Shepard was sitting in the conference room aboard the Normandy, it had been nearly two weeks since he was given the new Normandy and since the fleets had started to prepare and gather for the attack. With him was Joker, EDI, Liara and Price, they were discussing the final plan of attack on Omega now that most the forces had gathered.
"So to recap, the fleets will push through to Omega station past any defences that Cerberus and Aria may have waiting for us. The Normandy and other small ships will drop off strike teams onto Omega. You and the other teams will then proceed through the station to the Cerberus base and hopefully be able to obtain intel on how we can pass the Omega-4 relay." Price stated.
"Do we know where the base is located? It would take along time to search the whole of Omega." Shepard asked.
"I have learnt that the base is at the height of Omega station, buried in the core of the remaining half of the asteroid." Liara said while reading a data log.
Price nodded to her then said. "The Alliance fleet and a large part of the Citadel Defence fleet will be heading straight to Omega from here in the Sol system, several other fleets may be joining us there including the Turian fleet. I should also add that the Destiny Ascension will be present."
"Woah.. what?" Joker said surprised. "Dosn't this seem abit too much like... overkill?"
"Stray reports and transmissions we picked up from the First Fleet before they were destroyed, show that the entire fleet was unable to even scratch the surface of the Dark Energy Dreadnought. That ship has enough power to wipe out a system. No one wants to take any chances of letting it escape or survive."
EDI then spoke up. "Commander. We have a shuttle from the council docking in the shuttle bay. It's Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams."
"Thank you EDI." Shepard said smiling, he wasn't sure how he felt about having Ashley back with them after she had accepted the councils mission.
"Well I should take my leave." Price said. "Got a fleet to prepare, i'll be acting Fleet Admiral." Price saluted them and headed out of the room, he saluted Ashley as he passed her in the doorway.
Shepard watched her as she entered, she looked like she had a rough time recently. After everyone greeted her and exchanged pleasantries, she took a seat with them.
"So, looks like you picked up some new war wounds. How they happen?" Shepard asked.
She looked at him, then at everyone else in room. "I found Tali." She said, Joker sighed and there was a akward pause.
It was Shepard who broke the silence. "What happened?"
"I had tracked her down to Sanctuary on Horizon, after a fire fight with Cerberus troops there was a series of explosions that ripped apart the lap we were in. The explosions left me trapped under some wreckage. A Cerberus trooper was about to finish me of when Tali saved me. She tried to shift the wreckage but when she was unable to, she activated my distress beacon..." Silence followed her words. "I know, I was as shocked as you are."
The others looked at Liara. "Do you remember anything else?" She asked Ashley.
"Yes... she... a disk was playing on a view screen after, it showed the footage we saw on haestrom... and of her pregnancy... she broke down in tears after.. then she ran out saying she had to do something.." Ashleys tone had changed to one of sadness.
"Is that the disk you gave her Liara?" Shepard asked, Ashley looked at her confused.
"Yes." Liara noticed Ashleys looks at her and then added. "I had an encounter with her on Mars a few weeks back also. I used a mind-meld to remind her of who she was and then gave her that disk to look at." Ashley frowned but then nodded to say she understood.
"What does this all mean? And why would she go off alone instead of staying with Ashley or Liara?" Shepard asked, trying to hide his feelings on the matter.
To everyones surprise it was EDI who spoke. "From the reports and evidence gathered. I believe that recent events have broken the indoctrination and hold that The Illusive Man and Harbinger once had over Tali'Zorah."
"And yes she still returns to them?" Joker asked with contempt.
"I don't believe Tali'Zorah is doing it out of loyalty for them. More like she either dosn't feel she can return after whats happened or she feels the responsibility in ending the threat is down to her alone."
"Pffft... and so she should." Joker said, Shepard shot him a dark look.
"No Jeff. Tali'Zorah is our crewmate and most importantly she is our friend. She doesn't need to stand alone."
"What? How can you say that? After what she did!" Joker was stunned.
