A/N: First section purely satisfying my inner horny teenager. Apologies if I offend anyone's delicate sensibilities.
NEFERATI SHERIDAN, NIGHTSHADE (VIP SECTION), JANUARY 1 2188
"5!"
Neferati, or 'Nef' to her very few friends, couldn't quite believe her luck.
"4!"
She had slipped into the VIP section of Nightshade, the new exclusive club in the centre of Seoul, by wearing a very daring dress she had made herself and name-dropping the owner of the club to the bouncer at the door.
"3!"
Now here she was, mingling with the richest kids in the TEC, be they Human, Quarian, Krogan, Turian, Salarian or Drell. There was even a Rachni male over by the bar, his intoxication-songs gently humming in the back of everybody's head in a slightly dissonant orange.
"2!"
She had already been asked to dance by three people: a Human, a Quarian and a Drell, but she didn't fancy dancing with anybody but the person next to her.
"1!"
She couldn't quite believe that out of everyone in the club, the beautiful, exotic creature next to her had chosen her, of all people.
"2188!"
There it was. Midnight, the first few seconds of the year 2188. Holographic fireworks flickered around the ceiling and bright strobes in various colours flashed as the Geth DJ started playing 'Auld Lang Syne' because what else do you play on the new year?
She felt a pair of arms slip around her waist and a warm chin rested on her shoulder as a honeyed voice spoke in her ear.
"That's a beautiful dress you're wearing. Want to come back to my place and see what you look like out of it?"
Usually that kind of talk was enough to make Nef flush bright crimson and start stammering wildly but something was different around Mirala. She felt safe, secure, desired. She felt beautiful.
She tilted her head over to lean back into her partner.
"Sounds like the best idea I've heard all evening."
Mirala took her by the hand, gently tugging her out of the club and to a waiting skycar. Nef settled herself in the passenger seat as Mirala tapped in some directions into the autopilot. As the skycar lifted off from the club her skin tingled in anticipation.
Mirala put one blue hand on her cheek, tilting her head so she faced her partner. Nef's breath caught in her throat as all the world except the Asari face in front of her seemed to fade and distort. Before she could stop to think she had grabbed Mirala by the neck with both hands and pulled her roughly in for a long, passionate kiss. The Asari let out a short, surprised yelp, then used her forward motion to swing herself up and over to straddle Nef, thighs radiating warmth as her legs brushed against Nef's. A single blue finger trailed down the centre of her chest, making her breath hitch in her throat as the honeyed voice came out in a soft purr.
"You know, very few people I meet understand exactly how sensitive breasts are."
On the word 'sensitive' she slipped her hand under Nef's dress to graze gently against her nipple. Usually Nef's breasts weren't all that sensitive for her but everywhere Mirala's skin touched hers felt electric. She tilted her head upwards, throat working silently as the sensation of skin on skin sent jolts of warmth shooting through her body, unfamiliar heat building in her core as two fingers worked beneath the thin fabric of her sheer dress. Mirala's lips pressed gently on hers, then a blue tongue pressed past her teeth and into her mouth, flicking snakelike over her pink one. The sweet scent of her arousal filled the car as it touched down outside the Asari's apartment.
Luckily the lobby of the apartment building was empty. Nef could barely walk straight, vision clouded, the sound of her own breath coming heavy in her ears and the feeling of dampness slowly trickling down her thighs as Mirala guided her across to the elevators. As soon as they were in the capsule their lips locked together again as they were propelled towards the penthouse apartment.
The short walk from the elevator into the penthouse was nothing short of torture for Nef, every moment spent not in contact with her Asari partner leaving her feeling empty. Finally the apartment door closed behind them and Mirala pushed her against the wall, her cheek pressed against the cold surface as an alien tongue trailed over the back of her neck before picking the pins out of her hair, her intricate hairstyle falling apart to free her long, wavy auburn hair. Mirala brushed it to one side and nuzzled against her neck as she felt hands briefly unlacing the black ribbon that held the back of her dress together.
"Tell me Neferati, have you ever been with an Asari before?"
Usually Nef hated her full name, thinking it made her sound pretentious, but after hearing the relish with which her partner uttered it she realised that from Mirala's lips she loved it.
"N ... No. I haven't even ... been ... with another girl before."
That much was true. Nef was many things, one of those things being Definitely Not Gay. But like many aspects of her life, her sexuality was under review after meeting Mirala.
"Well then," the voice trickled warmly down her spine, "I suppose it's my responsibility to," she gasped in pleasant surprise as she was turned round to face her partner, back pressed against the wall, "educate you on the finer points of interspecies relations."
Mirala's eyes briefly flicked to midnight black before returning to their usual shade, the quick change accompanied by a sudden surge in Nef's already prodigious desire. Barely able to form words past her panting, she managed to gasp out half a sentence.
"Please ... want ... you ..."
