There were a series of clicks that echoed through the walls of the Veritas craft, shuddering as the momentum slowed to a halt. Another vibration shook the craft as the fuel line connected. The nice thing that Shepard had discovered after waking up was that he still had access to his credit line. Banking was straightforward in Citadel space. Your account was accessible by the account holder, regardless of the fact if you were dead or not. To his pleasant surprise, Shepard had found out that his growth account had accrued quite some credits since he last checked, on top of his enormous personal fortune that he had slowly built up during his last campaign. It was these funds that were currently paying for the fuel that was now guzzling into the tank of the craft.

Both Shepard and Joker stood to await the proper handshake protocols from the docks so that they would be clear to disembark. Before that could happen, Shepard walked down the hallway to the door at the end, with Joker following in interest.

As they passed through the threshold, Joker perked his eyebrows up as he beheld the armory. It was not like the Normandy where lockers simply adjourned the sides of the hangar bay but a dedicated room that held weapons and armor of every conceivable type. Cerberus certainly spared no expense.

Shepard stalked over to a large drawer and pulled out a black bodysuit. After determining that it was the proper size, he stepped into it, careful not to let it catch on any metal part of his body.

"Is there any particular reason you're suiting up, Shepard?" Joker asked. "I mean, it's not like you aren't already compensated in the armor department."

"One good reason, Joker," Shepard replied. "My appearance would not be so well received anywhere in the galaxy, much less Omega. The only way around this is the fact that I have to conceal myself entirely. Might as well put some of this armor to good use."

There were a few assorted pieces of a light armor that were in a bin next to the drawer. Shepard slid them on over the suit, adjusting them to the diagnostics in his body. A heavy set of armor was not necessary as he already had enough protection. All that matters was its ability to disguise. Selecting a helmet marked "Phantom," the HUD briefly blinked to life before him until he shut it off, the symbols were cluttering his vision.

Someone had also left something behind on this ship, Shepard noticed. While the armor was a good start, it was rather lacking in the overall presentation aspect. Gently removing it from the hanger, he slipped the black trench coat over his entire body. If he didn't look intimidating before, he certainly did now.

Joker whistled, "Badass, Shepard. You've gone from a mobility mech to a hard-edged killer."

Shepard slowly tilted his head to gaze in Joker's direction, not saying a word. He knew that the man was trying to lighten the overall mood but the jabs were still too fresh, too raw. He briskly walked out from the room, after grabbing an Avenger assault rifle in addition to his pistol, and strode over to the airlock. There were no advanced decontamination protocols and the doors merely slid open. What surprised both men was the fact that they had a welcoming party at the gate.

"You've made an unscheduled stop, human," a batarian growled as they approached. "Aria wants to know why."

Shepard snorted, "I wasn't aware I had to report my movements here. Tell Aria to mind her own business."

It was probably not a good idea to antagonize the first people he met on this station but Shepard was not in the mood for any lip. Also contributing to his indignation was the fact that he never particularly cared for batarians. He had seen enough of them during the Skyllian Blitz and felt that their indignant attitude towards humans made them untrustworthy and rather pathetic. Sore losers still smarting after they got swatted in the rear. Shepard never displayed any xenophobic tendencies but he made occasional exceptions for batarians.

Also not a good idea was to ignore any requests from Aria T'Loak. She was the most influential figure on Omega, some even considered her its ruler. Omega, by itself, had no form of government but Aria was the glue that held everything together. She had control over the eezo mines, had the largest amount of forces at her disposal, and was the most powerful biotic in the Terminus systems. So, any further antagonizing was only going to shorten his lifespan further.

"You landed on Omega, human," the batarian snarled. "That makes it Aria's business. She wants to see you in Afterlife. Try not to keep her waiting."

Before Shepard could hurl an insult, the batarian walked off, most likely to harass someone else. Shaking his head, he walked off the bay and into the grand market. The Omega skyline was nothing more than a series of rusty columns hidden behind a coppery haze of dust. Everything was in a dilapidated state and everyone was packing. Any ambassador who was used to the squeaky clean and polished hallways of the Presidium would have had a heart attack had they been forced to vacation here for an hour. There was no other word for it: Omega was a hellhole.

