Linnea Ianthe could not help but flare her biotics across her fingers, bounce on her toes, and grin in excited anticipation as she approached Afterlife. The heavy beat of music filled her chest like a second heartbeat, and she had to resist running on ahead.

A touch on her shoulder kept her in check. "Do you remember everything we told you?"

Linnea rolled her eyes at her asari father. "Obviously. Don't mess with Auntie Aria. Does she know I'm coming?"

"Of course! This is your fortieth birthday dear, a special occasion for all of us!"

For her birthday, Linnea was going to live it up and party. She had dreamed of Omega for years now: the different alien species mingling together, the sensual lights and music, the danger, the lack of rules. The maiden pointed ahead with a wide smile. "Father, I see her!"

Aria T'Loak stood at the entrance to her sanctum, flanked by bodyguards. The Queen looked every bit the part, from her leather outfit to her predatory grin. Aria's arms were raised in a 'V' as she welcomed her guests.

"Auntie Aria! I've missed you!" Linnea ran forward and hugged the asari, followed by a light kiss on her cheek.

"You've grown up Linnea," Aria smiled at the young asari and accepted the affection happily. She glanced down to Linnea's chest. "And out!"

Aria reached out with her index finger and placed it on Linnea's chin, drawing the girl's attention directly to her face. "Everything is ready for you. The VIP room is set up and your parents can stay in the Presidential Suite. We all have high expectations for you tonight, Linnea... are you ready?"

The friendly smile shifted into something much more devious and predatory. "I'm ready!"

Aria nodded her approval, "Well, you better be. I still remember your sister's fortieth... What a mess..." Aria looked the girl over again and smiled, "I have high hopes for you, Linnea."

Linnea's mother proudly placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, "She's ready Aria. She will not disappoint. Her father and I have been working with her tirelessly."

"She'd better not, raising her has not been cheap!" Her father chimed in sarcastically and then swatted her daughter playfully, shooting the girl a loving smile.

"Alright then, Omega is yours for the taking. Just remember, we'll be watching." Aria marched ahead of the group, and Linnea felt her heady anticipation build as Aria led her visitors to the Afterlife.

From the VIP suite, Linnea was able to get a clear view of the bar below. There were many different people mingling together, dancing, drinking, escaping whatever problems that they might have. Linnea zeroed in on one in particular: a lovely asari - also young looking - wearing a white armoured lab coat. Linnea could not take her eyes off of her and eagerly looked to her elders for their approval.

"No, not that one." Aria was firm in her veto. "That one will eat you alive. And remember, we never go after other asari unless we are instructed to... or they fuck with you." Aria sneered and gave the unsuspecting target a smile, "Pick another and stay clear of that one."

Linnea frowned, but did as she was told. Another scan of the room and she found exactly what she was looking for. This time, she located a human male who looked about middle aged - who could really tell with humans anyway? More importantly he was desperate and horny - currently trying it on with the bartender - two things that Linnea would use to her advantage. She again pointed out her target and this time got nods of approval from the room.

The tempo of the music was pounding and the air was thick with desire as Linnea approached the bar and her mark. She used her sex and body language to their fullest as she sauntered up to the man. Linnea leaned in and made sure that the human sitting next to her got a full, unobstructed view of her young, plump breasts, temptingly displayed in an low-cut shirt. Imagining the young asari in the white coat from earlier, Linnea felt her body tingle with pleasure and knew she would be emitting enough pheromones to attract a brain-dead vorcha. The man had no chance against her.

He responded with a large and wanting smile. "Hey. I haven't seen you in here before. Can I buy you a drink?"

Smelling the liquor on him and seeing the sickening way that he eyed her up, Linnea could not help but feel a rush of excitement and a deep desire to show off her talents to the the Queen of Omega. "I'd love one." She licked her lips and took a step closer to the man.

"My name is Kai-"

Before he could finish, Linnea brought her finger to his lips, "Do you really want to spoil the mood? Let's keep it... mysterious. Shall we?" Linnea took a sip of her drink, taking great care to wrap her lips around the straw, and seductively looked at the man as she sucked. His mouth actually dropped open a little bit. When he looked ready to burst on the spot, Linnea pointed to a back room that seemed unoccupied and started making her way through the crowd, softly swaying her leather-clad hips. There was no need for her to look behind, for she knew that the desperate human was following.

