Chapter 20

[POV: Liara]

I stood there, waiting. I had to stop myself from fidgeting while I did, I couldn't show weakness here, not on Omega. This wasn't a kind place, and unlike other worlds it didn't pretend to hide its ugliness. While the honesty was at least refreshing, I had seen more than enough ugliness for a lifetime. Yet I was here anyway because I had to be. Those monsters had taken Shepard here, and after all she'd done she deserved better then to be sold off to the highest bidder.

She deserved better, but I seemed to be the only one to think so. I'd encountered obstacle after obstacle, delay after delay, but finally, finally I was close. I was so close, yet still I couldn't get to her. I knew she was on Omega, Cerberus had confirmed as much, but I didn't know where. They told me Aria would know, she had to know, because if not … if not, I …. no, she would know. I just needed to see her.

"Do we really have to wait here to see Aria?" I asked Feron.

"Yes, we do. Aria does not take well to disrespect, and she will already not like that you're here in the first place. Using your mother to see her will not grant you any favours."

"You told me to use her." I glared at him, but he dismissed it easily.

"I did," he nodded, "because that was the only way you would see her in the first place. Aria is the ruler here on Omega, but not because the residents particularly like her, its because no one can get rid of her. Aria is a Tyrant, and one that distastes doing her job. If I knew any of the other people who ran this place, I would see them instead, but I don't."

What do you mean she doesn't even run the damn place?! Then why are we seeing her in the first place …! No, calm, don't give in to your emotions. Shepard can't protect you anymore.

"Do you have any information on their identities?" I ask flatly. Feron tilts his head to the side, as if in thought, then nods sighing.

"I know of one, not that it particularly helps us."

"Who?"

"Fury." What kind of name is that? I stare at Feron until he continues. Feron was my source of intel here on Omega, the only one I had and somewhat trusted. Cerberus was … there was something suspicious about them, they were too helpful, too willing to give me information. I only accepted there help because I was desperate but this 'Illusive man' just set off all of my warning bells.

"Should we try to approach them, if Aria is going to be this onerous?" We had already been waiting for 15 minutes at this point and I was ready to look at other options if it would speed things up.

"Wouldn't help," Feron shook his head, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall, "I know little about her, mostly from rumours, but what I do know isn't encouraging. The Afterlife was attacked a few months before your little adventure by professional mercenaries, a few dozen of them. From what I heard Fury took them out almost alone. What I do know for certain is two things, the first is that she scares the people around here, the other is that she's Aria's top enforcer."

She sounds dangerous, especially if she scares the people on Omega. I waited to see if he knew anything else, like what she looked like, but nothing. At least some information is better than nothing, if you could call that information. We waited in silence for another 10 minutes, my frustration building, before the bouncer finally returned.

"Aria will see you now." The Turian then turned around and begun walking away without another word, expecting us to follow. I did so almost immediately, wanting to move things along as fast as I could. He stopped us outside of a door that I assume was Aria's office, holding his hand out to us as he knocked on the door, then finally, finally we were before Aria.

She didn't look happy, but I don't care. I started walking closer so we could finally talk when an armoured gauntlet was held out in front of me. I froze, realising we weren't alone and that there was an armoured woman next to me. She wasn't particularly large, barely taller than Tali come to think of it, but something about her put me on edge. Could be the helmet fully concealing her features. That doesn't matter though, why is she stopping me? More posturing? I was just about done with that.

"Weapon." She held her hand out and I bristled. If she thinks I'm going to … I looked over at Feron and saw he was tense, more than I expected him to be. He had already handed his pistol off to the bouncer. Fine, if it will let me talk to Aria then fine. I handed it off to the bodyguard who accepted it without a word.

"Now that that's over with, would you kindly tell me what the fuck you're doing here Ms T'soni?" Aria glared at me, I only somewhat succeeded at not doing the same as I requested what I needed. My stomach sank at her lack of knowledge, I could tell she was being honest, she was too angry at the fact to be otherwise. If Aria doesn't know then … what do I do? I was so close to her, so close to finally reclaiming her. After all I'd done to get here, all this time, wasted.

