Reviews
mrayj
Wouldn't work as he wouldn't be able to supply crews for the ships or use the Starforge safely as it corrupts people. Also I'm fairly certain you need to be a Force-User for it to function.
Star Wars seems like a good place to go after Mass Effect.
Rogue Trader CYOA Story 3
"Inquisitors? They're sneaky bastards. Useful, yes, even necessary, but I wouldn't buy a used aircar from any of them" - Arbitrator-General Bex van Sturm
Part 4
Freedom's Progress. Terminus Systems
"They must really want this Veetor guy back" I commented
The small quarian vessel came in for a landing and again I found myself feeling impressed by its crew who had agreed to land and pick up their comrade despite my massive badass cruiser and its escort being in orbit. I imagined that most of the natives of this universe would have turned tail and run upon seeing a vessel that they might label as a super-dreadnought.
As for Veetor, if that was his name, he'd been treated well enough by us despite the low tolerance most Imperials have for aliens, even the mostly harmless ones of this galaxy, who were down right cuddly when compared to what they had back in the 40k galaxy.
While the Inquisitor had not joined us for these opening talks I assumed that she would be monitoring them and carefully observing both my actions as well as those of the aliens.
"And returning him to them will be a good way to start our talks" said my wife.
Yes this was all part of the plan to destroy the geth and to ensure that the quarian migrant fleet was too busy resettling their people to interfere with the expedition. The migrant fleet needed to be occupied as it had the sheer numbers to challenge the expedition in space and allied with the Citadel Council races they'd be a threat. The Council could lure the quarians over to their side with the promise of a new home world so I would try to offer something even better.
To ensure that the quarians saw us as kindred spirits rather than potential enemies I intended to tell them all about the AI uprising that helped to bring down the Human Federation that predated the Imperium. Granted the Eldar murderfucking a chaos god into existence over thousands of years and a rapid increase in the birth rate of human psykers played a role as well, but there was no need to mention any of that.
So as to ensure that no one panicked I'd kept my honour guard on the small side and the colony's leaders were happy to let me handle this matter since Dany and I had won them over with lots of laser weapons. Recently I'd even gotten them to buy a few laser cannons, the kind they armed fighter planes with in the Fallout Universe, and having those made them feel better about my people building and manning a couple of fortresses on this planet.
It didn't take much longer for a squad of quarian troops to come down the ramp of their spacecraft. They were armed but didn't have any weapons in their hands, not that this mattered much as I had snipers keeping a close eye on the aliens in case they didn't anything naughty.
"I am Tali'Zorah vas Neema" introduced their leader
It took some effort to keep myself calm and not get all giddy as Tali was one of my favourite fictional characters of all time. I managed to keep a level head and not make myself look like a fool as I was no novice at this sort of thing.
"I am Captain Thrax of The Enduring Triumph head of the Noble House of Thrax" I replied "And this is my wife, Princess Daenerys of House Thrax".
If they had any reaction to our titles they hid it well.
"We've come to pick up one of our own," said a member of Tali's crew.
I assumed that Veetor must have signalled his people when the attack began.
"He's here" I said as I waved the alien forward "He's a little shook up after the attack".
Thankfully none of my people had decided to perform the cleanse the alien act while here. They knew to be on their best behaviour when meeting new people.
"Now that you have your friend back, would you be willing to listen to a proposal?" asked Dany.
Tali walked over to us after making sure that Veetor was safe onboard the vessel she commanded for this mission.
"I'm listening," she said.
So far so good.
"It's about the geth," Dany said.
While I didn't know if my psykers power would allow me to influence an alien mind that didn't stop me from trying and I should at least sense her curiosity.
"We want to help you defeat them and reclaim your home world," I added.
To say that she was surprised would be an understatement.
"What why?" she asked.
We had our reasons which I'd discussed at length with many of my allies and subjects.
"The AI are a threat to us all" I explained "And while my ships are powerful we don't know enough about the geth and their defences to be sure we can overwhelm without help".
Dany now had something to say.
"Even if we could smash their fleets with your aid we don't have a force powerful enough to conquer the worlds under geth control" she told Tali'Zorah "and you can't defeat them alone or you would have done so by now".
Using my omni-tool I sent the alien a few files, enough to give their admiralty board an idea of what my cruiser could do without giving away the kind of details that would led to anyone finding a big weakness or copying our tech, this somewhat common information in the 40k galaxy, at least to someone of my rank. I didn't bother to send them any data on the esort vessels since they were more vunrable and they weren't mind to share info about. Besides I didn't want them knowing by now much my crusier outgunned the other Imperial ships.
