„Thinking"
„Talking"
„Impactful word"
If Akane thought she had experienced hell during her exile, then it was nothing compared to the hell she was feeling now.
Her banishment had come to no surprise after what she had done. It was all that she and Iijima had accounted for when they had discussed the mission parameters. But whether it was from the freshness of the memory or from the inexplicable trauma that followed afterwards, the kunoichi remembered the night in almost perfect detail.
(Flashback)
It was well late into the afternoon when the head of the Purotekutā summoned her to his office. The silver-haired man sat at his desk, his attention never left the letters in front of him. Even as Akane announced her presence.
Earlier in the days, Akane would kneel but this time, it was different. She knew the reason for her summoning. "The Abenjāzu are intent on revolting against the Alliance."
No reaction.
He carried on as if she hadn't said anything and Akane wondered what thoughts were running through his head. Was he dreading the inevitable news as she was? Maybe. She could only guess.
The silver-haired man lowered his pen and folded his hands under his chin in a contemplative gesture. It was only then that Ijima's eyes shifted to her. Assessing. His gaze rested heavily on her and still, no words left his thin lips. "It's time, is it?"
It was her turn to stay silent, holding her blank stare at the former Chief Advisor. He took her unresponsiveness as a hint to continue.
"Things have come to pass just as we feared they would," he heaved a regretful sigh, "I wish I could have done more."
"Sir," the kunoichi began, her voice full of conviction, "was it not YOU who warned them of the risks of researching Reaper technology? Was it not YOU who initiated numerous talks, seeking a peaceful solution after Tani separated the SSA? Was it not YOU who continuously kept the Abenjazu's vengeful plans that would bring our species a step closer to extermination at bay?"
Akane had to take a breath from being breathless after the rampage of words, "You have done more than enough. The indoctrination runs too deep within their minds for them to see reason."
It had to be said. Although she had been reserved of the man at the beginning, having known from what background he came from. She had come to respect Shigetoki for the man he was, for the man Haruko was working for. So much that she decided to entrust him with the lead of her people and most importantly - the safety of Shirone and Haruko.
The regret on his wrinkled face elevated ever so slightly but she doubted it would ever fully leave his face, "You bestow me with too much credit while denying yourself of the same, Akane."
"I was merely stating a fact." The Uchiha objected softly, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his compliment.
Shigetoki chuckled in short-lived amusement which made the black-haired shinobi tilt her head, "The world has changed so much after the defeat of the Otsutsuki Clan yet history always finds new ways to repeat itself. There has been someone in your shoes a long time ago-"
"Are you referring to the Uchiha Ichizoku Metsubō?" Akane interjected softly and Ijima nodded with a knowing smile.
Rummaging her mind for a possible correlation, the Uchiha took a second to realize she did fail to understand what the man implied. "I can't follow, Sir."
"You remind me of Uchiha Itachi. He too had to walk a path that was very much like yours."
"But-!" Akane caught her loosened tongue just in time before she would sputter something on childish impulse. She was thankful that Ijima gave her time to collect her thoughts because this revelation, although having slowly lost its relevance throughout generations, still remained a monumental part of Konohagakure's history.
Uchiha Itachi. The older brother of Uchiha Sasuke - the common ancestor of every Uchiha after the clan's destruction. Akane included.
The man had mercilessly exterminated the entirety of the Uchiha Clan, including most of his family, with the exception of his brother. The reasoning behind his actions had been shrouded in mystery - some historians claimed that he left his brother alive out of pity. Some out of potential rivalry. Akane knew that these were mere hypothesis based on what had been recorded from second-hand witnesses and she never believed there was much else to it.
That was until Ijima sparked her interest.
Yet from what she had gathered, his actions during the Fourth Shinobi World War seemed contradictory to what historians would want future generations to believe. By the word of the Nanadaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, Itachi had been responsible for returning the reincarnated shinobi to the afterlife during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, therefore ultimately assisting the Allied Shinobi Forces in emerging victorious in the war.
No sudden change of heart could have inspired such selfless actions of a supposed madman. People's hearts rarely underwent reformation so drastically. Just as it had taken her three years to get rid of her hatred against the Reapers.
That was unless he had even needed a change of heart in the first place.
... history always finds new ways to repeat itself. There has been someone in your shoes a long time ago-
She looked back up to the Purotekutā leader, eyes gleaming with sudden understanding. Something close to pride rose within her but was as quickly tampered down by her humble nature.
A rueful smile adorned her as soon as Akane realized what Ijima had implied, "I am nowhere near his calibre."
Shigetoki matched her forlorn expression, knowing that mere words of comfort wouldn't lessen the weight of what he would ask of the young Akane. It was silent underground, albeit for those who weren't sensitive to the barely perceivable tremors caused by the movements of a Reaper Destroyer.
"This will be the most painful mission for you."
She knew... her choice, after all, wasn't borne of desire... but necessity. The people around her weren't the only ones suffering from the coldness of her analytical mind.
