Liara held up one hand to block the glare of the midday sun as it beat down from up above. A trickle of sweat ran down from her forehead into one eye, and with a hiss of annoyance she blinked and quickly wiped it away. Behind her, Garrus broke out into a muffled string of swears as he tripped over a gnarled root poking out of the ground for the third time in five minutes, followed by a bout of mischievous laughter from Tali.

Liara brought up her omni-tool, keeping one eye on the ground in front of her as she sidestepped a particularly dense patch of foliage. The orange display flashed into existence before her, displaying a topological map of the region around them. Confirming that their path was correct, she turned over her shoulder to nod in confirmation towards Shepard, who was following directly behind her. Shepard herself only brought her eyes up from the forest floor for a couple seconds, just long enough to smile and hold up an encouraging thumbs up before returning her gaze to the treacherous ground below.

They had landed on the surface of Jiwai three hours ago, the entire ground team quickly disembarking once Joker found a clearing large enough to land the Normandy's bulky frame. As the four of them had taken in the imposing wall of thick trees, crisscrossed vines, and dense foliage covering the floor like a carpet, Joker had called in with a touching goodbye message. "Scans show some sort of structure about thirty klicks north of your position, sending the data to your omni-tools now. Try not to get any gross jungle parasites on the ship, yeah?"

Liara huffed out a bemused laugh at the memory as she deactivated her omni-tool. She hadn't had time to interact with Shepard's helmsman much, so she still hadn't quite decided if he struck her as incredibly deadpan or just plain abrasive. Ducking beneath a curtain of hanging vines, she mentally shrugged as she held the way open for Shepard behind her. The rest of the crew seemed to get along with him perfectly fine, so she figured that was good enough for now.

After the rest of the team passed her by, Liara swiftly began moving through the dense forest around them as she deftly stepped between knotted roots and over fallen logs. In less than a minute she easily surpassed the three mercenaries as they awkwardly trudged through the jungle, with Shepard letting out an impressed whistle as she reclaimed her place at the head of the group. At the rear of the pack, Tali huffed out between panting breaths, "You know, before today I never really considered 'forest walking' a skill that someone would need to practice."

Liara smiled bashfully as she stepped around a suspiciously brightly colored bush, careful to keep her exposed arms away from any of its large leaves. As he followed in her footsteps around the plant, Garrus muttered, "Well if Joker wasn't so paranoid about where he landed, maybe we wouldn't need to be good at it."

The four of them passed through an open grove of twisted trees, light from above filtering even more strongly through this less dense patch of forest. Shepard moved up to walk side by side with Liara, sighing exasperatedly as she did so. "Until you have money to buy me a new ship, he can be as careful as he likes." Turning towards Liara, she asked, "Anyways, you have any idea what we should be looking for on the way?"

Liara frowned, shifting the satchel strapped across her shoulder as she resisted the urge to pull out her journal. "Not anything specific beyond what Joker already told us, no. However, if we are looking for some sort of structure, I think it would make sense to expect a ruin similar to what we found in the mine."

Shepard grunted out, "Yeah, makes sense." Without stopping, she shifted her own pack over to fish a canteen of water out before taking a few long gulps. Liara found herself staring at Shepard's now exposed neck, fixated on a bead of sweat as it languishly rolled off her chiseled jawline and slowly crept down to the hollow of her throat. Mouth suddenly dry, Liara fished her own water container from her satchel as she flushed with heat.

A sudden blast of static from the earpiece Shepard had given her abruptly cut off her train of thought, and looking back Liara saw the other three grimace as the whole group stopped in place. A moment later, the distortion faded away as Joker's voice once again filled their ears. "Hey, just a heads up Shepard, we're picking up several points of very low frequency emissions on the charts back here."

Shepard frowned and raised up one hand to her earpiece. "What kind of emissions are we talking about?"

"It'd have to be something real small, like a couple shuttles or maybe some big ground vehicles or something. Either way, odds are that you aren't alone out there."

"Alright, thanks for the warning. Just in case, keep the keys in the ignition until we get back."

"Roger that."

Shepard turned towards the rest of the group, hand now resting casually on the grip of her pistol. "Alright, break time's over people, let's move."

Liara quickly stowed her canteen and resumed cutting a path through the jungle, now moving a bit faster as her heart rate started to quicken ever so slightly. As she casually vaulted over a fallen log across their path, her eyes flitted around in every direction, peering for any sign of movement in the shadows between the trees. Unfortunately, all she saw was Tali as she attempted to jump over the same log, only for her to land spread-eagle across it with a soft oof!

Liara's face must have betrayed her rising anxiety, as Shepard once again moved to walk next to her. Without looking away from the forest before them, she roughly patted Liara on the shoulder. "Hey, for all we know there could just be other people out exploring like us, right?" Nodding to herself, Liara breathed in stiffly through her nose before sighing deeply, attempting to relax the tension spreading across her chest. Looking to her right, she offered a small smile to Shepard, who grinned back in response and patted her shoulder again before withdrawing her hand. "We'll be fine, doc, just relax."

Behind them both, a series of metallic scrapes and clicks filled the air, causing them to spin on the spot. Garrus stopped abruptly, now only a few feet away with his sniper now sitting in his hands fully extended. His mandibles flexed as he shrugged casually. "What?" Behind him, Tali slowly slid forwards off of the log, landing face first in the dirt with a yelp.

Scoffing reproachfully, Shepard turned away from them and stepped towards a particularly dense copse of trees, the rest of the group following behind. As they carefully started to squeeze between the thick boughs, she called back, "You're getting as paranoid as Joker, Vakarian." Liara grunted with effort as she wedged herself between two trees to avoid a thicket of thorny bushes, swinging off of a branch to land lightly in the dirt on the other side. Around her, she heard Shepard's crew loudly force their way through the undergrowth as they struggled to continue forwards. Shepard finally squeezed her way through a patch of trees as Garrus and Tali waded their way through waist high ferns that dripped with some sort of translucent slime.

Stepping ahead of the team, Shepard began to walk into the next clearing, calling back as she exited the treeline, "I'm positive that we are in absolutely no danger at– oh." Liara quickly followed behind, joined by Garrus and Tali as they exited into the clearing just in time to hear Shepard softly mumble, "Ah, shit."

