Chapter 16
As the Normandy decelerated into the Sahrabarik system Shepard made a sigh of relief. The "suicide" mission was a success, he got his crew back, the Human Reaper was destroyed and the Collector base was gone, everyone survived. All the preparation and work has payed off, but still the operation was nothing short of a miracle.
Now that the his ties to Cerberus were cut off and the mission was complete Shepard could return to his duties in the Alliance. He decided to dock the Normandy at the Citadel, his Spectre status allowed him to use his clearance to have it repaired as well as let any crew to leave who did not want to be turned in to Alliance. Most of the Cerberus ship crew have stayed, they were grateful for the rescue and were willing to submit themselves to Alliance imprisonment for working with Cerberus.
The first of the squad mates to leave were Zaeed and Samara. With his contract fulfilled he had no other obligations to Shepard, and with her code adhered, neither did Samara.
"You're god damn lunatic Shepard, but that's why I like ya." Zaeed shook Shepard's hand, "But Vito is still out there and I need to take care of that if I don't want it to take another twenty years." he turned around and starting walking walking away, "And if you even need another gun, you know my price, I'll even give you a discount."
"Take care Zaeed, don't get yourself killed." Shepard smirked and turned to Samara. "It has been an honor Samara, I hope to work with justicars in the future as well."
"Likewise, Shepard, I am glad we have met." she nodded, "And considering what we have learned, that is a strong possibility."
"Where will you be going now that you have fulfilled your duty with me?" Shepard asked.
"The code compels me so seek justice, and there is no greater justice than fighting the Reapers." Samara replied with a tranquil voice, "I shall return to the asari space and seek out my fellow justicars. The next time we meet, it will be on the field of battle. I am sure of it, goodbye Shepard."
"Goodbye Samara and good luck." Shepard nodded.
Jacob and Thane soon followed as well.
"It's been an honor, sir." Jacob stopped to salute Shepard. "There are still many cells of Cerberus that we have not seen. I'd like to help them, open their eyes, just like you did with us, Shepard."
"The Illusive man is not quick to forgive Jacob, are you sure you don't want to rejoin the Alliance?" Shepard asked.
"I'll be careful, besides, Alliance does not forgive defectors either. And I won't be able to help anyone while locked up. I want to bring more Cerberus to our side, rally them to the cause."
"A noble gesture, Jacob, I wish you luck." Shepard performed an Alliance salute as well.
"Sir." Jacob returned the salute and headed out.
Thane then walked up to Shepard to say his goodbyes as well.
"Shepard, I want to thank you for this opportunity." he nodded.
"You want to thank me for bringing you on a suicide mission?" Shepard asked, confused.
"The chances for success were slim, but the circumstances demanded action. If it was not for you, the Collectors would not have stopped. Regardless, this gave me perspective to re-access my life, I am returning to the hanar home world of Delan, unfinished business."
Shepard reached out to shake Thane's hand, "Thank you Thane, take care of yourself."
"Likewise, Commander." Thane shook Shepard's hand in return and left.
Jack was next.
"Shit Shepard, if you told me you were going to blow that base from the start I would have signed up voluntarily. The Illusive man's face was priceless." Jack punched Shepard in the shoulder as she walked out. "Heard you plan on returning to Alliance."
"That's the plan." Shepard replied rubbing his shoulder.
"Not sure if that's what I want for myself yet, still need to figure some stuff out." Jack replied looking a bit somber, "Besides if I have to stay another minute on the ship with the Cerberus cheerleader I will literally blow my brains out." she perked up and started walking away, "Cya around, Shepard."
"Do you want a shirt before you leave?" Shepard asked with a smile, but Jack only flipped him off without turning around.
"She looks like she is doing better." Kasumi spoke, her active camouflage disengaging next to Shepard.
"I wish you would stop doing that." Shepard shook his head.
"Aww, don't be like that, everybody likes a good surprise." She replied coyly, "By the way, you have a nice cabin, you should feed your fish more often, they look a bit malnourished."
"At least tell me you didn't touch any of the model displays?" Shepard palmed his face.
"Oops, gotta go." Kasumi smiled, the camouflage engaging once again, "Later, Shepard."
"Later, Kasumi." John signed with a frustration.
Mordin and Miranda walked out as well.
"Shepard. Excellent work. Glad to be part of team. Just like STG work. Survival on Collector base, problematic. Yet team pulled through." Mordin finally taking a breath, "Thank you, Shepard. Missed this kind of work. Stimulating. Clinic on Omega, important, but lacking challenge. Made me, complacent." Mordin stretched out his hand for a handshake.
Shepard shook Mordin's hand, "Please was mine, Mordin, we couldn't do it without you. Don't be a stranger."
"Small chance of that. Have plans already. Might meet later. Good luck." Mordin nodded and walked off, finally giving Shepard a moment to of rest from the verbal barrage.
