Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or anything else referenced here. Those are the sole property of their writers/companies (Bioware/EA and such). I do not claim ownership of anything but my OC and original concepts.
Chapter 7: Today's Vagrants and Warlords; Tomorrow's Saviors
Somewhere in the Terminus Systems. Mid-to-late 2171 CE.
The Flotilla's Patrol Fleet stood close by to the Star Cluster's Primary Mass Relay. Like always, their mission was checking for potential danger before the whole fleet came through as well as doing a cursory survey of useful resources to strip-mine. This scouting mission had been very tranquil, as if the pirates and everyday criminals had been either driven off from the region or "enticed" to move towards greener pastures. The quarians hadn't even met a random traveler yet.
Then, all of a sudden, the Relay spun to life not unlike when a fleet would use the megastructures.
"Admiral, a fleet just hit the Relay half a light-second away! Their signatures… they are all heavily armed Frigates and there's even a Cruiser amongst them!", the panicked voice of the Tonbay's sensors operator filled the ship's bridge, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Are they batarian!?", Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, recently promoted Admiral of the Patrol Fleet, demanded from her experienced officer, while pulling up her own feed from the sensors.
"Yes, their designs resemble ships from the Termi-, wait… their IFFs all read 'CSV' and the hulls have a design matching a symbol pilgrims reported recently. Even in the thermal sensors, Admiral.", the sensor technician interrupted his own response, checking his databases, and informed what he found. "They seem to belong to an up-and-coming PMC that's been operating on the Terminus…".
Shala'Raan didn't wait for the man to finish his explanation, quickly pulling up the contacts, before frowning. "It seems to be the case. Regardless, we aren't equipped to deal with a Cruiser, so get the Heavy Fleet-".
"Ma'am, we're getting hailed.", the communications officer reported suddenly. Knowing his Admiral already, he didn't wait for orders and quickly brought the videofeed up on screen, showing a very heavily armored humanoid being, with black and red colored suit, the same symbol reported by the sensor tech and glowing red eye sockets in the helmet.
"This is Shala'Raan vas Tonbay of the Migrant Fleet's Patrol. What business do you have with us?", the Admiral tried to put some authority into her question. She knew that, despite not being particularly numerous, such a fleet could still cause considerable damage to her patrol ships before they could escape.
"Greetings, Admiral. I am Commander Samael of Hell's Angels and I'm here for two reasons.", the armored being said, putting up two fingers. "For one, to escort a pilgrim that had joined my team a while back and, for another, to offer a deal to the Migrant Fleet.".
As the words settled down, a somewhat shy quarian that was outside their view showed up. He waved at the camera, which relayed the gesture half a second later to the very dumbfounded quarians of the Patrol Fleet.
Apparently, it wasn't customary for a quarian to return from Pilgrimage while escorted by a fleet.
Liveship Rayya. A while later.
After a very lengthy and tedious decontamination procedure, we finally docked for real with the Rayya, one of the quarian's three liveships. They only allowed our Cruiser to get close, due to security concerns, and only after explaining that our "boarding team" wouldn't fit inside of a shuttle. So, it didn't come as a surprise that we were welcomed personally by the ship's Captain, Kar'Danna vas Rayya, and quite a lot of marine squads…
"You said that your group couldn't fit inside a shuttle, not that it was even bigger than a platoon.", complained Kar'Danna.
"Well, I hope it won't be a problem to let them join. As you can see, none of my friends here are armed.", I pointed towards my large entourage, who were clearly neither armed nor human. "Besides, can you do us a small favor?".
"That depends on what you're asking.", he replied more agreeably.
"Let them stay back with you while my buddy here goes to deliver his Pilgrimage gift.", I patted our newest addition, the returning pilgrim, on the shoulder. "Otherwise, it'd ruin the surprise.".
Kar thought a little, noticing the profile of the people I brought with me, and agreed to my request with a nod.
After walking for a bit, we reached the Migrant Fleet's central civilian governing body, the Conclave. And, at the center of it, stood the five leading figures of it, the Admiralty Board. They were: Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, of the Heavy Fleet; Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib, of the Civilian Fleet; Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, of the Patrol Fleet; Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, of Special Projects; and Admiral Rael'Zorah, head of the whole thing (as well as Cerberus-esque research, in his time off). This was not common, as they couldn't be present for every returned pilgrim. We are to blame for that, I figured.
Ah, the quarians… What's to say about them? Love or hate them, everyone knew the gist of their story. They became space-nomads centuries ago when they built robots that eventually became "self-aware". Worried about a robot uprising, they tried to destroy the robots in the most brutal way possible. This led to a robot uprising and they got their asses kicked off their own homeworld. In a way, you could say they were really genre-savvy, just not regular-savvy! Anyway…
The gathered quarians all looked at me, dozens of glowing eyes trying to peer through the suit obscuring this newcomer's face, but finding only armor that hid even more than their faceplate visors, only seeing the world through pinhole cameras. Unlike most species, quarians were used to dealing with beings that hid their features on a regular basis, so they could see that my body language was relaxed, showing nothing but a calm confidence.
Silence settled in as Captain Kar'Danna walked the pilgrim to the front of the room and motioned for him to present his gift before the presiding speaker and Conclave. I hung in the back, arms crossed, watching the room's occupants discuss what the gift would be and what the human was doing there.
"This Conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah se'lai.", Shala'Raan said from the podium. "Before the pilgrim Ysin'Mal nar Idenna presents his gift, I'd like to address Commander Samael and Hell's Angels. You mentioned that you're here to negotiate a deal with us. Could you elaborate?".
"I'd request a more private setting, Admiral. As you'll find out soon, our discussion warrants discretion. Plus, it would be better if you simply allowed the pilgrim to present his gift first.", I responded, while giving a "thumbs up" to Ysin'Mal.
The newest member of my team, as I later recalled, was one of the minor characters from the novel Mass Effect: Ascension, who went by the name Ysin'Mal vas Idenna, since he was the Captain of that ship. He was an aggressive proponent of change, including proposing long-term missions for ships to leave the Flotilla and look for new homeworlds.
We met by chance when he was exploring the Terminus Systems for a suitable place, as his Pilgrimage's gift, for the Migrant Fleet to stay more permanently. After meeting during a scuffle, I invited him to the PMC and he agreed, as that'd allow him to move more easily in the region. Moreover, he was extremely interested in (if not downright obsessed with) our weapons, for obvious reasons, quickly becoming one of the top gun experts of the group and improving our designs. As such, our weapons weren't the cobbled together mess Mordin miraculously managed to put together anymore, but closer to proper gravity based weapons. And the development of the specialized full sized ammo mechanism was well underway.
