Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, is three chapters ahead there.

You can also check out my other stories in my page.

Her Eternal Excellency, ( Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon) a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, which is four chapters ahead.

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI is also four chapters ahead

Also I will create a poll on what to write next, so don't forget to join my page.

Thank you in advance.

---

Milky Way
Kite's Nest
Harsa System
Khar'shan
Palace of the Council
Emergency Bunker

"So Prime Administrator, if you would give me the codes for remote access to your planet's defense network, that would be much appreciated" Commander Jonathan Shepard said, putting his feets on the table used by the council of oligarchs ruling the Batarian Hegemony.

The said administrator, along with the other council members sitting around the table trembled, though whether it was from the shock of the things or the shock from the slave collars Shepard forced them to wear, he couldn't say.

"There are no codes like that!" The Administrator denied it, though Shepard didn't believe him for one second.

Because if he was a despot ruling a Hegemony, he definitely would have something like that.

"Are you telling me that you, the leader of an oligarchic council and a despot ruling an interstellar empire based on slavery and the strong doing as they wished, don't have remote access to control the defensive network around Khar'shan incase someone tries to overthrow you or a revolt gets out of control? Maybe if I plucked an eye or two, that would make you remember something" Shepard threatened, omni-blade bursting from his omni tool.

Now, you may be wondering, what is Commander Jonathan Shepard, the Hero of the Systems Alliance, doing on the homeworld of the Batarian Hegemony, threatening its leaders?

For that we will have to go back a bit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Petra Nebula
Vetus System
Elysium
Skyllian Blitz
Two Months Earlier

Commander Jonathan Shepard was enjoying his mandatory vacation on the human colony of Elysium.

That is if you could call sitting in a cafe, drinking some weird drink the locals concocted up fun.

He would rather be out there, shooting something but the command was adamant he take a break, claiming they ran out of things for him to shoot for now.

Really, a whole galaxy with nothing to shoot?

Shepard called bullshit, but orders were orders and he didn't really want to get into a fight with Anderson over this.

He raised his head from his omnit-ool upon hearing the colony's sirens come to life, indicating a raid.

Maybe taking this vacation wasn't such a bad idea.

Civilians began to run to the nearest shelter, away from the space port where the raiders would most likely be landing, which is where he was going.

"Go back that way, shelters are there!" A marine stopped him, pointing away from the space port.

"Commander Jonathan Shepard, N7. I need guns and armor" Shepard flashed his credentials through his omni-tool, and the marine saluted.

"Sorry commander, this way please, you can take whatever you need from the armory"

Shepard thanked him and followed the marine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard had broken every record in the N7 program, including quickest time to get combat ready, wearing his armor, arming himself and doing com checks in just two minutes and fifteen seconds.

He rushed out of the armory, heading straight towards the space port to greet the raiders.

Today was turning out to be fun after all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pirates, raiders and slavers gathered by Elanos Haliat to take the Elysium and plunder it had thought this would have been an easy affair, especially with the small Alliance force guarding the planet.

They were wrong, and had to find it out the hard way.

The Alliance Navy presence, even with its small size made them regret coming to this system.

Things on the ground weren't any better either.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



One group was approaching the city, consisting of mostly Batarians with an Asari and a Turian, before the Asari's head popped like a balloon while the rest took cover, searching for the sniper.

The Turian poked his head, thinking himself discreet, before he too met the same fate as the Asari.

Deciding to rush as a group rather than be hunted one by one, the Batarians leaped out of the cover, knowing how low the rate of fire of a sniper was, they thought they could get close enough.

First Batarian out of the cover lost his head, and the rest thought they had their opportunity, before they met rifle fire.

The rifle couldn't pierce the shields and armors with the same efficiency as a sniper rifle but that didn't matter to Commander Shepard.

His aim was good enough to kill a Batarian before his Avenger overheated which prompted him to switch to the second Avenger he had, continuing to lay fire.

The heavy weapon specialist of the group pulled out the rocket launcher strapped to his back, taking cover as his shields failed, to blast the damn human to pieces.

Seeing the rocket launcher aimed at him, Shepard fired at the pirate's leg knee, a weak point in the armor. The pirate screamed, buckled to left and accidentally fired the rocket launcher, blowing up his remaining team mates.

Shepard moved out of cover, approaching the only living survivor, who began to say something but he didn't bother to listen before shooting him twice in the head.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Four Batarians with a Krogan leading them were herding the humans they captured to the shuttle to take them to ship and get out of this damn planet.

"Hurry up you lazy" began the Krogan, impatient with the Batarians and the humans.

His impatience was met with a rocket to the face, while the Batarians received immediate fire.

By the time the last one could figure out where the fire had come from and fire back, they were already dead.

Commander Shepard moved out of his cover and approached the terrified civilians, instructing them to go into the city through a route he cleared and take shelter somewhere.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One by one, the pirate command began to lose contact with the groups sent into the city.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard boarded the armed shuttle, quickly taking control and lifting off to find more pirates to kill.

He didn't have to search for long before a large group presented themselves.
They were gathered together to push back into the city after they lost contact with so many teams.

Instead, they became target practice for Shepard as he opened fire on the unsuspecting bastards.

Targeting heavy weapons first, Shepard cleared out the field pretty quickly, leaving decimated corpses behind his back, heading to clean out the space port.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard used the armed but unshielded shuttle to his full advantage, and had already wreaked havoc amongst the pirates before they realized their shuttle had been taken by the Alliance and began to target him with gunships.

They were faster and more maneuverable than the shuttle he was piloting so he had to do some risky moves.

The Commander accelerated the shuttle to the max, dodging gunfire, missiles and buildings as three gunships chased him across the space port.

He spied a building still under construction ahead and aimed for it. The gunships might be faster and more agile, but they were also taller and wider than the shuttle due to their design.

Shepard aimed the shuttle to pass between two steel beams, barely scraping the paint, while the first gunship's missile pod slammed to the beam at full speed, causing the vehicle to spiral out of control and slam to the ground with an explosion.

The other gunships stopped, realizing it would be better to go over the building to hunt the stolen shuttle.

Shepard made a sharp right after getting out of the construction zone and immediately climbed at full speed, allowing the gunships to pass below him.

Turning the shuttle down he opened fire on the shuttle on the left, turning the hunter to prey.

Quickly taking down the shields, Shepard rammed the gunship, causing it to slam to a building and go down in flames.

The other gunship pilot decided to put some distance between him and the shuttle to not share the same fate before turning back to fire.

Shepard turned the shuttle back, unfortunately taking some fire to the left thruster during that and disappeared amongst buildings, the gunship giving chase.

Deciding he needed a better ride, Shepard hovered the shuttle near the roof of a building and jumped out, and began to climb to the top where the antennas were and prepared to hack and override the gunship's security protocols.

The gunship came around just in time, slowly revolving around the empty shuttle, wondering what was happening.

Just as it came close enough, Shepard used Biotic Charge to jump on the gunship, appeared right over the canopy, holding on as the pilot got startled and jerked the gunship around.

Shepard hacked the gunship just in time and the canopy opened, revealing a scared Batarian.

What kind of a human would do something like that, he was wondering.

Shepard just swung himself inside the cockpit and stabbed him in the face with his omni-blade, and as the dead pirate lost control, the gunship began to go down.

Shepard quickly unlocked the harness and tossed the dead Batarian out, barely lifting the gunship up.

Closing the canopy, Shepard continued his hunt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-We are losing contact with our teams, somebody find out what is happening!

-This is the Omega Team, we found the attack group heading for the city, they are all dead!

- Spirits preserve me, that human isssss……..-

-Stop running you fools, it's just one measly BOOOOM…-

-SOMEONE SHOOT THAT GUNSHIP DOWN!!!-

-WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE ALREADY LOST FIVE HUNDRED SOLDIERS?!?!?-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tolak was terrified.

The human came out of nowhere, jumping out of his smoking gunship just before it rammed the gunship protecting them.

Half his team was dead in the blink of an eye as the human pulled out a grenade launcher, mowing them down.

He didn't even attempt to dodge their fire.

By the time his weapon was empty, Tolak was the only one remaining.

The human turned to him, and Tolak could swear it was a demon looking at him, not a human.

He threw his weapon away, surrendering.

Anything was better than facing this.

The demon took one look at him before going back to save the humans they had captured.

"You move an inch, I'll gut you like a fish" the human said with a jovial tone, causing Tolak to freeze.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard freed the people the pirates caught, but many had already been taken to the ships.

Meaning he would have to mount a rescue.

Turning to the terrified Batarian, he ordered him to get up and the four eyed pirate rose with shaky legs.

"What's your name?" Shepard asked, intending to utilize him to get to the lead ship.

"W-what?" Tolak asked back, not understanding why the demon wanted to know.

"I am the one asking the questions. Now, what is your name?"

"T-to-tolak" The pirate stammered out.

"Alright Tolak, if you want to live and not try to breathe vacuum, you are going to inform the lead ship that you have the governor's daughter and request permission to board. Try anything, and I'll personally space you after I put this whole thing down" Shepard warned, his tone dead serious now.

"Y-yes, whatever you want, just spare me" Tolak begged. The human took hold of his arm and dragged him inside the shuttle, sitting him on the pilot's chair.

"Go ahead" The human indicated the coms with his gun and Tolak sent a message, his hands shaking.

A couple minutes later they were hailed by the lead ship, Elanos Haliat's cruiser, Plunderer, who instructed them to board the ship immediately as they were getting out of here.

Shepard tied the Batarian to the passenger chair, slapping one of the collars they had on him for good measure and took off, heading to the cruiser.

"SSV Agincourt, this is Commander Jonathan Shepard, N7, ID-11478-2345-2213, I am attempting to board the lead cruiser, do not open fire, I repeat do not open fire" Shepard sent a message to the Alliance lead ship to avoid friendly fire.

They must have received it since he boarded the ship without getting shot.

The hangar didn't have that many captured humans thankfully, which meant Shepard could be a bit more liberal in handling the enemy.

He opened fire at the pirates approaching the shuttle to take the non-existent daughter of the governor, mowing them down with the shuttle's heavy weaponry.

Soon as they were mere blood stains on the deck, Shepard turned his attention to the other pirates in the hangar, who had taken cover and were firing at the shuttle.

He returned it in kind, destroying other shuttles and gunships, as well as flammables like the fuel tanks, resulting in the hangar turning to hell with dead pirates everywhere and causing the fire suppressant system to kick in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As everything in the hangar except the shuttle he came in were wrecked, Shepard had another idea on how to get the civilians out.

The escape pods.

Pirates tried to stop them, sending dozens to kill them but the grenade launcher Shepard picked up from the hangar had a different idea.

Distance to the pods may have been short, but it was bloody, at least for the pirates.

When the last pod launched towards Elysium, Shepard turned to head to the engineering to take control of it and stop the ship from going into FTL.

The pirates, though, locked the engineering from the inside, stopping Shepard from accessing the core.

Good thing there were explosives on this ship.

Sticking the explosives to the door, Shepard took cover and the whole ship shook.

