Six's muscles were tense, partially from using the Armor Lock system in such an unorthodox way against Vasir, but also with the information of where the Shadow Broker's base was located. The Broker's base was a ship hiding in a perpetual thunderstorm. The base itself looked to be rather tight quartered, meaning this was going to have to be a small strike team only. Liara was going, that was nonnegotiable.

On the flight down Liara decided to go into details about the planet the Broker has hidden himself on, "Hagalaz. The oceans boil during the day, then snap-freeze ten minutes after sundown."

Shepard looked at the viewscreen, looking at the massive ship they were approaching, "The Shadow Broker lives in this?"

The violent winds made the approach dangerous, especially as lightning continued to strike out from the storm surrounding them. "His ship follows the sunset. Completely undetectable in the storm unless you know where to look."

Cortez was checking the seal on his helmet, "Getting to the ship isn't the issue now. It's getting inside I'm worried about. Broker's gonna know we're coming."

"The shuttle bay is locked down. We'll need to land on the ship and hunt for a hatch. But we can't stay outside for long. There's a constant lightning storm where the hot and cold air collide."

Liara stating the obvious wasn't helping Six pilot the shuttle as she dodged another lightning bolt. She approached the section furthest from the heat shielding array protecting the ship from the boiling sunlight. It was also the only section of the ship that was flat enough to allow them to disembark without worrying about a possible ambush. Once the others jumped out, Six set the shuttle's autopilot to navigate itself back to the Normandy and away from the lightning.

Everyone appeared secure to the ship's hull, Cortez nodded to Six, "Magboots appear to be working against these winds."

Liara's omni-tool was flashing, "It's hard to pinpoint in this lightning, but I'm picking up signals from a communication array near the back of the ship. There's nothing below but maintenance equipment. We have to find an entrance near the back shielding."

Six was the first to climb onto an elevated plating, "Watch your steps." She stood by to help anyone should the winds knock them off before their boots magnetized again.

Cortez ventured ahead first causing a series of drones to deploy from the ship, "Looks like we've got some friends to entertain."

Six opened fire on the furthest with her DMR, popping it with a single shot. "They appear to be automated."

Liara agreed, "They must think we're debris from the storm!" Another pair deployed, though they were quickly dispatched just like the first set. Once the path was clear they moved back onto the spine of the ship when lightning struck a pair of rods and stored the electrical energy. "Careful! Those capacitors discharge built-up lightning."

A group of Shadow Broker agents started firing on the squad, and with the wind to their back, they would have the advantage were it not for the recently charged capacitors. "Thanks for the tip!" Shepard fired on one of the capacitors, forcing a discharge that jumped through the agents and killing them instantly.

Cortez watched as the winds picked up the corpses and lightning soon disintegrated them, "I can't tell if these conductors were placed as a bad joke or a means of executing his men for disappointing him."

"These conductors were strategically placed to draw any stray lightning bolt from the storm to prevent damage to the ship and power all essential systems throughout that these solar panels are unable to sustain."

Cortez whistled, "Using his cover to sustain his base's power, pretty clever. But with the constant storm that's a lot of energy. How are they managing all of that power without overloading anything?"

"That is currently unknown at this time. Until we understand the ship's inner workings, we must assume the ship has a means of distributing and discharging all built up static energy safely."

As interesting as Dot's analysis of the ship's power generation was, Six was interested in finding a path to the Broker himself. Six's motion tracker started detecting new movement, "Hostiles inbound."

Jorge was in the lounge that used to be Kasumi's room, looking down at the planet where the Shadow Broker was hiding. Garrus entered the room, hoping to get a bit of reading done while calibrations were currently unnecessary. Garrus never really interacted with the big fella, so he thought he might this could be a bit of an opportunity.

"So…worried about your friend, Six?"

"Worried? More like worried she'll kill this Broker before Liara gets what she wants."

Garrus does remember how swift and lethal she could be in a fight. "I'm sure Liara can manage given how much information must go through the Shadow Broker's computers every second." Finally getting seated, Garrus glanced over, "Think they'll call for backup?"

Jorge laughed, "That's assuming they'd call for any reinforcements, to begin with. But if for some weird reason they do, I'll go myself."

