A/N: Italics indicate internal thought.

Bold indicates Shepard Reaper speech

Bold Italics indicate Reaper internal speech

Please comment and review

This is my first attempt at a story, so I am open to constructive criticism. Also If anyone has suggestions for the story feel free to give them.


Opening Salvo


Location: Apien Crest, Trebia System

Date: 4th June

Time; 0030 CST

Palaven. The Turian homeworld. It was a world covered in large, fortress like cities and immense mountain ranges. Surrounding the planet was the largest assembly of the Hierarchy's military might in the galaxy. Hundreds of ships patrolled above the world's atmosphere, from frigates to dreadnoughts. The size of the defending force was so great, that it was believed impenetrable. It was a popular belief that the only place in the galaxy that was more heavily defended was the Citadel. Several fleets patrolled diligently, armed with the best weapons available and the greatest detection equipment ever created, no enemy forces would ever set foot on Palaven.

Or so they believed.

Invisible to any of the ships' sensors, and even to the naked eye, a small ship was slowly approaching the fleet. The ship had an avian design, sporting a black and silver colour scheme. The small cockpit was located at the very front, the long sleek body extending behind it. It ended with twin thrusters at the back of the wings, with two more thrusters, attached to smaller, adjustable wings coming off the two larger ones. The ship was 130m long, 55m wide and 30m high. The word Normandy, printed across the side.

Inside the cockpit Jeff Moreau was at the helm. John Shepard standing behind the pilot's chair.

"Keep it steady Joker," Shepard said, glancing at the Turian warships through the windscreen.

"No sign that they've detected us John," Joker replied, "I don't know why your worried. Your stealth tech is perfect, we've landed guys on planets without the hinge-heads finding out before."

"We've gotten shuttles onto planet surfaces undetected before, Jeff," Shepard stated seriously, "this is the first time we'll be doing this with an actual ship."

"Come on, you should have more faith in our girl John, after all, you were the one who designed the Normandy," Jeff responded, chuckling, "Miranda actually praised you for designing the most advanced ship in the galaxy. Miranda, John" he emphasised.

"We'll forgive me if I'm cautious Joker, I'm not one who's staying on the ship," John replied.

"Sure, sure," the pilot responded nonchalantly, "oh, speaking of which, we received the signal from our contact."

"Alright, I'll head down there. Stay ready Joker," John said, walking away.

John opened the doors into a dimly lit room, several robotic arms mounted on the walls began to move as the doors closed again.

A few moments later the Normandy was hovering in Palaven's lower atmosphere, still invisible to all eyes and sensors. The hanger bay doors on the ship's underside opened up and a KODIAK shuttle, invisible like the Normandy, exited and proceeded to descend to the planet surface.


000


Location: Cipritine, Palaven

Time: 0045 CST

Several miles outside of the Turian's capital city, a human was running for his life. He looked ragged and his clothes barely fitted is unhealthy frame, several scars were also visible on his exposed skin. Wyatt Letts had been abducted by slavers when his home colony was attacked seven years ago. He had been sold to a Turian and sent to Palaven. He could only describe his life as a slave as hell, but he had long since realised, he was far from the only one who suffered.

His master is one of the worst kinds of Turians. He used him as his personal punching bag to vent his frustrations whenever he was angry, which was often. He would be brutally beaten on an almost daily basis; all the while being told how worthless his species was and how this was better than they deserved.

If the physical pain wasn't enough, the spiritual pain was just as bad. Whenever he'd have to go out to perform some menial task for his owner, he would see how many other humans suffered like him. Many Turian families would walk down the street with a human slave carrying the days purchases, sometime suffering harsh punishments for not keeping pace. He hated the lifeless looks he saw in the eyes of his fellow humans. But that wasn't nearly as bad as the screams he heard from those being punished.

Soon he was wishing for any release from this life, be it death or rescue. The opportunity had presented itself a month ago.

While buying some alcohol for his master late at night, he met someone in a back alley. Another human, but armed with a suit that could somehow make him completely invisible. He had been told they needed his help and in return, they would get him back home.

He had accepted immediately. It had taken a few weeks, he had to wait until he was certain his master was unconscious, but he had succeeded. He had stolen the guard schedule for Fortress Ramiscus.

