Hagalaz – Shadow Broker Command Ship

Miranda deftly eased the small orbital shuttle through the volatile atmosphere of Hagalaz, descending steadily toward the beacon she was tracking along the planet's oceanic surface.

The "captain's launch," as they referred to it, was a small orbiter that fit snuggly within the Cassandra's aft utility shuttle bay. Room for just six, including pilot, and with no FTL capability, the little shuttle was generally only useful when landing on worlds that lacked proper starport facilities, or, as was the case on Hagalaz, when descending to a more remote location.

To her right, Oriana sat rigid in the co-pilot's seat, her long finger nails digging into the armrests of the chair and looking nervous as the little craft was buffeted violently by turbulence as lightning strikes flashed in the sky around them.

Miranda glanced over at her and smiled. "Feeling queasy, Ori?"

Oriana shot her an incredulous look. "How can you be so calm?" she demanded. "This weather is insane!"

Miranda shrugged and grinned serenely. "It's not the first time I've been through these conditions."

"Right," Oriana huffed, looking more annoyed than comforted. "Shouldn't the mass effect field be stabilizing us from all this jostling about?"

"This ship is a more rudimentary design, sacrificing some comforts for its compact size. Don't worry. We're perfectly safe," she said just before the vessel was hammered again by a barrage of violent turbulence, pushing the women hard into their restraints. "Probably."

Oriana glared over at her again.

A few minutes later they were docked safely inside the large hanger bay of the Shadow Broker's command ship as the massive vessel crept along the surface of the volatile planet. Miranda and Oriana ducked through their shuttle's door and stepped down onto the deck, the younger Lawson looking significantly wobblier than her sibling. As was commonplace, both women sported deadly looking sidearms—Miranda from the shoulder rig holster she'd become fond of and Oriana wearing her Paladin heavy pistol on the more traditional hip mount.

Looking around, Miranda immediately noted the array of crates and other miscellaneous equipment piled up near the two Kodiak class shuttles that sat ready in the hanger.

A moment later, Liara emerged from the hatchway at the front of the hanger bay and came striding across the length of the deck toward the two Lawson's. She stopped and flashed the typically pleasant, if somewhat taut smile she reserved for the former Cerberus operative. "Hello, Miranda. It's good to see you."

"Liara," Miranda said and nodded.

The asari then glanced appraisingly at Miranda's companion and extended her palm. "Hello, Oriana. We haven't had the pleasure yet. I'm Dr. Liara T'Soni."

Oriana, still looking half a shade green as she was straightening out her clothes, looked up distractedly at Liara and took her hand. "Oh, hi," she said. "You sure have some crappy weather around here."

Liara gave the younger human woman an amused look. "Well, yes, I suppose that's true. But it does have its advantages."

Miranda cleared her throat and shot her sister a look that would make a krogan cringe. "Excuse me, Oriana?"

Oriana then caught herself, thanks to Miranda's withering glare. "Oh god, I'm sorry," she blurted out. "It's really nice to finally meet you, Liara. I know I have you to thank for keeping me and my folks safe back on Eden Prime."

Liara smiled and nodded slightly. "That's quite alright. And you're welcome," she said and then glanced over at the small craft her visitors had arrived in. "So, it's just the two of you?"

"Kasumi and Kolyat are both up on the Cassandra," Miranda said. "Thane's back on the Citadel, tracking a potential issue with C-Sec. I don't feel comfortable leaving Anita there without sufficient security."

"Of course," Liara said and motioned back toward the hatchway she'd emerged from. "Then, shall we? We have a lot to discuss."

The three women then strode out of the hanger bay and moved toward the forward sections of the massive Shadow Broker vessel. Miranda walked briskly next to Liara while Oriana followed closely behind, casting curious looks around the gloomy looking ship.

Liara shot Miranda a sideways glance as they passed through the ship's narrow corridors. "Did you have any luck on Erinle?"

Miranda's team had been in the nearby Osun System, following a lead on the remaining ships of the rogue frigate squadron Major Richter had once commanded, when they received Liara's request to meet. They had spent nearly two full days scouting the region after a source alerted them that the vessels had stopped to resupply at the salarian-operated spaceport on Erinle. The Alliance still hoped to recover the precious warships intact and Miranda's team made for a much less conspicuous presence than Captain Dah's wolf pack.

"Two of the frigates were definitely there to resupply less than forty-eight hours ago. But they were long gone by the time we arrived. At this point, I'm not holding out much hope of finding and recovering those ships."

Liara nodded silently, looking unsurprised by the news.

A few moments later they arrived in the large, open space of the ship's operations center. Multiple information terminals lined the perimeter of the compartment with a large, central bank of vid displays clustered at the front. The vid screens cycled endlessly through a dizzying array of images, a seemingly infinite amount of data streaming in through the feeds. Liara proceeded forward to the control terminal and immediately began to key in several rapid commands.

Miranda glanced up at the ceiling with a wary eye as she entered the space. She noted the clear panels keeping the swirling storm of blue energy at bay had thankfully been fully repaired.

"Welcome back, Miss Lawson," the holographic info drone, Glyph, said as it sprouted to life and hovered in front of Miranda and Oriana. "And greetings to you, Oriana Lawson."

Oriana made a face at the floating ball of light and looked over at Miranda. "Uh… Hello."

"That's Glyph," Liara called back over her shoulder as she hunched over a terminal. "He keeps everything in order for me here on the station and helps to keep track of the enormous amounts of intelligence filtering through our systems every day."

"Dr. T'Soni, the situation on Khar'shan is deteriorating rapidly. Our agents in place are requesting permission to withdraw and observe from a safer distance."

"No, keep them in place, Glyph. We need to know as much as possible about what's happing in batarian space."

"Understood," Glyph said.

Miranda walked closer to Liara and fixed her with an inquisitive look. "What's happening with the batarians?"

Liara punched another set of commands into the terminal and then turned to face her. "To put it in human terms, all hell appears to be breaking loose. My sources began reporting a steadily deteriorating political condition on the batarian homeworld several weeks ago. But the situation has become extraordinarily volatile now. There's been a massive spike in civil and military confrontations and the violence seems to now be spreading throughout the system and into their neighboring colonial holdings."

"You think there's been a coup of some kind?"

"It's still unclear. It may simply be an inevitable result of the Bahak incident and the pressure Cerberus forces have been applying on the Hegemony, but I suspect it's something more than that. My agents have observed some unusual behavior on the part of key governmental leaders on Khar'shan, things that just don't make any sense at all."

"Such as?"

"Many high-level military leaders are being purged from the ranks for no apparent reason—a good deal of them highly decorated and respected. In their place, Batarian Intelligence leaders are directing the bulk of their fleets back to Khar'shan, abandoning large swathes of disputed territory." Liara met Miranda's intense gaze and frowned. "A massive displacement of civilian populations is also underway. They're rounding up whole urban sections of some of their largest cities and herding them into temporary camps scattered around the planet."

Miranda felt a growing unease and threw Liara a questioning look. "Mass conscription for military service?"

"We thought so at first, but there's been no indication these people are being transitioned to training facilities. In fact, military training in the whole of the Harsa System seems to have come to a sudden halt. And even more troubling, they're not limiting the camps to people suited for military service. The elderly, children, and even the physically disabled are also being moved and confined."

Miranda looked deep in thought as she studied the images depicting the chaos on the batarian homeworld. "The Hegemony has always been extraordinarily oppressive, but this makes no sense, even for them. It must be the result of external influence."

