2/3 - Operational Risk
anonymous
July 11 2011, 08:45:25 UTC
Cerberus is the Illusive Man, he'd have said, but after it'd been someone else who'd leaked him information about the Hugo Gernsback, well, he doesn't know about that any more. Cerberus is Miranda, he'd have offered instead, but after what happened on Illium with her sister...
"Cerberus hasn't been making too much headway with that, from what I've seen," he finishes lamely, and Shepard glances over at him, expression unreadable.
It's always been hard to tell what the Commander's thinking. He's friendly enough, but unless he's high on ryncol he never- never says anything about his own past that isn't covered in the official records, never seems to stray from the official line, never seems to give away a damned thing. He's friendly enough but beyond that? No one knows.
"We're heading to Omega next?" Jacob says, changing tracks.
"That's right," Shepard says, and looks away, a touch of a smile at the edges of his slips. "I need to talk with a few people there. Pick up a few creds, see if there are any upgrades on the market, maybe strip mine a few more planets on the way..."
And after that, it's whatever crazy task the Illusive Man's put them up to next. Shepard hasn't told the crew yet, but the mood on the ship's been tense. There's only so long they can delay this, and Jacob knows- he's seen that same look before in the eyes of his superiors- that after they start on that, there's likely to be no turning back.
"If there's anyone who can take us through this, Shepard, it's you," he says, and the Commander laughs, before pushing himself out from the chair he's been sitting in and offering Jacob a hand.
"We should go," he says, and Jacob, Jacob doesn't know if whether that means 'I'll do it' or 'I don't know' but, hell, when the galaxy's greatest hope holds a hand out to him, damned if he won't be taking it.
---
And after the Commander does bring them through the belly of the beast- belly of the hollowed out Reaper, more like- everything goes to hell.
The hallways are empty, the crew's gone, and the AI's become inseparable from the Normandy- the AI might as well be the Normandy, now. They don't even have a skeleton crew left, it's just a strike team that's bound together by nothing more than the Commander's presence and Jacob is all too aware of how easy it'd be for all this to fall apart.
The Commander, he thinks, it's always been the Commander.
And then he realises just what that means to him.
Shepard's in his cabin, Jacob knows, he knows where every single member of the crew that's still on board is now. And he knows there's nothing else left for them to do, no last missions that they can do as distractions; the only thing on everyone's minds is that there's just one task left for them to do: hit the Collectors, and make it hurt.
They could all die. They've always known that they could all die. The only damn difference that Shepard's managed to make is that now most of them are prepared to die, but Jacob- isn't. Not just yet.
Not before he makes one thing clear to the only person who's ever tried to make a difference.
Which is why he finds himself standing at the door to the Commander's cabin, arms crossed, looking over to where Shepard's typing something on his console.
Shepard," he says, and Shepard turns around. "I need you to know something," he says, and the Commander's eyes track him as he walks inside the room, the door closing automatically behind him. "Out of all the operations I've ever been on, this is the one that carries the heaviest risk."
Shepard smiles, thinly. "But think of the prize," he replies, and it's all too clear to Jacob just how on edge this man is.
"You know that's not what I meant," he says, and Shepard nods, the smile abruptly fading as he gets out of his chair, walking over to face Jacob.
"I know," he says. "What did you mean, Jacob?"
"You-" he starts, and then stops.
Just how the hell is he supposed to do this, anyway? What's he supposed to say- only you can save us, Shepard? We are all probably going to die? I don't know if Cerberus has enough money to bring you back twice?
"Cerberus hasn't been making too much headway with that, from what I've seen," he finishes lamely, and Shepard glances over at him, expression unreadable.
It's always been hard to tell what the Commander's thinking. He's friendly enough, but unless he's high on ryncol he never- never says anything about his own past that isn't covered in the official records, never seems to stray from the official line, never seems to give away a damned thing. He's friendly enough but beyond that? No one knows.
"We're heading to Omega next?" Jacob says, changing tracks.
"That's right," Shepard says, and looks away, a touch of a smile at the edges of his slips. "I need to talk with a few people there. Pick up a few creds, see if there are any upgrades on the market, maybe strip mine a few more planets on the way..."
And after that, it's whatever crazy task the Illusive Man's put them up to next. Shepard hasn't told the crew yet, but the mood on the ship's been tense. There's only so long they can delay this, and Jacob knows- he's seen that same look before in the eyes of his superiors- that after they start on that, there's likely to be no turning back.
"If there's anyone who can take us through this, Shepard, it's you," he says, and the Commander laughs, before pushing himself out from the chair he's been sitting in and offering Jacob a hand.
"We should go," he says, and Jacob, Jacob doesn't know if whether that means 'I'll do it' or 'I don't know' but, hell, when the galaxy's greatest hope holds a hand out to him, damned if he won't be taking it.
---
And after the Commander does bring them through the belly of the beast- belly of the hollowed out Reaper, more like- everything goes to hell.
The hallways are empty, the crew's gone, and the AI's become inseparable from the Normandy- the AI might as well be the Normandy, now. They don't even have a skeleton crew left, it's just a strike team that's bound together by nothing more than the Commander's presence and Jacob is all too aware of how easy it'd be for all this to fall apart.
The Commander, he thinks, it's always been the Commander.
And then he realises just what that means to him.
Shepard's in his cabin, Jacob knows, he knows where every single member of the crew that's still on board is now. And he knows there's nothing else left for them to do, no last missions that they can do as distractions; the only thing on everyone's minds is that there's just one task left for them to do: hit the Collectors, and make it hurt.
They could all die. They've always known that they could all die. The only damn difference that Shepard's managed to make is that now most of them are prepared to die, but Jacob- isn't.
Not just yet.
Not before he makes one thing clear to the only person who's ever tried to make a difference.
Which is why he finds himself standing at the door to the Commander's cabin, arms crossed, looking over to where Shepard's typing something on his console.
Shepard," he says, and Shepard turns around. "I need you to know something," he says, and the Commander's eyes track him as he walks inside the room, the door closing automatically behind him. "Out of all the operations I've ever been on, this is the one that carries the heaviest risk."
Shepard smiles, thinly. "But think of the prize," he replies, and it's all too clear to Jacob just how on edge this man is.
"You know that's not what I meant," he says, and Shepard nods, the smile abruptly fading as he gets out of his chair, walking over to face Jacob.
"I know," he says. "What did you mean, Jacob?"
"You-" he starts, and then stops.
Just how the hell is he supposed to do this, anyway? What's he supposed to say- only you can save us, Shepard? We are all probably going to die? I don't know if Cerberus has enough money to bring you back twice?
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