Opening Notes: The butterflies have already started to flap, and Ishtar's being a little troll to one General Jacob Williams before the shit hits the fan with the turians, which are on their way even if they haven't been mentioned yet. That aside, here's hoping you continue to enjoy what's to come.

Chapter 3

First Contact

Deep Space

Close to the Dormant Mass Relay 314

General Desolas Arterius POV…

"Are we even sure there's anything out here, sir?" To be fair to his subordinate, Desolas could only see empty space as far as the eye could see. The armored glass in the front of the ship was nigh invisible to the naked eye, but even from this distant Desolas could make out the utter emptiness in front of them.

So much unlike everything in between, the bustling and busy crewmen and women, and officers below, all manning their stations without complaint or even a hint of doubt. The metal of the floor and walls had been dulled, as to not reflect the lights of the consoles or other light sources and reflect them back into anyone's eyes. That however didn't mean that they were plain. Intricate patterns spanned the walls of the bridge, not unlike the face marks most Turians wore. They signified from where the ore that had made this ship had been taken and over which world it had been constructed, while the facial markings on a Turian's face was their family and colony markings, telling anyone who cared to look where they'd come from, and what to generally expect if they knew the family line in question.

"Irrelevant." He told his subordinate simply after returning his gaze to the man, mildly annoyed that he had to spell it out for him. "We will do our duty, and our duty is to patrol this sector. See to it that you perform it well."

The captain he'd chastised flinched in response to his clear displeasure, good.

"Sir? We're picking up something." A female comms officer informed the two of them, uncaring of the tension hanging in the air. "There are faint signals coming from nearby the relay."

"Origin?"

"Unknown, the signals don't match anything in our databases." She responded swiftly, precisely, just like any Turian should.

"Tsk, probably the damn Salarians testing one of their new toys again." The Captain growled out, irritation causing his mandibles to twitch with every word. Desolas couldn't blame him, it was the likely conclusion and one that was always irritating to no end even if the Salarians were the best intelligence agents and scientists by far.

"Get me a visual." He ordered anyway, since there was no reason not to have this incident on record for when he inevitably had to answer to the Council for getting in the STG's way. That and it was just good sense, having everything analyzed, recorded, and filed away so he could have evidence of the sneaky frogs' antics getting in the way of his people's patrol. It'd hardly been the first time that the two races had butted heads, even during the Rachni Wars and the Krogan Rebellion they'd often gotten into each other's way.

He saw the officer responsible for the sensor suit of the ship frown at her readings, her mandibles flaring in irritation. "Sir? The readings they- They're not Salarian… there are multiple ships and-" She stopped for a moment before she whirled to face the Captain and General both. "Sir! They're attempting to activate the mass relay!"

"Battle stations!" The Captain shouted instantly, not wasting any time. "Get me firing solutions on their ships, prioritize those closer to the relay! We cannot allow them to activate it!"

"Sir, ship designs don't match or resemble any known patterns… signals intercepted don't match known codes of frequencies either." The comms officer chimed in, holding one hand to one of her ears. "Sir? I think they're trying to contact us."

"Fleet turning to meet us." The sensor officer confirmed a moment later. Desolas saw as much as the first accurate returns from their sensors painted a picture of just what they were facing. The ships that appeared in holographic projections in the center of the room were… simplistic in their design in his opinion. A central superstructure kept in a straight line, engines attached to it at the back, two small wings stapled onto the sides of the center, each of these wings possessing their own thrusters, though this time allowing for a greater range of movement for them, no doubt to allow for greater maneuverability.

It was really little more than a flying brick with stunted wings in his eyes. They lacked the more sleek and sophisticated design of his own people. Blending functionality with aesthetics in a way that called attention to what they were, ships of war, predators, the wings of their own ships were no stunted little things, but rather could spread out like the wings of a great avian predator. There was no mistaking what a Turian vessel was meant for, for theirs was an art perfected long ago.

Some among the Citadel Council races said that war was their calling, and in a way that was even true. Although where his people brought tactical acumen and tenacity to any battlefield they inevitably got involved with, the Krogan were ferocity incarnate. Worse, trying to stop a Krogan required all but destroying their bodies all together since anything less would ensure that they'd just regenerate eventually. If they had any of the natural discipline the Turians so readily possessed, they would make for even more terrifying adversaries. As it was, they were more akin to animals, dangerous, cunning, but also feral, wild, and they had no regard for controlling their need to mate with anything that moved. Was it little wonder then that the Salarians, with the Turians' help, had had to almost completely sterilize the entire Krogan species for the sake of the rest of the galaxy during their violent expansionist efforts?

Having seen enough, General Desolas nodded his head before turning to his gunner. "Hold fire, keep gun ports open but be ready to engage should they prove hostile. Engineering, slow approach, ensure optimum firing angles as we close into range. While Citadel Law is very clear about the unauthorized activation of a relay, this is potentially a first contact situation." That meant that, while they had a duty to ensure the relay wasn't activated since there was no telling what dangers might lurk on the other side, this entire situation was quickly becoming quite delicate. But the law superseded any other concerns, so their duty was also very clear.

