A/N: The Angstrofuck of Doom continues. I promise the next two chapters are almost all action. As usual, none of this would be possible without the dedicated assistance of the Editing Gang - seriously, you should see these train-wrecks before they get a chance to fix them up!
Also as usual, you should check out Aberron's Living an Indoctrinated Dream.
Additionally, if you like AU Star Wars fics, try Empire's Son and Empire's Son II by blank101.
'Expectations are what get you killed faster than anything else. The more you figure you've got a good plan, the more likely you are to end up a stain if your intel is wrong. Plan for things not to go to plan.'
- General Rachel Florez, 'The Rules of Not Dying Like an Idiot'
The Corporate Court of Ilium was centered around the Ysaris Spire, the tallest building in Nos Astra. Towering a good five hundred meters over the next tallest construction, the purple and silver citadel was curved toward where the sun had set a few minutes earlier, as if bent by the planet's revolutions, and broadened at the base to encompass a huge botanium and water park for executives and tourists to relax in.
The public chambers were held in richly decorated rooms high in the Spire. The emergency meeting area was a good one hundred meters below the sub-basement, a box of thirty-centimeter-thick Silaris armor under a kinetic siege barrier, buried in solid granite. An entire army of mechs and very well-paid mercenaries guarded the final hold-out of the rulers of Ilium.
Those who remained, at least.
The remaining CEOs of the Court of Corporations were gathered around the rich ngagi-wood table in the center of the room, eyes flickering between the haptic displays of the situation and the hulking krogan at the front of the room.
Like most of his clan, Ganar Dhrag was oddly civilized for a krogan. He wore, rather than armor or a military style uniform, a rather sharply tailored business suit with combat armor inserts and a durable kinetic barrier brace. His green eyes were almost amused as his smooth baritone voice echoed in the room.
"As you can see, matrias and matriarchs, the situation is not entirely dire. The justicar landing force consists of a reinforced storm – roughly ten thousand soldiers – of the Republican Guard from Serrice, and, of course, an attachment of justicars, numbers currently unknown. They only have very light aerospace assets – less than fifteen gunships – and no known armor elements."
He brought up a submap, showing burning buildings and corpses scattered about the battered terrain near the river. "Of this force, we estimate they have already suffered more than a thousand casualties and nearly that many wounded. In return, they have smashed most of the tech gangs in the outer slums and managed to penetrate to the riverbank, engaging and destroying our picket line of defense."
He smiled. "The Ilium Corporate Security Force has not been noticeably damaged. We currently have four Blue Suns mercenary companies of a thousand soldiers each, plus over three hundred mechs and fifty battle-suits, who have agreed to fight for us in return for an upgraded payment. The main bulk of the security force, six thousand private mercenaries and fifteen Ganar Clan battlemasters, are backed up by our own force of fifty combat-ready APCs, twenty gunships, and ten VORKAIR-class battle-suits."
The asari around the room glanced at each other, expressions of fear and tension slowly easing, a few even smiling in relief. He continued. "We have let the justicars run rampant in the slums and the southside – low-class areas – and to hit the Vyna River, without facing them in strength, so as to not escalate the situation while we attempted negotiation."
His hand tapped his omni-tool, and the map shifted to a multi-pane display showing several asari. "We now know for a fact that Matriarch Anetha has bolted to the justicars, and our initial investigative report shows she was the one who called them in. If our sources are correct, the justicars intend not only to purge Ilium of 'criminal elements' and possible 'other threats' they have not clarified, but intend to arrest all of the CEOs of the Court and to place Ilium under the domination of the Thirty."
A young asari at the end of the table tilted her head. "And they've begun this already?"
He smiled. "They have, Matria Qisa. We have footage of the CEOs of Turessa Magnetoform, Jighan Pharmalife, and the Urathe Council having been arrested at the spaceport when they went to attempt to negotiate a ceasefire and demand an answer for the violence unleashed on the slums. The transmissions made a few minutes ago by the Justicar Mistress Layana in response to the media outrage only confirms that fact."
He gestured to the haptic map with his hand. "As I said, the justicars came through the outer southern slums near the Vaasten Spaceport, and cut through most of them before hitting the Vyna River. They took out a defensive line at the bridge of early response picket units, who were aided by gangers and civilians. They did not push further after they were engaged by Matriarch Solaha's mech forces and driven off. Shortly thereafter, the Justicar Everchosen Pehelia was killed along with several other justicars by a plasma bomb – we don't know who planted it. This has driven them into backing off somewhat."
He paused. "The only other definite information we have is Matriarch Anetha is aiding the invaders. That means our strength and troop numbers are probably known to them."
Matriarch Anhira Solaha, owner and CEO of the Ilium Manufactory Council, nodded icily. "And Nassana? She is not here. She is not arrested. Half of this goddess-damned mess is her fault, so where in the depths of Viaha is she?"
Dhrag snorted. "She appears to have already fled. Her secretaries say she lit out of here with P., or some of his agents." He lifted a hand into a loose fist, a krogan gesture of ambiguity. "Not sure I buy that. My people say the Broker is here in force, and that both Tazzik and Tetrimus are on-site to take out the Sisters of Vengeance."
Matriarch Whasili, the CEO of Ennovation, made a sign of siari negation. "And the Broker is cooperating with us?"
Dhrag grinned. "…Perhaps. His people secured the GTS defense center until we could transfer control to the central defense bunker. Then again, it's likely Broker forces will play all sides against each other. It's what they do."
Whasili nodded. "Thank you. As for the military situation…?"
He folded his massive arms. "As I said, after the plasma bomb, the justicars backed off and dropped additional reinforcements." He paused. "When I say the situation is not entirely dire, I do not mean we can win a conventional military engagement. We have the strength to push this group off of Ilium. However, we've intercepted a transmission indicating the rest of the Asari Second Fleet is in transit with an ETA of eight or nine hours at the most. That would bring an additional five storms of heavy infantry, complete with full armor, aerospace, mech, and war priestess support."
The other asari in the room – matrons, mostly, of smaller companies, or banking executives of the financial backers of the colony – looked around nervously. Matriarch Anhira spoke, her voice hard and cool. "Very well. The situation is stable, but will deteriorate rapidly. With the blockade, flight is unlikely – and we cannot repel the entire might of the Republic. How do we get out of this tides-damned mess we're in?"
Dhrag held up his hand. "Three options. All of them risky."
Anhira made a sign of siari unity. "Risk is the dance partner of us all, warlord. Proceed."
He nodded. "First, given that I am a krogan, I must present the most petulant and ignorant approach – direct assault. Launch everything at the landing site, open up on the fleet with all GTS defenses, and have the CO of the Ilium defensive fleet engage the Second Fleet vanguard. I estimate only a thirty percent chance of success, but it is very possible that you could escape in the chaos."
He inclined his head. "The drawbacks of this plan should be apparent – they will be hunting for you immediately, and all paths out of Republic Space are going to be guarded. It's very possible that even if you escape you will be chased down and destroyed – and in any event, Ilium itself will be a burning ruin."
Matriarch Whasili laughed bitterly. "None of us here, warlord, are delusional enough to think the fate of Ilium or its people is going to prevent us from saving our crests. Yet I agree – wild flight and direct combat with the catspaws of the Thirty sounds very… well, krogan."
Dhrag grinned good-naturedly. "I apologize for even suggesting such, but it is an option. Not the best, but if you wanted to make a point…"
Matriarch Anhira shook her head. "The only point I wish to make is that the Thirty are not my masters, not if what Nassana says she found in that cave is correct." She paused. "We did notify the STG, yes?"
