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Shepard found Garrus and Tali chatting with Joker in the cockpit. It did not seem to her that they were very put out from having to wait. Shopping trip, in and out, she reminded herself. The cargo hold had holes in it that needed patching, and they were quickly running out of credits. Omega was not only the closest station; parts and labor were far less expensive there than on the Citadel. Probably because the place was overrun with murderers and thieves, thought Shepard grimly. She rearranged her annoyed expression into a pleasant one, and approached the group.
"...And that's how I got put on the Daratar 'undesirables' list. See Tali? I told you it wasn't that great of a story," said Joker, clearly in his element while entertaining the two.
"I don't understand, Joker. How did you manage to smuggle a plasma can-" Tali managed to get out before Joker interrupted.
"Commander! We were all just sitting here waiting for you. Right guys? Weren't we all just sitting here waiting for the commander?" he said, smiling a little too widely.
"Relax, Joker. I'm not here to start an inquisition. Not today, anyway," said Shepard. Garrus stifled a chuckle behind his hand.
"Great. Well, I'll just get back to – what it was I was doing," said Joker.
"You do that, Joker. Miranda has the deck until I get back," said Shepard. Joker nodded. She turned to Tali and Garrus. "All right, team. Let's make this happen," said Shepard, gesturing the squad toward the airlock and following behind them.
"See ya, commander," called Joker after her, and turned his chair to face the glowing monitors.
Even though Omega was the base of operations for some of the worst criminals in the galaxy, Shepard found comfort in the station's gritty familiarity. The Collector attacks hadn't changed Omega, not that she expected they would. Looking around, she still saw beggars and groups of thugs in mercenary uniforms. Shepard wondered if anyone on the station even knew what she and her crew had done in their name. We didn't fight the Collectors to be congratulated, she reminded herself. On the other hand, she was glad to see that there were at least some things she could count on.
Garrus led the way down into the lower markets by way of the apartments. Shepard thought he seemed a little on edge; his right hand hovered near the grip of his pistol. It made sense, not two months ago every merc on the station wanted nothing more than his head on a plate. They walked by rows of identical doors to tiny, crowded economy apartments. Shepard noticed some broken glass outside one of the apartments next to a large bluish-brown stain on the wall. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was blood – turian blood. She shook her head, disgusted, and caught up with her group. Shouts echoed over the murmur of the crowd. A batarian "prophet" spouted his anti-human sermon to passerby, occasionally drawing over a shopper or two. Some shouted back, others merely listened. Tali's head moved rapidly back and forth, taking in as much information as she could as they walked.
"This place is fascinating, Shepard. I can't believe I never actually set foot on this station before. We were too busy, I guess," said Tali.
"It's something else, all right," agreed Shepard. "Garrus, what else can you tell me about this contact of yours?"
"He's a mechanic, the best on the station. Underrated because he's human. His name's Andre, but everyone calls him Scratch," said Garrus.
"Scratch? What is it with Omega and nicknames?" asked Shepard. Garrus looked over his shoulder at her, a questioning look on his face. "Never mind. You said this guy owes you a favor?"
"The parts he deals aren't always acquired by legit means, Shepard. I know what you're thinking, but you have to pick your battles around here. He's not perfect, but his work is good and his prices are fair. He got into some trouble with the Blue Suns a while back. They were trying to extort labor out of him – wanted him to work for free or else they'd turn him in for selling stolen property," said Garrus.
"The Suns were probably the ones supplying him with the stolen parts in the first place," offered Tali.
"Exactly. And you know Aria, Shepard. She would just try to clean it up as fast as possible. She'd kick him off Omega, or worse. Keeping the merc groups happy is how she keeps the upper hand. Aria doesn't care about people like Scratch," said Garrus, his voice bitter.
"I see. So you helped him get rid of the Suns?"
"You're damn right I helped him! No one else was going to. It's amazing how people here can know exactly what's going on and just watch, without doing anything about it," said Garrus. Tali laid a hand on his shoulder.
