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Security outside of Afterlife was heavier than Shepard had seen it before. As her team walked up to the door to the bottom floor of the club, Shepard saw a serious looking krogan watching them and talking into an earpiece. The krogan stood by the door along with two turians Shepard could only assume were guards, judging by the way they glared at the passerby and carried weapons. Her group approached the door and were stopped by one of the turians.
"No weapons allowed inside," he said, indicating Shepard and her crew. Garrus laughed harshly and the guard frowned.
"Since when?" asked Garrus.
"Those are the rules. You don't like 'em? Talk to Aria. After you surrender your weapons," said the turian rudely, moving a hand to his pistol. Garrus mirrored his movement, glaring at the guard. Shepard stepped forward between them to intervene when the krogan stepped in.
"Aria has been expecting you, Commander Shepard," said the krogan. He gestured for the guards to move aside. Garrus favored the guard who talked to them with a pointed-toothed grin and patted his sniper rifle as he walked by.
The crew made their way in. The inside of the club was significantly warmer than the rest of the station. It smelled like sweat and booze to Shepard – a smell that reminded the commander strongly of her childhood. She wondered if that's why she hated Afterlife so much. After a moment she shrugged off the notion, not wanting to think about it. The squad wound their way through groups of dancing and drinking patrons. A drunken man on the dance floor turned around and grabbed Shepard to dance. Shepard shoved him off her a bit more violently than she had planned. She apologized, but the man flung a series of rude gestures at her anyway. Shepard didn't hold it against him. People came to places like Afterlife to escape. Judging by the large crowd, Shepard guessed the people of Omega were badly in need of escape.
When they had reached the far end of the bar, Shepard was not surprised to find four large and heavily armed turians and a batarian lined up by the end of the stairway that led to Aria's lounge. She recognized the batarian as Anto from her previous visits. He made no indication that he recognized her at all. Shepard leaned over to look at the other entrance to Aria's and found a similar scene. It looked like Aria was either expecting trouble or rebounding from it. Shepard wasn't thrilled with either of those possibilities. As much as Shepard considered Aria to be a crooked tyrant, she admitted that Aria did maintain a semblance of order on Omega. "Semblance" being the operative word, thought Shepard. Anto spoke into an earpiece, waited for a response, and nodded Shepard and her team up the stairs.
Aria sat reclined in the middle of a sofa that overlooked the main dance floor. She had a drink in her hand – water, from what Shepard could tell. She seemed as cool as ever to the commander, despite the increased guard presence. Garrus and Tali waited at the entrance to the lounge as Shepard stepped forward up the few low stairs to where Aria sat. Sitting down, Shepard mimicked Aria's posture, reclining and lazily crossing one leg over the other. Let the games begin, she thought dourly. She crossed her arms and waited for Aria to speak first. The asari looked at Shepard and her companions, took a slow sip from her glass and leaned forward.
"Commander Shepard," she began. Shepard inclined her head slightly toward Aria, her face a mask of polite interest. "Hero of the Citadel, and now the conqueror of the collectors. Do you like that last one? I thought of it just now."
"Catchy," said Shepard. "Listen, Aria, I'd really rather just cut to the chase here -"
"What's the rush, Shepard?" she asked. Smiling wickedly, Aria turned and waved to Garrus, he looked away. "I see you brought our old friend Archangel," said Aria. She looked over at Tali and then back to the commander, smiling. "And a quarian! Adorable. A little 'Fleet and Flotilla' action going on aboard your ship, commander?" the asari jeered. Aria studied Shepard's face, but she found it unreadable. She continued, needling. "I am curious about Archangel. Does that man have a death wish? Most people around here are more than content to believe he was killed in that firefight a couple months ago."
"That's part of the reason I'm here," Shepard began.
"I'll just bet it is," spat Aria. The change in her tone alarmed the commander. She saw the nearest guards reach for their weapons, as well as Garrus and Tali. She shook her head at her crew and they stood down, reluctantly. Aria signaled for her guards to be at ease, and then relaxed herself. "So, why are you here? Did you come to tell me what it feels like to be the cause of all my problems?"
"Excuse me?" asked Shepard, bewildered.
