I am beyond SORRY for this chapter but you'll love it. I love all of you and don't forget to review!

Liara T'Soni… if you ever and I mean ever ask me to write another chapter for your books I will murder you. I will display your body for the entire galaxy to see. And no matter how much you beg I will make sure it is slow and painful. How dare you ask me to write this chapter.

Oh, and I had Tali lock this in. No one but her will be able to remove it. I want the galaxy to know my threat against you. Go fuck yourself cunt.

-Excerpt from The Chronicals of the Normandy, Guest Author Jack

POV: Aedon Eyes

Waking up the next morning Tali was already gone to check on the engine so I went through my normal workout routine in the morning. It took a couple of hours and by the time I was done it was nearing seven o'clock. Still, when I was finished Shepard found me and asked me to accompany him to visit Liara.

She had asked him to come by her place and talk about something that she had found. It worked out perfectly for me as I still needed to pick up the data she had gotten on Matriarch Raros. Coming with us to her apartment would be both Garrus and Jack. I didn't think bringing Jack was the best of choices at the moment but it wasn't my decision to make so I went with it.

We all met up at the airlock before leaving together. Illium was it's usual bustling self as we entered its proper area. As we got to the kiosk area where they were selling equipment and the like we spent a few minutes shopping. I don't know what the others got but it looked like Garrus got a couple mods for his sniper and Jack got a barrel extension for her shotgun. Shepard got nothing from what I could tell but paid for both Garrus and Jack's equipment they got.

As we were doing this I saw a couple of people watching us in the corner and after looking at them I could tell that they were cops. They decided not to approach us until after we were done shopping which I was silently thankful for and as they approached Shepard and the other two noticed them as well.

Approaching us they spent most of their time looking at me and Jack and when they got to us Shepard stepped forward to meet them. He didn't say anything but simply stared down the two Asari cops. I could tell that they both wanted to arrest Jack and myself as our active warrants definitely had us labeled as threats. It didn't bother me all that much; all things considered we were extreme threats.

Though as long as we weren't attacked first we wouldn't do anything here. There was no point for wanton destruction at the moment especially considering no one here was an active threat. That being said we would definitely be running into trouble sooner or later. It was basically our default setting when we were with Shepard and co. Trouble found us all points in our time together and I didn't expect anything to train in the future.

All that being said Shepard diffused the situation with the cops and they left with a terse warning to both Jack and I. It basically boiled down to don't do anything stupid and they would look the other way. Though they did mention I had a bit of a longer leash because of the work I did with Detective Anaya. I did ask about how she was and they told me that she had been promoted to the Lead Detective of the force because of the help I had given her. Good for her, she was a good cop.

Anyways after they left me made a quick pitstop at Liara's place of work. We didn't think that there would be anything there but Shepard wanted to check it out as he said he had a feeling. We went along with it and entered her office as it was devoid of her normal secretary. Entering the office it looked like someone had ransacked it looking for something.

All of us exchanged glances as we entered the room before we started looking through everything. The others went to other parts of the room while I went straight to her computer. It was heavily encrypted but with my omni-tool upgrade courtesy of Tali and Ceelo and my hacking programs I was able to break through in two minutes.

That being said it was a waste of time to do so. Whatever had happened Liara had been able to completely wipe her hardrive before it happened. I wouldn't be getting anything out of her computer which sucked. Either way after that revelation everyone else had stopped looking. A bit of a quick turnaround for that but most of the information they found was next to useless. Just info on people and for how ransacked the room was nothing really seemed to be missing.

With that done we made our way out of her office and immediately got a big shuttle. Enough for two or three more people easily. With that we made our way to Liara's place and on the ride there we were all silent. We did have a unique moment though as when both Shepard and I made to get into the drivers seat and drive the shuttle Garrus shot past both of us and took it for himself.

He gave us both a unimpressed look before he shut the door and before either of us could do anything Jack took shotgun. Exchanging a glance with Shepard we both sighed out before getting in the back. Guess after they experienced both of our driving habits they were absolutely fed up with it. Shepard I could understand but I only got to drive the one time on Tuchanka; it surely couldn't have been that bad for them.

Either way once we were in Garrus took off and we had a very pleasant and smooth ride to Liara's place. Nothing like how it usually was when Shepard drove and I guess when I drive too. Hell, Garrus obeyed all the traffic laws and even though it felt like a grandma was driving at time we got there without a mini heart attack. Something to be said for how Shepard and I drive I guess.

When we did arrive her entire place was cordoned off by officers. They took one look at us all and exchanged nervous glances when we approached. Still, when we got to them and Shepard stated that we were going in they didn't stop us. Just moved out of the way and let us through the entrance.

As we entered Liara's place it looked to be damn near the same as her office. Although it looked less ransacked and more like there had been a fight. There were bullet holes all over the walls and marks over where biotic abilities had been used. Whoever had fought here was definitely a biotic along with Liara. That's all I could really gleam from the few short moments after entering her place.

That little moment of investigation stopped as we all split up and started looking over the place. I went to the area where she had historical stuff. What I was surprised to see there was the bloodied sheets from my first job. When I had killed the Batarian diplomat and his Asari whore. It even had an enscription on it: First job of the Torchbearer. I was surprised she had this and I won't lie, I wouldn't mind buying it off her. I had the funds; I'm kinda rich now with taking a cut off all the jobs my people made and selling all the stuff I find on people I don't need.

