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Slaves of Cerberus	By : NakedOwlMan Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 138070 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all the characters in it are owned by people that are not me. I have not made a cent off this work of fiction

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"Jacob. Jacob, wake up! Your terminal is beeping," Kasumi whispered.

Blinking away the sleep in his eyes, Jacob let out a yawn as he sat up in bed. Sure enough, there was an insistent beeping filling his cabin, coming from the direction of his desk.

Funny. Normally, Jacob was the type to be roused out of bed by any minor disturbance. But tonight, he had fallen into one of the deepest, more restful sleeps he had ever had in a long time. Maybe it had something to do with the warm body next to him, the feeling of having someone in his arms that he'd been missing more than he wanted to admit.

Rolling herself around beside him, Kasumi gave Jacob an inquisitive look. "You gonna answer it, sleepyhead?" she asked.

"Ah, probably just the Council calling," Jacob said, reluctantly disentangling himself from Kasumi as he sat up. "Finally gotten sick of me wasting their time out here."

Getting up off the bed, he blearily threw on enough clothes to be presentable to whoever was calling. Doing up the last buttons on his uniform shirt, he slumped down in the chair behind his desk and picked up the video call, expecting a stern, scarred-up face to appear, asking him what the hell he's been doing for the past few days.

But it wasn't Hackett's face that greeted him. "Am I speaking to Jacob Taylor?" said the middle-aged, blond-haired woman on the other end.

"Yeah, this is Commander Taylor," Jacob said to the woman in the Alliance uniform. Something about her seemed familiar, but in his current half-asleep state, he couldn't quite place her.

"Thank God. It took me almost a day to finally get hold of the right address," the woman said. "I don't know if you remember, but I'm Kahlee Sanders. We met during..."

Jacob finally remembered. "Right, yes, during the war. How have you been, Miss Sanders?"

"Until recently, just fine. Wish we could be talking again under better circumstances," Kahlee said. "But there's been an incident here at my school, and considering your current mission, I think you'll want to hear this."

"My current mission?"

"To track down Commander Shepard," Kahlee said. "Had to call in a lot of favors with the Alliance to find out who got the assignment, but hopefully I'll be able to narrow down your search a little."

Jacob knew that he should deny it, that his current mission was highly classified. But something about the look in Kahlee's eyes made him decide to forget about protocol. "You have some information that can help us, I assume?" he asked.

"Not me, no," Kahlee said. "But one of my students... well, you should probably talk to her."

Kahlee moved aside from the camera, to reveal a shaken-looking teenager sitting on a couch behind her. A young man sat next to her – Jacob guessed a brother from the strong resemblance between the two – looking over at the trembling girl in concern.

"Go ahead, Lauren," said Kahlee's voice from off-screen. "Tell Commander Taylor what you saw."

"I... I'm sorry," Lauren said, tremors in her voice as she looked over at the school's administrator. "I wasn't supposed to be out, I know. I..."

"It's okay, Lauren. You're not in trouble. Just tell Commander Taylor and me everything. Don't leave anything out."

Lauren was starting to cry a little, the redness around her eyes indicating it probably wasn't the first time in the past few hours. She stared at the floor as she spoke. "We snuck out and... and followed our teacher out to the shuttle pads. A shuttle came and... and they took Jenny," she said, then looked into the camera and added, "My friend, Jenny Madigan. They kidnapped her, and our teacher. There were so many of them, they just... appeared out of nowhere. I thought they were going to kill Jenny, but then they took her instead. Took her and Jack in the..."

"Jack?" Jacob said, jerking forward at the name. "The Jack who used to teach at Grissom Academy?"

Lauren looked uncertainly at Kahlee off-screen. After a second, Lauren nodded. "Yeah. She's got tattoos and scars and..."

"I know, Lauren," Jacob said, keeping his tone low and calming for the shaken teenager. "Me and Jack... we've worked together before. You said 'they' took her. Who are 'they'?"

Another nervous look off-screen. Jacob heard soft words of encouragement, and Lauren looked into the camera again. "It was... it was Commander Shepard. Her and another woman I didn't know. Dark skin, dark hair. Shepard said she was a Cerberus agent, but then...a bunch of people in armor were there. They almost saw me but... I hid. I hid and let them take Jenny." Lauren's shoulders shuddered as she sobbed. "I should have fought them. Should have done something. Jenny was braver than me. She tried to fight them and I... I just..."

"Okay, Lauren, that's fine," Jacob assured the girl. "We're going to find your friend, okay? This is going to help us out a lot. Thank you."

