The Cryonic Man
Shepard Interlude 3: The Observer and Lair of the Shadow Broker
A bit of foreword
This is my first story so please no flames.
I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).
I do however claim ownership of the characters I create
Much to the chagrin of a large amount of people, I'm still very much alive.
Apologies for not updating in a long while, I had a few projects to work on during the summer and school's now back in session. I thank any of you who offer to help me, but I have a very set story for this fic and its sequel (more later).
Couple changes to Shepard's background
-Now Colonist instead of Spacer
-Military History changed to War Hero/Forgiver (explanation later)
Shepard stood there near John's bed in the hospital. He was still fast asleep after the surgery that he just had, also because the damn nurse had put more sedative in his IV than necessary. Shepard had forced himself not to knock her teeth in. The doctor had told Shepard that the initial diagnosis had been wrong; there was more damage than initially thought, especially to his lungs. Whatever damage had been done, John was now the owner of a brand new experimental lung implant designed to keep him alive. Shepard had never heard of the technology behind it before, but if it kept John alive he was more than happy to pay for it.
He felt angry at the nurse, at the doctor, at that Asari Spectre, but most of all at himself for not making sure she was really dead.
Flashback to this morning
Shepard, Tali, and Garrus, stepped out of the Normandy and headed towards Liara's office near the transport docks. After an awkward encounter with an asari with a message from the Rachni Queen, Shepard talked with Liara's assistant and moved towards her office.
Shepard stopped however near her door.
"Something wrong Shepard," said Garrus.
"I haven't seen or heard from Liara in over two years, maybe she's moved on to bigger and better things," said Shepard.
"Well Liara kind of dropped off the radar after you died, but come on, I'm sure she's the same quirky asari archaeologist we first met on Therum," said Garrus.
Tali opened the door since Shepard still felt apprehensive and the group headed inside.
They saw Liara talking to some human on hologram, "Have you faced an asari commando unit, few humans have. I'll make it simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive. With my mind."
"Well there goes my hopes," said Garrus, disrupting the conversation.
"S-Shepard," said Liara, surprised, "This isn't over, have my money by the end of the day or we're going to have a serious problem."
"Nyxeris, hold my calls," she called out to her assistant.
"It's good to see you Shepard, my sources said you were alive, but I never believed…It's very good to see you," she said, giving Shepard a hug.
"Since when did you have sources, or threaten to psychically skin people," said Shepard.
"How about you clue us in Buffalo Blue," said Garrus.
"Well after I helped you take down Saren, there was a lot of people who wanted to be my friend, and even more didn't want to be my enemy. I couldn't just go back to archeology, so I set up a respectable business as an information broker. As for that conversation you heard, a client of mine was angry over the information he received, but he'll pay, they always do. It's paid the bills for the past 2 years, since you well…," Liara left it open but Shepard knew what she was going to say, "And now you're back, working for Cerberus, gunning for the Collectors. They say the Collectors live beyond the Omega 4 relay, that it's impossible to fight them. Why am I saying this to you though, you've made a living on doing the impossible."
"Well I'm back, and you know I need your help," said Shepard.
"Of course, but it will have to come later, as I have prior engagements to take care of," said Liara.
"What kind of things do you need to take care of? Are you in some sort of trouble," asked Shepard.
"No, no trouble. It's just been a long two years, there are just debts I need to repay," said Liara.
"Liara you have to go,"
"Feron please,"
"You have Shepard's body, get it to Cerberus before the Collectors get it. It's alright, I can handle them."
"If you want to help, I need someone with hacking expertise, someone I can trust. If you could disable security at key points around Illium, you could get me the information I need. It would help me a great deal," said Liara.
"I don't know Shepard, this sounds suspect," said Tali.
"What's this about Liara, why won't you tell me," said Shepard.
"Don't you think I want to, Shepard? This isn't because I don't trust you, this is Illium, anything I say is probably being recorded," said Liara.
"All right, I'll do it, but only if you can give me some information later. I'm searching for an asari justicar named Samara and an assassin named Thane Krios," said Shepard.
"Deal, just allow me some time to find them while you deal with the terminals," said Liara.
"Alright, come on guys let's go," said Shepard.
"It was good seeing you again Liara," said Tali.
"Have you happened to get any messages from Kaidan by any chance," said Garrus as Tali and Shepard left.
"Yes, but I have been far too busy, I have not had the chance to read any of them," said Liara.
"Well, turns out he didn't betray Shepard for nothing; he did it to save your ass, as well as mine and Tali's. Read his latest message, it'll explain everything," said Garrus, leaving the room and hearing an argument between Tali and Shepard.
"You don't know what she'll do with the information Shepard," said Tali.
"Liara is our friend Tali, if she was going to do something malicious with it, she would tell me," said Shepard.
"I don't trust her, you saw how much she's changed. She might just be using you to her ends," said Tali.
"Well I do trust her, and I know you're still mad at her for making passes at me when we first got together. That was a catfight I sure didn't want to happen," said Shepard.
"How dare you bring that up you-you bosh'tet," said Tali, getting angrier.
"I'm a bosh'tet, let me tell you something…,"
"ENOUGH! Both of you stop fighting, you're acting like children. Tali, I see that Liara has changed but you shouldn't assume the worst of her, she's our friend. Likewise Shepard, Tali has the right to be cautious after what we just saw. Shepard I can't believe you would sink so low, especially with Tali," said Garrus, "Now let's get going, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can move on and you two can do whatever it is you do to make up. Move it."
"Got it Garrus," they both said, never seen him with that much conviction before. Shepard made a mental note to talk to him to see what was on his mind.
"Alright, now we got the terminals on our maps, let's get that info," said Garrus.
Sometime later
"The terminals are hacked, you have your information, now what?" said Shepard.
"Here's something for your help, it's not much, but hopefully it will help you on your mission," said Liara, "Thank you, with the data you extracted I've found a target to look for. The Shadow Broker has several contacts here on Illium. The most powerful one is called the Observer, and taking him down will make me one step closer, I could use your help."
"Tell me what I can do," said Shepard.
"Your data pointed me at logs kept by Shadow Broker agents. The logs were deleted, but it may be possible to reconstruct some of it," said Liara, "The Shadow Broker is cautious. His agents are referred to only by title and race."
"I've done some inquiries and have narrowed the Observer down to one of five operatives: a turian, a salarian, a krogan, a batarian, and a vorcha," said Nyxeris, Liara's assistant.
"If we can refine the list, we'll know where to strike," said Liara.
"Any more specifics on these agents," asked Garrus.
"I'm afraid not, I was lucky to get as much as I did," said Nyxeris, "Happy to help ma'am," to Liara.
"The data you found is our only key to finding the Observer, and if we wait too long all of them will disappear," said Liara.
"Just who is the Shadow Broker, and why are you so afraid of him," said Shepard.
"You could say he's more afraid of me. As for the Shadow Broker he's the most powerful information broker in the whole of the galaxy, you should remember him. His operative Barla Von helped you find Wrex," said Liara.
"And his other operative Fist sold me out to Saren," said Tali.
Shepard glowered at that, while it was a partially happy memory as it was the first time he met Tali, he -still felt angry at that turian who tried to grab things he shouldn't. The thousand rounds in that turian's skull helped remedy that though.
"I'll reconstruct the data and tell you what I find," replied Shepard.
"When you find something, call me on the radio channel we used in the old days, I can't risk handling this in person. And Shepard, thank you," said Liara.
Shepard got up to leave and headed towards the door.
"Great, more terminal hacking for us," said Garrus as they walked out.
