Author's Notes- So here we are, totally not almost a week behind. I'm so sorry for being late. I actually think I underestimated the lack of motivation the summer months provide, so for that, I will be changing the upload policy again. Until the college semester starts again, I will be doing a upload schedule where if the chapter's done, it'll get uploaded. No set schedule until late August. Thank you all, and I hope you understand. As always, please provide a review and give a follow or favorite too!
Chapter 13
Homefront
Login
Enter Alliance Security Protocol
Atlas
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Alliance login accepted
Enabling Torent Level Encryption
Welcome to Alliance Extranet Program
Admiral S. Hackett. Send queries now.
Open Communication Channel to Alliance Transport Authority
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Done. Start message now.
Send updates on Kodiak 1796's location. If diverted off course or disappears for more than 5 minutes, alert me.
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Response Received.
Copy Admiral. Any changes of flight path for more than 5 minutes will be reported. ATA out.
Goddess.
The young Asari frowned as she watched the messaging transpire on the screen in front of her.
It pushed her time table even further. There was no way she should contact Shepard again. It may spook her. Hell, the message she sent before shouldn't be so cryptic that Shepard would already be spooked.
Well, at least I thought ahead to actually have someone I trust to pilot her, she thought as she opened her omni-tool to begin her message to the pilot.
She needed to get Shepard long enough to talk to her, and she wasn't sure if 5 minutes was enough, but she had to make it work. All she had to do was introduce the threat they were facing to Shepard. Everything else could wait for later.
The trip to Barcelona took a miserable and tight 10 hours. Garrus had it worse with his large frame fitting in a Human transport. He looked on as Shepard got up and walk around to stretch, groaning every time he tried to stretch out, only to be stopped by the metal walls encasing them. The trip wasn't helped by the cryptic pilot that wouldn't talk when they both tried to strike up a conversation, more interested in checking his screens and omni-tool. At least they had paperwork and reading to prepare them for their new positions.
Shepard finally put down her data pad and nudged the sleeping form of Garrus when she could see land appear on the holo screens on the side of the shuttle.
She punched the open button, and the door responded by sliding open, revealing a broken city in the distance.
Like all cities, Barcelona was destroyed by the attacks from the Reapers. A Reaper corpse could be seen hanging from the city into the coastal waters. The scars of the city were as pronounced as London's, or San Diego's.
" Shit. This was a beautiful city." Shepard said as she looked out over the broken landscape. " It will be rebuilt, better than it ever was." She turned back to Garrus and smiled. " Just give it time."
Garrus had no idea how to comfort her, so he stood silently staring at her look over the view from their Kodiak, speeding over the streets and low buildings. It pained him to see any place like this, but looking at the destruction reminded him of Palaven, and how him and every other Turian on Earth knew nothing of what became of their home planet.
She finally noticed his silence, looking over him expression, taking in his silence as if she knew what he was thinking of. " You'll get back there. You'll see Palaven again," she said as she walked toward him, grasping his hands.
The moment was interrupted by the sudden noise of the door closing, grabbing the attention of Shepard and Garrus. Neither of them had shut the door, and the only other person who could do it was the pilot, and the closure of the door meant they were going into stealth mode.
She walked to the cockpit, looking to figure out why they had gone into stealth mode while flying over, perhaps, the most protected city on Earth.
She got to the front and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. She couldn't see his face through the dark tint of the pilot's flying helmet, making it hard to identify the features of his face. " You mind telling me why you shut the door, lieutenant?" she said as she spied the bars on his Alliance uniform.
The pilot pressed a few buttons, working with great precision that she hadn't seen since her time on the Normandy, and set the shuttle on auto-pilot as he turned around. Shepard could see herself in the dark glass of his helmet. He felt for the side of his helmet and pressed a button, revealing the face underneath the helmet.
" Sorry, Executor. We needed to go to stealth mode to get you for a few minutes without any suspicion, " said the pilot.
Shepard smiled at the realization of who was piloting. " And you couldn't reveal yourself when we had gotten on, Steve? "
He turned back around, taking back the controls of the shuttle as they moved closer to their landing zone. " Nah, that would've ruined the surprise, and it would've raised suspicions even more than you going dark for a few minutes."
" Well, Cortez. Mind telling me why we are in stealth mode to begin with?" She said as Garrus finally reached the cockpit at the mention of Lt. Cortez.
The inertia dampeners did their best to hide the Kodiak's downward movement, but they didn't fool anyone in the shuttle. " I don't know, but I'm sure our friendly neighborhood Shadow Broker will tell you," he said as he motioned for them to head back to the exits.
While they moved back to the exits, Shepard turned and shouted at the pilot. " It was nice seeing you again, Steve. I hope you shoot me a message sometime when you get some leave. Hang out, just like old times.
