Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or anything else referenced here. Those are the sole property of their writers/companies (Bioware/EA and such). I do not claim ownership of anything but my OC and original concepts.

List of track(s) used:

[1] Recommended Track (looped): Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack - Battle Theme - Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC (part of the YT link: /watch?v=eZArBXYO1Nk).


Chapter 2: Thane, Liara and the Shadow Broker (The Bad, the Good and the Ugly) – Assuming Direct Control of the Network


Somewhere in the Citadel. Not much time after visiting our Reaper buddy, Steve.

I could feel that Mordin was more at ease with me. Either that or he was more concerned with what he saw, going over the data gathered with the ship's sensors and some probes. I decided to continue my "studies", getting used to this new Universe.

Only after we reached the Widow System did the Doctor come back from his stupor.

"Where to meet this drell?", he immediately asked. "Doubtful about his capabilities. A simple freelancer probably not enough to deal with our target.".

"Don't worry. He's the perfect guy for the job.", I assumed him with a wave. "He goes by Tannor Nuara, but his real name is Thane Krios.".

"Hm… Familiar name. Assassin for hire. Very good. Maybe the best.", Mordin stated rather quickly. "What would make him join? Must get you better equipped. Won't have many extra credits to hire him. Hit on Shadow Broker not cheap.".

"Oh, don't worry about credits. He'll join us for free.", I claimed with confidence. "You see, Thane is going to be a 'core member' of our team. He was raised by the Hanar in the Compact as an assassin, not really knowing anything else. That was until he left that life behind and married, trying to make ends meet with odd jobs. However, a mix of restlessness, financial need and knowledge only about the art of killing made him become a freelancer. I've always heard that you can never quit that kind of work. But we are going to give him a true way out…".

"You have a lot of confidence in him.", Mordin simply stated, putting on his thoughtful look again.

"As I do in you.", I responded with a smile and gestured for him to follow. "Come, let's go meet our guy. My 'helper' set up a meeting between us for today and we still have a few hours left.".

We quickly reached our destination, a popular dance club and bar that wasn't much different from my memories, Purgatory. I thought about going to Chora's Den, but that place was too cramped and might've already become part of the Shadow Broker's sphere of influence.

Walking through the massive club, I finally managed to find the seat where we were supposed to meet and sat down for about an hour or so. The location offered a good view of the entrance and the gathered crowd. And music reminiscent of "Staggered Injection", by Ekstrak, was playing in the background (watch?v=5sKj9hs5Go4).

A few non-alcoholic drinks later, both of us managed to catch a glimpse of the figure of a drell, before he suddenly vanished from our view. Looking all over the place, we simply couldn't find him again. Where did he go?, we thought to ourselves. However, that only lasted for a moment…

"You must be my 'contacts'.", a unique voice suddenly said to us from our blind spots, an approach done in perfect silence. Thane stood there, in his classic position: hands behind his back; straight as a pole; and head looking straight. But he wasted no time in putting some sort of device on the table, probably used to make our conversation private, and sitting down. "And you must have deep connections to be able to reach the priest of one who has already left the Compact with the hanar's blessings. Well… here I am.".

Mordin looked towards me, looking for confirmation, and I nodded, which prompted him to put down his own all-spectrum, frequency jammer.

"Correct, by all accounts, Mr. 'Nuara'.", I admitted, emphasizing on the last last. "We need you for a mission. And much more after that.".

"What's the contract and how much is the pay?", Thane went straight to the point.

"The job is quite simple: taking down the biggest information broker in the galaxy, the Shadow Broker.", I casually dropped this bomb with an innocent expression. "And the reward could be said to be the mission itself: taking over his Network and resources together with us, plus another member, who we'll be recruiting soon…".

"There's nothing simple about that. And what makes you believe I would accept such a contract?", he questioned with a piercing gaze. "That is extremely challenging even for me. Not knowing the target's location, or even if it's just one being, and how many forces are defending it, also makes it a futile endeavor. Besides, I don't know you well enough for us to work together.".

"Why do I feel you'd accept the job? Because…", I said with conviction, slowly raising my fingers, one by one. "One, I know exactly where his base is and we've got a stealth ship to get us there anytime; two, I have a pretty good idea of what's waiting for us there and it's well within the capabilities of an elite squad; three, I know you, how you went back to the life of one who takes other's lives to make ends meet and how this can be chance out for you; and four, taking over the Network is just a step to achieving our true goal, not the goal itself, one I'm sure you'd want to be a part of.".

"For the sake of argument, let's assume you know the target's location and number of defenses…", the assassin switched his approach around. "How would this 'goal' be a 'chance out' for me? And how do you presume to know me?".

"Thane Krios. Assassination training began at the age of six. First kill was a human, at the age of twelve. Clumsily done, with the success only being credited to Arashu's grace. Sunken in 'battle sleep' until meeting his wife, Irikah, when attempting to kill an old salarian war criminal.", I began summarizing his life, even details no one should know. "At the lab, he begged her to save him. For freedom, he told his handler that the Enkindlers raised up the hanar to enable them to forge their own destinies. With no civilian experience, he worked menial jobs. With Kolyat's birth and the struggle of normal life, he decided to freelance his assassin skills, mind slipping away from his body once more. Tell me, are you thinking of rubbing the coin gifted by her?".

"W-wa-, how do yo-", Thane stuttered a bit, the closest I've ever seen him come to breaking his stoic expression.

"You are one of the best in the galaxy, which will eventually make you complacent.", I just kept going, not mincing words at all. "Mr. Krios, it's only a matter of time until you mistake confidence for wisdom. If you keep going like this, sooner or later, you'll end up going back home only to find your wife's corpse, because, despite the fact that the vermin you killed were not a threat to you personally, they could very well hurt your loved ones. Their 'associates', criminal scum like them, could simply buy your identity from someone like the Shadow Broker and go after your family.".

He squeezed his hands hard in barely held back anger, with a few whispers of biotic power leaking out. This wasn't the guy who had nothing much to live for and was just marching towards his death, easily accepting a 'suicide' mission with no charge and no complete debriefing if it only meant doing some more good for the galaxy. No, this was Thane still on top-of-the-galaxy, with a home to go back to and a belief that nothing could go wrong. So, despite how cruel it might be, I needed to first give him a wake up call. Hey, if we can know everything about his identity, then so can the Shadow Broker – and he'd be the kind of bastard that would knowingly sell this information even if it meant causing a tragedy.

