Chapter Twenty-Eight
"No sacrifice is worth it, all for the sake of defending my home,"
-Warlock Alleia of Atailoc
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Planet Valdaris, Edge of Triumvate Space-Former Chieftain's Tent
"Sir, we've finished rounding up all the locals and have the scientists began picking experiment samples that the Illusive Man wanted us to round up sir,"
"Good, and what about Aria's mercenaries?"
"Executed and burned as per ordered sir. False transmissions have also been set out to the fleet above letting them know that their comrades have been sent to the jungle in pursuit of enemy trappers that had offered a mediocre of resistance during our invasion. They are none the wiser that their fellows are already gone sir,"
"Exemplary work Lieutenant. Keep up the good work. Assign your men to do regular perimeter rounds at the edge of this rundown colony. I want nothing moving without us knowing Lieutenant. Once you're done, haul your ass here and have some samples of the locals that we captured, they're really…..exquisite,"
"I will sir, thank you. Lieutenant Sanders out,"
Tapping the comms off of his earpiece, self-proclaimed General Draven of the Expedition fleet leading this raid against the small colony smiled as his hand went automatically to fondle the tight rear end of an Eldar Banshee chained to the pole of the tent next to his raised chair, ignoring her small whimpers of protest through her gag.
Letting his eyes look over the small colony where his men are herding the locals like frightened sheep, executing the majority of those whom the scientists don't need and dragging the ones whom they are planning to have fun with to small houses, the general of the Cerberus fleet chuckled to himself as his groping of the Banshee grew rougher.
It had been pathetically easy to for their invasion. Unlike the regular ships that used relays for travel throughout the galaxy. He and his men alongside some of the most brilliant minds of Cerberus have braved the void in order to skip out whatever defenses of the Triumvate set over the relay and arrived here at the edge of empty space to finish their mission on acquiring samples of technology and prisoners for experimentation and entertainment that they are planning to bring back. The Illusive Man himself handpicked Draven's expedition members, being the worst of the worst that humanity had to offer and are more interested on the loot and the beauties that they may fuck once they arrived here. They had proven efficient as the mad dogs of the human race massacred most of the entire colony without remorse, husbands, wives and children in cold blood once the colony surrendered after a few drops of orbital bombing. Draven himself had executed the guards himself and had reserved their female captain and other two females for himself as his men ran around wreaking havoc and fun on the settlement before their time expires that they need to get out.
Slapping the firm ass of the beautiful alien once more, enjoying at how it jiggled through the skin tight suit the slut alien wore, Draven turned to the guard waiting at the edge of his tent.
"Pull that squad leader of theirs off the bath we offered her and bring her to me, unspoiled and only in her towel. I plan to make her spill her secrets now,"
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Planet Valdaris, Edge of Triumvate Space- Outside Houses Patrol
Timothy gritted his teeth for what could only be a hundredth time as he passed another house where the sound of a female's musical voice begging to stop in another language are heard through the grunts and the moans of the Cerberus soldier inside their with her. The urge to stomp down the door and blast some heads to stop the heinous act that is being observed inside is so strong if not for Paul, Timothy's partner on his rounds placed a hand on his shoulders looking him in the eye before shaking his head.
"This is wrong," the young Lieutenant muttered more to himself and to his companion in a faint protest, taking one more time to look at the locked house where the sounds are even more getting intense before walking off in the opposite direction as fast as his feet could carry him.
Of course he knew that Paul is correct. The only reason that Timothy had been joined on this expedition is due to the fact that he's one of Cerberus' best sniper and tracker agents despite his tender age of nineteen. It did not escape his notice that the majority of the soldiers which had been assigned to this mission are the worst kind that humanity had to offer, preferring more to be greedy bastards than living for the ideals of Cerberus which he believed in. However it did not even occur to his wildest dreams that their leader of this expedition practically ordered them to have some "fun" with the locals.