"Two ships continue their approach towards the relay." The officer reported calmly, green eyes gazing briefly at his superiors. "Within range of relay activation in thirty seconds."

"Regrettable." Desolas said calmly as he looked at the Captain.

"Indeed." The other officer agreed. "Open fire."

There was no hesitation, not from anyone on the ship, though only those on the bridge even knew what exactly they were firing at. A brand new species.

It didn't matter.

The law was the same for everyone, and ignorance didn't protect from repercussions. The deck beneath his feet shuddered slightly as the main gun fired a single shell at one ship before switching to the next target while their small fleet followed suit. Despite the tremendous speed of the projectiles, it took about three seconds for them to reach their targets.

The enemy contacts burst into brief flashes of light and glittering shards of metal as the vessels were pulverized by the shells. It was almost disturbingly easy to kill them.

"Minimal shielding on enemy ships." The green-eyed officer reported, confirming Desolas suspicions. "They cannot even take a single shot of any of our guns."

"Primitives." Desolas sighed out with a shake of his head. An unfortunate necessity, but once again it fell to the Turians to educate these new unruly children about the nature of the galaxy. There would be resentment, but in time they'd be grateful.

"Enemy vessels are scattering." His sensor officer informed him.

"Communication attempts have stopped." His comms officer said next.

"Incoming enemy fire." Desolas didn't need to be told as much, it was only natural that they would retaliate and have at least some ships with weapons with them.

"Shields up, fire at will." He calmly stated, having gone through plenty of battles by now that he didn't even have to think about what he needed to do to keep his people alive while doing their duty for the Council and the galaxy at large.

There was a brief flare a couple seconds later and a minor shudder traveled through the ship. "Enemy fire ineffective, I'd estimate that even our frigates pack more of a punch than that." His sensor officer chuckled the last, but despite their seemingly ineffectiveness, Desolas wasn't one to underestimate the enemy, even primitives like these.

"They're trying to buy their allies time." The captain noted as he too studied the readouts. "Let them."

"Sir?" A junior officer questioned softly.

"Let them go. Let them spread the word that they aren't alone out here." Desolas echoed, having come to the same decision as his captain.

"And more importantly, let them lead us to their homeworld." The captain added. "It's better to get this operation over with swiftly, I don't want the Council getting involved in this unnecessarily."

"Our fleet cannot conquer a world." The same officer pointed out, not disrespectfully, but rather… eager to learn from the tone of this voice.

"We'll hold the position near the relay for now. We can easily divert some minor fleet elements here in short order without raising any suspicion." The captain explained patiently. "We don't have to conquer the world in full, merely ensure complete orbital supremacy, that way we can bombard them with impunity and starve them out of their fortifications."

"Making escape impossible." General Desolas finished with a firm nod of agreement. "See that it's done, Captain. And send out salvage crews to claim anything of significance from the wreckage. Perhaps we'll find out just what we're dealing with in regards to these primitives."

"Yes sir." The captain said as Desolas left the bridge, having absolute trust in his soldiers to do their jobs to his high standards.

Xìngyùn Cluster, the Dà Líng Sān System

Shanxi, New Taiyan, Systems Alliance Airbase

May 4th, 2157, 10:11 AM…

General Jacob Williams POV…

What was even his life these days?

That was the thought that was swirling around in his head as he looked at the images that had been sent back before the expeditionary force they'd sent to a recently discovered relay had been wiped out save for three vessels that had gotten away, and only because of the brave sacrifice of the rest of the vessels in question. As for the ships that had been spotted before they'd suddenly attacked the Alliance vessels sent to explore what was beyond a recently discovered relay, they were unlike any that he'd ever seen before. They were also more advanced since the very brief battle that'd ensued had been largely one sided, without any appreciable damage noted on the attacking vessels.

Vessels that had had their gun ports open as they'd approached no less.

But as much as he wanted to blame Ishtar, to say that this was somehow her fault, or that these were her people, General Williams wasn't that paranoid. Besides, she'd done everything to communicate with them rather than attack them without provocation. Sure, she'd also been nothing but a headache for him as well, but she'd not done more than play harmless pranks for the most part.

It didn't fit her MO.

Then again, maybe they were her people nonetheless, shapeshifters or whatever the fuck they were. Chakwas, and from what he heard the other scientists who had gotten a look at everything they managed to get from Ishtar were slowly being driven mad by how little sense anything made. Well that wasn't correct.

Nothing made any fucking sense in regards to that woman. So much so that everything she did felt like it violated a new law of reality, but overall, she'd been benevolent rather than malicious in any form, thus far. So even if she didn't make any goddamn sense, at least her personality had started to become predictable…mostly. Though they also learned something throughout the past few days and her shameless appearances on social media, even if it wasn't due to her having her own account, thank god for that at least.

This so-called goddess… was most likely broke.

