Mass Effect: Invasion 1

Issue #1 Cover: Carnevale version

Mass Effect: Invasion 1 is the first issue of the 4-issue Mass Effect: Invasion comic series published by Dark Horse Comics.

Release Information

• Publication date: October 19, 2011
• Tagline: She'll go to any length... To protect what's hers.
• Writer: Mac Walters, John Jackson Miller
• Artist: Omar Francia
• Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
• Cover Artist: Massimo Carnevale / Paul Renaud

Publisher's Summary

The Omega space station is the center of lawlessness in the galaxy, a den of vice ruled by the deadly asari Aria. It is also a strategic foothold in a galaxy-wide power struggle, and when the station comes under attack from a new threat unleashed by the humanity-first organization Cerberus, Aria is forced to become more ruthless than ever to protect her home-and her dominion!

Story

Following the Collectors' defeat at the hands of Commander Shepard's team, the human-survivalist organization Cerberus began establishing a series of bases beyond the Omega 4 Relay to carry out experiments on the aliens' technology. Although relations between Cerberus and Aria T'Loak, the Pirate Queen of Omega, were damaged in the aftermath of the Paul Grayson affair, Aria has continued to permit Cerberus the use of Omega as a supply hub for their operations. Mass Effect: Invasion opens as a group of thugs prepare to raid a Cerberus transport ship that recently landed on the station. Without warning, strange creatures emerge from the ship and attack everyone in sight. The creatures make their way to the Afterlife Club, where Aria's assistant Anto and several mercenaries attempt to fend them off. Just as the creatures overwhelm the mercs and one moves in to kill Anto, Aria arrives. With her help, the mercs drive away the creatures. Aria orders her men to take out the remaining creatures one at a time.

Ships bearing Cerberus identification tags enter the area through another mass relay. At first, fearing more creatures, Aria tells Anto to activate Omega's defenses, but realizes that the new ship is attacking the transports. The ship makes contact with Omega Control and is identified as the Elbrus, commanded by General Oleg Petrovsky on behalf of Cerberus. As the Elbrus continues sweeping up the Cerberus transports, Aria questions how the ship arrived so quickly, confiding in Anto that something felt wrong. Just as she returns to Afterlife to call the Illusive Man, Anto exclaims that the Illusive Man was already calling her.

The Illusive Man shows Aria security footage of the creatures, called Adjutants, escaping captivity within a Cerberus base and escaping on personnel shuttles. He explains that all of Cerberus' research bases have gone silent, which is why he sent the Elbrus to help Aria out. Aria accuses him of tampering with Reaper technology, but he defends the action as necessary to understand the Reapers and reveals that more Adjutants will be on their way once they learn to control Cerberus' better-armed ships. Aria's fight is the Illusive Man's fight, too.

Later, Aria encounters Petrovsky and a Colonel Ashe killing a badly-wounded turian and collecting something from the body. Aria is alarmed, but then notices a salarian corpse transforming into an Adjutant. Aria and Petrovsky take it out; newly-transformed Adjutants are weaker, needing more time to rewrite the genetic code of their bodies. Ashe begins ordering Aria's mercs to finish the cleanup, to "Follow Cerberus' lead - and live!" Aria hits Ashe with a biotic attack, enraged that a Cerberus agent would dare give orders to her men. Ashe retorts that he's only doing his job and humanity's job: saving the galaxy from the aliens. Petrovksy intervenes and says that with more ships on the way to Omega, the Elbrus will do what it can to stave them off, but help from Aria would be appreciated until Cerberus reinforcements arrive.

Aria musters several ships to back up the Elbrus, where she and Petrovsky oversee their makeshift fleet. Petrovsky expresses regret that Colonel Ashe was unavailable to assist him, Aria having locked Ashe up for the duration of the crisis for disrespecting her authority. Aria asks Petrovsky if he plans to make a last stand, like he did against a turian assault while he was a corporal. The general reassures her, explaining that he is a student of military history and that the strategies they will use now will be used because their formulators lived. As more ships arrive through a mass relay, Petrovksy vows to lift the siege of Omega.

Back on the space station, a krogan and two turians guard Colonel Ashe and mock him for defying Aria. Ashe tells them that he's right where he needs to be, and without warning attacks the guards and kills them all. Ashe picks up an assault rifle and communication headset and contacts the Illusive Man, revealing that he's ready to start the real battle for Omega.

External Links

• Faraway Press, John Jackson Miller's blog on Mass Effect: Invasion's first issue