Liara T'Soni Deals with a Visitor

The course of Liara T’Soni's life had changed drastically over the past year. Before she was an information broker on Illium, trading in secrets that could topple governments and get thousands of people killed, she’d been a mere archaeologist. It was times like this she so dearly missed the simplicity of that life. One could study the Protheans for centuries and pour over countless ruins and still only uncover minor clues about the nature of their civilization and the culture that spawned it.

Her deep sapphire eyes drifted to the Prothean statue that decorated one of the corners of her office. She’d found it on a dig ten years before that fateful day which had changed her life forever. It served as a reminder of the woman she’d once been, before Commander Jane Shepard had quite literally blasted into her life.

Yet, if I could go back, I wouldn't change it for the world.

She sighed as she finished the message on her terminal and hit “send.” She wore a tight dark blue dress that accentuated her curves and left a decent cleavage window. She’d inherited more from her mother than her innate biotic talents and analytical mind, after all.

Liara stared down at her breasts for a moment. The upper parts of them were exposed. She’d always hated the birthmarks that adorned her skin there. Jane had loved them, however. She'd called them freckles. She gave her chest an experimental shake and watched as her boobs jiggled.

Though, it is not as if I’ve used the other “gifts” my mother left me. Not since…

Her gaze returned to her terminal. She kept no photographs of Jane in her office, or of any of the Normandy crew. She couldn’t afford the weakness that came with the realization of unconditional love or friendship. All that she’d gained and lost in the last, most hectic two years of her life could be turned against her in an instant to deprive her of what few pleasures remained.

All it would take is a simple extranet search.

She resisted, if only barely. Instead, she brought up last night’s surveillance logs from the Azuria Bank hotel. The business had become popular among humans upon their introduction to the galactic community, so much so that the hotel’s built-in restaurant had taken a human name.

The time readout of the footage was in the human digits as well, but Liara didn’t mind. She had grown accustomed to the human numerical system during her time on the Normandy and had even managed to use humanity’s relative newcomer status on the galactic scene to confuse rivals and competitors who tried to hack their way into her servers and grab all the information she’d amassed as a broker.

How many Asari after living for several centuries would deign to learn the customs of a species that had been sailing under wind power and fighting with swords when they were born? How many of the ones who did would think to drag up ancient human languages such as Latin that had been extinct for hundreds of years? Coupled with the best encryption software credits could buy, Liara had one of the most secure data caches on the planet.

Liara’s full lips twitched into a rare grin as a figure stepped into the lobby camera’s view.

There he is. John Shepard. He does not have Jane’s hair or her eyes, but I can still see traces of her there.

She paused the footage and zoomed in on the young human’s face.

His raven black hair was trimmed short. His dazzlingly blue eyes screamed through the screen, radiating power she had only seen a few individuals possess. He had Jane’s high cheek bones and fair skin, too. All in all, his face projected an inner strength that belied his age and lack of experience. She had no doubt in her mind that had John decided to become a soldier, he’d be every bit as fierce a warrior as his sister.

She touched the image of his face with her index finger, smiling fondly. Her heart skipped a beat.

He is very handsome.

A feminine figure behind John drew her gaze. The human woman had stark red hair that fell to her shoulders and the same green eyes of the woman she’d fallen in love with.

Hannah Shepard.

She’d never met Jane's mother, but their resemblance was so striking it caused Liara to keep the footage paused for a few more moments before starting it again.

They were flanked by a cadre of Alliance marines. They were heavily armed and armored, but on a world like Illium that wasn’t unusual. One of the marines caught her eye. She smiled.

Hello again, Ashley.

Ashley Williams hadn’t been the most friendly and open of the Normandy crew when she’d first stepped aboard, but that initial antipathy had morphed overtime into grudging acceptance and then something akin to friendship. Liara had sympathized with her. The marine had dealt with the stigma of her last name her entire life and so had hardened herself to prove her loyalty to a state that would rather her entire family never existed.

Her terminal chimed.

She pressed the answer button.

“Yes, Nyxeris?”

The face of her assistant appeared on her monitor. She had dark violet skin and amber eyes. Liara had found Nyxeris after she’d been laid off by a Thessia-based investment firm for reporting on her managers’ backroom deals with the Batarian Hegemony in violation of Citadel economic sanctions for the Hegemony’s use of **** labor.

Her managers had avoided prison and had used their influence to ensure Nyxeris was never hired by any major financial concern again. In a twist of irony, Nyxeris had winded up in the Terminus systems, searching for opportunities the same way her corrupt managers had.

Liara had scooped her up after reading the story, admiring the woman’s integrity for doing the right thing even though it had accomplished nothing and costed her everything.

“Liara,” the Asari matron addressed her. She had curved magenta markings that stretched across her forehead and down her cheeks. “Your appointment has arrived. Gotta say, she is impressive for a human. Why didn’t you tell me she was so beautiful? And that body! If there ever was a human equivalent of a Matriarch I’d Like to Fuck, she’s it. You wanted to keep her all to yourself, didn’t you?”

Liara shook her head, her cheeks flushing bright purple.

“This appointment is strictly for business, not a social call. You are aware of that,” Liara said.

“Sure, sure. I totally believe you,” Nyxeris waved away her explanation. The movement caused her tightly constrained breasts to jiggle. Liara sighed.

