Chapter 37: Tela: Vengeful Spectre


Titan Nebula, Cof System, entering Zeithea's Atmosphere, Shuttle.

April 1st, 2185. 4:12 am. EST

The shuttle was silent as it descended through Zeithea's atmosphere. Tela Vasir sat silently, her eyes closed with a scowl on her face as she imagined what she'd do to Trebakur Dozk once she got her hands on him. Jordan leaned back in his seat against the shuttle's wall as he looked at Tela Vasir with worry. Standing beside one another nearby were the other two members of the mission: Commander Shepard and Garrus Vakarian, both of whom were also silent, thinking on the events that had transpired only recently.

After Jordan had gone to Shepard with the message from Liara, the Spectre immediately set course to Illium with haste, directing Joker to "do as he pleased to get them there as soon as possible". With the get-out-of-jail-free card freely given, Joker proceeded to get them to Illium in record time. Upon landing, several things occurred that immediately set off alarms in Shepard's head.

Upon landing, several Geth Troopers immediately surrounded the Normandy in the docks, and prevented anyone and everyone that wasn't a Broker Agent within 100 meters of the Normandy and her dock. Upon leaving the Normandy, Shepard and his select crew were guarded by four Broker Agents of various species, as well as at least ten cloaked Geth Hunters, at least according to Jordan and Tali. Finally, they were all promptly escorted to Liara's office, but not before being thoroughly scanned by two Geth for bugs or any such devices.

Accompanying Shepard, as per Liara's request, were Jordan, Tela, Tali, Garrus, and Ashley, which was met with disfavor by Miranda, since Shepard elected not to share any information with her upon her request. After all, no one else needed or should know about Liara being the Shadow Broker, especially Cerberus.

Once in the office, Liara got down to business, and informed them of a location of interest. A backwater, out-of-the-way planet in the Titan Nebula named Zeithea. The planet seemingly contained a top-secret Shadow Broker base, with untold items and information of interest. Or, at least, it seemed that way with how little information there was about it in the Broker database.

She'd talked about a meeting with someone by the codename of Janiri, and how she represented an organization that seemed to be fighting against the Reapers, and had known about them far longer than any of them have. She did not mention the information about her calling them out, but did say the organization known now as the Guardians of Athame were funding the Andromeda Initiative as a last resort escape from the Reapers.

Finally, she also mentioned the information given about the planet and Trebakur Dozk, who may or may not have been the one who killed Tela's little sister a long time ago. Given the nature of who was there having connections with Tela, and the fact that important items and info may be there for both Shepard and the Broker, they reasoned that a mission should be conducted to the planet.

However, Liara was not stupid, as she had come to two conclusions: One, that the information was given to her by 'Janiri' for a specific purpose, so they needed to be swift and careful. Two, seeing as this was an off-the-books Broker location, she needed to prepare them accordingly.

Liara provided identification codes to Shepard, which should allow them to get close, maybe even land at the base, without any alarms going off or retaliation. She also told them they should act the part of Broker agents, since they wanted to try to get everything they could without losing any data. After all, after looking into less off-the-books locations with the Broker, she discovered many of them had the instructions that if non-Broker personnel discovered the base, they were to wipe all data and blow the place up. That was to be avoided here, as who knew what they were hiding?

After the meeting, they were promptly escorted back to the Normandy, passing by a group of three young Asari being apprehended by Broker personnel for getting too close to the Normandy. Once back on the ship, with the coordinates and codes obtained, they quickly made their way to Zeithea.

They'd informed the crew that Tela Vasir, after conversing with Liara, had discovered an old enemy in the Terminus Systems that she needed to deal with. Another 'Loyalty mission', as they were beginning to call them, so many didn't really see anything wrong with the new course, other than a few complaining about the delay for shore leave. The six of them concluded that they should send Tela, Shepard, and Garrus down to the surface for the mission, but due to Jordan and Tela's insistence, Jordan was added to the roster once more for this mission.

And that brought them here, ready to see what kind of secrets the Shadow Broker had hidden away here… and, for a certain Asari, hopefully she'd find closure after disposing of her sister's murderer. As the Normandy hung around, cloaked in orbit, the group of four continued to descend, each lost in their own minds as they mentally prepared for what may come.

Everyone was shaken from their thoughts when the shuttle rocked as it touched down on the provided landing pad.

Show time.


Titan Nebula, Cof System, Zeithea, External Landing Pad.

April 1st, 2185. 4:48 am. EST

Shepard and Tela stepped off of the shuttle together, both leading the way of the group as they walked toward the end of the landing pad. The sun of cof was high in the sky, and the temperature was a few degrees below freezing, some of the warmest on the planet at the moment. There to meet them was a small group of Broker Agents: One unmasked turian with red face paint, two masked salarians, and two masked batarians, all of which wearing full, advanced armor with the Broker emblem. All of them armed, but none pointing their weapons at the group of four.

The turian seemed to be the de facto leader, at least right here and now, and stood before them. His eyes jumped across the two humans, single turian, and single asari, his eyes remained on Tela for a moment longer than the rest of them, including Shepard.

Now only a few steps away from one another, the groups stopped as the turian spoke.

"I must say, I was surprised the Broker would send another team here." He told them, "May I ask why the Broker has deemed to send such a group here, and what purpose you have?"

Shepard replied, "We both know the Shadow Broker works in mysterious ways. We aren't all granted with the privilege of knowing his motives."

The turian chuckled dryly, "Yes, I can agree with you on that, human." He shook his head as his mandibles twitched lightly, "Still, you must have a reason for being here. The Broker would never send an agent into the field without some purpose… unless he has sent you here to die?" He asked with some humor in his inflections, though if one looked closely enough, they could see dead seriousness in his eyes.

Tela Vasir took it from there, "It has been some time since an outside inspection, Agent…"

"Bravo." He answered simply, choosing to use his codename, rather than his actual one.

"Agent Bravo. The Broker saw fit to assign us to check on the status of the compound. There have been many standard cycles since formal contact with your outpost." She told them

Agent Bravo nodded, "It has, indeed. I was afraid the Broker had abandoned us to our task, only seeing fit to send occasional supplies. It appears our fears were irrational." Suddenly, the Turian's omni-tool flashed to life, playing a small alarm.

Jordan could feel his heart skip a beat in fear, but otherwise showed no visible discomfort. Had they been found out already? He assumed that his teammates felt the same, but didn't voice such a thought.

Agent Bravo frowned, "Dammit, another toxin bloom…" He said, "Apologies, I was under the assumption that the next toxin bloom would not be occurring for another few days. Please, follow me inside. It will become hard to breathe out here without your helmets in a few minutes. It would be best to continue talking inside anyway."

With their fears put at ease, the Normandy squad nodded and followed the five Broker Agents, entering the small external structure that served as an elevator, and descended deep into the hidden, underground compound on Zeithea.


Titan Nebula, Cof System, Zeithea, Broker Base.

April 1st, 2185. 4:53 am. EST

The elevator continued its descent in relative silence, with no one from either party willing to fill the silence. After a moment, Agent Bravo spoke.

"I must admit, I am surprised two highly esteemed Spectres are working under the Broker." He said matter-of-factly.

Tela responded, "The Shadow Broker knows no limits when it comes to allies and information."

The turian enemy chuckled dryly, "If only it were as true as we wished…"

With that, the elevator fell into silence once more. It continued like this for another few minutes, before it slowly ground to a halt. The doors opened, revealing a large room filled with crates and boxes of supplies, all somewhat organized according to use.

As they stepped out, the four newcomers discreetly looked around the room. To their left was a single doorway, marked helpfully with a holographic 'Emergency Exit' sign above it. To their immediate right were large crates stacked to the ceiling against the wall. Straight ahead was a series of three doors, all leading to likely different places. The room itself had a ceiling roughly two to three stories in height. Thanks to combat and videogame experience, Jordan noted the placement of boxes and crates would serve well as cover in the event of a firefight.

There were an additional ten Broker agents visible upon exiting the elevator. Four appeared to be asari, four appeared to be turians, and the final two appeared to be humans, but could have been batarians thanks to the helmets obscuring their faces.

Agent Bravo cleared his throat to get the team's attention.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, but I must verify that you have, indeed, been sent by the Broker." He told them, "Do you mind if I ask you a question, Spectre Shepard?"

If Shepard was surprised by the question, he did not let it show, "Of course, Agent Bravo. What is your question?"

"Oh, it is a simple one, really…" He said with a shrug, before voicing his question.

"Who was the first Broker?"

Jordan, Tela, Shepard, and Garrus immediately felt their hearts skip a beat. Their hesitation was their downfall, as the fourteen other agents all raised their weapons at the four of them. In a panic, Jordan quickly sputtered out an answer.

"It was a salarian!" He blurted out.