Moving inside, Shepard began to fire at the silhouettes moving in the smoke left by explosives.

He dropped the empty grenade launcher to the ground and switched to his Avenger just as he came out of the smoke.

A Turian, concussed by the explosive, was standing in front of him, looking at him like an idiot.

Shepard slammed stock of his weapon to the pirates face, and pulled the Turian to himself, using him as a meat shield.

He turned to his right, laying fire on a Batarian taking cover while the Turian himself was riddled with mass accelerator fire.

Once his target was dead, Shepard began to fall back to cover, all the while the already dead Turian took all the fire meant for him.

He threw the meat shield away, surveying the area. Two were taking cover behind a door, one was up the rails, and three more kept taking pot shots at him from the Mass Effect core room, opening and closing the door while they did so.

He targeted the one up the rails, shooting the light fixture above his head, causing it and the plate it was bolted to come down on the pirate, dropping him to the ground and killing him.

Next were the ones behind the door leading to the other side of the ship. Shepard launched a Singularity as they showed themselves to fire. Both went out of control as the Singularity dragged them around itself like toys.

He shot both in the head after dropping their shields.

Shepard didn't want to risk shooting something important in the core room and cause an accident so as soon as they opened the door back to shoot, he launched himself at them with a Biotic Charge, slamming the one in the middle back to the controls and causing the other two to stumble.

Shepard fired at the Batarian on the left, before turning back and nailing the other one in the liver and then the head with the stock of his gun, sending him to the ground and launched a Stasis at the pirate near the controls.

He resumed fire on the first Batarian who almost got up and picked his weapon, chewing through his already weakened shield and shooting him through the lens of his helmet.

Turning back to the pirate on the ground, he put the barrel on his skull and fired, bypassing the shield, and approached the last one who was almost out of the Stasis.

He picked up the Batarian's shotgun and shot him as soon as he was out. Dropping the gun, he approached the controls to shut down the core to prevent the ship from escaping.

He was a step late though as the core began to glow, a sign of the ship entering FTL.

Meaning he was going to have to take the ship to ensure other ships did not escape.

He was going to need bigger weapons.

---

The pirates had fortified the mess hall, turning it into a kill zone and blocked every other route to the bridge, leaving Shepard no choice but to go through the mess hall.

Good thing too, they all gathered in one place, making it easier for him to take them all out at once.

But first, he needed to take out cameras.

No need to give them spoilers.

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, is three chapters ahead there.

You can also check out my other stories in my page.

Her Eternal Excellency, ( Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon) a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, which is four chapters ahead.

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI is also four chapters ahead

Also I will create a poll on what to write next, so don't forget to join my page.

Thank you in advance.

---

Location Unknown

Pirate Ship, The Plunderer

Missile Batteries


Shepard could be a good sport and meet the pirates head on, killing them all in the mess hall.


But they were pirates so he wasn't going to.



That's why he was near the torpedo batteries with a load carrier hoverboard.



Let's see if they like his gift.

---

Mess Hall



The pirates were waiting for the human to come through, and they all raised their guns when the door finally opened.



Instead of the human, however, it was a hoverboard carrying a disruptor torpedo.



"DON'T SHOOT!" shouted the Batarian commander but it was too late as Shepard fired the anti-ship weapon.



Disruptor torpedoes worked by going through the shields and creating random and unstable mass effect fields to rip the hull of the ship apart.



When the torpedo hit the wall and triggered its warhead to create the mass effect fields, it pulled everything within the mess hall towards itself and shook the ship.



Shepard opened the door, only to see something straight out of a schizophrenic's idea of art.



A massive, compacted ball, made from the chairs, tables, some hull plates and the pirates inside the room, leaking bloods with different colours. Some of the crushed bodies were still visible on the surface.



The N7 just moved towards the bridge.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The Plunderer



Bridge



Elanos Haliat, the Turian pirate lord responsible for orchestrating the Skyllian Blitz was watching the cameras with his mandibles parted and jaw down, a sign of shock of a Turian.



He had seen many crazy things in the Terminus Systems, experiments gone wrong, deranged warlords and slavers torturing their property for fun and many other things.



This was the first time, however, seeing someone take and launch a disruptor torpedo inside a ship. Even the Krogan, for all their fatalistic views on life, wouldn't do something so insane.



"Hey idiots. Everyone else on the ship is dead, so either surrender, or get ready to suck vacuum" a voice came from outside the bridge door.



The pirates tensed up, they had already blocked the door but that didn't seem to work on the human.



"Boss, maybe we should surrender" said the Turian at the helm, earning the back of Elanos' claw.



"No one is surrendering! I'll kill anyone who wants to myself!" Elanos slammed his claw on the arms of his chair and pulled out his pistol.



Rest of the crew was already angry at the failure of the operation, and now they had a crazy human who somehow managed to kill hundreds of soldiers on the ship.



Someone jumped on Elanos from the back, taking him to the ground and wrestling for the gun and the rest of the crew sprung to action, quickly subduing their former boss.



"Last chance, I am not going to warn you bastards again"



"W-wait, we are opening the door!" The helmsman shouted, running to unlock the door. Overriding the security, he opened the door, coming face to face with a rocket launcher.



He immediately raised his hands with squawk.



"Turn back, get on your knees, hands behind your head" Shepard ordered, surveying the bridge.



Besides the ones holding down the brains behind this operation, they all raised their hands, claws and whatever's in surrender.



"Rest of you bastards too" Shepard said, pointing at them with his rocket launcher.



As they complied, he had Tolak bring out the electro-shock collars to control the pirates while he turned this ship around.



One of the Batarians bristled at this, refusing to be collared like a slave.



He was covering the wall now.



"Alright, this is how it is going to work, we are going to stop this ship, cripple any other ship that may have managed to escape and then go back to Alliance space. Anyone tries anything you are going to learn just how bad an electric shock could be for you" Shepard explained his plan, waving his omni-tool to punctuate his point.



"You think this is the end, human?! Neither the Batarian Hegemony or the Terminus Systems will ever stop hunting your kind!" Elanos spat out, furious at both failing to raid Elysium and suffering this kind of humiliation.



"Are you admitting that the Batarian Hegemony backed you for this operation?" Shepard asked, while they had captured pirates in the past, none had ever admitted or had any tangible proof of the Hegemony's backing, even though it was an open secret.



"Where do you think I got the cruiser?! You will never have peace while the Hegemony and the Terminus exist!" Elanos threatened Shepard the only way he could.



The literal best soldier the Alliance had narrowed his inside his helmet.



"You know what, new plan. When are we stopping to hit the relay?" He asked the collared helmsman, who gulped at receiving attention from Shepard.



"Less than an hour" he said, checking the controls.



"Wonderfull. First we are going to cripple those other ships as I already explained and then we are heading to Khar'shan" Shepard sat on the former captain's chair.



If the Batarians weren't going to let humanity live in peace, then they had to go.



"Khar'shan?" asked the helmsman, stopping mid way while checking the systems.



"Yes, got a problem with that?" Shepard pointed his rocket launcher at the Turian.



"N-no!" the Turian gripped his chair's armrests, trying to bury himself into the chair in fear.



"Good. From now on, you will do as I say, without any buts, ors and questions. If you don't, I am going to fry you with those collars, understand?" Shepard once more waved his omni-tool to make his point.



They answered with murmurs of "Yes" and "Understoods"



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Kite's Nest wasn't that far away from the Petra Nebula, relatively speaking of course, as the ship only had to take the Mass Relay to the Exodus Cluster, gun for the Mass Relay there with FTL and head to Kite's Nest.



The remaining barebones crew of the ship worked round the clock to make sure they would get there, not wanting to go out like their brave Batarian compatriot.



The problem was how to get through the Batarian Defences.



Say what you will about those bastards, but they knew how to keep their space secure and under control.



But that didn't mean getting to Khar'shan was impossible. You see, Batarians had unofficial bounties on any human of higher standing, such as governors, captains, admirals, businesspeople, the rich and the famous or their families.



This was both a way to humiliate the humans and demand outrageous ransoms or concessions from the Alliance. It didn't do much of course, as the only humans who were out colonizing the Attican Traverse were people who wanted nothing to do with the Alliance or those who wanted a fresh start.



The people they paid bounties for naturally did not visit those systems, preferring the comfort and security of the inner Alliance space.



Which is why Shepard was busy doctoring footage to fool the Batarians.



He was going to use Haliat to claim they lucked out and captured the daughter of the President of the Alliance, who was visiting the colony as a sign of goodwill.



Now, Batarians, for all their corruption and arrogance, would definitely want to check if this was true, which is why Shepard was creating a fake footage of the woman crying in the cells.



He had met her once when the President was giving him a medal after the whole debacle in Akuze, and she had taken some photos for publicity.



"Spirits take you human, I will not help you" Elanos had spent the entire journey on the cells but still didn't seem interested in giving up.



Shepard held the pirate bastard by the throat and slammed him to the wall, taking his pistol and putting the barrel right above his groin.



"Listen well asshole, if you don't do as I say, you are going to have to sit while taking a leak for the rest of your life in prison" Shepard warned, his voice low and dangerous and lowered the pistol and fired a single round to show how serious he was.



Elanos jumped at the sudden move, feeling the supersonic grain go awfully close to his organs.



He gulped, realizing the human was serious.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Kite's Nest



Harsa System



Mass Relay



"You are certain it is her?" Asked Admiral Morlak of the Homeworld Defence Forces, examining the footage, not even bothering to check if it was real. After all the VI's matched the image with what they had from the extranet and why would a pirate lie about something like this, when the truth would come out very quickly?



"Yes Admiral, it is her. She kept begging to let her call her father, saying they would give me whatever I wanted" Elanos said, leaning back on his chair. Shepard had taken his collar off, though he had a bomb strapped to the chair to ensure his compliance.



"Good, we will send a shuttle to pick her up" Morlak grinned in the nasty way the Batarians did.



Finally, they had their breakthrough.



"I don't think so Admiral, either I will give her to the Prime Administrator myself or I'll take my chances with the Alliance" Elanos refused the Admiral's offer, knowing the man would never mention his name to the Administrator.



"You think you have a choice, pirate? You will hand her over to me or you will not make it out of here alive" Morlak warned.



Presenting the human leader's daughter to the Prime Administrator would go a long way to ensure his promotion to a more glorious position.



"You try anything and we will shoot her, then you can explain to the Prime Administrator why he lost this one of a kind opportunity" Elanos crossed his arms in defiance. While dealing with the Batarians, confidence and having the upper hand were key factors.



Morlak wanted to say something but stopped and turned right, talking to someone else.



He growled, turning to face Elanos "Very well, you may approach Khar'shan but be warned if you try anything you will pay for it"



The communication was cut off and the ships surrounding the Mass Relay moved away from the Plunderer's path, which was the exact thing Shepard wanted.



The ship moved slowly while he made the necessary calculations for an FTL jump.



To stop them from being used as weapons of mass destruction, FTL systems of every ship in existence had a lot of security protocols.



