III: Requiem

by RedCenturionG

The Collector threat is done; and the Normandy crew survived. The Shadow Broker has eyes watching a friend of Shepard's. Loyalties will be questioned, lives put on the line. And Peta will stop at nothing to get the girl of his dreams. In this, the crew is never safe. And in the end, Marcus Shepard will have to make a decision that could cripple his resolve forever.

2. Chapter 1 Chill Out

REQUIEM

CHAPTER ONE:

CHILL OUT

October 9, 2185

0820 hours.

Cockpit, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit around Omega 4 Relay.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau.

Marcus stood and watched as the thanix cannon slammed into the head of the frigate, hitting its bridge first and completely obliderating it. Once the entire forward bow of the ship had been vaporized, the thanix ate through the rest of the vessel and quickly exited out the other end; done feasting on the Cerberus warship in mere seconds, having torn it clean in half, leaving the ship a dead bulk in space.

Molten debris shot apart in all directions; a large section of hull even hitting the relay. Of course, the relay was basically indestructible, so the hull broke apart on impact, not even leaving a dent on the pronged transporter device. Marcus watched with interest as the frigate just floated away, a threat reduced to nothing in the matter of a single shot. The thanix cannon had been vital in destroying the collector cruiser; a vessel of unimaginable firepower, only matched by the Reapers themselves, and it had been destroyed in two shots. Reaper weaponry was unparalelled in those terms. Turian military scientists must be rolling in their graves right now, knowing such a weapon exists and hierarchy warships aren't equipped with it.

Marcus nodded, "EDI, any survivors? Escape pods, further vessels, anything?"

The AI was quick to respond, as always. When he first met the AI a couple of months ago; when he had first taken command of the new, rebuilt Normandy and begun his mission to stop the collectors from abducting human colonies, he had understandably mistrusted her. The Eden Prime War, even though having concluded in victory two years ago, was still a fresh wound on alot of people's minds, and it didn't help that an AI was in a ship that the crew believed to be their home. He had been skeptical.

But as the mission went on, and he spoke more and more with EDI, he had opened up and begun to stop feeling so restricted and felt one thing around it. Trust. It wasn't even an 'it', to the crew anymore. The voice made sure it was known as a 'her' now, which was a big step for the AI. And when the Collectors lured them into a trap and abducted the crew, EDI had saved Joker from a similiar fate and managed to help them escape, cementing their relationship for a while to come.

"My scanners have picked up nothing worth of note or threat," EDI replied, "No escape pods have been detected, and if Cerberus had reinforcements, they most likely would have attempted to attack us by now."

"They've gotten bold. That's for sure," Marcus stated, giving Joker a look, "We've seen Cerberus ships before; they're nowhere near being even on the level of an obsolete turian corvette. Just mostly freighters retrofitted with a few cannons and passed off as a warship. But this ship had an EMP emitter; and kinetic barriers. Not to mention a friggin stealth drive. And then he sent it to attack the Normandy. I know the Illusive Man to be smart and patient, not to mention conservative. This attack was too stupid, especially for him."

"The Illusive Man has been known to make mistakes in the past," Miranda stated, walking up behind. The Cerberus operative had once been TIM's right-hand woman and one of his most loyal agents, not to mention a pain in Marcus' ass. But as the mission went on, Miranda became more and more loyal to Marcus, losing faith in Cerberus after the incident on the collector cruiser and eventually defecting to Shepard in the end. Her ego hadn't died with her allegiance, however, "The stealth drive on the Normandy was most likely a prototype for further versions. This frigate was possibly the first of many. TIM was always ambitious, but this ship was definitely improved. Last I heard was that he was even planning on building a proper fleet based on Alliance schematics. Dreadnought scale, even."

Marcus scoffed, "That's too ambitious, even for him, and you know it Miranda. What he wants to do would put him on the military scale of the Systems Alliance, and it took them decades to reach their place."

"...after only discovering the technology," Miranda finished for him, "But Cerberus already has the technology, the people and the space stations to do it. Walker Station was only one of many drydocks discreetly hidden throughout the galaxy. If the Illusive Man wants a fleet, he'll have one."

"For what purpose?"

"I doubt he's building an entire fleet just to get you back," Miranda pointed out, "He's most likely doing it to prepare for the coming Reaper threat; which of course, is now closer than ever."

"That's his one redeeming quality," Marcus declared, "That he wants to help stop the Reapers, and he can do that. I would be all ears if he'd just drop the act and get in line behind me, but he's decided that I should follow him or its every man for himself. He may pretend that he's not like most politicians but deep down and below his little act, you can see the roots of it. He may try to hide it, but I can see it. He's not as enigmatic as he seems to think."

"So what now?" Joker asked.

"We set a course for the Citadel," Marcus declared, "I've got to explain this shit to the Council and tell them, once again, that we've just done their crap for them and that they rest easy knowing I've severed all ties with Cerberus. And I'll speak to Anderson about taking out Walker Station. Or at least occupying it. EDI, still got the coordinates?"

"I do, commander," EDI replied, sounding smug, but he shrugged it off as imagination.

"Good. When I meet with Anderson, I'm going to request a joint meeting with Hackett and, if I can push my luck, get Garrong in there too and we'll discuss the Alliance's plans to check Cerberus. Starting with giving the coordinates of Walker Station to Hackett. A little Alliance raid. Garrong is major anti-Cerberus man and would listen to what I have to propose."

"You want to check the Illusive Man's movements?" Miranda asked incredulously, arms crossed, "He's preparing to fight the Reapers, and you want to attack one of his stations?"