Conveniently, the words "Afterlife" shone in bright red letters adorning a singular door. Shepard could see a line of people massing in front of it while a patient elcor bouncer continued to refuse access. So, Afterlife was most likely a club and a popular one at that. But, then again, if Aria was involved then it was going to be popular regardless.

Shepard and Joker walked past the long line, drawing a few looks of ire as they approached the batarian bouncer next to the door. The batarian nodded and allowed them entry, most likely alerted by his companion at the gate. The hallway beyond was flickering with LED lights only partaking the spectrum of warm colors. Electronic flames licked the walls and people sat in plush chairs down the hall. One particular batarian got up from his chair and started to make a move toward Joker, his intentions less than ideal, but Shepard threw out a fist and the batarian was knocked back into his friends. He hadn't hit the man as hard as he could because killing someone on Aria's turf would require an awkward explanation. Besides, a broken jaw might discourage him from picking on humans in the future.

The main doors to the establishment opened and Shepard blinked underneath the helmet. The interior was large and carried the same color scheme from the hallway. A huge cylindrical stage sat in the middle, an asari was demonstrating her pole-dancing technique for all to see. Large, pink screens were showing some music video that was popular now, the images jumbled and nonsensical that made Shepard figure that you had to be high to make sense of it. The music itself was terrible, it was just a sequence of electronic beats and noises that were endlessly looped until the DJ was sober enough to change the song. Joker immediately sidled off to the bar to procure a drink while Shepard headed towards the entrance to the balcony that hung over the establishment.

The turian bodyguard let him pass after a skeptical glance and soon enough Shepard found himself before the Queen of Omega: Aria T'Loak. Before he could speak, a batarian waved an omni-tool near him, a scan most likely. The batarian's eyes widened at the results and he quickly backed over to Aria. Shepard knew what he was talking about. The fact that his artificial body would easily be detected by a simple scan would cause consternation among those who decided to pry a bit further. He just hoped that their paranoia would not escalate into him having to kill anyone.

Aria turned around, scowling. She was an asari, her skin a deep purple. Her clothing had some unfamiliar insignia on it, the white and black pattern reminding Shepard vaguely of leather. There were particular parts of her outfit that revealed skin in odd places but was still conservative in this environment compared to the dancers.

She crossed her arms, "It's been a long time since the name was mentioned in my presence, but I'm rather curious to see the famed Commander Shepard before me."

He was glad that he wore the helmet, even though he could no longer convey the expression of shock, "You know who I am?"

The asari sat down on her plush couch, "You're not as subtle as you think. Despite how well you think you can hide yourself, there are ways to determine exactly who is in that body."

She waved most of her guards away except the batarian who shuffled off to the corner. Aria tilted her head for him to sit down so he moved over to the side of the couch that was facing toward her. Shepard reclined, as did Aria, "My being alive is not exactly public knowledge."

"I'm well aware of that. Even though it does surprise me to see you here, in my club. I'm curious, what brings Commander Shepard to Omega?"

Shepard shrugged, "It's coincidental, Aria. My ship needed fuel, that's all. But please, don't call me 'Commander.' I'm not in the Alliance anymore and I consider the title an insult now."

"That's a far cry from the boy scout I've heard so much about. Did you find out the dark truth of this galaxy the hard way?"

"In more ways than one."

"About that," Aria leaned forward. "Since Bray here presented your scan to me, we were both equally interested in the fact that you seemed to have arrived in a…different form. So to speak. Before we continue, I have to mention that I don't like people who wear helmets in my presence. I will admit that it's a discomforting tic that I don't usually mention but I would have to ask that you remove it for now."

"Are you really sure about that, Aria?" he said in a whisper.

"You don't like it, you can leave. But I suspect that there is an underlying motive why you took up my request for an audience. You may have acted tough out on the docks but you came nonetheless. And to leave now would defeat the purpose of coming here altogether. I will not ask again: remove your helmet."

