Reviews
dethbringer66
No, I'm only planning to visit the Stargate universe in the future. I don't want to end up skipping ahead again by giving myself too many ideas.
Jyggilag
I forgot about the institute's version of the laser rifle. They do low damage and have a high rate of fire but they are more fragile than other models. They could be useful for civilian security or law enforcement when you don't need to worry so much about your weapon breaking down on the front lines. The Alliance might want them.
Morkail
The Inquisitor is only helping because it suits her goals.
Carthienes
I really don't think any mass effect weaponry is worth bothering with. My plan is now to have the Ad-Mech build lots of Furies and give them ME drives so that they can make use of the Mass Relays during the Reaper invasion to strike out targets before returning to base to rearm and refuel.
Even if the Reapers follow the fighters back to base it would turn out badly for them because the fighters would be docking with one of the bigger Imperial ships which are very well armed.
RoyalTwinFangs
I never really got into battletech
lazyguy90
The IOM does employ slavery in a sense but press gangs are supposed to be made up from criminals, not the MC uses press gangs, and enemy troops can become servitors or be sent to labour camps. As for serfs they do get paid so there is a very, very, very small difference. Enough to make the Imperials feel superior.
Rogue Trader CYOA Story 3
"An empty mind is like unto a freshly turned sod; if not sown with the seeds of love, duty and honour, the insidious weeds of heresy will take root" - Prefect Xavier Lanate.
Part 10
Nos Astra. Illium.
"Well that was fun" I commented as I returned to my pleasure yaught.
It had taken time for it to really sink in before the factions of this galaxy finally started to grasp that I was not just some human who'd stumbled across a super-dreadnaught out in the far reaches of the Terminus Systems. It had taken firing my plasma pistol in front of the diplomats for them to accept that there must be more going on with me than the simplest explanation would suggest.
Now the Imperium of Man had peace treaties of sorts with the Citadel races, thanks to House Thrax and the Ordo Xenos. This might seem odd given the IOM's attitude towards aliens, but even if someone high ranking enough had been willing to declare a crusade against this whole galaxy the amount of resources required to conquer even just Citadel space would be far more than the Imperium can afford to send off to another universe.
Besides I had the backing of an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos and they had all the authority required to make deals with aliens and so even the treaties didn't sit well with the higher ups it wasn't me who authorised them.
My way of handling this dimension was the best way. I'd used the quarians to help me destroy the Geth, assuming that they ever got around to agreeing to it. Meanwhile I'd acquired technology and resources via trade with the Systems Alliance or by attacking locations in the less regulated parts of this universe. Which was something I'd like to get back to.
"I think it went well" said Dany "No one was killed and the Alliance will buy every last laser rifle you want to sell them".
That would keep me in this system for a few more days at least as Admiral Anderson wanted me to sell more weapons to his people and the humans of this galaxy would likely snap up every microfusion powerful cell they could get their hands on.
To make matters even better for my coffers they wanted laser cannons for fighter craft and I'd not even shown them the Chimera tank that I was willing to sell. I should discuss the tanks with Anderson. No doubt he'd agree to a meeting once we started shipping down the weapons the Alliance wanted. The more lasers out there when the Reapers invaded the better since this would slow down planetary invasions and give me more time to blast them in space.
"I have a few arrangements to make" I told my wife after a quick kiss "So I'll be in my study".
Before going to bed I would need to make contact with the port authorities so as to hire out berths for the ships that would bring down the goods I wished to sell and I would need to rent some warehouses which could be used to store the weapons so that the Alliance could pick them up. I'd rather not have them docking with my cruiser as that would allow them to get a better look at my ship and someone might try to damage it from the inside.
"Very well, my love. I'm going to get some rest," she said to me.
With that we parted ways and I headed for my study. Inside that room I found Miranda and an unexpected guest. Since Miranda was a sort of assistant and also my wife she was allowed to bring people onboard my pleasure craft, but this guest would have been searched before being let into my study. Both of the attractive women were sitting on a couch that I'd picked up from somewhere and enjoying wine which came from Westeros.
As for my office, it has changed a little over the years. It was still lavish what the bookcases made from some rare wood, as was the desk, the carpet was still the height of luxury and on the desk was a Fallout style computer along with a pile of official scrolls, data slates and other stuff. I'd also acquired some art work over the years.
"Max, this is my sister, Oriana," introduced Miranda.
While my wives were allowed to address me informally I couldn't recall Miranda ever using my casual name before now. As for my third wife I couldn't help comparing her to her sister, I noted right away that they were very much alike. Miranda was more filled out, bigger boobs and a fuller butt, she had wider hips, and longer hair. Oriana looked smaller and a much more modest sense of dress.
