The First and the Last

Three: The Gathering Storm

Tuhi District, Omega – two hours later

Liara and Feron pushed their way off of the crowded shuttle and onto the landing platform of the Tuhi District, both making sure to check that their weapons hadn't been pickpocketed by any of the dozens of mercenaries and rabble crammed into the narrow cabin with them. Behind her, Liara could hear Feron breathing heavily as his lungs readjusted to not being in a stuffy, smoky chamber with fifty other beings. The Drell had remained oddly silent since their conversation in the Cerberus chamber. She suspected that there was more to his explanation than he was letting on, and she intended to get to the bottom of it.

Feron regarded Liara coolly, placing both hands in the deep front pockets of his overcoat. "We should get moving."

"Follow me," Liara responded, leading Feron to the building opposite the landing pad. The concrete-slab façade connected with the adjacent building to form a small corner that was virtually cut off from the bustling street around it, and Liara made a beeline for the shelter it would provide, all the while talking with Feron in low whispers.

"I have more questions." Feron merely nodded in response, a look of reluctance crossing his face as they moved forward. "How long did you work for the Broker?"

"Intermittently for nearly two years. The Broker was never my primary employer, but I nearly always had a job from him."

"What sort of jobs? Why did the Broker hire you?"

"The Shadow Broker pays for eyes and ears everywhere – the network builds its reputation on knowing everything. It takes a lot of grunts, contacts, sources, and sub-brokers to make that happen."

"And what sort of information did you gather?"

"I never had a broad assignment. Had I been promoted into the network information operatives, I suspect I would have been given a particular focus – either a specific planet or a specific area of expertise. I'd get contracts – usually from InOps, I'd complete them, I'd get paid. On a few occasions, the Broker himself gave me particular contracts."

They reached the alcove formed by the connecting walls, and Liara positioned herself so that Feron's back was to the wall; he would have no choice but to answer her questions. "Why did you change sides?"

The Drell seemed confused by the question. "I'm sorry?"

"You're obviously working against the Shadow Broker now. Why change sides?"

Feron gulped audibly, his eyes shifting constantly to avoid contact with Liara's. "I got a better offer."

A perplexing, and deliberately evasive, response. "Better how?"

"Better in that it didn't involve delivering the corpses of war heroes to the Collectors."

It always came back to the body. During the shuttle ride, Liara's mind had wandered to the subject of what she would do with Shepard's remains once she recovered them. Part of her wanted to destroy the body – prevent any possible risk of the Collectors ever getting their hands on the corpse for their own ends. Part of her wanted to return the body to the Alliance. And where did Cerberus stand in all of this? Despite what the Illusive Man had said, Liara thought it unlikely that his only motivation for helping her was to guarantee the honour of a famous Human.

"How noble of you. It won't matter much if we don't find it before the Collectors do. Regarding that – where do you propose we look?"

"Aria T'Loak. One of your people." The Drell's gaze hardened. Liara knew the name, but was unfamiliar with the profile, and Feron continued when that became clear. "The self-styled 'Queen of Omega'. She doesn't rule the entire station, but she knows everything that goes on within it. The trade was supposed to happen in an old mining facility, but it's likely been moved now that the Broker knows that his network is compromised."

"And where do we find this Aria?"

"Where this started. At Afterlife." Feron disentangled himself from her grip on his shoulder and stepped out of the alcove. "Follow me."

Feron and Liara wandered through the Tuhi District for nearly an hour, frequently changing course to throw off any potential pursuers. Liara kept glancing back over her shoulder to see if they were being followed, while the slightest hint of blue-patterned combat armour made Feron jumpy. The district was a maze; there was no grand plan to its construction, but rather a patchwork of streets and bridges that constantly overlapped with one another. They eventually found themselves back in front of Afterlife. When Liara had entered a quarter-cycle ago, the club had been a positive hub of activity, with hundreds trying to get in to enjoy the drinks and the dance-floor. The mood had changed dramatically: the crowds of clients standing in the security line had been replaced by dozens of body bags, often stacked haphazardly on top of one another, which were gradually being burned in the fountain-turned-incinerator in the center of the plaza. Everywhere Liara looked, she could see armed figures surreptitiously lurking in the shadows, each one with their eyes fixed on the sparse crowd that moved through the plaza. None of them wore colour patterns that Liara recognized, so she presumed that they were Aria's thugs.

