THE FIGHT IS EVERYTHING
FIGHT 1; RYU
SEPTEMBER 2014
AUTHORS NOTES
AU take involving characters and concepts from Mass Effect and Street Fighter franchises.
'This' means someone is thinking.
Italics alone means the name of something, i.e. Mass Effect core.
Horizontal ruler (a line across the page) means a page break or timeskip. It may be a few minutes, it may be a few hours...
-X- means a scene change, i.e. we start with Ryu in the street, then we go to Ken in a secret location.
Disclaimer; I do not own Street Fighter or Mass Effect or any of the characters or ideas involved. This is non profit-I am making no money from this.
Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik System, 2182…
A seemingly endless cloud of cold dead rocks and debris from failed planets and lost spacecraft flowed around an ocean of engine lights headed to and from a singular destination. It was no promised land announced by heavenly light however. The visitors were drawn to an evil red glow generated by the space station Omega. Far from being a beacon to hope, the monstrous space construct, invading and spreading out from an asteroid almost like a grotesque mushroom was like a magnet to the scum of the galaxy, from across the galaxy, criminals, junkies, terrorists, mercenaries, hitmen, fugitives, spies and countless other beings fleeing from someone or something stepped onto this mismatched mechanical nightmare.
The wanderer knew that upon stepping off their ships all visitors would be assaulted (sometimes literally) by the smell of death and decay and disturbing chemicals. As they progress deeper into the station they see arms dealers with shops and trinket stands side by side with brothels, drug labs out in the open right next to seemingly legitimate businesses like fruit stands and mechanical workshops. Bodies, left looted and stripped of clothing lay in the streets in some of the worse neighbourhoods while those who wished to be dead danced and laughed as they spun high on drugs. Members of a dozen species walked the blood stained districts for all sorts of reasons.
The wanderer had a reason, unafraid of the wave of killers all around him he headed to one of the few places on Omega that others would show respect, the closest Omega got to orderly, the Afterlife tower.
Forty-five storeys high, the building was originally built centuries ago to manage all operations in what was now the Tyros sector. In the beginning the building controlled mining, starship traffic, life support for the entire sector, security and communication. While Omega had grown many times larger, the tower still had all the tools to control the entire Tyros sector at the press of a few haptic controls. Due to it strategic position many of the space stations former leaders had occupied the tower and modified it in their own image. Its current owner had a particularly exotic take on it; the bottom regions were the entertainment floors, sentients of a dozen species interacted in as peaceful a manner as possible on the station of the fallen; dancers stripped to beating music, prostitutes escorted paying customers off to private rooms, gambling took place on tables where each player had a gun on the table in front of them sending the message "cheat and die". despite this one drunk, a salarian was still stupid enough to pick a fight- the second time he'd done so that week and Roadush, one of the clubs elcor bouncers made an example of him by bringing his massive foreleg(or hand) down on the amphibian turning him into a blood smear. After a moment of shock activity went back to normal in the club.
Above the entertainment floors were facilities devoted to weaponry, guns and explosives enough to start and win a war and conference rooms for Arias various guests.
On the same level as the conference rooms were observation decks long since converted for use by snipers and heavy artillery including plasma bolters, lasers and mass accelerators. More than a few guests to the tower had been thrown off the observation balconies as part of punishment killings and "negotiation strategies".
At the top of the tower were hangars and docking bays for fighters and shuttles and small frigates.
Near the top of the tower was the office of the master of Omega herself, the pirate queen Aria T'Loak.
In the office lay Ken Masters, manacled down onto a cold metal slab, built-in pulse disruptors negated the Shadow Broker agents biotics. He had been searched by two of Aria's asari bodyguards. Searched so thoroughly he now found himself naked except for his pants (a sandwich of carbon nanotubes floating in a shear-thickening gel between standard civilian clothing in a gaudy shade of red) with his wrists and ankles manacled to a very uncomfortable slab.
"Hmm, you've redecorated since I was here last." Ken spoke to the apparently empty room smirking at a recently repaired coach.
"Ken Masters. Returning to Omega so soon after our mutual disagreement with Cerberus?" A cold voice rang out from somewhere.
"Well, I haven't been able to get you out my mind. Your voice, the twinkle in your eye as you as you disemboweled that Cerberus goon with his own sword… you'll excuse this gentleman if he doesn't get up and pay his respects."