"Looks like the good doctor is an energetic as always." Miranda spoke calmly.
"I've met plenty of salarians but Mordin definitely is a special case." Shepard said with a smile, "I just hope he keeps himself busy, otherwise he might go crazy."
Miranda raised an eyebrow at Shepard.
"Crazier." Shepard corrected himself.
Both had a brief laugh before Miranda spoke, "Thank you Shepard, I know it was not easy for you to work with Cerberus, but we couldn't have done it without you." she smiled, "And thank you for helping me with my sister."
"No problem Miranda, glad I could help." Shepard nodded.
Miranda shook her head, "Shepard, it still baffles me how you do it, you bring out the best in people. No wonder the Illusive man wanted to bring you back. I am glad I was able to deliver."
"Its a shame we couldn't see eye to eye. Imagine where humanity could be if Cerberus worked with the Alliance. We could certainly use that once the reapers arrive." Shepard replied.
"You really think they are coming?" Miranda looked at Shepard's face, perhaps looking for a hint of doubt.
"Just a matter of time. Was from the very start." Shepard answered.
Miranda nodded, "Then we better start preparing. I have a few loose ends that I need to take care of, but I will keep in touch."
Miranda started walking away, "Good luck Shepard, don't get yourself killed, I don't want to have to rebuild you twice." she stopped and looked back, "Or explain it to doctor T'Soni." she smiled, "Speaking of which, remember that info you asked me about before we left for the Omega 4 relay? EDI and I found something, we forwarded it to your terminal." Miranda winked, "Go get her, tiger."
"Thank you Miranda." Shepard nodded and walked back into the Normandy. There were only a few of his squad mates left on the ship. Garrus and Tali were staying, Grunt asked to be dropped off on Tuchanka later and Legion requested to remain to study "Shepard-Commander" as he put it.
Shepard walked up to the galactic map to set a course, leaned on the railing and took a deep breath. Finally he was off the hook to do what he wanted. The feeling was mixed, last time this happened Normandy ended up getting blown up and him spaced. He was sure that this time was different, he set a course to Illium and walked up to his terminal. A quick study of the data package showed real promise and Shepard smiled, at last he can finally help Liara, see her again, talk to her, maybe even… Shepard shook his head, now was not the time for that.
Normandy docked on Illium as usual, it was evening on this part of the planet, but the night sky was filled skycars and other vehicles, the city was bustling and had no intention of stopping. Shepard walked towards the trading floors, they were pretty barren as there was no stock exchange this late in the day. A quick glance at Liara's office window showed that she was still working. Shepard walked up the stairs, while glancing at an empty assistant desk and before he could hit the call button he doors opened.
"Hello Shepard", Liara gave a courteous smile, "It's good to see you again."
It was still bizarre to hear Liara being so formal, it hurt, but he was not going to let it show.
"Hello Liara.", Shepard sat down in front of Liara and got straight to the point. "Cerberus gave me a lead on Shadow Broker. Interested?"
Liara's formal facade disappeared immediately, "Absolutely! Let me see what you've got!" she got off her chair and leaned over her desk.
Shepard quickly transferred the data via omnitool to datapad and handed it to Liara, Liara quickly scanned through it as well as the attached recording. "It looks like a leaked transmission between Shadow Broker operatives. Some hints as to the location and..." Liara paused and smiled, "It's about Feron. He is still alive."
"Who's Feron?" Shepard asked with a sinking feeling.
Liara set down the datapad and walked toward her window, "He was a friend. He helped me recover your body from the Shadow Broker."
Shepard was confused, this was the first time he heard of this, "Why did the Shadow Broker want my corpse?"
Liara looked back at Shepard, "He was going to sell your body to the Collectors, but Feron and I stopped him. Feron sacrificed himself to save me."
Shepard had a mix of emotions, but one particular one stood out, "So you rescued me?" he smiled briefly before getting back to the topic, "Then how did I end up with Cerberus?"
Liara walked back to her desk, "Well, they gave me the intel to help recover you. They actually put Feron with me in the first place. After I got out, I gave you to them." she looked away briefly, "They said they could bring you back."
Shepard saw how conflicted Liara looked, "You kept me out of the Collectors' hands. Without you, I couldn't have come back. Thank you." he reassured her.
Liara's face brightened, "You don't know what that means to me, Shepard. I didn't know who you'd be when you came back." She paused, "If you'd feel..." she cut herself off and looked away for a moment. Quickly regaining her composure, "They brought you back. And now they're giving me a chance to find Feron." she paused and looked down at a frame that was sitting on her desk.
Shepard could not see what was in the frame but decided not to question.
"After two years, I hadn't even dreamed..." Liara's voice was somber.
Shepard decided to prod a bit, "Sounds like you and Feron were close." he insinuated.