From what they've gathered, she showed up, awed people, talked to them, and because she was the new celebrity so to speak people bought her something small, either to eat or some other little gift. She had never paid for anything herself, at the same time she never tried to simply take anything either, as far as they knew, or robbed anyone. But she never turned down anything that was offered to her, whether it be credits, food, or some other present for her help in some cases, or just from being friendly and welcoming to anyone and everyone that caught her eye. Whatever the reason, it quickly became apparent that she was just as beholden to one universal constant as anyone else, and that she needed money and food to, if not survive, at least make her life more comfortable since they weren't even sure if she needed to eat food.

And wasn't that a mind fuck to even consider?

But all of that was to simply say that she was at least becoming a known quantity, even if a large part of her power and her very existence really left all of the experts scratching their heads in abject confusion. Yet now there were actual aliens practically on their doorstep, and no one could tell him if they were a part of Ishtar's people, or if they were something else entirely. And glancing at his omni-tool, Jacob had the means to find out, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to play that particular card. Because like many of her pranks and harmless jokes, she'd decided to send him a personal message.

How she'd found his address Jacob couldn't begin to guess, but he just knew she was antagonizing him, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. But if there was one thing that had become clear in the past few days, it was that Ishtar tried very hard not to lie. She might manipulate other people's words to get a reaction out of them or to get something she wanted as she'd done to Jacob himself the day she'd escaped, but she was never purposefully deceitful from what they'd been able to tell. So asking her outright about the new arrivals was liable to get something he could work with. But to be honest, he was afraid what the answer might be, because either outcome was equally terrifying.

He sighed softly, and decided to first contact command since they were already in an uproar, scrambling at the news of this attack. Better to get the go ahead to contact Ishtar in the first place before he potentially screwed up… again. Yet even as he attempted to reach anyone in Arcturus, he couldn't help but glance skyward, not caring of the solid concrete in the way. There had been some survivors the retreating ships had managed to take with them, most of them in pretty bad shape. Question was how to best tell any of this to the civilians here without causing a panic. He'd better figure it out fast because for all they knew, those alien bastards were coming here next.

Ishtar POV…

She watched as another shuttle descended through the atmosphere, rushing to meet the planet's surface, traveling towards the same military base she had escaped from. Something was happening, she could feel it in the air, a tension that hadn't been present before. She had a pretty good idea what it was, but she'd have to play ignorant so she didn't arouse suspicions…more than she already had since General Williams was already annoyed with her.

That just begged the question… what the hell was she supposed to do?

Protect people, sure, but how? She didn't think the Turians would fire with their main guns at the planet, as that was a big violation of citadel law, but that hadn't stopped them from just throwing stuff from orbit downwards at the planet to wipe out entire city blocks from what she could remember. As long as they kept to that tactic, she should be able to shoot it down.

Should.

Trouble was she couldn't be everywhere at once either, but she did have magic on her side. She didn't have to be everywhere at once so long as she found a way to protect the important places, such as hospitals, evacuation centers, that kinda thing. Nasuverse magic was good for a lot of things. Erecting protective barriers for example was relatively simple with the right materials on hand and enough time to put them together, and since no one here was magically inclined, there was plenty of Mystery she could draw from even if Nasuverse rules didn't technically apply to this reality. But because she had Company bullshit on her side, that didn't matter since her power would work no matter where she happened to be. She can easily cover up her true intentions by 'playing another prank' on the good general. Better yet, she could get the people themselves involved with her scheme of protecting them by playing up said idea of trolling the Alliance some more.

With the number of adoring fans she'd already garnered, it'd be pretty easy honestly.

Granted, while she only had fans rather than believers, the latter would come, especially if this went as she hoped it would. But first, she had to get moving since time was of the essence, and she didn't know how long she had before the Turians showed up to 'educate the primitives'.

Well, she had been curious, she hadn't made a secret out of it, and she had spent the past days indulging in it. It was only right that she would use that now. No longer content to merely watch, she shot downwards, after the shuttle, timing it so that they would know of her coming without a doubt, not that they could stop her either way. But she'd see what the cargo of those shuttles were, and try to use that to get Williams to talk. Naturally, the soldiers stationed in and around the base saw her coming, but unlike the first time, they didn't pull their guns on her, having likely grown used to the fact they couldn't do a thing to stop her.

Well, they could try to shoot at her though they hadn't actually done that yet. Good for them.

"Hello boys and girls." She threw their way as she flew past them. "Just taking a quick look, promise." Ishtar heard some grumbling, and more than one of the guards was mumbling something into their radio, but otherwise they didn't react much. Well, that was disappointing, her entrance should've caused much more of a reaction.

She'll have to fix that later when she wasn't worrying about an alien invasion.

She came to a sudden stop just a couple of feet away from the landing pad. Quite a few people were staring at her with wide eyes, probably the newcomers who hadn't been much in contact with Shanxi the last couple of days and so didn't know about her yet. Sadly though most of them looked worse for wear, either with physical wounds, or by the distant stares of people who've seen horrors they didn't want to imagine or were struggling to make sense of. She felt her heart hammer in her chest out of fear that something like that could happen here, to her as well, and anger that someone had done that instead of stopping to think for five seconds before starting a fucking war! She opened her mouth to say something-

"Ishtar!" Ah there was General Buzzkill, right on time.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned in place, refusing to turn her head first until she stared down at the general, her red eyes burning into his. "What. Happened?" She said slowly, quietly, and so very much unlike her usual playful and relaxed self.

