Opening Notes: So…as you can see by the poll at the top of the thread, I've been going back and forth on that particular issue. To clarify again though, any futa stuff would be temporary unless requested otherwise or my muse demanded it for whatever reason, assuming of course people want futanari stuff to happen in the first place. That aside though, here's hoping you all enjoy this next entry folks!

Chapter 2

System Shock

Xìngyùn Cluster, the Dà Líng Sān System

Shanxi, New Taiyan, Systems Alliance Airbase

May 1st, 2157, 6:23 AM…

General Jacob Williams POV…

"Doctor, your report." He said simply as he looked up at the woman. A secure line to Arcturus had been established, and with the first preliminary investigation out of the way he could give the brass more than just guess work.

"Sir." She snapped a professional salute, not just to him but also the holographic figures lighting up the early morning twilight of his office. Among them were such people like Admiral Kastanie Drescher of the Second Fleet, her aide one recently promoted Lieutenant Hannah Shepard occasionally flickered in and out of being as the woman's movements brought her in and out of range of the camera.

There were others, such as Grissom present, along with Admiral Kaneko of third Fleet, Admiral Aberer of First Fleet, Admiral Omar of Fifth Fleet, and lastly Admiral Karki of Fourth Fleet, each of them with their respective aides. There were fewer than he would've expected in all honesty, but at the same time he conceded that it made sense. After all, he had notified them that the matter they were dealing with was… delicate. Human as Ishtar looked, a potential first contact situation was not something they wanted to announce to everyone right off the bat.

"Are these reports accurate, General Williams?" Drescher asked first as her gaze fell on the good doctor moments later.

"Doctor Chakwas has been a well respected doctor for several years, and she ran three different times. They're accurate." He assured the assembled before nodding towards the woman herself. "If you would doctor?"

"Of course sir." Karin efficiently pulled up Ishtar's bio-scan results, along with the blood test results she'd managed to obtain with the woman's assistance, a fact that still left Jacob scratching his head even after reviewing the video footage. "By all appearances, Ishtar's physiology reads as human on the surface. Yet her scans indicate two notable abnormalities beyond the fact that she's somehow able to fly, and seems able to manifest a number of objects seemingly out of thin air, including her own clothes…such as that term applies in her case. How she accomplishes either feat is currently unknown, and her explanations have been…less than helpful."

"She claims to utilize magic." General Williams explained for the benefit of the others, having been told that much beforehand, which had done nothing to dispel the headache he felt building in his temples.

"Magic?" Admiral Omar scoffed, his facial expression being skeptical to put it lightly. "I assume there's more to this than her unusual abilities and abnormalities?"

"There is." Chakwas spoke up without giving anyone else the chance to interject. "I managed to get some bloodwork done, though in the attached file I'll send you now you'll see that I couldn't penetrate her skin at all, whereas she managed to do so with the same needle once she had taken possession of it, another discrepancy I don't know how to explain." She began, her omni-tool briefly lightning up before dimming again as she continued her explanation. "Once I had sufficient probes to work with, I immediately began to analyze them, suffice to say that while she looks human she most assuredly is not. Everything about her blood is… it doesn't make sense." The doctor huffed out in frustration. "I couldn't identify anything as something of an equivalent to human DNA. There was oxygen in her bloodstream, but the carrier molecules lacked iron or anything else that should cause it to latch onto them. Instead it was… like they simply forced oxygen onto themselves. She also lacks any immune cells, but there's no trace of any viruses or bacteria either. I would need to examine her far more thoroughly, but I suspect that the same thing that kept her from getting harmed by my syringe also keeps microbes at bay."

"How is that possible?" Karki exclaimed, his own eyes wide at the impossibility that Karin had just laid out for them.

"In my personal opinion, sir." Doctor Karin Chakwas stated clearly. "I have no idea because it quite frankly shouldn't be. I'm hoping that whatever the truth is, I simply lack the tools necessary to discern it at the present time, but I'm not sure moving her to a better equipped facility would be entirely wise. Not until we understand her better."

"What makes you say that, Doctor?" Lieutenant Shepard wondered with a tilt of her head, ignoring the slight glare her superior threw over her shoulder at the unexpected interruption.

"She's entirely aware of the fact that we're currently keeping her here to study her, and the excuses given to her are flimsy at best. Right now she's cooperative because she wants to be." Chakwas informed them bluntly. "Regardless of what she is, forcing her to undergo experimentation is entirely unethical, not to mention from the potential diplomatic repercussions when more of her kind show up."

"Assuming she isn't the last of her kind, or some kind of exile you mean." Drescher stated before Shepard could chime in again.

"How likely is that?" Kaneko, who had stayed silent until now, asked. "If she were truly the last or in exile, I would expect her to act more cautiously than what your reports indicate."

"She also believes herself to be a goddess." Omar reminded everyone present, eyes fixed on something out of frame, probably a dataslate containing a hastily written preliminary report.

"I think it's safe to say it's far more likely that she's some sort of alien rather than some actual goddess." General Williams scoffed with frown.

