Mass Effect - A Hero Rises Ch. 21

With no other option, I grabbed a bottle for myself before heading up to my cabin. To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. It wasn't a cabin, it was a fucking apartment! Desk, with piles of datapads already in place, no doubt with information I needed, considering I had no real idea what had happened for two years. There was a giant fish tank, currently empty of fish. Plenty of storage face. Huge bed. Pair of lounges with glass coffee table. The lighting was terrible. The window looking out into space would be something I could look out of when lying back on the bed.

First thing was a shower, stripping off and heading straight inside, making sure the water was nice and hot. There was an enormous mirror that I couldn't help look into. The scarring was jarring to see, and I figured I would have to talk to Chakwas about getting it fixed. I'd seen wounded soldiers with worse injuries, but if I could get some surgery, I'd be happy.

Wandering back out in just a towel, the one thing I wanted was company of a certain kind but, without Ashley or Liara on the ship, nor any of the other women I had been intimate with before, I didn't really know what to do. I immediately thought about Kelly, but figured it might be a little early to pursue that in such a way. I then thought about simply jerking off, but I'd prefer to cum in something other than my hand.

"Wonder if Miranda would be interested?" I asked myself, laughing away at such a thought. No chance of that ever happening.

"Did you want me to contact Miss Lawson?"

"What the fuck?" The AI interface appeared nearby. "Fucking hell, EDI, you nearly gave me a heart attack. And no, I don't want her right now"

"Very well, Shepard. Have a good night."

What I needed was sleep, and the bed looked inviting, company or not. "Joker, how long to Omega?"

"About four hours, Commander."

"Okay, wake me when we're about an hour out. I need some shuteye."

"No worries, Commander."

I hurled the towel on the floor, set my alarm for four hours, just in case, and collapsed onto the bed. I think I was asleep within thirty seconds, which was nice.

*****

Waiting at the airlock, waiting for the ship to dock, I felt better after a little shuteye, another small meal, and plenty of water, as I had been feeling rather dehydrated. I was dressed in the same black armour I had picked up when I'd woken up. I'd always worn blue with the Alliance, as one would expect, but didn't feel comfortable wearing it now. Jacob had offered me some Cerberus armour, albeit half-heartedly, so I wasn't too harsh with him when declining.

I'd done some reading during my meal, as although I'd heard of Omega, I'd never been there, though its reputation was known across the galaxy. Flanking me were Jacob and Miranda, as I had no other choices to take with me. I'd seen them both in action, though they were mechs, but I figured they'd be good enough.

I was surprised our ship was even allowed near Omega, considering the colours we were flying, but perhaps word has already spread of my return. It wouldn't surprise me to hear the Illusive Man had told everyone he figured needed to know would have been informed. The Council. The Alliance. And also whoever was in charge of Omega.

Once the ship docked, cabin pressure was equalised, and the light turned green, we walked out onto the docking bay, walking no more than a few metres towards a group walking towards us, including a couple of batarians. Just what I needed. Fucking hate batarians.

"Welcome to Omega, Shepard."

I feigned surprise. "You know who I am?"

"Of course. We had you tagged the moment you entered the Terminus Systems. You're not as subtle as you think. Aria wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself."

"We weren't being subtle considering the ship wasn't cloaked, you pillock," Miranda stated.

I glanced her way and nodded approving. "Nice use of the word pillock, Miss Lawson. I'd have just gone for the uncouth 'cunt' myself." I turned back to the batarian. "Look, we're not here to cause trouble, so cut the act. You and your arseclown companions can turn around and fuck off as we don't need an escort."

I was hoping he'd actually rise to the bait and start a fight. A few punches thrown, an adrenaline rush, may be a snapped bone or two, would make me feel even better. But, to my slight disappointment, he didn't. "Things explode around you, Shepard. You can't blame Aria for wanting to keep an eye on you. Afterlife. Now."

I flipped him the bird as he simply turned around with his goons and walked away. As we headed into Omega itself, I asked EDI to give me the rundown of what was known about Omega. It was the sort of story I expected of such a settlement in the Terminus Systems. Ignored and forgotten as it wasn't Council Space. Figuring we might as well just got to Afterlife to get it out of the way, we joined a line though I stayed there for all of thirty seconds before pushing to the front, where there was an elcor bouncer. I found that hilarious, though he recognised me, so I was allowed straight in with the others.