"So you're my new big brother," said Miranda's twin.
Thanks to the files I had access to, I knew that Oriana was grown by Miranda's father back in 2166 when Miranda was a teenager so there was a bit of an age difference between them. Seeing that her father wanted to replace her in his plans for developing a dynasty, Miranda took Oriana and ran off to Cerberus. She was adopted and was given a normal life, at least until now.
More recently Oriana's father had paid a guy called Niket to find and retrieve her. Niket tracked her here to Illium, and he made use of the Eclipse mercenary group in an attempt to bring Oriana back to her father. In the game Miranda would be accompanied by Commander Shepard and he or she would help Miranda prevent the Eclipse from capturing Oriana. In this version of events I'd sent members of my battle harem with Miranda.
"I guess I am," I replied.
She wasn't my first in-law, Sarah had no siblings but her father was still alive as far as I knew and my brother-in-law should be ruling as King of Westeros.
"I always wanted a big brother," said Oriana with a playful smile on her face.
I'd had siblings in my first life and they hadn't been that great.
"Miranda I was under the impression that you would be relocating your sister and her foster parents" I mentioned "Did something happen?".
The two sisters exchanged looks.
"I don't have Cerberus's resources to call upon anymore" the older twin said "And while I managed to deal with the problem this time I won't be around next time and Cerberus can't watch over her for me".
Well that was my fault since I'd crippled the organisation.
"So it seems best if Ori stays with me" said Miranda "Sorry to spring this on you without warning. It wasn't part of my plans".
I wondered what the foster parents had to say about that, but then I decided that it wouldn't be best to pry.
"Ori wants to work in colony development" my third wife mentioned.
The younger twin decided that she could speak for herself.
"Miri told me that you have some sort of trade deal going on with a couple of colonies" said my new sister-in-law "I was hoping that I could help".
I could give her a role under Miranda who took care of a lot of matters for me.
"Perhaps we should set up a liaison office between House Thrax and the Terminus System colonies that we are allied with" I said to the twin sisters of different ages "Any colony independent from the System Alliance colonies will want to buy from us what the Collectors. I could do with someone to handle those arrangements and you could work together".
The sisters exchanged looks.
"I wouldn't mind having some of my workload taken off my hands" admitted Miranda to her clone "And I'd like us to spend more time together".
Oriana was more expressive with her delight in this matte. The two women began to discuss how they could team up as I poured myself a drink of something strong and sat behind my desk.
"So are you a lot like our father?" the younger of the sisters asked me "I've heard that women are attracted to men that remind them of their fathers".
I wasn't sure if I was being insulted or not.
"Well we are both successful business men with a lot of power who want to ensure our legacy" I said "but other than that I don't know if we have anything in common".
And I had no desire to find out.
"He actually cares about his children" Miranda said coming to my defence "And unlike our father Max isn't going to deny me the right to have any of my own. Not that I'm pregnant yet it might take a couple more months".
Oriana was surprised to hear this.
"You found a solution to what our father did to us?" he asked.
Well I'd not done much.
"The Imperials have some very advanced technology" Miranda answered "And yes we're a little older I'm sure Max will authorise the same treatment if you want children".
I would happily do that for Oriana since it would make her sister very happy
Once the two women had spent some more time chatting, Miranda took her clone to find a bed before returning not long after I'd finished sending some messages to the local port authorities using the native communications technology the Ad-Mech had found time to install in this craft.
They'd even placed a Mass Effect style terminal which displayed information from the extranet in one corner of the room. As one of the Imperial elite I had access to this galaxy's information network, but I was careful not to upload anything and not to look at anything that could get me labelled as a heretic such as alien porn.
Before I could say anything to Miranda she was crawling on the floor and moving around the desk in what I assumed to be a playful manner and then she was kneeling before me. I wondered for a moment if she was going to beg for forgiveness as a way of making amends for not warning me about bringing her sister into my growing family.
Not that I minded as I was sure that with a little mental manipulation I'd be having threesomes with the two of them before too long and they'd be eager to please me. They were clones after all so in a biological sense they were the same person so it wouldn't really be incest, something I disproved of to an extent because of the dangers of inbreeding.
Thinking about it I reasoned it best for Oriana to marry someone else when she decided to have children as I didn't want too many proper heirs just yet and I didn't think having Oriana be the mother of a few bastard children would sit right with Miranda as it would make their children unequal. So I would focus on knocking up Miranda even if both sisters were in bed with me.
