221Liara had clearly done well for herself as an information broker. The penthouse that she called home was expansive, covering more area than the Normandy's mess by a considerable margin and complimented by an impressive panorama of Illium's shining towers. It would be an idyllic view of prosperity, steady rain thumping against the glass, if not for the clean hole punched through the supposedly impenetrable material.
The other spectre, Tela Vasir, had already given him the run down. Whatever had made the shot it was powerful, likely a rifle as heavy as his own Widow. No blood indicated the sniper missed but Liara had cleared out quickly either way, leaving them with no idea of where she had gone. Nos Astra was a city of millions which would make it easy to hide in. Unfortunately it also made it difficult for the people that were trying to help you to do so.
Shepard had hoped that Vasir would have a better idea of where to start. She was the first spectre he'd met since gaining the position himself, and only the second at all after his brief association with Nihlus. Maybe it was his own personal connection to the events but she had seemed extremely casual about the entire affair. But then she had likely been doing this sort of things for decades while he had a tenure that could still be measured in months if you didn't count the two years he was listed as 'killed in action'.
"I'm not cut out for this," he sighed, lifting up an odd artifact that he assumed was prothean. It was a long shot but maybe Liara would have hidden something in one of her collection.
The sigh became a hiss when he forgot about his shoulder and lifted the item with both hands. Ignoring the protests from his wound he tried to ease the artifact back down gently. A second later a slightly smaller pair of hands joined his, bringing the heavy stone to rest. Tali shook her head with a tsking sound and touched his shoulder to check the puncture.
"You finally finished healing from the Collector Base and now this. Why didn't the armor seal the wound when Aethyta removed the blade in the first place?"
"Not enough impact to trigger bio-sealant and even if it had it would have sealed around the blade, armor wasn't designed with stabbing in mind," Shepard replied.
The quarian shook her head but didn't labor the issue and instead pressed some medi-gel into the small gap in his shoulder plate. "What now? Garrus and that other spectre haven't found anything either."
"Nothing other than the fact that your old shipmate had odd taste in decorations," Tela interjected suddenly, arching an inquisitive eyebrow at the pair. "A few ugly looking artifacts and pictures of planets I've never seen before. She apparently got her degree on Thessia, but I've been there. These holos definitely weren't taken there."
Shepard frowned and took the picture the other specter was holding. The holographic image shifted, at first showing the Normandy, and then changing to reveal ancient ruins. The stone columns were massive and choked with vines, statues looking down on the long corridor. Tela Vasir might have never been there but he had.
"Ilos," he said.
"Yea. Over here too," Garrus added, gesturing towards another image on the wall. "Never thought I'd see this place again. Figures Liara would keep pictures."
"She always was fascinated by the protheans. I wonder what she'll think when I tell her about the Collectors," Shepard replied.
Walking over to where Garrus was standing something caught his eye, causing him to glance back down at the picture in his hand. He realized the images were of the same part of Ilos, just because they entered the long tunnel that led to the Conduit. Flipping the picture in his hand he showed it to the turian.
"Look familiar?"
"It does... this is the same place in both images. Right before we went into the tunnel. This one is just more of a close up."
Tali had come up behind them, looking over their shoulders. "I hated that tunnel. Just remembering it still creeps me out."
"Wait, there's another of these," Garrus said, spinning on his heel and stalking across the room.
A desk was pushed against the wall and strewn with datapads. The turian rummaged through them until he came up with another small framed holo. Rather than a family picture or other reminder of the recent past it was once again a picture of the ruins on Ilos. This time of a single one of the prothean statues. He tapped the surface with one taloned finger.
"Here, a close up. That looks like the same statue to me."
"It is... Liara was obsessed with the protheans, but I can't believe this is chance. This one looks like..." Shepard trailed off.
He looked around the room until he spotted the item he was he had seen before. It was an ugly thing, the head from one of the prothean statues. Whether it was actually one of the ones from Ilos or elsewhere he didn't know but it matched the one item that appeared in all three pictures. Tali followed behind him, opening her omni-tool and scanning the artifact.
"I've already scanned the artifacts, Shepard. There's nothing there," Vasir informed him.
"Except these are prothean, and prothean stuff always seems to be a little strange. Which would explain why something might not show up on a scan. Help me with this, Garrus," he said, nodding towards the artifact. "You weren't on Ilos... this was meant for one of the five other people that would have been on that mission."
His turian complain lifted the large piece of stone with a grunt, while he and Tali examined its surface. It was the same stuff everything else in those ruins had been made of, a vaguely yellow-brown color and amazingly hard. Tali made a small sound of surprised and he saw her fingers delve into a crevice. A second later she was holding a small data disk.
