The layout of the mercenary nest surprised Mycerra.
She recognized the layout immediately from her previous walk throughs of abandoned areas throughout the station. "Do they just pre-fab the layouts?" She asked the closest teenager.
Tallyn shrugged. He and the sky blue toned asari split for the back door to booby trap it.
"I guess they do." Mycerra whispered and noted the entrances, exits, choke points, and control points. She laid out low impact IEDs along the choke points and control points. She coded the priming to her omni tool.
"Front and back door are trapped. If you're lucky, the blast will kill them on impact." Tallyn reported.
She looked at the batarian teen and nodded. "Get to safety and tell Craid that I hope he and his mother are well. Don't forget to look after yourself too."
"You don't have to mother us." Tallyn scolded her. "We're not children."
"Yes, you are. You were never treated like one before and that's a shame. Every child deserves a happy, bright childhood. Not this place. Go. I don't want you here when they come back."
He lingered, as if he wished to speak. Abruptly he turned away and rejoined his comrades. She sought out the crates to hide behind on the second floor. No one looked behind crates that collected dust. Once people established a lay out for furniture and possessions, they rarely checked nooks and crannies.
She waited.
And waited.
She watched the local video feed from her omni tool. Her stomach twisted and growled in need. She rubbed her torso armor absentmindedly.
One hour passed. She checked her email. No one contacted her except Dr. Parsi. She replied to his questionnaires about her health, medical family history, and the medical information she remembered Cerberus collecting during her teen years.
Two hours passed. She dozed off and jerked awake in a panic. The panic faded.
Three hours passed. She used the bathroom and cleaned up any prints she left behind.
Four hours passed. She reviewed her face stills and edited them.
The front door camera planted over the editing program window.
Multitude humanoid individuals entered through the front door.
"Next time try to hit something, Ithica." The asari sniped at the other asari. Mycerra pinned a name to the quick face still. Ithica, light skinned, basic armor.
"Have you picked up a sniper rifle before today, Maryn? You dropped it twice- "
She added another face still and the name Maryn to her personal archives.
"I was shot. The human doctor's bedside manner needs work."
"You mean he wouldn't give you drugs." Ithica reveled.
She tensed up. Balencia led these people to Dr. Parsi? The bitch!
Balencia's voice drifted in and out, chiding them for their lack of readiness.
If Balencia was here-
She scanned the camera feeds for Mathers. He entered through the back door with two turians. Unlike the ladies, the men entered quietly. Mathers tapped away at his omni tool in concentration. A turian bounced a metallic silver ball off the floor in a practiced manner.
Her count totaled at six people. Ithica, Maryn, Balencia, Mathers and two turians. Two asari, two turians, two humans.
"Set up for the meeting upstairs. The fools won't know what hit them." Balencia ordered the group. "Taking candy from a baby."
Mycerra turned off her omni tool and listened to heavy footsteps clomping up the steps to the overlook area. She pressed into the corner wishing for a cloaking device. The thought never occurred to her to purchase such a device before.
Note to self – buy cloaking device.
Also buy magnetic grappling hook with a lengthy, strong tether.
The ladies continued sniping at each other. Mycerra wondered what pulled these people together in the first place.
"Human, after you're done, we need to clean and load our weapons." A turian addressed someone. "The Tertiaries will put up a fight. If you're aim is quick, you might survive tonight."
A silence followed.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Stop bouncing that." Mathers snapped. "Make yourself useful. Gather the thermal clips."
"Does it annoy you?" The turian gloated.
Mycerra empathized. Half the station rejected the idea of another race entering the Galactic Community. The other half divided between wanting to study her for science, indifference, or bedding her. She preferred to be studied for science or indifference compared to being a fetish object and outright racism.
"Stop bouncing the ball or I'll shoot your balls off."
"My balls aren't vulnerable, human, unlike yours." He sneered.
"Bromulus, if you do not- "
"It's Brom."
Mycerra paused. Brom. Bromulus. Brom from the SSV Philadelphia?
She peaked over the edge of the metal crates.
Negative. Not Brom from the SSV Philadelphia.
She dropped back down to her spot, her hand on the pistol. Bromulus must be a popular turian name.
"Stop giving him shit, Brom." Balencia walked up the steps slowly, her footsteps measured and leisurely. "He's going to ensure you have enough time to put a bullet in that salarian's skull."
"Is he? Is he really that capable?" Brom heckled and continued to bounce the ball.
"Stop bouncing the fucking ball or I'll crush yours." Balencia threatened.
