[Book Three] Chapter 23: Back to Omega

Chapter 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.”

Rick held his tongue, it wasn’t the time nor the place to start an argument with her, especially when people outside were dying. They took an elevator and arrived at a new section of the inner parts of  Omega. Cerberus was there too but they were squashed in a blink of an eye. They may have had a new type of physical shield that was very sturdy; they couldn't do squat shit when the bullets came from behind. After going through a few more rooms and dealing with more Cerberus troops they got to the control room. Dealing with the indesirable dogs Rick went to the console and immediately worked on deactivating the turrets. It didn’t take him long to do so then began to see if he could get access to anything in the station from here. There has been nothing helpful for their situation. He did, however, block anyone but him from reactivating the turrets. Not like it would be useful since a second fleet wasn’t planned but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. He was brought out of his work when he heard a gunshot. Immediately turning around gun in hand he looked at the situation.

“He was observing us through a camera.” the redhead explained.
“It’s fine. As long as we don’t say anything important…”
“He knows my bunker is in block-D.” Aria confessed.
“... Oh, we’re definitely going to have that talk.” Rick said with a frown.

He couldn’t believe it, she had let out crucial information in an unsecure location in the enemy’s den. For the first time he couldn’t understand her at all. The cold calculating woman that had raised him was nowhere to be seen and that worried him.

Leaving the control room they made their way towards the surface. There they encountered complications because of course Petrovsky was a very thorough man. He had put shields all over the place cutting access between areas to keep the population contained and to protect his base. Cherry on the cake was the deployment of a new type of Loki mechas and they were a pain to deal with. Thankfully between Aria and Rick they knew most if not all dark secrets of Omega which included hidden passageways used for moving out of sight, notably for smuggling. Rick wondered why the symbol of the Talons, a small gang of Omega, was tagged on the wall for a brief moment before going through the hidden access and going down a ladder. To his surprise someone was already there, working on a weapon. When the ream raised their guns. The individual turned around allowing Aria and Rick to recognize who it was.

“Auntie?” Rick asked.
“Auntie?” Jane asked, puzzled as the person in front of them was a female turian.
“Hello, Rick. Aria.” The woman greeted back with a bit of ice when she said the asari name.
“I’m surprised to see you back on Omega, Nyreen. I didn’t think you would with how you left.” spoke the pirate queen.
“I never left, I just went underground.”

At that revelation, Aria sent a side glance at Rick.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t know, and I’m offended you’d think I’d hid it from you.”
“It’s true. It took an outstanding effort to keep under his radar until he left. Excellent work by the way, as always.” Nyreen replied and praised Rick with a small proud smile.
“Ahem. Hi! I’m…”
“Commander Shepard, I know.”
“This is Nyreen Kandros. An… old acquaintance of mine. We go way back.” Aria explained.
“Okay…”
“What are you doing here, Nyreen?”
“Fighting back Cerberus, of course.”
“Alone?” Rick asked.
“No, with the Talons.”
“The Talons?” Jane asked.
“It’s a small gang in the lowest part of Omega.” answered the pirate queen.
“Highly organized unlike most gangs but as dishonorable. Though honor means nothing on Omega so that's not really a criteria.” Rick explained further. “Now I understand why they never dealt with us, and stayed far away.”
“Why?”
“Not your business, Shepard.” Aria interjected. “I’m surprised the Talons’ influence has reached so far.”
“You have to thank the commander and Rick for that.” replied Nyreen.
“Me?!” Jane exclaimed, not knowing how she could have been the cause.
“The plague dealt a massive blow to the gangs before we took care of it. And when we went to search for Garrus we practically decimated what was left, creating a power-vacuum. And with us gone from Omega thanks to Petrovsky you developed your influence further.” Rick explained what he understood.
“Correct. The Talons are currently the only real gang on Omega. Sure, there are small ones but our position is uncontested, not like it was with Eclipse, the Blue Suns and Blood Pack.”
“Good. You’ll be useful to take back Omega.” stated Aria matter of factly.
“And why should we help you?”
“Because you can’t take Oleg alone or you’d have already done it, and I can’t either despite my army.”
“... You have a point. What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to my bunker. Block-D”
“And we expect an attack from Cerberus.” Rick added.
“Then there is no time to waste.” the Turian said as she took the lead through the tunnel, followed quickly by Rick who wanted to talk to her.

Jane stood where she was, looking at Aria who was unmoving.

“Auntie?” she asked the blue asari.
“It’s between them, Shepard.” was the answer the redhead got.
“Ugh… That loyalty is admirable but not when you’re on the outside.” she complained as she started walking.

Up ahead Rick was making conversation.

