A/N – Just the usual note before we delve into things. That's the prologues done. Hopefully I've done a decent job linking events that didn't actually happen in the game. As we're into the story proper, the usual proviso as I've said before, just trying to put my own spin on events that happened. Some chapters cover on screen events. Some will cover off screen events.
Being slightly ambitious in that there will be more POVs than just Shepard and Tali. The story will still revolve around them, but there will be focus on most other characters at one time or another. From what I've written so far, particularly Garrus and Miranda. Trying to get into the heads of all these characters, though. Sheesh!
Also, for those of you who read 'Search for Saren', rest-assured I won't be putting you through the wringer again so much this time around. I guess you must have found it enjoyable, in some way, if you followed or clicked on that favourite option, but I'm hoping you'll find this story far more light-hearted than my last offering. Quite frankly I don't think I could write something similar again so soon either. Exhausting! There should be far less angst, anyway, though there will always be some drama here and there.
The bright light caused him to blink rapidly as he slowly opened his eyes. He put a hand over his chest and could feel his heart beating. He could feel the cold air in his throat as he took a deep breath. He moved his hand from his chest, holding it in front of his face, moving it slowly from side to side, following it with his eyes. He lowered his hand and looked back at the ceiling, seeing nothing but white tiles and lights. He turned his head, looking to his left and and then to his right, noticing a number of machines that occasionally beeped while displaying information he didn't understand or simply couldn't read from where he was lying.
I'm alive? Am I in a hospital?
It took a few moments for him to finally understand the sound in the background. Alarms were crying out. He didn't move, though. He lay there, deep in thought. The last thing he remembered was floating away in space, having just watched his ship explode after being attacked by another ship. The last thought running through his mind was that he never told the woman he loved how he felt. The last feeling of regret as he felt the air run out and he slowly asphyxiated before everything turned black.
Where the hell am I? Where is my team? Where's Tali?
The alarms continued to ring in the background as he now started to wonder where he was and what was going on. He assumed it was a hospital, but he appeared to be alone in the room.
"Wake up, Commander!" called a feminine voice. He opened his eyes wide, searching for where the sound came from, looking left and right but the room was still empty. The sounds of alarms still echoed from outside the room. Then he heard a large explosion.
Well that can't be good!
"Shepard, do you hear me? Get out of that bed now. This facility is under attack!"
"Alright, alright," he croaked, moving his hand to his throat and rubbing it. His throat felt raw. He moved his hand to his face, feeling a long scar along his cheek, running a finger along it. He was surprised it didn't hurt.
"Shepard. Your scars aren't healed but I need to get you moving."
He groaned as he lifted himself up from his bed, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. It was then that he realised he was completely naked, the small blanket that was keeping his modesty intact falling to the floor. He looked out the window to see another explosion and what appeared to be gunfire. Whatever was going on out there, it definitely wasn't good.
He took a quick look around the room. It was still empty but he located a speaker just above his bed. Figuring whoever was talking to him may hear, he called out. "You know, I'm naked and unarmed here! If you want me to survive, I'm going to need a little help."
"Your armour is in a locker nearby. You should find a pistol in there as well."
"Pistol? Forget that. What about an assault rifle?"
"Not yet, Shepard. Now hurry!"
"Alright, alright, give me a minute," he muttered as he hauled himself to his feet and shuffled over to the locker. He opened the door to see a set of clothes in his size, grabbing a set of underwear and a plain white t-shirt. He then grabbed the armour, taking a second to look over it. Painted jet black with a gloss finish, the light of the room reflecting off it, with a thick red stripe running down the right arm, two thin white stripes on either side of the red stripe. High on the right hand side of his chest-plate was the N7 symbol. He couldn't help but grin slightly as he slowly assembled himself within the armour. He surprised himself by dressing quite quickly considering the commotion outside. Finally, he reached in and grabbed the pistol.
Shit, no heat sink or thermal clip. Hang on, this appears to be a different design. What the hell is this?
"There's no thermal clip!" he yelled out, feeling slightly silly as there was no-one in the room.