"How much power does Aria have on Omega?"

"Enough. Geographically, she probably controls less than ten percent of the station, but she holds that ten percent in a vicelike grip. Afterlife is-, er, well, was a declared neutral zone – members of the big three merc groups can come and go freely, but they were monitored the whole time and fights between them on Aria's territory were met with swift – and brutal – reprisals."

"And they haven't tried to overthrow her?"

"They couldn't do it alone, and they're at each other's throats far too frequently to form a strong enough alliance to beat Aria. It's also beneficial to have neutral territory that isn't controlled by the Endline Corporation. Cover is steep at Afterlife, but it's cheaper than the docks. Plus," Feron glanced upward to the massive AFTERLIFE sign that imposed its neon-light presence on the entire plaza, "if there are threats to Aria's interests on Omega, she tends to hear about them, and they tend to disappear."

One look from Feron to the Elcor bouncer got them into Afterlife. If the club had been devastated by the Blue Suns' arrival, the upper half certainly didn't look it: the crowd was sparser than normal, with everyone more on-edge and jumpier, but apart from the occasional body-bag being carried across the dancefloor nothing seemed amiss. More people were openly carrying their weapons, with nearly a dozen of Aria's hirelings prowling the catwalks above the main ring of stages. It all seemed a vast façade – an effort to keep the party going in spite of the chaos that had raged below them in the lower levels of Aria's grand throne-room.

Feron led her across the dance floor to the stairs along the back corner of the nightclub. A Batarian stood guard, attentive and alert to everything that was going on around him. The guard's face was heavily scarred, and he cradled his assault rifle like a veteran of the multitude of brutal mercenary campaigns in the Terminus Systems. As Feron and Liara approached, the Batarian moved to block their path up the stairs.

"Anto, we're here to see Aria."

Anto scanned Feron from head to toe, seemingly unimpressed, before coolly shaking his head towards them. "She's busy."

"With what?"

"Look around you," Anto gestured to where another body was being hauled up from the lower levels. "Fight broke out in Lower Afterlife – Blue Suns came in looking for someone; whoever they were, they retaliated. Cleanup takes time, which Aria doesn't have to deal with a snitch-for-hire like you."

"Is that so?" Feron smiled and took another step closer to the Batarian. "I guess I'll just have to find another way to let her know about the business you and I usually do." The Batarian's demeanour changed rapidly. Liara could see the sudden spark of alarm in his eyes. "But then, she probably wouldn't mind knowing that someone on her payroll has been selling information on who she sees and when she sees them," Feron paused to enjoy the panic settling around the Batarian, "would she?"

Anto stuttered for a moment, then muttered something about checking with Aria. Feron glanced at Liara and grinned.

Liara looked back, confounded. "You pay off one of Aria's bodyguards?"

"I'm not the only one." Feron leaned in so close that Liara could feel his breath on her shoulder. "Once we're up there, let me do the talking."

Liara nodded as the Batarian returned. His face looked grim, but he eyed Feron with a gaze that toed the line between malice and contempt. "Follow me."

Anto led them up the stairs to a raised antechamber that looked out on the whole of Upper Afterlife. To Liara's left, four guards stood in front of two blast doors which led further into Afterlife's backrooms. To her right, situated next to a full bay of couches that overlooked the ledge, a Turian was talking animatedly with a purple-hued Asari sporting a white overcoat that cut off just below her chest. Anto leaned into the conversation as they reached the top of the steps, with the Asari scowling in their direction. The three broke off their conversation, the Batarian returning to his post while the Turian moved to stand next to Feron and Liara.

"Scan them," the Asari instructed. The Turian lieutenant did as he was told, activating his omnitool and causing Liara and Feron's weapons to glow orange. Another bar of light swept over their faces, and Liara felt a particularly glaring light hover over her eyes as the Turian scanned them. Aria T'Loak could be accused of being many things; careless was not one of them.

