Author's Note: Holy crap, I forgot to add this chapter. Well, its here now. Good thing the story manages without it, but I think this chapter should be here anyway. So enjoy!

Chapter 4: Hagalaz

The Normandy finally came upon Hagalaz, its nearby sun bathing the planet with light so intensely that its surface seemed to glow a light orange. The Kodiak shuttle left the Nomandy's hangar with Shepard, Liara, Miranda, and Legion all on board and ready to take down the Shadow Broker and whatever he threw at them.

As the Kodiak flew down past the sunward facing half of the planet, the air currents grew fierce as the Kodiak flew through dark gray clouds and a stormy atmosphere. Off in the distance, lightning was flashing, and a large vessel that could only be the Shadow Broker's lay perfectly still.

"And there's our dastardly supervillain's evil lair" Shepard quipped. Miranda rolled her eyes in response.

The Kodiak continued its flight, coming up alongside the Shadow Broker's ship as Liara talked about the planet: "Hagalaz. The oceans boil during the day, then snap-freeze ten minutes after sundown"

"Lovely" Miranda deadpanned. "And the Shadow Broker lives in this?"

"His ship follows the sunset. Completely undetectable in the storm, unless you know where to look"

"How do we get inside?" Shepard asked.

"The shuttle bay is locked down. We'll need to land on the ship and hunt for a hatch, but we can't stay outside for long: there's a constant lighting storm where the hot and cold air collide"

"A death world…" Shepard mused.

Finally, the Kodiak came up to the side of the Shadow Broker's ship and opened its hatch. Miranda and Liara put on breather masks while Shepard made sure his Death Mask was sealed. Being a Geth, Legion would be unaffected by the atmosphere.

The four loaded their weapons and then leaped onto the vessel as the Kodiak pulled back and out of sight.

"Its hard to pinpoint in this lightning" Liara said, "…but I'm picking up signals from a communications array near the back of the ship. There's nothing below but maintenance equipment. We have to find an entrance near the back shielding"

Acknowledging, Shepard moved forward first, going down a ramp and ending up on the left-most edge of the ship. Shepard pushed forward and silently hoped that he wouldn't go plummeting off the edge. He didn't get far when maintenance drones suddenly popped out to engage. Not knowing why they were choosing to attack him but not also particularly caring, Shepard drew his hand-cannon and destroyed them.

"They must think we're debris from the storm…" Liara mused.

Continuing a ways before taking a ramp back up to the raised center of the ship, Shepard continued to advance, until coming to a pair of capacitors that seemed to be discharging blasts of electricity.

Terrific Shepard thought. And then, to make things more interesting, a small squad of Shadow Broker agents showed up and immediately began shooting at Shepard and company. Thinking quickly, Shepard shot at the capacitors, which exploded upon being shot, but not before letting out a massive electrical surge that killed the Shadow Broker agents.

Continuing past the destroyed capacitors, and steeling himself against the relentless storm winds, Shepard turned around and descended another ramp so he was back on the left-most side of the ship. LOKI mechs where there to shoot at him but a quick usage of Overload from Miranda and they were reduced to a pile of nuts and bolts. Continuing forward, Shepard and crew came upon more capacitors and Shadow Broker agents. Shepard repeated the strategy that had served him well the last time, and once again, the Shadow Broker agents were fatally electrocuted save two who went down in short order.

Moving forward just a little bit, the group came to a rod control. Shepard activated it, lowering one of the lightning rods adorning the Shadow Broker's ship. A mess of Shadow Broker agents, engineers, and vanguards rushed in to deal with him and his team, prompting Shepard to duck into the trench left behind by the moved lightning rod. Shepard scanned around hoping to find another capacitor to set off, and eventually found it. Rather then shoot at it immediately, Shepard waited until a fair number of Shadow Broker agents were nearby before destroying it with a well-placed shot.

More LOKI mechs came out from the left-most side of the ship, shooting at Shepard and company on sight.

"Please reconsider your aggressive attitude" The lead LOKI mech said plainly whilst continuing to shoot at Shepard. It received a blown off head as its answer.

Once all the LOKI mechs were gone, Shepard descended down the left-most side yet again, this time going down lower and lower until he was at the very edge. Going down even more, Shepard could hear Liara say exactly what he was thinking:

"Looking down was clearly a mistake"

As they kept moving down, more Shadow Broker agents jumped down to meet them, assisted by more LOKI mechs. Unleashing his Revenant on them, Shepard cut down what enemies he could before going behind cover. One LOKI mech continued to fire at his position and got blown to pieces by Miranda's Overload for its troubles. As Legion used a combat drone to keep the remaining Agents busy, Liara and Miranda used pistol-fire to finish them off. Moving forward a little more up a series of ramps, Shepard turned to the right and opened a door into the ship's interior.

