#ruthless shepard

[arburi]

#1 on the shepard codex?

You got it, mysterious stranger.

An entry from Shepard's childhood journal

I broke the rules a little and did a series of journal excerpts. I hope the end doesn't come off too... meh.

2166-04-11 Happy birthday to me, I guess. Mom gave me a diary for my birthday and said it’s something special and private to keep for myself. I remember her saying my handwriting “looks like chicken scratch” a couple of months ago. This is just her dumb way of getting me to write better. It’s real paper though. And she got me some pens to write with. Dad got me a tool set so I could help him with the hidropon water pumps. I guess I’m done getting the fun presents now that I’m 12.

......

2166-05-14

Mom keeps asking me if I’m writing in my diary. I tell her that it’s supposed to be private, and she just frowns at me. Anyway, she smiles when she sees me writing in it. I guess I can just write a bunch of dumb stuff in here so she’s happy. Dad said we might get a teacher on the colony soon. I hope we do so that I don’t have to keep trying to link to the comm buoy for school. Mom said we might have enough produce next month to buy some new farm equipment, and hopefully a new terminal for me.

......

2166-08-25

No school today. Dad said he needed my help with the farm equipment, and had me reach into engines to take stuff apart for him. He kept getting mad when I didn’t know what stuff was, but it’s not my fault! Had to pull out a eezo core from a surveyor drone. I didn’t realize they were so tiny, and I almost dropped it into the work bay.

......

2167-03-15

Mom and I went to the doctor today. She told me she has to go often because she breathed in a bunch of smoke and stuff when a shuttle blew up before I was born. Doctor said I’m a healthy young girl. Woo.

Mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday on the way home, and I told her I was running out of pages in my journal. I think it was the happiest I’ve ever seen her. She wants to see my handwriting later. I thought this was supposed to be private. >:(

......

2167-04-11

Happy birthday to me. Mom got me another journal, surprise surprise. It has a pretty cover with a bird on it. I didn’t know birds were that colorful. She got me a nice pen too, with blue ink instead of black. Dad had to leave to pick up supplies a couple days ago, but said he would bring me back something to make up for missing my birthday. He’s been joking about putting me on a colony work schedule, but if he does I’m going to be SO MAD.

2167-04-12

Is it dumb that I’m writing in this journal every day? I still think it’s dumb when I can just use a datapad, but Mom is right that my writing does look a lot better now. I had to go out and check the hydroponics myself today, since Dad is gone. It had a clog, but I was able to drain the hose and fix it myself. Mom looked at it and said it looked good. When she put it back on the timer, it started right up. I hope Dad is proud when he gets back.

2167-04-13

Dad’s back. He brought me a model starship, and told me it’s a Systems Alliance dreadnaught dreadnought. You have to put it together and paint it yourself, but he said we’d work on it together later. It’s really big, so I’ll probably need to ask Mom to build me a shelf for it.

......

2167-07-20

The teacher met with Mom and Dad today, and no one will tell me why. I’ve been doing my homework and studying, and I don’t think I did anything wrong. Mom and Dad told me not to worry about it, but that just makes me feel like I should worry more.

......

2167-08-10

I had to take a really hard test today. Everyone said not to worry and just do my best, but tests suuuck. It was a bunch of timed math, writing [not the fun kind], and puzzles. I don’t think I did all that great on it. I just want to go to bed now.

......

2167-08-27

They put me in a “gifted” class today, and I don’t have a teacher anymore. Back to using the stupid comm buoy. UGH!

......

2168-06-19

Sorry I haven’t written in a few days. I was helping Dad with an engine replacement, and something went wrong. The harvester’s heat system overloaded, and I don’t remember what happened after that. I woke up in the big colony hospital, and they wouldn’t let me leave until they said they knew I would be okay. I keep feeling tingly, but they said it was probably just from the concussion. I’m not allowed to do anything fun for the next week, and I can’t work on any equipment. This is stupid.

2168-06-20

I’m bored and still tingly. That’s all you get today.

......

