Finishing Theshaca

October 2179 - Theshaca Raids, Phase II

The commandant met them all in one of the larger conference rooms. As usual, the room fell silent as he walked in, the entire group moving to stand at attention without a word spoken. He walked to the front of the room and flipped on a holoprojector. "Have a seat. We've all been here before, but the raiders are being pretty damn stubborn. They're trying to rebuild and have established a new base with everyone that was left over after our initial strikes. So, we're gonna hit 'em before they can finish." He flipped an image up as he continued speaking. "The site is already well defended; they've put everything they have around this one, so we have to go in force. All eight teams will be required and we'll go in with double squads, four groups of twelve, each from a different direction."

He glanced around the room before continuing. "I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to be tough and we're probably going to lose people, but if we hit 'em hard now, they'll not recover for a very, very long time. Each of the team leads has received a mission folder with their drop zone and strike points. Work with your handlers to establish your ingress route and an emergency egress route in case everything goes to hell. We leave at 0400 hours tomorrow morning."

The enhanced Alpha squad worked together for a couple of hours evaluating their possible routes and found a somewhat meandering path through some low hills that would give them good coverage from the antiaircraft guns most of the way in. Once in range, they'd use a couple of heavy weapons to take down the defensive towers and then begin the actual ground assault. The plan was a good one, and once all four teams had their battle plans approved, they were dismissed until the morning muster.

Shepard briefed the entire squad, including the shuttle pilot for the ingress and egress routes. As the teams loaded up the next morning, Major Hudson approached Shepard and clasped forearms with her. "Do me proud, Shepard. Eliminate the threat and bring everyone home."

Shepard grinned, "I'll do my best, Sir. We've got a good plan and we have eight squads going in. Those pirates won't know what hit 'em."

The shuttles lifted off at the designated time; four double-teams headed to the final pirate stronghold. The ingress route wasn't the easiest thing to fly, low and fast through the dark mountains, but it was certainly doable; what Shepard didn't realize was her assigned shuttle pilot wasn't exactly in top form. He had been grounded for a while and was out of practice, and the complex route caused him to quickly fall behind the attack timeline. He hastily calculated a way to make up the time, picked a hill to hop over, and cut a corner instead of following the sheltered route between the hills. He planned to be up and down again before the antiaircraft guns could get a target lock on the shuttle. Shepard had no inkling he was planning a deviation until she felt the shuttle rising. She sprang from her seat and ran forward just in time to see the nose of their shuttle crest the hill top.

She saw the puff of smoke from the antiaircraft cannon as she shouted, "Mackey! Get our ass back down in the valley! Now!"

The surprised pilot took two seconds to glance over his shoulder at the lieutenant instead of reacting to her request and it cost him his life. Shepard saw the smoke trail headed straight at them and shouted, "Incoming!"

She turned and dove behind the cabin bulkhead and wadded herself up into a protective ball. The crew reacted immediately to her warning, moving to brace positions as best they were able with all their gear cluttered around them, but their efforts were too little, too late. The cockpit of the shuttle disintegrated with the impact of the explosive round and the inside of the shuttle was instantly filled by a tornado. Wind and noise ripped through the passenger compartment as the shuttle tumbled uncontrolled into the rugged hillside and disappeared in the early morning darkness.

Shepard groaned as she opened her eyes to Ensign Masters leaning over top of her. The expression on Masters' face was pure relief as Shepard regained consciousness. "Oh, thank God!" Masters waived her omnitool over the lieutenant one last time before speaking again. "You'll be ok, ma'am, but you're gonna be sore as hell. You dislocated your shoulder and smacked your head... you have a pretty good concussion, but that's it. Surprising, considering you were out of your harness for the crash."

Shepard jerked herself upright at the word 'crash' and looked around at the disaster in front of her. The cockpit had taken a direct hit and was just plain gone; no hope the pilot, Lieutenant Peter Mackey, had survived. She glanced at the medic, "Shit. What have we got, Liz?"

Liz shook her head, "Nothing good, Shepard. Five walking wounded, you included. Five dead and three seriously injured, not sure how long they'll last. Jon and Lieutenant Riley are helping the three criticals, Josie, Sergeant Degregorio, and Specialist Zettle. The mobiles are you, me, Jon, Riley and the second team infiltrator, Sergeant Smidt." She hesitated and didn't want to list the dead.

"Damn. That means we lost Buzz and Biggs. What the hell am I gonna tell Sally?" Shepard didn't expect an answer, so shook her head and pressed on. "So, the other N6, Lieutenant Mac Thompson?"

Liz frowned. "Dead, ma'am. Along with their Adept, Lieutenant Low... and considering we no longer have a cockpit, I can only assume Mackey is gone as well."

