To remember

Asgard System

Jak took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

Getting to this system had been an adventure in and of itself. Korri was still slumbering in her cocoon. Lara had been up, but then she had suffered some kind of relapse and was back in the rachni medic's clutches. Um… That was the wrong word. They might have looked horrific and the tiny workers that swarmed over and around her in her nutrient bath might have given any human the creepy crawlies, but the rachni as a whole were kind, gentle and more than bit on the humorous side. That was leaving out their music, which even now sang through him.

That wasn't the problem.

Illia had had gotten him here in a ship that looked fairly standard, but only on the outside. The courier ship had apparently been hers before her fateful encounter with the rachni and she had upgraded it significantly beyond spec even before that. With rachni tech? The ship flew like a dream. Illia had let Jak take the controls for the final landing -an incredible show of trust- and he had been pleased with the craft's handling. He hadn't been a vac jockey very much, but some skills one simply did not forget especially when the owner of the ship was watching you like a hawk. Or a huge insectoid alien.

That wasn't the problem.

"It will be all right, Jak." Janice stood beside him, resplendant in an Alliance uniform that bore subdued captain's bars! She was Alliance reserve! He hadn't known that. She didn't remember anything after they had encountered her on the Cerberus ship and Illia had fuzzed her memories of her son out of kindness. As far as she knew, Jak and Lara had escaped, rescued her and managed to get off the ship with Illia's help. How Illia had managed to get there and then away had been left conveniently blank.

"Sorry, Captain." Jak swallowed as he gave his own uniform a shake. He hadn't worn his dress uniform in a long, long time and it felt alien over the skintight covering that the rachni had insisted he wear. After seeing the covering tested? It had taken a direct hit from a Carnifex pistol at point blank range and hadn't been indented at all! He put it on with no quibbling after that. "Never understood why you always called me by my rank. I was… um..." He slumped. "I am stalling."

"No one blames you." Janice laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded to him. "What you went through would have broken anyone, Jak. Anyone. I am amazed you trust me after what I did." Jak just looked at her and she flushed. She dropped her hand quickly. He was armed. She wasn't. "Yeah. Right."

"Cerberus has always been good at hurting people, Janice." Jak said with a frown. "Always. I reported the attempt they made to recruit me and my team. We didn't trust them and a good thing. Black Ops are bad enough when they don't go off the rails like the Illusive Man did. You were stuck, Janice. I understand, but trust will be hard to get back."

"And you are leaving after this." Janice frowned as Jak did not react. "No one will say where to."

"Dunno." Jak shrugged as an usher appeared nearby and waved to them. He started forward. "Showtime. Not a hot LZ, but I am shaking."

To her credit, Janice did nothing but stand there, offering what support she could.

"'One more, unto the breach, dear friends, once more'." Jak quoted softly, Janice smiled at the reference and nodded Then he started for the usher, Janice at his heels. She was his escort for this, detailed to keep tabs on his health while he did something incredibly stressful.

It wasn't a long walk. The building wasn't large. Jak had been told that it would eventually become a visitor information kiosk with attached restrooms. The usher led the way outside and a small crowd was gathered in front of… Jak inhaled sharply as he saw the statue.

Just as it had been described to him, it was a Mantis gunship in flight. Full size, with all the proper attachments that were not classified. It was made of metal and for just a moment, he could hear the engines roar, he could hear Horst's final call, Christie's final moan. The memorial was set in a small groove of recently planted saplings. When they were grown, the gunship would look as if it were flying between them, his preferred altitude for combat. He looked neither left nor right as he strode toward the statue and the small stage that had been erected in front of it. He jerked as one of the Alliance soldiers interspersed through the crowd saluted him. He started to return it, but suddenly, every soldier in the crowd was saluting. Him. He stopped at the base of the stage, spun the crowd and gave a parade ground salute that ended right where it should, crisp and clean. He dropped his and the others did the same. Only then did the applause start. He flushed bit and hurried onto the stage as the clapping continued.

Jak nodded to the woman who had been the sole person on the stage. The governor of the colony. McPherson something. He couldn't possibly remember everyone who he had been introduced to. She held up a hand and the applause died.

"We gather today to remember the fallen." The governor said into sudden silence. "To remember those who cannot speak. We remember their names." She looked at Jak and then at the sky. "Almost nine years ago, our colony was attacked. Many have blamed the Alliance for not defending everywhere with everything, but most know that such is impossible. The attackers came for our wealth and our souls. They came to take us into slavery. They had many trained fighters and we had few weapons, no training and no hope." She was crying softly as she turned to Jak. "What we did not know...What no one knew.. was that we had help coming. Our desperate call for help was heard!"

