, Tali, Miranda, and Legion and headed for Liara's apartment. The IRT car pulled to a stop outside of a large, high-scale apartment building. Shepard whistled as they stepped out of the car.
"Good to see that Liara's made more credits than all six of us combined." They passed a few Illium cops as they entered the lobby and entered the lobby. Shepard pulled up Liara's floor, and the elevator trundled off.
"Yeah," Garrus answered. "Being a vigilante doesn't pay this well."
They stepped out as the lift stopped and headed to Liara's apartment. A few more cops were scattered about the hallway, and Kaidan raised an eyebrow. "Think this is suspicious?"
"Yep," Shepard answered calmly. "And Liara's door's open, and . . . there's a police line."
"Wonderful," Miranda murmured as Shepard drew to a stop behind the line.
"What's going on?"
The cop regarded her with the same look she might give something stuck on her boot. "This area is sealed off. Please step back, ma'am."
Shepard bristled. "I'm a Spectre and this is my friend's apartment, so I suggest you tell me what the hell is going on."
"Someone tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard." They jumped as another asari descended the stairs just visible inside the apartment, blue skin fading into her similarly colored armor. "Thank you, officer. Your people are dismissed."
Shepard glanced from one asari to the next, a path also taken by the ground team's eyes. Legion recorded several notes. With a shrug, Shepard strode through the police line. "You can't do that!" The asari officer protested.
The other asari scoffed. "Already done."
With a huff, the lead officer pushed past Shepard's team. Kaidan followed Shepard through the line, an act soon repeated by the others as the rest of the police team left. The asari turned back to them. "Tela Vasir. Special Tactics and Recon."
"Hm. Spectre."
"I heard you were reinstated. Good to have you back – you're one of our most famous operatives. I might get you to sign my chest plate." She paused, judging Shepard's reaction. "I assume you had business with your friend this evening?"
Shepard finished rolling her eyes. "She was following a lead on the Shadow Broker."
"The Shadow Broker?" Vasir whistled. "Dangerous enemy to have."
"Indeed." Shepard glanced around the apartment. "What do we know?"
"About twenty-five minutes ago, someone took a shot at T'Soni. Note the bullet holes." Vasir pointed. "She stuck around for almost four minutes before leaving the building. Whatever she was doing was important."
Some suspicious sixth sense tingled in the back of Kaidan's mind as he watched the asari Spectre. Judging by the set of Shepard's body, she was sensing the same thing. He glanced at Garrus – the turian's talon was quietly resting on his sidearm. Tali, next to him, had brought up her omni-tool as if scanning for information, but Kaidan watched her prep her combat drone. Something clicked behind him – one of Legion's headflaps had snapped shut. Miranda quietly rubbed her SMG from next to the geth, one nail tapping against the weapon.
"If she isn't here," Shepard continued. "Where is she?"
"If I knew that, I wouldn't be going through her crap. There's no blood, no body. It looks like T'Soni got away. The sniper didn't plan on her kinetic barrier. Clever girl. Paranoid, but clever."
"Yeah . . ." Shepard's tone made Kaidan thumb the grip of his sidearm a little harder. "Did the police find anything when they arrived?"
"Just the mess and the bullet holes." Vasir shrugged. "I gave them a gold star for finding the holes."
"Right. We can get it from here, Vasir. Thanks for the help."
Vasir crossed her arms. "I'm going to see this through, Shepard. You aren't getting rid of me."
A short staring match ensued, until Shepard finally determined that Vasir was outnumbered, even for a Spectre, since there was no way she'd get the drop on another Spectre, someone being evaluated for the Spectres, a paranoid turian, a former terrorist operative, the ever-nervous Tali, and a geth. She shrugged. "Whatever. I'll take a look around."
Garrus and Miranda's omni-tools pinged as Shepard moved off with Kaidan at her side, prompting them to open the orange interfaces. The same message appeared. ::Keep Vasir in sight at all times.::
Legion examined the bullet-holes as Tali started to try and hack Liara's terminal. Shepard and Kaidan disappeared up the stairs, leaving Vasir to go through Liara's desk. Garrus leaned up against one of the Prothean artifact cases, crossing his arms across his chest. Miranda pretended to be studying another case, her eyes constantly on the other Spectre.
