Shepard

When he finished the story, answering all of Garrus' questions from across the mess table—the rest of the crew was either asleep or at work on essential duties, so they had some privacy, at least—Garrus rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"That. . .how could. . ." he sighed and dropped his arms. "I need a shower. Made of alcohol."

Shepard kept a level gaze on him, watching his every movement. He looked like he genuinely was going to be sick, and Shepard felt no better, but he had to know for sure. He didn't think Liara would lie about this, but then, Liara had surprised him too many times already.

"You didn't know, did you?"

Garrus' head shot up, eyes wide in shock at even being asked. "Of course not! Spirits, how could I-? No! No, I didn't know, and if I did—" He stopped himself. Shepard didn't press. "I didn't know," Garrus said more evenly, meeting Shepard's gaze the entire time. "I swear."

Shepard nodded. He would believe Garrus. Even if he had reason not to trust him—which he didn't—he would believe him, unless incontrovertibly proven wrong. He had to.

Garrus rubbed his face. "So what I thought was PTSD. . ."

Shepard shrugged. "Maybe it was. Maybe the John Doe I was in didn't like those memories, and reacted to them the way he would have. Like a mental allergy or something. Or maybe I do have. . .problems. . .and I just haven't been triggered recently. I don't know how it all works. I don't think even Liara could say."

"Liara," Garrus snarled. "If she were here, John, I'd kill her. Or I might kiss her, for keeping you alive. I don't know what I'd do. I feel like I can't trust anybody now."

Shepard nodded. He could sympathize.

"Is that all?" Garrus asked. "Anything else I should know? Maybe you've secretly been a krogan all this time?" He made a valiant effort at smiling, but his mandibles barely budged. "Sorry. Not a time for joking, I guess."

Shepard hesitated. He didn't care about the joke—it was the question that bugged him. "Well. . .yes. There's something else, but it's not related to any of that."

Garrus blew a puff of air. "Hit me. I feel like I can handle anything at this point."

He caught himself wringing his hands like a kid caught in a lie, and made himself stop. "It's about the Crucible. I didn't tell you everything that happened there, when I used it."

Garrus quirked his head a bit. "Why not? What happened?"

So, Shepard told him: About what happened after Anderson died, about the vision of the child composed of starlight, the purpose of the Crucible, and the choice he had to make. Garrus listened intently, not looking like he would be sick, at least.

"I don't know why it bothers you so much," Garrus said when he was finished.

"Don't you get the—the. . ." he waved his hands above his head. "Magnitude of it? I could have changed everything. Everything! The very definition of life! EDI might still be alive, and the geth, and we could be living to be ten thousand years old and colonizing Andromeda right now instead of slowly going back to how things were, with dead Reapers on every planet and everyone at eachother's throats. Everyone says I made the right decision, but. . .I could have made things so much better."

Garrus stood and walked to the other side of the table, hugging Shepard from behind. "If you did those things, you wouldn't be here. This is the best of all possible worlds, for that reason alone. Don't ever think otherwise. That's an order."

Shepard nodded. He felt better. Not permanently, perhaps, but better. Garrus had that effect on him.

"Now, I'm going to get that shower," Garrus said. "If a certain human were to join me. . .?"

Shepard laughed. "You know we can't use the shower in the cabin anymore, right? It's all communal, all the time for us, now, baby. Hope you like your water lukewarm."

Garrus' smile faded. "Oh. Right. Still, at least we'd have a reason to be naked in front of others."

"Maybe later. Go clean up."

Garrus gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he left. Leaning back as much as his chair would allow, Shepard looked up at the ceiling and smiled.


Solana

All of Omega was alight from the blaze in the sky, deep orange tendrils of—not fire, exactly, but some type of energy—snaking along the atmosphere like a web. Or a net.

"What is this?" She asked. Everyone else was looking up at the phenomena too, except Caelon, who frantically pressed commands into his omni-tool.