"That doesn't explain how she knows so much about Earth however." Karin was quick to point out.

"And that is concerning." He agreed with her instantly. "By all accounts it shouldn't be possible, which either meant someone dropped the ball, hard, or that her species has capabilities and technology we cannot match, allowing them to spy on us whenever they feel like it."

"Wonderful." Admiral Aberer said at last, adding his own two credits. "If that is true, there is no way we can fight back against them. Given the knowledge of historical places and events, it's clear that they have access to our data, or given how human she looks, have infiltrated us already. I hate to say it, but if that's the case, we're compromised beyond belief."

"This day just keeps getting better." Williams growled out in annoyed frustration. "Any other bombs you wanna drop on us, Doctor?" To his mild horror she actually hesitated, licking her dry lips. "Out with it."

"Ishtar seems to have the ability to… induce arousal in people with her voice alone." The doctor said neutrally, her face blank even as he could spot a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"I beg your pardon, doctor?" Admiral Drescher said slowly. General Williams didn't know the woman well, but he had spoken to her on occasion, and this was the first time in all that time that he could recall her wearing an expression that seemed like she couldn't decide whether or not something was supposed to be a joke. Curiously though, her Lieutenant was intrigued, if cautiously so, by what the doctor had revealed.

Karin Chakwas sighed softly and brought up her omni-tool again. "I wish to remind you that I listened to this before… and this is a mere recording, I can assure you the real deal is much more intense." With that she fiddled with her omni-tool some more before a single word was spoken over its speakers.

"Karin~" Ishtar's voice seemed to echo long after the recording had finished, but as had happened the first time, Jacob felt his pants tighten around his crotch at the same time the just noticeable blush on Karin's cheeks grew noticeably more pronounced. This time though they weren't alone in their discomfort as he saw the holographic figures around his office looked to be suffering the same problem he and Karin were.

"That…just how?!" Omar exclaimed, the first to get his voice back.

The others were talking too, which led to a cacophony of noise to wash over Williams and the doctor, none of which made any sense and only a loud irritated call for order from Admiral Aberer got them to quiet down again. "Please, answer the question if possible." He requested once his colleagues had fallen silent.

"Ishtar claims that she is merely doing the same as we do when speaking to a loved one to entice them… only she does it much better in her own words." Karin explained, her cheeks still visibly flushed. "And despite my better judgment, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on this one after being directly exposed to her…influence."

"Is there any way to figure out how she's able to do so?" Lieutenant Shepard inquired once Drescher gave her silent permission to speak.

"None that I can think of, Lieutenant, but I've already sent a recording sample to Grissom Academy with the General's permission. If anyone can figure something out, it'll be the brilliant students and staff there. On a related note, despite her questionable mental health, and while I'm not a professional psychiatrist, I can safely say that, delusional or not, Ishtar is capable of empathy and compassion despite also harboring a bit of a temper. While she's made no threatening motions towards me, I have seen hints of a level of anger that I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end, which is also why I'd advise against pushing her needlessly because we just don't know what she might be capable of at present."

"General Williams, you've had the most experience with this… Ishtar, how do you think we should proceed?" Admiral Karki asked softly.

"I think it best to continue to confine her to this base for the time being, perhaps with enough freedom in an effort to keep her docile." He responded instantly. "In the meantime, it may be best to prepare some facilities and personnel to interact with her in another location. She does appear curious, so maybe she'd agree to go if we can just sell it good enough."

"In the meantime, I suggest we prepare at least one fleet for combat readiness, in case she's but a harbinger of an advance force." Admiral Koneko adds with a concerned expression on his aged face. "We can easily disguise it as part of some large scale maneuvers."

"I'll prepare my fleet." Admiral Drescher instantly declared. "Out of all of them, mine is currently in the best position to reach Shanxi swiftly and at combat readiness."

"I'll begin the preparations immediately, ma'am." Lieutenant Shepard declared without delay, leaving the range of the camera behind with a few quick steps, her knees still shaking a bit. Drescher too, now that Williams was looking at her again, also looked a bit unsteady on her feet, but he had the good sense to keep it to himself. Not that that stopped him from making a mental note to ensure Drescher was never alone in a room with Ishtar. Then again, allowing anyone to be alone with Ishtar seemed like a recipe for disaster now that they had more information to work from.

"If there's nothing else, I think it's safe to say this meeting is adjourned." Karki stated.

No one disagreed.

Williams would be lying if he said he hadn't hoped that someone would, because now he would have to get back to thinking about how to best deal with this flying menace.

Systems Alliance Airbase,

Quarantine Chamber

9:10 AM…

Ishtar POV…

Sci-fi tech was nice and all, but staring at sterile white walls and the occasional holographic display loses its luster pretty damn quick. She was bored, she was beyond bored, sure she could leave whenever she felt like it, but that would just complicate things in the long run. Probably.