"They're not going to hurt her, are they?" Lauren asked, her voice hitching as she started to sob again. "It's all my fault. I was the one who convinced her to sneak out the first time. If they do anything to her... I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm so sorry..."

"Alright, Lauren," Kahlee said. "Reggie, why don't you take your sister back to her bunk? She could probably do with a rest."

The boy next to Lauren nodded. "Yes, ma'am," Reggie said, helping Lauren to her feet.

"Lauren, wait," Jacob said to the screen. "Listen... this information helps us a lot. And I promise you, I'm going to do whatever it takes to find your friend."

Lauren nodded at Jacob. "Thank you, sir," she weakly said, as Reggie led her out of the room.

"Tell me the truth, Commander," Kahlee said as she moved back to stand in front of the camera. "That woman they're showing on the news, saying all those things... it isn't the real Commander Shepard, is it?"

Jacob shook his head. "No, it's not. And what your student just told us is going to be a lot of help in bringing the real Shepard back. Along with everyone else they've taken."

"I'm glad," Kahlee said. "I'd better go see to Lauren and the rest of our students. They're all a little bit worked up. Jack was pretty popular around here, and Jenny... well, I just hope you're able to find them before anything happens."

"I'm going to do my best," Jacob assured her. Kasumi was glad to hear real confidence in his voice for once, instead of the constant negativity he had been venting to her for the past few days. It reminded her of why she had found him so attractive when she'd first met him... well, that and the best set of abs in the entire galaxy.

"Good luck in your mission, Commander. We'll all be pulling for you," Kahlee said.

"Thank you, Miss Sanders," Jacob said, before disconnecting the call. Standing up from the bed, still wearing nothing but the cloaking device around her waist, Kasumi walked over to where Jacob sat at his desk. The look of hopelessness he had been wearing the last few days was gone, replaced with a thoughtful look in his eyes and a furrowed brow.

"What the hell are they up to?" Jacob asked, more to himself than to Kasumi. "I was sure they'd have already fled back to their home base by now. But they're still out there." He rubbed his chin with thumb and forefinger, considering what he had just learned carefully. "Maybe... maybe it wasn't such a stupid idea after all."

"What wasn't?" Kasumi said, but Jacob was already tapping at the terminal on his desk.

After a few seconds, Jacob had opened up a new vid-call, an asari appearing on his screen. "Citadel Council offices, may I ask your name and who you wish to speak with?"

"This is Commander Jacob Taylor of the Alliance vessel SSV Orpheus," Jacob said. "I need to get in touch with a Spectre agent, Jondum Bau."

The asari glanced down at her terminal. "I'm sorry, Commander Taylor, but Agent Bau is currently on assignment. He has asked not to be disturbed unless it's an urgent matter."

"This is an urgent matter!" Jacob exclaimed, then took a moment to calm himself. "Sorry, it's just... I need to talk to him immediately."

"Very well, Commander. I will forward your name and extranet address to Agent Bau, and he will be in contact with you at his earliest convenience," the asari cheerfully stated. "Is there anything else I can assist you with today?"

"No, nothing," Jacob said, angrily stabbing his finger into the disconnect button. "Dammit, I don't need these roadblocks right now. I..." Jacob sat up in his chair, as a blinking light on his monitor indicated a new message. He opened it and arched an eyebrow. "This is..."

"Jondum Bau's private extranet address," Kasumi said, and Jacob looked up to see she had retrieved her omni-tool from the belt of her cloaking device. "He and I have had dealings in the past. Good thing I never delete anything, huh?"

Jacob smiled at her. "Yeah, good thing. Thanks, Kasumi."

"You can thank me by telling me what's going on," Kasumi said, pulling up a chair to sit across from Jacob at his desk. "Why the sudden need to call up a Spectre agent?"

"The attack on that colony on Chasca," Jacob said, fingers moving fast as he pulled up the information from Kasumi's message and typed in Bau's address. "I always thought there was something strange about it. Why that specific colony? Why would an alien terrorist group expend so much energy, take so much risk for a relatively minor target? Plus, there's someone living there that..."

Before Jacob could finish his thought, his call connected. "Who is this?" said the salarian on the other end of the line. "How did you get this address?"

"I apologize, Agent Bau," Jacob said. "I wouldn't have contacted you like this if it wasn't extremely important. This is Jacob Taylor, I'm the Commander of..."