2168-07-04

I’m not AS tingly anymore, but I told the doctor’s I felt normal. I’m sick of not doing anything other than cooking or checking harvest logs. Mom told Dad she didn’t want me working on any equipment again for a little bit, so I’ll be helping her with diagnostics and programming for the next month on top of school. Dad agreed way faster than I thought he would. I hope they don’t keep me from working completely.

......

2168-12-14

Showed Mom my new drone program today, and she seemed really impressed. I think I’m going to see if it will behave like a surveyor drone tomorrow when we check the hydroponics systems.

Told Mom I wanted a nice journal and pens for my birthday in a few months. She just laughed and said she’d already ordered me one. So much for a birthday surprise. Guess I’ll have to wait until April to get it, though.

......

2169-04-11

Happy birthday to me, and purple is now my favorite color. I’ve always liked reds and blues, so purple is just the best combination of the two.

Today marks three years of keeping a “stupid” journal. Okay Mom, you win. I like writing in one.

Dad took me to the work bay today and gave me a special gift. It’s a light rifle that he says he’ll show me how to shoot so long as I don’t tell Mom.

Yessss! My lips are fucking sealed.

......

2169-10-14

Dad told me we’d be doing target practice today, and took me out to a private part of the fields. We weren’t shooting spent cannisters this time, and he was instead showing me where to shoot on some propped-up dummies. He and Mom have been worried lately, and won’t tell me why. I got around the programmed content locks on the buoy, though. I think they’re worried about pirate raids. Mom was in the Alliance before I was born, and if something happens – I’ll make her proud.

......

2170-01-22

Overheard Dad arguing with an Alliance patrol today about increasing visits or a permanent station. I don’t think it went well, because he looked pissed when he got back to the work bay. He’s not hiding his worry about batarians or other raiders anymore, but won’t talk to me about it.

We got a new neighbor last week, and I finally met their daughter Terah. She’s my age! I’ve spent so long here with people younger and older than me, that I couldn’t figure out what to say and just mumbled a lot. I hope she doesn’t think I’m a complete idiot.

I passed my math and science exams last week. Mom asked if I wanted to enter upper-level courses early… and I think I do? It’s weird wanting to take on harder work. Mom seemed happy but kind of sad. I think she’s worried about me leaving and not coming back, but I’d never leave her and Dad like that. Maybe in a few years I can come back and teach or help build new supplies for the colony.

......

2170-04-11

Happy sweet sixteenth birthday! Mom and Dad threw me a surprise party. I think they needed a bit of fun as much as anybody. Mom bought me a new journal, but told me it wasn’t really much of a surprise anymore, so she got me another model ship. Apparently it’s an asari design? Dad seemed annoyed about that, but it looks cool. I do like journaling though. It’s been kind of fun keep a log of what I’ve done over the past four years, even if some of the older entries seem kind of… dumb.

Dad brought out a makeup box, and I nearly bit through my lip. He thought it would be funny to disguise a new omni-tool (!!!) as something he knew I’d hate. I want to call him a jerk, but holy shit this thing is great. Way faster than my old second-hand one.

......

2170-05-19

The other colonists have been talking about unknown ships passing through the system lately, and Mom and Dad have me putting my boots and critical needs next to my door in case we have to leave quickly. I’ve already set a personal supply pack in the underground shelter. It’s probably nothing, like they say, but I still feel nervous. I hacked into Mom’s omni-tool last night, and apparently they’re looking up stuff on moving to a colony closer to Earth. I really don’t want to leave.

Terah and I are going out to look at stars tomorrow night after I help her with her chemistry homework. Hopefully the weather will be nice.

......

......

......

