Thanks to Phoenix who kept my ass on track and encouraged me to hurry up and update, even though she was a formidable distractions with Drell licking, stripping and zipper talk.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bioware or any of their characters.
Thane didn't know much about the mission he was going on at all. All he knew was that Shepard had asked him to come along to get some fresh air and that they were going to investigate a signal from the Gernsback that might reconnect Jacob to his father… At first Thane was going to protest the idea, Jacob and Thane weren't really "cooperating" but he decided if Shepard thought it best to bring him along then he couldn't refuse. He followed Shepard to the cargo hold and towards the shuttle and he saw Jacob's expression turn icy as he saw who Shepard had picked to bring along.
"Shepard, I don't think this is such a good id-"
"Are you questioning my authority Mr. Taylor?"
"N-no ma'am." Taylor said flatly but tossed a glare Thane's way.
"Thane? You ready?" Shepard asked as she turned to him.
"Yes, let's proceed." He said clasping his hands behind his back as she followed her onto the shuttle. Thane took a seat opposite of Jacob and was surprised when Shepard chose to sit next to him. He saw the corner of Jacob's mouth twitch.
"Focus on the mission, both of you." Shepard said sternly noticing the looks they were giving each other.
"Yes Commander." Jacob said.
"Yes Shepard." Thane said and got a slight kick out of the look Jacob gave him for addressing their commanding officer in such a manner.
"Oh brother." Shepard said under her breath. "Joker! Open the bay door!" she yelled as the ship approached 2175 Aeia.
"Aye captain. Approaching drop point." Joker said over the intercom as the shuttle slid out of the Cargo Hold and then fired to life flying around before eventually settling on some solid ground as they found the landing zone. One by one they climbed out of the shuttle and took the first look at their surroundings. The air was very arid here and this caused Thane to purr slightly, though the other two didn't seem to notice how thin and dry it was.
"I have run a scan of the ship. I detect no life signs, but there may be useful technology or information still inside." EDI informed them.
"Thanks EDI, we're moving out." Shepard said and started towards the huge beached ship.
"There it is. And mostly intact. They could have survived the impact…but it's been years." Jacob said as the approached the ship."Looks like it was stripped after the crash. They'd have tried to get a beacon up as soon as possible."
They were about to go inside when the distress beacon off to the right caught Shepard's interest and she walked over to it.
"Repeat: Toxicology Alert: Danger of rapid neural decay. Local flora chemically incompatible with human physiology." The distress beacon rambled as the group approached it. "Override: Beacon resumed. Pause time, eight years, 237 days, seven hours."
"From the look of it this beacon has been here awhile. Why would they wait years to signal?" Shepard questioned.
"Pause in beacon protocol, eight years, 237 days, seven hours. Pause is recorded as: RECORD DELETED by Acting Captain Ronald Taylor."
"That's not right. My father was first officer." Jacob told Shepard.
"Ronald Taylor was promoted under emergency command protocols. Other flagged issues: Unsafe deceleration. Local food and neural decay. Beacon activation protocols."
"Local food impairs brain functions? What are the effects?" Shepard asked.
"Impairment of mental functions due to chemical imbalance begins within seven days of ingesting local flora, regardless of decontamination or preparation. Impact on higher cognitive abilities and long-term memory is cumulative, but significant within a standard month. It is not known if neural decay is permanent. Data collection was not completed."
"Why wasn't the beacon activated before now?"
"This emergency beacon became functional after 358 days, 12 hours, following the unscheduled suborbital decent of the Hugo Gernsback. Activation was triggered remotely after eight years, 237 days, seven hours, on the authority of acting captain Ronald Taylor. Pause in beacon protocol is recorded as: RECORD DELETED."
"Come on, let's get going." Shepard said looking over her shoulder at the two men who had been giving each other glares instead of paying attention.
"Let's check the ship. My father had the beacon ready for almost nine years. Maybe… that neural decay affected him." Taylor said looking at the ship.
"I doubt that ship carried ten years worth of food on it." Thane's raspy voice replied
"Thane's right, lets continue up the beach." Shepard said as they started their way up the beach.
Half way up the beach the group came across a group of hostile males who appeared to be a part of the crew but when they started running at them, guns blazing the group took cover behind cargo boxes. Jacob leaned out of cover and used throw tossing one of the crew members of the cliff, Thane did the same but instead sent three of the males screaming over a cliff.
"Nice work Thane!" Shepard said over the radio frequency.
"Show off." Jacob mumbled.
"Thane to your left!" Shepard yelled loudly, as Thane popped out from behind cover swinging his sniper around not even aiming as he pulled the trigger watching the head of a crew member pop off, his body twitched before falling to the ground. Everyone was silent for a moment before Shepard began laughing. Laughing.
"That was sick as hell Krios." Shepard complimented a grin on her face, Thane inclined his head in acknowledgment and smirked to himself as he saw Jacob roll his eyes.
#
"Is that a settlement? They'd better be friendlier then the beach group, I need answers." Jacob said as they approached a settlement.
"They have the same uniform as our attackers. Defiantly not as aggressive, though." Thane noted.
"Is this an earlier stage, or did the exile make them violent?" Shepard asked looking around.
"Neither possibility explains such a clear gender divide." Thane replied as the females approached them.
"It doesn't matter right now. Once of these people must know what my father has to do with this!" Jacob interrupted. One of the females retailed with either shock or disgust, Thane couldn't tell.
"You have his face! He promised to call the sky, but he sends nothing." One female snapped at Jacob.
"He forced us to eat…to decay. You are cursed with his face!" Another female crew member yelled pointing a finger at Jacob.
"Not the best reaction to the family resemblance Jacob." Shepard said sarcastically crossing her arms.
