The medical bay hummed quietly, insulated against what little sound the Normandy made while underway, its own equipment providing the ambient noise. Shepard sighed, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes for a moment. As he'd promised the ride back had been far less eventful. Tali and Garrus had managed to extract themselves from their own vehicle quickly and had been picked up by Samara by the time Vasir had been dealt with. The duo had been surprised to see Liara accompanying him, especially when he informed them that she was coming aboard for the mission, but no one had raised any objections.

Once the team had made it back aboard without further incident Tali had headed for engineering, promising to return shortly and make sure Chakwas was berating him thoroughly for getting injured again. Now he was just waiting for the medigel to dry but he hadn't seen her yet. He hoped their new repairs hadn't caused some sort of problem, but he assumed EDI would have informed him. His eyes snapped open when a pressure bandage was slapped on his shoulder, causing him to give a startled yelp of pain.

"Son of a-"

"Don't curse at me, Shepard," Chakwas said sternly. "You should know better than this, all that running around made the wound twice as severe as it would have been otherwise."

"I know. But I just couldn't wait around for it to get better," he replied.

"I assumed as much, but you still need to be reminded occasionally not to over do it," the doctor informed him, tone become gentler. "I see you brought Liara back with you."

He nodded.

"Don't go all silent on me, John Shepard. The most of them might not know that the two of your had history, but I certainly do. Are you going to be alright, having her on the ship again?"

"I'll be fine, doc. We settled things, well enough things, back on Illium. What we had is in the past, now I just hope we can work together as friends. Last I checked she was going to visit Joker in the cockpit," Shepard said.

It was Chakwas' turn to nod. "I suspected she might visit the few of us from the old Normandy. What about Garrus and Tali?"

"Garrus seems to be taking things in stride as usual. It's not like things are ever going to go back to the way they were but I know he cracked at least one joke with her. Tali... well she was a little more stand-offish. I think she'll come around, though."

"Well, she has reason to be. Your last encounter with Liara didn't go well, but now you're friendly again? Tali is a strong woman and absolutely confident when its an area she understands. But she's the polar opposite when she's in unfamiliar territory."

"I made it clear to Liara that what we had is over. And Tali has to know how I feel about her by now," the spectre said.

Chakwas chuckled. "There is nothing quite as tumultuous as young love, Commander. Everything you feel, you feel twice as strongly. Reason doesn't need to enter into the equation."

"I think she's perfectly reasonable. We both are."

"I think some might argue that a human falling in love with a woman from another species that is trapped in an environment suit is the very definition of a quixotic romance," she countered. "I wasn't just talking about her, after all. The only thing less subtle than your feelings for her during the entire mission was how poorly you managed to hide them."

"I should just shut up before I dig myself any deeper, huh?" Shepard asked with a smirk.

"Wisdom at last," Chakwas laughed. "Your shoulder should heal quickly, I've sealed the wound and your own natural abilities should speed up the process."

Shepard spun his legs around and hopped off the medical bed. Giving the shoulder a few quick flexes before pulling his shirt back on he gave the doctor a nod of thanks. "Feels much better. I'm going to check on everyone, make sure things are going smoothly. We've got a little bit of a trip to the star cluster indicated in that data."

"Try not to over do it in the meantime. That means no sparring with Garrus."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a mock salute, backing out of the medbay at Chakwas' stern look.

He headed for the elevator, taking it up to the CIC. Kelly practically ambushed him as he came out of the door, dragging him over to her terminal. When he tried to say something she held up a finger and turned, fingers skimming across the holographic keyboard until a long list appeared.

"This is the list of crew issues and complaints. In the last twenty four hours," she stated.

"I'm assuming they aren't normally this bad?" he asked.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Hardly. Miranda usually takes care of it, but at most its some sort of request to change a shift or a bunk schedule. The occasional complaint about someone being 'inappropriate'. Donnelly gets a few of those but things are generally harmless."

"I don't understand, what's different?"

"The Shadow Broker," she said with a sigh.

Shepard frowned. "The Shadow Broker is making my crew bitchy? That seems rather a stretch even for him."

"Commander, almost every society works under a social contract. People are nice to one another, they get along. Sometimes they say or do things that aren't nice, but everyone operates under the idea of 'what you don't know won't hurt you'. We tell little white lies to make people feel better. The Shadow Broker is dumping every piece of information he or she has on us. Recorded conversations, extranet messages."