To his credit, the good general only blinked owlishly in response to her rather heated question before seeming to come to some silent decision. Whatever it was, he didn't elaborate on it before letting out a growled, "We were hoping you could tell us."

Realization struck like a thunderbolt, and she very nearly flew right up to his face. "You think I had something to do with this?!"

"Did you?" He returned simply, unafraid.

She narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't help but think that it would be so damn easy to get angry and tell him that if she wanted him dead he would be, along with everyone else on the planet if she felt like it. That wasn't important right now though. She couldn't just get angry and throw a tantrum, she had to think. She cocked her head to the side slowly. "You already know I don't." She instead returned deathly calm. "You know I haven't left the planet since my arrival." She narrowed her eyes. "But you still think it has something to do with me." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact.

"I've considered the possibility."

"Then I will repeat myself yet again, General Williams." Ishtar said, rising higher up into the air, power radiating off of her like never before. "I am Ishtar! I am a goddess, not some strange alien creature you can find on just any dustball in this galaxy! The fact that you do not believe in my divinity doesn't change the truth."

To his credit, where everyone else either reeled away from her divine lightshow or ducked into cover, General Williams simply stared into the center of the bright light without a shred of fear. "So you say."

"Very well then." Ishtar declared as she craned her neck from one side to the other as if getting ready for something. "If that's what you truly believe, I assume you will try to take me captive once more? Or kill me? So either do your worst already, or stop this worthless charade." She looked down at him, her eyes cold. "My people have been attacked, terrified, hurt, and killed. I will punish those responsible."

"And if they're your own people?" He shot back, actually going so far as to take step closer to her while the rest of the base seemed to look on in silent terror, awe, or both.

"They're not, believe me I'd know." She told him with a scoff. "But if they were… well, I am a goddess of war, I've never shied away from it if necessary, I'll not shy away now."

That at least coaxes a blade thin smile from the damnably infuriating man. "At least we've something in common since I don't back down lightly either."

"Then it may be best to work together." She suggested as she reigned in her divine aura and lowered herself onto the ground. "Am I correct then that you and the rest of humanity's leaders are already preparing for what is to come?" He didn't answer, probably because he wasn't sure what he should tell her, but she saw the way his eyes ever so slightly narrowed. "Very well then, bring me to your leaders." Inwardly she cringed the moment she finished speaking. How much more cliche could she get?! Ugh…she was just glad none of her old friends were around to hear her now because she'd never live it down.

Williams at least didn't say anything, but she could see the way he blinked at her, as if mildly stupified by the incredibly embarrassing words that came outta her mouth. "... Follow me."

Five minutes later saw her floating a few inches off the ground in Williams' office, her eyes sweeping over the few pictures and personal effects he had decorated the place with. She smiled a little when she saw his grandchildren in one of the few large family portraits he had on his desk. "You've a beautiful family, General Williams."

For once, something of a genuinely warm smile flickered across his scarred face in response. "I've been blessed by the good Lord many times for giving me so many grandchildren, and I don't intend to let anyone harm them if it's the last thing I do." He firmly stated, giving her a less than subtle look as he finished speaking.

Despite the unspoken threat towards her, Ishtar only smiled a little wider at the man. "Your fierceness and willingness to lay down your life for your loved ones is commendable, admirable even, but I hope for their sake it won't be necessary. Losing you would hurt them immensely, and I don't intend to let that happen, General Williams, no matter our differences before now."

"... I don't intend to let anyone needlessly die either." He eventually settled on saying, the unspoken "Not even you despite being a gigantic pain in my ass" was heard loud and clear. "Now then, it's time to meet my leaders." The way he said it… he knew! He knew! She didn't get a chance to respond to that before the office lights dimmed, and several holographic figures appeared from a nearby projector in the ceiling. That didn't stop her from noticing the little amused smirk on Williams' face though, the cheeky bastard.

"Williams, thi-" The female Admiral stopped, staring in surprise at the scantily clad form of Ishtar herself. The other officers present weren't any better, although amusingly, one woman only looked intrigued behind one of the other female admirals, clearly her right hand woman, as it were.

Naturally, Williams had to ruin the moment with what he said first, "As you can see, I have Ishtar in my custody again."

Rolling her eyes at that little lie, Ishtar was quick to state what she was really doing here. "What he means to say, is that I returned on my own volition, and decided to aid you in your efforts against whoever attacked your space faring vessels."

"You told her?" One of them demanded to know.

"He told me nothing aside from that fact that he thinks that 'my people' may be responsible, thankfully for everyone they are not." Ishtar cut in before the could jump to the wrong conclusion. "I'd know, and so it was a simple matter of deduction. If this was a freak accident the good General wouldn't have been so quick to think I'm responsible somehow despite never leaving the planet. They were in space, so that means either pirates, rebels, or a new type of enemy. The former two wouldn't have elicited such a reaction… So here we are."

