Chapter 21: The Broker
Shepard watched in horror when Tela Vasir's head exploded. Her biotic barriers shattering in a fraction of a second, doing nothing to stop the round that fired into her skull and then detonated. The woman that Vasir had been holding hostage fell over, moments after the headless Asari corpse did.
Shepard rushed over to the woman and found that she had only fainted and was fine.
"Rah, I owe you big time." Shepard grinned into her comms, looking around when the sound of his rifle going off finally reached her ears.
She couldn't spot Rah anywhere she looked and her team's biot readings didn't include his.
"By the Goddess." Liara muttered, stepping over to see the carnage that Rah's shot had caused.
"What could do this?" Liara asked, looking to Garrus for answers.
"I would tell you if you hadn't used us as bait." Garrus snarled to their friend.
"What are you-" Liara began but a sharp growl came from Garrus.
"You know exactly what the fuck you did Liara." Garrus snarled.
Shepard wasn't too happy about Liara using them to lure out the person that had been trying to kill her, but Garrus was livid about it. Shepard knew that Liara did what she thought she had to do, but she still hated being used. Garrus however, was protective of her, even more so now that they were mates. Every part of his instincts were probably telling him to rip Liara to pieces, only his willpower kept that from happening.
"Rah, where are you?" Shepard asked over her comms after a minute of intense staring between her lover and her friend. Rah didn't reply and she started to get nervus.
"Rah?" Shepard asked tentatively.
"Katherine!" A female voice sounded over Rah's channel. "Robert's been hurt."
Shepard thought she recognized the voice slightly, but the way the woman sounded distressed and fearful made it hard to tell.
"Slow down, who are you and what's wrong with him?" Shepard asked, her voice calm inspite of her spiking pulse.
"He's unconscious. Bio-readings indicate that he has several broken bones and his heart is barely beating." The woman replied. Something in Shepard's mind pulled at her that she knew who this was, but she couldn't place it.
"Where are you? I'll get a med team on their way." Shepard asked, keeping her voice calm.
Shepard looked to see worried looks on both Garrus' and Tali's face. They both liked the odd N7, he had a way of making everything lighter when it needed to be. That and his dextro cooking was apparently amazing.
"I've already informed Doctor Chakwas and Doctor Solus. They are on their way already." The voice replied, making Shepard reel.
"Who the fuck are you?" Shepard barked to the voice.
"You really don't remember me Katherine?" The voice asked, almost teasing. "I'm sure Delta would have."
The comms shut off and Shepard looked at Garrus and Tali in exasperation.
"So who was that?" Garrus asked. "And why would your old VI remember her?"
"That was Foxtrot." Shepard replied. "And If I tell you anymore, I would be committing treason and need to kill you all."
Garrus and Tali looked between each other nervously. Liara grabbed their attention when she roughly grabbed Shepard's arm.
"Kat, we need to get out of here. It's only a matter of time before the Shadow Broke sends more troops." Liara told Shepard, looking around in paranoia.
"You know where the Broker is?" Shepard asked, pulling her arm from Liara's grip.
"I do. We can go there and remove him from the 'verse." Liara replied, a small smile on her face.
"Then let's go." Shepard replied, rushing towards the skycar pad.
"Shepard to the Normandy, come in." Shepard barked over her comms.
"Read you loud and clear Shep." Joker replied a moment later.
"What's the status on Major Carmine?" Shepard asked, holding the concern from her voice.
"EDI says his lifesigns are low, yet stable. Chakwas and Mordin are almost to him now." Joker replied.
"Good tell them to get him back to the Normandy as fast as possible. Call in the rest of the team too. We're leaving soon as everyone is on board." Shepard commanded, hailing a cab.
"Roger that." Joker replied, his voice holding signs of questions, but he didn't ask them.
Rah was pulled from the black that was unconsciousness with a dull, throbbing pain that covered his right side. He could feel something on his face, covering his mouth and nose, forcing air into them. He could feel various needles and monitoring pads stuck on his skin. He heard the regular, even beeping of a heart monitor next to him.
What he didn't feel, was his right arm.
Rah's eyes snapped open into the bright light of the Normandy's medbay. He could feel his pulse quicken in panic and the heart monitor quicken in response. Rah tried moving his head, but found that something held his neck in place. His eyes frantically searched around and in moments, Doctor Chakwas entered his vision.
"Robert, you need to relax. You're safe and in one piece." The elderly doctor told him, her voice cool and calm.
