Mass Effect - a Hero Rises

Book 1, Chapter 7 - Experimentation (Nodacrux / Chasca)

*****

Immediately upon leaving Feros, spending that morning enjoying breakfast with the colonists before departure, I inputted the destination of Nodacrux into the galaxy map. Joker did come on over comm, asking about Noveria, letting him know we had a couple of other assignments I wanted to deal with first before we headed there.

It would take a couple of days to get there, so on the way, I did my usual rounds. Pressly, who was now my XO, actually stopped me and apologised for his previous comments. He'd read my mission reports that I'd sent to the Alliance and the Council, and regretted what he'd said earlier about the non-humans that were now on board the

Normandy

. If I didn't know any better, he'd taken a real shine to Tali, realising how hard her life must have been but she was still infectiously enthusiastic about everything. He also appreciated the help Liara was trying to provide, and had even spoken with our recent recruit, Shiala. "That is one asari with a broken heart," he said.

"Imagine being chosen as an unwitting sacrifice by the women you have devoted yourself to. Little wonder she's feeling a little lost. I think joining us will help clear her mind. She now has a mission and objective she can focus on. My only concern is for when we eventually find Benezia."

"What will you do, sir?"

"I'd like to take her in for questioning. I think Shiala will want vengeance. Then there is Liara. I know their relationship wasn't great but Benezia is still her mother. Could Liara handle the fact one of us might kill her?"

"A tough decision, Commander."

"It is. Between you and I, it is one I'm not particularly looking forward to. And, thank you, Pressly."

"For what, sir?"

"For changing your opinion and admitting it."

"We never stop learning nor growing as people, sir. I can admit I was wrong."

Dinner that night was interesting. Feros was the first major mission we'd shared together since Liara had joined up, and I think there was now a real air of comradery being shared by those who joined me on the ground. I noticed Liara spent a lot of time talking with Shiala, perhaps trying to milk her for information, though I didn't think that would be a problem. Even Wrex and Garrus, a krogan and a turian who had spent a thousand years hating one another, seemed to be getting along, at least a little bit. I think they avoided politics, Wrex sharing stories of his life as a bounty hunter, Garrus of his life on the Citadel.

Alenko slowly opened up about his life, particularly regarding his time at BAaT, and I'll admit to feeling nothing by sympathy for him. He didn't want our pity, just understanding as to why he kept most of his history private, though admitted that it felt better getting much of it off his chest with his close companions. Dealing with her own grief, Ashley spoke of her time with the 212 and the friends she had made during her time with them. She met my eyes and smiled as she spoke. I simply hoped those good memories would help her going forward.

We eventually arrived in orbit around Nodacrux, Joker letting me know before we departed that there was a distress beacon, and that he'd drop us as close to it as possible. Piling into the Mako, I knew conditions would be cramped behind me with yet another person, though no-one complained, as I knew no-one would want to be left behind on the ship.

Upon landing on the planet, one would have seen similarities to Earth. Green pastures as far as the eye could see. Mountains that appeared to touch the sky. Fresh water coated as much of the planet as Earth. It looked and sounded idyllic. Of course, appearances can be deceiving and there was a major reason why no colony was established. Apparently the pollen that was spread across the planet could kill any human within seconds without a helmet. As isolated as the planet was, and the impossible conditions to build a colony, it was the perfect place for a secret lab.

Should have known we'd meet more of those creepy green creatures, no doubt the 'samples' sent by ExoGeni to Nodacrux being of the Thorian, and I dreaded to think what the former was up to. Any creepers we came across, I just ran over. No point any of us getting out just yet. The surprise was when we found isolated pre-fabricated units, and the creepers seemed to stick around them. I wasn't the only one thinking some rather horrible thoughts.

"You reckon those were people?" Garrus asked the question we were all thinking.

"What the hell are ExoGeni up to?" Alenko wondered.

"These fuckers are going to pay," Ashley growled.

I kept my thoughts to myself for now. The distress beacon was coming from the top of a nearby mountain, which required a search of a road leading up. I finally found one that meant a long drive but at least I wasn't just climbing up a mountain like a madman. More of those creepers were waiting, Garrus lighting them up with the machine gun. Once they were all dead, we piled out.