Either way I couldn't really find anything in that area. None of the stuff she had there made any sense to me. I like history but I've neglected my study of it in the last couple of years. Been more focused on everything else. That being said though as we were looking through everything in her apartment I heard someone enter the place. Snapping my rifle up and aiming it at the person it turned out to be Tela Vasir.

"What are you doing here Telly?" I asked as I lowered my rifle. The others popped their heads out of where they were throughout the apartment to look at the new arrival. Shepard gave me a curious look but I waved it off. I would handle this if I could.

"Can I talk to you Aedon?" I gave her a single nod and gestured for her to come over to where I was. She did so and when she got there she continued. "How much of the real Shepard is there? Is he Cerberus or is he himself?" I was a bit confused by the question but I answered regardless.

"It's him. We hate Cerberus but for now they're the only ones willing to foot the bill on this job. The Collectors are slippery and finding anything on them is hard. We haven't found shit on them in well over a month from what they tell me."

"I've been curious of that, what happened to you? You disappeared off the face of the galaxy for over a month and a half. That's not normal for you without a significant injury."

"Got kidnapped, tortured and then escaped. Wasn't that fun… has the Council told you about who's back?" She simply shook her head. "Dashi is alive." she looked at me in shock for a moment before letting out a long suffering sigh. That seemed to be the go to reaction for everyone who heard about it.

"Shit… Well I can help you guys here. Can you call down the others please?" I gave her a curious look before nodding my head and shouted out for the others join us. Garrus, Jack and Shepard arrived a couple moments later and in that order. As they arrived they all looked at Tela expectantly.

"I'm Tela Vasir, a fellow Spectre. And in my time as a Spectre I've made a few deals with the Shadow Broker… He wanted Liara off the board and I was the one he called."

"So this is all your doing?"

"Yes," was her simple reply which got all of us to raise our guns at her. She calmly raised her hands in surrender as we spread out around her so we weren't so close.

"Explain," were Shepards only words.

"The Broker has saved thousands of lives with the intel that he has given me and other Spectres. It comes with the caveat that if he needs something taken care of we do it for him. With the lives he's saved it's worth it. Don't get too worked up about it, Liara is alive," there was silence for a few moments as we digested what she said before Shepard spoke.

"You know where she is?" Tela simply shook her head and then for the first time Shepard actually called Liara. Something that he should've done a while ago but I guess it either slipped his mind or he didn't want to, I don't know. Either way, Liara answered on the third ring.

When she did answer the call Shepard walked away from everyone. I couldn't really hear what they were talking about at all. In the meantime while they talked I kept my gun trained on Tela and didn't say anything. A couple minutes later Shepard walked back over to us and calmly gestured for us to lower our weapons. We did so on his orders but I still made sure to keep my gun ready no matter what.

As he came back to us he simply said that Liara would be here in a few minutes. Garrus and Jack nodded at that before backing off of Tela. I, however, kept close to her and got ready for a fight if one broke out. I trusted Tela minimally but she was a decent person as far as I could tell. Liara was more of the wildcard in this situation as this had been her place and to see the person who had done it here with us, well it probably wouldn't go over so well. Regardless I kept myself ready.

We got to wait for about 20 minutes or so before Liara showed up. We initially didn't know it was her as the small commotion at the front of the apartment didn't allude to anything. Still, once Liara was let past and we got to see her she gave us all courteous nods before her eyes landed on Tela. There was burning hatred in her eyes but I held up a single hand silently telling her not to do anything.

From there she simply walked past me and went straight to Shepard and Jack who were standing shoulder to shoulder. He had a quiet conversation between him for a couple of moments before she pulled away. Not frustrated perse but definitely not happy as she turned back around and approached Tela. I saw Tela tense as Liara approached getting ready for a fight and there was nothing I could do about it.

"You tried to kill me," were her first words as she stopped in front of Tela.

"Wound at best. If I wanted you dead you would be dead," Tela responded and the tension started to rise between the two. If there were orders or not this was more about rivalry than anything at this point. They did not like each other at all.

"What can either of you tell us about the Broker? He needs to die and we need to put someone else in their place," my words were the only thing that broke the two out of their hate filled gazes at each other. Still, there was silence between the two for a few moments before Liara eventually spoke.

"I know where they're located," that effectively shut down everyone as we stared at her in surprise. No one knew where the Broker was, no one and she had figured it out.

"Where?" was Shepard's only question as he stood off to the side from us.

"Hagalaz. Probably in a ship of some kind on the planet, it would be the only way to survive the planet."

"Then let's get going. Let's kill the fucker," Jack spoke as she too joined the conversation. Garrus silently agreed with her nodding his head in ascension to it all.

With that we all silently nodded in agreement. Grudges could be settled at a later date, the most important thing right now was killing the Broker. So with that agreed we all left Liara's apartment and all hopped into the shuttle we had came on. This time Shepard was the one to grab the drivers seat and I grabbed shotgun. Everyone else got into the back of shuttle and waited for us to take off. We made it maybe five minutes into our 15ish minute drive before I looked out the window and saw a shuttle speeding towards us.

