A/N: Slight edit. For some reason I had it in my head that Samara's recruitment was on the Citadel...even though I know better. I have gone through and removed mentions of C-Sec and replaced them with mentions of ISS instead (Ilium Security Services).
Surrounded by a dozen different hovering holographic displays, a galaxy map swirling around her, Liara wandered in tired circles around the console, eyes constantly scanning, fingers casting away displays or drawing them near again for closer perusal.
She half-saw Feron entering from the corner of her eye, but did not actually look at the drell until he stopped in front of her, thrusting a cup of tea through one of the center displays, holding it under her nose.
"Since I doubt I can talk you into sleeping, you need to at least take a break," he told her.
She smiled at him wearily, taking the cup. "Thank you, Feron. I will not be much longer…a few more minutes."
"That is what you said an hour ago, and an hour before that," he told her. "I don't think Shepard meant you had to work around the clock on this. If she knew you weren't resting-"
"I know, but it is so fascinating. I have uncovered more than I thought possible on Osco. She has such a colored past. To me, she was always mother's strange human friend, smart…but you were wary around her, as if she were a trained varren that might still bite. I was only in her company so rarely and so briefly…I have never actually looked at her as a person before, not really. It is…a shameful thing to admit."
"She did horrible things," Feron said with understanding, even as Liara cast away nearly half of her open displays, sipping at her tea. "It is natural to not wish to identify with someone like that. It is easier if you don't think of them as people, but rather something apart. It's hard to see beyond the things they do, to the person underneath."
"My mother saw beyond it," Liara said softly. "There was something there that my mother admired, wanted to help…perhaps I am not so wise, because I cannot see it."
"You are looking too hard," Feron told her. "You really do need to rest."
Something caught Liara's eye and she drew one of the displays closer, only half-hearing her companion. "This is recent," she murmured. "Osco's name appears on a krogan clan list…? I don't…"
She read, her eyes widening slightly as she took it in. "Feron, Osco was recently on Tuchanka. She presented a young krogan male named Thug to Warlord Frek of Clan Dundrin…and…by the Goddess, this cannot be possible…"
"What is it?" he asked, even as she tossed that display away, quickly drawing up another and scrolling rapidly.
"Osco arrived on Tuchanka with the young krogan and an asari girl who referred to her as 'Mother'. The asari girl appears in Matriarch Misira Seko's personal records as Eír Osco neé T'S-"
Liara actually paled slightly. A little alarmed, Feron caught hold of her arm to steady her. "Liara?"
"The girl…" Liara breathed. "The girl is my sister…"
"What?"
"Misira records her birth mother as Matriarch Benezia T'Soni…this isn't possible."
"You said there was a slight chance that Osco and your mother had an intimate relationship," Feron said. "Could they not have-?"
"No," Liara replied. "I-I mean, yes, they could have but…w-we were not on the best of terms but…something like this…Mother would have told me if there was a child…and…and no…no, here…Misira records the girl's age as ninety-seven. Osco could not possibly have sired such a child, and ninety-seven years ago I was still living at home on Thessia, I was only twelve. I would have been there for any birth of a younger sister. I…do not understand. Why would Osco claim this girl as Benezia's daughter? A girl nearly as old as I am, one quite old enough to be on her own? Why would this Eír go along with such a charade?"
Knowing that there was no way in Hades Gamma that he was going to get her to go rest now, Feron surrendered and did the next best thing.
"Here, we'll figure it out. I'll help you, go over the records at your complex on Thessia while you continue with the information on Tuchanka."
"Thank you, Feron," Liara said with a grateful nod. The drell only wordlessly returned it, and they both set to work.
The soft chirp moving through the dim room was barely audible, and yet the instant it sounded, a pair of brown eyes snapped open. Glancing over at the clock, Shepard noted it was just after 0200 even as the chirp repeated.
Wiping a hand over her eyes, she cast aside the blanket and picked up her omni-tool from the bedside stand, accessing it as she sat up. The display showed she had an incoming call. When she saw the source she got to her feet, answering it and accessing the holo display even as she set the omni-tool back on the stand.
Light shimmered out of the tool, a life-sized holographic reflection of Liara appearing a few feet away.
"Tianlán? Are you ok?" Shepard asked, all thought of sleep vanishing as she padded over to the image, worry on her face. Liara looked upset, and as if she were trying to hide it.
