Chapter 18

The shadow broker

Hello people! I'm back from the dead. Now before you skewer me with your pitchforks allow me to explain: I finally got my decree. After almost 4 years of study, 2 nerve wracking months of writing, research and sleepless hours because of tension, i'm finally done. This, coupled with the fact that i almost lost the chance because of the growing Pandemic in my country and a laptop that decided to break part of its keyboard just in this period made these two months...interesting to say the least. And definitively not months where i could write anything decent. But now i'm back with gifts. A 10 000 strong chapter.

As always fell free to point out flaws, mistakes, or parts that you feel wrong or genuinely liked and why. Help me get back on track people.

The curtains are open, have a good reading.

Planet Hagalaz. Unknown part of space. 22 Aril 2185. Unknown hour.

Outside the shuttle, the skies burn. Cherry red flames and orange lights hit the Claymore's eyes with blinding power despite the protective metal around the ship. At the same time, snakes of lightning darted across the churning clouds in a complicated dance of Arabic drawings. Roars of fury echoed inside the small, metal shuttle currently floating inside this hellish sky, its power a looming threat that kept the pilot on constant edge.

Lovely place indeed, this planet named Hagalaz.

Lena scoffed at this spectacle. She now knew how clouds felt during a storm, and her mind shivered at the prospect of one lightning hitting their ship. Still, she hid it well.

Nothing was happening right now, and so her mind wandered back to two days ago, the day when Shepard came to her cabin just after being discharged by doctor Chackwas, the day when this mess had begun. He arrived at night, interrupting a playful conversation about classic books between her and Kelly while Raina slept on the bed, clinging on her new bear toy Fluffie. Lena remembered the steely look inside Shepard's eyes, clear sign that this was not a social call. Shepard saluted them and even made some jokes about Lena's evergrowing pile of books, but quickly moved the Claymore away from Kelly with an excuse and ordered her to be ready for a mission. A mission so secret that she even refused to speak about it with Kelly around. Lena remembered how she arched her eyebrows that night, of course, wondering what was all of this about, but still, she obeyed and found an excuse to dismiss her friend. However, that night Lena discovered that it hurt her to leave Kelly in the dark, or make her leave before the intended time. Thinking about it, every time she left the cheerful girl after their psychotherapy sessions, or simple social calls, her heart ached for some reason. Why this happened, the Claymore had a solid hunch but still refused to admit it to herself. Then, the day after, Shepard arrived again in the middle of the night, unannounced, and personally came to escort her through the deserted halls of the ship, granting the Claymore only three minutes to let Raina wake up and inform her of the situation. Then, first, the pair moved to the armoury and after that inside an unmarked shuttle in the ship's hangar. Not a Cerberus ship.

She was not alone of course: Garrus and Tali, the last one just recently out the infirmary, checked their weapons behind her and made ready for anything in their little way, one checking his rifle's calibrations for the umpteenth time, the other summoning her queer drone for last minute's corrections. No one talked when the shuttle's engines roared into life, or when they finally left the secure surrounding of the Normandy to enter inside this hellhole of a planet. Garrus and Tali only exchanged tense glances but nothing else. A bit away from them, Shepard stood tall inside the shuttle, busy reading something from a data-pad received from someone containing intel about the mission. A surprisingly tiny one.

Inside the cockpit and away from them, their pilot kept trudging inside this boiling hellhole of a climate, looking for something like a hawk waiting for the prey. The pilot was an Asari called Liara T'Soni.

Lena knew about her, mostly thanks to Kelly: a former member of Shepard's team like Garrus and Tali, Asari archaeologist in the past and now information broker, she was the reason they were all there today.

Liara had asked, back on Illium, for help against the Shadow Broker once she discovered its hideout. And now that the day had finally come, here was Shepard with the rest of his merry band, ready to storm one of the deadliest and most secret hideouts of the galaxy placed on a ship orbiting a planet where oceans freeze and boils at the same time.

All in all, not your usual day in the office, not even for Shepard's team.

"So...Shepard" began to discuss Lena to break the ice "Mind to tell us what is about to hit us? And why you didn't want the Normandy's help for this?"

A bolt of whatever was outside hit the shuttlecraft in the flanks, and for some seconds everyone had to grab onto something to avoid falling. It took a minute for the ship's stabilizers to come back to normal, but still, the engines continued their march.

"We know very little about our target, Lena." answered Shepard finally "Apart from the fact that the Shadow Broker resides inside a ship orbiting this cursed planet, and that it is packed to the brim with guards. The task is simple. Once we reach the ship, we jump down and open our way inside, kill the guards and deal with the Shadow Broker."

"Charming plan. Completely safe." deadpanned Lena "And how do we know that this is not an elaborate trap?" continued Lena bluntly "That the Shadow Broker isn't already waiting for us?"

A deathly quiet enveloped the small ship, one so strong that it eclipsed even the storm outside. Tali and Garrus watched Lena in a mixture of surprise and disbelief, while Shepard's eyes locked themselves on Lena's.

"Explain, Lena," he replied to her.

"Shepard, I understand that Liara is an old friend of yours, of all of you. And I also understand that, by asking for my presence in this mission instead of any other, you are showing just how much trust you place in me." The Claymore sighted before continuing "But I am not a friend of this Liara. My eyes are not blinded by camaraderie, and in her and this ridiculous idea, I see an obsessed Asari. One ready to jump at any conclusion if it suits her needs and to hell the ones around her."

"Are you implying" snarked Garrus back, his mandible twitching dangerously "That Liara is dragging us into a trap willingly?"

"No." countered Lena "Only that, in her obsession, she might forget many essential steps and drag herself into a trap. And us right behind her."

This time the silence that permeated the shuttle could cut through steel.

Lena prepared herself to a barrage of insults and nasty remarks from her companions, wondering if she had gone too far. As a Claymore, she understood just how thick could a bond of brotherhood be. Hell, Lena was ready to die for some Claymores back at home, and she was sure not to be the only one with such a mentality. The respect that Miria of all people possessed upon her fellow Claymores spoke volumes about this.

Still, it had to be said, and the Claymore felt a weight leave her shoulders once such words escaped from her lips.

And so she waited for the inevitable. She waited, and waited, and waited until a minute passed and still no one answered to her. No angry remarks, no rebuff, no rage, everyone inside the ship watched at her with strange eyes. Garrus even looked at her with what looked like hope.

