Mass Effect: Mindoir's Child

MINDOIR'S CHILD

Chapter One - Insertion

Aboard the Alliance vessel SSV Trafalgar, Lieutenant Shepherd gave her gear a final check as she leant against the first of the frigate's eight M 35 Mako rovers locked down in the vessel's cargo bay. The vehicle had a bad representation as far as handling went, but Shepherd had few difficulties behind the wheel and so long as it kept moving, it was practically indestructible as far as small arms fire went.

And it has thrusters jets now, she reminded herself as if for the first time. The Trafalgar was pioneering a new insertion manoeuvre today and Shepherd was at the forefront of it. As an N6 operative, she was the most capable spec-ops soldier onboard and so the Alliance brass had seen fit to 'honour' her with the first field test of the Mako's new ability. Shepherd had already checked the rover's equipment earlier with the technicians and was reasonably sure the plan would work. If any one of a hundred things don't go wrong, that is.

'Lieutenant Shepherd.' A young Ensign came running up from the comm. station at the rear of the bay. Shepherd hadn't bothered to learn his name. 'Sir, Commander Anderson wants to speak with you.'

Shepherd motioned to her ear where a sub-dermal communicator had been implanted that was capable of interfacing with any Alliance comm. system. As the Ensign nodded and made the call transfer using his omni-tool, Shepherd took the break in conversation to don her helmet. Immediately the communicator interfaced with the suit and so when Anderson's voice came through, she heard him clearly in both ears.

'Lieutenant, what's the status of your unit? We'll hit atmo in less than five minutes.' Shepherd didn't have an established view of the vessel's executive officer yet. This was her first posting with the man and though she'd heard rumours about his prowess and everyone onboard knew his old armour bore the blood-red stripe of an N7 operative, she'd withheld judgment on his character as a matter of course.

'Teams two through eight all report ready.' As the leader of team one she decided reporting it as ready was a redundant exercise. Anderson should have already assumed her competence.

'Good. When you're groundside, your top priority is the command and control bunker. We'll have teams following behind but you're the tip of the Alliance's spear in this mission and you can't be distracted by secondary objectives.'

'I understand, sir.' Perfectly was a word she chose not to utilise. Anderson meant she shouldn't get distracted by the plight of any human slaves she might see. It wouldn't be a problem. She knew why she was here. Anderson's point reminded her of a converstion she'd shared with the senior officer the previous morning.

'I know this can't be easy for you, Shepherd. Your parents...'

'My parents are dead, sir. My mind's on the mission.' Shepherd's abrupt tone had held just enough measured respect so as to avoid insubordination. She was a soldier and personal feelings had no place on the battlefield. Everything was secondary to the mission.

'Good hunting, Shepherd.' Anderson's voice brought her back to the present.
'Yes sir.' Even before the link had gone dead, Shepherd was pulling herself up the side of the Mako which to her chagrin, had been stripped of its mounted cannon for this mission. She buckled herself in alongside her team, some of whom she knew, others not so much. Despite the unfamiliarity, each one had been handpicked by Anderson and her so she was confident in their individual abilities. Contained within their respective Makos the Trafalgar's cargo bay held some of the Alliance's most deadly soldiers.

Shepherd flexed her fingers around the awkward movement controls of the rover, hating the calm before the storm. There was nothing to check, nothing to say, and nothing to do. Unwillingly her mind flashed back to Mindoir.

The colony was typical in every way save that it lay within space claimed by the Batarians. Though Shepherd had been unaware of it at the time, the presence of humans in that area coupled with the Citadel Council's refusal to put a stop to this 'trespass' had led to the Batarians abandoning their Citadel embassy and becoming a rogue galactic state. Their first action as such was to attack Mindoir, murdering Shepherd's parents in the process and enslaving many others as a small child hidden by her mother just before the attack, watched the whole thing.