Shaking his head, Timothy merely gripped the Widow rifle tighter on his hands as he continued his rounds. They're supposed to be better than all the aliens, a shining example among the stars, not here taking advantage of a small colony and taking their women like brothel whores. Every part of him is screaming to stop the madness all over the colony, but the realistic part of his brain knew that he's going to be so dead if he goes against the bastards, that are supposed to be his comrades on this mission.
"Clink…clink..clink,"
Timothy whipped up the sniper rifle faster than the eye could blink at the direction of the sound, which is a small wooden one with intricate designs. Wishing that his round partner would show up, Timothy slowly walked into it and gently eased the unlocked door open, ready to shoot anyone that would come to attack him. However the conscience stricken Cerberus soldier's eyes immediately widened and the rifle slowly came down as in front of him clad only in a bath towel of purple silk protecting her modesty is an Eldar female, younger looking compared to the rest he had seen, staring in an absolutely terrified expression at his direction.
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Acheron, the Emperor's Palace
At first impression, one would have taken the Protoss' Executor's expression at first glance to be that of annoyance and stoicism, looking as if she doesn't care as she stood there at the entrance of the Hall of Lights where the rest of the leaders and representatives of the Triumvate are slowly gathering. However if one would take a peek at the psyche of the said Protoss' they would immediately sense the barely controlled storm of nervousness and confusion swirling through her brain as she tried unsuccessfully to deal with it.
For Selendis, for Selendis it is, she had to stomp down the urge to punch the lights out of their Hierarch for forcing her in this position. It may be an accident, or maybe intentionally, the Executor had no idea which, but her partner for tonight would be no one else but the Governor of Roma himself and the current elective head of the mighty Imperium.
Until now the Executor had no idea why she opted to agree on this current nonsense anyway. Ever since war is declared after the passionate speech of the Primarch Sanguinis, word spread like wildfire into every city and settlement about the decision of the Council to defend their homes. Already the mobilization of the entire Triumvate is on the way and for the life of her, Selendis can't help but wonder why in the world would they host this large ball where she is coerced into attending by Kaldalis himself, making Selendis wonder if the Hierarch accidentally consumed some weird light that made him go temporarily crazy.
That's the reason why here she is standing right now, in her best robes which is almost alike with her armor, but only less powerful and more ornate, designed to make her look good and much to Selendis' horror, deigned to show more skin than she is comfortable. Colored gold and blue as the normal colors of the Kalai, Selendis fidgeted under the knowing stares of the others surrounding her, as every limb of hers are displayed in full view. Protoss may not be as conservative as the Eldar, but Selendis seriously had large concern over her current attire. To prevent the blatant staring, she had opted to wear gold bands over her bare arms and thighs, to at least preserve small inches of her modesty.
Despite knowing how essential things like this, Selendis can't help but mentally moan at the waste of time for this party, don't mistake them, despite the slightly laid back attitude that the majority of the Triumvate leaders had and the seeming lack of worry that they show on the outside. It is fairly obvious that the Triumvate is mobilizing if one would pay attention clearly. The armies are slowly being armed to the teeth and nearly every available ship is registered to check which ships are battle ready and which are not. Everyone is tense enough as it is, that's why this party is so important. It shows to the overall populace that their leaders are not daunted or going skittish at the war that is slowly looming against all of them. And it also gives the leaders one night of relaxing before the tense weeks or months that is to come with all the planning and decision making.
Behind her, the other couples that would be entering the Hall stood ready. At first and foremost of course are the two children of the Emperor and Isha. Farseer Laerys, with her black hair and golden tips wearing what could only be a robe made of the finest silk of black hugging her body like there's no tomorrow, exposing a large amount of her chest and the top of her breasts. At her side is the newly christened "lover" of the Farseer, Cana who unlike her partner had chosen a simple green robe with the Atailoc design strapped into it, looking as conservative as the rest of her race, the hair of the former Seer brushed into elegancy like her partner. The two also wore matching silver earrings and bands made of frozen mercury hung at their intertwined hands. All in all, the two looked beautiful like night and day as they stood there throwing appreciative glances with one another.
