A/N: Thank you to everyone who is reading, following, or reviewing this story! Special thanks to Bebus for your suggestions, I think I incorporated some of them in this chapter. This is it! The next chapter will start the fight for Omega. I love all of your reviews and PMs, so please keep them coming! I hope you enjoy…
Chapter 5: Prelude to Omega
08:00 was still a few hours away, but Commander Shepard was up and again reviewing Intel on Omega. She was trying to decipher all the various maps that were on file about the station. It seemed like every time she looked at one, another showed conflicting details about the same district. Her overall impression was that Omega was a giant maze that started at the top of the station and then spiraled its way down to the depths of the mining complex. In fact, some areas of the station were only accessible via shuttle or from the outside and many of the lower levels had been damaged by asteroid collisions or just left to rot.
'Guess the condition of the station is a true reflection of its inhabitants,' Shepard thought.
Despite the criminal association, Shepard could see how Omega was often compared to the Citadel. Both were enormous space stations that were home to millions of inhabitants from all over the galaxy. The difference was that one was seen as the scourge of the galaxy while the other was held up as a pillar of enlightenment.
'They really aren't much different,' she thought. 'They're both dangerous and are run by self-serving leaders. The Citadel just comes off as more polished.'
Either way, Omega was going to be a challenge and she was hoping that between Aria, Garrus and the mercs, that they would be able to have an advantage over the current occupants.
'I can't believe that this whole operation is dependent on Aria T'Loak and the various merc groups working together,' Shepard thought. 'I hope that Aria really does know all the ins-and-outs of Omega or this could be a short mission.'
Shepard rubbed her eyes and looked over at the sleeping form of Liara. 'How did I manage to get so lucky?'
Liara looked peaceful and content snuggled in Shepard's bed, a contrast to the same person that had been sobbing and helpless only a few days ago. It deeply hurt Shepard to think of Thessia, her failure to obtain the Prothean information and how the loss of the planet was affecting Liara. Her own feelings of guilt made her want to engage Cerberus that much more. Without thinking, Shepard reached out to brush Liara's cheek. She loved the way her skin felt, the textures and the warmth.
Liara's eyes opened and when she saw Shepard, she smiled. "Is it time?"
"No. I didn't mean to wake you up. I just couldn't help myself."
"Good!" Liara immediately pulled Shepard towards her and drew her into a long and needy kiss. Shepard did not resist, they still had a few more hours after all.
Aria woke up after her first night on the Normandy. She looked over at the empty spot on her bed and couldn't help but to think of Tevos. She shook her head and looked over her accommodations. Her eyes caught sight of the two empty glasses on the table. Aria thought back to the previous evening and realized that she had actually enjoyed the chess match with Sam. Despite this, something was missing and Aria did not want to admit to herself what or who that something might represent.
"Damn it, I'm not supposed to miss her! She was supposed to be a distraction while I was stuck on the damned Citadel. How the hell did I get myself into this?"
Aria's gaze was drawn to the large observation window and to the view of the stars that were passing by. "At least Shepard gave me a decent room."
Aria had known the Councilor for years and they had developed an unspoken type of friendship between them. Aria had never paid much attention to how attractive Tevos was and it didn't hurt that she was in such a powerful position. A simple favor with C-Sec immigration, a relaxing dinner and then an invitation for drinks had turned into more than either of them expected.
"What am I thinking? The Pirate Queen and the Councilor, we sound like an opera!"
It didn't matter, the feelings were still there and they didn't seem to be going anywhere.
Today they would begin preparations for the retaking of Omega and she wanted to focus on that and not the longing she felt for Tevos. It had been far too long since she had been on Omega and she was not sure what she would find. She threw on her clothes and quickly decided to head to the conference room by way of the mess hall.
Samantha, Liara and Ashley were all in the mess hall picking over assorted options for breakfast. Liara was getting breakfast for herself and Shepard and was separated from the other two women, but listening to their conversation.
"I can't believe that you spent the evening with Aria T'Loak and expect me to believe that all you two did was play chess together?" Ashley said to a rather embarrassed Comm Specialist. "She must've really shown you some interesting moves!"
Sam was completely flushed as Ashley continued with her teasing.
"Please stop it. We actually had a nice time and she is really very good. Aria has been my most challenging opponent since I left Earth," Sam said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, I bet she gave you a challenge," Ashley said without relenting for a minute.