"Orders, Shepard?" Alenko asked.

"Kill the green creepy things. If we find humans, we'll find out what they know."

Entering the facility, we left our helmets on, just in case, and quickly found that the place was crawling with those creepers. With plenty of narrow corridors, we could use those as chokepoints, all of us now armed with shotguns, having learned on Feros that those worked best against them. Biotics also worked against them, Shiala giving us a glimpse of her power, even Liara making comment that I'd made the right choice in accepting her help.

Once I figured that we'd mopped up all the creepers, we searched the facility for anyone left alive. We eventually found a group of scientists in a barricaded back room. They appeared relieved for a moment before they no doubt saw the looks on some of our faces, and the fact we were still armed and didn't look like putting them away. One of the scientists stepped forward.

"Thank you for responding to the distress beacon. I am Doctor Ross, chief ExoGeni researcher at this facility. I will admit that we have been trapped in this room for days. We were starting to run short of supplies."

I gave a signal for my colleagues to holster weapons, though no doubt she noticed my shotgun remained out. "I want answers, Doctor Ross."

"About what?" she asked cautiously.

"I want to know why Thorian creepers have infested this planet. I want to know exactly what ExoGeni are up to on this planet."

She couldn't hide the surprise that crossed her face. "The Thorian? You know about it."

"I know everything that ExoGeni was up to on Feros. What they were doing to the colonists in Zhu's Hope. Yes, I know all about it, and that's why it is now dead." She sighed, and I could see some of the scientists behind her getting nervous. They knew they were either going to be arrested or shot. "Alenko, take the team, secure the other scientists. Doctor Ross and I will be having a conversation." Gesturing to a nearby crate, she leaned against it as I told her to come clean about everything.

"The creepers here were created using altered samples from the specimens on Feros. We discovered a way to turn them into docile, obedient servants. Everything was going fine until a few days ago. Then all of the creepers suddenly went berserk. Only a handful of us made it back to the safety of this room." She paused before adding, "I can only assume that you killing the Thorian severed the link they must have shared."

Glancing at Alenko, I could see them cuffing the rest. One or two were guards, and they were smart enough not to resist. I could see Ashley stalking around, looking very pissed off. I think Shiala would have happily slaughtered them all. "What you've done here, Doctor... Were there any human subjects?"

"No. The creepers are not infected humans."

"That's something at least."

"Look... I know what we did was wrong. I'll admit that. But it's over now. There's no sense in reporting this to the authorities, right?" To my amusement, she stepped forward, running a hand down my arm. "Maybe there is some way we could work this out between us."

I met her eyes and, I'll admit, nearly laughed in her face. "You're serious?"

"I know who you are," she replied before adding quietly, "Commander Shepard. Your reputation precedes you."

"Then you should know what sort of man I am. I'm certainly not going to be bribed." I looked her up and down. "Despite the fact part of me would like to fuck your brains out." I'll admit, if she was just a regular scientist, I wouldn't have said no. She was certainly attractive.

"But you won't?"

I quickly grabbed her wrist and spun her round, leaning her against the crate, pressing against her. Leaning down to her ear, I whispered, "You should be glad I'm not a complete arsehole and thinking of doing something else entirely." She would have felt the clasps around her wrists. "No, you are simply under arrest, Doctor Ross. Be glad I'm not like most other Spectres. They would have simply put a bullet in your head." Looking across the room, I located Tali. "Download everything you can find. I want a full report for when I hand her in to the Alliance."

"Right away, Shepard."

Once Tali announced she had everything we needed, we escorted the survivors out of the facility and board the

Normandy

once it was in position. Leaving the scientists in the brig, I headed to the conference room and contacted the Alliance, sending them all the information we could find. Letting them know we had prisoners, they instructed me to head to Arcturus to hand them over.

"Did she hit on you, Shepard?" Wrex asked over dinner later.

"That she did."

The krogan burst into laughter. "What is it with you and women?"

"No idea, to be honest."

"Well, for a human, he is rather handsome," Shiala stated. I just met her eyes and she met mine. She didn't blush when I met her gaze. In fact, her eyes told me one thing, and one thing only. It was my turn to gulp as there were titters of amusement.