The interior in question was massive and spacious, and seemed to Shepard more like the garage on a cruiser then anything else, albeit one with more lightning rods attached to large slanting black pillars. As they entered, Liara commented in amazement: "This ship is incredible. It must have taken decades to build in secret"

"Well Vasir had said that the Shadow Broker's been in power for that long" Shepard replied, and then adding: "I wonder what happened to the contractors"

"I think we can guess"

Shepard moved further a bit and accessed some motion dampeners lining the wall. As he did, Liara continued: "Navigating a storm is brutal. If the ship's engines stop for even a moment…" Liara trailed off before finishing simply: "…at least the Shadow Broker would go down with us"

"That's comforting" Shepard deadpanned as he found power cells with which to re-power his Collector particle beam. Looking around, he saw a ramp leading up to another door. Taking it, Shepard found himself outside again, probably on the opposite end of the ship. As they continued to advance, Shepard took a good look out at the never-ending mass of clouds of a sickly light brown color, as if the whole planet had been polluted past the point of habitation. Maybe it had, for all Shepard knew.

Just like sunny Tuchunka Shepard mused.

Going up the winding series of ramps again, Shepard saw an Asari-led group of agents waiting for him. They immediately unleashed a merciless torrent of assault rifle fire that dispelled his shields. Cursing, Shepard fell back and shot at the nearby capacitor, again, killing all of the enemies present save the Asari vanguard, who went down in short order with two hand-cannons, a Revenant, and a Vindicator all shooting at her simultaneously.

More agents were off in the distance, and with no more capacitors to overload and his shields still recharging, Shepard instead opted to snipe at them from a distance with his Viper as Legion did the same with its Widow. Going further down the ramps, they encountered more agents who put up only meager resistance before meeting the same fate as their fellows. LOKI mechs came up from the side to provide support fire, forcing Shepard and company behind cover as their pistol shots flew through the air. But of course, LOKI mechs were never known for their durability. A few sniper shots from Legion and Shepard and biotics from Liara and Miranda made short work of them.

"Too bad they weren't a hundred yards away" Shepard quipped to Miranda. "I've yet to see you make good on that claim you made back at the Cerberus station"

"Ha. Ha." Miranda deadpanned but nevertheless smiled in response.

The group moved back up to the center of the ship and encountered more heavy resistance from vanguard-led agents, having to take cover once again as rockets fired from heavies flew through the air. Liara used pull to send the heavies into the air while Shepard and Legion focused fire on the Vanguards. One Vanguard unexpectedly showed some intelligence and used the "zoom and blast" tactic on Shepard, disrupting his shields instantly and causing some of the good commander's blood to go flying out. Shepard responded by switching to his Scimitar and gunning her down before she could get away.

Another agent hurled a flash grenade, temporarily blinding Shepard. He sought cover, waiting for both his vision to clear and his shields to recharge. One agent got bold and tried to rush his position and paid for his recklessness with a shotgun blast to the chest. Meanwhile, Liara shot down the last heavy, and the final Vanguard went down to a sniper shot from Legion.

Moving forward, Shepard came upon some panel controls and went up to access them. Upon activating them, Shepard took the new route they had made down and continued along the catwalks, shooting what Shadow Broker agents there were to stand in his way. After taking out an engineer and vanguard-led squad, Shepard activated another lightning rod to open up another pathway. As he advanced down it, Shepard observed: "Not even a guard rail. I bet the Broker's agents love patrolling the hull."

"At least the view is nice" Liara replied simply. Continuing up aways, Liara pointed at a nearby hatch: "That hatch leads directly to the communication signals" Liara attempted to access it but found that it was locked.

"Don't worry, I've got a bypass shut program that can crack it"

"How long will it take?" Shepard asked as Liara got to work.

"I don't know Shepard" Liara said exasperated. "I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before…well, not this one anyway"

As more Shadow Broker agents ran in to intercept them, Shepard shouted to Liara: "Are you sure that shut will work?"

"Its illegal, even on Illium. It didn't come with a warranty"

"But you tested it right?"

"Here come more of them!" Liara shouted as Shadow Broker vanguards entered the scene.

"Tell me you tested it!"

"No time to talk!" Liara responded. Shepard sighed. Figures.

