Chapter 33: The Devil You Know

Feron leaned against a wall, alone in the Normandy's star port observatory, working intently on his omnitool. The holo-interface lit up the otherwise dark room in a tinge of orange. He looked at the security camera in the corner, and with a wave of his hand, the feed would flicker and he became invisible to the prying eyes of surveillance. Satisfied, he turned his full attention back to his omnitool as his fingers typed furiously, sneaking through a backdoor in the Normandy's systems.

A few moments of hacking later, Feron grinned in satisfaction as he linked his omnitool with the Normandy's comm systems and piggybacked on the FTL communication array. Of course, he could have always just asked to use the comms without going through all this extra work, but being an agent of the most infamous information broker in the galaxy has taught him the virtues of being paranoid. He brought up a secured frequency and started to unscramble the channel, inputting a myriad of codes and going through multiple failsafe firewalls.

All this work just so he could call his boss.

This was a channel that directly linked him, and only him, to the Shadow Broker. It helped that only a drell could have memorized the extensive list of codes to access it at a single glance, and he was currently the only drell on the broker's payroll. He typed in the last passcode and waited as his transmission patched through.

There was a beep, and he was greeted by the annoyingly cheery voice of the broker's VI aide. "Hello, Agent Feron, the Shadow Broker will be with you momentarily." It said. "In the meantime, please upload your report for further review."

Feron grunted his consent as he uploaded the files that he had data-mined from the Normandy's database. They were mostly personal logs and surveillance videos and audio, but there were some requisition forms in there as well. As far as he could tell from checking what he could of the files himself, he found nothing that confirmed the worse of their suspicions. But he had to admit, although begrudgingly, that the VI was much more efficient at that job than he was.

"Hello, Feron." Greeted a warm voice that broke his train of thought.

"Shadow Broker." Feron replied as Liara T'Soni appeared a moment later on his omnitool's holo-screen.

Liara smiled and shook her head in amusement at his formality. "I thought I told you not to call me that when we're alone?"

"You did." Feron confirmed with a teasing smirk, "How are you, Liara?"

"I should be the one asking you that, seeing as how you're the one on the field." She replied.

"I've been getting a good night's rest. You, on the other hand? Well, please tell me you've slept since the last time we spoke." Liara opened her mouth to reply when Feron cut her off. "And no, your half hour power naps don't count."

Liara pouted and then shook her head with a tired laugh. "I'll sleep when all this is dealt with, alright?"

"You'll sleep whether you like it or not when your body tires out from exhaustion." Feron replied, "So I'd rather you be on your bed then face down on one of the consoles."

"I'll be fine, Feron." Liara insisted, earning a look and a raised eyebrow from the man. "The bedroom is 45 feet away from me. I'll manage."

"We'll see." He teased.

Liara groaned. "If it makes you feel better, I'll sleep after I make contact with our operative aboard the Ptolemy. Sera's been maintaining radio silence since it launched."

"She's probably just keeping a low profile or she's been compromised. But Sera's a smart girl, so it's most likely the former rather than the latter." Feron said. "It's a small mercy that Shepard had the foresight to keep the Shadow Broker's base's location a secret from the Illusive Man when you came for me."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Liara said. "How are the rest of the men?"

"We lost 17 of our people in last night's assault; Five during the initial waves of violence and the rest when we defended the Normandy. Then we have 8 other operatives still in sleeper status that stayed behind on Omega just in case." Feron said grimly. "The remaining 24 that came with me are combat ready, as am I."

Liara shook her head as she looked over the casualty list. "Thank you for protecting my friends, Feron." She said sincerely.

"Hey, any friend of yours is okay in my book." He replied with a smile. "It doesn't hurt that they saved my life, too."

Liara smiled back, and then perked up as she remembered something. "Oh, and according to Sera's last transmission, General Oleg Petrovsky's fleet will arrive there in just under 30 hours if they maintain their current course and trajectory." She said. "With all that fire power, I doubt that they're coming for peaceful discourse."

"Then we need to get this done before that." Feron said as he immediately went down to business. For them, the fate of Omega was secondary only to their true objective. "As you know, Aria T'Loak is accompanying us. Her cooperation would be beneficial, but not vital."

"Promise her anything, an army even. I'll manage to scrounge something up." Liara said. "What's important is we foil what those creatures are planning."

"I've already encountered one of the creatures here. Our suspicions about The Patriarch were correct, and it would seem that the Eclipse Commander, Tarrana Ionet, and at least one of her lieutenants, is of the same nature."

"Two more of them already? Then this is already worse than we feared." Liara said seriously. "Hold on, I'm doing a quick search on what we have on this 'Tarrana Ionet'…" she paused as she diverted her attention to the console on her end. "That's strange..."

"What's wrong?"

"For such a big player, I can't find anything on a 'Tarrana Ionet' anywhere on the database up until a year ago when she was hired by the Eclipse." She said flatly. "No medical records, no criminal records, no business records, no bank accounts… not a single thing." Liara said. "Either Miss Ionet just appeared out of thin air one day, or-"

"It's an alias." Feron said, finishing her thought for her. "Whoever she is, what worries me is how our contacts in the Eclipse didn't pick up on this."

"They were probably compromised a long time before they were terminated." Liara said, her brow furrowing in thought. "It's a good thing that our Omega agents are anonymous even to each other, otherwise I'd begin to have doubts about our own men." She clutched her temples gingerly, stress evident in her expression. Ever since she had taken the role of the Shadow Broker, Liara had been working on little to no sleep, sorting through the treasure trove of information that the previous brokers had amassed. Though Feron had to admit, this enabled them to uncover a conspiracy that threatened the galaxy in such a manner that it was second only to the coming of the Reapers. Still, the exhaustion showed on Liara's face, and he knew that the stims and powernaps could only do so much in the long run.

"Let me worry about that." Feron said soothingly, changing the topic to keep her from lingering on the thought. "Do you think they've found the cache yet?"

"No, otherwise they'd have no more need for Omega." she replied. "This entire war is a smokescreen, Feron. As long as it keeps escalating, that means that they haven't found it yet." She continued, and Feron nodded sagely at that. "I'm having Glyph go through the files you've sent me as we speak, running them through all known coding patterns. So far, so good."

"Glyph?" Feron asked in confusion, causing a smile to bloom on Liara's tired face.

