A/N: I wanted to give a shout out to Rae D. Magdon and her story "The Best Entertainment" #8101991. This story was the one that got me thinking about Aria & Tevos and all sorts of what ifs. In her story, Councilor Tevos's first name is Thea and her assistant is Neota (in case you were curious about the names). Please checkout other author's works in my favorites too; there are some really creative people out there!
Again, thanks for reading and I welcome any reviews or PMs!
Chapter 3: Preparations
Commander Shepard sat in her quarters on the Normandy, going over various report. She was trying to prepare for the mission to overtake Cerberus on Omega and find out what new secret the Illusive Man had found past the Omega-4 Relay. The one report that she was repeatedly drawn to detailed the events of the Cerberus takeover of the station and the use of Adjutants to achieve that goal. The thought of indoctrination through infection and then the rapid transformation of a corpse into Adjutants made her feel ill. "Just what we need to fight, zombies," Shepard spat out in disgust. 'What the hell was the Illusive Man thinking when he let those things escape,' the thought continued to trouble her.
In looking at all the information on Omega, Shepard was also drawn back to the memories of the last few times she was there. Her first thought was of finding Archangel, who turned out to be one of her closest friends, Garrus Vakarian. Her experience while looking for Archangel had been mostly limited to the Kima district of Omega and she had been more focused on taking out the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack to pay much attention to the actual landscape of the district. 'Garrus should be able to help navigate some of the slums and he is always good in a fight,' the thought made her smile. 'Garrus might also have some contacts on the station that can help provide details on Cerberus's movements and strongholds.'
The second memory was of recruiting Mordin Solus, the salarian doctor and former STG operative that had been involved with the creation of the krogan genophage. During that mission, she and her team had fought their way through the Gozu district to find Mordin in the Omega Clinic. They had then been asked to stop a plague that was infecting everyone except vorcha and humans and as such, humans were being blamed for it. Shepard was able to discover that it had been spread by the vorcha but concocted by the Collectors and probably influenced in some way by the Reapers. That had been a far more residential area and would be an easily accessible area for Cerberus to inhabit and set up a base. The memory of Mordin hit her hard, another friend lost to the Reapers.
Shepard continued to take in as much as she could about Omega. She had never really thought much about the actual space station and had instead focused on her tasks while there. Omega was an asteroid that overtime had been converted into a space station and had stretched vertically to 44.7 kilometers through its exploration. Throughout its history, Omega had been mined for element zero and harbored all kinds of notorious groups looking for ways to stay off the radar. The result was a multilayer rock that had been partially terraformed and possessed a mass effect collar to prevent asteroids from hitting it. Some of the districts had so many caverns and crevices that one could easily be lost or go completely unnoticed for months. As you descended to the lower levels, the slums grew even larger. It was the perfect place for criminals to thrive, and rival gangs constantly fought for control of the various resources of the station. Above all of them though was Aria T'Loak, the self proclaimed Pirate Queen of Omega. She was also one of the few people that could successfully unite the inhabitants to reclaim it.
Shepard had always had a certain liking and respect for Aria. She was dangerous, self-serving and vain, but she was also powerful and being an asari, would often take a long-term view of things. Shepard had never truly found herself at odds with her and wondered what this mission would ultimately become. Shepard knew that even Liara, in her role as the Shadow Broker had a respect and unspoken truce with Aria. Ultimately, she thought it would be an interesting undertaking for all of them.
Shepard's comm unit interrupted her studies. "Commander, we will be docking at the Citadel in a few minutes. You asked me to notify you, so consider yourself notified," Joker announced in his normal sarcastic tone.
"I'll be right there," Shepard replied. She put the reports aside and headed to the bridge.
"Citadel control, this is the Normandy," Joker announced. "We request permission to dock," Joker stated flatly.
"You're cleared to dock, Normandy. Do you need ground transport?" The Alliance docking officer questioned.
"Yes, I will require transport to the Embassies," replied Commander Shepard.
"Right away, Citadel control out."
Joker looked over at Shepard, ready with a sarcastic comment. "Well this will be a first for us Commander, the Shadow Broker and the Pirate Queen on the Normandy! Do you think they both will be able to play nice? I bet the sparks start flying! I wonder if Liara will be jealous of another hot asari on the ship."