"Bloody hell... in other words if we can't be killed with guns, we'll be buried under dirty little secrets," he sighed.

"Exactly. Thankfully nothing too major so far but it's definitely made tempers flare."

"Just try to smooth things over, these people have fought and nearly died together, I can't believe some white lies are going to make them turn on one another."

Kelly nodded. "I agree, sir, but I think some are worried that if the Broker knows this sort of info, what about their families and friends?"

"I know. I made contact with some friends of my own after I pulled up the crew list Miranda had conveniently left for me. Reassure them everything will be alright as best you can and that no one has been forgotten."

"Of course. I'll do my best, Commander."

"Thanks, Kelly. Do what you can, if anything major comes up alert me immediately and I'll handle it. This will be over soon," Shepard promised.

Leaving the yeoman behind Shepard headed for the cockpit, finding Joker at the controls as always, and conversing heatedly with EDI and waving his hands around the cockpit. He followed his arms across his chest and frowned.

"Don't tell me the Broker even has you two fighting?"

"Huh?" Joker asked blankly, turning in his chair towards the source of the interruption. "Broker?"

"The Shadow Broker has been attempting to disrupt moral and unit cohesion by revealing private information about the crew to other members of the team, Jeff," EDI explained.

"Oh. No, no meddling here. Besides, what's he going to send me? 'Urgent Mail: Garrus Vakarian Once Had a Pole All The Way Up His Arse'. Film at eleven. Yea, got that memo," the pilot said in his best newscaster voice.

"So what were you arguing about?" he asked.

"Jeff was in disagreement with me regarding the merits of the three old earth Star Wars film trilogies that were released as 2-D theatrical productions in the 20th and early 21st centuries. I contend that the subsequent films greater technological development provided a more immersive picture of the universe the creator was attempting to display."

Joker rolled his eyes. "And I contend that they were soulless crap after the first three."

"It's good to know that my pilot and my ship are utilizing their time so wisely," Shepard said dryly. "What's our ETA, Joker?"

Swiveling back to the console Joker tapped a few commands into the system and brought up the star map. He tossed a look over his shoulder. "Well, we're about two days out from the star cluster Liara pointed out. After that? Depends on where she narrows it down to. If it's on the other side of the cluster? Add another twelve hours tops."

"I am presently working with Ms. T'Soni to isolate the Shadow Broker's probable location. There are four solar systems within this cluster with a total of thirty-eight solar bodies of sufficient size and tolerances to house a base or station," EDI said. "At this time I have eliminated at least four possibilities. I estimate another ten to eighteen hours before we are able to isolate the location to a single planet."

"How, exactly, does that work?"

"The data provided is very detailed and exact. We will be examining possible locations based on atmospheric data, gravitational anomalies, and stellar debris. Despite the daunting scale of a solar system habitation by known sentient life does leave some trace."

"Right... I won't pretend to understand how that works," the spectre said. "Inform me as soon as you find anything."

EDI's hologram pulsed once. "Of course, Commander."

Shepard turned to exit the cockpit, pausing for a moment to look over his shoulder at the pilot and AI. "Oh, and Joker is right. The first three were the best. It's not all about the tech, EDI. It's about the charm."

"In your face, EDI!"

"I do not possess a 'face', Mr. Moreau," the AI responded tersely.

He merely chuckled and headed towards the elevator.

"Engagement of hostile forces was not optimal. Insufficient firepower to deal with full tactical units. Enemy numbers sufficient to perform grid based sweeps to discover our location."

Miranda sighed and leaned against the wall, gripping the Tempest between her hands tightly and doing her best to focus. Infuriating as he could be at times, Mordin was right. The soldiers the Shadow Broker had sent weren't plain clothes mercs looking for an easy score. They were wearing full combat gear: heavy armor, assault rifles, grenades... the entire kit. While Jacob was the only member of her own team to be wearing anything heavier than clothes reinforced with ballistic cloth.

They had arrived in time, but just barely. She had ordered the two local Cerberus agents to extract her sister to a safe house immediately and they hadn't questioned her. It seemed the Illusive Man hadn't decided to cut her off completely yet, despite her standing behind Shepard's decision to destroy the base. Kasumi had reported movement, lots of it, in the dead of the night. And she had decided to engage to buy the agents time to get Orianna to safety. Now she was silently cursing that sentimentality that was likely going to get them all killed.

