Notes:

CGC - Center for Galactic Cooperation

Ionúin Álainn - beautiful beloved (Gaelic)

Siame - "one who is all", a loved one cherished above all others (Thessian/Source: CDN)

STG - Special Tasks Group

XO - Executive Officer

Working the Edges

Shadow Broker Warehouse, Juxhi, Skyllian Verge – 30 Nov 2188

Following a five-day period of initiation into the business processes and procedures utilized by the Shadow Broker, Captain B'Sayle and her team were judged ready for their first assignment. The new custom armor order had been completed for the entire team and delivered amazingly fast and Roshida began to appreciate the true power behind the Broker's network – the speed with which it was able to accomplish tasks. She found it easy to understand how information could travel across the galaxy in the blink of an eye but having six sets of custom-fit armor of this caliber crafted and delivered in less than three days was mind boggling to the commando Captain.

As her team assembled in the training room yet again, Commander Arern walked in and began speaking in his normal, hurried pace. "Good morning, Team B'Sayle." He flashed a quick smile before continuing, "I see all of you have dressed out in your armor, with weapons, as requested for today. Excellent. Since you have all previously worked together as a team, we will be proceeding directly to the docks for your first deployment. Follow me, please." He keyed his omnitool as he turned and walked directly towards a seemingly blank wall; it was unsurprising to the team to witness yet another camouflaged hatch suddenly snapping open in just enough time to keep the Salarian from crashing into it.

Roshida looked at her team with a knowing grin; she had suspected this would happen. Under the assumption they may not be afforded an opportunity to return to their rooms once they had reported as ordered, she had told them to ensure they were equipped with everything they felt they needed when they assembled in the training room. As such, each team member had packed a full field kit in preparation for departure. A relatively short, hurried march later found them at a secluded section of a surprisingly spacious underground ship moorage. "Where are we?" The Captain glanced around in wonder. "I had no idea… scans of the surface do not show this at all!"

An abrupt laugh erupted from the Salarian before he answered, "Of course not. The Shadow Broker possesses the best shielding and cloaking technology known to the galaxy." He turned and faced the small group, spreading his arms wide to indicate all the vessels now behind him. "This is only a portion of the Shadow Broker's personal fleet. Each of these ships has a dedicated crew who likely know their particular ship better than they know themselves. It is their business to safely deliver your team to whatever job has been assigned, then safely retrieve you upon completion of your assignment, all while remaining undetected by anyone."

"Impressive." B'Sayle looked over the array of available craft. "Have we already been assigned to a specific crew and ship?"

"For this mission only. The ship to which you are assigned is dependent upon the requirements of your upcoming task, thus will vary accordingly." He pointed off to the left. "Those are obviously the smallest… the scouts… designed for stealth recon and infiltrations. The second ship there, the Kirkliston SR1, will be your designated transport for this mission; it is an upgraded STG Stealth Reconnaissance vessel, extremely well suited for this particular task."

"Nice." Roshida nodded in approval. "So… given the extent of Shadow Broker operations, there aren't that many ships here. Just how many locations like this does the Broker have?"

"Not nearly as many as we would like, but you will never lack for transportation," Solo answered somewhat evasively before lifting his arm and keying his omnitool to transfer a data packet. "This is your assignment. Review it, then ask for whatever additional supplies or specialty gear you feel you may need. Please do not waste any time, as you depart in fifteen minutes; queries about mission specifics will be fielded by Kirkliston's Operations Officer once you are enroute."

A bit surprised, Roshida immediately scanned the file that had just popped open on her omnitool. "Target: Darius Barcroft Compound. Infiltration and destruction of electronics suite, as well as termination of all personnel on the premises." Her eyes came up as she asked, "How many specialists and staff… particularly security personnel… do we expect to be there?"

"Not so many that your team cannot safely eliminate them, especially given the isolated nature of the various facilities on Noveria." Solo flashed her a smile. "Do not worry, Captain. No outside assistance will arrive to help them… and I have no intention of getting you or anyone on your team killed on your very first assignment. You'll be deployed outside the compound with the equipment required to perform a full-scale penetration analysis and sufficient time to come up with an infiltration plan. When the time comes, one of our stealth frigates will be in place as well, providing you with ready access to fully crewed A-61 Mantis gunships and two Jiris fighting vehicles with operators, should you require them." He paused and winked conspiratorially, "The ship's Operations Officer, Specialist Aldaberto, is well-versed on your mission and will provide contact protocols for your retrieval and coordinate any additional support, if required. Knowing your background and level of experience… you'll be fine."