Part of her was determined to eventually make it very clear that she was not to be trifled with which was likely another side effect of this Possession. Just like the lack of shame and the delight she took in teasing the poor doctor yesterday. It'd been so damn easy to just reduce her to a needy puddle without even trying though maybe she had been motivated by her own needs. She had them and she wasn't shy about admitting as much, but she had a funny feeling that, unless she made the first move, that particular itch wouldn't be scratched anytime soon which would probably result in Williams throwing the book at her. Or trying to anyway, the thought of which amused her to no end as she idly surfed the local extranet cluster she had access to.

Over five million people currently lived on Shanxi's surface, so it was no surprise there was such a large variety of things to look at on the local 'internet'. Everything from live streams of animal cams, to local news articles, and of course celebrity related scandals and much more besides. What had Ishtar's attention though was recent history, confirming that she was indeed at least two decades before 'canon' took off in a big way.

Interesting, very interesting… she just had to use that time well, then things could change a lot… she sure as hell wouldn't talk to the fucking Star Child bullshit! Before she allowed that to happen, she'd do some insane time travel shenanigans to prevent that clusterfuck! But she doubted it'd come to that since she not only had a fair idea of what to expect over the next two decades, but she also knew who all the major players were. That said, she also understood that her mere presence had already started to change things, so her knowledge would be rather useless in no time at all if she did anything too drastic, but doing nothing out of fear of making things worse was no option either.

Her ears heard the hissing of air as the airlock unlocked again and she turned around, eager to talk to anyone rather than just do… what little she could do right now. Her expression fell somewhat when she saw both General Williams and Karin move in, both still wearing hazmat suits. She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you both know that you don't need those with me, not after all that time you had to study all the data you no doubt gathered."

"We're just being cautious." Williams stated simply, his expression hard behind the visor of his suit's helmet. "Better to be safe than sorry, I'm sure you understand."

"Fine, have it your way." Ishtar huffed out. "Now, then, General, what new excuse have you come up with to keep me confined here now that you know I'm not a danger, or is it the same? Better safe than sorry?"

"Partially." He admitted without any shame. "However I also don't want the people to panic, hearing about your appearance is no doubt going to cause some uproar regardless of whether they believe you're an alien, or a goddess."

"Hmm, out of sheer curiosity, which one would you prefer?" Ishtar asked the general as she cocked her head to the side.

"There's only one god in my book."

"I understand, although I admit I'm not a fan of the christian faith as you might imagine." She told him, gesturing to his hazmat suit. "I saw the cross necklace you were wearing just yesterday. I don't begrudge you your faith, but I still haven't forgiven them for demonizing me, quite literally I might add."

"You're referring to the stories of Lilith in the Bible, correct?" Karin asks, to which Ishtar nods with a smile.

"Indeed, being bastardized and my good name ran through the mud like that is quite offensive to me, but I don't have any problem with you or your belief, General Williams, only what those responsible saw fit to do at the time. A lie that's been perpetuated into this modern age. A lie I would see renounced if I'm ever given the opportunity."

"...To be honest I can agree with you on that particular point." She blinked, taken aback by the man's softening visage and the fact he agreed with her. "I'd be pissed too if someone discredited me like that." He added with a light shrug of his shoulders, his arms crossed over his chest. "That aside however, your search history has been quite revealing."

"Oh? I assumed I was being monitored, but thank you for confirming my suspicions. It's why I refrained from looking up porn." She teased, earning a huff of a laugh from the man and an exasperated sigh from the good doctor. With that said, she had purposefully allowed their techs to 'hack' her Company smart device just to make it appear she wasn't efficient with their technology.

"You're studying us as surely as we've been trying to understand you." He noted, to which she shrugged helplessly.

"Of course, I haven't been awake for over a thousand years after all. It's been quite illuminating to see how far humanity has come." She explained, an approving gleam in her eyes to match the warm smile on her face, although it helped she was being sincere despite her ulterior motives. Sure, this reality was either based on someone's imaginings brought to life, or the creators had simply tapped into this place without ever realizing it. Whatever the truth, it didn't change the fact these people were as real as her, which meant they didn't deserve the complete and utter destruction that was coming for them all.

"Hmph." He merely hummed in response to her words, clearly not buying her act… then again was it even an act anymore? Sure she didn't have all the associated memories via Memoria, but she had enough to give her a rough outline of things. She still remembered things of the distant past, she felt the longing and love for an older sister endlessly toiling away in the Underworld. It was real to her, as real as her former life had been, maybe now that she was Ishtar perhaps even more so.

She opened her mouth, not to disagree with him, there was no sense in trying to convince him with words alone since if flying about and summoning Manaan didn't help, she doubted any other of her more tame abilities would either. Instead though she was interrupted when the omni-tool on the general's arm flared to life, indicating an incoming transmission. "Excuse me." He said simply, moving a few steps away, back turned to them before accepting the call.

"Sir!" The voice of a panicked young man reached Ishtar's ears, though she was sure that Williams didn't expect her to hear anything that was being said. "W-we have a problem Sir! The people, they-"

"Take a deep breath, son." Williams responded, more friendly and calm than she had ever heard him thus far. "Can you do that for me? Good, now, slowly explain what's going on."

