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Slaves of Cerberus	By : NakedOwlMan Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 138076 -:- 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

Chapter List
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The glowing streaks outside of the cockpit windows faded away, as the Orpheus abruptly slowed to cruising speed. "Relay jump complete, Commander," Joker relayed to Jacob. "Welcome to the Sahrabarik system."

Leaning against the railing of the CIC, expression troubled, Jacob turned his attention to Michele at her station. "De Silva, what were the coordinates of Kasumi's last signal?"

"Here, sir," Michele reported, hitting buttons on her console and bringing up a display on Jacob's holographic map. A gleaming dot hovered in the center of the map, near a 3D representative of the repurposed mining facility now known as Omega.

Jacob looked at the galactic map and scratched his chin. "What would they be doing on Omega? Picking up supplies? Another hostage, maybe?"

"I can't imagine," Rooker commented, joining Jacob on the CIC platform. "Aria runs a pretty tight ship, from what I hear, and she hates Cerberus. Even if she and Shepard had worked together before, I can't imagine she'd allow the Normandy to dock after Shepard's supposed defection."

"Well, we aren't going to figure anything out just sitting here," Jacob said. "Joker, set a course for the Normandy's last known position, maximum speed."

As Joker started to move, Rooker suddenly stepped forward. "Belay that order, Joker," Rooker said. Joker's hands paused over his controls, while Jacob turned to his XO with a surprised look. "Commander, how long have I served as your executive officer?" Rooker asked Jacob, expression cool and unreadable.

"What are you..." Jacob started to ask, but Rooker held up her hand. "Almost two years now."

"And in all that time, have I ever questioned one of your orders before today?"

Jacob leaned back against the railing, crossing his arms under his chest. "No, Lieutenant, you haven't. But I'm guessing you're doing that now."

"It's not that I don't trust your judgment, Commander," Rooker said, standing at attention with her hands behind her back. "But you and I both know that this ship doesn't stand a chance against the Normandy. We'd be blown out of the sky in less than a minute if we took it on head to head. And yet here we are, flying straight after a ship that could swat us out of space like a bug, and with no real plan of what to do if or when we find it. You may be my commander, sir, but both of us are responsible for the safety of the people on this ship. And I can't in good conscience let us keep going on this course if it means that everyone on the Orpheus is going to be vaporized the second we catch up to our target."

"You think I'm being emotional," Jacob said flatly. "That I'm disregarding the safety of this ship because I care about Kasumi."

"In the absence of any better explanation, that's the conclusion I'm forced to come to, sir, yes," Rooker said. "Like I said, I haven't questioned your orders since you first brought me on as your XO. But I'm afraid I have to take a stand here, sir. Either you tell me what your plan is if we track down the Normandy, or you can lock me up in the brig for insubordination."

By now, the rest of the bridge crew had turned to watch the argument on the CIC platform. Jacob, for his part, remained calm even in the face of his number two rebelling against him.

"You're right, Rooker," Jacob said. "Kasumi's abduction has gotten to me. And I don't really have a solid plan for what happens once we find the Normandy. But if there is one thing I'm certain of, it's that no matter what happens, the Normandy is not going to destroy the Orpheus."

Rooker gave Jacob a quizzical look. "And how can you be certain of that, Commander? Cerberus hasn't been shy about killing anyone that got in their way before."

"And that's just it," Jacob said. "That's the thing that makes me so certain. Just look at all of the other actions Cerberus has taken since they abducted Shepard back on the Citadel." He started counting off on his fingers. "The abduction of Kelly and Traynor: all of the colonists other than their targets slaughtered in their homes. The abduction of Miranda and Oriana: every other resident of the Restoration Initiative murdered. Even the abduction of Jack and her student, the only reason they didn't kill everyone at the school was because they were able to snatch up their targets before anyone noticed. And if they had discovered Jenny's friend had been there on the landing pad, I think it's obvious they would have killed her as well."

Jacob held up the three fingers to Rooker. "Three encounters with Cerberus, and every time they have eliminated every single witness. Except for us. Except for the Orpheus. Why?"

Rooker considered this. "Maybe... maybe they didn't want to risk a fight with us. Didn't want to take the chance we could damage the Normandy and hinder their plans."

Shaking his head, Jacob laughed softly. "You said it yourself, Rooker: we wouldn't stand a chance against the Normandy. Even with Joker at the helm, we'd be lucky to put a scratch in their paintjob."

"Hey, be fair," Joker chimed in. "I bet I'd at least be able to take out a few of their landing lights before they blew us up."

Jacob waited for Joker to finish, before continuing his speech. "If Cerberus was going to destroy this ship, they would have already done it. They know we're on their trail. Even moreso now that they discovered Kasumi. Even if you buy their story about showing us 'mercy' at Ontarom, the fact that we had a spy on their ship, and were tracking their position, should be enough to convince them to turn around and blast us into space dust." Jacob spread out his hands. "And yet... here we are. In the same system where the Normandy was located only a few hours ago. And we're not being fired on. For whatever reason, Cerberus has decided that coming after us isn't part of their game plan."