Sometime later
Shepard finished hacking the last terminal and viewed the last data packet, and found himself scratching his head in confusion.
"This doesn't make any sense, according to this data the Observer is female. That means none of our suspects fit," said Shepard.
"But if none of them fit, how are we going to find the Observer," said Tali.
Garrus walked away with a contemplative look on his face when all of a sudden realization hit.
"We take a look at who gave the leads in the first place. The only person who had anything to gain by withholding information is the Observer. In hindsight I should have realized that if the Shadow Broker was as afraid of Liara as she claimed, who better than one of his best operatives to infiltrate her workplace and eliminate her if she got too close. With the information she gave us, she was leading us away the whole time," said Garrus.
"Nyxeris," said Shepard, realizing what Garrus was talking about as well.
"We have to warn Liara," said Tali, and the group started running towards her office.
"Liara, this is Shepard, please answer," yelled Shepard on his comm. link.
"Shepard, have you found out who the Observer is," replied Liara.
"Get out of your office now, it's Nyxeris, she's the Observer," yelled Shepard.
"But that's impossible," said Liara.
"Or is it," Shepard heard another voice say, before the comms went dead.
"Liara, LIARA," yelled Shepard, sprinting even faster now before getting to her office and opening the door. He saw Liara on the ground covered in blood and Nyxeris holding a pistol at her head.
"Put down the guns or little miss info broker gets it," said Nyxeris.
"Funny, you seemed to be much nicer when we first came around," said Shepard.
"That was my cover, keeping her away from my boss. I was going to send her on a never-ending goose chase and make my escape when she found out the truth but you had to show up and speed up the progress," said Nyxeris, "You made a mistake by going after the Shadow Broker, he's an enemy you don't want to make."
"Are all of his agents incompetent, or do all of them stab their clients in the back," said Tali.
"If you're talking about Fist, he was disavowed years ago," said Nyxeris and off the team's surprised expressions, "Of course I know, the Shadow Broker knows all about all of you, especially you Commander Shepard. The Collectors still want your body, so I wonder how much of a reward my boss would give me for bringing you in."
"You can ask him yourself when he joins you in hell," said Liara, her body giving off blue pulses as she threw Nyxeris against the wall.
"Damn biotic bitch," said Nyxeris reaching for her gun but Garrus grabbed it before she could.
"You'll never stop the Broker, with me dead he'll come after you even harder than before," said Nyxeris, "Face it, you'll win battles, but you'll never win the war."
"He won't come after me because when he sends his agents to come looking for me I'll be long gone. Besides, he doesn't care about how much skill you have, you're just as expendable as the rest of his agents," said Liara before picking her up with her mind and preparing to tear her apart.
"Liara stop," said Shepard, "You're not this cruel, put her down. We can find out where the Broker is but only if she's still alive."
"She won't talk, she's been trained not to," said Liara.
"Liara please," Shepard said, looking at her with pleading eyes.
Liara hesitated slightly, before she put her down outright.
"Alright, tell us where to find the Broker, Observer," said Liara.
"You think I'm just going to tell you, he'll kill me if I even consider telling you," said Nyxeris.
"We can protect you," said Shepard.
"No you can't, and now that I've failed no one can save me," said Nyxeris looking out the window as a bullet came in and hit her straight in the head. She slumped to the ground, took one final breath and died.
"Get down," said Shepard.
"Don't bother, the sniper won't fire at us again. Their job is already complete," said Liara, "Damn it, I was so close. I'm sorry Feron, I failed you."
"Wait, Feron," said Garrus, "Shepard didn't we get a data recording from Cerberus, something about some drell named Feron."
"What is he talking about Shepard," said Liara and Tali, the two narrowing his eyes at him.
Shepard sighed, and mentally cursed Garrus in his head, and said, "A couple days ago, right after we had a little adventure on the Horizon, I got a message from some cell in Cerberus who gave me a recording to give to you. But you said we might currently be recorded so I couldn't give the recording for fear of someone warning the Shadow Broker before we could get him."
Shepard activated his Omni-tool and gave Liara the recording.
"It looks like a leaked transmission between some of his operatives, a few hints to his location and…Feron, you're alive," said Liara, holding back tears.
"Who is Feron anyway," said Garrus, "Some old boyfriend."
"No, he was just a friend. He helped me recover Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker," said Liara.
"So the Broker really did want to give my corpse to the Collectors," said Shepard.
"Yes, but Feron and I stopped him. He…sacrificed himself to help me get you out of there and save me," said Liara.
"But if you rescued him, how did he end up with Cerberus," said Tali.
"They were the ones who gave me the intel to help find Shepard. They lead me to Feron as well," said Liara, "After I got out, I gave them Shepard. They said they could bring him back."
"Why didn't you tell me," said Tali, obviously hurt.
"What does it matter, he's here now isn't he. And from the chatter I've heard he still wants you," said Liara.
"So that's it, you thought they would bring back Shepard and you could have him for yourself," said Tali.
"I did not, I knew he was going to go back to you, why do you think I gave Cerberus information about Freedom's Progress," said Liara, "You think Cerberus choosing to search that colony was merely chance. I don't even know why he chose you. At least with me or even Ashley he could have us anytime he wants us."
"At least it shows he wants love in his life and not just sex, but then again you just can't stand it can you, how he rejects feminine wiles for women who actually have personality," said Tali.
"Enough both of you," said Garrus, "When did I have to become the mediator in every argument?"
The two women huffed and turned their backs away from each other.
"You two need to bury this hatchet now, I'm sick of hearing you two argue. You argued on the SR-1, you argued on missions, you even argued during my funeral and yes I heard it on all the recordings. This is why I was glad to be dead, at least it was quiet," said Shepard.
"Shepard, I," said Tali and Liara both said.
"Stop, I don't want to hear it from either of you. Bury the hatchet, or if neither of you have anything to say that isn't an insult of the other than button your yaps shut. You two couldn't put aside that jealousy of each other even when I was dead, when I was lying in a coffin never to come back. Maybe I shouldn't have been brought back, because at least then you two would at least civil towards each other," said Shepard stomping out of the room.
"Way to go, it's bad enough he has to deal with Collectors, Reapers, Cerberus, and the entire galaxy turning his back on him. Not just that but he has to do deal with the stress of being back from the dead and the nightmares that accompany it. He hasn't had a good night sleep in days but you don't care do you. Too busy caring about your own problems and squabbles to even consider someone other than yourselves. So congrats, you gave Shepard another reason to hate the fact he's alive. How about you both just suck in your pride and grow the hell up. " said Garrus leaving to look for Shepard.
The two women looked at him stunned, before looking down ashamed.
"He's right you know, both of us have been fighting since you and Shepard got together. We could barely stay civil at his funeral for goddess's sake," said Liara.
"I haven't been attentive to him enough, I was too worried about my own situation to even consider his. The two of us haven't even slept in the same bed since he got back. I had my mission to think about, and my squad which the idiot Prazza got killed, and my second squad which I got killed. Every time I was put in command I got people killed," said Tali, looking out the window, "Shepard always seemed so confident when he's in command. He never got people killed, and I always felt safe when he was there. I assumed he was just as confident and steadfast off the battlefield as he was on. He was my everything, my rock, the person I turned to whenever I needed help whenever I needed comfort. When he died I spent two years trying to get stronger, to try to change myself so I wouldn't need him. And now he's back, and I need him even more now than I did then."
