Mass Effect Liara's Story CH 3

MASS EFFECT LIARA'S STORY CHAPTER 3

Again, the Bioware gods own all characters and setting and stuff. I'm just a 'fly in the lotion.'

ILLIUM: Liara T'Soni sat in her office above the trading floor of the Nos Astra Space Port, happily sifting through reports. Her contacts throughout the systems kept her abreast of everything going on within their spheres of influence. She then took those reports and found trends and connections that related to others and drew a bigger, comprehensive picture of the direction that politics and businesses were taking the galaxy. Her friend Tali had created algorithms that helped her deal with the sheer magnitude of incoming information, but it took her own talent for predicting where things were going to really make a difference. Making a difference was what she really yearned to do. Shepard saved the galaxy, Tali was helping her people on the fleet, Wrex was trying to save his people on Tuchanka and Alenko saved them all with his sacrifice on Virmire. She wasn't sure about Garrus, but enough reports had reached her to make her believe he was doing his thing on Omega.

While still very rich from her inheritance, she had become fabulously wealthy through her own work. She heard human's call it, 'Oprah Rockefeller Rich'. She would have to find out who that person was sometime. What she really liked about the 'information business' was that she was able to use her data to help people everywhere. Make a difference. Whether it be to tip off the Alliance of an impending pirate raid, or send an anonymous note to the Counsel informing them of a security breach, she always found a way to 'screw the bad guys with a full-auto rifle burst where the sun don't shine', as Shepard put it. Liara never charged for information like this, she was just very adept at putting her money at the right place when these situations finally came to a pleasant ending.

She never would have believed that anything could be as satisfying as archaeology or charging through the galaxy on the Normandy. But this work challenged her in ways she could never imagine. Draw one wrong conclusion and everything could fall like a house of cards on a windy day and innocent people could die. Liara worked hard and always double checked everything to ensure that never happened. So far, so good.

She had just finished going over a report from her operative code named 'Tromarchk', which analyzed the stability of the Batarian Hegemony. Their government was on the brink of economic and sociological ruin due to all the problems they had started having in the last year or so procuring slaves. Liara had specifically targeted the slave trade, putting most of her effort into destroying it. She never cared for it to begin with, but after learning what Anaya Shepard, her heart's love, had endured on Mindoir, it became very personal with her. She managed to find contacts that had contacts within the Hegemony who despised the practice of slavery. Through them, she was making a difference.

Then everything changed. Her desk unit played a short portion of Brehelov's 3rd symphony telling her that she had a message from Tali. Smiling, she opened the message and looked forward to seeing what her dear friend had to say. She knew that recently Tali had been assigned to lead an expedition to find one of their own who was lost on his pilgrimage. Liara assumed that the message was going to tell her she was back home and fine. The screen went blank and then flashed four colors at her in quick succession. Red, white, black, grey. Red, white, black, grey. Then the number seven came on and stayed with the curser blinking next to it. Liara knew she had only seconds to type in the correct code or the message would be destroyed. This must be extraordinarily important and sensitive for Tali to send the message using this encryption.

Liara adjusted the controls on her desk. Her office door locked and the window behind her solidified into pseudo-steel. No one could look over her shoulder or disturb her. Then she activated her buzz kit. Immediately, a probe dropped out of the ceiling and scanned the room for listening devices. Liara frowned as two minor bugs were found and destroyed by the probe. Luckily, they were not in positions that could compromise the work she had done earlier. Then she typed in her pass phrase. 'I will not let fear compromise who I am. N7.' It was Anaya's personal motto.

The file downloaded and it took her unit several minutes to decrypt and reconstruct the data to a usable form for her. Heavy encryption indeed, it normally only took seconds. Finally, an image of Tali, apparently sitting in a small compartment on a ship, came up and the clip started to play. "Liara, I…I don't know how to say this to you. Keelah, I wish I could be with you now, but…ok, make sure you and this message cannot be heard or seen before playing the attached vids. I wish to Keelah that I could be there with you when you see this, I want to be able to support you as a true friend should, but…" her hands twisted around each other nervously. "And…and I would wait if I didn't think it would be completely unfair to you. Please, forgive me! I recorded the first clip a few hours ago on a human colony called Freedom's Progress. The second was secretly sent to my omni-tool as I was giving other data to...to uh…well you'll see." Tali paused and leaned toward the camera. "For what it's worth, I want you to know that I think the impossible has happened. Please, forgive me for not being able to bring this to you personally, Liara. I cherish your friendship and hope you know that I would if there was a way, but this is too important to wait. I'm sorry. I will come to Illium as soon as I can for you. Keelah se'lai, my friend."