"Shepard, I am sorry, I did not mean to wake you-"
"I'm not worried about it, Li. What's wrong?"
"Shepard, I-I do not even know how to say this. My mind is still…I am still trying to process it all myself. I…Shepard, I have a sister."
"A sister?" Shepard echoed in surprise, brows raising.
"I was attempting to track down Gellian Osco. I traced her to Tuchanka recently and found..." the poor asari looked so flustered, Shepard actually reached out to take her shoulder before she remembered she was only a holographic image.
"It's ok, Liara, just take a deep breath," she urged. "I'm guessing you found out that Benezia had another daughter…one with Osco?"
"N-no, and yes…" Liara responded. "Nothing so simple. It took a few hours to piece together, both with records from Tuchanka and from my own home estate on Thessia. Shepard, Gellian Osco took genetic information from my mother's body, after it was returned home for final dispensation. She used this to…to grow an asari child, in a tank…just as Grunt was grown."
"What?"
"Not all the records are there…Osco was very thorough in trying to cover her tracks but she also seems to have been in a hurry. There are reports from estate staff that she was, indeed, growing an asari child in a tank, that she insisted Benezia's casket be opened when it first arrived. More, she also grew a young krogan, a boy that has just been accepted into Clan Dundrin…his name is Thug."
"I just…this is kind of strange, isn't it?"
"Strange does not begin to cover it. According to my findings, both Thug and the asari girl…her name is Eír…were genetically engineered to grow to adulthood swiftly. Both are only two years of age, but Thug is the same development as an adolescent krogan boy of at least eighty, and Eír was accepted by Matriarch Misira Seko as being ninety-seven."
"Just like the krogan we found on Korlus," Shepard murmured. "Like Grunt. But…why would Osco do such a thing? Was her attachment to Benezia so strong that she just had to grow her a daughter, post-mortem?"
"I do not know. Osco's mental state was unstable at best…clinically insane is probably closer to the truth. It doesn't change the basic fact, however, that I have a sister. She is the genetic daughter of Benezia, post-mortem or not. I need to find her."
Shepard nodded. "You said they were on Tuchanka? We were heading back to Ilium but we can change course. Whatever her motivations, I won't leave your sister in the hands of some lunatic-"
"I appreciate that, Shepard, but it is not so simple. Eír is no longer in Osco's hands, as you say. Gellian Osco is dead."
"Dead? What happened?"
"Her genetic illness finally caught up with her," Liara said softly. "She died only a week or two ago, on Tuchanka. Thug, it seems, has joined Clan Dundrin and remains there, undergoing training with the Clan's next leader, Buhto. But Eír has left, apparently in the company of Matriarch Misira's youngest daughter, Shrive Seko. It…seems there was some scandal surrounding this, and it is unclear where their destination lies."
"Scandal? Like…kidnapping?"
Liara gave her love a dry look. "More like…eloping."
"Eloping," Shepard blinked. "Why would that…? Oh. Right. Because they're both asari. I still don't get that. Some of the best asari I know are pureblood."
"That's sweet of you to say," Liara smiled.
"Well, it seems like your sister is ok then, at least. Do you think she knows about you?"
"I do not know, Shepard," Liara said sadly. "I do not know what Osco told her about me, or about Benezia…or about you."
"Well, apparently I was hardly Osco's favorite person so I doubt she passed on any kind of shining accolades about me, but I'm not worried about that. Look, I know you want to find her, talk to her…and she deserves to know she has such a wonderful big sister out there. She's going to pop back up on the grid sooner or later, right? Back on Thessia, or somewhere else. When she does you'll find her. You can probably even get a message to her brother…Thug, was it? If he's still on Tuchanka he should be easy to track down, and he may know where she's gone. I'll keep my ears open too. If I hear anything about her you'll be the first to know."
"Thank you, Shepard," Liara murmured. "I…it all just came as such a shock. I never…I never had any sisters before, any family besides Benezia. To learn of her, to learn how she was created…"
"Hey, it would have shaken anyone," Shepard soothed. "We're gonna find her, make sure she's ok. And she's gonna see how wonderful you are, Li. Who knows? Maybe this is the first good thing that mu gou Osco ever managed to do."
