Chapter 7: She Needs a Name
Jack paced around his room wondering why the confirmation of the Collectors was taking so long. Having only seen the video footage alone, Miranda had practically declared it was the Collectors and yet The Illusive Man seemed to be dragging his feet. Jack was starting to think for all his talk of a big game, Cerberus was going to shrink away from the problem just like the Council. The difference was, the Council mostly let him travel as he pleased, Cerberus on the other hand were content with keeping him prisoner. At least it felt that way since the only time he could leave his room was during meal times. He felt trapped like a lab rat despite doing nothing wrong.
His immediate thought was Cerberus was hiding something from him. It didn't have to be about the Collectors either, he was sure The Illusive Man would want to put anything Quarian related under the rug. Despite not asking about him, Cerberus weren't fools, they'd know he loved Kal and would do anything for him and by extension the Quarian people as a whole. Even though he realized this, Jack still firmly believed Kal was safer as far away from him as possible. He just hoped Kal could stay out of their reach while he played the role of puppet to The Illusive Man. The more Cerberus thought he was playing along, within reason, the safer Kal would be.
Miranda opened the door to his room without knocking, "Shepard we have a lead, The Illusive Man is ready to talk to you in the conference room."
Jack wasted little time going there having no idea how long he had been waiting, "What have we got?"
The Illusive Man was standing and lighting a cigarette, "We were able to discover more of what my rogue cell was up to. But more importantly, we confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions."
Jack gritted his teeth a little irritated, "I'm glad we spent so much time looking into what I already told you."
He actually chuckled walking towards his chair, "You know I had my own suspicions, but I needed proof. The Collectors are enigmatic at best."
Jack tried to get a read on him but, the expression was unreadable, "Jacob told me a little about them on Freedom's Progress but, I'd like to hear what you know about them."
He shrugged inhaling on the cigarette, "Not much more I'm afraid, they periodically travel to the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items, tech, or specimens. Usually in exchange for their own advanced technology. When their transactions are complete, they disappear as quickly as they arrived; back beyond the unmapped Omega-4 relay."
Jack raised an eyebrow and folded his arms, "And you didn't find that suspicious at all? Why would an advanced species give away their technology practically for free? I thought you people were a Humanity first type of organization."
He took a defensive tone, "Until now, we've had no evidence of direct aggression by the Collectors. And you should know I'm willing to work with other races when the greater good is involved. Otherwise we wouldn't speaking right now because of your relationships in the past."
Jack wanted to smack him from here and would've if he still had biotics, "I don't think that's any of your god damned business now is it? I'm still confused about how the Collectors and Reapers are connected. Why didn't they attack sooner with Sovereign?"
He gave a placating hand gesture, "Point taken Shepard, regardless if they're agents for the Reapers, it could be for any number of reasons. The search for new technology perhaps? Or like the Geth they see the Reapers as their gods."
Something still didn't feel right about that explanation even though it was all based in fact. In all his conversations with Sovereign and the Prothean device on Ilos, it was very clear that the Reapers didn't discriminate. They wanted to destroy all life in existence and perfected their craft for millions of years. Victory had even suggested the cycle played out almost exactly the same each time, even with character archetypes. Beings with that much power probably weren't known to pick on a single race. It wasn't as if Humanity was the most advanced race in the known galaxy either, the Reapers had plenty of other targets. The Reapers must've seen something special in Humans. It was the only logical explanation.
Jack folded his arms, "I still don't get why they're only attacking us. From everything I learned, it would make more sense if the Collectors kidnapped multiple species."
He waved a hand seemingly dismissing his argument, "Their focus shifted to Humanity only after you and the Human fleet destroyed Sovereign. What really concerns me is why they bother abducting the colonists. Once the Humans are paralyzed, why not just kill them?"
Jack pondered that for a moment, "On Therum, Saren told me the Reapers needed our organic material to survive. At the time I thought he was just crazy but, maybe he was telling the truth... What's our next step?"
A LOKI mech passed through Jack highlighting this was just a hologram and filled The Illusive Man's glass, "I won't wait until the Reapers are on the march. We need to take the fight to them. I've already compiled a list of soldiers, scientists, and mercenaries. You'll get dossiers on the best of them. Finding them and convincing them to work with you could be challenging, but, your a natural leader."
The pit of Jack's stomach felt uneasy from the idea of working with only the people Cerberus chose for him to work with. What if The Illusive Man asked him to do something crazy and Jack didn't have anyone to back him up? Already Miranda had chastised him for just wanting to help people she didn't like. He also knew that if push came to shove, Jacob would follow whatever Cerberus wanted, not his orders. Even though he needed to keep Kal safe, the other old members of his team could maybe join him. He was sure Liara would love to see more Prothean technology and Garrus was like a brother to him. It was risky to get others involved but, he needed an insurance policy.