Liara hesitated before opening the file. Tali still viewed the galaxy from a slightly naïve, butterfly and rainbows point of view. So for her to be this serious about something, it must be extraordinarily important. Finally, she opened the vid-file and tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

Battle. Shells exploded and shrapnel flew everywhere.

Liara saw a squad of Quarians doing battle with a YMIR Mech. It was immediately clear to the trained eye that the Quarians were ill-equipped to deal with an enemy like this mech. They had no 'heavies' with them. The hulking machine lumbered out from behind a pre-fab building firing it's built-in Revenant machinegun at the retreating Quarians, pausing only long enough to launch a guided missile towards the camera. When it impacted, Liara heard Tali and others scream in pain as the picture flashed to the sky, down at the ground and to a wall before settling back on the mech. Liara's heart was already racing in fear for her friend. The video flashed all over the place for a few moments and Liara realized that Tali was running. When she stopped, Liara watched the Quarian's fingers fly over a control unit faster than she could follow as Tali hacked a security gate. 'Damn she's good!' Liara thought.

Then she heard Tali say the first coherent words from the grizzly scene, and they chilled Liara's blood. "The doors are opening now, Shepard. The enemy is one YMIR Mech, 30 meters to your front and slightly left. It still has full shields and armor. Please, save my people!" Tali said pleaded.

Liara's breath caught as she watched the scene. Again, the crazy up and down movement as Tali ran back to cover. Then the camera finally settled on a human woman wearing dark grey armor, kneeling beside a flimsy crate. She paused to select a type of ammo on her machine pistol, and Liara clearly recognized the flashing green eyes through the black hair that framed her face, and the determined set of her jaw and lips. "Anaya…"

"Miranda, Jacob, get into the pre-fab on the left. Use it for cover, and hit that thing's head with everything you have! Bring down those shields!" The woman commanded. The voice was unmistakable. Heart-wrenchingly familiar. Liara had heard it so many times in battle. The other two humans made a dash for the pre-fab and mech tried to engage them, but the grey-clad woman stepped out from behind cover and peppered it with sub-caliber rounds until the two ton behemoth turned back to her and sent her reeling with a missile. Her shields collapsed, but Shepard rolled with the blast and found another crate to take cover behind. The other humans kept up their fire and biotic attacks as ordered, weakening their opponent as it moved around Anaya's new position. At the last second, when the mech's defenses had finally been stripped, the small woman leapt forward, literally climbed up the monstrosity, straddled the mech's chest and punched a point blank warp into its head, creating a mass of molten goo. Then she rolled clear and took cover behind a support column until the mech self-destructed. Liara could clearly see the devious smile on Anaya's face and the steely glint of victory in her eyes while waiting for the explosion.  

"My heart's goddess…" Liara gasped.

The screen went blank except for the two icons. Liara was shaking and had to take several deep breaths to compose herself before opening the second vid. It brought up another phrase that only she could answer.

'A stor,' were the words. The curser next to the words blinked accusingly. Accusingly because only Liara knew what she had done. She felt the guilt and self hate build within her, because of her selfish act.

'A stor.' It was a phrase that Anaya taught her over two years ago from a human language that was obscure enough not to be downloaded into the universal translator data bases. It roughly meant, 'my darling' or 'my dearest', in an old Human-Irish dialect. Gaelic, if she remembered right. Liara quickly typed in, 'a ghra', which meant, 'my love'. Liara remembered the joy of learning a few words from Anaya's ancestral tongue.

The decryption only took a few moments and she jerked upright as Anaya's face stared back at her from the screen. The same eyes, lips and nose were there, but there were strange glowing scars marring her normally composed face. She was not at peace or confident now. There was a strange, indecisive, haunted look in those green eyes that Liara had not seen since Virmire. Liara longed to hold that wounded woman, caress her lips with her own and hold her close, keeping her safe from hurt. But she had caused this, hadn't she?

