Omega

The news of the lockdown, it turned out, had been blown somewhat out of proportion. Lack of a centralized information delivery system does that to a station. The lockdown only was only in place on the Gozu District, which was apparently currently afflicted by a plague that killed everything except humans and vorcha. It seemed likely that the vorcha surviving was an accident - likely they ability to adapt to hostile environments saved them. That added another wrinkle to the mission - in addition to whatever mercs called the Gozu District home (intel suggested it was currently disputed in a gang war between the Blue Suns and the Blood Pack), there'd be vorcha all over the place. And of course, the mission had to take place there. Dr. Solus had set up a clinic in that district before the outbreak.

Nothing ever went smoothly.

"A quarantine zone for a plague that kills turians. Why don't we ever go anywhere nice?" Shepard had wanted to bring Vakarian along. God knows why. The turian had a point - he was susceptible to this plague. Jacob wasn't, but he'd been left on the Normandy all the same. Worse, we didn't know enough about this plague to know how much danger Vakarian was in by being here. The plague had started too recently - only a few days ago, though the lockdown was new. And the plague was airborne.

Everything about this plague screamed "synthetic." But who would make a plague like this? Currently, and unfortunately, some on Omega suspected that it was humans. More specifically, some of them suspected Cerberus. That was foolish. The sheer stupidity of it made me want to burst out laughing when it had first been suggested to us. Even if Cerberus had the resources and technology to make such a plague, why release it here? Sure, Omega was an important crossroads, as far as the Terminus Systems went, but given the nature of the Terminus systems, that wasn't saying much. Plenty of pirates and mercenaries avoided Omega because of Aria T'Loak. Cerberus had several more important targets. This didn't even work well as a test area - too big, too many variables to be accounted for. I'd worked with the Illusive Man long enough to get a feel for how he operated, and nothing about this felt like his style.

"This mission's important. I need someone I can trust watching my back." Shepard didn't stop walking, didn't turn back to look at me, but the implication was clear. I pretended not to notice as Vakarian turned his head toward me.

"Of course, Shepard. Don't worry, I won't let a cough slow me down." Well, that's what he thought. Frankly, if he started to show symptoms, I planned to put him down myself.

The guards at the security checkpoint - all human here, though the one outside the quarantine zone had been a turian - muttered at us as we passed. Apparently, they thought the same thing I did - that bringing the turian was foolish. Still, he trusted Shepard enough to come along for this, even knowing the risks. There was something to that. Shepard's files all called her a great leader, but this went beyond leadership. Leadership was being able to command men on a battlefield. This was something more.

Making our way through the district was tedious. The Blue Suns had been in control of it, apparently, but most of their forces here were turians. The few human members left were fighting with the Blood Pack for control of the area, and since the Blood Pack weren't above recruiting vorcha and could thus flood the district with them, they were winning. We'd encountered our fair share of the vermin. They'd taken us for looters, and had attacked. Last mistake they ever made.

When we finally made it to the clinic, we were met immediately by the sight of several Blue Suns mercenaries. Or rather, their corpses. They'd all be killed professionally and cleanly: two to the chest, one to the head. And then left out here on display. There were some LOKI mechs around, but they weren't that accurate. This had been done by an organic.

"I'd heard rumors about this." Vakarian said suddenly. "Apparently, the Blue Suns came here, demanding protection money. They say Solus did this himself." That was chilling. I'd heard that Solus had been with STG, but I'd thought he'd been a scientist. Could he have trained as a commando, too? That...if that was the case, then he'd be a formidable ally. We continued inside, holstering our weapons as we did. It wasn't an order from Shepard. More of a vibe this place sent out. Sure, we could probably take this clinic by force, but Dr. Solus would make us work for it. Inside, Shepard approached the lone salarian in the place. He was well into helping a patient, and seemed to be missing the horn on the right side of his head.

"Dr. Mordin Solus?" The salarian paused, waved his omnitool in front of Shepard, then began to speak.

"Hmm. Don't recognize you from area. Too well armed to be refugees. No mercenary uniforms. Quarantine still in effect. Here for something else? Vorcha? Crew to clean them out? Unlikely. Vorcha symptom, not cause. The plague? Investigating possible use as bio-weapon? No. Too many guns, not enough data equipment. Soldiers, not scientists. Hired guns, maybe? Looking for someone? Yes! But who? Someone important. Valuable. Someone with secrets. Someone like me. Me. Looking for me. But why? Who are you? What do you want?" It didn't seem like the salarian had breathed at all during that. Now he just stared us down coolly. It was actually quite terrifying - it was a look that suggested he might kill us if he didn't like our answer.

"I'm Commander Shepard, and I'm involved in a critical mission. I need you to come with me."

"What mission? No. No no no. Too busy. Clinic understaffed. Plague spreading too fast. Who sent you?" Even from behind her, I could see Shepard squirm. Outright saying Cerberus was probably a bad idea, given the current sentiment in Omega. On the other hand, lying wasn't likely to persuade the salarian.

"It's...a covert, and privately funded human group." That earned us another cool look.

"Related to plague? Doesn't affect humans. Human-centric interest. Few human groups know of me." Another look, this time sweeping all three of us. "Equipment suggests military origin. Not Alliance standard. Spectres not human. Terra Firma too unstable. Only one option." Before any of us could react, Solus had a gun levelled at Shepard's head. "Cerberus."