I barely got the first syllable of 'look out' before the shuttle hit us and we were sent careening into what looked like an outside restaurant. It was a hard landing that rattled us all and when I looked at everyone in the shuttle everyone seemed to be knocked out. Quickly checking Shepard, Jack and Garrus they were still alive from their pulses and Liara and Tela's chests were still rising so they were alive.

Popping open the door of the shuttle I got out to see the other shuttle land a good 100 or so feet from us. Raising my gun at the shuttle the door hissed open and Dashi stepped out without her helmet. She gave me a bloodthirsty smile as she got out and approached me. I kept my gun trained on her and closed the distance as she did so as well. Though she didn't raise any type of weapon beyond her sword that she held in the same lowered position. Taking advantage of this I fired at her.

As the bullet shot towards her she simply raised her sword and cut the bullet in half. I was so astounded by that act that fired again and again she cut the bullet in half at an even closer distance. The two halves of the bullet flying off in seperate distances around her. She was beyond what I could hope to fight on an even setting but that wouldn't stop me. It never has before.

We stared at each other in silence for a few moments as we stalked towards each other. Discarding my Mattock for my Ax and knife. No matter what we thought of the other there was an unspoken agreement between the two of us that when we fight only melee weapons were allowed. It was something that only people who have been in that situation before would understand. A gentleman's agreement.

As we approached each other too I took off my helmet and set it down on the ground next to me. If I was going to face her I would need everything in my arsenal to fight this psychotic woman. That being said I couldn't overestimate or underestimate her at all for our fight. The first time she had underestimated me and my power but now she would come at me with a lot more deadly arsenal. The only thing I could hope for was that she wouldn't use Essence. If she did I was dead; we both knew it.

"Everyone survive your crash?" were her first words as we stopped about 20 feet from each other. I didn't verbally respond as I simply nodded my head. "Good… For my daughters' failures in your training this is Lesson Number 1."

Then, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, we entered into the fight. Again, it was another silent agreement but both of us were silently on the same page. We circled each other as both of us silently studied the other for weaknesses but I couldn't find anything with her. I hoped she couldn't find anything with me because if she did it would be bad. Then she moved.

She shot towards me at the speed of a 95mph fastball and at 20 feet there was next to no time to react. The best I could do was raise my knife to block her sword as it came down on my right side. It pinged off of my knife and before I had time to react she had already righted herself and was slashing at my waist with her sword. I jumped out of the way but she didn't give me any rest.

She came at me full throttle after that and kept up her relentless attack. I was barely able to block anything that she sent at me but I was able to block them all. I was in total defense and it was all I could do to stop her from hacking me to pieces. However, as she continued her assault on me I saw an opening and took it.

Bringing down my ax in an overhand motioned she moved to block it with her sword. At the same time I sent my knife careening towards her side intent on skewering her lungs but at the last moment she jumped out of the way disengaging. As she did so she sent me a smile but it wasn't like her other ones, this one was filled with pride. Like I had just passed some type of test.

"Yes. Yes, I like that very much. Good job," she spoke as we again began to circle each other.

After a few moments of circling each other we were back at it. Our weapons crossing each other as we fought. Sword for ax and knife for sword both of us met the other in equal combat but I could tell she was gaining the advantage. I needed to approach this from a different angle but every time I tried to Dashi stopped me.

It wasn't just that she was faster. She, was purely, better than me in a one v one situation. I couldn't hope to turn the tide to my side unless I did something drastic but even then I didn't know or believe. Still, that didn't stop me from fighting her in the utmost ability that I had.

Every strike that we had between each other was matched but still nothing could stop us. The ground between us literally tearing up at the mere clash of our weapons. Each engagement between each other continued to tear the ground beneath our feet. Every single time our weapons clashed the galaxy outside of us reverberated with the impact and for some reason we couldn't stop it. No matter what we did and what we hoped. We were destined to tear the galaxy apart with our fight.

There was nothing that could stop us as we fought. Tooth and nail, sword to ax, hand to foot, head to head, we were unconquerable. Everything that we did matched up to what we were supposed to be and who were we to stop the natural couse of things. We couldn't, no one could stop the natural course of what was meant to happen.

Meaning that everyone else woke up. Shepard, Garrus, Liara, Jack and Tela all woke up and exited their spots on the shuttle and I never noticed before they started firing. As they did so Dashi through up a wall extremely similar to what I could do and out of pure instinct I shouted for everyone to duck and cover. They, thankfully heeded my words and dropped down. This allowed for all of them to survive the impeding shots that would've killed them.

"Not that hard to figure out boy," she stated still looking over at where she had sent the bullets back at the team. "Took me a couple days but I recreated your ability," then she looked back to me.

As she looked back at me her smile widened. She didn't say anything to me and simply held up a finger to her smile and then pointed at me. For a moment I didn't understand but then I reached up and touched my own mouth. I was smiling as well, I didn't want to admit it there but I was enjoying this. This fight was invigorating; a primal urge to show our dominance over each other.

Taking a quick glance towards the others who were now out of cover and had their guns up all pointed at Dashi I raised my hand in a gesture stopping them from acting. Shepard's disagreement with that was palpable but a single click from my radio had him pacified. As I looked back to Dashi she spoke.

