In which a young man. With anger in his heart. Starts down the path of Vengeance.
In which a queen's rule is threatened.
And a mastermind begins to move her pieces about the board.
The stage is set. As the actors take their places. And a young Sage takes his first tentative steps toward his destiny.
Omega at the best of times. Was an absolute shitheap. Not that I was in any sort of mood to be concerned with it.
I strode through the filth encrusted streets. My killing intent reigned in only by my desire not to give everyone within a hundred feet of me a panic attack. Sedibus Balarek, that was the name of the pirate who killed my father. The memories of his lackeys had supplied me with only enough information to know that he was a notorious slaver. And some even speculated that he took jobs from the hegemony. Though I knew little beyond that, If I was to hunt my prey, I would need to learn more about it.
Which Is why I was heading for Afterlife.
I had done enough for Aria over the years that she owed me a favor or two. Almost every Pirate and Raider band in the Terminus systems made port on Omega. And I was willing to bet that Aria had Information on Balarek. After all, a queen had to know the goings on of her court.
I walked briskly through the entryway to Afterlife. A few turned to look at me, and then quickly averted their gazes. None daring to meet my stare. I wasted no time in clearing a path, the aura of menace that I was semi-involuntarily radiating moving peoples feet almost of their own volition.
As I ascended the staircase. An armored Batarian stepped in front of me.
"Aria isn't having visitors tonight."
I didn't have time for this.
"Move, or I will move you."
He bridled. His expression hostile. His grip tightened on his rifle.
"Unless you want your face bashed in, I suggest you-!"
Suddenly a thoroughly annoyed female voice came from the balcony.
"It's alright Korlag, let him up."
The Batarian's expression was more than a little mutinous. But after a moment's hesitation he did himself a favor and stepped aside. I shoved passed him, not giving him a second glance.
As I sat down Aria regarded me. Her face was the same cool indifferent mask that It usually was. But the Rinnegan told the true story, she seemed vaguely perturbed. Not that I cared, my concern about her began and ended at whether or not she had the information I required.
"I'm assuming there's a reason you've barged up here, unannounced."
I sat back reclining as I looked at her through the cloth mask and goggles I always wore when I was away from home. A means by which to safeguard my identity.
"Sedibus Balarek."
I said, not wishing to waste time.
"What do you know about him?"
She wondered, briefly, what had prompted the lack of customary pleasantries. But the timbre of his voice suggested that prying was inadvisable.
Aria raised a solitary brow. Her expression betraying only the smallest bemusement.
"That he is a very powerful, very notorious pirate. With a lot of clout in these parts."
She considered his tone. His body language. And the beginnings of understanding began to dawn.
"So, what precisely has he done to put you on his scent?"
She couldn't see his expression. But his stance said more than enough. Like a tightly coiled spring. All tension, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. And Aria. Despite herself, felt as if she was in the presence of a very large and very dangerous predator.
Perhaps it would be best to simply give him what he wanted. The quicker to get him away.
"His crimes are relevant only to me."
He said. His voice clipped, and his tone short. There seemed to be an odd otherworldly chill in the air as he spoke. As if she had just stepped over someone's grave.
"I just need information about him. Where he goes. What he does. How to draw him out if necessary."
Aria leaned back. Her expression dubious as she regarded him.
"Information is valuable. What precisely are you willing to offer in exchange for it?"
He fixed her with a steady gaze. She could make out no hint of expression. But she got the distinct impression that she was being judged somehow.
"My gratitude."
He finally replied. After several moments of silence. Aria raised a single solitary brow.
"And If I decided that wasn't adequate compensation?"
He sighed. His voice dispassionate as he continued.
"Then I would contact one of your many rivals to gain the knowledge I seek. And then they would have my gratitude."
Aria tried mightily not to scowl as she weighed her options.
She had heard the stories about him. She doubted there was a soul in the Terminus systems who hadn't. She knew, at least partly. That he could do…. things. Strange things. That denied logical explanation, and struck a primal chord of fear in the hearts of many.
He had never been known to fail in a contract. Had never been beaten. He had a reputation for peerless skill and ruthless efficiency. The exact nature of his powers wasn't known to her, but she knew beyond a reasonable doubt that drawing his ire was a touchy prospect, even for her. He had the potential to be a dangerous enemy. Or a potent ally.
She came to a decision.
"Balarek has many ports of call in the Terminus."
She said, After a few moments of silence.
"But his main stomping ground is a small mining colony on a garden world that he and his cronies "acquired" about five years back. Local's call it Jorinda."