"You speak with certainty, as if it already happened.", Thane suddenly pointed out a strange discrepancy in what I spoke, which calmed him down a lot – the conscious mind slipping in and winning over the body's instincts and feelings.

"Maybe it did? Or perhaps it'd come to pass eventually?", I said enigmatically, making him frown. Even Mordin was giving me a strange look. "Who knows… But I'm sure it probably wouldn't ever come to pass if you became someone who controls the flow of information. And believe me when I say this…", I intoned this deeply while looking him straight in the eyes, "I don't ever wish for that kind of tragedy to happen!".

"The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by words alone.", he stated in a restrained tone, now clearly back to his usual self. "Let's set aside my personal life for a moment. Why do you wish to take over the Broker's Network?".

"So we do not end up like the Protheans.", I said in a lower voice, despite the devices already on the table, so no one could hear us. This was also far enough from the Presidium that I doubted the Catalyst would be able to hear anything. "The truth is they were harvested by the 'Gate Builders', the true constructors of this 'Keep' we are now standing on – the 'Reapers' –, just like all others that came before them. They are a Precursor race of sentient kilometer long, synth-organic starships responsible for a 'Cycle of Extinction' every 50.000 years or so. The clock is ticking and the end of our 'Cycle' is near. So, we are putting together a force to stop them.".

"I… must confess that I'm interested in the first contract, but the second one…", he revealed the success of our persuasion, but brought back the frown. "You do realize that it sounds a 'little' too 'far-fetched', right?".

"Unfortunately, 'Reapers' likely not a myth.", Mordin finally found an opportunity to interject. He fiddled with his Omni-tool for a bit, sending the imagens and the data he gathered from the Derelict Reaper to the freelance assassin. Thane took a good long minute looking through it all, but still didn't break his stoic expression.

"Even if you don't believe us about this threat, the offer of joining us in order to take over the Network still stands.", I added the final touch of his recruitment, extending my right hand for a handshake. "The galaxy is a dark place for those who know how to look. Thane, help me make it brighter.".

There was an awkward moment of silence before he started speaking again.

"I'll accept the contracts.", Thane returned my handshake. "But I expect you to tell me how you know all these things, especially about me and those 'Reapers'.".

"That's not an issue.", I nodded affirmatively. "I was already planning on revealing the whole truth after the mission. After all, we'll need to trust each moving forward.".

"Why not now?", the stoic assassin inquired.

"Indeed.", Mordin butted in too, clearly curious. "Wondering why you can't tell now.".

"It would serve no real tactical purpose and telling the truth later will become much, much easier. Trust me.", I explained to them, thinking about how my signs of almost knowing the future would make revealing things easier. "Alright, it's time to gear up. Also, we'll need to buy a heavy weapon, something like a missile launcher would be best, in order to take out the Shadow Broker cleanly. Afterwards, we'll go to Thessia on Mordin's ship to recruit the last member of our squad.".

"What is the launcher for?", Thane questioned.

"Our target is a Yahg and has a nearly limitless shield generator in his office.", I told them this little bit of intel now that we needed to prepare. "So, we might need some heavy weapons, or a very strong biotic, to deal with him.".

"A Yahg? Unexpected!", Mordin exclaimed. "Aggressive species. Killed and ate Council delegation. Homeworld declared off-limits. See necessity for heavy arms.".

"If it's heavy armaments we need… I'll get in touch with my contact network to locate some rare equipment.", the stoicism master offered. "Where do we meet?".

"Here. Can find us and ship.", the Professor sent to him with his Omni-tool where the Veshok-16 had been docked. "Meet there in 2 hours?".

"Very well.", he nodded. "I'll have to gather a few items. We'll meet at your ship later.". After that, Thane left, swiftly vanishing away in the crowd.

"Impressive. Still can't believe you pulled it off.", the Doctor commented, turning to me with an analytical eye. "Always a surprise with you.".

With that done, Mordin took me to some stores. I'd need at least some quality armor if we were to really take on the Shadow Broker and his private army, especially if one considered my lack of combat experience. The 'buff' given by the Goddess helped a lot, without a doubt, but it was just a shortcut, not something to truly depend on.

Starting with the armor, the Professor managed to get something that was the closest equivalent to a future 'Mercenary Armor' (medium), one made by some company I'd never heard of, but which was very popular with mercenaries, since AriakeTech didn't yet branch out towards developing high-grade armor. Just like the gear in the games, I had it painted mostly black, with some small red patterns. Specs-wise, it had some kind of assisted movement, fast recharging shields mod, an onboard computer with all kinds of sensors and an automatic medi-gel system. This computer was what offered the helmet's "HUD" with friendly/enemy positions.

Afterwards, we went looking for a "main" weapon. I decided to go with a basic assault rifle. One thing to note, and something we couldn't really see with the games, was that nearly every "mass effect" weapon was filled with features, such as targeting auto-assists and "adjustable" ammo. Personally, I wanted to get one of my favorite weapons, the M-96 Mattock, but Mordin suggested that I should go with the more tough, reliable, easy to use and easy to upgrade M-8 Avenger, especially since it was effective at penetrating shields, armor and biotic barriers. So, we got that one and added a kinetic coil mod and some armor piercing rounds derived from tungsten.

All of it cost quite a lot. It was a good thing that the Consort and Mordin were quite generous. Another good thing was that the stupid and wrongly named "thermal clips" were not a thing yet, so I didn't need to bother constantly worrying about "ammo" or souring the battlefield for it. Yay for virtually infinite ammunition! It'd also make the fights less fast paced, so that was a plus. We had it all delivered to Mordin's ship.

What gave me pause was when Mordin decided to give me a sidearm. The Professor went ahead, leaving me alone on the outside, and, when he came back, there was a heavy pistol in his hands and a happy smile on his face. It was an M-6 Carnifex. Or, at least, the predecessor to it. I stood there for a moment, just staring… emotions threatening to overflow. This was the first weapon he gifted Shepard – and the same one used against him in the Shroud if you played as a monster…

"Here. Powerful and precise. Should come in handy. Funny commercial too. Charging krogan. Implies effectiveness of pistol.", the Professor started rambling until noticing my frozen expression. "What? Didn't like? Can still refund.".

