May 13, 2178. The terrain was dark and shadowy, since the moon Torfan held little atmosphere. It was inhospitable to life, but the batarians still had built up a significant stronghold there. And it was because of that stronghold that she was here. Alliance brass were determined to strike back in retaliation for the Blitz, and Lauren was right with them, requesting to lead her own ground squad.

Daniel's death on Elysium drove a dark iron into her soul. She wanted to exact revenge on anyone that could possibly have been connected to the cowards that killed the man she had loved. Her only criterion for connection: if it's batarian, it dies.

She could see in the starry sky overhead that the battle was already being waged in space, and from her vantage point it looked like both sides must be taking heavy losses. However, the batarians had yet to notice her presence on the ground. The fortified building they came upon was not unlike the others that she had dealt with during N-school, and her face creased into a bitter smile. "This'll be easy, motherfuckers," she muttered.

Giving her squad directions, she sent half to the left and she the the other half to the right to take out the turrets on each side of the fortification. As they approached, the guns began firing. Lauren had ordered the squad to leave their Makos behind a ridge so they could stealthily approach, and she knew their own armor was no match for the guns. But now those guns were trained to their positions and started picking them off easily.

"Shit!" yelled Lauren as she ran toward the building. At least against the wall the guns couldn't reach them. Slamming her body flat against the wall, Lauren called up the other half of her squad. "Bravo team...come in!"

"Bravo here ma'am, but it is only me, Private Walker," the male voice answered.

"No one else?" She looked out toward that direction and could see the bodies of the rest of his team and knew it was the truth. "Fuck." She bit her lip and the image of Daniel's broken, bloodied body floated through her memory. Like hell they are going to beat me. I'm going to fucking make them pay. "Stay against the wall, Walker. We'll wait here for you, and you'll come with us."

Having Walker proved to be useful since he was an engineer. He easily hacked the locks on a side entrance hatch. As the handful of troops left in Lauren's squad rushed in, the batarians were waiting in the loading bay, hiding behind crates and firing. A couple more troops fell as they entered, picked off easily by the batarians. God fucking damnit. Stay down! Lauren thought angrily.

Taking refuge behind their own set of crates, Lauren's squad fought bravely, even though they were seriously outnumbered. Lauren herself used every available skill she had, taxing her biotics greatly. Blood poured from her nose and her limbs were heavy from exertion. Adrenaline flowed though and she was feeling no pain, even laughing when she'd see another batarian fall. Suddenly, the door opened on the batarian's side of the bay. "Stop!" the official looking batarian yelled. "Cease fire! We surrender!"

Cautiously, Lauren and the two soldiers left with her stood, eyeing the batarian. His face was sincere...and frightened. She could see he was unarmed as he walked closer to her position.

"Batarian forces have agreed to surrender. Word just came down from the Hierarchy. The losses are too great," he said.

The rest of the batarians started laying down their weapons and walking toward the Alliance trio. Lauren blinked in disbelief. It cannot end like this. This is too damn easy. Anger and hatred boiled inside of her. There were at least 30, maybe 40 batarians surrendering. Hot tears began falling down Lauren's face. These motherfuckers are getting off too fucking easy. Her fists tightened and her body began to glow brightly with dark energy.

"Lieutenant?" Walker's hand was on Lauren's shoulder. "You ok?"

"Get the fuck out of here, Walker. You and Neff. Take a hike. Now." Lauren's voice was tight and controlled and strangely quiet.

"Ma'am?"

Lauren maintained a low, chilly tone. "Move it, soldier. Call for backup. Outside." The two privates moved away uneasily as Lauren stayed planted, glaring at the batarians that were now lined up in front of her.

"I'm Commander Hagluk," said the leading batarian. "We submit ourselves to your custody."

Lauren's eyes closed slowly as she stayed silent, her body still awash with biotics. For you, Daniel. You are my reason. Her eyes opened and she let out a shriek, her head flying back. A biotic shockwave exploded from her body, tearing into the batarian ranks. Bodies, limbs and crates were thrown into complete and bloody disarray. Those who survived the initial shockwave were soon thrown against the walls of the room.

Lauren was no longer a thinking, rational person. She was a killing machine bent on revenge. If something moved, her entire biotic force was thrown at it. Within minutes, the room was quiet again and Lauren stood in the same spot she had been, breathing heavily. Looking around, she saw the carnage and was horrified.

Privates Walker and Neff reentered the room. "Lieuten...," started Walker. Lauren looked at them, her entire armor spattered with blood and flesh, even her helmet was covered. He could see through her visor the terrified look in her eyes. "Oh my God..."

x-X-x

Kaidan was sitting in a hotel room on the Citadel, dozing. The news was on, but it wasn't entirely interesting. When Lauren's face appeared on the screen, he sat up and took notice.

"Lt. Lauren Shepard was taken into Alliance custody last week," the announcer said. "Alliance officials kept the news under wraps until a batarian news team broke the story late last night. The highly decorated soldier is accused of killing nearly 50 unarmed batarians during the raid on Torfan. Alliance officials concede that this was after the agreed-upon batarian surrender. The Batarian Hierarchy is calling for Shepard to be executed for her war crimes."

The news changed to a shot of Shepard being led by other Alliance soldiers through a corridor. They were surrounded by the press and a loud contigent of batarians who crying out, "Death to the Butcher of Torfan!" Her face was stoic and the shouts seemed to have no effect. A reporter suddenly was heard over the din. "Lt. Shepard, can you just tell us why?"

Kaidan could see, even with the grainy condition of the vid, that Lauren's eyes were sad. She stopped and faced the camera. "They took something from me. I took it back."

A/N: A turn to the dark side...Thank you for the follows, favorites and especially the reviews!