Disclaimer: All Characters, locations, technologies, concepts, etc belong to Bioware/EA.
Need
"… Here for the Drell? Reckless, even for you, Commander."
Jane stared at the alien behind the desk. What was this… thing? It was a species she had never seen or heard about before. She couldn't even get a good look at whatever he was; as his figure was shrouded in the dark of the "office" they were currently in. After a brutal assault and infiltration into the ancient ship orbiting Hagalaz, Shepard, Liara and Garrus had finally made it to the central hub of this entire operation. The infamous Shadow Broker was before them and there was nowhere for him to run and hide. He would either submit himself or he would die.
"Reckless? That bombing on Illium wasn't exactly subtle."
The Broker's calm demeanor was unsettling. It made Liara nervous, a feeling that transmitted itself to Shepard in an instant, without even looking in her direction. Since their reunion and argument on Azure, Jane could feel Liara's consciousness scratching at the edge of her mind. Like a puppy scratching at a door, desperate to gain entry to see its owner. Liara had put their talk off until after the mission was complete. She had said she couldn't think about them right now, not when they were this close to the Shadow Broker. Still, Liara unconsciously wanted to be reunited with her once lover.
She had felt absolutely dreadful for treating Jane the way she did. Pushing her feelings aside, using her, distancing herself from her when the only thing the Commander wanted to do was just sit down and talk. Half the time they spent in her Nos Astra office Liara had to mentally restrain herself from climbing over her desk and kissing her former Commander senseless. But right now they had a job to do. They had to rescue Feron and deal with the Shadow Broker. Their reconciliation would come later.
"Extreme, but necessary."
Liara felt her biotics instinctually flare up in anger at the Broker's obvious detachment to the situation. He should be more worried! They're going either take him in or kill him, and he's just sitting there behind his desk with not a care in the world!
"No it wasn't! Do you know how many people lost their lives in that explosion!?"
"Thirty-three dead, twelve injured, five crippled. A total of fifty casualties, seventy-two if we're including those killed who were considered potential direct witnesses to the operatives. You know the business I'm in, Doctor T'soni. Bloodshed is of negligible consequence."
Anger rising, Liara screamed at the Shadow Broker. How could he be so heartless!? Even during her time as an information broker hunting him down, she always kept civilian casualties to an absolute minimum. Threats here and there were necessary, yes, but taking out 3 floors of a populated business center for one person and then gunning down civilians was unforgivable!
"It was monstrous! So was caging Feron for two years!"
"Your interference is the cause of all this. Feron betrayed me the moment he handed you Shepard's body. The Drell is simply paying the price."
Liara was ready to warp the Broker's body into a bloody, unrecognizable mass of bone and tissue, and was going to until she caught a look from Jane. 'Stay focused,' the look said. Even after two years, they could still communicate without the need of words or even a Joining link, a routine practiced and perfected over and over. They were a team, and after all this time, they still are. Liara felt her biotics recede back into herself at Shepard's silent request.
"You had to realize someone would come after you for working with the Collectors. Your friends aren't as neutral as you thought."
Liara could see the spikes on the Broker's head and back trembling minutely. Could he be…?
"It was a mutually beneficial partnership."
"Heh, I'm sure they wouldn't be too impressed by their associate. His entire force decimated by a single team. It would be pretty hard to run a base this size with no crew."
Shepard was smirking, and Liara found herself staring more at her former Commander than their adversary. She missed Jane dearly, every second of every day for the past two years. She had missed Jane's smile, the way her face would light up when she was feeling witty or confident. She missed the way her face would crinkle up when she woke after Liara had, the adorable freckles on her skin lifting and shifting as she yawned. Liara missed the way Shepard's hair flowed in a river of bronze-red beauty. Had Jane cut her hair? It looked similar to the bobbed style Doctor Chakwas usually sported. Most of all, Liara missed Jane's presence.
Aboard the SSV Normandy, they had a near constant mental link to each other in the months after Saren and Sovereign's defeat. They could share anything with one another with a twitch of an eye, the smallest touch of a finger on the skin of an arm, the delicate breath of air along a collar bone. She felt safe with her beloved Commander, free to tell her anything she wished. The connection they had shared was indescribable. It served to add to her torment for these past two years, seeing Shepard –her dear Jane- in her mind so vividly every night but unable to reach out and grasp at her consciousness. Had she been a weaker person, Liara would have lost her mind.
