She stepped off the transport onto the grimmy dock. For a moment she couldn't help but frown at the disgusting state of things on this Omega station. Only a moment, however, it quickly passed once she looked up and took in the Omega skyline.
It was perhaps silly to call this a skyline, seeing that it was just a self contained breathable environment surrounding utilitarian structures attached to a massive astroid that was being mined for eezo. But perhaps that was the beauty of this station. So unlike the Asari cities she had passed through, even more unlike other Council space stations, like the Citadel, which try so hard to pretend to be serene and peaceful and perfect.
Omega was none of that, it was dirty, practical, and dangerous. Everything on it looked ready to punish any weakness. There was an honesty about this place, this was what life was really like. Not the fantasy of a calm meadow in a safe little park under a warm sun somewhere. But the brutal reality that death was always just a moment away. This truth made life in Omega that much more vibrant. Everyone here knew with a certainty they could die at any moment, and that made them all that much more alive.
This would make the hunt that much more difficult, she realized. When everyone knew their life was in constant danger it made them more cautious, and harder to trap. This didn't bother her, however, on the contrary it only made her that much more eager for the challenges ahead.
"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing." a Batarian voice was being directed at her. Blinking she turned to see where the source of the voice came from and saw a Batarian staring back at her. He was possibly a mercenary, given his armor, but the way he allowed all four eyes to drag over her body showed he likely thought himself a predator.
"First time to Omega?" the Batarian asked her.
She realized her wide eyed admiration of the station around her probably made her look like an easy target. She smiled, making sure to keep her face as innocent and her voice as naive as possible. "Yes it is. How did you know?"
Rarely was the hunt as simple as seeking out and attacking your prey. Sometimes you had to allow your target to think it is hunting you, then let them come to you. All she had to do now was play the part of the lost little newcomer.
"I can tell. Omega is a dangerous place, you know. If you want I can help you get settled in, keep you safe." The Batarian was doing a terrible job of hiding the sadistic leer in his voice. But all she had to do was pretend she didn't know better, pretend the Batarian wasn't more interesting in doing terrible things to her.
"I'd like that, thank you." Her smile was pure, innocent, trusting, welcoming, exactly what the Batarian was expecting, exactly as she had crafted it.
The Batarian led her away from the docks. As they walked to what would likely be his apartment, she made sure to stand just a little too close to him. She didn't pull away even as he laid his hand a little too strongly on her hip. He was about to experience first hand what a true predator was like.
"So what's your name, sweet thing?" The Batarian asked her. She had to think about it for a moment, making sure the new name fit properly as it rolled off her tongue.
"Morinth," She said with an intentionally shy smile, "My name's Morinth, and it's so nice to meet you." She didn't bother asking for his name in return. It didn't matter, he'd be dead soon anyway.
Shepard had hoped to grab a simple meal, something nice and warm to take back up to her cabin. Particularly now that she had managed to pick up some decent ingredients for Gardner to work with.
They would be heading to Horizon soon, all they were waiting for were Mordin's armor upgrades now. And if what the Illusive Man had told her about Ashley was correct ...
The whole thing felt wrong. Not that it mattered, if they didn't do something the entire colony would be lost. And right now they were they only ones who could do anything about it.
The last thing she needed now was a big argument to break out in the middle of the mess hall.
"What did you say bitch!?" Shepard heard Jack's voice yelling clearly almost as soon as she stepped off the elevator. Immediately she sighed, briefly considered hitting the button to go back up to her cabin, and then decided that she'd better resolve the issue sooner rather then later.
As she walked into the mess area itself she could see Jack and Samara staring each other down, biotics already flaring in preparation for war. Shepard wasn't a biotic herself, so she found it annoying when skilled biotics resorted to showing off their abilities whenever they encountered something they disagreed with.
Samara remained her typical emotionless self; cold, calm, and precise. Jack on the other hand was the exact opposite. She was just a raging inferno of biotic energy, all of her emotion laid bear, ready to lash out at anything that presented itself with her full berserker fury.
Seriously, even Grunt was more disciplined and orderly then Jack, and he couldn't wait for any excuse to headbutt someone or something into dust.