Dhrag nodded. "Yes. We lost contact with the STG team leader twenty minutes ago. It is likely someone else got there first."
Anhira sagged. "Damn. We can still attempt to blackmail the Thirty, say we'll transmit publicly."
Another matriarch made a sign of siari negation. "That would just infuriate them. And without the physical evidence for our claims, we'd be laughed out of the ocean. I can scarce believe it myself, although it's certainly clear why Trellani lost her goddess-damned mind when she found out. No, we should not even hint we know – if we ever want to get out of this alive. The time for blackmail is when we are secure, not under siege."
Dhrag tilted his head. "…Is there something I am unaware of?"
Anhira lifted her chin. "Nothing to concern you, warlord. Internal asari… religious matters. You said there were two other options?"
He nodded. "Yes. Second, despite what this Samara has claimed, the justicars aren't here to just 'clean up Ilium.' That includes you all – if they wanted to do that they could have just invited you to a meeting and arrested you all, not tip their hand. While I'm sure they plan to do what they say, the fact that they didn't just set you up is interesting – they must have been looking for something or someone else, and only escalated further when Matriarch Anetha ran to them."
He squared his shoulders. "I have no idea who or what they are looking for, but if we find this person, we can make a deal of some kind. Perhaps even allow them to take the planet in return for your personal freedom to leave the Republic."
Anhira's tone of voice was droll. "That seems both vague and unlikely to work out. They've landed an invasion force, killed thousands already, and have publicly stated that we're all going to be arrested and executed. I don't think they're interested in making a deal."
Dhrag shrugged. "Depends on how bad they want who they came here for. The last option is to fight – but instead of fighting to break free directly, we use it as a distraction. If they know you are fleeing, then they will search for you. If, on the other hand, they are convinced you are still here, fighting them and defying them, they won't have any idea you've fled and will have no good way to chase you down."
He tapped the map. "There are a few options. The main spaceport is, of course, locked down, along with most of your private vessels. The Vinthan Docks are currently clear of justicar forces, but the shipping manifests show nothing docked there has a chance to punch out. But the small repair dock at Northpoint is also clear of justicars… and Clan Ganar just happens to have a reinforced salarian corvette docked there, in for repairs to its weapons systems, with good stealth systems and a photonic cloak."
Anhira's eyes narrowed. Salarian corvettes were fearsome ships, slightly bigger than a destroyer and packed with defensive systems, heavy armor, and powerful engines. The fact that it was operated by Clan Ganar – who had excellent relations with the House of Storms and the justicars – would almost certainly ensure it wouldn't be boarded or examined carefully.
She inclined her head. "…And how much is this going to set us back, Cera Dhrag? I doubt you or your clan is going to do this out of the goodness of your multiple hearts."
Dhrag shrugged. "You're aware of the recent death of our War-Father, Okeer, at the hands of the Butcher, I presume?"
At the round of nods he received, he smiled. "With his death, Clan Ganar has something of a leadership deficit, and worse, we are running very low on funds. Some want to continue his work, others want to go to Asari Space and still others wish to attempt a return to Tuchanka."
He came to his full, impressive height. "What I want in return for your escape is enough support and money to continue my War-Father's great work, preferably in the safety of a location where no one would look to find such a thing. To back and support me as leader of the clan. And to leverage your connections and skills to achieve my goals… which, I assure you, would earn each of you a great deal of profit as well as personal power."
Anhira shook her head. "I have no problems with the price, warlord, but the problem is the location. None of the independent asari worlds would risk this," she gestured sharply at the haptic screens on the other wall, showing heavy fighting, "to take us into their ranks. And I doubt the Alliance would risk their relationship with the Republic over us."
She sighed. "And none would risk the anger of the justicars."
Dhrag's smile widened. "There is one asari who would be very interested in your allegiance, and who could protect you even from them. In a location where, as I said, even if the Thirty knew where to find you, could not reach you." He tapped his omni-tool, and the map blanked before resolving into the face of a very well-known asari.
Aria T'Loak smiled tightly at the group of well-heeled commoner asari and made a gesture of siari greeting. "Let's talk price, shall we?"
Anhira paled, but before she could speak, Matriarch Whasili gave a loud laugh. "We are already accused of dealing with the Queen of Omega. Shall we not at least benefit from the lies of the Thirty for once?"
The older matriarch sagged, then nodded, meeting Aria's gaze squarely. "…Yes. Let us talk price."
O-TWCD-O
Tazzik wasn't sure who in the Collapse had leaked their operations at the dig site, but blamed only himself for not presuming someone would show up. He tucked himself into a rolling dodge as sprays of missile fire shattered the cliffside behind him, coming out in a kneeling stance and firing twice with his lance cannon at the pair of operatives with a Hydra missile launcher in the distance.
One of his shots blasted through the hapless salarian agent, splattering him all over his companion, who stammered out curses and tried to wipe gore from his eyes and face. That gave Tazzik enough time to race forward, covering the ground quickly before the STG agent could reload the missile launcher.
The agent dropped the bulky missile launcher, pulling out his shotgun, but had no time to fire before Tazzik was on him. The cyborg snapped his leg in a vicious arc, placing a kick into the chest of the STG war specialist and knocking the shotgun clear.
His foot crushed the salarian's chest, who gave a choked scream that ended in a spray of greenish blood. Tazzik paused only long enough to smash in his head with the reinforced steel barrel of his lance cannon before rushing ahead.
A heavy drop team was a rather bold move from the STG, when he'd been expecting at most a field team. His own group – a Broker heavy combat team, former elite military specialists from the turian, salarian, and human militaries, mixed with hardened mercenaries – would have torn a field team to pieces. A heavy drop team, on the other hand, was all STG war specialists, mixed with combat mechs and led by one of the few combatants that could actually kill him.
A fourth-gen Shieldbreaker, equipped with a BRKR railgun that even his armor wouldn't bounce and enough shielding and armor that his own lance cannon wasn't the best match for. He grimaced as another member of his team went down, being hit by a plume of plasma ejected by the Shieldbreaker, and aimed carefully, firing his lance cannon at the shoulder joint.
His shot connected, but didn't break the huge battle-suit's kinetic barrier, which glowed angrily as it absorbed the blast. It turned to face him, firing both the huge BRKR gun and a spray of anti-armor missiles at his position.
He ducked under the fusillade of fire, and even while he fired back he was laughing under his combat mask as he saw the elcor team leader shoulder charge and trample the two smaller mechs off to his right. The light cannon mounted on the elcor's shoulder blasted a pair of war specialists into splashes of ruined flesh and burnt, smoking body parts, but most of the rest of the Broker team was down.
He had to move fast if he wanted to get out of here – standard STG procedure was to follow a heavy drop team with airship assets if they couldn't perform orbital bombardment. He could take a Shieldbreaker, but he wasn't so sure he could take a pair of gunships on foot.
Mini-missiles flicked out from the Shieldbreaker and his onboard VI system reacted with omni-chaff, spoofing them. He boosted power to his legs as the missiles exploded onto the rock walls behind him, shards of granite and broken slabs of shattered statues pattering down to the soft earth below.
He fired his modified lance cannon twice, both shots finally shattering the battle-suit's kinetic barrier. He grinned a bit when he saw they'd splintered the suit's frontal armor. He fired a third time, but the suit displayed its own agility, managing to evade the shot.