"Hey, we did what we had to do. Those guys were coming in hard, if we hadn't gotten their attention chances are they would have caught Orianna and her family," Jacob said.

"Maybe. Or maybe I overreacted and made an emotional decision instead of a logical one," the operative snapped.

A short distance away, crouched beneath a window, Kasumi spoke in an all too cheerful whisper. "Awww, c'mon. Shep would say that's a good thing."

"Shepard isn't here right now," Miranda replied ruefully.

She wished he was. It was quite the confession for the self-assured biotic. For years she had been the one in control of every situation, dictating every action. In moments of quiet introspection she could admit that giving up that control had been mildly terrifying but in the end it turned out for the best. Working as part of the team aboard the Normandy had let her accomplish more than she could have alone. And given her a sense of belonging that she hadn't had for countless years, maybe ever. As part of that team, though, she had become far too reliant on the skills of some of its members. What she wouldn't give for Grunt's raw power or Shepard's downright inhuman combat potential in this moment.

Hell, she'd even take Garrus' smart ass remarks about her attire or demeanor. He might be insufferable at times but the turian was nails hard and as tactically astute as Shepard any day of the week despite his protests otherwise. It was saying something when the generally infuriating former C-Sec agent was someone she wanted to see.

"They're getting close," Kasumi whispered.

"Understood. Do you have any more flashbangs?"

"Just the one. Got something special planned for it?"

Miranda nodded. "I looked at the local city database, most of this area is shutdown for the night. There's a small storage facility two blocks south. If nothing else it's more defensible than this position."

"Choke points, better field of fire, less windows would be much more agreeable," the salarian added.

"Why the hell are they so intent on us anyways?" Jacob asked. "They lose their target, why aren't they bugging out?"

"Because we're their new target. Going after Orianna was meant to get to me, and thereby get to Shepard and the rest of his team. They kill us and the Shadow Broker has accomplished the goal," she explained. "Time to move."

All four of them huddled by the door, the sound of careful footsteps audible outside. Holding up three fingers she fixed her gaze on Kasumi and began to count down. When the last finger went down she slapped the door control hard and the thief rolled the grenade outside. There were sounds of distress and then an explosion of light and sound. No further urging was needed, all of them ducking out the door in rapid succession.

The nearest of the black armored mercenaries was still reeling from the explosion. She stopped and raised the submachine gun in her hand as the others ran past, squeezing the trigger and pouring a long burst of fire into his chest before following. One soldier out of dozens but it was still a tiny swing in their favor. Not sticking around was the right decision, however, as return fire came almost immediately. A long burst raked down the side of the nearby wall and the biotic barely made it around the corner before a second burst cut through the space she'd occupied a moment before.

Jacob was standing in the middle of the street when she came around the corner, glowing with biotic energy. Two of the benches that lined the small road flew over head to land behind her. Probably not a significant roadblock but they could use every second. Jacob might not be the biotic she was, but he certainly knew how to use what he had.

"Keep going," she ordered as she approached.

He didn't say anything, simply falling into step beside her as they ran. There was a loud commotion as the first of the Broker's agents ran into the mess that Jacob had left for them, immediately followed by the sound of gunfire that forced them to duck into a nearby alleyway. Breathing heavily she peeked back around the corner only to withdraw, rifle fire chewing into the corner of the wall she was using as cover.

"How close are we?" Jacob asked.

"Not far. Twenty meters? Maybe a little more. The street gives them a clear shot, though, and I'm sure they're flanking us as we speak."

"Understood. Look, stick that gun around the corner and empty to thermal to keep their heads down. Then we're going to make a break for it."

"Are you out of your mind?" she demanded.

"If there is one trick I'm better at than you it's personal barriers. We run at the same time, you stay in front of me and we should make it," the former soldier said.

She shook her head. "The chances of that working are-"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No."

Jacob smirked. "Then let's go... one, two... three. Move!"

As planned she fired the Tempest wildly around the corner, spraying accelerator rounds in the general direction of their attackers while Jacob formed a shimmering biotic field around himself. The larger man practically shoved her out of cover and followed immediately behind. They hadn't taken more than half a dozen steps when she heard the static crackle of rounds impacting the barrier as they both ran for all they were worth.

