FicWad

The MECH star ships had the Defiant completely surrounded with their cannons aimed directly at the Alliance Frigate. Jack, Arcee and Aria were watching from the cockpit as Hotrod worked the controls in front of him.

"Why haven't they fired yet, it's been several seconds since we entered their weapons range?" Arcee asked a little worriedly while looking over to Jack who had a stoic expression.

"Perhaps they want to rattle us first." Aria replied, but then Teletraan spoke up.

"Prime, we are being hailed."

"Put it up on the galaxy map." Jack replied as he and the females walked back into the CIC, the hologram of the galaxy then shifted into the form of a Caucasian man in his late forties, sporting a finely cut beard. He was wearing a General's uniform in MECH's style and colourings, he crossed his arms as he looked at the Commander.

"Jackson Prime, when I saw that it was the Defiant that had come through the bridge, I knew it had to be you. You have earned the respect of many in MECH." he said in a confident but respectful manner.

"I seriously doubt that, especially from your boss." Jack replied.

"On the contrary, the Director admires what you have become, the very pinnacle of humanity. Why do you think he spent billions on rebuilding you, it's just a shame you didn't feel the need to repay that debt by staying with MECH." Petrovsky said in return as he looked at the Prime.

"I was willing to help you to stop the Quintessons and then the Reapers, but your boss had other ideas. And to be frank that didn't sit well with me, so I left." Jack said back.

"A pity, you could have become so much more with us. Maybe you just feared success, we all sabotage ourselves in some way or another, but anyway turn back because you do not stand a chance against my forces. You are after all only one ship." the General replied gaining a lop sided grin from Jack.

"Well who said we were alone."

The Prime then gestured a signal with his hand as outside the ship, the vortex was still open due to the close proximity of the Defiant and the MECH ships. Suddenly Aira's fleet flew out and immediately began firing on the enemy vessels as torpedoes and laser fire tore through the MECH vessels defences. The small Alliance frigate then veered out of the way and started for the station as the battle continued around the space bridge. The Defiant flew toward Omega with a few of the merc cruisers, the rest of the MECH fleet was otherwise engaged with the majority of Aria's forces.

"Interesting, I see that they are not Alliance ships though. May I ask if Aria is with you by any chance?" Petrovsky asked before the Asari stepped beside Jack and gave the MECH commander a cold stare.

"She is and she doesn't have anything to say about you."

"That is because she is not used to being defeated, Aria is quick to anger and that clouds her judgment." the General replied while stroking his beard.

"And she obviously thought that having you along for this suicide run would unsettle me."

Petrovsky then smiled back devilishly.

"Now it's my turn, you see I have upgraded Omega's defences. My cannons will tear your ships apart, even the Defiant. If you don't believe me, scan the station and see for yourself."

Jack looked away for a second.

"Teletraan?"

"The General is correct Prime, the cannons appear to be scaled down versions of a Reaper's beam weapon. MECH must have gained the Alliance/Council scans of Sovereign's remains. If the beams from those weapon emplacements were to hit us directly, the ship would not survive." the AI replied grimly, gaining a nod from the General's hologram.

"So I will say this only once, turn back now!"

"Well if you know anything about me General, you know I don't scare easily. So give us your best shot. End transmission." Jack replied before the hologram disappeared.

"Hotrod get us as close to the station as you can, then we will leave in shuttle one and board the station."

He then looked over to Arcee.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yes, the others are already waiting for us in the shuttle bay." the femme replied with a slight smile.

"Okay then, Aria you are with us…. and Hotrod. The Defiant's yours and Jazz's now, take care of her." he said into his com link.

"We will Prime, and we will head off to the other end of the system as soon as you leave, good luck" the pilot replied as the three entered the elevator. Aria gave Jack a confused look.

"Why is the Defiant not taking part in the battle?" she asked.

"We are here for two objectives Aria, first we are to liberate Omega and second. Make sure MECH does not reopen the rift, not only would it be in our best interests not to let MECH get their hands on any surviving Reaper tech in the galactic core. But also to make sure we don't let anything else come back."

Aria looked even more confused at the last comment Jack made.

"'Anything else', you don't mean the Quintessons do you. I heard they were wiped out when you destroyed their home world."

"Well that's what we all hope, but I am not prepared to take the risk that we might be wrong." he answered in a stoic tone as the elevator doors opened to reveal that Airachnid, Smokescreen, Jazz, Bumblebee, Garrus and Tali were all there (with full gear) waiting for them. Jack placed the Prime octagon on his chest and Aria watched in amazement as the prime armour appeared around his body while Arcee quickly got changed into her own gear.

"Oh, you should have seen her Bee, Mira was gorgeous and very good with her hands." Smokescreen said gaining a wide eyed look from the young bot, Jazz noticed this and patted Bumblebee on the shoulder.

"Ya know the way 'Hotshot' here talks, you would think he was an expert with women."

The yellow/black armoured Autobot burst out laughing as Smokescreen suddenly went quiet.

Jazz then turned back to the previously enthusiastic bot.

"I know you had fun Smoke, hell so did I. But I don't think everyone wants to know the details pal." he carried on before Jack, Arcee and Aria joined the group, the Prime gaining their attention.

"Alright, Arcee, Garrus and Tali will be joining myself and Aria for this mission, the rest of you will stay on board the Defiant."