It was so easy, it almost felt like cheating.

Aria T'Loak grinned as her omni-tool lit up. Simply relaxing and enjoying her work was a luxury she rarely allowed herself, but of all of the tasks she had to perform as Queen of Omega, this one held a special place in her heart.

She nodded to Linnea's parents, who had been eye-banging Aria's best dancers for the last half an hour. When they didn't respond, Aria cleared her throat. The pair instantly snapped their eyes away from the slowly gyrating, barely-clad human and asari asses, flushing slightly and breaking hand contact. Horny bitches, they were melding! Right beside Aria on the couch. If their daughter wasn't so special Aria might have done something about it (or joined in) but this was important.

"She's finished." Aria said. Linnea's parents nodded, looking nervously at each other.

It did not take long to cross Omega to the room the young asari had lured the hapless human to - the room Aria had arranged.

The room was a mess. The very best kind of mess.

There were clothes strewn across the furniture, and the heady scent of asari arousal everywhere. Maidens like Linnea positively stank of sex at the mere promise of it... especially special ones like Linnea.

The asari herself was standing in the centre of the room, hands clasped before her, head bowed.

On the bed just behind her, the human lay prone. He was stark naked, whilst Linnea was fully clothed. Aria frowned, but did not say anything.

She slowly made her way to the bed. The human, lying on his back with splayed limbs, looked content.

Aria flickered her gaze down.

Not that he's got much to be content about, poor fucker.

She leaned over his body, and saw a trace of red across his nose.

The dust was undisturbed by any breath.

The man was dead.

Aria looked back at Linnea, who still did not look up. Aria slowly looked around the room, eyes catching a small pile of red dust on the bedside table. Next to it was a small pouch galactically acknowledged to carry red sand. Aria took a single grain and crushed it between her fingers, before grimacing. It wasn't red sand: it was the much more lethal Minagen X3.

Finally Aria nodded, reasonably satisfied with what had happened. She returned to stand before Linnea, letting venom touch her voice. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"S-sorry, Auntie?" Linnea stumbled.

"You don't get to call me that in here. This is a disgrace!"

Linnea's eyes widened, and she started stammering. Aria cut across her. "This is clearly a post-sex scene, but all traces of a partner are conspicuously absent. Any police force would instantly suspect foul play. Did you actually have sex with him?"

The maiden instantly scrunched her face. "Ew, no, of course not! Have you seen him?"

Aria scowled. "Well... that's something at least. This room already stinks of asari, at least you didn't leave anything for a DNA sample. But you've instantly turned this into a murder."

Linnea's parents hung back by the door. They knew better than to interrupt the Pirate Queen. Aria could practically feel the worry radiating off of them, but she knew she had to be firm.

"You should have left some female clothes scattered around, and taken some of his, to give the impression you hastily half-dressed and fled after his... accident."

She strode close to Linnea, seeing the girl's brilliant blue eyes trembling. "Are there any drugs in his system?"

Linnea nodded, body still shaking in worry.

"How?" Aria demanded.

The maiden instantly gestured to her ample cleavage, speaking nervously. "I... had a concentrated liquid form on my skin. It doesn't get absorbed by us that way, I checked. The guy couldn't keep his gross tongue off my tits."

Aria slowly nodded. The girl had imagination, if nothing else. "And then you..."

She nodded enthusiastically. "And then I did it! I gave him long enough that the drugs would be in his system, but not affecting him fully. I had to make sure I was the one doing it, not the drugs. That's important."

Aria glanced back at the human. "Why did you choose him?"

Linnea smiled proudly. "I knew he would be easy to seduce. Dad told me all human men are, and this guy looked really desperate. But I chose him because he's a biotic. I could see his implant. It doesn't take much of the drug to kill a human biotic, so the dose looked like an OD."

That's better.

Aria glanced around the room again. She would have to get one of her men to clear it out... and perhaps she could feed the human to Patriarch.

