Notes: Hope you enjoy the early chapter... getting on a plane in the morning at an ungodly hour... so I figured better early than late. For you 'Aliens' fans out there... wait for it...

Gráim thú - I love you (Gaelic)

Hobbles - device that limits movement by tethering feet together with a short strap or chain

Ionúin Álainn - beautiful beloved (Gaelic)

Leannán - Lover (Gaelic)

Mo cheann geallta - My promised one (Gaelic)

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

XO - Executive Officer

Revenge and Reprisal

Armali Republic, Thessia, At Large – 5 Jul 2188

"By the Goddess!" With the loud exclamation, Liara bolted up from her desk, tipping her chair over with a loud clatter. Dumbfounded, she leaned against the polished wood of her desk, her hands flat on its surface for support as the link seemed to waver slightly. "Shepard!"

Having heard Liara's urgent shout, Lyessa ran into the room, her voice ringing with worry as she queried, "Mistress! What in the galaxy?"

Her face taut with dread, the maiden whispered, "Just a moment," as she closed her eyes and focused all her mental energy on her Promised, concentrating and pushing love and support to Samantha through the link.

'Boosted' by Liara, Shepard regained consciousness relatively quickly – but not quick enough. She had a splitting headache and her neck burned; she couldn't help but think about her initial experience with Cerberus Dragoons and their weapon of choice –the biotic lash – when the Alliance had launched the assault on Cronos Station near the end of the war. She considered herself fortunate that the whip hadn't remained on her neck for more than an instant... as her breathing seemed normal and unrestricted, in sharp contrast to what it had been like after that first encounter. She groaned in both pain and frustration, her attempts to move thwarted by newly acquired accessories; she now wore slave cuffs, along with a collar which chaffed painfully on the raw skin it encircled.

The cuffs were held apart by a heavy rod roughly 50 centimeters long; additionally, her feet were held close together by a set of hobbles on her ankles, the chain between them roughly the same length. Worse, there was a thick black bag over her head totally preventing her from seeing anything; her furtive attempt at raising her hands above her chest to remove this new addition was thwarted by what sounded like chains connecting the ankle hobbles to the rod between her wrists. She started to roll over, hoping she could shake off her new head covering to get a look at her surroundings, but her attempt was abruptly halted by the guttural growl of a Batarian and the violent jab of an electrified slaver rod.

As her head slammed back from the strong jolt, she instantly realized her situation had changed drastically... and was much worse than she'd originally assumed. Her ears ringing from the impact with the unyielding metal deck beneath her – rather than the bare ground of the Lake Bisel alley – meant she had very likely already been loaded aboard a ship. She flared her biotics for an attempt to break her bindings, only to be painfully shocked again... except this time it hadn't been done by the Batarian. It was immediately – and rather painfully – obvious to her that the collar on her neck and the cuffs on her wrists were the biotic suppression versions, and rather advanced compared to what she had seen utilized in the past. Praying the ship hadn't yet jumped the Parnitha Relay, she queried the link. {Liara?}

{Thank the Goddess! Shepard! Are you alright?}

{Not exactly, Li. I think I'm in quite the fix, here.} She then went on to explain what little she knew about her situation, which wasn't much beside her certainty that she was now inside a Batarian slave ship that apparently had not left the system... seeing as they could still communicate through the link.

{The good news is that you haven't even left Thessia. The response drills you have been running paid off. We were in the air in less than five minutes and immediately picked up the trail of a ship leaving the city at a rather high rate of speed. We took a chance and followed... With your confirmation of being on board a ship, I believe we surmised correctly.}

Beneath her hood, Shepard smiled in relief, knowing the Knight Shade and her newly selected crew was already underway for her rescue. She also recognized the irony in the fact that their own captain was the objective of their first rescue mission. {That's my girl. Any idea where we're headed?}

A quick little smile flickered across Liara's face as she caught the humor within Shepard's observation, but it faded quickly as she refocused on the specific situation confronting them. {We've got a pretty good idea... but only the general location. The ship has gone off-shore, meaning only one thing... Two things, actually, but I absolutely refuse to consider the second possibility.} Liara paused to draw a deep breath and Shepard sensed her concern.