Smokescreen then looked disappointedly at the Commander.

"Prime, I thought you needed us all for this one."

Jack looked over to the bot with a stoic expression.

"Smokescreen, the rest of you are to remain on board to help defend the Defiant, because as soon as our shuttle is away, you will be heading to the far side of the system to make sure that MECH does not reopen the rift. Jazz, you and Hotrod are in command in mine and Arcee's absence."

"Will do Jack, I better get back up to the CIC. Okay guys lets go." he said as the Bumblebee and Smokscreen followed him to the elevator, Airachnid gave Arcee an encouraging smile before joining the others. Jack then turned back to his team.

"Alright, here's the plan. The Defiant will get us as close to the station as possible so that we won't be stopped by the outer defences, then we launch in shuttle one and land in the secret landing bay that Aria has kept hidden."

He then looked over to the Asari.

"You are sure that MECH won't have found it yet?

Aria simply smiled at Jack, which angered Arcee but the femme kept a tight lid on it.

"Prime, the landing bay was hidden for this exact purpose. Once we are in range, I will transmit the activation code and we will be granted access."

The Commander then looked back to his team.

"Once we are aboard we are to then gain control of the main landing bay so that the rest of Aria's forces can board the station, any questions?"

Garrus was about to speak up when Hotrod's voice echoed throughout he room via the intercom.

"Prime, we will be in range of Omega's defences in the next two minutes."

"Okay you heard the man, everybody aboard now!" Jack shouted as his team (Aria first) got on board shuttle one via the opened hatch. Once inside and the hatch sealed, Arcee turned to the Commander.

"I swore I saw a MAKO ground assault vehicle in place of the old battered shuttle that we stole from the Tidal Wave just now."

Jack smiled at her.

"That's because you did, Anderson let me swap that piece of junk for one of the MAKO's that was on the Citadel. You never know when one may come in handy."

The femme smiled back as Aria watched the two curiously, meanwhile Tali was looking over to Garrus who was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Garrus, don't worry. We will find Shen." she said in caring and encouraging tone, he looked over to her and for a second that he could almost see the beautiful smile she had through her visor and smiled slightly back.

"I hope so Tali, thank you."

The shuttle pilot then looked back at his passengers.

"Ok Sir, we are ready to go."

Alright, everyone buckle up." the Prime replied as they all fastened themselves into their seats.

PRIME EFFECT 3

The Defiant and the Merc cruisers flew toward the Omega station at top speed as the cannons on Omega's exterior powered up, a bright red light glowing in the firing chamber before it let out a powerful energy blast that shot by the Alliance frigate, narrowly missing the hull as Hotrod turned the ship on it's side.

The weapons fired again as the Defiant performed a barrel roll, again missing the attacks by mere metres. The merc cruisers though weren't so lucky as one of the shots hit and sliced through the portside cruiser, splitting it in two. While the starboard side cruiser's engine was hit, making the vessel lose it's ability to control it's direction and it spun out of control. As it erratically headed toward the station, the two cruisers following the Defiant from behind veered off and stayed out of range as the Alliance frigate carried on.

"Defiant, we can't go any further. The station's defences will cut us to shreds if we do."

"Roger that, we will take of the defences." Hotrod replied over the com. The Defiant drew closer, still narrowly evading contact with the enemy fire, it then fired a spread of torpedoes which impacted with several of the weapon emplacements perfectly.

"Nice shooting Teletraan." the Autobot exclaimed.

"Thank you" the AI replied.

"Okay, launching shuttle in four, three, two..."

The Defiant's shuttle bay doors opened up and shuttle one flew out and toward the lower section of the station as the the Alliance frigate pulled away and headed in the opposite direction, the remaining Merc cruisers also flew past the Defiant and toward the station, now that the defences were taken offline.

"Thanks for the lift Defiant." Jack said over the com.

"Yeah, you welcome ground team. Good luck" Hotrod replied before looking at his console s screen.

"Setting course for the rift's coordinates." Teletraan stated, the Defiant then continued toward the other side of the system as the rest of Aria's fleet began moving toward Omega, now that they had taken out the rest of MECHs forces at the space bridge. Meanwhile the shuttle now that it was inside the station's defence grid moved down to the lower levels as it neared the secret hanger.

"We are almost at the given coordinates." the pilot stated as the passengers unhooked them selves from their seats and prepared, Jack and Aria stepped next to the pilot, the Asari pointed out towards a side of the outer hull.

"There it is, now keep the ship steady while I activate it." Aria told the pilot while activating her holo-tool, but after a moment nothing happened. Jack looked out at the spot and shook his head.

"Are you sure we have the right spot?" he asked, gaining a glare from the Asari. But it soon turned into a smile as part of the wall retracted, revealing the landing bay.

"You see, Omega welcomes me back with open arms."

The shuttle then started to move towards the bay, but suddenly an energy shield projected itself across the opening blocking their entrance.

Aria stare opened mouthed in disbelief at what happened in front of her.

"Impossible, there is no way he would have figured it out."

Jack looked over to her with a stoic expression.

"Is there another way in?" he asked gaining a head shake from Aria.

"No, this was the only way in that I thought they would not pick up on."

Arcee looked into the cockpit.

"Then why don't we just destroy the field's power source?" she said, gaining a smile from the Prime, who took a seat next to the pilot and began a scan of the area. A holo-screen appeared in front of him and tapped what looked like a energy signal next to the door and passed it through to the Pilot's interface.

