It is actually remarkably easy to go on leave from special forces when you've been serving for half a century.
I mean, I assume the myriad of non disclosure agreements and other papers I had to sign was 'easy' compared to most things. It was the usual stuff: "don't discuss anything related to your work, under penalty of fines, imprisonment, death, and so on."
And so after a few terse conversations with my commanding officers, a few dozen non disclosure agreements, I was free!
Free!
First thing I did was sleep past dawn, flexing my new found freedom (and acting like I didn't do the exact same thing when I was on normal leave).
The second thing I did was plot out how this 'thing' with being the Shadow Broker was going to go down. I know where to go, I know how to get there, I merely needed something to get me there.
I was going to need a ship. FTL capable, and preferably small.
And while I could have easily found that in Nos Astra, ship sellers also push enough paperwork onto you that if you stacked it all together you could stop a bullet dead in its tracks!
…a small bullet.
…and assuming they actually printed out copies of the stuff rather than going full electronic.
But the point stands that I didn't want to get ripped off here!
And for the life of me I didn't trust Omega's ship dealers either. There are only two extremes of dealers on that station that I am aware of, ignoring the fact most are just chop shops, they're either super shit or super expensive. And regardless of which, they always try to screw you over in some way.
If I wanted something that felt comfortable flying into one of the most dangerous locations in the Galaxy, I needed to go to a more reputable seller.
Well, that wasn't the only reason..
I also wanted an excuse to go somewhere else other than Illium and Omega to get my stuff. Specifically, one place in the Galaxy that I have been putting off for decades that also happens to be the single largest hub of commerce in Citadel Space.
So I said my goodbyes to Krya and Lynyxa, promised to stay in contact, packed up my stuff, and took the first transport I could get off world
My destination?
The center of the Galaxy.
Metaphorically of course.
Several hours after leaving Illium, and half a dozen relays in between, I laid eyes upon that most iconic shot from the trilogy.
The Citadel.
Oh Citadel, oh Citadel, all roads lead to you.
May you be as useful as your contrivance be plentiful, amen.
But seriously, the station is massive. As was the wait for the transport I was on to get docking privileges. Honestly, the longest part of the journey was effectively waiting in traffic! Without the wait, I'd have been at the station in an hour and a half flat!
And even after disembarking with nothing more than the clothes on my back, and a small armory in my pack, I got to enjoy yet another several hours in a C-Sec holding room before I could actually get onto the station proper.
Turns out, despite clearly having a license and being an active commando (on vacation sure, but still on the rolls!) I wasn't allowed to bring my weapons onto the station. Apparently my shotgun represented a 'danger' to the public.
Yeah sure officers, the shotgun is the issue here, not the armor, SMG, and the monomolecular blade in my carry on. It's not the armory I'm carrying but a specific piece in it.
Though it was tedious, it did eventually end. They kept my shotgun, but I was allowed to walk with the rest of my stuff no problems.
Well, 'no problems' in the 'I can't believe I'm not being followed' sort of way. I swear my sixth sense for feeling like I was being watched kept flaring up for the entire time I was here. Maybe I was just being paranoid, afraid that I might have done something already to tip the Broker off that I was gunning for him despite the odds of him even knowing who I was were virtually zero.
But that little issue aside, or just shoved to the back of my mind, I managed to find a ship dealer relatively easily. The ship I wanted was easily found at my first 'ship dealer'. Well technically not a 'ship' but a heavy duty shuttle capable of FTL and mostly used in extreme weather situations.
After picking it out of a catalog I sat down in front of some nearsighted salarian for another few hours to go over all the paperwork.
Yes, my credit was good.
Yes, I am sure I want this ship.
No, I do not want an extended warranty package.
Dozens of electronic signatures later, and I was the proud owner of my own little space ship (shuttle)!
Of course by this time it was about the middle of the 'night', or night cycle I guess, and I was tired. Told the guy I'd come by tomorrow morning for pick up.
Got a cheap hotel room close to the docks for the night, ate some random takeout food, set my alarm to wake me in a few hours, but as soon as my head touched the pillow, an idea struck me like a lighting bolt.
