Sahrabarik System.
Omega Space Station.
Mercenary Assault Base.
The journey to the mercenaries temporary battlefield HQ usually took over two hours via a standard hovercar. The long travel time to reach the HQ allowed Shepard to study the chaotic hive-like state of Omega's structures. Gigantic spires that could house tens of thousands of intelligent species emerged from the asteroid's crust; like boney fingers, they're reaching out towards something unseen by mortal eyes. Manufactories that produced weapons and other deadly items desired by Omega's inhabitants could be seen breathing out massive amounts of smoke as they churned out their destructive products by the hundreds.
The airspace within Omega was also chaotic as manufactory transport vehicles carrying stuff for the major players on the station raced from one destination to another without seeming to care who got in their way. The civilian vehicles drove through the sky whilst barely keeping within the standard galactic speed safety limit. The mercenary groups could also be seen flying within the storm of steel and machinery as their gunships danced across the sky, followed dutifully by troop transports that would likely drop the mercenaries inside their hulls off at their next assignment.
All in all, Shepard found it amazing how no one has crashed their vehicles into each other within the madness that was Omega's airspace. However, such contemplations would have to wait for later since Shepard, after spending hours watching the hovering vehicles soar to their destinations, saw the landing site for the combined mercenary groups base of operations. A Batarian wearing Blue Suns armour could be seen waiting for new arrivals. The transports carrying the Commander and the Drones soared through the sky and landed silently on the ground.
The Batarian scanned the assembled Drones, Cerberus operatives and Zaeed for a moment before nodding in approval. "It's about time they send me someone who looks like they can actually fight." He smiled with genuine happiness at the sight of such heavily armed forces. "They tell you what we're up against?" The answer was most likely no, yet it was standard protocol for the Batarian to ask newcomers to the operation.
"The recruiter was a little vague," Shepard admitted to the Blue Suns member while taking in her surroundings. The landing site was located in an alleyway surrounded by old abandoned houses and looted shops; just above the stairs, Shepard saw a barricade comprised of containers and welded together bits of scrap metal blocking off a section of the alleyway. Freelancers were standing on top of the barrier; Shepard noticed they kept their heads down and fired their weapons at something on the other side of their current cover.
The Batarian chuckled. "We wouldn't get many hires if everyone knew the truth." The sounds of gunfire echoed from the deeper section of their location. "Archangel's hold up in a building at the end of the boulevard over there," he pointed towards the direction of Archangel's base. "He's got superior position, and the only way in is over a very exposed bridge. It's a killing ground." The slight fearful twitch of his upper eyes told Shepard that he'd seen how effective Archangel was at murdering the freelancers at this killing ground. "But he's getting tired, making mistakes. We'll have him soon enough."
So the Mercenaries haven't gotten to Archangel yet, which means there was still time to rescue the Vigilante. "Point us to the bridge, and we'll handle Archangel." Shepard told the Blue Sun mercenary, although she highly doubted that their views on how to 'handle' Archangel aligned with each other.
The Batarian huffed in approval. "I like your attitude, but we've got a plan in place." He bluntly informed the Normandy crew before explaining their role in the plan. "You'll be on a distraction team. Head straight over the bridge and keep Archangel busy so the infiltration team can sneak in behind him." Shepard frowned at the plan since it would mean that they'd have to charge at a highly-skilled sniper stupidly whilst the infiltration team sneaked up from behind to finish the Vigilante off.
"That's goddamn suicide," Zaeed growled angrily since charging at someone as skilled with a sniper rifle as Archangel would most likely end with their deaths.
"Pretty much." lazily agreed the Batarian Blue Sun. "But you look like you can handle it." The Batarian gaze lingered on the Normandy crews weaponry and armour for a few seconds before continuing. "Head up to the boulevard and get to the third barricade. Talk to sergeant Cathka. He'll tell you when to go in." The Batarian pulled out a cigarette from a hidden compartment on his armour and, without delay, ignited the cigarette with a matchstick. "If you've got any questions, ask them now." He inhaled deeply before exhaling a cloud of smoke.
"Is the bridge the only way to get to Archangel?" Savage asked the Batartain Blue Sun whilst his kin checked their ammo supplies and ensured that the weapons they were carrying had full clips.
The Batarian groaned at the question as he continued to inhale the toxins from the cigarette. "Unfortunately, it is the only way inside the bastard's hideout," the smoke cloud grew bigger. "Archangel collapsed all the underground passageways and sealed the doors to the lower levels." Frustration bubbled within his tone upon mentioning the passageways and lower levels. "We've got teams digging, but it's taking too long." Savage made a mental note of the digging teams since he had a feeling that they'd have to deal with them before this mission was over.