"Where are we heading after Arcturus?" Ashley wondered.

"A planet called Chasca. From the data Tali managed to get for us on Feros, ExoGeni were sending more samples to a facility there, though they were sending them to a group called Cerberus."

"Heard of them," Alenko stated, "Some sort of pro-human organisation."

"They're terrorists," Garrus added, "C-Sec have investigated their activities more than once. Could never find concrete evidence they were working on the Citadel, but I always had a... gut feeling they were."

I nodded my agreement. "That's what the Alliance think too. They work in the shadows though. Highly secretive. No-one knows much about their organisation at all. Apparently led by someone called the Illusive Man."

That made Ashley laugh. "Seriously? The Illusive Man?"

Shrugging, I replied. "I don't think anyone knows who he really is. There are rumours they've bought members of the Alliance Parliament and military though. Some even believe the organisation developed from Alliance black operations."

The group split up after dinner as it was time to finally relax after another hard mission. One or two headed to the med-bay for a quick check up but most headed to their personal quarters or simply straight to bed. Considering we were now on our way to Arcturus, it was a good time to catch up on sleep.

Sitting at my desk in my quarters, the knock on my door wasn't a real surprise, calling for whoever it was to enter. Shiala wandered in, immediately locking the door once she was inside. Turning my chair to face her, she strode towards me before sitting on my lap, leaning down to kiss me without hesitation. I couldn't help reply, hands immediately going to her back, running one down to her rather fine arse. Not breaking the kiss, I slowly stood up, feeling her legs wrap around me as I moved us to the bed, gently lying her down as we ended up in the middle.

Finally breaking the kiss, now she started to blush when I looked at her. "Been wanting to do that for a while," she said quietly.

"Why?"

"You saved me, Shepard. And you believed me. I think anyone else would have just shot me." She reached up to caress my cheek. "And I wasn't lying. You are very handsome."

"Have you ever been with a human?"

"No, though I know all about you."

"Me human or me Shepard?"

I think she looked away in embarrassment. "Well, both," she whispered, "I may have done some research."

I sat up on my knees and looked her over. Her skin colour was different to Liara, more purple than blue. I was aware that asari came in a range of colours, just like humans. I leaned down and grabbed the zip of her leathers, undoing them to free her breasts, which were larger than expected, watching her quickly remove her arms before I undid the zip all the way down to her sex. We quickly removed them from her legs so she was lying naked beneath me.

She was utterly gorgeous. Very fit. I drank her body in and I could see she was now either a little nervous, or a little shy. I leaned down to give her a soft kiss. "For someone so confident when she strode in, Shiala," I whispered.

"I've never been with a human," she admitted.

"Do you know what we look like underneath our clothes?"

"Only what I've seen on the extranet."

I grabbed her hand and stood her up. She wasn't tall once out of her clothes, barely as tall as my chin. She took her time undressing me, taking off my coat first as I kicked off my boots and socked. When she helped unbutton my shirt, she ran her hands over my chest and back before resting her hand on my chest. "You feel so warm, Shepard," she stated with a giggle.

"Well, I suppose that's a good thing."

Grasping my belt, she undid that before helping unbutton then unzip my trousers, those falling to the ground, before my underwear also disappeared, so we were now standing together naked. She took a step back to look me up and down. "Very different to asari," she muttered.

"In a good way, I hope?"

She stepped forward, her hands immediately caressing my body, her eyes looking up to meet mine. "I will admit I've always wondered about humans. I know many asari were intrigued by turians when they arrived on the scene, then when the krogan were discovered. But their males are very different to... you. And I will say in a very good way." I felt her hand grasp my cock. "My god, Shepard..."

"So you've never been with someone like me?" She shook her head. "Then I guess we should take our time." The smile was so heart-warming, I could only return it, leaning down to give her a soft kiss. "Trust me, Shiala, this will be a night to remember for both of us."

Resting her back on the bed, I leaned down to kiss her but there was no missing the fact she spread her legs wide, so I thought I'd take a chance and gently play with her sex. She was rather wet already, both of us smiling as we continued to kiss, my fingers gently playing with her as she reached down to grab my cock, learning rather quickly not to grab too tightly and jerk it gently to get the required reaction.