The scraping sound of chambering rounds filled the air as Liara found herself staring down the barrel of no less than ten rifles. Stumbling to a stop, her breath froze in her chest as she looked around to see easily a dozen armed figures surrounding them, all wearing thick ballistic armor painted white with garish orange highlights. Beyond them, the clearing they had emerged into appeared to be full of various stacks of crates, piles of loose weapons and pieces of armor, and even a few ATVs. Several more groups of soldiers were engaged in furious activity in this camp, with many transporting various crates around or walking patrols in small groups.

Tali shifted to Liara's right, and she turned to see the quarian slowly move her hand towards the shotgun slung across her back. Across from her, Garrus stood completely still, rifle clutched tightly in his hands as he stared towards the soldiers around them with raptor-like intensity. Shepard, however, casually took a step forwards, hands raised innocently as several rifles swung her way. She stopped again, still a good fifteen feet away from the firing line as she called out, "Hey there, sorry to bother you all, I think we just took a wrong turn a little while back."

Silence filled the air as the soldiers offered no response, allowing the sound of rustling leaves and distant bird calls to echo out around them. A soft gurgling sound also emerged from the soundscape, and Liara blinked as she glanced past the troopers to see an exposed riverbank about a hundred feet away.

Shepard took another step forwards, hands still up as she continued, "Okay, well if you guys don't mind, we'll just be on our way and leave you to, uh." She gestured vaguely at the caravan around them. "Whatever this is."

"Stop!" A soldier in the middle of the line stepped forwards, his weapon pointed directly at Shepard's chest. Voice distorted by the helmet completely encapsulating his head, he called out, "Who the hell are you?"

Slowly lowering her hands to rest in the waistband of her cargo pants, Shepard responded, "I'm Shepard, and these are just some fellow hiking enthusiasts that I happen to know."

The soldier turned over his shoulder to glance towards the trooper to his right, who shook their head slowly. Attempting to move as casually as possible, Liara leaned towards Tali to whisper, "Shouldn't we be doing something about this?"

Without turning away from the soldiers, Tali whispered back, "Just wait for Shepard's signal."

The center soldier turned back towards Shepard, hefting the rifle in his hands as he shouted out again, "Who do you work for?"

Nonchalantly, Shepard began loudly popping the knuckles in each of her hands with her thumbs. "We don't work for anybody, we're just out here to enjoy some nature."

Liara leaned towards Tali again, hissing, "I don't know what the signal is."

Tali huffed out a soft laugh. "Honestly, I don't either. Just watch Garrus, they've known each other the longest."

The soldier stepped forwards again, now only a few feet from pressing the barrel of his rifle up against Shepard. Tilting his head to one side, Liara heard him mutter in a much quieter voice, "Orders, ma'am?"

Shepard, for her part, remained completely unphased as she continued to work through each hand to pop all her various joints. Glancing over towards Garrus, Liara frowned as she realized that the turian was no longer looking at the troopers around them but instead was staring directly towards Shepard's hands.

The soldier nodded suddenly in response to some silent communication as he took a step back towards the firing line. Liara's heart began to pound as her breaths quickened, and in front of her Shepard went completely still. Liara quickly glanced towards Garrus, where she saw his grip tighten on his rifle as his mandibles twitched. Eyes widening, she drifted her hand towards the grip of her pistol just as the soldier turned over his shoulder to motion towards the rest of the troopers.

Immediately, Shepard sprang into action, diving forwards to slap away the soldier's rifle with one hand as she brought up her knee into his stomach. A split second later, gunfire erupted as Garrus sank into a crouch and fired off three shots in quick succession. Liara ripped her pistol from its holster and blindly began firing towards the soldiers on the left of the line as they turned their weapons on Shepard. She caught two in the chest, causing them to crumple with pained cries, and as the third spun back towards her she dove behind a crate just as automatic fire ripped through the grass she had been standing on a moment before.

Tali landed next to her on the ground with a thud, her hand dancing across her now active omni-tool. The device flashed as arcs of electricity blasted out of it, and the four remaining soldiers yelped as their weapons began to steam and overheat in their hands. Shepard dashed forwards from the crumpled form of the first soldier, shotgun now in hand as she and Garrus gunned down the last soldiers as they slid into place behind another crate.

Shouts rang out from farther into the clearing, and Liara poked her head up to see several groups of armored troopers beginning to sprint towards them, weapons raised. She fired off several more rounds, managing to catch one trooper in the leg before bursts of return fire forced her back behind the crate. Across from her, Garrus poked his rifle out from the crate and fired, and fifty feet away a soldier was thrown out of their ATV from the impact.

Next to him, Shepard clapped her hands together as they sparked blue with biotic energy. Making eye contact with Liara, she pointed out across the clearing towards the barely visible riverbank as she shouted over the gunfire, "We have to make it to the water!" Liara nodded as her own biotics flared, and as she settled into a sprinter's position Tali chambered a fresh thermal clip into her shotgun.

Seeing that her team was ready, Shepard slapped Garrus on the shoulder and lifted a hand with three fingers extended. The shouts of approaching soldiers grew louder as the first finger fell. A moment later, the second followed it, and Liara wiped sweat from her brow as adrenaline coursed through her system. Finally, just as Liara started to see white and orange armor appear from behind Shepard's crate, she shouted, "Now!"

Immediately Liara began running, hands spread outwards as she projected a barrier around Tali and herself. Across the way, Garrus sprinted out of cover as Shepard slammed a biotically infused kick into their crate, sending it flying back fifteen feet before smashing into a group of troopers. Bullets immediately began pinging off of Liara's barrier as the whole clearing came alive with gunfire, forcing her to grunt as the strain of maintaining it grew exponentially. A moment later, Garrus and Shepard vaulted across the front of an empty ATV to slip into the barrier, bullets exploding the tires of the vehicle seconds after they cleared it.

