Patriarch's declaration hung over Aria and her crew like an ominous cloud. No one spoke, no one moved an inch. Everyone just looked at Aria. She knew what it meant. They were weighing up their loyalties. Were they loyal to her, or to her strength, which was now only the second greatest on Omega. Aria's slowly put her left hand behind her back, readying herself to throw out a singularity and execute them all if they prompted her to, she wouldn't think about it twice. Jax stood removed her, seeing the biotic sparks. He gently pulled the strap off the holster on his pistol. Another second passed.

"Aria, we have a problem" Anto's voice suddenly interrupted, coming through on her omnitool.

"Yeah, no shit" she replied. "You think I'm blind and deaf too?"

"No, I mean another one" Anto told her, watching the street from his vantage point near the section entrance. "Patriarch has broadcast your location to the station, as well as a bounty. There's a lot of activity stirring out here, they're coming for you."

"Freelancers?" Aria asked.

"Confirmed" Anto replied, "but it won't be long before the guilds get their shit together and join in the fun."

"Then we need to move" Jax said, approaching Aria with urgency, "we both know none of them will be interested in prisoners."

"We'll move out the way we came in" Aria said, nodding slowly. "Leave the freelancers nothing but dust."

"That's a negative Aria" Bray said, joining in on the frequency. "Eclipse is dropping mechs all over that end, they're tracing you now, the soldiers won't be far behind."

"Shit" Aria cursed. "What's your exit looking like Grizz?" She asked. There was no reply. "Grizz?" She repeated. "Well that's not exactly a good sign" she muttered.

"You want us to clear this end?" Anto said, "it's a hell of crowd brewing but we can take them, probably."

"Negative" Aria said. "On the off chance we actually survive this reprisal, I'll need your teams to help take back Afterlife, don't waste our best troops against Patriarch's worst. Fall back to wherever you can and hide out, that goes for all of you."

"Roger that, good hunting" Bray said, exiting the channel.

"The rest of you" Aria said, looking to the troops she had brought with her into the shuttle bay. "Either take your chances with me or against me but choose now, because they're coming quickly."

Jax didn't hesitate for a moment, kneeling as he pulled charges out of his belt and hastily arming them. He wouldn't have long to set a fire line but he would have at least something ready for them when they came. "How much of that do you have left to hold out with?" Aria asked quietly.

"Not much" Jax replied grimly, "I only packed additional supplies to get us as far to the shuttle bay, now I'm on standard explosive rations, even less after I plant this."

"It'll have to be enough" Aria said. "We need to hold out."

"For how long?" Jax asked.

"Once we kill enough freelancers, they'll turn heel and run. Most of them aren't dumb enough to realise they can't collect on a bounty if they're dead, no matter how high it is."

"And when the merc guilds follow up afterwards?"

"They're not acting together" Aria said, "they're all jostling for favour with Patriarch as the new ruler, the game has changed now and only one of them will be able to cash me in. They'll start fighting with each other for the right to kill me, we'll make a break for it when that does start to happen, fight our way out. If we survive, then we'll figure out how exactly we're going to oust that bastard krogan in my seat."

"Just like that?" Jax asked, unconvinced.

"Just like that" Aria answered, her will iron.

"You make it sound so easy" Jax told her as their crew moved to set the charges along the entrances.

"The plan is simple, not easy" Aria replied, "there's an ocean of difference."

"Well, let's go execute it" Jax said, helping Ahz push one of the crates back to the sealed doors for cover. Aria used her biotics to ferry two more crates for herself and the others. Jax took cover beside Ahz, Aria maintaining a central position. He could feel his heart beginning to beat harder, waiting for the first mercenary to arrive. He checked the thermal clip on his pistol impulsively.

"Deploying drone" Ahz reported.

Aria closed her fist, radiating with biotic energy.

Jax's heart felt like it was beating against his eardrums, the tension was killing him. Then he heard it.

"There she is!"

Jax stood out of cover and loosed a shot at the man. The bullet hit his head with a satisfying thud and he crumpled to the ground immediately.

"Come and get me!" Aria yelled as more began to pour through, rag tags in armour of every state, shape and design imaginable as they began to return fire.

Jax and the others took cover as a hail of fire passed overhead. One of the vorcha stood and roared, its skin hardening into armour right before their eyes, a trait of their adaptability. Intelligence wasn't one of those traits however as the sheer volume of fire that came its way overwhelmed the vorcha, cutting it to bloody ribbons. "And then there were six" Jax mentioned, "and this is supposed to be the easy part."

