"Are you sure you want to do this?" Asked the human officer as she looks at another human in N7 engineer armor looking out a window to a starship; a replica of a ship she used to know.
"Yes...after everything I have done for them...they left me to die and when I came back the Alliance basically put me in a box, sealed me away and only to break in case of emergency, no I will make them pay for this." The female states as the officer just eyes the human.
"Can I ask?" asks the officer as the other officer eyes him and nods. "What happened to you, Commander?"
"The commander you knew roughly four years ago died when the Alliance left her to rot." answers Shepard as she continues to look at the new ship. "What is the name of this ship?" asks Shepard.
"Enterprise, or whatever you choose commander."
"Yes that... that's a good name. Prepare the Enterprise for departure program it to the nearest Alliance base." Orders Shepard.
"Why are we going to an Alliance base, Commander?" asks the officer.
"We're going to burn it to the ground." answers a smiling Shepard.
Aboard the SSV Enterprise
Shepard walks through the airlock of her new ship, admiring how this ship reminds her of the Normandy. The Normandy was her first command of a ship, and since then has been taken from her. As she moves around the CIC, everything comes back as if it was only yesterday when she was fighting the Reapers.
Six months in coma; at least this time her friends and lover knew she was alive. Two weeks after the Reapers were destroyed the Alliance declared me dead, two days later the organization known as Phoenix found me. By this time the Alliance had moved on. It was better for the Alliance to believe I was dead. Since I was in a coma they declared me dead and when I woke up 1 years ago everything changed. Even though I was awake now the Alliance thought it was better if I remained officially "dead", or better yet Killed in Action fighting the Reapers."
They took everything from me, everything I owned, including the man I love, Garrus Vakarian. I was not allowed to be with him for long periods of time, and not allowed to marry him. I could have cared less about what they were doing to me when they put me in an apartment in the middle of nowhere Texas, but to not be able to be with him was unbearable.. They took him away from me.
They stole the life I was supposed to have. I gave them everything and I was rewarded by the Alliance with betrayal. Officially dead, unofficially retired living in seclusion away from the world and galaxy I fought to save. When my friends came to visit I could tell they knew I was not the same person. I was colder, much colder. I always supported the Alliance even in the small things, like sporting the logo almost everywhere, but now no one could find a hint of it anywhere. They could tell I no longer supported the Alliance.
In the past three months, I was secretly talking to Phoenix, a separate arm of Cerberus, working for the goal of preserving and advancing Earth by anyone who called it home; regardless of race. During these months they helped me and I even devised a plan to get back at the Alliance. Luckily, Phoenix saw the Alliance as a roadblock to protecting Earth. My plan was simple I will take everything the Alliance holds most dear and crush it, just like they did to me. They took the life I was supposed to live and I will do the same to them.
As Shepard walks the halls of her new ship she recalls the life she once lived, remembering the good and the bad times aboard her old ship. As she walks the halls she is escorted around the ship and explaining to her the different areas of the ship, some new and some old. She feels at home despite the fact this is not the Normandy. As Shepard moves into the cabin a flood of memories of times on the Normandy with Tali, James, Ash and Garrus stop her dead in her tracks.
As she enters, she removes her armored gloves and places them on the desk of her cabin and begins to move around the space admiring how much it looks like her old ship. There is not a day that goes by that I wish I were still fighting the Reapers; at least then I would not be doing what I'm about to do.
"So where are we going operative?" Asks Shepard as she moves to the foot of her bed.
"A class S Alliance Base in the Voyager cluster. The director will provide full details when we arrive in the system."
"S Class? Those are usually guarded by N7 ops...well this will be fun? Been awhile since I had a challenge." Shepard answers with a smile.
"Yes ma'am. Oh, and another thing, we don't have the AI plugged. It's still in the lab, but I'm told is that when we get back she will be ready, I'll leave you alone, Commander and let you do some work. I'll let you know when we are in system." states the Operative as he makes his way out of Shepard's cabin.
15 hours later
As Shepard walks out of the QEC Shepard finds her new "secretary", Jack Gibson. "Jack do you know how to shoot?" asks Shepard as she moves to a terminal.
"I do, Commander, why?"
"I need someone with tech skills. The Director wants the data in the Alliance computers and I went over your profile. In most cases you put most of the techs I know to shame except Tali, but why are you my secretary when you have this type of resume." Asks Shepard causing Jack to stop what he is doing.
"Being a tech is a side job. Doing this is what I have always been the best at." Answers Jack as he resumes what he was doing.
