Chapter Text
“The bad news is that the hyperbarionic radiation combined with the ionic storms is barring use of the transporter.” Liara cautioned as she read the results from the scanner. “That means we’re going to have to board from the Telara.”
“What’s the good news?” Garrus bantered back.
“The good news is that the weather will mask their sensors so they won’t be able to spot us until we’ve already boarded.” Liara responded, handing the turian as well as her human/Trill hybrid companion their weapons. Now all business, the asari information broker declared, “We go in, rescue Feron, wreck the ship, and then get out.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Garrus replied as he checked the charge on his weapon.
“Drop point in thirty seconds.” The Romulan pilot called out.
“Right.” Cilla responded, hefting her rifle as the runabout bay door opened, the ship’s force field the only thing between them and Hagalaz’s fierce weather. “One…Two…” feeling Liara’s hand clutching hers, Cilla shouted as the trio leaped down on to the Broker’s ship, “Three!”
Almost falling off the ledge as she stumbled on landing, Liara felt a firm, yet warm hand grasping hers and pulling her back. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at the blonde woman who had just saved her from falling into the maelstrom. “Thank you, siha.”
A rare warm smile coming to her lips as she let go her asari companion’s hand, Cilla pointed to three drones approaching their position, “We’ve got company.”
“Maintenance drones.” Liara declared as she pointed her phaser at them and fired. “Not dangerous, but they’ll give away our position if we let them.”
“Time to turn them into scrap.” Garrus announced as he fired at the drones, downing all three in rapid succession. “And that girls…” the turian sniper grinned, “is how it’s done.”
“There might be an entranceway over there.” Cilla gestured towards where the drones had emerged earlier.
“Good idea.” Liara affirmed, “Let’s go.”
“So far…so good. We haven’t run across any real opposition yet—just these drones.” Garrus remarked as he and his companions downed another trio of maintenance drones. Then, spotting several Loki mechs, the turian vigilante sighed as he pointed at the mechs, “Me and my big mouth. We’ve got incoming!”
“Cover me!” Cilla shouted as she sprinted towards what appeared to be lightning rods.
“Be careful!” Liara shouted back, catching three of the mechs in a singularity and then following it up with a warp, the resulting implosion showering the area in mech pieces and fragments.
“Got the one at two o’clock.” Garrus clinically stated as he fired his phaser sniper rifle, downing two mechs in succession.
“Got it!” Cilla shouted triumphantly as she triggered the capacitors, the stored energy catching the rest of the mechs in its field, instantly rendering them scrap.
“Don’t you dare scare me like that again!” Liara quipped hiding her worry with a joking remark. “I’d think getting thrown off of one roof in a twenty-four-hour period would have been enough for you.”
“I knew you’d be there to catch me.” Cilla replied, half bantering—half serious.
Liara answered back, a delicate shade of blue appearing on her cheeks, “Well…do me a favor and let me know if you’re going to do something like that again.”
“Ladies?” Garrus cleared his throat. “We’ve got more company.”
“This time real mercenaries.” Cilla remarked, her eyes quickly spotting another pair of capacitors. “Do you see them Liara?”
“Yes, I do.” A sly grin appeared on the asari’s face.
“So do I.” Garrus remarked, also with an evil grin. “Liara…Cilla…you two know what to do.”
“Right.” Both teammates replied simultaneously.
Acting as one, Liara’s throw, Garrus’s shots at the capacitors, and Cilla’s photon grenade struck at the same time. Smiling at the resultant explosion, the turian vigilante joked, “Another obstacle cleared.”
“We should be close to the main hatch.” Liara commented as the tiny group clambered up to where the mercenaries had fallen.
Inclining his head at the body of one of the fallen mercenaries, the turian sniper commented, “You might want to take a look at him. He’s not your standard merc.”
Examining the dead man and the weapons he was carrying, the information broker replied, “You’re right, Garrus. Cilla…what do make of that uniform?”
“Terran Empire.” The Dutch tactical officer replied as she immediately recognized the gaudy blue and gold uniform. “From one of the mirror universes in the Discovery timeline, I’d say.” Picking up his pistol, she grimaced, “Agonizer phaser. Nasty piece of work. We’re going to need to adjust our shields to compensate. You do not want to get hit by one of those.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Garrus responded with a wry grin. “So…is he the only one or do you think there might be more?”
“I’m betting there are probably only two or three more if they’re here in an advisory capacity.” Cilla responded, “I have a feeling they’re here to train the Shadow Broker’s mercs. That means…”
“We’ll be dealing with more of those phasers.” Liara finished with a frown.
“That’s a good bet.” Cilla nodded, further advising, “I’d suggest making any of them that you see your priority target.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Garrus replied, inclining his head, “That’s probably the way to the entrance hatch.”
