Mass Effect - A Hero Rises Ch. 08

"I don't do favours just to have sex with women, Ash. You deserve..."

"I'm yanking your chain, Shepard."

I couldn't help grin. "I figured, but..."

She took a step closer. "Would you like to though?" she asked, her tone softer, even... sultry.

"What, sleep with you?" She nodded. I smiled again before leaning closer to her ear. "I wouldn't mind fucking your brains out, Ash. Get you on all fours then just make you beg for more."

I heard her gasp but she didn't move away. "What else?" she breathed into my ear.

"What else would you like?" I retorted quietly.

"I'd love you to eat my pussy, Shepard. All night, just your mouth between my legs. Would you like that?"

"I'd love it, Ash." She met my eyes and I could read them easily. "But not tonight. We have a lot to do."

She nodded, understanding immediately. "Of course, Shepard. But, maybe one day..."

"You've... changed..."

"I've been listening to Shiala, Shepard. I'm missing out. I don't want to miss out. I'm not after commitment. I have my career to think about. But I miss the... intimacy that comes with being with someone. And I look at you and... I want..."

I stepped forward so our bodies were almost touching, leaning down so I nearly kissed her. "You want me, Ash? I want to hear you say it."

"God yes, Shepard. I want you. Your hands on my body. Your lips on mine. Naked beneath you as you're inside me." She smirked. "Descriptive enough?"

I couldn't help smile again. I tried not to make it look triumphant. "That feeling is mutual." The smile that formed lit up her face, made her look ten times more beautiful in an instant. "And you're beautiful when you smile." That made her blush immediately. "Sorry, just..."

"No, I'll take the compliment, Shepard." She took a deep breath and stepped back. "I'd better go. Part of me doesn't want to, but..."

"Good night, Chief."

Another smile, recognising what I was doing. "Good night, Commander. I'll see you at breakfast."

"That you will. Couple of big days coming up."

I decided we'd have breakfast before departing the next morning, also needing to wait for Garrus to show up. He came strolling into the mess just as we were about to finish, definitely looking pleased with himself. Taking a seat next to Wrex, the krogan just stated, "Someone got lucky last night. And, for once, it wasn't Shepard."

"Don't know what you're talking about, Wrex."

"Bullshit, turian. You just strolled in here, looking all sorts of smug, the look of a man who had his balls emptied last night."

"Wrex!" Tali exclaimed, though giggling away.

"Get used to it, little one. It appears it's not only the Commander that is getting some action now." Wrex looked around the table before stopping at someone. "What about you, doc? Think you could handle a krogan?" I think Liara definitely turned a paler shade of blue, which only made him laugh harder. "Only kidding, doc. I know who you have the hots for." He made an obvious glance in another direction. "Same with you, Ash. And you, Chakwas. I have all of you picked."

I just burst into laughter. "Can't get anything past you, can we?"

"I'm old enough to have seen this sort of shit happen before. Garrus now has a girlfriend."

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, you definitely have a girlfriend now, turian. And as for you, Shepard, you just appear to be a magnet. Can understand why. Shiala has already let slip how... gifted you are."

I glanced down the table. Shiala couldn't meet my eyes, definitely blushing. "Gifted how?" Tali wondered.

"He has a big cock, little one. From what Shiala said, up to eight inches but also nice and thick."

"Keelah," Tali whispered, "They can get that big?"

"Krogan have bigger, but this isn't a dick measuring contest. Let's just say our Commander is well above average for his species."

I met the eyes of Ashley. Hearing what I had definitely surprised her, and there was now a look in her eyes that suggested she didn't want to wait much longer. Liara was simply blushing, the conversation probably too much for her. "Does it hurt?" Tali asked Shiala.

"Goddess, no. It's perfect. I'm just amazed I managed to swallow his whole cock when I blew him."

Wrex burst into laughter, slamming the table with his palm. Alenko couldn't help burst into laughter too. "Well, this has turned into quite the breakfast conversation."

"You want some action, LT?" Ashley joked.

"Ah, well, um..." He trailed off, looking embarrassed.

"Alenko, you can admit it. I've seen your file. No-one is going to judge. We don't live in that world anymore," I stated.

He shrugged, looking around the table. "Guess I hide it well, not that I do it in on purpose, but you can never be too sure of how people would react, even in todays world." He cleared his throat before adding, "I prefer the company of men, Ash."

"Oh, I had no idea."