Tali and Garrus immediately began returning fire as they ran, but Liara couldn't afford the distraction of turning to check if their shots were landing as her barrier began to waver. Sensing the strain she was under, Shepard swapped positions with Tali as they ran between two open crates on the ground. She lifted her own glowing hands to match Liara's, and immediately the barrier around them grew in size as Liara felt the spike of mental pressure lessen. Turning to Shepard with an appreciative grin, she was matched by a feral smile full of teeth as Shepard urged the group towards the rapidly approaching riverbank.

The four of them sprinted through the open gap in the foliage, dirt and leaves exploding outwards as the barrier surrounding them punched a hole out onto the riverbank. Liara immediately stumbled as her boots started sinking into the soft sand, but managed to avoid falling completely as Shepard steadied her with one hand. Still urging the group forwards, Shepard pointed forwards and called out, "That's our ride out of here!"

The river in front of them was significantly wider than Liara had assumed at first glance, with the distance to the far bank easily ranging over a hundred feet. The water appeared calm enough, with only small waves rippling across its surface. Liara, however, only had eyes for the large boat anchored a few feet out from the bank. From prow to stern, the boat ran about forty feet, with a small cabin located in the front and several more of the large crates she saw in the clearing left scattered around the remaining deck.

Shepard sprinted forwards, dropping her hands as she frantically began untying the ropes currently mooring the boat to a boulder jutting out of the sand. Garrus and Tali blew past her, both of them hurling themselves across the few feet of water between them and the boat to land roughly on the deck. Liara followed a moment after, dropping the barrier completely and instead using her biotics to gracefully launch herself over the railing to land on the wooden deck next to Garrus.

Tali quickly picked herself up off the deck and sprinted down the length of the boat to dive through the open door of the cabin up front. Turning back towards Shepard, Liara saw her still struggling with the rope when movement up the beach caught her eye. Snapping her head towards it, her heart sank as she saw several more soldiers pour out onto the beach, where they immediately fell into shooting position and opened fire.

Shepard swore and fell flat against the sand as bullets ricocheted off of the boulder. Chips of stone began to fly in all directions, pinging off of the hull of the boat and splashing into the river as the automatic fire slowly ate through the surface of the rock. To Liara's right, Garrus stepped forwards with his rifle readied, and as he began to return fire Liara lifted her own pistol to try to provide covering fire.

In quick succession, four troopers fell to the ground as bullets shattered through their armor in small explosions of ceramic shards. Ducking back down against the railing of the boat, Liara popped out her expended thermal clip as she turned to scream, "Shepard, get up here!"

Shepard rose into a crouch, spitting sand out of her mouth as with a flick of her wrist she extended a steaming orange blade from her omni-tool. In one slashing motion, she cut completely through the thick rope binding the boat in place, then turned and leapt for the ship with arms outstretched. Garrus stood again to fire off another volley of covering fire as Shepard slammed her stomach into the railing around the ship. Lunging forwards, Liara dropped her pistol to the deck and grabbed Shepard by the straps of her armored vest. With a grunt, she planted one boot against the railing and heaved backwards, dragging Shepard the rest of the way onto the boat where she flopped onto the deck heavily.

As soon as Shepard's boots crossed the railing, Garrus turned and called out, "Tali, get us out of here!" In response, the roar of an engine firing filled the air and Liara felt herself jerked to one side as the boat leapt forwards in the water, churning up a large wake behind them as they began to pull away from the riverbank.

Bullets pinged against the metal hull of the boat as they passed the ever-growing horde of soldiers on the beach, but after a couple seconds their angry cries began to fade away as the hail of gunfire slowly tapered off. Cautiously sticking her head up past the outer wall of the ship, Liara saw one last glimpse of white and orange armor as the ship rounded a turn in the river and the small bank was swallowed up by the jungle foliage once again.

"Hey doc, I think you dropped something." Turning to her left, Liara found herself face to face with Shepard. The human's face was flushed with exertion and her short hair was absolutely covered in wet sand, but her eyes were alive with an energy so palpable Liara felt a shiver run down her spine. Across from her, the corner of Shepard's mouth slowly quirked into a grin as she raised up the object in her hand.

Looking down, Liara saw her pistol held out between them, and her cheeks flushed as she slowly reached out to take it. Letting go of the pistol, Shepard stood with a grunt, holding one hand out towards Liara as she drawled, "You know, you can just tell me if you don't like the things I give you."

Heat bloomed across Liara's cheeks as she sputtered out, "No, oh goddess, I didn't–"

Shepard's grin broke out into full laughter as she bent down and grabbed Liara's upper arm to hoist her back up to her feet. "I'm just messing with you, T'Soni."

Liara blinked, suddenly finding herself incredibly close to Shepard as the human's strong hands firmly gripped her by both biceps. She opened her mouth, but mortifyingly only a soft wheezing sound came out as her heart began to hammer away in her chest. Inches away now, Shepard's grin slowly slipped away, changing into an unreadable expression Liara had never seen on her before.

A sudden wave bumped the boat up a couple inches, starting Liara and Shepard out of their little reverie. Clearing her throat, Shepard clapped Liara on the shoulder before turning towards Garrus, who had one foot planted up on the boat's rear railing as he stared down the river behind them.

Sure that her face must be nearly steaming with heat, Liara quickly patted herself on the face. From further down the boat, Shepard's voice wafted over as she spoke to Garrus. "We should be safe now, they won't be able to follow us down the river on those ATVs."

As if in response to Shepard's challenge, the sound of several revving engines rang out across the water. Feeling her heart drop, Liara spun around to see a second boat roar around a bend in the river, identical to their own and absolutely packed with armored soldiers. Following directly behind it, several smaller shapes zoomed out across the waves as a dozen jet skis raced towards them, each carrying two more soldiers as they rapidly cut through the river.

Silently, Garrus dropped his foot off the back rail and turned to face Shepard, his face the purest image of annoyance Liara had ever seen. His mouth opened, but Shepard popped up a single finger in warning, jaw flexing as she snapped, "I don't wanna hear a single word." Turning back towards the prow, she yelled over the roar of rushing water, "Can't this thing go any faster?"

Tali's voice rang out from the open door of the cabin as she screamed back, "I'm a mechanic, not a damn sailor, Shepard!"