"Whatever it is," Caelon said, turning the omni-tool off, "it's interfering with off-world communications. I can reach you guys just fine, but beyond the station. . ."

"It looks like a quarantine field," Zaeed said. "Supply ships won't be getting through that, or anything else, for that matter. What I want to know is, who has the tech to pull something like this off?"

"Not Archangel," Lantar said, standing next to Solana. "He definitely didn't have anything capable of this when I worked for him."

"Aria would have access to something like this, wouldn't she?" Benaka kept her head down, but her eyes kept flicking up to the field. "Maybe she's getting desperate, trying to cut off Archangel's off-station support."

Lutis shook his head. "Far as we know, Archangel gets most of his supplies and supporters on Omega, so this wouldn't hurt him much. Same with Aria. Whoever triggered this, they're sending a message. Looks like they want a final showdown. No escape, not outside interference."

"Except us," Solana said. Everyone looked at her at once. She hated when they did that. "If nobody outside the station can get on, then we're trapped until this conflict is over."

The group all looked at eachother, each gaze as unsure as the last.

"If we're picking sides," Benaka said, "I pick the one who hasn't shot at us yet. Especially after what you saw with Archangel."

Caelon cleared his throat. "We could just wait it out. Find a nice, quiet hole somewhere and come out when one of them's dead."

"Unless they blow up Omega with them," Zaeed countered, "which seems more and more likely by the day. Shepard's not coming to save us this time. We need to go to Aria."

Lantar squeezed Solana's hand, and she found herself squeezing back.


Shepard

The Destiny Ascension welcomed the Normandy into its docks, and as the crew exited for their brief shore leave, Garrus and Shepard made way to the Council apartments with Pallin in tow.

"I hate to say it, but we'll need Sparatus," Shepard said. "He's the most senior Council member and has the greatest pull with the others. He'll be the fastest route to Omega if we can just convince him."

Pallin nodded. "Just as well; he's the one I need to speak with anyway."

"I wish you'd just tell us what's so damn important," Garrus said. Shepard had to consciously match his stride with theirs, his shorter legs compensating for his digitigrade companions'.

"You wouldn't believe me. Besides, it might not be anything at all. We'll see."

"We're here," John said, stopping just outside an unassuming door. He supposed the Council apartments wouldn't have their gold-engraved names on the door like their offices. He rang the bell, and after a few moments, the monitor next to the door lit up with Sparatus' face. Shepard could swear he heard a groan, but maybe it was static. Maybe.

"Shepard. I assume this is important?"

"Very. I need to talk to you about securing a ship to Omega."

"Hmmph. One moment."

The monitor went black, and after a few minutes, Sparatus emerged from the apartment, fully dressed as though he slept in his work clothes. Shepard caught a glimpse of his apartment, immaculately clean with no loose items or decorations, before the doors shut.

"I cannot grant your request," Sparatus said.

Garrus clicked his tongue. "Wow, usually the "no"s aren't so direct."

"It's not that I don't want to," Sparatus said, standing straight and ignoring Garrus. "You came at the worst possible time. Omega has recently been enveloped in a quarantine field."

"A what?" Shepard asked.

Sparatus opened his omni-tool, and an image of Omega lit up above his arm. Tendrils of energy enclosed Omega like a massive fishnet, covering the entire station.

"We received this recently from our agents. The field is immense, by far the largest ever deployed, and nobody can get past it, in or out. We don't know who deployed it. We've lost all communication with the station proper."

"Wait," Shepard said. "You have agents on Omega?"

"Of course. We've been monitoring the conflict there very closely."

Pallin nodded thoughtfully. "But you haven't been getting involved. Watching the conflict to see if you can take advantage when the dust settles. You are planning to annex Omega." He sounded more admiring than critical.

Sparatus shrugged, the most casual expression Shepard had ever seen the man make. "It wasn't always the plan, but if they want to make it easier for us, let them. But you see why we can't authorize any excursions to the station. Even if a ship could land, the Council must not get involved with this conflict until it's over. We have to be the helping hand that sweeps in to clear the wreckage and bring Omega to a state of stability, not the outside aggressor."

