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—
"The dinosaurs looked at Commander Shepard the wrong way once. Everyone knows what happened to them"
Kite's Nest
Harsa System
Khar'shan
Palace of Krudanz
Emergency Bunker
Secret Escape Train
Even the train they used for their escape was luxurious. Shepard guessed it was natural when you were a dictator.
He did consider leaving them behind, revealing just how easily they had folded before him to trigger the populace further, but decided they would be worth more to the Systems Alliance as a bargaining chip.
Not that the Batarians would be in a position to do anything after the devastation Khar'shan and their navy suffered but better to be safe than sorry.
Tied to the luxurious seats to ensure their compliance during the one hour journey to the hidden landing pad, the top of the Batarian ruling caste looked terrible. Having hauled around dead bodies and body parts for two days and then cleaned the room so it did not smell of blood, urine and other bodily fluids, they looked as if they came straight out of a horror movie.
Well deserved in his opinion.
He accessed the planetary feeds from his omni-tool, watching the slaves rampage across the planet. Without their control chips working and military bases destroyed, the local forces strained to contain the riots.
The Asari were proving to be especially devastating with their biotics and the rage of being a slave longer than most species lived.
Factories, plantations, and everywhere else the slaves were forced to work, they were fighting to earn their freedom, no matter what.
"What are you? No one should be able to do this by themselves" The Prime Administrator - Oseros, Shepard finally bothered to learn his name- asked, voice tired from all the gruesome hard work he had to do, feeling queasy just remembering it.
"Told you already, I am Commander Shepard"
"This will mean war, and your pathetic council won't save you" Oseros growled, but his threat was as real as his freedom, nonexistent.
"All those nuclear warheads I didn't use? As soon as one of your fleets enters the system to reinforce the planet, the program I left in there will fire them all when the ships are close enough" Shepard's tone was mocking, and his prisoners realized the implication of this.
Khar'shan was the homeworld of the Batarians, the cradle where they were born to be the masters of this galaxy.
A place holy to the entire species.
At least that's how they were indoctrinated by the constant propaganda and their education system.
They would send whatever warships they had to save it from the clutches of Commander Shepard, who would be long gone by the time any reinforcements arrived, and with their comm systems scrambled by the eezo spill out, riots and the destruction the planet faced even with him avoiding the said systems, these ships would only find wrecks and stations that appeared to be abandoned.
When they came too close for evasive maneuvers and the PDSs to be of any use, they would perish in nuclear fire.
"So, yeah, by the time everything comes to an end, either there won't be a Batarian Hegemony anymore, or they won't even have the power to fight the Alliance, or anyone else for that matter"
The rest of the journey was silent.
—
Underground Landing Pad
To avoid any kind of infiltration and attack, the underground landing pad was only known to the highest levels of the Batarian Hegemony, and the entire thing was automated, with rare check ups to ensure it was all operational. So there was no one to confront them and after checking the systems and entering the necessary commands to raise the pad to the surface, Shepard and the prisoners boarded the escape craft, a frigate with heavy armor and shield, built solely for speed to extract the Batarian leadership as fast as possible.
Piloting the craft single handedly would be a hassle, so he spent two days giving the VI a wider control over the systems to launch the craft and successfully make it to Alliance space.
Named something that loosely translated to Chariot, the frigate was already stocked with food and medicine, ensuring no further delays.
He locked the Batarians in the holding cells, and waited for the platform to rise. When the dust covered skies of Khar'shan finally appeared, Shepard did the last minute checks and launched the ship.
Harsa System
Mass Relay
The long gone part didn't exactly work out, as the Batarians had sent out close to a thousand ships fast enough to make it to the mass relay before him, in just about three days.
Then again, anyone who had their homeworld under attack would do anything to defend it. The leadships, a dreadnought, hailed him, and Shepard put on his helmet and activated the voice modulator, as the image of a Batarian in a gleaming black armor appeared.
"I am Admiral Grasrak. Identify yourself" his voice was authoritative and serious.
"This is Captain Kalor of the SIU. We are extracting the Prime Administrator and the Ministers out of Khar'shan to a secure place" Captain Kalor reported, watching the Admiral tilt his head.
"So they are alive? Good. I'll have some of my ships escort you" The Admiral offered.
"Unnecessary Admiral, the Prime Administrator wants all ships at Khar'shan to stop this Commander Shepard and his forces, and the place we are heading to is a secret known to few. Your ships are not amongst them"
"I'll speak to the Prime Administrator then" He growled at the refusal, but SIU directly reported to the Prime Administrator and he couldn't take his anger out on them.
"I can inform him Admiral, but he is extremely furious and is currently implementing the capital punishment on the Minister of War for his failure in defending Khar'shan, he might turn his anger on us if we disturb him right now" Captain Kalor explained.
Throughout Earth's history, many dictators had one common point, their soldiers would do anything to not draw their fury.
"Very well, continue, and inform the Prime Administrator that Admiral Grasrak will defend Khar'shan and bring him the head of this Shepard" The Admiral preened like a peacock, trying to get into the imprisoned Batarian's good graces.
"I will do so Admiral" He replied and took his helmet off after the connection was cut.