The Reapers were truly a frightful enemy. Unfazed by time. Ruthless and indifferent in their actions. Haunting in their cruelty. Bare of every human weakness. They had achieved a level of effectiveness that had never been paralleled by the likes of limited organic minds.
Tani had tried his best, but he was lost to his people the moment he had lost all hope in victory. The years of countless defeats had driven him to the edges of despair. And in his despair - the Reapers had sown madness. A madness these god-like machines immensely profited from. It was the same type of insanity that had possessed her father also, as she later came to find out.
She knew from the day her father joined the Abenjāzu that the time had come for their fears to become reality. Thus came to be her secret entente with the leader of the Purotekutā.
"You want to bear the pain our people would suffer in your stead while they will curse your name for the future to come. You will be branded as a traitor in the books of our history, forever hated in the eyes of those you protect."
"It is a small price to pay if our people get to see another day." Rather - no price was too big to pay if it kept those she loved from harm's way - was the underlying meaning. "It is my duty to ensure the protection of our species."
She thought back on her encounter with the senior Uzumaki at the train station so many years ago, her mind making her reminiscent about some words that had stood out to her the most: The mark of a true shinobi is that they do not seek glory. They protect from the shadows.
Never would Akane have thought that she would draw strength from the advice of a stranger but life had a funny way of turning out unexpected.
"But what of your sister? Of Haruko? They will want answers and I will be the first person they turn to."
Akane thought back on the letter she left in her lover's humble abode. Lying wasn't an option with her lover, not that it had been a compelling thought to begin with. He would have her figured out by the end of the first paragraph. But in regard to Shirone... Akane felt absolutely terrified.
Shirone loved their father and even made friends within the Abenjāzu. People who were no part of the Abenjāzu's folly. And Akane had to take all that away from her. Innocent people - Fathers. Mothers. Children. Murder them indiscriminately with the knowledge that there was a chance of them being free of the Reapers' influence.
A lot rested on her shoulders. Her species bordered on the edge of extinction where one wrong choice would send all of them to their shared grave - they couldn't afford to take that risk.
But the Uchiha's greatest risk resided just in there.
Her greatest fear was how her actions would impact Shirone. Would she do more harm than good? Was she just acting on selfish desires? Completely disregarding what her twin would have wanted? Would she irrevocably tarnish the remnants of good by robbing Shirone of everything she held dear? Would she shape her own twin into something she wanted to avoid her becoming at all cost? Break her in order to preserve her life? Reduce her to a life of only existing? Without will or drive?
She never wanted that. She never wanted any of it.
Only Kami knew she would never go through with it if there was another way.
Would it change anything if Akane told her the truth? Yes.
There was no doubt in Akane's mind of Shirone's sisterly love for her. But after Akane had lost their mother, her love for their mother turned into soaring wrath and hatred towards the Reapers. And she knew her old friend hatred, it had given her strength to push through the arduous training to become a shinobi.
But it had limits - it paralyzed, confused and darkened her life.
And Haruko taught her that the only cure to it was love - for it released the hate within her, harmonized it, had illuminated her enough to see what lay in the beyond the narrow.
But how would Shirone put trust in the power of love if it was the very same thing that hurt her the most?
Her throat tightened to the point she thought it was trying to kill her.
Who would be there for her after Akane was gone? When there was no one left to pick up her pieces?
When a man learnt to love, he must also bear the risk of hatred - was what she had come to gather from her own experience. But Shirone wasn't privy to the same experience. And the Anbu worried that if she told her the truth, then her twin would retaliate for the loss of her love against the Alliance. Just like Akane had against the Reapers after the loss of their mother.
All different scenarios flooded her worried, each and every one of them worse than the last.
In the end, she knew that there was no way to completely avoid the possibility of this occurring. Seldom she tried to influence something that had already been established, but it was in her power to change the ending.
The kunoichi had considered any other paths she could take but they all led to the same inevitable outcome - Shirone getting hurt. One way or another. She would take all the suffering that would befall her sister in a heartbeat, but in doing that she would take away a piece of her life.
Living meant also feeling pain.
As much as she loathed it, Akane had no right to control her twin like that. Regardless of her need - her duty - to protect her from all harm. Some things couldn't be avoided. There was nothing she could do other than hope for the best.
"I hope that the truth will disappear with me," she said in a whisper loud enough for Iijima to hear, sealing her fate.
(Flashback end)
Akane shook herself off with a start, greedily sucking in oxygen into her deprived lungs as she had forgotten to breathe for a moment.
Night terrors have been a common occurrence in her life, they favoured haunting her dreams during the night. But now they even infested her waking hours. Even worse so, their frequency seemed to have gone up with her declining mental health. However, she had yet to visit her 'other self' even though the replica had said there would be opportunities.
Taking a few moments to gather herself, she focused on calming her frantic heartbeat. In need of a distraction, she opted to jump for a quick shower before checking up on Hilo. Removing the sweaty nightwear that clung to her clammy skin, she entered the modest cube. The warmth slightly elevating the pains of her heart caused by her unpleasant dream but the memory still stung.