They could hear hearty chuckling from the pilot's chair. " I'll be sure to take you up on that offer. Also, I'm Lieutenant Jordan Morris, Commander. I don't know a Lieutenant Steve Cortez. We have to keep suspicions on the DL."
They felt the shuttle lower down to ground level and the doors opened to reveal Liara waiting for them, working on a data pad, undoubtedly working on maintaining the Shadow Broker's network. Shepard jumped down, her balance almost failing her as she landed on the ground. She was only saved from the out stretched Turian who steadied her as he landed more gracefully. She turned and nodded in thanks.
Liara approached and embraced Shepard. "Shepard, thank the Goddess. I need to talk to you quickly. We only have a few minutes before they get suspicious."
" Before who gets suspicious?" she asked quizingly.
The Asari backed from the embrace and started to nervously pace in front of them. " I don't know exactly, but I believe Hackett may be one of them."
Knowing Liara, she would have at least some form of proof. She is the Shadow Broker and may have come across some information that would be pretty damning.
" I hope you have some evidence to present," Shepard said as she crossed her arms.
The Asari cocked her hips in confidence. " You think the Shadow Broker would show up without accurate information?" She didn't let Shepard respond. " We don't have enough time for it all to be laid out right now. Hackett has you under his watch and if you aren't back on path in," she looked at her chrono, " three minutes, He's going to know something is wrong. In the meantime, take this clean omni-tool. Both of you." She held out two omni-tool bands, prompting them to take them. " They are clean. Don't let anyone know you have them please?" She motioned to the cockpit, to Cortez, telling him to get ready for liftoff. " I'll message you again, and both of us will lay out what we have."
Shepard wanted to ask who Liara meant by both, but they didn't have the time as she was quickly Shepherded into the shuttle for the remaining trip to the Council compound.
As the door shut and the lift of the Kodiak could be felt from the inside, Shepard approached Cortez in the cockpit.
Garrus retook his place, answering messages. It would be best to let Shepard at least handle it and bring him in later on what Liara so urgently needed.
Shepard leaned on the pilot's chair, drawing Steve's attention by using his alias. " Morris, she leave you any other instructions for me?"
Cortez looked up from the console, opening his omni-tool, losing at the message Liara had just sent him. " Yea. She says that there is an information drive at your new apartment. You'll know where to look. "
" That' a puzzle if I've ever known one."
Shepard was glad to finally leave the cramped Kodiak behind for the warm weather of the city.
As they left the shuttle, Shepard stole a glance at Garrus. She watched him smile, giving approval of the weather. She chuckled " Better than London, right?"
" If I wasn't wearing my armor, the cold rain would've killed me before the Reapers," he joked. " But, I'm glad where we're staying is going to have at least cool weather."
" This is actually warm," she said as she approached the keypad to the new apartment that the Council supplied her. She turned to face Garrus, patiently waiting with their bags in hand. " You ready to start our new lives?"
She earned a slight chuckle from him. He moved in closer, becoming plush with her, before he reached around her and pressed the open button.
She could feel his rough, battle-hardened plates through his tunic. She just wanted to lay her head on his chest and stay there forever, but at least they had tonight, at least after they checked the apartment and Liara's information.
She opened her bag and pulled out the visor Garrus had gotten her, placing it on her head. The glass pane over her left eye flicked with a blue tint as it booted up. She looked over to see Garrus doing the same with his. She turned on the surveillance monitoring program, and gave a slow scan of the front room as she walked in.
Garrus decided to take the upstairs while she swept the lower level, comprised of a neat, but small kitchen and an impressive living room. As she finished, she opened the shutters that hid the view of the city from the living room.
The high rise apartment had a spectacular view of the old city. Her visor had to compensate for the penetrating sunlight that entered the room.
Her concentration on the view was broken by the booming footsteps coming down the stairs. " If it was hotter and Turian architecture, it would be just like Cipritine, Garrus said as he leaned on the railing. " The second floor is clean. Same down here?"
Shepard gave a slight nod in reply. " Yea, it's beautiful. We'll have to go to Cipritine sometimes. Possibly for the bonding or marriage?"
He strolled over to her and embraced her, grabbing her hips and moving plush with her as he nuzzled her neck. " You'll love it. We just have to get back there first."
Suddenly, Shepard remembered Liara's package. She had to look around to find what the Asari was talking about, and possibly get to the bottom of what the hell warranted taking her off the grid.
She turned around, still embraced, and looked up to the Turian. " Garrus, We got to search for the stuff Liara left behind. She said, " I'll know where to look." Do you have any idea?"
The giant Turian shifted his weight, loosening his embrace as he looked around the apartment. " Well, we searched her apartment in Nos Astra. Maybe she hid it in something similar." He pointed to a display case housing small artifacts. " Possibly there?"
