Shepard Normandy February 21 2183
I stared out the front view on the pilot's deck as we drifted through space. Our communications could easily raise the party in question that I needed to speak to but considering the nature of the call and the level of secrecy it required, my newly installed direct private link to councilor Tevos was my only option. Even if it was a bit unresponsive in some areas still. It didn't matter. I knew where we would be headed. Thessia. A couple days had passed by since we had left Noveria and the signal was just now strong enough to reach.
"Finally, I expected them to have some better technology." I sighed as I pushed the dial button in, causing a small, empty holograph to hover slightly above it while I waited for the Councilor to answer the call. I sat tapping my foot and spinning my chair around, letting the low glow of the space blur around me. "I see you made it off of Noveria. I trust that Benezia is secure?
"If by secure, you mean locked in a cold metal box then yes. Did you doubt I wouldn't make it out successfully Councilor?"
"Of course I did Shepard. I was more concerned that you wouldn't get the mission done successfully. You aren't really known for your deft touch in recovery unless someone is dead."
"Awww Councilor, i'm so hurt. Benezia is secure and i'm in route to Thessia. Where should I be headed exactly once I get there?" She breezed over my sarcasm as she took a thoughtful pause out of the window of what appeared to be a ship. I figured she waited until I turned in my action report before heading to Thessia herself.
"And I take it you've told your team?" I only responded with a nod which prompted her to squeeze the bridge of her nose. "Well then, I guess that was asking too much. You know, I still don't understand you Shepard. You're a lone wolf. A pariah. I'd go as far as saying you hate everyone. So why then are you so loyal and so protective of your crew?"
I got tense for a moment, before answering. "I- I'm not a lone wolf. I've just learned that keeping a degree of separation is best."
"And yet you still end up very much entwined. The ruthless caretaker type wouldn't you say so?"
"Are we trying to stop Saren from bringing back the reapers, or are we on a first date?" I had enough of her questioning, and if I had to be honest I was too emotionally exhausted to deal with any of her prying questions.
"I just want to understand who i'm getting in bed with. So to speak." She leaned over her desk suggestively, slightly showing the brim of her breasts before pushing herself back upright.
"Or do you want to understand the beacon? The cipher?" She paused for a minute. This time changing the subject herself. "No Commander. You are to head to the T'Soni's personal estate. Liara can given Joker the coordinates. I will meet you all there and we'll go over my plan for Benezia... and Liara." She nodded her head and cut the feed before I could form a question with my lips. 'What the hell is she planning to do with Liara?'
Liara T'Soni Med bay storage
I made it to my room just in time. My knees buckled as soon as the door hissed closed. I fell into a ball as the body wrecking sobs took over me. I thought maybe i'd be too exhausted to cry anymore, but my body had other plans. The day replayed in my head. The fight with Shepard the night before. More so than anything, the battle against my mother. I struggled up to my feet, barely making it to the cot. I buried my knees deep into my chest much like the days before the mission when I forced myself to cut everything off with Shepard. To end anything we possibly had.
As if she was reading my mind, the door hissed open and she stood there, staring on as if she was frozen. "I uhh, wanted to see if you were okay. Well no, I know you're not okay. I wanted to see if you needed anything."
"Thank you Shepard, but you know you do not need to do that... anymore." A small sad glint in her eyes flashed before she spoke. "Who said I needed to do it before?" She smiled wider as she headed to take a seat on the bed next to me. "Shepard, you do no-"
"No Liara. It's ok. I should have never left you. Even though I know you sent me away. I knew how hard this was going to be for you and I let my bitterness and anger get in the way of completely being there." I could see from the now serious look on her face, just how sincere her words were. She held my gaze for a while, watching, calculating. "I am sorry Shepard. I should have never sent you away. There was just so much going on. So much at stake." I felt upset to say the least. All of the emotional pressure right before the mission was too overwhelming. Along with my revelation of being more like my mother than I had to admit. Now, I felt like I wanted nothing more to be somewhere far away from anyone or anything except for the woman in front of me.