"I just don't talk about my private life all that much. But I realised I preferred men after hooking up with this one girl I really liked. Realised I liked her as a friend rather than lover, then realised I was actually attracted to someone else in the same group, my feelings being all mixed up as I didn't comprehend them at the time. He felt the same way and... well, that's been my life since." He sighed. "Being single does suck though."

Wrex leaned forward. "Ever had krogan before?"

This made me laugh even harder, Tali even giggled. "Seriously?" Alenko asked.

Wrex shrugged. "Krogan don't have what you were term sexual preferences. We'll have sex with anyone. We do have sex with females for procreation but, other than that, it's just for fun."

Alenko looked around the table. "You're being serious here?"

Wrex shrugged again. "I'm prepared to do a colleague a favour. I do warn you though, Alenko. I'm what you humans call well hung."

"Um, maybe we should discuss this in private..."

"Well, looks like everyone is getting laid," I joked, before a couple of people look at me, "Well, nearly everyone."

Thankfully, we split up quickly as we did need to move. Once we'd departed the Citadel, I had the Normandy head to the Voyager Cluster, in particular a planet by the name of Binthu. One of the urgent assignments involved a message I'd received from Admiral Kahoku, who had continued his investigation into the activities of Cerberus. Having located one of their facilities, he was personally investigating the plan but asked for my immediate back up.

In orbit around the planet, I tried to contact him below, but received no response. As usual, I would have the entire team on the ground with me, not prepared to leave any of them behind for the time being. With all of us having particular skills, we would be using overwhelming force against any opposition.

Landing groundside in the Mako, we'd already pinged the three facilities that we'd located before landing. Driving us towards the first one, we found ourselves under fire from what I could only assume were human terrorists the closer I drove.

"Light them up, Garrus," I ordered, immediately hearing the machine gun above our heads do just that.

One of them had a rocket launcher, managing to fire one straight at us before Garrus riddled him with bullets. The rest were armed with rifles, stupidly thinking they'd do anything to our shielded and armoured machine. Killing them all didn't take too long, and after we climbed out, Alenko did ask for orders.

"Like with ExoGeni, we'll see if we can take prisoners and find out more about this Cerberus."

Everyone agreed, even Wrex, and after checking armours and weapons, we headed inside. It was another facility dug into the ground, and it they were filled with terrorists. Those armed with weapons, we returned fire, shot and killed where they stood. The researchers and scientists we tried to shoot in the leg or arm. If they were stupid enough to pull a weapon, they joined others on the floor. But that isn't what grabbed our attention.

"Creepers," I muttered as I approached the force field. "Tali, can you get it down?"

"Of course, Shepard."

"Shotguns out, people. Soon as it disappears, we kill them all."

It didn't take Tali long to get the shields down. As soon as it blinked out, we opened fire. The noise was deafening. The creepers didn't stand a chance, their bodies simply piling on the floor. Ashley had cuffed and collared the lone scientist, and after a final check to make sure we'd collected all the data possible, and left no-one behind, we left the facility.

"The hell are we going to find at the second one?" Garrus muttered.

"Just what are these people up to?" Alenko asked himself.

Both were good questions as we boarded the Mako, now even more cramped with our prisoner. The second facility was like the first, the outside patrolled by terrorists, the inside full of them as well. But what lurked behind the force field this time... If you looked up monster in the dictionary, something like that would appear.

"The fuck are those?" I wondered.

Wrex sniffed the air. "They smell wrong, Shepard. Very wrong."

"Know what it is?"

"I might, but then it doesn't make sense." He sniffed again. "I could be wrong."

What we did was release them and kill them immediately. Everyone from Cerberus was dead, even the scientists taking out weapons as soon as we entered the large room where they seemed to be waiting for us. We grabbed more data, though nothing told us what the monsters were, simply saying they were experiments on sample letters and numbers. Would have liked the name of whatever it was, but I guess we'd find out later.

Heading to the third facility, I was worried about the fact we hadn't seen nor heard from Admiral Kahoku. If he was being held prisoner, so be it, we could rescue him. But surely Cerberus would try and negotiate terms. The fact they hadn't... I didn't share the bad feeling I had settling in my stomach, simply steeling myself for whatever came next.

Cerberus, now aware we were on the planet, fought like fanatics. One had even strapped explosives to their chest and ran towards out vehicle, only quick thinking from Garrus stopping them from really causing some damage. That just pissed me off, so I may have run a couple of the bastards over in return. Gathering at the entrance, I suggested we were beyond taking prisoners at this point, the one we had tied up in the Mako enough. No-one disagreed with the order.

