Authors Notes: I hate my hyperactive brain, nearly as much as my friend, Nomad-117, hates his even as he sends me whatever insane idea his plot addicted muse has come up with that day. More often than not he sends me several ideas a day, not that I can talk lol. So while this is likely to be a bit more lewd oriented, there's still gonna be the usual plot you'd expect from any of our efforts, regardless if we go solo or decide to team up. Speaking of updates, I know I keep saying it, but I'm gonna update We Are Not Alone, as well as Contractual Obligations, I'm just having writer's block regarding a couple scenes that I'm hoping I'll be able to push past soon. At any rate, let's get this show on the road.
Chapter 1
Bad Decisions Were Made
Never have a meeting with a future employer while you're cold stone drunk.
Of course, Samantha Harrison had no idea what she'd agreed to when a Company rep came around for an informal meeting during a close friend's bachelorette party. As the designated party girl of their little group of friends, it'd fallen to Samantha to get the festivities underway, so naturally she'd broken out the kegs of beer pretty early along with a couple of male strippers. So while she'd be embarrassed as Hell later, the Company rep had walked into quite the sight, but she'd been completely unfazed by the drunken revelry by the bride-to-be or her close friends. Nor the fact that Samantha was dancing on top of a nearby table with one of the strippers, both of them doing quite the sexy striptease for her friend who was equally torn between being embarrassed and turned on.
But the party had come to an end when Samantha had woken up in quite the unexpected place several hours later with no idea of where she was, how she'd ended up there, or why she was there in the first place. For the moment, she opened her eyes, and blinked stupidly for several seconds when her current situation started to sink in. "Wha…?"
"You finally decide to wake up." A female voice called out from somewhere beyond Samantha's current line of sight until she pushed herself up so she was actually sitting in the rather large office chair she'd been dumped in at some point. "I was starting to wonder if I'd have to call Medical to pump your stomach after your late night."
"Where the…who…what?" She stammered out, her vision finally clearing up enough as her drowsy state disappeared in an instant. Across from her, Samantha could only blink dumbly again when her gaze fell upon either a woman in stunningly good cosplay, or she'd gotten her hands on something much stronger than the keg of Budweiser she'd brought to her friend's bachelorette party. "Okay…two questions, why do you look like a twi'lek stripper crossed with an office secretary, and where in the Hell am I?"
"Neither is important Miss Harrison, I am what I am, and we're in a place far removed from everything and anything you've ever known." The woman responded simply, as though that explained anything. "A far more important question is what and where do you want to be?"
Something about the red skinned 'twi'lek' before her, assuming it was just a fancy costume, and the question itself felt quite ominous to Samantha's already whirling mind. So much so she swallowed nervously, wanting more than anything to have another drink only so she could steady her quickly fraying nerves. Then again, it was probably just as well she didn't imbibe anymore alcohol because she'd likely never stop if half of her panicked thoughts were even close to whatever was really going on here. Not at all helped by the fact that she'd begun to recognize where she'd seen the red skinned alien woman before.
Darth Talon, a twi'lek Sith from one of the many Legends books. The image of the curvy alien woman in an ordinary office suit was jarring, and it wasn't made the least bit better by the fact that said suit displayed a distracting amount of skin. A deep, plunging cleavage that reached down to the navel of the woman, teasing at the edge of her very nipples while simultaneously revealing the Sith lady's shredded abs. When she crossed her legs beneath the translucent desk Samantha saw that the pencil skirt was slitted on one side, revealing more of the woman's long, sinuous legs, reaching up to her plump backside, and making absolutely no secret of the fact that Darth Talon was going commando. Yet at the moment at least, Talon's eyes, while the typical Sith yellow, meaning she was a Dark Sider who wasn't shy about jumping into the deep end, weren't full of malevolent glee.
If anything she looked bored with this whole thing, like she'd done this a thousand times before. "That's because I have."
"Shit…of course you'd be telepathic." Samantha immediately groaned, rubbing at a temple which she only then realized she wasn't suffering a major hangover. "...Huh, I expected to be dealing with a migraine from Hell right now."
"Force Healing might not be my forte, but I'm good enough to ensure you'd be clear headed for the rest of this little orientation, Ms. Harrison." Talon's explanation only served to confuse Samantha further, which had the Sith rolling her eyes with an annoyed sigh. "I told Management not to push for consent while you were still impaired, but they have quotas to fill, so while you were barely able to stand, you still signed on the dotted line of your own volition."
"Shit…this is really happening isn't it?" She groaned, hoping the ground would open up and swallow her as Samantha slumped in the office chair at her back. "Fuck! What the Hell did I agree to anyway?!"
"Anything you can imagine and so much more." Was the very much unhelpful reply and given the way she grinned at me she knew that and revelled in it. "Does it matter? You're not getting out of it either way." Darth Talon assured her forebodingly. "Now answer my question. What and where do you want to be?" This time the question is expressed in more than words.
Samantha could feel a spike of… something drive itself directly into her brain. Possibilities, information and more were directly jammed into her subconsciousness as she answered questions she cannot even recall having been asked. Her thoughts, her being answered for her before she could consciously become aware of what she wanted.
"How naughty." Talon chuckled as the spike receded slowly. "Perhaps it'll be fun watching you after all." Samantha still had no idea what the hell she was talking about, and she clearly liked it that way. "Who knows, maybe we'll meet again."
Samantha opened her mouth to… beg for mercy? Time? Demand information? To be sent home? Instead though her vision began to swim and darken as she felt her very being begin to shift and change. A sensation of pure power filled her body, heart, and soul. When it felt like she was about to explode from the influx of power, Samantha began to feel herself changing to accommodate the power. So much so she was helpless as she let out a cry of orgasmic bliss when the feeling reached its zenith, her life changing forever once her transformation had finished.
