NOVEL NEXT 50 – A Broken Shadow (1)
The Shadow Broker made its way towards Tela, one of its favorite agents due to the fact she was a Spectre.
Of course, the number of agents the figure had was massive, but Tela was that good.
Passing through various places, like torture chambers used to extract information from unwilling people and slaves trapped in their cages, the Shadow Broker finally arrived at her main place.
It was too big to be called a dorm, and too small to be called a deposit. It was just her main space.
It was there that she 'worked'. Blackmail, bribery, torture, you name it. Everything was okay if she came out on top. She had many agents working under her, and while some were doing it because they liked the money, others were forced.
Again, the Shadow Broker didn't care as long as it benefited her. Sometimes, out of boredom, she would capture 'toys' she found around in the galaxy, and the unlucky one this time was the Yahg. Lucky for her, they were a species that others species were banned from contact with because they were too aggressive.
Now, how long this toy will last is a mystery.
Anyway, as the Shadow Broker looked around, she saw Tela sitting down at the big rendezvous point, which was a big computer filled with calls and information coming from every point of the galaxy.
The Shadow Broker didn't mind Tela seeing that, as the content was something she shared with the Spectre. Still, they were here to talk business, '' Tela.''
The Spectre stopped what she was doing and turned around. '' I'm sure you know, but I don't have good news.''
A flash of worry crossed the Shadow Broker's face. Even she was afraid of the Reapers, and she knew the atmosphere of the planet would do nothing much to stop the machine.
'' I know. Do you have the video of the meeting? I want to analyze something.''
While the Shadow Broker already had the contents of what was said in the meeting, she still didn't have the footage of it. She wanted to see if she had missed something.
'' Here.'' Tela passed the file to the Shadow Broker.
'' Do you mind if I analyze it for a bit?'' While the Shadow Broker was an evil person, she was also smart. She wanted to see if she could catch something others didn't.
'' Go ahead. I'll be here, seeing the 'news'.'' Tela pointed at the computed, where information was coming and going at a fast pace.
'' Suit yourself.'' The Shadow Broker then started to watch the video carefully. She watched as Tevos spoke, and then she introduced LD owner, Samael.
Even the Shadow Broker had a bad time with LD, as she only found out about the identity of the owner because he revealed himself. If he had not, it was safe to say she would never find out.
It was quite a surprise for her when she found out LD was created by such a young species, but she saw a lot of strange things in her 'career', so she got over it pretty quickly.
The Shadow Broker continued watching the video, and when it arrived at Javik's speech, she noticed something wrong with a figure she knew quite well.
' Saren doesn't look too good...'
It made no sense, though, as at the beginning of the meeting, he looked okay. But as it progressed, The Shadow Broker noticed his changing of expression.
It was quite glaring because, while others looked terrified, he just looked pale, not a single visage of terror. It could be chalked up to him being a badass, but something wasn't right.
' It seems like he knew something before everyone and was caught.'
That was the impression the Shadow Broker had. And it scared her a little, as she had just sold a very big piece of information to the Spectre.
' I should not have done that.'
FLASHBACK
FEW HOURS AGO
The Shadow Broker was doing its job as normal, looking around the big computer in front of it all while relaying information to its agents and instructing them the best she could. It also regulated the price and whether the agent could sell the information the buyer wanted.
Of course, the figure could ban the negotiations anytime it wanted, if she felt like it, but that seldom happened.
As of now, the big talk in the galaxy was the emergency meeting in the Citadel, the one with the famous Code Red. The content of the conversation was big, and the figure was making a profit selling that.
By its calculations, a lot of people now know about the contents and the Reapers. Some even tried to buy information about the Deadly Machines from the figure, but sadly, not even the figure has much to offer. Just what Javik said at the first meeting, the Salarian Councilor sold the footage of that to it, and what was said in the second meeting.
Very rarely the figure sells things personally, but when it does, it is for special people, like a Councilor or a Spectre. Of course, with a hidden figure and a hidden voice, being secretive is paramount to the figure. It had made quite a lot of enemies, so it was precautious by nature.
And now, just as the figure was about to go have fun with the newest toys it had managed to capture, someone called. When the figure saw who it was, it got serious.