“It looks like it.” Cilla agreed, “Shall we go?”
“It’s going to take some time to crack that lock.” Liara declared, examining the interface.
“The moment you do, it’ll probably also set off every alarm on the ship.” Garrus pointed out with a scowl as he scanned the immediate area, “Thankfully, we’ve got good cover. Drones might be a problem though. Ideas?”
“Liara?” Cilla asked, turning to the lovely asari crouched by door.
“I can throw up a biotic barrier that should hold until the drones can be taken out.” Liara replied, “But you’ll have to move quickly. I won’t be able to keep it up for long—especially under heavy pounding.”
“Right.” Garrus nodded his head in acknowledgement, “Cilla? Will a biotic barrier work against photon or plasma grenades if we run into one of those Empire types?”
“Short term—in combination with our shields and armor—yes.” The Starfleet tactical officer responded, “But…as Liara said…they won’t buy us much time. The quicker we take them out—the better.”
“We better take them out quick then.” Garrus answered back as he recharged his rifle.
“Everyone ready?” Liara called out, “I’m about to activate the bypass.”
“Go.” Cilla responded, crouching under cover, her finger on her phaser’s firing button.
“Now!” Liara shouted, “Get ready!”
Alarms blaring immediately after she began the bypass, Garrus shouted loudly to make himself heard as he fired his rifle, “Drones…five o’clock!”
“One down!” Cilla yelled, her phaser disintegrating one of the drones. Wincing as a barrage of missiles impacted harmlessly against her asari companion’s biotic barrier, she shouted her appreciation, “Thanks, lieveling.”
“Don’t mention it, siha.” Liara yelled back, a slight smile appearing on her face, “Two more at three o’clock! I’ve got ‘em!” She shouted as she snagged the two drones in a singularity, making them easy targets for Garrus’s and Cilla’s phasers.
“That’s it for the first wave.” Garrus remarked, “Stay on your toes though…next one’ll be coming soon.”
“Mercs inbound at four o’clock!” Cilla shouted as she fired her phaser at an onrushing asari vanguard.
“There’s a Terran with them!” Garrus announced in a loud voice as a phaser bolt barely missed him, grazing his personal shield in the process.
“Got him!” Liara exclaimed as she lifted the Terran advisor biotically. “Now, siha!”
“Right, lieveling!” Cilla replied, firing her phaser, hitting the Terran square on the chest as Liara followed up with a biotic push that propelled the man screaming away from the ship and into the raging electrical storm.
“That’s the last of them!” Garrus announced as the bypass alarm beeped.
“Door’s open!” Liara exclaimed, pointing to the hatch, “Hurry before they send in another wave.”
Dashing into the ship, the trio paused for a moment to catch their breaths as the alarms blared. “They’ll be waiting for us.” Garrus declared with a frown. “Narrow corridor…not much in the way of cover. Gonna be rough.”
“That’s why I brought some stun and smoke grenades along with the photons.” Cilla coolly responded. “Still…it won’t be easy.”
“No…” Liara agreed, “But we have to try.”
Taking a deep breath, Garrus loaded a fresh charge into his rifle, “What are we waiting for?”
Hagalaz—RRW Gallena
As the Gallena entered the Sowilo System through the mass relay, V’lana commanded, “Contact the Telara.”
“Receiving a response—narrow channel subspace and scrambled.” Samantha Traynor responded from the comm station.
“Put it through.”
“Gallena…Terran Empire warship…Akira-class…has just entered orbit.”
“Have they detected you yet?”
“Negative. Still under cloak and have retreated to an ionic pocket. Orders?”
“Remain in position in case you have to do an emergency pickup of the landing party.” V’lana ordered, “We’ll deal with the starship.”
“Acknowledged. Telara out.”
“Picking up a ship on the scanners.” Satra reported from her science station. “Akira-class.”
“Someone want to fill the asari newbie in on what’s going on?” The newest member of the Gallena family, sitting on one of the chairs next to the center seat tentatively spoke up.
“It could be bad news.” V’lana replied, “It depends on which mirror universe that Terran Empire ship comes from…” V’lana mused in a soft voice as Anaya, noting the grave expressions on the faces of her friend and the others on the bridge queried with a worried frown.
“What do you mean…which ‘mirror universe’?”
“It’ll take too long to explain now…” V’lana replied, “But…short version…they’re from a universe that’s different from both yours and mine. In their universe, instead of humans belonging to an open and generally peaceful Federation or a somewhat more insular Systems Alliance, they’re more aggressive and xenophobic and are at the head of an aggressive and expansionist Terran Empire. The problem is that there are some Terran Empires that you can get along with. Those Terran Empires are actually not that much different from us—just a little more…well…it’s difficult to explain. When you see Zsa-Zsa and her crew, you’ll understand.”