Once again, Samantha woke up in a stupor, her vision blurry, her mind numb and foggy as she slowly rolled onto her back with a groan. The sound of birds in a nearby tree had her grumbling a half muttered curse as she tried to blindly reach for a pillow to cover the side of her head with, only to feel damp grass beneath her fingers. Wait…grass? Did I pass out in the yard or something? Ugh I hope not, or my friends won't ever let me hear the end of it. She mentally grumbled before reaching up to rub her eyes even as a hard rock poked her in the back.
How had she managed to sleep like this?
Shielding her eyes from the bright morning sun, she slowly sat up, and felt the bottom of her stomach drop when the view before her finally started to make sense. "Oh fuck…" She whimpered, eyes wide when a flying car flew overhead. Worse yet, like Talon, she was pretty sure she recognized the technology at a glance as a distinctive blue glow in the vehicle's undercarriage caught her saucer sized eyes. "Please tell me that isn't eezo…" She groaned, because there was only one science fiction setting she knew even a little about where radioactive space dust was used as a power source, and it involved giant mechanical eldritch abominations masquerading as robotic death squids. Then something else dawned on her. "Hold on, why do I sound different? Wait...do I look different too? And what am I wearing?!" She all but shouted when she looked down at herself.
Everything about her was different, but more than that she… she was sure she wasn't human anymore. Not wholly at any rate because the way her skin looked, the utter perfection radiating off her was just utterly inhuman in its nature. Dirt refused to cling to her as though it was being repelled, and more than that she could… she could sense… something… something about everything around her. About the few thin trees, the sparse grass, the plants somewhere behind her, hidden in the shadow of rocks she knew were there but hadn't laid eyes on. It was…oddly pleasant to her, like a gentle caress across her flawlessly smooth skin, but it was also kinda distracting and only added to her confusion.
Running where she somehow knew there was a lake, Samantha skidded to a stop not ten feet later when she saw a giant plume of dirt and rock explode behind her. Glancing at where she'd just been standing, she could only blink dumbly again when she realized she'd caused that explosion in her blind panic. "Right…apparently I'm also super fucking strong now, great!" Somehow her voice didn't become a piercing shriek, but it was a very near thing. But that little fact only spurred her forward, although Samantha had just enough presence of mind to slow down so she didn't end up leaving large craters everywhere she went.
Skidding to a stop mere moments later, she nearly tumbled into the lake itself, but managed to prevent that with some timely flailing of her arms so that she only ended up landing on her perfectly sized ass. More rocks jammed into her exposed skin that the glorified thong she wore didn't cover, not that it hurt although she cursed nonetheless. Was everything here made of stone and rock?!
She belatedly realized that she should probably be more bothered about her clothes that covered preciously little, but at the same time… her mind was calm, unbothered about that particular fact. The elements couldn't threaten or bother her, and if there was anyone close by to see her… could she really blame them for staring? Why should she feel ashamed when she looked like- She blinked, taken aback by the strange thoughts. "Wh-what the Hell? Why am I such a stuck up bi-...nevermind." Slowly glancing into the water itself, Samantha took a steadying breath as her gaze settled on her reflection at last.
What stared back left her with just as many questions as answers.
"Woah." She had spoken before she could even think because the vision of utter beauty looking back at her was incredibly striking, to say the least. Long pitch black hair held in place by an elaborate golden headdress, two large earrings dangling forth from beneath her lustrous mane, a perfectly, achingly beautiful face, intense blood red eyes, full kissable lips. She leaned further forward, eager to catch more of her reflection. Her slender neck was adorned with an equally elaborate gold choker necklace, matching the headdress that held her hair in place.
Her shoulders were left exposed for the world to see as was her right arm whereas the left one was covered in black sleeve adorned with golden highlights. Her gaze wandered further down to the slope of the breasts. They were modest if still good handfuls and thankfully covered by a small white and gold bikini-like top. She leaned further forward still, exposing her smooth, toned stomach to her eyes flicking outwards into perfectly sculpted childbearing hips. She was perfect, no…she was somehow even better than perfect, she was quite literally divine. Despite the strange thoughts returning, Samantha found she rather liked what she was now, only to blink and whip her head around when she saw she was floating a few feet above the water. More alarming, she wasn't even standing upright, having gotten herself spread out above the lake's surface as if she were sprawled out on her bed back home.
Somehow she didn't lose control and end up flopping face first into the water, but she did dip suddenly, only regaining control just when her nose touched the cold surface of the lake before she managed to float herself back to the edge. "...Okay, so I can fly now." She muttered, on the verge of a full mental break at this point, but the all consuming panic that was threatening to devour her slowly began to…disappear of its own volition. She was still incredibly stressed, but she was able to at least function well enough to know she'd inevitably draw all kinds of attention her way if she didn't find a way not to stand out so damn much. Yet the moment that thought crossed her mind, Samantha found she immediately hated the thought of hiding herself away.
Why should she? She was literally sex on two legs now. People should be worshiping her, not hiding away simply so she could move about like some petty, undeserving thief! Just as quickly she shoved that impulse aside for the time being, having to compromise with herself, a thought that was just as strange as the fact she didn't want to hide even if it'd make her life a little easier until she got her bearings, but…such was her life now apparently. Hiding was out of the question, but she could at least throw a cloak over herself or something if nothing else for now, at least until she knew what she was doing.
As if to mock her, something hit the back of her head.
"What the-" She whipped around, her right hand having blurred so she was aiming what amounted to a finger gun, only there was a ball of golden light at the end of her pointer finger that she about unleashed on another nearby tree before she frantically reeled the impulse back. "Archer…of course." She groaned, a name coming to mind, along with what exactly she was. "Ishtar Rin…gods but I'm a Servant now?! Well…no, I'm a fully incarnated Heroic Spirit, or is it Divine Spirit? Bah, it doesn't matter! What matters is that I'm way above what I used to be!" And wasn't that a scary thought all its own?