"Alright, arm the missile launcher and destroy that section." he said. The pilot nodded and worked his controls, Aria though gave Jack an angry look.

"Wait I think I can hack the….." she started to say before looking back outside. One of the cannon's that were situated on either side of the shuttle activated and aimed toward the spot the Prime designated before firing a missile which hit the spot directly, causing a small explosion. The field then faded to nothing and the shuttle moved in and landed. Aira looked at Jack angrily.

"Well we may be in, but I will be sending you the bill for that Prime." she said calmly, though really she must have been fuming.

"Your welcome, no everyone put you breather helmets on and be ready to move." he replied back before his breather helmet grew out of the back of his armour and formed around his head.

Once everyone was inside the station and out of the vacuum filled landing bay, Tali locked the door and stabilised life support. Everyone else then removed their helmets and took a deep breath. Aria then looked over to Jack.

"Prime I apologise, if I had stopped you from blowing the door's power supply and hacked the door like I wanted. Then we would have had to fight our way in here."

Garrus and Tali looked out to the shuttle through the observation window and saw several MECH soldiers, their lifeless bodies floating around aimlessly.

"You would think they would have had their helmets locked down, ready for any possible depressurising of the atmosphere." the Turian stated, gaining a chuckle from the Quarian. Jack nodded at Aria while Arcee looked at a screen being emitted from her holo-tool.

"Okay we are only a short distance from a security station, from there Tali can hack into the system and open up the main landing bays for the rest of the mercs to land."

"Without the reinforcements, the five of us don't stand a chance of retaking the station." Jack said as Aria took a step forward and opened the door nearest to them and walked into the adjourning corridor.

"Well lets get moving then." she said as the others joined her.

As they moved through the dimly lit and cargo filled corridor, Jack was reminded how dirty Omega was. Not just in how the station looked, but in how it was run. Aria ran the place like a dictatorship, that was obvious. The only people that mattered to her were the rich and the powerful, but they were out numbered by the poor and mistreated. This sort of divide in society was in the process of being eliminated in the Alliance, and that was mainly down to the Cybertronians.

Having seen what happens to a society that had been split down the middle, those that were privileged and those not so. This knowledge came to them via the great war which was started when members of their species were no longer happy with the caste system that the high council had enforced on the population. Over the time that he was on Earth, Optimus Prime had seen that humanity were on a similar course and once the war had ended, had pursued an end to such a path.

Pressing forward with an ideal that everyone was free to make their own choices and not be held down by rules and regulations that were unjust. As of the time when the Reaper war had started, this initiative was well under way. But here there was no such hope for the people living under the weight of the corruption and villainy of those in power. Jack was brought out of his thoughts by three MECH soldiers who walked around the corner and spotted the group before opening fire.

The ground team took cover behind various cargo containers, Arcee fired back with her SMG as Garrus shot on through the head with his sniper rifle, Tali was taking cover next to him. Then one of the enemies dropped off a package on the floor before activating his holo-tool. Jack fired back and killed another soldier before recognising what he was doing.

"Turret, everyone stay down!" he yelled back as the package mass shifted into a weapon emplacement which began firing on the group without sign of stopping.

"What now, that turret has us pinned down." Arcee asked Jack who looked over to Aria who was smirking back at the couple.

"What, you have something you want to tell us?" the Prime shouted over the gunfire.

"Watch and learn." she answered back cryptically as her hands started to pulse with blue energy, she then peeked over her cover and saw the turret and the engineer (the soldier) who was controlling it with his holo-tool. She then gestured towards the device and it suddenly started to rise off the floor before she punched her fist toward the engineer, sending the turret slamming into him and exploding, sending the engineer flying to the ground. Everyone then got up from cover as Aria then lifted the soldier off of the ground with this blue energy and then slammed him hard into the ceiling, bones could be heard cracking before she released the enemy, his dead body falling to the ground with a thud.

"Biotics, very impressive." Garrus said as Arcee and Jack looked at him confused.

"You two never seen an Asari use biotics before?" the Turian replied.

"Never had the chance before." Jack answered with Arcee nodding in agreement. Aria turned and smirked at the two.

"How you ever fought without biotics is beyond me." she said. Tali and Garrus took either side of the group and kept watch down both sides of the corrider for any more of MECH patrols.

"How do you use biotics?" the Arcee asked curiously, which gained a sigh from the Asari.

"Well as far as I am aware, my people are the only species in the galaxy that can. It is the ability to create and control gravity fields. Don't ask me how we can, I don't know. We just can."

The femme nodded as Jack looked down the corridor from where the enemy soldiers came from.

"It's impressive I give you that, but lets keep moving." The Prime said gaining a nod from everyone in the group, they then carried on up the corridor as the battle carried on outside the station.

The remaining ships of Aria's fleet kept to the side of Omega which was still damaged from the Defiant taking out that side's defences, but were now in battle with the remaining MECH cruisers that had caught up with them from the space bridge. Meanwhile Jack's team had made it to the security station and were preparing to attack, Tali was looking at the map on her holo-tool before gesturing how many soldiers were in the room with her hands to the Prime who nodded back. he then turned to the others.

"Right there are five enemies in the Security station behind me, so Aria if you can go in first and draw their attention with that 'magic' of yours."

