Chapter 7.
Liara was sitting nervously on a med bay couch, her hard suit helmet lying right next to her. She was on an Alliance cruiser that picked up the Normandy's escape pods.
An Alliance marine walked into the med bay, "Dr. T'Soni?" he asked. Liara got up instantaneously, and looked at the soldier with eyes full of hope. "We found the last escape pod, you should come see for yourself." Liara didn't say anything, with an escort she got to the cargo bay and to the recovered escape pod, it was about to be opened.
The hatch popped off and the pod depressurized, a man climbed out of it, he was a bit pale and was holding the right side of his ribs, his orange beard in contrast with his black trademark hat left no room for mistake, it was Joker.
Liara ran up to him, as two other marines helped him out of the pod. She looked him in the eyes searching for a glimpse of hope, anything to hold onto. Joker's eyes were full of sorrow, he looked away and shook his head from side to side. There was no need for words, Joker and several marines and officers present took off their hats. They only thing that interrupted the moment of silence were quiet sobs and whimpers of a young asari archaeologist.
"What do you mean, the search party still didn't find him?" Liara fumed, "The crash site was marked by the Normandy distress beacon precisely!"
The Alliance clerk showed no emotion at all, "We are doing everything we can to find Commander Shepard or his remains, miss T'Soni." The clerk turned over to his console, "Just leave your communicator ID and we will contact you if any news arises."
Liara took a deep breath, and dictated her communicator ID to the clerk, that was exactly the fifth time this week that she has given it to that exact clerk. Shepard was missing and nobody in the Alliance military seemed to care, and after all that Shepard has done for them. Even Admiral Hackett was always mysteriously out of the office when Liara tried to contact him.
Liara never imagined that things would go south so quickly without Shepard, the survivors of the Normandy crew were all grounded and restricted from leaving the Alliance base on the Citadel. Liara could contact neither Ashley, nor Joker. She hasn't seen them since they were recovered by the Alliance cruiser. As for the non-human crew, they were all dismissed under the non disclosure agreement. Tali and Wrex left during the first week, after the Commander was presumed dead and the official burial ceremony, Tali went back to the Flotilla and Wrex went to Tuchanka. The only other remaining member was Garrus, he tried to help at first, pulling some of his contacts in C-Sec, but it turns out C-Sec does not interfere with Alliance operations, and were additionally asked by the council to not disclose any information about Commander Shepard. Garrus left after the ceremony, said he will try some of his other non C-Sec contacts but he will go alone. She hasn't heard from him in over several weeks now.
Liara walked out of the Alliance Base lobby, she saw people of all races, walking by, minding their own business, a human couple passed her, she was almost envious of them. Liara walked up to the glass windows and looked outside, the other four Wards were clearly visible through it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of small metal pieces on a chain, the only thing recovered from the crash site, Shepard's dog tags. Liara fought the urge to cry, but tears started rolling down her cheeks before she knew it.
"It saddens me to see a lil lady cry" spoke a voice right behind Liara.
Liara quickly put away the dog tags and wiped her tears, before she turned around. A human man was standing in front of her, he was wearing casual clothes, had goatee and a full head of hair almost long enough to make into a pony tail. The man looked tired and worn out, yet Liara couldn't help but feel that the man served in the military at some point.
"Can I help you?" Liara broke the silence, looking at the man suspiciously.
The man walked up to the window on the left of Liara and looked outside, "Darlin, I am the one who can help you."
Liara, still unsure of what the man wanted, was about to walk off, "I am sorry, but I don't think you can help me right now, I don't think anybody can." She started to slowly walk away.
"Well that's too bad, and here I was about to tell you about Commander Shepard." the man faked disappointment.
Liara turned around and dashed to the man so fast he had no choice but to back off. "Tell me what you know about Shepard! And by the Goddess if you are lying...", the man interrupted, before Liara could finish, "Easy there darlin, I will tell you all I know."
The man took out an old fashioned port-cigar and pulled a cigar out of it, bit off one the sides, lit it up and took a puff. He exhaled, quickly filling the air around him with acrid smoke, causing Liara to cough.
"Pardon me darlin, but I just can't talk business without smokin first." He looked out of the window for a minute, taking a few more puffs of the cigar. "I know where your Commander is."
"But how? Shepard has been missing for weeks now!" Liara said in disbelief.
"I have my sources, the contact was very specific, he said he would provide more information on location."
"Where?"
"Omega."
Liara's eyes widened, "Omega?"
"If you leave now darlin, you'll be there in three hours."
"Who are you? Why are you helping me?" Liara asked.
"Who I am is of no importance darling. Me and Shep, we go way back, I just thought I'd repay an old debt I owed him." the man smiled for a second before he continued. "When you get to Omega, find my contact in club Afterlife, the name is Feron, you can't miss him."
Liara took a few steps away from the stranger before she turned around and asked him, "Who do you work for?"