"And he needs you," said Liara, "Your rock needs his rock, maybe that's why he chose you. Whenever he went through a tough mission you were there to hold him. Ashley and I, we were in love with the hero, you were in love with the man. The same way he fell for you despite the suit. I was a bigot, just as Ashley, believed you weren't good enough for him. That's why I made those passes at him, that I was who he should be with. It was only after he died, and seeing how you were at his funeral how much emotion you showed, that I finally knew. He was everything to you. That he was the first man and non-quarian to not treat you like you were lower than the rest of us."
"There's a new quarian/human couple on the Normandy you know. John Desmond and Lia'Vael, just like me and Shepard, a quarian on pilgrimage and human man who treats her like a person rather than a walking suit. It was like me and Shepard only younger, not that he and I are that old mind you," said Tali, "I depended on him more than anyone else, now this time around he depends on me. Garrus and Shepard are right, we've been fighting every day, when we shouldn't be. It's been two years, and we've made no progress in mending the rift between us. We need to bury the hatchet, end this feud, and move on with our lives. So…friends," and she held out her three-fingered hand.
"Friends," said Liara, shaking her hand.
"I need to go find Shepard and apologize," said Tali.
"I need to look over this data, tell Shepard and Garrus I'm sorry, and come over to my apartment when you get the chance. Bring them by too, I need to make amends and I may need all of your help to find the Shadow Broker. Address should be on your Omni-tool," said Liara.
"We'll all come by later today, and you should come by the Normandy, Joker and Doctor Chakwas would really like to see you," said Tali, walking out.
Meanwhile
Shepard stood out on a balcony in the trade depot hearing a volus and an asari argue about prefabs, but he didn't care. He stared out at the view of the city, sun was still high in the sky.
He heard Garrus approaching and saw him walk up to the left of him, leaning against the balcony just like him.
"Some day this has been so far huh," said Garrus, "Those two have really been going at it."
"Just another great thing about being back," said Shepard.
"And there's that post-revival depression again. You're better than that Alex, the galaxy needs you, and Tali needs you more than that," said Garrus.
"Sometimes I wish no one needed me, that I was just another soldier on the memorial wall. If it wasn't for the Reapers Saren wouldn't have gone crazy, Nihlus and Ashley wouldn't be dead…"
"And Anderson wouldn't be Councilor, and you wouldn't have met me or Liara or Tali or Wrex for that matter. I would be sitting behind a desk at C-Sec, Liara would still be excavating for Prothean artifacts, and Tali would be dead in a gutter somewhere. We're not just your squad Alex, we're your friends. Tali, Liara, Wrex, Kaidan, Joker, Doctor Chakwas and I will all swear to that. Even the new guard will swear to it, hell even Jacob and Miranda might swear to it. You need us so we can take some of the burdens off your shoulders, so the mighty Atlas doesn't have to hold up the world himself," said Garrus, "You're like a brother to me, just like Tali is a sister to me. The three of us have been through a lot, I saw love bloom between you two, I was even there when the two of you got together. I was there to comfort her when you died, there to see her hug you again on Haestrom. If you have to face the worst the galaxy has to offer, isn't it worth it to be with her again?"
"Maybe. It was one of the things I regretted when I died. Now I'm back, two years later, and everyone and everything has changed. Remember back before thermal clips and you could slap omni-gel onto everything," said Shepard and he and Garrus shared a laugh, "I was just another soldier, and everyone put me on this pedestal that I don't even deserve. Some days I wish it had just ended with Sovereign, that I could retire, that the galaxy could save itself for once…that my parents were still alive and wish they would be proud."
"I heard you were on Mindoir, but I never believed it before, not until you helped that suicidal girl. How is Talitha anyway," said Garrus.
"She's doing alright, as well as she could be after what happened to her anyway. She barely remembers anything about her life before, but I know a thing or two. I was 16 when the invasion happened, but I remember that I was a babysitter for her family. I'm not even sure if she remembers herself," said Shepard, "I'd rather move away from that topic for now, it brings up painful memories."
"Of course, back to Liara and Tali. Those two have always fought and not much will change that. It's up to them to change, not you. Maybe after all of this is over, we can all get a drink and you and Tali can make kissy faces at each other all night to make up or whatever you two do to make up after a fight," joked Garrus, with an obvious mirth.
"My relationship is my business, just like your relationship with Kelly," said Shepard.
"Actually Kelly and I broke up," said Garrus, "I realized she loved me because I was an alien, not because I was Garrus."
"Is that why you yelled at me and Tali when we were going to hack those terminals," said Shepard.
"Well that, and I couldn't stand the sibling rivalry going on. I'm also dealing with a few personal issues myself. Since when did I become the responsible brother in our relationship, I'm supposed to be the fun loving one."
"When you pull the stick out your ass like Joker has told you several times to do, then you can be the fun loving one," said Shepard, earning a laugh from Garrus, "Thanks for the pep talk, by the way. I can put down the metaphorical gun pointed out my head."
"No problem, and if you ever need an oasis away from the madness, I'm always up for a drink," said Garrus.
"Now that I think about it, it might be good to get the old team together to catch up, maybe meet the new guys," said Shepard.
"Well we've met up with everyone except Wrex so far, and he hasn't left Tuchanka since you died. But something tells me we'll meet up with him eventually," said Garrus, "Well I smell a strong scent of antibiotics on the wind so I suspect Tali is coming over to apologize. I'll head over to that bar I heard about from Jack. Let me know when we're heading out."
Shepard still stood there as Tali appeared next to him.
"Hey," said Shepard.
"Hey," said Tali.
"Sorry about yelling at the two of you, I just haven't been doing too well on sleep lately," said Shepard.
"It's alright, I know you're just under a lot of stress lately, and I haven't been paying attention to you lately like a good girlfriend should," said Tali.
"Well you have only been back a day or two, you have a wide berth I should say," said Shepard.
"I mean since you've been back. I spent two years grieving and wishing for you to come back, then I finally got my wish and I don't leave with you right then and there. And what did I get out of it, being put in command again and getting another squad killed. When I make a bad decision I get a squad killed, with you…" Tali refused to finish that sentence.
"With me, I make a mistake the whole galaxy may die. But two years, two years I was gone and everyone moved on. Some days I wished it had ended with Sovereign that I could have retired and lived my life. Now look at me, working for a terrorist organization, filled with more cybernetics than a geth, fighting an enemy that I can't find, going from a hero to an outcast," said Shepard.
"But you have people. You have Wrex, Joker, Liara, Garrus, Kaidan. You have Mordin, Grunt, and Kasumi, Zaeed. But most of all you have me, a beautiful girl willing to bend over backwards to please you."
Shepard laughed, "I guess you're right, but you forgot Jack, Jacob, John, Kenneth, Gabby, and Lia. Tell you what, make it up to me with a drink."
"Alright, but we have to stop off at Liara's place later, talk about the Shadow Broker and what we're going to do," said Tali, "only a matter of time before he comes for you."
"If any of his other agents are as competent as Fist and Nyxeris, Liara may be right about him fearing us more than us fearing him," said Shepard.
Sometime later
The group knew something was up as the hover car landed. The rain outside along with the thunder was prominent. They approached the apartment with uncertainty and found a police crossing line at the front door along with several detectives.
"We got bullet holes in the windows, but no body, no blood splatter, no trace," said one of the detectives.
"Get the trace evidence bagged, we need to get this to the techs," said one of the others, scanning a hand print near the ground.
"Central, we got an open carrier on this end. Switching to a coded relay," said one of the officers.
"What the heck is going on here," said Shepard.
"Sir, this is a crime scene currently being sealed off, I need you to step back," said the officer.
"Sealed off? What happened," said Shepard.
"Someone tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard," said an asari in dark blue armor.