But Liara showed no reaction, "It's funny. He betrayed me more than once. He was double-dealing for Cerberus, for the Shadow Broker… But in the end, he sacrificed himself for me. I owe him." she looked at Shepard, full of determination, this was important for her and John understood.
Shepard nodded, "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. What's the next step?"
Liara reached down under her desk and grabbed her handbag, "I… I don't know. I need to prepare, to think. I'm going home." she started walking towards the exit to her office and Shepard followed suit.
"Are you alright?" he asked, Liara looked like she was doing a million calculations in her head.
She stopped and looked at John, "I've spent two years plotting revenge. Now I have the chance to make it a rescue."
"I want to help, I'll come by your apartment later?" he replied.
"Okay." Liara nodded, "Hopefully I'll have a plan by then." she gave a brief smile, "Thank you, Shepard."
The two quickly walked down the stairs, Liara gave her apartment info to Shepard and bid him farewell, the two then went their separate ways. Shepard had mixed feelings on this meeting, Liara was so focused on revenge it left no room for anything else. He hoped he could help her get through this, so she could once again smile and enjoy life. John returned to the ship and started to prepare his gear, a peaceful resolution was out of the question.
Shepard stepped out of the cab on the landing pad at Liara's apartment complex. Several Illium police cruisers were parked outside, this did not bode well.
"Off to a good start, huh Shepard?" Garrus spoke, stepping out of the cab as well.
Shepard sighed, "I knew something like that would happen, lets just hope she is okay."
"Don't worry Shepard, Liara can take care of herself." Garrus slapped Shepard on the shoulder, "Come on, we won't find out what happened standing out here."
The two walked into the building, and simply followed the police officers who were coming and going, ultimately coming to Liara's apartment. The door was open, a police holographic tape was blocking their entrance and several officers working with their omnitools, scanning for evidence.
Shepard walked up to the officer standing guard at the entrance, "What's going on?"
The officer was busy sorting through all the evidence on her omnitool, she gave Shepard barely a glance, "This area is sealed off, please step back, sir."
Shepard tried to get some info, "Why? What happened?"
Another asari not wearing a police uniform walked down the stairs and spoke, "Someone tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard."
John quickly looked over the asari that spoke to him. She was wearing custom armor, no mercenary markings, she did not look familiar. She quickly spoke to the rest of the officers in the apartment, "Thank you, officer. Your people are dismissed." She waved for Shepard and Garrus to walk through.
"You can't do that!" The police officer tried to protest.
"Already done." the asari spoke calmly and waved the other officers towards the exit. They quickly left in frustration, the asari once again addressed Shepard, "Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon." she took a quick glance at Garrus before once again focusing on Shepard, "I heard your status got reinstated. Good. You're one of our most famous operatives." she smirked, "Might even get you to sign my chest plate." she continued, "So I assume you had business with your friend this evening, Commander?"
Shepard had a moment to think, a presence of a Spectre was strange, put perhaps the case was high profile enough for Illium to get her involved. The fact that Shepard knew nothing of her was giving him a bit of a strange feeling, but the more time he wasted the more danger Liara might be in.
He decided to let Vasir in on their investigation, being an asari Spectre she most likely had contacts on Illium anyway, no point in withholding information from her if she was already here. "Liara was following a lead on the Shadow Broker."
Vasir showed no reaction to hearing such news, Spectre training made it difficult for Shepard to read her. "The Shadow Broker? Dangerous enemy to have."
Shepard took a glance around the apartment, "What are the facts so far?"
"About 25 minutes ago, someone took a shot at T'Soni." she replied and pointed at the cracked glass window behind her, "Note the bullet holes."
Vasir continued, "She stuck around for almost 4 minutes before leaving the building. Whatever she was doing was important."
Shepard was relieved to hear that she was not hurt but that left only one question, "If Liara is not here then where is she?"
Shepard's tone must have given Vasir notice, "If I knew that, I wouldn't be sifting through her crap." she replied irritably. "There's no blood, no body. It looks like she got away." she glanced back at the window, "The sniper didn't plan on her kinetic barrier. Cleaver girl." she smiled, "Paranoid, but clever."
The longer John spoke to Vasir the longer he thought that something was off, but right now he didn't have much of a choice. "Liara was expecting me. She would have left a message."
Vasir nodded, "I haven't found anything useful for tracking her down yet. You knew her better than I do. Where would she have hidden her backups?"
Shepard thought that he would look around and went on to investigate Liara's apartment. It was quite large, it must have cost her a small fortune. It had two stories, one large windows stretching to both floors overlooking Illium, a bedroom, a kitchen and an office. The whole apartment was filled with display cases. Shepard walked through her office while Vasir was going through some paperwork. Shepard saw a framed graduation certificate from the university of Serrice on Thessia. "I bet she is getting a good use out of all that education." he thought. Not finding anything in the office he moved on to the lounge area, there was a display with a piece of N7 armor in it, Shepard recognized it immediately, it was his own. He had a brief though that perhaps it was not the healthiest thing to leave a constant reminder of his death in her daily life, those two years could not have been easy.