"One," Marcus lifted a single finger, "One station taken from his grip. But if I can get the Alliance to check enough of Cerberus' movements, TIM should eventually get tired of it and look for exit strategies. But that point, he'll know I'm responsible and look for a way to stop this madness. I'll tell him, unconditionally, to work with us or the Alliance will bring Cerberus down. He has no choice but to agree."

"A sound idea, but this is the Illusive Man we're talking about," Joker told him, spinning his chair around, "You'd have better luck trying to convince a quarian to work with a geth."

Marcus arched a brow at the pilot and grinned. Joker grinned with him before turning to Miranda. The Ex-Cerberus operative sighed and rolled her eyes, turning back to Marcus, "Let's hope it works; we may not like Cerberus, but they're at least getting ready for the Reapers. The rest of the galaxy might as well be sitting on their asses."

"That'll change soon if I have anything to say about it," he turned back to the cockpit, "EDI, you still have the information you and Legion gleaned from the Collector Base?"

"Indeed I do commander," the AI replied, "I have even downloaded schematics of the Human-Reaper for representation."

Marcus shuddered at that memory. The battle with the abomination they had come to call the Human-Reaper hadn't been long, and had been ended with the impact of a simple mini-nuclear device called the M-920 Cain. But the very thought of it existing; how it was created using the melted remains of human bodies and how the Reapers had shaped it in human form...it was a memory that would stay with him forever. But it was gone...as was the Collectors, and their hideous base of horrors.

"Yes. That...abomination does need to be brought up if we're going to prove the Reaper threat is real," Marcus declared, turning to leave the bridge, motioning for Miranda to follow, "Head for the Citadel with best speed; I'm also going to request repairs upon our landing there; those repairs are heavily needed. Can't go flying around like this."

With that, he marched off down the flight deck, Miranda quick behind him. He nodded at the crew that he passed; all of them still heavily traumatized over what had passed. The crew had been abducted by the collectors prior to the final assault, but he had rescued all of them, including Chakwas, Kelly and Lia. But as he passed the yeoman on his way to the elevator, smiling as he did, he noticed the smile on Kelly's features did not reach her eyes.

She was the worst hit out of all of them. Chakwas is traumatized, but she's quickly recovering and Lia still has recurring nightmares, but Mordin is helping her get through them by working in the lab. Gardner seems barely fazed and Ken and Gabby seem to be their usual cheery selves. But Kelly...I don't know if she'll ever recover. And as he entered the elevator, Miranda quickly joining him, hitting the button for deck four, he made a note to console her later. Funny. The psychologist needs the psyche evaluation.

In the silence of the elevator's descent, he turned to Miranda, "How's our prisoner holding up?"

"Good...in a sense of the word," Miranda smirked, "He's been thrashing around a bit, tried to escape once. If you see a bruise on his forehead, along with one on the back of his head, you can blame Zaeed. We did post him to guard the prisoner anyway."

Marcus managed a small grin as the elevator came to a stop and the door opened. He sighed as he stepped out and once again noticed the broken windows of the corridor, including the newly broken ones that some of the commandos fallen out of to their deaths. He also looked at the huge scorch mark that trailed along the wall to his left. It had been caused by an oculus drone that infiltrated the ship during the attack; but Tali had taken a team and dealt with. But, the bright side was that the scorch mark had made it so one less Cerberus insignia could be seen.

Once we're in port, it'll be the Cerberus logos I get rid of first. I won't fly under Cerberus banners anymore. With a sigh, he straightened his stance and resisted the urge to check into engineering. Tali will be fine, he kept telling himself, but ever since she had shared herself with him before the assault on the collector base, she had been showing intense signs of fever, and he wanted to know if she was suffering from it. Don't be foolish. She had the same reaction on the base, and she came out just fine. Quit worrying.

Miranda and himself palmed the door into the garbage disposal open and stepped inside. They saw that the room looked much the same; benches with Zaeed's trinkets on them with the same grey steel walls and a garbage compactor at the back of the room. In the middle however now was one chair; occupying it was Jonathan Sand, former Cerberus commando gone captive. He had been stripped of his armor and weapons of course and given some clothes; but apparently Zaeed wished to torture the man; he wore nothing but underpants while cuffed to the chair. A jest on Zaeed's part, obviously.

Another chair leaned against the wall on two legs infront of them; Zaeed occupying it. He cradled jessie in his lap while he slept; his guttural snores almost being enough to outdo a pig. He was meant to be watching the commando, not sleeping on it, but Marcus couldn't blame him. The entire battle had been exhausting, having to cover ninety kilometers of space station while fighting constant waves of hostiles. Even the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy was exhausted. But of the squad, Zaeed, surprisingly, had been the least wounded out of all of them. A minor concussion and a bullet wound in the hip, but that was it. The mercenary had done well for himself.

Jonathan was asleep as well; eyes closed. Miranda immediately noticed the large bruise on his forehead; along with his matted black hair. His lips were crossed and heavily drawn; a very easily angered man, it would seem. He wasn't heavily muscled either; he looked more like a couch slob than he did a heavily-trained commando. No muscles to be seen aside from a few stand-offish veins popping out along his arms and legs.

Marcus sighed and motioned for Miranda to wake Zaeed up; tired or not, he was sleeping on the job. Marcus stood, arms crossed and watching Jonathan while Miranda grabbed Zaeed's chair and forcefully pulled it back onto solid ground, causing Zaeed to almost rocket out of his chair.

The mercenary immediately sat up, eyes groggy as he wiped at them. Once done, he noticed Miranda and cursed under his breath, "What do you goddam want woman? I'm trying to sleep here!"

"You're meant to be guarding him. Not sleeping," Miranda chastised.

Zaeed rolled his eyes and looked at the prisoner, "The man's sleeping like a little baby; what's there to guard? You should both know that a baby can't break omni-cuffs."

