Illium was an extremely warm planet, due to the hot surface temperature. As such most structures had to be built at high altitudes. Even then the temperature was well into the 40s. But Zeena enjoyed it. Minotaurs were a Mediterranean breed of demi-human. Because of that they had a very high tolerance for high heat. Garrus and Kasumi joined the minotaur to see of they can find their next two crewmates. Thane, the master assassin and Samara, an Asari Justiciar.

But there was something else as well. Liara was on Illuim as an information broker and paid all fees and wavers. Zenna smiled that Liara was doing well, and if she was an information broker then she should be able to help with their quest if not join them.

As they made their way to Liara's office, an Asari called out to Shepard. "Excuse me. Excuse me. Are you Commander Shepard?"

"Yes," she replied. "How did you know?"

"You have an aura about you," she replied as she glanced from side to side. "I was asked to give you message if I saw you. It's from a friend from Noveria,"

"Can you be a little more specific?" Zenna asked.

"I believe the message itself should make it clear," she said as her eyes rolled to the back. Her voiced changed to one that Shepard remembered all too well. "SHEPARD. WE HIDE. WE BURROW. WE BUILD. BUT WE KNOW THAT YOU SEEK THOSE WHO SOURED THE SONGS OF OUR MOTHERS. WHEN THE TIME COMES, OUR VOICE WILL JOIN WITH YOURS, AND OUR CRESCENDO WILL BURN THE DARKNESS CLEAN. THANK YOU, SHEPARD. THE RACHNI WILL SING AGAIN, BECAUSE OF YOU,"

"I'm glad to hear that you're rebuilding. Are you somewhere close by?" Zenna smirked.

The Asari's eyes rolled back to normal. "The Rachni queen is not here. That message was one of many memories I carry from her. I encountered her on an uncharted world. She saved my life. More than that, she gave me a purpose. They are an amazing people, Shepard. The galaxy owes you a great debt for giving them a second chance,"

"I got that they are grateful, but what else was she saying?"

"That the first Rachni war was a mistake. Something soured the voices of their people. In Rachni psychology, that would be like mind control, I think. It doesn't really translate. Anyway, she believes that you are fighting the ones who did that. And she promises to help,"

"Sounds like a form of mind control," Kasumi muttered.

"So the Rachni believes that the Reapers caused the Rachni war?" Garrus asked.

"I can't say for sure," the Asari answered. "But she was certain that her ancestors were forced into war against their will. Her people aren't naturally aggressive. If they made war, it is not of their own doing. Farewell Shepard, we will not meet again," she said before walking off.

"It's good to hear that keeping the queen alive was a good decision," Garrus said.

"Yeah sou….." her voice was trailed off as an explosion shook the area and sent people to the ground.

Several officers around the explosion area burned as people tried to flee the area. Shepard grabbed someone.

"Where's Liara's office?" she asked.

"I don't know," she said before pulling away and fell back.

"Come on," Zenna said as she grabbed her assault rifle before moving.

They followed the path up into the offices only to be faced with a group of yellow armoured mercs. It was hard not to recognise the yellow and black colours of the Eclipse Merc company. As soon as Zenna and her team came into sight, they turned and opened fired at them. The team got into cover and fired their own weapons at the mercs hitting shields and armour. The team thought it was going to be easy, but these mercs were clearly military trained as they kept to cover and only exposing what little they could.

Zenna and Garrus handed Kasumi a couple of grenades before the thief disappeared before them. The two then focused on getting the mercs to fire at them while Kasumi did her work. Garrus managed to take out one of the combat engineers while Zenna took out an asari vanguard who was being a real problem for them. But it wasn't long before Kasumi planted the grenades and moving away before they detonated. That caused some confusion with the mercs allowing the team to finish them off.

They moved up and Zenna stopped looking at one of the guns. She picked one up and examined it.

"Guys we may have a problem here," she said getting looks from the two. "This gun is top of the line,"

"What?" Garrus came over and looked at it as well with a moan of his down.

"This armour is also top of the line," Kasumi noted as she looked at the armour. "You don't get this off the merc shelves,"

"Which means that not only was this planned, but someone is funding this and want's someone dead," Zenna muttered as she dropped the weapon. "Let's move,"

The group moved up two more floors facing little resistance until they reached the final floor where several Eclipse corpses lay around the room. At the other end of the room, Liara and a purple skinned Asari faced against each other in a biotic duel. Both were encased in a biotic sphere as objects round them lifted and were thrown across the room. The only thing that the team noticed was the lack of armour on the purple asari.

