Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page: patreon.com/Samael61
Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead
DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,
Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,
Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,
Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 8 chapters ahead,
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—
"Commander Shepard once got bitten by a Vorcha, and after three days of agony, the Vorcha died."
Styx Theta
Karaht System
"A frontal assault would result in high casualties. However, if we can instigate a gang fight inside, they could do most of the fighting for us," Shepard summarized, offering his advice.
"How do we do that? This base existed longer than humanity had been spacefaring; they must have mechanisms to avoid infighting," Admiral Steven Hackett asked, knowing no matter how improbable Shepard's idea sounded, the N7 would pull it off.
"They most likely do because they are all united against the Citadel races; however, what if it was revealed that one gang was going to sell out the rest to the Alliance? Outlaws or not, they won't stand for traitors, and if we can make it look like they are targeting the other gangs, they would shoot first and never bother asking questions." Shepard laid out his plan,
"How are you going to get in?" Rear Admiral Kahoku asked. Having been promoted to his position following his exemplary success during the blitz, he was one of the first ones to analyze the layout of the base on Torfan and knew it was well protected.
"Meteor showers are common in Torfan; an escape capsule could be covered with material that could fool the sensors, and I could land without alerting them. The base schematics show that the pirates, in addition to their life support system, also have ventilation shafts carved into the mountain long ago." Shepard highlighted the shafts.
Torfan wasn't always the popular pirate holdout it is today, and the ventilation shafts were much cheaper than life support systems.
"Yes, but they are too steep, and it will be a long way down, not to mention they are most likely monitored, if not outright booby-trapped," XO Meyers, a grizzly veteran and Admiral Hackett's second-in-command, put forward his experience, earned from countless skirmishes against pirates. He knew their tactics and approaches like the back of his hand.
"I can handle it. I just need equipment for the climb, but after I instigate infighting amongst the gangs, I am going to need a way to contact you." Shepard said, with proper equipment he could scale down those shafts, disable any security measures he came across, and execute his plan.
"We can put a radio system with a strong enough burst for the ships to pick up, bypassing the need for a line of sight the laser comms need, but due to the power requirements, it would be one-time use only," Captain Eleanor explained, receiving affirmation from Admiral Hackett. She was the quartermaster of the Fifth Fleet, an engineer who was also a wizard at logistics.
"I'll talk with the engineers to see if they can rig a capsule with those modifications, but we'll need time," she added, already on her omni-tool to figure out how they can do it.
"We'll also find you whatever equipment you need to make the climb," Anderson added, watching with a smile.
"I need to prepare too. Where are the Batarian prisoners we have? I'll need their voice recordings to fabricate fake evidence," Shepard asked.
"We are holding them in the Batarian ship. I'll let Captain Mercer know you are coming," Admiral Hackett said with a smile, pleased at the plan.
—
For the next week, the Alliance Navy prepared for Operation: Sellout. The Alliance engineers covered an escape pod with a metallic and rocky material, similar to the composition of the meteors that dotted the surface of Torfan, and added a radio array capable of sending a single burst that would be all too easily detected by the Alliance. It was inside the single-man pod, which made it a bit tight to sit in, but Shepard wasn't the type to complain over small things like that.
Speaking of, Shepard had used the Batarian prisoners to forge a fake conversation revealing how the Fourth Pillar, the most prominent and largest pirate group on Torfan, was going to betray the rest to the Alliance in return for immunity and credits.
Commander Jonathan Shepard, wearing pirate armor they had confiscated, stood before the Alliance Command at ease.
"Commander, anyone other than you, and I would refuse this mission on the grounds it would be a suicide, but you already did the impossible several times, first in Akuze, then in Elysium, and finally on Khar'shan, and we know that this will just be another crushing victory for you."
"Yes, sir." Shepard saluted Admiral Hackett, receiving a sharp one in return.
"Godspeed, Shepard."
With a nod, Shepard turned back and boarded the pod and was launched at Torfan with a trajectory heading towards the only flat surface with enough space to land on the small mountain, a bit over a kilometer long at the top.
The first length of the journey was boring. He was launched at Torfan from a range far enough for the ship to avoid detection, which meant Shepard had to spend a couple of hours doing nothing and chose the best option.
He went to sleep.
—
Torfan
The pod began to rattle as it entered Torfan's atmosphere, immediately waking Shepard up. The Alliance had worked hours to find the best angle and speed to ensure Shepard landed exactly where he was supposed to.
The pods usually had small mass effect fields to slow down when entering the atmosphere, but that would risk detection, so Shepard had to wait until they were beyond the sensor network to slow down and not turn into a human pancake.
—
"Hey, what's that?"
"Eh, it's nothing, just another meteor,"
"Are you sure?"
"Do you want to get up there and check?"
"Forget it."
—
At the predetermined time mark, Shepard engaged the mass effect field, stopping the pod's shaking and cutting down its speed sharply. He watched from the camera as he fell closer to the ground.
He hit the ten-kilometer mark, and the flaps were deployed to further slow the pod, but it was still moving at terminal velocities. Shepard was calm, though, as he did stuff like this for fun.
The altitude sensors automatically deployed parachutes at the three-kilometer mark, way past any detection methods, visual or otherwise.
Two kilometers, and the pod was sufficiently slowed down for a safe landing, if a rocky one.
When the pod entered the last kilometer, the thrusters burst to life, and within minutes Shepard landed safely on the plateau.
The pod opened with a hiss, and Shepard avoided touching the red-hot outer hull as he stepped out. Cracking his neck, he took out his climbing gear, including an oxygen tank with a mass effect field to lighten it up and a plasma torch, and made his way to the top of the mountain.