After drying off, she assumed her usual daily routine consisting of not much else than taking care of her patient. Even after a full night sleep, the tiredness hadn't once left her body as she perpetually emptied her halved chakra reserves to their limit. Akane was soon to burn herself out, yet despite the danger, she had a plan.
In some sense, it was a game of chicken. Having already set a course to the current location of the Migrant Fleet a few days prior, if she couldn't hold on until they arrived, then Hilo would die. Vice versa if she by chance had managed to keep him alive, then she would inevitably pass out for a few weeks, leaving her completely vulnerable.
Well, that was what she got from her mistake.
Liara POV
The first signs of fatigue began to make themselves visible on the asari's face since she had taken on the difficult task of locating Shepard. Having been led on by false trails and dead ends. But this time... she felt she was on the right track.
She could have considered her ride to Omega almost pleasant, up until the moment when the mercenaries had recognized her face and began demanding 'additional' docking fees. And not in the sense of money as she remembered with disgust how they had eyed her posterior.
Things had escalated, and Liara took them out with her biotics. Successfully taking over as the ship's captain to manage the docking protocol. None too later, her feet carried her to Afterlife, where she was supposed to meet with someone.
Looking around for her contact, although not even sure she would recognize the person, she settled for discretion. Seeing no one approaching her, she seated herself at the bar. Considering buying a drink just to lower her profile until her contact would make themselves known.
In the meantime, Benezia's daughter struck a conversation with the elcor bartender. Subtly asking about Shepard's whereabouts, only to be told they have not seen anyone like that. Knowing the elcor had nothing more in regards to the Commander, it was in her best interest to change topics. The nearby news broadcast came just about right.
"You have to love the elcor - they've got all the expressiveness of your typical tree. If they didn't explain the nuance of what they're saying, it'd be like talking to no one!"
Liara's head turned to her left, past the elcor to a hooded individual. It had a certain rasp to it that sounded similar to the turian flagging effect which led her to the conclusion that it was a male drell.
"Oh, I don't know I-"
The drell only confirmed the doctor's suspicion as he slightly lifted his head, showing his face to her. Liara immediately recognized him as her contact, "Wait. You have something to tell me about the Commander-"
He didn't even let her finish, "-No. Not here. Outside."
Gulping down his drink, he left his seat in one fluid motion and opted for the exit. It took Liara a second for her brain to catch up before she jogged after him with a spring in her step.
"It's not really safe, walking around asking questions on Omega - even if you're from around here. The information you are looking for wasn't easy to find. Not even for me," he reprimanded her when she was in earshot.
Wanting to halt him from his strut, she reached for his arms, "Where are you taking me? What do you know about-"
Before she could react to his sudden movement, he spun her around. Backing her a bit forcefully around the corner of a pillar with a hand covering her mouth. Her defence instinct was already prepared to retaliate but she stopped herself in time as he apologized, zipping her mouth shut.
Watching him take a quick glance around the edge, he lifted the hood of his brown coat. Revealing a scaly head with different hues of orange which faded into the darker shades on the vast spectrum of colours.
"... We were being followed. I am Feron - and you're right. I do know where the Commander is. But you won't like to what I have to tell you."
Liara's eyes dropped at his words that confirmed the truth she had hoped against, "Dead?"
"Yes... or very close to it. It's hard to say. The body has been recovered, in some kind of stasis pod - if not dead, then certainly not alive. I know you came a long way - sorry to be the bearer of bad news."
The drell let go of the asari and she straightened out, stubbornly crossing her arms over her armoured chest. Although she knew she would have to face the fact later on, she refused to believe him without seeing Shepard herself, "I need... I need to see, Feron. For myself."
Feron tugged the pistol she hadn't even noticed he had drawn on the inside of his coat, "Liara, you're not the only one interested in finding Shepard. I suggest you let the dead sleep."
The asari grew vicious about his words and shot back sharply, "I guess my words didn't translate clearly into drell. I said: I need to see Shepard."
The drell threw her a satisfied smirk that resembled a sneer, "It's your money. Your life."
Feron threw his hood back as he emerged from their hiding spot and T'Soni followed suit. "This isn't like the Citadel, with transit going everywhere. We are going to go a long way on foot."
Liara held back a scoff. As if a long trek would stop her now, "I don't mind. Just as long as we find-"
Her words were replaced by a forced gasp as someone grabbed her from behind, trapping her inside a choke-hold. She bared her white teeth as she struggled against the assailant. "No!"
"Blue Suns!" Feron exclaimed while unsheathing his pistol. The hold on her wavered for a second and she made the most of it with her biotics. Freeing herself from the mercenary's grab, she levitated him above her with both hands, ready to throw him at the other Suns.
"Feron, look out!"
Unrestrained, and with her biotics flaring dangerously, the asari was ready to battle tooth and nail to get them out of this situation. That was until a krogan levelled his pistol on her temple, threatening her into inaction. She had no choice but to oblige lest they killed Feron.
Once the biotic flare subsided in her, she was caught and restrained by the other two Suns. The minutes that followed consisted of nothing more than being subjected to an interrogation that proved to be more useful to her than the krogan. The krogan, hired by the Shadow Broker, was prepared to turn to more violent means to extract the desired information from her but before something (or rather someone) beat him to it.
