So, saw a Writing Prompt on Reddit which made me think of this story and come back to put another chapter down. Enjoy.
6 Days later.
Shepard closes her eyes and considers her current situation; everyone onboard the Citadel shuttle is staring at her, unsure if she will kill them when their attention is diverted or if she is actually there to help them. While she is admittedly here to help, if she listens to Harbinger, who constantly whispers his thoughts in her ear, then she would kill them and restart the cycle; the temptation is there, continually knawing at her will.
If she had to describe the urge to let the Reapers harvest and cleanse, it would be best described as an itchy cut that is still healing, the longer you ignore the itch, the more it itches to make its presence known, and the scratch would feel good, but doing so is bad for the wound.
"We are nearing the drop point," Someone calls to her, a Turian spectre who has been sent to observe her. "You need to do your thing." There are actually three spectres in attendance, one Turian, one Asari and a Krogan, but only one has identified themselves as such.
Shepard opens her eyes and looks at the Turian; the man is fully rigged with heavy weaponry, most likely to put her down if she goes rogue. Without saying a word, Shepard mentally commands a pair of Reaper destroyers hidden in low planet orbit to descend ground side, and a few short moments later a deafening screech can be heard through the transport ship. Looking to an Asari with concern on her face, Shepard smirks. You never forget the sound of a Reaper horn, the siren that lets you know death has come calling; most likely, the Asari is having flashbacks to the Great War. The Turian looks on unimpressed, having not ever faced a Reaper threat before, his knowledge of their capability is from movies and history books, their true horror most likely lessened through the simple passage of time.
"Just keep them in line." The Asari commando remarks to Shepard. The Korgan spectre is young, maybe 350. Only the Asari has seen what her thrawls are capable of.
The mission is relatively simple, a VIP extraction from a Vong controlled world. The VIP is in a detainment complex that the Vong will blow up if the Citadel decides to try and retake the planet. Tens of thousands would die, maybe hundreds of thousands. The tactic is ruthless but has limited many citadel attempts to retake worlds.
It is a strange sensation once the Reapers start to attack the Vong, but the release of dopamine and endorphins is a worry for Shepard; her intricate link with the Reapers means allowing them to kill, to cause untold suffering, causes her pleasure.
"I feel sorry for the poor sods down in the camps," A Batarian says to no one in particular, strangely he has a heavy Palavern accent, "They probably think the Reapers have come back to finish the job."
Shepard simply gives him a stern look before then announcing, "They have taken the bate. I have destroyed their aerial detection grid, and I'm blocking all comms. Therefore, we have the green light." Standing from her seat Shepard approaches the shuttle's door and counts to seven. When she reaches seven, the shuttle connects with the ground and the door begins to open, revealing the dusty complex to those in the shuttle. The conditions for those contained are poor, the camp looks more like a gulag or concentration camp.
As the shuttle is clearly Citadel in origin, it is quickly flocked to by those contained, desperate to escape the Vong, but upon seeing Shepard those at the front of the flock attempt to take a step back, knowing what she is. However, the reality is that the crowd that gathers around the shuttle pushes those at the front forward and into her, those at the back failing to realise Shepards true nature.
Not caring for those contained, a shockwave quickly clears the crowd, allowing Shepard to step out of the shuttle without hindrance. Those with her look on with concern but say little; had Shepard not tossed the crowd aside, they know they would fail to complete the extraction.
After stepping out the shuttle, Shepard looks behind the small craft and to where two Reaper destroyers in the distance are tearing the Vong apart. Connecting to the Destroyers, she can feel their glee, their utter enjoyment at being let loose to savage their victims. It is also a strange sensation for her, she knows this sight would have once turned her stomach, but now, she doesn't know exactly what she feels.
Feeling something ping off her shields, Shepard looks at a single Vong guard and quickly uses a biotic charge on it; where her biotic charge was once famed for the power it could deliver, it is nothing compared to what the Reaper implants now allow her to bear down on her enemies. Whereas her old charge would have sent the subject of the charge flying with a few broken bones and a heavy concussion, the unfortunate Vong simply explodes into a soup of guts and gore. The three spectres look on, concerned expressions on their face; they knew Shepard would be extremely dangerous. Her reputation from the Great War alone is enough for them to be wary, but seeing her explode a Vong with a charge gives a clear image of what she is capable of.
During the Great War, the most feared ground troop was the Banshee, a grotesque mutilation of an Asari, but the Banshee was a mass-produced, low resource weapon; had the Reapers really wanted to produce an unstoppable ground troop, they could have. Shepard ensures she is the embodiment of this unstoppable troop, she can not risk allowing herself to be killed and the Reapers to return to their original programming.
With the sole Vong guard dealt with, Shepard approaches a small wooden shack that is emitting an EMF signal and opens the door. Inside, she finds numerous Asari huddled up in the room; all but one of them look at her with fear; one looks at her with recognition. "T'soni," Shepard says.
"Shepard," Liara replies before struggling to her feet; she is highly emaciated from hard labour and poor food.
Shepard had figured the VIP was Liara, she knows the Council wants someone who knew her to have a long talk with her, and the only one left alive or potentially left alive is Liara. Wrex died 206 years back, and Grunt died fighting the Vong in a glorious last stand on Tachunka. EDI suffered from Rampancy a dozen years back, and Samara died peacefully 97 years after the Great War.
As the Citadel team rush Liara onto the shuttle, Shepard leaves the small shack and looks onto her Reapers; the two Destroyers are having no issue tearing up the Vong defences, the Vong simply had not expected the two destroyers to sneak past their fleets and have no real anti-reaper grade defences ground side. The Destroyers glee so is contagious, infectious even, that Shepard can't help but feel happy for them.
"One system." Shepard says aloud, "It is just one system."
"What?" One of the Spectres say. The Reapers horn can be heard again as one of the destroyers lets loose with its magnetohydrodynamic cannon. "Come on, we need to go." The Spectre then says, not wanting to spend any more time on the world.
Shepard shakes her head, "This world has information I want."
"That isn't the mission." The Spectre deadlines.
"That isn't your mission." Shepard returns before another louder horn can be heard and a larger Sovereign-class descends from the sky, firing its cannon liberally as it descends. This world has information on the Vong communication networks somewhere, and Shepard wants it. She desires tapping into the Vong networks and knowing their every move, their every want and plan. Of course, she could hack the comms if given a few months, but that timeline is unacceptable. "Go," Shepard then says to the Spectre, "I will see you on the Citadel." As she speaks, another Reaper descends, sewing chaos as it does. The Turian looks on as the Reapers begin to descend, trying to understand what is happening; it is clear to the Turian that the Reapers are here to stay, and he is unsure what that means for those in the containment camp.
Seeing some Vong guards approach, Shepard shouts, "Go!" At the Turian in an attempt to encourage the Spectre to leave, deep mechanical undertones are present in her voice.
As Shepard watches the shuttle take off, a significant realisation hits her; she has just caved to the Reapers desire, their glee at fighting the Vong is currently her glee. Does she really need information on the Vong comm networks? Her fleets are powerful enough that there is almost 0 chance of the Vong being able to win conventionally. Realising it is already too late, Shepard simply shouts, "Fuck!" Before giving a slight nod and allowing the Reapers to flood the system, their frenzied attacks on the Vong only barely miss the small Citadel Ship that desperately tries to escape the blood bath. All it took was one taste of blood, and she has allowed the Reapers to return to their previous ways.