"This is a borderline case, Linnea. I expected better from you. If you knew you were taking the 'drug overdose' route in advance, you should have staged the room so he looked like the lonely fucker he probably is, surrounded by hanar tentacle porn and pictures of me.' Aria drew a hand suggestively down her body to prove the point, before continuing.'Feigning death by sex is more dangerous, because there's a risk you'll get an asari doctor looking at him and finding out that he didn't die because his tiny cock overloaded his heart... but if you are going for that, stick with it. Don't try to mix up two different techniques. Very disappointing."

Linnea's face fell. Aria let the message sink in - the girl would get nowhere through coddling. When she was certain the maiden had learned her lesson, Aria allowed a smile to touch her lips.

"However, I am impressed by both your distribution of the drug, and the way you made it appear he thought he was taking red sand and OD'd that way. Very original. I don't think I've ever seen that, even in my normal line of work. It's doubly impressive so that you picked out a biotic as your... subject... did your mother help you with that little piece of information?"

Linnea's eyes suddenly lit up with hope, and she nodded with a cautious smile. Aria knew Linnea's mother was a surgeon, and had probably helped her daughter with that kind of useful knowledge.

Aria breathed deeply, appearing deep in thought though her decision was already made. "This was clearly an attempt to show off to me Linnea, and while I appreciate the gesture, you'd have been better off taking a safer route. This scene is far too suspicious. That said, you showed that you not only have a creative flair for the work, but also appreciate the importance of planning in advance in that you applied the drug to your skin. There is one last question I need to ask, before passing judgement."

Linnea nodded, brilliant eyes wide with fear.

"How did it feel?"

A predatory grin spread across the maiden's face. "It was amazing, Auntie Aria. When I melded with him and felt his brain melt... my... Goddess... my body is still tingling."

Perfect.

The girl was definitely not ready for the big leagues... but Aria was not here to evaluate skill. Skill, Linnea would learn. Aria was here to evaluate potential and the girl had potential in bucket loads. Still, she would not let the maiden get over-confident.

"Then, as administrator of your final exam, I officially pass you. Barely. You have a lot to learn Linnea, but the Monastery will teach you well."

Whatever else she could have said was drowned out as Linnea's parents squealed in delight, and rushed over to congratulate their daughter. "We knew you could do it! Now you will be with your sister... Honey, we are so proud!"

Aria enjoyed the moment for a while, before Linnea broke through her parents, who immediately initiated a meld - horny bitches, they'll be popping out a new one any day - and took Aria's hands.

"Thank you so much Aria, I promise I'll do you proud."

Aria smiled. Sometimes, work was incredibly rewarding. "You'll do well, Linnea. The school for Ardat-Yakshi assassins will teach you all you need to know. I hear that your sister has made quite a name for herself already. It is an extreme honour to have two sisters attend." Aria turned her attention to her bodyguard and gave a nod.

With Aria's approval, a large cake was brought in to the group, accompanied by some of Afterlife's most gifted dancers.

Seeing the cake, Linnea laughed and rolled her eyes at her elders, "Really? My birthday cake looks like a brain!"

Both of her parents were involved with their meld, but Aria gave a self-satisfied grin at the symbolism of the cake. The Queen of Omega purred a sarcastic response to her young protege, "You had better get used to eating brains, my dear... This one will probably be the sweetest!"

With the night behind her, Aria sat on her comfortable sofa, enjoying one of her human dancer's ministrations between her legs. Not totally into the overeager human, Aria pulled out her omni-tool and started scrolling through the local news reports. Her attention was drawn to a particular report from her favourite Omega-based station.

Lt. Kaidan Alenko of the Systems Alliance is missing. Sources report that since the death of Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Alenko had fallen on bad times and was last seen desperately plying his... charms... on our illustrious station, with limited success. When questioned, one member of the Normandy's crew shrugged and said "Nobody liked him anyway."

Satisfied with her night's work, the Pirate Queen put her omni-tool aside and spread her legs further apart. She took hold of the human's hair, and ground her hips forward. "Faster damn it... and use both hands! Get. Up. In. There!"

A/N: Thank you for reading!

This is the first chapter of a collaborative work between authors Vector 71 and Bebus, devised through many hours of twisted conversations about our own stories. Writing together has been an incredibly fun experience: any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated!

The story will follow Linnea's "education" and career, with appearances from canon characters throughout. Whether as supporting cast, allies, or targets, we have yet to decide!