Mass Effect - A Hero Rises Ch. 28

They were now flooding forward though and adapted their tactics, now grouping in threes and fours, and I simply couldn't charge into groups like that. So I worked with Jack, swapping my shotgun for an assault rifle, watching as she would send shockwaves forward, leaving the flying mercenaries as easy picking for the rest of us. Grunt still didn't really know what cover was but didn't seem to take much damage, any blood drawn being a bade of pride for the young krogan.

We found more workers as we fought our way up the tower. Most of them were beyond terrified, lucky we hadn't had our heads blow off by one salarian as he accidently fired when we opened the door to the closet he was hiding in. I was on the verge of giving him a slap before he fainted to the ground, his colleagues thanking us for the rescue and they'd look after him.

Arriving at the bridge linking both towers, it looked like the perfect trap, all of us taking cover and assessing. "See much, Garrus?"

"Well, there's no other way across, Shepard, unless you want to head downstairs and try door number two."

"Machine guns too, Shepard. Two of the fuckers. One either side," Zaeed reported.

"Okay, we need to take those out first. Garrus, those are yours. What I'll do is charge over and draw their fire, allowing the rest of you to follow. Jack, you follow me first. Once you sight anyone, unleash hell. I want piles of dead bodies."

"That sort of talk will get me nice and wet for later, Shepard."

"Spirits," Garrus muttered as Zaeed simply cackled with laughter.

"Grunt and Zaeed, you follow up with all the firepower you have at your disposal. Got it?" The four nodded. "Okay, get into position. Garrus, once you take out the first gun, I'll move."

We spread out, getting into position. I crouched behind cover and waited for the first shot. I knew the sort of rifle Garrus carried. It was fucking powerful, capable of causing immense destruction to man or machine. A direct shot at a machine gun? It would blow up easily.

I barely heard the shot before the machine gun exploded. That's when I stood up and sprinted, gunfire immediately coming towards me so I charged forward, slamming into a crowd of three. The one I hit directly went flying back as I swung my shotgun like a bat, basically knocking out the second. I took a shot from a rifle, my shields almost failing as I spun and fired in return. Firing at the one on the ground, I then heard a roar as Jack appeared, a shockwave as wide as the tower itself, or so it seemed, spreading out, wiping out anything in front of us.

Charging forward again, most were now alone or at most a pair, so while I could charge, the biotic power of Jack meant I could hang back and simply shoot the unfortunate bastards being pulled, thrown or blasted out of cover by her biotics. It was an impressive display of her power... and I was starting to understand why she found it such a turn on. She noticed me watching her and smirked. "Want to come down and fuck me later?"

I could only chuckle at her bluntness as we moved on, quickly moving up a set of stairs. We entered what was the reception to an office, and when we found at least six dead bodies, that brought us to a halt, as we looked at each other. "Thane?" I asked.

Moving forward again, we reached another room, another dead body, before walking through the next set of doors. Only then did we stop. Ahead was an asari, watching for something out the window. She wore business attire, and though I couldn't see her face, I knew it was Nassana Dantius. The Eclipse mercenaries, around six of them, had their backs turned. I gestured for the team to spread out, raising our weapons as I whistled for her attention. "Oh, Nassana," I sang.

She turned around in surprise, first taken aback by our presence and the weapons aimed in her direction, before her eyes narrowed towards me. "Commander Shepard? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I don't know about me, but I think you're about to have a very bad day. Your mercenaries below us? All dead. Those in here with you? About to be dead."

"Are you here to kill me?"

"Surprisingly not. I'm actually looking for someone, but he doesn't appear to be here yet."

"Bullshit, Shepard. You finished off my sister without any qualms whatsoever. And I can only guess someone else has now paid you to finish me off."

"What makes you think we want to kill you?" Garrus wondered. A good question, I thought.

"Why else would you have spent the past couple of hours wiping out my entire security force?"

"Well, that relates to what I just said. We're not here for you, we're here for someone else."

"Are you after credits? Is that it?" she asked, "Come to blackmail me about my sister?"

I couldn't help groan. "Are you deaf, dumb, or fucking retarded? I'm not here for you." I glanced at Garrus. "Reckon we're a good distraction though?"

"Hmmm. Possibly. We could just shoot..."