If there was anyone who was least affected by this development, it was Shepard. If Aria wanted to be unsettled for the duration of their conversation, that was on her head. There was no alternative to the situation and Shepard raised his arms and slowly lifted the black covering off his head with a hiss. As he set it down, he noted with some amusement that the batarian's four eyes had widened in shock while Aria seemed a bit perturbed by his appearance. Despite the asari's long lifespan, he guessed that she had never seen such a horrifying sight as the silver and black head gazed back at her with the same intensity.

"My, my, Shepard," Aria said softly. "You are full of surprises."

"Happy now?" He was fighting to control his impulse to roll his eyes at her smirk.

"No…not really," she admitted. "The Alliance certainly did a job on you, that's for certain."

"It wasn't the Alliance who did this," he corrected. "It was a human terrorist group called Cerberus. The Alliance left me to die which is why I'm not back with them. Maybe someday I'll go and see for myself the reasons why they did nothing, why my crew was disbanded." He slowly blinked as he paused for a breath, "But right now, hurting Cerberus is at the top of my priority list."

"Cerberus…" she grimaced, staring off into space. "They would go to the trouble to bring you back, which means…"

"Trust me, I'm not with them, Aria. I resent the fact that they were the ones who revived me, to be some pawn in their campaign of galactic conquest. In fact, all I've done since I've awakened was kill legions of their troops. I don't support their methods nor do I wish to collaborate with them. Cerberus put me in this body as a means to control who I was. They failed and I will stop at nothing to make them pay for their mistake."

Aria smiled, the gesture did give him some relief that she believed his story but it was also a cold and cruel smirk. Shepard now understood that Aria was most certainly a force not to cross which made it better that she found sympathy in his plight.

"I have no love for Cerberus myself," she said. "Their short-sighted goals and xenophobic tendencies haven't sat well with Omega in the past. It usually isn't my place to get involved in such matters but ever since they manned an outpost here it has felt like there's been an itch I could never scratch"

"Cerberus has a base here?" Shepard sat forward, interested.

"A small one, yet it is large enough to garner complaints from local residents. You had another reason for coming here, Shepard. This is it, you want to destroy Cerberus one outpost at a time. You take care of that base for me and there might be some compensation for you."

"What are we talking about?"

"Credits, weapons, eezo, information. You name it, I'll give it."

"Send me the location and I'll take care of it." Having Aria in one's debt was an opportunity that few could afford to pass up.

Aria swiftly typed a set of commands into her omni-tool and Shepard's own display blinked as he received a new message. Aria then cocked an eyebrow in appraisal.

"You going to take on the base by yourself?"

"Is that a cause for concern?"

"I would have thought that Shepard would utilize members of a team for a high risk job such as this."

"Yeah, well. That 'team' no longer exists."

"You can always start a new one. I have an idea for someone who shares some interests with you." She leaned back, "There is a vigilante on board this station named 'Archangel.' For months he's been a thorn in the gangs that are based on this station. He and his team have hit several operations concerning operations that even I consider to be low. He would do well as a potential ally."

"So he administers street justice, in a sense?"

"Pretty much the idea. He hasn't crossed me yet and I don't think he's stupid enough to ever make that mistake so I see no quarrel with letting him continue. Out of all the things he's broken on Omega, he hasn't managed to break its one rule."

"And what rule would that be?" Shepard reached for a decanter on the table opposite him. Filling a glass of whatever liquor was encased in its depths, he brought the drink to his metal mouth and quickly downed the liquid. The flesh of his esophagus (an organ that had been transferred) burned but there was no flavor to accompany the sensation. His vision hardly took a dive as the faint blur only lasted a few seconds before his mind felt sharp again.

Aria simply smiled at the disturbing sight of a mech downing a drink, "Don't fuck with Aria."

Shepard shrugged as he set the glass down, "Easy to remember. Where can I find him?"

"I heard that the Blue Suns have set up an ambush at the docks near here. They're transferring cargo loads of red sand to be distributed throughout the system. Knowing Archangel, he'll be there, but the mercs will be waiting. Time is ticking so you'd better hurry if you want to save him."

Tali's transition from sleep came gradually this time, which was a relief. The past few weeks had given rise to the day that the Normandy was destroyed, each night she got to experience that trauma over and over again. And now, tonight, there was nothing.