"Shut up and kill them" Aria replied, standing and throwing a singularity, lifting half a dozen off their feet. Jax stood with her and lobbed a frag grenade, the weight catching perfectly in the gravitational anomaly. The freelancers were helpless to do anything but scream as they floated around with the grenade before it exploded, killing them instantly. A concussive shot rocked Aria, disrupting her barrier but only making her snarl as she threw the sender backwards against the far wall. He crumpled into a limp heap, his limbs folding in ways they weren't meant to.

"Keep up the pressure!" Aria yelled as Ahz launched an incinerate blast, making the turian scream as he staggered around covered in flames.

One of the batarians in Aria's crew spun out of cover, unloading his assault rifle as he pushed up to another crate. However, he only made it halfway before he ran out of shots, catching a shot in the shoulder which spun him around before dying.

"I said 'keep up the pressure', not 'be a fucking idiot'" Aria muttered under her breath. Of the five additional troops they had brought in support, two remained, and the flow of freelancers was not letting up. Jax and Aria's team were soon forced back on the defensive as the hail of gunfire made for a constant hazard, shields were constantly being broken, Aria's barriers being beaten down. Every one freelancer they seemed to kill, two more took their place, they were surging forward faster than they could be killed. The constant stream of fire was also eating away at their cover too, the crates were designed to withstand immense amounts of pressure and force but even they were beginning to crack. Jax was forced back into cover as his shields went down, ducking as a bullet narrowly whistled past his ear. Another hammered itself into the ground millimetres from his leg, making him hunch down further. "Jax!" Aria yelled, "hit the switch!"

"But what about the guilds?" Jax yelled back.

"They won't matter if this lot kills us!" Aria roared in reply, "blow them to hell now!"

Jax hit the button on the detonator. A roar of fire and heat blasted past them as the charges blew, swallowing the split second of screams as the freelancers were devoured, barely discernible as shadows within the flame before being obscured by the smoke. Jax kept his eyes scrunched shut for a second more before opening them. After the intensity of the firefight, the stillness of the shuttle bay had almost an eeriness to it. There was complete silence, save for the fading echo of the blast. Smoke hung still in the air, still filling the bay and hiding anything beyond it. No one came through from the other side. They had defeated the first wave. "Everyone okay?" Jax asked.

"Not everyone" Ahz noted, standing at the back wall.

Jax looked past him to see the other batarian whose name he didn't know. He must have been standing when the force of the charges hit; the blast had shunted backwards against the bay doors. His neck was slanted an off angle, his black eyes staring up lifelessly. At least it had been quick.

"Check him for supplies" Aria ordered coldly, "he won't be needing them anymore."

Jack obeyed, looting his body for more explosive components he had been tasked with carrying.

"Aria, better get ready" Anto reported, "two Blue Suns gunships have just landed in the plaza, they're unloading troops."

Aria rubbed her temples. "Does anyone have any good news?" She asked.

"Outside communications are back up" Ahz reported, "the station signal blockade has been deactivated."

"Patriarch's broadcasting his victory to the galaxy" Aria muttered. "When I finally kill him, I'm going to have a station and a reputation to rebuild from ashes." She looked over at Jax. "Any chance you can make any more charges?"

Jax shook his head, "not like before, that was most of what I had. I didn't come stocked for a war of attrition."

"Scavenge whatever you can" Aria ordered, "Blue Suns will be here in two minutes, we need to hold on until their competition joins in and gives us the distraction."

"You think we can handle it?" Jax asked.

"I don't think we have the luxury of choice" Aria replied.

Jax found and set two proximity mines, but that was meagre comfort against the renewed onslaught heading their way. He moved back into cover, passing by Ahz's defence and combat drones, patrolling about.

He slid down into cover, trying to balance his heart rate with his deep exhales. "I know I said I was ready for anything" he mentioned to Aria, "but can I say that I'm really not looking forward to this?"

"Neither am I" Aria admitted.

Jax looked at her, somewhat surprised. "What's the matter Aria, you tired?" He joked.

Aria's reply was cut off by the metallic sound of a vindicator rifle as the drones engaged someone; the Blue Suns were not wasting their time. Jax and Aria nodded, rejoining the fight. A turian with a shotgun approached them quickly, clearly trying to close for his weapon's effective range. Jax tossed a grenade just short of him as he continued to approach. The first proximity mine then detonated, igniting an explosive train of the other devices and thoroughly eliminating the threat. The commander's death didn't give them any time to celebrate however as two legionnaires instantly filled the gap left behind. Ahz made short work of their shields with an overload and Aria and Jax saw to their quick demise, but the Suns were an unstoppable tide of blue surging forth.