"You feel it don't you? I know you do. You're even using your biotics to keep up; impressive boy," at her words of biotics I spared a quick glance and sure enough my body was clouded in a purple haze. I've only seen Jack be able to do that. "Let's see what you're really made of now that the warmup's done."

Then she was gone and appeared in front of me. I barely got my ax in time to deflect her sword but then her fist came out from the other side and powered straight through my raised knife and smacked me across the face. It sent me sprawling away and I used the momentum to roll backwards. I got no reprieve as she was already there and in my face.

I went out with a stab to her unprotected side but she simply whirled around it and slammed the hilt of her blade into my chin. It rocked my world and she coupled it with a sucker punch right to my gut. Powering through the wind knocked out of me I grabbed her armor with my augmetic and threw my head at her face. It connected and reared her head back but as it did she too grabbed my armor and came back with one of her own.

To close to do anything I couldn't dodge and felt my nose crunch as it connected. Hits to the nose force your eyes closed, no training could stop the natural reaction. So in my blinded moment I could do nothing as I felt her sword bite into my left calf. It was thankfully met by my armor there but it still sheered right through it and cut me. It also had the negative effect of slowing the motion and killing the momentum of the sword enough that it worked as a club would and lifted me up off the ground.

Weightlessness over took me and I got my eyes open in time to see her fist slam into my chest and send me crashing into the ground. I was dazed on the ground for a moment as I looked up and saw her raise her sword. I rolled out of the way at the last moment avoiding the definitely fatal stab. Let me fight! You can't match her, you'll kill us.

Ignoring the words from the voice I got to my feet and charged Dashi as her sword was still in the ground. I barely got a step before she wrenched her sword out of the ground and sent all of the debri at my face. Raising my arm to block the debris it left me blinded and open again.

I felt the sword go through my side before I saw it and grunted at the pain. Using it as an opportunity though I slashed out with both my weapons intent on getting at least a scratch on the woman. Both weapons missed as she pulled out her sword and deflected both of them so fast I didn't even see the sword move.

Then there was a blinding pain in my leg as I felt her kick me right in the knee forcing me to my knee. I couldn't raise my weapons to block her fist either as it connected with my face again and sent me to the ground. Acting on instinct I muled kicked back at her and shot back up only for her to be right in my face again and again I couldn't block her fist slammed into my chest.

My armor caught most of the blow but I knew after a moment it was never meant to hurt. It got to the nerve cluster in my upper peck and I felt my hand drop my knife as she spun on her toes and kicked my arm and side on my unprotected side and sent me skidding across the ground. She's kicking your ass, let me fight you weak shit!

I didn't even get the opportunity to respond to that as when I was pushing myself up Dashi was already there and kicked me in the side forcing me upwards. Then, blindingly, her other leg was in the air and ax kicked me into the ground. Twisting my head to look at her I biotically screamed at her in the hope of getting some space, didn't work.

She simply raised her hand and fucking caught the scream with her wall before sending it right back at me. It sent me skidding across the ground and with my ears ringing. I shook off my dazed state and looked at her only to see her already in front of me and without her sword. Still, I wasn't fast enough to do anything and she put in absolute work on my body like I was a punching bag.

By the end of the onslaught I was barely conscious just swaying there bloodied and bruised. Then I felt her hand around my neck and she shook me. I almost passed out right then and there but then the shaking stopped. My vision still blurry I was barely able to focus at all but I managed to look her in the eyes and weakly smack my ax into her leg. It broke skin but that was about it. She looked amused at the effort but I was finally able to cut her with my weapons.

"You're getting there," yeah fucking right. "But you aren't there yet. Still, you survived longer than almost everyone and are worthy of another chance," and then she pushed me and I fell backwards and looked up at the Illium sky. The next moment I felt my ax be wrenched out of my hand and I could do nothing to stop it. Its absence was quickly replaced by another ax, an unfamiliar handle but I still held it tightly.

As soon as that happened I heard her take a couple steps away and then a cacophony of gun fire start. As the haze started to clear from my head I looked over to the side. There in the sky was the shuttle from the Normandy with the side door open and every one of the ground team was firing at Dashi. It didn't seem to faze her at all though as she sped around the area with a smile on her face.

No one could get any type of beed on her and then all of a sudden she was flying and slammed into a pillar face first. Shocked at what happened I pushed myself up and looked to see who had done that. There standing where Dashi had once been was Miss T'Kari.

I had seen her in her armor too and what she was wearing wasn't that. It was commando armor and in her hand she held a sword identical to Dashi's. At her appearance as well the entire group stopped firing and just stared at her in either shock or suspicion. I saw her give a motion with her hands and I saw the others running towards me and the shuttle coming down. Seeing that I pushed myself up to a standing position and grabbed my nose wrenching it back into place. It hurt but it was quick so there's that.

Once I reset my broken nose I saw Shepard reach me and he put my arm over his shoulder and supported me to the shuttle. Garrus getting my other side and helping me along until we reached the shuttle and they laid my down on the floor of the shuttle. Once there Mordin started fussing over me.

I heard bits and pieces of what he said as he went over my wounds and overall it wasn't terrible. A couple of fractured bones in my face plus the already reset broken nose. A couple of my ribs were broken and the cut on my calf was bleeding but hadn't gotten anything important according to Mordin. The stab wound to my side wasn't a stab wound at all and instead just a slash to the side. Then, of course, a concussion to top it all off.