After figuring out the simple concept of using gravity for acceleration, something everyone in this galaxy was tricked into not seeing by the Reapers, he could only mutter things like "Why couldn't we think of this!?" and "Have we been using eezo wrong this whole time!?". That, however, only occured after he agreed to not spread our tech to the Migrant Fleet willy-nilly.
I was not too worried he would betray us. For one, he was a chill dude, as I figured when (in the "canon" future) he easily accepted the humans Hendel Mitra, Gillian Grayson and Kahlee Sanders (Anderson's flame) on his ship, while giving them a warm welcome. For another, because I brought him into the "core" of Hell's Angels (not the "Inner Circle", obviously) by revealing the truth about the Reapers, with a basic introduction and information datapad. Therefore, it didn't take long for him to join us completely and realize that we couldn't just reveal our "hand" technologically that easily, which would happen if our stuff was spread among the Flotilla. Besides, he was definitely a capable guy, just like Mal from Firefly.
Being encouraged by me, Ysin took a few firm steps forward. The Admirals finished talking between themselves and agreed to let the ceremony proceed first.
"Who are you, Pilgrim, and why do you stand before us?", Zaal'Koris began the ceremony by asking him in a formal manner.
"I am Ysin'Mal nar Idenna. I have returned from my journey, longing for home. I have crossed the stars, seen wonders and horror in equal measure, gained friends and fought enemies in the most unlikely places. I have traded blows with those who would seek me harm and broke bread and shared drinks with those I would call friends.", he replied, while glancing at me, and finished: "I come bearing my gift to the quarian people.".
"If you would truly join our people, present us with your gift now and state what name you would take.", Zaal'Koris continued the ceremony.
"My gift for the Flotilla is the safe return of many of our people that had been brutality taken and forced to work as slaves in the Terminus, which I helped free, and the name I would take is Ysir'Mal vas Lightbringer.", he announced proudly.
Before they could be shocked by his declaration, especially that he would stay with us instead of joining a ship's crew in the Flotilla, dozens of quarians that had been previously hidden in the back stepped forward. Shocked cries came from the crowd, as some of the onlookers recognized those rescued, while some cried tears of joy for having them back. Evidently, the whole thing turned into a mess.
"When you brought them on board, I guessed something like this would happen. Was that the effect you expected?", Captain Kar'Danna questioned me.
"Ha, life does need some dramatic events every now and then; otherwise, it'd be too boring.", I replied shrugging.
There weren't as many quarians slaves as I thought there would be in the Terminus. This was not due to some miracle that caused the slavers to grow a conscience or the low numbers of quarians itself, but for the simple fact that they could die very easily and, as such, were considered "high upkeep". If one finds a quarian slave, it was most likely some poor bastard being forced to deal with tech, instead of hard-labor, or… other things that involved high risk of infections.
The Admirals tried to reinstate order, but they were drowned by the chaos caused by the reuniting quarians. Only after a few minutes did the situation calm down enough for them to continue the ceremony.
"Do you truly wish to stay in the crew of this human Captain instead of joining a ship of the Fleet?", Zaal'Koris asked for confirmation.
"Yes. This is my decision.", he replied, preparing to argue for his choice. "I know that I can do much more for the Flotilla out there instead of here. Even if it's just by freeing more of our people that were enslaved while the rest of the galaxy just stood aside. If there's to be a future for our people, we need to change. And opportunities for change can be found out there, not here!".
"Very well. This is your own decision to make.", the Admiral relented. "We can only wish you the best. You'll still be considered an adult and the Flotilla will always be accessible to you.".
"Then, I think it's time we dealt with the 'offer' of the Commander who just snatched one of own.", Shala'Raan reminded everyone humorously.
"True. But, if you wish to discuss with us privately, you must relinquish your weapons.", Han'Gerrel stated. "It's only a temporary measure, of course.".
"That's not a problem for me.", I replied, while taking out all of my weapons for a good 15 seconds and passing them to Ysin'Mal, who just stood there awkwardly.
Every quarian in the room just watched with, what I imagined, dumbstruck expressions, trying to figure out where I had hidden all of those.
While entering the room chosen by the Admirals for the negotiations, I secretly scanned all of them with my Omni-tool, but pretended to be scanning the place for bugs or something. This was a prototype device Mordin, Liara and their teams had built that was based on the tech Vendetta used to find indoctrinated agents. It wasn't yet perfect, but got the job done, as some captured pirates/slavers could attest to with their lives.
"There's no need to worry about anything underhanded.", Han'Gerrel commented, with a somewhat annoyed tone. "We are honorable people, Commander.".
Luckily, none of them indicated signs of indoctrination. In fact, it made sense. If that wasn't the case, then they'd have sabotaged the Flotilla in ME3. After all, it wasn't the Reaper's whispers that made them go to war with the Geth in such an inappropriate time, but a breakthrough in tech done by Daro'Xen. However, one could never be too careful...
"Just making sure of something.", I brushed it aside. "There are two items I wish to discuss today. One of them is more geared towards business deals and technology while the other is related to the fate of the Flotilla and, quite possibly, of everyone else in the galaxy.".
"Quite the dramatic sort, aren't you?", Daro'Xen spoke for the first time. "Let's start with the technology part. Leave the best for last, as you humans like to say.".
"Very well.", I replied, while pulling up a vid from my Omni-tool.
The space battle against the (partial) fleet of the "Batarian External Forces" began. In the recordings, one could clearly see that, despite their advantage in numbers and ship class, we were easily winning the engagement. What got the most attention from the Admirals, more than the tactics we'd used, was that my own ship (a fairly big Frigate back then) was not only going toe-to-toe with the batarian Cruiser, but beating it. The fact that we had the same, or even higher, projectile speed, but much more maneuverability, meant we could dictate the terms of the engagement. And, considering the genius of the MEverse species (they love to expose their pilots and commanding officers right in front of their warships), we only needed to overwhelm the bridge's kinetic shield generators with relativistic love, thereby decapitating the leadership caste, to take down the entire Cruiser.
When the battle was over and the batarian side was either turned into space debris or throughly disabled, the Admirals couldn't contain themselves any longer.
"Incredible! Those weapons can change the situation of space warfare and reshuffle the current hierarchy of galactic powers.", Daro'Xen broke the silence, commenting with barely disguised greed. "Oh, the things we could do with those cannons…".
"If we could get our hands on those warship weapons, the Geth would stand no chance.", Han'Gerrel stated emotionally.