Scowling, Shepard yanked her pistol out of its holster and thumbed off the safety as she turned back to face the small fleet swiftly approaching. Liara ran forwards to take up a position to her left, and as Garrus raised his rifle up to his shoulder Shepard grumbled, "God, I hope my boots stay dry."

A deafening blast rang out as Garrus fired off his first shot, and looking upstream Liara saw the round lift two soldiers right out of their jet ski. To his left, Shepard swung her right foot behind her in a firing stance as she leveled her pistol towards the approaching troopers. She fired off a single shot, and Liara's eyebrows shot upwards as one jet ski at the rear of the pack suddenly swerved into the side of the boat with a crunch. Shepard's eyes briefly flickered over towards Liara, and as she returned her gaze back towards the river Liara saw a smug grin briefly pass over her lips.

A chatter of automatic fire rang out, causing Liara to flinch as the top of the crate she was standing next to exploded into a cloud of wood chips and dust. Drawing her own pistol, she stood shoulder to shoulder with Shepard as all three opened fire into the line of approaching vehicles.

The frontline of jet skis immediately dissolved into chaos as Garrus and Shepard efficiently pumped rounds into their targets, with Liara offering suppressing fire towards any soldiers who started to try to return fire. In the span of thirty seconds, four more jet skis had their operators blasted back into the river, causing the vehicles to either flip over and sink or simply begin to list aimlessly off-course as their engines died.

Unfortunately, the remaining soldiers seemed to possess some measure of sense as they all let up on their throttles, allowing the larger boat to pass them as they huddled behind its sturdier frame. This second boat roared forwards like an aquatic battering ram, rapidly halving the distance between the two boats in a matter of seconds.

Shepard kneeled down behind the rear railing, turning back towards the cabin once again. "I'm just saying, their boat seems a lot faster than ours!"

The boat suddenly jerked to one side, throwing Liara against the railing as she glanced wide-eyed at the massive boulder protruding from the water they had missed by less than five feet. Tali's voice emerged from the front once again, now shrill with tension. "You don't pay me enough to learn how boats work in combat scenarios!"

Movement off to the boat's right suddenly distracted Liara from her squad's bickering, and turning to look her heart rate kicked up as the prow of the trailing ship began to pull up alongside the rear of their own boat. Gunfire once again filled the air as the pursuing soldiers laid down on their triggers, bullets pinging off of the metallic hull as crates exploded and bullets ricocheted all around Liara. Diving forwards onto the ground, Liara landed with a grunt next to Shepard and Garrus as they crouched down with their weapons grasped tightly in their hands.

A small gap appeared in the torrent of gunfire, and immediately Shepard was on her feet, pistol raised and firing off towards the opposing boat. Pulling herself up off the ground, Liara glanced over the railing just in time to see a soldier step out from the cabin with a large, boxy object held up to their shoulder. Hesitating in confusion for a moment, Liara saw the soldier step forwards to the edge of the ship and take aim directly at her. To her side, Shepard flinched as she grabbed Liara, yanking her away from the edge of the ship as she shouted, "Liara, get down!"

A moment later, an explosion threw the two of them back off their feet and tipped them backwards over a wooden crate that somehow hadn't shattered yet. Liara's aural cavities rang painfully with everything around her briefly sounding oddly muffled, like trying to hear through a layer of thick cotton. To her side, Shepard groaned as she rolled onto her back, swearing profusely as she forced herself up onto her feet. Standing on unsteady legs, Liara turned to see a whole five foot stretch of the metal railing had been torn away and blasted into the water, with Garrus now crouching next to this breach as he fired shot after shot into the crowd of soldiers across the water.

"Alright, I've had about enough of this." Liara turned to find Shepard holstering her pistol as she began to bounce on the balls of her feet like a boxer. Rolling her shoulders backwards, she began to quickly stalk towards the edge of the ship as she called out, "Garrus, cover me!" Without waiting for a reply, she broke out into a sprint, dodging around piles of shattered wood and burnt metal as she ran full tilt towards the boat's edge. Seeing her approach, Garrus swore and swiveled back out of cover, firing his sniper as fast as he could pull the trigger. Shepard blazed forwards as the railing approached, blue energy beginning to snap and sizzle around her. In one fluid motion, she crouched in front of the railing, swiftly leapt to plant one foot on top of it, then flung herself out over the water, where a moment later she vanished into a booming clap of biotic energy.

A split second later, a cluster of soldiers on the opposing ship were thrown violently backwards as Shepard reappeared in a flash where they had stood a moment ago. Immediately, she leapt up into the air, fist held high above her as she plunged back down onto the deck with a scream that Liara could hear from across the river. A blue explosion illuminated the jungle in all directions as Shepard's nova pulverized crates and sent soldiers flying like ragdolls, with several soaring clear off of the boat and into the river below. Not waiting for the soldiers to regain their composure, Shepard dove out of Liara's view behind a crate towards the rear of the ship.

"Spirits, I hate when she does this." Turning towards Garrus, Liara saw him stand from behind the ruined metal railing as he began emptying his clip into the soldiers as they closed in on Shepard. Raising up her own pistol, Liara carefully took aim towards the soldiers closest to her. As she sighted down the gun, a sudden flash of movement shook her concentration, and three soldiers flew backwards as Shepard emerged, shotgun in hand and weaving between combatants like a dancer. Liara's hands began to shake as she focused, trying desperately to find a clear shot that wouldn't accidentally hit Shepard instead as she alternated between point-blank shotgun blasts and furious biotic punches.

Eventually, she slammed her pistol back into its holster with an annoyed huff. Looking around for any other way to help, her eyes lit upon the far corner of the enemy boat, where four soldiers were finally pulling themselves up off of the ground behind Shepard. Feeling a flash of inspiration, Liara's biotics flared as she swirled energy together between her hands. Allowing the surge to build to the point of it beginning to crackle between her hands, she whipped her hand out, flinging the pulse across the water where it exploded into a whirling singularity. Helpless in its grasp, the soldiers found themselves dragged off of the deck and up into the air, where they writhed powerlessly in the gravity of the singularity.