They couldn't go to FTL in the atmosphere, or within the gravitational pull of a stellar object, nor could they go to FTL if there was something with big enough mass on their part, such as a planet.



Which is why he had taken the security protocols down.



Now, he may not like them due to how their species saw themselves as superior to everyone else, but that didn't mean he was going to launch the ship at their homeworld at FTL speeds.



But he was going to ram the ship at the Palace of Krudanz after appearing right behind the Defensive Network and the Fleet protecting the planet.



"You guys want to live? Get to the escape pods" Shepard deactivated the collars and the bomb, letting the pirates go.



They didn't even miss a beat before rushing out of the door, running for their lives.



Shepard turned back to the controls and engaged the mass effect core, strapping himself to the chair because this was going to be a bumpy ride.



The ship lurched forward, and within minutes appeared right behind the defensive curtain around Khar'shan, the ship shuddering with stress as the gravity of the planet began to pull the ship down.



The Batarians couldn't afford to shoot him now, as missing would mean they would hit their homeplanet and it would take time for the ground defenses to come online.



Shepard took the helm, directing the ship right at the massive palace at full speed before he locked the controls and ran to the hangar.



Maybe he should have mentioned that there were no more escape pods to the pirates?

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, is three chapters ahead there.

You can also check out my other stories in my page.

Her Eternal Excellency, ( Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon) a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, which is four chapters ahead.

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI is also four chapters ahead

Also I will create a poll on what to write next, so don't forget to join my page.

Thank you in advance.

---

Kite's Nest

Harsa System

Khar'shan

The unthinkable was happening.

Khar'shan was under attack.

A cruiser, in a move so insane even the Krogan would be impressed, had used short-range FTL to get past the defensive screen around the planet, and was now heading straight at the Palace of Krudanz at terminal velocities. Ground defenses were activated, but they wouldn't be ready to fire at the ship until it was too late.

The Prime Administrator, as well as the Ministers were immediately taken to the emergency bunker while the situation was resolved.

They were fortunate to do so, because when the ship crashed on the palace it went up in flames, turning the main section of the palace along with the surrounding area to rubble, as well as dispersing the eezo from the ship's core, creating a deadly environment.

Colonel Zular of the Special Intervention Unit was ordered to head to the bunker to provide additional security, taking the most elite soldiers of the unit with himself.

"Where are those fools?" he growled. While they were moving towards the secondary entrance to the bunker, as the first one was buried under rubble, a building came down on them, separating the team into half. They had moved on rather than wait for them to catch up, as the orders of the Prime Administrator meant more than their lives.

Just as they were about to head in and seal the doors, one of the members, Captain Kalor came running towards the entrance.

"Captain, where are the rest of you?" he asked, the helmet making his voice sound deeper than it was.

"Unknown, I couldn't establish contact after the building came down" he reported, standing at attention.

"What happened to your voice?" he asked, as even with the helmet his voice sounded weird.

"My helmet was damaged by rubble" Zular shook his head with a growl at this.

"Head in" he gestured to the Captain and sealed the door behind them. Whoever was left out, would do well to get out before they had eezo caused tumors growing all over their bodies.

The elevator ride to the bunker was long, even with how slow the damn thing was, due to just how deep the bunker was located.

Most who wished to enter the bunker would require careful screening but the SIU was an exception. They were the hand of the Batarian Hegemony that protected them from the rest of the galaxy, so they just moved in, passing by the turrets protecting the entrance.

The bunker was large, meant to hold the most important members of the Batarian Hegemony with comfort, while also ensuring they continued their work and kept their grip on the Empire. Besides rows of elite guards, there were dozens of turrets dotting each and every corner of the bunker.

"IF YOU DO NOT FIND THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ATTACK YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WILL SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIVES AT AN EEZO MINE, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!?!?" The Prime Administrator screamed at the Minister of War, who was responsible for the security of the palace and Khar'shan.

"Yes, Prime Administrator" the Batarian in question gulped, knowing how real the threat was.

"Glory to the Batarian Hegemony" Colonel Zular greeted the Prime Administrator, standing at attention.

"Finally you are here. Has there been any news as to who attacked us?" He asked, taking a sip of the glass filled with a purple liquid.

"No, Your Excellency, nothing besides what we already know"

"Useless" The head of the Batarian Hegemony seethed, gulping the entire glass down.

The Colonel retreated, knowing better than to earn the ire of the Administrator.

"Colonel, Captain Kalor's comms is not appearing on our network" reported one of the Sergeants, an engineer in charge of the team's private comms network.

"He reported his helmet took damage when the building came down, perhaps it knocked his comms out too. Where is he anyway?" He looked around but couldn't spot the Captain.

The rest of the team didn't know where the Captain was either and just as he was about to order a search for him, one of the SIU members pointed up to the Security Room, situated at the end of the room and above it, giving the security the perfect view to watch over the whole room.

The Captain was there, but the two operators who were at their station at all times weren't.

He was using the computers but for what the Colonel couldn't say.

"What in the name of the Pillars is he doing up there? Sergeant, go and get him down" He ordered.

He had his answers, as the turrets around the room came to life. He and the Captain locked eyes for a brief moment.

"Traitor" he uttered, before the turrets opened fire.

Colonel Zular of the SIU died before he could get to cover, as the heavy turrets shredded him to pieces.

All over the bunker turrets opened fire on the unsuspecting Batarians. Most died before they even had the chance to understand what was happening, while some tried to fight to no effect.

The turrets were heavily armored, and no one expected an attack from the inside.

The Prime Administrator, as well as the Ministers survived solely by the fact they were not targeted.

When the room was silent, the only living Batarians reluctantly raised their head from the cover.

There were blood, viscera and other body parts everywhere, but not a living soul.

Clanking of metal hitting metal came from the entrance going up to the Security Room, and a member of the SIU came down, watching them with weapon in one hand and a box in the other.

"You traitor! I'll have your entire line suffer for this!" The Head Honcho screamed, feeling fear for perhaps the first time in his life.

The SIU Captain cocked his head, and with a slow, deliberate movement, took his helmet off, revealing…

A human.

"The helmet stinks, haven't you four-eyed bastards ever heard of personal hygiene?" the human muttered, putting the helmet and the box on the table and sitting down.

"W-who are you?! How did you get here?!" The Minister of War asked, baffled beyond belief.

"Simple, I am Commander Jonathan Shepard" the human responded, reaching to the box and taking out the shock collars used on slaves until they could be implanted with a control device in their skulls.

"Put these on" the human tossed each one of them a collar.

Outrage filled the Batarian leadership.

They ruled the Batarian Hegemony, they were at the top of the food chain, they were the masters!

No one, especially not a filthy human would collar them like slaves!

One of the Ministers lunged for a weapon, but before he could reach it the turrets covering the room converged on him and his compatriots.

"You move a finger, you're going to end up a bloody smear on the ground" the human warned, his omni-tool pointing at them.

The Minister slowly sat back on a chair while the turrets followed his every move.

"Now, either put those collars on, or I am going to shoot your legs of and do it myself"

The Batarians looked at each other, the gravity of the situation dawning on them. This human was serious, and they had to choose between their pride and lives.

The Minister of Finances, perhaps the most cowardly amongst them, slowly reached out for the collar before him and slowly put it on. The collar clicked, and the light on it turned green, indicating it was operational.

"Now the rest of you" the human ordered, waving his gun.

One by one, the Ministers put their collars on, but the Prime Administrator did not, his pride overriding his survival instincts.

The human locked eyes with the Prime Administrator and smiled, activating the collars and the Ministers jerked in pain, convulsing as the electricity ran through their bodies.

When it stopped the Ministers were on the ground, covered in blood and occasionally twitching from the shock.

"Take that collar and put it on him" Commander Jonathan Shepard ordered them.

People as selfish as the Batarians will easily crumble when their lives are on the line.

Their hesitation was gone quickly, dreading another shock from collars. Slowly they rose, and one of them took the sole remaining collar, turning to his leader.

With a yell of "TRAITOR!" the Prime Administrator lunged at the Minister, taking him to the ground and began to choke him, snarling.

Two others quickly grabbed him from behind, slamming him to the desk, while the one on the ground rubbed his throat, coughing.

Narrowing his eyes, the Minister quickly approached the subdued leader of the Batarian Hegemony and put the collar on him, all the while he buckled and spewed threats like a cornered animal.

Once he was collared they released him, and the despot in question latched on to his collar, trying to rip the damn thing off, only to receive an automatic shock as the collar's sensors detected the attempt.

He kept resisting though, still trying to take the collar off, but as the intensity went up eventually gave in, releasing the collar and falling face down from the pain.

"Idiot. Anyway, sit him on that chair and then sit down yourselves" The human ordered, and they quickly followed, knowing what would probably happen if they did not.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard put his feet down and approached the Batarian, his omni-blade ready to blind him.

The Batarians believed that upon death the soul left the body through the eyes and if they were damaged or removed, the individual could not go to heaven, which made it one of the capital punishments in the Hegemony.

The N7 slammed the Prime Administrator's face to the table, slowly bringing the omni-tool closer to his top left eye. The Batarian's eyes began to dart all over the place, searching for something, anything to use while he struggled to free himself from the death grip the human had on him.

The omni-blade inched closer to his face, a hair's breadth away from blinding him before he gave up.

"Wait, WAIT!" he yelled, trying with all his strength to get away.

"Go on" the blade stopped advancing but it was still too close for comfort.

"There is a backdoor access to the defense network, it needs my DNA, password and voice" The Batarian despot confessed. Just as the human had said, there was a way for him to take control of the defense network, added when the system was first conceived centuries ago by his ancestors.

"See? You just made things harder on yourself for no reason" The human turned off the omni-blade, and the Prime Administrator gave out a shaky breath before he was yanked back from the collar of his dress.

"How do we access the system then?" The Prime Administrator gulped, feeling the weapon between his legs.

With a shaky hand he pointed at the Security Room and the human pushed him towards the entrance.

"You morons move from that desk you won't live long enough to regret it" The human warned, entering commands to his omni-tool, and the turrets were locked on them again.

"Let's go. You bastards are about to have a taste of your own medicine, and I don't want to delay it any longer"

Stumbling onto the Security Room, he was pushed to a chair, with a gun at his head.

"Go on, and if you try anything funny you will be the first one to die"

He entered some codes on the computers, and a platform containing another computer rose from the middle of the room.

The demon, for he couldn't be a mere human, dragged him to the computer and he put his hand on the scanner, scanning his DNA and biometrics.

Next was the voice recognition password "Pillars of Strength bless those worthy" he said slowly to avoid stuttering.

It took a couple of minutes, but the screens of the Security Station were replaced with a planetary overview, showing the Defense Network, the Defense Fleet, and all the military and otherwise important installations on the planet.

"There we go" The demon said, before he took him to the far end of the room, tying him to a chair bolted to the ground, mocking him with a "Be a good boy and don't go anywhere now"

The Prime Administrator hung his head down, knowing just what was going to happen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post Reaper War Memoirs of Admiral David Anderson on Jonathan Shepard

I met Shepard when he was 16 and it was something to say the least. Local law enforcement forces in Vancouver requested Alliance assistance in taking down a crime syndicate, called the Tenth Street Reds. We didn't understand why they would need military help at first but that changed quickly when we read the reports of how dangerous they became.

