Hello, everyone!
This is release of Immorality. I hope you enjoy it. Please tell me if it is good, bad or meh.
I give credits to Ghost in the Shell: Ascendance by either nickbana1989 or Sevoris for being an inspiration/template for this work. Some parts are also based or altered for my story.
Chapter One "Mission Preparations"
Shepard couldn't help but stare at the proverbial center of human space that appeared before her vision. It was so hard to believe that the beautiful blue planet in her eyes was the center a galactic superpower envied throughout the galaxy. The homeworld of humanity didn't just wield great deal of power and influence because what humanity could do. Earth itself possessed the might to annihilate entire species thanks its split personalities', Gaia and Alaya, Counter Force.
"Why the Citadel Cooperative doesn't choose a planet as a Capital is beyond me. The act of capturing or destroying a planet is countless times more difficult then doing the same to a space station. Not only do you have your own military and fortifications, but there is a planetary consciousness' Counter Force to add to the equation." Shepard chuckled.
"Enjoying the view?" Waver Velvet, more well known as Archduke El-Mello, asked as he entered the room.
"Yes, I do. Nothing beats seeing Earth with your own eyes." Shepard replied as she turned to Waver. "What can I do for Archduke El-Mello? Sir, there must be a reason why you requested to meet in person in such short notice?"
"There is no one around so there is no need to be so formal," Waver waved dismissively. "I have a mission that needs to be completed within the day."
"Why come to me? You have countless other Black Ops teams at your disposal at your beckoning. There is no reason why you would need me or my team." Shepard asked curiously.
"It is true that I have many loyal and capable Black Ops teams." Waver responded calmly as he lit a cigar. "But none of my Black Ops teams have such diverse capabilities, small enough for the job or have a flawless track record as yours. Failure is not an option."
"I appreciate for such high praise from someone of your standing," Shepard beamed before her expression turned serious. "What's the mission?"
"The mission is to eliminate a Moon Cell researcher; a high ranked and accomplished one that works in the Immortality Department." Waver reported with a straight face.
Shepard was not as composed as Waver. She nearly choked in shock at the task given to her. What Waver was asking to do was eliminate a human that was working in one of the most prestigious and respected jobs. The act of killing a researcher of the Moon Cell Immorality Department if revealed was enough to make the killer considered an enemy of the entire human race.
"This is why I selected your team," Waver continued. "The possible variables that can affect the mission is so many that no other Black Ops teams under my command can do the mission. As I said before, only your team has the diverse capabilities and a flawless track record to eliminate the Immortal Department researcher."
"May I ask what this Immortal Department researcher is planning to do that requires their death? My team will otherwise refuse the mission if they were to learn about the target." Shepard inquired.
"The target is about to leak crucial information that are harmful to humanity's interests. If the leak is successful, we are talking about humanity losing an important edge of the Citadel Cooperative." Waver explained.
"After knowing the consequences of what will happen if the mission fails, it has become a matter beyond what I can decide alone." Shepard shook her head. "Can I consult with your team or am I not allowed to tell them?"
"I see why not? Your team has never leaked classified secrets before so I don't see any problem." Waver puffed out a cloud of smoke and continued, "Please convince your team to take the mission. My other options would not as subtle if your team was to complete the mission. I want to keep this matter as quiet as possible."
"I will try my best," said Shepard as she left the room.
- O -
"Shit, we gotta kill an Immortal Department researcher?! This is way too sensitive for us to, Shepard. If word ever gets out then its not just us, but everyone that is connected to us that gets burned." James Vega cautioned to the entire team.
"More the reason to take the mission," Alenko Kaiden chimed in. "The mission report stated that the Immortal Department researcher wants to leak the data contained in Moon Cell regarding immorality. The asshole wants to ruin the livelihood of countless humans employed by industries relating immorality and give humanity's enemies the key edge that out military possesses thanks to science and technology derived from the Moon Cell data records of immorality. We cannot allow a leak of this magnitude to take place."
"Why I don't understand is that we are the only team on this mission." Leeroy Jerkins added. "A mission of this importance should have multiple teams working together to increase the chances of mission succession."