Tazzik cursed, then arched into a leaping dodge to avoid heavy glowing blobs of BRKR counterfire aimed his way. His feet touched earth for a split second before he kicked off, triggering jump-jets in his cybernetic legs.
The second blast from the BRKR turned the spot he'd leapt away from into a glowing crater, but he was already moving. Dodging both missile fire and more blobs of BRKR plasma, he threw himself into a roll, coming out of it to the mech's side. Wasting no time, he extended his arm as the plasma harpoon assembly built into it activated, launching a thin, thirty-centimeter-long canister.
It smashed into the side of the Shieldbreaker, scattering burning plasma over the GTS missile rack and detonating those a moment later, staggering the pilot. Tazzik fired twice with the lance cannon as he backed away, targeting the bulky form of the BRKR railgun, which came apart in a white-hot explosion with his second shot.
He gave the Shieldbreaker pilot credit, as the big mech dropped the wreckage of his weapon – he didn't panic or run. Instead he brought his battle-suit around to face Tazzik squarely, the integrated mass cannons in the other arm firing as the Shieldbreaker turned to charge him. The rounds broke his kinetic barrier, but didn't penetrate his shoulder armor, and he kicked off his right leg to avoid another spray of missiles, this pack unguided since his chaff had jammed the last ones.
I want to slap whatever volus sold the STG missile upgrades to this fucking thing.
He landed and snap-fired as he turned, but the Shieldbreaker's arm had generated a powerful omni-shield, the fury of the lance cannon deflecting off the glowing hexagonal surface. The Shieldbreaker dipped and its free hand clenched into a fist as a wide, thick omni-blade sprang into existence from a slot above the hand.
Tazzik snorted. "Melee? What do you take me for? A turian?"
Rather than indulge the obviously overconfident battle-suit pilot in some kind of melodramatic melee duel, he reached for his belt and flung a pair of magna-shock grenades. The grenades were an item the Broker Network had invented, generating powerful electrical pulses that usually overloaded non-optronic computer systems.
The Shieldbreaker was hardened against EMP, but the direct electrical discharge scrambled the suit's internal gyroscopes and the pilot staggered. Tazzik vaulted into the air, triggering the jump-jets in his legs to change his angle. He planted two shots into the upper torso of the Shieldbreaker, smiling as one splintered and punched through the armor, before his own not insignificant weight crashed down on top of the unbalanced machine.
He backflipped as it crashed to the ground, wincing as the edge of the Shieldbreaker's omni-blade lashed out at him and slashed a two-and-a-half-centimeter-wide smoking line in his leg armor. The battle-suit pilot had to kill the omni-shield and blade to try to get back to his feet, though, which took precious seconds.
Seconds he didn't have. Tazzik aimed the lance cannon at the knees of the war machine, firing several times before the knee joint blew out completely, then triggered his own mini-missile racks built into his shoulder.
The HUD flickered over his cybernetic vision as he picked which missiles to fire and launched, the half dozen warheads detonating with violent explosions. Something within the suit – probably those damned missiles the thing had been hurling, he thought sourly – exploded a second later, strips of smoking armor flying in all directions. The Shieldbreaker's gearing made a grinding sound before several more internal explosions went off, and it lay supine on the ground.
Not willing to take chances, Tazzik backed off, targeting the damaged shelf of rocks higher up, firing his lance cannon until tumbling rubble and stones the size of an aircar had buried the Shieldbreaker completely.
He had not even had time to check the battlefield as shots punched through his armor. He turned, cursing at seeing his entire strike team down and three STG agents racing at him, firing on the move as they came with STG custom Rapier laser shotguns.
He swayed to one side to avoid another blast – the Rapier bypassed even his armor – firing back with a snap-shot from his lance cannon. He smirked as one of the agents tried and failed completely to dodge, coming apart in a spray of vaporized blood and burning chunks of armor and flesh. He dropped his favorite weapon, knowing the other two would be too close and fast to hit.
He triggered his own omni-shield as the trailing agent fired again, and the lead flung EMP grenades at him. He snorted and charged, using the edge of the shield to knock the grenades away and ignoring their impotent detonation. Instead, he dashed into melee range, kicking one agent away as he backhanded the leading agent.
The kicked salarian merely flipped back to his feet, and the one he'd backhanded staggered back, then wiped green blood from his mouth and triggered light omni-blades on his armor. Tazzik was faintly amused either one had taken a direct hit without limbs flying. "Huh. Upgrades. And what is it with you Solus and melee, anyway?"
The only answer he got was both agents charging him with yells. The next fifteen seconds were marked by blazes of orange and three figures moving faster than the eye could follow, streaks of black, smears of color, and the howling screech of locked omni-blades. Then an agent simply failed to move fast enough. This time, Tazzik didn't hold back, and the agent took a full power kick to the chest that shattered his spine and pulped both his upper heart and lung sacs, killing him almost instantly.
The other agent managed to slash Tazzik deeply on the chest, blocking the Broker assassin's return swings only with great difficulty, and finally missing a block. Tazzik's hissing omni-blade cut off his arm at the shoulder and then slashed back across the chest, and the agent crumpled to the ground, spraying greenish blood.
Tazzik killed his omni-blade. "Not bad, agent. Stupid to try, of course… but not bad."
The dying STG agent on the ground blinked large, black eyes and gave a bloody grimace. "…Don't destabilize… stop… disrupt…"
Tazzik triggered his combat mask, revealing his face as it split into a malevolent grin. "We're going to do more than 'disrupt,' slave of the SIX. Go to your Wheel in shame." He stomped the agent's head, which burst apart like a rotted fruit under two hundred seventy-two kilograms of force, then kicked the remains out of his way and headed back toward the front of the canyon to recover his lance cannon.
This mission was technically, he supposed, successful. Whatever in the name of the Collapse Almnrut had been doing was done, with no evidence of what was there left behind. The team had recorded everything carefully so the Broker could review it at his leisure.
He stepped past ruined bodies to the bent, smoking form of the elcor Captain, who was dead. He picked up the elcor's omni-tool, checking to make sure the data was on it, then nodding in satisfaction as he transferred it to his own.
The Captain had died hard, he saw – he'd taken down both of the STG combat mechs and three agents. The rest of the team, eight in all, had also done well, but against a thirty-man STG drop team in heavy armor they didn't have much of a chance.
Normally, despite the fact that Broker agents had self-immolation devices that could be remotely triggered, he'd clean up his mess a little – leaving clear evidence of a Broker-STG shootout was frowned upon. But he'd taken more time than he liked killing the enemy – STG gunships were probably nearly here.
He settled for triggering his team's self-immolation routines now, even as he was tapping his comm-link. "Tetrimus. Site secure. STG team is down, but there's a Shieldbreaker I buried under a landslide who probably isn't dead. No chance to clean up the mess. Whole team's a wipe."
The tired voice of the turian sounded more acerbic than usual. "Good. Saves me the trouble of liquidating them. And there's no time to deal with the Shieldbreaker, we're tracking a trio of gunships headed your way, five minutes out. We'll drop a plasma bomb on our way out."
Tazzik frowned, even as he hustled even faster towards his gravbike. "Problems?"
Tetrimus's voice was frustrated. "Yes. We're en route to the docks, but the justicars have drawn back after a plasma bomb attack – we don't have good distracting cover. No sign of our targets, but we had a scouting team out and they're not responding to comms. We're going to dig in at the Canni Hotel near the docks and wait for Dantius's people to see if they can find the Sisters and for the situation to heat back up, then slip her out in the mess."
Tazzik nodded, getting on the gravbike and kicking off, accelerating as rapidly as he could. "And if her people can't? Find the Sisters, I mean."
