I don't own the Mass Effect.


Interlude VIII: Höllenhund

Date: 10-23-2184

Location: Heavy Cruiser Reliant, Sahrabarik system, Terminus


Branded Survivor

I let out a long, tired groan as I crawled into the cabin's bunk, collapsing beside Voya as my shaking arms gave out. "Ow."

She let out a long sigh at my drama, though her voice was as tired as I felt, "Keelah, seriously? You only fought four rounds, stop being so dramatic."

"All of mine went to time." I groaned into my pillow, too tired to bother lifting my head up. "None of yours did."

"Then you should have..." Her words were broken by a long yawn, "...fought better. And I still fought seven rounds with Cieran."

That was because the two of them had the most frustration over the constant leads that we'd been chasing around the Terminus. Krom, the fucking asshole, had spent the last two months bouncing around the rimward Terminus, working with both Blood Pack and pirate groups to harass Die Waffe's shipping and colonies.

Yet despite our best bloody efforts, we'd never quite managed to catch him.. or even engage him.

We'd missed him by mere hours on more than one occasion, showing up in the aftermath of whatever chaos that he'd caused. Twice we'd actually gotten there in time to engage his forces directly, even if he himself had been gone, interrogating what few survivors that Voya and Glitch left. They, almost universally, didn't seem to know much, but we'd learned a few things.

One, Krom was definitely becoming unstable without Zero-One around to calm his mental seas. A few of our captives had admitted to seeing him execute Vorcha over trivial or non-existent offenses, and his targets were increasingly less military oriented and more directed to just causing as much damage as he could.

Two, Ganar knew about number one, and wasn't providing his pet assassin with any additional Krogan for his missions. That at least explained the desperate and low-tiered freelancers that Krom seemed to increasingly be bringing on. He still had plenty of Vorcha fodder, but it was increasingly being backed up by a trio of heavy combat mechs along with desperate mercs.

Three... all of us were getting heartily sick of just barely missing the fucker. Hence all of us sparring with one another after the last exercise in frustration, trying to burn off the furious energy by pummeling each other.

My irritable thoughts about both the fights, how sore my body was, and how annoyed I was about the situation were interrupted by warm fingers trailing down the back of my right forearm.

Groaning again, I dutifully hefted my head off of the pillow, blinking a bit at my partner. She was wearing as little as she could, as she usually did to bed, little more than binding bandages around her breasts and athletic shorts that hung to just above her knees. It was a combination that left plenty of fur... hair covered skin on display, along with stretches of taut muscle in the open space on her stomach and throat.

"Touching?" I asked softly.

"I believe that I am exhausted enough to tolerate hugging." She replied, her forked tongue briefly appearing as she licked her lips. "Perhaps even kissing if you behave."

It was all I could do to not immediately lurch across the bed and shove our mouths together. I could count the number of times she'd let me kiss her over the last several months with a single finger. Even cuddling was restricted to such times when she was in a proper frame of mind to accept being clung to.

I'd known that I'd have to be patient with her because of what she'd been through... but I was starting to hate myself for how hard it was. Goddess, I was over five hundred years old, yet here I was, acting like a sex-starved maiden just out of her first century.

Pushing those thoughts, and my urges, aside, I carefully shifted closer. Her arm slid out, leaving space for me to slowly rotate myself so that I was laying directly beside her. Pressing my face into the side of her neck, nuzzling through the soft hair there to find the feverish heat of her skin, and wrapping an arm around her waist was another cautious exercise, occurring over the course of several minutes.

Voya let out a soft, mewling sound when her own limb eventually wrapped around me, holding me in a loose grip. I exhaled into her skin as I listened to her thrumming heartbeat, fighting down the urge to let my hands wander up or down.

"I still don't understand why you're tolerating this." She murmured after five or ten minutes. "Keelah, you could walk into any cabin on this ship and ask for sex and they'd fall all over themselves."

"We've had this conversation, at least seven times." I replied softly.

There was an almost dainty sniff. "I don't recall any such talk, much less seven of them."