Marcus shook his head before turning back to John and raising his omni-tool. With a single flick of his wrist, the omni-cuffs binding the man disengaged and deactivated, allowing him free movement, but he still hadn't woken. Miranda gave him a quizzical look, but it quickly vanished when Marcus raised his shirt, revealing a magnetic holster attached to the side of his pants and holding a carnifex hand cannon. He then dropped the shirt and turned back to John. With a sigh, he grabbed Zaeed's nearby drink bottle, opened the top and poured it over John's head.

The captive woke with a start, the cold water dripping down his face and down his chest, drenching his hair along with the light stubble on his chin. He gasped as he took in his surroundings, surprised he can suddenly move. He jumped up, obviously not acknowledging the situation, trying to run. But Marcus grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him back down, "Try and escape again, and I will rebind you."

Jonathan finally came to his senses, wiped his face with his hands before looking up at Marcus, a sneer on his face, "I see you kept me alive. Should have killed me."

"Should I have?" Marcus asked, mock curiosity in his tone, "I don't think so. I need you to answer some questions for me before I hand you over to C-Sec. A man like you will be very useful to the Citadel's efforts to keep Cerberus in check."

"Are you fucking stupid enough to think I'd betray the Illusive Man?" Jonathan spat, the sneer never leaving his lips, "I'd die for him if I had to. I'll never betray my patriotic duty."

"I sure hope your patriotic duty didn't revolve around capturing me and my crew to get a promote, because you'd be out of a job," Marcus said, moving to circle Jonathan's chair, "Tell me Mr. Sand, do you really think the Illusive Man will send men to rescue you?"

"Of course he will," Jonathan boldy stated, giving Miranda a cold look, "And he'll make sure you all suffer for your treachery; Cerberus remembers. Always have. We'll get Jacob Taylor...and you Miss Lawson. You'll die; just like all traitors do. A certain scientist by the name of Wilson learnt that."

"Yes, Wilson learnt that because I taught him so," Miranda replied, remaining at the back, "And if you think he's going to send men just to rescue you, then you must be a rookie, but I've never known the Illusive Man to save men who are collateral damage. He terminates them, Sand."

"You try to fill my head with lies," Jonathan snapped, looking around at the three of them, "All of you, lying. All I see is two traitors and a mercenary who would sell you all out for good dealing of credits."

Marcus turned the chair around to face him and leaned in so his face was inches from Jonathan's, "Two traitors, Sand? Last I checked; I never swore allegiance to Cerberus or its goals. I'm not betraying them, merely finishing my contract. I consider myself a mercenary in that regard; I do something for them, or in my case, with them, then I leave when my contract is terminated. Simple as that."

"I couldn't care less about you leaving Cerberus," Jonathan growled, seemingly perputually full of anger, "You betrayed your entire species. That makes you a traitor in my eyes. You name a turian your brother and welcome a suit-rat into your bed; you defile the very name of the species you call yourself by."

Marcus resisted the urge to punch him, "I betrayed noone; tell me, if I were to help a Englishman cross a river, would I be a traitor to Israel? No, I wouldn't. This galaxy has to stand united if we're going to destroy the Reapers, and Cerberus' pathetic racial prejudices isn't going to help."

"Tell me, does her moaning help you fight the Reapers?"

This time, he did punch Jonathan, and he punched him hard. Jonathan's head twisted to the left violently, and for a second Marcus thought the strike had broken his neck, but his head quickly turned back around, blood oozing from a broken nose. He spat blood in Marcus' face, snarling as he did. Marcus shook his head and moved to leave, "Had enough have you!? Gone to fuck her? Go on; I'll be right here you xenophilic traitor!"

"Zaeed," Marcus stopped, turning to the placid mercenary, "Gag this son of a bitch. His insults make me want to do it myself, but I don't think I'd earn much from it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it though," Zaeed nodded, moving over to Jonathan with a smile while Marcus left, Miranda behind him.

"Commander," Miranda spoke from behind him and he sighed as he hit the button to summon the elevator.

"I know Miranda," he told her without turning around, "I'm an idiot for doing that; I don't even know what I went in there to do really. Interrogate him? Torture him? Get information from him? I just don't know."

"That's all well and nice," Miranda told him, standing next to him, "But what I was going to say is that you've got some blood on your face."

He laughed then; it started as a snort and turned into laughter as he wiped the blood from his face and flicked it onto the steel floor, still grinning when he turned to Miranda, "Thanks Miranda...don't think the crew would be comfortable with me leading them, with blood all over my face."

His XO smirked, "I don't know; it would look very intimidating. You really should try the whole renegade pose'; you'd do it well."

"Sorry, I'm the perfect paragon," Marcus stated overexaggeratedly waving his arms dramatically, "Besides, I'm sure you'd make the perfect renegade; you know, being perfect and all."

"Yes I am," Miranda stated firmly, "The perfect woman; don't you doubt it. I'm still available, if you're interested."

"You're very attractive Miranda, I'll admit it," Marcus told her, giving her a bare glance, "But I've given myself to Tali and only Tali. And as good as you are, I'm starting to believe Miss vas Normandy is closer to perfection than you are."

"Great, our hero appears to be a prince charming. Roll in with the cliches why don't we," Miranda smiled, "And since when was it 'Miss vas Normandy?'"

To his credit, Marcus blushed slightly, but quickly recovered, "Since I decided her first name wasn't good enough; repeating it gets boring after awhile. Allow myself some variety, you know?" He looked back at the still closed elevator, "Fuck sake these elevators are slow. Should be here by now."

