A/N: Hi folks. I've been inspired by Aeternix's stories and decided to create a collection of vignettes myself. I've always been curious about the state of law enforcement in Omega. Sure it's a crazy lawless place but you have to wonder if somewhere out there there isn't that one squad that's meant to be a buffer between the rich and the poor. The thugs and the citizens. The good from the evil. That buffer is Omega Metro Precinct 2077 and this is the story of Omega's last leg of law enforcement. Enjoy!

22:00 hours June 1 2185—Kima slums district—Omega. (Mac Walters, human Chief of Police aka Commissioner)

The dingy apartment wasn't what you'd call first class. Hell it wasn't even fit for last class let alone royalty. A part of me hoped this was a mistake, perhaps this was some other asari in a seedy part of town who just happened to resemble Aria's daughter.

No such luck.

Detective-Sargent Joe Rikshaw and his batarian partner Sargent Zane parted as I approached and confirmed the end of my career. Lying in a tangle of sheets was the soft and beautiful face of the asari princess herself, Liselle.

Say what you will about the queen bee, but her kid was innocent. Well as innocent as one could get in a drainage ditch like Omega. Unlike her mother, Liselle tended to avoid collateral damage and clashed solely with criminals. That just extended the suspect list.

Criminal pathologist Dr. Ross hunkered down over Liselle. His ashen face matched the color of his white lab coat and didn't need any deciphering. The young technician beside him must've been new because I couldn't recall her name. The woman clearly hadn't lived in Omega long enough to realize who we were dealing with, she just went about dusting for prints as if this were any other murder.

I sighed inwardly. There was no sense in asking what we've got, it was murder plain as day. The one thing in Omega you could actually get away with thanks to the corrupt office I inherited from the previous chief of police.

"Do we have anything?" I asked Rikshaw, trying to be hopeful.

He turned his weather beaten face my way and shook his head. I tried not to flinch at the sight of the 'beautiful' scar that gave him a second twisted smile. I'm the freaking chief after all and therefore couldn't show a shred of discomfort.

Zane, the usually quirky batarian beside him, blinked all of his eyes and backed well and far away. Another smart one. 'Distance yourself as fast as you can' seems to be tonight's modus operandi. Rikshaw only crossed his muscled arms and stared at Liselle as if to ask, why?

Rikshaw was an Omega vet whose reputation preceded him. He used to be a cop back on Earth for the violent crimes unit in New York. A long time ago that actually meant something until a shitstorm of events set his compass to Omega. Now he was just a big fish in a shallow pond, playing it safe and staying alive. Hell he could've had my job but the bastard was smart...unlike me who only saw the dollar signs when the position opened up.

Doc Ross had inhaled too much of the smell of death and was starting to resemble a corpse. The stubborn fool unfolded his kit and scanned the scene with his omni-tool, shaking like a leaf all throughout. I had to stomp on the instinct to stop him, it was a useless endeavor in this case but who knew. Maybe lady luck would decide to show her titties when it mattered.

Rikshaw moved to survey the scene from a different angle, his cold lifeless eyes were bottomless pits of analysis. Must be a real cop thing.

"Cause of death, doc?" I asked, taking some sick form of pleasure in the way the usually bubbly man jumped. It was a fine night for dying, so what were a few stupid questions?

Ross heaved and put a pudgy hand to his chest. His young technician threw him a look of disgust before meeting my eyes.

"Well, chief, looks like her throat was slit," she answered as if I were mentally challenged, sarcasm to the max. The young woman was beautiful, a bit arrogant and superior but those calm brown eyes had a sense of professionalism that would be missed once Omega was done with her. It's too bad I won't live long enough to get to know this one.

As we sized eachother up doc Ross extracted another swab, attempting to dab at the royal blood that stained all around Liselle's throat. It fell from his grasp into the pool of blue just like the two before it.

I couldn't take it anymore and plopped down on a cheap wooden stool by the ancient desk. Who the hell used real wood in this day and age anyways?

The doc's quaking hand finally managed to collect a tiny blood sample which he bagged immediately. For fuck's sake this was all he was capable of tonight, there was no point in torturing him further.

"Doc, why don't you bring that to the lab. Your lovely lady here can recover the rest," I said, feeling a sense of disdain when Ross gave her a cautious glance. My orders were supposed to be absolute, but maybe just like everything else in this place that too was an illusion.

The young woman agreed with a quick reassuring nod of her head and Ross almost tripped over himself collecting his samples. When he had an armful, a packet dropped to the floor. Rikshaw scooped it up and his grey eyes shot to his partner. "Zane."

The batarian who was hoping no one would notice his quiet exit, gave his partner a miserable look only to light up when Rikshaw motioned to the evidence. "Help him get that to the lab."

Cops wouldn't be caught dead hauling crap for the egg heads. But I had to admire Rik's tactics, it was a sure way of securing the evidence and getting his squeamish partner as far away from the impending chaos as possible all in one go. Of course if all of my batarian brothers worked for the queen bee and I found myself on the other side of the blues with her dead daughter at my feet, I'd also book it.

Zane hefted some of the tech crap while Ross dashed out with his bagged bundle of evidence. As Rikshaw walked them to the door I snaked a finger in that secret pocket I wasn't supposed to have and took a cigarette I wasn't supposed to smoke.

"There's no smoking in here."

I raised a brow, my light just inches from the cancer stick that was going to make all this better. Not many people ordered the chief of police around, let alone a lowly tech. But there was spunk to this girl so what the hell.