The figure activated all stealth protocols to hide its face, voice, etc, and accepted the call, '' Hello, Saren. Why do I have the pleasure?''
Saren's voice looked a little pale, and his eyes were weird. '' Broker. I need information about something. I'm accepting anything, rumors, real deals, etc.''
As if he forgot to add before, '' I can pay handsomely.''
The Shadow Broker wanted to know what or who made the Turian look like that, but it entered business mode. '' What do you want?''
A fervor appeared in the Turian eyes, '' I want the location of a Prothean Beacon or rumor about it.''
' Ow, this is new.'
Before Javik appeared, very rarely people asked about the Prothean species, mainly archeologists or those who study the Prothean. When Javik appeared, the market spiked but soon died down.
A lot of people also asked about the Beacon, but nothing has come of it yet. It was the first time someone from the Spectre caliber asked that, though.
So, the Shadow Broker wanted to gain some money on that. '' You see, that kind of information has been in high demand since the meeting you guys had at the Citadel.''
Scorn appeared on the Spectre's face and said, '' I see you already know about it.''
The Shadow Broker laughed, '' As a matter of fact, a lot of people across the galaxy are now aware too... Anyway, Prothean Beacons, let me see here.''
The figure thought for a second and said, '' 1 million credits per rumor.''
Saren didn't hesitate, '' Deal. Send me as much as you have.''
The Shadow Broker paused. Its instincts screamed that something was very wrong. but the credits it could earn from this transaction were too big to ignore. '' Sending to you now.''
A few seconds later, Saren received the information and paid 20 million credits.
'' It wasn't a pleasure doing business with you.''
The Shadow Broker snorted, '' The feeling is the same.''
The call then ended, but the bad feeling still remained with the Shadow Broker.
But the figure didn't delve further into it and went to 'play' with its new toy.
--
END OF FLASHBACK
Saren had come for information a few hours ago, and even when she said a ridiculous price, he paid in a hurry. That should have been a clue that something wasn't right, but money blinded her.
The information she sold, you ask? The rumors about Prothean Beacon scattered across the galaxy. This means... Saren knows about Thessia, as there's a rumor about it.
With the newfound footage and her instincts, the Shadow Broker realized she had made a huge mistake. But now, there wasn't much she could do, as the shit had already left her hand and was getting closer to the fan.
'... Fuck!'
Just to be sure, the Shadow Broker hurried to her computer and searched the file she had on Sarus. Tela was a little taken aback, as this was the first time she saw the figure acting that way, but decided to just watch.
The Shadow Broker, using Samael's advice to look into the old mission the Spectre participated in that involved the Geth, did just that, with Saren as a target. She searched for the ones where a 'Geth' appeared, and sure enough, there was one.
Clicking on the file she had, it was bizarrely barren, almost like someone had tampered with it. But who do you think the Shadow Broker is? This was nothing to her.
With a few taps on the computer, the real content of the message appeared in front of her. And it shocked both Tela and the Shadow Broker.
There, in plain sight, a Reaper appeared. They knew it was a real one because it was exactly like the ones Javik showed them.
It also meant-
'' Saren is working with the Reapers!'' Even for someone like the Shadow Broker, this was on another level. There would be no point in having an intergalactic shadow organization if there was no one in the galaxy.
The Shadow Broker then passed the information they had about Saren to her omni-tool. This was not something that should be lying around. She also made sure to delete everything that could link her selling the information about the Prothean Beacons to Saren.
She did that out of instinct because she still did not know the reason why Saren would want to know that, but now that she knew he was working with a Reaper, things just got dangerous for everyone involved with the Spectre.
If the Council knew, even she doubted the Hagalaz' atmosphere would be enough to protect her.
'' We have to inform the others now!''
'' Agreed, lets-''
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Tela appeared in front of the Shadow Broker, pushed her a little bit back, and tried to defend the shots the best she could, but even she was caught off guard by the attack. She managed to protect the figure, but her shield and armor were pierced, and she was bleeding quite heavily.
' Fuck!'
The Spectre knew the situation wasn't good, as the assassin entered undetected and almost finished both in one move.
'' We have to leave now! The base has been compromised.''
As the Spectre turned to face the Shadow Broker, the person she protected using her body, she was taken aback. There was a person behind her, taking his omni blade out of the Shadow Broker's chest.