“Send her in. And… please, do not proposition her.”

Her assistant’s grin widened to shit-eating proportions.

“She’s all yours, I promise. One MILF coming right up!” she said before ending the video call.

Liara rubbed her temples and slumped back in her seat.

Why did I hire that woman again?

She heard movement from outside her office door and managed to compose herself before the door swished open.

In stepped the woman she’d seen only images or video of, and the realization saddened her somewhat.

Hannah Shepard was a vision of mature beauty and elegance. She had large, matronly breasts and wide hips characteristic of some of the more attractive Asari matriarchs. The admiral probably had no idea what the Asari on Illium thought when their eyes traced her soft curves and admired the exotic pale hue of her skin.

For a race that had largely foresworn intra-species mating for fear of what such bonds could produce, humans in their striking similarities to the Asari were like a proverbial gateway to the Asari sex that had been shut for centuries. Women who had once been shamed for finding other Asari attractive could now freely satisfy those sexual tastes with humans.

Liara stood from her seat and moved around her desk. The human woman’s vibrant green eyes narrowed as she approached. She saw so much of Jane in them, but there was a cold edge to her glare that Jane had never shown her.

“Admiral Shepard. I’m Liara T’Soni. It is an honor to finally meet you,” she held her hand out. “I hope your lodging accommodations were satisfactory?”

Hannah Shepard glared down at her hand as if its presence offended her.

Liara fought to keep her composure. Despite the fact that she’d known ahead of time how this was going to go, she couldn’t help but keenly feel the sting of rejection. Fear trickled into her nerves. She could doubtlessly win any physical confrontation with the admiral thanks to her biotics, but there was something humbling about meeting a woman who could order the entire surface of a planet devastated.

Hannah waited for the door to snap shut before speaking.

“Yes, I know who you are. You’re the woman my daughter spoke so highly of. She said you loved each other and that you were the best thing to ever happen to her,” she said.

Liara bit the insides of her mouth.

“Which is why I was surprised to find out that not only did you allow my daughter to die, you pawned off her body to a terrorist organization known for their twisted, inhumane experiments,” Hannah fearlessly stepped into her space. She felt the woman’s breath on her skin.

Liara’s eyes widened.

She knows? How?

A sinking realization crept into her mind.

The Shadow Broker. It has to be. He must have sent her the information on Jane’s body to get back at me. As if capturing Feron and sending me vids of his **** were not enough. He has to alienate me from the mother of the woman I loved. Still love. That bastard. I will end his life if it is the last thing I do.

“I’ll give you one chance to come clean about why you sold my baby girl to Cerberus. Otherwise I’ll order my marines to seize you and let the Alliance sift through all your data.”

Liara clenched her fists. She’d fought Geth, survived in battle against everything galaxy had thrown at her, and even stared down a Reaper. She could handle Jane’s mother.

“Whatever your sources have told you, that information is incorrect,” Liara said firmly. She leaned forward in the way her mother had done on the rare occasions soft diplomacy failed her. What did it say about her that it had so often become her first resort to solving problems? “I loved your daughter, Admiral. I still do. The memory of her is the only thing that gets me through my days. I would never do anything to hurt her, much less disrespect her body by giving it to one of her own sworn enemies.”

Doubt flickered in Hannah’s gaze. Liara knew the woman would order her marines to act against her the moment that doubt faded. She couldn’t allow that to happen. What she was doing was too important. She had to make Hannah Shepard doubt the information the Shadow Broker had given her.

“If I had sold Jane’s body to Cerberus as you claim, why would I invite you to Illium and then pay for your lodging? Why would I not retreat deeper into the Terminus where you would never find me?” she pressed, further closing the gap between them. Their clothed breasts grazed against each other.

Hannah glared at her, and for a moment Liara thought Hannah would order her marines to ransack her office.

Liara’s hands inched down towards the hem of her dress.

Goddess, I have to show her. Damn the consequences. I can only hope Ashley explained everything.

“You’re right,” Hannah said finally. “If you really had something to hide from me, you’d be really stupid to just sit there where I can find you at any time. Now I’m wondering why you invited me here in the first place.”

Liara smiled weakly, only barely preventing herself from sagging with relief. She wrung her hands together nervously.

“It is as I said in my message. I… I am not very good at this. Expressing how I feel. Jane… your daughter… meant a lot to me. I wanted to get to know her family.”

“To get closure,” Hannah nodded.

“Yes,” Liara jumped on the excuse Hannah had given her. “To get closure.”

Hannah Shepard’s eyes softened slightly.

“I think I understand. It still doesn’t explain why my sources claimed you’d given my daughter’s body over to Cerberus, but I owe you the benefit of the doubt, if only because Jane loved you,” Liara’s eyes stung with unshed tears. Hannah smiled softly. “She never stopped talking about you in her messages. I wish I’d gotten to meet you while she was…”

“I do as well,” Liara said.

Hannah swallowed thickly. Then the coldness returned to her eyes with all the severity of a Noverian blizzard.

“Just be aware that I will be following up with my sources about what happened to my daughter. If I find out you lied to me, we'll be having a much different conversation next time around. Have a good day, Liara,” Hannah said. She turned around and walked away, the door to Liara’s office parting for her like a city before a hurricane.

Liara sighed heavily and made her way back to her desk. She sat down in her chair, but found no comfort there.