The Batarian, unaware of the Locust Drones plotting to murder his comrades, continued to explain more about the strengths of the assembled mercenary groups. "If they can the gunship flying again, that'll help." Shepard felt her muscles twitch at the mention of a gunship and knew that if the mercs got it working again, then their plan to rescue Archangel would become far more complex. "But I'm hoping the infiltration team will finish the job, and we can all go home." The Batarian breathed out another cloud of smoke before throwing the cigarette to the ground and crushed it underneath his metallic boot.
Jacob, at that moment, saw an opportunity to dig for more info. "They were using a gunship to take out one guy?" The Cerberus operative's tone was of surprise and disbelief, not that anyone present would blame him for being shocked at the revelation since a gunship was overkill for just one person.
The Batarian grunted while folding his arms together. "Yeah, and Archangel shot it down." His four eyes shined with displeasure as he recalled how much damage and smoke was coming off the gunship after Archangel was done with it. "He don't destroy it, but he knew just where to hit it to disable it." A miserable chuckled forced its way through his throat. "It wasn't even a fair fight. At least not for us." The leaders of the merc groups had been raging for hours after witnessing the damage caused by Archangel, and needless to say that it hadn't been fun being near them during that time.
"Where is the infiltration team now?" Shepard questioned the Blue Sun as she highly doubted that they were just sitting on their collective asses at the mercs base, and the sooner she knew where they are, the sooner she could put a mass accelerator round into their skulls.
The Batarian grinned. "On the far side of the bridge, near his hideout." The pride and smugness were practically dripping from his voice. "But they can't get any closer without being seen." The news was surprising since Shepard thought that Archangel had been sniping anyone trying to get near his base, so how did the mercs get a team so close to the Vigilante without getting themselves killed.
"How'd they get that close without being seen?" She demanded as this could cause significant complications to rescuing Archangel from these bloodthirsty mercenaries.
Fortunately for Shepard, the Batarian was more than happy to explain how the infiltration team got so close to Archangel. "More distractions. Tarak used the gunship to keep Archangel busy." It was a ballsy move, and one that paid off as the infiltration team was now inside Archangel's base. "We were able to sneak a few men into his hideout before he took it down, but they're stuck there." Some of those infiltration members were even his friends, so he wanted the leaders to start the central part of the assault as soon as possible.
"We need to keep Archangel focused on the bridge, so he doesn't find them and wipe them out." Which was the main reason why they've been throwing the freelancers at Archangel 24/7 because if he noticed the infiltration team's presence, then he'd slaughter them all, and Tarak would have to come up with a new plan of action.
Shepard asked a few more questions about Archangel learning that the bosses of the mercenaries knew the most about the Vigilante and that if she wanted to know more then, the Commander would have to ask them herself. However, the Batarian Blue Sun was nice enough to warn Shepard that his superiors wouldn't be too thrilled to talk to a freelancer. The Batarian also warned how freelancers have been killed by the dozens on the boulevard, and they'd need to be extra careful while walking around that section.
Shepard thanked the Batarian for the advice before heading up the stairs taking care to avoid being out in the open as she didn't want to try testing out her regeneration abilities where dozens of mercenaries could potentially see it happen. The criminals of Omega wouldn't hesitate to try taking advantage of such valuable information. Shepard would rather the Council never learned about her regenerative abilities nor the connection she had with the Locust Horde from the scum of the known universe.
Once Shepard ascended the stairs, she was greeted with the sight of a pickup truck. A long alleyway filled with junk, old benches and the first barricade where the newly arrived freelancers tried to get a hit on Archangel from their position only to get sniped in the head for the trouble. The Commander and crew sneaked around the back to avoid the sniper fire whilst EDI advised that Shepard deals with the mercenaries battle mechs and the gunship before rescuing Archangel. Removing such threats would significantly increase their odds of survival.
The galactic heroine agreed with EDI's thoughts on the mechs and gunship and would take steps to deal with them when the moment presented itself. At the end of the alleyway, a closed double door was the only way to get further into the mercs base of operations. Savage and two other Drones stepped forward from the group and opened the door, allowing Shepard, Miranda, Jacob, and Zaeed to see the massive room filled with Eclipse mercenaries. The Eclipse within the room was comprised of Asari and Salarians, with a few humans mixed into the group.
At the sole table was a red-skinned Salarian whose face was covered in white markings. He was wearing the most advanced set of Eclipse styled armour of the entire group of gathered mercenaries marking him as Omega's Eclipse sect leader. The Salarian Eclipse leader was going over the plan that Tarak had come up with and explaining it to his subordinates sitting next to him.
