Turnabout-

Liara was not happy with the wait, she wanted to run through that Omega four relay and get her lover back now. She still could not believe that Shepard was gone, yet again. When this ended she swore she was going to have the two of them joined at the hip. The only good thing she could think of right now was that the Ambassador needed the Spectre for something, or he would have just killed her. She could not think of what he’d want with her though and that is what scared her most.

Shepard was already having problems dealing with what the Ambassador had originally done to her. Cayle would not talk of it but Liara felt her jerking awake at night or even some times calling out. Even when they melded there were things that she hid from her. Liara knew Shepard had grown up in the slums and she knew how her mother had died, but they were things Shepard always kept to herself and now she tried to block out what had happened to her as Lissa.

I love you, come get me.

Liara looked into the mirror above Shepard’s desk; her reflection looked back to her. She had a small cut about her right eye from the riots they had started on the station. It was small compared to what some others had gone through. Aria had fought to get Shepard back, more than Liara would have expected her too. She had almost been killed and all Liara had for the fiasco was a small cut above her eye.

“Dammit Shepard,” She curse and was about to continue when the door chime went off and Garrus stepped into the room.

“You ok?” he asked. She looked at him as if he had two head.

“When does this ever stop?” She asked tears starting to burn her eyes. “Goddess I love that woman but I don’t know if I can take much more.”

Garrus moved to her and took her hand in his and sat her down on the bed. “Shepard is Shepard Liara; we both know that no matter how much she wants to, she can’t stop. She has this drive and need to make life better for everyone and she is completely selfless in its execution. She just acts, that is what makes her the best damn Spectre I have ever seen.  It’s why I will follow her into hell and back and why you love her. She acts with her heart, always. She loves you Liara, that deep love the trend sends words. I can see it in the way she looks at you and talks about you, the way her eyes light up when she’s thinking about you. It give her the courage to do what she has to do, you give her the courage to do what she has to do.” Garrus looked into Liara’s eyes and reached up and dried her cheeks wear the tears were trailing down.

“We both know we can and will take more, you are just as strong as she is Liara. You never gave up when everyone else declared her dead. You’ve never given up on her; don’t give up on her now. We all know if anyone can make it out of this it’s her. You know she is worth it. You know she will always come back to you.”

Liara looked to him for a long time before looking over to a picture of her and Cayle in each other’s arms. “It’s hard, Garrus, all this worrying, seeing her hurt or struggling. I know she’s selfless and always puts others before herself, but I want her to put us before everything just for once. I’m not as selfless, I want her, and I’m selfish about that.”

“Liara,” Garrus smiled slightly, “she does put you first, above everything. She thinks of what would happen to you if she just let things go. She puts you above everyone and she measures all her decisions based on keeping you safe. If anything, have faith in her love for you cause I know she has faith in your love for her, it’s what keeps her strong.”

“Oh Garrus,” Liara said giving him a hug, controlling her tears, “when did you ever become so wise.”

Garrus laughed as they parted, “I’m a father now, and it seems to come with the job.”

“You’re an amazing friend and I think your children are very lucky to have you as a father,” she dried her eyes.

“And some day you are going to make one hell of a mother.”

“I don’t know Garrus, it seems as though the galaxy always needs Cayle,” She said and stood. To her surprise Garrus chuckled slightly.

“Liara, your people live for a thousand years and last estimate I have heard on Shepard is probably going to last over two hundred but even then no one is sure with that tech in her. You don’t need to rush everything right now.” Garrus stood as well. “Well the armada is now fitted with the IFF’s so we are ready to head into the relay. I believe you lover gave you a direct order and it’s time to obey it.”

Liara smiled to him, “Thank you Garrus.” She said and hugged him again. They moved out of the room and to the lift, “Ashley leading the charge?”

“Yes,” Garrus said. “It will be all right, Ashley is a good soldier and leader, contrary to what you want to believe.”

“I know,” Liara said, “Last time all the races were together,” She trailed off.

“Shepard was in charge, well, technically she was the one that gave the order to go and get her wasn’t she. You can always think Ashley is obeying that.”

Liara laughed as they moved out into the CIC and to the bridge. The Normandy had been designed in a joint project that involved the Turians and the Humans. For the first four years of its existence it housed Turians, Asari, Drell, Humans and even Krogan. The last little while the Aliens had left but most of the humans had remained and they had remember just how special the Normandy was because to them it was a symbol of something great and that symbol included all races.  There was not one person aboard the ship that would argue Garrus taking over the vessel in Shepard’s absence.

“We’re ready Joker,” he said standing behind the pilot.