Shepard ruffled through Liara's nightstand as Kaidan examined one of the Prothean pieces along the wall. "Speaking of the Spectres," she murmured. He glanced over at her. "We never finished talking about it."
"No. We didn't."
"Made up your mind yet?" Shepard examined a datapad and tossed it back in the drawer.
Kaidan sighed. "It would be stupid to agree, but it'd be stupid to turn it down too."
"Then . . ."
"Yes."
"All right. I'll write my recommendation for Anderson so it'll go in for review."
"Marra." She glanced up, hand hovering over Liara's picture frame. "You're fine with that?"
"It isn't my decision, Kaidan. If it's what you want, then it's what I want." She sighed. "There are Spectre teams, you know. Occasionally."
He nodded. "And it stops all the concerns about fraternization we have."
Shepard chuckled, finally picking up the frame. "Oh. Look what I found."
Minutes later, Shepard and Kaidan made their way down the stairs. Kaidan glanced back at Vasir as Shepard waved Garrus out of the way, the Alliance marine quickly moving to block Vasir's view. Shepard poked the casing on the Prothean artifact, which prompted a drawer to slide out. Unfortunately for them, Vasir was alerted by the noise and promptly pushed past Garrus and Miranda to Shepard's side. "Looks like a backup disk. We'll try it on her terminal."
Shepard tossed the disk to Tali, who slid it into the terminal. A salarian swam into view on the screen.
::It was tricky, but you paid for the best,:: he was saying. ::I narrowed it down to a cluster, maybe even a system.::
::How soon can you have it?::
::Shouldn't take too long. Come to my office. Baria Frontiers, in the Dracon Trade Center. Gotta say though, T'Soni . . . you're making me nervous. How big is the trouble that could come out of this?::
::Relax, Sekat. I'll see you in a few hours.::
"This must be important," Shepard mused. She glanced sideways at Kaidan, who shook his head. He had no idea how to get rid of the other Spectre either.
"My car's outside. We can be at the Dracon Trade Center in a matter of minutes."
"Miranda, Legion, Tali, find another car and meet us there." There was no way Shepard was letting Vasir out of her sight. The asari started off towards the exit, closely followed by a collection of increasingly suspicious individuals.
#
Shepard was displeased. Again.
Upon landing at the Dracon Trade Center, the third floor – the Baria Frontiers Office, in fact – had spontaneously exploded. Twice. Vasir had sprinted back to her car, heading for the roof, despite Shepard yelling at her to not do so. She had told Legion and Miranda to keep the hell on her before sprinting into the building with Garrus, Tali, and Kaidan close on her heels.
They had gone through the entire office without the smallest sign of Liara before breaking into Sekat's office, finding the salarian slumped against his wall and Vasir standing over a dead Shadow Broker mercenary. "Damn," the asari said. "If I'd been just a few seconds faster, I could've stopped them."
"I guess this is Sekat." Kaidan scanned the body with his omni-tool, shaking his head back at Shepard. "Dead."
"Figures." She glanced around. "No sign of the data Liara mentioned either. She might have it already."
Garrus cleared his throat when a very shifty look drifted across Vasir's eyes. Shepard was not unaware of said look, but chose to ignore it in favor of finding out what the hell the asari was up to.
She was about to beat it out of her.
"Speaking of which, did you find your friend's body?"
Shepard was about to reply in the negative when a voice echoed from behind her. "You mean this body?"
Liara stepped out, gun trained on Vasir.
"Oh, hello, Liara," Shepard said. "Good to see you." Her gun snapped into her hand, trained directly at Vasir. Kaidan, Garrus, and Tali followed suit. "And now I want to know what the hell you're doing here, Vasir. This isn't a Council matter."
"This is the woman who tried to kill me," Liara answered.
"Figures," Kaidan muttered.
"You've had a rough day, so I'll let that slide," Vasir patronized. "Why don't you put those guns down?"
"I saw you," Liara continued. "I doubled back after I left. I watched you break into my apartment."
"And then you used me to find out where she was."
Vasir shrugged. "Thanks for the help."
