I do not own Mass Effect.

John Shepard. Male, Soldier, Paragon.

Beth. Female Clone, Vanguard, Renegade.

'Thoughts'

"Verbal communication via device"

(LOCATION OR TIME CHANGE)

So we continue with the battle for Omega. Beth, John, and Aria have encountered a female turian called Nyreen who seems to have some prior relationship with the asari. Now the four have just about reached Aria's bunker, except that Cerberus General Petrovsky has launched an all-out assault on it.

(OMEGA)

As she climbed the ladder Beth could hear the voices in her head telling her to kill Aria and Nyreen. The voices outside her head were shouting about a massive Cerberus force between them and the bunker.

Emerging from the ladder shaft she could see a small army of Cerberus troops firing across a narrow bridge towards what must be the bunker while mercenaries tried to prevent Cerberus advances.

'Help Cerberus, aid them in combat.'

"We've got trouble." She announced as John arrived.

He joined her, peering out the window overlooking the battlefield, "This looks interesting."

Aria clambered up and spared a glance back down as Nyreen climbed, "Those cannons should be tearing them apart." She tapped her earpiece, "Bray, why aren't the guns working?"

"A Cerberus engineer is hacking them. Keeping them offline." He replied.

Beth scanned the mass of armoured figures, looking for a sign of the tech units, "What's the plan?"

"We kill them all until we find the one we're looking for." John declared, "But the second we start shooting they'll likely focus on us."

Biotic energy coated Aria's form, "Let them." She bared her teeth.

"I'll take point." Beth offered, "To them I am just another random mercenary."

John nodded, "Alright, but stay low and pick your targets. I am not losing anyone."

So that is why when she shattered the window with her shotgun and used a Biotic Charge to slam into a group of grunts John slapped a hand over his face in frustration.

"Come on, Shepard." Aria grinned and launched a Flare at an Atlas that had just landed. The explosion knocked the mech suit over on top of one of its unfortunate squad mates, "Biotics are more fun when you let loose."

As if to prove that statement she jumped out the window and slammed down with an impact shockwave in the midst of a trio of Centurions who had been closing on Beth.

"Go, I'll cover you." John drew his Mantis sniper rifle and settled on the window sill.

Nyreen nodded and like the two before her jumped out the window using biotics to control her fall.

"Don't let them reach the bunker!" a Centurion ordered, his Mattock rifle swinging to open fire on Aria, she ducked behind a wall as the bullets barely missed her head.

Suddenly the rest of Aria's forces trying to take cover were being ignored as the entire assault force of Cerberus troops turned their attention to the newest arrivals. Rampart Mechs emerged through the energy walls while Troopers and Centurions descended from upper levels.

The next few minutes passed like a blur to Beth as it seemed her Cerberus protocols for warfare kicked in and she was totally operating by her programming once the enemy had been identified. Before long she found herself surrounded by bodies of Cerberus forces and the eroding bodies of mechs.

John rushed over to her in the moment of calm they had before more hostiles arrived, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she gave thumbs up, "Yeah, I'm good."

"This is Bray, the cannons are still offline. Find that engineer."

A shot rang out and both humans looked around sharply. Nyreen was standing over a Cerberus engineer who was clutching his leg in agony. The turian slowly lifted her gun higher and put a bullet into his forehead.

"He's down." She confirmed.

"Great, but the cannons have to be activated manually."

Aria joined them as they advanced towards the bridge leading to the bunker, but as they reached the top of the steps an Atlas mech landed heavily between them and the cannons. Its pilot fired a rocket which sailed past the group and detonated just behind them. Nyreen and Aria were flung forward past the mech and onto the bridge. John, the furthest from the explosion rolled with it and was back on his feet shooting at the Atlas to draw its fire.

Beth on the other hand took the brunt and hit the ground painfully with a thunderous pounding in her head. Her armour's shielding was gone and so was her barrier. Groggily she got to one knee, her eyes struggling to make out John going one on one with the Atlas while Aria and Nyreen were backing along the bridge, keeping more Cerberus troops at bay. She crawled on all fours to the cannon controls and pressed the buttons.

The Atlas collapsed behind her as John's bullets tore through the cockpit, killing the pilot. He ran forward and half lifted, half dragged her onto the bridge and towards the bunker while Aria and Nyreen provided covering fire.

Beth glanced back to see a whole mass of Cerberus ground forces rushing up the stairs in an attempt to storm the bridge.

Then the cannons activated.

A devastating barrage of firepower tore through the attackers. Ramparts shattered under the fire while the humans turned into bloody corpses. Several attempted to flee the battlefield, only to be blasted out of the air.

"Nice guns." Nyreen remarked casually.

Aria smiled slightly, "They'll keep the general's forces at bay, for a while at least."

"Let's get inside." John gestured ahead to the bunker as he supported Beth.

"Retract the bridge, and lower the blast doors." Aria tapped her comlink, "We're coming inside."

The doors slid shut behind them once they were safely inside. Already Aria's forces had established a foothold with an armoury set up and a small section for medical aid, though it was doubtful to be needed, odds were you would either be alive and well or dead during this fight. Her eyes briefly closed when two asari moved to coat the blast door in a barrier for extra protection, "That's the first step done."

