[Book Three] Chapter 23: Back to Omega

[Book Three] Chapter 23: Back to OmegaChapter 23: Back to Omega

“You’re kidding, right? That’s the plan?”

“Yes.”



Rick couldn’t believe his ears. The plan to take back Omega was to infiltrate the Cerberus fleet with a stolen Cerberus ship. Destroy the dreadnought of the said fleet to create chaos while Aria’s own fleet would arrive from the Mass Relay exactly five minutes after them and engage the fleet. Then from there, ram the ship against the station’s shield to break them.



“No, seriously.”

“I’m serious.” The pirate queen answered calmly.

“I don't know what's worse. That plan or the fact that I will go along with it. You realize that it will fail big time? Do you have any contingencies in place?”

“No, it’s break or swim.”

“Dammit! I could come up with...”

“That’s the plan. End of discussion.”



He was at the end of his rope. They had spent nearly two weeks in that ship and Aria had refused to tell him the plan until now, fifteen minutes before its execution. He was not pleased at all. First, she refused the help of the Normandy’s crew; Second, she kept him in the dark. Him! Her son! Lastly she refused to even listen to him! He didn’t know from where she found her confidence but in his opinion it was misplaced. There was no way it would work.



“We’re arriving in 3, 2, 1...”



The frigate exited the hyperspace tunnel of the Mass Relay. Not far on their left floated Omega in all its glory guarded by an impressive Cerberus fleet. Flying slowly to it Aria ordered to play the recording of a Cerberus’ captain, where the man told a bullshit story and gave his credentials and passwords. No sooner was the ship behind the fleet that it fired everything at the dreadnought who wasn’t prepared and got destroyed. Impressive for a frigate firepower-wise. The rest of the fleet tried to engage but Aria’s own collection of vessels arrived from the Mass Relay and attacked immediately.

They were contacted by the leader of Cerberus on the station, a man named Oleg Petrovsky. The man that got Aria out of Omega with clever tactics and strategy. From what Rick could see of him via his hologram, he was a military man through and through but his mannerism and the way he spoke made a clear picture of a cultured person.



‘Probably knows everything there is to know about war. Highly intellectual, not a fighter but a commander and leader. He must have thought of every plan and every outcome both in his and his enemies' favors. Since he’s a general I doubt he would crumble at the first setback when one of his plans goes awry. Dangerous. Dangerous and difficult. Mom is outclassed. She’s smart enough to know that. Heck that guy’s confidence is off the charts and it’s definitely not a bluff or arrogance. What was she thinking keeping me in the dark? I’m the most suited to deal with him.’



The moment the transmission was over, Rick ordered all non essential personnel to be ready to get into the escape pods, knowing perfectly well what Aria was about to do. A foolish thing when your enemy knew your plan and was prepared accordingly. Rick had to give credit to the man, taking Omega then bolstering its defense with anti-space ship turrets all around was a smart move. Something that he had thought himself years ago when he was looking at the station’s defense. It made sense really. When you infiltrate a base to conquer and occupy it. The first thing any sane person would and should do is to repair the defense you destroyed getting it and add your own because if you did get in the others would too.



“What are you doing?!” Aria asked in an unhappy tone.

“Saving lives. That guy is ready, he’s not bluffing. That ship is going to go down.”

“We’ll see about that.” she snarled and went to give order to the Salarian pilot.

“That’s really a dumb plan.” Jane commented from the side.

“I know. I don’t understand why she’s going with it. Be prepared to run to a pod.” he advised her to which she nodded in acknowledgment.



Just as he thought the ship got hit heavily by four different turrets but the kinetic barrier of the station dropped. Not wanting to go down with the ship despite being its captain, Aria led Jane and Rick toward the closest escape pod. Unfortunately the turrets didn’t stop at shooting just the ship and targeted the pods. They were lucky theirs wasn’t one of the most unfortunate and simply crashed hard inside the station burying itself deep into it. Their fortune stopped right at this point as Cerberus soldiers were in the area and began an assault on the pod occupants. Quickly the group was down to Aria, Jane and Rick.



“We’re going to talk about this later.” Rick said as he got out of his cover and charged the farthest grunt at the end of the enemy group.



The poor grunt quickly joined the heaven of headless men, courtesy of a well placed shotgun shot, and as he body hit the ground, Rick had already begun his dance of death, charging left and right mowing down the opposition from behind. With Aria and Jane advancing too, Cerberus was falling one soldier at a time until none were left.