Mirala smiled and held up a hand, a roiling blue orb of biotic energy appearing in her grasp which she proceeded to run over Nef's body, trailing it down the centre of her torso from the base of her neck to an inch above her navel. She arched her back, trying to seek out more contact with the electrifying sensation of dark energy across her skin, but Mirala stopped her with the other hand, keeping her gently pinned against the wall as her head bent towards Nef's shoulder. She felt the smooth blue lips kissing along her clavicle, then the graze of teeth as they closed round the spaghetti strap over the shoulder, slowly tugging it away like a child deliberately tormenting themselves by slowly unwrapping a present, the eventual prize made that much sweeter by the thrill of anticipation. After about ten seconds her teeth let go and the strap, with its attached strip of fabric, fell to the ground, baring one half of Nef's torso, her nipple already impossibly hard and darkening even further as the ball of dark energy rolled across it, drawing a sound halfway between a whimper and a moan as Mirala slowly removed the other strap, letting it join its twin and fully exposing Nef's breasts as the Human girl writhed under her hands. Mirala stepped in closer, the wall hard and cold against her partner's back as the two women pressed together. Blue fingers found their way to the splits in the side of Nef's skirt, running up the sheer silk stockings to where they were held halfway up the thighs by a couple of short loops of black ribbon, held in a bow on the outside of her legs. The hands slipped in further, encircling the creamy flesh of her inner thighs and skating up just far enough for Mirala to make an interesting observation.
"No underwear. Bold."
The words were whispered seductively into Nef's ear, making her heart rate climb even further as Mirala brushed the fabric of her dress over her hips, allowing it to pool beneath them as she stood there in only her stockings and heels.
The world shifted crazily as she felt herself get scooped up by her Asari companion, her heels deftly removed as she was carried through the apartment to the master bedroom. The kingsize bed looked incredibly inviting, something Nef would have noticed if she had been able to focus on anything aside from the blue face above her. The Asari gently laid her down on the bed before reaching down and unbuckling her skintight trousers, allowing Nef to sit up, reach out and pull down the clingy black material with an expression of wonderment on her face. Mirala finished the action herself, tugging the trousers down and over her black leather boots before stepping out of them and crawling onto the bed to hover over Nef, allowing the girl's deft fingers to unbutton her filmy black blouse and let it hang open. For a moment the two lovers studied each other, Mirala marvelling at the view of the aroused human female beneath her. If not for the colour and texture of the skin, and of course that strange yet enticing fur on her head, Nef could pass as an Asari. A pale Human hand roved almost reverently over her torso, rubbing at one nipple and making her purr in pleasure as the feelings compounded her own arousal. Although most Asari reproduction was the mental component, that wasn't to say they didn't draw physical pleasure from the act of intercourse.
Finally tired of waiting, Mirala lowered herself down to lie on top of her Human partner.
"Are you ready, my love?"
"Please ..."
She took the strangled gasp as assent and looked straight into the brown eyes below her.
"Embrace eternity."
And with that their nervous systems joined.
As the eyes above her turned midnight black Nef felt the stirrings of something inside her, something primal. Her thighs were open, Mirala settled between them, grinding her hips and sending waves of physical pleasure to reinforce the sense of orgiastic ecstasy on the horizon. Nef was no prude - she had orgasmed many times in the past, usually by manual operation, apart from one drunken and regrettable encounter at somebody's 18th, but she had never felt the onset of anything as powerful as the wave of bliss building up to sweep over her. Mirala laced her hands with Nef's, holding out her arms in a Y shape as she writhed under her lover, the contact of skin on skin threatening to overwhelm her nerves as the towering monolith of orgiastic joy continued to build over and within her. The world contracted to encompass only the two bodies joined together, her own pleasure feeding through to Mirala and vice versa, forming a feedback loop of tingling sensation that pushed her body further and further, more pleasure contained within her frame than she ever thought possible. The feeling threatened to overwhelm her and she fought to keep control of herself, a fight she ultimately lost as, drawing on a reserve of strength she didn't even realise she possessed, she flipped the pair of them over to lie on top, straddling Mirala as she took the initiative in maintaining the delicious friction of their most private places rubbing against one another. The Asari looked momentarily startled, then flipped them again biotically, once again establishing dominance as their wild motions continued. Nef bared her teeth, somehow using her partner's biotic powers as if they were her own, accidentally catapulting the two of them across the room, Mirala regaining control just in time to stop the two of them from smashing into the wall. The struggle for dominance was short but brutal, Mirala twisting Nef's arms behind her back and securely tying her wrists together with something that, had Nef not been lost in a fog of lust, she would have recognised as the ribbon from the back of her dress. Nef was not by nature this aggressive - it was all Mirala. After managing to trap her errant partner's wrists Mirala took control of the meld, feeding Nef's natural submissive tendencies back to her, making her relax, move in sync with Mirala, not against her. The wall of pleasure rushed towards Nef, simultaneously the strongest orgasm she had ever experienced and so much more than that, briefly making her breath slow and her vision tunnel before releasing its hold, instead crushing from her a wailing scream of pleasure and agony that left her chest feeling tight and her core screaming at her. She opened her eyes again and looked up at her partner.
Mirala looked angry.
Before Nef could ask a question they were somehow mating again, this time Mirala's movements less sensual, rougher. The end was another wave of insurmountable ecstasy, this one slightly tempered with a modicum of fear.