"More of a challenge than you would, Lt. Commander Williams," Aria said in a playful tone, as she walked up to Sam and interlocked Sam's arm with hers.
"Good morning," Aria said nonchalantly and looked over to see Ashley's reaction. "Are you feeling alright Lt. Commander? You are looking a bit pale." Aria turned to address Samantha, "Where can I get something to eat anyway?"
Sam took full advantage of the change in subject and walked over arm-in-arm with Aria to a small kitchen that had fresh fruit and different types of grains laid out, it was also where Liara was standing. "Help yourself to any of these. Liara seems to favor the yogurt and berries and there is juice or coffee."
"Liara, ha… she does have exotic tastes," Aria continued in her playful manner. "Thank you, Sam," Aria replied as she looked over the choices and then up at Liara.
Like Liara, Aria decided to stick with yogurt and berries, since they at least looked relatively fresh. She also grabbed a glass of orange juice before letting Sam's arm go.
"Hello," Liara said, aiming the greeting at Aria. "I wanted to speak with you… if you do not mind."
"Of course, should we go to your office?" Aria asked a bit mischievously.
"No, I was thinking about something you said yesterday. You seem to be under the impression that I am the Shadow Broker. Why?" Liara asked as genuinely as she could.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't find out," Aria almost laughed. "Come now, I have agents all over too and your transition to the position was not, shall we say, without incident. Plus I have 'inside' sources."
"Councilor Tevos," Liara offered.
"Well, that is one of them. Don't worry, I think you make a much more interesting ally," Aria said. "We should be on our way and I bet that Shepard is hungry or are you eating two breakfasts?"
Liara shot her glare, followed by a smile and then they headed off to the elevator that would take them to the conference room.
Ashley shrugged her shoulders and then followed the pair to the elevator too.
Sam was left alone, not sure of how the interaction would leave her reputation. She smiled to herself and decided that it didn't really matter. Friendship with the notorious Aria T'Loak might end up being interesting after all.
Commander Shepard was hunched over the table in the conference room looking at schematics with Garrus when the trio entered. EDI, Tali and James had already arrived and were also pouring over Intel.
"I think we could dock a shuttle here and work our way up to the main area of Omega," Garrus said, pointing at one of the access points in the lower levels.
Shepard looked over at Aria and made room for her to see what they were discussing.
"That might work… or you might want to use the docking platform over here," Aria said and pointed to what looked like the remnants of a mining station. Everyone in the room looked over to see where Aria was indicating.
Now that Aria had an audience, she continued. "This has not been used since I've been on Omega. It sustained severe damage prior to the addition of the mass effect field, when an asteroid hit the station. The docking area is still somewhat intact and there are tunnels that lead to the heart of Omega. We should be able to get in undetected and shouldn't run into much opposition, well at least not immediately."
EDI then added, "I understand that there are still shuttles going to and from Omega, mostly smugglers and mercs. Cerberus has not stopped all traffic, only limited it to noncritical areas. I think we will be able to take advantage of this."
"Cerberus will not see us coming," Aria said enthusiastically.
The group all exchanged looks, but the consensus was that the plan sounded as solid as they could make it. Shepard also knew that Aria had been quietly sending forces to Omega since she had arrived on the Citadel with the hope of establishing a stronghold. Apparently Aria had been very serious about getting control of Omega back from Cerberus.
Suddenly, Joker's voice came over the comm, "Commander, there is an incoming message for Aria, it's from Eclipse. Should I patch it through?"
"Patch it though, Joker," Shepard replied.
"Greetings, this is Rhetia A'Tia of Eclipse. We are in place and have our forces ready to assist in the efforts against Cerberus. Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse troops have infiltrated Omega and will be available at the rendezvous point. I also have a squadron of ships standing by ready to assist the Normandy with the Omega-4 Relay. Is everything still set for the attack to commence?"
All eyes looked to Aria. She was wearing a wide grin on her lips and her eyes looked like they could melt a krogan. Commander Shepard nodded and Aria spoke, "Thank you, Rhetia, we will be in position as planned. Normandy will signal you when they are ready and we will meet up with your teams on Omega."
"Excellent, we will be standing by. A'Tia out."
It was Commander Shepard's turn to address the group. "Once we infiltrate Omega, we will likely break up into teams. I'll make that decision once we see how much resistance we meet." The group nodded in unison.
