Hmm, that went well. Less than a month.

Hope you're all still well. :)

As I said before in the last chapter, this one marks the start of when things start getting a bit darker. This one especially has a fair bit of violence, some cold moments and as a warning as well, although there's no rape, it does have a scene that implies it. There is also the possibility the sex scene may be a bit unsettling for some people.

YEAR 8, Turning Point

2180: 8 Years after the battle of Elysium

7 Years before the Battle of Arkadia

"Though this year ended up being rather quiet for the civil war, that didn't mean it went completely smoothly. Unfortunately, this particular event was going to be a dark chapter in my life. If anything, one could almost say this was the turning point. This was when things started getting a lot darker. This was when Hellspawn started to really fight back. This... was where they started to win..."

Chapter 25

Renegade Emergence

If the wedding hadn't already been a happy occasion for Alaara and Sandra, the honeymoon ended up being even better, or so Alpha had been told. Truth was, after the two of them had returned after three weeks away, they hadn't said much about it. And even on on occasion when they'd tried to ask...

"You never did say how your 3 week honeymoon went…" Austin inquired. "...at that nudist colony."

"You're right. We didn't." Alaara simply smiled.

"Well how was it then?" Dash asked. But then the realization of their vague answer hit him. "Oh!"

"Any other questions?" Sandra asked, sharing a similar smile to her wife.

In the end, they'd chosen to leave it at that. Whatever had happened, it had obviously been good for both of them.

For a time, Alpha had wondered if the married couple were going to find somewhere else on Arkadia to stay, get an apartment of their own or something. But those thoughts had soon been put to rest when the married couple had confirmed they were happy where they were and currently had no plans to get a place of their own until they either retired or decided to start a family. No room changing was necessary either as hey'd already been sharing a room for years since becoming a couple. Sandra had already moved her stuff into Alaara's some time ago and they'd lent the room out for more regular everyday uses.

Things had been very quiet in the past month or so. Hellspawn it seemed had become surprisingly inactive and there had been less and less reports of them with each passing week. Though some took this as good sign and some even hastily thought the Helldivers might be winning, most took this news with caution. Alpha especially had a feeling that this drop in activity was not a sign of weakness at all. If anything, they suspected the organization was up to something, or that something big would be coming soon. When Hellspawn made a comeback, and they almost certainly would, it would be with a vengeance...

Right now though, that left Alpha with some time on their hands that they were using for shore leave.

Alaara and Sandra especially had spent the afternoon running a lovely hot bath for themselves which they were both sat in. As if the hot water wasn't enough, they'd added pretty much everything else to the mix. Bath salts, scented candles, glasses with some Asari wine, dimmed mood lights, and most noticeable of all... a lot of bubbles.

The married couple smiled at each other as they clinked glasses, strands of bubbles clinging to various parts of their bodies, and yet not hiding the nudity of their tits, leaving both of them with an excellent view of each other.

"We really need a bigger gap between fighting and fucking... and moments like this." Alaara said after taking a sip of her wine.

"We had a three week honeymoon that had us and everyone around us naked. Hard to make a bigger gap than that." Sandra said.

Mentioning that conjured up a little memory of the morning after their wedding night when they'd woken up. That had been a great morning...

FLASHBACK

Alaara gently woke to Sandra licking her azure. For her, that was probably one of the very best things to wake up to. Sandra paused when she finally noticed her new wife was awake.

"Good morning, Darling." she smiled.

"Morning to you too." Alaara smiled back.

Sandra took this moment to crawl on top of Alaara and finally settled when she was eye level, their breasts pressing against one another.

"So, now comes the next big question. Just how long are we gonna spend this morning making love until finally going on our honeymoon?" Sandra smiled.

"How long have we got?" Alaara asked, gently caressing Sandra's face.

"3 weeks, maybe 4." Sandra replied, starting to get where her new wife might be going with this.

"One entire day of nudity and sex won't hurt, will it?" Alaara asked suggestively.

"No, it really won't." Sandra said as she and Alaara kissed while Alaara's eyes turned black once more.

Both their tits enlarging at the same time while still pressed together as they readied themselves for another round. They never could get over how much they loved the sensation, how arousing it was for them, how much the sensation tingled them, how much they loved it. One could almost say they were addicted to the union enlargement biotics. Even they themselves couldn't' help but feel that way too. But honestly... they didn't care...

END OF FLASHBACK

"You know what I've realized lately?" Alaara asked.

"What's that?"

"Well, we've had other partners with us before, right?"

"Yeah?"

"But there's one we've both been curious about, but never tried yet."

"Who?"

Alaara though simply raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner. It wasn't long before Sandra then realized who her wife had been referring to.

"Oh. You know him though. He'd be a tough one to convince."

"I thought you liked a challenge."

"True." Sandra conceded. "And actually... even though he's with Nyara, we could always have a little word with her as well. See if she might be able to convince him. Hell, she might even want to join in too.

"A foursome? Now that would be interesting. I like the way you think." Alaara said with intrigue.

"This is your fault, you know." Sandra smiled. "Ever since we became bondmates, your depravity has been rubbing off on me more and more."

"And you love it." Alaara smiled, hooking her arms around Sandra's neck and slowly pulling the Helldiver closer to her.

"You're right, I do." Sandra smiled.

The two both giggled slightly as they began kissing, even as they playfully covered each other with even more bubbles. Right as they began considering the idea of whether they wanted to have sex in the bath or not however, they were interrupted when Sandra's omni tool began beeping with a message notification.

