Chapter 17: Iron Empress

"Jack?" Shepherd asked.

"We're all in, get your ass out of there" Shepherd activated the auto-pilot and the self-destruct. Shepherd got out and the team made it over to the shuttles, while the mech walked towards the enemy mech. As the shuttle escaped, the last thing they could heard was the sound of an explosion, they made their way back to the Normandy.

Back on the shuttle everyone was exhausted from the ordeal, especially the students. Shepherd was impressed with them they worked well together, and they took orders in a snap. Jack had really done an excellent job with teaching her students; maybe there was something to this biotic artillery. Shepherd opened his com. "Joker, we flew out of a Cerberus shuttle, watch your fire"

"Right got you on sensors, preparing for your arrival" Joker said. Shepherd nodded and sat in his seat. Sanders walked up to him.

"Thank you, Commander. We would have been done for if it wasn't for you"

Shepherd shook his head. "No need, Jack and her students were more than able to hold their own"

Jack smirked. "Damn right, next place we dock you're all getting inked" she said. "My treat"

"Some of us aren't old enough to get tattoos, ma'am" Grayson said.

"Screw that, if you're old enough to take down those Cerberus fuc…troopers, you're old enough to get inked" Sanders shook her head, while she wasn't sure about the tattoos, she agreed with Jack and Shepherd that the students more than proved their worth. She knew that if the students had gotten out, the Alliance would call on them to fight the war, she have been very reluctant about it, they may have been biotics but they were still children…some weren't even old enough to drink yet.

"I was going to relegate them to support roles, but maybe they are ready for the front lines" Sanders said. Jack and Kelly looked at each other, but the kids eyes all lit from Sanders statement. It was what they trained for; after all however Shepherd spoke up.

"Maybe they are ready, but the Alliance need support roles and I think they fit better as that" The students looked at each other, they were obviously upset about not going into the front lines, but the spectre wasn't about to send out kids to their deaths before their time. "I know it's not what you want, but we don't need more artillery we need barriers for our frontlines" he said. "This war is only going to get worse as time goes, the more of our side you can save, the better off we'll be"

"Besides, I'm sure we'll get some shots in" Jack said with a smirk. The com opened.

"Commander, we have on visual, preparing to dock" Joker said. "Hey Jack now that you're Alliance, are you going to wear a uniform or just have the officer bars tattooed on?"

Jack's eye twitched. "Screw you Fu…" She looked at the students and sucked her teeth in annoyance. "Flight Lieutenant…"

Joker chuckled. "Uh…what the hell was that?"

Kelly tried to stifle a laugh. "One of the conditions for Jack's employment was to cut the profanity" she said amused. "She's still working on that…" Jack gave her girlfriend a look of annoyance, but Kelly jut smirked at her.

"What, she has a swear jar?" Joker asked. "I wonder how many ships the Alliance bought from that…"

"Kids, cover your ears" Jack said. "Hey Joker, fu…"

The Normandy

The shuttle made it back on the Normandy, the students bunked in the crew quarters until they made it back to the Citadel since it was the only place that was safe at the time. Shepherd went into the war room; he had a message from Anderson on Earth most likely because he heard about Grissom Academy. He opened the com, and Anderson's image appeared before him, he looked so tired but at least he was alive. "Shepherd, damn if you aren't a sight for sore eyes"

Shepherd smiled. "Go to see you too, sir"

"Sir? You may back with us, but that doesn't give you permission to go all formal on me" Anderson joked.

The spectre chuckled. "Then, I'm glad you're able to keep your ass alive, old man"

Anderson smirked. "That's more like it, I heard about your mission to Grissom Academy, good work getting those kids out of there" he said. "I shudder to think what Cerberus would have done to them…"

"You and me both…" Shepherd said. "They want to help, so I requested they be put in support roles but I'm still not so sure…"

Anderson sighed. "I know what you mean…they're too young to experience the horrors of war, especially this one…" he said. He looked back at the ruins behind him, it was once a beautiful city but now it was nothing but ruins and the sound of carnage. Anderson closed his eyes and looked at Shepherd. "They're the best that humanity has to offer and we're forced to throw them to the wolves….Goddamnit I hate this war!"

