BBC Heaven (3/?)
anonymous
November 16 2014, 02:52:29 UTC
"We should be reaching the site shortly," Liara informed them after several minutes of walking. Squinting her eyes from the blazing sun above, she pointed forward with her spare hand while tightening her grip on her pistol. "Up there. I see something."
The three of them sprinted forward, as the canyon walls widened out into a small clearing. Near a large opening in the cliff face was a shuttlecraft, blackened and scarred from weapon fire. "Eclipse?" Shepard asked to his team.
"Don't see any of their markings," Ashley said. "'Course they could be trying to stay incognito down here. Don't want us to know who they're working for."
Opening up her omni-tool, Liara scanned the shuttle. "Strange," she mused. "Its registration appears to be classified. By the Asari Republics."
Ashley looked back at Liara incredulously. "An asari shuttle? You think it might have been stolen?"
"I don't know," Liara said. "Whoever's it is, though, they're not going anywhere in this ship. The engines are completely inoperable. We should probably investigate further."
Shepard nodded, taking the lead and heading for the opening in the rocky cliff face. Activating his assault rifle's light, he cast it down to reveal a small, grimy-looking room. "Looks clear," Shepard said, before jumping down into the gap and into the abandoned facility.
Ashley glanced back at Liara and gave her a small smile. "You ready for this, Liara? Just say the word and I'll be sure to watch your back."
"I'll be fine," Liara said, stepping past Ashley and jumping down after Shepard. Almost as soon as her feet hit the floor, she started hearing the gunfire.
Panicked, she glanced around until she saw Shepard's light ahead of her. As she heard the muffled thump of Ashley quickly following them down, Liara dashed forward to Shepard. "What's going on?" she asked.
"No idea," Shepard said, pointing to a hallway branching off from the room they had entered, an open doorway at the end of it. "Maybe whoever came in that shuttle just met up with our Eclipse looters. We'd better move."
The three of them marched quickly down the hallway, weapons at the ready. As they moved closer to the sound of the gunfire, they could hear someone shouting.
"You won't take me! I'll die before I let them put me away again!" a female voice screamed over the loud rattle of gunfire. Just as Shepard and his team reached the end of the hallway, a man in yellow armor suddenly appeared in the doorway in front of them. They only had a second to register his terrified face, before a sudden biotic bolt sent him flying away and out of sight. The loud thump and crack they heard soon after left little doubt about his fate.
Glancing through the door, Liara could see the large room in front of them, lit by several portable lamps and flares. From her knowledge of Prothean architecture, Liara guessed it to be some sort of common room for the science facility. But any furniture or objects of comfort had long since rotten away, leaving only crumbled rubble for the combatants in the room to dive behind.
"There!" Shepard pointed, drawing his party's attention to the bright flash of gunfire. An asari in Eclipse armor was leaning out of cover and firing across the room, at a target near to the door where Shepard and his team were standing. As she ducked back behind cover, the asari merc began to shout again.
"Give it up, Justicar! You may have taken out these clowns, but I've got ten more guns in this facility, and they're gonna be here any minute!" the Eclipse merc screamed. "Surrender now and maybe I'll be merciful and have them kill you quickly!"
Liara turned to Shepard and quietly spoke. "Justicar? You don't think..."
"Maybe. Regardless, I think it's obvious what side we're on in this battle," Shepard said, before turning to his other companion. "You think you can take the shot from here?"
Reaching behind her back, Ashley stowed her assault rifle and retrieved her sniper rifle. "Roger that, Commander," she coldly stated, before kneeling down and drawing a bead on the Eclipse merc through the open doorway.
"Any minute now, bitch," the asari mercenary taunted, as she started to rise up again to take another shot. "Any minute and my people will..."
BBC Heaven (4/?)
anonymous
November 16 2014, 02:55:57 UTC
There was a loud crack from Ashley's rifle, and the merc jolted backward, the shot hitting her square in the temple and sending her tumbling back to the dirty ground. The three of them waited a moment, listening for the sound of any further gunfire, before stepping through the doorway and into the large common room.
