Ashley's Negotiation

Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams made her way through the corridors of the Mercury Apartment complex in the more questionable section of the wards of the Citadel.

She was clad in a form fitting blue uniform she had been supplied with upon accepting a position on the Citadel, something the Alliance believed would help make her more approachable for both the alien and human inhabitants. From the second she put it on she felt deeply uncomfortable. She had spent most of her career in the Alliance in sturdy practical, if visually unappealing, combat armour. The tight suit did provide protection from small arms fire, but she couldn't help but feel almost girly, something she tried desperately over the years to avoid.

~~~~~

Shepard's trial was only a few weeks away and Ashley had every intention in attending, offering her support to her former Commander. He still maintained that the Reaper threat was an imminent one, that the destruction of the Alpha Relay was a justified action to buy the galaxy at large time to prepare. But when making her way from the Presidium to the Lower Wards it became very clear to her that not a single being took heed of his warnings.

The upper crust of the Citadel continued with their extravagant lifestyles, displaying their wealth in increasingly obscene ways. Crime went on as usual, with mercenaries and red sand dealers finding ever evolving ways of keeping their activities out of the watchful eye of C-Sec.

More frustrating for Ashley, Udina only became more grating as time went on. He always maintained that his decisions were made in humanity's best interests in mind, yet they almost always acted in a way that adversely affected Anderson's reputation in some form. Ashley despised the man, recognising him as the opportunist he was.

Respect for Anderson grew over time the more Ashley saw him in action. No matter how asinine the requests and desires of the council became, he dealt with them as expertly as he could, all with a pleasent expression on his face. Though she did smile surreptitiously whenever she overheard him swearing under his breath as the com-link closed. If Anderson was anything like her, Ashley knew he envied the Alliance soldiers serving on distant worlds.

During another one of Udina's outbursts regarding Anderson's public statements showing support for Shepard, her omni-tool received an encrypted message, it's origin point being somewhere in the Lower Wards. As soon as she found an opening to leave Udina's office she took it and headed for one of the outdoor restaurants located near the embassies, finding herself a secluded table.

She ran a scan of the message, ensuring it didn't contain any malicious viruses. A precaution she had learned after the recent capture of a salarian computer expert using messages promising huge financial gains in the millions if the recipient gave him a mere few hundred credits in return. Those who fell for it were none the wiser as his software mined their private data.

Satisfied that it was clean, she opened the message. Immediately, she was met by pictures from what appeared to be a human colony, showing thousands of colonists in different states of distress. The final image made the reason for their terror clear; a group of batarian mercenaries surrounded the rounded up colonists, penning them in like cattle. It didn't surprise her in the least. Batarian attacks on human settlements had exploded in number after the destruction of their system after its Mass Relay was deliberately decimated by Shepard.

The councillors of the other races were quick to voice their anger at the actions of Shepard, more for the sake of protecting their reputations given their choice to reinstate him as a SPECTRE. As such, little was offered by the council in the way of providing help in protecting the at-risk colonies, leaving the Alliance to do the heavy lifting. Ashley's already low opinion of the council plummeted. She knew -- though wouldn't dare to say it publicly -- that the other races were quietly glad that such a heavy blow had been dealt to the batarians. They had become a scourge in the Terminus System, targeting and attacking any vessels they knew were vulnerable, only growing bolder in the decades following the emergence of the human race and end of the First Contact War.

As the image finally faded away, a short message appeared on the display of her omni-tool:

"Lower Wards, Mercury Apartments, room 221."

The validity of the message was an immediate question to her. It wasn't unknown for shady individuals to create false images as a method of playing with their targets emotions, to lure them into a trap. But Ashley Williams came from a long line of Alliance soldiers, if lives were in imminent danger she couldn't let it stand. Deactivating the omni-tool, she stood and stormed out of the restaurant and located the closest Rapid Transit terminal.

~~~~~

The Mercury Apartments were nowhere close to the same standards of the housing in the Presidium, complete with substandard utilities and poorly designed, cramped rooms. They were usually occupied by poorer newcomers to the Citadel looking to work their way up, or criminals syndicates establishing a connection aboard the station. Ashley knew that the sender of the message would likely fall into the latter category, but she had dealt with far worse than a petty would be crime lord.