"Lena." finally said Shepard "What you are saying is true: Liara has changed since the time I met her two years ago. That bubbly archaeologist wishing to see her mother for one last time is gone, and I have to say I do not like this new replacement. She reminds me too much of some -professionals-" Shepard uttered this word with disgust "I trained with back on Earth during my N7 training regime. Cold and calculating, caring only for the mission. But, as cold as she might look, she is not a fool. If she says that we can infiltrate the Shadow Broker's base, then you can bet everything you posses that it is possible."

"Then, why keeping the details hidden? Because there is no way that this is it! All this secrecy, why? Does she not trust you anymore, Shepard?"

"I do, who I do not trust here is you, Ripper." replied a different voice from behind them.

Lena turned her head toward this new source, and her silver eyes met with the green ones of Liara. Like the rest of the crew here, she was armed to the teeth with pistols and machine gun, and already dressed in a white combat dress and a respirator mask that partially muffled her usual voice. Still, the suspect and venom behind her words were impossible not to notice.

Lena felt unnerved under her gaze. Inside the Asari's eyes, she saw a wave of restless anger, all directed toward her for some reason. The Claymore felt worthless, unwelcome, and instinctively understood that, had it been her choice, Liara would have launched her outside the airlock here and there. Still, she found the courage to stand up and answer.

"Me? What is the problem with me? Also, should you not be driving toward whatever is our destination?"

"We have arrived, Ripper. The automated pilot can do the rest now. The Broker's ship is down on us, and we shall jump on it once the airlock is open, so I suggest you all lock your helmets because the air outside is not breathable."

"Don' dodge the subject!" scoffed Lena "What is the problem about me?"

"You are with Cerberus." said Liara as a matter of fact "And unlike the people inside this ship, you are not with them just because of Shepard. As such, I cannot trust you into not informing the Illusive Man about this place."

A loud sigh of annoyance escaped from Lena's lips. Just what was the deal with this Cerberus? They didn't look that insane to the Claymore's eyes. A bit extreme sometimes but still.

"Girl, for the last time, I am NOT affiliated with Cerberus! They are just paying me for a service. I do not care about their ideals and sure as hell, I would never snitch your affair to them."

"Even worse then. You are a mercenary. The kind of scum that gladly sells their souls for some credits. And yet Shepard insisted on bringing you with us, claiming that you are necessary for the entire mission. But all I can see here is a foolish complainer that I can't trust into even keeping her mouth shut."

Something broke inside Lena's mind, and her body reacted out she could even think about it. A second ere she was sitting on one of the ship's benches, the second later she was on top on Liara, strangling her neck with one hand and holding her up into the air. The Claymore's eyes were already golden, and a snarl escaped from her mutated lips.

"What in the Goddesses' name you just said to me, bitch?!" she growled an inch close to Liara's face. The bulging veins and golden irises gave her a fearsome aspect, fearsome enough to scare a rabid Krogan, but not Liara.

"The truth!" garbled Liara with some effort. Behind them, both Garrus and Tali were already up, but Shepard stopped them with a sign.

"I studied your bio, Ripper. Is my job to know people. Unknown human- hybrid creature. Place and time of birth, not known. Supposedly 24 years old, nubile with one child. Particular signs: incapable of using the medium to high-grade technological components, over enhanced strength and reflexes, regenerations, peerless sword-fighting technique. Characteristic signs: stubborn, defiant, temperamental, impatient, respectful of authority, vengeful and, most of all, overprotective about her only daughter." Liara chocked the last phrase with a mixture of understanding and mock respect.

"In short, an aggressive, temperamental and dangerous killer barely kept in check by Shepard's charisma and a heap of credits. The kind of person that would sell us all in exchange for her daughter's safety or happiness. Like you already did back on Omega for two long years. And I have to believe that the Illusive Man would not use this to coerce you into submission once he discovered through you about this job?"

Lena's grip on the Asari tightened. Shepard saw her friend's face becoming purple.

"I would have never talked about the mission to him. I am loyal to Shepard."

Still, the Asari laughed despite the chokehold. A burst of dry, humourless laughter.

"As long as no one hit your puppy, that is."

Lena roared in rage and threw Liara on the other side of the shuttle like a rag doll, the strength behind the attack so much that the shuttle itself tumbled in the air for a second. Only her shield and a lot of preparation could explain how Liara avoided breaking her spine. Not satisfied, Lena grabbed her sword and moved toward the groaning Asari, ready to skewer Liara in one strike, but a gauntleted hand stopped her wrist in her track.

"Enough! Both of you!" finally intervened Shepard against the two girls "Liara, you might be an information broker, but this does not mean that you possess the truth! Lena is not a traitor. On the contrary, she is a valuable and trusted member of my team, and I chose her because I know that she will not delude us. And you Lena, calm down. We are all allies there."

Lena panted hard but still not moved, her anger simmering inside her like a storm as brutal as the one outside the ship. She unholstered her sword but made no moves of leaving the hands from the pommel. Liara in the meantime rose herself from the floor, coughing for the shock but more than ready to attack, Shepard could see it in her eyes, and in her hands now glowering with biotic power.

"Liara," said Tali shily behind them, "I think you went too far this time."

Garrus merely twitched the mandibles in uncertainty. He partially agreed with Tali, but not by much. Still; he was smart enough not to say it out loud.

"I am not a killer." spat Lena with a voice full of venom to Liara, but the Claymore refused to attack. Flashes of many faces she met, and killed, inside T'Von's arenas hit her mind like a mallet, but she held them back somehow. With a firm gesture, the Claymore grabbed her helmet, still rolling on the floor, and strapped it on her head.

"Not anymore."

This seems to satisfy Liara, that merely glared at Lena just before moving toward the opening hatch of the ship, activating it. Shepard, on the other hand, sighed, only half satisfied. He had defused the situation but not the root cause it. He mentally decided to have a chat with Liara once everything was all over. This was not normal behaviour, even for this new friend.

Soon the entire squad was fully geared and insulated, and when the ship opened itself to allow them to jump, they witnessed the lair of the infamous Shadow Broker.