A crazy idea that might be able to end the whole Reaper issue decades ahead of time!
Sure, maybe it was the sleep deprivation talking, the trillion to one odds of success being a charitable take, and it was pretty stupid. Maybe if I had a few hours of sleep under my belt I would have discarded the idea outright.
But for whatever reason, I felt like I at least needed to make the attempt.
After all, as Liselle says: if it's stupid, but it works, it's not stupid.
Well she said it once, and it was about fixing a leaning table with a small book to even it all out, but the point stands!
I left the hotel with purpose!
Time for operation 'Hail Mary'. Low odds of success, nearly zero in fact, but equally low odds of fucking things up if I fail.
But even that sliver of success is worth the effort!
"...and all that logic is just stupid, you know?" I told the little fella everything. Well, almost everything. Enough to show that I wasn't just some poor fool pulling things out of my ass, but not enough that anyone overhearing us could understand what the hell I was talking about.
"..."
"I mean, he…it….that AI was made with the intent of stopping machines from killing all organic life. But the solution was to build an armada of Cthulhu looking space squids with the intent of killing sufficiently advanced organic life in the Galaxy before they could create AI that would kill all organic life. I mean, you have to see the issues in this logic right?"
"…"
"Yeah I know right? Speechless, I get it. I really do," I was confident I was making good headway, I hadn't been dismissed outright yet.
"…"
"But I think you might be able to help me with this," moment of truth!
"…"
"Now don't worry. I'm not asking you to betray your boss or anything. I just wanted to give you this… Oh shit, how're you supposed to hold onto this? Hmmm."
"..."
"Actually, if you're okay with it, I can just put it here in your backpack-"
"Please do not disturb the keepers."
"I'm not disturbing him!" I snap, looking up at the unwanted third wheel to this Galaxy shattering discussion.
"Physical interaction with the keepers is prohibited under Citadel law," Avina stated dryly, her avatar not even bothering to look in my direction. "Failure to comply can result in fines up to ten thousand credits per violation and the potential for long term incarceration."
"Can you stop bothering me already!" Sheesh, you'd think I was trying to destroy public property with how much the VI went on and on about C-Sec this and 'prohibited' that. "I am trying to save lives here, Avina!"
"That is unlikely," Avina replied in her neutral tone of voice. "The Keepers perform various and often vital functions on the Citadel to ensure normal operation. Interference with these functions is not only a criminal offense, but could potentially endanger the lives of many people on the Citadel."
"That's not the point!" standing up I pointed at the VI, my finger actually going through her hologram. "And like I said, I'm not bothering it!"
"Be aware that C-Sec agents have been alerted to this disturbance, if you are approached please comply with any instructions."
"Shit!" Looking around, I was still alone for the moment, but that was likely to change very soon and I didn't want to be here when it did. Tempted as I was to leave my crumpled up note for the Catalyst with the Keeper, I shoveled the scrap paper in my pocket and booked it back to the hotel.
Operation Hail Mary, otherwise known as 'Try and get in contact with the Catalyst so I can point out the faults in its logic and throw a wrench into its whole plans by being the first person to interact with it and have a face to face meeting' was, sadly, a failure.
Not that I expected it to succeed in the first place, but can anyone really blame me for trying?
If it had worked, all the better right?
But I still have Plan A: Shadow Broker!
However, first, sleep, then ship, then Broker.
Tevos sighed at the footage on her terminal, a maiden gleefully entering her newly bought starship to the dismay of a C-Sec agent delivering her stored weapon.
Aleena was Aria's alright, walking into every situation not related to combat with the grace of a jackhammer. Causing a ruckus at C-Sec, getting flagged for Keeper interference, and who knows what else would have happened if she stayed longer.
And yet this was the closest she has been to her daughter in a century.
"Madam Councilor, are you alright?"
Her daughter was so close, a mere car ride away from the Presidium, and yet she felt just as far as usual.
