Lightning among the Stars

Chapter Six: Fluffy's Last Hurrah

(A/N: First, a shout out to the guest reviewer called "HPfanficreader99". Harry and Hermione do not specifically refer to the Derelict Reaper as a Reaper straight away. The Reaper's design, according to the official Mass Effect wiki, is based on a species of cuttlefish called the Reaper cuttlefish. It is commented that the ship resembles a Reaper cuttlefish, but the specific name "Reaper" does not appear until they actually speak with Ehzra.)

(A/N 2: Oh yes, one more thing. Yes, I did a bit of a timeskip at the start of the previous chapter and forgot to include info about it. They took the rachni queen back to Suen and let her off the ship there, then while passing back through the Hawking Eta cluster Luna picked up the faint signal of the Derelict Reaper. I will correct this in due course.)

Featuring:
Rosamund Pike as Dahlia Dantius
Natalie Raitano as Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani

Nassana Dantius
Rana Thanoptis
Alestia Iallis

"Would you be Ms. Nassana Dantius?"

The asari emissary turned around to see a tall male human looking at her with vivid green eyes, "Yes?"

"I have a shipment for you from Thessia?"

Nassana smiled, "Ah, excellent. Can you deliver it to this location on the Wards?" She held up her omnitool.

The human shrugged, "Alright. Will you sign for it?"

"Of course," she took the datapad he was holding out to her and tapped its interface, before giving him a smirk.

She saw a slight flicker in those green eyes before he frowned, "Thank you for the signature. You'll have your shipment in the Wards in a few hours." He turned and walked off.

Unseen by the asari, Harry scowled. Passive Legilimency had revealed that the asari had a major problem with ambition and wasn't afraid to step on anybody to get her way. He was going to leave her alone, but if she messed with him… there'd be a reckoning.

Calling up Kanara on his omnitool, he said, "Kanara, get the vorcha and load up the cargo into the Cygnets. Get the commandos to help you unload it on the Wards, ask Shiala for help."

"Right away, Captain."

Harry lowered his omnitool as Hermione emerged from the alley next to him, having just Apparated back from the Cygnus.

"Well?"

"I got our new guest settled."

"What did you do with her?"

"Stunned, bound and left in the brig for us to deal with. Did you know we've got an asari down there?"

Harry blinked, "You know, I'd completely forgotten about her."

"Where'd we get her anyway?"

"Back when we rescued that quarian crew. She was watching the ones trying to assault Tali'Zorah, I killed them and brought her along when I carried Tali back to her fellows."

"You were trying to starve her into submission, weren't you?"

"Hey, seemed the best way to break her will."

"It was effective. She was begging for food and offered to give me a lot of information when I walked past. At least you remembered to give her a steady water supply."

"What did you do?"

"Got her a slice of bread as a reward for good behaviour and told her she'd get more once we heard what she had to see later."

"Good work." They boarded a taxi and headed back up to the Presidium, recalling that Benezia had identified her meeting as being there.

-LatS-

"Ah, Captain," said Benezia, smiling at Harry as he and Hermione exited the skycar and approached, "I would like to introduce you to some acquaintances of mine; Matriarch Lidanya, commander of the Destiny Ascension, the flagship of the Citadel Defence Fleet; Rana Thanoptis, a prominent asari neurobiologist; Alestia Iallis, a former disciple of mine who specializes in bioengineering; and-"

"Councillor Tevos," said Harry carefully, inclining his head to the last asari.

"Captain Potter," she replied.

Benezia's eyes twinkled as she looked at Harry, "Ah, I see you two have met."

"Yes…" said Tevos with an amused smile, "I have never seen anybody take Councillor Sparatus to task like that."

Hermione sighed, "I apologize for that, Councillor. We-"

"No, it is quite alright," said Tevos, "You were correct; it was most impolite of us to make you wait so long."

"Oh well," said Harry, "It's in the past."

"Councillor," said Lidanya carefully, touching Tevos' shoulder, "I have things to do. I will send you my reports on our last patrol tour later."

"Thank you, Lidanya. That will be all." The dreadnought commander nodded to Tevos, shook hands with the others, and left.

"Anyway," said Benezia, once her fellow Matriarch was gone, "Can I help you?"

"Not right now. Just wanted to warn you that we found a doctor and scientist for the Cygnus and we found the recipient for the shipment from Thessia so do you mind if we borrow your commandos to get it down onto the Wards? Our usual loaders can't really step off the ship or they're going to be shot at."

Tevos frowned, "Who are they?"

"Vorcha. And now you know why we haven't let them set so much as a toe on one of our transport shuttles."

"…Yes, I can understand that reasoning."

"Anyway," said Benezia, "You said you found a scientist and a doctor, correct?"

"Yes. The doctor is a drell named Finn Stark and the scientist a hanar by the name of Temassinder."

Benezia chuckled, "A hanar scientist? Now that is a rarity. Has he seen what kind of a budget he is working with yet?"

"Not yet, no."

"Ah. Then I advise you observe his reaction. An excited hanar is a sight to see."

Alestia perked up, "If I might ask, what kind of a budget would this be? I've been angling for an increased budget for months."

Benezia chuckled again, "Enough that you may consider resigning and begging for a job, my disciple."

Rana addressed Harry, "What would be required for a job consideration?"

Hermione tapped the asari scientist's shoulder, "Simply send me a file with your various qualifications and such and I will give it a look over. I'm usually left in charge of handling crew matters by this one," she poked Harry in the ribs.

