Six was a little worried about Cortez, though sending Dot with him was meant to help ensure his safety. The rest of the team managed to cut through the Broker's remaining guards as they now stood in front of the final door leading to the central operations.

The trio kept their weapons at the ready, even as the Broker himself remained seated at his desk working on another of his many operations. Lighting in the room was minimum, the vast majority coming from a bright source at the center just before the Broker's desk. It was specifically designed so that most entering the room would have difficulty getting anything more than the outline of the Broker's silhouette against the glowing panels around him. Six could see him clear as day though, but it wasn't a species she had ever seen before. Four sets of eyes, a pair of horns adorning his crown, fish-like fins on the sides of his head, tough looking scales, thick and muscular, with a nasty triangular mouth filled with hundreds of sharp little teeth.

Even with three guns pointed at his face, the Shadow Broker calmly closed his work as he folded his fingers together and welcomed his guests, a deep booming voice that easily echoed around them. "Here for the drell? Reckless, even for you, Commander."

Shepard sneered at the Broker's remark, "That bombing on Illium wasn't exactly subtle."

"Extreme, but necessary," without a moment's hesitation or remorse as he continued to remain calm and collected.

Liara was close to pulling the trigger, "No it wasn't! Neither was caging Feron for two years!"

The Broker casually looked to Liara's direction, "Dr. T'Soni. Your interference caused all this. Feron betrayed me when he told you of my dealing with the Collectors and disrupting our transaction. The drell is simply paying the price."

Shepard retorted the Shadow Broker's claim, "Someone was bound to come after you for working with the Collectors."

"It was a mutually beneficial partnership. Fortunately, the Normandy's IFF will let me salvage the remains of the Collectors' base."

Shepard then took a momentary glance toward Six, smirking, "It'll be pretty hard to run a base this size with no crew."

"They're replaceable. Your arrival is barely an interruption. Even that operative you left running around is barely doing anything." The Broker had enough of this dancing of words, "Enough talk. My operations are too crucial to be compromised by a traitor."

Liara was done too, "You're quite confident for someone with nowhere left to hide."

The Shadow Broker finally turned his attention to the Spartan, "You travel with fascinating companions, doctor. Dissecting technology from another universe will be interesting, but her genetic sequence will be far more valuable. Cerberus were fools not to keep a tighter leash on her, especially after discovering that ancient AI and all the data it contains."

Liara stepped forward, "You're not putting a hand on anyone!"

"It's pointless to challenge me, asari. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark." It seemed like there wasn't going to be any way for them to throw the Broker off his game.

"Is that right?" Without skipping a beat Liara shot back, "You're a yahg, a pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the Council's first contact teams. This base is older than your planet's discovery, which probably means you killed the original Shadow Broker sixty years ago, then took over. I'm guessing you were taken from your world by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave…or a pet." The Shadow Broker's fins started twitching while Liara smirked, "How am I doing?"

The Broker calmly stood up, showing his immense size. The squad slowly tried to predict what was to come only for the Broker to snap his desk in two with a single punch. He quickly grabbed one half and chucked it at the squad. Shepard grabbed Liara and dove for cover while Six countered by catching it herself, using the momentum of the desk she tossed it right back at the Broker who easily smashed through it with his head. The Shadow Broker yelled in anger and pulled out a Revenant one-handed like it was a pistol as he opened fire on them.

Six activated her drop shield to give the team extra cover while they split off to different pillars. With his size and strength, he had little trouble handling the Revenant's kickback with just one hand as he moved toward them. Six was about to return fire when she heard a break in the return fire. Glancing over just in time to spot the Broker rushing at her, head ready to ram through the pillar.

Six barely had enough time to barrel out of the way, leaving the Broker open to attack from Liara and Shepard. The Broker barely seemed to care or register them as his kinetic barrier remained strong, probably a top of the line prototype to still be holding under such a barrage. What wasn't helping now was Six's drop shield as the Broker used it to his advantage, pulling back and allowing his barrier to recharge.