"Oh come on! Now?! Of all times?!" Sandra complained.

"Just ignore it." Alaara sighed, sharing her wife's annoyance.

"Could be important, darling." Sandra said, reluctantly halting what had been a perfect moment for them as she checked the message.

What she ended up seeing made her skin almost turn white.

"Oh shit!"

Austin had just finished a vid call with his mother and sister. If thigns were indeed going the way many had been saying for a while, it sounded like he might be seeing them a bit more often. A recent attack from Hellspawn in Alliance territory had triggered an immediate response from them and they had proposed an alliance with the Helldivers in the ongoing civil war. It hadn't been officially finalized yet, but both sides were pretty much on-board and everyone was almost certain it would absolutely happen.

Couple that with the Asari recently lending support as well, and it sounded like the balance in this war was going to tip right the way in the Helldivers' favor.

It was at that moment however, Sandra suddenly rushed in, still dripping wet and with a towel wrapped around herself. Alaara soon followed, though she made no effort whatsoever to cover up her nudity.

"Shepard!"

"What's wrong, Sandra?" Austin asked in immediate concern.

Given the comm expert's sudden entrance, and given also that she was only in a towel, this must be immensely serious.

"We just got a message... intended for you. It's Nyara... she... someone has her." Sandra explained.

"What?! Who?!"

"I don't know. Whoever it was kept his face hidden. The message came with a video."

Activating her omni tool, Sandra displayed the message on Alpha's bigger screen. For the moment, the message just seemed to be blank, but it was clearly a video of some kind of dark environment. In the background and out of shot, a distinctly male voice could be heard.

"Commander Shepard. That is what they call you now, right?" it said. "You may not remember me, but I certainly remember you. I hope this message finds you well, or as well as it can all things considered. I imagine though you're wondering why you should take this seriously. Naturally in your line of work, you face threats like this at every turn. So, I have a little friend of yours here to make sure you listen."

The unseen figure then picked up the camera and turned it round. The sight that greeted Alpha shocked them: A large cage hanging from a ceiling mount, and a very familiar Asari imprisoned inside. Nyara had been stripped naked, fitted with a biotic suppression collar and simply lent against the edge of the cage. There was signs of anger in her face as she looked at the unseen person operating the camera.

"Do I have your attention now?" the figured asked. "Fortunately for you, nothing too bad has happened to her. Well, not yet anyway. That's entirely up to you. No doubt you're now wondering what it is I want, so I'll waste no time. Its very simple, Shepard, come and find her. I've made no attempt whatsoever to bounce this signal, or mask where it came from. No doubt your comm expert has already traced its source. Bring yourself to us, your Asari mistress will live and be released no worse for the wear. Refuse however, and she will still be released... although much worse for the wear. I assume you'd like to avoid an unpleasant outcome? And don't bother bringing any of your friends along for this either. If you die, she will be pay for price for it. And don't even try any tricks to conceal them either. Trust me when I say this, I will know. And I assure you, I am definitely not bluffing. No armour either. By all means, bring your weapons, but I see anything that hints you have your Helldiver armor either with you, or on standby, or anything at all along those lines, she dies. Make up your mind soon, Shepard. I will be patient for only so long. You have 24 hours. I'll be waiting."

With that, the message ended, leaving the room in silence.

"What's the plan then, Boss?" Kraan asked to Austin.

Everyone else also turned to Austin, expecting an answer. The one they got however wasn't what they'd expected.

"Plan? The plan is, you're all staying here. I'm going to deal with this." Austin replied.

"On your own? Shepard that's insane. Its obviously a trap." Alaara objected.

"Of course it is. But you heard him, he only wants me and he'll kill Nyara if he sees any of you." Austin said as he began packing stuff into a small backpack and gathering up his weapons.

"There's no way he could know for certain if we're with you hidden." said Hawk.

"That's not a risk I'm willing to take, not when her life is on the line."

"I thought we didn't negotiate with terrorists." Sandra said.

"We don't. And I have no intention of negotiating anything. I'm getting her back, and I'll cut down anyone who gets in my way." Austin said coldly.

"Shepard, this isn't you..." Xun said, but Austin interrupted her.

"I have many deaths on my conscience. I won't let Nyara's be among them." he said calmly, picking up his sword and fastening it to a clip on his left side.

"You love her, don't you?" Alaara asked,

Austin didn't reply to that and just let out a heavy sigh. That told Alpha everything.

"Go and do what you have to, Commander. And do us all a favor... come back alive, and give that bastard hell for us." said Telrass, handing Austin the hooded poncho that she'd specially made for him as a birthday gift.

"Roger that."

Nyara simply sat in the large cage she'd been imprisoned in. When she'd first had this built for more... private purposes, she never would've thought she'd find herself in it, or at least in it as an actual proper prisoner without someone else playing along with the sexual act. Shepard had never been been one for prisoner kinks given that his line of work often involved the real thing.

For many long hours she kept mumbling to herself to try and stave off the boredom. She wasn't actually bothered at all that she'd been stripped naked and forced into this cage. The only problem she had was boredom while she waited for Austin to arrive. And she knew he would. But...

"Goddess this is fucking boring." she groaned in annoyance.

As she began debating on whether she should try making lots of noise to annoy her captor, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the whole cage suddenly lurched violently. Someone was pulling on it. None other than the one who'd put her in this cage suddenly gave a violent pull and the hanging cage broke free of the chain holding it up to the ceiling.

