The next day, Shepard was on Omega standing on the steps of the Afterlife club. The last time he was at this club it was the command center for the Cerberus occupation. Now it was once again a place of pole dancing, alcohol and occasional fighting. He wasn't sure if that was necessarily an improvement.
But there was one subtle difference that did improve the club and Omega in general. Since its liberation from Cerberus, the station had been policed by the Talons. Originally a criminal gang, the Talons became a vigilante group under the command of Nyreen Kandros, a former soldier in the Turian military and a former lover of Aria. Nyreen was killed during the mission to take back Omega from Cerberus. To honor her legacy, Aria allowed the Talons to become a security force on the station. Omega was still a crime hub but thanks to the Talons, major crimes such as murder no longer went unpunished.
"So this is the famous Afterlife club."
Shepard turned to see Ashley walking up behind him. The tone in her voice indicated she was not as impressed by the club as her statement made it sound.
"Did I ever mention how I really didn't like being kept on the sidelines the last time you were here?"
"You may have mentioned it once or twice," Shepard replied, "it wasn't really my choice. I needed the resources Aria was offering for the war and she would only work with me. But you have to at least give me credit for being willing to bring you even though Aria's requesting the same thing this time."
"True. I know you explained why we have to talk to Aria now but it's still depressing that we have to report to a crime boss."
"I know but there are worse people we could be dealing with. Aria's not so bad as long as you don't get on her bad side."
"She's already on mine."
"Which is why once we're inside you'll let me do all the talking."
A look of confusion appeared on Ashley's face.
"I don't want her to see that you're mad at her for ruining our date."
"Hey I can be professional."
The comment made Shepard smile. With nothing more to say, the two walked into the club. Now that all the Cerberus equipment was gone, the club looked just like it did when Shepard first visited the station during his mission against the Collectors. Right down to the stage in the center of the club that featured asari pole dancers. From across the room, Shepard could see Aria sitting in her special box overlooking the club. It looked to him that she was angry for some reason.
Raising one hand, Aria managed to silence everyone in the club. Everyone then turned their attention to Shepard and Ashley. Some of Aria's guards even raised their weapons. Ashley nervously reached for her pistol before noticing Shepard giving her a 'settle down' look. The room was quiet for several seconds before Aria finally spoke.
"Shepard," she said, "I thought I explicitly told the asari councilor that I wanted you to come alone. After all you were willing to do it last time I asked for your help. If we're going to talk, your lapdog is going to have to wait outside."
"Watch it," said Ashley, "I'm not just his…"
"Williams!" Shepard said cutting her off.
Ashley turned to Shepard and saw his disapproving glare and realized that she was doing exactly what Shepard didn't want her to do. She bowed her head, slightly ashamed, and took a step back. Shepard then turned his attention back to Aria.
"Sorry Aria but from now on I'm part of a package deal. Wherever I go, she goes too. Is that going to be a problem?"
Realizing that Shepard wasn't going to change his mind, Aria sighed and then gestured for him and Ashley to come to her. Everyone else in the club resumed what they were doing before Aria silenced them. Shepard and Ashley proceeded up the steps to Aria's box and found her sitting on her couch. Aria nodded towards the couch to offer Shepard and Ashley a seat. Shepard took a seat while Ashley remained standing. Aria broke the silence once everyone was settled.
"So this must be the famous Commander Williams, the second human Spectre and the future Mrs. Shepard. I don't believe we've ever had the pleasure."
"I don't know if I would call this meeting a pleasure," Ashley snarled.
"Ooh she's a feisty one. You probably had a difficult time taming this one Shepard. By the way, I haven't received my invitation to your wedding yet."
"What did you want to see me about Aria," Shepard said trying to change the subject.
"Wow. You weren't planning on inviting me were you? I'm hurt Shepard."
"We're having a small wedding Aria. Close friends and family only. While you are definitely not an enemy, I wouldn't exactly say that we're friends. If anything we're more like business partners."
"I guess that's fair. At the very least you should let me give you a wedding present."
"Fine but you'll have to give it to us later. Tell me why you wanted me to come here."
"As Councilor Tevos told you," said Aria, "the Blue Suns have decided that they don't want to be under my rule anymore. While it is sad to see them leave me, I normally wouldn't care what they decide to do with themselves. Then I found out why they had left."
"It was because the group is once again under the control of that bastard Vido."
Shepard turned to the source of the new voice. Before the figure appeared, Shepard figured out who it was. It was his old squadmate Zaeed Massani. Zaeed was a renowned bounty hunter that Shepard recruited for the suicide mission against the Collectors. It was during that time Shepard also learned that Zaeed was a one of the co-founders of the Blues Suns.
