Joe's Note: This is going to be the first of two chapters that serve to bridge the gap between Harry's arrival and the events of Mass Effect. Not only will his life - and Luna's, obviously - undergo some significant changes in that time that I want to cover so that they don't blindside you when we reach 2183, but it'll also give me the chance to introduce some faces who will make recurring appearances in the story going forward. After all, the core of Harry's deal with the Sylléktries revolves around a ship… and ships have crews. Besides, while the Normandy will exist in this universe and feature most if not all of the familiar faces from canon? The Normandy isn't Harry's ship and his time aboard it - if any - will be minimal. And so his adventures will feature a plethora of asari, none of whom can be culled from canon, and therefore all of whom I must introduce myself. So let's get to it.
Dedications & Thanks: To Nicholas, Alexander, Howard, David, Alonsis2, MJ, Christopher, Daniel, Fablesrogue, Morgan, Janne, DireSquirrel, Joseph, Jason, mpop, Riley, bloodylord, Luke, Crusifikz70, Zachary, Marc, Ziryo, Elliot, Timothy, Leigh, Chris, George, Koby, Dimitria, William, Stephane, Ken, Warren, Paul, Pat, Joel, Warren, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing. Additional thanks go to the incomparable LogicalPremise for his amazing set of references covering many untouched facets of the Mass Effect universe, as well as listening to me ramble about ideas for the future of this story.

"So, this is the illustrious Harry Potter. I was expecting something… more."

Standing just inside the port airlock of what would nominally be the newest storm cruiser attached to Task Force Eleven of the First Fleet, Harry raised a curious eyebrow at the Marauder's soon-to-be captain. Once he managed to find her face, that was, and not for the same reason that Luna sometimes had trouble finding a woman's face. Like every other Sylléktria he'd met thus far, Allura Vielsa existed outside the engineered uniformity that defined the baseline asari species. In her case? The majority of adult Thessian asari stood somewhere between five feet two inches and five feet ten inches, with very few exceptions. Allura was roughly half a foot shorter than the lower end of that range. Her petiteness made her… cute… to be sure, but it was hardly what he'd imagined the captain of a storm cruiser would look like. "Oh? And what exactly were you expecting?"

Allura looked Harry up and down slowly before shrugging and then offering him a faint smile. "You know, I honestly couldn't tell you. With maybe one or two possible exceptions, you're going to be the first human that my underlings and I ever meet. Luna will be the second. So we don't exactly have anything to use as a basis for comparison. But from the way Matriarch Luciana talked about you when she commed me to inform me of the insanity that she'd agreed to, I was expecting… well, something decidedly more intimidating? You don't look like some sort of all-powerful, practically god-like being to me." Allura paused, tilting her head to the side as she thought about that. "Then again, I've never met an all-powerful, practically god-like being before either, so I'm not quite sure what one is supposed to look like."

Before Harry could formulate a proper response to that much less articulate it - really, the captain of 'his' future ship was the size of a Hogwarts first year, and yet she wanted to throw stones about physical presence or lack thereof? - a significantly more massive asari who reminded Harry of Luciana's bodyguard Asteria made her way over to stand behind Allura. Resting both hands on the smaller woman's shoulders, she gave Harry a slow once-over before offering a toothy grin. "You're not the only one, Captain. Based on the dossier that the matriarch sent you, I was picturing some sort of… I don't know, maybe a cross between a krogan shaman and an asari matriarch? Well built, physically imposing, with a very mystical feel to his appearance but at the same time incredibly attractive. You know the type, where you meet them and you're not sure whether you should jump them or run away from them?"

"I believe the term you're looking for is 'scaroused', and that's the best kind of woman in the galaxy if you ask me." Breezing through the airlock and into the conversation, Luna looked Allura up and down before waving one hand dismissively. "I never thought I'd meet a blue-skinned space babe that I didn't want to shag, and yet here we are." The diminutive asari let out an affronted huff, leading Luna to pat the top of her head condescending. "I'm sure you're a wonderful shag, dearie, but you look like a twelve-year-old. A human twelve-year-old, that is. Just bluer. I'd feel like a pedophile. Or maybe an hebephile? Either way, even my sexual appetites have limits." Stepping closer, Luna lifted one of the hands resting on Allura's shoulders to her lips, kissing the back as she stared up at Allura's far larger companion. "You, on the other hand… definite scarousal material. I don't suppose you'd be willing to give us a tour of the ship, would you? Bridge, galley, your cabin..?"