"Our ancestors waged war against the AI who rebelled against us and we were nearly destroyed before the conflcit ended" I told the aliens "I rather not allow that to happen again".
I could sense her confusion.
"Humans have never faced an AI rebellion" stated Tali'Zorah.
"Not in this universe" I said.
Now she was really confused.
"Perhaps you should take our offer to your superiors and along with the files" suggested Dany "We can discuss further details with them later".
Tali might be the daughter of an admiral, but she didn't have the authority to make any deals with us, she was simply the messenger. To that end we let her go flying back to her people.
(Line Break)
The Enduring Triumph. Terminus Systems.
While Jack found that she was bored she had to admit, at least to herself, that life was good. She lived in luxury, had all the food she wanted as well as a heck of a lot of booze, these Imperials weren't lacking for means of entertainment. The only downside to all of this was a lack of action, so far there had been no butts for her to kick.
Plus Subject Zero was horny, after all she'd just gotten out of prison, and sure there were many fine looking men and women around, but they kept their distance as if they didn't want to mess with the boss's new favourite. Jack wasn't blind to the fact that Thrax allowed her to follow him around like al pet and she felt loyal to the man who'd given her a new lease on life.
Jack had resisted the urge to spread her legs for her new boss as she felt that she didn't need anyone and that no one could own her in any way, only over a matter of weeks her resistance to the idea of being his had crumbled, it was as if her own desires were betraying her. Not that it would be terrible to be his woman. So far he'd keep her comfortable and far away from all the people she'd pissed off over the years and maybe once all the talking was done there would finally be some volience and to get a share of the loot.
Since this was a time for action the powerful biotic waited until Thrax came to see for some reason she didn't care about, and when she did the former inmate jumped him. His bodyguards, he always had a few of them around, hadn't entered Jack's room with him so they weren't here to move to defend their master from this ambush. This was good as Subject Zero was declaring her intentions and she wanted no room for any misunderstandings.
Soon the captain of the cruiser and his new crew member were in what could generously be called a passionate embrace, their mouths pressed together as Jack reached behind her, undoing the strap that covered her breasts, letting them fall free. Jack had her nipple's pierced, a small bar going through each one, something that Lord Thrax discovered when he placed one of her nipples in his mouth and attacked it. This was something the unstable biotic very much enjoyed for as long as it lasted.
"You can be rough with me" she invited "I'm no pampered princess".
He bit her breast upon hearing that.
"Harder" Jack heard herself beg "Hard as you want. I like the pain".
The Rogue Trader bit her again, eliciting moans from the former cult member.
"You like pain? You like it when I hurt you?" he asked.
She nodded and began to remove Thrax's clothes, which were thankfully far less formal and not so much trouble to take off than what he sometimes wore. Once she had him topless Jack ran her fingernails over his chest, leaving red marks across his skin. He didn't react to this at all and Subject Zero was pleased that her new lover was no sissy.
"Get your dick out," said Jack, eloquent as ever.
She shrugged out of her cargo pants, exposing her tight ass, her bare cunt, and rather attractive legs. Meanwhile Thrax kicked off his boots and shrugged out of his trouser before moving over to where Jack slept, leaving his cock standing proud and free as he lay on the bed.
One she was on the ground before him Jack put both hands on her boss's knees, and swallowed his cock to the base in one movement. She sucked him hard and fast, bobbing up and down on the Rogue Trader's big shaft. Jack appeared to have no gag reflex whatsoever, and she'd practiced this quite a bit during her years of travelling around fringes of space.
Even when she let his cock out of her mouth it was only so that she could work it with her hand and requested.
"Hurt me, and call me names" she begged.
Her hair had been short until some doctor on the cruiser had caused it to grow because Thrax had ordered. At the time the biotic hadn't really cared why her boss had commanded that, but now she was grateful as it gave Thrax something to pull on.
"You like that, don't you bitch" the Rogue Trader was now saying " You're a little cocksucking slut aren't you? You like working my dick like a cheap whore".
Since her mouth was busy Jack was unable to reply, but the speed at which her hand rubbed her clitoris indicated that she was enjoying the treatment. After only a few more minutes of intense masturbation, Jack finally approached her climax and it seemed that her captain hadn't finished yet. She felt him unload his seed into her mouth before too long as she was good at getting guys to cum whens he wanted.
"Listen you treat me good and we can fuck" said the biotic as she stood up "Just no pansy romance stuff, you can save that for your wife and other sluts".
