Shepard woke early, before her alarm, and just laid there for a few minutes taking in the rhythmic breathing of a still sleeping Liara. It was wonderful to wake up with someone you actually meant to go to bed with; and not with someone who was the result of a one night sex fling or a night filled with dubious behavior and too much alcohol, where your first reaction was to question how you could sneak out without waking them. Shepard snorted quietly at herself; it had been a while since she'd had one of those! She gently rolled on her side, facing the Asari, taking in the view. I don't plan on ever having another either! She thought back to the previous night and how close she and Liara had come to having sex...and that's what it would have been. The emotional energy was too tense, too raw; it would have been pure sex, driven by lust and a whole bottle of Thessia Red. That was not how Shepard wanted to start out with Liara. The Asari deserved more than that.

Shepard rolled easily out of bed, careful to not wake Liara, and moved to her desk. Pulling out her diary and a pen, she sat down to write. She flipped to the last page in the book and started writing names. The list. She started on the last line in the book and worked backwards. That way, the name at the top of the list would always be the freshest pain. If anyone ever picked it up to read, they would travel back in time from Shepard's most current failure to her first. The first name written was Michael O'Donnell. They say you never forget your first. They aren't normally talking about the first person whose death you were responsible for, but they're right, just the same. The first was always the hardest, and it was such a stupid thing, such a tragic consequence for a few seconds of inattention. Mike was a happy go lucky guy, always clowning around; her 'buddy' in basic training. You always watch out for your buddy, you don't go anywhere without them, you take care of them, they take care of you...only Shepard failed to take care of Mike on the obstacle course. She shouldn't have let him joke around on the high wall...she shouldn't have let him fall. She didn't even make it out of basic without losing her buddy. Shepard wrote a few more names. The worst were the pirate raids, the Theshaca raids. She picked the shuttle route, told the pilot to stay low, under the radar of the AA guns. She didn't emphasize the threat enough, she didn't pay attention and the pilot took a short cut, jumping over a rock outcropping instead of going around, climbed too high and got in their sites. The shuttle was blasted out of the sky and they crashed, killing seven of the twelve squad members, plus the shuttle pilot. Five died right away, three more later, from injuries sustained in the crash. Shepard wrote more names.

The most painful was probably Jonathan. Jon was a great guy, provided tech support to her squad. He introduced Samantha to his sister, Nikki, and they hit it off great. They dated for a while and became a couple. It was a blissful four years, supposed to last a lifetime, until Jon was killed on a mission. Her squad, her responsibility, and she let Jon down...and Nikki couldn't forgive her, wouldn't forgive her. That was two years ago and Jon used to be the most recent name. That caused the last 'sex fling' Shepard had...a result of too much alcohol and too much pain, after Nikki had walked out, irreparably angry and crying, and broken her heart. Shepard wrote two more names to top the list. Richard Jenkins and Kaidan Alenko. Eleven years of service, twenty two...no, twenty three names. Twenty three names too many; twenty three faces railed against her successes. How much more blood could she take on her hands before she felt like she could no longer wash it all away? How much before it left a permanent stain? Shepard had recalled every name without difficulty, and immediately wondered if maybe it was already too late. Shepard put down her pen and closed her diary, ink flowing on paper replaced by silent tears flowing down her cheeks.

Liara woke to an empty bed, the space beside her cool, so she knew Samantha had been up for a while. Turning over, she saw Shepard at her desk with nothing but a dim desk lamp and a book. Writing? Samantha writes? Liara sometimes took field notes with a notebook and pen, but had never seen anyone else do it; everyone now used omnitools and datapads. Liara smiled at the discovery; Samantha was right, they did have more in common than either of them realized. Liara was at ease, and the alarm hadn't sounded yet, so she stayed in bed, pulling in her companion's pillow, taking in a deep breath of its lingering scent that was Samantha, contentedly watching her write. Eventually, Shepard closed the book and laid down her pen, her head tipped slightly back and she let go a heavy, unhappy sigh. Liara wondered what could cause such an unpleasant outcome, and quietly queried with no more than her name. "Samantha?"

