Chapter 10: Business

"I need to speak to the boss lady," said the man with a Human accent he had never heard before.

Grizz sighed as he had a thousand requests like this each day, as another person came with some deal to offer Aria. While it wasn't a bad gig, swatting away pests like this one was annoying.

Taking another look at the man, he looked able to handle himself in a fight, with good armor and a few scars that suggested experience. The Turian bodyguard asked, "Is she expecting you?"

"She's been waiting her whole life for me," was his attempt at a witty response. "But we have something she needs, and you're not going to keep us from her."

Almost out of nowhere, two new companions appeared beside the grizzled man. One was a young woman, dressed scantily even by the minimal standards common in Afterlife, the other was some alien species, maybe a Drell, but said nothing. Both looked to be vaguely out of it though, with the male lost in some memory and the woman looking everywhere but at him.

"Why don't you tell me what you want, and then we'll see what happens?" was Grizz's response. Aria would be mad if there was a needless scene here, but he wasn't about to let some strangers up to see the boss without her knowledge.

"Listen mate," said the man, as his eyes shifted from friendly to deadly, "you tell Miss T'Loak that the Founder of the Blue Suns is here to see her." He paused a moment before continuing, "Now."

Reaching over, he grabbed the Turian by his horns, twisting them to the ground, with surprising force and speed. His companions looked unmoved, and Grizz noticed others starting to look. From above, Garka called out with a little bit of laughter, "Do you need any help there, Grizz?"

Grizz was infuriated by this, more so by the laughter of the Batarian leader of Aria's bodyguard. But, not wanting to make a bad situation worse, he simply said, "We have some guests for Aria. What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," replied the older man, "but I'll tell you."

Before he could respond, an Asari woman walked forward from above with all the grace and dexterity of a deadly predator, "You must be Zaeed Massani. But it is bad taste to pick on my men."

Not wanting to risk the displeasure of the lady of Omega, Zaeed released the Turian to the ground and offered an exaggerated bow, "I apologize if I have offended, but this little flea," which he said as he kicked Grizz for emphasis "mistook me for someone to be ignored."

Aria laughed, "I think Grizz has learned his lesson, but what brings you to this corner of the galaxy. Come up and we'll talk."

Wearing a slick fitting suit that concealed little of her body, but probably many weapons at the same time, Aria sat upon her couch as Zaeed came forward with his two companions. When offered a drink, Zaeed accepted a strong wine, but the others simply refused.

"Subject Zero, you're quite the hit on all the wanted posters. Last I heard, the reward for your capture was raised another million credits," the Asari said as she identified the first of the two companions easily enough. "Did you get tired of playing hero with your space cowboy friend?"

Jack looked over at the Asari, willing to surrender no ground, saying, "I owed a debt, and it has been paid. I work for me, and don't call me Subject Zero. It's Jack, got it?"

Aria opened her hands in an accepting gesture, "Whatever you want, makes no difference to me."

The two alpha women looked at each other for a moment, sizing each other up, and then relented back to normal conversation.

"What I don't know is this silent friend of yours. Drell, do you have a name?"

Before their companion could answer, Zaeed said, "He is an associate of mine who is good at what he does. Pay no mind to him."

Aria was curious for the identity of someone who would travel in such rare company, but she had many ways to learn what she wanted. If it was not offered, it would be taken later at her time and her choosing.

"Very well, Mr. Massani, what brings you to Omega?"

"I have information and a proposition for you. As a sign of my good will, I'll offer you the first for free. This rock probably won't be here six months from now."

Aria looked at him critically, her eyes betraying nothing, but she simply said, "That's hardly good news, but why should I be afraid?"

Zaeed continued, "I was working a gig for Cerberus. Good pay, but we went with Shepard. You know him, I think."

Aria nodded, thinking of the Commander, and all the trouble he had caused for both dead and alive. She hadn't heard about him for a while, so she wondered which would be true today.

"Incredibly brave or incredibly foolish," she offered as commentary.

"Damn straight. We almost got killed going through the Omega-4 Relay, but here we are to tell the tale. And it goes something like this: The boogeyman is real and he's on his way here. The Reapers he talks about are very real, and they're in this galaxy. All that stands between us and them are a few hundred thousand dead Batarians, a blown up mass relay, and the time it takes them to reach Artemis Tau."

Zaeed looked at Aria as she stopped to consider this new information. Too many details were included for the story to be a complete fabrication, yet she didn't know what to say.