Zenna said nothing but sent Garrus to one side of the room and Kasumi to the other. She put away her rifle and got into a charge position. She breathed deeply before opening her eyes, locking on to the asari. Biotic waves flickered in the air as she tried to take on Liara. With another breath, Zenna charged at the asari who only managed to turn at the last moment. But she wasn't able to stop the charging minotaur.

Zenna slammed into her and pinned her to a wall by the neck. "Shepard?!" Liara asked surprised.

"Hi Li," Zenna said not taking her eyes off the asari in front of her. "I'd never would have guessed that you'd be the target. Looks like that young Asari who joined us on the Normandy is all grown up,"

"Indeed, she has," Liara said as she walked up. "Now Nyxeris, tell me who you work for or my commander will be forced to take… drastic measures and I flay you with my mind. You know I can do it," as she spoke Kasumi and Garrus

"Fuck you," she said as she dislodged a tooth.

"Shit!" Zenna yelled as she dropped the asari who began foaming at the mouth confirming her death.

"Damn it," Zenna muttered Kasumi got down to look at her.

"I wasn't expecting her to go that far," Liara commented.

"I'm not sure, but she's looking like she had cyanide," Kasumi said as she stood. "Probably the Asari equivalent,"

Liara nodded. "Yasni'himathotene," she said. "From what I heard; it is the same as human cyanide. I never thought she had it in her tooth however. From what I understand, it's highly corrosive after a while,"

"That just adds more to the idea that you got target by someone well connected," Garrus said.

Liara looked at him and was about to say something, but her eyes focused on the scar on his face.

"By the goddess, what happened to you?" she asked.

Garrus just shrugged. "Mercs tried to kill me, and failed,"

Liara stifled a laugh. "Sounds like me. I've been targeted by the Shadow Broker,"

The three looked to the asari with wide eyes. "That explains a lot," Kasumi muttered.

"It also explains the message I got from Cerberus intel," Zenna said as she pulled up a OSD and handed it to Liara who took it and began to read.

"It's about Feron," she said. "It's a communication, the last piece of the puzzle,"

"I assume that you know what it means then?" Kasumi asked. "I've looked over it and I couldn't make heads or tails of it,"

"Don't worry, I know what it means. But it I need to go to my apartment in order to get the rest. Meet me there and we can discuss our next plan of action," as she spoke, she pulled out her omni-tool.

"Not a problem," Zenna said. "I need to inform the rest of the crew and restock. Say 10?"

"Agreed, see you then," Liara said before leaving.

OOOOO

As Shepard, Kasumi and Garrus got to Liara's apartment they were greeted by open doors, not a good sign. Looking to each other, they slowly moved up before seeing half a dozen cops combing the place. They walked up to the line

"What's going on?" Garrus asked, is cop instincts kicking in.

The officer next to the line turned to her and said, "This area is sealed off. Please step back,"

"Sealed off? Why?" Zenna asked.

An Asari reached the bottom the bottom of the stairs and answered, "Someone tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard," a smell filled the air but Zenna and Kasumi kept their cool. "You and your people are dismissed, Officer," the new Asari said in a stern tone

As soon as she said that the cops began to close up their gear and walk out. "You can't do that!" the officer argued as the three crossed the door.

"Already done," the Asari stated.

And with that the officers left with the Asari officer leaving very pissed.

"Tela Vasir. Special Tactics and Recon," the Asari greeted

"A Spectre?" Zenna asked with interest but that smell still lingered, deception.

"I heard you were reinstated. That's good to hear. You're a legend. I might even get you to sign my chest plate, I assumed you had business with your friend this evening, Commander?" Vasir asked Shepard.

"Liara was following a lead on a merc commander,"

"A merc commander? Dangerous enemy to have, especially if they have pockets,"

"True enough but Liara was expecting me," Shepard said. "She would have left a message for me. Her office wasn't safe,"

"I'm not surprised. Illium is just Omega with expensive shoes. I haven't found anything useful for tracking her down yet. You knew T'Soni better than I do. Where would she have hidden her backups?"

"Let me take a look around,"

Vasir nodded and went to look at some paperwork that was on the floor.

Shepard and the team searched different parts of the room. She observed the bullet holes in the windows, followed by the display case of her old armour. Seeing it she walked up to it and placed a hand on it. That armour helped her through some rough times. A sense on nostalgia hit her. Shaking her head, she continued looking. Eventually her search went upstairs around Liara's bed.