At their sides, the next couple is Sanguinis and Farseer Laetri, the Angel looking as regal as any Son of the Emperor might be. The golden hair is straight and shining, the wings folded behind him are obviously clipped in expertise (though no one knew that it was Laerys who do it). He is wearing golden armor tinged with red, though at first look, it looked paper thin with how much it looked like simply an intricate robe with craft designs. At his side is a ceremonial sword hanging.
However if the Primarch obviously looked every bit the leader and proud prince he is, his partner is not. Laetri obviously had seen better days. The once vibrant Farseer looked like she had aged ten years ever since the death of her apprentice. It even worsened since word got out yesterday that the Eldar morgue which Cana's body is preserved has been raided and burned, with no trace of the body or the thieves whatsoever, nearly forcing the Farseer to go berserk as they informed her that the burial ceremony for her apprentice would be cancelled until the body is found again. All in all it's a heavy blow for her. Currently she barely wore the minimum that is needed for the celebration. Her Farseer robes are pressed and cleaned and word is, the Council of Exodites had to forcefully straighten the Farseer's hair and she had barely grudgingly allowed them to put on the Mascara design on her face. Thankfully, Laetri is beautiful even compared to other Eldar females that despite the numerous rough edges that she had for today, she could still look a lot presentable compared to the others. The greyish parlor of grief remained in her face though and that's the reason why she had been assigned as the dance partner of Sanguinis for the evening until the end of the duration. The awe of being with the half-Eldar Primarch is enough to at least force the Eldar to act appropriately and temporarily force her grief off of her. It'll also stop her from making an early escape away from the celebration.
The others behind the two children of the Emperor are simply members of the Council and their aides. There's Kaldalis walking hand in hand with a female human that Selendis had never met before, and smiling. The Executor had to blink twice to make sure she is not seeing things as she saw the Hierarch eye-smiling at his date. Present also is Farseer Amondeer with his pregnant wife who is wearing an improvised robe to give space to the small bulge in her belly, that is the sign of her late pregnancy. King Regis as usual is absent due to his old age, but Prince Noctis and Princess Lunafreya is present representing their small, but powerful planet wearing the traditional clothes that belonged to their culture.
"Executor,"
Selendis nearly jumped three feet in the air as the familiar sound of the Governor caught her completely off guard. Thankfully years of maintaining her façade of calm and cold despite overwhelming odds prevented the Protoss from showing it as she merely turned her attention at the source, which is no one else but Governor Constantine wearing formal Imperium attire of black and red clothes with the occasional pin of gold on it.
"Governor," greeted Selendis with a fair nod of recognition trying not to let her emotions get the better of her at the sight of him. She still hasn't forgiven him for his blatant staring yesterday and the past week on her legs no matter how much it flattered her. She's aware of course that he's slowly being attracted to her, and Selendis would rather eat her glaive than admit it, but she's afraid. He's the Governor and head of the Imperium, if he dared to court her formally, she would have no choice but to let him be unlike the Protoss that dared the dance of courtship to her. All of them currently had bruises one way or another, courtesy of hers truly saying no. Unfortunately, Selendis can't do that to him, they would have strung her up if she ever did that to him. Not to mention, might cause an incident that might estrange the Protoss with the Imperium, as proud as Selendis is with the current strength and technological advantage of her people, she knew that the Imperium held all the Aces of the military strength that the Triumvate had all in all. She's also aware that at these times where trouble and war seems to pop out in every direction, the Triumvate need to stand united, that's the reason for this celebration after all. That's why Selendis sucked up her pride and annoyance as the eyes of the Governor once more wandered for a few seconds to her exposed legs before coughing, bringing his eyes back at the direction of her head.