"That's what I'm calling the VI." She explained. "I'm also working on making it refer to me as Dr. T'Soni."

"You'd have better luck fighting off a hungry krogan for the last slice of cake in the galaxy with a plastic fork." Feron said flatly, earning a giggle from Liara. They smiled at each other, but the moment was interrupted when 'Glyph' chimed in.

"I have finished the scans, Shadow Broker. I have not found anything implicating collaboration with the enemy on the Normandy or other similar forms of treachery."

"Thank you, Glyph." Liara said, dismissing the VI drone, turning back to a smirking Feron. "What?"

"Nothing." Feron replied. "Going on days without sleep notwithstanding, this job suits you, Liara."

She smiles a tired smile. "I'm a very good information broker." The smile slowly faded as she came across something on her end of the call. "Feron?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing with Miranda Lawson in this video?" There was a pause. "Oh, my…"

Feron tried not to gulp. He thought he had weeded that particular vid file out. The damned VI must have somehow recovered it. He didn't have any malicious intent when he did what he did, but the context left it quite open to interpretation. "Now, I know what you're thinking and what it looks like…" He began slowly. "But she had a gun pointed at me and I was just disarming her." He continued calmly. "Her nudity was only incidental." He added unconsciously, nearly wincing from the slip of his tongue.

"Oh, really?" Liara said flatly as she replayed the vid on her end. "Well, I don't suppose that it's a very… traditional method of disarming, then…"

He nodded. "I do like to break from tradition."

"I see… And I suppose there was no malicious intent when you leaned in and whispered into her ear?" She said suspiciously.

"Of course there wasn't any malicious intent." Feron dismissed. "I was just allaying her worries that I meant any harm."

Liara paused, no doubt rewinding and watching the vid-clip all over again. "I'm so glad we could clear up this harmless, little misunderstanding…" Liara said flatly. "Otherwise I'd be livid by this apparent betrayal of my trust."

She was taking this rather calmly. Too calmly, actually. And he had come to realize that her being calm was bad in situations like this. "Don't be like that, siha…" Feron said smoothly, turning up the charm. "You know I like my women blue, and you are so very, very… blue." There was a long pause between them as Liara raised an eyebrow. "I'm getting flak for this, aren't I?"

"For a half-assed line like that? Oh, like you wouldn't believe." Liara confirmed sweetly. "… siha." She added venomously.

"It was only incidental!" Feron protested. Liara just smiled at him in amusement. "Look, I'm not about to cheat on the one person capable of making my life a literal living hell. You have to believe me, Liara!"

"That's it, keep groveling..." Liara teased. Feron nearly winced; This wasn't the Liara he knew anymore, this was Dr. T'Soni the information broker. "If you beg hard enough, maybe I'll let you off with a clean punishment? Maybe." The both of them just stared at each other, before she cleared her throat. "That was a hint. Beg."

"I don't think getting down on my knees will convey very well through this method of communication." Liara just stared at him blankly. "You're serious?" She merely just kept staring at him silently, and Feron sighed as he got down to both his knees. "I'm sorry I manhandled a naked woman who was pointing a gun at me behind your back." He droned as if each word had to be forced out of his mouth.

"Hmm, is that sass I hear?" she says rhetorically. "Every time I hear sass, it makes me want to flay somebody with my mind, and it feels like I haven't done any mind-flaying recently." Feron opened his mouth to protest, but he saw the beginnings of a smile on the edge of her lips. Well, he was out of the danger zone, for now anyway. "Time enough to discuss that when you get back here, siha." She said, giving him a quick wink.

"Only after you take a nap." Feron muttered as he got up, dusting off his knees.

"What did I just say about the sass, operative?" She said wryly.

Feron rolled his eyes. "Forgive me, Shadow Broker." They each shared a deadpan look for a moment or two before breaking out into subtle laughter.

"Please take care of yourself and my friends, Feron." She said.

"I'll do my part. I suppose it's time I let them in on our little secret, as well?"

"Yes, please do. Meanwhile, I'll keep on digging about what I can about our leads and who this 'Tarrana Ionet' really is." She said, looking as if she was already preoccupied with another holo-screen.

"Hey, Liara?"

"Yes?" Liara replied, pausing from her work.

"If this job seems like it is getting too heavy for you, just say the word and we can burn it all down."

"It's… a tempting thought." Liara began with a melancholic smile. "But somebody has to do this, Feron. And I'd rather it be me than some morally bankrupt scoundrel."

"We can't have that now, can we?" Feron replied. "Well, the offer is always on the table."

Liara giggled. "I'll keep that in mind." She said. "Oh, and Feron?"

"Yes?"

"Try to keep your hands to yourself this time, siha." She said with a hint of murder in her sweet gaze, which softened as she continued. "And come back to me in one piece."

"As you command." Feron said dryly, causing Liara to roll her eyes. "I will contact you again when we have the artifact, siha."

"Good luck." She smiled, and the transmission ended.

Feron couldn't help but smirk as he began severing the link to the Normandy's comms. Neither of them meant to escalate their relationship past friendship, but sometimes things happened. She liked him and he liked her; that sort of thing. Right now, they were in a sort of trial period, and that was the first time Liara had acted so… possessive over him. He must be doing something right, he chuckled to himself. Well, there was time enough to entertain his fancies later. Right now, there was work to be done.

Meanwhile, in the Normandy's cargo bay…

The engineers were working hard on repairing the gaping hole on the hull of the Normandy in the cargo bay. Sparks flashed from plasma torches and the occasional professional disagreement in opinions as the men and women carried out their jobs. Kenneth and Gabby were quick to insist that Tali should get some rest and leave heading the project to the two of them. Tali had relented eventually, seeing as how the bulk of the repairs were mostly rewiring and patch up jobs. The pair actually made quite a productive duo when they weren't at each other's throats, and the team as a whole was making great time on the projected schedule because of it.

Though whatever disagreement may come about, the team agreed on one thing: Not to disturb the large, agitated man in the corner who was working out his frustrations on the unfortunate punching bag that hung there.

Jacob pounded on the punching bag with all his might, the material around it actually starting to strain at the seams from the force of his blows. Right now, his head was weathering through a storm of emotions. What more did he expect, really? Miranda was a stubborn woman, and precious little could sway her to change her mind on any decision she made. Guess he didn't constitute part of the 'precious little' to her.