It came as no surprise that the Rogue Trader quickly agreed to these terms.
(Line Break)
The Enduring Triumph. Terminus Systems.
"You don't expect us to believe any of this do you?" asked Jacob Taylor.
While I could have met with Miranda Lawson, Jane Shepard and Jacob Taylor, who so far I liked only slightly more than his father, in a comfortable briefing room I'd brought them to my throne room onboard my cruiser which was part of my private quarters, so as to make it clear that I was in charge around here.
This space was not that large when compared to the throne room with my private fortress back on Thrax II it was as much of a display of wealth and power as that other chamber. The area was mostly dark, the walls covered in rare woods and skulls made from gold in proper Imperial fashion. It was needlessly lit only by candles which added to the effect.
"The evidence is all around you" I said "This ship is really 5km long".
I could understand why they might think this was all a trick. After all, the Destiny Ascension is four times the size of the largest human ship, and boasts a crew of nearly 10,000. My ship had a crew nine times that size and only so few because so many workers were needed on Thrax II. Heck even Sovereign had only been about 2 kilometers in length.
"That's not what we're doubting," said Miranda Lawson "You claim to be from an empire that can't possibly exist. You must have found some ancient super-dreadnought like how Saren stumbled across Sovereign".
Again I could see their point even if it was annoying to hear.
"So I found a super-dreadnought and then I managed to convince to tens of thousands of people to crew it without anyone noticing" I said "I then back-engineered the laser weapons you've seen, which are clearly meant for human use, from ancient alien tech that has nothing in common with any technology in the known galaxy, again without anyone hearing even a rumour about it. Is that what you think?".
The three natives of this galaxy exchanged looks with each other.
"It's not like many people believe me when I talk about the Reapers and they are hard to accept as being real," stated Shepard.
I smiled upon hearing her say that.
"If it helps I totally believe you about the Reapers and intend to help destroy them" I told Shepard "I even intend to help arm the Systems Alliance for the coming conflict".
The leadership of the different governments would know about the Reapers; they would have access to all the footage and the physical evidence they were just lying about because if the truth got out people would panic all over the galaxy. Then there would be no chance of forming anything close to a proper defence. Not that it seemed to make any difference.
"You know about the Reapers?" asked Shepard "Have they been attacking the human colonies that have done dark?".
Not directly.
"That is the work of the Collectors" I answered "They serve the Reapers".
My word wasn't simply accepted on this matter.
"The Collectors are a myth" stated Jacob Taylor.
I was amused to hear that.
"People say that about these Reapers" I reminded.
There was no need to take my word as I had video footage from the attack which was simple enough to share with the group.
"One of my allies has samples of their dead and their technology as the colony" I mentioned.
It would be simple for them to go and check when allowed down to the planet.
"What's your interest in this colony?" questioned Miranda Lawson.
Since I wanted people to come and trade with me there was no harm in letting her know.
"I've sold them a number of laser weapons ranging from pistols like mine and I've installed cannons that can destroy anything unfriendly that gets into orbit" I told her "So my interest is a business one".
Again Taylor thought me to be a liar so I took my sidearm out of its holster, having armed myself with a Fallout style laser pistol for this event, and then I fired a couple of shots in the ceiling, an action which would have had my guests reaching for their own weapons had they been able to bring any into my private quarters.
"Seeing is believing," I then said.
I handed over the basic model of the laser pistol to Miranda Lawson knowing that she'd report its existence to her boss before long and that would get me a connection to Cerberus. Once Miranda was mine and I had learned more about the terrorist organisation then I would unleash the Black Window and have her do her best to destroy the group as part of my plans.
"Have your experts take a look at that weapon and then get back to me" I suggested "I'll be here for a couple of more weeks".
I expected that a System Alliance would arrive before too long as they did still try to keep an eye on all their colonies and Shepard would report all of this to the Council. I had no desire to be around any more aliens, but I'd have to act somewhat friendly when they were around, aside from four eyed slavers, the batarians, if any of them were foolish to come near me they'd be shot on sight.
(Line Break)
Cerberus Shuttle. Terminus Systems.
"I don't think it was a good idea to leave without more evidence" stated Jacob Taylor as they made their way to a Cerberus run station "I don't trust Thrax"
While he wasn't happy with the meeting they'd just had Miranda Lawson felt differently. This Captain Maximilian Thrax was just the kind of ally that Cerberus needed in order to face the Reapers and any other threat to humanity's survival. Thrax might be more important to the future of humanity than even Shepard.