Shepard started, however slightly, and replied in a husky voice, not looking at Liara. "Hey Blue. My light didn't wake you, did it?"

Liara slid out of bed, moved to the desk, and gently laid a hand on Shepard's shoulder. "No, the light is fine. Are you ok?"

Samantha sighed again, wiped her face with her hands and turned to Liara, greatly limiting her answer. "Yeah...I'm good. Just, um, thinking about Kaidan." and twenty two others I've gotten killed...

Liara's eyes misted as she spoke, "Kaidan was a good friend to me. Besides you and Karin, he was the only other to accept me when I first came on board." Liara spun the desk chair so it was facing away, and started to massage Samantha's shoulders as she finished her statement. "Many will miss him. Karin and I spoke of this same thing yesterday after the ceremony. You spoke well for him."

Samantha's eyes drifted closed and she swallowed her tears. "Ooooohhhh, that feels good. I think I'll keep you around, T'Soni. My doctor of massage therapy."

Liara laughed softly, "Karin did say I was good for you."

Samantha leaned forward, pulling away slightly so she could turn around and eyeball the Asari, "What? When did she say that?"

Liara continued with a smile in her voice, "After the Thorian escapade. She said I have a 'calming effect' on you. She approves." She pulled Shepard back and continued the massage.

Shepard was really curious now, prying, "Approves of what, the calming effect or you being good for me?"

Liara smiled, remembering the conversation, how unsure she had been about her feelings for Shepard. "She approves of us, as a couple, I believe. Even back then, she said it was obvious, how we looked at one another. Seems she knew before we did."

Samantha groaned. "We knew... we just didn't know what to do about it! You were too shy, and I was too hung up on being the Commander. Ash was the one who pushed me." Shepard could tell Liara was surprised about Ash, by the pause in the massage, so she explained. "Ash and I had a heart to heart about non-humans on the crew in general. I helped her see her bias, and she helped me realize that some things are just too good to let go by. She told me I was a calmer, happier person when you were around, and to not let anyone take that away from me. So, Karin's not the only one that noticed."

Liara's hands stopped completely and fell away. Her voice was distraught when she asked, "So, does everyone know?"

Samantha spun around and popped up, giving Liara a quick, tight hug before replying. "I don't care if they do!" Shepard started to walk away, then stopped and returned swiftly to Liara. She put an arm around the Asari's waist and pulled her close, taking in a deep breath of the scents of eezo and Thessian rose she had come to associate with the Asari. She cupped a cheek with her other hand, and kissed her, slow and deep, leaving Liara breathless by the time Shepard broke off. "By the way, T'Soni...I never said good morning." Shepard waited, wondering if she was going to get a reply.

Liara's eyes were still closed and her face still flushed when she managed a response. "Goddess, Samantha. I think I like the way you say good morning!"

Shepard had a satisfied smirk on her face and was readying a response when the peaceful morning was interrupted; first her bedside alarm started ringing, and then Joker piped in. "Commander Shepard?"

Shepard responded while walking to turn off the alarm, "Whatcha got, Jeff?"

"Emergency transmission from Admiral Kahoku, Commander."

"On my way." Shepard looked at Liara. "Sorry, Liara. Duty calls. Maybe see you later?"

Liara smiled shyly, "I'd like that, Samantha."

Shepard stormed down the stairs, ignoring Liara's concerned exclamation, ignoring everything but the pounding in her head threatening to steal away reason. She slipped into her room and locked the door behind her before she fell to her knees and clenched her fists, shaking partly in frustration at the inability to provide any consolation to the families of needlessly dead marines, but mostly in barely controlled rage. She couldn't believe the timing of Kahoku's message. Having just finished writing a list of names in her journal, she wondered if the Admiral did something similar when he sent men to their deaths.

Liara stood briefly outside the door, contemplating the lock symbol before deciding to speak with Joker first. When she got to the bridge she looked at the pilot and bluntly queried, "What did you say to the commander that has her so angry?"

