Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik, Omega, Afterlife Club
January 27th, 2171—Earth Standard
Omega was the capital station of the lawless Terminus Systems.
Vido Santiago knew that Omega was a pisshole in an asteroid, but he also knew that the Blue Suns couldn't afford to be picky with who they made business with. And if he had to play nice with the asari matriarch to expand their influence, then he would in a heartbeat.
Getting an appointment with said matriarch wasn't as easy. Almost no one—but her personal bodyguards and her choice of entertainers—came up to see Aria T'Loak. But Santiago was nothing if not crafty. He turned to his little companion, and handed her his M-6 Carnifex pistol.
"Need you to get Aria's attention," Vido ordered over the loud music of the nightclub, "Can you do that?"
"Acknowledged."
Shepard took the pistol, and activated the tactical cloak from her omni-tool on her wrist. Her body flickered then vanished. Santiago looked around and grinned. Not one drunkard or anyone from Aria's Organization noticed the savant disappearing.
Aria hated doing business with the insufferable elcor, Harrot. His problems were mundane, and to add insult to injury his monotone voice wasn't keeping her interested enough, either. She crossed her legs, and leaned back on her infamous couch.
"With barely contained terror: I've come to ask for your permission to open up a store on Omega. I will give you a fifteen-percent discount on my wares, in addition to twenty-percent of the profit."
She scoffed, "I don't think you understood me, Harrot. My offer wasn't up for negotiation. Either you give me sixty-percent of your profits, or you can take your business elsewhere. Although, I'm sure you can't sell any of your merchandise anywhere else in the galaxy."
A distinctive click drove her attention away from the elcor to her bodyguards. They all looked bored, and uninterested—as if they didn't hear it, or they were the cause of it.
She reinforced her biotic barrier and kept a close eye on her surroundings. Everything looked normal, but Aria didn't survive for hundreds of years by being careless. Her fingers started tingling from the excess of biotic energy.
"With false bravado: You have to understand, Aria. The Blood Pack requires me to pay them for security. I can't afford to pay you."
Something flickered on her left, and she attacked. She felt like she slashed something, and a quick glance at her hand showed thick red liquid. Aria narrowed her eyes.
Only four known space-faring species bleed red: varren, vorcha, human, and quarian. It couldn't have been a varren; they were mindless beasts, almost pets. vorcha weren't smart enough to think an attack like this through, let alone execute it. The quarians, with their weakened immune system, would get an infection from the cut Aria had given them, not to mention that their enviro-suit would have protected against her attack. The only plausible choice would be human.
A familiar barrel pressed at her gut.
"Concerned: Aria, is everything alright?"
The Queen of Omega ignored the useless elcor, and glared at the invisible barrel. It flickered, and a tiny human female with blue and white armor materialized. All four of her usual bodyguards had their weapons out and trained on the human.
Angry blue eyes met steely viridian. The Human was young—barely a maiden if Aria were to compare her to an asari's life cycle—but her skills rivaled a matriarch or even a commando, without the biotics. The red unkempt mop on her head clashed horribly with her armor. A string of thick red liquid oozed out from her chin, and Aria snarled.
"The Blue Suns want to talk."
Half of her guards turned to the cocky voice, the others stayed on the girl. Any other time, Aria would be impressed by her guards' coordination. But at that moment, a human child managed to sneak up to her and had a gun to her. Aria was furious. Omega was annoyed.
The man grinned, "Let Aria go, kid. We're here to talk after all."
The girl nodded once, and backed away from the glaring matriarch. The Carnifex was placed on the mag-strip at her hip, and her hands were crossed behind her back.
"Nervously: What about—"
"Come back later, Harrot," the asari snapped, "I'm busy."
"Dejectedly: Understood."
The elcor left her throne, and the man smirked
"Name's Vido Santiago," the man introduced, "Co-founder of the Blue Suns. I apologize for my partner's intrusion but we needed someway to get your attention."
She didn't like him. Something about the man rubbed her the wrong way. Aria strutted back to her couch, her blue eyes never leaving the human girl. She wasn't worried about him stabbing her in the back considering he sent a human child to do his bidding. That girl was more dangerous than he will ever be; Aria would stake Omega on it.
"You have my attention," Aria started, "What do you want?"
"You should tell your lackeys to stand down, Aria. Hate for this to turn into a bloodbath."
Aria frowned, "You said you wanted to talk, but I'm not hearing anything important. Make this worth my time or I'll have my men acquaint you with the airlock, Mr. Santiago."
"Noted," Santiago cleared his throat, and turned to the child, "Get out of here, Shepard. Let the grown-ups handle this."
Her viridian eyes met Aria's blues. With a stiff nod, the child left. Shepard. Aria would remember her name. The name of the only one who challenged her in nearly four hundred years.