In total they mated four times in quick succession, the last one little more than a glorified rape, Nef choking sobs into the pillow as she was roughly fingered from behind, bound hands scrabbling on thin air. At the end of that one the impossible clenching in her loins was a sensation not of pleasure but of terror, Nef's cries hoarse and weak. After that time Mirala crawled crabwise to the headboard of the ludicrously large bed, curling into a foetal position with her head in her hands, tears leaving tracks down her face as she quietly sobbed. Against her better judgement Nef hauled herself upright and shuffled over to the weeping Asari on her knees, hands still bound behind her.
"Mirala ..."
The Asari reached out to her, wrapping arms around Nef's neck and latching on as sobs shook her whole frame, Asari tears running down Human skin as Mirala buried her face in Nef's shoulder. Perplexed, Nef leaned into the hug, trying to figure out what was going on. There was a flicker of biotics behind her and suddenly her hands were free to encircle the torso of her partner.
"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry ..."
Mirala's voice had lost its smooth, seductive cast, instead sounding plaintive, almost childlike. Nef tentatively rubbed her shoulderblade and whispered into her ear.
"Come on Mirala. What's wrong? Please, talk to me."
And talk she did. Mirala settled herself back against the headboard and, through her sobs and gulps, started to tell Nef everything as her hands pulled her open blouse tight around her torso. Her childhood, her condition, her flight from the monastery and her alter ego of Morinth, her mother sworn to kill her by any means and finally her acceptance into the TEC. Nef just listened, letting the Asari vent. When she finished she shifted onto her side, closing her eyes.
"Go. Just go."
To Mirala's surprise the Human girl lay down behind her, pressing her own body into the curve of the Asari's and pulling the sheets over them both as she whispered to her partner.
"Ssh. Go to sleep, Mirala. I'm here. I'll take care of everything."
For the first time in her life, Mirala fell asleep in someone's arms.
DAVID ANDERSON, SIGMA TRAINING FACILITY, JANUARY 4 2188
"Recruits! Attention!"
The thirty Sigma recruits snapped to attention as Captain David Anderson looked over their ranks. He could see the unspoken questions in their expressions. Why is a Captain here? How does this concern me? Am I in trouble? The Quarian lieutenant started addressing the recruits as they stood in a three by ten block.
"Recruits! This is Captain Anderson! He will be observing our training for an as yet undisclosed amount of time! You will show him the highest level of courtesy you can muster and answer any and all questions he may have, do you get me?"
"We get you Lieutenant!"
The Lieutenant yielded the floor to Anderson, who looked the recruits over before starting to speak.
"When you joined the Sigma programme each of you signed an awful lot of documentation. I should imagine you skimmed over the vast majority of said documents but there was one that you were mandated to read. I don't believe I need to remind you of that particular document? The one on red paper?"
The red paper document was the TEC Non-Disclosure Agreement, that promised dire retribution for anyone divulging state secrets. The document of course didn't apply to Rachni or Geth but those two groups could largely be trusted not to spill their secrets to others who may be compromised. At the mention of the red paper document several of the recruits looked slightly uneasy. Understandable - the document covered a lot of exotic punishments offenders could be subjected to if they broke the rules.
"Now, understand that what I am about to divulge is covered in its entirety by the red paper document. You are the first generation of Sigma IV, the latest iteration of the gene mods that promises a 20% increase in combat efficiency over Sigma IIIs. Your entire output year has been flagged for a new flagship that will be launched to coincide with your graduation. TON Ragnarov. This ship will have, as well as 240 Sigma IV troopers, 240 Sigma III troopers, 240 Ascension operatives, 120 N7 operatives and an entire legion of elite marines. The ship will carry a crew complement of 10,000 and be the spearhead of our commencement of offensive operations into Reaper-held star clusters. That being said, your output year will be directly under my command for at least three major operations already in the pipeline. For that reason I will be taking personal interest in your training. I will speak with each of your units individually at some point. In the meantime continue your training. Thank you Lieutenant, that will be all for now."
He stepped away and allowed the slightly dazed Lieutenant to holler the trainees back to the mess hall. He knew several of the Admirals had been against clueing in the Sigmas but Hackett had been behind him, and in the end people don't argue with the Admiral of the First Fleet. These Sigmas were young, easily forged into the weapons the Ragnarov would need, and he had postulated that the hyper-intelligent recruits would swiftly figure out what was going on when their training regime was changed. Better to tell them now than deal with the security breach when they worked it out on their own. In theory.
KAZIMIR SHEPARD, SIGMA TRAINING FACILITY, JANUARY 4 2188
"I'm thinking it's got to be Palaven and Sur'Kesh."
Kaz nodded at James's analysis.
"Makes sense. The Turian and Salarian homeworlds are the only two planets in the galaxy that are still resisting the Reapers at anything more than a local level. They'd be gold mines of troops and resources, not to mention two more relays. At the rate we're building Kol IIs, we're going to run out of relay alloy pretty damn quick."
Tali held up her datapad.
"Actually my dad sent me a message saying that the Karamazov is being refitted into a Kol III. I think they're going to upgrade all the Kol IIs to the new pattern, then maybe start refitting the Kol Is as well."