Pahhur, Tassrah System, The Phoenix Massing – 3 Dec 2188

After one last in-person conversation with Tevos, the Knight Shade had departed the CGC for Pahhur, in the Tassrah System. Being constantly scorched by the intense radiation of the giant about which it orbits, the hellish landscape of Pahhur had quite successfully prevented any form of practical exploitation and, since it had no landing zones or 'hide-out' spots that were even remotely tolerable, most ships gave it a wide berth… making it the perfect locale for a surreptitious rendezvous between the two Spectre ships.

Sitting in a geo-synched orbit on the shadow-side of the world, the Normandy shimmered into view as the Knight Shade dropped out of FTL and made its approach to the rendezvous coordinates; Normandy immediately dispatching a shuttle – purposely piloted by Steve Cortez – to pick up Shepard, Liara, and Tali'Zorah. Once their guests had their mini-reunion and were enroute, Ashley made her way down to the shuttle bay and was awaiting their arrival as the hatches opened, allowing them all to once more set foot on the hanger deck of the Normandy.

"Goddamned, Skipper! It's good to see you!" Ashley's face held a huge grin as she reached out and clasped forearms with her former commander. "You too, Liara… and Tali!"

Her additional welcomes were buried in Shepard's shoulder as the woman pulled her friend in for a bearhug. "Good to see you, too, Ash. How's my ship?"

"Not yours anymore, Shepard," Ashley laughed. "You gave her up!" She pulled back and moved to the Asari, giving Liara an equally warm, welcoming hug. "And how's my favorite Asari? Shepard treating you right?"

Liara smiled, even as a light blush brightened her cheeks. "I couldn't ask for a better bondmate, Ashley. I give thanks to the Goddess every day for helping all of us survive that damned war."

"You and me both, Liara." Ashley's eyes turned more solemn as she turned to give Tali a warm embrace. With her hands still on Tali's upper arms, she said, "There sure were more than a few that didn't have that luxury."

"Yes." Shepard nodded and continued, "But we'll not taint their sacrifices by being glum about it. We owe it to them to take advantage of our good fortune and live every additional day they have given us to its fullest."

"Agreed, Skipper," Ashley scowled. "And the next step in that direction is for us to get to the business at hand. Come on, let's head to the War Room; my XO is prepping the display as we speak, in order to show you the most current information we have." Looping arms with her favorite little Quarian, Ashley led them to the elevator, chatting with Tali as they walked and getting caught up on the advances Medica had made on her rapidly improving immune system.

"That's absolutely amazing, Tali!" Ashley gave her another quick hug and then held her by the shoulders at arm's length. "So, when will you get out of this suit… for good?"

"We think it will be another five years, give or take." Tali's voice, joyful from the reunion, turned to a determined growl as she continued, "No matter how long it is, it's coming… and it will be a lot faster for those of us who have embraced the SILC than it ever will be for the Bosh'tets who want their Geth back!"

Everyone was chuckling but fell suddenly silent as the doors opened on Deck 2; stepping out of the lift, Shepard paused to take in the view. Every crewmember stood at attention, a knowing smile on the face of all that had served aboard the Normandy with the visiting trio. Shepard simply nodded her head and raised a hand in recognition. "Thank you, all." With a glance at Ashley, she added, "With your captain's permission, once our business here is concluded, we'd like to take a few moments with each of you, just to say hello?"

"Absolutely, Spectre." Ashley looked over at Liara and laughed, "Though you'd better be prepared for a late return. There are still a lot of familiar faces aboard… And I'm thinking it's your own damned fault for making all of us love you so much!"

Shepard chuckled, "If you expect me to apologize for that, you'll be waiting a long time, Ash, so we might as well get started, or we will be here all night."