"Commander Samael, you must realize that we can't let go of what you've shown.", said Rael'Zorah, insinuating some less than honorable possible deeds. "We must obtain those weapons, by any means necessary.".
"Oh, I thought you were an honorable people.", I uno-reverse card'd their words back.
"Look at yourselves, you're going too far!", Zaal'Koris called out, calming them down at last. "Unlike what the rest of the galaxy thinks, we are not and will never be thieves!".
"Forgive us, Commander.", Shala'Raan apologized in lieu of the others. "You must realize that the prospects of this could allow us to finally take back our homeworld. So, we lost control of our emotions.".
"I know. And it's a good thing that you didn't show yourselves to be what the Council has painted your people as.", I replied calmly, as they felt guilty about their reactions. "But let me tell you why trying to take those weapons by force would still be a terrible idea: the patents for the Thanix weaponry, as we are calling it, are already approved in Council Space, although no one has noticed it yet, and I'm just representing the true 'inventors' of that tech. As such, trying to steal those cannons would just give the Council a new excuse to further promote the slow genocide of your people, as they've been doing for centuries. After all, they'd certainly not allow 'suit rats' to keep this kind of edge over them; for something something 'good of all', something something 'stability', of course.".
At the mention of the Council, Zaal'Koris and Shala'Raan shifted uncomfortably, while Han'Gerrel and Rael'Zorah squeezed their hands in anger. This, however, was not aimed at me, but at those who had hurt their people, as they easily caught on to my sarcasm and mockery, finding a common ground there.
"Luckily for us both, I'm not them.", I declared. "In fact, I hold the quarian people in high regard.".
"You showed a batarian Cruiser being defeated by a Frigate. But how powerful are those weapons truly?", Han'Gerrel inquired, changing topics. As a guy with a history of causing trouble along the turian border and who'd constantly fight off slavers, he was especially interested in their firepower.
"Let's just say that, if a turian Dreadnought showed up right now and decided to exchange fire with my new Cruiser, then the turian Captain would probably receive the shock of his life.", I assured him and passed a datapad with all the specs of the Thanix weaponry.
"We can see how impressive those weapons are, Commander.", Shala'Raan admitted now that she saw the specs. "But what is your offer? As you probably know, the Flotilla survives on whatever resources we manage to mine and what our pilgrims can present as gifts, so we don't have the necessary credits to buy a lot of those cannons.".
"And the Council would not allow us to upgrade our ships, now that I think about it.", Han'Gerrel complained. "After they've exiled us from the galactic community, our armaments are technically none of the Council's business, but they would not care about forcing their decrees on us!".
"There would certainly be conflict. This would seriously disrupt the status quo. I'm not even sure if you could maintain your patent in that case.", Rael'Zorah professed with a defeated tone. "Believe us, Commander, the Council is ruthless, especially against those that would 'disrupt the galactic stability'. We know that better than most.".
"Indeed. Those points are all true. You don't have enough credits to buy and equip all ships with Thanix cannons, even if we sell them at production cost. You don't have the freedom to decide your own fate, as the Council would try to rip away any hope of recovery as long as it could. And you can't fight them off, even while having the biggest fleet in the galaxy.", I enumerated just some of the issues. "I know all these things. However, I also have a plan to let us earn a lot of credits, get around the Council sanctions against your people and make it so they can't do a thing at the same time.".
"Well, that sounds… improbable. What is it that you are proposing?", Zaal'Koris asked.
"The group I represent has the potential and foundation to bring a lot of high level technology to reality, but we lack something that the Flotilla is rich with: qualified engineers and technicians. For the time being, we simply don't have the manpower necessary to mass-produce our 'inventions' and sell them to the galaxy.", I revealed to them our situation, preparing to lay down part of the scheme. "That's where you come in. You wouldn't accept anything that'd resemble being a 'client' of another species, but neither did anyone have the wisdom or vision to ally with you and harness your talents to make both greater – not that the Council would easily allow it. But, as a private corporation, our position is right in the middle of all that. We aren't a nation nor a one-species company, but a group that can represent the interests of different nations and species…".
"I don't follow… What does that mean for us, exactly?", Rael'Zorah asked.
"It means the quarian people can have a stake in it too; a public face, one where you could send your pilgrims to hone their talents and sell the resulting work – not just the refreshments, supplies and various trinkets you sometimes sell randomly. One where they get a fair chance and treatment. Best of all? This would circumvent the Council's genocidal decrees against your people, since you aren't settling down on some 'colony that'd best be given to another species', but merely setting up in the economic world.", I presented a big pie for them, one that I'd genuinely wondered why they'd never baked themselves. "In turn, we'd get all the manpower we'd ever need to build our products – paying you the galactic standard, of course –, and an expert supplier of raw materials, which can be used as payment for those products, such as Thanix weaponry, at production cost only. As you upgrade the fleet, all 'old' tech, like the mass drivers, would also need a place to be sold. We come in for that too and the credits earned can be applied 'in-house'. With our tech and your talents, we can even take market share from the asari. And this is merely a rough sketch!".
"This… forgive me. For a moment, I thought you were here just to poach our people.", the leader of the civilians, Zaal'Koris, revealed his inner thoughts. "You would not be the first to try something like that. Your offer to share a bit of your group with us seems to be genuine and beneficial…".
"But that would still be too big of a change for us, Commander, and risky too.", Shala'Raan evasively said. "We are not prepared to lead a good portion of our population outside the Flotilla, especially for… people we've just met.".
"Admirals, do you think that, as things stand, the Flotilla has any future?", I asked something unrelated, crossing my arms and inclining myself backwards.
That good their attention. Almost too well in fact. If I didn't start explaining the meaning of my question, they might just decide to fight me for a few rounds.
"I know your real situation. The truth is that the Migrant Fleet is dying due to lack of resources and the fact that your ships are breaking down faster than you could replace them.", I carelessly unveiled their true plight, one that Ysin had confirmed for me. "I estimate that, within a hundred years, the quarian population would be unsustainable. The clock's ticking and the Council, or anyone else for that matter, won't lift a finger to help you!".
"How did you kn-", Han'Gerrel began speaking, but I interrupted him. "On the contrary. It's very likely that, behind the scenes, the 'Big Three' would make some moves to ensure your downfall, as that would eliminate one of their potential 'competitors' for good. Moreover, in the future, if your people are not relegated to the history books, the remaining quarians would probably just live miserable lives of servitude. In fact, that is already happening in places like Illium, with their sick legalized 'indentured servitude'.".
They glared at me after the last line, completely shocked at what I said. But, despite their efforts, they realized that my words couldn't be denied; even if they hurt; even if they were somewhat extreme. Because there was a very big chunk of truth there.