One single shot from a sniper ringed through the air, killing the krogan on spot. The next thing she knew, Liara had pushed Feron away from the incoming rain of bullets and into safety. At least that was what she thought as she caught sight of a group of humans.
Their rescuers - it seemed.
Their armour didn't seem to match the designs of any mercenary group here on Omega, which left her wary of their motivations. What stood out the most to her was that they were a group consisting of only humans. Which narrowed down her list to only one possibility.
Feron had his gun trained on the group, but suddenly a woman stepped out. Dressed in a white pin-stripe combat suit that enunciated the smooth curves of her feminine body. She wore a stern expression that commanded absolute professionalism.
"Relax, drell. We're working towards the same goal. Finding Commander Shepard."
Liara took a step forward at the mentioning of Shepard, "Shepard is dead."
"That's what they say - but Shepard's beaten the odds before. I am Miranda. I represent someone who wants very much to meet you. Work with us - and we might be able to bring Shepard back."
The doctor turned sceptical at Miranda's implication. "What's that supposed to mean?"
The woman turned around with her escort, expecting the asari to follow. Liara turned to Feron, who seemed hesitant towards the human's invitation.
"And you can even bring the drell. We are not being choosy today." Miranda called out to them without a back glance.
Exhaustion gripped at the Uchiha. Its grip tightening with each passing day she had to keep Hilo from death's clutches at the expense of her chakra.
In a sense, her situation wouldn't pose such a threat to her life if only she were to call her Kage Bushin back. But her stubbornness kept her from avoiding the safe route. As her shadow clone was still surprisingly in the game, she loathed cutting all her efforts short by dispersing it.
Though should the need really arrive, then she would inevitably call her clone back. The acquired wouldn't matter much if she were dead by then, would it?
Furthermore, now that she was separated from the Migrant Fleet's location by a meagre dozen of thousand of kilometres, Akane realized the lack of thought she had put into her plan altogether. There were many open variables on the other end.
Tali had talked excessively about her people, having been encouraged by Akane's interest. Mostly about mundane things - like their lifestyles, government, customs, history etc. But she had never delved into topics that would reveal any sensitive information and Akane hadn't pried either.
Thinking back, she should have read through Pel's mission reports earlier. She could have at least approached with the Cyniad rather than with her dusty old tin. Though on the other hand, it would have looked suspicious if she had come to seek refuge in a ship of a crew that went missing with one of the crew members dying.
Another point to her defence was that she couldn't imagine leaving her ship on Omega unattended. You couldn't leave yourself on Omega unattended, much less something of value. Even if the mentioned 'thing-of-value' was just a rusty, old slaver ship stinking of piss. It was her rusty old slaver ship stinking of piss.
She was going in blind, and with good faith that the quarians wouldn't shoot on sight. Though she had tried other ways to ease her worries.
On Hilo's better days - Akane had attempted to gently skim through his memories with her Sharingan, remembering how careful she had been to avoid going in too deep for her patient to handle. His mindset was so chaotic from the sadistic torture that she had had to learn from mere snippets for a time.
On Hilo's worst days - when his subconscious was at its most vulnerable. When the images of torture infused themselves in his every thought. The Uchiha saw no harm in trying to use her ocular prowess in a more unorthodox manner. Even if it posed some unpleasant side effects on her end.
She had been told various lost secrets and tips by Haruko, whose family was known for their traditional ways.
In their effort to live up to their heritage and return glory to the Uchiha name. Unlike many other bearers of the same surname, who simply never had any similar interest. Having gone as far as intentionally changing their name to avoid having to deal with this.
Haruko had confessed he believed his family's goal as a kid, having been heavily influenced by their ideals. But war tended to change many people, and her lover was left worse to wear after losing everything he believed in.
He had told her of a possibility to utilise the Sharingan's 'Eye of Hypnotism' in a therapeutic way. Having the Uchiha instead of forcefully extracting information, relieving and supporting the victim's traumatic memories inside their minds. It had been his mother's idea, he had admitted proudly and she revelled how he had lighted up for a moment.
The technique had never gotten the chance to develop past the experimental phase but she was desperate enough to toy with chance and try it on Hilo. Akane didn't know if she was going anywhere with this other than further tiring herself out but she owed Hilo the effort.
After all, he wouldn't have to live through this if the Uchiha had stopped Golo and Pel from having their way.
A change in the nav screen had her mind back on track in no time. Showing the Migrant Fleet with its thousand upon thousand of ships flying in tight formation as a single large red blob. Despite her fear, Akane punched up her thrusters and she began to move steadily toward the flotilla.
Almost as much in awe as she had seen the mighty Citadel from distance. She would have liked gawking at the view longer, but her exhaustion and fear made it impossible.
Guess only her Quarian would have to suffice in the communication department.
When she reached the range of just under 150 000 kilometres, the nav screen showed several smaller ship detaching themselves from the main armada. Arking around on an intercept trajectory with their own course. No doubt posing as the typical welcoming committee.