"Don't get coy with me, Shepard. I know you've been down to the markets, surely you've seen your friend Massani's influence at work down there," said Aria. This should be good, thought Shepard.
"Aria, what are you talking about? What does Zaeed have to do with anything?" she asked.
"At least you don't deny it. Very well, Shepard, I'll play it your way – for now," warned Aria. With an exasperated sigh, she began. "Not long ago, your ship was spotted on Zorya. While there, you, Massani, and Archangel over there stormed the Eldfell-Ashland refinery, killing Vido Santiago who was acting captain of the Blue Suns as well as a large number of miners who died when the refinery exploded. I must admit I'm impressed, Shepard, I didn't think that was your style."
"It's not - if I could change how things turned out, I would. Even so, Vido was nothing less than a terrorist. We did the galaxy a favor that day," said Shepard.
"Spare me the speech. I am not one of your fans," said Aria, making the last word sound like an insult. Shepard rolled her eyes and sighed.
"It was a commission Zaeed had picked up before joining my crew. We took care of it. End of story," said Shepard.
"You took down the head of one of the biggest mercenary groups in the galaxy, Shepard! With the man who founded them! You expect me to believe that's where it ended? Unless that is what you actually believe," said Aria, laughing. "No, I can't believe that you, of all people, would be that naïve. It would ruin my image of you as a shrewd and fearless savior of worlds, commander." Aria smirked at Shepard, and she narrowed her eyes in response.
"Look Aria, I don't know what you're trying to get at, but neither I nor any of my crew have had anything more to do with the Blue Suns since we left Zorya," said Shepard. She was pretty sure she was telling the truth. Aria scoffed. Shepard ignored her and continued, pointing a gloved finger at her host. "You know who I am, and you know what my team and I are capable of. If I wanted to take you down, Aria, I would have done it by now," she said. She spoke with conviction that could not be denied, even by Aria. The asari tilted her head slightly, considering Shepard's statement. She swirled her water glass slowly in her hand, and watched the liquid's movement.
"If I did believe that, and I'm not saying that I do," said Aria in an attempt to save face, "that doesn't much change the situation at hand. Everything here on Omega started going straight to hell after we got the news of Vido's untimely death."
"Everything? What is the situation here?" asked Shepard.
"My intel says that the new leader of the Suns has his sights set on taking over Omega – surprise, surprise. As you can imagine, I've tried to shut them down on more than one occasion, but they're always ready for us. My people are getting slaughtered in ambushes that we should have been prepared for," said Aria. Her hands turned into fists in her lap. "My intel is corrupted, Shepard. As much as I don't want to talk about this with an outsider, I think we can help each other." Aria looked over to gauge Shepard's reaction. Shepard raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
"Are you saying that the Suns are responsible for clearing out the markets?" asked Shepard.
"That, and terrorizing everyone down there into only doing business with them. They're controlling trade – and they're good at it! Trying to strangle me financially. It's too clever for the miscreants who used to run the Suns here. As if that weren't enough, there's the matter of the leak within my organization."
"What do you know about the new leader?" asked Shepard.
"He's a dead man when I find him," said Aria. "Could be a woman, that would be interesting – she would still be just as dead, though. He calls himself Alpha, which would be cute if it weren't so annoying. I'm assuming they're still operating out of the Suns base down by the warehouses, but, like I said, I don't trust anything I hear anymore."
"Why ask for my help? Why not ask the other merc groups?" asked Shepard. Aria sighed dramatically and threw her hands up in the air.
"Cowards, all of them! Eclipse and Blood Pack say they're waiting to see who wins. The vorcha – well, they're about as organized as a pack of varren."
"Guess that's what you get when you deal with mercenaries," said Shepard. "I'm intrigued, but why would I want to help you? I could just leave now and head to the next nearest space station."
"I can pay you well."
"Don't mistake me for a mercenary," said Shepard. Aria laughed openly.
"Don't kid yourself, Shepard. You're no longer military. Just because you're used to hunting bigger game for your own noble reasons doesn't mean you aren't a hired gun for the Illusive Man," said Aria. Shepard leaned in closer to her.