The stranger had given him a device. He had been told that when he had the information they needed; he should activate it. It would both short-circuit the tracking implant inside him and provide him a location. So here he was, running towards a hilly area outside the city.

Upon reaching the meeting point he looked around desperately, praying to whatever deity existed that his final hope was not false. He couldn't see anybody here, he thought about calling out, but realised that could attract attention of Turians. And if they found him, he would be tortured to death for what he did.

"Do you have what we need?" Wyatt spun around, letting out a small exclamation in surprise as a deep, mechanical voice called out behind him.

The figure the voice belonged to was completely obscured in shadows but he could tell that the figure towered over him and he could make out a pair of red glowing eyes.

"Wh…wher…where did you come from?" he stuttered.

"I was ensuring you were not followed. This is a critical stage in our goal. We cannot be exposed here," every word that came out sent shivers up Wyatt's spine.

"Yeah… Yeah I have it. You promised to get me out of here. He'll kill me when he realises what I've done," he begged, bringing up his omni-tool.

The figure activated his own omni-tool, but it did little to illuminate his appearance.

"Thank you for your help. I promise you; this will lead to the salvation of countless others. Your passage is right here," he gestured to his right and suddenly a shuttle became visible, simply resting on the ground.

Wyatt couldn't stop trembling. This was it, he was getting away from these monsters, he was going home, "thank you, thank you so much," he said as he quickly got onto the shuttle.

"Take him back up to the ship at once," the figure told the pilot.

As the shuttle ascended, Shepard, still obscured by darkness, clenched his fist.

All the suffering during the two years we prepared; we could have started rescuing humans from this immediately after we perfected the stealth tech….

If you had done that…. The vermin would have realised something was wrong… our path towards vengeance would have been ruined, the voice cut into his thoughts again.

Use your anger Jonathan…. add the two extra years of suffering to the years' worth of pain that we will inflict upon this scum… remember… we cannot start as a flickering ember….. If we are to purge this galaxy of its infestation….. we must start as a raging inferno.

We will witness their despair as our righteous judgement will rain down upon them!

John clutched his temple, he hated the voice in his head, he had tried to find some way to shut it out these past two years.

John pulled out two small devices, about the size of cricket balls. They whirred to life and began to hover. Small remote control, camera drones. After all they want this to be seen by everyone.

Shepard looked into the distance and at the massive structure.


000


Location: Fortress Ramiscus

Time: 0100

Ramiscus was more than a fortress. It was the heart of the Turian military. It had a history reaching back to the unification wars of Palaven, and the Hierarchy had made sure to keep it up-to-date with the most advanced technology. Every important detail about the Turian Hierarchy was kept in this fortress, the most senior officials of high command had their meetings here. It was for this reason that there was an entire army just to protect this one building. If Palaven was the most secure place in the galaxy, this was a most secure place on Palaven.

The Fortress itself was a massive structure, easily displaying the militaristic architecture that was so prevalent on the Turian homeworld. The building itself was metallic and square, its size was comparable to that of a small town. The outside walls supporting multiple anti-infantry guns, and on each corner of the structure, massive cannons capable of bringing down enemy frigates, were positioned. Outside the building, multiple tanks, gunships and squads of soldiers patrolled tirelessly, all dedicated to preserving the fortress' reputation of being impenetrable.

A squad of soldiers walked up to the main gate of the fortress at the end of their patrol shift, another squad was already waiting outside the front gate to relieve them. The Turians lined up, and one by one had a biometric scan performed on them, before they were let inside the fortress. As the last member of the squad walked through the doors, he failed to notice a fluctuating silhouette a few inches behind him. However, as the Turian began to walk down the hallway, his instincts told him something was wrong. Quickly, he looked behind him but saw nobody there. Sweeping his gaze across the area, he sighed and shook his head, there was nothing out of place and no alarms had gone off. "Must be my imagination," he mumbled.

He began to walk down the hallway and failed to notice a pair of red eyes staring at his back from the shadows.

The HUD in Shepard's helmet pinpointed several locations in the fortress. He silently walked through the halls, making no sound, pushing himself against the wall whenever guards walked by. He kept a close eye on the status of his tactical cloak, it was working optimally and showed no signs of failing.

