Chapter 1: Warbringer

Within the streets of Omega was a blood bath as Cerberus troops were mowed down by anti-personnel cannons. Ahead were several armored men lead by three people. A very familiar looking asari who was the leader of these men. After all, Aria T'Loak was here to reclaim Omega. The other person was a hooded woman, her hands revealing that she was a turian. Aria called out her name, being Nyreen. The third person was a woman who's armor was completely different from their own, mostly designed for close quarter combat, the color scheme being black with the chest area and the longer two-piece ballistic plate on the left being blue. The helmet was also different, being part of the MJOLNNIR Powered Assault Armor set, of the AA or air assault variant.

All of them walked in through some blast doors right before closing them, but one of the men had armor different from the rest. They hadn't paid attention to this person though since he/she had the symbol on their right shoulder. Once inside, Aria's men began treating the wounded, and Aria herself walked passed them and gave her order with a wave of her arm. "We're in! Lock it down."

Two of the asari troops used their biotics to close the blast doors. Kara gave a sigh of relief, a bit surprised that the Eclipse blue-and-yellow symbol she had quickly sprayed on her RIG worked. She didn't know how long she could keep hidden but figured as long as she didn't do anything suspicious, she would be fine for now. Still, the engineer kept close while casually inspecting a nearby M6-Valkyrie assault rifle.

"Aria, I know this place is built like a fortress, but is it safe now that the general is clued in?" Nyreen asked, worried. Caution was required in such a high profile assault.

"Maybe you felt safer hiding in the dark," the evidently female ODST added.

"I have no intention of sitting around, and you both should know I assume nothing. And on that front...." Aria walked past the two before continuing. "Nyreen, you left Omega fairly angry with me. I wasn't aware you'd return. Explain yourself."

"The truth is I never left, a fact I went to great lengths to keep from you." Nyreen explained.

"I'm not easily duped. Well done. But why?"

"I just... couldn't leave." Nyreen lowered her head. "Considering all this, I wish I had."

"Well, you always said I'd be the death of you," Aria commented sardonically.

"Nyreen has military training. We can put her to good use." The ODST opined.

"You're so quick to trust, huh, Huntress?" Aria said. "Nyreen never approved of Omega's--what did you call it? 'Moral Bankruptcy.' Are you willing to help defend it now?"

"You'll find me very willing to liberate this station." Nyreen replied.

"Your combat skills seems a little rusty, but you're still a good shot. See my duty officer." Aria suggested. With a nod, Nyreen moved to do so. Aria kept looking at her while addressing the person behind her. "Bray, keep an eye on her."

"Will do." The batarian Bray walked away.

Aria glanced at Huntress. "All right, Huntress, we need to move fast. I'm itching for revenge."

"If you think I'm going to let you carve a bloody path through this campaign, you're sadly mistaken." Huntress said.

And Aria replied in kind. "If you think you're going to change me, well, you're welcome to try." Turning away and grabbing a pad from Bray, Aria changed the subject. "Once up and running, this bunker will provide recon and secret access to much of the station." After checking the pad, she resumed talking. "I'd appreciate it if you would quickly eyeball operations, see that things are setting up smoothly."

"And what will you be doing?"

"Checking in on my forces." Aria replied. "I need to know how many survived the assault before I can plan the attack." Aria walked with Huntress as she continued. "It won't take long. Join me at the command console when you're ready." With that, Aria walked through the nearby door.

Kara had been forced to use the Audioscope to see the conversation, all while helping out and blending in. The last thing she needed was to be discovered and treated as a spy, as that would earn her either a bullet to the head or Aria "questioning" her on her supposed connection to General Petrovsky.

Still, once the conversation was done, Kara looked at the ODST codenamed Huntress as she removed her helmet, tucking it under one arm. The name told the engineer the gender but not the appearance. Huntress had orange hair with black streaks, braided and tied back up. Kara found the ODST attractive despite her light facial scarring, after all her heart was skipping a few beats at the sight of her. The engineer quickly shook her head and did her rounds, while making sure to follow Huntress carefully.

Still, she ended up catching the attention of a batarian that glanced at her. "Wait. I've never seen you before. "

Kara mentally hit herself and looked at the batarian. "I'm from Eclipse. I volunteered for this mission, sir."

"Nice try but I handle inspections, and I've never seen you before." The batarian aimed his gun at Kara. "Start talking, you're surrounded."

The attractive soldier seemed to hear the commotion as multiple members of the boarding fleet aimed their guns at the engineer. She saw Aria look up, about to shout an order, but waved her off. "I got this." Surprisingly, the pirate queen even listened as the ODST walked over, face impassive as she snatched the Executioner pistol from a vorcha who passed with her free hand. To his incredulous snarl, she just motioned to the Blood Pack Punisher submachine gun he had on his back, not even saying another word as she continued her approach, the veritable hand cannon trained on the intruder. She looked Kara up and down, either sizing up her RIG or her body. It was hard to tell. "Turn around, fingers interlocked behind your head, and walk to the wall." She motioned to the others around, two Turians backing her up with Phaeston assault rifles aimed at the trespasser.