"You are referring to her shutting down my old platform. I have no desire for revenge or feel the need to hold a grudge. Everything she did and has done, was done by The Illusive Man and Harbingers hand, not hers. She stood by us all for years, side by side untill the very end in the fight against the Reapers. We know who she truly is better then anyone." EDI said.
"I was with you on this Joker, untill she saved me, untill I saw her reaction to the data disk on Horizon. That was our Tali, she saw what they did to her, and what they made her do... and it broke her heart." Ashley added. "Its partly why I'm here, I've just told the council where to stick their mission." She then smiled at Shepard who returned the gesture.
Liara was the next one to voice her view. "Joker, I saw into her mind, I felt everything she felt, and I felt the shock and horror when I showed her the truth. She truly didn't have a clue why or what she was doing. I also felt an intense feeling of guilt and remorse."
"I know... but..." Joker said looking down.
"But you are only human, and needed someone to blame." EDI gave him a smile. "But if you want to blame anyone, blame those that are responsible for her actions."
"I... your right..." He looked at Shepard. "I'm... I'm sorry Commander... I've been a dick..."
"Yeah you have.. and so have I." Shepard got up and walked over to Joker, then extended his hand. "You ready to take the fight to The Illusive Man and Harbinger?"
"Just they try and stop us." Joker replied and took Shepards hand and shook it.
. . . . .
Shepard and the rest of the team were in the cockpit, Joker was at the helm, with Liara and EDI in the co-pilot seats. The Normandy had taken point and was leading the fleets towards the mass relay.
"All ships report in." Came Price's voice over the intercom.
"This is the SSV Logan, Flagship of the Third Fleet reporting in, all ships accounted for." A female voice replied.
"This is the SSV Orizaba, Flagship of the Fifth Fleet reporting in, all ships accounted for." Another voice came, this time it was male.
"This is Commander Shepard reporting in with the SSV Normandy SR-3" Shepard replied over the comm when it was his turn to report in, then listened as the other fleets reported in with the Destiny Ascension being last.
"This is Matriarch Lidanya, commanding officer aboard the Destiny Ascension, the Citadel Defence fleet is standing by." Lidanya stated coldly.
"This is acting Fleet Admiral Price to all ships. Prepare to make the mass relay jump to Omega." Price voice came over the Normandys intercom.
"Ok Joker, lets do this." Shepard said to Joker.
"Aye aye Commander" He said with a smile and with that the Normandy let the fleets into the mass relay jump.
. . . . .
Tali was standing in a dark conference room with Operative, The Illusive Man and a holo of Aria T'Loak.
"We've sent a group of crusiers to reinforce your merc ships to help defend Omega." The Illusive Man and Harbinger said, their voices still entangled.
"Just a group? Reports say we got the whole goddamn Alliance Fleet and more on its way to Omega!" Aria shouted.
"And what excatly was you expecting Aria?"
"How about that that damn Dreadnought? Since thats why they will be attacking my station!"
"Hmmm, your right. We'll ready the Dreadnought and the rest of the fleet." They said with a lie. "Soon as we are ready we'll head on over, and hopefully catch them by surprise." They replied with a smile.
"Hmmm.. fine. But if you double cross me, you'll be back at the top of my shit list." Aria the ended the call and the holo of her vanished.
"Goodbye Aria, it was a pleasure doing business with you." They said to themselves, smirking. "Operative, we want you to head to the communication centre and monitor the situation at Omega from there."
"I dont trust her to remain loyal if things go bad for her." Operative said with a sneer.
"Neither do we. Which is why we want you to monitor it, make sure any data on the new IFF is wiped from their systems. Tali'Zorah, theres not much you can do for now. Head to your quarters and wait for instructions"
"Yes sir." She replied. They dismissed Tali with a nod and she left the room.
"What are we going to do with her?" Operative asked once Tali had left.
"We'll keep her on side, for now. Once the child is born, her use will be at a end, and you'll be free to put her down." A evil grin crept onto their face.
. . . . .