"You did something about it," said Tali, softly. Garrus looked down at the quarian, surprised.
"I – I did what I could," said Garrus, faltering. There was a pause, and then Tali found something of great interest on her omni-tool. Shepard looked up at Garrus, amused by his puzzled expression, and patted him on the back.
"It's all anyone can do, Garrus. Are we getting close?" asked Shepard.
"Yes, the place is up ahead there," he said. He nodded his head toward the market and he started off. Tali looked up from her omni-tool, caught up with Shepard, and the two followed.
Shepard was glad to be clear of the apartments. It was a tense atmosphere. People on the street walked quickly, keeping their heads down. The further into the apartment corridor they went, the less chatter Shepard noticed. She sensed the local residents were under distress, but she wasn't sure if it were more or less than what was normal for the lower apartments. It was only when they got to the markets that she knew for certain that something was wrong. The markets, which were usually so busy, were completely deserted. Shepard held up her hand and stepped out in front of Garrus, then signaled her squad to ready their weapons. The team walked in unison, covering each other. As they reached the middle of the square, the sudden sound of whirring gears surrounded them.
"Security mechs, take cover!" ordered Shepard. She activated her disruptor ammo, aimed, and fired. The nearest mech's head exploded, echoing in the empty hall.
"Deploying overload charges," said Tali. Tali broke cover and overloaded three mechs that were closing in, their robotic voices stuttering as their circuits melted. Garrus sniped one that was making its way from behind a door, then made a sweep of the area. He fired a final shot into one of the short-circuiting robots.
"All clear, commander," said Garrus.
"Security mechs? Is this normal?" asked Tali as she holstered her pistol.
"Not exactly," said Garrus. "I couldn't find any indication of who they belonged to, Shepard. Aria doesn't use mechs, says they're only good for giving out parking tickets and delivering take-out."
"She has a point," said Tali.
"It's clear something's going on, but let's not rush to any conclusions," said Shepard.
"Come on, Scratch's place is just over here," said Garrus, indicating an empty storefront. Every shelf and hook was vacant. A lighted sign flickered in the window, reading "Sorry, We're Closed". At the back of the store was a door. The entry pad glowed red. Shepard moved aside and let Tali bypass the lock.
The door led to a small apartment. Shepard walked around the first room, a living room with a kitchen attached. There was a datapad near the door, broken and unreadable. A table and chairs was overturned in the corner. She examined the area around the table and found two shattered plates. One of the shards had the remains of some kind of food on it. No mold and no foul odor had Shepard believing the place was ransacked recently.
"There are still valuables here, Shepard. It doesn't look like anything was taken," said Tali, scanning the room.
Shepard followed a short hallway from the living room, found another door and opened it, revealing a small bathroom that seemed to have been undisturbed. The next door opened to a bedroom. Shepard stepped inside, peering around the corner. She heard a loud cry and was knocked back by what felt like an explosion. The air was forced out of her lungs by the impact. Before she had time to react, the force was lifting her into the air by her throat. She couldn't move, all she could see was the bright blue and white of a biotic field. She heard Garrus and Tali rush into the room. She fought to breathe, to yell, but her throat was being crushed by the biotic force.
"I warned you not to come back! Haven't you taken enough from me?" said a feminine voice thick with rage and amplified to near-deafening by her biotics. Shepard was close to blacking out when she felt her body get hurled across the room and crumple against a wall. She rolled over and propped herself onto her hands, coughing. As soon as she got a full breath, she found she was trapped in place once again. She saw Tali run to her, but she was unable to get past the biotic stasis field.
"Kiana?" said Garrus, squinting to see past the light of the biotic field. Shepard found she could open her eyes. She looked up to see clearly the face of an asari woman who was glaring at her with pure hatred. A blue biotic field glowed around her. It was unsteady, almost twitchy, as if she did not have it under her complete control. Garrus took a cautious step closer.