"We… I do not want that to happen. Sooner or later, you'll have to change. Why not take the chance sooner, rather than when it's too late?", I spoke much slower and with a sighing tone. "We want our technology to be built by the best in the galaxy and that is you! The products sold will be our tech, on our name, but made and improved by quarian hands. This is merely the first step; but, even by itself, it'll make the rest of the galaxy rely on you and, at the same time, get you breathing room to recover and plan for the future.".
"This decision is too big to make hastily.", Rael'Zorah said after some consideration. "We'll need time to discuss amongst ourselves first.".
"And that would probably take a long time, perhaps involve the Conclave, and might not result in anything, right?", I revealed their evasive plans, throwing another datapad at them. "Here, I'll help speed that up for you, because time is not a luxury we are in abundance of.".
This one contained all the information about the Reapers that I showed to Alec Ryder back then, but with much more real (and gruesome) details/info about their invasion added in. All of it was courtesy of Vendetta, of course. So, it took a lot longer for the Admirals to go over everything.
And they did go over every little thing, especially the main weapon part, remembering how identical it looked to the Thanix cannon description and functionality. Five pairs of glowing eyes stared intensely at me, either trying to peer into any other secrets I might have or to forget what they saw. Maybe both, because "Keelah" was all they could say for a long, long while.
"You are not just a mercenary, right?", questioned Daro'Xen.
"Why ask what you already figured out? See those giant, black, mean looking guys? The Protheans called them 'Reapers'. They're the reason we don't have any really advanced civilizations hanging around. And here's something else to keep you up at night: they'll be coming for us soon.", I confidently asserted. "Even now, they have indoctrinated agents everywhere. Perhaps there are some in the Flotilla itself, pilgrims who had the misfortune of stumbling upon left behind indoctrination devices. What did you guys think I was scanning when we got here? Bugs or leaks?".
There was no answer, but I could swear they were getting even paler under those helmets. As it turns out, imagining that a friend, family member or lover you always knew could be a mind-controlled slave to genocidal machines was not good for mental health, especially to quarians, due to their "history" with the Geth.
"No. I was looking for signs of indoctrination. You five are 'clean' by the way. And I'll give you the scanning program for free, but only if you promise on your ancestors' honor to be careful, quiet and 'sneaky' about your use of it. After all, we can't have the Reapers knowing we can find some of their agents at this stage.", I gave a pause so they could process it all. "You know, it's all quite ironic in a way. Due to your whole exiled situation, you are one of the best powers in the galaxy to operate outside of the Reaper's designs and, as such, for the very same reason, one of the best hopes to save the same galaxy who shuns you.", I pointed out amusedly. "So, with all of that out of the way, let me tell you the rest of my proposal…".
A week later, many ships from the Migrant Fleet, packing a lot of their best engineers and technicians, were sent on missions outside of the Flotilla. Their only stated goal? Finding a future for the quarian people. Almost no one made the connection with the visit made by a few "mercenaries" to return a few freed slaves. Those more cynical would only think there were some monetary deal or ransom involved. After all, even the Spectres needed to look at the pilgrim's acts outside of the Fleet to figure out what the quarians were up to.
At the same time, a series of "investigations" personally led by the Admirals found multiple cases of "botched" repair jobs throughout the Flotilla. The number of materials wasted and of preventable accidents shocked its 17 million population, which nevertheless didn't make the connection between them and the pilgrimage. Those quarians responsible, however, were not exiled, but merely sent to an undisclosed location, where they'd receive their due "punishment", for the goal of "rehabilitation".
As for the rest of the galactic community, it was almost completely oblivious to the changes happening in the background.
Slowly, imperceptible, the tides were turning.
Omega. A week later.
One will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Omega. Except, perhaps, Illium. Or the Hegemony. Or many of the Terminus Systems colonies (for now).
This, ultimately, was the gathering point for all of the worst elements of the galaxy: thugs, criminals, assassins, mercenaries, pirates, slavers, murderers, smugglers, serial killers, drug dealers, (tax) Collectors and writers of good fanfics that never finish them. But it was not for them that we came here. I was approaching the station for one purpose and one purpose only: to "recruit" the Pirate Queen herself to our cause.
Our little conquest of the Terminus was slowing down lately and rushing things, especially without a plan, would just result in us losing all the progress we had made. There were fewer and fewer good targets for us to hit, as a big chunk of the small-scale pirates and slavers of the region we carved out for ourselves had, for the time being, been dealt with or just started getting smarter. And forcing things out would just stretch ourselves thin. The good thing was that no one was giving us much trouble anymore because they probably thought we'd stop and be content with what we had. That and also the fact we did everyone a favor by targeting mostly batarian and Hegemony backed forces. No one liked those bastards, not even themselves, as I found out (the "noble" who sent that Cruiser on our ass got dealt it by his "peers" due to the "blunder").
Therefore, it was time to start the next phase. One that'd partially required the help of Aria or, seeing it from another angle, would work much smoother with her help. Anyway, it'd be better to initiate good relations with her as soon as possible, something I'd been postponing for around a year now, before we got into a conflict with her "forces".
After getting out of the airlock, which I thought was very close to the one used in ME2, we noticed a batarian walking towards us. Together with me was Alec "Pathfinder" Ryder and Samara. I thought about bringing Mordin too – because he was a guy who broke Omega's first rule and walked away scott free –, but he was too busy with something tech related now that Gaia was being "very helpful" and the two I already had were enough to pull off an Archangel here, if it was necessary.
Holding down the fort, inside of the ship, was Ysin "Liberator" Mal, a few of his old friends and newly joined quarian marines, some asari girls recommended by our Matriarchs and all the other people I'd hand picked over this time, so I wasn't worried about it. Besides, there was no one else here besides us and the guy coming over.
"Welcome to Omega… Samael.", the batarian said. Wait, that line was a little familiar. Oh, that's right! This guy was Moklan. There was no Fargut here, though.
"You know who I am? It seems my reputation precedes me.", I responded.
"Of course. We know of your rising fame on the Terminus Systems. Bringing a fleet close here was also not very subtle.", I just shrugged at that mention. With the number of scum we'd pissed off, one couldn't be too careful. "Aria wants to know what brings the Hell's Angels Commander to Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself.".
"Cut the attitude. I'm just here to talk to Aria, not to cause trouble.", I placated him.
"Pirates and slavers die en masse around you, Commander.", Moklan said, justifying their wariness while simultaneously raising his hands. "You can't blame Aria for keeping an eye on you. Afterlife. Now.".