"They check out." The Turian nodded to Aria before stepping off to the side. The Asari walked towards them, shooting a quick glance at Feron before eyeing Liara curiously. Aria T'Loak looked to be several centuries older than Liara, well into her Matron years, yet her eyes still shone with the alertness and vigour of an Asari a hundred years her junior – she had no intention of taking root or settling down anywhere. Her face was etched with tattoo patterns that Liara didn't recognize, with a band of crimson running from the base of her nose to the edge of her chin. She found herself eyeing Aria with the same curiosity that Aria seemed to be regarding her with.

"Thelion, your friend here is better looking than your usual company," Aria said as she circled around Liara, "which means she can't be your friend." She brought a hand to Liara's jawline, forcibly tilting her skull upwards and to the side as she examined her. "You've been to Afterlife before, haven't you?" Liara nodded. "Yet we don't have records of a T'Soni ever being here. You snuck in?" Liara nodded again. Smirking, Aria released Liara's jaw and turned back to face Feron. "I like how she handles herself. Also, you really should leave poor Anto alone. He still hasn't learned that nothing is a secret from me." The smirk was suddenly gone, replaced by a wild-eyed grin that revealed an inner sadism that frightened Liara, "especially in my own establishment. He's lucky that I am fond of him. It's a good survival trait on Omega."

Aria wheeled around and laughed, a laugh tinged with arrogance and amusement and revelry in her dominion over this place. Sighing, she settled herself down on the couch directly opposite Liara. She motioned for them to sit to her right. "So what do you want, Feron? The Broker doesn't typically send minions to me for help. Whatever it is, it must be big." She shot a glance to the Turian lieutenant, who departed along with two other bodyguards.

Liara glanced at Feron, who returned the look before responding. "This isn't a Broker contract. I'm just checking on some merchandise." He paused, "specifically the body of Commander Shepard."

Aria cocked her left eyebrow upwards, leaning in without saying anything.

"I know that the body is on Omega," Feron lowered his voice to barely a whisper, "and I know that the Blue Suns are set to deliver it to the Broker."

Aria's gaze suddenly hardened, the interest eclipsed by malice and anger. "You're the reason they were here, aren't you?" she asked through gritted teeth. Pausing for a moment, Feron nodded. Rage coming to her, Aria's voice grew louder as she spoke. "They haven't fought openly in Afterlife in nearly a year – a fucking year! Have you seen the damage you've caused down below?"

"I haven't, but that's why we're here. I did know where the Blue Suns were going to hand off the body to the Broker's people, but they've likely moved location since their attack on Afterlife failed to get who they were looking for." Feron nearly stopped but, seeing the rage in Aria's eyes, he kept talking. "This is a high-risk operation for the Broker, and this one," he pointed a finger at Liara, "is the key."

"Interesting" was all Aria offered. She tilted her head to the side, her gaze falling on Liara. "You were part of Shepard's crew." Liara blushed as Aria's gaze seemed to pierce her soul, stripping it of its barriers and revealing its secrets. Aria chuckled to herself as she elicited the reaction. "But that's not all, is it? No…were you Shepard's love-toy?" Liara remained silent. "Are you only allowed to speak when one of your masters tells you?"

Liara clenched her teeth, curling her hands into fists and readying her biotics to strike at a moments' notice. Aria sensed this, and threw back her upper body in laughter. "Deadly when you need to be, obedient when asked…I like you. You could make something of yourself someday; just keep watch on your back." Her barbed jest cast, Aria switched her attention back to Feron. "The transaction was moved. You're correct. But I need to know something in return – why is the Broker so interested in Shepard?"

Feron wore an expression of being perplexed for a moment. "We don't know. That's what we're trying to find out."

"Bullshit," Aria snapped. "You know. You wouldn't come to me if you didn't already know, and if you want Shepard you will tell me."

Liara was speaking before she could stop herself. "The Broker has made a deal with the Collectors to give them Shepard's body!"

