A/N: Sorry for the cliff hanger, but I couldn't resist! This one is not too bad, I hope. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 7: Devastation
After their encounter with the creatures, Aria, Liara and the Eclipse team sought shelter in one of the many warehouses in the district. However, they did not see that Cerberus had started surrounding the front entrance until it was too late. When they were able to look around and assess their situation, they were horrified to find corpses of various races piled in a heap and rotting and Cerberus blocking their escape. The stench from the bodies was almost unbearable. It looked like the victims had been rounded up, bound with collars and then shot from above. The absence of any human corpses was most notable.
"I'm not getting stuck in here," Aria barked at the group. "We are going to take on those Cerberus bastards and anything else that comes at us!"
"Do you think it is wise to engage them? Shepard and the others will be here momentarily," Liara attempted to point out, while trying desperately not to gag.
"She can catch up. I'm not waiting in here any longer than necessary. Besides, look at them out there, half of them are preoccupied and the rest we can take." Aria's biotics were still flaring from their recent encounter with the creatures and Liara could tell that she eagerly wanted to engage Cerberus too.
Liara was still a bit shaken from Shepard forcing her into the elevator, Aria's overly aggressive instincts and the horror of the scene they had stumbled into. Why did you push me away, she thought.
The comm channel activated, it was Shepard "Liara, we made it to the warehouses… do you know which one you are in?"
"The one surrounded by Cerberus," Aria shot back.
Aria looked around the building and saw a possible exit. There was a small door on the far side of the room they were in and it looked like it led outside. She pointed to the door and the group made their way to the exit.
Aria and Liara scanned the potential exit; there were only a few Cerberus troops. Aria nodded to the group and they moved on them quickly. Liara started the attack with a singularity and Aria followed up with perfectly placed shockwaves. Rhetia and her remaining forces finished with a few warp fields for good measure. When they were done, the troops had been partially incinerated or blown apart. Aria looked satisfied with their work.
The group slipped out and headed away from the warehouse.
Shepard was on the comm again, "We are in position, stay put." None of them answered, as another of the creatures was moving in on them. While the group trained their own weapons and biotics on the advancing creature, weapons fire was heard in the background.
"Liara, get out of…" Shepard sounded desperate over the comm.
The explosion was deafening and they could feel the warmth from the blast as it took down the warehouse that had been across from them. The creature did not stop for the explosion though. Instead, it easily pulled apart an unsuspecting Eclipse merc that had stopped to look at the explosion.
Liara reacted quickly to the beast and placed a stasis bubble around it. Out of the corner for her eye, Liara saw Rhetia's biotics flare as she sent a warp field to ignite the stasis bubble. Aria was quick with her own biotics and the creature collapsed, its skin was partially melted from the attack and black blood was pooling under it.
"I cannot get Shepard on the comm," Liara said with concern in her voice.
"She's fine… do you hear the gunfire back there? That 's your girlfriend and her team finishing off those Cerberus bastards," Aria said emphatically.
The group was down to five now, Aria, Liara, Rhetia and two Eclipse mercs.
"Come on, we need to get out of this district. We can take that tunnel to the residential section and see about getting access to a computer," Aria instructed while pointing towards a large staircase that seemed to curve around and stopped at a dark entrance way. "Maybe we can even get some information out of the residents. I bet they have had it with Cerberus and all those damn creatures lurking around." Aria continued, "They will probably be eager to help us out."
"What about Shepard?" Liara pressed. She didn't want Aria to see just how concerned she was for her lover.
"Do you see those bodies behind us? All she needs to do is follow the carnage," Aria said with a smile. They cautiously headed for the tunnel.
Shepard felt sick-to-her stomach and panic washed over her. She wanted to jump down from the roof and into the smoldering warehouse. Her mind was racing, No! Not Liara… no… need to get to her…
She looked down and saw movement, there were more Cerberus troops and they were looking directly at her. On pure instinct and adrenaline, Shepard took aim. Time seemed to slow down and she fired. The first shot hit the trooper in his temple with such force that it looked like his brain exploded. She was quick to focus on the next target and fired. She continued the ritual until she had to reload. All around her, her team followed suit. She did not think, just mechanically aimed and fired until there was nothing left to hit.
Must get to her… She climbed down the ladder and ran as fast as she could to the remains of the warehouse. She quickly finished off any troops that crossed her path with her assault rifle or her biotics. When she reached the warehouse, the flames were so hot that she could barely approach it. She could see that explosives had successfully brought the whole complex in on itself and that there would be nothing left. Not Liara!
When Garrus and Tali approached and tried to comfort her, she shoved them both away. Why did I push her in the elevator? Why…
"Shepard, we have to move. Cerberus is going to send more troops here. There is nothing we can do," Garrus said, trying to get Shepard to focus on their current predicament.
"Commander, the comms are down," Tali said urgently.
"I know that Tali," Shepard snapped back.
"No Commander, all the comms are down. They went down at the same time as the blast. Are you sure that they were in that warehouse?" Tali asked trying to offer her friend some hope.
"We should check the other warehouse, the one that Cerberus was shooting up," James offered.
Shepard was running in the direction of the warehouse before she even realized she was moving, "Move it people," she called and did not look back to make sure the group was following her.