"I hope so, Shepard. I…will let you get back to sleep. I should probably rest as well. I will attempt to contact Dundrin Thug in the morning, see where that leads me."
"Sounds like a plan. Sweet dreams, Tianlán. Be safe, and let me know what happens."
The holographic asari stepped closer, one hand made of air and shimmering light hovering over Shepard's cheek a moment, before Liara nodded and the image faded away.
Blowing out a breath, Shepard scrubbed at the back of her neck, a solemn expression crossing her face as she sat back on the mattress. She was growing more and more concerned about Liara, the concern only increasing as did the distance between the Normandy and Hagalaz.
Though she had meant her threat, she still didn't trust the Illusive Man. He knew where the base was. He might just be cocky enough to send an infiltration team to take it over the moment he judged Shepard was too far away or had outlived her usefulness. He might be banking on a direct threat to Liara securing his control over Shepard, knowing she would do whatever she had to, to keep the asari safe.
And now there was another unknown element thrown into the mix. Osco had no reason…not one that Shepard could see, at any rate…to lie to this Eír or Thug about Liara, or to even dislike the young asari archaeologist herself. Yet Osco had been a lunatic, mentally unstable and incredibly inhuman at times. Who knew what state of mind she'd been in when she'd created these tank-born 'children'? Brilliant as she was, if she was insane or unstable because of grief or her genetic ailments then who knew if Eír or Thug were even remotely normal? They could be nothing more than twisted, deviate killing machines.
Evidence was a bit to the contrary, of course…deviate killing machines didn't tend to run off and elope, nor were they accepted to krogan clans-
Ok, that last bit isn't true. I think it may even be a requirement to join most clans.
In the end, it all came down to the same fact; Liara and Feron were more or less alone on that ship, with only a few automated defenses between them and whatever might land unwelcome on their doorstep. That wasn't sitting well with Shepard in the slightest, and the more she considered it, the more she hated it.
Rubbing a hand over her face, she reached over and picked up her omni-tool, glancing again at the clock. 0235.
It'll be just past 0100 on the Folly…
Turning the tool around and around in her hand her hands thoughtfully a moment, she finally sighed, setting her jaw, and activated it. Dialing in a number she set it aside again.
She probably won't answer. She hasn't got any reason to answer.
The tool beeped lightly a few times, then suddenly activated as the call was picked up. Once more, a holographic form appeared in front of her.
A human woman, dressed much as Del was in a tank and yoga pants, coalesced in the center of the room. Her bare arms and the side of her neck were lined with tattoos, her blonde hair tied haphazardly back from her face. She had the build of a marine but the face of a video glam star, enhanced more than marred by a thin scar that split her left eyebrow.
"Fuck me six ways from Sunday," she greeted, planting her hands on her hips with a jerk of her chin. "I heard you were supposed to be dead."
"I got better," Shepard replied with a narrow look.
"And just decided to call me out of the blue, hmm? Don't know if I should be worried or flattered, Delilah. What'd I do to deserve such an honor?"
"I need to call in that favor," Shepard said, getting to her feet with a slow shake of her head. "And Sydney…it's a really big fucking favor…"
Liara's sleep was heavy but not undisturbed, thoughts spinning through her mind and causing disjointed dreams that left her feeling worn out, haggard, even upon waking. Showering and dressing, she picked up her personal data pad as she headed through the ship toward the main information hub, determined to get back to work. She would send a message to the Dundrin Clan, to Thug, see if he was at least willing to speak with her. On top of her personal quest to find her newly-discovered sister, however, there were a million and one other things she had to-
She paused, half-way through scrolling through her messages. There was one from Shepard, timed just an hour after she'd finished her call with her last night.
Quickly selecting it, the asari opened the message and began to read:
Hey, you,
Sorry I didn't call you again. I didn't want to wake you if you'd actually gotten to sleep. After I got off the horn with you I couldn't stop thinking. I know you can take care of yourself but the idea of you and Feron being alone on that ship with little more than location and a couple of mechs to keep you safe just doesn't rest well with me.
I hope you don't mind. I called in a huge favor from an old friend. The past aside, I trust her with my life and more importantly, I trust her with you. You can trust her too.
She'll be knocking in a couple of hours. I suggest you let her in.
