//------------------------------// // Intel // Story: Mass Effect: Element of Kindness // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// Chapter 114 Intel “So Liara has been gunning for this ‘Shadow Broker’ for a while now?” Dash asked in surprise as she along with Fluttershy and Garrus walked through the crowds of Illium, getting a whack to the back of her head from Fluttershy’s wing. “Shush, no saying names when talking about this kind of stuff out in public. You’ve got no idea who’s listening to this stuff around here,” she hissed before looking at Garrus. “You two were here before, right? You must have warned her about this place.” “Cut her some slack, Shy, she’s still new to this stuff after all,” Garrus defended himself, Fluttershy sighing and turning back to Dash. “Sorry, the reason for us being here is putting me on edge.”  Rainbow gave her friend a nudge with her wing. “No sweat shy, I can imagine why knowing where we found you.” “Thanks. Now she’s up there right?” Fluttershy pointed at the office tower overlooking the market district which they were nearly at. “Eeyup, she’ll probably be in constant calls. We walked in on one of them last time, it was… interesting to say the least,” Garrus chuckled, the doors to the building sliding open and letting the group walk up the stairs towards Liara’s office, the assistant there greeted them as they passed into the office itself. Liara was sitting at her desk, browsing on a holopad. “Hello Liara,” Fluttershy smiled, as she stepped forward. The asari starting to grin at the sight of the new arrivals and going over to the yellow pegasus, pulling her into a hug. “Good to see you’re well, Fluttershy,” Liara smiled, Fluttershy chuckling back at her. “I hear that I have you to thank for that.” “Well, you were also very fortunate that the ship you were on crashed on Tuchanka as it resupplied. I don’t know if I could have tracked you down fast enough otherwise,” Liara admitted as she stood back up and gave Garrus and Dash a nod. As they took seats at her desk. “Who said it was a fortunate accident?” Fluttershy smirked grabbing the tablet Shepard had given to pass on, turning more serious. “We’ve got something for you.” Liara took the tablet and looked at its content, her eyes widening. “This is...” “...A good chance to get back at that asshole,” Garrus finished for her with a venomous tinge in his voice. “That’s one way to put it,” Liara admitted. “I’m sorry but I need to cut this meeting short, I’ll need to make a few calls and get some things ready. Meet me at my apartment in three hours. I also know Shepard is on planet, if he could come it would make our lives much easier.” Garrus nodded, “I’ll give him a call. We’ll see you at your place tonight.” With the short meetup concluded for the moment, the three left Liara to make her arrangements. Garrus opening his omni-tool to give Shepard a call as they stepped out of the building but couldn’t get a connection to the commander, getting a nudge from Fluttershy as he grumbled. “He’ll call back when he sees you tried to contact him Garrus. Let’s get ready for tonight, I’ve got this bad feeling we won’t just be discussing our next moves...” The shuttle Dash, Fluttershy, and Garrus had taken finally came to a halt at the penthouse where Liara lived. They’d tried to contact Shepard but the commander seemed to have dropped off the grid completely for the moment. The three of them entering the building to meet up with their asari friend. “Wait, what’s going on here?” Dash said as she noticed a whole bunch of police shuttles on the way in. “Considering what we’re here for, nothing good...” Garrus growled, looking up at the penthouse. “Let’s go figure it out.” The elevator ride didn’t take that long to rise to the top of the tower and into a hallway where at the end of it a police barrier was set up. Fluttershy cared very little for the little barrier of light, striding right through it. The pegasus’ hood was up, shrouding her face in an unnatural darkness. “Hey! You’re not allowed in here, this area is sealed off!” the cop who was standing near the entrance called out. Garrus and Dash simply waiting at the barrier to see how Fluttershy would play this one out. The yellow pegasus for one completely ignored the officer and observed the apartment, her eyes falling on holes in the window. “Those rounds lost a lot of energy punching through there, the glass should have completely shattered. The window was shielded, wasn’t it?” Fluttershy pointed out to the cops that were closing in on her. “That is correct miss Fluttershy,” an asari called out from a floor up as she came walking down a set of stairs towards the pegasus. “I’m afraid I don’t know you, ma’am…?” Fluttershy looked at the asari’s armor, finding a Spectre logo on one of her shoulder pads. “Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon,” Tela answered, looking at the cops in the room. “You officers are dismissed.” The police officers grumbled and complained but moved out of the apartment and allowing Garrus and Dash to pass. “You seem to be well informed about me,” Fluttershy said casually, inspecting some of the items in the apartment. “It is part of my job to be aware of things after all. I take it you were here to see your old friend?” Tela continued, looking at the two holes in the window. “She was following a lead on the Shadow Broker,” Fluttershy stated while looking at a display case with a battered piece of N7 armor in it. “This was Shepard’s...” “That’s a dangerous enemy to have… and someone really must not have liked him then,” Tela casually mentioned. Garrus meanwhile was taking a look around the apartment himself too while Dash simply listened in on the conversation. “Not really no… Got any clues on what exactly happened here?” Fluttershy asked. “Someone took a shot at her twenty five minutes ago. She stuck around her apartment for five minutes after so she must have been doing something important.” “Cameras?” “Nothing.” “Annoying.” “Very.” “Mind if I look around for clues?” “Nope.” Ending their rapid conversation, Fluttershy started looking through Liara’s stuff, checking the bottom floor first before moving up to the top one where the asari’s bed stood.  “Hey, is that the old Normandy?” Dash spoke up, taking a look at the picture. “Yeah, it was a good ship. Made a lot of memories on there,” Fluttershy said taking the picture for herself to look at it but the moment she touched it the image changed to that of a prothean dig site. “Whoa.” “What’s that?” Dash asked, looking the image over. “It’s a clue,” Fluttershy answered, smiling widely. “That’s a prothean dig site and there’s plenty of prothean artifacts around here. We should check them all out closely.” “Yes ma’am,” Dash smirked, saluting with her wing and checking out the nearest display case, tapping and prodding at it to see if it held something. Fluttershy went ahead and took a look at the cases on the bottom floor, eventually finding one that lit up the moment she touched it and revealed a data drive. “Got something!” Everyone immediately gathered around as they played the video recorded on the drive: A conversation between Liara and a salarian who wanted to meet her at the Baria Frontiers office. “I know where the trade center is where that’s located. I’ve got my shuttle outside.” Fluttershy nodded, “Let’s go find her then.”