—
Alliance and Council Intelligence Agencies estimated the Batarian fleet to be around six thousand ships strong. With the Khar'shan Defense Fleet, numbering one sixth of their entire forces gone and another thousand or so about to meet their end very soon, which would mean one third of the Batarian Navy was out of action.
Shepard stayed back to watch the fireworks as the fleet entered FTL.
It wasn't long before he got a ping on his omni-tool, and opened a video feed.
Khar'shan's sky was illuminated by hundreds of miniature suns, as for the second time in a week, a fleet was destroyed above it.
The nukes knocked out the remaining stations and the video feed was cut.
Good thing Admiral Grasrak knew better than to stop him for a report.
—
Petra Nebula
Vetus System
Mass Relay
Shepard was busy munching on some rations when the ship came out of FTL, coming face to face with a dreadnought he recognized as SSV Mckinley, Admiral Hackett's ship and the flagship of the fifth fleet.
He was immediately hailed by the dreadnought and accepted the call and saluted the Admiral.
"Batarian frigate, this is Admiral" Admiral Hackett stopped after realizing who he was talking to.
"Commander Shepard?" The scarred man asked, puzzled. They were worried he had finally managed to get himself killed with his recklessness.
"Yes sir"
The Admiral slowly saluted him back, and Shepard lowered his arm.
"I have a feeling you have one hell of a report for me Commander"
"Yes sir, I do. I also have some prisoners you'll be delighted to see. Can you send a shuttle for pick up?"
"I'll send a security team over. See you shortly, Commander"
"Yes sir" Admiral Hackett nodded and the connection was cut. Shepard rose from his comfy chair to go and collect his prisoners, and made his way to the hangar.
—
The Chariot
Hangar
The Alliance shuttle landed on the open hangar, and the team immediately disembarked, checking for any dangers. Heading the team was his commanding officer, Captain David Anderson. Who looked both pissed and relieved to see him.
"You just can't stop getting into trouble can you, son?" Anderson asked, lowering his gun at seeing him.
"What trouble? I just took a little detour, that's all" Shepard shrugged. He didn't see what the problem was.
"So, who are your friends? The ones responsible for the attack on Elysium?" He gestured to the collared Batarians.
"No, that was a Turian named Elanos Haliat. He is dead. This is Oseros, the Prime Administrator of the Batarian Hegemony and his ministers" Shepard reported, while a sergeant came close, scanning him with her omni-tool for DNA confirmation, as was protocol.
The Alliance security team stopped in their tracks, turning to him as if he grew a second head.
"What?"
—
After the shock of his revelation wore off, he was immediately taken to McKinley for debriefing, while more shuttles went over to the Batarian ship to secure the ship and the prisoners.
"You sure this is not going to start a war?" Anderson asked for what felt like the millionth time.
"Yes, I am sure"
Shepard understood his worries, but a bit of trust would be appreciated.
"Wait till Admiral Hackett hears this. He'll either flip off, or recommend you for every medal there is"
"Probably both"
They headed to the meeting room, waiting for Admiral Hackett to arrive.
"Admiral on deck" A woman with red hair and green eyes, the Admiral's XO, entered the room first and the whole room stood at attention.
"At ease, sit down" Dressed in navy blues, Admiral Hackett's mere presence commanded order. With a scar running down his face, the years might have aged him on the outside, but he still was sharp as an omni-blade.
They took their seats while Hackett and his aide continued to, getting confirmation that they had a positive face match between Commander Shepard's prisoners and the Batarian leadership.
"Commander, when I expected one hell of a report from you, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind, care to explain?"
—
Twelve hours.
Twelve hours of caffeine, disbelief, outrage, and repetition later Admiral Hacket leaned back on his chair, rubbing his forehead.
"Two thousand ships, their planetary defense network and most of their military and civilian leadership gone, Khar'shan reduced to rubble - at least its ground forces- and the whole system they used to control the slaves out of commission with revolts all over their territory and the Prime Administrator and the Ministers as our prisoners. Did I miss anything, Commander?" Admiral Hackett asked for confirmation, and he wouldn't believe the whole thing if it wasn't for the prisoners and the video footage.
Even in one of those over the top Blasto movies this would sound like a script written by a hyperactive child and refused.
Yet one human, no matter how good he was, did the impossible and managed to bring an interstellar empire down, all by himself.
Even with overwhelming evidence in front of him, his brain simply refused to accept it.
"The pirate responsible for the attack, Elanos Haliat and his whole crew are dead too, sir" Shepard supplied, eyes heavy with sleep. The whole thing could have been over in an hour, but because of their reluctance it took twelve hours instead.
"Right" Admiral fell silent for a while, contemplating what to do.
"Frankly Commander, this is unprecedented on a whole new level. I have no idea what to do with this bomb you dropped on our hands. On one hand you ended the Batarian threat all by yourself, on the other hand you went off on an unsanctioned mission and risked starting a war, and as this goes beyond just military, I'll just write up a glowing report and let Arcturus handle it" Hackett's decision wasn't an easy one, but he believed it was the best he could do under current circumstances.
"But personally, I believe you did a service to the whole of humanity that will make history. Thank you, Commander" Admiral Hackett got up and held out his hand, going beyond rules and regulations.
Shepard rose as soon as the Admiral did and took the offered hand without saying anything.
"Now that we are done, all of you go and rest. I believe days to come will be challenging for all of us"