Shadow Broker was unfazed by the jab.
"They are expendable and replaceable. Your presence is barely an interruption. However, my current operations are of the utmost importance and require my attention. I cannot allow myself any further distraction because of a traitor."
Liara turned again to the Broker with a smirk of her own. He was cornered and bluffing. They had taken out his entire private army on this ship, he had nothing.
"You act quite confident for someone with nowhere to run."
The Broker finally turned his head toward Liara and she had to physically suppress the need to shudder under his unreadable gaze.
"You travel with fascinating companions, Doctor. The Collectors' offer still stands for Shepard's body, as does the highest bounty for Archangel's head. Both would more than make up for your tampering in my activities and killing my employees on the way here."
Garrus growled in resentment as he lined up a shot on the Broker's head.
"I dealt with crooks like you every day on Omega. I'd like to see you try it, you son of a bitch."
"It would've been as easy as writing a signature, had I the mind to do so before this event, Garrus Vakarian. Your friends and family aren't as protected as you think. Your father and sister on Palaven would've been excellent bait to force you back into your justice-seeker complex behavior and come after me blindly. As would your 'friend' Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya."
Never in his life had Garrus worked so hard to not squeeze the trigger on his rifle. Sparing Sidonis was easier than letting this madman live one more second without a bullet in his head.
"You're not putting a hand on anyone else."
The Broker regarded Garrus before returning his attention to Liara.
"It's pointless to challenge me, Asari. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark."
Check. Liara knew who and what this creature was. She simply had to remember. Her smirk grew wider.
"Is that so? You're a Yahg: A pre-spaceflight species whose home world was quarantined more than sixty years ago for butchering the Council's first contact teams. This entire base is eons older than your planet's discovery, which means you probably killed the original Shadow Broker more than half a century ago and took over his work. That would suggest that you were somehow captured on your planet by the original Broker, himself or a trophy hunter and sold to the highest bidder before the quarantine. Intended to be nothing but a glorified slave…"
Liara could see the spines along the Broker's head and shoulders twitch and shake in muted anger. She had him, and there was nothing he could respond with. She went in for the Checkmate.
"…Or a pet. How am I doing so far?"
Shepard turned to look at Liara again and gave her the smallest, most genuine grin the former archeologist had been missing for so long. 'Damn, so cold!' Jane said with her eyes. Liara couldn't help but feel elation bubble up in her abdomen. To have Commander Shepard –her Jane- praise her. This was something else she had missed dearly.
The Shadow Broker rose from his seated position and all three of them had to incline their heads to keep eye contact with him. He was massive. Easily dwarfing even Wrex in height, his fearsome horns added to the menacing aura he was emanating.
With a sudden grunt, the Broker smashed his desk, breaking the polished metal in two with nothing but his fist and threw one piece at the group. Shepard instinctively dove for Liara and sent the two of them to the ground. Garrus wasn't fast enough and was hit with the twisted metal, sending him flying to the corner of the dark room. He was pinned underneath the heavy metal of the broken desk and could only watch as his two friends and squad mates lifted themselves from the floor.
With a bestial roar, the Shadow Broker charged the duo. Liara looked briefly at Jane and Jane looked back, making eye contact. So began the dance they had memorized and finalized again and again. After two years apart, they were still a team. And a damn good one.
Liara quickly ducked to the side of the Broker while Shepard took the brunt of the charge. Holding the Broker's large fists in her hands, she stopped his momentum fully and held him there for half a second before Liara began firing her submachine gun into his back, watching as his personal shield took the slugs.
The Shadow Broker growled into Jane's face, only to see her red head pull back and then feel her slam her forehead forward into his with inhuman force. He stumbled back, dazed briefly from the blow and saw Shepard advancing. The Commander began swinging at the Broker, landing punch after punch. These weren't normal blows, too powerful for a Human –even in enhanced body armor- to achieve. Liara was at the Shadow Broker's back, firing into him, but her real role was biotically strengthening Shepard's punches by increasing the force behind their weight, adjusting the angles of her arms and controlling the momentum of different parts of her body as counter-weights to maximize damage.
