Infiltrate Omega

Omega – Infiltrate

Overview:

In this mission Shepard and Aria make their first initial assault on Omega. This mission sets up a base of operations from which Shepard can meet Omega's important characters, buy items, take missions and view Omega's overarching story progress.

Intro:

Aria meets Shepard in the Normandy's private hangar. Aria has nearly as much free reign on the Citadel as she does Omega, and thus was granted instant access to the hangar. Informed of Shepard's effort to unite the races  at the War Summits, and desperate to get some stability against the Reapers, Aria tells the commander that she needs to get Omega back.

Shepard inquires further into Omega's capture, and Aria tells him about the Cerberus rush for the station, lead by the brilliant Oleg Petrovsky. With smart but brutal tactics Petrovsky was able to subdue the station and gain oversight to the Terminus Systems. He did this with an army of only a few thousand mercenaries. After Omega's power shift, Cerberus  actions strengthened many remote human colonies that suffered years of abuse from pirates and slavers. These colonies, especially in the wake of the Reaper invasion, sent recruits to Cerberus, making the cell's small military into a force sizeable to that of the Blue Suns or Eclipse. Shepard notes that this is likely how Cerberus's recent resource pool seemed to have increased dramatically.

Aria explains that Petrovsky is now the ruler of Omega and the Terminus by extension, though Petrovsky is nothing more than a pawn of TIM. The station is under martial law, with its citizens being bullied and imprisonned by Cerberus. The gangs that once had a footing on Omega, particularly the Blue Suns, have either been recruited by Cerberus or abandoned the station. Furthmore experiental husk like Cerberus weapons called “adjutants” have infected sections of the station, and driven entire districts to pasture, and are rumored to be under Petrovsky's control – which worries Aria, because last time she was on the station Petrovsky could not control them.

Aria knows that any open military blitz on the station will result in catastrophy. Petrovsky is too cunning, and prepared dozens of counter measures to even the most ruthless of Aria's potential strategies. Instead T'Loak wishes to use the inhabitents of the station to destabilize Petrovsky's regime. Aria plans on using a fake initial assault on the station to distract Cerberus, infiltrate the station, then use the remainder of her fleet to perform hit and run tactics on the station to continue to scramble Cerberus forces. With Shepard's help she wishes to rescue any of her high ranking officers, like her  Patriarch, and rally a rebellion. Once Petrovsky is defeated Aria wants to reclaim her throne in Afterlife, donate three fourths of the Terminus Fleet to Shepard's cause, and bunker down the station for the Reapers. Knowing that he cannot lose the unconventional but effective mercenary/pirate force that the Terminus holds, especially with Palavan's future on the brink, Shepard agrees to join Aria.

The Mission:

Shepard flies the SR2 to the Terminus fleet. Before Shepard can hail Aria's ship, he gets a message from the Citadel Council. Shepard activates the hololink, and the Council greets him. The original/new Council tell Shepard that they have been monitoring the situation on Omega for months, and prior to the Reaper invasion, wanted to launch their own offensive to retake the station. Gaining control of Omega would be a stunning blow to the Terminus Systems, and organizations that thrived there. The Council would have become incredibly powerful and well rooted in the area. Pirating, merc activity, colony disputes, illegal trading, and especially slavery would have been outlawed, and Omega itself would (according to the Council) have become economically stable, saving millions on the station from poverty. If Donnell Udina is on the Council and Shepard has a Colony background, Udina points out that a Council in control of the Terminus would likely stop slave raids like the one that killed Shepard's family.

Shepard asks the Council what the point of this meeting is, after all the Council cannot spare resources now to take Omega with the Reapers invading fringes of the Terminus Systems. The Council  says that they wish for Shepard to act as their double agent while working for Aria. Shepard is to carry out Aria's mission on Omega, but capture or kill whoever comes out on top between the asari ruler and Cerberus general. The Council will then place their own pawns in control of the station temporarily, and sort out full control of Omega/Terminus after the Reaper war. If Shepard is unwilling or uncertain of this plan, the Council tells him that this is a Spectre operation, under their own supervison.

If the Council is the all human Council they say the same thing, except they are doing this for Alliance control of the Terminus. The human Council wants Petrovsky killed (as an ex Alliance officer it looks good to the Council) and Aria captured. Regardless of whether Shepard is comfortable with pushing Alliance authority through the Terminus Systems, the human Council orders Shepard to take this mission as a Spectre.

Aria boards the SR2. The Normandy nears Omega, Joker skillfully navigating the asteriod field that surrounds the station. Aria signals her fleets out of FTL jumps and begins the fake assault. Omega's defenses and Cerberus' fleets scramble into action, attempting to counter the Terminus fleet. The Normandy's stealth system allows Shepard to avoid the conflict. Shepard and Aria jump onto the shuttle in the cargo hold. Joker pulls the Normandy close to Omega's exterior before launching the Kodiak into the station's waste vent. Cortez pilots the shuttle deeper into the station until they come out of a sewer in a factory district of Omega. Aria quickly gets in contact with her spies in the area, and has them hack security and communications to the area. Shepard and company jump off the shuttle and neutralize the Cerberus security force in the area. Aria claims one of the factories as her base of operations, and her troops already on Omega begin organizing their work around maintaining the factory.

Aria sets up a massive hologram of Omega in her new command center and gathers her available generals around her. Shepard joins her and she shows him the major areas that are under Cerberus control. She calls off her distraction fleet, and begins planning more infiltration routes deeper into the station, when the hologram is hacked by Cerberus, and Oleg Petrovsky's image dominates the hologram (in a style reminiscent of TIM). Petrovsky guessed that Aria would plan some kind of infiltration mission, and is impressed with her ruthlessness. Though Petrovsky is not sure where Aria is located exactly (Omega is a giant station after all) he doubts her ability to fight off Cerberus' forces even with her firm foothold on Omega. Shepard makes a move to stand by Aria in defiance of Petrovsky, but Bray, Aria's right hand man, signals Shepard to stay hidden from Petrovsky. Aria manages to block Petrovsky's interference, and the hologram fades back to that of Omega's map.

Other missions:

This mission sets up the events for Omega's role in ME3. From Aria's base Shepard is able to access the missions required to defeat Oleg Petrovsky, including:

Archangel Returns
Project Aegis
(upon completion of these two missions the third is made available)
Assault on Afterlife