The Spectre inhaled sharply as the nightmare inducing thought arrived, unbidden and unintentional, through the link. {They wouldn't... Would they? All this trouble just to drop me into the middle of the damned ocean? With all this metal attached to me?}

{Samantha! Stop! That's exactly the line of thought I did not want to discuss!}

The rest of Liara's protest was cut off as, in reaction to Shepard's sudden intake of breath, the Batarian who was apparently guarding her sneered and jabbed her again, enthusiastically shocking her repeatedly with rapid, multiple pokes that forced all the air from her lungs along with a deep cry of pain and frustration. He simply snickered with satisfaction and said, "Don't even think about it, Shepard! You're one Hell of a prize and I'm not going to let you escape on my watch... I'll fucking kill you first. I'm sure the ransom will be paid whether you arrive alive…" at this point he chuckled in a sinister manner, "… or dead!"

A doorway slid open and another voice, this one definitely Asari, rang sharply in the small compartment. "Stop it, you imbecile! She's not worth a single credit if she's dead! Your sponsor could give a Pyjak's ass about all the others taken as slaves... but she definitely wants Shepard alive."

The Batarian grumbled petulantly. "If she doesn't care about the others, how come you took away the other two who were with her... instead of leaving them here for me to have fun with?"

"Even with four eyes in your ugly face, it seems you cannot see how truly stupid you really are." The Asari snorted in disgust. "It certainly can't hurt to keep them as leverage so the great Captain Shepard won't misbehave. Those two are obviously members of her crew, so shut the fuck up and quit shocking the shit out of her. She has to be conscious when we arrive or the Boss will have your head... I'm certainly not going to hand her mine to save a Goddess-be-damned Batarian... and you're even more stupid than I thought if you think I would." The door opened again and the Asari said, "Just do what you're told if you expect to be paid."

As soon as the door slid closed following the Asari's departure, the Batarian stepped up and kicked Shepard hard in the side, eliciting a stifled grunt of pain. "Said I couldn't shock you and that you had to be awake. Didn't say I couldn't do anything else... so you just lay there and be still... like a good little credit chit." He scoffed as he planted the toe of his boot in her side again. "Not so much the fucking hero now, are ya?"

Shepard tried to be as still as she could, drawing slow, deep breaths in an attempt to ease the pain from the booted kicks to her unarmored ribs. Through the link, she could sense Liara's building resentment at her mistreatment. {Easy, Liara. Stay calm and keep your head... I'm gonna need you to have all your wits about you for this one. I don't want to end up in the sea with the fish and I can't exactly do much on my end... at least not yet.}

{You're right. I'm sorry, Sam... but I can't promise that I won't find that Batarian and rip him to shreds with my biotics when this is all over.}

{When this is over, Liara, I'll be more than happy to help you do just that. But, for now... back to our conversation. You were saying you think you know where we're headed?}

{Yes. Now that I know someone wants you alive, we can only be headed toward Pivaema... an island-based Republic roughly seventy-five kilometers offshore. I just can't imagine who is behind all this. I've got to prep the ground teams , Siame... but I'll be listening for you in case you need any more assistance.}

{Gráim thú, mo cheann geallta. I'll definitely be waiting for you. If you can, give me a heads up before you crash the doors. I'll help... if there's any way I can.}

Shyria, Republic of Pivaema, Thessia

With the heavy bag still over her head, Shepard was somewhat disoriented as she stumbled along the hallway, prodded forward by the ever incessant slaver rod in the small of her back. She had been tagged numerous times during the move – whenever she hesitated, even in the slightest – but the rod's power setting had been reduced significantly and no longer sent her muscles into spasms. Now, it was simply used as motivation for her to keep moving... but even at the lower setting, the shocks still hurt.

Despite the distraction of the intermittent jolts of pain in her back, Shepard focused on assisting in her own rescue and had counted steps and marked left and right turns, relaying the information to Liara via the link as she was being ushered through the facility. They finally stepped into a lift that went up; Shepard counted the seconds as they climbed, hoping the data would give Liara some indication as to what floor they stopped on. When they reached their destination, Shepard immediately realized the information was likely unnecessary; it quickly became obvious they had been on a private elevator that had ascended to the building's top floor penthouse. As soon as the doors of the lift opened, she was shoved unceremoniously out into the lobby, her Asari escort speaking crisply. "Tell the Boss we're here with her prize."