"As the first wave goes in, the infiltration team will attempt to take Archangel by surprise." The Eclipse leader handed a data-pad to his Asari lieutenant, who quickly began to speed read it. "I don't expect much from the freelancers. When they fail, we're up next." A bloodthirstiness filled the Salarian's tone at the mention of them going after the freelancers. "The light mechs go in first. If that's not enough, we send in the heavy. Be prepared." The surrounding Eclipse nodded in understanding before moving to complete their assigned tasks.
Seeing an opportunity to learn more about the Omega Eclipse sect, Shepard walked towards the Eclipse leader, who turned his head and glared at the Commander upon hearing the sound of approaching footsteps. The Salarian wanted to snap at Shepard yet halt from doing so when he saw the heavily armed Drones and the dark glares they were sending him. Knowing better than to piss off something that appeared to be related to the Krogan, the Eclipse leader swallowed his irritation and addressed the new arrivals.
"Do you need something?" The Eclipse leader asked Shepard as she stood near the table. The Drones surrounding the Commander growled at the Salarian whilst scanning the surrounding area for potential threats and to memorise how many Eclipse there were in the room. It wouldn't account for every Eclipse at the base, but it would at least give the Drones a relative idea of how many mercenaries they'd have to kill before the mission was completed.
Shepard crossed her arms. "You lead the Eclipse?" The way the other Eclipse were obeying the Salarian was telling, yet Shepard wanted confirmation on the Salarian's status amongst the Eclipse sect on Omega.
The Salarian's face twitched with barely restrained annoyance. "You figure that out by yourself?" The mockery was kept at a minimum as he didn't want to get shot by the Drones. "I'm Jaroth. I run Omega's Eclipse." He introduced himself whilst picking up an old combat report from the table. "What do you need, freelancer?" The real-time battle reports and the stress of managing the troops already taking a lot out of Jaroth, so the Salarian figured the faster he answered the freelancer's questions, the faster he'd be able to get back to work in peace.
Shepard's emerald orbs stared calculatingly at the Salarian. "So the infiltration team is the main focus of the attack?" If that was the case, then all Shepard needed to do was remove the mechs and the gunship from the battlefield. When she took out the infiltration team, then there'd be little to nothing that could stop her from escaping with Archangel. However, something within her gut told the Commander that things wouldn't go down that quickly, especially since the mercs seemed unusually determined to murder the Vigilante.
Jaroth scoffed while sitting up straighter. "Tarak's plan, not mine," Jaroth revealed as he read through some of the reports. "He doesn't want to lose any more men, so he's throwing you, freelancers, at the problem." The red-skinned Salarian frowned at something in the report before writing something on it and handing it over to another Eclipse member. "Archangel's not going anywhere, so I suppose there's no harm in trying." Jaroth picked up a cup of unknown tea and took a small sip. "Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky."
Shepard's eyes narrowed with displeasure at what the mercs were actually doing with the freelancers. "So you're just going to hide here while the freelancers get killed?" It was a sicking tactic and one that didn't surprise Shepard as most mercenaries were cowards and criminals at the end of the day and wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice their own comrades to the enemy if it meant saving their own skins.
"Precisely." Jaroth nodded, not sounding the slightest bit guilty or ashamed of sending others to their deaths, especially not when it helps him reach his goals. "You're paid to be a distraction. Nothing more." Jaroth sipped more tea. "Whether you survive or not is up to you." He bluntly told Shepard and the rest of the Normandy crew as it was entirely up to them to survive the upcoming battle against Archangel. Shepard huffed in acknowledgement before switching to another topic.
"Why are Eclipse on Omega in the first place?" The saviour of the Citadel gazed around the room. "I can't imagine it's for the tourist destinations or for the living conditions." Omega was many things, yet a place to retire and live peacefully wasn't one of them.
Jaroth grunted in annoyance yet still chose to answer. "Since you care so much," he swallowed the last of the tea. "Eclipse controls almost 20 percent of Omega. Our transports and mechs keep the eezo moving." The eezo that was transported also had a chance of been contaminated and highly toxic to living beings, a fact that Jaroth was somewhat interested in avoiding. Not to mention that a great among the eezo that the Eclipse dealt with was illegally mined from sites controlled by corporations working against the Eclipse organisation.
"Sounds very organised." Shepard complimented Jaroth knowing that flattery usually loosened the lips of egotistically bastard's like him.