She shouted the last at the sky. Jak stood ramrod straight as the crowd murmured.

"We didn't know what to expect." The governor said sadly. "We didn't expect one gunship to pull out of the night. We hadn't known that an Alliance force was nearby. Did anyone?" She asked Jak.

"No comment." Jak said and more than one person laughed at that.

"Figured you would say that." The governor smiled but that smile fell. "We were disappointed. We were angry. Furious, actually. Here we were, facing a horror that few could comprehend and the Alliance sent one gunship with one fireteam?" She bowed her head. "They didn't send you. You came on your own. No one else was close enough, so you came. You came." She was crying hard now and Jak fought back a sigh. He laid a hand on her arms and she smiled at him through her tears. She dashed them away and when she spoke again, it was calmer. "I had no idea what one fireteam and one gunship could do. I learned that day. When the noises finally faded and we dared to exit the city's disaster bunker, we found bodies. Over a hundred slaver bodies. Not one got within a meter of our bunker entrance. Your team… held them off. Held them away. Made them flee before they could take our children. The enemy took slaves from other places and herded them onto their ship. Before they could get away though, you returned. I found out later you had been holding off two enemy gunships similar to your own. You destroyed them both."

"HOOYAH!" Came a shout from the crowd and Jak had to smile as more than one of the civilians returned the Alliance Special Forces battlecry with interest. He banished it quickly.

"So when this pilot returned, he found the slavers retreating. They had broken on the team's line and they lost all stomach for it after that. Seeing the gunship return? They started to flee." She bowed her head and Jak did the same. "They had fifty seven people in the pod they were taking up to their ship. We all know people who were in that pod." The governor said flatly and many in the crowd nodded. "Their memorial is their work. The work of their hands, their need to do something. Because when the slavers tried to take the pod aboard, somebody stopped them!"

She shouted the last. A hungry murmur went around the crowd. It died as a form stepped forward. A small girl, she was about nine. She had dark skin and dark hair, but bright blue eyes and she was holding a bouquet of flowers. She stepped up to the stage and smiled a bit shyly at Jak before nodding to the governor.

"Melissa here was selected as spokeswoman for the group." The governor said with a nod of her own. "She has something to ask you, Lieutenant Collains."

Jak looked at the girl. Was this part of the script?

"Why 'Walrus'?" The girl asked as she held the flowers out to Jak who took them, bemused. Jak flushed a little and she shook her head. "We had a lot of questions, but most of those my mom and dad say you cannot or will not answer. So, we decided on that one. Why did you call yourself 'Walrus'? They don't fly, do they?"

"They can if you fire one out of a cannon." Jak replied automatically. A gasped laugh went around the crowd, but the girl smiled widely and relaxed. Jak smiled at her. "Seriously? My first day in Basic Training, I was a bit overweight and not in very good shape. It wasn't very pretty. My Drill Instructor called me a walrus when I was trying to run." The girl's eyes went huge and Jak smiled. "It stuck. By the time I was in flight school, it was 'Walrus this' and 'Walrus that'. It became part of who I am."

"I am glad you survived." Melissa said weakly, looking scared now. Jak sighed, bent down and opened his arms. She swarmed into hem, giving him a tight hug. He tensed as she whispered. "There are strangers here. They are dressed like locals, but no one knows them."

"You are a good girl, Melissa." Jak said out loud. She stared at him and he nodded slightly. "I am glad I was here to help and I know my team felt the same way. Our job was to get between people who could not fight and those who wished them harm." As he looked over the crowd, he could see several people suddenly tense. Nothing happened and he nodded to the girl. "Tell me, did you help make this?" He waved at the memorial.

"I did." Melissa said proudly.

"This is a good thing." Jak nodded to her and she moved to stand by the governor. "Those of us who serve or have served know the costs. It is not always politically correct or polite to remember those costs, but some will. I am reminded of another memorial." His eyes went far away as he remembered one of his few trips in Basic Training. "Most of us have heard about the SSV Normandy. Shepherd's ship." He looked around and many heads in the crowd nodded. "Not many today know that in a place called Normandy on the sixth of June in 1944 on Earth, more than a million men waded ashore onto a beach, many under fire from entrenched positions to liberate a land that had fallen to ruthless invaders. I went there once, on leave. I stood on the beaches and marveled at what had happened. I walked through square kilometers of white crosses, each denoting a fallen soldier. The grass was exactly half an inch high everywhere in that cemetery."

"What?" Melissa asked, eyes wide. "Grass doesn't grow like that."

