A/N: Hello everyone! As some of you no doubt realised, I posted a chapter early last week and then promptly stopped, I apologize, I got distracted by something shiny, anyway, this is the next chapter, enjoy!
Note: In this AU I decided that Liara and Shepard would discover Liara's father after the War, as it gives me a bit more freedom on Aethyta personality and views, so Aethyta never appeared in my personal version of ME.
~ I don't own mass effect, bioware and EA does ~
06.03.0005 PRW
Terminus Systems - The Stop
Spectre Ashely Williams
Walking past the heavy blast doors, Ashley Williams took her first look at what they had uncovered.
Medical and scientific equipment was spread around, with her and Vega's teams scouring the place for clues as to what happened and where their targets went.
"EDI? Update please."
"I've managed to piece together some of the medical data, and some of the security tapes were recoverable, apart from that, most data was destroyed."
"Everything?"
"I'm currently trying to piece together the the station's memory banks, they should have storage data on who was in system and when."
"Keep up the good work"
"Thank you ma'am"
Walking over to Vega she sat in one of the empty swivel chairs next to the desk computer he was navigating.
"What do we have?"
In response to the question, James pulled up the security tapes for the room they were in.
"Wait, is that Liara?"
Williams quickly spotted her former colleague, and who was standing next to her.
"Cerberus!"
Ashley growled, she remembered this woman, she was on Horizon with Shepard when the Collectors had attacked, obviously Shepard had never completely cut ties with the terrorist organization, contradictory to what she had said after the Alpha Relay incident.
"Do we know what was said?"
Vega sighed, "no, the audio was completely corrupted, we are lucky that EDI managed to get what she did, though we have a bigger problem than the Cerberus agent."
Gesturing towards the main holo projector in the middle of the room, he continued.
"There was a separate hard drive for the Holographic projector, Lt. Nizshia managed to recover what was on it and, well, you need to see this."
Getting up, Vega lead Ashley to the Holographic projector and motioned towards it, causing it to power up.
"EDI, show her what you showed me."
In response, EDI appeared, using the Holographic projectors to create the illusion that she was physically present.
"Of course, Commander Vega."
With a wave of her hand Zaire's medical data appeared next to her, slowly spinning with small notes being highlighted and magnified.
"This is the medical data that the Alliance supplied us on Zaire's cybernetics, which at first glance appears to be Reaper tech."
With another wave, the head detached from the body and drifted away, leaving the body slowly spinning.
"However, when I did a thorough investigation of the medical data, I came across something odd. There are discrepancies, this is one of them."
With a click of her virtual fingers, a second set of data appeared next to Zaire's, identical except in hight and width.
"They're completely the same" muttered Williams.
EDI nodded in agreement with Williams assessment, though her face remained that of grimness.
"The one on the left is a biotic human husk, as you can see, they are identical."
Vega, however, spotted something "the head is different."
With another wave, the bodies disappeared leaving the husks head behind, and the head from the Alliance data reappeared.
"The head is different though, the cybernetics are not invasive, more supplementary, and the tech is slightly different as well. It's rougher, more unrefined than any other reaper technology that I've seen."
"And how is this relevant now?"
At Ashley's question EDI simply smiled, and clapped her hands together, causing for the previous data to disappear, only to be replaced by new data.
It showed a cybernetic human female, but the tech was unlike anything else that Williams had ever seen.
Lucieus was the first to recover, his mandible twitching in amusement, "well that's a lot of Gold."
Merbon grunted in agreement, though Enigma quickly walked up to the projection, the eye piece swiveling as if to focus in.
"Note: Cybernetics similar to reaper technology, however, head cybernetics are the same as those of Shepard Commander."
EDI nodded, "this is the medical data that I managed to recover from the computers here, it's a full body scan of Zaire Shepard, dated 86 hours old."
Slowly walking towards the projection, Ashely asked "are you saying that-"
"That the Alliance lied about the cybernetics in Shepard's body, yes."
"Well, crap."