It was a massive ship, at least two kilometres in size and shaped like a gigantic bird. The steel bulkheads covered every inch of the lumbering construct, like steel armour of a knight. The metal shone under the stormy skies of Hagalaz. At the same time, massive capacitator discharges, black arches as tall as the Claymore and three times thick, placed at specific junctures dispersed the energy of the storm around them. Its engines on its back roared with full power, enough to silence even the skies all around them. The wings of the ship rested on its lower half, two massive, rectangular shields of steel and cables that engulfed the ship's engines like a shield and protected them from any debris. Still, Lena could see signs of parapets, and walkways all around the bulkheads, all linked together in a chain too deep for her eyes to follow but had to lead to somewhere. There were people crazy enough to walk outside this hellhole apart from them, and the Claymore wondered why.

Their shuttle now hovered the main bulkhead of this massive construct, dimly avoiding the storms thanks to a pre-made pattern already loaded by Liara.

They were all so close to the ship at this point, no more than a two meters jump, but the hell all around them made it look like three thousand.

"I programmed the shuttle to come back once I give it the input on my Omni-tool."

"They can do that now?" asked Garrus

"Technically they can't. Salarian's technology, cutting edge and still experimental." replied Liara "I paid a lot for installing it in this shuttle, but it should work. Now, I have a map of the outer route." warned Liara to the others. "I took it from Vasir's Omni-tool before it self destructs. It will guide us to a secondary entrance used by their engineers from time to time, but we have only seven minutes before the storm destroy our shields, so stay behind me."

"And once inside?" grumbled Lena.

"One thing at the time, Ripper," replied Liara, and before anyone else could say more, she jumped down to the ship, quickly followed by Shepard, Tali and Garrus, leaving Lena alone with her suspicions.

"Oh, to hell with this!" she cursed loudly, and she jumped too.


Shadow Broker's ship. 6.27 minutes later

Close. Too fucking close.

Lena had suffered many close calls during her long life as Claymore, rebel, forced gladiator and mercenary. The final fight against Priscilla; the meeting with some abyssal eaters; that day when T'Von paired her against three fully armoured Krogan berserkers at once and the battle against the beast back on Tuchanka. But this one took the cake.

Walking through that hellhole of that ship had been almost impossible since the beginning: the mere landfall almost killed them, with flashes of lightning darting around their shields and a wind so strong it threatened to grab and drag them away. Then, once back to solid ground, the scorching blasts of Hagalaz hit them with enough power to make even a Claymore like her tumble down. They had expected this, and pre magnetized their boots to the bulkheads, but still, Lena felt her body ripped in pieces for a second.

"Come on! Let's move!" said Liara on the inter-comm once down, as if the storm was not even there, but they all obeyed and followed her. Trampling the consumed metal, avoiding the most energetic blasts, the group trudged its way through Liara's supposed entry. On their way they had the pleasant discovery that the ship was not as smooth and uncovered as they feared: the bulkheads opened and closed at irregular intervals like breathing mouths, allowing the group to have some form of protection. Many walls had also been installed, to help the poor engineer tasked to repair this mess of a ship against the elements. Sometimes they even entered inside a more secluded piece of the ship's hull, protected by its more exposed bulkheads. Still, it proved everything but a cakewalk.

More than once an electrical discharge from the capacitator hit someone of the squad, frying the circuits inside their armour and almost cooking the ones inside alive. Still, the shield always managed to keep their bearers alive. Garrus received a particularly nasty shock when they moved through a walkway at the verge of the ship and nearly fell to his death.

Then, to worsen the situation, the drones arrived. Maintenance drones used to work where not even suicidal idiots would go activated themselves and attacked them, mistaking the group for debris. The cursed ball of lights shot at them with zappers and small guns, making an already tricky trek near-impossible.

At least they died quickly. A strike from her armoured gauntlet and the pesky things disappeared in a flash of light.

Last but not least, after two more minutes of walk and many broken drones behind, actual troops appeared. Someone inside the ship must have noticed that something was off because from many hatches and sealed openings dozens of guards and operatives of the Shadow Broker appeared, arms ready and scanning for threats. They all full armour and helmets, so Lena could not be sure of it, but the Claymore was prepared to bet everything that each one of them looked at her squad with pure astonishment and bewilderment when they discovered just what was causing trouble outside their ship.

"Run!" screamed Shepard when he saw them, and so they did. The entire group dashed toward the object, so close and yet so far. The door that Liara had found on Vasir's Omni-tool vas in fact in front of them. A standard, tall steel door used as an exit for a maintenance shaft, barely ten meters away from their positions and almost inviting them, with its large door and pleasing lights, to come in and be safe.

But now they had company, and the piercing pain of bullets hitting barriers forced the group to redouble the pace. The howling winds of Hagalaz mixed themselves with the sharp cracks of discharging guns. The shots went wide, their targeting systems unable to keep up with the storm, but Lena knew that it was only a matter of time until something, under the sheer volume of fire, would hit the squad.

Shepard thought the same thing and quickly devised a plan.

"Garrus, shoot at the pylons!" ordered Shepard, and so he did.

Unlike the Broker's goos, Garrus took some seconds before firing, compensating for the wind messing with its scope, and when the bullet escaped from its trusted sniper rifle, the shot proved right.

The furthest pylon to Shepard's position exploded into a shower of sparks and discharged energy, releasing a veritable storm of electric power across an entire section of the ship. Then the pylon next to it, all of a sudden forced to double its pressure, popped under the newfound stress. And then another, and another.

A chain reaction ravaged the ship's exterior, the pylons all losing control of the storm one after another. Orbs of lighting, free now from their bindings, stripped the ship's outer hull with all their power, flunking steel and people alike still screaming into the air or outright incinerating them on the spot. Lena saw an Asari commando shrieking in fear once the gales captured her, her arms flailing in the air in the desperate effort to grab something. She quickly disappeared inside the boiling cloud, and her shrieks died with her.

The distraction worked, beyond their dreams: with a veritable hell now scourging the ship, the few surviving soldiers scrambled for survival. In contrast, the ship's computer calmly tried to regain some form of control upon the damaged pylons; forgetting about its cursed drones.

Of course, now Shepard's team had the teeny little problem of also being among the poor fools hammered by an unrestrained storm.

"A bit too much Shepard!" shrieked a terrified Tali. One flash of lightning missed her by a mere inch, making the young engineer yelp in fear.

