Omega:
Before Shepard went down to see Miranda, she decided that she would speak with Jacob first since he had been one of the main crew members on board and she had heard that he was an ex Republic Marine so he was interested in his opinion. She found Jacob in the armoury that was set up just next to the control room and Jacob was busy organising the weapons and armour. He turned around when he heard her enter.
"Commander." He greeted giving a salute "There's hasn't been much time to settle in and take stock but I just want to say that working with you is a great opportunity to good something that really matters, I just wish it could be under better circumstances and with a better organisation."
"You don't trust Cerberus even though you work with them?" Shepard asked
"I'm just a new recruit similar to most of the crew here." Jacob replied "Most of us didn't really like how both the Republic and the Citadel have pretty much disregarded the threats such as the Reapers and the First Order. But Miranda I do trust, I've worked with her before I even joined up."
"How did the two of you meet?" Shepard asked
"It's quite a story but basically I helped saved the Citadel like you did." Jacob replied "Miranda and I uncovered a plot where a Batarian ambassador planned to release a biological agent on the Citadel. The two of us managed to stop the plot but it got hushed up in the end like most things but I was proud of it."
"What else did you do before you joined Cerberus?" Shepard asked
"Well like I said I served in the Republic." Jacob replied "I served for five years and I was stationed all over the galaxy. I even served with the Corsairs, a black ops unit that did missions outside official Republic jurisdiction. If we ever got caught though the Republic would disavow any knowledge of us. I got sidelined after Eden Prime and got tired of the politics after the First Order attack. I then met Miranda on the mission I talked about which I feel like was used as a test by Cerberus and I joined up shortly afterwards although I still don't fully trust them. Cerberus has been named terrorists for good reason but right now they're the only ones taking the threat seriously. If this mission succeeds then maybe Cerberus will be remembered differently, if not then I guess we'll all be court marshalled."
"I guess we'll just have to see where this all leads us." Shepard finished "I should go and speak to Miranda."
"Goodbye Shepard." Jacob replied and Shepard left the armoury and went to the elevator to go down to the floor below to find Miranda.
...
Miranda and made her office in the room just opposite the Medical Bay where Dr Chakwas was using. Miranda had set up a large desk in the room with several terminals that she was using, probably to write up reports.
"Commander Shepard." She greeted when Shepard entered "I was hoping that we could take about our mission and our new recruits."
"Before we talk about that, I need to talk to you about Cerberus and your role here." Shepard replied
"Alright but listen, Cerberus is not as evil as some people think" Miranda claimed "Yeah I admit that we can go a little far sometimes but we do not seek to conquer the galaxy like the First Order intends to do. I hope I can waylay some of your fears about us. So what do you want to know?"
"Well first I need to know more about who you are." Shepard stated
Miranda sighed "Well, I might as well tell you now since you would probably find out anyway. "To tell you the truth I was actually once part of the First Order, or at least my father is."
"Wait, your father is a member of the First Order?" Shepard questioned
"Actually he's not just a member, he's actually a high ranking politician, not a military man but he is the governor of one of the region's the First Order controls." Miranda answered "To be honest I don't love my father in fact I hate him, he was always so obsessed with his legacy, he wants to be remembered for what he does and when he created me he gave me the best treatment, the best lessons money could buy, the best combat training, anything you could think off until he decided that I was not good enough and tried to replace me. So I ran, I ended up in contact with the Illusive Man and he gave me a place in Cerberus, and here I am now."
Shepard listened but then noticed something Miranda said "Wait you said created, what do you mean by that?"
Miranda sighed "I was not born the natural way; I was created in a tube. You were on Virmire and you met the Kaminoians there. The First Order conquered their planet and used it to create an army but they treat them like little more than cannon fodder and don't really care about them. I was born in the same way with the Kaminoians using my father's DNA to grow me but changed the DNA to make me female. Why I have no idea but it means I have extensive genetic modifications meant to enhance my abilities. Anyway enough about me, we should talk about the mission and our purpose on Omega."