Akane hadn't had that much knowledge of the common procedures among the quarian, which left her on edge since even the smallest of action could translate wrong for her welcomers. From what she had understood from quarian society, their reaction was completely understandable.
She looked through the small windows of the cockpit. Deep in the heart of the Migrant Fleet floated the three enormous life ships - gigantic agricultural vessels that supplied and stored the majority of the food for the seventeen million individuals living on the flotilla.
Akane imagined if an enemy damaged or destroyed even one of the life ships, the inevitable result would be a catastrophic famine. And the grim prospect of slow starvation for millions of quarians. Something she knew all too well. The Uchiha figured that it would be wise to react to their approach by opening a comm channel, waiting with bated breath for a reaction.
A few minutes later, it crackled with a voice speaking in Quarian, though the translator on her omni-tool automatically converted it into a language strikingly similar to hers - Japanese. How some humans spoke the same language as her people once did, regardless of having grown up on different planets, was unexplainable to her.
Her mind was too strained to follow two threads of languages at the same time, thereby it was in her best mental interest that she shut down the translator. "You are entering a restricted area! Identify!"
Now she might have not learnt much from Hilo in his fragile state, but Golo had given her the smallest of insights about quarian security measures. And also from what little she had picked up Hilo sputtering in his delirious state. On those rare occasions when he wasn't sleeping.
From what Akane had gathered, the quarians used some form of unique code phrase system. To verify the identity of the ships that were sent from the Fleet for a mission or what else. Like the Cyniad. Akane wouldn't put it past the quarians for each starship to have its own code phrase.
Thinking she was in close enough proximity to safely negotiate with the quarians, she stopped the thrusters and let the ship come to a halt on its own. All the while pondering how to initiate the exchange without ending up dead.
Thing was, she couldn't just identify herself with the code phrase of the Idenna because it was blatantly clear that her ship's frequency would give her away immediately. Therefore, she would have to settle with the truth and hope for the best, even as unconsciousness reached for her mind.
"This is Akane, I am not one of your people but please, hear me out. The scout vessel Cyniad has been ambushed and most of its crew has been killed. The pilot - Hilo'Jaa vas Idenna - was taken hostage and suffered extensive injuries that prove to be too much for me to handle."
The quarian wanted to interrupt her but she needed to get her point across lest she lost consciousness, "Please, he doesn't have much time and needs immediate medical attention! There is no need for my ship to rejoin the Fleet, just send in a team to get Hilo back home and I will leave! Please, Keelah se'lai."
There was a long pause as the patrol relayed the message back to the Idenna somewhere deep inside the flotilla for confirmation. Akane's palms were sweating and her mouth felt dry, she swallowed hard in the silence and held her breath.
"Very well, the Idenna confirms Hilo'Jaa's allegiance and will send a security and quarantine team to your location. Refrain from any aggressive activity otherwise, we will be forced to take you down."
The much-awaited reply had Akane let her breath out in a long low sigh of relief. In as much as it pained her to know that they hadn't mentioned that they would bring someone with medical expertise, she achieved most of what she wanted and began docking preparations.
Soon enough, she waited in the passenger cabin that was located right next to the airlock to meet up with the quarians. Swaying on tired legs as she foolhardy tried to stay another second awake. Chakra exhaustion sure was something else on the scale of tiredness.
The echoes of armoured boots could be heard within the corridor behind the automatic door of her ship and with a swish of hydraulics, it opened. Slowly came forth a commando of quarians, auto rifles in hand and heavily on alert as they took cautious steps inside the unknown ship.
When their eyes finally landed on Akane, she brought up her hands in surrender gesture, silently hoping it was universal and would be taken as such. Kami, she was so drained that her arms shook in the strain of keeping them up. But the effort seemed to be the last thing she did as she crumpled to the ground without much resistance.
Liara POV
Had somebody told her she would be one day working with Cerberus - the same Cerberus that had conducted several illegal experiments on Rachni, Thorian creepers and what-not - she would have laughed off such a ridiculous notion.
Had somebody told her she would one day meet the oracular Illusive Man in person - she would have laughed off such nonsense.
But there she was, her life taking on one sharp turn after another.
The irony wasn't lost to her, but she admitted that there wasn't much to do without support. Even more so by what the Illusive Man had told her at their meeting. She wouldn't be able to hold her own against the Shadow Broker and his vast array of resources - that much was clear. Not to mention, she had to keep a vigilant eye on Feron since it had been revealed to her that he was one of the Shadow Broker's agents.
Not that she would believe every word spouted from the Illusive Man mouth. Or that she hadn't been suspicious of him from the very beginning (still was). She did make it clear, however, how Feron stood with her after the discovery.
Liara shouldn't have probably enjoyed punching him as much as she did, but what else did he expect from her after he failed to mention to her how he had worked for the Shadow Broker. Even going as far as admitting to having been told to lead any friends of Shepard astray (of course no one had told him about the merc group).
But still, she let him tag along, even though she strongly suspected he was playing a double game. She had paid him after all, and would loath to let her money go to waste.