"I've heard that you're supposed to be my….date for tonight Governor," spoke Selendis, the words feeling like lead at the tip of her mouth. "It's an honor to be your partner my lord,"
"Please Executor..call me Constantine if you will," waved off the head of the Imperium. "I plan to enjoy this evening fully, and I must say that with a beautiful maiden like you at my side calling me informally, I might just succeed on doing that,"
Selendis blushed alarmingly in outrage and indignation with large amounts of amusement and flattery. She certainly didn't expect that. And her mind which had been trying to keep itself calm lost all sense of composure at the comment of beautiful at her. No one ever said that to her…..ever, nor the lady comment also. She's certainly no dainty lady. She's a warrior, not some maiden. The "enjoy" and "evening" comment also rattled her to the core. She had been among humans enough to know the hidden meaning behind those words. During the war of the void, she had seen many times, human soldiers copulating to get rid of stress and to see her in that way nearly made the Protoss Executor ran away in fear. She certainly doesn't plan on doing that, does she? Does he expect them to perform that act on the end of the evening? Oh hell no! He'll be walking without his manhood if he coerced her into doing that. How will her refusal affect everything though? Will Constantine be sore and turn against her people? The Protoss as strong as they are won't be able to stand up alone against the Imperium, but if the Eldar ally with them, will they be able to manage it? No, Amondeer is a good friend of Constantine and the two are practically inseparable when it comes on dealing with each other's races as a whole, so no, if it ever comes to it, the Protoss would find no ally on the Eldar if they fight against the Imperium.
This time Selendis can't help the panicked squeak that everyone immediately heard as the Governor without warning took her hand and before Selendis could even muster the decision to pull it away, kissed the top of it making the Executor freeze like a living statue.
"Charmed my lady," smiled the Governor at her not aware of the slightest about the inner turmoil inside the Executor as she felt herself being dragged like a puppet to the waiting line where the others are waiting. She immediately threw a sharp glare at the Hierarch who didn't fail to throw her a small "good luck" wish before focusing his attention back at the beautiful human clinging to his side.
"You know, I never expected him to take one of my kind you know," the small comment beside her made Selendis turn at the Human Governor which still haven't let go of her hand.
"What?"
"You're Hierarch, I never expected him to ask a human, and our ambassador at that to be his date for tonight," he answered simply. "When we received the request yesterday, we had thought it first fake, and it was only when he personally contacted my office did I become aware that it is authenticate by all means,"
"Too true," grunted the female Protoss' staring at his Hierarch who seemed to be enjoying the woman's company as she could hear his small laughter despite keeping his thoughts to himself. "You're not the only one surprised Governor,"
"Constantine please," corrected the human making Selendis glare at him before a small squeeze at her arms made her glare sharper before mentally agreeing to it.
"Fine, Constantine,"
"Good," the Governor beamed at her when the sound of a gong sound made the two look at the direction of the Hall like everyone else, indicating that the Ball would start any minute now.
"Well, shall we go my lady?" Constantine smiled at her and before the Executor could answer with a small "wait", she can't help the alarming "eep" that escaped her as she found that his date's hands had encircled her slender hip and is currently dragging her towards the entrance of the Hall's gate alongside everyone else.
Pink in the face and feeling odd things that she had never felt before that made her skin tingle, and her blood hot and bothered, Selendis never focused on the comments of the gathered attendees whispering to one another about how nice Governor Constantine and his "girlfriend" look with one another.
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Biel-Tan Craftworld, Macha's Quarters
Water dripping over water is the first sound that Macha's tapered ears registered as she opened her eyes to the sight of the open large window of her room showing the large ocean of space that looked eerily calm despite the danger of Chaos that is now ruling the majority, which once belonged to the large Imperium of Man. Moving her head to the side, her grey eyes registered the water dial dripping almost a quarter left, showing that it is now the night time of the Craftworld and also reinforced to her the idea that she isn't currently alone on her bed.