It was almost Sodom and Gomorrah, and I immediately felt right at home. Well, not quite, but there were enough things around to definitely perk my interests. Mercenary gangs were doing all sorts of trade. Drugs. Guns. Women too, probably. I might have to deal with that later. But it was the rather limber asari and human dances, working the poles, that definitely gained my full and complete attention, taking a seat at the bar and finding a beer in my hand quickly.

"We have work to do, Commander," Miranda stated, already sounding exasperated.

"Yep, we do. But first, I'm going to watch this pretty little thing right in front of me." The asari noticed I was being rather attentive and soon she was dancing on the bar right in front of me, and it was very provocative. I sipped at my beer, and watched her dance, rather enjoying it when her legs ended up over my shoulders as she cavorted on her back. "How do I give this lovely thing a tip?" I asked.

"Just transfer some credits over your omni-tool," the barman said.

"Is it directly to her?"

"Her name is Tara, so yes, she gets the creds. Aria will take her cut later."

I transferred what I considered a good sum of money, earning thanks and a kiss on the cheek as she walked across the bar and back to her pole. There's no way she was much older than Liara, though Tara had the body of someone who had danced for even longer. Cracked nuts on her arse and a body that could definitely be bent in any number of ways. Finishing my beer, I noticed Jacob was just as distracted. Miranda wasn't happy, which amused me even further.

Taking another beer, this time in a bottle, I led the way towards where Aria was apparently sitting. Her position was on a podium that sat above everyone else, and she had a perfect view of everything and everyone. I didn't get a good look at her as I rounded the corner, stopped by four heavily armed bodyguards. I smiled and took a sip of my beer as one of them, another batarian, put a hand on my chest.

"Take it off now, or I snap your wrist," I warned with nothing but a grin. The batarian returned a predatory grin as another bodyguard, this one a turian, approached with a scanner. The batarian stepped back, allowing the turian to scan my entire body. "What's the scan for? If you're looking for weapons, you're not looking very hard," I added, gesturing to the weapons across my body. Pistol. Shotgun. Assault rifle. Grenades.

"Can't be too careful with dead Spectres. That could be anyone wearing your face."

"Yeah, I've seen that movie before. I don't think I've undergone that sort of operation as I still have all the same memories. But I was told you're the person to talk to if I have questions."

Aria turned around and I got a good look at her. I'm sure, in some way, she might be considered attractive. But... not me. The one word I could think of to describe her was fierce. I wondered when she last genuinely smiled. And if she did grin, she would have looked like nothing more than a predator stalking its prey.

"You run Omega?" I asked. It was a stupid question, but I just wanted to be certain. Aria laughed, before she turned around and spread her arms wide.

"I. Am. Omega." I almost laughed at the melodrama of it all. Her bodyguards stepped back, leaving me free to approach her. Aria sat down, gesturing for me to take a seat nearby, with Miranda and Jacob sitting further away. "But you need more. Everybody needs more something. And they all come to me. I'm the boss, C.E.O, queen if you're feeling dramatic. It doesn't matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule." She came to a stop and stared at me, a slight smirk on her lips. "Don't. Fuck. With Aria."

"Simple but effective. I could think of maybe one retort, but that'll lead to my balls being in a vice. I like them where they are now."

Despite her warnings, I wouldn't have called Aria friendly but she had the information we needed. Mordin Solus was currently working on the outbreak of plague in a quarantined zone, which immediately made me wonder what century we were living in. As for Archangel, first and surnames unknown as yet, he'd pissed off half of Omega and was apparently locked down and being attacked by mercenaries, or entire groups of them at least, including Eclipse, Blood Pack and Blue Suns. No idea who they were, but it was suggested we would have to fight our way there to get him, then fight our way out. Fantastic. Dead before we've started.

Figuring we should get Archangel first, we were told that the mercenary groups were recruiting within Afterlife itself, so after thanking Aria for the information, as politeness always counts when dealing with asari who could probably mind-fuck you with ease, we joined a rather short line to join up with what must have been the Blue Suns. It was easy to figure out as they wore blue armour.