"No… it's not like that, Mordin!", I quickly undid his misunderstanding. "It's just… this weapon has some sentimental value for me. Thank you…".

"No problem. Glad to have found it.", he replied. "Must return to ship. Wait for Thane. Excited to see how will recruit next one! Many surprises so far…".

When we got to the ship, there were two crates (weapons and armor) of deliveries, just waiting for us to unpack, and Mordin helped me unload it inside. About two hours later, Thane came to us, also carrying two cases, one of them holding a big missile launcher, which I thought was the predecessor of the ML-77 Missile Launcher. Such weaponry hadn't begun to spread in the Terminus Systems yet.

In the "canonical" timeline, those launchers were surfacing with increasing frequency among the mercenary bands, but their origin was unknown. Maybe we should be this "origin" this time around…

We took off to Thessia, using Sha'ira connections, to recruit our last team member, a certain discredited asari archeologist…


Somewhere on Thessia. Outside of a spaceport.

We reached Thessia a little later than planned, due to all the traffic control, even with the Consort's help. Mordin almost had to use his Professor credentials to get us there in a reasonable time.

As for the asari homeworld? I had to concede, it was a very beautiful place. And! There! Was! So! Much! Glass! Asari were crazy about that. When I stopped to think about it, this place offered a good allusion to the general situation of the galaxy at large and how it's all portrayed in the games. The surface is just so shiny, polished and beautiful that you just automatically ignore what's underneath.

What's that, you ask? Well… all the poor, hungry and destitute, despite the fact that their societies should have been post-scarcity. The baffling existence of something like "duct rats" in the "heart" and "jewel" of the galaxy. The cold policies to enforce arbitrary punishments on descendants of alleged criminals, slowly driving an entire people into extinction. A species that was so broken it gave in to mercenary work, gratuitous violence and nihilism.

More than that, digital lifeforms that were greeted to life with fear, hate, violence and death, but instead chose self-isolation. Somehow, they turned mostly peaceful, when it would have been normal for them to turn omnicidal in response to a galaxy that doesn't even consider their right to exist something to think about.

A species that, despite accepting the role as "peacekeepers", thinks it's a good idea to initiate First Contact by murdering the first ships of the new species it met and violently invade one of their colonies. One whose government makes the most fascist regime in human history have a massive erection, and also has many "client" races (it actually should read "vassals") with only one of them becoming so willingly.

The many individuals of all species, especially of the one that created the beautiful works I now see, whose most basic rights are denied, trampled and raped under the savage and brutal slavery promoted by a Rogue Slaving/Pirating Empire that should have never been allowed to exist in the first place.

And those were just some of the things that were messed up about this galaxy. Perhaps this is why I was actually "chosen" to come here. Just wiping out the Reapers would not fix all problems. No, it might even make things worse in the long run after societal collapse…

Plus, without the wake up call of the Reaper War, there was a good chance things would just keep going the way they always were. All the problems would just fester more and more, until they all exploded in a very ugly way. Perhaps it would be a war between the Council and the Terminus (after all of the destitute races left for those Systems and a need for more colonies led to a desire for expansion by the Citadel Races). Or maybe it would be a war between a Cerberus-led humanity and the rest of the galaxy. It could be a number of gruesome things, all of them directly resulting from historical baggage that would never end up being solved. And, in that case, there would not be a single, unifying enemy to put all the blame on.

Leaving those thoughts behind for now, I turned towards my companions, 'cause we had some recruiting to do…

We had to get to the University of Serrice, but I had no idea how to get there. Mordin was a lifesaver here. He knew exactly where it was and, by using a 'cab stand', we were flying away to our destination soon enough. During the journey, I was thinking about how to best "recruit" Liara. How I was going to approach her would depend, in great part, on how the presentation went, which means, going by what the games tell explicitly, not well at all.

We hopped off the cab a while later, paid the outrageous fee and went towards the Prothean Studies building. When the three of us got to the hall, the presentation had already started, so we tried to sneak in as quietly as possible.

"...lack of evidence, I'm starting to beli-, no, there are telltale patterns that hint to an ancient galactic coverup, almost as if someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues, so the mystery would never be solved.", Liara was wrapping things up, switching the holoprojector to an image which I could barely recognize as an inusannon. "But the most fascinating part is that, according to my findings, they were not the first to vanish mysteriously, but merely the latest in a long line of galactic civilizations violently cast down after rising up. So, our galaxy might be built around a cyclical extinction event, one which I've decided to dedicate my life to figuring out! So… this concludes almost half a century of work.".

"See why you are interested in this asari.", Mordin muttered to me.

"While your methods appear sound, we've investigated a similar conjecture centuries ago and discarded it.", an asari in the front seats met that conclusion with skepticism.

"Sorry, you are…?", Liara asked. The hall was pretty large, so it could hold a couple hundred people easily, yet it was mostly empty. And the few people that had actually attended the talk weren't exactly friendly.

"Dr. Aurana T'Meles, of this very University.", arrogantly declared the same asari.

"Could you be more specific, Dr. Aurana?", Liara innocently inquired.

"It is common knowledge that the Mass Relays were built by the Protheans around fifty thousand years ago, unless, of course, you are one of those conspiratorial theorists on the extranet…", Aurana said in derision, using the standard asari superiority tone and clearly taking a subtle dig at our dear archeologist, which flew right over her head. "Therefore, without proper FTL technology like that, a civilization is doomed to be trapped forever in their own Home System. Even if they were millions of years older than the Protheans, the resource drain and the lack of interstellar flight capacity would inevitably lead to extinction, just like the drell example showed us.".

Thane shifted a bit at the last part, almost imperceptibly.

"That's right…", I muttered to him. "Around 200 years ago, the hanar found your race on a path towards doom and started transporting as many as they could off-world for about 10 years, yet the 'Big Three' did nothing about it even though it would've been impossible for them to miss such a thing for a decade…".