Of course, that was always Jordan's head canon, that the previous Broker was a Salarian. Though, the previous Broker wasn't necessarily the original Broker. But, since the Yahg was taken as a pet, it seemed plausible that it was a salarian before him, and possibly even before that. Unfortunately, it was still a guess, and he was soon to see if he was right or not. He could almost feel the stares and/or glares from his teammates. Boy oh boy, was this not good…

The Turian suddenly laughed, before pointing a talon at Jordan, "You, kid, that was a great answer." He told him, "Unfortunately, that is incorrect…"

Agent Bravo's omni-tool came to life as he pressed a few keys, connecting himself to someone else, who was likely within the base as well, "The Broker has fallen. Athame has made her move." He said cryptically, before he returned his attention to the intruders. "I must say, I never thought I'd see the day that the legendary Guardians of Athame would visit my humble base…" He said, sarcasm clear in his tone.

Shortly after he spoke into his omni-tool, Jordan mentally intercepted a wireless message, which was certainly not a good thing.

'Emergency Upload Initiated. Time until complete: 10 minutes.'

The Turian wasn't having them killed because he was trying to buy time. He probably believed that the moment they were attacked, reinforcements would try to storm the base… He seemingly assumed they were part of the Guardians of Athame. Jordan would allow him to think he still had control of the situation, before he tried to signal Tela or Shepard. Instead, he began to record the conversation with a single mental command, before devoting all of his attention to hindering the upload and giving them more time.

Shepard, too, seemed to notice the lack of an attack, and spoke up to respond, "I believe you have us confused for someone else." He tried, "Contact the Broker, he'll reaffirm this course of action."

The turian chuckled dryly once more, "Do not think me a fool, Guardian. We know you've replaced the Yahg." He told them, "And, if you were curious about the correct answer to my question, it was you. You were the answer. You controlled the Broker, before he broke free and took your information empire away from you." He said with a toothy grin, a crazed fire in his eye. Suddenly, a gruff voice cut them both off as a new individual approached.

A large krogan approached the group, adorned in pitch-black armor, and whose size was slightly larger than Wrex's. The newcomer held a large hammer-like weapon in his left hand as his mouth was in the shape of a smirk, "Enough freebies, Slyneus." He said, "The pyjacks knows this already, why waste your breath for such a foolish task?"

Tela's eyes narrowed as she began to grit her teeth, "Dozk…" She basically spat.

The krogan's eyes narrowed at hers, "It's Trebakur Dozk to you, little girl…" He growled back, before his eyes relaxed slightly, "Wait a moment… Agent Tela Vasir…" He said in amazement, before somehow letting out a whistle, "Damn… it has been… what, a hundred years since we've seen each other?"

"Sixty-eight years." She replied easily, "I haven't been anywhere near you since the day you took my world from me…" She told him, in a deadly calm tone.

Dozk simply shrugged, shaking his head, "I have no idea what you're…" He stopped mid-motion before a smirk reappeared on his face and his eyes lit up with recognition, "Oh… I see… you're talking about your sister… Hialus Vasir…"

A low growl erupted from her throat, "Don't you say her damn name…" She growled at him.

He let out a low chuckle, "I remember now. You were set up to snipe her from afar, but realized who she was before pulling the trigger. You sent a warning shot, attempting to incite fear in the crowd and let her escape…" His smirk became malicious, "Before I put a bullet through her brain."

Shepard caught Tela's arm as she attempted to take a step forward. Her eyes were burning brightly as biotics rippled across her body. All drawn weapons turned to focus on Tela, marking her the biggest threat in the room. "Stop Tela, not yet." He whispered, attempting to appease the vengeful woman.

She stopped attempting to get out of the grasp as Shepard spoke, attempting to get more information, since he's mostly out of the loop on some of Tela's information. During the voyage from Illium, he'd talked with Tela a bit, but she'd barely mentioned the leadup to her sister's death. "Why'd you do it, Dozk?"

His reptilian eyes darted to Shepard's, "Ahhh, Commander Shepard… To answer your question, it was simply business. Tela had an arrangement with the Broker, and she tried to double-cross him… I was simply there to show her why doing so wasn't such a good idea."

"You lying reptile…" Tela growled out, "I had done nothing of the sort!"

"Ahh, but you were probably considering it." He replied back with a smirk, "How many times had you considered double-crossing him in the century following your sister's sad death? Well… actually, I'm sure it was still at least once, if we're both standing here today…"

As Jordan worked, he made his move, silently sending a message to Garrus' eyepiece. Garrus' eye scanned it quickly, reading the message yet showing no outward signs of receiving or reading such a message. 'The base is attempting to be rid of the data. I'm slowing them down, but they'll be onto me soon.'

Garrus let out a turian cough, nudging Shepard very slightly, looking as if it were an accidental twitch or nudge. However, Shepard caught the hidden message. 'Something was going wrong, and they needed to act soon.' Shepard shrugged as a hidden response, acknowledging the silent message.

Tela, too, heard the cough and saw Shepard shrug, correctly deducing that something was bound to happen soon, so she mentally prepared herself for action. Keeping the conversation going, Shepard spoke again.

"What's the importance of the base, here?" He asked.

The turian seemed about to answer, before he was shoved back by Dozk, "Don't you open your mouth, unless you're doing so only to tell me you wish to die." He 'politely told' his underling. After doing so, he turned toward Shepard, "Excuse the damn turian, no good, the lot of 'em. I'm sorry Commander, but I'm afraid that we will not be giving up our information so easily. If anything, this base is worthlessly unimportant." He said with a grin.

Attempting to antagonize the Krogan a bit and trying to get more information out of him, Shepard tried a less neutral and more renegade approach to the opponent, "So, we have a krogan hiding out on a backwater world, too afraid of little Miss Vasir to actually be doing something worthwhile? I've met Krogan from a test-tube tougher than you."

Dozk began to growl as his eyes narrowed dangerously at the human Spectre, "Watch what you say, Shepard. My work here is far more important than some measly krogan pride."

"Is that what the Broker told you when he assigned you to this shithole?" He pressed harder, slightly alarming the surrounding individuals on both sides.

A flame almost seemed to dance within the old Krogan's eyes as sheer hatred radiated off of him, "You insignificant pyjack, I will not have some Athame shit talk to me like that! You will all get what you deserve soon enough, so wait in line as we tear your world down and burn it to ash!" He growled at them, "You can go and run from the Reapers all you want, but we both know you're only cowards, just like the salarians!"

"And what's wrong with the Guardians of Athame? They're fighting the Reapers, all you're doing is hiding!" Shepard continued to press him.

"I'll have you know…" Suddenly, the krogan's omni-tool came to life, interrupting him aloud, "Dozk, we have a problem."

The opposing krogan suddenly became serious, glaring down at the omni-tool, "What do you mean we have a problem."

"We're being locally hacked. One of the intruders is actively slowing the upload." The krogan's head darted back up and his eyes narrowed as he scanned the four intruders. Time seemed to go into slow-motion. Jordan could almost visualize a paragon interrupt option appearing, or, more appropriate in this scenario, a renegade interrupt. Obviously, this course of action must have been taken, because…

Shepard suddenly flew into motion, grabbing his sidearm in a single, fluid motion as he shot the nearest Broker Agent in the head before they could activate their shields. Not to be outdone, Vasir's entire body flared up and glowed blue as she proceeded to launch a shockwave towards Dozk, only for him to only slightly falter and take half a step back. Unfortunately for the other enemies, he didn't stop the shockwave, as it continued past. Several were thrown in different directions, while two were crushed by a large crate being pushed off of another, falling onto them.

Garrus wasted no time getting into action, dashing behind another crate and using it for cover as he picked off one or two different enemies on top of a few crates, using them to achieve a higher ground then the team. Jordan, himself, spared a moment to throw an overload as he dove into cover, continuing to devote most of his concentration on slowing down whatever it was they were doing.

Tela biotically charged into Dozk, who narrowly rolled to the side, dodging the biotic blow, only to swing his hammer into Tela and flinging her several meters away. With that, Dozk began to do something Shepard had never seen a Krogan do before… He retreated, running away from the firefight as he called into his omni-tool, "Finish the upload, I'll blow the station!" He yelled aloud, before throwing himself through a door. The second it closed, a huge dent appeared on the doors from the other side as he slammed his krogan hammer into the door and mechanism, forcing it closed.

Tela, now back on her feet, open fired with her shotgun, "The bastard's getting away!"

"Focus on the fight, Vasir!" Shepard called back, throwing a grenade toward a crate being used as cover by the enemies. The moment they dove out of cover, the three of them shredded them to bits with bullet fire.

It only took a moment longer, before the last of the enemies in the large cargo bay were wiped out, leaving the room in relative silence. Shepard looked around and called out, "Sower!"

"Here, boss!" He called back, rising from his hiding spot. He saw Tela and Shepard looking at him expectantly, silently asking him why he didn't help much in the previous firefight. Garrus, however, understood and didn't seem as curious. Though, then again, turian faces are kinda hard to read sometimes.

"What happened?"

"They initiated some sort of upload, possibly sending the data to another source before wiping here." Jordan told them, "I've been trying to stop the upload, but have only managed to delay them. I'm good now, but I estimate about another 10 minutes before my invasive programs are terminated, and a further 10 before they achieve the upload."