In essence: Shepard was the marionette and Liara was pulling the strings. It was a technique few biotics could achieve, even among Asari, and could only work with a compatible partner who was incredibly in-tune to their thought patterns, not to mention they had to be a potent biotic themselves. Manipulation of dark energy at that precise a level, and the mental compatibility to predict movements and muscle contractions to avoid serious injury required long years of tireless training from both parties.
Liara and Jane had perfected it in a matter of months.
The Shadow Broker, fed up with this game of fisticuffs, grabbed Shepard's hand mid-swing. He looked back at Liara, reloading her submachine gun and tossed Shepard by her arm at Liara like a rag doll. Both were sent tumbling to the floor as the Broker retrieved a modified, fully-automatic M-76 Revenant from the nearby storage pillar. Seeing the weapon, Jane scrambled to her feet, pulling Liara up with her and took cover behind another column as the Broker began firing. Liara could barely hear Jane's voice over the overwhelmingly loud rifle.
"Hah, one hell of a first date after a break, huh?"
Being this close to Shepard again –her Jane- was mind numbing. She could feel her Commander's breath against her cheek and her arms surrounding her. Liara practically felt Jane's mind brushing against hers. Had it been any other circumstance, Liara would have been ecstatic and perhaps slightly aroused.
"Shepard, is this really the time!?"
"If not now, then when? Liara-"
"Shepard, enough!"
Hearing a break in the gunfire, Liara turned away and began firing back at the Shadow Broker. Taking the metal slugs, the Broker's shield wavered. Taking position and holding out his hand, a white barrier formed around him. Liara's shots were visibly bouncing off of it as the Broker allowed his shields to regenerate.
"Shepard, this barrier is kinetically sensitive. Projectiles have no effect!"
Jane unhooked the X-96e Mattock from her back.
"Then we do this the hard way."
Circling around the Shadow Broker while he was focused on Liara, Jane came up behind him. Just as his barrier fell and before he could fully move, Shepard smashed the butt of the rifle into the side of the Broker's face. She could almost hear bone crack and fragment underneath his rust-red skin even through his newly powered up personal shield. Raising her gun again while Liara weakened him further with a warp, Shepard fired off several rounds into his chest while moving in for another strike with her rifle.
With another gruff bellow, the Yahg held up his left arm and projected a large, holographic shield before Shepard could land the hit. Her blow bounced off of the shield, as did her rifle and her body as the Broker swung his arm in her direction, knocking her off balance and to the ground. Liara fired more rounds at him and he turned to advance on the former archeologist. Liara had fired several more slugs but none would get past the large shield. The Shadow Broker found his footing slipping as Shepard generated a powerful shockwave from her position on the floor and he reeled back enough for Liara to send a singularity at his left side. His shield dragged away into the singularity, Shepard let her biotics flare as she charged forward at incredible speeds, crashing into the Broker and putting him on his back.
Swiftly recovering, he raised his white barrier once more. Jane closed in again and slammed her fist square into his forehead, propelled by Liara's biotics. Dropping his barrier, the Shadow Broker raised his holo-shield once more and blocked Shepard's next strike. She struggled against the Broker's shield as she tried to keep her balance. Liara had tried to come to Jane's side to aid her, but was knocked away with her once lover as the Broker swatted them away.
Breathing heavily, Liara looked up at the Shadow Broker. They couldn't keep going on like this; expending biotics to such a degree was fatiguing, even for them. Not to mention they were running dangerously low on thermal clips from the punishing gauntlet they endured to arrive here. There had to be a way to bring that barrier down permanently. She brought her gaze to the ceiling and saw the answer: What looked to be a large circular tank swirling with white energy was held above them, the same shimmering color as the Broker's barrier. Shepard caught the thought and brought her gaze upwards as well, then back over to Liara.
"Get him to bring that barrier up again."
Jane grinned and got to her feet once more. She advanced on the Shadow Broker and drew her S-22b Eviscerator. Firing two of the three rounds into his shield, Shepard closed in and ducked as Liara focused her biotic energy into a single point and propelled it toward the Broker's shield, knocking it away and allowing Jane to put her last round into the Yahg's three-sectioned face.
