The nightmare of Torfan

14 months later 2LT Shepard, in her pressed dress blues, was sitting in a theatre in Arcturus Station.

"2LT Shepard, please step forward." Called Admiral Guerrin, of the Systems Alliance Parliament. "I am pleased to present you with the rank of First Lieutenant and all the responsibilities therein. On behalf of the people of Elysium, I present to you the Star of Terra, for your conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of your life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the Alliance. For your act of gallantry in action against an enemy of the Systems Alliance, I present to you the palladium star. For being wounded in action against an enemy of the Systems Alliance, I present to you a Purple heart. I also present to you, on behalf of the Interplanetary Combatatives Training centre, the designation of N7 due to your resolve for not only holding Elysium, but pushing the Batarians completely off the planet. During cleanup efforts we recovered your custom M-96. it was delivered to Gunnery Sargent Sykes, but he was unable to repair the damage incurred, so we had it mounted. On behalf of the 23rd Marines on Elysium we present this mounted Mattock to you for your unwavering ability to unite a broken marine unit and drive away the Batarian invaders."

After the ceremony she headed towards her apartment to change into comfortable clothes as she was still on leave.

6 months later

Shepard was returning to her apartment, after a trying day training recruits in hand to hand, and knife combat, when she received an encrypted email on her Omni-tool.

From: Admiral Hackett
Major Kyle, First Lieutenant Shepard, Second Lieutenant Michals, Second Lieutenant Rodrigez, Second Lieutenant Sykes and all marines under your command.

Our scans in the Skyllian Verge have turned up something we thought you should see: the location of the ship that left Elysium. It is located on Torfan, a moon in the Terminus system.

The Alliance would like to make a retaliatory strike against the mercenaries that attacked our colony. This mission is classification Ultra Blue - completely off the books. Your Commanding Officer will be Major Kyle of the Alliance Marines, you will command three second Lieutenant's each with squad of 15 marines, one I believe you became acquainted with on Elysium, a certain Gunnery Sargent Sykes, only he has been commisioned, it appears that your leadership skills have made you an icon of sorts. Your job is to penetrate the complex, find any information you can about the masterminds, and eliminate any resistance. The SSV Narva will be your ship for the mission; after the mission is complete you are to return to Arcturus Station to refit the ship. Your ship leaves from dock 76 at 1900 GST; don't be late.
Godspeed to you, Lieutenant.

Shepard glanced at her watch, the time said 1530. Shepard opened up one of her duffle bags, carefully removing the mounted M-96 Mattock Battle Rifle , placing it on her wall, noting to herself, to stop by a requisitions officer before travelling down to the dock. She gathered her weapons and armor, placing them gently in her hardcase. She put on her Alliance fatigues, and placed her throwing knives in a custom-made sheath in the small of her back. Since Arcturus Station has no skycars, everybody walks the total distance of 15 kilometer circumference.

Shepard left her apartment and began walking to the Alliance Requisitions Officer located in the Armory. Upon arrival the biometric scanner identified her, as 1st Lieutenant Calista Shepard of Alliance Special Forces. "How can I help you, Lieutenant Shepard?"

"I have a question,"Shepard asked, while lifting her hardcase onto the counter "is it possible to repair this?" Shepard motioned to a heavily damaged set of Hanhe Kedar Armor.

"Seriously? There is more damage to that than armor, but yeah I could repair it, does it matter how it looks, or do you need it to just work and forget aesthetics."

"I'll settle for functionality over aesthetics any day. How long will the repair take?"

"Just a quick glance tells me I'll have to reweave like 90% of the dampening mesh, the ablative plates are easy, but the medigel injectors are completely shot. Don't even get me started on the kinetic barrier generators, or those pressure seals, the repairs alone will take several months, let alone the aesthetics."

"I need another M-96 Mattock , with a supressor, an automatic trigger group, foregrip, a stability dampener, and 3.5x rangable scope. As for my armor, what do you have close to my specs?"