Aria's eyes widened. "What?! The Collectors?!" The Asari's head swivelled back to Liara. "Now that is news to me." Activating her omnitool, she shouted at someone on the other end of the comms line. "None of you half-wits said anything about the Collectors!"

"I thought you knew about everything that happened on Omega." Feron couldn't stop himself from grinning.

Aria shot him a scathing look. "Get out."

"Not until I have what we came for."

"The deal is taking place in Eclipse territory, in the old headquarters of the now-defunct mercenary group known as the Storm Cartel."

"Now-defunct? But I thought they-,"

Aria shook her head. "Wiped out to a man. By Vult. They're running the deal." Liara thought she heard Feron swear under his breath as the Asari continued. "And there's more: Tazzik is in charge of the operation."

"Fuck" was all Feron could manage in response. Before Liara could ask, they were ushered away from Aria's balcony by Anto, who jammed his assault rifle into Feron's back as they made their way down the stairs.

"Not a word, Thelion."

"None at all," Feron responded, rubbing his neck and smirking momentarily at the Batarian. Motioning to Liara, the Drell led her out of Afterlife and back into the plaza outside the club. "And here I thought this would be easy," Feron muttered to himself as they stepped into the open air.

"Who's Tazzik?" Liara finally asked once they had cleared the ever-growing layer of security around the nightclub.

"The Shadow Broker's best and most trusted operative. He's whatever the Broker needs him to be – enforcer, hit-man, lieutenant, overseer."

"I thought the Broker had hired the Blue Suns for that."

Feron shook his head. "They're just added muscle. Tazzik is here for results, which he always gets."

"We don't have much time then."

"No, we don't. We'd best get moving."

Zheigun District – one hour later

Liara climbed out of the aircar as they touched down behind a block of apartments in the Zheigun District. Finding a route had been simple, if time-consuming – Feron had hotwired a dilapidated aircar to get them where they needed to go. Every fibre of her morality told her it was wrong, but she wasn't keen to see her credits dwindle any faster than they had in the past week. Looking around, Liara noticed the air in this region of Omega was different than near Afterlife – cleaner, if that was possible on Omega. Farther from the industrial districts, the layer of haze that perpetually choked the station was thinner here, while Liara had spotted the gleaming lights of the docks on several occasions as they'd moved into the upper reaches of the station to evade possible pursuers.

Feron followed her out of the cab, taking care to seal the cockpit behind him. He was cautious, and had lengthened their journey here several times to make sure they weren't being followed. Twice, he'd thought he'd seen vehicles with Blue Suns insignia on them, but they had paid him and Liara no notice as they continued on their way.

Liara quickly scanned what public maps there were of the district to get her bearings. Apartment blocks dominated this section of the district – many among the newest on the station. She thought she'd seen a number of warehouse structures to their south as they'd come in. "Are we close?" she asked as Feron finished scanning the area for the last time.

"Sort of," Feron replied. "Vult are thorough – they'll have snipers and recon teams deployed everywhere within a mile's radius of the Storm HQ. I would have gotten us closer, but I fear they'll shoot down any traffic that they see as suspicious." The Drell brought up a digital map of the area, pointing to a large complex two clicks south of their current position. "We'll have to go in on foot. There's a number of alleyways in the area that we can probably use to get in."

"And once we're there? What do we do then?" The thought had been nagging on Liara since Aria had given them the location of the deal. Though her own fighting abilities had grown considerably in the months she spent on the Normandy, she wasn't confident enough to take on an entire mercenary outfit with just her and Feron.

"We'll listen in and monitor. If the building had tunnels in, they're either collapsed or insanely well-guarded now – I've never dealt with Vult firsthand but I've seen their handiwork before. The front entrance is also out of the question."

"So how do we get the body?" Liara asked as they began their long walk to the location of the deal.

"I'm not entirely certain, though I have some ideas." Feron pondered aloud while they walked. "Even Tazzik probably doesn't have a vessel on-site, so they'll need to transport the body to the docks. We could intercept either en-route or once they reach Endline. The vehicle garages are another option, though we won't know whether that's viable until we're there."