"Yes I can and it is not magic Prime. I will go in and erect a barrier, that will allow the rest of you to enter and then I will drop it so you can finish them off."

Arcee looked at the Asari with a slight confused look.

"You can do that?" she asked gaining a annoyed sigh from Aria who readied herself at the door.

"Yes, now lets get on with it." she said, not hiding her annoyance of the Autobot as she pressed the door control panel, Garrus and Tali waited on the left of the door and Arcee and Jack on the other as the door slid open and Aria walked in. The moment she entered the room she saw three of the troops near the main control console, with the other two just in front of her. They all raised their weapons at her.

"Stop right there, this area is off limits." the leader spoke, but the Asari merely laughed it off.

"You cant tell me what to do on my own station." she responded before her fists started to glow. The lead soldier then realised who she was.

"Aria T'Loak, kill her now!" he shouted as the other troopers began firing at her, but the bullets stopped in mid air just in front of her (barrier) as they caused a ripple to pass over the air in front of her. She then immediately punched in front of her which took the leader off of his feet as if he had been hit in the face. Jack and the others then charged in as Aria shortened the barrier to cover just her as the others fired and took out each and every soldier in the room that was still standing. She then walked over to the MECH lead soldier who was just recovering, she then lifted him into the air with her biotics and looked at his helmet. Jack and Garrus stood beside her and noticed it too.

"He is wearing a vid-cam in his helmet." Garrus observed as Tali went over to the security console and hacked it with her holo-tool. Aria stared into the cam and smiled darkly.

"Can you see this Oleg, we are coming for you. I will have Omega back." she then flung the soldier across the room, his face smashed when his body hit the wall. Suddenly the console came to life and an orange screen appeared, Tali smiled before looking over to the others.

"That's it, I am in and the main landing bays are now open for the reinforcements." she said as the others stood around her and watched on the monitors as the merc cruisers began docking with the station and Aria's forces started fighting with the MECH soldiers. Meanwhile inside his office, Olega Petrovsky was watching on his monitors as the ground war had started on the station, he then turned toward a chess set. It had real chess pieces on one side and holographic pieces on the other. He then picked up a pawn and knocked over it's holographic equivalent.

"So it begins" he said with a slight smile before activating his com link.

"Double check our defensive lines and prepare to release the Adjutants. Hold fast and true against those that now invade our station and we will prevail."

While fighting continued in the docking areas of Omega, down in the lower sections, Jack's team were moving up to the secret base that Aria's troops were going to meet them at. Jack had Garrus and Tali watching the rear, making sure that they were not being followed.

"So you are absolutely sure about this place Aria?" the Prime asked while he, Arcee and the Asari walked through the dimly lit tunnel.

"I am entirely sure of this Prime, remember this is my station." she replied with a smile, obviously attempting to flirt with Jack. Arcee though just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms and looked unimpressed with Aria.

"Just like you said that MECH would never find your 'secret' landing bay, and we all know how that turned out."

The Asari was about to speak when a familiar voice was heard from the shadows.

"Well Aria always like to exaggerate things."

Everyone turned and pointed their weapons at the shadowed area where the voice had come from as a hooded figure walked out slowly.

"Who goes there?" Arcee warned before the new arrival walked into the light and revealed that she was a female Turian, Aria immediately lowered her weapon and smirked.

"Nyreen, what the hell are you doing here?"

"My men and I are mainly playing cat and mouse with the MECH soldiers, thanks to these tunnels." the Turian replied.

"'My tunnels', I am sure glad I showed them too you." the Asari said with a hint of affection in her voice.

"If you hadn't, then the resistance would have died months ago." Nyreen said as Jack and Arcee stood either side of Aria and lowered their weapons.

"From what I have heard and seen recently, Aria doesn't trust easily. You two must be close." Jack said gaining a knowingly look from Nyreen before she looked back to Aria.

"I don't know, are we close Aria?" she said with a somewhat coy like tone.

"Jackson Prime, this is Nyreen Kandros, former Turian Military. We go way back." she said with a smile aimed at the Turian female.

"You said you and your men, where are they?" Jack asked.

"We had heard that the station was under attack from outside forces, so I brought a squad up here. Figured that if anyone boarded the station then here would be a good place to find out who it was. Should have known that it would be you Aria."

"Yes well, I don't like people messing with my stuff. Look Nyreen, I have questions like a ton of them. But we need to get to my bunker first and regroup with my forces who are also heading there."

"Yes, the others should be back any moment and then we move." Jack added as Arcee looked down at the pistol that Nyreen was carrying.

"Nice gun, you ready to put it to good use?" she asked as Nyreen smirked at her and equipped it.

"You have no idea how ready." she replied gaining a smile from the femme. Then Garrus and Tali returned and were walking up to Jack when Nyreen saw Garrus and her eyes widened.

"Jack, we are in the clear, no MECH forces at our rear." the Turian replied.

"Garrus, is that you?" Nyreen said softly, gaining the male Turian's attention. He looked at her for a moment before realisation kicked in.

"Nyreen?" he said in a shocked manner. Tali just looked between the two as both Turians began getting closer.

"Garrus, it's been a long time." she said as she noticed the scars on the right side of his face and reached out with a hand to touch them.

"What happened here?" she asked.

"Occupational hazard, you know the usual." he replied as he let her gently stroke that side of his face.