It was a toss up whether those twenty meters or the final run as they were escaping the Collector base were the most taxing of her life. The run through the base had been long and hard, but there was something to be said for pushing one's self as fast as humanly possible in a single desperate rush. She almost overshot their target until Kasumi reached out and grabbed her arm, slowing the rush and pulling her inside. Gun fire was still roaring behind them even as they fell into a heap inside the doorway.

"Jacob..." she gasped.

The soldier groaned. "Still here, Miri. Man that was not fun."

"Are you hit?"

"Barrier finally broke right as we made it but nothing got through the armor. Going to have some bruises tomorrow, though. Assuming we see tomorrow," Jacob replied.

"Probability is... low," Mordin supplied. "Enemy forces approaching swiftly. Appear to be assuming defensive perimeter."

Miranda sighed and pushed herself to her feet, looking around the building to assess their situation. "They know we've got nowhere to go."

"Quite likely," the salarian agreed.

Upon further examination there definitely wasn't much to the building. The city database had it listed as storage, which was definitely the case. Chairs and boxes were stacked along the wall and a thin layer of dust covered everything. It looked like the building had once served as a small storefront or office, though, possessing a single doorway and a pair of windows looking out onto the street. Looking through one of those windows Miranda could see the mercenaries taking up positions outside. It hadn't been the best plan, in retrospect, but it was all she'd had.

"Kasumi, I doubt even soldiers this well equipped can detect your stealth field. The rest of us are stuck but you can make it out of here undetected if we open the door and provide some covering fire," the operative said.

"I might be a thief but I'm not just concerned for my own skin and I'm not going to leave you all here. We all got out of one suicide mission. We'll get out of this one," she countered.

"Despite my... talents I'm not Shepard. I don't have any amazing plan to turn this around. Nor do I possess his ability to charge into unreasonable odds and emerge alive, if not unscathed. There's no reason for four people to die here when it could be just three."

Jacob sighed. "She's right. We all knew the risks when we signed on with Shepard. We'll give'em a good fight but it doesn't mean you need to be here for it."

At that moment the first assault began. Rifle fire shattered the windows and lit up the darkened room, causing them all to duck and hug closer to the wall. Mordin's omni-tool glowed for a moment and he reached up, tossing a tech-mine overhead. For a second Miranda was confused until there was a bright flash and a howl of pain was heard, followed by the crackle of flames. The first men that had attempted to rush the door had gotten more than they bargained for, it seemed. Mordin merely smirked.

"Ironic. Survive repeated missions to krogan homeworld. Collector base. Well-paid thugs result in demise," the salarian said, shaking his head. The yells of pain stopped and a thump was heard in the silence immediately after the volley of fire. "Still, one less thug. Small consolation. Operative Lawson is correct, however, in assessment of our chances. You are young, much potential, Kasumi Goto. Shame to see it wasted."

The slim thief frowned and shook her head. "You three are trying very hard to get rid of me."

"Couldn't be that we like you," Jacob said dryly, peeking carefully around the corner of the ruined window.

"I am very likable. But I'm not leaving no matter what you say. We're family now," Kasumi stated.

"Salarian reproduction precludes any possibility of genetic similarity, no matter how far fetched."

"Shut up, Mordin, you know what I meant."

Miranda couldn't help but smile slightly. It was something she'd done a little more often since the first turbulent months aboard the Normandy had passed. If they were going to die here it was quite a disappoint. She'd never failed at anything in her life, for one, and the idea of starting now wasn't appealing. And she also had to admit that Kasumi was right. They were an odd sort of family unit now, with Shepard at the head, but a family nonetheless.

"I could order you to go," Miranda added after a moment's thought.

"You could. Doesn't mean I'll listen. Thief, remember?"

"So if she's going to be stubborn, what now?" Jacob asked.

The operative's voice was cold as she snapped a fresh thermal clip into the pistol in her grip and flicking the safety off.

"We make them earn every damn credit the Shadow Broker is paying them."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No. But my father isn't going to be around to protect me forever and I'm not going to let some Citadel crime lord scare me into hiding for the rest of my life," Kolyat answered. "And I'm definitely not going to let him walk into a trap for my sake. He... wasn't always there but he's trying now. It's the least I can do."