Nyara had no idea who this man was, but he was certainly a big chap. 6 foot 6 tall, a build with plenty of muscle for strength but not really lean, mercenary clothes that looked aged and worn and had clearly seen better days, and even the man himself didn't look all that tidy either. Overgrown tangled shoulder length long hair which looked as though color was badly faded, and an equally long, tangled and untidy beard. Hints of red, but definitely faded at the roots and spreading.

Nyara held tight to the bars to steady herself as her captor actually managed to hold up the heavy cage with two hands. The only human she'd ever known to be able to do that without armor or any kind of assistance was Shepard, so this man's strength worried her greatly. Worse still, he was definitely not being gentle.

"Your precious goddess won't save you here, Asari whore!"

He then threw the cage violently and it hit the floor hard, clanging loudly with each hit. The whole thing left Nyara dazed enough that was initially unable to try and fight back when her captor forced the cage open and hauled her up into the air by the neck with just one hand.

"One can only hope your boyfriend will turn up before I lost my patience!"

Nyara's vision cleared, but she barely had a moment before the man then threw her back tot he ground with enough force that it could've broken every bone in her body. Frankly, it was a miracle that didn't happen.

"You may be a tough bitch, but everyone has their limits."

The man's gloating though was short lived as Nyara suddenly grabbed some chained handcuffs that been within reach and swung them right at his face. The full force of the swing hit him right in the jaw, even drawing blood. To Nyara's surprise however, although her captor did reach up to his mouth, no scream of agony came. At the very most, only a pained grunt came from the impact, followed by a groan from the man who then angrily spat blood out of his mouth.

Nyara tried to resist, but could do little as her captor once again picked her up, this time with even more aggression and literally smashed her against the wall as he pinned her there by the neck, his other hand still lightly nursing his bleeding face and bruised jawline.

"That will cost you an eye..." he snarled. "And both of your hands."

Very slowly, he drew a knife from his side and held it dangerously close to the Asari's right eye.

"I wonder if Shepard will still desire you when disfigured."

Right before he could make any kind of cut however, his omni tool suddenly bleeped.

"Saved by the bell."

Since the message had been quite clear that Austin come alone without his armor, Austin had sought to it that he'd dressed in an outfit that would be discreet enough for him to not attract attention to himself, but also be practical should he get into a fight, which he was almost certain was going to happen.

The outfit larger consisted of stuff he'd been able to get from off duty spacer outfit, but then modified to suit both Austin's personal preferences and needs. The lower part like the trousers and the boots remains the same, albeit with a dark navy blue color. Instead of a vest he now wore a form fitting long sleeve shirt, or at leas tit had been a long sleeve shirt before the left arm got torn just below the shoulder. The arm straps and gloves he still kept. The vest was still the same and also navy blue. One significantly new addition however was the hooded poncho. This was actually a gift that Telrass had made for him. Longer at the back reaching down to his waist, whilst the front was much shorter and only came down to about his stomach area. The hood meanwhile was nice and big to allow plenty of head movement as Austin had said before he hated small hoods. The poncho proved handy also in hiding his sword for the moment.

When he finally reached the place that had been instructed on the message, Austin made sure he could take the sword out as easily and quickly as possible when he needed to. As he entered the building, he soon found himself in the room of a massive warehouse. From the looks of things, it hadn't been abandoned either so that gave Austin all the more reason to deal with these mercs, whoever they were. Only one light provided the only illumination hanging from the ceiling and Austin soon found found himself surrounded by about 8 mercs, all armed and clearly ready for a fight.

The mercs though didn't seem fazed... big mistake on their part.

"He said you'd come." one of them said.

"Where's the Asari?" Austin simply asked.

"With our boss."

Austin though was in no mood for vague answers.

"I'm only gonna say this once... walk away, now." he said, in a very clam but growling tone as he lowered his hood.

"Is that supposed to scare us, Helldiver?" one of the mercs laughed. "Out of your armor, you're nothing. Takes more than a tiny little sword to frighten people like us."

"Then you're even dumber than you look." Austin said as he drew Excalibur. "So, you going to stand around talking all day, or are we going to fight?"

The one with the harpoon gun fired almost immediately. One swift swipe from his sword however, and Austin countered the shot like it was nothing. For a moment, the other mercs were left a bit surprised that he managed to do that. The shock soon wore off for the one was closest though and he charged, swinging his sword wide at Austin. The wide swing though made it all too easy for Austin to counter it, following it with a deep slash to the merc's abdomen, the pain toppling him to his knees. Austin then thrust his blade right into the merc's throat as he fell. A brutal pull then tore the sword violently out, tearing the poor merc's head in two and leaving his body lying in a massive pool of his own blood.

The next merc had no more luck either as he swung at Austin, only for the Helldiver to counter his sword swing to the side as well and similarly slash him in the abdomen as well, except his slash went a lot deeper and pretty much split him wide open. A third merc tried the exact same strike as well with a small axe, but once Austin blocked his bloww and thrust right into the merc's leg.

A fourth merc swung as well, only to be blocked, but this time his attack actually ended up in a blade lock with Austin. Before he could try to break it for another swing however, Austin's left hand grabbed hold his. Unable to move his own sword, Austin was completely free to disengage the lock and his blade slit the merc's throat. He didn't let go of the merc's sword though and kept it in his left hand. In fact, that actually came in handy when another merc tried to hit the Helldiver with his gun, only to instead find the weapon hitting the merc's. He barely had a second to react before Austin then swung with his sown sword and Excalibur cut the mercs hands completely off, cutting his head off as well as Austin swung back up to finish the job.