As Miranda, Liara, and Legion handled most of the agents shooting at them in the vicinity, Shepard drew his Viper and picked off the heavies raining rockets down on them in the distance, also making sure to shoot and overload every single nearby capacitor in the hopes that the electrical charges would thin the resistance a little and not electrocute his allies to death.

"Liara!" Shepard shouted.

"I'm sure it won't be much longer…" Liara said hesitantly. Shepard rolled his eyes.

"Remember the old days when you could just slap omni-gel on everything?"

"That security upgrade made a lot of people unhappy…" Liara mumbled before shouting: "Look out! More on the way!"

Indeed, several more agents and engineers came swarming in. Shepard gunned down one of the engineers while Liara used her biotics to send another spiraling into the air and right off the side of the ship. Legion shot down a vanguard and another agent while Miranda used her biotics and SMG fire to keep the rest at bay.

"Rocket drones, front of the ship!"

At this, Miranda changed her attention to the drones, using Overload to either severely weaken or outright destroy them while Shepard and Liara continued to shoot at the Shadow Broker agents. As the last agent fell, Liara remarked: "These attacks are unorganized. They'd be more effective if they all attacked at once"

"Please don't give the mercs ideas" Shepard said exasperated.

As Shepard overloaded the capacitors again, their electrical blasts arcing this way and that and killing the vanguards and agents unfortunate enough to be in their path, Shepard remarked: "Looks like that shut's a piece of junk"

"It will work just give it more time!" Liara snapped back.

Another flash grenade went off, blinding Shepard and leaving him an easy shot for the nearby agents. Falling back behind cover as the shots continued to come his way, Shepard re-loaded his Revenant and waited for his vision to clear. As he did, he could hear Legion continue to fire off its Widow, cutting down a Shadow Broker thug with every shot.

"The next wave looks like a big one!" Liara said as Shepard finally started to regain his vision.

"You just had to give them tactical advice"

"But now there will be fewer left to deal with inside" Liara suggested, trying to give her mistake a silver lining.

"Keep dreaming T'soni" Shepard replied as he shot down another vanguard. More rocket drones came in, dumping their payload down on Shepard and company's position and forcing him out of his cover before Miranda's overload took them out of the equation. Shadow Broker agents, vanguards, and heavies continued to fire at them from all sides. Shepard overloaded the nearby capacitors again and Liara and Miranda threw in biotic warps for good measure. Between it all the resistance was thinned a little, but as the rocket that missed Shepard's head by mere inches attested, the fire-fight wasn't over.

Gunning down the heavy who had shot at him, Shepard kept some more agents at bay with suppressive fire, catching out of the corner of his eye the sight of a Shadow Broker soldier being hurled through the air and over the edge of the ship by Miranda's biotics. Then his ears picked up a faint unlocking sound amidst the carnage and gun-fire.

"There!" Liara shouted. "The hatch is open!"

Wasting no time, Shepard ran forward and accessed the hatch, relief washing over him as it unlocked. Rushing inside first, as shots missed him by inches, Shepard provided covering fire for Legion, Liara, and Miranda as they all rushed inside. Making their way in, Shepard and company were immediately confronted by a Salarian-led group of Shadow Broker goons, one of whom was packing a rocket launcher.

"More of them?" Liara exclaimed exasperated. "How many guards does the Shadow Broker have?"

"Our scanners detect approximately 86 living sentients on board this vessel Information Broker T'soni" Legion responded, not understanding that the question was rhetorical. Nevertheless, Shepard couldn't resist the urge to rub it in.

"I told you" he said simply.

As they continued to cut down the guards and engineers, the Shadow Broker's dark and barely intelligible voice rang out: "Hold your positions no matter the cost!"

Taking cover from the torrent of rockets being fired in his direction, Shepard used his Viper to kill the heavies while his allies took care of the rest. Seeing that the team of four wasn't being slowed down in the least by the offensive, two agents panicked and fled, leaving behind only one engineer who didn't last long.

As Shepard and company raced through the hallways, shooting down more Shadow Broker agents as they went, Liara said: "I've downloaded the ship's layout. We're headed toward the prison block…and Feron"

Going up another flight of stairs, Shepard saw a pair of vanguards standing guard on opposite ends of the door. Seeing that they hadn't noticed him yet, Shepard drew his Viper and aimed for the head of the one closest to him.

"No time for niceties"

And with this, Shepard opened fire with his Viper, keeping up the pressure on the vanguard until she went down. Legion sniped at the other one and her barriers were dispelled by just one shot from Legion's powerful Widow, a few shots from Miranda's Tempest then finishing her off.