Right on que, the door opened and Miranda stepped inside. Just as Marcus was about to however...well all the talk of Tali had made him long to see her, and they weren't really doing anything important right now; the actual repairs would start upon arrival at the Citadel, so...

"Commander?" Miranda asked, back in her all business mood.

"I won't be taking the elevator Miranda," Marcus decided, turning to engineering, "I'll see you on the cockpit later on."

With that, he took off into engineering, deciding to enter through the right so he could speak with Gabby and Ken first. He smiled as he entered, watching as Gabby slapped Ken on the shoulder for most likely another snarky comment he had made. He swore, if these two weren't best friends, they'd be a couple, as cliched as it sounded.

He could hear snippets of their conversation. He just stopped, deciding to wait until they were finished before interrupting. As he did, however, he saw that engineering hadn't survived the onslaught of the Normandy's crash landing either; the drive core didn't hum as loudly and sparks flew from blown consoles up above, along with a metal beam that had collapsed along the catwalk leading to the drive core itself. Engineering was definitely in a bad way. Ken wasn't even working at his console; he was working with Gabby because his had exploded and blown out.

Gabby sighed as she continued to run through her console settings and state the status of the ship, "This a big mess, Kenneth, take it seriously. Look at this; the forward tanks need to be buoyant and elevated, and for the most part they are, but they won't hold long! We seriously need to reach the Citadel soon or sooner or this ship's going to be running on fumes."

"They're supposed to be buoyant and elevated?" Ken replied with his typical, thick scottish accent, "Are you talking about the Normandy...or Miranda?" His voice lingered on Miranda's name longer than it should have, making him sound like a love sick schoolboy.

He could practically feel Gabby rolling her eyes, "I'm talking about the one that's covered and protected, not bouncing in the breeze."

He heard Tali laugh from around the corner, "She's got a point, Ken."

Ken shrugged, "I don't know. Operative Lawson's uniform is very official. It always makes me stand at attention, if ya catch me meanin."

"A drunk child could catch your meaning Ken," Gabby replied, slapping him on the shoulder again, "Now will you stop daydreaming about our XO and get back to work?"

"Just the XO?" Ken replied, smiling devilishly, "How about that Jack chick, eh? I hear she wears nothing but tattooes from the waist up. I would have welcomed her aboard, but...well, ya see, I've got some stuff to do, so I never got the chance."

"Stop it. Seriously," Gabby replied.

"Oh, but I've got one more fine lass to compliment," Ken replied, snatching a look at who obviously had to be Tali, "But one more moment; the Normandy's a she right? Not a he?"

"Yeah...," Gabby trailed off.

"And EDI is a she? Tali is definitely a she," Ken trailed on.

"What are you getting at, Kenneth?" Gabby asked impatiently.

"I'm just saying that I will feel a wee bit threatened here," Ken replied, trying to look terrified, "So much female energy; its nothing but women. And I'm just one man."

"You're such a dick," Gabby replied with annoyance, turning back to her console.

Kenneth pointed his finger at her accusingly, "See! Look where your mind went. I'd better watch out for myself," he turned to Tali again, grin returning to his features, "I can't complain all that much though. I mean," he leaned closer to Gabby, whispering, "What do you think of our quarian boss?"

"Hush," Gabby tried to shut him up, "She's right over there."

"Ah," Ken scoffed, "She can't hear us with that bucket on her head. Don't get me wrong; its a beautiful bucket. The whole suit is lovely. Quite snug, in all the right places."

Marcus hid and held a chuckle as he approached, but watched as Tali beat him to the punch, stopping behind Kenneth. He examined her features and saw that she had been hard at work; her purple veil had been laid out on her console and her lithe, black suited form was covered in grease and scorch marks where she had been almost electrocuted. She looked different without the hood covering her head; almost looked weird. Her omni-tool had been active and she held a screwdriver and spanner in the same grip.

She spotted Marcus and waved at him, smiling behind the mask. She held up one finger, telling him to hang on a minute before turning to Ken, who now faced her, "Are you slacking on the job, Donnelly?" She asked, pretending to be angry.

"No ma'am I...," Ken stuttered and Marcus could tell Gabby was barely containing her mirth.

"Well, if you don't make yourself useful, you'll find your own clothing will be alot more snug when I'm done gutting you," Tali growled, slamming a screwdriver into his grip before jabbing a thump in the direction of an open vent, "I want us looking presentable when we reach the Citadel docks; not looking like a half-drunk child put this ship together. Get in that vent and deactivate any potentially dangerous panels. Get moving!" She ordered and Ken immediately snapped, a salute moving over to the vent, mumbling to himself.

"So many feisty women," Ken mumbled, going prone and preparing to crawl into the vent, "I'm in heaven."

Tali whorled around, kicking his feet and causing him to let out a gasp at the sudden pain shooting up his ankle, "Move it! Flattery will not save you in my engine room! Not at all!" Done yelling, Tali turned towards him and motioned for him to follow her into the drive core chamber, using a dirtied rag to wipe her gloves. Marcus nodded at Gabby as he went past and the engineer smiled back, nodding as he did.

The two of them finally met at the main drive core control console and turned to face each other, Marcus smiling, "Getting used to being chief engineer?"

Tali shook her head, leaning against the console, "I've had two months to get used to it, and I've taken mostly from Adams; he was a good teacher to me. I only learn from the best."

He smiled and took her hand, holding it in his.

Tali looked up at him and shook her head, "Just so you know...I am still running a fever and..." she raised one hand, as if to block her nose as she sneezed, "...and I've got a nasty cough..." like on que, she coughed three ragged coughs, "...and my sinuses are filled with something I cannot even begin to describe," she shot him a knowing look and then giggled. Before he knew it, she looked up, grabbed him by the belt buckle and pulled him into her embrace before she whispered into his ear, "But it was totally worth it."