"Thank you officer for your help, your people are dismissed," said the asari.
"You can't do that," said the officer.
"Already done," said the asari.
The officers grunted their disapproval, but said nothing and left.
"Thanks, Miss…" said Garrus.
"Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon," said Tela.
"A Spectre huh," said Shepard.
"Heard you were reinstated by the Council, nice to see you're back. You were one of our most famous operatives, might even get you to sign my chest plate." said Tela, "I assume you had business with the resident of this apartment."
"The apartment belongs to Liara T'Soni, my team and I were coming here to discuss a lead on the location of a special target," said Shepard.
"Anyone I know," said Tela.
"Maybe, what do you know of the Shadow Broker," said Shepard.
"I know he's a powerful man, someone you don't want to mess with," said Tela.
"Do we know anything so far," said Shepard.
"Sniper took a few shots at your friend, T'Soni stuck around for a few minutes, then ran out.
"If Liara believed her apartment wasn't safe she would've left something behind for us, a message of some sort," said Garrus.
"Not surprising if she was paranoid, Illium is just Omega with better paint and more tourists," said Tela, "You're free to look around, I haven't found anything of note yet."
Shepard turned to Garrus and Tali and said, "Take a look around here, I'll try upstairs."
Garrus moved towards the window, "Hmm. The rifle wasn't standard issue, broke through the window despite the barriers."
Tali looked around at the artifacts, "That's a piece of your old N7 armor."
Shepard looked around upstairs and saw a photo of the old SR1. Feeling nostalgic he picked it up, only for the picture to change as it did.
"Bio-encoded to your ID, clever woman," said Tela.
"Looks like a Prothean dig site, Liara did leave a message," said Shepard.
"There are a few Prothean artifacts down here," yelled Tali.
Shepard headed downstairs and headed towards Tali, who was standing in front of some Prothean tablet. Shepard touched the glass and a small compartment opened, revealing a data disk.
"Vasir, I got something," said Shepard.
"Let's try it on that terminal," said Tela.
Shepard put the disk in and a recorded call started playing.
"What have you got Sekat," said Liara.
"It was tricky, but I believe I can have it narrowed it down to a cluster, maybe even a single system," said Sekat.
"How soon," said Liara.
"Shouldn't take very long. Come to my office, Barla Foundation, Dracon Trade Center," said Sekat, "Gotta say, you're making me nervous. How big is the trouble that can come out of this?"
"Relax Sekat. I'll see you in a few hours," said Liara.
"This must be important, The Shadow Broker's people have already tried to kill her once," said Shepard.
"I know where Dracon Trade Center is, my car is outside," said Tela.
"Well let's go, we have no time to lose," said Shepard.
"The Barla Frontiers offices are on the third floor. No police chatter, we must have missed one hell of a party," said Tela, getting out of the car along with the others.
Their musings were cut short as they saw a large explosion happen above their heads
"Liara's in there," yelled Tali, before another larger explosion knocked everyone off their feet.
The group got back up and looked at the devastation. Pieces of the building had fallen all over the place and several people were dead.
"Christ, the bastards took out 3 floors just to get to Liara," said Garrus.
"I'll grab the skycar and seal the building from the top. Whoever these people are, they are not getting away," said Tela.
"We'll start down here and work our way up," said Shepard as Tela got into the car.
"Just leave a couple for me," said Tela.
Shepard, Tali, and Garrus, headed forward hearing several people freak out about the explosions.
They headed inside and came upon the ruined atrium of the plaza. Shepard turned and tried to activate the elevators, only for them to shut down.
"Dammit, elevators are down," said Shepard.
"So is building security," said Tali, looking at her Omni-tool.
Garrus tried his comms, "Vasir, we have no elevators and building security is disabled, do you copy?"
"Yeah I'm still here. No alarms, no police, this wasn't done by any old mercenary, this was a professional job," said Vasir.
The group headed towards the stairs and headed up towards the atrium offices. They saw corpses littered the entire place. Shepard looked at one of the bodies with confusion.
"Bullet holes," said Shepard, examining the body, "Vasir, you were right, we have professionals here and their using military grade equipment. You need to be careful."
The group looked around some more and found several blown up ATMs, more corpses, and a non-activated bomb.
"Sloppy, the only time you would use something like this is if you don't have time to make a plan," said Garrus.
The group continued, heading into a hallway with a door. Shepard checked the logs, seeing that Liara had signed in an hour ago, and hoped she was still alright. The group headed to the door and opened it, heading into the main offices of Barla Foundation. They walked until they heard some sort of noise and they pulled out their weapons.
Shepard heard a tinkering near their feet , looked down, and yelled, "FLASHBANG."
It was too late however, as the grenade exploded at their feet and blinded the group temporarily. They heard gunfire around them but luckily it cleared up soon and the group rushed into cover.
"Vasir, we got well-armed mercs and we're pinned down," said Shepard.
"Meet the Shadow Broker's private army Shepard," said Vasir over the comms.
The groups traded bullets for several minutes before a lull allowed Shepard to move in and take out the agents. He switched to incendiary ammo and unloaded on the agents, setting fire to them. The group continued out through the ruins of the former offices taking out agents as they saw them. Garrus took out the agents with his sniper while Tali took out a few with her drone.
"For one of the most powerful men in the galaxy, you'd think his guards would be more intimidating and less meat-shieldy," said Garrus.
"Another in a long list of mediocrity for the Shadow Broker," said Shepard.
The gunfire stopped, as the group took a momentary breath.
"Any more agents," said Shepard.
"I think that was the last one," said Tali, and the group headed for a second staircase to the third level, only to find that it was blocked by flames.
"There should be a maintenance console around here somewhere," said Tali.
Shepard activated the console and heard the sprinklers activate, extinguishing the fires on the stairs. The group headed up and found some more agents, but took them out quickly. The group headed farther into the halls and to another door. The group positioned themselves at the sides of the door and waited for Shepard to signal, until they heard gunshots on the other side and rushed in with weapons ready. They saw an agent slump down to the ground, and Shepard turned and noticed that Liara's contact, Sekat, was dead.
"Damn it, if I had been a few seconds faster, I could've stopped them," said Tela.
"No sign of the data Liara was talking about. Looks like another dead end," said Shepard.
"Well that's a shame, speaking of your friend, did you find her body," said Tela.
"You mean this body," yelled Liara, appearing from the other end of the office and hitting Tela with a biotic push and aiming her SMG at her.
"Liara wait, she's a friend. She's Tela Vasir, a Spectre like me," said Shepard, yet Liara didn't lower her gun.
"This is the woman who tried to kill me, and the woman who killed Nyxeris," said Liara.
"You've had a rough day so I'll let it slide. Why don't you put it down," said Tela.
"I saw you! You doubled back after I left, broke into my apartment," said Liara.
"You didn't know where Liara went, you needed Shepard to find her hidden message," said Tali, joining Liara.
"The picture was bio-encoded to Shepard's DNA, without him you were lost," said Garrus, pointing his gun at Tela as well.
"Once you knew where she was going you signaled the Shadow Broker's forces, and they bombed the building to take her out. Several people are dead because of you," said Shepard, and now all four of them had their guns pointed at the now nervous Asari Spectre.
"And I must thank you for your help to make it all possible," said Tela, still smug.
"I'm guessing she still has the disk on her, she stole it off Sekat's body," said Liara.
Tela pulled the disk out and said, "Good guess, too bad you'll never see what's on it…" hitting the glass with a biotic attack and sending it flying at the group, "…you pureblooded bitch!"