“What’s the plan now?” Jane asked.

“We got to one of the control stations and stopped those turrets. Otherwise I lose my whole fucking army and the plan’s the failure.”



“There.” was all he said before deactivating his omni-tool and lowering his arm.

“What was that about?”

“Remember how I made the doors' security on all of Omega?”

“Yes?”

“I haven’t been idle on the ship. I created a hack and sent you a copy on your own omni-tool. I also added a program to deal with any cerberus encryption. I don’t know if it will be useful as I worked on that from the bit I could recover from the dead grunts on the Citadel but...”

“Better to have it and not need it.” Jane replied with a smile.

“Yeah. I do hope you didn’t forgo your training in hacking if the worst comes to worst.”

“I practiced a lot with EDI in my free time. So? How did it go?” the redhead asked, changing topics.

“Her damn pride is going to get her killed.”

“Nothing new.” Nyreen commented on the side.

“Sadly, no and she can’t be reasoned with at the moment.”

“What are you going to do then?”

“What I do best.”

“Doing whatever you want, then.” Jane stated matter of factly with a small smirk, knowing that not even the pirate queen could rein in her brother. The thought worried her a bit, as usually he’s in danger most of the time he does that.

“Don’t worry, my job is far safer than what you’re going to do, for once. Why do you think I gave you those hacks?”

“I’m not reassured.”

“If everything is going according to my expectations, I won’t have to fight much. Not until the final assault on the Afterlife.”

“Does she know?” inquired Nyreen.

“Now, where would be the fun in that?” Rick replied in an amused tone then turned serious as he looked at Jane. “Be careful down in the mines. It’s dark and the path is narrow. If you fall you’re done for good.”

“Got it.”

“I don't have to tell you to use that to your advantage? Nor which biotics skills would be preferable against Cerberus mechs?”

“Nope. A good Warp then a throw.”

“Then good luck. To you both.” he said as he walked away to another side of the bunker.

“Wait! Do you have any idea what’s awaiting us down there?” Jane asked.

“If there is a scarce number of enemies, a trap. Probably just before you reach your goal.” he shouted then disappeared around a corner.



____________________________________________________________





Aria’s bullshit excuse, in his opinion, had turned his mood sour. Well, sourer than it already was. The plan was more likely doomed to fail than succeed and since his mother was not budging on it he’d have to take matters in his own hands. The people of Omega were not weak. Not by any means, plenty of them would be ready to fight if you put a gun in their hands or if you had a good plan or at the very least lots of charisma to rally them. After all Omega was the seediest place in the galaxy. People that end there are either desperate and running away or in for some dirty jobs and credits. More often than not desperate people stop at nothing to get themselves out of their situation so it wouldn’t be too difficult to rouse them up. The others, there was no need, Cerberus presence was enough.

Rick was moving towards the residential area of block-D. That wasn’t much of a trip as in less than five minutes he was out the tunnel. Sneaking around and avoiding some Cerberus patrol, he found some of the station's inhabitants going about their lives as much as they could despite the station occupation. He observed in a dark corner what was going on or rather who was part of some sort of resistance against Cerberus. That was a given when a place was occupied by enemies, there would alway be some people resisting in the shadows and developing some kind of network. After looking for fifteen minutes he had found what he needed. Coming out from his hiding place he walked towards a small empty food stall and took a seat at the counter.



“Welcome.... Oh shit!” said the turian as he turned around from the grill to face Rick.



With his identity exposed as Aria’s cleaner by an individual that now rested in pieces earlier in the year, any gang members, mercs or simply shady ones knew to recognize Rick on sight. Or rather his helmet. To many, a visit from the little shit of Omega was the last visit you’d ever get. Rick confirmed his suspicion when the turian recognized him. He was shady and with Aria having been gone for months chances were he touched some of her belongings. He couldn’t really be blamed, Aria lost and was exiled after all but his presence might have made the man think that she wasn’t seeing that way.



“She’s gone, it doesn’t belong to her anymore!”

“She’s back.” Rick replied simply. “And she couldn’t care less about what you took. She’s only interested in one thing.”

“Omega.”

“Yes. Now, I see things going two ways. One, you, your friends, your contacts, anyone you know and everyone they know, help Aria take back the station. Two, Cerberus which, let me remind you, is a human supremacist terrorist organization potentially working with the reapers, is in control of Omega and your lives. Which is better in your opinion?”