My vision began to swim again but I kept myself conscious knowing that blacking out wouldn't be good with a concussion right now. The loud sounds of Miss T'Kari and Dashi fighting made it easier and then all of sudden there was nothing and I felt someone land next to me. Looking up at the new arrival I saw Miss T'Kari leaning over me protectively as the shuttle shot away from where we had been.

"You're gonna be alright," were her only words to me as she stroked a hand through my hair and sent me a smile. I smiled back and nodded. Weak.

I stayed silent the rest of the way back to the shuttle and they took me straight to Dr. Chakwas. My injuries weren't that bad but they were bad enough to warrant several liberal applications of medi-gel. The whole time through this process Miss T'Kari didn't leave my side and stayed silent the whole time. Tali was there as well and she was staring at her with distrust in her eyes. I didn't know why but I wasn't going to dwell upon it unless they brought it up.

As this was going on I got to look at the new ax that Dashi had given me after beating my ass seven ways from Sunday. It was… elegant I guess you could say. Basic in form too except for the hook jutting out the other side of the actual ax part. It wasn't too light or too heavy and was damn near perfectly balaced. Not to mention that everytime I held it in my augmetic I could feel my biotics hum like when I held my unique bullets from Volio. Guess she wanted a better fight next time and gave me the equipment for it as well. Psycho

Which apparently was going to be the case as once the treatments ended and Dr. Chakwas gave me the okay Shepard walked in with Jack, Liara, and Tela. They all stopped and surrounded the bed before looking pointedly at mom. I didn't know what was going on until Shepard started talking. At least before he did Jack set my knife down next to me.

"She called you daughter. Did you lie to us?" it was a demand to know.

"You never asked and it was personal. Dashi is my mother though if that's what you're asking."

"That fact calls into question everything you told us and the kill mission you were involved in," Shepard ground out.

"My mother is a monster and I kicked her off a cliff over 100 feet high. There was no reason for her to survive but she did and right now I'm probably the only reason you all made it out of there alive," her voice was flat and with no emotion. I could tell she didn't want to talk about this.

"Can we not right now," I said simply looking at everyone. "Are we going after the broker or not?"

"He's on Hagalaz. It's an uninhabitable gas giant with severe lightning storms raging in the atmosphere and anything below that part of the atmosphere will dissolve within minutes from the acidic rain. The only way to survive would be by ship that could absorb lightning to continually power it. In other words, it won't be an easy trip but we are going after them," Liara stated boldly taking the attention of everyone in the room.

"Then when do we get there?" was my only question.

"Eight hours to arrive in system, another one to get there via shuttle. You have seven hours to be ready," Shepard spoke before leaving the room. As he did the others followed him out except for Tali and Miss T'Kari.

Pushing myself up off the cot Dr. Chakwas gave me an unimpressed look but I waved it off. I'll be fine and I wasn't missing out on this. Besides, with the medi-gel and painkillers running through my system now I'll be fine. I still needed to make sure all my weapons and armor was ready to go.

Leaving the room Miss T'Kari and Tali followed me to my room and entered with me. I didn't say anything as I started going over my gear and weapons. I could hear the two in the background talking but I wasn't paying attention.

Going over my gear and armor everything seemed to be in place and fine. The shin armor that Dashi had cut was compromised overall but otherwise wasn't too bad. It was still serviceable but was definitely something that I would need to replace soon. The cut in the side of my armor wasn't that bad and just required some stitching with some omni-gel and it was all good. My helmet was untouched.

As for my weapons my Mattock was fine. My new ax would need a little getting used to as it wasn't the same one I had been using for well over a year now. Just from the feel of it though I would be able to use it effectively, just required more getting used to. As for my knife it was fine as usual. Everything else was in top shape.

Once I was finished with that walked passed the two talking women and plopped onto the bed. It was barely a minute later that sleep took me; I was exhausted. Using my biotics like I had took a lot out of me. Especially considering that I had never used them like that before. The only person I had seen use them like that was Jack; maybe she could help teach me there.

Several hours later I woke back up in my room on my bed with both Tali and Miss T'Kari still in the room. Miss T'Kari was sitting in the corner seemingly meditating and Tali was lying next to me sleeping as well. I gave the sleeping Tali a tired smile before getting up and dressing myself in my armor. Strapping my weapons onto my armor as well.

When I was done I looked back at both of them and saw that they were both stirring. Tali from her sleep and Miss T'Kari was standing up from her meditation. As soon as Miss T'Kari saw me in my gear she grabbed her sword and made a follow me gesture with her head. I did so without complaint and we found our way to the sparring ring.

We each silently got in before bringing out our weapons. Over the next two hours she spent the entire time teaching me how to fight with my weapons against someone like Dashi. It was a crash course with as fast as it was but I made sure that Sam recorded the whole thing and filed it away for a later date. I had no illusions that I wouldn't be fighting Dashi again.

As it was the entire thing was enlightening to say the least. There was a lot of nuances to fighting someone of that level that Miss T'Kari taught me in that session. I knew it wasn't everything that I could learn but it was the absolute best that I was going to get. Especially since at the end of it all I got a message from Nyreen of all people.