Miss you, Tianln. Let me know if you find your sister. I'll call again in a couple of days.
Shepard.
Brows creased, Liara closed the message just as Feron appeared, jogging toward her with alarm on his face.
"Liara, there is a ship in solar orbit. They've sent a shuttle on a course to intercept us. The ship is small cruiser-"
"Are they hailing to dock?"
"N-No, not yet…are you expecting someone?"
"Yes, Shepard sent me a message… but we cannot take the chance this is someone else."
She hurried into the main hub, drawing up an image of the cruiser and its ID's. "It's flagged as the Pale Horse, a ship registered to a former Alliance corsair organization based on a moon called Folsberg. Its owner is…"
She blinked, paling slightly.
"What is it?"
{Broker ship, this is Shuttle Alpha from the TFS Pale Horse,} the voice suddenly echoed from the console, making them both blink. {We are requesting permission to dock on your aft deck.}
Reaching out a hand, Liara selected a command. "Shuttle Alpha, please verify identification."
A different voice responded, this one female. {We're here because of the craziest bitch ever to pick up an assault rifle,} came the answer. {Shepard sends her best.}
"Sh-Shuttle Alpha, you are clear to land," Liara replied, and quickly opened the aft docking bay. Abandoning the console, she hurried that direction, Feron on her heels.
The shuttle was still powering down as they entered, the huge door on its side swinging open. A dozen men and women emerged, all wearing full combat hard-suits. Each suit was painted black and white, each breastplate bearing the image of a human skull and a strange bladed weapon. Striding out the mercs quickly ranked up, a final figure hopping down to the deck as they did so.
From the shape, this one was female. In addition to the black and white, her shoulder pads had been painted crimson. As she strode forward, she reached up and unfastened her helmet, drawing it off.
Golden blond hair was pulled back into a tail, amber eyes carefully measuring in the way most hardened marines had. Her left brow was split with a scar.
Her gaze fixed to Liara as she strode forward, every step as no-nonsense as any Shepard had ever taken.
She was a stranger, and yet Liara would have recognized her immediately, even if she hadn't seen the listed owner of the Pale Horse.
"Dr. T'Soni?" she asked as she drew to a halt a couple of feet away.
"Yes," Liara replied. "This is…this is Thanatos, if I am not mistaken."
"Indeed," the woman smiled. "Former Alliance marines, each and every goddamn one. There are twenty of us on deck, and I have a forty more aboard ship ready to ferry down. We are under your command and at your disposal."
"A merc group," Feron murmured suspiciously. The woman turned her eyes to him.
"We are not mercs. We were, until about two years ago, Alliance corsairs. Since the battle of the Citadel we've…gone our own direction, but we are not guns for hire nor mindless muscle out working just for credits. Thanatos is unique, and we would not even be here if one of my closest friends hadn't asked. I owe Commander Shepard my goddamn life. She says you need protection, and we are here to protect."
Liara tried not to show hesitation as she nodded, reaching out and offering her hand. "I am grateful to you for any help you can give," she said as evenly as she could. "You…may call me Liara."
The blonde woman nodded, reaching out and accepting the hand with a firm grip.
"Syd Rasler."
The room was dim and silent, yet seemed somehow charged with tension. Shepard's fingers tightened on the butt of her machine pistol. She would have known, even if they hadn't heard the muffled voice echoing from in here, that the room was not empty. There was a feeling of that people gave off…some called it an energy, others an aura. Most people didn't think it existed, but it was there. A displacement of air, a prick of old primitive instinct that some folk just never picked up on.
Assassins and thieves knew about this feeling. They learned to hone their own presence, some unconsciously, to damp down this energy until they could literally disappear even from the most attuned instincts. It was, however, a rare gift and more instinct as well than talent, and whoever was lurking in this room most certainly did not possess it.
"I know you're there," Shepard announced firmly. "Come out, right now."
There was a soft motion, and Shepard aimed her pistol in that direction even as an asari timidly straightened from where she'd been crouching behind a table. She was wearing Eclipse armor, and seemed to regard Shepard, Miranda, and Zaeed with wide-eyed fear.
"D-Don't shoot, I'm not a threat," she said quickly.
"Hands," Shepard ordered, but the girl rambled on as if she didn't hear her.