"Yes, yes, the Council offices sent your information over," Bau said, annoyance in his tone. "As I'm sure they informed you, I'm currently in the middle of a very important investigation."

"I'm aware of that. And I think I have information that will help you," Jacob said. "But first, I need to ask you a few questions about what happened on Chasca."

Bau narrowed his large eyes. "This is highly unorthodox, Commander. I'm not about to divulge classified information about my current mission, just on the vague promise of information in return. You're going to have to give me a lot more than that, I'm afraid."

"My information isn't entirely confirmed yet, is the problem," Jacob said. "But I think your investigation might be connected with my current mission."

"Well, when your information is confirmed, be sure to forward it through the proper channels next time," Bau said. "If you have nothing more concrete to offer me than that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disconnect this..."

Jacob called out. "Wait, wait! Please, listen to me. Lives are at stake here! The lives of Commander Shepard, of her..."

"Commander Shepard?" the salarian Spectre's mood instantly changed. "I take it the Alliance has you tracking down that imposter pretending to be her?"

"I... wait, you knew?"

Bau nodded. "I've partnered with Shepard in the past. Humans are a lot easier to read then other species. I knew right away that person in the videos wasn't the same one I worked with during the war. Blinks too much, speaks a little more slowly. Little things that most people wouldn't notice, but I spotted right away."

"Wish you could convince the rest of the galaxy about that," Jacob said. "But yeah, that woman is a fake, and she has the real Commander Shepard and several others held hostage. We're trying to track them down."

"I understand, Commander," Bau said, his tone much more civil. "Shepard had my back during a tense standoff on the Citadel years ago. If she and... well, another brave human who didn't make it, if they hadn't been there, I don't know if I would have survived. I owe Shepard a lot. Just tell me what I can do to help you find her."

Jacob looked up at Kasumi, who had let out some sort of noise that she quickly stifled. He wanted to ask, but it would wait until later. "Tell me about the attack on the colony," Jacob asked Bau. "What have you found in your investigation so far?"

"An absolute slaughter," Bau said. "Whoever perpetrated this attack, the colonists didn't stand a chance against them. What little signs we could find that they put up any sort of fight, it didn't last long before they were all put to the sword."

"Put to the sword?" Jacob asked. "A figure of speech or...?"

"No, Commander, I mean that quite literally," Bau said gravely. "Aside from a few scattered colonists that were gunned down, nearly every human here was killed with a sharp bladed weapon. And not some antiquated iron instrument like those used during your race's medieval period. Something much more deadly than that. Some sort of monomolecular cutting device, if I had to guess. Not the kind of weapon you normally see in the hands of a terrorist group, unless they're very well-funded." He paused, something seeming to occur to him just at that moment. "Funny thing, the last time I saw cuts like this was..."

"The attack on the Citadel," Jacob interrupted.

Bau blinked in surprise. "Yes, actually. How..."

"Just a hunch," Jacob said. "Anything else you've noticed about the attack site? Something missing, perhaps?"

"That's the other peculiar thing," Bau responded. "For terrorist groups like this H.S.E.M., ones that have just recently formed, crimes like this often serve a dual purpose: to send a message, but also as a means to fund their further activities via theft. A scene like this, you would expect every last item of value to have been taken. But that's not the case here. We've found credit chits left laying out on tables, jewelry boxes left completely undisturbed, no sign that these people even considered stealing anything valuable. The only thing these people took, other than the lives of these innocents, was a single shuttlecraft."

Jacob considered this. "What about... people, Agent? Are there any people missing?"

Bau hesitated, glancing around the room he was in. "This channel is secure, Commander?"

"Absolutely."

"I need you to understand that this is highly sensitive information. If I tell you this, I need your assurance that it will not be disseminated elsewhere."

Jacob nodded in understanding. "Trust me, Agent. Anything you tell me will only be used to help me find Commander Shepard. It stays between you and I otherwise," he promised, shooting a quick glance at Kasumi as she made a gesture of putting her hands over her ears with a sly grin.

"Two residents of the colony are unaccounted for," Bau finally said. "At first we assumed that they were the ones who took the shuttle in order to escape. But since none of the other colonies on the planet have reported their arrival, and the shuttle wouldn't have been able to get them outside of the galaxy, we have to assume that the attackers abducted these women. Perhaps for ransom or... other purposes," Bau looked mildly disgusted. "Considering the tensions currently ongoing between humanity and the other races due to this Cerberus incident, we thought it best not to publicize the abduction of these women and risk further unrest."

"Who were they, Agent?" Jacob asked.

