Good cop and bad cop both accompanied him onto Omega. They hadn't gone far before an eager salarian greeted them. "Ah. Welcome to Omega. You're new here, aren't you? I can always tell. Allow me to -" He halted as a batarian approached. "Oh..." He swallowed nervously. "Hello, Moklan. I was just -"

"Leave, Fargut. Now." The batarian gestured.

"Of course, Moklan. Whatever she wants." The salarian scampered away.

"Blasted scavengers. Welcome to Omega..." All four of the batarian's eyes narrowed. "Shepard."

So at least one of his reputations had preceded him. "You know who I am?"

"Of course. We had you tagged the moment you entered the Terminus Systems. You're not as subtle as you think." Moklan looked him over. "Aria wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself."

Omega was not the place to show weakness. "I'll talk to your boss when I'm damn well ready."

"Then you better get ready. No one keeps Aria waiting." The batarian jerked his head towards the door. "Afterlife. Now." He walked away.

Michael rolled his eyes. EDI's voice came over the comm. "I'm receiving quarantine warnings about the slums where Dr. Mordin Solus runs the clinic. Anticipate resistance at the transport station. I have also accessed messages between mercenary groups regarding plans to deal with Archangel. There's a recruiting station at Afterlife that may have more information on him."

"Alright. Let's go get some drinks." Michael headed towards Afterlife.

#

Another batarian stepped into his path. "What are you looking at?"

There were so many fun ways to answer that particular question. "The man whose day I'm about to ruin." He stepped forward and caught the batarian by the collar, jerking him up to his toes.

"Uh..." All the belligerence fled the man. "I'm not looking for trouble."

"Maybe I am." Michael narrowed his eyes. "Maybe you better get out of here before I find you some."

"All right, all right. I..." The batarian tried to recapture some of his earlier bravado. "I've got stuff to do, anyway." He gestured at his companions. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

One of the batarians started to make a threatening gesture before following his friend. Michael casually drew his sidearm and took aim at a kneecap. The batarian fled.

He shook his head, holstered his sidearm, and headed into the bar.

#

When it came to melodrama, Tim really had nothing on Aria. "That's close enough," she said as he reached the top of her little platform.

And then he had guns pointed at him again. Good cop and bad cop both drew their own sidearms, while the rest of Aria's goons pointed weapons at them. He didn't bother drawing his pistol. If Aria was going to shoot him, she never would have let him get this close to her. This was a show. Sure enough, at a small gesture from her, the guards stowed their weapons. "Stand still." A batarian ran a scanner over him.

Michael glanced down at his sidearm. "If you're looking for weapons, you're not doing a very good job."

"Can't be too careful with dead Spectres." Aria didn't turn around. "That could be anyone wearing your face."

The way it looked right now, who'd want to? He walked past the batarian. "I was told you're the person to talk to if I have questions."

"They're clean." The batarian's voice sounded almost grudging.

"Depends on the questions." She finally turned around to face him.

"You run Omega?" He raised an eyebrow.

Aria laughed, turned, spread her arms in a rather histrionic gesture, and said, "I am Omega." She even managed to get some reverberation into her voice. Michael's beleaguered self-preservation instinct won out over his urge to applaud. She turned back to him. "But you need more. Everyone needs more something. And they all come to me. I'm the boss, CEO, queen if you're feeling dramatic. It doesn't matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule." She sat down. "Don't fuck with Aria."

"Good rule. Short, to the point, easily tattooed onto people's foreheads." He shrugged.

The tiniest hint of a smile played on her lips as she gestured for him to sit. "So, what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a couple people. Professor Mordin Solus is one."

"The salarian doctor? Last I heard he was trying to help plague victims in the quarantine zone." She leaned back a little. "I always liked Mordin. He's as likely to heal you as he is to shoot you."

"I'm also trying to track down an 'Archangel'."

She smirked. "You and half of Omega. You want him dead, too?"

Well now, this sounded interesting. "Why's everyone after him?"

"He thinks he's fighting on the side of good. There is no good side to Omega. Everything he does pisses someone off. It's catching up to him."

Now that had potential. "I'm putting together a team. He's on my list."

"Interesting." Aria gave him a contemplative look. "You're going to make some enemies teaming up with Archangel." Well, good. There was still a little room at the bottom of the list. "That's assuming you can get to him. He's in a bit of trouble right now."

This just got better and better. "Just tell me how to find him."

#

"I hear you're recruiting." Michael stopped in front of the batarian in the Blue Suns uniform.

The batarian looked him over. "Hmmm. Why don't you step inside?"