Rah forced himself to calm down. He had learned the hard way that not doing what a doctor said, could be a very bad he felt his heart begin to settle, he tried speaking, but the air mask made that impossible.
"What happened?" Foxtrot's voice asked out of his omni-tool.
Chakwas looked at the now active device in shock. She clearly wasn't expecting that.
"He want's to know what happened." Fox urged the doctor.
"You fired a Black Widow sniper rifle without armor, what do you think happened?" Chakwas replied, a scolding look on her face.
"I don't know. I used my biotics to try and lessen to kick, but that isn't saying much." Fox spoke for him. He was joyful beyond belief that the AI could read his brain waves.
"That caused you to not lose your arm, and also to not kill yourself." Chakwas told him.
"You came close though, the shockwave from the kick into your shoulder caused your heart to almost stop. It also broke every rib on your right side and nearly shattered the bones in your shoulder." Chakwas told him, her eyes looking at something on his right side.
"So why can't I feel my arm? I can feel the pain from the ribs, just not the arm or the shoulder." Fox spoke and Rah looked into the calm eyes of Doctor Chakwas.
"We had to numb your side in order to replace and upgrade your boneweave implants." Chakwas told him simply. "They are taking nicely, it should only be a week or so more before you recover."
Rah let out a relieved sigh. Without his dominant arm, he'd be out for over a year getting fitted with a cybernetic arm and then the therapy to learn to use didn't have a problem with cybernetic limbs, one of his legs had to be replaced after being careless with a thresher maw a few years ago. The only problem he had with them was the time it took to get back to "normal".
"How long was I out?" Fox asked for him.
"Just under a week. You're missing the assault on the Shadow Broker's ship is all." Chakwas shrugged, acting as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Damn it." Rah thought and Fox spoke. "I'd have loved to put a bullet in that asshole."
"Watch your language while in my care Robert." Chakwas scolded him. "I will not have you swearing while being healed by me."
"Who's left on the ship?" Fox asked for him. He was hoping that he'd be alone, didn't need someone coming to check on him when all he wanted to do was sleep.
"Of the ground team, just you and Jack." Chakwas replied and Rah raised an eyebrow at her. "She said something about fear of heights."
"Well, that's not surprising." Rah mussed. "So last question before I go back to sleep, why can't I move my head?"
"Needed you keep all the muscles in your side from moving. You rend to roll your head to one side in your sleep, so I put a neck brace on to keep that from happening. I'll take it off in a few days when I'm sure your healing properly." Chakwas replied.
Rah gave a grunt of acknowledgement and shut his eyes. If he didn't spend most of his time recovering asleep, he'd likely go stir crazy. He relaxed his entire body and in moments was back into a light sleep.
He didn't know how long he slept for, but eventually the doors to the medbay opened up. He heard Chakwas soft voice speaking, but he couldn't make out any of the words. A few moments later, the doors closed and Rah heard nearly hesitant boots walking towards him. Rah could feel Jack's biotic power as she came closer to him and eventually stopped on his left side.
"You awake?" Jack asked hesitantly, her voice soft.
Rah gave a grunt and opened his eyes. His gaze locked with hers and he tried giving her a smile even with the air mask on.
"Am now." Rah's voice spoke from his omni-tool. Rah was a little surprised that Fox had chosen to take on his voice while talking to Jack.
"Doc says I'll be fine." Rah's voice reassured her at seeing the concerned look in her eyes when she looked at his right side.
"How bad is it? Doc hasn't given me a mirror yet." Rah's voice smirked at her. Jack smiled slightly before looking back at him.
"Can't tell, too much shit in the way for me to see." Jack replied. She sat down on the edge of his bed and looked away from him.
"We almost lost you." Jack spoke so softly he barely caught it.
Rah struggled to raise his left hand. When he finally did, he lightly touched it to one side of Jack's face. Gently, he made her look at him.
"As long as I have a say over what happens to me, it'll be a while before I leave this life." Rah told her calmly.
Jack reached up and placed a hand over Rah's. For a moment, he thought that she would pull his hand way. Instead, she held it there and leaned into his touch.
"Promise me that you won't leave." Jack asked him.
Rah looked her dead in the eyes and gave the only reply he could.
"I can't promise that Jacqueline." Rah told her. "But I'll do my best to make sure I leave when everyone is ready for me to, no sooner."
After a few moments of silence, Jack asked him something he hadn't expected.
"You know what is like? Thinking you're alone in the universe, and then finding out you're not?" Jack asked, almost hesitantly.
"I do. It's the best thing I've felt in a long time." Rah replied.