Liara nodded. "I agree. We haven't found evidence of the group of Collectors Jack reported seeing, but the fact that they were with the batarians in possession of the virus you intercepted leaves little doubt in my mind: The Batarian Hegemony has been totally compromised by Reaper influence."

"How much does the Alliance know?"

"Everything," she said and shrugged. "Well, at least Admiral Hackett is getting everything I have to share. I've been sending him all my available intel directly. I know he's also begun coordinating with the Turian Hierarchy, beginning to lay plans for a joint operation into the region in order to contain whatever threat might pour out from the system."

Miranda looked away from the images, feeling a deepening sense of foreboding well up within her. Her thoughts strayed to the data they'd acquired from the Collector's base half a year ago as she imagined droves of Reaper capital ships relentlessly approaching the galaxy.

"There's more, Miranda," Liara said quickly switched one of the vid displays from the chaotic scenes of civil unrest on Khar'shan to a wide shot of a group of humans, some wearing obvious Cerberus uniforms and armor, talking outside an industrial looking building.

The camera's vantage was some ways away from the subjects it captured, but Miranda instantly recognized the older, gray-haired woman standing amongst the group. "Kenson," she said and snapped her eyes over to Liara. "Where is this?"

"The planet Sanctum in the Decoris System. These images were captured less than two days ago."

"Sanctum?" Oriana said, suddenly appearing behind the other two women after she'd been briefly wandering around the control room, eyeing the myriad of displays and intel feeds streaming in. "That's where you and Shepard raided a Blue Suns operation, right?"

Liara raised an eyebrow and looked at the young human woman appraisingly.

Miranda shrugged at Liara's inquisitive look. "Oriana is fully versed on our mission activities aboard the Normandy. She's reviewed all of our after-action reports and committed all associated intelligence files to memory."

"I see… Well, excellent then," Liara said. "And yes, in fact, the Blue Suns are still highly active on the planet." She then enhanced the image and zoomed in on one of the several men speaking with Dr. Kenson. Clad in the distinctive blue and white armor of the Blue Suns and cradling his helmet under one arm, the dark skinned, bearded man was easily recognizable.

"Vido Santiago," Oriana spoke up again. "What's Blue Suns leadership doing talking to a Cerberus operative? I thought they were at each other's throats."

"Alliances are shifting rapidly these days, Ori," Miranda said without any hint of irony in her voice. "The Illusive Man wouldn't hesitate to employ Santiago if it suited his needs." She then glanced over to Liara. "Do you know what they're doing there?"

"Cerberus has established some kind of lab facility within one of the larger settlements. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get an asset into the building to find out exactly what they're working on, but it appears Kenson arrived on the planet several days ago to oversee the operation. The Suns, for all intents and purposes, have been in firm control of the planet's security for months now. They dedicated significant resources there soon after you and Shepard disrupted their previous activities planetside. They're relationship with the Illusive Man appears to be a partnership born out of convenience, as the presence of the lab is being well obscured by the activities of the merc group."

Miranda glared at the images for another several seconds. "We need to find out what they're doing there," she said. "And I'd like to have a few words with that woman after what happened in Bahak."

Liara nodded slowly. "Yes, but you need to be cautious, Miranda. That planet is exceeding dangerous now and the presence of both Kenson and Santiago is troubling."

Miranda nodded vaguely, still deep in thought. "Will you be coming along?"

Liara shook her head. "I can't. I came across a promising lead inside the Prothean ruins on Kahje. I'm leaving for Mars."

"What lead? And why Mars?"

"I found ancient Prothean encryption keys capable of unlocking even older archives at three other sites. The locations of two of the sites are still unknown, but I recognized the third very clearly. It's the Mars Archives. Hackett's already helped facilitate my clearance."

"I assume you believe you'll find something related to the Cipher?"

"That's my hope. But regardless, I'm certain there's something critically important locked away there," she said and fixed the other woman with a grim expression. "Miranda, there's more. When I arrived at the Kahje site, a highly augmented Cerberus operative of considerable skill was already there and had murdered the entire research staff. She very nearly killed me before I overpowered her." She switched another vid display to a clip of footage she'd secured from the Prothean research facility on Kahje.

Miranda stared intently at the images for a long moment, her mouth slightly agape. Clad in form-fitting battle armor prominently marked in the distinctive black and yellow of Cerberus, the female operative wielded a long, fierce looking sword and was crouched down like a cat-like animal preparing to pounce. "A Phantom," she whispered, shaking her head slightly before meeting Liara's eye. "It was the initiative's code name. The subjects were drawn from the ranks of our most skilled female special operators. The project was still in its very early stages at the time I was devoted to the Lazarus Cell, but I know the goals were highly ambitious. I didn't realize they'd been put into the field."

"Well, I'd say they're quite effective," Liara said. "I didn't have much time to examine the corpse, but it was obvious she possessed significant cybernetic enhancements as well as tremendous combat abilities."

"Yes, they were intended to be infiltration and assassination specialists," Miranda said, finally taking her eyes off the screen and looking up at Liara. "She was after the same intel you recovered?"

Liara nodded. "After I secured the data, the Illusive Man himself initiated a secured holo-transmission. He tried to play off the attack as the work of rogue Cerberus elements and proposed that we work together, pool our resources to better combat the Reaper threat. He was lying, obviously. But it seemed clear he didn't know exactly what was contained on Kahje." She paused and drew in a long breath. "But he knows I'm the Shadow Broker."

"What?!" Miranda said. "How? Liara, I completely expunged all records of the Normandy's mission to Hagalaz and triple-checked that nothing about it was transmitted to Cerberus Command. He couldn't have learned what took place here from us."

"I know, Miranda," Liara said, her tone comforting. "It doesn't really matter now anyway. A man with his resources was bound to discover the truth eventually. It's why we've been packing up the operation and preparing to abandon this ship. Permanently."

As if on cue, an urgent sounding chirp sounded from the console and Glyph again materialized out of thin air. "Broker, orbital sensors have detected an incoming FTL signature approaching the planet. ETA for orbital arrival, six minutes."

Miranda shot Liara a tense look and tilted her head to the side. "Expecting anyone else?"

Liara furrowed her brow and shook her head. "No."

"Kolyat, Kasumi," Miranda called out as she tapped her Omni-tool to life.

The response from her colleagues on the Cassandra, currently in geo-synch orbit around the planet, came back a second later. "We see it, Miranda," Kasumi announced, her voice sounding urgent. "It's a Cerberus cruiser, coming in fast. They'll be on top of you in five minutes. You guys better get back up here right now."

Miranda and Liara exchanged another quick, knowing look. "Negative," Miranda said. "There's not enough time to clear atmosphere, dock and break orbit before we're intercepted. Take the Cassandra around the other side of the planet and stay clear of that cruiser. We'll think of something else."

"Understood," Kasumi said with obvious reluctance. "Good luck."

Miranda closed the comm channel and faced Liara. "Well, any ideas?"

Liara shot her a wicked smile and raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps."

Earth –The City of Vancouver

Ashley woke early from another night of fitful sleep with a mild headache and dragged herself over to her little kitchen to brew some much needed coffee.

The last few weeks had been a blur. She'd made the shuttle trip to and from Yeager Station nearly a dozen times to oversee the Normandy's retrofit, prep for final combat trials, and get familiar with the vessel she was tapped to serve as XO aboard. She'd also been buried in the mountains of personnel files that Admiral Anderson was forwarding her on prospective crew members to fill key posts onboard the frigate. An old friend, Senior Chief Greg Adams was slated to assume the role of Chief Engineer and was already present up at Yeager, but there wasn't much else settled beyond that.