She didn't really know if this was a good thing. Could it mean that it was time for her to move on, to put aside the fond memories she had? She still didn't know if she could do that. Tali terribly missed her friends but every time she thought of them, she could only see Shepard.

Why am even I thinking of him? He never saw how I felt, let alone knew what I desired. It was never going to happen.

Tali threw her feet over the side of the bed as she loudly sighed. This was hopeless, she couldn't go on living like this, doused in her misery. Everyone on board the Rayya was nice, sure, but they lacked that certain spark, that willingness to listen…to be a good friend.

Her door abruptly slid open and Tali glanced toward the entrance and was completely shocked when a familiar red form stepped inside. The male quarian gave off the air of importance but his body language was softened as he beheld the woman on the bed.

"Father!" Tali exclaimed, quickly standing to her feet. "I…I didn't know you were on board! If you had told me…"

"Calm down, Tali," Rael'Zorah held up a hand. "It was an unscheduled stop. I needed to check the worthiness of the liveships to report to the other admirals, but I thought I'd see my daughter now that I was here."

It was only coincidental that he stopped by. He would have never visited me otherwise.

"So…" she stammered. "How did it look?"

Rael straightened, "As well as can be expected at this point. Captain Dar'Kanna kept on saying good things about you during my inspections, which was nice to hear. I hope you do know that you make me proud every day, Tali."

Words of pride like that were very rare coming from Rael. Despite her initial anger, Tali could feel herself glowing as well.

"That's…that's fantastic! I only want to do my part to help the fleet any way I can." A practiced response, which hopefully showed her devotion to the fleet as much as her father expected. Personal time was never personal, with Rael it was all business. He seemed to take her statement with satisfaction.

"Good…" he murmured. "Good…"

They stood in silence for a few awkward minutes. Both nervously twitched and tugged at folds in their suits, trying to focus their attention elsewhere. It truly amazed Tali that after weeks on end without seeing her own father, he comes to her on his own accord and runs out of things to say in the first few minutes. It never failed to enrage her.

"Is…there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Hmm?" Rael said, distracted from his thoughts. "Oh…no, Tali. I just wanted to see you before I left, to see how you've acclimated to the new environment."

Bosh'tet, he never paid attention to me even when I was growing up in the same room where he was working!

Thankfully the visors prevented organics, even quarians, from masking their displeasure or even disgust as the admiral continued to drone on, "…I know that you might have enjoyed working on that human vessel but I'm glad to see that you've finally realized where you belong. The fleet needs you, we all need you."

You knew nothing about what we were doing! We were out saving the galaxy while you continuously convince yourself that the work you were doing was more important. I belonged on the Normandy, not here. And why won't you ever say 'I need you?' or 'I love you?' That is something a real father would say. What a real friend would say…

Rael tilted his head as he thought he detected some hesitation from his daughter, "Is something the matter, Tali?"

No, of course nothing's the matter. Other than the fact that I've been doing mundane work for over half a year, the fact that you are unable to convince me that you actually care about me, and the fact that I thought I loved someone before he was taken from me. Why would you think such a thing?

"No, father," Tali shook her head vigorously. "Nothing at all."

"Well, that's good," Rael said in his absentminded fashion. "You know, if you wanted to take a break from your engineering duties, you can always request to be in my unit. We're doing important work and I know-"

"Thank you, father," Tali said with a false smile, not that anyone could see it. "But if Captain Danna consistently says good things about me then I believe I would be of more help if I remained on the Rayya. For the…good of the fleet, of course."

"Of course, of course," Rael nodded, completely taking the lie. "Working on the liveship is a noble job and if you think that your skills were more advantageous aboard the Rayya then, by all means, stay. But, if you ever want a change of scenery, let me know. I have no doubt that you'll be exceptional with my team."

Before she could say goodbye, he merely gave a nod and backed out of her room, leaving Tali alone with her thoughts. Just like her father, he was never the sort to gush his love for anyone, including his family. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember a time when he was particularly sentimental, even when her mother was alive. She shook her head as she gathered up her things for the day. Everything was still dreadfully normal in her secluded little world and nothing would come to break her out of it.