"M-my name is Elnora, I thought it would be fun to be a merc but I was wrong! I didn't hurt anybody, I only pretended to shoot because the others were looking but I really didn't! I don't think I could kill anyone, I don't have the stomach-"
"Elnora," Shepard barked, eyes narrowed. Her tone startled the girl enough that she blinked, her tirade halting.
"Wh-what?"
"You're an Eclipse sister?"
"Y-yes?"
"A full Eclipse sister?"
"Y-yes," she stammered. Shepard nodded.
"Fucking hands, now."
"B-but I already told you, I didn't shoot!" the girl replied, shocked. "I'm harmless-"
"She really expects us to buy that?" Zaeed asked. Shepard took half a step forward, eyes stern and pistol unwavering.
"How fucking stupid do you think I am?" she growled. "Every Eclipse commits a murder to become a full member, Elnora. So quit the fucking bullshit, and show me your motherfucking hands before I blow a hole right through your lying tongue."
The girl started to bring her hands up and Shepard's finger tensed on the trigger as she saw the butt of a pistol. "Slower," she ordered. "Set it on the table."
"Fuck you," the girl snapped, jerking the weapon upwards. Shepard's pistol barked a single, flat bang, and the girl crumpled to the ground.
"Eclipse are always so fucking dense," Zaeed mused as Shepard lowered her gun.
"Makes it easier to take them down," she noted.
Miranda walked over to the far door as Shepard crouched, picking up Elnora's pistol and looking it over, before popping out the thermal and tossing the weapon away. "Piece of junk too. Hanchester, .22 caliber. She might as well have tried shooting me with a fucking spit-ball."
Tucking the clip away in her belt she straightened as Miranda glanced back from the hall beyond the far door. "Shepard, I hear something."
Stepping over the corpse herself, Shepard moved over to the XO's side, listening. There were muffled voices, the unique echoing pulse of biotics. Gesturing to her companions she drifted over to the wall beside the next door. Miranda took up the other side, Zaeed dropping to his knee and covering the opening with his rifle.
Shepard nodded once, then reached over and hit the holographic interface. As the door slid open, an Eclipse sister flew out of it and slammed against the wall, falling in a broken heap.
"I will ask once again," a calm, almost sultry voice spoke from within. Shepard peered around the corner to see another Eclipse, backing away from a second asari who was pacing toward her with regal patience. While the Eclipse looked terrified, her confronter seemed as if she were attending nothing more exciting than a tea party, exuding calm and a serene grace even human dancers would have found impossible.
"What is the name of the ship upon which she departed?"
"Go to hell," the terrified merc spat, still moving backward. "You think I'll tell you? Do you know what she'd do to me if I did?"
The other asari lifted a hand, swirls of white and blue making a rippling aura of power around it. The very air seemed to bend to her whim as the merc was lifted off her feet, thrown down to the ground. Stepping forward as the aura died, the woman planted a foot on the merc's neck.
Her expression never changed, her tone still calm and almost soothing as she urged the merc to find her peace…and then broke her neck.
As she stepped back, Shepard lowered her gun and straightened, walking into the room. The asari glanced up at her, eyes moving to her two companions a moment, before returning their stormy gray gaze to hers.
"You are not Eclipse," she stated. "My business is not with you."
"It is if you are the Justicar named Samara," Shepard replied, shipping her pistol.
"That is my name," the woman affirmed, "but I do not have yours."
"I am Commander Shepard," Del replied respectfully. "We've come to ask for your help."
"Many desire my help, but I am on a mission of my own," Samara intoned quietly. "I am tracking a very dangerous fugitive and cannot be distracted from my goal."
"Maybe we can help," Shepard offered. Even had she known nothing about this woman standing in front of her, Shepard would have known instantly that she was a very experienced, very powerful entity, so much stronger and more elegant than most asari Shepard had met.
She had to remind herself that most asari she had met were very young. She'd encountered hundreds, but only three of any real age: Benezia, Tevos, and Aria. Standing here now was like standing before royalty…an old lioness of a great pride, perhaps…a predator more than familiar with the hunt, made only wiser and sharper with age.
"I can appreciate the sentiment, but this is my mission," Samara replied. "I ask only that you do not hinder it."
