Omega

Omega was a vast mining station built in the mined-out husk of a metallic asteroid in the Sahrabarik system of the Omega Nebula, deep in the Terminus Systems. For thousands of years it had been a haven for criminals, terrorists, and outcasts, with no central government and no unifying authority that anyone could recall. Often described as the dark and twisted counterpart to the Citadel, it was ruled in the era of Commander Shepard by the asari warlord Aria T'Loak.

A station built from an asteroid#

Omega was constructed within the hollowed remains of a massive, irregularly shaped metallic asteroid. Its heavy-metal-rich core was mined until the rock was almost entirely hollow, and the resources extracted were used to build the station's first homes, shops, and warehouses. Over the years these structures expanded until they covered every exposed surface, leaving Omega a bizarre patchwork of architecture and technology overlaid on its original, more elegant design. At times the station lay idle and abandoned for centuries before some new band of outlaws reactivated it to make a fresh start. By 2185 it was home to some 7.8 million people of many species, including batarians, vorcha, and Lystheni salarians, along with others unwelcome in Citadel space.

The different species regarded the station through the lens of their own cultures. While humans simply called it Omega, the asari name for it translated as "the heart of evil," the salarian as "the place of secrets," the turian as "the world without law," and the krogan as the "land of opportunity." There was no central government; territory belonged to whichever faction was strongest in a given area, and control changed hands frequently, often through brutal violence.

Aria T'Loak and the rule of the station#

The earliest known ruler of Omega was a turian, who held the station until he was killed by a krogan crime lord. That krogan reigned undisputed for a time, until one of his most trusted lieutenants, the asari Aria T'Loak, defeated him in single combat and took his place. From then on Aria stood as the station's de facto ruler, presiding over its affairs from a balcony overlooking the nightclub Afterlife. Her authority rested not on any office but on her strength and her willingness to use it, in keeping with the only rule Omega truly recognized.

Shepard on Omega#

In 2185 Commander Shepard traveled to Omega to recruit allies for the mission against the Collectors. At the time a plague was ravaging the station's population, killing members of many species while mysteriously sparing humans. The salarian scientist Mordin Solus, a former operative who ran a clinic in one of the slums, had developed a cure; the plague was revealed to be the work of the vorcha, who had aligned with the Collectors to seize the station. With Mordin's cure, Shepard stopped the outbreak and foiled the scheme.

Elsewhere on the station, a vigilante known as Archangel had been waging a one-being war on Omega's criminals and was cornered in the Kima District by its three dominant mercenary groups, the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and the Blood Pack. Shepard signed on with the Blue Suns as a freelancer to reach him, and discovered that Archangel was in fact the turian Garrus Vakarian. Together they fought off the final waves of the assault and escaped, and afterward the mercenary groups covered up their defeat by claiming Archangel had been killed. Shepard could also learn that the three groups had planned to topple Aria once Archangel was dealt with, intelligence that could be carried back to her.

The Cerberus occupation and liberation#

In the years that followed, the Reaper-derived creatures known as Adjutants broke loose from Cerberus research bases beyond the Omega 4 relay and invaded the station. A Cerberus fleet helped destroy them, but the attack proved to be a prelude to an attempt by Cerberus to seize Omega and secure exclusive access to the Omega 4 relay and the Reaper technology beyond it. Aria united Omega's warring gangs against the invaders, but the Cerberus commander General Oleg Petrovsky outmaneuvered her, taking the station hostage and threatening to destroy it level by level until she surrendered and accepted exile.

The occupation gave Cerberus a major strategic advantage during the Reaper invasion of 2186, and they overworked the station's mines and erected energy-intensive force fields to control the population, while continuing dangerous experiments with the Adjutants. Resistance survived, most notably in the Talons gang led by Nyreen Kandros. Aria eventually launched a campaign to liberate Omega, enlisting Commander Shepard's help. Together they crippled the Cerberus fleet, disabled the station's defenses, rallied the Talons, and brought down the force fields, until the civilian population rose in revolt. Shepard disabled the reactor powering the blockades, and the two fought their way to Afterlife, where Petrovsky had made his base. Nyreen Kandros sacrificed herself to destroy a group of rogue Adjutants during the assault. With Petrovsky defeated and his troops standing down, Aria reclaimed the station and announced its liberation, vowing never to lose it again.

Districts#

Omega was divided into numerous districts, each with its own character. The Gozu District was a residential area in the lower levels, home to the Omega Clinic, that fell into chaos after being quarantined during the plague of 2185. The neighboring Kima District was where Archangel and his team were besieged. The Carrd District was controlled by the elcor and became a refuge for merchants fleeing conflict elsewhere on the station. The Tuhi District was a commercial area of shops and businesses near Aria's Bunker, while the Doru District held vital utilities, including a water treatment facility and the station's central support column. Other districts, among them the Fumi, Kenzo, and Zeta Districts, featured in the fighting during the Cerberus occupation and its overthrow.