Ash held up a hand.
"Wait, wait. How the hell do you refit an Akkan to a Kol III?"
Tali shrugged before replying.
"When he said refitted, I think he meant scrapped and the raw materials used to build a Kol III. Apparently they're retiring the whole Akkan class."
The six of them fell silent as they heard footsteps behind them, turning to see Captain Anderson coming up behind them.
"Your lieutenant said I might find you here. At ease."
The six of them settled back down on the grass from where they'd sprung up and saluted.
"Some interesting theories you have there."
The captain sat down with them, lapsing into easy familiarity.
"So tell me. If you were planning an assault on Reaper-held territory how would you go about it?"
The six trainees glanced around at each other before Garrus started talking.
"Spearhead the charge with massed Kol-class battleships, backed up by Kodiak heavy cruisers refitted with Thanix cannon, supported by Dunov battlecruisers and Hoshiko mobile repair cruisers."
Anderson looked momentarily surprised.
"Refitted with Thanix cannon?"
"Yeah. Most ship designs haven't been updated since the Advent Wars. The Kodiak's heavy autocannon were effective back then but the design has kind of been left behind now. We've got Thanix cannon, Geth plasma tech and Abbadon antimatter missiles, yet the Kodiaks still use those Advent-era autocannon. I'm not too sure about the practical challenge of installing Thanix on a Kodiak but in theory I'd use the Kodiaks to take out Reaper destroyers as the Kols focus on Reaper capital ships."
Karina shook her head at Garrus.
"What I'd use is Akkan-class battlecruisers. They'd use blinding-song and ion bolts on the capital ships while their emplaced turrets held off the Destroyers and Oculi swarms, backed up with Sova and Percheron carriers protected by Garda flak frigates and loaded out with heavy bombers."
Ash was the next to speak up.
"That wouldn't work. I think you're underestimating the number of Reapers present. Besides, the Akkan class is being retired. I'd go with Marza, Javelis and Ogrov classes, backed up by Garda flak frigates. Unleash extreme range Abbadon missile bombardment on Reaper forces."
"What do you want the Ogrovs for? Their Periphlegeton cruise missiles aren't designed for anti-ship work."
"That's true, Captain, but if we replaced the plasma warhead with, say, very large Abbadon warheads with proximity detonators, the blasts could take out destroyers with near-misses and disrupt Reaper formations."
Tali scratched the back of her neck, then spoke up.
"I think we could fool the Reapers. They depend at long range primarily on EM and thermal sensors for detection, am I correct? Well, we pack a whole bunch of unmanned drones with EM and thermal emitters, make them think the entire TEC fleet has jumped into the system, and by the time they get close enough for an intercept we sneak Raloz deep space utility cruisers in and disassemble the Relay right under their noses. Their forces will be trapped in-system and we can take them out at our leisure by locally overwhelming smaller groups."
The other six present all gaped at Tali for the audacity of what she had proposed.
"That's insane."
"That's genius."
"But mostly insane."
Captain Anderson held up a hand.
"What about the ground war?"
The six trainees exchanged another set of glances. The captain was impressed. Even for Sigmas, the amount of non-verbal communication between the group was impressive, almost as if they could read one another's minds. After about two seconds of this they started talking, random snatches of phrases bouncing off one another.
"Orbital bombardment."
"Need precision. Nuke launchers too unsubtle."
"Thanix invalidated by atmosphere."
"Abbadon missiles not for use on planetary targets."
"Capital class Geth plasma?"
"Maybe. Troops."
"Mass Sigma drop?"
"Not enough numbers. Hold Sigmas for hard targets, mass drop Marines."
"Link up with existing forces?"
"Too risky. Independent sweep, but folding existing forces in on the fly."
"Rachni swarms?"
"Defenders might mistakenly target Rachni,"
"Orbital drops of Sigmas with Geth shock troop support."
"Priority targets only. Ascension?"
"Deployed with marine units. Biotic skill makes up for shortcomings of enlisted troops."
"N7?"
"Eliminating high-value targets prior to main landings. Painting for orbital bombardment."
"Okay then. Kaz, will you do the honours?"
The male Shepard twin turned to the captain.
"Once orbital supremacy is achieved, blanket bombardment of Reaper-controlled territory, avoiding any identified resistance forces. N7 operatives silent orbital drop into Reaper held areas to perform precision strikes on high value units and paint targets for orbital fire support missions. Mass Marine landings with Ascension biotic support in areas cleared of Reaper activity, pushing outwards from LZ. Sigma troopers with Geth shock troop support held in reserve on fleet to hard orbital drop into hot zones and eliminate hardened Reaper targets. At least, that's how we'd do it Captain."