"You'll have to find one, Shepard. It's a med bay."
"Well what the hell do you expect me to do, throw the pistol at whatever I'm supposed to be facing?"
There was no answer to his sarcasm as he stumbled forward, his muscles screaming out in pain. He attempted to figure out just how long he may have been out for, but then he stopped as it simply didn't bear thinking about at the moment. He was quite glad he hadn't had a chance to look in a mirror as he felt at his face again, running his finger along at least three or four scars, still surprised that they didn't hurt. At least he had his armour for the time being but he didn't like the feeling of being unarmed as more explosions continued to echo outside.
He then leapt back behind the bed he had been lying in as the door leading out exploded in a fireball in front of him. He chanced a peek over the top and didn't see anyone coming through. Surprised, he kept his pistol in hand as he slowly walked forward.
"Someone's hacking security trying to kill you. Try looking for a thermal clip."
"Just a normal day in the life of Commander Shepard, it seems," he muttered to himself as he exited the lab. He noticed a thermal clip lying on the floor. It was of a small cylindrical shape but of a design he had never seen before. It appeared things had changed, at least in regards to weapon design, since he was spaced.
Just how long have I been out? Guess I'd better make sure to collect some of these while I'm moving.
The doors in front eventually opened, noticing a makeshift barricade had been erected, though whoever had built it had since disappeared. He leapt over the barricade and couldn't help but notice the bodies scattered over the floor. Some were in lab coats, others were in some sort of uniform though it was too dark to make out the symbol. Ahead was a flight of steps, on the first landing was a mech. Which opened fire. At him.
"The fuck?" he muttered as he ran towards cover, taking a knee behind a crate. He waited until the mech stopped firing before he leaned out of cover and put a bullet right through the head of the machine, which dropped to the ground and exploded. He looked down at his hand and the pistol.
How the fuck did I do that?
"Keep moving, Shepard. You need to get to the shuttles."
Shuttles? Just where the hell am I then? Is there anyone else alive here? Is the voice guiding me even here?
He shook his head slightly. Time to stop thinking and start doing. He ran up the stairs, two at a time and through another set of doors, into another sort of laboratory. Large writing on a wall to his right indicated this was some form of observation room. Otherwise, the room was empty, the only sound the alarms continuing to echo throughout the facility. The set of doors ahead, another mech walking through, firing away. He simply raised his pistol and fired again. The first shot only hit its chest, then firing again, this one smacking through its head. The mech blew up.
"More mechs on the way. Take cover!"
"Yeah, thanks lady, whoever you are," he muttered to himself as he moved to his right up a small set of stairs, taking cover behind a row of glass barriers as four mechs walked into the room from another door. He stayed down in cover as the four mechs opened fire on his position, waiting for just a second to return fire. Soon the mechs stopped as they continued their advance, Shepard standing and firing – pop, pop, pop, pop – and the four mechs all feel to the ground. The heat sink immediately popped out once he'd stopped firing, replacing it with a fresh one.
Guess I'm going to have to get used to doing that.
"Fuck me, I've never been this good with a pistol," he whispered to himself as he stood up out of cover and walked on, pistol in his right hand, searching for targets. The doors to the left led nowhere so he walked through the doors ahead. Through the windows he could see a fire rage out of control while bodies littered the hallway, bloodstains pooling on the ground while there were streaks along the walls where people had been shot. He also noticed the symbol he'd seen on the uniforms and various walls and doors around the facility. He'd never seen it before but still wracked his mind trying to remember what it represented. Another set of doors led to a landing. He noticed another body and a grenade launcher next to it.
"Grab the grenade launcher, Shepard."
"Can you see me?"
"I'm following your progress on security cameras. More mechs are on the way, Shepard. Grab the launcher and get ready!"
He took cover, keeping an eye on the set of doors below. They opened seconds later, four more mechs walking through, and opening fire, though he was safe and comfortable where he was. He waited until their fire whittled down before he stood up and returned fire. The grenade looped and landed in between the four of them, exploding into a fireball, leaving the mechs as nothing more than small parts on the floor.
