CHAPTER 13: Confessions, Part II
2185 CE
'Hey Krell... Is there a reason I now have a Krogan asking me how I became the greatest warrior in history? Because don't get me wrong, I'm flattered. But this has your fingerprints all over it.' Joker accused as I visited him in the cockpit.
'Okay, so, this is my fault, but I definitely didn't plan it.' I hedged.
'So you're only accidentally pranking me then? I don't know how to feel about that, Krell.' Joker revealed.
'Okay, so I was talking to Grunt about what makes a warrior great, and we both agreed that a great warrior had the ability to defeat foes that others could not.' I explained.
'That's great and all, Krell, but how did I end up in the picture?' Joker asked with a raised eyebrow.
'So I was also in the middle of telling him that a great warrior can use tools to overcome a foe that even the greatest warrior otherwise cannot. And to do that I brought up Sovereign, and how Shepard used the Normandy to kill it.' I continued.
EDI activated to give her opinion. 'But Shepard did not use the Normandy, Pilot Moreau was at the helm.'
'Yeah. That's the conclusion Grunt came to as well. And since it took 3 of us just to knock down its shields, but It just took you to kill it...'
'The guy thinks I'm the greatest warrior in the universe.' Joker nodded before abruptly stopping.
A sort of terrified confusion crossed his face. 'Wait Krell, Am I actually the greatest warrior in the universe?' he panicked.
'Nah. Don't worry, kid. You're nowhere ever close. Sure you kill a couple of Reapers, but by the end of the war? Shepard and I will have beaten em all.' I grinned.
Joker swallowed, heavily. 'Right then. I'll just get back to flying this ship then. Ship can't fly itself.'
'Yet.' I agreed with an easy grin as I strode away.
'Krell? Wait! Krell! What did you mean by that, Krell? You can't just say stuff like that and leave, Krell!' Joker yelled at my back.
My grin widened.
Greatest warrior in the galaxy or not, Joker was just too much fun not to fuck with.
2185 CE
Mordin got the countermeasure done in time, and so Kaidan and I were off to join the first human Spectre and save our first colony.
Well, fail to save them.
Hope that doesn't weigh on Shepard too badly.
Everything was going well. It had taken a bit to get Inferno ammo working on my old NK-47, but I really was enjoying the change to thermal clips.
The reality of thermal clips was that they were actually better than the previous non-clip cooling system. The only issue is that clips weren't meant to be used like Shepherd and the rest of us used them. Clips are excellent at absorbing waste heat, but the same thing that makes them excellent at absorbing waste heat also makes it very hard for them to cool down. That is to say, they retain heat easily. Now, if you gave a thermal clip five or ten minutes? It would cool down and be ready to reuse.
That's fine for most people. Most people don't need more than 1,000 rounds of sub machine gun fire. They don't need more than 10 rounds of sniper fire. Give them a half dozen thermal clips and they can outshoot the enemy until they're dead.
Shepard on the other hand is a maniac who will lead a team of three people against over a hundred foes regularly, and win; so Shepard needs more rounds than the system was ever intended to accommodate.
Weird, huh? As a game mechanic it makes no sense at all, but as a product of a living reality? The thermal clip system is just such an incredible boost over the old system that it's a no-brainer to adopt it.
All of which is to say that the NK-47, I was holding used a Thermal clip, but the sniper rifle I now carried in it's compressed form on my back did not.
We fought our way through the colony until we finally reached the building with the angry old man, Delan, in it.
He grumped at Shepard and demanded she save everyone.
Of course, this pissed me off, just a little. 'If you wanted to be saved you should have helped Commander Williams protect the colony back before the Collectors hit it.' I posited.
Kaidan complained the entire way. Useless comments like:
'The Collectors are taking almost everyone.'
And
'I thought I was done being shot at when they took me off the Normandy. They had me tapped to teach at Grissom Academy.'
I tactfully avoided mentioning that Kaidan killed his own biotics teacher, almost starting another war between the Humans and the Turians in the process.
'Hope that goes better for you then it did for your old biotics teacher.'
Which is to say, I avoided explicitly mentioning that Kaidan killed his own biotics teacher, almost starting another war between the Humans and the Turians in the process. I just heavily implied it.