Upon reaching one of the locations, he deactivated his cloak, he wouldn't be able to carry out this next task with it active. He was still hidden in the shadows of the hallway though, invisible save for a pair of glowing red eyes. He raised his hand, the familiar red lightning crackled around his fingers and condensed into a small sphere in the centre of his palm.

Shepard quickly kneeled down and moved the sphere of energy into a nearby duct. The light fading once again to pure darkness as the sphere moved out of sight.

Shepard re-activated his tactical cloak and made his way through the fortress depositing a dozen more energy spheres throughout the structure.

After finishing this task, he finally reached his true target.

He stood in front of a door at the end of a hallway. "EDI, do you have control of the systems yet?" he asked.

"As many as I can Shepard, I cannot attempt to gain control of more without giving my presence away," the AI responded through his helmet.

"But you have control of the ones we need right?"

"Yes, I have set the security sensors inside the room on a loop, but that will not fool them for long. I also hacked the door and I control the power supply to all devices in the room," she explained.

"Good, we can't risk them cutting off power to the room before we've got what we need. All right…. kill the lights,"


000


Inside the room two Turian's were standing guard. They immediately became alert when the lights inside the room suddenly cut off, plunging them into darkness. "What the hell happened?" one of them asked. "No idea, it's just the lights, everything else in the room still has power, maybe—"

He was cut off as the doors suddenly opened. The hallway on the other side was completely dark as well, but they could still make out the silhouette of a figure standing in the doorway. It towered over them; a pair of demonic red eyes caused them both to flinch as if he was staring into their very souls.

Before either of them could cry out, the figure grabbed two guns off his back and fired. Two streaks of red flew across the room and impacted them both in the chest. It bypassed their shields, burned through their armour and the flesh beneath. Both Turians fell to the ground dead, small wafts of smoke coming from the holes in their bodies.

John looked down at his weapons. They looked like bulky, single-handed shot guns just over half a metre in length. The main part of the weapon was black while the handle and the very tip of the barrel were metallic grey. There was also a line running along the length of the weapons, glowing the same red colour as his eyes.

They worked perfectly this time, he thought.


000


(flashback)

John was working tirelessly on his new project, after attaching the final piece. He flipped the new weapon over in his hands a few times.

It was the size of a normal M-3 Predator pistol, sporting black and dark grey colours.

He couldn't help but grin as he held the pistol and pointed it at the nearby target. Carefully he channelled the energy into his hand. No red lightning appeared, but on the pistol, a line along the side of the barrel began to light up with the same red colour. The sound of energy charging could be heard from within the pistol.

Feeling ready, Shepard pull the trigger.

A loud boom echoed off the walls of the lab as the gun exploded in his hand. The force sent him flying and smashing into the wall behind him.

Groggily, Shepard pulled himself back up to his feet and looked at his hand. The burns caused by the explosion were already beginning to heal. The same could not be said for the charred remains of the gun that he was now holding.

"I think I'm gonna need a bigger gun," he said out loud.


000


Shepard turned his attention to his intended target. With the room still plunged in darkness the many flickering lights easily guided him to what he wanted.

Servers.

Within this room stood dozens of data servers. Some of the Hierarchies most top-secret information was kept here. Fleet patrol routes. Clearance codes. And of course…other secrets.

"EDI link up and start downloading. Don't try to hack any of the files, you'll have plenty of time to do that when we are in a safe location," he ordered.

"Commencing. I must warn you that I will not be able to mask this download for long. It will only be a short amount of time before they send troops to investigate what is happening," she responded as her avatar appeared next to the main console.

"That's fine EDI. You know I was never planning to sneak out of here,"


000


It wasn't long before Shepard heard dozens of footsteps approaching the doorway.

In the hallway in front of the server room door, a squad of Turians had gathered, their weapons aimed towards the closed doors. "Unit 357B respond," one of the soldiers said into his comms, he gave a frustrated grunt. "No response from the men stationed in there, soldier?" the officer barked. "No lieutenant, nothing," the first Turian replied.

"Well something is happening in there. We detected a massive transfer of data, and as far as we can tell it's still happening," The lieutenant said, his expression grim. "Sir they could be stealing information that could cripple the Hierarchy. With all due respect, I think this is adequate justification to fry the servers and deny the enemy the information," the soldier responded.