"I don't know how it happened sir! But the people, they're saying something about a flying woman! They want answers!" The voice revealed, now somewhat calmer. "They, they showed us vids of her! Floating above the landing pad and pulling something out of thin air!"

"What?! Who leaked…nevermind, we can worry about that later." Williams grunted, giving her a suspicious glare.

"Hey don't look at me, I'm sure your computer technicians can verify that I've sent nothing." She stated anyway, cutting his suspicion off before it could grow any further. "More importantly." She purred with a cheshire grin. "Wouldn't it be best to assure them that the woman they seek is alright?"

"How- You heard everything?!" He demanded with a frustrated growl.

"I did, and I'm sure you could spend the rest of the day assuaging their fears and butting heads with them, or I could just show up and talk to them."

"I can't let you out of here!"

"Why not? They already know, Doctor Chakwas can guarantee that I'm not a danger to them, and if I declare myself a goddess, they'll just lose interest in the crazy lady, right?"

He looked suspicious, he looked beyond suspicious in fact, but at the same time she could see him consider it. The cat was already out of the bag, he had to get things under control, fast. "Doctor, is she truly safe?" He settled on saying, getting a nod from her in return. "Fine, but you don't fly, or pull that trick with your voice either, you just show up, make sure they know you're alright, and then come back here." Inwardly she bristled at the fact that he was ordering her around like she was one of his soldiers, but she kept that frustration from showing on her face because he was letting her outside at all.

That in itself was good enough for her, at least for now.

"Of course, you have my word, I will not use that 'trick with my voice', nor will I fly." That didn't mean she couldn't work around his orders of course, a sly smirk threatening to appear on her lips that she only just managed to keep hidden from the man's probing stare.

Looking at her for a moment longer, he fiddled with his omni-tool again before he waved her over to join him and Chakwas in the airlock, not that she needed much convincing. Even while the air was cycled out he began to tear off his hazmat suit, Chakwas following his example in a more controlled fashion. "I knew this garish suit didn't do you justice." Ishtar told the doctor, her breath tickling the woman's ear. "But you know, I don't think this uniform does either, maybe you should take it off as well?"

"And none of that either!" Williams growled out in annoyance, pinching his nose with the index finger and thumb of his right hand. Karin though stayed silent but Ishtar could see how the woman had flushed yet again. This was way too much fun. When the door opened, two soldiers in hardsuits were already waiting for them, their weapons holstered. She wasn't surprised since if they walked around with drawn weapons, the people would think she was being forced into compliance.

One man moved in front of her, the other behind her, Karin, sadly enough, left, while General Williams took point. "No funny business." He reminded her yet again, driving home the point that the only reason he went through with this was because she had been cooperative thus far… and because he thought he had the upper hand. She allowed him to think as much as he led the way. Unbeknownst to him, at this point she had a rough outline of the base in her head, feeling confident enough that she'd be able to make her way out without smashing too many walls or ceilings in the process. She didn't bother to reply to him, merely choosing to hum quietly, at once no doubt annoying him, and hopefully keeping him from thinking too much about things.

She smiled brightly when the narrow corridors lit by artificial light gave way to the open ground, sadly still artificial without an ounce of life, and a sky lit up by the late morning sun. Already she could hear the voices and demands for answers, in return the guards met them with stony silence even as some of them looked highly uncomfortable. She took a step sideways, out of the shadow of the large armored soldier, much to the displeasure of the General who sent her a dark look, even as her appearance was soon noted by the crowd.

"There she is!" One woman shouted.

"Who is she?!" An older man exclaimed moments later.

"What did they do to her?" Another, older woman wondered.

"She's even hotter in person." A young man stated next, earning an amused if subtle smirk from Ishtar in response.

"Doesn't look like she's flying, was it just a scam?"

"Remember what I told you." The general muttered to her out of the corner of his mouth as she walked past him. "Do not test me." He added with more iron in his voice.

This was gonna be fun.

She approached the gates with a slow if confident stride, smiling softly at the gathered humans. "Thank you all for coming, people of Shanxi, I heard you came out of concern for my well being, for which I thank you." She greeted them kindly, coming to a stop just a feet from the gateway. "I wish to assure you that I'm fine, and I haven't been harmed… outside of being bored anyway."

"Who are you?" One woman asked curiously and Ishtar didn't bother to hold back her mischievous smile any longer at the perfect signal she had been given. She looked over her shoulder at the general for a moment, and a split second later his eyes widened as he understood.

"Stop her!" He managed to shout before Ishtar had pushed off the ground. True to her words, she didn't fly, but she was a goddess and so her strength was more than enough to send her upwards to gracefully land atop the nearby watchtower, allowing her to look down at the assembled humans who stared up at her in awe and slack jawed surprise.