Screeching in pain, the Shadow Broker stumbled backward and brought his holo-shield up again, only to have Shepard slam into it with another biotic charge… only this time she did not stop upon impact. Jane allowed her biotics to reach their limits and felt the L3 implant at the back of her neck begin burning as she focused her energy on the two points of impact her shotgun had made in the holo-shield. If she over-exerted herself, Doctor Chakwas would have a stern talk with her once she was aboard the Normandy, but right now she powered through the pain. She had to. She wasn't just fighting for Liara's friend, Feron. Jane was fighting for Liara. Fighting for the life they could have together. She was betting their entire future on the next few seconds.
A crack could be heard and less than a second later, the holo-shield shattered into pieces, each blinking away as Shepard barreled into the Broker, sending him to the ground again. He recovered again, more aggravated than ever and brought up his barrier.
That was it! Liara saw the glowing liquid-like material flowing down from the tank above. The Broker was siphoning energy from the ceiling tank to power his protective barrier. With another look to Shepard, Liara had instantly conveyed her intentions.
Jane approached with Liara staying behind her, closing her eyes and preparing for her plan of action. The Shadow Broker dropped his barrier as Shepard closed and began a run toward the broker. Using his Revenant, the Yahg swung at Shepard in vain as she ducked the hit.
"Liara! Now-"
Instead of stopping to follow Shepard as she expected, the Broker continued his path to Liara while she was still preparing. Eyes closed, the information broker didn't see the Yahg approach as her hands were outstretched to get a good grasp on the tank above. It wasn't until she felt a large hand wrap itself around her forearm and lift her up with ease that she realized things had gone horribly wrong.
"LIARA!"
Shepard roared as she tried approaching, but the Broker began firing upon her without even looking in her direction and forcing her to take cover behind the broken remains of his desk that he had not thrown. Liara kicked at the Broker and brought her pistol up to shoot him twice –each shot absorbed by the last bits of energy his personal shield had before it went down. Before she could get one more shot into him, the Broker squeezed and felt the bones in the former archeologist's arm snap.
An ear-splitting cry echoed throughout the chamber, a cry that would forever haunt Shepard's dreams and turn them into nightmares. Liara had dropped her pistol from the intensity of the pain as the Shadow Broker clenched her arm tighter, grinding the broken bones within it and forcing more screams to tear themselves from Liara's throat as she tried to struggle in his grasp.
"As I said: pointless."
The Broker tossed Liara aside, her head and back hitting the bulkhead next to them and dazing her as she slid to the floor, her vision swimming. The Broker reloaded his rifle and aimed the barrel at Liara's head, ready to squeeze the trigger.
"I'm still here, you fuck!"
Shepard yelled over the chamber as she charged over the debris and toward the Broker. She would kill this bastard and live with Liara. She had gone through too much, experienced too much pain, had too much at stake, and worked too damn hard for all of it to end here! She needed Liara with her.
The thoughts quickly flew from her mind as she felt thick fingers around her throat. The Shadow Broker had caught her out of the air, bare-handed, mid-biotic charge.
"The Collectors didn't say anything about bringing your body to them while it still drew breath. You're too much trouble to keep alive."
Shepard reached for the pistol at her side, and then the Broker activated his personal omni-tool and she soon felt the terrible sting of an electric charge course through her body. Unable to move because of her convulsing muscles, Jane felt the floor slam into her back and the Broker's large foot on her chest plate, keeping her in place. She saw the gray barrel of his assault rifle point directly to her eye.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she turned her head toward Liara, who had regained enough consciousness to lift her own head. Leaf-green met ocean-blue and for the briefest of moments Shepard was afraid. This was the third occasion in her life where she was truly, utterly and completely afraid. The first was during the first waves of the Skyllian Blitz where she had almost lost her life defending Elysium. The second was during the destruction of the original Normandy where she had lost her life to the Collectors.
For the first time in a frighteningly long time, Shepard knew true sorrow. She would not be able to see that face anymore, that beautiful blue face. She wouldn't see those eyes again, wouldn't feel those lips against her own anymore. Jane wouldn't know the joy of sharing her mind with the wonderful individual that was Liara T'soni. She closed her eyes and felt tears escape again. Jane thought the one thing that would no doubt be the last thought she and Liara would share.
