A/N: Hay guys...I know a lot of you are pissed off that I haven't been updating. And I'm going to tell you that it wasn't from writer's block.
Me and a buddy were driving around when we got T-boned by some asshole who blew through a stop sign. I woke up in the hospital two days later with a dislocated shoulder and my right leg broken in four places, my buddy was lucky to get away with a minor concussion. The guy who hit us was going 50 and was talking on his cell when the accident happened. Fucker didn't get a scratch on him and tried to lie his way out of it.
We're taking him to court in a couple of weeks and making sure he pays out the asshole for what happened to us.
Anyway, I've been in the hospital recovering all this time and I haven't had access to my laptop the whole time. But I'm back now, and since I can't do much of anything with my leg still in a cast and my upper arm wrapped up I can get back to doing what I do best.
This chapter is one of my shortest ever, but I figured that it was time to get the ball rolling and into where the real fighting and story lies. (And I'm a bit fuzzy with my pain meds running through my system so you'll have to bear with me here.) You guys have waited long enough, so let's get this going again!
(Still own nothing)
I still remember everything from around that time very clearly. Saying goodbye to a friend is never easy, and I owe Zen a lot more than anyone would think I did. He was a good man and a powerful warrior. I can honestly say that having him at my side when we fought the Shadow Broker was both an honor and a privilege.
After burying Zen next to his bondmate in the crypt he mentioned in the vid, I spent about a day on Tuchanka. Catching up with Wrex and hanging around the Urdnot camp. Since he had named me an honorary member of his clan many Krogan had come around to see the lone Human that had earned the respect of their Clan Chief.
Needless to say, I made an impression, or several during my stay.
Being challenged in hand to hand combat with half a dozen Krogan who thought I was nothing special certainly helped me work out a lot of aggression that had been built up. Hell, Wrex laughed his ass off when I knocked his jerk-off of a brother Wreav through a wall.
After making new friends, I decided to let Wrex in on the secret that Liara and I were the new Shadow Brokers just in case he needed help getting the Krogan to fall in line.
The old Krogan was a bit shocked considering that the one that had hired him to kill Fist, and one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy was dead, and even more so that Liara and I had assumed control of on of the biggest intel networks ever devised.
When our business on the Krogan homeworld was done, I returned to the ship and me, Reena and Chellick all went back to what we did best. But things weren't really the same with Zen gone. And in the end we made do with what he had and endured, something all of us had been known for.
A few months passed, I used the new information network we got from the dead Broker to gather as much intel as I could and discreetly sent it to the right parties around the Traverse. Liara had made the joke that we could start a war with a few key strokes...only to find out she wasn't really kidding.
The Shadow Broker had his hand in damn near every organization, government, and military branches all across the galaxy. If knowledge was power...me and Liara were at the top of the goddamn food chain.
I had even taken the data on the Collectors and sent it to Admiral Hackett. Everything from their weapons and physiology, to the neurotoxin contained in the Seeker venom.
Hackett wasted no time bringing everything to Alliance Command. Needless to say that they were in an uproar about how the Collectors were responsible for the colony disappearances and with the power that they had could just as easily cross from the Terminus Systems and do the same to planets in Council Space or even the Sol System.
Their techs and scientists were already hard at work combing over the data and making improvements to their armor to combat the Seeker venom so that ground forces would be immune should an attack arise.
Finding out that Biotics helped keep the bugs at bay had also been a plus, and was being looked into to ensure that strategies were made to combat the Collectors.
Knowing full well that doing this might have serious backlash in the future, but much like my past decisions I couldn't find it in me to care. Too much has happened and fallen apart for me to dwell on what the future 'could' bring. I needed to be ready for the Reapers arrival, and to do that I needed to make sure everyone else was ready too.
For almost a year I continued my crusade throughout the Terminus against Cerberus, mercs and other factions that were a threat. Liara sending my constant updates using the Shadow Broker mainframe to ensure that I knew where to hit and when for complete mission success. But every so often our agents would cross paths with Cerberus, making us both wonder what else the Illusive Man was up to. So we decided to keep tabs on him and his agents from time to time.
While at the same time keeping track of the Collectors as more colonies fell silent.
The Alliance had started discreetly installing GARDIAN laser defense systems on various colony worlds inside Terminus space. They were met with a bit of hostility, but in the end they managed to get several systems up and running without too much trouble.
It was a productive year...despite several set backs along the way. I don't really know when I was able to figure out when things reached their apex in the timeline...but when I picked up a QEC from Liara regarding something I had been waiting for all this time, I couldn't help but think that everything was right on schedule.
X
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
Hidden Base - Planet Enos
September 31, 2185 - 12:01 hours
Alex stood in the vid-comm room facing Liara's hologram form. The intel she had given him had left him anxious. "Are you sure?" he asked utterly serious.
"I didn't believe it either, Alex. But our spies within Cerberus have confirmed it." said the Asari keeping her gaze locked with his. "The Lazarus Project is complete...Jane's awake."
The news alone had sent his heart racing. After all this time, waiting and praying, the nano soldier felt so many things crashing into him all at once it was hard to describe...Jane...she was back and alive.
Shaking himself, Alex looked at his fellow Shadow Broker and got his head back into the game. "Do our spies know where she's going and what she's up to?" he asked keeping his face as straight as possible.
"From what I could gather, she is gathering a team together to go after the Collectors." said Liara. "Cerberus is providing her a ship, intel, and any resources that she will need to make sure that they are stopped."
