Past: 15 Years Post War
With the two girls off to school- Mel to the Academy and Irie to the Mathematics Center-and Shepard on her first day with her new recruits, the house felt very nearly barren.
Even so, Liara was not technically alone. Standing in the room that had become the hub of her Brokerage, she faced the holographic representations of two other asari.
Eír paced in slow, restless loops along the length of the room. Aria T'Loak, chill as always, simply stood with her arms folded and her brow creased. Shepard and Liara were two of the few people in the galaxy Aria respected, and not in any small part to the fact that it had been the pair of them who had aided her in retaking Omega from Cerberus forces.
She was unaware that Liara was the Shadow Broker, and also of the fact that Liara could access Aria's own vast surveillance system on Omega at a whim. Were that knowledge made available to her, there was no doubt that the dynamic of their relationship would vastly change, and the respect that Aria afforded her would not be enough to prevent Omega's queen from making her displeasure quite violently known.
"So Orthrus is related to Cerberus?" Aria asked, the murderous electricity in her eyes coming through even over the holograph.
"It is a possibility. The two are related as far as Old Earth Mythology is concerned, however it may also simply be a ruse meant to create a false connection."
Eír shook her head. "While I have no doubt some of Cerberus are still lurking out there, it doesn't change the fact that those of Orthrus that attacked your daughter's recital were not strictly human. There were vorcha, a couple of turians…"
"They could be hired guns," Aria said. "Vorcha come cheap, just offer them a few slabs of rancid meat and they'll lick your goddamn boots. Besides, the Alliance isn't the only force systematically hunting down the few Cerberus fugitives that remain. If they had any sense whatsoever, they'd be burying themselves deep in a cave on the most remote moon in the galaxy- or else putting a bullet in their skulls and saving everyone the trouble."
"As much as I shudder at the possibility, if they were targeting Del simply for the sake of retribution, they could have eliminated her that night before anyone even knew they were there," Liara said. "We were hardly expecting trouble."
"A single sniper shot from the shadows would have done it," Aria said with an agreeing nod.
"They may want her to suffer," Eír replied. "She took them apart, now they're trying to take her apart. Hurt everyone and everything important to her, before taking her out. That means the Normandy might also be at risk."
"I will send them a warning, however I am less concerned about the Normandy than others. They are still a military vessel, with a Spectre commander. They would hardly make an easy target. However there are less protected individuals who used to serve on Del's crew- people she counts as family- who are far more at risk."
She immediately turned to a console. She would have to construct a message to be sent to those individuals. Tali and her family, Grunt and Wrex, Dr. Chakwas and Nancy Salgado, Garrus, Miranda- anyone who had served on Del's crew. Anyone she counted as a friend.
Most had the skills and resources to protect themselves should the need arrive, but others like Helen and Nancy were not so fortunate. She'd have to assign Broker agents as bodyguards, dedicate resources to keeping them safely monitored.
"Eír, how was it that you were alerted to the attack at the recital?" she asked as she worked. "How did you know they would be there, trying to take Irie?"
"I have a…friend," she replied, "helping us in trying to track down Orthrus agents. I was forwarded a few scraps of information obtained off an unsecured transmission."
Liara paused and looked over at her. "Unsecured?"
"Yes," Eír said grimly. "That was my first thought was, as well…trap. Even vorcha know better than to transmit on unlocked frequencies. That is why I went alone. Were I to alert you and Shepard beforehand I could have been doing exactly what they had hoped- leading you directly into a trap."
"Have you considered that it may not have been for us?" Liara asked. "How much do you trust your friend?"
"Implicitly," Eír said. "Are you suggesting the trap was for me?"
"It is a possibility."
"While I can understand someone wanting to get their hands on Eír," Aria said. "It would be because of her unique…talents. A handful of vorcha and a few foot troops would be insufficient to that end, and incredibly sloppy."
"Perhaps," Liara said. "However we must consider all possibilities. It may be that Eír was their target, and they hoped to lure her in. It may be that it was indeed Shepard who was their target, or Irie herself, to use as leverage against Del and myself. Or, their motivations may have been to initiate the attack, knowing it was going to fail."
"For what reason?" Eír asked, surprised.