Garrus was standing by the impact marks in the glass as Shepard walked up to him. "The rifle used to make these was not standard issue, Shepard." he said quietly, "The barrier held long enough for the shots to deviate but did not block them completely." Shepard nodded and moved further in the apartment, one of the walls had a large painting on it, it didn't take Shepard long to recognize the place, it was Ilos. The kitchen nothing of interest so Shepard moved on upstairs. He walked by Liara's bed and noticed the picture by the bedside, it was Normandy SR-1. John leaned forward and took a closer look, seeing the original Normandy again brought back some good memories, and some painful ones.
As soon as he picked up the picture frame the displayed picture changed, it must have been keyed to his ID. The picture now showed a Prothean dig site, Shepard finally was onto something. Shepard went to examine several of the Prothean displays in the apartment, when he touched one of them a compartment opened up with a small disk inside.
Shepard grabbed the disk and walked back upstairs to Liara's terminal, Vasir took notice and quickly followed suit, "Found something, Shepard?"
"I found a backup disk, lets see what Liara left us." Shepard put the disk into Liara's terminal, it started playing a recorded call. It was between Liara and a salarian named Sekat, they spoke of a location of something and Sekat said that can have the data ready tonight at his Baria Frontiers office in the Dracon Trade Center. Shepard turned to Vasir, this is it, "If the Broker's people already tried to kill her once then we better hurry."
Vasir nodded, "I know where the trade center is. My car's outside." Vasir headed for the exit, Shepard and Garrus quickly followed.
The skycar ride was awkwardly quiet but mercifully short, the three left the car and headed for the entrance. Vasir broke the silence, "Baria Frontier offices are on the third floor." she looked around, "I don't hear police chatter; we must have missed the party."
As soon as she said that the building was rocked by an explosion, shattered glass flew everywhere, people were screaming, the third floor was on fire. Several more explosions chained across the whole building. The shock wave knocking everyone off their feet.
"Liara!" Shepard yelled in shock, getting back on his feet.
"They just took out three floor to make sure she's dead." Vasir got up and turned towards her skycar, "I'll grab the skycar and seal the building from the top."
Shepard nodded, "We'll work our way up.", Shepard helped Garrus on his feet and the two quickly sprinted for the entrance. The front of the building was in chaos, shell shocked survivors staggering away from the fires that have broken out, many were crying out for help, plenty were dead.
Shepard forced the need to stop and help away, he had to find Liara and quick. There is no way that she got caught in the explosion, he had to believe that. John quickly walked through the entrance, with his shotgun drawn, the doors were blown open. Garrus walked up behind him, "Shepard you have to calm down, if you rush in without thinking you will just catch a bullet." He spoke quietly. "Liara knows what she is doing, you've seen her apartment, she takes precautions." he added, "We will find those who did this, and make them regret ever working for the Broker."
Shepard nodded, his ears were ringing and he was on edge, but he had to keep moving. Him and Garrus quickly cleared the lobby and started moving up the stairs, the trade floor was in shambles, there were many dead. They took another staircase and reached an entrance of the Baria Frontier offices. There was an unarmed bomb in front of it.
"Military grade." Garrus replied after a quick examination, "They got sloppy, must have had little time to work."
The two entered the offices, Shepard checked the front desk, Liara has signed in just a few minutes ago, she was in the building after all. Shepard grit his teeth if anything happened to her…
Shepard's trailing thoughts almost cost him his life as a grenade rolled in front of him when he turned the corner. Garrus managed to yank him back behind the corner before it detonated, luckily it was only a flash bang, unfortunately the ringing ears were now accompanied by dancing lights in his eyes.
Garrus provided some covering fire while Shepard was dazed. A few seconds later Shepard was back on his feet and there were several mercenaries who were not getting back up. For the next few minutes Shepard and Garrus had to work their way cover to cover, taking pot shots at the entrenched mercs. How did they have so much time to prepare such a major assault force, something did not add up.
Finally the mercs were dealt with and the two approached the door to Sekat's office. Just as Shepard was about to open it, there was a gun shot and quickly a second one. The door opened, Vasir was standing over a merc, her pistol still smoking.
"Damn it, if I had been a few seconds faster I could have stopped him." she said nonchalantly.
Shepard switched his focus on the salarian who was leaning against the wall, he was dead, "Is this Sekat?"
"Must have been." Vasir replied, as she slowly walked to window of the office.
Shepard searched Sekat's body for any backup disks as well as his omnitool, there was nothing. "No sign of that data Liara mentioned."
"This might be a dead end, Shepard." Garrus added
"Speaking of which, did you find your friend's body?" Vasir asked casually.