Their progress was slow. They kept to narrow side-streets and alleys to try and avoid either Eclipse or Vult checkpoints. After an hour of creeping through the dimly-lit streets in near-silence, they reached their destination. Feron cast a worried glance upward, catching the glint of a sniper rifle on the ledge above them. "There's a better spot that way," he whispered, pointing a finger to their left. Liara nodded, following Feron as he led her to a narrow opening in the alley wall. She could barely fit through the gap in her armour, but after a brief struggle Liara managed to push her way to the other side. The channel deposited them on a small, rocky bluff overlooking the district, giving them a wide view of the buildings below.

"The exchange will take place there," Feron indicated, pointing below them to a massive collection of warehouses. The conglomerate of structures towered over the area, spanning several blocks and rising three stories in the air. The roof was dotted with Vult snipers, each operating in pairs and standing guard over the area. The main entrance has been blown apart in an earlier assault, leaving a large hole in the front wall of the structure next to the reinforced garage doors that took up much of the façade of the warehouse. Several of the large bays of windows had been shattered, and Liara could see shadows of the figures inside dancing across the remaining windowpanes.

"How many inside?"

"Hard to tell from here," Feron replied as they crouched on all fours on the bluff. During their long trek, the Drell had parsed through the feeds used by hackers and information dealers on Omega, and had eventually tracked down a rough sketch of the floor-plan of the complex. This bluff was supposed to be a blind spot from the roof, and Liara hoped that his information source was as accurate as he claimed it was. "I'm going to try and hack the internal feeds to get a better idea of what's going on. Beyond that, it'll be hard to move. Look there," he pointed to the front entrance. "Probably a half-dozen Vult troopers at the entrance. Even if they collapsed the tunnels, there will be several standing guard there as well."

"So too many for just us."

"Very likely. Unless Cerberus suddenly send backup, we're on our own here."

Liara glanced at Feron before looking back at the warehouse. "We have to go in anyways."

"Are you insane?" Feron turned away from his omnitool to regard her with a look of incredulity. "We'll get torn apart in there. In case you haven't noticed, we're hardly Nylus Kryik and Saren Arterius. If you want to go in, be my guest, but caution is my preferred route."

Then caution it is for me, Liara thought to herself. She didn't trust him, and feared that leaving him alone would cause another change of heart towards both her and the Shadow Broker. "Can you hack the security feeds?"

"I already am," Feron responded. "Shouldn't be much longer." Feron kept quiet for several minutes as the hack finished, tapping Liara on the shoulder when it was done. "I'll patch the feeds through to your omnitool."

The cameras inside the Storm warehouse showed a strange mix of ruthless organization and utter destruction. The damage from Vult's capture of the complex was still evident: shattered glass was everywhere, with the remnants of the belongings of the warehouse's previous inhabitants strewn across the main garage area. The garage itself was now occupied by four identical black shuttles and three sleek, black aircars. Liara counted at least a dozen Vult troops in the main foyer of the warehouse. Feron switched cameras, panning to a shot of what looked like the command center of the facility. Liara's gaze was drawn to an abnormally large Salarian situated in the center of the room, his shoulders stooped as he poured over tactical readouts that were impossible to discern from the cameras. He wore dark-grey armour with streaks of crimson across the plates covering the collarbone and shoulders. He was marked by his broad shoulders – far broader than any other Salarian that Liara had ever seen, and his left hand rested comfortably on a heavily customized shotgun with a cylindrical magazine-drum at its base.

"Is that Tazzik?" Liara asked, turning to Feron.

The blood had drained from Feron's face as he watched the images on his omnitool. "It is."

"He's enormous." Tazzik seemed to command fear in everyone working around him – even battle-hardened Vult mercenaries tensed up as they passed near the Salarian. "Any more feeds?"

Feron shook his head. "Not from the looks of things. There used to be one monitoring the tunnels but it was probably destroyed along with the former owners." Altogether, Liara could see nearly twenty Vult soldiers on the inside, with just as many on the complex roof and in the surrounding streets.

She remained anxious to recover Shepard's body. "How many ideas do those numbers cross off your list?"