As they entered, Liara turned to stare at the crumbled rubble where the now-dead merc had been firing. A regal-looking asari rose to her feet from behind cover. As she turned to see the newcomers to the fight, recognition gleamed in her blue eyes, and she gave Shepard a warm smile.
"This is unexpected," Samara said, holstering her rifle as she stepped around the dead bodies of her defeated enemies. "It is good to see you again, Shepard."
"You as well," Shepard said. "I suppose that shuttle outside must be yours, then."
Samara nodded. "The woman that you helpfully took care of for me was a fugitive Ardat-Yakshi," she explained. "I tracked her for several months before discovering that she had obtained false identification and signed on to this Eclipse company. While my people have softened their stance on individuals with her conditions somewhat, unfortunately my target had murdered several innocents over the course of her flight." She glanced down at the other bodies of Eclipse mercs around the room. "I did offer her companions the opportunity to surrender and leave peacefully, but apparently their loyalty to their comrade was greater than their self-preservation instincts."
"Damn, looks like you haven't lost a step since the war ended," Ashley exclaimed, obviously impressed.
"She was saying something about comrades," Liara said. "Ten other people in the facility. Perhaps a bluff?"
Samara glanced across the room. "Most likely, but still... it would be best to be cautious."
"I see two doors out of here," Shepard said. "Samara, I know you've already taken care of your target, but if you wouldn't mind..."
"Not at all, Shepard," Samara said with a smile. "It would be an honor to fight alongside you again."
Shepard gestured towards Liara. "It would be an honor for me as well, but actually I'd like for you and Liara to take one of the doors. Ash, you and I will take the other."
"Very well, then," Samara said, retrieving her weapon and looking over at Liara. "Shall we be going, then?"
"I'm with you," Liara said, her eyes lingering on Shepard as he and Ashley stepped across the room to the other doorway. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to look away and follow Samara in the opposite direction.
The door they reached was closed and unpowered. Activating her omni-tool, Liara worked to route power into the system. "Samara, you said you tracked your target to this Eclipse group?" she asked as she spoke. "In your investigations, did you determine why they came to this facility?"
"I have my suspicions," Samara said. "I am acquainted with one of the administrators at the Ardat-Yakshi monastery that my target Lelina escaped from. She informed me that, during her time there, Lelina became obsessed with the Protheans. Learning their language, studying information about their artifacts. According to one of Lelina's friends, she had become convinced that the Protheans had discovered a cure for her condition. No doubt she hoped that this cure could be found in this previously unexplored facility."
As her omni-tool worked on activating the door, Liara furrowed her brow. "Hmm. I must admit I've come across similar hints in my own studies. Evidence of the Protheans studying the Ardat-Yakshi condition and attempting to reverse it. But I never came close to comprehending these fragments until I met Javik and received his aid. I wonder how Lelina was able to discover this on her own."
"There has been a great quantity of Prothean knowledge unearthed since the war ended," Samara said. "It might be possible that Lelina was able to obtain Prothean data that hasn't become widely available yet."
"Still, to have taken such a great risk, coming to Eden Prime on such a gamble," Liara said, as the door in front of her finally activated and slid open. "She must have been desperate to remedy her condition."
BBC Heaven (5/?)
anonymous
November 16 2014, 02:59:55 UTC
Samara moved alongside Liara as they entered the darkened hallway, shining their weapon's lights down the long corridor. "It is quite tragic, I'm afraid. I looked over Lelina's personal logs from the monastery while tracking her down. Unlike many others of her condition, she had no interest in feeding upon others. She wanted nothing more than to become a normal asari, and to bear children. An innocent desire, if impossible with our current scientific knowledge of her condition. It gives me no pleasure to see her dead, even if it was my duty as a Justicar to deal with her. Regardless, she killed three monastery guards in the process of escaping. As noble as her end goal may have been, it does not excuse the deaths she caused."
Liara nodded. "Of course," she said. The two of them quieted, not wanting to make any further sounds as they made their way deeper into the compound. Liara glanced down as they went, noticing that the dusty, ancient floor at their feet appeared to be undisturbed. No footprints, no sign that anyone had been this way besides them.