Guess he didn't constitute a lot of things to her, actually.

The thought made him lash out on the bag harder, fists slamming against the faux-leather plastic of the punching bag making the air crack in loud snaps. Deep down, he knew that rejection shouldn't have hurt him this bad. But goddamn it did he feel the need to vent right about now. He also probably messed up their friendship, too. Crap, he thought as he delivered another punch, that was going to be a daunting task to rebuild.

Maybe he would have taken it better had she said that she wasn't ready, or that she couldn't because of her past. But she just upped and spelled it out to him. She didn't love him. End of story. Any sane, rational man would just move on with their lives and get over themselves. But he was head over heels for her. So help him, even broken and rejected as he was right now, he was still in love with her.

And that pissed him off even more.

He didn't know how long he was punching that bag. Time seemed to lose it's meaning as he just stood there, punching with his left, and then his right. Left, right, left, right, over and over again, his fists recited the mantra his heart couldn't.

"You alright, Taylor?" A gruff voice said behind him, making him break his concentration. He was now aware of the dull ache in his hands and the light sheen of sweat that covered his body. Turning around, he saw Zaeed and Grunt, leaning against a couple of crates and looking back at him. Grunt had all sorts of light, fading scars running across his scaly hide, with bandages that wrapped around his body that probably held it together while his healing factor did its work. Zaeed looked a bit better, his injuries fully healed by the medigel and garbed up in his armor, but he still had some bandages wrapped around his arms and peeking out from underneath his armor.

"I'm fine, thanks." Jacob said dismissively, turning back to the punching bag. "What are you two doing here?"

Grunt scoffed. "I just sensed a pretty powerful killing intent in the air. Thought it was worth checking out." He said. "Turns out it's just you, moping."

Jacob punched the bag extra hard at that comment. "Well your curiosity's satisfied; feel free to get the hell out of my face about it."

Grunt just laughed, but Zaeed closed his eyes in deep thought. "So she dumped, eh?" he said bluntly, causing Jacob to slam the bag harder again.

"What are you talking about?" Jacob said coolly, trying to blow off the topic. "I just want to work out."

"Don't lie to me, Taylor." Zaeed persisted. "How do you feel?"

"How do you think I feel, old man?" Jacob snapped, causing several nearby engineers to back away. This was the last thing he needed right now; a pep-talk from the bluntest knife in the ship, and said knife was trying to poke around in some very fresh wounds.

"Like shit, probably." Zaeed responded as he pulled out a cigar, chomping it between his teeth and lighting it up. "Can't blame you if you feel embarrassed and-."

"I am not in the mood for this, Zaeed." Jacob said, stepping right up to the older man. "I appreciate what you two think you might be doing here, but I'd rather not be bothered right now."

Zaeed took a long draw of his cigar, puffing the smoke out into Jacob's face. "So you got dumped? Move on. She isn't the only woman in this damned galax-" He didn't finish the statement as Jacob punched him across the face, knocking the cigar from Zaeed's mouth and flooring the man.

Jacob seethed, but part of him was yelling what the fuck was he doing, hitting Zaeed like that? But the other part of him didn't care; it only knew that it felt good.

Zaeed got up to one knee, rubbing his face and spitting up blood. Was he smiling? Jacob asked himself. The older man reached around his armor and unclasped the locks that kept it on him. The armor fell unceremoniously to the ground, revealing Zaeed's own musculature, which was pretty damn impressive for a man of his age. His greaves and gauntlets were the next to go, and he stood up and rolled his neck around, eliciting a few cracks as he stepped up towards Jacob.

Grunt laughed as the two men stared each other down, and then the young krogan noticed the prying eyes of some of the engineers. "What are you looking at?" he said suddenly, causing the engineers to nearly jump in surprise. He stood up and started casually shooing them away, which was still a pretty terrifying sight when an 800lb krogan was doing it. "Come on, nothing to see here!" he said, waving them off. "Go on! You gear heads have better stuff to do than gawk!" Once the small crowd was dispersed, he turned around to gawk at the soon-to-be fight himself. "Hehehe."

What was he doing? Jacob asked himself, shaking his head as his reason finally pushed through past his emotions. "Zaeed, I'm so-" he didn't get to finish his sentence when Zaeed sucker-punched him in the gut, winding him. His face was then met by the older man's elbow, knocking him back a few feet but managing not to make him stumble to the ground.

Before he could protest, Zaeed fell upon him again with a barrage of punches that Jacob blocked by crossing his arms in from of him. The old man was quick like lightning as a few shots managed to get past his defense and make contact with his torso, landing with big meaty thuds. Zaeed jumped into the air and delivered a spin kick, crashing his foot right into his crossed arms and sending him tumbling back.

Jacob rolled along the floor and got up to a kneeling position. Before he could even catch his breath, Zaeed rushed him again, putting him solely in the defensive as he struggled to keep up with his blocks. The old man was good, he thought as he narrowly dodged a kick to the face. He could make out Alliance Marine CQC as well as a mish mash of other martial arts styles from across the galaxy in Zaeed's attacks. He certainly seems to have gotten around in his day.

"Come on! Fight back, you bastard!" Zaeed barked as he kept up the pressure. "Are you a man or a boy? No wonder she dumped you!"

Like a switch had been flicked in Jacob's head, he suddenly caught Zaeed's fist mid-punch and pulled on the arm to throw the man off balance. Catching the older man off guard, he balled up his free hand into a fist and slammed it right into Zaeed's face. "What the hell did you say to me, old man?" he sneered as Zaeed stumbled backwards.

Zaeed spat out some more blood and took a moment to get his bearings back. "Don't tell me your hearing has gone to shit now, too?" He taunted Jacob, blood and drool dribbling from his mouth and down his jaw. He raised his fists and took up a fighting stance. "You know what I said. Now what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to kick your ass." Jacob replied grimly, going into a fighting stance of his own. Zaeed simply smirked back, pissing him off some more. "And maybe stomp your face in, while I'm at it."

Grunt called out from the sidelines. "Less talking, more head-bashing!" he cried impatiently. As if on cue, the two men rushed at each other, trading blows and grapples as a full blown fight started. "Hahaha! To the victor go the glory and the blood!" Grunt announced cheerfully as the engineers who were still sneaking looks backed off completely.

