A/N: Italics indicate internal thought.

Bold indicates Reaper speech

Bold Italics indicate Reaper internal speech

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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.

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Marring the Crown Jewel

Location: Parnitha System, Thessia, Serrice

Time: 2300

Date: 17th July

The homeworld of the Asari was something many people would consider a place of unparalleled beauty. The natural splendour of the Oceans and Forests seemed to blend perfectly into the great cities. It was not hard to see how it had earned the moniker, 'The crown jewel of the galaxy'.

However, from his position perched on top of a tall building, hidden by the shadows of the night, John was seeing another side to that 'jewel'.

From what he had learned from Miranda, many Asari Matriarch's had fought passionately against the legalisation of slavery in the galaxy. Unfortunately, there had been some severe upheavals in the structure of the Council of Matriarchs several decades ago. Now more and more Asari began owning human slaves, either to enjoy the pleasure their bodies provided or the status that owning a slave provided in this age.

And they still have the gall to call this place the, 'cradle of democracy' John thought bitterly.

The Asari had justified their hypocrisy by stating that the slavery of humans meant that their own people would not be targeted. Shepard had looked into that, and even he could admit that before humans came onto the scene, before slavery became such a crucial part of galactic life, the Asari were the species most sought-after by slavers.

Do not feel pity for them John…..they claim they do it out of self-preservation…..but like the Batarians…..like all vermin….. They enjoyed the feeling of crushing someone they believe is weaker than them.

John clenched his fists at those words, their hypocrisy is as great as the Turians. They think they can live free of the fear of slavery at the expense of humanity. After tonight they will understand how grievous an error they have made.

The glowing red eyes of Shepherd's helmet turned towards a large building. It was a typical example of Asari architecture. The elegant curved shape of the structure, that gave the impression it belonged in an art gallery, disguised the fact that the building was strong enough to resist an orbital bombardment. This was the Bastion of Athame. The main headquarters for the Asari military.

Shepard narrowed his eyes beneath his helmet, before activating his omni-tool, "Miranda, is our Intel on the defences accurate?" he asked, "Several dozen commando squads, as well as few Matriarch Generals. Nothing you shouldn't be able to handle," she said calmly.

Shepard paused for a second, "Are you sure…. Sha'ira would approve of this?" He asked uncertainly, Miranda's response was to give a small laugh, "she's on the Citadel right now because, in her own words 'she cannot stomach the den of hypocrisy this world has become'. And if you need more proof, before we left the Citadel, she provided me with the names of several Matriarch's that she believes need to be eliminated before the republics can begin to regain their former glory, and before you ask. Yes, I've looked into them myself to confirm what she said."

Miranda was silent for a few moments, "in all seriousness Shepard, some of the things these Matriarchs have done make Aria T'Loak seem like a law-abiding citizen."

Shepard nodded his head, "we are also certain…Benezia isn't here at the moment?"

Her safety should not matter to us John….. She is just another squid bitch to be exterminated, the voice tore loudly through his head but Shepard didn't flinch.

Maybe she is, but she is still Liara's mother….. And I'm not going to cause her any more pain than I already have.

"Yes, I confirmed that Benezia is on the Citadel right now," Shepard remained silent and continued to stare at the building, "relax will you," Miranda said, snapping him out of it, "there's nothing here you can't handle, after all is not like you're going to run into a Justicar."

Shepard actually give a small chuckle at that, "Thanks Miranda. All right the mission is commencing now."

000

Within the halls of the Bastion, two Asari commandos patrolled the hallway. Clad in their form fitting black uniforms and carrying Deacon Assault rifles. They were completely unaware of the fluctuating silhouette trailing them.

One of the Asari looked at her partner, "I overheard a group of maidens talking at a bar last night, they believe that just because the humans haven't made any moves into Asari space that there's nothing to worry about," she said with a hint of disdain.