It came as a shock to her when she realized the girl was on the Citadel, held in a C-Sec interrogation room. She vaguely remembered Liselle saying Aleena wanted to take some time off her duties, the councilor even made some plans to facilitate a meeting with her youngest during the break, but she never expected such a sudden appearance.
Tevos had gone through a dozen and one ideas in her head about how to initiate contact with Aleena. What she'd say, where they'd meet. A thousand and one ideas fluttering through her mind. Their meeting had to be perfect, or as perfect as possible.
Yet the suddenness of her arrival surprised Tevos.
"Madam Councilor?"
She pulled the Executor's strings to get her out of C-Sec with minimal issue, then sent her personal acolytes to look after her daughter. Their colorful reports painted the picture of a normal, if willful, maiden who was aware she was being watched, but was hardly skilled in hiding it.
But with her on the station, Tevos spent the previous night musing ways to meet her daughter, leaning towards sending her a message to meet in person at one of the Councilor's private residences on the Presidium, only to learn the girl left the station before 'dawn'.
Tevos's desire for a 'perfect meeting' ended up with Aleena slipping away.
"Ma'am?"
"I'm sorry," Tevos blinked, swiping the screen away and finally acknowledging the matron. "What were you saying?"
"I was checking to see if you were alright, Ma'am. You didn't react to anything I was saying."
"Apologies, I was lost in thought about a personal matter. Nothing for you to worry yourself about."
"If you're sure, Madam Councilor," the matron scrolled back to the top of her datapad. "The salarian dalatrass canceled her meeting today on account of her brother's recent surgery, but will be available tomorrow. Is there anything you wish to-"
"Send her my condolences and see if we can move up my meeting with Matriarch Cyllica. If she's unavailable, then contact Matriarch Glynda.
"Of course, My Lady," the matron keyed in the Councilors orders. "Also, your meeting with the other Councilors over the matter of the potential Spectre candidate is still on schedule for noon."
Tevos swore to herself, while she didn't forget the meeting, she had almost forgotten the candidate themself.
"Vasir, recommended by Spectre Kroth, yes?" her attendant nodded. "Send her dossier to my omni-tool, I'll read it over lunch. Now onto the matter of the Armali representatives from a week ago…"
And so the day carried on as always, yet Tevos's mind wandered unceasingly.
Aria dismissed her men when she saw her personal terminal flicker to life with the telltale notification of an incoming call.
Only a handful of people had her personal number, fewer still could send anything to her without notice.
One of them was on the Citadel who rarely, if ever, called.
Another was on Omega, who Aria had just spoken to an hour ago.
The third, however….
"Hi Father!"
"Aleena," Aria absently noting that the girl must be in the system for their call to be in real time. "Is there something you want?"
"Want? Can't I call my loving father out of a desire to simply say hello? To reconnect and bask in some good old fashion familial warmth."
"You certainly could," She almost rolled her eyes at the girl's words, a thespian attitude she took after her mother.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Look, Aleena, I'm busy. If-"
"Okay, okay, okay! No more bullshitting or anything, I get it." She heard the girl sigh on her end. "I'm looking for…stuff."
"Stuff? How very specific, dear."
"I mean….ugh," her daughter grumbled under her breath. "I need some stuff for a 'passion project' of mine."
"Do you now?" Aria absently swatted away an alert of an incoming call, relegating the person to be on 'hold' for the time being. "For anything in particular?"
"Sort of? I was just thinking, 'hmmm, maybe my beautiful, smart, cunning, generous, kind, oh so beautiful, and oh so generous…"
"Aleena…"
"Father of mine could help me out and point me in the direction of some people who have, not necessarily legal merchandise."
"You work on Ilium," she connected the dots quick enough. "Why do you even want to contact the black market? You can get most stuff in Nos Astra, and it might even work as advertised."
"Oh no. I'm not looking for the black market necessarily, more just… purchasing things for my ship in a way that doesn't leave a trail to me."
"...When did you get a ship?" Is that why the girl didn't show up for almost a day?
"Well, technically yesterday, but I only picked it up today. And it's more of a shuttle."
"Of course," Aria could feel the onset of a headache. "I assume you brought your… shuttle with you."
