Mass Effect - A Hero Rises Ch. 33

Then she settled back into the bed, looking knackered, so I pulled out and gently rested next to her. She didn't ask if I wanted to continue. I'd had my fun and I didn't feel another orgasm approaching, so she turned onto her side and cuddled into me. "I love a man who focuses on my orgasm."

"Your orgasm face is beautiful." That made her look up and smile. "Though your current face is just as nice."

"This is my post-coital, I've just had some mind-blowing sex face." She kissed me. "Thank you, Shepard, for doing that for me."

"We can do it again, Kelly. I don't mind. I'm just not one of those guys that goes searching for it. I'll put it simply. I love pussy."

"I'd love to do it again though."

We lay together until we'd calmed down before heading for a shower. We were both exhausted by now, so all we did was wash each other down, dry each other off, before heading back to bed, where we cuddled into each other, and that was when we could discuss certain topics. We must have chatted for a good couple of hours, just expressing opinions and thoughts, before she cuddled into me and relaxed a final time, drifting off to sleep as I wished her goodnight.

Everything was back to normal at last.

*****

Kasumi Goto had waited a long time for this day. It had been months since she'd lost him, and now she would gain her revenge. Thieves didn't normally think of vengeance, but Donovan Hock had taken what was most precious to her. And there was only one man capable of helping her for the job, because she knew he'd go through hell to help her.

The Normandy was in orbit of Bekenstein, though the ship itself would not be entering the atmosphere. Shepard would be entering a party hosted by the somewhat infamous Donovan Hock under an assumed identity, and with any luck, would find the whereabouts of something she had considered lost since the day she'd been forced to leave Keiji behind. His graybox. It was the only thing left that contained his memories of their time together.

Waiting by the small shuttle she had secured for transportation down to the planet, she paced back at forth, wondering if the plan would go off without a hitch, or if she shouldn't have organised for more people to join. Too late now, it would only be Shepard and herself.

The man himself appeared a few minutes later and even she had to think 'Wow' as he strolled towards her. He had the usual stubble on his face. His blue eyes looked amused. He kept his hair short, not clipped, but long enough for a woman to run her hand through it. Considering his lovers, she knew exactly why he did it. And the suit she'd chosen suited him perfectly. He was tall, fit, and devilishly handsome. Women were going to swoon as soon as he walked in the door, and every man would want to be his friend.

"Are you ready, Solomon Gunn?"

"And I take it you are my pretty assistant, a Japanese woman with a penchant for kleptomania?"

"The invitation is for you plus one, so here's hoping."

"Are you going in hooded?"

"He doesn't know my face, so no." And, with that, she took off her jacket and hood, showing the dress she was wearing underneath, a little black number that showed off her shallow curves. She certainly appreciated the gaze Shepard returned. She was a diminutive woman, not standing much over five-three or five-four, and certainly didn't weigh much. The dress certainly showed off enough skin to attract attention, and she had cleavage as her breasts were larger than he probably expected, but she also carried weapons and other things she would need for thievery underneath. She was sure Shepard would be packing as well.

"Do you approve, Mr. Gunn?"

"Oh, he certainly does, Miss Goto. He certainly does."

He opened the shuttle door for her, and it was there that he saw the golden statue of Saren Arterius inside. "The fuck is this?" he asked as she sat down, preparing for departure.

"A gift for Mr. Hock. But don't worry, the base of the statue will contain weapons and armour for us to use."

"Oh, fantastic. Guess Saren will come in handy for once then."

He took a seat next to her, strapped himself in, and let her take the controls. As she piloted the shuttle, communicating with the Normandy one last time before cutting transmission, she felt his eyes glance at her more than once. She almost laughed as he was trying his best not to be too obvious. "I'm glad you approve, Shepard."

"I've never seen you without a hood, Kasumi. You are stunning."

The comment made her blush, feeling her cheeks warm up. Shepard laughed, as they obviously started to get a little red. She'd grown her hair out, at least, so could still cover some of her features if necessary. She usually kept her hair shorter as it was easier to manage. "Well, thank you, Shepard. But I can't afford to be distracted and nor can you. Game faces once we're on the ground."

"But I can check you out now?"