Vasir shrugged. "It seems I underestimated you."
"Consider yourself lucky. Usually people that do that end up dead," Tali replied before he respond and walked to the small terminal on the nearby desk, popping the disk into the system. The recorded image of a salarian appeared.
"Looks like your friend records her calls and thought this one was particularly important," Vasir observed.
On the screen the call continued, with Liara addressing the salarian. Sekat, apparently. They were discussing something regarding narrowing down a location in a specific star cluster, possible even to an individual planet. Clearly the contact knew something was up, nervously questioning the possible danger of the information he was obtaining. The call ended, not terribly enlightening, but it did give them a new location: Baria Frontiers, where Sekat worked.
"That has to be where she's going," Garrus said. "Otherwise why bother hiding this particular piece of information?"
Shepard nodded. "Which means we need to get there before anyone else figures this out."
"I have a car outside and I know where the Baria Frontiers offices are," the other spectre said, motioning for them to follow. "Let's go."
"I'm going to enter from the upper floors so we can't miss her. Get moving and I'll meet you in the middle," Vasir said, practically shoving them out of the vehicle.
"So bossy," Garrus grumbled as the aircar sped off.
"You'll survive," Tali said dryly.
"Still, you'd think we'd get a little more respect. I mean our spectre killed a Reaper. Two, technically. What has she done?"
Shepard scanned the area where they'd been dropped off. The building was fairly broad and uninteresting block of gray by Illium standards. Dozens of people were milling about in the large square in front of the offices. No security officers and rushing civilians, with any luck it meant that they had beat Liara's pursuers to the punch. And at the very least the rain had subsided to a mere drizzle. At Garrus' comment he glanced back and arched an eyebrow.
"Your spectre? I wasn't aware that Urz and I were of the same social status."
His quarian companion nodded in agreement and stepped next to him, patting his arm. "Indeed. Watch your mouth, Garrus. He's not 'our' spectre."
He smirked. "At least I get some respect."
"He's my spectre."
"Hey!"
The turian pushed past him, shoulders shaking with mirth. "No argument, Tali. You can keep him."
Tali was giving him what passed for an innocent look from beneath her smokey visor and he merely shook his head, following after Garrus. They had made it half way across the wide open common area when the world shattered into light and sound. A rumble like distant thunder was the only warning he before the explosion knocked him off his feet, heat washing over him as tiny pieces of debris peppered his skin.
Shaking his head the spectre looked around, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears. "Tali? Garrus?"
"Fine," Garrus coughed. "We're both fine."
Already on her feet Tali was levering Garrus back to his before moving over to him. She wrapped her strong fingers around the wrist of his good arm and hauled upwards, dragging him up. He looked back at the building to see thick, black smoke pouring from the windows and fires still licking at the walls. People were staggering around, some dark with soot and clutching bleeding wounds where shrapnel had struck them.
"Liara!" he gasped.
One of Tali's hand's came up to her voice modulator. "Oh keelah..."
"Come on, we've got to move. She could still be alive," Shepard urged, running in the opposite direction of the fleeing civilians, his companions right behind.
Stepping past the shattered doorway they entered a hellish scene. The lower floor hadn't been hit by the main blast, but the concussive force along with the explosion overloading almost every piece of equipment had done plenty of damage. Windows were shattered and consoles sparked with errant energy. He saw at least half a dozen people crumpled in unnatural positions. There was nothing they could do for them now.
"Do you remember where she said this Sekat's offices were?" he asked the turian at his side.
"Third floor."
A scream echoed over the muted alarms and crackling fires, punctuated by the unmistakable staccato sound of automatic weapons fire. Tali had her shotgun in hand in a flash and Garrus' rifle wasn't far behind. He drew the pistol at his hip and motioning them silently towards the door. He pressed his right shoulder against the door frame and slapped the controls. There was a moment of hesitation, a buzz of damaged machinery, then the door jerked open.
Soldiers in dark armor and full face helmets that looked almost identical to the mercenaries that had tried to cause problems at Aethyta's bar were advancing through the smokey corridor. A woman was trying to desperately to flee, one of the men training a rifle on her back. This wasn't subtle. This was bombs and hired killers gunning down civilians. Was the Shadow Broker really this desperate to kill Liara?
Just as the mercenary stepped into the hall to get a clear shot at the fleeing woman he caught a flurry of mass accelerator rounds to the chest. Garrus' first burst had stripped away his kinetic barriers, the second tearing into his armor, while Shepard's heavy pistol and punched right through. He was dead before he hit the ground. Another of the dark-armored men rounded the corner to investigate this sudden resistance only to take a burst from Tali's shotgun full in the chest for his troubles. The fleeing woman ran straight into Garrus, slapping at his armor hysterically.