Pursing my lips, I resisted the impulse to bite her skin. "That's only funny when you do it to Cieran."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The hand on my back slid up, a long finger flicking against my crest. "Now tell me why you like me again."

Sighing, I ignored the blatant contradiction and did so, "You've got enough determination for seven people, which is beyond impressive considering what you've been through. You don't let anyone tell you to do something you don't actually want to do, and you're utterly vicious in a fight. And your body is-ugh!"

I grunted as I was abruptly pushed away from her, a lithe body following as hands seized my wrists and held them tightly to either side of my head.

"Um... Voya?" I swallowed as a curtain of white hair fell over our faces, her wide, glowing eyes narrowed to slits.

"I'm trying to decide if holding you down makes it easier." She replied, her voice low, and I felt her fingers tighten further. "I think it does."

"Oh." Normally I wasn't one for being the bottom, except on occasional occasions, but if it helped her I wasn't about to complain. Especially when she slowly leaned down, flicking her tongue out to let the edges touch my lips.

My heart thrummed a little as I opened them, darkness falling as my eyes rolled shut. Her long tongue flicked into my mouth, somehow both tentative and bold in the moments before our mouths were properly together. The kiss started slowly, hesitantly, with me staying submissive and letting her set the pace.

I was entirely unprepared when she abruptly shifted into an almost feral aggression, a long growling sound my only warning before her body was pressing hard against mine, her hands yanking my wrists above my head so that a single set of fingers could seize both of them and hold them down. Her free hand snapped down between us, groping at my chest and trying to get my athletic bra out of her way.

I tried to say her name, to ask just what the fuck had gotten into her, but her mouth swallowed my attempts to say much of anything. Her warm fingers got the fabric out of the way a heartbeat later, and had just started to properly squeeze and pinch when someone pounded on our bloody door.

Voya all but flew off of me, kicking me hard in one thigh as she did, her eyes wide and panicked as I yelped and flinched.

"What the fuck was that?" Cieran's voice came across our intercom.

"Nothing!" Voya snarled towards the door, her breathing still heavy as she refused to look anywhere near me. "What the fuck do you want?"

"There's a situation, need you both out here." There was a pause. "Are you clothed?"

"Yes!" She snapped, "Stay the fuck out there!"

The tiny light winked out as he stopped holding the button down, and I let out another groan as I stretched my sore leg out. Focusing on the pain helped me not think about how suspicious Voya had sounded, and what Cieran probably thought we'd been doing.

What we'd come very close to doing, though very much not in the way I'd thought it would happen.

"Voya?" I asked when she got off the bed, her movements sharp as she yanked a drawer open to grab clothes. "What in Athame's name was that?"

"Nothing." She growled, not looking back at me. Her hair swished from side to side as she shook her head, the stiff strands rustling as she yanked pants on. "Get dressed."

Pursing my lips, I briefly considered pushing the subject before thinking better of it... and then I thought better of it again. Grimacing, I hauled myself up and swung my legs over the side of the bed, fixing my bra as I did.

Frowning a little at her behavior, I hopped to my feet and took a single step in her direction. "Voya, when I hugged you from behind last week you had to fight the urge to deck me or tear my throat open. Our second kiss goes on for twenty seconds and you're practically trying to rip my clothes off."

"I..." She almost hissed, "Shyeel."

I cautiously padded closer, but I took care not to touch her. "Voya."

"I... dammit. I liked being on top all right? It's been a very long time, and when I had you pinned down I just..." Her hair rustled again. "I..."

"You knew I was helpless?" I asked quietly. "That I couldn't hurt you?"

Her gray fists clenched, her head lowering as she continued to refuse to look at me. "Yes."

"That turned you on?"

This time it wasn't a word, just a twitching nod.

"Oh." I pursed my lips, trying to work my brain around that, and how to work with it. If it turned her on... I felt a small thrum of arousal run through me as I remembered her almost desperate aggression. If that was what I could expect, I could definitely let her run things for a while, at least until she could handle me taking a turn. "Should we find some restraints then?"

