Chapter 39: The Cerberus Gambit - Part 1
The screens came alive simultaneously across Omega—every display, every advertisement board, every personal omni-tool flashing the same image. A man with cybernetic eyes sitting in an office that screamed wealth and power, cigarette smoke curling around features that looked human until you noticed how the light caught wrong on the enhanced parts.
"The Illusive Man. Broadcasting on every frequency, every network. This is a flex of power that shouldn't be possible."
I stood frozen in Aria's command center, watching the face that had haunted my nightmares since the first time I'd seen it in Mass Effect 2. But this wasn't a game cutscene—this was real-time, and those cybernetic eyes seemed to look directly at me through the screen.
"Marcus Chen," he began, his voice carrying the kind of smooth authority that had convinced millions to follow Cerberus. "You've become quite the problem. Valuable, certainly, but problematic."
Aria's expression darkened as she realized someone had just hijacked every communication system on her station. Her biotics flared unconsciously, the air around her shimmering with barely contained fury.
"He's been planning this for months. Every system compromised, every network mapped. This isn't just a threat—it's a demonstration."
"I'm prepared to offer you a choice," the Illusive Man continued, taking a deliberate drag from his cigarette. "Return to Cerberus voluntarily, with guaranteed autonomy and resources to fight the Collectors, or refuse and watch everyone on Omega suffer the consequences of harboring my property."
The screen shifted to tactical displays showing positions throughout the station—hidden weapon caches, compromised security nodes, personnel files on what appeared to be hundreds of sleeper agents.
"He's had assets in place for months. Maybe since I first arrived. Every conversation monitored, every ally catalogued, every weakness mapped."
Miranda stepped closer, her face pale as she recognized the scope of infiltration. Even Aria looked shaken, realizing that her supposedly impregnable station had been penetrated more thoroughly than she'd imagined.
"Cerberus has been positioning assets on Omega for months," the Illusive Man revealed with casual pride. "Sleeper agents in your security forces, explosives in critical infrastructure, backdoors in every system that matters. I could turn this station into a tomb with a single command."
"He's not bluffing. The displays are showing real intelligence—guard rotations, structural weak points, civilian population centers. He could kill thousands."
The image focused on the Illusive Man's face, cybernetic implants glowing as he turned his attention to Miranda.
"Miranda. I'm disappointed. You had such promise. Surrender Chen, return to your position, and I'll forgive your defection. Refuse, and you're an enemy of humanity's progress."
Miranda's response was immediate and absolute, her voice carrying a steel I'd never heard before.
"I don't work for men who treat people as property."
"I don't fight for organizations that believe humanity's progress requires sacrificing humanity's soul."
"And I don't abandon the people I love for the approval of a monster."
"She said love. Out loud, in front of everyone. In defiance of the most dangerous human in the galaxy."
My heart stopped for a moment, the word hitting me like a physical blow. Love. In all the chaos of enhanced genetics and timeline management, she'd found something worth fighting for.
The Illusive Man's facade cracked for the first time, revealing genuine anger beneath the polished exterior.
"Then you've chosen death. Both of you."
The screens went dark.
[CRITICAL ALERT: CERBERUS ASSAULT TEAMS ACTIVATING]
[MULTIPLE HOSTILE SIGNATURES DETECTED STATION-WIDE]
[PHANTOMS, CENTURIONS, ATLAS MECHS EMERGING FROM HIDDEN POSITIONS]
[STATION SECURITY COMPROMISED - ARIA'S FORCES ENGAGING]
[RECOMMENDATION: IMMEDIATE DEFENSIVE COORDINATION REQUIRED]
Alarms shrieked as hidden Cerberus assets revealed themselves throughout Omega. The station's security feeds showed coordinated strikes hitting critical locations—power stations, communication hubs, civilian evacuation routes.
"This is it. The endgame. Defeat Cerberus here or die trying."
Aria's voice cut through the chaos with the authority of someone who'd ruled through worse.
"All forces, Code Omega! This is total war! Any Cerberus asset dies on sight!"