"No!"
"It's okay, ma'am. We're the good guys, you understand? We're here to help. Tell me what's happening," Garrus prompted, easily slipping back into the old soothing 'cop' voice that Shepard remembered from when they had first met. "Look at me, you're going to be fine. Just tell me what's going on."
"I don't know! There was an explosion and then those men just came in shooting anyone that was still moving. People were trying to run... and they just kept firing..." the woman sobbed.
"Go on, the path is clear just run straight ahead and get outside. Security will be here soon," the turian ordered.
Nodding numbly the woman ran past them and into the lobby, out into the courtyards. He could hear the sound of sirens in the distance. Illium security could contain any fires and help the wounded by they wouldn't be much help against private soldiers, well-equipped and extremely ruthless ones at that. They were on their own for this one, he had already looked to his omni-tool and found that his communications were jammed. Tali could probably break through it but they didn't have the time.
"They're clearing the building. We've got to move fast. Garrus, take point. Tali, I'm going to cover you while you work the doors. Chances are you're going to have to work your magic to get some of these to open," he ordered.
"Your shoulder going to take this, Boss?" Garrus asked.
"Cybernetics and medi-gel, I'll be fine. Chakwas can yell at me later, for now if we don't move these guys might get to Liara before we do."
Tali followed after him as they approached the staircase. "John... you have to accept the fact that she might already be dead."
He shook his head. "I don't have to accept anything. If they're pouring a hit squad into this place then they must assume she's not dead either. I'm not losing another member of my crew, Tali."
She didn't respond, merely nodding and continuing forward. The next floor was far more damaged than the last, fires still burning in places and significant blast damage scoring the walls. Furniture was bent and twisted, looking like it had been thrown across the room by an angry toddler that was frustrated with its toys. There were more dead here, most killed by the explosion, but a few had clearly been gunned down while they tried to flee.
"Company!" Garrus barked.
The first rounds streaked over their heads as all three of them dropped behind the nearest cover. Half a dozen of the black-armored mercenaries were fanning out from the nearby stairwell, laying down a steady volume of fire with military precision. He pointed at Tali and balled his hand into a fist before raising two fingers and waggling them like bunny ears. It was an odd hand signal they'd worked out long ago for her drone. The quarian nodded and tapped her omni-tool, a small micro-dart firing over the low wall.
He could hear the muffled sounds of surprise as the combat drone surged to life, structured mass effect fields giving the little ball of energy its shape and form. The crackling sound of its discharge was his cue to emerge from cover. One soldier leaned around a corner, the last mistake he would make as Shepard's first double tap punched straight through his face plate. Garrus and Tali both unleashed their own bursts of fire and he saw another of their attackers fall, clutching his leg. Before they could finish the job his nearest companion grabbed the armor of his neck and dragged him into cover.
"These guys are good," his turian companion said over the roar of gunfire.
"Yea, but they're down one and another is wounded. Means they've only got four at full strength," Shepard said. "I'm going to try some some biotic tricks to mess up their cover, soon as you get an opening you both take it."
They both nodded. Ignoring the pain in his arm and focusing his thoughts on his abilities he stood, bringing his hand down in a fist against the ground. A rapid string of collapsing mass effect fields thundered across the room in a devastating chain, sending debris flying along with the heavy desk two of the mercenaries were using for cover. It was a technique Jack had been trying to teach him... a very useful one it would seem. One of the soldiers was taken out at the knees by Tali's shotgun while the other was quickly taken apart by a few quick bursts from Garrus' assault rifle.
Using the momentary chaos he reached out again and gripped the charred piece of furniture in a biotic hold, hurling it in the direction of the remaining two enemy operatives. By forcing them to keep their heads down it gave time for Tali and her drone to circle around one side while Garrus flanked the other. Too late the mercenaries realized the danger, attempting to bolt for the stairs while firing wildly. They didn't make it far.
"This is a mess. These guys are better equipped than even the Suns or Eclipse," Shepard said, slapping a fresh thermal into his pistol.
"And well-trained. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to deal with mercenaries that were actually dangerous," Garrus added.
"But how? Where does the Broker keep a private army?" Tali asked.
He shrugged. "Who knows, but he has to be one of the richest people in the galaxy, knowing what he knows. Cerberus managed to build an entire frigate under the Alliance's nose... I guess we shouldn't really be surprised if the Shadow Broker has his own merc company."