"Just you?"

"You plan on arguing with Etilka?" Garrus wasn't too sure who this 'Etilka' was, but he had a good guess. "Not to sound too offensive, but I've yet to see too many things that are comparable to what the Covenant has thrown at us. If Shepard can't handle it, Six will."

"You've got a lot of trust in her."

"In a lot of ways, she reminds of another Spartan I trained with, John. She may not have his leadership or charisma, but she does put others before herself and she will put down any threat in her path."

"This John guy sounds a lot like Shepard. Probably not as tall, if you're any indication."

"Maybe an inch or two shorter." Garrus wasn't too sure if that was meant in jest. "Though I think fighting the Covenant is a lot easier than thinking about those Reaper things. At least with the Covenant, we ground troops had a part to play that didn't seem too impossible in contributing against the enemy. At least, it did for a while."

Garrus had been rather curious, "I don't have much experience against the Covenant, however everything I've seen seems to suggest technological superiority but inflexible when tactically executed."

"For the most part. They'd swarm us with greater numbers and shot us down while evacuating civilians. The attack on Reach…it was something we'd never seen before. I worry about what's happening back home, or rather the Earth we tried protecting."

Garrus knew platitudes only went so far to a warrior this season in war, "Perhaps that John fellow will be able to help keep your Earth safe."

Jorge nodded, "I know he will. Now, why don't we talk weaponry. I can't imagine you'd want to keep this conversation down such a depressing path."

"Alright, tell me about that weapon of yours. Why go for such a heavy weapon instead of standard arms?"

The Broker's forces did little to slow the team's progress, especially with Six's aggressive push. They got to see a small segment of the ship's engines, utilizing rather unique technology that cycled the power from the conduits and 'processes' all of the energy before it is used within the ship. Not to mention the massive motion dampeners that'll probably make the rest of their assault not feel so uneasy once inside. Moving another set of lightning rods out of the way, their path led them down between some of the electrical currents sparking between the panels.

Shepard looked around the walkway, seeing nothing but electrified death below them, "Not even a guardrail. I bet the Broker's agents love patrolling the hull."

Cortez looked around, "If you removed the deadly storm above and the active electric current below, this would be a pretty nice place almost anywhere else."

Up the ramp again they spotted a door just ahead of them. Liara quickly moved ahead to the door, "There that hatch leads directly to the to the communication signals."

While Liara and Shepard moved closer to the door, Six and Cortez were both surveying the area. Six nodded to Cortez as he moved to one side of the area and started laying down a cord between some of the available cover. Six did the same on the opposite flank, switching to the modified Revenant.

Liara examined the door, "It's locked." Her omni-tool quickly activated, "Hang on, I've got a bypass shunt program that can crack it."

Shepard glance to the door, also concerned about their current position, "How long will it take?"

"I don't know, Shepard. I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before. Well, not this one, anyway."

Six and Cortez immediately turned with weapons at the ready. "Incoming." The two opened fire on the approaching Broker agents, drawing them away from Shepard and Liara to allow them time to join the fight.

Shepard slide next to Cortez behind cover, opening fire with the Mattock, "You sure that shunt is working?"

Liara threw an agent off the ship with her biotics, "It's illegal even on Illium. It didn't come with a warranty."

Shepard gunned down the last of the initial wave. "But you tested it, right?"

Liara turned away from Shepard, seeing a new group of agents approaching, "Here comes more of them."

Shepard yelled at her, "Tell me you tested it."

"No time to talk!"

Six pushed Liara away, just barely avoiding a rocket. Six fired on the conductor the two rocketeers were next to, resulting in one of the pulling the trigger and blasting themselves off the ship. "Cortez!"

Cortez moved to a better position, "Let's see how many more of these guys can fly." He pressed a detonator setting off the cord he placed and sent several agents into the wind.

Six swiftly pivoted on her heel, firing at a new pair of agents armed with rocket launchers. As soon as those two were down, Six also pulled out her detonator, launching three more Broker agents into the storm.

Another group tried to flank them from the other side again as Shepard and Liara pinned them down. "I'm sure it won't be much longer!"

Shepard tossed a tech mine out, shocking a group of agents for her to shoot, "Remember the old days when you could just slap omni-gel on everything?"