The admirals shared a look, but it was the woman who wasn't openly gawking that chuckled before saying, "Good to know you're more than just a pretty face, Ishtar."

"Shepard…" Her superior groaned.

Ishtar merely grinned, feeling quite pleased with Shepard's praise, and her superior officer's exasperation both. "I am a goddess of war as well as love, passion, fertility, sex, and justice. It'd be quite strange if I wasn't able to put two and two together, Ms. Shepard."

"Lieutenant actually." Shepard corrected, but the amused gleam in her eyes said she hadn't taken any offense.

"Ranks mean nothing in the bedroom." She said with a shrug of her bare shoulders, enjoying the embarrassed or annoyed looks from the rest of the admirals and Williams alike.

"Well, we aren't in one." Shepard said with an amused shake of her head as she ignored the others as well.

"That can change quickly." Ishtar happily retorted. "I like the way the good Lieutenant thinks." She added, finally deigning to acknowledge the admirals who were all giving her and Shepard unamused glares, one and all.

"Everything that happens from now on... is your fault Shepard." Her superior officer finally said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, her head looking ready to explode at any moment from the weight of her exasperation with her second.

"As amusing as this is," Ishtar declared as she took a step forward, "I think it would be best to focus on more pressing affairs for the time being. Is there anything you're willing to tell me? Otherwise cooperation will prove difficult."

"No offense Ishtar, but what could you possibly do?" One of the other Admirals wondered as he let his eyes roam pointedly across her, and to her surprise, he found her lacking. "You don't exactly appear threatening despite your strange abilities that you've demonstrated thus far. There's also your…choice of attire."

At least he was trying to be diplomatic, she supposed.

"Would you prefer if I looked more threatening?" She asked before she shook her head. "Nevermind that. Suffice to say I have a wide array of different abilities, do you have anything to lose from having me help?"

"For all we know you could try to feed intel to those attackers." An older woman besides Shepard's superior said next.

Ishtar growled in minor frustration. "I'll be blunt here." She told all of them with an unimpressed look. "If I wanted to I could have killed the good General here, and everyone on this base, and every other base on the planet if I felt like it, eliminating the need to feed any intel of your movements, and if you don't believe me, consider that I already know exactly where Earth is, or that I also know that your Parliament cowers on Arcturus Station right now. Fortunately for you, I can't leave this world without the use of a ship of my own…for now. There's also the fact that I've no reason to harm any of you, and have every reason to wish to see you succeed against those who would dare to harm your people for any reason. You can mistrust me, but don't assume I'm an enemy simply because you don't understand what I am."

While the others talked quietly among themselves, it was Shepard's unerring gaze that drew Ishtar's own. While she wasn't the Shepard she was hoping to meet, she knew the same blood flowed through this Shepard's veins. Enough so that Ishtar could see where her Shepard had gotten her indomitable strength and powerful charisma, but most importantly, her empathy and capacity for seemingly limitless patience unless properly provoked, from. While she was sure that the father had had some part in her Shepard's development, Ishtar only had the mom in front of her right now, and the games never really mentioned the dad in any event, so chances were he hadn't really featured strongly in Shepard's life while she'd been growing up insofar as the Spacer background was concerned anyway, which this seemed to be if Hannah Shepard's presence was anything to go by.

Eventually though the group of Admirals seemed to have reached a decision, because it was her superior that spoke for the group. "While many of us still have our doubts about you, Ishtar, it can't be disputed that you're in possession of at the very least, advanced technology that allows you to perform your strange feats. If you're truly more powerful than you've thus far demonstrated, then asking for your aid seems like a reasonable course of action, provided you aren't playing us for fools as well."

The last got Williams to quietly grimace as his teeth clenched slightly at the same time, but he wisely held his tongue. Ishtar though sensed a 'but' coming. "But…?"

"But…we would prefer that you allow one of our own to liaison with you until this crisis is over." Shepard's superior began before glancing over her shoulder towards Hannah. "Up to the task, Lieutenant?"

Ishtar shrugged, having figured it'd be something like that while Shepard blinked, slightly taken aback. It was the first time she'd seen genuine surprise on the woman's face, but it likely wouldn't be the last. Still, she recovered quickly, much to Ishtar's quiet approval, and snapped off a perfect salute before saying firmly, "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Ishtar?"

"While I realize you aren't giving me a choice in the matter, I've nothing to hide, so by all means, send her to spy on me if it makes you feel better." She said with a dismissive wave of a hand, although the quirk of her lips meant for Shepard's eyes alone ensured the other woman knew she genuinely had no problem with her being forced to tag along. And honestly, it'd be nice to have a friend like Shepard around.

A fact she picked right up on if the mischievous glimmer in Hannah's eyes was any indication. "My husband would be upset if I didn't get at least one picture with you, just so you know now."

Ishtar laughed at that before giving her a winning smirk in return. "Oh really now? Well, mayhaps we should do an entire spread later? For the sake of diplomacy of course."