"Aria," Nyreen stepped closer, concernedly, "I know this place is built like a fortress, but now that Petrovsky knows we're here, is it safe to stay?"

John lowered Beth onto a crate, "She has a point. We're going to be under constant attack."

The asari crime lord folded her arms, "Both of you should know I have no intention of sitting around and waiting for him to break through those doors. But…" she turned to Nyreen, "You left Omega very angry with me. I didn't even know you had returned." Her gaze hardened, "Explain yourself."

Beth's eyes started jumping between the asari and the turian while John looked ready to jump between them should the situation escalate.

"The truth is," Nyreen hesitated, "I never left. I went to great lengths to hide that from you."

"Why?"

Nyreen lowered her gaze, "I couldn't leave. Though with the Cerberus occupation, I wish I had."

"You always said I'd be the death of you." Aria's voice was a mix of scorn, and nostalgia.

John cleared his throat to bring them both back to the present, "Nyreen has military training. She could help us."

"You really do believe the good in everyone, huh, Shepard?" Aria turned her eyes on him, "I suppose by the end of all this you'll have me be one of your goody, goody heroes?"

Beth snorted.

"Nyreen never approved of the way I ran Omega." The asari circled the turian, "Are you willing to fight for it now?"

Nyreen met Aria's stare, "You'll find me very willing to kick Cerberus off this station."

"Good enough for me." John stepped forward and extended his hand.

Looking pleased at the sour reaction on Aria's face Nyreen shook his hand, "It'll be a pleasure to work with you, Commander Shepard."

"See my duty officer." Aria dismissed her, and then added to Bray once she was out of earshot, "Keep an eye on her."

He nodded slightly, "Will do."

Seemingly back to business Aria turned to John and Beth, "Alright you two, we better move fast I am looking forward to revenge."

John folded his arms defiantly, "If you think I'm going to let you go off on a killing spree you can think again."

"I have to agree with her on this one." Beth shrugged while a salarian medic examined her back for injuries, "The fewer troops he has the easier it'll be."

Aria walked towards John until she was right in his face, "If you think you're going to change me, Shepard, you're welcome to try. But just remember that this is my station and my mission." She moved away from him to accept a datapad from a batarian, "Once we get this base set up we can access other parts of the station, familiarise yourself with the layout and meet me at the command console." She started walking away.

"What are you going to do?" John asked.

"Check on my forces." She glanced back, "I need to see how many survived before I plan my next attack."

The salarian finished his scans, "Alright, it looks like you'll be bruised and sore but nothing urgent. Your barrier must be strong to take that much damage."

She gave him thumbs up and he headed towards the small medical bay of the bunker, "What's the plan, boss?"

John leaned against a container beside her, "We help Aria regain control of the station, while trying to avoid civilian casualties."

"This would be the part where we regret not bringing the rest of the crew." Beth stood up and gingerly stretched, "James, Ashley, heck, EDI would be great at hacking this station's systems."

He shrugged, "Well they're not here. So, for now, we make do. I'm going to talk to Aria, find out what our next move is. You head to the armoury and load up on clips we'll meet up before heading out."

"You got it." She nodded sharply and watched him walk towards the command centre; she noted the mercenaries and hired guns greeting him with respect as their commanding officer. Either Aria had given instructions regarding Shepard's place in her organisation, or they had come to see him as the galaxy's best hope that he was.

Beth grinned to herself, "I want to see the look on his face when I blow Aria's brains out."

A second later she clasped a hand over her mouth and her eyes darted around in horror. The only people within hearing range were the two asari conjuring the barrier around the blast doors and it was doubtful they heard over the sounds of explosions outside.

'I am Beth.' She reminded herself with her eyes closed, 'I follow the orders of Commander Shepard. I am ordered to help Aria reclaim Omega. Logical outcome, she reclaims Omega, John receives resources for the war against the Reapers. Stopping the Reapers is priority Alpha One. Logic is sound. Confirm.'

She waited.

'Logic is sound. Orders are confirmed. Primary objective is to assist Aria. Primary objective is to ensure Commander Shepard's survival. Secondary objective is to ensure General Petrovsky's survival. Secondary objective is to eliminate Nyreen Kendros.'

Beth opened her eyes, "Here's hoping I don't get the chance to carry out that last one."

With her mind and programming sorted she picked up her shotgun and strode for the armoury.

(AFTERLIFE/VIP BOX)

General Petrovsky carefully studied the footage that had captured Shepard and Aria since their arrival on the station up to them vanishing into the bunker. Primarily his focus had been on the returning asari and the legendary human, but as the footage went past his attention also included the human mercenary with the duo and her impressive biotic displays.

He cupped his chin thoughtfully, "Run facial recognition software. Identify unregistered human."

The screen changed to a rapid cycle of face from the Cerberus database resembling the woman until the screen displayed a message informing him the file on the woman was restricted.

He blinked in surprise, "Display file."

After a brief moment of processing the file opened. The details it contained were extremely interesting. As were the possibilities.