Mycerra imagined the shorter woman sizing up with the taller turian. No lie, she'd save that footage for the extranet.
"Unlike Mathers, I have no problem seducing you and cutting it off. All of it."
"You don't scare me, human." Brom said, his tone shifting.
Mycerra heard that tone before, the thrumming of it hauntingly familiar. Hostile? Territorial? Dismissive? She'd have to ask Deltano when she returned to Earth. She could ask Brom If they crossed paths again.
"I will if you keep pushing my help around." She whispered loud enough for Mycerra to hear and low enough anyone on the lower floor wouldn't. "Now get the fucking thermal clips and count them. While you're at it, check the mechs. Set them for omni tool activation."
A silence followed.
Mycerra shrunk further in her dark hole.
Laying low in the enemy's hideout sent chills down her spine. She heard the counting of thermal clips, Mathers and Balencia chatting about the holographic projection, and Ithica and Maryn sniping about their lackluster performances compared to Balencia's stellar performance.
She prayed Tallyn properly wired the explosives.
New sounds entered the murder nest.
"You're not what I expected." Maryn announced cautiously.
Mycerra controlled her breathing and tapped each grenade with a gloved hand. She counted each to relieve the anxiety.
"Come this way, Baronnus." Ithica instructed.
Her ears perked up.
"Tappa, please. I thought we were better friends than that, Ithica." A turian voice purred.
"Tappa." Ithica purred.
"Stop flirting with the man, Ith. He has a meeting to attend, not your bedroom." Maryn cut in viciously. "Up this way, Baronnus."
"Forewarning, Isa'ala isn't in a good mood." Tappa Barronus said.
"When is she in a good mood?" Maryn joked. "The bitch knows how to make people bend and break, emphasis on the breaking." Knuckles cracked.
They laughed together.
Mycerra shuddered. Two out of three. She owed the teenagers a bottle of acceptable alcohol.
"Then it's a good thing that Larix has blackmail on her."
"And you." Ithica warned Baronnus. "He has blackmail on all of us."
"Then we'll kill him and absorb his people into our gangs. He is still attending tonight, yes?" Baronnus asked.
The round of confirmations completed Mycerra's list.
She breathed deeply. Tonight, she'd either die or she'd walk away a free woman and new associates.
The group gathered in the conference area overlooking the lower floors. One person stood guard at the front door and back door. Mycerra knew Mathers took control of the holographic projector. Six plus three equaled nine. Twelve tear gas grenades, a pistol, a shotgun, and she knew they carried weapons too.
Her heart raced, palms sweaty.
Element of surprise.
Seize it or wait until they turned on the targets?
Fuck it.
She crept along the side of the tall crate and peaked around. Five seated at the table. Shit. Two unaccounted for. Mathers, two asari, a turian, and a salarian sat in the conference area. She recognized the asari as one of Maryn's common associates. Couldn't be, could it? That meant…she watched Isa'ala Gomen the whole time?
Her hand crept along her belt and slipped one glass grenade into the palm of her hand.
She tapped the side of her helmet and stood. She threw the glass grenade to the ground. Tear gas spread out in a fine mist. She tapped her omni tool and primed everything. A moment later, the front and back door exploded inward.
She aimed her pistol at the nearest individual and decorated the table with their brain matter.
The salarian fell out of his chair choking on the tear gas. The asari threw up shields. Mycerra ignored them and emptied her clip into the salarian. He expired on the floor. She reloaded and pointed the weapon at Mathers.
She shook a finger at him in warning and then turned the pistol on the two asari. "Which one is Gomen?" She demanded of him.
Groaning from below reached the second floor. Balencia's head appeared at the top of the steps. She fired two rounds in that direction.
"Which one is Gomen?" She repeated firmly.
The women maintained their shields and shoved out of the chairs.
She fired two more shots at Balencia.
A sniper round clipped the edge of the overlook. The fragment lodged in Mather's secondhand armor.
He dove for his gun next to the projector.
Mycerra used the table as cover and swapped the pistol for the shotgun. "Mathers! If you want to live, get the fuck out or stay out of my way." She breathed hard and tossed another tear gas grenade in the direction of the stairs. Shotgun in hand, she advanced toward the stairs and rapid fired at the crouched figure. She tossed a shockwave at the asari and knocked Mathers to the ground.
Balencia choked. Mycerra scored with the third round, the shot piercing the armor and sinking into the traitor's chest.