John Shepard breathed easily as Tali laid her head on his shoulder, the two of them lying down comfortably on his bed. It was a brief reprieve from the harsh reality they had to endure in the next few hours.

"John?" Tali said, pulling him back from his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"You know I'll support any choice you'd make, but why do we have to help Aria T'Loak retake Omega?" she said, propping herself up on her elbows to look him in the eyes. "She's not exactly a saint."

"Not a saint? Yeah, she's far from it, actually." Shepard confirmed. "But it's not about retaking Omega for Aria." He continued. "There's an old human saying; Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."

Tali tilted her head in confusion.

"When the Reapers hit, I'd rather we have as much allies that we could call upon to rally with us in defending the galaxy." Shepard explained. "She may be a gangster, but Aria T'Loak is the top gangster on this side of the Terminus. If we call on her to go to war with us, we'll have the support of not just her, but her constituents across the galaxy."

"If she has so many constituents, where are they now?"

"These gangsters respect one thing more than money: strength." Shepard continued. "It's not like Aria's forces are outnumbered here. They're only taken by surprise by the mercs. If she can't fight them off, then they'll see her as unworthy of their loyalty anymore and swear allegiance to the next big fish to take her throne. I'd rather Aria be on that throne than the Patriarch. More so because the Patriarch seems to be backed by Cerberus, of all people."

"And do you really think she'd answer your call when the Reapers hit?"

Shepard smirked. "Like I said, better the devil you know. We'll burn that bridge when we get there, but it doesn't hurt to have built goodwill with Aria."

"Well, what can I say? It sounds like a crazy long-shot of a plan." Tali just shook her head in amusement. "But when it comes to crazy, long-shot plans, I trust you, John."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you." Shepard replied, flashing her a small grin.

Tali crept up to him and touched his forehead with her visor, the closest thing she can do to replicate a kiss while she's wearing her suit. "It should." She said wryly. "Now, I wasn't kidding when I said I had a surprise for you."

The smile on Shepard's face faded a bit. "Should I be backing away now?" he asked nervously. Tali had previously established what she meant by 'surprise' by beating him up.

"I don't know, should you?" Tali asked haughtily, before giggling. "Relax; you're not going to be the battered boyfriend in this relationship. Not yet, anyway." She added teasingly.

"That's a relief." Shepard said with a nervous laugh. "So… Surprise?" he said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Hold on, let me get it." Tali said excitedly, crawling to the edge of the bed and reaching down to grab at something hidden beneath it. All the while, Shepard was treated to a good view of her quarian full moon as she fumbled for his surprise. "Almost got it." Tali said obliviously.

"Need a…" Shepard said, eyes following her wiggling backside. "Need a hand?"

"No, no, I'm quite fine here." Tali said.

"Yes, you are." Shepard muttered. "You are damn fine."

"What was that, John?"

"Nothing."

"Ah! Here it is." Tali said, producing a small case from underneath the bed. She kneeled on the bed and shuffled towards Shepard, handing him the box. "Surprise." She said in an adorably awkward manner.

"Thanks." Shepard said as he looked the box over. "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. It's just that I figured that rather than twiddle my thumbs worrying about you when you risk your life saving the galaxy, I'd be proactive and get something to help you." Tali said, rubbing her hands nervously as Shepard opened the case. "So I got you something I think you'll like."

Inside of the case was a small module. "What is it?" Shepard asked as he picked the black box up between two fingers.

"It's called an omniweapons suite. Here, let me help you install it." Tali took his right hand and activated his omnitool. Plucking the mod with her other hand, she slipped it into a slot on the device and began calibrating it into Shepard's omnitool. "It uses the same monofilament hard light technology that tech armor uses but utilizes it as a close combat disposable blade." She explained as she installed the program. A few moments later and there was a ping indicating the device had been fully installed. Tali backed away as the omniblade systems primed. "It's armed now." She said excitedly. "To activate it, you have to clench your hand into a fist and flick your wrist."

Shepard did as she asked, and he felt power surge through the omnitool as a twelve inch blade made out of orange light panels spun to life on his arm. "Whoa…" He said, sincerely amazed by the weapon. "I haven't seen anything quite like this before, Tali." He said as he got up from the bed, experimentally swinging the weapon, slashing through the air with a satisfying hum. "Where'd you get this?"

"I made it." Tali said proudly. "It's the latest in omni-tech; shouldn't be hitting mass retail 'til a couple of months from now. This is based on a prototype design by Stark Solutions. I… may have purchased the specs and parts from less than… legitimate sources while we were here on Omega…" she ended sheepishly.

Shepard was about to ask how he could deactivate the blade when he unclenched his fist, causing the blade to dissipate and collapse back into his omnitool. That's convenient, he thought. Tali crept up beside him and ran a hand over his omnitool, bringing up a holo interface from the omniblade's settings.

"When you're not using it, make sure the safety's on." She said, activating the safety toggle. "Otherwise it'd be pretty damn inconvenient if you lopped off somebody's arm while shaking hands with them."

Without warning, Shepard grabbed her arm and spun around, catching her in an embrace.

"Oh!" Tali squeaked in surprise as his arms wrapped around her waist, before breaking out in a fit of giggles.

"Miss Vas Normandy, you never cease to amaze me." He said. "Thank you for this, it'll come in pretty handy." Her visor obscured her face to the outside world, but Shepard knew her well enough to know that she was blushing. He touched his forehead to her visor and whispered. "I love you."

"Oh, John." She said. "I love you, too."

"Now I just feel sheepish that I didn't get you anything." He said, earning a playful slap from her.

"Don't be silly." She chastised. "You coming back to me in one piece is a good enough present for me."

"Well," Shepard shrugged. "That's going to make birthdays and anniversaries very convenient."

"Now let's not get carried away…"

They both laughed, managing to somehow fall back onto the bed, tangled in each other's arms. This was nice, Shepard thought. This was a life he could stand to live, together with Tali. Right now a life like that seemed distant, but if this was what he could look forward to when he could lay down his arms, then the Reapers won't know what hit them.

They lay there, smiling and just content to be in each other's arms. It was the best time either of them has had since the past couple of days, but reality had to rear in its feminine, synthetic voice to ruin the moment.

"Shepard." EDI said as her holographic avatar came to life on his wall. "There is a matter that requires your attention."