Jax narrowly ducked a guided missile which exploded against the door behind him. "Well, this isn't going simply" he called as he sent a few stopping shots back, spreading his fire to be suppressive rather than lethal.

Aria sent a shockwave at the group still compressed by their sheer volume, blue armour went flying in all directions. Jax set the timer on a charge and hurled it over the cover, hearing a yell before detonation, giving him a satisfied expression.

"Heads up, Eclipse signatures" Ahz reported.

"I see them" Aria replied, glimpsing the white armour of a mech as a door opened. Ahz tapped his omnitool and it turned around promptly, opening fire on its brethren, the hacking a useful delaying tactic.

"When do we make a go for it?" Jax asked as the Eclipse dealt with the hacked mech and moved forward.

"Not yet" Aria replied, risking another look over. Their cover and the wall around them was now scorched black from the fire. They were well and truly trapped in a corner.

The mercenaries pressed forward, keeping the four of them well and truly suppressed.

"Aria?" Ahz was the first to query.

"I'm seeing what you're seeing" Jax answered grimly.

The Eclipse mechs were advancing in a firing line straight towards them, and the Blue Suns were using them as a bullet wall to move forward. They were covering each other's advances, working together. Aria's plan would not work.

"I think this means we're in trouble" Ahz mentioned, deploying a drone but watching it instantly fizzle out under fire.

"New plan?" Jax asked, looking at Aria. The so-called Pirate Queen of Omega looked in a state of shock. "Aria!" Jax repeated louder.

Aria snapped back into the moment. "We take as many of them down as we can with us" she roared angrily, launching a biotic missile that sent the wall flying backwards. Jax pulled his belt around, looking for a filled slot. He had two grenades left. He should've taken a bigger gun from the freelancers when he had the opportunity. Nevertheless, he would ensure two grenades were more than effective, setting the first to concussion mode. He checked his range and lobbed, arcing it into the Blue Suns beyond the scattered mechs. It landed perfectly, knocking them all out of cover in time for the incendiary grenade to follow a moment later. Ahz raised himself promptly out of cover to fire but the ring of a sniper rifle rang out and Ahz fell back in shock, green blood pouring out of a hole in his side. "Shit!" Aria yelled. "Ahz!" She said, pulling him back into safety. Ahz's eyes were wide with fear and adrenaline, Aria was forced to hold him steady as she applied medi-gel to the wound. "He's stabilised but he needs medical attention soon or he won't make it!" Aria yelled.

"I'm not sure we can really get it out here" Jax replied simply. He checked his pistol, one six-shot clip and no grenades remained. "Fuck it" he muttered, sticking the pistol over cover and pulling the trigger randomly. A blinding flash of pain served as his reply as a bullet carved its way through his shield and hit his exposed arm. "Dammit!" Jax cursed, he had dropped the pistol over the other side of cover in pain. "It's fine" he replied to Aria's gaze, "it's surface level at best, a graze."

As Jax moved to examine the wound though, he saw the flash of his omnitool alert buzzing. He opened it curiously to see a message, one word. DUCK.

"Aria!" Jax roared, "put up a barrier!"

A massive explosion rocked the wall behind them from overhead as a hole was blasted in the shuttle bay doors. Unprepared for the sudden hole ripped into from place, the mercenaries were pulled off their feet and out into the vacuum, along with the unfortunate vorcha comrade they had, who hadn't been close enough to fit inside the barrier Aria had thrown up. Jax looked up as a flash of white streaked overhead, cannon ablaze. The circular engines of the hammerhead held it at a steady hover as the missile launcher fired at anyone who had their own environmental protections. In response to the breach, the doors the mercenaries were flooding through snapped shut to contain the exposure. One merc was unlucky as the doors snapped shut on him, bisecting him with an eruption of blood. The lights flickered in the room as the emergency power came on line, restarting the mass effect fields across the hole and restoring the gravity. Jax looked around as the rear door to the hammerhead opened, revealing an imposing set of N7 armour. "Shepard," he exhaled, too exhausted to react much differently.

"Save it" Shepard said, Samara stepping out of the transport behind her, "I'm here to extract you."

"I need to take my home back Shepard" Aria said, disagreeing, "I won't abandon it now."

"You don't have a choice" Shepard said, "Patriarch will wipe out the entire section if it means you dying along with it. I'll help you win your fight, but there are better ways of doing it without putting innocent lives at risk."

Aria's eyes flickered down. "Fine" she allowed, "but only because Ahz needs your help." She helped the injured salarian onto the ship, the pair taking Shepard's and Samara's places. "I need to go Shepard" Tali reported from inside the hammerhead, "this transport was never designed for travel in vacuum, environmental protection is severely limited."