Those words alone made him shiver and she smiled, kissing her on the neck. He yearned to be able to kiss her actual neck; just as he yearned to make love to her again. But he knew he musn't; he would let her recover from her fever before giving her another one and wait until she wanted it. They waited a few more seconds before reluctantly parting, but holding each other at arms length.

"So, this ship got pretty banged up, hey?" Marcus asked, gesturing at the ship. Tali nervously laughed, looking at the state of the vessel she served on.

"You can say that again," Tali replied, following the area his eyes glazed over, "Yet again, the whole ship is a mess. Garrus wants my help with a coolant leak in the gunnery station later and Kasumi is convinced she can here drilling sounds from behind the bar in the lounge; we've got our work cut out for us until we can reach the Citadel," the quarian turned to him and sagged alittle, "That means...that means we won't be seeing each other alot; at least not until night time and a few words exchanged in bed. Apart from that...I think we'll both be pretty busy until we reach the Citadel in a couple days."

"I can't see you all the time, we both know that," Marcus replied confidently, touching his forehead to her visor, "But it'll be over soon. Once we reach the Citadel and the repairs are done, it'll be business as usual, just without the collectors, just alot of politics. We'll get more time together. Another date, perhaps?"

Tali grinned, "Sounds like a date."

"Miss vas Normandy, I do believe you just punned me," Marcus replied, mockingly disappointed, "I am ashamed."

Tali's laughter echoed through the ship, "I don't know what a pun is, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

"Is that true?" Marcus asked, smiling, "Then you'll have to tell me what a bosh'tet is."

"In all due time, Marcus."

They talked for a bit longer before exchanging goodbyes and getting back to work; and Tali was right, they would have their work cut out for them.

He just hoped they got to the Citadel sooner, rather than later.

{Loading...}

October 9, 2185

1025 hours.

VICINITY UNKNOWN. DATA INCOMPLETE. LOCATION UNKNOWN.

The Shadow Broker.

He was doing his job right at least; agents had been dispatched all over the galaxy to find and counter T'Soni's movements. Everything was falling into place; it was a chess board, and his pieces were quickly moving into place for a checkmate. Illium was the biggest target, and he had most of the agents dispatched there, but he wasn't going to start sending in the ground troops until it seemed the situation was out of hand; which it rarely was for the Shadow Broker.

Liara T'Soni had always hated the Shadow Broker; ever since he had 'supposedly' killed that drell lover of hers, Feron. Now the asari archaelogist turned broker seemed determined to bring down the Broker's entire network and find him. Of course, the Shadow Broker had never taken her movements seriously; he had covered his tracks well; he didn't reach this position without certainty. But now the asari was onto something; he didn't know how, but the asari had a lead, and that was a threat. She had to be eliminated.

This would be easy, had it not been for the inevitable wrath of Commander Marcus Shepard; a man the Broker had kept keen eyes on. He had heard of the man's achievements during the Eden Prime War, how he had died a month later and mysteriously returned two years later. And now, less than a couple of hours ago, her agents reported that the Normandy had returned from the Omega 4 Relay, destroyed a Cerberus stealth frigate and quickly made headway for the Citadel. He was a threat to his plan. To their plan.

Marcus Shepard didn't have brokers; but he did have Liara T'Soni has a friend, and if Liara were to find their location and bring Shepard along...that would also mean bringing Tali'Zorah along, and that would definitely interest one of them, that's for certain. They had watched over Tali'Zorah for quite awhile, that was certain.

For he wasn't the Shadow Broker. At least, he was only half of the Broker. She was the other half. Two people sharing the same role. He conducted operations, she gave the orders, while scarcely hidden away. Noone even knew she existed.

She wasn't a hateful person, but she knew a threat when she saw one. She also noticed that Cerberus agents were beginning to clash with hers, and that had to stop. The Illusive Man, she knew, had increased his network ever since the Collector defeat so he could retake the Normandy; Shepard had severed ties with Cerberus. The Shadow Broker despised Cerberus; and although her network was far superior to theirs, they were still a threat she wished gone from this galaxy. Not that she could; even she didn't know the location of their central command. The Illusive Man's location was a mystery she would never figure out. As was hers to him.

An update appeared on her terminal and she raised both her hands, typing away at it. When it was done, she looked over the information and found that T'Soni definitely had some hard on information, so she would have to act fast. She paged a communication line with one of her best agents and sent an order through the other part of the Broker for him to send to the agent to have her put on standby and sent to Illium. If Liara made any further moves, the agent would strike hard and fast.

She would also have to keep an eye on this salarian agent of Liara's; a man by the name of Sekat. Apparently he was doing data running for her and had his own band of agents; of course he did. She ran a file check on him and brought up his dossier, discovering that he used to be one of her agents before he betrayed her to Liara. He never knew the location of the Broker, but he had his suspicions. He had always evaded her, but now he was on Illium, and helping Liara no less.

That would end soon. The Shadow Broker was a merciful person when she wanted to be, but when she wasn't, she let the other half do the work. He loved disposing of agents they didn't need anymore; it was his job. And he did it well, as much as it disgusted her.

She leaned back in her chair and took the cup of coffee from her desk and placed a straw in it, inserting it into her tube and taking a long deep sip.

She won't be a threat much longer. Now, what are you up to Tali'Zorah...

{Loading...}

October 9, 2185

1310 hours.

Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Citadel.

Subject Zero Jack.