"Surprised? No. Annoyed? Definitely," Garrus said dryly and brought his rifle up into a ready position as they scaled the stairs to the third floor, carefully rounding each corner ready to fire. "Seems like we're the only ones that don't have our own disposable foot soldiers."
"Quality over quantity."
The turian grumbled. "Both would be nice for once."
Stepping onto the next floor it was clear this had been the target. To their left was nothing more than a gaping hole, exposing both floors above and below. There were few bodies here, most anyone that had been close was little more than disparate particles scattered to the wind by now. Garrus glanced down at his omni-tool and motioned them towards the end of the hallway where Sekat's offices must have been located. It seemed someone hadn't examined the floor plans quite closely enough if they'd been trying to kill that particular salarian with the blast.
Their slow approach changed abruptly to a run when the sound of weapons fire came from the offices. First was a single shot, followed up a few seconds later by two more. Bursting into the room they found a messy scene: a salarian was slumped across his desk, shot where he sat, while one of the Broker's private soldiers was dead on the floor. The office wasn't in good shape, a large hole blown in one wall and cracked monitors hanging on the wall. Tela Vasir was surveying the entire incident, a datapad in one hand, pistol in the other. At their entrance she turned her head and gave a small smile.
"Ah, Shepard. You're just in time-"
"For you to lead him into another trap?" an second voice interrupted.
He spun on his heel to see Liara stepping through the ruined doorway behind them, apparently untouched by the explosion that had rocked the building a few short minutes before. She was wearing a white, fitted outfit that seemed to double as business wear and unrestrictive armor, pistol on her hip and a cold look in her eyes. A far cry from the frightened archaeologist.
"Bloody hell, Liara. I was starting to think they'd gotten to you... this is Tela Vasir, she's a spectre," Shepard said, letting go of a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Why don't you just calm down, Ms. T'soni," the other asari said. "I'm sure we can work something out here..."
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Garrus asked.
His gaze flicked over to the spectre who he noticed was edging to the side, slipping the datapad in her hand into her belt. What was going on here? Vasir said she knew of Liara, not that they knew each other personally.
"She's the one that tried to kill me at my apartment!" Liara hissed. "Then she used you to track me down here so she could steal the data I came for... and kill Sekat in the process. She probably still has it on her."
Shepard fixed the other asari with a hard stare. "You used me."
Her smile became a disdainful smirk. "What can I say, I needed some fresh leads on locating Liara. Too bad you'll never get to see what's on this data disk, you little pure-blood bitch."
The biotic barrier sprang to life just in time to stop the burst of weapons fire from the other spectre. She was firing wildly and trying to bolt for the exit. Shepard didn't hesitate long enough to think about his actions, instead throwing himself forward to tackle the fleeing asari. The spiteful question had gone a long way to prove Liara's accusation and despite their strained relationship he trusted her. Dozens of people had died for that data. Letting Tela escape with it wasn't an option.
Of course a two hundred plus pound cybernetically enhanced soldier in full armor driving another hundred and fifty pounds of asari into what was an already almost completely shattered window wasn't the best combination either. This was only reinforced by the sounds of alarm he heard dimly behind him as both spectres crashed through the window and out into open air. With a howl of frustration Vasir cracked him in the side of the head with the butt of her pistol, making his head swim. The jarring impact of striking the ground wasn't nearly as hard as he was expecting, thanks to the other spectre choosing self preservation over inflicting more harm on him, triggering her biotic abilities to cushion the landing. It still hurt.
"You're insane!" Vasir yelled, pushing herself away and rolling to her feet unsteadily.
"So... I've been told," he grunted.
Following suit he levered himself onto one knee and then into a standing position, preparing for a fight. The asari had other ideas, turning with a curse and heading in the other direction, yelling something into her omni-tool. The spectre heard a faint thump behind him and turned to see Liara land, glowing with biotic power.
"We can't let her get away!" Liara yelled, running past him.
"Dammit, Liara, wait!"
It was no use, she was already moving beyond earshot. A pair of the Broker's mercenaries had emerged from the still burning building to try and cover the spectre's retreat, only to be knocked aside by a blast of biotic energy from the pursuing asari. He shook his head trying to clear it as he prepared to follow after.
"Shepard!" Garrus yelled, running out of the building with Tali right behind.
"Are you okay? What were you thinking?" the quarian yelled as she got closer.
"She's right, that was pretty crazy even for you, Boss."
"I'll be fine. We can't let Vasir escape with that data... we led her here, whatever she has must be important if the Shadow Broker is going to this much trouble to destroy it. On me," Shepard said, brushing off their concern.
"It seems that we've found another rogue spectre to put down."