Together, they had visited Aria. Had gotten Shepard's current whereabout on Omega and infiltrated it, regardless of the presence of the Shadow Broker's most notorious hitman Tazzik. Until Feron blew up their chance and let Tazzik escape with Shepard's body.
By the Goddess, she had been prepared to rip each and every limb of the drell to make him suffer for his mistake. Unintentional or not. She knew she shouldn't have trusted his supposed motives! And now she might never redeem herself as well for being so helpless to save Shepard in the first place.
"I never stopped working for him - so far as he knows. But I didn't do that on purpose!" She wouldn't lie if she said that this had saved him temporarily from her wrath.
But her frustration and impatience kept increasing after they had been ambushed by three of the Broker's sentry ships after the FTL jump to the Faryar system. Despite his small ship not having been equipped with any weapons, Feron knew his way around this system and led the three ships to their demise by navigating through some mined-out asteroids in the system.
Either way, they got to Alingon still in one piece and were now working out a plan to enter his hidden facility. And truthfully, the scientist in her couldn't help but compliment the Broker for his choice of planet.
Few worlds in the Hourglass Nebula were as hostile to space travellers as Alingon. Its frozen surface hid a rapidly rotating molten core, causing the planet to reside in a huge electro-magnetic shroud. Ship instruments got thrown off on approach, allowing pirates to avoid detection once they entered its magnetosphere. Offworld communications, too, were nearly impossible for those without the most sophisticated technology.
"I can't get a signal at all! I am not sure your Shadow Broker chose the right real estate for a command centre." She commented while trying to land her foot on the right edge while climbing down in her combat suit.
Feron was quick to dismiss her claim, "You'd be wrong. The Shadow Broker's got a system that can reliably cut through this, but he's the only one who's got it. It forces his hirelings to come to Alingon in person for orders-"
A slippery edge made him lose his balance, but he managed to catch himself in time. Thankfully, without alarming anyone near their vicinity.
"-and to make any calls they need to make on his behalf off-world. It's another layer of protection. Nothing to trace. I am guessing that's why the sentry ships attacked; we weren't on the list of arrivals they had when they took off."
Liara didn't hide her scoff, "That's ridiculous. He's got so much secrecy his people are stumbling over themselves!"
He paused once they both were back on solid ground, hiding behind one of its rock formations, "Maybe, but it sure keeps you from knowing what he's doing. Or me for that matter. And maybe it will help us get in."
There was a twinkle in his blackened eyes and before Liara knew what he had in plan as he eyed the two turian guards at the entrance, he had her hands behind her back. Confidently walking up to them with his pistol at her head. Liara, though taken off-guard, tried to play prisoner and held her mouth shut. Though the fierce expression didn't leave her for a second.
The asari had kept quiet as Feron worked his charm on the guards he knew by name. Resolved to just bite the bullet and let him handle it. And in the end, it worked out for them as they were granted access. By the time they had walked through the facility enough to stumble over a collector. Who was, without a doubt, being led to Shepard's body by the visibly smaller volus.
There was that stopped her impulse to murder this collector on sight. Her fury toppling over at this point as her biotics flared up. She moved to get up and follow after the collector but was stopped by Feron grabbing her by her hips.
"Let me go! This is our chance!"
"Wait, Liara! I know where they're headed. It will take a while for them to repressurize the landing bay. We need to find out more about why they're doing the deal first."
His compelling argument did little to dim the fury inside her but she acknowledged that he did have a point. With a resigned sigh, Liara calmed down enough for him to elaborate. Although... this having been her first sight of a collector, she horridly thought about what those crude creatures would do to her friend once they got their hands on her. An unexpected rush of melancholy taking over her determined features.
She looked up worriedly at the drell crouching next to her, "Did you see that - that thing? How could the Shadow Broker deal with them? How could anyone?"
She watched as a contemplative flicker crossed his expression. As if he had just realized something.
"I don't know," he looked down for a second before connecting his eyes back to Liara, "I always trusted the Shadow Broker before - he seemed neutral in all things. But this-"
Feron led them from their hiding spot as he resumed his explanation, "-This, I don't understand. Maybe it's why I am helping you. I want to know more. And if there's one thing I learned as an information trader, it's that if you need to know something-"
"Reporting in for work, Feron?"
Liara eyes needed a second to adjust to the brightness of the room they've entered, but she could tell that this room was special. "People only come to see the Shadow Broker when called, trader. I didn't call."
"-you go to the source." The drell finished beside her. This was the Shadow Broker!
The two of them began to converse in hushed whispers as they came closer, "Is he for real?"
"This is how he addresses everyone who comes here. I've never been so close before," Feron admitted genuinely, vaguely ignoring the Broker's growing impatience at the drell's lack of response.
He wanted a response?! Oh, she would give him an answer alright! Another 'Liara, wait!' didn't cut it for the asari anymore.
"I don't understand! I don't understand anyone selling my friends remains! What could they have offered you that would be worth doing that?!"