"You think we haven't tried that. Something has infected our systems, we can't send the self-destruct command to the servers, we can't even cut power to the room," the officer gave a deep sigh, "the General is also convinced that no one could have been able to infiltrate this fortress undetected, he's convinced there isn't an intruder and it's just some technical glitch,"

"sir you think this could be…. Cerberus," the soldier theorised, cautiously.

"ha ha ha ha," the lieutenant burst into laughter, "you mean that ragtag group of filthy humans who live under the delusion that they can oppose the Hierarchy. If you are going to come up with theories at least make sure they're plausible," he said still letting out small chuckles.

"No, I believe this infiltrator must be from the Hegemony. Four eyed bastards believe they should be ruling the galaxy. Squad move forward and fin-,"

His orders were cut off as doors to the server room opened. The room beyond was still enveloped in darkness preventing them from seeing anything. Except, a pair of red demonic eyes glaring at them.

All the soldiers present suddenly felt an immense wave of dread a wash over them. The hands holding their guns began to tremble. Several of them even took several steps back at the menacing aura that was being projected. They barely had time to react before it happened.

They saw some movement within the darkness, before several flashes of red shot out at them. Six Turians fell to the ground dead. Burning holes now present in their armour.

In a panic the others returned fire. But their shots were stopped by some red barrier.

"Fall back. Alert the base that we have an invader. Send reinforcements, we must not let this monster-," a bolt of red passed through his head, he fell to the ground dead with smoke rising from his partially charred face.

John let the doors shut as the remaining Turians ran, "how's the download going EDI?" He asked.

"Almost complete, I am also connected with the camera drones and ready to broadcast the Co-op signal any time." At that second John heard alarms begin to ring throughout the base. They knew he was here now.

After waiting a few more minutes, Shepard heard another massing of enemies outside the door, he could tell this one was much larger.

They probably bought most of the fortress personnel to stop me

Excellent….. The more of these bastards we kill hear today, the greater impact this will make on the Galaxy….. After today they will all know to fear us….. Doesn't it sound glorious John?

Shepard shook his head, trying to clear the voice from his mind. His Attention was drawn to the voices he heard from the other side of the door.

"General Fandros, we have confirmed that the intruder is still inside the server room. We believe he is still downloading information from the servers," John heard a Turian say.

Fandros, that was a name he recognised, "EDI, what information do we have on a Fandros?" he asked, "nothing pleasant," the AI responded, "Fandros fought against the Alliance in the first contact war. He allegedly achieved many great victories for the Hierarchy by conquering several human garrisons. In truth they were simple colony worlds with not much in the way of Armed Forces. He massacred them down to the last man, woman and child, and the hierarchy simply covered it up. He is listed as the man in command of this fortress, as well as a General Sanrius. Who I can confirm is co-ordinating the forces outside the fortress,"

Shepard clenched his gauntleted hands, hearing about what this man had done.

"Understood soldier," another voice rang out from the other side of the door, this one full of arrogance "you know what our duty is here. This invader has dared to challenge our authority as the peacekeepers of this galaxy. He has invaded fortress Ramiscus itself. Our honour demands that we do not let this insult stand. We will subdue this enemy and make an example of him," Shepard could tell that this was Fandros giving the speech.

You're in for a surprise General.

"EDI Start the Co-opt signal," he commanded.


000


All over the galaxy, from Earth to Kar'shan, from Thessia to the Citadel. The same thing happened. Every screen, no matter whether it was a public viewing screen, screens within people's homes, even the screens on people's omni-tools. They suddenly stopped displaying what they should have and all displayed the same thing. An aerial view of Fortress Ramiscus.


000


Back inside the fortress, the lights went out and the hallway was plunged into darkness. The Turian soldiers kept level heads, but they had no time to consider what had happened as the doors of server room opened.

Several bolts of red energy shot out like before, and several soldiers fell to the ground dead. However, unlike last time that was quickly followed by large, rapid clunks as they saw the figure of the intruder running towards them. The last thing multiple Turians saw was a massive imposing shadow with blazing red eyes.

A fist smashed into the head of one soldier, crushing his head against the wall. Another let out pitiful gurgles as five large slashes appeared on his face. Another was grabbed by his face and slammed into the ground with bone crushing force, leaving a small impact crater. There was a flash of red, and a Turian's head rolled off his shoulders.

