37 – New Cerberus (2)

'' Also, all your bases scattered across the galaxy were being raided as we speak, with all people whom you experimented on being rescued and taken care of. You guys lost.''

Samael had sent LD, the mercenary group, to the location of all Cerberus bases, the ones with test subjects on them. They would rescue them, offer them a chance/choice to reunite with their families, and for the ones who didn't want that or didn't have a family member alive, a job.

If they reject the job, they would then give them to the Alliance on Earth, so they could be dealt with.

When Jaret got the mission directly from Samael, he mobilized the entire LD for this mission. It's safe to say it was a success. Very few forces could match the full-scale attack of LD, and the actual Cerberus wasn't one of them.

'' Please, the things we did are for the greater good of humanity. You, as a human, must want us at the top too. You have to understand why we did what we did!'' One of the scientists tried to plead, but it fell on deaf ears.

'' What do you even mean!?'' For the first time in a long time, Samael got fed up with people's bullshit, '' Are you saying you need to dismember a kid, an Asari, kill a young Krogan by slowly dipping him into acid, and feed Salarians their own species, all that was for the greater good of humanity!?''

Samael never forgot what they did in this cycle and in past ones. He vowed they would pay, and he was about to honor that promise. Retribution took some time, but it had arrived.

'' As I said to your leader, the way you do things matters! You have long since crossed a line, the only reason I didn't take you guys down sooner is that I had uses for you. Now ... you guys are dead.''

Samael then asked in a rage-filled tone, '' Any last words?''

Everyone knew they were dead, so they tried to attack Samael once more to try and survive somehow. They started to rush in his direction, trying to overrun him with his numbers.

'' I guess not. Goodbye.'' Samael sat back on the chair and enjoyed the show in front of him.

BAGN BANG BANG

EDI and RR started shooting, and person after person started to fall, with some even using their so-called comrades as shields, but to no avail. The bullets shredded the 'shield', killing the majority of the scientists.

For the unlucky ones that did manage to somehow pass through the barrages of shots and arrive close to Samael, they were met with an Omni-blade.

SLASH

Wiping the blood from the blade that came out of his omni tool, Samael enjoyed doing what he had just done. Kill those who deserve it.

And not a single person in this room had any merit for being alive.

A few rounds later, from both RR and EDI, all the evil scientists of Cerberus were dead. The personnel of Cerberus, who were still alive, didn't know its true color and were just normal employees.

They could now rebuild Cerberus as a good company, under LD, of course.

Yesterday, after thinking about life and after Tali and Mordin's call, Samael used The Illusive Man omni tool and learned about the attack Cerberus planned on LD, which was something Samael predicted, but the scale was bigger and it would cause some damage to LD.

Also, he had found the state of Cerberus, its finances, the number of people they had, and some dirt information, even he didn't know, about some people in power. Samael had to thank Jack Harper for that.

Cerberus, while not as powerful as in other cycles, was still in good shape for a takeover.

' And now it's mine... I will do my best to ensure The Illusive Man's vision is completely forgotten.'

Of course, as he already took action to uproot all evil seeds in the company, it would be smooth sailing after that. However, controlling both LD and Cerberus would be challenging.

Samael sighed, seeing the work ahead of him. Now, he had LD and Cerberus to manage... ' Fuck me... No, fuck, Miranda. I'll leave this to her too.'

After giving a small prayer to Miranda, Samael now had a few more things to think about. He had done a lot since entering the galaxy a month or so ago. He saved Javik and Jack, had a meeting with the Council and told them about the Reapers, managed to make Tali and Liara enter his crew while making sure Shepard was okay with her first mission, put all human companions on Shepard group, poached Mordin, put Wrex on the path to becoming the King of all Krogans...

But, he still had some things left to do, ' Getting the last ingredient of the serum from Aria while making a connection with her, dealing with Shadow Broker, showing the proof of the existence of the Reapers to the Council, dealing with the Leviathans, the Collectors, the conflict between Geth and the Quarians... After that, I'm free to start the full-scale preparations for my plans.'

The full preparations consist of a few things, mainly using the planets he bought years ago. His main base of operations was going to be in one of those, and the others would be home to those who didn't have any.

A safe haven for those who need it.

Also, the full scale of his plan involved making a lot of machines, homes, facilities, etc. He had his specialized team on Earth studying the things he knew from the future, and he expected results in a few years.