I swallowed my smile and stuffed the cigarette back to where it came from. "You must be new," I said, not trying to sound superior or anything just stating fact.

She nodded and returned to her work. DNA was clearly more important than the police commissioner standing before her.

Rik was by the door, saying something about a 'meat wagon' into his comm but I drowned most of it out, opting to study the woman at work. Her hands flowed methodically over Liselle, checking every fingernail, for debris and expertly bagging all she found.

"Where are you from?" I asked, hoping she didn't take offense at me not asking her name. What was the point? In this city if you were competent you'd eventually wake up and move on. Most crawled back to where they came from after a stint on Omega.

"Central control," she replied, without looking up from her work. I laughed a little. Fast on her feet. I like that.

Rikshaw's boots disturbed the peace with their heavy thud. "The coroner was on his way to recover the body. I told Central to hold him," Rik said, in a voice that sounded like a saw cutting through bone. There was a reason the scum of Omega cowered at his name.

I nodded and took a big gulp of air, trying to suck as much of it in as I could. The tech shot Rik a questioning look, but he only stared at me. There was no emotion in that face, no pity or sympathy just a calm understanding of what was going to happen and a tactical move to prevent any civilians from getting hurt.

"Good," I said, getting up. Rik's eyes stuck to me like glue. As if he's never seen a dead man walking. "Well it's been a pleasure Ms?"

"We still have work to do," she protested, looking to Rik for support. Now that was funny. Sorry sweetheart but even the ultimate lawman won't hang back to become cannon fodder.

"We're done here," Rikshaw said before I got the chance to.

Her surprised eyes moved to his, she must have seen something she didn't like because her second round of protest came with a serrated edge. "We have a job to do. I can still lift more matter from the crime scene."

"I have a lead," Rik seceded. Now her eyes grew wide in time with my own, if Rikshaw had a lead then maybe this wasn't my last night. "Her throat was slit with a mono-molecular blade."

The tech huffed in disbelief. "How could you possibly know that? And even if you did, that tells us nothing."

Rikshaw only gave me one of his rare smiles that stretched his scar to make him look menacing. I nodded in recognition of the nugget I've been given and smiled back. But we both knew it wouldn't be enough. "You want this one?" I asked, as both of us ignored the puzzled woman.

Rik's silence was disturbed with a slight nod of his head. The first sign of hesitance I've seen from him. If you could call that hesitance. I patted my top cop on the shoulder. "Don't let me down." Then turned back to lady love who looked angry now. "Come now don't pout. There'll be plenty of blood and guts for you to pick through. Pack your gear and go with Rikshaw." When she looked ready to say something I dropped the niceties. "Now."

She finally got with the program and gathered her stuff, shooting me a dirty look as she did so. Huh, figures. I caught a glimpse of her name tag as she breezed past. Cathy. Cute name for one so naive to the ways of Omega.

Rikshaw looked after her and I nodded him along. "You're staying." He made the question sound like a statement.

"Don't have a choice." I shrugged. "Find out who did this. Then tell my successor to watch his back," I added, trying to make it sound like a joke but failing miserably. "Now go. It's dark outside and you have a pretty technician waiting for you all by herself."

Rik started to move, taking each step with a heavy measured precision as if it were his last. I listened to the sound, noticing how each thud was in tune with my syncopating heartbeat. Then just like that the boots stopped.

I looked over to see Rikshaw at the doorway, contemplating something. Why couldn't the man just do his damn job and leave already?

The gloved gauntlet of his black armor gripped the door-frame. "We always have a choice." It was all he said before disappearing through the door leaving me with cold night air, a dead body and one hell of an oncoming headache.

I chuckled at that and fished for my cigarette. Hell, maybe it would kill me faster than than the queen bee herself.

Or maybe...

My mouth grew slack. The unlit cigarette tumbled from my lips and hit the floor when I saw none other than Aria T'Loak striding towards me enraged. Her three goons, Anto, Grizz and Brey hung back with their assault rifles near the backdoor door. A little too late gentlemen.

Aria stepped over her daughter's dead body, she only had eyes for me and boy let me tell you if hell had a face...

Biotics seized me in an instant, scalding me in the process as her cold nimble fingers provided a deathly contrast around my throat. I felt my feet leave the ground as Aria tugged me up with ease thanks the blue energy surrounding her.

My vision started getting fuzzy as the pressure on my throat increased. I tried to say something but only made strangled sounds.

"I put you in charge, Mac." Her eyes were midnight black, no feeling, just pure rage now. "I pay you to look after my interests. I pay you to do your job."

"—Ari..a—" I manage to choke out. If only the damn woman would listen then I'd have something to say. But this was Aria. Worse, this was Aria the grieving mother.

"So." She leaned her face close to mine until I could smell the blood, sweat and tears of a hundred people like me. "What. Is. This?"

"Lead..." I wheezed out as my vision flickered black. I could feel my throat constricting, all that tissue grinding against itself, constricting under the pressure. It wouldn't be long now.

She smiled wickedly. I kid you not the woman actually smiled or at least I thought she did before her biotics flared and she screamed in a fit of rage.

A movie started playing in my vision. I don't know why but suddenly a kid flashed before my eyes, the little thing squealed as it was wrapped in a blanket...the wind suddenly rushed through my hair as I rode through a grassy knoll...the smell of sweat and beer permeated the air as a strangled cry sounded beneath me...

Only pitch black eyes stared at me now.

Pitch black until all I could see was...

Nothing.