Aria T'Loak appeared from the dark shadow in the room and circled ken, looking at something in her hand as though it was more interesting than the restrained half-naked man. "A gentleman are you? Former AIS agent who faked his death and went rogue after illegally accessing files on the SA's project Lightbulb…"
Ken shrugged trying to nonchalant though the pirate queens attempts to provoke him. "I didn't like the System Alliance killing thousands of people in staged accidents to create a handful of biotics."
A flick of her wrist and Aria revealed she was holding an OSD in her hand, studying it distantly.
"So touchy. I hope my guards weren't too rough with the greeting? The restraints aren't too tight are they?" She mocked knowing the human would take concern from a woman as humiliating.
"You mean the twins with the soft tough? I thought they were masseuse. You wanting to pamper me or something." Ken struggled not to laugh at that.
"I haven't reviewed your disc yet. Just made sure it didn't have any surprises within. My relationship with the Shadow Broker has been strained since I found that spy in my club-" "-And tortured and killed. Brutally I might add." Ken jumped in happily as though they were talking about skyball. Most people who interrupted Aria T'loak indeed died brutally but the blond human just amused the pirate queen.
"I never did thank you for eliminating Petrovsky- and without a deal beforehand."
"I know, and the generosity of Aria T'loak is legendary."
Aria grabbed Ken by the hair.
"The powers of the galaxy, from the terminus elites to the grand chain of Primarchs tread carefully around me, yet you act like a little asari maiden trying to talk big to a big scary krogan. What is going on beneath that freakish heap of fur Masters?"
"It's called hair. And it is fabulous."
Aria circled Ken studying him like a product not releasing her vice grip on his hair.
"Humans are making so much noise- war with the batarians, a rogue nation not paying obeisance to the elite of the citadel races… independent colonies springing up all over the terminus and traverse… individuals such as yourself rising to prominence in the Shadow Broker hierarchy… many would love to see me kill you… or humble you."
"Really? But I always feel humble in the pirate queens presence." Ken lied.
Aria's hands strayed down to Ken's legs, then to his crotch. She unbuckled Ken's pants and pulled them open. Aria stepped onto the table, her long legs towering either side of the restrained humans body.
"Hmm. I thought I would have to work to get you ready in such frightening conditions." She poked Ken's erection with her boot.
"You would have to work very hard if I wasn't chained down."
-X-
Later...
Aria stepped off the gasping, sweating human, her eyes went from deep black to the usual cold blue as her inhumanly complex nervous system 'powered down' somewhat as she withdrew from the meld she locked the human into. She had ascertained that he was not concealing anything from her she hadn't already figured out (though the Shadow Broker was well-known for compartmentalization) and... indulged herself physically with the endearing human and entering his surprisingly complex and powerful mind. Also, no matter how old you got an asari never tired of the pleasure of having someone helpless beneath her.
"… whoa… are you gonna release me now…?" Ken asked.
"I unlocked the manacles a while ago. You were too busy holding onto the sides to notice. And screaming."
Ignoring the human and getting back to business, Aria had been in contact with the galaxy's foremost spy master regarding the recent collapse of the Dagal crime syndicate led by krogan warlord Urdnot Wreav, leader of the Urdnot krogan clan and member of the terminus elite and unofficially aria's subordinate in the so-called "alliance of the fallen". The krogan disappeared two weeks ago and while clan Urdnot carried on without him as Tuchanka clans always did, his organisation of arms and mercs had collapsed soon after.
Aria's sources had detected a pattern of individuals of great combat ability being targeted and either outright killed or simply disappearing.
"Your boss had contacted me not long after claiming he had found something that was assured to be of interest to me; vid surveillance of clan Urdnots throne room. I hope you don't disappoint."
"I never disappoint. I'm hurt you'd say that." Ken called out from Aria's fridge he was now raiding for liquor. The pirate queen was amused at the humans arrogance at daring to invade her fridge. Attempting any level of theft on Omega without Aria's knowledge and consent was death.
After transferring funds to a bank account on Illium that she knew would be emptied out and closed down almost immediately after payment, Aria received the information via encryption that would impress even the codebreakers of Sur'Kesh.