ALLIANCE MISSION REPORT DATE: 2178-03-08 SUMMARY: TWO days ago, on March 06, 2178, a Systems Alliance fleet assaulted the tightly held moon of Torfan. Orbital vessels and surface structures were destroyed prior to a landing company raiding the subterranean base. The company consisted of 165 marines under the command of Major Kyle. The initial breaching of the bases was successful, but marine forces met heavy resistance just inside the created breach. Major Kyle experienced a combat stress reaction and was unable to issue orders to withdraw. Second Lieutenant Jane Shepard, leading her platoon of 40 marines, advanced without Kyle’s leadership. Lieutenants Bregman, Harris, and Tan initially followed Shepard into the base, but fell back after suffering heavy losses. Lieutenant Shepard drove her platoon into the base, using high explosives and grenades to breach and clear rooms. They met heavy resistance from the primarily batarian occupants, with increasing losses in her platoon. Armor-camera footage from recovered marines and Shepard’s own armor shows her pushing her forces into excessively dangerous situations, often with overwhelming odds against them. To her own credit, Lieutenant Shepard lead from the front during the entire conflict. Camera records show a no-quarter policy taken by Shepard, with surrendering forces gunned down. When questioned by Corporal Markus Torres, Shepard responded with comments that the enemy forces themselves do not show mercy. Camera audio related to equipment damage cuts out during a brief argument. Torres could not be questioned in relation to this conversation, as he was killed in action shortly afterward.

Four hours and seventeen minutes after the initial breach, Lieutenant Shepard rejoined Major Kyle and the other platoons with her remaining forces, now numbering nine including herself. No enemy forces were found alive within the base once a second platoon had been dispatched inside. The following interview excerpt with Lieutenant Shepard occurred shortly after her debrief.

Colonel Eduin Rivere (ER): You do understand the potential charges that may be placed against you, correct lieutenant? Lieutenant Jane Shepard (JS): I understand them. ER: And did you understand them prior to and during the raid on the Torfan base? JS: I did. ER: May I ask why then you chose to send your platoon into an enemy base with the orders to give no quarter to enemy forces, currently legally acknowledged as a war crime? JS: … ER: Lieutenant? JS: … ER: Lieutenant Shepard, are you refu- JS: We had a job to do. We got it done. If we hadn’t wiped out that base, they would have entrenched themselves deeper until even orbital bombardment wouldn’t have dug them out. ER: A tactical withdraw and siege would have achieved similar results without the loss of life or invalidation of sentient rights. JS: Is that your tactical assessment? Easy to make from a cushy chair. ER: Excuse me? JS: You weren’t there. You don’t know how they are. ER: Lieutenant, I served during the First Contact War. I had ample experience on Shanxi with enemy forc- JS: The turians were a military, not slavers. Not batarians. They had rules against killing cowards. ER: Excuse me, lieutenant? I- What is that you have? JS: What? ER: In your hand. You’ve been fiddling with it throughout our interview. JS: It’s… nothing. Just a pen.

[dalekofchaos]

Fixing Kai Leng

The problem with Kai Leng is Mac Walters desperately tried to convince us that Leng was Shepard's ultimate equal when he could barely hold his own against an aged Anderson and a Drell with terminal cancer and in the end he was a tryhard egdelord that would make Kylo Ren embarrassed.

The solution to this is make Leng deeply connected to Shepard's personal history. Making him be a ghost from Shepard's past with a personal connection would have made this character much better. His backstory could change with whatever your selections are for Shepard.

If you are Earthborn, you are both members of the 10th Street Reds

If you are a Spacer, Leng and Shepard's families served together and Shepard and Leng were childhood friends

If you are a Colonist, Leng was Shepard's childhood friend and was in the rubble with Shepard

If you are a War Hero, Leng was wounded as Shepard held off the Batarians during Elysium. Leng's survival and stand against the Batarians attack on Elysium caught Cerberus' interest.

If you are Sole Survivor, you both survived an ambush on Akuze. Only Leng wasn't taken to be experimented on. Leng was recruited into joining Cerberus for his survival. Cerberus convinces Leng that the Alliance left him for dead and so did Shepard. Leng's sense of betrayal and human supremacy leads him to joining Cerberus

If you are Ruthless, you and Leng slaughtered the Batarians on Torfan without mercy, The sense of ruthlessness inspired Leng's cold hearted exterior and human supremacist beliefs and led him to Cerberus.

