The Fortuna docks at Omega just a short ride away from Afterlife, Aria's club and the seat of her power on the asteroid. At the insistence of a particularly rude traffic controller, Bryan guides them into dock seven. Cayden was instructed via courier to come to Afterlife unarmed and with only a single, unarmed bodyguard. After carefully considering his options, he hails a taxi just outside the docking area with Churchill at his flank. Lia and Katsumi aren't intimidating enough. Sephora will ask too many questions. Jason and Adam are too likely to get distracted, and they aren't really at their best in close combat situations. Even though Churchill is the most likely option to start a fight with one of Aria's batarian guards, Cayden reasoned he was still the best option. The two men climb silently into the taxi. Before Cayden can give their destination, the taxi raises up and shoots toward the nightclub. Great. Aria wants to get him there as soon as possible. Hopefully she just really misses him.
As they fly, Churchill cannot stop staring out the window of the car. He seems to be in awe of the asteroid. Cayden, meanwhile, is preparing various conversations in his head. They land on a rooftop just a short walk from Afterlife. After they exit the vehicle, it drives away before Cayden can pay the driver. He shrugs, resigned to his fate. He looks around at Omega, taking in the experience once again. The oddity never quite looks right. It is beautiful, but one constantly has the feeling that something seedy and dark is below their feet. It is built in the mined-out husk of a metallic asteroid in a series of haphazard expansions by several different groups over several decades. From the rooftops, there are massive protrusions jutting out all around and above him. Cayden thought they might be some kind of add-ons to existing buildings, but really stopped trying to wrap his head around the layout of the station years ago. The whole view lends itself a feeling of awe that he stuffs deep down inside himself. Need to stay focused on the task at hand.
A particularly unhappy-looking batarian in bright blue and gray combat armor approaches the taxi station. Churchill glances at a nearby wall and points out a sign marking the taxi station. The electrical sign is constantly pulsating and plainly features only the word 'taxi', except for an alien symbol and the words 'low power warning'. "I can see they're takin' care of the place," Churchill comments sarcastically. He shakes his head.
As the batarian reaches them, he calls out in a gravely, low voice. "Cayden Hill," he says gruffly. Cayden nods. Churchill taps impatiently at the armor on his thighs. "Good," the batarian responds, "Go see Aria." He studies Churchill up and down.
"Gonna be hard to scan me with no eyes," Churchill taunts, then winks at the batarian.
"He stays here," the batarian tells Cayden, ignoring Churchill's remark.
"That wasn't the deal," Cayden responds. "I'm supposed to walk around the most lawless place in the galaxy with no weapon and no bodyguard?"
"That's right," the batarian responds. Cayden sighs. "Shouldn't have shot up Afterlife last time you were here," the batarian clarifies. Cayden smirks. "Something tells me you'll be fine," it continues.
"Does my reputation precede me?" Cayden asks. The batarian nods.
"What reputation?" Churchill asks in obvious confusion. "Just who the hell are you, Dandy?"
"Aria doesn't like to be kept waiting," the batarian interjects.
"You heard the man…er…batarian," Cayden tells Churchill. "Duty calls."
"Whatever," Churchill responds gruffly, "Jus' get me on comms if you need me."
Cayden laughs nervously. "Don't sweat it, old man," he tells Churchill in a vain attempt at comforting him.
"Want me to just shoot him and come with you?" Churchill asks, his scarred brow furrowed. The batarian shoots him a sharp glance.
"Nah," Cayden responds with a dismissive wave. "If someone attacks me, I'll just let them know I need a minute because my bodyguard is around the corner taking a leak."
Churchill notices the combative glance from the batarian. "Relax, four-eyes, I was just kidding." He winks at Cayden, who shakes his head in response.
"Come on," the batarian instructs Cayden. He turns around and walks toward the entrance to Afterlife with Cayden in tow.
Cayden looks up outside the club. The door is a large semicircle with the word 'Afterlife' above it in orange neon lights. Above that on the side of the building is a giant viewscreen with a scantily-clad asari dancing sensually. Cayden wrinkles his nose, trying to get the smell of the station out of his nostrils. As they approach the steps leading up to the door, they completely bypass a long line, much to the chagrin of the various patrons waiting to get in. "Why does he just get to go in?" some turian protests in his direction. Cayden turns to the patron and smiles his wide, toothy grin, punctuating it with a mock salute as he and the batarian approach the door. The batarian opens the door, briefly turning to Cayden to make sure he is still there. Cayden adjusts his dress shirt and enters.
