AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this is late. Don't really have an excuse this time. Sorry, will be trying to get back on track. Hope you enjoy!
Commander John Shepard
"Fuck," I muttered, staring over the corpse of a Spectre. Council's gonna put a bonfire under my ass for this. At least there's all these witnesses. And her body count. But this isn't heat I need right now.
"I'll go over the data. You… handle this," Liara stated, gesturing at the officers, clearly shocked, and not knowing what to do about a dead Spectre. Shaking my head, I turned, leaving the fountain, and keying into my comms. Garrus and Tali followed Liara towards the balcony while I used the connection through EDI for a secure call to the Commissioner.
"Commissioner, I assume you've heard?"
"I've just gotten the report. I've had to deal with a Justicar acting on her code before, but a dead Spectre is something new."
"One under these circumstances is new to me as well. I need you to get me all the witness testimonies you can manage. Civilian and officer alike, and just have your own reports on this… absolute shitshow prepared to be sent to the Council, as well as any copies of camera footage your officers have. I'll handle the rest, and make sure the only fire they're lighting is the one under my ass.
"Understood, Commander. We'll take care of the clean-up. Good luck on whatever's next."
"Thank you, Commissioner." I dropped the call, but not without informing EDI to send us a shuttle and sounding the recall while I rejoined the others as Liara was reading through her Omni-tool.
"I know where he is. We can be there in a few hours." She decided to walk and talk. "If he doesn't already know about Vasir, he will soon. If he decides to kill Feron…"
"Hey, we'll get him out. Promise."
"I know. Here to help as always," she sighed, sounded like disappointment.
"But…?"
"Yet again I'm leaning on you," she stopped, turning.
"So?" I shrugged. "If you won't accept that friends help friends, well, we all owe you." There was a faint ghost of a grin as she turned to walk again.
"The Normandy will keep them from detecting us, but the broker will be expecting us anyways."
"Liara, take a breath. We've got a shuttle inbound; the crew's been recalled to the ship. We'll make our plan when we're aboard. With EDI, with tactical overlays, when we can see what we're looking at."
"Enjoying the scenery is an insult to the man who saved both of us."
"Liara," I put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying to take a breath. Loosen up. Let the adrenaline clear out so we can plan with a clear head. Calm before the storm."
"Serenity, T'Soni. It is one of the strengths of a Justicar," Samara added. Liara relented, taking a few deep breaths. A few minutes later, the shuttle arrived, and we were on our way back to the Normandy. I could tell Liara was still anxious, but we seemed to have helped at least somewhat.
"EDI," I spoke aloud. "Liara's about to give you a set of coordinates. I want us airborne as soon as everyone is accounted for. How's that coming along?" EDI answered while Liara sent the coordinates.
"Everyone not currently aboard has confirmed they will be aboard shortly. At the latest, the same approximate time as your own arrival. There will be minimal delay."
"Good, so, where is the bastard anyways?"
"The coordinates direct to the planet Hagalaz, in the Sowlio system of the Hourglass Nebula."
"His base is mobile," Liara spoke up. "To be on Hagalaz, it would have to be. It's a ship, but I'm not sure if it's space faring."
"Why would it have to be mobile?"
"Environmental factors. The air may be breathable, but oceans boil in the day, snap-freeze minutes after sundown. A permanent and major electrical storm follows sunset, that's where he hides. And likely how he generates power."
"You have schematics?" Garrus asked.
"Partially. The information only had the dimensions of the ship and its location. If I can patch into onboard systems, I should be able to find more details."
"Then we'll put together what plan we can in a few minutes. You have any reason to leave some of the crew out of this?"
"Honestly, a part of me really wants to involve as few as possible. But the Shadow Broker has a private army at his beck and call. We might have to fight through the entirety of them."
"So, all hands on deck?" I asked. Liara simply looked up and nodded.
A little over ten minutes later we arrived back on the Normandy, EDI reporting that Jack, Grunt, and Zaeed were currently stepping through the airlock, the last to arrive, as we began to detach from dock and make our departure. I told EDI to get the ground team assembled in the meeting room with the Broker's ship on display. And since the five of us were in the cargo bay, we were the last to arrive, still geared up, in the meeting room. Several sets of curious eyes put onto Liara, as only Miranda was likely to recognize her, but even then, she didn't know why she was aboard. Not for certain, at any rate. I took my space at the far end of the table, looking over the strange holo-projection of the Broker's ship.