The whole time, the merc with the harpoon gun had been trying to quickly reload, but such a weapon was unfortunately slow to do so. By the time he had managed to reload in fact, it was already too late and Austin threw the merc sword right at him and it embedded itself right in his chest.

The next merc who attacked, tried to flank him, attacking from the side. Unfortunately for him that didn't work either as Austin simply blocked the blow and spun, his sword stabbing right into the merc's neck.

Only two left.

Despite this though, they didn't seem deterred at all. The first one charged... Big mistake, as all he'd end up doing was charging right onto Austin's waiting sword and impaling himself on it. As the Helldiver pushed the merc off, he took his dagger as he advanced on the last merc who if anything seemed full of rage at seeing all his comrades die.

"You'll die for that!" he yelled.

This time it was Austin that attacked first. The merc countered this, but Austin was quick to attack again. As this blow was also countered, Austin spun, the blade in his left hand thrusting first. The merc blocked it, but he was unprepared for Excalibur thrusting at him as well, scraping the side of his weapon and partly cutting his side. Taking advantage of the merc's pain, Austin then thrust the other sword right into the merc's chest and pushed him right against the wall.

"You should've listened." Austin said coldly.

And with that, he swung Excalibur and decapitated the merc.

"Good, you haven't lost that fighting spirit, Shepard."

Austin turned to finally see Nyara, and the man who'd been the case of all this. His initial anger at seeing Nyara forced on her knees and naked was soon replaced by surprise when he saw the man's face. Despite the untidy beard and long hair, he still saw a familiar face...

"Sylas." he said coldly.

Sylas Machina was a former Helldiver in training. Both he and Austin had been in the same training together. Both in basic and advanced under a mentor. To say that they hadn't gotten along would not have done it justice. Whilst Austin had always been perfectly nice to everyone and had struck up good friendships with everyone he shared training with, Sylas it seemed was kind of the opposite. He lacked patience, he'd been reckless and whenever he sparred with some of them as part of training he'd keep trying to push them even harder, pretty much refusing to relent or go easy on them if some of their weaknesses came into play or they had a disadvantage over him. For him, training was pretty much a way to weed out the weak, rather than make a weak stronger. This had been something that he'd not only clashed with Austin on multiple occasions, but also General Zartrack as well.

The final straw had come during a genuine training exercise. Sylas had been put in charge in the hope that the responsibility as well as the acknowledgement of his team mate's strengths and weaknesses would finally make him understand. Sadly for him, it had only exposed the worst of him when he'd not only put the mission first above his team mates which had very nearly got one of them killed but he had made a choice would have resulted in 100% collateral damage... if it hadn't been for Austin.

It was only thanks to his intervention that the exercise had been salvaged. He'd relieved Sylas of command, having to actually go so far as to knock him out when he'd refused to back down even when no one else had come to his aid, and had reluctantly taken command. He'd even managed to help some of the others overcome some of their weaknesses.

Sylas had immediately attempted to have Austin charged with insubordination, but the Arkane Council and Zartrack had all agreed that Sylas' handling of the situation as well as his complete disregard for the Helldiver's code rule about avoiding the death of innocents was unacceptable. He'd almost immediately been dishonorably discharged and removed from any kind of operation to do with the Helldivers. He hadn't been heard or seen from since... until now.

"You do remember me. I'm impressed. It's been a long time. You look well." Sylas said.

"And you look like shit." Austin retorted. He then turned to Nyara. "Are you alright?"

"Been worse. Your friend's bark is worse than his bite." Nyara said, making sure that Sylas heard that.

"I see your taste in Asari remains the same." Sylas said, a clear hint of disgust in his voice.

"You got what you wanted. Here I am. Now let her go." Austin said.

Surprisingly, Sylas actually did. Although not without doing it in a way that was clearly designed to anger Austin. He actually hit Nyara so hard it knocked her out as he shoved her away uncaringly.

As the two opponents began to slowly circle one another, ready for their fight, Sylas drew his own dual swords.

"All these years, and still you hold a grudge against me? You really are pathetic." Austin said coldly.

Sylas attacked first, his two swords swinging violently at Austin. Despite the wideness of these swings and the lack of precision, they had plenty of stability. Sylas had the advantage of steady hands. Austin only just managed to lean himself back enough the first two times that the swings missed him. The third, Austin finally blocked, his sword clashing violently with Sylas'. Sylas attacked from both sides with his swords, Austin only just managing to move quickly to block each strike. The shear force that Sylas put into each attack was enough Austin felt like any of them would either knock him back or knock his sword out of his hands. Fortunately though, his own strength compensated.

A sudden spin from Sylas caught Austin off guard but he manged to react fast enough in time and was to block with his own blade and used the blade guard to force both swords down. The two opponents glared at one another for a moment in their blade lock before Sylas disengaged and resumed his attack.

An unbalanced lunge from Sylas' left blade however gave Austin a good opening he needed and he was able to deliver such a sharp kick that it not only knocked Sylas' sword out of his hand and sent it flying, but he was pretty sure he caused a wrist fracture as it seemed to cause Sylas an immense amount of pain. Seizing the chance, Austin pushed against Sylas and managed to pin him to the wall in a blade lock.