"Ugh." Her superior officer groaned while the rest of them shared yet another round of glares at her and Shepard both. "We'll talk about this later, Lieutenant."

"Yes, ma'am." In a flash the professional mask was back in place. Such a pity too, Ishtar had liked the expressiveness of the woman's features. Oh well, at least she had something to look forward to now that didn't involve an impending alien invasion.

On approach to suspected alien homeworld

Two days later…

General Desolas Arterius POV…

"It seems we were correct in our assessment." He noted as he looked out into the void. One world, one measly world, there were some orbital defense platforms in place along with what was supposed to be a defensive fleet. To the credit of these primitives, these vessels looked far more combat ready than the ones they had already destroyed. Dedicated warships rather than mere scouts then, which made sense if they had yet to activate the relay they'd been flying towards when his forces had stumbled across them.

Not that it would do them any good.

Even if these aliens did the impossible and somehow managed to destroy two ships of his for every one they lost, he still had enough vessels at his disposal to starve this world into submission within the next two months if all went according to plan. Of course, he would try to get them to surrender quicker than that, some ground operations should be undertaken after all, but the longer this dragged on the higher, the probability that someone interfered in their business.

"Prepare to engage." The captain ordered as weapons and shields powered up all across the fleet.

"Target the stations in geosynchronous orbit first and-" Something flashed across the two stations in orbit that seemed complete in their construction where a few of their stations were still being assembled. Two seconds later, three corvettes ceased to be as their shields overloaded as a barrage of shots found their mark, punching through their shields and armor with far greater effect than these aliens had previously showcased.

"They have multiple turrets on their stations, roughly equivalent to a destroyer's main guns, if slightly weaker." The sensor officer noted hastily, taloned fingers flying over his holographic interface. Suddenly these primitives weren't looking so weak and uneducated, but that didn't change Desolas or his captain's response to the loss of so many good Turian soldiers.

"Concentrate fire on their stations. They cannot evade, and if we rob them of their fortifications their defensive capabilities will be crippled." The captain ordered hastily, and not even a second later their guns had aligned with their chosen targets and fired. Instead of vanishing in short lived explosions though, shields flared to life around them, managing to endure the bombardment of all the vessels already firing. "Keep firing." The captain ordered calmly even as a destroyer was pummeled by incoming fire. While its shield managed to withstand the salvo, Desolas knew that the next one would tear the ship to shreds.

A holographic display flared to life providing them with an overview of the battle, their greater numbers allowed them to swiftly spread out and begin to surround the enemy, bombarding them from multiple angles at once. Desolas watched as the holographic projection of one of their unfinished battle stations broke apart. It was a minor miracle that it had lasted as long as it had as he watched the exposed skeleton of it break apart.

The crew must have worn hardsuits just to operate it. Begrudgingly he felt a sliver of respect towards the dedication of the enemy soldiers at that. It had been an ugly thing in all honesty, round and full of protuberances, unfinished, but that they'd built it so well that it'd endured such a beating before finally succumbing to the damage was a testament to their strength all on its own.

He saw another just as unfinished and ugly station jettison a myriad of small missiles like objects towards the planet's surface. Escape craft and pods most likely. Tsk, so not all of them had the determination to fight until their last. Maybe they'd been ordered to abandon the station. Regardless, he'd judge them later once he knew more.

"They're targeting our largest vessels with their stations while their retreating ships fire on our escorts." The Captain observed with an air of detachment. "Look, their ships are already pulling back, they know they can't win, so they try to take out what they can before they're destroyed or forced to retreat."

"They intend to bleed us as much as they can while salvaging what they can of their own forces." Desolas nodded his head, again silently approving of their tenacity even as they ran from their superior forces.

"Indeed, maybe they think they can manage to drive us back given enough time." He paused as he watched a frigate break apart to their port side. "We haven't detected any defenses capable of challenging us on the planet's surface itself. Once we've secured orbit, we'll have won this war." He said confidently, as two escorts and the equivalent of a frigate belonging to those animals were split open by a volley of their own shots, silent detonations rippling across its hull as it was torn apart.

"Don't be so sure, Captain Vakarian." Desolas gently reprimanded. "A varren cornered is twice as deadly. It's even more true when it comes to a sapient species such as these. Do not underestimate your opponent even if they appear to be weaker than you. That was the Salarians' mistake when it came to the Krogans before the Rebellions after all." Even so, he could understand why Captain Laretia Vakarian was so arrogant given their superiority even as they lost more than Desolas had been initially expecting. These primitives had more teeth than anticipated, but they were still winning this engagement. Yet Desolas, even if he too saw only primitives just beginning to leave their corner of the galaxy, hadn't survived this long by being a fool.

So chastised, Vakarian cooled his head a little in response. "Yes sir, but you can't argue with the results so far. We have these aliens on the run."

"For now, Captain. For now, but no war is ever strictly a numbers game, otherwise the mathematicians would rule the galaxy." He countered, his gaze never leaving the battlefield as another destroyer was quickly obliterated when a large piece of station debris slammed into its hull, the vessel having drawn too close to the station in question.