Standing in front of another fucking batarian, he looked over the three of us. I thought the prominent Cerberus logo on Jacob and Miranda would have gained his attention, but he didn't seem to recognise it. And he didn't recognise me either, which was a good thing. "Yeah, you three look like you can do some damage. Looking for a good fight?"

"Always looking for a fight," I replied, which actually wasn't a lie for once, "And I hear this Archangel will provide one hell of a good one."

"You heard right." The merc starting inputting our information after I handed over a trio of false IDs. "Right, the standard fee is five hundred creds. You'll get paid when the job is done. If you die, your friends don't collect your share."

I turned to my companions. "Don't die," I joked. Miranda just rolled her eyes but a slight grin briefly appeared, so maybe there was warmth under that ice cold exterior.

"You'll also need your own weapons and... Never mind, you appear well-equipped."

"Anything else?"

"Final proviso. This does not make you a member of the Blue Suns, Eclipse or the Blood Pack. You are a freelancer. Period."

"Would never have thought otherwise. Where do we head out?"

"There's a transport depot outside the club. One of our boys will take you from there."

We quickly realised the mercenary groups were, to put it simply, a bunch of fucking idiots. Apparently Archangel was holed up somewhere either alone or with very few allies, but still the mercenaries were wasting their times with piecemeal attacks, being picked off rather easily. There was no cohesion in their attacks, each group simply doing their own things, hoping to take the glory of their kill for themselves.

As I said, idiots.

After causing a little trouble, including disabling a few things and electrocuting the batarian that was fixing a gunship, we joined one of the waves heading towards Archangel, hoping whoever it was would recognise our different armour, that we were likely friendlies, and so not to kill us. I still took a shot into the chest, but it was concussive rather than armour piercing, so although I felt out of breath as we made it across, at least I didn't have a massive hole instead.

Bounding up the stairs, we walked into an empty room save for one person. He held up a finger, or a talon, to suggest we remain silent and still as he lined up a target with his sniper rifle. There was a crack as he fired, before he simply turned to face us. "You Archangel?" I asked. I'd stored my weapon, so stepped forward carefully, removing my helmet so he could at least see who I was.

Archangel rose to his feet, placed his rifle against a pillar, before turning back and taking off his own helmet. "Shepard," Garrus stated, "I thought you were dead."

"Garrus?! What the fuck are you doing here?" I exclaimed, rushing forward to grab his hand, followed up by a few slaps on the back.

"Just keeping my skills sharp. A little target practice."

I let him go and looked him up and down. "You sound knackered, old friend. Doing okay?"

"I've been better," he replied, honest as always, "But it sure is good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work. Especially on my own."

"What are you doing here on Omega? I thought you would have at least gone back to C-Sec."

"It's a long story, Shepard, and one I'm sure we can go over later, preferably over a few beers. I could ask what you are doing here, but I guess that's the same. Go over it later. What we need to do now is wipe these idiots out so we can at least get out of here."

"No back door to this place?"

"Not one we can use. Bastards will likely be trying to come through there right now. I've got it wired up nice and good, but there has to be at least one or two people with brains that'll figure it out eventually."

"I've got companions who can help. We watch here, they watch there."

"If you think that's best, Shepard." I glanced at Miranda and Jacob, who didn't need any orders, understanding what was required and disappearing immediately. "Sooo... I recognise that symbol on their armour, Shepard," he stated, picking up his rifle. I took the assault rifle from my back and took a knee as we readied for the onslaught, "Didn't have you pegged as Cerberus."

We opened fired as the next wave approached. Complete and utter idiocy. I'd ready my history and it was the tactics used during the Great War. Send thousands of men against machine gun posts in a vain attempt to take the trench. As we fired occasionally, I managed to explain. "Long story short. I died. They spent billions rebuilding me. I woke up a couple of days ago. Found out the Council denied the Reapers. Human colonies are disappearing. The Alliance are being useless and Cerberus said I should help them to stop the Collectors."

"The Collectors? Shit, I've heard of them. Nothing good."