"Welcome back, Lieutenant, but you are kidding, aren't you?" The male voice had the diction and rapid-fire speech pattern of a Salarian and Shepard started to get a sinking feeling in her stomach as he added, "She's been pacing the floor in anticipation ever since you departed for the intercept. Go right in."

Shepard's flesh crawled at the idea that whoever was responsible for her kidnapping was so eagerly anticipating her arrival. Her mind was racing through the possibilities and her thoughts slipped through the link; she instantly received a comforting response. {Keep the faith, Siame... I promise you, we are not far behind.}

As the Asari lieutenant gripped Shepard's arm and yanked her forward, she addressed their Batarian escort. "You wait here."

Having none of it, he grabbed Shepard's other arm and growled back, "No way. We're the ones who baited and sprang the trap in order to capture her; now, she's here, she's alive, and she's conscious... just like you demanded. Shepard doesn't leave my sight until I get paid in full."

Shepard suddenly felt like a piece of meat being fought over by a couple of Varren; as she wondered who would win, the Asari's response to his challenge cut like sharp steel. "Binks. Give this slaver what he deserves, would you?"

"Certainly, Lieutenant."

Shepard flinched as the Batarian jerked on her arm; the very unexpected gunshot rang out much too close to her ear... only a fraction of a second before the grip slackened and slid away, followed by the heavy thud of an obviously dead Batarian. {Sorry, Blue. I'm pretty sure you wanted to take care of that one on your own... I hope you're not too disappointed.}

{I am not... but I am extremely relieved that they seem very eager to keep you alive.}

"Thanks, Binks." The Asari gave Shepard a second, more gentle, tug to indicate she should begin walking. "If you can get that mess cleaned up before I come back out, take half of what we would have paid the mistrustful four-eyed bastard as a bonus if he had simply managed to keep his damned mouth shut... and return the rest to the ops account."

The Salarian sounded much happier as he practically sang, "Consider it done, Lieutenant!"

They walked forward and entered the main office; the grip on her arm tightened the instant the door slid closed behind them and Shepard immediately thought she knew why. {Whoever this 'Boss' is, they fear her... I get the distinct impression my escort doesn't want to be here any more than I do.}

"Ah. Spectre Shepard. You have no idea how happy I am to see you again."

Shepard frowned under her hood, unable to see the speaker and unable to identify the voice, even while realizing it sounded much too familiar. "Can't exactly see you, so I won't say the same."

"Always so glib, Shepard. I suppose we'll have to remedy that." Her statement finished with a demented laugh the Spectre immediately recognized, her blood running cold at the thought. The Asari at her back yanked the hood off her head as Jona Sederis continued, "I still haven't forgotten about all of my Eclipse soldiers that you killed over the years. And then you had the audacity to give my organization to that Salarian toady, Sayn! I told you once before... when I got out... heads would roll, Spectre." She laughed again and her next words were every bit as venomous as they had been the day Shepard elected to leave her in jail. "I suppose the promise I made that day doesn't seem quite so empty now... does it?"

She turned her attention to the lieutenant. "Put her in the chair, Clarissa."

Without a word, someone shoved a chair against the back of Shepard's legs and the lieutenant gave her a gentle push, causing her to fall backward into the seat. Another Salarian, not Binks, suddenly uncloaked to help fasten metal-meshed leather straps around her biceps and ankles, quickly followed with chest, wrist and thigh straps of the same basic design. The Spectre wasn't too concerned, thinking it very likely the mesh was simply for additional strength, until he pulled out a second bundle of straps, all connected together with a wiring harness.

He flashed a quick smile as he opened one of the straps in front of her, showing her a series of thin, needle-like pins on the inside. "Hold still and the insertion won't hurt much... I understand they are very like those used in a Human practice called acupuncture."