Aria looked grimly thoughtful. "Perhaps they were not sure of you," she said to Eír. "Perhaps there were only rumors as to your abilities. They wanted to see for themselves how extensive your biotics were. What better than a staged field test such as this one? Good way to get rid of a few pesky underlings who have outlived their value, as well."
"We can speculate all day," Liara said. "Until we have something solid to go on that is all it is- speculation. We need names, evidence."
"My suggestion? Instead of chasing after the bastards, bring them to you," Aria said. "Chances are best they're after Del or Eír. Put them out somewhere vulnerable, and see which one gets visitors."
Liara blinked. "You want me to use my bondmate as bait?"
"Why the fuck not? It's not like Shepard can't hand them their asses, I don't care how long it's been since the war. Besides, she doesn't have to be there alone, they just have to think she's there alone. Same with Eír. See which one they try and snag."
"A well-placed sniper shot would be the end of those plans. I will not lose Del, nor have my daughters grow up without a father."
"Liara, if they'd just wanted Shepard dead, they would have done it at the amphitheatre. That well-placed sniper shot would have been completely unexpected then. Quick, simple, clean," Eír said.
"And if our one premise is correct, and they wish to torment her before her death, it still works," Aria said. "While Eír and Del are hanging out there as bait, we keep bodyguards on everyone else. You and your daughters are safe on a highly secure Alliance base, and everyone else has their own entourage. The fuckers poke their heads out anywhere and they show us their hand."
"It is still incredibly risky-"
"Just having Orthrus out there without knowing what drives them is risky," Eír said, not unkindly. "I agree with Aria. We must lure them in under our terms, have them come to us. At least speak to Del about it, see what she thinks."
"In the meantime, we all keep our eyes and ears open. I want Orthrus gone as much as you do. I don't like having my organizations infiltrated by traitors and spies," Aria said, eyes sparking. "You decide what you wish to do, Liara. I will be following my own ends to eliminate Orthrus. Out of courtesy I will let you know if I find any more relevant information. I trust I can count on the same?"
"Yes, Aria. I will keep you informed. Thank you."
Aria simply nodded, then vanished as the call was disconnected.
"I suppose I should leave you to it, then," Eír said, clearly getting ready to depart as well. Liara held out a hand.
"Wait, please Eír. If you have the time…I would like to talk."
"Liara, Shepard has nothing to fear from me, not anymore."
"I know," Liara said softly. "I wanted to thank you…and to tell you how proud I am of you."
"Proud?" Eír scoffed. "I would ascribe a lot of words as reactionary to what I have done of late, but 'proud' would not be among them."
"You let Shepard live-"
"As far as I knew, I had killed her," Eír said. "She was dying on her feet before I even shot her, and she knew it, Liara. I believed she was a dead woman. Had I not, the conditioning never would have been satisfied."
"She was still breathing when you walked away, Eír. You knew that. You could have shot her again, made sure of her demise. No one would have ever known it was you to take the shot. Yet, you did not. You could have gone and ended your own life after the war, but instead you found a purpose, a reason. I do not pretend to know what that reason is, but the very fact you stand before me now testifies to its existence. I am glad of it, Eír. You deserve your peace and happiness, the same as anyone else in this galaxy. I…do not claim the right to speculate-"
Eír looked at her carefully. "But you do," she said. "You do speculate. What is it you wonder, Liara?"
"I just…you and Aria…?"
Eír blinked, then chuckled, shaking her head. "No. I owe her. I wiped out sixteen of her bodyguards and had her by the throat. Her response was to offer me a job. She's shrewd, that one. Perceptive. I admire and respect her, but anything more…no. Aria and I are colleagues that keep a respectably wary eye upon one another…that is all."
"I see," Liara said, somewhat disappointed. Not that she would choose Aria as a suitable match for her sister- but the hope that Eír's heart was healing, that she would find someone to be to her what Shepard was to Liara- that still remained.
Shrive's death was not so long ago. Would you be so quick to offer your heart again were you to lose Del?
She thrust that thought forcefully away. Truth be told, if she lost Del, she did not know if she would ever be able to love again…even centuries later.