She whipped her head around fast enough that her hair actually lashed across my face, her mouth hanging open as she gaped at me. "What?"

I blinked back at her, "I mean, isn't it obvious? If you tie me down then you'll definitely know that I can't do anything without your approval."

Voya tried to say something, her lips moving, but the only thing that came out was a kind of strangled noise.

"No pain or weird crap though." I had to make sure she knew that, shuddering a little as I remembered my one attempt to have a threesome with Jacqueline and Marcus. Goddess but I hadn't been on nearly enough drugs to make that crap fun. "We'll need some kind of safeword... what do you think of 'Trophy'?"

"I..." Her skin actually started to flush, "I..."

More pounding on the door reminded us both that Cieran was still waiting, and probably getting impatient about it.

She sucked in a breath, "We need to finish getting dressed."

I merely gave her a little smirk, then took a pair of steps away from her, my back hitting the bulkhead of our cabin. Languidly stretching my arms above me, I held them together as if they were tied, and lowered my eyes a little. "You sure?"

Gleaming eyes stared at me, flicking up and down when I thrust my chest out a little, then closed firmly as she clenched her fists. "Shyeel... just get your ass dressed."

Still grinning, I let my arms drop and walked over to my own clothing drawers to do so. A few minutes later we emerged to find an annoyed Cieran leaning against a metal wall, glowering at the both of us.

"I don't want to know." He spoke before we could say anything, "Unless it was Shyeel saying something stupid again, in which case feel free to tell me."

I glowered up at him, crossing my arms. "Seriously? Right to assuming I said something asinine?"

His head shifted a little as he made a show of considering that, "Hmm... considering the trail of things in your wake, yeah, pretty much."

Voya didn't snicker as she usually would have, but she did smile a little as I huffed. Cieran raised a brow at the reaction, but shrugged when I shook my head. Waving a pale hand, he got moving, the pair of us walking beside him.

"So..." The Quarian asked, giving me a final glare. "Considering that it's our off shift, what the fuck is this about?"

"We have a call from someone I don't want to talk to." He replied, green eyes narrowing. "I wanted you with to watch and give me your opinions when it's over with. Joa and Illyan will be there as well, along with Vishin."

I grimaced, the good mood I'd worked myself into at finding Voya's weakness fading as I realized that he was being entirely serious right now. "Who?"

"An asshole." Cieran all but growled as we reached a small staffroom, not unusual but for the fact that a pair of marines were standing guard outside of it. Both Batarian men all but broke their necks as they bowed to him, and kept them low until after we'd passed as well.

Inside was a long holographic table, with Joa and Illyan on one side, both looking somewhere between furious and disgusted. The leader of the ship's marines sat on the other, the Batarian male furiously smoking from a pipe as if the act was the only thing keeping him from flying into a rage.

Voya and I sat on his side, settling into our chairs while Cieran remained standing at the head of the table, his expression utterly cold and remote. "Put him through."

Joa's upper lip twitched away from her teeth, but she flicked a few commands onto the table. An image of a human male dutifully appeared in the air above it, reclining in a simple chair with his hands steepled before his chin. He wore what looked to be an expensive suit, casually ruffled, and had the features of a human at the late edge of their prime.

It wasn't until I saw that his eyes were artificial, glowing a bright electric blue, that I placed just who the fuck it was.

"Cieran Kean." The Illusive Man greeted him casually, "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to take my call."

"Jack Harper." Cieran replied, with far more ice in his voice. "Can we skip the false pleasantries?"

If the leader of Cerberus was surprised to hear his actual name spoken, he didn't show it. "As blunt as your reputation suggests."

Cie simply crossed his arms, pointedly remaining silent as Harper reached off camera, retrieving a glass with amber liquid and taking a slow sip before speaking again. "Ever since your discovery of our team on Xentha, I have been investigating Cynthi T'Ravt in the hopes of discovering just how she infiltrated my organization. During a raid on one of her facilities last month, we discovered the location of a mansion complex on an Asari colony that is being utilized as a base for some kind of operation."