Harry opened his mouth to say something in response, but at that moment Luna popped up on his omnitool, "Harry, can we speak a second?"

Harry's eyes snapped to Tevos, who was regarding the tiny figure with surprise, "Luna, this isn't a good time."

"I just need to know when you and Hermione are coming back. The quarians are getting twitchy, and I think Captain Ceya'Lana wants to talk to you. She even spoke to me directly, and we both know the quarian view on artificial-"

"Luna!" Harry said sharply, "This is not the time!"

"You have quarians on board?" questioned Tevos, "And that… is that an A.I.?" She shifted slightly, and Harry could tell she was adopting a ready stance to fight. Slight movement in the corner of his eye told Harry that Rana and Alestia had both stiffened.

"Peace, Councillor," said Benezia, stepping between Harry and Luna and the asari Councillor, "This is indeed an artificial intelligence, but not one like the geth."

Luna nodded, "I was created from the mind of one of Harry's and Hermione's friends. I would sooner delete myself than betray their trust."

Tevos looked at Harry, "And the quarians on your ship are alright with this?"

"Yes, they are," Hermione replied, "Though it was fairly tense at the off, they seem to tolerate her as long as she does not present herself to them directly."

Tevos frowned, "I see there is more to this story than any of us knows, but I will allow it to slide. All I will ask is that you restrict the activities of… Luna, was it?"

"Yes. My name is Luna."

"…Luna to your ship, or at least have her behave like a V.I. in public."

"I can do that. I will return to the ship at once." Luna saluted, then blinked out of sight.

"You have an intriguing crew, Captain," said Tevos mildly.

"Yes… yes we do."

"If I might ask, why did you not mention this to the Council during our original meeting?"

Hermione gave her a deadpan look, "Councillor, we did not have the Matriarch here present on that occasion. Had we pointed out that we had an artificial intelligence on board our ship, would you have even allowed us to leave the Council Chambers without an armed C-Sec escort?"

Tevos had to concede the point.

"Anyway," said Harry, "As you saw, Luna is not a hostile party. She is a close friend."

"I see. And you mentioned that you had a batarian on board?"

Hermione nodded and counted up on her fingers, "Around twenty-seven quarians, an elcor, a volus, twenty asari, ten vorcha, ten varren, a krogan, a batarian and now a drell, a hanar, another krogan, two turians and a salarian once we go to Sur'Kesh."

"And humans?"

Hermione thought for a second, "Counting us… eight." She had neglected to include the asari slaver prisoner, or the Cerberus woman.

Tevos nodded, but then her omnitool chimed and she looked down, "I am afraid I must take my leave. Sparatus wishes to convene on some topic or other. An honour to see you, Matriarch, and a pleasure to meet you Captain." She walked away.

"That… went better than it had any right to," Harry commented drily.

"Indeed," murmured Benezia, "You're both lucky I was here."

"More than lucky," Harry replied, giving Benezia an affectionate smile. So what if it ended up being a one time thing, Harry still held affection for Benezia; he was like that with all of his regular partners.

Benezia pretty much read his mind as she smirked, "I think I should be going as well. I would like to see about finding a nice cafe for some lunch before I return to the ship. See you later, Captain." She walked off, her hips swaying slightly as she exited. Rana Thanoptis and Alestia Iallis bid their own goodbyes, promised to send Hermione their files for consideration and left as well.

"Is it me or is she trying to get in your pants again?" Hermione asked.

"You have to ask… why?" Harry inquired, eyebrow raised.

"Considering I couldn't walk when I woke this morning… no, not really,"

"Alright, enough screwing around, lets get the ship squared away for departure," Harry commented.

"Not just yet," said Harry, looking over her shoulder, "We've got company."

A woman was approaching, and as she drew level with them she drew herself up, "Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Am I to understand that you are the captain of that ship that has docked with the Citadel? The large silver one?"

"The Argenti Cygnus, you're correct. I'm Captain Harry Potter, and this is my XO, Hermione Granger."

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"Well," said Khalisah, "Is it alright if I interview you? Our viewers would quite like to get an idea for your agenda here on the Citadel."

Harry gave her a swift Legilimency sweep. What he found made his lip almost curl. The woman was basically Rita Skeeter, looking for the best story at the expense of anyone who got in her way.

Then Harry got an evil smirk mentally. The lady wanted a story… well she'd get one.

"Alright, fire away," he said aloud.

The reporter tapped her omnitool, activating her camera's spotlight, which shone onto both their faces as she spoke, "Here I have the commanding officers of the newcomer ship to the galactic scene, the Argenti Cygnus; Captain Harry Potter and his XO, Hermione Granger. Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, our viewers would like to get an idea of what your intent is and what you will bring to bear here."

Harry cleared his throat, "Hermione and I are simply trying to get by at the moment, taking jobs shipping cargo and transporting passengers from place to place to establish a viable financial base. We do not intend to wage outright war with anybody."

Khalisah frowned, but her expression quickly cleared, "Very well. How about the rumours that the two of you have consented to allow Council representatives aboard, but not Alliance representatives? Is this a sign that you are allying with the Council races at the expense of your own?"

"Such rumours are unsubstantiated. Yes, we have allowed the Council to elect representatives to serve on our ship, but we do already have an Alliance representative on board from a visit to Earth prior to our arrival here." Hermione piped up.