That strategy wouldn't last for much longer as the shield disappeared opening the Broker back up to the team's assault. The Broker charged at Shepard, destroying another pillar before the team could finally bring down his kinetic barrier. Even with that down, the Broker's armor was just as defensive of a layer as the barrier. Six could only compare this to fighting a strange hybridization of a Brute Chieftain and an Elite Zealot; tactical intelligence and the shielding to back up the occasional berserker rage. A deadly combination she hopes no one back home ever has to face.

Shepard rolled out of the way for one of the charges, sitting next to Liara now, "Any info on weak spots?"

"Not really. Eight eyes that detect the minutest of movements, natural armor-like scales, muscles and aggression to match a krogan."

The two of them quickly moved away as the Broker moved toward them, "So just keep beating him down until we're done." Shepard threw a tech mine for the Broker to run into, his barrier still holding. Six took this opportunity to open fire and push on the assault of his barrier until they finally broke.

Liara threw a biotic Warp alongside Shepard's Incinerate tech attack. Six pushed on the offensive against his burning hide, staggering the behemoth back toward his former desk. Pushed to the center of the light, the Shadow Broker took a few more shots before he activated something in his hand as an energy field poured down from the light source and veiled over him.

Six looked up to the light, seeing that it wasn't just a fancy room fixture. If she had to guess, it appeared to be a sort of data spring or energy reservoir used specifically for this room alone. Liara took a few shots at the Broker's new shield only for her shots to bounce off. "The shield's kinetically sensitive! Energy and projectiles are bouncing off!"

Shepard started to crack her knuckles, "Then we do this the hard way."

Six stepped forward, holding Shepard's shoulder, and gently pulling her back. "No, we want the first one to hurt."

The Broker's new kinetic barrier was similar to the armor lock system but with one major flaw. Six moved to the Broker's face and gave him a solid uppercut as a tooth flew from one of his three rows of teeth. It wasn't too hard to miss given the massive jawline he had. Six swiftly followed suit with a jab into his massive gut and into one of his eyes, sending the Shadow Broker reeling back.

It must have been some time since anyone physically hit him that hard given his reaction, and Six wanted to get one more hit in before he recovered. She soon stopped herself as soon as she saw the omni-tool activate. His omni-tool was projecting a massive shield and he was ready to bash the Spartan with it if she hadn't stopped herself. The hardlight shield from the omni-tool was massive, large enough for the Shadow Broker to hunch over and cover his entire frame from the front.

Six quickly drew her pistol and fired on the omni-shield to test its integrity while falling back. It would seem that the Broker's other kinetic barrier was given a full recharge though it could have done more to assist his defenses. The Shadow Broker now had an impenetrable defense and can push toward his target, yet it does leave him open if the others can maneuver around him.

Positioning wise, it was going to be a little difficult given the pillars already smashed through. It does seem that the Shadow Broker now viewed Six as the greatest threat among them, even ignoring Liara's biotics for the most part. Six soon used this against the Broker, allowing Liara and Shepard full access to the Shadow Broker's unguarded backside.

It seemed that these yahg also have a short temper similar to a krogan, rage fueled bloodlust while abandoning all other senses. Six continued to fire on him to draw his attention, hoping he'll charge at her again. The unending fire from the Shadow Broker's Revenant was cutting down her maneuvering options, and his impenetrable omni-shield to prevent her blind fire from doing much to halt his advance. Six looked to her arm, activating her omni-tool as it swiftly constructed a small disc before her.

Six rolled the disc toward the Shadow Broker as best as she could estimate from the gunfire. It wasn't long before the disc detonated, leaving a loud bang and flash to temporarily stun the Broker. Long enough for Six to get away to a better position to help in the fight. Shepard deployed her drone while the Broker was blinded, getting him to leave himself even more exposed.

After his shield was stripped again, the Broker activated that strange shield to protect himself again. Before Six could strike the Broker again, Shepard had rushed him, using the stock of her rifle to bash the Broker's face to send him back a few steps. Much to Six's confusion, Shepard rushed the Broker again, slamming her shoulder against the Shadow Broker's omni-shield and started to push him. Before the Broker could get his footing Six also rushed to help Shepard, giving the Shadow Broker no reprieve from the forces slowly pushing him back.