The admiral calmed down. "Hackett didn't mention in his report…"

Shepherd smiled. "Don't worry, Miss Sanders is okay, she's with us on the Normandy with the recruits"

"Thanks Shepherd, when I heard about the attack…well, I've lost too many friends already…"

"She asked me to tell you to stay alive"

Anderson chuckled. "Did she now? Well…"

"She misses you…"

"I miss her too…the galaxy has a way of reminding you of what you could've been" he said. "Maybe once this damn war is over….well I can only hope…so what's your plan?"

"We're on route to the Citadel; hopefully I can pull some strings on letting the kids use C-sec and Spectre facilities to train, though it won't be easy"

"That's good plan…" Anderson said. "Good luck, Shepherd…" His image faded.

"You too, sir"

The Citadel

The Normandy docked at the Citadel; Shepherd went to the Council to request Jack's students to use the Spectre training room. Surprisingly enough, he was able to convince them quite easily, with only Valern disagreeing however it was nothing against the students and more because Shepherd was working to cure the genophage. Next he came to Bailey who up to his shoulders in paperwork, the C-sec Commander heard what Shepherd had to say however Bailey wasn't as convinced. "Huh, let the kids use our facilities, I don't know Shepherd…" Bailey said.

"Look I'm not saying you should do it out of the kindness of your heart" Shepherd said. "Maybe you could put them to work; a lot of those kids are tech geniuses…"

Bailey pondered the thought, with the reapers out there they do needed to buff security and weapons. C-sec was currently stretched thin with keeping the peace, upgrading systems and regulating supplies for the refugees. They had some help with some spectre allowing militias to be form and some of the more well off citizens volunteering with the refugees and clinics, but it was not enough. More and more refugees were arriving every day and soon they would be overwhelmed. "And the kids are that good huh?"

Shepherd smirked. "The best"

"Okay, you got yourself a deal; I'll even put in training lessons for free"

"Thanks, Bailey, I owe you" Shepherd's omni-tool beeped.

"Got to go…" Shepherd walked out of Bailey's office and read his omni-tool, his eyes grew wide.

Purgatory (Citadel)

The Purgatory Bar is a popular dance club and bar on the Citadel, though it is not known by the Avina VI to be a registered nightclub. Various citizens from all races often visit the bar to drink and dance in order to detach themselves from the issues of the war with the Reapers.

Shepherd shook his head at the sight. "Poor bastards…"

He went to the VIP Lounge and saw a human woman speaking to a rather ticked off asari. It was Aria T'loak, the infamous warlord of Omega and leader of the Terminus Clans; it was obvious the woman had no idea who she was screwing with. The fact she wasn't a corpse yet was a testament to Aria's patience. He went over to meet with them, only to be held back to a human man dress in a suit, obviously not from Omega but a latest member to Aria's group.

"What's your deal? Aria wants to see me" Shepherd said.

"I know, but you may want to stay away, at least for a little while" He said. "Things are going to be…tense"

"So you admit you and your thugs are here illegally" the immigration officer said.

The asari rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Good job, sweetie and it only took C-sec five months to figure it out" Aria said. "They don't make 'em any dumber, do they?"

The officer frowned. "I don't care who you are …you're required to go through processing like all other refugees. Come with me"

Aria chuckled and looked her up and down. "Unless you have something to offer me, I think I'll stay here" The immigration officer crossed her arms. "You won't stop annoying me, unless I do something will you? Sheerk, get me Tevos"

"Ma'am" the human pressed a button on his omni-tool and an image of Councilor Tevos appeared. Shepherd raised his eyebrows in surprise, the asari representative was on Aria's speed dial, and chances were the other councilors had no idea. Tevos gave a smile, but it was obvious that the councilor was annoyed with her dirty laundry was calling her in the middle of a crowded club.

"Aria, to what I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm being asked to summit to immigration processing, if you could do something about that, Akara…"

"Of course" She pressed a button. "And now you've been processed. Is there anything else?"