"I might know something." The words were soft, almost silent, but they almost thundered in my ears. I snapped my head towards the so far silent shadow next to Aria. Did she … did she know? Of course, she did, she had too. I don't care what I sounded like, what weakness I was showing. I ignored all that Feron had told me, begging for the answers I needed.

Whoever she was, I was grateful for the information they gave me. There was even a map, which was more than I expected. I knew it was the Blue Suns, Cerberus had given me conclusive proof. This was it, the final leg of the journey. I barely paid attention to the rest of the meeting, wanting to leave immediately. I had no time to waste, Shepard needed me, so the meeting quickly finished. Aria's threat barely even registered.

"What the fuck Liara?" Feron muttered as we walked out of the club. What?

"We got the information we needed, that's all that mattered." I rebutted.

"Yes, by ignoring everything I said! Do you even know who that was? That was Fury!" he hissed. That was Fury? She didn't seem so bad to me. Compared to Saren or a Reaper, she was nothing.

"And?"

"You're going to get us killed, I swear." He growled. "Did I not just tell you? Fury's dangerous."

"I don't care, she gave me the information I needed."

"Have you even considered why she was so helpful? People aren't like that here on Omega, no one offers anything for free unless there's a catch."

"I don't care, as long as I succeed."

I said nothing else on the matter, focused on navigating the route Fury had given us. It was one I wouldn't have considered, through alleyways that were hard to even find the entrance to let alone traverse, the cramped conditions putting me on edge. It was the fastest way that I knew though, taking us almost directly to the facility, so take it I will. The lack of vision did make me wary, and I kept my eyes open for the ambush that I was almost expecting after my time combating the geth, but nothing popped out at us. If not for Feron I would belief myself alone. Soon enough, we came upon the facility and I found my culprits.

The blue suns were a familiar sight at this point, their symbol practically burned into my brain, and they certainly weren't trying to hide. The guards were in full view, but far from alert. Some of them weren't even holding there weapons, playing a game of cards in full view of the street around them. They weren't prepared for an attack, weren't expecting one. They will regret that.

I looked at Feron to make sure he was ready, and while he did sigh he pulled out his weapon and got behind cover without complaining, good. I didn't want to waste time, not now that I was so close, so I chose my target easily. The group playing cards looked like such easy pickings, and I had a convenient grenade on my belt that was never even noticed by Aria's guards. Grabbing it, I primed the grenade and waited for a moment, throwing it at the last moment. Only one of them even noticed the grenade before it exploded, taking out most of the table. I unholstered my pistol and aimed it at the only one to survive the blast, even as Feron opened fire on the few that stood alone.

The battle was over almost before it began, and I moved to the door without even a second glance at the carnage we had wrought. I'm coming Shepard.

[POV: Jack]

They didn't notice me, not that I was surprised., I chose this route for a reason. It was one of the many I had mapped out in my time working for Aria, one of the few that I almost never found anyone on. It was too far from anything else, the mining plant it led to having long since been abandoned and decidedly uninhabitable, even for the bottom feeders of Omega. The route was perfect for my purposes though, as there was a secondary route that paralleled it, along the roofs of the building beside it. I had never used the route I gave Liara, as it was far too easy to be followed from above, but it worked in my favour right now.

I couldn't always see them, I had to stay far back enough to lower the risk of being seen as much as possible. Even after all this time, stealth wasn't my forte. The only reason I was even any good at it was that I knew all the little nooks and crannies the station held, having made an effort to fully map it out over the last few years. The benefit of doing so far outweighed the time it took, now being one of said times.

I followed them all the way to the mining facility and sure enough, there were blue suns guarding the exterior of the building. There was more than I had last seen, but that was expected. I wonder how the pair are going to deal with this.

A grenade apparently, one that I had missed. I chuckled at that, good for her. I wouldn't call their ambush much of a fight, what with how quickly it was over. They did have the element of surprise though, something they will have now lost. The Blue Sun's weren't one of the biggest mercenary groups for nothing, they knew what they were doing when they tried. It's what made them so bloody annoying most of the time.

I couldn't catch much of the fighting now that we were indoors, I would have easily been in sight If I were. They were easy enough to follow however, what with the sounds of gunfire and the corpses that littered there path. I even helped once, taking out one of the suns from behind with an Omni-blade, slitting his throat with nary more than a whisper. The gurgling coming out of his throat made more noise than I did slitting it.