"So who are we after?" Shepard asked
"Omega is home to four of our potential recruits, some may need a bit more convincing than others to join us." Miranda stated "The first one is a Mandalorian mercenary called Zaeed Massani. He's one of the best mercenaries and bounty hunters and a veteran of local conflicts here. Just a word of warning, he's loyal only to the money we offered him but he does have a hatred of the First Order and has actually been in conflict with them so you won't have to worry about the First Order trying to buy him off. He plans to meet us at the docks on Omega and will help guide us around since Omega has gotten more rough since the destruction of the first Normandy."
"What about the other recruits?" Shepard asked
"Well another recruit of importance is the Salarian Scientist Mordin Solus." Miranda replied "He's a Scientist whose an expert on chemicals and actually worked on modifications for the Genophage. He's also a former STG member so he's also an expert in stealth missions and combat so he can handle himself. We're going to need him if we ever face the Collectors again since it's still a possibility. The collectors knocked out whole colonies somehow, we need to have a countermeasure for that and Mordin is the man for that job. Another expert we're hoping to recruit is a Zabrak called Bao Dur, an inventor and droid engineer. Like Jacob he was a former member of the Republic military and is an expert on droid maintenance and loved to create new machines. He has quite a talent and hoped to use his skills to help deal with the loss of the colonies but then the First Order took over and he was forced to flee. From what I heard he's now on Omega working as a scrap dealer."
"And the final recruit?" Shepard asked
"We only know him as Archangel, a vigilante who's taken it upon himself to clear the criminal underworld." Miranda said "He has to be an expert in combat; he's managed to disrupt the works of several major criminal gangs in the Terminus System. Aria T'loak the pirate queen might know more about where to find him although I'm hearing that the major gangs are beginning to team up just to take him down. This guy is a expert to do something like that, could be a valuable asset to the team."
"We need people with combat skills." Shepard agreed, "He could be an asset if we can convince him."
"Or her, for all we know Archangel could be a woman." Miranda joked "Anyway from my calculations we should be approaching Omega soon. You might want to get ready, that station can be a rough place."
...
The Normandy soon exited lightspeed in the Sahrabarik System of the Omega Nebula. The Omega Nebula was notorious for being the gateway to the eastern Terminus Systems, if Nar Shaddaa was the capital of the western Terminus Systems, Omega was the eastern capital. The Nebula itself was massive with a total of six systems and several major independent colonies by different species. Once this Nebula was a lawless place now it fell under the protection of the Pirate Queen of Omega, Aria T'loak who was given Republic support to maintain control over the gangs and to keep them out of the Republic territory. This gave Aria power and was able to get tribute from the colonies in the Omega Nebula and even extend beyond the Omega Nebula to other sectors.
Omega station itself was massive, built within a mined out metallic Asteroid; the station has been a haven for criminals, terrorists and malcontents for thousands of years. Sometimes the station itself has been abandoned for thousands of years and would soon be activated by outlaws looking for a fresh start. The origins of the station do actually date back to the Prothean era where the once Element Zero rich asteroid was failed to be mined properly due to its thick crust, eventually nature did what the Protheans could not when a collision with another asteroid broke what would become Omega into two allowing mining to be done properly. This caused a rush to the system to mine the asteroid and then protect it from pirates. To prevent other collisions, the Asteroid was equipped with Field Generators making the asteroid into a space station. What the asteroid was mined out, it was soon made into a haven for criminals and the only sort of law enforcement came from mercenary groups. Aria T'loak had managed to make herself the sole ruler of the station, something no pirate had done before.
Joker and Chase managed to guide the Normandy through the spikes of Omega's underbelly until the ship managed to find a docking Bay. Since Omega was not an organised station, it has no ruled when it came to ship docking and no fees to pay although this made your ship vulnerable to thieves and raiders although the Normandy had a trained crew to deal with any problems like that.
As soon as the Normandy docked, Shepard, Miranda and Jacob exiting the airlock and were immediately greeted by a cheerful Salarian "Ah welcome to Omega." He greeted "You're new here, I can always tell, allow me to..." he then haulted when he saw a Batarian approaching him "Oh, hello Moklan. I was just."
"Leave Fargut!" the Batarian known as Moklan grunted "Aria wants me to greet our guests."
"Of course Moklan. Whatever she wants" The Salarian called Fargut chuckled nervously as he quickly hurried away.