Anaya Shepard looked left and right like a hunted animal before starting, "OK, I scanned this latrine for bugs and hopefully got them all..." Shepard's calm face crumbled and tears fell from her eyes, tracing down her cheeks and to fall from her chin. Her voice turned desperate. "Liara, my love! I'm so scared! So alone! Goddess, I need …!" Anaya gasped. Liara felt her throat tighten and tears filled her own eyes as she drank in her lover's pain. "I…I'm somewhere with a group of damn Cerberus assholes!" Shepard took a moment to try and compose herself. "Okay…okay…I'm good. I have to control this situation and not let it control me. Fear will not control me! I'll pull them apart limb from limb if I have to!" Anaya paused and shook her head, took a few deep breaths and forcibly relaxed herself. "I don't know if I can ever get this to you, 'a ghra',  let alone see your beautiful face again and hold you in my…" Shepard's eyes welled with tears again at the thought and she nearly lost control. "Damn it… there's no time for this sentimental crap!" She said. "Okay, I just met with someone called the 'Illusive man'. A bit overly dramatic, don't you think? I think of him as the a-hole with cybernetic glowing eyes. I can't wait to put a round through his damn forehead! Anyway, he tells me someone is harvesting tens of thousands of humans for who-the-hell-knows-what. Damn it! They say I was dead and they rebuilt my sorry ass and that I've been gone for two years! Two years? Where are you? Are you ok? How can I ever find you again? They at least told me you were alive. Thank the goddess! Have I really been gone that long? Jacob seems honest enough… or is this some sick, Cerberus brain-washing experiment? Damnit, I need you! Damnit! You've probably moved on if it's been two years! TWO DAMN YEARS! You deserve better…! I…I just can't wrap my head around this!" Anaya leaned her head back, breathed deep and focused herself again. "Alright, for now, I'll take things at face value until I find a way back to you. I have to find you! I'm probably nearly out of time if they are watching me close. Who knows, they might be genuine. If not," Those green eyes blazed with a cold fury. "I'll kill them all. I'll tear Cerberus apart one base at a time, and personally rip those glowing eyes out of his damn head and feed him to a varren! I promise you, Liara my love, that I'll find out who did this to me...to us, and make them wish their parents never met! For now, they are sending me to Freedom's Progress to investigate the disappearance of a colony. I'll go along, if true, those people need help. I hope to get this to you somehow, and I pray with all my heart that you, my love are living a happy life. Until," Liara saw her face fall before she continued, "no, I guess 'If', I hold you in my arms again, 'a ghra'."

Anaya's face faded into a grey-black screen and Liara could not hold it back any longer. She cried. She grieved again. She bawled. Raw, jagged emotions that she had pent up for years, for good or ill, simply consumed her. Before she knew it, she was sitting on the floor against the window-sill, holding her knees and crying into her arms. All she could think was, 'What have I done? What, in my own selfishness have I done? I've caused her so much hurt!"

She did not know how long she sat there crying, mourning her lost soul-mate, but Liara fell asleep still sitting on the floor and she dreamed. She dreamed of a life with her love and of their baby. Emma. What could have been…With a start, Liara woke to an empty existence devoid of family and love. She remembered the vids that Tali sent and tried to process what might happen. She could only hope for the one person in the galaxy who she really cared about to forgive her. But in reality, she did not deserve forgiveness. Did she?

The Citadel, Two Years Ago:  Sha'ira held Liara's hands and said, "Little one, you are with child."

With those words, Liara's life changed more profoundly than she ever imagined it could. "What?!" She exclaimed.

Sha'ira looked at her lovingly and said. "It is true, little one. You are a little over a month and a half along. This is why we did not know when you were here before."

Liara glanced down at her abdomen and silently thanked the goddess that none of the blows she had taken in the fight with the Blue Suns had come close to her little baby. Conflicting emotions battled within her as she grappled with this new revelation. Asari chose when to become pregnant! She had never decided to bear a child! But then again, now she had Anaya's little girl, a part of her soul-mate, growing inside her. Tears of joy welled in her eyes as motherly love grew inside her and she knew that she would do anything, destroy any enemy for this daughter of Anaya. Yet, she was still confused.

"Sha'ira," she began, "I never initiated the act of el'anphis with Anaya. How can this be?"

Sha'ira smiled at her, remembering her pain. What she felt in her meld with Liara. The loss and emptiness for the few, brief moments Liara thought Shepard was dead after confronting Saren in the Citadel Tower. "I cannot be sure, but think back to when you believed Shepard had died during the battle in the Citadel. Do you remember your pain, your sorrow?"

Liara cringed as the memories flowed through her mind. "Yes. I had never felt such crushing loss before. Even my mother's death did not affect me as deeply." She admitted.

Sha'ira smiled and caressed her cheek. "It is only natural for one to seek…stability…or love in a real, concrete manner after an emotionally crushing blow. I believe your body, your sub-conscious, yearned for and created that anchor to reality that you feared could disappear again." She smiled lovingly at the younger Asari. "When you made love, the Goddess herself wanted you to you reach into your lover's inner-being and create a child from the purity of your and Anaya's soul. Why? I do not know. Yet I feel it deep that there is purpose in this."