[POV: Liara]

There were more suns than I thought there would be, but they couldn't stop me. Nothing could, not when I was this close. Unfortunately, we had to pause before entering the next room, Feron had been hit and needed to use some omni-gel before we continued. The only reason I waited was that I knew I needed his help. This was the end, we were about to exit the facility to where the trade would undoubtedly be held, and the rest of the Suns would be. The sound of starship engines growing closer broke my concentration. No, not when I was so close.

There was no more time to rest, no time to waste. I opened the door using my Omni-tool and leaned around the side, searching for hostiles. Darting my eyes around, I found it to be the mine's dockyard. It was decrepit and largely abandoned, but there was one ship landing near a collection of blue suns standing around a metal box. They were all armed and watching there surroundings, guns raised. Damn, they were expecting me. How many were there…? I didn't bother counting, only holding eyes for the box they were grouped around. It was long, rectangular. It held Shepard, I was sure of it. How do I get over there …?

My shields blared in alarm, fuck! I was seen. It must have been one of the wary mercenaries, not sure which one but it didn't matter, I was still in danger. I ducked down immediately, one more bullet hitting me but many more hitting the wall above my head. I searched around for cover desperately, then dived behind a heavy-duty vehicle and slammed my back into it, holding my gun up. It looked almost military, what with the turret on the back.

I checked my pistol for damage, having been burned before against the Geth, and found it in working order. I then breathed in deeply and exhaled, gritting my teeth. I then crawled around to the side of the vehicle, poking my head out only enough to see what was going on. I had to pull my head back almost immediately, gunfire landing where my head had been. The mercenaries had grouped up, and they were all facing me. I would get no chances there. What do I do …? I can't deal with this alone.

"Feron. Where are you!?" I hissed into my Omni-tool.

"I'm right here you know." I flinched, whirling around to find the Drell behind me, fiddling with his Omni-tool. How the hell did he …? It doesn't matter. I clenched my teeth, my held in the comment I wanted to make.

"Do you have any ideas on what to do?" I forced myself to remain calm.

"Not exactly," he shrugged, "but the turret I'm currently trying to hack should certainly me helpful."

That's … not a bad idea. Neither of us were particularly well armed nor equipped to deal with the heavily armoured mercenaries. Shepard would have scolded me for taking such a big risk, but she can't do that can she … No, don't think about it. What would she do if she was in this situation? The turret will be a key part of any plan she would make, she was far too fond of explosion for anything else. Feron's currently working on that, so he just needs time, that's what I need to give him, time. So, I need a distraction. I don't have anything on me that could be used for anything effective, that grenade earlier was my last one. I should have stocked up before coming here, having expended much of my arsenal moving from skirmish to skirmish, but I was impatient. I can't find it in myself to regret it, I had barely made it in time as it is. All that leaves me is …

I glanced around me, finding the ground littered with old and broken machinery. The years of disrepair hadn't been kind to this place, the denizens of Omega taking anything of worth or use. All that was left may have been useless to them, but not to me. I closed my eyes breathing deeply several times to centre myself, then opened them as I raised my hands in front of me. Holding my arms in front of me, arms splayed, I let biotic energy surround me, pulling on as much as I could as I performed my mnemonic for lift. It strained my mind to concentrate on so many different targets, but I successfully managed to grasp a few dozen pieces of machinery of different shapes and sizes, now enshrouded in my biotic energy. Holding the rest stationery, I focused on one piece and whirled around, thrusting my fist forward.

The object shot forward over the vehicle we were hiding behind and beyond my vision. I didn't see what happened, but I heard the crash of metal, the screaming and shouting. It started up the gunfire again though, and I didn't want to see how much longer the armour on the vehicle would last, so I continued. Sweat beaded down my face as I shot projectile after projectile, making sure to aim them all roughly where I remembered Shepard to be. If I hit you Shepard, I'm sorry, but I have no other choice.

"How close are you?" I ask Feron, holding in a groan at the headache I could feel building. Every object I had targeted weighed a significant amount, the combined weight could almost be felt weighing down my mind.

"Almost there. This isn't really my speciality."