It took only a couple minutes to get signed on to certain death with lousy pay. Michael was about to head out when the next recruit in line stepped in. "Hey, is this where I sign up?"

"You look a little young to be freelancing as a merc." Michael looked him over. The kid wasn't even old enough to grow a mustache. And for some reason, the guy reminded him of Jenkins.

"I'm old enough." The kid turned towards him belligerently. "I grew up on Omega. I know how to use a gun." He demonstrated by waving a crappy sidearm haphazardly.

Good cop nearly facepalmed. "So does Archangel."

"I can handle myself." The kid squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest. Just like he used to do when rival gangmembers showed up. Michael briefly wondered if he'd looked just as stupid back then. "Besides, I just spent 50 credits on this pistol, and I wanna use it."

Michael disarmed the kid rather casually, then snapped the firing mechanism off the gun. "Get your money back." He handed the now useless firearm back to the kid. "Trust me, kid. You'll thank me later." He headed back out.

#

"Omega." Bad cop shook her head as they walked to the transit hub. "What a pisshole. At least it keeps you on your toes. I've had to come here on business before. I feel like I need a shower afterward - in addition to normal decontamination."

"Well, the view sucks, but at least the food smells bad." Michael shrugged. Actually, the place reminded him of the parts of New York he'd spend the most time in. The places where he didn't have to worry about people like cops and do-gooders. It occurred to him that if he hadn't met Hackett, Omega was the kind of place he'd have eventually ended up. If he hadn't joined up with something like Cerberus for real. "There's our contact."

#

"It's about time they sent me someone who looks like they can actually fight." The batarian who met them almost looked relieved. "They tell you what we're up against."

Michael surveyed the scene. "Terrain, a sniper, and a lot of buffoons tripping over each other because they don't know what the hell they're doing."

The batarian made a sound that conveyed both frustration and amusement. "Pretty much."

"Just tell us where to go."

"Archangel's holed up in a building at the end of the boulevard over there. He's got a superior position, and the only way in is over a very exposed bridge. It's a killing ground." The batarian shrugged. "But he's getting tired, making mistakes. We'll have him soon enough."

"I'll get to him." The problem was going to be getting him back out. "Just point me at that bridge."

"I like your attitude, but we've got a plan in place." The batarian quickly went over the plan before sending them to find a Sergeant Cathka.

He turned to his companions as soon as the batarian walked away to meet another couple freelancers. "You heard the man. They've got a plan in place." He shrugged. "Let's go fuck it up."

#

Sabotaged ammo, a couple stolen accounts, some hacked mechs, a damaged gunship, and a dead gunship repairman later, they headed towards the bridge. Bad cop shook her head as the order came out. "Archangel doesn't have much time left."

Michael started moving. "Alright. Let's go make some friends."

#

It was rather comical watching the freelancers scramble and panic when he started shooting at them. He let the ones that ran keep running, hoping to encourage others to do the same. The sniper, Archangel, winged him with a shot, and Michael sent a glare up in that direction before heading into the building. He saw a group setting up some explosives, and casually shot the explosives. The resulting fireball took out the entire group.

And it looked pretty cool. They headed up the stairs to find a krogan, and shot him a half dozen times.

The sniper had his back to them when they entered the room. "Archangel?" Michael asked.

To his amusement, the sniper signaled for him to wait a moment, then took aim again. He got the last of the group that had come across the bridge with a pretty little headshot that splattered what little brain matter the merc had across one of the columns. He set the rifle down, using it to push himself tiredly back to his feet. Then he pulled off his helmet. "Shepard. I thought you were dead."

A smile came to Michael's face. "Garrus. What are you doing here?"

"Good to see you, too."

"I'm just surprised to see you." Had Tim known Garrus was Archangel? Michael gave his friend a once-over. Garrus looked exhausted.

"You and me both. Still, it's good to see a friendly face." Garrus nodded. "Killing mercs is hard work. Especially on my own."

Michael started to nod, and then he narrowed his eyes. "You shot me."

"Concussive rounds only. No harm done. Didn't want the mercs getting suspicious." Garrus shrugged.

"Uh-huh." Michael shrugged. "Wasn't too worried. With that sight, the safest person to be is the one you're aiming at."

"I'm not the one that had to resort to explosives to kill the folks ten feet away from me." Garrus clicked his mandibles. "Besides, you were taking your sweet time. I needed to get you moving."

"Just giving you fair warning. There will be payback. So what's this Archangel business?"

"It's just a name the locals gave me. For all my good deeds." Garrus leaned back. "I don't mind it, but please..." He looked up at Michael. "It's just 'Garrus' to you."