“Aria. It’s not even a choice. As long as we don’t touch her business or bother her in any way we’re free to do what we want. Cerberus? They have us caged in our own sectors, our own districts. Some people here had been separated from their family for months.”

“Good, then maybe you can provide some support making it easier for her to take back her throne. Make no mistake she can do it alone, proof is, I’m here and not by her side but it will be difficult.”

“What kind of support are we talking about here?”

“Mainly? People. The more the better. Guns, she can provide but people she can’t. The citizens of Omega need to make a stand at the right time, the right place and the right way. I need intel on what exactly is going on.”

“I can give you all that. Many here only want one thing, to have a shot at those bastards at the first opportunity. If you can provide the guns as you say then you won’t have to worry about numbers.”

“I can.”

“... I’ll trust you on that based on who you are. Has it been anyone else but you or Aria... As for intel... I’m guessing you want to know the shady things and not just the numbers of their troops and what their composition is?”

“Yes. From what I understand, Petrovsky is a very smart and cunning individual; going after him without having an idea of what he does backstage is unwise.”

“Well... I heard a rumor. Just a rumor, from one of my customers who thinks along the same line as I do... He heard from a guy who heard it from the wife of... well basically, Petrovsky created abominations beyond the Omega-4 Relay. They escaped, stoled a ship, crashed on Omega and began to attack anyone or anything but they don’t seem to kill! They just turned their target in one of them! The worst, beyond that and how ugly they are, is that they are freaking hard to kill if they can be at all. I heard from someone else that only one of them took down a good size group of the Talons.”

“That’s worrisome. I’m surprised no one is panicking with those at large.”

“Well, that’s the thing, from what I heard Cerberus contained them in a specific area of the station and threw away the key.”

“That doesn’t seem like Cerberus at all. Their Modus Operandi would be to capture one, try to find a way to control it with some experiment, then make more by using innocents.”

“That... That would explain the disappearances all over the station.” the Turian said more to himself than anything.

“I’ll warn Aria about it. Those things must not remain on the station. Is there any way to contact you?”

“Yeah. I’m on frequency X-063.”

“I’ll make you in contact with the guy in charge when Aria and I are not there. He’ll coordinate with you. Can you contact other people from other districts?”

“No problem.”

“Good. Tell them that Aria will kick Cerberus out of Omega before the end of the day. So they better be ready to do their parts. The faster the better.”

“I will.”



With nothing else to talk about Rick went back to his dark corner and contacted Anto.



“It’s me.”

“What do you want?” replied the Batarian in a pissed and grumpy tone.

“How many guns can we spare?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“Because I just found Aria, a whole bunch of pissed off citizens of Omega that want to slaughter Cerberus at the first opportunity. From many sectors. They can hold back or distract those assholes while we raid the Afterlife.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. Try the frequency X-063, say that I’m the one who gave it to you. If you have time, coordinate with them for an organized assault from all sides. My contact is also talking with others from different districts. See if the Talons can help deliver everything.”

“The talons are almost gone.”

“What?”

“Cerberus launched an attack against their outpost and wiped a good number of them. Those still alive evacuated through the tunnel towards the bunker.”

“Well, shit... That’s a blow but not that damaging, as long as they have enough members left to guide us through the tunnel it’s enough.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, Cerberus developed some kind of bioweapon. Very hard to kill and that can turn you into one of them. The word going around is that Cerberus locked them up somewhere on the station but I won’t be surprised if they opened the doors if they feel hopeless. So tell the teams traveling to be on their guard and to run first and ask questions later.”

“I’ll spread the word. Just so you know, she’s absolutely livid.”

“Of course she is but with my recruitment for her army she’ll just bend me over her knee and spank my ass.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure but hey, it’s your mess.”

“Thanks, Anto.”



The batarian didn’t even bother to answer and cut the transmission off. Trying to contact Jane, because Aria was out of the question he found out he couldn’t, meaning she was out of reach.



‘Already in the mines?’