When they stepped into the War Room, Shepard's first couple of steps were hesitant. Liara looked at her in concern as a thought floated across the link. {That officer reminds me of Uncle Dave. He looks so much like him, he could almost be Anderson's son, or a family member, at the very least.}

Shepard shook her head and walked on, but Ashley had also paused as she wondered about the odd expression that had crossed the Skipper's face. "Weird walking back in here again, isn't it?" A thought then occurred to her. "Especially for you, Liara. I can only imagine the unpleasant memories this place must be dredging up. I should have thought of that… we could have held this meeting in the conference room."

"No, it's alright… really. The appearance of your new XO caught me by surprise, is all." Shepard huffed and smiled. "You do realize how much he looks like Admiral Anderson, don't you?"

Ashley's eyes opened wide and she looked at Leon in surprise. "When we first met, I did… or at least thought I did… but then kicked myself, thinking I was just seeing what I wanted to see, so I never said anything to him." Her eyes narrowed just a little bit as she studied the man, looking at him again as if seeing him for the very first time. "Honestly, seeing him every day now, I had forgotten all about that."

Leon simply shrugged and laughed it off, stating, "Thank you, Spectre. I've been told that before and, though I never had the privilege of working with the man, it's an honor to be compared to him, even if only for the physical resemblance. He's both an icon and a hero; I could be likened to worse, for sure."

"He is… and was…" A reminiscent smile crossed Shepard's face as she continued in a sorrow-roughened voice, "And was also a very close friend of my family; like an uncle to me." She stepped forward and offered her hand. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you…?"

"Rensch… Leon Rensch, Ma'am." He took her hand and was surprised at the firmness of her grip, then immediately realized he shouldn't have been. "The pleasure is all mine, Spectre… speaking of heroes."

Brushing off the comment, Shepard answered, "We all do what we're called on to do, don't we?" With a grim smile, she looked over to the display well. "And, speaking of which, explain to me what I'm looking at."

With a short chuckle, Leon waved his hand over the graphical display superimposed on a section of the galaxy map. "The Quarians have really upped their game in the past six to eight weeks, Spectre Shepard. Thanks to Edi, we now have a way to track their stealth frigate – the Nalotir – even when it's running transponder cold and cloaked." He stared grim-faced at the display before him as he pointed out the locations of the various attacks. "Based on the number of ground locations and freighters being hit for dextro provisions, Commander Williams and I believe they've added the same cloaking tech to at least two, if not three, additional ships."

Ashley chimed in with, "And the weapon they've been utilizing to disable the freighters is something I can only believe has been developed by Daro'Xen..." Ashley zoomed the display out to point at a conglomeration of multiple dots located within The Phoenix Massing as she continued, "… who is hiding out here with Han'Gerrel and the majority of the Heavy Fleet." Her eyes returned to her guests. "The damned weapon Xen designed disables everything related to propulsion and environmental control; while their victims continue coasting along on their original vector, the lack of propulsion control effectively leaves those ships relatively defenseless. Most have no weapons of any significance and they are completely unable to perform evasive maneuvers of any kind. Also, if the remaining crew are unable to quickly shake off the debilitating effects of the weapon's energy pulse, they could very well die before being able to repair their environmental controls."

Rensch nodded as he took up the explanation again. "Seventeen days ago, I led a team to assist the Turians on the MSV Spirito's Nimet, in the Shrike Abyssal. The ship had been disabled and the crew – everyone in engineering, anyway – were suffering from positively crippling headaches. Captain Savernake said the only ship they saw was a Turian freighter that came close… but did not send a boarding party; this leads the commander and I to believe it was a diversion, designed to get a response to a distress call while the Nalotir proceeded to raid the storage facility on Altakiril."

Liara had been silently contemplating everything Rensch and Ashley had said. Following a prolonged intense stare at her siame, she addressed Leon. "You spoke of the Quarian raider… this Nalotir. Unfortunately, I believe your theory that there are more ships of this type has great validity, Commander." She huffed in a combination of frustration and vexation. "It is quite possible the Quarians have salvaged up to three additional similar, frigate-class vessels and re-purposed them for their own needs. Have either of you ever heard of the Andromeda Initiative?"

Ashley nodded her head slightly as she responded in a hesitant manner. "Some kind of pie-in-the-sky plan to send people to that galaxy, across better than two and a half million light years distance."