The trip to our final battle was pretty straightforward however, which left us dealing with Collector Praetorians in very short order.
A Praetorian is like a living tank that can fly, but not very well. It shoots what I can only assume are optic blasts stolen from old X-Men comics. They're heavily armored and protected by biotic barriers.
Shepard and Kaidan deal with the barriers. I use my Inferno ammunition to burn for the armor.
That makes it sound easy but it's not. It's almost 2 minutes of running and dodging around a loading yard for the spaceships docking at the colony while being chased by an giant angry flying monster that shoots lasers at you when it's annoyed; and it's always annoyed.
I really hope there's some surveillance cameras aimed at this place. As far as I know I'm the only Krogan to have ever fought a Praetorian and won.
A video record of the feat would do a lot for my reputation among the Krogan. Might even be enough to get Kaidan a date too!
Shepard would be fine of course. She has made the extremely smart decision to supplement her dateability on the Krogan market by getting a set of glowing red face scars.
I'm surprised Krogan aren't throwing themselves at her left and right.
Though, I guess she's not actively looking right now. That might be part of the equation.
I suppose I could record it with my omnitool, but that's a bit cumbersome and it's a bit too late to start doing now. An in-suit recorder, maybe?
'Shepard. I know that name! You're some big Alliance hero.'
I must have gotten lost in thought, because the old man was back and complaining again.
'Commander Shepard. Captain of the Normandy. The First Human Spectre. Savior of the citadel. You're in the presence of a god, Delan. Back from the dead.' came the voice of Commander Ashley Williams as she boldly strode forth from wherever she was hiding and not helping during our fight.
'All the good people we lost and you get left behind. Figures. Screw this! I'm done with you Alliance types.' The grumpy old man decided to leave.
'I thought you were dead commander. We all did.' Ashley accused.
Well, I couldn't leave such a blatant factual inaccuracy around like that, could I?
'All? That's a weird definition. Garrus is with us, so are Joker and Chakwas, and hell, Tali even stopped by to visit! Wrex and I never believed the rumors of the Commander's demise for a second, and even Kaidan came running to help the commander as soon as he learned she was alive.' I retorted.
'You kidnapped me.' He argued.
'I did not! I asked you to help me with a favor, which you then reneged on, and then I showed you the orders you had from Alliance command!'
'Oh, were we talking about facts now? I thought we were just making shit up to make other people look bad.' Kaidan fired back.
'Touche.' I reply.
'You don't sound too happy to see me. Something bothering you, Ash?' Shepard asked.
'Yeah. Something's bothering me. I spent the last two years believing you were dead. Even if no one else apparently did. I would have followed you anywhere Commander. I thought you were gone. You were more than my Commander. Why didn't you try and contact me?'
I wasn't sure if that last bit was directed at me or Shepard, honestly.
'I mean, Shepard was mostly dead. Cerberus spent most of those two years trying to rebuild her.' I explained.
'You're with Cerberus now?' Ash asked stepping back.
'You too, Kaidan, Krell? I can't believe the reports were right.' She condescended.
'That's because neither Kaidan nor I are with Cerberus. Kaidan's on a top secret espionage mission from Alliance command to spy on and verify if this is the real Shepard. And I am working for the Krogan Government in trying to defeat the Reapers. So I think technically, I'm a diplomatic attache.' I replied.
'There is no Krogan Government.' Ashley retorted.
'Well, not with that attitude there won't be.' I replied.
'You knew that Shepard wasn't dead, and you didn't tell me?' Ashley accused me.
'You make it sound like I can see the future or something.' I complained.
'You absolutely can see the future!' Ashley roared back.
'What the hell, there's no way that Krell can see the future.' Kaidan complained; staring between us as if trying to figure out what was going on.
'You didn't tell him!' Ashley accused.
'It slipped my mind. And the Ship was bugged. And really it's honestly funnier this way so...' I trailed off.
Ashley stared at me in disappointment.
'I guess now's as good a time as any?' I decided.
'As good a time for any as what? You can't actually see the future, right? That's ridiculous. Why are Ash and Shepard taking this so seriously?' Kaidan asked.