She broke into stride to look at the case, lamenting how she had just glanced over the case, not noticing the contents. " What the hell is in there? "
When she finally was able to make out the contents of the case, she spun around. " I'm assuming this is your doing?"
Garrus finally approached to see what she was talking about. He noticed the tiny model ships in the case. Her entire collection was taken from the Normandy and placed in their new home. " No. It must have been the Alliance." Garrus truly hadn't given their possessions on the Normandy a thought until that moment. He was more focused on the health of Shepard and himself. The prefab work for his advisor position also was a burden. It was basically starting from the bottom, as everything in place before had been destroyed in the war.
" Well, she left a disk in a display case in Nos Astra. She could've done the same here," she said as she felt around the case until she felt and pushed a small button, revealing a small disk, undoubtedly holding the information needed.
She retrieved the disk, and inserted it into the omni-tool Liara gave her, not risking the terminal on the desk for fear of tampering.
The omni-tool glowed to life, revealing multiple files. Her mission reports from Mahavid, Namakli, and Despoina, research on indoctrination, and a video message from Liara herself were all present.
As she loaded the video, she muttered to herself. " What did you want with this, Liara?"
She gained Garrus's attention as his superior hearing picked up her question. He took position behind her, not touching her to break her concentration on the information. He just looked over her shoulder to take in what Liara had to say.
The static faded out to reveal Liara in a dimly lit room, giving off the Shadow Broker persona. " Shepard, you must be watching this if I didn't have enough time." The Asari clasped her hands together, to stop her from fidgeting. " In that case, I will have gone deeper than I'm used to. Don't talk to anyone who says they are working on my behalf, and don't expect direct contact for some time."
" But, why?"
Shepard paused and turned to Garrus. " Maybe she is compromised for planting the disk, or for diverting our shuttle." She became wide-eyed when she put the puzzle together. " She thinks more than one person in the Alliance is compromised. The apartment even if it was given to us by the Council, the Alliance provided it to them. Our shuttle was also Alliance. It isn't that hard to keep tabs on us. It would just take many people."
" But, who in the Alliance?"
She turned background to make herself comfortable. " Maybe she'll tell us?" she said motioning to the still of Liara on her omni-tool.
She pressed the play button, unfreezing Liara. " A month after the firing of the Crucible, someone in the Alliance approached the Broker asking for all information I had on the Leviathan and indoctrination." She adjusted the small drone recording her. " I backtracked it to Hackett, but I gave him what I had. I don't know what he wants with it, but it can't be good. With the slow progress being made on everything that except Human, were all stuck on Earth with the leaders of the most powerful races in the galaxy, and one of the highest ranking Alliance members are asking me for information on indoctrination powers, I would say more than one person in the Alliance are trying a power play to control or take out every other race."
I can't believe this, Shepard thought. Not only was the job of the savior of the galaxy over, but the Alliance was the enemy for once. There was no way she could support the controlling or genocide of other races, even if it was from her own species. After all the progress Humanity had made in the past 50 years, it was all going to be ruined by killing good people, who can help us, not only in peace, but in time of war. The fight against the Reapers showed that.
Spirits. Garrus didn't know what to think of what Liara said. He had no doubt that Shepard opposed the idea of Humanity looking to commit mass genocide or slavery. She wasn't one to support Human dominance and, hell, he sometimes thought that she preferred other races based on their actions and views to her own.
She finally broke the silence. " This brings a whole new meaning to an inter-species, awkwardness thing."
" Always looking to make a joke. I will applaud you for making a good one though," he responded as he chuckled, trying to make the situation as normal as he could.
She shifted, trying to move closer, and make Garrus know where she stood. " I hope I don't have to tell you where I stand on this."
" No, I know how you think, and I'm glad I know you that well," he motioned around the room, " or this room would be a lot more messy."
" Good. Now there is nothing we can do but dig into this on our own. We have nothing but a rogue Admiral with high pull in the Alliance. He had access to my mission reports, and research, Alliance and otherwise. What Liara told us is worrying, so we need to play dumb to make sure we don't give away Liara or ourselves," she said as she copied the files to Garrus's tool. " It's time for me to brush up on my missions."
There was one person the came to Garrus's mind who they could tell, and he was now glad that he had pull in the Hierarchy. " I think we should bring my father in on this. He was there for the Reaper threat, It would be no different now."
Shepard paused, taking stock in the words areas spoke. They rang true, but Reapers is different from the military organization that controls the planet they currently reside on. In the end though, a former detective, who was now one of the most powerful people in galactic politics would help. " Yes, that's a good idea."
She shifted over to the couch before she spoke again. " It's going to be a long first day."
" Tell me about it." he said as he reached for his omni-tool. " and here I thought we were going to be relieving stress tonight."