URDNOT BAKARA, TEC WARGAMES FACILITY (LOCATION REDACTED), JANUARY 12 2188
The word had come through from TEC Command. The first major territorial challenge the TEC made against the Reapers would be the Apien Crest star cluster, more specifically the Trebia system, the location of Palaven. Bakara had been put in command of not only her Fourth Fleet, but the Ninth and Eleventh fleets as well, under the command of Admirals Mikhailovich and Kahoku. At the moment the two Human men were sitting beside her in the observation pod, the enormous evacuated chamber filled with a holographic representation of the Trebia system with the combined fleet neatly stacked up on their screens, awaiting deployment. This would be their fourth time gaming out the initial assault on the Trebia system today and the two Humans were running on stim-pills and vast quantities of coffee, something which wasn't inductive of sound tactical decisions. Even Bakara's rugged Krogan physiology was beginning to tire after so much thinking.
"Alright, let's send in Arcova units to make a sensor sweep. Prepare for streaming of tactical data."
The snapshot of Reaper activity sent back by the scouts was the usual. The vast majority of Reaper forces were engaged in or around Palaven, the remnants of the Turian fleet at the edge of the system, ambushing a small group of destroyers.
"Alrighty then. Kahoku, jump in the Eleventh right on top of the Turians. Mikhailovich, put the Ninth at thirty degrees from the Relay, start heading in towards Palaven. I'll take the Fourth round the other way for a close orbital assault. Remember, keep the troopships and carriers safe. Deploy."
Bakara's attention turned to her own fleet, the Fourth, as it sprang into existence on the opposite edge of the system. Spearheaded by a formation of five of the new Kol III Battleships, backed up with Kodiak heavy cruisers, Garda flak frigates and Cobalt light frigates, swarms of Shriken corvettes screening the fleet as the second row of five Marza Dreadnoughts, accompanied by three Dunov battlecruisers, squadrons of Javelis long range missile frigates, Hoshiko mobile repair platforms, Cielo mobile command cruisers and even a squadron of those flying missile silos, the lumbering Ogrov torpedo cruisers. Finally the third row jumped in - three Sova-class capital carriers, hundreds of Percheron light carriers and finally the ponderous and boxy Corsev troopships accompanied by Krosov orbital assault frigates and a handful of Cobalt and Garda units to defend against any Reapers that closed in to the third line. The final ship to arrive in with the third line was a single Raloz deep space construction/utility cruiser. Each fleet had one Raloz accompanying it, this one with an empty hold. Bakara assumed the Raloz were for disassembling the Relay and setting up orbital fortifications around Palaven.
Her fleet lit off their main engines, closing in on a three part pincer attack on Palaven.
"All ships, weapons free. Fire as targets enter your engagement envelopes."
This was going to be a long day.
EDI, SATURN STARBASE, JANUARY 14 2188
Visual input: Captain enters dorm
Identifying
Identity complete: Captain David Anderson
Processing
Analysis complete: Jeff is about to get his ass chewed out
Secondary analysis: What a dipshit
Audio input: Captain Anderson? Sir
Audio input: Have a seat Joker. Edi too
Processing
Visual output: Make avatar sit down. Applying facial expression #800 (Curiosity II)
Processing
Data analysis: Captain referred to Jeff as his call sign
Analysing
Analysis complete: Jeff is not in trouble. Disregarding earlier analysis
Audio input: I'm here to talk to you because your scores are some of the highest we've ever seen, both of you
Processing
Analysing
Analysis complete: Captain Anderson is offering a new posting based on Jeff's skill
Secondary analysis: Unknown data
Analysing unknown data against AI database
No match found
Analysing unknown data against all databases
Match found: Pride (Emotion)
Analysing
Analysis complete: Intriguing
Audio input: We've developed a new class of light frigate that is designed to be piloted jointly by a human pilot and an AI
Processing
Analysing
Analysis complete: Captain Anderson wishes us to pilot the new frigate class
Visual output: Facial expression #991 (Smug Bastard III)
Audio output: Do you have any more information about these frigates?
Audio input: Yes. They're designed as short range stealth and infiltration frigates to covertly drop teams of Sigma operatives on planetary surfaces from a carrier ship one system over, then provide close support while theoretically remaining invisible to the Reapers. If you agree you'll start training on the new craft right away
Processing
Analysing
Analysis complete: Sounds like fun
Secondary analysis: Unknown data
Analysing unknown data against database of organic emotion
Analysis complete: Excitement (Emotion)
Downloading database of organic emotion to blue box
Download complete
Audio output: I think that sounds like a wonderful opportunity
Audio input: Yeah, I'd be up for that. So when do we start?
MIRALA, SEOUL, JANUARY 15 2188
For Mirala, the last fifteen days had been a whirlwind. Her entire life was being restructured around her, beliefs she had held since she was old enough to think being shaken to the core, making her question everything she had ever seen, felt or done. And at the centre, in the eye of the hurricane tearing through her life, was a quiet, unassuming Human girl called Neferati Sheridan.
The first time she had ever woken up with somebody else's arms around her she had panicked, throwing her off biotically and scrambled out of bed, biotics flaring before she realised what was going on. That had led to more tears as she had hesitantly explained to Nef that no, it wasn't her, it was the first time she had ever woken up with somebody else in bed with her. Then Nef had in no uncertain terms told her to stay exactly where she was, had wrapped Mirala's silk house robe around herself and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing fifteen minutes later with two plates of steaming food. At the sight of her walking through the bedroom door, sleepy eyes, dishevelled hair and slight bruising from last night, Mirala fell just a little bit in love right there. She didn't understand the feeling, tried to pin down and analyse the upswell of affection, but then Nef handed her a plate of breakfast and hopped up next to her and she realised she didn't care exactly what the feeling was.
