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The Omega Chronicles -7- Shoot first...

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Title: The Omega Chronicles -7- Shoot first, ask questions later
Author: Niorah
Game: Mass Effect
Characters: Aria T'Loak, FemShep, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Ralen, others
Pairing: FemShep/Aria T'Loak
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its assets belong to Electronic Arts and BioWare


The Omega Chronicles -7- Shoot first, ask questions later


After looking carefully at the image in front of her eyes, Shepard shook her head. "It looks like there's already a crater on this side of the moon, Relan. Take us to the other side and let's see if we can find an unspoiled portion of the surface. I want to have a very precise idea of the power of the cannon."

The Lystheni quickly keyed in a few commands. "Yes, Commander, we will be in range in just under a minute."

Shepard had invited the young Quarian to join them on the bridge to witness the first shot of the most powerful Turian weapon that could be mounted on a ship. Tali was shifting her weight from one foot to the other incessantly, she looked really excited. Aria was leaning on a shoulder against a bulkhead, arms crossed on her chest, legs crossed at her ankles, a deceivingly bored look in her eyes. In truth the human knew that she was taking a mental note of every single thing around her, as was her habit.

The Commander finally spotted what they were looking for. "There. It looks wide enough and it is definitely pristine. Input the coordinates. Charge it. Fire when ready."

In less than four seconds a low, light vibration was travelling through the ship. As they all observed intently through the windows of the bridge, a shard of blue light shot from the nozzle of the ship and impacted the deserted area of the moon squarely. The entire planetoid shook. A cloud of dust several kilometres high erupted from the surface, it was impossible to determine the width of the crater at the moment, but it was visible to the naked eye that the wave of destruction was causing expanding ripples on the surface. It felt like the fist of an angry god had hit it. To Shepard's military spirit it was nothing less than mouth watering. A smile opened on her face without her even noticing, a spark blinked deep in her eyes as she realized the full power of the Thanix Cannon. The human was officially in love with this small, merciless dealer of death.

She felt Aria's arm around her waist as she closed in to whisper in her ear. "Close your mouth, Commander." Her blue lips placed a kiss on her neck. "-Should- I be jealous?"

Shepard entwined their fingers and brought the Asari's hand to her lips, she kissed her palm softly and then turned around enough to look into her eyes. "Never."

"Good. I don't like to waste my time and energy in menial tasks."

The Engineer interrupted them with what could only be described as a proper squeal. "Keelah! Did you see that??? I cannot believe they were able to make such a small ship develop enough power to fire -that-! I have to go back to Engineering, see if there are any fluctuations in the engines, check the drain on the energy levels, if I can manage to optimize the output without compromising our speed or manoeuvrability, this could be the deadliest ship this Galaxy has ever seen! You'll see! I'll turn it into perfection made metal." She literally ran away. They could hear her talking to herself as she made her way back to the lower deck.

Relan's face had a rather silly smile plastered on it as he started turning the ship about. "Is there anything else you'd like to test, Commander?" His voice was ringing with satisfaction.

"No, I've seen enough for today. Take us home."

"Yes, Sir."

-

It was  just a few days later that Shepard got a call from the dockmaster to come and check how her ship looked after a paint job and some light retrofitting. As she approached the docking bay she heard a young, metallic voice calling her.

"Commander!"

The slender form of Tali was quickly making her way towards her. "Are you planning on taking her out? I managed to erase all subroutines of identification and tracing that the Alliance had programmed into the software. I think you will be happy with the result. She runs more smoothly now, and the energy that was being sucked up has now been redirected to the stealth drive. Unless someone looks out of their viewports, we are perfectly invisible."

Shepard could swear there must have been a rather smug smile behind the visor of the young Quarian. And deservedly so. She seemed to have  almost a spiritual connection with the ship. "Tali, just the face I was hoping to see. So to speak. I've been meaning to ask you something technical. Is it possible to reconfigure the Thanix cannon to emit an EMP powerful enough to disable a ship?" They kept walking together to their destination.
The engineer immediately brought her omni tool online and her fingers started flying on it. "Let me see. Mmmhhh. No. I don't think it would be possible. However, it would be relatively easy, with your resources, to install a weapon that does just that. Let's head down to my... Office. I'll show you!"