The door then opened, and some agents came in. Cutting them down with head and chest shots from his Viper, Shepard entered the next room and came upon a locked door that he easily hacked his way through. Upon opening it, Shepard and his companions were greeted to the sight of Feron in an adjacent room, unconscious and strapped to some kind of torture table.

"Feron…"

Upon hearing his name, Feron opened his eyes and turned his head slightly, seeing his old friend and her allies.

"Liara?"

"Hold on!" Liara said, running forward. "We're getting you out of here!"

Liara ran up to the console and attempted to access it. Suddenly, Feron screamed in agony as electricity ran through his body for a brief moment before disappearing.

"What the hell is the Broker trying to do to you?" Shepard asked Feron.

"The equipment is sensitive to tampering" Feron replied. "This chair plugs into the Broker's info network. You have to shut off the power. Pull me out now, and my brain cooks"

"Do you know where we can cut the power?" Liara asked him.

"It won't be easy. You'll have to go to central operations"

Shepard nodded. Not surprising that he'd have a few more fights on his hands before all was said and done. But now that he was in the proverbial lion's den, he wanted to know just a little bit more about the lion in question.

"So do you know anything about the Broker?"

"Yeah. He did this to me" Feron answered simply.

"I was sort of hoping you'd know what he is"

Feron shook his head. "I never got a good look but he's big. The guards are terrified of him"

"A Krogan?" Liara asked.

"I don't know" Feron said. "But not everyone who visits his office comes back out"

"Krogan are prone to violent impulses, even towards allies" Miranda said. "Although I doubt that a Krogan would ever be smart, subtle, or patient enough to run the galaxy's largest information network…"

Feron shrugged. "Like I said I don't know. I just want to get out of here before they decide to torture me again"

"Don't worry" Shepard reassured him. "Easy or not, we're all getting out of here alive"

"Good" Feron replied simply. His gaze turned for a moment to Legion, who was just standing there, and then back to Shepard.

"Don't ask" Shepard said simply.

Feron got the message and returned to the task at hand. "Central operations is down the hall. You know the Shadow Broker's waiting for you right?"

"I'm counting on it" Shepard replied

"We'll be back for you Feron" Liara assured him.

"I'll try not to go anywhere' Feron snarked in response.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can have Legion here look after you in case any more of the Shadow Broker's goons come to torture you some more"

Feron again eyed Legion suspiciously before shrugging. "What the heck. At least if that Geth shoots me it'll be quick and painless…I hope"

"We will stand guard over Feron and prevent hostiles from inflicting physical harm to his person" Legion said.

"Good. Miranda, Liara, let's move out"

As Shepard gave this order, the Shadow Broker's voice came on over the inter-com with orders of his own: "I want all teams to outpost C now!"

A Vanguard and some agents rushed in and received a torrent of bullets as a greeting. When the dust settled, Shepard, Liara, and Miranda moved forward, going up some stairs. As they did, they could hear some comm. chatter between a couple of Shadow Broker agents: "Outposts A through F are down!"

Shepard came out from hiding with his Revenant raised at the agent.

"All right. Hands up, comm. and guns down on the ground. Now"

"Ah shit…" the Shadow Broker agent mumbled.

"Hello? Solomon! What's going on down there?"

Shepard calmly walked forward and put the barrel of his Revenant to the agent's head. He then said, very calmly: "I don't want your friends coming down this way. Understand?"

The Shadow Broker agent nodded. Meanwhile, the other agent on the comm. was getting impatient.

"Hello? Hello? Shit. Must have been taken out. Send a group down there now!"

"Uh, that…won't be necessary" the Shadow Broker agent said hurriedly. Everything's under control. Comm. just bugged out for a moment there"

"Hmph. Like hell it did. You and I are going to have a little chat later about dozing off on the job."

And with that the comm. went silent.

"Assuming you don't get shot first…" the Shadow Broker agent mumbled. He faced Shepard, who still had his Revenant aimed at his head.

"So…can I go or are you going to kill me?"

"Get out of here. Can't spend your bosses' blood money if you're dead after all."

"Damn right" the agent agreed. "I'm outta here" And with that he walked off.

Moving forward past him, Shepard opened the door the last agent had had his back to and then went down the hallway to another door. Opening it, he, Liara, and Miranda found themselves face to face with the Shadow Broker.

"Commander Shepard. Doctor Liara T'soni. I've been expecting you"