She spent most of the first four days crying, unable to comprehend the kindness being foisted upon her by somebody she would have killed with no second thoughts. Every time she thought she had a handle on her emotions the image of Nef, so vibrant and full of life, lying cold and burned out on her bed rose unbidden, setting her off again. All the while her head rested on her partner's lap as deft Human fingers stroked over her crests, fascinated by the sculpted weave of cartilage. On the fifth she finally plucked up the courage to ask Nef why she was doing this.
"I would have killed you without a second thought. Why are you still trying to help me?"
At this she had looked down and clasped her pink hands together.
"After each ... meld, I guess I caught a glimpse of what you were feeling. I want to help you because I know exactly what you feel about yourself, and I wouldn't wish those feelings on anyone."
Mirala had wrapped her arms around Nef at that point and hugged her tight.
"I don't deserve anyone like you, Nef."
The reply had set her off crying again.
"Perhaps not. But you need someone."
On the eight day Nef had explained to her that in all TEC hospitals and transport hubs the air was filled with aerosolised nanofluid to prevent the spread of disease, which contained gene mods for all lethal genetic diseases in trace amounts. Every time Mirala had taken an overland train or a shuttle she had been breathing in the Ardat-Yakshi cure without even realising. Nef didn't quite understand why Mirala was angry about that, ranting about invasion of privacy until the Human girl had shut her up quick by pointing out that if the TEC didn't do that she'd be a burnt out corpse right now. Which had, naturally, set Mirala off crying again.
On January 12 they had finally plucked up the courage to meld again, this time instead of focusing greedily on the anticipated influx of power she took the time to pay attention to how her mate reacted to her, finding an unexpected pleasure in the small noises she made to punctuate her heavy breathing and the way in which her body reacted to the touch of fingers, lips and tongues as the pink Human body writhed in time with the blue Asari one above it. This time, instead of blocking out her partner as she slipped quietly into death Mirala opened herself up to the flow of sensation between lovers, feeling the too-tight clench of Nef's hot core as if it was her own, rarely used muscles in her own body contracting in unison with her mate's and sending a cascade of pleasure surging through both bodies until they collapsed, utterly spent, sucking in great gulps of air to replenish their lungs after the twin scream of ecstasy that had filled the bedroom. That night Mirala had fallen asleep with her head pillowed on Nef's breast and her legs twined round those of her lover, thanking whatever gods would listen that her penthouse was soundproofed.
The next morning the two girls had showered together, taking sensual pleasure in rubbing each other with soap and scented oil, then they had cooked breakfast together in an easy, companionable silence aside from the odd request to pass some ingredient or other. They had dished up the plate of poached pygmy eggs, diced bacon in tomato sauce and Thessian mae'oloa fruits onto one large plate that sat on a cushion that in turn sat on Nef's lap, who sat in Mirala's lap who sat in an armchair and the two of them picked food off the plate as they watched the news. The whole scene was so utterly domestic Mirala wasn't sure whether she was going to burst into tears or start chuckling hysterically, so she remained studiously neutral, if a little giggly.
On the fifteenth Nef had booked the two of them dinner at a local multi-species restaurant. Since Nef and Mirala were roughly the same size and shape Mirala let Nef pick out an outfit from her wardrobe. Her taste in clothing was distinctly Gothic, all blacks, deep purples, navy blues and crimsons. After picking out a dark blue shirt, a black skirt, tights and boots, Nef went into the bathroom to find Mirala standing in front of the mirror with a couple of sticks of what looked like lipstick that she was applying to her face in places that definitely weren't her lips.
"What are you doing?"
The Asari didn't shift her attention away from the mirror.
"Putting on my paints. It's like Human makeup."
Nef walked over to the counter, intrigued. Mirala finally glanced at her in the mirror.
"You look lovely."
She smiled as she watched her lover applying the black paint to her face in a pattern of streaks that seemed to radiate outwards from her eyes like a schoolbook depiction of a magnetic field, yet with a strange alien elegance. Once she was done Mirala turned to Nef and shyly offered to apply paints to the Human girl's face. They spent the next forty five minutes on the internet looking up Human makeup and Asari paint designs before they settled on something, Mirala lightly rimming her lover's eyes in black before scribing in two thin lines that linked her brows and another, thicker line descending from the centre of her lower lip to her chin. The quick-drying compounds were applied in an ultra thin layer that bonded with the melanin in Nef's skin, semi-permanently staining it until she either applied removal fluid or waited for the pigments to fade in two weeks.
"So how do I look?"
Mirala answered the question by pulling her in for a kiss.
"That good, huh?"
"Let's go to dinner before we wind up in bed."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Mirala sighed and rubbed her crests.
"I'll get it."
Moments later Nef heard her name called in a tone she had never heard before. When she arrived at the door she saw two policemen standing outside the door.
"Miss, are you Neferati Sheridan?"
Nef nodded, eyes wide.