Merbon snorted at Vega's statement.
"EDI, from this data can you tell me of Shepard's condition?"
EDI quirked an virtual eye brow at the question.
"You mean if I can tell whether or not Zaire has been indoctrinated?"
"Yes" grounded out Williams.
"No, she's not, and from the looks of it, the Alliance should have realised this years ago."
"The Alliance knew that Shepard wasn't indoctrinated?" asked Williams, trying to rap her head around the reasons for such a big lie.
"Correct, the cybernetics in her body are supplementary, designed to aid the body and increase natural abilities, not invade and reperpus."
The Holo zoomed in on some of the cybernetics in Shepard's heart and lungs.
"Here for example, the cybernetics are helping to refine the oxygen and appear to be resistant to chemicals, likely poisons and other gases."
Banks pointed at Shepard's heart, "and what is the cyberware doing to her heart?"
With another wave the Holo complied and zoomed in further, showing Zaire's heart, surrounded by thin gold threads.
"I believe that the cybernetics are helping to regulate blood flow, perhaps also moderating hormones and other body chemicals."
Ashley listened carefully, these were serious modifications, from the looks of it, Zaire was over 40% cybernetic now, well over the legal limit of 30%.
"Anything else?" She asked, wondering how much of Shepard's soul was left after all the modifications done.
"Apart from the subdermal plating, it's all basic cybernetic improvement."
"She has subdermal armour plating?" Asked Lucieus, astonished.
"Yes, around her wind pipe, heart, lungs, skull, armpits and the back of her knees."
"Weak points for Human Organs and Armour, Jesus Christ she is going to be difficult to contain."
Vega interrupted any other questions, "anything else we should know?"
In response EDI pulled up a picture of a Humans DNA, with what looked like small Hexagons swimming around it.
"You will want to sit down for this bit."
07.03.0005 PRW
Terminus Systems
Stolen Turian Battle Cruiser
"So, where are we headed?" Asked Yano L'voke, walking with Zaire across the command deck in the CIC, heading for the main elevator.
"Aria owes me a favour or two, so we'll head to Omega, I'll talk to her, I'm sure that there are a couple private docks we can use to hide the ship."
Yano nodded, and entered the elevator, hitting the button for the ship's hanger bay, "what about our temporary crew?"
"Most will be getting off once we dock, they can find transportation to anywhere in the Galaxy from there."
"I assume that Liara is working on getting a more permanent crew together?"
"She already has the people, she's just trying to be discrete about getting them to Omega without drawing attention."
The elevator was taking its time, and Zaire couldn't help but groan in frustration.
"What is it with Turian Elevators and going as slow as possible?"
L'voke chuckled at her human friends obvious frustration, it really was good to see her acting like herself again, from the short messages she had received from Zaire during the War, she had been struggling with depression and stress.
Clearly she was overcoming it, though she had no doubt that she had nightmares still, Goddess knows they all did.
"It to prevent boarders from moving quickly and catching them by surprise, they're apparently also more durable."
"They're still slow as a fucking Elecor, seriously, we didn't have any problems with elevators when we boarded."
L'voke smiled, and stayed quiet, though after a few seconds passed she snuck a glance at her friend.
"How's Liara?"
Shepard sighed, "stressed, exhausted, but refuses to rest, she trying to find some information on this 'Orthius' group."
The Asari hummed in agreement, though she still gave a sideways glance before asking, "nothing enticing her to bed?"
Zaire couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing, "what is it with you Asari and sex? Seriously it's either politics or sex with you lot."
"We Asari are far more sophisticated that that, Primitive." The smile on her face told Zaire that her friend was just playing.
Shepard just snorted, "have you seen a Matriarch's dress, they show the same amount of cleavage as Aria's strippers."
The Asari's lips drew back into a smirk, "of course, what do you think stripper costumes are based on these days?"
The elevator doors opened and the Asari stepped out, turned and spoke, "I know a few extranet sites if you want to buy a few!"