The few remaining Turians quickly started to backup, but they were dropping like flies. Fandros stood behind all of his man, contemplating running away and hoping the remaining soldiers could buy him enough time to escape.

This thought was instantly dashed, as the two soldiers in front of him were smashed into opposite sides of the hallway and fell to the ground unmoving. He felt a metallic hand grasping him by his throat and lift him off his feet.

His eyes widened in horror as he finally got a full view of his attacker. "Please…. Please don't kill me, I can help you get whatever you want. Just don't kill me," the general begged, gasping for breath.

"Whatever I want?" The figure asked. Fandros nodded rapidly.

"What I want, is to see slaver vermin like you exposed and exterminated. And that starts today,"

Shepard clenched his first…. And all the energy spheres placed around the fortress… Detonated.


000


The explosions tore through the structure. Hundreds of Turians were consumed by the inferno that suddenly appeared within the building's hallways. The massive structural failure caused the central tower of the fortress to collapse. The Palaven night sky was illuminated by the explosions.

This entire spectacle was observed by everyone. All over the galaxy, people began to tremble in fear and confusion at the destruction they had just witnessed.


000


Location: Palaven, Hastatus Decurion

Elizabeth Shepard, shot up from her bed. Woken by the deafening booms that had echoed across the landscape. She quickly ran out of the sleeping quarters and into the common area, and she was joined by dozens of her fellow cadets, both human and Turian. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked out the window and saw the massive flames in the distance.

"Ramiscus," she mumbled under her breath.


000


General Sanrius stood in front of the ruins of what, just a few moments previously, was thought to be the greatest fortress on Palaven. All the surrounding patrols and other reinforcements had amassed behind him. Several hundred soldiers, even tanks and gunships. He stood tall and proud in the mists of the assembled army.

Inwardly though, he was a bag of nerves, this is an absolute catastrophe, he thought, this will be an incomprehensible blow to our reputation….. We have to punish the perpetrators for this as soon as-

His thoughts were cut off as he saw something impossible. A silhouette, walking through the flames of the inferno as if he were taking a stroll. The figure soon emerged completely, standing several metres in front of the fortress main gate, several gunships trained their spotlights on him, and Sanrius couldn't help but flinch slightly at the sight of the being before him.

He was wearing a heavy armour-plated suit, that gave him several inches of height over any of the soldiers present. Were it not for the fluidity of the figure's movements, Sanrius would have thought that he was a mech. The armour was primarily black, with dark grey colours around the thighs and upper arms. The face plate was painted white, giving the image of a skull. In the centre of the chest there was a glowing red circle. The same red as the eyes that were now glaring at the assembled Turians. The gauntlets were a lighter grey colour, ending in clawed fingers. There were multiple spikes positioned on the shoulders, upper arms, forearms and knees. The figure wore a sleeveless, black trench coat over his armour, with a hood covering his head. The shadow created by the hood only seem to increase the demonic effect of the shining red eyes. Two weapons could also be made out, attached to his back. With the fires of the base blazing behind him, he looked the very image of monsters sent from hell.

Sanrius' attention was quickly drawn to something held within the figure's hand…it was General Fandros. He was breathing heavily and blood flowed from his head from where the claws were digging into his skull, but he was alive.

The other Turian General finally recomposed himself, and spoke with a voice filled with as much authority as he could muster, "Do you have any understanding of what you have done here today terrorist?" he yelled, "this grievous insult to the honour of the Hierarchy and all the lives you have taken today will not go unanswered," he continued, "who are you to-"

"I am a reckoning….. for your Hierarchy….. and for all who live under the banner of the Citadel Council," the figure cut him off. His mechanical voice was echoed across the terrain. All over the galaxy, screens had zoomed in on him.

"You have spent years, living in the fantasy that there would be no consequences for the atrocities you vermin have committed. For years we have been forced to suffer in silence, to simply stand there and bear our unjust punishment. Today I ended that silence,"

"The unspeakable crimes that have been committed have not been forgotten. We will take our justice. Today is only the first blood that will be spilled in recompense for the innocent blood that you have shed,"

Sanrius was trembling at every word that came out of the figures mouth but he put on brave facade and responded, "What nonsense are you speaking? We are the honourable protectors of all of Citadel space. The guardians of peace across the galaxy."