He demanded then walked away before I could give any response. Forget it. At least we weren't received with guns. Moving away from the airlock, I finally noticed the female news announcer. Before her, there was the usual batarian nonsense harping on, which my brain just filtered away, but the current news did put a smile on my face:
...
…salarians sentenced for the attempted murder of a quarian on the colony of Erinle. The sentence is still appeable, but the chance of reverting the verdict is very small, as the human lawyers hired by the Corporation have proven themselves even more ruthless than batarian raiders. The case hit notoriety when an unknown extranet source spread memes, most notorious of which was one of the salarians overlooking the quarian with the subtitle 'It was just a prank, bro.', followed by the same subtitle on a badly edited image of the krogan and then the rachni.
...
Hehehe. Who could've done that, huh?
While getting closer to the Afterlife club, we could see a line of people trying to get in, with the Elcor bouncer blocking them right in the middle of the path (it might just be my imagination, but I heard a "c'mon, let me in"), and some of the club's music already leaked outside. It had dark rhythms, violent pulses; the kind that almost stirred something primitive in you.
"Most people in the galaxy think this place is the worst one there is, especially those in 'high society'.", Alec suddenly commented, mockery barely concealed in his voice. "They don't know that there are worse places than this on Earth today, like Detroit.".
"I knew humans to be very individualistic as a species, but I thought your homeworld had very similar conditions all around.", Samara said with clear confusion, then turned to me. "Is that not the case?".
"Not really. Conditions advanced a lot for the stronger nations, but so did the gap between them and the rest of the world. It's why something like the Union of Incorporated Nations, or UNIN, exists; otherwise, there'd be no point to the smaller nations banding together.", I explained to the ancient, who worried me now that we were here. "Samara, now might be a really bad time for you to get angry; and all righteous fury on us.".
"Don't worry. I know what's at stake.", she nodded, reassuring me. "And my oath to you still binds me.".
After entering the club and passing the corridor, which didn't have anyone to bother us, we saw the true face of the nightclub. Asari dancers, blinking neon lights and fake fire were everywhere. Loud music complemented it all. Ignoring this, we went straight to the back, where our goal waited. While climbing up the stairs, I also saw Aria's second-in-command, Anto Korragan, standing guard in the same place as during ME2. He just stared at us in complete silence.
Turning a corner, there she was, Aria T'Loak, in all of the queenliness. She was sitting on her beloved couch and lazily sipping some glowing drink, which probably had eezo added in for it to glow so much. I stopped in the same place Shepard did during ME2 while my companions paused in the lower ground, right before the second set of stairs.
"That's close enough.", warned the Pirate Queen.
The guards looked to be tense, but didn't pull out their guns. It probably had something to do with our reputation of making even the Hegemony's deniable assets bleed. They didn't scan me, though. I was neither a resurrected Spectre like Shepard nor was the galaxy as turbulent as after Sovereign's any% suicide run.
"Hello, Aria. I came all the way here to talk to you.", I started off the conversation bluntly.
"Not just to talk, I'm guessing.", Aria spoke nonchalantly. "You need more. Everyone needs more… something. And they all come to me. So, what can I do for you?".
"Can you help me take over the Terminus?", I asked with the same nonchalance. She almost spat her drink on me. "I'm just joking. Or am I?".
Aria paused her drinking and took a long, hard look at me, possibly trying to get a read on.
"That's not something to joke about, unless you want to wind up dead.", she spat the line before taking a quick glance at Samara. "But you're not the type to die so easily, right? So, tell me, what the fuck do you really want?".
"I want to forge an Accord with you, but not here in the open. Too many eyes and ears. So, let's make a bet. Three words.", I showed her three fingers, gambling a little on her curiosity. "If I can surprise you with just three words, then we'll continue our talk in private. Before that, however, let me clarify that our 'discussion' might take hours and that those three words are not meant as a threat, alright?".
She narrowed her eyes and gave me a small smirk with the corner of her mouth. "Oh, and what do I get if you don't surprise me?".
With that question, I knew I had her.
"My identity.", I offered curtly.
Many people were curious about my identity, from the Terminus to Khar'shan, from a human farmer in a little colony to the Council. They only knew of the menacing, fully suited look of mine, a situation that I'd like to maintain as long as possible, or until D-Day.
"Very well. Impress me then.", she waved her hand and demanded lazily.
Then, I gave her a datapad with just three words: Aleena, Liselle and Tevos.
At the first word, she was stunned; on the second one, she narrowed her eyes once more; after the last word, she gave me a deadly serious look.
"Consider myself impressed, Commander.", admitted Aria. "If not for your 'clarification', I'd be thinking you were out to break the number one rule of Omega.".
"Which is 'Don't fuck with Aria', I know.", I said before she could cut me with all the edge of that phrase. "You might not believe me, but, on this station, I'm probably one of the few that desire your wellbeing.".
Indeed, it was true. Ever since her first appearance, she was always helpful to Shepard, especially in taking down the Collectors. And, in ME3, she was ready to help immediately, since she knew that, if Reapers won, everyone was going to be fucked. Basically, she was chill as long as you didn't try to take this rock from her. Besides, better the devil you know than the one you don't.
"Oh, I very much doubt that. So, you got your audience! But don't waste my time.", Aria announced, her focus shifting once again to my #1 assurance. "Is your pet Justicar going to be a problem?".
"Samara's under the Third Oath of Subsumation.", I briefly explained, making Aria raise a non-existent eyebrow at the revelation. "You don't need to worry about her.".
With that out of the way, she ordered Garka, her batarian enforcer, to keep watch. Alec went to the bar, after I had warned not to drink anything mixed by batarians, and Samara quietly joined him, meditating. The two of us, however, went to her private quarters.
"Ok, drop the act. What do you know about those particular words?", demanded Aria.
"Let's see… Aleena was an asari commando who had a successful career as a mercenary. Then, because of a volus diplomat, she fought her krogan friend in a space station, ran from her old life and eventually became a Pirate Queen on some asteroid. By the way, her friend's doing ok. Liselle is the daughter of said warlord, but that information is well hidden in order to protect her. And Tevos, the Asari Councilor, has some interesting connec-.", I was explaining, but Aria interrupted me.
"Stop, stop. I can see that you know a lot. Too much, in fact.", she ordered, sighing.
"Yeah. I know a lot of things, even things no one should know.", I admitted. "One of them, which is related to the survival of everyone in the galaxy, is why I'm here.".