A small pride smile graced Jaroth's face. "Eclipse runs like a well-oiled machine." He boasted about his gang's skills. "But Omega is anything but organised." A frown of contempt marked his features as he thought about the chaos within the space station. "It's a constant battle for control. Then Archangel comes along and complicates things even more." Jaroth remembered the day he heard about Archangel; first, Jaroth believed that the fool would be dead within a week upon arriving at Omega. How naive he'd been if only Jaroth had listened to his brother about the danger Archangel represented, then maybe this disaster could've been avoided.
Shepard sensed the hatred within Jaroth's voice as he talked about Archangel. "Why does Archangel give you so much trouble?" The Blood Pack would've made more ease to the Commander since they're the most bloodthirsty merc group in existence and thus make a better target for the Vigilante's wrath.
Jaroth sneered at the question. "Ask him. I'm just here to make as much money as I can." Even now, Jaroth didn't know why Archangel targeted them the most out of the entire Omega underworld and at this point, he didn't care; all Jaroth wanted was Archangel dead and by any means necessary. "We didn't come to Omega to be constrained by laws and regulations." They'd had to deal with enough of that in Council controlled space. "He'll regret overcoming to Omega. I promise you." Once again, pure hatred spilled forth from Jaroth's tone. Shepard and the others wondered what Archangel did to the Salarian to make him contain so much hate towards the Vigilante.
"Seems like this is personal for you." Savage pointed out as he stared at Jaroth with subtle curiosity.
The red-skinned Salarian glared at the Drone. "He raided one of my transports last month. Killed two of my best operatives." Within Jaroth's eyes, hatred, rage, sorrow, regret, loss and determination battled for supremacy. "One of them was my brother. So yes, it's pretty damn personal." Ah, so revenge for the death of his brother was the motive for Jaroth's involvement with the assault on Archangel's base. Savage even felt some sympathy for the Salarian as he'd wanted vengeance on those that would harm his Queen and kin. However, sympathy wouldn't stop Savage from shooting Jaroth in the head when the time came.
Shepard saw nothing else to gain by talking to Jaroth and so departed from the Salarian's company. On the way out of the room, she subtly stole a data-pad from the Eclipse containing information on a plan for the mercenaries to join forces and overthrow Aria. Shepard planned to deliver the data-pad to the pirate Queen to strengthen their relationship and hopefully gain something useful by selling out the mercenaries groups. As for the area outside the room, it was a hallway with two separate doorways.
Shepard tried the left door, which opened to reveal the inactive mechs that the Eclipse were planning to use for the assault. Sensing an opportunity to screw over the Eclipse, Shepard entered the storage room and proceeded to 'upgrade' the mechs targeting software. The Drones, Cerberus operatives and Zaeed kept an eye out for anyone that might come by to check on the inactive mechs. Once the 'upgrades' were finished, the Commander left the storeroom though not before raiding it for any valuable supplies or leftover Credits.
After the mechs were taken care of, the Locust Queen went through the remaining door, bringing the Normandy crew to another hallway with another two sets of doors. Shepard went for the top door first and was rewarded with the sight of a massive Krogan wearing Blood Pack armour. The big bastard was sitting on a reinforced container whilst guarded by a nasty-looking Vorcha carrying a standard assault rifle. At the far side of the small area were some wounded Vorcha resting upon some makeshift beds. However, as badly injured as they were, the Vorcha were already showing signs of recovering, thanks to their adaptive biology.
The massive Krogan, who'd even give Wrex a run for his Credits in terms of size, glanced up from his seat and grunted when he saw Shepard and her crew. "You're in the wrong place, freelancer." He bluntly informed the Commander while giving the Drones a curious once over with his battle-scarred eyes. The Drones, however, didn't provide the Krogan that much attention as they were studying the Vorcha resting on the left side of the room. To be more accurate, they're watching the wounds on the Vorcha slowly seal themselves without the assistance of Medi-gel.
"You the Blood Pack leader?" Shepard questioned the Krogan whilst some of her Drones walked outside to guard the door so that no one could interfere with their Queen's conversation with the Blood Pack leader.
The literal walking mountain of muscle nodded. "Name's Garm. That's all you need to know." Garm shifted on his seat to get some more comfort. "I'm stuck here waiting till you freelancers are done playing war." Obviously, Garm didn't like the freelancers nor having to wait until it was his time to partake in the battle and was only entertaining the idea of talking to Shepard because of boredom and the presence of the Drones. "Ask your questions and go."
"What do you know about Archangel?" Garm grunted at the question since it made sense that a freelancer would want to know everything about their target, and as their allies, if only temporary, it was Gam's duty to inform Shepard of what he knew about the Vigilante.