"Yeah! Take that fuckers!" he yelled, pumping his fist in salute of the destruction.
"Just take the elevator down one floor, Shepard."
He took the elevator down to the next level, running and sliding underneath flames that erupted from a pipe damaged after the grenade explosion. Further into the facility, or closer to the exit, he walked on, as more explosions continued to echo. He opened a set of doors in front of him, revealing an office. On the floor appeared a damaged mech, crawling towards him. He just aimed down and fired. He stored his pistol for a moment as he took a look around the office, approaching a terminal.
"Progress is slow, but subject shows sign of recovery. Major organs are again functional, and there are signs of rudimentary neurological activity."
"Wonder if she's talking about me?" he muttered to himself as he walked across the room to another terminal.
"Log update: The cost of this project is astronomical – over four billion credits so far. But nobody seems to care that we've gone over budget. I don't know where the boss gets all his money… maybe it's better not to know. I just wish he'd kick a little more in my direction once in a while."
He couldn't help but whistle. "Four billion credits? Who or what would they spend that sort of money on?" he asked himself quietly as he continued to look around the room. But there was little else he found of interest, and anything scientific was far beyond his limited understanding. He walked out and up another set of stairs. To his right he heard someone shout his name, turning just in time to see a human being blown apart by a large mech. He grimaced slightly as blood was splattered against the glass, the body falling to the floor out of sight.
Well that was nasty…
The mech opened fire at him, the glass in front proving to be bullet-proof. The mech stopped firing after a few seconds as it appeared to realise the futility of continuing its fire. Ignoring the mech, he approached another terminal sitting next to the window. Interested in what other information he may obtain, he switched it on.
"I can't figure Miranda out. As project director, she should be ecstatic at all the progress we've made. But she's still the same old ice queen."
"Wonder if it was Miranda who was watching me?" he asked himself as he turned and walked on, noticing the massive mech through the glass window to his left still standing and waiting alone, watching his progress. He just stopped and waved at it, smirking slightly, before he turned and walked through the next set of doors. Aside from the fires that raged all around, bathing the room in an eerie orange glow, he noticed a human male, dark in complexion, and also coated in a biotic aura, busy firing at a group of mechs across a large gap. The other male turned slightly and gasped.
"Commander? You're awake?" he asked, clear surprise in his tone. He didn't respond, instead just lifting his pistol and firing at the mechs across the other side of the gap. It only took a few shots, Shepard almost enjoying himself as each bullet hit its intended target. Optics taken out, maybe an arm shot off. Once the mechs were finished off, the other male ducked down into cover, Shepard walking forward and joining him. The other male was wearing the same uniform as worn by all the bodies he'd noticed on his way. He looked Shepard over.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were still a work in progress."
He ignored his question, asking his own. "Who are you? Do you work with this Miranda I've heard about?"
"Yeah… sorry. Forgot this was all new to you right now. I'm Jacob Taylor. I've been stationed here for…"
Jacob stopped talking as he stood up and fired at another group of mechs, Shepard joining him, firing into the group before they both took cover again.
"Damn, things must be worse than I thought if Miranda's got you running around. I'll fill you in but we'd better get you to the shuttles first."
"What the hell is going on? Why are these mechs attacking us? What am I doing here?"
The pair stood up again and fired before once again taking cover.
"Fair enough. Quick version. You and your ship were attacked and destroyed. You were killed. Dead as dead can be when they brought you here. Our scientists spent the last two years putting you back together. You've been comatose, or worse, that whole time. Welcome back to your life, Commander."
Two years? Dead? Fuck me! How is any of that even possible?
And just where the hell am I?
"Okay, another question. Just where exactly is 'here'? I don't recognise the symbol I've seen everywhere, but I know this isn't an Alliance facility."
"It's isn't. I can't say much more than that for now. All I know is that the Alliance declared you KIA. The whole galaxy thinks you're dead. And we need to get to those shuttles ASAP."
"I have more questions."
"If you help me finish of these mechs, we can play twenty questions all day."