Before Garrus could finish his sentence, a figure dropped gracefully from the ceiling. He was so silent, no-one would have known his presence if you hadn't seen him drop. He worked through the Eclipse mercenaries so fast, it was almost embarrassing, all of it without a weapon in hand. A crushed larynx here, a neck snapped there, all of his motions fluid, almost poetry in motion. Maybe one of the Eclipse mercenaries got off a shot, Zaeed putting a bullet in his head simply to help out.

The assassin immediately moved to Nassana, taking a hidden pistol off his body and firing with no hesitation whatsoever. What he did next no doubt surprised us all. The shot was fatal, as Nassana was bleeding out very quickly, though he caught her body and laid it down on the desk, crossing her arms over her chest and closing her eyes as she took a few more breaths before her head rolled to the side. He then lowered his head, clasping his hands in prayer.

I was taken aback. I'd expected a cold blooded assassin who killed for either money or the simple thrill of the kill. What stood in front of us? Frankly, I found it bizarre. I gestured for everyone to lower their weapons, placing my rifle on my back as I slowly walked forward. "Thane Krios?" I asked.

The assassin didn't look up but had noticed our presence at least. "I apologise, but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."

"Does someone like her deserve such a gesture?"

Only now did he turned around. I'd never met a drell before. I'd done a little research on them but seeing them in the flesh was altogether something different. Green skin... or scales. Dark eyes. Like a void, to be honest. He blinked once, then twice, two sets of eyelids. Never seen that before. Almost reptilian. But there were enough human features, like a nose, mouth, ears, hands and feet. He was tall as well.

"The prayer is not for her. The prayer is for me."

"Why?"

"The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for instance. All this destruction and chaos."

"It gets the job done. Had to find you and I wasn't exactly sure if you could take out an entire building of mercenaries alone."

"Indeed. What intrigued me most was how far you'd go to find me." The assassin rounded the desk and stood in front of me, appearing to appraise me in return. He then glanced over my team, each one getting a once over, before his eyes returned to me again. "Well, here I am. What would you like to discuss?"

"I'm putting together a team. Best of the best and you've come highly recommended. Collectors are attacking human colonies, abducting people for a reason we don't know yet. The main objective is to travel through the Omega Four relay. I'm sure you're aware no ship has ever returned."

"Sounds like a suicide mission."

"While that is possible, I haven't come back from death just to die again. It seems I get the impossible job. I tracked down Saren and killed him. I intend to do the same here."

He nodded as he gave my words consideration, walking over towards the same window that Nassana had been keeping watch. "An interesting proposal, Shepard. I have been seeking a job that would give my soul a deep cleanse." No idea what he was talking about but he glanced back and nodded. "Yes, I will join your team, Shepard. It would be an honour. But, before I do, there is one thing you must know about me."

"And that is?"

"I'm dying."

"You look perfectly fine to me considering you've just done all this," Garrus stated.

"While that is true, the disease I am suffering is killing me slowly. At the moment, many would consider me healthy. The actual dying part is a slow process, but it has already begun. I am not sure how many months I have left, but I believe they number no more than twelve."

"And you'll devote some of those months to our cause?"

He walked forward, offering his hand. "Yes, I would be honoured if you would have me."

I accepted his hand immediately. "Of course. Welcome to the Normandy."

He shook the hand of everyone else present before suggesting we should really head back to the ship. We just went down the same tower, seeing signs of his progress as there were dead bodies everywhere. Some had been shot but most were clean, quiet kills. Exiting through the doors at the bottom, I immediately flagged down a pair of cabs, having them take us straight back to the Normandy.

Back on board, I explained to Thane that he's meet with two people. He'd have a physical with Doctor Chakwas, which everyone had had after their recruitment. And Kelly would also talk to them as she would confer with Chakwas in regards to a psych profile. Considering the mission we were on, both our physical and mental sides were being tested and we needed to be fighting fit regarding both. Thane agreed and headed first to Doctor Chakwas as I dumped my gear and weapons in the armoury before heading out to say hello to Kelly. She turned and hugged me straight away.

"Glad you're back safe and sound. Having a drell on board will be an interesting experience," she said before letting me go as I turned to lean back against her workspace. She stopped working while we talked.