The General began to sweat as their attacker burst out laughing.

"HA HA HA HA! Your peace is a joke. Its strength is comparable to that of a pane of glass…..and I am taking a hammer to it."

Shepard held up the barely breathing Turian in his hand in front of him for everyone to see. Red lightning began to surge around the Turian. All over the galaxy, eyes widened in horror, people grasped in terror and many needed to vacate their bowels as they saw the General wither into a dry husk.

Sanrius could only stare in pure fear as the figure dropped the corpse, that fell to the ground, completely stiff.

"You have chosen your fate slaver vermin. I am merely here to reap what you have sown."

[BGM start: 'Edge of a Revolution' by Nickelback]

Red energy surrounded Shepard as he bent his legs and jumped into the sky. He grabbed both his guns and a barrage of red energy bolts rained down on the army he was facing. Dozens of Turians fell to the ground, with burning holes in their chests or heads. Some of the soldiers made futile attempts to fire back, but the slugs were repelled by a red barrier. More red energy surged around John as he activated his biotic charge. He smashed into the mists of the soldiers like a meteor. The half a dozen soldiers under him were completely pulverised, whilst every other soldier within several yards was sent flying by the shockwave.

All the Turians surrounding him slowly backed away as he stood in the middle of a small crater, surrounded by Turian bodies. They steeled themselves before charging forward and opening fire, no doubt hoping to overwhelm him with numbers. Shepard shot two of them, charging from his left, seemingly ignoring any of the rounds that hit him. As another group from his right fired on him, he ran forward and John jump-flipped over them, opening fire while he did so. Their bodies fell to the ground at the same time he landed.

He swung his arm at a nearby Turian, the blades on his forearm slicing through his throat. He then opened fire with his guns again taking down a dozen more soldiers. At this point many of the Turians were desperately trying to get away from him, he was moving too fast for them. As they tried to back away, two of the gunships began to open fire on him, seemingly uncaring as they gunned down several of their own comrade's. Shepard took a moment to increase the strength of his barrier, it held strong even against the powerful rounds from the gunship. He then aimed his weapons and held down the triggers, two intensifying red glows began to appear from the barrels of his guns. When he released the triggers, two larger blasts of red energy shot out. One hit a gunship dead on, destroying the cockpit, and sending it crashing to the ground. The other destroyed the wing of the other gunship, causing it to spiral out of control and crash.

Many Turians stared at the crashed gunships mouth agape, Sanrius had lost all semblance of control and simply yelled at his men, "Kill him! Kill him!" Shepard raised up both his guns in front of him, then began to fire rapidly in every direction, his arms were moving with such speed that it looked like a constant stream of red bolts in a 360° pattern was being fired, as he continuously fired at the soldiers around him. The Turians barely had time to take aim before they began to fall in droves. One shot clipped the General's thigh, who fell to the ground screaming.

Shepard focused his attention on one of the tanks slowly making its way towards him, he pointed both of his weapons at it and charge up two more shots. The two large bolts hit the vehicle dead on, causing a massive explosion and incinerating any Turian soldiers nearby.

Shepard, still holding his guns, smashed the face of a Turian with the side of his hand, breaking both his faceplates and his neck. He elbowed another in the face, the blade piercing through his eye and into his brain. Suddenly a slug clipped John's upper arm, the shot having pierced his armour, he quickly spun round to see that the offending Turian was some distance away, armed with a high-power sniper rifle. Shepard didn't show any reaction to his injury and fired, nailing the soldier in the head. Dammit I got too reckless, I can't forget that a strong as my armour is, it isn't invincible…. I also got to maintained my barrier. Another Turian ran at him armed with a combat knife, Shepard responded by giving him a powerful head-butt, he heard a sickening crack as he caved in the unfortunate soul's head.

They are pathetic... They are nothing compared to our power…. Kill more Jonathan….. Let this night be forever remembered as one of the darkest in Palaven's history.

Shepard wanted to deny it, but he couldn't help but admit, part of him, a part of him deep down, was enjoying this. He was enjoying seeing the military force that had walked all over humanity like insignificant bugs for years, and caused unimaginable suffering without mercy, finally receive the same kind of treatment.