It had been on that day that Shepherd had seen death for the first time as the light faded from her parents' eyes. As far as the lieutenant was concerned they had gotten the better deal. Information circulated by the Alliance had plainly evidenced the brutal way Batarians treated their captives. Stripping them of name, dignity and eventually their humanity, those they claimed eventually became little more than cattle. Despite this, the Citadel Council had still refused to get involved. Their official reasoning had been two-fold. It was not in the best interests of the Galactic Community for the Citadel Fleet to engage in an advanced conflict, and it was thought not politik for them to become involved in a, "solely human affair." Shepherd, like most other humans though the reasoning much more simple. The council was made up of an asari, a turian and a salarian and each one of the trio was a damned racist who couldn't care less about the plight of innocent human colonists.

The flashing red bulbs of the cargo bay doors brought her back to the present. Taking her cue from the warning, she powered up the inert Mako and activated the vehicle's shields. Looking ahead she saw the Trafalgar's doors pull down not on the void of space but the harsh sunrise of their target. As her eyesight adapted to the view, she noted the onrushing clouds and knew from her pre-mission briefing that the frigate was now in a steep and deadly-fast dive. The nose of the craft would certainly begin to glow now and as she looked at the cargo bay door directly ahead, she saw the same phenomenon occurring on the belly of the ship. Orange flames licked around the edges of the open gap, all the more visible as the door opened fully and the excited rumblings of the rover were as nothing to the screeching whine of the Trafalgar's suicidal descent. A short timer appeared above Shepherd's head. As it hit zero, a further klaxon added to the cacophony of noise in the bay before Shepherd made her contribution. Slamming her feet into the ground she gunned the engines and jumped the Mako forward toward the fiery gate ahead. The strength required was immense as the velocity of the Trafalgar made for heavy gees, but she knew she wouldn't have to hold it long.

From the exterior, the sleek shape of the Trafalgar was seen to ease out of its steep dive. Its two parallel bay doors were almost impossible to see through the heat caused by the atmospheric entry and the two shapes that exited in tandem did so at a speed which was hard to follow.

Inside the cockpit Shepherd enjoyed a brief moment of clarity as the Mako began a smooth freefall, quickly interrupted by the thickening of the atmosphere and a resulting turbulence which threatened to tear the small vessel apart. Shepherd glanced at the recently installed altimeter, obviously marked as out of place by the swathes of black tape holding it to the dash. The rover was falling like a rock and though she didn't have time to check, she knew the same would be true for team 2, and the six that followed in pairs afterwards.

As the mako fell to the agreed height, Shepherd moved her feet backwards and kicked against a separate pedal. As she did the faintest of changes in the turbulence became evident, four heavy-duty thrusters rockets having been fired from the base of the mako. Slowly but surely the downfall began to slow. The only question was whether it would be soon enough but there was now nothing more Shepherd could do. As she waited for the inevitable, she flicked the comm. channel to listen in on the shared network. The news wasn't encouraging and the bursts in static that disrupted the feed were almost welcome as respite.

...is Team two. Thruster four won't fire. Descent is too quick... ...arians have opened fire with anti-aircraft... ...Mako three has been hit! All systems... ...Team six in spiralling descent, attempting to...

As grim as the news was Shepherd put it to the back of her mind knowing there was nothing to be done. If the enemy successfully fired on her mako with an AA gun she was history and if her descent had been miscalculated then there was no telling what might happen. Certainly there was no way she could hope to help the others teams of her unit before landing. As she considered all this she became only vaguely aware of her second in command counting backwards. It was only as the other lieutenant reached "one," that Shepherd recognised the sequence.

The Mako hit the ground at high velocity aft-first, causing an immediate counteraction that saw the rear section's shields fail instantly, the aft bulkhead crumple in on itself and rear tyres explode under extreme pressure leading the entire craft to flip forward through 270°, land upside-down once more on the decimated rear, and eventually land solidly on its roof, remaining wheels skewed and a solitary thruster intermittently firing in a vain attempt to drive the rover into the ground. Shepherd had arrived on Torfan.