Hearing the detonation of biotics, Shepard whirled on the spot, and without any hesitation flashed towards the center of the singularity in another biotic charge. The resulting explosion flung the soldiers screaming out across the river, and the boat itself shuddered and spun a few degrees in the water before righting itself. Turning back towards Liara, Shepard held a thumbs up over her head, and even from across the river Liara could make out the wild grin on her face.

The whine of engines filled the air as gunfire lashed out once again, and to Liara's right Garrus fell back against the deck with a grunt. Dashing over to him, she frantically began trying to inspect him for injuries as he dragged himself back up into a sitting position. Clutching at the now cracked armor plate on his right shoulder, he pointed out towards Shepard as he yelled, "I'll be fine, I can cover her from here." He shifted his rifle up into his lap before he looked Liara dead in the eyes. "If we can't clear the jet skis though, I don't think it'll matter much who's covering her."

Swallowing thickly, Liara nodded as she shuffled back over towards the edge of the boat. Peeking out through the hole in the railing, she saw two separate jet skis pulling up alongside the boat, with the rear soldier on each vehicle starting to turn towards the hull with weapons readied. Hiding back behind the railing, Liara drew her pistol in one hand as she built up a charge of biotics in the other. Exhaling slowly, she counted to three in her head before snapping up to her full height, flinging out her biotics towards the closest jet ski while firing towards the furthest.

The rear driver cried out as Liara's shots found their mark, causing them to slump forwards onto the controls. A second later, the vehicle jerked to the left before flipping over and violently throwing off its riders. To her left, the pulse of biotics flew through the air before whipping around and detonating between the two remaining soldiers. Immediately, they began to slowly float up off of the jet ski, allowing Liara to easily put them down with a few well-placed rounds.

Not stopping to enjoy her victory, Liara swiftly vaulted over the railing, legs spread wide as she fell directly on top of the now vacant jet ski. The impact sank almost the whole vehicle below the water line, splashing Liara with oddly warm water before it bounced her back up above the surface. Stowing her pistol, she quickly grabbed the handle bar and revved the engine, blasting forwards in a spray of water.

In the time it had taken her to commandeer her vehicle, the two boats had managed to pull away from her a bit, but much to her pleasant surprise Liara found that her jet ski easily managed to close the distance. As she veered left towards Tali and Garrus' boat, she began to count how many jet skis still remained on the water. Garrus and Shepard had taken out six, and combined with Liara's two that should only leave four remaining that she had to deal with.

Swerving around the left side of the boat, she frowned as she saw three jet skis ahead of her, soldiers on each firing bursts into the side of the hull. Every couple seconds, the window of the front cabin would flash as Tali attempted to return fire while still navigating the boat around the various bends of the river. Releasing the right side of the handle bar, Liara attempted to draw her pistol only for the vehicle to immediately begin to swerve dangerously. Biting her lip, she quickly grabbed the handle bar again, thinking for a moment before a new idea began to form in her mind as she cranked the accelerator.

Swerving wide, Liara raced up along the outside of the closest jet ski uncontested as the soldiers focused completely on the boat. Exhaling deeply, Liara began to glow biotic blue as a barrier flickered into place around her entire jet ski. Not waiting for the soldiers to notice her, she yanked the handlebar to the right, knifing through the river to slam full speed into the enemy vehicle. The impact sparked across her barrier as the soldier's found themselves briefly sandwiched between a wall and a hard place, until a moment later their jet ski simply gave up the ghost and exploded underneath them. Liara grunted at the strain on her biotics as the barrier shimmered, but much to her satisfaction it held as she accelerated towards the next target.

Apparently alerted by the explosion, the next group of soldiers turned in their seats when Liara was still only halfway up to them. Immediately, the rear soldier spun to fully face backwards and opened fire into Liara's barrier, causing the blue field to shimmer once again as bullets sparked and bounced off in all directions. A spike of mental pain burrowed into the base of Liara's skull as the strain of maintaining the barrier grew, but rather than pull off she doubled down over the handlebars and revved the accelerator as far as it would go.

Not expecting her to simply bulldoze her way through their fire, the soldiers simply watched in disbelief as Liara rammed her jet ski into them at full speed, forcing them to spin off to one side dangerously. The driver attempted to right the vehicle, managing to angle the jet ski back towards the boat before another chunk of rock poking up through the water slammed into the broadside of the jet ski with a sickening crunch. Satisfied the vehicle was out of commission, Liara grit her teeth as she accelerated towards the third jet ski at the front of the boat.

The third set of soldiers, having the advantage of watching Liara's process twice in a row, immediately began swerving left and right as the rear soldier fired prolonged bursts into Liara's barrer. Ignoring the growing strain, she continued to race forwards through the river, but each time she approached the soldiers would serve away, forcing her to begin the process all over again.

After her third such attempt, the whine of another engine forced Liara to briefly look over her shoulder. Pulling up directly behind her with weapons blazing was the fourth and final jet ski, whose riders seemed to be content to hang around the rear of the boat and just empty as many bullets as possible into Liara's shield. Her pulse began to pound in her temples as her barrier flickered ever brighter, and no matter which way she drove she found herself unable to close the distance to either jet ski. Desperation started to well up within her as she realized that she had only seconds to find a way out of this situation.

Suddenly, two resounding booms rang out across the water, and looking over her shoulder once again Liara saw the soldiers behind her blasted right off their seats. A moment later, Tali's window flashed several times as she opened fire, catching the front jet ski in a torrent of bullets. In seconds, both vehicles found themselves tumbling through the river, now devoid of operators, and as Liara dropped her barrier with a sigh she saw Tali lean out of the cabin and hold up an encouraging thumbs up. Glancing behind her, she was met with the sight of Garrus as he reloaded his rifle, offering a casual salute as he turned back towards the other side of the ship.

A sudden explosion echoed out across the river, and feeling a pit of dread begin to form in her stomach Liara let off on the accelerator. The second boat quickly came into view as Tali and Garrus passed her, giving her a clear view of the now smoking hole on the back of the far boat. From her lower position in the water, Liara could just make out the top of Shepard's head as she danced around the deck, moving from cover to cover as fast as she could. A second explosion detonated on the deck, sending scraps of wood flying as Shepard went sailing through the air, tumbling ass over end before slamming back down the metal railing wall with a crunch.

