Powerful Men in High Places (The Illusive Man)

[Wilson Fisk]

Another day, another meeting... Such was the life men of power lived... Not that Wilson Fisk took issue with it... Quite the opposite, most days he looked forward to each meeting, each man he'd either come to work with, or come to destroy...

Today, however, was something new, even for Fisk... He was meeting a man known only as The Illusive Man, the leader of a human supremacist organization known as Cerberus... While Fisk held no particular worries for the supremacy of his species, he could understand the worries felt by men who dealt with aliens on a regular basis...

He wasn't sure why he'd been sought out by this man, unless he was looking for more muscle on Earth... But, whatever the reason, Fisk was prepared to work out a deal... Leaning back in his chair, and lighting a fine cigar, Fisk waited patiently for the man to arrive, and for the dealing to begin...

[Illusive Man]

The Illusive Man sat in his chair sipping his brandy and smoking a cigarette while tapping his fingers in amusement. Wilson Fisk, the head of Fisk Industries. Also known as the Kingpin of Crime. Not really the type of man he'd deal with on a day to day basis. Miranda and Jacob served their purposes to be sure, but Fisk was one of those sorts that could get things done discretely. The Illusive Man tapped a button causing a hologram to be presented in Fisk's office.

"Mister Fisk..." He said exhaling smoke from his cigarette, "I trust you know who I am."

Deciding to skip the pleasantries, the director's inhuman eyes stared at Fisk in a calculating manner, "Tell me Mister Fisk, what do you know of the Reapers?"

It wasn't exactly common knowledge, even one as adept as Luthor wasn't aware of the threat. At least, not to the degree that Commander Shepard was and the Illusive Man knew just as much, if not more. After all, he did manage to secure some pieces of Sovereign.

[Wilson Fisk]

A hologram? Fisk had expected to be meeting the Illusive Man in person... Not to be communicating with some feeble technological device... What if someone were to hack the signal? To record the entire conversation? Then again, rumor had it that the Illusive Man was impossible to keep track of by those means... Perhaps they were safe...

Taking another puff from his cigar, Wilson began speaking to the image before him, "Ah, you must be the Illusive Man... Not one to meet in person, I see..." Fisk began, allowing his tone to indicate that he felt somewhat insulted, "As for the Reapers... I only know of the rumors my boys hear on the streets... That they're some kind of ancient machine race that has a bad habit of killing all life...I get the distinct feeling that this urban legend is what this meeting shall be focusing on? Perhaps they're more a thread than I anticipated?"

[Illusive Man]

"Actually, this meeting was orchestrated by need for funding, from what I take on the matter." The Illusive Man stated, "As for the Reapers, I could use assistance, namely locating the one who managed to kill a Reaper during the darkest day of humanity's existence."

The Illusive Man clapped his hands together as he stared at the rather...large physique of the Kingpin, "I must admit, you're certainly...larger than I expected." The Illusive Man smirked, "However, if I were a betting man, I'd suggest that the bulk is not fat, but rather muscle, ninety two percent muscle and eight percent body fat."

The Illusive Man's hologram stood up as he eyed Fisk, "As for the funding, I'll be more than grateful to offer you the money you need; however, I must ask for something in return." His eyes hardened as he stared at Fisk calmly, "I want Commander Shepard to be found. Rumor has it he's disappeared into the Terminus Systems; however, in order to ensure that humanity is protected against the Reapers I need Shepard to know what we're facing."

The Illusive Man sat back down relaxing calmly, "Of course...knowing Shepard's....superstitious nature, he's already well on his way to discovering things even I could not." He suggested, "But regardless, we need him found. Fisk, I don't ask for help often, but you seem more capable than say Osborn."

[Wilson Fisk]

"Funding? For myself... I assure you, I have quite the fortune..." Fisk began, somewhat taken aback, as he'd been told the meeting had been set up by the Illusive Man... He'd have to speak with his assistant after this ordeal was settled...

"However, I do believe I could prove helpful in your search for this... Commander Shepard... Was it? I've recently enlisted the aid of a small group of... Highly skilled employees, let's say... At least one of them is an alien used to space, an Urdnot Wrex... I'm sure I could send he and one of my other men into space to help in the search for this Commander you seek? As for payment, it will certainly help keep my interest in the search, yes... Now, is there anything else I can help you with?" Taking a drag from his cigar, Fisk continued to ignore the comment on his size... The Illusive Man had been right about his muscle, but Fisk felt no need to deal in telling a man who was right that he was correct, they were discussing more important matters at the moment than his muscle ratio as it was...

