MASS EFFECT: WINTER EYES
CHAPTER 14: OMEGA'S HELP
"How do you want to play this?" Garrus looked over at Liara as he exited their ship. The waves of travelers at the docks were all too familiar. His blue eyes desperately inspecting each person that walked by, hoping to catch a rare glance of Shepard. Years ago, Macha Shepard and her squad traveled to Omega to recruit one of their dossiers: Archangel. Now it seemed that Vakarian was back on the asteroid station to hunt her down. It wasn't simply that she was lost physically. Whatever, Charon did to her, made her lose her complete identity. He would not give up on her. There had to be some way to get her back. A task that would befall upon them once they acquired their target.
"We didn't get any points last time making our visit discreet. She still found out." Liara tossed back as she watched the crowd wearily. Multiple eyes were upon them, but which ones worked for Aria? It was hard to tell.
"If she's smart, then she already knows we are here."
"Yes. Direct approach?"
"You lead the way."
Liara trudged ahead, making her way through the crowd, squeezing her body between various forms. Her good-hearted nature made the daunting task difficult as she tried her best to avoid bumping into anyone and politely excusing herself as she maneuvered around stopped individuals who were trying to get their bearings. Garrus, on the other hand, adapted to the norm and pushed his way past many, not bothering with any pleasantries. He gained a few inches and was now at Liara's side. "Liara…" He squeezed out through his clenched teeth. "You are bringing the wrong attention on you."
"What makes you say that?" She glanced over at him.
A pair of obvious thieves were eying them. "Just tone the niceness down. Remember where you are." He replied lowly as he tried not to make eye contact with her. No one needed to know that they were together, but he wouldn't let her leave his sight.
After clearing the docks and making their way through the streets, they came across the vast open space that housed the Afterlife club. The pulsing rhythm of the music inside could be heard on the street and seemed to vibrate the metal exterior. Liara stopped near the line that formed to gain access. "How do we get in there?"
Garrus observed a batarian heading their way. He recognized him earlier to be Sh'sk, one of her top henchmen. "Looks like we don't have to worry about that."
The batarian, carrying an assault rifle, stopped a few feet away from their location. Both sets of eyes looking squarely on them. "Inside," he grunted.
"Glad to see Aria made this easy on us." Garrus joked lightly. Sh'sk replied with a curt nod and turned to lead them through the club's entrance.
The noise inside was deafening and it was hard for T'Soni to even talk to her friend as they were being escorted if she wanted to. Clubgoers eyed the special party, taking interest in them, before returning to their own individual conversations.
"This place hasn't changed." Garrus muttered under his breath as he eyed the multiple dancers at various places throughout. Their bodies provocatively dancing to the beat of the music.
Aria was sitting on her famed red couch with her legs crossed, enjoying a private dance from one of the entertainment workers when they approached. The worker eyed the duo and glanced Aria's way before excusing herself from the vicinity. "I see you learned your lesson." T'Loak was quick to her words. "Why are you back here?"
"We need your help." Liara decided it was best to let Aria have the upper hand this round to bolster their alliance. The space station was bigger than one would think, so they needed Aria's aid to find Shepard. After all, she knew all the various spots that she could hide.
"That so?" Aria sat up straighter on her couch. "Why should Omega care?"
"You will care," Garrus jumped in, his words icy. "Shepard is part of Charon and we tracked her ship here."
"She is one of their assassins. She attempted to kill Miranda Lawson and Garrus. She fled the Citadel on a ship that was tracked here."
"Some hero," Bray chortled, as he stood nearby, listening in. "Didn't you say she was with Cerberus before, boss?"
"Yes, she was." Aria's interest picked up after hearing their full disclosure. She rose up from the couch to eye the crowd below. "What made Shepard join their cause?"
"We don't know," Liara admitted. "We think Charon manipulated her somehow."
"She's not herself. Shepard would never willingly join a group like Charon." Garrus spat.
"She joined Cerberus before on her freewill. Are you sure?" Aria turned to face him.
Garrus stared at her with his fists clenched. "I'm sure," he hissed.
"And you say she's here?"
"That we know of. I need a manifest of ships that docked and departed from Omega, Aria. I need to see if she stayed here or left for another location." Liara continued. Of course, she could hack Aria's systems to obtain this information herself, but if Shepard was still there, they needed Aria and hacking a potential ally's system was not the best way to approach their relationship.
A chirp sounded on Sh'sk's omni nearby that interrupted their exchange. "What is it?" Aria asked him.
"Incoming vessel flagged as Spectre." Sh'sk read the report. "Coming in hot."
Grimacing, Aria turned on the two before her. "You really need to learn to hide your mystery guests another way." She motioned with her head towards the direction of the dock. Sh'sk took note and stepped away from the platform. "It seems the Council wants to poke their business into the Terminus systems."
"It's Major Alenko." Liara admitted. "He was delayed by the Council or he would have been here with us."
"You think that wilding a Spectre is going to make me bend to your will?" Aria chuckled in amusement. "You cannot be that naive."
"There have been multiple attacks including one on a Quarian ambassador, Aria. The Council has a right to- "Garrus fumed by her difficulty.
"Are you now threatening me, Garrus Vakarian?" Aria narrowed her eyes at him. "It would be unwise to proceed any further." The click of a gun from Bray's weapon made Garrus pause to see that her bodyguards were not liking where this was going.