Rather than talk about her recent choices, the genetically engineered woman took out my already hard cock, as she'd been able to get it growing by giving me sexy looks, and she gave me a big smile as she brought the head of my shaft to her lips for a few tender kisses. She acted as if my cock were something to be cherished and given that she wanted to get pregnant I could understand why she'd be so caring with the part of my body which would make that possible.
With ease Miranda handled my meaty rod, her fingers were running up and down my pole as I looked down at her pretty face. She soon began to slide her lips down my member, moaning as her lips started with only touching the tip of the long rod before they moved down to the base.
She had no gag relax and again I could help thinking that her father had desgined his daughter with sex on his mind. Not that I should complain since I got to enjoy her features.
"I suppose it is easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission" I said.
Miranda was smart so she knew what I was talking about.
"Thank you for accepting it so easily," she replied "I just couldn't leave her for my father to find".
Since she could multitask very well Miranda starts to unzip the bodysuit she'd been wearing since we'd parted ways earlier this evening, one that of course hugs her curves nicely, and she began taking off while she continued to orally pleasure me, but she had to stop part way through so that she could finish undressing as I watched.
She peeled off the rest of her bodysuit, allowing the outfit to drop to her feet. Along the way it was revealed to me that my newest wife wasn't wearing anything else underneath. She stepped out of the bodysuit and for a time she just stood there in front of me, letting me once again take in the sight of her engineered body.
"My lord, I want you inside me" she requested.
I guess she liked calling me that during times such as these.
"I shall grant your request" I said with a sly smirk on my face "Go bend over my desk".
She knew that I enjoyed having her bent over things as it gave me a good look at her ass and the chance to spank that butt.
"Who do you serve?" I demanded to know.
She knew what to say.
"You are my husband and my master" she said "I'll serve you anyway you wish".
Even though that was what I wanted to her to say I spanked her for a while, enjoying the noises she made and the way it left marks on her that became darker shades of red over time, she never once complained only urging me to fuck her.
"Please I want your cum inside me" she begged.
I couldn't resist her any longer, not that I'd really been trying, and soon I was balls deep inside genetically engineered pussy, something that my sexual partner was very happy about, as she proved when she pushed against me, wanting me to deposit my load of baby batter into her as quickly as possible. She didn't care for her own pleasure so she began to talk dirty while doing most of the work despite being bent over the desk.
"Just cum inside me" she pleaded "I want your babies, please fuck me".
I'd not understood just how broody this woman had become and the look in her eyes when she turned her head so as to make eye contact with me was both sexy and a little scary. Lucky for Miranda my biology had its own will and I ended up having my climax, giving her what she wanted far too soon for my taste, but given the smile on her face you'd think that I'd just given her multiple orgasms while she stuffed her face with chocolate.
"Thank you husband," she said once she could stand up and start to dress "I'm going to get some sleep, but I will want more fucking later if that's okay with you. Don't work too late".
I didn't think that I had a problem with that. Not as long as she kept showing me her body and giving me those looks. It seemed to be all she required to get what she wanted from me.
(Line Break)
Nos Astra. Illium.
"What exactly am I doing here?" Admiral Anderson asked.
He'd been invited by Lord-Captain Thrax to a meeting at one of the warehouses that could be found near the docking bay that the Rogue Trader had berthed a few ships at, so that the Imperials could more easily unload the weapons that they were selling to the Alliance. At a prince which was far less than they would have been willing to pay for this sort of technology.
Anderson knew that intelligence agents from the other races would be watching this place and that if security hadn't been handled so well that items from warehouses would have gone missing. It wasn't just the Alliance who had people here, the Imperials had their own security, made up of people who had no love for aliens but didn't seem to mind the Alliance.
"I've spoke with my allies and they'd agreed to trade some more of our technology with you in exchange for certain technologies that we can't simply buy" Lord Thrax was saying as he handed over a data slate "Or perhaps we could buy them if we were willing to deal with certain criminal organizations, but I'd rather trade directly with you".
Anderson glanced over the list as Ashley Willams, who he'd summoned here from Freedom's Progress so that she could report in person everything she'd learned about the Imperial, not so subtly peered over his shoulder.
She'd managed to acquire one of their weapons during a Collector attack. And since she also knew about the Collectors that had been another good reason for her to report to him in the flesh. Besides, he wanted some help dealing with the Imperials.
Like her superior officer she wore a more casual style of uniform despite this being an important situation. They needed to appear somewhat relaxed so as to not look too interested. Anderson had been given time to think since the formal meeting a few days ago and back then he'd come off as too eager to buy. He still was, but he didn't want to come off as desperate.