[Illusive Man]

"Yes, but dollars and cents hold little to no standard when dealing with alien species such as Urdnot Wrex." He replied calmly before holding up a data pad of four billion credits, "All have been wired seamlessly into your account Mister Fisk."

The Illusive Man smiled at the offer, "Mister Fisk, you never cease to amuse me," He said chuckling lightly, "You see, I'm aware of your recruiting of a secret society of people, one of which is an acquaintance of mine, a Mister Lex Luthor."

His tone was still amused, but oddly sharp, "I wish to aid you Mister Fisk, and Mister Luthor." He said, "For no other reasons than really just to help advance our civilization to its apex. I believe humanity should rise and take its rightful place as the rulers of the galaxy. Some seek to call me a terrorist or a xenophobic zealot; however, I am neither. I am a man who simply wishes to seize my destiny."

[Wilson Fisk]

"While I appreciate the gesture, I assure you... Wrex is going to need more the money I have, as he's going to be living on Earth, for quite some time... However, these credits will prove useful in future dealings with the Citadel, or any who may be involved there..." Fisk mused after the Illusive Man gave him four billion credits.

"You know more than I allow most men to... I'm not sure whether to be impressed, or whether I need to reevaluate my current employees... At any rate, I have, indeed drawn in a few of the more powerful men here on Earth, for our own, personal reasons... And, I assure you, we would appreciate the offered help... Personally, I don't care at all about the aliens we've discovered, my primary concern is of my own well being... If that requires the stamping out of every other species, so be it... If it merely requires our subjugating them beneath our own race, all the better for both of us, no?"

[Illusive Man]

Tapping out the loose ash from his cigarette and exhaling a puff of smoke the Illusive Man smirked, "You'll find that information is not so hard to come across when you're me." He said, "In any case, Cerberus is mistaken to be a xenophobic organization. We're not. We don't desire mass genocide of entire cultures. If anything, the only race I'd be happy to see gone is the Quarians. That's merely because I do not trust a race who holds a fleet large enough to claim planets."

"I simply want to make the human the dominant species, not forcing others to servitude, but rather to hold significant say within the galaxy. Far too long has humanity gone as a second class civilization to the turians, asari, or salarians. I will not abide by this anymore." He spoke fervently, "Humanity needs leadership beyond the inept Systems Alliance. Humanity needs strength!"

[Wilson Fisk]

"Information regarding my personal affairs should always be difficult to come across... I understand your organization has many members willing to divulge any information you seek... But, don't believe yours is the only one... And as harsh as you may be to those who turn on you, I assure you, your own wrath is, at best, comparable to my own. I will find the source of the leaked information, and I will terminate them... Take no offense, it's merely good business to leave no loose ends." Fisk began, as he continued to puff on his cigar, feeling surprisingly relaxed in the discourse with the Illusive Man.

"As for the purpose of your organiztion, and xenophobia, I assure, that matters not... We all have out own agendas, as long as we mutually benefit from each other's company, I have no reason to care what it is you seek, until it harms me or my business... I have no reason to believe that's happening now, and I see no reason to believe it would happen in the future... I assure you, if you can keep your word, I, too, can keep mine. And, at the end of the day, is that not all that matters to men such as ourselves?"

[Illusive Man]

"Indeed so Mister Fisk," The Illusive Man said calmly, "Though, I'm curious as to the location of a certain former SHIELD director."

The Illusive Man had heard of a prison in New York called Ryker's. Usually keeping the super terrorists under control. Whether Osborn was held there or simple executed quietly without public knowledge was indeterminable. All that aside, Norman Osborn did have something the Illusive Man needed. The Goblin technology wasn't his most innovative thing; however, OsCorp did develop several other things that he could use.

The Illusive Man leaned back, "I need the location of Norman Osborn, the Iron Patriot, the Green Goblin, whatever the raving lunatic calls himself," He said calmly.