"That's how I felt when you told me about your family." Jack spoke softly, a light watering coming to her eyes.
"You mean you aren't mad about that?" Rah asked, perplexed. Jack shook her head.
"No. My entire life, I've never realized that I've had it pretty good. I've been used, I've been beaten, I've been raped, but I've never needed to endure the pain that you have." Jack told him, blinking back tears.
Rah's only response was to flare his biotics. Along his form, the blood red names of over a hundred different people sprung into life on his skin.
"I've failed many people in my life Jacqueline. Family, friends, loved ones, comrades. I'm not going to add you to these." He told her simply.
"You better not." Jack replied with a smirk.
"'Cause if I die, you can bet your ass I'm coming back and killing you." Jack grinned at him.
Rah began to laugh and then subsequently began coughing and wincing in pain. Jack laid and hand on his shoulder, holding it there until the coughing fit and pain subsided.
"I promised Chakwas I wouldn't be long, so I'll let you sleep." Jack told him once his breathing and heart rate evened out.
Rah looked up to the tattooed woman, only for her to press her lips to his forehead a moment later. Jack pulled away and then quickly rushed out of the medbay, leaving Rah confused as to what it was that was making Jack act like a normal person, and not her usual psychotic self. Not finding his answer, Rah closed his eyes and forced himself back into slumber. Perhaps his unconscious mind would be able to figure it out.
"The Broker's office should be just ahead." Liara spoke, beginning to lead the entire ground team down a short narrow hall.
"Listen up people!" Shepard barked, turning to the others.
"Garrus, Samara, Grunt. Follow me. The rest of you, hold this corridor. I don't want any of the Broker's troops coming in behind us." Shepard ordered.
"Jacob, you're in charge till I get back." Shepard told them and turned back to follow Liara. Shepard felt Miranda's angry stare at her back. The Cerberus woman may have been higher ranked than Jacob, but she didn't have the experience or the skills to properly lead a team. She wasn't a leader, she was a control freak.
Shepard followed Liara up to the door, pulling her Scimitar out as she went. She wanted the chance to blow the Broker's brains out up close and personal. Shepard nodded to Liara and the Asari hacked the door open.
The five of them all rushed in, weapons raised and ready, biotics flared and primed to be used. They all stopped when they breached the massive room. Around them, screens scrolled by with tons of information and data on innumerable topics and people. In the center of the massive room, a huge form sat in the shadows behind a large wood desk.
"Here for the Drell T'soni?" A deep rumbling voice resonated throughout the room.
"Reckless, even for you commander." The voice rumbled to them.
"I've yet to see anything subtle from you." Shepard snarled at the dark voice.
"Extreme." The form replied dismissively. "Yet, necessary."
"No it wasn't." Liara growled, pointing her Shuriken SMG at the figure's head. "Either was caging Feron for two years!"
"Doctor T'soni, your interference caused all this." The form seemed to smirk.
"Feron betrayed me when he handed you Shepard's body. Had he killed you like I instructed, none of us would be in this predicament." The form told them coolly.
"Working with the Collectors was bound to get you in the end asshat." Shepard snapped, quickly losing her temper. She could feel her power struggling to be released unto this creature.
"It was mutually beneficial. Your arrival is convenient. The Collectors still have a heavy price on your head." The form told them plainly. Shepard could see the horns that made up the top of the creature's head turn towards Garrus.
"Bringing in Archangel will only sweeten the deal." The form smirked at them.
"I'm feeling like being nice just this once." Shepard snarled. "Give us the Drell and we walk out without turning you into dinner."
"You won't be walking out at all." The form smirked at them.
"Quite confident for someone with nowhere left to hide." Liara replied, her grip tightening on her weapon.
"Thank you for traveling with such interesting companions Doctor. The dissection of Okeer's project will be interesting. And there are some that have a price on Justicar Samara's head still." The form told them all dismissively.
"You're not gonna get ten feet before I rip you to shreds." Shepard snarled.
"It's pointless to challenge me." The form replied, leaning back in it's chair."I know your every secret, every weakness. And you all fumble in the dark."
"Is that so?" Liara smirked, clearly having something up her sleeve.
"You're a yahg, a pre-spaceflight species, quarantined to your homeworld after slaughtering the Council's representatives when they came to your world." Liara told them all. Shepard could feel a building rage coming from the form.
"This ship is older than your planet's discovery. You probably killed the last Shadow Broker and then took over. I'm guessing he took you from your world, to be a pet perhaps." Liara smirked at the form.