"Hey! This was a good pairs of pants!" Shepard angrily exclaimed as he began to cut away a section of her trousers across her thigh. He repeated the action at the base of her calf, then did the same on her other leg, completely ignoring her protests. Once the flaps of material were tucked back out of the way, he placed the first set of needles, very carefully, over the fleshy inside of Shepard's right forearm before pushing them quickly into her arm. He then anchored the straps into the arm of the chair, before completing the same process on her other forearm, using small buckles Shepard hadn't previously noticed.

He then repeated the entire process, first on her thighs, then calves, and finally returning to her arms, where he sank the final two sets of needles into the bicep of each arm, quipping, "I'm glad it's summer... and that you were considerate enough to wear short sleeves for me today. Makes my job much easier." He then took the primary lead and Shepard heard the click as he plugged it into a machine attached to the back of the chair.

Immediately following that action, Shepard twitched lightly, suddenly feeling as though bugs were crawling across her skin. When the Salarian returned to her side and plugged a cord into the biotic suppression collar, the Spectre's eyes narrowed and she glared at the Asari. "What the fuck are you planning, Sederis?"

Jona Sederis smiled, but her voice resonated with disdain. "Oh. When you left me in that cage, I had nothing but time – a great amount of time – to plan my revenge, Shepard. The wiring harness controls the inputs for the needles, which are neural stimulators, sunk into various parts of your body so they can... converse... with your nervous system. They are linked as a series of matched pairs to ensure their commands travel up each arm, through your core and down the opposite leg... I wouldn't want to be responsible for denying you the pleasure of a complete, full-body experience." She walked over and stroked Shepard's cheek with a surprisingly gentle caress. "You seem to be sweating, my dear Spectre. Did those tiny little needles hurt? I imagine your body is reacting to the calibration pulses the machine generates at start up... and the moisture on your skin will most likely enhance my enjoyment of the events to come."

Poking at Shepard's collar, she calmly continued her explanation, much like a teacher to a child. "This lovely, customized piece of your new ensemble will sense the instant your biotics begin to manifest... It was originally designed purely to ensure biotic slaves could not maintain the concentration necessary to actually do anything with their power. In this case, however, it has been modified specifically to handle your enhanced biotics, so you should feel special... very special indeed."

She dragged her finger across the Spectre's chest as she circled around behind the chair. "It is now a sensor that feeds bio-data to this lovely little generator behind you... which, in turn, controls the pulse frequency to all the stimulators that have been so elegantly connected to the network. The system is capable of producing a variety of sensory triggers that will race through your entire neural network at the speed of thought. In this particular case, it has been programmed for one primary function – the very singular purpose of inducing the sensation of extreme, intense pain." She smiled wickedly as she finished her quick circle, returning to face the front of the chair and bringing up a tiny singularity, spinning the small glowing ball in the tips of her fingers.

"The more power you attempt to pull in any futile efforts to escape the machine, the higher the pulse frequency will rise... and it will shut down your ability to utilize your biotics. I promise that it is capable of delivering a level of pain which even a Krogan would be unable to ignore; even a subject as strong-willed as you will be forced to accept its domination of your nervous system."

To demonstrate, she slowly moved closer and extended her arm, bringing the singularity closer to the collar around the Spectre's neck. Shepard felt a tingle start in her wrists that increased in intensity and climbed to her biceps as Sederis moved the glowing ball closer. The Asari quickly fed the singularity more power; as it grew substantially in size, the collar responded by sending extremely painful jolts up the Spectre's arms, across her chest, and down her legs... until she felt her heart skip and her head slammed against the back of the chair, the pulses surging through her body setting her nerves on fire. She grunted out, "Fuck! Made... your... point... Sederis!"

The Asari quickly reduced the strength of the singularity, as she didn't want Shepard to pass out quite yet, and stated, "Congratulations, Shepard. You have successfully completed the first step toward fully understanding your predicament." She then dropped her biotics entirely to pick up another wire that had yet to be connected. She grinned maliciously as she began to unbutton Shepard's shirt just under the high chest strap holding the Human's torso securely in place, exposing the bra beneath.