Kara didn't have much of a choice. She was surrounded and scolded herself for stupidly getting caught in sight of everyone instead of in a corner were few would see her. Turning around, she placed her hands behind her head, fingers interlocked and walked towards the wall. However, her fingers were tapping against the back of her hands. The engineer was doing some quick work on her RIG, mostly locking the helmet so they couldn't take it off easily. She also modulated her voice to disguise it. Despite the ODST obviously not being from this universe, Kara didn't know if she was friend or foe. She stopped against the wall and waited. It was all she could do now. That and pray.

The woman motioned for the others to remain back, walking up to her as they remained in gun range but not hearing range. She pressed her temporary gun against the small of her back. "Resource Integration Gear," she said softly, so only the engineer could hear her. "Internal or external? What purpose for being here?"

Kara wasn't surprised at all. After all, her suspicions had been confirmed. "External." She replied, making sure her voice could only be heard by the ODST. "I arrived to determine the situation of the Omega occupation. But Cerberus is no friend of mine. Now can I ask what an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper is doing in Omega?"

The soldier shrugged. "Been at this a long time," was the reply. "Stealthy work, getting help for a team. You gonna give me a reason why you snuck in?" She did seem less tense, but still focused.

"We're in a battlezone." Kara replied. "It wasn't as if I could just walk up to you and say, 'Hey, mind if I come along?', right? Had I brought attention to myself, I'd have been shot, there and then."

"Fair enough, but how am I supposed to just take your word? What else do you have to show me and them that you're trustworthy? What's your name, even?"

"...Give me your name soldier and I shall give you mine." Kara replied. She couldn't help but reference that series but continued. "Until then... Call me Newton. As for what I have, I have my skills. Sadly, I don't know anyone that you know that can vouch for me. But Cerberus is my enemy, I assure you of that."

The woman just rolled her eyes, watching her. "Turn around and look me in the eye," she said, louder this time. "I need to be sure. And get rid of that mask already. I already showed you my face, so show me yours."

"....All right." Kara turned around, the RIG helmet retracting in the process. She looked at the ODST straight in the eyes. "Here's my face. My heart's on my sleeve in case you're curious."

The soldier looked into her eyes, seeking a trace of anything untrustworthy. A few tense seconds passed... and she waved to the others, signaling them... to move back, as they did, with her giving the pistol back to the vorcha. "She's clean," she told the deposed leader. She wasn't sure what she meant by "heart on her sleeve", but didn't ask yet. "If you go against us, I'll start hurting you. If not, good. We could use a good technician. If you need to talk, we can as we walk around here. That elcor, Harrot, is selling gear if you need it, as well."

"Got it." Kara nodded. "I'd like to talk. I'm still inexperienced to the whole Interference shtick. I've met a few already, of course. Don't know if all of you know each other or not. Any people I should watch out for?"

The soldier nodded, motioning for her to follow as she walked through the area. "Cain Flueves and a man by the name of Summanus, his partner. They're mercenaries. The former's nearly invincible and has some kind of virus in him. Don't know much about the latter other than a name." She passed a group of mercenaries, giving them a cold look when they looked her way, forcing them off and back to their own conversations, ones about her own exploits concerning the Eclipse, Blood Pack, and Blue Suns. Something about support. "Also, Ignis Fatuus. He also goes by the alias Ignazio D'Aleo, along with several others. Extremely dangerous and nigh impossible for most to kill, so stay out of his way and try to keep others away from him. He'll eventually show himself and be beaten down."

She looked to Kara. "What about you? Anything you want to talk about? Let me know, anything?"

"Got it. I'll keep my eye out for them." Kara nodded. "That's all for now. I think I'll look around and do my part for the operation, ma'am." With that, she walked in another direction. Nearby, she saw a batarian mechanic working on some wires and walked towards him.

The soldier nodded, walking off toward another person, as Kara was watching in her peripheral vision. She was a woman who had her dark hair in a bun of sorts, working on a computer with a sleeveless shirt. "You needed help about something."

A nod. "I've been tasked with increasing this command center's control of Omega's operating systems." She looked back to her work. "I've hacked surveillance on many decks, tapped various internal communications conduits... but I can only reach so far. There are terminals in Cerberus controlled areas. Well... you could get your hands on them. Can you find these terminals? A simple input code will give me access privileges, and more influence on station systems."

"I'm pretty sure I've got a computer tech or two around here to bring along if I can't handle it."

"Good. I'll keep an eye on my board, and I'll let you know when my codes area activated.

Meanwhile, Kara began speaking with the batarian mechanic. "Any problems here?"

"Power inverters are shorting. Trying to find a work around but no go." The mechanic explained. "The can probably be scrounged on somewhere around Omega. If you come across a set of Kehri inverters, bring em back here."