Still naked from the waist down Aria slipped the OSD into her isolated computer terminal. The resolution on the camera was impressive, Aria's eyes could make out the dust in the air, the spider webbing of cracks all over the ancient bomb-proof walls, the bloodstains from the last person Wreav tried to torture in to giving up information on the whereabouts of the females and children of rival clans.
Aria made a note to hire a new scanner team to secure her base. Several STG operatives owed her a favor from when she leaked information about Jona Sederis got the "divine inspiration" as the lunatic called it to detonate a couple of salted nukes on a world that had "angered the Goddess" or something.
-X-
Two weeks earlier, Tuchanka, ruins of Horrus city…
Dust and rust and death smothered the ruined throne room, like it smothered everything else on the krogan homeworld. Trophies of various foes killed by Wreav lined the dozen meter thick ceramacrete walls including the severed head of turian Spectre Rymius Kryso, rival battlemaster Taka Kubba, a heart from a member of the famed Blackblood Serpent unit of the Asari commandoes, the cybernetic arms of an Atermentarii hit squad were the highlights of a neglected collection gathering dust amidst the destruction of the underground bunker.
A human entered the room via twelve foot tall duranium doors built to stop mass accelerator artillery shells. He wore a strange outfit consisting of a white material that appeared torn at the shoulders and ankles. He wore no footwear and carried no weapons, giving the impression of a transient until one saw the look in his eyes and the structure of his body; while small compared to the eight foot krogan the human would strike most other races as one of the most powerfully built humans they would ever see; musculature as dense as the pharmauged shock troopers the blue suns were so fond of using, however the figures eyes weren't those of a genemod junky- human eyes were expressive enough for other aliens to detect most very dangerous fighters at a glance. Brown eyes burned beneath a well-worn red handband that trailed down his neck to his shoulders.
"We checked him for weapons clan chief, he has none."
Urdnot Wreav stared down from one of his thrones at the figure in disdain.
"A tiny human had stepped onto Tuchanka, asked for the colony of the strangest of the krogan clans, asked for Urdnot Wreav by name… why?"
"I am a fighter. Seeking to improve my skills by fighting the strongest warriors I can. You are considered one of the strongest warriors on Tuchanka." The voice, deep and unwavering unlike most human jabbering.
"This is Tuchanka, when I defeat my enemies they die." Wreav rumbled.
"You beating me isn't the certainty you think it is."
Wreav laughed- it sounded like a giant predator choking.
"I should have my guards feed you to the varren, but you've made me laugh, for the first time since we nuked that aid convoy last month." The other krogan rumbled with laughter at that.
"So I'll show you a krogan warrior in the five seconds it takes for you to die."
The two faced each other in battle postures; Wreav was low, his massive head in to protect the neck(always attack the neck on a krogan), the intruder stood in the posture of basic shotokon the martial art he learned before… the facility got a hold of him. While Ryu knew dozens of martial arts from several species he started and often fell back on the Shotokan taught by master Gouken of the strongest dojo on Amaterasu.
Wreav attacked first racing forwards at a speed unbelievable for a human track runner let alone an eight hundred pound reptile, fists as solid as sledgehammers lashed out and Ryu noticed the krogan unleashed right and left with no apparent off-hand or the slow-down associated with tensing up after multiple punches. Ryu's reflexes, unnaturally amplified by torturous experimental procedures allowed him to dodge easily and deliver an uppercut that rocked the massive beast backwards. The krogan reeled backwards surprised that a human could deliver enough force without biotics to hurt him; even the Cerberus squad- all jacked up on pharmaugs and bones reinforced with ceramics couldn't punch him and cause pain without dark energy in the blow.
The hand to hand continued with the ancient krogan losing his temper- the human was fast- and his blows were like an annoying bug. Also humans smelt bad to him so he decided to squash the bug with a biotic wave, that the human blocked with an equal biotic wave.
The krogan was dumbfounded. "Why didn't you use biotics earlier?"
"I wanted this to be a fight between equals."
"EQUALS!?" The veteran of two of the greatest wars in galactic history was enraged the human considered himself an equal. He unleashed his full power intending to turn the arrogant monkey into paint on his floor.
A storm of biotic blasts collided tearing up the stone floor that had endured centuries of conflict.