"And what's stopping me from just forcing the truth out of you now that it's just us?", Aria threatened, flaring her biotics and slowly walking closer to me. For a moment, I considered just calling off her bluff/power play, reminding her of my companions' existence…
"Aria, can I trust you? And… are you someone worth giving a chance to?", I asked her with a somewhat tired voice. She paused, widening her eyes a little. No one had ever used those terms and in that way to talk to her.
"Yeah, I know you're a ruthless warlord, who killed a lot of people over your long life. You maintain your reign over Omega with an iron fist. No matter who you deal with, you always try to make sure you have the upper hand in the negotiation, just like right now.", I stated confidently. "But that is not all you are.".
"What do you truly know about me?", she scoffed. "I. AM. OMEGA.". Impressively, she actually managed to squeeze her edgy line into our conversation.
"What do I know? That your persona of a tough, domineering and ruthless 'queen' is a necessary facade; you actually care somewhat about the people of this station, at least where their freedom is concerned. That you would help someone in need if it didn't make you show weakness or give your rivals a vulnerability to exploit. That you truly love your daughter. That you like this constant game of juggling and balancing power, but you had to give up a lot of things for it, one of them being a normal relationship with Liselle.", I laid it all out for her.
Aria T'Loak would never be a paragon of justice. She was more renegade than even the reddest renegade Shepard. And that one was a real piece of work sometimes. But that didn't mean I couldn't try to make her a better person this time around, just as our favorite Spectre somewhat accomplished after the Omega DLC. Plus, having her help, her genuine cooperation, would make our plans in the Terminus just that much easier.
"Aria, I truly wish to give you a chance. To make the Terminus and, by extension, Omega a better place; even helping you actually be the real ruler of this station, not just the number one boss. So, why don't you drop the facade just once?", I pulled some of her emotional strings. "If you don't, I'll still tell you my information, but our relations won't be anything more than just a pact against a galactic threat. However, if you just let yourself believe, for one second, that things in the Terminus could be better, then I could be a dependable ally.".
Part of my chosen path was about fixing the damage that the Citadel Council perpetuated and redeeming those that could be "saved". The Terminus Systems were proof of just how amoral and incompotent that polity was, and before me stood someone who represented the "face" of this lawless region of space. If Aria truly was an irredeemable villain, then there'd be no way for her to have any sort of relationship with Nyreen Kandros, someone with virtue and a strong moral compass. And the fact she lost her cool due to the turian's death means she values relationships more highly than she was prepared to admit.
Aria flared her biotics even more, making all the stuff in the room float not unlike the scene of Samara facing off against Morinth. Her face showed an expression of struggle: on one side, she could continue her way of life, of survival, by either forcing this "merc" to submit or by just keeping him at arm's length; on another side, she could let herself trust this damnable human, just once, and see where it went.
"Betrayal and loss are a fact of life for you. Even now, Blood Pack and Eclipse, and even more shadowy organizations, are eyeing your throne.", I put the final nail on the coffin, thinking about how TIM must be salivating to take over this place even now. "But, sooner or later, you're going to need allies. Or do you think you'll just have better luck next time forever?".
"Argh, fine!", she shouted, relented by stopping her biotics, and pointed at me. "I'm giving you a chance. Don't make me regret it.". On a weird note, if this had been a game, I'd probably have been smashing plenty of little blue dialogue options up until now.
Anyway, with that persuasion out of the way, I decided to take my helmet off, showing her my features and the smile on my face. I could tell she was quite surprised, but didn't want to show it, just raising that same "eyebrow" and mocking me with a smug expression.
"So this is what the oh-so-terrifying Commander really looks like.", Aria derided. "Can't say I'm impressed. With that voice, I thought you were some grizzled old veteran, not a young adult.".
"Of course you wouldn't be charmed by my super ordinary looks. And I'm 26 years old. For humans, that's old enough to start a family. Besides… you're much more into women; turian ones, to be precise.", I snorted playfully.
"Ok, now that I've entertained the possibility of considering you an ally, tell me where got your info on me.", Aria asked again, but more politely this time.
"Oh, that's quite simple. You see, I'm not from this Universe.", I stated nonchalantly, as if we were just discussing the weather.
She stared at me with a you're pulling my leg expression.
"Hey, I'm telling the truth here.", I took her hands, which she let begrudgingly, and put them on my cheeks. "It'd be easier to show you. So, let's do a mind melding.".
Nowadays, my "passing-memories-by-meld" skill had been pretty much maxed out. But, this time, I decided to change things up a bit. That's because I didn't think she would care as much as the other asari about Thessia. Therefore, we started embracing eternity with Vigil's explanation of how the Prothean Empire fell. Shortly after, I showed her the beacon "vision", the effects of indoctrination and, to finalize, Sovereign's speech on Virmire. On the last part, Aria lost control of the meld, with it coming crashing down.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?", she shouted.
"The ones who truly made the Protheans and everyone else before them vanish. They'll be coming after us too in the next decade and a half.", I declared and began explaining about my world travel, Information Projection, the Crucible, Mass Effect (1-3) and so on.
The Pirate Queen was completely lost and her worldview was probably torn to little pieces. Nevertheless, I decided to pass the "main quests" and important DLCs to her. Yet another very long embrace eternity later, we just flopped on her couch due to tiredness.
"I lost Omega… and Liselle.", she muttered in a sad, defeated voice.
"You lost much more than that. Your deals with Cerberus cost a lot of lives in the long run, both here on this station and outside. And, if it wasn't for Shepard, you wouldn't even take anything back.", I admonished her. "You know, if you really want to make a deal with the Devil, I'm a much better candidate than TIM.".
I winked at her, but she just rolled her eyes.
"Okay, Mr. Savior from another Universe. What are your plans for me?", Aria asked after recovering her composure.
Looking directly into her eyes, I gave a sly smile and said: "Ok then. Let's talk about how we're going to turn the Terminus into a galactic superpower that can lead the fight against the Reapers…".
Over the next decade, in what would be known by the galactic community at large as the Terminus Wars, we'd set out to create a counter-balance to the Citadel Council's influence, bringing stability to the Terminus, and to create a very real "threat" that could force the powers of the galaxy to increase their military and economic strength even if they decided to completely ignore the Reaper threat. Only the existence of another power in the galaxy could make them abandon their stagnant ways. And only a new Civilization that surpassed them in pretty much every way could do that truly effectively. One just needs think about it: a unified Terminus Systems could do the former, but a unified Terminus together with a reunited Quarian and Geth? That would spook them out of their wits.