Tali rested on her bed nervously twiddling her fingers, she was very grateful to be alone. Ever since she had returned, she could barely stomach being around anyone, and it took all of her will to keep up the pretence. She had spent every waking moment since Horizon working on ways to take the Dreadnought and Cerberus down once and for all, she had gathered all the intel she could on her omni-tool. Luckily it hadn't been hard to obtain it, she still had top clearance, but most of this data was now useless since Harbinger and The Illusive Man had merged themselves with pure dark energy. "He... they.. now had direct control over the ship." She told herself.
Simple sabotage would not stop them now, even ending their lifes wouldn't stop the Dreadnought. The Dreadnoughts computers and VI would carry on acting on the orders and wishes they had set into it, and only The Illusive Man and Herbinger could change that. Still, that didn't stop Tali thinking about just turning around and killing them, the only thing that stopped her from doing just that was the fact she wanted to see the Dreadnought on the brink of destruction first.
There was a couple of ideas still open to her but they were very situational, then Tali decided, she would make those situations happen. She stood up and headed over to her terminal, using her high clearance and hackings skills, she began to gain access to Omega stations defences and the security. "Ha, I could do this with my eyes closed" She said smiling to herself, covering her tracks well as she went.
. . . . .
The Normandy jumped into the Omega system, and behind it came the rest of the fleets. They quickly arranged themselves into an attack formations as they headed towards Omega station and the fleet stationed there at max speed with the Normandy taking the lead.
The system was soon filled with flashes of reds and blues as the Alliance fleet engaged the Cerberus and merc fleets head on. Swarms of fighters from both sides joined the fight, engaging each other and swarming over the capital ships, looking for gaps in the defences of the dreadnoughts and carriers.
Even from afar the Normandy stood out in the battle, a fast moving fortress that lit up everything near it in flashes of blue and red, followed by explosions. The Normandy dodged blasts from mass cannons and thanix beams, it's mass amounts of GARDIANs were wiping out whole squads of fighters in seconds.
"Joker, lets show them our new teeth!" Shepard said, standing behind Joker at the helm.
The Normandy headed right for a Cerberus cruiser, the SR-3 easily out maneuvering its cannons and moved into range. The Thanix main gun deployed and fired a bright blue beam at the cruiser, ripping into the hull, as the Normandy proceeded to make a pass, their broadside cannons and turrets targetted the cruiser and finished the job.
"Oh man Commander! This thing is a powerhouse!" Joker shouted with enthusiasm, the Normandy along with the Fifth fleet had broken through Cerberus defence line and were pushing the opening and heading for Omega station.
"This is Fleet Admiral Price to the Assault teams. Begin your approach to Omega station" Price said.
"Hold on guys this is going to be a bumpy ride.." Joker said in a concerned tone. The stations defences targeted everything that came near it. Alliance fighters exploded around them and a frigate had to pull out after taking heavy damage.
"Shit, we're getting torn to shreads here!" A voice came over the comms of the Normandy. They were right. The Normandy and the other assault ships were barely half way to the station and already over half of them had been wiped out.
"I can see why no one has tried a frontal assault on the station before!" Shepard said. "Shit, we may have to pull back and try something else!"
"Shepard, I don't think the Normandy will be able to escape in time now. " EDI stated.
"What about the new stealth systems?" Shepard asked.
"Negative. With the amount of fire being directed in this area, lowering our shields will be suicide." EDI replied
"Shit.. ok let me think..."
"Err Commander?" Joker said.
"One second Joker I'm thinking."
"Commander! The guns! They stopped!" Joker said looking back out the window. Joker was right, the guns had suddenly fell silent.
"What the... Ok head for the station, double time!"
. . . . .
The Normandy and other assault ships had docked at Omega station without any further trouble. Shepard, Ashley and Liara headed into the station with Alliance forces without much resistance, the small groups of mercs that tried to make a stand were gunned down. The docks defences were unorganized, "Obviously they weren't expecting us to make it onto the station, guess it wasn't them that turned off the guns." Shepard said to his group.
"Ok this way" Liara said checking her omni-tool. Shepard and his team along with the Alliance troopers ascended the station. As they climbed higher the resistance got thicker, a combined force of Omegas three biggest players, the Blue Suns, the Blood Pack and the Eclipse tried to block their path. This reminded Shepard of when he last came here to recruit Garrus, who was at the time going by the name of Archangel. Back then it was just the four of them that fought their way through all three groups of mercs and survived. "Good times" Shepard thought to himself, and this time he had an army by his side.