The other Asari gave a small laugh, "Oh is that what they think? Incredible, it only took a month for them to forget about how the Turians' most well defended fortress was demolished."

The first Asari gave a small sigh, "well to be honest the Matriarch's have been going overboard trying to reassure the public that they're not in any danger."

"I suppose I can concede that we don't want a mass panic on our hands, but it is a foolish idea to try convincing people that there is no threat when we are constantly having to witness those brutal executions. Of course, there is also the fact that we have not made any progress in finding Cerberus." Her partner replied, in a resigned tone.

"In truth I am not sure what we should be more concerned about, those mechanised suits Cerberus now have at their disposal or the fact they can co-opt broadcasts all over the galaxy, simultaneously."

Her partner looked at her with an incredulous expression, "is that what you think we should be worried about? Are you forgetting the 'individual' that decimated an entire Turian army, singlehandedly," she said, stressing the word.

"By Athame, you can't believe that thing was human. I can only imagine what vile experimentation Cerberus has dabbled in to create such a monstrosity," her partner replied with horror in her voice.

"The Salarians think they must've found it in some Protean ruin."

John crouched down, his glaring red eyes watching them both from the shadows and waited for the two Asari to move out of sight, he looked to the nearby air vent and began to generate a small red sphere in his hand.

000

In the server room of the fortress, two Asari commandos stood guard, while two more sat at the terminals responsible for showing the status of the servers. Suddenly, to the surprise of all four of them the doors opened but no one was there.

The two commandos raised their weapons and slowly moved towards the doorway. They looked out, into the adjacent hallway but still could see nothing out of the ordinary. One of them was about to activate her coms to report the strange occurrence, when she suddenly noticed the fluctuating silhouette of a tactical cloak. She tried to cry out, but a massive gash appeared across her throat and blue blood squirted out like a geyser. The other commando didn't have a second react before she felt five sharp objects pierce her chest and puncture her heart.

The other two stood up in horror as they saw the brutal attack, the only visible sign of their attacker was the blood-soaked fingers suspended in mid-air. Their attacker deactivated his cloak revealing the terrifying form of Reaper in all his glory. One of them tried to sound the alarm, but with a flash of red he was in front of her. The blades on his left forearm sliced through her neck. He drew one of his guns and aimed at the final commando, she raised her biotic barrier to try and defend herself, but it provided no protection from the red bolt that burned through her head.

Seeing all the threats neutralised Reaper locked the door and made his way over to the terminal, "all right EDI, you know what to do," he stated. The AI's holographic avatar appeared, "Of course," she turned towards the terminal, "this will be an easier task than Ramiscus." She held up her hand and suddenly vast troves of data scrolled by on the screens as it was downloaded and relayed to EDI's main data core on the Normandy. "Download complete, we have the desired data on the Asari fleet movements as well as information on several highly classified projects I believe we should investigate at a later date."

"All right then that's mission accomplished, time for me to see how I measure up against the legendary Asari commandos," he responded. EDI gave him a slightly bemused expression, "I don't suppose I could convince you to make a more discreet exit and avoid the chance of putting yourself in potentially 'mortal' danger," she said dryly, already knowing what his response would be.

"You know this is about more than gathering Intel EDI. It's also about sending a message….and creating a diversion," EDI seemed to roll her holographic eyes at his response, the small actions like that always made John question whether she was 'just' an AI.

"Well I suppose I should inform you that we have a high priority target currently patrolling outside the fortress. Matriarch General Dalmaira,"

John tensed up at that, it was yet another name he learnt to loath during his two years of preparation, "she's one of the people who ensured the military capabilities of the Alliance was minimalised after the First Contact War. 'Not a sufficiently developed species to be entrusted with such military might' she said," he growled in disgust, "this is going to be good," and with that he decimated the spheres.

000

Just as it had several times before, all over the galaxy screens turned to static before the image came back showing the elegant fortress of the Bastian of Athame. People were able to identify the building…..just before it was levelled by several massive explosions.