Aria smirked. Nothing, Akara, thank you" Tevos nodded and her image faded, the human looked shocked until Aria spoke up.

"I think we're done here…" The officer walked off fuming. "Enjoy the show, Shepherd?"

Shepherd took a seat on the couch. "So the rule applies here too, who would have guessed?"

"I guess so" Aria said. She then frowned. "I hate this place, so sickeningly uptight"

"Really? Didn't seem that way when you were trolling the immigration officer" Shepherd said.

Aria got up and got her drink from the human. "The only thing that makes this place bearable, is that it's so easy to get under their skin"

"So let me guess, the reapers?"

"Close, Cerberus"

"Ouch" Shepherd said. "So how did it happen?"

"They used pictures of human infants, how the fuck you think?" Aria asked.

"Wow, for you to be this bitchy, it must have been that bad…"

Aria scoffed. "I'm glad you find my predicament so fucking amusing…"she said. "But don't worry; The Illusive Man will pay for every second I've spent in the bureaucratic hell hole"

"I'll believe it when I see it, so what do you want?" Shepherd asked.

"Finally serious I see you're here because I have a preposition for you" Aria said. "The way I see it, we're all screwed if the reapers win, doesn't matter where I am"

"It's in my interest to help you"

Shepherd crossed his arms. "Get to the point, Aria"

"On Omega, I was close to securing the loyalty of the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack, until Cerberus ruined it" she explained. "Without me running Omega, they're running amok and nobody wants that"

"Help me finish what I started, and you'll have a powerful and ruthless force for your war" Aria said. "I laid the groundwork you just, to close the deal" Shepherd thought about it, he killed a lot of them during his mission against the collectors. He doubt that they forgotten that, however he couldn't afford to be choosy about it he needed all the allies he could get and they were the biggest powerhouses available until he could get the turians and krogans on board.

"Sounds good, so where do I find them?" Shepherd asked.

"The leader of the Blue Suns is in the refugee area, one of my men Narl is in the presidium dealing with the Blood Pack leader" she said. "As for the leader of the Eclipse, that may be more…complicated…"

"How?"

"I had a deal with Sederis of the Eclipse, but she fucked it up, going on a rampage" she said. "She's in C-sec's custody"

Shepherd raised a brow. "What? Want me to break her out?"

"No, nothing that messy, but from what I have heard you and Bailey are acquaintances….get the picture?"

Shepherd snorted. "You obviously don't know Bailey well, but I'll see what I can do…"

"Let me know when the deal falls through…" Aria said. "I would suggest speaking to Narl; first, he's closest to a deal with the Blood Pack" Shepherd nodded, and left the club.

Blood Pack(Presidium Commons)

Shepherd to the elevator to the presidium commons to meet with Narl, the spectre wondered why he was needed for this if Aria was close to a deal with the blood pack. Shepherd shook his head, Aria probably need him to bust some heads in case it went bad. He went up to the apartments, despite being the presidium the apartments were like a ghost town due to some people being called to service or trying to find family in the refugee camps which made it perfect for some shady characters. "Let's see…Apartment 86, there we go" When he got in there he was met with a batarian, Narl. "Great, a fucking blink…"

Narl scoffed. "I could say the same thing about you, Butcher…"

Shepherd frowned. "Are we going to have a problem…?"

"Not unless, you make it a problem, ape" he said. "Now hands behind your back, they'll be here any minute, Aria promised you to the Blood Pack leader and he pledges the gang to her"

Shepherd scoffed. "I knew it was too simple…" he said. "Fine, but try anything and I'll pop your eyes like a grape"

"Wouldn't dream of it…" The door opens to reveal three vorchas one of whom was Kreete.

"Aria is more powerful than Kreete thought. Her instructions to board the Citadel were one thing, but this…" he said. He gave a huge toothy grin to Shepherd and got close. The spectre almost wanted the gag, his breath smelled like he ate varren dung that's been sitting in the sun for three weeks, he now knew why vorcha were considered the vermin of the galaxy they had the hygiene of vermin. "Commander Shepherd! Wanted you to know, your head will be hood ornament on personal shuttle"

Shepherd then felt a gun in his hand, he had to fight back urge to pull it on the vorcha. "Back off Keete. So do we have a deal?" Narl asked.