"Well, not anymore. Gear up. You're coming with me." Orders Shepard. Jack stares after Shepard as she enters the elevator.
"Wait, aren't you an engineer..." Jack is cut off as the doors close.
A Few Moments Later aboard the Phoenix Shuttle
As the shuttle travels in the atmosphere Shepard eyes the Phoenix operatives Jack and a female operative named Aubree Lehner. As they approach the Alliance base Shepard turns to her new team to see Aubree going over her Harrier rifle and Jack his Hornet.
"Ok guys it's simple, we are going to kick in the front door and once we're in, follow me. Kill all that in our way. Once we get to the main computer room, Jack, you hack the comp and Aubree you set charges to send this place to hell," States Shepard as the two operatives nod in agreement as the shuttle came to a stop a few miles from the compound. Shepard places a mask showing only her eyes and then placed her helmet over the mask.
As the doors to the shuttle open Shepard steps out into the darkness of the clearing in this forest covered by the planetary snow. Shepard motions for her team to grab their duffle bags filled with the equipment they will need as they make their way to the Alliance base. After about 15 minutes Shepard and her team run into a guard outpost with a standing guard of six N7 troopers. From their elevated position on the hill they move slowly.
"Six N7 with one on the tower. Three on the outside top floor, and two ground side. Lehner take the guard on the tower." Shepard commands as Aubree extracts a Black widow and as she unfolds it she affixes a suppressor, as does the rest of the team. As the team set their weapons, Aubree sets her sights on the unsuspecting N7. When the team was finished z n birthed in and out and in again and squeezed the trigger and with a zing the guard dropped out of sight.
"Jack takes the left guard. Aubree right. I'll take the middle on three." Orders Shepard as they keep their targets within sight. "one...two...three." And the sound of their suppressed rifles drops the three guards on the top floor of the two-story building.
"Jack, Aubree take the two guards dirt side." Orders Shepard as she watches her new team put down the two N7 like sick dogs. The six N7 never knew what hit them as the team continues to move down the hill they and out of the tree line. Jack moves over to one of the dropped N7 and drags him into one of the buildings, as does Aubree. As they head down the hill the sounds of a mobile column coming down the road of heading to them is heard by the team.
"Right on time. Get ready guys." States Shepard as the column comes into view. I see two Makos, two troop transports and one open "Jeep" with three N7 in the jeep. As the rest of the column moves on, the jeep makes a turn towards the checkpoint . Jack moves to talk with the driver and Shepard moves to the N7 in the backseat. The Team waits for the column to pass and for Shepard to take action. She unsheathe a combat blade and lodges it in the N7's neck and Aubree and Jack do the same with their target. After the dislodging their blades, Shepard along with her team grab the bodies and place them out of sight. Shepard and the team climb into the jeep after disposing of the N7 bodies. The gate opens and they head down the mountain pass to the Alliance base.
"This is Shepard, acquired an Alliance transport and making our way towards the base." Shepard updates the Enterprise.
"Solid copy, you have six mikes to be in position or you will lose the opportunity to infiltrate the base." Enterprise in turn updates Shepard.
"Damn it, solid copy Enterprise. Will be there." Replies Shepard, as the jeep moves faster towards the base. After about four minutes Shepard is pulling in the base garage as she sees the vault-like door with N7 walking about. As Jack moves the jeep into a hidden spot Shepard gets out and grabs the duffle bag they brought with them. Once ready they enter the base and Shepard walks up to a checkpoint.
"Shepard here, we're in." Shepard reports as the lights go out Shepard's helmet activates the night vision and unholsters a suppressed hornet and they all shoot a guard. After the guards are dealt with Shepard moves along the hallways encountering resistance and removing all resistance with gunfire. When Shepard comes to a door leading to the outside she and her team turn off their night vision and walk outside onto a cat walk running alongside the mountain. Shepard takes point as she comes to a turn on the catwalk as a N7 Engineer charges her with a combat blade. Shepard grabs the arm holding the blade and slams the N7 against the guardrail. Shepard's team did not fire at the N7 in fear they would shoot her. As the N7 and Shepard struggle for long eternal moments Shepard gets the upper hand and slams her fist into the N7 stomach and tosses the N7 against the wall of the Mountain. The N7 falls a long way through the gap between the cat walk and the wall. After the momentary setback Shepard and her team continue to move along the catwalk down the stairs into a pair of sliding doors in a room of researchers.