"I'm afraid there's been an accident, Miss Sheridan."
And Mirala watched, helpless, as Nef's world crumbled around her.
ADRIAN VICTUS, TEC WARGAMES FACILITY (LOCATION REDACTED), JANUARY 15 2188
Admiral Adrian Victus of the Sixth Fleet was having a very bad day. He had been called away from gaming the assault on the Apien Crest by an urgent communiqué from TEC Command and had spent the entire time he was walking through the halls of the starbase to get it grumbling. Until he read the communiqué. Then his day had taken a nosedive for the worse.
One of his pilots had somehow managed to get kidnapped while at liberty in New Delhi. Orbital sensors lost track of the air vehicle somewhere in the Pyongyang Fallout Zone, that radioactive scar where the country of North Korea had been excised like a tumour, but with thermonuclear warheads instead of a scalpel or laser curette. Then somebody had obtained the code to the Paullus node satellite over Seoul, and that somebody had inserted his pilot into the emergency control capsule on the satellite. And then somebody had loaded an air burst area denial weapon, one of those disgusting bombs hailing back to the Second Korean War that spewed radioactives and toxic compounds over a large area of ground, and fired it right at the densest residential area in Seoul. And since it was his pilot who did the deed it was his mess to clean up.
He stepped into the shuttle, blacked out windows and VI autopilot so not even the admirals knew the location of the wargames facility. As soon as the shuttle detached from the station he punched the bulkhead repeatedly and started spitting vitriol under his breath. If he ever caught the goddamn terrorists who did this, no trial. He'd dismember them himself.
JUSTICAR SAMARA, ELYSIUM, JANUARY 16 2188
Samara's eyes narrowed as she studied the news footage in front of her. Since the TEC had established her hostility towards her eldest daughter they had separated them but Samara wasn't going to let that stop her pursuit of justice. They had initially considered her for a position in one of their biotic units but their psychologists had vetoed it. She had the distinct feeling her hosts disapproved of the Code. Nevertheless her mission was clear - seek out Ardat-Yakshi that threatened life and exterminate them.
The news was fixated on the terrorist attack on Seoul at the moment, and based on the testimony of the pilot who had been coerced she suspected the use of biotic domination. Naturally, this meant that Ardat-Yakshi must be involved. She watched the newscaster as they spoke of the cost in life of the attack, then cut to a hospital, showing the corridors choked with the dying, families bending over their loved ones as they breathed their last. One family in particular stood out for her. A young Human girl with auburn hair that reached almost to her waist, wearing Asari face markings and clothing distinctly Asari in style, bending over an older Human female, clearly dead. And sitting next to that girl -
"Morinth."
Samara watched as the Human girl burst into tears, her murderous eldest daughter pulling her in for a hug, rubbing her back and probably making plans to ravage her body and extinguish her life. There she was. Samara checked over her armour and weapons before using her VI to book passage to Earth.
Her daughter would not escape justice this time.
CODEX- KOL-CLASS BATTLESHIP
The Kol class battleship was the first dedicated warship ever designed by the TEC and combines speed, defence and firepower in one deadly package. The original Kol design, the Kol Mk. I, was brought into service halfway through the Advent Wars as a force to dominate any space battle. Designed to charge right up to an enemy and engage at close range, the Kol Is came equipped primarily with autocannon turrets that covered the entire ship in overlapping fields of fire, allowing the Kol to charge right into the centre of a hostile formation and lay waste to ships in a 360 degree radius. For knockout power against Advent capital ships the Kol was armed with four forward laser beam cannons based on captured Advent beam weapons, backed up by three heavy pulse laser batteries in a side pod. Although these ships were lethally effective when deployed in wolf pack formations of three or four during the Advent Wars, the onset of the Reaper invasion proved that the Kol was outclassed by the Reapers in every way, with the brunt of the combat falling to the long range missile batteries of the Marza-class dreadnoughts for the first few months of the war.
The solution neatly presented itself after a lone Sova-class carrier, having been assumed lost with all hands, turned up in TEC space towing the corpse of a Reaper destroyer that had an intact beam weapon. Taking care to avoid the effects of indoctrination, researchers dissected the intact weapon and reverse engineered the TEC model of the Thanix cannon. It was decided that these weapons would be the basis of the new Kol Mk. II class.
The Kol IIs are 30% larger than their predecessors yet leaps in engine efficiency have ensured they are faster and nimbler than any other TEC capital ship. Since stress tests showed that the alloy recovered from the Mass Relays was uniquely potent at reducing the effects of Thanix cannon blasts the Kol IIs were armoured with relay alloy armour and equipped with energy barriers twice as powerful as the Kol Is and deflectors that, while not capable of deflecting blasts from Reapers, rendered them practically invincible against Oculus swarms at anything other than point blank range. The pod where the lasers were mounted on the old Kol Is was initially left blank but after the recovery of the Geth was filled with Geth plasma cannon.