"Then we have to give them an irresistible target. The window for this operation is only a few more hours – we need to be clear of here well before the full might of the Second Fleet arrives. If it comes to that, I'll be the bait – Midnight's Kiss and the others will keep anyone from interfering."
Tazzik's lips curled, tightening his grip on the bike as he took it off-road, headed for the treeline that would provide at least visual cover from incoming gunships. "And the Butcher? No sign yet?"
Tetrimus gave a chuckle. "Not yet. She likes to make an entrance, and we don't know nearly enough about her for me to feel confident about taking her – so I want you in reserve. I've killed so many asari that I hardly even bother worrying about it anymore, but the Butcher is anomalous enough that a little caution won't hurt, especially given the footage from Horizon."
Tazzik nodded sourly to himself. "That sounds prudent. I'll set up out of town, near the docks." He paused. "Tetrimus, Almnrut blew up the… whatever the shit he was studying and then took off, that pyramid thing vanished and the geth prime was left behind. He said he had called the geth in as a distraction." He ducked under a few low-lying branch-vines from the ngagi trees, confident the warm sap-filled interiors of the trees and their copious canopies would hide him until he could find a place to get his thermoptic camo going.
Tetrimus's voice was heavy with exasperation. "That's not going to do us a vakar's lick of good. How long would it take geth to get here from the sirefucking Veil? I hate that thing, everything it says or does irritates me."
Tazzik shrugged. "Just letting you know. Next comm in forty-five minutes. Tazzik out." He gunned the bike down the rough hillside deeper into the forest, already planning where to come out and hit the aerolanes on the outskirts of Nos Astra.
O-TWCD-O
Maliki frowned thoughtfully at the financial dataslate in his hand before blanking it, his dark features twisting in frustration for only a moment until both frown and expression faded into his normal, placid mask.
He had long served Richard Williams – indeed, his family had been hereditary knights of the Williams family since the days of Victor Manswell, and before then as mercenary troubleshooters. Maliki was a killer and assassin, true – but he was also a skilled financial analyst, a talented hacker, and had degrees in psychology and business management.
Richard preferred multifaceted and skilled persons to be his servants. He saw his subordinates as being useless if they were not almost as good as he was. He saw no point in a tool that could only perform one function – unless it was to be used once, then discarded.
No such fate had ever threatened Maliki, but as he glanced at the dataslate again, attempting to turn it on once more to make some sense out of the data, he was reminded that it was still an effective stimulant. Reviewing in his head the figures they'd found, he was forced to admit the transactions Cerberus were doing were incomprehensible and only added to his feeling of running in place. There were times he wished his job was simpler, focused on eliminating physical threats with violence.
Then again, he mused, the whole reason Richard operated the way he did in regards to his subordinates was his dislike of how Jack Harper's people were. All of the core Cerberus agents that Harper brought on were not only shallow and focused on only one thing, but also broken in some way. Unlike his own master, whose confidence and ability were unmatched and unquestioned, Harper surrounded himself with shattered beings – all deadly or highly competent, to be sure, but often outmatched and outperformed by those more flexible.
Which did not explain why Cerberus's most recent activities broke that trend and continued to stymie Hades. What should have been a quick investigative mission had turned into a million-credit misadventure, with teams on Bekenstein, Alcha, Irune, and now Ilium. Yet not a single solid lead turned up.
He sighed, giving the dataslate a final glance before handing it back to the Hades data operator with a curt nod. "Keep looking. I refuse to believe our erstwhile cousin organization has become skilled enough to hide everything they are doing. Kiongozi is less forgiving of failure than I am. There is a link between these financial transactions."
The analyst, a thickset man in his late thirties with blunt Indian features, nodded sourly. "I'll keep looking, but from what I see, Cerberus wiped entire fronts and corporate holdings. The original shells were liquidated in bankruptcy declarations on Irune, which are sealed by the Corporate Court there for another five years. The parties that fronted the cash to Purgatory were part of a shell company, held by a third-party investment bank, itself owned by another shell company. Tracing back that address on Bekenstein led us to an empty warehouse."
The analyst shrugged. "There were signs that data equipment and uplinks had been removed recently. Their use of encrypted bearer bonds points to Noveria, where we can't reach them easily. But the data transmission packets we got were definitely headed to Eldfell-Ashland branches on Alcha. They're probably using one-time couriers for each face-to-face transaction, and mixing up the ports they hit to throw us off even further. They're playing things very carefully."
Maliki nodded his head. "And that is a key point. Harper was once almost arrogant in his financial magic. For them to now use such fiduciary caution implies weakness. This is not tradecraft, this is paranoia. If we trace this line of information far enough, we can locate either end of it. One of those has to be the base of Harper and his organization."
The analyst nodded. "And the other?"
The taller black man gave a shrug of his own, the band of cybernetics that covered his eyes raising as he did so. "Most likely, the Butcher. Keep at it once we clear out of here, and have the team ready to move quickly. I dislike the events in Nos Astra."
The analyst nodded, and Maliki turned away, tapping his omni-tool. "Kiongozi, this is Maliki. The trail ends at Ilium. We believe the target is operating behind multiple shells. The informant we had at Purgatory confirmed the Butcher picked up someone from there, a biotic criminal the Deathwatch caught named Jack. Other than that we have no leads. The Warden was uncooperative, and I thought it unwise to press."
There was a long delay, then the hard, cool voice of Richard Manswell sounded through the comm-link. "Not surprising, although very interesting. Go ahead and vacate the team on Ilium, but I'd rather you stick around. The AIS thinks the Butcher is going to be on Ilium very soon to rescue the Sisters of Vengeance from the Broker."
Maliki glanced out the window of the high-rise office building the Hades team was operating out of, at the vista of Nos Astra torn by fighting along the riverbank, and the spots of gunships and fighters in the skies. His voice was dry as he spoke. "There is already a great deal of conflict, Kiongozi. Surely the Butcher has more sense than to throw herself into the flames here."
Another long pause before Richard replied. "Based on what we've gathered so far – and given that snake Harper's blasted meddling in anything and everything – I'd be surprised if Cerberus didn't already have strike teams on the planet. Don't interfere, simply observe. If my guess is right, we may have a serious issue to deal with."
Maliki nodded. "What do we do with the Horizon team? The geth research and the biomedical interfaces were completed, and the prototypes work. They got off-world with all the research, and I routed them to Alte."
The pause was longer this time, and Richard's voice was noticeably cooler. "For now, Alte is good. We'll probably move the Project out of restricted space and to Alte in the next few weeks – too many of the researchers we have are suffering the initial stages of indoctrination and need to be wiped. We might as well combine all the high dangers in one place. See to it after Ilium is done with."
The assassin turned administrator nodded to himself. "Your will, as always, Kiongozi." He killed the connection, and looked out the window again, before tapping the omni on his arm. "All team members, prep to leave in one hour. Scrub everything portable and destroy anything we cannot take with us. Once the base is clean, we'll take public transport to the southern port area and board a bulk cargo hauler to Alte. There will no doubt be delays, but try to avoid the fighting as much as possible."
He clicked off again before checking his weapons. The day had just started and already the city was ablaze; he didn't want to take a gamble on being unprepared for whatever was about to transpire.
O-TWCD-O
"This is not exactly what I was expecting from your message."
As usual, the voice of Thane Krios was grave and yet tinged with something Liara always suspected was amused sarcasm.
