Author's notes: Hey everyone, not that much action in this chapter, but I needed a segway into the big stuff. We are coming up on the ending soonish so keep it up with the awesome reviews and faves and story alerts... all in all you guys are awesome! Keep up the good work. I am planning that before the final chapter there will be a massive overhaul of every chapter. Just want to make the story consistent and have some quality control. But don't worry, when it comes up to the last chapter, I'll let you all know. :D

Chris writes: Yah, the anon that said "I love this story" was me; I forgot my login info, lol. Maybe when I find it I'll review it proper! Great writing, keep it coming!

Thanks! I wish you the best of luck finding that login info! xD lol

EDIT: FIRST TYPO! I had called Kenneth Donnelly Keith ONCE by accident... It's true I was having trouble remembering his name but I thought I fixed all the instances after I double checked... BAH HUMBUG! Thanks to chrizzle88 for finding it!

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you chapter 7! I did this one late at night because I wanted to get it out as soon as possible. If there are any bad typoes or grammar mistakes, or even if the writing is total crap. DO NOT hesitate to tell me. Enjoy!

"Listen, I took out so much of your organization all on my own, Darner. If you don't want to follow me, then I'll do it again with what's left."

Shepard delivered his ultimatum to the shaking blue suns leader. Incidentally he also had a gun aimed at point blank at his head. But that's only a small detail. Their discussion about the role the Blue Suns would play in Shepard's plan had gotten a little heated. They didn't want to be involved, and Shepard was going to change that.

"Rule one: Don't fuck with Shepard, but especially don't pull a gun on him in discussions."

Shepard added as he pulled the leader up. Just as quickly as he had helped him up, Shepard shot him in the head. The now headless body sunk to the floor again. Shepard went back to sit down on the couch. He looked at a guard.

"Tell the Blue Suns that if they don't want to end up like their leader, they will join up with me."

The guard nodded and left to deliver the message. Shepard brought his left hand to rest on Aria's head and began to stroke her crest. Shepard had made Aria into his own personal play toy. He gave her an outfit to wear like the dancers at her own club, Afterlife, but it was cut into two pieces, exposing her mid-section. It was much skimpier than the standard. Shepard didn't need to restrain her, the fire that had burned in her before was put out and would never be relit again. Where would she go anyway?

"That is how you take care of allies Aria, you make them fear leaving you." He whispered to her. "But you know that." He laughed as he beckoned the Blood pack leader in.

A krogan in crimson red armor barged into the room, and upon seeing Shepard he charged up until he was just a foot from Shepard. The guards all had their guns pointed on him, and Shepard did nothing to make them do anything otherwise. Instead he began to speak to the krogan.

"You know why the Blood Pack is so small now?"

The krogan did not answer; instead he huffed at the fact that Shepard brought up.

"It's because the others were in my way." He pointed a finger at the krogan. "I know you're smart enough not to get in my way."

The krogan laughed. "You can kill me, but you can't kill the Blood Pack."

Now it was Shepard's time to laugh. "That's the plan." He pulled out his pistol and shot.

The bullet fizzed as it made contact with the krogan's shield. The krogan hit his chest in triumph.

"HA! It will take more than that to kill me, human, I know that you would rather kill me and take control than making a deal with me! How do you think that I got in control of Blood Pack? I wrestled it from the cold, dead hands of the vorcha before me!"

Shepard was unfazed, and instead smirked. "I'm more than human, krogan." In the blink of an eye, Shepard had climbed onto the Krogan's back. His omniblade glistened as he into the krogan's hump, and then led the omniblade to rest in the top of his head. The body sunk down, and Shepard rode it until it hit the floor. Shepard dismounted and walked back, casually finding a seat on the couch again, but this time covered in blood. Again Shepard's hand found Aria's crest and he began to stroke it. He felt a shiver go down Aria's spine, and just as quickly as he had mounted the Krogan, he slapped her on the face.