Liara immediately cranked the engine, feeling the river water splash up behind her as she sliced across the river towards the second boat. A third explosion rang out, shaking the whole frame of the boat as smoke and fire wafted upwards into the air. Shepard appeared once again as she slammed backwards into the railing, causing adrenaline to race through Liara's veins like fire as she raced towards the boat. Shepard peered back over her shoulder as she approached, and upon seeing Liara on the jet ski she began to wrap something around her wrist.

Now only twenty feet from the rear of the boat, Liara could finally see Shepard's assailant step into view as they once again lifted the rectangular weapon she had spotted earlier. Standing only twenty feet from where Shepard was pressed up against the wall, they sank into a braced stance as they aimed the weapon directly towards her.

Liara heard a strained, "Oh, shit!" as Shepard threw herself backwards off of the rear of the boat. A split second later, the railing she had just occupied exploded, sending Shepard careening through the air over the river. Suddenly, an odd twang filled the air as her momentum abruptly halted, jerking her forwards as she fell directly down into the water with a splash. Blinking, Liara peered forwards from her jet ski to see a single rope stretched taut, one end tied to something up on the boat and the other wrapped thoroughly around Shepard's forearm as she was dragged through the water..

Liara immediately hopped up on her jet ski, landing with her feet balanced beneath her as she approached the stern before her. Staring forwards with unblinking focus at the impending crash, she forced herself to wait until every last part of her was screaming to save herself before she leapt upwards with hands outstretched. A moment later, her jet ski ran full tilt into the rear of the boat with a loud crunch as Liara soared completely over the rail, arms flailing wildly as she crashed into a pile of rope and broken plywood.

She quickly rolled to her left, forcing her feet beneath her as she scrambled upright. Across the deck, the single remaining soldier swiveled on the spot, hesitating for a moment before starting to bring their grenade launcher to bear. Not willing to give them the chance to fire, Liara thrust her hands out in a biotic shove that threw the soldier back into the cabin hard enough to dent the metal wall behind them.

Not waiting to check if they stayed down, Liara pivoted and ran towards the rear of the boat. Looking down, she saw the straining rope currently wrapped around one of the few surviving crates on deck, and without hesitation she grabbed it and began to heave. The muscles in her back screamed as the tendons in her wrists began to pop, but such frantic desperation filled Liara that the pain didn't even register as her whole world narrowed down to how much closer each yank of the rope could bring Shepard.

After an indeterminable amount of struggle, Liara heaved one final time and gasped as Shepard's hand appeared over the edge of the railing. Nearly dropping the rope in surprise, she dashed forwards and latched onto the limb, looking over the railing as she began to pull to see a sopping wet and incredibly bedraggled Shepard blearily looking up towards her. With a hoarse yell, she planted one foot on the railing and surged backwards, dragging Shepard completely over the rail and back onto the deck.

Shepard immediately released her arm, coughing up mouthfuls of water as she quickly unwound the rope from her arm. Looking up towards Liara, she coughed roughly before choking out, "You wouldn't believe how soggy my socks are right now."

Liara simply stared down at her, blinking dumbly at Shepard's attempt at humor. Sensing her joke didn't quite land, Shepard grimaced as she stiffly stood, the whole time keeping her arm out at an awkward angle. Frowning, Liara ran her eyes over her, realizing with a start that Shepard's face was incredibly pale and her right shoulder was sitting much lower than the left. Reaching one hand out, she called out, "Shepard, are you alright?"

Shepard turned towards her with a quizzical expression before following Liara's gaze down towards her shoulder. "Oh, that." She calmly held out the offending arm perpendicular to the ground with her palm facing downwards, before grimacing as she balled her hand into a fist. Setting her jaw, she sucked in a sharp breath before quickly rotating her hand up to face the sky, and with a dull pop her shoulder joint snapped back into place. Shepard immediately let out a string of swears, swaying on her feet as Liara lunged forwards to keep her from tipping back off the boat. "Yeah, I'm doing just fine."

A groan from further up the deck distracted Liara from the admonishment she had been about to unleash. Turning towards the cabin, she saw the soldier she had just thrown across half the boat stand with a groan, and to her side Shepard let out a groan as she whined, "I hate fighting the stubborn ones."

Lurching forwards out of Liara's grasp, Shepard tottered forwards across the deck like a drunken boxer at the end of happy hour. Liara quickly started after her, then hesitated as she watched Shepard's stride become faster and more sure-footed with each step, slowly transforming from a pathetic stroll into a familiar determined sprint. By the time she had crossed the deck Shepard began to crackle with blue energy, and as the soldier groggily lifted up their weapon towards her she juked to the right, viciously kicked their knee out from under them, then slammed their head so hard into the deck that the faceplate of their helmet shattered.

Shepard slowly stood from the now-still soldier, groaning as her back popped audibly. With a twitch of her foot she kicked the grenade launcher down the deck towards Liara, shouting out, "Try this one on for size."

Liara quickly bent down and snatched the weapon up off the deck, awkwardly holding it up to her shoulder as she attempted to figure out where to put her hands. As Shepard stiffly walked down the deck towards her, she called out, "They don't tend to teach university staff how to operate heavy machinery, just so you know."

Shepard stopped next to her, wry grin firmly back in place. "Oh it's easy, let me show you." Carefully adjusting Liara's grip, she explained, "Yeah just grab there, point it towards that part of the deck, and after I count to three just pull the trigger."

Liara's following question about the safety of blowing up a boat that they were still riding turned into an indignant squeak as Shepard firmly wrapped her arms around her waist. "One…" The pair shuffled towards the railing, and across the water Liara saw Tali start to close the distance between the two boats. "Two…" Adjusting her grip, Liara wrapped her left arm around Shepard's back as she pressed her eyes tightly closed.

"Three!" Liara squeezed the trigger as hard as she could, feeling a burst of heat as the grenade launcher kicked against her shoulder. A split second later, Shepard's arms tightened around her as the whole world seemed to lurch in place before coming to a sudden halt.