"Very well," Khalisah repeated, before attacking from a different route, "But sources also indicate that other than the concession in allowing an Alliance representative on board your ship you otherwise refused to allow the Alliance to examine your ship, which has been rumoured to be technologically advanced beyond the current Alliance standard. Do you not think that the Alliance could benefit from this advanced tech? As a matter of fact, do you not think you could better serve your own people by joining forces with the Alliance?"

Harry shook his head, "You did not listen. We are attempting to remain impartial at this time. Free of any allegiance save to ourselves, myself and my crew can in effect provide a far more useful service on the galactic scene specifically because we are not bogged down with red tape. I believe the phrase was once put forward, "A problem is never solved by sitting down and discussing what to do about it; action alone is the key"."

Hermione smiled behind him; Harry was echoing words Harry had said to Dumbledore, in a moment of frustration with the Order's inaction against Voldemort, the only difference being that Harry chose to say it in far more polite terms on this occasion. She doubted Dumbledore had ever been called a "doddering old fool" before and if he had, it was unlikely that there had been so many words with F's and C's in them involved to pad out the insult.

To be honest, that scene had been amusing on many levels on reflection.

"Right," said Khalisah dubiously, now looking somewhat less than confident in her ability to get a good piece out of this that didn't make her look like a fool, "Let's discuss your crew in that case. You mentioned that you had at least one human aboard in your Alliance representative, but what of the rest? A ship the size of yours cannot possibly function with only three."

"It doesn't," said Hermione calmly, "Our crew spans multiple different races of all backgrounds, from asari to elcor. We have made our best efforts to provide comfortable living and working conditions for all on the Cygnus, and every member of our crew is greatly appreciated for the part they play to the greater whole."

"Everyone aboard has a purpose, a role, and they do fulfill their roles well, even on occasion exceeding expectations when it is called for," Harry was determined to put this woman down, figuratively speaking.

"But your crew is not entirely human?"

"I don't believe that was ever said," said Harry coolly, "I draw your attention back to Ms. Granger's previous words; our crew spans multiple different races of all backgrounds, from asari to elcor. As long as they do their jobs to the best of their ability, do not compromise my ship and treat the rest of the crew as they themselves expect to be treated, I could not care less what species they are."

It was oddly amusing to watch al-Jilani's mouth open and close, attempting to formulate a comeback to Harry's and Hermione's firm defence of the multiracial nature of their crew. Finally she said, "Very well… this has been an enlightening conversation Captain Potter, XO Granger. I have no more questions at this time." She stepped in front of her camera, "And there you have it, viewers; a declaration of motive direct from the mouths of a hitherto-unknown quantity. This has been Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani. Have a good evening." She tapped her omnitool and deactivated the camera. Nodding to Harry and Hermione, she walked away without a word.

Hermione waited until she was out of sight before collapsing in a fit of giggles, "Oh that was brilliant, Harry! You handled her perfectly!"

"What a complete bitch," was Harry's response. "She reminds me of Skeeter so strongly I wish I had a can of insect spray!"

Harry had not forgotten.

He never did.

Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder, "We'll deal with her later. For now, we should go and prepare to return to the ship."

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione arrived back at the shuttle bay a little while later to find Temassinder and Finn talking, Garrus examining his boxes with his omnitool, and Saren and Wrex glaring at each other.

"Do I even want to know or am I better off not knowing?" Hermione was the one to ask this time, as Harry walked past to unlock the shuttle.

"Krogan and turians just don't get on," Wrex growled as he hefted a weapon crate onto the shuttle, "Keep him out of my way."

Saren flared his mandibles as Wrex passed.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Harry asked.

"Watch out for him," growled Saren, "Krogan are trouble."

"So are you," Harry thought, but held his tongue, "I'm watching you, Arterius. I don't trust you."

Shiala had arranged to pick Benezia up on her way back from dropping off their cargo with the commandos, so Harry gave the order for the Luna-V.I. to take them straight back to the Cygnus as soon as everyone was strapped in.

"This one is curious," Temassinder said, as the Cygnus grew larger in the Cygnet's forward window, "What kind of resources will I be working with on your ship?"

Hermione leaned backwards and smiled back at the hanar, "Very high-end equipment and a budget with a lot of zeros in it."

"And me?" Finn asked.

"Again, high-end equipment."

"…" The hanar was verbally speechless when shown what he'd be working with on Hermione's omnitool… but Benezia had been right; his physical reaction was a sight to behold.

"Huh," said Hermione, as she climbed into the back of the shuttle and crouched down to check on the hanar, "Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine," said Finn, leaning down, "I think he just overloaded his gravity belt with excitement and hit his… well, what passes for his head. He'll be fine."

Wrex was chuckling behind them, "Oh, this will be fun."

"Never a dull moment in this loony bin," Kasumi walked in through the hanger as they were unloading the still-dazed hanar after landing; no doubt off to her favorite spot for relaxation, the sweet spot. There was something about the reversed gravity of the area between the bow plate and the artificial gravity generator that she found comforting, though it might as well have been her ability to sit upside down on the ceiling and not feel an instant and unpleasant rush of blood to the head that she enjoyed.

"Off for some relaxation, captain," Kasumi commented.

"Alright, just be available if we need you," Harry replied as he propped the hanar upright.

Valkyrie appeared at that moment, walking towards them along the gantry, "Captain, we're all loaded and ready to get underway." The two Cygnets carrying Shiala, the commandos and the Matriarch flew in and set into their cradles at that moment.

