Mads got back on his feet. It was time to get that bitch. Liara had already taken off to get her, and only the lord knows how far ahead they were. No matter, he would catch up. There were still agents in the way, trying their best to stop him. Mads decided to equip his back up pistol, one he simply hadn't shown enough love yet.

Desert Eagle .50

A fine Israeli weapon. The weight felt right in his hand. In theory, this should be more powerful than his 44. But, it shouldn't have the same kickback. It was a semi-automatic weapon. When the first agent showed his ugly face, Mads got off the first shot. The kickback was still substantial, but it felt good.

Mads and Garrus fought their way forward, taking out the Shadow Broker's goons on the way. They added to the already growing body count, the civilians who had been trapped when they entered, were now dead. It's was sad thing to see.

For some reason, Mads began to wonder how much money it would cost to restore the place. It wouldn't be cheap, and the police would ask some interesting questions to the owner once this was all said and done.

Ammo went quick on the Deagle. In and out, the magazines fell. It was really effective at penetrating the armor of the enemies. No wonder, it was a fucking .50 if anything, it was still one of the most powerful handguns the world (or galaxy) had ever known.

When they finally got out of the building, they noticed it had started raining. Liara was bunked down in some sort of trench warfare with the Spectre. That whole ordeal must have been going on while they were taking care of business inside. At any rate, the Spectre noticed them and called for her skycar.

Liara opened the door to another sky car and gestured for them to come in. Mads sat down in the driver seat while Garrus took the back seat.

"Do you even know how to fly a sky car?" Liara asked a bit nervous. Mads looked at her and smiled.

"There is a first time for everything." He replied as he lifted it off. Liara and Garrus tensed up at that set of words.

Things were smooth sailing once he figured out most of the controls. They began to fly after the Spectre. Mads grabbed the Deagle in his holster and gave it to Garrus.

"You take shots at her. The mag is loaded with with 7 rounds plus one in the chamber, so make it count. It's got a kick, but you'll be able to handle it." Mads ordered. The gun felt unnatural in Garrus' 3 fingered hand, but he would try he luck anyhow. Liara began giving instruction on where to go, when he should take a left or right.

"I got eyes in my head, you know." Mads bitterly said as he continued driving against traffic to catch up and give Garrus a good shot. If Mads' theory was correct, a single shot to the engine should be enough to take it out of action, the car wasn't armored against full metal jacket rounds. Garrus let off a couple of shots, but they were all misses.

Whatever damage had been caused to the building they were in was nothing compared to the damage to the wider city. It was clear that the native population wasn't used to high speed chases through traffic. And then, the bitch began dropping fucking mines! Of course she did.

And the Shadow Broker was still throwing numbers at this job, the trucks bearing soldiers attempted to take their lives as well. A crash in the tunnel was sure to stop traffic for the coming days. The city council was sure to be pissed once they received the news.

Things continued to be tense as the came against high speed traffic, and the drivers were unforgiving in their flying. They didn't slow down or try to avoid a crash. Luckily, they didn't die in a crash. And Garrus finally got a shot in. He hit the engine and the Spectre's car began to shut down. Almost as if to add dramatic effect, the car crashed down in a hotel.

"Set us down." Liara ordered. Mads nodded and brought the car to a halt and set them down at the Hotel where the Spectre had landed. They could still see the burning car when they got out, but some other guests were more than eager to greet them. The goons came in trucks, and almost in waves to try and overwhelm them in some way. Too bad they always overestimate their abilities.

Garrus hadn't given back the Deagle, but Mads didn't really notice as he fired off his AK into the agents storming at them. Garrus had actually grown to like it, very much so. It was really accurate and had a good kick to it. He began to try and form some sort of request to Romanov to try and keep the gun.

"Romanov! Throw me a new mag!" Garrus requested as some of the agents closed in his position.

"WHAT? You still got the gun?" Mads yelled back at him as he checked his back holster, and sure enough, he hadn't claimed it back.

"JUST FUCKING THROW IT!" Garrus all but demanded. Mads unbuckled a magazine from his belt and threw it to Garrus. An agent sneaked up on him while he was distracted throwing the magazine.

The agent tried to overpower Mads. Mads silently cursed Garrus for making him let his guard down. Garrus began battling with changing the magazine. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU RELOAD THIS THING?! Garrus yelled, Mads continued fighting the agent; he managed to land a punch in the jaw of the agent, causing the agent to stumble a few steps backwards.

"PUSH THE BUTTON!" Mads yelled back, only to be tackled by the same agent again, who had now equipped his knife to try and kill Mads quicker.

