In the Lower Wards, Upsilon watched his teacher Helen walk up to a concession stand looked over by a Salarian. Seeing her wasn't a unusual thing, but something had changed about her; the long white hair she once had was cropped short in order to fit into a helmet. It wasn't much but he was entranced by the change anyway. Upsilon sat down on a chair close by when Helen came back empty-handed.
"No luck here either?" He asked with a smile.
Helen let out an loud groan and flung out her arms. "This place is the center of the galaxy, a hotbed for cultural interaction, and yet this place has not a single station that sells root beer, of all things!"
"A shame."
"You're telling me! Haven't had good root beer in…I don't remember how long…" She trailed off and looked down with squinted eyes. "Where did that chair come from?"
Upsilon jumped up to look at the chair; a well worn, wooden lacquered piece of furniture that clashed with the rest of everything."Versuchen Sie nicht, mich zu kontrollieren!" He snarled at it, bringing his heel down on it, splitting it to splinters in an instant. He walked away from it Helen's arm around his shoulder.
"That was fun." Her head lolled from left to right. "I know you don't sit down often, but that was a little overzealous wasn't it?"
"A trinket from Hild." Upsilon said. "I don't need any more of her influence."
"Well I know her only by reputation, so if you would?" She met his eyes and both her and Upsilon's glowed red. A few seconds was all it took for Helen to see who Hild was. Her head snapped away as her mind worked at the new information.
"This is a great quarry." Helen squeezed. "Your new friend knows how to pick his enemies."
"Any input?"
"The only people who know any more are Nero and your Gamma. This door issue you have is a problem, perhaps you can translate the teleportation circle with Hild's sigil?"
Upsilon shook his head immediately. "They're not the same. These are programs running on different operating systems." His face lit up for a moment. "I could focus the teleport by using materials from the places we've been, but that knowledge escapes me. We're going to be on the rails for a little while longer, especially if Hild sends more demons our way."
"Then where'd those goddesses send Epsilon, Nero and me? I thought they would have brought us home."
"They might have, but they don't know where our home is. Who we are, and who they think we are looks to be quite different. Nero did say that there might be parallel versions of us out there; maybe that is who they thought you were."
"Then who are they?" Helen asked, but her attention was grabbed by a tussle between a krogan and a turian that was dragged into a alley. The krogan was in the armor of the Blood Pack, and the turian was part of the Blue Suns. Helen turned to Upsilon with wide eyes and a huge smile.
"This will make up for the appalling lack of root beer." She broke away and went down to engage them. The fight went as well as it could go for the turian, his quills on his face had been ripped off and was bleeding badly, while the krogan laughed at his victim.
"Not bad at all!" He bellowed. "But I hope you had a better plan." He picked up the turian, ready to crush him but he noticed Helen behind him and let him go.
"Is this all the backup you have? She won't last long."
"Then you have nothing to fear." Helen broke into a run, bringing down her arm, and slammed into to the krogan, shoving him quite far. Already back in his face, the krogan realized that this human was as tall as him. Helen ducked the first punch outside to get behind him, and kicked him right behind the knee. There was a loud pop as the leg was dislocated, causing the krogan to hobble over. A low rumble came from his throat, he was chuckling.
"I didn't think humans could be built like that." He wthe krogan had no chancehispered.
"Most aren't willing to." Helen replied, walking around to face him. "Get back up, if you are able."
He did and their fight continued. Helen pulled no punches and her strength did damage to him, causing a crack to show on the frontal plate while dodging out of the way of his slow, wide swings. Upsilon knew that Helen would win, but he was becoming annoyed at how long she was dragging it out. But he stayed at the mouth of the alley, taking note of the way krogans responded to damage. His attention diverted, he didn't notice that someone was watching them all until the gun was pointed at him. He turned his head to see the holder, a batarian with black armor, assisted with a group of humans who surrounded the brawl.
She and the krogan stopped to look back, saw their predicament and did nothing as they and the unconscious turian were rounded up and shoved into the back of a car. It sped away from the Lower Wards and off to an unknown place. Helen and Upsilon were placed next to each other while the krogan fumed.