"Sir," one of his soldiers approached and saluted, "We've received an encrypted transmission on an old channel, the caller says she has important information for you."

"Who is it?" Petrovsky stroked his beard, still intently reading the file.

"Maya Brooks, sir."

The general turned his head sharply, "Patch it through."

"Yes, sir."

A screen flickered on his console and a familiar female face appeared on it, "General."

He frowned, "You aren't a member of Cerberus anymore. Why have you contacted me?"

"I heard rumours that Shepard and Aria planned to retake Omega. Since her fleet left the Citadel I guess she is currently making her attempt."

"So why are you calling?" he folded his arms.

"A member of Shepard's team, now working for Aria, a woman with great biotic potenti-"

"I know her." Oleg interrupted, "I just finished reading her file. What do you know?"

Maya's voice sounded beyond smug, "I know the override that will allow you to take control of her programming."

An eyebrow rose fractionally on Oleg's face, "I assume you are offering this override code in exchange for something. What?"

"Consider it an incentive to do business with me in the future, use her to eliminate Aria. I'll be in touch." The link was severed.

The Cerberus general stroked his beard as a data transfer came through with all the details Brooks had promised. It was certainly an intriguing opportunity…

(ARIA'S BUNKER)

John and Beth joined Aria at the command centre as a salarian named Ahz worked at a console, "How're we doing?"

"We've got schematics coming through now." The salarian answered.

The holoprojector started up and displayed a layout of the station, instantly notable were sections of Omega that were utterly dark, and a lot of those forcefields that blocked access to most areas.

"It seems the general has set them up everywhere." Aria's eyes narrowed as she beheld section after section of her station locked up under the occupation's rule.

John scanned the image himself, "Keeping tight control, we'll have a hard time if we have to deal with those forcefields constantly."

"I'll ask," Beth gestured to one of the dark sections, "What's up with these parts here?"

Ahz joined them, "Powered down, likely to divert energy to supply the forcefields."

"Find the source." Aria looked at her technical aide, "Make it a priority."

"And we'll need full tactical assessment of Cerberus positions." John added, "I don't want to walk into a stronghold unaware."

The salarian nodded, "I'll get right on it."

Aria returned her stare to the hologram, "We lost significant numbers getting onto the station. We don't have an army large enough to take the fight to Cerberus."

"Then we need to find allies." John smiled at Beth humouredly, "Story of my life."

She struggled not to grin.

"There is one merc gang still operating on Omega." Aria examined a datapad offered by Jarrel, "The Talons. They seem to be leading a resistance, for whatever good it's doing."

Beth turned her attention to a monitor as it displayed footage of an assortment of species in matching red armour combating Cerberus forces before retreating into the vast network of Omega's tunnels, "They seem organised."

"They wouldn't have lasted this long if they weren't." Aria folded her arms, "I wouldn't normally pick them but they're all we've got."

John moved to Aria's side, "Then it's time for a diplomatic approach."

A dangerous smile grew on Aria's face, "If the current leader doesn't fall in line, the next one will." Her smile vanished as Bray approached, "What is it?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I… uh, I turned my back for a second to help with supplies, then…"

"You lost her." Aria finished coldly.

He shrank under her glare, "Well…I…"

"It's okay." John stepped forward, possibly saving Bray from an imminent death, "This bunker is locked down, there's no way in or out."

Aria roughly shoved him aside as she stormed back to the hologram, "This bunker has secret access points to other parts of the station, access points which Nyreen knows about." She slammed a fist on the console, "Bray, if I wasn't already short on manpower…" her implied threat of violence hung in the air until John dismissed the batarian who seemed only too happy to vacate the area.

"For now," Beth chimed in, hoping to redirect the crime lord's anger, "We have to recruit the Talons."

"I'll meet you both by the exit at the armoury." Aria waved a hand to dismiss them, "Be ready to move."

The short walk to the armoury didn't give the two Shepards time to talk beyond an assessment of Nyreen: committed but conflicted in regards to Aria, Petrovsky: an opponent not to be underestimated and Aria: out for blood with no thought of consequences.

"She's the most dangerous." Beth decided as they loaded up on thermal clips, "The general is a good guy, just on the wrong side."

John clipped his Avenger into place on his back, "Well then maybe we can reason with him."

"Maybe so, Commander Shepard."

John turned to Beth sharply, "What?"

"Your willingness to consider your opponent's motives and sense of honour are respectable." Beth smiled, "Were you to have remained with Cerberus we could have accomplished great things together."

"Petrovsky?" John lowered his voice, "How are you speaking through Beth?"

"The information was a gift from the woman you knew as Maya Brooks." Beth replied casually, "It allows direct control of this body's conditioning."

"Let her go." John ordered.

Beth nodded, "Of course, Shepard, I look forward to this battle between two brilliant strategists such as ourselves. I shall not take control of this body until the endgame and I shall not use it to spy on you or impede your actions. Your move."

Beth's eyes rolled and she slumped slightly before regaining her composure, "What the hell just happened?"

That will do for another chapter, hope you are enjoying the twists and turns. Please review readers.