Lia'Vael was more than a little nervous. In the months since the chance encounter with the famous Commander Shepard during a very tense altercation with C-Sec her life had improved considerably. Instead of spending her nights huddled in some corner of a turian sheltered, nursing the small tube of nutrient paste that was graciously given to her she actually had a job for nothing less then the same organization: C-Sec. It seemed that Captain Bailey had been very concerned with the attitudes of some of his officers and wanted to keep inconsiderate or downright abusive agents from ruining relations between the myriad races that had to peacefully co-exist in Zakera Ward. Which is where she came in, sort of like bait for the ones that were too happy to show their prejudice or take advantage of the less advantaged.

It was risky work, but she had a shadow of her own now in the form of a young drell, the same one that she was following now. Apparently Kolyat's father was a member of Commander Shepard's crew and through some arrangement Lia didn't understand Kolyat was helping C-Sec as part of community service for a previous misadventure that he never talked about. All in all the only way she couldn't have been happier unless she was returning to the Flotilla with a great prize to complete her Pilgrimage. She had credits, a small apartment, and even a few friends including Kolyat. He was a little... over-wrought sometimes but he was nice enough.

"I can understand that. On the Flotilla we all have to look out for each other," she said.

"As much as quarians talk about your Fleet it's amazing you ever leave."

"It's my Pilgri-"

The drell flashed a quick smile. "I know."

"Oh. Teasing. You are learning that from the humans. They tease a great deal."

"They do. But it seems it is their way of expression affection. The captain told me that if they didn't tease us it would mean they didn't like us," Kolyat replied with a shrug.

She shook her head. "Hrmph. I still don't like 'Little Miss Bucket'. It's offensive."

"Admittedly, but I don't think they realize it. To them it's a term of endearment. Which is saying something, from what I've seen humans aren't always very nice to your people, muchless giving them friendly pet names."

He ducked beneath a hanging cable and she followed suit. This area of the Citadel was still not quite finish being repaired despite it being nearly three years since the geth attack. The sheer scale of the destruction was hard to comprehend and there were times when it seemed like the task would never be completed. Red emergency lights illuminated the corridors rather than the more standard overheads. As busy a place as the Citadel was it was strange being somewhere that was mostly silent.

"True. Commander Shepard seemed nice, though. Tali'Zorah talked about him like I've never heard one of my people talk about a human since I left the Flotilla."

Kolyat chuckled. "Not surprising. Father isn't terribly forthcoming but from things he's said I think your fellow quarian is more than just friends with Shepard."

She blinked for a moment, not quite understanding what the drell meant. "More than friends?"

"Ah... you know? Friends but... more? Romantically inclined? Very romantically inclined if I heard it right when he said they shared a cabin."

Lia's face flushed beneath her visor. "Y-You mean they linked suits? Oh! Keelah! That's why she acted so surprised when I said he was kind of cute for a human!"

"I'm going to assume linked suits is quarian for 'sex'. But yes, that was the implication," he replied.

"Wow. I mean, there's always rumors about quarians that sometimes bond with other races just like in any species but... it's especially hard for us. Uh... obviously," Lia said quickly. "With all the suits and stuff, I mean."

"Right."

"It's just... surprising. That's all. What are we doing down here, again, anyways?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I got an encrypted message. From one of my father's old contacts, I think. Said that Kelham might have hired some mercs to try and take down my father," Kolyat explained patiently, lifting another pile of cables over his head and letting her slip beneath before easing them back down again. Those dense drell muscles came in handy.

"And? What are we supposed to do about it? I don't even carry a weapon."

"The message said they had smuggled weapons onto the station and were setting up in one of the damaged areas of the station. If we can find out where that is I can radio Bailey and have them send agents in to arrest them for having illegal firearms on the Citadel."

Lia peered at him carefully. "Couldn't you have just told your father about this?"

"I... guess so."

"But you wanted to do it yourself."

The drell threw her a somewhat grumpy look but she merely shook her head.

"I understand. You want to show him that you're capable... my people are the same way. It's the entire point of our Pilgrimage, really. To help the Fleet and prove ourselves."

"Yea, I guess that is it," he reluctantly agreed. "You didn't have to come, you know. This could be dangerous."

"One locked pressure door and you'd be stuck. You need me along, besides, its kind of exciting, if a little scary."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid. We just find out where they are, report to Bailey, and watch," Kolyat assured her.