His heart was pounding in his ears, the blood pumping through his veins simply making his shoulder throb harder. Vasir had led them on a chase through half of the damned tower that had housed the Baria Frontiers offices, a hunt that had included another dozen or so of the Broker's crack hit teams. Liara used a powerful shove to send another one hurtling to his death far below and Garrus' rifle gave a loud crack, a round punching through the face plate of the last of them.
"She's heading for the transit terminal!" the asari yelled, gesturing ahead where Vasir running.
Shepard examined the scene before him. Their quarry was running at full speed to one of the many waiting aircars, having been cut off from her original transport. Evening was drawing to a close and the last of the suns rays washed everything in a warm light, a stark contrast to the trail of violence they had left behind them in their pursuit. He had been forced to flank the last squad of mercenaries with Liara while Garrus and Tali kept them pinned down, but the soldiers had done their jobs. There was no way they could catch up to the other asari before she made it to the the terminal and his team with split, Tali and the turian sniper half way across the courtyard.
"Garrus! Take Tali and grab the nearest car. Stay on Vasir, we'll do the same!" he yelled.
The turian gave him an exaggerated thumbs up and headed down the other side to the nearest aircar, while he did the same. Liara was jogging along beside him. They hadn't said a great deal to each other since the abrupt reunion, fighting wasn't much of a time for introspection and catching up. Getting the 'old team' back together had worked well at least, despite two years apart they had operated almost as efficiently as they had in the days when the old Normandy was more than a ruined memory.
Apparently Liara was thinking the same thing, laughing ruefully. "I wasn't sure if you'd come or not, Shepard. After last time. This was... interesting, though. If Ashley were here it would be like old times."
"Yea, old times. Right," he said through gritted teeth. "If we don't manage to get ourselves killed we can talk about... whatever happened before later. For now let's just catch this bitch."
She nodded. "We can agree on that at least."
Shepard took the steps two at a time and slapped the door on the aircar, ushering Liara inside before climbing in himself and shutting the door. Bringing up a program he'd acquired from Tali he quickly overrode the standard controls and switched the vehicle to full manual. Not a moment too late as the engines on the car Vasir had commandeered flared to life, speeding away.
"Stay on her! If we lose her now we'll never be able to track her down!"
"Figured that out myself," Shepard replied. "I'm fine by the way. Thanks for asking."
He gunned the engine and the car shot out into the open air. The fleeing spectre wasn't looking to obey any safety or traffic laws, already dipping in and out of traffic in an attempt to put more space between the two of them. On the upside common aircars weren't exactly designed to be high performance vehicles and power that was being poured into the vehicles engines was leaving a noticeable contrail not to mention making it glow like a burning ember on even the basic scanners of their own car.
"I had confidence in your abilities."
Watching their target make a hard bank to the right and into what looked like an under construction tower the spectre smirked. "Let's hope that continues."
"Goddess!" Liara yelped as he made a similar maneuver and followed her in.
There was something satisfying in her surprise. Their quarry wasn't going to make things easy, both cars slipping past iron girders with mere inches to spare before diving back into the thick traffic that never seemed to end on Illium. His passenger had a deathgrip on the edge of her seat.
"She's getting away! Don't lose her, Shepard!"
"Not in this century she's not," he muttered, gunning the engine and dropping the aircar lower, slipping under traffic into the thin space between the oncoming stream of cars below. Alarms rang loudly in the cabin and he could see other drivers flashing their lights at him like he was simply a meandering drunk that had decided to take the manual controls after a long night at the bar. He pulled back up into the flow just in time to see something flashing red in front of him and swerve aside. A loud thump was audible behind them and the spectre watched another aircar go spinning out of control.
"Where the hell did she get mines?"
"Omni-tools are amazing things these days," his companion stated dryly before giving another yelp of surprise. A second mine had detonated and sent a cargo transport reeling to the side, directly into their path. "Truck!"
"I see the truck."
He banked to the side, the long expanse of the cargo pod looming closer as the engines whined pitifully, unhappy with the stress being put on them. Liara's hands were on the dash, blue fingers almost white in the intense grip she had on the faux leather.
"Truck, Shepard!"
"I see the god damn truck!"
The container slipped by them with an audible wooshing sound, Shepard gunning the engine to get past and keep on Vasir's tail. Glancing over at Liara he smirked. "I don't suppose they install weapons on public aircars on Illium?"
"It's an automated taxi. It has a fair meter."
"Wonderful."
"Right... what the hell are you doing?"