Shepard growled, "You're a perverted piece of shit, Sederis," as the Asari's hand slipped in to cup and fondle her concealed right breast. She gritted her teeth as Jona leaned in and blew into the bra cup, teasingly, and then harshly pinched the rising point.

Shepard grunted in pained surprise as Sederis pulled back and laughed. "So sensitive, Shepard. Your Asari toy, T'Soni, must absolutely love your responsiveness."

Jona then focused on the device at the end of the new wire, lifting it up on display so she could continue the Spectre's education. "This will monitor your heart rate for two very important reasons. Primarily, I want to make sure your heart keeps beating; after all, I wouldn't want to kill you... at least not too fast. Where's the fun in that? Seeing as there is little room for error when playing with the temperamental Human heart, it's all computer controlled; I cannot be too careful with such a fragile toy if I want to keep it around for awhile and extend my playtime." She winked at Shepard before continuing, "Second, I want to know the very instant your heart starts to accelerate in excitement... because that's when I will truly begin to enjoy myself."

Sederis reached in again, this time to nestle the heart monitor between the Spectre's breasts, the bra holding it securely in place against her chest. Shepard's voice was flat... emotionless... as she responded, "And just what am I supposed to get excited about?"

"Oh, Shepard. There are so many ways to get a heart racing. Fear. Anxiety. Pain. Sex." Sederis leaned down and attempted to plant a kiss on the Spectre's lips, gripping the sides of her head tightly with both hands while trying to keep Shepard from avoiding it. After a few unsatisfactory moments, Sederis pulled away in disgust. "Well. So much for that. And here I thought you liked Asari... but apparently the thought of kissing me won't do, so I'll simply have to skip to my next idea."

She turned to the lieutenant. "She obviously desires to make this as difficult as humanly possible on herself, so we'll change our approach. Please fetch victim number one."

As Clarissa practically ran from the room, Shepard huffed, "Victim number one? What the Hell, Sederis? You going to torture people in front of me until I get so damned angry I can't stand it?"

Sederis answered by drawing a long dagger from a sheath on the calf of her leathers. "Of course I am... but I guarantee they will be so much more than simply 'people' to you." As her words sunk in and Shepard slowly realized Sederis was most likely speaking of Fala and Molia, her tormentor placed the tip of the blade at the base of the Spectre's left ear as she continued, "But before that happens, I plan on drawing a sample of your lovely blood."

Shepard expected the insane Asari to remove her ear and gritted her teeth to keep from giving Sederis the satisfaction of hearing her crying out in pain. More out of surprise than anything else, she grunted at the stinging sensation caused by the exceptionally sharp blade traveling forward instead of up, barely slicing the skin along the base of her jaw until the tip was centered under the soft pocket of her chin, just inside the jaw bone. The hand holding the blade rotated downward and pushed the business end of the dagger slowly upwards, forcing Shepard to tilt her head up and back to keep from actually being impaled, stopping only when her head hit the back of the chair and she had nowhere else to go.

Shepard knew Liara was listening to her thoughts... and even though she didn't want to cause her Ionúin Álainnany more concern, she couldn't stop herself from wondering how much longer she had to live – a quick, well-placed thrust could easily send the solid, surgically sharp dagger upward into her skull. The captain could feel the mental anguish of Liara's response, even as the Asari's carefully controlled thoughts came back through the link. {We must simply trust she did not lie about not wanting to kill you too quickly, Siame.}

The tip slid upward, penetrating just deep enough to draw a bead of blood before Sederis stopped its progress, leaving the blade in place to motivate the captain to hold her head extremely still. She then leaned forward and placed the earlier rejected kiss upon the Human's lips, merrily observing the resentful fury within the Spectre's eyes, flashing with anger and seemingly as cold as the ice within the Northern Sea. She pulled back from the kiss, an expression of smug satisfaction on her face, and smiled belligerently as she ran a blue finger agonizingly slowly up the blade, pushing it slightly deeper as she did so, changing the bead first to a dribble... then a tiny, steady stream. She waited, collecting a sufficient quantity of the Human's red blood as it dripped onto her finger before raising it to her tongue. After sticking her finger in her mouth and sucking it clean, she murmured, "Oh... now... that is something I have desired to taste since the day you left me to rot in prison, Shepard... It is soooo much sweeter than I ever anticipated."

