So just a head's up. This a direct follow-up to the last thing I wrote. If you want an up-to-speed you might wanna read that first. Plus there's so many stupid crossovers in this it's like I just threw a dartboard at some franchises and just went from there. So uh... You've been warned I guess?
Fox's day had been... something, alright. Peppy, in his infinite wisdom had kicked Fox off to some low-end high school on earth since Fox had never finished his second-degree education. He did this despite Fox taking care of the Aparoids only a few months ago. On the same day he arrived, he had to end his relationship with Wolf O'Donnell, joined up with a group of other questionably-aged students to kill some asshole in a suit of armour that wouldn't be out of place on a stereotypical metal album cover. Not too long after that, he was approached by some people saying they were working for an organisation called Cerberus, whoever they were. He'd been taken out behind the gym he and his team had recently destroyed. Slightly worried about being attacked, Fox kept his pistol (A gift from Wolf, REMEMBER?) at his side.
"So are you going to fill me in on why you want me, or are you just going to shoot me? Because if that's the case, just go ahead now." said Fox, leaning back against a dumpster.
"Attitude problems. At least that was mentioned in your dossier." said the Australian woman, unsurprised.
"Attitude problems? Did you even read up on me?" responded Fox, rolling his eyes upwards.
"I wasn't the one who wrote up the dossiers, arsehole." snapped the Australian, crossing her arms.
"Miranda, back off. We're trying to get him on our side." said Cassie, the squad's defacto leader. "Yeah, sorry about that. It was either her or Jacob and he's pretty devoted to his workout routine." Miranda grunted at this and turned to monitor the area.
"Um, Cage. There were other people you could've chosen." Said the scarred Turian to her left.
"I'll put it this way: Mordin's spent the last day working on the counter-measure, I don't want to know what Grunt's been doing since he's locked off the cargo bay more often and I'm pretty sure Jack wants to kill all of us. Miranda was the best option."
"Counter-measure? So are you going to tell me what the hell's going on?" asked Fox, his posture becoming more rigid.
"Right, that." started Cassie, clearing her throat dramatically. "Long story short, these... things called Collectors have been abducting human colonies across the galaxy. Some asshole who I'll refer to as Name Redacted is putting together a team to deal with them because nobody else is bothering to. Your name came up on that list. What I'm saying is, we need you."
"Me? Why would you want me over pretty much everyone else in the galaxy?"
"I had a look at your service record, McCloud. Shit's impressive. Led a four man fighter squadron and ended a system-wide war, liberated a planet full of DINOSAURS by yourself, wiped out an alien assault on your system and... This." Cassie looked over to the half-destroyed gym, her speech becoming more slow. "And that last thing, you did most of that ON FOOT, hell yeah you're qualified for this.
Fox took a bit to consider his options. He could turn down their offer, or join their team. But there was one factor he was still curious about.
"How much am I being payed?" Asked Fox, finally getting off the wall.
"Two-hundred thousand Credits. Or we can convert that into whatever currency you want when the job's done." Said Cassie, turning her head to a still disgruntled Miranda.
"Don't exactly have much going on right now, when I think about it. Fine. I'm in."
"Well. That went much better then I was expecting. You're gonna be a huge asset to the team, McCloud." Said Cassie, stretching out her hand for a handshake, which was warmly accepted by the furry trash.
"Yknow, I've got a team. I can try convince some of them to sign on, if that's okay with you guys." Said Fox, stopping the Cerberus group before they walked off.
"Huh... I know we're supposed to only recruit from the dossiers, but if people are willing to join I'm not going to stop them."
"Agreed. Looking through who you've already got we could really use a tech expert of some kind." Said Miranda, rubbing her chin in a stereotypical thinking manner.
"And if someone can get us some better guns, that would be amazing. Using what we find lying around isn't exactly getting us decent stuff." Said the Turian.
"Aw, that hurt my feelings, Garrus. Besides, we got the Vindicators from your place on Omega, so don't complain about that." Replied Cassie, nudging her fist against Garrus' arm playfully.
"Oh, those were from the Blue Suns mercs, didn't want them making the place a mess." Responded Garrus.
"Well, luckily for you, I think I know some people." Said Fox, ushering them towards the car park.
"Seriously, you left without me? What the actual fuck, Rocket?" Groaned Fox, hand resting on the top of his muzzle and covering his eyes.
"Well if you hadn't taken your sweet time hanging out behind that gym while the cops started showing up, maybe we wouldn't have left." Responded Rocket, who was standing on a trash can. "So who're these losers?"
"Well. I can already tell this will be a productive meeting." Said Miranda, shrugging her shoulders.
Fox, after being abandoned by his team heading out to get wasted at a bar, had to walk there. As expected, late night British streets were filled with raucous teens drunk out of their minds or angry football fans throwing punches outside of bars. Possibly both. Fox dragged Rocket and Sombra out of the bar, using 'we need to talk in private' as his reasoning.
"Alright McCloud. Out with it. Why do you want us here. I could be exposing some powerful people right now but I'm here instead." Said Sombra, keeping her hacking hand busy by moving her fingers ever so slightly.
"Human colonies are being attacked by the Collectors. We're putting together a team to deal with the problem and Fox recommended you two. The trash panda for helping us out with our weaponry and you for being the best damn hacker on earth, probably in the galaxy." Said Cassie, speaking for Fox before he got a chance to open his mouth.
"Uh huh. So, how dangerous is this?" Said Rocket, his interest peaked.
"Well given how missions like this usually turn out, probably a one-way trip for some of us." Replied Cassie, her tone now more subdued.
"Oh I am SO in. This is the kind of shit I live for."
"If he's in, I'm in. Besides, it's better then working for Talon... Fuck you Gabe..." Muttered Sombra, giving Rocket a fist bump.
"Holy shit, I thought picking people up today was going to be a pain, but it's actually worked out great." Said Cassie, relieved.
"I'll send you three the co-ordinates to our ship. If you can get there by tomorrow morning, that would be great. Name Redacted would probably want to be informed of this, Commander." Said Miranda, opening up her Omni-Tool and pushing some buttons.
"See you tomorrow, McCloud. We'll get you more up to speed then." Said Cassie, patting Fox on the back as she started to walk away.
"Wait a sec" Said Rocket, causing the Cerberus group to stop and turn around. "How much are we getting paid?"
"Two-hundred grand in Credits or whatever currency you want, same as everyone else." Replied Cassie, looking over her shoulder.
"Two-fifty for both of us, or the deal's off." Said Rocket with a devilish grin.
"We're being extorted for money by a talking raccoon... For fucks sake." Muttered Miranda.
"I'm sure we can cover those." Said Cassie confidently.
Rocket and Sombra looked towards each other, grinning. "We're in."