"Our family is already involved," Pallin said. Everyone stopped to look at him. He neatly averted Sparatus' eyes as he spoke. "My daughter's there, sir. You remember Solana. I would. . .consider it a significant favor if you would let us at least attempt to get through to help her."

Sparatus rubbed his head. "Spirits. How did she-? No. I'm sorry, Executor, but this is too much to risk over one person. She'll have to bunker down until it's over."

Shepard stepped in front of Sparatus, resisting the urge to stand on his tiptoes to meet him. "I'm trying to be good, Councilor, I really am. But here's what's going to happen: I'm going to go to Omega. Whether I announce my Council-sanctioned presence there with a bullhorn to every single person I pass depends on whether I have said Council sanction."

The Councilor's mandibles shivered, and for a moment Shepard thought the turian might actually try to throw a punch. "Making you a Spectre was the second-worst decision of my career, Shepard."

"And what was the worst?"

Sparatus growled as he opened his omni-tool. "Not listening to your warnings. I've fast-tracked your approval to discreetly approach Omega space. You'll be given temporary command of the SSV Anegawa. It's not as combat-capable as the Normandy, but you won't be shooting at anything with it, and it's just as fast. She has a skeleton crew already, but you may want to select some officers for key positions."

Shepard nodded and stepped aside. "Thank you. Seriously."

Sparatus wheeled on Pallin, and if he seemed angry before, on his former subordinate he held nothing back. "If Shepard ruins the Council's chance to finally unite the galaxy, Executor, it will be on your head. Consider it your first lesson."

Pallin stood still as a recruit, but this time he met Sparatus' eyes. "Yes, sir."

When Sparatus left, still grumbling about "human Spectres," Shepard and Garrus both turned to Pallin. "What did he mean by 'your first lesson'?" Garrus asked.

Pallin coughed into his hand. "Nothing. I don't know."

"Yes you do. Out with it."

Pallin sighed. "He's planning to retire soon. We've. . .talked about me taking his place. He wants to teach me a few things about the position first."

Garrus' mouth actually hung open; it would have been funny if Shepard's wasn't hanging open as well. "You're going to be the next turian Councilor?"

"Not if you two keep pissing him off, I'm not. Why are you so stunned? I was their Executor for years, and though it wasn't technically a political position, I dealt with enough politics and bureaucracy to know how to handle myself. I was his first choice as replacement, but there are other candidates."

"It's just. . .wow. I really don't know what to say about that."

"Then don't say anything. It's not a done deal anyway. Let's finish what we came for."

"Hold on," Shepard said. "There's a few people I need to see first."


Solana

Before, Afterlife had seemed like a nightclub with extra guards. Now, it was a veritable fortress. Barriers both makeshift and sophisticated were erected all around the perimeter, with the entrance walled off and guarded like a military zone. People in Eclipse armor stood guard every few feet, and there were even Blood Pack and Blue Suns mercs here and there, remaining dregs from the groups gathered in one place. Nobody looked particularly happy to be there.

It wasn't like they could leave.

They approached slowly, keeping their hands clear of weapons. An asari in Eclipse armor pointed her pistol in their direction. "Move along."

"We need to speak with Aria," Zaeed said. "We're with Vakarian."

"Then where's Vakarian?"

Zaeed pointed up at the sky. "Up there."

The asari looked up nervously at the energy field. "I'll relay your message to her."

"For chrissakes, the woman hires us to get info on Archangel, then we get it and it becomes a goddamned game of 'Red Light, Green Light' getting it to her. Tell her Zaeed Massani's here or I'll tell her you tried to get in my way."

The asari looked like she was considering shooting Zaeed anyway. "Fine," she said finally, "but keep your hands where I can see them." She glared at Lutis and Lantar especially, as if either one of them could have been Archangel in disguise. They walked in front of her into Afterlife.