Bau opened up his omni-tool. "Let me pull it up to make sure I've got it right. The two missing women were an Alliance communications specialist named... let's see... Samantha Traynor. And her roommate, a miner named Felicia Hannigan." Putting away his omni-tool, Bau looked back into the camera. "What are you thinking here, Commander? That there's a connection between these two women and this fake Commander Shepard's theft of the Normandy?"

"Not sure yet, Agent Bau," Jacob said. "Just answer one more question for me. This H.S.E.M. organization... have you ever heard of them before this incident?"

"No, not at all," Bau said. "We figured they must have sprung up in the wake of Shepard's supposed defection to Cerberus. But for an organization to form so rapidly, and carry out an attack this well-planned, not to mention executed with high-tech weaponry out of the spending range of even some of the most skilled mercenaries... I'll admit I had my doubts even before you contacted me, Commander Taylor. It seems my suspicions were correct."

"Mine, as well," Jacob said. "This information has helped us a lot, Agent."

Bau gave a brief nod. "I'm happy to help, Commander. Just... try not to cause too much damage if you track them down. It would be nice to have some evidence to take back to the Council that Cerberus was responsible for this attack. Maybe deflate the myth that this new version of the organization is any better than the one that attacked the Citadel."

"I'll try my best, Agent," Jacob said. "Thanks again."

Sneaking up from behind him, Kasumi leaned over Jacob's chair and grinned into the camera. "Nice seeing you again, Bau," she chirped, giving him a quick wave.

"Wait, what... who is that?" Bau exclaimed. "Commander, is that Kas..."

Kasumi pressed the button to disconnect the call. Jacob looked over at her with a bemused expression. "Something you want to tell me about, Miss Goto?"

"A girl's got to have her secrets, Jacob," Kasumi said with a wink.

Shaking his head, Jacob turned back to his desk, leaning his head on his hand and thinking. "So Cerberus was behind the attack on the Chasca colony. And abducted Samantha Traynor and Kelly Chambers."

"What do you think they're up to?" Kasumi said, sitting up on the edge of Jacob's desk. "Trying to snatch up all of Shep's buddies or something?"

Tapping something on his terminal, Jacob brought up a 3D display of the galaxy map, the holographic image hovering above his desk. "Chasca is in the Maroon Sea cluster, here," he entered in a command, and the Maroon Sea cluster lit up. "The attack on the colony happened first, then the abduction of Jack and Jenny happened on Horizon, in the Shadow Sea cluster here." He inputted the instructions, and the indicated cluster was highlighted. "So we know the path they've taken up to this point. Where could they be going next?"

Standing up from the desk, Jacob began pacing around the room. "Kelly and Jack," he muttered. "Two women with connections to the former incarnation of Cerberus. Taken along with someone close to them. To keep them in line, maybe?" Jacob paused. "Maybe it's..."

"Commander Taylor," a cheery voice suddenly piped up from behind him. "I am pleased to inform you that the files you asked me to reconstruct have now been completed. I have sent the information to your personal terminal."

"Perfect timing," Kasumi said, as Jacob marched back to his desk and pulled up the information. She crouched down next to him to get a good view of his display. "What is this?"

"Looks like a databank," Jacob said as he opened the files Glyph had sent. "Big collection of information. Let's check the first file..."

Jacob hit a sequence of buttons, and the first file opened. "Visual log of testimony given by Liara T'Soni, in Council meeting dated 11.4.2187," said an automated female voice, before a hovering 3D image of Liara appeared above Jacob's desk.

"State your name for the record," said a voice, Jacob recognized it as the turian ambassador Sparatus.

"Dr. Liara T'Soni," said the hovering image of Liara, her hands clasped behind her back as she spoke. "And for the last two years I have also gone by the name of... Shadow Broker."

The audibly-shocked sound of the spectators in the Council Chambers could be heard on the recording. "And why have you come forward with this information today, Dr. T'Soni?" said the voice of Ambassador Tevos on the recording.

"Two years ago, we were in a desperate situation. The Reaper invasion was nigh, and I felt that we needed every resource at our disposal to fight them," Liara stated. "So when Commander Shepard and I defeated the existing Shadow Broker, I took the opportunity to continue on in that capacity. And my suspicions at the time was correct: the knowledge from the Shadow Broker's databases, and the connections he had forged, ended up playing a vital role in our mission to defeat the Reapers. But now that we are at peace, I feel that continuing to act as the Shadow Broker is no longer necessary. To put it plainly... I think it's time for me to retire."