"You said before that I must find Anaya." Liara stated.

"Yes, and I still feel that this is so." Sha'ira insisted.

Liara shook her head. "I have already been attacked once because of this. I could have lost her then. How can I place her in danger again?" She was so conflicted.

"Now that you are aware of the other interested parties, you will be on guard. Asari Commandos still go on operations far into their own pregnancies. Because they know they are with child, they take precautions to ensure the babies safety. Extra plates and shields around the abdomen for example. As you have experienced, your biotics will also be exponentially stronger while the baby grows inside of you. A threat to the mother is a threat to the baby; your emotions will funnel more power into your abilities. You just need to be aware of it and you will have no issues with control." Sha'ira stood and moved towards the door. She paused before going out. You have much to think about, my friend. I'm at your disposal whenever you wish to talk, meditate or just not be alone." With that she left Liara with her thoughts.

During the next few days, Liara became extraordinarily focused on her child. She spent hours doing research on the extranet, and even more in meditation. Her balance returned slowly. Her need to protect the baby and her need to find Anaya. Could she do both?

It was during one of her day dreams of how her life with little Emma, the name she chose for her daughter, would be that the answer started to become clear. She saw herself answering Emma's questions about who her father had been. She could tell her of Shepard's bravery, love and dedication. She could tell their daughter of daring exploits and show her extranet vids of the first human SPECTRE. But just as Liara had never known her own father, Emma would never know hers. That thought continually ate at Liara's thoughts. While Emma would know what happened to her father, unlike Liara, she still wouldn't know her. Bounce on her knee. Be molded by Shepard's presence and see her values lived before her eyes. Hear her wisdom. Feel her love.

Liara returned to her room at the Dilinaga Hotel and dove into the information Admiral Hackett had given her. She organized, cross-referenced and charted information flow and timing down to the nearest second and detail. She had several more terminals installed around the room for her research. She requested and received navigational buoy logs from all the systems around Alchera for three weeks after the attack and traced every ship that came within two parsecs of the planet. She charted their courses and logged their registry tags into her own data base.

Sha'ira came and visited a few times and offered to help, but Liara knew she was a busy woman and besides, this was her work. Not Sha'ira's. The elegant woman did drop off a data pack once, though that eventually proved very helpful. There were names of a few people with questionable ethics who she might be able to coerce into helping her, and several hundred vid snippets of influential people who may have referenced Shepard in these conversations.

She asked Sha'ira about the packet. "Where did you get this data?"

Sha'ira merely shrugged and said, "It was dropped off by a friend of mine. She knows of your work and has a past that is…let's say 'less than...pure and untarnished'. I cannot tell you who she is, but she has an interest in helping you achieve your goals."

Liara felt she was on the trail, knew the answer was right in front of her, but eluding her grasp. That's when Tali came for a visit and enabled her to see through the undercurrents of the mountain of information.

Tali met her in the lobby of the hotel and the two women embraced like the long lost friends they were. She told Liara she only had the day to spend before her ship headed back to the fleet. They went into the lounge and occupied the same booth Liara had sat in with Gwendolin Meyers. They easily fell into conversation catching up on each other's lives. When Liara told Tali that she was pregnant, the girl let out a happy squeal and came around the table to hug her. Together, they celebrated the new life growing inside her and the future.

Eventually, the subject turned to Shepard and her funeral on Mindoir.

"You would have hated it so much…" Tali said and spoke of how politicians lined the stage, waiting for their chance to link their names with Shepard in some way. It sickened the young Quarian to see it. She said that the only genuine mourners were the crew of the Normandy, Counselor Anderson, Admiral Hackett and every Alliance Marine there. "Those Marines, they really respected the Commander very deeply. She was one of their own. I could see it in their eyes and the way they stood in respect for her. Two days before the service," she went on, "twenty Marines were posted in a wide circle for a 48 hour continuous vigil around the monument they built for her. Not one of the Marines let themselves be replaced by their relief when they marched out to them. The ones replacing them refused to go back to the barracks, so they just stood behind the first ones. By the end of 12 hours, there were sixty of them out there in perfect lines, like spokes jutting out from a wheel with the monument in the center. None of them ate, talked or moved until the service was over." There was a noticeable tone of respect and awe in her voice. "After the memorial service, Counselor Anderson put on his old uniform and then he, Admiral Hackett, Admiral Mikhailovich, Dr. Chakwas, Joker, Ashley, Wrex, Garrus, the Normandy crew and I took up the vigil for them for another day. Admiral Hackett had to threaten the Marines with court martial to get them to go rest."