Remembering that something had hit her in the back of the head, she glared down at her feet, and saw a smartphone that quickly transformed into a stone slate that, when she picked it up, began to glow with a golden light all its own before its surface changed to show what amounted to a computer screen with various icons carved into the stone slab's surface. "Mesopotamian goddess, naturally I'd be stuck in the gods damned Stone Age." She grumbled, but at least the 'stony smartphone' behaved just like any smart device she was familiar with. But she quickly grew annoyed with the stone slab, and just as quickly found a way to alter its form so it was much more user friendly, and far less bulky to lug around even if a mere thought was enough to make it disappear.
The wireframe, glove-like omni-tool that settled on her sleeve covered arm was much more to her liking as a holographic, or was that magical? interface appeared in the same shade of gold as the magic bolt she'd been about to fire on an innocent tree of all things. Better yet, she didn't seem to have Rin Tohsaka's inability to handle technology, which, while incredibly humorous to watch Rin suffer with, would've driven her last vestiges of sanity away completely. But that thought led to Samantha wondering if she wouldn't be just as helpless with Mass Effect's technology as Rin was with a simple DVD player. That realization had Samantha whimpering as she slumped, her legs flopping out to either side of her. "Ugh…I'm gonna be a technological idiot anyway!"
So much for being smarter than Rin.
Okay…what do I know? Samantha forced herself to consider, both in an effort to get herself actually thinking up ideas on how to handle her situation, and to also calm herself down a bit. One, I somehow got myself recruited by something called the Company to…start a cult devoted to war and sex?! She nearly shrieked when she read through the contents of the one and only message she had in her Company App's messenger inbox. At least there isn't a time limit…outside of the impending Reaper invasion anyway, but that's over twenty or thirty years away so I've got time. Though how much time she had could change depending on what she did between then and now.
Two, I'm Ishtar Rin, a fully incarnated Divine Spirit, although my power rating or Tier rating I guess is only a 7, meaning I'm still missing a fair amount of my 'divine might'. I also have something called a Shroud of Power, Glorious Light as far as its…element is concerned. Right…I'll look into that later. Breathing out a sigh through her nose, Samantha…no, she needed to get used to her new name now, Ishtar continued to mull over the relevant details as best as she could. Three, I'm also in debt to the Company, so I'll need to find ways to pay it off before the month is over, or I'll be swimming in interest accrued charges for the rest of my eternal life. Wait, I'm gonna live forever?!
"Are you for real?!" She shouted at the omni-tool's unchanging screen as she glared at the Build information she'd pulled up. Forever?! She- She couldn't wrap her head around it. Her still human, or at least she figured that that was the case, mind was unable to truly comprehend eternity. Perhaps in time- She shook her head, if this was correct then the one thing she had was time, provided of course she didn't get killed. She frowned when a thought occurred to her though. Could she even be truly killed anymore, or would the belief of people in her keep her alive? Give birth to her again? Granted, she likely had absolutely no true believers at the moment, so it was a moot point to even worry about it right now, but later? What were the rules for someone like her exactly? Though in all honesty she sure as Hell, or would it be more fitting to say Irkalla? didn't want to find out.
"So… what do I do now?" Sa- Ishtar wondered as she gazed up at the sky, her domain, or one of them at least. She was the Mistress of the Heavens after all. Was she supposed to just… blend in? Could she even blend in? Even if she changed her clothes, her eye color alone would attract attention, that was without going into whatever else kind of power she radiated. She could try to rely on Paper Trail, but did she even have a civilian identity? She wasn't a superhero after all, she was a goddess now! And even hinting at the idea of trying to downplay her divinity made a large part of her being recoil with disgust, let alone trying to actually hide what she was! So apparently she had no choice but to play into the role she'd apparently agreed to.
Shit…this was going to get complicated in a hurry.
"Sir, there's an unidentified flying object on radar." A technician said after sticking his head into the office of the decorated officer.
General Jacob Williams had been a Navy man for the Systems Alliance for most of his life at this point. He was on an entirely different world, on one of humanity's newest colonies, so not much surprised him anymore. So while unidentified flying objects weren't always worth getting excited about, they were still unusual enough to warrant at least a cursory look if nothing else. "Where is it going?"
"Towards the nearest city sir, but scans indicate it isn't a shuttle of any kind. It's small, but it's not giving off any energy signatures." The man's explanation had Jacob furrowing his brow in confusion.
"Do we have any drones in the area? Any way to get eyes on this thing?" He asked as he got out from behind his desk before following the technician to the tower's radar station.
The man grimaced at that. "We're working on that, sir." He said respectfully but with the tone of a man who wasn't about to sugarcoat things. "Thing is the drones we still have are little more than flying trash heaps, so getting one to work properly will take a bit."
"Has this… object made any hostile movements?"
"Negative. It just accelerates and decelerates randomly, we haven't managed to figure out a pattern yet." The man sighed out with a shake of his head. "The thing that confuses us is that if the readings are correct, it can basically come to a full stop instantly, and accelerate well past five hundred miles per hour just as fast."
"What could move that fast without ripping itself apart?" Jacob wondered aloud as he glanced at the computer readouts the technician had pulled up on his holographic interface. The numbers didn't lie though, which only served to baffle him more. "Any word from the home front? Something new they're testing and didn't bother to tell us about?"
"Would they tell us if they were?" The man asked, earning a scoff from Jacob in response.
"Fair point." He chuckled humorlessly before shaking his head again. "Send a shuttle team. I want eyes on whatever this thing is ASAP, but don't engage unless fired upon first. Secure feed, nothing about this leaves this room. Let's hope it turns out to be a kid's science experiment rather than a first contact situation."
"Aye sir." Jacob stood in the middle of the busy control center, arms folded neatly behind his back as he waited for his orders to be carried out. While he had no way to know for sure what it was that was out there, something in his gut said this wasn't gonna be an errant weather drone. Considering they were on the edge of human controlled space thanks to the Prothean ruins on Mars though, General Williams was all too aware it could be anything out there.