The krogan leapt through the biotic storm, timing it so no damage was done to his mammoth body. He lashed out with a flurry of punches capped off by a shoulder charge that broke Ryu's barrier and sent him flying, despite the hit that would have killed a regular man Ryu rolled through the attack effortlessly.
Growing angrier the krogan chief unleashed more biotic collisions; the room, the whole fortress shook, with the ancient krogan growing angrier that the human continued to stand tall.
Bellowing in fury the krogan summoned a pillar of dark energy above him like a tower of living purple. He brought it crashing down on Ryu almost simultaneously to his sledgehammer fists physically colliding with the floor with the ancient battlemaster crouched and grinning at the definite disintegration of his enemy.
'That move has crushed battle tanks and columns of power suit wearing troops… there is no way-' "Whu?"
Standing before the krogan were two trenches three metres deep where the ground had been cleaved/crushed. Between those trenches was a zone of unscathed ground where the human stood.
'No way.. only that mealy-mouthed Justicar survived that move… and she dropped dead a minute later with half her organs paste…'
Ryu went on the attack with biotic melee; punches and kicks augmented by dark energy to shatter stone and crush metal. Dodged, blocked, redirected, countered. Finally the krogan lost the line of Ryu's attack; the human dropped below the eight-foot beasts guard, used a glowing backhand to sweep away the giants weakened biotic barrier. The krogans red eyes widened as he saw the attack too late to do anything. Ryu drove a biotic uppercut into the krogans jaw snapping the huge head back. The eight hundred pound reptile giant arched over, red eyes to the sky as Ryu soared over him. He hit the ground with a boom that echoed through the destroyed arena. Ryu landed after hitting a perfect Shoryuken.
"Go on… kill me…" The krogan growled.
"I was trained… and later programmed to fight…. But I will not kill. It is a line I will not cross. Thank you for the excellent fight."
He bowed and left.
The krogan was left staring up at the ceiling in shock, not understanding what happened.
-X-
Back on Omega
The vid ended with the human leaving the ancient krogan defeated and humiliated.
Aria stared at the now black screen, nothing showed on her exotic violet-coloured face except minor annoyance.
"Quite a show huh?" Ken sat by her sipping a bottle of her Noverian rum and relaxing on her coach next to her. A flash of annoyance flitted through the pirate queen. She had tortured people to the edge of death, healed them, mentally raped them and left them as drooling vegetable husks hanging above the clubs entrance as a warning for less affronts than Masters'.
Using a series of vectored biotic pulses (something only a handful of people who weren't asari or a few centuries old could do) she reopened the liquor refrigerator Ken had just violated and levitated a bottle of eighty year old Noverian rum towards her. She opened the container and sipped straight from the bottle long since discarding the asari notion of being gentle and graceful in all things as her many enemies and lovers could attest.
As Aria debated how best to punish Masters a chime echoed through the room and the voice of Hala, an asari Aria had "rescued" from a Batarian count who tried to cheat Aria out of some money rolled through the room.
"Mistress T'loak, there is a rather… forceful individual here who wishes to see you…"
Aria flicked a holo button and holoscreens materialized showing heaps of unconscious bodyguards and utter devastation of several corridors of the Afterlife tower.
END CHAPTER 1
AUTHORS NOTES
This story uses information from the documentation type stories of Logical Premise- it is authorised.
Atermentarii (mix of Ater- latin for dark and Frumentarii- the secret service of the Roman Empire.) They are the intelligence gathering agency of the Turian Hierarchy consisting of military and law enforcement veterans who engage in infiltration, reconnaissance, sabotage and assassination.
AIS (Alliance Intelligence Service); the Systems Alliance's answer to organisation like the Salarian Special Tasks Group and Turian Atermentarii, originally formed in 2158 from agents and assets of various Alliance member countries intelligence agencies (CIA, FSB, etc).
Blackblood Serpent; Asari special forces group specialising in deniable ops, their name comes from a monster of asari myth of a monster that terrorized villages, when a bold Justicar slayed the beast its black blood poisoned the area turning it into a dead zone. This is reflected on the soldiers as they have cybernetic enhancements that release a variety of multi-species-lethal chemicals upon death or via spoken word or transmitted code. BS operators also have cyberware for superior physical, mental and biotic abilities.