"You want to end up like him?" He yelled at her, pointing to the carcass on the floor.

"... No." She uttered. He laughed at her submission. He motioned to a guard.

"Same deal as before. And I have the eclipse leader coming soon so bring me my lunch."

The guard left to do his bidding. It's good to be king. Shepard thought as he sat back on the couch.

Tali was having a hard time with everything. First, Liara Garrus and Ashley had gone to do something about Shepard... and without her. The excursion had gone badly, that's all she knew, because neither of the three were very forthcoming with information. Garrus even told her it was none of her business, bringing both into a fight. Tali felt that relationships and moods were strained to say the least all over the ship. We are beginning to come apart like what happened after Shepard had died from the Collectors. She thought. Maybe I should take Garrus' advice. She headed into the war room, what she referred to as the Shadow lair, a joke she kept to herself about the newly refurbished war room. Tali was going to attempt something crazy: convince the Shadow Broker to tell her what happened on that excursion. Since Garrus was mad at her and Ashley was terribly drunk with James at present, Liara was her only source.

The lair itself was dimly lit, with the light of many consoles being the only source of light. The Broker herself stood working at the largest source of light, the main console. The information drone known as Glyph gracefully floated over to Tali.

"Greetings Tali'zorah vas Normandy." It chirped. "The Shadow Broker is currently busy at the moment. Please try again later."

"Liara, can I talk with you?" Tali suggested out loud to the Shadow Broker, past the drone. "You've been at work ever since you came back."

"I'm fine Tali, if that's what you are getting at." Liara assured her from the console. "I don't need anything right now, just need to finish working."

Tali sighed. "Maybe I am the one that needs something right now Liara."

Liara went silent for a moment. "Is it about your fight with Garrus?" Liara still did not look up from the console. Tali began to walk down the stairs past the drone, eventually coming to a stop next to Liara.

"Yes, I want to know why he's so angry about the mission you all went on."

Liara sighed. "No I don't want to talk about it."

"I just want to know why Garrus is so upset." Tali pouted.

"It was a total failure. That's all you need to know."

"But something more must have happened. I've never seen Garrus like that, except when Shepard was helping him with Sidonis." She edged a little closer to Liara. "What happened?"

Liara tore her eyes off the screen and faced Tali. She looked annoyed, and Tali couldn't tell if it was at her, or because of the story.

"We had Shepard in our hands. We had hit him with a sedative long range, fought past Aria's mercs, and were almost on the shuttle when Shepard woke up." She paused, shaking her head as she spoke. "I had given him too little of a dosage. It was my fault." She looked back at Tali. "Then he got away and we were forced to leave." Tali watched as a single tear made its way down Liara's face.

Liara slammed the console with both hands. Tali jumped at the sudden outburst.

"We were so close." She whispered. "We could have had him." Her eyes shut and more tears began to flow. Tali put an arm on Liara but it was shrugged off.

"Don't worry, there will be another chance." Tali consoled. "Next time you'll get the dosage right."

"Tali I don't think you realize." Her anguish shown clearly in her voice. "That might have been our last chance at getting Shepard back."

Tali shook her head. "No, there is al-"

"NO!" Liara fought to regain her composure. "Aria probably has him under lock and key, no matter how badly their plans have been compromised; Shepard is too good of an asset to give up." Liara interrupted. "It's over. The only hope is waiting until Shepard and Aria do whatever they have been planning and we get lucky."

Tali stood strong. "There is always another way. We just got to keep trying."

Liara shook her head. "You were always so naive Tali, it's over. We failed. Now it's time to wait for what Shepard and Aria have planned... and even then we don't know if we could get them."