"He's a pain in the ass." Garm barely held back the disdain that threatened to spill out of his mouth. "He's a Turian, which makes him slightly worse to look at than you." The massive Krogan chuckled and ignored the growls of anger coming from the Drones. "And he's brave till he realises you're more than he bargained for." Shepard raised an eyebrow; it sounded like Garm had personal experience fighting Archangel.
"Sounds like you've had personal experience," Zaeed noted as he analysed the Krogan searching for weaknesses to exploit and old wounds that might slow Garm down long enough to finish what so many others have obviously failed to do in the past.
Garm glanced at Zaeed with suspicious eyes. "He tried to take me down once. Waited till I was alone. Longest damn fight of my life," he actually sounded fond of the memory of his fight against Archangel. "But I held him off till my men showed up." Garm's acid green eyes gazed towards the Vorcha beside him, indicating that he was one of the men that arrived to save his life. "He wasn't so tough after that. We chased him over half of Omega." And what a hellish chase that had been. Garm gained a few new scars after that incident. "Almost had him, but the slippery bastard snuck away before we could pin him down." Not that it mattered now since he and the rest of the mercenary leaders had Archangel trapped inside his own base.
A few more questions were asked by Shepard, and she learned that Garm's Blood Pack worked as the station's hired muscle and security detail. If you wanted protection from your enemies or simply wanted someone eliminated, then you'd also have to go to the Blood Pack since such jobs were their speciality. The Omega Blood Pack also possessed a larger territory than either the Blue Suns or Eclipse and had multiple stores of weaponry hidden away in secret locations, which Garm didn't reveal to the Commander for obvious reasons.
After the little talk with Garm was completed, Shepard exited the Blood Pack's room and went through the other door. Upon entering the new area, Shepard saw the second barricade where two Vorcha stood on and fired at Archangel. One of the Vorcha was sent flying backwards a moment later with a mass accelerator round through his skull. The Commander stared at the corpse for a moment before stealthily moving around the second barricade. Beyond the barricade was a large community area where the former inhabitants would've likely spent most of their free time talking with the members of their community and just having a good time.
However, it was now transformed into a military zone with the last barricade located at the end of the community area. The freelancers could be seen firing at Archangel's base from the relative safety of their makeshift cover. Shepard saw a Batarian Blue Sun standing guard near a side door and guessed that behind it was where the Blue Suns leader was currently located. The Commander and company walked over to the Batarian, after a moment of negotiation, entered through the door, walked through a short hallway and went past another door into what was once a business office.
Standing at the end of the only table in the office was Tarak, a Batarian wearing standard Blue Suns armour, who was currently typing into a terminal while barking out orders or simply yelling at his subordinates surrounding him to do the tasks he's assigned them. There were a few non-Blue Suns in the room, although judging by their yellow suits and advanced Omni-tools, their engineers paid to help maintain the mercenaries equipment and armours. The Drones marked them as secondary targets to be eliminated after they were done with the main threats.
"I don't want excuses!" Tarak roared at his frightened assistants as he frantically typed into the terminal. "Tell Cathka to get that gunship working, or he'll be next over that bridge!" An assistant nodded as he activated his Omni-tool to contact Cathka. "And somebody get me those damn blueprints. Now!" Tarak shouted at the assembled mercenaries as Shepard and her team walked closer to the leader of Omega's Blue Suns.
Tarak noticed their presence a few seconds later and wasn't pleased to see the galactic heroine. "Get this freelancer out of here!" He ordered, and Shepard knew that she needed to calm Tarak down; otherwise, any info he might have would be lost and given the situation, a loss of information could be the difference between life and death.
Shepard raised her hands in a calming gesture. "I just have a few questions about the operation." The Drones growled at Tarak while raising their weapons in a threatening manner. Yet, by the frustrated glare, the Batarian was sending them, he was intimidated nor willing to deal with the Commander and her companions.
"Jentha! Get this scum out of my face!" Tarak roared in frustration to his second in command, and Zaeed took that as the signal to interfere before his old acquaintance got himself killed by the increasingly pissed off Drones, who seemed a moment away from blasting everything inside the office into small bloody pieces.
"Tarak," Zaeed yelled at the Batarian, causing the room to go quiet as he moved to the front of the group and directly into the Batarian's field of view. "What's eating your ass?" The other Blue Suns appeared shocked to see Zaeed, and even Tarak stopped his frantic typing to stare at his old acquaintance.
"Zaeed?" Tarak asked, seemingly unable to believe that the man standing before him was actually Zaeed Massani.