The form stood up and Shepard could feel the rage boiling over in the Shadow Broker. The Broker rose to a massive height, over ten feet tall at the least. The Yahg roared out and slammed a fist into the table in front of him. He grabbed both pieces of the now destroyed table and hurled them. One rushed straight at Liara and the other at Shepard.
Shepard made to dodge out of the way, but was shoved over from a pair of hands to her left. The table piece missed her, but Shepard turned to see Garrus pinned under the table, unmoving. Shepard only had time to see that Liara had protected herself with a biotic barrier before her own rage washed over her.
No one hurt Garrus. No one would do it and live to tell the tale.
Shepard flung herself forwards, not caring about the machine gun that was now in the Broker's hands. When Shepard connected with the Broker, she grabbed onto one of his horns instead of bouncing backwards like she normally would. Her biotic blade formed around her fist and she let out a yell of rage. She stabbed the blade into the Broker's shoulder.
The Broker roared and swatted her off him. He brought his gun to bear on her as she tried to get back on her feet. Before the broker could fire, Grunt decided to come to her rescue.
"I! AM! KROGAN!" Grunt roared, barreling into the massive yagh. To Shepard's surprise, Grunt actually managed to force the Yagh back a step. Grunt promptly fired his Claymore shotgun into the Yahg's groin.
The Broker yelled out in rage threw a punch at Grunt. The Krogan easily dodged the hit. Only a moment later, Samara and Liara began firing into the Broker with their weapons. Shepard stood up and ran at the Yahg as well, pulling the trigger of her Scimitar in rapid fire succession as she closed on him.
When her Scimitar ran out, Shepard dropped it and formed a biotic blade around each fist. Shepard leaped up and began stabbing at the Yahg's upper body and face.
Under the unrelenting power of both Samara's and Liara's fire, the raging Grunt, and an extremely pissed off Shepard, the Broker fell within minutes. His shields were powerful and he was relentlessly durable, but eventually the Yahg fell.
During the fight, Shepard had been thrown into what seemed to be one of the main power lines for the ship. While her biotics protected her from the massive current long enough for her to get away from it, the power to the ship was lost momentarily. The back up generators took over and they all had resumed their fight with the Broker.
Now that he was dead, silence reigned around them. The silence was broken when a myriad of voices began flooding in through the speakers in the room. Liara looked around at the massive information network around them. After a few moments of hesitation, Liara strode over to the main console of the room. She held down a button, and spoke into a microphone on the console.
"This is the Shadow Broker." Liara spoke into the microphone. Over the ship's PA system and over the Broker's network, the Yahg's voice was heard.
"We have suffered a momentary loss of power, but we are back up and running. I want a full report of all activities within the next forty-eight hours." Liara commanded over the comms.
"Interesting choice." Shepard commented and she rushed over to Garrus' prone form.
She sighed in relief at seeing that he was fine, just out cold. Shepard looked over to see Liara with a massive weight lifted off her shoulders. The Asari was hunched over the consol, seeming like she had just finished a two year long marathon.
"I'm sorry Kat, it's just…" Liara began, looking back to Shepard.
"Don't be. We can use the resources. Besides, I can't think of a better person to be in charge of his information network." Shepard grinned to her friend.
"If you step out of line like the last broker though, I will be forced to kill you Liara." Samara told the younger Asari casually.
"I will do my best to not make you do such a thing." Liara replied with a small chuckle.
"I'm going to go and get Garrus back to the ship. Once you get things settled around here, let me know and we can finally catch up." Shepard grinned to her friend.
"I will. Thank you Shepard. For all of this." Liara replied with a massive grin.
Shepard hoisted Garrus over her shoulders, using her biotics to keep his weight from crushing her.
"Commander Shepard." EDI's voice spoke over her comms.
"What is it EDI?" Shepard replied with a grunt as she carried Garrus out of the room.
"Major Carmine is awake now. Doctor Chakwas said that you or anyone else can come and check on him if you'd like." EDI informed her.
"Copy that EDI. Thanks for the heads up." Shepard grunted.
"Back to the ship folks!" Shepard barked when the rest of the team turned to look at her.
Shepard couldn't help but notice that there was a nice sized pile of bodies leading up to her team. It seemed that having the rest of them watch the rear was a great idea.
A/N: And there we are folks! I promised you I wouldn't make you wait too long, so now I'm delivering on that. Hopefully you all enjoyed this, I certainly enjoyed writing it!
Please let me know what you think! I very much appreciate any and all feedback and criticism.
Thank you all for continuing to read!
Until next time!
