Afterlife

From FABT

Afterlife
AfterlifeEntrance.png
AfterlifeUpper.jpeg
AfterlifeLounge.jpg
LowerAfterlife.jpg
AfterlifeVIP.jpgFrom top to bottom: Afterlife's exterior; Upper Afterlife; the Ruler of Omega's private lounge in 2185 CE; Lower Afterlife; VIP Afterlife.
Historical information

Built:

13 March 1652 CE (first time)
9 August 2186 CE (rebuilt)

Destroyed:

5 November 2185 CE (first time)
5 December 2278 CE (final time)

Purpose:

Entertainment
Headquarters of the Ruler of Omega (1652 CE - 2221 CE)

Facility information

Affiliation:

OmegaInsignia.png Ruler of Omega (1652 CE - 2221 CE)
Numerous other managers and owners until 2278 CE

 
"All important business worth this station's time is conducted here, one way or another. It attracts all the major players, and can seduce those who aren't careful. It is here where the Patriarch resided and fell, and it's now where I stand. Afterlife isn't just a club...it's the beating heart of Omega."
Aria T'Loak describing the club to Commander Shepard.

Afterlife was a nightclub in the Dyuko District on Omega, which was opened in 1652 CE by the 2nd Ruler of Omega, Khurdok Chaggu, who used it as his personal headquarters. The nightclub was divided into three sections, each operating in seclusion to the other, but encompassing the same complex. The first section was the main club itself, known as "Upper Afterlife" or "Central Afterlife", and consisted of three stories, with the first floor resembling the layout of Chora's Den on the Citadel, featuring a large circular bar with asari dancers performing atop the center section. The second floor featured a large circular opening in the center, above which more asari dancers performed on a large ring suspended from the ceiling and surrounding a large purple holographic cylinder that extended all the way to the ceiling. Around the outer edge of this floor was an elevated section with holographic images along the wall and booths in which most patrons of the club would spend their time. At the back was a private and well guarded lounge from which the Ruler of Omega could observe the club from above. The third floor consisted of a balcony circling the entire edge of the club featuring flaming torches on the outer edge and provided a complete view down to the second floor. The second section, known as "Lower Afterlife", was accessed via a series of stairs located below the Ruler's private lounge, and possessed a quieter atmosphere, with no thumping music, a single bar located in the center, a dance floor and two sets of tables on both sides for patrons to sit and relax. Finally, a third section, known as "Afterlife VIP" or "VIP Afterlife", was located below the two above sections, sealed off completely from the rest of the club and requiring VIP access: this section was circular, with a large central dance floor, and the bars and booths for patrons along the outer ring.

Commissioned and built in 1652 CE by Khurdok Chaggu, the then-present Ruler of Omega, the club was built in the place of the old headquarters of Drecuns Tanculus, the Shatha's Lair, which was demolished to make way for the new club Chaggu had envisioned. Strategically placed close to the Dyuko Docks, Afterlife would greet all newcomers to the station, granting it unparalleled access to major clientele, and the club's hedonistic and boisterous logo, splashed across the entire side of the building in neon, holographic font, was enough to draw the attention of any potential patrons. Initially only the original two sections, Upper and Lower Afterlife respectively were built, and the private lounge overlooking Upper Afterlife's main floor was used as Chaggu's personal command post, a place from which he could overlook his domain and project his power, and thus the nightclub became a symbol of the power of the Ruler of Omega and, in time, the unofficial heart of Omega. The club was entrusted to one of his lieutenants, a krogan named Chok Baxi, who was made its manager as a reward for Baxi's loyal service. When Aria T'Loak arrived on Omega in 1759 CE to commence her shadow campaign to take over the station, she began her campaign masquerading as an innocuous dancer in Afterlife, and within a year she had won the trust of Baxi enough to become a co-partner in ownership of the club, after which she killed him and took full ownership. From there she used Lower Afterlife to begin building her syndicate, deliberately doing it under Chaggu's nose to undermine his authority. Her shadow war with Chaggu came to a head when the krogan finally decided to stop her and confronted her in Afterlife, leading to a one-on-one duel in which Aria was victorious, subsequently replacing Chaggu as the Ruler of Omega. Much like Chaggu before her, she kept Afterlife as her personal headquarters, although the private lounge was configured to be more homely than the command post it had been before: despite this small change, Afterlife remained the same, albeit with a third section called "VIP Afterlife" that was built in secret and without Aria's knowledge in 1807 CE. Initially the club was restricted to a handful of people in order to stop word from reaching Aria, but when Aria herself visited the club in disguise, its existence was exposed. Despite this, Aria was impressed enough with the new section to allow it to continue operating, although the owner had to cede at least 25% of his profits to her. Regardless, the VIP section kept the use of a passphrase for its members as a tradition.

Under Aria, Afterlife's significance on Omega only increased, with most of her correspondence and meetings conducted at the club, unlike Chaggu before her who preferred to use the club to relax. The club fell under Cerberus control late in the First War for Omega in 2185 CE, and following the station's subsequent occupation by the organization, Afterlife was shut down indefinitely. General Oleg Petrovsky, the commander of the Cerberus occupation forces and supreme commander of the Cerberus Armed Forces, recognized the significance of Afterlife as a tool to control Omega, and began transforming the club into a military facility and the central headquarters for the entire Cerberus occupation. The building that housed Afterlife was subsequently renamed "New Order Headquarters", and remained Petrovsky's headquarters for the entire six months of the occupation. New Order Headquarters would be captured at the conclusion of the Second War for Omega in 2186 CE, and Aria was quick to reconvert the building back into a nightclub, and Afterlife officially reopened a month later. Afterlife's significance only further increased following the Reaper War upon the foundation of the Omega Republic in 2189 CE, with Aria retaining Afterlife as the new capital of Omega, as it represented a major part of the station's culture and was a powerful symbol of its independence. Despite this, following the Third War for Omega, Sata T'Loak chose not to keep Afterlife as the capital of the station following the dissolution of the Republic and its replacement with the Alpha Republic, with a new capital building built further into the station's interior and Afterlife relegated back to a mere nightclub. Overtime, the nightclub's new owners allowed the club to become rundown, and as new clubs opened up that competed with it, inevitably drawing away customers, the club ultimately cycled through six different owners before finally closing altogether in 2278 CE. It would remain abandoned for two years, before finally being demolished and replaced by a shopping center.

History[edit | edit source]

Construction[edit | edit source]