With a subtle hand motion. The young man's Omni-tool suddenly beeped. He looked down at the coordinates rolling across the screen.
"Thank you for your assistance."
He said. As he made to stand up from the faux-leather sofa. But not before Aria had raised a forestalling hand.
"This trade does come with one minor stipulation."
His bearing and tone of voice suggested that behind the goggles his eyes were sharply narrowed. Nonetheless he sat back down.
"Oh? And what, precisely. Might that be?"
Aria quickly input a message into her Omni-tool.
"In a moment. You'll see."
They waited in slightly uncomfortable silence for what felt like far longer than the perhaps minute and a half it actually was. Before a tall thin shadow unmeshed itself from the general mass of lights, smoke and bodies that populated Afterlife. Defining itself into a Turian Male of relatively young age.
"This is Avreus."
Aria said.
"He'll be accompanying you to Jorinda."
He stirred in his seat and regarded Aria cooly.
"And I should agree to this because…?"
Aria sighed.
"Because information like this comes at a price. And because there's something I want you to do for me."
I only barely managed to maintain a civil tone as I replied.
"And what might that be?"
I asked. As the scrawny Turian looked between us with a mixture of apprehension and confusion. Aria took a sip of her drink before deigning to reply.
"Sedibus Balarek has been accruing resources and Influence at a rate I wouldn't have thought possible for just one person."
She said,
"I want to know where those resources are coming from. And who his benefactors are. If he has any. Avreus is here to ensure that you procure the data."
I took a moment to absorb her words. Evidently Sedibus had a great deal more power and Influence than most run of the mill pirates in the Terminus systems.
From what I had briefly seen. His men were an unusually professional outfit, for a pirate group anyways. Their equipment had been Military grade. And well maintained. That meant he was either skilled or audacious enough to attack military supply convoys. Or he had friends in VERY high places. And neither of those meant good things for Aria.
At the rate that Sedibus was accruing materiel. And considering the quality of his equipment. It wasn't hard to see that in Sedibus, Aria saw a possible threat to her continued dominance over the Terminus systems.
Well. If she wanted to use me as the scalpel with which to cut out that particular tumor. I had no complaints, and If It also meant having to babysit one of her lackeys. Then I supposed it was an imposition I could live with. For at least as long as it took me to mount Sedibus' head on a spike.
"Very well. These terms are acceptable."
I said. As I stood up slowly. Before turning to address Avreus.
"My ship is moored at Dock 9. I intend to depart at eight in the morning. If you aren't there by then. I'm leaving you on the station."
And at this I turned to Aria.
"Agreement with you be damned."
I finished. Before turning away from both of them and making my way down the stairs. A way naturally clearing for me as I stalked out of Afterlife.
Avreus Pravum was not a good turian.
In his youth he had been willful, rebellious, and wholly unconcerned with the assumed superiority of authority figures. And by the time he had turned 15, it was obvious that mandatory military service could not have been a worse fit for him. He had nonetheless been pushed by the wheels of bureaucracy through boot camp. And managed to actually learn a thing or two during his brief service. He knew his way around firewalls, and had received limited praise for his marksmanship scores. But in the end he left the military about how he had expected to, dishonorably discharged. Not precisely because he had been caught sleeping with an admiral's daughter, but because he had snuck her aboard a military vessel to do so.
After that, Avreus hadn't had many options. He didn't have the experience (or stomach) for mercenary work. Spirits only knew how his family would receive him after this. And there was no way in hell he was getting honest work anywhere in turian space. And so he had, like countless others before him. Without even really meaning too. Ended up in the Terminus Systems. After that it hadn't taken him long to read the lay of the land and realize that he'd be the safest running with Aria's outfit. So he'd introduced himself, ingratiated himself to them, and made himself if not indispensable. Then certainly inconvenient to replace.
He had made a niche for himself, when sensitive information needed to be obtained through less than savory means, Avreus was known by general consensus as the man to talk to. And after more than a few successful jobs, he had even managed to catch the attention of Aria herself, Avreus still wondered if that was necessarily a good thing. But even if the heightened expectations of his new position carried far more dire consequences for failure than ever before, he could hardly argue with the perks. He was respected, if not necessarily liked, and no one on Omega, or anyone in the Terminus systems for that matter. Would dare threaten a member of Aria's crew.
Life for the most part, was good. He could hardly complain.