"He's... interesting. He'll be good conversation, I reckon."

"Are you going to stay here for dinner or are you going to meet Gianna?"

"I did kinda promise..."

"Shepard, I told you I understand. We had some fun earlier and you kept your word about coming back to see me."

"Jack will definitely be disappointed. She actually flirted with me during the mission."

"Well, she clearly likes sex like the rest of us. But I assume it's just that?"

"Oh, it's that but different."

She gave it a little thought before nodding. "Ah, I think I might know what you mean. Well, that would be no surprise either."

"Once we're away from Illium, we'll have dinner in my cabin. Make a night of it."

"I love the sound of that, Shepard." She casually slid her hand down my chest towards my crotch, giving it a subtle squeeze. Any crew was behind me so nothing would be seen. "I will miss this tonight though."

I leaned closer to her. "I'll miss the taste of your pussy, Kelly," I whispered.

"You will?"

"I could eat you out for hours, Kelly. Though maybe I'll have to eat out your arse one night too."

"Oh, you'd like to do that? Maybe you'd like to fuck me there too?"

I raised my eyebrows. We hadn't broached that subject as it normally wasn't something I cared about. But I liked to talk dirty so... "Would you like my thick cock in your tight little arse, Kelly?"

My lips were now very close to hers. "Just get me on all fours, Shepard. Do whatever you want to me."

"First your pussy, then your arse. I'll leave a load in both."

She kissed me after that, her hand now stroking my obvious erection in my trousers. If anyone had noticed, they were smart enough not to watch. Moving my own hand down her body, she spread her legs slightly and I felt her sex and she was wet despite the layers of clothing. She had to cover her mouth as she was about to moan loudly. "Too much?" I asked.

"We'd better stop. I really don't want to but we are going to end up fucking if we're not careful."

She removed her hand from my crotch as I immediately turned around, standing behind her. I watched the crew, all of them focusing on their work, as I stepped forward into her. She rubbed her arse against my cock as I used my right hand to fondle one of her breasts, hearing her gasp before I ran a hand down her stomach back towards her pants. They were tight but I managed to get my hand down the front. "Shepard," she breathed as I slid into her underwear and found what I wanted.

"Don't make a sound," I whispered into her ear.

So in the middle of the CIC, Kelly Chambers had her pussy fondled by the CO of the Normandy. How we didn't get caught, I don't know. But she barely made a sound, though was definitely rubbing herself back against my erection as we were both getting excited. I was now fondling her faster and faster, and she eventually had to ask, "Shepard, we need privacy. Now."

"Conference room?"

We headed straight there. I locked the door behind us as I walked forward, kissing her immediately as she sat up on the table. We worked together to get her trousers and underwear down, before she rested back on her elbows as I lowered my mouth to her pussy and licked her up and down to start. "My god, Kelly," I groaned. And it wasn't fake. She was delicious.

"I'm sucking your cock after this, just so you know, Shepard."

She was so turned on, I made her cum within five minutes. Not being arrogant, just facts. She wanted more, of course, and after sliding a couple of fingers inside her, I focused on her clit and gave her an even bigger one a few minutes later. Everyone would have heard her cry out as she came hard, and it was simply too much. Normally I could keep going, but she had to ask me to stop, immediately sitting up to kiss me. "You are far too fucking good at that," she said.

I gave her a few minutes to recover before she pushed me back and immediately dropped to her knees, excitedly taking out my erection. She licked it up and down like a lollipop at first, using her tongue to tease the head, really drawing out the experience before she finally swallowed my length. Running a hand through her hair, she smiled as she sucked my cock, and I warned her I wasn't going to last long. She didn't have to say anything though as I now knew what she liked. If she wanted a facial, she'd stop sucking. Otherwise, I was to just cum in her mouth.

"Kelly," I moaned as she was really giving me a treat, her teasing relentless. I was already feeling weak at the knees and I hadn't even cum yet. I was polite enough to let her know I was getting close but that just made her double her efforts. I groaned loudly as I felt the first shot fire into her mouth, holding her head in place as I emptied what felt like a gallon before I had to let go of her head and lean forward to hold onto the table. And still she kept on sucking until my cock finally started to go limp. I then felt her pack me away before she stood up before me.

"Well, I think you taste just as good as you think I do, Shepard."