"Your point being?"

The glass shifted as the hand that held it tilted it slightly, "That we have a common goal in discovering just what was done to you, and her other experiments."

"Possibly." Cieran replied, doing a passable job of not looking terribly interested. "But I have higher priority goals at the moment."

"Yes, your hunt for the assassin." Harper's eyes seemed to gleam more brightly as he leaned back, "That is actually why I elected to contact you personally. My agent on world has been monitoring their communications, and has discovered that a certain individual is due for an attempt to repair the damage to his mind."

I flinched and jerked my attention to Cieran, who had done his Batarian-style-turn-into-a-statue thing. As tells went, that was a fairly obvious one... and from the small nod that the terrorist allowed himself, he wasn't so moronic as to miss it.

"I thought you would be interested." He offered artfully, "He is due to arrive in twelve days. I believe that a partnership, temporary of course, would be advantageous in this matter."

Cieran finally sucked in a slow breath, green eyes half closing as he forced himself to calm down. "You said an Asari colony. You mean in the Republics themselves, not in the Terminus."

"Yes." There was another tiny nod. "Obviously you cannot openly attack a Council world, but if there was a... less than reputable organization, willing to take the blame for such an attack for a few minor considerations... you could be free to act."

Shit... shit, shit, shit fucking Athame's unholy fucking shit, this is not how I wanted today to go. From the way Cie's teeth were grinding together, he was about as happy as I was. "What kind of considerations?"

"Mutually beneficial ones." He assured us with all of the sincerity of a Volus salesman, "I am sure that discovering just what this Matriarch is up to is as important to you as it is to my organization. I desire to obtain copies of whatever research is occurring there, and any actionable intelligence that can be provided by yourself."

Our Commander let out a tight breath, placing his hands onto the table as he forced himself to remain calm. "You wouldn't send us alone. You want a team with on the ground."

"And in space." Another pointed sip from his liquor punctuated his words, "I will be dispatching a flotilla to the world, with or without your support."

"Then why the offer?" Cieran asked quietly, his head tilting before he nodded. "You need the assistance... you can't afford to send all of the assets you would like to, can you?"

"I have more operations in play than merely this one." He deflected with a minor shrug, "Your involvement would allow me to reallocate my forces to more appropriate venues."

A finger tapped slowly on the table as Cieran stared back at him, "Give me a few minutes to converse with my companions."

Harper nodded once, not wasting any words before Joa flicked another button to freeze the call... and promptly rose to her feet to glare furiously at Cie. "You can't be considering this. I know those goddess-damned assholes, you can't trust anything that son of a bitch just said."

He regarded her blandly, then glanced over to Vishin. The Batarian male blew smoke out of his open nose, then shook his head slowly. "As much as I loathe the idea of associating with them, Cerberus is capable, and the Pillars possess numerous sayings about the wisdom of coordinated action against mutual foes. I would agree, Reyja'krem, but I would also expect treachery."

The glance shifted to Voya and myself. I shard a glance with her, then shook my head, "As much as I really, really hate to say this... I have to agree with him Cie. I'd want to confirm with the old fish that this facility is actually there first, and I'd expect them to try and do something to fuck with us... but we can't keep just barely missing him."

"Our pursuit hasn't exactly been subtle. Sooner or later we'll fuck up and he'll ambush us." Voya agreed, "With whatever is left of Ganar's fleet."

Cieran let out a whistling breath between his teeth, nodded, then moved his attention on once again. "Illyan?"

His lover twisted her face in a grimace. "If the old fish can confirm whatever he tells us, and if you can convince me we'll be ready for whatever they try and backstab us with... I'm still at a maybe. It's Cerberus."

Fingers drummed on the table again. "Everyone but Joa can go."

So we were going to do this... and he didn't want the rest of us to hear her shrieking at him as he talked her down. Grimacing, I rose from my seat, Voya and Illyan doing the same, while Vishin was already halfway to the door.