'Calling it seeing the future is ridiculous. I just... know the future. Not much, of course. Just the next two years or so until the Reaper War ends. You know, one way or the other. And there's lots of caveats to even that.' I confessed.
'The... What?' Kaidan asked as if his entire worldview had been tilted.
Ashley stayed unhelpfully silent.
'Look, it's not much. I know a few key points and what happens with different decisions about them if I'm not there. Stuff like Feros, and Noveria, and Ilos.'
'And Virmire... That's why you left me your shuttle. You knew I'd die without it.' Kaidan realized.
'Well, either you or Ashley. It's the whole reason I brought it with me. I didn't expect you to get it blown up though!' I grumped.
'I told you I'll pay you back!'
'In years! The Reapers invade next year! A shuttle in 10 years isn't going to help me out at all!' I shot back.
'That's why you're so adamant about this...' Kaidan realized.
I nodded. 'Cortez is an amazing pilot; but I think we're going to need a spare.'
'Cortez?' Kaidan asked.
'Doesn't matter yet.' I replied.
'Why didn't you tell me?' Ashley asked. Again, I wasn't sure if she meant that question for me, or for Shepard.
'I couldn't. I was in a coma. And once I woke up you were on a classified mission with no way to reach you.' Shepard explained.
Ashley's gaze turned to me.
'I was going to tell you right after Kaidan replaced my shuttle. So really this is all his fault.' I lied.
'You can't possibly believe that. He's definitely lying!' Kaidan pointed out unhelpfully.
Ashley's eyes turned back to me.
'Well, I mean, I planned on telling you today regardless. It was just the most convenient opportunity in my schedule.' I defended myself.
'You're a jerk, Krell. I can't believe I ever looked up to you.'
The rest of the conversation just sort of, faded in my mind.
'I'll never work for a group like that. So long commander. Kaidan. Good Luck.'
She left out my name.
Why does this feel so... bad?
'Joker, send a shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough of this colony.'
2185 CE
It took a lot of work to make Burukh on a human vessel. It's a Krogan drink. Old. From before my childhood, even. Served in metal cups, it's Ryncol topped with pure ethanol, the equivalent of Human Everclear, and some minor intoxicating herbs that are now almost extinct on Tuchanka, even if they are available on other planets thanks to the Krogan diaspora. The herbs dissolve in the Ryncol, you layer the ethanol on top, and then you light it on fire and drink it while it's still scalding.
It goes down smooth, but kicks harder than normal Ryncol. In deference to the humans on the ship, mine's not radioactive.
'I really messed up.' I admitted to Garrus as she stared at me downing my 5th cup.
'I think that realization is something you should have had the first time you decided to drink that combination.' Garrus observed.
'This? No. this is fine. I mean with Ash.' I clarified, lifting my cup to stare at it.
'Not telling her Shepard was alive?' Garrus asked.
'You heard about that, then?'
'Kaidan came to complain to me. Had this weird story about you being able to see the future?' Garrus grinned.
'Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up tough guy. I know your email. I can set up a profile on a Krogan dating app for you real easy.'
'Lets not go that far. With the Genophage we do need to leave some of the Krogan women for the rest of your species.' he joked.
I laughed. It wasn't a good joke, but I needed it anyway.
'Liara's gonna hate me.' I admit.
'Because you didn't tell her Shepard was alive?' Garrus asked.
'No. I never needed to tell her that. She figured it out before all of you.' I admitted.
'Then why?' Garrus asked, tipping his chair back to relax a bit.
'Because I never told her I was her Grandfather.'
Garrus' chair hit the ground, with Garrus in it.
I looked down at him and he looked up at me.
'You okay down there? As the guy drinking, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be the one on the floor like that.' I checked.
'You don't get to say that after that reveal.' Garrus admonished.
He got up and reset his chair.
'You were Benezia's dad?' he asked.
'Hah! No. I hated that bitch. Never liked her. My kid's Matriarch Aethyta; Liara's dad.' I admitted.
'Why did Liara never mention her, or you?'
'Benezia cut my little Aye-aye out of her life when Liara was born. Divorced her. Took the kid and everything. Wasn't even due to indoctrination; this was over a hundred years ago. I wasn't in Aye-aye's life even before that.'
'That story you told us before the space station, with Jack that was...'