“I hear that,” Joker replied and he and Edi went through their check list together as Jeff brought the Normandy beside the new ship Vigil. Liara looked at it for the first time. She had not realized just how big it was, or maybe the Normandy was smaller than she thought it was. It was easily twice the size of the Normandy, maybe even a more of a corvette judging by the guns on the ship. It still had the sleek design of the Normandy however. It was a perfect ship for Ashley, Liara thought, big with lots of guns.

Ashley gave the order to move out and Liara checked mentally to make sure she had everything she needed. They were not sure what to expect when they entered the relay, Shepard had mentioned a base that she had only been to once. She had mentioned that it was made from reaper technology with the black plating and similar weapons. Shepard had mapped out what she had known which was the shuttle bay and how to get to the Ambassadors office. It was not the most helpful but it was a start and with bits and piece other had been able to extract from captured Cerberus officers they had a general idea of the layout.

Unfortunately they had no idea of where Shepard would be taken because they had no idea why the Ambassador wanted her so badly. Would he take her to the prisons and hold her, or to the infirmary to try and hypnotise her again, they would not know until they were on board.

Garrus placed his hand on Jokers shoulder. “Ok we’re going to be heading over in a shuttle. You make sure you give us a way into the shuttle bay.”

“Not a problem,” Jeff said, he was cocky and had every right to be, and as far as Liara was concerned he was the best pilot she had ever known.

“Good luck, Jeff,” Liara said.

“You too,” Jeff replied.

“I am sorry I am unable to go with you,” Edi said looking up to her. Liara smiled slightly, Shepard and the Ai had relationship that was unexplainable. Liara often thought of it as a mother daughter but then Edi was not much of a daughter. Liara chalked it up to a Mentor type relationship.  Edi would easily credit Shepard with making her more alive. “But I am more dependent on the ship now and a simple EM burst would take me right out of the fight.”

Liara could actually hear the regret in her voice. “It’s ok Edi, I understand.”

Before anyone else could say anything else the Vigil started moving and Ashley ordered everyone to follow. They made their way behind the bigger ship and through the Omega four relay. Once through they stood face to face with Cerberus Armada. Liara whistle, they certainly had more of a force than she thought possible. She had not been sure what to expect but it certainly was not this many ships.

“Wow,” She said simply.

“We’ve faced worse,” Garrus said.

“Yeah the Reaper war, that was bigger than this and we kicked their asses,” Jeff added. Liara wanted to point out that Shepard kicked there asses by sacrificing herself, but held her tongue. “And this is Cerberus, we kicked their ass once before too.”

That statement certainly was true. It was obvious that this Cerberus Armada had reaper technology but so did they. Event he Normandy’s shields had been upgraded and they had the new weapons system based on the Reapers laser system.

Liara’s focus went beyond the armada to the Cerberus station behind it. There was no mistaking that it belonged to Cerberus as it was in the shape of their icon. Like Shepard had said it was black, like a Reaper, but they certainly spared no expense. It was larger than the collector’s base that had once occupied this space. They had placed it in the exact area the said base had been.

~Alright everyone, I don’t think I need to remind you that somewhere behind those ships, in that big station lay Commander Shepard and we all know what she did for us. Cerberus has pushed their luck far enough and it’s time that we show them, and everyone else that is still guided by hatred and prejudice that  it is no longer tolerated. Now Cerberus threatens our peace once again. We all remember what Cerberus did during the war, the thousands upon thousands of people they killed.

Five years ago Shepard brought us all together to eliminate the Reaper threat and even though most of us doubted everything she did, she showed us how strong we are together and through that strength we overcame and we flourished.  Let’s show Cerberus just how resolved we are, let’s go in there and get our Commander back. ~

Liara could not help but smile. It was not what she expected but it was good. Perhaps Ashley would make a better Spectre then Liara had given her credit for.

~Fire, ~ Ashley’s voice roared and the Allies did so as they all moved forward. Cerberus quickly returned fire and the battle had begun. Liara gripped the back of Jeff’s chair so she would not be knocked off her feet.

After the first volley Jeff locked on to a Cerberus ship and chased it down. Edi quickly fired on it and they watched as it exploded, “Yeah! Take that you bitches!” Jeff yelled. He had far too much fun in these situations.

“We better get ready,” Garrus said. Liara nodded and they moved off the bridge and headed to the shuttles.

“You think she’s ok?” Liara asked Garrus as they walked.

“I don’t think they would have taken the trouble to come and trap her and take her just to kill her at this point. They need her for something, maybe they always did. Maybe that was why they created Lissa, so they could get what they needed.”

“You think they are going to try and recreate that?”

“Well, that would be the least worrisome thing they could do,” Garrus answered and looked to her as they got on the lift. Liara simply nodded knowing exactly what he meant.