"Blasted scavengers." Moklan grumbled "Welcome to Omega Shepard."
"Wait, how do you know who I am?" Shepard demanded
"We had your ship tagged the moment you entered our system." Moklan sneered "Aria wants to know what brings to Omega to I advise that you go to Afterlife now."
Shepard sighed "I'm not here to cause problems for Omega."
"Yeah but Omega might cause problems for you." Moklan sneered "A word of warning, there's strong anti-human sentiment growing here particular amongst my people so I advise you to be careful who you're talking to and keep your guard up. Afterlife now, Aria doesn't like to be kept waiting. Oh and your bodyguard friend is waiting for you just ahead."
...
Shepard and her team walked forward and saw who Moklan was talking about, one of their potential recruits for the team and who Shepard knew must be Zaeed Massani. He stood with his back to them as he was beating up a Batarian captive. "Thought you could run did you jackass!" Zaeed hissed at him with a very gruff voice.
"You Zaeed Massani?" Shepard called
Zaeed turned around and Shepard saw his very scared face and his mismatched eyes with one looking blind. His face seemed to have looked like it had been badly burnt on one side. His armour consisted of a mismatch and damaged set of Mandalorian armour. Zaeed seemed to be the type of man who did not fix damages to his armour and displayed the damage as a source of pride "Yeah that's me." He replied "I guess your Commander Shepard, we have a galaxy to save."
"So who's this?" Shepard asked pointing to the Batarian
"Just a delinquent who pissed off someone rich enough to send me after him." Zaeed replied "Tried to lead me on a chase all over the sector but he should have known better than to come here. They all come here at some point, thought he could hide amongst the refugees."
"Refugees?" Shepard asked
"I'll explain later but it's why there's strong anti-human sentiment here that's only growing." Zaeed replied
"I assmuned you been briefed on the mission?" Shepard asked
"I've done my homework." Zaeed replied "Cerberus sent me everything I needed to know but did the Illusive Man tell you about our deal?"
"That part was left out of your dossier." Shepard replied.
"I guess I should have expected that." Zaeed replied "Ever heard of Vito Santiago, the founder and leader of the Blue Suns?" Shepard shook her head in response "Apparently he's decided to throw himself with the First Order and captured a Eldell-Ashland refinery on Zorya and is using the facility for slave labour producing fuel for the First Order. Well the company doesn't like that and wants the situation dealt with. I picked this contract before Cerberus contacted me but I never leave a contract unfulfilled. Illusive Man agreed to help me deal with this."
"We can deal with it when we have the time." Shepard answered "Welcome to the team."
"Good enough for me." Zaeed replied and he shook Shepard's hand and then began dragging the Batarian away after he shot him in the leg "Anyway I just need to hand this fucker over and then I'll find you at Afterlife. Don't go to the market without me though and stay out of the allies, place is crawling with Batarians who want humans dead."
...
While Zaeed went to turn his Batarian bounty in, Shepard, Jacob and Miranda walked towards the Afterlife Nightclub where Aria T'Loak, the Pirate Queen resigned. Because Aria apparently already knew they were coming, she had ordered her men to allow them to enter despite the line of people waiting to enter. They soon entered the main room and Shepard was reminded of Chora's Bar back on the Citadel only this was much bigger and flashier. Afterlife was dark but had bright pink and purple lights shining around giving the club a party like feeling. Afterlife had two main floors and a small balcony where Aria stayed. The lower floor was where the bar was while the upper floor was the dance floor and where clients could watch barely dressed girls of both the Asari and human races dance around poles. There was a small side bar on the upper floor while a private room was on the other side. The main door that Shepard and her crew used actually led them to the dance floor where at the back was a set of stairs to the balcony.
They slowly walked up the balcony where a purple skinned Asari who Shepard assumed to be Aria stood with her back to them. "That's close enough." A Batarian ordered and he along with a Turian and two other Batarians who had been standing by the stairs pulled their guns out and pointed them at Shepard while Miranda and Jacob pulled their guns out until Aria turned her head and nodded and the guards put their guns away while the Batarian active his Omi Tool "Hold still." After a quick scan he added "She's clean."