A flash of heat followed by a deafening explosion snapped Liara's eyes open, and turning over her shoulder she saw the boat they had just been standing on keel over to one side, the entire stern portion of the craft now exploded outwards across the entire river. She watched the vehicle slow to a crawl as it took on more and more water, then finally turned away as their own boat left it behind to sink below the water.

Turning back towards her own boat, she saw Shepard looking towards her with raised eyebrows and a beaming smile. Next to her, Garrus sat propped up against the wall of the cabin, his shoulder plate now removed as he applied a bandage to the tough skin beneath. Looking up from his work, he wiped dark blue blood off his fingers as he stared them both down silently. Finally, he let out a deep sigh before grumbling, "Great, now there's two of them."

Shepard snickered, and as Liara met her gaze she found herself starting to giggle along with her. In seconds, both of them were roaring in adrenaline-fueled laughter, with even Garrus starting to chuckle a bit as he reassembled his armor. He raised up a hand towards Shepard, who quickly hauled him up to his feet, and as he stowed his rifle on his back he continued, "Seriously though, let's never do that shit again."

Shepard activated her omni-tool and opened her map, examining the curve of the river before flicking off the device with a huff. Quickly crossing the deck, she popped her head through the cabin door. "Tali, pull over, the river's starting to head too far west."

Without looking over from the control panel, Tali released the steering wheel with one hand to hold up a thumbs up over her shoulder. Nodding to herself, Shepard turned back out towards the deck to face Garrus and Liara. "Alright people, our jungle cruise is about to be over so pack up everything you need and get ready to march." They both nodded before breaking into action, with Garrus double checking all of his thermal clips and carefully stowing his rifle behind him while Liara strode across the deck to pick up her satchel from where she had dropped it during the fight.

As Shepard moved further down the ship to join them, the deck jerked beneath her feet as Tali let up on the engine. Quickly leaning over the side railing, Shepard squinted into the sun as she peered towards the open bank they were now headed for. Moments later, the deck tilted beneath her feet as Tali gently ran them aground in the sand, with Tali herself emerging shortly afterwards to announce, "I have now learned how to park a boat."

Garrus' two-toned voice rumbled out some comment too soft for Shepard to hear, and next to him Liara quietly chuckled in response. Feeling a goofy smile begin to grow at the sound, Shepard quickly spun on the spot and began patting herself down to check that all of her equipment was still in place. She quickly slapped each pocket in her cargo pants, ensuring all her extra thermal clips hadn't been lost in the river, but as she swung her pack back onto her back she stopped with a frown. "Damn it."

Stepping up towards her with her own gear thoroughly stowed, Liara tilted her head in confusion as she inquired, "What's wrong?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Shepard shifted her pack to a more comfortable position, then flashed a reassuring grin at Liara. "My shotgun just fell off during my little swim, is all."

"That just sounds like a good excuse to hit up some supply depots next time we go on a shopping run." Garrus joined their little group at the edge of the boat, sniffing casually as he inspected the jungle in front of them. "Not to mention, I've had my eyes on a couple juicy mods I've been meaning to pick up for myself."

Shepard chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of depriving you of your special shopping sprees." Patting Garrus on the shoulder, she stepped out towards the railing before smoothly vaulting over onto the beach. "Anyways, we'd better move to get the good doctor here to her date with some ruins."

Three wet thuds followed as her crew jumped down after her, and as they stood to their feet Shepard covertly gave them all a quick once over. Satisfied that no one seemed to be hiding any injury that could jeopardize the group, she fell in line at the rear of the group as Liara once again began to blaze a trail.

The next hour passed quietly, with everyone seemingly too tired to engage in any conversation beyond short grunts back and forth. Even Shepard herself found her limbs start to get heavy with exhaustion as the adrenaline crash finally began to set in. A constant whining sound began to ring in her ears as a cloud of insects swarmed around Shepard's head. After twenty minutes of slapping at her arms, face, and neck, Shepard finally called out to Liara, "Why am I the only one getting eaten alive out here?"

Without slowing her pace, Liara glanced back over her shoulder with an apologetic expression. "Well, asari skin is covered in a thin layer of scales so insects tend to have a harder time biting through it than they would with a human."

Shepard groaned, slapping the back of her neck once again. Just ahead of her, Garrus drawled, "It's alright Shepard, you can hide behind the rest of us who don't have absurdly breakable skin." Not deigning to give him a response, Shepard simply flipped him off as she continued to trudge forwards.

Finally, Liara stopped at the front of the group, causing an awkward shuffling as each consecutive person behind her slowly stumbled into the next. Once everyone had found their footing, she turned back to face the group. "We are nearly at the coordinates Joker sent." She spun to point into the jungle ahead. "I believe it's right over the next ridge, actually."

Tali tiredly started to cheer as she leaned heavily against Garrus. Rolling her eyes, Shepard stepped past them as she responded, "Alright, lead the way then, doc."

The group forded forwards through the underbrush for another fifteen minutes, with Shepard spending each moment just doing her best to follow precisely in Liara's footsteps. Even with the high level of personal fitness she maintained, she found herself struggling to step between roots and over awkward rocks as deftly as the doctor. Not to mention, each step only further squished Shepard's wet socks around her boots, which served to slowly but surely drive her out of her goddamn mind.

Just as she was about to rip off her boots and just start hiking barefoot, the trees around them suddenly parted as they exited out of the dense jungle. Wind tousled Shepard's hair, and holding up her hand against the sudden glare of the sun she found herself standing at the edge of a rocky cliffside, with the forest floor expanding out below her for miles in all directions. Looking to either side, she saw the cliff continue in either direction until it disappeared back into the forest, and leaning towards the edge she reckoned the drop was at least a good two thousand feet.

Tali immediately collapsed to the ground with a groan, lamely slapping at her canteen until Garrus rolled his eyes and leaned down to hand it to her. To Shepard's left, Liara paced back and forth across the cliffside as she frowned down towards her map. Briefly glancing towards Shepard, she shook her head in confusion before returning her gaze to the map. "We're standing virtually on top of the coordinates for the structure, but nothing's here." Quickly deactivating her omni-tool, she instead opened up her satchel to pull out her paper journal. "There must be something here somewhere, I probably just missed something."