The opening hall had been converted into a choke point for anyone stupid enough to try to enter from the front. Six guards stood aside as they made their way through. Afterlife itself was deserted, patrons, employees, and dancers replaced with heavily armed soldiers, most wearing Eclipse gear, but not all; Solana counted several people in nondescript gear that looked hobbled together from the nearest dump, ready to fight in spite of it. Guards were posted at every door at the club's lower level, though Solana didn't understand why.

"Do they keep valuables in the private rooms or something?" She asked.

Lantar answered. "Those doors lead to the market under Omega. It's not a secret, so Archangel could use them as entry points, if he was feeling lucky. Odds are, Aria wants to keep an avenue open for escape."

Aria herself was surprisingly calm, for all Solana had known of her; she expected yelling, objects thrown, incompetent henchmen shot. Instead, the woman they saw had a grim determination set in her face, pouring over a massive projection of Omega's entire layout. The station went far deeper than Solana had ever guessed.

"What do you want?" Aria asked without looking away from the map. "This had better be worth my time. Otherwise, pick up a gun and get useful."

Solana stepped up first. "I'm Solana Vakarian, Garrus' sister. I know Archangel's true identity."

Aria waved a hand. "Doesn't matter now. He's a dead man regardless of who he is."

"I also know where his base is. I can give you a location, approximate numbers. More importantly, however, Archangel—his real name is Aldus—is a surviving Marauder."

Aria finally looked up at her. "The Marauders died with the rest of the Reapers."

"He wasn't completely converted. Somehow, he survived."

Aria rubbed her chin. "That is interesting. I wonder if his followers would stay loyal if they knew their leader was a Reaper zombie. But it may be too late, regardless."

Zaeed stepped up. "Are we just going to ignore the giant energy field?"

"The field is mine. After Cerberus tried to take over, I decided to develop measures against another invasion." Aria grimaced. "Of course, I didn't expect someone from Omega to fight against me. Still, this will cut off his offworld suppliers, and eventually force him to come out of hiding, where I'll be waiting for him. Or, with your information, Vakarian, I can now go to him if I get impatient. I almost lost this station once. I will not lose it again." She dismissed the map with a wave; the image faded away. "Thank you for this information. I'd tell you to get the hell off my station, but that's not possible right now, so I suggest you either hide or find some weapons and hunker down."

"Wait," Solana said as Aria started to walk away. "You need to lower the field. My brother and Shepard need to get through."

"Shepard hasn't thrown his hand in this fight yet; why would he suddenly be interested now?"

"Because. . .because they're trying to save me."

"That's nice, but I'm not dropping that field until Archangel is dead, or I am. The best thing for Shepard to do is stay away until then."

She walked away from them, clearly dismissing the conversation, and their presence. The asari from before led them out of her quarters. Another guard returned their weapons to them. Solana wished she could use them on Aria.

"What now?" She asked.

"We see this through," Lantar replied. He was never far from her, now; Solana wasn't sure how she felt about that. "We have to."

"No, we don't," Caelon said. "We can find a nice hole in the ground and wait it out, then get offworld once it's over."

"And if Archangel wins? How will we get offworld with him in charge of the docks?" He shook his head. "We have to fight. This is our responsibility now."

"I'll decide what our goddamn responsibility is," Zaeed said. He rubbed the back of his head, deep in thought. "But you're right. Pussyfooting out of here puts us between them. Way I see it, this is the safest place to be."

"At least until the shooting starts," Caelon said.

Solana looked around the fortifications. Something felt wrong, though she couldn't pinpoint just what.

"How would he do it?"

The others looked to her; she hadn't meant to say it so loud, but now that her thoughts were open, she couldn't stop. "This place is damn near impenetrable. How would Aldus attack here?"

"He has some decent numbers," Lantar said. "He could just swarm the place, overwhelm Afterlife with an assault like he did with the Blood Pack."