"Several. I need time to watch their movements around the complex. Depending on what happens during the deal, we'll figure something out from there."

Not the words of a someone who trusts their own ability to do this, Liara thought to herself.

"Oh shit, there they are." Feron motioned to their left, where four ground transports rumbled into view. They were all coated in the blue and silver emblem of the Blue Suns. Two were open-top troop carriers, each with a half-dozen mercenaries seated in the rear cab, one was outfitted as a combat vehicle, with one mercenary providing cover from a roof-mounted swivel turret, while the fourth was bulky, slow-moving, and surrounded by Blue Suns operatives escorting it on-foot. "If I had to guess, I'd say the one outfitted with about three tonnes of armour is carrying Shepard." Liara nodded in response, her gaze following the vehicles as they moved through a Vult checkpoint at the far end of the street. The focus of the Vult mercenaries around the complex's exterior shifted to the four vehicles, and Feron saw their chance amidst the confusion of the Blue Suns' entrance. "Let's move to a better position."

Feron quickly maneuvered the eight-foot drop from the ledge they had been perched on, assuring Liara of its safety before she too climbed down. They skirted the edge of the bluff until they found a narrow outcropping where the base of the adjacent apartment complex met the steel-covered ground. They dropped down again to find themselves on the roof of a small building directly across from the enormous warehouse, while Feron quickly moved to building's edge so that he could track the progress of the Blue Suns convoy into the complex.

"Sniper!" Liara shouted through gritted teeth as Feron leaned dangerously over the edge. He pulled himself back at the last moment, both of them crouching behind the stone railing that lined the building-top to evade the gaze of one of the Vult snipers on the roof. "I don't think we're getting any closer than this."

"No," Feron shook his head. "I can monitor the exchange from here." He reactivated the feed from the security cameras inside the warehouse, giving them a view of the cavernous interior as the convoy entered through the massive bay doors at the front. The open-topped troop carriers remained outside, while the heavily-armoured ground vehicle came to a stop mere inches from the back end of the garage.

Six figures stepped out of the vehicle – all armed, all armoured in Blue Suns-issue. The first of them, Human and very obviously the leader by the way in which he carried himself, exhorted the other three to open the rear door of the transport, revealing a single, obsidian-coloured stasis pod – seven feet long and covered with patterned lines of light that glowed with a bright blue hum.

"Wait outside!" the Blue Suns commander shouted to two of the servitors, who joined the dozen other soldiers directly outside of the gate. The garage door shuddered to a close behind him, and a sudden look of unease set in on the Human's face. "We have the package you asked for. Who should I bargain with?"

"You entreat with me." Tazzik's deep, authoritative voice resonated through the hall as the Salarian emerged from the back rooms of the warehouse.

"Christ," the mercenary swore to himself. "You're rather large for a Salarian."

"And you're rather late." There was no scolding in his voice – barely an emotion of any kind. Its cold professionalism was eerie – the very timbre of it over the audio feed sent Liara into shivers.

The Blue Suns commander held his composure remarkably well, and certainly better than Feron was doing crouched next to Liara. "This happens when the location is changed. The deal was supposed to take place in our territory. Negotiating movement privileges in Eclipse territory is difficult and time-consuming." A look of annoyance played across the merc's face. "This seems an unnecessary move."

"My employer feared outside interference," Tazzik said simply as he descended the stairs from the catwalk to the main level. "The move was planned for."

"We guaranteed the security of the exchange when the bargain was struck," the merc responded, his annoyance now reflected in his tone. "Do you not trust us?"

"As much or as little as you trust me." Tazzik moved to stand several metres in front of the Blue Suns. "Do you have the package?"

"We do." The merc gestured to the stasis pod behind him, at which the four mercenaries flanking it picked up the pod and carried it forward. "A bit more troublesome to conceal than we had hoped, but nothing that we couldn't handle."

Tazzik bent down in front of the pod, scanning the manifest with his omnitool. Seemingly satisfied, the Salarian nodded and stood back up to his full height. "Identification and bio-signatures look right. Is this everything you found?"