"You haven't lost your good looks though, or your sense of humour I see." she chuckled as Tali just kept quiet and watched the two in shocked silence. Arcee noticed and walked to the Quarian's side as Jack stepped forward.

"Garrus, care to explain?"

The Turian turned to his friend. Nyreen doing the same.

"Jack, I will tell you later once we are out of harms way." he replied, the Prime nodded in return before looking at Nyreen.

"About your men, do you know where they are?"

The female Turian then looked at her holo-tool and saw three blips on the map.

"They are in a room just a little ahead of us that way." she pointed.

"Okay then lets move." jack said as the group started moving, only Tali was still standing with Arcee next to her.

"You alright?" she asked the Quarian.

"I…don't know, I just…." she managed to say before walking to catch up with the others, Arcee just stood and watched her friend before shaking her head and heading after her.

After running down a few hundred feet down the tunnels, the group came to an opening that overlooked shown a large view of the Omega station, the metallic pillars dangling from the giant asteroid of which the station was built on. Nyreen look around before her eyes came across a sight that made them narrow in anger. The others noticed too as they saw the two Turian and one Batarian lying dead on the ground just ahead of them. As the group moved around the bodies, Garrus, Nyreen and Arcee bent down and examined the bodies. The female Turian bowed her head and shook it slightly, Garrus placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault Nyreen, don't blame yourself." she looked up to him and gave him a slight smile.

"Thank you Garrus, but I should have been with them."

Arcee noticed some wounds on the necks of the corpses, her eyes widened in response.

"What the hell is that?" she said as she saw a blue like mucus seeping out of the wounds. Jack then caught a glimpse of Aria's face, it was one of shock and horror.

"Aria what is it?" he asked as everyone looked at her.

"Get back now." she warned as she stepped away from the corpses which as if on command started to flinch erratically, the group then followed the Asari's lead as the three corpses started to mutate and change, their skin turned dark blue with a synthetic look. Their eyes opened to reveal a husk like blue optics, giant neon light blue pus sacs grew out of their backs.

The right arms of the once-were corpses then shifted and grew into what looked like bio-cannons with the same light blue energy flowing into them via tubing that was connected to the same pus sacs. They then opened their mouths and started to vomit, a bleak like substance splattering on the floor as a large amount of tendrils then flopped out and hung from the inside of their now agape mouths. Everyone just watched in shock at what had transpired in front of them.

"Adjutants!" both Aria and Nyreen said at once, making the creatures look directly at the group. The Adjutants just stared at them for a moment before one made a deafening roar and the three leapt at Jack and the others, Jack rolled out of the way as one landed where he was standing, he then turned and fired his rifle at the creature, unloading the entire clip into it before it fell to the ground.

The second one leapt towards Aria and Arcee, but the Asari stopped it in it's tracks and held it in the air with her biotics, before throwing it off the large balcony and down into the depths below. It's cries could still be heard as the third attacked Garrus, Tali and Nyreen. The Turian male pushed the Quarian out of the way as the Adjutant landed in front of him and swiped him to the side. Nyreen then gasped before firing her pistol into it's face as it turned and attacked her. Tali recovered and fired her shotgun into it's back, exploding the large blue sac's that lined it's back, bright blue goo splattering it's surroundings.

"Don't let that blue substance touch you." Nyreen warned Tali, who nodded and kept firing into the creature's back until it finally fell to the ground dead. Tali then started to walk towards Garrus, but was surprised to see Nyreen had beat her there and was helping Garrus to his feet.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, no real damage. Tali you alright?" he asked and the Quarian nodded in return as Jack and Arcee looked over the creature's bodies, the latter was scanning them with her holo-tool.

"Jack, these things have Reaper tech in them. And their cells are not dead either, they are still replicating." Arcee said while the Prime looked down at them with a stoic look.

"Garrus, doe you think this is what Shen was on about in his message to you. Could these be what MECH are changing people into?"

Garrus looked down at the creatures.

"It would make sense, but they are almost like Husks. But those bodies were changed from what…..bite wounds."

"That's how they make more of themselves." Arcee said as she looked over the results on her holo-tool.

"From what I can tell, the Adjutants infect their prey with a virus that then mutates their bodies and turns them into an Adjutant."

"Like the Borg?" Garrus replied gaining a look from Jack, while Tali chuckled.

"Garrus, you really need to stop watching Star Trek."

"Well Jack, the vids were from your own personal collection." he said back, gaining a chuckle from Arcee who looked up at the Prime and smiled.

"He's got you there Jack."

"Okay, lets get back to the mission now okay." he said suddenly feeling embarrassed. His team just continued to laugh while Aria and Nyreen looked on in bemusement.

"How far before we reach your bunker, Aria?" Jack asked, then Aria held her left hand up to the Prime while reaching to her ear with her right.

"Hold on Prime, I am receiving a call. Bray report."

"Aria, we have reached the bunker. But the Talons are refusing us entry." the Batarian said over the com making the Asari look at Nyreen with daggers.

"Do you know anything about this, because to my understanding the Talons are just a small merc group."

"They were before I took them over and gave them purpose. And when MECH began their occupation, we moved down to the bunker and launched a guerrilla war. Hoping to help the people of Omega, the ones you failed." Nyreen replied.

"You will let my people in there now." she said angrily.