The front was a wide rectangle that at the top and bottom extended at around the 45-degree mark backwards into sets of also rectangular fins. Maybe solar panels of a kind, or directing the wind currents to wind turbines, or both. However, these fins also extended beyond the width of the rest of the ship, making it all look narrow by comparison. It overall kept the rectangular shape as a foundation until one was close to the engines at the back. However, while the rectangle was kept as a foundation, along the length the hull did slope, yet still ending in pathways that are maybe twenty meters wide at the largest.
"Dr. T'Soni," Miranda greeted.
"Operative Lawson," Liara answered without emotion.
"Right. Crew, this is Liara T'Soni. She was a member of my team two years ago against Saren. We're on our way to the Hourglass Nebula to help her with a… personal matter, aboard this ship. And we're going to need all hands on deck. Liara?" I took a step back letting her take my place, and to let her explain what she's willing to reveal.
"This is the Shadow Broker's ship," Liara again.
"Fucking what?" Zaeed questioned, not out of any defiance, just, surprise.
"They are personally located aboard. While I would happily see them dead, I'm more concerned with rescuing a friend of mine being held aboard. A Drell by the name of Feron. Or avenge him."
"But realistically we're killing the Broker either way," Jacob spoke up.
"More than likely, yes. There is a shuttle bay near the front of the ship, but the Broker knows we're coming, and if it's not covered in Anti-Air weapons, his private army will be on standby to mow us down if we enter there. Instead, a ship like this, where it is, will require almost constant maintenance. Instead, we will take a shuttle and land between the center of the ship and the rear of the ship, then begin searching for a hatch into the ship. With additional luck, I might be able to find an access point into the ship's network, find some schematics and determine where the nearest entry will be.
"And what's to keep him from just rolling us off?" Jack pointed out.
"Besides the environmental conditions of the planet, and the precarious location the ship keeps, it would pose significant risk of structural damage."
"Right, another question," Zaeed began. "Why, or how, the ever-loving fuck did you, and that Drell, get this fucking involved with the goddamn Broker? Don't get me fucking wrong, I'm goddamn ecstatic to add 'part of the team that killed the goddamn Shadow Broker' to my reputation, but the fuck did you manage to get to this point?" Liara glanced at me, perhaps wondering if I trusted Zaeed to carry through. He's a merc, but he always gets the job done. Doesn't get bribed out of it. I gave her a nod.
"The Broker, two years ago, was attempting to find Shepard's body to sell it to the Collectors. I was after his body to give it a proper burial. Until I was forced to accept Cerberus'... assistance."
"Huh, go fucking figure," the grizzled old vet muttered.
"We're due to arrive in only a few hours. Rest, eat, whatever. We need all hands on deck, ready to go the moment we're there," I ordered. "Dismissed."
Commander John Shepard
After a power nap and a hearty lunch, everyone had suited up and grouped up in the cargo bay. Chakwas had yet to get on my case, in fact I've yet to see her. I know she's just waiting until after we're done with the Broker. While she understands how time sensitive this all is, she is still absolutely going to berate me for reckless, and 'medically inadvisable' behavior.
"Samara, Lawson, Jack, Thane, and Garrus, take the rear. Thane and Garrus, you're our marksmen, work your magic. Mordin, Jacob, Kasumi, you're in the middle. Tech attacks and general support. Kasumi, until we're inside I don't want you sneaking around for picks quite yet, unless I say otherwise. Rest of you, front and center. Make them target you and hit back hard. Grunt, I need you staying in formation right now, same reason as Kasumi. When we're inside that'll change." The Krogan simply nodded in understanding. With no other orders for the moment, the team entered the shuttle, and the cargo bay doors opened, the Normandy was hanging above Hagalaz' storm, and just at the edge of it, I could see the top of one of the fins of the Broker's ship. I took the shuttle out and down, speeding through the storm, Liara helping to keep me on track, and as we broke through the storm, the ship coming into view, she helped me narrow down a spot along the outer hull. I handed the controls over to EDI as the shuttle doors opened, we couldn't set down, so we got as close to the hull as we could, and that's when we began jumping out. The drop only a meter.
