38 – Omega (1)

Omega, ah Omega.

A huge space station, not at the Citadel caliber, but still big. Home to all types of criminals, with no type of police or any forces like that protecting folks.

The best thing they got close to something like a police force was the protection of the crime lords overseeing the space station, as they tried to maintain order with their forces.

It had illegal casinos, illegal fighting rings, and prostitution rings with personnel of almost any species. 

If you want a female Krogan to ride you, you just need to pay the price. Also, Samael would not recommend it unless you take the serum he and the others made or you are a Krogan. Why he doesn't recommend that is a mystery...

Anyway, it was nostalgic for Samael, as he spent most of his time in a past cycle there, partying and fooling around. He knew it like the back of his hand. 

But now he didn't come with partying or relaxing in mind. He had a mission: get close to Aria, get the ingredients for the serum, wait for his crew to arrive, and then think about his next steps.

As he had already sent a message for the construction crew to start working on his planet—just a simple base and a few other essential facilities—to house the sleeping Protheans, there were just a few more things for him to do.

The problem is that Samael was bored. He was already in a hotel room, the best Omega had to offer, and one located under Aria's territory, but... he had nothing but time now. He had one week to get to know Aria and wait for his crew.

He knew he could not rush things with Aria, as she wasn't exactly trusting of others, so... he was bored, as he had nothing or maybe too many options to do.

'' Sigh... RR, EDI, give me options on how to pass time.''

RR immediately said, '' Make me a body with functioning genitals so we can fool around.''

Samael was already accustomed to her bluntness, but EDI was a little bit shocked by the conversation.

'' Pass, I already associate seeing you on your original body, it would be weird. EDI?''

'' I want a body too.'' EDI immediately jumped at the opportunity.

'' I can make you one, but only a week later.'' Samael could make a body for her now, but the materials on Omega weren't the best in the galaxy, and Samael wanted the best of the best for his family.

'' I can wait... How about we roam around the place and see if anything is interesting?'' EDI offered another choice.

'' HMMMM, sounds good. Let's go.''

Then, Samael, along with his two AI drones, started to wander around Omega.

Some people even tried to rob him right as he exited the hotel, but 'security' dealt with them, as he was on the 'good' part of Omega. Their fate is now unknown.

Samael then went to the markets, which were filled with a lot of places. The busiest ones were food ones, like normal, while the majority of the vendors were either Batarians or Quarians.

Making sure to not buy anything that touched a Batarian hand, Samael found a good food place, one he also visited in a past cycle, and bought a mountain of food.

After eating the food, which was mostly a paste of something that tasted like chicken with barbecue sauce, Samael decided to be a good samaritan today, and in doing so, he would gather Aria's attention.

Using his now not-so-reliable memory to remember which vendor worked under Aria, Samael entered a particular shop run by a Quarian and bought their entire stock. All of it, down to the bone.

'' I want that... Oh, that desk looks amazing. How much is it? 1000 credits? I will buy... Also, are you seling your helmet?''

The Quarian vendor, while happy that all his merchandise was sold, was a little taken aback by Samael's enthusiastic buying. Also, he had already contacted his boss, Aria, about the huge whale in the market right now.

'' Sorry, the helmet is not for sale.''

'' A pity. Do you have anything more to sell?''

With a heavy heart and filled with joy, the Quarian shook his head and said, '' I sold all my stock to you. The total was 323.029 credits.''

Samael transferred 330.000 to the Quarian vendor.

When the Quarian saw the number, he was about to say something, but Samael beat him to it, '' It's a tip. I recommend you transfer to your account before the person your boss sent to 'get' me arrives.''

The Quarian looked a little guilty, as Samael had seen through him, '' Sorry, I was doing my job.''

'' You just told your boss the truth, nothing else.'' Samael then looked at the thing he bought and said, '' Well, I can't carry all of this with me. Can you make sure it goes into a storage I can access later?''