"Don't come any closer, mercenary! I will kill your friend, don't think I won't!" she roared. Shepard could feel the stasis field closing in, constricting her.
"Kiana, let her go. We're here to help. What happened here? Where is Andre?" asked Garrus gently. At the mention of Andre, the asari's biotic field flared and Shepard braced herself for another assault. Instead, when the woman turned and saw Garrus, she dropped her biotic field all together. Shepard gasped and stood up as fast as she could. Her head spun and her whole body ached. She pointed her pistol at the woman.
The woman took a step closer to Garrus. Blue light sparked from her fingertips, she blinked.
"Archangel?" she asked, unbelieving. "But they said you were dead."
"Not yet," said Garrus. Kiana looked closely at Garrus' face, then turned to pace along the wall of the room. "Tell us what happened, Kiana."
"I – I wasn't, I couldn't," she began. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she turned to face the wall. Shepard lowered her pistol and cleared her throat.
"Take your time, Kiana," said Shepard. Kiana looked at her, nodded, then took a deep breath.
"They came last night – the Blue Suns. They said you were dead, Archangel, and that Andre didn't have anyone to hide behind anymore. They broke in here and took him right in the middle of dinner! I wasn't fast enough, I couldn't -" said Kiana. She banged her fists against the wall. Tali and Shepard looked at Garrus, waiting for his response. He shook his head, frustrated. Kiana turned, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Where were you? Andre said we didn't have to worry about the Suns anymore because of you."
"It's not his fault!" said Tali, cutting in. Garrus held up a hand, and she backed down.
"I've been away. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Kiana. But I'm here now," he said. The asari looked at the floor, ashamed.
"No, I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault, I just -" she started.
"Is there anything else you can tell us about what happened?" asked Shepard. Kiana walked around the bed and through the door, motioning for the group to follow her into the living room. She pointed to the overturned table.
"We were right there, having dinner. Two batarians in Suns uniforms forced the door open and took Andre. They said they had unfinished business, and that they'd kill him if I tried anything or told anyone what happened," said Kiana with a sob. "If I had been faster, I could have put up a barrier on the door. I'm just glad our daughter wasn't home. Oh goddess, she doesn't even know!"
"It will be okay, Kiana. You can't blame yourself for this. It sounds like they wanted him alive," said Shepard. She looked over at Garrus for confirmation, she could tell his mind was racing. Distracted, he nodded at Shepard. "We'll bring Andre back to you, Kiana."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, about – back there," Kiana began. Shepard shook her head.
"I'm okay. I'd feel sorrier for anyone else who tries to break in here, though. Tali, is there a way you could bolster the security on that door?" said Shepard, turning to Tali.
"Yes, commander. I'll do that now," said Tali, moving closer to the front door and activating her omni-tool. Garrus stepped toward Kiana and opened his mouth to speak, and faltered. Shepard walked toward Tali and the door. Garrus turned to follow, stopping halfway.
"I'll find him, Kiana. Don't worry," said Garrus over his shoulder, then took his leave from the apartment. Shepard waited for Tali to finish her security adjustments to the door. The two found Garrus standing at a balcony looking over a large part of the residential area. Shepard knew enough to not question Garrus about what his thought process was - he would just shut down. With others, this state of emotional vulnerability might be a liability. With Garrus, it drove him. Shepard knew he wouldn't rest until he found Scratch, for better or worse. She trusted Garrus with her life and she knew he trusted her, but Shepard wondered if she could trust him to follow her lead on this. She started walking toward the end of the market, motioning for her squad to follow.
"Come on, I have a feeling we're not going to be able to avoid talking to Aria now," she said, walking into a corridor. The walls were lined with lights and the low bass vibrated through the walls. Shepard stretched her neck and shoulders. She disliked Afterlife and the arrogant asari for whom the club served as an command center. However, she knew she'd find at least some answers there – if not a whole new set of problems.