"I am the goddess Ishtar! Mistress of the Heavens!" She declared loud enough for everyone present to hear. "I've slumbered for millennia, but now I have returned to you, my people at long last!" She was really laying it on thick here, but then again she had to be confident in herself if she wanted to convince anyone of her divinity. To that end, she slipped off the edge of the tower, summoning her maanan long before she hit the ground, and slowly floated back down to where she started. "Yours is the first world I've chosen to visit, but it will not be the last! Humanity has achieved much since I fell asleep, and I wish to see all that you've accomplished."

She flew a quick round around the base, just to prove that she could more than anything, before she came to a stop once more over the crowd atop her maanan. "For now though I shall explore your world, this world until I am satisfied!" That should drive the point home that it was her decision alone when she would return here, not Williams or anyone else's. She waved at the crowd impishly, going so far as to send them a wink, sending one last look at Williams who looked like he was dealing with a major case of constipation. Totally worth it. She sent him a lazy two fingered salute before her maanan blasted off, reaching super sonic speed in no time flat.

Let them try to catch her this time.

General Williams' private office

7:01 PM…

Karin Chakwas POV…

"I don't want to hear it." Williams growled, having been doing his best impression of a wounded bear ever since Ishtar had slipped away from them.

Despite his understandable outrage and anger regarding how she'd played them for fools, something about this entire situation amused the good doctor to no end. Sure, there was an unquestionably powerful alien wandering free on Shanxi at the moment, but she believed that unless provoked, Ishtar wouldn't turn out to be a threat to them. That said, seeing General Williams so aggravated over the impish alien that'd gotten the better of him without much effort at all, while keeping true to the law of her promise if not the spirit had yet to lose its amusement factor for Karin.

"She did get rid of the people at the gate." Karin pointed out instead of what she originally wanted to say. She wasn't naive enough to think that that would last, no they'd be back eventually demanding more answers but for the moment the crowd had dispersed, caught between a strange and senseless need to try and see where Ishtar went, and a state of utter disbelief at how quickly she'd made her getaway, let alone how she'd done it.

Her answer was another ill tempered growl, not that she was surprised, and to be fair she couldn't exactly blame him. She too had been surprised when she'd seen what Ishtar had done, that coupled with their reluctance to actually take decisive action against her had made it all but impossible to stop her. Not that Karin thought they ever really had a chance of stopping her to begin with

"General!" An aide called out. "She-

"I know!" Williams snapped back angrily. "I know that she keeps appearing on radar!" Ever since she disappeared, Ishtar had begun to test their surveillance, edging close enough to be picked up before vanishing anew. How exactly she knew when she'd been detected none of them could say, but at this point Karin just wasn't surprised anymore. "Not that it does us any damn good, now does it?!'

"N-no sir." The aide stammered out, wilting under the man's furious gaze. "B-but she's sent a message."

"What?" Karin asked, surprised by the news. "How?"

"The radar pings, Ensign Harris figured she was spelling out a message after he connected the dots in the correct forma-"

"What did the message say?" General Williams grunted back, cutting the man off midstream in the process.

"...I didn't fly." The poor man all but whispered, too afraid to speak any louder.

"Grrrr…." Karin didn't dare to talk for a good few minutes after that, and neither did the general's aide, but since neither of them had been dismissed they were equally afraid to just leave the room, although for very different reasons she was sure. In her case she was afraid to open her mouth because she'd likely burst into laughter at the absurdity of this entire situation.

A couple of minutes passed, the general visibly reigning in his temper, no doubt also contemplating how to explain this situation to the admirals of the various fleets they had spoken to before. The silence was shattered by the ping of the aide's omni-tool who hastily silenced in, checking the notification he had received. His face grew deathly pale as he looked at what he had received.

"Out. With. It." Their superior bit out through clenched teeth.

"T-there's a social media post, sir." The poor man explained as he lifted his shaking hand up before enlarging the picture he had received from someone else at base. The image clearly depicted Ishtar, her legs lazily dangling off the side of her strange vehicle or whatever it was, a smiling woman beside her doing a peace sign, sharing some ice cream.

The picture was titled "Thanks for the ride, Ishtar!" The account's owner, Samantha Harris, sister to Ensign Steve Harris, hadn't hesitated to use tons of emojis either with lots of hearts surrounding the caption. Karin tore her gaze away from the omni-tool to look at Williams once more. She could practically see his blood pressure rising with every passing second, and while she was worried about his health, she had to bite her tongue lest she start giggling.

"Out." He hissed lowly, not bothering to say anything else as he turned around, refusing to look at either of them. Neither hesitated, leaving the man's office as quickly as dignity allowed in her case, while the poor aide took off like his ass was on fire. It was only after Karin was back in her quarters in the infirmary did she burst into belly deep laughter that persisted until she had tears running down her face. This entire situation was just too much, and it was only growing more absurd. Eventually she calmed, her ribs aching a little, but she…felt better if she were being honest. Not that she'd ever admit it to Ishtar, but maybe she'd been right in that Karin needed to take a break?

Not that she could now that Ishtar had escaped, causing the general no amount of stress, stress that Karin would end up stuck having to treat if things continued as they'd done since her escape.