They pass through a wide hallway flanked on both sides by long viewscreens with similar tantalizing videos playing as the one outside. There is low-hanging smoke permeating the entryway, some fog and some drug or tobacco smoke. Not wanting to seem out of place, Cayden lights a cigarette he produces from behind his ear and exhales the smoke through his nostrils. The burning sensation brings a welcome reprieve from the smell of the place. As they approach a second inner door, house music bleeds more and more through into the hallway. Cayden inflates his cheeks, then exhales slowly before taking another drag on his cigarette, attempting to steel himself for what's to come.
The second door opens and the house music hits him like a freight train. The sound of the bass pulses in his sinuses and the smell of sex and liquor invades his nostrils. Even his strong cigarette smoke does nothing to defend him against the assault on his senses. The whole room seems to be several degrees too hot for comfort, causing him to almost immediately start sweating in his black suit. He looks around at patrons of the club as they pass him. Seemingly every sapient race of the galaxy is represented in this space. An impressive achievement, in all honesty. They pass the bar, where he recognizes a turian bartender and gives him a playful wave with a grin. Upon noticing him, the turian's face immediately turns to horror and he ducks under the bar, eliciting confused looks from those around him. They approach the steps leading up to the balcony overlooking the club and Cayden is forced to duck a punch. The batarian leading him turns quickly, but doesn't intervene.
After ducking, Cayden looks into the face of his attacker. "Hey!" he manages to slip out before ducking a follow-up blow and backpedaling quickly. His opponent is a familiar-looking krogan.
"You got a lot of nerve showing your face back here, human," the krogan challenges. Cayden smirks at him.
"Hey, hey, it's not by choice," Cayden protests in vain. The krogan dashes at him in an attempt to tackle him to the ground, but Cayden easily sidesteps the attempt. The krogan crashes headfirst into the wall behind him and turns, dazed. "Come on, Krova, let's talk about this," Cayden offers. Krova closes the distance between them carefully, fists up.
"There's nothing to talk about, you cheater," Krova answers defiantly. He swings at Cayden again, but he dodges it. Cayden dodges a couple more blows. He puts a little distance between the two of them, then sighs heavily.
"Look," Cayden begins, putting his hands up, "This is my best suit and I'm not really looking to get into anything here that might make Aria more angry at me, so let's just deal with this later."
"Coward," Krova challenges, then dashes at Cayden again. Cayden sidesteps him with a light tap on the side of his cheek to let him know he could've gotten him, but that just angers the krogan more. Krova swings around and punches at Cayden's head. Cayden blocks it perfectly with his elbow, causing a bit of surprise to appear on Krova's face.
"A little help here?" Cayden asks the batarian guard. The guard just shakes his head as Krova swings with the other fist. Cayden leans back, causing the fist to go harmlessly through the air, then grabs the krogan's arm and uses his momentum to toss him face-first into a guard rail. The krogan growls and pulls himself to his feet. He rushes at Cayden again and manages to connect a punch to Cayden's side, causing him to let a sharp exhale loose and drop his cigarette. He'd almost forgotten how hard krogans hit. The successful strike seems to remove his last inhibitions. As Krova attempts a follow up punch aimed at Cayden's temple, Cayden ducks it and quickly plants three hard jabs into the soft part of the krogan's neck and upper body just above his chest plates. Krova stumbles backward and Cayden presses his advantage with another sharp strike to the cheek and a kick at the unprotected lower leg. Krova collapses onto one knee and Cayden finishes with a hard elbow just behind the left cheek. As expected, the krogan falls unconscious almost immediately. Even the krogan have weak points.
"Impressive," the batarian guard remarks. Cayden huffs. He's getting older for sure. He walks back toward the steps as he puts his suit back in order. There's a small tear on one sleeve of his jacket.
"Damn it," Cayden exhales angrily. He makes a futile attempt to assess the damage, but he's no tailor. On his way back, he is briefly distracted by an asari exotic dancer, who blows a kiss at him, but he regains his composure. The batarian motions Cayden to go up the stairs with a quick head motion. Cayden complies. At the top of the stairs, he turns to see Aria waiting for him, seated on an unnecessarily large sofa that wraps around the balcony and faces the wall behind him.