000

General Dalmaira stared in shock at the burning husk of the fortress, her fingers clenching around the grip of her Acolyte pistol. One of the commandos next to her mumbled, "This is just like Ramiscus…..he's here." Asari commandos typically had a few centuries of combat experience, all that time fighting helped to build a mentality of never panicking when things became difficult, but the General could easily hear the fear in her subordinate's voice.

How could this happen?...How could he have gotten here undetected?...How…?

Her inner triad was cut off as another of her subordinates called out, "Matriarch look!" Turning her gaze to the inferno, she could see the silhouette of a figure slowly becoming clearer. And just as she had seen on a screen a month ago, she saw the monster responsible for this devastation in the flesh.

Reaper looked over the assembled commandos before him, his red eyes sweeping across the ranks, "the commandos of the Asari republic are hailed as the greatest warriors in the galaxy," he stated, once again his helmet amplified his voice so it echoed across the battlefield, "I wonder if you will disappoint as the Turians did?" the Asari all tensed up at the arrogance in his voice.

Dalmaira took this moment to step forward, "Your victory against the Hierarchy has made you foolishly arrogant terrorist! We will see that you pay dearly for the innocent lives that were taken today!"

Reaper turn to look at the General, "innocent?" He said the word as if it was extremely out of place. Suddenly an intense aura of hostility began to cascade from Reaper, several of the commandos backed away slightly in fear, several began to sweat due to the tsunami of rage they felt was pressing down on them.

"How many Asari contribute to the suffering of humanity General?! How many lives are they responsible for destroying?! And for what?! So they can use them for their own pleasure! So they don't have to carry out some menial tasks!" he roared.

"And you General," he pointed a finger accusingly at her, "you worked to deny humanity the strength to even defend itself!"

Dalmaira stood resolute, "humanities fate was one they wrought upon themselves….just as you have," She signalled and Reaper's head was knocked back due to a large projectile colliding with it.

A long distance away an Asari pulled her eye away from the scope of her Elder sniper rifle. She grinned in triumph, believing she had just killed their attacker. This however soon morphed into confusion due to the fact Reaper was still standing. He brought his head back up as a red aura began to dissipate from around him. The Face plate of the helmet was cracked and dented from the high velocity shot but it still held.

"Was that your best shot?" He asked rhetorically, "let me show you mine!"

[BGM start: 'War of Change' by Thousand Foot Krutch]

Red lighting crackled around Reaper's forearms as his red energy blades ignited. In a blur he leapt towards the commandos. He appeared just above one, unfortunately for him her reflex had been honed by centuries of combat, she reacted quickly and launched a biotic shockwave, with the intent of knocking him back. Her eyes widened in horror as the wave simply dissipated against his red aura, she was so shocked that she failed to evade him as he came down, driving his right blade through her heart and knocking her to the ground. Reaper could hear the sound of sizzling flesh as his blade cauterised the lethal wound he had just inflicted.

Around him all the other commandos stared at him in shock, in all their decades and centuries of combat they had never seen their biotics just…fail. Reaper quickly stood back up and drove his left blade through the throat of another commando. A third commando tried to deliver a biotic charged fist into his face, but in a swift motion he severed her hand with his left blade, the heat of it cauterised on the stump. He followed up by using his right blade to decapitate her.

Another Asari opened fire at him with her Bishop SMG, but the shots were simply absorbed by his red barrier. He responded by slicing through her midsection. One commando charged at him, but Reaper could already see that behind her another Asari was taking aim at him. He deactivated the blade on his right arm and grabbed the charging commando by her upper arm and pulled her in front of him just as her comrade pulled the trigger. She quickly tried to protect yourself by erecting a biotic barrier, but to her horror found her barrier easy dissipating in the presence of this monstrous invader. She could only gasp as the high velocity slugs hit her in the back.