She hesitated only for a moment before she locked the door, making sure that no one could enter. She was done with her shift anyway, had even worked for longer than she should've given everything so it only made sense to take a break now. Slowly, almost guiltily, she brought up her omni-tool and hit the play button of a small file she had prepared sometime earlier.

"Karin~" Ishtar's voice filled the air once again, so much less exciting than it had been in person and still she felt her nether lips grow wet in an instant. "Much better." She had preciously little samples of Ishtar's tonal ability and right now she was regretting that immensely. It would be enough however, it would be far more than enough, but she still would've liked something more… personal than just a few scraps of words put together. She was just glad she was in her apartment, in the safety of her home on this particular planet as it were, rather than hiding in her office where someone could stumble into what she was doing.

Bad enough she had kept a copy of sensitive material regarding their new guest.

Not that Ishtar's presence was a secret anymore, but that was besides the point since General Williams would likely have her shipped off to some isolated station in the middle of nowhere if he ever found out she'd kept recordings of Ishtar's voice. He'd likely have a heart attack if he found out she was using those same recordings to…relieve the very tension that her voice had left Karin with in the first place.

She bit her lower lip as her right hand lowered, popping open the button of her pants before lowering further. Her breath hitched when her fingers brushed against the damp front of her panties, her nether lips already sensitive beyond belief. Certainly more than they'd ever been in years if she were being honest with herself, her breath catching again as she pressed a finger into the center of the wetness, the cloth of her panties brushing against her fleshy folds adding another layer of sensation. "Ugh…Ishtar." Karin crooned, imagining the self proclaimed goddess smiling down at her with that impish gleam in her red eyes.

"I was starting to wonder if you'd ever take time for yourself, Karin." The good doctor nearly fell out of her chair when she realized the damnable woman was actually standing before her, her hands on her hips as she gave Karin that damnable smirk that just spelled trouble for her.

"What-?! When did you…how did you get in here?!" Karin demanded, hurriedly jerking her hand out of her pants as she all but jumped to her feet.

"I am a goddess! Do you really think anything here could hope to stop me if I didn't want it to? Besides, you're the first person in a thousand years that's taken my name in a moment of passionate self indulgence, so of course I came to see who it was that was giving me the praise I crave. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found you, but don't mind me, I'm content to wait until you're finished." Karin could only blink dumbly when Ishtar plopped down on her bed, clearly intending to watch what she did next. "Or do you need more incentive? Using recordings of my voice? Someone's been naughty, Karin~"

"Hngh." Karin whimpered out pitifully as she tried to keep herself from cumming that very instant.

"Why do you hold back?" Ishtar asked her curiously before floating off the bed and over to her seat, though her posture remained the same as when she had been on her bed. "I certainly don't mind, really, don't stop on my account." The self-proclaimed goddess assured her. "Or perhaps you'd prefer if I joined in?" She questioned, a smile growing on her face. "Besides, as impressive as it is that you resisted this far." She continued, drawing ever closer to Karin's ear, her breath tickling along the doctor's earlobe. "I wasn't even trying."

Before she had managed to resist, albeit barely, those four words however were so much more intense, so much more… well more that they seemed to shoot straight down Karin's spine, into her core and explode there. Her legs clamped together helplessly as she let out an unbridled cry of ecstasy, and her pussy became positively drenched, her panties a sodden mess as the strongest orgasm of her life washed away even the hint of coherent thought from her mind. She could only sit there in her seat, stewing in her own juices as she basked in the pleasure that burned through every nerve, leaving her breathless in a way nothing else had.

And that was just with her voice?! Was the first thing that managed to push its way through her pleasure-addled brain as Karin's wide eyes slowly returned to Ishtar's smug smirk. Would I survive if she were to actually touch me? …Would I care if I did or not? That thought scared her more than a little, but if Ishtar could make her feel that good with just a few words, then letting her have her way with her would likely be so much better.

"That's a good look for you." Ishtar chuckled as she looked at the still blissed out doctor who could barely manage to string two sentences together. "Now, are you ready for more?"

As much as she wanted to give into this impossible woman, to just…surrender and let her desires loose for a damn change, to let her ironclad control go completely, Karin instead sighed and managed to push herself up on wobbly arms and only grimaced when the leather of her seat gave a just audible wet squish when she shifted her weight a bit. "...No, thank you Ishtar. I think I'd rather hold onto what little dignity I have left, but…I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a very tempting proposition."

Despite rejecting her, Ishtar only smiles warmly towards the flustered doctor before leaning in, leaving a chaste kiss to the top of Karin's head. From there she only cupped her face between her too soft hands, and said, "My old self would probably be very cross with you for rejecting me, but since then I've learned that there is no meaning in such things unless I can make you beg for my touch. And believe me, it would be so, so easy... but not today. I look forward to trying to change your mind though."