"We just got in a new piece from Armax Arsenal," the requistions officer said while motioning to a picture. "It has an updated HUD, and a small stinger missile launcher on the shoulder, it is a new breed of powered hardsuits, and Armax is currently offering it at cost to Alliance N7 members to battle test it," the officer enthusiastically endorsed.

"Ok, what are the rest of the specs?" asked Shepard suddenly more interested.

"Compared to your current armor configuration, it weighs less, due in part to a larger Mass Effect core, all joints are hydrostatically assisted. The battlefield awarness suite is based from a Mako IFV, it has everything your current armor has, and more. There is a micro grenade launcher built into the forearm, the missile launcher can be respeced as a small gatling turret if you wish, it is fully sealed with a rebreather, and LOX system, allowing longer space walk without a tether. It has a Internal Emission system that cools the exterior of the armor to avoid setting off thermal sensors, so cloaking is more effective-since your an infiltrator. And it has a super encryption VI to control everything. If you wanted to we could still install your preferred mods onto it, although the new armor makes them pretty much unesseccary," replied the officer.

"Now the question of the day, how much more is this armor over my current piece?" asked Shepard.

"Fifty thousand." Instantly replied the officer.

"I'll take one, but add my throwing knife, and tanto sheath please," answered Shepard.

"How long would it take you guys to do it?"

"About two hours."

"Ok, how much would it cost for all of the items, and the installation?"

"$200,000."

"Sounds good."

Shepard tapped on her Omni-tool and transferred the proper amount to the Alliance.

Two hours later.

"Hello again, here is your M-96, although I have to ask why you said 'another'?"

"Oh, during my berserker charge on Elysium, I lost it somewhere in the field, and a Mako drove over it. So the compaction mechanics received to much damage. I gave it my gunnery chief but he was unable to repair it, so he and his buddies, that i rescued had it mouted, and gave it to me, its currently sitting on my wall at home," replied Shepard.

At 1850 GST Shepard boarded the SSV Narva, with her hardcase, and small pack.

3 Days later in low orbit of Torfan.

"Okay team, we are going to get in, get out and blow the place to hell." Stated Major Kyle, "is there anything you would like to add Lieutenant?"

"Yes I would sir. Men and women of the Alliance, I was the field Commanding Officer to Gunnery Chief Sykes, who is now 2LT Sykes; congratulations by the way, on Elysium he can vouch for my skills and that I am a complete badass willing to take extreme risks as long as the mission is completed. So if I do something rash, just know that everything I do, I do for a reason."

"With that I will say, everyone but the pilot report to the cargo bay for outfitting."

Everyone placed their standard issue Onyx armor on, with the exception of Lieutenant Shepard, who put on her new Armax Hardsuit. They each walked toward the cargo ramp, and waited for the jump signal.

"Light is green, prepare for the drop." Said the pilot.

With that they all jumped out of the ship, at 5000 feet to ground level they pulled their chutes and drifted to the ground. They formed up on Shepard and made their way to the coordinates. Her radar picked up a small building flanked by four anti-aerospace turrets. Shepard placed a brick of C-5 high explosive on each of the turrets. The blocks of high explosive made short work of them.

General Torvek watched, from the command post deep inside the hardened bunker, the soldiers slowly making their way to the entrance. He smacked the general quarter's alarm. At that two platoons of batarian mercenaries jumped up, donned their armor, and grabbed their weapons. The general glanced at the sensor map, and noticed that the main entry point was offline. "This is General Torvek of Batarian High Command, the unidentified commandoes are on approach, everyone report to battle stations!"

"So Lieutenant Shepard, what is the plan?" asked the three 2LT's, and Major Kyle.