And so, when a message from Aria had rousted him from a peaceful sleep in the dead of night. He had kept a few of the more colorful words he'd uttered to himself, but only just. He had pulled on something presentable and then dragged himself to afterlife. Wondering what in the name of the spirits would cause Aria to wake him at this time of night. Had continued to wonder, right up until he'd seen exactly who she was with. And then had given serious, genuine thought to the idea of simply turning back around and running away as fast as his legs could carry him. Though if the stories had any weight to them then that wouldn't have helped. HE was there, the boogeyman of the Terminus Systems. A story that even now, mothers were beginning to tell their children to quell misbehavior.
"Do as you're told."
They would say.
"Or Zero will come for you."
He had heard the stories, just like everyone else. You couldn't live in the Terminus Systems and not hear them. He was faster than the eye could see, bullets couldn't hurt him, he could see in the dark and be in multiple places at once. He was a wizard, a devil, a god. And a thousand other incredible things uttered in hushed whispers in Taverns, bars, speakeasies, and nightclubs across Terminus space.
Avreus had dismissed a few of the more ridiculous claims out of hand. (breathing fire and summoning lightning? What kind of idiot did they take him for?) But even if it was rather difficult to separate man from myth. The results he produced spoke for themselves. And it certainly could not be argued that Zero was a very, very dangerous man. So it was apprehension more than anything else that had kept Avreus' mouth clamped tightly shut through the brief interaction he'd had with him. And the stories hadn't prepared him, not in the least.
He couldn't adequately put it into words. But being near him had almost been too much, he had felt as if the air was being crushed from his lungs, as if every childhood terror and nightmare he had ever had was being dragged to the forefront of his mind. Standing near him had produced in Avreus such a moment of spine tingling, heart stopping terror. That Avreus could compare it only to a near death experience. And that didn't make any sense, because by all appearances, he didn't look like he should elicit that response. Dressed as he was only in a dark blue shirt, black jacket, and black pants. On his hands a pair of padded black fingerless gloves. His face covered by a dark blue cloth mask and and a pair of opaque black goggles. The only distinguishing features that could be seen. Were his pale skin, and a messy head of jet black hair.
The meeting thankfully didn't take much longer after that. Zero had told him where to be and when. And then had left. Clearing a path through the revelers and dancing clubgoers by his presence alone. As he had left, Avreus turned to Aria with only one question on his lips.
"Why me?"
Aria turned to him, a solitary brow raised and an upturn of the lips that looked entirely too much like a smirk on her face.
"Who better?"
She said as she sipped something fragrant and citrusy from a cup on the table in front of her. Reclining back into the couch as she looked out over the press of bodies below. Every inch a queen looking out over her court.
"I told him that you would be going with him to retrieve data on Sedibus Balarek, and to a point that's true."
She said as she motioned for him to take a seat opposite her. He obliged, settling comfortably into the plush seating.
"But that's not the whole story is it?"
Aria shook her head.
"No."
She said simply, taking another sip before she continued.
"I want you to get as much information as you can about him as well."
Avreus started suddenly, his mandibles flanging out and down in alarm.
"That's a joke I'm assuming?"
"Do I sound like I'm joking?"
Avreus leveled her with a look.
"There isn't a lot I won't do for you, You know that."
He said.
"But this..."
He shook his head.
"He isn't a man to cross. And I know just enough about what he's capable of to know that stepping on his toes might be the last mistake I ever make. This isn't some local gang leader or a pirate captain getting a bit too big for his breeches. This is Zero."
Aria regarded him coolly.
"Does he really scare you that much?"
He Scoffed.
"I'd be a damn idiot if he didn't."
He said, no longer bothering to cover the unease in his voice.
"If even half the stories about him are true then you're asking me to effectively kill myself by crossing him. And even if all of it is just a smokescreen. That doesn't change the fact that he's, quite frankly. Terrifyingly good at killing people. Not that you don't already know that full well."
And it was true, she did. Zero's Services did not come cheap. But they were well worth it. Once he had his mark, that person was a walking corpse. No two ways about it, And Aria had bent that terrible lethality to her own purpose on more than one occasion. More than a few of her enemies were in shallow unmarked graves on nameless planets because she had paid him to make it so.
"If it's really that much of an issue. I'll pay you three times your usual rate."
At that Avreus paused. Eyes narrowed, as he looked at her with a new expression that bespoke a calm bemusement. He had originally been planning on demanding twice his usual rate, at which point he had fully expected her to refuse. Giving him his needed out so she would pawn the job off on some other sucker. But if she was really that dead set on having it done, and having it done by him….
He hesitated for a moment more. Before finally nodding his assent. He was still scared shitless, but for that kind of money he would risk crossing one of the most dangerous people in the terminus systems.
"I'll do it."