When she wasn't busy commuting up to orbit and back down to Vancouver, Ashley was squeezing in as much "quality time" with Nick as their schedules would allow. Though she still didn't feel their relationship was built for the long-haul, she was determined to soak in as much time as possible with the man. Maybe it was frivolous or superficial, but Edgerton made her feel good about herself and being with him certainly helped alleviate much of the stress steadily building up around her.

With things so uncertain, maybe that's all I can hope for from a relationship, she told herself.

But she wasn't strictly limiting her free time just to her fighter pilot boyfriend.

When she'd showed up for the first time at Shepard's quarters a few weeks ago, the knot in her gut was so tight she'd actually felt nauseous. But after a few minutes the awkward tension had dissolved away and the two were chatting it up as if they'd been transported back to the old cargo bay of the Normandy SR-1.

There was something natural and strangely comforting about each other's company and the two Marines had been eager to take time and lose themselves in the past. They'd spoken for nearly two hours that day.

Careful to avoid the bits about Ashley's ultra-secret infiltration of the SAIS group—the details of which Shepard still wasn't authorized to know—she'd instead talked at length about what she'd been up to over the last two-plus years. She told him about her frustrations in being grounding after the SR-1 was downed, her experience at Fleet School on Arcturus, and her time working on the Citadel under Admiral Kaneda. They reminisced about some of the old crew and she even told him about her relationship with Nick.

Shepard had been eager to hear all about it.

He'd also been genuinely happy to hear she'd made Lieutenant Commander. Like Anderson, he insisted she deserved the rapid promotion based on all kinds of merits he was quick to point out. He'd been so convincing on that point that she nearly let go of the nagging inadequacy she felt over her new rank. Nearly.

And when the topic inevitably turned to what she was up to on Earth, she was honest and told her one-time commanding officer she'd just gotten the XO post onboard the new Normandy.

He'd grown quiet and distant for a moment and a far-off look clouded his eyes, as if he was remembering a particularly painful memory. She had had an idea about what—or, more precisely, who—he was thinking about just then. But then he recovered and expressed his support and encouragement.

Shepard had been so gracious and understanding it had been miserable for her to have to keep the truth about the Lawson woman from him. Part of her simply wanted to let it slip out, that the raven-haired woman he so clearly cared deeply for was alive and well. But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to disobey that direct order. Anyway, she owed much of her recent opportunities and successes to the Admiral and felt compelled to trust his judgment. And besides, the Commander's connection to the Cerberus operative made Ashley feel more than a little uneasy.

She was still fuzzy about exactly how they'd managed to resuscitate a man she'd seen spaced with her own two, horrified eyes, and found the whole thing to be just short of a miracle. But thanks to Anderson's intel, she knew that Lawson had been the project leader ultimately responsible for returning Shepard back to the land of the living. But despite their recent, unofficial alliance with the woman, she'd revealed precious little detail about the process Cerberus had used during the so-called Lazarus Project.

The whole concept made Ashley feel tremendously uncomfortable. But after seeing what Shepard had gone through while in SAIS custody and spending time with him more recently on Earth, she was at least convinced he wouldn't knowingly betray the Alliance. But what if a fraction of his free will had been taken from him when Cerberus rebuilt him? What if Miranda Lawson had done something to keep him tied to her? It was a line of thinking that was keeping her up at night more and more often.

But irrespective of her misgivings about that enigmatic woman and Shepard's uncertain future, Ashley had felt a thousand times better about her own circumstances after she'd gone to see him.

And in the wake of that initial meeting, Anderson had decided to authorize her continued contact with him. It was unorthodox to say the least, allowing an officer uninvolved in the investigative process to have frequent visitations with a prisoner as high-profile as Shepard. But Anderson had spun it as having a positive impact on the Commander's level of cooperation with the naval investigative team. However, Ashley felt more certain that the Admiral had recognized just how far into despair his one-time protégé was falling and knew he needed a sympathetic voice to help reel him back.

Soon enough, Ashley was in the habit of dropping by and spending an hour or two with Shepard whenever her hectic schedule allowed for it. Usually she would stop in at his quarters to chat for half an hour or so before she shot up to Yeager. Occasionally, she'd share a meal or cup of coffee with him down at the mess—but always in a reasonably secluded table far in the corner and away from most of the curious looks aimed their way. Once or twice she'd even accompanied him and the ever-present Lieutenant Vega down to the Marine training field for a brisk run around the track.

It didn't take Nick long to get wind of the time Ashley had been spending with Shepard. News traveled fast on a military base and once she'd been spotted in the mess and on the training field with the Alliance's most infamous prisoner, any hope for discretion went completely out the window. And though she hadn't exactly been trying to keep it from her man, she played it off as simply following the Admiral's orders to help smooth things over with the Alliance investigative teams. She didn't dare admit that spending time with her one-time heartthrob was, in fact, stirring up all sorts of feelings within her.

Anyway, Edgerton was far too prideful and brash to show any outright jealously about the situation. In fact, after she'd started dropping in to see Shepard, Ashley had noted a marked increase in the passion and energy Edge showed her when they had the chance to spend a night together. So, as far as she was concerned, it was a win-win.

Besides, she wasn't really taking time away from him to spend with Shepard. Her pilot boyfriend was just as busy as she was and she generally only saw Shepard when Nick was off on maneuvers or on duty elsewhere. It was completely innocent, or so she kept telling herself.

But, when Ashley was honest with herself, she understood she was starting to enjoy her meet-ups with Shepard as much as she'd grown to eagerly anticipate her romantic rendezvouses with Edge.

But it wasn't physical attraction or the prospect of romance or sex that kept drawing her back to Shepard. Though, even in his somewhat unkempt state, she still found the man as magnetically attractive as when she'd first met him years ago. Back then she wouldn't have hesitated to jump into his bunk and kick Liara's little blue ass to the deck.

No, her intuition was shouting out to stay well clear of anything like that.

Besides, she genuinely cared for Edge and had never cheated on a man in her life. She certainly wasn't going to start now.

What Ashley was feeling was something far more elemental, something deeper. No matter what she'd done in the years after witnessing Shepard being jettisoned out to space amongst the ruined Normandy, she couldn't shake the simple guilt of not having been there for him when he needed his friends the most.

If it wasn't for him, she would have been an ugly smear on the surface of Eden Prime. And yet she hadn't been there for him.

But Garrus and Tali had been there.

And though there was a time she was insanely jealous T'Soni for the place she'd claimed in Shepard's heart—and his bed—she'd gotten over it and had grown tremendously close to the asari. She knew Liara hadn't been on the new Normandy with Shepard when they undertook their near-suicide mission against the Collectors, but she had been standing strong on Noveria, rallying around her friends and risking her life to pull the skipper from danger.

Even Joker and Dr. Chakwas had chosen to follow the man that'd seen them safely through the campaign against Saren, the geth, and Sovereign.

They were people that she'd gone through hell with and grown to cherish like a second family. She shared some of her greatest triumphs with them and endured the soul-crushing loss of dear friends like Kaidan and Pressly. She would have happily sacrificed her own life for any one of them.

But she wasn't there for them when they needed her most.

When she met Shepard and Garrus on Horizon she'd wrapped herself in the flag of the Alliance and thrown bitter accusations their way. She had her own orders, after all.