Hoping they wouldn’t encounter one of those bioweapons, Rick made his way toward Gozu district where the Afterlife was located. It was a long trek as he was currently in the middle of the station, height wise, and his destination almost at the very top. Going from secret tunnel to secret tunnel he tried as best as he could to move undetected, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t worried one bit though as it was mainly those new mechs and the regular Cerberus grunt. As he was walking through an open corridor, he saw something that made his brows raise almost to his hairline. An abomination was walking slowly on some pipe above the ground preying on a cerberus patrol team that clearly wasn’t paying attention. The thing was definitely reapers related as it looks a bit like a husk but with a big sack on his back reminding Ric of those biotics enemies he had met on horizon and the Collector base. The one that had clearly been a fusion of multiple husks. Only the creature right under his eyes was smaller, fast and very agile if the way it moves around the pipes were any indication. Watching with rapt attention the new reaper get in position he shot one of the grunt with a projectile from his arm. The grunt suddenly stopped moving while the second served as a landing pad for the thing which quickly seemed to pump something into him before doing the same to his colleague. Under his very eyes in less than a minute both cerberus soldiers began to mutate physically until their appearance was identical to the creature he had been observing.



“HOLY SHIT! THAT’S SO NOT FINE!”



He tried to contact Jane again and this time the call went through.



“We have a problem.”

“Is it worse than a new type of reaper that could duplicate himself by injecting its DNA into living targets and are extremely resilient and annoying?”

“Oh, you're aware then. Then no, that's what I wanted to share. Just saw one makes two more of them in a blink of an eye. Those shits are nasty and very problematic.”

“That’s not the worst. They have a pack mentality and are stronger for it.”

“Joy. Let’s hope Petrovsky hasn't yet found a way to control them.”

“That would be a disaster.”



He quickly finished his conversation with Jane, sharing information. Him about what he was doing behind Aria’s back and her about the new reapers whose name was “adjudant”. Something the pirate queen and Nyreen had been aware of but didn’t seem necessary to talk to him about.

He went through as many sectors as he could while making his way to the Afterlife without straying too much, just to see how the preparations were going. He was pleased to see everything and everyone ready or on its way to be. When the Cerberus’ energy fields disappeared, the assault was immediate and brutal from Omega’s citizens. Cerberus was outnumbered at least five to one and were losing badly. Rick and Anto had worked together and made sure that in each district was at least two small teams or either mercs, talons or Aria’s army to deal with things like turret or Atlas if the offensive force ever encountered one. Taking out grunts with sheer numbers with barely any training was one thing, taking down an Atlas was another.

Carving his way through the enemy with his trusty shotgun in one hand and his lightsaber in the other, Rick was in no time at the Gozu district, followed by a few fighters who used the opportunity. Everything turned to shit when Adjudants came from the main entrance of the district right in front of the Afterlife. Even Nyreen and her talons who came as reinforcements didn’t help much as the abominations simply turned them.



“Any ideas?!” Nyreen asked.

“... Yes. They keep coming and coming, we must stop that by closing the entrance door. Problem is Petrovsky is remotely in control of them.”

“Can’t we do anything here?”

“Since it’s one of the district entrances then yes. The problem this time is that the mechanism is on the other side of the door.”

“That’s a dead sentence for whoever is stuck with the adjudants.”

“Yeah.”



As they were fighting both Cerberus and the reapers troop, Rick focused on the latter, way more dangerous. Their barrier was strong against his lightsaber so he’d have to use his biotics to break them first before slicing them. He had noticed that the damage his lightsaber did was devastating to those things and since had the only one around he made his decision.



“How many grenades do you and your guys have on you?”

“A dozen, why?”

“I’ll charge right in the middle of those assholes and get rid of their shields. Throw them all at them even if I’m in the middle.”

“Are you mad?!”

“I should have enough time to charge one of them on the other side of the door.”

“You...”

“I have no other ideas.”



Nyreen looked at him with a frown, clearly not happy about it but if there was any other solution she knew Rick would have thought of it. After all, he was going to his death. Steeling herself, she ordered her subordinates to ready their grenades. When every one of them signaled they were good to go, Rick charged right in the middle of the adjudants and threw two consecutive nova, completely obliterating their barrier. Immediately, the explosives were thrown right at the abominations and detonated. The multiple blast was enough to kill most of them and heavily injured those that weren’t. The survivors were quickly put down by a hail of bullets.

Rick had long been gone beyond the door by then, having charged an incoming Adjudant pushing him back violently then discharged his shotgun breaking the monstrosity’s barrier before decapitating him. He quickly lifted the corpse with a pull and sent him away with a Throw towards two more that were making their way towards him. That short delay allowed him to reach the door closing system.



“What are you doing?!”



Activating the door’s mechanism he turned his head to see Aria and Jane there thirty feet away then answered his mother’s shout with three simple words.



“Love you, Mom.”



And the door closed.