They reached the Inanna and Shepard stopped dead in her tracks.

The ship was almost glowing in her new glossy black paint, covering her from stern to bow. Her name was proudly displayed on both sides in a dark shade of crimson red, the symbol of Omega, equally as red, shining just underneath it, on the wings. The Commander's face opened in a grin of pure satisfaction. It looked positively threatening. Now that was a pirate ship if she had ever seen one. A wave of pride made her feel warm inside. She turned to the Quarian. "Not bad. Mh?"

Tali had already seen the ship, of course, but she was grateful for the chance to share what she thought about it with the human. "That's the understatement of the century. She looks incredible, Shepard."

"Let's take her out."

The Commander sent a message to Aria from her omni tool. 'Taking the Inanna. See you later.'

The reply from the Queen arrived just a few seconds later. It was a set of coordinates.
"It looks like we know exactly where to go."

-

Once aboard, she walked to the Galaxy map, looked up where Aria wanted her to go and transmitted the coordinates to the bridge. Then she made her way to engineering to see what Tali wanted to show her about the EMP weapon, not without taking the time to check her crew along the way. She noticed with a hint of gratefulness that Aria hadn't employed any Batarians. The bulk of the crew were Turians, with humans and Lystheni filling in the other fifty percent in equal measure. It looked like a good mix.

-

"See? It can be installed so that its mouth is directly below the Thanix cannon, it won't be a problem for aerodynamics when the ship is flying inside the atmosphere of a planet and it will make the risk of backfiring practically null. I have designed the specifics so that they can be transmitted to anyone who is going to build it, would you like me to send them to your omni tool? They are quite easy to understand but if you think they can be improved, feel free to let me know. In fact, we can go over them together while we're travelling to whatever system it is we're travelling, I believe there is enough..."

"Tali."

"... Yes?"

"Since when do you Quarians not require to breathe anymore?"

"Of course we require to breathe! Whatever are you talking about? I don't know where you came across this information but I can assure you it is completely incorrect and I hope it won't start spreading through the galaxy. I swear, some bosh'tet just have too much time on their hands, and then they come up with these jokes, and then the joke turns into a rumor, and then the rumor..."

"Tali."

"... Yes?"

"It was a remark to try to bring to your attention that you are talking too fast again."
"... Oh."

Shepard let out a short laugh, this engineer was quite endearing. "Send me the schematics, I'll have the EMP built as soon as we dock. And thank you for putting it together."

"Um. Yes. You're welcome, but really it's my job. And I have to admit I'm having a very good time on the Inanna."

The voice of Relan came through the ship comm. "Commander, we have reached our destination."

"On my way, Relan."

-

Standing behind the pilot's chair, Shepard was looking at the sensor readings. "Well, since the Queen has been so vague, let's start looking for anything of interest. Scan for distress beacons first, then everything else you can think of."

A red light blinked. The Lystheni smiled. "And a distress beacon it is, Sir. It's coming from the southern hemisphere of this planet over here."

The human leaned closer. "Any other info?"

"No. It doesn't seem to be recognized by any standard. It doesn't belong to the Alliance, or to the Hierarchy or any other known military or civil craft. It's just behaving like a distress beacon. So I must assume it is one."

"Let's go and take a closer look."

Two red dots appeared on the screen. "Sir, we have company."

"Can they see us?"

"No, the stealth drive is still active."

"Take it off line. Open comm channel, all frequencies."

"Open, Sir."

"This is Commander Shepard of the Inanna. I suggest you turn around and go your own way."

It was clearly a Salarian that replied first. "I cannot do that. I am here on behalf of the Shadow Broker. So -I- suggest you get out of my way."

Then the harsh voice of a Batarian replied in kind. "I don't give a fuck who you two are. I am Tekzo, and your ships are now mine. Prepare to be boarded."

Shepard's face opened in a smirk. "Too bad. Close comm channels, evasive manoeuvres,  bring the Thanix cannon online, target the ship of the Shadow Broker's operative. Fire when ready." She grabbed the headrest of the pilot's seat as the Inanna swiftly swerved to port, picking up speed effortlessly, moving as quickly as a bird of prey. They both watched with eager eyes as the blue light hit the small ship, pulverizing it on the spot.
"Direct hit, the Salarian is gone."