Shepard grimaced as she stood up. "Yeah, he's gone. Explosive round ripped open the front of the shuttle. No way he survived that encounter." Shepard glanced around and found her target. "Smidt, you're with me. We're pulling the dead out of here and lining 'em up outside. We'll clear the shuttle as cover for the living."

They worked quickly and soon had the four dead they could account for lined up on the ground outside the shuttle, including the monstrous bulk of Buzz Mitchell. Shepard looked at the bodies and shook her head in disgust before momentarily closing her eyes to refocus on the task at hand. Inside the shuttle, Liz, Jon and Lee Riley made the three injured as comfortable as possible. Shepard stuck her head back in the door and made eye contact with her medic, "Liz. I'm leaving these three in your capable hands. The rest of us have to move; we can't even think of getting an evac in here until we know for sure all the AA towers are down. You good?"

Liz gave her a weak smile, "Five by five, ma'am. Isn't anything here you can do to help these poor saps... I know you've got a mission to finish and trying to tell you not to go would be a waste of breath... but no Vanguard charges. You do that with your concussion and you'll be doing nothing but swimming in your own puke. So, go blow those bastards to hell, Shepard."

Shepard gave a quick nod. "Ok, folks. You heard the lady. Grab the heavy weapons and let's move. We've got a tower to take down and pirates to kill."

Shepard and her small team headed out on foot, knowing they were going to be both late to the fight and very shorthanded. With only two engineers, a sniper and a handicapped Vanguard left from their team of twelve, unless they merged with another squad they would be relegated to the backfield as support troops. They climbed to the crest of the hill the shuttle had crashed into and sighted the AA tower. Riley chimed in, "easy enough to augment the targeting system on the heavies. We can hit that tower from here, Shepard."

Shepard glowered at the AA cannons. "Do it."

Riley worked for a few moments on her omnitool to modify the targeting software on the two heavy weapons then looked at Jon. "Ready?" With a nod from the other Engineer, Riley looked at their sniper. "Smidt, paint that cannon with your laser."

The instant Smidt said "go," Riley and Hills simultaneously launched two rockets toward the tower, quickly reloaded and launched two more. Three seconds of travel time and four direct hits later, the four-man team growled in satisfaction as the AA tower collapsed in a pile of rubble. As the team worked their way to the next crest, Jon looked to Riley and spoke, "that's a neat trick. You'll have to show me that targeting hack."

Riley gave him a sidelong glance, with a hint of a smirk on her face. "I don't have to show you anything. You really think I'd give away my trade secrets?" She chuckled quietly at the shocked expression she got in return, then promptly passed the hack to his omnitool.

They topped the crest and peered down into the valley before them. The other three teams were heavily engaged and Shepard cursed, frustrated by being unable to jump into the battle. She looked to her team, "Smidt. Stay here and provide supporting fire as you see fit. Weapons free." She glanced at the two Engineers. "We're no good alone. From up here, it looks like squad Charlie could use our help the most. Getting from here to there is another thing entirely."

Riley glanced over. "As a team, yes, I would agree, but there's plenty of cover down there if we move independently. I say we split up and rendezvous with Charlie whenever and however we can."

Shepard nodded. "That could work, but we need to take out those defensive positions first." She pointed down at two automated gun turrets. "They'll pin us down and leave us hanging high and dry against a flanking maneuver."

Riley shrugged her shoulders. "Well, Jon and I each have a rocket left yet. I'm thinking that's easy."

Shepard's eyes narrowed, "I like the way you think, Riley!" Two laser guided rocket shots later, the three team members were on the move under the watchful eye of their sniper on the hill.

2179 - Vila Militar, Rio de Janeiro

The remainder of the operation was fairly routine and in the end the Alliance casualty rate was twenty five percent; eight of the twelve dead were from Shepard's team. The trip back and the mission debrief were somber affairs. The accident investigation that followed was no better, and when Shepard stood to take responsibility as the team lead, Major Henderson stood against her. "Absolutely not, Shepard." Henderson growled at the young Lieutenant. "You briefed your mission route properly...I was there. Not to point fingers, but that jackass of a pilot performed an unauthorized deviation and it got eight people on your shuttle killed." Shepard went to speak and Henderson cut her off. "Stand down, Lieutenant! From the information we collected from the crew interviews, you realized what was going on before anyone else in the squad noticed, and you jumped to take action. The way everyone else saw it, Ensign Mackey froze and failed to initiate evasive maneuvers, even with very specific direction from you. Unless you had been sitting in the copilot's chair, there was absolutely nothing more you could have done about it other than warn your crew about what was coming...which you did. The fact that any of you walked away from that incident is a miracle. That four of you had the fortitude to rejoin the fight was amazing."

Shepard ground her teeth and briefly closed her eyes before returning to her seat in silence. When the proceedings were complete, Henderson approached her. "I know you don't agree with me, Shepard, but those deaths were not your fault."