"Yep!"
Aira sighed, rubbing her temple. It was going to be one of 'those' days. "Send the location of where you're docking and I'll have your sister come by and show you where to get some proper alterations."
"Sure thing! Thank you daddy!" the girl snickered on the other end of the line.
"..."
"..."
"... If you ever call me that again, I will disown you."
True to her word, Liselle met me at the docks, then pointed me to a better dock that wasn't a chop shop front, and led me to a reputable place to upgrade my ship. Apparently he was some turian who had a reputation for honesty and quality work.
I asked for some usual stuff.
You know, more armor, better ezzo drive for a better barrier and engines, point defense guns, high quality scanner so I could find the Broker's ship in the storm he was hiding in.
You now, stuff.
The price was pretty cheap, as far as shuttle refits were concerned. Though I wasn't sure if that had more to do with what I wanted or the fact Liselle was standing behind me when I asked for the stuff. Not that I had a good grasp on what it normally cost.
Either way, I had a few days to kill before it was all done.
Several days, where I was consumed by both boredom and anxiety.
Boredom because...bored, and anxiety from the fact that I was thinking about how I could die doing this.
Not like I didn't have that worry when I went out on missions or anything, but this felt different. More dangerous. Maybe it was the gravity of the situation, maybe it was because this was a 'game mission' being done almost a century ahead of time, or maybe I was worried that I didn't know what I was walking into alone.
Either way, the doubt and anxiety ate away at me. Even more so when I realized that if I died, this Galaxy is gonna go to shit in less than a century and everything will be as if I didn't even do anything.
Worse then simply dying, my life would have been meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
That simply won't do!
So I decided to use this time to make a Plan B in case my plan went to shit. Or was it a Plan C…
Whatever, Plan B was a simple text document. Said document contained every single Mass Effect lore factoid I could recall. The reapers, the collectors and their base in the galactic core, the true purpose of the Citadel, the prothean beacon on Thessia, the geth's desire for peace, humanity's arrival, anything and everything I know went into the file. Spoilers upon spoilers!
When I was done, I saved it to a drive on my terminal and had a VI start a countdown timer. If I wasn't here in six months to turn off the timer, this file was going to be released onto the extranet. All I had to do to stop it from being released was come here and just disable the countdown.
Or unplug the unit from the terminal….
But the countdown thing is way cooler!
Either way, even if I died, the Galaxy could still have a better chance than before. Or maybe it'll be even worse with everything out in the open. Pandora's Box and all that. But at least the info won't just die with me.
Soon enough, my shuttle was ready.
And… it didn't really look all that different then before. Okay it's got a lot more bells and whistles on the inside, but it still looks like a shuttle.
Hmmm, I was kind of hoping it'd look more like a gunship…
Anyhow, I packed everything I thought I needed into the shuttle and prepared to head out.
I told Dad and Liselle that this was my 'super secret mission' and that I'd be back soon! Good thing I have an established flair for the dramatic, neither questioning what this 'mission' was or entailed.
Liselle gave me a bear hug and told me to not take any stupid risks.
Aria sent me a message with the equivalent of 'have fun dear' without any fanfare.
I doubt either of them would have been happy to learn what I was really doing.
Twenty-Two hours….
It took me twenty-two fucking hours to get to the Sowilo System where Hagalaz is.
Twenty-two hours crammed inside the space equivalent of a RV as I flew across the Hourglass Nebula.
Sure it takes only five minutes to cross from Omega to the other cluster, but then the FTL travel is so slow!
Yes, I know, I'm complaining my faster than light ship is too slow. But damn it, that's what it feels like!
Worse than that, I had to endure twenty-two hours without the extranet since I was traveling faster-than-light and couldn't connect! I can only hope the Galaxy appreciates the sacrifices I make for the greater good.
Not only that, but my nerves kept me from getting any real sleep and I can only check and recheck equipment so many times.
When I finally dropped out of FTL, I bumped my head while getting out of my seat as I clambered over to the cockpit. Just below me was quite the hellhole of a planet. Scorched during the day, frozen over during the night, and in the center of it all a massive never ending storm.