She loved the feeling of her biotics pulsing through her; it made her feel alive and full of energy, even if it was slightly electrifying. She felt invincible whenever the feeling consumed her; a biotic powerhouse able to plow through anything and everything with a single stroke of a wrist or kick of a foot. But when she stretched her arm out and felt the fire that was the pain in her bicep, she gasped, the biotic power dying away, realizing just how vulnerable she really was.

She sighed and forced her way through the pain and shot a biotic warp forward, taking one of the crates fully and sending it flying across the bay to land at the massive blast doors. This movement only managed to amplify her pain tenfold and she bent over in pain, letting a little scream fall through her teeth, seeing as noone was around.

When around people, she was Jack, the invulnerable ticking-biotic-timebomb just waiting for someone to insult her or piss her off so she could detonate. The enigmatic woman covered in tattooes that torn apart mercenaries, Cerberus and Collectors alike. She was scared of nothing; feared nothing. She was tough; emotionless, yet her anger was omnipotent. Noone wanted to piss her off.

But when she was alone, she was the girl without a name, without a family, without someone to love her. She was scared, alone and afraid. She'd use her biotics and anger to cover up her fear and despair and whenever someone implored, she would act all tough to cover up the tears that secretly wanted to burst out of her eyes. She wasn't a biotic powerhouse; she was a biotic powerhouse fuelled by a deadly maelstrom of melancholy and vehemence. A hybrid substance so reactive, she might as well be francium.

Secretly, when noone was looking, she would try to remember her mother and father's face during her time living on Eden Prime, but couldn't even remember that. She had brother at one point, but couldn't remember that either. She could even remember her captive's faces. She had had hair once, a brown haired ponytail, but that was gone; leaving her plain bald and covered in tattooes. She wasn't who she pretended to be. Sometimes, she would even cry herself to sleep.

She tried to throw another warp, but this time her body gave into the pain and she collapsed against the bulkhead, sliding to the floor to land on her ass with a thump. She felt a tear streak down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. Noone has ever given a shit about me. They'll either use me for sex, money or simply because I'm a powerful biotic bitch. Even the crew doesn't know what to think of me; should they be scared? Or would they like to fuck me? Oh, and I admit, I fucking love it. Sex is fucking fantastic. And that's just it; should I be enjoying it? I love it, and then afterwards I complain about how they used me to get into my cunt. Am I retarded, or do I complain for the sake of complaining?

The only people she ever saw out of combat was Tali, Shepard, Gardner and the occassional person in the mess hall. She talked to Zaeed more often then she'd admit, but that was only because they shared similiar views on life. The quarian had balls, she'd admit that; Jack would tell her to piss off and the quarian would ask her to calm down and whenever Jack threatened to gut her, Tali would reply with; 'I'm an engineer. Come anywhere near me, and I could send a current barelling towards at 30,000 volts a second. You'd never get your biotics up. So go ahead, try and kill me' before disappearing into a vent. And all the while, Jack would just smirk.

Then there was Shepard; the king of the boy scouts. Damn the man. He would always take the time to come and see her and talk to her when noone else would. Of course, he didn't see anyone as much as he saw Tali; they were impractically inseperable, but Shepard cared. She had even offered him sex once, but he countered with 'I'm in a relationship and you can't just fuck your way out of everything.' She was both disappointed and happy for his rejection. Someone gave a fuck.

And as much as it frightened her and excited her and disgusted her, she actually had feelings for him. Did she love him? Fuck no, but she felt something for him. Something that got her hormones pulsing whenever he was near. Sometimes she would try and hug him and cry on his shoulder, but he was always gone before she broke like that. Jack knew she didn't have a chance with him; he was far too loyal to Tali'Zorah vas Normandy; the quarian who definitely deserved him.

With a sigh, she stood up steadily and was moving to continue her self-training when the elevator door opened. She turned around and rolled her eyes when she saw the asari justicar, Samara, step out and look at her, expressionless gaze seeming to read right through her. God she's annoying; all righteous and crap. Makes the cheerleader seem just barely tolerable.

"Jack," Samara greeted, "I see you have been hard at work."

"Of course I have," That was Jack speaking, not the child, "Nothing else to do, and the queen of engineering seems to think I'm just in the way, so why the fuck don't I do something? I'm no tech; not like I can help with anything. Don't even know why I'm here, actually. Could have left already. Maybe I'll leave when we reach the Citadel."

"But you won't, because you know you'll have nowhere to go," Samara replied, hands clasped behind her back and examining the scene before her, words subjective to hundreds of years of living, learning and fighting, "Cerberus will never stop hunting you and if you return to the normal world, you'd just have to deal with what you've dealt with before. A repetitive lifestyle. At least here, you have a purpose. An enemy we all share."

"Yeah yeah, whatever princess. I think I'll keep my inner problems to myself from now on," Jack replied, kicking a crate biotically before turning back to the justicar, "Any particular reason you're here? Or are you here to teach me whoopty-fucking-do-dah?"

"I came here to examine your fighting techniques," the justicar replied cooly, barely fazed by Jack's harshness, "It is effective, yet savage and disjointed. It has no form; no organization to it. You rely solely on brute force to crush your foes, but have no continegency for when you're on the defensive."

"So fucking what?" Jack snapped, "Are you going to teach me?"

"If you'd like," Samara replied, "I find myself much in the same position as you. Meditation can only do much for me; silence is what I require, noise is what I am delivered. The sounds of repairs are not the envirnoment for the soothing of the soul. I believe training for us is a mutual task. However, I could teach you many things. You are a powerful biotic, but your power is disjointed and used recklessly. Should you be taught to use it adequently; then maybe you can harness your power. I would help you do this, if you would allow me the pleasure of doing so."

"You're helping a wanted criminal?" Jack asked incredulously, plopping herself down on one of the flight control consoles in the bay, "Doesn't that go against your code or some shit?"