"There are many possible reasons. The first and most likely one is that too many Black Ops teams working on this mission might alert the traitor. Whoever the immorality data is being sold to has the manpower and resources to infiltrate the System Alliance that Archduke El-Mello has his hands tied on his choice of solution without alerting the traitor." Ashley Williams explained as she started to go into more depth of why they were selected for the mission.
Shepard observed her team talking to one another. She needed to know their opinions whether or not to take the mission, and to learn about perspective that she had never thought of before. As she listened to the argument that her team had brought up for consideration.
Personally, she thought the mission to kill Immortal Department researcher was too much. The backlash as Vega had stated was something that no sane person would dare to. Past events involving an Immortal Department researcher being spied upon, threatened, harmed or killed had resulted in the entire families being driven into madness, suicide or murdered. One extreme case had caused a civil war across several human-controlled star systems.
She could imagine how despite how strong willed the members of her team to make into varying levels of elite N program that they might suicide from the social pressure of being labeled a killer of an Immortal Department researcher. Even their family and friends being driven into disaster.
Sadly… Shepard sighed. Archduke El-Mello was not someone that she could not just turn down without solid reason. Not only did she, but many members of her team owned Waver a great debt that they wouldn't mind risking their lives. The problem was a possible failure in the mission would result in their friends and family suffering.
Wait a minute!? Shepard clicked her fingers. If the mission fails and no evidence linking us to incident then there shouldn't be any problems.
Shepard contacted Waver via a secure communication channel and made several inquiries. She was surprised to hear that some of her new requests, which would have normally an outrageous and denied any other time, to be accepted as condition for attempting the mission even if they were to fail in their objective.
"Everyone," said Shepard in a loud voice as she interrupted her team's discussion. "Waver has agreed sign a geas promising he would do everything in his powers to protect our identities if we are to fail."
"It would have been nice if the Archduke could have guaranteed our lives during our extraction." Jerkins groaned wishfully.
"If you wanted to a safe job you should have stayed out of the military, or Jerkins if wanted a less risky posting over your current one then you should stayed with the regular infantry." Ashley refuted cheekily as she elbowed Jerkins. "Isn't that right, Leeroy Jerkins~!"
Jerkins groaned. It was times like these that the man cursed his parents for choosing the name Leeroy Jerkins for him. The name was amongst one of the oldest and still used memes in the current 31st century.
"The strange thing is that Jerkins here somehow ends up in situations opposite of the meme." Vega laughed. "Isn't that right, Shepard?"
An amused Shepard found it difficult to suppress that laughter that came to her. It was as Vega suggested. When she had been looking around for a possible new addition to the team, the first thing that had caught her eyes had been the name then the very bizarre combat record. Somehow instead of living up to the fame of the meme's origins, Jerkins somehow with his bouts of impatience and impulsiveness made a careful plan succeed in spectacular fashion without the hitch.
Shepard shook her head and go back into the game.
"So, is everyone in on the mission since the Archdule promised to protect our identities if the missions fails?" Shepard asked. She was not surprised that no one made any more fuss about not proceeding with the mission. "Alright, let's begin our planning then. This is what I propose…"
- O -
Shepard entered the Normandy's armory and carefully surveyed the room. Anyone interested in military equipment would drool at the impressive collection that came from all around the galaxy. Only the finest and most reliable military hardware had been stored within the Normandy's armory.
She peeked at what her team was gearing up with. What she saw was not a surprise as it was not the first time Shepard had seen her team selecting equipment for a mission.
Kaiden wore a medium power armor and strapped on all sorts of gear that would enhance his abilities as a magecraft specialist; hydrogen fuel micro-tanks to power the mana reactor, mana batteries in case the mana reactor didn't produce enough magical energy when needed and many other equipment that a magecraft specialist required.
Her heavy weapons and demolition specialist, Vega, was covered with heavy weapons, munition and explosives. His body clad in a heavy power armor that allowed him carry so much gear without the weight burdening his body.