"I have no doubt that Aria and I will be able to work together without incident Joker," Liara replied in her normal calming tone. She noticed that the pilot's posture had become stiff and that he lowered his head slightly; his reaction caused her to smile inwardly.
"Liara, you definitely have a way of making an entrance!" Commander Shepard couldn't help but laugh at Joker and his ill timed comments. "Are you and Garrus ready to go?"
"Whenever you are; Garrus is waiting for us at the docking bay," Liara replied.
"Alright then, I need to check in with the Council quickly for any updates and then we can pickup supplies and our newest guest. Let's get this operation started," Shepard said while taking Liara's arm and making her way to meet up with Garrus.
Councilor Tevos had requested that Commander Shepard report in before she headed out on her next mission. Tevos wanted to provide as much information on Cerberus and their recent activity in the Terminus Systems, unfortunately she did not have much to offer. In her mind though, she also wanted to be able to monitor their progress and be able to keep track of Aria and what better way than through Shepard.
The door to her office slide open, it was her assistant. "Councilor, Commander Shepard is here to meet with you," Neota announced.
"Please send her in and thank you, Neota," replied Tevos.
Councilor Tevos motioned to a set of chairs and got down to business. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me again Commander. The Council has received recent reports indicating that the human occupants of Omega are being evacuated."
"Evacuated? Is it everyone or just the human population? Do you know where they are being taken to?" Shepard was very curious about this news and instantly got a bad feeling about it.
"I believe they are being taken to Horizon to a facility called Sanctuary and yes, it appears to just be the human population," Tevos replied. "We do not have much more information than that, I am afraid. Also, I was hoping that you would be able to provide me with regular updates of how your mission progresses. As you know, this operation will hopefully change the balance of power in the Terminus Systems. The Council would also like to know of any potential Reaper technology that you might find from the Omega-4 Relay. I have discussed this with Admiral Hackett and he agrees that it would be beneficial to share all your acquired information."
"Of course Councilor," Shepard nodded in agreement. Shepard stood to leave and then turned back towards Tevos. She paused briefly, looked down and then deliberately made eye contact with the asari Councilor. "Councilor Tevos, I am very sorry for the failure at Thessia. Cerberus was already there and so were the damned Reapers. We will make sure that we hit Cerberus hard and get Omega secured," Shepard said with a tinge of anger and sadness. "Hopefully whatever we find can help with the war against the Reapers and benefit all of us."
"Thank you, Commander and may the Goddess watch over you," Tevos said trying not to become emotional. Both women felt the weight of Thessia on them and the momentum of the war.
With that, Shepard left the Embassy and headed to Purgatory to meet up with her team and Aria T'Loak.
After months of being a refugee on the Citadel, Aria T'Loak felt like a caged animal. She was ready to tear into Cerberus or anything else that crossed her path. The thought of stepping foot on Omega again and being met with force made her biotics flare slightly and a wicked smile formed on her lips. She looked over her apartment to take inventory on anything that she might need. She had been forced to leave Omega quickly and had arrived with almost nothing. Years of covert commando work and mercilessly running the largest criminal syndicate on Omega had left her with little in sentimental value. She saw herself as a lone-wolf that need the use of others, but did not need or want to be attached to them. Omega had been different, it was hers and she was its heart and soul and she had been gone too long. She opted to leave things the way they were and to only take some clothes, her custom armor and her pistol; with that, she left for Purgatory.
The plan was relatively straight forward; she had contacted each of the three merc groups and compelled them to send ships to meet up with the Normandy. Together with Shepard's people they would covertly dock their shuttles in one of the lower districts, while the Normandy and some of the merc ships would attempt to secure the Omega-4 Relay. Once inside Omega, they would form two teams – one to do the fighting and one to do the recognizance. Aria was also planning to make contact with the inhabitants of the slums and work on resistance in the form of another rebellion.
Once Omega had been retaken and Aria reestablished as the Pirate Queen, the mercs could reestablish their territories prior to the Cerberus coup. The Omega-4 Relay would then be monitored by the Aria's forces to ensure that Cerberus would not be able to regain a foothold. All-in-all, Aria would end up stronger and more entrenched in Omega and the Terminus Systems. Now she and Shepard just had to execute the plan.