'Aye-Aye's mother. Couldn't look her in the eye after that. I faked my death. Aye-Aye doesn't know the whole story. Doesn't know why I needed to do it; thinks it was all just a foolish grudge from centuries prior. She doesn't know her mom killed her aunt and then only married me to spy on me. You can't tell her. or Liara.' I insisted.
'It's like you want them to hate you.' Garrus observed.
'Is that what it seems like?' I asked.
'You can't take responsibility for the actions of your wife. If your kid is a matriarch she's only enough to deal with the truth. And Liara's tough. She can handle the knowledge.'
'I'm pretty sure Aye-Aye knows I'm alive already.' I admitted.
'Didn't you fake your death?' Garrus questioned.
'I did. I called her up, and left a message saying that I was very sorry and that both her mother and I were dead, I then made some very convincing dying sounds and hung up.'
Garrus looked at me for a full minute in silence. I stared back.
'It was way to awkward to call her back after that.' I justified.
I don't think Garrus was convinced.
Silence stretched between us. I could feel him judging me.
'Liara's probably going to learn the full truth whether I want her to or not.' I offered in an attempt to break the ice again.
'Then you should probably tell her now. Your daughter too. Do you know how to reach them?' Garrus sighed.
I sighed. 'I have Liara's old number, but I don't need it. I know where they are. They're both on Illium.'
'Aren't we headed there next?' Garrus asked.
'Yeah. Shore leave. And some new Squadmates. Two of the remaining four. Samara and Thane.' I agreed.
'You want me to come with you?' Garrus asked.
'Could you? I'll ask Shepard as well. I think I'm gonna need all the help I can get.'
2185 CE
Illium reminded me of no sci-fi city more than Coruscant. Skycars, Skyscrapers, A capitalist kleptocracy, under-layers of exploited slave workers. From a distance it's beautiful, but being here really made me miss New York City. No one tries to mug a Krogan in New York. Illium is more polite, but also far more dangerous.
Illium is what Noveria could be if the Humans and I were willing to loosen the laws on slavery and terraforming.
It's also a great lesson on why never to do either.
'Where are we going?' Shepard asked, letting me lead the way.
'Eternity. It's by Liara's office. Aethyta works there.'
'Aethyta, your Asari matriarch daughter?' Shepard confirmed.
'Not so loud. Illium's not a safe place to speak secrets. Even in a sealed room the walls will have ears.' I chided.
'But yes.' I added a moment later.
I pause.
'Also, Conrad Verner. Your fan? He's probably in the bar right now making a mess of things. Don't kill him. He's an expert on dark energy. He'll be useful later.'
The bar looked pretty much the same as it did in the game, with the notable addition of a large two ton war hammer being used as a decorative element behind the bar.
I could tell that Aya-Aye recognized me as I came in. I could also tell she wasn't willing to make the first move. Shepard dealt with Verner and she pointedly ignored me to talk to Shepard.
'Thanks for dealing with that crazy guy. Saves me having to beat him to death with his own spine. That makes the other customers nervous. Anyway, this is Eternity, and I'm Aethyta. Asari Matriarch and bartender. Can I get ya anything?'
'Hey Aye-Aye.' I replied.
'Lots of people coming back from the dead recently, Commander Shepard. You know my mom and dad both died a thousand years ago when I was about a hundred. Went off to fight each other. Made me promise that I would love whichever one of them won. Turned out to be a real easy promise since they both died. Never heard from either of them again.'
'Krell, didn't you say that Matriarch Aethyta was your--' Garrus started.
'I know what I said, Garrus; and she knows who I am.'
'A thousand years without so much as a fucking letter and then one day I get an email from a Nakmor Krell from a Human alliance mail account. Wanna guess what it said?' Aye-Aye ranted.
'Hello?' Shepard guessed.
'Nope! Just three words! 'Benezia is dead.' That's all my deadbeat dad had to say to me after over a thousand years of just fucking vanishing from my life. He didn't even tell me Liara was involved! Or that he met her! He didn't tell me how she was handling seeing her mother die in front of her! Just, 'Benezia is dead.' That's all. Out of the goddamn depths of space.'
Shepard looked at me incredulously.