Shepard sighed, shaking his head, "So we have, more-or-less, twenty minutes before the data is gone? Great…"

"Shepard, Dozk said he was heading to blow up the station." Garrus reminded him, "It doesn't matter if we get the data if we're all dead."

"And we can't just let him get away. Knowing Dozk, he'll put the station at critical before escaping…" Tela remarked.

Shepard sighed again. He really didn't want to, but seeing as how things were, and how little time they had left, he had little other choice. "Alright, we'll split up. Jordan, Garrus, you two are our tech experts, here. You two proceed to the data vault and collect the information stored here. Vasir and I will pursue Trebakur Dozk, stop him from destroying the place, and prevent his escape. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Yes."

"Let's go!" Tela said with a dark smile, "I'm ready!"

And with that, the party of four split up.


Titan Nebula, Cof System, Zeithea, Broker Base, En-Route to Station Reactor.

April 1st, 2185. 5:03 am. EST.

[19 Minutes before Upload.]

Tela Vasir and Commander John Shepard continued forward after the former took a moment to biotically blast the doors open. It didn't take long, but it was inconvenient enough to cost them a moment, which allowed Dozk to get ever further away.

They began running down a hallway, keeping a good pace until a side door opened up, allowing three Broker Agents into the Hall to open fire upon them. Flawlessly, Tela biotically charged into the closest opponent, followed closely by a shotgun blast to his or her chest, killing them as their dead body flew and hit the agent behind them, knocking the second person to the ground. Still rippling with biotics, Tela threw a hard punch toward the remaining Agent standing, killing him before any of them could get a single shot off. Shepard, meanwhile, simply fired a burst of gunfire into the still living agent who was knocked down, killing him.

With the enemies taken care of, Tela quickly continued down the hallway, followed closely by Shepard. He decided to take this moment to speak with her. "So, you really hate Dozk, don't you?"

"Of course, he killed my sister." She replied neutrally without facing Shepard.

"The two of you must have been close." He remarked.

Tela let out a sigh as they continued, "We were… After our parents died, it was just the two of us. I'd use most of the credits I'd earned from being a Commando to fund her studies…" Her neutral expression turned to a sad smile, "She wanted to be Surgeon… I was so proud of her when she obtained her first doctorate…"

"A surgeon? What type?"

"Critical care. She'd often joke that if she studied hard enough, she could 'patch up those bad guys and save their lives to stand trial'. I'd normally respond with 'Hey, I'm paid to stop bad guys, I can't afford to be careful and precise like you can.' We'd laugh…"

"I'm sorry for your loss…"

"Yeah… As a Commando, and as a Spectre, I've seen my fair share of darkness, Shepard. She was the only shining ray of sunshine I had in my life…" She paused and looked fully toward Shepard, locking eyes with the other Spectre, "That is why I'm telling you right now, Shepard, nothing you say or do will be able to stop me from avenging my sister. And… I'm truly thankful that you and the others are here to help me."

"Of course, Tela." Shepard reassured her, "Now, let's go get this bastard!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" She replied, double-timing it down the hallway toward the upcoming large chamber.

Together the two of them proceeded down the hallway for another moment before eventually reaching the end. A sealed door greeted the two Spectres at the end of the hall, which only stood tall and proud for a moment, before it was blasted off of its hinges by a biotic blast courtesy of Tela.

Entering through the broken doorway, it revealed a large chamber filled with enemies. It was over two stories in height, allowing a secondary level consisting of walkways, connecting to the lower level via several staircases. The lower level appeared to be some sort of training room, consisting of several machines and plenty of metal containers serving as makeshift cover. Over a dozen agents were aiming their weapons up at the two of them from the lower level, as an additional half-dozen or so standing on the upper level with their weapons trained on them. Agent Bravo stood amongst the upper-level agents, seemingly having fled when the fighting started in the cargo hold.

"Stand down, Athame." Agent Bravo called out, "If you surrender, we may spare your lives."

"Bullshit." Tela whispered quietly to Shepard, "The moment we holster our weapons, they'll fire at us. The Broker takes no prisoners at these types of places." She informed him.

"How about another deal?" Shepard asked him, "You know who I am, and I can assure you that I'm no Guardian of Athame… If you step aside, I might let you live instead…"

Looking out over the many potential opponents, the two Spectres could practically feel their unease. Most, if not all, of the agents knew who Shepard was, and his reputation precedes him. The same could be said for Tela… and now, the two most infamous living Spectres were here, together, as their enemies.

"Hah, you expect us to believe you aren't Guardians?" The turian agent asked incredulously. "We cannot be fooled, Spectre. Only a Guardian would come here for our data."

Tela took half a step forward, drawing everyone's attention, "If I must, I will paint this compound with your blood, but my target is the coward beyond those doors!" She announced, pointing toward the only other exit from the room on the other side, where Dozk likely fled through.

"Be it as it may, we will not allow you to pass. You Guardians have finally made your move… so now, we shall make ours." Bravo informed them, "Though, I am curious as to why you four were the only ones to attack. We've seen no signs of your reinforcements. Are you, perhaps, some new recruits in over your heads?" He asked rhetorically as he began to pace back and forth as he spoke, "Regardless, you've acted against the Broker, and now, if our empire is to fall, then so shall yours."

"Jezz, he really does spill all their secrets, doesn't he?" Tela whispered in a condescending tone toward Shepard. He had to admit, this agent wasn't so bright. He was giving them far too much information for free… So why was he doing this? This is supposed to be a top-secret, incredibly important outpost…

"He's stalling." Shepard whispered back as he also came to the spoken conclusion. "Can your charge reach Bravo?"

"He's just out of range, but the guy to his left is possible." Tela quietly remarked.

"When I give the signal, charge him, and take out Bravo. Hopefully the loss of Bravo will make taking these guys down that much easier." Shepard told her.

"Got it. I'm ready." She informed him, as they returned their attention to the Turian agent.

"And what could you possibly do?" Shepard asked aloud, directing his question towards Agent Bravo. "This compound is so remote; you couldn't possibly survive a full assault. And last I check, your attempts at deleting the data have failed."

Agent Bravo shook his head, "We're not deleting the data, what would be the purpose of doing that? It would only further bury your secrets… No, we're uploading it… putting your secrets all over the extranet!" He exclaimed with a smile, "Soon, everyone, even your hated Council of Matriarchs will know every last one of your dirty secrets…"

Shepard inwardly laughed. Now they knew what this base seemed to hold and what was happening. It appears this secret compound held gathered information and blackmail against the Guardians of Athame, and once the Guardians acted against the Broker, they'd upload the data about them for everyone to see. It actually sounded quite smart on the Broker's part: Having a secret base filled with their secrets, ready to spill their secrets at a moment's notice.

However, they didn't count on Jordan's ability to slow them down. Nor did they expect Liara's resourcefulness, or the intel…

Shepard paled. The Guardians of Athame knew this location existed, since they had given the data about it to Liara. Liara, being resourceful, sent Shepard, Tela, and Jordan here to get whatever data was here and kill Tela's sister's murderer. These unique skills… the Guardians of Athame didn't have this, so they gave Liara the information…

"This is a set-up." Shepard realized, whispering to Tela, "The Guardians of Athame leaked information about this place to Liara, since they couldn't touch this place without being exposed. We're doing the dirty work, meaning that the Guardians are likely on their way here, now…" He explained quickly. "We need to get the data and leave, ASAP."

Shepard shook his head and focused on Agent Bravo. The agent was still pacing, meaning that the moment he turned his back to them again would be the best opportunity to strike.

"As if we have anything to hide…" Shepard said, giving up on convincing him otherwise. As expected, Agent Bravo stifled a laugh and scoffed, turning around as he continued pacing.

"HA! We know everything about you, and soon enough, everyone will know-"

His thoughts were interrupted by Shepard grabbing a grenade and tossing down a floor, over the rail, detonating on impact with the unlucky agent standing nearby. The moment he made his move, Tela charged forward, flying over the heads of over a dozen agents before impacting the unshielded agent. Flying back from the momentum, Tela turned her attention to the surprised and shocked Agent Bravo.

"H-How…?"

"You shouldn't have gotten in the way of my target." She told him, before mercilessly unloading a round of her shotgun, point-blank into the turian's skull.

Focusing back on Shepard, he opened fired with his assault rifle as he ran to better cover, reaching the top of the nearest staircase to his left. His shots took out an additional agent while injuring a few others, before all of their shields powered on, and those not previously wearing helmets threw theirs on, protecting them. Utilizing an adrenaline shot, Shepard switched to his sniper, aiming for barely a moment before his shoulder lurched backwards, not a millisecond before one of the batarian agents on a lower level lost their head. Seeing two of them attempting to storm their way toward his staircase on the lower level, John launched a concussive blast between the two, sending them flying backwards and away from the stairs.

Switching quickly back to his rifle, Shepard fired a few rounds into the fallen agents, taking the two of them out quickly as he absentmindedly switched ammo to disruptor to make quicker work of their shields.

