Prologue
"Shepard. You're making a habit of costing me more than time and money," the Illusive Man spoke with obvious irritation in his voice.
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you. I'm getting a lot of bullshit on this line," Commander Shepard responded with a trace amount of laughter in his speech. The Illusive Man stood from his seat and began to step toward the Commander's hologram slowly.
"Don't try my patience, Shepard. The technology in the Collector Base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy-- against the Reapers and beyond!" He raised his voice a little as he held up his fist, attempting to demonstrate victory. Of course, Shepard retaliated.
"Right," Shepard answered, "Victory for Cerberus. We both damn well know that you don't care about the rest of us."
"Wrong. Humanity in all is my number one concern, whether that be the Alliance or full-blown terrorists," the Illusive Man answered, halting near five feet from the hologram's platform, "You were always too idealistic, playing by the rules of the wrong game. I knew you'd choke on the hard decisions," he insulted.
"You aren't pushing me around anymore. Harbinger is coming and he won't be alone, and I'm going to find a way to stop him," Shepard explained, "You can fall in line or step aside, but don't get in my way." The Illusive Man seemed slightly surprised. He began to step toward the hologram once again.
"Are you sure about this, Shepard? You're taking a hell of a risk!" He seemed to be attempting to dissuade the Commander from tossing him aside. Shepard simply shook his head and looked up at the ceiling.
"Joker," Shepard called, "Lose this channel." As the signal began to fade, Shepard could see the Illusive Man shake his head hopelessly as he calmly stepped back toward his chair. The Commander turned around and began to exit the comm room, a smile of triumph fading into view.
Chapter One
New Mission
Following the amusing confrontation from the Illusive Man, Commander Shepard took the Deck Two elevator down to the Cargo hold on the lowest level. This is where he kept the empty metal coffins made for the former team members that had been killed following their journey through the Omega 4 Relay: Grunt, Jacob Taylor, Samara, and Zaeed Massani. The team's survivors were in the hold as well, paying their respects to the fallen and relaxing against the various railings and structures lined up across. As Shepard quickly walked down the line of willing teammates, they each gave him a respectful gesture, whether that be a nod or a smile. Joker who was, at the time, speaking with Thane noticed the Commander almost instantly and limped slowly toward him. He held out a datapad with the diagram of what looked like a duplicate of Sovereign in front of Shepard and allowed him to scan it in detail. The Commander looked up at Joker and nodded his head slowly. Joker lowered the datapad and began to speak.
"So, Commander. We stopped the Collectors but you said it yourself. The Reapers are still coming," Joker explained, "The Illusive Man is obviously pretty pissed at us, so I doubt he's going to help."
Shepard took this into consideration. The Reapers were coming to destroy all life in the galaxy and he had just lost his only valuable ally. How could he be capable of doing this alone? There weren't too many valid options.
"The Normandy isn't going to survive a minute against the Reapers," Shepard stated, "We're going to need help from every species in the galaxy if we're going to stand a chance."
Joker looked at the Commander and shook his head hopelessly.
"That would work if everybody didn't hate each others' guts," he explained. It was true. Certain species in the galaxy would not be willing to work alongside certain others, despite the dangers. "But hey, I'm just a pilot. You're the one who got all these guys to join," Joker said, pointing toward the team of 7.
Right then, a familiar, womanized voice spoke through the loudspeakers on the top of the hold's metal ceiling. "Shepard, I would start by visiting the Council. If you can convince them that the threat is real, they may decide to help."
"EDI's probably right," Shepard decided, "If nothing else, we should at least be able to get Captain Anderson's help to get the Alliance on our side."
Joker nodded his head in agreement. "I'll get us to the Citadel, Commander. Go ahead and relax. You've been through a lot," he said. The pilot turned toward the elevator and began to calmly limp toward it. As he stepped inside, he gave one last wave to the Commander before the doors closed and the lights above them began to move upward at a steady speed. Shepard turned toward his team and motioned for the to gather around him. They followed the order given and listened as Shepard explained their new goal.