With being out of sight of Vasir, Kasumi tapped her nose and shook her head. Zenna nodded before tapping the underside of her eye and ear. Kasumi nodded before walking off. As she did, Shepard's eyes focused on a picture of the Normandy. She picked it up and the image changed to that of the Prothean dig site on Eden Prime.

"That picture changed when you touched it," Vasir observed. "It must be keyed to your ID,"

"More like my DNA, it's a Prothean dig site. Liara did leave a message,"

"There are a few Prothean-looking things around the apartment. Let's see what we can find," she stopped before looking around. "Where did your friend go?"

"She needed to return to the ship. Lactose intolerance,"

"Ah, ok then. It will take a little more time but we can find out where that message is,"

Shepard nodded looked at the Prothean near the bed. It had no noticeable slots. As she went down the stairs, she remembered one of the boxes had a noticeable black line under it. She walked over to the case next to the stairs and touched the glass. A small holographic display briefly appeared under her touch before vanishing. A hidden slot on the case opened and revealed the data disk.

"Vasir, I found something," Shepard notified her.

Vasir walked over and saw the disk in her hand. "A backup disk. Let's try it on her terminal,"

They walked over to Liara's terminal and inserted the data disk. The recording of an exchange between Liara and a Salarian named Sekat played.

"What have you got for me, Sekat?" Liara asked in the recording.

"It was tricky, but you paid for the best," he answered. "I can narrow it down to a cluster, maybe even a system,"

"How soon can you have it?"

"Shouldn't be too long. Come to my office. Baria Frontiers, in the Dracon Trade Centre. Gotta say, though, T'Soni, you're making me a little nervous. How big is the trouble that could come out of this?"

"Relax, Sekat. I'll see you in a few hours,"

As the recording then ended Shepard turned to Vasir. "This must be important. Commander people already tried to kill her once,"

"I know where the Dracon Trade Centre is," Vasir said. "My car's outside,"

"Let's go," Shepard said and the group made their way to the car.

It didn't take them long to arrive at the centre, but as they arrived and climbed out of the car, several levels of the building exploded.

"Liara's up there," Shepard said as civilians tried to get out of the building.

"I'll her up a few levels," Vasir offered as she headed back to her car. "Try to cut them off, you come up from below,"

"See you there," Zenna said as the car closed up and took off.

As the team began to climb up the levels, Jack and Jacob climbed up the side of the all of the building. Trying not to look down as they did so. It didn't take them long to reach the same level as Vasir who was talking to some of the mercs.

"I don't care who or what she is," she said. "Take her the fuck down, or she'll ruin everything,"

"She's already on level 3," one of the commanders complained, but was answered with a bullet to the brain.

"Stop her," she ordered and the commanders moved out.

OOOOO

As the last of the mercs fell, Zenna and Garrus moved up to Sekat's office. A shot echoed from inside and the two entered to see an Eclipse merc fall to the ground. Next to him lay Sekat's dead body.

"Damn it, I was too late," Vasir said as the Commander squatted down to look at the Salarian's body.

"This Sekat?" she asked.

"Has to be. The mercs got here first, not sure where your friend's body is,"

"You mean this body?" Liara asked while stepping out of a hole in the wall. She was soaked from the fire suppressing system but that didn't prevent from having her pistol aimed at Vasir while moving closer towards her. "You tried to kill me back at the apartment,"

"You've had a rough day, so I'll let that slide," Vasir said while backing towards the window. "Why don't you put that gun down?"

Shepard pulled out her pistol and Garrus aimed at Vasir with Liara. "You didn't know where Liara went, because she hid the message. You needed me to find it for you,"

"Well, Shepard, thanks for the help," Vasir said while shrugging her shoulders.

"Once she had my location, she signalled the Shadow Broker's forces," Liara explained. "They bombed the building to take me out. She found Sekat, took his data, and killed him. I'm guessing she's still got the disk on her,"

"Good gu…," Vasir tried to say, but realised that she didn't have the information.

The sound of clicks echoed in her ears. Vasir turned to see three pistols pointed at her with Kasumi holding onto the info.

"You're cornered," Liara said.

"Not yet," Vasir said as she threw a warp ball at the people behind her sending them back and to the information disk sliding out of Kasumi's hand.

She then picked up some shards of glass with her biotics and threw them at the team. Liara projected a biotic shield to prevent the shards from hitting them. Vasir turned to escape. Shepard charged after her, leaping and tackled her through the window. They rolled off of the ledge and fell towards the ground below. Vasir used her biotics to slow their fall and they fought.