She nodded and continued to let him lead the way. Working with the young drell had taught her to trust him, sometimes he was impulsive but his heart was usually in the right place and he had prove himself more than capable of getting them both out of trouble when her job put her into a less than ideal situation. Now they had finally reached the next juncture and Kolyat held up a fist, motioning for her to be quiet, before crouching low and moving to the intersection.

Intrigued Lia followed directions and crept after him. Stopping at the edge of the walkway the drell knelt. She moved next to him and looked down, suppressing a small gasp. Kolyat's information had been right. Below were half a dozen men in dark armor, military style weapons stacked on a folding table in the middle of the empty room below. It looked like they were preparing for a war... was this all really for one man? Kolyat only discussed his father occasionally, but she knew that he had been an assassin. If Kelham was this worried he must be a really good one.

"We've got to tell Bailey now... they look like they're almost ready to go," Kolyat whispered.

"Almost, boy, now that you're here."

Lia jerked and fell backwards, letting out a small yelp. Two men wearing the same black armor as the ones below were standing a few feet away on the other side of the corridor's intersection. Both were holding rifles and said rifles were pointed directly at them. Kolyat's hand moved downward but the man that had spoken shook his head.

"Not smart. Stand up, go to the stairs and down. Been waiting for you for awhile, took you long enough to find your way here," the mercenary said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kolyat demanded.

They stood and followed directions, moving down into the room below where the other soldiers waited. The leader laughed darkly. "What, you really thought some random guy just sent you an extranet message out of the blue about a terrorist plot? You've got talents, son, but you're damn gullible. Now we don't have to hunt your dad across this whole damn station. He'll come to us once he finds out we got his boy."

"But... I..." the drell stammered helplessly.

"That's right, you're bait. Congratulations."

One of the other men nodded towards Lia. "What about the bucket?"

"He never said anything about a quarian," the leader replied, a cruel smirk on his face. "But I'm sure we'll figure out something to do with her."

Lia'Vael shuddered and bit her lip. All that she'd accomplished... coming so far is so short of a time. She didn't want it to end like this. Whatever they had in mind she knew that it didn't end well for her. And what was one dead quarian to a bunch of hired killers.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

Kolyat turned and faced the leader. "If you hurt her, you'll have to kill me first. Which means your bait will be dead."

"All he has to know is that you came down here, drell. Once he gets here we kill him. You don't have anything to bargain with."

"On the contrary. My father isn't stupid. And if he finds out I'm dead... what do you think that means for you?" he asked. "Thane Krios is the best assassin in Citadel space. When my mother was taken by the sea he hunted down every man that took part in her death. Every triggerman. Every broker. Everyone who profited, acknowledged, or allowed it to take place. So kill me and find out what happens to you."

The mercenary's fingers gripped the rifle in his hands tightly, pointing it at the defiant drell.

"Oh keelah," she whispered.

"Keelah!"

"What's wrong?"

"What? Oh. Nothing, Gabby. I just noticed the secondary drive output. I'm still trying to verify what was simply fixed when we were on the Citadel and what actually got completely different parts," Tali explained.

"I see. Well, they didn't exactly have a ton of parts for a ship like the Normandy lying around. So I think we got a mix of what looked like it would fit and what seemed like it could be made to fit," the other engineer said. "I wish we'd had more time to really supervise."

"Apparently. In this case it was a good thing, the drive output is up four percent!"

"Aye, not surprise'n," Donnelly chimed in. "Cerberus might 'ave spent a pretty penny on the old girl but sometimes ye can tell it was a ship made by a private company instead of tha military. Four percent dun make a big difference to some egg-head but on a warship, ah now that can be something. Some corners definitely got cut, just like those damned T51B couplings. God bless Shepard for getting those things."

Gabby shrugged. "For once I agree with him. Cerberus might have made the crew quarters nice than an Alliance warship but they didn't always quite seem to understand 'combat optimization'."

"That shouldn't be a problem anymore. Keep an eye on any new components just in case, though, I don't want to find out in the middle of a fight that someone installed something I missed that isn't as compatible as it appeared a first glance," Tali ordered. "I'm going to take a look at the plasma conduits below deck."

"We'll 'old down tha fort up 'ere," Donnelly said.

"I'm sure you will," Tali replied in amusement, shaking her head and heading towards the doors.