She stared down at me with jade eyes. Streaks of yellow shined through them making it impossible to unlock the gaze. She leaned down, cupping my cheek with her hand as she pulled herself down to meet my lips with her own in a thunderous passion. I pulled her in closer, forcing her on top of me in the limited space. She laid her hand expertly behind my head, fingering the grooves in my crest pushing a low moan somewhere from under my ragged breathing. She fingered them a little harder and a little more rhythmic as she lifted my other arm above my head. I put up no protest. I didn't even shy away. I fully intended on letting whatever happened, happen. In truth, I wanted it more than I could explain. Or maybe I needed it. The contact, the new avenue I was about to explore. My mind was racing and I felt the desire wash over me as she lifted her lips from mine and traced a line of kisses to my neck, biting down on the supple flesh , completely drowning out my grief. This time, my moans were more direct as I arched my body into hers. Her breathing had become as ragged as mine. She managed to pull her head up and away from me, making eye contact as she unzipped my work uniforms jacket. I pulled the jacket off in haste as she watched me, staring hungrily at me. I felt a small touch of nervousness under her searing gaze until she lifted herself up and out of her bdu shirt. My eyes flashed opened as I analyzed every inch of the body I had fantasized about so many nights. "You're absolutely gorgeous Liara."
"You are not too bad yourself Shepard." I said the words more nervous than I intended. She stared, slightly bulging muscles showed up through the muscle shirt she wore underneath the now discarded military shirt. Her arms seemed even bigger and more toned without the cover of it. Her abs printed their own form onto the tight material underneath. I reached out my hand, rubbing up the front and then the sides of her stomach and chest. She moved my hands and hovered slightly above me, the cold metal of her dog tags sending chills down my naturally cool skin. I could feel her breath right above my lip, and I silently begged for her to close the gap in between us. As she started, both of our omni-tools beamed. She lifted up first, obviously annoyed as she opened it and read its contents.
"Joker's suggested we meet in the meeting room. There's a call waiting for us."
"Did he say from who?"
"He didn't. But if he's 'suggesting', then it's definitely important we get down there. Besides, this isn't really my idea of how and where I planned this moment going on." I blushed, turning a deeper blue than I had in a while as I threw my coat back on and followed her through the med bay doors.
Shepard Normandy
"Joker call the rest of the crew to the debriefing room." I was more than a little annoyed at this point. All of the bad surrounding us hadn't exactly stopped the connection me and the young asari had like I was sure it was sent to do. It seemed like every time we tried to 'cement things', another something popped up. Not that I would've went through with it fully. Not here, and not now.
"Already on it ma'am. They should be in any moment." Just as Joker finished his words, the rest of the crew filed in, the blushing doctor seated next to where I leaned. "Alright Joker, what's going on."
"I got an anonymous hail from an unknown ship. The level of encryption and security it has is unmatched, my bet is...it's Saren."
"Why would Saren want to speak to us?" The young quarian's confusion was shared through all of us.
"We can't be sure unless we pick up and find out. This call might lead us right to him."
"Or right to us. Or upload some kind of virus that takes over the ship or sends indoctrination to us somehow. Those are just a couple of my guesses."
"Garrus is right. There's no telling what Saren has up his sleeve." Wrex spoke up. He rarely ever spoke during briefings. I thought for a moment before coming up with a plan. "Tali, do you think you can provide us enough technical security to keep our location and data from being accessed?"
"If I could, it would have to be from one of the terminals in the pilot's deck, not here."
"Get there fast. Let us know once you've set up." She scurried off and everyone looked at me with wide eyes. Kaiden was the first to speak. "You're not really considering going through with this? Right Shepard?"
"Yea, Skipper. We've done some crazy shit so far but this is next level." Ashley chimed in, and their were a few confused glimpses at the nickname.