"Get on" Shepard ordered to Jax.

"No" Jax refused.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"We don't have time for this" Aria agreed.

"We came here for Patriarch's agent" Jax argued. "It was a decoy but to pull this off, he had to have had someone working for Aria. He had an agent inside her men, you can't trust any of them not to be compromised. But I was never here when Patriarch took over. You need an agent you can trust who knows Omega if you want to win this war. I'm your only option."

"But Patriarch…" Shepard started.

"…is after her, not me" Jax said. "I'll be fine."

"Goddammit" Shepard cursed. "Normandy" she radioed, "be ready to receive, hammerhead is coming back."

"Roger that" Joker said, "cargo doors open for you. Can't believe Tali managed to make the hammerhead space-worthy, I owe Jacob five credits."

"Never bet against a quarian when it comes to ships" Tali chastised as she activated a command and the door sealed shut behind her. Shepard and her time watched as the hammerhead lifted off gently and shot back out the newly blasted hole into space.

Shepard turned around to look at Jax picking up his pistol. "So what's next?" He asked, loading a thermal clip.

"Two assignments" Shepard said. "For Samara; we have to find Morinth, she's our expert in finding her so we'll defer to her lead on that."

"And the second?"

"We find the Patriarch's mole in Aria's former operation, we figure out how he managed to get such power under Aria's nose."

"And how exactly do you expect to do that?" Jax asked.

Shepard smiled. "I think I'll ask him."

"This ought to be good" Jax murmured, falling into step behind her with Samara.

"What can you tell me about Omega that I ought to know now?" Shepard asked.

"People come to places like this seeking a better life" Samara answered, "and when they get here, they find… this. Vibrant people forced into destitution on a world filled with criminals. They deserve protection."

"I meant now that Patriarch is running the show" Shepard amended.

"Not sure" Jax replied, "The New Omega hasn't been around for even an hour yet, and Aria was ruling the old one long before I was born. From what I've heard, Patriarch was steeped in with the mercenary guilds, they acted as martial law makers in Omega. Aria was really individualised in having men loyal to only her. It's why she was able to kill half of the Patriarch's men and convert the rest to her side so easily, weren't that many to begin with. She had her own men take over the policing of Omega which steeped Omega in her control."

"So increased mercenary presence and political power" Shepard said, "sounds like something that they would have agreed to support Patriarch for."

"Explains why they were united against us" Jax agreed. "We'll need to regroup with the rest of Aria's men if we want to stand a chance of taking them out."

"Noted" Shepard replied as they hailed a cab. Patriarch had evidently restored the main skyways upon taking over. "Afterlife" she ordered upon climbing in. It took longer than Shepard was used to with the skyways still clearing but eventually, the car touched down to the imposing sight. Barricades, patrols of mercenaries hassling random civilians on the street, an air of tension and uncertainty over the future of Omega hung over every interaction.

"Get off me!" A human yelled out, being hassled by a mercenary. Samara looked at Shepard for her command.

"Let's just try and go unnoticed" Shepard muttered before stepping up right in front of a heavily armed krogan.

"Shepard" the krogan announced. "The Patriarch would like to speak with you."

"What a coincidence" Shepard replied, "I was just coming to see him."

The krogan turned and led them towards the door before a shot rang out, along with panicked screams of the crowd. Shepard and her team whirled to see the human who had been accosted by Patriarch's mercenary on the ground, a bullet hole in his back. The mercenary looked at the krogan and shrugged as regular life resumed around the corpse again. Shepard felt a worm of unease enter her as she proceeded to follow the krogan into Afterlife. Jax looked enviously at his explosive provisions still sitting in the armoury as they entered but it was hardly as if they would let him take it back now. They were led forth into the war room where Patriarch stood, watching his spheres of influence grow over the station exponentially. He turned to greet them. "Shepard" he said in a confident drawl, "I don't know whether I name one of the sections in your honour, or have you killed."

Shepard remained silent, knowing the Patriarch's love of monologging.

"After all" Patriarch continued, "you're the reason all of this is here. My original kraant, fighting for glory and honour in my name! You made my name recognised again, my vestiges of power remembered, and from that spawned all you see before you. On the other hand," he trailed off, his voice lowering, "you stole from me my vengeance."

Every gun in the room was suddenly pointed at them. Jax and Samara wheeled around, looking at the firepower directed in their direction.

"You took Aria on your ship, right when I was about to crush her" Patriarch accused. "Vengeance that was rightfully mine."