In 2187, a breakthrough in power distribution technology enabled the miniaturisation of several weapons originally reserved for the Paullus node space defence satellites, the main upgrade being the miniaturisation of the antimatter railgun. Designed to provide orbital fire support to defending garrisons should a colony be invaded, the antimatter railgun was integrated into the chin turret of the Kol design along with the standard issue orbital bombardment weapon, colloquially referred to as the 'Nuke Puker'. As well as this system plans were made to integrate an experimental flak dispersion weapon system into the Kols, along with Raan-pattern twin-cored deflectors that should theoretically be able to deflect Reaper capital-class Thanix strikes with about a 50% success rate. The addition of these upgrades necessitated a complete overhaul of the Kol's antimatter coil power plant and the addition of a secondary eezo core, these radical changes giving birth to a new class, the Kol III. The Kol Is having been relegated to planetary defence and security duty, plans are afoot to upgrade every Kol II in service to Kol III class by 2192, with up to sixteen additional keels being laid for more Kol IIIs. Barring combat loss, it is estimated that by 2194 the TEC will have no less than eighty four Kol Mk. III class battleships in service.
No two Kols are exactly alike, and although new crews are advised not to mess around with the systems as crews gain experience in battle they constantly find new ways to eke a little extra out of their ship's systems. This trait is shown in the Kols most of all - extremely successful ships such as the Titunev and the Numenia regularly exceed their theoretical maximum performance thanks to tweaks made by their crews. Indeed, it has been known for Kols in extreme situations to execute turns that theoretically aren't possible for a ship that size, and fire so rapidly that in theory they should be melting the barrels of their weapons. Although the stress placed on the ships by these exceptional circumstances does more harm than good in the long run, victory has been snatched from defeat many a time by a Kol Battleship engaging in what is colloquially referred to as a 'Finest Hour' moment by the officers or a 'Big Damn Heroes' moment by the enlisted.
CODEX- MARZA-CLASS DREADNOUGHT
Originally a large asteroid destruction workhorse, the Marza-class was pressed into service at the start of the Advent Wars as a heavy missile ship. Unlike most of the hastily-converted freighters and passenger vessels the Marza-class seamlessly made the transition to military service, large cargo holds converted to magazines for the enormous missile batteries installed on the ships. Throughout the Advent Wars the Marza-class proved their value by executing pinpoint missile bombardments, decimating Advent fleets before they could even close to engagement range. The missile batteries aren't the only offensive weapon of the Marza though - as well as a handful of laser and autocannon turrets for close defence the Marzas are equipped with three enormous spinal siege cannon; referred affectionately to by their crews as the 'Super Nuke Pukers'. The amount of firepower a single Marza Dreadnought can rain from orbit is nothing short of terrifying.
After the Advent wars the construction of Marza dreadnoughts was halted, with the Kol Battleship remaining the only class of capital ship produced consistently. The Marzas were handed off to planetary defence fleets or sold to private owners with their missile banks and siege cannon removed. Nevertheless the Marza Dreadnoughts were the only class of ship that ever approached a reputation equal to the Kol Battleships, affectionately remembered as 'missile spitters' by their crews. One privately owned Marza was refitted with fake missile batteries and served as the central ship in a popular drama, 'Missile Spitter', that ran for twelve seasons, most well known for having a cast composed entirely of people who had served on Marza Dreadnoughts during the Advent wars.
At the start of the Reaper Wars in 2183, only eighteen Marzas remained space worthy in the entire TEC, hastily pressed back into service and refitted with the new Abbadon missiles as well as Dienekes cluster missiles. The three Marzas attached to the First Fleet distinguished themselves during Operation Thresher Maw, the three of them operating in concert, one firing a spread of Dienekes missiles at any Oculus swarm foolish enough to approach them, the other two pounding the Reaper ships with Abbadon missiles. Telemetry from the battle showed that the Marza squadron had been by far the most successful of the battle, destroying one Reaper capital ship and crippling another, as well as eliminating six destroyers and a full 30% of the total Oculus compliment before the rest of the TEC fleet had even closed to engagement range. The Missile Spitters were back and here to stay.
Nine Marzas were involved in Operation Nomad Empire, their enormous clouds of Abbadon missiles smashing through the Reaper ships like driftwood. Although Marza defences are significantly weaker than the Kol IIs, the Marzas didn't need armour or shielding - they were nigh untouchable behind their wall of antimatter warheads. The impact the Marzas had on the Quarians was best summed up by the Quarian mechanic Dorn'Hazt vas Qwib-Qwib (now Vas Numenia):
"For a full minute the mechanics working with me just dropped our tools and stared out the windows at those nine flying boxes. Ugly as sin, but those missile volleys were the most beautiful things I had ever seen."
Though the Kol Battleship and her many high-tech weapons and defences is the TEC's outward symbol of strength, for the general populace the Reaper war is symbolised by the image of a Missile Spitter releasing volleys of death at Reaper capital ships.
A/N: I have here some specific feedback requests for reviewers:
1. Please point out any characters you think aren't getting their due. It's very difficult to keep track of everyone.
2. On the matter of EDI: I personally find her sections the most fun to write, but I'm not sure if I'm striking the right balance between AI and Teenage Girl. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
3: Thus far, the majority of this fic has been, for want of a better word, domestic. Are you guys happy with this tone or would you like more action?