"You ruined my life, Shepard! Did you honestly expect me to just forget that?!" Sylas roared at him.

Austin was suddenly interrupted by a sharp pain in his right side and looked down to see that Sylas had managed to draw a knife to replace the sword he'd lost and stabbed him. It was barely on the edge though so, there was no way that knife had stabbed into any internal organs. Being a Helldiver as well with the Helldiver serum and being a geneblood as well however meant that this was more just like a bee sting rather than something life threatening. Even Austin himself only let out a pained groan at best.

Sylas finally managed to push him off and once again pressed the attack with Austin blocking each strike. On one particular attack he attempted to use the knife again, but Austin blocked it this time using his free hand.

Sylas turned this into another spin attack which attempted to slash at Austin's back but he immediately managed to bring Excalibur behind his back and blocked the attack before it even had a chance to touch him, once more with the two locking blades.

"You brought it on yourself, Sylas. Just as you've brought this on yourself as well." he said.

"Empty words, Shepard. Our people always say that its actions that speak louder."

This was met with Austin suddenly pushing hard against Sylas' blade with enough force that it knocked his opponents blade away. using the momentum of this, he swung at Sylas, bringing his blade down hard. Sylas only just brought both his sword and knife up in time to block the attack, but only just enough. In fact, the edge of Austins' sword managed to land a very deep gash in his left shoulder.

"Quite right." Austin said.

Sylas once again pun angrily as he pushed Austin's sword out of his shoulder, his knife slashing Austin's left thigh as he did. Still though it didn't make Austin cry out or clutch the wound. He simply took with a slight groan as though he'd simply been stung by a small insect or something.

Nyara regained consciousness to the sound of banging metal and soon caught sight of the duel going on. Despite her desire to interfere, she dared not for fear of simply getting in the way. All she could do was watch and hope Austin won.

Neither opponent seemed to be winning as they continued clashing back and forth. Even when Sylas managed to score a hit on Austin's shoulder, it barely slowed him down. Sylas on the other hand had received several more deep cuts and both of them could tell that blood loss was taking its toll. Sylas was tiring, becoming slower, less aggressive. His anger and rage was only thing still keeping him going enough that he was still keeping up Austin and in turn giving the Helldiver very little chance to strike.

One another spin attack, Sylas had both his sword and his knife in the same hand and attempted to stab with the knife, but Austin managed to grab the knife with his hand, his strength holding it back.

With only further frustration, Sylas pulled the knife back, cutting Austins' hand. This only seemed to be a flaw on his part though as it seemed to make Austin go on the offensive and now it was him attacking until Sylas tried to attack back only for his attack to be countered. Reacting fast, Austin slashed Sylas' outer wrist and hand which caused him to drop the knife. Another cut followed deep into Sylas' left thigh, a hit with the pommel which actually broke his already cracked ribs, and a deep cut to the inside of Sylas' right arm which definitely felt as though some muscles and nerves had been severed too.

In almost constant agonizing pain, and now disarmed of both his weapons, Sylas fell to his knees, his head colliding with the pommel of Excalibur as Austin used it to hit him again. Falling on his back, Sylas clutched at what he could of his bleeding wounds as he glared up at Austin.

"You son of a bitch!"

"Its nothing personal, Sylas. Well, maybe it is a little personal. You've always been a pain in the arse." Austin said, panting slightly as he got his breath back.

"Screw you!"

"You delude yourself in continuing to believe you're a victim in this. Don't think I've forgotten why you were kicked out of training, why I turned you in. All those innocents you nearly slaughtered, and for what? It does not engender peace to cut your way to resolution."

"Wrong! Were that we applied the sword more liberally and more often, the galaxy would be a better place than it is today." Sylas retorted.

"In this instance, I concur." Austin said, holding his sword close enough to Sylas' throat that a single move would slice it open.

Sylas though didn't seem frightened by this. If anything, he seemed to lightly laugh it off.

"It may have been years, but I doubt you've changed that much, Shepard. I'm unarmed, wounded, defeated. You won't kill me. It's not your style." he said confidently.

Austin however proved him slightly wrong when he suddenly stabbed the tip of his blade into the similar place that he'd stabbed Austin earlier with the knife, causing Sylas to let out a pained cry as blood began to slowly pool under him from the wound.

"Try me." Austin said coldly, glaring down at Sylas.

Sylas simply glared back with rage as he fought through the pain.

You are right though. I'm not going to be the one to kill you."

Sylas couldn't' help but crack a smug smile... but it was short lived.

"But she will."

Sylas only had a moment to look up before Nyara suddenly plunged his own knife directly into his chest. It barely missed his heart, but it definitely stabbed into a lung and his already bad bleeding only intensified.

"Good riddance!" Nyara snarled, even going so far as spit on him before she then turned to Austin. "Sorry about that. Needed to let off a little steam. He killed two of my girls when broke in for me, kept me in a cage for 24 hours naked and then knocked me out."

"I could think of worse scenarios." Austin said, wincing slightly as the adrenaline finalyl worse off and his hand flew tot he stab wound in his side.

Nyara was quick to help him though as she put his arm over her shoulder and helped him out of the warehouse, leaving Sylas to die of his wounds.

Getting back to Nyara's apartment was not that difficult. The warehouse was almost right next to it, and they'd been able to use the backstreets to avoid anyone seeing them, especially since Nyara still didn't have any clothes.