"But that's not his MO. He attacked the groups in ways they didn't expect, the Blue Suns via subterfuge and the Blood Pack vis force. What would Eclipse not expect?"

Caelon hissed. "Hacking. Eclipse relies on their tech for fighting. If that tech were compromised. . .it could also explain why he saved them for last. Gave him time to get into their systems."

It was possible, but not everyone there was Eclipse. Still, if Aldus could incapacitate all of the Eclipse mercenaries, would there be enough left to fight him off?

She looked around. Something else was off. "Where's Lutis?"

Lutis wasn't in the main room, or the opening hall. She was sure he went in with them, though. "He was just here," Benaka said. "I'm sure he was."

They left Afterlife, and Solana spotted Lutis about a block away from the fortifications, looking up at the sky, his back toward them and his arms in his hands. As she approached, she heard muttering.

"No. . .I can't hear it, I won't. . ."

"Lutis?" Solana said. He jumped.

"Ah," he said, "you startled me." He kept looking up at the sky. He spoke evenly, but Solana saw his talons digging into his arm, to the point of drawing blood.

"Something's wrong," he said softly. He didn't blink. "It's like flying through space, but seeing no stars. I don't know why I'm feeling this. I haven't—" He shook his head, finally breaking his gaze from the sky. "I'm sorry I wandered off. It won't happen again." He quickly moved to join the others, leaving Solana to wonder what the hell that was all about.

She felt like there was something she missed, something on the edge of her mind that was crucial, but distant. She didn't know how she could help Aria, or even if she should, but the asari seemed at least to have a plan. The map on her desk had—

The map.

Solana looked back at Afterlife. The map laid out all of Omega, including its interior. It was larger than she thought. It ran deep into the asteroid.

What was down there?

Large as it was, Omega was a space station, just like the Citadel had been, not a planet. It had no atmosphere of its own. No natural ecosystems. No water. No oxygen. All of that had to be artificially produced. But nowhere on this station had she seen anything resembling a hydroponic greenhouse or anything else for water or oxygen production.

She ran back toward Afterlife, passing the confused looks of the others along the way. "I know what he's going to do!"

That was when the alarms started.

I'm too late, she thought, panicking. No, they were all still alive, so she wasn't too late. Not yet. She stopped by a confused-looking salarian. "What does that alarm mean?" She asked.

"I don't know," the salarian replied. "I've—I've never heard it before."

Shit. She left him and barreled through the entrance to Afterlife.

She nearly crashed right into Aria.

"Watch where you're—"

"Life support," Solana said breathlessly. "Do you know where Omega's life support systems are?"

Aria drew up straight, as though offended by the question. "Of course."

"That's what this alarm is, isn't it?"

Aria snarled and pushed past her. Solana followed.

"The alarm was manually triggered," Aria said. "I'm not an idiot; I placed guards down there, too. It means they've been compromised. But if I thought he knew where the life support controls were. . ." She stopped short. "He's drawing me out. He wants me to go down there."

"Won't you?" Solana asked. "This is your station, isn't it? If Aldus shuts down the oxygen here. . ."

"It'll just kill him too," Aria said, though she appeared uncertain. "He has to be bluffing. Would he really risk killing everyone on Omega over this?"

Lantar and the others had caught up by now. "Trust me," Lantar said, catching his breath, "He would. He likely has a plan to keep his most elite alive—oxygen tanks, food packs, whatever. And he doesn't need the whole station dead; just you. And since nobody can get off Omega thanks to your quarantine field, everyone will die."

Aria shook her head. "There's not enough space down there for a full army; a firefight will risk destroying the entire thing."

"He knows that."

"Then your group comes with me. We need to form a plan on the way. Damn it, he's trapped me again!"

Aria led them down through Afterlife's lower doors, into the market. A broken elevator—at least, it appeared broken; it worked when Aria input a few commands into a hidden keypad—led them down to a tunnel beneath Afterlife that stretched in a downward slope for several hundred yards. Solana saw red markings on the walls in some places, the sign of the Talons, likely from before they were under Aria's command. The alarm sounded louder down here.

