Chapter 1: ...Into the Fire

Jack's memory was a little bit blurry after that moment. He remembered watching the Normandy being torn apart by one last beam of yellow light coming from somewhere unknown in the distance and being blasted away. His first thought was that he had died but, he kept floating. A ship, no a Kodiak shuttle had rescued him, pulling him inside with biotics. Jack was relieved to know that he was wrong about the Alliance and they had come to save him, however, he was wrong about that last part. The last thing he remembered was getting kicked in the head from behind, the hit had knocked him out cold. It was all just one big blur after that moment, the only thing he was able to gather was that whoever had grabbed him, didn't intend on letting him go.

Some time later...:

_o0o0o0o0o_

A muffled voice made Jack start to open his eyes, "Miranda, he isn't here, Feron's intel must've been wrong."

Jack quickly realized he was in some kind of stasis pod that had been drained of it's power. His immediate question was how long could he have been trapped sleeping? Pods like this one could keep a subject frozen and asleep for hundreds of years if the power was managed well. However, Feron and Miranda were both names he recognized working for the pro Human terrorist organization known only as Cerberus. If people were still talking about them, it at least meant he was in the same lifetime. He considered trying to stay silent until they passed but, Jack had no idea how to get out of this thing on his own. The idea of dying trapped in a container wasn't what Jack had in mind so he started banging a fist against the pod.

Miranda's frustrated tone echoed in his ear, "He had no reason to lie and hasn't led us into any... Wait do you hear that? He's in the walls." Her voice got closer and louder, "Commander Shepard, we're going to get you out of there, just hang on."

The sound of gunfire made him tense when the other voice said, "About twenty more LOKI mechs coming our way. Whatever your gonna do, make it fast."

He felt a little dizzy as the pod was yanked from wherever it was positioned, sending him banging around the inside somewhat. Apparently the designer of these devices didn't believe in seat belts for safety. The door above him opened to a hail of more gunfire and Miranda's face. He would recognize the pale spotless skin, ocean blue eyes, and shoulder length black hair instantly from Eden Prime. She had pretended to be an innocent employee of the ExoGeni mining corporation there only to kill a member of his ground team. And that was before she kidnapped an Alliance Admiral, attacked the military prison on Luna, just to steal an AI the Alliance had illegally been developing there. He threw a punch at her immediately.

Miranda took the punch with a groan while ducking from gunfire, "I realize you have questions Commander but, right now we need to get out of here. I can explain everything when we're clear." She surprisingly handed him an extra M-9 Predator pistol, "I trust you can give me that? You killing me will solve nothing, do you understand?"

Jack wanted to shoot her for all the crimes against the Alliance he knew she committed, unfortunately though, she was right. He had no idea where he was or how to safely get out of here. If he killed her now all he would be doing was shooting himself in the foot. As soon as he grabbed the gun, Jack saw what he could only assume was a LOKI mech behind her. It was thin and around 5'0" tall covered in a white durasteel typically used for ship armor. He would've just thought it was a Geth Trooper if it wasn't for the black and red optical sensor. Without much thought, Jack fired past Miranda's head at the mech potentially saving her life.

He started to sit up looking at her, "I understand that I have no other options right now but, don't think for a second that means I'm joining Cerberus anytime soon."

Miranda gave him a cool smile but, offered her hand to help him out of the pod, "Let's talk about it first before you make a rash decision.." She looked behind him as she helped pull him out, "Wilson come on, we're leaving."

Jack started walking to a nearby door when they heard a gun's safety click, "I'm sorry Miranda, I can't let either of you leave this room. If you want to live, I suggest putting Shepard back in the pod."

She slowed to a stop with a sigh, "No wonder you didn't want me to find him here. How much has she paid you to do this? One hundred thousand credits? Two?"

Jack slowly turned around to see a balding terrified looking man holding them up with a gun, "I wouldn't take credits for this, what she's doing is something I believe in."

Miranda started walking towards Wilson slowly, "Really? Using Rachni on children is something you believe in? Kidnapping our first Human SPECTRE without permission is something you believe in? Lying to The Illu-"

Jack was going to stay out of this knowing that Wilson had his gun trained on him. If their encounter on Eden Prime had taught him anything, it was that Miranda was willing to kill anyone who got in her way. On Luna she had also betrayed one of her own just to ensure she escaped with the AI. Still, the way they were talking indicated Wilson was part of Cerberus in some capacity with her. Would she really kill one of her own if they didn't play ball? And if she actually did, what did that say about his own chances for making it out of here in one piece? Another advantage of just watching this play out was that he could maybe get a little context to what the hell was going on here.