Hagalaz.
And not a single craft is trying to shoot me out of the sky.
Time to get to work!
With a few keystrokes the scanners flare to life and begin analyzing the small storm band running the length of the planet. It'll scan up and down the world looking for any artificial objects in the given area. I have to wait for it to do its thing.
Ten minutes later, I sighed that nothing had been found yet. Guess I'll go back to waiting-
PING
Well speak of the devil.
I check the screen: Large object approximately four hundred meters in length detected. And right in the dead center of the raging storm.
Very fast indeed.
And wait…the Broker's ship is only four hundred meters long? Really? That's honestly more surprising than finding the Broker's supposedly secret base so quickly. I've seen volus cargo ships larger than that thing!
Okay, sure I get it. Bigger ship means bigger upkeep and all that. But still…
I don't know. I guess I was just expecting something…more from the headquarters of the largest information dealer in the Galaxy.
Putting my own thoughts aside, I commanded the ship to begin a descent towards it.
The ride was…bumpy to say the least. Heavy wind, streaks of lightning zig zagging the sky. Good thing the ship's VI took the 'reins' through the storm. I'd like to think I was a good pilot, but I knew I wasn't 'fly through a hurricane' good. It did its best to avoid lightning strikes as it approached the back of the ship.
It looked just like in the games. And if my memory was right, there should be an access area by the 'back' of the ship.
Thankfully, the base didn't have any exterior defenses. Not even some basic AA to keep away shuttles like mine. Whoever built this place, and everyone who came after, must have been really confident it would never be found.
Well I know the first thing I'm changing when this place is mine.
The landing was a little rougher then I would have liked, but the shuttle was on the 'ground' a fair distance away from any lighting rods and short jaunt to the nearest door.
Humming to myself, I got to work. A quick hardsuit and weapon checks followed by an inventory of my grenades and other gadgets. Once I get inside, this'll be all I'll have to work with.
Satisfied, I put my helmet on and lowered the ramp down. I scurried out as quickly as I could, closing the 'door' behind me to keep all the 'storm stuff' out of my shuttle.
I felt like a wayward reed in the wind with all the gusts. I quickly needed to use my mag boots just to walk across the hull. Add in the fear of getting struck by stray bolts of lightning, and I can safely say that it was booking it as quickly as my labored steps allowed.
The access point was pushed more into the ship, creating a little alcove to shelter briefly from the torrential winds and lighting.
So far, so good.
Checking my omni-tool, I flicked through the arrangement of nasty hacks Lynyxa shared with me and Krya for tech stuff if we ever got separated from her. A mix of mech and lock hacks that would cut through pretty much anything if given enough time.
Waving my arm, a screen popped up with lines of code moving about at a blistering pace. So fast that I was only vaguely aware of the length of the lines themselves before another one took its place.
And it was then that I noticed the small security camera very clearly watching me.
Let out a nervous chuckle, I gave it a half hearted wave, hoping to God(dess) that the hack would go faster and get me out of the awkward situation I was in.
The Shadow Broker was rarely caught off guard.
Given his domain was information, he'd be a fool to let something of sufficient magnitude occur in the Galaxy without him at least knowing about it.
So what did that make his current situation then?
Klaxons blared across the ship as support staff quietly shuffled to their safe rooms as response teams rushed to their positions.
Half an hour ago, an unidentified craft entered the Sowilo system, tripping the base's early alert alarms.
Every ship that entered the Sowilo system was always under the strictest scrutiny, even more so when it ventured close to Hagalaz itself. Usually these were the odd exotic fauna collector or the odd geology team thinking they can prove the 'reports' of Hagalaz's mineral poor status wrong.
Yet despite this location's absolute secrecy, known to perhaps a handful of people outside of himself, a short list that included all former living directors of the Salarian Tasks Group, how was it that someone was even here?
Was it by sheer happenstance that one stumbled upon his base, or was there a mole in the groups who supplied his base? Or worse, were his communications traceable? The latter was a far more frightening prospect than the former. People can be replaced quite easily, equipment less so.
