One tough call can define a man's career, good or bad.
My name is Lt. Commander Ben Shepard. I was born on Earth, but I was orphaned at an early age and never knew my parents. I bounced around in foster care until I figured out the knack I have for hacking technology. It was that knack that got me noticed by the 10th Street Reds when I was 12. And the Reds took care of me; they provided a place to live, clothes, food, tech to learn from and even guns. And in return, I skimmed money from the stock market and enabled break ins that would have been impossible otherwise.
But I never felt comfortable with the Reds. I wanted a better life, so when I turned 18, I took the high school equivalency exam and enlisted with the Alliance Navy. And for a while, things were great. After finishing boot camp at Macapá, I got trained as an Engineer, and I ended up serving on starships for most of my career. And combining my experience with the Reds and my Engineer training, I'm one of the best hackers in the Alliance.
I also started taking college courses during my first enlistment so I could get my commission as soon as possible. And I managed to make 2nd Lieutenant just as I was heading into my 2nd enlistment. I was flying high, enjoying my life and career as I headed into the mid 2170s.
Unfortunately, the blitz happened. A group of batarian terrorists launched an assault on Elysium and were pushed back by a small team led by a legendary officer. She earned the Star of Terra that day, but what that meant for the rest of us was 2 years of war. A war that the Batarian Hegemony "officially condemned", even though we new that they were behind it.
The war ended on Torfan. One of the moons of Nymbar in the Styx Theta cluster, it was a location of a batarian pirate base, and it was the place we'd chase the pirates across the Verge and to Torfan as their last stand. And it was there that I made the hardest call of my career.
We were led by my CO, Major Kyle, into that nest, but they were heavily entrenched. They had plenty of supplies and could withstand a siege for weeks. We, however, were down a quarter of our team and the Major had been injured. I was left in command as the Major was med evaced, and I had to make a tough call; retreat and let the batarians rebuild their strength or set an improvised explosive and wipe them all out.
It was a slaughter. Out of the remaining troops, we were down to a quarter of our original strength, but between the bomb and our weapons, we slaughtered every single batarian there. All of them. No one escaped. Even the ones that surrendered were taken down.
I've wrestled with that decision to this day. Major Kyle chewed me out over it, demanding to know how I'm able to live with myself. I protested, saying I made the only call that made sense, and that I'd do it again if it protected the Alliance. But now? I'm not so sure.
Thankfully, my career took an unexpected turn with the N7 program. Thanks to my "ruthless efficiency", the Alliance determined that I was someone that they could trust with the toughest missions. But the ICT was finally the place where I learned a sense of honor. It was the toughest training of my life, but I thrived there, and I got a sense of pride in myself and what I was doing.
It was when I got my N6 rank that I met Captain Anderson. Anderson was a mentor to me, pushing me to be my best, to become a better soldier, a better man. And I think that Anderson sees a bit of himself in me; we're both N7s, him being one of the first classes before the First Contact War. And through all the missions I served under Anderson, we became friends. He's a guy I can go to for advice, and then for a few beers after.
However, no matter what I've done since, I'm still the Butcher of Torfan. The legend proceeds me, and I have to assure my soldiers of the circumstances of my call, and that I didn't enjoy what I did. That I did only what was necessary to protect the people of the Alliance and our colonies.
I don't know. I hope I can escape it someday. But for right now, I'm being given the opportunity to watch the test flight of a stealth frigate. Hear the pilot's pretty good.