We slaughtered the bastards, that's all I can really say about what happened. Biotics, tech and bullets rained down on anyone from Cerberus in the lab. They fought for as long and hard as possible but they never stood a chance against the overwhelming force at my disposal. Once they were all dead within a few minutes, our group approached the force field, a similar looking monster behind it. This one was aggressive, slamming into the barrier to try and get at us.

"Tali, take the barrier down. The rest of you, in cover. Soon as it goes down, Shiala and Liara, biotics. The rest of you, open fire."

We realised it was weak to biotics, and with as many bullets as we put into it, the fight lasted all of thirty seconds before the monster was dead on the ground. Standing out of cover, Wrex wandered over, kicking it with his foot, sniffing the air. I ignored that as I found something I had expected for a while, but it was still a kick in the guts.

Crouching by the body, I checked for a pulse, but it had been a long time since blood had flowed through his body. Alenko and Ashley knelt down next to me. "He's dead?" Ash asked quietly.

"He is, but..." I checked his body. Considering he was inside the containment area with that monster, his appeared fine. No wounds anywhere. So I checked his neck and then his arms, and that's when I found the track marks. Alenko and Ashley noticed too. "Bastards. They didn't even give him the dignity..."

Tali reported she'd found more data, for which I thanked her for. We managed to make a rudimentary stretcher out of supplies we found, Alenko and I carrying the body of Admiral Kahoku out of the facility, before placing it in the Mako. I dragged the scientist out, putting him on his knees, putting the barrel of my pistol to his head. "Why?" I growled.

Shaking as much as he was, little wonder his voice quivered. "He was getting too close. We were ordered..."

"You know who I am?" He nodded. "You know I'm a Spectre?"

"But you can't..."

"Already have the data we need. Taking you won't add anything. Prepared to tell me what I want?"

"I can't. They'll kill me."

I smirked. "Wrong answer."

I pulled the trigger, sending the bullet through his head, watching his body slump to the ground. The shot appeared to echo around us as I holstered the weapon and turned around. While there were one or two surprised looks, no-one said anything to start with. "Bastard deserved it," Ashley muttered.

"Guess that changes things regarding Cerberus," Garrus stated.

"Tali will get us the data we need. Unless we get our hands on someone senior, and I don't think that piece of shit was much of anything, then we're going to simply wipe the bastards out. No negotiating with terrorists."

Calling in Joker, we were soon back on the Normandy, where we placed the body of Admiral Kahoku in a coffin, and I reported in what we'd discovered. Admiral Hackett, who by now was my main means of communication with the Alliance, ordered me to return his body to the Citadel immediately, where it would then be taken to Arcturus for a funeral. Being a member of the Alliance Navy, he would not be buried on land. His coffin would be released into space, where it would float for eternity. I suggested that, instead of the Citadel, we just deliver it to Arcturus as I wished to attend. Hackett agreed, so I had Joker take us to Arcturus.

I hadn't been there in quite a while, always amazed at the sheer size of the place. Docking the Normandy, the coffin could basically levitate off the ground thanks to mass effect fields, Ashley, Alenko and I flanking it as we walked off the ship, his coffin draped in the flag of the Alliance. Alliance personnel were lined up to either side, saluting as we walked forward slowly, Admiral Hackett one of at least greeting us.

His coffin taken away, the admirals wanted to hear my report. Dismissing everyone for now, only Wrex getting unwanted attention considering few people had probably met krogan, I was whisked away to a large office, where I told them everything that had happened since my first meet with the admiral. They wanted to hear details about what happened on Binthu, and I held nothing back, including the summary execution of the scientist. I wanted them to know what I would do for both the Citadel and humanity.

"His funeral will be tomorrow, Shepard. Anyone from ship, Alliance or not, is invited to attend," Hackett stated.

"Thank you, sir."

The funeral was a solemn affair. Being a hero of the Skyllian Blitz, Admiral Kahoku was fondly thought of in Alliance circles. Word of his murder spread quickly, and the hall was packed to the rafters during the service. Hackett spoke warmly of his friend and colleague, and many were saddened when it was mentioned the admiral had left behind a wife and three children. That just pissed me off even further, knowing my personal war against Cerberus had only just begun.

The service over, I met my group outside, suggesting we would depart the Citadel within a couple of hours. After sharing a few words with Hackett again, I also introduced myself to Kahoku's family. They knew me, coming as no real surprise. They simply thanked me for bringing his body home so they could say goodbye.

Once all of us were back on the Normandy, I put our next destination into the galaxy map. Joker did query it, wondering why we were not going to Noveria. I suggested we had one or two other matters to deal with first before that but not to worry. Noveria was next on the list.