"No, it doesn't." Jak agreed. "The reason it grows no higher is that the men and women who tend the cemetery go out every day, rain or shine and cut it. In some places, by hand. They remember." At that, Melissa stiffened and Jak waved at her. "No, I am not saying do that here!" He stage whispered to general laughter as Melissa relaxed. "What I am saying is do not forget, but also do not forget why they did what they did. The men at Normandy did not do what they did to be remembered. My team and I did not do what we did to be remembered. We did it because we could and it had to be done. You know what, Melissa?" She shook her head bemused by all this. "Even with everything, seeing you standing here whole and safe? I would do it again."

She stared at him and her brave front collapsed. She started crying and a man stepped forward from the crowd as Jak scooped her up. He held her out to the man who resembled her and the man nodded silently taking his daughter and melting back into the crowd.

"It was the job." Jak said into the utter silence that had fallen. "It wasn't fun. It wasn't glorious or glamorous or whatever. I chose to do the job. We chose to do the job. We put on the uniform, we take the pay, we get the knocks and the scars, but in the end, the job needs doing. Better us than some half trained merc who will run as soon as he sees something go wrong."

He was stunned as everyone in the crowd, uniformed and not, all raised their hands in salute. The governor spun and did the same. Jak sighed as he returned it.

"Be glad my old Drill Instructor is not here."

"She would drop the lot of us for pushups."

Later

He was so tired. It had been a very exhausting day, but it wasn't done yet. After the memorial had been dedicated, there had been a reception and way too many people to remember. He had seen Melissa again though and her mom and dad, both of whom had thanked him for saving their lives. That mantra had continued all day and into the night. He was tired, so tired. But if there were strangers here… His plans were set.

"Jak?" Janice looked worried as she came out of the restroom.

"Just tired, Janice." Jak said with a smile as she took in his civvies. He had taken off his dress uniform and stored it carefully. It was unlikely he would need it again, but who knew? He was in the reserves now, just like Janice, if highly unlikely to be called. "Better get going or you will miss your flight."

"Part of me wants to stay." Janice said softly. "I don't know what Cerberus did to my boy, but whatever it was, it wasn't good, was it?" Jak shook his head. "I think I am going to put in my papers. Ryder asked me to go and I am. A fresh start."

"A clean slate." Jak said with a smile. "Maybe I will see you there."

"Jak..."Janice pleaded. "Come with me. They won't do anything in public."

"This is Cerberus we are talking about, Janice." Jak said flatly. "You know how ruthless they can be better than many." Janice nodded, manifestly against her will. "Go. I will be fine. It is not like I am facing Cross here."

"He was Cerberus, right?" Janice asked. Jak nodded. 'I don't want to know how you know that, do I?" Jak shook his head. "Were you?"

"No." Jak sighed. "My own team was black, but never quite that bad. We shared intel with some of them but nothing else. Good riddance after what they did to Kahoku. They do not own me."

"They probably think they do." Janice was wavering.

"Janice. Go. Now." Jak said flatly. He paused as she stepped forward, bent down and kissed his cheek. His hand shot to his cheek as she smiled. "Janice!"

"Hey, I am a nurse, not dead." The woman said with a sly grin. "I can be jealous of Lara's good fortune. I… hope to see you. Wherever and whenever we end up."

"Me too." But Jak was speaking to empty air. The door hissed shut behind her and Jak was alone in the room. The penthouse was paid for the weekend, a gift of the colony. He had tried to demur, but the governor had insisted and Jak had been too tired to argue too much. It was a little gaudy for his taste, the ceiling was all mirrors that could be set to reflect or not. The rest of it wasn't much, this particular part of Terra Nova wasn't very well settled even now. But four stories was nothing to sneeze at on a colony world. He closed his eyes and spoke in a normal tone. "She is gone and what surveillance they had here is disabled. You can come out now."

A hint of air movement. He wasn't alone. But he hadn't been since he had arrived. Janice hadn't had a clue and he had wanted her far away from what was about to happen.

"You haven't lost your touch. Still eyes in the back of your head?" The voice was familiar but not quite clicking. Jak did not open his eyes.

"No." Jak replied, still not moving. He knew he was in danger, but so was the other. His hands were hidden by the armrests of the chair he sat in. "The girl saw strangers in the crowd. Takes no imagination to know who might want to be there incognito to do their dirty deeds."

"Let's not do anything hasty, Lieutenant." The other cautioned. "The boss wants to talk to you."

"Your boss can kiss my ass, Cerberus." Jak snapped, eyes slitted. He saw what he expected. A female form stood in shadow. The Carnifex pistol in her hand was no surprise. He couldn't make out her face, but he did know the voice. It wasn't supposed to be possible, but hey, with Cerberus bringing back Shepherd? What wasn't?

"I am shocked. No bubble gum, Christie?"