The door slid open revealing a hangar devoid of life. The thugs were gone, Jeet was gone, Lyra was gone. Aran lead me out cautiously, scanning every crevice of the room. He carefully proceeded into the main body of the hangar. It was empty. Aran turned back to me and lowered his gun. He looked around in annoyed despair and said, under his breath, "damn it". I apprehensively approached him, he seemed calmer now. As I drew nearer, i noticed something flashing on the underside of the ship. Shit.

"Aran!" I screamed. "Get-"

I was assaulted by a blining flash of light followed by darkness.

I awoke to a deafening ringing in my ears. I could not yet see but could at least feel a crippling pain in my side. I reached down to test it with my fingers. At the touch, it stinged and ached, causing me to wince. It felt slightly wet, but more viscous than water. My vision began to return, and the world fell into place around me. The hangar was in ruins, the ship was destroyed and nearly all the crates were ablaze. My eyes began to regain focus now, and my hearing began to respond to muffled voices. I looked to find the voices and saw five figures at the other side of the hangar. The flames made it hard to see but I could definitely make out the head prongs of a salarian. Jeet.

The thugs were lined up behind Jeet, rifles in hand. I could see Jeet looking down, with his hands behind his back. I arched up, through the pain, to get a better look. There was a man, weakly clutching at Jeet's legs. Aran. I tried to hoist myself up, but fell back down immediately. I looked on at the group, bearing down on my brother; my blood. I tried to crawl but only made it an insignificant distance. Jeet turned his back on my brother and walked behind his thugs. My vision was blurred, and blood was beginning to soak my chest. The thugs stepped forward, Aran stayed writhing on the floor. There was a collection of lights and a low rumble. Aran ceased his struggle.

I let out a stifled gasp. Despair ran deep through my body as I looked on at my brother's murder. The grief began to distort my senses. My vision faded, and everything was black again.

I awoke to a searing pain in my side. My eyes slowly opened to find my world revolving. A boot turned me onto my back. A thug bore down on me, with a dark grin on his face. He stepped back from where I lay and Jeet approached by my shoulders. He knelt down, looking into my face. I struggled to focus on him. I was badly injured, I could feel it now. The life was dripping from me.

"You fucked up, kid", Jeet said, plainly. His massive eyes studied my face as he paused.

"You should have stayed on Earth, it's dangerous for kids to play out here".

"Fuck...y-you", I retorted, spluttering softly.

"Charming", Jeet said, with a slight chuckle.

"Your fuckhead brother is dead, and your girlfriend is getting shipped back to Omega with a goodwill note from yours truly".

I felt such vitriol for his words but lacked the means to express it. I could only lie back and listen to him talk before I'm killed. I did not fear death anymore, everything I had, everything I could have had, was gone. Earth. Aran. Lyra. All dust on the wind, and I had accepted it; and accepted that I would soon join them. Jeet turned my chin towards his face.

"There's only one rule on Omega, kid", he stated. "You know what it is?"

I stared blankly into his face, not giving him any satisfaction. He leaned in closer, grabbing my collar.

"Don't fuck with Aria", he quoted, with a hint of menacing pride. he dropped me onto my back again and stood up. He walked from my field of view, followed by more footsteps towards me. This was it. I closed my eyes, waiting for release.

The footsteps stopped. I could heard their rifles click and prime. I took in a deep breath. The darkness did not come. Instead came a loud crash, interjected with visceral splatters and thumps. I turned my head and opened my eyes to see two of the thugs, against the wall at the end of a trail of blood that trickled down form a large, dispersed blob. Jeet and three others were toppled around each other, clumsily scrambling to regain their feet. I turned my head to my other side to find a pair of legs, naked. I followed them to find an uncomfortable sight. It was Lyra's naked body, marred with scratches and bruises. Her chest rose and fell very fast, her hands clenched into fists, flickering with dark blue light. Her face looked beaten, but angrier than I had ever seen it.

She stepped over my body and walked determinely towards the scrabbling pile of flesh. As one of the thugs regained his feet, he charged at Lyra. With an almighty grunt, Lyra ripped him from where he stood and hurled him into a nearby column. The crack was deafening. He fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. Two of the other thugs gained their feet, and stampeded towards the exposed woman. As they charged, Jeet climbed to his feet and scurried to the cargo door of the hangar. I tried to pull myself up, but all my strength was sapped. Lyra noticed him run too, but was forced to deal with the immediate threat. Her naked form pulsated with a huge blast of blue light, lifting her from her feet. The shockwave powered into the two helpless men, firing them back to the wall. Their heads smashed into the wall, leaving a small spray of blood. They twitched erratically before ceasing all movement.

The cargo door slammed shut. Lyra sprinted over, getting ready for another biotic assault. She fired a stream of blue energy iinto the heavy metal door, but it stayed where it was. She tried again, and again. She ran closer and fired another attack, screaming as she went. It was futile. Jeet was gone. She fell to her knees, and punched the floor in blind frustration. My eyes closed once again, unable to keep them open anymore. Lyra's screams of despair became ever distant. My head was swimming.

I was drowning.