"Yeah, been told the same thing. Honestly, I don't really know what I'm doing so far. I'm still waking up. Sure you've noticed the face is a mess."

"Don't worry, Shepard. I'm sure there's still a line of women available."

We'd been firing during the conversation, and for a moment, things went quiet. Garrus suggested they'd have to get smart eventually, tempting fate. Which, of course, was proven right, as the idiots proved they had at least some brains, as the trickle of soldiers turned into a flood. So that's when I had the chance to show off my new abilities, heading downstairs and biotic charging into anyone that came into view. In addition to the thump of biotics, my shotgun rarely stayed silent, blasting away at close distance, covering myself and the apartment in blood.

I then heard a krogan roar about Archangel, turning to see an enormous one heading my one in red armour. So I charged at him too, knocking him back enough that I could raise my shotgun and blasted his head clean off. Anyone else probably would have retched at the sight. I simply stepped over his body and charged the next victim.

"Leave some for me!" I heard Garrus called, blasting away two more mercenaries before I pulled back to the stairs. Garrus still had his eye to the scope, firing again, before he added, "Well, seems you have some particular skills, Shepard. I guess they changed you at least a little bit."

"Still getting used to it. Has its advantages and disadvantages."

"Well, the good thing is you killed Garm, the Blood Pack commander. I've already blown away the Eclipse commander, so now it's the Blue Suns and whatever remains of the other two groups."

The last wave came and they threw everything at us. The three groups finally worked together and the bodies started to pile up on the bridge. But that wasn't the only problem as the Blue Suns had got the airship working, and bullets were soon ripping the apartment to pieces. Miranda and Jacob returned, helping us lay down fire as we worked out how to take down the gunship. It was obviously shielded, so Miranda and Jacob would cause those to fail, then Garrus would have only a moment to shoot the pilot's canopy. It was the only plan I could think of, as without heavy weapons, trying to shoot it down with rifle fire would be laborious.

So we got to work.

It almost worked to perfection. The shields of the gunship failed. I opened up and began to fire, causing the gunship to move away enough that Garrus could appear from behind a pillar, rifle aimed and ready to fire. He dithered for only a minute to line up the shot, but it was long enough. He fired just as the gunship did, the explosion knocking Miranda, Jacob and I back, but Garrus took the brunt. Miranda told me the gunship was going down as I rushed to the side of Garrus, who was not in a good way, bleeding from numerous wounds and his face had been badly burned.

I opened the communication channel. "Joker, we need a medivac right away. Sending you my co-ordinates."

"Doctor Chakwas will be there shortly, Commander."

She arrived within five minutes. I stood out of the way and let her get to work, noticing my hands were now covered in blue blood. She checked his vitals, said they were weak but stable, and we immediately got him back to the shuttle and the ship. I followed them into the med-bay, where Chakwas got to work. She said there was little point me hanging around, so suggested I head away, and that she would let me know as soon as he was awake.

Miranda and Jacob were sat in the mess, so I suggested they should get some rest as well. I headed straight to my cabin so I could have a shower before changing into some civilian clothing. Jeans, black shirt, light jacket, and comfortable boots. Heading down to the CIC, Kelly looked at me and asked if I was going anywhere "No, just wanted to be comfortable. Since this isn't military, I don't have to wear a uniform."

"Thought you might have had a date lined up."

"Ha! I should be so lucky. I've barely had a chance to catch my breath since waking. One thing or another."

"Have you eaten yet?"

I definitely gave her a look. "Not yet."

"Well, if you ever want to grab dinner together, all you need do is ask, Shepard. Maybe we can get to know each other?"

That was an invitation if ever I heard one, but at that moment, I wasn't willing to sleep with someone who worked for Cerberus. Yet. What I did remember was a bar full of asari and human dancers, and I figured perhaps I could at least find some company there for a few hours. Wouldn't be the first time I'd paid for it, wouldn't be last. Closing my terminal, I told Kelly I would be gone a few hours, but if Garrus were to wake up, to let me know immediately.

Heading back into Afterlife, I was let straight in again, and resumed my seat at the bar, distracted once again by the attractive dancers. I asked the barman if Tara was still around. "She's just on a break. Should be an hour."