Vasir planted a foot on Shepard's chest and kicked her towards the ground. The impact shock Shepard enough to delay her from getting up. Vasir landed softly on her feet. She looked up and saw Liara jump out of the window. She also used her biotics to slow her descent. Liara chased after Vasir. Several Mercs came up and began to fire at them. Jack growled and jumped down at the mercs while Garrus began to pick them off and Jacob and Kasumi jumped down.

Jack pounced from merc to merc ripping their heads off while Garrus sniped them from his vantage point. More mercs came up from the stairs only to be forced into cover thanks to Jacob and Zenna pinning them down with Kasumi planed bombs around them. Once they detonated and game out of cover, Jack and Garrus finished them off. With the last of them down Jacob used his biotics to help Garrus down before the group ran after Vasir and Liara.

As they exited the building, they saw Liara and Vasir in the middle of a firefight. Vasir spotted Shepard and her squad. She activated her omni-tool and called for her skycar. Her skycar flew itself next to the edge of the area. Vasir made a run for it and jumped down into her car.

"Damn it!" Liara cursed as she watched Vasir fly away. She went into her skycar.

Shepard got into the car. "I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking. Jack get in, the rest of you ger back to the Normandy and report this to the council,"

"Understood," Jacob said with a salute before they made their way to their transport and Jack got in

"Come on!" Liara urged. "She's getting away!"

Shepard spotted Vasir and flew after her. They flew into a large intersection, where on one of the walls, the preview to the movie, Blasto: Jellyfish Sting, was playing.

"Hang a right. No, wait, left!"

"I'm on her," Shepard groaned.

They followed Vasir through an alley way between a couple buildings. As they exited, Vasir pulled a hard left and went into a construction site.

"We're not going into the construction site, are we... Oh, Goddess,"

Shepard could swear Liara had her eyes closed as he weaved in between the supports. In the back however Jack was scared shitless about how reckless the commander's driving was. Vasir took a right and went into a tunnel through a skyscraper. Shepard kept the vehicle low to avoid the traffic.

"I'm not letting her escape with that data,"

They exited the tunnel. Vasir drove between two trucks that were turning. Shepard followed through. She followed her until the next turn directed them into oncoming traffic.

"Oncoming traffic!" Liara yelled.

"We'll be fine," Shepard said to calm her.

Shepard followed Vasir passed a large ad through a small service tunnel. Vasir's car dropped an object behind it.

"She's dropping proximity mines," Liara pointed out.

"I noticed," Zenna said in annoyance.

Shepard struggled to avoid the proximity mines and the trucks moving through the area. Around the truck was another tunnel. Above it was a wanted ad from Jack. Two missiles streamed passed them and impacted the advert.

"She's got reinforcements!"

"What kind of guns does this thing have?" Jane asked.

"It's a taxi, it has a fare meter,"

The merc vehicle flew into the tunnel and went by Shepard's car. Around the corner, the agent vehicle crashed into a large transport truck causing it to slide across the tunnel ground.

"Truck!"

"I know."

"Truck!"

"I know!" Shepard yelled.

Liara screamed as Shepard barely avoided the truck on the left.

"There we go," Shepard joked.

"You're enjoying this,"

An agent vehicle lost control and slid against the side of a building.

"A collision at this speed..."

The driver tried to regain control, only to go to the right too much. The driver tried to turn left and skid the back end of a truck.

"Yeah, I hear that can be bad for you," Shepard mentioned.

The agent vehicle spun and slid against the side of the truck on the left. The vehicle launched forward and then fell towards the ground below. Ahead a truck started backing up. The driver of the truck saw Vasir driving towards him and he tried to compensate to avoid collision. The truck tilted upwards creating a ramp. Vasir skidded across the roof of the truck.

She took damage but was still on course for her objective as she veered away from the sky roads and headed towards a twin towered building.

"She's headed for Dantius Towers," Liara noticed. "Head for the lower floors, Nassana Dantius has the top heavily armed,"

Zenna nodded as she descended to one of the lower floors before landing. As they got out Jack staggered and threw up.

"Remind me, never to be in the same car you are driving," she said before vomiting again.

"Commander," EDI then chimed in. "I've picked up two heat signatures inside the building. I believe that Thane Krios and Samara are inside the building,"

"Are you sure?" Zenna asked not believing her luck.

"Yes, the vitals and movements match,"

"Then we have more than one objective here," she said. "Let's go,"