The Shadow Broker was swift with his reply, "You're supposed to be a businessman, Feron. You should understand when I say their offer was too good to pass up. Scruples? Interesting. I see sending the Blue Suns after you both was a wise choice. Since when do you think you can come here uninvited?"
Liara came with determined steps closer, fist clenched as she tried to reign in her biotics. "Since you started working with the Collectors, Broker? That simple enough for you?"
"The compensation is my business, Doctor T'Soni," he said pointedly and with a heavy emphasis on her name, "- but it was significant enough."
Liara had all but forgotten about the drell in her presence during their talk until he began whispering closely next to her, halting her approach, "I know you don't trust me - but give me a minute with these systems! They handle everything! I can find out everything the Broker ordered here. With the Collectors - and Shepard!"
Tuning out the Broker's smug undertone as he revealed her identity. She couldn't care less. Liara spared Feron a side-glance, then focused her attention on the Broker, trying to buy Feron as much time as possible.
"I have nothing personal against Shepard - or any of her friends. It was just sound business."
"You don't know what you're dealing with." Liara resumed closing the distance between them, resolutely done with holding back her biotics, "What would possibly be worth that risk? Did you ever consider the Collectors' interest might be related to that? Shepard died looking for evidence of the Reapers - the ones who attacked the Citadel!"
"You make too much of this Liara. It's a corpse. What could they possibly gain from it?" That left her positively bristling.
"If they're looking for a corpse, I might find an alternative for them or two!" She charged but was thrown off once she realized that it was just another proxy, a sophisticated machine, that he was communicating through.
"You're not here, where are you?" Liara demanded fiercely.
"Where I need to be. The deal is done, Liara. Tazzik is about to make the exchange. Product - for payment. Right now, the only aren't where they need to be are you two. This room connects me to my permanent staff there on Alingon. As soon as I give the word, they'll come. If you're working for someone else, they'll get it out of you. It's not my usual way to gain information-"
"Liara, I've got it! Let loose!"
He needn't say more.
"I am monitoring an increase of pulse and brain activity. Go tell the Captain that the human is going to wake up soon."
The first thing she noticed upon awakening was an unfamiliar, but somewhat familiar, feeling of weirdness. As if something was amiss among the obvious ache that was usually accompanied by chakra exhaustion.
Slowly opening her eyes, she thought it would take her some time to adjust to the light. But it wasn't so because of the strange helmet on her head. Come to think of it, it wasn't only the helmet that she was clothed in, but the rest of her body as well.
She was in some kind of suit. This time though, it felt different than the last time she had to occupy a combat suit. It fitted her frame almost too perfectly, like second skin. So much in fact, that it took her sensitive senses longer to realize she had been put into one at all.
She dared say it felt kind of pleasant. Light and accommodating. She took a deep breath, testing the dexterity of her chest. Then did the same for the rest of her body. Since having woken up in this new get up of a body. It was critical for her overall flexibility to regularly stretch the scar tissue so it wouldn't become too stiff.
"Tell the Captain that the human child's awoken." An affirmative grunt could be heard from somewhere before a female quarian lent over her, three-fingered hand fiddling with the omni-tool.
"How do you feel, child?"
"Exhausted, Ma'am," Akane answered raggedly, her voice laced with soreness.
"Any pain or discomfort?"
"I would like a cup of water please."
"Hm, dehydration. Nothing unexpected since you've been on limited life-support for almost three weeks."
Three weeks! She was out for that long? Uncharacteristically, her first concern wasn't that of her own well-being, but for Hilo. An unrelenting need to know if he was still alive nagged at her. Her correlated guilt eating away at her conscience.
"How is Hilo? Did he survive? Is he-"
The female quarian chuckled heartily, "Slow down, esan. We have him stabilized, at least enough to perform surgery. He's not yet completely out of danger but we must have faith in our Ancestors that he will push through."
The probability that she was referring to Hilo's infection was high because it was among those things she couldn't fully drive out of his system with her chakra. The thought of him dying still weighed heavily on her mind. Akane never liked having someone die out of her own consequence, much less somebody she grew to care about.
So she was often doing everything in her power to prevent that outcome, but this was one of those times that felt like it was not enough. Hilo's survival was no longer in her hands and there was nothing else to do about it. Not that she could actually do anything about it in fact. Without her chakra and all.
That was why she had decided to have Hilo taken to his people in the first place. Akane should send up some thanks for managing not to kill Hilo and herself in the process. Thinking about it, it had been a pretty close call in regards to her limits.
The kunoichi didn't even realize that she had blocked out the quarian woman all the time she had spent wrapped up in her head until she insistently called upon her attention, "My apologies, Ma'am. What is it that you have asked of me?"
"I was asking how old are."
"Fifteen - soon to be sixteen." If she wasn't already. So much has happened since her awakening that she had scarcely bothered looking up when her last birthday was. She thought she was past counting the many years she had missed anyway.
"Ancestors! So young and through so much!" Her voice, which was slightly modulated by her helmet, held no faux surprise.
Akane hoped her silence would answer in her stead but the quarian seemed to get the message and stopped herself from trailing down the line of conversation. Opting to instead follow through with something more light-hearted, "Well, you have nothing to fear as long as you're in our Fleet!"