"Got it. I'll keep an eye out for it then." Kara replied. Getting the description from the mechanic, she reunited with the ODST and compared notes. The latter also told her of the hacker that needed help.

"Got it. I'll get to work on it. I'll deal with the hacking first then the inverter later." Kara replied. She made to move but then stopped to look at Azumi. "If I tell you my name... Will you tell me yours?"

"Stop quoting centuries-old books and we have a deal." She then seemed to realize that that wasn't very accurate from a twenty-first century point of view, shrugging. "Any reason why it matters? They call me Huntress around here." She ran a hand through her hair, or as much as she could with the braid.

"...First of all, this was unintentional this time. Second, it's only fair since you did ask for my name earlier. anyway, Huntress will do. It's just as beaut-fitting! Just as fitting for you! Anyway, I'm going to ask an unrelated question. What's... your type?" Kara said. Realizing how vague she was being, she added. "Of person! That your trust! I'm not saying you should trust me immediately, although I appreciate you gave me the benefit of the doubt! You know what, forget I said anything. I'm just rambling." The engineer quickly walked away before she made more of a fool of herself, in her eyes at least.

The woman rolled her eyes, not even bothering to mention anything further. "Staff Sergeant Ian. You can call me Ian if you need to. As for first names, we'll see if we get there. But let's move on. As for who I trust, it's the people who help me, and show their worth in ways that I won't say out loud, since you'll go for those like a checklist. What next?"

"...You kind of sound like that guy with the Collector Ri- Nevermind. Forget I said anything. I'll go and handle those three things now while you coordinate with Aria." Kara saluted to the ODST, who identified herself as Ian then walked away. First, she would help with the hacking since it had been Ian's suggestion. After that, find the Kehri inverter.

Ian nodded, smiling to her slightly. She tapped her on the back, whispering in her ear. "It's fine. We'll talk about it later. Among other things. Maybe that'll be a good motivation to try your best." With that, she walked over to Aria and her primary technician.

Kara smiled a bit at what Ian said. "Yes, ma'am. Gladly." However, she stood there as she watched the ODST walked towards Aria to speak with her.

The asari spoke first. "Ah, how are we looking?"

The salarian at the console beside her didn't look up. "Fully operational. Full Omega schematics coming online now."

The operation leader turned around to face a three-dimensional, spinning projection of a transparent version of the entire station on a holography pad, and walked over to it alongside Ian. "Let's take a look." She looked it over, seeing lines around it inside, and nodded. "I see." She looked to Ian. "Huntress, those force fields we saw. The general has them set up everywhere." She placed her hands on the table.

Ian nodded. "Access control across the entire station." She tilted her head in confusion, looking to Ahz. "What are these dark areas?" She pointed to several blank areas across the station.

The salarian looked to her, though she didn't turn around. "Many sections of Omega are powered down. I'm betting power is being siphoned to power those force fields."

"Find the source," Aria declared. "Priority one."

Huntress picked up from there. "And we'll need a full tactical assessment of all Cerberus positions."

Ahz nodded, going back to the console. "I'll get on it."

"Huntress, we have work to do. Our losses were significant. We can't field an army large enough to face down Cerberus." Aria explained the situation. She took a tablet that was given to her by one of her asari soldiers.

"Then we need to find allies. Story of my life." Huntress remarked.

"We confirmed, there is a merc gang that's still active. The Talons are resisting the occupation." Aria pointed out, staring at a screen that showed an armed group. "Not my first choice but they're all we got."

"Then it's time to play diplomat." Huntress stated.

"And if the current leader won't join us, the next one will." Aria added.

Bray interrupted the talk however. "Sorry to interrupt..."

"What is it?"

"I turned away for a second to offload supplies. When I looked back..." Bray looked away for a second. This was enough to tell Aria what happened.

"You lost her." She stated.

"Well, I..."

"We're locked down." Huntress interjected. "She's got to be here somewhere."

"This bunker has secret access points to other parts of the station." Aria replied. "Unfortunately, Nyreen knows them. Dammit, Bray. If I wasn't already short on manpower... We have to focus on getting the Talons on board. Huntress,  I'll meet you at the armory exit when you're ready to go, but don't keep me waiting. Oh, and bring your friend if she's still here."

"Umm.... I kinda heard everything. " Kara said after Ian finished speaking with Aria. "So when are we leaving, ma'am?" She asked.  The engineer didn't expect Nyreen to escape although it had been obvious it would happen. Still, that meant several things to her, two foremost in her mind. One, Nyreen was a spy for Cerberus that had been forced to work for them. And two, she's actually the leader or a higher up of a third party, more notably, the Talons they had to go find.

Ian nodded, putting her helmet back on. "It's time to go hunting. You ready?"

Kara nodded, the RIG helmet placing itself back on for her. "Ready and willing to get our prey. I'll follow your lead." With that, she followed Ian towards the west exit. Aria soon joined the two and they went out the door.