Cluster: Crescent Nebula
System: Tasale
Planet: Teukria
Shadow Broker’s Base
Silence. That was all that seemed to fill the desolate halls of Teukria’s mining facilities these days. Gone were the bustling worker drones, the constant thrum of the drills. The swearing of engineers as they went about their repairs. Only silence. That was how many planets were after the Reaper Invasion. Silent. Countless planets once touched with sentient life were empty, abandoned or purged by the ruthless demons from the Dark Space.
However not all life had left this desolate planet it seemed, as a dull blue glow began to light the main hall leading to the overseers office. Glyph made his way through the dusty hallway, travelling at a lazy pace before phasing to the other side of the door to the office, where multiple terminals were opened, with blue hands and dragging and tossing files and documents at great speed, taking moments to analyze them before gleaning the information she needs.
“
Greetings Shadow Broker. It has been nearly a full cycle since you’ve moved from your station. Rest is recommended to continue to operate at peak efficiency.” The VI floated next to the weary Asari, its holographic form spinning and shifting as it observed her vitals.
“
Thank you Glyph, but please do not waste my time with such observations again.” Liara had to wonder how bad she must look to warrant the concern of a virtual program. Saetha was always pestering her that she needed to get out more often. So had Shepard, before…
Regardless, there was no time for rest. There was a new threat rearing its head in the galaxy, one that the Citadel was once again laughably ignorant of.
Course it took a full scaled genocidal invasion to convince them the Reapers were real, suppose I’m the fool for thinking they’d be more perceptive now. Hours spent pouring over files from nearly half the galaxy only helped to confirm her fears. Biotics were disappearing. Not enough to warrant galaxy wide fear. But enough to raise serious suspicion for someone who saw the whole picture. Which was her, as always.
“
Has Feron obtained the information we needed from Illium?” Her voice was hollow and uninterested as she continued to look over another document concerning the Terminus System.
“
Affiramtive.” After a brief flash from the VI, a new document was brought up, with the city Nos Astra and many useless statistics she quickly glossed over. It was near the bottom that she paused, finding something that sent a chill down her spine. Of all planets with similar cases, Illium had a ludicrous amount, accounting for nearly a third of all cases she had observed in the recovered systems.
Below this statistic were links that led to the cases opened. Pictures of mutilated Asari corpses, each in some way a gifted or experienced Biotic. Abduction cases, with disturbing casualty reports for officers who pursued the case. This was the confirmation she needed. Something was preying on Biotics, and Illium was the perfect place for such a hunt. Filled to the brim with gifted Asari, and independent from the Asari Republics, which meant no major investigation on an intergalactic scale. Yet it was the final file that caused her to nearly jump up out of her seat. The last case was opened only hours before this was sent.
“
Glyph, we have a fresh lead. Recall Feron, he’s likely already being hunted. Have him relocated to safehouse 4-7B. Do we have any agents or old friends we can call upon right now? We wait and we’ll lose our chance. We will need to gather them at Nos Astra in Safehouse 6-1A, it is the only place where we can communicate with them safely.”
“
Negative Shadow Broker. All former crew members are preoccupied with Reconstruction or MIA. Probability of assistance is 0.8656%.” With another flash Glyph removed the dossiers, replacing them with new ones. “
But new dossiers have been gathered per request. These are the candidates most likely to succeed in your investigation.” Six dossiers filled the terminals surrounding Liara, bringing a wide range of individuals. Turians, Drell, humans, and unsurprisingly her dear sister. She had been on the trail as soon as she had heard the rumors of missing Biotics, and had been hunting leads down since.
Glyph opened the first dossier, bringing an image that brought a nostalgic smile to the enigmatic Broker’s face. “
John… I haven’t seen him since he was in the growth pod.” She enhanced the picture to get a better look at him. A striking resemblance to his father unsurprisingly, but with eyes and markings that showed his time spent in the Eezo.