“So, you’re the one who turned around the Talons from a profit organization to something with a higher purpose.”
“Yes.”
“Protecting the people of Omega… That’s something recent, you’ve been a member for a long time…”
“I took control earlier in the year. And I wasn’t in the gang for as long as you think. In fact I only infiltrated it five years ago. It took time to climb the ranks.”
“Well, you won’t hear me complain. I’ve been telling for years that she should change things on Omega. People are more inclined to follow you if you make their lives better instead of ruling with fear or disinterest. Wouldn’t hear a thing about it. Still doesn’t.”
“She is what she is. You won’t change her.”
“I will. It just takes time.”
“You’re smarter than me and yet you don’t understand what I did years ago.”
“You didn’t have to leave, you know. You could have stayed in touch.”
“It was better that way.”
“I disagree but regardless, I’m glad you’re well.”
“And I’m glad you’re well too. You have filled up nicely since the last time I saw you. You were all short and scrawny.” she sassed with a smirk.
“I was!” he replied with a laugh. “I didn’t even reach your shoulder. And now I’m way taller than you.”
“I was stunned when I learned that you left Omega. Proud of the way you did it but shocked. Never thought you would leave her.”
“Well… I didn’t have much of a choice really. I wanted my cherry popped and of the two badasses that fit the bill for it… One was gone and the other refused. I didn’t want to die a virgin so I left.” he joked, making Nyreen laugh.
“I’m guessing you’re not anymore?”
“Nope. Took four years of travel with a top model Justicar before I called it quits and settled on a human colony. Found the love of my life there. She made me a man and taught many many things.” he whispered the last part regarding Annalysse.
“There is a story behind this.”
“Yeah but the short version is: I married her, got her with a child then they died when Saren attacked Eden Prime. End of story.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. ‘Twasn’t your fault. It was mine… And Saren. I got the asshole good. Blowed his head off.”
“Good. That man was a disgrace to my people.”
“HmHmm. You heard about Liselle?”
“Yes. It was… the one time I nearly exposed myself to Aria but I thought that it wouldn’t help at all and just complicate things.”
“Ever thought about…”
“Getting back with her? No. That ship had sailed long ago. So… What did you do after leaving Omega for good after the plague? What chaos did you make?” she inquired in a jesting manner.
“Well… I went through the Omega-4 Relay with Red and her crew. Armed and detonated a bomb at the very heart of the Collectors’ base, wiping them all out.” he replied making Nyreen whistled in amazement. “Then afterwards I joined my asari girlfriend and worked on translating some protheans archives, hoping we could find some information that could help fight against the reapers.”
“I didn’t know you were knowledgeable on the protheans language.”
“There was a prothean balise on Eden Prime. Got the knowledge accidentally downloaded into my head. As a result I can read protheans perfectly without even noticing it, to my girlfriend's envy. She’s an archeologist focused on their civilisation. I’m half sure that’s why she keeps me around.” He joked.

Nyreen laughed again but the conversation didn’t go further, they just walked in silence down the tunnel under the watchful eye of Aria and Jane. Both women were interested in how they interacted, more than what they were discussing about or at least for the asari.
Their calm stroll came to an end when Anto contacted Aria and shared that Cerberus troops were attacking the bunker entrance. Quickening their pace in less than five minutes they arrived at block-D and it was a mess. Cerberus soldiers were coming from a floor above and were both attacking from there but also the ground. Quickly taking position, the team of four began to take out the enemy from a safe distance, thinning their numbers allowing them to gain ground. Their numbers were endless and the main difficulty was the suppressing fire given by an Atlas on the upper floor. The mecha was too far for Rick to hack it so he decided to get real close. Channeling his biotics to his legs he signaled Aria to give him a small lift. Immediately, the pirate queen bent her knees a bit and linked her hands so he could use them as a step. With Aria lifting him and him jumping he had enough momentum to reach the upper floor. From there he charged right in biotically towards the Atlass and killed the pilot with his sword through the cockpit window just like he did to the one on the Citadel weeks earlier. From there things became easier for the rest of his teammates. Their advances started right back up and the poor Cerberus grunts had no choice but to die. Rick took care of the few reinforcements coming before jumping down and joining the others. Regrouping, they maintained a defensive position in front of the bunker’s entrance until the door opened and a hail of bullets from turrets began to take care of the remaining Cerberus troops. Not needing anyone to tell them to get inside, the team moved swiftly into the bunker, protected by Rick’s area barrier. Once the thick heavy door was closed they relaxed. After taking a moment to catch their breath, Aria led everyone towards the control room.
The plan was simple, first was to get to the Talons’ outpost to properly recruit them. Despite Nyreen agreement for the gang to work with Aria, the members needed to be told in person and to mobilize their resources properly. The second part of the plan was to deactivate the multiple buried blockading every section of Omega, most notably the ones around the Afterlife where Petrovsky was currently residing. To achieve that they would have to go down Omega’s mine and shut down the reactor providing the energy. The third and final step was for the grunts to deal with Cerberus while Aria, Shepard, Rick and Nyreen would deal with Petrovsky at the Afterlife.
A quite simple plan with so many flaws in Rick's eyes that he couldn’t stop himself from speaking up.