She exited the elevator as it reached the final floor, thankful that she no longer needed to be subjected to the droning music. With every step she took Ashley kept her eyes trained on every door, preparing herself just in case she truly was walking her way into a trap.

Reaching the door without issue, she rapped her knuckles against it. It swished open, but there was no-one on the opposite side to greet her, which only served to heighten her suspicions. She crept inside as quietly as she could, the heels of her boots clicking against the metal floor ever so slightly. The lights were on, nothing in particular struck her as being out of place, nor an indicator of the apartment's renter currently holding the lives of thousands in their palm.

Cautiously, she crept over to the centre of the main living area, giving herself a view of the adjoining rooms. Again, she could see nothing of interest, no sign of mercenary activity. She turned her head to gaze out of the massive window behind her, looking for any vehicles hovering just outside, waiting to pepper the apartment with bullets, but all she saw was the expanse of the Citadel's open arms.

"Stay right there, human!" a voice ordered, the deep tone Ashley immediately recognised as belonging to a batarian, just a few feet separating them. He looked particularly grizzled for a batarian, a set of scars traced across the side of his face, his armour was covered by dents and scorch marks.

"I'm assuming you were the one that sent the message?" Ashley asked, showing her hands to indicate she had come unarmed.

"Obviously," the batarian bit out, "it was an easy way of getting you here. You're a sentimental species. My name is Be'sk Tol, leader of the mercenary group in that document I sent you."

"But that doesn't explain why you brought me here," Ashley replied, folding her arms. "If it's ransom money you're looking for you could have sent the pictures directly to the human embassy, but I doubt that they would negotiate with scum that threatens innocents."

"Oh, I'm not looking for any payment," the Be'sk licked his lips, "I was looking for you specifically. All it took was the right kind of pressure to convince you to come here by yourself; alone."

Ashley could feel her instinct to lunge at the batarian and connect her fist with his chin growing by the second. "What's that supposed to mean? What good is one Alliance soldier to you?"

"Because you were one of Shepard's crew members!" Be'sk snapped. "Do you think that just because he's on trial on your primitive planet we would forget what he did? That we wouldn't retaliate after the destruction of Khar'shan? Billions of lives lost because of humanity, genocide because of spite!"

"Look, I'm sorry for what you've lost, but how does that concern me?" Ashley asked in exasperation. "I wasn't a part of the Normandy crew that caused the asteroid to collide with the relay, and Shepard has already made his reason for resorting to such an extreme very clear."

Be'sk's lips curled, his sharp teeth forming into a cruel smile, his eyes glided across Ashley's body. "But you were close to him once. And you're the closest form of revenge I can have with Shepard currently confined to your planet."

Ashley cocked her hip out and pursed her lips. "So you're going to kill me to send a message to Shepard, is that the sum of it? I've barely spoken to him since he turned himself in, his ties to Cerberus did a good job of causing us to drift apart."

To her surprise, Be'sk shook his head with a certain glee. "That would be too easy; too cold. I need the Alliance to know that despite the decimation of our world, the batarians still refuse to be pushed around."

It took a moment for Ashley to comprehend what Be'sk was implying. She wasn't entirely sure what he had planned when he designed his trap, but that didn't mean she couldn't take some control of the situation in some capacity. "You batarians are always scheming in some manner, not a surprise that your species was removed from the Citadel Council."

"Yet your arrogant species was offered a place on a silver platter," Be'sk vented his frustration.

"Whatever you came up with to enact your revenge won't work, but I might have an alternative that will interest you," Ashley countered suggestively, tracing her hand down her thin waist.

"Elaborate!" Be'sk demanded, though clearly intrigued.

Ashley reached up to the top of her protective jacket, grabbing the mag-zipper between her nimble fingers. Slowly, the zipper travelled downwards, until her cleavage was exposed. Her large bust, contained by a simple white bra became Be'sk's fixation. "Are you familiar with the the body of human women?"