Back with Tela, after beheading Agent Bravo, she kicked his torso with her biotically enhanced leg, sending it flying into yet another agent, sending the body and the agent over the edge of the railing to the lower level. Soon enough, she could feel several shots hit her barriers, forcing the Spectre into cover as she cooled her shotgun down.

As her barriers and shotgun reestablished themselves back toward full strength, Tela stood up from cover, sending a shockwave towards the remaining three agents on the upper level. They didn't go flying thanks to their armor and shields, but ended up stumbling and ceasing fire for just a moment. Taking advantage of this, she charged into the center, hitting one agent hard. As soon as she landed though, instead of unloading, Tela unleashed a deadly, close-range Nova blast, instantly killing the unshielded charge target, and heavily damaging the other two agents.

From there, it was a simple two shots of her signature weapon to finish the pair off.

Shepard, after reloading his rifle, watched Tela charging a second time on the upper level as he fired a second concussive shot, actually killing an unshielded agent on the ground, who'd previously taken a few hits from his rifle. Switching to his shotgun once more, Shepard dove over the makeshift cover and began to fall from the second story. As planned, he landed atop one agent, severely injuring and incapacitating them as he entered a roll, only exiting as he fired his rifle toward the remaining enemies, forcing them to remain in cover.

As he ran forward to cover, Shepard took a moment to reach down, unholster his hand cannon, swing his arm back, fire a single shot into the injured enemy he landed on, killing him, and return the gun to his hip, all in one single fluid motion. Now in cover, he noticed Tela mopping up the last of the enemies up top.

"A little help, Vasir?" He called out as he reloaded.

Vasir smirked and nodded, jumping down to the lower level, enter and roll and exiting into a biotic shockwave. The remaining enemies, all in cover, were forced up and stumbling, exiting their singular saving grace. Together, the two Spectres made quick work of the remaining enemies, soon bathing the room in silence.

After a second spent catching their breath, Tela nodded towards the exit on the second floor, "C'mon, we're running out of time. The bastard's probably rigging the station to blow as we speak!"

Shepard nodded, "Lead the way." He told her, following the elder Spectre as they ran back up the stairs and towards the exit, ready to follow after Dozk and finish him. As they ran, Shepard activated his omni-tool, attempting to communicate with Jordan and Garrus, trying to update them on his revelations about the possible new dangers for the mission.

"Sower, Vakarian, do you read?!"

"A little busy here, Shepard." Sower answered back, "But how may I help you?"


Titan Nebula, Cof System, Zeithea, Broker Base, En-Route to Data Vault.

April 1st, 2185. 5:04 am. EST.

[18 Minutes before Upload.]

Jordan and Garrus had just finished walking down a short hallway and up a flight of stairs, before they reached a sealed door. Together, the two of them only took just a moment to hack through the automated lock and open the door, revealing what appeared to be a breakroom-styled area, complete with a few couches, a large table, a refrigerator, and other cooking tools.

Sitting there with their back turned toward them was an asari reading a data pad, wearing Broker Agent armor, yet no helmet. She must have heard the door open, but didn't seem to care as she continued reading whatever it was that seemed to have enthralled her. She spoke aloud without looking at the pair.

"About time… Care to do something about the stupid alarm? Damn thing's acting up again…" She said, motioning toward what appeared to be a biotically crushed speaker in the top corner of the room. Jordan and Garrus looked at one another, attempting to discern whether this was real or not. Jordan raised an eyebrow, to which Garrus simply shrugged.

Deciding more information of what laid ahead would be helpful, Jordan motioned with his head toward Garrus' gun and the asari. Garrus raised his rifle in understanding, and aimed it at the back of her head, ready to blow it off in an instant. Stalking forward, Jordan attempted to speak to her.

"Yeah, you know how it is. Nothing's normally fixed until something else breaks, too." Jordan said, now almost directly behind the woman. His hand cannon now rests less than an inch from the back of her head.

The asari, none-the-wiser, laughed, and shook her head, "Don't I know it. Figured without all the bureaucracy that this shit wouldn't happen out here… guess you can't escape the bullshit, eh?"

Jordan smiled, "Don't I know it…" Jordan paused for a moment, "If you don't mind me asking, how many people are on patrol beyond this room, and what kind of security are we expected to face?"

The Asari shook her head and started turning around, "And why the hell are you asking m-"

She cut herself off as Jordan moved the barrel of his gun against the back of her head, her eyes indefinitely widening.

"Y-you're not maintenance…" She stated simply, clearly trying to remain calm despite being caught completely off-guard.

"No. And if you want to live long enough to leave, you'll answer my questions…" Jordan said coldly.

"Y-you're the Guardians of A-Athame… I thought you were just a myth… that the Broker was being paranoid…" She said nervously, "P-please, I don't know anything, I'm just their medic. I don't know anything other than their health history, I swear, please don't kill me…"

Garrus growled from behind her, "Answer the questions."

"Ok! Ok…" She quickly answered, "The Barracks are beyond this room, followed by a security checkpoint. Most of the agents were at the training range or cargo bay earlier, so the Barracks should be mostly empty." She told them.

"Where's the data vault?"

"Beyond the security checkpoint, which is guarded by an average of ten agents at a time." She quickly answered, "The vault, itself, is supposed to be unhackable, and has three trained engineers within, managing the data and updating the software, so they're probably still there."

"Any other security measures?" Jordan asked, pressing the barrel of the gun harder against the asari's head.

"Th-the Vault is equipped with advanced turrets on the outside. They're shielded and considered biotic-proof. Rumor has it that they're almost as powerful as the Alliance's Mako cannon…"

"Anything else?" Garrus asked.

"M-my biotic teacher, she'd taught me everything I know about my biotics… she's more powerful than the average Commando. She normally serves guard outside the vault, but sometimes she's inside as a last-resort defense against the data." She blurted out after only hesitating for a moment, "Please, don't kill me…"

Jordan thought about the consequences, here. If she lived, she could alert the enemy, but if he killed her, an unarmed enemy who surrendered without resistance… He sighed, pulling his gun back, away from her head but still aimed toward her. As he did so, she slowly turned around, shocked that she was still alive.

The asari looked at the two of them, "Y-you're not going to kill me?" She asked, her eyes darting between Garrus and Jordan. Garrus seemed hesitant, but didn't move to kill her.

"You kept up your end of the deal…" Garrus ended up saying.

"You two… I'd heard the Guardians wouldn't hesitate to kill us… They said that they leave no survivors who know who they are…" She said.

"We're not the Guardians, ma'am." Jordan answered, "We're just here to take care of someone and get the data."

Garrus spoke up, "This is great and all, but what are we going to do about her?" He said, "We can't take her with us, and she could easily run off."

Jordan nodded and thought for a moment before smiling, reaching back into a pocket on the inside of his armor, before pulling out a pair of omni-cuffs, "We'll cuff her here, and grab her on the way out. We can figure out what to do from there. And if she escapes and tries to run away, Joker will shoot her down if she finds a ship, or she'll be stuck on this deserted ice ball." He reasoned.

Garrus looked questioningly at the pair of omni-cuffs Jordan had seemed to pull out of thin air, "And how on Palavan did you come across a pair of omni-cuffs?" He asked, critically eyeing the pair and noticing the C-Sec Logo in the center of it.

Jordan shrugged, "Hey, they locked me in them enough times, figured I'd take a pair as a souvenir."

Garrus sighed but didn't say anything else about it. After a few moments, they locked the asari agent up against the wall. Jordan took a moment to speak to her before the pair of Normandy Crew left.

"If we find out you lied to us, or you try to escape, you will be trapped here for the rest of your life, however short it is. If you stay put and you told us the truth, we'll take you with us. Perhaps the Broker will have a better use for you." He remarked. She remained silent, but nodded.

Jordan then turned back toward Garrus, "Alright, we've wasted enough time, let's go."

"Right behind you." He told him, before the pair proceeded through the next door and down the small hallway. It took almost no time at all to travel the length of the hall, before they reached the next room. Nodding to one another, they both entered with assault rifles raised, since Garrus swapped his weapon.

Entering the Barracks, Jordan and Garrus discovered that the asari had told the truth, as the entire room was deserted, yet filled with messy beds, opened lockers, and personal belongings everywhere.

"Guess she was right…" Garrus remarked, not letting his guard down as he swept over the room with his weapon ready. Jordan, likewise, did not lower his guard as he checked out the surroundings.

"Yeah… and beyond here is the welcoming committee… think they thought it was a false alarm, too?" Jordan asked, hope in his question despite knowing the most likely answer.

"Hmmmm I doubt it." Garrus remarked, "It sounded like the asari isn't used to being on any kind of duty beyond a medical role."

"So they're probably waiting for us, huh?"

"Probably."

"Then we're going to need a plan before we open the door." Jordan said, motioning towards the exit on the other side.

"And I assume you have one…"

Jordan paused for a moment, lowering his weapon but keeping it close to him in case something occurred. "I think I have something…" He said after a moment, "But I'm going to have to borrow some of these guys' stuff, and… how accurate are you at throwing your overload, and does your eye-piece have thermal?" Jordan asked as he looked around.