After what seemed to be a very long, tense moment, the tip of the dagger finally dropped down and the Asari used the woman's cheek to wipe the remaining blood from the blade – just before back-handing the woman hard on the same side of her face, then laughing with abandon when the narrow slice she had created on the Spectre split open wide, to begin leaking blood the length of the Human's jaw. "I am very pleased to see you're not smiling anymore, Shepard. Nor are you quite so damned full of yourself as you were last time we met."

Jona shrugged nonchalantly. "Finally, it seems I truly am holding all the cards, Spectre. Here? Now? You have no choice but to endure my every whim! Humans. So shortsighted with your paltry century or so lifespan. All of you seriously need to learn how to play the long game, Shepard. Then again... never mind. None of you will ever live long enough to reap the benefits. Oh, how I simply love being Asari and having all the power!"

Shepard exhaled and inhaled rapidly – only then realizing she had held her breath the entire time the knife's tip had been stuck in her chin – and swallowed hard as she felt the blood begin to trickle into the hollow at the base of her neck, feeling its warmth spread as it absorbed into the high collar of her shirt, the upper portion of which remained buttoned. Feeling utterly powerless to affect any change to her situation as both the stress and the constant low-grade tingle from the pins made her skin itch, Shepard continued to sweat. Her body's involuntary reactions only increased the effectiveness of the device to which she was unwillingly connected as Sederis once more charged a small singularity and rolled it around on her fingertips... increasingly close to the sensor within the collar on the Spectre's neck.

Sederis remained silent, sneering in gleeful, aberrant pleasure as the Human before her gasped in a desperate attempt to find a way – any way – to continue breathing as pain once again raced excruciatingly through her body, lasting until her heart rate climbed so high that the regulator on the machine shut down the neural stimulators. Exhausted and in absolute agony, Shepard was unable to suppress the groan that escaped her lips as she slumped in the chair, remaining seated only because of the restraints clamping her in position; otherwise she would have simply slipped to the floor like a boneless ragdoll.

Having adamantly refused to block the connection, no matter what she may be forced to endure via the link with Samantha, an extremely frustrated and nearly frantic Liara was beside herself as the events beyond her control continued to unfold on the top floor of the structure they had yet to enter. More than once, either Riana or Livos had found it necessary to grab Liara's arm to stop her from moving forward before the all clear signal was received. Finally, Sellis Boni, their infiltration specialist, appeared at the doorway and indicated it was safe to proceed into the building.

Using cloaking generators in order to avoid detection as long as possible while they moved purposely through the halls, Liara silently prayed to the Goddess that Jona Sederis didn't tire of her games before the Knight Shade's First Team managed to make their way to the penthouse. They were not alone; should Liara's team be discovered, immediately upon their detection by the buildings security forces, Second Team was impatiently waiting at the ready. Led by Hailot Jatok and having placed a number of explosives at the entry, they would literally rip the front doors to pieces – along with a portion of the building's wall surrounding the doors – making for quite the grand entrance when the time came. At worst, they would provide a monster-sized distraction for security; at best, they might just succeed in luring the majority of Sederis' security teams to the ground floor in order to counter what they would have to recognize as a major Spectre assault.

First Team had progressed to within sight of the elevator when Liara rocked back on her heels, barely able to remain quiet as her hand flew to her cheek; feeling the pain of the blow to the side of her siame's head infuriated her that much more. She felt Riana's steadying hand on her shoulder as Livos glanced back at her in concern. Unable to find the strength to remain standing, Liara sank to her knees and silently wept as Shepard's torment continued, recovering only after Shepard had slumped, unconscious, in the chair. Fearing the worst, Riana wrapped her arms around her charge and urgently whispered, "Mistress! What has happened?"

"We are out of time!" Wiping away tears as she resolutely regained her feet, the positively livid Asari hissed, "I am going to rip Jona Sederis limb for limb when we find her. Never again will she have an opportunity to threaten my family... or anyone else's... ever! Let's move!" Livos nodded quickly in understanding and returned her attention to what lay before them, guiding the team quickly toward the elevator as they continued their forward progress.

