Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all its characters belong to Bioware. For this fic that means Shep and Kyle.
Author's Note: What might've happened at Torfan. Renegade Shepard. It's actually an excerpt of another fic of mine, This Is It, that I edited to serve as a one-shot. If you like it, feel free to check the other fic out.
Skyllian Verge, 2178
"Fucking hell, can't this thing be deployed without having to land groundside?"
"I dunno, you want to try dropping into the atmosphere in a three ton vehicle?"
"I'm just asking why the Alliance hasn't come up with anything better than these damn Grizzlies."
"Rigby, Talens – cut the chatter." Shepard stood leaning against the cargo bay wall.
"Sir." The two men fell silent and continued to wait beside the nose of the M29A Grizzly.
"Lieutenant." Shepard looked towards a small woman who was briskly crossing the bay after just having emerged from the elevator.
"Yes, Engineer?"
"The Major just radioed from the CIC. He says he's on his way down and expects everyone to be geared up and triple checked by the time he gets down here."
"Copy that. Dismissed." Shepard lifted his right hand to his ear. Radioing the rest of the platoon he said:
"All units be ready to roll out in five. Anyone not in line when the Major steps off that elevator gets triple happy hours for a month." Shepard heard the beginnings of a chorus of 'Aye ayes' before dropping his hand back down and beginning to check his own weapons for what must've been the dozenth time. Right hip Kessler IV. Lower back Storm III. Left shoulder Avenger III. Right shoulder Lancer V. As Shepard withdrew each weapon from its respective holster he ejected each magazine, checked the cartridges, locked it back in place, pulled back the operating rod until he heard that familiar click, and flipped up his sights before restoring them back to their original position. Throughout the cargo bay two dozen soldiers could be seen doing the same thing. Once they had finished and were lined up, the door to the elevator opened and Major Kyle stepped out into the cargo bay.
"Everyone here already knows the situation," he began, pacing back and forth. "We all know what these fuckers tried to pull in the Blitz. We hit them pretty hard then and we're here to finish them off now. They've managed to hole themselves up in an underground compound forty minutes out from our current location. Air assaults have been ineffective. The compound has two entrances: south and north. Alpha and Charlie will be led by me and will assault the southern entrance; the Lieutenant," at this point the Major looked straight at Shepard, "will be taking Bravo and Delta to the northern one. The last wave managed to take out the enemy's AA guns so we'll be dropped just outside their short range capabilities. We take out the turrets, get into the entrance halls, then take the stairs and regroup on the second floor. We can't get any readings on the enemy's exact location but we're betting most of them are sitting right at the bottom so once we're in we work our way down. Now get into those IFVs and let's flush these fuckers out! Hooah!"
The soldiers bellowed out the war cry back to the Major before moving towards the M29s. Four squads, four Grizzlies, each one holding six men.
Shepard stood before his squad's own IFV and waited for the other five soldiers in his squad to get in before climbing into the driver compartment himself.
"Bravo squad is go." Shepard watched the cargo bay doors pull open.
"Delta squad is go." Shepard fired up the Grizzly.
"Charlie is go."
"Alpha is go." Shepard heard the familiar voice of the Major. "All squads move out." Shepard repeated the order into his headset and pulled out of the carrier onto the barren surface of Torfan's moon.
The carrier had dropped them two miles outside the Batarian compound's turret's firing range. Well within their radar, Shepard knew, but stealth wasn't exactly their goal. Alliance starships had been bombing the compound for days and multiple strike teams had already been sent in though none had emerged successful. His was just the next on the chopping block.
"Shepard, you hear me?" Major Kyle's voice crackled over the radio.
"Loud and clear Major."
"Good. Now listen to me: you get out of this place alive and I give that recommendation I know you've been wanting to SECNAV. They'll have you up in front of the promotion board within a few weeks."
"I appreciate it Major."
"I know it. So don't go and fuck anything up, copy?"
"Copy that."
"Good hunting Lieutenant."