"Shut up and run," he replied. Behind them, Lena grimly cursed and legged it as fast as she could, trying to ignore the screams of fear and pain of their enemies behind.

"Inside, now!" screamed Liara to the group, already ahead of them with Garrus. Thank God Vasir's codes had worked immediately in opening the door because no way in hell the squad had the time to hack the access with the veritable storm incoming on their heads.

Shepard and Tali jumped inside the entrance, hitting the cold floor of the maintenance shaft like a swimmer would do with the water, but when Lena tried to do the same, a bolt of lightning hit her. It was not a direct hit. Otherwise, she would have simply died, but such was the power behind the shock that all her armour's systems collapsed under the sheer amount of energy hitting them in seconds. Lena screamed inside the helmet and felt all her members going numb. Her numbed ears felt a yelling far into the distance. Was Shepard the one yelling at her? Or Tali? She was not sure. She fell, unable to lift a finger, but never hit the ground. The wind quickly captured her and tried to grab her away in the ether, and her death. But something else yanked her away before it was too late. Blue energy, biotics power on the purest form enveloped the Claymore's struggling frame into an unbreakable net. Liara's power snatched Lena away from certain doom at the last possible moment. The gales of winds howled in rage at this insult and redoubled their efforts upon Lena's unconscious body. Beads of sweat escaped from Liara, but still, the girl held on; enough for Garrus and Shepard to dash outside and bodily grab Lena with all their might. Their combined effort defeated the wind, even if just for that one second they needed, and dragged the groaning Lena inside the maintenance door, the same door that Tali quickly closed and sealed once everyone was inside, sending the entire place into an abrupt silence.

Lena hit the cold, steely ground alongside Garrus and Shepard in a tangle of limbs and legs.

They barely fit it inside. The maintenance door they had used as a secret entrance was nothing more than an exit used by engineers to came out of the ship and did jobs quickly. The long, narrow corridor now in front of the squad, barely able to fit the whole group, the various tools strapped on the walls and the dim lights proved this. Shepard's trained eyes noted that steel barriers slightly spewed out the walls for some reason, allowing for some cover. It was deserted right now, thankfully, at least for now, and this permitted Shepard to untangle himself from this mess and to try to help Lena. Garrus quickly followed him, but Lena still refused to move.

"Good...Goddesses!" groaned Lena in pain still on the floor. The Claymore felt the numbness trapping her body slowly, slowly disappearing, and her eyes caught the sight of Shepard kneeling in front of her, Omni-Tool in hand. A small vial and a syringe pierced her skin. Lena felt a jolt of adrenaline coursing through her veins, enough for Lena to rose from the floor. Her vision was blurry still, but at least she could move now.

"Easy Lena." chided Shepard "It was a glancing it, but it still did a number on you. You can thank your stupid ass resilience of yours if you are not knocked out cold."

Lena groaned and sputtered in pain at these words. The Claymore felt as if an army of Abyssal were pouncing at her head, and her footing felt unsteady and shaky. But she still refused to stand down and forced her body to obey. Slowly at first, steadily after some uncertain seconds; the Claymore rose from the cold floor.

"How bad?" she croaked.

"Nothing was broken, and your head looks nice despite the shock if a bit disjointed. But your armour is scrap. No shields or medical IV for the rest of the mission for you I'm afraid.

"But she can still fight, it seems" intervened Liara abruptly "And fighting is what we need now."

"Can you give me at least a second?" rasped Lena in shock. The Claymore felt another stab of pain ripping through her flesh, but she endured.

"I can, they will not," replied Liara laconically, indicating something in the distance.

All the people inside Shepard's group turned their heads toward the source of Liara's pointing. The light inside the corridor was still dim, and their eyes could barely see past ten meters. But their hearing was excellent, and what they heard was steps.

Dozens of steps. Hundreds of steps. All were coming toward them.

"Well, fuck." Mused Garrus

"How many soldiers are under the Shadow Broker's paycheck?"

"Too many, I fear." Replied Shepard "All behind some cover people. Liara, singularity followed by warp. Garrus, snipe any heavy hitters and commando. Tali, drone and deal with any fools that comes too close. Lena"

Lena groaned and grabbed a piece of the wall to stay on foot

"Just, stay in cover and use either your machine gun or the shotgun. Forget the sword for a time."

Another groan, this time of annoyance, escaped from Lena but still, she nodded.

"Good, we deal with the first wave, and then we move. Run and gun people, do not get bogged down."

The first soldier appeared inside the corridor, fully armoured and wielding a rocket launcher. His head exploded into a shower of blood and brain matter. The ones behind them, now covered in their comrade's blood, became wiser and dived for cover despite their officers' orders and a battle quickly ensued and, as much as Lena wanted to charge and be done with them, she stuck to the plans and tried to pick shots at a distance. With not too much of a result.

A shower of bullets hit her position, forcing the Claymore to look for cover, cursing and glaring.

Sometimes she truly hated her job.


fifteen minutes later

Lena's breath escaped in ragged sobs as she tried to stem a chest wound with her right arm. Just one step ahead of her the reason of this new injury, a dying Salarian soldier with her sword lodged inside his skull, twitched and spluttered in the death throes.

In the end, she had been forced to use the sword whether she liked or not, specifically when a large group of soldiers decided to charge their damned positions and swamp them with corpses.

"Are we done already?" Wheezed the Claymore to Shepard once she managed to regain some breath. Again, Lena felt an aching pain on her stomach where the residues of the shock still haunted her body, all while the hole on the chest slowly and painfully closed itself.

Too slowly for the Claymore's taste.

"No idea. Liara, you got a map or are you wandering randomly inside this maze?" replied Shepard eyeing her friend.

"I know what I am doing Shepard. We are moving toward the medical bay, and this is the right direction."

"The medical bay?" Asked Garrus quizzically "Why that? Should we not aim at the Shadow Broker?"

"Is the same route, and I need to know if he is still alive," muttered Liara back without even turning to answer. Garrus's mandibles twitched at this response.

"Who is him?"

"Incoming!" shouted Shepard getting everyone's attention, just in ti,e before another rain of bullet clattered and met its end on the steel walls of the ship.

Again another swarm of armoured soldiers tried to kill them whit biotics, bullets and electronic attacks, and again Shepard's squad returned fire and slowly tore them apart. But this time a series of speakers shouted inside every place of the ship, sending whit them the Shadow Broker's voice.

