Omega Chronicles - 11- It's easy to make new friends
Shepard climbed the short steps to Aria's private area on the top level of Afterlife and she went to sit down next to the Queen, who quickly shifted her attention off the padd she was holding. "Commander. Take a look at this." She handed her the padd and waited for the human to read it.
It looked like a list of damaged goods, furniture and structures from one of Aria's less glamorous bars, down in the slums. "Looks like somebody had a fun night. But if you're showing me this, it means it wasn't the usual brawl."
The Asari transmitted a vid to the Commander's omni tool and she opened it right away. She could see three humans, a man and two women, having drinks at said bar, sitting around a table. Then the two women got up and started dancing. As another man approached one of the two in what looked like a drunken attempt at seduction, the other woman started glowing like a nova and unleashed a series of biotic attacks that devastated the place like a hurricane in the space of a few seconds. Then the three of them ran out of the bar and the vid ended. Shepard rewound it a bit and stared at the biotic for a few long moments. Her body was covered in tattoos and her head was shaven, she was barely dressed in a pair of baggy pants, sturdy boots, and a leather harness that covered her nipples and nothing more.
"Fascinating character. Amazing biotics. Do we know who they are?"
"The other two have come up as petty criminals, just small stuff, robbery mainly, nothing worthy of notice."
"And the biotic?"
"She didn't come up. At all."
Considering the level of Aria's access to intel, that she couldn't find any information on the young woman was quite peculiar and definitely unexpected. "I see. Want me to look into it?"
"What I want is for you to make her an offer she cannot refuse. I could use that kind of muscle. If she is stupid enough to say no, kill her."
"Consider it done." Shepard motioned to get up but a blue hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"It can wait a few more minutes." The Queen dragged her back down to the couch, making her straddle her lap, her hands immediately encircling the human's waist possessively.
Shepard's hands came up to caress her flawless face. She spoke in a low, sexy voice. "Indeed. What else does my Queen require of me?"
Aria grinned. "Shut up and put that sweet talking mouth of yours to good use."
The Commander grinned right back at her. "Your wish is my command." She lowered her face to meet the Asari in a deep, sensual kiss. Her tongue slowly traced her blue lips, all around. Then her teeth closed on the purple marking than ran down the middle of her bottom lip and she tugged at it, not too gently, drawing it inside her hot, welcoming mouth and sucking on it demandingly. She felt her heartbeat quickening as a familiar hunger spread in her groin. Before she could control herself, her hips were grinding on Aria's thighs. The Queen drew a sharp breath and spoke on the human's lips. "Delightful." Shepard shut her up by pushing her tongue back inside the Asari's mouth, caressing hers in strong, slow strokes, coercing a low moan from Aria's lips. "Mmmmhhhh. You're always so eager." Shepard smirked on her lips as she replied in one quick, low breath. "Eager? You make me fucking ravenous."
The Commander closed her grip on the Queen's arms and untangled them from behind her back, she caught her wrists just above her leather gloves and forcefully put the Asari's hands on her ass. Aria grabbed it and pulled her closer, making her brush along her thighs, all the way to her groin.
Her purple tongue reached out to slide on Shepard's throat, as she felt the human's hands coming up behind her neck to hold her in place and graze along her sensitive tendons.
That's when they heard Anto let out a loud, coughing sound. They both ignored him. He coughed again, and it sounded like he was doing it on purpose. They both stopped and stood perfectly still for a moment. Shepard didn't want to move because she knew that if the Queen had had the freedom to get up right this moment, Anto would have probably ended up either dead or in Mordin's clinic again, and guards as good as him were hard to find. The Commander could almost feel Aria fuming beneath her and she slowly caressed her back and her neck to try and calm her down just a notch.
The old Asari looked up at the human's face. Yep. She was fuming all right. She also had uncanny amounts of self control, and her voice betrayed just a touch of the anger that was instead perfectly plain in her eyes. "What the -fuck- is it, Anto?"
"Sorry Boss. But you told me to tell you right away if there was any contact with that biotic woman or her two accomplices. She just entered the second level here at the club."
Shepard dismounted from Aria's lap in a fluid motion, she took her leather clad hand and kissed it gallantly. "Well, that's my cue. I have a job to do, to make my Queen happy."