He said, standing up and smoothing out his jacket. Aria nodded silently, and waved him off. Their audience was over. Avreus walked quickly away, brushing past the guard and wading back into the press of bodies below. As he made his way out of Afterlife, and into the grimy streets of Omega's lower wards. Avreus paused to think as he sat silently in the mostly empty public transport tram as it trundled him home.
He had never known Aria to be so easily haggled with. The amount she had put on the table was a hefty chunk of change. More than enough to see to his needs for quite a while, as well as let him indulge in quite a few of his more expensive leisure activities. And he still couldn't quite believe that she had even made the offer, and he supposed it went to show how much she wanted to have something, anything. To leverage against Zero, and in that he didn't think he could really blame her.
As Avreus stepped through the front door of his small and rather dingy apartment. Throwing his jacket over a chair as he plodded toward his bedroom. He reflected for a moment, on something that had interestingly never really occurred to him. It was easy to look at people like Aria and see something beyond normal. The effortless ease with which she took command of any situation. The sense of easily assumed authority that left everyone near her obeying her without even really meaning to. The aura, the charisma. It was almost frightening how easily one could be taken in by it. It made it hard to remember that there was a person beneath all those layers she put between herself and the rest of the world. And that maybe, just maybe….
She was just as frightened of Zero as everyone else.
The Ports of Omega are quite a sight in the early morning.
Men, women, and children of every race stripe and trade bustle in a tangle of organized chaos though labyrinthine rows of merchants stalls and shipping containers. Selling wares or buying them, or moving cargo into the freighters docked in Omega's hangars. Their crews spilling out into the station's upper wards, where night clubs and brothels aplenty ply the working sailors and mercenaries with all the food, drink and flesh they can afford. And in every alleyway and behind every trash bin Urchins and pickpockets watch the crowds intently for their next likely mark.
Among such a dense press of living breathing bodies. I was simply one among the countless others. Which suited me just fine. No one gave me a second glance, as I navigated my way through the crowds and into the hangar where even now my ship was moored. It was the work of a few minutes and a transfer of credits to the harbormaster to ensure my departure.
As I stepped out of the airlock and into the ship's compact interior. Umbra's viscous black form insinuated itself into my peripheral vision. The Ink black Ooze of whatever he was made from making all manner of supremely unpleasant sounds as he coalesced into his chosen humanoid Form.
"Ah Master, how good it is to see you again. I trust that you have acquired the information you require?"
I nodded as I took off my mask and goggles. And allowed my hair to fall into its natural unruly state.
"I have, we'll be leaving shortly."
"Excellent. I shall make preparations at once."
Umbra said as he made to walk away.
"We'll also be hosting a guest for a time. Receive him for me. I have preparations of my own to make."
Umbra gave an obliging nod as I strode past him. And fell into step behind me as I made for the lower deck where my own quarters were situated.
"Master, if I may. Who is this guest I'll be receiving?"
I stepped into my room and hung my jacket on the back of a nearby chair, before crossing the room and sinking into the plush cushions of a couch I'd purchased a few months prior.
"One of Aria's pet code jockeys. In exchange for the information, she asked that I take him with me. To ensure that the who and how of his resources and manpower would come to her once this business is done with."
Umbra hummed in understanding.
"Have you considered that she is perhaps sending him along to spy on you?"
I gave out a low barking laugh. There wasn't a great deal of humor in the noise.
"I have no doubt that that's exactly what he's here for. Which is why I aim to make sure he sees only as much as I want him to. It's not surprising that she's taken this opportunity to put a pair of eyes on me, I expected her to try it eventually. Though maybe not so blatantly"
I was under no Illusions about the Turians' reason for being foisted on me. Aria wanted something to use against me. A means to control me, which means she either wanted me in her pocket. Or viewed me as a potential rival. Neither was particularly ideal.
What I had planned would be made infinitely more easy to enact with her noninterference, if not her outright support. Killing her might have done to free me from the worst of her interference. But her death would lead to the creation of a power vacuum that every Warlord, Pirate, and mercenary leader in the Terminus systems would scramble to fill.
It would be chaos, decades of war and bloodshed until someone clawed his or her way into the top spot. And all the while, at least one part of the galaxy would be made all the easier for the Reapers to roll up when they finally finished with their fifty-thousand year nap in the confines of darkspace.
So I would tolerate the presence of Aria's pet. If only because I wanted to make sure that the information he returned to his master with, was as misleading as it was worthless. As I continued on, Lost in thought. I heard an alert chime from the viewscreen on my desk. I turned to look, and saw the turian standing outside the outer door of the airlock. Looking around with barely concealed nervousness.