"Alpha will breach and hold the entrance, Bravo will secure the lower levels, and I will take Charlie to assault the base. Major Kyle will be in the Mako monitoring comms, and video feeds from our suit cameras. Satellite imagery can't seem to get a clear picture, so the facility itself must be deep underground. To avoid getting trapped in the elevator, we will fast rope down the shaft, everyone retrieve their high tensile nano-filament cable, and hook up to your armor. Okay thermal imagaging shows an unusually high temperature in the room. They might be heating up the room to distort thermal imaging, switch to magnetics. Magnetics shows 7 hostiles each armed with LMG's, and a pair of ceiling mounted mass accelerators. So open the door and toss a pair of arc grenades, along with some flashbangs, and smoke, they will stun and blind the organic enemies but be mindful of the autocannons."

"Alpha Squad, stack up and get the door open!" shouted 2LT Sykes.

Within minutes the door beeps, and then hisses open. A total of six grenades get lobbed through the open door, and the dark corridor lit up from the muzzle flashes from 7 distinct LMG's, the hallway became a lead funnel, as over 500 rounds flooded the narrow corridor. Several seconds pass and the grenades detonate, all seven batarians were taken out with a series of precise shots. During the chaos Shepard slips in cloaked, and sneaks over to the turret on the left and applies a small thermite paste to the barrels, she does the same to the right turret. By now the smoke has cleared and the turrets lock onto the marines. But as soon as the firing sequences begins the thermite ignites in a white light sealing the barrels. Alpha finishes securing the room, and clears the elevator. One of the marines climbs onto the roof of the car, and welds the cars brakes closed, so that the enemy cannot escape. Bravo, Charlie, and Shepard attached their nano-filament cables to the base of the car, and rapidly descend the 3000 meter shaft. The 33 marines suspended in the elevator shaft equipped their rifles with suppressors, and activated their tactical cloaks.

"General Atron; this is General Torvek on torfan, an Alliance team is assaulting the base, they have already secured the primary entrance, we are trapped. Can you send some of your troops to flank the Alliance and box them in?"

Shepard rounded the corner, reaching down to her calve sheaths she pulled out the balanced throwing knives, she watched as the centripetal forces shed the nano crystals off before impacting the batarians in their chests.

"Hey what is that?" asked one of the batarians noticing a glimmer rounding the corner; he then saw the two throwing knives suddenly appear from thin air before impact he shouted "holy hell!"

"Stealth is critical, with their comms down, they can't respond to any call for backup." Suddenly the lights went red, and alarms started blaring. Shepard switched from stealthy infiltrator to full on berserker - suppressor unscrewed, knives away, mattock out, tech armor on, and then she took off, rifle tracking left and right engaging targets of opportunity, the bodies slowly piling up as Shepard ran toward the control room.

Shepard had lost it. Again. Once again she was operating in the black. Her rifle firing so fast that you couldn't hear the separation of the rounds it was one continuous boom. The gun cam recording every shot, and every kill in vivid detail. Blam! Blam! Blam! Shepard was relentless. The bodies just kept piling up; in some places the stack of bodies was three feet high off the floor. She even gunned down those who surrendered. At one point the batarians seemed to regain their resolve, as a pair of them drew missile launchers and fired them at Shepard, she was thrown back several feet, and landed on her back smacking her helmeted head against the floor. After a couple of seconds she got back up, only the HUD was flashing a critical injury alert. It seems that her armor had protected her from the shrapnel of the missiles, but had failed to protect againt the shockwave of the detonating rounds. She had several broken ribs, and a punctured lung, her right arm was broken in 3 places, and her right shoulder \had been dislocated. Thanks to the upgraded medical VI in the armor and the rigid powered suit she could continue the fight, after administering some painkillers. Once Shepard reached the control room, she was confused, as it was completely empty. Shepard then noticed the panic room door. She reached into one of the compartments on her armor, and pulled out her tube of thermite paste. She applied the paste onto the seam of the door, then stood back and ignited the fuse. The thermite easily cut through the thick door, Shepard kicked the section out of the way and breached the hole. Upon entering she saw the target she pounced on his chest. Shepard then calmly removed her helmet, andset it on the ground, leaving the sentry VI in place,across her eyes.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this? What drives a man like you to commit such horrible acts of violence? I will drag this torture out – when I stab you to inflict pain I will seal the wound to make you stay alive longer. I know you were at Elysium; do you want to know how I know? Because I was fucking there, I saw your little coward ass flee my wrath the first time. I saw you leave in a ship, I also saw you flee your personal guard just before I detonated a skycar! So fucking tell me what I fucking want to know, or I will blind you one eye at a time!" Shepard screamed, spittle hitting the batarians face.

