Chapter One: The Illusive Man
"Commander?", came the voice of Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau over the Normandy's comm system.
"what is it now Joker?", replied Staff Commander John Shepard (clearly annoyed by the sudden, and frequent, interruptions that came with his job).
"well I'm sorry to interrupt things with you and your girlfriend but you know I wouldn't have to if I didn't think it was important" Joker replied sarcastically.
John knew he was right, that Joker wouldn't interrupt if it wasn't important (which it almost always is on the Normandy) and that Shepard was with Ashley, his fiancée and the love of his life, and as far as the regs go…well they apparently are no Alliance regs for fraternization between a Council Spectre and an Alliance marine…so therefore their relationship is perfectly legal.
"Yeah your right Joker, I've just been a bit edgy since the recent events that took place, but anyways what do you got?" came Shepard's delayed response.
"An urgent transmission from an unknown source, I tried to triangulate the signal but it's too heavily encrypted, whoever it is they sure don't want us to find out where they are AND there quite good at it too…..I'll patch it through to the comm room" answered Joker.
"alright Joker I'll be in there in a minute". It actually took a few minutes for the commander to get into comm room (but not because of the great distance he had to walk).
When the commander finally entered the comm room the first thing he noticed that was out of the ordinary was the holographic projection of a three-headed dog, he immediately realized who (or more so what) had sent the transmission…..Cerberus.
The hologram spoke first, "Well hello John it's nice of you to finally join me…I would think the First Human Spectre would make it a priority to not keep people like me waiting for so long".
Commander Shepard stood even straighter at the mention of his first name before his reply, "first off you can refer to me as either Commander or Commander Shepard and second…..who the hell are you?".
"Me?…..it doesn't matter who I am……not yet anyways…..it will one day though…..one day I will assure Humanity's rightful spot as the most powerful species in the Galaxy and all will know my name!!!……but not yet…..not yet…" the voice trails off before beginning again "and as for what I should call you….I'll call you whatever the hell I want because it's my choice….and you can't do anything about that" came the overzealous voice of the mysterious voice over the comm.
"Ok…..what should I call you then?" came the voice of a now more settled Commander Shepard.
"Why yes…..you can call me…the Illusive Man"
"Ok….so why did you contact me?"
"Ah yes, back to business, well I assume you know from which organization I am from?" questioned the Illusive Man.
"Cerberus…..you make that blatantly obvious"
"Mmm I'm impressed….it appears you do know your Greek mythology…..and you are correct I am the leader of Cerberus…or more accurately what it has become" spoke the proud but disillusioned voice of the Illusive Man.
"You mean a rogue band of mad scientists and terrorists?" accosted Commander Shepard.
"Sigh….I'd explain my motives to you but you'll never understand" replied the Illusive Man.
"Oh no….please do" came Shepard's quick response and the Illusive Man answered reluctantly.
"If humanity is to survive, sacrifices must be made for the greater good. The Alliance doesn't understand this…..and neither do you……goodbye John".
"Oh and next time…..don't keep me waiting so long" and then the comm channel went dead.