While it was a huge spending to some, to Samael, it was pocket money. But he wasn't one to ignore the things he bought, so he would make sure to use them or at least try.

It was a huge variety of things, ranging from an unknown desk to guns of all types, armor, etc.

'' Leave it to me.'' The Quarian was more than happy to help, as he just received a tip of 7,000 credits. Besides, while forceful, Aria wasn't evil per se. He was sure this customer could handle the Asari.

'' See you around, kid.'' Samael left the store alongside his drone.

He then repeated the process two more times until, finally, a huge Krogan appeared in front of his path and said, My boss wants to talk with you.''

'' And who is your boss?'' Samael was calm, as he wanted this situation. Now, Aria knows about him, and she came to him.

Alas, he did have to force things a little, but if life follows what you want, it would not be called life.

'' Aria, the owner of Omega.''

'' Owner?'' Samael tilted his head, making the Krogan enraged.

While it was true that Aria had a lot of power over Omega, she was not the true owner of the space station yet. YET.

'' Ok, make way.''

The huge Krogan then huffed and started to make their way towards Aria, with Samael, RR, and EDI following him in their drone forms.

' Let's make a good impression.'

--

' I failed.'

Samuel sighed as he watched Aria rise up from her seat, looking down at him and at her bodyguard.

The place they were in was Aria's 'home', a strip club. Aria herself almost lives there, with her 'office' being in the tallest part of the club, overseeing it all.

Very few people could enter her 'office', and the majority that managed to enter were someone who helped her, made a deal with her, or her enemies. It is safe to say that the fate of the enemies who enter is not good.

Samel immediately said, '' He started it.''

The Krogan, in fact, did start it. Everything was going as he planned, the Krogan bodyguard guided him to Aria, but it was then that he made a mistake.

Thinking Samael was an easy and a 'whale' target, he tried to extort some money from him just as they arrived at Aria.

When Samael said no, the Krogan tried to put his hands on him. Alas, he didn't expect a human to react and beat him so easily.

Of course, it was not as simple as 'Samael defeated a Krogan', no. It was a mixture of experience and his opponent not taking him seriously. I mean, would you believe a normal human would be able to knock out a Krogan with two moves?

No, neither did the Krogan. When he tried to put his hand on Samael, the human grabbed his hand, then aimed a kick at the Krogan legs, making him fall to the ground, using his own body weight against him. Before the Krogan could react, Samael aimed a punch at a very specific spot on Krogan to make him pass out in two moves.

... Nah, not even Samael could do that, as there is no spot like that on a Krogan. What happened was that after Samael managed to drop the Krogan on the ground, EDI and RR used a tranquilizer on the Krogan without anyone noticing, making it seem Samael defeated it in two moves.

You would be surprised at the arsenal the drones had on them. Sedatives, thermal clips, etc.

Truth be told, he would be able to defeat the Krogan, but it would take more time. So, he just went the easy route, and it made him appear stronger than he actually is to others.

'' I saw it. I'll deal with him later.'' Samael flinched a little thinking about the fate of the now knocked-out Krogan, while Aria said while looking directly at him, '' The question is, what do I do with you?''

'' How about inviting me for a drink or two, so we can discuss things?'' 

Gasp

Everyone around Aria gasped and took a deep breath. What Samael was doing was incredible, as no one faces Aria like that and doesn't suffer.

'' Hmmm.'' Aria too was a little taken aback, but she found the situation interesting. After all, it's not every day you watch a human knock out a Krogan so easily, '' Come.'' 

Aria then sat down on one of the sofas in her 'office' and started to drink something.

Samael, without a care in the words and under the bewildered stares of everyone in the 'office', sat down on the sofa facing Aria. '' Thanks for the invite.''

'' Don't mention it.''

Samael then called a waitress, who entered the room and started to tremble a little from nervousness, and asked for a few drinks, tipped her handsome, then finally faced Aria for real, '' My name is Samael, by the way. And I came to discuss business.''