"WHAT BUTTON?" Garrus was still confused, and he didn't like learning while fighting. Trial and error wasn't really his thing.

"THE BUTTON AT THE TOP OF THE GRIB!" Mads struggled with the agents, who had straddled him and tried to bring his omni-blade down on Mads' throat.

"Ah, I see." Garrus mumbled to himself as the empty mag fell out. He quickly shoved the new one inside. He tried to fire, but nothing.

"WHAT IS WRONG!?" Garrus asked as he kept pulling the trigger, yet yielding no results

"PULL THE CHAMBER BACK!" Mads ordered as he finally managed to force the agent off him and kill him with a biotic kick. As Mads got up, he noticed a very large Krogan coming towards him. Correction: A very large angry Krogan. Who appeared to be on the same team as the agents.

"GARRUS!" Mads yelled as he stepped back and prepared for whatever charge the Krogan had in mind for him. Finally a shot was heard, and the Krogan stumbled a few feet and looked towards the source.

Garrus had reloaded it. If they had been on the gun range, it would have earned him a pad on the back. But here, it was between life and death. Garrus emptied the clip into the Krogan. And it was obvious that each shot hurt the Krogan. Each shot forced the Krogan to take several steps backwards. With the final shots, the Krogan could no more, and his lifeless corpse fell to the ground.

Mads watched the whole thing, and was both glad and pissed off at the same time. He resorted to breathing heavy to catch up with the lack of air in his lungs.

"You need a hand?" Garrus asked as Mads still lied on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Remind me to hit you very hard in the head with that Deagle once we are back on the Normandy." Mads said with a semi-serious voice as he got back up.

"Come on, she must be getting away!" Liara ordered as she stormed through a set of doors. Mads and Garrus set after her. The Spectre was wounded, and couldn't have gotten far. The hotel was... Interesting to say the least.

"Liara, mind explaining what kind of hotel this is?" Mads asked as they walked through the rooms following a blood trail.

"Azure. It's a slang for a certain part of the Asari body." Liara replied as they went along.

"Ah, I see." Mads said, catching on in an instant.

"What?" Garrus asked.

"We'll tell you when you are older." Mads remarked as they saw the Spectre. She Stumbled into a small dinner party while still losing blood. She was hurt bad, but she was still tough. They hurried after her.

"Vasir! Party's over. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be." Masd ordered. Vasir stopped and thought of her next move. Mads' grip on his 44. Tightened as he realized she was doing what they always did, continuing to persist.

Of course it had to be some innocent waiter, just doing her job. Of course it had to turn into a hostage situation. She wanted to play tough? Mads could play that game. He took aim as Liara attempted to explain to Vasir there was no way out of this.

Vasir was dumb enough to stick out just enough of her head for Mads to take a shot. He hadn't been crowned best marksman in the N7 program for nothing. While Liara was in dialog, Mads took the shot. It wasn't a kill, but it crazed her, and forced her to release the hostage as she felt the sharp pain.

She stumbled back and brought her hand to head. Her fingers were covered in more of her own blood from the fresh wound. Her new scar looked awfully familiar to Mads'. Only his was a bit larger.

She ordered more agents to come to her aid in this battle. The fought in the outside area of the hotel restaurant. Every once in a while, Vasir would leave the battle, probably to try and heal herself. The goons fought to the bitter end.

"Give it up, Vasir! It's over! No need for further bloodshed." Mads yelled at her.

"Fuck you Romanov!" She replied with a yell over the roar of gunfire.

"So be it!" Mads lifted himself from cover and took the final shot. It was an explanation mark to finalize the battle. The impact send her flying backwards. The shot had hit in the chest. Whatever she did now, she would die. And she realized that, and probably accepted her fate.

Garrus and Liara killed off the rest of the agents. By this point, they must have killed at least 2 platoons worth of Mercs on the Shadow broker's playroll. Vasir's hand tried to stop the bleeding, she realized she had run out of Medi-gel. She spit out some blood and grinding her teeth together as the pain became more and more unbearable.

Mads hummed a song as he squatted down beside her. He began to check her pocket for the data. Just as he found it and began retract his hand, her free hand grabbed his wrist and held on with the remaining strength she had.

"You and I-" She spit out some more blood and coughed a bit "We aren't so different. You kill and destroy too." She remarked. Finding some peace in that her killer wasn't so different from her.

"You're wrong." Mads replied softly as he loosened her grip. "We are very different. Today, you killed countless innocent people, for no other purpose than to please your master." Mads pocketed the data. "I do everything for a higher purpose. The real difference between you and me however, is that I was chosen."

