A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews, it really makes me feel nice knowing people enjoy my story.

Chapter 13: Fog of War

Despite Aria T'Loak's firm grip on its denizens, Omega has always been a powder keg in a room full of candles. It took a steady but firm hand to maintain any semblance of order in the rogue space station. All it took was a simple application of force and violence in the right place and blam, the whole station would explode into chaos. And as it burned down, a new order would rise to take hold of the station, or whatever was left of it. Aria clearly remembers the last time that happened, when she overthrew the rule of the krogan now known as The Patriarch, right here in the Afterlife. She'd be damned if she let history repeat itself in her natural lifespan. She'd put an end to this right here, and then she'd hunt down and kill every blue sun on the station.

The blue suns had bunkered down at the upper and lower entrances, sending in wave after wave of their men, while Aria's pirate forces fought for their lives controlling the main hubs. Aria's men held their own valiantly, but the blue suns were slowly pushing through, being more organized than the rattled defenders. Every inch lost to the invaders cost dozens of lives from both sides. The fighting had become so thick in some places that many had resorted to hand-to-hand combat, trampling over the dead from both sides, with curses, screams and gunfire replacing the heavy bass beats of the club.

Shepard ran from cover to cover, trying to keep up with Aria as she rushed towards the front lines of battle. "Aria! Wait!" Leaping out of cover, he took aim with his assault rifle and squeezed the trigger, dropping a merc with each burst. This was getting from bad to worse. Aria had bolted on ahead and out of sight, the smoke from the fire having created a literal fog of war in the battlefield. They were in too deep now, and escape wasn't an option anymore. The only way to get out of this is to survive. The odds of which were as limited as an honest dealer on Omega. Slamming in a fresh clip, he advanced swiftly, looking for any sudden movements in his vicinity.

There was the snap of gunfire, and Shepard immediately ducked into a roll, landing prone on the floor. Shots were fired again, but went wide and missed him completely. He could make out the armored silhouettes of several mercs in the smoke. Getting up on one knee, he aimed in the general direction of the shooters and unloaded, sprinting for cover. He traded shots with his obscured assailants and baseball-slided behind an overturned table. Bullets razed his cover, whittling away at it as he switched out the rifle for his shot gun. Ditching the now perforated table, he pulled the pin on a couple of frags and lobbed it at them. Not even bothering to look at the ensuing explosion, he advanced deeper into the battlefield, pumping his shotgun.

The fighting was getting intense, and Shepard found a lot of use for his shotgun as he tore a path through any Blue Sun unfortunate enough to get in his way. "Thane!" He barked into his comm, "Keep tabs on Aria! Watch her back!"

"Understood Shepard, I have her in my sights."

"Copy that, Thane, over and out!" He replied as he shot out the knees of a merc, causing the man to fall to the ground screaming in pain before curb stomping him out of his misery. "Miranda, I need a sit-rep!"

"Shepard, we've joined up with Aria's pirates but it's a blood bath down here!" Miranda said urgently, gunfire barking in the background. "The way up is blocked; The path collapsed during the explosion! They have some biotics down here trying to clear a way but I don't think we can give them enough time, Shepard."

Shepard quickly glanced at where Aria's personal lounge was once perched. It was a fiery mess of twisted steel, the blaze still burning. The path that leads to the inner workings of the bar beneath it had indeed collapsed. "Stay calm, Miri, I'm bringing all of you back alive today!" he replied, ducking as he reloaded. "And keep the Normandy posted, we're going to need some back-up here!"

"Shepard, that's the thing! The Normandy's been on radio silence this whole time!"

"Shit…" he cursed as he shot another merc. "What about Aria's men? Why aren't they bolstering your position?"

"These thugs are hardly a military unit, Shepard…"

"Then do what you do best, Miranda!" He said, trading shots with the Blue Suns. "There's no other way out; we've got no choice but to outlast this!"

"Copy that, Shepard." Miranda said as she cut off the comm. "Damn it…" She, Jacob, Zaeed and a bunch of other men were bunkered down in the lounge connecting both upper and lower Afterlife behind some hastily erected defenses. The fire fight was fierce, bullets whizzed past above her from where she ducked for cover.

A pile of corpses in blue armor was slowly starting to grow as the Blue Suns tried in vain to advance from the hallway up towards their position. That bottleneck was the only thing keeping them alive.

Zaeed was busy muttering a litany of curses as he unloaded the contents of his revenant LMG, keeping the blue suns at bay. He ducked to reload, "So, I'm guessing we're on our own down here, eh sweet-heart?"

"Seems like it," she said, before whacking him lightly on the side of his head. "And I said don't call me that, you geezer."

"Hah!" Zaeed said in amusement. He then planted the machinegun on top of his barricade, proceeding to unload once more. "Pull!"

"Got it!" Jacob waved his hand in the air, catching a merc with his biotic pull and lifting him out of cover to be shredded by the torrent of bullets. He pulled out his heavy pistol and resumed trading shots with the suns. "There's no end to them."