"Easy enough. Give me your pistol."
"What?"
"You want me to trust you, trust me in return."
Jacob looked at him for a moment before he shrugged and handed over his pistol. He took a deep breath as he looked over the railing to see four mechs on the other side. Shepard steeled himself, took a deep breath and stood up. He blasted away with his pair of pistols, the four mechs falling to the ground in quick succession under a hail of bullets from the twin pistols. He had to resist blowing the barrels as he placed one back in its holster, handing the other to Jacob, who looked at Shepard in complete surprise. He held out a hand to Jacob, helping him to his feet.
"I'm impressed. Seeing you in action is certainly different to reading reports." Shepard just shrugged. "Okay, I said I'd answer your questions. What do you want to know?"
"Where's my crew? How many survived?"
"Nearly all of them survived. There were losses. It was inevitable in that sort of surprise attack. Your XO, Pressly, didn't make it. But everyone else, including non-Alliance – the turian, Garrus, the asari, Liara, and the quarian…."
"Tali's alive?"
"Yeah, she made it out alive."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know. You'll have to ask Miranda. She might know. But it's been two years, Commander. They've moved on with their lives. Most would no longer be working with the Alliance."
That hit him right in the gut. Two years… fuck... She would have moved on by now. Finished her Pilgrimage. Probably on a new ship by now. Perhaps heading up the engineering department. Yeah, definitely being the boss. Shepard smiled at that thought, at least. Probably fallen in love with someone by now. Maybe even married by now. I hope she's happy. The feeling hurt, more than he'd care to admit, but he kept his face blank in front of Jacob as all these thoughts crossed his mind.
"I want to find them. All of them. If they knew I was back, they'd join up with me again. Although… I don't exactly know what I'll be doing." Shepard scratched the back of his head. "Guess I could go back to the Alliance…" he mumbled to himself.
"Not my decision, Commander. And, as I said, they've all moved on. First thing is first, though. We have to get off this station."
He was about to ask another question when Jacob's ear-piece crackled. It appeared there may have been another survivor. Shepard couldn't hear what was being said, though he heard Jacob's response.
"Wilson? This is Jacob. I'm here with Commander Shepard. Just took out a wave of mechs over in D Wing." Jacob appeared to receive a positive enough response as he answered they'd moved out shortly.
"Wilson? I think I remember that name…" Shepard said to himself.
"He's the chief medical tech. Answers directly to Miranda. You ready?"
Shepard figured question time was over for now. "Sure. Let's move."
Shepard took point in what appeared to be a completely natural move, as if he hadn't been dead for two years. The thought still clouded his mind as the doors in front of him opened, another long corridor leading off to his left, a series of doors on either side that remained closed. He stayed alert as he walked forwards, feeling the presence of Jacob just behind him to his left. The door ahead opened in front of him, with only a low red glow lighting the way ahead through the service tunnels. A pair of mechs opened fire, the pair of humans putting them down with ease.
"Damn it, Wilson. This room is crawling with mechs!" Jacob complained over his radio. Shepard didn't hear the response but Jacob snorted in disapproval once he'd closed the line.
"What's with these new weapons, Jacob?"
"New technology, Commander. You'll soon realise a hell of a lot has changed in the last two years."
"Why the change with the heat sinks though?"
"I'm sure you remember overheating was always a problem, Commander."
"Yeah, don't remind me. It was a pain in the ass."
"The turians designed a universal heat sink that could be used in any weapon. A heat sink that can be used in a pistol can be used in a sniper rifle and vice versa. Once a weapon has expended the energy of the heat sink, it will automatically pop and a new heat sink can be placed within seconds. It's certainly a more efficient design and overheating is no longer a problem."
"If you say so. It'll just take some time getting used to."
