I don't own Final Fantasy VII or Mass Effect 2

Chapter Four

Knowledge is Power

"So who is this Liara?" Barret asked Garrus as they walked through the mobile base orbiting Hagalaz.

"She was a former teammate of ours. Then she took over as the Shadow Broker, the most powerful information broker in the galaxy."

Shepard buzzed at the entrance, and the image of Liara appeared on the screen above the door. "Shepard. I was wondering when you'ld get here."

"You knew I was coming?"

The door opened, and Liara was standing on the other side. "And I know why you're here."

She turned and walked in, followed by the entire group.

The collected visitors all looked around in awe at the numerous screens and systems all over the room.

"Your target has been very hard to trace since his attack on Horizon. Once you evacuated, he also left and has all but disappeared. But he will appear again."

"How do you know?" Shepard asked.

"Because he's after you, Shepard."

Shepard exchanged a glance with Cloud. "Why do you say that?"

Liara pulled up an image on her main screen that showed a flight path through the stars. "He passed by several other worlds before he came to Horizon, as if it was his intended target." Liara looked over at Shepard. "Another enemy of yours attempted the same thing, on the same colony, even."

Shepard nodded. "The Collectors. Because they were working for the Reapers."

There was a collected gasp from the natives at the mention of the Reapers, and Shepard realized what it had to mean. "He's working for the Reapers to eliminate me."

"I believe so."

"I don't know," Cloud said. "It's not Sephiroths's style to work for anybody, even one of these Reapers. He prefers to be alone, unless someone is working for him."

"Well I'll keep looking." Liara turned back to the screen. "When he left Horizon, he entered the Mass Relay and vanished. I haven't been able to determine his path from there."

Suddenly one of the computers began to light up, and Liara's assistant Feron ran over to her holding a datapad. "Liara! We have five confirmed reports of something unusual on five different worlds. Each one is similar to the scans of Horizon."

Liara took the datapad and studied it carefully. "Tuchanka, Noveria, Haestrom, the Citadel, and Rannoch."

Tali sucked her breath in. "The quarian home world?"

Liara nodded. "There is no doubt."

Tali seemed to deflate as she rubbed her arms with her hands. "Not the homeworld. First we lost it to the geth. And now this monster might be there too."

Shepard put his hands under Tali's helmet. "Tali, it'll be okay. We'll go and deal with this. I promise you."

Tifa came up and put a hand on Tali's shoulder. "Cloud and I will help as well." She looked over at Cloud, who nodded. "We know what it's like to fight for our world."

Shepard turned back to Liara. "The four of us will go to Rannoch."

"We need to divide up the rest of us to go for the other locations."

After half an hour of planning, the collection of heroes was divided up:

Cloud, Tifa, Shepard, and Tali would go to Rannoch.

Grunt, Barret, Zaeed, and Garrus were to go to Tuchanka.

Thane, Legion, Vincent, Mordin, and Cid would go to Haestrom.

Nanaki, Samara, Aeris, and Miranda were going to the Citadel.

Kasumi, Jack, Yuffie, Jacob, and Reeve were off to Noveria

As the group prepared, Reeve suddenly stopped and stood up. "I don't think I should go."

Cloud looked up, confused. "Why?"

Reeve gestured to the assembled group. "I'm nowhere near the fighter the rest of you are. I'd be useless in battle. I'm nothing but an administrator."

Aeris looked at him, concerned. "So what will you do?"

Reeve gestured to Liara and Feron. "I'll do what I can do best. I'll stay and help here."

Cloud nodded in agreement. "If that's what you want, then I agree." He went to Reeve and shook his hand."Good luck, Reeve."

Reeve smiled slightly. "I thought that was my line."

Shepard held Tali as they watched three of Liara's shuttles and the Hammerhead take off for the Mass Relay, and then boarded the Normandy to head for Rannoch.

As worried as Tali was, she couldn't help but be slightly excited. For the first time in her life, she would set foot on the homeworld. The first quarian since the war with the geth to do so.

"Are you alright, Tali?"

"I just don't know. Part of me thinks we should inform the Flotilla and get their help. But the other part wants to keep this to us."

Shepard just shook his head. "We can't risk the Migrant Fleet on this mission. We don't know what we're going to find there."

"I know. I just-"

Shepard silenced her as he pulled her into his cabin, and removed her mask. He kissed her, then pulled back and stared into her eyes. "I swear to you, on my life, my heart, and my soul. I will save your world."

Before she could say anything, Shepard kissed her again, and pulled her to the bed.

Cloud and Tifa sat together on their bed, Tifa leaning on Cloud as he stroked her hair.

"I still wish you wouldn't be involved in this."

"I know. But I've never stood on the sidelines, and I can't start now." Tifa ran her hand along his cheek. "But as long as we're together, I can face anything."

Cloud laid back so they were both lying on the bed, and tightened his hold on her. "I owe you for my sanity. My very identity. You risked losing yourself to find me in the Lifestream." Cloud rolled over so he was on top of her. "And I will never forget it."

Cloud leaned in and captured her lips, and the lights dimmed, leaving the two of them together in the dark.

Whew, the last exposition chapter I have planned for now.

Next Time:Action on Tuchanka

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