A Numbing Effect: A Mass Effect Fanfiction

Chapter 2: The Lord of Hunters

Holla there to my loyal and non existent audience. Sorry it took so long to get out this chapter but I've had a hellish couple of weeks and it was only do to a large dose of caffeine, adrenaline, pain, and and death metal (not my normal choice of music mind you)  that I was able to put out this chapter. Anyway, enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy the story.

-Chapter 2-

Liara was dressed and in the elevator in a heartbeat, moving with an almost synthetic, mechanical efficiency as she tried to work through her shock. She had seen Shepard. She had died on board the Citadel to start the synergy and yet, despite the utter impossibility of it, she had seen Shepard in the void, and that meant that she was alive, somehow, Commander Alicia Shepard had survived. And Liara was going to find her.

As the doors opened she burst onto the crew deck, making her way towards the XO’s office at a run, causing several of the Normandy’s off duty crew to stare questioningly at the normally cool asari’s uncharacteristic behavior.

“Liara! Hay is everything alright?” called someone, though Liara was far too preoccupied with her own thoughts to think about who it was. As she stopped to key in the password to her office, a hand touched her shoulder, and without thinking the Asari doctor whirled around, a lance of biotic energy whipping out and slamming James into the bulkhead at the far end of the mess hall.

“Perra loca!” cursed the soldier as he jumped back up, combat boots spread wide as if preparing to fight, “What the hell you got goin’ on girl?”

Eyes wide with the realization of what she had done, Liara backed slowly into her office, hands spread wide as she stuttered over her apologies.

“Oh James, I’m, I’m sorry, I just… didn’t know, or I… oh it’s…”

As soon as the door slid closed on a still bewildered James Liara walked over and slid into her office chair, her guilt over assaulting the soldier all but forgotten. As her pale blue hands brushed across the controls the massive bank of computer terminals that lined the wall in front of her lit up, hundreds of information feeds on every major event across the galaxy scrolling across the multitude of screens. This was the lair of the Shadow Broker, and at her fingers Liara, the mistress of all spies, had hundreds of informants waiting for her interests to put their ears to the ground once more.

-   Calling all informants in all systems.

There is a bounty out for the acquisition of any information on the location of one Commander Alicia Shepard, council specter, alliance service no. 5923-ac-2826, and captain of the alliance stealth vessel ‘Normandy’.

The first to deliver accurate information on Commander Shepard’s location will be wired 10,000,000 credits.

As she sent the message, tens of thousands of copies reaching over the extranet to her countless contacts, she was already planning her next move, her mind awhirl with plans. First of all she would need a ground crew. She wished that she could ask for the help of the Normandy’s existing crew but she knew she could not for doubtlessly they would call this nothing but a crazed chase after a dead woman. No, she would have to find her own allies.

She was distracted from her thoughts by the blip of a new message in her inbox. As she pulled it up on her Omni-Tool she was surprised to find that it wasn’t from one of her informants. It didn’t appear to be from anyone actually, the senders extranet address so heavily encrypted that not even her Prothian tech could decode it. When Liara finally opened the mail she was shocked by what it said;

-   Do you want to find shepherd?

Her hands shaking, Liara opened a live link to the unknown address,

-   How do you know that I’m looking for shepherd?

…Shadow Broker

-   …That is not the question.

-   … Lord of Hunters

Liara, tempted as she was to find out what the cryptic Hunter knew about Shepherd, found her hands stilled upon the keyboard. As the Shadow Broker, she had amassed a venerable collection of enemies. She couldn’t let her haste destroy her. When she had regained her composure, she began typing again

-   …Who are you?

-   …Shadow Broker

-   … That is not the question.

-   … Lord of Hunters

-   …Then what is the question?

-   … Shadow Broker

-   …Do you want to find shepherd?

-   …Lord of Hunters

Liara hesitated again, but only for a moment. Trap or not, she had to find out anything she could about her lover.

-   …Yes

-   … Shadow Broker

-   …If you want to find Shepherd, Be in the dark port in 3 solar days.

-   …I will be waiting for you.

-   …Lord of Hunters

-   …Why can’t you tell me what you know now?

-   …Shadow Broker

-   …This channel is not secure.

-   …Lord of Hunters

-   …It is.

-   …Shadow Broker

-   …it is not.

-   …or I would not have found you.

-   …Be at the dark Port.

-   …3 Solar days.

-   …be more cautious, you are not the only one that is looking for the Shepherd

-   …Lord of Hunters

[-Lord of Hunters Has Disconnected-]

Liara cursed as the line went dead, knowing that every sign pointed to the meeting being a trap. But she had no choice, she had to find out what the mysterious Hunter knew about Alicia.