But what if I hadn't? What if I'd trusted in him and looked past the Cerberus emblem on his equipment? Maybe I could have done something to keep him away from Bahak and out of SAIS hands.

Maybe I could have been there to keep him out of the arms of that woman.

So, as it turned out, spending time with him had proven to be as much medicine for Ashley as it was for Shepard. She owed him so much.

As chaotic and dangerous as their run on the SR-1 had been, things had been so much simpler back then. She had known clearly who the bad guys were and who she could put her trust in.

But as tumultuous as Ashley's feelings were about spending time with the former object of her girlish affections, Shepard left little doubt about his own emotional state.

His heart was broken. And she held the power to fix it with just a few simple words.

No matter how much time they spent reminiscing about the good old days aboard the Normandy, a profound sadness always seemed to linger behind those crystal blue eyes.

More often than not, he wasn't seeing Ashley. He was seeing her.

Standing up from her modest little kitchen alcove, she poured another cup of coffee and paused to stare over at the vid display on her apartment's wall. The Alliance News Network was reporting a disturbance in the comm buoy network in batarian space and some talking head was suggesting Cerberus might be behind the event.

She sighed at the report, fearing for yet another escalation in hostilities with the Hegemony, and then glanced at the clock on her wall next to the vid screen.

She was due up at Yeager to start overseeing the loading of live ordnance onto the Normandy in a few hours.

Taking another sip from her cup, she checked her Omni-tool and saw that Shepard and Vega were just arriving at the Marine training field at Alliance HQ—Finding the Commander's precise location on the sprawling compound was never any trouble as his whereabouts were ceaselessly monitored by way of the subdermal implant they'd fitted him with the day he'd arrived back on Earth.

Deciding she had ample time before she'd need to board the orbiter up to Yeager, she quickly threw on her Alliance PT clothes and athletic shoes, tied her hair into a ponytail, and dashed out the door of her apartment to catch the next high-speed rail car over to the base.

Hagalaz – Shadow Broker Command Ship

"Six drop ships descending rapidly, Broker," Glyph announced. "ETA, sixty seconds."

The Cerberus cruiser had already splashed the array of surveillance satellites orbiting Hagalaz, effectively blinding Liara's ship to what was happening beyond the planet's atmosphere. But the Shadow Broker's massive vessel was well equipped with numerous localized sensors that were all now tracking the approaching Cerberus assault shuttles.

"Well, at least they haven't decided to nuke us from orbit," Oriana grumbled as she stood next to her sister, her arms crossed in front of her.

The three women were standing in the operations room of the Broker vessel, huddled around the array of terminals and vid screens depicting the rapidly developing situation. Miranda and Oriana had already raided Liara's well-stocked armory and were both sporting supplemental kinetic barrier harnesses and wielding extra weapons and ordnance.

"They want the data I recovered on Kahje," Liara said. "The Illusive Man must be more desperate to get it than I thought, coming in this hard and fast."

"Yes, it's very flattering," Miranda said dryly.

Liara snorted a laugh. "Glyph, ready perimeter defenses. Bring the turrets online and target incoming bandits."

Miranda raised an eyebrow. "Turrets?"

"I made a few upgrades after you and John helped secure this vessel," Liara said and shrugged. "They won't stop all those ships, but we'll hopefully slow them down a bit."

"Turrets online," Glyph reported in the drone's methodical, emotionless voice. "Engaging hostile vessels."

Sheltered deep within the interior of the Broker vessel, there was no audible sign of the battle raging outside. Instead, the array of tactical displays translated the carnage into precise data, noting the expenditure of thousands of mass accelerated rounds as the four point-defense cannons engaged the enemy ships as they initiated a series of desperate evasive maneuvers.

Feron came dashing into the room a moment later. His clothes were stained with mechanical lubricants and he smelled of harsh, pungent chemicals.

"How are the thrusters looking, Feron?" Liara asked, keeping her gaze fixed on the tactical displays.

"Warming up now," he said. "We should be fit to start climbing in a few minutes… I think."

Miranda shot Liara a mildly horrified look. "This vessel is capable of attaining orbit?"

Liara shrugged again. "Actually, we have full FTL capability… though the logs indicate the engines haven't been used for that purpose in more than twenty years."

Miranda groaned. "Well that's comforting. We can't outrun that cruiser, Liara."

"I know. And don't plan to try."

Several distant, muffled explosions then sent a shudder through the massive vessel. "Two hostile shuttles destroyed on approach, Broker," Glyph announced. "Remaining ships have neutralized the defense cannons and are commencing boarding maneuvers."

"Understood, Glyph," Liara replied, sounding remarkably calm. "Activate LOKI Mechs and prepare to repel boarders."

"What do you have in mind, Liara?" Miranda said.

Liara gave a thin smile. "If they want this ship I'll gladly accommodate them. Glyph, prepare an intercept trajectory to that cruiser and initiate as soon as thrusters are fully charged."

Oriana blinked and blanched white. "You're going to ram it?!"

Miranda gazed at Liara with a riveted expression before giving the asari an impressed nod. "Don't worry, Ori. We'll be well clear by the time it comes to that. Liara, we should get your shuttles prepped."

"Agreed. We already have critical equipment loaded and ready to go." She then looked over her shoulder toward the drell. "Feron, why don't you take Oriana with you and secure the section around the hanger bay? We can't lose that part of the ship."

Oriana's mouth was still slightly agape as she processed the drastic measures Liara was about to undertake. She then shook herself and looked over to her sister, a tense look on her youthful face.

Miranda smiled reassuringly. "It's alright," she said. "Go with Feron and prep the orbiter for takeoff. We'll be heading back to the Cassandra shortly. Liara and I are going to see to those boarders and will be along in a few minutes."

The younger Lawson started to protest but then seemed to think better of it. She gave her sister a curt nod, drew the M-9 Tempest SMG she'd seized from Liara's weapons locker, and hustled out the compartment with Feron at her side.

Liara gave Miranda a sideways glance as she typed furiously away at the terminal she was hunched over. "Your sister has become quite capable."

Miranda sighed and checked over the M-15 Vindicator assault rifle she was cradling in her arms. "Yes," she said grimly. "It's been necessary to bring her along much more quickly, given our current state of affairs. But she's adapting well."

Liara stared at Miranda for a long moment and smiled softly. "You've done a good job with her, Miranda."

Miranda looked up from her rifle and nodded slightly toward the asari. She'd never wanted this for her sister. She'd spent a great deal of her life laboring to shield Oriana from the darker, more violent side of the galaxy. It's why'd she'd risked so much to extract the girl from their father's grasp in the first place. And she certainly never wished to expose her to the uncomfortable details that permeated much of her own Cerberus personal records and mission briefs. And now she'd thrust a weapon into her hands again.

It was gut-wrenching for Miranda, but she no longer harbored any illusions about being able to hold the harsh reality of their world at bay. The galaxy they inhabited would no longer tolerate that level of innocence and she very well wasn't going to allow Oriana to walk into the dark unprepared and alone.

A blaring alarm then began to sound in the operations center.

"Hull and perimeter breaches detected in sections C, E, and J. Hostile forces advancing into vessel, " Glyph announced. "Security Mechs engaging."

Miranda and Liara turned their attention back to the tactical display where the intruders were depicted by a growing stream of tiny icons overlaid on the ship's schematic. Within a few seconds the screens were lousy with angry red symbols.

"Glyph, direct the Alpha and Delta mechs to the hanger bay and setup a perimeter. Instruct them to hold that section at all costs."

"Understood, Broker."