The pair cleared out the mechs, Jacob proving to have both biotic and tech abilities, leaving Shepard impressed with his abilities already. He may prove useful in a new team. Wonder if he'd be interested in joining me? He put down the final mech as Jacob once again contacted Wilson, pleading for a new route that would avoid the pair of them running into more mechs. The door ahead led to another hallway and a set of stairs, Jacob urging him on as he reported Wilson may be in trouble. Shepard didn't exactly know who this Wilson was, but Jacob appeared to trust him, and although he wasn't about to put trust in anyone yet, at least it was another survivor.
He bounded up the stairs, turning to his left into a small alcove where a pair of bodies lay bloodied on the ground and a small terminal lay on a table. Figuring there may be even more information, Shepard switched it on.
"Physical reconstruction of subject is complete, but we still need to evaluate all mental and neurological functions. Our orders were clear: make Commander Shepard who he was before the explosion – the same mind, the same morals, and the same personality."
"Fuck me. Whoever this is did spend four billion on bringing me back. But why? I'm just one man…," he said quietly to himself, "Why have they gone to all this effort?"
He turned around and walked through the other set of doors, opening to reveal another human male laying back against a crate, groaning in agony. He moved quickly, kneeling beside him as he called the pair of them over.
"Bastards got me in the leg," he said.
"I think I recognise you," Shepard stated.
"Yeah, I was there the first time you regained consciousness. To you it may have just seemed like a dream. Almost lost you that day. Miranda was there as well."
Jacob was busy looking at Wilson's leg, before he stood up and walked across to a first aid station on the other side of the room, before he returned and started applying it to the wound. Within a couple of minutes, Wilson was able to stand, though he still clearly had some residual pain and couldn't put all his weight on his right leg. But it was an improvement.
"Do you know what's going on here, Wilson?"
"I don't know. I thought maybe I could shut down the security mechs. But whoever did this fried the whole system. Completely irreversible."
He looked across at Jacob, who was clearly suspicious. "We didn't ask what you were doing. Why do you even have security mech clearance? You were in the bio wing." Shepard could hear the tone of accusation in Jacob's voice.
"Weren't you listening?" Wilson snapped back, clearly unhappy with Jacob's tone, "I came here to try and fix this. I was just shot! How do you explain that?"
"Quite frankly, gentlemen, I don't know any of you and certainly don't trust any of you yet so forgive me if I interrupt your little argument here," Shepard stated, "I've just received quite a lot of personal information that I still have to digest so all I want to do is get the hell out of here and figure out just what the fuck is going on."
"You're right, Commander. What we need to do is find Miranda. We can't leave her behind."
"Forget about Miranda," Wilson stated, "She was over in D wing. Mechs swarmed that sector. There's no way she survived."
Jacob chuckled slightly. "You don't know Miranda. A bunch of mechs won't get the drop on her. She's alive."
He nodded in agreement. "I believe so. She was guiding me to your position, Jacob."
"Then where is she?"
"There's only two possible explanations. She's either dead. Or a traitor!"
"I don't buy it," Shepard replied, "She woke me up and saved my ass. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt for the time being."
"Whatever. The simple fact is that she's not here, we are. We need to save ourselves."
"We'll talk later. Move out for now," he ordered, taking out his pistol and walking on, the door ahead opening to reveal more mechs encroaching on their position. He took cover behind a crate while Jacob used an overload on a pile of canisters, causing them to explode, taking out most of the mechs, standing out of cover and blasting away the last pair. He was about to move on when Jacob called out for him to stop.
"What is it, Jacob?" he asked, turning around to face him while holstering his pistol.
"You mentioned the word trust before. If I tell you who we work for, will you trust me?"
"Is this really the time, Jacob?" Wilson interjected.
"We won't make it if he's expecting a shot in the back."
He raised an eyebrow at that. Shot in the back? Just who are these people?
"It's your ass, Jacob."
He watched Jacob take a deep breath and look him right in the eyes. "The program that rebuilt you was called the Lazarus Project. It's funded and controlled by Cerberus."
WHAT?!
Without even thinking, he had his pistol back in his hand, striding forward. Wilson moved to block him, Shepard pistol-whipping back-handed, barely registering him falling to the ground. Jacob hadn't moved, almost in surprise at his outburst as the Commander closed the space between the pair quickly, Shepard grabbing the other male around the throat and forcing him back against the wall.