"The intruders are moving toward the prisoner. To all the nearest troops alive, terminate him."

The voice felt weird to Shepard's ears. Loud and distorted, clearly changed by some kind of programme, that was certain. But what truly unnerved the commander was that he could not hear any hint of the speaker's race. Even the best masking devices left scant traces of voice when used, something that a professional like him had been trained to pick and recognize. But this?

-Too deep for a human, too raspy for an Asari, to slow for a Salarian. Batarian?- rumbled his mind tirelessly, but such an answer failed to convince him.

Liara, on the other hand, sprung like a wire after hearing such words, and charged toward the corridor like a madwoman, leaving temporary behind her comrades.

"Feron!" she screamed, more at herself than at anyone in

"Liara, what the hell?" cursed Shepard. "God's damnit! Quickly, before they shred her!"

Shepard charged behind Liara, trying to reach her before they get too separate inside this damned, cramped ship. He witnessed the result fo Liara's mad dash, the crumpled bodies of soldiers and specialists alike turned to pieces by powerful biotics. Others came, trying to capitalize to the situation, but Shepard managed to stop them before it was too late, through Lena got another shot at the base of her neck. Finally, they joined her friend once again. Panting, bleeding slightly from a small wound and angrily decrypting a door's code in front of her. Door code for a door thicker than Shepard's chest and clearly used to keep someone valuable inside.

"Please Goddess, let it not be too late. Do not do this to me!" Shepard heard her friend murmur in desperation while her Omni-tool cracked the code of the door.

"Liara" tried Shepard to approach her, but her friend didn't even notice the hand placed on her shoulder.

-Damn!- thought Shepard -Whoever this Feron is he must be something for her.-

"Shepard, no more enemies inbound for now. I think we scared them into submission, at least for a bit."

"It better be." grumped Shepard back at Garrus "We killed how many of them already? Thirty? And we didn't even advance that much. Are all of you, ok?"

"Fine," said Tali

"Getting a bit low on ammo, otherwise fine" replied Garrus.

Lena did not reply. Shepard felt her groaning and grabbing a piece of dented wall for support instead, shivering in pain.

"Lena?" asked Shepard preoccupied. He came close to her and took a look with his Omni-tool

"I…i can't regenerate the neck wound." She admitted with gritted teeth

"The jolt…the lightning, it must have done more damage than I thought. I feel drained."

"So this yoki you always talk about is reacting badly to the lightning? Is that the problem?"

"Pretty much" a tired smile appeared on the Claymore's haggard features "I had almost forgotten just how much it sucks to NOT be able to regenerate your flesh on a whim."

"Yes, yes, welcome to our world. Rest for a moment, ok? Try to catch your strength again. I still need you."

Lena coughed and gasped again, but still, she smiled back at Shepard and tried to catch some breath.

"Finally!" shouted Liara's voice behind them. The code was cracked, and Shepard saw the massive, steel frame of the imposing object whine and move as the hydraulics and gears inside it moved as ordered.

Liara didn't even wait until it was fully open, she instead sprinted inside as soon as there was enough space. Shepard snorted but quickly followed her.

"Garrus, on watch until we are back," he said before entering. A mere nod was enough for Garrus for an answer.

The inside of this new room was quite spartan and dim. Nothing more than a square; three meters long and half large, a single white light dangled from the roof brightening the place with its dull glow. The only furniture Shepard noticed were cabinets of every kind placed on the walls, all filled with what looked like medical equipment although a nagging voice on his head told him that they were here more for torture, or just keeping the poor sod alive, that healing. At the centre of the room laid the sole occupant: A Drell, male. His skin showed an interesting mix of dark green and red never seen by Shepard. Like many others of his kind, he showed large, lidless eyes as black as night. He was dressed in what looked a black, old and worn leather jacket and looked like someone that really needed a good night of rest. He was also currently strapped on a chair with metal binding on his legs and arms, and connected to a machine of unknown origin or purpose. The machine looked unassuming, no more than a silver box with cables all ending on a specific part of the chair's occupant, and a computer that showed what appeared to be the Drell's vitals.

"Liara, you…you damn fool." gasped the Drell in pain, but a broken smile still emerged from his craggy features.

"Quiet Feron, stay still, and you shall be free in a second." shushed Liara.

"No, Liara wait!" stuttered Feron "The machine." he had no time to finish the sentence because the device did it for him.

A loud, whirring sound suddenly echoed inside the small room, coming from the machine strapped on Feron's body.

"Here it comes." groaned the Drell, and indeed something came.

A jolt of electricity coursed from the wires locked on Feros's body and made the poor Drell jerk in utter pain. Feros screamed, his throat hoarse for the exhaustion, and his limbs shook like mad snakes in a futile effort to find some solace.

"Feron!" cried Liara, but Shepard stopped her.

The shock lasted less than twenty seconds, more than enough to give Feron a two way trip to hell and back, and yet he somehow managed to stay awake.

-Tough bastard.- conceded Shepard. He quietly asked if any more agents were coming on his inter comm while this small drama unfolded in front of him. The reply from Tali was still negative.

"The Shadow Broker's idea." panted Feron once the shock was over "I try to escape, and the machine hurt me. I stay quiet, and the machine jolts me…less frequently. Only the Broker can deactivate this trap, so stop wasting time here and finish the job."

"If I go" replied Liara, "The Broker's agents shall come and finish you. He already gave the orders through the speakers!"

"Gods damnit Liara!" cursed Feron at her stubbornness. "This is not the right moment."

"He is right; it is not." supplied Shepard back to Liara. "No one is still coming, but the situation might change at a moment's notice. We need to finish the job Liara."

The Asari turned away from her trapped friend, not believing in what she had just heard.

"Shepard, I am not leaving him here to be put down like a beast!" snarled her friend back at the commander "I refuse to do so."

"My thought exactly." sighted Shepard, surprising a Liara already expecting a fight.

"Garrus, Tali," asked Shepard moving towards his companions, "Think you can hold this room for ten minutes?"

Garrus's mandibles twitched oddly at this question. He didn't answer immediately, prompting instead for carefully examining the room's interior, its air vents and the layout of the place in general.

"I think we can, as long as we reprogram the door and Lena gives me all her spare thermal clips."