"We didn't come here to start trouble, Aria. You know how important Shepard is. The Commander helped retake Omega from Cerberus. If she's on this station, then we need your help to find her." Liara butted in to try to smooth down the tension that was building up.
Aria stated at the two, as if she was contemplating what to do next. The air was thick with tension and the quietness made the whole ordeal awkward. Finally, she broke the silence, "Bray, check the manifests. Any ships land here?"
Bray lowered his weapon to work on the task on his own omni tool. His fingers dashed over the holo keyboard to search the data. "None recently flagged from the Citadel."
Whipping around at them, Aria glared hard. "What type of shit are you playing me for?" Liara and Garrus exchanged confused looks. Were they fooled? Did the ship give off a false destination? Was it already all planned? They failed to see how well orchestrated Charon was.
"They never meant to come here…" Garrus admitted the obvious. "Damnit. I should have known better!" His mind became a whirlwind. They were on Omega for no reason, invoking the wrath of Aria T'Loak while Shepard was becoming more distant from him. He was losing her.
"Easy, Garrus." Liara's soft comforting voice filled his ears. "We'll find her. We need to backtrack our steps again. Something we missed?"
"What does she look like?" Aria asked.
Liara gave a haphazard shrug. "Dunno. On Elysium, Garrus noted she had dark black hair. On the New Citadel, it was purple. She posed as a C-Sec officer. I'm not sure if she has altered her appearance anymore or not."
Seeing the silent order that Aria was giving him, Bray radioed in Sh'sk on his tool. "Shepard may have black or purple hair. I'll send you the old video feeds of her now to cross reference."
"Got it." Sh'sk replied on the other end.
"There's no reason why- "Aria began, but quickly was cut off by Sh'sk message coming through.
"Shit. She's here." A bit of fear could be traced in Sh'sk's words.
"What?" Aria raised her eye ridge, skeptical of the news. "Now?"
"You sure?" Bray asked, eying Aria worriedly.
"I ran the damn scan. I'm about twenty yards. She's with a group of Suns working on a shipment. Match came back one hundred percent. She still has purple hair."
"The Suns?" Garrus asked in disbelief. It didn't make sense to why she was hanging out with a merc group. Was it a ruse for another attack?
"Stay on her." Aria severed the connection with Sh'sk. She returned her focus to her uninvited guests. "Your trip was not in vain."
Liara looked over at Garrus. "Has to be a front."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Coming after you again, boss?" Bray chimed in.
"Let her." Aria snapped back without hesitation.
"You can't kill her!" Garrus turned on his heel to square off with the pirate queen.
"Garrus is right. We need to capture Shepard. Find out what they did to her." Liara agreed.
"Sh'sk will keep tabs on her. I want her here before you leave. If she steps one foot in this club without you, then she will be dead." Aria made sure her message was clear. She wasn't going to let her guard down. "Bray, go help Sh'sk."
"But- "The batarian began.
"I'll be fine. Better yet, stay with these two. I don't trust them." She could see the mixed feelings on their faces. "Let's just say... I want my interests protected."
Defeated, Liara sighed. They had to move to find Shepard and they had to do it on Aria's terms. "Just make sure that he doesn't lose her."
"I have my best people on her." The Asari replied assuringly.
Moments later after the group left, Sh'sk radioed into her comm. "Aria."
"What is it?"
"I lost her."
"Fuck. How the hell did you?" She tried to keep her voice from elevating too much to keep the attention away from her platform.
"More traders were coming in. The Suns were moving the cargo to the ship to load it up. Some got in my way. I thought she was helping them. When everything cleared out, she was gone. Even they were confused."
"Find her. Don't come back until you do."
"Where the hell did she go, Sh'sk?" Bray groaned in frustration at his friend's alert.
"No fuckin' idea. I'm walking over this damn place trying to find her."
"Should we go back to Afterlife?" Liara stopped in her tracks at the scary news. Was Shepard already on the move to whatever her new assignment was? The only possible target was Aria.
"Bray, go back to Afterlife." Garrus turned to address the batarian.
The four-eyed remained in place. "No, way. Aria gave me an order."
"And if Shepard goes back to the club to attack her, she may be dead."
Torn between what should be the proper thing to do, Bray knew that if Garrus was right, then he couldn't chance it. Grumbling, he turned to hurriedly makes his way back to the club. "You really think Shepard came to finish the job?" Liara asked the turian as she watched their escort leave.
Garrus thought back to Shepard's appearance with the Suns, and back to what he said to her on the New Citadel. He told her about their run-in on Omega and his codename as Archangel. Was it coincidence that she was back on the station and running with the Blue Suns or was it something more? He had to see for himself. "No…she's remembering…." His words trailed off.
"Remembering?"
Seeing the direction that would lead him to the Gozu district, Garrus took off in a sprint. "Go back to Afterlife! Just in case I'm wrong!" He called to the confused asari he left behind. He turned his head back around in the direction he was running. His old warehouse was in the Gozu district. What would he find there?
His mind replayed private memories. He could hear gunfire in his head and the frightened mercs yelling at him, "Archangel! We will kill you!"
He could see Macha Shepard running across the bridge in his direction. "Hang on, Shepard. I'm coming for you," he panted between breaths, pumping his legs faster.