Liara rushed to the Broker as her biotics started to flair, but one of the Broker's many eyes saw her so he quickly used the strange shielding to gain extra leverage against Shepard and Six, knocking all three back with the omni-shield. Shepard and Liara were sent tumbling across the floor as Six skid to a halt with her weapon already drawn once more. After recovering, Liara looked up to what was generating the Broker's shielding, whispering to Shepard, "If you can get him to bring up that shield again, I've got an idea."

Shepard glanced to the electrical current, smirking at the thought as she quickly got back to her feet. Six had already started firing on the Shadow Broker long before Shepard and Liara were back on their feet, keeping the Broker occupied until they were ready to fight. Unlike before, the Shadow Broker was not solely focused on Six. This time he was coordinating his assault to pin the squad down together while only allowing his protected front to be their only attack angle. Clever but a clear sign that the Shadow Broker was starting to realize how he underestimated his foes coordination and let his rage blind him.

Shepard tried to peek but quickly pulled back as a shot breezed in front of her eyes. "Do you think we pissed him off?"

"I think he's getting wiser to our strategy." Six started blind firing from her side of the counter. "Get ready to move on my signal." If Dot was a smart AI, she'd probably chew me out for what I'm about to do. Then again Jorge will probably do it himself later. Six activated her suit's active camo, "Now!" Her decoy rushed out half speed to draw the Broker's attention while Shepard and Liara rushed to pillars on the opposite side of the room. The Shadow Broker follow Six's decoy, but he almost immediately noticed it was not real and immediately turned to Liara.

That opening was what Six wanted, slashing the kukri across the Shadow Broker's back, and firing her M6G magnum until she burned all of her shots against him. With the team split again, the Broker was on the defensive as he tried to smash the omni-shield against Six who quickly jumped back and took cover behind a new pillar.

The Shadow Broker moved toward Six's pillar before a sharp whistle from his flank pulled his eyes away. Shepard had put her rifle away, waving her fingers to attack her instead. Shepard soon ran toward the Shadow Broker, as he in kind rushed with the shield at the forefront ready to bash her. Instead of meeting his shield bash like before, Shepard had baited him as she rolled out of the way. Six soon appeared from her cover firing away with her magnum. The Shadow Broker deployed his special shield from the ceiling again, locking himself in place at the center of the room.

Shepard smirked, backing away from the center, "Liara! Now!" A few of the Shadow Broker's eyes managed to spot Liara at the edge of his vision, her biotics flared before she flung the energy up toward the ceiling. Six continued to fire at the Broker, hitting the area around one of his eyes, forcing him to keep up his specialized shield for protection and to distract his focus for just a few extra moments. Liara now focused her efforts on shattering the glass that was projecting the Broker's special shielding. Cracks started forming as it started leaking out energy down toward the Shadow Broker's immobile form. The very energy that was used to project that specialized shield was now encumbering the Broker, pushing him down to all fours as he tried to break free. But the Shadow Broker's efforts were in vein as the very system to protect him was now being used against him.

The energy quickly started to overcharge his body. In his final moment of defiance, the Shadow Broker managed to turn his gaze fully toward the asari and let out one final roar before the energy violently erupted, sending burning fragments to shower throughout the room.

Shepard was a tad too close as the shockwave from the Shadow Broker's detonation knocked her down. Six quickly helped Shepard back to her feet as a piece of burning debris landed on Six's pauldron. Six dusted the burning bit off, checking Shepard, "You okay?"

Shepard waved it off, "Nothing more than the usual falls." Six could see Shepard was right, though that doesn't mean Six couldn't be concerned given what they were just fighting or the explosion that happened.

While Six and Shepard were talking, the Shadow Broker's console flickered for a moment before coming back online. Liara paused as one of the channels suddenly opened, "Shadow Broker, this is Operative Murat. We had a momentary connection failure. Can you confirm status?"

"Operative Shora requesting update. Are we still online?"

"Shadow Broker, I've lost our feed. We are online and awaiting instructions."