"Local law enforcement has been instructed to detain you," Shepard said. "I really need your help against the Collectors, who have been abducting human colonies. Your assistance is vital to my mission and the ISS rep for this district really doesn't want to be killed for just following orders so…there has to be a way to solve all our problems. Let me help you. You're…looking for a ship name? I know how to turn thumb-screws, put the pressure on. I can find the ship name for you, if you go back and wait at the ISS office for a few hours."
Those grey eyes seemed to strip her bare all of a sudden, slicing past skin and tissue and driving deep, as if she could see Shepard's soul just by looking for it intently enough. Then her gaze turned thoughtful.
"Collectors…yes, I have heard some of these matters. Thousands of innocents, taken from their homes and beds and vanished into the night. Very well, Shepard. I will return to ISS and wait. If you are successful in retrieving the name of the ship, return to me, and we will see what help we can be to each other."
Shepard inclined her head in a half-nod, half-bow of agreement, watching as the asari stepped past and then out of the room.
"Now that is a seriously classy lady," Zaeed noted.
Shepard's expression darkened a little. Not because she disagreed, but because she rather vehemently agreed.
Shepard had never been ashamed to indulge in, as Alenko had once described it, art appreciation. She could recognize beauty and power and appreciate them for their own sake. Normally, admiring someone like Samara wouldn't have even made her blink, however right now it was making her feel strangely…self-conscious.
Shaking it out of her head she returned her mind to the mission, looking at her companions. "Let's go find that ship."
The smell was one that Shepard would never forget, no matter how many years or decades she spent away from it. The slightest whiff, harmless in and of itself, was powerful enough to immediately put her back into the Room, put her back to being that neglected, starving, nameless little girl trapped in a hellish ambrosia of vomit, urine, sweat, desperation…and this.
"This is all red sand," Zaeed commented, bringing voice to what Shepard was already thinking. "All these crates…there's enough here to send half of Ilium drifting. Goddamn mind-burning shit."
Shepard stepped between the crates, scowl now firmly affixed to her face. Miranda shook her head as she followed. "Bet that ISS agent would be interested to hear about this. Looks like these Eclipse mercs are serious suppliers. They-"
"Stop!" a voice suddenly piped up on front of them. Shepard lifted her pistol, then blinked and lowered it a little as she caught sight of the volus waddling into view.
She had learned from the attack on the Citadel that volus could be nasty little contenders when they wanted to be. Most people didn't take them seriously…Shepard included, until one named Yoh Etat had gunned down more than his fair share of geth.
This one, however, was not armed…and not even walking straight. He weaved drunkenly, barely managing to keep his feet, even as he gestured at them.
"Stop right there! You shall not pass! I will tear you limb from limb!"
"Is he serious?" Miranda asked. Shepard straightened, pistol held in both hands and pointed at the ground as she cocked her head.
"Fear me!" the volus declared hotly. "I am a beast in the jungle! I am a demon of the dark tides! I am-"
"…higher than a goddamn kite," Zaeed snorted.
"No! I am powerful! Wasea made me powerful! At first, when she started injecting so many drugs into me, I was afraid…but now I smell my greatness!"
"I smell something too, and it's not greatness," Miranda smirked.
Shepard shook her head, walking forward. "Get out of the way, and get a nap," she grumped as she started to step around the man. He thrust his hands up, planting them on her hips in an attempt to stop her, digging in his heels.
"No! I am a mountain in the mist! You shall not-"
Shepard stepped back and to the side. Taken off balance, the volus tipped forward and fell flat on his face.
"Oh," he muttered almost sadly. He got so far as to place his palms on the ground to push himself back up, then seemed to lose energy, slumping again. "Mabye…I will. Tired. Lay here…for a while. Take a nap. Then…destroy you later."
"You do that," Shepard replied. As Zaeed and Miranda stepped around him, the brunette operative shook her head.
"This…Wasea, did that to him," she said. "Injected him with drugs…red sand and who knows what else? How can someone do that?"
"Experiment on other people to further their own goals, you mean?" Shepard asked. Miranda hesitated.
"That's not fair, Shepard," she said, genuinely hurt. "It's not the same. I-"
"Sorry, Miranda. I didn't mean it like that. You I count a friend, but you know damn well how I feel about Cerberus. I always will. Now c'mon. We still need to find that ship name and this Wasea needs a few lessons in manners."