"I don't work for anyone Darlin, if Shep is still alive when you find him, just tell him Jimmy said hi." said the man and began to walk away himself. "Good luck darlin, you'll need it."
Liara nodded and rushed towards the nearest docking bay. There was no time to ask questions this was her first lead since the crash, she had to take this chance.
The trip was long an exhausting, Liara was barely able to get into a freighter to Omega, overpaying for her ticket to that chunk of rock. She recently woke up from the sleeping pod, took a walk through the loaded ship and was about to walk into the cockpit, when she overheard a conversation.
"That asari she sure paid well enough. Think there's more where that came from?" asked the turian navigator.
"I'm sure of it, but I'm not so sure about shaking her down." said the turian mercenary. "I caught an extranet report on her. She's part of Shepard's team!"
The batarian captain who was standing behind the two turians spoke, "They haven't seen Shepard in a month, not since his ship got taken out. If the asari back there wants help, she'd better pick a spectre that's still alive!"
Liara decided to end this little chat between the crew of the ship, "I'll have to ask you not to speak that way about my friends, captain. Dead or alive."
The three crew members seemed to get a bit excited at the sight of the asari.
"So you're awake! Did you enjoy the ride? We tried not to make it too bumpy for you." said the captain, grinning.
The turian mercenary spoke, "I don't know, maybe she likes it rough."
Liara ignored the last comment, "Are we ready to dock Omega or not?"
"Yes, we will dock soon, however I want to have a talk with you first about certain... docking fees. This ship is expensive to run, and I can't to give my crew many... perks."
"You have been paid plenty." Liara said coldly.
The turian mercenary spoke "Hey now, we're nice people, everything's negotiable." The turian navigator joined him, "If you can't pay, maybe we can think of something else..."
The three crew members started slowly moving towards Liara, but Liara would have none of it, "Get back, I am warning you." the crew did not stop, Liara's biotics flared up, and she gave all three a weak blast, "I said get back!"
The blast was strong enough to knock all three out. Liara looked over the unconscious crew, "Disgusting."
The com link behind the crew lit up, "Attention batarian freighter! This is Omega control. Do you wish to dock or not?"
Liara quickly walked up to the com link, "This is batarian freighter, apologies for the delay, we are standing by for docking."
After the ship docked Liara quickly found the nearest transport bay and headed over for the Afterlife. As she was traveling, she managed to get a good look around the Omega. She managed to get in easily, since the bouncers thought she was here to get a job as a dancer, inside the club she spent nearly twenty minutes pestering the local barmen for information about a man named Feron.
She finally ended up in a conversation with an elcor patron, who seemed to know a few things about the club and Omega in general. Unfortunately for Liara he did not know anything about Feron, she ended up listening to his monotone complaining.
His monologue was interrupted by stranger, "You've got to love the elcor, they've got all the expressiveness of a tree. If they didn't explain the nuance of what they're saying, it'd be just like talking to one." the stranger chuckled.
Liara was surprised, it was hard to see who was under the cape that the stranger was wearing, but his voice left no doubts he was a drell. A rare sight, even on Omega.
Liara walked up to the stranger, "Are you.."
The stranger interrupted before Liara could finish "Not here." He stood up, "Outside." He said as he walked towards the exit. Liara rushed to follow him.
Liara caught up to the stranger outside the club, "It's not safe walking around asking questions on Omega, even if you're from around here, miss T'Soni." The stranger kept walking away from the club and unto the streets of Omega, "The information you're looking for wasn't easy to find, not even for me."
Liara had enough of this, "Where are you taking me? What do you know about..." the stranger quickly pulled Liara into one of the alleyways, covering her mouth and looking around the corner of the building. "Sorry Liara, we were being followed." He looked back at Liara, "I am Feron, and I do know the location of Commander Shepard." He paused for a second, "But you won't like what I have to tell you."
Liara looked away, "Dead?"
"Yes... or very close to it. It's hard to say, his body has been recovered in some sort of stasis pod, even if he isn't dead, he certainly is not alive." Feron paused again, watching Liara reaction, "I know you came a long way... Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."
"I knew. But…" Liara turned around and looked at Feron, her eyes full of determination, "I need... I need to see, Feron. For myself."
"Liara, you're not the only one interested in finding Shepard's body. I suggest you let the dead sleep."
"I don't think you understood what I said." Liara looked Feron right in the eyes, "I need to see Shepard."
Feron smiled, the asari's determination was entertaining, "It's your money, your life."
The two walked out of the alleyway, "This isn't like the Citadel, there is no transit everywhere, it is going to be a long way on foot."
Liara nodded, "I don't mind, as long as we find..." before she could finish the two were jumped by several mercenaries in blue uniforms.
"Blue suns!" Feron yelled out, pulling out his heavy pistol.
Liara got grabbed by her shoulders by one of the mercenaries before she could act, but a quick biotic field fixed that problem. Feron opened fire but one of the mercenaries snuck up behind him and grabbed him by his waist. Liara was about to unleash the full power of her biotic potential on the mercenaries when she heard a voice behind her.