More agents continued reporting in, trying to gain any information on what was happening and why they lost connection to the Broker's network. So much knowledge, operatives, networked information… the price of losing it all… Was it all worth it? Liara slowly moved toward the console, hesitating as more and more operatives flocked the channels waiting on an update.


Cortez fell back into the shadows as his helmet's feed buzzed to life. "This is the Shadow Broker." The augmented voice came through the comm that Cortez had picked up from one of his recent kills.

"That can't be good…" He quickly moved toward where he split off from the squad. Liara he could understand being overwhelmed, but her, Shepard and Six, he was either running toward his own death or rendezvousing with the squad. He could only hope that it was the latter.

"The situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily."

Cortez soon found the drell prisoner from before, Feron, freed with a recently beaten down Broker agent. The two didn't exchange words, both of them rushing toward the Broker's office and preparing for the worst.

Entering the room with weapons at the ready, though Feron seemed confused when he saw Liara leaning over the console speaking into it, "However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures. I want a status report on all operations within the next solar day. Shadow Broker out."

The agents soon signed off, unaware of the rather sudden change of power. Seeing the situation was under control, Cortez put his weapon away and moved toward Shepard and Six. Feron, whose injuries were finally catching up to him, hobbled over toward Liara, "Goddess of oceans… It's you. You…how?"

Liara fidgeted, her hand gliding over the console careful not to accidently activate anything, "Well, everyone who's ever seen him in person is dead, so…"

"…You're the new Shadow Broker." Feron looked more concerned than hurt at the moment, thinking about what this will all mean.

Shepard, Six and Cortez joined the conversation now, Six looking around, "Are you sure about that? We can't be certain who may or may not know who the Shadow Broker was until the records are checked."

Shepard voicing her concerns as well, "Is taking over as the Shadow Broker really a good idea?"

Liara fully turned toward the console now, "It was either that or lose everything—his contacts, his trading sources. Those will really help us. With the Shadow Broker's information network, I can…I can give you…I can…" her voice was starting to crack as she buried her face in her hands.

Seeing the signals, Feron turned away, "I'll, uh, check the power systems."

Cortez and Six moved toward the other door, "We'll make sure none of the guards decide to check on the situation." As soon as the two left the room, Cortez handed Six back Dot's chip, "Any issues with the Shadow Broker?"

Six immediately put the AI chip into her helmet, "Probably a few armor power system management issues thanks to a few reckless maneuvers. Dot, run a full diagnostic on my armor and see what needs to be fixed."

"Affirmative."

"Jorge probably won't be happy to hear that."

"Nope…"

"No issues with Liara becoming the new Broker?"

Six glanced back toward they doors, "She's too soft. She's going to hinder operations due to her meek heart by ordering fewer assassinations and removals while attempting to bolster every world in preparation for the Reapers. She's going to slip and make many mistakes at first. Hopefully the Broker had some kind of assistant AI tied to it."

Cortez nodded, "Yeah, I can't imagine an operation like this could easily be run just by one person without something to help keep track of the minor details." He then looked back too, "I'd like to imagine her experiences have given her some understanding of the reality she faces, but that could just be me hoping that she is successful. I mean if ONI was run by her as we have seen, we may not have lasted as long against the Covenant. And as much as my pride as an ODST hates to admit, we definitely wouldn't have lasted as long without you Spartans."

Six never really worked with other Spartans in the war effort until her reassignment to Noble Team. Regardless, the Covenant were just overwhelmingly numerous and their tactics ruthless even for a team of Spartans to overcome. "We need to be ready to spend some time in this system."

"For your armor repairs?"

"And whatever else Shepard and Liara might try to initialize with the Shadow Broker's network." Six still felt like these barely counted as preparatory measures against the imminent and inevitable invasion. The vision from the relic was slowly getting clearer and she knew things were going to be worse than their war against the Covenant, spreading across every inhabited world without any means of stopping or slowing their forces. Six was now banking on the Covenant and Lamenting Light to pick up the slack for the Council's constant denials of the looming threat. A strange feeling given previous relations to the former a few years prior.