"Of course, once we are there ourselves. So lets move." Nyreen said, gaining a smile from Arcee as Jack and the others followed the female Turian, Aria just stood and seethed at her before following them.

PRIME EFFECT 3

The journey to the bunker was uneventful as Jack's team made it to the heavily fortified entrance to Aria's bunker, which as of this moment was under the command of the Talons. As Aria walked over and spoke to Bray and her forces who were waiting as well, Nyreen activated her holo-tool and the reinforced doors opened, allowing them all to enter.

They then entered a large room with balconies risen high above them. Jack looked around and saw that Nyreen had quite the operation going on, he couldn't help but be impressed. Aria though looked disinterested as she headed over to the command station and began looking through the data files.

"Aria, that is restricted information. For Talons eyes only." she said as she stepped in the Asari's way, but she was pushed aside.

"Nyreen I am very impressed with what you have done here, but your men are now under my control. You of all people know what happens to those who argue with me" Aria said in a matter of fact tone.

"And if I say no….. what you'll kill me, My men will not stand for that." the female Turian said, as a number of her troops started to look over at the two as they argued. Jack then stepped forward between the two.

"Hey remember the enemy is out there, not in here."

Both females turned an cursed under their breath before Garrus stepped forward and looked at the security footage. It was showing all the civilians in lockdown in their homes and public places, held back by force fields.

"So what is the plan here?"

"I want to free the people and let them help us take back Omega."

Nyreen looked back at the Asari in shock.

"That's your plan, you want to throw civilians at the MECH forces. I knew you didn't give a damn about them."

"On the contrary, I care a great deal for 'my people'. I just want to give them the opportunity to fight for their homes." Aria replied coyly as she stepped into the center of the room and activated her holo-tool. Suddenly all the monitors in the room focused on the Asari.

"What's she doing?" Nyreen said looking over to one of her men.

"She is over ruling our commands and has taken control of the intercom." he said as he frantically typed at his control station.

Aria smiled back at the female Turian.

"Like I said, Omega is mine to control. Now watch and learn." she said before pressing a button on her holo-tool. Suddenly every monitor and screen on the station showed her face, gaining the attention of whoever was around to notice. Be that MECH soldiers or civilians. Even the screens in Pretovsky's office showed her as he watched.

"People of Omega, I have returned. MECH believes that they have defeated you, that they have you under their 'control'… they are gravely mistaken. Because you are the lawless of this galaxy, you can never be defeated, never be controlled. Be ready, for the chance to strike back at your oppressors is coming. Together we will take Omega back!" she exclaimed loudly with her arms outstretched. In the room and all over the station, people began cheering, punching the air as the MECH soldiers watched from their side of the force fields. The screens and monitors then shut off as Aria walked back to the group. Nyreen shook her head in disgust.

"I know what you are doing Aria and I don't like it." she said before she saw some civilians being helped by some of her men.

"I have civilians that need evacuating, we will discuss this later." she said to the Asari before walking over to her men. Jack walked over to Aria.

"What are you doing Aria?" he said as Arcee stood beside him and Tali went over to Garrus.

" Prime, the people of Omega. My people are always up for a good fight and when it breaks out, they will be ready. And Nyreen cares to much for them to just sit by and watch them be slaughtered, so she will make sure her forces are out there too."

"Well I am with Nyreen on this one Aria, we don't put civilians in the firing line." the Prime protested, this did not go unnoticed by the female Turian who looked over to see him berate the Asari.

"Maybe that is how you deal with things in the Alliance, but this is Omega. So you better get used to it." the Asari said back with a stoic look. Jack shook his head before looking over to Arcee who was in the middle of call. Once done she looked back at the Prime.

"Just got a message from Hotrod, they are nearly in range of the MECH ships at the rift's location."

As Jack and Arcee spoke, Tali was standing beside Garrus and watching him work as he looked through the database.

"What are you looking for Garrus?"

"Anything that will tell me where Shen is, but the MECH sections of the database are encrypted."

The Quarian placed a hand on the Turian's in support.

"Let me." she said softly as Garrus then stepped aside and let her activate her holo-tool and connect it to the console.

"Right my decryption program is now running. This should take a few minutes." she added as Garrus smiled back at her.

"Thanks Tali."

The Quarian then looked out toward Nyreen, this gained Garrus's attention as he wondered what she was looking at.

"So, you and Nyreen go back a while huh?" she asked.

"Yes, we served in the Turian military many years ago." he replied.

"And you two were close?"

"We 'were', but that is in the past." Garrus answered sheepishly which caught the Quarian's attention even more.

"What do you mean Garrus?"

"I mean Tali, that I am focusing on the here and now." he replied before looking down to the ground and sighing.

"And also, there is nothing between us now anyway." he said.

"Are you sure, she certainly hasn't forgotten you." Tali replied.

"well even if she hasn't, that doesn't mean I feel the same though."

Garrus..." the Quarian said making the Turian turn to face her and speak before she finished what she was saying.

"Tali, I don't know exactly how to say this so I will just go ahead and say it, there is someone else I am interested in now and she is standing right..."

Garrus was cut off by the console which was beeping loudly and information was flowing down the screen unencrypted.

"It worked, we have access to MECH's database." the Turian said as Jack and Arcee joined them. Tali though was still looking a little anxious in her posture.

"Have you found Shen?" the Prime asked as Aria walked over.