"It is," the Blue Suns commander responded. "Surprised to find even that much. Human bodies are able to take some real punishment."

"I've known several that couldn't," Tazzik responded menacingly, causing the merc opposite him to tense up where he stood. "This looks good. Your accounts will be credited the agreed-upon twelve million credits by my employer."

Glancing up from the feed, Feron turned to Liara and silently mouthed the figure, a look of astonishment in his eyes at the size of the fee.

"It will be put to good use. We lost a lot of members in retrieving and protecting this damnable corpse."

"Indeed?" Jondum raised one eye slightly higher. "Retrieval seems straightforward. How could an organization as renowned as the Blue Suns lose so many men on such a simple task?"

"Wha-, well, the dangers of the trade, you know."

"I don't. But I must. It's what we're paying you for."

"Now hold on," the Human's expression was indecipherable over Liara and Feron's patchy feed, but the tone of his voice said all it needed to. "You're paying us to deliver a service, not information."

"We are in the business of information. You will tell me." Tazzik took a single step towards the Blue Suns, and every single Vult and Blue Suns mercenary in the room tensed up, "now, please."

"If you must know, then fine. We lost a platoon in pursuit of the Asari."

Liara's heart skipped a beat at the reference to her.

"I already knew this. The shootout in Afterlife. We sent our own reinforcements."

The Human shook his head. "This was different – later. Another squad was sent to find her if she escaped the club. Their bodies were found an hour ago."

"How many?"

"A dozen."

The air in the room seemed to freeze as Tazzik regarded the Blue Suns commander with an inscrutable gaze. He took a step towards the Human, then another. The tension in the air built to a boiling point as Tazzik came to stand right in front of his opposite number. The contrast served only to reinforce Tazzik's size. Though a head shorter than the other mercenary, Tazzik's bulky frame made him just as imposing, if not more intimidating than the other mercenaries in the room.

Without warning, Tazzik shot a gloved fist directly into the solar plexus of the mercenary, winding him and causing him to double over in pain. The Salarian grabbed him by the throat, hoisting the merc off his feet and slowly crushing the life out of his body. The other Blue Suns in the room stood transfixed by the sight, and each in-turn was dropped by a single shot from the Vult soldiers on the catwalks above them. Outside of the warehouse, Liara and Feron could hear the crackling sound of gunfire as the waiting escort was cut down where they stood. On the feed from inside, Tazzik choked the last life out of the Blue Suns commander, before unceremoniously dropping his body to the floor.

"Load the stasis-pod into the ground transports," Tazzik ordered as he surveyed the efficiency of the carnage in front of him. "We need to get the body to the docks before we load it onto my ship." The Vult mercenaries complied silently while Tazzik retired to the command-room to converse with his lieutenants. Feron switched feeds as the Salarian entered the smaller room. Liara flipped the audio to the command room, but kept her eyes firmly trained on the feed from the main hall, watching as the stasis pod was loaded into a black-coloured armoured transport vehicle, while another dozen Vult specialists prepared the other five escort vehicles for operations.

"Why kill them?" Liara heard one of the Vult commanders ask Tazzik.

"This operation is too important. The fewer who know about it, the better," the Salarian replied. "They were cracking under the pressure. This was the best option – cut them out."

"But surely there will be repercussions for killing twenty of their soldiers."

"For what? They will find two dozen bodies in the heart of Eclipse territory. What happens next between the two organizations does not concern me – nor my employer."

"By which time we'll be long gone."

"Precisely." the Salarian shifted his gaze to the ceiling, "the important thing is getting the body off Omega immediately. The Blue Suns are faulty, and even we are springing leaks everywhere." Tazzik seemed to look directly into the security camera, as if he was staring straight at Liara and Feron, both of whom tensed up. "The teams we sent to eliminate the final nuisance haven't checked back in."

"Which means they've been killed."

Tazzik nodded. "We had hoped to eliminate all the loose ends before this operation started. But it would appear that we aren't alone."

Feron deactivated the feed from the command room. "Nor are we," he tapped Liara on the shoulder and pointed to the complex. "We need to move."