Once they'd finally reached her room, Nyara set Austin down ont he Sofa and immediately went to get some bandages and extra medi gel while Austin worked on making his own start in tending to them himself.

"Its not as bad as it looks. Trust me, I've had worse." Austin said as he lightly applied medi gel to the stab wound in his side.

"Oh I'm sure. But regardless, I think it'd be better for both of us if you stopped bleeding all over my floor." Nyara said. "Take your shirt off."

Austin felt little need to object and simply did as she said. He couldn't' help but notice also as she began wetting a cloth to help clean the wounds, she wasn't even attempting to cover her still naked body.

"Aren't you going to put something on?" he asked.

"Its nothing you haven't seen before. Besides, I'd rather not get blood on anything until I've treated these wounds." the Asari replied. "This will sting a bit."

Austin was braced, and to be honest it didn't hurt that much as Nyara began dabbing at the wounds with a wet cloth while the medi gel kept doing its work.

"Still, thank you. A part of me worried you might not come." she said.

"I'm shocked you'd even consider the thought." Austin smiled, wincing slightly as another dab stung him a bit.

"Its not everyday that a regular fuck buddy turns up to rescue someone like me."

"Is that all I am to you?" Austin chuckled. "That hurts even more than this."

"Friends with benefits then? I think we're a little past that, you and I." Nyara said, giving him a slight smile.

She then also noticed a small, but rather deep cut in his leg. Austins' gaze followed hers and she then gave him an expecting look.

"Seriously?" Austin asked.

"Best to be sure. You want to talk them off, or should I?" Nyara asked, a hint of suggestiveness in her voice.

Austin simply nodded to her. If she wanted to, why not?

"Don't worry. You know I'm gentle when I need to." Nyara smiled.

Austin simply lay back and let the Asari do what she needed to as she undid his belt, unzipped his trousers and gently peeled them down. At the same time, he also kicked his boots off. He'd probably take a shower in a few minutes anyway... and the chances of him getting dressed again tonight were unlikely. Nyara couldn't' help but give Austin a slightly mischievous smile as she pulled his trousers off all the way. She left his boxers on for now, but she was unable to avoid staring at the slightly noticeable bulge. Even with some battle injury he could still get in the mood. As she dabbed at the wound gently, he winced slightly, but she soon had it cleaned and soon had it bandaged up.

As Austin finally relaxed on the sofa, Nyara poured them both a glass of Asari wine and they drank as she sat down next to him.

"You seem troubled." Austin said, noting how Nyara didn't seem as content or relieved as he was right now.

"Its just something that's going on with me lately." she said. "Past few months or so I've been having a weird hunger feeling, but it doesn't' feel like a normal kind of hunger, and it won't go away with food and drink. Just has me a bit concerned."

Austin wasn't really sure what to say to that. In all the teachings he'd had about Asari, he'd never heard of something like this. He could only hope it wasn't some kind of illness. As he tried to think of anything to say to try and brighten Nyara's mood, she seemed to notice his concern and simply gave him a reassuring smile.

"But then, a part of me has started to wonder... perhaps I'm missing you. This thing we have... its meant a lot to me. It was fun before, and yet we're still going."

She reached up slightly and touched the side of Austin's face as his gaze lingered on her.

"It means a lot to me too." he said.

Nyara next words came with some hesitance, but she finally found the courage to say them.

"I love you."

Most would've reacted with surprise, but not Austin. He'd long had his suspicions this relationship of there's had finally gotten to that point. And while he hadn't been of what to think of it at first, here, now... there was no hesitation, save for maybe the actual speech that followed.

"I… I love you too."

For Nyara, it seemed that was all she needed and she pulled Austin into a deep kiss, this time much slower than their previous ones, both of them savoring each other. Nyara it seemed to the initiative and actually pushed Austin lightly until he was laid back on the sofa with her on top as they continued kissing. It was Austin started getting more into it however that something odd began to happen. Something about him felt odd. He felt tired, felt as though his muscles were starting to fail him. He tried to force his eyes wider open or attempt to sit up, but he couldn't even find the strength to do that. And then he looked Nyara who seemed to have stopped kissing him. To his surprise and also worry and horror, she was smiling at him. But not a normal smile... a sinister smile. Did she know what has happening? Worse still, was she the cause of it?

Austin tried to think how though. There wasn't any way it could be a sedative. Helldivers were mostly immune to those, and even the ones they weren't immune to would only work in large doses. What's more, even the very strongest in the highest dose only worked over a long time, whereas this was happening way too quickly.

As all these questions rushed through his head, his vision began to darken. More and more he felt himself slipping away. For a split second Austin worried that maybe he'd been poisoned. But that shouldn't have been possible either. If it was poison he'd be in pain or something, or he would've tasted it if it had been something he'd consumed.

In the end though, darkness came and he lost all consciousnesses as he heard a faint but understandable phrase...

"Soon, my love."

Consciousness finally returned to Austin and his vision gradually cleared. His surroundings were unfamiliar for a moment as he pushed himself up onto his knees. Just lots of red and faint shapes moving about. He was also aware that he was naked and wet. As his vision further cleared he now became aware that he seemed to be in Nyara's large hot tub again... but it was very different. It was even darker than before, the steam was almost red in appearance and the water... it didn't look like water anymore. It didn't even feel like water. It looked and felt exactly like... blood.