Aria all but grumbled. "Yeah. You do that. Don't make me wait, Commander."
On her way down the stairs she was quickly joined by Garrus, who by now never left her side during any and all of the jobs she was out to do on her average day. "Where are we headed?"
"Not far actually, just the next level down. We're going to talk to a very powerful biotic, Vakarian. Eyes open and finger on the trigger at all times. Even if I don't know how a bullet could possibly have any effect on this one."
"Let's do this, Shepard. I've got your back."
They exchanged a friendly smile.
The second level of Afterlife wasn't nearly as impressive as the third, it was a bit quieter and there were fewer dancers. The Commander spotted the small group of the three humans right away, sitting at a table and having drinks. She sat down on one of the couches and waited.
After a few minutes she saw the man and the other woman getting up to go to the bar. She got up and casually strolled to where they were ordering their drinks, activating the recording function on her omni tool along the way. She got into character and prepared to give the manipulative performance of a lifetime. "Hey. I know who you two are. Your reputation precedes you."
They looked at each other for a moment. The man spoke. "And?"
Shepard put on her best conspiratorial face. "I got a job for you. It's a pretty big one. My boss wants something from the apartment of a tight-ass bitch. An antique statuette he gave her when they were... you know... fuck buddies. Now that they don't roll in the sack together anymore, he wants it back, but the bitch won't give it to him. He's getting pissed off. I can give you the entrance code to her building. She's this big shot bank manager for a band of Volus, so she keeps any sort of fancy stuff at her place. Including a safe with a few fat credit chits, for emergencies, as she used to tell him. I also happen to have the combination of the safe for you. You get my boss the statuette and you can keep anything else you find. What do you say?"
The woman smiled and replied a bit too enthusiastically. "Let us talk to our friend over there about it."
The Commander scowled. "Uhm. About that. Her reputation precedes her as well. My boss doesn't want anything to do with her. She's trouble. Think you can ditch her?"
The woman looked at her partner for a long moment. "How many credits are we talking about here?"
"At the very least 10.000. That's the minimum she always keeps in the apartment. Think you can pull this off? Or should I just keep looking for someone else?"
"No! No. Of course we can pull this off."
Shepard flashed a smile. "Great! You're gonna have to start going now though, she usually gets home in about two hours, and my boss doesn't want any blood to be shed, you know what I mean? You know, if you ask me he's still in love with her, the old idiot. But who am I to judge?"
"We'll get on our way."
"You don't mind fucking your friend over?"
"Oh, she's not a friend. Just a tool. A very useful one, but hey, for 10.000 credits I'll ditch my own mother."
"Now you're talking. Here are the codes. I'll be here waiting. And enjoying some blue ass in the meantime, will you look at that!" Shepard let out a wolf whistle as a waitress passed by, for good measure.
The couple smiled wickedly, they took the padd offered to them and quickly left, without looking back.
The Commander casually strolled to the table where the biotic was now sitting alone, her back to the bar, none the wiser of what had just happened. Without an invitation, she simply sat down across from her. "Good evening, Miss...?"
"I'm no fucking Miss nothing, and you better get out of my face before I blast your sorry ass through the wall."
The Commander grinned and leaned back on the chair. "All right then. No pleasantries. Let's get down to it. I am here with a potentially lucrative business proposition for you."
That seemed to catch the biotic's attention for a moment, but her reply was nevertheless as rude as the first one. "If you want to pay me for sex, it's a big fucking 'No'."
Shepard noticed that Sila was working the tables, she motioned with her head to the beautiful waitress, who immediately fetched her a glass of Noverian Rum. As her soft blue hands set it on the table she gave the human a big smile and then she couldn't help lingeringly caressing her hair. Shepard's eyes never left the young tattooed woman. "I never pay for sex." She took a sip from her glass. "Do you know who owns this place?"
"Not a clue and I don't give a damn."
"You should. She's the very same owner of the bar that you destroyed last night."
There was just a hint of surprise on the biotic's features.
The Commander went on. "Just because Omega is known as a lawless place, it doesn't mean that there aren't eyes and ears everywhere."
"Get to the fucking point."