Liara put up a biotic barrier to block the glass and Shepard saw that Tela was trying to escape. He ran out of the barrier and tackled her, knocking them both out of the window. The struggled against each other before eventually Tela's biotics flared up and sent Shepard rocketing towards the ground. Shepard struggled to get up but found it hard to breathe after having the wind knocked out of him.
Tela smirked and walked away before hearing Liara's battlecry and saw her flying out the window and towards the ground. She started to sprint away and Liara followed after her after landing, not even looking back at Shepard. Two guards attempted to stop her, but were quickly stopped by Liara's biotics.
Shepard finally got up and clutched his rib cage, he was pretty sure he had broken one or two ribs. Garrus and Tali came out of the building and helped him fully stand.
"You alright boss," joked Garrus.
"Yeah, just need a minute," said Shepard.
The group saw another door open and several soldiers pile out.
"Run for cover," yelled Shepard.
The group crouched behind some terminals and traded bullets with the agents. Shepard switched to his Geth Plasma shotgun and got up close and personal with the agents. Tali took out a few with her own shotgun and Garrus took out a few people with some well fired concussive shots. The group continued to fight their way through the agents and out of the building and saw Liara and Tela each behind cover trading bullets. Seeing our heroes coming down the stairs, Tela decided it was time to leave and called down her hovercar, which she quickly jumped into and drove away.
"Damn it," cursed Liara, and she went for her own car. She moved to the passenger side and waited for Shepard to get in.
Shepard got into the driver's side and said with a bit of sarcasm in his tone, "I'm fine by the way."
"Garrus get in, Tali, head to the transport docks, Vasir might try to charter a vessel to get off-planet and I need you to stop her if she's does."
"On it," said Tali, and she ran off to get a cab back to the transport docks.
Garrus got into the back seat and Shepard started driving towards the direction Tela was heading in. Driving quickly, he navigated through the flow of traffic, staying right on her tail. Narrowly avoiding several oncoming cars, Shepard drove through several skyscrapers to keep up with Vasir. The group finally got through the narrow construction site only to deal with several more oncoming cars.
"Traffic! Oncoming Traffic," yelled Liara.
"NO SHIT," yelled back Shepard.
The group breathed a sigh of relief after getting out of the traffic jam, only for Garrus to yell, "PROXIMITY MINES!"
Shepard moved to avoid them, narrowly escaping the force of the explosions. The car continued to travel until they saw rockets explode above a bridge.
"She's got reinforcements," said Liara.
"Does this thing have any guns," said Shepard, referring to the car they were in.
"It's a taxi, it has a fare meter," said Liara.
"Well this is just marvelous," said Garrus.
They saw a truck skidding along the bottom of the tunnel towards them, but Shepard quickly avoided it.
Liara quickly gasped while Shepard just laughed.
"You're enjoying this," asked Liara in a slightly angry tone.
"Very much actually," said Shepard.
The group continued in their car, into another bout of oncoming traffic. They then saw another truck about to crash, but Shepard once again avoided it and managed to pull up to the side of Tela's car. She tried to shake them off by hitting their car, but Shepard fought back with their own, knocking Vasir's car into the direct path of an oncoming car, causing Tela to collide with it and drop rapidly towards one of the buildings. Shepard looked out to the side, and pulled in their car for a landing, on a small landing pad at the same building.
The group got out and looked around before Liara spotted Vasir's car.
"There's her vehicle. Come on, she can't have gotten far," said Liara.
The group headed towards one of the doors into the hotel, only for the door to be blocked by a transport with Shadow Broker agents. The group headed into cover and opened fire on the agents, quickly taking them out through a combination of Liara's biotics and Garrus's and Shepard's gunfire. Shepard pulled out his Arc Projector and aimed it a huge transport full of agents, firing at and killing a large group of them. He then switched back to M-96 Matlock and took out the rest along with Garrus using his Incisor Sniper Rifle and Liara with her Singularities. Once the agents were fully exterminated, the group headed towards the stairs which led to the wreckage of Vasir's car. Following the blood trail into the hotel room, the group looked around. Following the trail, Shepard walked into the bedroom where a human male and an asari were cowering in a corner. Looking at the large television in the room, he saw an "exotic" video playing.
"Err…what kind of hotel is this exactly," said Shepard to Liara.
"Azure. It's a luxury hotel with an…exotic edge. Azure is slang for a part of the asari body in some areas of Illium," said Liara.
"Where," said Shepard.
"Mainly in the lower reaches, near the bottom," said Liara.
"I think he meant where on the asari body," said Garrus.
"So did I," said Liara with a wry smile.
"Ooookay," said Garrus, "I think the blood trail heads out from here."
The group continued to follow the blood trail towards some unknown location.
"She's lost a lot of blood, we must be getting close," said Liara.
"She's certainly tough, I'll give her that," said Garrus.
"It's to be expected from a Spectre," said Shepard.
The group headed through another room and continued following the trail which eventually led out to a balcony.
Shepard looked out and saw Vasir walking towards a large group of people at a restaurant, clutching her side which was bleeding profusely.
"Shepard, there she is," said Liara.
"Wait, is that Desmond and Lia," said Garrus, pointing towards two people heading towards Vasir, which sure enough was their resident Cryonic Man and his constant companion.
"Oh crap," said Shepard, who vaulted over the balcony wall and broke out into a sprint towards them.
"John, Lia, get away from her," yelled Shepard.
"Idiots," said Vasir, before sending John flying and grabbing Lia, pointing a pistol towards her head.
"I should have known you people weren't too far behind," said Vasir.
"Let the woman go Vasir," said Shepard, shortly joined by Garrus and Liara.
"Why, she's a quarian, who honestly could care about her," said Vasir.
Shepard grew extremely angry, and let it show with his teeth bared.
"I said, let her go," he said.
"Please don't kill me," said Lia,
"Put down your thermal clips and power cells or the quarian dies," said Vasir.
"You don't want to do this," said Garrus.
"Put them down," said Vasir, jamming her pistol further into Lia's head plate.
Shepard found himself in a difficult situation. He couldn't fire a shot at Vasir for risk of hitting Lia, but if he put down his thermal clips, there was no guarantee Vasir would let her go. As Shepard was having this conflict, saw a small combat drone appear behind Vasir.
"HEY TENTACLEHEAD," the drone seemed to yell.
"You want to die too huh," said Vasir, pointing her pistol towards the source of the noise, before realizing she had been tricked.
"NOW," yelled the drone and Liara picked up a table with her biotics and slammed it into Vasir, knocking Lia away from Vasir.
While a little angry, Shepard was nonetheless grateful for Liara getting Lia out of harm's way. Now however they had to deal with a very pissed off asari Spectre, who got out of the fountain she was blasted into and flared her biotics. Shepard and company opened fired as best they could on her, but it was made difficult by Vasir teleporting all over the place. As soon as they broke through her barrier however, she disappeared. Shepard saw several rocket drones and some more of the Shadow Broker's goons heading their way.
Taking out his Arc Generator, he made short work of the rocket drones, leaving Garrus and Liara to take out the rest of the grunts. Angered at having her help utterly destroyed, Vasir jumped down and attacked the trio yet again. Forced to take cover from her biotic barrage Vasir threw their way, Shepard switched back to his Matlock and switched to Incendiary ammo. Unloading a clip into Vasir, he was surprised when she teleported to the other side of the fountain and sent a biotic shockwave towards him.
Caught unprepared he was sent back several feet though his kinetic barrier stayed up at least. He continued his assault until he saw Vasir's armor was down to severely low fraction of what it was. However before he could finish her off, she teleported off to the roof again, leaving Shepard and company to deal with another wave of rocket drones and the Shadow Broker's goons. Making short work of them Vasir came down once again for a final assault.