"Can it wait, EDI?" Shepard groaned as he looked to the AI.

"Jacob and Zaeed are engaging in a physical disagreement in the cargo bay."

Shepard sighed as he got up, annoyed at the developments. "Like a fucking kindergarten." He muttered, offering a hand to Tali who was giggling at him. "Care to join me play teacher to the rowdy kids?" he said with a wry smile.

"Eh, sounds fun." Tali replied with a chuckle, taking his hand. "I have to check up on the repairs anyway."

Meanwhile, back at the cargo bay, said bosh'tets were busy engaging further topics in their physical disagreement. Zaeed and Jacob traded blows as Grunt cheered on from the sidelines, enjoying the fight immensely. Both men were evenly matched as each strike was countered by a fluid dodge or a solid block and then repaid in kind.

Jacob leaned back to dodge a roundhouse kick aiming to knock his jaw off. He moved in to counter, but was pushed back as Zaeed recovered with a palm strike to the chest that slipped past his defenses, knocking him off balanced. The other man may be older, but that did nothing to diminish his skill, Jacob thought. Quite the contrary, it only reflected how skilled he really was to have survived in such a bloody business for so long.

Zaeed picked up the pace as he went with a punch combo, not giving Jacob room to breathe as he pressed his advantage. "Come on, boy!" he taunted, "Show me how angry you are!"

"You want to see how angry I am?" Jacob sneered as he countered Zaeed's combo with a punch that cut through his defenses, knocking the man away from him. "You asked for it!" Jacob was seeing red as he tackled Zaeed and slamming him into the ground. Mounting the man, he proceeded to pummel him with a flurry of blows. It was like a dam in his head broke, and all the repressed frustration and self-loathing he had harbored flooded out. Images flashed in his head with each punch.

His father; the man whom he thought was long dead, suddenly coming up alive as a depraved king of his own personal hell.

His life and career; a long record of impressive victories but rife with bureaucratic frustrations that impeded him at every turn.

His feelings for Miranda; apparently unreciprocated and driving him up the wall in some immature sense of rejection.

Yeah, that last one had to take the cake. That was all him, nobody else to blame. It took him a while to realize that he had stopped punching, and was just staring blankly down at his bruised hands.

"You done with your little temper tantrum or what?" Zaeed said flatly, causing Jacob to realize that after pinning the older man to the ground, he hadn't been punching back. All this time he had just been protecting himself with his arms as Jacob thrashed him. "Well?"

Realizing what he had just done and having spent all of his pent up frustrations, Jacob merely nodded, panting heavily as he rolled off Zaeed, lying on the floor next to him. "Yeah." He said tiredly. "Yeah, I'm done."

Only Grunt's booing at the anticlimactic end of their fight and the sounds of the engineers working in the background broke the silence that hung between the two men.

"Hey, Zaeed?" Jacob said, causing the older man to turn his head towards him. "I'm sor-"

"If you finish that statement, I will punch your teeth in." Zaeed replied, cutting Jacob off before he could finish his apology. "It's sad when a grown man acts like a teenager. Somebody had to beat you to your goddamn senses."

Jacob just laughed. "Fair enough."

Grunt booed louder, making sure his disappointment was clear. "You call that a fight? There was barely any blood!"

"So… do you regret it?" Zaeed said to Jacob, ignoring Grunt's protests in the background. Jacob just looked at him confused. "Confessing to Miranda, I mean."

Jacob turned his head to stare right into the far ceiling of the Normandy's cargo bay, and considered Zaeed's words. "No." He said after a few moments of thought. And he was sincere about it too. "It's… kinda nice, letting it all out like that. Sure, it didn't pan out how I wanted it to, but… I don't know…" he said, the post-fight high carrying his words. "After living the last couple of years of my life asking myself what could have been, it's good just to have some closure on it."

Zaeed just chuckled knowingly at Jacob's words.

"Hey, Zaeed?"

"Eh?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now quit your goddamn moping." Zaeed said. "You know, I've been around, and I could hook you up with some of my lady frien-"

"Yeah, no thanks." Jacob said quickly.

Zaeed shrugged. "Your loss."

Grunt, who had been booing this whole time, suddenly went silent much to their relief.

"Ugh, that's better. Pup whines like a wolf cub; all blood thirst with no moderation." Zaeed said, quite relieved by the relative silence. "I was starting to get a worse headache than from that sucker punch you gave me."

"Yeah, small favors, right?" Jacob said. "The only person who could get him to calm down otherwise would be-." He stopped himself as realization dawned on him. "Goddamn it."

"Close, but no cigar." A third voice interjected. Shepard loomed over their field of vision as the commander looked down on them, hands on his knees and raising an eyebrow. "Gentlemen." He greeted them flatly.

"Shepard." They both greeted back in unison.

"So… Uh, what have you two been up to?"

"We were just sparring." Zaeed said quickly.

"Yeah, sparring." Jacob affirmed. "It's good for the nerves."

"Sparring? Of course you were…" Shepard nodded sagely. "Full contact sparring in a non-designated area… Seems legitimate."

"Well, you know how it is…" Jacob said noncommittally, shrugging as he and Zaeed got up gingerly.

"Right…" Shepard said, shaking his head in exasperated amusement. "Get yourselves patched up and suited up; we have a mission brief in an hour."

In the background, Tali just laughed as she proceeded to check up on the progress of the repairs.

Miranda sighed as she cupped her face with her hands, sitting between Samara and Jack's bedsides as soon as Dr. Chakwas had given the okay to let in visitors into the medbay. The two biotics had yet to recover their consciousness, but their brainwaves and vital signs had been stable. She even double checked for herself, not out of lack of trust for Dr. Chakwas and Mordin's abilities, but for her own satisfaction. It was funny, she thought to herself. She wasn't a fanatic xenophobe like some, (hell, who was she kidding?), or rather most people who joined Cerberus, but she had believed in human-centrism. But after everything she had gone through with the Normandy's crew these past few months, she found herself legitimately caring about her squadmates, both alien and human alike.

Not only that, but the very fact that she had started to openly reach out and care for people was very new to her as well. She had grown up keeping only a tight circle of people that she had trusted, and even that bit her in the ass. But now, now that she had opened herself up to others; it turned out to be quite nice. She had just started getting to know her younger sister after knowing about her for years. And when she tried, she even started to get along well with Jack, a woman who she was at odds with since the beginning of the Collector Suicide mission.