. "At least there's no shortage of thermal clips, either!" Zaeed yelled over the barks of his weapon.

Miranda pulled the trigger, landing a neat shot between the eyes of a merc who was dumb enough to stick his head out. "Not if this keeps up…" Her eyes darted around, looking for a command officer among Aria's men. "Hey! Hey you!" She yelled, hailing a turian crouched behind the barricade next to hers.

"Who? Me?" the pirate replied as he fired blindly from cover. "I'm busy, lady!"

"Yes, you! Who's you're C.O.?"

"My what?" the pirate sounded insulted, reloading his gun.

The asari next to him leaned in to whisper something as she reloaded, "I think she's hitting on you."

"Ugh…" Miranda wished she wasn't holding a gun so she could rub her temples. "Who's in charge?"

"Huh?" He gave her a look as if she asked which way was up or down. The asari next to him sniggered. "Well, Aria is!"

Miranda then proceeded to rub her temples with her gun. "I meant down here!" Idiots.

"Down here? Hah!" The turian jerked a thumb to the back of the defenses. "That'll be the blood smear back there!"

"Brilliant…" she muttered as she swung out of cover to return fire. She caught a merc full on the chest as the human tried hopping from one cover to another, falling down into a crumpled heap. This was impossible. Without an organized defense they'll be overrun in a matter of time. She didn't want to die here. She couldn't. She still needed to protect Orianna.

She felt a hand gently squeeze down on her shoulder. Turning around, she met Jacob's eyes. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to; they'd known each other long enough to… understand each other. He just looked at her, and Miranda knew what he meant. Flashing a quick smile, she nodded and turned back to the turian, a new determination shining in her eyes. "Well guess what, boys and girls? I'm in charge now!"

The pirates collectively stared back at her, then at each other, before breaking into laughter in the middle of battle. A batarian at the back mocked her. "I needed a laugh before I died, thanks lady!"

Miranda didn't even give it a second thought as she bolted up towards the batarian, bullets whizzing past her as she quickly closed the distance between her and the pirate.

Jacob had to do a double take before he registered what just happened, "What the fu-? Miranda!" He frantically got up to lay suppressive fire. "Zaeed! Help me cover her!"

"That one's a keeper, kid!" Zaeed jeered as he lobbed an incendiary grenade to preoccupy the mercs.

Jacob just grunted in reply as he dropped another merc.

Miranda balled up her fist and punched the batarian in the face, flooring the pirate. When he tried to get up, she kneeled down on his neck and stuck her pistol to his face. "You want to die? I'll save the blue suns the trouble and help you out myself." She sneered. She heard the sounds of guns being cocked around her, and she didn't need to look to know that several pirates were now aiming their sights at her. Ignoring them, she looked the batarian in the eyes, watching them quiver in fear as he gasped for breath. "What's wrong?" she mockingly asked. "I thought you were so ready to die? No? Good." Getting her knee off his neck, the pirate sat up, coughing. She looked around at the other pirates, "What about you? Who else wants to live and see another day?"

"You bitch…" The batarian roared and reached for his pistol, but Miranda swatted him with her gun, effectively knocking him out.

"We could talk about this all day you know, or you could take a risk." She continued as if nothing happened. "If you want a shot at life, you'll answer to me until we're out of this, is that clear?"

A turian slowly started nodding as he lowered his weapon. "I… I think we should follow the lady."

Another turian looked at him incredulously. "You what?"

"Well what do we have to fucking lose, Ralloth?" he barked back to his companion, then turning to look at the rest of the pirates. "I have a sweet heart in the Gozer district I want to come back to. I don't want to die here, and if this lady says she knows how we can make it out then I'm listening to her!"

"Alright, alright, geez!" Ralloth relented, reloading his weapon. "I don't like it, but I have your back, Leethwin."

"I'm in." a pirate said in the distance.

"Me too!" One of the biotics working the wall wheezed as she tried to shift the collapsed wreckage that blocked their way with little avail.

"So are we!" The first turian she talked to yelled over the gunfire from the front line.

Like a rippling pond, the effect of her words seemed to grow more and more, eventually gathering the assent of all the pirates there. Miranda smirked as all eyes settled on her. "Right, I don't care who you are or what you did, you're soldiers now! Here's what we'll do…"

Ducking into a descending walkway that led into a private room, Shepard loaded a fresh thermal clip into his shotgun. The battle hadn't gone on for more than a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity now as the constant barrage of gunfire deafened him.

Looking around the corner, a squad of 4 blue suns advanced, guns blazing. Taking a deep breath, he swung out of cover and aimed at the lead merc. Pulling the trigger, blood and armor exploded on those around him. Going with the shock and momentum, Shepard got into melee range and swatted the closest one with the butt of his gun. He swung around, catching another in the jaw and giving the merc next to him a boot to the gut, sending him sprawling on the ground. Pumping his shotgun, he shot the downed man, making his brains splatter onto the cold metal floor. One of the mercs, a batarian, grappled him from behind, but an elbow to the face quickly fixed that problem. Taking a grenade, he pulled the pin and shoved it into the stunned batarian's mouth. Grabbing him by the scruff, he bodily tossed the merc at the last surviving member of the squadron and dove for cover. There was an explosion and a shower of scrap and meat, and Shepard got up.