It wasnt long before Asari commandos and gunships reinforced their advance, and just in time to counter the Eclipse's heavy mechs. The paths up started to splinter, forcing the Alliance to split up their forces into smaller groups to cover each path. Shepard led a small group up one path, the mercs forces were dissipating and being replaced by Cerberus troops.
"How much further Liara?" Shepard asked as he lent out with his assault rifle and took down two Cerberus troops.
"Not much further.. we need to find a lift. The climb gets abit.. steep from here." She replied as she throw a Cerberus troop off the path with her biotics.
They came to a small opening with a cargo lift at the end. "That should take us up directly into the Cerberus base." Liara said and with that, Shepards group tore into the Cerberus troops guarding the area, gunfire and biotics filled the small area as bodies dropped. By the time it stopped, only Shepards team was left standing and proceeded to head into the lift.
"Do you know how big their base is Liara?" Shepard asked as the lift headed up.
"I'd say were already are in their base and have been for the past hour, I never saw any boundaries in the intel. But this lift will head directly into the main hub." She replied.
The lift stopped suddenly and a voice came over the lifts comm. "Hello again Shepard, have you forgotten the only rule in Omega? Don't fuck with Aria. Now, you can just hang their for.." Aria stopped talking as the lift started to move again. "Who the fuck started that lift again?" The last comment wasn't directed at Shepard and his team but someone in the room with her.
"Get ready guys." Shepard said as he readied his weapon, they took cover either side of the lift doors. As the doors opened, gunfire filled area, Liara put up a barrier and gave everyone a chance to leave the lift and get behind the nearest bits of cover. Shepard saw Aria stood in the middle of the room with her guards aswell as Cerberus troops. Behind her was a large view screen with a familiar face on it, Operatives. Shepard ran out from cover and drew their fire while Ashley and Liara picked a few off. From his new cover point Shepard was able to pick of a fair amount of her guard with his rifle while Aria tried to throw biotics his way.
It wasn't long before her guard and Cerberus troops were out of the way, leaving just her standing alone. She walked with her barrier up near the consoles in the room.
"You think you can walk into MY station and take it from me?" Aria shouted as she threw down more biotics at them.
"Give it up Aria! You got the entire Alliance on your doorstep and boarding the station, you got no where to go." He shouted back from cover, looking round to take a shot at her barrier. He noticed that the view screen was glitching.
"Let them come! I'll take you all down!" She took cover behind one of the consoles as more shots came way. She didn't notice Operatives face fade from the view screen, nor did she notice Tali's appear in it's place. Shepard was watching, he wanted to shout something out but something told him to keep quiet. Tali was typing fast into her omni-tool, a loud buzzing sound filled the room. Aria looked around to see where it was coming from but realised too late that it was from the console she was hiding behind. It overloaded and exploded violently, Aria was thrown back, her barrier was down. She tried to stand to her feet and raised her gun.
"I am Omega!" She shouted as Shepard, Ashley and Liara gunned her down.
Shepard moved out from his cover slowly, his weapon still raised incase anyone was left and approached the view screen.
"Tali?" He asked, he gave her a small smile.
"Shepard... I... don't have long.. I'm blocking Operatives signal." She replied quietly.
"Where are you?"
"Behind the Omega-4 relay... aboard the Dreadnought.. I have a plan.. maybe.. to bring it down.. but..." She paused and looked at him, his eyes were so warm and full of love for her.
"How can we get to the Dreadnought?"
She looked down. "I Don't.. want you to come.. I need to do this... alone... its all my fault.."
"No Tali. It's not your fault and you are not doing anything alone! We'll be there... I'll be there... and I'll bring you home." He gave her a bigger warm smile.
"I.. Thank you... I... I'm sending you the new IFF frequency.. the fleets will be able pass safely with it.. I need to go.. before they catch on... Keelah se'lai..."