"Look," Miranda said and pointed to a cluster of hostile icons moving along one of the ships long fore-and-aftsub-corridors. "That group's making for your engine room."

Liara narrowed her gaze at the point she was indicating. "Damn. I don't have enough mechs to delay them long enough," she said and then looked up at Miranda. "We'll need to do it ourselves."

Miranda gave a wry smile and yanked back on the action of her rifle, ensuring a full thermal magazine. "It's a date."

"Glyph, attempt to delay that group by locking down all hatchways between them and Main Engineering. We're moving to intercept."

The two women exchanged a quick nod and strode toward the door at the back of the compartment.

Liara paused for a moment at the hatchway and stared back into the large operations room, an odd expression playing across her asari features. "Glyph, seal this compartment and prepare to engage the localized self-destruct protocols. Transmit contingency orders to our assets in the field and purge all data drives."

"Acknowledged, Dr. T'Soni."

She then turned on her heel, marched out of the compartment to catch up with Miranda, and left that cold, dark place behind forever.

Earth – Systems Alliance Homeworld Defense Command, North American Headquarters, Vancouver

Just over ten minutes after she'd dashed from her apartment on the other side of the harbor, Ashley was trotting out onto the Marine training field to meet up with Shepard and Vega as they ran a steady pace around the track.

"Morning, skipper," she said as she jogged up behind the two men.

"Ash," Shepard said and gave pleasant grin as he looked over his shoulder.

She noted he'd shaved this morning. It was something he's started to do a little more frequently since they had started spending time together. Though, his hair length was still well past Alliance regs—which, he very clearly didn't give a damn about.

Vega, whose gait was significantly less fluid than the Commander's and yet just as effortless looking, craned his head around to see their visitor. "Lieutenant Commander," he said with only a meager level of formality. "Felt like getting your heart rate up this morning, eh?"

"Get my heart rate up?" she said and snorted a laugh. "Is that what you're doing, Lieutenant Vega? I've seen old women shuffling around the farmers' market by my place move faster than you two."

Shepard let out a hearty laugh and glanced over at Vega and shrugged. "She's got a point, Vega."

"Alright, alright," Vega said and flashed a crooked smile. "Let's pick up the pace and see if you've got what it takes to keep up."

"Ha! You'll be the one struggling to keep up, Lieutenant." Ashley then shouldered her way between the two men and bolted up ahead of them, adopting the long, powerful running stride she'd perfected after years of military service.

Thirty minutes later, after she'd managed to lap both Vega and Shepard, Ashley veered off the track and dashed over to a cluster of training equipment and posts off to one side of the field, gracefully hurdling over the low fence that surrounded the area.

Shepard and Vega caught up a few moments later.

The Commander had worked up a healthy perspiration and was breathing a little harder than usual, but Ashley guessed he'd still been holding back quite a bit.

The Lieutenant, on the other hand, looked a borderline wheezing, sweating mess as he came to a halt and braced his hands on his knees, bending over and sucking in long gasps of air.

"That pace a bit too much for you, Vega?" Ashley said.

James held up a hand, begging for a brief moment to catch his ragged breath, and then finally looked up to meet Williams's condescending gaze. "Alright, you've got me there L-C. But this finely sculpted physique of mine is better suited to power than stamina."

Ashley laughed and shook her head. "I bet the ladies hear that a lot from you, Vega."

"Walked right into that one, Lieutenant," Shepard said as put his hands on his hips and eyed the training equipment stacked up around the area. His gaze settled on a pair of carbon fiber Kendo training staffs leaning up against the wall. "Maybe you two should settle things with a quick match," he said and gestured over to the sparing circle.

"I'm game," Ashley said, without a moment's hesitation.

Vega looked over toward the training circle and groaned as he raised his hand in surrender. "How 'bout I take winners?" he said. "I just need a second."

Ashley smirked, shaking her head at the Lieutenant and then glanced over at Shepard. "Well?"

"Alright… But go easy on your old CO, Williams. I may be a little rusty."

"Right… I'll believe it when I see it, skipper," she said and strode over to the equipment rack, picking out a long fighting staff for herself and tossing another one to Shepard.

Ashley then walked a slow half circle around Shepard, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips as she skillfully twirled the staff in her hands. She stopped directly across from him, lowered herself into a tight fighting stance with hips tucked, and extended the long fighting stick toward her quarry. She then sighed and glanced back over her shoulder toward Vega. "Lieutenant, I can actually feel your eyes on my ass."

James went a shade of red and stammered. "Uh…"

"Come on, Williams. You're trained to deal with distractions," Shepard said with a playful grin, glancing down at her. "Besides, aren't those sweats a little tighter than the prescribed regulation cut?"

"Oh, you're going to get it now."

Ashley snapped forward from her crouch and barreled toward Shepard, who blocked her three rapid strikes rather effortlessly while he took a step back and to the side, letting her pass by.

"Well, I see your style hasn't changed much, Ash—never holding anything back in reserve."

She shot a mock glare toward him and then squared up again. "You sure about that, sir?"

It was then Shepard that advanced on her with a series of tight, quick strikes, causing Ashley to backpedal rapidly as she blocked the blows. But then he overreached a touch on his last strike and she flicked it away and with the same motion landed a solid tap to his ribs.

"Point!" Vega called out.

Shepard gave an exaggerated wince, leaving little doubt in Ashley's mind that she hadn't hurt him in the slightest. He then gave a quick head tilt of respect and twirled the staff around in his hands before coming at her again.

The match went on for several minutes, neither Marine truly getting too much the better of the other. Rusty or not, Shepard seemed plenty sharp to Ashley. Even after months of confinement, she easily detected the same, barely restrained latent energy in him that left little doubt about his ability to unleash terrible violence upon anyone foolish enough to engage him in any real combat situation.

But Ashley was no slouch herself. She parried and dodged just about every blow Shepard sent her way, moving with grace and quickness that camouflaged just how strong she actually was. The truth was the woman could pack of wallop and she delighted in constantly stunning the opponents that made the mistake of underestimating her deadly efficiency.

After a while, both Ashley and Shepard were winded but enjoying the back and forth of their little sparing competition—and the banter it produced—far too much to call it a match, just yet.

Shepard then feigned a quick swipe toward her knees, blocked away her retaliatory move, and followed with a solid tap to the side of her hip before she could spin away from the attack.

"Tricky," she said. "You learn some new moves from Cerberus?"

"I may have picked up a few things here or there. But that wasn't one of them."

"So, holding back from me too, huh?" she said and slapped away another strike.

"Meaning exactly what?"

Ashley frowned. "Meaning, I know you haven't exactly been all that candid with the investigative team about the finer details of your time with Cerberus," she said and then took a step back, keeping her guard up. "Don't you think if you just spill it all they'll stop riding you so hard, maybe let you off this shitty base?"

Shepard gave her with a suspicious, almost disappointed look. "Is that why you keep coming around, Ash? They using you to get the answers I won't give them?"

"What? No! I'm just concerned, Shepard. That's all."

"And exactly what are you concerned about, Ash? That I'm still secretly taking direction from the Illusive Man, like half the Alliance brass seems convinced of? Or that I'm plotting to take out another mass relay?"

Ashley gave a pained expression. "Well, skipper, I mean Bahak was pretty unprecedented."

"Bahak couldn't be helped," he said flatly. "But if they want to believe I engineered the murder of three hundred thousand batarians just to get a gold star from the Illusive Man, I don't much give a shit. None of it's going to mean a damn thing soon enough."

