A lot of companies could take a real page out of BioWare’s book when it comes to the offering of DLC.  To date, their space-faring RPG Mass Effect 2 has received several installments of additional content, and are set to release a brand new storyline featuring long lost love, Dr. Liara T’Soni. Liara had been an integral part of Commander Shepard’s team in the first game, and her personality change and exclusion in any meaningful way from the sequel left a bad taste in a lot of gamers’ mouths.

When word first broke that the Lair of The Shadow Broker DLC would be focused on returning to Illium to aid your former crewmate (and potential paramour) in bringing down the elusive information dealer known as the Shadow Broker, it’s safe to say the collective nerd pulse of the internet picked up a few beats. Apparently, the anguish and guilt felt by our own Rory Young after his romantic encounters with her, and subsequent filandering are heard loud and clear by the community at large, including myself (tear).

But now we have our first look at the trailer, and aside from a continuation of your relationship with the blue-skinned doctor, we have a glimpse of a few new set pieces, and possible flight combat. If you haven’t already, take a look for yourself:

Obviously, there’s no shortage of sexually-charged embraces and exchanges between Shepard and Liara, backing up Bioware’s statements that this new DLC would give players a chance to continue their romantic relationship with the good doctor.

Sidenote: at what point is BioWare going to decide that there can only be so many romantic possibilities in one franchise? Perhaps they’ll just go all the way and rename my space marine Tom Brady.

Anyways, what I didn’t expect to see in the trailer was what looked to be a segment of aerial combat. BioWare had spoken about their intention to give players “more combat options” in Mass Effect 3, so this could be our first chance to see what we have to look forward to. It’s hard to judge the potential addition by 1-2 seconds of footage, but expect to hear more in the coming days.

My first question is: how long do you think the next week will feel? As a huge fan of the series so far, I know I’ll be chomping at the bit to download this and address one of the most nagging loose ends I have. Since his first appearance in Mass Effect, the Shadow Broker  has been shrouded in mystery, and largely considered to simply be beyond Commander Shepard’s reach. When I came across Liara investigating his operations on Illium in ME2, a large part of me wanted to simply abandon the mission I was on to both reunite with my first love, and aid her in taking down one of the only ME characters who had managed to smack talk me without receiving a plasma bolt in the face as payment. But alas, twas not to be.

Even after all these years, when I hear Liara being threatened in those first few moments my initial reaction is still to step in and defend my teammate even after all this time, and that just isn’t that common for me (Do the words: “I look out for me and mine” mean anything to you?).  If the Mass Effect: Redemption sales are anything to go by, my interest in Liara is shared by more than I had thought. I personally can’t wait to see what they have in store both storywise and with additional gameplay, since getting some Star Fox in my Mass Effect is far from a bad thing.

Am I alone in my longings for more face time with Liara, and a chance to help discover what caused her dramatic personality change in ME 2? Or do you simply share my desire to show the Shadow Broker the plasma bolt with his name on it that I’ve been carrying around sicne my first time on the Citadel?

Either way, we’ll find out on Sept. 7 when the DLC is released on Xbox 360 for 800 MS Points, and 800 BioWare Points on PC.