"I am with Alenko and Williams on this one Commander. We should proceed with caution." Liara wrapped her hands together and twittled her thumbs nervously. I looked to Wrex for his input and he just gave off a shrug. "I'm aware that this is a potentially dangerous situation, but this is our chance to find Saren. Whether he comes to us or we go to him is irrelevant. We have to the stop the bastard one way or another."
Garrus chimed in, his mandibles flaring in concern, "Yes, we do. But we are severely unprepared for that kind of fight alone."
"I'm all set up Shepard. Ready when you are, just hit the button on the vidcall when you're prepared."
"All right here we go. I'll do the talking." I hit the button and a pacing figure appeared on the screen.
"Ahh Shepard. You're existence has become something of an inconvenience for my operation. Surely, you know there is no scenario where you and your entire crew come out as the victor."
"Skipping the pleasantries? Did your mother ever teach you how to talk to a lady." I made a mock pouting face much to Saren's disdain. "This is strictly business Shepard, something you are about to stop getting in the way of."
"That may or may not be the case, but me and my entire crew are prepared to sacrifice ourselves to stop you." He slammed his fist on a desk next to him as he got closer to the camera, clearly irate. "Dammit Shepard. You'll doom all of humanity. All of the other species too to fulfill this idiotic ideology you have. You don't know how wrong you are."
"I've seen your idea of what's right Saren. I'm not so sure you can lecture me about right and wrong."
"Yes. Benezia. She was very good at her job. But you have a beautiful blue member of your team that will fill in her spot just nicely." I felt my nerves tense, and I had to fight every urge in me to keep from jumping out at the hologram. "If you think you'll get anywhere close to Liara without me being right there to put you in the ground, you're very mistaken. You may have gotten to Benezia, but I won't let you do the same to Liara, or to any one of my crew." I snarled through the words, very barely holding on to my nerves.
"Is that right? Well then, how about you? What ever happened to Benezia? My sources say she wasn't at the scene when they read your little report. And surely you're smart enough to kill her instead of trying to talk the indoctrination out of her?" I could tell he was prying for an answer. Perhaps he had his own doubts about how indoctrinated the matriarch was.
"I think we both know that Benezia's dead. I'm taking her back to her home world for a proper burial. Unlike you, she'll be remembered as a hero."
"I have no sympathy for what happens to me after death. The only thing that matters is the return of the reapers. Good luck doing that with half of your ship missing." He smiled as he cut the feed.
"Uhm Shepard, something just made a jump into the galaxy right behind us."
"Any bet on that being a friendly ship?" I ignored Joker's quip as I rushed to the pilots deck, the rest of the crew following closely behind.
"Joker, jump us through the nearest relay. Now!" A ship, small and metallic floated through the now warped area of space and immediately opened fire. "Joker what's the hold up?"
"I'm trying to get the ftl drive online quick but it still takes time."
"I'll go man the main gun." Garrus sprinted from the deck and off to the guns. A few of what was now obviously a geth ships bullets sprinkled across the Normandy, activating the ships dampener. "Brace for ftl jump, you all might wanna strap in." Everybody ran to a seat, I buckled Liara's before setting into mine just in time.
We came out on the other side, everyone still full of adrenaline from the attack. Joker sounded back to his usual calmness. "Now entering Parnitha system. Thessia should be less than a day away."
"Alright everyone, we're going to be on Thessia for two weeks. During that time we will all be on a lighter duty than usual, but we still have to work at our full capacity." Everyone nodded their heads before dismissing themselves. I took a glance over at Liara who was still seated, worry painted on her face from the earlier conversation. I knelt down in front of her, picking her face up to meet my gaze, almost getting lost in cerulean blue in the process. "I promise, i'll never let anyone hurt you Liara. Even if it's the last thing I do." I felt her relax as my own body tensed. It was a promise I had made once long ago in a different world. A different reality.