"By who? Cerberus? You know what they did?" She asked, her dying breath drew ever closer.

"I know it very well. I was the one who discovered what they had been doing. But, I'll let you in on a little secret. As soon as this mission is over, I'll fuck them over." Mads whispered into her ear. He took out his magnum and opened the chamber. The empty shells hit the ground and he equipped his speed loader. After he had reloaded the gun, he pointed it at her head and locked the hammer back.

She closed her eyes and prepared for whatever comes next. A simple boom and her lifeless corpse fell to the ground. Whatever blood she had left pouring out of her at a rapid pace. Mads stood back up, and held the small disk in his hand. All this trouble, for such a little thing.

Mads looked around, and saw Garrus waiting for him. Liara had run ahead while he was busy speaking with the dying Spectre. Mads ran up to Garrus, who quickly told him where Liara had gone. Mads ran after her, and found her a little way back.

"Liara! Vasir is dead" Mads told her as he slowed down his running. Liara seemed lost in her omni-tool.

"Good. If we get on the Normandy, we can get right on it." Liara replied.

"Liara!" Mads prompted her to stop. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked as he stepped in front of her.

"I do what I have to! I NEED to get my friend back!" She almost yelled.

"What do you think is going to happen when you kill the Shadow Broker?" Mads asked, a legitimate question.

"I get my revenge, and my friend gets free." She replied.

"What happened to the sweet innocent Liara? The one who almost threw up when I gutted a terrorist? The one who wanted the best for everyone?" Mads continued his row of questions.

"You died!"

"AND HERE I AM! Back along the living!"

"Look, I'm glad you are back, but-"

"But what?"

"Never mind, let's just get Feron." She pleaded, even though she tried to make it sound like an order. There were still traces of the old Liara left.

"Ugh. Fine!" Mads accepted.

24/7 2185

Normandy, nearing Hagalaz

"Pleeeeeeaaassseeee!" Garrus all but begged as he followed Mads around as he was making a coffee by the food station.

"Jesus H Christ, Garrus. For the seventeenth time: NO!" Mads replied, hoping it would put an end to the discussion. Garrus REALLY wanted the Desert Eagle. And Mads could understand why, but it was his gun.

"Please! I'll do everything!" He promised. Mads looked up at him to see if he was serious or not.

"Everything?" Mads asked.

"Yeah, everything." Garrus confirmed.

"Okay. I give you this gun, and you owe me a favor down the line, doesn't matter how big." Mads proposed.

Garrus thought about it for a few seconds. "Okay, deal." Garrus finally said, and they shook hands. Mads went back to making his coffee. "The Deagle is in my quarters. Go up and get it. You need to provide your own ammo and holster." Mads remarked.

"I can live with that." Garrus replied as he went to get his new gun.

"Hey, before you go!" Mads stopped him. Garrus turned around and looked at him confused. "Getting .50 Action Express bullets isn't easy, nor is getting a holster big enough for that beast of a gun." Mads took a notepad and wrote down a contact number, alongside some basic information. "When you need ammo, call this numbers."

"Sergei?" Garrus asked as his translator gave him the name so he could read it.

"He can get you everything you need." Mads confirmed and took a sip of his coffee.

"Thanks." Garrus said as he hurried off again. Mads turned around and took another sip of his coffee. He decided to go and find Liara.

Engnieering department.

Tali had supposed to be doing work, but her mind had been clouded ever since that little incident the other day. She was worried her pride had taken over too much, causing a shift in what Romanov thought of her. She feared what he might think now. That fear had grown after he hadn't taken her with him on the last mission. And now, he was going to face the Shadow Broker with Garrus and Liara. Not with her.

"You okay Tali?" Gabriella asked with great concern in her voice. She had noticed Tali's different behavior recently.

"I'm fine. What time is it?" Tali asked back. She had to admit, she had kind of lost track of time while working. Gabriella looked at her omni-tool.

"Your shift ended like two hours ago." Gabriella said as she realized the time as well. Tali mentally slapped herself, of course she had worked over time.

"Alright, I think I'll go get some rest." She remarked.

"Of course. See you tomorrow." Gabriella replied with a smile as Tali went away.

Tali went up to the mass. Watching people enjoying their evening meals. Mads was sitting down and talking with Liara while sipping his coffee. Liara seemed much colder this time around, but Mads still tried to make her smile. Jealousy is a powerful emotion, and right now it was eating away at Tali.