An exterior camera caught sight of them when they exited their shuttle. It was a single figure, a slim asari going by appearance. Clad in an advanced hardsuit, she slammed her omni tool against the exterior door, triggering an alert that the door controls were being hacked. As the malignant code worked its way through the local firewalls, the woman noticed the camera he was observing her through and….waved.
The Broker leaned back in his seat, bathed only in the light of flickering monitors, typing in commands for his VIs to manage the mundane information exchanges for the immediate future as he dedicated his full attention to the intruder.
Curious.
As he watched her crack her way through the outer door, his mind buzzed with questions.
Who was behind this …operation? No, that implied more than what he was seeing. A ramshackle shuttle with some moderate civilian grade arms; though the hardsuit and weapons were clearly not standard issue military.
Then were they a commando or specter?
The Broker pulled up a quick list of all Specter agents, finding all twenty one asari members accounted for. Only one other potential asari candidate was on file, and she was on the Citadel.
So a commando then? Unusual, but hardly as disastrous as a Specter. He had several commandos of his own on the ship at this very moment. Surely, even if the more mundane security failed to stop them, they could.
Of course, the next question was how. How did this commando end up here? By sheer happenstance? Ridiculous! Even if she came upon Hagalaz unaware of his presence, she would still have had no idea where to exactly look for him. The logs show her craft immediately went to Hagalaz before descending to this exact location after arriving in orbit.
No. This was all planned. But he again hit the same question: who?
Checking her progress, he saw the commando's hacking cutting through the last of the door's firewall. In mere moments, she'd be able to enter the base, walking into a prepared line of defenses and agents armed with some of the most advanced weaponry in the Galaxy.
No matter, he'd learn soon enough.
He keyed himself into his security team's comms, checking his voice modulator before issuing his orders.
"This is the Broker. Attempt to capture the intruder alive, only terminate her if necessary. Secure her omni tool as intact as possible and prepare a team to recover her shuttle." The door slid open, and an operative tossed a concussion grenade into the opening.
As the team began to advance towards the door, the grenade went off, and the intruder surged out in a flurry of biotic movement.
A biotic wave flared out and then-
And then the feed died.
He checked the backups.
Dead, as were all the microphones.
The Broker frowned, checking the feeds on the other side of the corridor. They still worked, but all the microphones in that corridor were not responding. Not that he needed audio.
All he saw was carnage.
Pure, unadulterated carnage. It was violence in its purest expression, simple, crude, yet clearly directed.
Patches of the walls were painted with broad strokes of vita, bodies laid strewn across the hall in various states of…intactness. Sliced apart by blade as much as blown apart by sheer force. Metal bent, and walls warped to fit bits of bone and sinew.
The only member of the security detail still standing was a lone krogan. He fired wildly into the intruder, who used one of the fallen as a macabre shield, a blade still embedded in his gut. Biotics flared again, though not to the destructive level as before.
The krogan froze in place, caught in a stasis field.
She tossed her 'shield' aside, flicked off residual blood from her sword, then charged. Shoving her weapon into the krogan's open mouth, she blew his head off with a single shot.
The commando gave only the briefest acknowledgement of the slaughter she wrought before taking aim at someone beyond the camera's line of sight and continuing her advance deeper into the ship.
If he had a weaker stomach, the sight might have made him physically sick. Instead, it merely unnerved him.
Such devastation…in such a short span of time….
He unconsciously signaled for his personal guards to return to his side. While he didn't know how she found him, her target was obvious.
Shifting uncomfortably, he mustered all the calm he could before reopening the comm channel to his security.
"Disregard previous order, terminate the intruder on sight. Use of heavy weapons within the facility is authorized."
AN: And so it begins! Wanted to post this sooner, but the holidays crept up on me and I sort of...forgot...
Honestly, the next chapter should be called "Idiots guide to taking over a criminal empire".
Also, curious to hear what race you all think the Broker is. I already have the 'reveal' of the Broker written, I'm just curious about what you all think!