"Aria T'Loak, said owner, caught a glimpse of your... talents. She would like to offer you a job. And she can be a very generous boss."
"You work for her?"
"I work -with- her."
"Same difference."
"Not quite."
"What kind of jobs are we talking about? 'Cause I ain't gonna shake my ass for no Volus perv."
The Commander let out a short laugh. "Oh no. No. You are quite striking, indeed, and I can see how many of our customers would love to get their hands on you, but let's face it. Even if you -can- dance, it's not really the line of work you'd be perfect for."
"Then what?"
Shepard took another sip and then slowly twisted the frosted glass in her hand. She decided to speak the biotic's language. "On average: blowing shit up. And people, occasionally."
"Let's talk pay."
"That you will have to discuss with Aria herself."
The biotic seemed to be thinking about it all for a second. "I'm -with- someone. If you offer a job to them too, I'll meet with this Aria."
For a moment, it almost pained the Commander to be the one to break the news of their deception to the young woman. Then she considered that some lessons in life are better learnt as soon as possible and brought her omni tool online, playing back the conversation she had had with them just a few minutes earlier. When it was over she spoke, a bit more softly, to the biotic. "Sorry, kid."
"I don't need your pity. And I'm not a fucking kid."
"Then give me a name and that's how I'll call you from now on."
The tattooed woman looked deeply into her eyes for a few seconds before replying. "Name's Jack. Let's go." She got up from the table and put her hands in her pockets, trying to look as tough as she could.
They walked back to Aria's personal lounge, with Garrus just a few steps behind them.
Jack asked in her constantly angry voice. "Is he your fucking bodyguard?"
"No. That's what he chooses to -do-. What he -is- is a friend."
"Friendship is useless."
"Not when done properly." Shepard gave her a small smile.
"Shit. Are you always so fucking positive?"
"I have plenty of reasons to be."
They climbed the last few steps, Garrus stopped to stand guard next to Anto. The biotic fixed her eyes on Aria, a hint of concern showing clearly on her face. "Hey! You never said it was an Asari! I don't want no fucking blue chick messing around in my head."
Aria looked at the young human from head to toe. "Feisty." She got up from the couch and closed the distance between them. She stood tall in front of Jack and spoke in her sure voice. "I couldn't care less to be in your head, believe me. All I need is for you to use your extraordinary biotic powers for me. Think you can handle that?"
The biotic seemed unsure for a long moment, her eyes shifting, searching Aria's face, trying to decide whether it would be a good idea to entangle herself with this alien who behaved as if she owned the Galaxy. She got her cool back and quickly asked: "How much?"
A grin opened on Aria's lips, she knew that she got her now. "I'll give you 10.000 credits for every task you are involved in."
The surprise was plain on Jack's face. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were wide. It took her all of one second to reply. "I'm in."
Garka and Garrus dragged the Blue Suns merc into the brightly lit room, forced him to sit on a chair in the middle of it, a small table just three feet from its side, and tied him there, his wrists behind his back, his ankles around the legs of the chair.
Shepard walked in after them, a stone cold look on her face. "Garrus, you can go if you want, this is not something I want you to have to watch if you don't feel comfortable with it."
The Turian thought for a moment before replying. "Well, if this is what we do, even on a semi-regular basis, I might as well get used to it."
"Very well. If you want to walk out at any given moment I won't be offended." She flashed him a grin before turning her full attention to their captive. "I know something is going on, and it must be something big. I want to know what, who, where... and even why. Feel like a chat?"
The merc spat at her boots and smiled at her.
"Mh. These are my favourite boots. That was a bad move."
"You can punch me all you want, lightweight. I won't even feel it. Gimme your best shot."
She gave a slight signal to Garka, who locked the entrance to the room.
"Who said anything about punching?"
She put her hand in her pocket and brought out a small plastic box. She put it down on the table and opened it. Her fingers picked a few metallic pins out of it. She slowly walked behind the chair and squatted down. Her hand pulled his gloves off and she let them fall to the floor.
"What the fuck are you doing back there?"
She forcibly extended his forefinger. As she pushed a pin between the flesh and the nail he screamed. Loudly. "Aaaaargh!" Then she extended his middle finger and did the same. Another scream. When she did it to his ring finger his scream was raw, and it died quickly, turning into proper sobs. "Oh god oh god oh god."