Tali stepped back defensively. "Well my only worry is not about Shepard, but about all of us. We haven't had any fun together, all that is going on is this business with Shepard and it's tearing us apart. You act like this is all your own trouble to bear. We all care about Shepard, why don't you let us help." With that, Tali turned and left the room in a hurry. She didn't want any sympathy or further discussion. She had said her part, and now she needed some other place to go. Liara looked down at her console. She couldn't focus anymore, the cry of her comrade echoing in her head. This whole thing IS tearing us apart. She thought rather hazily. I should apologize. She quickly put her console in sleep mode and walked off. She stumbled on the stairs in a tired haze. But maybe after a short nap.

Shepard took another bite out of his sandwich. As he chewed on his couch he triumphantly looked down at the cowering Salarian in front of him. He was speaking some nonsense about knowing that he killed the other leaders for control and that he will do it to him too. Why are salarians always right? Shepard thought to himself. Shepard swallowed his bite, took out his pistol and began inspecting it.

"Sayn, remember how you got into power? I was the one that convinced you to grow a pair and take control of eclipse, remember?"

The salarian nodded furiously.

"You're a smart boy, and I don't like to kill smart people when I can use them. What are you specialties?"

"Smuggling, security, espionage, infiltration, sabotage. You name it." He desperately rattled off. He weakly gave a smile in an attempt to appeal to Shepard.

"Infiltration and sabotage. I like those. Relinquish command of Eclipse, and I can then employ your services for myself. That is my deal." He took another bite of his sandwich.

Sayn gave a surprised expression on his face.

"You mean I'm not going to die?" His face displayed an incredibly happy grin. "Of course I'll do that!" Sayn dropped to his knees and bowed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He exclaimed. "I won't let you down! I'll start right away!"

Shepard laughed. "Good." He motioned to one of the guards and they wheeled in a large display unit, similar to the one in the war room on the Normandy. Shepard got up and began working the console.

"The council currently is on the Destiny Ascension as it is being repaired from the damage it suffered from the Reapers. We need something to force them to get down into the ambassadorial embassy down in Vancouver. Then we need to find a way to get inside and take out the council before anyone else knows what is happening. I will then rise up in the power vacuum and take control. You've got 3 hours; I want at least a rough plan or I'm looking for a new salarian."

Sayn brought a hand up to his chin in thought. "I can do that."

"Good." Shepard motioned to a guard. "Make sure he has a room and whatever he needs for planning." He flicked his hand in an upward motion to signal that was all he wanted. "And nice sandwich by the way."

Liara had only slept a few hours but the rest had done her good. Before Tali had come in, she had sent agents out to infiltrate Aria's ranks. Now she would be able to see what their initial efforts have uncovered. But first, Liara decided on a little side trip before she made her way into the war room. She punched the button for the engineering deck. The elevator hummed downwards the extra few floors and the doors opened to reveal the engineering deck.

Liara had gone to that floor several times to talk to Javik, but she never took the time to explore this section of the ship like Shepard had. She was still repulsed of the room that the ANN reporter had used even though she had left. In fact she never took the time to check out the actual engineering rooms even though she had visited the floor. She felt awkward and nervous like when she first was on the Normandy as she stood outside the engineering room doors. Well here it goes. The doors parted ways, revealing a flight of stairs went down into the bowels of the ship and another set of doors. Well that was anti-climactic. Liara decided to take the doors; taking a mental note of the stairs should Tali not be there. She slipped inside and was greeted warmly by both Donnellys. Or rather one Donnelly and one soon-to-be Donnelly. They began rattling off all the specs of the engine to Liara, who was lost within seconds. Soon they began a bantering about certain specs. She waited for a moment of reprieve in their banter before speaking up.

"Do you know where Tali is?" Liara asked when she found one.

"She went down below to clean some of the exhaust filters." Kenneth answered.

"If you ask me she sounded a little depressed. She NEVER does exhaust filter cleaning duty, says it's too quiet and lonely." Gabriella added.

Liara nodded. I think she will welcome a distraction from her work... Even if it is me. "Thanks, I was looking for her."