"That security upgrade made a lot of people unhappy."

Cortez tossed a grenade, "That security flaw always seemed stupid to me. Just let about anyone break down almost anything to make omni-gel to break nearly any security system. Don't know who made such a flawed system, but I do hope they learned their lesson."

Liara was about to comment on Cortez's remarks before quickly ducking for cover, "Look out! More on the way."

Six had yet to take cover behind any of the panels, shifting her footing to avoid the oncoming fire every so often. Cortez tossed Shepard a grenade to throw, "Always amazing to work with a Spartan. Almost machine-like in their effectiveness and speed." Cortez resumed fire on an agent who though the ODST was distracted by Six's near inhuman reactions. "Too bad these guys don't seem to understand battle banter."

Six was at least listening to the conversations, even if she wasn't planning to join it. Six continued prioritizing on the rocket troopers even as the Broker's agents tried to pincer the squad. She had more than enough confidence in the team's combat ability to prevent the agents from surrounding them. Soon enough the agents eventually stopped as the hack finished, "The hatch is open."

Six kept her guard, scanning for any enemies who might approach as the team entered the ship. The doors closed as the lock soon engaged. Cortez looked down the ramp they were following and the narrow hall it led, "This seems a little too convenient…"

Six nodded, "Like we're being led."

Shepard took the hint, as the squad immediately took cover. Not long after that three more agents rushed over, firing down the hall, one of which was risking a hull breach with rockets. Six's first target was obvious as soon as the agent pulled the trigger Six fired at the next rocket before it left the barrel blasting the trio back.

The salarian survived only because of the tech armor he was using, though it didn't help him when Cortez put a shot through his head before he could get up.

Liara was a little worried now, "More of them? How many guards does the Shadow Broker have?"

"I told you."

"Hold your positions, no matter the cost." Even if the voice was being modulated and put over the loudspeaker it almost sounded like the Shadow Broker was afraid.

Six and Cortez stopped before the next set of stairs, waiting for Shepard and Liara to join them. Cortez turned back, "Looks like the Broker set up quite a welcome committee."

"Any way we can outmaneuver them?"

Six tapped her TACPAD, "Just one." Everyone received a timer for roughly ten seconds before Six turned invisible.

They didn't hear any kind of havoc, so Six must have something else planned. When the timer ended there was still no sound of battle. Cortez moved up, seeing an agent hiding behind a pillar. Cortez quickly brought him down while Shepard and Liara moved up and dealt with the next one.

Around the corner there was another group of agents, though their attention was toward the other end of the hall where they saw Six killing an asari with her knife slitting her throat. Six soon let the body drop as she picked up the rocket launcher and fired it at two other agents clearing the path for the rest of the squad.

Tossing the weapon aside, Six glanced to her right, "I saw a terminal that looked like it was still connected to the network."

Liara rushed over to access the ship's systems, "I've downloaded the ship's layout. We're headed toward the prison block…and Feron."

Their entire route was being guided by the Broker. Six and Cortez both shared the same concern, "That does it. Six, we need an actual plan." Six nodded, moving toward the terminal herself so that Dot could get a copy of the ship's schematics. Cortez took a moment to view the details, "Lot of the ship's mass is occupied by machinery to keep this bulky computer flying…"

Dot started to highlight some rooms and passageways, "These areas show irregular thermal patters. Probability of hostiles is high."

"Alright. Dot, guide me there and I'll keep the Broker's forces busy."

Six grabbed Cortez's shoulder, "You're not going alone."

Cortez grabbed Six's hand, pulling it off gently, switching to UNSC channels, "You know an ODST like me is more than a match for these simple goons. Besides, you saw that room this path is leading us toward. The Broker plans for this to end in a fight. And while the norm would be to have extra guns on hand, I'm not so sure that'll be a good idea here. We don't even know if the Broker wouldn't just call for reinforcements as soon as the fighting starts either. Even a Spartan can only do so much against a pincer and bad cover."

Six pulled Dot's chip out of her helmet, "Take her with you. She'll be of more use to you."