They really should have turned around, knowing that there was no sign of enemies in this direction. But Liara's curiosity had gotten the better of her. The thought of an undisturbed Prothean research facility filled her with a buzz of excitement. If Samara noticed the lack of footprints, she said nothing, simply following beside Liara with her weapon at the ready.
Eventually, the hallway took a turn, and Liara saw an open archway in front of them. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a glimpse of what lay inside: a glowing pedestal with a hovering orb atop it.
"What is that?" Samara said, quickening her step as she attempted to keep up with the excited younger asari.
"Whatever it is, it's undeniably Prothean," Liara said. She glanced around the new room for any sign of danger before holstering her pistol. Slowly, almost reverently, she approached the smooth, featureless orb.
Samara looked around the room they had entered. Around the pillar were several tables, covered with long-ago deactivated Prothean datapads. "Over here," Samara said, drawing Liara's attention to something on one of the tables. "Looks like a Prothean computer terminal of some kind."
"Hmm," Liara said, breaking her focus on the larger Prothean artifact at the center of the room to look down at the darkened terminal. "No power, though. We might still be able to retrieve some information off it, but we need to bring the databanks back to the Normandy first." She glanced back at the center of the room, and the orb hovering there. "I'm much more interested in this device."
Samara followed Liara's stare to the floating orb warily. "Perhaps it would be best to wait for Commander Shepard to arrive. Allow him to return the databanks from this terminal to the Normandy and see if..."
Liara frowned. She knew that Samara didn't mean anything by it, but the implication that she should wait and let Shepard handle things for her aggravated her to no end. She was sick of having to rely on him to handle everything. While she was forced to watch from afar and see him walk off with Ashley afterward.
Prothean artifacts were her field. And she was sure she could get a basic understanding of what this device was intended for without any outside assistance.
Walking over to the floating orb, ignoring Samara's warnings, Liara placed her hands on the surface of the device.
And almost immediately, she knew she had made a terrible mistake.
"Aaaaaaaagh!" she cried out. As soon as her palms made contact with the surface of the orb, she felt agonizing pain flare across her entire body. It felt like every atom of her body was being torn apart and reassembled in the most painful fashion imaginable. Despite this, she found herself unable to remove her hands from the surface of the orb.
"Liara!" she heard Samara call out behind her. But the sound of the Justicar's voice was distant, as if coming from across the galaxy. "Let it go, Liara!"
"I can't..." Liara groaned through gritted teeth, straining with all of her energy to remove her hands from the orb, only to feel them locked in place as if by powerful magnets. "I can't... let go..."
BBC Heaven (6/?)
anonymous
November 16 2014, 03:07:23 UTC
She could hear Samara's hurried footsteps behind her. When she realized what the Justicar intended, Liara wanted to scream at her to stop. To let Liara suffer through her own stupidity alone.
But by the time Liara summoned up the will to open her mouth, Samara had already grasped onto the orb herself, trying to wrest it from Liara's grasp. Immediately, Liara saw the same pain she was going through on Samara's face as well, the normally calm and serene Justicar gasping out as the agony of the device filled her body as well.
She didn't know how much longer it went on. Minutes, hours... the pain seemed endless until finally, she felt herself falling back to the floor, her hands finally releasing their grip on the device before she crumpled down and passed out.
* * *
"This way!" Shepard yelled. "I heard it from down there!"
Ashley struggled to keep up pace with Shepard. With his enhanced muscles and stamina, though, she was having a hard time keeping him in sight as he dashed through the facility.
They had heard Liara's screams, loud and clear even though they were on the other side of the building. At the first sound of them, Shepard had dropped his search for any signs of danger to rush towards the sound.
To be sure, Shepard was one of the best soldiers Ashley had ever seen. But sometimes, he was just a little too eager to drop any caution at the thought of a friend being in danger. Ashley hated herself for it, the petty thoughts filling her head when Liara could be in mortal danger. But part of her couldn't help but feel those old pangs of jealousy again.
It had started back on the Normandy SR-1, when Ashley and Liara had realized that Shepard had been spending a lot of time with both of them. They had agreed to confront Shepard, and make him realize that it had to be one or the other. Shepard had had the dopiest look on his face then, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But eventually, after an eternity of glancing between the two of them, he had chosen Ash. And while she had felt sympathy for Liara, walking away broken-hearted, part of her couldn't help but thrill at the fact that it had been her Shepard had wanted.