They went from being one of the mediocre gangs in the city to the ruler of its underground in the span of a year, as well as massively growing their influence all across North America.

Interesting thing was though, they actually stopped committing crimes after their rise, instead choosing to establish legal businesses.

A series of assassinations, bombings and the occasional gang warfare saw them rise to the top of the food chain.

Reports suggested someone named Shepard was responsible for the gang's meteoric rise in power and when you hear someone like that you would expect a seasoned dangerous crime lord, not a sixteen years old kid.

All of their known strongholds were surrounded in a blitz, and I was the one tasked with taking their primary base of operations. We were ready to storm in and take them down if they resisted when Shepard came out of the building with his hands up, looking bored and not worried at all.

Nobody believed him when he said he was the leader of the Tenth Street Reds, thinking he was some sort of decoy while the real leader ran off.

He knew a gun fight with the Alliance Marines would not end well so he wanted to talk for a peaceful resolution. We agreed, if for no other reason than to give our infiltration units time to enter the building.

Shepard said he wanted the Tenth Street Reds to go legal, offering information on other criminal syndicates, gangs and whatnots all across the continent in exchange for a deal. The command agreed, if they came out and surrendered peacefully.

We agreed, and you know what? With one command from him the all the bases we surrounded, as well as the ones we did not know of, surrendered without firing a single shot. That's when we understand he actually was the leader.

His deal with the prosecution was simple, the Tenth Street Reds had already ceased all illegal operations they ran and offered to give up all the information they had, along with every recording of their previous dealings with the other criminals in return for immunity.

I don't exactly know what Shepard gave out, but he and the Tenth Street Reds walked out free while dozens of high ranking government officials were arrested the next day with more following the next couple of weeks.

His charges fell off too, both due to the value of the information he gave, as well as the lack of conclusive evidence against him.

The Alliance thought if he could do that much with a gang, he could do a lot more as a soldier so we made him an offer for when he became 18.

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, is three chapters ahead there.

You can also check out my other stories in my page.

Her Eternal Excellency, ( Raiden Ei reborn as Argella Durrandon) a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, which is four chapters ahead.

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI is also four chapters ahead

Also I will create a poll on what to write next, so don't forget to join my page.

Thank you in advance.

---

"Commander Shepard once threw a grenade into a room and killed twenty pirates. Then the grenade exploded"

Kite's Nest

Harsa System

Khar'shan

Palace of Krudanz

Emergency Bunker

Shepard's first act upon gaining access to the Defense Network was to vacuum all the air out and kill the Batarians to avoid their meddling. He watched as they tried to claw their way out, some trying to reach or their helmets before choking, others trying to reverse what Shepard did to no avail.

Brutal, but he didn't want to be stopped halfway through.

Next were the ships stationed behind the Defensive Network. With the access codes of the Prime Administrator - he really should learn his name, this was getting cumbersome- changing the IFF and painting the ships as the enemy was easy.

Armed with dreadnought and cruiser grade Mass Accelerator Cannons, Guardian Point Defense Systems, Disruptor Torpedoes and Nuclear Warheads both in kiloton and megaton range, along with thick armor and shields, the Batarians did not cheap out on their Defense Network because it was protecting their homeworld.

Shepard had overridden the safety systems of the MAC's and VI's managing the system had opened fire with everything they had.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Admiral Morlak tried to reach someone with any knowledge of the Prime Administrator but the eezo dispersed over the remains of the Palace of Krudanz made communication a problem and even if they reached the bunker, no one was returning their hails.

On one hand, if the Prime Administrator lived he would have his head for this failure, on the other hand if he was dead someone would have his head for this failure again. His only option was to ensure the Prime Administrator Oseros' well being.

He lurched forward as the ship shook, but straightened himself.

"What is happening now?!"

"The Defence Network, it is firing on us" his second in command yelled, engaging thrusters to turn the ship around and return fire. Admiral Morlak watched as thousands of Disruptor Torpedoes and MAC rounds that were meant to protect them, were now sailing the void as the harbinger of their destruction.

The ship shook once more as more and more projectiles hit the ship. Dozens of frigates and destroyers had already gone down due to the sheer volume of fire they took.

The Magnificence retaliated as soon as it turned back to face the stations firing at them. Morlak didn't know whether they turned traitor or something else happened, but he would find out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emergency Bunker

Watching a space battle was like watching a silent movie but with firing trajectories and dots representing the ships instead of people expressing themselves through gestures.

It was going well for Shepard, but not without its problems. One of the dreadnoughts was proving to be too troublesome for the Defense Network, so he decided a nuke was in order.

He didn't want to use one due to the close proximity of the ships and the stations as the EMP would knock out the stations but its not like they were his.

Twelve heavily shielded and armored missiles carrying nuclear warheads headed for the ship and most were shot down as expected, but he needed just one to destroy that ship.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aboard the Magnificence

Marlok watched the battle and didn't like what he saw, not one bit. They had taken horrendous losses due to the unexpected nature of the attack and while they disabled a good amount of the stations, more were still functional.

"Radiological signs detected, twelve missiles with nuclear warheads heading towards us!" Sensors warned, displaying the missiles on the map.

"All point defense guns focus on those missiles!" The Admiral ordered, watching with a bated breath.

He had thought they couldn't be mad enough to use them above Khar'shan, even if they were traitors.

Twelve.

Eleven.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five.

Four.

"We can't shoot them all down, run" The second in command panicked, running for the door with the crew after him.

Three.

Marlok closed his eyes.

The missiles were too close.

Two.

The pride and flagship of the Batarian Fleets The Magnificence went down in nuclear fire.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emergency Bunker

Shepard watched as the red dot representing the dreadnought went out, nibbling on the cookies he found.

He had scanned to make sure they were safe for him to eat.

The remaining fleet was trying to disengage, demoralized at seeing their capital ship go down but had no luck, as the stations kept tearing them apart.

But he wouldn't stop here, he still needed to find a way to free the slaves to incite riots all across the Hegemony to knock them out of the board.

Many times Salarians had tried to release a virus to deactivate the chips Batarians used, but they were connected to the Internal Communications Network the Hegemony had and without access to it, their plans did not succeed.

Access he now had. There was no turn off button or a command for the chips, but Shepard was great with tech and programming for a reason, now he would just need to find one of those chips for testing.

After he neutralized the planet of course.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All castes of the Batarian Hegemony on Khar'shan stopped what they were doing to watch the skies, watching the remnants of the fleet burn up on re-entry. The slave caste, composed of mostly the Batarians themselves, followed by a large number of Asari due to their beauty, and lesser amounts of Turian, Salarian, Elcor, and Humans with the occasional Krogan and Quarian, all had different thoughts.

Batarian slaves hoped that the rebellion was finally doing something other than small scale attacks.

Council species prayed that it was the Citadel finally coming to free them.

Krogan felt respect towards the ones responsible and wanted to join the battle.

And the Quarians wanted to use this opportunity to escape.

But they could do nothing but hope because of the chips in their skulls.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emergency Bunker

There were chips in the emergency bunker and Shepard brought a dozen of them to the Security Room to work as the stations mopped up the remaining fleet.

The Network was a mess but it had done its job and he still had enough working stations to target the shipyards as well as the military installations on the planet.

So he did.

Firing on a planet with WMDs was against the Citadel Conventions but then again the Batarians had pulled out of the agreement when they closed their embassy, and the MACs didn't enter the category, as they didn't cause any environmental alterations, besides kicking up dust.

Military bases, barracks, ground to space cannons, missile batteries and everything else besides the com network was a free target and Shepard didn't hesitate before firing.

And as the planet was decimated, he worked on a virus to disable the chips.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the orbit of Khar'shan the still functioning space stations had their new targets and opened fire with their MACs. Streaks of 20kg ferroslug heading to the planet at 1 to 1.3 percent of speed of light from the dreadnought class guns as well as the less destructive ones from cruiser class MACs left nothing but craters with mushroom clouds of dust where they hit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His one weakness was how obsessive he could become with whatever he was working on.

It started when he found a broken omni-tool in a trash can, and spent days trying to see how it worked, while living on the streets of Vancouver.

That's why he had a certain program for when to eat, sleep and do other things to not get lost in work.

Now it was time for lunch, and putting his helmet back on to avoid the stench of the bodies, he headed to where the kitchen was while keeping an eye on the Batarians through the cams after connecting his omni-tool to the system.

Batarian dishes didn't exactly look appetizing to him, so he just took some military rations, as they were almost the same, in that they looked like cardboard boxes that tasted like sand.

Taking a couple of containers to feed his prisoners, he quickly returned to the Security Room, and took the Prime Administrator with him.

Tossing the containers to the table he ordered them to eat up.

"You need energy to clean out these bodies" Shepard gestured around the room.

"We are not labourers"

Ahh, how did those idiots even manage to keep their grip on power for this long?

"You either do it, or you can stay in here with rotting corpses. Wonder how long it'll be before you can't stand the smell?"

Batarians looked anxious but no one other than the Administrator opened his mouth.

"Toss them to an empty room and then lock it, and don't forget I am keeping an eye on you at all times, so don't try to act smart"

They just ate their food in silence, glaring at each other while Shepard went back to work.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Days Later

Three days of work had brought Shepard nothing but annoyance. The chips only had a receiver that triggered the internal parts to light up the nervous system of the lifeform they were implanted to and didn't have an off button.

He changed his approach then, instead developing something that would change the frequency of the activation signal to something random every few minutes to avoid activation.

Right now he was busy testing the virus and the results were promising.

Which brought him to the question of how to get out of the Batarian territory.

He checked the system, searching for exits. The one he came from was surrounded by Batarian forces at the end, trying to access the bunker after Shepard shut it down. Another one headed away from the city and into a military base he annihilated and the last one showed the route but there were no active cameras.

It took a bit of digging but he managed to activate the cameras, which also turned on the lights. It was a train station, heading away at least a hundred kilometers to an underground landing pad with a frigate sized ship.

Figures they would have an escape route in mind in case something happened and the bunker was under attack.

Uploading the virus through the Batarian ICN, Shepard sent the activation signal for the chip, which did nothing, confirming it had worked.

And with the ICN connected to every system the Batarians held, all he needed to do was to send the virus buried within a message and with the proper access codes, there would be no scans for any malware and the virus could infect all of the Batarian territory as fast as the comms network could carry the message. And with Batarian penchant for broadcasting propaganda speeches, they all would see this.

"This is Commander Jonathan Shepard, I have uploaded a virus through the Batarian ICN to deactivate the slave chips implanted in you. Now they have no control over you, and with Khar'shan decimated, there will be no support coming for those worlds. Today is the day you have the chance to fight for your freedom. Rise up, break your chains and strike down your oppressors" Shepard shouted towards the end to inspire the slaves into a revolt.