It simply said that she would be keeping her eyes out on everything that she could to make sure they were prepared just in case. Then below that was a link to a video and clicking it was the video of my fight with Dashi. Simply saying that the Seamstress was back. It didn't feel like they were too happy about that revelation and from the comments not many people were. Doesn't help that your weak ass got bulldozed by her. No it didn't.

Pushing those words out of my mind I headed to where the shuttle was with Miss T'Kari right behind me. Each of us were silent as we waited for the next hour for the others to come. Well, not the whole time. Only a couple minutes into the silence Miss T'Kari grabbed my shoulder and gave me a small smile.

"You picked the right woman," I couldn't help the chuckle.

"Thanks ma," you know I thinks that's the first time I've ever said those words to her. I remember nothing but the love my first mom had ever given me and she was no different. I wanted her to know that. She gave me a smile before bringing me into a hug.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered into my ear and when we broke apart from the hug I noticed that Jack had joined us at the shuttle. From there we all devolved into silence.

The rest of the time we waited the others began to show up. They sent Miss T'Kari suspicious looks but otherwise didn't say anything. We were heading into the house of the Shadow Broker. Any extra help we could get would be appreciated by everyone and she could definitely help us in this fight.

Once everyone was at the shuttle Pequod showed up and began the starting process for the shuttle. As he did that everyone piled in and made to get ready for the fight. Mostly just doing the usual pre-mission checks of checking our weapons over. It wasn't really needed as most of us kept our weapons in great shape but at this point it was just habit. Something to do before we start.

Then I heard the bay doors opening and we were out of the ship. In the vacuum of space all of silent and the ride was smooth. That changed as soon as we broke the atmosphere and everything began shaking. I grabbed onto the handle above my head out of pure instinct. A couple minutes later the lights went red signaling for us to get ready to get off. We all stood up when they did and huddled as neatly as we could around the door.

Then the light went green and the doors opened. Jack, myself and Miss T'Kari were the first ones out followed by Shepard, Garrus and Grunt and then everyone else. Forming a loose formation around where we had been dropped off Liara took point and began leading us to where she said the entrance was. As we started walking though I heard lightning strike above us and looked up to see Pequods shuttle dropping below us. We were all tense for almost a minute before we saw it shoot back up again and into the sky.

"I'm okay," he radio'd us. "Shuttle got hit bad by the acid rain though. It'll barely break atmo; you'll have to find you're own way back."

Shepard acknowledged him and then Liara began leading us again to the entrance. It took us barely another minute before we saw Broker mercs but when they saw us they didn't do anything. They looked at our entire group, who we were and simply looked the opposite direction.

All of us were baffled by this for a couple of moments and took care to make sure we kept eyes on every single merc we passed. The thing is though after we passed the fifth one I realized what was going on. This was what happened when you ruled and employed through fear. Everyone will turn against you no matter the money.

Well, it was either that or they didn't care as long as they got paid. That meant that the actual Broker position had changed hands multiple times throughout the years. Not exactly something that you would look for in someone who was supposed to protect you. Thus, I favored option one with the Broker being a bastard but I wasn't about to rule out option two. Paranoia wins in the end.

Still, once we got to the door Tali and I began hacking it open together. It made it incredibly easy to do so working in tandem with her but it wasn't the easiest encryption. The Broker had either done it themselves or had paid top dollar for it. Either way it took us only a couple of minutes to do so. While we did that too the mercs we had passed continue to pay us absolutely no mind at all.

That in and of itself made my paranoia go crazy. There must be something waiting on the other side for us for them to just let it happen. Not even a half hearted attempt was thrown against us. It seemed I wasn't the only one that thought this either as everyone seemed to be on edge. None more so than mom and Tela.

Eventually, after a couple of minutes of working on the door with Tali it opened and we walked through the entrance down the ramp. The next door, at the end of the ramp, opened as we approached and all of us had our guns up and ready for anything. Still, there was nothing on the inside as we spread out into the room. My paranoia started going haywire at that moment.

My paranoia, as usual, proved to be right because as soon as we spread out in the room everything started changing. By everything I literally mean the entire room itself. Walls came up everywhere putting everyone into separate positions on the ship as the entirety of the interior changed. We were completely separated from each other and our radio's were being jammed. I never even got a look at the other groups of people who were together.

The only thing I did know was that the only other person with me when the walls cut me off was Jack. We exchanged worried glances but continued forward nonetheless. Something like this wouldn't stop us so we continued forward down the corridor we were now in.

We made it a couple of feet before we saw eight Broker mercs running at us. In a hallway with no cover with us against them it was too easy. Jack sent a Singularity out and caught four of them in one go and a single Overload from me triggering a biotic explosion sent them all flying. One of the four slammed his other buddy into a wall and from the sounds of broken bones neither would be getting up.

As for the remaining three I put one down with a couple shots from my Mattock while Jack took care of the other two with her Shockwave slamming them into the ceiling and definitely breaking their necks. Either way as we went to the bodies we made sure to double tap them just in case. Guess the ones outside could look the other way as there were no cameras but these guys couldn't.

Walking passed the bodies we barely made it a foot before the walls changed again. Still we were unable to reunite with any of our squadmates but we were most definitely not alone. On the other end of the hall stood Dashi with a giant smile on her face. Each of us raised our weapons and started blasting at her but she simply dodged out of the way with inhuman speed. Biotic residue left in her wake as she dodged.