"Thank you, Liara. For caring, at least. Goddess knows I have given you little reason to. I will keep you updated on what I find of Orthrus, and most certainly if I discover any hint they might make an attempt on your family again. Let me know what Shepard thinks about our plan to lure them in."
"I will. Take care of yourself, Eír. I will speak to you soon."
The call ended, Eír's image vanishing. Liara immediately sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose before turning back to her consoles. Getting their friends and family the required protective surveillance was easy enough, but she was finding little beyond rumor regarding Orthrus.
She turned her focus on the one search avenue with the most potential: the money.
Even the most clandestine of operations needed financial backing. Cerberus had been funded not only with Jack Harper's personal fortunes, but by shady investors such as Henry Lawson- trillionaires with a loose definition of morality- or ones that could be easily duped out of cash.
Orthrus had to be receiving money from somewhere- money for transports, armor, weapons and ammunition, food. Somewhere, there were accounts. They might go through a thousand fronts but eventually the credits came out of someone's pocket…and ended up in someone else's. If she could track the money, she might be able to get some names.
Her contacts in Sevaa security could get her scans of the armor and weapons they had taken off of the dead assassins. Serial numbers would be absent or filed down, but it was amazing what one could do even without them.
Entering into the security database she began downloading the information, cross referencing everything from alloy mix to customized detailing. Even something as small as the molecular count of titanium in any given piece could point to a manufacturer.
Suddenly, a screen to her left lit up. Drawing it to the fore she opened it, then paled at what she read.
"No…" she whispered, a cold knot tightening in her stomach. "Goddess…"
Tossing that screen away she hurriedly drew up another, her heart racing as the information was repeatedly confirmed.
We are too late. Her head rung repeatedly with the thought, her hands shaking. The warnings, the protective surveillance…too late…
She accessed a private computer thousands of light years away from where she stood. As it appeared she scrolled through it, looking for any hint, any clue-
A file. Encrypted and well hidden from most normal scans, it was impossible to miss with her specialized programs. It all but waved at her.
She opened it after scanning it to be certain it was safe. A small holographic image appeared. That was all it was: a single three dimensional image, hovering over the small projection pad on the table.
Liara recognized it instantly. Joker had given her the same image as a gift, after she had recovered from being shot, and they had taken down the Shadow Broker. He had warned her –with some humor, of course- that she probably never wanted to show it to Del for fear it would be instantly destroyed. Though she did not believe Del would do away with the image were she to know of it, she had never revealed to her bondmate that it was in her possession.
The image was of Shepard, but she was not in a battered hard suit, nor her usual slouching civvies. Instead she was dressed elegantly, as if for a ball.
Stepping back, Liara activated her omni-tool, fighting back tears as she strode for the door and contacted Shepard.
Behind her, Del's small image waited in silence.
Shepard had decided to take it easy on her new recruits their first day as N1s.
The shuttle lowered down over the surface of Luna's Mare Imbrium, contrasting blasts from its engines creating tiny whirlpools of lunar dust. Ten feet above the surface, the shuttle door opened. Shepard, fully hard-suited, stood in the door and barked at her recruits.
"Move it people!"
They rushed past, leaping out of the vehicle, weapons at the ready. The lighter gravity softened their landing (though any marine who could not handle a leap of ten feet even in full Earth gravity was not worthy of the uniform), and barely had the last one gone out then Del jumped out after them. The other six were charging forward, without a hitch in their momentum. However Hugo Bax, the youngest of the seven, had hesitated slightly. Even slightly was too long in Del's book.
"Fucking move it Bax!" she said as she landed just behind him, giving the back of his helmet a sharp crack with her hand. Such a blow would never so much as dent the helmet- not even driven by Del's rather inhuman fist- but it was enough to jar him sharply.
"Sir yes sir!"
Then he was off, Del hot on his heels.
Before the war, Luna had been home to a sizable Alliance communications base and basic training facility. The training was dedicated to vacuum and low-gravity survival and combat scenarios. As well, a civilian human colony numbering around 100,000 souls called the small satellite home.
The Reapers had changed all that. In their initial attack, both the domed colony of Armstrong and the Alliance training facility had been utterly destroyed. The force with which they were hit was so great, in fact, that it literally broke the moon. A chunk of rock the size of Rhode Island had broken free of the surface, and debris had been scattered.