In response Zaire gave her the middle finger as she hit the button for the crew deck, cutting her friend off mid cackle.
Zaire simply chuckled, Yano hadn't changed a bit, bloody oversexed Commando. Still, she had a point, Liara was working too hard, and now that Zaire knew she wasn't indoctrinated, her and Liara could properly start to fix their relationship.
Though Zaire was optimistic, she also had to think, every time they continued their relationship, Liara got hurt, either directly because of her leaving, or because she wasn't there for her.
The Reapers were gone however, and the Galaxy could survive without her for a few decades, she needed time to fix herself and her problems, and if this new council didn't like it, they could kiss a black hole.
10 Minutes later
"Serial numbers match that of the Turian Battle Cruiser: THV Unbreakable Spirit, it was declared destroyed during the battle over Earth five years ago."
"Thank you Glyph, look into possible ways and locations It could have been repaired from."
"Yes, Doctor T'Soni."
Liara sighed in frustration, Orthius, at best was a rumor, nothing solid existed, not yet at least, the Shadow Broker network was slowly recovering its old power, but until then there were gaps, and that was dangerous.
Her thoughts were temporally distracted as the door to her temporary quarters opened and Zaire walked though, bringing a smile to her face.
"Zaire."
Her bondmate smiled at her, giving her a small rush. It was still slightly serial to her, less than 8 days ago and she could barely stand thinking about her bondmate without intense emotional pain. Now Zaire was back, and despite everything else going on, she hadn't been happier in years.
"Course is set for Omega, we'll be there in 3 days, which gives us plenty of time to catch up."
The look in Zaire's eyes made it clear what her lover had in mind, and Liara couldn't help but shiver slightly in anticipation and grin in anticipation of the next few hours.
"Let me finish up and set glyph into standby mode and we can get started on that 'catching up' of yours."
Spinning around on her seat to face the screens again, Liara quickly closed and saved her work on tracking Orthius, also setting a reminder in glyph to see what the Alliance Admirality board was getting up to.
She sighed as a pair of pale arms wrapped around her abdomen and felt Zaire rest her chin on her shoulder, looking at her work as she saved her notes to review later.
"Hang on, who's the Justicar?" Asked Zaire, pointing out the file Liara had been reviewing less than an hour ago.
Liara grimaced, she had hoped to talk about it after a good night's rest, but now was as a good time as any.
"Her name is Justicar Sey'sa Ralas , She was a Huntress before she joined the Justicar Order, she is one of the few who still actively hunt Ardat-Yakshi."
Liara quickly pulled up two other files next to the Justicars, both were also Asari.
"And them?"
"The one on the left is Moeso T'raoza, a former Commando who now works for the Republic as a wet work operative who knows how to keep it quiet."
"And the last one?" Inquired Zaire, when her lover fell silent.
"Matriarch Aethyta Vasir, a skilled biotic and Blademistress, former Commando and Huntress, and is currently working as one of the Republic's SpyMasters."
"And what's different about her than all the rest?" Shepard asked, easily knowing that this Vasir is clearly better than the last of the clan to go up against them.
"She's my Father."
There was a slight pause in Zaire's movements, before muttering quietly, "you mean the one that buggered off before your birth and your mother never wanted to talk about?"
Liara smiled, despite the topic, "yes, that father, apparently she owns bars from Illium and the Citadel all the way to Omega."
"And why have these three caught you attention, love?"
Liara sighed, "they have been tasked by the Council of Matriarch's to hunt us down and capture or kill us, and remove any hint of your new found age limit."
There was another pause as Shepard took in the new problem, before voicing her first question.
"How the hell do they know about my slower aging, I thought we destroyed all of the data back at The Stop?"
Liara sighed again, "EDI was able to recover most of the medical data that we created, though thankfully she appears to have had a worse time trying to get security tapes, thankfully."
"And EDI told Ashley, who told the Goddamned Citadel Council, who then told the Asari Council of Matriarch's, great, who doesn't know yet?"