---

The assault units were starting to litter the shuttle bays quickly and the fighting was fierce. The Allied troops were in full armour and helmet as well as mag boots. Cerberus was not past venting the hangars to get rid of the troops, even if it meant killing their own soldier. They had seen that manoeuvre on the last Cerberus station they had attacked. This time they were prepared.

 

Liara and Garrus were pinned behind their shuttle as they returned fire on the Cerberus troop. There were several other Allied shuttles coming in and dropping off troops and it would only be a matter of time before they had this bay under control. They would use this as a FOB as soon and EDI could control it. The AI admitted that it was harder to do sitting on the Normandy but then Edi had done some pretty amazing things in her time. Liara was more concerned with Edi finding Shepard though.

~Cerberus seems to have developed another enhanced defence intelligence system, although not unshackled as I am, it is still, ~ she paused, ~putting up a fight.  I have not managed to gain control of the hangar as of yet, but I have located Commander Shepard. ~

“Great Edi, where is she?” Garrus asked.

~She is being held in a holding area in the port side of the station. It said it is on level six, I have sent the schematic to your omni tools but it is quite a bit away from your location. Most of the Cerberus troops are in the shuttle bays so if you can manage to get past them then resistance will be minimal. ~

Liara looked out from where she and Garrus were held up. The battle was still fierce. Liara chuckled slightly.  Her hand and arm lit up with blue wisps as she threw a warp field at a group of Cerberus soldiers heading for three Quarians ducking behind a half wall. She and Garrus fired at them as they were ripped off their feel and tossed into the air.

“Sure, should be easy,” Liara said and sighed. Garrus was about to respond there was a sudden explosion and the shuttle rocked, pushing them both forward.

“Mechs,” Garrus cursed and moved to a knee bringing up his sniper rifle. He took a shot and then set to reload. As he did Liara threw a sticky grenade on the large machine.

“We got it,” One of the Quarians Liara had assisted called back to her. He tapped something into his Omni tool and the large mech suddenly turned and fired on its own troops. “It won’t last forever so take the break and take it down.”

They set out to do so, but not so much in a rush as the Cerberus troops scrambled to find new cover from their own ally.

“We should go now,” Liara said pushing at Garrus. With the confusion and re positioning taking place, now was the perfect time to slip through the defence. Garrus replaced his mantis with his assault rifle and the two of them made their way from cover to the door that would lead them into the station. “Edi, get us through the door quickly.”

~I am almost through Liara; I have been working on it for some time. It will be a small window before their AI shuts my hacking program down. It has been a constant battle. ~

“We can count on you Edi,” Liara said casting a stasis as a Centurion appeared near the door. Garrus took him out before the field disappeared. “We’re here.” She said holding her pistol tightly and looking out at the battle. Garrus opened fired on another soldier that was turning in their direction. She could not even imagine was what was involved with dueling AI’s.

The doors opened finally and they wasted no time in getting beyond it. “My money id on you Edi,” Liara said, now that the fight was muffled behind them.

~Yes it is a good program but I have something it does not, ~ Edi said, Liara could almost note a sound of pride in her voice.

“What would that be?” Garrus asked equally as curious. They made their way down the hall to a closed door. Beyond the door would be a research room according to the maps on the omni.

~I have imagination, and a personality, this AI is relatively new and is still shackled, as such it has not been allowed to develop much on its own. It would be like a smart child trying to outwit its parents. ~

“Some children are very smart Edi,” Liara cautioned.

~As are some parents. ~ Edi boasted.

“Well she got you there,” Garrus said with a smile as they moved through the empty research room. It seemed as though Cerberus had the same defence for all of their stations. When breached destroy everything and retreat.

They passed the laboratories and into some large room. Liara could not help but compare it to the room on Cronos that housed the Human reaper. The only difference was this one house a reaper and judging by the size Liara had no doubt it was Harbinger. He had obviously been worked on and several sections were missing, but he was more intact than the Human reaper had been.

“I don’t think I like being this close to that thing,” Garrus said but could not help it, he reached out to touch the thing.

~Apparently if you go down there will…~ Edi’s voice was suddenly replaced by a loud squeal then silence.

“Edi,” Liara whispered, there was no response. Garrus tried it as well with no response.

“Something must be blocking her out,” Garrus said, “but we do need to go down about three levels. There should be a back door to the…”

Liara heard an almost silent hiss and looked up in time to see a grenade coming in their direction. She shoved Garrus as hard as she could then dove in the opposite direction. Unfortunately she ran out of catwalk and was barely able to grab a hold of the railing before flying over. She hung by one hand, her pistol was gone.

“Garrus,” She called out.