"Then, it is settled. Liara, you said that the Broker's chambers are near no? Then let's go and end him before he smells our coming. Garrus and Tali shall hold while we finish the job. Satisfied by this?"

"I...I thought" stammered Liara for a second. She quickly regained her composure though "Yes, this will work. Come on then, let's not waste time."

Liara moved away from Feron's trapped form and walked toward the exit. She stopped only a moment before leaving the room as if a thought had crossed her just in that second.

"Garrus, Tali, Feron" she croaked "Do not die, please."


Shadow Broker's chamber. two minutes later

This was it. The reason for this mad mission, the target that had shadowed both Shepard and Liara's lives for so much time and forced their group to try such a suicide mission was finally in front of them in his shadowy glory, and Shepard had to admit it: what he saw surprised him.

The Shadow Broker was a massive creature. A sapient game of light and darkness prevented the commander from seeing what manner of creature was in front of him, but the mere profile made him an intimidating sight. The creature in front was seated on a chair behind a desk, and yet it still looked taller than a Krogan, and just as big unless his eyes were playing tricks on him. On the dim light, apart from the shape, Shepard could identify a large, horned head and hands more prominent than his chest but nothing more of it. All around him scores of computers, data-pads and engines kept working full-time processing, analyzing and screening intel from all around the universe.

Even in the middle of danger, the machines refused to stop.

He didn't look scared at the sight of three angry people barging on his office, not even unfazed. The creature merely shrugged behind the desk, he crossed its massive palms in amusement, and this concerned the commander.

"Yahg!" Shepard heard Lena mutter darkly

"You know this creature?" asked Shepard

"Here for the Drell?" asked the beast back to the commander? Its voice was rasp and jagged as if unused to use such petty things as words for communicating. "Reckless, even for you, commander Shepard."

Shepard sensed no hints of fear. A troubling sign.

"Like your mess back on Illium?" taunted Shepard back but the Shadow refused to take the bait.

"Extreme" it merely replied "But necessary." its face tilted slightly toward Lena.

"Fascinating specimen you brought here to me, doctor. Thank you for bringing the subject Ripper to me. Her body will net almost as much as Shepard's."

Lena's grip on the sword became even harder.

"You are not getting your pawns on anyone!" Growled Liara back "You already did enough with Feron."

"Feron betrayed me." said the Shadow as a matter of fact "He is now paying the price for this, nothing more. He should have given Shepard's body to the Collector. Instead, he gave it to you."

"Well, that is nice to know!" muttered Shepard darkly "I guess you do not mind then if I riddle you with bullets and call it even?"

The beast laughed in its strange and coarse voice

"You can do nothing against me, commander Shepard. I know every secret, every weakness you possess, while you fumble in the dark."

"Is that so?" replied Liara smugly "You are a Yahg, a pre-spaceflight species quarantined inside their planet after you massacred the Council's first contact team. This base also looks far older than your planet's discovery, meaning that you killed the previous Shadow and took its place. But I wonder" she faked a false sense of curiosity before twisting the blade "Did the previous Shadow took you as a slave? Or a pet?"

"Liara, enough!" grimaced Lena behind her "Yahgs are not to be taken lightly."

Too late. The yahg's breath became shallow for a split second, and Shepard's team witnessed the massive creature rising from his desk with clipped movements. On his full height, the beast was truly enormous, taller even than Wrex and also broader. Its face, now visible, was thick and sanguine. Red skin covered its frame and three pairs of eyes, one pair for every edge, looked at Liara with blazing fury. A three-cornered maw twitched and twisted, showing a long row of teeth.

Then, with a movement to fast to expect from such a lumbering creature, the Yahg shattered the desk with one strike and threw the pieces at Liara. Only Shepard's tempest action saved the girl from being squashed, but Lena behind them proved not as fast.

The Claymore barely had time to cross her arms in defence than the impromptu shot hit her square in the chest, sending her flying on the wall like a doll. Such was the strength behind the attack that Lena collapsed on the ground, immobile, and Shepard feared the worst for a second. Until he saw the girl slightly twitching under the broken desk.

"Duck!" cried Liara, and Shepard did as such, just in time before a hail of bullets shredded the place where the commander stood a second ago.

It turned out that the massive beast was also capable of using a gun, an oversized machine gun to be precise, now peppering the walls and shelters in the area. Computers exploded, walls trembled and shards of glass and metal flew in the air like small missiles.

"I knew I should have brought the missile launcher," grumbled Shepard to himself.


The sound of gunfire and the grunts of battle echoed inside Lena's mind in a dulled, muffled noise. The Claymore felt as if a cape was covering her entire self, dulling sounds and preventing her from moving.

-Stupid idiot.- cursed the Claymore softly -I told her not to enrage a Yahg.-

Unlike Shepard had feared, Lena had not been killed by the Yahg's attack, only shortly incapacitated. The broken armour and her trained body had stemmed the worst of the blow. It still hurt her like a bitch, but at least the Claymore was still able to move inside the rubble covering her body.

Now if only she could free herself from this trap.

Another weak tug on the rubble covering her proved to no avail. The shattered remnants of the desk, coupled with whatever was left on the wall behind her prevented the Claymore from moving from her place, pinning her down. Lena felt the rubbles moving under her careful manoeuvres but at a slow pace. Too slow for a battle.

Another shout of pain echoed inside the air, coming from Liara, or Shepard, Lena was not sure about it. Still, it pushed the Claymore to move faster, not caring for any risks.

-Hold on Shepard.- she grimaced -I'm coming.-

The rubble and ruins all upon her shuffled and moved under her ever-growing movements. A shard of what felt like glass cut her face up until her chin, and something large pressed on her lower back, but still, she pressed on.

-Just one...more push.- Grimaced Lena with gritted teeth -One!-

The entire place began to collapse. Another piece of something almost crashed her elbows, and the cut on her cheeks grew even more extensive. But Lena endured.

Until finally, with a cry of freedom, the last pieces of Lena's unexpected cage exploded into a torrent of shards and steel. She looked like hell right now, with her armor reduced to mangled pieces, a jagged wound on her cheeck bleeding copiously and eyes already yellow with energy, it was enough to startle even the Yahg for a second. The contendents all around her stopped fighting, allowing the struggling Claymore to look at the unfolding battlefield with her own eyes.

