Chapter 21: Omega Return Pt 1
I really had to thank Mordin again for the fact that I could see the nightclub owned by Aria T'Loak with both eyes. He'd done a fine job digging the praetorian shrapnel out of my eye and his retrovirus upgrade pushed me up to a low powered regenerative healing factor. More Wolverine from the start of Logan than his younger clone X-24, but a few days and a good doctor and my mangled eyeball was now up to about eighty percent and still improving.
Aria's batarian goon, Anto, tried holding us up, but the woman in charge called down for us to come join her on her elevated lounge. Mildly surprising considering we'd never met, but the powerful asari knew who we ran with. Jack and Samara followed me to the wrap around couch that the Queen of Omega treated like a socially progressive throne.
The lack of groaning when I sat spoke to the quality of the seating. I was just over 290 kilos these days and built a fair bit different than most krogan. My shiny graphite plates showed no sign of fusing, allowing me far more flexibility than others of my species, and my exercises had broadened my shoulders and pulled them back and my head up a bit. I'd never be as upright as most other species, but I lacked the common krogan hunch. My posture exposed more of my more vulnerable front to the dangers of the galaxy, but I was dangerous enough to not need to curl up and let my armored back protect me.
From Aria's stare I had to wonder if she enjoyed my aesthetic herself.
"Chief Gatatog Grunt." the asari said my name in a way that sent good vibes up my spine and sack, "It's good that you came to me. It would have been so pedestrian to have sent for you."
Well isn't that something.
"Sounds like the start of something great." I chuckled while thinking about Garrick Olivander telling Harry that great can be good or terrible.
"People still talk about how you made one of my bartenders drink his own poison," she grinned while thinking of me killing one of her employees, "and that is the least interesting thing you've done this year. Seeing you now confirms that Okeer wasn't completely crazy."
"You knew what Okeer was up to?" I asked in only a bit of surprise.
"He came to me hoping to fund his project." she answered, "Looks like I missed out on a hunk of fine real estate."
Some people decry being objectified. I am not one of them. More please.
"I want something from you, Grunt." stated the woman who always gets what she wants, "You're going to father several children with me, and withhold breeding with other asari."
Finally, the universe has revealed my grand destiny, to be put out to stud for the hyper elite and ultra wealthy.
"What the hell?" Jack barked from my side, obviously angry and a bit confused.
Don't ruin this for me, babe.
Samara came to rescue, "The Chief is made of all the best traits of all the best krogan Okeer could get his hands on. Any asari daughters he fathers will have a high likelihood of being the physical elite of our people. Programs that try to produce people like Grunt so rarely succeed, making him both intrinsically valuable and very scarce. Aria seeks to keep this for her own dynasty."
Technically Miranda would be of similar value, but I am not going to bring competition to my stud bull status.
"I'd be amenable to it, so long as I have access to the girls." I told her, "Exclusivity as long as the benefits are worth it."
"You came on your own." She told me, "Looks like you're in need of some benefits right now."
"You're just going to agree to breed with her just like that?" Jack heatedly questioned me.
"She could get pregnant with a hand shake." I answered Jack, "Letting me know about it in advance is pretty courteous."
"It'll be one intense hand shake," Aria grinned, "so don't worry yourself, Cueball. You're not going to lose your man to my skills in the bedroom."
"Now that that is ironed out, lets move on to what brought us here." I pushed the conversation, "We should start with the sunshine and rainbows business before we get to the darker nasty stuff."
"As long as you don't waste my time." Aria agreed.
"I recently was subjected to several intense biotic explosions, a regular explosion, and was shot to shit." I started on the sunshine and rainbow business, "A lot of my gear is scrap and I've got to replace it quick. Upgrade if possible. Here's my wish list and suitable replacements."
Aria looked at the data pad I handed her and chuckled, "Someone wants to be shiny."
"I want to sparkle like a wealthy woman's neck." I grinned.
"You're lucky." Aria nodded, "A group of pirates insulted me recently and I relieved them of their ship and its cargo hold full of the stuff. I have more than I know what to do with. Won't be cheap even with the friends and family discount, but I can get you everything on your wish list within 48 hours."
The final price we agreed to was high, but Miranda had emptied several Cerberus accounts that she knew off with the help of Kasumi as a bit of vengeance against the Illusive Man for nearly killing us all. Credits were hardly an issue any more after she loaded our accounts up with our wergild.
"And the darker nasty business?" Aria asked after we made our final arrangements on making my Lord Death of Murder Mountain 2.0.
"Hunting down an Ardat-Yakshi that came to Omega."
"I knew it." The woman growled, "Nothing leaves a body so… empty… as an Ardat-Yakshi does."
"You haven't taken steps to kill her?" question Samara.
"Why would I?" Aria countered, "She hasn't tried to seduce me. Her last victim was a young woman. Pretty thing. Lived in the tenements near here. That's where I'd start looking."
"Thanks Aria." I told her as I stood to leave, "Is the quarian scrapper still down the way?"