Then, there was the more advanced case of caring for other people.

There was Jacob. She cared for him very much, that was for certain.

But did she love him?

Probably…

Oh, of course she loved him.

But was she ready?

No, she told herself. No, she wasn't ready. She just had too much baggage with her, she told herself. Personal baggage; things that she couldn't just dump on anybody's lap so casually. It was something between her and her father. He was still out there, looking for his perfect little daughter of a legacy.

She had tried to establish a relationship with him earlier on, but it just wasn't working out. Rather, it was working out very well. Whenever they were together, she had always felt at ease. It was a very big change of pace considering how she had spent most of her life on the run. Jacob was a good man, too good for the likes of her to pull into her family drama. He deserved better.

It didn't matter now, though. She had already lied to him about her feelings, just as he was opening his heart out to her. She buried her face in her hands and groaned. She needed to keep strong, but it was becoming very, very hard to do so. Damn it, she wanted him, but it just wouldn't be fair. He deserved someone else who could give him more than what she could offer. He deserved-.

"Hey, Miri." A perky voice from the empty air in front of her said cheerily, almost causing her to jump out of her seat.

"Do you always have to introduce yourself via a heart attack, Kasumi?" Miranda said, annoyed by the woman's sudden appearance.

"Force of habit. My bad." Kasumi said sheepishly as she materialized into view. "How are they?" she asked, regarding Jack and Samara.

Miranda sighed as she composed herself. "They're fine. Just exhausted." She said curtly, giving each of the unconscious women a look over. Great, it just had to be Kasumi. It's not like she disliked the woman or anything. Kasumi was a very likeable person, whether she tried to or not. She exuded this mischievous charm that seemed to put people at ease, at least when she wasn't popping out of thin air with barely any introduction. She also happened to have been openly pining for Jacob the entire time that she had been aboard the Normandy.

Miranda had no business being jealous, not when she had just dumped Jacob in a very cold hearted fashion. In all fairness, Kasumi could just be the right woman for Jacob. It was just that she couldn't help feeling annoyed whenever she spoke to him, flashing her eye lashes and smiling ever so suggestively. But, now wasn't the time or place for that. Kasumi was here to visit Jack and Samara, so she considered it neutral territory, well, as far as she was concerned.

Kasumi pulled up a chair and sat next to her in between Jack and Samara. She sighed and leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling with a serious expression before turning to Miranda with a smirk playing on her face. "Hell of a night, huh?" she said.

Miranda couldn't help but chuckle despite herself. "Yeah, that's a fair summary of it." That and then some, she said inwardly in a much grimmer manner.

For a long while, they sat there together in quiet peacefulness, broken only by the occasional beeping of devices and the medical staff checking up on the patients. Miranda would have much rather continued their interaction in that fashion, but Kasumi opened her mouth, starting up a conversation.

"We can't seem to catch a break huh?" She said. "I mean, we just got done saving the galaxy and already we're embroiled in a whole new debacle."

"It would seem Shepard is indeed a magnet for galactic troubles, great and small." Miranda agreed.

Kasumi snickered. "I'm still holding out for those small problems."

Again, Miranda couldn't help but smile. Kasumi really was hard to dislike or at least play indifferent to. "Yeah, well after personally funding this whole operation on loan from your own pockets, you've no room to complain, Kasumi."

"Psh, there's always room to complain." Kasumi dismissed with good nature.

"You know, if you don't mind me asking, Kasumi…" she said carefully. "Why did you decide to stay on with us? You're a free-lancer, and all that."

Kasumi paused, pondering on the question for a few moments. Miranda was starting to fear that she had overstepped her boundaries when the other woman smiled and spoke again. "I guess it's because I owe it to Shepard to see at least this little excursion through." She said.

Miranda nodded knowingly. Shepard really was the keystone that binds them together. There was something about that man that changed the people around him for the good, Miranda included. And it said a lot about somebody when Shepard got a sociopathic time-bomb like Jack to re-embrace their humanity. She glanced towards the said sleeping woman with a smirk. Shepard really was a miracle worker.

"Also, I've come to really, really like you guys." Kasumi added, batting her eyelashes.

"Likewise." Miranda said sincerely. This was turning out to be nicer than expected.

"I… actually, I wanted to ask some advice from you." Kasumi said, her smile toning down until it was barely there. "If you don't mind me asking?"

Well, that took a turn for the worse; Miranda could think of only a few things that would constitute a woman asking another woman some advice. Yes, I do mind, Miranda thought. "Sure, what's on your mind?" She said out loud, trying not to wince.

"I… well, there's somebody who I think I like." She started out. "I mean like like." She clarified sheepishly.

Well, no shit? Miranda thought, but she merely urged the other woman to continue.

"Anyway, I think it's mutual, but things just get awkward between us, and it's like something is keeping it awkward." Kasumi said, and Miranda thought she had a pretty good idea why. "I'm just confused right now. It all happened so suddenly, I don't even know if I could make it work… and we're both from very different backgrounds."

Miranda's expression tightened, but she controlled herself. So Jacob was entertaining Kasumi's advances, was he? The only thing that must have stopped him was her, she thought. This… This was a good opportunity to get Jacob uninterested in her romantically anymore. She had mixed feelings about that, but she ultimately steeled her resolve. "Go on…" She said consolingly, prompting Kasumi to continue.

"I… I think I like him, but I don't know whether to act on it or not." She said. "I've given Tali relationship advice myself, but it's different when you're experiencing the same dilemmas in the first-person perspective…"

Hasn't stopped you before, Miranda scoffed inwardly. But, she softened up once she saw Kasumi's face, all pretense of the smile gone, just a woman who didn't know what to do. She had been practicing on giving advice, finding herself in that role as big sister to Orianna. "Well, if you like him, what's stopping you?" she said softly.

"I don't know…" Kasumi said. "It's different than how I acted upon my feelings with Keiji. I'd usually go in guns blazing to confront him with my feelings bluntly. This is the first time a man made me feel like this. I don't know why. Maybe it's just hormones, or maybe something else. But I've never felt so… enthralled by a man's presence before."