She stood, bent down, and spoke into his ear, her tone as cold as ice. "God can't hear you. But I can. Feel like talking?"
Between sobs he managed to find his voice. "I can't!"
"Why not? I haven't gagged you. I'll tell you what. I'm getting old and I get tired of squatting down. It's bad for my knees, you see. So if you don't start talking now, I will walk to the front of the chair and I'll keep doing what I've just done. To your eyes."
She heard his breath catching in his throat for a moment, before the sobs resumed. She slowly made her way to the table to pick up three more pins before looming over him. "It's up to you, boy. What'll it be?"
Just more sobs.
"If you tell me what I want to know, I can end this. Right now."
Just more sobs.
She motioned to Garka to come and keep his head still, the Turian obeying right away. "Oh god no. No! No!" He instinctively closed his eyes. Shepard ran the tip of the pin all along his eyelid, slowly, scratching his skin. A sudden pungent smell of urine filled the room, making Garrus' nose twitch unpleasantly. "Ok! Ok! I'll tell you what I know! Just please stop... please stop..."
"Smart boy."
"The gangs are calling a truce. They are planning to get together and overthrow Aria. All the bosses are meeting, just a few hours from now."
"When and where."
"The old eezo refinery in sector L16, the Administration office on the second floor. 20:00 hours, local time."
"How do you know this."
"I was supposed to be one of the guards."
"They can't overthrow Aria without an inside man. Who is it?"
"I don't know."
"Bullshit." She pushed the pin ever so slightly against his closed eyelid.
"Wait! Wait! If I tell you, they'll kill me."
"If you don't tell me, when they come to kill you, you'll be blind before you're dead. As I said two minutes ago, you tell me everything and I'll end this now."
"Ok. Ok. It's Joraz."
The Commander masked her look of surprise, Garka didn't. He blurted out. "Joraz as in her bodyguard Joraz, the Turian Joraz?"
Shepard hit him across the face with a hard punch. "-I- am asking the questions, Garka."
The Turian was baffled for a moment, he was about to get angry, then he suddenly remembered how the human had broken Anto's neck a couple of months earlier and bowed his head. "Sorry, Commander."
"Yes. That Joraz." The Blue Suns merc sounded completely defeated.
Shepard looked down at him. "Well done, boy. It wasn't that difficult, now was it? As for my promise." She got her pistol out and shot him between the eyes. "This ends now."
She put the pistol back to her side and made her way out. "Get rid of the body. Garrus, you're with me."
The Turian walked beside her all the way back to Afterlife. Halfway through the Commander looked at him and saw a far gaze in his eyes. "Are you ok?"
It took him a moment to speak. "Yeah. I think. Did you learn that in the military?"
"The torture? Yes."
"I see."
She had already guessed what the next question would be, so she pre-emptied it. "There is no one who is completely, perfectly good, and there is no one who is absolutely, unmistakeably bad, Garrus. No person, no organization, no one. It is part of the balance of life. You need the bad as much as you need the good. Take today. The 'good' military had taught me the 'bad' methods that I have used to do something 'good'. Saving Aria's life, possibly. And avoiding a potentially huge bloodshed."
The Turian thought about it. "Yeah. That makes sense."
They walked in silence the rest of the way. They entered the club and Shepard picked up the pace as she stepped up the stairs to Aria's private area. Joraz was standing there, as he usually did when Anto took his breaks. Before the Queen could even say a word, the Commander brought her omni tool online and started playing back the recording of the interrogation. As the voice of the merc filled the air she raised her pistol and shot Joraz in the head, his body fell to the floor, a pool of blue blood slowly spreading around him.
Aria had watched the scene while listening to the audio file. Her eyes on the dead body, she spoke in a scarily even voice, as usual. "Pity. He was a good shot and he never talked. I liked that." She patted her hand on the couch, inviting Shepard to sit down. Garrus automatically took the place of the bodyguard and brought out his rifle, standing watch.
The Asari made a call. "I need someone to come and take a body away before it starts smelling and the blood ruins all of my floor. Send somebody to clean up as well." She turned to look at the Commander. "So. Would you like to take care of this yourself, or shall I just send in the troops?"
