Chapter 24
The bright cityscape of the Citadel Presidium rolled by beneath us but I didn't really notice, so absorbed was I in Aria's words now.
"You're being ridiculous. The League of One hasn't existed for millennia. The Asari pressured the Salarians into disbanding them as a requirement for joining the Citadel Council. They thought the group was too independent."
"Correctly as it turned out. All twelve members immediately disappeared the moment the order was sent out. The Salarians sent the STG after them but they never managed to locate even one of their targets. And most of their agents never came back alive," Aria commented mildly.
"Oh come on Aria, I'm surprised someone like you would buy into the oldest conspiracy theory in the galaxy. It was thousands of years ago. They couldn't have remained undetected for so long, it's not possible."
"That's history. I've no idea if this current group has any real connection to all that, no one does. What I can tell you is that these Salarians have been covertly operating under that name for the better part of the last five hundred years."
"And before that?"
Aria shrugged.
"No idea and to be honest I'm really not interested. They seemed well established when I first encountered them but I couldn't say when they were originally founded. Either way, it doesn't matter. All you need to know is that they've become a problem and you're going to solve it for me."
"Even assuming I'm interested, I'm going to need more information than that to go on Aria."
"Apparently everyone thinks that I'm a well of free information now. Very well, ask your questions but make it quick, I have other issues to deal with."
"I need to know what kind of group they are. How you found out about them, what their goals are..."
"How I know about them is none of your concern. As to who they are and what they want, that's simple: power. You've already seen enough to have some idea of how they operate. They use a team of extremely well trained commandos for a series of covert operations each designed to acquire assets or technology for their benefit. Taking Anoleis was a clear powerplay, the insider information he has on most of the major corporations will give them enough blackmail material to last decades."
"You make them sound like the Salarian Cerberus," I muttered.
"Minus the Illusive Man's delusions of grandeur. The League has never pretended to act in service of anyone other than themselves. They're the kind of people that give even criminals a bad name."
"If they're so dangerous how come Cerberus wasn't aware of their existence?"
"Other than the fact you were still the newbies on the block and far less competent than you liked to believe?"
I glared at Aria, words weren't necessary. She sighed.
"Until the war broke out they kept a low profile, usually acting through assets and intermediaries. Prior to the Reaper invasion, they were very, very careful. Not to mention well protected. I know of at least half a dozen Salarian Delatrasses that are under their influence."
"And now they're showing their hand at last... Do you think that they've been indoctrinated?"
"It's possible but there's no reason to think so. Chaos, generated by the war, has given them the opportunity they've been waiting centuries for. With all of the major players distracted they can focus on quietly seizing anything and everything they can get their hands on. The damage they're doing to the war effort alone should be ample motivation for you to stop them."
"So what exactly do you have in mind for me?"
"Now that Omega is back in my hands and its defenses have been secured I have certain obligations I need to fulfill."
"You promised Shepard your support for the war."
"Precisely and the most effective way of doing that is to unite all of the Terminus factions under one rule, my rule."
"And it also just happens to be the option that gains you the most power? The Alliance needs more support right away, they can't afford to wait while you waste time playing politics."
"Oh, I'm done playing, believe me. Three days ago I issued a direct summons to every major player in the Terminus to meet for our own war summit. From there we'll coordinate our efforts against the Reapers in full support of all the Council races."
I gave a low whistle.
"Tough sell, most of them despise the Council. How do you plan to get them all onboard?"
"The usual way. I won't leave them with any other alternative."
"And my job is?"
"To help run security for my little get together."
"What, you don't have your own people to call on for a job like that?"
"Normally I do but the stakes are higher than normal now. To save time I had to broadcast my intentions very loudly regarding this meeting; a lot of my enemies will have gotten wind of it by now. I can handle most of the usual suspects and the front is still too far away to expect the Reapers to put in an appearance yet but if Cerberus or the League show up...? Let's just say that I like to maintain a competitive edge."
"So all I have to do is to make sure everything goes smoothly at this war summit and then you'll tell me what I need to know?"
"That's the deal. Given your current situation, I'll take it as read that you accept."
I didn't like her presumption, but she was right. Given the way things stood at the moment, I wasn't likely to see a better deal come my way any time soon. Even so, there was no need to make it too easy for her.
"I still prefer to know where I stand. Who will I be reporting to?"
Aria sighed heavily, as if she was getting bored with the conversation now.
"Fine. Officially you'll be a consultant. You'll report to me directly when I need you to but otherwise, you'll work with my new head of security and take your lead from her," she paused, seeing the flicker of annoyance cross my face.