Liara nodded in agreement as she explained, "It wasn't, as you say, pie-in-the-sky, Ashley. The Initiative was founded in 2176… and very well-funded by some unidentified benefactor."

"I will never trust anyone who hides in the shadows." Shepard's face held a scowl as she continued, "There's a very good chance this benefactor knew about the Reapers… and may have been responsible for the disappearance of the Leviathan of Dis."

Ashley's face turned an angry red. "Which would hint that those bastards knew all along… and the whole purpose behind the Initiative was to save a select group of people… and to Hell with the rest of us?"

"Yes." Shepard drew a deep breath before expounding on her short answer. "And would also suggest the possibility that they've been playing with Reaper tech since as early as 2163… much longer than we originally suspected."

Liara glanced at Shepard, her face grim as she returned to the subject of Andromeda. Focusing on Ashley again, she explained, "I had a few conversations with the Initiative's primary guide, a man by the name of Alec Ryder, while they prepared for their departure. Five cryo-sleep vessels, called arks, and the main outpost, christened the Nexus – also carrying cryopods and meant to be completed after arrival – set out for Andromeda in mid-December of 2185, barely two months before the Reapers arrived in the Viper Nebula." She reached over and squeezed Shepard's hand as the unspoken, slowly fading but still painful, memories of Bahak swept through both of their minds.

"How long will they be traveling?" Leon asked, an incredulous expression taking over his entire face as he started to contemplate embarking on such a journey. "Even at FTL, it would take…"

"They calculated the trip at just over 600 years duration," Liara finished for him. "The important thing for us, here and now, is what they left behind." Liara looked to her siame to finish the tale.

The Spectre was grave as she quietly added, "There are five scout-class vessels stored on the Nexus, all suspiciously similar to the Normandy SR2, obviously utilizing some of the same technologies. The main difference is the Andromeda scouts are completely weaponless… and downsized accordingly, needing no room for the main cannon. What they do have is extreme light weight, great speed and an inordinate amount of maneuverability so, unlike the Normandy, they can land on potentially any planet they encounter." Shepard shook her head slightly as she continued, "Unfortunately for us, as they moved from one test phase to the next, the Initiative abandoned their prototypes out on the Far Rim… in ascending order of development and sophistication, the Nalotir, Sondaj, the Huli, and the Nyocha. I believe it stands to reason that…"

Ashley spoke up as Shepard paused to take a breath, finishing the woman's sentence for her. "The Quarians possibly got their hands on all four of them… with the Nalotir actually being the least capable of the lot? Damn it!"

Shepard nodded glumly as Liara added, "Yes; and while all of them were designed to be stealthy, they did not possess the light-bending technology subsequently developed, most likely, by Daro'Xen. I imagine this new cloaking tech has been applied to all four of the prototypes and, I suspect, more than a few of the other ships in the heavy fleet… right along with their advanced beam weapon that has proven to be so troublesome."

Ashley's face mirrored that of her fellow Spectre. "So, our theory of multiple raiders with this cloaking ability isn't as implausible as we hoped." Frowning, she leaned heavily on the rail surrounding the projection well. "And, it seems, Xen's weapon is small enough to use as an add-on, even on platforms not originally designed to carry heavy weaponry. That's bad, Skipper."

As Rensch started speaking, Shepard had an eerie feeling of déjà vu; the cadence and timbre of the lieutenant commander's voice was so similar to her Uncle Dave's she had to look at him intently while concentrating on his words. "… ships to put a stop to these raids, Spectre." Fortunately, Liara had heard the entire statement and clarified. {We'll need more than two ships, Siame.}

Shepard had hoped to keep her mental lapse hidden, but sighed at her obvious failure before replying, "Agreed, Mr Rensch." Using the control interface, she enlarged the depiction of the galaxy laid out before them to include the area inhabited by the rebellious Heavy Fleet. "In my heart, I want to believe the council can persuade Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen to stand down… with no loss of resources or life, but… having dealt with each of them during the war – in this very compartment – I truly believe neither of them will surrender without dragging their ships and crews down as well, and they'll take as many of us right along with them as they possibly can."