Shepard quickly ducked under a swing from another commando, and countered by re-activating his right blade and slicing her throat. One commando was successfully able to sneak behind him and cast a biotic stasis on him, freezing him in place. One of her allies immediately try to open fire on Reaper. Red energy surged around him cancelling out the effect of the stasis, he quickly rolled out of the way, causing the commando to open fire on her comrade. Reaper charged forward and impaled the commando who was still in shock at firing on her squad mate. He swung to his right, cutting down another commando.

Another commando fired her Disciple shot gun at close range, hitting him in the chest. He stumbled back, but thankfully his barrier had mostly held, although there was now some damage to his chest plate. Reaper charged forward and impaled her, he then swung his arm, flinging her corpse into several other commando's, knocking them them down. He then threw both of his blades outward, impaling a commando on either side of him.

Reaper raised his right arm again…and a high velocity slug punched through his forearm. He instintively deactivated his blades and gritted his teeth in pain. He was distracted by the fact that he had been injured that he almost failed to react in time. Fortunately, he was able to raise his still injured right arm to block a biotic charge from General Dalmaira. He was sent sliding backwards several feet, and he had felt the bone in his forearm crack from the blow.

Dammit, I've been expending too much energy, I didn't notice my barrier was depleted.

The General as well as half a dozen commandos aimed their weapons at him and were all about the fire.

No….. I'm not done yet.

Reaper channelled even more energy through himself, and launched a massive red shockwave towards the assembled firing squad in front of him. The shockwave overwhelmed any barrier the commandos tried to raise and sent them flying. Dalmaira collided with a wall and screamed as she felt her leg snap.

Reaper used the brief reprieve to channel some of his energy into his forearm, and felt the bone mend and the hole close, but this was soon followed by a less welcome feeling…the familiar feeling of his arms burning. He gritted his teeth, forced through the pain and reignited his blades before turning back to the other commandos.

He charged right into them, giving them barely any time to react. He cut down one on his right, then spun behind him cutting down two more with a single stroke. He sliced through one commando's weapon, before driving his other blade into her chest. He then performed a 360 spin while holding his blades outwards, cutting down three more commandos. He jump flipped forward, slamming his boots into the chest of a commando and sending her to the ground with fractured ribs, another tried to deliver a biotic punch to his face, but he tilted his head out of the way and then drove his left blade through her face.

He severed the arm of one Asari, then slashed her chest to finish her off. He sweep-kicked another onto the ground and drove his blade into her downed form. Suddenly he was hit again in the shoulder by a high velocity slug, his armour thankfully held. Reaper spun around and laid eyes on the same Asari sniper that had shot at him at the beginning of the fight. He quickly deactivated his right blade and grabbed one of his guns and after taking a second to aim, fired. The Asari barely felt the energy bolt pass through her head.

He reactivated his blade, even as the burning sensation in his arms remained and continued his assault. He slammed his foot down on an Asari's leg, breaking her thigh before slicing her throat. He cut down another on his left, then spun round and drove both blades to the chest of a commando coming from behind him. He swung fluidly and precisely with his blades; the bodies of half a dozen commandos fell with cauterised gashes on their bodies. He decapitated the commando in front of him just before she could fire her shot gun. As her body fell to the floor Reaper finally realised, he was no longer being attacked.

[BGM End]

"Fall back! Fall back!"

"Someone call a Goddess damned airstrike!"

"Screw that we need an orbital bombardment!"

Many other comments were shouted as the surviving commandos fled. Reaper deactivated his blades seeing as the fight was over, the burning feeling in his arms however remained. He also deactivated the broadcast signal and all over the galaxy screens returned to what they were original showing.

What are you waiting for John… go after them…. show them the consequences of their hypocrisy.

Reaper grasped his head, we have what we came for, we've spilled enough blood tonight, he internally growled back.

Just then a small movement caught his attention, and he turned his head to see a form attempting to crawl away, "on second thoughts, perhaps we are a little short on that quarter."