"Just a second...(beep), got it." Garrus replied. before his expression dropped.

"What is it?" Tali asked.

"The MECH soldiers found him and took him to the Adjutant labs for processing." Garrus said.

"Where are those labs?" Jack asked as the Turian typed into the console and brought up a map of a level of the station.

"The labs are near the auxiliary power distribution hub that is connected to the power core" Tali said while Garrus had gone quiet. The Prime then looked at screen himself.

"Please tell me that hub controls all the force fields on the station?" Jack asked.

"Not completely, but if I can access this power sub-station on the other side of Omega, then I can divert the power lines and make that hub the primary source for those force fields." the Quarian replied, gaining a smile from the Prime before he looked back to the others, Nyreen had joined them at this point.

"Alright here's what we do. Garrus, Nyreen, Aria and myself will head to the labs and liberate anyone who is being held there." he then looked at Garrus who gave Jack a nod in return.

"We will then head on through to hub and sabotage it. Tali in the meantime will head on over to sub-station and divert the power lines. You should get there before we make it to the hub, so just get straight on it." the Prime said to the Quarian who nodded.

"Wait Jack, who goes with Tali then. You aren't going to send her alone are you?" Garrus asked, gaining a smile from Tali and an awkward look from Nyreen who was surprised to see such concern from the Turian male.

"Of course not Garrus…..Nyreen…" the Prime replied.

"Yes Prime, I will send a squad of my men with her." she then looked over to Garrus.

"They will make sure she completes her mission and returns safely." she added with a caring tone to Garrus who nodded in gratitude as did Tali, Arcee then placed her hand in the air, gaining Jack's attention.

"Jack, what about me?"

"Arcee, I want you to remain here and coordinate the uprising with Aria's forces and the Talons. But you are not to launch the attack until the force fields are down. Aria's forces will lead the assault and the Talons will support the civilians who want to fight."

Nyreen smiled at Jack.

"Thank you Prime, I am glad that I am not the only one here who is worried about the civilians." she said before glaring at Aria.

"Well they are to support those that want to fight, or help those who do not to safety." Jack added. Aria just looked at Prime with what appeared to be an expression of half lust and half loathing, it was quite the combination.

"Prime I hope you remember who's operation this is. I will not be dictated on my own station." she said with a hint of anger, but Jack stood his ground.

"Well it is not 'your station' yet and you accepted my help. So because of that I will not accept civilian casualties, not if they don't want to be involved in the fighting.

Aria gritted her teeth as her anger started to show in her face as she stared daggers at Jack, but he still kept his stoic appearance as he walked closer to her.

"In the end Aria, what is it that you want. Is it to free Omega and it's people, or are you just after revenge. If it is the latter then you can stay here, because I will not allow a loose cannon to ruin our chances of success." The Prime added, causing Aria to nearly lose it in front of everyone as they watched.

"You will not allow…." she spat back before looking Jack up and down, she then let a half smile grace her lips as her look of lust showed on her face again.

"Very well Prime, we'll play it your way…..for now." she finished before turning her back on him and walking away. As she walked past Bray, he looked over to Jack and smiled before following her. Nyreen and Arcee were watching too, the female Turian had a look of utter shock on her face.

"He said 'no' to Aria and she accepted." she said, surprise evident in her voice. Arcee smiled while keeping her eyes on Jack.

"Not the first time either. Garrus told me that Jack said no to her earlier, back on board the Citadel."

"Unbelievable, the more I hear and see of this Prime. The more I like him." she said before looking over to the femme.

"Is he single?" she then asked, making Arcee's smile disappear as her face became serious. The femme then crossed her arms.

"No…. he is not." she stated in a matter of fact way before walking off.

"Pity." Nyreen said before looking over to Garrus who was with Tali. The Quarian noticed this and suddenly became uncomfortable.

"I better get ready for my mission." she said in slight hurt way before walking off.

"Tali wait.." was all Garrus could say before she walked off, not noticing that Jack had walked beside him.

"Is everything alright?" he asked gaining the Turian's attention.

"Jack, sorry… I was." was all he could say before taking a deep breath.

"It's okay Garrus, Arcee told me that things were awkward between the three of you." Jack said.

"Three of us?" Garrus said in return, slightly confused.

"Yes… you, Tali and Nyreen. And since the mission won't be starting for another few minutes, I thought you could fill me in on the details between you and Nyreen. Like you said you would earlier." the Commander replied. Garrus sighed and looked over to Tali who was talking with some of the Talons before looking back to his friend.

"Well, I met Nyreen when I was a young soldier in the Turian Military, this was years before C-Sec. We were both stationed on the Menae, it is one of two moons that orbit's Palaven. After working together a few times we.. what is the Human term…. we hit it off. We found that we liked the same things and quickly fell for each other big time."

"I see, so what changed?" Jack asked curiously.

"After two years together, we were given an assignment to take down a pair of mercs who were raiding Turian shipping lanes. When we boarded their ship, we split up to take them down. But she got herself captured, and they said they would kill her if I didn't let them go."

"What happened?" the Prime asked.

"She told me not to let them go, but I loved her, so I chose her and let them go. She then immediately told our superiors what had happened and I was discharged from the military for not doing my duty. We Turians take our duty and honour very seriously."

Jack looked at him in shock.

"She got you fired? I mean how could she?"