"Wind is strong, mag boots, play it safe," I ordered on comms. Liara and I took point, following what was a clear walkway along the hull of the ship, though not that wide. It led us to the left, down a slight amount, but still enough room for us all, but shortly back to the center of the ship. There were some rods sticking out of the ship at the end of this part of the walkway, one of which was struck by lightning, electricity arcing before it's base glowed bright.
"Capacitors," Liara concluded. "I'll hit it with an overload, it might discharge." Sure enough, after she finished the gesture linked to the attack, electricity burst in all directions around the rod, some simply arcing into the adjacent rod.
"Keep that in mind everyone, if we get into a firefight, might help us thin the herd faster. But they'll try the same," I warned. We kept moving, down to the left and back up again. Another capacitor, and a console next to a much larger capacitor with no clear way to continue.
"They might detect this, but we need access," Liara cautioned. She linked her Omni-tool to it. "The rod here is designed to be retracted for maintenance. And there's an entrance we can use a little ways ahead. I'll leave the connection for EDI to make use of." As she finished, the lightning rod descended into the ship and a walkway extended for us to use to cross the gap and continue. And a few shocked mercs on patrol. All of them had readied their weapons by the time we filled them full of holes. No idea whether or not they were able to get a warning off. Our path along the right side of the ship led to a steep walkway down to the side, only one small guardrail at the end. I was surprised to find a door as we continued along the route. But Liara shut down that pleasant surprise.
"It's only another portion of the maintenance path, not our way into the ship proper." She opened the door, while the design of the technology in use was mostly foreign to me, I could piece together its purpose. The capacitors probably transfer what power from the lightning they can down here, considering the arcing electricity from the thin sheets of blue metal as they moved, the purpose of said movement I couldn't quite identify. Though this is likely part of the engines.
"Incredible," Liara murmured. "It must have taken decades to build in secret."
"I imagine none of the contractors have lived to appreciate their work," Thane mused. More along the exterior hull, however, massive motion dampeners lining the walls. More than likely along the entire length of the ship. We exited this maintenance area and continued along, making our way back up towards the center of the ship again. Only to meet a firing line of obviously alerted mercs. Fortunately, Liara was able to put a barrier up in time and sustain in long enough for the rest of our biotics to come into support while we dispersed into cover. Huh, look at all those lightning rods around the mercs. Fuck it, no time, I shot the one nearest the mercs with just one bullet, which fortunately caused a massive surge of electricity to jump out in our direction, though the lightning met the mercs first. Frying them within their own armor and making the gunfire cease. I was the first to rush ahead and begin finishing the mercs off, making sure they stayed dead, Grunt a close second behind me. We returned to our formation and continued moving.
"Gunshots work, but I'd wager that if it gets zapped again, the electricity will just come right out of the hole again, so try to overload them first instead," I ordered. If we must bunker down, the overloads might be more reliable instead of the haste we needed there. Eventually we came across another terminal, besides a set of fins raised up and blocking our route. Thanks to the connection EDI was already given, the AI was able to lower them, allowing us to walk across the now flat fins. Around a corner was another squad of mercenaries. I don't think they know how many of us there are, and that they were expecting the earlier firing line to do more of the work for longer. Meaning we, with our numbers, were able to overwhelm them easily and keep moving. Though I think now the Broker will have a better idea of our numbers. And probably rearrange them for more of an effect.
"Almost at the access hatch," Liara called out as another large lightning rod moved out of our way.
"Kasumi, check and see if we're clear," I ordered. She simply vanished from view rather than answering, likely looking around the corner.
"All clear, Shep. No sign of anyone," she answered a minute later.
"Regroup, we're moving." Considering the hatch was right there around the corner, though fortunately, and conveniently, outcrops of hull provided plenty of cover, and there were three lightning rods, one around each major route to the hatch, none in range of this rather defendable location, it could be worse. Though for the life of me I can't figure out why the Broker would leave this undefended now rather than force us to try and take it. The only thing I could possibly find plausible is that he's about to try and swarm us. "Defensive positions." Everyone began positioning as was both favorable for them and the best we could do with our formation as Liara approached the door. Personally, I was along our right flank to try and take most of the fire and dish out what I can.