Chakwas whined pathetically at that, her mind still not fully recovered from what she had just lived through. Her response elicits another smile from Ishtar. "In all honesty, I'm actually happy you refused me." The black haired vision of beauty revealed. "It will make our coupling all the sweeter when the time comes. I'd say prepare to scream my name in ecstasy… but you're already doing that." Karin groaned pathetically, at least in her opinion, and could only watch Ishtar float out the same window she'd apparently used to get in.

It took Karin several minutes of her just sitting in a puddle of her own juices before she trusted her legs would actually support her weight. Only once she'd stood up did Karin run a hand down her face with a long sigh of resignation quick to follow. She already knew that she'd be accepting Ishtar's offer, the only question that remained was how long she could hold out until the inevitable happened. She also knew that she wouldn't say a damn word to General Williams about any of this, but there was one thing that scared the good doctor more than a little.

She'd never been particularly religious before, yet Ishtar had said four words. Just four little words. That was all it'd taken for Karin to reconsider her stance on not really holding to a higher power, because she had never experienced such pleasure before. Enough so that she'd liken it to a religious experience all its own. But if Ishtar could do that just playing around as she had with Karin, she shuddered to think what she could do to an entire crowd when she actually got serious. And worse yet, Karin couldn't help but be morbidly curious to see the results when it inevitably happened, because she already didn't doubt that Ishtar would do exactly that at some point. A goddess…Ishtar had said she was a goddess several times before now, but Karin was starting to believe that she'd been telling the truth from the start after what she'd just experienced.

What had her life become that she was even considering this?!

Systems Alliance Airbase

General Williams' private office

7:21 PM…

General Jacob Williams POV…

"You lost her?!" Admiral Karki exclaimed, a vein visibly throbbing in her temple as she glared daggers at him. "How did you lose her?!"

"While I'm also curious as to how this happened," Drescher began far more calmly, although no less visibly annoyed with the colossal screw up, "we should keep in mind Admiral Karki that we honestly don't know what this Ishtar is truly capable of. Whatever happened can't squarely be placed on General Williams' head."

No, just most of it. He mentally growled, more upset with his own stupidity and arrogance than anything else since he thought he had had everything under control. Yet he should've known better, having been in a leadership position long enough to know that a well laid plan rarely survives contact with the enemy. He had believed her because she'd kept her word, she had been cooperative… and he had thought he had the upper hand. And in a way she had kept her word even as she flew off, using her strange vehicle rather than her own ability to slip away from him. God but he was never going to hear the end of how he'd let the first possible alien contact humanity had ever come across slip through his fingers.

Now all he could do was own up to his colossal screw up.

"I take full responsibility." He declared simply. "Given her earlier behavior, I thought I could trust her that much, clearly that was a mistake." He looked Admiral Karki straight in the eye. "I will do all I can to mitigate the damage of this, right now I've already scrambled multiple shuttles to try and intercept her if at all possible, the authorities have also been informed and have an order to arrest her on sight."

"She isn't making it difficult to track her down with how often she apparently allows herself to be plastered all over the extranet." Admiral Karki huffed, her gaze unyielding as glacial ice. "And yet you've yet to actually reacquire her."

"There is a more pressing concern to this." Admiral Aberer threw in. "News travels relatively slowly, but there has been some news of your new guest, sparse as the information is. It's gone so far as to reach home however, meaning people on Earth have heard of this… Ishtar."

"Wonderful. What's the word then? Am I to expect pilgrims flocking to Shanxi in the near future?" He snarked, but he really hoped not because the last thing they needed was a religious cult forming under his watch.

"Nothing quite that serious yet," Drescher was quick to assure him, although it wasn't all that comforting if he were being honest, "but given her demonstrated capabilities thus far, Alliance brass is of the opinion that Ishtar could easily manipulate people into believing her claims of divinity. And while she's so far been content to remain on relatively friendly terms with everyone she's come into contact with, there's the chance that could change."

"Has there been word from Parliament?" Williams asked, not at all enthused about the idea of some politicians showing up and ruining his day even more.

"Those in the know are keeping their cards close to their chest." Admiral Omar sighed out, an expression of annoyance briefly flickering across his features. "Though I suspect they plan to send a diplomat of some kind or another to meet with her."

"I see." General Williams bit out. "If that is all, I'll return to my post and keep you apprised of any new developments."

"See that you do." Admiral Kaneko told him before cutting the connection, not bothering to wait for a reply. The others swiftly followed suit, leaving Williams alone in the twilight of his office. Today couldn't be over sooner, not that tomorrow looked to be any better. He had to wonder if he'd somehow pissed someone off upstairs to have had this shitshow dropped in his lap. Bad enough she was crazy as a loon, but this Ishtar was much more than she appeared to be. That much at least he could agree with, but the rest? Whatever the truth of the matter, it didn't change the fact that she'd played him like a fool.

And Williams didn't like being deceived.