"Hold still asari. If you as much as flinch, you'll have more then a few holes in your skull." Liara had no choice, she powered down her biotics. Two of the other mercenaries walked up and grabbed Liara be her arms so she can't control her powers, two more were holding Feron.
The mercenary group leader walked up in front of Liara, "You came all the way to Omega looking for a deadman, the Shadow Broker wants to know why."
"It's none of your business, and definitely not of Shadow Broker."
The mercenary leader growled, "It is my business, asari! Especially Shep..." The mercenary was cut short but a blast of a rifle piercing his head.
"Sniper!" yelled one of the mercenaries as they tried to scatter. But before all of them could react, they got barraged by the sniper, killing the ones who were holding Liara and Feron, both of them used the commotion to escape.
"Show the way! Quickly!" Liara yelled out as they ran away from the firefight. The two ran several blocks away, making a few turns. Feron stopped for a second and then made a turn into another alley "Maybe here..." The two were greeted by a couple of humans in white uniforms, "...or maybe not."
The golden diamond insignias left no doubt, these were Cerberus agents. The two were getting ready for another fight, but the tension was cut short when a woman walked from behind the two mercenaries. "Relax, both of you, we're working toward the same goal. Finding Commander Shepard."
"But... Shepard is dead." said Liara.
"That's what they say, but Shepard's beaten the odds before. My name is Miranda Lawson, and I represent someone who wants very much to meet you, help us and we might be able to bring Shepard back."
"What do you mean by that?" Liara frowned.
"Just come with us. You can even bring your friend." It didn't look like they had much of a choice, so they followed Miranda.
The two were escorted to another part of Omega into one of the apartment complexes. All the way to the Cerberus headquarters Liara couldn't help but think of that one phrase that Miranda has said "Bring Shepard back." What could she have meant by that? Liara hoped for all those questions to be answered. Miranda left to make arrangements for the meeting, leaving the two to themselves.
Feron was nervous, "We shouldn't have come here Liara, don't you know who these people are? Just look at the logos on their uniform, they're Cerberus! A prohuman hate group, they wouldn't help non humans like us and it doesn't matter that their people got a council seat."
"I have my own reasons to be here Feron, they might not be perfect but they are the first ones who wanted to bring Shepard back." Liara quipped.
"That's because Shepard is human, Liara. They wouldn't do this if he was a turian or volus or salarian."
"Even so, nobody else cares about Shepard's fate. Not the council, not the Alliance… not even his friends." Liara bit her lip, she said a bit more then she intended to.
The conversation was interrupted by Miranda as she walked into the room. "Our leader will see you now, Liara." Liara got up and walked after Miranda, Feron was left in the room alone. Miranda led Liara to a separate room, after she walked in the doors shut behind her and Liara herd the noise of hologram generators powering up. After several seconds, the hologram transmission was up and running, Liara was standing a huge room, the size of the room was hard to determine, since it's walls served as hologram projectors themselves, showing a view of open space. There was one chair in the middle of the room with a man sitting in it. He was in his older years, yet still in top shape, he was wearing a business suit, but the most odd thing about this man were his eyes, that were glowing faint blue. Liara could have sworn she saw these eyes before. The man spoke, "Welcome miss T'Soni."
"Who are you?" Liara responded.
"I am the Illusive man."
"I thought we would me meeting in person Elusive man."
"That's Illusive, but of course you understand that a man of my position has... enemies, and this is just a necessary precaution."
"Why is Cerberus interested in Shepard?"
"Shepard is unique, one of the greatest examples of our species, a symbol for all humanity. Dead of alive, we want Shepard back in human hands." The Illusive man paused, "And unlike the Alliance military we can do something for him besides a burial."
Liara knew all too well what this man was talking about, "Even so, Shepard is dead, why would you want his corpse?"
"As an asari, I can't expect you to understand our traditions, but our reasons are not important. What is important, is that the Shadow Broker wants Shepard too."
Liara raised an eyebrow, "What does the Broker have to do with this?"
"The Broker has made a deal with the species, widely know as the Collectors."
Liara was surprised by that information, "But what the Collectors want with Shepard? They're just slavers."
"That's what I need you to find out. Few know that the Collectors want at all, they're a little more then just slavers. They often turned up on Omega with odd requests, but their interest in Shepard is alarming. We want Shepard's remains in any event, but it is vital that the Collectors do not have them. That is why we need you."
Liara was not convinced, "But why me? You have all these resources and people at your disposal."
"While I do have influence it doesn't stretch far into the terminus systems, the Broker has me outmatched there. Besides, nothing beats having someone with a personal motive driving them. You were very close to the Commander Shepard, when I learned you were on Omega, I knew I wanted you on my team. Your drell friend seems to have a lead on Shepard. Can we count on you?"
"I don't have much of a choice, and it seems that John has none at all..."