Liara and Telanya had messaged Thane to meet them at the same location Liara had given Tela Vasir and Matriarch Trellani, and then had shut down the office and driven to the warehouse, Trellani following in her own aircar still driven by Jason Dunn.
The ride had been done in a worried, tense silence, Liara lost in thoughts of what was about to happen, Telanya listening with an occasional grimace at the panicky news reports about the justicar police action.
Upon arriving, Liara had commed Thane, who had shown up shortly thereafter with the expected – a handful of Remembrance Dancers – and the very unexpected – Morinth, the ardat-rekshi Liara recognized from her honeymoon. Barely twenty seconds afterwards, an all human team of black-armored mercenaries had arrived, and then the heavy cargo air-truck that disgorged Tela, Aethyta, and the Black Blades.
Telanya had ushered them all inside, but the groups stayed separated as they stood in the dim lighting of the warehouse, Morinth in particular standing alone. Liara almost couldn't believe in such a coincidence happening, and had learned one ugly rule of being a data broker.
Most coincidences weren't.
Liara and Telanya were still in full disguise. Liara had given some thought to revealing her true identity, but saw no real benefit from doing so – and given Telanya's mother was still likely to be vulnerable, it seemed a useless idea. If during the fight it got out, they'd deal with the fallout, but the many groups in the warehouse were tense enough without dropping that on them.
Aethyta's Black Blades were an oppressive presence, in heavy armor and with multiple weapons alongside the black-painted blades on their hips or backs. She frowned, taking in the black armored troops neatly arrayed behind Matriarch Trellani, all blank face plates and heavy, ugly looking rifles.
Still frowning, Liara glanced over the rest of Thane's people. Most wore the red coats of the Dancers, but a few had the honor beads and ritually removed scales of the Weary, older retired Dancers who usually were only called out for certain obscure ceremonies of the drell. She gestured to the three of them and turned to face Thane more fully.
"I could say the same. This is more than a 'few friends.' And I did not expect to see your other companion."
Thane looked much as he had on Omega, although Liara could see faint lines across his scales of wounds that had healed and scarred. "I was not expecting you to bring Matriarch Trellani, much less a dead asari and a pack of legendary blade masters."
Aethyta's smile was without humor, and she had not said anything since arriving, instead merely watching Trellani carefully. Many of the Black Blades, standing in rough rows behind her, were giving the Dark Matriarch wary or hostile looks, but they didn't seem to disturb the former priestess's eerie amusement and cool composure.
Liara found it somewhat amusing they were more alarmed by Trellani than the ardat-rekshi standing there. Before she could speak, however, the silence was filled instead by Tela Vasir, who stood next to Aethyta. "That's great. I'm glad we all know we're badasses, but if everyone's a badass, no one is. Now what?"
Dunn gave a quiet snicker, standing behind Trellani, and gestured to Liara. "I guess the ladies here give us the rundown?"
Liara took a deep breath. "We are here to do three things. First, find and incapacitate Tetrimus so that we can do a mind-rip and extract the Broker's location. Second, kill Tazzik and any Broker reinforcements as well as Nassana Dantius, who is now in league with him and involved in several crimes. Finally, escape the planet alive to find and kill the Broker himself."
Dunn gave a low whistle. "That's a pretty tall order; given both Tazzy and the bird have wiped the floor with entire strike forces by themselves." He glanced around.
Liara smiled bitterly beneath her mask. "We are fully aware of that. As you have already figured out, the Vantirus Sisters are the Sisters of Vengeance. We have been combating the Broker's forces on Ilium for some time now. We have driven off all of his major operations and killed dozens of his best people."
Dunn snorted. "C'mon, blue. You've probably waxed a lot of his flunkies, but Cerberus has an eye on the guy too, y'know. Most of his best people are on the edge of the Traverse now. What you've been killing off are his wet-teams."
Telanya's voice was drolly amused. "I'm sorry; did you think we were speaking of his best accountants? We know he pulled up stakes – that's why we have to risk going right after the top-tier asshole."
Liara nodded. "No matter what, Tetrimus must not be allowed to escape. Not only because he is our best chance at finding the Broker." Her voice grew hard. "It is also our only chance at obtaining justice. The Broker – and Tetrimus, and the rest – have done everyone here a great amount of damage. Some of you – and I – have had loved ones murdered at his command by his forces. Others have had their lives ruined. All of us are threatened by his existence."
Dunn folded his arms. "And if we don't have personal skin in the game?
Liara glanced at Dunn, then shrugged. "It does not matter why you are here. Only that you are willing to assist. But you are known to us – was Shepard not close to you?"
Dunn's fists clenched, but Trellani was more interested in the pained catch of the taller asari's voice when she spoke Shepard's name.
Curious. So, this is someone who perhaps knew Shepard.
Thane's gravelly voice reverberated throughout the warehouse. "The Broker slew the family members of several high-ranking members of the Dance, in an attempt to influence us to strike at targets he could not. Tetrimus, in particular, killed my wife, and Nassana sold him the information needed to do so. They must both die."
Morinth shifted her gaze from person to person, wearing thick black combat armor trimmed in a faint, delicate purple that matched her face markings. The blocky handle of a Revenant protruded over her right shoulder as she shifted slightly before smiling ruefully. "The Broker probably sold out my position here. The justicar leading this mess going on in the city proper is my mother."
She paused, and Liara noticed Aethyta going pale and narrowing her eyes.
Morinth continued a moment later. "Not to mention he's done me a number of bad turns over the years." She glanced down. "Besides, I haven't got any way off the planet through this blockade unless one of you does."
Liara looked to Matriarch Trellani, who for her part, merely stood quietly. "My reasons… do not matter. My purpose is clear. I – and I suppose Mr. Dunn as well – represent Cerberus, which is opposed to the Broker. We have reason to believe that even beyond the crimes he has committed, which are innumerable, he is dealing with or doing business with the Collectors, who recently destroyed a human colony world."
She folded her arms. "The Butcher and the Archangel are incoming, seeking to join forces with the Sisters in killing the Broker. I would think we are easily capable of evacuating the… team here through the asari fleet blockade after we have localized the Broker."
Aethyta finally spoke. "Not to be bitchy… but no matter how scary the talk is about you, you're just one priestess. If Cerberus is involved, why aren't they sending people?"
Trellani's smile widened. "Ah, Aethyta. Always impatient. I always liked that about you." Her voice softened. "As it stands, there are five teams of my associates already on the planet disguised as common mercenaries armed with heavy weapons. Five more teams and twenty heavy battle-suits are ready for deployment, although I'm afraid they may cause more confusion than good given they are painted in Cerberus colors."
She shrugged. "Beyond that, the Butcher and Archangel – and support elements – will be here in roughly two more hours." Her eyes took on a gleam. "I cannot even begin to describe how angry the Butcher and the Archangel are with Tetrimus, and they will certainly approve of torturing the location of the Broker out of him."
Morinth nodded. "Given how strong Tetrimus and Tazzik are, and how risky this is, shouldn't we wait for them?"
With a deep breath, Liara shook her head. "We do not have much time. The Broker has dispatched kill teams to several locations in the city – the GTS tower, some outlying sites out of town, the spaceport – and is likely working with Nassana's tech-savants as we speak to try to localize us. The justicars are committed to a full pacification effort – which is going to turn into all-out war once the remaining CEOs refuse to surrender."
She lifted her hands. "In two more hours the situation will be so chaotic that our chances of success would be, by any reasonable measure, zero."
Morinth shrugged. "So, the plan?"