Then she was on us in a heartbeat with her sword coming down in a downward motion at my neck. Out of pure instinct I raised my left hand and summoned a barrier. It didn't catch ber blade but merely made it bounce off of it. In that moment she was open and Jack took it to jump in and deliver a Throw with full force to Dashi's chest sending her flying back into the wall.

She indented into the wall but simply got up without a care in the world with her smile getting bigger as she did so. Before she could do anything though the walls changed again and Jack and I were completely alone. The only thing I could make note of though was that to our right was a giant glass wall and we got a first hand view of the storm outside of the ship from the underside. It was on one hand magnificent but on the other utterly terrifying for what it meant.

Knowing we could be jettisoned to the outside we ran to the other side of the hall and pressed ourselves up against the wall in the hoped the glass window wouldn't open. About another minute later our hopes were answered and the walls changed again without us being sent into the void.

We still hadn't found anyone to link up with from our squad which was extremely concerning. Still, I pushed it out of my mind as we needed to focus on the mission at hand and that was to get to the Broker and kill them. Though, this time we weren't alone and a two Broker mercenaries were standing in front of us.

They each exchanged glances before they raised their guns at us. Both Jack and I were faster though. I put four shots into my guy just as he was able to get off one and he dropped dead with a bullet in his brain without much of a fight. Jack's put up more of a fight as he dodged her Shockwave but that was all she needed to happen as she ran at the merc. Nothing could survive a point blank shotgun round from a Claymore unless they got incredibly lucky.

I had a feeling with how easy we've had it that literally everyone else was being bogged down by mercenaries. There was no way that wasn't the case. Still, soon enough after we killed the mercs did the walls chang again and again we got a giant window to our right. However, as I looked out the window my heart stopped.

Right next to us with a window below their feet were my mom and Dashi. Squaring off against each other. I saw their mouths move as they spoke to each other but I couldn't hear anything. Supressing the fear I now had I brought out my det cord and started linging it on the edge of the glass panel. Like Hell I was going to let mom face Dashi alone.

As I did that though they started their fight and they were an absolute blur. The only thing that I could actually make out were the sparks that erupted from their blades each time they clashed against each other. It was incredible to watch but I pushed it down focusing on setting up the det cord.

When it was all set I looked to Jack and motioned for her to get down. She did so without complaint on the far side of the room where the wall was. Running over and covering her with my body I blew the det cord. Nothing happened, it simply made black char around the edges of the glass wall but otherwise did absolutely nothing. That wasn't right though.

The moment the charges went off and I looked back up I saw my mom flick her eyes towards us and that was all the opening Dashi needed. In an instant she was upon my mom and she was completely on the defensive trying to stop one powerful blow after another. Just from watching though I knew what I had done to try and reach had cost her the fight.

She put up one hell of an effort and even cut Dashi along her left side, right arm, both legs and cheek along the way but it didn't matter. Dashi overwhelmed her and before long she sent a desperate attack at Dashi's neck only for her to raise her free arm and rebounded it just like I had mere minutes earlier.

It threw my moms sword back and left her completely open and Dashi doesn't miss opportunities. She thrust her sword forward right through my mom's gut and I heard a scream, it took me a second to realize it was mine.

My mother stood there with a sword in her gut staring at my mother in shock before she dropped her sword and grabbed onto Dashi's with both hands. She pulled herself forward on the sword towards Dashi and when she was close enough grabbed her face and headbutted it. It… it was a weak headbutt that barely made Dashi flinch.

"MOM!" I screamed again but my words couldn't be heard.

Dashi then ripped out her sword before backhanding her own daughter to the floor. As my mom sprawled out on the floor Dashi walked over to her fallen sword and picked it up. She then stood in front of mom and said a few words but I couldn't make them out before raising both swords and plunging them into her.

"MOM!"

Dashi then pulled both swords out of her before backing away to the other side where there was just a small little ledge. There was no sound from either their side or ours but I could see my mom's mouth working as she spoke words but I couldn't make them out. Then the walls started moving again… I saw the floor beneath her giving out and threw her into the void.

Her last act was to look over at me and mouth her final words. I couldn't hear them but I knew exactly what she said: I love you son. Then she was sucked out into the void of Hagalaz. Into a void that would destroy her body within minutes and I could do nothing, absolutely nothing to stop it. FAILURE!

"MOM!" I screamed one last time before falling against the wall of glass. "Mom… mom. mom. mom. mom… I'm sorry." Push it down.

Standing up I took a steadying breath and started walking through the opening that had been provided for Jack and myself. I could see her out of the corner of my eye and I could tell she wanted to say something but held her tongue.

I hoped this was because of what we had just seen but it might've been because of what the final door opened up to. It showed Shepard and Liara standing over the dead body of the Shadow Broker. Push it down. There were a couple terse words exchanged between Shepard and Liara as we entered the area but we could both hear the final bit from Liara. Push it down.

"-And now you're with that hussy," I saw Jack begin to move at my side but I grabbed her arm out of instinct. Push it down. She looked absolutely infuriated for a moment until she looked at me.