Liara moved to stand beside her disheartened bondmate, where she gently placed a loving and encouraging hand between her shoulder blades. "Surely, the council will be able to reason with them…"

The Spectre regarded the intense blue eyes looking at her, sighed, then looked across the small projection well to Rensch and Williams. "Ashley, you were there… you understand what we're going to need to do… what will be required of you. Question is, when it comes down to it, will you be able to carry it out?"

Rensch split his attention between the Spectres, the expression of puzzlement plain on his face. "What are you talking about, Shepard? Carry out what, exactly?"

Never taking her eyes from Shepard's, Ashley quietly answered for her friend. "A death sentence, Leon." She sighed, broke eye contact with Shepard and turned to face her XO. "As Spectres, we don't need permission from the council to make decisions for the greater good. Gerrel and Xen are in gross violation of galactic laws, not the least of which is their piracy in support of a large, breakaway contingent of the Quarian fleet."

Shepard picked up the explanation. "They're on a mission to enslave a sentient race of beings, Leon. Xen believes the SILC – she still refers to them by their Quarian name… Geth, or servant of the people – are the rightful property of the Quarian race; for the SILC to be walking free and directing their own lives is an abomination… and Xen will never change her thinking. She's also unpredictably dangerous, so I intend to put a permanent stop to her misguided crusade."

Ashley nodded slowly at Shepard's last few words. "Gerrel's total disregard for the lives of his allies is not something I have forgotten, Shepard. As much as I try to remain objective, I simply cannot overlook the vicious piracy of Turian shipping, ground bases and colonies, nor will I ever forgive his direct responsibility for the death…" eyes suddenly swimming, she gulped and continued, "… the death of Bethany Westmoreland… on a disabled and harmless warship."

Leon knew of Westie from a previous discussion with his captain – Bethany's name was engraved in a metal plate attached to the memorial wall facing the elevator on deck three – but hadn't realized until this moment the passion with which she and Spectre Shepard viewed the cause of that death. With a contemplative expression, he spoke in a near whisper. "That admiral could still be charged with a war crime, Spectres. Added to his involvement in the current piracy of law-abiding citizens, I seriously doubt he'd be able to escape justice."

Shepard actually chuckled. "He will never see the inside of a court of law, Leon. That's why the council created the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance group. Eliminating the leaders of the Quarian rebellion is well within our mandate of preserving galactic stability."

"Yeah, and don't forget about Xen; we can't let her escape justice either. I can easily see her attempting to push her portion of the blame for all this misery onto Gerrel, because I very much doubt 'evil brilliance' as a contribution to the cause is a punishable offense." Ashley shook her head in disgust before continuing, "Even so, if we honestly want to plan a surgical strike to take out Xen and Gerrel, we're certainly going to need more than a few ships to assist us, Shepard." Ashley walked up to her friend and added softly, "It would be very helpful for the Destiny Ascension and an escort fleet to accompany us when we confront the bastards, if for no other reason than to at least make an attempt at peace… and then provide a distraction should further intervention prove necessary. I seriously doubt even Daro'Xen has anything that will scratch the paint on that dreadnaught, so anyone aboard should be safe."

As was her way, Tali'Zorah had simply listened to the discussion since entering the War Room with Shepard and Liara. In a shy tone, she offered, "I will be more than happy to work with Edi or Judea, in order to come up with some type of shielding against this directed energy pulse... or any other weapons Daro'Xen may have created. I did not help Shepard destroy the Collectors and the Reapers only to see my people destroy ships belonging to other races or place the Geth back under Quarian rule… though, it seems as though they are intent on getting the Quarian people exiled once more." Tali paused for only a moment before continuing, "Regarding the pulse weapon, we should be able to come up with some type of diffraction shielding that can cause destructive interference… and lessen the intensity to tolerable levels…"

"Whoa." Shepard held up her hand to stop Tali's explanation. "Save the details, Tali. I fully trust you and Edi, especially if you bring Judea and Miranda into the mix, to come up with a solution. There aren't really any options for us until you do, unless we decide to simply dive right in, weapons blazing."

Liara responded, her words directed at Samantha as she said, "But there are many innocents who have been forced into serving the rebellion, only because they were unfortunate enough to be assigned to the Heavy Fleet when Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen defected." She scowled at the thought and finished, "Who, unlike Len'Dazza, don't have a way to successfully escape the Fleet… without ending up dead."