The figure had an unwilling dying face, as it did not believe this just happened. The figure was about to tell the galaxy about Saren and the Reaper but died just like that.
Not even the Advanced Med Gel could save her. The person then pushed the Shadow Broker to the ground, and the figure stayed there, in its own pool of blood.
The Shadow Broker died just like that, and Tela was severely injured. But an injured Spectre was still a Spectre.
Tela assumed a fighting position toward the assassin, '' Who are you!?''
The assassin had a helmet with a broken visor, something that struck deeply into Tela for some reason. It then said, '' Dead people don't need to know.''
The assassin was relaxed as if everything were under his control.
Tela snorted and calmed herself. She had been in situations like this, and she just nee-
BANG
A shot came from behind, and as the Spectre had lost the shield (which still hasn't recharged) and the armor, her only protection was her biotic barrier, but she was focused so much on the threat in front of her that she didn't put it up as strong as it was.
It sealed her fate. Of course, even without that, she would've died of blood loss, but a shot to the head also helped.
The Spectre also looked unwilling to die just like that, but things were already past the point of no return. With a hole in the center of her head, and no brain active, the Spectre's body fell to the ground, dead.
'' Thank you.'' The figure took out his helmet, revealing Samael. He had just thanked the two drones who had come to the ship with him.
One of the drones 'blinked' a little, then went away toward the Shadow's Broker ship, what it was doing was unknown. The other stayed with Samael.
--
An exceptional Spectre and an even more dangerous figure died just like that. Never in a million years would they have thought someone would infiltrate their 'home'.
Samael had infiltrated the ship with RR and EDI in drone-form. Thanks to Thane's training he received in a past cycle, they had no chance against him. He used the RR drone to shoot both, successfully distracting the Spectre and he used the opportunity to kill the Shadow Broker.
The distraction worked so well that Tela didn't notice the drone, and Samael assumed it was thanks to the huge blood loss that Tela wasn't thinking straight. If Tela had, she might have put up a better fight, but fate was cruel to those who weren't paying attention.
SSV Phoenix managed to arrive at Hagalaz athmosphere undetected thanks to its stealth system, something that was from the future, and the current Shadow Boker had no way of winning against it, and the SSV Phoenix was waiting for Samael's return.
If he needed help, he just had to ask, and the crew would come and help.
He only spared a glance at the Shadow Broker and Tela before looking over at the computer. There, he saw that the Shadow Broker had managed to find out that Saren was working with the Reapers.
' As always, the Shadow Broker is dangerous, no matter who is behind the name.'
Most of the time, Samael dealt with the Yagh as the Shadow Broker. But the situation at hand proved that any person with the mantle is dangerous.
After making sure the Shadow Broker was dead, Samael said to the crew, '' The Shadow is dealt with. You can come in; be careful about its soldier, though.''
Samael's plan with the Shadow Broker was the same as what he did with Cerberus. He would take over the figure of 'Shadow Broker', put someone in power who worked under LD/him, and let things go that way. He would have to deal with the soldiers and small army on the base, but he was sure money could buy their loyalty, as they weren't exactly good people from the beginning.
He then instructed the remaining drone, which just happened to be RR, to download all the information the computer had.
When RR plugged in, even the AI was surprised by the amount of data the Shadow Broker had, '' This is incredible.''
Samael knew that it was thanks to that information that the Shadow Broker managed to stay alive and powerful until now.
'' Continue the download while I'll be looking for something here.''
'' Roger.''
While RR was downloading all the files the Shadow Broker had, Samael was going, for the first time in his entire life, to look inside the Shadow Broker network.
He could have done so with Liara in the cycles where she became the figure, but he held back because he saw no reason to. The only cycles where he 'lived' for real were the first four.
After realizing he was stuck in a time loop, he just did whatever he had in mind at that moment and never looked deep into the information the Shadow Broker had.
Of course, even if he didn't want to, Samael's mind forced him to remember the bad things about people specifically from Earth or those important for the plot of the game, but the Shadow Broker was different.
The figure had information about almost anyone in the galaxy, so Samael would look around to see if he found dirt on those in power that he could use in the future.
But the contents of what he found only made him angry.
