Hey peeps, I know that I said I was going to write a chapter about Shepard next, but I realized that this would happen before that, and that I would need to keep it in chronological order.
2158, one year after the first contact war: Illium. Four years, after the events of Chapter one.
Jack Harper played with the ring on his finger, as he waited for an old acquaintance to appear. He watched the skyline of Illium and remembered his team. Eva and Ben had followed him through hell and back, and now they found peace in the father of understanding's embrace. He heard heavy footfalls behind him, ones that belonged to a turian. He took a deep breath and turned around, "Saren Arterius," he greeted with a nod. Saren wasn't his friend, but he was the type of person that the Templars would need, if they were to survive in this new stage.
"Jack Harper," Saren's voice matched Jack's in flatness. "Why did you call me out here?"
"I have an offer for you," Jack said, crossing his arms behind his back.
Saren narrowed his eyes, and his mandibles flickered, "What is your offer?" the undertones in his voice suggested that he was very peeved. Jack guessed that it was because he was asking.
"My group is looking for talented individuals," he admitted to Saren, "you fit that category." Getting no response from Saren he continued, "That group is called the Templars, and we have been looking at artifacts, like the Monolith your brother found, a lot longer than you think."
"What do you know about the artifacts?" Saren put his hand to the gun on his hip.
"We call it a piece of Eden, and there are more out there. The race that left them behind originated on Earth, but they lost control of humans, and eventually lost earth to a solar flare that nearly drove the humans extinct."
"Too bad," Saren said as he removed his hand from the pistol.
"I have heard that a candidacy for the SPECtres is in your future."
"That's how it is for most turians."
"We can assure you, if you join our ranks, you will get SPECtre-ship."
"How?"
"We have our ways." Jack held out a hand, "Are you willing to become a brother of the Templars?"
Saren though it over for a second, "I am willing." He shook Jack's hand, "What next?"
"We get you that SPECtre candidacy." Jack played with his Omni-tool. He had the thing for a year, but couldn't really figure out how to use it. After a minute it beeped, then Saren's beeped. When he looked at it, his mandibles nearly fell off his face, "You didn't believe me?"
Saren quickly regained his composure, and looked at Jack, "I had reasonable doubts, I won't judge your group so quickly next time, your race is a different story." Saren turned and left, leaving Jack in the middle of Illium.
Jack got another message, this one was an assignment. He was to start an alliance black-ops group. The reason was to train Templar agents in the alliance without bringing any suspicion to Abstergo. He agreed with the idea, and knew he could use it to his advantage, but first he would need to take on a new name. Become an illusive man. The Illusive Man, he liked that. He started writing a manifesto, and when he finished it, signed off as The Illusive Man.
He would wait until after the Memorial of his friends to publish it. It would be fitting that all three were forgotten on the same day. After he accepted the assignment, and saved the manifesto into his Omni-tool, Jack received a notice that he would be permitted the use of Chronos Station.
Depending on what I think of next, is what I'll write, it might be Shepard. It might be something else.