"Locked, obviously. I've got a program running to open it, if EDI can help, that should speed it up," Liara informed as she took position on the left flank. And so, from all flanks, came several squads of the Broker's army. It helped that we could use the lightning rods against them, that they had to run to cover across open ground, and that some of our biotics were able to simply fling them up into the air so that the lightning zapped them directly, and the wind blowing them away. But there were a helluva lot of them, making use of flashbangs as they could, suppressive fire, everything a quality military force would be doing to advance on an entrenched position. The one upside was that they couldn't make use of any drones that could fly up and get around us. Too much wind for the thrust a drone can generate.
"Spirits I really miss the shortcut of Omni-gel right now," Garrus remarked as he took out a merc on the direct approach.
"That security upgrade pissed a lot of people off," Liara answered. There were a lot of mercs. The saving grace, beyond our position, was that there were a lot of us, as well. I did hear Jack get shot, but it was only a flesh wound, and Mordin took care of her right quick and got her back in the fight. Fortunately, before too much longer, EDI was in our comms.
"The door is open; I should be able to seal it behind you."
"Inside! Inside now!" I shouted. The other heavies and I were the last to fall back inside, providing cover. The doors shut as soon as I stepped backwards through.
"If we're lucky, we'll have less to fight inside now," Liara remarked.
"Keep dreaming, T'Soni," I managed a chuckle.
"I have used Dr. T'Soni's program to rewrite the security codes for that hatch. It should take them considerable time to open it up again," EDI informed.
"Good. You have a route for us?"
"I do. I have located the prison block and the interrogation chambers. One is currently in use, and it is close to the Shadow Broker's office. I am transmitting the route to you in case Communications are cut off."
"Perfect. Everyone, regroup and move on me." We should be able to make some decent progress as the Broker's forces regroup and reposition, so we need to make damn good use of the time we have. We hurried along, following the route plotted by EDI and marked along our helmet's HUD. A few hallways of progress and we met our first resistance, barely a squad of mercs, clearly meant to just try and delay us. Biotics made short work of them and they barely slowed us down at all. A few more hallways and we had reached the interrogation rooms. There were… three squads of mercs within, and they were ready for us. They tried to flash us, but Liara simply tossed it back in, her and Samara giving us a Barrier, Kasumi stealthing in, and Grunt just bulldozing in, shotgun at his hip, roaring and firing as we filed in behind, just absolutely massacring the ones within.
"There!" Liara pointed to a glass pane along a wall into the interrogation room.
"Secure the room! Mordin, you're with Liara and I," I ordered, Liara rushing ahead to open the door to Feron. His face was a sort of tan color, with a greener tint above his forehead, while the ridged area around the back of his cheeks was bluer. His clothes were ragged, nondescript, simple clothes of a prisoner put through torture and strapped down to a table with a console beside it, several monitors going over his vitals, and… other tools.
"Feron!" Liara exclaimed. He appeared asleep, but the noise roused him, his eyes struggling open.
"Liara?" he groaned. Liara was running to a terminal in the room.
"We're getting you out of here," she answered.
"No-Wait!" he shouted as she began to access the terminal, only for a surge of electricity to course through Feron, the Drell screaming in pain. He breathed heavily, rapidly as the surge died down. Shaking his head, muscles spasming.
"Ch-Chair is-Fuck… chairs plugged into his network. Shut off the power. Central… Operations. Down the hall."
"We'll be back," Liara sighed. We returned to the others, the door we came in from had been sealed and they were all positioned by the other door, waiting for mercs to try and enter.
"Moving out," I ordered, taking point again as EDI, without needing to have been told, adjusted our HUD to be directing us to Ops instead. Just one hallway down, a secretary's desk of all things, unoccupied, was before a door. Obviously to the Broker.
"Bunker down here, kill any merc who tries to follow. Liara, Garrus, Tali and I will go in and confront the bastard. Kasumi, I want you to follow us in stealthed, I'm sure you can get a perfect angle to help end this.
"Got it, Shep," the thief answered. Grunt began pulling panels off the walls to turn into cover while the others positioned as they could for now, the rest of us, opening the door. Only one more hallway, rather than the Broker himself. On the other side of that door, a large, mostly empty and dimly lit chamber, with a large desk at its center with several holographic displays. Sitting at the desk, a massive, bulky creature of a kind I had never seen before, and from the dim light, appeared to be wearing a suit. He had devilish horns jutting out the back of his head, and strange smaller spikes around the side. The displays in front of him dimmed and I could see his mouth was formed by dividing his face into thirds. A bottom jaw, and one jaw for both the upper left and right, the mouth lined with teeth, red markings on his face, and eight eyes. Our weapons were all raised as he leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the table in front of him.