Garrus shrugged, "Not as accurate as my rifle, but I can hit any target in visible range, just about. As for my vision, I can set it for thermal, though I tend to keep it on normal-enhanced. Why?"

Jordan smiled, as he spotted some items of use nearby and grabbed them, "I'm going to jury-rig a smoke bomb, but I won't have a way to set it off." He informed him as he grabbed a few devices and activated his omni-blade and heating it up with his omni-tool, using the generated heat to melt some glue and combine the items haphazardly, "However, if you can hit it with an overload…" Jordan continued, before switching using the omni-blade to poke a few holes into the jury-rigged device and using his omni-tool to ruin the digital aspects of it. After a moment, he held up the 'masterpiece', "… it should send off a small-explosion, and generate a large cloud of smoke."

Garrus' eyes flew over the device Jordan just pieced together, appraising it for a moment before nodding, "I think this'll work. The smoke will only last a few seconds, though…"

Jordan sighed, "It'll still give us an opportunity to do some damage and give us an advantage."

Garrus shook his head, "I'm not saying it's a bad idea. Hell, this is the best we have without Shepard's Rocket Launcher… It's just… we need to make those seconds count."

Jordan nodded, "Agreed. Now, are you ready?"

"Of course. Let's do this."

Together and finally prepared to make their move, Jordan and Garrus had their weapons at the ready as they approached the doorway. As they were ready to get in there, Garrus realized something. "Hey, Jordan… about those cannons on the vault she mentioned…" He said, ending his sentence right there, as his point was clearly across.

Jordan nodded and closed his eyes, "I'm trying to get a read on them, but I can't access them indirectly. Though, it appears they only operate under manual control. As long as we stop them from controlling it, and we finish this quick enough, I should be able to get close enough to permanently shut them down. They shouldn't be a problem when we first go in, though… if she was telling the truth, those things could easily take out all of the enemies at once for us."

Garrus nodded, "Good. Glad I don't have to worry about scuffing up this armor…"

The Avatar chuckled, "Alright, ready?" His partner nodded, "Alright, on the count of three, you unleash the overload. On two, you open the door… One…"

"Two…" Wordlessly, the door turned on and slid open, revealing the inside of the room to the two of them, showing many enemies waiting for them inside. The moment the door opened, Jordan threw the device in, not giving any time for the enemy to react.

"Three!" The device, midair and only a few feet from the center of the room, suddenly exploded as sparks curled around it. The blast did little damage other than leave a small burn on the ground beneath where it exploded, but said damage was now shrouded in a cloud of black-ish grey smoke, obscuring both the enemies from them, and them from the enemies.

Garrus, now swapped to thermal vision and bringing his sniper rifle into position, took a knee and steadied himself, before his shoulder rocked back from the first impact. A single grain of metal flew from the barrel of the gun, cleanly killing one of the obscured enemies. The remaining enemies all began to fire upon the two of them as Jordan activated his Geth Shield Boost, charging forward to get into a better position.

He could feel several hits on his shields despite the low visibility, forcing him to double-time it into the room, unloading his own rifle toward the enemies. As he continued in, he heard Garrus' rifle go off, leaving a smoke trail in its wake, just as another gun stopped firing at Jordan. Reaching a pillar in the room for cover, Jordan hid behind it, before throwing a chain overload through the now-diminishing smoke, reducing a pair of shields to sparks.

The Geth Shield Boost now recharging, Jordan hid behind the pillar as the smoke cleared, granting visibility of his position to the enemies. However, another shot from Garrus, and another dead enemy later, the rest of them scrambled quickly to their own cover in the room.

"Don't let them get into the vault!" Someone yelled, before making a mad dash towards a nearby control panel.

Luckily, Garrus stopped him in his tracks with a concussive shot while reloading his rifle. Of course, as the gunfire continued, Jordan's omni-tool decided now would be a good time to connect him to Shepard.

"Sower, Vakarian, do you read?!"

"A little busy here, Shepard." Jordan answered back, before firing another few rounds at the enemies. Shortly thereafter, before being able to take another agent down his shields failed, forcing him back behind the pillar. "But how may I help you?" He finally asked.

"What's happening down there?" Shepard asked, "Have you reached the data vault?"

"Not quite." Jordan answered, his shields now back online as he peaked around the pillar, ready for more action. Throwing another overload, Jordan followed the destruction of an enemy's shields with a burst of rifle fire, killing another enemy. Garrus, likewise, killed the one beside them, killing the other agent whose shields failed from Jordan's overload. "We're right outside though, dealing with the welcoming committee. How about you? Found Dozk?"

Another concussive shot and overload from Jordan finally hit the last pair of enemies, stunning the two and lowering their shields as Jordan and Garrus combined fire, ending them both.

"Not yet, but we're right behind him. Listen. This whole thing is a set-up by the Guardians. We're running out of time. Get the data and get back to the shuttle as soon as you can!"

"Roger that, Shepard." Garrus told him, walking up beside Jordan. Taking a moment, he began scanning the vault entrance before them, before continuing, "Jordan and I should have the vault open and cracked in about two minutes."

"Good. Watch each other's backs in there. Who knows what kind of surprises they'll have for you?"


Titan Nebula, Cof System, Zeithea, Broker Base, Compound Reactor.

April 1st, 2185. 5:15 am. EST.

[7 Minutes before Upload.]

"Good. Watch each other's backs in there. Who knows what kind of surprises they'll have for you?" Shepard told them, just as Tela forced the next door open, leading forward.

"You got it, Shepard. And good luck you two…"

"Thanks." Tela remarked over the radio, before disconnecting them and leading Shepard forward. Together, the two Spectres soon made their way through the next small hallway and staircase, before arriving at what could very possibly be the final door. Nodding to Tela, the elder Spectre immediately forced the final door open, revealing the chamber within.

It was a large chamber, easily being more than a story and a half tall, with a few other doors nearby, likely leading to closets or other small workstations. Straight ahead, behind a clear wall of what could be glass, stood a tall, radiating powercore, glowing blue. The core likely provided power to the entire compound, and was accompanied by large machinery scattered around the room and many terminals. The center counsel, straight ahead, was blocked from sight by the large, intimidating figure of a Krogan.

Trebakur Dozk stood at the main console, avidly working on the powercore and preparing it for meltdown. The light, soft blue color of the core seemed to be slowly increasing in intensity, bathing the room in a blue hue and overpowering the overhead lights.

As soon as they'd opened the doors and stepped inside, the Krogan began to speak.

"Ah, Shepard, Vasir, figured Bravo wouldn't hold you for long." Dozk said matter-of-factly, "Honestly, I'm pretty surprised he managed to slow you down as much as he did, the fool. Never did take me seriously…" He remarked, before turning around, "So, now that you're here, I see you and your team have split up… smart… or foolish…"

"We don't need four of us to take you down, Dozk." Tela replied glaring at the old Krogan.

"Hah!" He laughed in response, grabbing his Krogan War Hammer from his back and holding it in his right hand, his pupils dilating and beginning to turn a shade of red, "You think you can take me, little girl?" He asked, mockingly, "I've lived a good life, and I am ready for a good fight. Think you can provide me with one? Show me some honor before I kill you… just like your pathetic sister!"

Tela let out a battle cry and she began to glow with biotics, before launching herself towards Dozk in a biotic charge. Dozk, right as she was close to impact, swung his hammer at impossible, break-neck speeds, intercepting her and driving the asari Spectre off-course. Instead, thanks to the harsh blow, her trajectory changed by about forty-five degrees, slamming into another console and totaling the hardware.

"Pathetic." Dozk responded with a smirk, as Tela began to stand back up and try to recover from the blow. Not wasting any time, Shepard injected himself with an adrenaline boost, rushing forward and firing with his pistol one-handed and reaching for his shotgun as it overheated.

Dozk, in response, let out a rage-filled warcry as the bullets reflected off of his shields, grabbing a shotgun of his own and firing at the console Shepard was now using as cover. Sparks flew as the machine failed, forcing Shepard deeper into cover as more bullets rained upon his cover.

Tela, her senses now regained, biotically charged once more, catching Dozk by surprise while attention was focused on Shepard. Close to the enemy now, she quickly unleashed another nova, forcing the Krogan to stumble away from her. In response, he swung his hammer around, narrowly missing the asari as she leapt out of the way.

"Now! Get your asses out here!" Dozk yelled, running to his own cover to recover his shields.

Before either Specter could intercept, they were under fire from all sides. The side rooms and closets all opened in sync as half a dozen enemies left their hiding places, ambushing the pair.

Shepard switched again, grabbing his rocket launcher and holding it steady long enough to fire a rocket at a pair of enemies, blowing out both of their shields, right before a biotic shockwave appeared, courtesy of Tela. The shockwave took the unarmored, unshielded enemies and biotically crushed their insides, sending the lifeless bodies flying into the opposing wall.

With four enemies remaining, and his shields restored to normal, Dozk exited cover, holding a grenade launcher. The krogan agent had a wild smirk on his face as he stared at Shepard, no longer in cover. "My turn."