Kreete gave a huge toothy grin, or at least Shepherd thought it was grin, hard to tell since vorcha always to look like grinning morons. "Most definitely, Aria can use Blood Pack as she see fit"

Narl scoffed. "Wasn't talking to you, Kreete, Gryll?"

Kreete looked over to his lieutenant. "What?!"

"You have my word. Now open fire!" Narl and Shepherd raised their gun and shot Kreete and his men in the head.

"So, the deal was with him?"

"Yes, Keete had the unfortunate idea that he could overthrow Aria, so she made a deal with his second-in-command?"

"Yes, yes. I'm Aria's mole, Shepherd. You've scratched my back and now I'll scratch yours"

"Do yourself a favor, don't screw with Aria" Shepherd said.

"I may be ambitious, but I'm not crazy"

"We'll see" Shepherd gave the gun back to Narl. "Thanks for the gun, I guess…"

Narl scoffed. "Whatever…" he said. "Your part's done" Shepherd walked out of the room and opened his com.

"It's done; I'm heading over to the Docks"

Blue Suns (Docks: Holding Area)

Shepherd made his way over to the holding area of the docks, before the war it was where new cargo was stored for the many businesses on the Citadel. Now with the economy a mess due to the reapers, it has become a camp for refugees which were bigger every day. Shepherd went to the back to meet with Darner Vosque, leader of the blue suns to secure the Blue Suns loyalty. "Wow, Aria wasn't kidding, the Great Commander Shepherd on a leash…"

Shepherd crossed his arms. "You should be careful, Vosque, this dog bites" he said. "What do you want?"

"Straight to the point I see…you can tell Aria I'm impressed, but I still need my problem taken care of"

"And that is?"

"A turian general named Oraka has it out for the Blue Suns, he's being a pain in the ass just because of our little activities in this sector…" Shepherd remembered that name; it was when he was looking evidence to use against Saren. Oraka was a retired general that was drowning his sorrow in Chora's den over being rejected by Sha'ira the Consort until Shepherd told him to clean up and set an example.

"Huh and I'm sure it wasn't your fault too…" Shepherd said sarcastically.

"A smartass huh? Anyway, I'll commit my gang as soon as Oraka is dead"

Shepherd frowned. "No deal, I'm not killing a turian general, not while I need the Hierarchy's help"

"Funny, Aria seems to think you would, why else would she send you?" Vosque asked.

"I'll have to talk to her about that…"

"You do that, my offer still stands" he said walking away. "Oh and tell Aria I still expect her blue ass in bed with me" Shepherd shuddered at that, what was it about merc leaders and being open about their sex life? He opened his comm.

"What is it, Shepherd?"

"Oraka, explain now"

"Ah yes, the shit-storm between the Blue Suns and General Oraka" Aria said. "What you need to do is to stop Oraka from disrupting their operations; how you deal with it I don't really care"

"You could have said something from the beginning" Shepherd said annoyed.

"Vasque need to see you, and needed to realize who he was dealing with" she said. "Plus if I have to suffer from him staring at my tits one more time, I may have to kill the son of a bitch"

"Ugh, he mentioned…"

Aria scoffed. "That I'm going to sleep with him? We all have our delusions" Shepherd shook his head and went to the Presidum to speak with Oraka.

"Commander Shepherd" the turian said. The two men shook hands.

"Good to see you general, you're looking better than you were three years ago" he said.

"You too, so what can I do you for?"

"I hear you're taking on the Blue Suns"

"I'm doing my part; they've raided C-sec weapon shipment. I'm putting a stop to it" Oraka said. "Those mercs are jeopardizing the Citadel's ability when the war comes here"

"I know how you feel, but there are other ways"

"You don't think I tried? There's a black market dealer right near us but he won't sell his top items"

"Let me talk him, I may be able to loosen him up"

Oraka nodded. "Hmm, maybe a spectre will have better luck, than I did, good luck"

Shepherd went over to the Salarian clerk, he frowned when Shepherd approached. "Look Commander, I don't want any trouble. I'm authorized to sell here and my stuff is legal"

"I'm not here for that, give me the good stuff"

"Shit, you slumming for C-sec too?" he asked. "I'll tell you like I told your turian friend I'm not giving it for free"

"So how much?"

