** Side View **
"And where do you think you're going?"
Aria T'Loak addressed the Batarian who was guarding her today. He froze in his tracks.
"Well… guests have arrived… need to meet them."
The Batarian looked at Aria T'Loak somewhat uncertainly. She was looking at him like he was a worm. And that look… it made him want to whip out a pistol and put a neat little hole right between her eyes. Except he understood perfectly well that he couldn't do anything to her. Not yet…
"Don't worry, my guests know the way to my bar perfectly well."
"But…"
The Batarian froze, and Aria T'Loak just kept looking at him. Today, this whole game could be ended. Well, not today, but in the near future. And she would finally leave the station, though the thought of it still stirred a sense of disagreement deep inside. But that was because she had simply been the Queen of Omega for too long. She was Omega, and to be honest—and Aria T'Loak didn't like lying to herself—she would have gladly continued being Omega. But new realities dictate their own rules of the game.
"What?"
"No, nothing."
The Batarian shook his head.
"Good that it's nothing."
Aria T'Loak pretended to lose interest in her guard; she even turned away from him, but through a micro-camera and the image transmitted to her lenses, she saw the man send a short message.
A sarcastic smirk appeared on Aria T'Loak's lips, but no one saw it. She pressed a single button built into her bracelet. That button sent a distress signal. However, because she pressed the button several times, it changed from a distress signal indicating she was in danger to a danger signal for her comrades.
Comrades…
Taking a regal sip from her glass, she swirled the wine in her mouth before swallowing, and in that time, she managed to be amazed at how much her life had changed since meeting the then-John Lawson. The guy had literally turned her life upside down, and now she doubted whether she would change anything if she had the chance.
Taking another sip, Aria T'Loak closed her eyes.
** End **
"EDI…"
"Already on it."
EDI responded over the comms; she had also detected the signal from Aria T'Loak and understood it correctly. Her platform wasn't participating in the landing, but that didn't affect her ability to help us. My team now consisted of Samara, Jack, Tali, Chifuyu Orimura, and Rebecca Lee. Two LOKI mechs walked alongside Tali, their metal feet clanking on the iron floor.
"Ambush at the dock exit. Blue Suns. They're serious."
"Well, that means the Blue Suns are about to have one less squad."
Jack said this with undisguised malice. She clearly had a bone to pick with that group and was already anticipating their deaths.
"Barrier in five, four…"
EDI gave the countdown for the me—
nya, and on a signal from her, once we had already cleared the docks—and just a couple of seconds before they opened fire on us—I created a protective hemisphere, covering us with it. I poured a great deal of effort into it, as I remembered that anti-biotic ammunition had already appeared in the galaxy.
However, the Blue Suns turned out to be not quite so prepared; they either hadn't stocked up on such ammo or decided that using it now was impractical. Of course, it wasn't just about the ammunition...
Shaking my head, I forced myself to forget the details. Ammo is ammo, to hell with further clarifications. Simple and fast.
Meanwhile, the girls, not really hiding, gunned down the Blue Suns fighters; they didn't even need help from Jack and Samara. Two LOKI Mechs, Chifuyu Orimura, and Rebecca Lee handled all the problems.
"Boring..."
Jack shook her head.
"...I was hoping for something more interesting."
"Well, the interesting stuff is ahead of us, but for now..."
"The salvage team will be there in five minutes. Please wait on site."
"Got it."
EDI easily read my intentions, while Tali began leisurely hacking the Omni-tools of the dead Blue Suns, as more mercenaries rushed toward us. But these had Aria T'Loak's emblem, which meant they were theoretically supposed to serve as the local law enforcement.
"Drop your weapons! Face on the floor!"
A human leveled a barrel at us, but I hadn't dropped the biotic barrier yet and just tilted my head boredly to the side; through the transparent visor, one could see the doubt in my gaze regarding this individual's intellectual capacity.
"I said face on the floor!"
"Man, are you serious? We just took down a squad of Blue Suns who attacked us..."
"That still needs to be proven! In the meantime..."
I paid no attention to his words and continued in the same calm and slightly ironic voice.
"...and you are clearly worse prepared. So tell me, do you really think that you, with your little squad, can offer us any kind of opposition?"
The man grimaced. He wasn't wearing a helmet, which made him an extremely easy target, and in the event of a conflict, he would be the first to die.
"Commander..."
Jane Shepard's squad appeared from the docks and began dragging away the Blue Suns' bodies.
"Where are you taking them?!"
"Their armor, weapons, and everything else are our legitimate trophies. Now, step aside."
"I won't let you through!"
"Jack, be a dear, just don't kill them."
"Pff..."
She gave a careless wave of her hand, and a wide wave of force swept the mercenaries aside so we could pass forward.
"You!"
They scrambled up, and this time the guns pointed at us began to tremble slightly from the tension.
"What? You blocked our path, and the only reason you're all still alive is simply because you work directly for Aria T'Loak. And because you didn't start shooting."
"Emergency backup to the fifth docks!"
"Call them straight to Aria T'Loak's club."
I tossed this out in a casual voice.
"Because she invited me to the station, and I'm going to meet her."