I activated my comm system, extending Pack Coordination to every allied unit I could reach.
"Zaeed, take your team and secure the power grid! Anto, civilian evacuation routes need covering fire! Kreek—"
The command center exploded inward as Cerberus Phantoms materialized through the walls, their infiltration tech making solid matter irrelevant. Three of them, moving with the fluid grace of biotic warriors designed specifically to capture enhanced targets like me.
The fight was immediate and vicious. These weren't regular Cerberus troops—they were elite operatives with equipment specifically designed to counter my abilities. One launched a neural disruptor that made my System stutter, another deployed a biotic barrier that redirected my attacks back at me.
"They've studied me. Every gene, every ability, every tactical preference. This isn't capture—this is neutralization."
Miranda moved with deadly precision, her biotics countering theirs while I activated Warlord's Legacy under her careful supervision. The transformation was controlled this time, fury guided by tactics instead of overwhelming them.
I tore through the Phantom's defenses while maintaining enough humanity to coordinate with my team, to protect rather than simply destroy. But even with legendary power active, the fight was desperate—these operatives had been built to stop people like me.
When the last Phantom fell, dissolving into nanite particles, the Illusive Man's voice returned through damaged speakers.
"You're fighting humanity's future, Chen. Everything I do, I do to save our species from extinction. You're just too short-sighted to see it."
I wiped blood from my mouth, enhanced healing working on injuries that would have killed a baseline human.
"You're willing to sacrifice millions to maybe save billions. I'm fighting for the ones you'd throw away!"
[MAJOR BATTLE INITIATED - CONTINUATION REQUIRED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: +600 XP FROM INTENSE COMBAT - 1300/5000 TO LEVEL 10]
[MULTIPLE CERBERUS ENEMY TYPES CATALOGUED]
[WARLORD'S LEGACY ACTIVATION: PERFECT CONTROL MAINTAINED WITH MIRANDA ANCHOR]
[BIOTIC ABILITIES: APPRENTICE 34% → JOURNEYMAN 51%]
[RELATIONSHIP MILESTONE: MIRANDA DECLARED LOVE EXPLICITLY]
[ARIA ALLIANCE TESTED: FIGHTING ALONGSIDE MARC AGAINST CERBERUS]
Through the shattered windows of the command center, I could see the broader battle raging across Omega. Cerberus forces had emerged from hiding with military precision, but they'd made a critical error—by attacking Omega openly, they'd united all its factions against a common enemy.
Blood Pack, Eclipse, Blue Suns—mercenary groups that had been killing each other hours ago were now fighting Cerberus side by side. The station's criminal underworld had closed ranks against an outside threat.
"He made a mistake. The Illusive Man thought he could divide and conquer, but Omega doesn't work that way. Attack one part of the station, and every other part takes it personally."
My System chimed with tactical analysis as Cerberus assault teams converged on our position.
[MULTIPLE CERBERUS ASSAULT TEAMS CONVERGING ON USER LOCATION]
[ILLUSIVE MAN PRIORITIZING CAPTURE OVER ALL OTHER OBJECTIVES]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY IMPROVING IF USER RELOCATES TO DEFENSIBLE POSITION]
Through the chaos, I saw them—civilians trapped in a crossfire between Cerberus operatives and station security. Families huddled behind insufficient cover while trained killers exchanged fire around them.
The System recommended retreat to defensible positions. Tactical wisdom suggested preserving my strength for larger battles. But as I watched a Cerberus operative line up a shot at a cowering child, the choice was already made.
"We don't abandon people," I said to Miranda, checking my weapons. "That's what separates us from Cerberus."
She smiled despite the blood on her face, understanding exactly why I was about to charge into a hopeless situation.
"This is who we are. This is why we fight. Not for strategic objectives or galactic politics, but for the individuals who matter."
"Where you go, I go," she said simply.
Together, we dove back into the battle, leaving the relative safety of high ground to save people who would never know our names. Because that's what made us different from the Illusive Man and his utilitarian calculus.
The war for Omega's soul had begun, and I'd chosen which side I was fighting for.
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