And if it did prove to be intelligent, he hoped they were friendly…
The city in the distance wasn't the biggest she could remember ever seeing, but Sam-...Ishtar, couldn't help but gawk since it was certainly the cleanest she'd ever seen. Gleaning metal spires reached for the sky amidst prefabricated structures, flying vehicles of every shape and size meandered about, their occupants tending to their daily errands and job related tasks, and while they were few and far between, there were signs of military bases and defensive measures she could see as she drew ever closer to the city. Large turrets and cannons didn't track her movements, but she didn't doubt that they and a nearby airbase she'd spotted in a nearby mountain chain could make her day interesting in a hurry if she did something the locals didn't like. Not that they took away from the beauty of the rocky terrain that stretched before her in every direction.
It looked every bit the bustling futuristic metropolis that it was, if thankfully less dystopian than some she had read about or seen on screen in the past. In all honesty, she could have reached the city long ago, but she kept delaying. There was so much to see just on the way towards it. A pristine untouched lake situated in the mountains, with water so clear that she swore she could see the bottom of it hundreds of feet below. Snow capped peaks rising up below her, untouched, unspoiled, things of beauty. Regretfully there were relatively few plants and trees since the world was mostly covered in rocks and canyons, though in their shadow she could feel life flourish she had never even dreamt of before. Alien, and yet strangely familiar to her, or so the feeling inside her insisted anyway.
Well, it wasn't like she was in that much of a hurry. Even if she kept making small stops, she'd reach the city before nightfall. She giggled as she matched her speed to that of a flock of birds, twirling about them much to their confused trilling as they watched her with wary black eyes, set in a black and white face adorned with a long white beak. Flying was turning out to be absolutely liberating, let alone exciting to the extreme. She'd never felt so free before in her life, and she doubted she'd ever touch the ground again for more than a few moments anytime soon.
That was when fate decided to intervene.
The roar of a shuttle fast approaching her location startled the flock of birds away, while the annoying vehicle made her glare at the pilot she'd since spotted as he began to match her speed. While she couldn't hear what was being said, she could tell that the guy behind the controls, as well as the woman sitting in the copilot's seat, were more than a little surprised by what they were seeing. A sly smirk appeared on Ishtar's face when a thought came to mind right before she decided to introduce herself.
She took more than a little pleasure from their slack jawed expressions when she casually landed atop their vehicle before idly sitting herself on the edge of the front of the shuttle, letting her long, glorious legs dangle over the forward window. If they wanted to annoy her by interrupting her pleasant flight, the least they could do was give her a ride back to wherever they came from. Was she being a little troll? Yes, but it was their own fault for being so rude.
The two of them blinked at her, dumbfounded, then they fiddled with something in front of them and she saw their lips move frantically. A move, more lip movements and wild gesticulates from both as they seemed to be torn between shouting at their instruments, each other, and whoever else was listening. She rolled her eyes, surely they had to be done soon? But no, whatever it was they were doing they kept talking even as she felt the shuttle adjust course beneath her. She had half a mind to either challenge them to a race, just fly away although they'd likely try to chase her down, or prevent their vehicle from moving in any direction she didn't want it to.
No, it was better to be diplomatic about this. If they brought her to their superiors she should think on how to address them. She briefly considered talking in old Shakespearean English, but the mere thought of throwing words like 'thine' and 'thou' around made her head ache so she decided to not pretend that she was ignorant of how modern people talked. She paused when a thought occurred to her though.
How did people talk in this time?
This was the future after all, did they still speak English? Had it changed over the last century and half to be almost unrecognizable? Fuck, what if they suddenly all spoke some weird mixture of stuff she couldn't make sense of? She squinted at the two humans, she distantly noted how she mentally referred to them as though she wasn't one, in contemplation, the expression on her face making them shift uncomfortably in place. Glancing at her omni-tool, she hurriedly looked through her Build information, having spotted something earlier that might help her with this situation, assuming there was a situation to even be worried about. She breathed easier when she read the details for one of her purchased power-ups, Communications Talent.
"Right…so even if they do speak a weird mixture of languages, I'll be able to understand after a few seconds of exposure. It might've worked for Firefly, but I'd rather not have random bits of Mandarin go over my head." She muttered, having loved the show, even if she hated that there'd only been one season and a follow-up movie some years later. Shit…now she was tempted to make it a divine decree at some point, having more seasons of Firefly made, but no…that wouldn't work since all the original actors were long dead. Damn it!
The vehicle slowed down as it approached one of the small military bases she had spotted earlier. Even from this distance her eyes could easily pick out details, like the fact that there were two squads in full hardsuits waiting at the landing pad, another two standing further back, partially hidden behind the surrounding equipment or shuttles. If her eyesight had been at a mere human's level. Ishtar never would've spotted them. As it was however, she could read the nametags on their armor if she so felt like it. She saw how their fingers gripped the rifles' stocks tightly, anxiety and uncertainty easy to read in all of the people that'd assembled. Maybe landing on top of their shuttle as she had was a bad idea after all?
Well, there was nothing for it now as the shuttle soon enough landed, with Ishtar quick to hop off and float down to the ground in front of the vehicle moments before the doors slid open, allowing the pilot and his crew to disembark at the same time a few of the soldiers began to approach them. Ishtar's eyes had since moved towards an older man with a receding hairline. She could see the first specks of gray in his remaining short, black hair, though the most notable feature was the scar running down the left side of his rough hewn face, across his left eye, both of which were a dark brown.
That said, she was peeved to note everyone but the senior officer who hung back were either putting on helmets, or were already wearing theirs with the suit seals fully engaged. Did they think she was carrying a contagious disease or something?! Well, to be fair to them, their caution was probably warranted since they had no idea what she was. Even so, it still rankled her for reasons she couldn't put her finger on. Her annoyance grew a bit when she saw the pilot and his team had done the same, sealing themselves in their own hardsuits moments later.
"So, how do we do this, General Williams?" She heard one of the men mutter quietly. "She looks pretty human to me, but I got no idea what she really is."
"She can hear you." Ishtar told the man with a small glare, everyone present flinching when she suddenly spoke. She saw them looking at each other in confusion and alarm.
"You speak our language?" General Williams, and she got the feeling that she should know who he was, asked her, eyes wide.