Now, Luna did not look as she did in days of yore. The chunk of rock -now called Crisium after the location where it was torn free-had escaped both lunar and Earth orbit but not that of Sol. It now lurked at high but stable orbit a hundred thousand kilometers beyond Luna. The smaller chunks of debris that had broken off with it had not been so fortunate, and remained trapped in gravity closer to home. The moon now had its own faint, shaky rings as a result.
Though the Alliance facility itself was gone, most of its training grounds had remained intact. Located where Shepard and the new N1s had put boot to moon was the satellite's largest low-grav live-fire training fields. Completely automated, it presented an opportunity for troops to train in combat without actually having live combatants. There were several settings the complex VI could be set too. A marine was considered fully trained for combat if he could navigate Set 3 successfully.
Del had tuned the VI to Set 5.
The chance of injury or even death was very real. Besides turrets that would fire at them with heavy sprays of very real high-caliber ordinance, they also had to contest with hidden mines, randomized sniper arrays, and- at this setting- rocket and grenade launchers.
The seven recruits had immediately headed for cover behind a shelf of rock to assess their situation as the shuttle departed. Nothing had fired at them just yet. Ferai had a pair of binocs set to infra, carefully looking over the terrain ahead. Singleton was scanning with her omni-tool.
"Report!" Del demanded as she dropped in beside them.
"Sir, there is a sniper situated thirty meters at one o'clock, four meters above deck."
"Infrared is showing two class 3 pressure mines located at 8 and 14 on the grid," Ferai added.
"Merin!" Del said.
"Yes sir?"
"You are now in charge."
"Sir?" He sounded startled.
"Merin, you are in command," Del told him tersely. "You have your situation report from Singleton and Ferai. There are hostages being held by a hostile merc force in a bunker two kilometers from our current location. What are your orders?"
Taken off balance, Merin visibly swallowed down his nerves, glancing from his team mates to Del, then back again. "Uh, right. Ok. Singleton, you're class 5. Can you get a drop on that sniper?"
Kim turned her omni-tool off and unshipped her sniper rifle, easing up beside Ferai and pulling up her scope. After a moment's tense pause, she spoke.
"I think I have it, sir."
"Do you have it or don't you, Singleton?" he asked firmly.
"I have it sir," she replied.
"Take it."
She pulled her trigger. A pop of metal and a fast spark along the distant rock, and she nodded. "Sniper is down, sir."
"Ferai, you and I will take care of those mines-"
"Sir, I don't like this."
All eyes turned to Lane, who hadn't as yet spoken a word since they left Earth dock. She was regarding her own omni-tool, which displayed a terrain map that she'd scanned of the reachable area.
"Explain," Merin said impatiently.
"This is an inefficient route to our objective. See here? We'd have higher ground and far more visibility if we went along to the west, sticking to this ridge. We'd also avoid all but sonar mines-"
"And likely walk into a nest of turrets and snipers," he replied. "If we take out those two mines we have clear and open ground-"
"Open ground that we'd be like bugs on a plate crossing," she said, and looked past him to Ferai. "Did you do just the thermal scan or did you do ground resonance as well-?"
"I'm the one giving the orders, Lane! Ferai is qualified in demolitions, of course he did the ground resonance scan as well!"
"Uh…actually, I hadn't," Ferai said, and Merin's eyes snapped to him.
"What? Why not?"
"I don't have the equipment for resonance," he said. "We're just geared out for infrared."
Merin sighed impatiently. "Fine, all right. So we do old-fashioned concussive testing and clear out any lurking E22s. Singleton-"
"Sir, I would really advise going along the-"
"Your advice has been noted, Lane! Thank you. Singleton, we're doing concussive testing."
Singleton looked pissed. "Really sir?"
"Problem?"
"This is a covert op into an enemy stronghold, sir, and you want me to pitch rocks in the hopes we blow up some E22s?"
"I gave you an order, Singleton!"
Kim rolled her eyes, glancing at the silent Del with an expression that read 'not my fault'. "Yes, sir," she said, and picked up a sizable rock from nearby. Edging out ever so slightly, she pitched the rock at the open ground. Nothing happened. She found another rock, and did it again.