It was also during that time he came across Vido Santiago, the other founder of the Blue Suns. Vido had taken a refinery on the planet Zorya hostage. Zaeed had been hired by a client to retake it before he agreed to work with Shepard. Shepard later agreed to help Zaeed on his personal mission. Everything went wrong when Zaeed, motivated by wanting revenge against Vido for betraying him twenty years earlier, set the refinery on fire. The fire spread and trapped the workers. Zaeed wanted to ignore the workers and chase after Vido. Shepard refused to leave the workers to die and ordered Zaeed to help with the rescue. They managed to save the workers but Vido escaped. Zaeed was initially angry over letting Vido get away but Shepard was able to convince him to put his plans for vengeance aside until after the suicide mission was complete. Now after a more than a year in hiding, Vido had finally resurfaced.
"Zaeed," Shepard said, "what are you doing here?"
"To be honest Shepard," Aria said, "you weren't the first person I called for help with this matter. Given Zaeed's history with Commander Santiago, I thought he would be willing to go after him. Except for some reason he insisted that he would only do it if you would help him."
"Really?"
"Yeah Shepard," said Zaeed, "I don't want to have a repeat of the last time I went after Vido. I figured it couldn't hurt to have you as my conscience. Looks like I got two consciences for the price of one."
"Nice to see you again as well Zaeed," Ashley said.
"Besides, something stinks about Vido. Well more so than usual. Vido has always been someone looking for an easy way to make lots of credits. His best means of doing that is by double-crossing his clients and stealing their goods after they've already paid for his services. He would never take a job without an angle he can pursue. This time however, there seems to be no obvious hidden agenda for him."
"There's also the matter of this phone call I intercepted," Aria said as she pulled up her omni-tool, "I was only able to pick up Santiago's end of the conversation but there is something odd that Zaeed and I noticed. Listen to it yourself and tell us what you think."
Aria proceeded to push a few buttons on her omni-tool. When she was done, an audio recording of Vido's voice began to play.
"Yes this is Commander Santiago….Really?...How much are you willing to pay?...I think we can make that happen….What do you mean conditions?...Are you insane?! I'm the leader of the Blue Suns! No one gives orders to me or my men except me!….Wait who are you?...Oh….Yes…..I understand….No your conditions are not unreasonable….Of course….I'll be at the rendezvous point with some of my best men as soon as possible….Goodbye."
Shepard took a second to process what he had heard. On the surface it sounded like a simple business call. But there was something unusual about the call. The client said something that made Vido furious but when the client gave their identity, Vido got nervous. During the short time he had seen Vido, Shepard wouldn't have pegged Vido as being someone who could be spooked by someone easily. Whoever was on the other end of that phone call turned the wild lion Vido was into a mouse.
"You heard it didn't you?" Zaeed asked.
Shepard nodded.
"This is why I called Zaeed and why Zaeed called you," said Aria, "most people who hire the Blue Suns are up to no good. This client has Santiago scared. That tells me they are extremely powerful. You combine someone powerful and the fact they are up to no good, something really bad could be about to happen."
"And if that's the case," Zaeed jumped in, "my going after Vido could lead to another Zorya or worse. I want you to come with me to ensure I don't make that mistake again."
"Makes sense," Shepard said, "do we have any idea where the rendezvous point that Vido mentioned is located?"
"As a matter of fact we do," said Aria, "there is a planet in the Mil System in Sigurd's Cradle called Terapso. Various crime figures, warlords and governments use its moons as a neutral meeting ground for all sorts of deals. If Vido and his client need a safe place to meet, that would be the ideal location."
"Sounds like a good place to start. Thanks Aria. Commander Williams and I will take the job. Are you ready to come back aboard the Normandy Zaeed?"
"As long as I can get a better room than that cargo hold I was in for the Collector mission," said Zaeed.
"Deal. Let's head out."
After saying goodbye to Aria, Shepard, Ashley and Zaeed walked out of Afterlife. As they were leaving, Shepard couldn't help but notice that Ashley looked slightly squeamish.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," Ashley replied, "it's just I feel like I need to take a shower after spending all that time with Aria."
Shepard laughed, "she does have that effect on people. Although I think she's actually gotten better since I helped her kicked Cerberus off of Omega."
"Well you do have that effect on people Shepard," Zaeed joked.
"What does that mean?" Ashley asked confused.
"He just means that some of my paragon charm has a tendency to rub off on people," Shepard explained, "once we get on the Normandy we better get a plan together. It won't take us long to get to Sigurd's Cradle."