"We got what we needed" said the red-headed Spectre "We saw the footage and the bodies, and we've got some scans of the evidence and copies of the footage. Someone should be able to tell us if it was all faked. More than enough to complete our mission".
Miranda didn't think that anything they'd seen today had been faked. If it had all been holograms and other tricks then it was the most elaborate illusion in history. The sheer scale and power requirements required to create a fake ship of that kind were impossible given known limits of their technology. Not even the Reapers should be able to manage something like that.
She was convinced that it had all been real even if they hadn't seen that much because to her it had all felt real. She'd been created to perfect and that meant her senses were better than other peoples. Everything had smelt real, nothing sounded wrong, and it had looked real enough.
The shuttle's sensor suite was limited and could be fooled, but then Thrax would have needed to know well in advance that someone from Cerberus would be visiting an out of the way colony during a limited window of time and that world would have been of no interest to anyone important if the Collectors hadn't turned up.
Miranda couldn't think of how Thrax could be profiting from the illusion, the sheer cost of fooling everyone wouldn't be covered by the minor profits gained from fleecing a small colony and the laser pistol that she now carried would soon be analysed by experts so if this was all part of some elaborate scheme then Cerberus would soon expose the truth.
"Plus we have this" Miss Lawson reminded as she lifted up the laser pistol "Jacob, once we've gotten some scans you can take it apart and figure out if it's the real deal or not".
He would come around once he saw that the laser actually worked and could be duplicated. The Illusive Man would want his people armed with these lasers because they'd give humanity an advantage until the other races caught up. To that end he would likely pay well to possess not only the rifle version of these laser weapons, but also the more advanced models that Thrax had offered to sell since making their own versions would take time.
The fact that the Rogue Trader lived up to his title would make things easier. Simply purchasing the laser weapons would be a lot simpler than trying to steal them or back-engineer any tech from blueprints in time for the weapons to make a difference in the fight against the Reapers. Cerberus was well funded so they'd be able to supply their people very quickly.
They already had access to laser weapons, but these were mounted on starships far too cumbersome and power hungry to be used on a scale where a person could carry a laser into battle, yet this pistol was very light-weight. Miranda looked forward to finding out how they worked.
"Why do you think he wants you as a liaison?" questioned Shepard.
The Lord-Captain seemed to be a successful man and no doubt he recognised real talent when he saw it. Miranda was considering taking the offer and working for Thrax so that he would become more closely connected with Cerberus. If that ship of his had the firepower to match its size it was indeed a super-dreadnought as Jacob had called it, perhaps able to take on entire fleets. Humanity needed that kind of technology on its side.
"If he's telling the truth then this expedition is new to our galaxy" she answered "He'll want a guide, someone who understands how things work around here".
Then there was the physical attraction. Thrax hadn't hidden his interest in her body as well as he must have been trying to and she wasn't above using that to get what she wanted. Nor was she uninterested in a man who clearly had so much wealth and power even if he was already married, and sleeping with him could get Thrax to lower his guard around Miranda, something she might actually go through with, but she'd be a fool not to consider it.
She'd have to speak with the Illusive Man on this matter as if she was to act as a liaison between Cerberus and these Imperials then someone else would need to watch over Shepard.
(Line Break)
The Enduring Triumph. Terminus Systems.
Standing above me without a single bit of clothing on was a naked Subject Zero who had walked into my private quarters while I was alone. She'd been naked when she arrived, not at all concerned that members of my battle harem could see her before I'd dimissed them.
"So you're done with those fuckers from Cerberus?" she asked.
I'd started to rise, but Jack's foot stomped down on my chest, pinning me in place. I should be able to knock her off the bed, but I had no desire to.
"For now" I said as Jack lowered herself on to me "I plan to keep one of them as a servant so she can feed me information about Cerberus that I can use to take them down".
As I talked she straddled me, pinning my arms down with her knees.
"You ready to lick my cunt?" she whispered "You need to keep your bitch happy if you don't want her sniffing around other men".
I wasn't used to this kind of treatment from anyone and while it might be amusing to go along with for a while I'd have to turn the tables so that Jack didn't get any ideas about being in charge there was only one master around here.
Jack moved so that her cunt was over my face I was surprised by the lack of piercings on that part of her body, she only had a stud going through her clit. Which was good because otherwise her rubbing her pussy into my face would have been much less pleasant.
"Lick my fucking pussy and make me come!" she shouted out.
I did my best to get my tongue inside a cunt that was already wet, it seemed likely that this slut had been masturbating before entering my part of the private quarters. She was not at all still as I worked, she was doing her best to speed things up so it didn't long for her to orgasm or at least to enjoy herself enough to want to do something else. I couldn't tell what was going on her head as psyker powers required focus and I was rather distracted at the moment.