A pull of the trigger later, a grenade flew from the barrel through the air towards Shepard, who was also under fire from the other four enemies.

A few feet from Shepard, he turned in time to see the projectile approaching, before it froze mid-air, coated in a blue aura. He rolled into cover and looked over, seeing Tela concentrating as she held the grenade in the air mid-flight. Holding the stasis on the bomb, Tela released her hold on it, allowing it to fall straight to the ground and explode, closer to the enemies than them now after losing its momentum.

The blast did little damage to the other agents, but forced them to retreat into cover, as she mimicked them and found some cover of her own.

Dozk, momentarily shocked that the asari Spectre had stopped his grenade, finally remembered that he could fire more than once. Shaking his head, he fired another two grenades toward their cover, almost blowing it away entirely with the second blast, while forcing the two to leave cover.

"Tela, you take care of the others. I'll distract the dinosaur." Shepard called out, firing a rocket towards the Krogan and forcing him to dive into cover.

Tela nodded, charging once more into the fray, dealing with the annoying enemies on the other side of the room. Shepard fired another rocket at the Krogan's cover before switching back to his shotgun. Running between cover and approaching the Krogan's position.

Dozk saw Shepard's approach and grabbed his hammer, swinging it at the human Spectre's head. Ducking underneath thanks to his increased reflexes courtesy of Lazarus, Shepard swung the butt of his shotgun into the Krogan's face, ignoring shields and armor as he forced the Krogan back. Let out an indignant roar, he swung the hammer back around, swiping Shepard off of his feet.

Hitting the ground, Shepard rolled to the left, right as the melee weapon hit the ground where he landed, destroying the floor. As the Krogan lifted the hammer once more, Shepard found his shotgun's barrel laying against the Krogan's chest plate, and thus fired several rounds point-blank. The first three hits did nothing due to the shields, but one the fourth fire, the Krogan's shields failed, allowing the fifth shot to break some of this armor and send him stumbling.

Dozk's eyes narrowed dangerously toward Shepard, his reptilian eyes filled with malice and hate. Reaching to his side, the Krogan gripped his shotgun in one hand, and held the war hammer loosely in his other. He let out an inhuman roar and he charged Shepard, firing his shotgun at the Spectre as he regained his footing and rolled out of the way. Dangerously close to him now, Dozk, swung the hammer horizontally, causing Shepard to jump back out of the way. Rather than keep hold of the hammer and prepare another swing, he unexpectedly relinquished his hold, allowing it to fly through the air towards Tela, who just finished killing the other four enemies.

The blow struck her hard, disorienting the asari Spectre and slamming her into the wall. Shepard's eyes followed the trajectory, only just noticing that the Krogan was still moving.

Dozk, after releasing his hammer, swung his arm around, and in one fluid motion, removed a Krogan combat knife from its sheath on his leg. Still moving quickly, he swung the knife overhead towards Shepard.

Seeing this last second, Shepard raised his shotgun with both hands, using it to intercept the arm with the knife, holding the attack mere inches from his face.

Shepard, caught off-guard, struggled to keep the knife from descending, while Dozk growled and pushed hard against the Spectre's defenses. "You fought well, human." He growled out, "But now it is time for you to die."

With his other hand still holding the shotgun, Dozk pressed it against Shepard's chestplate. He fired once, critically lowering Shepard's shields and causing him to almost flinch at the loud noise. He fired again, blowing out his shields, this time making Shepard wince, allowing the knife in his right hand to get an inch closer to his face. He fired a third time, tearing some holes in Shepard's armor, yet not quite reaching his body. The knife now only hovered an inch from Shepard.

Dozk's smirk turned deadly, "You fought with courage, Shepard. Far more than I thought a human would possess, much less a Guardian."

Suddenly, before he could press any harder with his knife or fire once more with his shotgun, he froze, coated in a blue aura. Taking the opportunity, Shepard rolled out of the way as Dozk remain unmoving, aside from his eyes as he turned to look behind Shepard. He was locked helplessly in a stasis.

Looking behind him, Shepard watched Tela slowly move toward Trebakur Dozk, his war hammer held tightly in her right hand as she glared at the krogan. A second later, she stopped right in front of Dozk, smirking fiendishly at the agent as she gripped the hammer with both hands. She preferred her old asari sword, but this would do…

She looked him in the eyes as she felt her biotic hold on him starting to weaken. "You've hit me twice with this thing…" She told him, "How about you give it a try…"

As soon as the biotic hold weakened, Dozk attempted to move his shotgun towards Tela, only to feel a biotically-enhanced swing of a krogan war hammer smash into his chest. The Krogan flew into the wall behind him, leaving a sizable dent in his wake as he fell to the floor, momentarily stunned.

Tela biotically charged toward him, but refrained from actually impacting him. Instead, she stopped short, swinging the hammer down and crushing the Krogan's right leg, crippling the Shadow Broker agent.

He cried out in pain, before the hammer swung into his chest, breaking ribs as he slammed back into the wall to his back. Dazed and in pain, he reached for the knife he dropped, only to find the Krogan hammer now imbedded into the floor, burying his left hand underneath it. He bellowed in a combination of pain and rage, using the pain to focus his gaze on the vengeful Spectre standing before him.

He let out deep breaths, slowly trying to buy himself enough time to heal some internal injuries and strike back, "I… I knew you bastards would do something like this…" He said, glaring at Tela. "No mercy, eh…?"

She saw what was happening, though, thanks to her past experiences with Krogan, reached down and ripped his chestplate off with her biotics, before grabbing a pistol and firing several shots into his chest. She aimed carefully, though, and completely shredded one of his two hearts, before collapsing a lung. Even with the infamous regeneration and redundant organs a Krogan had, he wasn't going to be getting back up.

He screamed out in rage and pain from the hits, feeling the injuries beginning to take a toll. They overpowered his blood rage, forcing him to remain crippled and trapped; at Tela Vasir's nonexistent mercy.

After taking a moment to breath despite the loss of a lung, Dozk let out a laugh, "Ha… look at you… smart enough to put me out of commission… I commend you, Vasir…" He said, before using his head to motion at his bloody and crippled body, "Hialus would be so proud…" He said with a smirk.

Tela's eyes flashed dangerously as she clenched her fists, using all of her willpower to stop herself from killing him here and now. "You took everything from me…" She said with hate, "My sister was everything to me… and you killed her…"

Dozk laughed again, a smirk on his face, "Look at you, Vasir…" He said, "The most feared Spectre in the galaxy, reduced to a pathetic little girl without her little sister to keep her going… Tell me, what happens now? I die, you kill me, what keeps you going now, now that vengeance is served?" He taunted her, "You have nothing left…"

She lost control for a moment and biotically punched the Krogan in the jaw, forcing his head to the side as some blood began to trickle from his mouth, "What happens next is none of your fucking business, Dozk." She told him, "Once I reduce your body to paste, I'll carry on with my life like I had for the last hundred years…"

Dozk shook his head, "How pathetic you Guardians are…" He said, looking away.

Shepard stepped up from behind and stood beside Tela, "We told you, we aren't the Guardians of Athame." He told him, "We came here for you." He told him.

Dozk looked over and analyzed Shepard for a moment, before laughing, his smirk returning, "You really aren't a part of them, are you?!" He asked, laughing, "Hahahaha, that is perfect." After a second, Dozk's omni-tool came to life. "Hmm, seems like the upload stopped…" He remarked.

"What upload?" Shepard questioned the gravely injured Krogan. He figured this meant that Jordan and Garrus made it into the vault.

Dozk shook his head, deciding there was no point in remaining silent toward them, seeing as they weren't Guardians and they were now all doomed anyway, "In the event of an invasion by the Guardians, we'd upload the content of our data vault onto the extranet, sending copies of the data to all governments and agencies within the traverse and beyond." He helpfully told them, "The secrets of the Guardians would be known galaxy-wide…" He said with a crazed look in his eyes, "And you just stopped it… If you really aren't part of the Guardians, you just did them a huge favor…"

"Why are you so against the Guardians?" Shepard questioned.

Dozk let out a bark of a laugh, shaking his head, "You have no idea what they're capable of, Commander…" He said with a sad smile, "They're a shadow organization, working and running the galaxy in secret… At least everyone knows about the Shadow Broker, but them, they hold no accountability. They'd sooner doom an entire planet then let their secrets be known."

"Then why haven't you released this information already, Dozk?" Tela questioned, watching the Krogan carefully.

"Hehe… because that would be counterproductive. You see, they knew that we know a lot about them, and we know they know a lot about us… As long as the Guardians of Athame left us alone, their secrets would remain, that was the informal deal." Dozk explained, "We did this to buy us time, trying to get more and more of their secrets, before we finally published it galaxy-wide…" He then looked up into Tela's eyes, "But then, you took out the Broker, replacing him with whomever you did… I'm certain the Guardians saw this as an opportunity for them…" He shifted his gaze to Shepard, "Who could complete the impossible better than Commander Shepard… the only one who can best the odds and take this compound without the secrets being leaked out…"

Shepard and Tela's eyes widened in realization, "You mean…" Tela began, to which Dozk interrupted with a crazy, cough-filled laugh.