He inwardly cringed, damn it….. I've been trying to move past these dark feelings…. I need to remember…. I'm doing this to help humans, not punish aliens.

He was brought out of his thoughts as one of the other gunships began to open fire on him. He quickly re-erected his biotic barrier successfully protecting him from the slugs. He glared intensively at the flying vehicle. He crouched down and leapt up into the air again, suddenly jump jets in his boots activated, sending him flying towards the gunship. The pilot practically screamed as the attacker latched onto his gunship, his clawed fingers digging into the chasse like it was tissue paper. Shepard made his way up to the cockpit, before reeling back his fist and smashing through the canopy. He pulled the pilot out of his seat and sent him dropping to the ground screaming, he then reached inside and grabbed the controls and began to manoeuvre the gunship… directly towards another gunship. Shepard pushed himself away just as they collided in a massive explosion. He landed back on the ground creating another small crater, just in time to witness the two wrecked gunships land on another tank, causing another massive explosion.

Shepard took this moment to look around at the terrified faces of the Turians. Then, to their shock, he placed his guns on his back again, then charged at them with his bare hands. One Turian tried to attack Shepard with the butt of his rifle, the human simply responded by backhanding him, the spikes impaling his head. Several more charged at him, but he let loose a red biotic shockwave, sending them all flying. He spun behind him and punched another soldier in the chest, caving in his rib cage. He then kicked another one, sending him flying off his feet and crashing into several of his comrades. He swung his hand in a large arc, the claws on his fingers slicing through the throats of two more Turians. One Turian was able to land a lucky punch on the side of the human's face, but he barely even reacted to it, before delivering a powerful uppercut into the Turians chin, sending him flying off his feet and breaking his neck. As another soldier charged him, Shepard's hand shot out and grabbed him by his head, he looked into the Turian's terrified eyes for second before he tightened his grip and crushed his skull.

He sent one soldier flying with a right hook, another directly behind him with a left. He grabbed another by his collar and then kneed him in the face, the spike blade on his knee skewering his head. A Turian charged at him with a combat knife, Shepard simply grabbed his wrist and with a small twist, snapped it, as the knife fell, he grabbed it with his other hand and drove into the Turian's neck.

Suddenly Shepard turned his head towards the advancing forms of more tanks. The first one opened fire directly at him, however he was able to dodge it by using a biotic charge. He responded by sending a biotic lift towards the lead tank, the red energy sent the vehicle into the air, causing it to flip over in the air a few times before crashing down on its back. Not pausing for a second John charged at the remaining three tanks, he leapt into the air and quickly generated two red energy spheres in his hands, he quickly launched them at the other two tanks, creating massive explosions. With only one tank left, he reeled his fist back and smashed down onto it. The force caused the front of the tank to completely cave in as if it were made of cardboard, before it was consumed in another explosion.

Of the hundreds of Turian soldiers that had come to fight this attacker, barely fifty remained. They looked at the blazing wrecks of the tanks, hoping that this human…. This monster that had slaughtered them was finally dead.

[BGM end]

Their eyes widened in terror as they saw the cloaked figure emerged from the fire as if nothing had happened. He merely looked around at the remaining soldiers, nonchalantly.

"I came to see what the greatest military in the Galaxy had to offer," he folded his arms "I am not impressed,"

With those words whatever spirit the Turians had left broke. They dropped their guns and ran.

Hold on… That's not right…. I remember hearing…. You only see the back of a Turian…. When there dead…. The voice spoke out, in an extremely sadistic tone, John, why don't we do our part to protect…. The honour of the Turian hierarchy.

Shepard immediately pulled out both his guns and aimed them at the fleeing forms of the Turians. His fingers curled around the triggers….

His arms dropped to his sides. He took several laboured breaths. Their retreating…. why did I draw my guns on them…. why did I want to…. what is happening to me.

John quickly pushed those thoughts aside as he heard a groaning from his right. He looked to see the crawling form of General Sanrius. He slowly made his way over to him.

The general froze up as a massive shadow loomed over him, shakily he turned around to face the person….. no, the demon that had decimated his entire army. The General grunted his pain is the demon picked him up by his jaw, "Please…. Please…. Have mercy, I- AHHH!" He screamed in pain as he felt the grip on his jaw tighten.