That struck a nerve but Shepard decided to play it cool, he slowly stood up and walked towards the entrance to the room, perhaps they missed Liara on the way up. But just as Shepard was about to reach the door a familiar figure appeared out of the smoke.
"You mean this body?" Liara slowly walked into the room, her pistol drawn and aiming at Vasir.
A wave of relief hit Shepard, Liara was unhurt, he could once again think straight.
Liara walked up next to Shepard, "This is the woman that tried to kill me."
Vasir was slowly backing away towards the window, "You've had a rough day, so I'll let that slide. Why don't you put that gun down?" She replied with a hint of a threat.
But Liara would not back down, "I saw you! I doubled back after I left. I watched you break into my apartment."
Shepard and Garrus immediately raised their weapons, lining up next to Liara, "You used me, just to get to her."
"Nothing personal, Shepard." Vasir replied coyly.
"Once she had my location, she signaled the Shadow Broker's forces. Then bombed the building to take me out." Liara continued, "She found Sekat, took his data, and killed him. I'm guessing she's still got the disk on her."
"Good guess." Vasir waved the disk in her right hand. "Not that you'll ever see what's on it."
At that exact moment she shattered the window behind her with a biotic blast, "You pureblood bitch!" Vasir broke the window entirely sending the shards flying at the group.
Liara quickly extending her biotic field to cover everyone from the flying glass shards. Vasir hopped through the window, using her biotics to float down. With no time to lose Shepard quickly used his biotics to charge through the air to close distance on her, but Vasir reacted quickly, the two collided mid air, falling out to the lower floor. Half way down, Vasir used her own biotics to make them float, but unfortunately for Shepard he was on receiving end of her boot sending him crashing down on the ground. His shield was able to mitigate most of the impact but it still knocked the air out of him. Vasir landed and quickly took off as soon as she saw Liara following out the window as well. Shepard staggered back to his feet while the two asari went on their chase.
Garrus caught up to Shepard on the ground floor and the two quickly followed the two biotically charged asari. Running out of the building they saw Vasir get in her skycar, she must have called it remotely.
"Damn it!" Liara yelled, reloading her pistol, she quickly glanced at the nearest skycar and hacked it open with her omnitool, "Come on, she's getting away!" She waved to both her companions.
The two quickly hopped into the newly possessed skycar, Shepard took the controls and turned to Liara as the skycar was taking off, "I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking." his patience with her obsession was starting to run thin. Liara did not say anything just simply opened her omnitool to track Vasir's skycar.
Shepard punched the accelerator on the skycar, it quickly picked up speed, the on board screen now showed which one was Vasir's. After a few seconds, the finally saw her in sight.
"There she is." Liara pointed out the skycar weaving in and out of traffic ahead of them. "Hang a right, no wait! Left!" she started giving out directions frantically as Shepard was avoiding mid-air collisions to keep up with Vasir.
"I'm on her!" Shepard relied irritably to his blue back-seat driver.
"Left!" Liara yelled, as another near miss occurred.
"Why do we always let him drive?" Garrus asked from the back holding for dear life.
Vasir's car broke off from traffic and tried to lose them by flying towards a nearby unfinished building.
"We're not going into the construction site, are – oh goddess!" She yelped as Shepard took a hard turn to follow. Weaving between metal beams and other hazards, they were slowly gaining on Vasir. As the construction site ended, Vasir once again turned her skycar into traffic, but this time going in the opposite direction.
"I'm not letting her escape with that data!" Liara stated, like she was the one driving. As the chase went into a tunnel going through one of the buildings, Vasir started to take more risks to try and gain some distance. Flying out of the tunnel she quickly slipped between two gigantic freighters the were on course to dock.
As the space between them shrunk Liara started yelling in desperation, "Go go go go go go!"
"I'm going!" Shepard replied maneuvering between the gigantic ships.
"Traffic! Oncoming traffic!" Liara yelled, as the skycars once against entered another lane of flying skycars.
"We'll be fine!" Shepard replied casually, starting to enjoy the chase. At that very moment a rocket flew by their skycar as an open bed skytruck full of troops appeared on their right. More of Broker's agents showed up to the chase.
"She's got reinforcements!" Liara yelled.
"What kind of guns does this thing have?" Shepard asked sarcastically. Elevated by the memories of driving the Mako and terrorizing his squad mates.
"It's a taxi! It has a fare meter!" Liara replied genuinely frustrated.
"Wonderful!" He replied ironically as they entered another tunnel. One of the troop skytrucks must have crashed because it caused another gigantic freighter to spin out of control inside the tunnel. There was a narrow slip in the top left corner and it was shrinking fast.
"Truck!" Liara yelled, desperately grabbing onto any handholds inside the skycar.
"I know." Shepard replied focusing on the narrow escape.