"So you're giving up then? That's it, game over; you just say 'fuck it' and wait patiently in your quarters for the Reapers to show up on our doorstep and watch it all burn from your cozy armchair? That's not the Commander Shepard I used to know. That man would have done whatever it took to get back into the fight and on the side of the Alliance."

Shepard smirked and shook his head, taking half a step closer to Williams. "Back on the side of the Alliance, Ash? Really? I think you're forgetting that your precious Alliance was doing exactly jack shit while the Collectors were busy setting up the Reapers' next invasion route. You can't be so naïve to think that the side either of us is on will mean anything in that fight."

He'd struck a nerve and she bristled with resentment, tightening her grip on her staff. "Hey! I wasn't sitting on my hands doing nothing. I couldn't wait to get back out into the shit and take revenge for the Normandy. And for Christ's sake, you think I forgot about Sovereign?" Ashley shook her head, fuming. "No. You don't get to judge me, Shepard. You have no idea what I went through back then. And you haven't a clue what I was doing for the Alliance and the fight while you were busy boning Cerberus skanks like Miranda Lawson."

An instant later, Ashley was on the flat of her back, her fighting stick vanished from her hands.

Shepard had disarmed her and swept her legs out from under her so fast that she'd barely recognized the movement of his hands. She felt the wind against her face and her eyes went wide as he snapped the staff toward her head, bringing it to a halt half an inch from the tip of her nose.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vega instantly tense and make a half move to stand up, alarmed by Shepard's sudden ferocity.

She then looked up and met the Commander's eyes and swallowed hard. He was glaring down at her with unmistakable hostility, but there was also a vacant, far-off look in his eyes. Ashley opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted when her Omni-tool chirped with an incoming message.

Time seemed to grind to a halt for a moment, a thick, uncomfortable silence settling in around the little group of Marines, until Shepard finally pulled the staff from Ashley's face and walked several steps away.

Ashley let out the breath she'd been holding, took hold of the hand Vega had offered her, and stood up. She stole another quick glance over to where Shepard was standing with his back to her with his shoulders slumped, and then looked down at the message.

"It's Anderson… I've got to go."

She chewed her lip for another few seconds, exchanged a quick look with the confused looking Lieutenant Vega, and trotted off the field and back toward headquarters.

Hagalaz – Shadow Broker Command Ship

Miranda and Liara hunkered down behind the lip of a heavy bulkhead bordering the primary corridor leading back to the engineering section of the ship. Ahead, more than fifteen meters up the passageway, was the last of the heavy security doors standing between them and the Cerberus infiltrators advancing toward their location.

The troops were close; just on the other side of the hatchway and engaging the meager automated defenses Liara could muster in time to delay them. They heard the hoarse cry of high caliber rounds and the short staccato bursts of automatic fire. Then there was a muffled explosion followed immediately by another two detonations that rumbled through the corridor and shook the deck beneath their feet.

Glyph's rotating ball of light sprouted to life between the women. "The last of the LOKI Mechs in the forward sections have been neutralized, Broker."

The Cerberus boarders were disabling the ship's internal cameras and thermal sensors as they went. But the holo emitters and sensor pods Glyph used to observe the activities onboard were placed in much more subtle and hard to find nooks. The floating little info drone had quickly become their impromptu combat spotter.

"Understood, Glyph," Liara said, keeping her eyes locked on the hatchway up ahead of them and her SMG pointed downrange. "How many hostile troops left ahead?"

"Eleven. Two appear wounded but still mobile and combat effective."

Miranda grimaced and tucked the stock of her Vindicator rifle in a little tighter against her shoulder. "Any more tricks up your sleeve, Liara?"

Liara made a face and shook her head. "I'm afraid that's the extent of our internal defenses. It's up to us now," she said. "Glyph, ship's status?"

"Climbing past fifty thousand meters. Thrusters operating at seventy-eight percent efficiency."

"And the Cerberus cruiser?"

"Our external sensors are currently severely degraded. However, the last plot of the hostile vessel indicated it was continuing on an intercept course."

"Good. Focus all remaining functional mechs against the hostiles advancing on the aft sections and hanger bay."

Then a thunderous explosion up ahead caused both Miranda and Liara to flinch. The hatchway door had been ripped off its track and buckled inward, thick black smoke billowing out from the other side. Then another harsh bang struck the ruined door from the other side and sent it careening forward halfway between where it had been a moment before and where the two women waited in cover.

The smoke pouring out from the other side of the hatchway began to quickly obscure the narrow corridor and they didn't see the two grenades skipping along the floor toward them until they were nearly at their feet.

"Flashbangs!" Miranda shouted and retreated all the way behind the bulkhead she'd been leaning out from, shutting her eyes tight and pressing her hands hard against her ears.

To her left, Liara followed suit but added the extra protective layer of a rapid biotic barrier, enveloping the two of them just before the grenades detonated in a piercing shrill of disorienting light and sound.

Despite Liara's quick reflexes, they were both momentarily stunned.

Miranda recovered a split second before the asari, tried to ignore the painful ringing in her ears and her blurred vision, and fired blindly into the smoke ahead.

Liara then dropped the barrier and brought her SMG up, emptying the full clip in less than three seconds, spraying the area ahead of her with lethal mass accelerated disrupter-tipped micro-slugs.

They heard several loud thuds as advancing troopers were caught in their hail of gunfire and dropped to the deck. But then a steady stream of return fire drove both Miranda and Liara back behind cover as the other side of the bulkhead erupted in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

Drawing her long legs back in close against her body, Miranda cringed as the other side of the wall she was huddled behind reverberated against her back, absorbing hundreds of rounds meant for her. She then let the Vindicator hang from the combat sling around her neck, seized an Inferno fragmentation grenade from her harness and waited for a pause in the firing.

"Grenade out!" Miranda cried as she leaned out and flung the grenade the length of the corridor.

Liara fired one more burst from her SMG, catching a Cerberus trooper square in the helmet as he emerged from the smoke and gloom, fired a biotic singularity with her free hand, and then pulled her body back behind the bulkhead.

A moment later the detonation of Miranda's grenade echoed through the passageway and sent another tremor through the floor and walls of the ship's interior before a blast of super-heated air slapped her and Liara in the face.

Seizing the grip of her assault rifle, she glanced over and met Liara's eyes. They exchanged a quick nod and then both swung out from cover, weapons at the ready.

The scene before them was total carnage as thick smoke and fiery debris swirled amid Liara's still-active singularity at the far end of the ruined corridor. Miranda could see several bodies—and parts of bodies—strewn along the hallway. Several heavily armored Cerberus troopers were piled up atop each other. One of them twitched a gloved hand before Liara immediately emptied a dozen more rounds into him.

Miranda peered carefully through the carnage and gloom ahead of them, cycling through several augmented visual modes on her tactical visor, before lowered the muzzle of her rifle a fraction. "Clear," she announced as the singularity blinked out of existence.

Liara let out long breath and then quickly accessed her comm. "Feron, we've secured the area around the engine room. Mechs are engaged with the remainder of the Cerberus forces in the aft sections. We're going to skirt around them and fall back to your position now."

"Understood," the drell's voice came back across the channel. "We'll be waiting."

The two women gave the burning hallway one last critical look before turning and hustling away from the slaughter they left in their wake.