He also now saw that he wasn't alone. All of Nyara's girls were here as well, all of them partially or either mostly submerged in the blood as they all seemed to be having sex with one another and various different positions.

At that moment, Nyara then appeared in Austin's field of vision, equally naked as her girls. Her eyes were black, but this didn't seem something from a union and he didn't feel as though his mind was joined with hers, but she certainly seemed to be exerting some sort of influence over him.

"Ah, awake at last. I've been waiting for you." she said, gently caressing his face, something about her touch easing a great deal of his confusion.

"What..." Austin tried to say, but Nyara stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"Shh. No more worrying. Just you... and me. Come my love, join us. Claim what it rightfully yours."

Nyara took his hand and began leaning back. Despite all of this, Austin felt unable to resist and allowed the Asari to pull him as they both lay down in the blood red liquid all while the many other Asari continued int heir little orgy. His hands gently caressed her and she in gave him some slight biotic stimulation.

"That's it. Let your true self out. The urge to mate... to breed." Nyara moaned.

Her gaze it seemed traveled slightly lower. As Austin's followed her eyes he also noticed something different about Nyara. Had her tits gotten bigger? They certainly looked as though they were larger. But then his gaze went even lower to where Nyara was looking.

His cock and balls felt strange... They looked darker than before, as though his cock had filled with way more blood than before. He then felt a tightness near the base as a hot feeling enveloped his member as it suddenly grew erect... and seemed to keep going, exceeding its old size. It quite literally bloated into the biggest and baddest erection he'd ever had. A pleasurable feeling almost overwhelmed his senses. It felt great. His now larger cock throbbed with bulging veins and an almost hard as rock feel from so much blood. Pre-cum gently began to trickle from the pulsing mushroom head, almost begging to find itself inside a pussy... the one right in front of it between Nyara's parted legs that looked like it too was calling to be filled.

Austin it seemed found a new aggressiveness course through him and he pinned both of Nyara's hands above her as she smiled eagerly in anticipation of what was to come.

"Do it. Take me." Nyara moaned.

She then reached down lower to rub at his cum filled orbs. Austin shuddered and instinctively thrust towards her, his brain befuddled by surging hormones, bewitched by the Asari below of them moaned in pleasure as the Helldiver's pulsing shaft made contact with her drooling Azure. Taking hold of Nyara's somehow larger breasts, Austin thrust himself into her, bucking and pistoning his hips, driving his cock into that cool, wet hole, giving himself over to the need to impregnate her.

"YES, MY LOVE! SHOW ME HOW MUCH OF A BEAST YOU ARE!" Nyara moaned.

Holding his shoulders for support, her glazed eyes looked deep into Austin's. Nyara moaned, pushing her chest out into his hands, allowing him to twiddle her nipples. He hungrily kissed her face, nipping lightly at her lip, rolling his tongue over hers and savoring her inhuman tastes. Nyara answered in kind with a kiss of her own, purring and moaning into his mouth. Her vibrating breasts massaged his hands as he kneaded them.

Her pussy contracted and pulled at his throbbing member; her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her orgasm shook her body so much it was a wonder it didn't make Austin cum with her. The Asari broke the lustful kiss and panted, looking at Austin with desire. Austin looked back at her with need, his lower region drenched in her sexual fluids. It wasn't enough for him yet. He still had yet to cum. He needed to cum! Instinctively, and without really thinking clearly, Austin gave Nyara a bite on the side of her neck. Not deep enough to draw blood but a sign of dominance, even as he continued to buck and thrust into her, yearning for the release. Seeing Nyara's face completely overtaken by bliss, the Helldiver couldn't resist kissing her again, sucking her tongue back into his mouth to taste her once more.

Then, finally, Austin felt himself drive over the edge and released all his pent up cum, his wide, bulging cock gushing into the Asari's ready womb. In fact, due to the delicious massage his shaft was receiving from Nyara's azure, he found himself pumping out even more cum than he ever had before, quickly filling Nyara to the brim and beyond. It wasn't until the Asari's belly was distended that he stopped. With a gasp and a sigh of utter relief, Austin slumped into Nyara's arms, collapsing onto her belly and laying there to regain his strength, feeling the heat in her gut that marked the beginning of a new life she now carried within her... the first of many.

"Goddess yes! Look how big you made me. She's going to be beautiful, my love." Nyara moaned in bliss as she caressed her cum inflated stomach bulge. "Now... meld with me. Become one with me."

Nyara took Austin's face into her hands and looked directly into his eyes. Right in that moment however, Austin found that he was in control again. And in that moment, with a combination of both confusion... and horror, Austin finally saw Nyara's mind... and he saw what she intended for him...

Without even hesitating, he suddenly pushed himself off of Nyara and tried to back away from her.

Now suddenly it all fell into place. Why had he not seen it before? The way Nyara had always managed to impress him with her sophistication and sex appeal, how her body had told his that she'd bring unimaginable ecstasy, how her scent evoked emotions long hidden, how her eyes always promised him thing he'd hesitated to of others, and above all the hunger she'd mentioned earlier.

Nyara wasn't just any Asari...

"You're an Adat-Yakshi."

"Been on the run as long as I can remember. So much changed though when I met you. You helped get rid of my former boss, you allowed me to set up here with all my girls..." Nyara said, managing to hold her own even as Austin struggled against her.

"After all we've been through, all we've done, you'd just throw that all away?! All of what you said before was a lie?!" Austin said.