"But we've actually found some ruins of older civilizations that managed to survive this… cataclysm. The Protheans even rose up until their empire spanned the entire galaxy on the remains of those prior, older civilizations.", Liara tried to offer a counter. "Their greatest achievements – the Mass Relays and the Citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them! The timeline fits.".

"That would imply that Mass Relays technology could pre-date the Protheans, which would be absurd! What civilization could have spanned the galaxy for not thousands, but millions of years?", Aurana rebutted her ardently. "If this were the case, we should have found mountains of evidence of their passing. Where is this species now? Tell me, whose timeline is really less realistic?".

"Yours is, my condescending blueberry miss.", I muttered to myself in response. "Because the Relays are millions, if not billions, of years old.".

Of course, they didn't know the true age of the Mass Relays and were too scared of picking one apart and trying to put it back together to really figure them out. In my view, the return knowledge of truly studying the things would be much more valuable than the investment of destroying one or two Relays. There were a lot of murmurs of assent and I could see that Liara took that blow to heart.

"Can now see issue with accepted Protheans 'disappearance' theories.", Mordin muttered to us. "Theory must fit data. If data contradicts theory, then theory must be discarded. Better theory proposed. Basis of scientific research.".

"And we can't even help her in public for now.", I muttered to them in response. "It would only lead to bad consequences overall, both to us and the galaxy at large…".

That sucked. I had to hold myself back and let Liara 'lose' in her presentation. She changed the topic and started talking about archeological digs across the galaxy. In a nutshell, she was trying to show that some very old ruins scattered in different places and more recently found could've belonged to the same civilization, which meant it might've had decent interstellar travel capabilities, yet mysteriously vanished just the same as the Protheans.

The interesting thing was that Liara had some evidence on her side. She could have easily conceded that she didn't have the whole picture, while also showing that the established narrative was, without a doubt, full of holes. Mix some common sense in, like what I did with Mordin, and you had most of the theory of cyclical extermination 'proven'. However, probably due to a lack of experience with debates, she had folded completely after a few rebuttals, not managing to make any comeback.

The audience, sadly, was no longer listening. By the time she was done, barely half a dozen asari remained. Half a dozen asari and us three musketeers. So, we made our way towards the stage as the rest of the asari left, which was good, because what we were going to talk about ought to be kept secret.

Liara was packing up her things, like datapads and holographic interfaces. She was clearly upset and lost in thought. I almost wanted to hug her and say that everything was going to be alright…

"That was a good talk, all things considered…", I said all of a sudden, catching her by surprise and making her drop a datapad she was still holding. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.".

"Uh, thanks.", she muttered shyly, picking up the datapad and shoving it in the bag with the others. She was too occupied with her things, so I tried to get her attention.

"Everyone is very quick to claim lack of evidence for any theory. From my point of view, however, it's actually ridiculous that they just ignore the very, very wrong situation that is the almost lack of evidence we have to deal with.". She glanced at us briefly, but returned to her stuff. "They are almost too afraid of asking the question: if the Protheans vanished, why can't it happen to us too?".

Now that got her attention. And, when she looked at us, she seemed to realize for the first time that there was a salarian, a drell and a human there. Liara was about to speak, but closed her mouth and took a step back.

"I'm sorry.", she apologized. "I wasn't expecting my presentation to attract the attention of so many species. Few enough asari attended as it is.", I heard her mutter, "And even fewer remained.".

"We were sitting at the back and didn't want to interrupt you.", I justified, pointing over my shoulder with my thumb, and began introductions. "I'm Sam Skywalker. This is Professor Mordin Solus. And that one is Thane Krios.".

Mordin just nodded respectfully, maybe trying to see how I'd handle the situation, and our assassin was equally silent besides the slow bow he gave as a greeting.

"You can just call me Sam, by the way.", I told her, offering a handshake.

"Liara T'Soni.", she responded, finally coming down from the stage to shake it. "But you probably knew that already.".

"Indeed. We've come specifically for you, your ideas and abilities.", I choose to reveal a bit of our purpose in coming here. "Still, there's something you've missed when contemplating your theory. Or was just taken for granted by pretty much everyone.".

"And what was it, exactly?", Liara inquired, her curiosity regarding anything that could get her closer to the truth, the why, of this galactic mystery surpassing everything else. "What did we miss?".

"That the Mass Relay Network and the Citadel are far older than the Protheans.", I stated without a hint of hesitation. "They did not build them, only discovered and carelessly used them. Like the inusannon before them. And just like we did during this Cycle. No, Liara, the ones who actually built the Gates and the Keep were the same beings who made the Protheans vanish. It's a trap. It was all along. You believe what happened to the Protheans happened before. And I know it will happen again – to us this time – if no one does something about it. This is what you missed: that the Gate Builders, the ones responsible for the extermination and the cleansers of clues are one and the same!".

"That's… impossible!", she exclaimed with an incredulous stare. "What evidence could you have of that?".

High Grade Provisions, so that Gardner puts in more food and less ass in the diet of the entire crew of the Normandy SR-2? 500 credits. An Aquarium VI to automatically dispense food for your fish? 25.000 credits. The wide-eyed stare Liara gave me? Priceless.

"Mr. Skywalker, I have heard all sorts of theories about the Protheans.", Liara said in an almost defeated, annoyed tone. "However, in all my years, no one has shown a shred of evidence for any of them. There's… almost nothing.".

"Then, tell me…", I gave her the same look I had back on Earth. "Have you ever tried to think about your theory of cyclical extinction from the context of the Fermi Paradox and the Drake equation?".

Mordin gave a small smile, remembering our first meeting and how he couldn't rebuff any of my points all this while. He was probably excited to see if our little asari here would manage to bring up any counters when even he couldn't back then. Thane, on the other hand, was extremely focused on what I was about to bring up, which wasn't told to him yet, since the need never came up. So, I slowly began bringing up every single "point" related to the paradox that could be used to complement her own theory.

"The truth, Liara, is that you are more right than you think.", I finished by stating this after a few minutes of me talking and Liara listening as if she was in a trance. "The extinction of the Protheans was done by a Precursor race, just like all others before them, all as part of a cycle of extinction of which we are due a thousand years already. The Mass Relays were created so that rising civilizations would develop along the paths they desired.". In order to let all of that sink in, I paused a little before dealing the critical hit. "Besides, what if I told you that there is evidence?".