Ashley was the one that with least weapons. She had only one primary weapon; rapidly modifiable sniper rifle that could be altered on the spot for different targets. That didn't mean she was not as heavily equipped as her teammates. The rest of Ashley's gear was to avoid being detected and aiding her specialist roles as the recon and sniper specialist of Shepard's team. For her choice of armor, it was a light power armor that focused on improving the user's agility.
The newest member of her team, Jerkins, still showed the habits of someone recruited from the standard human infantry as he selected a combination of gear, laser and plasma weapons favored by the regular human military. His hesitation of not knowing what equipment to choose from further showing he hadn't completely adjusted to freedom to choose or wide selection of equipment given to Special Forces operatives.
"It's time that I gear up myself." Shepard muttered as she walked towards her private section of the armory.
She opened her personal locker and grabbed the rifle stored inside. Shepard kept the safety switch on as she looked down the scope and aimed the weapon, finger on the trigger guard, at the ground. The rifle that had been registered with her cybernetic implants delivered data such as range, temperature, target vector and other ballistic data smoothly into her mind.
Shepard took the rifle to a nearby work bench and started to strip the weapon apart as she compared her modern rifle to gunpowder-based firearms that she had first trained with as part of her Special Forces training. It was difficult to appreciate the advancements of firearms and the modern features that the modern 31st century soldier enjoyed unless someone had undergone a similar firearms training as she had.
The first thing that a modern firearm was from its gunpowder cousin was how it operated. Modern firearms had branched out into different weapon types; magnetic, laser and plasma being the three most popular and widespread types.
Laser weapons, at least in human space, was the most popular for various reasons, but the first one reason was that it was precise. It was after all nearly impossible to miss a target when the laser travelled at the speed of light. This property also made it a go-to choice for new military recruits as the fired laser had no mass, hence no recoil for a recruit to learn how to adjust too.
Second behind laser weapons were plasma ones. Plasma weapons were renowned for their stopping and penetration power. It was difficult to stop plasma that was hundreds, if not sometimes thousands, degrees Celsius hot that melted through most material with ease or when hit the pain from such intense heat that the hit individual would often immediately die from shock.
Magnetic weapons were the least most popular type of firearm, but it was a staple amongst Special Forces for the diverse number of specialized munition that laser and plasma weapons lacked. There was the common high-explosive and incendiary rounds to the more exotic rounds containing any number of chemical, biological and radiological agents.
The rifle that she had disassembled and putting together again belonged to the magnetic category of firearms. It was also special amongst the magnetic firearms as unlike the pre-made ammo blocks used by conventional magnetic guns, her rifle (nicknamed Transmuter) had an alchemic printer that made the ammunition she needed for the situation on the spot.
She inspected her reassembled rifle and run a diagnostic scan.
"All good to go," said Shepard as she sat Transmuter down on the work bench and reached to inspect her other firearms. "Let see if everything else is up to spec."
It was several minutes later that Shepard had gone through all the firearms she expected to take for the mission then she moved onto her next piece of equipment, arguable the most important one for the mission.
A naked copy of Shepard stood motionless in a locker like a mannequin. It showed the naked, graceful and lean beauty that Shepard was often described for. The replica of her was so realistic that many would be fooled into believe that the mannequin-like body was Shepard's twin.
If someone from before the Moon Cell Revelation was to see what Shepard was about to do, they would be shocked.
A quiet hiss originated from Shepard's head as noise of interlocked gears moved. Shepard's scalp divided in two and the skeleton attached to the scalp popped open outwards. The new opening revealed a heavily modified human brain of biological and mechanical alteration to provide further protection and enhancement to the brain functions that natural evolution had yet to produce in the human race.
A chip similar to a USB stick came out of Shepard's brain and she grabbed the chip.
"How much of your Spirit Origin are you implanting in that Soul Chip, Shepard?" Kaidan asked curiously as he made his way to Shepard.
"Half," Shepard replied as she turned to Kaidan.
"Half! That seems too risky, Shepard. Guidelines suggest never going past 40% for a reason. While a greater percent of Spirit Origin being placed in a Soul Chip translates to more power and control, but the side effects and harms of separating the Spirit Origin raises. I wouldn't be surprised if you started developing minor to mild mental problems if your Spirit Origin is divided in half for long periods." Kaidan spoke in a concerned tone.