“No.”
“Excuse me?” Aria said looking at him impassibly but eyes full of shock.
“The first thing we should do is relocate since the bunker is not secure anymore. The second is to gather intel, we’re missing serious information about everything. If we go with your plan we’re going almost blind. Only once we’re ready on both counts can we move to take down Perovsky.”
“No, we’re going with my plan.” she replied with a cold tone.
“Then go but I won’t be part of it.”

He didn’t say anything more as he began to walk out of the room.

“Everyone out!” Aria shouted and everyone in the control obeyed. Nyreen gently elbowed Jane and signaled for her to leave too which she did after looking hesitantly at her brother.

The pirate queen walked to her son, who had stopped in his tracks and turned him around so they would be face to face.

“What were you thinking?!” she began, shouting. “Contradicting me in front of everyone? Have you lost your mind? We’ll follow the plan and you will come with me.”
“No. Wasn’t I clear the first time? Executing your plan like that is foolish! Petrovsky is a strategist and a tactician! He had months to prepare for your return, he’s already ten steps ahead and so far the only reason we’re still alive is because of our fucking luck! So far your whole fucking plan was a disaster!”
“We’re here are we not?!”
“As I said, thanks to luck. That landing with the pod? A miracle we made it. Ramming the ship against the station’s barrier? Most stupid idea ever! If you were not letting your anger take over you would agree! This is not like you! Aria T’Loak didn’t come into power on omega with a big fucking army! She planned, she waited, she gathered information and when the moment was opportune she took her chance and won! You… You’re like a mad varen out for blood, making disastrous mistakes like revealing the location of the bunker! You’re going to get innocent people killed! You’re going to get YOURSELF killed! And I want no part of it. I don’t even understand why you brought me when you’re not even letting me do my thing. We should work with the people of Omega, get information from them, rally them up under you. They want to be free as much as you want.”
“I can’t!”

____________________________________________________________

Outside the control room Jane was looking with interest at Nyreen. The female Turian didn’t miss it and simply started the conversation.

“What can I help you with, commander?”
“He called you auntie.”
“He did, what of it?”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to. I long ago gave up trying to change his mind about it or about anything really.” Nyreen replied with a chuckle.
“You are close or were.”
“Were would be apt though from the bit we talked ‘are’ is not that far of a possibility.”
“From what I know, I understand that you’ve known him for a while…”
“Yes.”
“Then, what’s exactly your relationship?”
“Why the interest?”
“He…” she began but hesitated about what to say. Clearly she couldn’t say he was her brother but she had to say something to get the information she wanted. She went with a partial and vague truth in the end. “I got to know him before he ended up on Omega; we were children back then. We were close at the time then one day he just disappeared. We met again on 83 when Saren attacked Eden Prime; I didn’t know it was him though not until a few months ago in fact. And I wonder about his time away. He’s very tightlipped about it, only giving tiny pieces of information and sparsely. The only thing I know so far is that he was a bounty hunter traveling with a Justicar in his late teens before retiring and settling down and only because I met her. I know he and Aria have known each other for years and are very close, to the point that he slept on her couch. That alone is mindblowing; I can’t see for the life of me Aria doing that.”
“True.”
“Then suddenly, there is you. I don’t know where you fit in in his life.”
“Well…I was… his teacher you could say.”
“What did you teach him?”
“Turian culture and history mostly. He wanted to learn from an actual Turian instead of just the extranet. I also taught him a bit about the basics of strategy and tactics. To be honest there wasn’t much knowledge for me to share. He was doing well on his own, perhaps even better than with any help I would have provided. Sometimes I just gave him the bare minimum of information and he was able to know more than I even knew about some historical turian battles. From what went wrong to how it could have been avoided…”
“I know what you mean. He became an expert on xenobiology in two weeks with just reading material.” Jane replied with a knowing nod, making Nyreen chuckled.
“I’m not surprised.”
“Did you ever see that happen?” the redhead inquired about changing topics. “Them butting heads I mean?”
“No. It’s the first time actually that I know of. It’s shocking in truth, Rick had always been supportive of Aria, no matter what she did. Even when he strongly disagreed with her.”
“That’s what I thought. I wonder why he’s so loyal to her in the first place.”
“Aria did what Aria does best.”
“Control Omega?”
“You’re not wrong but no. She gave him what he wanted and needed.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t know but that’s the only way to get someone’s loyalty. To be liable to the person that helped you in your darkest times.”

The conversation was cut short as the door to the control room opened revealing Rick walking out. He took a moment to look around and when he found Jane. Walking straight to her he flared his omni-tool active and began typing something for a few moments.

“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.