"It took me over a hundred years to find this place," Aria said. "The guy in charge before me didn't know about it at all. I still haven't seen all of it. Nyreen could apparently navigate it well enough. How the hell did Archangel find it?"

It was a good question, but they couldn't dwell on it now. Now they had to focus on stopping Aldus before millions of people died.

The tunnel abruptly ended in a vast cavern. The same reddish light that painted Omega's surface filled this space from sources she couldn't trace. Structures, some complete, others long-since gone to ruin, stretched up to the surface of Omega from way down deep into the asteroid. Support? Ancient elevators? How many generations of inhabitants had come and gone in this place? One such structure stretched out like a metal bridge, and they took it, stepping lightly at first. Thankfully, it felt solid beneath their feet, holding up even Benaka's weight without protest.

"How far does this go?" Caelon asked above the wailing of the alarm.

"Center of the asteroid," Aria said. "Now shut up and let me think."

They found bodies ahead, a mix of species and armors. Most were Aria's men. Blackened rings marked holes punched through their armor—and their bodies. Solana recognized one of the krogan bodyguards from Aldus' HQ. Likely they focused fire on him while Aldus killed them from behind. A terminal nearby broadcast the alarm, with a batarian corpse leaning over the console.

"This can't be all you left to guard the most important part of the whole damn station," Zaeed said.

Aria glared back at him. "I didn't know he knew how to access this area. And my forces are stretched somewhat thin lately, you may have noticed."

"Guys," Lutis said, examining the bodies. "These have been here for a while."

Aria turned to him. "What do you mean, 'a while'?"

"A day, at most. Rigor mortis has set in, but not much. I think. . .I think these were arranged."

But the alarm had only just been triggered! Why would someone go to the effort to. . .

"It's an ambush!" Solana said. The shots immediately followed, raining down on them from another platform up above. Solana held up her barrier and saw Benaka and Aria doing the same. The shots came from an awkward angle; the attackers were above them, further ahead, which caused many of the bullets to ping off the metal walkway. If they had kept going, they would have been directly beneath them, perfectly poised for ambush.

The others took what cover they could, erecting shields and propping up the bodies for what little cover they could provide. Solana could see the attackers' weapons aimed down and backward from the railing above. She drew her power up into her barrier and launched it at the railing. The entire structure groaned as the energy wave made impact, but, more importantly, two of the attackers were launched over the railing, screaming as they fell. Aria took the break in fire to launch herself up to their level. Solana heard blows landing, several shots fired, and felt the use of biotics. One by one, more attackers fell to the depths below, not all of them conscious.

Aria hopped back down, wiping blood away from her chin. It wasn't her own blood. Her blood wouldn't be red.

"I needed that," she said. "Come on, the main hub isn't far from here."

They kept their weapons at the ready as they moved, eyes on the railings above and below. If they had a day to prepare for them, they could be anywhere. But that left another question in Solana's mind: why were they not dead?

If Aldus had been here for a day, he could have triggered the alarm or shut down Omega's life support already. Why did he wait?

Was he waiting for them? Did he want a showdown with Aria? It made no strategic sense. She looked at the others, and saw they were all thinking the same thing. What was Aldus' endgame?

They weren't set upon again, but as they approached a wider expanse of what appeared to be massive generators lit up with control terminals, she could swear she felt eyes on her. Aria approached the largest console slowly, as though it might explode, and started typing in commands. Solana's group watched her flank as she did so. The alarm finally stopped sounding, replaced by a dull hum that reverberated through the floor.

"This hasn't been tampered with," Aria said finally. "Did he not find this place after all?"

"I found it, Aria."

Aldus' voice echoed through the chamber. The group held out their weapons, scanning in every direction, but there was no one to be seen, and no walkway or alcove above them. It had to be coming from below, then.