"If your Soul Chip and your split Spirit Origin were to be destroyed you would likely go insane or die!" Ashley shouted in alarm.
"That is for most people," Vega added as he smiled like he knew some great secret that no one in the team knew. "I have served with Shepard the longest. Her spiritual and mental training has reached the level that the destruction of 50% split Spirit Origin is unlikely to drive Shepard insane or dead. She has past record of similar incidents and managed to come out unscathed or with minor to mild mental and spiritual injuries that can be dealt with proper medical care."
Kaiden and Ashley stared at Shepard in disbelief as if she was a monster. They had heard rumors and legends of cases where 50% or more of a split Spirit Origin was destroyed with a person not going insane or dying in the process. It was difficult to comprehend that Shepard was someone of such spiritual and mental resilience.
"Why are you so surprised, Ashley, Kaidan? Isn't it kind of expected given Shepard's reputation as one of the System Alliance's best special forces operative?" Jerkins asked in confusion as if Shepard's past records to survive and recover from 50% destruction of a Spirit Origin was a common thing of her calibre.
Ashley and Kaidan stared at Jerkins before glancing at each other. They just sighed and shook their heads, no longer bothering to explain how absurd Shepard's past record of partially destructed Spirit Origin was.
Vega clutched his sides and barely suppressed his laughter that came out as snickers.
"Can a woman get some privacy!?" Shepard growled as she blushed at the sight of her perfect replicated Shell of her original body.
Her team just rolled their eyes and stopped their urge to retort. It was not their first-time seeing Shepard's naked body. In fact, they had seen in countless times that the males were no longer attracted by it or Ashley being jealous of Shepard's beauty. Still, they accepted Shepard's excuse for privacy and left the Shepard's personal space in the armory. They instead returned to their original tasks of gearing up for the upcoming mission.
Shepard connected to her Shell and her mind was bombarded with the familiar sensation of simultaneously controlling two bodies. She with her Shell popped open the Shell's skull and with her OriBod (Original Body) inserted the Soul Chip into her Shell's brain.
A single mental command caused her original body to collapse like a ragdoll and with her Shell, the body she was currently in, caught her OriBod before it hit the ground.
"I cannot never get used to this feeling of having my magical abilities or mental computation power reduced by half." Shepard complained as she placed her OriBod where her current Shell had been stored too not long ago.
She made sure to check the status of OriBod. The first thing she did was run a diagnostic scan of her OriBod like it was machine. It was only when she ran the diagnostic program several times and detected no abnormalities that she started using her eyes, knowledge of her OriBod and computer programs that specialized in using visual data to identify issues with biomechanically altered human bodies.
An ignorant human that had never received a modern education or uninformed alien might have wondered why the OriBod was so important when any Shell could replace the OriBod if damaged or destroyed. It was important to Shepard and others who had divided part of their Spirit Origin that if anything was to happen to their split Spirit Origin then they would not suffer true death as long as their OriBod and the Spirit Origin within was intact.
Shepard grabbed specialized Shell Extension out of one of her lockers. She slipped it on and locked onto her Shell. Her civilian-grade Shell, which possessed the capabilities that were perfectly within bounds the laws of the conservative Citadel Cooperative regulating legal Shells, underwent physical and spiritual alteration on the molecular scale.
She sighed in relief as restrictive feelings of using a civilian-grade Shell disappeared as her physical, magical and cyber capabilities returned to the familiar top of the line military specifications.
"Are you going in the nude?" Vega asked in not so innocent tone as his head poked out of his personal section of the armory to stare at Shepard.
"Of course not! What kind of person fights naked if they have the choice?" Shepard replied in a scandalized voice as she quickly grabbed her personal light power armor and suited up. "Alright team, let's proceed with the mission!"
Codex Entries:
Alaya
Alaya is the collective unconsciousness of mankind and the drive for its survival as a whole. It constantly steers mankind away from extinction. Usually, Alaya interferes indirectly by guiding and empowering an individual to eliminate a threat. When indirect intervention is insufficient, Alaya will deploy the Counter Guardians. The deployment of Counter Guardians is by no means subtle, as the threat will be eliminated with the surroundings, inflicting much collateral damage.