Where do we go from here? Replace Jacob with Kai Leng. And the books would be his ventures with Cerberus(but less as a cringe tryhard) Jacob ultimately added to nothing. He's so fucking boring and unlikable and turns into the stereotypical black guy who cheats on you.

Kai Leng's motivation when it comes to Cerberus would be this. I would say he was a young man who wanted to serve the human race and the alliance but when he saw that the politics of the Alliance kept holding him back from doing the right thing or the greater good,  he saw that Cerberus was the only ones helping humanity.

Remove the cyber ninja aesthetic and combine Soldier, Adapt and Engineer to make him a Cerberus super soldier.

As for Kai Leng. A Leng who has personal history with Shepard has potential, plus Leng being indoctrinated with Cerberus human supremacist beliefs, but also somebody with a moral conscience when it comes to the missing human colonists, somebody emotional that you could agree with or understand, contrasting Miranda as a starting squadmate.

Through the course of ME2, he would grow on you as the rest of the squadmates of ME2 did. His loyalty mission would be centered around our background. If we're a War hero, we hunt down the Batarians who survived Elysium. If we are Sole Survivor, we hunt down the Alliance officer who led their squad to Akuze. If we're Ruthless, we deal with Batarians who want revenge for Torfan who plan on giving human hostages to the Collectors. Throughout their talks, Shepard can convince Leng that Cerberus is wrong and eventually Leng's loyalty with Cerberus begins to wavers, especially after TIM sends them to be ambushed in the Collector ship.

Leng started completely loyal to Cerberus, but when he works with Shepard he sees that Cerberus is wrong, but stayed loyal, but also loyal to Shepard. When The Illusive Man asks Shepard to give the base over and when he/she refuses, he asks Leng to force it. This is where Kai Leng finally stands up to Cerberus. Kai Leng all his life, all he wanted to do is serve and protect humanity. He sees that the humans of the Terminus Systems were proceed into becoming a human Reaper and was horrified and when the man he looked up to for years says we should use what killed the humans, he gets the message we should sacrifice humanity and the costs of uplifting humanity. Kai Leng has had enough. He sees through the illusion of Cerberus and with Miranda tells TIM to fuck off and he stays loyal to Shepard.

Between the events of ME2 and ME3, when Shepard betrays Cerberus, they realize that Kai Leng is probably the strongest link between Shepard and themselves, and try to use him against Shepard. Not as lucky as Miranda, TIM does not want to lose Leng so he captures and indoctrinates Leng, making him an agent, and reprogramming his mind to become somebody he was not before, working mindlessly for TIM, as his first lieutenant in combat, much like Bucky Barnes, we have an emotional connection to Kai Leng before seeing him as a villain in ME3.

The first time we'd see Leng in ME3 is on Earth. We see this lead Cerberus Phantom in a unique mask stalking you and Anderson. And as we're leaving Earth, we see Kai Leng killing Anderson. With Shepard swearing revenge.

Throughout ME3, Leng would be stalking Shepard. Causing trouble as we encounter Cerberus. Trying to kill Eve, activating the bomb on Tuchunka and the attempt on the Council.

He would become the same Kai Leng that we all know and hate but we would be able to sympathize with him more.

When we finally confront him in Priority Citadel, we face him and omni-slash his mask off. We get the reveal. Shepard is shocked, Leng hesitates after hearing Shepard utter his name. Maybe in the Cerberus coup on the Citadel, if his loyalty mission was completed in ME2, he would not kill Thane, out of respect of a former squadmate, and regain conscious thought again for a brief moment to spare him. 

It would also help to explain his inexplicable plot armor. Rather than surviving against the onslaught of Shepard due to plot reasons, he would not be killed, as Shepard still sympathizes with him, and doesn't want to kill him, sparing him and letting him escape, or not being able to fully focus, hoping there's a little bit of the real Kai Leng still in there.