Harry's eyes widened at the mental image that Luna's words elicited. While he was currently in the market for a Sylléktria to be his long-term companion and the mother of his child… Epipsychidion had cracked his hip in two places the first time they shagged and hadn't gotten much gentler over the past few months. This woman, who was more than likely a krogan Sylléktria based on her size and build? She would break him. A lot. And evidently, the massive asari shared that belief. Grinning toothily, she pulled her hand free of Luna's grasp and fisted it in the front of the blonde's jumpsuit, lifting her up off the ground so their eyes met. "You're definitely cute, but I would break you."

After hanging there for a few seconds, Luna shrugged and took the woman's head in both her hands, leaning in to press a quick kiss to her lips. "Possibly, but what's life without a little risk?" Leaning in to give the bemused asari another peck on the lips, Luna twisted in place as best she could while hanging in midair, disapparating out of the woman's hold and reappearing behind her so that she could give the asari a slap on the ass. Before her victim could even spin around to spot her, Luna apparated back to Harry's side, leaning against his side and resting her cheek on his shoulder. "Well, what do you think? I know you generally prefer hourglass figures, and she's more of a log with some very choice bumps on it, but she's got some good points. Quite obviously dominant enough for your tastes, and she's got an arse you could bounce a galleon off of and have it end up in orbit."

Harry shook his head in resigned amusement; even with Epipsychidion in their life and bed, Luna was still so very Luna. And while she'd largely - albeit not completely - given up flirting for her own benefit, that certainly didn't stop her from trying to 'help' him in his search for the perfect Sylléktria to become the fourth member of their family. "Well for starters, I don't even know her name."

"Deianeira. Deianeira T'Samados." Even as Allura continued to stare at Luna with wide eyes, Deianeira recovered from her first exposure to 'god-like' abilities a bit faster, drawing herself up proudly before inclining her head in Allura's direction. "I've been serving under Allura for the last two centuries as the grand master of the marines aboard her commands. I'll be continuing that here on the… Marauder… once the ship launches."

Lowering her voice in a stage whisper, Luna nudged Harry's side with her elbow. "Hear that? Neira's got practice at 'serving under' a smaller woman. All we need to do is get her a waist trainer and she'll be practically perfect by both our standards."

"She's talking about military service, Luna. Allura has been her commanding officer for two hundred years."

"They're asari, Harry. I'm pretty sure that they've been having sex together for those two hundred years."

"Is anything ever not about sex in your head?"

"Um… the majority of my personal thoughts about Allura so far. The little girl thing is evidently Neira's fetish, but it's definitely not mine." Waving off Allura and Deianeira's stuttered attempts at denials, Luna looked around curiously. "But enough of that. I'm in the mood to explore my home-to-be. Allura, I'll give you a piggyback ride if you play tour guide."

Judging by the way Allura's expression quickly shifted from startled to irritable, the elfin asari crossing her arms over her chest as she scowled at Luna petulantly, the concept wasn't unfamiliar to her. "I was born before your species accepted heliocentrism, and am less than a decade away from transitioning into a matriarch."

Luna nodded agreeably before pulling away from Harry, taking a step forward and then bending at the waist so her head was level with Allura's. "Those are both true, yes. Two other things that are true: I walk quickly when I'm excited, and you have very short legs." That earned the blonde a faint growl from Allura. "You'll make a better guide if you aren't struggling to keep up with me the entire time. But if that's really how you want to spend your afternoon…"

After glaring at Luna for a few more seconds, Allura finally slumped and looked away. "…just out of curiosity, how long do humans live?"

"Griselda Marchbanks was something like a hundred and thirty years old when we left and still going strong."

"…and how old are you?"

"Twenty-six."

"…lovely."

"…six squads each composed of three fireteams of four marines. These women are the masters of the other five squads; if a mission needs precision rather than brute force, they'll join me in forming a makeshift commando unit to work directly with you and Luna."

Harry offered the assembled asari a smile and a wave as he surveyed them, mostly having to look up to meet their eyes because four of the five newcomers were krogan Sylléktries like Deianeira. The final squad master was roughly Harry's own height, and exhibited traits that reminded him of both Calia and Adikia. Presumably the result of a pair of Sylléktries with aithntars from two different species having a daughter together, which answered a question he'd never found a polite way to ask. Fascinating. Then something occurred to Harry and he raised an eyebrow in Deianeira's direction. "Six times three times four… isn't seventy-two marines a bit much for a single cruiser that's a glorified private yacht at this point?" Realizing a moment too late how his words might be perceived, Harry raised his hands placatingly. "No disrespect intended, ladies, I'm just wondering if your skills might be better utilized elsewhere?"