"T-they're still firing." The sensor officer muttered quietly, a note of respect tinging his voice. Desolas could understand why. The station was breaking apart, the recoil of its guns tearing it further and further apart, but still the primitives fought. He watched a cannon fire at point blank range into a frigate, the shot being absorbed by its shields even as the turret was torn from its moorings, slowly descending into the planet's gravity well.

He looked at it for a moment, all but certain that some of these aliens were no doubt still in that part of the station. A small part of him thought that they deserved better than to be allowed to die like this in re-entry, the greater part of him, the reasonable part, knew that such considerations held no meaning in war and moved on, and merely watched as the last of the ships turned tail and ran or were obliterated by the might of the Turian fleet arrayed before them.

"Save as much of the debris as possible from re-entry." The Captain ordered even as he directed a part of the fleet to chase the enemy further away. "We can make use of it."

"Yes sir." Was the expected chorus from the rest of the bridge crew as orders were quickly relayed.

Desolas couldn't shake the feeling however that this war was only beginning.

Shanxi, New Taiyan

May 6th, 2157, 12:57 PM…

The sky was alight with the glow of burning metal.

If she hadn't known any better, Ishtar would've assumed that the streaks of flame wreathed debris as they fell towards Shanxi were merely shooting stars rather than the snuffed out lives of so many innocent men and women who were losing their lives simply because the Turians were arrogant assholes. But she didn't need to zero in her vision to know better, sensing the moment their lives were snuffed out since they were just close enough to Shanxi for her to be able to sense the humans in orbit above their heads. So much suffering and death could've been avoided if things had turned out differently, but such is the way of any universe it seemed. And to make it even worse, she could do nothing but watch since she had yet to get the means to safely leave the atmosphere.

Mistress of the Heavens… She growled mentally to herself, realizing in that moment just how pretentious that title was when she was trapped on this rock while hundreds of lives were ended over a giant misunderstanding on both sides.

She continued to glare upwards, her red eyes blazing in anger even as she put a finishing touch on one of the many symbols she had drawn over the last couple days, on the inside of the buildings at General Williams' insistence. She had insisted it would help, he hadn't believed her naturally, that much had been clear, but he also hadn't had any idea how else to use her aside from a pack mule perhaps. Still, he had obviously feared those strange symbols, as he called them, would serve as marks for the Turians, even if he didn't know what they were, yet. Too bad for the damned flightless scaly raptors on two legs, those marks would make them blind to the buildings' existence, ensuring they couldn't be targeted outside of falling debris or accidental impacts anyway.

If that happened, she'd added some protective layers to her concealment efforts, giving them a magical barrier that, she hoped, would be enough to withstand a considerable beating before finally succumbing to the strain. But she'd never had to protect a place from orbital bombardment before, so who was to say any of it would work at all? No matter, one way or another it would be better than her not doing any of this. She had to believe that, otherwise… otherwise all those people dying right now would've just wasted their lives for her to paint some letters.

She looked up again and saw that there were larger pieces of debris falling through the atmosphere, her vision easily picking it out from a swarm of smaller burning shards. Even as she watched, she saw it break apart and splinter, scattering bodies into the air, the sudden exposure to the winds and speeds snapping their limbs back violently in angles that the human body was never meant to allow. Most of them stopped twitching instantly, the only movement being their continued downward descent and their limp bodies and limbs being turned that way or that.

One or two though still lived, having been lucky or unfortunate enough to avoid instant death due to one reason or another. She didn't hesitate, taking off like a shot from her oversized bow as she left the hospital she'd been preparing for this very situation, and flew towards the sky, her maanan materializing the moment she was clear. Her speed, already great, only increased as her maanan picked up the slack, allowing her to focus on how she was going to save as many of these people as she could.

"Grab on!" Ishtar shouted, her hair whipping about above her head as she matched the falling trio's fall speed, getting within reach as carefully as she could despite the rapid descent velocity. The humans stared at her, stupefied behind their visors, or maybe in gratitude that they didn't have to die, maybe disbelief, she had no idea. It didn't matter either as she carefully pulled one of them closer, resting them upon her steed and weapon, then another, and then the last before she slowly began to break their descent.

The ground closed in rapidly, and she felt frustration and fear rise within her chest, not for herself, but for the humans. She had to slow down, but she also had to do so slow enough for them to survive. Humans were terrifyingly fragile like that. Then another problem reared its head as she saw the rapid approach of dozens of enemy fighters as they broke through atmo, blazing their own fiery trails until they were at a low enough altitude. Naturally, several of the Turian fighters turned in her direction, and began to open fire at the same time she raised her finger to do the same as she shouted, "Hold on!"

Her maanan was fast, but she couldn't risk her usual maneuvers with her precious cargo barely able to hold onto her steed as it was. Still, she was no slouch either as she fired magical bolts at the seven fighters that unleashed dozens of sand particle sized shots her way as they gave chase. Blue bursts of light followed her every move while golden bolts from her finger lanced back at them in retaliation, all the while the three passengers screamed and clutched ever tighter to what little they could find. She'd really have to come up with something better for situations like this even as she managed to blast three of the Turian fighters before the remaining four were forced to break off and prepare for another run against her.