"Good," said Hermione, "Please escort our new crewmembers to their new residences, if Phoenix has finished configuring the individual rooms for Temassinder and Dr. Stark."

"He has, he reported that to me five minutes ago."

"Good."

"Alright, let's get under way then. Luna, inform Rila that she needs to plot a course for Sur'Kesh."

"At once, Captain," Luna replied, keeping her voice even and modulated. As per their standard protocol, she was pretending to be a V.I.

They knew this bothered Luna a lot, but considering matters outside their control there was little they could do.

Speaking of matters outside their control…

"Captain Potter!"

Harry turned as he stepped out of the elevator onto the crew deck, "Captain Ceya'Lana. Can I help you?"

"Yes," she said, "I wish to speak to you concerning the Migrant Fleet."

"Do tell,"

The quarian took a deep breath before saying, "I believe it is time for my crew and I to return to the Flotilla. I will provide your navigator with the necessary coordinates."

"I'm sorry to see you and yours go, it was nice having you aboard," Harry commented.

Ceya nodded, "And it was a pleasure to feel so welcomed."

Harry beckoned her over to the mess, where he had a few brief words with Valkyrie and turned back towards her. A few seconds later, Valkyrie placed two cups of coffee, one dextro-amino with a straw and the other levo-amino, on the counter. Harry picked up both and offered the dextro coffee to Ceya, "I must admit, I am curious about the quarian people. Would you mind giving me some insight? I would rather not arrive and end up offending your people out of a lack of knowledge on them."

Ceya's head tilted slightly to the side, "I must admit, Captain… that is the first time I have heard that particular request. I would be happy to provide you with information, to an extent."

Harry smiled as they walked into the elevator and headed up to the Captain's quarters for their talk.

-LatS-

Harry's talk with Ceya'Lana was most enlightening but ultimately infuriating, as Harry soon discovered. That an entire race had been abandoned as a lost cause and forced to live like gypsies for a mistake seemed, to him, a vile injustice.

After Ceya had left to get her crew ready for departure, Harry called Hermione up and explained what he had learnt. Hermione was even more indignant than he was, but she forced it down and said, "This could be an opportunity, Harry."

"How so?"

"Well, we're trying to build bridges. We stopped the terrorist attack on Khar'shan and got the batarians' support, we got partial asari support by giving them the solution to the Ardat-Yakshi issue. After we visit the quarians, there could be something we can do for them."

"Maybe, but first we have to stop by Sur'Kesh and pick up our new STG representative."

"Indeed we do."

There was a pause, and then a knock at the door. "Come in!" Harry called.

Shepard stepped through, and Hermione immediately realized there was a change in the woman's attitude. Rather than the cocky strut she had had before, Shepard was walking quietly and even a little demurely, "Hello Captain."

"Shepard, can I help you?"

"Yes," said Shepard, nodding, "I… I figure it's time I apologized for my behaviour, so…" she began toying with a button on her shirt.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and smirked.

"Alright," said Hermione, taking charge, "On the bed, on your hands and knees. And lose the clothes!"

smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile

Half an hour later…

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked, as Shepard came to, laying on top of him.

"Sore, used, and quite satisfied, Harry," Shepard stretched like a cat, and winced as her lower half chose to remind her of the abuse it had suffered.

She sighed as something cool and tingly was massaged into her abused parts.

"Medigel," Hermione said, "I'm sorry if I hurt you,"

"I'm fine. Besides, I think I like being used that way, the loss of control is… freeing," Jenny replied.

"Well, we can always make it a regular thing," said Hermione hopefully.

"Perhaps someone's not done yet…" Shepard shifted.

The next morning…

"You know… I think we were a little rough on her last night," Harry remarked.

"How do you figure?" Hermione asked.

"The fact that she was in pain from having her virginity roughly taken and she came back for more after waking. I know some people like pain; take Kasumi for instance, she's tiny yet she insists on having all of me in her. Last night however… never like that again, that was crossing a line," Harry said.

"Well… no taking virginities like that again anyway…" he amended as Shepard curled into his side in her sleep… and he could have sworn she was purring with satisfaction as she did so.

"…Hermione?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Is it possible she's got some feline in her somehow?"

"Good question,"

"Harry, we're midway to our destination," Luna announced, appearing on the night table's holopad.

"Thank you, Luna," said Harry.

"How are the engines holding up on their first real speed run?" Hermione asked.

"Performing 75% above specification Hermione, I've had to slow us back to theorized maximum speed to avoid any possibility of burning them out until you and the engineers can give them a once over," Luna replied.

"That's good. Can you have Dr. Stark bring up some medigel please?" Hermione asked, "We were a tad… rough with Shepard last night and we used up our stash,"

"Of course,"

"Run that past me again?" the drell asked the V.I. five minutes later.

"Captain Potter and XO Granger exhausted their supply of medigel healing the injuries from a bout of rough sex with Commander Shepard."

"That's what I thought I heard. Very well, I'll be up in twenty minutes; I have to finish off inventory on our medical supplies first and I've been working on it half the night," Stark replied.

"You could have asked me to do that, Doctor."

"True, but any good medical professional always does it themselves; the ones who truly give a damn anyway,"

"Correct. I will leave you now."

"By the way, ditch the V.I. act in here. I saw your little footprints in the computer system when I first accessed my terminal and they're way too sophisticated for a virtual intelligence."

Luna gave him a look, seemingly relaxing slightly, "You are very tech-savvy for a doctor, you know. Your scientist friend hasn't even realized yet."