Upsilon looked around at their captors. "Not C-Sec." He muttered.
"Any idea on who these guys are?" Helen asked the krogan. He said nothing back.
"Well can I get a name?"
His eye spun her way. "Arnok."
"What random group gets in the way of a gang tussle?" She said.
"Trying to send a message." Upsilon said. "That nothing is beyond their control. I guess it's a good thing you started that fight, now we get to see who's in charge."
"Shut up back there!" The batarian shouted. The vehicle banked into a lot and they were walked into a club called Purgatory, the music so loud that by the time they made it to the door the ground vibrated. Helen and Upsilon were looking at the people and lights with amusement; for Helen it was their mirth despite the impending doom around them, and for Upsilon it was that they were deluded into thinking war would never reach them. Moving right after the first set of stairs brought them to a couch. Laid back on it was an asari, her face framed with dark blue markings, scrutinizing the four people before her. She wore black boots, leggings, and a top with a white jacket. With a wave of her hand the batarian and his group sat on various chairs around the club.
"Alliance Navy." She stated. "What possessed you to get in my way?"
"These two aren't your men." Helen pointed out.
"As a matter of fact they are." She looked at Arnok and the turian wih barely contained fury. "Whatever issue you have as of now is over. Don't let me find you again."
They hurried out of the club and the asari paid them no more attention. "Now I'll ask again, who are you to get in the way of my justice?"
Helen was aghast at her comment, like she ran the Citadel. "We had no intent to arrest them…"
"I wasn't talking to you. Sargent Alecto." She cut Helen off. "You, First Lieutenant Faust, do you know who I am?"
"Aria T'Loak." He answered. "They called you the ruler of Omega once."
"Don't assume that my current state means that my authority is any lessened." She clarified. "As far as you're concerned, I'm the judge and jury, so it would be in you're best interest to give me a little fucking respect."
Upsilon's face had been stoic up to this point, but now there was a thin smirk on his face. "Don't get me wrong," He bowed slightly for emphasis. "I admire you, a person in control of themselves is a rare thing. Even Commander Shepard could not defy you while in the Terminus Systems." His jaw squared, and in the corner of his vision he saw a shimmer of light. "But this is not the Terminus, if it were we would already be dead. Here however, you are merely tolerated. Until you step out of line." And he reached out a hand just past Aria's head and grabbed what seemed to be nothing until he yanked an invisible mass over his head a placed it into a hold. The cloak failed, revealing a Phantom squirming in order to break out of his grip.
"Cerberus still hunting you down?" He asked, completely dismissive of the Phantom.
"Bray, get this place cleared out." The batarian got Aria's order and his team got to work. Helen walked to the Phantom and took her sword.
"Mono-Molecular." Helen examined.
Upsilon lifted his captive so that their heads were next to each other, which due to his height meant her legs were off the ground. "Do what you will with her." His teeth flashed wickedly.
Helen returned his smile and then turned to Aria. "Will you allow us our… pleasures?"
The rage of T'Loak had been boiling over ever since Cerberus had forced her out of Omega. Now they even thought they could finish her off. Her would-be assassin forced her neck to see her, and Aria imagined the look of dread behind that helmet. Once the club was empty except for them she made her decision
"Make sure she suffers."
Helen nodded and she walked slowly towards the Phantom, slowly spinning the sword around her. With no hesitation she slashed at her thigh, slicing a portion of it off. The Phantom started to scream, and then gagged as she saw her own red muscles bulge.
"Be still, I need to be-" Helen looked away. "Johann get the door, I expect company."
He let their victim down and she did not get far until Helen grabbed her shoulder and right during her exhalation she drove the sword down between her ribs and left lung, the tip poking out at her hip. Her breaths grew shorter and shorter until she couldn't find the strength to stand. Upsilon grabbed her leg and dragged her down the stairs and in front of the door while he stood next to it, waiting for whoever came through. As the first trooper came through with his gun out, he saw the Phantom dying on the ground. He stopped paying attention to anything else, which allowed Upsilon to thrust his Omi-Blade into the unwitting soldier's arm, breaking the bone. Taking the gun from him Upsilon shot him in the chest and backpedaled away as the rest of the squad poured in. Once the Centurion entered, Upsilon activated his Adrenaline Rush.