Aria paused after hearing that name. It was exotic for sure, but based on the reports she received from an agent of the Shadow Broker a few days ago, LD creator was called Samael. A thought came to her mind, ' Could it be him?'

It made sense too, as no one normally would face her so nonchalantly, and he came to discuss business.

So, Aria decided to test the waters, '' What kind of business would LD's owner want with a criminal like me?''

Samael chuckled, not thinking about what she said, '' I need something, and I think you have it.''

Well, it wasn't a lie per se, as other people also have the same ingredients in other parts of the galaxy, but he wanted the connection with her more than the ingredients themselves.

'' What is it?'' Aria was certain now that the person in front of her was from LD, and while that made things a little difficult, here was her home. She wasn't afraid of anyone here, not LD nor the Council.

This is her home, and no one messes with her here!

Samael then passed a paper with the last ingredient on it. Aria took it, read it, and raised her eyebrows, '' This ... is quite uncommon and common at the same time. I know of other places, even here in Omega, that have it. Why come to me?''

'' It's not every day you can use an opportunity to have a connection with Aria T'olak, the owner of Omega.''

That praise did, in fact, raise Aria's ego a bit, but she knew she still wasn't the true owner of the space station, '' So, LD, wants a connection with me, a criminal?''

'' Well, we will not be best buddies, but a connection is a connection, isn't it?''

'' Hmmm.'' Aria didn't really have a reason to say no to Samael. It's just that it was strange, all of this. But based on what she knew about LD, they were weird.

'' I'll see what I CAN DO for you. I need some time to gather the amount you want.''

'' I can wait for as long as necessary.''

 Just then, the waitress arrived with Samael's drinks. He thanked her, took one, and passed the other to Aria.

'' Cheers.'' 

Samael downed his drink and watched as Aria did the same.

'' So, now that that is out of the way, what will you do in my home now?'' Aria didn't really want LD owner here, as he was a hot potato. Granted, very few people knew of him, but that might change in the future.

'' I'll have some friends coming here in a week or so. Until then, I will wander around the place, doing something.'' Samael now has a lot of free time and very little to do. Even this meeting with Aria started because he asked RR and EDI what to do, improvised later on, and things ended up here.

'' Do you want to watch some films? Someone to sleep with?''

'' Is that an invitation?''

Aria chuckled at that, '' Careful boy. I ate people more important and better than you.'''

It was Samael's turn to smile at the Asari '' You should have seen the face of the last Asari who thought she could handle me. I thought you might know her, Tevos.''

Aria paused, '' The Councilor?''

'' The same.''

Aria's interest was piqued, and she was watching the human with interest, '' Tell me more.''

So, for some time, Samael and Aria talked about Tevos, guns, and LD, among other things. While not BFFs, they did form a small connection.

'' Alas, it's time for me to meet other people. Being one of the owners of Omega has its perks, but it's downsides as well.'' Aria sighed a little. Her conversation with the human was very interesting, '' But I enjoyed our conversation a lot.''

'' Me too. Maybe we can continue at a later date.''

'' Perhaps... what you asked of me will arrive in a few days, with the price set at 500.000 credits.''

'' No problem.'' Samael got up and extended his hand to Aria, saying,'' It was a pleasure doing business with you.''

Aria shook her hand and said, '' Likewise.''

After that, Samael got up and left Aria's strip club.

For a moment after leaving, Samael wondered if Samara's daughter, an Asari who also happened to be an Arktsha-Yashit, was there, but decided to check it later, as he had time. He wanted to relieve some stress he was feeling.

The Illusive Man could wait some more time with his personality and memories intact, as he was drugged in his ship right now and had no way of harming others.

Speaking of stres, while sex was good to aliviate it, he wanted to do it with people he knew and liked, not some random. He did a lot of that in other cycles.

So, the only other option was to fight or watch others fight.

With a glint of madness in his eyes, Samael made his way into one of the many illegal fighting rings in Omega.