Shepard took cover to protect himself from Vasir's biotic shockwaves, popping out occasionally to take off some more of her armor. Severely angered, Vasir teleported behind Shepard and hit him with a full force shockwave, knocking him into the fountain and destroying his kinetic barriers. Shepard pulled himself up and out of the fountain, taking cover nearby to let his shields recharge. What he didn't notice however is that Vasir had disappeared and reappeared behind him, readying to strike a killing blow.
Seeing what was about to happen, and despite having no shields himself, Garrus sprinted to Shepard's position and pushed him out of the way, taking the force of the blast. It propelled him into one of the columns of the restaurant, knocking him unconscious.
"Garrus," yelled Shepard, before turning his full attention back to Vasir.
He unloaded one final clip into Vasir, and broke off into a sprint towards her. Liara's Warp took out the last of her armor and Shepard took full advantage of that. He fired several more shots at her, causing Vasir to catch on fire, and then Liara threw down a singularity sending her into the air. Shepard followed up with a concussive shot sending her flying before Liara slammed her down to the ground with a very high amount of force with her biotics, knocking the wind out of Vasir and shattering several of her bones.
"Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit," Vasir said over and over, coughing up blood.
Liara walked over and pulled out the data disk from Vasir's person. Shepard ran back to her after making sure Garrus was alright and applying some medi-gel.
Liara pulled up her omni-tool and scanned the disk, and said, "Sekat's personal datapad, everything we need to find the Shadow Broker is right here."
Vasir let out a chuckle and said, "You're dead, you all are. The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades, he's stronger than anything you've ever faced."
"I've faced a Reaper Vasir, the Shadow Broker is a mere spider compared to that," said Liara.
"Is that why you betrayed the Council," said Shepard.
"You think I betrayed them, like Saren? Go to hell!" yelled Vasir, coughing up more blood, "The Broker's given me damn good intel over the years. Intel that saved lives and kept the Citadel safe. Even you used his help to find your team, or did you forget Barla Von?"
"If the Broker wants a few people to disappear, I'll pay that price without hesitation," said Vasir.
"Spectres don't blow up buildings with innocent civilians," said Shepard.
"Like the Council cares. They might complain about our methods to soothe their consciences but they never look too closely. Besides, you're with Cerberus. Do you have any idea what your terrorist friends have done," said Vasir.
"Sending whole platoons into thresher maw nests just to see what happens, creating a whole town full of husks just to see what would happen, incompetently sending thorian creepers throughout the galaxy and locking a high ranking Alliance official in a cage with Rachni just to see what would happen, and finally keeping an Alliance corporal locked in a cell and experimenting on him just to see what would happen. I've seen what Cerberus has done and more, but it doesn't matter," said Shepard.
"I think it does, they've done so much more than you know, like kidnapping kids for biotic death camps, and blowing up quarian liveships just to find one man. And you're with them, so don't you dare judge me. Don't you dare…," said Vasir, falling to the ground dead.
Shepard simply shook his head and turned around, seeing John and Lia coming out of their makeshift cover.
Returning to the present
Shepard went over the events several times in his head, trying to figure out how he could have prevented this. Ultimately though, he gave up, and left John's room.
He saw Liara in the hall, listening to some recording of the Shadow Broker.
"Eliminate T'Soni and retrieve the data. Civilian casualties are not a concern," said the Shadow Broker on the recording.
"I've forwarded the data to the Normandy's computers, if we leave now we can be at the Shadow Broker's base in a few hours," said Liara.
"Nice to see you have your priorities straight," said Shepard.
"Garrus will be fine, and we have to hurry. He'll find out about Vasir before long, and if he decides to kill Feron…" said Liara.
"We'll get him out alive, I promise," interrupted Shepard.
"I know. You're here to help, just like always," said Liara.
"Is that a problem," said Shepard.
"When we first met on Therum, you saved me from the geth, fought a Krogan battlemaster while I cowered in fear. And now once again I'm still leaning on you for help," said Liara.
Tali joined them, having come by to check on John and Garrus after receiving a message on her Omni-tool.
"He's your friend Liara, and that's what friends do," said Tali.
"Shepard, I'm not asking you to trust me or like my new attitude, all I want is your help saving Feron. I need your help, and I need the Normandy since its stealth drives are the only thing that can help me get in undetected. The Shadow Broker's agents are still shooting their way through Illium. With luck, they won't notice we're gone until it's too late," said Liara.
"That's cold Liara, they killed innocent people," said Tali.
"You know what I mean," said Liara.
"Do I? When I hit the ground back at the trade center, you went after Vasir without a single look back," said Shepard.
"A little fall wasn't going to kill you, I had to keep going after Vasir. I had to stay rational, make the call, like I did with Sekat," said Liara.
"That was Vasir's fault, not yours," said Shepard.
"Was it? Sekat didn't know the stakes, I put him in harm's way to get the data. I got him killed, and I'd do it again," said Liara, "But from here on it, things will be simple, go in, get Feron, and get out. And kill anything that tries to stop us."
"That's it," said Shepard.
"That's it," said Liara, and she got up to leave.
"We're not done here. You haven't been the same since I've come back. What I'm concerned with is that you've become cold and cynical, that you're turning into the very thing you are hunting," said Shepard.
"What do you want me to say, that I mourned you, that I feel guilty it was my fault Feron got captured? I made mistakes, I lost people, I helped you come back, and I want to do the same for Feron. I'll sit down and talk more when he's safe. Until then, sitting around and talking is an insult to the man who saved both of our lives. What I want to know, is will you help me save him," said Liara.
Shepard stood there for a moment deep in thought, then turned to Tali for guidance on the matter.
"Go help her, I can keep an eye on John and Garrus for a while," said Tali.
Shepard smiled at her, then brought up his Omni-tool and said, "Joker, are there still enough crew members on board to make a small trip in the Normandy?"
"We should have plenty enough I believe Commander," said Joker.
"Good, we're coming back. Set a course for the system in the data Liara just uploaded," said Shepard.
"On it Commander," said Joker.
"Thank you Shepard," said Liara.
Several hours later
The shuttle deployed from the cargo bay, and headed down to the storms of Hagalaz.
"Thanks for coming Mordin," said Shepard.
"Happy to help, nice to take break from studying cultures for most likely suicidal endeavor. Will enjoy seeing Shadow Broker ship, liked technology seen from data studied. Would enjoy meeting man behind name as well, Broker's reputation legendary in STG (deep breath) though a bit unsavory," said Mordin.
Liara looked out the window of the shuttle and said, "Hagalaz, the oceans boil during the day and snap freeze ten minutes after sundown."
"How does the Shadow Broker live in this," said Shepard.
"The Shadow Broker's ship follows the sunset, completely undetectable," said Liara.
"Unless you know where to look," said Mordin.
"How do we get inside," asked Shepard.
"The shuttle bay is locked down, we'll have to land on the ship and hunt for a hatch. We can't stay outside for long though, there's a constant lightning storm where hot and cold air collide" said Liara.
"Well I don't see how this could possibly go wrong," said Shepard sarcastically.
Shepard put on his helmet and Mordin and Liara put on their breathers and the group got out onto the ship as the shuttle touched down.
"It's hard to pinpoint in this lightning," said Liara, "There's nothing below but maintenance equipment. We have to find an entrance near the back shielding."
The group continued along the ship until a couple maintenance drones came out and attacked them, but were quickly dispatched.
"They must think we're debris from the storm," said Liara, commenting on the drones.