Shepard continued, "The ultimate goal is to quickly overpower Cerberus and regain control of the station, but we also need to be looking for anything that appears to be Reaper tech. The Illusive Man has put a lot of resources into securing Omega and I think that they found something at the Collector base and have moved it to Omega. If we can't secure it, then we need to make sure it's destroyed. Are there any questions?"
"Any idea on what Cerberus found?" Garrus asked.
Shepard shook her head, "No idea, but after learning about the Adjutants, it could be anything. We will really need to be on our toes. Cerberus is not going to go quietly and I want to take them by surprise for a change. All right everyone, we should be at Omega in a few hours, make sure you are all prepared," she said authoritatively.
Shepard directed her gaze to Ashley, "Ash, I want you to take command of the Normandy for this mission. I would feel much better with you, EDI and Joker leading the charge on the Omega-4 Relay."
"Aye- aye, Commander," Ashley enthusiastically replied.
"Dismissed," Shepard said. Everyone started filing out to go make preparations. Aria and Liara stayed in the conference room with Shepard.
Shepard looked over at Liara, "Liara, I need to know if you have anything else on Omega? Have any of your agents reported anything abnormal or that might shed some light on what Cerberus is up to?"
"I think you already know that Cerberus is evacuating the human population to a place called Sanctuary. It does not appear that any other species are having the same treatment. Not much has been heard from the majority of the population of Omega, but Cerberus is tightly controlling all communications. My agents have not been able to report much," Liara replied.
"Thank you, Liara. Well I guess I should report to Admiral Hackett and the Council. You both better go get ready," Shepard said as she started walking towards the door.
Before Shepard could reach the door though, Aria spoke up, "Shepard, would you mind if I spoke to the Council too? Specialist Traynor indicated that the Normandy has a quantum entanglement communications room…"
"I'm sure that Tevos would like to hear from you Aria. I will let you know when I am done with Hackett. You can save me a call and update the council for me," Shepard said supportively. "Wait in here, it shouldn't be too long."
"Why would you think that I want to talk to Councilor Tevos?" Aria asked as innocently as possible.
Shepard almost laughed. "You do know that I'm sleeping with the Shadow Broker?"
"Yeah right, of course Liara knows about Tevos. Well I guess I should thank you," Aria said as Shepard headed off to the comm room, still looking amused.
Aria paced back-and-forth in the conference room. The realization that Tevos had become more than just stress relief was still bothering her. She wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say to Tevos, but she knew that she wanted to talk to her before landing on Omega. Aria needed some kind of closure before she faced Cerberus and she was going to make sure that she got it.
Shepard finished her report to Admiral Hackett and then signaled for Aria to join her in the comm room.
"I will give you some privacy, Aria. Just don't forget to update the Councilor on the mission too," Shepard said as she left the room.
Aria stared at the display panel, holding her hand just over the button that would signal the call to Councilor Tevos. She exhaled and then made the call. Tevos appeared on the screen, looking every bit the diplomat. "Greetings Aria, I trust your mission is going well."
'She is going to make this hard,' Aria thought. "We are making our final preparations to land on Omega and then the fun will begin."
The Councilor smiled slightly, "You have an interesting idea of what fun is, you know?"
"I found you fun, Thea," Aria said and returned the smile.
Thea seemed to drop her guard a bit. "It has been quite boring since you left the Citadel," Tevos paused and looked down.
She continued, "I am finding it hard to sleep fully. Aria, please be careful. I know you are dangerous and powerful, but Cerberus is evil. They are not going to want to give up their resources and they will know that you want to strike back at them. Try not to lose control and trust Shepard."
"I miss you too, Thea," Aria said with more emotion than she wanted to show. "But thanks for caring."
Aria's normal bravado came back and she confidently said, "Mark my words, I will take back Omega and kick Cerberus back through the Omega-4 Relay!" She was hoping to convince Thea and knew that she meant every word that she had said.
Tevos looked directly at Aria, her face betrayed her emotions. "I hope you are right, I have had to grieve for too many already."
"We are almost at Omega. Don't worry, Thea… you aren't getting rid of me that easily. I will contact you once I have my home back. Our next date will be on Omega," Aria said and flashed a cocky smile.
"I will hold you to that date Aria," Thea said. "Good luck."
With that, Tevos ended the call and Aria left to make ready for the invasion.