They made their way back toward Feron and Oriana's position as quickly as possible, moving swiftly, but carefully, as they covered corners and dashed from compartment to compartment like a well-drilled fire team. In fact, other than their mission against the SAIS on Noveria, they hadn't worked together like this before. But both had extensive experience fighting alongside Shepard, and those adopted skills and abilities merged seamlessly as they made their escape from their Cerberus pursuers.

Arriving at the hanger bay door a few minutes later, Miranda hit the switch for her comm. "Oriana, we're coming in," she said. "Mind your trigger finger."

"Copy," Oriana said.

Dashing forward through the hatchway, Miranda saw Oriana standing several meters away, poking out from behind a stack of heavy polycarbonate storage crates. The girl had the extended stock of her Tempest SMG pressed tightly into the crook of her shoulder, keeping the muzzle trained toward the doorway and her profile minimized. She almost cracked an approving smile seeing her sister's confident stance and knowing how far she'd come in her weapons handling abilities in the last few weeks. Thane would be proud.

Then Oriana's eyes went wide, locked on a point just behind her sister and further back along the passageway she and Liara had just come from.

Miranda immediately whirled back around and brought her assault rifle up as the Cerberus Phantom materialized like something out of a nightmare. She fired a quick burst, but the nimble creature was moving at terrible speed as it danced along the wall and easily dodged her rounds.

Liara was a split second late in turning to meet the sudden threat and took a strike from the Phantom's gauntlet-mounted blaster square in the chest. She let out a high-pitched yelp and was flung back into the hanger bay.

Miranda stepped quickly to the side and tried to line up another shot, but her foe was on her in an instant, lunging toward her like she'd been shot from a canon and wielding a long monomolecular blade. She managed to raise her rifle just as the sword slashed down toward her head, cleaving the Vindicator in half as she stumbled backward onto the deck, recoiling from the shower of sparks and metallic shards.

Miranda then let go of the two halves of her ruined assault rifle and rolled away, just managing to avoid another rapid sword strike that carved a long slash in the floor plates where she'd been a heartbeat before. Coming to a halt on the flat of her back, she yanked the pistol from her shoulder harness and brought the muzzle up to meet the Phantom standing over her.

The Cerberus infiltrator lifted her sword up high over her head, lining up a killing strike meant to split Miranda's skull in half, but then suddenly lurched to the side as a hail of automatic fire caught her in the side of the head and torso. The sword was jettisoned from her grip and her head snapped violently to the side as the armored woman tried to stagger away from the attack.

Oriana kept firing. Advancing methodically, she peppered her target with dozens of ultra-high velocity slugs, spinning the woman around like a top until her barriers failed and she was thrown against the wall. The Phantom then slumped lifeless, leaving dark red streaks of blood as she slid down and crumpled upon the floor.

Taking another quick few steps forward, careful to keep the muzzle of her weapon trained on the threat, Oriana stopped just in front of the Cerberus assassin and buried another burst into her helmet—just to be sure.

Miranda stared up at her sister with a look somewhere between shock and pride. "Well, your aim has certainly improved."

Oriana blew out a long breath she'd obviously been holding for a while and glanced over to her sister. "Holy shit!" she said, her voice just south of shrill. "What the hell was that—some kind a ninja?!"

Miranda took Oriana's outstretched hand, stood up and dusted herself off. The two sisters quickly looked each other over, exchanged a reassuring smile and then dashed over to where Liara had come to rest on the deck several meters away.

The asari was just pushing herself up off the flat of her back as Feron crouched over her, his arm around her shoulders and a concerned look on his face.

"Liara, are you alright?" Miranda said as she knelt down next to her.

Liara winced and nodded as she rubbed her hand against the spot on her chest where she'd taken the strike. "I'm okay," she said breathlessly. "Kinetic barrier stopped the round… Most of it, anyway." The asari then squinted over to where the Phantom was lying in a bloody heap just beyond the hatchway. "Goddess, I hate those things."

Miranda gave brief, taut smile before taking hold of Liara's hand and pulling her off the deck.

Glyph materialized next to the women a moment later. "Broker, another group of infiltrators is approaching this section. They are rapidly defeating the encryption locking protocols I have applied to the security doors."

"Seal this compartment and prepare to vent the atmosphere from all remaining sections, Glyph. We're leaving in ninety seconds."

Feron ran over to a nearby console and brought up their trajectory and tactical plot. "The cruiser's coming about and increasing speed. They think we're making a run for it."

A violent shudder then reverberated through the length of the massive vessel and a harsh, metallic ripping sound echoed in the hanger bay.

Liara looked over and met Miranda's gaze. "I imagine that was the lightning towers being sheared off. They weren't designed to survive a trip into orbit."

"Are you sure this bucket is going to hold together long enough, Liara?" Miranda asked.

Liara shrugged noncommittally and started back toward one of the Kodiaks waiting at the other side of the hanger. "We better get moving."

"Good god," Miranda said. "Hurry up and get strapped in, Oriana."

Leaving the remainder of the course corrections in the hands of the pre-programmed commands Glyph had initiated, the little group scattered to their respective shuttles. Miranda and Oriana hurried into the small craft they'd arrived in while Feron and Liara each boarded one of the Kodiak shuttles already loaded down with their supplies and equipment.

Less than a minute later, the two Kodiaks and the Cassandra's smaller orbiter blasted clear of the hanger bay as the massive Shadow Broker vessel slipped past the final layers of Hagalaz's atmosphere and accelerated out into space, locking in a collision course with the waiting Cerberus cruiser.

The Cerberus crew had maneuvered their vessel into an intercept trajectory, assuming the rapidly approaching ship was attempting to flee. They didn't realize their peril until it was too late.

Miranda and Oriana watched in grim fascination as their screens depicted the catastrophic collision. Broadsided as it desperately tried to maneuver away from the oncoming ship, the Cerberus cruiser was hewn in two, each section sent hurtling away from the impact before being caught in the planet's gravitational pull and tumbling into the atmosphere. The Shadow Broker vessel had been moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light at the time of impact and simply exploded into a brief, but spectacular ball of fire before the vacuum of space snuffed out the burning wreckage and it disintegrated into a rapidly expanding cloud of gas and debris.

Oriana swallowed and looked over at her sister as they sat side by side in the small craft. Miranda glanced over and met her gaze, understanding that she'd just witnessed loss of life on a scale she'd never before been exposed to. She reached over and squeezed her hand, giving her young sister a stoic nod. There wasn't much she could think to say. Besides, the people on that ship had intended to kill them and she was running well short of sympathy for anyone like that.

A long silence settled over the comm channel as the debris of the cruiser began to burn up in the atmosphere above Hagalaz. There was no indication that any escape pods had managed to clear the wreck.

Eventually, Miranda turned her full attention back to her craft's instruments and noted that the Cassandra was already swinging around from the other side of the planet and approaching fast. The vid comm screen then flashed to life and Liara's face came into focus.

"Are you two alright?"

"We're fine. I'm sorry you lost your ship, Liara," Miranda said.

"I'm not. I spent far too much time in that place. I'm actually glad to be free of it."

Miranda gave a look of quiet understanding and nodded. "So, you two will be heading to Mars then?"

"Actually, I'm going alone. Feron will make directly for the Citadel with the equipment we managed to salvage and get our networks up and running from there."

"Very well," Miranda said. "I'll send word along to Thane and Anita and tell them to expect him. They can provide whatever assistance needed."

"Thank you, Miranda. Then… I take it you'll be heading directly for Sanctum and a rendezvous with our mysterious Dr. Kenson?"

"Yes. I have unfinished business with that woman." Miranda paused and drew in a long breath. "This thing is right on top of us. You can feel it too, can't you?"