She looks at him with anger plastered all over her face. She has a single brow raised and her thin lips are twisted into her trademarked frown. One of her arms is spread across the back of the sofa and her other is resting on her stomach. Her left leg is crossed over her right with her ankle resting just above her knee and her foot is bouncing uncontrollably. Cayden takes a step toward her, but freezes as several guns are pointed at him by her bodyguards. One of them, another batarian, steps forward and scans him with his omnitool. Cayden stretches his arms out away from his body in compliance.
"What took so long?" Aria asks impatiently.
"I was delayed unexpectedly," Cayden responds cooly.
"You're good," the guard growls at him. Aria tilts her head to beckon Cayden to her. He complies and takes a seat at her side, looking over the coffee table at her.
"Krova?" she asks. Although, it's less of a question and more of a confirmation. Cayden nods. "Took you a long time to deal with him."
"I had a compelling reason to not engage in a fight in your club," Cayden admits.
"Please," Aria challenges. "You're more the 'shoot first' type. I figured you'd be able to deal with him quickly." A sudden realization hits Cayden. Of course. Krova was deliberately placed there to ambush him. She shifts in her seat slightly. "Is he dead?"
"No," Cayden answers. She looks at him with a bit of surprise, almost disappointment.
"You're getting soft," she tells him. He just shrugs, unsure of what she wants to hear. "You've got balls of solid steel to show your face here, Cayden," she continues.
Cayden looks back at her with his face twisted in feigned confusion. "Why is that, exactly?"
"Don't play dumb," she says, "last time you were here you tried to shoot me."
"You shot at me first," he challenges as her blue gaze seemingly pierces his thoughts. He gives her a coy smirk.
The purple markings along Aria's brow tremble slightly. "It's MY club." She stands up and steps toward the stairwell, then turns back to him. "You broke the one rule on Omega, which is…?"
"Free drinks on Tuesday?"
Aria sighs, then raises a brow at him. "Don't fuck with Aria." She makes her way back over and resumes her position on the sofa. "You're such a damned smartass." Cayden lights another cigarette and leans back on the couch. This seems to be going well. "You're lucky you're cute," she remarks.
"Aw, thanks, baby," Cayden responds.
"Don't push your luck," she snaps back. "What do you want, Cayden?"
He crosses his arms, his cigarette dangling lazily from his lips. "I want your blessing to take down a batarian slave ring that is based in the Zeta district."
Aria looks deep into his eyes. "I know the one." She pauses for a moment. "Granted," she says contemptuously. She turns her gaze back to the wall. "But what is your stake in their operation? You're not with the Alliance anymore."
"No, I'm not," he confirms, "I'm with an independent organization that contracted me to deal with them." He takes a long drag from his cigarette and exhales a thick cloud of smoke.
"That wouldn't be Cerberus, would it?" she smirks at him.
"It might be," he responds cautiously.
"Don't play coy with me, Cayden." She glares at him with intensity poured over her face. "Not that I care, but you can't trust them."
"I don't trust anyone," he answers, looking around for an ashtray. He doesn't find one, so shrugs and tosses the cigarette over the balcony behind him. He stands up. "Anything else, my queen?" He takes a very insincere, deep bow.
"Pssh," Aria looks past him. "Here," she says. She nods at a nearby bodyguard, who pulls up his omnitool and begins typing furiously on the holographic keypad. "I'm giving you the information I have on them." Cayden opens his omnitool and receives the files. She focuses her eyes on him again. "You're doing me a favor, there's something not right about that group."
"In that case, you're welcome," he says, turning to walk down the stairs. He stops, then turns back to her. "Hey, one more thing." She raises her eyebrow at him again. "Are you going to be doing the whole 'casino ship' thing again anytime soon?"
"I'll make sure you get an invitation," she says. He smiles at her and salutes her mockingly before heading back down the stairwell. That went exceptionally well. He thought she might just try to have him killed, but she seemed almost happy to see him. Well, as happy as Aria can get. He'll have to make his way back at some point and visit her again. All things considered, they did have some fun together in the past. Actually, that's probably a bad idea. He was in a dark place last time he frequented Omega and that version of him is better left in the past.