The image of Liara brought up her omni-tool. "But the information that was gathered by the Shadow Broker, myself and those who came before me, is too valuable to simply be disposed of. Therefore, I have come here today to offer the entirety of the Shadow Broker's data to the Council. Decades of accumulated knowledge: not just government secrets, but scientific research as well. Information that I feel would be invaluable in helping the galaxy recover from the devastation of the Reapers. I give it to the Council freely, in the hopes that it be used for the good of the entire galaxy."

"Thank you, Dr. T'Soni," the salarian ambassador Valern said. "We will have our top men working with this data right away."

Liara looked hesitant. "If you don't mind me asking, who will be working with it? The information contained is very sensitive and I..."

"Top... men," Valern repeated sternly, as the image of Liara faded away.

Jacob let out an annoyed grunt. "Typical Council. She gave them all this information, and what do they do with it? Lock it away in a vault."

"It makes sense, though," Kasumi observed. "I'm sure the Shadow Broker accumulated a lot of uncomfortable secrets in his, slash, her career. Council probably didn't want to risk anybody digging through and finding all that dirty laundry." Something occurred to Kasumi, and she pointed at Jacob's screen. "That date, through... November of last year? That can't be right."

"Why not?"

A confused look crossed Kasumi's face. "Because I swear I bought a tip from one of the Shadow Broker's agents for a heist, a few months after that."

"Hmm. Maybe one of Liara's agents hadn't gotten the memo about the Broker retiring. Or maybe they were operating independently," Jacob reasoned.

"Yeah, maybe," Kasumi said, finally dismissing it with a shrug. "So what else do we have in here?"

Jacob started moving through the list, filenames scrolling past in a blur as he worked his way down the collection of files. After about thirty seconds of rapid movement through the data, a percentage indicator at the top right of the screen changed. From "0.000%" to "0.001%."

"Son of a bitch," Jacob exclaimed. "There's too much here! We'll never be able to figure out what Cerberus was looking for."

"If I might offer some assistance," Glyph chimed in. "Before the Cerberus agents retrieved these files from the Citadel Archives, they performed several keyword searches on the databank. Most likely to ensure that the information they were looking for was contained within these records. I can provide you with a list of their searches if you wish."

"That'd be great," Jacob said, and Glyph sent the new information to his terminal. "First search... 'Project Lucretius.' Glyph, give me a list of all the files in the archives that contain those words."

"One moment... results complete," Glyph reported after several seconds. "18 files related to the search term 'Project Lucretius' found."

Jacob accessed one of the files and frowned. "Look like... research notes," he stared at the symbols on the screen as if squinting at them hard enough would decode them for him. "Kasumi, any idea?"

"Definitely over my head," Kasumi said, staring at the symbols and formulas that scrolled by. "Recognize one of two of them as chemical symbols, but I only dabbled in that stuff. If Project Lucretius had anything to do with making acid for melting security locks, than I'm your girl. Anything more complicated than that ain't in my wheelhouse."

"Chemical formulas," Jacob mused. "Damn, if only we had..." Something occurred to Jacob, a thought he had been having just before Glyph had interrupted. "Glyph, bring back the list of searches again."

"Yes, sir," Glyph said, and the screen in front of Jacob changed. Looking at the list, he spotted one entry and pounded his fist against the desk.

"Son... of... a... bitch..." Jacob said. "Glyph, that term at the top. Search it, fast!"

"One moment... one result found. File on your terminal now."

The image flashed on the screen, and Jacob's suspicions were confirmed. "What's that?" Kasumi asked as she stared at the image. "Looks like a building layout for..."

But Jacob was already reaching for his ear, triggering his communicator. "Joker, come in!"

"Hey, Commander, just got on duty. What's..." Joker's voice came out of Jacob's ear.

"Set course for the Kepler Verge, right away!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Sir, yessir!" Joker said. "You want me to brief Commander Rooker and..."

"I'll handle that. Just get us there. As fast as you can fly it without this hunk of scrap falling apart!" Jacob said, disconnecting the comm-link before Joker could respond. Kasumi watched as Jacob leapt up from his desk and bolted towards his armor storage locker.

"Jacob, what's going on?" Kasumi said, as she watched Jacob begin rapidly donning his combat gear. "Did you..."

Jacob paused in his preparations to fix Kasumi with an excited smile. "I know where they're going, Kasumi! Dammit, I know exactly where they're going next!"
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Slaves of Cerberus