General Dalmaira was desperately dragging herself along the ground, all around her she could see the bodies of her sisters in arms. She had fought for decades alongside these commandos, for some centuries but they had been cut down like first year cadets. They were helpless against the might of that…. Monster. That Demon.

"Athame protect us," she mumbled.

"Is that a prayer Matriarch?" she looked up to see the demon's red eyes looking back at her, and her fear returned tenfold, "I'm afraid your goddess is not here today," he crouched down, his skull painted face now just a few inches from her own, "just me."

"Why….. why have you done this?" she managed to croak out, he only tilted his head.

"I have done nothing. You have wrought this entirely upon yourselves," the matriarch widened her eyes in shock as he threw the very words she had said to him earlier back at her.

Reaper grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, "You speak of democracy and freedom, yet you put all of your effort in to ensuring we would never be able to be anything but slaves," he said to her, "because it didn't matter if we suffered as long as you were safe, because it didn't matter when you could have someone carry out the tasks you don't want to do. Because humans don't matter right!" He roared the last sentence.

"I'm here to tell you this Matriarch. We….do…..Matter."

The Matriarch screamed as red lightning surged across her and her body began to wither. Reaper dropped the drained carcass to the ground.

000

Location: The Normandy

Time: 0100

Date: 18th July

Later John was sitting on his bed, in his personal quarters on board the Normandy, he had removed his armour and was looking down at his forearms, watching his red energy dance along his blackened skin, restoring it to its normal look.

He looked up as the door opened and Miranda walked in, her heels clacking along the floor, "do I need to mentioned that you were fighting with multiple skull fractures?" she said sternly.

"What does it matter Miranda. I heal fast, God knows you spend enough time studying that part about me," he said, waving off her concerns.

"And I thought I explained to you that the more of that energy you use, to power your suit, to fight to heal yourself, the more energy you have to generate. And when you exceed a certain limit, that happens," she pointed to his hands, where the last patches of blackened skin were vanishing, "I don't think that's something you want to keep happening John."

she would try and limit us….collar us….keep us weak…..

John ignored the voice, "I'm grateful for your concern Miranda, I'll try to keep within my limits from now on," he replied.

"Thank you," Miranda responded with a small smile, "nevertheless the mission was a great success. We secured all the Republics most secret information. The Thessia cells have successfully landed and you were able to eliminate the target."

"You've earned yourself a rest John," Miranda continued, "and I swear to God if you try sneaking out, I will have EDI lock you in here," she said as she turned around and walked out. John couldn't help but laugh at the irony of being grounded.

000

Location: Citadel, Presidium Commons, Apollo Café,

Time: 1200

Date: 19th July

Atheyta downed another glass of alcohol as she scowled at a nearby screen. It was a news report of Reaper's second big attack. The Matriarch wasn't listening to the reporter rant about all the lives lost in the terrible tragedy.

"Go ahead, tell us there aren't any negative consequences of slavery now you miserable bitches," she growled. She scowled as she looked at the bottom of a glass, "now we can only hope they don't take their revenge against you out on all Asari."

000

Location: Thessia, Serrice, T'hayra Estate

Time: 1300

Matriarch Falika T'hayra was one of the most powerful Matriarchs in the Republic even surpassing the likes of Benezia T'soni. At the current moment she was sitting at a table with several other Asari her face like stone.

"Obviously this outrageous attack cannot go without retaliation, but our immediate concern is the demise of Dalmaira. Do we have anyone suitable to fill her role?" she asked, a voice like ice.

The Asari next to her spoke up, "I have subordinate who is suitable for a promotion to General. She would serve our purposes well."

"Excellent General Mayina," Falika replied, "I will propose that she be promoted to fill Dalmaira's position next time the Matriarch's are in session. We must ensure we retain our influence over the military."

She turned her gaze to address the group as a whole, "I do not believe I have to remind you how serious this could be. If we are not able to hold up our end of the arrangement. 'He' will have no reason to uphold his," she said forebodingly.