Their quarry slammed on her brakes as they closed on another congested tunnel. Rather than do the same he accelerated. Rapidly closing the distance between them he aimed the car at the rear of Vasir's. Realizing he wasn't going to stop she sped up once more, tightly hugging the tunnel walls to the continued blaring horns of the civilian drivers, Shepard right behind. A predatory smile was on his face as they slowly narrowed the gap between them.
Liara glanced at him and then back at the other car. "You're enjoying this."
"I'm not... not enjoying this."
"I'd forgotten what it was like being around you," she muttered.
The communication line on his omni-tool sprung to life, Tali's voice on the other end of the line. "We're right behind you, Shepard. Garrus is having trouble keeping up, though."
"He always was a little slow," he replied. "Just stay with me, we've got to bring her down before anyone else gets hurt."
Then she dropped another of those damned concussive mines. He pushed down on the stick until he felt the trim on the aircar scrape against the side of the tunnel, sparks flying behind them in a trail and the dull thud echoing once more... just in time to send the other car behind them slamming hard into the tunnel wall, smoke immediately pouring from the engine.
His heart leapt into his throat and he practically roared into the comm. "Tali!"
Relief was immediately when he got a quick reply. "Stupid bost'tet! We're okay, John... just get her! Losing power fast here, Garrus is going to have to set us down in the emergency landing area. Go, we'll catch up!"
"Okay. Be careful and comm the others for pick up. I'm going to finish this."
Finally emerging from the tunnel and into the open air between Illium's shining towers he saw his chance. Giving the engine every ounce of power he could Shepard finally caught up, trailing just behind the other spectre's vehicle. Without giving her a chance to escape he surged forward and slammed the hood of their own car into Vasir's rear bumper. Both cars shuddered under the impact, the manual control stick jerking back and forth in his hand like a living thing, but he wrestled it under control and pulled alongside. Vasir met his gaze through the tinted glass and jerked her own car to the side, slamming into theirs.
He gritted his teeth and returned the favor. "What do you think would happen if you hit the rear exhaust with a warp?"
The asari's brows lifted. "Something bad."
"Do it. I'll hit the emergency release on the door but you're only going to have one shot."
"I'll only need one," she replied coldly.
The two cars exchanged blows once more and when Vasir pulled away slightly he hit the button on the dash. Lights within the aircar went red and the hinges that held the swinging door closed released. Designed to allow easy escape in case of a crash, when traveling at a hundred kilometers an hour it simply flew off like a piece of paper in a typhoon. Which is exactly what it sounded like, the wind howling around them.
He could see Vasir's eyes widen in surprise trying to pull away but not reacting quickly enough. A bundle of dark energy lashed out from Liara's finger tips and into the rear of her car, metal crumpling like it was being crushed by a great fist. A split second later something else went wrong and a faint pop was heard. Smoke and sparks began to pour from the vents at the car's rear and it dropped into a barely controlled dive to the right.
Cutting power to the engines and pulling a hard turn Shepard followed, though not as quickly as he would have liked. Liara was yelling something but he couldn't hear her over the roar of the wind, not to mention he was too busy tracking the fall of Vasir's car. Finally it came to a rough, skidding halt on the upper floor of one of the spires. When they were close and the speed decreased he looked over at her.
"Now what were you saying?"
"This a hotel. It's called the Azure. If the Broker's soldiers come here it's going to be a slaughter house," Liara said.
"Thought you weren't worried about 'collateral damage' anymore. Sekat certainly already paid a high price for that data," he grunted and brought the aircar down on the nearest landing pad.
She fixed him with a glare. "Let's just catch her before she gets away and maybe it won't have been a price paid in vain."
They quickly exited the car, Liara moving ahead as before. Shepard winced and pressed his hand against his left shoulder for a moment before bringing up his omni-tool. A few quick taps and he felt a tiny prick against his neck, seconds later the flood of combat painkillers taking the edge off of the wound. Shaking his head he jogged to catch up to the asari who was already approaching the crashed aircar, pistol in hand.
"She's gone," Liara said. "But she's hurt... blood... leading this way."
As she said, there was a trail of purplish spatters on the ground, leading into the hotel. Motioning for her to continue he couldn't help but make an observation. "Blue blood even... if one thing I'll give the asari credit for it's dedication to a color."
"You have no idea. This place is called the 'Azure' because it's a well known favorite of races that enjoy the company of asari madiens. Azure being slang for an... ah certain part of the asari anatomy."
He arched an eyebrow, that last little bit of embarrassment in Liara's voice reminding him of his former crewmate before two years of his life had been stolen. "You mean-"
"One of the lower parts," she cut him off quickly.
