Chapter 52: What Shepard Did
Kal's gut told him something was wrong the moment he entered the back hangar. It was far too quiet for a supposed war zone, when he turned the corner he saw why. Salarian's were dead all over the floor with shots to the back of the head. They didn't die as a distraction force, these people were executed one by one in a line. The Geth were too busy looking for the coordinates for the Mu Relay to be this theatrical so it had to be Cerberus but, why? As far as they knew, Cerberus was only after Prothean tech, what did the STG have to do with that? He also noticed that Feron and Adam were missing among the dead. It probably meant that they were the traitors that had warned Cerberus they were coming, and Kal had a sinking feeling he knew why.
The other major problem with this scene was that the Normandy was already landed waiting for them. It should've been in the air right now waiting for the best possible location to pick them up but, instead it was here tucked away. Joker wouldn't have just decided to land here on his own so, someone he trusted had to have given the order, someone like Adam. He trained his shotgun on the wide open cargo hold door and slowly approached. Inside he saw a Cerberus Kodiak shuttle and Feron carrying the Normandy's fuel line to it.
Kal fired a warning shot above Feron's head and slowly got closer, "Thinking of going somewhere with our fuel? I don't think so. Where's Adam?"
Feron immediately dropped the fuel line and shot his hands straight up, his eyes glazed over for a minute, "I... I'm sorry mother it won't happen again. She looks at me with a sly smile, her black eyes swirling with contempt and love fighting each other. Now Feron what have I told you about stealing? Go apologize to your father..." He blinked coming out of the memory, "I'm sorry, I don't know."
Kal prepared to take another shot, "Bullshit, your telling me you remember getting scolded by your mother for stealing but don't know where Adam is? You have to the count of three to-"
He was cut off by the roar of the Normandy's engines and since the cargo hold door was open, it made Kal stumble around. They were leaving, oh no that meant Adam had full control of the ship and they were leaving Jack behind. No, no, no this couldn't be happening, he had to stop this. Kal couldn't take loosing Jack so quickly after getting him back. However, Feron took the opportunity to pounce on Kal grabbing the shotgun and tossing it out of the ship. That was a surprise, why didn't Feron try to just kill him? Kal kicked him in the gut from below him and rolled him to the side, that's when he heard the elevator door open.
A female voice said, "That damned Geth, if he hadn't taken over the ship we could have had it. Why didn't you kill Joker? He wouldn't have been able to give ship access if he was dead."
Feron put his finger to his lips at Kal and stood up, "There you two are, what's going on?"
Adam's frustrated voice responded, "Legion showed up and pushed us out of the cockpit, looks like he took over the ship. We have to take the Kodiak now."
Kal thought about jumping up now and trying to take Feron as a hostage but, the situation had changed. Legion had control of the ship and so getting to the cockpit wasn't as big a priority. The Geth was many things but, it was dedicated to it's mission and wouldn't let Jack die if there was a chance he had the Mu Relay data. Feron's behavior also made him pause, the Drell seemed to be protecting him. He could've shot him or sold him out but, he hadn't, why? The best thing Kal could do right now was wait this out to see what happened next.
Feron casually stepped in front of Kal who was on the ground and grabbed the fuel line, "Great timing, I was just wrapping things up here myself, just give me three minutes."
Adam raised a fist approaching him, "What do you mean three more minutes? I left you down here so you could actually fuel this thing up!"
The woman grabbed his arm, "That's enough Jacob, just calm down and take a breath, we have the time."
Jacob grabbed her other arm and yanked it slightly, "Don't tell me how to think Miranda. If I want to punch him for being bad at his job, I can do that."
In the next few seconds, Kal learned a lot. First, and most importantly, Adam's real name was Jacob and the woman's name was Miranda. Second, in their little spat something had fallen out of her sleeve, it was a data chip. Kal could only assume it was the coordinates for the Mu Relay. Nothing else was important enough to hide up your sleeve like that. Risking discovery, the Quarian grabbed the data and clung to it. That was the whole reason they were here after all, unfortunately, a hand on the ground near Feron's legs wasn't exactly subtle and Jacob saw it.
The man grabbed Kal lifting him up like a ragdoll and slammed him into the Kodiak shuttle, "Didn't your mother ever tell you that it was rude to spy on other peoples conversations, Kal?"
Kal shrugged sounding sarcastic while taking the opportunity to put the data hand behind his back, "I didn't know my mother at all so no she didn't, but I'm guessing you already knew that didn't you Jacob? Or is it Adam? You spy types are so wishy washy."