She briefly considered heading to the elevator first but forced herself to continue on her way. Shepard was a large, adult, human male. One little stab wound wasn't going to kill him. And she wouldn't let anything, even him, distract her from her duties. The Normandy depended on her to be ready for anything and one bad part could be the difference between life or death. Everything had checked out while they were still in dry dock, but now that they were moving and putting stress on the ship it was important to double check everything.

"Coming to finally kick me out of my hidey-hole, Bucket?"

Tali jumped, lost in her own thoughts she had completely forgotten Jack. The former convict was lounging on her cot, her extensive tattoos almost looking like living things in the reddish light of the lower deck, head propped up to eye the interloper. The quarian shook her head.

"No, Jack. Just making sure nothing explodes down here because someone installed the wrong part."

"Ah. Well damn, here I thought something fun was going to happen. All that running around on Illium didn't do shit for me, you and G had all the fun with Shepard," Jack groused.

"I've gotten used to being shot at but even I don't think of it as fun," she responded. "Besides, I think you'll get all the fighting you want soon. We're on our way to hunt down the Broker at home and I don't think Shepard is going to hold back when we find the base."

"Good. He goes all goody-two shoes sometimes. Like to see'em all anger and fire. Like that recording of your trial. Man he was fucking pissed."

Tali blinked. "Recording of my trial?"

"Yea, think it was from the thief's suit recorder. Got bored and was sifting through the video archives looking for something good. That one got him real riled," Jack nodded and then snaked a brow upwards, lips curling in an evil smirk. "I gotta know... is he all rough and tumble in the sack too? Seems like he would be."

"I... what?"

What passed for the relationship between her and Jack had never been particularly close, but Shepard had always trusted her despite her past. Like everyone else on the ground team there had been a bond forged by shared experience that would last a lifetime. But the question had so completely derailed Tali's train of thought that she couldn't even must the stammered response that a certain spectre claimed to be so endearing.

The biotic's grin only became more wolfish. "Aw, come on. It's Shepard, half the women in the galaxy want to sleep with him and you actually are. You can at least give a little report on how he performs. I forgot about the cybernetics too... must be quite an experience."

"I... wouldn't know how to... ah, describe it," she practically squeaked and ducked deeper into the tight corridors of the Normandy's inner workings. Behind her she heard Jack's deep laughter, only causing her face to burn hotter.

Of all the people to ask her such questions. She couldn't even think of a better way to respond, even Kasumi had been fairly reserved considering her normally voracious hunger for details of everyone else's lives. The small part of her actually did want to almost... boast, maybe was the right word, about the experiences she'd shared with Shepard. A far larger part was simply too embarrassed by far to do anything of the sort. And if she was telling anyone it certainly wasn't Jack. She couldn't imagine the convict understanding.

Tali shook her head and knelt by one of the plasma couplings, trying to push the thoughts aside. Of course said thoughts didn't cooperate, instead of concentrating on the readings she was getting on the coupling's seals her thoughts were turning to memories of the night before the relay. The feeling of vulnerability and freedom, the terror of exposing herself. And the rush of warm after that had only grown with every touch. Her fingers flexed trying to touch something that wasn't there and the quarian gave a huff of frustration. The old saying about not knowing what one was missing was painfully accurate now that she had experienced what she'd been missing. The past week had been maddening, first recovering from her allergic reaction and then wanting to touch, but being unable to. Always an interruption, a crisis. At first she had berated herself for her selfishness. They were still on a mission, an important one, after all. Her general frustration had moved even beyond her usual selfless demeanor after they'd returned from Illium, heading more in the direction of simply dragging Shepard up to the cabin.

"The Shadow Broker deserves whatever Shepard does to him," Tali muttered, finally getting the readings after her third attempt.

With another sigh she leaned back against the bulkhead, resting her head against it for a moment. Everyone was tense. The Broker was threatening families, friends... revealing personal information and trying to open old wounds. Whenever they had a moment alone she could feel John's frustration as well, the inability to just 'solve' the problem in his usual manner driving him to distraction. And then there was Liara, an uncharacteristic spike of jealous rising in her chest at the thought of the asari.