Jack shoots into the air getting their attention and orders them to leave the area. Shepard attempts to protest, but figures they can get away this once, they will die when she destroys this base after they get data. Shepard climbs the stairs to the second floor and sees a group of servers and a table. The team moves to the table and opens up their duffle bags, which holds explosives and a turret.
"Jack get to work, Aub set up your snipers nest. I will set up the defenses." Commands Shepard as she garbs a turret and places it near the bottom and sets up advance Claymores on either side of the central opening and many more near the stairs leading to the catwalks.
"Contact front!" yells Aubree as the sound of her widow rings just as Shepard finishes placing the claymores. With the heads up Shepard moves along the area she is defending hiding behind the walls. After two minutes of gunfire the N7 are trying to advance along the catwalks, but many are taken by surprise by Shepard's claymores. Aub keeps her sights on what's in front of her as Shepard turns towards the catwalks.
"How much longer Jack!" Screams Shepard as her hornet runs dry and she switches to her Phalanx pistol. As she raises her head to shoot ,a sniper round strikes Shepard in the helmet and she lands on the floor. Jack runs to Shepherd.
Jack helps Shepard stand up and she yanks off her helmet trying to regain her senses.
"I got the data. Let's go!" Screams Jack as they make their way to an elevator. Shepard is now on her feet and using the Iron sights on her weapon as her HUD was flung with her helmet now all that separates her from another round is her mask. As they move back the doors open and they fall back into the elevator.
"We have twenty mikes to get our ass out of here. I set the self-destruct." States Jack while Shepard again attempts to regain her senses.
"Shepard lean on me, pretend you're hurt." States Jack as Shepard obeys and leans on Jack. The doors open to a pair of N7 destroyers, but after they noticing they are "N7" they lower their rifles and see one of their own hurt.
"Take her over to the left." Orders the N7.
"They need reinforcements in the data core." States Aubree as the pair takes their place as the team moves to the left with Shepard dragging her feet. As they travel about a few feet they notice they are in the same area where they fought through. As the N7 look to their comrades Shepard is now standing on her two feet and they move to leave the base. Along the way Jack helps an N7 officer to a medic. After they pass the first check point they make their way into the garage and find an unused jeep and to make their way out of the compound, but are stopped by a pair of officers.
"Take off your helmets and masks now!" Demands one of the officers, but instead of corporation he meets with a slug from Shepard's pistol. Jack floors the accelerator and exits the garage. Based on the racket from the N7 that are in the garage they have gotten in their jeeps and following Shepard and her team.
"Aub get on that gun!" orders Shepard, Aubree mans the turret mounted on the jeep. "Enterprise need pick up. Now!! Be advised we have acquired enemy vehicles."
"Solid Copy, Commander!" Answers the helmsmen of the Enterprise. "Need Shuttle pick up or send the Enterprise herself." Asks the helmsman.
"I prefer the Enterprise, but just get down here!" Shepard replies as she shoots her pistol at a N7 trooper on one of the pursuing vehicles.
"Head for the clearing, 5 Km to the south."
"Do it Jack!" Orders Shepard. She grabs Jack's Hornet and begins to fire at the vehicles. After the long intense battle Shepard is running out of thermal clips.
"How much further Enterprise?" Asks Shepard. Aubree blows up another vehicle off the road.
"Not much further, Commander, Enterprise is inbound. ETA 5 mikes." States the helmsman. They enter a large clearing as they race across the clearing pursued by many enemy vehicles. Shepard can see the Enterprise is in range as they clearing the field.
"Shepard, get ready, we are going to land in front of you. Just floor it!" yells the helmsman. The Enterprise lands in front of the team with the bay doors open and four Phoenix operators standing on the edge of the ramp. Shepard and the team drive into the hanger. The Phoenix operators are firing their rifles at the N7 Troopers still chasing them. After Shepard has secured the hangar the bay doors start to close and the operators stop firing. As Shepard steps out of the Jeep Jack notices she is "pissed" about something.
"Jack, I thought we had 20 mikes before the explosion? Wherethe hell is my explosion!" Shepard raises her voice.
"I said we had 20 mikes to get the hell out of there and to a safe distance, never anything about it going off at that time. While I was gathering the data I activated the self-destruct sequence as a minor subroutine. There's no way in hell they will find it, Shepard. Speaking of which..." Jack trails off as he looks at his watch. "It should be going off right about...now." Declares Jack, as a shock wave rocks the Enterprise, almost knocking Shepard off her feet, instead slamming in the Alliance jeep. As she straightens herself Shepard has a very large grin plastered on her face.