"You know this asshole, Zaeed?" Shepard questioned her newest crew member as his file never contained information that hinted that Zaeed was ever involved with the Blue Suns in the past nor that he knew such a high ranking officer of the organisation.
"We worked together once," Zaeed grunted in acknowledgement. Zaeed's tone warned Shepard that he didn't want to talk about his past with Tarak, and judging by the frown on the Batarian's face, he wasn't up to reminiscing about the past either.
Tarak huffed after a moment of unpleasant silence. "Since when do you work for so little?" He questioned his old friend as he wanted to change the subject to something else, and fortunately for Tarak, Zaeed was more than willing to play along with his attempt to switch topics.
"Since when are you a goddamn madman?" Zaeed sneered back as this entire operation and Tarak's current behaviour all pointed to the insanity that Zaeed had never seen from the Batarian. Tarak cringed at the question while his eyes darted in random directions for something that wasn't there. Shining within those black orbs was a madness that demanded that its target be destroyed at any cost. Zaeed knew that look all too well; after all, he sees it every time he gazes into a mirror and dreams of his enemy whenever he goes to sleep.
"It's Archangel. This guy's gonna kill me! Almost did already." Tarak's tone was a mixture of scared and paranoid; the other Blue Suns and engineers gazed at their leader with fear as they've had to deal with the man's paranoia for the past couple of weeks now and knew that trying to calm their boss down now might lead to a shot through the head.
"That bad, huh?" Zaeed wondered how Archangel terrified Tarak to the point where he'd willingly team up with the other merc groups and if he could get the Vigilante to teach him that method since Zaeed love to use it on that dirty rat once he's finally caught up to him.
"Worse," Tarak admitted as he got back to working on the terminal. "Look, Zaeed. I gotta deal with this shit." The Omega Blue Suns leader gaze shifted towards a human woman dressed in Blue Suns armour. "Jentha, talk to these guys. Answer whatever questions they have." He turned back to Zaeed, and a smile graced his lips. "Good to see you. And who knows, maybe you'll solve my problems for me." That was probably the nice thing Tarak has ever say to anyone, and Zaeed knew the guy for years before the betrayal.
"Anything's possible." That was all Zaeed had to say on the matter since either way, Tarak's problems would end by the time this mission was over. Jentha gestured for the Normandy team to follow her outside the office. They followed her out without complaint as they didn't want to bother Tarak any longer, especially when he was so on edge about Archangel and the upcoming assault on the Vigilante's base.
Once everyone was outside, Jentha turned to address Shepard. "Good thing you know him." She pointed a finger at Zaeed. "Tarak hates having to hire freelancers; he doesn't trust anyone outside the Blue Suns." Zaeed snorted since he knew that Tarak really trusted anyone and that he'd rather die than put his faith in strangers. Jentha ignored the snort and politely asked the Commander what she'd like to know about the operation or the Blue Suns.
"What do the Blue Suns do on Omega?" Shepard already learned that the Eclipse kept the eezo flowing through the station and that the Blood Pack was the security force and muscle for hire now; she wanted to know the Blue Suns role in the station's hierarchy.
Jentha was quick to give an answer to that question. "We supply goods to a lot of the groups and factions here." Shepard frowned and asked for more specifics. "Weapons. Mechs. Machinery. You name it, we can get it." The Omega Blue Suns were the faction everyone went to for the latest weaponry and supplies. "We also broker deals between factions. You wouldn't know it by looking at him now, but Tarak can be quite a negotiator." Jentha glanced at the door to the office with a sad frown as she didn't like how Archangel turned her leader into the madman he was now.
"How did Archangel get the Blue Suns so mad at him?" The targeting of Tarak was admitted pretty bad. Yet that wouldn't justify joining forces with the other mercenary groups to the true leaders of the entire Blue Suns faction, who'd no doubt have Tarak's head on a spike if the reasons behind this alliance were satisfactory to their viewpoint.
Jentha snarled hatefully as the recalls what caused this whole mess. "He harasses and hounds us constantly." Shepard mentally rolled her eyes since, as a mercenary, Jentha should've expected that someone would eventually start causing trouble for the Blue Suns. "We worry that every job is a trap now: Does he know where this meeting is? Will this shipment suddenly disappear? How many men will we lose this time?" Jentha's tone sounded tired as she told them about the fear that Archangel put into them, and Shepard approved 100% of what the Vigilante had done. "Tarak's had enough. I don't blame him." Jentha relaxed on a nearby wall.
Shepard hummed at the information provided by Jentha. "What do you personally know about Archangel?" Getting the female Blue Suns point of view on the subject might help her get a better idea of who Archangel was as a person. Plus, the more time the Commander gets Jentha to waste talking to her, the less time she'll have to assist Tarak plan the death of Archangel.