Chuckling lowly, the asari directly to Deianeira's right elbowed her superior in the ribs playfully. "Aww, isn't that cute? He actually thinks the Sylléktrion military does anything. At all. Ever." As Deianeira sighed in exasperation, the newcomer's eyes raked over Harry's body appraisingly and then she stepped forward, thrusting a hand out in his direction. "Philaenisa T'Samados. Same clan as Deianeira, no direct relation. And considering that getting you on your back would pretty much be a sure path to my own grand master posting? I think that I'm exactly where I should be right now."

"It's funny, isn't it? It feels like our entire social structure has come full circle when it comes to you, Harry." Even as a dumbfounded Harry absently shook Philaenisa's hand, another of the massive warrior women broke ranks and began to circle the two of them while eyeing him predatorily. This one… she was the asari that he'd need to keep away from Luna. Mostly because she was practically perfect according to both of their standards - confidence, dominance, nice skin tone, a definite hourglass figure even if her waist wasn't the narrowest, and the thickest, roundest arse he'd seen since arriving in the future - and that made her dangerously likely to end up grinding his pelvis into a fine powder at some point. "The matriarchy is desperate to take advantage of the deal they made with you, but was dumb enough to agree that you could pick your own lover. So now there's essentially a bounty on your bed, and the first Sylléktria to claim it will be rewarded beyond her wildest dreams."

With his hand still in Philaenisa's, Harry's ability to keep the circling asari in view was somewhat compromised but he did his best, losing her for a few seconds as she crossed behind him before peering back over his left shoulder and reacquiring her. "I, uh, wasn't aware of that. And you are? I feel like I deserve at least a name if you're going to be eyeing me like that. Possibly dinner and a show."

"Thalestris T'Samados." Thalestris finished another lap around Harry and Philaenisa, reaching out to grab his unoccupied left hand and pump it energetically. "You'll meet a lot of us here in the military; it's a Skyside clan with a long history of military service and a preference for krogan aithntars."

"For the record, the second, third, fourth, and fifth Sylléktries are looking at sizable rewards, too. And presumably any Sylléktries after them; the matriarchy really, really wants us to make babies with you." That tidbit came from the comparatively petite, salarian/quarian hybrid Sylléktria, who offered him a faint smile before gesturing first to the asari on her left, then to the one at her right, and then finally to herself. "This is Marpesia T'Sigantes and Lysippe T'Samados, both of Skyside clans. I'm Óasi Cytherea Paralía Verdes Hypatilia, the only representative of a Steelshape clan in this ship's command structure. And while I'd obviously love to be 'rewarded beyond my wildest dreams', I'm fairly certain that anyone who joins with a justicar would find me utterly uninteresting, so I'll be sitting out this asinine little competition."

While a small part of Harry wanted to point out that while he enjoyed Epipsychidion's company, she was Luna's pick for a partner rather than his and accordingly met an entirely different set of requirements… a far larger part of him was all too relieved to hear that there was at least one woman aboard the ship who wasn't out to shag him. Gently extracting his hands from Philaenisa and Thalestris's grasps, Harry turned his attention to Deianeira and arched his brow again curiously. "So, was there a point to all this apart from making it clear that I should fear for my virtue once the ship launches?"

Deianeira let out a bark of laughter at that. "Not gonna lie, part of the reason you're here is because your fiancée wanted me to present you with some possibilities since you don't seem to be making much of an effort to find a bondmate of your own." Oh. Thanks, Luna. "The bigger part, though, is because if we're going to be working with you? We need to know what you're capable of and vice versa. Which is why I asked you to meet us here in the exercise room."

Even though he wasn't sure at this point what he might possibly end up doing that would require a personal commando squad to back him up, Harry could understand the logic behind her request. According to Epipsychidion, asari soldiers were no different from any others - or members of the wizarding world - in that they shaped their personal fighting styles to accent their individual strengths. Going into battle without knowing how the people around you fought could be awkward at best, and quite possibly deadly at worst. "Fair enough. I'd assumed that you asked to meet here because it's the first room that I've finished the charms work on. Now the workout clothes make sense."

"Actually, we normally train in full combat gear." Philaenisa grinned as she reached up to tug at the strap of her purple and gold, very human-style sports bra. "Luna got ahold of Deianeira yesterday, though, and suggested that we dress to impress for our first meeting with you. Passed along a few ideas that we fed through the fabricators before heading down. So… did it work?"