"Of course I do." She huffed out before she paused, considering what to say next. Could she really just claim that she was a goddess? Would they think she was crazy, or perhaps think she was some alien spy? A pretty bad spy given how she'd shown up, but who knew what they'd believe.
"How?!" The man behind the General, a Lieutenant given the insignia on his armor, demanded to know, and Ishtar realized belatedly that her pause between sentences had dragged on for so long that they likely thought she wouldn't add anything else.
Shit…she might as well go for broke at this point. She'd already blundered her way into this situation, and her new nature demanded she be known for what she was in any event, so there was little point in trying to sugarcoat it she supposed. "How indeed. You might've reached for the stars in my long absence, but I remember a time when humanity was still young, barely reaching beyond their borders as the first civilization slowly became the greatest the world had ever seen at the time. Perhaps you recognize the name of Babylonia?"
"...What the fuck is she talking about?" The Lieutenant blurted out in frustration, glaring at the shuttle pilots who had since moved behind a line of better armored soldiers. "If this is your idea of a prank I swear you'll clean latrines for the rest of your lives!"
"Hey don't look at us!" The pilot retorted hotly before jabbing a finger towards her back. "She literally flew circles around us on the way here before hitching a ride on the roof!"
"It wasn't nearly that dramatic, but you're the ones that decided to interrupt my pleasant flight through the skies, which I might add are one of my many domains." Ishtar said right back with a roll of her eyes.
"Sir?" The Lieutenant sighed at last, clearly uncertain how to proceed after that declaration.
"No matter who or what you are." The good General began as he looked her straight in the eye. "A name would be much appreciated, young lady."
"A respectful request, but that I must remind you of what you once knew to be true on sight alone is strangely depressing if I'm being honest. But as for being young, I was old when the mountains were young. I've seen empires rise and crumble-"
"Just…give us a name." The General sighed, while so rudely cutting her off to boot!
"Hmph…Ishtar, Queen of the Heavens, a goddess returned to an age unlike any even I had thought possible."
"Oh, I know that one!" One private chimed in from the side. After both officers glared at him for a moment the general motioned for him to continue. "Isn't Ishtar some sort of ancient goddess of sex and stuff?"
"Among other things." Ishtar couldn't help but smile approvingly towards the young man who'd spoken up. "War and Justice are also among my domains, but I indeed was quite well known for my many passionate loves."
"Shit, is she one of those cultists?" She heard one of them mutter under his breath.
"How the hell did she fly then?!" The pilot exclaimed a split second later.
"Fuck me if I know, but it sure as hell's more likely than her being an actual goddess!" The other man shouted back.
"It's almost relieving to see that humanity still doubts what their eyes tell them." Ishtar cut in, drawing everyone's gaze back to her in an instant. "Doubt might be a regretful trait of yours at times, but without doubt, there would be no wonder even if I find it offensive that you'd doubt my divine authority when you can see me before you."
Okay, she really was playing up the goddess role a bit right now, but honestly she had no idea what else to do. A sudden unbidden thought pushed its way to the forefront of her mind, of a beautiful mountain crumbling beneath her feet, and she shoved it back into the recesses of her mind. She wouldn't stomp a mountain to dust just to convince them! She wouldn't stomp any mountain period unless she had to for some reason or another although she had no idea when that would ever become necessary.
Right, so if she couldn't do that…
She rose into the air again where she floated several feet off the ground unaided for all to see anew. Instantly, multiple rifles snapped up to aim at her. A part of her panicked, worried they'd be able to hurt her while another part of her wanted to punish them for daring to raise weapons against her of all people. Thankfully General Williams was far more calm than his compatriots, and quickly got them to stand down before anyone did something they'd regret, although they didn't relax exactly, especially when Ishtar summoned her mount to her side. The gold and blue crescent shaped object was bigger than her, but her Maanna, the Boat of Heaven, was much more than a means for her to get around, not that they needed to know that just yet as it finished materializing in a shower of gold sparkles. "Do you believe what your eyes tell you now?"
She bristled when one of them reached out to touch her steed and weapon without even asking for permission first! Clearly this was a warrior of little discipline, and given the glares he received from the others even as two of his comrades pulled him back the others didn't appreciate his actions either. General Wiliams didn't either as he openly glared at the foolish man, his gaze informing her the soldier wouldn't like what happened to him later before the older gentleman nodded his head towards her next. "While I'm still not convinced, you've certainly made one thing abundantly clear. You at least believe what you say, and you certainly seem to be in possession of technology far beyond anything we've seen before." She frowned and wondered if crushing a mountain wasn't going too far after all if that's what it'd take to make him believe she was who she said she was.
But instead she sighed and nodded before she said, "I understand why you continue to doubt me, but I am exactly who I've said. Even so, I don't require that you believe me, although I hope there comes a day that you at least acknowledge the possibility if nothing else. For now, I didn't come here to cause you and yours trouble. I merely wished to get my bearings, and to see for myself exactly where and when I seem to have found myself, before your people intercepted me."
"You will be confined to this complex until such a time that we can be sure you aren't harboring any unknown diseases or any other pathogens." Williams told her instantly. He didn't so much as flinch when her gaze sharpened as she looked down at him, much to his credit and her silent respect even if his demand also annoyed her a great deal.
"Fine." She said simply, not about to go full mythological goddess on the people here since such reactions tended to be pretty harsh. "Then let's get this over with. I assume you have a healer at your disposal?"
Xìngyùn Cluster, the Dà Líng Sān System
Shanxi, New Taiyan
April 31st, 2157, 3:21 PM…
Karin Chakwas POV…
"General, I must remind you once again that I'm not qualified for this." The good doctor told her superior, a breathing mask that would protect her even from hard vacuum already over her face along with a full hazmat suit for good measure.
"No one is, doctor." General Williams replied simply, unmoved by her protests. "I've already sent word back to Arcturus Station, but I haven't yet received a reply. In the meantime I want you to figure out if our guest is safe to be around… and if she can eat the same stuff as we do. She thinks she's a goddess, but I'm obviously not so sure, so please, doctor, ensure that we don't accidentally kill her by giving her the wrong thing to eat at least."