Jack held a defiant tone, "Keep your list, I want people I can trust. The crew who helped me stop Saren and the Geth."
The Illusive Man finished his cigarette, "That was two years ago, Commander. Most of them have moved on... or their allegiances have changed. William's still with the Alliance, even promoted I believe. Her file is surprisingly well-classified though. Urdnot Wrex returned to Tuchanka and hasn't gone off-world in over a year. He's trying to unite the Krogan clans with his Genophage cure. The Turian and your husband disappeared a few months after you were declared dead. Even we haven't been able to locate them. Liara is on Illium, and my sources say that she's working for the Shadow Broker. If so, she can't be trusted. Tali'Zorah is with the Quarian fleet guarding Legion and stolen Cerberus property. And finally, Feron still works for us but, I'm unwilling to pull him away from his current assignment."
Out of all of that, Jack was just happy to hear Kal was with Garrus, they'd take good care of each other, "Ok I get it, they're unavailable."
He finished the scotch in one shot, "You're a leader, Shepard. You'll get who you need. I've also made it clear to Miranda and Jacob that you're in charge. You ultimately decide who joins your squad. In the meantime, I'll continue to track the Collectors. When they make their next appearance, I'll notify you and your team. Be ready."
Jack bowed his head and turned to walk out of the call, "We'll be ready, just point us in the right direction when the time comes."
The Illusive Man spoke quickly to cut him off, "Good. Two things before you go: First, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He's a brilliant Salarian scientist. Our intelligence suggests he may know how to counteract the Collectors' paralyzing seeker swarms."
Jack turned back around only to rub the back of his neck and raise an eyebrow, "I don't think I'll be personally welcome there from the Blitz but I can try."
He relaxed in his chair seemingly very smug, "By the time you get there, Aria won't be a problem. Just find Doctor Solus in the chaos and get back out."
Jack didn't like the sound of that but, they needed the Salarian's expertise, "Alright, and the second thing?"
He started to tap his omni tool, "I've found a pilot I think you might like. I hear he's one of the best. Someone you can trust."
When the image faded away a familiar voice spoke from behind him, "Hey Commander, long time no see."
The voice made him jump surprised turning around to see Joker sitting in his wheelchair behind him. His former pilot looked as healthy as ever and a happy expression was on his face. Seeing Joker made him a little more confident that Kal was alright wherever he and Garrus were now. Kal and Joker were in the same escape pod so, it stood to reason that if one was ok, so was the other. He still wondered why The Illusive Man got Joker on the team, Jack wasn't going to suddenly start trusting them now. At the same time, why would Joker even consider joining Cerberus? During Jacob's revenge plot on Virmire, Joker had almost gotten killed. Sure, The Illusive Man could probably afford to dump millions of credits on his doorstep but, he didn't think Joker was the type of pilot to just fly for the credits.
Jack grinned walking towards him, "What the hell are you doing here? Your the absolute last person I expected to see wandering around here."
Joker smirked starting to turn his chair around, "Look who's talking. I saw you fly away in space like Carrie Poppins." He motioned for Jack to follow him, "It all fell apart without you, Commander. Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. Team was broken up, records sealed, and I was grounded. The Alliance took away the only thing that mattered to me. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus."
Jack rubbed his forehead for a second, "There goes my hope for the Alliance actually doing something against the Reapers. Do you honestly trust Cerberus though? After everything they put us through?"
Joker snorted sounding amused before stopping his chair in front of some windows that looked into what appeared to be a ship dock, "I don't trust anyone who makes more credits than I do, but they aren't all bad. Saved your life. Let me fly, and then there's this."
Lights along the dock outside started to light up outside and Jack couldn't believe his eyes. Floating next to the dock of the space station was the Normandy. It wasn't the exact same ship, this model was larger more along the lines of a cruiser than the original's frigate designation. This new Normandy also had the Cerberus colors painted all over it and a set of massive guns attached to the front of the ship. While it was nice to see something so familiar, Jack had to wonder if that was the point in a bad way. The Illusive Man could be trying to lower his guard and allow him to trust what they were up to. He had to stay vigilant for their next move.
Joker's voice pulled him from his thoughts, "They only told me last night, it even has better microwaves to make popcorn apparently."
Jack smirked remembering Joker's old fascination with the snack food, "The ships going to need a name though."
After going back to his room and collecting his new set of armor, Jack started making his way through the halls towards his new ship, the Normandy SR2. He wasn't sure how he was going to get Doctor Solus but, he had to start somewhere. He hoped he would never have to come back to this station ever again.