Be'sk took a deliberate step towards her. "I am. Humans in general are disgusting in the eyes of batarians, your smooth skin and strangely placed hair are very alien. How can you have possibly made it this far with only two eyes? Let's just say that I have a unique attraction to certain human females, always willing to open their legs with the right incentive! Everyone has their weakness, and I'm very good at finding it! Though, it doesn't seem to take much to get you on your back."

"I bet," Ashley teased, "but why don't you drop the freedom fighter act? Just for a bit. I think you'll find I can be quite... flexible."

"Eager to absolve yourself of the guilt?"

Ashley clenched her fist. "Typical batarian, Shepard didn't want to destroy your home world, he didn't have any options left, but there isn't much sympathy going around for you. That tends to happen when you go out of your way to be a pest."

Be'sk growled, lunging forward and grasping Ashley's forearm. "I don't need your sympathy, human! But you do have something else to be concerned about."

He activated his own omni-tool and showed it to Ashley. It displayed a live feed of the colony, the mercenaries had clearly caused significant harm to the colonists since she received the first set of files. Be'sk raised the speaker to his mouth.

"Be ready if I give the signal," he ordered

Ashley felt his vile breath brush across her face, but she looked at him with continued defiance. "I hope you're aware of how easy it would be to put a quick call to C-Sec and have you dragged to the cells, the rest of your mercs won't be too far behind you, the Alliance didn't get this far in the galaxy without snuffing things like you out. Drop the ego for once, I've already given you an offer you clearly want to accept! A member of Shepard's team, volunteering herself for some time in your bed."

Be'sk didn't seem concerned in the least by the threat, though the offer from Ashley had clearly interested him beyond reason, his eyes were entirely focussed by her lace covered breasts.

Ashley broke her arm free, hating how sure of himself Be'sk looked. The thought of having sex with a batarian in general repulsed Ashley, the species had gone out its way to terrorize the human colonies. But she couldn't deny the pent up need within her as she watched all four of his eyes glued to her in overt desire. Acting as a personal guard to Anderson left her little free time; no time to aleviate her sexual needs. Perhaps the batarian wasn't lying about his talents with human women.

"Clock's ticking," Be'sk stated. He reached down to his armoured pants and undid the bindings, dropping them down, allowing his thick, hard cock to enter Ashley's vision.

A thousand thoughts hit Ashley at once, but not a single one stuck out as a solution. She had a long held distrust for aliens, but that paled in comparison to how much she despised the batarian in front of her. She knew he had her backed her into an impossible corner, but that didn't mean she couldn't turn it in her favour.

Ashley took a calming breath and slowly descended to her knees, brushing her raven hair behind her shoulders. "Always so demanding?"

Be'sk stepped forward until his crotch was directly in her face, his thick cock waved in the air with barely a space separating them. He took a hold of the base and pressed the tip to Ashley's pink lips, gloating as his pre-cum coated her delicate lips.

"Don't waste my time, human," Be'sk hissed.

Ashley did so, knowing it would he better to get it over with as quickly as possible. Her mouth opened, allowing Be'sk to shove his penis inside. She held back a gag as he uncaringly forced as much of his organ inside as he could, grasping her hair in a knot to prevent her from pulling away.

Be'sk gleefully listened to her sucking, rolling her head against him. Finally, he allowed her some respite, letting her gasp for air as she shot him a dark glare, which was quickly interrupted as he tugged her head once more.

Ashley's gloved hands pressed against his thighs, eventually reaching his bulging testicles, squeezing them softly. His hand brought her head into a rhythm, plunging his cock in and out of her throat with glee.

"I have missed this," Be'sk spat, "human women aren't as tough edged as batarian women, you're so much more pliable. You know you belong on your knees."

Ashley rolled her eyes, allowing him to have his time to gloat over her, but a little twinge of lust run deep to her core. Little did Be'sk know what plan was formulating in the human's head as he moaned away.

He continued to use her throat for his sick pleasure, pumping his hips as he felt her throat tighten around his lodged member. After a few moments he freed himself, letting Ashley fall onto her hands and knees, taking heaving gasps, saliva dripped from her chin.

"Don't think I'm done yet, human," Be'sk grabbed Ashley and wrapped an arm around her waist. He dragged her bridal style into the bedroom and tossed her onto her back on the bed. Taking advantage of the Alliance soldier's shock, he began to wench open the straps of her blue uniform, using a blade to tear away her plain underwear and bra. Once her breasts and pussy were entirely exposed he took a hold of her wrists and raised tuem above her head.