"Please… not now," I don't think my voice has ever been this quiet. She looked from me to Liara for a couple of seconds before nodding her head. Still she walked towards Shepard and made her presence known but otherwise didn't do anything. I was thankful for that.

Over the next couple of minutes everyone else would make their way to the chambers of the Shadow Broker. In this time Liara had taken over the seat of the Broker by addressing all of the agents. No one said anything while she did this and no one really talked as we waited around.

Once everyone was in the chambers Liara directed us to the shuttle bay. We went there and as everyone else was talking amongst each other I didn't say a word. Push it down. This wasn't exactly unusual for me so no one took notice of it. However, once we got to the shuttle bay there was a surprise waiting for us right in front of one of the shuttles.

It was my mothers sword. Push it down. I grabbed it quickly but everyone saw it and abruptly stopped talking. They may not have all liked her or me but they knew the relationship that we had. So to see her sword there they all knew exactly what it meant.

Everyone, absolutely everyone, was silent as I opened up the shuttle's door and went inside with the sword in my hand. As everyone else entered they all gave me as much of a birth as they could in the shuttle. I simply stared down at the sword in silence as I heard Shepard start the shuttle.

Leaving the bay we made our way out of the atmosphere of Hagalaz and into space. Once we got to space it was a smooth ride. Push it down. Either way we made it back to the Normandy with relative ease with the mission accomplished. Still, no one said a word as they all exited the shuttle with Tali being the last one to leave.

I don't know how long I sat in the shuttle looking at the sword that belonged to my mom. However, eventually I stood up and made my way out of the shuttle with the weapon in hand. I didn't bother going to my room and simply made a straight shot towards the gym. Push it down.

Slamming the sword into the ground I took off the glove on my right hand and started punching. Without wraps or anything to protect my hands it wasn't long before my hand started to bleed… I stopped punching with my augmetic after the third punch. Push it down. I kept punching with only my bare hand on the bag until it finally gave out and the bolts holding it up flew off. Sending it sprawling onto the ground.

"Push it down."

Looking at it for a moment I went over to the acidic shuttle that Pequod had dropped us off in. Push it down. Reaching it I started punching the side of it with my real hand. Spreading blood everywhere over everything I hit. Indenting it more so than anything I thought possible as each consecutive punch hit the shuttle. I didn't care though.

"Push it down."

I stayed there for I don't know how long as I continued to punch the side of the shuttle in silence. Push it down. I kept at it, the world around me didn't matter at all as I kept punching. Reaching the point where the entire area, including myself, was covered in the blood splatter from my fist. My fist was barely recognizable at this point too but it wasn't that bad. I could still feel and move all my fingers. Just my knuckles were about gone or completely flattened but I could still feel them.

"Push it down," I heard the words out of my mouth but I didn't acknowledge them as I kept punching. Nothing else mattered. I needed to work this out myself. I needed to grieve by myeself. No one could stop me, no one.

This continued for almost another hour as I basically dissociated from everything around me. Nothing else mattered besides slamming my fist into the side of the shuttle no matter the pain it brought me. Push it down. I eventually had to start moving around the shuttle as where I started was getting too indented. Every punch I sent out indented the metal of the shuttle and I would change places where I would punch every couple of swings as it would get too indented. Only the original place by the cockpit held up the best.

"Aedon," ignore it, it doesn't matter. Push it down. I kept punching the side of the shuttle.

"Push it down."

I just kept punching until I felt arms wrap around me. Trying to break out of them proved to be absolutely fruitless in my state no matter how hard I tried. I didn't stop trying though and kept at it until they spun me around and ripped my helmet off. Standing in front of me was Tali, Garrus, and Shepard.

"Push it down," I knew it was my voice but it was so distant I almost didn't recognize it. They exchanged heartbroken glances before Tali threw herself at me embracing me.

"It wasn't your fault," a moment later Garrus joined the hug and then Shepard.

"It wasn't your fault." I heard Tali's voice repeat.

"It wasn't your fault." I heard Garrus' voice.

"It wasn't your fault." Shepards. I tried to get them off me but it just wouldn't work.

"It wasn't your fault." I heard Grunt, Jack and Kasumi this time.

"It wasn't your fault." Thane, Mordin and Jacob.

"It wasn't your fault." Miranda, Tela, and Legion.

"It wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't your fault," I heard Tali say again and this time after 10 secutive tries I mustered the courage to actually look at her. I met her eyes for maybe a moment before I looked away. I couldn't look at her, I couldn't look at anyone… I… I just couldn't.

"It wasn't your fault," I heard Tali whisper again in my ear and the dam finally broke.

I couldn't stop the absolute avalanche of tears that came with their words. I couldn't control myself as I was wracked with tears. I barely registered Shepard, Garrus and Tali bringing me back to my room before they gently laid me on my bed. Curling into a ball feeling absolutely vulnerable I felt Tali close herself around me and put me into the little spoon position.

As soon as I felt that I began to sob. Truly sob. Everything hurt. Everything.

I hope that all of you truly love the story that I have given you. Writing this chapter tore my soul in half. It hurt me to write this but it needed to be done. Nothing lasts forever.

Good Will Hunting was the inspiration for this chapter. All I have to say is that if you haven't seen the movie you really need to. It's amazing and Robin Williams brings an otherworldly performance for it.