"Once she had my location, she signaled the Shadow Broker's forces. They bombed the building to take me out. She killed Sekat and took his data. I'd bet she's still got the disk on her."
"Good guess," Vasir continued, her tone growing even more patronizing. "Not that you'll ever see what's on it . . . you pureblood bitch."
Four sets of biotics flared so quickly that Garrus and Tali weren't entirely sure what happened until they were enveloped in a large biotic bubble while Vasir's shockwave bounced harmlessly off it, and Shepard had suddenly disappeared and charge-tackled the Spectre through the window. Kaidan and Liara sprinted forward at approximately the same time in time to watch the duo, both still flared, slam into the ground. Liara flared, dropping out of the window in a move eerily reminiscent of Samara and taking off after Vasir as she limped off towards the far end of the courtyard. With a groan, Kaidan pushed past Garrus and Tali towards the stairs.
By the time they reached the bottom, Shepard had shaken off the fall and was wreaking havoc on several Shadow Broker mercenaries. "You all right?" Kaidan yelled over, dropping into cover.
"Yep. Slowed the fall biotically," Shepard shouted back. "Gonna have a bitch of a headache though. Anyone know where Legion and Miranda are?"
"Nope."
The mercs were easily taken care of, and a quick sprint found them running in on the firefight between Liara and Vasir. Legion and Miranda finally caught up to them, Miranda panting. "Sorry. She set a bomb that slowed us down."
"No problem." Shepard fired a few shots as Vasir sprinted into her car, taking off. Liara hacked a nearby skycar. "Damn it, Liara." She sighed, pushing Liara out of the driver's seat. "I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for asking. Legion, Miranda, Tali, mark our positions and meet us wherever we end up. Miranda, alert local law enforcement to the situation. Garrus, Kaidan, with me."
Garrus packed himself into the back of the taxi, Kaidan finding a way to cram himself in around the turian. Shepard slammed the accelerator, making the car shoot off the platform.
And, thanks to a frantic Liara, everything almost immediately devolved into chaos.
"There she is!" Liara promptly pointed out Vasir's skycar, and Shepard moved their cab right behind her. Vasir seemed to notice, and jerked off the lane. "Hang a right! No, wait, a left!"
"I've got it, Liara," Shepard replied, teeth clenched.
"Hang a left!" Liara prompted again. Shepard made some sort of annoyed noise. "She's around the corner!"
"Let me pull over and you can drive." She dove the skycar around a slow-moving vehicle and jerked back, narrowly avoiding a collision.
Garrus moved his leg, making Kaidan wince. "Sorry."
"We're not going into the construction . . . oh, Goddess."
The construction site was fine, but they shot back out into oncoming traffic. Shepard swore, dodging another slow-moving shuttle.
"Traffic!" Liara announced. "Oncoming traffic!"
"We'll be fine."
A red blinking light caught their attention. "Proximity charges!"
"I hadn't noticed," Shepard retorted, accelerating past another car. The cab tilted, sending Kaidan crashing into Garrus' armor.
"Sorry."
"She's got reinforcements!"
Shepard groaned. "What sort of weapons does this thing have?"
"It's a taxi! It has a fare meter!"
"All right. I'll get us up there and you can start charging her ass."
"This is not the time for -"
The reinforcements dispersed after a well-placed ram from their cab sent one of them ricocheting off the walls. Unfortunately, that ram also sent them straight into the line of a –
"Truck!"
"I see it!" Shepard whipped the cab around it as it crashed. "There we go."
"You're enjoying this!"
"Look at my career choice, Liara."
Liara's knuckles were turning white on her seat as Shepard whipped around yet another car and back into oncoming traffic. "A head on collision at this speed –"
"Yeah, I hear those can be bad for you."
Kaidan glanced around Shepard's seat as a small gasp escaped their asari copilot. "Truck!"
"Not again." Shepard shot around it, then slammed the front of their car into Vasir's, sending it spinning. Vasir got it straightened out, only to glance over and find them next to her. Desperate, she rammed their car, sending Garrus into Kaidan.
"Sorry."