And we had a big advantage. The mere notion of a single group, or even a formal alliance, controlling a majority of the Terminus had been a preposterous idea up until now. After all, the Terminus Systems were – and had always been – an uncontrollable galactic "wild west", where the population and its "rulers" agreed on only one thing: no one was the boss of us. To be more specific, they're only united in their refusal to acknowledge the political authority of the Council and its Conventions. Which was one of the reasons we'd succeed in uniting them secretly. Slowly, over years of war, we would gather information, build up relationships with good or decent/reasonable people, promote a new order, one focused on stability and freedom (to do what you want, but not to be free from the consequences of your actions).
Almost imperceptibly, most of the big warlord's organizations would disintegrate, with close lieutenants and power brokers being eliminated to erode the base of their power. Basically, we would tear them down to build them back up. After all, the Terminus Systems teem with planets rich in rare elements, minerals and other raw materials. It was partly from this that Cerberus built their little "Shadow Empire" in ME3 (if one doesn't consider this the result of the Forbidden Invocation Spell TIM must've learned: Reaper Tech™). Only, this time it'd be us doing it, and much more effectively at that. Rather than break one organization apart into individually separate "cells", we'd create entire "power blocks" that, even from many of its members' perspective, were themselves autonomous/independent from everyone else in the region, but actually all belonged to our Network. One such example would be Aria's organization.
Our most fundamental principle would be freedom, with stability coming as somewhat close second. What this meant was that all types of slavery would be outlawed for good and there would be wide efforts at minimizing piracy, mostly by developing technology to lead our society into post-scarcity. Many times, this would necessitate the eradication of elements of the various organizations that would resist such policy, which could be done through subterfuge, arranged skirmishes, assassinations and false flag pirate actions.
On that note, although his lack of interpersonal skills and political judgment caused his downfall and almost cost him his life, Zaeed Massani had made a good leader with his gruff charisma. Under him, the Blue Suns were becoming a much tighter-knit and better organized force than they would ever be under Vido's leadership. Their tactics, too, were changing to become a proper "private security organization", with a focus on protection of clients and security from pirates and slavers. To us, they'd also become a sort of clean-up force and deal with those less "ideal" colonies.
Of course, no one, not even the members of this sleeping giant, could know about the unification of the Terminus Systems and, more importantly, who their "shadowy leaders" were, though we'd make certain that they only discovered that it was a secret organization created sorely to fight "whatever" had made the Protheans disappear, exercising its influence through us, Hell's Angels. Of course, that was partly true, but a reality that was obfuscated by a lot of diversions – and hidden, at first, through "ancient" tech, such as USB flash drives.
And our citizens couldn't know that they were, well, our citizens; otherwise, due to lack of information, they might lash out, violently rejecting any such "unification" as counter to the basic principles of life in the Terminus. That might actually be the only real threat we'd face once we revealed ourselves, not the Council, which was why guiding hearts and minds would be pivotal. The threat of the Reapers would be a rallying flag to unite around. And, once it became clear that they had been part of all this for years already – and that there were evident benefits already, especially with all of the interconnected trade and security –, they'd be convinced not to rebel too much, or to rebel peacefully. Plus, any insurgency might completely die out with the revelation that The Queen of Omega herself was not just part of the new galactic superpower, but also a founding member!
I talked about those plans with Aria for quite a while. More than expected, in fact, because she got very excited about the "conquest" of the Terminus Systems. Or was it just the part where she got to control ALL of Omega? Not really sure.
"You know, I'm starting to like you more and more.", she teased. "In fact, I might want to keep you all to myself.".
"Not gonna happen. And we can't be seen openly interacting with each other.", I told her.
"Yeah, I know. Fool your enemies by fooling your allies.", she said before holding her chin with a curious expression. "But enough about that! There's something I've been wondering about… I can't believe you came all the way here with just bravado and a silver tongue. Tell me, what were you counting on when negotiating with me?".
"Oh, if something happened to me, my companions would come for you.", I stated evasively.
"You know, besides being a powerful biotic, I have an army of mercs.", she shot back, clearly amused.
"And we have a Justicar.", I replied jokingly. "Ok, a few things. Firstly, you'd want to capture me, which gives me breathing room to escape. Secondly, there's the fact that the Shadow Broker is my backing. It'd be very stupid to make a move against me due to information that could've easily been leaked as retribution for that. But, as a more tangible assurance, there's this.", I took out a device from my suit and showed her. "A portable nuclear device. It's amazing the things you can do with eezo; just take compressed deuterium and enough gravity fields to make it go critical, then BOOM!, the entire Afterlife goes to Purgatory and back. And the triggers? There are many, one of them being an unlikely set of words, such as 'Laputan Machine'. So, if all else failed, then I could've had my companions evacuate far away from the blast radius.".
"This… are you fucking mad!?", Aria cursed while wide-eyed, an expression of complete and utter incredulity. "Who the fuck carries a mini-nuke with them?".
"I'm human. We're all just a little bit MAD.", I responded with a big grin. "Mutual Assured Destruction, baby. 'I might not win, but you'll certainly lose!' is a truth we paranoid apes have adhered to for a long time.".
"Well, I'm certainly glad I was not… rash.", she muttered, then finished our business talk. "You'll have all the information on the Terminus factions in a few days. Even I need time to gather everything from centuries of operations.".
"Nice. So, off I go then! You're going to be busy from now on.", I sat up, dusting myself before winking at her. "Oh, don't forget to look into the Talons to make sure that Nyreen Kandros takes charge of them. She'd do a lot of good for this place. And for you…".
"Get out!", Aria shouted and threw some random object at me.
After I left, the Pirate Queen let herself have a little smile on her face rather than the usual smirk. Perhaps one of the few genuine smiles she'd had in a long time…
[John Wick Saga]
Krogan Vid Reviews
These vids were awesome. Don't know anyone who'd go this crazy about his varren dying, but I ain't complaining. And is this part of the N 'somethin training program? Cuz human warriors and mercs ain't like this. Most of them are dumb as bricks. They just run at you or hide like cowards behind chest-high stuff. If they fought like this wick guy, the turians would have taken an even bigger beating during Xanshi (is that how its written?). Which means they'd probably be "retired" by the Counsil, now that I think 'bout it. Trust me, we krogan know how they deal with people they consider threatening.
Asari Vid Reviews
This series of vids made me experience what it'd probably be like to piss off every single merc, hired gun, assassin, thug and big gang on Omega. And then having to fight them all over that dump! Yeah, it gets that insane, which is why I'm recommending this saga to all who'd want to see a one-human-army. After all, I doubt there's anyone crazy enough to try something like that – and survive!