Thank Athame. I'm almost out of projectiles, and I don't know if I could handle much more. My head was screaming at me, my limbs shaking. My vision swimming a little bit as well, but I ignored all of it. I had faced worse in the ruins I had been trapped in, compared to being frozen for days this was nothing.

Firing off the last projectile, I swayed a little on my feet. I soldiered on though, I couldn't rest now. I had fired all my projectiles blindly, so I needed to see what was going on. Bracing myself against the vehicle, I leaned my head around the side once more. I found the ground littered with debris and corpses, I felt a dark surge of satisfaction and how effective my actions had been, even as I looked closer. Wait … where was Shepard?! My panic only intensified as I noticed the increasingly loud hum let off by the ship. They were leaving!

"Feron!" I screamed. He was typing furiously, brow furrowed.

"Just … about … Got it!"

With one last press of the button, the vehicle powered up and the turret swung around towards the rising ship.

"Please…" I whispered, my plea almost silent. With a sharp crackle, the turret charged up, then released a shot. I watched it grow closer with bated breath. Please, please don't miss. I'm so close … Shepard's right there. I can't lose her again. Time seemed to almost stop as the blast closed in on the ship, getting closer and closer … then passing beneath the rising ship. No … please no. I fell to my knees at the sight watching the ship move steadily higher.

"No!" I screamed, moisture gathering in the corners of my eyes. I refused to look away though, refused to ignore what was happening. The ship was a couple dozen metres off the ground now, angling upwards so it could leave the atmosphere. As it did though, I watched the ship shroud itself in a biotic cloak. That wasn't like a ship normally did, it was too chaotic, too bright. What was happening …

The ship slowed, then it stopped. It was frozen, and even from here I could hear the whine of the engines as they struggled against an unseen force, or maybe not so unseen. Was that … was that a … a biotic pull? A pull that was competing against a starship and … and winning! Who could possibly … biotics can't perform techniques in tandem, it doesn't work, so it had to be the work of one person. But who? Who could be strong enough to do … that?! The amount of energy it would take would be, immense, the aura it would release almost be enough to … burn the skin. They must be close, and easily spotted.

I whirled around, my eyes instantly zeroing in on the blue glow on top of the building I had just exited out of. The biotic was enshrouded in an aura that almost hurt to look at. It was blinding, a nearly white blue that I had to squint my eyes against just to make out any details. I couldn't tell much from the silhouette aside from the fact they were armoured. But I could see the energy tendrils snapping at the air around them, could hear an odd cracking noise as well that I couldn't identify.

An explosion back towards the ship had me face back in that direction, and I turned back around in time to witness the second engine of the ship explode violently. It lost in the monumental tug of war and was being accelerated towards the ground at great speed. The blue glow disappeared suddenly, winking out of existence as the ship crashed into the ground, breaking apart on the unyielding surface. Turning back to the mysterious biotic, I saw the aura wink out of existence, its masking nature gone with it. The armoured person, it was Fury. What was she doing here? It didn't matter. She had given me a gift tonight, several of them. First with the information, and now by literally winning a tug of war with a starship. I owe her a great deal, and I won't forget that. It doesn't matter if she had ulterior motives, I didn't care.

"Thank you!" I shouted up to the silently standing figure, who nodded then turned away sharply, quickly leaving my vision. I could think things through later, I had to retrieve Shepard. Turning back around, I found Feron, staring at the crashed ship, his jaw clenched.

"Come on, let's not waste the chance we've been given." I commanded, and Feron nodded, stepping in time with me.

I'm coming Jane.

[POV: Jack]

In hindsight, not my best decision.

After finding my way to the exit from the building, I decided against following the pair outside the same door and instead created an omni-blade to cut a hole into the ceiling while standing on top of an old piece of mining equipment that had been left there. It took me a few passes, but the hole was created and it allowed me to climb on top of the roof and give me proper vision of the fight going on below.

Liara and the Drell were hiding behind an old tank of some description, it would have been used to defend against gang attacks and the like back when the mine was in operation. Can't be too careful on Omega. Liara was using her biotics to fling projectiles at the mercenaries, the sheer amount she had been holding at once a testament to her control, her ability to multitask far beyond me. They proved brutally effective at first, but she was firing blind and that allowed the Suns to load up what I assumed to be Commander Shepard into the ship. Aria wouldn't like the unauthorised dock use, wouldn't like much of this whole situation really.