“Zsa-Zsa?”
“A friend.” V’lana smirked. “Her and her ship came from a universe with a Terran Empire that’s…well…it’s not a mirror universe. More like an alternate universe with a twist. Then…” the lovely Romulan took a deep breath, “there are the others. The real mirror universes. They tend to be very brutal and…you could say…barbaric—especially the ones that stem from the Discovery timeline. We’re going to need to get close to find out which one we’re dealing with.”
“Good thing you’ve got that cloak thing then.” Anaya remarked in a light tone to hide her growing anxiety.
“Don’t worry.” V’lana whispered back reassuringly. “This is a good ship and crew and I like to think of myself as being a very good battle commander.”
“I hope so.” Anaya joked back.
“Never lost a fight yet.” V’lana bantered back with a reassuring smile. Then, wiping the grin off her face, the subcommander, now all business, ordered, “General quarters. Red alert. Maintain cloak. Power to weapons. Joker…bring us in on attack vector. Tovan…be ready to execute Attack Pattern Alpha on my command.”
“Aye, Subcommander.” Both executive officer and helmsman responded in unison as Solana reported from the tactical station, “All weapons online. Plasma cannons and torpedoes ready for action.”
As the lighting changed and an alarm chime rang out, Oriana’s father, at once noticing the change in expression on the faces of the medical staff as they began their preparations, asked nervously, “What’s going on?”
“Miri?” Oriana pleaded with a worried look on her face, “Is something happening?”
“General quarters.” Miranda replied, “The ship’s preparing to go into battle. I have to go to my station now.” The Australian biotic apologized, “Stay here in sickbay—it’s one of the best protected parts of the ship.”
“Don’t worry, Miranda.” Dr. Chakwas interjected in a reassuring tone, “We’ll take care of them.” Turning to the newly rescued family, the wise doctor smiled, “They know what they’re doing. We’ll be all right.”
Shadow Broker’s Ship
After a brief, but intense, firefight, the trio entered what was obviously a detention area. “He has to be in here.” Liara declared, the stony mask on her face hiding her worry as they passed one empty cell after another.
As they passed the last empty cell, Cilla placed her hand on the now disconsolate asari information broker’s shoulder, “They might have moved him somewhere else, lieveling.”
“Liara…Cilla…” Garrus’s voice, now grave and somber, called out to the pair. “I think you should come here.”
“What have you found?” Cilla asked, her normal icy expression hiding her worry at what the turian vigilante had discovered as she and Liara walked into what appeared to be an interrogation room.
“Goddess!” Liara gasped, her eyes tearing up at the sight she saw: a young drell male attached to electrodes and tubes, his eyes removed and his mouth frozen open in what appeared to be a scream of anguish. “What did they do to him? Why?”
“This was about more than simple interrogation.” Garrus declared as Cilla tried in vain to console the crying asari. “This was inflicting pain purely for the purpose of inflicting pain.”
“What sort of sadist would…”
“I’ve seen similar before.” Cilla declared in a somber tone, asking Garrus, “Do drell normally have gills?”
“No.” Liara interjected, stifling a sob, “Their homeworld until the hanar took as many of them off as they could was an arid world. Why do you ask?”
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Cilla sighed, “Because I think I know who might have done it.” After a momentary pause to collect her thoughts, the Dutch tactical officer explained, “It looks like it might be the work of the Solanae.”
“Solanae?” Garrus interrupted.
“Yes.” Cilla affirmed with a nod of her head. “They exist in a region of subspace. The first encounter with them that we know of was in 2369, my universe’s chronology. They abducted several civilians and crew of the Enterprise-D and performed experiments on them and then tried to generate a pocket domain of their space in the Enterprise. Picard stopped them with a graviton pulse, but not before they sent out a signal. Ever since then, there have been reports of possible sightings. A few years ago, USS Dayton, while on patrol in the Celes Sector, found a freighter floating adrift. When they boarded and searched the ship, they found some…but not all…of the crew. All dead and all having had various experiments done on them.”
“So…” Garrus took a deep breath as he covered the body, “The Shadow Broker is working with these Solonae?”
“It would appear so.” Cilla asserted, “Now, the question is, are the Solonae acting alone or are they being used by someone else?”
Her facial expression now one of barely restrained fury, Liara exclaimed in an angry voice, “I don’t care if we rip this ship apart. I am going to find out why.”
“Then let us find out together.” Cilla agreed.
With a scowl on his face, Garrus echoed his teammates’ thoughts, “What are we waiting for? Time to get some answers.”