"Heavy turrets coming up in 500 yards!….450…" Shepard turned to the Engineer sitting beside him who had just yelled out.
"Rigby, ready the mass accelerator cannon. Talens I want a solution on those turrets now."
"You got it LT."
"Enemy turrets getting ready to fire! First volley in three…two….one…"
Shepard sped up the Grizzly, and drove straight towards the turret. He could hear the bullets peppering the outside of the vehicle.
"Enemy rocket launched!"
"Talens where's my solution?" Shepard yelled.
"Ready, sir."
"Then take out that turret!" The Grizzly was rocked back and forth as a series of shots was unleashed on the Batarian compound.
"Enemy rocket straight ahead!" The Engineer screamed into her mic. "Kinetic barriers down 8%!"
Shepard continued driving straight towards the blue ball before finally pulling away, less than a second before there would've been direct impact. He pushed down on the break and turned the wheel violently left causing the Grizzly's tires to skid across the moon's dusty surface. He pulled his foot off the break and slammed it into the gas. The Grizzly was now speeding along parallel to the compound.
Rigby reoriented the Grizzly's main gun and finished off the enemy turret. "Heavy turret down Lieutenant!"
"Still got two left Rigby. I want the next one down in fifteen seconds!"
"Sir, Delta Squad just took down their turret."
"Rigby!"
"Enemy shields are down! Just give me a few more seconds…" Rigby stopped rapid fire and let loose one of the Grizzly's rockets. "Target eliminated!"
Shepard brought the M29 to a halt forty feet from the compound's entrance. "Everyone out! Pinnell, update the Major. Akitsu, radio Delta and tell them to regroup with us ASAP." Shepard turned to his engineer. "Get that door unlocked. Rigby, Talens eyes out."
Shepard unholstered his assault rifle and surveyed the horizon. Within the minute, another M29 pulled up next to Shepard's own and unloaded its six men.
"Engineer?"
"Door's unlocked sir."
"Then let's get the fuck going." Shepard leaned his head left then right to get the crick out of his neck. Time to get dirty.
Shepard opened the door, rifle out in front of him, and saw nothing but black.
"Engineer."
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Get these lights on." The woman, clad in her black and dark green Mantis II light armor, kneeled down before a console and started tapping commands into her omnitool.
"No can do Lieutenant. The Batarians must have cut the power cables once they knew we were getting in."
"Are you telling me, Engineer, that we have to take out superior enemy forces in a superior defensive position in
"-pitch-fucking-black?" Rigby finished. Shepard shot him a sideward glare which caused Rigby to press his lips firmly shut.
The Engineer looked back at Shepard. "Yes, Lieutenant."
"Fantastic." Talens sighed and began switching his own rifle's sights for a flashlight he had kept in offhand storage.
"All units prepare for low light conditions. Get those flashlights on but they stay dark until I say otherwise. Once we step through those next doors stay low, use your headsets, but keep it quiet." Shepard turned around and nodded to the engineer.
The doors hissed open.
Shepard was the first to step through into the black. He stood still for a long moment, waiting for his eyes to completely readjust to the darkness. Normally humans wouldn't be able to make out anything more than shadows in such low lighting but nowadays Alliance gene therapies included increased light sensitivity. While Shepard couldn't see with perfect clarity, he could see enough that he opted not to use the clunky, vision confining infrared goggles. And what he saw throughout the expansive entrance hall of the compound were dozens and dozens of crates oriented every which way and stacked up nearly touching the low ceiling.
"It's a fucking labyrinth," Shepard heard Talens mutter into his headset.
"We're splitting up. Regroup at the southern end." Even without being able to see, the compound's layout was extremely familiar to him. Not only was it a pretty standard design, but he had also spent hours memorizing its precise layout the day before. Delta Squad, leave two of your men here and the other four split up and take the eastern passages. Akitsu and Pinnell take the passage at my three. Rigby and Talens go right and stick to the wall. Engineer, you're with me." Shepard nodded towards the path straight ahead of them.