"In many cases, you'd be correct," Samara told her, "But the code allows for contradictions. For example; a criminal who has recently done a good deed so great in scope that it absolves them of all their past activities is considered worthy of leniency. This makes it so you are absolved of any crimes in sight of the code. In this matter, I do not take any action against you."

"Sure, whatever," the biotic replied, "Well...if you're going to teach me, you might as well try now."

Samara raised an eyebrow, "You are currently injured; we should start with how to use your biotics while injured."

"I know how to-" Jack began to object.

"You do not," Samara replied sternly, "Do not think I'm fooled by the disguise you have assembled. You are troubled, frightened and your life is full of horror. I have never had the chance to experience fear, but I have experienced many horrors in my life. I am not asking you to show me your true self, merely to quit pretending."

"Good, because it's none of your fucking business," Jack replied harshly before turning to the bay, "Do we begin or what?"

Samara merely nodded and they moved into the center of the bay, Jack taking the end and Samara taking the side with the elevator. Jack sighed heavily as Samara unclasped her hands from behind her back and faced Jack, pulsing with biotic energy. Jack quickly followed.

"You must learn to control yourself," Samara dictated, "You must-"

Jack roared and shot a biotic warp at the asari rapidly. To her surprise, the asari saw it coming and deflected the shot easily before sending a shockwave in her direction. Jack easily leapt over it, but quickly discovered it for a trap and was hit full in the face by another shockwave. She was thrown to the ground and before she could get up, Samara seemed to use her biotics to teleport infront of the convict, foot firmly positioned ontop of her throat and pressing down to keep her there. Jack growled.

Samara shook her head, "This is why you must control yourself. Your actions are predictable; easily countered if fighting the right enemy. A mercenary may be fooled, but a commando will not be."

"How the fuck did you do that?" Jack asked, "That teleporting shit."

"It is an ancient technique learnt by only the most well-tempered of asari. Many other races have attempted it, and some have succeeded," the justicar informed her, releasing her boot from Jack's neck, "And it is not teleportation, literally speaking. It involves utilizing your biotics to make yourself a weightless object before projecting yourself much like a bullet discharging from a gun. The effect is fast enough that it looks like teleporation. We asari call the technique 'Biotic Leap,' or simply 'biotic jumping.'"

"Can I learn it?" Jack asked, "That seems like some sick shit."

"As I have said before, it can only be learned by the most well-tempered of students," Samara declared, moving back to her original position, "You must learn to control yourself first; biotic leap requires tolerance and a huge amount of patience. It is not an easy technique to learn."

Jack groaned as she got to her feet, wincing at her side. Samara's counterattacks had really winded her, "How long will that take?"

"As long as it takes for you to learn," Samara replied, turning to face her again, "Asari learn quickly, but you are human. You are very much different and all different again in genetic, mental and physical diversity. You all have different learning curves. I must see yours first before we hope to change you. Evolve you."

Jack simply smiled as she stepped back into a 'neutral position'; two feet beside each other and hands clasped at her sides. She then bowed deeply before returning to a fighting stance, shit-eating grin still on her face, "Whatever you say, sensei."

"Sensei?" Samara asked, confused, "I do not recognize the term."

"It means 'person born before another' in Japanese," said a voice from near by that Jack recognized she turned to the source with frustration, watching the form of Kasumi decloak. Why did she have to wake up from that tranquilizer? Kasumi simply grinned, "But it can also be used as a meaning for 'teacher', as its found in many martial arts."

"I see," Samara replied, turning back to Jack, a simple smile on her face, "Then, we shall begin our lesson...young student."

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October 9, 2185

1502 hours.

'Humanity's Sanctum', Upper Levels, Cronos Station, Anadius System.

The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Geoff Dielheart.

"Has there been an update from the Tajikistan?"

Geoff gulped as he stood out of the darkness and fully into the light, datapad hooked under one arm as he allowed the light of Anadius to reveal his appearence. Geoff was a grizzled man; he had heavy stubble around his chin, a few pimples on the side of his face, heavy-lidded eyes and puffy lips. His wife had died during the First Contact War and he had been forced to raise his son, Carter, by himself. But he was a loyalist to the bone; and loyal only to Cerberus. Even Miranda had limits to her loyalty.

Geoff cleared his throat as he spoke, "The Tajikistan was destroyed by the Normandy sir; we just received a message from Captain Nepal stating so. It would appear we have underestimated the Normandy and her crew sir."

"Noted," TIM stated, angered. I should have seen it coming. Commander Shepard, taken down by a platoon of commandos were are really just well-dressed mercenaries? I shouldn't have expected them to get their jobs done. Andrew Nepal was a great captain, one I'd rely on heavily, but I guess its my fault sending him to take the Normandy with a stealth frigate and a mediocre crew. If I had given him the Elbrus...well, too late to dwell on things like that now. The Normandy is still space worthy and worst of all...not under my control. We have to change that, "Do we know where the Normandy is headed now?"

"No sir," Geoff informed him.

The Illusive Man pondered on what Shepard would do. Nepal informed me the Normandy was severely damaged; which means its wounded and needs repairs. He can't go to Walker Station for obvious reasons, same with Omega. Alliance docks would reject him simply for flying Cerberus colors and Illium would demand too high a price. That leaves...

"Have our agents on the Citadel get ready for the Normandy's arrival. He's coming," TIM declared, not even turning to look at Geoff, "And make sure to specifically order them not to engage the Normandy crew, merely observe. We will retake it, but for now, I'll let Shepard run the show. Let him speak to the Council. Hopefully they'll listen to him this time."