On the third rock the ground suddenly geysered up with a loud rumble as a hidden E22 mine sensed the impact and detonated. As it went off, Del shook her head.
"Congratulations, Merin- that blast has alerted six hostiles to our position and in the ensuing firefight, Ferai and Singleton are lost. You two, report back to the rendezvous coordinates and wait for us."
"Great. Fantastic." Ferai did not sound happy as he slapped Merin none-too-gently on the shoulder. "Thanks for nothing, bud."
As he headed back toward the rendezvous, Singleton reshipped her sniper and nodded at Merin. "Good job at getting us killed. When you get to hell, you owe me a fucking beer."
She strode off after Ferai. Del watched them go coolly, then looked back at Merin with an uplifted brow. "You have six men left, sir, and a stronghold of hostages waiting for rescue. What are your orders now?"
Merin's jaw was tense as he reluctantly nodded and looked at Lane. "What was that alternative path again?"
Tired, sweaty, with their pads scorched in more than one location, the N recruits (minus Ferai and Singleton) finally gathered in the low bunker as Merin powered down the VI generator- effectively 'saving the hostages'.
Lane and Bax clapped with weary grins on their faces, but it was clear Merin wasn't feeling it. Shepard straightened from her idle crouch near the door and nodded. "Very good. Let's get back to the rendezvous. You have ten minutes for KP on the shuttle before I reset the damned VI and we do this again."
As they headed out, not daring to groan audibly, Del caught hold of Merin's shoulder and halted him. "You've never actually been in charge of a detail, have you Merin?"
"No, sir," Merin said stiffly. "I was demolitions. I went where I was told and did what I was ordered. Clearly, I'm no commander."
"Being in the N program is about commanding, soldier."
His eyes were weakly defiant as he glared at her. "Then I suppose I don't have what it takes to be in the N program-"
She slapped his helmet. "Shut the fuck up, Merin, and that is an order. You listen to me fucking close, recruit. You made mistakes, some you're not even aware that you made. You wanna hear them? This may sound rich coming from me, but the best way to get something done isn't always to bully through it. When you have lives to think about you do things the best way you can to preserve those lives, for both civilians and those under your command. This means listening, and thinking, and realizing that the best way isn't always the fast way. You didn't listen to Lane or to Singleton, and as a result, you lost two men. Worse, you did not utilize all your resources to their fullest extent. In fact, you let one of your biggest assets sit completely idle!"
"Sir, I don't understand. What asset?"
"Me, recruit. You gave orders to every single solder in this squad except for me. I have heavy artillery experience, infiltration and sniper experience, and I pack a wicked right hook- and you left me trailing along behind you like a lost dog."
His shock was clear. "You're my commanding officer-"
"I gave you command, Merin! That means you take command, of the entire squad. Use your resources, use your head. You would not be standing in front of me if Captain Towser didn't see your potential. When you saved those six people from that core meltdown you weren't concerned with rank, you got the job done. You've got a good head on your shoulders, you just need to use it."
He nodded, looking down. "I just…my temper-"
She smirked. "Look who you're talking too, Merin. Your temper isn't an excuse, it's a strength. You just have to use it properly, and don't let it make you stupid. If I could make N7 with the fire and brimstone temper I have, then there's a fuck-ton of hope for you, son. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Now let's get back to the rendezvous. We're doing this again-"
Just then her omni-tool beeped at her, a tone she had set that was reserved for home emergencies. Immediately she slapped it on, her face going grim even as worry flickered deep in her eyes. "This is Shepard. Liara, what's-"
"Shepard, we have an urgent situation. She is gone. They raided her house in the middle of the night."
The tone in Liara's voice-a blend of anger, concern, and outright fear-chilled Del to the bone.
"Who's gone?" Del asked, immediately picturing Irie or Melara. Her heart seemed to stop in her chest. No, she said 'raided her house in the middle of the night.' But if not the girls, then who-?
"It was Orthrus. Orthrus took her-" Liara's voice was thick. She sounded distracted, on the verge of tears.
"Liara-"
"Shepard…they took Tali. Tali is gone."