He considered not saying his name, but he wanted the Batarians to know who was responsible for bringing them down, so if they ever tried anything they would remember him.

Shepard sent the message to every planet and left one final order for the Defense Network before leaving to collect his prisoners.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on, we are leaving" Shepard said, putting on his helmet and pointing towards the secret exit with his Carnifex.

"Where?" One of the ministers asked, and Shepard rolled his eyes inside the helmet.

"What did I say about asking questions? Now move your dumbasses, I am leaving the planet and you lot are coming with me" The Batarians scrambled in panic when he activated his omni-tool.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Interview by The Citadel News Network

"Well, it is like flying around with a weapon of mass destruction that has a sense of humour and cool comebacks. He is fair, really intelligent, and looks at things different than we do. I mean if you see a wall before you, Shepard sees something that you can drop on your enemies to crush them, or you see a cruiser and think you are dead but he just sees a ship that could be taken like a walk in the park. Its like he has plot armor of a superhero. And besides all that he is a really great boss to have. I mean have you seen the Normandy crews retirement plans? Let me tell you, he pays us extra from whatever loot he finds out there depending on our jobs aboard, and I could retire right now and never have to worry about working ever again"

His answer to the question of "What is it like being in Commander Shepard's crew, especially as its pilot?"

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU,

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon,

and DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world

All stories are four chapter ahead.

Thank you in advance.

---

"The dinosaurs looked at Commander Shepard the wrong way once. Everyone knows what happened to them"

Kite's Nest

Harsa System

Khar'shan

Palace of Krudanz

Emergency Bunker

Secret Escape Train

Even the train they used for their escape was luxurious. Shepard guessed it was natural when you were a dictator.

He did consider leaving them behind, revealing just how easily they had folded before him to trigger the populace further, but decided they would be worth more to the Systems Alliance as a bargaining chip.

Not that the Batarians would be in a position to do anything after the devastation Khar'shan and their navy suffered but better to be safe than sorry.

Tied to the luxurious seats to ensure their compliance during the one hour journey to the hidden landing pad, the top of the Batarian ruling caste looked terrible. Having hauled around dead bodies and body parts for two days and then cleaned the room so it did not smell of blood, urine and other bodily fluids, they looked as if they came straight out of a horror movie.

Well deserved in his opinion.

He accessed the planetary feeds from his omni-tool, watching the slaves rampage across the planet. Without their control chips working and military bases destroyed, the local forces strained to contain the riots.

The Asari were proving to be especially devastating with their biotics and the rage of being a slave longer than most species lived.

Factories, plantations, and everywhere else the slaves were forced to work, they were fighting to earn their freedom, no matter what.

"What are you? No one should be able to do this by themselves" The Prime Administrator - Oseros, Shepard finally bothered to learn his name- asked, voice tired from all the gruesome hard work he had to do, feeling queasy just remembering it.

"Told you already, I am Commander Shepard"

"This will mean war, and your pathetic council won't save you" Oseros growled, but his threat was as real as his freedom, nonexistent.

"All those nuclear warheads I didn't use? As soon as one of your fleets enters the system to reinforce the planet, the program I left in there will fire them all when the ships are close enough" Shepard's tone was mocking, and his prisoners realized the implication of this.

Khar'shan was the homeworld of the Batarians, the cradle where they were born to be the masters of this galaxy.

A place holy to the entire species.

At least that's how they were indoctrinated by the constant propaganda and their education system.

They would send whatever warships they had to save it from the clutches of Commander Shepard, who would be long gone by the time any reinforcements arrived, and with their comm systems scrambled by the eezo spill out, riots and the destruction the planet faced even with him avoiding the said systems, these ships would only find wrecks and stations that appeared to be abandoned.

When they came too close for evasive maneuvers and the PDSs to be of any use, they would perish in nuclear fire.

"So, yeah, by the time everything comes to an end, either there won't be a Batarian Hegemony anymore, or they won't even have the power to fight the Alliance, or anyone else for that matter"

Rest of the journey was silent.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Underground Landing Pad

To avoid any kind of infiltration and attack, the underground landing pad was only known to the highest levels of the Batarian Hegemony, and the entire thing was automated, with rare check ups to ensure it was all operational. So there was no one to confront them and after checking the systems and entering the necessary commands to raise the pad to the surface, Shepard and the prisoners boarded the escape craft, a frigate with heavy armor and shield, built solely for speed to extract the Batarian leadership as fast as possible.

Piloting the craft single handedly would be a hassle, so he spent two days giving the VI a wider control over the systems to launch the craft and successfully make it to Alliance space.

Named something that loosely translated to Chariot, the frigate was already stocked with food and medicine, ensuring no further delays.

He locked the Batarians in the holding cells, and waited for the platform to rise. When the dust covered skies of Khar'shan finally appeared, Shepard did the last minute checks and launched the ship.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harsa System

Mass Relay

The long gone part didn't exactly work out, as the Batarians had sent out close to a thousand ships fast enough to make it to the mass relay before him, in just about three days.

Then again, anyone who had their homeworld under attack would do anything to defend it. The leadships, a dreadnought, hailed him, and Shepard put on his helmet and activated the voice modulator, as the image of a Batarian in a gleaming black armor appeared.

"I am Admiral Grasrak. Identify yourself" his voice was authoritative and serious.

"This is Captain Kalor of the SIU. We are extracting the Prime Administrator and the Ministers out of Khar'shan to a secure place" Captain Kalor reported, watching the Admiral tilt his head.

"So they are alive? Good. I'll have some of my ships escort you" The Admiral offered.

"Unnecessary Admiral, the Prime Administrator wants all ships at Khar'shan to stop this Commander Shepard and his forces, and the place we are heading to is a secret known to few. Your ships are not amongst them"

"I'll speak to the Prime Administrator then" He growled at the refusal, but SIU directly reported to the Prime Administrator and he couldn't take his anger out on them.

"I can inform him Admiral, but he is extremely furious and is currently implementing the capital punishment on the Minister of War for his failure in defending Khar'shan, he might turn his anger on us if we disturb him right now" Captain Kalor explained.

Throughout Earth's history, many dictators had one common point, their soldiers would do anything to not draw their fury.

"Very well, continue, and inform the Prime Administrator that Admiral Grasrak will defend Khar'shan and bring him the head of this Shepard" The Admiral preened like a peacock, trying to get into the imprisoned Batarian's good graces.

"I will do so Admiral" He replied and took his helmet off after the connection was cut.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alliance and Council Intelligence Agencies estimated the Batarian fleet to be around six thousand ships strong. With the Khar'shan Defense Fleet, numbering one sixth of their entire forces gone and another thousand or so about to meet their end very soon, which would mean one third of the Batarian Navy was out of action.

Shepard stayed back to watch the fireworks as the fleet entered FTL.

It wasn't long before he got a ping on his omni-tool, and opened a video feed.

Khar'shan's sky was illuminated by hundreds of miniature suns, as for the second time in a week, a fleet was destroyed above it.

The nukes knocked out the remaining stations and the video feed was cut.

Good thing Admiral Grasrak knew better than to stop him for a report.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Petra Nebula

Vetus System

Mass Relay

Shepard was busy munching on some rations when the ship came out of FTL, coming face to face with a dreadnought he recognized as SSV Mckinley, Admiral Hackett's ship and the flagship of the fifth fleet.

He was immediately hailed by the dreadnought and accepted the call and saluted the Admiral.

"Batarian frigate, this is Admiral" Admiral Hackett stopped after realizing who he was talking to.

"Commander Shepard?" The scarred man asked, puzzled. They were worried he had finally managed to get himself killed with his recklessness.

"Yes sir"

The Admiral slowly saluted him back, and Shepard lowered his arm.

"I have a feeling you have one hell of a report for me Commander"

"Yes sir, I do. I also have some prisoners you'll be delighted to see. Can you send a shuttle for pick up?"

"I'll send a security team over. See you shortly, Commander"

"Yes sir" Admiral Hackett nodded and the connection was cut. Shepard rose from his comfy chair to go and collect his prisoners, and made his way to the hangar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Chariot

Hangar

The Alliance shuttle landed on the open hangar, and the team immediately disembarked, checking for any dangers. Heading the team was his commanding officer, Captain David Anderson. Who looked both pissed and relieved to see him.

"You just can't stop getting into trouble can you, son?" Anderson asked, lowering his gun at seeing him.

"What trouble? I just took a little detour, that's all" Shepard shrugged. He didn't see what the problem was.

"So, who are your friends? The ones responsible for the attack on Elysium?" He gestured to the collared Batarians.

"No, that was a Turian named Elanos Haliat. He is dead. This is Oseros, the Prime Administrator of the Batarian Hegemony and his ministers" Shepard reported, while a sergeant came close, scanning him with her omni-tool for DNA confirmation, as was protocol.

The Alliance security team stopped in their tracks, turning to him as if he grew a second head.

"What?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the shock of his revelation wore off, he was immediately taken to McKinley for debriefing, while more shuttles went over to the Batarian ship to secure the ship and the prisoners.

"You sure this is not going to start a war?" Anderson asked for what felt like the millionth time.

"Yes, I am sure"

Shepard understood his worries, but a bit of trust would be appreciated.

"Wait till Admiral Hackett hears this. He'll either flip off, or recommend you for every medal there is"

"Probably both"

They headed to the meeting room, waiting for Admiral Hackett to arrive.

"Admiral on deck" A woman with red hair and green eyes, the Admiral's XO, entered the room first and the whole room stood at attention.

"At ease, sit down" Dressed in navy blues, Admiral Hackett's mere presence commanded order. With a scar running down his face, the years might have aged him on the outside, but he still was sharp as an omni-blade.

They took their seats while Hackett and his aide continued to, getting confirmation that they had a positive face match between Commander Shepard's prisoners and the Batarian leadership.

"Commander, when I expected one hell of a report from you, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind, care to explain?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twelve hours.

Twelve hours of caffeine, disbelief, outrage, and repetition later Admiral Hacket leaned back on his chair, rubbing his forehead.

"Two thousand ships, their planetary defense network and most of their military and civilian leadership gone, Khar'shan reduced to rubble - at least its ground forces- and the whole system they used to control the slaves out of commission with revolts all over their territory and the Prime Administrator and the Ministers as our prisoners. Did I miss anything, Commander?" Admiral Hackett asked for confirmation, and he wouldn't believe the whole thing if it wasn't for the prisoners and the video footage.

Even in one of those over the top Blasto movies this would sound like a script written by a hyperactive child and refused.

Yet one human, no matter how good he was, did the impossible and managed to bring an interstellar empire down, all by himself.

Even with overwhelming evidence infront of him, his brain simply refused to accept it.

"The pirate responsible for the attack, Elanos Haliat and his whole crew are dead too, sir" Shepard supplied, eyes heavy with sleep. The whole thing could have been over in an hour, but because of their reluctance it took twelve hours instead.

"Right" Admiral fell silent for a while, contemplating what to do.