Of course this would lead to multiple outcomes towards the end of the game. He could either be recruited back or un-indoctrinated somehow, but for a good plot he would only be able to turn good again and rejoin the squad way too late in the game, maybe in the last third of the game, like Legion in ME2. Bonus points if you can romance him as Femshep, would still make a better romance carrying on to ME3 than Jacob.

Otherwise, he would have to be killed and could not be saved. I don't think that convincing him to commit suicide like Saren or TIM would work, because it would be too similar to the TIM suicide not too long, and would lose impact because of it. He would have to be fought and killed one last time in combat, and have a tragic end most likely.

If we saved Kai Leng, he would've been transported on the beam. Depending on your reputation and war readiness, Leng can break through the indoctrination and kill The Illusive Man or Leng kills himself, which distracts TIM and Shepard shoots The Illusive Man. If Leng broke through and killed TIM, he apologizes for killing Anderson and being unable to control himself. If you were just friends they hug, if they were LI, they kiss. Leng's fate would be either being aboard the Normandy to put Shepard's plaque on the memorial or finding Shepard's body and bringing him back and then we'd get Shepard putting Anderson's plaque on the Normandy.

SO that's how I would've handled Kai Leng. Making him more connected to Shepard and less of a tryhard edgelord that they made him to be in canon.

[agirlwithadiary]

It's all fun and games until you talk to talitha on the citadel.

[lonesurvivorao3]

Shenko Snippets - Alchera

They’re a hundred feet away from the next escape pod when an explosion rips through the bridge below, shattering it into pieces and violently shaking them.

It’s not about winning.

Kaidan is ahead of her, but he knows she’s stopped running, so he does, too, and turns. Impossibly large chunks of the hull float through the vacuum of space, isolating Joker from any rescue effort. If he’s still alive, and there’s no way to know that.

It’s about being decent.

What’s left of the SR1 strains and keens beneath their feet. Without hesitating, she orders him to go, get himself and the others to safety. Of course she’s going to try and save him.

More importantly, its kind.

An acrid taste fills his mouth, but he nods, mirroring the swift and decisive actions of his wife. It’s the least he can do.

It’s the only thing I can allow myself to be.

After sealing the door, he programmes the navigation system, removes his helmet, staring fixedly through the small round window along with the other six crew members.

Maybe there’s no point to it.

He knows where the closest escape pods are, thinking she’d made all the right moves during the last few months, becoming someone who would no longer be a terrible disappointment to her grandmother, just a few more good moves in the next few minutes.

But this is who I am now.

He sees the strange ship swing back around.

I will stand here, fighting to be kind until I fall.

He sees the beam aiming at the skeleton of the SR1 a second time, in the vicinity of his wife and their pilot.

Until it kills me.

The acrid taste spills from his mouth and onto the grilled floor.

[dr-ladybird]

what if no telekinesis

au with non biotic kaidan. Nice together bloke who became a doctor or a nurse or something and was making himself useful on the Citadel. probably great at treating chronic pain.

Reapers hit. He gets drafted into the war effort. now shipping him with Butcher of Torfan.

[blackjackkent]

Kaidan watches Jenna closely as they walk out of Major Kyle's compound. She is silent, staring intently at a spot somewhere in the middle distance.

"Are you all right, Commander?" he ventures to ask.

"Just glad not to be the Butcher of whatever the hell this planet is, too," she answers shortly. "Hackett's people should be down soon to pick them all up."

A pause.

"You knew him, from Torfan?" Kaidan tries again. He's gotten to be able to read her pretty well; he knows she's rattled by the conversation with the former Major, but not whether she'll want to talk about it.

Jenna grunts. "He was the one gave me the orders to go," she says with a slight shrug of one shoulder (a maneuver that requires some effort in a stiff hardsuit). "Gave us, I should say. Me and my sergeant, and our platoon." She smiles bitterly. "Very explicit and direct orders. 'Millions of civilians in danger...victory at any cost...' Things like that."

Garrus glances over his shoulder. "And now he feels responsible for how many people died," he says noncommittally.