Liara turned and hurried out, as the couple began bickering if Tali was upset or not. Kenneth promptly began displaying a terrible understanding of women even before Liara left. She hurried down the stairs. Once at the bottom, Liara saw her target; Tali was hunched over a small exhaust filter placed on a small work table in the bottom decks. She was cursing the filters for not cooperating. She's definitely upset.

"Tali?" Liara asked, testing the waters.

Tali turned and saw it was Liara. "Oh, it's you." She crossed her arms and turned away. "Here to yell at me some more... on my own turf even? Why can't you just let me be?"

Liara shook her head. "Tali, I came to say I'm sorry… I'm sorry for what I did." She attempted a gesture of goodwill, but ended up just bringing her hands down onto her legs. "I was tired, and I really wasn't thinking about what I said. I'm sorry."

Tali's arms uncrossed and she turned back to face her. She sighed. "I forgive you Liara. We quarians learn not to hold grudges on other crewmates very early on. You've also been a good friend to me."

Liara's expression eased. "Thank you Tali." She hesitated. "I was also wondering... if you would care to work with me up in the war room? I could use the help... and the company."

Tali took a step closer. "You mean in the Shadow lair? I would love to."

Liara laughed. "The… what lair?"

"For someone as mysterious as the Shadow Broker, there needs to be a place that the Shadow Broker works that sounds just as mysterious." Tali answered. "It's just a little thing I made up."

"Well I like it. To the Shadow Lair we go!" Liara put her arm around Tali and lead her up the stairs to the elevator. "I'll fill you in on all the details in the elevator."

Sayn jumped when he realized that Shepard had entered his small planning room. He had been absorbed in his plans and didn't notice the passage of time.

"Your time is up, what do you have?"

He stepped back proudly from his plans. "Well I have more than a rough draft... I even have a small presentation made for you."

Shepard smiled. It was a good idea keeping him alive. "Good. Show me."

The salarian hit a few buttons at the console and the Destiny Ascension appeared on the display.

"The Destiny Ascension is currently being repaired with the council on board." He hit a button and a small section of the ship began to flash red. "This is the life support. It is located next to and connected to one of the power cells of the engines. If the engine were to send a large current to the power cell by a stupid wiring mistake of one of the engineers, it could short out the power cell, which would also knock out the life support. The power cell would have to be replaced, which would take days with what I have planned in store for them."

Shepard laughed. It was a REALLY good idea keeping him alive.

"I'm impressed Sayn."

"But I'm not done."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Go on."

The salarian excitedly hit some more buttons on the console. The Destiny Ascension gave way for the Vancouver ambassadorial building.

"I discovered that the council will be staying here, but in emergency council quarters. It's a small bunker underneath the complex." A small box underneath the building appeared in red. Sayn hit more buttons and another smaller box appeared. Protruding from the box was a small tube. All blinked in red. "Now there's a garbage waste shaft that empties out into the garbage disposal administration building located elsewhere in Vancouver. There is a waste management area that is located on the same level as the council bunker. Infiltration and exfiltration will occur at this place. The only downside is that you will have to blow the wall to get to the chambers. The garbage disposal administration building will be closed for several days because their recycler will be broken. Eclipse engineers will be commissioned to work on it, so we won't have to worry about being stealthy on the way in and out."

Shepard did not try to hide how impressed he was. "Sayn you did great work I'm not going to lie."

Sayn smiled. "It was a good thing you kept me alive, eh Shepard?"

Shepard nodded. "I'd be interested to see what your full capabilities are."

Sayn chuckled. "The plans aren't fully finished, but I'll finish them soon."

"I'll check on you in the morning then." Shepard turned to leave the room. The plan was even better than he had hoped. Everything was going perfectly. He shifted his pants a little. Time to celebrate how happy I am with a certain special someone. He smiled at the thought as he headed to his chambers. Maybe this time I'll stop when she begs me to. Shepard smirked to himself. Sike!