"What the fuck does Cerberus want with me?" he yelled into his face, placing the barrel of the pistol underneath his chin. "What the fuck have you done to me?"
"The Alliance have declared you a dead man, Commander," Jacob managed to choke out, "They gave up on you."
"And your point is?" he retorted, feeling his fingers squeeze even tighter as he slowly started to lift Jacob off the ground, opening his eyes in realisation at his own strength.
Fucking hell, how strong am I?
"Commander, Cerberus have just spent a fortune bringing you back from the dead. There's a very good reason why."
He stopped all his movements as Jacob gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head, despite the presence of the hand around his neck. He knew exactly to what Jacob was referring. He couldn't help but let out a deep sigh at the realisation.
The Reapers. They brought me back to fight the fucking Reapers.
He lowered Jacob to the ground, removed the barrel of his pistol from his chin and finally released the grip on his throat, Jacob taking a deep breath as he put his hands on his knees. He was still reeling from the information as Jacob straightened up. He was surprised that he didn't look pissed off. Wilson wasn't terribly happy as he muttered to himself on the ground to his right.
"Commander, listen. I'm quite reasonable. I don't know a lot about your history with Cerberus, but I know enough to understand why you'd be suspicious. But, right now, we need to work together to at least get out of here. But I thought you deserved to know what's what."
He looked at Jacob, down to Wilson before he looked back at Jacob. "Fine. I can at least thank you for your honesty, Jacob."
"Once we're off the station, I'll take you to the Illusive Man. He'll explain everything. I promise."
He chuckled. "Illusive Man? What the hell kind of name is that? But I'm guessing he's in charge, right? With a name like that, he's bound to be in charge of an organisation like this."
"Nobody knows who he really is. Shrouded in secrecy," Wilson replied.
"It was a code name used by the Alliance. He actually liked it so kept using it," Jacob added.
He took a moment to clarify his thoughts. Of all the organisations he had to end up with, it just had to be Cerberus. It must be God fucking with him. Toombs. Kahoku. Chasca. Nodacrux. I remember all those names. I remember what I saw. Once I'm off this station, I'm getting the fuck out of here and returning to the Alliance.
"I'll put this quite plainly, Jacob. You, Miranda, the Illusive Man. Your entire organisation. You don't honestly think I'd lower myself to work with you?" He chuckled again, shaking his head in disbelief. "Fuck, and people thought I was delusional with all the visions I received from the beacons."
Jacob just shrugged. "You can tell that to the boss if you like, Commander. But after we've saved our butts."
"Good enough for me. Let's go."
The hallway ahead was littered with even more bodies. With no way forward, he opened a door to the right, leading to a set of stairs leading down. The trio entered what appeared to be a large loading bay, where they quickly came under fire from more mechs, Wilson and Jacob using a series of overloads while Shepard finished them off with a quick pistol shot. Down and up through the by the trio moved, the waiting shuttle sitting silently in the distance. We must be getting close. Wonder if this Miranda woman is waiting for us? Another flight of stairs, Shepard was going to head to the right towards what appeared to be the way to the shuttle when doors to the left opened and at least half a dozen mechs walked in, already firing.
Well… shit!
He leapt into cover behind a crate, returning fire around the side as his two companions took cover of their own, each sending an overload the mechs way. Shepard was busy firing away when he remembered the grenade launcher on his back. Quickly taking it in hand, he stood and fired at the group of mechs. Four of them exploded immediately while a fifth was blown backwards, his two companions standing out of cover and firing to finish it off.
"Nice work, Commander," Jacob stated, Shepard merely grunting in return as he placed the launcher on his back and walked towards the empty room as he noticed another personal terminal sitting on a desk alone.
"Test subject has been recovered, but the damage is far worse than we initially feared. In addition to the expected burns and internal injuries from the explosion, subject has suffered significant cellular breakdown due to long-term exposure to vacuum and sub-zero temperatures."
He turned to his two companions. "I assume that's about me then?"