If nothing else changed, they were going to get away. I could see the ship powering up from my position. Aria wouldn't care as long as this wasn't happening on Omega, so I suppose that would be fine. Even if Liara had sounded so … it doesn't matter. What was the Drell doing anyway? He had been typing away furiously at his Omni-tool the entire fight. Surely he could have been helping Liara more than that.

As if to spite my thoughts, the tank they were hiding behind powered up. That thing still works!? He must be quite good at hacking if he managed to crack it. Security against that sort of thing was strong here on Omega, what with how prevalent it was.

I watched as the turret powered up, as it fired at the escaping ship, then as it missed. I sighed at the sight, disappointed despite my supposed neutrality. I won't lie, I was hoping Liara would be successful. Her mission was for a good cause, and the Blue suns were annoying son's of bitches. Shouldn't the tank have had a targeting assistance system, how did it even miss?

That didn't seem it would be the case though. How was Liara taking it …? I watched her collapse to her knees, her voice brimming with loss and sorrow. There was none of the anger she had shown earlier, likely a mask, all that was left was her grief. Grief for her friend/lover, whose body was being traded around like a spare piece of change.

Liara didn't deserve this, neither did Shepard. Shepard, who had saved millions just from hard evidence alone, ignoring any of the claims she made about the other dangers out there which I could at least believe existed. Shepard, one of the few good humans out there, such a small number as it was. Will I let this stand …? No. I won't, I refuse. I always wished someone would help me in my bad moments, the worst times, yet here I was not helping someone in there's. I may not have been helped myself, but I can help others still.

I let my legs spread apart, breathed in deeply and tensed my entire body. I grit my teeth and pull on the raging inferno beneath my skin. I would normally only divert a trickle of my energy, but this time, this time I pulled a torrent. I let the energy flood around me, surrounding me in an aura that surpassed anything I can remember, bar once. My normal techniques wouldn't cut it here, so instead I went with my gut. Focusing intensely on the ship growing smaller in my sight, I shot my hands out and clenched my fists. I pushed my energy towards the ship, surrounding it, and then I pulled it back. I pulled on it hard, the ship enshrouded in a corona of blue energy that still wasn't enough to stop it. The ship slowed down noticeably, but it was still getting smaller. Even while still losing, I had to make sure my aura was encasing my entire body, not letting it concentrate anywhere out of concern it would burn me. Even now, the sheer quantity of energy I was working with strained my control, only my experience with barrier even allowed me to handle this much. This battle for control strained my mind greatly, and it was a continuous process. Even with all of that, the ship was still pulling away, ever so slowly.

I was so close, just a little … bit … more! I started drawing upon even more energy, and even my seemingly endless reserves began noticeably decreasing. Channelling this energy left me shaking from the exhilaration, the excitement of really using the reserves I normally had to restrain. Unfortunately, my control began to finally slip. It was all I could do to try and make it flare away from me, but I was only so successful. I engaged the cooling systems in my armour, in the hopes it would help, but still It hurt. Every single flare of energy that burned my skin hurt, and over time they began happening more frequently. Soon enough my entire body was covered with burning hot skin and I groaned from the pain, but I didn't stop. Not when I noticed that the ship had. It wasn't getting any closer, but I was already dangerously overloading my system, so I just had to hope it would be enough.

I stood there, holding the biggest load I had ever experienced. My muscles screaming at me, the ground I was standing on cracking from the heat I was putting off, my head pounding viscously and my vision whiting out. Still, I stood. No other thoughts ran through my head, nothing to distract me from the precipice I found myself on. Even with all my focus, I had to struggle a little harder with each second that passed. I couldn't hold this for much longer, but miraculously the sound of explosions broke through my haze. I saw as both engines on the ship exploded, and the ship came crashing into the ground amidst a dwindling aura. I had already stopped my biotic pull, even remaining standing pained me greatly. I hurt all over, my muscles weak, my skin on fire, the headache almost stopping me from thinking.

"Thank You!" Liara shouted up at me.