Finn chuckled, looking at his terminal again, "Has he come round yet?"

"Yes. He's currently trying not to pass out from excitement again after seeing his new lab. I should go now." She vanished.

-LatS-

Harry, meanwhile, had left Hermione in charge of the still-unconscious Shepard, taking a swift shower and dressing before getting into the elevator and heading straight downstairs, intending to see how the new crew were settling in.

He had found Wrex at his new post manning the weapons station in the bridge (and thoroughly unnerving Joker with the happy grin he was sporting), and after advising him to head down to see the main gun in its full glory later on Harry had left for the crew deck.

"Oof!"

Two bodies hit the floor as Harry walked out of the elevator and straight into somebody.

"Ow…" groaned the person Harry had walked into, "I thig I broke my dose on the idside of by bask…"

Harry looked up, "Hello Phoenix,"

Phoenix struggled upright, "Hebbo Captib…"

Harry winced, "Yeah, I think you've broken your nose there. Go see the doctor."

Phoenix nodded, "Thed I deed to talk to you, Captib."

"Alright," said Harry, "I'm just doing the rounds, seeing how everyone's settling in. Maybe you should ask about Myxtin's implant while you're at it."

"Udderstood," said the quarian before moving away.

Harry watched him go, then made tracks directly across the mess hall to where he could see Garrus and Saren exchanging careful greetings by the kitchen.

"Spectre Arterius, Officer Vakarian," he said as he approached.

"Captain," said Garrus, as he took the tray of dextro food that Valkyrie had just given him with a smile before stepping round Harry and going to eat it.

Saren considered Harry, and the two sized one another up for a long moment.

"Want anything, Captain?" asked Yanis.

"I'll have a coffee please Yanis."

"Right away," the Ardat-Yakshi said, hurrying towards the coffee maker.

"So, how are you settling in, Mr. Arterius?" said Harry casually, leaning against the counter, "Your new quarters comfortable enough for you?"

"Yes, certainly," Saren replied curtly, "I must admit, your crew is a little more… diverse than I had expected."

Harry could tell without Legilimency that the turian did not have a high opinion of humanity and decided to nip it in the bud, "I don't believe in the races keeping to themselves. As long as a person's actions do not compromise my crew or ship in any way I won't turn them away."

"Yes… that would be why you have a batarian aboard? And quarians?"

"The quarians we rescued from slavers a while back. After we visit Sur'Kesh, we'll be passing by the Migrant Fleet to drop them off. As for Chimera, he has more than proven himself useful heading up my Engineering team."

Saren's mandibles twitched slightly, "A batarian… and you still trust him with the vital components of your ship even considering your race's history with his? Accidents happen, after all."

"I believe I have given my answer on that, Arterius," said Harry carefully, smiling at Yanis and thanking her as she handed him his coffee. He met the turian's eyes one more time, brushing his mind with Legilimency. He could tell the turian had unsavoury intentions on his ship, but could not delve deeper in such a public area. A concentrated intrusion would raise more attention than he was willing to draw.

"Just you wait," he thought as he bid the Spectre goodbye and walked away to see how Temassinder was settling in, "If you endanger my crew, and I know you will, the Council will be getting you back with a few bones broken. I just need the proof and I can get rid of you."

-LatS-

Temassinder had indeed settled in well when Harry entered the science lab, but the hanar did have one concern.

"This one's problem, Captain, is that this one's gravity belt is not strong enough to allow it to use its tentacles to their full potential in this position."

Harry shook his head, "That isn't a problem. Ask my armoury officer Phoenix about increasing the output and possibly reconfiguring it so that you aren't restricted to a specific height. He can probably sort the issue out. Did your room meet your expectations?"

"More than this one expected. This one particularly enjoyed the addition of the Striped Dartfish and Belan Jellyfish. It reminds this one of its home on the Belan colony, and its visits to Kahje."

Harry chuckled, "That was Hermione's idea. We try to make our crew feel as comfortable as we can. That was just a slightly bizarre method of making you feel more at home on her part."

"It is appreciated. This one finds watching them soothing. But this one digresses. Is there something the captain requires?"

Harry nodded, "I need you to analyze something. A while ago we discovered a wreck which was giving off a signal. I need you to analyze our information on the signal and devise a method of neutralizing it."

"Why is this needed?"

"We discovered that the wreck's armour and barriers are far more advanced than our own, and its IFF was similarly advanced. As such we intend to integrate the tech into our ship, but we want to make sure this signal won't be a risk to our crew."

"What would the signal do?"

"We're not sure. Which is why it's a danger. We don't understand it. We suspect that it can bend people to the will of something, but we don't know what that something is either."

"Understood. This one will begin its work at once."

"Luna," Harry said, "Can you give Temassinder the signal data?"

"At once, Captain," said Luna in a monotone.

"A.I.," Temassinder said, "This one is not fooled. It finds it fascinating."

"Well, I'm flattered," said Luna happily, "So, what's your first thought on how to neutralize this signal?"

Harry sighed and left the two to talk.

Garrus and Chimera were cracking jokes about the main guns at each other when Harry returned to the mess. "Hey, Captain!" called Chimera, beckoning Harry over.

"Yes?" said Harry, approaching the unlikely duo.

"Garrus here was just telling me he'd appreciate the chance to look at the MAC. Keeps talking about calibrations. Figured we should ask you since it's your ship."