A lot of money will be spent in the process, but it will be worth it.

After making sure everyone in the Cerberus old facilities was safe, he sent a message to Miranda, asking for her to prepare for a handover, while he also sent a few files of Cerberus to her.

Miranda responded immediately in the form of a call. Samael could see behind her a lot of members of the crew, taking care of a few pods, and doing their things. 

'' ... What did you do?''

'' I have just taken care of the head of Cerberus, dealt with their bad part, and now own the company. I also instructed LD to save every single person who was being experimented on in those places. And, as the Galaxy was still in the dark about Cerberus, we can now use them.''

Miranda was shocked by the whole ordeal. While he did say he would deal with CERBERUS, she never would've thought he would take over the company so ... easily and in such fast fashion.

'' Also, congratulations.''

Miranda was a little puzzled, '' Because?''

Samael smirked, '' You're now the owner of Cerberus too!''

Everyone in the background of the call looked over at Miranda, who was speechless. It took some time for her to recover, '' Samael, what the fuck are you talking about?''

'' Well, I just transferred the shares of the company the Illusive Man had in his name to mine, so I'm legit the owner of Cerberus now, but I'm not good with management. So, I have decided to give Cerberus to you. Simple right?''

There were some more bureaucratic steps, but it was something connections and money would resolve. And Samael had both.

The transfer was/is smooth sailing for him.

'' You can't do that! My hands are full with just LD! If you put Cerberus in the mix, I'll have no time for myself.''

'' Well, you have a lot of people who can help you with that, like Jack over there. Right, Jack?''

Jack's voice came through the call even while she was doing exercises with her biotic powers, courtesy of Javik's training, '' Count with me. I'll reshape Cerberus to be the best company in the galaxy... Also, what did you do with the leader?''

Jack and the others who were experimented on were watching anxiously for what Samael would say.

'' He's alive, for now. I'll leave his fate for you guys to decide. I do have a few ideas on what to do with him, but at the end of the day, it's going to be your call.''

Jack and the other in the background nodded but said nothing, their minds going somewhere else entirely.

Miranda took that opportunity to say once more, '' Please, reconsider.''

'' Nope, you're my best employee. If you can find a better person, please let me know.''

Miranda was quiet. While there were some people at her level, she knew she was the best LD had in terms of management, so she could only hope she could train others to take over her burden.

'' Also, tell everyone, after everything is settled, to meet me at Omega in a week.''

'' Ok, but what do we do with the Protheans in CryoSleep?'' Miranda motioned toward the pods behind her. As there were too many pods, some of them were on the unnamed ship, while the others were on the bigger ship, which LD sent to help with the transport.

By the way, LD also made a small settlement in Illos, a simple but effective construction, with houses, and a few other facilities.

The personnel who stayed there were a small team, consisting of 30 people who came as extras in the bigger ship and came to carry the cryopods away. Liara wanted to stay with them, to better explore Illos, but between a living Prothean and staying in the ruins of their planet, she chose the first.

Also, Vigil would help them allocate the best he could, and the VI was more than willing to help the newfound people. While he would never leave Illos, he didn't mind the company one bit, after 50.000 years of no interaction.

'' Let them sleep for now. Don't take them to Earth and just let them stay on the bigger ship for now, in their cryopod. If the galaxy knew about them, it would cause an unnecessary uproar.''

It had already caused one when they revealed Javik's existence, as even now LD receives messages trying to create a bridge to meet Javik. Imagine what it would cause if they revealed LD had 100+ Protheans with them.

The existence of so many Protheans alive was a new thing to Samael, as this never happened in other cycles. So, for the first time in a while, he was unprepared. But it was something simple, he just needed to push his plan ahead a little.

'' Ok, I'll relay this to Javik. See you in Omega! '' 

'' See you there.''

The call then ended, and Samael was once again alone in a room full of dead people.

But Samael ignored that and sent an urgent message to the company that lent the digging equipment at Eden Prime.

BOSS OF THE BUILDING COMPANY

Inside an office on Earth, a small building company boss was at a loss on what to do about the situation he was in. Well, the situation his company was in.

'' Sigh.''

The boss, Jason, had been signing nonstop for a few minutes now. Ever since that easy job in Eden Prime, where they lent their equipment to some people, things have gone downhill.