"Not bad" praised Jack "But I think I'll get my cunt licked out by one of your other sluts and settle for some cock".
She rode me slowly at first as her nails raked across my chest, then settled palm down. She leaned forward, shifting her weight as she began to increase the pace of her movement.
"Hey, would you slap me?" she requested.
I wasn't used to that as while I'd never be called a gentle lover I was far from abusive yet this seemed to matter quite a bit to her so I did my best.
"Come on you sissy, slap me" she ordered "I thought you were in charge here".
Without warning I pushed her off me and then pinned her down as this was how I took charge in the bedroom.
"You want me to fuck you is that it?" I demanded to know.
I began to fuck her, to use her body as I saw fit.
"Not...bad" Jack said in a voice that made me angry.
I slapped her. Once, then twice, then a third time.
"You like that, don't you, you little painslut?" I demanded to know "You like being put in your place don't you?"
Jack wasn't giving in that easily yet I could see the smile on her face.
"You're doing better" she praised "Just a little pain and I'm your bitch. Maybe you can tame me if you work at it".
So she wasn't a total masochist then. I could live with that and there were more fun and safe ways to dominate a woman in the bedroom than slapping her across the face. In order to prove this I flipped her over and smacked her ass which like the rest of her was an example of body art taken to an extreme. I then began fucking her again.
"Ah... oh fuck I'm coming... you... motherfucker...!" she called out.
While I didn't care for the motherfucker part it was good to see that my efforts had been rewarded. Now I would see to my own pleasure and that should enforce the fact that her place was under me. Quite literally at this moment.
(Line Break)
The Migrant Fleet. Terminus Systems.
"I saw the ship myself, Auntie Raan" said Tali'Zorah as she met with one of the fleet's admirals "The scans don't lie, it really was five kilometers in length and look at the size of those weapons. What else can we call it other than a super-dreanought?".
Every test that the two of them had done on the data while working in Raan's lab had confirmed that what Tali's ship had scanned wasn't fake data. There really was a massive super-dreadnought out there and it hadn't appeared by itself as there had been another ship in the system.
"And you spoke to the Captain of this vessel?" Raan enquired.
Tali confirmed that she had.
"I didn't get the chance to know him since we just stopped off to pick up Veetor and I wanted to bring this news to you before speaking to my father or the other admirals" the younger of the two women replied "This Captain Thrax wants to met with our leadership and arrange a joint attack on the geth so we can recover the home world".
This was a lot for the admiral to take in.
"Keelah se'lai!" she almost yelled.
The admiral quickly soothed herself, this was a time for sound thinking.
"We've always talked about retaking the homeworld" she was now saying "But to have someone come along and actually offer us an alliance so we can actually do it. I did not expect this".
Neither had Tali she'd just been expecting to pick someone up before heading out on her next mission. Now she was thrown for a loop.
"I think that I need to talk to the other admirals one on one" said Raan "And then try to arrange a meeting between us and this Captain Thrax. Meanwhile you have another mission to worry about".
That didn't seem so important to the young combat engineer yet she had her orders.
Before the geth revolt 300 years ago, the quarians colonized Haestrom in order to study the mysterious instability of its sun, which threatened premature eruption into a red giant. As a scientific outpost of minimal military value, Haestrom was ill-equipped to repel geth forces during the insurrection and fell quickly under their after, all communication from the planet and its attendant space stations simply ceased.
The geth have shown no signs of treating Dholen as a sight of interest over the past three centuries other than establishing several space stations near it. Dholen's magnetic eruptions and solar output overwhelm most communications near it, and it was unclear how the geth have compensated.
That was one of the things that the admiralty board wished to know more about, also there was the matter of spy probe scans indicating recent extensive orbital construction around Haestrom, housing thousands of geth platforms and an unknown amount of geth software in that system.
It is not known how many geth are on the planet's surface: spy probes face interference from Dholen, making remote scanning difficult. Resource estimations based on geth mining, refining, and fabricating practices suggest that the planet has at least 20 more years of use before it is exhausted.
Whatever was going on that world as if it was important to the geth and so it was important to the quarians as they would need to know what their enemy were up to.
"Very well" said Tali with a sigh "Guess I'll have to go and do the hard work while you sit around in endless meetings sucking up to this Captain Thrax".
They couldn't afford this chance to make a powerful ally, but they also couldn't assume that someone would come along as do all the work for them so Tali's mission was vital.