"I won't say a single thing, I don't care what you do to me... aaahh!" he screamed as Shepard stabbed him in his top left eye.

"You think that loosing an eye will make me talk I won't say a ... aaahh!" he screamed again as his left eye was removed.

"I now look like a battle hardened veteren my fellow soldiers will look up at me in awe as they see what pain I have endured... aaahh!"

"Or maybe they look at you as a disfigured freak," Shepard replied while removing his lower left eye. "Are you ready to talk yet?" asked Shepard.

"Nope."

"Stubborn ass batarian, I'm not going to remove your last eye you need to see where your going. But I didn't say anything about limbs." Shepard replied while slicing off his left arm at the elbow with her mono-molecular tanto, ensuring a clean slice before sealing it with medigel.

"I'm not going to tell you anything. I'm not a coward who...hey!" he said when Shepard slapped him in the face with his own left arm.

"Okay, okay, my name is General Torvek; I escaped Elysium on my personal ship. My regiment of mercenaries was hired to oversee the slavers and pirates attacking your human colony. Some human-turian hybrid named Elanos Haliat wanted to strike a blow against the Alliance. He said his plan was foolproof if only one squad of marines were stationed on the planet at the time of the assault, although he never counted on you, a special forces operative being there. His plan failed, and now he lost all his clout in the terminus systems. He is now on the run from not just the Alliance, and you, but every single mercenary, pirate, and slaver, and the entire Batarian Hegemony want's his head on a pike. Oh and by the way say goodbye to the marines you left to secure the base, cause your breach into the panic room released a higly consentrated and extremly fatal toxic gas, that is proven to eat through human built pressure seals."

"Bravo squad report!"

The response was static.

"Fuck you then," Shepard said before she stood up and using the augmented armor stomped his face in. After one stomp, she realized that his armor was on fire, and apparently she had did it. "This armor is getting even cooler the more I wear it," Shepard said out loud, "Flaming boot stomp, I like it. But as to the current problem, It's a good thing I decided to go the extra mile and get the Turian made armor," Shepard went back into the control room and pulled up the reactor specifications. She then hacked into the system and disabled the safety sytems, and containment systems. A timer appeared displaying 57 minutes before reactor overload, and detonation. Shepard then took off running towards the exit, as it took more than 20 minutes to reach the control room, when she charged in. Arriving at the lower atrium she was horrified to discover that the 32 members hadn't even made it out of the area before being poisoned. She grabbed their dog tags, and hooked into one of the nano filament cables, and releasing the brake. The inertia reel pulled her back up, just in time, as the timer she had set on her omnitool reached zero, she unhooked from the line, and leapt through the doors.

"Move! This place is going critical, I give it 17 minutes before we are all irradiated and incinerated," Shepard yelled.

Alpha squad climbed onto the exterior of the mako, Shepard was about to enter the mako, when Major Kyle stood in the doorway and called out "I do not want that butcher anywhere I am!"

"With all due respect sir," Shepard said before an augmented fist crashed into the side of his helmet, knocking him out. She then climbed into the drivers seat, and they sped off towards the SSV Narva.

On the SSV Narva

"Jeff, patch me into a comm buoy I need to speak with Alliance HQ now, it is mission critical," asked Shepard.

"Alliance HQ, this is Lieutenant Shepard, the batarians have engineered a deadly poison that can eat through the pressure seals on all grades of human armor, the only reason i survived, was the fact that i paid for my own custom Turian manufactured armor, and they use a different material for their pressure seals. please contact Armax Arsenal and inquire about their materials, otherwise more marines will die," Shepard ranted.

~end of chapter 3~