'I've never claimed to be a good father.' I shrugged.
'You were a fine fucking father. Till you decided to go kill mom for some pointless stupid grudge that didn't even matter any more! You left me a goddamn vid call message telling me you were dead! I could see you! You were on a goddamn beach!' Aye-Aye yelled.
'I saw how he dealt with your brother. He was definitely a shitty father even before he had you.' Shepard admitted.
'That's a stirring defense, Shepard. Thanks.' I complained.
'You don't get a fucking defense! You abandoned me for over a thousand years! Benezia abandoned me. Liara never even knew me! I have no one, you fucking jerk.' Aye-Aye roared.
'I'm a matriarch who has no one. Not even disciples.' Aye-Aye sobbed.
I moved in to hug her. She threw me through a wall with her biotics.
'Get out. Your friends can stay, but you? Get the fuck out of my bar.'
I nodded, dusting myself off.
2185 CE
'That could have gone better.' Garrus observed as he and Shepard left Eternity.
'Honestly, that already went better than I was expecting.' I admitted.
'She threw you though a wall.' Shepard remarked.
'She's upset.' I replied.
'She's definitely that.' Garrus agreed.
'I'll send her an email later. Tell her what her kid's been up to.' I decided.
'And by her kid, you mean Liara, right?' Shepard asked.
'My Grandkid, yeah.' I agreed.
'Wait, is that why you were threatening Shepard when Kaidan threw you at the Normandy?' Garrus finally realized.
I nodded.
'I know a lot about Shepard, but it's all possibilities. I don't know what she actually will do. Only what she might do. A lot of those possibilities are romantic, which is of course somewhat disconcerting when she decided to date my granddaughter.'
'It feels wrong, knowing that information before Liara does.' Shepard admitted.
'You don't. I'm pretty sure she already knows.' I reassured the subject of our discussion.
'So, wait just a sec, you know of romantic possibilities before they happen?' Garrus asked.
'Not for everyone. Mostly just for people I know on the Normandy.' I explained.
'So, Shepard. And me?' Garrus clarified.
'That's one possible pairing. Yes. You'll understand if I'm not rooting for you.' I admit.
'Not what I meant. I meant, do you know who is a good romantic possibility for me?' Garrus clarified.
'Someone with both reach and flexibility?' I asked.
'I never told you that story.' Garrus observed.
'I know a lot of things that no one ever tells me. Drives Salarians mad. That's a literal statement, by the way. The number of Salarians driven to insanity trying to figure out what I know and how I know what I know is definitely more than one.' I confess.
'Are you not going to answer my question then?' Garrus asked.
'I'll answer it. Are you sure you want to know?' I asked, just to make sure.
'I want to know.' Garrus confirmed.
'Tali. She used to watch Fleet and Flotilla all the time as a kid. Don't know if it takes the end of the galaxy to get you two lovebirds together, but frequently you end up together at the end of the Galaxy; around the time that Shepard gets out of jail.'
'Wait, hold up. After I, what?' Shepard asked.
'Jail. It's where people go when they commit crimes.' I reply.
'What crimes? I'm not committing any crimes.' Shepard asked.
'Well obviously you haven't committed them yet. If you did you'd be in jail.' I agreed.
'No, I mean, what crimes did I commit? Will I commit?' Shepard asked.
'Not really the place to discuss this, but you end up committing an awful lot of murder. Beyond that I can't really say.'
'No one ever cared about me killing people before.' Shepard griped.
'Don't worry about it. They'll let you out in plenty of time to save the galaxy; maybe even Earth too.'
'Earth! The Reapers are going to attack Earth?' Shepard asked.
'They're going to attack everywhere, Shepard. That's why we need to stop them. As much as I don't like the Turians, I don't want either Palaven or Earth to become a burning sea of flames.'
'As much as I want to focus on your mention of Palaven in that sentence, and I do. I figure that'll hold for a bit and this really isn't the place to talk about it. Let's get back to dating okay?' Garrus defused.
'Look, I don't have any idea what you did to make her interested, but since she didn't show any interest in you before you picked up those very sexy additions to your mandible, I have to assume based on a total lack of evidence and proof, that Quarian ladies have as much of an interest in scars as Krogan and Human women.'