Each soldier took a look around at the circle of faces before pairing off and spreading out. Shepard stayed slightly ahead of the Engineer and moved slowly through the darkness. His eyes darted between the metallic sides of the crate surrounding him and the ground before him. Minutes passed in silence; Shepard could barely hear the other men breathing into their headsets. It was then that a soft orange light came from behind him.
"Engineer! Turn that off!"
"I'm sorry Lieutenant. It's an emergency signal from Alpha Squad."
"What?" Shepard was about to turn around to face the woman when his eye noticed a glimmer flick across the floor. He looked back at the Engineer's omnitool…
"All units halt! It's –" Before Shepard could warn the men the area was booby trapped, a series of ear-splitting explosions that seemed to rock the entire hall came from his left. Shepard managed to keep his balance though the Engineer had fallen to her knees. Shepard quickly gripped her upper arm and pulled her up before motioning to the wire that lay just a few feet in front of him. The Engineer nodded and Shepard started sprinting forward.
Meanwhile the crates filling the room began to rock back and forth; the ones closest to the ceiling came crashing down. Shepard continued running forward and sped up as he saw one of the crates about to fall. He slid underneath the falling crate, narrowly avoiding being crushed in the process. He lifted himself back up and looked back to make sure the Engineer was still with him; she was. What Shepard also saw was a broken crate surrounded by a pile of explosives. Now he understood the series of explosions that seemed to be coming closer to him.
"Get to the southern door now! The crates are loaded with explosives. I repeat: the crates are loaded with explosives!" Shepard kept on running, turned left, right, another right, all the while screaming orders into his mic and holding his left hand to his ear.
Shepard made another right and nearly ran into Rigby. Within a fraction of a second he pushed away any shock he felt and yelled, "Move! Move! Move!" over the sound of the explosions. The four of them kept running along the western wall until they came to the corner of the room. It was a dead end.
"Fuck! We don't have time to go back and find another way!" Rigby threw his fist against the wall.
"Which is why we're not. Help me." Shepard holstered his rifle, climbed on top of a crate, and started pushing at another crate behind it. Rigby, Talens, and the Engineer quickly came to his aid. In a matter of seconds the crate began to slide forward and eventually toppled to the floor. Shepard pressed his left hand against one of the horizontal crates and swung his legs over the top.
"Jump over these now! And watch the drop!" The Engineer was the first one over and Shepard reached up to slow her fall. "Move to the stairs!" The Engineer nodded and sprinted past the southern door and into the corridor behind. Talens was the next to jump over. His landing was less than graceful but once he had recovered he yelled out to Shepard:
"LT!" He pointed towards the crates opposite the ones he had just scaled over. Shepard looked over to see the remains of Delta Squad rounding the corner. He pointed towards the open door and, once Rigby had landed beside him, began running for it himself.
The six survivors crouched down against the walls of the corridor and waited for the explosions to die out.
Shepard covered one of his ears and tried to contact the four missing men with his headset.
"Lieutenant." One of the Delta Squad members had come up beside Shepard. "Asimov and Sampson were killed in the first explosion."
"You saw this?"
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"And the two stationed at the door?"
"Still alive as far as I know."
Shepard looked back out into the hall and saw debris falling from the ceiling. "This place is about to collapse. If they're alive they'll go back out the entrance and regroup with Alpha and Charlie."
"Sir."
"Engineer, why don't I have radio contact?"
"All communications are being blocked Lieutenant." Shepard cursed under his breath.
"We could go back now Shepard." Shepard turned around sharply to face the other Delta Squad member. "There's enough time to get back to the entrance before the ceiling caves in. We—"
"No, Specialist. We will not head back. The rest of the compound is still intact and our orders haven't changed. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"Question my authority again and it won't be Batarians who kill you. All units check weapons and head to the stairs."
A/N: For those of you who enjoyed this please review! If there's enough people who want it, I'd be more than willing to write up possible Akuze or Skyllian Blitz oneshots as well.