“
As you know, Jonathan has been trained in combat by his father, Garrus ‘Archangel’ Vakarian. He is an expert marksman and combatant, as deadly as his father in battle, and a biotic. He is however not the best in team situations, shown by his many reprimands from superiors. He is currently on Illium, searching for Biotic training.”
Liara sat back in her stiff chair, tapping her fingers across the arm rest as she pondered him. If he was anything like his father, he’d be a great asset. But did she really want to drag his son into such a situation… If anything happened to him, she’d have a lot to answer for.
Like you don’t already?
“
Send an encrypted code to John with Council credentials to get his attention, we’ll be needing him.”
“
Done. Next we have Vserad “Monty” Tavian. Once in service to Aria T’Loak, the Drell is an expert in all manners of engineering from weapons maintenance to mass effect field generators on a frigate. While not an expert in combat, he has shown survival skills in growing up in Omega, and quite skilled in using his Omnitool. He is docked on Illium, likely looking for a new line of work.”
“
Then let us give him something to work on. An expert like that will be sorely needed if this mystery turns out to be as deadly as I suspect. See to it he is brought in to the meeting point.” She swiped the dossier away, moving on to the next. She was surprised to find herself staring at a Geth. The first and only Geth Spectre in existence. “Davey? An actual Spectre? Is he not on assignment?”
“
Unknown, but it is on Illium. It is a skilled Infiltrator, and respected Spectre. If convinced, it will be a strong ally.” This was a promising lead, to have an actual Spectre on the job would make things much easier, especially one that knew how to remain unseen.
“
Send him the same code as John, get him to the meeting place. He’s no Shepard, but one Spectre is better than none…” So far this team seemed promising, but getting them to work together, let alone agree to it, would be difficult.
“
What is next then?”
“
I’d imagine you’d know Shadow Broker.” The VI said with a hint of sarcasm. Or was she just imagining that now?
“
Ah, dearest Saetha. So my sister is still on Illium then?”
“
Affirmative, although her methods of investigation are somewhat… Crude.”
“
True, but my sister is a deadly Biotic and experienced soldier. She might have a shot at Spectre status herself if she didn’t love running around on my little errands. Tell her where she needs to be.”
“
I shall send the coordinates, and hope she doesn’t blow it up upon arrival. Speaking of collateral damage.” Another flash brought up the image of an N6 trooper with fiery hair and likely a matching temperament.
“
Ah, Rosie. Vega has told me about the girl. She shows promise. A bit reckless, but then that can be an asset. I assume our Alliance codes are still up to date.” She cocked an eyebrow at Glyph.
“
As always Broker. I shall send a message from ‘Alliance Command’. She will be at the Safehouse.”
“
Excellent. And last but not least?”
“
That would be Sun’Raenar vas Yaska, Shadow Broker.”
Liara did a double take as she looked at the name. “
I didn’t see any Quarian in the dossier Glyph.”
“
That’s because there were none.” The dossier was brought up, showing the most curious sight. A Turian, with bionic legs, dressed in the garb of a Quarian. “
Another Infiltrator, raised amongst the Quarian migrant fleet. Currently on Illium for unknown reasons, likely searching for equipmentr or resources for the fleet.”
Liara sat back as she brought up all the dossiers beside each other. A curious bunch this would be. But then again her crew had been unorthodox. And that was putting it mildly.
“
It seems we have our team Glyph. Ensure they are at the safehouse in Nos Astra's 'servant' district. as soon as possible. We are running out of time. And quickly.” The servant district had always been run down. The dark underbelly of Illium's shining glory. It had only become more dangerous since the Reaper siege, and there were still plenty of scars from the battles waged in the streets there. A perfect place to remain unseen.
OOC: Welcome all! Hope you enjoyed the intro! Feel free to go into what your character was up to on Illium beforehand, or you can just be heading through the servant slums to the safehouse. Let the horror begin!
@Rydar Drake @EpicVakarian @Orien Terrik @Zweihander