"Whatever you say, Vakarian. Well, credit where it's due..." Michael looked out over the bridge. "When you set out to piss people off, you do a thorough job. We got here, but I don't think getting out will be as easy."

"No, it won't." Garrus gestured at Michael's rifle. "Especially with you carrying that walking stick." He stood. "That bridge has saved my life, funneling all those witless idiots into scope. But it works both ways." He looked out over the scene. "They'll slaughter us if we try to get out that way."

Miranda spoke up. "So we just sit here and wait for them to take us out?"

Garrus glanced at Miranda before looking back at Michael. Michael shrugged. "That's bad cop." He gestured at Jacob. "That's good cop."

"It's not all that bad." Garrus nodded. "This place has held them off so far. And with the three of you..." He waved a hand. "I suggest we hold this location, wait for a crack in their defenses, and take our chances. It's not a perfect plan, but it's a plan."

"When we get out of this, I'm going to want to know how you ended up here." Michael nodded. "In the meantime, let's kill people."

"Glad to see you haven't changed." Garrus chuckled. "Let's see what they're up to." He went to the window and looked out his scope. "Hmm..." His mandibles clicked. "Looks like they know their infiltration team failed. Take a look. Scouts. Eclipse, I think." He handed Michael the rifle.

He hefted it, and begrudgingly noted it actually was a bit nicer than the one Tim had provided. Dammit. To make himself feel better, he shot one of the scouts in the head. "More than scouts. One less now though."

"Indeed. We better get ready." Garrus got into position. "I'll stay up here. I can do a lot of damage from this vantage point. You..." Garrus nodded. "You can do what you do best. Just like old times, Shepard."

#

"So when did Devlon start making stabilizers?" Michael asked as he sniped the explosive out of a salarian's hand. The look of panic on the guy's face right before it went off was hilarious.

"About a year ago." Garrus replied. A heartbeat later one of the guys coming over the bridge fell down as the top of his head went missing. "They make Ariake's look like kid toys."

"Anything new from Helix?" Michael tossed a flashbang into a group sneaking around some crates, forcing them to pop out of the cover.

Garrus took immediate advantage. "They've got a new model. Fires three shots to any one of the Naginata's, but each shot only does a quarter of the damage. Works out to a loss, really."

"Even with a scram rail?" Michael took the ammo from one of the dead mercs, and sent good cop to take it back to Garrus.

"Haven't tried it yet. Been kind of busy pissing off three mercenary companies." Garrus blew one of the mechs apart.

"Just think, if you had tried it, you could have pissed off four mercenary companies." He waited for Garrus's next shot to send the mercs diving into cover, then tossed in a grenade. He waited a beat, and then saw a salarian mercenary start to send the heavy mech in.

"All right," the salarian broadcast. "Let's see how you handle this, Archangel."

A curse came from Garrus. "Damn it. They're sending out the heavy mechs."

"Garrus..." Michael sighed. "Remember who you're talking to? Sit back, relax, and let that problem take care of itself."

The heavy mech turned, and opened fire on the mercenaries. Over the comm, he heard Garrus laugh.

#

"You're kicking ass, Shepard. They barely touched me." Garrus nodded when they reentered his sniper perch. "And we got Jaroth in the process. I've been hunting that little bastard for months."

"Any particular reason why?" Michael tossed him another ammo block.

"He's been shipping tainted eezo all over Citadel space. Half the goods I seized back at C-Sec came from his team here on Omega." Garrus clicked his mandibles. "I took out a big shipment a while back and killed his top lieutenant in the process. Not surprised he decided to work with the other mercs after that."

Michael narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like you've been having fun without me, Vakarian." He hesitated a moment. "I ran into Tali. Don't suppose you know where some of the others are?"

"Last time I talked to Kaidan, he was teaching a course for biotics out on one of the Alliance moon bases in the Sol system." Garrus shrugged. "Thought that was almost a year ago. We stopped being able to tell each other what we were doing and things kind of..." His mandibles clicked. "Wrex headed back to Tuchanka, and I'm not sure what Liara is up to these days. How was Tali?"

Trust Garrus to get to the heart of the matter. "Good. She's running missions on her own now." He glanced over the balcony. "We've still got Blood Pack and Blue Suns left. Think we can make a break for it?"

"Maybe. Let's see what they're up to."

Michael started to walk over, and then noticed good cop and bad cop. He'd almost forgotten they were there. He shrugged, and gestured for them to hold the walkway just in case something did make it over the bridge. "Look at that." He gestured.

"They've reinforced the other side..." Garrus nodded. "Heavily. But they're not coming over the bridge yet. What are they waiting for?"

The building answered their question by shaking slightly. Some alarms went off. Miranda turned towards them. "What the hell was that?"