Cortez nodded, taking Dot's chip as he inserted it into his gauntlet, "Sorry for the lack of computing power in my suit, Dot. But it should be enough for you to help." They didn't hear anything from Dot, though they could assume Dot was at least working through Cortez's HUD.

The others moved on while Cortez started climbing over some crates to snake his way into a new corridor. Cortez traveled a bit away from the guided route before causing enough noise that caught the attention of the guards. "What was that?"

"They should be coming from the other hallway!" Six quickly took advantage of this and put a hole in the asari's head using the Widow. The salarian with the asari quickly went invisible and took over as the door they were guarding opened and two more guards rushed out. Six just finished putting in a new thermal into the sniper as she took her next shot.

She couldn't wait for them to line up for a two-for-one, just the same dropping another body would end the fight sooner. Liara threw a ball of biotic energy that started pulling the bodies and the second guard out. Shepard followed it up with an Overload tech mine to zap the guard floating in the air and find where the invisible salarian was hiding.

The salarian's barrier was still holding, though that just made him an easy target now. Six's motion tracker had him in her sights but seeing him made taking him down how she wanted. Rushing through the biotic field, Six grabbed the salarian's arm as he tried to activate his omni-tool. The grab alone nearly broke the scrawny alien's bones. She pulled him in as he slammed his face against her helmet. As he recoiled that last hit, Six quickly grabbed his head and snapped it as she let his body be dragged into Liara's biotic field.

Liara killed the last guard with a shot to the head, as her biotic field eventually died out and the corpses were flung across the area. Six stopped next to the door the two guards had come from, her tracker still detecting enemy movement. Not wanted to waste any time, she pulled out a grenade as she knelt, primed it, and tossed it across the room from the floor. After the detonation Six used her helmet's secondary camera to scope the situation out. After seeing the blast behind the desk and a motionless body she slowly moved in so she could put a bullet through the poor fool's head.

The room they appeared to be guarding was locked down. It was difficult to tell what was inside with the glass tinted so heavily. Six moved aside as Shepard worked to unlock the door for them. The team moved in ready for a fight, but there was nothing.

Shepard was the first to spot a semi-unconscious drell strapped down in a chair, probably suffering from any number of tortures inflicted upon him. As soon as Liara saw him, she placed her hand on the glass, "Feron!"

Six was a little confused, looking to Shepard to fill her in, "He was a Broker contact. He worked with Liara and tipped her off about the Broker helping the Collectors find us the first time."

Six nodded now, though the commotion finally caught the poor guy's attention now, "Liara?"

Liara rushed to the console, "Hold on! We're getting you out of here!" As soon as she started to press a button, Feron tried to stop her but was too late as his chair started to electrocute him. Nothing fatal or too damaging, but enough that he did start to smoke a little. "Feron!"

Feron was fully awake now if he wasn't before, "The equipment is sensitive to tampering… This chair plugs into the Broker's info network. You have to shut off the power. Pull me out now, and my brain cooks."

Liara scanned him to check how he was doing, "Do you know where we can cut the power?"

"It won't be easy," Feron tiled his head right, "You'll have to go to central operations."

Six knew what that meant, this was all a trap leading them to the Broker himself. He never believed his flunkies could kill them, he wanted to do it personally meaning he is stronger than one would assume, or he has the tech to counter them.

Six turned to the bound drell, "Any intel you can spare on the Broker?"

Feron looked down at himself, "He did this to me."

Six barely acknowledged that remark, "Species, physical traits, possible weaknesses, anything useful we haven't already assessed."

Feron shook his head, "I never got a good look, but he's big. The guards are terrified of him."

Liara speculated, "A krogan?"

"I don't know, but not everyone who visits his office comes back out."

Shepard had her own question for Feron, "Where did the Broker get the mercs?"

"Raised his own private force. They're completely loy…" the system kicked in, stopping Feron from saying any more.

Liara looked to Shepard, seeing Feron in pain, "Shepard, we really don't have the time."

Shepard nodded to Feron, "Easy or not we're all getting out of here."

"Good. Central operations is down the hall. You know the Shadow Broker's waiting for you, right?"

Six turned toward the door, "Obviously."

Liara did something with her omni-tool, looking back to Feron, "We'll be back for you, Feron!"

Feron almost smirked, "I'll try not to go anywhere."