He was still angry with Shepard for the destruction of the Collector Base. He had suggested purging the base with a radiation pulse so they could keep the collector and reaper technology inside, but Shepard had stubbornly insisted on reducing it to rubble, resulting in its destruction, along with the Human-Reaper. If I had managed to acquire the wreckage of that Reaper...my scientists would have learnt the secrets quickly, and we'd be one step closer to learning how to control them. Moot point now of course. But if I can somehow acquire that IFF again...

The only Reaper they knew about was the Derelict Reaper that had once orbitted Mnemosyne, but its IFF had been taken by Shepard for the Normandy crew per his orders and finding another from it was out of the question as Shepard had quickly sent it hurling into Mnemosyne's core, destroying the Reaper wreck and leaving him empty handed. The only other Reaper they would find was...

...the wreckage of Sovereign. Sovereign had lead the geth two years ago during the Eden Prime War and had been present during the Battle of the Citadel. Of course, thanks to Shepard's defeat of its servant, Saren Arterius, Sovereign's defenses had been lowered enough for the Normandy SR-1 to descend the final blow, destroying it. Finding wreckage of it would be difficult; it was in the hands of hierarchy, alliance, republic and union scientists and laboratories, but if he dispatched teams to find the wreckage and find the IFF...

"Geoff, also flag our agents in the Alliance," TIM ordered, taking a sip of his whiskey, "I want them scouring everything they can find and trying to find any pieces of Sovereign they can and bring them to Cerberus labs for examination. I want Sovereign's IFF found. If we can find it, I'll equip it to as many ships as possible and send them through the Omega 4 Relay. Maybe the debris of the collector base will help us."

"Right away sir," with that, Geoff nodded, bowed and left, leaving TIM in merciful quiet. He thought about all he had lost but was gaining. I've lost Shepard. I've lost Miranda. I've lost EDI. I've lost Chambers, Daniels, Donnelly and Gardner. I've lost Jacob. I've lost the Normandy. But soon I will have an army of supersoldiers. I will have a fleet capable of effectively countering the Alliance. I will be able to stage operations on a much grander scale. I have Oleg Petrovsky. I have Geoff Dielheart. I have the Elbrus. I have Kai Leng, the blunt instrument he maybe, but great killer he is. For everything I lose, I gain something new. All I need now is something to replace EDI...

He commed his terminal, "Geoff, get me a secure comm with the Styx Cell."

A few moments passed before Geoff secured the link to the head of the Styx Cell, Agent Decumbry, "You requested to see me sir?"

The Styx Cell was responsible for the creation of EDI and most of Cerberus' VIs and AIs. They would do well creating yet another AI, this one even more loyal than the first, "Yes, I want you to develop an AI, this one completely from scratch."

"Another one sir?" Kyle Decumbry asked with a frown, "I thought we were done with AI ever since the Enhanced Defense Intelligence went rogue."

TIM nodded, taking whiff from his cigarette, "We have, but this time I want it built from scratch and with more safeguards; I want it to be as emotionless as a geth and loyal only to me. It'll still be of feminisitic personality and..." I can't make the same mistake as last time and make it a part of the Elbrus. But if I gave it a body..."...I also want a combat infiltration unit built for it; humanoid based. It'll serve as an infiltration unit."

"Very well sir," Decumbry concluded, "What shall we call the project?"

It took a moment for him to think of something, and he was surprised at where his memories lingered. He remembered Eva, her beautiful features; her hair, her cheeks, her eyes. He had been close friends with Eva; even had feelings for her, but that had been when he was known as Jack Harper. That had all stopped when he had watched her die on Palaven, killed by the hands of Saren Arterius himself just after the conclusion of the First Contact War, which he himself had fought in. Just before he had written the manifesto for the declaration of Cerberus and naming himself 'The Illusive Man.'

"Project: Eva," TIM decided, "The AI will be called Eva, named after Doctor Eva Core."

"Very well sir. We'll update you on our results," With that, Decumbry cut the comms and TIM relaxed in his seat, looking back at Anadius. He sighed heavily, breathing in and out. The pawns fall into place. If I'm lucky, Cerberus' armies and fleets will be ready within the next several months; maybe by Febuary next year. Oleg will lead my armies and Kai Leng will be my assassin. Eva will my infiltrator and Geoff my second-in-command. He brought up a schematic of Omega next, thinking best how to approach Aria.

But first, he had other concerns. A certain benefactor, if it could be soon called that. He put the schematic of Omega under his bookmarks and brought up a file on the Shadow Broker.

Yes, and alliance would serve both of us some good. We could...join forces.

An interesting prospect indeed.

Shepard was good at blowing up things he didn't agree with. But its kinda hard to blow up an enemy who knows what you do before you even do it.

"The Citadel repairs would take a while, that's for sure."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Meanwhile, nothing basically happens. Or so we thought."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

I don't know if you guys even watch Game of Thrones or have read the A Song of Ice and Fire books, but for those who have, I seriously think the Shadow Broker was inspired by Lord Varys. Their tasks are almost EXACTLY the same. The resemblance is uncanny. The personalities aren't the same, of course, but their roles...yeah...

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to return to finishing Season 5 of Breaking Bad (or play Assassin's Creed IV, which is a great game btw (fucking fantastic)). Enjoy your taste of Requiem.

As for the new fanfic update, I gave up on that, but it was a Jacon and Friends sequel. I'll probably continue it at some point (I need to watch more comedies. Monty Python might help). Either way, yeah. As for those expecting HICH, I REALLY want to continue that story, but it just doesn't look like its going to happen. I'm sincerely sorry. Maybe in another life I might, or even when this quadrilogy is finished (still haven't come up with a name for it. Could do with some suggestions).

Enjoy life peoplez.

Keelah Se'lai.