Aldus appeared as if summoned, hovering upwards with the help of a jet pack. Drineax hovered in beside him, stumbling as he landed. She didn't remember him having a jet pack before; he likely only had a short time to learn how to use it. Aldus wore his helmet, as always, but neither of them had weapons.

They all took aim at them. Drineax raised his hands. "You, uh, don't want to do that," he said.

"I think we do," Zaeed replied.

Aldus raised his arms, quietly inviting them to shoot.

"Wait," Caelon said, his omni-tool awake and pointed toward Aldus. "There's something—oh, crap. He's linked."

"With what?" Aria said.

"Omega," Aldus replied. "You were wrong. I did manage to 'tamper' with the life support, specifically matching the station's oxygen output to my own. If I die, Omega dies." He chuckled, a hollow, frightening sound. "I suppose you could say I am Omega."

Aria's biotics flared as she surged forward, pushing Drineax aside and grabbing Aldus by the neck. "You're lying!" She lifted him over the edge of the railing, then threw him to the ground.

Aldus stood without making a sound. "When we first met," he said to Aria, "I came to you with an offering. You refused." His omni-tool flared to life, its fiery sheen magnified by the light. "No more offerings. You will die here."

Solana heard the click of guns behind her. She cursed as she looked over her shoulder; they had been distracted, and Drineax and more of Aldus' goons took advantage.

"I love a good duel," Drineax said. "Let's watch them, shall we? I figure, he wins, and we shoot you as you gape in shock. She wins, and you let us go peacefully, good guys that you are. Sound fair?"

They dropped their guns, but nobody made a move. Aria focused on Aldus, her arms glowing with biotic energy. The two of them sized eachother up, neither making a move.

"I will admit," Aldus said after a moment, "your quarantine field was inspired. If you had used it earlier, it might have even hindered me."

"What the hell do you want?"

"Haven't I told you?" He lifted his omni-blade. "I want Omega."

He charged at her then, his blade wavering in the air as he struck. Aria ducked aside, launching a shockwave. Aldus' step wavered somewhat, then Aria punched him with a force Solana could feel in her own biotics. Aldus' shield absorbed some of the blow, but he still launched back several feet. He regained his footing quickly, however.

"Will you do it, then?" Aldus said mockingly. "Will you really kill me and doom this station?"

"Shut up!" Aria launched another shockwave. Aldus ducked it again, but Aria was prepared this time; she built up a charge and flung herself at his position, the charge landing with immense force. Aldus was launched off the platform. Solana thought that might have been the end of it, except Aldus hovered back up, landing as smoothly as before. He didn't appear the least bit tired.

Solana faced Drineax. "Is this what you want? For him to destroy your home?"

"I don't know," Drineax said. "Seems to me like she's the one working to destroy it. Perspective, I guess."

Aria did most of the charging now, with Aldus either dodging or taking the hits directly, always recovering from each blast. Solana could see Aria's movements slow down, and her biotics, though still powerful, were dwindling. Looking over her shoulder at the goons with guns at their backs, she started to build up power of her own in her arms and legs. Benaka jumped, sensing what she was doing. Their eyes met, and Solana gave a slight nod, then she felt energy building up in the krogan, too.

Aria's biotics surged. She was going in for one final, massive attack. She ran for Aldus, who stood as calmly as ever, her feet leaving a trail of glowing power. She leapt into the air and came down on Aldus with meteoric force, the entire walkway groaning ominously under the force of her impact.

Solana saw the opportunity and took it. "Now!" She shouted, and she and Benaka released their own biotics on their captors. The force they built launched two of them over the edge. Everyone else, friends and enemies, were pushed by the force in different directions. Thankfully, none of her allies were sent flying. Lutis quickly regained his footing and disappeared; though she could hear his footsteps against the metal flooring, she couldn't see him at all, and neither could his target, a human whose gun flew out of his hand and fired into his face.

Drineax was launched onto his back. He cursed as he stood, rubbing his head. Solana grabbed him with her biotics, wrapping him in energy and lifting him up off the ground. He was helpless as long as that pull stayed, but she couldn't hold it for long. Her first blast had weakened her greatly.

