This is a continuation of the series TEAM MILKYWAY, a self-insert story written by myself, hk47fan, and TehMarishal as Abby, HK, and Sarah respectively. It is highly recommended you read that before this.
Passages takes place immediately after Team MilkyWay concludes.
Omega
You had your power-hungry fools in the corner, socializing with an air of forced cordiality in their stance as they calculated their chances of rising through the meaningless ranks; the gamblers played their games by the tables, hell bent on making a quick profit; those looking for an easy score lingered by the strippers, following their curves with eager longing evident in their hunched shoulders and bright eyes; there were the drunks by the bar, helping themselves to a vial concoction that would ultimately send them towards oblivion; and then the others, the business partners, the young ones, the 'couples' looking for a drug-induced good time.
Aria's sanctuary.
Joker seemed to be wrapped up in the movements of an asari stripper on one of the tables. As Shepard watched, she winked at him and gave him a small wave like they were old friends. He pulled at his collar uneasily. "Wait – she's waving at – hey, Commander, can I –"
"Business before pleasure, Moreau," she reminded him.
"You take all the fun out of it," he complained.
"You can make a fool of yourself later," she said. "Aria's upstairs. Let's go."
"Hey, honey, you want a drink?" A short, black man with a bright blonde goatee sidled up to Miranda, a frothing blue shot glass in his hand.
"No, thanks," Miranda said shortly, purposely looking away from them.
"Cold as ice, baby!" the man howled joyfully. "I like you. Come to my table when you have a chance, and we'll have a chat. Drinks on me."
"Right."
The man sauntered back to his table and Miranda pursed her lips in an ill-disguised display of disgust. "I hate clubs," she said. "Absolutely hate them." Miranda had a shadow of a bruise on her right cheekbone, but otherwise there was no outward sign that she had been involved in the fight of her life only a day and a half ago. She was still beautiful, and she had that outward saunter of unconscious confidence that was responsible for more head-turning than her looks. And she had a gun.
"You just hate picking roofies out of your beers," Joker said helpfully. "So, uh, I'm guessing she's up there?" He pointed.
Correctomundo. Abby's expected response rang clearly in her head. She tried not to think about it. "Yeah, up there. And Joker? Best behavior."
"Hey, I'm wearing my good pants. What could go wrong?"
Aria was waiting for them as she said she would. She was still in the same place Shepard had left her last time, legs crossed, arms folded casually across her chest. She looked as if somebody had frozen her there. The red lights dancing on her cerulean skin made it glow a deep, royal purple. "Looks like T'Soni made the right move, Shepard," Aria said, gesturing at a booth next to her. Shepard took a seat. "Sounds like I owe you a beer."
"If you help me out, I'll owe you a couple of beers," Shepard pointed out.
"Right." Aria gestured for one of her turian companions to take a seat next to her. "Let's get started. This is Iriak. He'll get you set up." She looked up at Joker. "This is the pilot?"
"Yes," Shepard answered. "Jeff Moreau."
Joker nodded. They'd decided early on not to tell Aria about EDI.
"How much is this going to cost me, Moreau?" she asked, steepling her fingers together.
"There's quite a lot of external damage," he said respectfully. "I'm thinking about fifty-thousand. We can cover most of it with the funds received from Cerberus, we're just lacking the materials and the manpower."
"And I don't believe that going to a Cerberus installation for repairs right now would be the smartest move on our part," Shepard said.
Aria raised an eyebrow. "You piss them off?"
"We had a disagreement about our long-term goals," Shepard stated.
"Interesting. I'd be interested in hearing the full story."
"Fair enough." Shepard inclined her head.
"Over drinks. What'll you have?"
"Just a beer. Any brand will do."
Aria fluttered her fingers at one of her personal guard, who then nodded and left the room. "Iriak and Moreau will discuss what they need over there," she said, pointing to a table on the other side of her personal room. "Get me a shopping list and I'll see what I can accommodate you for."
Joker and the turian went to their own private place. Both had their datapads out. Shepard, confident that the deal would go smoothly, turned away. And if it didn't, Miranda was keeping an eye on them.
"So," Aria said, "I'll supply the raw resources and the crew needed to repair the ship. You said it was external damage – any internal?"
"Nothing our own techs can't take care of," Shepard replied calmly. She respected Aria, but she was not going to let the crime lord into any of her ship's computer systems. "Our biggest concerns are the holes on the lower half of the ship."
"Very well. Your crew will supervise my crew. There won't be much to worry about – sounds cosmetic. Iriak can get that sorted. Any upgrades to your remaining systems, talk to him about it."
"Is he your point man for this type of thing?"
"You can say that."
"Right." Her guard returned with two unopened bottles of beer and placed one in front of Shepard. Miranda was not offered one. "I have another request," Shepard said, after taking a drink.
"Fire away."
"We've been working our asses off for a while now," she said. "The crew needs some shore leave. However, Omega's a dangerous place. They've proven themselves capable, but most of them are still recuperating from being held captive by the Collectors. I'd like to rent out the VIP section for the night."
"I'm sure that we can manage something," she replied. "I bet that friend of yours won't be drinking ryncol anymore. How long did it take until she was able to walk again?" She smiled indulgently.
A smile quirked at the corner of her lip, and she took a long draught of her beer. "She was killed. Along with two others."
"Which two?" Aria asked.
"A boy and girl – young adults," Shepard said. That had to be pushing it – HK and Abby were both teenagers. Sarah had been the adult. "You wouldn't know them that well. They were only on the station once."
"When you were taking out the Ardat-Yakshi," Aria said. "I remember. Tagging along with the Justicar and Lawson. Shame they're dead – didn't really understand why you took them that young, anyway. Were they handy in a fight or something?"
"Relatively," Shepard said. "They'd done more tangible research on the Collectors than Cerberus. They were helpful, but I should have watched over them better. That was my failing."
"Sometimes we all need to lose something to remind ourselves how mortal we actually are," Aria said. "Now, how are you going to live up to your end of the bargain?"
Shepard handed over a data disc. "That's all Jeff could pick up on the scanners. The base was advanced, but it was organic. We destroyed it on the way out and I'm not planning to give you the IFF, but that's… well, that's everything."
"Useful," Aria said. For a first time, a smile appeared on her face. "The Collectors gave me some problems a little bit ago. Glad to hear they're gone."
"They used to be Protheans."
Aria head jerked as if a fly had landed on her scalp. "Excuse me?"
"Everything is on the disc," Shepard said. "But basically, yes. We were able to isolate a strand of Collector DNA and match it up to some preserved Prothean strands. They've undergone extensive genetic modification."
"That's… interesting." Aria slipped the disc into an inside pocket. "Anso, go have a chat with Jaruut. Tell him that I'm taking over for tonight." After Anso left, Aria turned to regard the Commander. "Go ahead and send your crew, Commander. Don't make a mess upstairs. After Moreau and Iriak are done, I'll send him up there. Unless Miss Lawson wants to stay and supervise, considering her hatred of clubs."
"Sounds good," Shepard said. She stood and pat Miranda on the shoulder. "Call me in an hour with a status update."
"Of course, Commander."