Guilt immediately wracked her psyche as she saw the numerous red marks marring the once pale and flawless body of her ward curled like a housecat on her chest, the long blonde hair displayed like a small mane all over the bed . She fervently remembered what she did to that exquisite piece this morning ever since she arrived after that stressful battle that earned another Craftworld lost. She had unleashed all that tension on the body she is currently holding now and the memory of Ela Ashbel moaning and crying under her ministrations as no part of her had been left untouched made Macha blush in a combination of shame and attraction. She won't deny it, Ela Ashbel is very young on Eldar standards and hasn't even reached her majority yet, and the beautiful former Farseer on Bleeding Tears could grow up into a rare gem of beauty even on Eldar standards in a few decades or so, assuming of course that they survived this long trip. Macha can't fault herself for indulging herself, especially with Ela Ashbel hooking her along the way anyway. Besides, it's painfully obvious that Ela AShbel's ruse worked. Macha isn't that depressed anymore with the events this morning, though the sadness of all the lost souls still rang in her head. However thanks to their current tryst, Macha is now forced to deal with the unknown feelings that bloom on her chest every time she saw the face of Ela Ashbel.
Gently extracting herself off from the bed, replacing herself with one of the pillows for her ward to hug Macha took one more look at the gentle face that bore none of the suffering she had suffered under the past months or so. She can't help but imagine how different the face of her ward is, which looked so peaceful and content currently compared to the previous days where she is forced to be the target of scorn, by the very people which she had given her all. Macha knew that despite her respect and power over the Biel-Tan craftworld, not everyone had been as understanding and there are still a fair amount of bad apples that wanted the former Farseer of Bleeding Tears excommunicated and suffer. The Seer council unfortunately are some of those and it took all of Macha's influence to keep them off Ela Ashbel's back
Sighing at her current problems, Macha pulled on the robe she had at the side of her bed to cover her modesty, letting the long red hair she had fall down without its usual knot at her head as she headed to her private study where she is sure she won't be disturbed. Sitting on the bone wraith chair, Macha immediately flicked the communication on, letting the call pause for a moment as she waited for the other side to answer. It did not take long before the usual rigid and calm face of Farseer Indarion of Iyanden appeared into view.
"Farseer Macha," greeted the male Eldar with a curt nod at her through the other end.
"Farseer Indarion," nodded Macha in return before continuing. "Forgive me for this late hour of call, but I have something important that I wish to discuss with you that needed both privacy for my sake and hers,"
The Farseer of Iyanden's eyes only narrowed. "By you mean her, you mean Ela Ashbel, am I right?"
"Yes Farseer,"
"Very well, what is the problem this time?" asked Indarion as cool as an iceberg, but Macha could see the interested gleam shining clearly on his eyes.
Feeling immediately self-conscious and doubtful for a second, the Farseer of Biel-Tan only cleared her throat before answering in the best monotone voice she could manage in her nervous and confused state.
"I need your advice and wisdom on how to deal with these weird feelings of attraction that I am feeling for my ward Farseer,"
She didn't truly expect the stony face and silence of Indarion that greeted her face then.
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Planet Valdaris
"Welcome my boy, come in, come in, and make yourself at home,"
It took all of Timothy's self-control not to grab the sidearm at the side of his leg and blast his commander's head off as he immediately espied an Eldar female wearing nothing but a towel that barely covered her nudity as she lay at the bed motionless while her eyes remain glassy, the young sniper didn't need to ask to know what happened here. He's just ready to seat himself to the nearest chair however when a small whimper made him turn his head at the source of the sound.
The sound unfortunately came from the side of the makeshift tent, belonging to another Eldar looking much more beautiful than the rest he had seen so far. However it is the form-fitting armor and the flaming red hair that his eyes registered at first sight.
"Good looking isn't she?" added the commander seeing Timothy staring at the terrified Eldar whose arms are chained to the steel pole, her legs bent on a wrong angle, obviously broken. "I'll be interrogating her personally for our objectives here. She's apparently the head of the small resistance that we met, pitiable as it is during our landing. We still don't have her name, but I'll break her in no time, no worries,"
"Why have you called me here sir?" asked Timothy trying not to grit his teeth at the prospect of what the beautiful alien will endure under the ministrations of his commander. He is as sadistic as any human being that Timothy had heard about at Cerberus Headquarters.