"You have Omega" Shepard replied, "your name is feared and awed on this station again. I owed Aria a favour, I repaid it by saving her life. I have no desire to see more innocents die, so I did not help her into launching a counter-attack and piss you off in the process. You think your vengeance only occurs with Aria's death but that's doesn't make sense since she never killed you. Let her live" Shepard goaded, "let her live knowing every day that you took Omega from her, right under her nose and she never saw it coming. She's prepared to die to retake Omega, I'd say giving her that death would be a mercy."

Patriarch's expression darkened for a moment before he burst out into a bellowing laugh. "Well spoken Shepard, you know krogan customs well, Aria is not worth killing."

The krogan around him roared with laughter and superiority at the insult.

"And what would you do with her on your ship?" Patriarch enquired.

Shepard shrugged nonchalantly. "That is up to Aria. If she wants to kill herself she's welcome to do it. I have my own mission."

Patriarch gestured for her to continue. "I'm looking for an especially dangerous individual" Samara spoke. "She is an Ardat-Yakshi."

"A demon of the night winds?" Patriarch asked. "A true hunter amongst the Asari, and to your shame."

Samara didn't flinch. "Where is she?"

Patriarch shook his head. "This I do not know, but a body was found while I was still under Aria's heel. A teenage girl, who was just… empty as I have seen a corpse."

"Where was the body found?" Samara pressed.

Patriarch shrugged. "The girl's apartment, just across from Afterlife."

Samara turned around. "Shepard, we must go there."

Shepard nodded and left with her.

"Shepard!" Patriarch called out.

Shepard stopped and turned.

"Do try not to lose your way" Patriarch said, a friendly warning. Jax took advantage of the moment between them to slip a grenade from the armoury into his holster.

Shepard nodded, and left.

Aboard the Normandy, Aria stood by as Ahz tested the sturdiness of the sling his arm rested in. Mordin had assisted Dr Chakwas with the surgery, having a superior knowledge of salarian physiology and thanks to their advanced metabolism, Aria's hacker was already up. He had been helping her maintain a secure connection to her own men, much to the annoyance of Miranda's attempts to gain further intel about Omega's current situation. So far Aria had accounted for two thirds of her men, the rest were either MIA or dead, equally as useless. They had orders to disperse, avoid attention but be ready for her return. Until Jax gave them something concrete, they would bide their time. Aria's attention was pulled away by a figure entering the door. "So you did survive Archangel" she said, noting the familiar crest on his arm. "I'm impressed, not many could have lasted as well as you did."

"It's just 'Garrus'" the turian replied, "and I have Shepard to thank for my stay of execution."

"Yes, Shepard is good for that" Aria replied, minimising her screens as Garrus approached. "What do you want?"

"I want you to let Jax go" Garrus replied. "He's been pulled in too many directions for too long. I want to know when this is over, he'll be done with you."

"When this is over, he'll be straight with me" Aria replied, "if he, Shepard or you come asking for more favours, then I can hardly be held to blame, can I?"

"I'm warning you" Garrus said, his malice soft. "We're not on Omega, not anymore."

"A fact I'm well aware of" Aria said bitterly. "And one I'm trying to change. If you'll excuse me."

"You know we can't dock with you on board" Garrus told her, "Patriarch's men would storm the ship if we did."

"I'm well aware of the inconvenience all of this poses us" Aria replied, "fortunately I have a backup plan."

Garrus waited for a moment, trying to read Aria before understanding it was useless and leaving. He had a sniper rifle to calibrate, and if Aria wouldn't fall in line, he would need to use it soon.

Shepard moved down the stairs and waited as the door opened for her. She ignored the mad street preacher's accusations of blight and took the right turn towards the district checkpoint where Mordin's old clinic was. Samara stepped up to be beside with Jax following somewhere in tow. "This is the place" Samara said, looking at an apartment door right before the checkpoint. The door was unlocked.

"Odd" Shepard noted.

"Especially in a place such as Omega, reckless even" Samara agreed, opening the door.

Their answer lay inside; a woman's corpse. "Dead, suffocation from the life support being deactivated" Shepard declared, kneeling to the body.

"The apartment lies a stone's throw from Afterlife, it is likely within Section One" Samara added. "This human is a matured woman, it is likely Morinth's victim was her daughter, or perhaps a housemate." A thud made them wheel around; Jax was on his knees.

"Her name is Diana" Jax spoke in a hollow voice. "Her daughter is nineteen years old, she's named Nef."

"How do you know?" Shepard asked, already realising as she said it.

Jax looked at her sombrely, his expression in total shock. "This is my home Shepard. That body is my mother." He looked at Samara, seeds of rage beginning to ignite, "and your daughter killed my sister."