"He's a Turian vigilante who thinks killing mercs is a fun way to pass the time." Yeah, now, that's a great pass time Shepard should know she partakes in the activity every chance she gets. "Other than that, he's a mystery." Jentha scowled in barely hidden disdain. "He shows up, usually at the worst possible time, and screws with our work. He can't die soon enough if you ask me." The amount of Credits lost thanks to Archangel was so bad that Tarak had to cut some of their weapons budget, which was why they're only using one gunship instead of a fleet of them.
"Why do you hate him so much?" The amount of hate in Jentha's voice was far too much for this to be anything but personal, and the way her eyes would glance at the office door told the Baltic heroine that Tarak was involved with the reason why Jentha wanted to murder Archangel.
Jentha gently bit her lower lip. "He went after Tarak at his home. Almost got him." She revealed to the Locust Queen. "Tarak's been on edge ever since, and he's making my life a living hell. Second-guesses every damn thing I do." Well, that was good news as a divided and paranoid Blue Suns would make this fight a lot easier. "Getting the other merc bands to help us shows just how desperate he is. They're as bad as Archangel." Worse really, as the Eclipse and Blood Pack won't hesitate to take advantage of Tarak's weakness after they've taken care of Archangel.
Shepard spent a few more minutes talking to Jentha about Archangel, the base and other merc bands on the station before deciding to leave in search for Cathka, who Jentha informed was on the other side of the last barricade working on fixing the damn gunship. The gunship wasn't hard to miss as it was sitting beside an abandoned house. Upon arriving at the gunship, Shepard asked the humans standing near it if any of them was Cathka; the middle human freelancer nodded negatively and pointed behind them where a Batarian was doing some repair work on the gunship.
"It's sergeant Cathka," Cathka told Shepard as she came over. She was followed dutifully by Savage and the rest of the assembled Drones, who stared at the gunship with expressions saying that they didn't know whether to steal it or just cause it to explode in a fiery and not to mention extraordinary manner. Cathka pressed a button on his helmet, causing the black visor to become transparent and allow the saviour of the Council to see all four of his black eyes.
"Ah, you must be the group Salkie mentioned." Cathka greeted the Normandy crew. "You're just in time." He scanned the group taking note of their weapons, armours and numbers; Cathka was pleased that Tarak sent people that actually appeared to know how to fight.
"Salkie?" Shepard, meanwhile, was confused. She wondered who this Salkie was and how much his family hated him to give the guy a name like Salkie.
"You met him when you were dropped off. He radioed to say you were coming." Sergeant Cathka explained that many were often confused as to who Salkie was as the guy rarely gave out his name to newcomers. "You kinda stand out from most other freelancers," Cathka stared at a Drone who flashed his fangs at the Blue Sun. "Anyway, the infiltration team is about to give us the signal. Archangel won't know what hit him." Cathka was smug as he walked to a nearby terminal and put out the cigarette he'd been smoking. "Got any questions? This may be your last chance." He warned Shepard while scanning the terminal.
Shepard glanced at the gunship. "Are you going to give us cover with the gunship?" The thing was going to be a problem when the time came to escape from the mercenaries, yet for the moment, but could prove to be beneficial to get over the bridge without receiving a few new holes in the head via sniper rounds.
Cathka snorted in amusement. "Ha. Tarak is the only one who flies her." Honestly, Tarak loved the damn gunship like a newbie merc loves an Asari stripper. "Besides, she's not quite ready. That bastard Archangel gave her a beating last time she was out there." Cathka grimaced as he remembered the look of absolute rage on Tarak's face when he came back with the damaged gunship after the first failed attempt to end Archangel. "A few more tweaks; she'll be as good as new." He reassured Shepard as he didn't want her nor the others to get worried about the state of the gunship.
"Are you a mechanic?" Savage suddenly spoke up, causing Cathka to gaze nervously at the Drone since the massive fangs and tall form was rather intimidating for anyone who saw a Locust Drone for the first time. "If so, why are you coordinating the attack and fixing the gunship?" It was strange to Savage as mechanics shouldn't have a say in the tactical planning on an assault on an enemy base, especially not when said base belonged to a dangerous foe like Archangel.
"I'm in the infiltration group," Cathka explains while getting a new cigarette. "Our team coordinates with the gunship." He gestures towards the gunship. "I'm staying back to organise the freelancers and make sure the gunship's ready to go if we need her." Which would be soon if the others in the infiltration team did their job right and sent the signal.