"Why would my father force his crew to eat toxic food? Whatever is happening here needs to stop."
Thane looked over at Jacob for a moment; he seemed to have problems with his father just as Thane had problems with his...
"Mechs!" Shepard suddenly yelled pulling him out of his thoughts as he dove behind cover.
#
After fighting through ten waves of mech, a heavy mech and a group of overpowered techs Thane was about ready to find Jacob's father and deal with it himself, he leaned against his sniper rifle to catch his breath, his hand sore from using his biotics so much, an ache starting to creep up the back of his head.
"Getting tired Mr. Krios?" he heard Jacob calling as he walked by Shepard's side.
"Not at all Mr. Taylor." Thane growled as he raced ahead to catch up to them walking even closer to Shepard, he was pleased when she either didn't notice or didn't bother to comment.
"I think I see him ahead." Shepard said, Jacob's hands tightened around his pistol.
"Your here." The man said turning to face him and Thane was stunned by the family resemblance Shepard had spoke of. "I knew a real squad would blow through just fine. Sorry if the mechs scuffed your pants."
"They did more than that." Thane thought but kept it to himself.
"I'll get you something nice when we get back to Alliance space. I've gotta have some back pay coming."
"Trying to bribe his way out?" Thane thought looking over his shoulder watching a group of cautious hunters approach, Shepard gave the signal and Thane pointed his pistol at them holding them back so Jacob could talk to his father.
"What about your crew? Acting captain?" Jacob asked.
"Total loss." Ronald said casually with a shrug, "The toxic food turned them wild. They propped me up here in some kind of ritual behavior." Ronald tried explaining, Thane smirked to himself hearing his words filled with lies. Jacob crossed his arms shaking his head in disgust.
"That's the best you can do?"
"You let all your people talk back like that?...uh…who are you exactly?" Ronald asked casting a sideways glance at Jacob. Shepard turned from gazing out at the water,
"Commander Shepard of the Normandy. I believe you are acquainted with Mr. Taylor here." She said inclining her head towards Jacob.
"Taylor?" Ronald asked turning sharply towards him, "No, not Jacob."
"Why not me? Would ten years of this look better to anyone else in the galaxy?"
"You have to understand. This isn't me. The realities of command, they change you. I wasn't ready for that. I made sure you were taught right, before I left. I'd hope to leave it at that."
"I'm not unreasonable Captain, but ten years? What happened?" Shepard asked startled as Jacob took a step forward, his face in his father's.
"Goddamnit, why did you do this to your crew?" Jacob asked, his hand in a tight fist.
"There was resistance to the plan. Mutiny. We had to take a hard line to keep order. And things settled down. As the decay set in, we made sure the crew were comfortable. Some even seemed happier, ignorance is bliss right? And they were grateful for guidance, like an instinct. Pure authority was…easy. At first. Months in the effect lowered inebriation. They got territorial. Rank, protocol – they couldn't understand. We had to establish dominance. After awhile the perks seemed, normal." Ronald explained to the group, Shepard looked mortified, Jacob was pissed and Thane. Well Thane was hoping that Jacob would resolve this peacefully but it wasn't looking so well.
"That's it? You created a harem and played king? Ten years in a juvenile fantasy?" Jacob growled, his knuckles turning white from clenching his hand so tightly.
"I can't point to where it all went wrong, but when the beacon was ready, revealing what happened didn't seem like a good idea."
"We can help these people. Cerberus can have ships here in days and pull everyone out." Shepard said to Jacob grabbing his shoulder with her hand, he looked at her for a moment but then pulled away from her and pointed his gun at Ronald.
"He's not worth the fuel to haul him out or the air he's breathing. He's damn lucky I don't even think he's worth pulling the trigger." Jacob slowly lowered the gun, "I don't know who you are. Because your not any father I remember."
"We'll secure him for an Alliance court. For every year here, he'll have ten to think about it." Shepard said hoping to get Jacob to back down.
"Give him all the time in the galaxy. The man who did this doesn't know right from wrong."
"I'm sorry Jacob. I did the best I could." Ronald said hanging his head shamefully.
"I'm ten years past believing that." Jacob said as he turned and started to walk away. Thane let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding and he lowered his pistol.
"Is it over?" Thane whispered to Shepard as she walked by.
"Yes Thane, it's over." She replied softly.
#
Thane yawned as he walked by the Armory, they had just gotten back from the mission and Thane had gone to see Mordin about some painkillers for his headaches. He just about reached the elevator when he heard two voices arguing inside the Armory. Shepard and Jacob. Recognizing the two voices he approached the door keeping a far enough distance so that it wouldn't open.
"What is your problem Jacob?" Shepard asked.
"That green fish-reptile-alien thing is my problem!"
"Thane?"
"Yes him! He is fighting me for your attention! Damn lizard showing me up on Aeia!" There was a moment's pause, "I-I mean…I didn't mean it like that."
"Jacob your sweet but you work for Cerberus, I'm not interested."
"Not interested? Your telling me that the way you lean back on the table with your back all arched and the way you wear your tight uniform that fits the curves of your body around me isn't in the slightest bit of hinting at me? Not to mention the whole, 'So there's no Mrs. Taylor?' interest you take in my life."
"I'm sorry if I lead you on, I was only trying to learn about you"
"That's besides the fact, you work for Cerberus too!" he pointed out.
"It's different, Cerberus is here to help me not force me to work for them. "
Jacob began to protest but Shepard shot him down,
"Jacob, drop it. Please. We are on a mission, I need you focused."
"Yes ma'am." Jacob mumbled and Thane quickly made his way to the elevator as he heard Shepard approach the door, a sly smile spread from his lips. Mission accomplished.
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