Harry nodded straight away, "Go for it. Drawback of a weapons system like that is it needs constant maintenance. Do we have any turian-sized Faraday suits down there?"

"Not that I know of."

"Very well. Hermione and I will get one to you soon."

Garrus leaned forwards, "What's a Faraday suit?"

Chimera spoke up, "It's a metal suit designed to protect you in environments with live electrical tech."

"Like our mass accelerator," said Harry, "Thing about it is that there is so much electricity contained in the capacitors which power the gun, we had to triple-shield and isolate the entire deck because not only does the electromagnetic field mess with anything unshielded in the deck, but anyone venturing in there without a Faraday suit will become jerky in a matter of seconds thanks to stray lightning bolts jumping between the capacitors."

"I see. Yes, that could be a problem."

Chimera chuckled, "I'll introduce you to my engineering team. The boy, Kenneth, now has the nickname "Deep-Fry Donnelly" on the ship because he was in the MAC array when we test-fired it and he came out looking all sizzled."

Garrus laughed, "You know, that reminds me of a funny incident I had in my first few years of C-Sec…"

Harry left the batarian and turian joking around together as he walked off, deciding that Finn had probably dealt with Phoenix's nose by now.

It turned out he had; Phoenix was sitting on the edge of a bed putting his mask back on and talking to Finn when Harry entered the bay.

"Captain," said the doctor calmly, "I was just speaking with Phoenix here about the implant for Myxtin. Phoenix says he has the prototype running, but the implant will take a while to settle once it is implemented. Is this acceptable?"

Harry waved a hand, "Myxtin needs this to do her job, and I would not be considering it if she had not already been asked. Do whatever you need to."

"Alright, Captain. One more thing… I understand that our pilot has something called Vrolik's Syndrome. I would like to examine him at the next opportunity."

"Done," Harry replied, "I will inform him and he can make an appointment with you."

As he walked out of the medical bay, he tapped his omnitool, "Luna, tell Hermione I want to meet her downstairs in the brig. It's time to talk to our first guest."

"Done, Harry," she replied, as the black-haired captain moved towards the galley to collect some simple food.

-LatS-

The asari lying on the floor of the cell looked up as the door opened, admitting the brunette she had previously met and a black-haired male she recognized as being the one to capture her. He was carrying a tray laden with food, she realized as her mouth began to water and her stomach began to rumble.

"Right," said the male, setting the tray down just outside the cell as she crawled towards him, "Let's talk. You're going to tell me everything I want to know. For every truthful answer you give me… and I'll know if you lie… you get some food. Understood?"

"Y-Yes," whimpered the asari, trying to focus through the feeling of her stomach's spirited attempt at self-digestion.

"What is your name?"

"Dahlia… Dahlia Dantius."

"Dantius? As in Nassana Dantius?"

"Y-Yes… she's my sister."

The male pushed a couple of apples through a small hatch. The asari fell on them and started eating.

"Now… any assets of yours we might be able to make use of? Contacts, information, etcetera?"

"No," said Dahlia thickly, through a mouthful of apple. Almost instantly, the apple vanished from her hand and the second one was back in her male captor's hand.

"Lie," he said.

Dahlia hung her head, "Alright! I've got a couple of contacts in the Terminus, a few friends."

"Anyone we might find helpful?"

"Kuril works for the Blue Suns, works out of a prison ship in the Hourglass Nebula called Purgatory. Aleena's a bounty hunter, she usually helps me with tracking down particularly dangerous individuals to hand over to Kuril."

"Good. Now, if we let you out, you will contact Aleena. We could do with a bounty hunter on our side. First though…" He stepped into the cage, sat her upright and made her look into his eyes, "…A little insurance that you won't turn on us."

Dahlia looked into his eyes, saw them sparkle briefly, and then…

…nothing.

-LatS-

Miranda Lawson was concerned.

She was trapped on a ship, she knew that much, but other than that she could not determine anything about her current situation.

She had been bound when she first awoke in here, but a quick application of biotics had destroyed her bonds in seconds. The walls of her cell were a different matter. No matter how much of her biotics were applied, she could not even touch them; her biotics simply dissipated less than an inch from the walls.

Eventually she had opted simply to sit and wait it out. Somebody would be along soon, she could tell; they wouldn't just leave her here.

Miranda was shaken from her thoughts as the door opened and the pair who had apparently captured her entered.

"Well," the male said casually, "Shall we talk?"

Miranda stared back at him, "Depends on the subject."

"Why did you threaten us?"

"A point had to be made."

"Maybe, but surely if you were trying to get us on your side you could have come up with a better alternative. As it is, all you served to do was annoy us."

Miranda folded her arms, "Am I meant to be intimidated?"

Harry strode towards her, raising a hand. Miranda felt herself be lifted up and pressed into the wall at eye level. Dark grey eyes were forced to meet vivid green, then everything went black.

-LatS-

"So what's going on with those two then?" Hermione leaned forwards. She and Harry were seated in their room, working at their personal terminals.

"The slaver will be an operative working off our ship. As for the Cerberus woman… I dug a lot of information out of her head."

"Like…?"

"The location of Cerberus' central base. Given that Lawson's been shut in her cell without anything with which to communicate and you scanned her for bugs when you brought her aboard, they'll have no idea we're coming. After Sur'Kesh, we'll cut this issue out of the picture."

"What about the quarians?"

Harry sighed, "I would like to return them home as soon as possible, but every moment we delay in dealing with this particular threat makes it more likely that something bad will happen."