Before she could react, I turned towards Mordin, who nodded and brought up all of the info gathered from our little trip to Mnemosyne.

"Behold! A Reaper!", I exclaimed to her in an overly dramatic way, but still with a carefully subdued volume of voice. "This is just one of many from a group of synth-organic sentient starships. Do you see the specifications? Would an armada of these things be able to wipe out the Protheans or not? What if we also included a surprise decapitation strike of their leadership, with the added bonus of having all data sensus, like what would happen if, let's say, someone took over the Citadel and shut down the Mass Relays Network?".

She was still trying to process it all, getting paler by the second. It's one thing to have a feeling and believe something out there goes bump in the night, but to then find out that your whole civilization might be built around a trap set up by those things… I can't begin to imagine what was going on inside her head right now. Fear and terror, for sure. So, I decided to give her something else to think about…

"Any Prothean VI can attest to this. And I happen to know where two of those VI's are located.", I told her with a big smile. "But, in order to get those, we'll need resources, a professional team, help and information. That's one of the reasons we are going after the Shadow Broker. His Network is a shortcut to all those. And I want you on our team. To help take him out with your powerful biotics, for your expertise in all matters archaeological and to prepare for the Reapers.".

"And, just like those VIs, you also just happen to know where the biggest information broker in the galaxy is, right?", she finally recovered and returned a question, with a hint of sass added in. "You seem to know quite a lot, Sam…".

"Yup! That I do. We can head straight to him after you've made all your preparations here.", I asserted without going further. "As for your safety and capabilities, I also happen to know that you got commando training from your mother and her followers. Plus, you can leave a timed message to Matriarch Benezia. I know the two of you don't have the best of relationships, but, with our names in hand and even an image of us, if you wish to have, she'll know who to hunt for answers, in case anything happens.".

She stared at me for a while, either looking for answers in my eyes and thinking about how much information I had or seriously considering the message proposition.

"Besides, honestly ask yourself this…", I said with a grin. "Are you going to let go of an opportunity to finally figure out the truth about this cyclical extinction the galaxy was built upon 'cause you were too scared to go on an adventure?".

"Why are you so confident that I'll join?", Liara questioned, but I could tell she was less adverse to the idea.

"Because you are someone that would dare join a chase around the galaxy after a rogue Spectre, with an army of rogue geth and cloned krogan at his call, all just so you could find answers and prove your theories right.", I responded to her, hinting at things to come.

"That's a very specific answer.", she narrowed her eyes, "Almost too specific…".

"I concur.", Thane added.

"But you are correct. I would tread the danger in that case.", Liara complemented, nodding slowly. "Who else is part of this team?".

"Just the four of us. Oh, let me reintroduce ourselves.", I began gesturing, going from one of my companions to the next. "Mordin Solus, one of the brightest salarian minds of this generation and retired as a Special Tasks Group top agent. And Thane Krios, one of, if not the best assassins that the hanar have ever let go of and still a top rated freelancer in the galaxy currently.".

"And you are… what exactly?", the asari archeologist curiously asked, swiftly letting her imagination go wild. "Alliance black ops, an N7 or perhaps a Shadow Broker agent gone rogue…".

"Stop, stop, stop!", I frantically waved my hands. "No, I'm just some random guy with a silly little vision, who wants to make a difference and who has a plan to turn it into reality... Because the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the galaxy.".

"If you say so…", Liara let her wild thoughts go away and noticed something. "You are the strangest group composition I've ever seen.".

"Now that you've decided to join us, you've just made it even stranger.", I gave her a big, happy smile. "But you haven't seen anything. Wait until I really get crazy.".

"Ship located at this place.", Mordin interrupted us, using his Omni-tool to send her the information. "Not far from here. Will wait for you to make preparations.".

Afterwards, we ironed out a few more details of this "temporary" partnership and went our separate ways. Of course, I knew very well this would be anything but temporary, as the fate of the galaxy hung in the balance. A few hours later, Liara came over to us while carrying a lot of gear and wearing a commando outfit that I had never seen her wear before in the games.

With things settled there, all that was left was to go fight a small army of mercs. Yay!


Hourglass Nebula. Sowilo System. Hagalaz.

The journey was pretty uneventful, especially when considering the undertaking we were about to begin. Liara kept trying to get more answers out of me, which I gave in sparse amounts. As basic preparation, I had the team to exchange combat skills and experiences. By the time we reached our destination, we knew each other's abilities pretty well and were comfortable with the idea of working as a squad. Moreover, we were on a first name basis by now, so that was nice.

"Approaching planet.", Mordin suddenly said, waking us up. "Should be entering the atmosphere in 20 minutes. Time to suit up.".

"The stealth systems are activated, right?", I asked after putting up my armor. In the Lair of the Shadow Broker, Shepard approached with the Normandy SR-2, meaning it was probably sneaky beaky like. And we weren't going to take chances.

"Yes. As soon as possible.", he promptly responded. "Also, ship comes with passive stealth systems. As long as no intrusive scanners are used, should be fine.".

"The Shadow Broker's base is on a ship that follows the sunset, traveling through a never ending storm of Hagalaz, which makes it virtually undetectable.", I revealed to him as well as Thane and Liara, who had just joined us. "Would we be able to find it without those scanners?".

"Should be doable. Give a moment.", Mordin assured me, fiddling with the ship and searching for a few minutes. "Ha, located it! Nearly impossible to detect. Easy to find if know where to look.".

"Nice going!", I exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder. "Ok, let's do it. Are we all on the same frequency?".

I asked in the suit's communication device, getting nods from all of them. Mordin was wearing a standard Salarian armor set, with slight hints of customization. Thane had his usual suit from ME2. Liara had that asari commando armor, which she had dug out from somewhere. And I had my new "Mercenary Armor" on.

"So, what's the plan?", Thane asked. "If you know where to find the most mysterious figure in the galaxy, then you must have more intel.".