"Yes, you don't need to tell me that you don't need anyone to hold your hand. Your independence is one of the reasons I sought you out so you should feel free to act at your own discretion. Just remember that if you start causing me more headaches than you're worth, one of my associates will introduce you to the nearest airlock. Any questions?"
"What about my friends?" I asked, remembering that Aria had refused to allow Shepard to bring anyone along to help retake Omega.
"I've already had some of my people look into their histories and determined they're not important enough for me to worry about. If you want to bring them along Bray will pick them up and deliver them to my ship before we leave."
After that Aria announced she still had some business to attend to on the Citadel before she left, so the shuttle dropped her off before taking me up to the ship. From there it wasn't long before Nalar and the Colonel were scooped up as well and we set course for Omega.
A considerable distance, but Aria's ship was nothing like the civilian transport we'd been stuck aboard for days. I had time to make a couple of calls (one of them to Shepard) but not much more. In just two days we had traversed the Relay network right across the galaxy and reached the station sometimes referred to as the Citadel's dark twin.
Once you get on board it's not difficult to see why. Two vast ancient space stations, both serving as both exemplar and de facto capital for Council and Terminus space respectively but that's where the similarities end.
On the inside the Citadel Presidium is a stroll through the park at noon on a fine summer's day; Omega a scurry through the seedier alleyways of a run-down urban district at dusk. The lighting is low, the quarters are cramped and you constantly get the feeling that you're walking through a re-purposed industrial estate.
Then there are the stares. No one stares at you on the Citadel. Mostly they don't even notice you at all, too busy hurrying about with their own business to be interested in anyone else. On Omega, everyone is important, either as a possible threat or a potential mark. So the inhabitants stare you down everywhere you go, suspicious of the outsider, of the disruption to the natural rhythms of the station.
So it was as we were lead through the winding corridors by our guide, to meet our contact on the station. Aria's head of security, a scowling former Asari Huntress named Selena T'Roth. We found her alone at the bar, nursing a single drink in her hand like she planned to be there until the morning.
"Oi Bray! Why're you leading this group of losers into my private lounge? And what's with the uniform?" She asked suddenly, squaring off against me as she recognized the Cerberus colours (I would have left it on the ship but I honestly didn't feel safe wandering around the streets of Omega without a shield).
"Sorry, Sel. This is the one the boss wants us to work with on the you know what."
"The summit? Please, I don't need one of the Illusive Man's lackeys telling me how to do my job."
"Sel..." the Batarian's voice carried a note of warning across the bar.
"Yeah, yeah, alright. Look if it's what she wants then I guess you can set this lot up in one of the back offices."
"We'll need full access to all the intel you have on this summit, along with everything you have on the league," I replied.
"And if it was my call then that would be tough shit but Aria already said to give you access to the files so you're in luck. Bury them in the paperwork Bray, just keep them off my crest."
"You got it."
With gritted teeth, I walked away from T'Roth without comment. The way I figured it Aria's people probably had a reasonable idea of what they were doing (first impressions notwithstanding). All I had to do was ride the job out until the conference was over and then get back to finding Oriana. Obviously I'd contribute whatever I could but I was sure they'd have it pretty much handled. That was until I got to the office they'd found for me and started to see the full extent of this endeavor. After that? Well let's just say Bray got treated to a lot of conversations that went like this:
"What in the hell? Bray get in here!"
"Fine, fine human. What is it this time?"
"It appears Aria invited David Hask to the summit?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Aside from the five divorces, the alcohol abuse, and the red sand problem?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So he's a security risk. Wide-open to blackmail that could lead him to compromise the conference."
"Yeah but Aria's the one blackmailing him. You really think he'd be stupid enough to cross her?"
"All it takes is for one of them to be that stupid and all bets are off. I mean look at this list! They're all either warlords, slavers, mass murderers, or all three! Half the people invited are a security nightmare in one way or another. One or two of them still had ties to Cerberus up to a month ago."
Bray shrugged.
"Welcome to the Terminus, Lawson."
"I think Aria's managed to pull together a group that even these parts ought to be ashamed of."
"We need their troops for the war. No one said it was going to be pretty."
I nodded absently while reading through the next intel report. Garrus used to say that if you wanted to find a criminal on Omega all you needed to do was point your gun and shoot. Now we were bringing in another two hundred and fifty of the worst scumbags the Terminus had to offer into the mix. How do you ensure any kind of genuine security in an environment like that?