"Very well General, but goddess or not, outwardly she's unlike any human I've ever seen." She noted as her gaze, once again, found itself drawn to the impossibly beautiful woman that was looking unerringly right at them despite the glass separating them being a one-way mirror. The quarantine chamber beyond was separated by an airlock of sorts from the rest of the military complex, but despite that, Chakwas had the distinct impression none of their efforts to keep her contained would work if this Ishtar decided she didn't wish to be contained any longer. With what she'd seen of the base's security footage of her arrival and subsequent talk with General Williams, it was a suspicion that had only grown with time.
"Just… do your best." He harrumphed out, clearly not pleased that his own thoughts were likely mirroring her own. "Though I'd appreciate it if you could tell me as much about her as possible, I'd like to have an idea of what she is capable of."
"The instruments I have available here are limited, General, I can give you a rough overview, but unfortunately that'll be the end of it." Chakwas didn't hesitate to inform him honestly.
"Like I said, do your best doctor." She nodded and watched him leave before taking a moment to brace herself. While playing to this woman's delusions wasn't ideal, it was better to keep Ishtar cooperative and agreeable, and really, so long as she made no hostile movements, Karin doubted she had anything to worry about outside of whatever she might discover about this strange being. And as many would likely point out had she asked their opinion, they were on an entirely different planet, with many human colonies having sprung up since discovering the Prothean ruins some time ago. Anything was possible these days, and while she too doubted this Ishtar was a goddess, Karin was willing to believe she wasn't human either just from what the security feeds had revealed. But that left her wondering how she knew the name Babylon, a country from Earth's ancient past.
Having stalled long enough, Doctor Chakwas entered the airlock, took another breath as the room cycled the pressure to match the quarantine chamber's, and stepped into the room once the secondary door opened. Ishtar's gaze had since moved to her face behind her mask, and Karin felt strangely naked and exposed before a small smile spread across the young woman's face. "I assume you're this base's resident healer then? You're younger than I thought you'd be. You're certainly far more appealing than your superior."
"I- I would have expected you to think that scared warriors are attractive, given who you are." Karin shot back, trying not to show how vulnerable she felt beneath those red eyes. Even if a part of her felt absolutely delighted that this woman thought she looked appealing. She wasn't vain, nor was she someone who didn't pay any heed to how she looked, but she knew that she wasn't as attention grabbing as some others. Her mundane brown hair just didn't stand out, her features while symmetrical and well kept didn't stand out from the crowd either. Her piercing green eyes were her most notable features in her own opinion and even those weren't exactly rare or special. She was far from unattractive, or so a few lovers she'd taken over the years had told her often enough, but Karin knew she wasn't much to look at either. It didn't help that she was in her early forties, and she wasn't getting any younger as minor aches and pains from the rigors of the job slowly began to mount. Yet being in front of this woman made Karin feel intensely jealous and unworthy both.
Feelings she did her best to push aside since they did nothing but distract her.
"Hmm, you know you don't have to indulge me." Ishtar told her as she lazily floated above the sick bed, her gaze never leaving Karin's eyes. The good doctor could feel herself starting to sweat a little under the weight of it. Just how had this being managed to get so familiar with humans that she could tell when one wasn't being sincere? "I understand why none of you believe me when I say I'm a goddess, or that you refuse to believe the evidence of your own eyes. You've mastered space travel after all. Yours is a world of science and logic rather than faith and superstition, although to be honest I do salute the latter while being disappointed in the former. Needless fear in the unknown can be so boorish even if the lack of faith in anything beyond your worldview is distressing to me."
"Well, faith isn't completely gone." Chakwas replied carefully. "According to our laws, everyone is free to believe in what they want, so long as their worship is peaceful and doesn't harm others."
"That is good." She said with a nod, surprising Karin a little, something that must've been visible on her obscured face when Ishtar scoffed. "I'm not a savage. I might not be the most benevolent of gods from your people's myths and legends, but I would never condone the harm of another in my name either."
"I see." Karin replied hesitantly. She knew little of such myths, but what she did know was that such beings tended to be capricious, to say the least. So the last comment felt almost out of character for such a being.
"Even gods aren't completely immutable." Ishtar told her, as if reading her mind. "It's true that we're… trapped in some sense, but things can change based on many things." Karin felt that the woman in front of her was deliberately vague, but she really didn't want to call her out on it either. "Now, I believe you wanted to conduct an examination?" The self-proclaimed goddess asked rhetorically. "Given the technology available to you, I suspect it should take you no time at all to determine that I don't carry any pathogens, provided all the machines I already passed couldn't tell you the same. So I suppose you'll have to do the best to entertain me until the General has come with the next excuse for why I cannot leave this building or his superiors say otherwise."
"Y-yes, although I do apologize for the inconvenience." At least her words coaxed a small smile out of the strange woman before her as Ishtar sat on the edge of the bed, a silent invitation for Karin to get to work if she'd ever seen one.
"It is not your fault, you're simply doing your job…"
"Oh, my name is Doctor Karin Chakwas." She hurriedly said, feeling more than a little foolish for having forgotten something so simple as introducing herself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you then, Karin Chakwas. I am Ishtar, Mistress of Heaven." The other woman introduced herself regally in turn. "With that said," she began as Karin began her examination, "you realize that I'm not stupid, right?"
Karin nodded her head before saying honestly, sensing it was prudent not to try and lie to her. "Well, I'd hate to say it, but it's largely believed that you're insane."
"Be it as it may, insane doesn't mean stupid, although I'm not insane either." Ishtar argued before Karin blinked when she began to undress.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Karin inquired, unable to help but stammer slightly despite having seen countless people in various states of undress throughout her medical career.