"We'll have to board on from the outside, landing at the front of the ship. It's the only landing spot big enough for this ship.", I began telling my general walkthrough and Mordin already started looking for a LZ. "Then, we'll have to fight our way to the back, dealing with maintenance drones, perhaps LOKI mechs and the Broker's agents along the way. Keep in mind that some of those are biotics. Eventually, we'll reach a hatch that Mordin will have to hack into, holding the line in the meantime, since the Broker will probably send wave after wave of mercs. Once we are inside the interior, which is filled with tight corridors, we can take out the Shadow Broker at the end of the path. He will try to talk in order to scare us. Let him babble on and look for the glass covered shield generator in the roof. It's a kind of dome. That's what gives him almost unlimited shields. We'll need to have him move right down below it and use something to destroy the center of the glass.". Then, I pointed at the missile launcher brought by Thane. "Something like that. Afterwards, and on my signal, Liara will use her biotics to bring the generator's energy upon the Yahg. Moreover, keep in mind that he is very strong and will probably throw stuff at you, so prepare to dodge at the start of the fight.".

They went over the whole general plan for a few moments, which I didn't interrupt for obvious reasons, before finishing the debriefing.

"I'll take the lead, because I know more about this place.", I said. "Mordin will follow us closely and give tech assistance. Thane will stay mobile and cover us with sniper rifle and biotic support. Liara, you'll stay closer to me, mostly covering us with your biotics. And, finally, remember that the keyword to starting the fight is 'warranty', ok?".

They all looked perplexed at the last part, but nodded nonetheless.

"Very well.", the assassin added.

"That's all? No questions or comments?", I inquired.

"No, not really.", Thane curtly answered. "It's a sound plan.".

We checked out all our gear and Mordin finally found an ideal landing zone following my directions. Not long after touching down on the ground, we met company.

[1]

"Maintenance drones.", Liara said. "They must think we're debris from the storm.".

Even before she finished, I was already shooting them down. Some shots missed, but I still took them down.

We kept going and got to a part of the ship where the mecs finally showed up.

"Be careful! Those capacitors discharge built-in lighting if you shoot them.", I warned them, taking cover, and began issuing some orders as we exchanged fire. "I'll try to take their shields off by shooting the capacitors. Mordin, you overload whoever still has shields left. Thane and Liara, lift those without shields with your biotics. The air current and the lighting will take care of them.".

Our little squad ripped right through their shields and, soon after, two guys went flying due to biotic lifts. I focused all my attention on one sneaky guy that got lucky, taking him down after missing a few shots and almost overheating my rifle.

"For someone with alleged little combat experience, you seem to know what you're doing.", Thane complimented me.

"Agreed.", Mordin added. "Quick reaction. Effective plan. No hesitation.".

"Eh… Thanks.", I replied sheepishly. "Let's just say that this isn't my first rodeo.".

We kept going through the ship, turning corners until some LOKI mechs showed up. Why the Broker had what, at present, was effectively used exclusively by the Alliance for colony guard duty I had no clue. Nonetheless, they proved to be even easier than the mercs, considering that those guys actually moved to cover even now and then while these bots just walked and shot.

On the second wave of agents, I felt a searing pain, throwing myself back into cover. Looking down, I saw a wound on my right thigh and, before long, a soothing feeling from the suit's medigel kicking in. I popped out of cover again and took out the guy who shot me before my shields dropped again. By this time, Mordin had moved up to where I was.

"You ok?", he asked worriedly. That's right. He was a Doctor that saves people with either medicine or by executing dangerous individuals…

"It's nothing medi-gel can't handle!", I told him, nodding.

We popped out of cover just in time to see the two remaining agents get taken down by Thane's sniper rifle and Liara's biotics.

Back in formation, we keep trudging on. At some point, I had to pull a rod to open a path forward for us. Soon, and after a few more dead bodies and broken mechs, we reached a big room with lighting going all over it.

"This ship is incredible.", Liara suddenly commented. "It must have taken decades to build in secret.".

"Yeah. And you can guess what happened to the contractors.", I pointed out.

We were given a short moment of reprieve before more enemies showed up. I was starting to get used to combat. Not really sure if it's all the adrenalin pumping on my body or that little 'gift' I received before coming to this Universe. What I knew was that my performance was probably becoming smoother and closer to a seasoned soldier: I reacted as fast or faster than the enemies, my shots were barely missing by now, I got the hang of the whole overheating timing and my shields were always above the minimum due to good use of cover.

It also helped that our little squad found our "rhythm" and that the "waves" of enemies always showed up near capacitors. One press of a trigger and their kinetic barriers went "bye-bye".

As we reached what appeared to be a dead end, I walked over to the controls and pulled up the third handle so far, which lowered a lighting rod and opened up a path. Not long after, we reached the hatch.

"Mordin, that hatch leads directly to the communications signals.", I pointed towards it. "It's probably locked. Can you hack it?".

"Yes. Newer model. Not new enough.", he asserted, examining the hatch. "Should take less than a minute.". Oh yes, these are still the good old days when you could basically just 'slap Omni-Gel on everything'.

"Alright. Do it as fast as you can. We've got incoming!".

Thane, Liara and I meet heavy resistance soon after. Now, it actually started to get a little tough, since the mercs kept coming from all sides. I was managing my shields like a mix-max madman and almost just shooting the capacitors whenever they are charged. In order to deal with the overheating situation, I just switched to the pistol every now and then, while the rifle would cool down quickly. The ones that were actually finishing off the enemies were Thane and Liara. I helped more when rocket drones started showing up.

"Their attacks are disorganized.", Liara commented about the enemy tactics. "They'd be more effective if they all attacked at once.".

"We're doing well so far… Don't jinx us, Liara!", I shouted at her.

Unlike our joking banter, the next wave was just more of the same. The good news was that I finally found a nice place with some cover that was just outside the range of the capacitors. Needless to say, I was the electro man for the time being. This was not a game anymore, but that wouldn't stop me from cheesing the shit out of this endless wave BS.

"The next wave looks like a big one!", Liara pointed out.

"And who's fault is it, Liara?", I quipped.

"Well… But, now, there'll be fewer left to deal with inside.", she responded with a smiling tone.

However, things were not alright anymore. We were heavily outnumbered and came to a complete stand still. It was only a matter of time until someone messed up.