"TRUCK!" Liara yelled, closing her eyes as the massive car pileup inside the tunnel was quickly approaching.
"I know!" Shepard replied, annoyed by such low quantity of faith in his driving.
"Yaaaah!" Liara yelped. There was a loud scraping sound as the skycar came in contact with the roof of the tunnel, clearing the obstruction.
"There we go!" Shepard yelled triumphantly.
"You're enjoying this?" Liara asked hyperventilating.
"Please just let me out at the next building, I'll catch up later." Garrus begged.
"A head on collision at this speed..." Liara said still tightly gripping a handle, as Shepard was weaving in and out of the oncoming traffic.
"Yeah, I heard those can be bad for you." Shepard quipped.
There was an explosion somewhere ahead in traffic, another freighter was quickly losing control starting to spin sideways.
"Truck!" Liara yelled once again, holding on for dear life.
"Again?" Shepard smiled.
"Watch out!" Liara yelled as Shepard dodged another car finally getting close enough to Vasir.
The skycar taxi they were in didn't have any guns, but neither did Vasir. She must have realized it as she slammed her skycar into Shepard's, nearly forcing him to collide with an upcoming traffic. Shepard took this opportunity to gain some momentum and did the same thing to Vasir, pushing her to collide with another skycar instead, she managed to steer her car out of the full head on collision but she still got hit, spinning out of control down to the building below. Shepard circled around and landed the battered taxi on the landing pad.
All three got out of the skycar, Shepard much less worse for wear than his other two companions. Garrus leaned against the car, "Shepard if you have said that you were going to drive earlier, I would have stayed on the Normandy." he glanced at Liara, "No offense."
"None taken, Garrus." Liara replied catching her breath and standing up.
Shepard finally had a chance to take a good look at Liara, she was wearing a custom fitted white armor with blue highlights. It had a short half skirt, making it look almost like a lab coat. In the light of the night Illium her blue eyes stood out like two blue pearls. She was beautiful.
Unfortunately the time for admiration was short as the troop trucks started to land around them, "Watch out! They're dropping reinforcements in to slow us down!" Liara yelled, taking cover and readying her pistol.
Another firefight ensued, the Shadow Broker spared no expense dropping a small army on Shepard and his squad. Shepard and Liara were using their biotics for crowd control allowing Garrus for easy sniping, their coordinated tactics making short work of the mercs.
"Just like old times, huh Liara?" Garrus smiled.
Liara did not answer but he could clearly see a smile, she missed this, he missed this, Garrus didn't miss, he had a sniper rifle.
Once the mercs were dealt with, they quickly ran up the ramp to the balcony where Vasir's skycar crashed.
"There's Vasir's car. Come on, she can't have gotten far." Liara moved forward.
Shepard and Garrus looked at each other, "Was she always this feisty?" Garrus quipped. Shepard shook his head and opened a door inside the hotel following a small trail of purple blood. Inside where a bunch of destroyed mechs and questionable entertainment on a large screen.
"What kind of a hotel is this?" Shepard glanced at Liara as the two moved through the room.
"Azure. It's a luxury resort with an… exotic edge. "Azure" is slang for a part of the asari body in some areas of Illium." Liara replied awkwardly.
"Where?" Shepard asked, having a pretty good idea what the term meant.
"Mainly the lower reaches, near the bottom." Liara replied, with a slight stutter.
"I meant, "Where on the asari body?"" Shepard pressed, getting a kick out of Liara's embarrassment.
Liara quickly looked away hiding a smile as she picked up on the joke, "So did I." she replied.
Shepard got a glimpse of the Liara he remembered, perhaps she was not entirely gone after all. The three moved on further through the hotel rooms, encountering more destroyed mechs, scared patrons as well as dead ones. Vasir did not give a damn about innocent lives.
"She's lost a lot of blood, we have to be getting close." said Liara pointing at a sizable puddle of purple blood.
Shepard had to give credit where it was due, "She's tough, I'll give her that much."
"She's a Spectre." Liara nodded, insinuating a common trait.
As the group turned a corner, they came upon a large open area hosting some sort of a party or social event. Many patrons were mingling while partaking in food and drink. The trail of blood was leading right in the middle of it. It was easy to spot the only asari wearing armor among them.
Liara too aim with her pistol and slowly walked forward. "Vasir! It's over!" she shouted over the crowd, turning many heads as the patrons began to back away from the armed trio.
The injured Spectre quickly grabbed a nearest woman standing close to her and took cover behind her. "What's your name?" she asked her newly acquired hostage. The rest of the patrons quickly running away in panic.
"M-Mariana." the woman mumbled, terrified.
"Mariana, you want to live, don't you?" Vasir pointed her pistol at Shepard's squad while holding the hostage with her other arm, "Tell those people that you want to live."
The poor woman was in shock, all she could do was look at Shepard and beg, "Please..."