"I don't work for Cerberus anymore either," she said dangerously.
"Sounds like you could use the credits, then," said Aria, unblinking. Shepard looked over to Garrus and Tali. Tali made a sweeping gesture with her hand. Garrus saw it and nodded at Shepard.
"There's a man, a human mechanic. His name is Scratch. He's been kidnapped by the Blue Suns. I want a security detail outside his home for his wife until we get him back," said the commander. Aria nodded.
"I know of him. His wife was a dancer here. I can't believe she went through that bizarre human matrimonial ceremony. I will put a watch down there, but my guard's presence will only agitate the Suns. Does this mean we have an understanding, Shepard?" asked Aria. From the corner of her eye, Shepard saw Tali make the sweeping gesture again.
"One hundred thousand," said Shepard. Tali gave her a thumbs up. Shepard looked at Garrus and he tilted his head to the side. "Up front. Also, the parts and labor needed to fix my ship." Garrus nodded affirmatively.
"Seventy five," said Aria, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm not going to haggle with you. Unless you're not interested -" Shepard moved as if to stand, Aria held up a hand.
"You make deals like a volus banker," said Aria, sounding slightly amused. "Fine, a hundred thousand, except you'll have fifty up front. You'll get the rest when I have at least the name of the double-agent in my employ and satisfaction that the Blue Suns are taken care of. You'll have the credits, repair, and I'll forget those data packages you delivered to that ridiculous salarian last time you were here." Shepard grabbed her arm, stretching her shoulders.
"Don't know anything about that," she said, and shrugged. "Seems reasonable enough. You have a deal." Shepard looked pointedly at Aria's omni-tool. The asari raised an eyebrow, then after a moment obliged the commander and activated the tool, transferring the credits to her account. Shepard stood up and held out her hand to Aria. They shook on the deal and turned to part ways. Aria returned to her seat overlooking her club. Shepard followed Garrus and Tali out the way they entered. Away from Aria's lounge, Shepard shook out her arms.
"Come on, I can't get out of this place fast enough," said Shepard as she plowed through a group of enthusiastic dancers. It seemed like the way out of the club was longer than the way in, but they finally got outside. The door opened and the cool fresh air blew over the squad. It felt to Shepard like she hadn't had a good breath in an hour. She was tired, sore, and more than a little annoyed. Doing business with Aria made her feel dirty, but the Normandy needed the repairs and her crew could use the credits. That mechanic needed their help, that much Shepard knew. That it wasn't all about the money was the one thing that made her feel okay about the situation. She turned to her friends. "So much for shore leave, huh?" she said, one hand massaging her temple.
"Most of the crew was waiting until we got to the Citadel to take their leave anyway," said Tali. Shepard looked sharply at the quarian.
"That's information that would have been more useful to me before now," she said. Tali shrugged, putting her hands up.
"We're going to need to know more about the Suns defenses so we're not going in there blind, Shepard," said Garrus, fussing with his omni-tool. He paused. "Uh, we'll also need to know where we're going."
"Yeah, I got that. Maybe EDI's scans will pick something up." Shepard leaned over a rail and looked down into the center of Omega. She knew the Suns would be well armed. That Aria had a mole in her organization was cause for alarm. She was as shrewd as any information broker Shepard had met, with the possible exception of Liara. If Aria didn't know who was betraying her, that meant the deceiver was very good. If the mercs didn't already know she was coming, they would know soon enough. Her head ached from stress and annoyance. She didn't want to ask her crew to come with her. She knew she didn't have to ask, that they'd be more than willing to volunteer. Hell, they might even fight over it. Still, she couldn't help but feel that they all deserved a vacation. The vacation would have to be postponed. Garrus and Tali stood on either side of Shepard, sharing her vista.
"One of these days, something really is going to be as simple as it seems and I am going to have a heart attack and die from surprise," said Shepard.
"And then we'd find some other rogue terrorist organization with deep pockets to bring you back from the dead," said Garrus simply. Shepard laughed and punched him in the arm, forgetting about his armor. Shepard rubbed her knuckles and pushed herself off the rail, leading her team toward Omega's docking bay.