"Alright. Well…"

Luna popped up on the holopad, "Harry, we will arrive at Sur'Kesh in an hour."

Hermione nodded, "Thank you, Luna. We'll ready a Cygnet."

"I have taken the liberty of having Falere contact Sur'Kesh control already via the comm buoys and she was able to give me coordinates for where we are meant to go."

"Where?"

"The STG High Command in the capital city of Talat."

"Alright. Plug them into your Luna V.I. in the Cygnets."

"Already done."

"You thought of everything."

"I aim to please."

-LatS-

"Are you ready to go, Captain?"

The salarian on the other side of the desk straightened and saluted, "That I am, sir."

"Good, Captain Kirrahe. Do us proud on your new assignment."

"Sir!" a salarian guard entered the room, "A shuttle is approaching now. It must be the human captain we were informed about."

"Let's go and greet them then,"

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione had already taken one of the Cygnets and were cutting a wide vapour trail down through Sur'Kesh's humid atmosphere.

"Sur'Kesh has a particularly humid atmosphere," Luna said, her holographic projection lounging on its pad on the control panel, "The entire planet is an analogue for Earth's jungles; damp, hot, humid and likely full of things that can kill us. Luckily however we will be stopping directly in the salarian capital city."

"Do we have any information about our new STG representative?"

"I did some digging using a new code I developed for this, which I call the "attack Nargle", and managed to unearth some information. The representative's name is Captain Kirrahe; he's been a notably talented agent of the STG for quite a while now."

"You don't say," Harry mused.

"I could dig deeper and access his dossier if you wanted," Luna offered.

"No thanks," said Hermione, "That'll be fine. We'll be there in a matter of minutes anyway."

"There appears to be a welcoming committee awaiting our landing, captain," Luna remarked.

"So I see," Harry replied, "Head back to the ship, Luna. We'll see you later."

"Understood."

Harry turned to Hermione, "Let's take this puppy down then."

Hermione nodded and looked at the Luna V.I., "Take us down."

The V.I. nodded and turned back to the main screen, the Cygnet banking smoothly towards the ground.

The landing struts slid out and the shuttle landed smooth and gentle, testament to the improvements made to the V.I.'s programming over the past few weeks.

"Captain Potter?" said a salarian as soon as they stepped off the ship.

"I am he," Harry replied.

"I am Padok Wiks, assigned to bring you to your representative at the building."

"Of course," Hermione spoke up, "Lead the way. Without sounding impolite, we have pressing matters elsewhere to deal with. I hope you understand."

"Everyone's been busy of late," the salarian replied, "Think nothing of it,"

"Let's go then,"

-LatS-

They entered a nice small office complex.

"Considering the asari, I was expecting fancier and bigger, but that's an unfair expectation and disrespect towards the salarian race. Different people prefer different architecture, after all." Harry commented.

"Yes," said Hermione, "I quite like it though… it's peaceful."

"We like it," Padok commented.

"I can see why," Harry murmured. It was true; this place did make him feel more tranquil than anywhere else he'd yet been.

Harry idly wondered if they could get some plans or something, perhaps refit an unused room on the Cygnus… he could easily spend all day here relaxing.

"Captain Potter," said a voice, as another salarian approached them wearing armour, "I am Captain Kirrahe, the STG representative assigned to your ship."

"Captain, its good to meet you," Harry said, extending his hand.

"Likewise," he said.

Harry began laying things out to the salarian as they sat and actually had a pleasant conversation.

"I don't have your file, so I don't know your skill set or where to put you, everyone on the ship has a job or in a few cases jobs, where skill sets and training permit," Harry said, "Obviously you have the task of observing and reporting to your government on what you experience on our ship, but we do enjoy it if our crew and passengers take on additional roles. The asari matriarch who rides with us for example has more or less taken on the task of organizing the ship as a whole; our "major-domo" if you will."

"Something which is an endless source of amusement for her as well," the woman with Captain Potter remarked.

Kirrahe thought for a second, then nodded, "I will see what is available when we arrive at your ship."

"That is fine. One more thing however…" Harry said as a thought struck him, "If you have any problems with other races, that must be addressed at once. My crew is heavily multicultural, ranging from asari, turians and humans to quarians, batarians and krogan. I will not accept intolerance of any kind on my crew, so if that is the case with you then we will have a serious problem. Am I understood?"

The salarian looked him dead in the eye. "Your ship, your rules," was about the only answer he could give.

"Good. In that case, let us leave. As I said to Mr. Wiks earlier, we have a pressing matter to deal with."

"Of course. What of my belongings?"

"We can load those directly onto our shuttle."

"I see. In that case, lead the way."

-LatS-

They made good time in returning to the Cygnus, whereupon Harry left Kirrahe in Hermione's capable hands to give him a tour while he headed upstairs, giving Phoenix some instructions to find Valkyrie and set up a room with a slightly more tropical climate for the STG representative.

"Rila," he said as he entered the bridge, "Plot a course for the Horse Head Nebula. I want the Cygnus to stop in orbit over Noveria. Hermione and I will take a Cygnet from there."

"Understood, captain," said the Ardat-Yakshi softly, before turning to her console and beginning her work.

The ship came about gracefully, departing orbit.

"Harry, Valkyrie says she wants to talk to us upstairs," Hermione's voice came over the comm.

"Did she say what about?" Harry asked.

"Only that it's something we're uniquely suited to help her with," Hermione replied.