She slammed another tear gas grenade onto the steps and reloaded. The rounds slammed into the turian's armor and shields. She rapid fired four more times, the last taking the head off entirely.
Mathers lived.
Balencia choked on her own blood. Her fingers fumbled for the pistol mag locked on her thigh and smeared blood along the armor.
Edann Larix died from close impact gunshot wounds.
Two turians dead. Two asari alive, identification unknown. Front and back door lookouts unconfirmed alive or dead.
"Mathers. Which one is Gomen?" She demanded loudly. "Larix is dead. Balencia is dead. Two turians. Whoever you had on the front door and front door are dead."
"I wasn't the one who used you for passage!" He shouted back.
"You always were a spineless bastard on a leash." She picked up a thermal clip near Edann Larix's body and reloaded. The women tried to ease out of the area. "Didn't the reapers teach you to always have a weapon at hand?" She mocked the asari.
She saw the blur before the hand grabbed her belt and ripped it free. Punching down hard on the asari, her combat instincts kicked in. They brawled, slamming into the table and toppling chairs. The grenade belt crashed to the floor, the remaining tear gas concentrating. Mathers crawled for the stairs coughing and wheezing. Asari fell prey to the super concentration.
Mycerra fired a desperate shot, the point-blank shotgun blast stunning the asari. "Give my regards." She finished off the asari with a knife to the throat, in and out. Blood spurted out.
A single pistol round to the head dropped the last asari.
She mentally counted everyone. Two unaccounted for. One asari not accounted for. She reloaded the pistol and walked downstairs slowly. She panned the room for combatants. The last asari lay dead at the back door. Another turian lay dead at the front door.
Just for reassurance, she backed up the steps and detonated the last of the explosives.
No one moved.
She accessed her omni tool. "The nest is clear." She messaged the orphans. "Enter with caution. Two unaccounted for. May have escaped." She recorded each face, the scene, and it all sunk in. The effortlessness of the kill, the lack of emotion, the bloodshed.
"You alright?" Mathers asked.
She screamed.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you." He held up his hands.
Her hand covered her chest.
"I only went along with her plans because I owed her. She said if I didn't, she'd tell the government about me, and I couldn't risk- "
"Risk what?" She pointed the pistol at him.
Mathers dropped his hand. "When the reapers struck, they freed me from prison. I was in prison for murder. A lot of people escaped. People worse than me."
"And without Balencia?" Her voice shook.
"May I see the body? To confirm?" He asked patiently.
She stepped aside, pistol still raised.
He stepped over Larix and studied Balencia's lifeless body. "I want to live a clean life again. If you let me go, you'll never see me again."
"Mathers, if you want to atone, there's a group who will be interested in your services. You don't have to kill for them. I get the feeling what they want has multiple avenues of approach." She lowered the pistol. "You ever attack me again and I'll kill you. Now help me identify who is who and who is missing." She commanded.
He pointed out Gomen, the asari who engaged her in combat. He pointed out Larix, the salarian she gunned down mercilessly, and then Tappa, the one whose brain matter decorated the table.
"Bromulus." He pointed out the headless turian. "Ithica. Maryn is up there." Ithica guarded the back door, at present a corpse with metal shards embedded in her back.
She stayed out of Mather's reach the entire time.
The teenagers entered, quiet as ghosts. They split to different directions. One salarian hacked and recovered credits from the consoles on the first floor. Others collected weapons and thermal clips. They handed over half the thermal clips and a thousand in credits to Mycerra.
"You're covered in blood. Stick to the back alleys. Everyone will stay out of your way." The salarian addressed her. "I'm Voss. That's Wilmak." He pointed to the hacker.
"I must check in with Aria tomorrow. What's your email?" She crossed her arms and glanced over at Mathers. "He's feeling repentant. Give him a job and keep him busy. He's capable. And if he's not capable, he'll find something at which he is capable."
Mather's avoided her stare.
"We're fine, Mathers. Never again."
She waved goodbye at everyone and exited through the back door. She walked with the helmet on, the weight of the murders on her shoulders. A cold shower helped her recenter. She scrubbed the armor until it shined and then scrubbed it again.
"You'll break a nail if you press harder." Dr. Parsi interrupted her.
She looked up. "Tomorrow, I talk to Aria. Clear our debt."
"You found your targets after two months?" He asked in surprise.
She nodded somberly. "Settled a score too. Now I must figure out what's happening with the others and then find a way off this station."
"You look tired."