Miranda couldn't help but drop the small sliver of jealousy that she was still holding on to. The way she spoke about Jacob, so sincere and affectionate. And all this time she had thought it was just lust elicited by his appearance. Not that she could blame Kasumi, though. "Are you… are you still mourning Keiji?" Miranda asked carefully.

Kasumi looked up at the ceiling. "Up until recently, yes… But Shepard helped me through that one." She smiled somberly.

"Well then, maybe it's just your heart's way of telling you that you're ready to love again." She said. "It's… difficult to let go, especially of something you hold dear. And when something does come along to fill that gap in your heart, it could get confusing at first, but you can't just be lonely forever."

"You think so?"

"That's for you to answer, now isn't it?"

Kasumi pondered over what they have just talked about. "Thank you, Miri." She said, practically blooming with romantic resolve. "I… You've given me a lot to consider…"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Miranda smiled. That was it. She had just handed Jacob to somebody on a silver plate. Somebody who could love and take care of him; somebody he deserved. It hurt, but it was for the best and better Kasumi than some stranger.

"I…" Kasumi said, standing up. "I need to think about this some more before taking it up with Garrus. Thanks again, Miri."

"Anytime." Miranda smiled as Kasumi walked away, fading out of existence as her cloak activated. It… hurt, giving away Jacob like that. But this was for the best. Now, she can rest easy knowing that- "Wait, wait… Kasumi?" Miranda suddenly blurted out as realization dawned on her. Too late though, as Kasumi seems to have made a quick exit. "Did she just say 'Garrus'?" she asked herself, confused by these developments.

She was only brought out of her daze when EDI's voice played over the intercom. "All ground team squad members be advised, there will be a mission briefing in one hour at the conference room. I repeat…"

Sometime later, in the Normandy's conference room…

"… And that is all we know about this foe that we are now unwittingly facing." Feron said as he finished up his presentation to the squad. "They are a cult worshipping a forgotten deity known as the Father. You've seen the… gifts He has bestowed upon his faithful first hand, haven't you, commander?"

Shepard was still trying to take it all in. After all that he's been through these past couple of years, hardly anything could surprise him anymore. "Yes… And you're telling me The Patriarch is of the same nature, and that this entire war was a smokescreen to cover up their true objective, correct?"

"Yes. For now we have only identified Tarrana Ionet and the Patriarch as the Father's children. Though we suspect that there is more, especially after last night's run in." He said, referring to his battle with Melina. "Which is why I chose not to divulge this information the moment I met up with you." Feron nodded. "I had to know for certain first that nobody here was acting under their influence."

"But what is their true objective?" Garrus asked.

"They seek an ancient artifact, possibly a relic from the time of the Father, hidden deep in Omega." Feron explained. "They too oppose the Reapers, but we do not know what their ultimate goal is. What we do know is that, like the Reapers, their goal is not beneficial for any living being in the galaxy."

Shepard nodded, and looked around the room to judge the expressions of his team. All of them still bore the pain and fatigue of a long, bloody night. Some were better off than others, but the medigel could only do so much, he thought. They had just been in a middle of debriefing last night's events when Feron had interjected to reveal this new piece of information. Shepard's gut feeling was correct. Something big was going on underneath the pretense of this coup. He just didn't expect it to be on the same level as the Collector threat, possibly even worse. "This is bigger than what we could have possibly imagined…" Shepard said to them. "I know you didn't sign up for this, but the galaxy is calling on us once again. Are you with me?"

On one side of the table, Thane was his usual calm self, standing at attention, listening with utmost intent whenever somebody spoke and throwing in his two cents every now and again. "This is a very disturbing turn of events, but I am with you, Shepard." Out of all of them, he was the one who came out mostly unscathed, which was saying a lot since he was with Shepard throughout most of the worse, even surviving their run in with Tarrana. "I can do some more good before my time is up."

Next to him was Grunt, whose body was bandaged up almost comically so, holding it together long enough for his regeneration to mend the torn flesh. He had enjoyed telling his experience with the asari named Melina, and was hoping he could find more of her kind out there to fight. After hearing Feron's news though, he could barely suppress the maniacal grin plastered on his face. "Ha! I wouldn't turn up an opportunity like this short of a cure for the genophage, battlemaster!" he cheered.

Mordin was busy with his datapad, nodding every so often at points being made when he wasn't the one speaking about his findings and observations. "Yes, yes… New information about the enemy enlightening regarding the state of specimen. " he said. "Entertained some sort of alien technology at work. May be able to narrow down the secret of their 'blessings' now."

"Good to hear." Shepard said. Looks like Mordin was in, Shepard chuckled to himself inwardly.

Jacob looked tired and haggard, and Shepard couldn't blame him. He was with him in the thick of it at the Afterlife, and anybody who could still step up to the task after something like that was worth his respect. Of course, he didn't know that that wasn't the only thing that was bothering Jacob. "I've been hankering for wrongs to right since I've joined the alliance, Shepard. Of course I'm in."

Garrus, however, in typical turian fashion, put up a strong front, not letting any signs show of him being worse for wear. He'd wince once or twice, but that was it. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at Shepard dead in the eyes. "Well I've tagged along this far with you and you seem to know what you're doing half the time." He said dryly, before turning completely serious. "I'm in, Shepard, no questions asked."

On the other side of the table, another one of his companions in last night's debacle, Zaeed, held an air of seriousness as he listened to the others. The man had that look in his eye that Shepard only saw once before, when he talked him into saving innocents rather than going after vengeance. "My paycheck covers up to that much, at least." He shrugged. "Consider my services yours."

"Zaeed…" Shepard began carefully, "You and I both know that Vido Santiago could be coming to Omega anytime now. I need to be sure I can count on you to put the mission up first."

"This again, Shepard?" Zaeed said dismissively. "Heh, you've got my word." He said grimly.

Beside him, Kasumi stood stiffly, her body still healing from her vicious thrashing and seemed to be concentrating very hard at something on the wall past Garrus. He had spoken to her earlier, but she just waved off his concern and told him she was fine, flashing him that trademark grin of hers. "Well, it sounds fun, at least." She said. "Plus the possibility of treasure? I'm in." Shepard had enough sense in him about women to know that it was mostly forced.