Wilson started shouting and fired a warning shot between them, "It's all done for the sake of Humanity! She has the guts to do what you, and that man in his Ivory castle don't have the stomach for! The hard choices that actually make a difference to all of us!"

Miranda smiled for a brief moment, "I'm sorry you feel that way Wilson, and Cerberus thanks you for your wonderful service over the years." She suddenly used her biotics behind her back to knock him off his feet and shoot him in the head, "Come on Shepard, we need to get out of here."

Jack didn't move grabbing his pistol tighter, "I'm sorry, if you do that to your own people, why on Earth should I trust you to lead me to safety?"

Miranda sounded irritated and exhausted, "Did that look like one of my people to you? For God's sake Shepard, he wanted to put you back in the pod for the next six hundred years as a punishment. You can either come with me or try and find your own way out of here. I don't have time to argue."

He was about to start shooting at her when a synthetic voice chimed in on the intercom, "Alert, alert, self destruct sequence authorized by Operative CH. All personnel should move immediately to escape pods."

That alarm changed his plans dramatically, she wasn't someone worth dying for just to stop, not yet anyways. He could waste time fighting her, and then maybe have enough time to find a ship but, Jack still wouldn't have any of his questions answered. Chief among them was the fate of Kal and the rest of the Normandy crew. Did the Alliance ever answer any distress call, or had the Cerberus shuttle been the only ship to enter the Amada System? What had attacked them in the first place? He was afraid Kal and the others could be still stranded for however long he had been sleeping. Also, having absolutely no information about where he was, and knowing Cerberus bases had a tendency to be maze like, Jack decided to follow her.

She ran out of the room and tapped her omni tool, "That son of a bitch! Jacob, is the shuttle ready to launch?"

Jacob, now that was a name that gave Jack several conflicting emotions; hate, pity, shame, guilt, and disgust. Jacob Taylor used to be part of the Alliance's Corsairs program until he was captured by Batarian's during the Skillyian Blitz. When Jack attacked the Batarian stronghold on Torfan to save Kal, Jacob was burned and his father was killed because of Jack's actions. As revenge, Jacob infiltrated the Normandy as Adam White and almost killed Kal on Virmire. He wondered if Jacob knew Miranda came here to rescue him, or had she lied to get her way? Either way, this was going to be an interesting conversation, if Jack could resist the urge to hit him that is.

Jacob's voice came through her omni tool sounding preoccupied, "Just a few mechs keeping me busy, I'll be ready to go when you get here."

She looked back at Jack while running, "No time to waste Commander, it's still a ways away."

As they ran through the white corridors of what Jack could only assume was a space station, he started to wonder why he was placed here. Most research labs usually focused on a singular topic so, he would've thought that this base would research cryogenic stasis. However, looking into windows to the rooms they passed by, all Jack could see was robotic machinery. Specifically, each room they passed seemed to be dedicated to making a part of the LOKI mech function. What could a terrorist group focused on Humanity need glorified security drones for? The more he was awake and starting to see where he was sleeping, Jack just had more questions.

Miranda fired at two LOKI's from behind and they sprinted past the door they had been approaching. Beyond was a large hangar Jack would've associated with deep space industrial work more than a high tech lab. In the center of the hangar was a single Kodiak shuttle with the white, black, and yellow colors that were now Cerberus'. Unfortunately, to get to the shuttle, they were going to have to break through a large clump of LOKI's marching towards it. Jack reached a hand out to send a biotic warp in their direction only to grab at his temple from a spike of pain. In the chaos of what to him felt like twenty four hours, Jack had forgotten his L3 biotic implant was gone.

The sudden pain dropped him to his knees and Miranda had to drag him to cover behind a crate, "Damnit, Jacob I need you over here now! The Commander is down." She snapped a finger by Jack's ear, "Shepard I need your help here, just point and shoot."

Jack nodded gritting his teeth and started shooting through the pain. He was seeing double so, several of his shots missed at embarrassing angles but overall, Jack was able to kill several LOKI's before Jacob's Kodiak arrived. Miranda lifted him up, getting under his free arm, and they stumbled towards the Kodiak barely getting inside. So much for attacking Jacob because of what he did to Kal, Jack was hurting from the eezo freely running around in his head. The first thing he was going to do after getting back to civilization was seeing if he was eligible for a replacement implant yet. The shuttle sped out of the hanger at the nick of time to avoid the self destruction.

Miranda grabbed something from the first aid kit and stabbed him with it, "I just gave you some pain medication, after a few hours of sleep, we'll be ready to talk."

Jack wanted to talk right now but, sleep already sounded wonderful. The drugs were making him forget the need to find Kal and instead just sleep. His head felt like it was going to split open otherwise. He just had to hope she wasn't going to keep him asleep for a long time.