"Your presence itself is an offense to the Code," Samara explained with an uncaring tone that was completely inappropriate for the situation. "And your current actions only further prove my assertions."
"Just try it you fat blue cunt." Jack shot back at her.
"Actually I think the appropriate term you're looking for is Azure." Kelly offered trying to diffuse the situation. It wasn't remotely helpful.
"What the hell is going on here!" Shepard called out, her voice booming with enough authority that everyone in the room had no choice but to look at their Commander. The response was immediate. Every former Alliance crew member immediately moved to salute, a reflex bred too deeply to resist against a voice with so much command. The rest of the Cerberus crew quickly found reasons to be elsewhere, as though the Commander, even unarmed, was more dangerous to their personal safety then an all out biotic warzone.
"This blue bitch is saying I should be put down like a dog!" Jack said accusingly, the glare in her eye made it obvious just how far she was willing to go in response.
"This wretched girl has confessed her crimes to me." Samara said, "They are numerous and significant enough to warrant immediate judgement." Her steely glance made it clear that she was all too willing to follow through on her threats.
"Confessed?" Jack laughed, "More like bragging. If you want to lay down your judgment on me I'll show you my brand of anarchy and we can see who comes out on top." And likely rip the bulkheads apart in the process, Shepard realized.
"That's enough!" Shepard demanded, the intensity in her voice enforced the silence that soon followed.
"Samara," Shepard began again in a calmer voice this time, "I'm sure you are correct that the Code would require action in case. Just like I'm sure that your Oath to me means you won't actually harm any of my crew, right?" She kept her eyes on the Justicar as if daring her to go back on her Oath.
"... You are correct, Shepard." Samara admitted finally. "Though failing to exact Justice on the guilty would bring dishonor to me." The hint was inferred just for Shepard, forcing her to act dishonorably meant death after all.
"Alright, and how do you know she's guilty?" Shepard asked her.
"What do you mean? She confessed her crimes to me." Samara worked to hide her frustration.
"I'm pretty sure I heard her specifically state it wasn't a confession." Shepard replied, "So how can you be sure that she's telling you the truth."
"Are you calling me a liar now?" Jack spoke up.
"I'm just saying," Shepard said leveling an intense glance at Jack before she had a chance to blow up and make things worse, "Hypothetically speaking, what if you were going a bit overboard in your stories. I'm not saying whether you were or weren't mind you." She looked back towards Samara as she continued, "However Jack hasn't sworn any oath to tell the truth all the time. At least not that I'm aware of. So you don't really know if what she's saying is true, not enough to validate and execution at least."
"I see," Samara said, "A convenient work around for you, Shepard."
"I just don't want to see any of my crew tearing each other apart." Shepard told her crossing her arms, "It's kinda hard to complete any mission when your ground team is too busy being dead. Trust me, I would know."
"Very well," Samara said with a slight nod, "In that case there is no more need of my presence here, and I shall return to my quarters." With that the Justicar simply turned and walked away, as though the current situation was no longer worthy of her attention.
"Huh, bitch didn't even apologize." Jack blurted out, not caring if Samara was out of earshot.
"You really shouldn't let her get to you like that." Shepard offered the biotic. "She doesn't like you, I'm sure that's not a new concept to you, just accept that and ignore her."
"I don't give a fuck if she doesn't like me." Jack told Shepard bluntly, "But anyone who threatens me is just asking to have their asses ripped out through their fucking throat."
"Fair enough." Shepard shrugged, "But in my experience verbal threats don't mean much. And I won't allow any actual threats to you so long as you're on my ship."
For a very brief moment Jack found herself at a loss for words due to the sincerity of Shepard's words, but she quickly recovered and added, "If you say so, but if you don't mind I'd rather not get too comfortable." She turned to walk away but suddenly stopped when Shepard put a hand on her arm to get her attention.
"Just for the record." Shepard told her, "I do trust you."
"Oh really?" Jack said, "What about the stuck up blue bitch? You trust her too?" She was surprised when Shepard shook her head no.
"I don't need to trust her." Shepard said, "Telling the truth is a point of honor for her. I'm sure she'd rather kill herself then tell a lie. It makes trusting her a meaningless gesture. After all, it not really trust if there's no risk involved."
