Note to self: make sure the krogan and turians never form an alliance. Hackett thought as Thessia fell to a classic pincer movement. They would be unstoppable.

It wasn't surprising that Trish would help her girlfriend navigate the tricky intricacies and sharp learning curve that was Summam Beli. What had been surprising however was how much of the inquiring eye flicks had been initiated by the novice player. What had started as Trish suggesting Shepard move that piece over to that space had quickly evolved into the soldier asking: what if I go here and you go there, then when they do that we'll do this, would that work? All to frequently Trish would give a subtle nod, yes it would, let's do it. On one occasion she shook her head instead, receiving a faint frown of confusion in return. Hackett was extremely interested to see how his niece would manage to convey the fact that a salarian special forces team had disappeared on that spot eight moves ago and was waiting for people to forget about them so they could launch an ambush using just her eyes when a look of understanding crossed Nikki's face, signaling she'd remembered on her own and she preceded to outline an alternative plan.

The admiral was beginning to wonder whether she was a ringer. Even with Trish's tutelage early in the game and the rulebook sat beside her, a mere novice shouldn't be able to pick up the complexities of the game this quickly. It would be more believable if the youngster was an officer, the academy would have taught her enough about battlefield strategy that she could adapt to fit within the confines of the game's structure and rules, but an enlisted marine? He could certainly see how she'd got the battlefield promotion if she was as quick thinking in the field.

The part of him that had faithfully served the Alliance for over 20 years couldn't help wonder if she was wasted in a mechanic's role. He forced his mind away from that train of thought; the moment Molly had found out about Corporal Shepard she had made him promise not to interfere either way, to allow both the soldier's career and his niece's relationship to progress naturally, no sabotage and no helping hands.

Looks like Trish didn't get the memo about not helping, he thought wryly as Sur'Kesh fell.

The best bit was that the rest of the players seemed completely oblivious to the genius that was being concocted above their heads. Attention fixed firmly on the armies on the board or distracted by snacks and goings on outside the table, instead of focusing on their fellow generals and their talking eyes.

...

It had to be the unluckiest sequence of dice throws in Stewart gaming history as Trish failed first her clans cohesion check, causing a civil war among her pieces, and then the majority of her regeneration throws, seeing her formerly unstoppable army wipe itself almost to extinction. With the nearest krogan support on the other side of the galaxy, Shepard became a purely turian problem, and Hackett had plenty of experience defeating turians. Of course he wasn't so presumptuous as to forget that these turians were being commanded by a human, so he wasn't taken by surprise by the exceedingly un-turian move Shepard pulled. It might even have worked against another player at the table, but it would be a poor day when an Alliance Admiral was bested by a sergeant in a game of strategy.

Still she fought back well, and with Trish practically out of the game, the few other remaining Stewarts took the opportunity to gang up and attempt to enact vengeance for several years of batarian military slights and multiple decades of Hackett gaming superiority. He was privately pleased with the way Shepard took advantage of the chaos to regroup and rebuild, it showed a level of planning that was sadly lacking from their civilian opponents whose spontaneous and uncoordinated assault had amounted to little more than suicide.

They did make a noticeable dent in his forces however and with Trish still engaged in her own private battle with the dice it would be interesting to see Shepard's reaction. If she was overawed by his success defending on multiple fronts she would stay focused on claiming the now empty territories and improving her own forces, but if she was smart she would attack while he was still weakened and not allow him the same chance to rebuild. Of course, Hackett wasn't an Alliance legend for nothing. If this were truly the mechanic's first time playing Summam Beli (and assuming she didn't have a photographic memory) then...

There were multiple other ways he could win if she didn't go for it of course, but this would be the quickest resolution. He spread his forces out to cover more planets as if to rebuild quicker, over reaching in one quadrant that unfortunately left him vulnerable if for some bizarre reason she chose not to consolidate her own position.

He could see the hesitation as she noticed it. The doubt that it could be a genuine mistake and the scrolling through an internal checklist of possible countermoves on his part. He didn't let anything slip through the poker face he'd worn all game.

"Why do I get the feeling this is a trap?" She queried as she finished moving the last of her pieces, despite undoubtedly having run the same mental simulations he had and concluding that nothing short of exceptionally unlucky dice could prevent her victory. Well, bad dice or...

"You should trust your gut more."

"What did I miss?"

"Class attributes I'm afraid. Know your enemy, but before that know yourself. You're leading turian troops on an ice world."

"Cold, of course. Well played."

"And you, I have a hard time believing that was your first game?"

"Ah well, I've not played Summam Beli before, but I have played Kal'asi and Corock-so, I noticed enough similarities to not be completely useless."

...

"Well I survived, I'm totally taking that as a win." Nikki stated as they settled into bed. Trish smiled and pulled her close enough to plant a chaste kiss.

"You did more than survive sweetheart, you impressed him too."

"I'm not sure I'd go that far."

"You know he asked me to teach you to play chess?"

"Please no, that's horrifying! One on one with... just no! Please?" Trish chuckled at her partner's reaction. "Hang on! I know how to play chess!"

"Do you now?"

"Yes! Set up the pieces on the board, white moves first, both players take turns moving a piece at a time and then YOU win." Trish couldn't help another soft laugh as she snuggled closer.

"That's the basic principle yes."

...

Author's note:

I know I know, I said no more updates until the New Year but there was a request for more of the Risk style board game and I got ideas for it and so I ran with it. See what happens when you write reviews. I did think about giving Shepard the batarians to play with, especially since it would have the First Contact vet playing turian. However I started thinking about what Trish was up to and I couldn't miss the chance of some foreshadowing.