They were getting odd looks as they circled the outside edge of the hotel's balcony, but no one stopped them in their pursuit of the blood trail. Glancing into the expansive bay windows even his cheeks flushed at some of the vids and activities going on within. It seemed money really could buy anything on Illium. Shaking his head once more he could hear sirens in the distance once more. Illium security always seemed to be just on time to be late.
"There, I see her!"
"Hold on a damn second," he hissed, but to no avail.
Vasir was half way across a large open air area, the seating area of what was likely a very expensive restaurant, when Liara raised her weapon and yelled. "Tela Vasir! This is over!"
He was too slow on the draw. Painkillers would do that if you didn't also dump in the accompany combat drug cocktail to go with them, and like an idea he hadn't. The spectre reached out and snatched a woman out of her chair. She was a human woman, middle aged, and did her best to run... but in a biotic burst of speed Vasir was on her. A vanguard it seemed. She was leaning heavily on her hostage, holding a pistol against her neck before he could line up a shot.
"Hrmph... what's your name girl?" Vasir demanded.
"M-Marianna."
"Marianna," the asari said, voice a thick hiss like a snake. "You want to live, don't you? Tell those nice people you want to live."
"Please! I... I have a son!" the woman stammered, tears running down her cheeks.
"You don't have to do this, Vasir," Shepard said firmly. "I'll give you one, one, chance to end this peacefully."
"This doesn't end peacefully. All you had to do was play nice. But you didn't. Then all you had to do was die and stay that way, but you couldn't manage that either. So now it gets ugly," the other spectre snarled. "Did you hear the woman, Shepard? She has a son. Wouldn't you like him to see her again? I hear losing a parent is just... devastating."
Beside him he saw Liara stiffen, the other asari fixing her with a look at those last words. He glanced over at her and nodded before turning his attention back to Vasir. Unfortunately they had a great many options, but all of them were bad. Ignoring the pain in his arm he dropped his hand to his back and wrapped his fingers around the handle of the blade there.
"I am going to end you, Vasir. Once and for all. Just like I did to the last of the Shadow Broker's agents."
"Keep thinking that. Now, weapons on the ground. Thermal clips too. Do it!" Vasir ordered. "Or you get to explain to Marianna's little boy why he gets to grow up without a mommy!"
Shepard smiled cruelly. "Really? That's the best you can do?"
"What?" the other spectre said.
"You call yourself a spectre. Pathetic. At least Saren was willing to fight me even if I killed him too... and he was twice the spectre you'll ever be, hiding behind a scared woman. How about this, I kill your hostage. And then I show you what a real spectre is made of?" he asked, voicing dripping in disdain.
"You're bluffing! Don't try me, Shepard! Unlike you I have the stomach to do what's needed."
He sneered. "Please. Tela Vasir, spectre? Try paid thug. I sacrificed hundreds of lives to save the Destiny Ascension. I personally destroyed the Purgatory with every soul aboard. I'm knee deep in blood, Vasir, so please tell me your entire plan doesn't revolver around me not shooting a damn hostage."
"And yours is to call me a coward? I'm not a child, Shepard!"
"Not quite. Mostly I just wanted to piss you off. Anger gives you tunnel vision sometimes doesn't it?"
"Wha-"
Her response was cut off by one of the tables flying from behind her and slamming into her back, sending her pistol and hostage flying from her grasp. While she'd be yelling at him, Liara had been able to edge to the side enough that Vasir hadn't noticed that tell-tale blue glow in time.
"I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do!" she practically screamed.
Liara was already firing, but her rounds caught only open air. The spectre pushed herself up and launched forward like a sprinter off the mark, a streak of biotic energy. If there was one tool the exceedingly rare vanguard always had at their disposal it was the unique ability to move impossibly fast. But physics was a cruel master and such speed made it almost impossible to turn once you had begun to move and just as impossible to stop short of a certain distance even if you wanted to.
The impact made his feet slide on the smooth floor, but he was ready for it, keeping his footing. Pain shot up his arm, the echoing the cry of agony that followed and the warm flood of blood on his hand. Shepard shook his head sadly.
"No... no you won't. You went too far, Vasir."
She looked down at his knife, buried to the hilt between her ribs by the force of her own charge. A cough racked her frame, purple-blue blue staining her lips. Her fingers grasped at the knife as she fell to her knees. "The Broker has given me good intel. Years worth. That saved lives... so if he needs someone to disappear, it was worth the price. What the Council wanted... did their dirty work for them."
"Sometimes you have to do something you'll regret for the rest of your life... so that someone else can live. So that a crisis can be averted. But you went down that path and never looked back," he said.
"Funny... coming from you. Cerberus. Your own unit on Akuze even. Now you're... working with them. Humans... have their Saren. Heh. No... I... did what was... necessary. Don't ever... judge... me... not you..."