"Tell me Sanrius, during the Battle of Horizon did you show mercy after the soldiers had surrendered. WAS THAT MERCY WHEN YOU EXECUTED ALL THEIR FAMILIES IN FRONT OF THEM?!"

Sanrius could only stare back into the red eyes in horror, "I will expose all the atrocities that you and your kind have committed, and I will see justice served."

"You may think this is a nightmare, but I assure this is only the start,"

Sanrius could only scream in pain as his life was drained away.

Shepard dropped the corpse and gave one last glare at the camera drones, before they ended their galaxy wide broadcast.

Suddenly a huge wind started blowing away all the dust and small rubble. The cause of this was soon revealed as the Normandy de-cloaked.

Shepard calmly walked up the ship's ramp, as the ship began to ascend, its cloak reactivating.


000


Shepard walked into the centre of the hangar bay….

Where he fell to his knees and then flat onto his face, his armour clanging against the floor.

Several of the crew members grasped in shock and rushed over to him as he tried to push himself back up with his shaking arms.

EDI's avatar materialised in front of them, "I would like to point out, that you deviated considerably from the original plan. Our agreed-upon course of action was for you to cause severe casualties to the infantry, then call the Normandy to finish off the vehicles. Your chosen course of action of fighting the entirety of the forces yourself was incredibly reckless. Your readings show that you are pushing your energy levels dangerously close to Miss Lawson's safety limits," the AI scolded him.

John had successfully pushed himself up to his elbows. "I was trying to maximise the impact I would have EDI, besides you know they say. Limits are made to be broken."

The AI narrowed her holographic eyes at him, "Do I need to remind you that you are humanities greatest hope of liberation, you cannot afford to get killed due to simple recklessness," she said pointing the hole in Shepard's armour.

"All right, all right I understand," he replied, "So have you hacked into those files yet?" he asked.

"Yes. I have compiled a list of priority targets of attack. I will present them to you after you have received a minimum of eight hours rest."

"Fine," he groaned in response,

A few minutes later Shepard had succeeded in dragging himself to his personal quarters. A hiss of pressured air escaped from his helmet as he pulled down his hood and removed it. He had chosen every crew member of the Normandy personally, but Joker and EDI were the only two on board who knew his real identity. "Hey Joker," he called on the intercom, "I know the best approach from a strategical standpoint, would be to simply sneak out of the system undetected, but how about you show them how dangerous your piloting skills are?" he said.

In the cockpit massive grin formed on Jeff's face, "Hell yeah," he responded, deactivating the cloaking system.

000

On the bridge of a Turian Dreadnaught.

"What do you mean we can't lock on weapons. They've deactivated their cloak," the ship's commanding officer shouted.

"I can't explain it sir," one of the ensigns responded, "they're still not showing up on any of our sensors."

The officer growled as he turned to look back out the observation window, where he could see the small ship rapidly approaching them.

A light began to shine at the front of the small ship, then a bright blue beam shot out of it. Unlike normal element zero based weaponry, which fired single shots, this came out as a constant stream. It sliced along the length of the ship, overwhelming the kinetic barriers and causing massive damage. As the Turians on the ship began to scramble to understand the extent of the damage, the Normandy shot past the window and out of sight. Therefore, they didn't see it when the Normandy's secondary wings re-angled themselves, causing the smaller ship to rapidly change direction and face down towards the Turian dreadnought. The Normandy fired another beam, this time cutting right through this centre of the ship and causing it to explode.

The human ship sped away from the exploding dreadnought, resuming its course towards the systems mass relay. Several other Turian ships began to pursue, firing their weapons but unable to hit the smaller ship. As they approach the relay, the Turian Navy received another shock as several Cerberus cruisers de-cloaked. They fired the same beam weaponry as the Normandy, quickly making short work of several Turian frigates and a cruiser. By the time the Turian fleet had reorganised themselves, all the enemy ships had gone.

They were so outraged having failed to destroy their attackers, they all failed to see dozens of cloaked KODIAK shuttles entering Palaven's atmosphere.


A/N: Shepard's armour looks like iron man MKIII from the MCU with the paint job of Reaper from overwatch, The profile picture is my drawing of it.