"Here for the Drell?" he broke the silence with a deep, gravelly voice. "Reckless, even for you, Commander."
"Try determined. Just ask Vasir."
"She was expendable, all her death cost was time."
"Expendable like Feron?" Liara hissed. The Broker seemed to sigh, as if annoyed.
"Dr. T'Soni, your interference caused all this. Feron betrayed me when he handed you Shepard's body. This is the price of betrayal."
"You were going to sell my body to the Collectors. You're working with them and you're surprised someone came after you?"
"It was a mutually beneficial partnership," the Broker appeared to shrug. "Their offer still stands."
"We've killed a lot of your crew. I have my entire squad here. Pretty cocky to think you'll come out on top."
"The crew is replaceable. And your squad will be overwhelmed before long."
"Before we kill you?" The Broker scoffed as he began his response.
"Enough talk. My operations are too crucial to be compromised by a traitor."
"You're confident, with nowhere left to hide," T'Soni kept talking. He gave her a slight look.
"You travel with fascinating companions, Doctor. Your Justicar is impressive. And her daughter clearly not a proper challenge. A dying assassin. I'll give his son my regards. The Krogan will pay well for your Salarian, they put a premium on STG members. Goto's Graybox is priceless, though unfortunate I won't be able to collect her partner's. Okeer's project will make for an interesting dissection. Massani has an impressive bounty from the Blue Suns. And the deaths of Lawson and Taylor will have an impact on Cerberus. Granted, not nearly as much as Lawson might assume, of course Subject Zero's body will net almost as much as Shepard's. And finally, those in the room with you. The bounty on Archangel is still unclaimed, though I must admit I'm surprised you brought the Quarian. Her 'leadership' on Haestrom did cost quite a few lives, after all." I glanced to the side to see Tali stiffen, still pointing her shotgun at the creature.
"No, you're getting none of them." The broker seemed to roll his many eyes.
"It's pointless to challenge me, Asari. I know you're every secret, while you fumble in the dark."
"Oh yes, because these secrets will serve you oh so well in a gunfight," I mocked.
"Are you sure about that, Broker?" Liara smirked.
"You're a Yahg. From the world of Parnack. A barely civilized species almost as backwards as the Vorcha, but at least they're out in space, unlike the Yahg. You've all been quarantined there for massacring the Council's first contact teams." The fins at the side of his head were bristling, his jaws twitching. "This base is older than Parnack's discovery. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say you killed the previous Shadow Broker, then took over. Maybe I don't know quite how long you've been here, but I'd guess you were taken from your world by a Trophy hunter who wanted a slave…" Liara grinned now. "Or a pet. How am I doing?" Clearly furious, the Broker put his hands on his desk and stood, his already massive form now even larger. He then slammed his fist down into his desk and roared as he threw half of it towards us. I dived to get Tali to the ground, to avoid the impact while Liara simply put up a barrier, the desk breaking apart as Garrus also dove in the other direction. Tali and I got to our feet, Garrus working to his feet as the Broker stood in the center of the room, lifting his head and his mouth opening wide in another roar, pulling a Revenant LMG from his back with one hand.
Liara kept her barrier up for us to use it to fall back, firing at him, Kasumi also shooting from the back. He had a barrier that was reflecting shots before I saw some begin to impact. It seems a Yahg's flesh is more durable than a Krogan. But these are still railguns we're shooting at him. He recoiled as some tech on his wrists flared, drawing energy from above. Which I looked up, the blue light in the room was all coming from there. It looked like the capacitors along the outside side of the ship. Like a large battery in here as a safety measure, powering a backup barrier, that while he was forced in place for the moment, all our rounds were bouncing off him. Well, there are some things barriers don't protect against. Let's see how good these cybernetics really are. I clipped my Mattock to my back and charged the bastard, he glared at me confused and curious as I slammed my right fist against his cheek, jolting his head to the side, spittle flying out of his mouth before my left came up right under his chin and my right back and into one of his larger eyes. He cried out in pain. The backup barrier disappeared as his Omni-tool came to life, but instead of just forming an Omni-tool, it instead generated a shield he could hide behind. It caught me off guard, and he bashed me away with it, knocking me back towards the others.