A mountain lake some distance away

10:06 PM…

Ishtar POV…

Ishtar sighed out in relaxed bliss, allowing her body to be further submerged in the wonderful mountain lake she had found earlier. At the same time she made sure that manaan kept flying about, confusing any pursuers into thinking they'd found her. It was too beautiful a night for such interruptions anyway, especially after she'd gotten that wonderful doctor to relax a little, even if she'd shamelessly cheated by using her Company backed perks to pull it off. Not that Karin needed to know that of course, but even if she hadn't had Alluring Whispers, Ishtar doubted she would've had any trouble in getting Karin all hot and bothered.

She wasn't the goddess of sex, love, fertility, and passion for nothing after all.

Venus was literally a part of her Noble Phantasm, intrinsically bound to her very nature as a divine authority, and the planet was still believed in ancient myths to belong to the Roman goddess of the same name, symbolizing her hand mirror to be exact. Of course, Venus was just another name for Aphrodite thanks to the Greeks before them, and in turn, that was also just another name for her, making Venus hers in a literal sense. Shit…she was also pretty sure that there were mining colonies or something on Venus and its moons in this day and age. Would using her Noble Phantasm end up destroying those stations? She really hoped not, but if she was using her Noble Phantasm, then the shit had really hit the fan in a big way.

But enough about Noble Phantasms.

"Pity this doesn't work on myself." She said to herself, for once not bothering to hold back the full might of her Alluring Whisper. Maybe she'd try it out eventually, but given the effect even a toned down version had on Karin… it sounded both interesting and dangerous at once. Still, speaking of Karin… how unfair that the woman had gotten to enjoy herself so thoroughly while Ishtar herself hadn't.

Her right hand cupped her right breast, instantly finding all the little spots that would bring her pleasure as she began kneading the modest mound, her nipple hardening instantly in anticipation for what was to come. Bolts of electric pleasure shot through her nervous system and only made her more excited. Nothing, and she meant absolutely nothing in her previous life could compare to the sensation traveling through her right now, and she was just getting started.

It was just as well that her body was submerged because her nether lips would've otherwise leaked their juices down her thighs at this point. With a grin of hungry anticipation, she continued to fondle her breast even as her other hand traveled down the front of her body until her fingers brushed against the folds of her pussy, a finger slipping deep inside as she cried out, head lolling back as the pleasure continued to build and build. It wouldn't be long before she fell over the edge at this rate, so she happily picked up the pace, imagining the wet squelching noises her pussy would be making in time with her plunging digit.

Imagining Karin's face after she made the good doctor cream herself was what did it for Ishtar, her own body locking up as the coil in her gut finally snapped, her climax rocketing through every inch of her divine being. True, it would've been better with a partner, or twelve, but her first orgasm in her new body was still better than Samantha had ever had before as she slumped against the side of the submerged rock ledge she'd been leaning against this whole time, breathing a little raggedly as she basked in the afterglow. "Mmmm…I really am…gonna enjoy my new life for quite a long time if that's the norm for me now." She giggled, feeling quite good with herself as she eventually pushed herself to her feet before slipping from the water, the cold night making her skin tingle pleasantly despite it being cold enough to have caused a normal person issues.

"Down girl." She told herself mischievously as she poked her still erect, aching nipple, sending another shudder of pure bliss through herself. "Can't do this the whole night." She paused… actually she could, she wasn't tired in the least, and she sure as hell wouldn't mind it… she really would have to think about what she really could or couldn't do now. Just two days ago she also wouldn't have been able to fly, now she did it like it was second nature to her. But there was also the small issue regarding the impending mechanical squid apocalypse, so as much fun as it might've been to continue to play with herself, she couldn't afford to dawdle…too much.

But that didn't mean she couldn't take a couple more days to enjoy herself.

So it was with a burst of mana that saw her completely dry before she donned her clothing once more. From there, she called her maanan to her side and clambered aboard, standing with one hand resting against the crescent moon shaped 'boat' as she headed back for New Taiyan, wondering what kinda trouble she could get into. And given her mischievous nature, she could get into quite a bit of trouble. Hmm…maybe she should pester Williams next? Nah…nevermind, she didn't like him that much.

That didn't mean she couldn't give him another headache though…

Vergil1989's Build

Prison Break!: Okay so it wasn't a prison, but General Williams certainly tried to keep you locked up. Too bad for him you were just too clever, and were able to slip away in full view of god and everyone…well you're a god, but you get the point. 10/2 Points

Evasive Maneuvers: You've made a mockery of every effort by the good general to track you down and get you back into your little box. You even sent a message via radar pings, using a combination of your maanan and your Archer vision to see where exactly the nearest satellite was located. Needless to say, we approve of your trolling! 20/2 Points

15 5 10 = 30 Account Balance

-116 5 10 = -101 Debt Balance

End Notes: Hehehehehe, Ishtar is the ultimate troll, and she's barely gotten started! With that said, I'm always open to suggestions on how to best start up her little cult, among what the tenets might be and all that. But on that note, poor Williams is already regretting his decision to let Ishtar outta her box, because like Pandora, he can't put her back now that she's loose upon the galaxy at large, hehe. That aside, your feedback has already been pretty awesome guys and gals, and I'm hoping that trend continues for the long haul. For now though, adios everyone!