Wilson nodded.
"It was that bad?"
"Let's just say we didn't exactly have a whole lot to work on, Commander," Wilson replied.
"Just how… human am I?"
Wilson shrugged. "Your brain and heart are the same as, despite the extensive damage, those two organs were relatively intact. The rest of you is rebuilt organic tissue but extensive use cybernetics were required during your reconstruction. 'What is human?' is more a philosophical than medical question in my opinion."
Not wanting to get into a debate, and certainly not with someone from Cerberus, he simply brushed past his two companions towards the shuttle bay doors. Wilson hurried past the Commander to hack the door which appeared locked. He was busy working the console when the door suddenly opened. Shepard noticed a tall, rather striking brunette in what appeared to be a white cat-suit waiting for them, with a fantastic set of... She looked at Wilson.
"Miranda! But, you were…"
Wilson didn't get to finish his sentence as Miranda quickly un-holstered a pistol and put a bullet through Wilson's head, who collapsed to the ground, blood pooling on the ground from the wound. Shepard had his gun up and aimed at Miranda in an instant. Okay, what the fuck is going on? He didn't get a word out as Jacob crouched next to Wilson, taking his pulse. It was pointless, as he was dead as soon as he hit the ground.
"Miranda, what the hell are you doing?"
"My job, Jacob. Wilson betrayed us all."
That accent? She's from my neck of the woods?! He smirked. No great surprise regarding betrayal, this is Cerberus after all. "Did he really deserve to be shot out of hand? Where's your evidence? I guess that's your idea of due process?"
"He sabotaged the security systems, killed my staff and he would have killed us."
"You sure about that Miranda?" asked Jacob, just as suspicious as he was originally with Wilson, "We've known Wilson for years. What if you're wrong?"
"I'm never wrong." He laughed at that, Miranda casting a cold glance his way, before looking back at Jacob. "I thought you would have learned that by now, Jacob."
"Why kill him?" Shepard asked, gun still aimed at her, "You could have kept him alive. Questioned him. Could have had some fun with him."
"Too risky. I've put too much time and effort bringing you back to life to let you get killed now."
"So I've heard. So tell me why I should trust you? I know who you work for."
Miranda looked at Jacob with a slight smirk. "Ah, Jacob. I knew you conscience would get the better of you."
"Lying to the Commander isn't the way to get him to join our cause."
"Join your cause?" he chuckled, "You're fucking kidding, right? The only thing I'm doing is getting off this station and heading back to the Citadel. Arcturus. Earth. Anywhere but fucking Cerberus."
"Not so fast, Shepard. My boss would like to speak to you."
"And what on earth makes you think that I want to speak to him?"
"Considering he's just spent billions rebuilding you, I think you should at least hear what he has to say."
"And what makes you think I care what he has to say?"
Miranda sighed, clearly exasperated at the situation. Shepard didn't care. He wasn't going to be cooperative with Cerberus. "Look, Shepard. This is the only shuttle off this station. You can stay if you want, or you can come with me and meet the boss."
He muttered something to himself inaudible to the other two while thinking along the lines of I could just shoot these two and steal the shuttle. Hmmm, bad plan. Don't really know how to fly a shuttle. Don't know where the hell I am anyway. He looked over a Jacob, who seemed fairly relaxed. Well, he's at least friendly enough. And relatively talented. Wonder what his background is? Then he looked back at Miranda. Yeah, Wilson was right. A definite ice queen. I can feel the cold from here. But… shit, I've got no choice. I either go with these two or stay here and… die again.
"Commander?" Miranda asked, clearly growing impatient.
He could only sigh. "Well, seems I have no real choice in the matter. But, if you don't mind, I'm going to keep my little friend in hand as we go along. We're not exactly in trust mode yet."
"As you wish, Commander," Miranda replied, before she turned around and walked towards the shuttle. He couldn't help but watch her walk away, just for a moment, before looking across at Jacob, who was doing the same thing. Sighing again, he walked towards the shuttle.
Had enough of this place to last a lifetime anyway.