"What exactly are you offering for all of this?" he asked.
Thrax directed their attention to a laser rifle that looked different than the ones they'd seen so far.
"This model of laser weapons, which comes in both pistol and rifle form is what we call The Institute Laser" Lord Thrax was now saying "Compared to other models this one comes in a bulky package and does low damage, however The Institute Laser offers a superior rate of fire to the others. Also these laser weapons are lightweight and mostly made of plastic".
Williams seemed a little confused.
"Why do we want a less powerful version of what you're already selling?" she asked.
Thrax was prepared to answer that question.
"Aside from its higher rate of fire, which is good if you need suppressive fire or are going up against many lightly armed targets" he replied "This model weights less and is cheaper to produce, and while the plastic does make it more fragile I was thinking that your law enforcement and security forces might like a weapon like this".
Anderson had orders to acquire as much of the Imperial's technology as possible because while the other races would start to produce their own models it would take them a while to figure it out while humanity worked to get as many laser weapons into the hands of their soldiers as possible.
The Admiral remembered well what Shepard had told him about how the Reapers wanted them to use Mass Effect technology because it made the sentient races of the galaxy easier for the Reapers to harvest. Perhaps by using Imperial technology they could interfere with that plan.
"I'll have to run this by my superiors," said the navy officer.
They should approve the request since while the technology being requested by the Rogue Trader was hard to come by there was nothing on the list that was classified or restricted. They had no interest in weapons technology, kinetic barriers, armour or mechs, which made sense since they had vastly superior military might and their own robots and mechs could be purchased in many places.
"Before you go, you should take a look at this beauty," suggested the Lord-Captain.
A large cargo container opened and out of it came some sort of armoured transport unlike anything Anderson or Williams had seen before.
"This is a Chimera '' Thrax told them "It started life as a mining rig, but as you can see it has been weaponized and armored. Since it's not one of our armoured units I can trade it with you and as you can see when it was refitted they added multiple long range laser weapons and armor. Something like this you can modify for your own needs''.
The high ranking Alliance officer didn't know if this technology would be use, but the Imperials were willing to sell him one and the design for quite a reasonable price in raw materials which was well within Anderson's budget so he decided to purchase this Chimera and as well the design as if nothing else it would keep Alliance R&D busy.
"That's everything that we have to offer for now" said the leader of House Thrax.
A somewhat short yet productive meeting, the kind Anderson liked best. The Alliance would soo have more of the Imperial's technology and perhaps that would make a difference against the Collectors and when the Reapers came.
(Line Break)
The Enduring Triumph. Imir System.
From the head of the table I addressed the members of my small council, they weren't all here in person, some were making use of our improved holographic technology to attend the meeting virtually while making preparations for the invasion we were about to begin. I'd invited Miranda to join my small council if only to take notes.
After leaving Illium behind for a time I'd knew that it was time to venture out again. We would not be fully occupying the world of Korlus as we didn't have the numbers but we could raid it for the resources we needed for the next stage of my plan. Since we would need vast amount of raw materials for my plan, far more than we could simply purchase, I'd travelled to Freedom's Progress and than Thrax II to drop off a lot of the resources and technology I'd that I'd acquired before bringing all three vessel to this part of the galaxy as it well suited for our needs.
"As you all know I originally planned for the construction of escort class vessels to aid in combating the Reapers" I started by saying "However we don't have the time, the people or the materials for that so we are going with a new idea. I've discussed this with Archmagos Maxnid and the Inquisitor who both assure me that I overestimated the technology the natives of this galaxy use. As such rather than produce escort ships our new plan is to manufacture Fury Interceptors that can make use of the relay network".
This might sound to simply be a good idea, but it had actually caused quite a stir among the red robed cyborgs as adding a Mass Effect drive to the Fury Interceptors could be considered tech heresy as the Ad-Mech tend to shy away from innovation.
One of the most central tenets of the Cult Mechanicus is that everything worth knowing has already been discovered and perfected by Man during the Golden Age of Technology. Recovering the knowledge of the past is the single most important and holy goal they have, thus the search for STC scraps no matter what it costs.
Trying to improve the ancient designs is considered both presumptuous and dangerous to the extreme. Trying to invent new stuff is even worse. However there is always wiggle room. There's a very narrow range of acceptable modifications you can make use of when it involves STC tech which Fury Interceptors are, but anything too innovative is interpreted as a heretical divergence from that which is considered sacred.