'Wait, human women?' Shepard, a notable human woman asked, as if surprised.
'You seem to have heard me properly?' I asked, uncertain as to what the problem was.
'Human women aren't attracted to scars.' Shepard protested.
'Shepard, you might claim not be attracted to scars, but as the leading authority on Humans in Citadel space; I can tell you that many Human women are.' I replied.
'Who made you the leading authority?' She asked her voice full of doubt.
'27 years of embedded research in Human Space, along with several honorary doctorates for my research from the University of Thessia. So, I guess technically the University of Thessia?' I replied.
'That can't be right.' Shepard muttered.
'My intuitive expertise in Human psychology is widely credited with ending the First Contact War.' I bragged. It was true. I was in fact credited with ending the First Contact War. Nonsense, of course. It would have ended with or without me on roughly the same time scale. All I did was made the peace a little more or less amicable. Definitely one of those two. Not sure which one though.
'That's bullshit.' Shepard asserted.
'I mean, I was there and you weren't. Are you going to argue with someone with first hand experience?' I trolled.
'Isn't that exactly what you're doing right now arguing that you're a better expert into Human women than the Human woman standing next to you who has first hand experience being a Human woman?' Shepard protested.
'And Joker thought you didn't have a sense of humor!' I marveled.
Shepard narrowed her eyes at me.
'With that said, I actually did a study on the matter. It was the number one question from my Krogan contacts so I ran the study pretty early on. I have the data to prove it. Humans are almost as attracted to scars as Krogans. There are some caveats. It's not all kinds of scars, only some; and the attraction isn't always sexual in nature. But Human attention, both male and female is incredibly drawn to noticeable scarring.'
'I'm going to need to see this study.' Shepard replied, not trusting me.
'Now you sound like Liara. Why must everyone I like doubt my scientific accuracy and rigor? Only Mordin believes in me!' I lamented loudly.
'Speaking of Liara, isn't that her office?' Garrus asked, pointing at the stairwell that we had just passed.
'Ah, sorry. I guess Shepard and I were both too enthralled by your sexy new scars to pay attention properly. Thanks for picking up the slack, Garrus!'
Shepard snorted. Either in amusement or anger, I wasn't quite sure.
2185 CE
'Hello Nyxeris' I smiled, making sure to display all of my teeth.
'I just want you to know that if you do something stupid, like oh, I don't know. Try and rat Liara out to the Shadowbroker, I'll--'
The report of my gun nailing Nyxeris in the face seemed to shock Shepard.
'What the hell, Krell? I thought you threatened people with fake guns just to avoid that happening?' Shepard turned on me.
'Of course I do! It would be incredibly dangerous and irresponsible to threaten someone with a real gun!'
'Then what the hell was that!' Shepard retorted.
'That was an execution, for ratting Liara out to the Shadow Broker.' I explained.
'Has she even done that yet?' Shepard demanded.
'She's the Observer that Liara was going to ask you to hunt. Better to get rid of her now than risk her trying to execute Liara like she would have. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the door is soundproof, so maybe let's not bring this up first thing? Don't wanna ruin your reunion. I'll just stay outside with Garrus and guard for assassins. You can tell me when you're done doing anything I'd feel like threatening you for.'
'You, Krell, are a very strange Krogan.' Garrus decided.
The door opened.
Liara's voice echoed out to greet us. 'Have you ever faced an Asari Commando unit before? Few Humans have. I'll make this simple. Either you pay me what you owe me, or I'll flay you alive. With my mind.'
'You know? I could never see the resemblance before, but now I do.' Garrus admitted.
'Garrus? Shepard! You're alive! Nyxeris hold my calls!'
'Like I said, probably soundproof.' I explained as Shepard and my Granddaughter shared a brief and oddly chaste kiss.
'My sources said you were alive, but I never believed...' Liara trailed off.
'And Krell? You're here too? Nyxeris! Bring my... Nyxeris?'
Liara narrowed her eyes at me.
'Krell, why is there a large Asari bloodstain on the wall behind Nyxeris' desk? And where's Nyxeris?' My granddaughter asked with an undue amount of suspicion in her voice.
'Is that her name? She was the Observer. I shot her for working for the Shadow Broker. She was observing you with an eye towards assassination.' I admitted.