"If those bastards haven't made it here yet, they'll be in-system within an hour at most. And, with the data stopped now, we wouldn't have time to spill everything… You've been played, Commander, as have we all…" Dozk said, his breathing becoming more and more labored.

"Why are you suddenly being cooperative?" John questioned, "You weren't exactly so forthcoming earlier."

Dozk managed a shrug, "My time has come to an end, Commander. The Broker is gone, the GoA are on their way, and I'm not going anywhere… I don't really see a reason not to tell you how badly you've fucked up…"

Tela stood up straight and grabbed the Krogan's knife, examining it for a moment before turning toward Dozk, "I'd peel that plate off your head, but then I'd have to hear your screams and voice even longer…" She remarked, dropping the knife and switching to her shotgun, putting a fresh thermal clip into it, "So, I'll just make this quick, Dozk…" She told him with an angry, hate-filled smile.

The Krogan, for his part, showed no fear and he looked up defiantly at the asari Spectre, "All over a little brat…" He remarked quietly, but loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Tela wait!" Shepard said, pushing the shotgun's barrel down for a moment.

Vasir began to grit her teeth and growl, "Shepard…" She said slowly and dangerously, "I told you, I will kill him…" She ground out, shifting her glare toward him, "I will not give him another chance at life, if that is what you're suggesting…"

Shepard shook his head, "No, but wait one moment." He told her, before turning his attention back to the injured Krogan, "There's something you're not telling us." he told him, watching the Krogan carefully for any signs of deceit.

Trebakur Dozk remained silent for a moment, before laughing, "I have a question for you first, Commander." Shepard raised an eyebrow, allowing the Krogan to voice his question, "The mercy that was shown to me and my men, does your entire crew fight as deadly as you?"

Shepard narrowed his eyes and replied carefully, "Each and every valuable member of my crew are the best of the best."

Dozk smiled evilly, turning to Vasir, "Let me let you in on a little secret, Vasir… My mission, sixty eight years ago… it wasn't to kill your sister…" He informed her, watching her eyes widen, "It was to take her as a bargaining chip, and fake her death…" He said, "And now…" he shifted his gaze towards the exit, "Now, since your 'crew' have taken control of the data vault, I'd doubt that she's alive now…" He revealed, laughing maniacally as Tela's expression fell into shock. "How does it feel, Vasir?! Knowing that your sister had still been alive, only to be cut down by your crewmates?! Hahahaha-!" He began to laugh crazily, before he was cut off suddenly and violently.

The Krogan's head exploded as a single shot from the Vengeful Spectre's shotgun entered his skull, quickly followed by an additional four shots.

Shepard turned toward Tela, seeing a multitude of emotions flicker over her face. Shock. Confusion. Anger. Rage. Doubt. Sadness. If it weren't for her years of hardened experience and her professionalism, Shepard could imagine some sort of breakdown, or at least some tears…

She stared at the bloody corpse for a moment, before mumbling, "He's lying, he's got to be… one last fuck with my head… right?" She asked, both herself and Shepard, as she'd turned toward him by the end.

Shepard frowned, "I'm not sure. All that matters is that we find Jordan and Garrus. They may know something… Then, we need to get out of here." He said, motioning toward the ruined panels and core behind them. They'd stopped the overload, but the core was unstable. They had time, but eventually, it will explode.

Tela nodded, not speaking another word, motioning for Shepard to lead. As Shepard began to lead the way, he fired up his omni-tool and called Jordan and Garrus.

"Garrus, Jordan, Status?!"

"We're good here, Shepard. Sower's downloading the last of the data now…" Garrus told him.

"Good, finish as soon as you can, and meet us back at the exit…" Shepard told them, hesitating to ask about any asari they may have run into. "Garrus, about what you've run into…"


Titan Nebula, Cof System, Zeithea, Broker Base, Data Vault.

April 1st, 2185. 5:17 am. EST.

[5 Minutes before Upload.]

Just as Garrus suggested, it did take about two minutes to crack the vault's security.

Jordan certainly had to give it to the Shadow Broker, no expenses were spared when he had this vault created and built here, as this was some of the hardest encryptions he'd ever dealt with. Honestly, if he'd been working alone, it'd probably take a few minutes longer even with his handy-dandy 'Avatar of Synthesis' status. However, thanks to Garrus' and his experience, it made cracking this vault a little bit easier. After two minutes of expletives and bad jokes between the two of them, the light turned green and the vault was ready to be opened.

The two Normandy crewmates looked at one another and nodded silently, reaching for their weapons and preparing to storm the vault. If what their captive told them was true, there should be four people within the vault: three engineers, and a fourth asari huntress…

"On the count of three." Garrus said, preparing to activate the door.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

On three, he pressed a holographic key on his omni-tool, leading the large wall to slide begin sliding open into the rest of the wall. Jordan kept his back to the sliding door and Garrus made his way several meters back, finding distant cover to set up with his sniper rifle. The silence was deafening as the door slid open silently, before the silence was shattered when the door was half open.

A barrage of gunfire erupted out of the half-opened doorway, attempting to reach the pair despite the fact that they were hiding behind cover.

Swapped back to his rifle, Garrus returned fire, before Jordan joined in a moment later. Honestly, it was far easier than expected, as soon enough the gunfire stopped, reestablishing the silence.

The door now open, the two Normandy crew members carefully and cautiously made their way inside, watching both sides for possible enemies. All they found, though, was three dead engineers of varying species, along with the mainframe and a few consoles.

"Seems the Asari huntress isn't here…" Garrus said, "She could have gone to attack Shepard and Vasir…" He tried to reason.

Jordan wasn't feeling so optimistic, "I dunno… keep a lookout and shields up, I'll work on downloading the data. We came here with Shepard, I would always assume things are about to get worse."

Garrus chucked for a moment before responding, "I wasn't going to lower my shields, but I hear you."

Directing all of his attention to the main console, JOrdan quickly approached it and began to work his magic. He first focused on stopping the upload, easily shutting it down now that he had direct access to the system. He quickly discovered the destination of the data: The Extranet. Many things began to race through his mind as he made connections between different pieces of information, before shaking it off for a moment and resuming his task. Finally, after just a few more seconds, the coupled upload-delete sequence was shut down.

"Alright, they're stopped. I'll start downloading the data now."

"Loud and clear, Sower."

Jordan focuses on the data, soon discovering how much was actually stored here. There was no way any of their equipment or omni-tools would be able to handle this much information, further cementing the theory that this was a set-up. After all, there was no possible way someone without specialized equipment would be able to take the data…

That is, except for someone like Jordan, who holds large memory banks within his own body thanks to his artificial nature. Hopefully, the GoA weren't expecting this… hell, even Jordan wasn't fully expecting this. Resuming his work, he began to download the data into her personal data banks, skimming some of the information as he worked.

-It appears the GoA was founded during the discovery of the Beacon on Thessia, when the majority of the Matriarchs wished to keep it a secret and use the secrets within to further themselves. A single Matriarch, who is unnamed, renames herself Janiri, and dives deeper into the Beacon than any before her, discovering the truth about the Reapers, and discovers the existence of an unreachable Prothean VI deep within. She informed several of the other Matriarchs, but many blew it off as madness or a mistake in translation. However, a few saw the validity of her words, and soon the Guardians of Athame were founded.-

-Shortly after contact with the Salarians, several of the founders of the STG met with the GoA, and joined the growing organization.-

-The Rachni War was the first time physical evidence of the Reapers was discovered by the GoA, when Reaper technology, as described by the Beacon, was discovered in one of the Rachni nests.-

-The Krogan were excluded from knowing about the GoA, as a precaution against their aggressive nature. This was later shown to be the correct course of acion.-

-The Turians joined the Galactic scene and some higher-ups were brought into the GoA. However, the Turian Hierarchy made infiltrating the highest levels of their government difficult and near-impossible.-

The information dump within Jordan's head stopped suddenly as sparks shot up behind him, showering his back with warmth through the armor. His mind reawakened as he registered the sound of shields failing and an overload going off. Out of pure instinct, Jordan dove to the left, hitting the deck as a sword swung through the air where Jordan previously stood.

"Oh, shi-!" The Avatar yelled, before rolling once more to dodge a second downward swing from the asari's sword. Guess they found the huntress. As soon as the blade went partially into the ground, Jordan kicked it with all of his might. It bent slightly as the impact propelled him away from the murderous alien, sliding a ways on the ground before getting up quickly.

Looking at her, he could see the hate in her eyes, before she threw a Throw at him while diving into cover. He was thrown into the wall as a streak of smoke laid where she once stood, a shot fired from Garrus' sniper. Getting his bearings back, he heard Garrus speak.

"Good reflexes."

"Thanks. And thanks for the save."

"I was talking to her, but it's all the same."

Focusing back toward the Asari commando's last known position, Jordan fired up his Geth Shield Boost and drew his rifle. Exiting out of cover, the Asari seemed to realize her predicament while seemingly coming to a very startling conclusion. 'She may not survive this encounter, but she'd sure as hell give us the fight of our lives.'