Citadel Cooperative
The Citadel Cooperative is a relatively new government that had come into being when Citadel Space encountered a more greatly united and powerful power bloc was encountered during the Human First Contact War, the Human System Alliance. This new government structure integrates the existing Citadel Space governments so they are more united in hopes of competing with the System Alliance economically, militarily and technologically.
Counter Force
Counter Force is the safety device formed by a species' Collective Unconsciousness or Planetary Consciousness to defend itself against extinction. Despite being called "the will of the planet/species", the Counter Forces bear no emotions. They are described as passive spirals of energy that respond to threats of planet destruction or species' extinction. The Counter Forces are always active, constantly steering a species and the planet away from potential danger.
Counter Guardian
Counter Guardians are the final solution used when a planet or species' survival cannot be ensured by Counter Force. The deployment of Counter Guardians is by no means subtle, as the threat will be eliminated with the surroundings, inflicting much collateral damage. This can be as simple as a on a scale natural disaster to the destruction of entire species and planets.
Gaia
Gaia is the will of the Earth, the planet's intrinsic wish to survive and prosper. She protects all creatures on Earth by using Nature Spirits and creatures of the Earth, but this has fundamentally shifted when humanity transplanted life from Earth and the essence of Gaia to other worlds to terraform them. Her power and influence to survive and prosper extending to all planets terraformed and colonized by mankind.
Immortal Department
Formally known as the Moon Cell Immortal Department, is the source of humanity's current near immortal bodies and soul, alongside many enhancements that improve natural capabilities of humans.
Magecraft
It is the ability to bring about what is possible through science with supernatural means; although the process is considered a miracle, the result is not. The limits of Magecraft have changed with time, as science evolved and Magic from the past became possible through science.
Moon Cell
Moon Cell is an alien supercomputer of 4.6 billion years that saw the creation of Earth and recording every little thing that had happened on it down to atomic interaction. It is the origins of many social, cultural, economic, military, scientific and technological developments that has led to the prosperity and advancement of humanity into the galactic superpower rivalled only to the Citadel Cooperative.
Moon Cell Revelation
The Moon Cell Revelation in human history refers to both; the historical moment when humanity gained access to Moon Cell's database after the discovery of the alien supercomputer and the effects the information inside the database had upon mankind. It allowed the rediscovery of knowledge and inventions thought lost to mankind and the study of things not possible before such ass seeing the entire evolutionary history of humanity from the start to those of magical being such as Phantasmal Species and Divine Spirit.
Original Body (OriBod)
OriBod, shortened from Original Body, refers to the body that anyone is birth with. It is important to many for personal, religious and philosophical reasons, but the significance of the OriBod comes from the fact that it is the most compatible body to any individual. This importance is shown when the best Shells incorporate parts grown from genetic samples of the OriBod.
Shell
'Shell' refers to the biological, mechanical or hybrid biological-mechanical bodies that don't have souls of their own. There are two options of controlling a Shell, either remote control or possessing the Shell by inserting a soul inside, preferably the soul of the one that was supposed to use the Shell.
Shell Extension
Depending on who is asked, Shell "Extensions" are not attachable kits designed to upgrade a Shell's capabilities in a specific matter, but integral part of a Shell. Legally under both the laws of System Alliance and Citadel Cooperative, "Shell Extensions are components of biological, mechanical or hybrid biomechanical nature that enhance the capabilities of a Shell."
Spirit Origin
A Spirit Origin is the core of a living being's existence, often described as "their center, their heart, their CPU" that dictates their every function. It is the thing that contains the mind, personality and memories of an individual located within the soul.
Soul Chip
The Soul Chip is considered by humanity to be one of the greatest inventions for it was the core technological marvel that can replicate the unique properties of the brain that no other thing can do, not without minor to catastrophic side effects to the soul. It is the quintessential invention that allowed immorality on a commercial scale possible.
Was this good, bad or meh? Please tell me what you think. I accept all criticism as long as it is no flaming.