Liara felt tears come to her eyes as she pictured the scene. Thinking of all those people honoring Anaya was nearly overwhelming. She wondered why the goddess would deny her the privilege of being there, too. She hadn't even thought to ask anyone about a service!

"I have to show you this, though. I promised Garrus before we parted ways." Tali rushed on and she brought up a clip of a politician standing at the microphone, and droning on about how Commander Shepard reflected his own values in life. Suddenly there was a loud commotion as Wrex plowed through the crowd, pushing people out of the way. When he got to the front he grabbed the speaker by his belt and threw him into the front row. There were still at least ten dignitaries waiting to speak, but Wrex shooed them away with a contemptuous flip of his hand. "Get away from me, weaklings. You parasitic varren are done!" He growled at them. "I have sat here all day listening to you talk about yourselves instead of honoring the one good human I have ever met! Shepard was a strong, fierce warrior without equal!" At this all the Marines still standing vigil let out a deafening roar of approval. "Those humans understand!" He said motioning at the Marines. "She knew what was right and had the quad to do something about it!" Another, deafening cheer. This time the Navy servicemen joined in, also. She was one of theirs, too. "She had honor!" A third cheer rang out. "Acts, not words will honor her. On Tuchanka, we celebrate our heroes with feasts and songs of valor! This is how I will honor her. I will return to my home world and try to unite my people with the values and courage she showed to me time and again! There will be a week of feasting every year in her honor! No speeches, no posturing, just celebration and remembrance. I always thought she was more Krogan than human anyway. This, is what you gutless vorcha owe her! Honor her and her crew who did the impossible to save you all!" He stopped and glared at the assembled dignitaries. They visibly shrank way from him. "Now," He continued. "I'm done. But I promise you all, that unless you are a part of the crew, you are not getting up here to talk." With that, Wrex took two steps back and guarded the podium until Ashley walked up and took over. She smiled sweetly at the hulking Krogan, patted him affectionately on his brow-plate and signaled the playing of Taps and the 21 gun salute.

Liara couldn't help but chuckle. Leave it to Wrex to cut through the crap, as Anaya always said. It was at that moment, however that Liara recommitted to finding Shepard. She would honor her love and protect their baby, too. She had no choice if she were to live with herself.

When the young Quarian saw Liara's room with terminals and data pads scattered throughout the room, charts on the walls and lists of ships and people everywhere, she couldn't believe that her friend could keep track of it all in this mess. "Seriously, Liara" She said in an amused tone, "When it comes to data compilation and storage, you suck!"

Liara laughed and started showing her everything she had accomplished so far. When she was done, Tali took her hand spoke quietly. "What are you going to do, Liara? I think you can find her, but Keelah it will be dangerous! The baby…"

Liara stopped her with a smile and a squeeze of her hand. "I will do what I must, because Anaya and our baby deserve it. I must do it for myself also."

"Then I will go with you." Tali said.

Liara grinned at her and shook her head. "I know you would, my friend. But I think this is something I should do on my own.  You have responsibilities to the Fleet, and I know you must keep them."

Tali crossed her arms and cocked her head at Liara. "We shall see about that. Meanwhile, I will help with this mess." Tali down loaded one terminal into her omni-tool and then wiped the terminal's memory. Then using programs she designed herself years ago, she reprogrammed it to sort, compare and cross-reference with other data-bases in a fluid, intuitive manner. Now with a few strokes of the fingers, Liara could command the computer to automatically access, search, integrate and nearly think through issues until it comes to the answers requested. Liara just had to ask the right questions. She then went from terminal to terminal downloading data and transferring it all into the one database. After a few test runs she came up with the same answers Liara had after days of work, but it only took Tali's system minutes.

"There you go, just fill that terminal with your data and ask it the right questions. It should save you a lot of time." Liara could almost see the self-satisfied smile behind her friend's mask.

As thanks, Liara took Tali shopping. She insisted on buying her a bolt of beautifully designed purple silk. They spent the day talking and shopping until Tali's com-unit beeped and CPT Juret'Muharl told her they were leaving.

It was a surprisingly tearful good-bye, neither woman knowing when they would see each other again. After Tali left, Liara went back to work. Within three hours, she had a lead. A place to start.

Omega.

More and more, Liara dwelled on having Anaya in her life and Emma's. What having a real family would be like and what it would mean to her baby. Liara opened her omni-tool and connected to a secure server before keying in the address. Moments later, a beautiful, dark haired woman looked back at her over the link. Her blue eyes were full of suspicion.

"Dr. T'Soni, I presume?"

"Miranda Lawson. We should talk."

TO BE CONTINUED