A great dent in the floor stood where Aria had made impact. Both Aria and Aldus were motionless on the ground. Were they dead? Was Aldus bluffing after all?

Aldus stirred, his omni-blade sparking back to life. His helmet was shattered, exposing his transformed face. Solana heard Drineax gasp behind her, but she didn't turn to look at him.

"Zaeed!" She called. "Stop him!"

Zaeed was wrestling a weapon away from a merc. Lutis, now visible, was firing the gun he stole at another merc, a batarian who held up his shield. Benaka and Caelon faced against three goons, Caelon putting commands in his omni-tool while Benaka shielded them with her biotics. She couldn't find Lantar, and felt a burst of panic; what if he fell over the edge?

Aldus was close to Aria, so close. Cursing, Solana dropped Drineax and ran for Aldus herself. She fired a burst of power at him, but it glanced off his armor like it was a breeze, not stopping him in the least.

He grabbed Aria by the neck and lifted her in the air. His arm pulled back. Solana could do nothing.

The blade went clean through Aria's midsection, jutting out of her back. Her blood fizzled on the blade's gleaming heat, shriveling black before dissolving completely. Aria's eyes went wide, and her mouth opened in a silent scream, but nothing came out but more blood, blood that splattered against Aldus' mechanical face.

Aldus swiped the blade free, launching drops of blood into the air. Aria fell as Solana reached her. She quickly opened her medi-gel canisters but she knew there'd be no point; the wound was seared black on the edges, and she could see through to the ground. Aria shook uncontrollably in her arms, her skin bluish-gray from shock.

Aria looked up at Solana. "N-Ny-Nyreen-?" Her eyes froze in a confused stare. Aria T'Loak was dead.

Aldus stood over her, his synthetic eyes casting an otherworldly light. He reached down to grab her.

A gunshot fired, and his hand wrenched away with a cry of pain. Solana looked to the source of the shot.

Drineax held a smoking pistol in his hands. They were shaking. From the murderous look in his eyes, Solana knew he was shaking in anger, not fright.

"A Reaper?!" He fired the gun again. The shot missed by several inches. "You're a Reaper? How—you—I believed in you, you son of a bitch! We all did!"

Solana noticed movement behind Aldus. A turian hand reached up from the edge, followed by the rest of Lantar Sidonis. He pulled himself up onto the walkway and lifted his pistol. A wound in his side dripped blood.

The others had disposed of Aldus' men and now closed on him, weapons raised. Aldus' metal mandibles parted in a smirk as he looked at Solana. "No matter, now. I have what I need." He turned and ran for the railing, the others firing at him. The shots missed the moving target. He dived off the railing, and Solana rushed to look down where he fell. She saw him hovering away.

"God damn it," Zaeed said. "Does anyone have a sniper rifle?"

Drineax leaned over the edge and fired, again and again, until his pistol overheated. Then he threw the gun over and roared.

"Drineax—" Solana began, but he grabbed her neck and cut her words off.

"You—don't," he growled. His voice sounded feral. "Just shut up!"

Lantar pointed his gun at Drineax. "Let her go, Drin. We're all on the same side now."

Drineax seethed, but he put her down. Tears ran down his face. "That fucking bastard. I'll kill him, I'll fucking tear out whatever organs he has left. How could he do this to me? Everything we've done. . ."

"Drineax," Solana said. "We need to know what he's going to do next."

Drineax barked a noise that sounded somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "There was no 'next!' Aria's dead, he should be in charge and everything should start improving. That was the whole plan. All of it." He took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. "Afterlife. He's going to clear out Afterlife next. Probably shut down the quarantine field too, though I know he considered keeping it up so Aria's men couldn't escape. Spirits, but at least she wasn't a Reaper!"

Lantar put his hand on Solana's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She looked at Aria's body one last time. Someone would need to come retrieve her. "I guess we lost," she said.