The two of them had been friends aboard the original Normandy, two young outsiders with interests that hadn't exactly aligned with a crew of human soldiers. After what had happened on Illium the first time, though, her perception had become permanently colored by how she had treated Shepard and the subsequent incident in Aethyta's bar. She wanted to try and move past it, but whenever she tried all she could remember was that it had been Liara emerging from Shepard's quarters that night before Ilos. And with the asari's sudden return to the fold Tali found her anxiety only increased.

"No... he said it. That he loved me," she whispered to no one in particular.

The engineer was about to stand and make her promised trip to the medbay when her omni-tool beeped at her, flashing a message marked as urgent. With a single command her mail account opened and displayed the item, her eyes narrowing as she noted the sender line. It was an old address, one she hadn't seen in years but would never forget. And if she had of it was conveniently labelled. 'Shadow Broker'.

Ms. Zorah. It has been sometime since we communicated. I apologize once more for my employee's disloyalty, I think we could have had a mutually beneficial exchange. As I am sure you are aware, Shepard is of some interest to me and to you as well. I felt it only prudent that I share with you an important piece of data I acquired recently.

You can examine the file as extensively as you wish but I assure you it has not been altered.

-The Shadow Broker

Already her omni-tool was scanning the file, double checking its integrity and searching for hidden programs. There were none. It was a simple video file, moderate resolution and not even half a minute long. Part of her wanted to delete it immediately, clearly the Shadow Broker was doing what he did best, playing with lives to achieve his own ends. But curiosity had always been one of her defining features. Tali pressed the key and the video played.

"I don't like this," Shepard said, pacing back and forth before finally coming to rest in front of the galaxy map on the CIC, resting his hands against it.

"We have narrowed the possibilities down to only a handful of planets, Commander. The Broker will be exposed soon," EDI assured him.

"Maybe, but everything just feels wrong. Every time we've taken a step forward, the Shadow Broker has pushed harder. This just feels... too easy."

The AI's hologram appeared on the terminal. "Despite the significant power the target wields, it is not limitless."

"Far from limitless."

The spectre looked over his shoulder to see Liara standing behind him, arms crossed over her chest and holding a datapad loosely. A hard look lined her normally smooth features. As he turned to face her the asari approached and set the pad down next to the terminal.

"You have something? Because I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop," Shepard said.

She nodded. "I do. I know where the Shadow Broker is hiding."

"The examination of the variables on the final possible planets has not completed compiling, Ms. T'Soni," EDI objected. "How have you determined this information?"

"Because data can lead you in the wrong direction if you don't have all of it. I just received an encrypted communication from an agent that was looking into some long shot leads," Liara explained. "All this time we've been looking for a base or a space station. But the Broker is smarter than that."

"So what did this agent provide?"

Liara smirked. "An extremely old scrap of data from a file that had been purged. The specifications for a starship build to exact specifications in one of Illium's shipyards and then removed from all records. Large, heavily armored, and equipped to operate independently almost indefinitely. In addition it carried very specialist hull plating and defensive measures that would let it weather even the most violent planetary storms. When I ran the information we had again with these specifications I found what I was looking for."

"Hagalaz, Sowilo system," EDI confirmed. "Low rotational period, proximity to solar body creates temperature extremes and powerful, moving storm fronts."

"Not to mention enough electromagnetic interference to hide even a dreadnought from anything but the most powerful sensors. Not that anyone would think to look at the edge of a storm that could rip the hull plating off most ships."

"So we have him?" Shepard asked.

"We do. His method of hiding worked well, but it presents equal challenges to detecting outsiders approaching. With the Normandy's stealth systems the Broker won't know we're there until we're right on top of him," Liara said.

He curled his fingers into a fist and slapped them into his palm. "Finally. The longer this goes on the worse it's going to get. This isn't a game I'm good at."

The asari gave another small smile. "You seem to have been managing surprisingly well."

"No, I've just been getting lucky. Sooner or later luck runs out... and I'm afraid someone else is going to pay the price. There are too many people in too many places. I can't protect them all."

"I'm guessing that hasn't stopped you from trying," Liara responded dryly.

Shepard shook his head and turned back towards the holographic map, leaning against the railing and watching as it zoomed in on their target, a swirling drab green world. Flashes of lightning streaked its surface constantly, and somewhere hidden within that tempest was their target.

"No, it hasn't. Our communications are compromised until we deal with the Broker but I talked to a few trusted people and got the word out. I just hope it's enough."