The Uchiha welcomed the well-meant small talk the quarian initiated, although she was a rather poor participant as she couldn't keep her eyelids from dropping every now and then. And this continued for a few days until Akane regained enough stamina to be awake longer.
She even had a few visitors other than her caretaker and doctor Rese. The Captain of the Idenna - Ysin'Mal - came to visit her on a few occasion when he wasn't too caught up with the Conclave and Admiralty Board regarding the Fleet's future plans. There was also this little human girl around her age (maybe even younger) that she had come to know as Gillian Grayson, often but not always accompanied by another human, this time male, who was going by the name of Hendel Mitra. Another biotic.
She could say with certainty that her recovery wasn't boring as her aforementioned visitors usually answered any questions that seemed to bug her. Probably because they thought her motives were innocent. Born out of childlike curiosity but she had long lost that spark in her dull eyes to make her act entirely convincing. So she didn't, it would be a waste of energy anyway.
But all in all, the quarian people have treated her fairly and respected her wish to stay on the Idenna until after Hilo's surgery. Even at the expense of their own limited resources. Though one thing that kept her on her toes was the possibility of meeting Tali.
Akane wasn't yet ready for that, not after Virmire... she wasn't prepared to face any of her friends at all.
Liara POV
She- no -They have done it.
She watched as the humans hovered over Shepard on the operation table. Mouths spouting words Liara didn't want to hear as she tried to shake off the gruesome images of her Commander's unrecognizable corpse. Her queasiness resembled the one she had felt after looking at Akane's wounds after Virmire.
But at what price?
She had embarked on the search for Shepard with a 'by all cost' mindset. Only to realize now, that it was exactly the reason Feron was now at the mercy of an undoubtedly furious Shadow Broker. Granted, he wasn't exactly honest with Liara from the get-go but in the end. His action spoke louder than his words. Liara's unease showed through the way she tightened her arms around herself, looking troubled and at a loss of what to do.
"You did well, Liara. We were right to put our faith in you - Shepard obviously made some very good friends. I just wish I had better news for you but we may not be able to restore Shepard after all. The body is in worse shape than we expected. There were some preservation systems in the pod, but they were hardly optimal," Miranda said reassuringly, resting a feminine hand on the asari's shoulder.
If possible, the conflict in her blue eyes only intensified as she realized that she had essentially, the fate of her dear friend's in her hands. "Then I don't see the point, Miranda. Maybe I don't know what human traditions are but I really think you should let the dead rest. This isn't what I brought Shepard back for. This is almost like- like..."
"Like something the Collectors would have done?" Miranda finished the sentence for her, the underlying distrust of Cerberus' intentions with Shepard were left in the open. "We don't know what they would have done, Liara. Though hopefully, the information you brought back may suggest something. And it might not be as bad as you think."
Liara watched as the dark-haired woman vacated to the large window's sill that overlooked the stars, "The Boss is more hopeful about Shepard's prospects. We're willing to spend everything we've got but it will still take a very long time - if it works at all. I wouldn't sit around waiting here."
"What will your Boss - the Illusive Man - do about Feron?"
"The drell knew the risks when he offered to help. We won't be going after him. If you want to, that's your business, but I'd focus on something else if I were you. Do something you want to do."
That left her thinking, yet as she gazed at the vast expanse of space and its shimmering stars she knew she had made her choice, "That's exactly what I am going to do, Miranda. I've got another friend to help now and I've made a new enemy."
"I am afraid we all have."
Words dictionary:
Saimingan 催眠眼 / Eye of Hypnotism - The Sharingan grants the wielder two broad abilities: the "Eye of Insight" and the "Eye of Hypnotism". The user can perform what is generically called Genjutsu: Sharingan. While there are various manifestations and purposes of the ability, the better-known one is to, through eye contact, suggest thoughts and actions to a target, coercing them to divulge information or act in a particular way, potentially without the target's awareness. While not an ability per se, the Sharingan user can appear as if they are able to "see the future".
Uchiha Ichizoku Metsubō うちは一族滅亡 / Uchiha Clan Downfall - It was the massacre of the Uchiha clan by Itachi Uchiha and — unbeknownst to most — a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha.
esan = young one
Author's note:
It has been too long my loyal followers! I don't mean to make it sound like an excuse, but life hasn't been kind to me during this period. I have failed to make it to college. My disappointment is unmeasurable and I feel like a total failure. A failure in life. A failure to all those people who believed in me and doted on me. I-I simply wasn't good enough despite spending a lot of time studying and trying my best. I am scared of the reactions of people when I have to share the news of my absolute failure. I am scared of what the future now holds for me, as it has taken an unexpected turn. I know that this isn't the end, that I can try next year, but it sure does feel like the end. But that's just life, isn't it? Life is full of hurdles (like this one) to overcome and while it may not be all sunshine and rainbows. I try to keep reminding myself that there can be no rainbow without the rain. But in the end, I should feel lucky to be still alive and healthy. And I should also feel grateful for you. Seemingly the only consistency in my life.