Shepard nodded, "We'll get you out of here safely, Mariana.", and he meant it. Enough lives have already been lost today on Vasir's behalf.
"Well that's good to hear." Vasir spoke dismissively, "All you had to do is walk away, now it gets ugly.", she aimed her pistol at the hostage's head.
"Please, I have a son.", tears were rolling down the poor woman's face, she was at Vasir's mercy.
Vasir was leaning into it, "A son? I hope he gets to see you again. I heard losing a parent is just horrific for children." She looked directly at Liara, "Scars them for life."
Liara was already on edge, she took a step forward, "I am going to end you, Vasir.", she spoke angrily.
"I can take the shot, Shepard." Garrus spoke calmly, taking aim with his sniper rifle.
"Hold it, Garrus." Shepard then put his free hand on Liara's shoulder, stopping her from moving further, "It's okay Liara." he could feel how tense she was.
Liara stopped, took a breath and glanced at Shepard as he continued, "We'll handle it." Shepard nodded, "The usual way."
"You want Mariana's little boy to grow up without a mommy, Shepard?" she said, getting impatient, "Thermal clips on the ground, now!"
Shepard chuckled, "Is that it?"
Vasir was taken aback, "What?"
"I sacrificed hundreds of human lives saving the Destiny Ascension.", Shepard spoke coldly, "I unleashed the rachni on the galaxy." he continued, taking aim, "So for your sake, I hope your escape plan doesn't hinge on me hesitating to shoot a damn hostage!"
The woman being held hostage was pale, and Vasir was sweating looking between the three guns aimed at her, finally she aimed her pistol at Shepard, "You're bluffing."
That was the window that Liara was waiting for, the second Vasir was distracted by Shepard she lifted a table behind Vasir and pulled it towards her, sending her flying into the pool in the middle of the atrium. Shepard quickly ran up and helped the hostage on her feet, leading her towards the exit. As soon as she was clear he stepped back just to see Vasir lift herself out of the pool with biotics and landing near the railing, she was furious.
Garrus and Liara took aim, backing Shepard up, the three stepped forward, ready to take down Vasir. However their time ran out, more mercenary trucks landed on the far side of atrium, this would quickly turn into a firefight if they don't take care of them now.
"You two take out the mercs, I'll handle Vasir." Shepard spoke angrily, his patience has run out and he was waiting for an opportunity to let loose. A biotic fight is just what he was looking for.
Garrus and Liara quickly split off and Shepard readied himself for a bioticly propelled charge. Vasir did the same thing, and the two biotic powered soldiers flew towards each other. The resulting explosion of force rocked the entire atrium, Shepard's whole body ached but he ignored it, the flew at Vasir with biotics over and over and she answered suit, colliding in mid air. It was a battle of attrition and normally Vasir would have an upper hand, being a natural born biotic, but she was wounded and losing blood. Shepard put on the pressure, he didn't even bother shooting he just pummeled Vasir with biotics until her shields broke. With one final charge Shepard sent her flying back into the wall, with no defense Vasir was crushed by the impact and slid to the ground.
Vasir was leaning against the wall, sitting in a pool of her own blood when Shepard walked up, "Ugh, damn it… damn it." she coughed, barely conscious.
Shepard leaned and grabbed the data disk she stole out of her pocket. He stood up just as Garrus and Liara walked up, the mercs were taken care of. Shepard handed the disk to Liara and she quickly started to look through the data, "Sekat's personal datapad. This has what we need to find the Shadow Broker." she commented glancing through the feed on her omnitool.
As the two began to walk away Vasir spoke up, "You're dead. The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades. He's stronger than anything you've ever faced." she growled.
Shepard stopped and turned around, "Is that why you sold out the Council to work for him?"
Vasir was glaring at Shepard, "You think I betrayed the Council? Like Saren? Go to hell!" she coughed some blood and continued her rant, "The Broker's given me damn good intel over the years. Intel that saved lives and kept the Citadel safe! So if the Broker needs a few people to disappear, I'll pay that price without hesitation!"
Shepard slowly walked back, "Spectres don't blow up buildings filled with innocent people!"
Vasir smirked, "Sure we do. We get our hands dirty so the Council doesn't have to. The councilors might complain about about our methods to soothe their consciences, but they never look too closely." she looked Shepard in the eyes, "Besides, you're with Cerberus. You have any idea what your terrorist friends have done?" she sneered.
Shepard squatted down in front of Vasir, "I know who they are and what they've done. It doesn't matter."
Vasir shook her head weakly, "I think it does. You want to judge me? Look in the mirror! Kidnapping kids for biotic death camps! Your own unit on Akuze! And you're with them. Don't you dare judge me!" she was fading fast.