He tried to land a kick on her, but Nyara managed to act faster and directed two of her dancers to hold down the Helldiver's legs, despite their strength.

"Sorry to break your heart, Shepard. But its been an act all along. The only reason I didn't try to meld with you sooner is because you're able to fuck even harder than you fight. I doubt any other man will ever be able to come even close. We've had our fun, and I'll admit you've been an excellent lover I will miss greatly, but I cannot deny my body's need anymore. I cannot deny how strong you are, what you will give me in turn." Nyara smiled evilly. "Look into my eyes, Shepard. Don't you see, we want to you here, we need you, I need you. I need to feed off you. You are mine... lover. I have so much pleasure to share with you."

Grabbing both Austin's forearms, she forced them both down and held them there, even with Austin trying to break free.

"Don't... do this!"

"Embrace eternit..."

Right before she could finish however, Austin suddenly headbutted her in forehead. It was just enough that it made her lose her focus for a moment and on fo her hands flew to her head in pain. Reacting on instinct, Austin thrust his free arm at Nyara's stomach... and activated his omni blade.

Shock and pain overtook Nyara as the blade sank right into her. For a brief moment, her eyes turned normal again and she looked directly at Austin. Her expression almost seemed more like one of confusion and sadness. Almost as though as she was saying "Why?"

Worse still, a small tear leaked from her eye before all life seemed to fade from her and her body went completely limp. The moment she slumped down on him the whole room suddenly changed. The red mist, the blood, event he whole warm and erotic feel that had been there before was gone an instant. Even the dancers suddenly stopped what they were doing as the Nyara had previously had on them broke. Austin panted slightly as he let himself fall to the floor in relief while also pushing Nyara's body off of him.

"By the goddess! How'd you break free like that?" one of the dancers said, similarly in both shock and relief.

"You knew what was happening?" Austin asked, surprised that they didn't seem surprised as he'd thought they might be.

"Her influence was so strong, we were completely overcome by lust and arousal. But you freed us. Thank you."

"I didn't want it to end like this." Austin said with regret. "But she gave me no choice."

"None of us blame you, Shepard. We had no idea either she was an Ardat Yakshi." one of the dancers said sympathetically. "If you hadn't done what you did, she might very well have fed off all of us, and many more. It may not feel like it, but you did the right thing."

"What will you do now?" Austin asked as he began getting dressed.

"We'll make sure her body is turned over to the right people. As for business, we can decide amongst ourselves who will keep running it." another dancer replied as she and the others also started dressing.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Ardat Yakshi aside, we like these jobs and we'd hate to lose them."

"If that's how you want it, I won't stand int he way."

As Austin turned to leave though he was stopped when one of the dancers called him.

"Shepard... I know it doesn't mean much and it won't be the same, but... you'll always be welcome here, should you decide to come back. You saved our lives. We owe you that much at the very least."

"I... thank you."

The gentle beep of the heart monitor constantly rang faintly in Sylas' ears. Amazingly, despite that Nyara had delivered what should've been a killing blow, he was still alive. Although alive maybe wasn't the best of words to describe his current state. Hooked up to life support, left arm and right leg broken in multiple places withe casts holding them altogether, along with multiple deep cuts and severed nerves that didn't even take a medical expert to be judged repairable, multiple bone fractures, broken ribs, punctured lung, internal bleeding that was only just being kept in check, and suspected brain damage. It was any wonder he was still alive.

He still had no idea where he was, but it certainly wasn't a hospital. If anything, it looked more like a lab... or an operating room. At that moment, the doors opened and a figure wearing a lab coat walked in, a woman...

It was Elsa.

"They weren't lying. You really are a mess. Its a wonder you're still alive." she said in her familiar German accent. "You disappointed us, Sylas. You came to us, willingly offering your help in killing Shepard and even being given help from some our troops... and you failed. Most especially disappointing is that the final blow was struck by an Asari, an alien. Most of Hellspawn believe you a waste of time now, that we should just disconnect you from life support and leave fate to decide if you live or die. But I come also with good news for you though. My boss is willing to give you a second chance. He and I believe you're still of some use to us. What's more, we believe we can give you a chance at immortality, perhaps even invincibility. Assuming of course, you survive."

More scientists and doctors then entered carrying various different tools and surgical equipment.

"Let me be clear though, this whole process is an experiment. Truth be told, we don't even know what might happen. You could very well remain dead, and even if it somehow truly does bring you back to life, there's no telling if you'll even be the same. And even then, you will never truly be one of us. You will be a suicide trooper, a disposable tool, nothing more. Any battle that you survive or manage to walk away from will be pure luck, nothing more."

Sylas struggled, but it was pretty much in vain. There was barely any strength left in him and the medicines and drugs he was on made him barely able to move as Elsa literally deactivated his life support.

"Good night."

An almost pained cry of desperation escaped Sylas as he could only stare at Elsa as his vision faded, the fear and uncertainty of what might happen next terrifying him in a way he'd never been before. Even sadder was the fact that although this was not the last thought he would have, it was the last sane one...

The original plan had been for Sylas to just appear in this and that would be it. But then an idea hit me of increasing his role a bit more. So he'll certainly return in the next chapter, but it will be in a VERY different way. Hopefully that next chapter won't be far off and one thing I will say, it'll represent a significant shift in action scene writing as I've kind of realized previous fights have always been a bit tame, so the next chapter... lets just say that hopefully you'll start feeling more sorry for the environments rather than the characters.

Bye for now. :)