Shepard stepped forwards to rest a reassuring hand on Liara's shoulder. "Hey, don't freak out, it'll be fine." Liara reluctantly looked up from the journal to meet her eyes, and Shepard squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "There's no rush, just take your time."

Liara's frown began to smooth out as a small smile briefly flashed across her face. Shepard found herself rooted to the spot, suddenly transfixed by the way the bright daylight shimmered and danced across her deep, blue eyes. Blinking, she realized with a jolt that she was still grabbing Liara's shoulder. Her client's shoulder. Right.

Coughing awkwardly, Shepard dropped her hand before scratching the back of her neck. Suddenly desperate for a change in subject, she opened her mouth to speak when a loud rustle shook through the jungle behind them. Whirling on the spot, she dropped into a crouch as she snapped her pistol up towards the sound, and a brief glance to her left confirmed that Garrus and Tali had both brought their own weapons up as well.

The forest before them continued to shuffle around as two shapes began to emerge, and Shepard's finger slowly began to squeeze down on the trigger. Just as she was about to fire, the shapes resolved themselves into two human women stepping forwards out of the jungle, each with their own pistols drawn. Eyes widening, Shepard released the tension on her trigger as she called out, "Hold your fire!" Slightly lowering her weapon, she peered forwards to take in these two new arrivals.

The woman on the left had luscious, flowing black hair and was wearing probably the most impractical hiking outfit Shepard had ever seen, with her entire body from the neck down was sealed inside a skin-tight catsuit. In contrast, the other woman appeared to be wearing bright orange parachute pants over some ratty boots, a black climbing harness across her chest and thighs, and nothing else. To complete the look, her hair was shaved down completely and every inch of exposed skin was covered in a myriad of intricate tattoos.

More concerningly, however, was the fact that the two continued to level their weapons directly at Shepard and her crew. As the tense silence began to stretch out, Shepard decided she had better do something about it before somebody got shot. "Can we help you with something?"

Both women immediately snapped their weapons over towards her. After another pause, the woman with long hair called out in an accented voice, "Which cell do you work for?"

Shepard's brow furrowed quizzically. "I mean I'm technically self-employed if that's what you're asking."

Brandishing her pistol higher, the woman took a step towards her. Immediately, all of Shepard's crew swung their weapons towards her, and in response the tattooed woman flared her biotics with a snarl. Sensing the chance for peace was quickly slipping through her fingers, Shepard stowed her pistol as she held up the other before her. "Woah, okay, let's calm down for a second."

The woman in the catsuit frowned as her pistol lowered a couple degrees. "We know you're with Cerberus, we saw where you parked your boat."

Tali piped up from off to Shepard's left, "It was a good parking job, right?"

Ignoring her, Shepard slowly straightened up from crouching as she kept her hands out in front of her. "Look, I've never heard of any Cerberus before, but we stole this boat from some military-type jackasses a while back. Personally, I didn't really like them all that much."

Rifle still raised up to his shoulder, Garrus added on, "Yeah, the whole white and orange thing didn't really do it for me."

At this, the tattooed woman snorted, though her pistol stayed pointed at Shepard. Looking towards the other woman, Shepard saw her frown deepen even further as she stared intensely towards all four of them. Silence once again filled the air as the woman regarded each member of Shepard's crew with the intensity of a mathematician trying to puzzle together a particularly difficult formula.

In one quick movement, the woman slammed her pistol back into its holster at her hip. To her side, the short-haired woman glanced over in surprise, but followed suit a moment later. The woman in the catsuit returned her gaze to Shepard as she called out in a cryptic voice, "I'd recommend getting out of this particular neck of the woods. Cerberus doesn't tend to take thievery lightly."

With that, she spun on her heel and quickly walked back into the treeline. The tattooed woman shrugged before turning to follow, harshly yelling over her shoulder, "Kill you later assholes!"

A minute later, they were gone. Turning back towards her crew, Shepard let out a weary sigh as her crew stowed their various weapons. Looking over towards Liara, she indulged in a shrug of her own. "Well, they seemed nice."

Liara snorted before pulling her canteen out from her satchel. Turning her gaze over towards Garrus, Shepard saw him staring off towards something to the west. "Garrus, what is it?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing major." He vaguely gestured towards the direction he had been staring. "I mean, I found the ruins we're looking for, but you know, nothing important." Liara immediately choked on her water as she spun around to follow his finger. Stepping up to firmly slap her on the back, Shepard leaned past her to also look off to the west.

Raising up a hand once again to block the glare of the sun, Shepard squinted as all that met her gaze was more jungle. Biting her lip, she rolled her eyes as she opened her mouth to ask Garrus to clarify before suddenly freezing. She blinked, then leaned forwards some more as she lowered her gaze. "Holy shit."

Carved into the rock wall of the cliff were several massive triangular structures, all side by side and extending across the face of the cliff like massive tines on the galaxy's biggest comb. Each structure had a ridge running down the middle, creating a rippling effect as the carved stone shot out from the wall before reaching its apex and returning back to the cliff face to meet the next structure. The surface of each stone structure was intricately carved with detailed geometric patterns that circled around each other and intersected at various points, turning the whole cliffside into a work of art.

Liara leaned forwards, her face split into a glowing smile as she pointed. "Look, there's our way in." Following her finger, Shepard found herself looking at a gaping hole punched into the face of one of the triangular structures, about a hundred feet down from where they were.

Straightening up, she clapped Liara firmly on the shoulder. "Let's get moving, I think I've had enough meet-and-greets with strangers for today." The whole group started forwards, suddenly energized by the sight of their goal. As they began to make their way across the cliff edge, Shepard suddenly paused. "Wait, one of you packed a rope, right?"

A/N: hope you guys missed some action scenes bc boy did i miss writing them! i'm actually really happy with how this one turned out too, so i hope you guys enjoyed! also, i've officially binged through all four uncharted games to get inspiration for this fic but now im sitting here crying over a fictional marriage. god damn it.