"You wish to examine me, do you not?" Ishtar asked in turn, a hint of a sly smirk having appeared on her otherwise innocent seeming visage. "I am merely helping you perform your duties as a healer." By that point, she'd let her simple cloth top fall away, revealing her modestly sized breasts in their entirety before slowly pulling the elaborate choker from around her neck, setting it aside on a nearby table. From there, she shimmied her loincloth down her long legs, rolling down the single black stocking she had before doing the same with her remaining black sleeve on her arm. All the while, Karin couldn't take her eyes away for even a moment, the woman's beauty enrapturing in a way no one else had ever come close to. "Of course, if you feel this is unfair, I wouldn't be opposed to you undressing as well. That suit looks terribly uncomfortable."
That at least had Karin rolling her eyes as she snapped out of her revelry moments later, an amused glare quick to follow. "Since we're being bluntly honest with each other, I'm nobody's fool either, Ishtar. I've come to the realization that you're quite the sly one."
"Whatever do you mean?" Ishtar asked, feigning innocence as she neatly folded what passed for her clothes before adding them to the pile of expensive jewelry that she'd already placed on the bedside table. Once she'd done that, she sat back down, and lost the playful smile before adding, "To be honest all this is quite a lot for me to take in. I knew humanity was capable of great things even in my own time, but even I wouldn't have ever imagined they'd go so far as to reach beyond the heavens themselves as you clearly have. As such, falling into my usual mannerisms of flirtatious advances is all too easy as you might imagine."
She kept in character, Karin had to give her that, even if it was a bit unsettling to hear the woman talk like that. Both because her having fallen so deeply into delusions left Karin uneasy, and because she had to admit that if they weren't delusions… she'd have no idea how to react. Even so, her instruments as she returned to her examination were able to get accurate readings of this strange woman, although the results were almost as puzzling in their way.
She most assuredly appeared human as far as they were concerned, if impossibly attractive, yet if Karin was reading the results correctly, she was without a doubt the most physically fit human she'd ever seen. Stranger still, while she couldn't be sure without better equipment, Karin frowned when she detected some kind of unusual energy being emitted from the woman, centered along her central nervous system. It didn't seem harmful though from what she could tell since no radiological alarms were being tripped, and Ishtar's health seemed otherwise perfect, if unusually so. Yet there was no sign of genetic tampering, although she'd need a blood sample to be sure of that.
Otherwise the scan showed what all the other scans before had already, there were no pathogens on Ishtar's body whatsoever. Not even the ones that were usually present on every human being no matter where one went. That in itself was strange, but what was stranger was when Karin, once she had Ishtar's permission, tried to get a blood sample only for her needle to prove unable to penetrate the woman's skin. "This…what? What's going on here?" She muttered, having never experienced anything like this before.
And that damnable sly smirk had returned with a vengeance. "We've only just met, and already you want to penetrate me, Doctor? To be fair, it's a common reaction where I'm concerned."
"Ishtar!" Karin snapped back on sheer instinct by now, the same voice she used to cow rowdy soldiers into submission when they tried to be stupid.
"Karin~." Ishtar purred right back shamelessly, her voice sounding like liquid sex dripped straight into Karin's ears. The good doctor was suddenly thankful for the thick hazmat suit, otherwise there would be no hiding her arousal from anyone watching her right now.
Chakwas brought up her omnitool, using it, and the machines present in the room to run an analysis on the atmosphere in the room, on her hazmat suit and mask, trying to find any sort of pheromones or something similar that could explain this… extreme reaction. Yet her scans couldn't pick up anything of the sort, which left the good doctor even more confused. "H-how are you doing this?" She stammered out, trying to focus on anything else than the sensations coursing through her body, or the way Ishtar looked, how gorgeous she was.
"It's just a part of my nature. I can tone it down, but I can never turn it off." She explained unhelpfully, but while the feelings of arousal and desire lingered, Karin did breathe a little easier when she realized she was able to actually focus on something other than the too perfect and beautiful woman in front of her. An increasingly impossible woman who surprisingly looked slightly apologetic now. "I do apologize if I've pushed too far, Doctor Chakwas, but forgive me for saying so, but you come across as someone who rarely takes time for herself. While your duty as this place's healer is quite admirable, you do no one any favors if you don't take care of yourself too."
Karin was taken aback by that, not having expected the mysterious woman to show concern for her. She hadn't been unfriendly before, but from what she had seen, Ishtar had come across as somewhat… aloof. Then again, maybe the fact that she'd been surrounded by armed soldiers hadn't helped matters either. "I-it's no trouble." Chakwas told the younger woman with a shake of her head, even if she hadn't gotten a real answer out of her either. "But I'd appreciate it if you could explain what you did a bit more."
"It's simple, but you won't believe me." Ishtar declared with a shrug, which made her modest breasts bounce a bit, the motion instantly drawing Karin's gaze. "How to best explain? Hmm, I'm sure you've had lovers before, and you no doubt remember that they could, under some circumstances at least, say your name, or a promise, in such a fashion that drove you absolutely wild." At Karin's nod Ishtar smirked. "It's much the same, but despite all the time that has passed, humanity still has to catch up to me, so you can think of it as the same, only added with the fact that I'm just better at it. Much better."
Karin whimpered weakly, her panties absolutely drenched by now, just from a couple of words of all things while her hardened nipples chafed against her uniform top, sending bolts of pleasure down her spine even as she felt the need to tear off her clothes this instant to get rid of this feeling of being trapped by them. But she was made of sterner stuff than that, she wasn't a young woman anymore despite what some of her colleagues had told her often enough. So through an act of will that impressed even her, Karin swallowed it back, and gave Ishtar a 'look' that had never failed her before in cowing stubborn marines back into their beds.
"While you're right in assuming I find it hard to believe you can just…engage someone's more primal urges with the right tone of voice, I can't argue with the evidence of my own…reaction to the same." She admitted, her cheeks burning behind the hazmat suit's mask, not that it did much to hide said color in her cheeks from Ishtar's gaze if the knowing smirk that'd since appeared was anything to go by. "But please refrain from distracting me further? Without a viable means to draw your blood, I can't one hundred percent verify your physical health or any potential risks you might unknowingly pose."