He drew his pistol and put it in Kal's face, the barrel grinding against the glass of the helmet, "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment. To blow your brains out, I wanted Jack to watch but, this will have to do."
Miranda slowly approached like Jacob was a wild animal, "Jacob I know your angry right now but, you need to drop the gun. This isn't our mission, Marlboro doesn't want-"
Jacob cut her off his burn scars twisting with a grimace, "I don't care what some man I've never met wants. He doesn't know what it was like, what I went through that day because of these two."
Kal knew where this was going and took a solemn tone, "And what did you go through Jacob? What did I do to you?"
Eight months ago, Torfan:
_o0o0o0o_
Jacob was all skin and bones having been in a cage for a solid six months now. Balak had captured his group of Corsairs trying to return to Admiral Kahoku's fleet. It had been hell and now he was the only one left from his group, all the others had either died from starvation or been sold like cattle. Tonight though Jacob couldn't help but smile hearing the familiar twang of the M8 series Avenger rifle. The Alliance was finally here and planning a rescue for them, soon he would be free. The first thing he was going to do after getting better was go after his friends that were still alive and save them.
When the door opened and a mixture of aliens came in Jacob was a little surprised. It was well known that Admiral Kahoku had a team of elites that were extremely diverse but, this group had too many Quarians in it and they were in full military get up. What were the Quarian marines doing here? He had admittedly been gone awhile but he had no idea how they had a dog in this fight. While the Alliance forces were opening as many cages as possible, the Quarians were just asking if any of them had seen a particular Quarian and moved on to the next cage not bothering to help them. It made Jacob sick but, since he was out of his cage now he didn't care, getting out of here was all that mattered.
A Turian voice called out to the Quarians over all the noise, "That looks like half, you all, yes you freeloaders, help Akira get these people to safety.. Karo, stay with me for the second half."
Jacob couldn't help but just start running as soon as Akira and the Quarians started leading them to the front door. Even though he was in the middle of the crowd, Jacob was tall enough to see that freedom and fresh air was just ahead of him. He suddenly felt very gross because as he and the other slaves were leaving a black ooze fell from one of the windows on an upper floor. It was slick, sticky, and shiny reflecting the moon light on him and the others. Jacob tried to wipe it off of himself but, it seemed like the type of substance that wouldn't come off, similar to gum in his hair. A moment before he realized what was happening, Jacob saw a single match fly towards the group and land at the front. The fire spread quickly from person to person before exploding.
He went somewhat numb to the scorching pain running through him as he watched others around him burn, even women and children. These people had been his only family for the past six months and now they were dying around him. Jacob had shared makeshift holidays with these people trying to make the kids happy. He had shared some of his darkest secrets and regrets with his cell mates but, now that was all over. They had died just getting a taste of what freedom was again, how unfair was that? At least the selfish Quarians were dead too, he took solace in that fact before closing his eyes. Jacob's last hope was that this was the end and he could die now.
Present day, Virmire:
_o0o0o0o0o_
Jacob motioned to the scars on the side of his face, "I wouldn't have gotten these if it weren't for you and your lover.. But that's by far not the only blood on Jack's hands from that day is it Kal? Is IT?!"
Miranda took another step towards them, "Jacob we have to go, lower the gun."
Kal never wanted anyone to have to go through that but, dragging this out would increase the chances they would be caught so he played along, "No it isn't Jacob... I'm sorry... I never meant-"
Jacob cut him off by clicking the safety off of his pistol, "Just say it, tell me what Jack did for you? Huh?! What did the hero do to save you?!"
Kal teared up hating this memory, "He helped Balak fire the KAC at the Everest but, the Einstein got in front of the shot killing the slaves that had been rescued on the ship. All hands were lost in the split second decision including Captain Hannah Shepard. My life was exchanged for theirs and I had to watch. I begged him not to do it, to let Balak kill me but... he couldn't.. He loved me too much... and then the Alliance covered it up for him."
Miranda put a hand on Jacob's shoulder, "You got what you wanted, he confessed to everything. Now, can we go please?"
Jacob pushed her away slightly putting his finger on the trigger, "My father was on that ship, he wanted to welcome me home but Jack took that opportunity from him. So, I'm going to take the thing Jack loves most away from him."
Feron quickly grabbed the gun to lower it but, it went off. Kal felt the bullet plunge into a lung and he collapsed like a sack of food. Things were blurry now, what was happening? One bullet shouldn't be doing this to him but it was. He closed his eyes still clinging to the Mu Relay coordinates secretly in his hand. Before everything really went black, Kal could feel the webbed hands of a Drell dragging him somewhere.