"And we both know that she'd never trust those bastards even if they did bring her back from the dead." said the Post-Human as he started pacing. "We need to get her out from under their thumb. As long as she's with them, the Alliance and the Council will use it as a way to keep her at arm's length and won't take anything she brings to them seriously."
The Asari began to think to herself, "What about Councilor Anderson and Admiral Hackett? Despite everything that has happened they have always been on Jane's side as much as yours."
Alex shook his head, "It's not enough to convince everyone that she's still the same person as she was. And as shitty as it is for me to say...there's no guarantee that she is the same Jane Shepard that we all know. For that I'll have to see her myself and make that conclusion on my own." Mentally, he was kicking himself for even thinking such a thing. But with how things can change around him he had to keep every possibility in mind when he saw her.
Liara nodded slowly, "I admit, the Lazarus Project sounded farfetched. And even I have doubts of how effective it was. Even though the reports that I have gotten say that she looks, acts and sounds like herself. But Cerberus is devious, and the Illusive Man knows how to hide things in plain sight."
"We can also be sure that he has her on 24/7 surveillance on the ship he has given her."
Stopping his pacing, Alex looked at his friend. "I need to find a way to get on that ship. Our information network is superior to Cerberus, and all the data we have on the Collectors would aid her and the team she's gathering in taking them down once and for all."
"Getting on to the new Normandy will be difficult. Considering that we don't know where the Illusive Man might send her next." said Liara.
"Where is she right now?" he asked hoping for a good opening.
Liara brought up a holo-screen next to her and scrolled through it for a moment. "A few of our agents on Omega have spotted her speaking with Aria. And from what we've gathered in recent months, she is most likely there to collect Archangel and Mordin Solus."
Alex grinned mentally, "Fate seems to be on my side for once." "I think I have an idea, it's risky considering everything I've done against Cerberus, but it seems to be the only way for me to get on to the Normandy and start laying the ground work."
"What is your plan after you get on board?" asked the Asari.
"If things go as well as I hope they will, we can get control of the ship completely on Jane's side and take Cerberus out of the equation. I'll have Prophet covertly data-mine the ships archives and gather anything that they might have that we do not." said the nano soldier. "And as for the crew...depending on who can be trusted, we can have a select group of our agents help run it for the duration of the mission."
Liara was silent as she thought over the plan, "It seems...effective. If you manage to get aboard."
Alex smirked, "Come on Liara. This is me you're talking to, when have I not been able to pull off the impossible."
"True...do I even want to know how you plan on getting aboard?" she asked with a raised eye ridge.
"That would spoil the surprise." said the Post-Human before turning serious, "I'll keep you posted along the way. And I'll contact you when I've made contact with Jane and her crew."
Liara nodded, "Good luck, Alex. And be careful. For all we know Cerberus will be expecting you to step on to the Normandy."
The call ended leaving Alex alone in the silent room. "Prophet, make sure that the Wraith is prepped. We're heading out." he said grabbing his suits helmet and heading toward the elevator. "Acknowledged." said the AI as he stepped on to the lift and began to ride it down to the shuttle bay.
The whole base was quiet considering that he was the only one there. Reena and Chellick had left for the Migrant Fleet four days ago. Reena had felt a little home sick lately and wanted to visit family and friends for a little while.
And Chellick, being the good fiance that he was, was more than happy to go with her leaving Alex to his own devices while they were gone.
When the elevator doors opened, Alex stepped out into the hanger and headed straight for the armory to begin gathering weapons and thermal clips. Placing his Harrier assault rifle and Black Widow on his back, his Paladins on either hip and strapping a bandolier of grenades around his chest, he looked ready to face a small army.
And with where he was heading it was a safe bet that he'd be needing everything he could get his hands on.
After filling his satchels with clips, medi-gel and anything else he would need. The Post-Human headed over to the black shuttle while slipping his helmet on, "Send a message to Chellick and Reena so that they know what's going on. And let them know that I'll contact them when we're in the clear."he said sitting in the pilot's seat and powering it up.
With the couple using the Vecta for their trip, that left the Wraith to help the nano soldier for what he had planned.
"Message away. Destination Required." said Prophet.
Alex punched in the coördinates as the Wraith powered up. The hanger doors opened and the stealth shuttle flew out into the open air while the base locked down with his departure. "Shuttle Systems Green. Estimated Time of Arrival: Five Days."
The Post-Human checked over the systems just to be sure everything was in order before leaning back in his seat. Even though he had faith that things would work out in the end, it didn't take away the realization of what was coming.
Gripping Jane's dogtags as he watched the stars pass him by on his trip out of the system and toward the mass relay, Alex thought about everything he had been through in the last two years.
He'd been preparing for this moment, everything he had done and planned lead to this point and he was going to do everything in his power to see it through to the end.
Prophet chimed as the shuttle approached the mass relay, "Relay Coming in Range. Coordinates locked. FTL Initiated." Alex took a deep breath, "Next stop...Horizon."
A/N: Like I said, a short chapter. But things are really going to get fired up in the next chapter and beyond. It wasn't how I wanted to get into the ME2 timeline, but I couldn't come up with any more compelling OC content that would lead up to it. So in typical Self-Insert/Original Character fashion I used a time skip to get things where I need them to be.
I may be banged up and broken a bit...but I'm still alive folks! This fire ain't goin out any time soon and will be that way for a good long time!