She would have loved to pursue them, run them down and make sure they couldn't come back, but that would mean leaving those three alone with maanan and if something were to happen then… So she kept on firing from a distance instead. Her aim wasn't as flawless as she would've liked, but she was still an Archer. Another one of the crafts went down burning, then another. By then they had split up and… more of them were coming, from behind!

She darted around at speeds the Turians couldn't hope to track, imposing herself in the flight path of some of their projectiles. They smashed into her, and while she felt their impact, their presence against her body, it was as though someone was tapping her gently rather than trying to hurt her. Her own shots weren't as harmless to them, though she was soon forced to focus on some of their missiles. With a grimace she had Maanan make a sharp u-turn, nearly throwing off its passengers when a missile got too close and-

An explosion flashed before her eyes.

It didn't hurt her, there was absolutely no magical power in these mass produced weapons of war, but the concussive force still left her slightly dazed. But she could only watch helplessly as the three people she'd saved all fell from her steed, the shrapnel from the missile leaving bloody gashes across their broken bodies. Staring wide eyed at the deaths, Ishtar froze, completely ignoring the next round of fire that pinged harmlessly off her, her gaze affixed to the two men and one woman she'd tried to bring down safely, only for them to die right in front of her. It wasn't until another missile slammed into her that she snapped her gaze towards the offending craft, and her red eyes began to burn with righteous fury.

These Turians had just crossed a line, and they were about to pay dearly for it.

Well… she no longer had to hold back.

If they wanted a war, she would give them exactly what they wanted!

With a thought, her maanan exploded into motion, shooting forward like a projectile where it carved one of the enemy fighters apart before it spun in a ninety degree angle, taking aim and firing at one that had just finished turning around to re-engage. Her own finger projectiles were nothing to scoff at, aided by the power of her weapon, however, the fighter didn't so much explode as it ceased to be entirely. A wave of her hand had a dozen sparkles of light appear behind her before she fired them off, homing missiles of her own that hunted down and annihilated the rest of the fighters in short order.

There were countless more already swarming all over the place, but she had no intention of letting them run roughshod over the innocent people of Shanxi. She was Mistress of the Heavens, and she wouldn't allow them to keep flying in her skies! They must have realized the impossibility of victory here because the surviving craft nearest the slaughter she'd just finished with turned tail and ran in an effort to get back up to the ships in orbit. "Oh no you don't." She growled out speeding up in pursuit, firing with maanan and her hands all the while. One fighter she simply tore through with her body.

She didn't let a single one escape, not one.

The final death blow she dealt was done with a kind of unerring precision she hadn't possessed before, and with a coldness of mind she hadn't thought herself capable. She allowed the fighter to almost reach the safety of their ship that had dropped them off at the start of this before a charged shot from maanan tore the vessel to shreds in full view of everyone in the hangar bay. She could easily nuke the carrier vessel too, Irkalla she could do that to a dreadnought most likely, but drawing that kinda attention to Shanxi would just ensure the Turians started dropping mass driver propelled shells down onto every square inch of the planet.

As it was and from what she managed to remember they would use the debris from the battle above as a form of orbital bombardment nonetheless. Calculate a trajectory, send it off towards the target, and just wait till impact. Still, she kept in place for a moment, watching the debris of the destroyed fighter harmlessly bounce off the armored hull of the larger ship. Here at the edge of the altitude she could safely reach, she remained for a moment, glaring up at the damned Turians.

Then she shot back towards the planet, away from any hideouts established in the past days. She had hidden what she could, left some spots that had long since been cleaned of anything of value, exposed. Inviting them to strike at those. She would protect them nonetheless as best she could, making them think they were more valuable than they actually were so that they'd waste time and energy for nothing, and eventually she'd have her revenge. They just had to wait until reinforcements showed up to drive these flightless raptors back into the void.

The only question was how much of Shanxi would be left until then…

Vergil1989's Build

Power Of Friendship: You struck an accord with the Alliance to work with them against the totally mysterious aliens you know nothing at all about. 4/2 Points

Sheparding the Future: While you were at it, you've been introduced to the mother of this galaxy's savior, and you've already hit it off with Mrs. Hannah Shepard, err…we mean Lieutenant Hannah Shepard. 6/2 Points

Protective Measures: Your preparations will soon enough pay off in spades, but until these Turians actually activate your magical barriers and pierce your concealment efforts, well…have a few credits for the effort if not the result just yet. 10/2 Points

Turian Target Practice: Despite failing to save those three people you managed to snatch out of a fatal freefall, you made the fighters responsible bleed in short order. 10/2 Points

30 2 3 5 5 = 45 Account Balance

-101 2 3 5 5 = -86 Debt Balance

End Notes: Oh boy…a lot's happened this time around, including the invasion of Shanxi. While it might look the same at a glance, trust me, it's gonna be a very different outcome before this is over. For now though, have fun looking forward to how things unfold as the Turians are burned for their transgressions against Ishtar's children.