"I am." She dropped the scrubby and wiped her hands on the cleaning cloth. "I'm tired of everything. I want normal, Doc. Don't you?"
He raked his hand through his growing hair. "It'd be nice."
"Yes, it would."
"After you clear the debts tomorrow, you should take down time to recover." Dr. Paris suggested. He placed his satchel on the end of the couch.
She picked it up by the strap. "Who did you kill?"
"No one. Street shoot out."
Her brow lifted. She dropped it and dried off the armor before the soap suds dried.
"New helmet?" Dr. Parsi asked. He unlocked the safe and pulled out a ration.
"We're making rations, right?"
"Yes. I'm refining the process at the clinic." He assured her.
She picked up her new helmet. "Amani made me some new toys that required the use of this. Credits well spent." She hugged it to her chest.
He sat with her and piled her armor high next to his satchel. "I want normal too. A house on a plot of land, next to a lake or river. Far enough so it won't flood but close enough the view is always worth the price tag. Find a woman to love and raise a family with. A large family. I grew up in a large family. Eight siblings." He stared absentmindedly at the rations in his hands.
She hugged her helmet tighter. "I'll ask Amani for drinks tomorrow. I owe her that much."
"Did your family know you preferred women?"
"No. I lived at a boarding school most of my life and I was too busy after graduation to start a relationship. I was thinking about it when Exogeni hired me as a security guard with potential for promotion in the field and on Earth. Then the reapers hit."
A silence fell between them, and he opened the rations noisily.
"How much do we owe the Blue Suns?" She asked.
"I paid the protection fee already. Another five hundred credits to the owner- "
"Aka Aria. I'll pay her tomorrow." Mycerra decided.
"Relations with asari aren't hazardous to your health. Humans and turians, don't ingest bodily fluids. To include sweat. I wouldn't recommend Vorcha. I don't know enough about the Drell or Elcor- "
"Doc, I'm not that adventurous." She stopped before they needed alcohol to ease the embarrassment. "Asari, turians, and humans."
He breathed easier.
"Besides, salarians are asexual. Teases." She joked.
He almost laughed.
They exchanged small smiles before going about their business. Mycerra put her armor up and rehydrated homemade rations. She watered the plants under the artificial lights she purchased two weeks ago. She pet the budding plant. "You a good little plant, yes you are." She cooed.
Dr. Parsi watched her, careful to not make a noise.
She looked up and shook a finger at him. "No recording."
He pretended to activate his omni tool.
She shook her head and put the budding plant back under the light. "Sylvia and Trent are coming along beautifully. I better take pictures for Botanist Kim, or he won't believe me." She snapped pictures with her omni tool and saved them.
Whatever Omega threw at her, she'd survive it.
She pet Sylvia and Trent one last time before eating her dinner.
Mycerra dropped by Amani's lab first stop in the morning. She practiced lines on the way there.
"Hello, Gorgeous. Do you want to try a human for the night? No, no. Hello, Hi. Hiii. Good morning, Doctor Ysett. You're looking gorgeous. No, no. Too formal. Good morning, Doctor. Great news, I'm still alive. You're still alive – No."
The door opened. Amani stood in the doorway, her lab coat loosely clinging to her form. "Good morning." Amani greeted sleepily.
Mycerra wrung her hands.
Treat her like Deltano, Colton.
"Hey. Uh. Look. I'm bad at this. I'm weird. You're weird. Do you want to be weird together and have lunch with me? If you're into women, that is. If you're not, I completely understand." She speed talked.
Amani giggled. "Your face is red."
"I can feel it."
"Can you really?" She exclaimed. "Can I touch- "
Mycerra cleared her throat.
"When you say weird, is it a good weird or a bad weird?" Amani whispered.
"Usually when someone uses that as a bad pick-up line, it's a good thing." Mycerra finally looked her in the eye.
Amani grinned. "I need to clean the table first."
"I said lunch, not breakfast. If you have work to do- "
"It's fine. I needed to eat." Amani brushed off the awkwardness. "Please enter my domain."
Mycerra entered the lab. She clutched her hands behind her back and stood near the entrance while Amani worked. "After we eat, I need to visit Aria at Afterlife."
"You want to go alone?"
"It's fine. I'll be fine." She lied.
She wiggled her fingers to expel the anxious energy and then stopped. She looked at her hands, turning them over and raised them to her nose and lowered them back to her waist. She looked at Amani, then back at herself. Shouldn't she be pulsing biotic energy to prevent another biotic cramp right now?