Liara turned to Telanya, who tapped her omni, displaying the slim shape of a corporate tower complex near the spaceport. Telanya's voice was deeper than her real voice, due to the vocoder behind her mask. "Nassana has almost certainly evacuated the Towers by now, and probably left behind mercenaries to kill intruders. We've had her comm-lines tapped for months now and we intercepted a communication. The Broker's combat teams are taking her to a frigate at the Vinthan North Docks."
She tapped the image, and the map zoomed in, showing a small launch complex to the south of the main spacedock. "Vinthan is a cargo port area and the Broker has already paid off the Republican Guard Captain who was supposed to secure it. Nassana will almost certainly be either on the frigate itself or more likely in the attached hotel here, waiting for the justicars to finish their lockdown."
Telanya's voice sharpened as she brought up grainy video images. "The Broker dispatched over twenty kill teams – trained assassins, including a few failed Dancers – as well several heavy combat teams. A separate force is in a firefight outside the city itself with the STG at some sort of archaeological site. We have no information on that."
She tapped one image. "We've confirmed Tetrimus and Tazzik are on the planet, with Tetrimus accompanying Dantius. Tazzik is believed to be at this archaeological site. There were several other unidentified combatants with Tetrimus, mostly salarian tech-savants, we believe. We also ID'd one krogan warlord, Thax Varun."
Aethyta grimaced, while Thane gave a soft sigh. "Thax was the prize student of Warlord Okeer." The drell's voice dropped in volume. "Very powerful, although non-biotic, and one of only a few krogan with cybernetics."
Telanya continued. "We've also spotted a small group of asari in black and green, led by this person."
She flashed up an image of a well-muscled and older asari, her otherwise striking features covered with strange markings and glyphs that made Trellani and Aethyta's expressions sour and two of the older Blades splutter disgusted curses.
This time it was the Dark Matriarch who spoke, her voice hard as she unconsciously moved a hand to her warp sword. "That, young ones, is the cruel and vile ardat-yakshi once known as Midnight's Kiss. She was the leader of the Nightwind until she turned against her masters; now she serves the Broker. I suspect the other asari in her entourage are also ardats, although if they are rekshi or yakshi is unknown." Her voice dipped in amusement. "Not that the distinction matters very much."
Morinth hissed. "Tetrimus is bad enough, but Midnight's Kiss?"
Aethyta spat. "Everything dies if you stick enough swords into it, even that unnatural freak." She folded her arms. "Anything else? A goddess-damned yahg warband? Maybe a fucking vorcha clan?"
Telanya tapped her omni, restoring the map. "No, Matriarch. We've hacked through several security systems and can land shuttles close to the facility, and we're confident we can suppress the security cameras long enough to get inside. Once there, we'll have to deal with their other forces while going after Tetrimus."
There was a long silence before Trellani spoke. "Assuming the justicars are tied up with combat inside Nos Astra, dropping my forces from orbit should not attract too much attention. They can certainly mitigate some of the Broker's troops."
Thane nodded. "Most of my people will assist in that as well."
Aethyta gave the map a sour look before giving a gusty sigh. "Midnight's Kiss is nearly as bad as Tetrimus. The Black Blades will go after her. Once they down her and her tramps, they'll follow you in."
Liara nodded. "My sister and I, along with… Aethyta and, I suppose Morinth, Spectre Vasir, and Matriarch Trellani will get inside the port proper and locate Nassana and Tetrimus. Once we do, we'll engage Tetrimus directly. Our goal is to incapacitate him for a mind-rip."
Morinth gave a shallow laugh at that. "That's harder to swim than a midday's tide, you know."
Dunn laughed too. "I'll be more direct: this plan is goddamned stupid. Have you actually listened to what you're saying?"
Liara's voice through the modulator was harsh. "I know the plan is hardly a tactical masterpiece. Nor will I deny there is every chance of failure. But we have faced him before and survived, if only narrowly."
She gave a slow exhalation. "Despite his power, he is not invincible. He works best when he can prepare for assaults, in long-range situations with abundant cover. He can and has been wounded by Matriarch Aethyta before. Between all of us, we should be more than able to equal him and bring him down."
Trellani sounded amused. "And then?"
Liara lifted her chin. "Assuming your assertion is correct, the Butcher and Archangel should be arriving around that time and will extract us. At that point, we can all go our separate ways or continue on to killing the Shadow Broker."
One of the Remembrance Dancers next to Thane gave a small head shake. "By Kalahira, this plan is reckless and unlikely."
Thane himself answered. "The only people who we know for a fact have direct access to the Broker are Tazzik and Tetrimus. Given the amount of cybernetics Tazzik is famed for, I cannot imagine the Broker has no methods of preventing him from surrendering the Broker's location. Tetrimus may have the same complications, but we have a paucity of alternatives."
His gaze took in the others. "Even if we fail here – even if some of us die – if we can kill his main lieutenants, then it is only logical he will be forced to divulge his location to new lieutenants. I cannot imagine him being able to find ones stronger than Tetrimus and Tazzik. Eventually, we will find and kill him."
A distant explosion sounded, rumbling the small, high windows of the warehouse. Liara's good eye narrowed. "The fighting is getting worse, and from what we've picked up from the comm-net of the corporate CEOs, at least three of them are preparing a counterattack against the justicar landing force. This is the best time to strike."
Trellani nodded. "In that instance, I'll have my ground forces meet us near the spaceport, while the orbital forces prepare for a drop. I am also prepared for battle myself, although I fear if I am spotted by justicars that will only increase our problems."
Tela glanced at Aethyta, who gave her a tiny smile before speaking. "The ship I came in on has enough space to move everyone, and we've got a person on the dock tracking station who will look the other way. I also brought along some combat mechs."
Thane nodded. "Half my team will go with you; the other half will infiltrate and establish sniping positions in support of taking out the Broker forces." He made a subtle hand motion and half of the dozen Dancers gave shallow bows before departing.
Morinth pursed her lips, then glanced at Vasir and Aethyta. "You two aren't gonna try to turn me over to the justicars? None of you give a shit about working with an ardat?"
Trellani merely smiled. "I am familiar with your work, child. I do not see you attempting to act against, as you yourself said, the only people who have a way for you to escape the justicar's hunt for you and other ardats on the planet."
Aethyta shrugged. "From what I've heard of you, you only kill assholes. Don't try anything stupid and," she paused, and then gave a bitter smile, "…let's just say I don't care where you go after this."
Vasir was silent for a second. "Right now, I'm not acting as a Spectre. I'm here to fulfill a debt, and correct a mistake, not do the Council of Matriarchs' dirty work." She fixed the ardat with a hard look. "Like she said – as long as you don't pull anything, what you do after all of this is not my business."
Liara nodded. "We've gathered supplies here – anti-biotic rounds, suppressor fields, tanglewire, explosives, black nano spatter grenades, and anything else we could think of. Take what you need while we change into armor."
O-TWCD-O
Anetha Sarastar was, even among the clanless, a rather plain looking asari. As one of the leading CEOs of Ilium, in charge of the Starside Council Corporation, most expected her to dress expensively and live lavishly, but she instead wore a simple off-white dress surmounted by a harsh gray shawl and faint gray facial markings.
Samara mused that Anetha probably didn't start the day expecting to be arrested by the justicars upon landing, but she sat quietly, with a poise that left Samara rather impressed. The CEO's voice was level and calm as she faced the three justicars in the room, one of the many large meeting rooms in the southern spaceport where the main body of the justicar force had landed.