Shepard responded with a wicked ram of her own, sending Vasir into another car. The skycar descended in a trail of smoke, and Shepard shot their car down after the crashing one. "Let's hope Tali's group catches up with us. I have a feeling the Shadow Broker's got his people all over this place."
#
They managed to corner the heavily injured Vasir near a restaurant, the diners blissfully unaware of the storm descending upon them. They observed the injured Spectre limping along for a few seconds as Shepard tried to come up with a plan.
"All right," she finally said. "We'll go in quiet, see if we can take Vasir down without civilian casualties. Garrus, stay back here with your sniper rifle. If she won't surrender and you can get a shot, take it. Kaidan, you'll be with myself and Lia—Liara?"
The asari was stalking down the steps towards the restaurant, and Shepard groaned. "Come on."
"Vasir!" Liara yelled as Kaidan and Shepard rejoined her. "It's over!"
Vasir glanced over her shoulder at them. Shepard saw the asari's path and started to give Garrus the order to fire when she whipped a human waitress in front of her, gun outheld. Shepard swore.
"Mariana," Vasir said, voice now loud enough to hear over the panicked, retreating diners. "You want to live, don't you? Tell those people you want to live."
Kaidan glanced at Shepard, who swallowed as a small, faint "please" just reached them. "We'll get you out of here safe, Mariana," she said, voice comforting. Kaidan tightened his grip on his gun.
"That's good to hear." Vasir's tone forced Shepard's jaw to clench even tighter. "All you had to do was walk away. Now it gets ugly."
Mariana whimpered as Vasir's sidearm found its way against her head. She murmured something, and Vasir grinned ferally.
"A son? I hope he gets to see you again." Vasir glanced at Liara. "I hear losing a parent is just horrific for children. Scars them for life."
"I will end you, Vasir," Liara growled. Shepard held up her hand, SMG still trained on the asari Spectre.
"It's okay, Liara," she murmured. "We'll handle it. The usual way."
Unfortunately, Shepard's "usual way" varied on a case by case basis, and as such that was not very comforting to her companions.
"You want Mariana's little boy to grow up without a mommy, Shepard? Thermal clips on the ground, now. Power cells, too."
Shepard scoffed. "Is that all?"
Vasir looked taken aback. "What?"
"Vasir." It was Shepard's turn to be patronizing, something she seemed to be immensely enjoying. "I sacrificed hundreds of human lives to save the Destiny Ascension. I unleashed the rachni on the galaxy. So for your sake I hope your escape plan doesn't hinge on me hesitating to shoot a damned hostage."
Kaidan glanced back over at her. Vasir swallowed, but looked nervous. Behind her, a table was quietly hovering in the corner. "You're bluffing."
"Probably."
Liara slammed the table into the back of Vasir's head, sending the asari catapulting into the water. Shepard sprinted forward, pulling Mariana to her feet. "Go. Go. I'm sorry." She held her gun at the water, ready for Vasir to emerge. "And I promise I wouldn't have shot you, okay?"
Mariana whimpered, nodded, and scurried off into the restaurant. Almost immediately after she'd disappeared, Vasir shot out of the water in a cloud of dark energy, and charged back to the corner.
Shepard groaned. "That is just not fair."
And Shepard charged after her.
"Wonderful," Kaidan murmured as a pair of shotguns started blaring. He and Liara dove into cover. "I forgot how much I hated vanguard fights."
"Tell me about it." Liara stood and opened fire. Kaidan opened his comm.
"Garrus, I'm pretty sure that if you have a shot, you're to take it."
::Figured that, Alenko.::
The turian's rifle echoed not long afterwards, a concussive round slamming into Vasir's shields. She charged to another corner, leaving Shepard swearing before she followed. Kaidan readied an overload, unleashing it and jamming Vasir's shields and thermal clips. She swore again, pulled up a barrier, and charged to yet another location. Shepard rolled into cover, cloaking herself in her own barrier with a short grin at Kaidan.
"I forgot how much I hated vanguard fights."
"You're just mad because someone else can do your fancy trick," he retorted.
"There is that." And with that, she charged after Vasir.
Minutes later, there was a loud retort from a rifle, followed by a shotgun, and resulting in loud, choked swearing from Vasir. They glanced up to the top of the restaurant, where Legion stood with its widow in hand while Tali and Miranda were sprinting in from Azure. Shepard stood over Vasir, who was bleeding out against a wall.