"Help me, please…!"

Shepard looked down to see a human pirate lying on the floor. Kneeling next to him, he did a cursory look over at his state. Bleeding, armor broken, the guy was practically one foot in the grave. "Easy, I'm Commander Shepard, what happened?"

"I was with Tassan, those fucking suns jumped us…" He weakly pointed towards a batarian lying face down on the ground in a pool of blood. "They killed him and left me for dead."

"The mercs who killed your friend are dead." Shepard said, applying medi-gel on the wound. "This will help for now." He got up and helped the pirate get back on his feet. "Have you seen Aria?"

"The boss? Yeah, she sped past us before we got bounced by the suns. Went that way." He replied, clutching at his chest while nodding his head in Aria's general direction. "Thanks."

"Just lay low, and shoot anything with blue armor." With a nod, he sprinted off into the general direction the pirate had indicated. He had to keep Aria alive. She was powerful, but she's in over her head. If she died, these pirates would lose what little morale they had left, and that would be the end. "Thane…" he said as he opened his comm. "How are you holding up?"

"I have Aria in my sights, she is certainly… incensed."

"I'll be right there!"

The smoke still rolled thick from the smoldering ruins of Aria's lounge. Should this continue, then they'd all be dead from poisoning if the enemy hadn't killed them first. Fortunately for Thane, death wasn't a fear, but a truth of life. Even through the curtain of smoke that obscured his vision, his walk around of the place before the attack gave him enough bearings to know where he was in the club. A gun in each hand, he stalked the smoke like a predator, keeping the pirate queen in his sights, shadowing her just as Shepard had asked of him.

She was powerful, but she was also reckless he thought, diving head first into the enemy, like a wailing banshee of fury. It left her vulnerable, but he supposed that was why he was here. Bringing both guns to bear, he opened fire on a squad of mercs who rushed her from her flank, giving Aria enough time to turn and send a biotic wave crashing right into the hapless suns. At the very least, he could respect her skill, if not approve of it.

She didn't even bother giving them a second look as Aria just pressed onwards, disappearing into the smoke. Thane shook his head as he regarded the still groaning Blue Suns on the floor. "Sloppy of her." he muttered, lazily finishing each off with a bullet to the head as he walked past them.

He finally caught sight of Aria again at the front lines, like a rock that stood firm against the waves of enemies that crashed upon her and her men, holding them back. With bullets and biotics, she dealt death like rain on a stormy day.

Aria roared in fury as she used her biotics to jump high into the air, curling her fist and landing on top of a group of blue suns, breaking straight into their lines. She punched the ground and a biotic shockwave sent them all flying into the air, landing violently like rag-dolls. Turning her sights towards the closest merc, she leveled her heavy pistol and unloaded into the hapless batarian. Ducking and rolling, she managed to slide into cover just as a dozen guns turned their sights on her and opened fire.

Crossing her hands in front of her, a biotic field shimmered to life, shielding her from the torrent of bullets. She smiled, she may not be able to hold this for long, but she can hold it long enough for her men to charge in. The pirates of Omega rallied, seeing their leader charge forward, and took the fight to the suns, guns blazing and chanting curses.

"Fuck them up men!" Aria roared gleefully as she curb stomped a sun who was trying to get up. She ground her heels into the back of his head for good measure. "What's the rule of Omega!"

"Don't fuck with Aria!" Her men replied in unison, morale soaring into the air. The charge gave them their foothold in the battle, and for the first time since the explosion, the mercs were slowly reeling back.

"Damn right!" Aria said as she stood atop a table victoriously. "A hundred thousand creds to the one who brings me Miller's hea- oomph!"

There was a snap of gunfire in the air as a bullet went through Aria's heart. Or it would have, had Thane not tackled her out of the way of the bullet's trajectory, safe and sound. "Are you unhurt?" He asked her as he held her in his arms.

"Shepard's drell huh? Hands off!" She said as she got out of his hold, dusting herself off. "And thanks, touch me like that again and I'll kill you."

But Thane wasn't listening to her; instead, he was looking at the direction of the shooter. Aria raised an eyebrow and turned to see what he was looking at. A Blue Sun was slowly walking towards them in the chaos, shouldering the culprit sniper rifle. A grinning helmet stared right back at them.

It was the merc with the detonator.

"Dear, sweet Aria… Did you find a new boyfriend in fish face over there?" the man said, his voice making her bristle with rage. "You really should've put out for me when you could." He stopped, still a great deal of space between them. "It's a shame to waste a fine pair of tits."

Thane was cool and calculated, but the tone in Aria's voice still sent a chill up his spine. He could not remember the last time that happened.

"Miller."

And then she rushed him.