Joker shrugged his shoulders in his off-hand kind of way and responded, "I didn't say anything. She got a message from some admiral the ground team talked to on the Citadel just after she was selected as a Spectre. You got me as to why she's so mad."

"Can you play it back for me, please?" Liara was very curious as to the contents of a message that could so upset the normally controlled commander.

Joker grinned broadly as he spoke, flourishing his baseball cap in the air, "Your wish is my command, Lady T'Soni!"

Liara started to object, "Flight Lieutenant, I am not Lady T'Soni. That honor belongs..." She gave up as Joker broke into loud laughter. Liara groaned, "Let me guess. Some kind of joke that yet again I have failed to comprehend."

As the playback began, Joker just sighed; Liara's reaction took all the fun out of the joke. "I'll explain it to you later."

Shepard, this is Admiral Kahoku. I found out who set that trap on my men, the ones killed by the thresher maw. Damn, I hope you get this message. It was a group called Cerberus; an Alliance Black Ops organization, top secret, highest level security clearance. They vanished a few months ago, dropped right off the grid. Nobody knew where they went or what they were up to. They've gone completely rogue, Shepard! They're conducting illegal genetic experiments trying to create some kind of super soldier! I don't have any proof, but I found the coordinates for one of their research worlds. I'm uploading them with this message. They're completely out of control. Somebody needs to stop them! I've done my part, now it's up to you. This... this is probably the last you'll hear from me. Cerberus is after me now. I need to disappear before they find me.

Liara understood why fellow service members would be angry about such a thing, but the emotions radiating off of Shepard when she stormed by were palpable. Liara was puzzled as to the intensity of the commander's reaction and while Joker was purely guessing, he provided a partial answer. "Awhile back, we responded to an emergency beacon and found it planted in the middle of a thresher nest. On purpose. And now Shepard knows a rogue Alliance Black Op is responsible for the death of an entire Marine recon team. I'm pissed off too, but her reaction? That was kinda over the top and I have no idea why."

There was only one thing for Liara to do; ask her. Liara approached the door and tapped the glowing red panel for entry, causing a chime to sound inside the room. Getting no response, she tapped again and just as she was getting ready to turn to leave, the door opened with Shepard's eyes blazing at whoever dared to invade her sanctuary. Shepard was growling as the door opened, "Does a locked door not..." She stopped once she saw who was standing on the other side and swallowed the rest of her sentence, stepping aside to clear the path. "Liara. Come in." Her voice was still tense and her words were clipped as she turned and walked down the stairs to sit on her couch in silence.

Liara followed hesitantly, relocking the door behind her, still trying to figure out the exact parameters of their budding relationship. She wasn't sure if she should speak or sit, and she was wringing her hands, unsure where to start. As it turned out, she didn't have to. After a moment, without any prompting, the commander started to speak with a quiet intensity.

"Admiral Kahoku just informed me an Alliance black op went rogue and killed an entire squad of Marines. Said they just dropped off the grid a few months ago. It's crap, Liara. Those Marines died for nothing. Cerberus went bad a long time ago and they should have been stopped then." Shepard hesitated for just a moment before she continued. "I was only eleven when they killed my dad." She slowly told the whole two-year story; she left nothing out, from her mom's assignment to the Hastings through when she lived with Karin Chakwas for nine months until Hannah got her new posting in London. As Shepard spoke, Liara slowly sank down onto the couch next to her and without thinking, reached out and clasped the hand closest to her, holding it in an attempt to impart calm to the commander's ragged emotions. When the story was done, silence fell, punctuated only by Samantha's harsh breathing as she struggled to rein in her anger. "I've never told anyone that story. As far as I know, only four people in the galaxy know the full truth. Me, my mom, Karin... and now you."

"Shepard. I am so sorry. I did not mean for you to relive that time. It obviously pains you greatly." Liara's eyes filled with tears, feeling like she had amplified Samantha's hurt by the telling.