With a second big push of support from her leannán, Shepard regained awareness and growled from somewhere deep in her throat as she realized what had transpired while she was unconscious. The Lieutenant had returned to the room, escorting a beaten and bloodied Molia Tressi. She had likely been forced through the hallways in the collar and slave chains she was wearing – with a slaver rod at her back – the same as Shepard had been, seemingly forever ago. Sederis was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet while clapping excitedly, like a child at a birthday party. "Excellent! Shepard is awake again, so she can see that my new play toy is here!"

"Leave her alone, you psychopath!" Shepard's resistance was low and she wasn't thinking clearly as she instinctively pulled on her biotics. The end of her weak protest was forced as she exhaled the last word sharply, a new series of pulses igniting her nerve endings yet again... simultaneously constricting all the major muscles in her body, including her heart and lungs, as her entire body futilely attempted to pull back from the sensed pain.

"Oh, my!" Sederis' eyes lit up. "So, stubbornness prevails over wisdom and the famous Spectre isn't yet ready to surrender to the inevitable... How wonderful that you're actually living up to your reputation after so many have disappointed me in the past! You are going to be much more fun than I originally anticipated, Shepard."

The Spectre hung her head in abject guilt; the Tressi family had already suffered tragedy as a result of her actions, the eldest of the three sisters having been killed previously – with Benezia on Noveria – and now it seemed as though the youngest would share her sister's fate of a premature demise.

Sederis believed she had found the leverage she needed to torment the Spectre without having to utilize her own biotic power to stimulate the collar and cuffs on Shepard's body. Grinning malevolently, she turned to her Lieutenant. "Put her on her knees before me." Shepard instantly knew she had made a mistake by revealing that weakness to Sederis and struggled to keep her emotions in check as her heart hammered painfully in her chest.

Clarissa nodded and yanked the chain unexpectedly, throwing the overwhelmed Molia off balance and sending her crashing face first to the floor. The Lieutenant immediately took a position at her side as Molia weakly attempted to rise, holding down on the commando's shoulders to keep her from rising any further than a kneeling position. The second of Sederis' minions moved from his place behind the chair controls, bringing the slaver rod to bear on the commando's side, who immediately screamed in pain and ceased her struggles, glaring at Sederis as she spit out, "Do your worst, Ardat!"

"Oh, I have every intention of doing just that, my sweet little morsel." Sederis' face held a malicious grin as she placed the point of her dagger against Molia's chest. The commando attempted to lean into it, but the Salarian beside her yanked back on her leash and jabbed the rod against her body one more time, this time at the sensitive middle of her lower back, causing Molia to arch back in pain as yet another scream erupted from deep in her throat.

As she did so, Sederis plunged the blade quickly into the helpless Asari's abdomen and wrenched it sideways. As Molia shrieked again and jerked away, her exposed organs began to slip out onto the floor. The lieutenant released her and stepped away as Molia fell to the side, writhing in agony. Sederis cocked her head and watched, emotionless as she muttered, "I've always heard gut wounds are an excruciatingly painful way to die, but I've never observed such in person."

A rattling sound caught Sederis' attention so she hurriedly shifted her gaze to the captain; it was easy to see that the woman's skin – already lighter toned than most humans Sederis had encountered – had gone amazingly pale, even though her entire body was surrounded by a faint blue glow. No sounds escaped Shepard's clenched jaw but it was obvious by the violent shaking of the chair that, even with the Spectre's body movement restricted by numerous restraints, her muscles were spasming rather brutally as she was bombarded by rapid-fire stimulation pulses.

Sederis growled, "Damn! I knew I wanted to witness the start of the blue glow the first time you made a serious attempt to utilize your biotics to stop me!" Her head canted slightly to the side as she watched the show and she began to smirk in satisfaction. "Though... I never imagined just how stubborn you could be... just how much power you would attempt to bring forth before the system finally shut you down, Shepard. I must admit you are putting on quite the performance."

When the series of pulses finally stopped, Shepard's head fell forward, her chin resting on her chest as she struggled to draw ragged, gasping breaths.