Aria then turned around "So Commander Jane Alice Shepard, Hero of the Republic and a woman who everyone says is dead. I guess you have questions." She smirked
"You run Omega." Shepard asked
Aria laughed and turned around to the dance floor with her arms out "I am Omega. But you need more, everyone needs more so they come to me. I'm the boss, CEO, queen if you're feeling dramatic it doesn't matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule." She then said the next bit one word at a time to make it dramatic "Don't. Fuck. With. Aria."
"I like it." Shepard joked "Easy to remember."
"Good." Aria replied as she sat down on a large couch "If you forget, someone will remind you like my bodyguard Garka here."
"And then I toss you're sorry ass out of the nearest Airlock!" the Batarian called Garka who stood closest to Aria laughed.
Aria pointed her head to the side offering Shepard a seat on her couch and Shepard sat down "So what can I do for you?"
"I'm looking for a couple of people here on Omega." Shepard replied "Dr Mordin Solus is one of them."
"You mean the Salarian Doctor?" Aria questioned "Last I heard he's helping plague victims down in the Slum's district. I've always like him, he's as likely to shoot you as he is to heal you. Keep in mind that the Slums area is not the friendliest place, even worst now."
"What happened there and what do you know about Dr Mordin." Shepard asked
"Well I know that Dr Mordin was a former member of the Salarian Tasks group, he's brilliant and dangerous." Aria laughed before frowning "Just don't get him talking, he never shuts up. As for the Slums, the area used to be territory held by the Blue Suns gang, mostly of the Batarian and Turian members in that particular area however a few months ago, a plague broke out there but here's the thing, it doesn't affect humans now people are believing that some human doctor may have invent the plague, maybe even the First Order. Many Batarians in particular believe this considering it happened right after Lorak."
Shepard remembered reading about Lorak "Wait, you mean the former Asari colony of Esan that the Batarian annexed in 1913, what happened there."
Aria sighed "Thanks to the Republic, Lorak became one of the world's I was able to extort power from. But then just a few months ago, the First Order came and bombarded the colony causing massive devastation and forcing many Batarian refugees here. Possible down to the fact that I was helping a Resistance group on the First Order Colony of Lothal, another colony I once held power over." She then handed a data pad over to Shepard "Here, this will explain everything that happened there. In short, that bombardment has created strong anti-human feelings here and I can't face down the mobs all on my own."
"Well, I'm also looking for someone called Archangel." Shepard added
Aria chuckled "You want him dead too or is he a recruit?" she asked "Because recruiting him will probably make you a lot of enemies on Omega."
"Wait, who wants him dead?" Shepard asked
"Pretty much all of the major gangs here on Omega." Aria stated "He thinks he's on the side of good but there's no good here on Omega. He's been fighting a war against the criminal gangs and disrupted the activities of the major gangs here, the Blue Suns, the Blood Pact and the Eclipse. They've all joined together to try and take him down. Even the Guavian Death Gang and Kanjikub have joined them. Only the Crimson Dawn and Pyke Syndicate have not joined the team up. Last I heard they managed to corner Archangel but they seem to be having some trouble so they've decided to recruit Freelancers, anyone who can fight with a gun."
"That could be our ticket in." Jacob commented
"If you want to get to him, they're recruiting down in the private room just below us." Aria replied "I'm sure they'll sign you up."
"Anything you know about him?" Shepard asked
Aria shook her head "No but he knows to stay clear of me so I don't really care." She replied "He did show up here a few months ago and has been a pain for many of the criminal gangs particular in their smuggling operations. He's some kind of vigilante only he works alone and now it's coming back to bite him. If you can rescue him, he's yours just remember to keep him from trying to hurt my position, it's bad enough as it is."