"Shepard, I know about your reputation."

"And?"

"Well, I'm not sure if I want to be another notch on your bed post. Plus, there is also the memory of Keiji. It's... difficult. It's hard to even think of moving on. It's been a few months now but... I keep thinking it would be a betrayal."

Shepard looked away out the window. "I know what you mean. Everything was different when I came back," he said quietly.

"It's still nice to know I've got it though," she added.

"You certainly do." He reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry that you lost him. He was obviously very special to you."

"It's why I'm doing this, Shepard. The most important thing is his graybox. If we can get in and out easily, then that will be fine. But part of me wants Hock to pay for what he did too."

"Well, I'll have my weapons if you want to go down that route. You just let me know what you want and I'll work to either end."

As they flew above a city, she pointed the shuttle in the direction of the Hock estate. It was a vast area on the outskirts of the nearby settlement. She knew all about Hock and had given a dossier to Shepard for him to study. Weapons dealer. Weapons smuggler. Extortion. Racketeering. She could at least be a little relieved he kept nose clean in regards to other crimes, but what he did was bad enough. His weapons ended up in the hands of the type of people you would rather not be armed. He had money, power, and influence.

She didn't want to make the mission personal. She missed Keiji every day, but the fact Hock had his graybox was what really mattered. It wasn't just the memories. He had worked for the Alliance as an agent, and he had discovered a damning secret. She could only be thankful that the graybox was heavily encrypted, though was sure Hock had his best people trying to crack it.

Focusing her mind on the here and now, she brought the shuttle into land. "Don't cover your shoulders," Shepard stated.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know the man, but I am one myself. Showing up how you look now? It'll distract him just enough to help us. We are simple creatures, Miss Goto." He paused before asking, "He doesn't know your name, does he?"

"No. He wouldn't even recognise me now. We should be good."

She stepped out of the shuttle with Shepard, watching him throw on his jacket, and gaze around, ever the soldier, no doubt assessing the number of guards, their weapons, armour, and seeing the estate as an enormous battlefield. Heading towards the mansion, a pair of guards walked to the shuttle to retrieve the statue as their eyes looked upon the mansion itself. It was remarkably tasteful for someone who made his millions in the trade of illicit weapons.

Climbing the stairs, the front doors leading inside were already open. Donovan Hock strode towards them. She tried not to tense, feeling Shepard's arm wrap around her waist as they came to a stop.

"I don't believe we've met. Donovan Hock."

He offered his hand, Shepard accepting it immediately, playing his part. "Solomon Gunn. Pleasure to meet you, Mr Hock. Heard a lot about you in return."

"And I you, Mr Gunn. You've been busy from what I have read on the extranet. If you believe everything you read on it, of course."

"There's always an element of truth and fiction to any stories written about people like us, Mr Hock."

"And this is?" he asked, and Shepard was right, his eyes immediately looking her up and down. He didn't leer, but she felt creeped out immediately.

"This is Miss Goto, my personal assistant."

Hock smirked. "Holding someone like that, Mr Gunn, I would believe she would be more than that."

"You might be right, Mr Hock, but that is her official title at least."

After a bit of an issue with the statute, which to her relief was allowed to head inside, Hock invited them both inside and wished them a pleasant evening. He'd met her eyes and there hadn't been a flicker of recognition, so she felt confident they could complete the job. Servants carried around trays of drinks and food, so they grabbed a flute of champagne each and wandered into the crowds, staying together to start off with.

"Can you cloak?" he asked, voice little more than a whisper.

"Of course."

"Then I think I'll mingle with the crowd and you get to work trying to locate what we're here for. You need anything from me, just let me know."

"What are you going to do otherwise?"

"Enjoy my role as mercenary extraordinaire and devilishly handsome man of action."

"Dear god, I've created a monster. Okay, keep in contact the normal way. If I run into any trouble, I'll certainly let you know."

As Shepard disappeared into the crowd, his sights clearly set on a very attractive, busty redhead looking over a painting, she got to work of locating the vault then trying to crack it. Once she was alone and unobserved, she cloaked and headed down a flight of stairs, towards where the guards had taken the statue of Saren. As she tried to figure out the security system, she could hear Shepard in her ear, flirting with the woman he'd been headed towards. She could hear her giggles in her earpiece and couldn't help laugh lightly to herself. "Shepard, no sleeping with the other guests."