"Ah, speak of the devil. Umbra, see to our guest if you please."
Avreus wasn't entirely sure what to think as he approached the docked vessel. It was odd how unremarkable the ship seemed. He had expected some predatory wedge shaped ship painted all in black. But what he was greeted with was a ship not unlike any other at the dock. A midsized civilian corvette painted in neutral tones of gray and pale blue. He would never have guessed at the identity of its owner.
As the outer airlock suddenly slid open with a barely audible his. Avreus thought that perhaps that was the point.
The figure that greeted him in the entryway wore a hooded robe that hid its face from view. Avreus might have been willing to believe that it was human. Right up to the moment it spoke.
"Ah, so you are the guest that the master spoke of? Good, I will show you to your accommodations."
He suppressed the sudden urge to cringe as the thing's voice oozed over his ears like thick viscous oil. Leaving him feeling distinctly uncomfortable, Avreus could not place a finger on why, but something about this creature's presence was thoroughly unsettling. He briefly considered walking back out again. Before he again reminded himself;
"Three times your normal pay. Just put up with this and you'll have enough money to live like a king…'
He cleared his throat and did his best not to let his discomfort show through his tone.
"Er, yeah…. Lead the way."
The... thing. Nodded behind its hood and motioned for him to follow. Insinuating itself deeper into the bowels of the ship. With some trepidation, Avreus followed. The interior of the ship was dimly lit, And the walls were entirely spartan in their decoration. Usually privately owned ships bore some signifier of the personality of the people that crewed them. Names scratched into bulkheads, messages left for one person or another etched into walls. Graffiti and other artwork, and in the case of one terminus tradition. A mural along one of the walls detailing the history of the ship and its crew. Nothing of the sort here, nothing about the man who owned this ship was apparent from looking at it. It was a blank slate.
They rounded the final corner and the thing stopped, pausing in front of a door that slid open with a motion from it. It turned and beckoned him to enter.
"The master regrets that he cannot greet you personally, he is quite busy with preparations for your mission."
The thing said, before turning to leave, as it stopped over the threshold however, it turned to address him once more.
"Also, the master has humbly requested that you confine yourself to the uppermost decks for the duration of your stay. If you please."
Avreus only had the briefest of moments to nod his assent before the thing quit the room, disappearing down a dimly lit staircase that led to the lower decks. He let out a gusty breath and sank into a nearby chair.
His accommodations were far from luxurious, but considering some of the places he had been forced to rest his head during both his time in the military and the Terminus systems. They were still surprisingly nice. If a bit sparse. He had been provided a desk, a chair. And a small but comfortable looking bed.
He supposed it could have been worse.
It would take some time before he knew the layout of the ship well enough to travel about without arousing suspicion. If Zero didn't want him in the lower decks then it stood to reason that there was something there that was worth hiding. A name? A weakness? No way to know until he saw for himself.
He suddenly yawned, early morning tiredness clouding his senses as he spied the suddenly extremely comfortable looking bed. He hadn't felt all that tired this morning, after a while in a line of work like his body learned to work with the sleep he gave it. But he supposed a situation like his would take it out of someone. Perhaps it was just the adrenaline crashing after that first initial leap. Maybe a few hours of sleep would do him some good, yes that sounded like a good plan. Get some sleep, and wake up fresh and ready to tackle his problems. Without giving much more thought to it. He kicked off his shoes and stretched out luxuriantly on the bedspread.
Spirits above those were some soft sheets….
Umbra silently entered my room, only the soft hiss of the door announcing his presence.
"Master, it is done, the interloper has been seen to his quarters."
I nodded, giving a small smirk.
"Excellent, and he suspects nothing?"
"No, master."
It had been the simple work of a few minutes to create an area effect seal that left the turian feeling exceptionally drowsy, if I had set it up properly. He would wake up only after I had set up a few surprises for him on the lower decks. I was half tempted to simply leave him to sleep for the entire week long trip to Jorinda. But that might end with me having to answer more questions than I was entirely comfortable with. I might be able to affect a convincing wipe of his memory. But a memory scrubbing that thorough would leave him so addled it would probably make it more obvious that his mind had been tampered with then less.
"Good, keep an eye on him. And make sure he only sees what he should."
"Of course."
I silently let go of a breath I hadn't noticed I was holding, and sunk deeper into my chair. I had every confidence in my ability to deal with this interloper if it became necessary. But Aria was another matter entirely. I didn't have the support base to openly defy her, navigating my way through this inconvenience without making her an enemy would be a bitch and a half. That much was Certain.