I love you… I've always… loved you.
Bang
… It had felt like an eternity passed from the deafening sound of a gunshot. Was she dead? She still felt the cold metal flooring beneath her head which suggested she was still alive, unless the afterlife had cold metal flooring.
Shepard opened her eyes and saw Liara –her lovely Asari- sitting with her back against a bulk head, cradling her bloodied arm and staring in shock at something just above her head. Jane turned and saw the Shadow Broker staring curiously at his weapon. The Revenant's barrel was bent sideways in a way that made it entirely impossible for a rifle to properly fire.
The Yahg snapped his eyes to the side and growled in anger. Jane followed his gaze and met her savior. From the pile of metal rubble and debris where the Broker had thrown half of his desk, the smoke from the barrel of a heavily modified S-97b Viper sniper rifle wafted upwards to the ceiling to be captured by air filters.
"I'm not out of the game yet, asshole."
Garrus squeezed off another round and it lodged itself into the meat of the Shadow Broker's throat. Dropping the now useless weapon, the Broker gasped and wheezed in pain as he clutched his heavily bleeding neck. Finding new strength in her limbs, Jane projected her biotic barrier outwards and sent the Broker flying off of her and into the center of the chamber.
"Liara, do it now!"
Raising her uninjured hand, Liara grasped the tank with her biotics. She felt every structural weakness in the glass and with a mighty effort, cracked the casing and shattered it with a wave of her fist.
The Broker stood too late. The white glowing liquid poured from the ceiling and washed over him. He began screaming in pain as his skin burned horribly and his barrier generator quickly overloaded.
With one final roar, the Yahg was bathed in liquid light and exploded in a flash, bringing an end to his reign in the shadows with a bang as his remains disintegrated into the air.
After a few minutes of silence, it hit Jane like a sack of Krogan as she closed her eyes. They had done it. The Shadow Broker is gone and all three of them were alive. All three of them. Her teammates were injured. Liara was injured! Shepard's eyes flew open and she scrambled to her feet and knelt over Liara's sitting position.
"Are you O.K.? Fuck, I should have been quicker, ignored the bullets flying at me, gotten to you sooner! Dammit Liara, I'm so, so sorry-"
Shepard couldn't finish her almost hysterical apology. She felt a gloved hand cup her face and looked up into wonderfully deep blue eyes. They shone with warmth and care and for the first time in so long, Jane felt the purest form of simple, magnificent relief. The love of her life was alive and safe.
"I'm fine, Jane… Please, go see to Garrus. He may be in need of more attention than I."
Nodding with tears of joy in her eyes, Shepard pushed a vial of medi-gel into Liara's good hand –squeezing it briefly- and then stood, walking quickly to Garrus' prone form. Liara watched her go to him, tears prickling at the back of her eyes. It was over. After two long, horrible, terrible years, she could rest easy. Taking the vial and stabbing it into her upper arm, she stood shakily on her legs and cradled her broken arm as the gel took effect and numbed the pain. The adrenaline drained from her body as she hobbled her way over to the central computer behind the broken remains of the Broker's desk.
With a start, she heard voices sound from the various interfaces before her.
"What's going on?" "Are we still online?" Shadow Broker, are you reading me?" "I need an update." "What's happening?" "Is it still connected?" "Shadow Broker, can you hear me?" "Shadow Broker, are you still there?" "What's our next move, Shadow Broker?" "Shadow Broker?" Shadow Broker?" "Shadow Broker?" "Shadow Broker?"
Liara had to close her eyes to think. All these voices, all these operatives, all these resources, all this information. All lost if something wasn't done. She knew she shouldn't. She should disassemble this entire console and remove all traces of this organization once and for all. That was what she intended. That was what she wanted for two years. To take everything the Broker had done, crush it into dust and burying him in it.
But she had to do something, and that something hopefully wouldn't turn her into what Shepard had angrily accused her of turning into, days before. Liara opened her eyes, hardened and determined. She tapped a holographic keypad with her uninjured hand and opened a communication channel.
A message was sent out across the galaxy to countless unidentifiable men and women.
"This is the Shadow Broker. The situation is under control."