Shepard squeezed the blue hand holding her own and looked at the Asari sitting next to her, gently reaching up and wiping away the tears before they fell. "No, Liara. Don't cry. It's... good to tell it. I was thinking it anyways, and somehow, sharing it lessens the ache that weighs on my soul. Thank you for caring enough to check on me. Just...you being here...it means a lot." She closed her eyes and leaned back on the couch, not relinquishing Liara's hand. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Shepard's voice was strong again, and it startled Liara when she suddenly blurted out into the quiet, "I never knew hate until that day." Realizing how loud her voice was in the silence, she continued a bit more quietly. "It's so irrational. Seeing a thresher nest used as a trap to kill Marines was bad enough, but hearing Cerberus was involved just... I don't know. I know it's not how he died, but I suddenly saw my dad lying on Edolus with those marines, his blood soaking into the sand instead of running out on the deck of the ship...and all that hate surged back to the front of my mind like it was yesterday."

Liara reached up and gently pushed a stray strand of hair up behind Shepard's ear, caressed her cheek and then ran a hand gently down her arm before turning and leaning back on the couch next to Samantha, now clasping the hand she held with both of hers. "Oh, Shepard. I don't know what to say, but I will be here for you. Just you. As long as you need me." She closed her eyes and gently leaned against Samantha's warm shoulder.

After a moment, Shepard withdrew her hand and wrapped it around Liara's waist, pulling the Asari in. She pressed a soft kiss onto Liara's crest and rested her head against Liara's, whispering, "Thank you." They stayed that way, content in the quiet, peacefully resting for awhile before Shepard spoke again. "Liara? I'd like to share something with you. Something we don't normally talk about in the Alliance." Liara looked at the Spectre, but said nothing, just squeezed her hand and waited patiently for Shepard to continue.

"Faith. As in religion. What happened today made me think of something my mom told me a long time ago. I had asked her about my grandparents and she told me they were dead, that they had gone to Ankou." She saw the puzzled expression on Liara's face, the light of scientific curiosity, and she gave the Asari a sad smile. "I'm not surprised you don't recognize the name. We followed the Druids; it's one of the old religions and rarely practiced anymore. My mom's parents died very suddenly, in an accident when she was only seven. She was left alone in the world and raised in an orphanage. A Druid spoke to her and told her to not be angry, that we are not to judge the ways of the Gods. There was one in particular, Dwyn, the God of tricks and pranks. He told her that Dwyn exists to test our faith, to ensure we are ready and possess the strength to accomplish our divine purpose."

Shepard fell silent for a moment, then suddenly looked up and Liara was pierced by a dark green intensity as their eyes met. "It's hard to not be angry. I've already suffered loss, Liara, and I feel a lot more is yet to come with this hunt for Saren and the Reapers. I fear the trials. I fear how much more they may test me before I prove worthy of whatever task they have designed for me." Her eyes glassed over and her grip on Liara's hand became desperate. "Ionúin álainn, there is some loss that would break me, that I would not... could not endure." She fell silent, her penetrating stare searching the depths of Liara's soul, hoping she had communicated her fear without giving it a name. There was power in a name, and the last thing she wanted to do was to give this particular fear a name.

"Goddess, Shepard. I..." Liara stopped speaking; she realized she had no words. She had no way to express her feelings at that moment; the love, the angst, the concern, the fear, the hope. It was all of that and more, so she settled for leaning into Shepard and clutching her in a crushing embrace that promised an eternity. As her mind settled, the words finally came. "I am with you, Shepard. Whatever trials there may be, we will succeed, together. We will find and defeat Saren. We will stop the Reapers. And we will stop Cerberus and keep them from destroying any more of humanity; for the Marines, for Kahoku, for your father... for you." She did not release her hold until she felt Shepard relax into her arms. When she did, Liara sat back and gently caressed Shepard's cheek. No more words were spoken, but her soft blue eyes spoke of a love and affection that would transcend boundaries of time and space, and Shepard found peace.