'Krell, you greeted her by name. We all know you knew her name.' Shepard added unhelpfully.
'Nyxeris? Really? I never suspected. … Thank you, Grandfather.' Liara replied.
"See? I told you she'd already know.' I gloated at Shepard.
'Then it's true? And you knew?' Liara pressed.
'I've always known. I've been keeping an eye on your dad for a long time. I knew the first time I saw you in my Prothean History lecture.' I admitted.
'That's why you included me on those emails, isn't it?' Liara added.
'Well, after you challenged me in my class I might have included you on them anyway. You really were hilarious as a kid. So sweet and naive. Cute too. By Human standards, at least.' I bragged.
'I emailed the Asari councilor, telling her you had the academic integrity of a particularly loathsome Thessian beetle!' Liara complained.
'Like I said, cute. Anyway, what you didn't realize was that your email to her actually got through.' I admitted.
'That makes it worse. You can see how that makes it worse, can't you?' Liara protested, blushing.
'More embarrassing, sure. But if you want to email Tevos now, on perhaps something different than questioning my academic credentials and research? She'll read your email. Personally.' I guaranteed.
'Then... I guess... thank you, Grandfather.' Liara decided.
Shepard snorted.
'Is something funny?' Liara asked.
'I've been with Krell on two different missions to talk to his family. This is my third. and it's the only one that hasn't ended in disaster.' Shepard admitted.
'Hey! Drack took things well.' I protested.
'Drack barely spoke to you and Aethyta hurled you through a wall.' Shepard countered.
'That's right, Aye-Aye took things well too!' I agreed.
Shepard was giving me a look like I had missed her point but she was too tired to argue. But really, after over a thousand missed birthdays Aye-Aye really did take things rather well too, I think.
'It's very good to see you. All of you.' Liara admitted.
'It's good to see you too. How are you doing?' Shepard asked.
'I've been doing well. I've been working as an information broker. It's paid the bills since... Well, for the past two years. And now you're back. Gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus.' Liara confessed.
'If you know that then you know that I could use your help.' Shepard offered.
"I can't. I'm sorry. I have commitments here. Things I need to take care of.' Liara explained.
'What kind of things do you need to take care of, are you in trouble?' Shepard worried.
Liara shook her head. 'No. No trouble. But it's been a long two years. I had things to do while you were gone. I have debts to repay. Besides, my Grandfather has already solved my most pressing problem.'
'I've solved more than that. But if you want that information, we'll need to speak away from prying ears.' I offered, handing her a piece of paper.
She looked at me oddly. Almost no one used paper nowadays. Not loose leaf paper, anyway. But she took it anyway. I'd written it myself. The information on it was in a Late Prothean dialect. It was a treasure map, of sorts. Along with a few more clues. Two names, Tela Vasir, phonetically spelled out with a symbol for warning beside it, and Feron, also phonetically spelled out but without the warning symbol. Instead, a symbol for danger. A date, 2125 CE. A title, Shadow Broker. And a Species, Yahg.
'Call me if you need help repaying that debt. People think of Krogan as great debt collectors, but we're excellent at paying our debts as well. I'd be happy to lend you some moral support.' I offered with a grin.
Liara nodded.
'Thank you. It's a great debt I need to repay, so I'd be grateful for any help.'
'Call us if you need a hand?' Shepard asked.
"I will. I promise.' Liara agreed.
'We're on shore leave for the rest of the week. Also recruiting some new crew. Keep in touch?" Garrus requested.
'Of course, Garrus.' Liara agreed immediately.
'And Shepard? Grandfather? Thank you.'
Author's notes: So, this chapter's a bit on the longer side, but there were a lot of confessions going on and I didn't want to have to include Confessions (Interlude) in case someone assumed it was an actual interlude. I'm not completely happy with the scene with Ashley. Might end up changing it some time in the future. It does what I want it to do but Ashley's characterization is very weird and choppy in ME2 and 3 and I think I might have leaned into that a bit too much. Another part is that it's sort of got a depressing mood to it. Krell didn't contact her because he was too busy doing other stuff and that has consequences for their relationship. If I do change the scene I'll post an informational threadmark to give you folks a head's up.