Jenna gives him a sidelong look. "You can go ahead and say it," she says. "He feels responsible for all the people I got killed."

Garrus shifts uncomfortably, glances at Kaidan, who hurries to fill the awkward pause in the conversation. "And so he's here now...running a cult. Talking about protecting people, and 'family', and 'blasphemy.' Bit of a 180, if you ask me." He frowns. "Must've hit him pretty hard."

Jenna snorts without humor. "You know I'm the last to say PTSD ain't a real thing," she mutters. "God knows we all know how this shit sticks with you. But given I'm the one who actually had boots on the ground and blood on my hands, you'd think I'd be the one cracking up, not him."

She cocks her head to one side, absently running her eyes over a heavy scratch on one side of the Mako. "Maybe I should try it for a while. Just go off the deep end. Really let myself think about everyone who's died because of me, because it was the only option or because every alternative was worse, and just go all the way to pieces. Might make for a nice change of pace."

There's a long silence. Neither Kaidan nor Garrus knows how to respond to this, and so they stay silent. The bitterness in Jenna's voice is unusual, a vent given to thoughts she usually keeps locked up tight rather than burden anyone around her.

Then the moment passes, she shakes her head sharply and reaches up to hoist herself into the Mako's small cockpit. "Ah, fuck it. Too much work still to do."

[theoriginalladya]

WIP Wednesday

So, no surprise, another Shepard in my head! lol  

Gabriel “Ree” Shepard    Colonist/Ruthless/Adept

Still trying to sort him out, but to do so I’ve been drabbling.  Here’s a bit of the drabble.  Super rough, but a good start.

~~~

He is known as the Avenging Angel of Mindoir; the only survivor, the only one who knows.  The man who watched as his parents were butchered by batarian slavers, the one who fought back, alone, taking as many of them down with him as he could.  Only, he didn’t.  By the time the Alliance found him, he’d killed a good two dozen on his own; he nearly took out the commander of the squad who found him.  Batarians know him by name, some by face; those who are smart enough fear him.  Most are not that smart.  They view him as a trophy to be won; proof to the hegemony that the Alliance has it out for them.  

He is one man, one voice, one Angel.

He is known as the Butcher of Torfan.  The cold-hearted, calculating, ruthlessly efficient lieutenant who sacrificed most of his unit deep in the strongholds of that moon; the one who executed surrendering batarians rather than take them prisoner.  Assigned this mission specifically because he does not flinch when duty requires it. The batarians wanted him brought up on war crimes; to reward his success, the Alliance sends him to ICT, to train as the perfect weapon, the one to send in for worst case scenarios.  

He is one man, one voice, one soldier.

Gabriel “Ree” Shepard cares not what others think of him.  He has a job, a duty, a purpose; that is all that matters.  The happy-go-lucky kid from Mindoir, the kind-hearted soul so willingly generous with his time for those who asked of it; that person was killed when the batarians attacked, executed along with his family, his friends and everyone else who failed to make it off the colony.  Ree Shepard died and Gabriel Shepard, the Avenging Angel, was born from his ashes.

And the galaxy hasn’t been the same since…

[noughtomaton]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Female Shepard (Mass Effect), David Anderson (Mass Effect), Nihlus Kryik, Ashley Williams, Kaidan Alenko, Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Karin Chakwas, Saren Arterius, Donnel Udina, Urdnot Wrex, Dad!Anderson Additional Tags: everyone except shep and anderson are only briefly in the background, PTSD!Shepard, tw: PTSD, Mass Effect 1, extremely early game, batarians killed her family, now shep kills batarians, #healthycopingmechanisms, only goes until shep takes over the Normandy, no realtionships other than an Anderson/Shepard Father/Daughter relationship, Minor Violence

Words: 2789

Summary:

Batarians attack Mindoir. Shepard survives. ONLY Shepard survives. Anderson is part of the Alliance rescue team. He finds himself adopting a traumatized kid. Shepard's hatred of batarians haunts her early career. She makes choices. Anderson keeps on loving her.