Liara had returned to her room after dinner, wanting some time alone to organize her thoughts and steel herself for whatever she may have to face. Shepard wrote a bit more in her journal and crawled into bed alone. She felt fortunate when she didn't have any nightmares and didn't wake until Joker had chimed in... "Good morning, Commander. Just giving you your two-hour-out call for Noveria."

Shepard paused for a moment before issuing her response. "Thanks Joker. Shout out a ship-wide. This may be an all-hands mission, so I need everyone up and ready."

A final "Roger that, Ma'am," and the room returned to peaceful quiet.

Shepard got up and dressed, then headed to the conference room for the mission brief to the crew; she would go in initially with Team 1 to scout the situation and then determine their course of action. Kaidan's death had caused a shuffle in the team composition, so she would now have Liara and Ashley with her. She hated doing it, but she had to move Wrex to Team 2 so they would have a biotic. Shepard liked having the big Krogan Battlemaster on her team, if for nothing other than the intimidation factor. He prevented some fights from even getting started. It also meant they had no Alliance in Team 2. As a joint Alliance-Turian venture, she put Garrus in charge of the second team for now. She made a note to herself to talk to Anderson about getting Chief Williams a Naval field commission. They anticipated being greeted with at least suspicion at Noveria, if not outright hostility, and they were not disappointed. Just trying to get docking permission, they had to invoke Shepard's Spectre status, and the ship was threatened with impound if the status could not be verified. Once docked, the crew disembarked and Shepard told Joker to put the Normandy in lockdown; by no means were any Noveria personnel to be allowed on board. Team 1 left the docking facility and walked toward the Port Hanshan entrance, only to be greeted by an unfriendly, armed group.

An oriental looking human in the center of the group of three held up her hand, "That's far enough. This is an unscheduled arrival. I'll need your credentials."

Shepard grimaced. Nice welcoming committee. "You first."

A tough looking blonde growled out, "We're the law here, show some respect!" The oriental glanced at the blonde and then answered, "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo, Elanus Risk Control Services."

"I'm a Spectre, my name is Shepard."

The blonde barked out, "Load of horse crap, ma'am!" Matsuo again glanced at the blonde, and told Shepard, "We will need to confirm that. Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria." Looking at the blonde, she followed with "Sgt Sterling, secure their weapons." At that, Shepard quickly drew her pistol and pointed it at the captain, Ashley quickly drew her assault rifle and Liara glowed blue with biotic power, backing their commander.

A brief standoff ensued, and Liara surprised Shepard by speaking, "It would not be wise to search for the Geth, unarmed."

Shepard never wavered, keeping her sights on the captain. "That's not gonna happen. We're keeping our weapons."

A voice came over a loudspeaker, "Capt Matsuo, stand down. We've confirmed their identity. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain."

Everyone cautiously lowered their weapons and Capt Matsuo motioned toward the door. "You may proceed, Spectre. I hope the rest of your visit will be less...confrontational. Parasini will meet you upstairs."

Sgt Sterling looked incredibly disappointed, like she was itching for a fight, and grumbled a veiled threat at the commander, "Behave yourself," before stepping aside to let them pass.

As they entered the port, the entire team noted two floating defense drones; Shepard was very glad the brief confrontation didn't end up being more. They went up a short set of stairs to the right, and walked into a very small lobby. As Shepard entered, she crossed through a blue beam and alarms started going off. A woman behind the lobby counter moved efficiently to shut them down.

"Weapons detectors, don't mind the alarms...I'm Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologize for the incident in the docking bay."

Shepard smiles, "I appreciate your help, that could have gotten ugly...fast."

"You're welcome. You understand our security chief was only doing her job. One of my jobs is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"

Shepard had quite a few, and went straight to work getting them answered. Most importantly, she asked about any unusual visitors, only to discover Matriarch Benezia had passed through just a few days prior, on her way to the Peak 15 Research Center; she had not yet returned. Liara could not help but react, "Benezia? She is here?" Shepard heard the questions, but pressed on without pause and asked how to get to the site. Parasini informed Shepard she would need to get clearance from Anoleis to leave the port. After getting directions to the administrator's office, Shepard turned to Liara to discuss the situation and double check one more time on Liara's emotional state. As soon as Shepard turned around, Liara's eyes met hers. Liara spoke, obviously stressed, "She is really here. I almost cannot believe it."