At that, Liara couldn't help but giggle, Zaire's hatred for the Old Council was Legendary, though personally Liara liked to think that the New Council was an improvement, there were still flaws to be fixed.
In answer to her lovers question she replied, "The Alliance has been successfully kepted in the dark, and the Citadel Council is sending a few Spectre's to help the Alliance's Internal Investigations unit in finding out what's going on."
Zaire groaned in annoyance, clearly not expecting anything to come out of it.
"Like the Council will do anything about it."
"The new Council is far better than the old one love, I assure you."
Zaire snorted in response, "if they do find out anything and actually respond properly, I'll be pleasantly surprised, if not, then it will be expected."
Liara internally admitted that, that was probably going to be as good as she was going to get from her bondmate on the issue.
"There is something that I find odd though" commented Zaire.
"And what's that?" Asked Liara, curious as to what her bondmate could possibly find interesting in all of this political mess.
"Your father"
Liara internally groaned, this was going to be a difficult thing for Zaire to accept.
"What about her?"
"Why would the republic send your father after us? I would have thought that she would be against the heavy response."
With a sigh of sadness, Liara turned to face her lover, as this was going to be a uncomfortable conversation.
"Aethyta is coming because she has publicly advertised her, distaste, for your actions before, and during the War."
There was a slight pause, before Zaire finally responded with a "what?"
"Apparently Aethyta had been keeping tabs on me, even before I met you, and she personally disagreed when you took me to Novaria and Ilos, she was also alarmed by my swap of interest in archaeology to information brokering, which she has now blamed on you as well."
Zaire angrily got up and started to pace, clearly agitated by the news.
Liara watched, sadly knowing that Zaire was now going over every mission they had gone on, every moment they had together, and wondering whether Aethyta was right or not. Liara decided not to give her bondmate the chance.
Standing up, she quickly grabbed her bondmate and kissed her, thoroughly. Only backing down when air became a priority, and stared into Zaire's eyes, easily seeing the personal war raging behind them.
"What ever choices you think you made for me, I made plenty more alongside you, and even more when you were gone, Aethyta blames you because she refuses to blame herself for her mistakes, that is something that you have no control over."
Zaire simply nodded, clearly still torn, but the war behind her eyes lessened, her words having the desired effect.
Smiling to herself, Liara turned and shut off her monitors, ending the topic and turning towards a more ideal situation.
"Now I'm going to bed, are you going to stay here and argue with yourself, or join me?"
Not waiting for an answer, Liara span around and headed towards the bedroom, swinging her hips far more than usual, knowing fully well that it drove Zaire mad when she did it.
Her lover didn't disappoint, and Liara giggled as Zaire practically ran after her, not slowing down as she tackled her onto the bed, biotics flaring around them both.
The giggles transforming into moans as Zaire latches her lips onto her neck, gently biting and sucking while her biotics caused their bodies to tingle at the close contact.
As they kissed their hands roamed, both searching for the spots that the other liked.
Zaire however, quickly grew impatient and her hands started to search for the buckles and clasps that kept Liara's clothes on.
Feeling Liara at the edge of her mind, Zaire looked back up to her lovers face, quickly discovering that her eyes had become obsidian black, and in response to the silent question of permission, kissed her Asari, giving it.
Emotions not her own but quickly combining, Zaire asked through the link how to get her clothes off without excessive force.
With quick guidance Liara lost her outer clothing and was left in her bra and panties, though before Zaire could deal with the final obstacles, Liara, in a rare display of dominance, flipped Zaire over, gripped her lovers shoulders and started on Zaire's own clothes.
The shear predatory hunger Liara was showing through their link was incredible as it was arousing, stering similar desires in Zaire.
"God, I've missed you T'Soni."
"Shut up and kiss me."
Before Zaire could comply however, everything turned to darkness.
thank you for reading this chapter, as always if you have questions, ideas or anything else please feel free to review, it will hopefully stop me from being distracted by shiny objects.
Until the next chapter,
~ JunkMail