Shepard and company continued until Shepard came near what looked like 2 small generators, which Shepard flinched at when he saw some lightning bolts strike them, causing one the sides to light up with energy.
"Careful those capacitors discharge lightning," said Liara.
Then the group heard gunfire and saw a group of thugs firing at them. Thinking on his feet, Mordin pulled out his pistol and fired at the capacitors causing them to discharge the lightning stored in them, frying the soldiers.
"Nice," said Shepard.
"Indeed," said Mordin.
"Come on," said Liara, and the group continued across and down a small ramp and along another side of the ship. A group of LOKIs popped up out of the lower decks but they were dispatched by the group as quickly as they came. Continuing forward they saw a group of goons and another capacitor. Shepard fired at it and took out the shields of the nearby soldiers. Mordin hit them with a cryo blast and Shepard finished them off with his Matlock, and the group continued towards a small terminal with a capsule pipe.
Shepard twisted the capsule and pulled up, causing one of the armored shields to retract into the ship, revealing another path, as well as more of the Shadow Broker's agents. Taking out his Arc Reactor, Shepard hit them with a serious shock, paralyzing the majority, leaving them ripe for an Incineration blast from Mordin.
This routine continued for some time. Shepard and company would fight drones or agents in groups until they reached each capsule pipe, revealing the path ahead. The routine continued until eventually they found a path which led through what looked like some sort of reroute system.
"No guardrails? I bet the Broker's agents love patrolling the hull," said Shepard.
"View at least cosmetically beautiful," said Mordin.
The group continued until they were led to what appeared to be a courtyard, with a door at the end.
"This hatch leads directly to the communication signals," said Liara.
Shepard attempted to open it but found that, "It's locked tight."
"Hang on, I have a bypass shunt program that should get us through," said Liara, and she moved to set it up.
"I said it once and I'll say it again, I miss the days when you could just slap Omni-gel on to everything," said Shepard.
"That was certainly a security upgrade that made a lot of people angry," said Liara.
"How long will it take," said Shepard.
"I don't know, I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before. At least, not this one," said Liara, "We just have to hold out for as long as it takes."
"You're sure it will work," said Shepard.
"It's an illegal program, even on Illium," said Liara, as a group of soldier came out.
The group rushed into cover and Shepard said, "But you tested it right?"
"Here come more of them," said Liara, trying to avoid the question.
"Please tell me you tested it," said Shepard, taking out another group.
"No time to talk," said Liara, laying down a Singularity near another group.
Mordin and Liara aimed at the capacitors, causing them to discharge and leaving them open for Shepard to take down with bullets or Mordin with tech attacks.
"Rocket drones, front of the ship," said Liara and Shepard pulled out his Arc Reactor and took out easily.
"Their attacks are disorganized, they would be more effective if they attacked at once," said Liara.
"Giving mercenaries tactical advice not smart idea," said Mordin.
"Sorry," said Liara.
"How much longer," said Shepard.
"I'm sure not much longer," said Liara.
"Large wave of enemies heading our way," said Mordin.
"You had to give the mercs ideas," said Shepard.
"On the bright side, there will be less of them to deal with once we're inside," said Liara, laughing sheepishly.
"Keep dreaming T'Soni," said Shepard.
Soldiers surrounded them and fired from all sides. Despite the fact they were inflicting casualties, Shepard knew they needed to inflict more, and fast, before there was no way out. He fired the last of thermal clip in his rifle and switched to his geth plasma shotgun. Liara began trying to pull enemies out of cover with her biotics and noticed something. The soldiers she lifted were sucked up and pulled towards the front of the ship by the storm, before being disintegrated by the lightning. She quickly repeated the actions with the other mercs, with Shepard and Mordin taking out the stragglers.
Finally, the program chimed, signifying that it was finally ready, and the team ran inside and took off their helmets and breathers. They walked into a small corridor and heard the patter of feet, and went for cover. They saw an engineer and a few other soldiers appear but were quickly surprised by Shepard and the others. They continued through the hallways, taking out mercs as they went. Eventually they got to a locked door, which Shepard quickly hacked through and the group continued inside.
"Feron," Liara said, seeing her friend in some sort of restraint system.
"L-Liara," said Feron weakly.
"Hang on, we'll get you out of there," said Liara running towards a console.
"N-No," said Feron, as Liara fiddled with the console, inadvertedly setting off a shock which made Feron cry out in pain.
"What the hell is the Broker trying to do to you," said Shepard.
"The equipment is sensitive to tampering, the chair is plugged in to the Broker's infonet network. You have to shut off the power, try to pull me out now and my brain cooks," said Feron.
"Do you know where we can do that," said Liara.
"It won't be easy, you'll have to go to Central Operations," said Feron.
"Why are you in a cage," asked Shepard.
"I don't..," Feron tried to say, before being shocked again.
"It's a neural grounding rod, meant to make sure he doesn't…expire," said Liara.
"If the Broker left you alive for us to find, he obviously has no idea how dangerous you are," said Shepard.
"Don't underestimate him," said Feron, "He prepares for everything. Central Operations is down the hall, but you know he'll be there waiting for you."
"I'm counting on it," said Liara, "We'll be back for you."
"I'll try not to go anywhere," said Feron sarcastically.
"I want all teams to Outpost C," said The Shadow Broker over the intercom, and the team saw a large amount of mercs flood out of nowhere.
Shepard and the group hit them first, surprising them, and ultimately taking them down. The group headed through another door at the other end of the hall and through another corridor taking out the one merc who stood in their way.
The group readied there weapons after Shepard picked up some last minute thermal clips. They opened another door and ran through.
There, sitting at a desk covered in computer screens, was an alien with red skin bigger than a krogan, with horns, ten eyes and a mouth with three corners.
"Here for the drell," said the Shadow Broker, "Reckless, even for you Commander."
"Not reckless, determined," said Shepard, "Ask your asari Spectre about that."
"Vasir was expendable, as was Nyxeris. All you cost me was time," said The Shadow Broker.
"Expendable like Feron," said Liara.
"Your interference caused all this T'Soni," said the Broker, "Feron betrayed me when he gave you Shepard's body. The drell is simply paying the price."
"Someone was bound to come after you for working with the Collectors," said Shepard.
"It was a mutually beneficial partnership, and your arrival is convenient. The Collectors offer still stands," said the Broker, "Enough with the talk, my operations are too crucial to be compromised by a traitor."
"Quite confident for someone with nowhere to run or hide," said Mordin.
The Broker turned towards Mordin and said, "You travel with interesting companions Doctor (heh DW humor, unintentional I'm sure). Krogan pay well for former Special Task Group Members, especially those who worked on a certain project."
"Mordin, what is he talking about," said Shepard.
"Not important," said Mordin, somewhat nervous.
"Doctor Solus was part of the STG project which created the new strain of the genophage," said the Broker.
"You did what, you said you were just studying the growth of the Krogan population" Shepard sortof yelled.
"Genophage weakened over generations, Krogan population swelled, war inevitable, all options considered by team. Not important right now," said Mordin.
"You're not taking anyone else," said Liara.
"It's pointless to challenge me. I know all your secrets while you fumble in the dark," said the Broker.
"Is that right," said Liara, "You're a yahg, a pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld after slaughtering the Council's first contact teams. This base is older than your planet's discovery, which means you probably killed the original Shadow Broker 60 years ago then took over. I'm guessing you were taken from your planet by a trophy hunter as a slave or a pet. How am I doing so far?"
The Broker got up, clearly angered, and slammed his fist into his desk. He threw the parts of his desk at the group, missing Shepard and Liara but catching Mordin by surprise knocking him out.