"You alright?" Amani removed her lab coat and hung it on a hook next to Mycerra's head.
"Well, usually I must pulse biotic energy to prevent the biotics from cramping my muscles. I haven't had to do that ever since I started having nightmares. I think."
"What do you mean?" She crossed her arms.
Mycerra held out her hand at eye level. "My biotics never properly developed. That's the theory. Whenever I expend too much energy, more than the implant expects, I have biotic cramping. It usually focuses on the right arm and localizes on my hand first. I pulse biotics through it to keep the muscles in healthy status, but lately – "She shrugged and dropped her hand back to her side.
"That is strange. May I?" Amani held out hand expectantly.
Mycerra placed her hand in Amani's. Amani massaged the hand infusing the massage with biotic energy. It tickled Mycerra's biotics. "What's the purpose of this?"
"An experiment. Helps or hurts?"
"Neither. Should try that when it cramps up."
"We'll do that." Amani squeezed the hand and dropped it.
Mycerra flexed biotic pulses through her hand.
Amani leaned in close, eyes an inch from the hand. "Interesting. We can run tests at one of Aria's labs."
"No." Mycerra stopped and shoved her hands behind her back again. "Today is the last day I want to deal with Aria directly."
Amani gestured for them to leave. They walked to the vendor marketplace and ordered the Pyjak Special at Tentacle Delights. "Best Pyjak on the station." She said in between bites of the sandwich.
Mycerra picked at it. She adjusted to the dryer taste. "It's like eating turkey after eating chicken." She explained to Amani. "I prefer varren, but this isn't that bad. Do they also serve the brains as a delicacy?"
"Who- "
"Monkey brains. I don't know who thought it a good idea, but I've heard about it. Shark Fin soup. Caviar, fish eggs. Not sure if they cook those or not before you eat it. Never tried. Fried squid. There's this- "She stopped talking as the horror dawned on Amani's face. "Sorry."
Amani swallowed hard and looked away from sandwich a moment before resuming eating it.
"Sorry."
"No, no. There's a lot about humans that I need to learn." She said and caught the hard stare of a salarian eyeing them up. "Friend of yours?"
Mycerra glanced over in time to spot the rifle barrel and the laser on Amani's chest.
She flipped the table and threw a bubble barrier over her and Amani.
"Who wants you dead?" Mycerra demanded.
A bullet ripped through the flimsy metal and bounced off the barrier.
Amani swallowed the food in her mouth and swore at the sight of her sandwich on the ground.
"Amani!" More bullets pinged off the shield.
Pedestrians ran for cover. The asari cook at Tentacle Delights pressed a button under the counter. A kinetic shield bubbled around the shop front. She continued cooking and ignored the shooting around her. A pedestrian pounded on the shield demanding to be let in. The asari gestured crudely in return.
The chemist struggled for answers. "I – I don't know. The Blue Suns or Blood pack? I make them smoke grenades. My goods are solid and always work. Honest."
Mycerra growled and dropped the bubble.
She couldn't see the salarian. A bullet pinged off her shoulder pauldron. She reached for the shot gun and rolled her neck. 100% shielding. She biotically charged toward the visible turian. A charging Elcor slammed into her. Amani scrambled for cover.
Mycerra held onto the elcor's shoulders and slammed both fists down hard. The elcor faltered, it's hold too strong to break. She slammed her fists down again with more biotic force. The arms loosened enough she slipped free and jammed the shotgun against its abdomen and fired. Shielding dropped. She rapidly reloaded and fired again, lethal fragments opening a flesh wound. The elcor grunted and backed away to pound her to the ground. She biotically charged toward the salarian advancing towards Amani.
The salarian yelled at collision. She body checked him off his feet and into a railing. His hand curled around the rusted bars. His pistol went off next to her ear. She ducked her head to the side and punched him in the face. He fell to the ground unconscious.
"Watch out!" Amani shouted and pointed behind her.
Mycerra ducked in time to avoid the hail of bullets. She grabbed Amani and biotically charged out of the public dining area. "Run!" She ordered.
Amani sprinted alongside her.
They ran toward an air taxi.
"WAIT!" Amani yelled. "Don't- "
The taxi jerked into the air and away.
Mycerra pulled Amani into an alley and pressed a finger to her lips. She motioned for Amani to follow her. They snuck through several more alleys and side streets before approaching Afterlife via back door. The turian bouncer warned Mycerra to keep her weapons mag locked at all times and allowed them in.
