Chương 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.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
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.
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