"Good, bring us about, target the pirate's engines and use the gun turrets to take them off line."

Relan's hands were so fast on the commands it was hard to follow them. In a few seconds it was all over, the gun turrets of the frigate hitting their second target full on.

"Open a comm channel to the Batarian."

"Done, Sir."

"Well, Tekzo, I hope you enjoyed the show, because it is the last thing you'll ever see." Shepard signalled to her pilot to cut the comm. "Blast him out of my sight."

In the fraction of a second all that remained of the Batarian ship were fragments no bigger than a bathtub. The look on the Commander's face was a testament of her inner satisfaction. A fire was burning inside her pupils, a grin twisting her lips. "Set us down as close to that beacon as possible, Relan. And good job."

-

The clamps of the docking bay secured Shepard's ship and within a couple of minutes she was strolling towards Afterlife with a spring in her step. Once inside, she climbed the steps to Aria's private lounge, she walked to her, took her hand, raised it to her lips and kissed it softly before sitting down next to the Queen and handing her a padd. "I believe this is what you were interested in?"

Aria read what was on the small screen and her lips curled in a smile. "You do know how to make me happy, Commander. Did you have fun?"

"Plenty. We ran into a couple of fools who seemed to be interested in what I have recovered, as well."

"What kind of fools?"

"The dead kind." Shepard smirked. "One was just a Batarian pirate, I believe he introduced himself as Tekzo. Ring any bells?"

"Yes, actually. He's been a fucking thorn in my side for a couple of years now."

"Not anymore. The other didn't share his name, he merely said he was one of the Shadow Broker's agents."

Aria seemed lost in thought for a few moments, her eyes sparkling in the low lights of the nightclub. Shepard took advantage of her reverie to signal to a bodyguard to get her a drink. Sila showed up in less than a minute, carrying a tray with Shepard's poison of choice. The Asari had come across a rather valuable crate of Earth's wine, a delicious red, vintage 2137. The human started sipping it, waiting for the Queen to go through whatever thoughts were occupying her so thoroughly.

Aria brought her omni tool online and started typing on it quickly, then she finally spoke. "I need you to go to the Citadel. The name of your contact is now in your omni tool, as are the details on how to find him. Bring the artefact with you, he'll know what to do."

"As you wish." The Commander took her hand and their fingers entwined, naturally. They exchanged a long glance. The Asari's eyes turned to black and she slipped into the human's mind.

Their avatars materialized, already in each other's arms, their faces a mere inch apart. Aria's hand caressed her lover's cheek softly. 'Be careful. If the Shadow Broker is after this then a lot of other people will be interested too. Most of them criminals. I want you back in one piece.'

'I'll miss you too.' Shepard caught her lips in a slow kiss and felt their heartbeats quickening immediately. This woman was incredibly intoxicating. She let her desire seep through their union, enveloping them both like a silk sheet, the boundaries between them blurred as they tasted each other unhurriedly. It felt like it was never enough, no matter how close they were, no matter how completely they melted into each other. Even after having properly bonded it still wasn't enough. It was a pain having to separate. Aria very rarely verbalized it, but the way she felt was shared through the meld and flooded them to the core. The Commander's hands cupped her stunningly beautiful face and their eyes locked. No need for words.

The Asari retreated from the meld. Shepard finished her wine, got up and started walking away.

"Commander."

The human turned around from the edge of the stairs. "Yes, my Queen?"

"While you are at the Citadel, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

A lop sided grin graced Shepard's face. "Well, that leaves me with plenty of room to manoeuvre."
And we are up to chapter 7!
This is pure and simple Alt-Fiction, based on Mass Effect.

Alas, no sex this time... :D


Bioware owns them, I just take them out to play.
© 2012 - 2024 Niorah
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BlueKosh's avatar
Sounds like the ship's working well - one Shadow Broker vessel and one Batarian pirate bagged on the first mission, not bad. But I guess that's to be expected after Tali Vakarian calibrated the guns, I mean, turned the ship into "perfection made metal".
Good thing Shepard is devoted to Aria so much, or she might have eloped with her new second love.