Thankfully for me the Ad-Mech consider Mass Effect technology to be inferior to the STC stuff such as what we'd found on Fallout Earth and human made technology here in the Mass Effect galaxy to be less holy and so would modify it to an extent. It helped that the modified fighters, which were corvettes by local standards, would be used to fight the Reapers which are considered abominations in the ocular implants of the machine cult.
"These modified Fury Interceptors that will soon start producing will be able to make use of the Mass Relays to quickly travel to systems within the network that are under siege by the Reapers" Maxind told everyone.
Even systems close to relays would be too far for the fighters due to limits on fuel and speed, and we'd need to keep back some to defend Thrax II and our allied colonies, but we could also send many against the enemy. The fighters would be armed with laser cannons quite capable of damaging Reapers and even destroying them if enough fighters could be sent against a single Reaper although their weapons will be somewhat effective against such small ships.
"While we can train pilots, purchase enough Element Zero on the market and buy the drive cores from the System Alliance we're going to need a lot of raw materials to make this plan work" I was now saying "Which is why I brought us to this system".
A new hologram appeared as the lights in the briefing room lowered. This hologram showed the world the three Imperial vessels were currently heading towards.
"This is the world called Korlus," I said "And its biggest business is the recycling of decommissioned or junked spacecraft. Vessels that have lived out their period of usefulness are sent here after everything of use has been stripped from them so I don't expect to find much useful technology here, however we can recycle the materials to make our star fighters".
They would be inferior to the interceptors back in the Warhammer 40k galaxy, but as long as they had decent void shields and strong enough laser cannons it wouldn't matter much. Our technology really was just that much better when it came to starships.
"Currently Korlus plays host to a number of merc factions such as the Blue Suns, who are rumored to be using the wreaks of ship to test advanced munitions against" I let everyone know "They will targets of our raids as they should useful information, some resources and maybe even technology that can repurposed for our needs".
There was more for me to say.
"While this world's government doesn't have much control over its millions of inhabitants, they do have some gun batteries that can threaten anyone attempting planetfall" I was now sharing "These can threaten our support craft so we'll need to take them out before landing troops. We'll need careful use of orbital bombardment to achieve this and we will likely lose some fighters during the assault".
A shame, but they could be replaced, and we'd likely lose quite a lot of them when I sent them against the Reapers.
"According to our intelligence sources they have minimal defenses against ground attack" I went on to say "The planet has no unified military force and aside from the merc factions we can expect to find raider groups and perhaps some smuggling operations as we have before".
The privateers who served on the Silver Swift, which served as an escort for my cruiser, would be unleashed on these targets so they could gather the spoils of war. Something I'd discuss with the captain of that vessel in private later on as while I wanted the raiders to cause havoc across the planet I would need their help in gathering materials as well.
"Our main targets will be the junkyards and stripped down ships" I said "We shall gather up as much of the raw materials as our cargo bays can carry before we return to Thrax II. Any prisoners who are aliens can be executed, as for those who are human, they can look forward to a future as a servitor. Kill anyone who resists and let those who flee live as cowards. Remember we are for materials not to pacify the planet".
Details of the battle plan I'd come up with the help of others were shared via our omni-tools which had become very important to Imperial operations in this galaxy.
"The Inquisition will have its own objectives during these raids" the Inquisitor informed us "Well shall coordinate enough with everyone else just enough to keep us from stepping on each other's toes".
The Death Watch would be off looking for relics to send to Trayzen for his collection. I hoped that they found some good stuff.
"Any chance of outside interference?" Dany wondered.
I doubted it.
"The mercenary groups might call for backup, but I doubt any ships they have would run the risk of taking us on'' said Miranda, who knew the locals better than anyone "But it would be smart to assume that someone will try to slip past us".
I was also concerned that a Batarian fleet might appear for a rematch, just not too worried since the native vessels were pretty weak compared to our own. As for the world we were heading to at its people, it only mattered as a place to be plundered, I cared not for its population, who would most be crooks of some kind. I had no intention of destroying population centers, but woe to anyone who got in my way.
As for Okeer that Krogan warlord who created Grunt, he was no concern of mine, if Shepard came to find him and ended up with Grunt that was fine, and if my troops found him first then the Krogan would die and it also didn't matter since Shepard had Alliance support now she'd be able to build a great team.
"Also remember that we have treaties with the Citadel races" I reminded everyone "So if you see anyone in the uniforms of a faction we have a treaty with just try to ignore them unless they get in your way. If we do run into any trouble I'll do my best to smooth it over with our new allies".
That would be for the best. They wouldn't be able to kick up much of a fuss even if we did screw with one of their operations as they weren't supposed to be out here, but that wouldn't stop them from complaining to me so I might have to listen to some whinging.