"Ahh yes, about that. I've read your partners and your reports about the eastern side of the settlement. Have you found anything there my boy?" asked the man placing his chinned beard at the top of his hand.
"Just sticks and stones sir, nothing of any value," replied Timothy simply. "It is as empty as the rest of the colony,"
"Tsk, stupid natives not even having an ounce of technology that their counterparts had," grumbled the commander kicking the angled leg of the chained red-head, making the Eldar shriek in pain at the abuse on her damaged leg. "You're dismissed boy. Keep your rounds up and make sure to kill anything that moves, understand?"
"Yes sir,"
"Good, you're dismissed. I had to study which way to fuck this beauty without killing her until she spills all the answers I want,"
Ignoring the last of the man's comment, Timothy simply walked out of the tent, looking at the beautiful view of the night sky. He can' help but wonder, what will the captain do to him if he knew that he harbored that young Eldar female back at the house that he found on his patrol?
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Planet Alchera, Amada System.
"Taldeer, come. It's time for the evening meal,"
"Coming in a minute Palea, this rat seems to be getting the better of me for some reason,"
Palea Alnianus only chuckled as she went back to preparing the dishes for the evening meal. It had been weeks ever since she and her husband Sectus Alnianus took in the abused Eldar that they had found naked and bleeding badly on her nether regions, collapsed on the gardens of their humble abode.
She and her husband though Turians are not that loyal to the Hierarchy, sure they had served to aid the military might of their people, but they did that as farmers, providing much needed food until their son, Tullius went to join the military and start his own career. Of course with both of them approaching their old age, the two Turians resigned their work and left Palaven to live here in solitude for the rest of their lives on the snowy planet of Alchera with their unique snow garden that they cultivated to help them provide food for themselves. She and her husband had lived here in years alone, peacefully until now.
Of course Palea is aware of the Triumvate and the new species that appeared. However she never expected to see one, much less meet one. It had not been easy taking care of the wounded Eldar, the language is a barrier that is extremely hard to overcome, however their charge seems to take a shine unto learning the language and learned it in a matter of a week. It helped that she didn't run away screaming the first time she awoke. Palea in a spur of a matter decision, invited the Eldar to stay with them until she's good enough to go back herself alone. Now it seems, Taldeer for some reason showed no sign of wanting to leave and even had become close to both of them and tend to help them on the daily chores on running the snow farm.
Her help too is good timing, she and Sectus are weakening with their coming ages. Sectus is going blind every month and she could feel the brittleness of her bones catching up. Taldeer is a godsend as she did the lion's share of the work while she and Sectus rested inside their small house. Never once did the Eldar complained. Of course Palea is worried about her, it's obvious that she's trying to distract herself into forgetting what happened to her. The old Turian woman never broached the subject in respect for Taldeer, however she knew that left alone, that wound and fear would fester until it scars too deep for any cure.
"I'm here, sorry I'm late,"
Palea only smiled at the snow covered Eldar dusting off the excess snow clinging to her at the entrance. "It's nothing, sit down while I'll call Sectus and we'll start dinner Taldeer,"
Yes, she'll breach the subject, but not today.
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Another Chappie done. Theerrreee…Ive updated sooner than I promised. Hope ya like it. Once more this AN will be short since its 2AM here and Im so tired writing 5.1K words….Please review. The more, the happier Ill be.
PS: I know the stories' not exciting at this part, but next ones will be the war's opening.
PS: Yes. Its Cerberus occupying Valdaris. Remember the expedition sent by the TIM and Arya in the Early chapters? And not all Cerberus soldiers are evil by the way.
PS: Yes, Selendis X Constantine. Selendis never receives love in any fanfic, except one where she's raped by a Zerg Kerrigan (shudder2x). And personally I find her beautiful despite being female myself. "And seriously? Smurfs?"