She had to tell him, at some point. She figured, that once the Shadow Broker was dead, she could tell him.

She had an idea, and was now keen on getting it done. She went to the reading room. She began to browse her omni-tool for what she was looking for. She found it pretty quickly. She would spend the night looking into it.

They finally arrived at the ship. And it was huge. In a sense, they should have realized that. It was the Shadow Broker after all. The shuttle flew them in close, the storm was making it hard, landing on the ship was even harder.

Lightning and agents were now what they faced, and Mads wasn't sure what he hated more. But, the lighting could be used against the agents, and it made for a glorious scene when it happened. Liara made a comment about the ship's design, and it was grand. Drones and Mercs alike were out for them, trying their hardest to kill them.

Mads began to wonder how many agents the Shadow Broker had on the vessel, and if he had called in more. The smoke from the gun was blown away quick by the wind, and Mads for some reason or another, remembered that it was possible to cook bacon on the barrel of an AK. He might have to try that one day.

The bullets were caught by the wind as well before they could hit the ground. Garrus tried out his new gun some more, and Mads could see, that each time he pressed that trigger, he fell more in love with the beauty of the Desert Eagle. More people came out of the ship as Liara began to hack open the door.

"Look in the bright side, there will be less Mercs inside." Liara remarked as they fought of another wave of Mercs.

"I wouldn't count on it." Mads replied as he placed a couple of bullets in a merc who stumbled on the ground. The Shadow Broker really had resources, the amount of people that worked for him kept on baffling Mads.

Mads kept on firing. But he ran out of bullets in the mag, and yet two Mercs kept on charging after their terminal clips had run empty as well. Mads unhocked the mag as the two thugs tried to take him out with their omni-blades. Mads used the sharp edge of the mag to cut the throat of one of them, but the other Merc didn't stop because of his friend's death.

So, Mads resorted to beating the man to death, with a fucking magzine for his rifle. A creative kill for sure. Liara and Garrus both looked as Mads as he pounced the Merc and kept beating him with the Merc's blood pouring out of his mouth.

"Erh... Romanov. I think the hacking device is finished." Liara said as Mads stopped beating the caved in face. His mag was bloody and still dripping with the Merc's blood.

"Oh... Well, let's go see the Shadow Broker." Mads replied as he got off from the Merc.

They went inside, and true to Mads' words, there was still quite a bit of agents inside. The battle environment changed, now it was hallways. Good thing Mads brought the shotgun along. And it did come in handy for these hallways. Blood splattered on the walls and limbs disconnected from their hosts made the place seem straight out of a core movie.

They sought shelter inside a side room. Mads locked the door behind as the Merc pounded on the door, trying to get in and kill them. As Mads locked the door, he heard a yelp from Liara, he looked over at her and saw her hands covering her mouth as she watched in horror.

"Garrus, watch the door. Don't let any of those meatheads get in." Mads ordered. Garrus was quick to get on it.

Mads went over to Liara's side and saw what had caused her such horror. It was Feron, strapped to a chair. Liara began to press buttons to try and release him. "Liara!" Mads tried to stop her, she only stopped when she heard Feron's screams of pain.

"The chair is hocked up to the main power of the vessel. If you pull me out, I'll cook." Feron said. Mads could swear Liara had tears in her eyes.

"We'll take care of the Shadow Broker, not to worry." Mads promised as he pulled Liara away from the console.

"Romanov… Good to see you alive. Now I know my sacrifice wasn't in vain." Feron laughed. Trying not to sound too depressed.

"I got you, Feron. Just sit right... Not that you can do much else." Mads realized that comment probably wasn't the smartest.

"Funny." Feron replied sarcastically.

They stepped into the office of the Shadow Broker. His hallways were filled with the remains of his security detail. He was big, even in that shadows that much was obvious. "Dr. T'Soni. You are persistent. At least I can get the joy of killing you myself." He said. Mads was still trying to piece together what species he was. He didn't look like any Mads had ever seen, or read about.

"I see you brought The Red Eagle to my doorstep as well. That was nice of you. The collectors are still buying. And what's this? Mr. Vakarian. I'm sure I can find a use for him as well. I think the remains of the Merc gangs will pay well for his head." The Shadow said as he studied them all.

"This ends here." Liara remarked.

"Foolish, like always, Dr. T'Soni." the Shadow Broker replied.

"Really? You are not the real Shadow Broker." Liara said. Mads could see the eyebrow of the Shadow Broker rise.