"Why bring this to me?" she asked.

The mercenary said, "Because you're a survivor. You made a comfortable life here, but who knows how long this will work? Maybe the Reapers will ignore it, maybe they'll eat you for breakfast, I don't know."

Aria laughed, "Flattery will get you everywhere with some women." But she turned serious in a moment, "But I'm not one of them, Massani. You want something."

"The kid and I are forming a new mercenary band, the Last Subjects. We need money, and I want to know where Vido went." Zaeed thought again how close he had come to taking out the man who had stolen so much from him, and how he missed that opportunity only because Shepard wanted to save some irrelevant employees from a burning building.

"Catchy name for these times, but if we're all going to burn, what does it matter?" asked the Asari with genuine curiosity.

"Maybe the Commander will stop them after all. Or maybe, we just want to get paid," spoke Massani with the simple demand of a mercenary.

"I'm not here to save the world. I'm here to make a couple bucks, be treated with the respect I deserve, and make sure my partners and I get a good start. Either way, we'll do what we need to do, but you're a woman who understands a good investment."

T'Loak wondered what the specifics would be, but she thought about the possibility. It wouldn't be a bad idea to hedge her bets in case things went poorly. She had money and power to spare, and since Archangel and his new allies basically decimated the existing gangs here on Ilium, maybe she might get into the mercenary business.

"You can never have too much muscle," commented Aria as she offered a playful tease of Zaeed's arm. While he smiled with his teeth, his eyes were all business and she respected that.

"Things are unsettled here in Omega. We only recently had our quarantine lifted, and there's an opening now that the Blue Suns have fallen apart. Maybe it would make sense for some new leadership."

Aria stood up and looked over the counter into Afterlife, her base of operations for Omega. "A partnership could be arranged where you provide a percentage of everything that passes through here, and you run the cargo I want when I want it. Would that be a problem?"

This was not the plan Zaeed had envisioned. He had wanted enough money to find Vido, to take back his organization, and take back his people. But as he thought through the proposition, this was better. Who needed drug addled Batarians when there was a whole planet to be had? So long as he had a fast ship, it would be better this way.

"I'm your man, Aria. You name, we do it." He said this and pointed to his companions.

"Except slaves," interjected Jack. "I don't run people, ever."

"The little one has a heart of gold," Aria said condescendingly. She hadn't planned on shipping people, as it was a messy business, but couldn't resist the opportunity to take a gibe.

"Are you sure you're ready to play warrior princess?"

Jack smiled, closed her eyes, and Aria found herself perched in the air and unable to move. Her eyes blazed fury for a moment, until she saw the smug smile on the other woman's face.

Her guards came rushing up toward the visitors, but Aria waved them off. She knew better than to show weakness in a time like this. And Jack released her down to the ground.

"Impressive," was her response, "Do that again, and you will die. This is my world."

Acting disaffected, the biotic simply said, "Whatever."

Through this whole negotiation, the Drell simply sat there. He seemed calm and observant all at once, but didn't move to grab a weapon while she was in the air. It was almost eerie.

"Zaeed, I've seen what your girl can do, but if we're going to be partners, I want to learn about your silent friend." She looked bored as she said, "I could get the information other ways, of course…"

Although there would undoubtedly be many details to be worked out in this arrangement, the mercenary accepted the consideration and decided to share with the Asari, "Lady Aria, meet Thane Krios."

She smiled and laughed appreciatively, "This is a treat. Your reputation precedes you, but it seems like nobody has ever seen you in person. In your line of business, I cannot blame you."

The assassin looked at her and said, "It has been some time since I last visited Omega, but you look the same as I remember you."

"To think you didn't even stop to introduce yourself, but I will forgive you," offered the woman who ran this planetoid. "I'm surprised by your choice of companions, however."

Thane offered a surprising response, "The time is coming when none of us can afford to be alone, and who we choose to be with will determine if we survive." He looked over at Jack with a look that might have been tenderness, before looking back at Aria, "I survive."

"Well spoken," interrupted Zaeed, "and we can do better than that, together."

Aria also smiled as she called over to one of her attendants, "Get rooms for our guests here, and see their needs are met. They will be staying for some time."

Aria looked back over to the trio and said, "We'll talk more about this tomorrow, and work on the details then, but you'll be here as my guest until then."

Taking the hint, Zaeed rose first and said, "I knew we could do business together."