I kissed her hard, which may have surprised most people, but if she could swallow my load, I could handle a lingering aftertaste. But she eventually had to push me back. "You need to go out soon, Shepard." Then she pulled me forward to hug me. "But thank you. I feel wonderful now."

"So do I. I'm sure she's going to wonder why I'm in a good mood."

"I'll still masturbate tonight though. Thinking of you, of course."

"Good thoughts?"

"Only the best, Shepard."

I escorted her back to the CIC, Mordin joking about strange noises coming from the conference room, before I headed up to my cabin to shower and change. Heading back downstairs, Kelly wished me goodnight with a kiss on the cheek, told me to have fun, and I could only walk away, wondering how she was so understanding. I clearly liked her, she clearly liked me, but she knew I had others, yet she accepted. It spoke of her character as a person.

She deserved better than me, to be honest. So did most of the women I was with, but they accepted me for who I was. So maybe I was just lucky.

Gianna was already home when I knocked on her door, greeted with a smile, a very long hug and a nice kiss. She didn't ask about work as I didn't really want to talk about that while with her, and she didn't want to talk about hers. Talking about life while I was gone wasn't too bad, as at least I could fill in the gaps of her life.

She prepared another Italian dish for us, this one a vegetarian offering, which I didn't mind at all, as the sauce was divine and the filling was... filling. The wine she chose for it was perfect for the dish, really bringing out the flavours. We sat at the table for a couple of hours, drinking and chatting away about any topic that took our fancy, and she was certainly well versed in a number of subjects. I'd always loved women with a brain. I don't understand men who go after airheads.

Eventually the conversation did slow down though as our inventions with one another were obvious. So I asked to simply wait for just one moment as I opened my omni-tool. "What's up, Shepard? I take it this isn't a social call."

"No, it isn't, Miranda. Everyone has the day off tomorrow. We'll complete the second recruitment the day after. Once I disconnect, I will be turning my omni-tool on silent until the morning after next. Unless the Collectors suddenly invade Illium, you are in command until I return."

"Okay, Shepard. I'll make sure you are undisturbed until then."

"Thanks, Miranda. I'll see you later."

Disconnecting the call, I immediately silenced every possible notification then closed it up before looking back at Gianna. "Well, I guess I'm not going to work either then."

"I was hoping you would say that."

She grabbed my hand and led me into her bedroom, turning and kissing me as she started to undress me first. When I wanted to take off her shirt or skirt, she slapped my hand away. "Wait, Shepard." So I did, continuing to kiss her as my jacket and shirt were taken off, she asked me to at least take off my shoes, before I had my jeans and underwear taken off as well. Standing in front of her naked didn't bother me as she simply took a step back, looking me up and down. "Damn, you're a good looking man, Shepard."

"Thanks. It's not all natural nowadays due to be basically rebuilt."

"Oh, I remember what you looked like back on Noveria, Shepard. Trust me, very little has changed. Maybe fewer scars and your tattoos aren't there, but other than that, just the same." She stepped forward, taking my cock in her hand, feeling it thicken as she kissed me again, gently stroking me to hardness within a few seconds. "Want me to blow you?" she asked quietly.

"You're seriously asking that question?"

"I want to hear you say it, Shepard."

"I want nothing more than your lips wrapped around my cock, Gianna."

"I love a man who knows what he wants. Now, second question. Do you want me to swallow or do you want to give me a facial?"

"What would you prefer?"

"I'm asking you, Shepard. One of two choices."

"I want to mark you like..." I paused and immediately though Shit.

She simply smirked. "Like the others, Shepard?" She laughed to herself. "I know about them. Well, I know I'm not the only one."

"And you tolerate it?"

She stepped forward and kissed me hard, slipping her tongue into my mouth as she stroked me. I couldn't help the groan into her mouth that made her break the kiss and laugh. "Of course I tolerate it, because I really fucking like you, Shepard."

"Feeling is mutual then."

"Good." She kissed me again before moving across my cheek to my neck, which actually caused goosebumps to pop up as she kissed down my chest, actually focusing on my nipples, which felt rather nice, before she kissed down over my abdomen, eventually getting down on her knees, placing the cock on her face. "That's how big you are, Shepard. You could blind a woman with this thing."