Miranda also seemed to be out of it, the last of his companions that was with him at the Afterlife. She was her usual professional self, but he could have sworn that she had an agitated edge around her whenever she spoke up for longer than a few seconds. "If what Feron says is true, then this is of grave importance, Shepard." She said. "Sign me up, as well."

Next to her, Legion only stood idly by, the geth's nature making him unreadable through its body language. It spent most of the attack assisting EDI in resisting the Cerberus virus that the Eclipse had assaulted them with, keeping it out of their control long enough 'til they could strike back. "We have reached a consensus, Shepard-Commander." It said. "Entity known as Father is a threat to the Geth. We shall aid you in its extermination."

Then there was Tali, whose efforts undoubtedly saved them all, freeing EDI from the virus and getting the Normandy space-worthy again. She only looked at him and nodded. "Of course I'm going with you." She said, as if she was insulted that he had to ask.

"Thank you." He said, smiling at her, before turning towards the rest. "Thank you, all of you."

In terms of injury, Samara and Jack were the worst off. They were absent from this meeting, still unconscious and recovering at the medbay. Dr. Chakwas had assured him that the pair of biotics were in stable condition. However they weren't medically cleared for the upcoming operation even if they were to wake up right now. The doctor said something about biotic strain and energy starvation, and that recovery was a simple process, it just wasn't quick enough to make them combat ready. In their place however were two perfectly suited substitutes from two different interested parties.

The first of which was Feron, another hanar-trained drell assassin. He was standing casually, hands clasped behind his back, carrying himself with the same relaxed but self-sure air that Thane exuded. No, he corrected himself, not the same; there were similarities, but only at a cursory glance. Where Thane was cool and calculated like a coiled spring, Feron was eager and certain, like a venomous snake. He was the leader of the Shadow Broker agents that had assisted them in Omega last night, and as of now, Liara's most trusted operative. He was only too happy to offer his assistance when Shepard had asked him to participate in the mission. Now, after hearing what Feron had to say, Shepard understood why.

Then there was the deposed ruler of Omega, Aria T'loak, who had graciously 'allowed' them to assist her in retaking the station. She stood next to him, arms folded, a look of impatience showing on her face but otherwise listened quietly to the debrief. The quiet whine of moving servos emanated from her new left hand, hidden underneath a black glove as its fingers wiggled idly, no doubt to get accustomed to the sensation. Out of all of them, she certainly had the roughest of last night and the most reason to be angry. To her credit however, and Shepard's surprise, she was handling her situation quite well. Even when Feron was sharing his information, she simply listened patiently. Aria may come off as brash and arrogant, but Shepard knew most of it was just for show. She was near matriarch age, carrying the wisdom of hard lessons learned throughout the centuries in her head that didn't leave her prone to indignant tantrums.

"I appreciate the gravity of this situation, Shepard." She began. "But according to the drell, an army from Cerberus is approaching Omega in just over 28 hours. Can I trust you to aid me after all of this is done?"

"Aria, there is more at stake here than-"

"I asked you if you could still aid me against Cerberus." Aria sneered.

Shepard was prepared to argue Aria down, but Feron spoke before he could proceed to do so.

"The Shadow Broker will supplement you with her own army of mercenary forces." Feron said.

"Oh? And why isn't this army here with you now?" she challenged him haughtily, glaring daggers at the Shadow Broker operative.

"Because we had no reason to bring them in at this point in time." Feron said flatly. "But if you promise your cooperation, I can assure you additional men to be under your command to bolster your own battle-weary forces against both the Mercenaries and the incoming Cerberus invasion."

"And how soon can you assemble this force?"

"An army can be assembled in as soon as 48 hours, and they can be here no sooner than 30 more hours."

"So you expect me to hold out for three days against a battle on two fronts?" Aria clarified. "And even If you do manage to scrounge up this army, and manage to beat the odds against both the mercs and Cerberus, you expect me to believe that you will leave Omega after the fighting is said and done, all in good faith?"

"What choice do you have?" Feron said, nearly causing Aria to scowl indignantly.

"Fine. I agree to your terms." She said reluctantly. "You have my support in this, Shepard."

Shepard nodded his head in approval, inwardly sighing in relief for having that issue smooth itself over. "Alright, so how do we go about doing this?"

Feron activated the holoprojector in the center of the conference room, displaying a map of Omega. "We can approach this in two methods: We eliminate the Patriarch and Tarrana Ionet before they can find what they are looking for, or we find it before they do."

Thane spoke up at that. "But before we can do any of those, we have to find a way inside first."

Garrus scratched his scar as he analyzed the map. "That's easier said than done. Mercs have got the whole place sealed up. We'll have to fight our way through, and even then it will be too risky. They'll over run us as soon as we get past any entrance we can find."

"Not only that," Jacob added. "But we're seriously lacking in firepower here. We need to go find some guns and gear, Shepard. What we have left can't carry us through this entire thing. Maybe hit up an enemy armory first?"

Aria stepped up and manipulated the map of Omega, flipping it around and zooming in. "You all forget who you have on your side, here." She said as she started to magnify a location on the map. "There is a hidden space port, leading to a safe house that only I know about. I have gear and vehicles enough for a small army stashed there, as well as the assurance that our coming will be undetected."

Garrus frowned as he looked at the location on the map. "This is in No Man's Land." He said flatly. "You constructed a safe house in No Man's Land? I'm impressed."

"I'm not here to impress you, I'm here to make sure you get the job done." Aria replied.

"What's this 'no man's land'?" Shepard asked.

Garrus crossed his arms and explained. "Not all of Omega is populated. There are large portions of the station that are lawless, abandoned districts that only the vorcha or the fool hardy tread on. The largest of which is No Man's Land." He said, pointing at the map. "Parts of it are exposed to the vacuum of space and devoid of power. The odds of there being any mercs to greet us there are slim to none, but there will be other dangers as we make our way to the populated districts of Omega."

"I said undetected, not completely safe." Aria said, waving off Garrus' concerns. "You needed an entrance into Omega, I'm giving you one."

Miranda analyzed the location. "It's risky, but it's the highest chance of success that we have to infiltrate the station, Shepard."

"Then it's settled." Shepard said, looking at the location on the map. "EDI, relay these coordinates to Joker. I want us there yesterday."

"Understood, Shepard." The AI chimed in.

"As for the rest of you, suit up. We're heading out ASAP." He announced.

Next stop: No Man's Land.