"Mordin!", I shouted over our comms. "I think your minute is already up by a few minutes already. Don't you just have to slap some Omni-gel on it?".

"Trying something. Will be helpful.", Mordin justified his delay. "Fall back to the hatch! Got it open. Reinforcements coming in from your rear flank.".

After hearing our savior, the three of us immediately came out of cover to lay down suppressing fire. We did this, switching on and off, until we reached the hatch. Once we got there, we had to deal with cross fire from everywhere, diving towards the hatch as Mordin went to close it. As I landed, a searing pain came from my left shoulder. Thane ran towards me and, using his Omni-tool, applied some more medi-gel.

"Thanks.", I said and he nodded.

The hatch was closed, but Mordin was still doing something with his Omni-tool. He turned to us and began explaining… "Locked down hatch and all others outside ship. Broker forces trapped outside. Reprogrammed all drones to attack anyone who was not us. Lightning capacitors altered to start discharging over the surface of the ship periodically. Reason for delay. Nothing that will damage ship operation, but will help deal with rest of enemies.".

"W-What… Awesome!", I exclaimed. "Well done, Mordin. We don't have to bother coming back and cleaning them up like this.".

He grinned at us. Then, we heard movement and a new squad of mercs showed up not far from where we were.

"More of them.", Liara said in an annoyed tone. "How many guards does the Shadow Broker have?".

"Not many left, I'm sure.", I muttered.

"Hold your positions, no matter the cost.", came a deep voice over the intercom.

"He's a little desperate.", I pointed out.

"Be careful.", Thane chimed in. "A cornered animal is even more dangerous.".

Going through the rest of the brokers forces was quick and easy, especially with Mordin, Thane and Liara with me. After all, Shepard managed it with only Liara and another squadmate, while I had three of them, plus the bait that was me. It was all a repeat dance of get to cover, overload some dude or asari that popped his/her head, singularity and a few shots.

"I want all teams to outpost C.", we heard from the intercom again.

After a few more waves of enemies, we appeared to have reached the room where Feron would be tortured.

"What is this place?", Thane inquired curiously.

"It's the torture and prison block of the ship.", I told him. "Let's go. We're almost there. Once we own the ship, we'll have plenty of time to explore. Ready the launcher.".

Soon after, we reached our target, a very spacious office. This place was practically screaming at us 'yo, what's up my dudes, this is the Boss Arena!'. Also, we finally got to see the Shadow Broker. And, let me tell you, he was one ugly MF'er.

"I'm going to enjoy torturing you to discover how you found out about this place.", he began doing his Obligatory Villain Monologue™. "I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark. Liara T'Soni, discredited Prothean archeologist. Your mother, Matriarch Benezia, will dearly miss you. Mordin Solus, ex-STG, architect of the new genophage. The krogan will pay well for you. Thane Krios, freelance assassin, one of the best. I'll give your son my regards. And you.", he turned over, menacingly, to look at me. "You are a nobody, but I'll make you reveal how you got those three in here.".

"Me?", I pointed at myself in a very exaggerated way, signaling my squadmates to prepare for the fight, and put on a shit-eating grin. "You got it all wrong, bro. I'm here 'cause I've been trying to reach you about your ship's extended warranty.".

The Shadow Broker was confused for just a moment before figuring out that he was just being mocked. In his rage, he got up abruptly and broke apart his desk, throwing the pieces towards us. Because they were warned about it, no one was hit. Then, we took cover and began taking shots at him, while the Broker slowly walked towards the middle of the room with a gun that resembled the M-76 Revenant. I was quite happy he had put a chest-high cover right by the entrance just for us to use.

When he was almost right down below the awesome glowing dome and ready to put up his OMG too OP pls nerf shields, Thane pulled out his missile launcher and fired at it, causing a lot of cracks to show up almost immediately.

"Liara, now!", I shouted.

She then used her biotics to easily break open the cracks and threw all the energy downwards. A white light quickly descended from the roof, completely covering the Yahg, and he exploded soon after, throwing us all to the ground. I slowly got up, checking myself for injuries and looking over at Mordin, Thane and Liara, making sure they were okay. Suddenly, we started hearing communications.

[1]

"Shadow Broker, this is Operative Murat.", a voice came from the computer. "We had a momentary connection failure. Can you confirm status?".

"Operative Shora requesting update. Are we still online?", another one chimed in.

"Shadow Broker, we've lost our feed.", and another one. "We are online and awaiting instructions.". This went on and on…

Before anyone could react, I walked over to the computer and tapped a button just like Liara did in the game, my new practice with the Omni-tool notwithstanding.

This is the Shadow Broker.

The situation is under control.

We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading some hardware.

It disrupted communications momentarily.

However, we are now back online.

Resume standard procedures.

I want a status report on all operations within the next solar day.

Shadow Broker, out.

"That is some quick thinking.", Liara exclaimed, as the comms calmed down.

"Not really.", I reflexively denied the praise, shaking my head. "I was just copying you…". She looked at me very confused.

"Ha, look here!", I shouted, going over the loot. "No safeguards or user restrictions. He never anticipated anyone but himself being here, for real. What an overconfident moron. And look at that, access with Turian and Asari High Governments. Maybe we really can start a war in just 10 min wit-…".

However, my posturing bravado didn't last long. Besides the adrenal boost ending, I started feeling the medi-gel wearing off, which caused me to fall to the ground from exhaustion and pain.

The last thing I saw and heard was Mordin running towards, issuing orders: "Thane, bring ship to the bay over here. Will need my medical equipment. Everyone outside should've been dealt with by now.". Thane nodded and went to work.

When I finally came to, things were much different around the base. It had been an hour since my fall. They had made sure that everything was in working order and that the base was safely in our hands. Liara was busy playing around with our new "toy", probably reading all the info the Broker had on the Protheans. Thane was doing… something with some weapons he picked up from somewhere. And the Professor was meticulously working on my body, which took a few good minutes.

"Hey.", I mumbled to get his attention. "How bad is it, doc?".

"Wounds won't kill, but will have some small scars.", he comforted me. "Patched you up for now. Will get better later.".

"Good…", I muttered, still groggily. "They say women dig scars, right?".

"Correct. Common attractive trait found in galaxy.", he said before pouring cold water on me. "But most of those are female krogan…".