And then she was gone, slumping to the side, the light gone from her eyes. Liara walked over and looked down at her passively before crouching, retrieving the small datapad she had stolen from Sekat's office. She looked at him once, for a long moment, and then walked away. Shepard knelt and retrieved his knife, cleaning it carefully, before walking away. Vasir's hostage had already fled. Security could deal with the mess. Vasir hadn't been Saren, but her motivation had been the same. Do what it takes to get the job done, no matter who paid the price.
Following Liara he found her standing on the balcony on the other side of the restaurant, datapad in hand. He nodded towards the device. "Was it worth it?"
"I know you don't approve. Sekat had no idea what he was involved in. I got him killed... but I'd do it again. I received information that Feron is still alive. And with this we can finally locate the Shadow Broker."
"I might not approve, but Vasir pulled the trigger. Not you," Shepard said. "You're telling me he found the Shadow Broker?"
"Close. He narrowed down a star cluster, he didn't have time to finish the rest but with a powerful enough computer and a little time I can finish his calculations. Then we'll finally know where he is. Everything is simple from there. We get in, we get Feron, and we get out. And we kill anyone that stands in our way, including the Shadow Broker."
"That much we can agree on... and I think I can help with the computer issue too."
"Good."
Liara turned on her heel and began walking away, towards the transit terminal, leaving him nonplussed. He quickly followed after and despite his better judgment placed a hand on the asari's shoulder, halting her.
"Dammit, wait a second for once, Liara! You've been going non-stop. When I hit the ground back there you didn't hesitate to leave me. Everything about you is driven now. Take half a minute and talk to me!"
She whirled and fixed him with a hard stare. "Talk to you about what?"
"How about us? About what happened the last time I was here," Shepard said, gesturing broadly.
"What happened? You died!"
"I came back!"
"Yes, you came back. After spending a few weeks flying around the galaxy and then showing up like you'd been gone for a week!"
He sighed. "You think this was easy for me? Everything ended for me! And then I wake up and two years are gone. Gone! My friends are gone. My life, my reputation, everything! Then I finally come here and the one person that I expected to be behind me, to be the happiest that I'm alive... is like someone I've never met. Garrus and Tali might have changed, but they joined me all the same."
"Yes, and what does Tali look like beneath that helmet?" Liara asked acidly.
"Don't bring her into this. That girl is the only reason I'm still sane. Even after everything that happened she still loved me."
"Then why do you care so much about 'us'? Sounds like I've been pushed aside quite easily."
Shepard grabbed the asari's shoulders in frustration. "You just don't get it, do you? What we had... we didn't know what it was. We had one night where everything was right. Were we in love? I don't know. My friends, you, were the things I thought of when I took my last breath. I could have loved you, Liara. That's what makes it worse. Instead you told me I was to blame for turning you into a killer."
The asari was blinking rapidly, forcing away tears that made him regret the outburst. It wouldn't help anything. He was going to apologize when she spoke before he could. "You're... right. I was just so... so angry. You confronted me about Nyxeris and... after you left I thought about what you said. I don't always enjoy what I've become. But I was wrong to blame you for it. All you ever did was try to help people."
"I can't fix what happened, Liara. But at least we can find Feron without fighting about our choices the entire trip. It's the past... it can't be changed, and this is where we are now. If nothing else I owe him for keeping me out of the Collector's hands."
"I... I did miss you," Liara said quietly.
Then she moved closer, his hands still on her shoulders, and he felt lips on his. Soft, yielding, and warm. It was a sensation Shepard had never quite forgotten, even after spending two years dead the memory of the night before Ilos was something that would always be with him. After that brief pause his brain caught up to his senses and he pushed Liara away, shaking his head.
"We... this can't happen, Liara. I'll always care about you but Tali isn't some fling or moment of weakness. I'm in love with her. I need her like I've never needed anything in my life."
"N-No, I understand. It was just a moment of weakness, Shepard. I realize we can never go back to the way we were. I'm sorry," Liara sighed, stepping away and covering her face.
"It's okay. I've had plenty of those myself. Look, why don't we get moving. There are some old faces on the Normandy that I'm sure will be happy to see you again. I'll even introduce you to my fancy, highly illegal AI and we can crack that data."
"I'd like that. Thank you, Shepard. It's been so long as I've even had a conversation with someone I can trust."
He motioned towards the transport terminal. "Come on, this ride will be smooth I promise."
The asari smiled. "I don't know, you always find some way to get into trouble."
"You have a point."
Sorry for how late this one was, seems my average is going down. Hopefully we can fix that with the next one!