Amani clung to Mycerra amid the throng of bodies clogging the walkways.
Mycerra put her arm around Amani. "You alright?"
"I don't know why anyone would attack me. I work for Aria." She whispered.
Mycerra rubbed her back. "C'mon. I need to report to Aria. We'll take it up with her and see if we can do something about it."
Amani pulled her in for a kiss, their lips lingering against each other long enough a dancer sarcastically applauded for them. Mycerra flipped her the middle finger salute and pulled Amani in for another.
"We'll have to be weird together more often." Amani blushed.
Mycerra barely noticed the color difference in the dark lighting. She pulled Amani along until she reached Anto at his guard post. "Anto, could we have a word with the esteemed warlord of the Terminus Systems?" She asked sweetly.
Anto checked his omni tool before motioning her to the second floor and Aria's famous couch. Mycerra made note of the different patrons seated diagonally from Aria's lounge.
"I expected you to report yesterday after your success." Aria said dully. "Messy work. Results without the poetry. I like it."
Mycerra inhaled. "You have eyes and ears everywhere."
"I know what your armor looks like, Colton. You think I'm foolish enough to not have a tail on you?" Aria accused.
She shook her head, wishing for a mute button to club music.
"Congratulations. You're a free woman. Almost two months on Omega. I'm not impressed."
Amani clung to Mycerra's arm.
The criticism stung. "You're right. I'm certain if I actively hunted down every lead instead of learning the routes of this space station, I'd discovered the three individuals faster. My list of priorities saved me from certain death. As well as your chemist. Someone attacked her today. Less than an hour ago."
"Who would dare attack MY chemist?" Aria demanded of Amani.
Mycerra stepped aside. Amani clung to her arm, nonetheless. "A turian, an elcor, and a salarian. I shot the elcor in the stomach, flesh wound. Knocked the salarian out. Didn't wait around for the turian to take his turn." She cleaned the armor last night and blood already painted it.
"I don't know, Aria." Amani winced. "My product is good. You know that."
"Yes, I do. You'd be dead if it weren't." Aria seethed.
Mycerra recognized the scheming look in Aria's eyes, the firm set of the jaw, the angry posturing. She extricated her arm and put it around Amani's shoulders. "She can spend the night at my place while we work this out. Or I'll spend it at hers. Doesn't matter to me." She flaked off dried blood on her gloves.
"Anto!"
The batarian scrambled up the steps.
"I want to know if any of my other chemists and scientists are targeted. Amani Ysett was attacked today. Find out by who."
"Yes, Aria." Anto glared at them.
Aria flicked her hand at them. "Ysett, have a word with Anto about the details. Colton, sit."
Mycerra obeyed and flashed Amani the 'okay' sign discreetly. She angled herself toward Aria and sat out of arm's reach.
Aria waited until Anto and Amani left the second floor. "You killed Balencia."
"She attacked me."
Aria stared her down.
"Aria, what do I look like to you?" Mycerra snapped. "I'm not a damned- "
Aria's hand rested on Mycerra's thigh. Mycerra swallowed hard. "You look alive. That's better than dead at my feet." She whispered.
The image of sexy domme disappeared and femme fatale minus the seduction gig replaced it.
"You will keep my chemist alive. If she dies, you die." Aria's head cocked dangerously.
Mycerra caught her breath. "I never said I wouldn't try." She lifted Aria's hand off her thigh. Aria moved it an inch higher and pressed with more weight. "Do you have more information- "
"That pathetic collection of children is all the help you need."
"How is it that you know everything?" Mycerra whined.
"I'm Aria T'Loak." Aria said matter-of-factly. "Ysett knows people. Ask her to gather help."
Aria lifted her hand off Mycerra's thigh and returned to her usual position. She accepted the drink handed to her and smiled tightly at Mycerra. Mycerra returned it, albeit with less enthusiasm.
Amani appeared at the head of the steps again.
"By the way, if you tell that pathetic pack about my knowledge of them, I'll kill you." Aria declared.
Mycerra sighed. "Yes, Aria."
"That's what I like to hear, Colton."
Amani linked her arms through Mycerra's and tugged her along. Mycerra stopped at the bar and ordered a drink from the turian bartender. She downed the drink without a thought.
"We can drink at my place." Amani whispered. "Please, can we go somewhere safer?"
Mycerra doubted a single space on the station was safe, although safer sounded perfect. "We'll go to my place. I know it's safer there." She told Amani and followed the anxious target. Come what may, she'd find a way off the station.