But maybe that was what Tali needed. Maybe a glimpse into her past would help her cope, share some laughs with old friends and hope that it could break the monotonous spell of her work week. Perhaps, after her shift was over, she would give Liara a call, see if she was around. She always got along with the asari archeologist and was certainly a better conversationalist than Garrus, or Wrex.

Perking up from her thoughts, she locked her quarters and walked to her assigned deck with a little more confidence this time.

Rukin casually flicked his finger across the datapad, skimming the file that the Illusive Man had sent him. It took a lot to impress Rukin in this day and age but Shepard's dossier was the most remarkable resume that he had ever seen.

Born on Earth, practically winning the Blitz, served on the most advanced human vessel, fought geth, fought a rogue Spectre, and now an unstoppable war machine? This man has achieved what ten men couldn't even hope to accomplish in one lifetime.

The file came with subfolders that contained information on the members of the crew that Shepard worked with. There were some niggling issues with the circumstances surrounding them at the moment but they were issues that he wished to go over when his quorum of at least one confidant was nearby. That automatically left Rosun out of the equation, the dumbass couldn't even figure out a standard flanking maneuver but he somehow knew of ten different ways to kill a man, all involving the snapping of the neck. It was a combination of smarts and stupidity that baffled Rukin repeatedly and it was only though the man's skill in combat that he hadn't spaced Rosun out the airlock yet.

The door to the conference room opened and in walked a slim, Asian man. He had beady eyes and wore some kind of specialized body armor. Rukin arched his eyebrows at this but he now had his quorum so he couldn't complain.

He set the datapad down as the man saluted, "Operative Leng reporting in, colonel."

Rukin mentally smirked; the fact that he was the one being saluted meant that the Illusive Man had already gone over the chain of command with Leng. He was still in charge, which was a good sign although he really needed to look up the official rank of Operative as it seemed it had a loose terminology within Cerberus. "At ease, Operative."

The man complied and Rukin eyed him over. Leng wasn't powerfully built like Rosun, or even on the same stature as Rukin. He reminded himself that to obtain the title of operative, size alone wasn't a factor as he knew that Leng was more than capable of killing him without resorting to brute strength. But Rukin also had some tricks up his sleeve.

Leng never broke eye contact with Rukin, "I have brought twenty ships that were drawn from the 3rd, 21st and 34th fleets. The Illusive Man sends his regards, Colonel Rukin."

Rukin crossed his arms, "What exactly did he say about me, Leng? Be honest, I'm trying to paint a picture of you as a person."

Leng briefly frowned, "He said that you tended to have a reckless streak, were incompetent in certain situations and were untrustworthy as well."

Rukin sincerely hoped there was more to his character than that and merely waited until Leng continued, "He did mention that you were a talented combatant, had an excellent success rate, and that your string of recent accomplishments have proven to him that you are trying to make a good impression, a trait that he has noticed, by the way."

It sounded right to Rukin, "And, Kai Leng, I have heard and read a lot about you. Enlisted in the Alliance at 16, using falsified papers, incarcerated for murder during shore leave and liberated for your skills in combat along foryour xenophobic tendencies. All that right there gives me the information I need. You're not hard to read, Leng. You're a merciless bastard, ruthless, and your hatred of aliens is so overpowering that it might just be blinding you. But you're efficient and honest and in our line of work the two rarely go hand in hand."

"Should my xenophobia really come as a surprise to you in our organization?" Leng spat.

Rukin shrugged, "It depends. While Cerberus' goal is to elevate humanity, blatant racism can only get us so far."

One of the characteristics that Rukin never really agreed with was Cerberus' stance on alien relations. While it was true that he thought that humanity deserved its time in the spotlight, it didn't necessarily mean deliberately going out of your way to step on every species just because you thought you were better. If they got in your way then stomping season was in. Hell, Rukin had previously been with a few asari in his life and he thought nothing of it. If two people wanted to spend the night together, regardless of their species, then they had that right. Leng worried Rukin because he knew that he would go for maximum carnage whether it was appropriate or not. He would just as soon kill an asari escort for merely approaching him for a good time. He wondered who was the real loose cannon in the room.