"You're a Yahg. Your species was exiled from the wider Galaxy for killing the people sent to visit you. This ship is older than your species discovery. That means that the previous owner had uplifted you, probably to be used as a slave." Liara explained. With each word, the Shadow Broker grew more mad. Mads remembered reading about the Yahg, he had never seen one.

The Shadow Broker arose from his seat, and flipped the table. It knocked Garrus over; he was trapped beneath the table. There was no time to help him however, because now the Shadow Broker was really out for blood.

The Shadow Broker had some sort of shield, keeping him save from Mads' bullets. Liara and Mads needed to team up their biotic abilities to kill this prick. Still, they tried to overpower his shield. That's the only way to get at him. Despite him being a dipshit sitting on his ass all day watching over the galaxy, he was still a strong fighter. Must be natural to Yahg.

The finally got the shield down, and Mads sprinted to the Shadow Broker that was still trying to get it back. Mads used his AK as a baseball bat, knocking him around. Mads landed a few good hits before the Shadow threw him away. The shield was back again.

They kept up their game, each time the shield was coming back. They needed a new game plan if they were to kill him. At least his goons weren't gunning for them right now, that's was a plus. Just as the shield broke again, Garrus yelled while he was trapped beneath the table. He had woken up by himself.

"ROMANOV! CATCH!" Garrus yelled as he threw Mads' auto shotgun to him.

Mads charged again, but this time he shot out the kneecaps of the Shadow Broker, making him stumble and fall on his back on the ground. Mads jumped on his stomach and pointed the shotgun at the Shadow Broker's face. "Go to hell, fuckface." Mads said as he began to empty his mag into the face of the Shadow Broker. After the first couple of shots, there wasn't a lot of face left on the Shadow Broker.

Liara had to make sure, and of course she had to break the celling on him. It was fair to say that the Shadow Broker was no more. The power began to fade, and now the Shadow Broker's contacts were trying to get in contact with him.

Liara did something Mads hadn't anticipated. She became the Shadow Broker. She took control; she fooled them into believing she was the Shadow Broker. It was smart, but also sad. She was now bound to be the Shadow Broker.

Feron came running into the room. "You're- You're the Shadow Broker." He was surprised as well. Feron went down and helped Garrus up, while Mads went to Liara. She was sobbing now, everything finally caught up to her. This mission took its toll on her.

Mads hugged her, and told her everything was going to be okay. He needed to, and she needed it. He let her cry it out in his shoulder. Liara confirmed after they broke the hug, that she wanted this. She wanted to become the Shadow Broker.

What. The. Fuck. Happened.

The million dollar question, one Mads didn't have an answer to. Now, Liara was going to be the Shadow Broker, a person who stays neutral. Gives information to whoever pays the best.

As Liara got things under control. Mads had the time to look around the office. There was so much information. New business opportunities and videos of high ranking officials. All in here could be used as black mail.

The Shadow Broker had made a file on the Normandy and its crew. He had taken an interest in Mads. And of course, he knew all about him. It was all there: birthdate, the names of his family, his service history. Even old videos and pictures. How in the hell did he get his dirty Yahg hands on them?

Mads had to admit, curiosity got the better of him as he looked through each of his crew members file in the office of the Shadow Broker. They all had interesting things to say. Especially... Tali. Her file was interesting and colorful to say the least. Certain things like:

Upgraded translator software for all human languages

Installed suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

Downloaded education vid, "Dealing with Loss"

Uninstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

Reinstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

Downloaded education vid, "Understanding Body Language: Human Edition"

Downloaded entertainment vid, "Fleet and Flotilla"

Uninstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

Downloaded education vid, "Human Courtship and Mating"

Installed suit application, Immunoboost: Professional Edition

Reinstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro: Deluxe Edition

While all these things showed a certain side of Tali. They didn't prove anything, Mads couldn't be certain, at least not until he read the last part.

-Downloaded education vid "History of Russia 1613-1917"

- Downloaded education book "Russian for beginners"

This proved it, and it showed that Mads needed to get his act together. If Tali was willing to learn Russian for him, then he should be prepared to learn Khelish for her. It was settled, all but written in stone.

God had been right, and Mads was happy. Like, really happy. And love flowed through him with this confirmation. It had been a long time since he had been so... Alive.

That's why he spent the night in his quarters with a whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other. All while watching a beginner tutorial for Khelish. He began to try and form some sort of love declaration in his mind. It had to be special, in some way or another.

He had planned to tell her the next day, but the Illusive man put that plan on hold. What a fucking cunt.

Mads had to admit: An abandoned collector ship was indeed relevant for the mission.