She dove out of cover, narrowly and, luckily for her, dodging Garrus' shot. Her gaze was locked on Jordan as she held her heavy pistol, opening fire on JOrdan. She didn't expect the layered shielding he'd activated, though, allowing him to return fire. Her returned shields soon fizzled out as Garrus took one final shot at her, finally hitting his mark.

The Asari huntress was killed quickly and cleanly.

Jordan breathed heavily for a moment, "Woooooo… thanks, Garrus."

"Yeah, no problem. How's the data?"

"Well, before my download was interrupted, it was going fine. I think I'm almost done, give me another moment." He replied, before quickly making his way back to the mostly intact console He began his work once more, now ignoring the data for the time being in case there were more enemies. He'd have plenty of time to go over all of it later anyway.

After a moment, Shepard's voice sounded off over their omni-tools, his voice sounding almost frantic, "Garrus, Jordan, Status?!"

"We're good here, Shepard. Sower's downloading the last of the data now…" Garrus told him, making eye contact with Jordan.

"Good, finish as soon as you can, and meet us back at the exit…" Shepard told them, the urgency clear in his tone. Now was the time to finish up.

After another moment, Shepard spoke again, "Garrus, about what you've run into…" He began, before he was interrupted by Tela Vasir.

"An asari?! Have you seen any asari on your way that…" She hesitated for a moment before finishing her thought, "Have you seen any other asari that l-look like me…?" She asked hesitantly, stuttering for once which immediately seemed to raise some red flags for both Garrus and Jordan.

"We did just take out this huntress who tried to kill Jordan during the download…" Garrus mentioned, before Jordan remembered the asari from earlier.

"Speaking of, we do have a captive to bring back to the ship."

"A captive?" Shepard asked incredulously. Vasir remained silent.

Jordan replied, "Y-yeah, she was caught off-guard and we interrogated her. She should still be bound in their break room."

"Could it be…" Vasir said, barely a whisper over the comms.

"And… done, I've got the data, Shepard!"

Shepard grunted acceptingly, "Alright, good. Grab your captive and meet us by the elevator." Jordan could almost hear the upcoming lecture about taking a captive during the mission and especially for the fact that he didn't inform Shepard earlier.

"We'll be there soon, Shepard." Garrus told him, before turning to Jordan.

Time to grab her.


Titan Nebula, Cof System, Zeithea, Broker Base, Cargo Chamber.

April 1st, 2185. 5:29 am. EST.

Shepard waited patiently within the first room of the compound, while his companion paced back and forth. He could understand her current feelings, though, seeing Vasir was just informed that her sister was supposedly in this base. And then there was the additional fact that Jordan and Garrus had taken a captive who could possibly be her sister.

Not a moment later, the door slid open, revealing a human, a turian, and an asari, who had her arms bound behind her back by… were those omni-cuffs? Where'd he get those?! Shepard shook his head. He'd question Jordan about all of this later.

As the group of three stopped in front of them, Tela froze in shock, slowly and weakly raising a hand up and toward the other asari, before stopping. Her eyes were locked onto the other Asari's, who seemed to look at Tela in curiosity.

"H-H-Hialus…" She slowly stuttered out, making the other asari's eyes open wide in surprise. Taking a moment silently, Jordan slid behind his 'captive' and slid off the cuffs, before putting them away and gliding quietly to stand by Shepard and Garrus. Together, the three of them fell silent and gave the two some time.

"H-how do you know my name?" She asked.

"I-it's me…" She said slowly, finally taking a step forward and gently touching Hialus' cheek with her hand, "Tela… your sister…"

At this, Hialus' eyes shot open wide before she took half a step back, her eyes watering, "N-no, y-you're not… my sister is long gone, killed by the Guardians of Athame…" She tried to convince herself, "D-Dozk told me he watched it happen…"

Tela's eyes hardened at the name's mention but they quickly softened again, "Dozk is a liar…" She reached forward and grabbed Hialus's right hand, gently leading it to Tela's head. Gently, she glidded her sister's hand to her crests, wrapping her sister's fingers around one of the lower areas. Her fingers felt a indent in the form of a circular scar, hidden within the crests. Upon feeling that, Hialus' eyes shot open and her jaw became slack.

"Remember when we were playing, and you tried to use your biotics to catch me… I feel backwards from your weak doubled throw/pull and hit my head on the table?" Tela said, emotion thick in her voice, "Haha… you started to cry-"

"Th-thinking that I'd just killed my sister…" Hialus finished, tears now freely flowing from her eyes as she dashed forward, wrapping her sister up in a tight embrace, crying into her sisters armor, "E-Ela…" She cried.

"Hia…" Tela said lovingly, tears escaping her own eyes, too, "I thought I'd lost you forever…"

"M-me too…"

Jordan, Shepard, and Garrus all watched the scene with warm smiles, giving them a moment. After a minute, Shepard cleared his voice, getting both of their attention, "I hate to interrupt your reunion, but we should probably leave before anything else happens. You two can have all the time you need back on the ship."

Both sisters nodded. They'd been alone for decades. They could certainly wait another hour or so if need be.


Together, the five of them made their way to the way they came in, approaching the exit elevator. Remembering what happened when they arrived, they all began to put their helmets on, or in the case of Hialus and Tela, put their masks on in anticipation of the toxin bloom on the surface.

The elevator began to rise, leaving the five of them in a semi-comfortable silence. Unfortunately, nothing peaceful ever lasts long for the Normandy crew.

"-ard… Shepard!" Joker's voice frantically suddenly cut in as the elevator rose towards the surface, likely allowing them to resume communication with the Normandy once more.

"What is it, Joker?"

"Thank god you're there! Commander, a few minutes ago a small frickin' fleet entered the system!"

"What?!" He called out in shock. Everyone else could hear the conversation, but were shocked into silence. Those that knew what was going on began to feel dread, hoping that their fears were not realized.

"Commander, their IFFs are transmitting with Galactic Citadel Counsel identifiers, but seem suspicious." EDI's voice cut in, "I believe these are not friendlies."

"And Commander? They've been on a steady course for the planet, but keep reaching out to communicate with us." Joker added. "EDI keeps sending 'em to voicemail, though."

Shepard took a deep breath, looking at the shock and dread amongst his teammates. Finally, he responded, "Joker, assemble the squad in the Comm Room, and remain in full stealth. Try to keep out of visual range, too. We'll be back soon."

"Roger that, Commander. And hey, I'd love to know what kind of shit you've gotten us into now. You know, seeing as how this fake Counsel is trying to kill you, too…"


A/N:

Sorry for the extended delay. Things came up, such as my graduation and search for my future. And then, this chapter turned out to be much larger and complex than I originally imagined it would be. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and I would like to hear what you think. I have no plans to give up on this story, and would like to finish it someday, though some delays are inevitable.

I'd like to take a moment and shout-out all of you awesome people who have followed and favorited my story, especially those who did so during the extended delay, as the notifications about people still being interested in this have helped drive me forward to continue working on this. Your support and love for what I write warms my heart, and I honestly never expected such a following for this story when I first started. At this point, this story has hit over 500 favorites and over 600 follows, not to mention the 300+ reviews!

Also, as for Tela's sister, I've been going back and forth about this ever since I'd published the chapter where I gave Tela some more back story. I ultimately decided that I'd put this twist there, so please don't be overly upset or whatever. This is just the way I decided to go.

Thank you, all of you, and I hope you look forward to what comes next. Please let me know what you thought, and if you have any questions, I will try to take some time to answer them, though I do hope they are at least worded respectfully. I hope to have a new update soon, definitly in less time then between the previous updates.

Down below is an update to Tela's powers/abilities, and I explain her new loyalty ability that she finally showed off in this chapter. Combat Stasis drew inspiration from Jedi: Fallen Order's "Force Slow" ability, but obviously differs in several ways. That's all for now. Until next time!

-swrWriter

Tela Vasir – Asari Spectre

Power 1: Charge

Power 2: Shockwave

Power 3: Nova

Loyalty Power: Combat Stasis [Unlocked]

Combat Stasis: Combat Stasis is a more offensively based variant of a biotic stasis, which is difficult to utilize by most asari and biotics, and generally rare for even most Matriarchs to use easily. This ability can be used like normal Stasis to freeze enemies in place but render them almost indestructible, however, it can be used to catch projectiles. Projectiles caught this way become protected as long as the stasis is held, and remain in place, but lose all momentum they previously held. Applications for the technique include stopping rockets mid-flight, holding temporary bridges using fallen debris, and other such applications. The technique requires intense focus on the biotic's part, forcing them to dispel whatever biotic technique(s) they were previously holding. When Combat Stasis is used on a projectile, the biotic must continue focusing; the moment they stop focusing on the technique, it will end. Objects held in Combat Stasis, likewise, cannot move when frozen. Energy-based projectiles are nearly impossible to catch with Combat Stasis, and bullets can be caught, though the application for such projectiles is non-existent, as more bullets can simply be fired, ignoring the one or two caught with biotics.