While the man's eyes flashed with anger, his subordinates began to lower their guns uncertainly. Regardless, it didn't bother us, so we simply walked past them, and he and his subordinates trailed after me.
Near Aria T'Loak's club, another squad met us, but they didn't risk stopping us—apparently, they had received a direct order from Aria T'Loak. So we calmly walked inside, and I, pushing everyone aside with my barrier, continued on my way. I only paused near a table where a young Asari was dancing.
Slightly changing the configuration of my barrier, I took two steps so that it would let a sentient being through at a specific spot.
The girl saw me and didn't do anything. She continued to dance, while I pulled out a credit chip for ten thousand and, approaching the table closely, tapped it against the surface. The girl immediately understood the hint but didn't let go of the pole, merely snorting contemptuously, thereby showing that she wasn't a whore but was dancing here simply because she liked to dance.
"Don't need ten thousand?"
I tilted my head, but the girl didn't flinch, continuing her dance.
"Very interesting, then catch."
I simply tossed her the chip, and she caught it mid-dance and, hiding it, continued.
"Just don't buy too much ice cream."
Another snort from the young Asari, after which we continued our way toward Aria T'Loak.
"And why was that?"
"Just rewarded her... the others, look, ran away, crawled under tables and are shaking, but she kept dancing. Such dedication to the craft should be rewarded."
"Well, or brainlessness."
Jack shrugged carelessly.
"Oh, there was quite a lot of intelligence in those eyes."
Samara joined the conversation with a light smirk on her lips.
"The main thing is that her associates don't skin her for it."
"Well, if she's that brave, then she's either sharing with someone or is strong enough to defend what belongs to her. So..."
I shot a short glance at Samara.
"At her age, I was mostly too overconfident. But let's hope the local queen covers her from the wrath of the other dancers."
"Pff..."
I shook my head.
"As if Aria T'Loak cares about another hip-shaking, boob-jiggling girl."
At these words, we approached the ascent to Aria T'Loak's box, where we were stopped.
"No further with the barrier."
"And maybe you without a head?"
The Batarian put his hand on his pistol.
"If you think there's no way to handle biotics..."
"If you think I haven't encountered anti-biotic ammunition, then you're mistaken."
I allowed myself a smirk.
"Those are dangerous toys, of course, but I can still snap your neck."
"Let them through already!"
Aria T'Loak shouted this with such force that we heard her perfectly.
"But..."
"Don't argue! If they wanted to kill me, they would have done it already, especially since I'm the one who invited them. So just let them through to me."
The Batarian stepped aside, and we went up the stairs and soon settled into Aria T'Loak's box, while she pressed a couple of hidden keys and smirked.
"You can drop the barrier. Right now, the only way to get in here is with a nuclear explosion, and even then, it's not a given."
I only gave a quiet chuckle, as I perfectly understood she was exaggerating. However, I followed her advice anyway.
"So, you're interested in Mordin Solus, as well as Archangel... by the way, the first one is very, very dangerous. And I wouldn't recruit him. Especially after the conflict with the Salarians."
"I understand that... and EDI will be keeping a constant eye on him, but without a brilliant scientist, it will be very difficult for us. Besides, he's here on Omega Station, and yet he hasn't tried to push into your inner circle."
"Do you think I would allow an STG agent in my circle?"
"I think that if necessary, the STG could fabricate a case about his desertion and even that he killed his fellow soldiers during the escape. They would put a bounty on his head and do many other little things I can't even think of. And all of this so that you wouldn't have even a shadow of a doubt that he isn't an STG operative and has no ties to them."
"So maybe all of this is their plan?"
Aria T'Loak arched an eyebrow.
"Maybe... But we'll only understand that when the time comes. But in any case, despite the conflict with the Salarians, I would like to save at least part of their people."
"Do-gooder."
Aria T'Loak snorted disapprovingly.
"Not so much a do-gooder..."
I looked thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"...it's just that any life is sacred."
"Do you even believe that yourself?"
Jack looked at me with doubt in my intelligence.
"Well, not in an ultimate sense, but I have Batarians in my colonies, and generally representatives of all the races that have gone into space and contacted the Citadel. Some, like Humans, Asari, Turians, and Quarians—more; some—less. Naturally, I'm not going to save literally everyone."
Jack sighed with a bit of relief.
"Fine, it's your business. Who are you going after first?"
Aria T'Loak looked intently into my eyes.
"Archangel first. And then, in his company, we'll go after the Salarian."
"I see... you, on the other hand..."
"I remember everything and will do it. Don't worry."
Aria T'Loak smirked contentedly.
"I can't wait."
"Wait, wait. By the way, your daughter shakes her butt very well."
Aria T'Loak's eyes flashed.
"You..."
"I gave her money for ice cream, don't worry, it's not an attempt to hit on her."
"I'll..."
Two small singularities appeared on Aria T'Loak's hands.
"...if you start making moves on my daughter..."
"I know, I know, that you protect her to the best of your understanding."
"Wait, that bitch is Aria T'Loak's daughter?!"
Jack stared at me in shock, though in the next second, she was slammed into the wall.
"Girl, watch your tongue... you're talking about my daughter, after all..."
***
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