"God," I moaned quietly, needing to break the kiss.

"Shepard," she breathed.

"I want to taste you," I whispered. That earned an immediate smile, again quite shy. "What?" I asked gently.

"I thought... I thought you'd just want..." She trailed off, looking away again.

Using a finger, I made her look back into my eyes. "Shiala, trust me on this one. I love doing it."

After kissing her again, I kissed down her body, first her neck, earning a gasp when I may have given her a gentle bite before moving down her body. Her breasts were perfect, the same colour as her skin, her nipples a darker shade of purple. I definitely spent plenty of time appreciating those with my mouth as I continued to fondle her sex. Feeling her hand run around the back of my head, I knew she was enjoying what I was doing at least, her breathing and the moaning of my name confirming it.

Her body was fantastic, loving kissing down her stomach, flat but not overly toned, no doubting she was athletic and a fellow warrior. I avoided her sex, earning another groan, this time of frustration, kissing down her thighs, before I kissed back up towards her sex. "Please, Shepard," she whispered.

"Please what?" I asked, placing my head between her legs, making her look down.

Her eyes, when they met mine, were wild with desire and lust. Just the way I liked it. "Please use your mouth on me. I'm going to cum

really

hard in about two minutes!"

I figured I should stop teasing, so I used my mouth on her, enjoying her taste immediately. I loved eating out any woman I was with, but due to my... tastes... no, that's the wrong word. Anyway, it was something I didn't get to do too often until recently. Spreading her legs wider, my mouth and tongue were working overdrive on her pussy, feeling her press down into my mouth, as she begged me to make her cum. The sort of begging that made me even harder as I knew she was completely turned on.

I could have used my fingers, but I didn't want to. This time, I was going to make her cum with my tongue. I'd teased her enough by now so stated to flick her clit. That earned a loud moan that would have echoed through the ship. She begged me to do it again and again, and I was soon completely focused on that. She came hard a couple of minutes later, the sort of orgasm that caused her thighs to practically clamp my head in place, and if it wasn't for the fact I could breathe through my nose, I would have suffocated. I didn't stop either, continuing to please her. I think she wanted me to stop, but before she could ask, her second orgasm followed as quickly as her first finished. I couldn't help chuckle as she lay back, her thighs continuing to hold me in place.

"Oh goddess, Shepard," she cried. Her body continued to shake and shudder as I didn't stop. "Oh goddess..." I think she nearly started to cry. "Please stop. I don't want you to, but please stop..."

I stopped as soon as she asked, feeling her release my head so I could at least rest on my forearms. She placed her feet on the bed, watching her take in a series of deep breaths before she looked down towards me. Her face said only one thing, kissing up her body, feeling her shudder as I assumed she was still rather sensitive, before I kissed her lips. "How the fuck..." she started to ask.

"Well, you're not too different to humans regarding that," I stated. That made her chuckle. "And I think you needed that."

She blinked rapidly before kissing me hard. "I've gone so long without being intimate... I couldn't as an acolyte. We had to be dedicated to the cause."

"Is it too much? We can..."

She kissed me again, feeling her arms and legs wrap around me. "No!" she shouted, before she started to giggle. "Oops. I mean..."

"You've never been with a man?" She shook her head, again blushing as she looked away. "But you know what happens next?"

Now she met my eyes, a small smile on her face. God, she looked utterly beautiful in that moment. "I know, Shepard," she whispered, "From the moment you rescued me, it's all I've thought about." I'm sure my face no doubt showed surprise. "As I said, I've done my research. You're a good man, Shepard. A great man. And that is why I wanted to be here with you right now."

"Before we..." I sighed. There was no right way to ask the question. Thankfully she saved me, laughing away first.

"It's just sex, Shepard. That's all I want right now. We can make love tonight, and tomorrow we continue as before. If you want this to happen again, I certainly won't complain. I'm not expecting commitment. You have Saren to deal with. I know, once this is over, I will return to Zhu's Hope. Sex and love can be separated, as I'm sure you know. But there can also be sex and intimacy with affection, that doesn't need to involve love. Do you know what I mean?"