Harry sighed and shook his head in resignation. "Of course she did." A flick of his wrist had his wand jumping into his hand and then he spun on his heel, apparating to a point directly behind Hypatilia. and her taller bookends. While part of him still rebelled at the idea of hurting women, he was slowly coming to terms with the egalitarian nature of Sylléktrion society… and the knowledge that they had no such compunctions against hurting him in situations like this. Accordingly, he only hesitated for a fraction of a second before hurling a Banishing Charm into Hypatilia's back, sending her flying across the room to land face first on the grass that he'd recently added to the exercise room. "You want to impress me?" As Marpesia and Lysippe looked back and forth between where he'd been and where he was with comically wide eyes, he treated them to the same charm as Hypatilia before looking over at Philaenisa and making a beckoning gesture. "Do better than them."

Exchanging looks, Philaenisa and Thalestris made a series of gestures before coming to some sort of agreement and bursting into motion. A flash of blue light was the only warning Harry got before Philaenisa erupted out of the kanquess and into his body, the impact lifting him up off his feet. Before his back could even hit the ground, a second blue flash heralded Thalestris's contribution as she somehow managed to pass through Philaenisa and emerge from her own kanquess at a full run, slamming into Harry and driving him all the way back until he slammed into the wall, his feet dangling a few inches off to floor. "So we have the same idea of foreplay then. Good. It'll make claiming that bounty easier. And more fun."

Oh bugger.

"Dare I ask what happened?"

"Evidently Hale takes the idea of 'love bite' a bit more literally than most."

"Next time don't start something you can't finish, Harry."

Harry winced slightly as the doctor continued to prod gently at the savage bite mark on his right trapezius, blood still oozing from what he was convinced was a complete dental record imprinted in his flesh, before shooting a withering glare at the asari perched on the next exam table over. "Yes, well, if I'd known you two were serious about thinking that getting thrown around the exercise room was a form of foreplay? I would have stunned you and Nisa right out of the gate."

Lowering the bag of ice she had pressed to the right side of her face, Thalestris grimaced faintly as she slowly and deliberately arched her damaged brow. "I don't know what your Earth witch women are into, Harry, but getting knocked out to start a date is a little extreme even by our tastes." As Harry buried his face in hands with a groan, he felt something bump against his dangling foot and looked back up at Thalestris. She grinned widely before using her free hand to point up at the massive bruise on her face. "Seriously, though, you have an amazing headbutt. Didn't think you had it in you, but damn was I wrong."

"Strengthening Charm. Very hasty one, didn't know it'd taken properly until you were on the ground swearing and I was still standing. Aria's security chief Alyona used that move to catch me off-guard; figured there was a chance it might do the same to you. I was right." Harry offered her a sheepish grin before turning his head as best he could to glance back at the doctor tending to him. "Well? Can you heal it, or should I head back to my quarters and dig out a potion or two?"

Doctor Aceso Dalianis offered a derisive snort in response to the question, brushing past him as she made her way over to the cabinets and retrieved two different pieces of equipment that Harry didn't recognize. "If I couldn't treat a simple laceration or contusion, Harry, I'd be a terrible doctor. No, I find myself torn as to whether I should heal your injury fully, or just seal the flesh back up to prevent infection and then leave the mark itself to heal naturally as a reminder to look before you leap."

That elicited a snort of laughter from Thalestris, who Harry shot a warning look at before turning his attention back to Aceso. "I don't need a reminder of that because I didn't leap. There was absolutely no leaping. I was there to duel or spar or whatever you lot call two adults testing each other's abilities. She's the one who decided to take it the completely wrong way. I'm entirely innocent of any sort of leaping that would require looking first."

"I'm sure." Aceso set one of the devices down on the exam table next to Harry before powering the other up, bringing it up to his shoulder and waving it back and forth slowly. A strange tingly sensation sprung up where it passed, reminding Harry of the very potion that he'd been planning to use to heal the wound if she couldn't. It made him curious how similar modern medicine was to the wizarding treatments that he was used to, and- "While we're on the subject, though? I took the liberty of familiarizing myself with your medical history, and I can't help but notice this isn't the first - or second or third or fourth - time you've been injured by… shall we say 'amorous activities'… since you and Luna joined the Collective. I think it's time that we had a nice long talk about safe sexual practices, both in terms of enjoying biotic partners as a whole and enduring the rigors of mating with specific strains of Sylléktria in particular…"

Oh, for fuck's sake…