Shepard was not going to let her have the last word, "No you're right, you're not like Saren, you're worse, because at the very least Saren was convinced that he was doing the right thing, you're just doing it for personal gain. You're a disgrace to the Council and the asari." Shepard stood up "At least he had the decency to blow his own brains out in the end." he turned and walked away, last thing he saw was Vasir's eyes fill of hate as she let out her last breath.
Shepard started to walk in the direction of where their cab was, Garrus was standing by one of the resort's private rooms. "Liara's inside looking at the data, I'm gonna go back to the cab and make sure they didn't leave us any surprises."
Shepard nodded and walked into the room, Liara was listening to a voice call, it was from the Shadow Broker, "Eliminate T'Soni and retrieve the data. Civilian casualties not a concern."
"Vasir's dead." Shepard said coldly, Liara barely gave a reaction, her focus was fully on the data she got.
"I'm putting the data through to the Normandy's computers. We can be at the Shadow Broker's base in a few hours." She turned off her omnitool and started walking towards the exit, "He'll know about Vasir before long. If he decides to kill Feron..."
Shepard quickly followed, keeping pace with Liara, "We'll get Feron out of there alive, Liara. I promise." he reassured her.
Liara stopped for a moment, "I know. You're here to help. Just like always.", she said and turned around, she looked disappointed.
Liara sounded cold and distant, it's like the mission was the only thing that mattered to her, that hurt more than anything Shadow Broker could throw at Shepard, "That's not a good thing?" he asked.
"When we first met on Therum, you saved me from the geth. You fought a krogan battlemaster while I cowered." she spoke, "Now you're doing it again. And I'm still leaning on you for help."
Shepard understood how she felt but his frustration was starting to get the better of him, "That's what friends do, Liara."
Liara just turned around and started walking towards the cab, "I can get us there, based on Sekat's data. The Normandy's stealth drive will keep them from detecting us." she was picking up pace and Shepard had to make an effort to keep up with her as the walk was starting to turn into a light jog, "The Shadow Broker's agents are still shooting their way through Illium. With luck, they won't notice we've left until it's too late."
"That's a little cold. They killed innocent people." Shepard spoke as he caught up to Liara.
Liara stopped and turned around again, "You know what I mean." she crossed her arms.
But Shepard was getting tired of getting stone walled, "Do I? When I hit the ground back at the trade center, you went after Vasir without a backward look." he said.
Liara looked away, "A little fall wasn't going to kill you.", then walked to the nearby railing overlooking the city, "I had to stay on Vasir. I had to stay rational, make the call. Like I did with Sekat."
Shepard walked up next to her, "That's Vasir's fault, not yours."
"Sekat had no idea what the stakes were. I put him in harms way to get the data I needed. I got him killed. And I'd do it again." she spoke coldly, "But from here on out, things will be simple. Get in, get Feron, get out." she pushed off the raining and started walking towards the cab once more, "And kill anyone that tries to stop us."
Shepard was a bit taken aback, this was the new Liara, he hardly recognized her. She reminded him more of her mother than herself right now, what did she have to go through to get to this mental state. There was a lot to unwrap but there was one more thing he had to know, "That's it?" he asked.
"That's it." She spoke without turning around picking up pace again.
Shepard has had enough, he has been patient with her these past few months but he was tired of her ignoring him, he reached out and grabbed her arm, "Will you just stop for a second?" she was tense for a second but then stopped and turned around, "We'll be jumping several light years. There's time to talk." he said.
"About what?" Liara asked, frustrated that they had to stop again.
"About us." Shepard said bluntly.
Liara's facial expression didn't change, it was the same cold demeanor, almost like she was at work, "Shepard, listen, I'm glad you're here..." she said robotically.
"You worried there might be terminals you need me to hack?" Shepard put it bluntly.
Liara's expression finally changed, "That's not fair. You were dead!" she frowned.
Finally getting a reaction out of her, Shepard pressed further, "I came back!"
Liara shook her head, he voice was trembling, "It's not that easy! You can't just come back and have two years of mourning suddenly vanish!" she sighed and palmed her forehead, composing herself, "I'm sorry, Shepard, I can't get into this. For now, lets just focus on getting Feron back."
"Fine." Shepard said angrily and headed to the cab himself in front of her.
Garrus was waiting by the cab, it looked like he was going to ask something but he noticed both their expressions and thought better of it. The trip back to the Normandy was quiet and awkward, when they got to the Normandy, Shepard marched into the pilot's cabin and told Joker to get to the coordinates Liara provided. Liara herself asked if she could stay in the shuttle bay of the ship for the duration and Garrus escorted her there. Joker wisely kept his mouth shut as Normandy took off from Illium, after that Shepard went to his cabin and stayed there for the duration of the flight. Once in his quarters, he sat at his desk and looked at the picture frame of Liara he had on his desk. He managed to crack through the ice but underneath it was sorrow and pain. Now all he was filled with was regret.