"Quite the body," Be'sk grinned, "it's a real shame to keep it hidden beneath armour and uniforms." He placed his shaft against Ashley's mound and rubbed it teasingly. With a sadistic gleam in his eyes, he made sure that she witnessed the head of his shaft nestle against her slit.

"I'll walk around the Citadel naked then," Ashley's voice dripped with sarcasm, "are you going to fuck me or not?"

The batarian seethed, feeling the human beneath him doing everything she could to chip away at his control. Be'sk's girth forced its way into her tight canal, the ridged skin providing an unusual sensation she had never experienced from a human cock. A part of her deep down would admit that it was almost pleasurable.

"Ever since your species appeared you've always made demands," Be'sk said, squeezing one of Ashley's luscious breasts and he fucked her, "taken all the best resources that should have been ours! Taking human slaves was nothing compared to what your species took from us, now I'm taking one of Shepard's closest allies."

Ashley bit her tongue as he nestled on top of her, forcing her legs wider. The mattress sunk down under the might of his harsh pounding, unleashing his long-held frustration upon Ashley. Unexpectedly, his hand took a hold of her mouth, forcing it open as he crashed his lips upon her, sending his fetid saliva dripping down her throat. She felt the vibration of an evil laugh as she tensed.

Be'sk's body engulfed hers completely as he neared his completion, rolling his thighs, driving his entire length farther than any of Ashley's previous partners ever had. Slapping sounds became far more audible, echoing sharply in Ashley's ears, quickly accompanied by Be'sk's loud grunting.

Be'sk took heavy breaths as he felt his desire churning, he was even willing to admit that the Alliance officer was the best lay he had ever experienced. He cried out joyously as he felt her inner walls contract, involuntarily clamping down around his manhood as it prepared to deliver its load into such a fine specimen.

Ashley felt herself cum, her toes flexed in her heeled combat boots. "Give it to me! Keep fucking me, four-eyes! Oh god, just don't stop it!"

"So close," Be'sk proclaimed, staring into Ashley's eyes as he finally came, his hips froze in place. Powerful shot after shot charged deep inside Ashley's silky canal, showering her walls with viscous batarian sperm. "Can you feel that, human? You'll never forget this, for the rest of your life you'll remember you were a batarian's woman."

"Then make it last, make this human remember it!" Ashley cried, reaching an orgasm just as Be'sk began to recover from his intense climax.

~~~~~

Be'sk spent the length of the hour fully enjoying Ashley, until she was left exhausted on the filthy bed. His hands clawed at her smooth skin, leaving marks he knew would take days to heal. He coated her silky black hair with cum, not giving her the decency to have some part of her untouched by his foul lust. Just as the time neared he activated a direct line to his men. "Stand down, I've gotten what I came for."

"Hope it was as good as it sounded," a voice chuckled.

A victorious smile rose on Be'sk's scarred face as he watched Shepard's trusted crew member gather herself, worn down from what he had done to her. He pulled his armour and clothing back on and made for the door, though a part of him almost wished he could snap an electro-collar around her delicate throat and take her with him, a fine prize she would make for an up and coming mercenary leader; but she was too well monitored.

"You won't be forgetting me anytime soon, human," Be'sk mocked. "Who knows, maybe you'll seek me out for more."

"Hmm, you already seem a little too worn out for my needs. Haven't you got better places to be?" Ashley sighed, raising herself up on her elbows, reaching down to finger her dripping sex.

"Fine, I've already got what I wanted," he replied, exiting the apartment with a superior look on his scar laced face.

As soon as she heard the door seal shut Ashley slumped, running a hand across her sweat covered face. She despised herself for just how much she enjoyed what she had done, but kept reminding herself of how many lives were saved by her sacrifice. Her eyes locked onto the bathroom and she stood, thankful to get the stench of batarian off her body and expel his seed from her vaginal canal.

But just as she prepared to tug off her uniform, the inviting shower already prepared, her omni-tool sounded, indicating that a message had been sent to her by Anderson: