Chapter 9
The days had passed relatively calmly and quietly. The agreement between the Thief and the Queen helped Omega flow smoothly, despite the exceeding presence of Cerberus on the station, the mercenary groups remained somewhat docile. With the mercenary groups focused more on one another, the Queen's business continued, renting ports on the station to Cerberus scientists, investigating what lay on the other side of the Omega 4 relay. No one on Omega really cared about what lay beyond the relay, but Cerberus seemed intent on researching it, using the station to help transport their research to Cerberus research stations.
Even though the days had been calm, it still meant a lot of work for the Thief. With her reputation having quickly boomed, Brill received an onslaught of job requests, either information gathering or something as simple as tapping into a security feed in a rival merc base. Nova, Brill's right-hand man, was very pleased with the increase in money, as they both were, although they both lived relatively humbly. Brill kept her home in the small space in the maintenance tunnels while Nova just got a new apartment.
Despite Brill's continuously living space, she found herself returning more and more to Aria's apartment, every day the past few days in fact. After a while, she felt herself more comfortable at the apartment with the occasional company of the asari. The past few days had also made the Queen of Omega busy, with the calming of the mercenary groups, she had her own affairs to pay attention to. The few times Aria did show at the apartment was, in fact, very pleasant.
Brill lay on the bed in Aria's apartment, she was relaxing but also taking the time to filter through the couple requests she had still yet to skim. There was always the few that were too outlandish to pull off and others that were legitimate, it was always an issue to juggle through the requests to figure out what was possible and what wasn't. Despite the slight frustration, it was oddly relaxing to scroll through the requests.
The door to the bedroom opened, Brill's eyes still on the screen of her omni-tool, but she could feel the asari's presence enter the room. Brill's focus shifted past her omni-tool screen, eyeing the asari who had just entered, standing at the foot of the bed with her hands on her hips. From the angle Brill lay, she could only see the asari's head and shoulders, her arm blocking anything more. She lifted her arm up, eyeing what Aria was wearing.
Instead of the usual jumpsuit Aria always wore, she instead wore a slim fitting white dress. The top of the dress being cut just at her shoulders, leaving her forearms bare to her elbows where she wore long fingerless gloves. The real eye part was where the white dress opened in the middle, revealing what could have been a black tank top, except the many wholes on the inner shirt that descended to Aria's abdomen. An opening just above Aria's chest, encompassing her cleavage, another just below that encompassing her navel and two more right above her abdomen on either side where her hips curved.
"Are you wearing that just for me?" Brill asked sweetly, finally closing her omni-tool and sitting up to enjoy the view of the nicely dressed asari.
Aria didn't answer although her facial expression said enough. She placed a knee on the foot of the bed, using it to lift herself up until she was crawling across to Brill. Brill found herself slowly lying back down on the bed as Aria made her ascent, one leg between Brill's. Brill couldn't help but grin at the sight of the asari looming over her.
"Being more assertive, are we?" Brill asked coyly, reaching up to run a finger down Aria's neck. Brill's hand was quickly caught, though, by Aria and she quickly pinned the hand above Brill's head, Brill's remaining free hand quickly followed the other. The grin remained on Brill's lips, despite the sudden change of positions, her only lightly squirming beneath Aria.
"I like a change of pace." Aria remarked, her eyes becoming hooded as she gazed down at Brill. "What do you say?" The seductive playful tone in Aria's voice and her subtle lick of her lips made Brill smile slightly, her teeth barely showing from beneath her lips.
"You are…" Brill wiggled slightly beneath Aria, feeling the presence of Aria's knee placed comfortably between her legs. "You do make a convincing argument."
Aria lowered herself, their bodies pressing against one another lightly, her lips just inches away from Brill's. "I try."
The parts of Aria's skin that touched Brill now became increasingly obvious, she could feel her heart thumbing with excitement in her chest. Both have the yearning, their lips just a breath away from one another's, Aria toying lightly with the distance. Their lips gently touched, Brill and Aria's eyes having closed at the moment, the soft delicate touch before the-.
The sound of Brill's omni-tool ringing blared loudly in the room, her wrist lighting up from the incoming call. Brill took a deep breath, feeling Aria pull away as well as the tension that had just grown. Brill kept her eyes closed, heaving a heavy sigh before opening her eyes to look at Aria's questioning gaze.
"Are you going to answer that?" Aria asked.
Brill lightly shrugged at the asari, looking innocent. "I really should." A silence settled between them, besides the loud ringing, before Aria groaned loudly and rolled off Brill. She finally sat up and answered the call. "Can this wait?"
"We got a problem." Nova's voice coming clear through the omni-tool as well as how serious the problem was from the tone of her voice.
Brill instantly straitened up, swinging her legs off the bed. "What is it?" She demanded.
"I got wind of someone planning on raiding a Cerberus ship that docked recently. Except…" Nova grew quiet.
"What?"
"Something's happening. The security cameras got cut out, but something came out of that ship." Nova said. As the turian spoke, Brill cast a glance at Aria who was now up and off the bed, the serious face of the Queen having returned to her features.
Brill hopped off the bed and was heading out the bedroom, Aria right behind her. "Sit tight, Nova. I'll rendezvous with you in 5 minutes, stay safe." Brill quickly replied, hurrying out the apartment with Aria beside her. It didn't matter who saw them leave the apartment now, whatever was happening was… disturbing and had to be investigated right away.
"Roger that." The affirmative came through Brill's omni-tool just before she shut it down and glanced at Aria.
The Queen of Omega looked back at Brill, her brow lowering. "I'll handle this, you deal with yours." Aria replied, her voice stern and she quickly turned away, taking long strides as she left.
"Good luck!" Brill called worryingly, making Aria suddenly halt.
The asari glanced over her shoulder briefly, her eyes briefly catching Brill's. "You too." And she was gone.
Regrouping with Nova wasn't an issue, they had preplanned a rendezvous point in the event of an emergency. The point was exactly where Brill was headed, but it was getting there that was becoming an issue. In a few minutes after the call from Nova and leaving the apartment, the station was turning into chaos, and screams were echoing throughout the entirety of the station. The pipes and metal walls almost shaking from the echoing of screams and gun fire. Brill's eyes remained wide as she ran down corridors and down ladders, hearing the distant screams and gun shots as she made her way to the point. What the fuck was going on?
Surprisingly, the way to the rendezvous point was clear, the roads and alleyways completely devoid of life, if it wasn't for the screaming and gun shots she would bet that Omega was empty. Except, Brill suddenly stopped, so close to the place where she would meet Nova when a blood curdling scream made her halt, her head glancing towards its origin just around the corner. The scream was too close for comfort.
Brill took a step back, tilting her head in the direction of the scream, seeing if she could get a better look at what was going on. It looked like whatever it was came from just down a small alley around a corner. Brill tentatively made her way down the alley towards the corner, she didn't have a gun on her, but she kept her instincts ready, just incase she needed to call on her biotics. Brill slowly made her way to the end of the wall, peering her head around it, her back against the wall as she looked around the corner. As she looked she could make out some sort of blue glowing light and a misshapen leg standing over a body on the ground.
Something suddenly grabbed Brill from behind, a hand covering her mouth and pulling her into the shadows away from the corner. Brill frantically grabbed the arm that held her back, struggling for a split second before she caught eye of what belonged to the misshapen leg. From where she hid in the shadows, she could see the form of whatever it was.
Whatever it was, hunched over had spikes running along its back, it's back some sort of blue sac with spikes running along it. Its head seemed more alien than anything else, its eyes glowing blue with a hole rather than a nose, and instead of a mouth were strange pipes and tubes erupting out in different directions attached to parts of its chest, arm and other locations. Its right arm resembled that of a canon rather than a hand, electricity sparking blue a glowing blue circle in the palm of the thing's hand. Even the legs of the creature had tubes connecting it together it almost seemed more machine than organic.
There was only one, standing over the body of a salarian that lay on the ground. Its left hand holding the neck of the downed salarian, raising its weaponized right hand over the salarian's face. The electricity sparking from it's palm surged through and struck the salarian's face, strings of the electricity striking the eyes but the majority of the pulse somehow forcing its way through the salarian's mouth, making the body glow blue.
Brill's eyes remained wide, the hand over her mouth keeping her silent as she watched the event unfold. As if the creature was satisfied, it let go of the salarian, letting it fall back to the ground limp, but the electrical currents still flowing from its eyes and mouth. The creature stepped over the body, its cannon like hand at the ready as it glanced around itself. A distant scream caught its attention, the creature turning its head towards the source of the sound and sprinting in that direction.
As the creature disappeared in the distance, the hand over Brill's mouth slowly lowered, instead placing itself on her shoulder and slowly turning her. Brill remained silent from the sight that had just occurred, turning her head slightly to glance at who held her. The familiar sight of the turian caught her eyes, one of Nova's talons pressed against her mandibles in a motion to remain silent. Nova lowered her hand and pointed back towards the body of the salarian, letting Brill slowly turn back to see.
Tubes and cords suddenly burst forth from the salarian's mouth, slithering its way free from the mouth and frantically attaching itself around the salarian's body. Wherever the tubes attached, the salarian's body bubbled and engorged itself, the entirety of the body twisting and cracking, the sounds of bones breaking reaching even them from the distance. The blue tendrils of what looked like electricity surging through the body of the salarian until its leg twisted and cracked, taking a step and suddenly pulling the body up on its own. The torso of the body flew forward from the shift spikes erupting from the salarian's back as it became bloated with a glowing blue sac. Brill's eyes grew wide, her jaw dropping open as she wanted what was a salarian suddenly turn into the creature that was once standing over it. The transformation was almost seamless, happening in mere seconds before it completely turned into the creature and sprinted off in the direction its twin had went.
Nova and Brill remained silent where they were, all remnants that the creatures were even there having gone off in the direction they had both ran. Nova gently tapped Brill's shoulder with her talon, bringing the human's attention back to reality. "We need to get off the streets." Nova whispered, her voice urgent.
Brill slowly nodded, still trying to swallow down what she had just witnessed. "Right." She whispered back, shaking herself to try and clear the image. There was an entrance to the maintenance tunnels nearby, the best place for them to hide under the circumstances. Brill nodded the direction and they quickly left the safety of the shadows, skirting across the streets towards the entrance.
Quickly crossing the deserted streets, Brill pressed herself against a wall, keeping herself sidled and sliding along the wall until she felt the familiar panel against her hand. She thumbed the panel, a latch suddenly springing upwards on the ground. Brill grabbed the latch and pulled a section of the floor up, revealing a ladder heading down. She motioned to Nova to descend, the turian's mandibles twitching with curiosity as to where it led.
"Should be secure down here." Brill motioned. "Little dark." Nova nodded and quickly stepped down the ladder, Brill following behind her, securing the hatch as she descended. Once Nova was clear of the ladder, Brill jumped off the rungs, landing gracefully on the ground next to the turian, a dim light against the wall greeting them and the sheer fact the tunnel was deserted and unused. "What the fuck was that?" Brill threw her arm in the direction they had just come from.
Nova shook her head, pacing for a moment, scratching her talons against her scarred mandibles. "I've been intercepting Cerberus comms since I got wind of it. They're calling them… Adjutants. From what I can pick up, they had a lab full of them on the other side of the Omega 4 Relay, they broke free and somehow found their way here." Nova explained, stopping her pace to look back at Brill who stood bewildered.
"FUCKING REAPER SHIT?!" Brill shouted, a sudden inhuman screech that echoed making her cover her mouth frantically, glancing up the ladder where the sound came from. She was positive whatever those fucking things were couldn't figure out how to open the hatch, but she wasn't going to sit still and wait to test the theory. Brill started to run, grabbing Nova's arm as she did, jogging down the tunnels to get as far away as possible from where they had just seen them. "You have to be fucking kidding me."
Nova kept stride next to Brill, following the human through the tunnels as they kept distance away from the Adjutants. "Cerberus doesn't have a good track record for experiments staying controlled. Whatever these things are, they've lost control of them. They must have escaped their enclosure." She explained, glancing briefly behind her to make sure there was nothing following them.
"Not only that." Brill skidded to a stop, her hand clutching the wall to help her stop, glancing around a corner to find her bearings. "Those things.. are infectious. Did you see what it did to that fucking salarian? No wonder it was able to make its way here. If it can turn people into one of them it probably learned how to fly a ship. Docked into Omega like a regular Cerberus ship and broke out. FUCK!" Brill glanced down at her omni-tool, opening it and trying desperately to find what to do next.
Aria. Aria said she would handle things, but could she handle something like this? If something were to threaten the whole of Omega, Aria would have the support of all the mercenary groups and her men to defend it, but this was something else entirely.
"Wait." Nova tapped Brill's shoulder, bringing her around to look. The turian looking at something on her omni-tool. "Another Cerberus ship docked with Omega a while ago. Its registering as a ship called Elbrus. If those things were coming aboard from Cerberus ships, the docks would have been sealed."
Brill grabbed Nova's arm, making the turian lower her arm so she could glance at the omni-tool as well, staring at the ship information on the screen. "That's… it's a military spec ship." She observed. "Its reinforcements from Cerberus. They have to clean their fuck ups right?" She let go of Nova's arm, glancing back at her own omni-tool. "Those, Adjutants or whatever the fuck are still on the station and they can multiply, but what's to stop more from coming through the Omega 4 Relay?" Brill scrolled through the screens on her omni-tool, a small blip suddenly catching her attention and she quickly thumbed on it. The smallest print made Brill take a slow breath, calming her nerves.
[ Queen Offshore ]
Aria wasn't on the station anymore. If there were more of those Adjutants on the other side of the Omega 4 Relay, Aria was going to stop them from coming to Omega. The only issue now was the few still on the station, and even if there were just two, they could multiply.
Brill closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she pondered over the possibilities. Dealing with those things would be difficult, with Aria offshore, it would mean the mercs would be dealing with cleaning up the rest of them. If Cerberus was here to help clean up the mess, they would be defending against anymore waves that came through the relay. "We need to take care of the Adjutants." Brill stated, closing her omni-tool and turning around to look back at Nova. "Aria will be dealing with anymore headed this way in Cerberus ships. We can help the effort to push back the ones on the station right now, but we need to be careful. Can't let those things get too close."
Nova's brow rose curiously, her mandibles twitching at the statement. "How do you know that?" she asked.
Brill shook her head, waving her hand at Nova's question. "It doesn't matter. What matters is what we need to do. If those things can multiply we need to take care of it now. See if you can tap the security cameras to find where they are. We might be able to lure the Adjutants to some sort of trap and take out all of them at once. The more we take out the less the mercs must deal with. We'll succeed if we help out." Brill pointed at Nova's omni-tool. "Find where the majority of Adjutants are congested. That's our target."
There was a moments hesitation, but Nova nodded, her confidence in Brill's statement showing in her eyes. "Roger that."
It took some time for them to devise a plan to deal with the Adjutants on the station. The mercenary groups were centered around Afterlife while few other straggled around the station, picking off Adjutants one by one. What went on outside of the station was a mystery to them while they made their way deeper into the station through the tunnels. It looked like the largest cluster of Adjutants were funneling their way towards the mines, where a lot of citizens of Omega worked tirelessly mining the Eezo. If the Adjutants thrived from multiplying, it was clear where their purpose lay. Everyone with guns were near Afterlife, defenseless people ripe for the picking were at the mines, so that's where Nova and Brill were headed.
With just the two of them, they couldn't hope to destroy all the remaining Adjutants headed to the mines, the only option was to separate them from the food source. With Omega focused on defending the station rather than producing Eezo, any production plants near the mines were powered down for now, and its occupants cleared out to focus on defenses. The best idea they had come up with was to try and seal what Adjutants they could in a production plant. As the pair made their way to the nearest production plant, the only remaining issue was still on their mind. They needed some way to lure the Adjutants from the mines to the plant, but now wasn't the time to figure out that portion of the plan.
The screeches that flowed through the tunnels as they got closer to the mines made Brill and Nova slow their travel, stopping and glancing at one another. Brill looked forward, spotting an exit ladder back to the streets. She pointed a hesitant finger towards the ladder, nodding at it as she glanced back to Nova. Nova nodded, her talons balling into fists in anticipation. "Time to go." Brill whispered, the inhuman growls above them reminding them what was waiting.
Brill grabbed hold of the ladder first, making her way up steadily until she reached the top and grabbed hold of the latch holding the door shut. She took a quick moment to take a deep readying breath, closing her eyes before she pushed against the latch and felt the door click free. Brill's eyes snapped open as she pushed the door up, letting it fling upwards before she quickly climbed through it, glancing around her.
The vast area that was the mines felt dead when Brill emerged from the tunnels. Despite the silence, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, a tingling feeling reminding her what was out there. Something just wasn't right in the mines. Brill scanned the area, knowing it was clear and motioning to Nova to hurriedly come up before shutting the hatch to the tunnels closed. At least they could depend on the security of the maintenance tunnels for now if they remembered to close the entrances behind them.
"They're here." Nova whispered. Brill tapped the top of the hatch, making sure it was secure before glancing back at Nova and nodding. She wasn't wrong, the air around them was stifling, it was like those things had a presence about them.
"Let's just get this done and be done with them. Remember to keep your distance, we still don't know what those fucking things are capable of." Brill reminded quietly, she nodded her head to their left. "The entrance to the production plant should be in that direction. We lure them over there and seal them in. If we lure them to one area we can seal that door and then circle back to seal the door we came through." Nova nodded. "Then let's get this fucking over with."
A scream brought their attention back to what exactly they were dealing with, and where it was. Now they just needed to get the attention of as many Adjutants as they could. Seeing as how the first one they encountered went to the source of a loud scream, that's all they needed. Get loud.
Brill glanced around her towards a section of rock that had been in the middle of being mined. A large wrench lay on the ground next to it, it would have to do, since neither of them came armed with anything other than biotics. Brill hefted the wrench in her hand, testing its weight and glancing at Nova with a nod. "Ready?" She whispered. Nova nodded her affirmative.
Brill heaved the wrench above her head, turning towards the nearest metal wall and swinging the wrench as well as she could. The metallic clang rang loudly drawing a ringing silence as the ring echoed throughout the entirety of the mines. The lingering metallic ring danced through the caverns of mines, disappearing into the distance of space. The silence only lasted a moment before the loud inhuman screech followed suit, and only grew louder.
Brill and Nova both glanced in the same direction, the gurgling cries of the Adjutants continuously growing steadily until one of the creatures skidded around a mountain of rock, falling upon itself as it rounded the corner at high speed.
"RUN!" Brill cried, turning heel towards the direction of the processing plant as more Adjutants round the corner, at full sprint towards the pair. Nova quickly followed suit behind Brill, taking long strides as they, both ran ahead of the creatures. Brill took a quick second, glancing behind her to see at least eight of the Adjutants closing in on both of them. "FUCK THEY'RE FAST!" Her biotics crackled purple from her hand wielding the wrench as she tossed it behind her, clocking one of the Adjutants in the head with it, but doing nothing to slow the creature's speed.
Brill turned her attention back to their goal, groaning loudly at the feeble attempt to slow one of them down. She didn't account for how tough these things were, although she should have considered that these things were basically Reapers. A mix of organic mass and mechanical thinking, the scraping and clawing of metal against the floor was enough to remind the pair that these inhuman creations were still chasing them and closing in fast. Brill pointed a finger, spotting the closed door leading to the production plant.
No reading appeared on the door, indicating the loss of power to the door and the production plant. "We need to get the door open!" Brill shouted, sprinting towards the door as fast as she could. Nova followed suit, opening her omni-tool as she ran, she made it to the door first, sliding on her knees to a panel by the door. Brill made it to the door, sliding to a stop and turning to face the Adjutants as they closed in. She braced herself, arms spread out with her palms facing the oncoming Adjutants. A giant purple biotic bubble erupted from Brill's palms and encircling Nova, the door and Brill. The Adjutants rammed against the biotic field, Brill winced at the pain from the impact, but the field held its own. "Quickly would be great!" Brill shouted over her shoulder, beads of sweat already dripping down her forehead from the strain.
Nova was already furiously interfacing with the panel, having ripped off the door and connected to the door's power source. The door angrily creaked open, a small opening just wide enough for them to fit through between the door and the floor. Nova frantically closed her omni-tool, placing a talon to the bottom of the door. "BRILL!" She shouted.
The strain against the biotic field was beginning to take its toll, the claws of the creatures now beginning to pierce through the purple field. Brill could feel the muscles in her arms tense, her whole-body aching like the field that kept the Adjutants at bay. Brill strained against the pressure, her eyes forced closed, teeth gritting as she held at bay. There was no way they could both make it through the door without the Adjutants getting either one or both in the attempt. "GO!" Brill screamed.
Nova waited no second, ducking underneath the door and squeezing through the opening. Knowing the turian made it safely through the door, Brill clenched her hands into fists, her skin burning with each lick of her biotics against her. Her eyes snapped open, glowing a deep purple as she glared at the Adjutants. "FUCK OFF!" The bubble popped, sending the Adjutants flying backwards. The break of tension made Brill stagger, catching herself from face planting the floor with her hand, gulping for air as her biotics slowly faded from her body. Brill struggled to lift herself, her arms shaking from the exertion as she glanced to the Adjutants, the creatures already getting back onto their feet. "FUCK."
Brill let her body drop to the floor, stomach pressed to the ground, hurriedly pushing herself, Brill's body quickly rolling along the ground, letting the human pass harmlessly through the opening in the door. As soon as she cleared the door, the wretched mechanical arms of the Adjutants scraped the floor, claws grasping hold of the bottom of the door. Metal screamed and protested the strength of the Adjutants, and the door slowly began to rise.
An hand grabbed Brill's arm, pulling the human to her feet. Brill grabbed Nova in turn, using the turian's body to help pull herself up. "Didn't think you had that in you." Nova noted, watching the Adjutants continue to pull the door up.
"Neither did I." Brill breathed, glancing behind her at the door. "There's two entrances to the plant. We need to find one of them fast and seal it, those fuckers will be through this one in no time." Brill pressed a hand against her forehead, taking a deep recovering breath. "Let's move."
Nova nodded, helping Brill keep herself up as they quickly made their way away from the door. The power was out to the plant, giving the pair no lights to make their way quickly through the plant. Nova decided to improvise, her own biotics flaring from her talon to give them some semblance of light to illuminate the walk ways as they made their way through the plant. A loud screech and gurgling cry reminded them of what was just behind. "They've made it through." Nova noted.
Brill nodded, regaining her wind as they both picked up the pace through the elaborate walkways. Brill pushed herself off of Nova, her strength returning with each step. "There!" Brill shouted, spotting another powerless door nearby. Nova quickly changed course and ran for the door, Brill hurriedly followed suit, tripping slightly as she tried to push herself again to catch up.
An Adjutant appeared out of nowhere, smashing into Brill, sending her flying, the creature pinning her against the ground. "NOVA!" Brill screamed, the strength of the Adjutant taking away her ability to fight back, its misshapen form pressing against Brill's chest, removing the wind from her lungs, right hand raised to her face. The Adjutant leaned its inhuman head down towards Brill, an ugly screech piercing Brill, some sort of glowing blue substance spitting out from the tubes in its mouth onto Brill's face as it screeched. Brill closed her eyes, tilting her head from the goopy substances that sprayed itself onto her face.
A biotic blast crashed into the Adjutant, sending the creature soaring off the catwalk and to the pit of the station below. Nova's talon grasped hold of Brill's arm and tossed the human towards the door, the metal door having already been opened partially enough for them to slip through. Brill slipped on her feet, toppling back to the ground in front of the door, she placed a hand against the cold steel and glanced back to Nova who was beginning to hurl biotic blasts at the rest of the oncoming Adjutants. Brill pushed herself up, slipping her legs through the door, her torso still on the other side.
"NOVA! Lets go!" Brill shouted, watching the turian begin to take steps towards the door, still continuing her biotic onslaught at the Adjutants, holding the creatures' advance at bay.
"I'm right behind you!" Nova called back.
Brill bit her lip, her eyes still on Nova and the Adjutants that were still closing in on them despite Nova's attack. Time almost seemed to slow, the over cumbersome Adjutants nearly climbing over one another to reach Nova, but when they got close, her biotic's sent them flying back to where they had begun. Brill's hands rolled into fists, every instinct inside of her screaming to help Nova. They could still drive back the Adjutants and find the other door, seal them off there. Brill clenched her eyes closed, her fingers digging into her palm as she tightened her fist. Brill reluctantly crawled back, pulling the rest of her body through the door. Brill moved clear of the door and scrambled to her feet, bending down to peer beneath the door in time to see Nova's legs running towards the door, the legs of the Adjutant following just feet from her.
The door slammed shut.
"NO!" Brill jumped back up, slamming her fist against the hard steel, the skin on her knuckles splitting from the impact. "NOVA!" Even with the thick door she could hear the chaos happening beyond. The light from Brill's omni-tool as it suddenly rang capturing her attention and she quickly thumbed open the screen to answer the call.
"GO BRILL!" Nova's voice called through the omni-tool, her voice pleading and desperate.
"Fuck you!" Brill screamed, her fists still pressed against the door, banging against the steel. "I'm not fucking leaving you, Nova!" Her eyes burned and she continuously pounded on the door, despite the burn against her knuckles and the dribble of blood from her split skin.
The chaotic sounds from the other side of the door shifted, seeming to distance themselves from the door. "Now isn't the time!" Nova's voice came clear through the omni-tool as well as the screeching and roars from the Adjutants that were close behind her. "You have to seal the other doors and stop these things from getting through to the rest of the station."
"Not without you, you fucker!" Brill screamed, her eyes pressing shut from the burning sensation, her forearms resting against the cool of the door. "I can't… Nova, I'm not."
"We're partners, right?" Brill didn't answer, her teeth gritted together, but she nodded slowly. "Then fucking do what I tell you. For once, just listen to me. Seal the doors."
Brill remained pressed against the door, the burning in her eyes sliding out from beneath her eyelids and rolling down her cheek, a tear dropping from bottom of her chin. The screeching still continuously emitting from Brill's omni-tool to Nova's struggle against the Adjutants. Brill's palms flattened against the door, her fists loosening, and she took a shuddering breath. A hand slid down the cool steel and wiped against Brill's cheek, wiping away the silent tears.
Brill slammed her hands against the door once more, quickly turning away as she sprinted away to the nearest tunnel entrance. She needed to get back to the mines, seal the entrance and find the third final door to lock the Adjutants away. Brill's strength returned to her with her steady determination as she found her way back to the maintenance tunnels and back to the spot in the mines where they had started their plan. Brill continued her task, making her way to the entrance to the plant, the door having been wretched halfway open from the Adjutants.
Her omni-tool remained open the whole time, even as the call turned to static to Brill's ears, the sound becoming nothing to her as she connected to the panel. The second door slammed shut, scratches and marks all along the bottom from the Adjutants' determination to open it up earlier. Ensuring the door was closed, Brill wrenched her hand into the panel and tugged at the cables within, ensuring no one on her side could accidentally open it.
One door left, with the power gone from the plant, the door was sure to be closed, Brill's task was to ensure it would remain that way from the outside. Once the issues were dealt with the Omega 4 Relay, they would clean up the Adjutants in the plant later or possibly never if those things could die on their own.
Brill found her way back to the maintenance tunnels, using her omni-tool to map out the ideal location for the last entrance. Having no access to the mapping of Omega, she was just going on a hunch. Brill's eyes skimming across what she had mapped out so far of the tunnels, biting her bottom lip as she eyed what she had to work with. A blip on her screen pulled her attention and she thumbed the notification, her eyes going wide. A fully detailed map of Omega's infrastructure showed itself on Brill's screen, easily pointing the location of the third door.
"Wha…" Brill mumbled, punching the notification once more to find its source. A message, from a sender labeled as Unknown. "No… Nova?" The messages she had received previously were always labeled with the same sender, she had always assumed it was Nova because of the secrecy, but now…. Brill clenched her eyes shut, taking a deep calming breath as she pushed it off her mind. She needed the last door still. Brill closed the message, returning to the map of Omega instead, lining out the path she needed to take to get there.
The map showing her the way, Brill closed her omni-tool and her legs took her. The final door coming to her view in a matter of moments where she ripped off the panel door and pulled out the cables like the other door, sealing the Adjutants to their fate inside the plant. Brill tossed the broken cables to the ground and fell to her knees, palms over her eyes as the adrenaline left her system, leaving her broken once more by the door that held her friend.
A dreading silence fell around Brill, reminding her of the loneliness of her childhood. This was how it was meant to be, on Omega, everyone eventually ended up alone. Rather than the burning her eyes, Brill could feel the thick lump in her throat, a strain in her mouth, her tongue almost feeling swollen to the dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach as she held back the pain from rising once more.
"This is Colonel Raymond Ashe, speaking to the residents of Omega on behalf of Cerberus!" Brill's head shot up as the sound of a voice broke the silence. Brill got to her feet, hand on her knee as she stood and made her way away from the door. "Our reinforcements outside have defeated the last of the creatures threatening to infest Omega. In light of recent events, Cerberus now considers control of this station vital to protecting the galaxy against the Reaper menace!" Brill stepped out into the streets, her eyes gazing upwards to a large view screen hanging over the streets. It was the same screen Aria would have used to talk to the people of Omega. Other curious heads were emerging from the debris among the streets, everyone looking to the view screen. A man in a Cerberus uniform stood at attention, one hand behind his back as he spoke.
"Under orders from Cerberus, I took the first steps half an hour ago by disabling station defenses run from Omega Control." Brill's mouth fell agape as the words hit her, her own mouth moving in the voiceless word no. "Nothing must stand in the way of an orderly transition. Your remaining defenders have been eliminated in advance of our occupying force. Let all factions aboard be on notice, from this day forward, Cerberus claims Omega!" Brill was turning, her legs moving in a blur as she tripped along the debris, stepping around broken signs and scattered glass. "Submit now, for your own protection! Resist – and suffer the consequences!"
The last words echoed throughout the station, unheard by the majority of Omega's occupants. Cerberus could say what they wanted to the station, but the announcement meant one clear thing to everyone, mercenary groups included.
The Queen of Omega was gone. Omega was now fair game.
It only took a matter of seconds for chaos to ensue between the mercenary groups. The sound of screams that had once filled the station was now replaced by the sound of constant gunfire and krogan battle cries. Any resident of Omega would know the consequences of telling everyone that Aria T'loak was no longer in control of the station, it meant only one outcome. Every mercenary group would fight to the last man at the chance to take control of the station and no one would succeed at persuading them otherwise except Aria T'loak herself. A grave mistake by Cerberus.
The chaos helped Brill slip through the forces as the gunfire began, everyone more content on shooting one another rather than one human slipping through the ranks with her head down low to the ground. Even where the firefights became thicker around Afterlife, no one paid attention as Brill dodged and rolled through the forces swarming around the bar, spotting Aria's forces holding a good line against the Blue Suns.
There, at the forefront of Aria's forces was the batarian, Aria's assistant. It had been a brief meeting, but there was a chance he remembered Brill enough to answer her questions as she quickly ducked her head behind some debris and scaled her way to their front lines. The batarian took a step back from the firefight, keying his omni-tool while the other men kept their hold.
"Anto!" Brill called, drawing the batarian's attention as she hoped over a barrier separating the two of them.
The batarian, Anto, was stunned, lowering his omni-tool as he watched Brill approach him, rather amazed at her presence alone. "You…?" The brief memory of him being instructed to drag the unconscious human to Aria's apartment. He instinctively raised his assault rifle at Brill, she quickly threw up her arms and dropped to her knees in submission.
"PLEASE! Anto, I just need to know where she is!" Brill called, the gunfire keeping everyone's attention on the fight except the two of them.
Anto grunted, lowering the gun as he glanced behind him to ensure the line was still holding, he quickly approached the human, wrenching her back up to her feet. "We lost contact with the Cerberus ship she was on when she jumped through the Omega 4 Relay." He explained, keeping his gun at the ready in his hands.
"But she's not dead?" Brill asked, Anto shaking his head.
"Doubtful. She's not easy to kill, Cerberus most likely double-crossed her like they did here." Anto answered, shoving Brill to the side. "Now get the hell out of here. Not even a damn weapon and you come here? I need to keep the bar clear until she comes back." Brill staggered back, watching Anto turn his attention back to the firefight, opening fire at the mercenaries. "Damn it! All I wanted to do was get the gangs to stop fighting and listen to me to broker a deal like Aria does. But the cease-fire didn't last five seconds."
A turian next to Anto laughed. "Isn't it obvious? You're not Aria!" He scoffed.
"Shit. I always hate to say it, but you're right. This is getting out of hand! We need Aria!" Anto replied.
Brill's eyes widened as the door at the far side behind the mercenary groups suddenly opened and a squad of Cerberus troopers filed out from it, guns opening fire. "Anto!" Brill shouted, pointing at the Cerberus troopers mowing through the mercenaries.
The batarian turned to look at Brill before following her finger to spot the troopers as well. "Everybody, move back into the bar!" Anto shouted, pointing a finger at the door to Afterlife.
Brill ducked her head, shouldering past Aria's fleeing troops. With Cerberus distracted with the task of gunning down the alien mercenary groups specifically, a small human easily ducked past the troopers, sliding her back to a dark corner, breathing heavily. So Aria was still alive, out there somewhere. They just had to hold up against mercenary groups AND Cerberus until she made an appearance again.
A hand grabbed Brill from behind, making her instinctively turn, her fist finding its mark in the gut of the intruder. The figure bent over from the blow, raising his head to look at Brill as he grunted. Brill's eyes grew wide. "Amvius?!" The turian nodded, talon on his gut where she had punched him. He shook, grabbing hold of Brill's arm again and pulling her along, both slipping through the door the Cerberus troopers had just emerged through.
The door hissing closed behind them made Brill heave a sigh, finally clear of any possible flying bullets. Amvius smacked Brill's forearm, bringing her attention up to him. "What the hell are you doing here? The last place you should be is Afterlife." He remarked, Brill's brow raising curiously at his statement.
"I should ask you the same thing." Brill shot back, rubbing her arm where he had hit her. "Can't believe you're still breathing with all the shit that's going on around here."
"With the chaos, Kandros is dead set on keeping the Talon's heads under the radar. All the bigger mercenary groups are focused on taking control of Omega with Aria dead." Amvius continued, grabbing hold of Brill's forearm and practically dragging her down the street somewhere more secure.
"NO!" Brill ripped her arm free, making Amvius stop and turn to peer at her. "Aria's not dead." She seethed, Amvius's eyes widening in surprise at her tone.
Amvius held up his talons in submission, nodding. "Fine, alright, she's not dead. Just calm down, Brill. There's a lot of shit going on right now with the bigger merc groups fighting for control. With Cerberus part of the fighting, we need to get our heads down until things blow over. At the end of this, someone is going to be in control of Omega." He explained, turning his hands to face his palms up. "Please, come with me, somewhere safe until then. At least let me find you a gun, we have extras back at the Talon-."
"I'm not going back there, Amvius!" Brill shouted, smacking his offered hands away.
"I'm not asking you to join the Talons again, Brill. At the very least, you need something to protect yourself with." Amvius began, receiving the reply of Brill spitting on the ground.
"Like I can't take care of myself?!" Brill spat. "That I can't fucking protect myself an—" A strain pulled at her throat, her voice coming out raspy as she choked. "Fuck." Brill's hands covered her face and she could feel herself sink, the sight of Amvius suddenly reminding her of Nova. In her inability to protect herself… Nova had sacrificed herself in order to save Brill, and here she was lying to herself that she could.
Amvius grasped Brill's forearms, keeping her standing steadily, lifting her chin up to look at him with his talon. "Brill what's wrong?" He asked, concern raising in his voice. Brill frantically wiped at her face, feeling the warm drops of tears returning to her eyes and she hurriedly wiped them away.
"Those things." Brill choked, using the back of her hand to wipe at her cheek as she felt another tear free itself from her eye. "It was all my idea. I… I told Nova we needed to trap the Adjutants from the rest of the station. It was my idea and she…." She cursed under her breath, her voice still choked from the tears she continuously held back despite their determination to fall. "I couldn't keep going. One of them got me and she, she held them back while I escaped Amvius. She said she would follow right behind me." Brill felt her hand rest over Amvius's, feeling the weight of his hand against her arm. "But she didn't. She sealed the door behind me before I could even stop her. I don't… she, there's no way she made it out. Nova told me, made me finish the job."
"You did?" Amvius asked, surprised. "You sealed the Adjutants from the rest of the station?" Brill nodded her response, not sure if she could make out clear words anymore. He stepped to her side, hugging her side to his own and taking a step. "Lets go." He instructed, and Brill didn't hesitate this time, walking stride next to him, his arm resting over her shoulders as they walked, keeping their distance from the sound of distant gunfire.
The walk back to Talon headquarters was familiar and had a dread to them, as soon as Brill could feel herself cross the threshold that was familiar territory, it felt like her legs had turned to lead. If it wasn't for Amvius walking with her, she doubted she could make the trek, even face Nyreen at the end of the short journey, but she couldn't deny the warmth she felt to remember the floor beneath her feet.
The pair entered Talon headquarters, Amvius rapping a knock against the door in quick succession before it finally opened and let them enter. Upon stepping through the door, Brill glanced behind her, spotting the guard by the door who nodded at them in acknowledgement. Except, the guard was unfamiliar to Brill, her brow lowering curiously at the sight of the stranger, she turned her head away, glancing up at Amvius as he walked beside her, arm still around her.
"Amvius… where's Torin? He's not.. at the door? Anymore?" Brill asked, her voice still shaky.
Amvius grew silent for a moment, shaking his head at her question. "He was near the docks doing a drug run." He answered, his voice lowering as he made out the words. "We lost contact from everyone that was at the docks."
Brill's brow quivered between her eyes, wrinkling at his words, her mouth agape. Another gone. How many others were going to die in this chaos? Her eyes lowered back to her feet, listening to the familiar clink of the ground against her boots.
"The mercenary forces are working together again. Only means one thing." Brill's head snapped back up, and she pushed away from Amvius, letting the two of them separate so she could stand on her own. Nyreen Kandros. A silence fell suddenly after Nyreen's words, and everyone around her realizing Brill's presence. Nyreen looked up from her view screen, a display of the fighting taking place in Omega visible on her screens. As soon as she looked up, the screens died out, lowering to the board in front of her as she got a clear view of the human standing in front of her. "Brill." Nyreen spoke, her eyes locked with Brill's. "Or should I call you Thief?"
Brill remained silent, her hands curling into loose fists, her eyes still burned from previously, but she tried to retain her composure in front of Nyreen. The sight of Brill made Nyreen's eyes narrow suddenly, and she stepped around the terminal, closing the distance between them. "I need to speak to you." Brill made out, her voice cracking only slightly but Nyreen caught it.
"Then we'll talk." Nyreen answered, she waved dismissively at the men behind her and they returned to their work. She motioned to her left with her hand, Brill nodded and walked in the direction Nyreen motioned. They walked until they were clear of earshot, a door hissing open to what Brill recognized was Nyreen's private quarters, although she had never entered them before. Brill glanced around the room, spying a viewport into space, thousands of Cerberus ships scattered across the vast space just outside the station. She approached the view port, staring out at all the ships just lying in wait. The door to Nyreen's quarters hissed closed. "What did you need to speak to me about?"
"I was… hoping to get a gun from the Talon armory, to protect myself with." Brill answered, keeping her eyes outside to the vast space.
"You…" Nyreen's eyes narrowed. "Why do you need a weapon? That's… why are you asking me for one? You don't use them."
"Its time for a change." Brill stated, turning from the viewport to face Nyreen. "Amvius told me about Torin." Nyreen lowered her head respectfully, hearing the familiar name. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I've killed someone with a gun."
Nyreen sighed, hearing the same thing from Brill's lips that made her leave. "I already apologized to you for what happened, Brill. You defended yourself, if you hadn't you would be dead right now." She began but stopped herself, groaning as she placed a hand against her eyes. "Brill, the past is the past, I can't change what happened to you before and after everything." Nyreen breathed, lowering her hand, watching Brill as she turned her gaze away from the turian.
Brill folded her arms across her chest, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. How many times did Nyreen apologize to her for what had happened and how many times did Brill refuse to accept it. Constantly denying to herself and blaming Nyreen for all that had occurred. She turned away from the turian, staring back out into space. She didn't remain alone for long, feeling the presence of the turian as Nyreen stood beside her, staring out into space.
"There's an army outside, Brill. Cerberus has an army out there." Nyreen motioned at the hundreds of ships floating in space. "Omega isn't going to win this fight for control. Aria's forces are crippled by the Adjutants and Cerberus has the advantage now. As much as they won't admit it, they are going to lose at this rate, either the entire station will be destroyed by those ships out there or Cerberus will take Omega. There's only so many outcomes at this point."
"Where will that put me?" Brill asked, her eyes narrowing as she eyed the ships.
Nyreen placed a hand on Brill's shoulder and turning the human towards her. "By my side, I hope." She began, her voice sincere in her statement, drawing surprise from Brill. "Put the past aside, Brill. Right now, the outcome of Omega has one ending I can see. Aria won't let Omega be destroyed, leaving only one outcome for it, and if that's where we are left, someone needs to continue to fight for the people of Omega. If Cerberus takes over, someone needs to keep fighting back under a unified cause. I just have one question for you, Thief… Brill. Will you help me?"
Amvius's words rang in her ears, the words he had spoken to her so long ago and she hadn't believed. Nyreen's idea, her purpose for bringing Brill to the Talons a long time ago. He wasn't wrong after all. Nyreen extended out her arm to Brill, palm open. Brill stared at the open invitation, the lingering question if she would do what was needed. To fight for the people of Omega, Aria would think the idea hilarious. Brill would have too at one point in time, before all of this.
Brill clasped Nyreen's arm, grasping her forearm while Nyreen in turn grabbed hers and they shook. What resembled a grin appeared on Nyreen's mandibles as they sternly shook their arms. "Alright, Nyreen." Brill sighed, both finally letting each other go, nodding in acknowledgement to one another. "Can you… give me a moment?"
Although curious by the request, Nyreen nodded and stepped aside, leaving Brill alone in the quarters. Brill looked back out the viewport, eyeing the ships as they began to shift, now closing in on the station, as if they were all prepared to dock. Except… Brill's eyes narrowed as she made out one slim dark ship fly through the throng of Cerberus ships, it wasn't Cerberus but one of Omega's, heading for the Relay. Brill's wrist briefly illuminated as her omni-tool rang, the sound brought her attention and she opened the omni-tool seeing the notification.
[ Queen offshore ]
Brill looked back up from her omni-tool, resting the palm of her right hand against the glass, her eyes glued to the ship as it made its way to the relay. The fate of Omega was decided, but Aria was alive and departing the station, leaving it to Cerberus control. Brill continued to watch the ship, even as it came in contact with the energy of the relay and shot into space, an energy trail left in its wake. Good bye, Aria, Brill said to herself.
"I'll be waiting."