Shepard leaned on the railing surrounding the display and nodded in agreement. "You're right, of course, so we're decided… it has to be some kind of infiltration mission." She glanced at Liara for confirmation and turned to her fellow Spectre. "We'll come up with a plan, then Liara and I will head back to the CGC, Ash… meet with Tevos first and then the full council. This crap has gone on long enough and we need to end it, once and for all. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if even Tevos will favor our plan to end the rebellion, should reconciliation talks fail."

Liara quietly added, "Should peace talks fail, I am certain the Council has no other options left them except to allow you to proceed with your plan. Given their actions to date, it is obvious we cannot allow these rogue Quarians the freedom to continue on their present course of killing innocents for their own gain… and Tevos already informed us that she believes a full-scale conflict would likely cause irreparable damage."

Shepard slapped her open palms on the table and stood upright. "Then I guess there's only one way for us to be certain about our next move." She looked to Ashley and quietly queried, "So, do you see any reason to keep this hush-hush while I visit with the crew?"

"Absolutely not." Ashley's gaze was directed at Leon as she continued, "Just like you used to, we keep no secrets from our crew; everyone aboard knows what we're doing out here, including the reasons and all the risks associated with our actions."

Shepard grinned at her fellow Spectre as she answered, "Which is the exact reason I insisted on giving you my ship, Ashley."

Ashley grinned. "With honor and integrity; it's the only way to serve, Skipper."

"I'm glad you decided to not rush your return to Widow, Sam." Karin was smiling as she looked into her glass of Serrice ice. "It feels good to catch up with you and Liara. Being out here, comm out, has been difficult."

"You're telling me?" Samantha huffed out a little chuckle and continued, "I experienced that for months, remember? When I first woke up on that damned Cerberus station, I didn't know what had happened or where anyone was… and, it seemed, no one I knew had any answers either… at least none they were willing to share. Talk about feeling disconnected…"

Karin's expression was shadowed as she answered, "I know… and if I had known that Cerberus could actually bring you back, I certainly would have kept better tabs on everyone, so I could have answered those questions for you, once you came aboard." She looked up, her eyes welling with sadness. "I hope you realize that."

Shepard reached over and grasped the woman's forearm. "Of course, I do, Aunt Karin. I'm sorry if that sounded accusatory, because that's not how I intended it. I know you and Liara did everything you could to keep things moving forward while I was gone." She smiled and glanced between her two drinking partners. "You made sure I had something to come back to – I can never thank you enough for that."

"Yes, you can." Liara answered quietly. "By never making us go through anything like that, ever again."

A smile quirked at the corners of Samantha's mouth as she answered, "That's a deal, Liara." She looked back and forth between her bondmate and her aunt as her voice rang with conviction. "Quarians be damned! I have no intention of letting them, or anyone else for that matter, be the cause of my early demise. I promise you that!"

It was late by the time Shepard and Liara finished their visits with the crew. As the last of them trickled out of the lounge, Liara approached her bondmate and drew the woman into her arms, nestling her head into the welcoming pocket of the woman's shoulder. "I love you, Sam."

Shepard closed her eyes and drew in a long, slow breath through her nose, reveling in the scents of eezo and Thessian Rose that she always associated with her Ionúin Álainn. "I love you too, Liara. I couldn't have done any of this without you, you know."

The Asari smirked as she answered, "I know." More serious, she added on, "But that goes both ways, Siame. We are a team… have been since we met that fateful day on Therum." She pulled back and looked into her bondmate's stunning emerald eyes. "You trusted me when few others did, thinking me a traitor… as they did with my mother. I can never thank you enough for that, nor for everything else that followed." Her lips curled into a loving smile. "You have brought me more joy in these past few years than I ever imagined I would discover in my entire century-plus-long life… and we have much yet to enjoy."

"I've also brought you unimaginable pain, Liara, which I am always amazed you can forgive." Sam sighed heavily. "My heart aches whenever those memories surface, because I know what I feel through the link is only a shard of the true measure of your feelings. How can you look at me without your heart breaking, after all the suffering I have caused you?"