He excused himself once we were outside, already preparing emergency training activities as he strode off. For our part, the three of us headed in the opposite direction, walking until we got back to Voya and I's room, with Illyan inviting herself inside along instead of heading down to the executive suite that she shared with Cieran.

"So." The tall Asari sighed, leaning against the door as Voya collapsed into the room's bunk. "Attacking a Republic colony... this is going to be awful."

"It wasn't like we could avoid it forever." I sighed, carefully moving to sit on the floor beside Voya's resting place. "Everything the old fish told us about that bitch made it clear we'd have to do something like this, if we wanted to go after her."

"Yeah, well... I thought it would happen farther out than this." She sighed. "If we fuck this up..."

"We'll complicate things for Sederis, and have to avoid Illium for a while." Voya waved a hand, her tone dismissive. "Hardly anything unusual."

"I was more thinking that a giant fucking fleet might show up and pummel us." Illyan countered, "Depending on where this colony is."

I rolled a shoulder in a shrug, "Can't be that far away from Illium, Krom is a wanted man in Council space. I doubt the Matriarch wants to risk anyone who works for her being seen with him."

"Maybe..." She sighed, shaking her head. "Voya, you think you can help work on Glitch with me tomorrow? We'll need it fully tuned up, and I'm guessing Cie will be focusing on our gear."

"Assuming Joa hasn't killed him." The Quarian sighed, a hand waving vaguely over my head, "Sure. Now get out of here, I want to sleep."

Illyan glanced at me, a smile playing across her face, "Is that a code word for something else or-"

"Oh shut up." I could only groan, "It's too late for me to tolerate you riling her up. We'll see you in the morning."

Our friend rolled her eyes, bringing a hand up in a mocking salute before departing. I stayed on the floor even after the door had closed, letting my head hang a little as I just breathed. Shit but Illyan was right, this was going to be a mess. A massive, fucked up mess that would make a hurricane and tsunami combination look positively benign.

A hand fell over the side of the bunk, three fingers coming to rest on my shoulder. "You think we should talk him out of it?"

"You think we could find the asshole again?" I asked back. "Before the war ends? Ganar's fleet is all but gone, Zadith Ban is overrun, the sieges on T'Ravt's old worlds are breaking..."

"I know." She sighed, giving my shoulder a tiny squeeze. "Aria's pets will find him sooner or later, and once Ganar is dead... that asshole is going to vanish. Assuming this isn't him trying to do so right now. If he could get to the inner colonies of the Republics..."

There wasn't any need to finish the sentence. If the Matriarch could get Krom that far, we would never be able to get to him. Not even Aethyta could, not if that bitch had taken that section of the Broker network. If there was even a chance that the Illusive Man wasn't just fucking with us...

"We're going to need like seven plans instead of the usual four." I groaned, already dreading the meetings that were going to come.

The hand on my shoulder flicked a finger out to touch my face, "Turn the light off and come to bed. We'll deal with that tomorrow."

Blinking, I twisted my head up and glanced at her. "Just to bed?"

Her skin darkened around her eyes and nose, "Yes. Just sleep. After we kill Krom... I might decide a celebration is in order."


Next up is Saga IV: The Wild Hunt

And the interludes have now passed, along with a few months worth of time. The next saga will begin with the team rendezvousing with their Cerberus counterparts, and then will cover the entire attack on the Matriach's complex and the complications that are sure to arise from such a course of action. Another note; moving forwards, things are going to begin occurring at a very rapid pace, with large amounts of action as the situation... devolves.

For those curious about the state of all of my side stories, here's a quick update:

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat


Review Responses:

TheDarknesswith96 → He was willing to kill his mother, he's always been fairly ambivalent towards her bondmate and other children.

BJ Hanssen / Marcusss / Everyone who liked Magnus → The plan was for him to get more sections in the next story, but since people seemed to enjoy him so much, I'll probably create at least a few Those Who Fight chapters for him.