"Frankly Commander, this is unprecedented on a whole new level. I have no idea what to do with this bomb you dropped on our hands. On one hand you ended the Batarian threat all by yourself, on the other hand you went off on an unsanctioned mission and risked starting a war, and as this goes beyond just military, I'll just write up a glowing report and let Arcturus handle it" Hackett's decision wasn't an easy one, but he believed it was the best he could do under current circumstances.

"But personally, I believe you did a service to the whole of humanity that will make history. Thank you, Commander" Admiral Hackett got up and held out his hand, going beyond rules and regulations.

Shepard rose as soon as the Admiral did and took the offered hand without saying anything.

"Now that we are done, all of you go and rest. I believe days to come will be challenging for all of us"

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU,

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon,

and DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world

All stories are five chapters ahead.

Thank you in advance.

---

"Death once had a near-Commander-Shepard experience"

Serpent Nebula

Widow System

Citadel Defence Forces

Aboard the Destiny Ascension

Matriarch Lidanya, Captain of the Destiny Ascension, the greatest ship in the galaxy, and the pinnacle of Asari technological superiority, was bored.

It came with the position itself, as while it was a great honor to command this ship, it also meant the dreadnought would never see action because no one was foolish enough to attack the Citadel.

"Matriarch, there is unscheduled activity at the mass relay" the maiden stationing the sensors reported and Lidanya straightened herself.

Usually it was a mix up in the schedule, but sometimes ships facing technical problems also entered the system if they were the closest.

"Goddess, the numbers are increasing rapidly" the maiden sounded worried.

"On the map" The Matriarch ordered, on full alert now.

"Yes, Matriarch. 0.2c delay on the feed"

She watched with rapt attention as the first ship arrived. It was a cargo ship, with thick armor but no weaponry, and half the size of a cruiser.

Then a dozen more ships appeared, most civilian, some military, all Batarian.

It wasn't the end of it though, as the numbers grew exponentially. More and more ships of Batarian make appeared on the sensors.

Matriarch Lidanya, with a sentiment shared by the crew, thought that the Batarians had finally lost their minds and decided to attack the Citadel.

"Hail the Citadel and tell them to close the arms immediately. Have all the ships ready for engagement, and order the civilian ships to retreat to the other side of the system" Matriarch's orders came with centuries of experience and training.

The crew moved to carry out their orders and the Citadel Defence Fleet prepared for a battle for the first time in centuries.

"Matriarch, we are receiving hails"

"Which ship?"

"Most of them are hailing us at the same time"

"Connect us to one, doesn't matter which" She wanted to see what the Batarians were up to.

"Understood"

Rather than a Batarian, an Asari, a maiden by her looks, gaunt and nervous, her eyes darting all over place before falling on the screen.

"Ah, g-greetings. I a-am Ril'sane, w-we are re-refugees es-escaping f-fro-from the He-hegemony" The nervous maiden said, twitching occasionally accompanied by her stuttering.

"All of you?" Lidanya asked. It was one thing for a single ship to escape, but hundreds of them at the same time?

Something definitely was going on.

"Y-yes. Our c-chips w-were dea-deactivated and we es-esc-escaped af-after taking the s-ships"

"Sister, tell those ships to stay where they are and start from the beginning if you can" The maiden was genuine in behaviour as far as she could tell, but she couldn't risk anything, not with that many ships out there.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Council Private Chambers

Several Days Later

"Quite a peculiar situation, isn't it?" Valern asked his colleagues, who were in various states of exhaustion.

They had spent more than a week trying to solve this situation but it was more widespread than it appeared. The Citadel wasn't the only one to receive hundreds of ships, as the Turian Hierarchy, Salarian Union and the Asari Republics faced the same situation, with other council species to various degrees.

Ensuring they did not carry some sort of Batarian engineered disease, or had WMDs on the ships meant to detonate at a moment's weakness meant every ship had to be searched and all those refugees had to be scanned.

This was a load of work none of them faced, not even with the disastrous first contact with the Humans.

Tevos was sipping a herbal tea imported from Thessia meant to calm the nerves, while Sparatus chose to push through it on his own.

Valern was just using stimulants as most Salarians would.

"I still say this is ridiculous" Sparatus scoffed. They all had read the reports, and heard the testimonies of the escaped slaves but did not mean they had an easy time believing it.

"Ridiculous or not, we all read the testimonies and watched the recording of that human, Shepard. Speaking of the human, what has STG found on him?" Tevos directed her attention at her Salarian counterpart.

"Jondam Bau in cooperation with Tela Vasir is compiling the information and checking its veracity right now. They will report soon" Tevos nodded and turned to her omni-tool to check on the situation.

Thousands of Asari, Salarian, Turian and other species all crammed into whatever ships they could seize to escape the Hegemony.

More were stuck on those worlds, unable to reach a spacecraft. All thanks to a human named Commander Shepard, who somehow did what the Salarian Task Group could not and accessed the Batarian Network to neutralize the chips.

"Let's hope Saren and his team can confirm what happened at Hegemony space" Valern had already convinced the Salarian Dalatrasses to send STG teams but Saren was the Council's best agent for a reason.

"Councillors, Spectres Bau and Vasir are here" an Asari aidee's voice came from the intercom.

"Very well. Allow them in" Tevos ordered, not in the mood for pleasantries.

"Yes, Councillor"

Tela Vasir and Jondum Bau were the foremost Spectres of their respective species along with Saren Arterius, and as such were the Council's go to agents in a crisis.

Tela Vasir, an Asari Matron, with purple marks on her face and a confident gait walked in, along with Jondum Bau, a light green skinned Salarian, wearing his signature brown and gold armor.

"Councillors" Both greeted at the same time.

"Spectre Vasir, Spectre Bau, I hope your efforts were fruitful" Sparatus asked, implying they better have found something.

"There was a lot to unpack regarding Commander Shepard, so it took a bit longer than usual" Jondum reported, still focused on the datapad he had.

"You may begin then"

"Yes, Councillor. His full name is Jonathan Shepard, born and grew on the streets of Vancouver, he first came into Alliance's notice during an operation against a local criminal organization known as Tenth Street Reds. Under Shepard's leadership, they assumed control of the criminal underground of the city, and extended their influence all across the continent in the span of a year. He was 16 when the Tenth Street Reds were besieged by the Alliance, he surrendered the entire organization as part of an agreement. We couldn't reach the details of the information he provided with our current timeline, but it coincides with the date of massive arrests of influential and wealthy individuals all across the Alliance. All charges on Shepard and his organization were dropped, and the Tenth Street Reds have transformed into a legal entity, called Shepard Technological Solutions, with the Commander possessing a significant amount of shares of the company" Jondaum began, his speech getting faster every second he spoke, and the Councillors except Valern had to take a couple of seconds to comprehend.

"So, he was a criminal?" Sparatus asked, focused on any fault he might just find.

"As I said Councillor, all charges were dropped and his record is clean" Bau reported, raising his head to glance at the Turian.

"What about his military history?" Tevos continued to stop the Turian Councillor from derailing the report.

"He joined the Alliance military at eighteen, having received encouragement from various high ranking officials. His basic training reports say he had the top scores of all times, and was immediately recommended to N7 but was refused due to his young age. The second time he came under spotlight was during the Akuze Incident"

"The one with the Thresher Maws, I believe?" Valern asked, having read the reports of it.

"Yes, Councillor. The Alliance sent a unit for investigation upon losing contact with the pioneers on the planet, but were ambushed by Thresher Maws. Commander Shepard, then a Lieutenant, managed to save his team and sent them to the landing zone, but was stranded when the Maws surrounded the shuttles and cut him off. The shuttles retreated without him to call for reinforcements. A week later he was found at the site of the initial colonization, where he captured the scientists responsible for the trap, as well as rescuing some of the missing soldiers after wiping out the entire nest, through explosives, traps, biotics and his weapon. His psychic evaluation following the incident was clean, as he claimed hunting the thresher maws was fun" Bau quoted with his fingers.

"Fun? Even the Krogan don't find it fun, and wiping out the entire nest by himself? Are we sure this is not a joke by the Alliance?" Sparatus as well as the others were skeptical, just like with the Batarian situation.

"Not as far as we could determine" Bau sniffed at having his work guessed every second due to the Turian Councillor's dislike for Humanity, and left the stage to Vasir.

"His N7 training was controversial according to the reports. He had the highest marks of all times in the fields of Infiltration, Combat, Tech Aptitude, Negotiation, Explosives, Heavy Weaponry and Biotics but his methods of acquiring some of his marks were matters of serious discussion amongst the Alliance military circles. They even compiled a rulebook, called the Shepard Maneuvers, which are explicitly banned due to the high risks they possess" Vasir was centuries old, but even she was impressed by the human's actions.

He was either brave, or extremely reckless. Most likely both.

"They include using a modified shield emitter as an impromptu parachute to scale down a cliff, sub orbital entry with a ground vehicle, bringing down the entire enemy comm systems through a cyber attack during a live fire exercise as well as hacking the Alliance Military Database and stealing the ID's of his commanding officers to infiltrate their lines and, well it is for the best if you see this yourselves" Vasir reported with a straight face.

She too had thought that the Alliance was mocking them by writing a movie script to hide the records, but there were plenty of video recordings, as well as the warnings he received from his commanders for his stunts.

Stunts.

She wouldn't call them that.

Vasir entered some commands on her omni-tool and the video began to play on the screen.



Inside the Exercise Control Station, the humans were recording and analyzing every piece of data they could.

"Sir, there is a problem with one of the missiles" a sensor operative reported to the one star general responsible for overseeing the exercise.

"What? Show me and prepare to shoot it down immediately. Dummy missile or not I don't want an accident" The general reacted without hesitation.

"Yes sir, linking satellite feed now"

The general focused on the main screen as it came alive. There, on top of the missile was a mass effect field with a soldier in it, appearing to be stuck to its surface.

"That's Shepard, isn't it?" He asked, already knowing the answer. One of the operators checked the tag system they used to keep an eye on everyone.

"Yes sir, it is."

"Right, of course, because god forbid Shepard ever do something normal. Keep track of that missile but don't do anything unless it presents a danger to the other soldiers" He had just about enough of Shepard's bullshit, but every ridiculously over the top act of pure insanity he committed had worked so far.

He had expected him to do something, but not this.

"Sir, there is movement" The same sensor operative who detected the anomaly reported again.

Shepard had deactivated the barrier, and whatever it was keeping him on the missile and was flung away like a leaf on a tornado.

Sufficiently away from the missile, he opened his parachute, and began to descend towards the Red Team's base. In the ensuing fight, he neutralized the guards and took the entire enemy leadership hostage, bringing the whole exercise to a short end with an overwhelming victory for the Blue Team.

"God damnit" The general muttered.



The video feed was cut, leaving the Councillor speechless.

"Goddess, does he not have any self preservation instinct? What insanity is this?" Tevos was contemplating what possessed this human to even think of something like this, much less actually do it.

"Could he be a super soldier? Perhaps an experimental unit?" Valern asked, analyzing the feed. While Vasir and Bau wouldn't bring evidence without confirming its authenticity, his own scans had told him the same thing.