Leng shook his head, "Humanity goes first, no matter the cost. We do the hard things the Alliance is unwilling to do for the good of our species because-"

Oh great, the man was starting to rant. This was getting off topic. "Listen, Leng," Rukin interrupted. "We can discuss our personal views later. You say that we were given a fleet of twenty ships to use at our discretion. Notice that I'm using 'we' because the Illusive Man, despite his assurance of my operational command, is ghost-directing this entire operation. I know that he has you here to spy on me so I'll be relying on your input for any decisions that get passed on this mission, all right?"

"Yes, sir," the man could be taught, it seems.

"Good," Rukin slid the datapad across the table. "Now, you're aware that we have to track down Commander Shepard after he rather unexpectedly escaped a secure facility."

"I read the report. Lawson was a fool for trying to wrest control of the project entirely."

"Well, we are agreed on that. But it's a moot point, Shepard is still out there and we need to find him. Trouble is, we don't know where he is. Our current cells are widespread but too isolated to allow for a proper net. Knowing the man's resourcefulness, it could be a while before we get a bead on him."

"So draw him out."

"My thoughts exactly," Rukin gestured for the man to pick up the datapad, to which he complied. "I've been given a dossier on Shepard. My idea is to go after one or more of the people on this list. Shepard will most likely try to reconnect with his former crew and will most likely catch wind of any attempt against them. This will cause him to come to us rather than needlessly chase him across the galaxy."

"Have you picked a target?"

"For the most part. The first name, the one right here? Commander Kaiden Alenko is not an option due to his standing as an officer in the Alliance military. It will be difficult to separate him from his post without excess collateral damage so we're not considering him. Also the krogan, one Urdnot Wrex, is also off the list because he's currently based on Tuchanka. Human relations with the krogan are…strained to say the least and there's too much at risk by traveling to the krogan homeworld so we're not going."

"That leaves three on the list."

"I'm getting there. The asari, Liara T'Soni, seems like our best option. Constant reports place her within a small operating area on Illium. It wouldn't take much to locate her but we would have to leak the fact that we would be planning an attempt-"

"What about the other two?" Leng interrupted.

"Oh, um…let's see…Garrus Vakarian, ex C-Sec, has gone off the grid. At this point he would be just as difficult to locate as Shepard."

"And this last one?" Leng held up the datapad so Rukin could see, even though the gesture was wasted as he had memorized it entirely.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," Rukin said. "Currently she is aboard one of the quarian liveships in the Far Rim. The fleet's movements are always being tracked so we always know where she is-"

"She's the one," Leng announced.

"She…what?" Rukin tilted his head.

"We go after her."

Rukin frowned, "I think that T'Soni would be a better alternative due to the minimal use of resources-"

"We have a wealth of resources to draw from. We only need to find and capture Shepard. Everyone else is expendable. We can jump into the system and swiftly board the ship. The quarians would never fire on one of their own ships, they're too miserly for that. It would be a ground war at that point. We go in, stir up the nest, and wait for Shepard to arrive."

Why am I getting the feeling that Leng is vying for this because he will get to kill as many aliens as possible?

Rukin decided not to press the matter, Shepard was the goal and he was tasked with doing whatever it took to get him back into Cerberus' arms. "Regardless," he coughed. "We would have to send a leak out to our units for a select mobilization-"

"Do what you want," Leng shrugged. "But this is what we will do. Shepard will do anything to protect one of his crew, regardless of the species unfortunately, which will bring him into our clutches. Are we agreed on that?"

Rukin debated the merits of Leng's thinking. Sure, he was a bloodthirsty bastard, but he was also practical. A full scale invasion of the quarian fleet would stir up more attention, make it more noticeable to Shepard, and could potentially result in some badly needed propaganda for the troops. On the other hand, the mission had such a high probability of failure due to the number of unknown variables involved. They didn't know the layout of the Rayya, they didn't know how many troops the enormous ship had, and they did not know if they would find Zorah in time or if Shepard would show up at all. It sounded like a suicide mission, but there weren't that many viable choices.

"Agreed."