“Hold on,” He shouted back and opened fire at the small group of Cerberus soldiers. Before he could continue a soldier appeared suddenly before him and punched him in the face. Thinking fast Garrus grabbed the man by the collar. He had seen Shepard use her cloak before but he had never had to fight against it before. They struggled as two others joined them. One of them a female looked down to Liara. She smiled.

“Bye,” the woman said and kicked Liara fingers until she fell. Thankfully she didn’t have far to fall as she hit the catwalk about ten feet blow, it still knocked the wind out of her.

“Liara!” She heard Garrus call as the man that had originally attacked him went sailing by her and down into wherever this chamber ended. He still had the two others to contend with.

“I’m good,” she called back but as she stood she almost fell back down, pain lanced through starting at her ankle. She gently stepped on it and felt the pain again, but she was able to put pressure on it.  “I’m coming to get you.” She said and placed one of the persons attacking Garrus in stasis.

There were other soldiers coming out now. “Liara go and get her,” He called out and opened fire. “I’ll be ok.”

“Garrus!”

“Go,” Garrus ordered as he punched at one officer and shot another. Liara stood torn, Shepard in one direction and Garrus in the other. “Now.”

Liara nodded and limped as fast as she could for the door. She could hear footfalls on the catwalk behind her. She turned and let out a warp taking out two of the Cerberus officers that were chasing her. She made it to the door and in and used the control panel to lock it. To her surprise no one knocked on the door. Her eyes narrowed as she turned around.

“Liara T’Soni, nice to finally meet you,” a man stepped out of the shadows. Liara imagined it was the Ambassador. Cayle had told her he was handsome and younger than one would expect him to be. She mentioned his smoky grey eyes. She had not been wrong, he was a handsome man.

“The Ambassador,” She spat out. He smiled.

“Very good Shadow broker, I knew you were a smart one,” He said

“Where’s Shepard?” Liara demanded.

“She’s a little but preoccupied at the moment. We could leave a message and tell her you are here waiting,”

 

Well, at least she was alive Liara thought to herself. “Where is she,” Liara demanded again as she felt the anger surge within her, she liked this man less then she liked The Illusive Man. Blue wisps were surrounding her now and she took a step forward.

The Ambassador tilted his head and smiled, he held up a fist as green wisps of smoked filtered around it. “You are not the only biotic in this room, T’Soni,” He turned his back to her, “However, since you asked so nicely, I will show you.”

He motioned her to stand beside him, she did so.

“You know, when we first found Shepard she was in a lot of pain, broken far beyond what anyone else would ever be able to endure,” he explained, Liara wince, Cayle had never spoken about that. “She was in so much pain that she would open her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out. For a long while we were not even sure we would be able to fix her, but then I was told that we could control her. They said that her pain mixed with certain drugs would leave her open and very susceptible to hypnosis and it work.  Lissa was born.”

“Why?”

“Well, at first it was just because we could, then Lissa became a very useful tool and very good at her job and for a while that was enough. Then we found Harbinger and Harbinger had this control device. We are not sure what it does, but we do know that it is powerful and it is linked to the Omega 4 relay. The only problem was we needed someone who could understand the Cipher and since the last people, harvested by Harbinger were Protheans it was in their cipher and as far as I know, there are only two people who know that cipher, one of them I have.”

“Shepard,” Liara confirmed.

“Yes, but there is a small problem.”

“She won’t translate it for you,” Liara said with pride. The Ambassador turned to her, the smile still on his face.

“Not at this moment,” He said and pressed some buttons on the console beside him. The wall that was in front of her gave way to a large window. Through the window was a rather large room and about a story down was Shepard. She was kneeling with her arms tied to poles on either side of her.  She was wearing only her cloth underclothing but even they were covered in blood.  “But eventually she will break and you, my dear, just might be the final straw.”

Liara had no idea what he was talking about but her anger got the better of her. Her fist was up and she was about to unleash a warp field when The Ambassador lifted his own hand and she felt herself rise off the ground and slam into the wall. The doors opened and two Centurions came out, picking her up, making sure she could not use her hands.

 

“Take her down, make sure Shepard can see her,” The Ambassador said and the centurion’s drug Liara out of the room. Liara closed her eyes and calmed herself. Until know Liara had only melded with Shepard while they were touching, she had never tried it over distance especially not the forty feet that separated them. She did it anyway calling out to Shepard, “I’m coming Lover, fight.” She had so much more she wanted to send but the short message was enough that she felt slightly weak. She took another few seconds to recover some energy then she pulled her arms and twisted at the same time. Luckily one arm came lose and she sent her capture flying into the wall.

“I’m coming,” She said with grim determination.