"He moved to a bigger space after one of my dancers settled down with him, one of my men can give you directions."
She stood up as well.
"Good for him. Send my shipments to his place. He's my guy." Still don't know his name, though. (It's Ken)
"Now onto the fun part." She stated as she grabbed my hand and her eyes turned entirely black.
Despite the lack of physical sexual activity, melding with Aria felt incredible and deeply intimate. I didn't know how long we'd been standing there when it ended, but she sat down with a faint grin before I finished stabilizing my weakened knees. I hoped to God I didn't need new underpants.
Samara left to go investigate while Jack and I tracked down my best friend, the quarian scrapper. We arrived at a small warehouse with an office space and an upstairs apartment. My pal was sitting in a primo office chair but stood right up when he saw me.
"My brother from a quarian mother!" I greeted the man, "Moving up in the world."
"This is nothing." the scraper denied, "My wife on the other hand is quite the sight."
"Sorry I missed the wedding." I told him with a grin, "I was probably knee deep in the blood and guts of my enemies."
"I figured you would be after the art we created together." the scrapper nodded his head.
"I have grave news, my friend." I announced in a somber tone, "What was made has been broken."
The horrified gasp of the scrapper revealed that he too felt the deep pain of the loss of my armor.
"The galaxy is a darker place for what has passed." He signed.
I passed the data pad with my wish list to him.
"But from the ashes, we will forge a new light… brighter than ever before." I told him as he read the pad and shook with excitement.
"You two are so gay." Jack snorted in disgust at us.
What would she know about a man's romance with his armor?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
JManM
JManM Fun chapter to write. Checked the app before I went to post and saw my story on the weekly feature section. I have now been validated by an algorithm or some kind of administator and feel incredible. Victory for JManM.
Next chapter should be up this weekend. On a roll.
Chapter 22: Omega Return P2
Hunting Morinth was a far more nuanced affair than the game portrayed, or perhaps I lack Shepard's natural ability to pull trouble out of the aether. Rather than entering Afterlife's VIP section on a single all or nothing gamble to draw out the asari sexual predator, Samara took a whole bottle of chill pills and we worked out a strategy to push her known buttons slowly. We were pursuing a woman who spent 400 years murdering folks across the galaxy, even her addiction to the act wouldn't cause her to approach without caution, especially with a giant krogan being the one in her sights.
I'd enter the club each evening, playing the role of a mercenary healing up and resupplying after a mission gone wrong. An easy cover to be sure as it was the truth, Cerberus paid me to fight for them, Illusive Man pulled a fast one, and I needed to recover and resupply. The trick was to put on a veneer of class and channel the spirit of an edge lord, the latter considerably harder than the former. Truth be told, I lack even a single edgy bone in my body. I enjoy the present far too much to spend much time thinking about how awful everything is.
Fortunately I was able to research her interests a fair bit more than the Commander could in the game, and could learn about things similar to her specific tastes so I didn't sound like I was just name dropping things I heard about her. I'd watch a digital copy of Tombstone each evening so I could pretend to be Val Kilmer while he pretends to be Doc Holiday. That portrayal would be exactly the kind of person to draw her in and armed with everything she would want to hear, the game was afoot.
The first night at the club I bought the house a round of drinks to celebrate my surviving a client's betrayal. I spent the evening spinning stories to strangers, then spinning on the dance floor with strangers - something Samara had been more than willing to help me prepare for - and ultimately left with a light skinned and lithe asari. Not my target, but close enough to her in looks to fire up a little envy in the woman who spent the evening eyeing me up, and Jack and I got a bed mate that could enhance our night by linking our nervous systems. Two birds with one incredibly pleasurable stone.
Beta Team helped me out during the day with all the work the quarian kid and I had to get me combat ready. Fortunately the kid had become a rising star in the gunsmithing and armoring scene on the ancient mining station after our last encounter, so he had a fine selection of tools and equipment to process everything Aria's people were dropping off for us. We were forging a modular plate armor system to accommodate my still growing body and working up some weapon systems improvements with oversight from Garrus and Zaeed. Tali was helping us set up the software packages and helping push the output of our shield tech. Overall I'd be getting a significant upgrade over my scavenged equipment and was pushing some new frontiers as well.
The second evening went much the same as the first with the addition of making an obnoxious turian shit himself when he refused to let no be no within earshot of me. I offered to be his partner for the evening, and when he freaked out fed him his own bullshit lines. When he shouted, "I was just playin!" as he ran off I couldn't help but say, "I wasn't."
The asari he'd been harassing became my date for the evening, and Morinth ended up dancing with us for a bit before backing off with a smirk. The fact that her smile was generated from thoughts of murdering me should have bothered me more, but all I could say was, "What a tease." as she walked away.
Building my equipment the next day included putting together an over the shoulder multi homing grenade launching system. The retractable carrier could launch three volleys of up to six grenades that could assign targets using an eye tracking system built into my new helmet. The homing grenades themselves were capable of burning for up to six seconds under their own fuel supply hot enough to melt through substantial armor and covered a substantial radius per blast. Wiring it all up was a pain in the ass, but it would be big money with the way the collectors like to bunch up when they press in great numbers.