"Damn it. They've breached the lower level." Garrus looked down at his omnitool. "Well, they had to use their brains eventually. You'd better get down there, Shepard. I'll keep the bridge clear."

"Let's split up two and two." He gestured. "Bad cop, stay with Garrus and watch his back. Garrus, I know it's tempting as hell, but try not to shoot her yet. Good cop, you're with me."

"We have names." Jacob shook his head as he followed Michael down the stairs.

#

"Vorcha, varren, and krogan." Michael sniped one of the mercenaries. "Garrus, you sure know how to throw a welcome back party."

"Sealing the blast doors should keep them out long enough," Garrus radioed back. "You've been down there almost a minutes. What's taking you so long?"

"Mostly the krogan. Haven't had time to kit out this rifle for explosive rounds."

"You should check out Armax's new mod for quick ammo changes. Cuts the swap time by nearly eight seconds."

Michael hit the control for the blast door, then glanced at his comm unit. "Seriously? What kind of weight does it add?" He headed to the next room.

"Currently about eight ounces, but the next gen is supposed to cut that in half."

"Who do I need to kill to get one?" He snapped his rifle up and put a round into the backpack unit of a vorcha with a flamethrower, then ducked into cover as the vorcha and two of its friends exploded. "And is it compatible with a kinetic coil?"

#

"Get back here, Shepard. They're coming in through the doors."

Michael made it out of the basement just in time to see more vorcha and krogan. Garrus sniped one of the vorcha, which seemed to annoy the krogan. "Watch my back." The krogan gestured. "I'll deal with Archangel."

He shot a vorcha of his own, and headed in to help Garrus.

#

Caught between the two of them, the krogan lasted about four seconds. Garrus put a new thermal clip into his sniper rifle. "I can't believe you actually let some through to me."

"If I hadn't, you'd have complained I didn't let you have any fun." Michael reloaded.

"True." Garrus looked down at the corpse. "We took out Garm and his Blood Pack. This day just gets better and better. He was one tough son of a bitch."

"You telling me this was round two?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we tangled once. Caught him alone. None of his gang to help him. I still couldn't take him out. I've never seen a krogan regen that fast. He's a freak of nature. He just kept at it until his vorcha showed up. It was close, but I had to let him go." He clicked his mandibles again. "Not this time."

"Only the Blue Suns are left." Michael glanced out at the bridge. "I say we take our chances and fight our way out."

"I think you're right. Tarak's got the toughest group, but nothing we haven't faced before. Besides, he won't be expecting us to meet him head-on-"

They were interrupted by the gunship breaking one of the windows. Immediately, they dove for cover. "Shepard, you couldn't take out the gunship?"

"I took down the guy repairing its shields."

"Dammit, they're rappelling down the walls."

"You know, I feel really sorry for whoever has to clean up all these bodies." Michael sniped a salarian. "Maybe we should leave them a tip or something."

#

He was heading back into the nest when he saw the gunship rise again with Garrus caught out in the open. Garrus took a hit, and started to crawl for cover. A missile hit before he could get all the way clear. Michael snarled, and hit the gunship with a sticky grenade before opening fire. The gunship exploded a few moments later, and he went to Garrus's side.

"Vakarian?" He reached for his medical kit. Blue blood was pooled under Garrus's form.

And then Garrus gasped, his hand clutching at his rifle. As quickly as he could, Michael got the medigel patch on. Dammit, Kaidan would have known better what to do here. "Stay with me, Vakarian. I better not have wasted an entire day of saving your turian ass." Garrus's breath came in ragged gasps, but he was breathing. "We're getting you out of here, Garrus. Just hold on." He glanced at Jacob. "Radio Joker. May sure they're ready for us."

"He isn't going to make it." Miranda shook her head.

#

Kaidan sighed, and looked back at the readout. Horizon was a peaceful world, but the residents were making it fairly clear they weren't happy about his presence. It was hard to blame them. It wasn't as though he was happy to be there either.

The installation of the defense towers wasn't exactly going well. The towers hadn't even been placed yet, and the colonists were already complaining about them. And he couldn't tell if the targeting unit was flawed or if it had been deliberately sabotaged. Cerberus undoubtedly had agents in the colony itself, but the idea that they could sabotage the parts enroute aboard Alliance ships was more than a little disturbing.

Brass was worried Cerberus was involved in the colony disappearance. Was someone impersonating Michael in an attempt to draw attention away from the disappearances, or to distance Cerberus from them? He forced himself to unclench his fists, and sighed. Tali had left him four messages. He'd yet to read any of them.

He looked down at the readout again. Well, if Horizon was the next target, he better get those towers up and running.