Even with how much I hurt, when I looked down at Liara as she stared up at me with profound gratefulness, I felt content with my decision. A smile etched itself onto my face, hidden by the helmet as I nodded at Liara, then turned around and walked jerkily out of view. The moment I was, I collapsed onto the ground, spent. Having finally given in, the sensations I had been ignoring ramped up. Slamming into the ground didn't help me either and even with my pain tolerance I could only muffled my pained scream.

Moaning on the ground, I made sure to trigger all my Omni-gel reserves to be released, in that hope that it would at least begin healing me. Nothing happened though. What? Mustering the effort to investigate my armour, I rolled over and looked down, finding it smoking from many cracks in the casing. Fuck, I'll have to do it manually. I let my head fall back to the ground.

Yeah, not my best decision.

Doesn't mean I regret it, mostly.

[POV: ?]

"What do we know of this 'Fury'?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. Getting concrete information on Omega is like pulling teeth at the best of times, but Fury is an especially aggravating case. The rumours surrounding her vary wildly but based on the similarities between some of them and other information we hold we can infer a few things."

"And these things are?" his voice gave away nothing, despite the aggravation he undoubtedly felt.

"Ignoring the events that involved Liara, we would already be able to assume Fury to be a capable biotic. There are reports of her being capable of an extremely sturdy shield technique capable of withstanding gunfire. It's hard to know exactly what happened based on the rumours, but I was able to find a report off-world given by one of the mercenaries that was part of the attack on the club. His report corroborates that Fury walked calmly into gunfire, unconcerned about the military grade firearms being used against her by multiple combatants."

That would already sound far-fetched, if I didn't know what she had just done tonight and seen the video Feron took of her doing it.

"That attack and tonight are the only accounts I have of her biotic strength, but there are far more rumours about her other actions on Omega. Fury has left behind ruined buildings littered with dismembered corpses, the photo evidence I managed to gather indicating the use of Omni-blades."

"Anything else?"

"Fury is close to Aria. I am uncertain of what there exact relationship is, but Aria trusts her. Fury is often left alone with Aria and reportedly sits in on many of her private meetings. That is all the information I am confident in, but I have a few more theories."

Fury was quite a conundrum in truth, she was hard to pin down and any information I found had be treated sceptically, making it a real challenge to find anything concrete. I had no knowledge of what she even looked like, aside from her height. The company she keeps, her biotic prowess and the evidence of Asari Martial arts lets me conclude she is one of them though. What I could see about her, was that she was a dangerous woman. That was the one thing that every rumour agreed on. They were right too.

"And what are these Theory's?"

"I haven't got an exact time frame for how long Fury has been on Omega, but my estimates match up with when Aria began acting more vigilant. It became harder for our agents to act, harder to keep things unnoticed by Aria. She seems to … care more. It's not obvious, but if you compare it to our data of how Aria has acted in the past, there is a noticeable difference. The other theory is more interesting though. Fury's estimated arrival corroborates with the crack-down on child slavery on Omega. This would likely be a coincidence, but many of the locations that match Fury's MO, the walls scarred with Omni-blade marks, were previously known to be where the child slavery trade was centralised on Omega. I'm not certain its related, but I believe the evidence gives the idea merit."

With that I finished my verbal report, sending him my written one and waiting to see his response. There was no way I would have been able to gather so much information about Fury during Liara's mission, I had already been investigating her. My sources on Omega had indicated her to be a person of interest months ago, and from what they told me I agreed with them. I would have considered her dangerous without her biotics, with them she was lethal. Those battle sites indicated she was severely outnumbered many times, yet she was the one that remained, not the child slavery. I personally believe it to be an admirable thing, no one should be part of something so reprehensible and I'm glad she was able to deal some damage to the trade. It's a shame she was only able to change Omega, but no-one can be expected to deal with a galactic wide business. Shepard's ability to influence others was unique, especially in how widespread it became before her end. She represents the best of humanity, someone they can look up to, and its why we need her back so desperately.

"Very well." His voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I returned my focus to him. "Your analysis is sound. Fury is a uniquely dangerous woman, but in the right circumstances, she could become an asset. Keep an eye on her," he ordered.

With his parting words, the hologram flickered out.