The room was a mess. Gone was the pristine floor, the sparkling walls and glasses adorning the room, replaced by their mangled remains now drifting on the ether. The many computers silently working inside the place, the backbone of the Broker's power, were mostly destroyed by now, their shattered remains to spark dimly in the dying light. And the door behind them was blocked by a nasty piece of crumbled wall.

In the middle of this ruined place, the Yahg stood tall, a gossamer white barrier covering its massive body like a spider-web. A bit away from it, both Shepard and Liara huffed in tiredness with their weapons raised but not firing.

"Lena." murmured Shepard softly after seeing back on track. The Yahg merely roared at her.

"No times to explain." barked Liara to her. Lena felt the impelling need to kick the bloody Asari in the ass, together with the sharp sting of her wounded face and back, but clamped it down everything. Now it was not the time.

"That barrier block any shots from both him and us. The only way to get it through is through physical force."

"Got it," grumbled Lena.

The sword on her back screeched itself free from its sheath, and the Claymore lunged herself toward the Yahg in full force. Her limbs ached in response to this move, but she refused to listen to them and slashed the beast on its chest.

A red shield made of pure energy of all things appeared from the Yahg's left arm, stopping the black blade in a shower of blinding sparks. Such was the power behind the Claymore's blow that the Yahg's arm shuddered under the impact, but it still held and retaliated with the butt of his machine gun. Lena tried to deflect the blow, but her wounded body refused to move as intended. The bones of her wrists screamed at Lena under the impact, and black dots appeared inside the Claymore's vision, enough to make her lose focus for a moment. All the Yahg needed to smash the Claymore with its shield, making her fly on the air like a doll. She fell on a crumpled mess of broken cables and shattered monitors, unleashing a small shower of sparks, but the Shepard capitalized on the Yahg's distraction and pummeled the beast with the butt of his shotgun. He failed to score a decisive blow, but blood still leaked out from its frothing mouth before Shepard was forced to recede. The barrier disappeared from the beast, and Liara noticed something interesting: A contraption before unnoticed by the squad, some kind of circular energy capacitator placed at the roof of the room and used by the Yahg to create the gossamer barrier just used to deflect blows. A capacitator gaining energy from the storm itself.

And one quite dangerous to stand if someone overcharged it with biotics.

"Shepard, Ripper, I have a plan. Find a way to pin him down and reactivate its shield and we are done with him."

"Acknowledged," replied Shepard briskly. Lena just grunted.

Together, they attacked once again the massive beast in a pincer manoeuvre. Shots escaped from the roaring gun of the Yahg in a desperate effort to keep them at bay, but the pair moved too fast, moving from cover to cover and avoiding the worst of the assault. A concussive round hit the Yahg square in the chest while Lena grabbed a jagged piece of steel taller than her arm and threw it at the beast as an improvised missile.

"Payback for before you asshole!" she shouted while launching it.

Both attacks startled the Yahg and made him lose focus for a split second, second that Shepard used to burn the last meters and discharge his shotgun at point-blank range. The shield of the Yahg exploded under the blow, and the gossamer barrier reappeared once again in the response of the shield's collapse.

Blinded by the blow, the Yahg attacked at random in front of him with its enormous hands, hoping to catch something.

Shepard deftly avoided the attack and stepped aside.

"Lena!" he shouted, and Lena reacted.

The Claymore charged away from her position, and sword held high and ready to strike.

"You...you damned freak!" screamed the Yahg in rage and frustration. The beast grabbed an oversized pistol from a hidden pocket and fired blindly at Lena's general direction. Some shots still found the mark, and Lena felt a sharp sting of pain from her left leg and right arm. The wounds refused to sew then back together this time. The yoki was not working, and Lena felt the coppery tang of blood invading her lips, but sheer momentum allowed her to keep going.

"Stop this, Yahg!" roared Lena in defiance even while blood seeped away from her fresh wounds. The blade on her hands fell in a downward strike, and this time the blinded Yahg failed to activate the shield in time.

The sword pierced the Yahg's left leg with a jarring sound, the steel bones and flesh of the beast alongside the armour clashing with the reforged black steel of the blade. Then, with a grating sound, the metal passed through the tissue and dug deep inside the Yahg's leg, skewering it from part to part. Such was the strength behind Lena's attack that the blade stabbed the flesh through the hilt and the end of the blade, now slick with blood, impaled itself on the broken floor with a loud thud and dug deep inside the steel.

The yahg roared in pain and hit Lena in the chest, breaking what was left on her ruined breastplate and sending her back without her sword. She collapsed on a pile of rubble, spitting blood from many wounds and struggling to just stay awake, but still alive. The Yahg grunted in happiness at this, but when it tried to move away from its place and charge her back, something stopped it.

The beast growled in surprised, and Lena smiled under her broken lips.

The trick had worked: by using all her yoki in that one, massive attack, Lena had managed to put the entire sword on the Yahg's leg and the floor, pinning it in place and preventing it from moving.

Not for long, because the Claymore knew that such beast simply could not be kept still no matter the strength behind any attack, but enough for Liara.

-I hope at least.- she grimaced

And as if called by her, Liara reappeared on the battlefield glowering with biotic power. The girl raised a hand and grabbed something within the air, and all of a sudden, a gale of biotic power hit the circular capacitator like a battering ram. The sphere on the roof exploded under the attack, discharging its murderous energies on the pinned Yahg, showering it with tendrils of lightning capable of ripping a starship of its bulkheads.

The Yahg howled in pain as the unleashed power ripped the flesh away from the bones. It flailed desperately with its legs to escape from its fate but Lena's sword, now gleaming brightly under the onslaught, pinned it down long enough for the storm to do its job.

With a sickening sound, the Yahg's hands flew from their stumps, followed by an eye, and a piece of its chest. The beast was dismembered in front of Shepard's eyes, dress and armour included. It left a last, mourning howl of pain from its maw before its body disappeared into a fountain of blood and gore that showered everyone and everything in the room in red.

And then, as fast as it arrived, the storm ended. The capacitator finally managed to regain control of its damaged systems and stopped the onslaught, freeing Lena's sword from the storm. It was dented, scorched and ruined for the first time in the Claymore's eyes.

The battle was over.