It was not a fake, not unless the Alliance advanced more than the Salarians.

"We should have him brought here for questioning and tests to see if he actually is one" If the Alliance had actually done something like that, Sparatus would drown them under a tide of sanctions.

"How has he been allowed to stay in the military, even with Akuze?" Valern could see the value of a soldier like him, but his acts definitely would have broken enough rules to see him discharged from the military.

"He used loopholes to reason he technically hacked enemy systems . Though, it is also reported he was offered and agreed to patch and upgrade the Database in return for no punishment or mark on his record" Bau thought that the Alliance Database had become more well defended, and the reports supported it, at least whatever they could recover before the system kicked them out.

"Anything else?" Sparatus asked, wanting to know more of this Shepard.

"He also has an extensive record of operations in the Terminus Systems, but we couldn't recover them before the Alliance noticed our intrusion" Vasir shook her head.

It took several more hours for the report to conclude and the Councillors retreated to rest, minds heavy with the implications of this impossibility.

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU,

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon,

and DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world

All stories are five chapters ahead.

Thank you in advance.

---

"Commander Shepard's tears can cure the Krogan Genophage. Too bad he never cries"

Serpent Nebula

Widow System

Citadel Tower

Donnel Udina, human ambassador to the Citadel Council cursed for the umpteenth time. The sudden influx of aliens, along with a minority of humans, escaping from the Batarian Hegemony has been a boon for humanity's standing in the greater galaxy, but it was a taxing and problematic work.

He and the embassy had been distributing supplies, offering medical aid and helping the former slaves connect with their family and friends. It wasn't out of the goodness of his heart that he decided to spend hundreds of thousands of credits, but to increase the System Alliance's reputation, though he wouldn't say it out loud.

As if the mountain of bureaucratic work he had to deal with wasn't enough, the council had summoned him for some reason, only saying it was extremely urgent.

So here he was at the Citadel Tower, being led to the private chambers by an Asari.

"Councillors" He greeted the ultimate authority figures in the Citadel Space. The Councillors, sitting around a table, watched him for a couple of seconds before Tevos indicated at the empty chair for Udina to sit.

"Please sit, Ambassador"

Udina took the offered seat and examined the Councillors. He had worked on how the various species of the galaxy behaved, whether under normal circumstances or the extraordinary ones like they faced now.

They were tired, as he was, so there was no need for the usual pleasantries.

"Ambassador, we summoned you regarding Commander Jonathan Shepard, and the actions he has taken against the Batarian Hegemony. Was this an Alliance sanctioned operation, or did Commander Shepard act by himself?" Sparatus, ever the blunt militarist, asked directly without any of the political talk the other two Councillors would employ.

Udina too wanted to know that, but the Alliance Parliament was currently in a closed session, discussing the implications of Commander Shepard's actions, and he had been ordered to not say anything until the man himself had the chance to explain himself to the Parliament.

"Due to the nature of the events, I have been ordered to keep silent on the matter until the Alliance investigation is concluded to avoid any misunderstandings"

"And when will that be?" Valern understood the Alliance's position, the Salarian Union and the other governments would do the same, but it didn't change the fact they needed answers.

"Commander Shepard is currently on his way to Arcturus, and the Alliance is gathering intelligence on the state of the Hegemony, however, there is no way to tell how long it will take as such any length of time I give you would be unreliable" Udina knew the Parliament was slow even at the best of times but they all agreed that the Batarians were a problem that needed to be solved.

Commander Shepard had handed that solution to the Alliance on a silver platter and Udina didn't see him facing any punishment, perhaps a slap on the wrist for going AWOL.

"Understandable, and we will be expecting the Alliance's report as soon as possible. We also had one more matter to discuss. As I am sure you understand, we have some concerns regarding the Commander's nature. One person, no matter the species, doing something like this is quite unbelievable" Tevos explained delicately, as openly accusing the newest member of the Citadel community would be counterproductive to their interests in Humanity's further integration.

"What do you mean, Councillor?" Udina narrowed his eyes, already having an idea where this was going.

"What she means is that we want to have Commander Shepard examined to see if the Alliance has broken any laws and regulations pertaining to genetic and cybernetic augmentation" Sparatus spoke, throwing Tevos' delicate approach out of the airlock.

Tevos did not display any disagreement, but internally she was wondering if the Turian was even aware of diplomacy.

"While I can not tell you anything regarding the Batarian situation, I can tell you that certain studies on Commander Shepard's DNA were commenced to see if he was augmented as you are worried and the results were negative. However, I am sure the Arcturus will agree to your request to show that we are taking your concerns seriously" Udina tried to get information on Shepard from his contacts, but even they were unusually tight lipped. While he didn't learn as much as he wished, he still learned some interesting things, such as the studies.

They must have been taken back by this and how easy he agreed as they formulated what to do.

"Very well ambassador. We will be waiting for your government's answer" Tevos said and Udina took the cue and pushed his chair back.

"Have a pleasant day, Councillors"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Udina was out and the door closed behind him, Tevos turned to Sparatus.

"Why don't you just forgo any kind of investigation and sanction them already Sparatus?" She asked her Turian counterpart rhetorically.

"You were saying the same thing, just less direct, that's all. You didn't have a problem with it before" He retorted, matching the Asari Matriarch's gaze.

"She didn't have a problem with it when Udina was the unreasonable one, not you" Valern supplied, for both he and Tevos did not appreciate his open antagonism towards the humans.

"He is right. If Udina is the unreasonable one we can just use it as an excuse to stop him from reaching too far, but if it is you, it just feeds into their rhetoric of how we are trying to keep them under control. Your aggression against them needs to stop being so apparent" Tevos chided the Turian, no matter how much she wished she didn't have to.

Him, and his predecessor were both the same in their approach to humans due to the Relay 314 incident.

"Still, Udina's acceptance of examining Commander Shepard most likely means we can rule out the option of him being a super soldier" Valern said, drawing the attention back to the matter at hand.

"Provided the Alliance agrees" Sparatus wasn't going to let things go until the last second, it seemed.

"Indeed" Tevos nodded.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arcturus

Arcturus Station

Parliament Chambers

Shepard found the whole meeting boring. They have been doing this for three days already, and those imbeciles kept repeating the same questions. He yawned, and whoever was speaking noticed this and interrupted him.

"Are we boring you, Commander?" A member asked, and Shepard leaned towards the microphone to retort.

"Commander Shepard is tired, both due to these proceedings and the operation he single handedly ran against the Batarians. Please, excuse him" Anderson snatched the microphone and stopped Shepard from insulting the politician, and gave him a pointed look.

Shepard leaned back, tuning out the speaker.

Admiral Hackett had grilled him for twelve hours before accepting that he was telling the truth. The politicians couldn't do the same after three days with the Prime Administrator and the Ministers of the Batarian Hegemony paraded before them.

He didn't like dealing with the civilian government for this exact reason. They were slow as a Krogan solving a crossword puzzle.

"What did I say about insulting the politicians, Shepard?" Anderson whispered, leaning towards him.

"Its not my problem they have the comprehension skills of a third grade student" he whispered back.

"It will be when their fragile egos get shattered because you decided to be brutally honest. So for both our sakes, don't run your mouth off" Anderson had already warned him before they entered the chambers the first day, but Shepard's patience was running out.

"I have a question for the Commander. Did you not consider the risks before you embarked on this one man crusade? What if you had failed and were killed or captured, and started a war between the Alliance and Hegemony?" A blond woman in her forties finally asked something different than the rest.

"No"

"No, as in you did not consider the risks?" She asked very pointedly.

"No, as in I didn't see any risks"

"May I ask why not? You were reported as a military genius, yes, but certainly going against an entire interstellar civilization must have had some risks?"

"Ma'am, my shield wasn't even depleted once, not in Elysium, not in the pirate ship and not in Khar'shan. It might have been risky to others but not to me. As far as I am concerned it was just a walk in the park" Shepard sounded bored while explaining himself, and the Parliament Chambers went silent.

"Very well. Then what do you suggest our next step should be, since you are the one who gave us this opportunity?" She continued, changing the matter to not humiliate herself further.

"Reinforce the Batarian border while the revolts continue and wait for the inevitable civil war. After that we should secure as much of the Attican Traverse and the Terminus Systems when the Batarians call their proxies in there for the civil war. With a carefully planned colonization effort, Systems Alliance could have the largest territory in the galaxy and cleaning out the Terminus could be used as a stepping stone to apply for a Council Membership" Shepard already had some ideas on what the Alliance could do, but with the Parliament moving at the speed of a dead snail, they would have a hard time taking advantage of this.

"You suggest we go to war with the Terminus Systems?

"If you are scared of the idea, just give me volunteers and ships, I'll do it myself" Shepard offered, dead serious.

"How can you guarantee there will be a civil war?" Another MP asked, raising his hand to take a turn.

"The Batarian society puts emphasis on might makes right, and with their leadership in our custody, the Batarian elites are going to scramble to be the new Prime Administrator. If they somehow don't start a civil war, I'll go and send them back to the stone age, so you don't have to worry either way" Shepard's tone was dismissive, the boldness of his statement causing the MP to shrinking in on himself.

"I have no further questions" The blonde woman taking the stand said, realizing he actually would do both.

The debates heated up again, discussing his idea, making Shepard regret saying it rather than doing it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One good thing that came out of coming to Arcturus was the open buffet offered to the Parliament members and everyone else part of the meeting. They had actual beef, rather than the one prepared in a lab, and Shepard wasn't going to miss the opportunity.

He had hidden himself in a corner while Anderson had gotten lost in the sea of people, warning him not to get into trouble.

"Commander Shepard? Robert Carson, Developing Nations Coalition party leader, a pleasure to meet you" He held out his hand with a million watts smile.

There went his peace.

Shepard watched the man, he was younger than most MPs he had seen, with black hair and barely any lines on his face.

He didn't appear to be one of those vultures who wanted the publicity of being seen with a hero, so he slowly took the offered hand.

"Congratulations are in order Commander, humans everywhere, even the ones who despise the Alliance are celebrating your name"

"I thought the Alliance did not release any news about that?"

"No one told you? Someone already leaked everything, including your camera footage, from Elysium all the way to Khar'shan and back" The MP opened news feeds on his omni-tool, showing crowds stretching on as far as the camera captured, gathered on Earth and Alliance worlds, carrying signs with his name and celebrating the fall of the Batarian Hegemony.

"You just became the most famous person in the Alliance, and perhaps in history"

"Huh, what do you know, the Alliance can't keep a secret. Big surprise there" Shepard dryly commented

"I was hoping to speak to you about the Parliament elections next year" The man finally got to the point.

"And?" He already had an idea what the MP wanted, but still asked for confirmation.

"I want you to endorse our party. I know the limitations that come with you being a military personnel but just expressing your opinion on a news channel would be more than enough"

"Bold" Shepard thought.

"Why you and not someone else?" He wondered what made this man confident enough to approach him so brazenly.