Shepard concentrated on Liara's face as she asked, "Are you still ok with this...still want to come? I'll understand if you change your mind..." Shepard was still trying to spare her, to give Liara an out.

Liara took a deep breath, and her voice was calm and level as she spoke. "Absolutely, Commander. I must know. I cannot back out now. I...would never forgive myself." Shepard said nothing, but nodded, a grim expression on her face, and the team headed for the elevator up to the main port. On the way, Shepard noted yet another defense drone. ERCS is pretty serious about their security, could get nasty, and we could definitely use Tali's hacking skills.

Once they entered the main facility, Shepard's first stop was a Hanar merchant, named Opold, hoping he carried basic sundries and maybe some clothes. Unfortunately, the only items he had were weapons, mods, and armor; not what Liara needed. They were about to leave when the merchant queried the Spectre on a possible business arrangement. The Hanar had an odd tempo to his speech, "This one has procured a special item for a customer. The item is not permitted within the station, but you could bring it through Customs."

Shepard frowned, "You want me to use my status to smuggle for you? I won't carry anything, if I don't know what it is, and I want to make sure I'm not equipping my own enemy."

"Your assessment is not inaccurate, and your requested assurances are not unreasonable, so this one will comply. This one assures you, the contents pose no danger to anyone within this port. The customer is a Krogan bounty hunter of some repute, and quick to anger. You understand this one's urgency. That other grows restless from the delay. If you assist, this one will compensate you accordingly." Shepard contemplated the not so friendly welcome they'd received, and felt it an odd sort of justice to help the Hanar sneak something through. She'd been known to sneak tobacco or alcohol into off-limits places in her time. This didn't really seem much different, so agreed to the deal. Opold made a call, and the item was delivered to the Normandy. Shepard called the Normandy and asked them to dispatch Tali and have her bring the package. In typical fashion, Tali arrived quickly, and with their business deal concluded, headed to the Administrator's office.

Anoleis was not pleased with the Spectre's arrival, already speaking as Shepard walked in. "You will excuse me if I don't get up. I don't have time to entertain space-born vagabonds." Shepard had no time to be bothered by lame insults, not even really sure if he was talking about her or Tali. The Spectre got straight to business, asking about Saren and Benezia. Anoleis confirmed that Saren was a major investor in Binary Helix, and that his executor, Matriarch Benezia had passed through a few days prior, with a personal escort and cargo, en route to Peak 15. He also stated that Peak 15 was a private facility, and poor weather conditions prohibited travel; shuttles were grounded and surface access was cut off.

Shepard commented, "Surface access, you say."

Anoleis replied tartly, "Cut off, I said. The roads are not suitable for travel. Don't make an issue of this, Shepard."

Since Tali was always in her envirosuit, it was easy for her to flip to a private channel and speak into Shepard's ear. "Let him be stubborn, Shepard. I'm sure someone else here is willing to help us." Seeing the wisdom in that statement, Shepard let it slide and asked about both the escort and the cargo. Anoleis sighed in frustration. The cargo had been scanned, with no banned substances or weapons traces found, and the escort was a group of Asari commandos, common enough escorts for a Matriarch, so everyone and everything was allowed to pass through.

With their questions answered, Shepard thanked the administrator, only to be dismissively waived away. "Yes, yes, you have no idea how many important calls I just missed because of your banal discussion."

As they left the office, Shepard heard Giana Parasini comment about the fact that the administrator was not the only person in Port Hanshan to have a garage pass. She stopped and walked back to the assistant. Parasini spoke very quietly and quickly. "I can't say much, just talk to Lorik Quin. You should find him at the hotel bar." Shepard raised an eyebrow, and Giana nodded 'yes' and waived the commander away. As they walked to the hotel, Shepard wondered about Parasini's angle in all this. Why is she in such a hurry to get me to the peak? Maybe she's just in a hurry for me to be gone from here...