Liara stared back at here through the vid display, a grim shadow crossing over her delicate asari features. "Yes. We don't have much time now. Good luck, Miranda."

Miranda nodded. "Good luck, Liara," she said and closed the comm channel.

Earth – Systems Alliance Homeworld Defense Command, North American Headquarters, Vancouver

Ashley scolded herself as she rode the elevator up to the Admiral's office.

It was an awfully hurtful thing to say, especially with all she'd already known about Shepard's relationship with the Lawson woman. And she understood full well that he hadn't really been suggesting that she'd been neglectful in her duties or with her resolve to fight the Reapers. But the jab at the Alliance's inaction—a point that made her feel tremendously uneasy—had struck a nerve and all her pent-up venom had just gushed out.

Still, she shouldn't have gone for such a low blow and had instantly regretted it.

I'm lucky he didn't jab that stick straight through my lousy fucking eye, she thought to herself, shaking her head.

The elevator door then slid open a second later and she crossed the breezeway to Anderson's office. His assistant was already waving her in through the open entranceway.

"Admiral," Ashley blurted out before the door even closed behind her. "I don't think you should send Shepard to Palaven, if that's what this is about. It's the wrong call."

"Relax, Lieutenant Commander. That plan's been tabled. There's no more time."

"Oh." Ashley gave the Admiral a questioning look and noted he was looking a bit more haggard than was typical for the career military man. Honestly, he looked like he hadn't slept much for several days.

"We lost contact with Khar'shan six hours ago. All comm buoys in the region have gone completely dark."

Ashley blinked and felt a sudden, sinking feeling in her gut. "Cerberus action, sir?"

"No. There's no evidence of that. Whatever's going on started from within the system. Deep space scouts are trying to acquire more intel, but it's not looking good. It's still unclear exactly what's going on and our assets in the region are having trouble getting close enough to get a better picture. We've been receiving supplemental intelligence from another source, but what we're hearing isn't good."

"Another source, sir?"

Anderson nodded and looked out the window of his office, clasping his hands behind his back. He didn't appear to be willing to elaborate further on where exactly else the Alliance Navy might be obtaining information on the batarian situation.

Ashley stood rigid in front of the Admiral for a long moment, letting the news sink in. A total communication blackout from the batarian homeworld—or any species' homeworld for that matter—was an unprecedented event. Whatever the cause, it had to be big. "Sir, is this the start of it? Is it what Shepard warned was coming?"

"We don't have enough information yet to form any kind of accurate picture of the situation. But whatever occurred in batarian space happened incredibly fast." He let out a long sigh before turning away from the view outside his window and facing Ashley. His expression was unmistakably troubled. "I need you to do everything you can to expedite the Normandy's final refit phase and have her combat ready within five days. We're moving to a heightened alert level and I won't have that ship sitting in dry dock when the rest of the fleets are mobilized."

"Sir, she's still at least three weeks away from being ready for a final shakedown and combat trials. We haven't even been able to fully initiate the internal tactical networks and cyber warfare suites."

"Five days, Lieutenant Commander. Get it done."

Ashley immediately straightened her posture and snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!"

Mars – Lowell City, Systems Alliance Starport

The Mars Lowell City Starport was teaming with activity. Serving as the main hub for both military and civilian traffic on the red planet, the sprawling complex of habitat buildings and starship terminals saw the transition of thousands of people on any given day. But a massive influx of additional military and research personnel now joined the typical crowds of tourists, students, and traveling permanent residents.

The heightened alert level in the Systems Alliance terminal was palpable as uniformed, heavily armed security personnel patrolled the area with a wariness born from an unmistakable tension settling upon the galactic community.

News from batarian space was beginning to filter through all the major news networks, causing a ripple of absurd speculation and a universally amplified sense of anxiety among the public. The throngs of people seemed to move about with an insecure urgency, fearing some vague threat that none of them could possibly fathom.

Standing amidst the crowded terminal, Liara watched them and knew she was one of the few people in the whole of the Sol System that had an idea of what was likely descending upon the Milky Way. She was waiting impatiently, a heavy piece of luggage in each hand, for the commuter shuttle that would take her on the final leg of her journey to the highly secured Prothean Archives research facility, situated near the massive Deseado Crater.

Tapping the sole of her boot on the floor with an exasperated rhythm as she counted down the minutes until the transport was due to arrive, Liara peered across the terminal and caught sight of a young blonde-haired human woman.

She was standing at the bar of a tavern situated across the breezeway, looking around serenely as she sipped a lime-green colored cocktail. The woman was strikingly attractive, with a curvaceous figure that made Liara think of the starlets of classic human cinema. And there was a subtle gracefulness to her movements. Perhaps she was once a dancer or a gymnast?

The young woman seemed to sense Liara's gaze upon her, turned, and smiled broadly in her direction.

Embarrassed, Liara immediately averted her eyes and stared down at the floor. But when she chanced another glance in the pretty woman's direction, she was stunned to find that she was walking directly toward her.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but you're Dr. Liara T'Soni, aren't you?" the woman said.

"Yes, that's right," Liara said timidly.

"I knew it! I'd heard you were coming too. I'm so excited to meet you."

Liara gave a flustered look. "I'm sorry. You heard I was coming? From who, exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"

The woman returned a pleasant smile. "I apologize for my enthusiasm. But I must admit, I'm a little star-struck—I've followed your career for some time now," she said, beaming. "Professor Tasmen and I have been corresponding. He mentioned that Admiral Hackett had authorized your grant to conduct special research within the Prothean site that's just been unearthed. They're all very excited to meet you."

"So, you're also assigned to the dig site?"

"Yes," she said and nodded. "I'm a xenobiologist assigned to the project. I can't wait to pick your brain about the Protheans."

Liara relaxed a fraction and smiled a little easier. "Oh, I see… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Of course, how ridiculous of me!" she said. "My name is Eva. Dr. Eva Coré."

Author's Note:

Timelines in Mass Effect are fuzzy as a rule and since I don't remember exactly how long Liara was supposed to be on Mars, I'm just altering it to suit my needs. It'll be only a matter of days in this instance between when she gets to the archives and the Reapers appear in Sol.

So, for everyone itching to get to some Reaper invasion action, here we go… In as sense, this is the prelude to the invasion that will begin in earnest next chapter. In fact, my version of the Fall of Earth battle is going to rage on for a bit, probably spanning at least two chapters. I know the codex says it was over in a matter of hours, but given its humanity's homeworld and the most well defended planet in the Alliance, I'd like to give the event its due.

For those not familiar with Liara's discovery on Kahje, it takes place in the Homeworlds series of comics and essentially details the motivation for her going to Mars—she finds encryption keys that unlock other Prothean archives, one of which is on Mars. I'm taking some liberties with that situation but staying true to the spirit of the canon plotline.

I'm also really enjoying crafting Oriana into a mini-Miranda badass. I'm not entirely sure where her path will lead, but it's a fun track to explore.

I'll be adopting these subheading titles more often moving forward, I think. There's going to be a lot of jumping around between characters and locations (especially during the invasion of Earth sequence) so I think it's necessary to keep the readers (and the author!) from getting confused.

And I'm getting closer to having to make a decision on the Crucible. If it remains, I'll definitely be altering the circumstances quite a bit. But I also haven't ruled out ditching it all together and going in another direction. I'm a little bit on the fence about the concept, so feel free to comment as you see fit…

As always, thanks for reading and all the great feedback!