Savage gazed between the gunship and Cathka with a calculating look in his eyes. The Drone understood that the gunship wouldn't be fully ready for the battle if something unfortunate happened to sergeant Cathka. Savage singled two of his brethren to move subtly behind the Batarian and to wait for either his or the Queen's command to end the Batarian's life. Ravage and Wave, two Drones that preferred to wield assault rifles as their primary choice of long-ranged weaponry, sneakily moved around the group whilst Shepard kept Cathka talking and distracted.
"So our plan is to jump the wall and head for Archangel's building?" That was suicide for the freelancers as their kinetic barriers nor the amour they're equipped with would last long against the type of firepower that Archangel was using to keep everyone away from his base.
Cathka didn't seem to care nor deny how suicide the plan was for the hired help. "And try not to get killed too fast." He added with an amused yet serious tone. "You're only a distraction as long as you're alive." Cathka exhaled smoke. "You don't have to make it all the way across." Hell, at this point, Cathka would settle for a freelancer making it halfway across the damn bridge. "Just keep Archangel watching that bridge. The infiltration team will do the rest." It sounded simple, yet with how damn smart Archangel was acting, it would take a lot of bodies to prevent him from noticing the infiltration team.
"How will the infiltration team get to Archangel?" Shepard needed to know how the infiltration team would try hitting Archangel, and once she had that knowledge, Shepard would start ruining everything that Tarak and the other merc leaders had planned for the assault.
"They've got two options." Cathka began unaware that he was telling an enemy everything about the infiltration team and their plans. "They trap him in close quarters and finish the bastard off face-to-face." Cathka was honestly sceptical about that option working and much preferred the second one. "If that doesn't work, they have explosives. They'll just need time to set up." The explosives option was the one he'd suggested to Tarak, yet his leader wanted Archangel's corpse, which meant that exploding the base was the last resort.
Shepard waved away some of the smoke Cathka was exhaling. "Are you leading the assault?" Cathka was in the infiltration team, so it'd make sense for him to be leading the assault on Archangel's base.
"Ha! Tarak doesn't pay me enough to fight." The Drones sneered at Cathka as they saw such behaviour as cowardly and unfitting for a warrior. "I just plan the attack and fix the damn gunship." Cathka wanted to say more yet paused when the terminal changed to its communication function, and the voice of the infiltration team leader echoed from the computer giving the signal for the ask to start. Cathka immediately went into action ordering the freelancers to rush out and start firing at Archangel. As for Shepard, she stared icily at Cathka as he typed something into the terminal.
"Archangel's got quite the surprise waiting for him, huh," Cathka said to Shepard while pressing another button on his helmet, causing it to return to its complete black form. The freelancers had all left now, leaving only Shepard, the Cerberus operatives, Zaeed and the heavily armed Locust Drones.
"Yeah, shame you'll never know how this ends," Shepard told Cathka before nodding to Ravage and Wave, who stepped out of the darkness, proceeding to disarm the Batarian of his weaponry and hurriedly snapped his neck before he could even so much as protest. The former sergeant's corpse hit the ground with little fanfare as the two Drones that dispatched him bowed to their Queen. Shepard nodded in appreciation of their actions, and without so much as glancing back at the dead sergeant, the galactic heroine raced towards the last barricade.
The Drones and Normandy crew followed the Commander over the barricade where she saw Archangel dodge a rocket fired by a freelancer then proceeded to snipe the bastard that just tried to murder him. Savage and his brethren gazed bloodthirstily at the freelancers as they unknowingly left their flanks exposed to their weaponry. The first to fire upon the freelancers was Ravage, who made sure to aim for points of the body that ensure his enemies would die slowly and painfully. The rest didn't try picking their targets and just fired at anything that wasn't an ally or Archangel.
"For the Horde!"
Savage roared as they charged at the freelancers who'd shit themselves at the sight of an army of Locust Drones racing towards them with murder shining within their eyes. Shepard was leading the charge, scoring headshots with her sniper rifle. Freelancers tried to hit her yet were met each time with a wall of Drone muscle and kinetic barriers. Miranda and Jacob were helping as they used their Biotics to confuse and displace the freelancers from their positions. Zaeed got close and personal with his enemies, firing a shotgun in one hand whilst stabbing everything else with a knife in the other hand.
The freelancers fought back yet were overwhelmed by the superior skill and numbers of the Normandy. the Drones were relentless as they carved a bloody path to their target. Some of the freelancers were smart enough to ignore the battle and instead race for the base on the other side of the bridge. However, that wasn't going to save them as Shepard was going to blast her way through the freelancers and get to Archangel before the infiltration team got to him.
It was time to save Archangel.