His curiosity piqued, Harry made his way upstairs.

They found an unsure but determined Valkyrie sitting in a chair, waiting for them.

"Harry, Hermione, I… I want to feel pleasure,"

Harry glanced at Hermione, who smiled happily, "Of course."

smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile

"Harry, we're almost to the Horse Head Nebula."

"Thanks, Luna." Harry mumbled as he extricated himself from the unconscious asari and reached over to poke Hermione's shoulder, "Hermione, it's time to get up."

"Don't wanna… warm…"

"Hermione, we need to go and get ready to go and deal with this little threat." He was careful to avoid the name Cerberus, even though Valkyrie was still out of it from pleasure overload.

Hermione muttered and nodded, drawing herself free of where she was hugged against Valkyrie's back and crawling to the edge of the bed.

-LatS-

Miranda Lawson was sitting up on her bunk in the brig when Harry and Hermione entered, each dressed from the neck down in combat armour and with their Locusts attached to the hip plating.

"Time to go," commented Harry, "We're in the Horse Head Nebula, and going to the Cerberus base. You're getting us in there. And since we don't trust you not to double-cross us and call the alarms once we get in there…"

Hermione waved her hand, "Imperio."

Miranda's expression instantly went slack. "Walk," Hermione commanded as she opened the cell.

They boarded a Cygnet and shot straight out of the launch bay, angling towards the coordinates Harry had picked out of Miranda's head as Luna cycled up the Cygnet's miniature FTL drive.

On the ship, Saren approached Benezia from behind, "Where are those two going Matriarch?"

"They didn't say. I was simply told that they were leaving me in charge while they were gone."

"I see," Saren appeared thoughtful, before shrugging, "I will go hand in my first report on the ship."

Benezia nodded, "Very well. I must go see to my daughter as it is; I doubt she has left the research office they let her use in a week."

"If I might ask, Matriarch," Saren said, his voice dropping to a purr, "Do you trust these humans? How do you know they don't intend to double-cross you? I have seen that human, Potter. He seems just like the rest of his species, arrogant and determined to promote his species at the cost of all others. Even yours. How long do you think it will take before he is trying to turn your own daughter into an eager pet?"

Benezia drew herself up, "If that was your first impression of Captain Potter, then you are far less perceptive than you seem to believe, Spectre Arterius. Since I have joined his crew, I have seen that human hold an asari justicar off to protect an Ardat-Yakshi, save an entire crew of quarians from slavers when there was no reason why he would do so and even make a trip directly to Khar'shan to save the batarians from a dangerous and potentially self-destructive mistake. Arrogant and determined to promote humanity at the cost of all others are not the first things I would describe him as."

Saren snorted, "Then it appears he has already turned you into a pet himself."

Benezia stared at him, "You draw dangerously close to the line, Spectre Arterius."

Saren gave a mirthless chuckle and walked away.

-LatS-

"This is Cronos Station Control hailing unidentified shuttle. Present identification and clearance or we will shoot to kill."

Hermione waved her hand, forcing Miranda to answer, "Operative Miranda Lawson, here with two new recruits to our cause for a meeting with the leadership. Clearance authorization: Psi-Six-Lambda-Nineteen."

"Authorization acknowledged and accepted. Welcome, Operative Lawson."

"Good," said Harry, "And now to meet your boss."

"Yes, sir," Miranda said in a blank monotone.

The shuttle settled into a docking bay and they disembarked, Miranda leading the way as Harry and Hermione followed behind her.

It was a long walk through the base, which was brightly lit and full of people moving about rapidly. They occasionally stopped to stare as Miranda walked by, Harry and Hermione occasionally scanning people's minds as they passed. The information they found ranged from fascination in the newcomers, lust in those looking at Miranda and some rather sickening xenophobia in more than a few.

"After we're done here," Harry muttered to Hermione, "We'll need to do a little cleaning."

"Agreed," Hermione murmured.

They walked on, and finally came to an empty corridor with a door at the other end.

"Here we are," Miranda said tonelessly, "My boss's office."

"Good," said Hermione, waving her hand, "Now stand here and deter anyone coming in."

Miranda nodded, and the duo opened the doors.

The office was huge; they could have fitted two full-sized houses in it with room to spare. Directly across from them, an immense window looked out onto the star the station orbited, glowing blue and spreading flickering patterns across the walls. Below it, a curving wall of screens hung in front of a single chair, in which a figure was seated with its back to them.

"I assume you're the head of Cerberus?" Harry said as they approached.

"That I am… I am somewhat impressed by how quickly you were able to get here. I assume you are the one responsible for Miranda dropping out of contact?"

The figure turned the chair around and Harry and Hermione tensed, preparing for an attack.

"That we are," Hermione said, echoing the figure's words, "Now, if I might say, you seem a little too… feminine… for the impression we got from Miranda."

The figure stepped forwards into the light.

A turquoise evening gown covered what both Harry and Hermione could identify as being an almost sinful hourglass figure, falling to dainty feet encased in matching slippers, while an attractive face framed with locks of red hair looked attentively at them with sharp grey eyes.

The woman smiled, "I am the leader of Cerberus. You can call me the Illusive Lady."

(A/N: BEFORE the pitchfork-and-torch-wielding mob comes to rip me to shreds, I wish to say that this is not, repeat, not a genderbend. Why there is a woman running Cerberus rather than the Illusive Man will be explained in the next chapter. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and GOODNIGHT! Leonineus, OUT!)