Considering what they had run into recently, Aria and the rest were surprised by the complete lack of resistance. They did not encounter any troops, creatures or residents of the district. There was plenty of debris scattered around though, as if people had hastily left the area and in great numbers.
The team reached the Sheala district of Omega, another slum composed of apartments, makeshift stores and various seedy establishments. It had been home to mostly batarians, turians and humans, but it currently looked deserted. They continued through, looking for something or someone that could tell them what was going on.
Someone spoke from the shadows, "Is that Aria T'Loak?"
"Shh… they'll find us. That can't be Aria, she left us here to rot," came another voice.
"No, look… it's her," said the first voice.
"I did not leave anyone to rot… now show yourselves," Aria commanded. Two batarians stepped out and stood before Aria, both looked young and frightened. "What happened here," she continued, but with a softer tone to her voice.
"Cerberus came… all the humans were taken to transports and left Omega," the batarians were obviously traumatized by what they had seen and seemed hesitant, but continued. "The rest of us were rounded up… they put some kind of collar on everyone and started injecting them with something. It made them change and turn into monsters…"
"What," Liara gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "They intentionally indoctrinated people?"
"Once they had the collars on, they would do whatever Cerberus wanted," the other batarian spoke. "All but the vorcha… they shredded their collars when they turned and went crazy. They ripped the Cerberus troops to pieces, along with anything else."
"Well, now we know what those things are and why it has been so quiet," Rhetia said. "What is our plan?"
Aria addressed the batarians, "Are there more of you?"
"Yes, we have been hiding out in the store over there… there are about 30 of us all together… Cerberus hasn't been back here since," the first batarian said.
"Take me there," Aria said.
The two batarians looked at each other and nodded. They started walking toward a rundown looking shop that also doubled as a restaurant & bar. When they stepped inside, it looked completely ransacked and abandoned. The first batarian whistled and slowly, a mish-mash of batarians and turians started appearing. "It's Aria," could be heard whispered throughout the crowd.
Aria stepped forward, looking exceptionally regal, "You're damn right it's Aria… I'm here to take back what's mine… nobody fucks with Aria or Omega!" She said with all the charisma and confidence that she was famous for and the crowd ate it up. "Do you have weapons?"
"We found a stash that belonged to Cerberus. There were all sorts of weapons in it and we helped ourselves in case they came back. No one is fitting me with one of those collars," a turian declared.
"Alright then, grab your weapons and follow us. We are heading for Gozu district and then Omega Control. I'll need all of you to fight with me… can I count on you?" Aria asked the crowd and she was met with a united cheer.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard coming toward them. The group drew their weapons and the asari all glowed with the flare of biotics. "On my mark," Aria said as the intruders entered their line of fire.
"Stop!" Liara screamed at the top of her voice, while racing to embrace the advancing human.
Shepard opened her arms to accept her lover into her embrace. "I am so sorry Liara… I saw the explosions… are you alright?" Shepard asked and pulled Liara closer to kiss her and check to make sure she wasn't hurt.
Liara held Shepard tightly and returned the affection. "I am okay… do not ever push me away again!"
"It was instinct… I thought I was protecting you. I'm sorry," Shepard whispered to Liara. "I won't do that again… I promise."
"This is very touching and I am enjoying the show, but we need to get out of here," Aria interrupted and approached the couple. "We know what Cerberus has been doing and we need to stop them… now!"
"Agreed, what's your plan?" Shepard said. "And what's Cerberus doing? That was quite a body count you all left behind."
"We needed to make sure that you could find us," Aria answered coolly. "They shipped out the human population and are rounding up everyone else, placing some kind of collar on them and then injecting them with something that mutates them into those creatures. It sounds like they are trying to control them once they mutate… the vorcha had other plans for them though."
"That's sick and twisted. I didn't think that the Illusive Man would be worse than the Reapers," Shepard said as she shook her head in disgust.
Tali chimed in, "If we can find a computer terminal, I can hack it and find out exactly what is going on."
One of the refugees approached them, "We've been trying to hack the terminals for the past few weeks, but nothing is working. Cerberus has managed to cut us off completely."
Aria spoke up, "Let's get moving then. Maybe some of my forces made it to the rendezvous point in Gozu district. There will be lots of computer access points there and Omega Clinic."
On the way to Gozu district, Liara filled in Shepard and her friends on the horrors that she had seen in the warehouse. It still made Liara feel sick when she thought of the callous way in which Cerberus was using the people of Omega. It also made her appreciate and respect Aria a bit more for standing up to them. The woman seemed so cocky and controlling, but it was obvious that she was deeper than her façade and bravado. Aria was Omega and what was done here was done to her.
"Why do you think they were executing them? Garrus asked. "It seems like a lot of trouble to go through, just to execute people."
Shepard was quick to respond, "Nothing Cerberus is doing makes any sense. Maybe they couldn't control them or maybe they were just testing their newest weapon? I can't even try to understand their motives. Whatever the reason, we need to stop them and find out what they plan to do after Omega."
The group came to a sudden halt. Explosions were going off in the direction of their destination, followed by screaming and weapons fire. Aria was ready and she charged ahead, knowing her team would follow.