If the Illusive Man was correct, he was going to have to go into a SHIELD base to meet with Norman, personally. A great risk, not for meeting a well known psychopath in the flesh, but, the fact that the Illusive Man, the leader of a terrorist organization, would have to march into a government controlled base. Then again...he wasn't called the Illusive Man for being careless and stupid.

[Wilson Fisk]

Startled by the next request, Fisk surprised himself by being so taken aback... Still, of all the men that the Illusive Man could work with... That he was working with... What use could a madman such as Osborne, one who couldn't even maintain the power he'd gained... Possibly have to offer someone such as the Illusive Man... Why, Osborne was one of a very select few businessmen that Fisk would have gone out of his way to avoid dealing with him, for his own safety, if nothing more...

However, in this, it wasn't he who'd be forced to work with him... "You really seek an audience with Osborne? What could he possibly have to offer that I, or Luthor, don't? Unless you're seeking the Goblin Formula, something I'd advise against... It would be wiser to seek the current Super Soldier formula, would it not? Regardless, however... I shall send one of the team I have gathered to find him, a man known as Snaggletooth, someone I believe even you know very little of... Due in large part to a unique ability of his to... Disappear, as it were..."

[Illusive Man]

The Illusive Man chuckled as he raised a hand, "No need, I simply need proper credentials to get into Ryker's." He said, "Contacts to disguise my eyes, and a personal transport."

"Take no offense Mister Fisk, I simply need Osborn's power in the battlefield for my own purposes. Nothing affecting you and Luthor, Osborn will simply be in a military cell that I closely monitor. Not to mention I have a drug that I'm developing that is supposed to cure people who suffer from a split personality disorder. Whether Norman or the Green Goblin are left, that's for him to decide really. Who knows," He shrugged, "Perhaps it will be an amalgam of the two. I know the risks involved in this, no need to reiterate."

He smirked, "Though, Snaggletooth does strike an interest." The Illusive Man said, "I always have need of those who can make themselves invisible. In fact, I have need of some of Tony Stark's technology. If you would, I would like to acquire StarkTech Repulsor technology, along with schematics of the Iron Man suit."

[Wilson Fisk]

"I feel no offense, I merely find it a precarious position you seek to put yourself in... Regardless, I will make some phone calls after this meeting, and the materials you requested shall be sent to you most expediently. When you do get in touch with Osborne, do send my regards, will you? Let him know that, if he manages to get out of this situation, that I may be able to help him reattain some of his renown... While I don't agree with the man, at all, I can accept when someone is good at what they do, and I can respect that." While Fisk wouldn't seek to let Osborne in on the group he had formed, he would be more than willing to at least speak with the man... As unstable as he was, kept at a distance, he could prove useful, as a scapegoat, if nothing more...

"As for Stark Tech, I believe Norman should be capable of providing you, at the very least, the schematics, no? Is he no longer in possession of the schematics for his own Iron Patriot suit, at the very least? At any rate, I suppose I can send Snaggletooth after that information... I'll have him contact you, personally, once he receives what you so desire... Provided you're comfortable with that situation? It would appear to be the quickest, safest way to deliver Stark's technology without anyone being aware that it even happened... At worst, it would appear as though some schematics were just lost..."

[Illusive Man]

"The Iron Patriot armor, as advanced as Osborn claims it to be," The Illusive Man began, "Does not possess the repulsor technology that I desire. Why Osborn decided not to create it I'll never know. However, I do know that the suit does not possess the sophistication I require."

The Illusive Man smirked, "Tell your friend Snaggletooth that I require the suit schematics as fast as humanly possible." He said chuckling, "Send Urdnot Wrex to find Commander Shepard and have him look in the Terminus Systems. I'll forward a star map of the Terminus area momentarily. I look forward to continuing our business at a later date Mister Fisk."

The Illusive Man closed off his com-link before wheeling around to stare at the dying star, Now, the real fun begins, he noted, If I can now orchestrate a deal with Osborn and win Shepard to my cause, then nothing will stop humanity from being the ones who stop the Reapers.

The Illusive Man brought up a map of the Terminus Systems and sent the data to Fisk's private network as he stood up, he recalled a grim bit of realization from Operative Lawson, If we lose Shepard, humanity might well follow.

The Illusive Man took a drag from his cigarette, "And I'm ensure that we don't lose Shepard. Humanity might have the Council's gratitude, but the Commander is our best bet in securing human dominance against the Reapers and beyond."