There weren't many people in the hotel bar, so it did not take long to find Mr Quin. Shepard asked a few questions, about reactions to the Matriarch's passage, the commandos, and if he knew anything about the purpose of her visit. To that, Lorik stated, "She claimed to be Saren's assistant, here to get a certain project back on track." Satisfied, Shepard then asked about getting to Peak 15, mentioning that Anoleis wouldn't give them access to the garage. Lorik thought perhaps they could work a deal. He revealed he was the manager of the local Synthetic Insights office. Anoleis had closed the office, supposedly to investigate reports of corruption, when in truth, Anoleis was the corrupt one and he was searching Synthetic Insights for evidence that Quin had against him. Lorik offered the Spectre a trade. "If you recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits. I cannot do it myself, because Anolais has some of the ERCS guards on the payroll, and I am unarmed. He's paying them under the table, Capt Matsuo is unaware of, and unsupportive of, shall we say, additional... employment. As in this case, it can create a conflict of interests."

Shepard contemplated the situation, and accepted Lorik Quin's offer. "If the guards are working as mercenaries, they're crooked. If they insist on getting in our way, we'll take care of it." Quin was happy the Spectre took him up on the offer, and provided Shepard with an office passcard and a disk containing the decryption key to allow access to the office computer files. As they headed for the elevator, Shepard joked with Ashley. "I'm feeling more and more like a politician every minute here, Ash."

Ashley laughed and responded, "No, Commander, you were right. Politicians don't have guns. Negotiators, however, sometimes have to use force. I'm with you on this one!" The two soldiers grinned at one another while Liara and Tali just looked at each other in confusion, Tali shrugging her shoulders and Liara shaking her head.

When the team arrived at the Synthetic Insights office, there were two guards at the doorway. They were easily convinced to disappear, with talk of Spectre authority and potentially illegal employment, not to mention they faced two against four odds. The lead guard simply stated, "I'll tell you what. You pretend you didn't see us, and we'll pretend we didn't see you," and they walked out, leaving Shepard and her team free to enter the office. That, however, did not solve the bigger issue. There were still a number of guards inside who were not so cooperative, and as Shepard had promised Quin, they took care of it. The four man team made quick work of the two guards on the first level, with Tali overloading shields, Liara lifting them helplessly into the air, and Ashley doing target practice. That left Shepard free to biotically charge a third guard headed down the steps to join the fight, finishing him off with a shotgun blast after crushing the guard into a wall.

A fourth guard ran around the corner at the top of the steps, thought better of it and ducked back into cover. It didn't matter, as the combined fire of the Normandy team quickly ended the fight. They moved on to Lorik's desk, and Tali downloaded the desired evidence, using the decryption key Quin provided. Once they were done, leaving the office proved to be a bit more of a challenge. Letting the first two guards leave had been an error, as it gave them opportunity to call in reinforcements. The grumpy blonde, Sgt Sterling, was waiting for them when they came out, more than ready to try and ease her earlier disappointment, with a team of four more behind her. Sterling tipped her hand when she sneered, "Well, I don't need a gun to rip you to pieces!" The team immediately realized she was a biotic, and took appropriate action. Liara launched a singularity, dropping Sterling's shields, and Shepard was close enough for her shotgun to have devastating effect. Ashley ducked down behind a wall and worked hard to pin two guards down on the lower level, and Tali launched an attack drone. There was a guard at the top of the stairs, who proved to be a sniper loaded with armor piercing ammo. He tagged Shepard as she was changing out weapons from her shotgun to her Locust SMG, completely dropping her shields and severely wounding her. Shepard cried out, dropped to her knees, and managed to roll behind some crates for cover, finding it hard to breathe through the pain. Damn it! Same spot as last time... Chakwas is gonna have my hide! Her eyes closed as she felt someone's knee jab into her side as they slid into cover beside her. Her last conscious thought was Liara.