"Because I want to make changes, Commander, to make the Alliance better for its citizens. I too grew up on the streets, and I know how much they don't care and I want to change that, but when you are running against people supported by the rich and the elite who can afford to spend billions for their campaigns, a party like ours with limited support due to our policies isn't going to get far, especially against the Blues and Forward Humanity. That's why I need your help. I mean have you seen the polls they started on who would you prefer as Prime Minister? Let me tell you, if you decided to leave the military and enter politics, you would definitely win with a land slide"

Shepard blinked at this, checking his omni-tool. He had left it behind so he wouldn't play games during the meeting, and what do you know.

Four hundred million votes for him, in just an hour, while the poor Prime Minister got like two and a half million. The website crashed afterwards.

"All good points, but what changes? Send me your plan for when you become the Prime Minister and I'll do it if you impress me"

"Oh, thank you Commander. I promise you won't be disappointed" The man enthusiastically shook his hand, elated.

"I better not" Shepard responded, letting his warning hang in the air.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard's making some friends in high places.

There isn't any info on the Developing Nations Coalition on the wiki, at least I couldn't find any, so I chose to make them the idealists who can't match up to the wealth and support the Blues and Forward Humanity, canonically two of the strongest parties, has.

Politics, beyond Shepard utilizing it to cut through red tape and prepare the galaxy for the Reapers, won't be very prevalent in the first two parts.

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU,

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon,

and DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world

All stories are five chapters ahead.

Thank you in advance.

---

"When a Batarian goes to sleep each night, he checks under his bed for Commander Shepard"

Serpent Nebula

Widow System

Citadel Tower

Several Weeks Later

"They have who?!" Turian Councillor Sparatus shouted, hands gripping the rails tightly, his claws almost biting to his hand.

"The Prime Administrator and the Ministers of the Hegemony, Councillor. They had been paraded in the Arcturus Station like a prize and while the Alliance did manage to keep it a secret even when everything else was leaked, including Commander Shepard's cam footage of the entire operation. As such, I would like to recommend Jonathan Shepard of the Alliance Navy as a Spectre candidate" Spectre Nihlus said. The Turian had studied the footage, and the entire thing was as unbelievable as it sounded.

Conducting extremely risky maneuvers, dispatching the most elite units of the Hegemony with ease, slaughtering entire platoons, infiltrating high security places through hacking and acting, studying his enemies- not many people knew the religious importance the Batarians placed on their eyes- combat and biotic proficiency, calm and focused under intense pressure, the human would make an excellent Spectre.

"I object, Councillors. Last human Spectre candidate had been a failure, there is no reason to grant humanity another chance so soon" Saren Arterius, the number one Spectre Agent of the Citadel Council disagreed. His argument was weak, he knew that, but spirits damn him if he agreed to it.

While Nihlus was busy gathering intel on the Alliance regarding the Batarian Situation as it was being called, Saren was sent to gather intel inside the Hegemony, exploiting the growing lack of security to infiltrate deep into their territory.

Khar'shan was a mess, with their military bases destroyed, hundreds of millions of slaves and lower caste citizens were in a uprising, and with the disappearance of the Prime Administrator and the ministers- now revealed to be in the hands of the Alliance- the deaths of the high ranking civil and military officials and the major destruction their Navy faced, there was no one to hold the many factions of the Hegemony together, so there was an intense civil war going on between multiple nobles and military personnel, all vying to be the new rulers of the Batarian Hegemony.

Saren figured by the time someone won the civil war, they would be ruling over an empire of rubble and ash.

If only the one responsible for all of this wasn't a human.

He would even be fine with a Krogan.

"Noted, Spectre Saren" Councillor Tevos told with a tone suggesting the Turian to drop the matter.

"This would mean that the Hegemony can not afford to act rashly. The masses were indoctrinated to see their leadership as holy, even if the civil war factions don't, they can't start a war against the Alliance without severe public backlash" Valern reasoned. Half the reason the Council did not do something about the Hegemony was unlike what the majority of the galaxy thought, the Batarian slave caste, besides an extremely small minority of rebels, did not want to abolish the system, but rather wanted to be the masters. Even if the Council freed them, the problem would just continue without a fundamental cultural and educational change, one which neither the governments or the Council itself wished to undertake.

"What is the situation in the Terminus systems? With the Hegemony crumbling rather quickly, the proxies they have must be worried" Tevos asked Tela Vasir, who had been assigned to monitor the lawless systems after her latest assignment.

"At least half the pirates and mercenary groups have been called to assist the various Hegemony factions they received support from. The Alliance has created checkpoints to monitor and intervene. However, they only seem to attack certain groups while letting the others pass without any harassment" Tela could have found more, but that would require her to contact the Shadow Broker, and she didn't want to owe anything to the mysterious figure for something like this.

Sparatus clicked his mandibles, accompanied by a whistling sound, a Turian equivalent of a scoff.

"I bet my private armory they are doing it to extend the civil war. Destroy support for the sides that are projected to win, but leave their enemies unscathed, and this civil war can be extended beyond what the simulations show" Sparatus begrudgingly admitted it was a cunning but effective way to further weaken the Batarians.

"What is the Alliance planning now? We wanted them to counter the Batarians and keep both sides in check, but now that balance is broken, humans won't stop their expansion" Tevos said, as it was the Asari diplomats who brokered the deal, giving the Skyllian Verge to Alliance when the Batarians had been lobbying for the right to colonize that sector.

"Perhaps we should ask Udina, he did say the Alliance's report was ready" Valern already had a copy of the report, and knew what they wanted, but it was best to let Udina make the case rather than advertise that the Salarians were spying on the humans.

Everyone knew of course, they just couldn't prove it.

"Very well. Spectres, you are dismissed, as always you have proven to be worthy of the rank bestowed upon you" Sparatus praised the agents. Nihlus was proud, as expected of a Turian, while Saren simply nodded. Bau did not care, and the only reason Tela did not roll her eyes was professional courtesy.

The Spectres vacated the private room, and Udina was let in.

"Welcome, ambassador Udina. We were highly anticipating Alliance's report" Tevos said, and while they understood the gist of the situation, hearing out Alliance's side was important to have the full picture.

"Yes Councillors, I am sending it to you now" Udina's omni-tool flared to life and he transmitted the files.

It was long, as expected of a report detailing a situation of this magnitude, so they could only spare time to read the summary and scan through the important parts. The report would be studied in a detailed manner at a later time.

"And our request for Commander Shepard to appear in the Citadel?"

"He will be here in a week, Councillors, after the award ceremony for his Shepard's Star" Udina said, with an unusually subdued tone.

Sparatus wasn't surprised. He knew deep down that the Turian Hierarchy, even with how much they were raised to follow orders without question and would punish a soldier who went AWOL, no matter the excuse, would make an exception for anyone who could do what Jonathan Shepard did.

"The Alliance has named an award after the Commander?" He asked, surprised at that.

"Yes, the Parliament believed another Star of Terra was too lacking for what he had done, so a new award beyond it has been created" Udina explained, knowing it was as much publicity stunt for the politicians as it was an actual desire to see the Commander rewarded.

The Councillors looked at each other, shrugging. While their respective governments too had numerous awards, none was named after a person.

"We also received rumours that the Alliance has the Prime Administrator and the Ministers of the Hegemony in custody. Is that correct?" Tevos asked for official confirmation, as they already knew the truth.

"Yes, they are currently guests at Arcturus Station"

"What are the Alliance's plans regarding them?"

"They are a safeguard against any retaliation from the Batarian Hegemony, other than that, Alliance has no other plan with them in mind" Udina told the truth, omitting the fact how they had already spilled the beans on everything the Alliance wanted to know.

Mere mention of Shepard was enough to make them talk.

"I also came to inform you of the Alliance's decision moving forward. The Parliament and the Prime Minister have agreed that it is in the best interest of the Alliance and the galaxy as a whole for us to secure the entirety of the Skyllian Verge as well as the Terminus Systems and eradicate the pirate presence once and for all" Udina smiled smugly at this, knowing the Council could not refuse.

The Council did not interfere in the Terminus Systems much, besides the occasional operation against piracy, due to the Batarian Hegemony and how those disorganized groups would come together to fight.

But now, pirates, mercenaries and bounty hunters were busy fighting in the Hegemony Civil war, whether for credits or other reasons, and the number of outlaws in the Terminus had decreased significantly, making it an opportunity for the Alliance to secure those systems for itself.

The Councillors looked at eachother, weighing their options. Technically speaking as those systems were outside the jurisdiction of the Citadel, there was no reason for them to stop the Alliance, as long as they ensured this war did not spill into the Citadel space.

Practically, however, handing all those systems to the Alliance would give them too much power. All those garden worlds and raw resources would create an enormous economic base for the Alliance, and would considerably hasten their inevitable rise to the status of a Council member.

Rather than outright refuse it, their best course of action would be to convince the Alliance of the infeasibility of this endeavor. Failed at that, limiting the Alliance expansion in return for certain capitulations.

However it would have to be deliberated in a more private setting.

"Thank you for the report ambassador, please do inform us when Commander Shepard arrives" Tevos nodded, not giving any response to Alliance's plan.

"Yes, Councillors" Udina turned back and left, walking to the exit with a confident gait.

"He is getting more arrogant each day" Sparatus muttered after the door closed.

"It was a human that brought down the Batarian Hegemony, who could blame him? If it was a Salarian, I knew I would be quite confident too" Valern said, as Tevos was busy skimming through the report.

"Leaving your aversion to humans aside, we need to discuss how to proceed. Letting the Alliance go unchecked is out of the question, but our traditional justifications for not taking a militarized action against the Terminus won't work anymore" Tevos might have been the one to voice it, but the path humanity would take was easy to predict, and the Asari Republics, Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union already made their thoughts known.

"We should let the humans do it. They can spend ships, credits and lives there, and we can reap the benefits. They will need financial backing to produce enough ships to control and defend so many systems, and we can use it to acquire garden worlds or mining rights" Valern said

"And what, let the humans increase the size of their navy? Turian Hierarchy won't stand for it" Sparatus asked, leaning forward.

"It will take them decades to increase the size of their navy to a point where the Hierarchy would have to worry, not to mention the Hierarchy would need more fleets if you can buy or bargain dextro planets in the Terminus, and the same goes for us as well" Valern explained, while the Salarian Union would prefer to spend more credits on research, they still understood the value of their fleets.

The two continued to argue back and forth, with Sparatus pointing something out and Valern offering a solution.

"You are forgetting Commander Shepard. He is a force multiplier, and would no doubt make the Alliance's conquest of the Terminus much easier than it conventionally would be. This would reduce the amount of credits and ships they would have to send, and if Alliance isn't in dire straits, they would have no reason to sell any planets or systems for cheap" Tevos intervened as the argument started to heat up, silencing both Councillors.

"Perhaps we should make him a Spectre and keep him away from Terminus" Sparatus said, the words leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

"And if he refuses?" Valern challenged, after all there was nothing to stop someone from refusing the offer, save perhaps the insistence of their government.

Sparatus had nothing to say to that.

"Perhaps we should talk with the Commander first, then make a decision" Tevos offered, receiving nods from Sparatus and Valern.