"Nah. I'll bring Garrus and Jack with me, if you don't mind. It'll take all of five minutes. I don't plan to stay and chat with that kind of scum. I'd like to take a look at the blueprints of the old eezo refinery before I'm on my way."
A smile opened on the Queen's face. For just a second she thought that the only way Shepard could be more perfect would be if she had a longer life span. Then she scowled at her own stupid thought, realizing that it was one of those 'soft ones' that had pestered her for a while since she had decided to bond with the human, on the spur of the moment, right after a particularly passionate love-making session. No: sex, it was sex. Damn. What the Hell, who was she kidding? They were bonded now. No sense trying to scuttle back from it. She looked deeply into Shepard's eyes and was so intimately drawn by what she saw there. No, she didn't want to scuttle back. She still managed to find a logical excuse for having a soft spot for the human though. The Commander was a formidable ally, smart, quick, lethal and she invariably got the job done, no matter what, no questions asked. So yes, having her around for a couple more centuries would be good for business. Right. Business. She shook herself out of her reverie.
"Take whomever you want. Come back here as soon as you're done."
Shepard took her hand and placed a soft kiss on her leather covered palm, returning her smile. "As you wish, my Queen."
She turned her omni tool on again and searched for the blueprints she was interested in, then they started going through the 3D map of the refinery together as the Commander was putting to memory all the entrances and exits she might need to use. Garrus looked at the two of them for a few seconds, their gestures were in perfect synchronicity, they were finishing each other's sentences, it was uncanny how well they fitted together.
"Is it always so fucking smelly around here?"
Jack's voice sounded particularly irritated as she strode just behind Shepard on the way to the eezo refinery.
"No, sometimes it's worse."
The Commander was not against some happy banter along the way, to help pass the time as they made their approach. Garrus was keeping up with the pace in silence, a look of concentration on his stern face. It was plain that he was trying to prepare for what would be the first serious gun fight he'd be taking part in since joining Shepard on Omega. As if she could read his mind, the soldier looked at him and spoke softly but surely: "We'll all be back in one piece, Vakarian. I don't plan on coming out of it with a single bruise, actually. And you'll do brilliantly."
The mandibles flared for a second on the face of the Turian. "I'll believe it when we're done."
"Worrywart." Jack's tone was irreverent enough to strike a nerve with the ex-C-Sec Officer.
"You should worry about yourself, baldie." His sure voice sounded like a slap on the wrist.
Shepard deemed that that was more than enough banter. Besides, they had arrived at their destination. "Drop it, the both of you. You'll have plenty of time to flirt once we're back." She stopped and crouched. "There it is. Ready to rock?"
Jack was the first to reply: "Hell yeah."
Garrus was not far behind: "Lead the way, Shepard."
Their attack was completely unforeseen and they did not meet with any resistance. Once they had gotten rid of the two guards outside the main doors, they made their way through the corridors of the old refinery, dealing with mercs as they showed up, and still managed to get to the Administration office before the heads of the rebelling factions had a chance to figure out what was going on.
Her Carnifex on the temple of the Blood Pack leader, Shepard was looking squarely in the eyes of their seconds in command, who were kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs just a few feet away and guarded by a very pumped up Jack. The soldier spoke slowly and clearly.
"So, who wants to tell me what is going on here?"
Silence.
She blew his head off without even blinking and moved on to the leader of the Blue Suns.
"Anyone?"
Unexpectedly lucid in her madness, Jona Sederis, leader of the Eclipse and next in line for the execution, let out a loud laugh, calmed down and started dishing the details of operation 'We really have a good plan to kill Aria. No, seriously. Maybe.' After a couple of minutes of explanations she took the time to justify herself. "I of course did not agree to this, I was just here to spy on them. I would have told Aria about this once we were finished. This is nonsense! I know it is nonsense! You know it is nonsense! Come on human, you know how loyal I am to Aria..."
Shepard took a few seconds to consider her words. "Actually, Jona, the last time we met you questioned my place at Aria's side, you called me her pet and you got your ass kicked by both of us as a result. So excuse me if I don't buy your loyalty act. But you know who will be loyal to Aria for sure?"
She looked to Jona's second in command, a young but enterprising Salarian that was observing the scene with a very nervous look in his eyes.