Rooker nodded. "I guess you do have a point, Commander," she said. "But why? Why aren't they coming after us?"

A frown came to Jacob's face. "That, I don't know. But I have a theory. Right now, the Alliance wants to sweep this under the rug. We're still rebuilding after the Reapers, and having to rally our forces to fight against Cerberus would be disastrous to the rebuilding efforts. Right now, all they've seen is Commander Shepard supposedly defecting from the Alliance and the Council, stealing a ship, and vanishing. The Chasca colony was blamed on anti-human extremists, the Restoration Initiative was a top-secret facility that only a few of the top brass knew about, and as far as what happened at the Alenko Institute? Well, Jack didn't have the best reputation before she joined the Alliance, I'm sure they could justify her disappearance however they want to. As far as they're concerned, Shepard took the Normandy and disappeared, and the only people who are arguing any differently are a bunch of ex-Cerberus operatives, and Shepard's old comrades desperate to clear her name."

Jacob turned around, his back to Rooker as he stared out of the cockpit in front of him. "But if the Normandy destroys the Orpheus, an Alliance vessel... well, there's no being able to deny that. We may be in the dregs of the Alliance, but we're still Alliance. And destroying this ship would prove that Cerberus was a real threat, and the Alliance would be forced to take action." He smiled ruefully. "Looks like Cerberus learned their lessons from what happened to Shepard with the Reapers. Nobody believed Shepard until the Reapers were knocking at our front door. And now Cerberus is doing everything they can to stay behind the scenes, disguise their actions, and make sure that nobody knows what they're really up to. Except for us, a bunch of washouts and rejects with a crazy story about Shepard being kidnapped by her own clone."

Rooker was silent for a while. Finally, she said, "But if you're wrong, Commander..."

"I promise you," Jacob said, turning back around to face his XO, "If it looks like this ship is in danger, I will turn us around and retreat without hesitation."

"Even if it means losing Kasumi?" Rooker asked.

Jacob paused for a moment, and then nodded. "Even if it means losing her, yes."

Rooker fidgeted, glancing around at the bridge crew staring at them. "Sir, I... I apologize. I should have never..."

"No, you should have," Jacob said, giving her a thin smile. "I don't have much use for officers who don't question my logic when they think it's warranted. If you ever have any..."

"Sir!" Michele called out. "You should see this!"

Spinning quickly away from Rooker, Jacob turned to the bridge officer. "Report, De Silva! What have you got?"

"I'm picking up a reading... signals of a relay activation in this system," De Silva quickly stated.

"They got behind us?" Rooker said. "Dammit, it's my fault. I shouldn't have..."

Jacob shook his head. "No. It's not the relay we just came through," he said with certainty, finally understanding Kasumi's message. "It's the Omega 4 relay."

A hush fell over the bridge, at the mention of the fabled, and feared, relay. "The Omega 4 relay?" Rooker asked. "That relay hasn't been used since the war ended."

"Or so we thought," Jacob said. "The Alliance didn't send that many patrols to the Terminus Systems after the war. A few humanitarian missions here and there, but otherwise we were focused on rebuilding Alliance and Council space."

"But what about Aria, Commander?" Joker chimed in. "You really think she would have let Cerberus set up operations in her own backyard?"

Jacob shook his head. "No, she wouldn't... but honestly, I don't think she noticed. Reports are, after the war Aria shut herself up inside Omega. Wanted to make sure nobody ever stole it from her again, I guess. As long as Cerberus didn't threaten her or Omega directly, didn't make their presence known too obviously, they could have operated right under her nose."

"Kasumi's message," Rooker said, the realization dawning. "She was telling us where they were going. The Omega 4 relay."

"Exactly," Jacob said. "Joker, set a course for the Omega 4 relay. I want to see what those sons of bitches have been building while we've been licking our wounds."

Rooker took a step towards Jacob. "Sir..."

"Don't worry, Rooker," Jacob assured her. "I won't forget my promise. If things go bad, I'll pull us out."

Rooker shook her head. "I know, Commander. But that's not what I... something that's been bothering me. About Kasumi's message."

"What's that?"

Rooker looked uncertain. "It's just... if she was trying to tell us about the Omega 4 relay... why didn't she just send 'Omega 4'? Or if she didn't have time to write that, just '4'? Why the '4 = 4' message?"

Jacob puzzled over this for a moment. "I'm not sure," he said. "Maybe we'll know more once we reach the relay. Joker, get this rustbucket going as fast as you can."

"Roger that, Commander," Joker said, trying his best to remain positive, even as he started to get the sneaking suspicion that they were about to make a big mistake.
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Slaves of Cerberus