"Mordin," yelled Shepard, but couldn't move to examine him at the moment as he had the Broker to deal with.
The Broker let out a large roar, and Shepard and Liara ran for cover. Shepard let loose with his Matlock, taking out the Broker's shields with ease, then worked on his armor with the help of Liara's Warp. Before long, the Broker staggered, but glared even more and let some sort of barrier activate around him from the machine on the ceiling. Shepard and Liara fired at it, but all it did was reflect off the barrier.
"The shields are kinetically sensitive, energy and projectiles are just bouncing off," said Liara.
Shepard cracked his knuckles and said, "Then I guess we do this the hard way."
He sprinted towards the Broker, hitting him and destroying the barrier. He punched the Broker, which staggered him slightly. He continued his barrage until the Broker activated his Omni-tool and brought up a large shield, uppercutting Shepard with it and knocking him back.
Shepard fired his Matlock but it did nothing against the shield so he pulled out his sniper rifle and let Adrenaline rush through him, firing at the exposed parts of the Broker. Before long, the Broker once again activated the ceiling shield.
Shepard rushed him again, successfully getting in a punch but was soon once again hit by the Omni-shield, knocking him into Liara.
Looking up at the machine on the ceiling, Liara said, "If you can get him to activate that shield again, I have a plan."
Shepard nodded and once again repeated the pattern of firing at the exposed areas of the Broker with his Sniper Rifle. Before long, once again the Broker activated the shield, and Shepard charged again hitting the Broker and knocking out the shield. The Broker was knocked back by the hit again, and let out a roar. The two charged at each other and just as the Broker was about to uppercut Shepard with his Omni-shield, Shepard rolled under it and yelled, "Liara now!"
Liara threw up a biotic pull towards the ceiling shield maker, causing it to crack. Liara then pulled down with all her strength, causing the generator to break and cover the Broker with energy. The Broker began to disintegrate but not give up. He attempted to charge T'Soni, but couldn't move. The Broker let out a final roar, but was too late and completely disintegrated.
Shepard was blown back but was quickly helped up by Liara. Mordin started to get up, and Shepard moved to help him up.
"You alright," said Shepard.
"Quite fine, slight headache and some bruised ribs but other than that completely fine," said Mordin.
The group saw the power shut off and then reset. The large terminal then began to be flooded with voices.
"Shadow Broker, this is Operative Mourat. We had a momentary connection failure, can you confirm status."
"Operative Shoro requesting update, are we still online?"
"Shadow Broker, I lost our feed. Awaiting instructions."
The voices then began to overwhelm each other growing louder and louder.
Liara became scared slightly, but then lowered her head and looked up again, and walked towards the console.
"This is the Shadow Broker, the situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily."
Shepard saw Feron run in brandishing his pistol, but saw shock replace the expression on his face."
"However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures, I want a full status report by the end of the day. Shadow Broker out," said Liara.
"Goddess of Oceans, it's you," said Feron, "You…how?"
"Well, everyone who has seen the Broker in person besides us are dead. So…," said Liara.
"So, you're the new Shadow Broker," said Feron.
"Are you sure you want this," said Shepard, concerned.
Liara turned back to the terminal and said, "I'm not sure about any of this, but I know I want it. With this information network I can give you…I can," Liara struggled to say.
"I-I'll go check on the power systems," said Feron.
"I'll go help," said Mordin, and the two left the room.
Shepard heard Liara begin to sob and saw tears coming from her eyes. He moved towards her and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around.
"It's over, It's finally over after two years," said Liara, and felt Shepard's arms encircle her. She returned the hug warmly.
"It's alright," said Shepard.
She broke the hug and wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "I spent two years mourning you and Feron, and now I have you both back. I…let's see what we got."
She moved back to the terminal and said, "No safeguards, no user locks, it's like the Broker never expected anyone but himself being here. And it's all ours now."
"Are you sure you want this, you could rejoin us, the Normandy could sure use its resident archaeologist," said Shepard.
"As much as I would like to, I can't. Besides, I'll be more helpful here anyway. With this network, I'll be able to help you from the sidelines," said Liara.
"Don't be a stranger," said Shepard, smiling at her.
"I won't, be sure to visit if you get the chance. The doors will always be open," said Liara.
"Maybe you can visit the Normandy the next time I come by, see how everyone is doing. Now I have to go get Mordin and head back to Illium, see if John and Garrus have recovered."
"Goodbye Shepard, for now," said Liara.
Sometime in the future
Shepard stood in his cabin pouring drinks, before Liara came in holding a datapad.
"Did you enjoy the tour," said Shepard.
"Yes it's a beautiful ship, I even ran into Joker. He seemed to be happy to see me, although he did ask if I "embraced eternity" lately," said Liara.
Shepard sighed and said, "Of course he did."
"I also talked with Doctor Chakwas, she seemed to be doing rather well," said Liara, "Here I brought you something. It took some digging but…I recovered your tags."
"I thought I'd never see these again," said Shepard.
"They changed hands more than once, do you remember Admiral Hackett," said Liara, "He gave them to me so I could bring them to you. He sends his best and hopes you're okay. So how are you doing Shepard, really? Not what you tell your squad to keep moral up."
"Honestly, I have no idea how we'll do this. I'm doing everything I can but…," said Shepard.
"You've done more than most, you and your team are fighting the Collectors with everything you have," said Liara.
"I hope we can do this," said Shepard.
"Tell me Shepard, what are you fighting for? A chance to give Tali a homeworld," said Liara.
"Tali is very important to me," said Shepard.
"And she's been awestruck with you since she came onto the Normandy two years ago," said Liara.
"You could've told me," said Shepard with a smile.
"Perhaps it was because I didn't want to add to the competition, or perhaps I didn't want to spoil the fun of you finding out for yourself," joked Liara, "I hope you two will be happy, she really needs someone like you in your life like your engineer John and that girl Lia."
"I should be heading back," said Liara, "Thanks for inviting me for the tour."
Shepard pulled her into a hug and watched her leave and said, "Yeah, come back soon."
Man it's hard to write a car chase scene.
Thanks to all y'all for reading and favoriting and reviewing and what not. My other fics will be put on indefinite hiatus while I focus on finishing this one. After that, here's the following fics that will be worked on.
-Mass Effect: Investigation
-Love Hina: Living in the Material World
-Naruto: The Demon and the Animal
-X-Men First Class: Mimicry
-The MassShank Redemption (Essentially The Shawshank Redemption but set in the Mass Effect Universe)
-Law and Order SVU: Poetic Justice
-Law and Order SVU: The Return of Merritt Rook
-Mass Effect: Outbreak (Mass Effect/The Walking Dead: The Game)
-Dragon Effect (Mass Effect/Dragon Age)
As well as my other two fics.
And finally, as a world announcement, the title for the sequel to this fic
-Rise of the Specter- A ME3 Story (no that is not a misspelling)
Announcement #2
There are only a few more chapters until The Suicide Mission, therefore only a few of the loyalty missions will be shown. Give me a review telling me the ones you want to see.
My Personal Picks
Garrus: An Eye for an Eye
Tali: Treason
Mordin: Old Blood
Legion: A House Divided
Also a few others, maybe Arrival, Overlord, and the Derelict Reaper, oh and the Collector Ship
Announcement #3
No one has given me any word about the new policy regarding lemons, so therefore I'll just go with a new idea. I'm separate the love scenes therefore anyone who doesn't want to read the lemon can skip over it completely.
Last but not least
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
Next Chapter: Prejudices and Confessions Pt.2
Peace in the Middle East, from gale1243