"It was I who informed the Council and the Justicar Mistress of the backroom dealings Nassana and the rest were doing with Aria. And it was I who made sure the corporate defense fleet didn't open fire on your expeditionary force when it got into orbit. So may I ask why I'm under arrest?"
Justicar Vhira gave her a sour glance. "You are one of the five CEOs in charge of this den of iniquity. We are, of course, going to assume you took part in certain illegalities, and have no intention of proceeding with whatever you want until we determine your level of guilt and involvement."
Samara watched as the clanless asari inclined her head with an almost mocking smile. "Ah. And have you found anything, justicar? Or are you merely assuming that clanless trash such as I must, of course, be up to something no good if I'm on Ilium?"
Vhira's face twisted, but the justicar next to her shook her head and placed a restraining hand on the shoulder of the younger one. "Cena Anetha, it is unwise to engage in suggestions that the justicars are acting unfairly. We only perform our duty in line with the demands of the Code."
Anetha gave a sloppy sign of siari negation. "And flipfish will chase a nexa into the deeps if there are enough of them, is that it?" Her voice hardened. "You are wasting time bothering going through my corporation's finances. Nassana is almost certainly fleeing or fled, and there's no telling what the Court is going to do now that you discarded what you told me this police action would be about and decided to invade."
Vhira was flipping through her omni-tool, reviewing the records of the Starside Council, and muttered something under her breath. Samara decided to intervene. "Vhira, Cera Anetha has a point. You have spent a full hour on this and have found nothing. It is hardly impossible that an upstanding asari would conduct themselves in an actually legal fashion if her personal morals are stronger than those around her."
Vhira exhaled. "Starside sold weapons to the anarchists who killed my family."
Anetha snorted. "And we've no doubt had our weapons used by turian separatists and some of Aria's goons – that does not mean we sold them. I've told you already. We had several large weapons shipments attacked and stolen, with heavy casualties, several times, and I strongly suspect one of the other CEOs or the Broker himself set those attacks up. I am very sorry that your family was attacked by idiots – but those fools are no doubt drowning in the wreckage of lower Nos Astra at this very moment." She set her jaw. "So why am I here, wasting both my time and yours, honored justicars?
Samara gave a serene if small smile. "The plasma bomb attack on our forward deployment force was also a Starside weapon. There is a concern your cooperation may be a pose or front to lure our strike into a compromised position."
Anetha made a sign of siari calm. "Justicar Samara, not to put a nexa into the bathwater – but if I wanted to do such a thing, why would I have even gone to the trouble of informing you of the corruption of the other CEOs, dealing with the fleet, or putting myself in a position where you can choose to kill me?"
Before anyone could reply, a Republican Guard officer entered the room, her features showing some level of alarm. "Apologies, revered ones. We have lost contact with the flanking scout elements near the river. The last report we got said one of the hunters had glimpsed what she thought was a Remembrance Dancer."
Samara stood, all warmth gone from her features. "Anetha, did the CEOs hire Dancers to reinforce them?"
The clanless shook her head, confusion clear on her expression. "No. Dantius had death threats against her by the Order of Remembrancers, something about her supplying the Broker information that led to the death of someone tied to them." She paused. "They have hired, as I told you, several krogan warlords and multiple companies of Blue Suns. But not dancers."
Samara said nothing for several long seconds, until Vhira folded her arms. "Samara?"
The older justicar glanced around the rooms, her pale gray eyes no longer serene. "Something has shifted. There are other nexa in the sea in which we swim." She turned to the Guard. "Have the Valsharess attend me at once. Pull back our scouts to within sight range of leading forces. And inform the Broker contact assisting us that we have possibly sighted a Dancer."
The Guard soldier left, and Samara gestured sharply at Matriarch Anetha. A flare of warpfire, expertly wielded, incinerated the bindings securing the clanless's legs to the chair. "Matriarch, attend me. Vhira, we'll look into the issue of stolen weapons later – take Everchosen Shasi and form the echelon with the first, fifth, and eighth waves of the Republican Guard."
There was muted protest in the eyes of the other justicar, but she obeyed. Anetha watched her leave with a sardonic expression before turning to Samara. "What do you fear is happening?"
Samara's voice was still calm, but there was an edge to it. "I fear that it is all too convenient, given the stakes at play for the other CEOs, that you were allowed to live long enough to reach us. That it is odd the Ilium defensive forces have not acted more aggressively. And that despite what I've been warned to expect, there is no sign that Aria or Trellani are involved with any of this."
She turned to face the clanless. "I fear that someone wanted us here, and wanted Ilium in chaos. And I wish to know why."
O-TWCD-O
"Not to be a buzzkill, Matriarch, but, uh, is this wise?" Dunn's voice was edged with a mix of sarcasm and frustration as Trellani came out of the small room the Sisters had provided for her to change in.
She wore armor she'd not donned in decades – the formal war-regalia of the Stellarch of Athame's Wisdom, defaced to remove the venerated scripts of prayers of sublimation and warped with the bold imprint of the Cerberus hexagon on the wide shoulder and hip plates. Her face was hidden behind a mask of translucent crystal, topped with a veil of linked metallic plates that meshed with the armored cape she wore over her shoulders.
Her metallic boots clinked musically as she walked forward, adjusting her warp sword. "Mr. Dunn. For this operation to succeed, both the target we are chasing and the target we came here to secure must be handled properly. The Sisters have not, as far as I am aware, faced Tetrimus or Tazzik in battle. I have. So have, I believe, Matriarch Aethyta and the Dancer, Thane."
She gave a deep inhalation. "This is an unlikely plan to succeed, and standing on the sidelines and not utilizing my abilities to make sure it succeeds could be why it ultimately fails. I understand Jack gave you orders to keep me from harm."
She faced him. "I also understand that if I die here, what I have found and what I have planned will still go forward. I do not fear death, Mr. Dunn. I fear living on in a universe grounded in lies and deceit, in knowing I stood aside while millions suffered and billions more were used most cruelly by monsters purporting to be our leaders."
Dunn's expression didn't change. "Yeah, I get that. It's why I joined Cerberus to begin with. My point, though, is that this plan is the stupidest pile of shit I've heard of ever since Shepard decided to just biotically charge right into the middle of the enemy and start flinging grenades. I know you're powerful – but certainly letting the mechs and other Centurion teams drop in your place would be just as powerful, right?"
Trellani shrugged asari style. "Maybe." She checked her sword again, then started walking toward the main part of the warehouse. "Then again, we might need them to get us out of a sticky situation. I am going – what you choose to do is up to you."
He sighed. "Are you crazy? TIM would have the Odd Couple turn me into a fucking wall hanging if I let you run off and get killed." He grimaced at his armor. "Wish I had a good set of N7O, though. This shit won't bounce angry words."
Trellani gave a small smile. "I seem to recall you complaining quite strenuously that the N7 Onyx armor you used to wear was too heavy, and that Cerberus combat slick-suits were more flexible and useful."
Dunn sighed. "Yeah, but the plan didn't originally call for me to head straight into a fight with Tetrimus. Figured I'd have time to get in an ATLAS or something." He gave a short laugh. "Then again, N7O wouldn't bounce whatever Tetrimus is likely to be flinging any better than this would."
The two walked into the main room, where the Sisters had mounted up on gravbikes. Thane's people, the Black Blades, and Tela Vasir had already left, the latter to scout the path, the rest to move into combat positions.
Aethyta herself was on a gravbike, while Morinth and Thane were getting into an aircar. Dunn gestured to the one he'd driven Trellani here in, and looked at the Sisters. "We ready?"