"Phew!" panted Shepard after witnessing the Yahg's grizzly demise. "He is gone, finally. Now let's get out of this ship before"

A voice suddenly interrupted Shepard's musing, one coming from a set of computers not present before the battle. Shepard had not seen them before the battle. Maybe they had been activated by the Broker's death, or perhaps someone had switched a lever or something. The fact was that now, right in front of him, a set of thirty computers had just appeared at the end of the room. Unlike their broken counterparts, these were pristine and fully functioning, and were now spewing voices without pace.

"Agent 5 reporting to the Shadow Broker."

"Riot stopped, I regained control of the troops."

"The enemies on the interrogation room have broken through the..."

"Agent 7 on Illium asking for a report."

"Agent 29 on the Citadel, waiting for an answer."

And so on and so on. Every single agent both on the ship and on the galaxy was calling for the Shadow Broker, asking what was going on.

But no one could answer, because their boss was now nothing more a smear on the ground.

Shepard and Lena did not care about such prattling, but Liara stopped under it as if entranced somehow.

"Liara?" asked the commander to her friend when she saw her moving toward the computers, but the girl did not answer.

Then, once near the system, Liara activated the speaker inside and began talking.

"Shadow Broker's here," she said, the distortion device already heard inside the ship working at full efficiency.

"We suffered a temporary malfunction now resolved. The menace inside the ship has been determined and eliminated. I have new orders for all agents inside the ship: immediate termination of any conflict for any surviving intruder from immediate effect. For all agents dislocated on the galaxy, I expect a full report of any activity that happened during the blackout in one hour."

Behind the room the rubble exploded in a small bang when Feron, Garrus and Tali stormed the ruined building weapons-free, only to remain stunned by what they saw. Feron especially.

"Shadow Broker out." finished Liara in front of a stunned audience. It did not take a sharp mind for the people now just arrived what had happened in front of their eyes.

"Keelah" breathed Tali in awe "Are you telling me that Liara just...just"

"Spirits, I had not seen this one coming," commented Garrus.

Feron was the one more stunned by this display. For five-second, the tired Drell opened his mouth, then closed and reopened it in quick succession as if utterly lost for words.

"I...i better check the corridor...in case someone else decided to show up." He finally stammered before hobbling away from the ruined room.

"Great idea Feron. Tali, Garrus, could you do the same for me while I discuss something with the Shadow Broker? And maybe help Lena with her wounds while you are at it."

"While you are at it!" mimiced Lena with sarcasm "Fuck you Shepard, with all my heart."

It felt like a request but was in truth an order, and the group took the notice and complied, albeit with some grumbling.

Only after they were finally alone, Shepard lose his mask and finally allowed himself to speak freely.

"Liara" he began "Have you gone insane?"

"For refusing to squander such an opportunity?" replied Liara evenly. "Look at this Shepard. All the resources of the Shadow Broker are now mine. Its agents, its connections, its power!" Liara's eyes lit with a light that Shepard did not like. "Left alone, they would wither. Now I can use them for you, for helping you destroy the Collectors!"

"Not only the Collectors I'm afraid." sighted Shepard "Liara, but i had also hoped to see you coming back to your old life after this mess was over. To your past as archaeologist. To a quiet life! You already had a lot to deal with."

A shadow of regret clouded Liara's eyes for a split-second, only to be quashed by a steel hand.

"That is the point, Shepard. After all that happened i cannot go back to my old life." commented Liara harshly "First Saren and my mother. Then your death, then the hunt against the Shadow Broker. How i am supposed to go back to reading books about Protheans or trudging inside old ruins like the past after all of this?! I find no solace anymore by gazing at the past. This" She pointed at all the computers still beeping inside the room "Is what i have become, and i do not regret it."

"I did not want this for you." murmured Shepard regretfully "Had i knew back on Therum that i would have dragged you into this mess i would have never asked you to join me."

A sad asmile appeared on the Asari tired face

"I know Shepard, as i know that you always wanted the best for me. But sometimes we cannot predict the actions of the Goddess, only accept them and make the best of it. I swear that i am at peace with this. You do not need to be afraid for me."

The words hurt Shepard more than Liara could ever hope to see, or understand, but Shepard refused to show it out loud.

"Very well." relented Shepard "I this is truly what you wish, then i shall not stop you. But answer this question first: why all the anger toward Lena?"

A dark cloud appeared on Liara's face after hearing the question. The Asari fidgeted with her hands for some seconds, as if uncertain to speak.

"I..." finally said "After your request on Illium i unleashed my contacts on her, and in response I discovered voices about her. Not about her past, but her present. Things about Cerberus, and a new secret projects. One involving the creations of superhuman warriors and their indoctrination into Cerberus ideals. Warriors that are supposed to be injected with some kind of blood capable of turning them into invincible machines."

"That is preposterous!" snapped Shepard "Lena is not working with Cerberus, i am ready to bet my head on that! And there is no way in hell she would collaborate into creating more of her kind. She hate herself and her powers! She confessed it to Kelly during their sessions and i believe her."

And yet Shepard felt the nagging feeling that there was something true inside Liara's words. The fear of having someone working inside his ship, breaking his trust and feeding Cerberus intel and datas about him and his special crew.

-Thanks to you soon she will not be the only one.-

those were the parting words of Tela Vasir, the Spectre working for the now dead Shadow Broker. A person far too up in this organization to not know what she was saying.

"I believe you Shepard but...as i told you i heard voices. Nothing more i assure you. As strong and well connected as i was back on Illium, it was still not enough to pierce the Illusive Man's protection. But now" the girl pointed at the set of computer waiting for her, begging to discharge the treasure troves of informations stored inside them "I am the Shadow Broker. I can discover what is going on, for you."

Shepard was not sure if to feel relieved or worried about this notice.

"Please do." he replied a bit too quickly "And keep me informed. Until then?"

"Until then i shall remain here. It is too dangerous to me to move right now. I must reorganize the Shadow Broker network, making sure no one catch wind of what happened here."

"Meaning that me, Tali and Garrus have just the time for a quick good bye before legging away?"

"I'm afraid yes Shepard. I'm sorry."

-No you aren't.- thought Shepard saddened -Because this cursed adventure turned your heart into stone. And it is my fault because i channeled you into this mess.- but refused to say out loud.

The plot thickens people. Next stop: the Citadel, where hopefully we shall have less shooting and more plot