Sederis, surprised the Spectre had somehow managed to stay conscious through such painful torture, sauntered over and slowly dragged the tip of her dagger across Shepard's right cheek, leaving a blood trail on the opposite side of her head from the first cut... from the corner of her mouth to the back of her cheekbone. "You are a skilled practitioner of war... Spectre. Tell me. Does a gut wound truly hurt as much as they say?"

Angry at the Asari's proclivity to be so cruel, an undeniably fatigued Shepard stubbornly lifted her head to glare at her, only to see that her dark blue face held a curious grin. She actually expects an answer to that question! A disgusted Shepard panted, "You are truly one sick fuck, Sederis!" She struggled against her restraints and an arc of blue power appeared at her hands –only to reward her with another short series of neural pulses that mercilessly fired her pain receptors yet again. This time, Shepard was unable to contain a loud groan of pain... followed by her chin once more dropping to her chest as she slurred together, "Godsbedamned," when the agonizing stimulation finally subsided.

It appeared to Sedaris that Shepard was finally losing her ability to resist and the current day's session of torturous entertainment was nearing its end. Meanwhile, the mortally wounded Molia's struggles on the floor continued to grow weaker as she gasped for air, hardly able to breathe through her own excruciating pain. Growing bored with the weakening Spectre, Sederis returned to the dying commando's side and roughly grabbed her crests, jerking her head around so her face pointed toward Shepard. "Enjoy your last look at the savior of the galaxy... and know that it is her pride... her fucking arrogance... that has brought you to this point. Any last words?"

Sederis saw the dying Asari's lips move but couldn't hear so she leaned closer. "Sorry... I couldn't hear your pitiful attempts at speech. Can you repeat that, please?"

{Hang on, Samantha. We are nearly there!}

Shepard would never know what Molia Tressi said, as Sederis suddenly flew into a rage, jerked the commando's head back and ripped the blade of her dagger across Molia's throat in one fierce swipe. Emboldened by Liara's imminent arrival, even though her muscles felt like jelly and she could barely breathe through the pain, the captain forced herself to laugh. As Jona spun around to glare at her, Shepard spoke quietly, scarcely able to get the words past her lips. "So like you... reckless... impulsive... You gave... exactly what she wanted... quick release... from pain... T'Soni commandos... not stupid, Sederis. Only regret... not knowing... what she said… Care to tell?"

The ex-mercenary leader raised her arm and suddenly shouted, "Give me that slaver's stick!" As the second Asari hastened to comply, the intrusion alarm began blaring a warning; this caused the thoroughly enraged Asari to begin poking angrily at her omnitool rather than striking or stabbing at Shepard with the rod. She nearly screamed the question, "What's going on out there?" She then glared ominously at the Spectre while waiting for a reply.

A panicked voice came back, "A damned Krogan Commander just blasted his way through the front door! He's leading a full squad! They seem to know the layout of the building better than we do... They are headed in your direction and they all have Spectre insignia on their armor!"

"So stop them!" Sederis glowered at Shepard; the blind hatred she held for this miserably troublesome Human who had cost her so much was blatantly obvious in her eyes and body language – the very idea of being interrupted in her quest for vengeance had instantly thrown her into an even more foul temper.

"It's too late!" came Binks' panicked reply. "The elevator's opening... They're already here!"

Frustrated beyond measure, Sederis shrieked, "Goddess be damned! I'll not be cheated of my revenge because I have a bunch of incompetent idiots working for me!" Now in a blind, mindless rage, Jona Sederis gave not a single thought toward either assisting Binks or making good on an escape. Instead, as the door of her inner sanctum began to slide open, she angrily tossed the slaver's rod aside and once more drew her dagger. Sederis lunged at Shepard with a ferocious, primal growl just as Liara T'Soni – her combat-trained body aglow in shifting shades of deepest blue biotic energy – blasted into the room.

The Shadow Broker rapidly extended her arm to launch a monstrous warp, packing every bit of her pent up wrath and fury into the effort. As the warp left her fingertips, Liara's mouth twisted in rage as she screamed, "Get away from her, you bitch!"