But ever since then, there had always been that doubt. That thought that maybe Shepard believed he had made the wrong choice. The way he looked at Liara sometimes, how he always seemed to take her advice during the final days of the Reaper war. She knew that she was being stupid. That Shepard was a man of his word, and would never fool around on her. But sometimes... times like these for instance... she couldn't help but wonder.
Breathing hard, muscles aching, Ash finally caught up to Shepard as he stepped through an open door into a Prothean lab of some kind. Ash immediately noticed the pedestal in the center of the room, and the Prothean orb hovering there. And then she saw the two crumpled bodies lying on the floor and gasped.
"Ash, check on Samara," Shepard instructed her, before rushing over to Liara.
Just like you'd expect, that bitter bitch in her brain said, even as she tried to ignore it and knelt down to check on Samara. Immediately, she could see that the older asari was breathing, and a check of her pulse told Ash that Samara's heartbeat was rapid, but steady.
"She's okay," Ash said. "Just out cold."
Standing up, Shepard let out a relieved sigh. "Liara's okay, too," he said, before turning his attention to the center of the room. "They were both lying around this artifact."
"Maybe it's like when you found the beacon," Ashley posited. "Gave them some messed-up visions or something." She suddenly remembered something. "Or like that orb you found on Eletania. Still remember how terrified I was when that thing knocked you out."
Shepard stared deeply at the hovering orb. Then, before Ashley could stop him, he began removing the gloves from his combat armor. "Shepard, what are you doing?" Ashley said nervously. "What if it..."
"I'll be okay, Ash," Shepard said. "I just want to see what they saw."
As Shepard reached for the orb, Ashley saw Liara stir. The asari raised herself up partway from the floor and, seeing what Shepard was doing, shouted. "Shepard, no! Don't touch it!"
But too late. Shepard's hand hit the surface of the Prothean orb and...
BBC Heaven (7/?)
anonymous
November 16 2014, 03:10:55 UTC
...nothing happened. Shepard stared down at his hand in confusion, then put his other hand on the orb to join it. But still nothing. Giving up on the artifact, he reached out to help the shaken Liara to her feet. Liara took a step backwards as soon as she regained her footing, putting distance between herself and the orb.
"Liara, what did you see?" Shepard asked her. "When you touched the orb, did you have any visions?"
Liara shook her head. "No, it just... hurt. It was the worst pain I experienced in my life. I don't remember anything other than that."
Coming to as well, the three of them turned to see Samara starting to stand up. "It was the same for me," Samara said. "I saw no visions that I can recall."
"Samara, I'm so sorry," Liara said, immediately rushing over to help the Justicar to her feet. "It was my stupidity that made you touch that device. If anything has happened to you..."
"No need for apology, Liara," Samara said with a comforting smile. "I do not appear to have suffered any lasting injury."
Liara looked down at herself, running hands over her body to search for injuries. "Nor I. Strange."
A look came across Ashley's face. Before any of them could stop her, she yanked off one of her own gloves and pressed against the surface of the orb. Shepard gasped, but just as with him, nothing seemed to happen when she touched it.
"Heh," Ashley chuckled. "Thought maybe this thing was made by a Prothean misogynist or something, only wanted to torture women." She turned and looked at Liara and Samara. "Or maybe... it only hurts asari to touch it."
Liara frowned, then suddenly remembered. "The terminal," she said to Shepard. "There's a Prothean computer terminal over there. Maybe we can find out more about what this device is from the terminal's databanks."
Shepard nodded. "Good idea," he said to Liara, giving her a smile that made Liara's heart swell. "Retrieve the memory banks and we'll bring them back to the Normandy." He then turned his attention to the other asari in their party. "Samara, I assume that blasted-up shuttle outside was yours?"
Samara nodded. "Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as stealthy as I had hoped in my tracking of Lelina and her companions. I was planning to locate one of the Eclipse's shuttles after my battle was concluded, but now that you have arrived... I hope it wouldn't be too much of an imposition upon you to... 'hitch a ride,' as you humans put it."