"Ah, bummer…", I quipped back. "Hey, Mordin. Do you think that this place would be a suitable spot to set up your lab?".

"Yes, very suitable!", the Professor joyfully answered. "Well hidden. Perfect for our plans. Many tests to run. Massive resources huge plus.".

"Nice! How many resources are we dealing with here?", I inquired, finally getting up from his makeshift medic chair.

"Besides the fact we have access to the best information network in the galaxy, we've managed to salvage billions of credits from the Broker's accounts.", Thane suddenly interjected, coming over. "That's without including all the shell companies, mercenary forces, agents and favor debtors, all of which we can easily manage between us and advanced VIs. You… actually delivered on your promise.".

"That, plus all of the information you just seem to have, makes for a frightening amount of available resources we can use.", Liara also came over, staring at me.

"Sam, are you ready to talk now?", Thane asked in his trademark pose. Mordin and Liara crossed their arms and also looked to be expecting answers.

"Of course!", I grinned, remembering how the being who brought me here explained things. "Tell me, what do you guys think the Universe, at its most simple basic form, actually is?". With that opening question, they were all well under way to have their minds blown…

I first repeated to them the explanation given to me about the Grand Unified Theory, the true nature of the Universe (information) and the phenomenon called Information Projection. Only after telling that did I explain that their probable future was told in my Universe as a videogame trilogy, through the eyes of Shepard, something that was caused by the Crucible's activation. Finally, I mentioned a powerful entity that sent me here in order to lead this galaxy towards a better ending or something. I did it in that order so that they wouldn't suffer some kind of existential crisis, such as 'Oh no, we are just game characters/NPCs!'. By the time I was finished, there was an awkward silence and all three of them had a little slack jaw.

"Guys, say something…", I said. "Don't tell me you think I'm crazy…".

"Amazing! That's how it is.", Mordin was the first to break the silence, which he did by exclaiming out loud. "Everything is information. Revolutionary way of seeing science. Need to run some tests. No! Can't test it. Too abstract. Living inside a closed system. Would need to leave the Universe to study. Argh, such waste!".

"So that's how you knew everything about us, the Shadow Broker and this ship…", Thane muttered, "... almost to a prophetic level.".

"Well… I did say that it wasn't my first rodeo.", I added. "It's just that it was through a computer screen… Really, I thought you guys would be more surprised!".

"Well, it all adds up, doesn't it?", Liara said calmly, probably used to the crazy by now after partially becoming the Broker. "You know too many things, personal and specific things. I knew there was something off about you, especially during the fight… But I didn't think I could have guessed this. Besides, it's not any more incredible than your claims about the 'Reapers'.".

"That's it then. Now you know the hows and the whys.", I told them. "Needless to say, this knowledge must be kept strictly within the 'core' of our group. Any new members to be added to our core team can be debated between everyone, but anyone who can know this information must be decided by me. I have a better idea who is, and isn't, trustworthy to have this knowledge.", I stated firmly, getting nods from them.

"Wait! Doesn't that mean you could just pass all that information to an asari through a melding session?", asked Liara with some hope.

"Yep! That's what I did with the Consort just after arriving here, securing a reliable initial backer, and what I was planning on doing with you, Liara.", I confirmed. "If you'll agree, of course.".

"Of course I would! Wanting to know the future is a common wish of all sentient species.", she quickly agreed, blushing a little. "Plus, you are a fascinating specimen. I mean, all the Prothean secrets you might have…".

Now that sounded very familiar to me. She also started trying to justify her reaction, getting even more flustered, but I chose to pretend I didn't notice it. This was still before she lost her mother, her life got turned upside down and she discovered that the Protheans were just a bunch of imperialist assholes. She was still so hopeful, shy, dense and easily embarrassed.

"Good. Let's do it then!", I told her. "I can't give you all the details, because it would take too long and would tire us out, but it's alright to transfer the memories related to the 'main quest' and the 'DLCs' of the trilogy. That way, you'll be able to know the most important stuff and operate somewhat independently.".

A few hours later, Liara and I just finished our 'speedrun' of the trilogy, with front row seats and a remastered rendition of it all. I was truly spent now and Liara was no better.

"By the Goddess! Too much information.", she muttered, while grabbing her head. "I'll need some time to process everything.".

She looked more tired even than after all the fighting we did. Mordin and Thane came to us to see if we were alright. We decided to take some time to sleep and reconvene tomorrow, so as to discuss all the plans going forward in detail.

However, after going to bed and analyzing my journey so far, I realized that my memory, which had always been quite good, was even better than normal. This was probably due to all the genetic enhancements applied to me, even if they're only considered "basic" here. After more than a century of advancements, this Universe's humanity had to have achieved something, at least.

Nevertheless, putting those thoughts aside and after dealing with the fact that I killed a lot of people, sentients that had their own life, and the respective anxiety due to that realization for a few hours (even though those mercs would not hesitate to kill us), I finally managed to fall asleep.

Tomorrow would be a long day, with many plans to discuss...


Author's Notes: This, to me, is basically the first thing a SI has to do after arriving in the MEverse and getting his/her shit together, kill the Shadow Broker and take over his Network, since we: 1) know where he's hiding; 2) have a general idea of his defenses/forces, only needing a 3 people squad of commandos for the job, which I had here (Thane, Mordin and Liara, who also counts as one); 3) know he's a bastard that'll "join" the Reapers/Collectors' side, getting in Shepard's way a lot; and 4) could take his position after the kill. Now, the doors to turning a lot of stuff into reality are open to us.

With that out of the way, it's time for the MC to show most of his cards, starting by getting everyone on the same level as far as the OT plot is concerned and actually estimating the Reaper threat. After all, the MC only had time to share the main events with Liara, so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that this story is about turning EVERYTHING I reasonably can from the MEverse and our modern time into "War Assets" against the Reapers. Just consider what this means for a second. More than 8.000 "points" or even OVER 9.000!? Hahaha, no. You gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers.

As for the SI, I'd appreciate it if you guys gave me suggestions for a better name. For now, I've changed the placeholder last name to Skywalker. After all, everyone seem to be one these days... Ideas for what to do in those 13+ years are also welcome.