Shepard nodded. "I know that, Sir, but fault and responsibility are not the same thing. They were my team. I was still responsible for their conduct and safety."

Henderson looked at her for a minute before responding. "Yes, you were, but shit happens. You can't control everything, and you certainly can't control five seconds of stupid." He paused briefly before continuing. "I know you don't like it, but the fact of the matter is Mackey screwed up; but he's just as dead as the rest and nobody benefits from laying the blame on him. No need to ruin anyone's career or devalue anyone's death over the actions of a dead man. So, officially, the eight records will record the cause of death as enemy action...the rocket impact and resultant shuttle crash in rough terrain."

Shepard's face was an impenetrable mask. "Understood, Sir. Anything else, Sir?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, there is. The N7 validation board met." Shepard's head came up sharply and she looked Henderson straight on, eye-to-eye, fully expecting to be launched back to the Alliance as an N6, but he surprised her. "Every N7 in the Alliance has made a hard decision that has cost the lives of their crew or the lives of innocents in the quest to stop a greater evil. You've repeatedly shown your ability to do just that throughout your career. The fact that you pulled your four battle-ready troops together and continued the mission after such a devastating loss just cemented our faith in your ability to overcome adversity. You're now an N7, Shepard. First one out of the gate. Your official assignment notification will come down the end of the week, but you're going to Second Fleet. I'm sure you remember Major Stevenson?"

Shepard nodded, "Yes, Sir. First Fleet RRT, SSV Leipzig. He recruited me right out of school. Kind of hard to forget."

Henderson continued, "Yup. That's him. Well, you'll be working with him very closely to set up a new counterpart organization that you'll lead in Second Fleet. Now that we've crushed the pirates, we want to make sure we have a response force to beat them down fast if they decide to try again. So, we're building a Second Fleet RRT to keep them from getting reestablished. Your support staff is already in place on the SSV New Delhi, and Stevenson will help you select your eight squad leads. The personnel division has already started the squad member selections, but you're welcome to request certain individuals, just like Stevenson recruited you."

Shepard shook her head in bewilderment. "Wow. That's all pretty quick, Sir, but I already know I'd like to take my four remaining squad members. I was planning to keep everyone on my squad as my N7 team anyway, and Smidt and Riley proved themselves, hands down." Shepard paused and took a deep breath. "If I may, Sir. Riley has serious potential. I know she's just a baby Marine, but she didn't hesitate in the slightest to step up as my second and fill the leadership void left by the loss of Mac Thompson. With two or three years in the RRT to season, I think she should follow me to the N7 program."

Henderson's eyes widened perceptibly. "Shepard, if it was just any old Lieutenant making that suggestion I'd laugh them right out the door, but you've proven to have a damn good head on your shoulders and I trust your battle sense. I'll keep an eye on her and see how she performs."

Henderson painted a smile on his face; it was quite the accomplishment under the circumstances, but the next announcement deserved the effort. "Of course there is one more thing. The RRT job puts you in command of more than fifty folks and is a Lieutenant Commander billet. Seeing as you're not eligible for promotion until your eighth year, you'll be frocked before you leave next week. You'll wear the rank and have the responsibility, but won't get paid as a Lieutenant Commander until you can officially occupy it. We can waive up to one year of the required eight years time in service, so your promotion will become official on the fifteenth of June next year, on the seventh anniversary of your commissioning."

Shepard got a faraway look on her face and her mouth twitched up to a small grin. Henderson raised his eyebrows in question and Shepard couldn't help but chuckle. "Sir, remember our conversations about who I considered family... I mentioned Dr Karin Chakwas?" With a nod of recognition from Henderson, she continued. "Yeah, well. She told me this would happen when we talked about me going to N school, but she wasn't completely on the money. She didn't take frocking into account, but she still pretty much nailed it."

Henderson actually laughed. "Seems you have a lot of people who believe in you, Shepard. That's not a bad thing. Now get out of here. All squad members are on leave for the rest of the week. I'll notify you when your orders drop, and I'll notify personnel about the four squad members you plan on taking with you. They're waiting on you in the back...you want to tell them, or should I?"

Shepard answered Henderson while looking back at her team of four. "I got 'em, Sir. If I'm gonna drag them along out to the edges of civilization with me, I can at least have the courage to tell them so in person."

The tone of Henderson's voice drew her eyes back to the man when he spoke her name. "Shepard." When her eyes met his, he continued. "You're a hell of an officer. They're lucky to have you."

Shepard smiled gently. "No, Sir... You've got it backwards. I'm a hell of an officer because I've been lucky enough to have troops I trust covering my back."

With a final goodbye to Henderson, Shepard walked to the small group eagerly awaiting her. "Riley. Smidt. You're with us now. Come on. I'm taking you all to dinner and I'll tell you about our next assignment..."