My third night at the club found me in Morinth's company right from the start. She approached me at the bar as I ordered my first drink.
"The one that got away." I spoke just loud enough for her to hear.
"Thought you could seduce me so easily?" She smirked, perhaps laughing internally about the inverse of her usual role in courtship or as just another subtle act to push things in that direction.
"I felt a certain chemistry between us." I commented slowly after taking a drink, "Certainly more than with dear Hallia."
"And how did dear Hallia disappoint you?" She questioned me while leaning a little closer.
"She lacked a certain confident sway." I told her.
"You like the confidence in my sway?" she coyly fished for the compliment.
"I was referring to my own." I chuckled and took another drink.
As much as the psychopath loved being worshipped, our research indicated that she loved taking down confident targets even more.
My conversation with the woman who looked so astoundingly like her scrumptious mother was interrupted by the loud and incredibly vulgar anti human diatribe that emerged from another krogan at the bar.
"Excuse me for a moment." I told her as I circled the round bar.
A quick headbutt after I got his attention stopped his ruckus and the stare down saw him beat a hasty retreat.
"A lizard was in need of some cognitive recalibration." I announced upon my return.
"You've a fondness for human's?" She asked.
"Quite a bit more than fondness." I assured her.
"Anything like your fondness for asari?" she smirked again.
"Incredibly similar in nature." I took another drink.
"How about you come back to my place and show me what that fondness is like?" she offered her hand and I took it, allowing her to lead me away from the club and to her apartment.
Show time.
I took my place far from her on the couch, the better to buy time for Samara to show up and end this bitch.
"I love clubs -- people, movement, heat. I can still hear the bass, like the drums of a great hunt, out for your blood." she said like the creepy person she is, "But here, it's muted -- and you're safe. Is that what you want, Grunt?"
I shook my head, "I am always willing to put myself in the path of danger for the sake of a good time, and I am always eager to be the path of danger for everyone else. Too many people spend their lives running away from dangerous fun. I say take a chance, it's not like anyone makes it out of life alive anyway."
She laughed, and it was hard to tell if it was fake or genuine when dealing with someone so deeply fucked in the head.
"I noticed that about you that first night you came to the club." she chuckled, "So cavalier about death, so funny. I've never understood the fascination with safety. Some of us choose differently."
She got up to come over and sit in my lap, still needing to look up to maintain eye contact.
"Independence over submission." She spoke, "I think we share that, you and I."
She got me to laugh this time, "You'll need quite the ladder to get up my league."
"So strong," she moaned, "I need this."
I'm sure you do murder-junkie.
"Look into my eyes and tell me you want me." she commanded while trying to work her way into telepathically controlling me, "Tell me you'd kill for me. Anything I want."
I placed a big reptilian hand on her head and grinned, "My dear, you ain't a daisy."
With a light push I threw her to the floor and stood up. Samara had worked her way through the locked front door and came in radiating blue biotic power.
"Morinth." she called as she telekinetically threw her daughter into the glass wall that cracked, but held strong.
"Mother." the Ardat-Yakshi growled with considerable venom.
"Do not call me that." Samara ordered while hitting her suspended daughter with another telekinetic push.
"I can't choose to stop being your daughter. Mother." Morinth spat.
"You made your choice long ago." Samara growled back.
400 years ago to be precise, when you chose to run from a cloistered life and use your mutated sex powers to murder people.
Morinth curled up and created a biotic explosion that freed her from Samara's clutches.
"What choice!" she yelled, "My only crime was being born with the gifts you gave me!"
Morinth chucked a chair at her mother who hit the floor and flung out another push that floored her daughter as well. They got up and started some kind of swirly biotic duel like an all blue Harry vs Voldemort final clash. I didn't pay attention to what they were saying because I was already walking up to Morinth and put a hand on her shoulder and a fist in her ribs. She fell to her knees after a very satisfying snap, breathing raggedly to indicate a punctured lung.
I could have ended the woman myself at any time, but this clash was some kind of religious matter to Samara and I wasn't going to piss on that in the name of expediency. Samara strolled up to her daughter and lit up as she prepared a biotic loaded punch.
"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess." she said before driving that powerful blow into Morinth's head.
Samara straightened back up and spoke while looking down at Morinth, "I am ready to leave this place and get on with my life. Are you ready to go as well?"
She turned around to face me and I nodded my head.
As we left the scene of the crime I spotted an honest to God Popeye's down the street.
"Damn, I am hungry." I announced, "Have you ever had fried chicken?"
A quiet shake of her head let me know she was ready to have her socks blow off.
"You're going fucking love this."
With a nudge I led us to the path of spicy deep fried goodness.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
JManM
JManM
Easy chapter to write and damn fun too. Up next we will be learning about the final stage of Grunt's equipment and getting up to some fun on the outlaw infested station.
For those interested, I puntuated Morinth's canon lines as they appear in the subtitles of the game.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
2 Power
stone 
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