It was a habit of Upsilon to have a small loadout on him at all times since he couldn't carry a sword or his armor. Adrenaline Rush was a easy pick for him, as it allowed him to hide using his superhuman strength. Along with that he had enough biotic energy to create Warp Ammo. The shootout began between him and Cerberus, assisted by Helen and Aria from the level above. Their biotics allowed Upsilon to hit for maximum effect, his bullets blowing anyone they hit apart, their chunks splattering onto their comrades. Their morale shaken, Upsilon rushed the trooper in front and broke through his armor with a single punch. Using him to take additional rounds, he knocked the now dead shield into the Centurion. Behind him the rest of the squad fared with Helen and Aria as they were behind the couch.
"Any plans?" Helen asked.
"Just watch." Aria began to glow a wispy blue as her power grew. And then the squad exploded in warpfire.
"Blast them now!"
Helen jumped down into the center of the squad and triggered her Nova; not enough to harm anyone without a proper barrier. But the preceding Flare made the blast lethal to those caught in both. That left Upsilon and the Centurion, who had dropped his rifle and came at Upsilon with a stun baton. A strike at his head was dodge to the side and Upsilon countered by slashing his back, gushing black blood.
"Something's wrong…" He thought and as his enemy turned around. He was hit by the baton and a twitch was the only indicator of pain. Upsilon threw one punch at the officer's head, destroying the visor to his helmet. What he saw surprised him; it wasn't really a person in the armor, it was more like a Husk if it could be compared to anything. Its eyes glowed and had strange symbols in them and the skin was gray. The journey he had been on had been peculiar, but he had no reference for something like this.
"M-Master!" Upsilon cried, and Helen came to his side immediately.
Aria looked between the two visitors slowly. "What is your relationship to each other?"
"Allies of convenience." Upsilon said.
"I do the talking, Johann does the heavy lifting." Helen finished.
"Look at this thing," Upsilon turned the face to Helen. "Is this what The Illusive Man wants for humanity?"
"Humanity won't follow him willingly, so he must twist us into a suitable shape." Upsilon slammed the Centurion against a wall and pounded his head again and again, even as the skull was smashed. He had only stopped when he heard a low moaning. The first Cerberus soldier that he slashed was still alive and what he saw was a giant that couldn't be killed, looking down at him with dark eyes with a red outline around the iris. Then it started to walk towards him, his fists slick with blood, and he tried to crawl away, to stay alive a little longer.
"No, please stop!" He took off his helmet, he was a young man. "I'm not one of them! I didn't know this was happening, I swear!" Upsilon face lacked mercy, and he picked up a fallen rifle. The man had tears in his eyes. "D-Don't kill me! Oh please God-"
Two shots in the head ended his life. Aria moved to stand in front of them. "Not exactly conduct becoming of an officer is it?"
Upsilon noticed the sarcasm her comment. "We were not always soldiers, but we have always been killers. You can handle yourself, it looks like."
"If Cerberus thinks it can kick me off here, they are sorely mistaken."
"Could you give us a vehicle?" Helen said. "I like you too much to just requisition one from you."
Aria tossed them a set of keys and they were on their way. Bray and his men came back to see the club littered in body parts.
"Our visitors?" Bray asked.
"More or less." Aria responded.
"Want me to bring them back?"
"Let them be. We have a war to wage against Cerberus."
As they drove away, Helen laughed and hugged Upsilon. "For a while there I thought you might have lost your step while I was gone. I'm glad I was wrong."
"I'm a quick study, you know that."
"Yes I do. Alright then, what's the plan?"
"We have to grab all of our gear, establish communication through the squad channel, and then get up to Gamma, Omega, and Nero at the Presidium, grabbing Rho and Epsilon along the way. Good thing we are at the bottom, now we work our way up."