Less than a month passed, but the bills continued to rise while no more jobs came. It had gotten to a point where Jason was considering selling the company.

There were a lot of other building companies around, his was not the best in the market, but not the worst either. He was just mid, but no job came for him or his employees.

Jason didn't even want to think about the state of the other building companies, the ones slightly worse than his own. If he was struggling to get a job, imagine them.

Right now, he was waiting for a miracle so he could save his company.

Alas, it seems heaven heard his pleas.

Jason was going to sigh once more when he realized someone was calling him. When he looked at his omni tool, his eyes enlarged as he recognized the person calling.

' The big fish who called us in Eden Prime! WORK! MONEY!'

Jason answered the call immediately, '' Hello, we are from xxx Building Company. How can I help you today?'' He could see in the hologram a man, the same one who hired him for the work in Eden Prime, sitting in a chair with two drones flying behind him.

'' Hello. I contracted your services some time ago, and I'm afraid I'll need them again.'' Samael smiled through the hologram, '' Are you guys free for work?''

Jason put on a thoughtful expression but said, '' Yes, we are free for some time now.'' He would never say that they did not have a single request for a long time.

'' This time, the job will be different and more dangerous. Of course, the pay will follow that, but I'm warning you beforehand.'' Samael said it calmly but seriously. The job this time would require precision, speed, and silence.

Jason also took that into consideration, as he realized the client, whom he still didn't get the name of, was serious. He gulped, '' How dangerous are we speaking?''

'' Enter the Terminus System, go to an uncharted planet, and build a few facilities there.''

Jason almost turned off the call right there, '' Sorry, but -''

'' 1.000.000 credits, plus a small army to protect you there.''

Jason faltered a bit, but the cons were much bigger than the pros. It was in the Terminus System, a horrible place infested with Geth, pirates, and then they would have to do their job on an uncharted planet. Hell no.

Samael saw that hesitation and used his trump card, '' Oh, I never told you my name or who I work for, right?''

Jason nodded but didn't understand the flow of the conversation.

'' My name is Samael, and I work for LD.''

Jason paused.

'' Again, LD will provide you with money, 1 million credits a day plus a bonus of 5 million per facility constructed in the timeframe you were there. What do you say?''

This time, Jason had no idea how to reject. I mean, the other side was from LD, for god sake, the company/mercenary group anyone wanted a connection with.

Of course, the risks continued to be immense, but Jason had to bite the bullet and accept the job. His company was at risk.

But he was honest too. He didn't have enough personnel for this job. Hell, he didn't even know if they would accept it. So he told the big boss in the hologram, '' I don't have enough men for the job.''

'' Hmm? How about you hire some from other companies around? LD will cover the costs of their recruitment. ''

Jason had nothing more to say.

'' ... Ok. We accept the job.''

'' Good, also-'' In the hologram, Samael suddenly paused and looked at one drone who had been beside him the whole time, '' Are you sure?''

Jason didn't understand that part, but he noticed the drone blinking two times.

'' OK.'' Samael then looked deeply at Jason, '' Jason, my friend, have you thought of working under LD?''

'' Sorry?''

'' I just heard something interesting about the state of the companies around you, your competitors. How about this? I buy your company, then you swallow the ones worse than ours, then hit the top of the market. What do you say,?''

Jason was speechless. Before this call, he was at his lowest point, but now that he has just received two offers, he knows he cannot refuse.

' What the hell...'

That day changed forever the life of Jason, who would become known as one of the best builders on Earth in the future.

--

WITH SAMAEL

Samael had bought the company Jason had that same day and trusted the man to do the same with the other building companies. He had also sent LD personnel to get the people Jason contracted to work on the uncharted planet he owned in the Terminus System.

It was a planet filled to the brim with rare resources, but only Samael knew that right now. He bought it for a lower price because of that... If others knew about its true value, it was safe to say that there would be at least a small-scale war for it.

By the way, the pay for the construction of the facilities on his planet continued the same, but now they literally worked for Samael and would be his exclusive building company.

Offering a small prayer for the things they would have to build for him in the future, Samael got up from the chair, took a last look at the dying star outside the base, and then left the base once and for all. For now, he relegated all Cerberus work to EDI and RR, until Miranda was ready to take over for good.

Entering the small ship he had, Samael made his way to Omega, alongside two AI drones.