Liara quickly used biotics to help me to my feet as I got my Mattock back into my grasp. He was using that additional shield to guard his body, while his right arm was able to continue firing the Revenant single handedly. But we had numbers, and he had eyes for Liara and I. Kasumi, Garrus, and Tali, all of them flanking, were able to tear his shields apart. He growled as he was forced to use his backup again, giving me the opportunity to charge, slamming the butt of my Mattock against his head again. He tried to use his… Omni-shield to block me, waiting for me to make a move, so I put my weight into bashing my shoulder into him, managing to push him back, but managed to push me away again, his backup dissipating.
"I've an idea," Liara spoke into the comm channels. "Get that barrier up one more time. Avoid the center." It was rather simple to achieve that, with our flanking. He was still positioned in the center of the room himself, and I could tell he was bleeding from some of the shots, but this would take longer than I'd like if we just kept working this way. He was pissed, and as he was forced to work on his back up again, Liara sent a ball of biotic energy up into the capacitor above, causing some cracks before her biotics flared bright around her, pulling it down, and like when I shot the one outside, a massive burst of electricity shot right down into the Broker, and it was still flowing as lightning rods on the outside kept feeding power into this larger capacitor. The Broker roared with pain, every muscle in his body stiffening, spasming as he was cooked alive by the constant lightning. Finally, some manner of safety managed to kick in and stop feeding electricity here. And all that was left on the floor, a still spasming mass of flesh and bone, the flesh around the head having just been… charred and cooked off, mostly just skull left. For good measure, I fired a few rounds through his skull, though the body still spasmed. I then noticed the other lights in the room, the other monitors flared back to life, it seemed we made a power surge that just so happened to shut down power. One of the monitors came alive with a voice.
"Shadow Broker, this is Operative Murat. We had a momentary connection failure. Can you confirm status?" Other voices began repeating the same base questions. All with different names, of course. Liara slowly began approaching the console, and I shared a glance with Garrus and Tali. An idea popped into my head for what Liara might be considering. She seemed to take a breath; a very short glance tossed back at us before she leaned forward to the console and began to speak. I could hear her voice, of course, but through speakers in the ship I was able to hear it, just barely a second later it repeated, though through a dozen and one voice filters to make it entirely indistinguishable. The same synthetic voice the Broker normally made use of.
"This is the Shadow Broker. The situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications temporarily." The doors behind us burst open as the squad charged in, and I noticed, Feron limping in with a gun raised, all expecting to find the Broker standing above us, I suppose. But here we were. "However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures. I want a status report on all operations within the next solar day. Shadow Broker, out."
"Holy fucking shit," Zaeed exclaimed as Liara turned around, no longer transmitting.
"Well… aside from us, everyone who probably ever saw him in person is dead. And if anyone else on this ship has… they care more about being paid."
"Are you sure?" I asked Liara.
"Well, he's secretive and para-"
"Not what I meant, Liara. This…" I gestured to the monitors.
"Is there anyone in the Galaxy with more contacts? Trading sources? Everything? This could be invaluable against the Reapers. I could… I can…" Liara was beginning to choke on her words.
"We… we should check the power systems." Feron suggested to the others. Garrus and Tali stayed, Grunt, unaware of things, needed to be nudged but moved. With more privacy, Liara began to cry, not showing it to us, but impossible to misinterpret the noises. Tali put her hand on her friend's shoulder, and I put my hand on her other. Garrus, well, Garrus. A bit awkward, meaning well.
"Two years… and it's over. Just like that." Tali and I pulled her into a hug. She shuddered, taking a breath, and wiped away the tears.
"Let's see what we've got," she regained her composure, and returned to the displays. "No safeguards… No user restrictions. And it's all ours. I just wanted to rescue Feron… but a part of me wants this.
"I trust you to run it differently."
"Of course. People are going to be talking about the Broker going soft. Some things I may not be able to do, but I'll do everything I can." I simply gave her a nod. "Can the Normandy stay in orbit for a day or so? While I get a better idea of what exactly we have. And… and for one more goodbye."