[Inception]
Turian Vid Reviews
Spirits! I finally managed to shake off The Matrix from my thoughts and now there's this vid. Do humans enjoy messing with their own minds so much? Now I'll just have to watch another vid, or perhaps a few more, to shake off the existential dread. This one is quality from start to finish. You won't be disappointed. Now, if only I could find another vid with a scene like that van/corridor one (seriously, how did they film that without eezo?)…
Asari Vid Reviews
If your life was a dream, would you want to wake up? Many would, I assume. Those who suffer less than ideal lives. But I've lived long enough to know that many others would just rather not, preferring to stay in their perfect castle of imagination, where everything is fine. This vid will indeed "blow your mind". Just the soundtrack is incredible enough. Also, is it just me or is that "horn" sound everywhere in human cinema?
Drell Vid Reviews
We drell know what it's like to be trapped in the dreamworld; to be forcefully recalled to a powerful memory and held by it. It seems that human creativity transcends both time and space, being able to evoke emotion even on those they couldn't ever meet. I recommend this vid to any other drell and anyone else who would appreciate the concept of navigating dreams and memories.
[Fallout 3 & New Vegas]
Salarian Game Reviews
I wish they still made roleplaying games like they used to. These days it's all "big choices" and "visceral combat". I miss those old games where you had to remember to drink water, and it took you five hours real time to fly somewhere! These two games aren't exactly like that, but they give off a bit of this charm, especially the second one, which lets you take on any role you want, complete quests any way you see fit and have an incredible variety in the endings. None of that "artistic" ABC "choices" of endings. And never thought I'd say it, but I recommend these games even for krogan, because they could see themselves in the fictional humans of this universe after nuclear armageddon.
Turian Game Reviews
Power armor, gatling gun lasers, pulse and plasma weapons, portable mini-nuke launcher. Humans are insane! Even in a post-apocalypse nuclear setting, they can still come up with weapons that would give our current militaries a big headache, though not if you factor in space combat, of course. Also, what was that awesomely funny robot, Prime something? I've enjoyed the liberty of playing any way I wanted and in seeing the differences my choices made in the world. Not sure why you'd want to be a slaver though, rather than deliver righteous punishment on the scum, but maybe a batarian would disagree, if the Hegemony allowed them to play these games in the first place…
[Crysis Remastered Trilogy]
Salarian Game Reviews
I've just found my favorite suit in all of fiction! This has got to be the coolest super armor concept I've ever seen. Nanomachines that can heal you, make you stronger, faster, give a lot of protection from most sources of damage and even let you become invisible in all spectrums. But the best of all is how it can adapt, improve and evolve itself. This is just so advanced that it goes from science fiction to science fantasy and that just makes me like it even more. Ah, shame something like this isn't possible – or even permitted to begin with. For some reason, the Council's really against nanobots or anything like that. They almost banned medi-gel, another good thing humans brought, only allowing it because they're "biological machines" and considerably better than the alternatives we had.
[Metal Anthology]
Krogan Music Reviews
That's the good stuff! I didn't know humans not only made good vids but good music too! It's perfect to help your little runt take a nice nap. And the names, oh the names! Most of them have kickass names, like "Metallica", "Five Finger Death Punch" and "Megadeth". You know what you're getting into just by the name. This stuff is so good I actually got back from my old warlord about how they're fighting it out to decide which track is going to be the clan's battlesong.
Turian Music Reviews
This "Sabaton" group seems to be able to speak directly into the turian soul. I sent a few of their songs to a friend who was on patrol along the Terminus borders and he loved it. You should've seen his reaction when I told him it was made by the humans. The guy was torn between the need to dislike them due to the Relay 314 Incident and his enjoyment of this amazing musical band. Even his superiores liked it, proving that good music is universal. And remember that the "Dreadnoughts DREAD NOTHING AT ALL!".
[Electro, Techno and Trance Collection]
Asari Music Reviews
Forget the crap they play at Chora's Den. Just grab the latest eezo drink from Illium and listen to one of these "Trance" songs. I guarantee you'll be on a trip that's faster than what the mass relays allow!
Quarian Music Reviews
I've heard how humans are capable of coming up with things and concepts we had never thought about (just look up their first contact with the turians, not the version made by the Council), but what I've really found surprising was their ability to synthesize so many esoteric sounds with electronic devices and then turn those into music. They've basically turned computers into instruments. Some of this "Electro" and "Techno" are so complex that only a quarian, whose life depends on knowing what each of the ship's hums mean, can truly appreciate. I know what gift I'll bring back to the Flotilla...
Author's Notes: Ok, I feel like we just got something like a thousand "War Assets" in one go, considering that the quarians hadn't started yet another disastrous war at this time.
I'm not a businessman, nor very savvy in that regard, so I made this quarian meeting one focused on the big picture. The MC would ponder to himself: what do I need and what do I want? He needs trustworthy people to build their stuff, the Thanix weaponry as the most pressing matter, and he wants to make credits while, at the same, helping the quarians "get back on their feet". Thus, I structured this whole meeting to break the insular/isolationist nature of the Flotilla and to do something said during Lia'Vael's quest, something which the galaxy just... doesn't: give the quarian people a chance (aka as "real jobs"). This is why the MC took more than a year to go there. He had to prepare. And the work is far from done, since he's dealing with an entire species, with its own different factions, each one of them wanting something different (eradicate the Geth, just return to Rannoch regardless of how, settle in another planet or even take space as their true home), this being one of the reason dealing with the Geth/Quarian issue is considered an entire Project.
That said, I'd love it if you guys managed to offer me a better version of this "business deal/relationship" we'd have with the quarians.
As for Aria, people either love or really hate her. Some authors write her as an ally, albeit a very "bitchy" one, while others make her an enemy (or a villain). I, for one, wish to write her the closest possible to what is shown by the games and comics. Aria is not the Terminus' leader, but only the "uncrowned Queen" of the biggest hub of trade there (Omega), which is why she could've lost it to those three merc outfits and actually lost it to Cerberus. However, like I've hopefully made clear, she's someone who can make our plans much smoother as far as "taking over and uniting the Terminus Systems sneaky beaky like". After all, we can't just take "territory" from the "Big Three", the Alliance is both under close scrutiny by the Council and is the playground of Cerberus, the other species are "meh" and the batarians are batarians. What is left for us the Terminus, this big ass region of the galaxy that's basically free real estate, if you've the guns to carve it out, which we do (too many in fact, to the point where we'll need to hide a good chunk of it). By the way, much of this was inspired by the fanfic author BJHanssen (Mass Intelligence: Close Call). I even took a few short sentences here and there, since they were quite well done.