Liara stepped forward and, with hardly a glance at the dying asari, took the disk from her. "Sekat's personal data pad," she murmured. "This will have what we need."
With that, she walked off. Shepard stared after her.
"You're dead," Vasir coughed. "The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades. He's stronger than anything you've ever faced."
Kaidan raised an eyebrow. Vasir obviously had no idea what Shepard had faced. What any of them had faced.
"So I suppose that's why you sold out the Council to work for him," she retorted.
"You think I betrayed the Council?" Steps announced the approach of the others, minus Liara. Vasir coughed again. "Like Saren? Go to hell. The Broker's given me damn good intel over the years. Intel that saved lives and kept the Citadel safe. So if the Broker needs a few people to disappear, I'll pay that price without hesitation."
"Spectres don't blow up buildings full of innocent people," Shepard snapped.
Vasir half-shrugged. "Sure we do. We get our hands dirty so the Council doesn't have to. The Councilors might complain about our methods to soothe their consciences, but they never look too closely." Vasir coughed again, eyelids fluttering. "Besides, you're with Cerberus. Do you have any idea what your terrorist friends have done?"
"I know who they are and what they've done. It doesn't matter anymore. I—"
"I think it does. You want to judge me? Look in the mirror. Kidnapping kids for biotic death camps, killing Alliance admirals who ask too many questions. And you're with them. Don't . . . don't you dare judge me. Don't . . ."
Vasir's eyelids fluttered again, just before she sagged back against the wall. Shepard opened her omni-tool before shaking her head and turning on her heel.
"Shepard," Tali said softly. She ignored her. Miranda glanced at Kaidan.
"She's going to take that hard," she murmured. Kaidan nodded quietly, sidestepping them to head after her.
They finally caught up with her with Liara, the asari currently looking extremely agitated. "—still leaning on you for help."
"That's what friends do, Liara," Shepard answered. Liara ignored her.
"I can get us there, based off Sekat's data." She started off for the skycars, Shepard keeping up with her. The others fell in behind them. "The Normandy's stealth drive will keep them from detecting us. The Shadow Broker's agents are still shooting their way through Ilium. With luck, they won't notice we've left until it's too late."
"That's a little cold," Shepard commented. "They killed innocent people."
Liara sighed. "You know what I mean."
"Do I?" Shepard's voice adopted a familiar icy edge. "When I hit the ground back at the trade center, you went after Vasir without a backward look."
"A little fall wasn't going to kill you. I had to stay on Vasir. I had to stay rational, make the call. Like I did with Sekat."
"That wasn't your fault."
"Sekat had no idea what the stakes were. I put him in harm's way to get the data I needed. I got him killed . . . and I'd do it again. But from here on out, things will be simple." She pushed herself away from the wall she'd found herself leaning on, starting off again. "Get in, get Feron, get out. And kill anyone who tries to stop us."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Shepard grabbed Liara's arm, spinning her around to face her. "Can we just stop for a second?"
"Not good," Garrus murmured. Tali and Kaidan nodded. The last time Shepard had been that physical with someone she knew, she'd been punching Zaeed in the face.
"We'll be jumping several light years. There'll be time to talk this out."
"Talk what out, Shepard?" Liara pulled out of her hand.
"You haven't been the same since I came back. Something's wrong. Something more."
"What do you want me to say?" Liara snapped. "That I mourned you? That I feel guilty because Feron got captured? I made mistakes. I lost people. I helped get you back. And I want to do the same for Feron. I'll sit back and talk once he's safe. Until then, enjoying the scenery is an insult to the man who saved both of us."
After a long pause, Shepard sighed. "Fine."
As Liara moved off towards the IRT car, Legion stepped up next to Shepard. "We apologize for our lateness," it said. "Lawson-Operative insisted on driving. Had this Platform driven, we would not have gotten lost."
"I did not get lost," Miranda protested.
"It's fine," Shepard said with a heavy sigh. "Come on."
###
A/N: And now Swamp People is on. The anthropologist in me is dancing.
Tonight is a good night. :)