"What do you mean?" Shepard asked
Aria sighed "Your Republic and me cut a deal after the Verge War." She stated "They gave me support and I kept the local warlords and criminal gangs in line and out of Republic territory. That allowed me to become one of the biggest players in Terminus politics. I ruled the Omega Sector as it's sole ruler and even expanded beyond to neighbouring sectors taking colonies under my control. They give me protection payment and I kept the gangs and pirates away from them. It worked for a while until the First Order rose up. As much as I get support we're still just a bunch of ragtag gangs, we stood no chance against a well trained military. They began annexing colonies through the middle terminus system and even towards the Attican Traverse. My power has been reduced and so I began supporting Resistance groups against them such as on Lothal, a colony once under my control but was then annexed by the First Order." She then scoffed "I heard some people actually cheered when the Order took over since they were free from my control only for the First Order to turn Lothal from a agriculture colony to a mining and manufacturing colony. They just took land from the farmers and those who resisted were arrested. I began supporting Resistance there but then they bombarded Lorak in retaliation so I had to stop. I've lost enough power as it is."
"There is one more person I'm looking for." Shepard added "Some kind of inventor called Bao Dur, he's a Zabrak."
Aria shook her head "Not much I know about that I'm afraid but there are a few Zabraks working in the market and if he's an inventor they he could be the Zabrak merchant working on droid maintenance and repairs."
"That's one of the skills Bao Dur has." Miranda said
"He has a collection of old droids that he managed to fix." Aria said "Some look to be hundreds of years old. The Quarians would love a man like him; he never lets anything go to waste. He'll be in the market but keep in mind he seems to be paranoid, he feels like someone is hunting him."
"I think I have all the information I need for now." Shepard said as she stood up "I should go now."
Aria snorted "Yeah whatever."
Shepard, Jacob and Miranda walked away from the stairs and then went to talk somewhere more private so they went down to the bar downstairs where Shepard ordered a few drinks from the bartender who happened to be a Batarian. The three of them then sat down at a table not noticing the Batarian sneering at them. The music from the disco blocked out the conversation from people overhearing.
"Well, I would say that we should probably recruit Archangel first." Jacob stated "His life is in danger and we cannot lose our asset."
"Mordin is a more valuable member of the team." Miranda disagreed "We need his knowledge, without it we may not survive, Archangel has potential people who can replace him. We cannot replace Mordin or Bao Dur. But it is your call Commander."
Shepard took a sip from her drink "Archangel will be who we go after first. Mordin can handle himself and I'm sure Bao Dur will be safe for now." Then she began to feel woozy and lightheaded.
"Shepard." Miranda gasped
Shepard took up but began shaking and nearly collapsed only to be caught by Zaeed who had just walked in. He quickly gave Shepard a drink from a vial he had in his pocket and then sighed "Seems you just learnt a valuable lesson." Zaeed stated "Never accept a drink from a Batarian, they tend to have a habit of poisoning people, humans in particular. That's why I always carry an antidote on me in case of this."
A Turian walked over "Posion!" he hissed "What is this about Forvan!" he growled at the Batarian.
"This has nothing to do with you Ogrinn!" The Batarian know as Forvan growled
"What about the Turians, are they next!" Zaeed mocked egging the two into a fight "You don't like them either."
"Answer the damn question Forvan!" Ogrinn ordered
"You want a piece of me Mandalorian scum!" Forvan hissed "I'll leave your corpse for the vorcha."
He never got a shot out because Ogrinn shot him with his own pistol "Not taking any chances! Aria is not going to be happy that one of her own workers was behind a string of recent deaths here. She does not like the attention it brings." He then walked away.
"Well that went well." Zaeed commented "So what now Commander."
Shepard looked at him "We're going to recruit Archangel now. His life is in danger, the criminal groups of Omega have united to try and kill him."
"You don't see that often." Zaeed laughed "I better come with you for this, I have a history with the Blue Suns."
"We should all go on this one." Jacob said "Safety in numbers."
"Indeed." Miranda added
Shepard nodded "Alright, there's a recruiting desk just upstairs. That's our next destination and then to wherever they send us. I just hope we get to Archangel in time."
Chapter End:
Notes: Well here is chapter three which is mostly just talking but also some new information. I brought in Bao Dur from Knights of the Old Republic II which will also allow me to bring in a few droid characters. I am planning on replaying both KOTOR Games to get more knowledge about the characters so I can try and add some more in but one who I will confirm will be HK-47. Canderous Ordo will not be appearing in this story though since I cannot find a way to fit him in but he may possibly appear in a later story as a Mandalorian commander.