"Don't be silly, Sam… and all you need to do is join with me and you know the answer to that question. I put the blame where it belongs… on the war… and on those who insisted it always be you that was thrown into the fray, never letting either of us rest unless forced to do so by injuries we sustained in battle. Why do you ask this now?" She paused as a thought shot through the link. "You are afraid of the upcoming conflict with the Quarians."

"Yes… well, no. Not the conflict itself, but of what Xen and Gerrel will do once they realize they've been cornered. I fear how they will react… the lengths to which they will go."

"Agreed." Liara reached out and lovingly stroked the side of Shepard's face before tucking an errant strand of hair up behind the woman's adorable left ear. "Which is why we have come up with an infiltration plan… to take their weapons systems down first, and then the two Admirals as a quick second, preferably as close to simultaneous as possible, to ensure neither has a chance to do anything cataclysmic. It's going to work, Sam… It has to."

"Ooohhh." A slight smile returned to the Spectre's face. "I like your confidence, Dr T'Soni."

"Partners until the end, Shepard… which I fully intend to be a very, very long time from now."

"Sounds like a plan to me, Blue." She glanced at the chrono on the wall. "Let's roust someone to take us back to the Knight Shade, so we can head back to the CGC. I truly believe that the sooner we get started, the better."

Darius Barcroft Compound, Noveria, Pax System – 3 Dec 2188

Enterprise Security Systems. B'Sayle had chuckled when she read the line regarding which locally-monitored security and defensive system Barcroft had installed at his facility on Noveria. Many of the jobs they had run with Aethyta had included installing and monitoring one of these exact same systems. It was the perimeter defense system of choice for corporations who wanted to run their own private security – especially those who needed to do so, without worry of interference from actual law enforcement of any kind – and perfect for the types of activities that occurred in places such as Noveria, where avoiding such encounters was of great importance.

Barcroft ran a commercial data-mining company; some 'real' work to put in the records… enough to pass the business off as a legitimate enterprise… but he also contracted for a rather ambitious quantity of industrial espionage and other similarly illegal endeavors. Liara would have been perfectly fine with him continuing his work, had he stayed away from the Broker network, which he seemed incapable of doing. He had made a few unsuccessful intrusion attempts into her own network while she was on Illium; unfortunately, that had not been the end of his interference. Once she took over the Broker network, she soon discovered he had successfully hacked into at least four other data nodes. When the Shadow Broker contacted him directly and demanded that he cease and desist with his network attacks, he had simply laughed and replied with a challenging, "Make me."

Until now, against her own better judgement, Liara had chosen to ignore him, even though she realized his operation was likely a very large factor in the rumors circulating throughout the intelligence community that the Broker had gone soft. Along with her enforcement team, Roshida B'Sayle was here to show Barcroft exactly why crossing the Shadow Broker – who, at the time, had been preoccupied with helping to save the galaxy – was not an action that would long remain unanswered. Team B'Sayle would provide Barcroft the first solid proof his days of disparaging the Broker were now a thing of the past; free of any obligation to keep the galaxy from being destroyed by the Reapers, the Shadow Broker was about to demonstrate the folly of being disregarded by those of lesser capabilities.

The journey to Noveria was not exactly short; the FTL from Juxhi – out in Batarian space in the Skyllian Verge – to Kite's Nest used the greatest portion of their travel time, followed closely by having to await the Exodus Cluster relay realignment before they could make the final jump to Pax. It was several hours after their departure from the warehouse when they finally found themselves on the ground on Noveria, the cold wind biting into them as they used the cover of darkness to construct their temporary shelter.

The blinding snowfall would likely hide their presence well enough, but they still set up and energized the cloaking device that came along with the deployment package, just to be certain. Once they were done, Roshida turned to her infiltration specialist, Erinna Thyria. "Passive scans only for the first couple of hours, then do a perimeter check just before dawn. I'd like to know which model they are using so we can identify which command codes we need for an override."

"Can do, Captain." Erin scowled as she added, "I sure do hope this new, fancy armor has good environmental controls… I'm not really up for freezing my ass off out there."

"It had better." B'Sayle frowned. "I don't want you risking your life for this. If you start to get cold, don't try to tough it out, understand? Head back right away… we'll get you warmed up and get the environmental controls for your armor sorted out. No sense freezing to death; Solo promised none of us would die on this mission and I don't intend to prove him wrong."