Liara nodded curtly. "Spectre Vasir is scouting the path. The justicars have drawn back for the moment, the approaches are clear. The Broker comm-nets show Tetrimus is heading to the hotel and Tazzik is still outside the city. We must move now."
Trellani stepped into the aircar, hunching her shoulders a bit as the canopy came down, and they set out after the gravbikes. The view of the Nos Astra skyline was still wounded, streams of smoke and the sound of emergency vehicles filling the air.
Dunn's smooth driving skills had them neatly following along a secondary aerolane and then coming to ground-level, along a metalled road that skirted the small lake where the asari had dammed the river to provide hydropower for the city. The southern docking complex, a few acres of squat landing pads and a scattering of hotels, was removed almost five kilometers from the city proper, mostly used by industrial landing ships and well-heeled alien investors who did not trust the hustle of the main city.
It didn't take long to reach their first rally point. Vasir was there, along with five assault shuttles – armored models of the standard shuttle, with forward-firing guns and light kinetic shielding. Trellani's Cerberus troopers were there as well, standing a distance from the Black Blades and Dancers.
Vasir's voice came over the comm-link as Dunn landed the aircar. "We're clear. The Cerberus ship is in drop position. Auntie, your ship is behind the hills over there, I offloaded the mechs into one of the shuttles."
Trellani stepped out as Aethyta killed the gravbike and nodded. The taller Sister tapped her omni-tool, and then spoke in a soft voice. "I have four more shuttles filled with high-explosives. These will be used to create openings and distractions as needed. The hotel security net is compromised, but the Broker's people will almost certainly have their own."
Liara glanced around. "Matriarch, have your men take one shuttle – with the mechs – and proceed to the southern gate of the port facility proper. That is the closest approach point from the ground to the Canni Hotel. Thane, your snipers and people are in place?"
The Dancer nodded. "Four snipers covering the hotel. Two more on high overlook, with line of sight to the gates and the spaceport entry. One in high cover and stealth near the transport pool in case we have a shot at Nassana directly."
Liara examined her omni-tool, then turned to Telanya. "Is the spike-patch in? I'm not getting the telemetry from the drones."
Telanya's head dipped as she examined her own omni, then nodded. "It's up. Three drones."
Liara turned to Aethyta. "As I said, the Cerberus soldiers will go in the first shuttle. Our group will proceed in two shuttles. My sister and I, yourself, and Tela in one. Thane, Matriarch Trellani, Mr. Dunn, and Morinth in the other. The Black Blades will follow in the fourth shuttle; Thane's remaining Dancers in the fifth. Once we breach the port's airspace, we will need to move hard towards the transport pool."
She transmitted a map to everyone's omni-tool, and Trellani examined it closely. The hotel was set a good distance away from the other two hotels in the port, and the transport parking area was the only direct ground path between it and the spaceport proper.
Liara's voice was still very soft as she continued. "Assuming things go to plan, we land near the shuttle docking area and go in through the side entrance, setting up our position just outside the transport lobby."
Liara tapped her omni and the front of the hotel flashed. "Matriarch Aethyta's mechs storm the main entrance. If the Broker forces react as I expect, heavy combat teams will rush the front, while Tetrimus and a smaller force will attempt to immediately vacate from the side entrance towards the transport pool. That is where we will ambush them with Dancers, the Black Blades, and our own assault. The Cerberus soldiers will dig in near the front and assist the mechs and Thane's snipers in crushing the heavy combat teams so they can't turn around and reinforce Tetrimus."
She cut her omni off. "We have brought along a great deal of anti-biotic ordinance. I suggest you use it. The Black Blades and the Dancers will be required to subdue or distract any accompanying elements while we hit Tetrimus directly. If we begin losing badly, fall back to this point and the shuttles with explosives will cover our retreat."
Dunn's private sub-vocal comm-link to Trellani crackled into life. "Yeah, this is some straight up suicidal RIU bullshit, Matriarch. You sure about this?"
She didn't bother to reply verbally, merely patting his shoulder. He gave a sigh then spoke up. "Alright, ladies – so what do we do if they have more shit than we expected? Cuz in an operation like this, you plan for Murphy being a fucking optimist."
Trellani expected the rather obscure human idiom to puzzle the Sisters, as it clearly did to Aethyta and the drell. She noted with interest that the taller one instead gave a bitter laugh and nodded, speaking in a cool tone. "Someone once told me the light at the end of a tunnel was from an oncoming train. We may indeed stumble. I would ask that your orbital forces and mechs perform a combat drop directly on the facility at that time. We have ensured the GTS defenses will not fire."
Curiouser and curiouser, Trellani thought.
Dunn didn't seem to notice the issue, and instead pointed to the city proper. "That's… great. The fighting seems to have trailed off – the asari fleet in orbit will sure as shit notice us, and those boys are in armor covered in our goddamned logo because of our egomaniacal boss. Someone's gonna take offense and maybe take a shot at them."
Liara spread her hands. "Then let us hope your additional forces are not needed immediately. Are there any other concerns?"
Vasir chuckled. "Let's say for once the relli actually takes the bait. We down the heavy combat teams. Thane's dudes murder the baddies, the Blades cut apart that crazy ardat tramp, and we splatter the krogan and whoever else Tetrimus has along, and we actually down Tetrimus. Then what?"
Liara's voice hardened. "Either Matriarch Trellani or, if needed, Morinth will get the information we need from his head. We then kill him and fall back here. Take the ground vehicles back to the warehouse, where I have both alternative transport and a selection of very secure boltholes. If the chaos of the fighting is enough at the time, we can leave in the ship Aethyta brought – if not, we simply wait for the Butcher and the Archangel, and have Matriarch Trellani contact them to extract us."
Dunn muttered under his breath. "If it goes that easy I'll marry a fucking vorcha."
Aethyta finally spoke. "When we go after Tetrimus, close with him quickly. You give that fucker ten seconds and he'll drop a digital decoy and shield it, then go stealth to set up his beam attack. That thing hits you, and you are dead – I saw it hit a human N7 cyborg in heavy armor and thick cover and it blew her to bits." She paused. "Tetrimus has a pistol, four-millimeter nightmare gun that will shoot through even Silaris plating. He's good with flares, warp, very good with a barrier, and knows a lot of obscure turian biotic bullshit none of us have encountered."
Thane spoke. "There is also evidence we have found that his supposed frailty is a sham. He is most likely heavily augmented cybernetically. We hit him sans barrier with an anti-material round six months ago and it did not even stagger him."
Liara glanced around. "Any other tactical information?"
Dunn spoke. "Yeah. One thing we got from armor cams of when we sent people after Shepard's body on Omega. I know two of you were there, but you probably didn't notice – Tetrimus needs five or six seconds to charge and prep that beam attack, and according to what we've found out, he can only use it at long-range. So, like the blademistress said, get in close, fast."
There was a long silence, before it was broken by Tela. "…Aw, fuck it. Let's get this over with."
Trellani nodded to the Centurion team leader. "Centurion Vask, assuming we do not require the combat drop of the rest of your unit, please employ them as Trooper Nozno suggested. I see no reason why I should allow the justicars to enforce the sickening demands of the Thirty upon the innocent."
The Cerberus troops muttered among themselves as the Centurion nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Liara's head tilted. "You do not think things will go badly enough that we need their assistance?"
Trellani smiled behind her own mask. "Child, I think if things have gone badly enough that we need to shout for any fool to see that Cerberus is here, we will probably already be too dead for their assistance to matter."