She didn't hear a response from him. No doubt he heard it, but he was staying in character, regaling her with an obvious fake story which, even to her ears, was completely unrealistic but very amusing. No wonder she was laughing, though there was also the occasional compliment as well.

"Okay, Shepard. This is what we're up again. Top of the line protection. It's going to take some work. We've got a password voice lock. DNA scanner. Kinetic barrier to top it off. Would be damn near impenetrable... for most other thieves."

"Prognosis?"

"You'll need a voice sample from Hock, so you'll have to chat with him. I'm sure you'll be able to get him talking. We'll need to find the password as well. I've scoped out security room, so that will be our best bet for that. As for DNA, that'll be child's play. You'll just have to break into his private quarters."

"Anything else?"

"There's a kinetic barrier we'll need to disable. Cutting the power will do the trick. Probably the easiest thing to do out of all of them."

"Okay. I'll get cracking. I'll go talk to Hock first."

The voice of his female companion disappeared, Shepard stopping to chat with other guests, introducing himself like he was an old friend, before he finally started talking to Hock. The first thing she learned is that Shepard knew everything about guns, and Hock was genuinely interested in hearing his opinions. The two must have talked for at least twenty minutes about the new weapons being released, modifications, prices, the different sorts, even delving into politics and its effect on being a mercenary around the galaxy. Figuring Shepard was quite happy to keep talking, she eventually told him that she had more than enough of his voice for a sample.

As he was talking, she got to work locating the password. The security room was manned by a lone guard. Cloaking herself, she slipped in, disabled the guard with ease, easily breaking into their system to retrieve the code, and slipping out all in the time Shepard had been talking to Hock. She next focused on disrupting the power. She had an application on her omni-tool to help with that, and as Shepard was still talking, she managed to sort that out as well. All she needed now was a sample of Hock's DNA.

Hearing Shepard move away from Hock, she eventually met him near the door to his private quarters. Managing to get inside was surprisingly easy, and they both had a good look around at the art collection he kept for himself. There were things on just his bedroom wall that would have been considered priceless. Finding something with his DNA was easy, but before they could escape, they heard voices in the living room.

"Shit, if we're caught..."

Shepard thought quickly, and the first thing he did was turn her towards him and kiss her. She almost cried out but went with it for a moment, pulling back to see his lipstick on his lips. Figuring exactly what he was trying to do, he took the shirt from being tucked inside his trousers, undid a couple of buttons, and took off his jacket. She messed up her hair and took off her panties and shoes, feeling very short compared to him now, both of them wandering out of his room to be met by three armed guards.

"You shouldn't be back here," one of them stated.

"We just wanted a little privacy. Know what I mean?" Shepard replied, immediately wrapping an arm around her waist.

"And I'd just got these off too!" she added, holding up her black panties.

The three guards immediately grinned but gestured to the door with their weapons. "Look, you two want to fuck, be our guests, but use one of the guest rooms."

"Of course. My apologies. Just thought there'd be more privacy here," Shepard stated, immediately walking towards the door they had entered. "If Mr Hock does ask, just tell him I was hoping for a little private time with my personal assistant."

"I think it's best Mr Hock doesn't hear about it, sir. Just return to the party and no-one need be disturbed otherwise."

She led Shepard back out towards the large open area where the guests still mingled. She put on her shoes but could do nothing with her panties, Shepard taking them and putting them in his pocket. She felt a little weird walking around with him going commando, but now they had what they wanted, she suggested they head back to where the statue had been place. Pushing the button for the secret compartment, she could see Shepard's eyes light up at the armour and weapons on display.

Without even thinking, she stripped off her dress and immediately blushed as she realised that she now stood next to him stark naked. She hadn't worn a bra, simply because her dress had been tight enough to keep everything in place, and her panties were now in his pocket. She finally chanced a glance towards him, watching him undo the buttons on his shirt. When he took off his shirt, she definitely made an approving sound.

"We both get naked, Kasumi, I'm going to think things. Want your panties back?" he asked, definitely taking a moment to appreciate her in return.

