Annie climbed aboard the Cerberus cruiser, not particularly stunned that Aria was able to get her hands on one. It was impressive, certainly, and seemed to be getting the full use out of it with Aria at the stand. "Ah, the guest of honor has arrived. We can finally start," Aria greeted as Annie adjusted the armor pads on her forearms, Liara was so much better at getting them on straight than she.
They were quick to act once they got started, despite Annie's remark on the riskiness of Aria's plan. The woman was quick to refuse her input, making it clear once again that Annie was not to be heard until their feet touched the ground. Admittedly, though, it was impressive to watch as Aria held her fleet back and simply approached the collection of Cerberus vessels that surrounded the station. She had thought about a lot, including finding an appropriate voice feed and password that would get them past the front lines. And then suddenly the war was on, the commanding ship down as Aria sent her fleet in to give them back up.
It was then, of course, that the general decided to show his face and probably flaunt his ego a little. Aria, he greeted, appearing on the holodeck in the middle of the room, I knew it had to be you. Pull back, you won't make it onto this station.
"You're barking up the wrong tree, General, but maybe you can convince my partner." Annie hated that she was already being dragged into their little quarrel. She just wanted to get this job done without having to become a character in the next big soap opera. If Aria was some how in love with the General and pregnant with his daughter Annie swore she would give up her military career all together.
Commander Shepard, I've heard great things about you. Annie scoffed, arms crossed over her chest defensively.
"I doubt the Illusive Man spoke of me so highly."
I do my own research, Commander. A pity you left Cerberus. We all sabotage ourselves in nefarious ways. Perhaps deep down you fear success. Annie clenched her fists, having to remind herself that this was just a hologram and she couldn't break his nose. Now I've noticed you've upgraded the shields on your ships. A sad waste, I must admit. You see I've upgraded Omega's cannons; they will tear through your defenses. Annie glanced towards Aria, watching as the woman held her firm face but for a second she could have sworn she saw a nervous bead of sweat trickle down the asari's temple. So again, I say, turn back. But as Aria ended the call Annie was a little startled to realize just how crazy Aria was.
"Ready the ship and brace for impact. We're ramming the station."
"What?" Annie hissed.
"Omega is equipped with kinetic barriers that will keep my fleet from landing. My ship has disruptors on it that will shut them down on impact. Don't worry, Shepard, we'll probably survive." But Annie refused to believe that. She was crazy and soon enough that was made clear as they were forced to run for the escape pods, praying the blind ship would get them on the station. Fantastic start to what was supposed to be a simple mission.
The escape pod crashed into some random part of the station as Annie threw her chest restraint from her head. She could hear the movement of men outside as she readied herself, glancing over her shoulder at the rest of the escape pod. None of them wanted to be the first out. Fine by her.
She threw her body out, flipping and landing a hard heel into the top of one of the Cerberus men's heads. There was a firm crack and the man fired aimlessly into one of his own comrades, killing him instantly. A third guard prepared to fire as Annie rolled behind the first, shoving her omni-blade into his back and using him as a human shield from the third Cerberus operative's bullets. Annie then stood, pulling her pistol and firing two shots into the third operative's head. The remainder of the pod finally exited, Aria the calmest of the group as she looked at the dead men on the floor.
"As I said, Commander. Ground assault is where I follow," Annie smirked, sliding behind some cover as more operatives came to the crash sight. Hopefully they weren't the only ones that had made it. Damn, just thinking that made Annie aware of how Liara would react to this story once she got back. So far this whole plan had been resting on a fifty-fifty chance of everything working out. And she feared it wasn't the end.
They moved on, making it to the cannon control center in an attempt to turn off the over-powered cannons. The worst of it, though, was after they shut them down, when Aria began to explain exactly where and what her special rendezvous had. In the middle of her speech Annie caught movement out of the corner of her eye, spying a camera as she whipped out her pistol and blew it to pieces, cutting off the feed. Aria had stopped, glancing between the commander and the smoking mess that had been the security camera. "There's a good chance your defenses at the bunker are about to get tested," Annie remarked as Aria glared at the camera, seeming to hope that the general could see her face.
As they continued on, they began to notice very curious looking signs. It looked like something Asian; a red T, with three crosses rather than one, in the center of a white circle. Aria said it apparently belonged to the Talons, another group centered in Omega but seemingly harder to control than the Blood Pack, Eclipse, and Blue Suns groups. But as the pair was forced to make a detour due to some unplanned force fields, Annie discovered even more secrets about the dark Omega.
Throughout the station there seemed to be tunnels that crawled beneath and around every structure. Sure, maybe some people were lucky enough to get into one, but only Aria knew where they all existed and where each took someone. Or at least, Annie thought Aria was the only one.