"Am I right, Sayn?"
A shadow of confusion and doubt passed quickly in the Salarian's eyes before he realised what exactly was being offered to him. Then his head shot up to look at Shepard and he shook it very convincingly: "Yes. Yes of course. I am at Aria's complete disposal."
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear." The Commander pointed her gun at Jona's head and fired, her lifeless body swerved for the fraction of a second before falling to the ground. She brought the muzzle back to the head of the Blue Suns leader: "That of course goes for you too, Massani. You will take the place of this treacherous scumbag and swear fealty to Aria or suffer the same end as your leader."
The old mercenary, who was kneeling right next to Sayn, stared at the soldier for a few moments, evaluating his chances. He knew what was best for him and was not suicidal in the least. He was being offered the leadership to one of the most powerful merc groups in all of the Terminus Systems and he was not going to pass this chance. His raspy voice was sure and clear, with just a hint of irony: "Is it my birthday? Aria is most generous. I accept her gift and look forward to many profitable business opportunities between us."
Shepard executed the last of the leaders and put her pistol back at her side. She turned to see Jack's eyes sparkling in excitement and Garrus' stoic look. The Turian was getting more and more familiar with the lifestyle he had recently embraced. Whereas he didn't always agree with the methods involved, he could see the justice of it all in its purest form. Not hindered by regulations, bureaucracy, hypocrisy and the need to please whatever political agenda, Omega functioned on a very simple rule, that was mercilessly upheld. The Queen was very honest and forward whenever she stated: "Don't fuck with Aria." Garrus intimately appreciated the simplicity of it all, and was slowly but surely getting used to the actions necessary to enforce said rule. Much to the Commander's relief.
"Leave the bodies where they are, untie the new leaders." Shepard took a few steps and stood in front of them. "Go, and don't make the same mistake again." She quickly dismissed them and looked on while they scrambled to their feet and walked out of the office. "I love it when a plan comes together." She grinned at her companions and they started on their way back.
"My Commander returns."
The smile on Aria's face was a telltale sign that she had not only already received word of the success of the rather quickly organised mission, but also that she was very satisfied with the result. She got up from the couch and walked the distance between her and her human lover, putting her hands on her face and pulling her in for a passionate kiss. Shepard's arms circled her waist drawing her even closer, making their bodies connect in the heat of the moment, her hands gliding slowly along the Asari's back, their lips parting to deepen the breathless kiss. As they took their time separating, their lips slightly swollen and their hearts beating a bit faster, their foreheads still touching, the soldier whispered: "Damn. I was gone for just a few hours and it feels like a lifetime. I always miss you too much. I don't know what kind of spell you have put on me, but it's working magnificently." A smile opened on her face, mirrored by the Queen. "I -am- the spell, Commander." That low, sensual tone in Aria's voice never failed to send a shiver down Shepard's spine and soul. She took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh, hoping to keep her desire in check.
As they walked the few steps back to the couch Aria asked casually: "So, how did our new recruit fare on her first mission?"
Shepard stared at her, a serious look in her eyes. "Her biotics are insanely powerful. I have never seen anything like it. Not in a human anyway."
"Can she control her power?"
"She seems to be very much in control, yes."
"What if she turns against you? Or us, for that matter?" Aria seemed to throw the suggestion out there for the sake of conversation, but Shepard knew she was dead serious about it. Being ready for any and all possibilities was certainly one of the strongest suits of the Queen.
"I'm sure you could take her down, but it would certainly be a battle you would remember. As far as I am concerned, I would probably employ a different method to stop her."
"I'm intrigued. Like what?"
"Poison. No other way." There was a hint of concern in the Commander's eyes, for just a second. She shrugged it off and went on: "I don't see her turning on us, not without a very good reason. She was absolutely delighted with what we did today. She loved every second of it. Perhaps a bit too much." Shepard reached for the glass that Aria was handing her nonchalantly. "It's too soon to tell anyway. I'll keep an eye on her and I will formulate my opinion after a few more jobs." She clinked her glass against the Asari's and made a quick toast. "To new recruits, and new leaders." She took a sip and seemed to finally completely relax as she leisurely leaned back on the couch.