Behind him, Jack rose without giving any acknowledgment to the Asari. Thane, by contrast, dipped his head in gratitude and followed silently at the rear of their procession.

Their guide did not say anything, but quickly conducted them to an apartment building near the elevator to the lower sections of the asteroid. Shepard had been here just weeks earlier in his hunt for Morinth, but the accommodations they were offered were considerably nicer. Though small, the room had all the amenities, and it was obvious Aria had used this on many occasions.

"Let's take a little tour," suggested the mercenary leader. "I didn't come to this world just to sit here, and if we're going to take charge, people better get used to seeing us."

Thane questioned the wisdom of that decision, "Do you think it wise to show our faces when we are supposed to be running an underground?"

Zaeed laughed at that, "The people need a chance to love you or fear you, my friend. People won't respect you if they don't see you."

Jack said nothing as she actually agreed with Thane, but she didn't know about running a mercenary band so she decided to simply listen and learn. She knew about running alone and running away, but not how you would run in a pack. The only experience she had was her short time with the crew on the Normandy, and even then, she was an outsider.

She saw how others looked at her, either wanting her body or to be left alone. Uniforms couldn't hide how people really were, and she kept telling herself that even as there was a part of her who didn't believe that. The part who kept the biotic bubble open that allowed the team to take out the Human Reaper prototype, the part who was ignored still lived.

"If we're going down there, we better arm ourselves just in case," said Massani as he grabbed his trusty shotgun and made sure to have extra ammunition. He didn't think he'd need it, but he'd rather have it on hand if wrong.

Thane frowned as he realized his sniper rifle wouldn't be useful in close quarters, so he instead selected a M-6 Carnifex, a heavy pistol that should be sufficient in any situation.

Jack brought nothing but two sharp knives, at least as far as anyone could see.

They left the apartment and entered the elevator to visit the lower area. You could tell there had been problems here as properties lay vacant, and you could see an occasional person scurrying through the streets. Mostly humans, there were a few Batarians around, but the other species most commonly seen were Vorcha.

From the bits and pieces they had heard of this place previously, Garrus had once explained the infighting that had been happening between the Blue Suns and the Vorcha, and that the Vorcha were kept in line by the presence of the mercenaries. After they were cleaned out, that had changed, and though the Vorcha had been hit hard by the plague, their numbers would increase more quickly than their potential adversaries.

It made for a dangerous situation which explained why there were so few people on the streets. Zaeed thought about this as he walked along, heading toward the opposite end of the sector. In his conversations with the Salarian, Mordin had sometimes talked about how well defended it was, and his work there. It seemed like a logical place to start.

After a short walk, the three entered the clinic. All of them noticed the heavy mechanized weapons posted at the entrance, and did nothing to provoke anyone. It didn't seem they were being employed, actually, but Zaeed wasn't hoping to find out.

When a nurse approached him asking what his needs were, he asked to speak with Daniel. "I'm a friend of Dr. Solus and wanted the chance to talk to him."

The nurse was delighted to hear that and went immediately to get the assistant who had taken charge of the clinic once Mordin was recruited by Shepard. The unimpressive lad came forward and was very happy to see the guests.

"Welcome to our clinic," he said, "How is Dr. Solus?"

Thane responded by saying, "The Doctor is doing very well, helping with important work."

Daniel nodded, "I always knew he had something bigger to accomplish. I'm glad he is out there, but we certainly miss him here. With all the violence and problems we could use help."

Zaeed smiled wickedly and said, "Maybe we can help each other. We're going to be moving into these neighborhoods to keep everything safe, and we'll protect your clinic also."

Not suspecting anything, Daniel said, "It was thoughtful of the professor to send you, but the guns we have seem to do the job well enough of scaring anyone away."

"Maybe, for now, but when the Vorcha come back in numbers and there's no Blue Suns, what do you think will happen?"

Daniel didn't seem to have any clue, so he said, "Maybe you're right."

Sometimes a war could begin without a shot, and Zaeed began building his new empire in an unexpected place by saying, "I can help. See, if we reposition these weapons here…"

By the end of the conversation, fully a quarter of the sector would be very well protected, and that would be the base of the Last Subjects if Zaeed had his way.

Author's Note: I'm not going to get to write as much as I might like in the next week because I'm doing a major home remodeling project. I'll try to get at least one or two more, but it may be tricky, and I apologize in advance. I'd rather be writing.