"While you, understandably, continue to question my mental wellbeing." Ishtar added for her, not that Karin was about to argue since she was correct in this case. "Very well, I'll refrain for the time being, so long as you try to take a little time off once you're done here. As for drawing my blood, I might be able to help you with that."
"How?" Karin wondered, curiosity getting the better of her before she could stop the question from spilling out of her mouth.
"Allow me." Ishtar said, gently taking the syringe from Karin's hands. "Now, tell me where to put it."
"What's that suppo-"
"Indulge me." It was less a request and more of an order, but Karin complied with a sigh, better to get this over with quickly after all. Yet when Ishtar pressed the needle against her own skin, it actually pushed through. Karin sighed, a headache beginning to throb behind her eyes as the vial she'd prepared began to rapidly fill with what looked like normal human blood, at least on the surface. A more detailed scan would hopefully turn up something that would explain this woman's biology though since she knew what she'd seen. That injector hadn't worked when she'd tried to use it, yet it did for Ishtar on her own skin? Thank God the base had internal security cameras because Karin wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it for herself.
"How?" She couldn't stop herself from asking, something she had a feeling she'd be doing a lot if Ishtar stuck around for any length of time.
"Do you want the short answer, or the long one?" Was Ishtar's less than helpful answer, something else that Karin had a feeling she'd be hearing a lot of in some form or another.
"Short for now, but depending on what you say, that might change."
"Magic." Ishtar told her with an impish grin on her breathtaking face.
Karin was far from amused however. "That's not an answer."
"You're the one that refuses to acknowledge the truth of your own eyes." Ishtar retorted without missing a beat. "And just because I understand why you don't, doesn't make your disbelief any less aggravating." There was a warning note in her voice now that had the hackles on the back of Karin's neck standing on end, a rare feeling since she was used to intimidating men and some women easily twice her size. No one with any intelligence screwed with the base's Chief Medical Officer, but someone must've forgotten to pass that lesson onto Ishtar because there was a spark of anger in her red eyes to go with the note in her voice that had Karin wanting to take half a step away from her. But just as quickly she sighed and shook her head before adding, though Karin didn't think the words were meant for her ears with how softly Ishtar uttered them, "Perhaps stomping on a mountain isn't such a bad idea after all…"
"What?" Chakwas asked with a furrowed brow, confused by the seemingly nonsensical comment.
"Hmm? Nevermind that." She said with a dismissive wave of her hand, gently pulling the injector from her arm once Karin had gotten enough filled vials of the woman's blood for her analysis. Yet like so much about her, Ishtar's injection site quickly sealed before Karin's eyes with a gentle flash of golden light, not even a bruise to show she'd ever been stuck to show for it. "Now, remember what I asked. Take time for yourself once you've seen to your current assignment, Doctor Chakwas. I will be quite upset if you don't."
"Outside of the General himself, I'm not used to taking orders, you know."
"Well I only give this one out of genuine concern for your wellbeing, nothing more, just as you only give your own orders out of concern for those under your care." Karin, despite her aggravation and confusion regarding Ishtar and her possible insanity, couldn't help but smile a little behind her suit's mask as she quickly gathered her tools before preparing to leave the quarantine chamber for the time being. Whatever her thoughts about this woman, she at least seemed to care about those around her. "If you need any help however, please let me know, I'd be happy to."
The good doctor snorted at that, sending a dry look at the woman who… suddenly was dressed again. When had she-? "I'm sure you would be." She huffed out instead of risking more of her own sanity by asking more questions. Still, at least the next few days wouldn't be boring she supposed.
Karin would regret that thought later…
Vergil1989's Build
Origin: Possession - Ishtar (T7) = -100 Points
Binding: Shroud of Power = -60 Points
Elemental Shroud - Light = -96 Points
Talents: Body Tune-Up = 0 Points
Athletic Talent = 0 Points
Everlasting Talent = -10 Points
Martial Talent = -10 Points
Soul Talent = 0 Points
Communication Talent = 0 Points
Performance Talent = 0 Points
Blessed Talent = 0 Points
Lures: Sticky Fingers = -5 Points
Faerie Feast = -10 Points
Faerie Feast - Brown Sugar = -15
Alluring Whisper = -20 Points
Potpourri = -20 Points
Defenses: Body Defense x1 = 0 Points
Mind Defense x1 = 0 Points
Extras: Paper Trail = -10 Points
225 - 100 - 60 - 96 - 10 -10 - 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 20 - 10 = -131 Debt Balance
Mistress of the Heavens: You went on your first flight and didn't crash and burn! You even had a bit of fun with a shuttle full of Alliance marines and their pilot, although we imagine that a few of 'em will need a change of pants, hehe. 10/2 Points
I'm A Goddess, Not a Doctor!: Despite having to do part of the good doctor's job yourself, you allowed yourself to be examined by the Alliance's local CMO, Karin Chakwas while both edging her and giving her some honest advice in the process. 20/2 Points
5 10 = 15 Account Balance
-131 5 10 = -116 Debt Balance
End Notes: Hehe, poor Karin, she's got no idea what she's in for, let alone the good general and his people for that matter, and I'm not talking about the impending war with the turians over the local Relay activation violation either. Still, at least our Possessed Ishtar isn't stomping mountains into dust on a whim, although it'd certainly go to prove that she's much more than she appears. At the same time though it'd also probably end with the Alliance and the yet to be born Cerberus wanting to dissect her, assuming they could catch her of course. But for now, hope you all enjoyed guys and gals!
P.S. I'm gonna be putting a poll up, but I haven't decided if I want to have Ishtar able to grow a futa cock or not. I'm sure she easily could, if she didn't give some other woman the same option given Ishtar's fertility domain and all, let alone her love for sex in all its forms, but I figured I'd see what you all might say on the subject. But as ever, feedback in general is appreciated guys and gals. I'm not sure how often we'll update this, but I'm hoping it'll be more popular than my Lewdest Dungeon story at this point in time. At any rate, take care and have a good one guys and gals!