Kannik chuckled. "You think I want credits? Look, the Galaxy's going belly up, credits won't mean anything once the reapers rip through" he said. "You give me something worthwhile and maybe I'll think about it" Shepherd glowed blue and lifted the salarian and slammed him on his counter hard.

"You son of a bitch! People, including your own are dying out there, and you won't sell your weapons, because you're greedy?!" he asked angrily. "Let me tell you what you are going to do, you give your top-line weapons to the general without objections and I won't use your body as a piñata, do you understand me, you piece of shit?!"

Kannik nodded quickly and messaged the old general about the weapons. Shepherd dropped him hard on the ground and met with Oraka. "Commander I was just contacted by the dealer, who's donating the weapons to C-sec, what did you do?"

"I just reminded him of his priorities…" Shepherd said. "So the Blue Suns…?"

"Of course, with the weapons we can build up Citadel Defense, it won't bring back Palaven, but…"

"It's all you can do…" Shepherd said sadly.

Eclipse

Shepherd went to the Embassy to convince Bailey to release Sederis, something Shepherd was still uncomfortable with. Shepherd took a deep breath as he went in, Bailey looked at him as he finished the final paperwork.

"Shepherd need something again?"

"Yeah, I need you to release Jona Sederis…" he said.

"Damn, you too? Someone got the Council order her release, what's your stake in this?"

"It's classified…"

Bailey crossed his arms. "Nice way of saying fuck you…" he said. "Look, there's a reason she's in here, the woman's nuts"

"How crazy are we talking?" Shepherd asked.

"Of the 'calling for the deaths of Eclipse's enemies' kind" Bailey said.

"Oh" Shepherd said simply. "Can I at least see her?"

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you" Bailey pressed a button and an image appeared of a dark blue asari. "I'll leave you alone" He left the room and the asari looked back at the camera.

"Who's that spying on me? Ah I see…good. Aria's indentured servant has finally come to deliver me to freedom" Shepherd pinched the bridge of his nose; he was going to have to talk to Aria, about the servant crap she's been spreading.

"Don't get ahead of yourself; I want to talk before I secure your release"

Sederis growled. "Bullshit, you have no choice" she said. "When I get out heads will roll. Oh yes, don't forget you killed a lot of my people"

Shepherd glowed a faint blue. "I would watch it with the threats, I have no problems letting you join your people" he said coldly.

The asari smirked. "You got balls, it's a shame you waste it fighting for the Alliance" she said. "Unlike that little toad, Sayn, my second-in-command, now get me out of here, Shepherd" the image faded.

"Bailey, I've seen enough, you're right she warped in the head" he said. "Let me try to make this problem go away"

"Sounds good, I'll hold the line until then" Shepherd opened his comm.

"Aria, where can I find Sayn?" Shepherd went back to the refugee area and met with Sederis second in command. "Are you Sayn?"

Sayn frowned as he and to turian members got up. "Are you here to cause trouble?"

"No, I'm here to talk about Sederis, leaving her in prison"

Sayn eyes went wide. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what she'll do to me if I betray her?"

"She's nuts, the only reason Eclipse still stands is because of you" he said. "You should run Eclipse, make it better"

"But…"

"Trust me, Sederis will rot in prison, and you get to be the leader, win-win" Shepherd said with a smirk. "And the best part: you would be doing Aria a favor, from what I've heard, she's quite annoyed with Sederis"

"Right, right, then that's the plan, keep Sederis in jail…I'll call Aria right away" Shepherd nodded and walked away. His comm beeped.

"Shepherd, the Council withdrew the release for Sideris. Aria T'Loak, of all people, got them to do it. Crazy"

Shepherd shook his head. "You have no idea…"