"Part of me wants to be naughty and suggest you keep them, but I do need underwear."

He handed them back as she started to dress, her familiar clothing as usual, making sure cloaking device was clipped to her side, taking a pistol and sub-machine gun. Shepard dressed in his armour and tooled up completely. Shield pack. Shotgun. Pistol. Assault rifle. Heavy weapon. Even grenades. How he managed to walk around carrying all that, she didn't know, but considering he was rather tall, and very board, just the size of his arms alone...

The elevator for the vault arrived. She knocked out the camera before pushing the button to head down. She took a series of deep breaths to calm herself, feeling unusually tense. But they were now in, and what she wanted was closer than it had been since the day she'd lost Keiji. Shepard kept himself busy by rolling his muscles, getting himself nice and loose. She figured he assumed the worst, and was getting ready to fight.

What they learned quickly is that Donovan Hock was a keen collector of art and artefacts. Michelangelo's David, whether real or a replica, was inside his vault. So was the head of the Statue of Liberty. A copy of the Mona Lisa. Shepard even pointed out what he called the Magna Carta was inside. None of it matters, not really. All she wanted was the graybox and then to get out quickly.

She found it eventually after at least a few minutes searching. She quickly scanned in, Shepard jogging over, asking if she'd found it. "Have to be sure, Shep. We know Hock has already tried to crack it."

She was in the middle of ensuring it was still encrypted when a voice boomed, "Don't bother, Miss Goto. It's code-locked." Shepard had his shotgun out and aimed far quicker than she imagined possible. She grabbed the graybox before standing to his side, an enormous hologram of Hock on a nearby wall. "I didn't know your name but I had a feeling it was you. I might not have seen your face, but I knew you were the one with him. Only you would have been so foolish to return."

"You should know that I don't like to disappoint," she replied.

He then did that typical 'bad guy' thing of going into a monologue of what he wanted and why. She turned out while Shepard was clearly looking around for a distraction. He seemed to find something he liked, his shotgun levelling at a nearby Ming vase. No doubt it was absolutely priceless.

So of course Shepard took delight in shooting it. "God, do you people ever not just get around to the business of trying to kill us? Why do you always have to explain your plans?"

"You've just made a serious mistake, Mr. Gunn."

He made the sound like a buzzer. "Wrong answer, Hock. My name is... drumroll, Miss Goto."

"Is this really the time?" she asked, though couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her.

"Spoilsport. Anyway, the name isn't Gunn. It's Shepard. Formerly Commander..."

The eyes narrowed. "Well, I had heard rumours of your return but would never have believed you would be stupid enough to steal from me."

"Though you would have recognised me?"

"You've never interested me before, Shepard. Now you do. Miss Goto, you will not be leaving with what is mine. Rest assured your bodies won't be treated with respect once you're dead."

The hologram flicked out and guards flooded in. Shepard disappeared immediately and she heard a shotgun blast on the other side of the room. Taking out her SMG, she joined the party, cloaking and de-cloaking to leave the enemy completely confused. She'd cloak, get as close to a guard as possible, de-cloak to their surprise, burst into fire into the chest or head, then cloak and move again. She would occasionally de-cloak, only to be fired upon immediately, which was the perfect time to show off her flexibility and gymnastic skills. They couldn't hit what moved like her.

Once they'd cleared the room of his guards, they joined together and thought of a new plan. Heading back up was a no-no. The elevator would likely be locked down anyway. She had gone over extensive plans of his mansion and knew of a landing pad to the east of the building. If they could head there, they could either steal a ship or call in an evac by the Normandy. Shepard agreed immediately and led the way.

Hock had plenty of guards to throw his way, even large mechs that caused concern for both of them. Shepard showed how nuts he was at times, Kasumi taking cover as it opened fire, Shepard simply charging, nearly knocking the enormous machine over before he fired blast after blast, aiming for its weak points, before he moved away, waiting for the mech to explode.

More mechs flooded forward towards them, along with a few guards. The pair worked together, though Shepard clearly led from the front, charging left and right. She spent most of her time simply watching his back, each small burst of SMG fire fining its target. He kept them so occupied, she was barely shot at herself.