"She told me that she appreciated what I did, but could not condone it and had to report my behaviour. Before I left she told me she loved me."

"Well she has a funny way of showing it." Jack replied, Garrus shook his head in response.

"Jack, Turians aren't like Humans. We can't let ourselves be guided by our feelings all the time. The military is in our blood, we are born into it. So to not follow your orders to the latter can be seen as almost treasonous, depending on what your orders were to begin with. I understood why she did it, but I too saw that she would always put her duty before her personal feelings, So I cut ties with her."

So how did you end up at C-Sec, I guess your family wasn't happy." the Prime said in return.

"You would be right, my father is a very 'by the book' person. He had a saying, ' do things right or don't do them at all'. He was disappointed, but since I had a flawless record before Nyreen. He instead got me a job with C-Sec (he was working there himself), though he did give me some advice." the Turian replied.

"What was that then?"

"Relationships and work do not mix, don't make that mistake again." Garrus said as he tried to impersonate his father.

"So is that why you have held back from Tali all this time?" Jack asked inquisitively.

"Partly, I guess a part of me didn't want to get hurt again. And also why I give you and Arcee a hard time about it whenever you too start flirting with each other in front of the others."

Jack gave his friend a slight smile.

"Garrus, I am not going to stop my crew or my team mates from fraternizing. If I did that, then you have to ask yourself. What are we fighting for in this war."

Garrus gave Jack a look of understanding as he nodded.

"I see what you mean."

"So have you told her yet?" the Prime asked.

"I was about to, but…" the Turian said, then Jack gently motioned him towards the Quarian.

"Then I suggest you go over there and tell now before she goes, Arcee also told me that Tali was concerned with Nyreen and yourself. It's probably best to dispel and lingering doubt. Want me to make it and order?"

Garrus smiled back at Jack.

"That won't be necessary Jack." he said before walking over to Tali who was just going through her gear. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around and he could almost see a sad smile form under the purple visor she wore.

"Garrus I wasn't expecting…"

"Tali, what's wrong?" he asked sensing the discomfort in her voice.

"I just thought you would be heading off with Nyreen now." she replied.

"No, Jack's still setting things up. Look that is the reason I wanted to speak to you." he said, but then Tali cut him off.

"Garrus, you don't need to say anything." she replied, gaining a confused look from the Turian.

"What you mean I don't have to.." he asked back.

"I mean you and Nyreen right, she seems really nice. I am happy for you." Tali said, trying to sound as sincere as possible, yet her tone betrayed the hurt she felt. The Turian's eyes widened as he realised what she was saying.

"No, Tali it isn't.."

"Let me finish please, I like you Garrus…. I like you a lot. And I was hoping that maybe you…." she said as she looked away for a moment.

"..But I know that this couldn't be, I mean I am stuck in this suit and I, you deserve to be with someone who can be with you fully. In every way that I can not."

She then started to move away but Garrus stopped her and got in her way.

"Tali, I don't want Nyreen."

The Quarian looked up at the Turian.

"You….don't?"

"I want you." he said back, he could see through her visor that her white eyes had widened as what he just said sunk in.

"Really, I uh, I mean…sorry, I…..Oh!" she replied back in shock, as they stood there looking at each other, Garrus saw a full beaming smile appear on her face through her visor.

"Thank you." she replied happily, but then she pulled back slightly.

"You tell me this now!"

Garrus shot her a confused look.

"Wait what?"

The Quarian then crossed her arms, her posture looked a little confrontational.

"You wait until I am about to go on a mission and then tell me. I have been waiting for ages.."

"I have been wondering when the best… , I mean I tried to tell you back…" the Turian replied back, but then was went silent as Tali pulled him into an embrace. For several long seconds they remained silent as they enjoyed the moment, unbeknownst to the two, Nyreen was watching from the other side of the room. Tali then looked up into the Turian's eyes.

"Can we even make this work, I mean I am stuck in this enviro-suit."

"But not for long through right, I mean the Geth are helping your people right now." he said back, earning a nod from the Quarian.

"That is true, but I don't think I can wait that long, give me some time. Maybe I can find some way for us to be together sooner, some kind of medication or bio stabilizer."

Garrus then looked down into her eyes.

"Take as much time as you need Tali, I can wait. I'll never give up on you…. Ever, I promise." he replied in a soft tone and she responded by hugging him more.

"I know, thank you Garrus. So…. I guess we have some things to discuss after this mission is over."

"Looking forward to it." he replied as he held her close. Then one of the Talon soldiers called over to the Quarian.

"Oh, I have to go. I will see you later then." she said happily as she started to walk away, Garrus smiled as he watched her walk off, but then she turned to him.

"I nearly forgot, I made an upgrade for your holo-tool, it is uploaded onto that console. I think you will find it useful." she said before waving to him and then leaving with the Talon group that was assigned to her. Garrus waved back before walking over to the console that she had pointed out to him. He then activated his holo-tool and downloaded the file named 'Garrus1'. Soon as it was finished he activated the program which changed the holo-tool into a holo-blade. The Turian smiled down at the new melee weapon his 'girlfriend' had made for him.

"Thanks Tali." he said to himself.

"Garrus, it's time." Jack called over, he was standing with Aira and Nyreen as Arcee and Bray were talking. Garrus nodded and deactivated his holo-tool before walking over and joining them.