With two climbing axes with tips sharp enough to cut through stone like a hot knife through butter, Shepard began his ascent.
He stabbed the axe and pulled himself up before stabbing the other and doing it again. Settling into a rhythm, he made the three hundred meter climb in an hour, reaching the largest shaft at the very top of the mountain, which was frozen shut because of disuse after who knows how long.
One hand on the axe, the other on the plasma torch, he began to melt the ice and then cut the metal grate. The last part was cut, and the heavy grate almost dislodged Shepard, but he swung himself to the side, letting it fall down.
Taking his repelling gear, he secured it to the sides of the shaft. Ensuring they wouldn't come loose and fail him halfway, Shepard made his way down the shaft that would lead right into the life support room.
He had memorized the map of the base.
In the center, there was a market area where all the goods that were illegal in Council space were sold. Then there were five main areas; four were held by the most prominent gangs in Torfan, with Fourth Pillar being the overall strongest.
The last one was sort of a free zone due to being the unofficial dump of Torfan, where unaffiliated Batarians and other minority pirates resided.
His first target was the auction house in the market area, where the public announcement system was controlled, as it was a neutral zone. He had improved his voice modulator further and should have no problem passing as a Batarian as long as he kept the helmet on.
His first hurdle was a sensor array to scan for anything larger than a dust particle passing through. It was old and barely functioning, so Shepard sent a burst of electricity through it, frying the array.
—
"What happened?"
"The old sensor array, it seems it finally gave out."
"Aren't you going to repair it?"
"With what? We don't have the gear to climb there, and who cares about it anyway?"
—
Next scanner array, he had to be more delicate, lest someone suspect something. Shepard recalibrated the array to recognize him as something far smaller than he was, which meant it did not send an alarm as he passed through.
The final hurdle was a laser grid, meant to cut anything passing through into smaller parts if the scanners detected something, which meant he could pass without an issue.
Now, the only thing between Shepard and the base's life support system room was another grate. He scanned the room first, his advanced sensor suit showing him three cameras and two Batarians.
Quickly formulating a plan, Shepard put the cameras on a loop before he began to cut the old, rusted grate. Shepard fired a Singularity to stop the grate from falling moments before he finished and gently lowered it, along with himself.
"Hey, what the—" One of the Batarians shouted, watching the biotic slowly levitate down.
Shepard burst into action, putting one Batarian in stasis and neural-shocking the other. He put his omni-blade through the twitching Batarian's head and slammed the other when he came out of stasis with a biotic push.
The second Batarian went limp when his head hit the wall with a crack, and Shepard dragged both bodies to the supply closet. Leaving the cameras as they were, he went out, acting like he belonged.
Checking both sides for any cameras or pirates, he walked, heading to the market.
Through twisting hallways and roads, and more than one Batarian seizing him up for a hustle.
Like the one that shoulder-checked Shepard now.
"Watch where you're going." The green-gray Batarian, a tad shorter than Shepard, shouted as his buddy got in the N7's way, unaware of the fatal mistake.
"Get out of my way, whelp, before I gut you like a Varren and hang your mutt with your entrails," Shepard warned in his gravelly Batarian voice, the modulator working even better than before.
The aggression in his voice and stance forced the Batarians to back down, who decided it would be best to find easier prey.
Walking to the market area, he engraved everything in his mind. Stalls selling drugs, weapons, mods, and cybernetics so illegal Shepard would bet Councilor Sparatus would have a stroke just seeing them.
Slaves were plentiful too, mostly human due to the raids in the Skyllian Verge, but it was going to end soon.
Shepard stopped before a shop and went inside, inspecting the goods. Guns, grenades, explosives, rocket launchers, and a lot more lay under glass cases. He checked out the explosives; most were too low yield to work for him.
"Got anything with more power?" Shepard asked the shopkeeper. The Batarian was on the older side but wore armor with battle scars all over it, a sign saying he knew how to fight.
"Yes, for a premium price," the Batarian muttered, suddenly interested in the shopper.
"Not a problem, I need something good enough to leave an impression."
"Got a big target then?"
"I am going to join a raid against an Asari colony; you know how those blue whores could be with their biotics," Shepard grunted. Asari were favored targets of the slavers, but on planets outside the Council's jurisdiction, they knew how to put up a fight.
"Ah, I have just the thing," the shop owner said, reaching down and bringing up a case.
"Latest from the Hegemony: these are SIU-only explosives they use to blow up heavily defended places. You can turn any building to rubble with this," the old Batarian explained.
Shepard knew these; he had read about them in a report concerning a pirate raid on a colony and how the explosives they left behind were particularly destructive.
"Must be hard to get them," Shepard muttered, knowing SIU gear in the hands of someone not a part of their unit was a death sentence, hence why the Batarian was so eager to sell them.
"With the way things are in the Hegemony, some are looking to sell military hardware on the side for credits." The Batarian shrugged, all four eyes focused on Shepard.
"I'll buy all of them." With these, Shepard could cause more destruction than he intended in the first place.
"That's a hundred thousand credits for the whole." Eager to sell did not mean the shop owner was going to sell it cheap, apparently.
"Toss a rocket launcher and you have a deal," Shepard said after thinking for a while. A rocket launcher was always a handy weapon to have, after all.
"That's another twenty. Buy a dozen grenades, and I can agree."
"Fine."
Shepard wasn't bargaining because he was short of credits; he was doing it to not stand out, as one did not come and hand out that many credits so easily without drawing attention.
He also bought a backpack to store his explosives and grenades, and now that he secured the explosives, the second part of his plan was on.