"Not a problem," Shepard said. "We'll bring you back to the Normandy and drop you off at the next starport so you can get back to Thessia."
This gave Samara a smile. "Actually, I have another journey in mind. A visit to someone very dear to me on Lesuss. But I should be able to book passage to there just as easily. I thank you for your hospitality."
"Alright, considering we're not dodging any fire from Eclipse mercs after all the noise we just made, I guess Lelina was bluffing after all," Ashley said, as she put her glove back on and took the Prothean artifact with both hands. "Let's get going. I think I've had enough gun battles on Eden Prime for one lifetime, thank you."
"You and me both, lady," Shepard said to Ashley with a smirk, and the two of them shared a laugh as they led the way out of the building.
Behind them, as she finished removing the Prothean databanks from the terminal, Liara wasn't sure if the lurch she felt in her stomach was at the sight of Shepard and Ashley together... or something else. She looked over at Samara to see the Justicar holding a hand to her forehead. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Samara said, but with a noticeable lack of certainty in her voice. Seeing Samara's discomfort, Liara suddenly felt a sharp pain. Not in her head, but on a place on her body that would be inappropriate to place a hand on in polite company. But just as soon as it was there, Liara felt it abate. Trying to ignore the troubled feelings she was having, Liara followed Samara out of the facility and to the waiting Normandy shuttle.
BBC Heaven (8/?)
anonymous
November 16 2014, 03:15:06 UTC
* * *
"There have been many changes since I was last here," Samara said as she stepped through the airlock onto the deck of the Normandy. Looking into the cockpit, she smiled as she saw the familiar ballcap poking up from the pilot's seat. "But it seems like something will never change."
Turning around in his seat, Joker gave Samara a surprised smile. "Hey, Samara! Long time, no see!" he said, then gave Shepard a scathing look. "Commander, you should have told me we were going to have company coming! This place is an absolute mess. I'm so embarrassed."
"Yeah, some things never change," Shepard said to Samara with a grin. "Come on, we've got a few hours until we reach the next port. I'll give you the tour if you want." He turned to his right. "Liara, did you want to... Liara?"
Liara was leaning a hand against the bulkhead, eyes distant. "I'm... I'm fine, Shepard," she quickly said. "I just need to lie down for a bit."
"You sure you're okay?" Shepard said, walking over to Liara with a concerned look. "Maybe you should have Dr. Michel take a look at you."
"I said I'm fine!" Liara suddenly exclaimed, Shepard taking a step back in surprise at her loud response. "I'll be in my office, just... just give me some time to rest," she said, more quietly, before turning and walking down to the lift.
Ashley looked at the departing Liara in confusion. "I'll check in on her later, Shepard," she offered. "Probably just nerves from being back in combat after so long. I remember when I used to get like that back when I was in training. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Thanks, Ash," Shepard said. "I just hope it isn't something to do with that device," he said, before turning to Samara. "You feeling alright, Samara?"
Samara hesitated. "I... believe so," she said. "Perhaps some aches still remaining from touching that relic, but nothing too troubling."
"Speaking of which," Ashley said, hefting the large orb in her hands. "Guess we better decide what to do with this thing."
"Put it in the life support room for now," Shepard advised her. "Nobody in there right now to tamper with it."
"Roger that, sir," Ashley said. "I'll meet you up in your cabin after you're done giving Samara the grand tour. I... uh... think we're going to need a debriefing after that mission," she added suggestively.
Shepard grinned and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "An Alliance Commander's work is never done," he said, as Ashley turned and made her way to the lift.
"I am glad to see you have found happiness, Shepard," Samara said, watching Ash leave with a warm smile. "You bore so many burdens during our battles with the Reapers. If anyone deserved a long rest with a loving companion after all that, it would be you."
This gave Shepard a laugh. "You sound a lot like Ash, actually. After she got back from where the Normandy crash-landed, she was ready for the two of us to retire somewhere. But the galaxy still needs to be rebuilt, and I don't intend to rest until as many people as possible have the same opportunity to find their own happiness as I do."
"Shepard, you are truly a s... self..." Samara stared to say, before a sudden and sharp bolt of pain forced her to suddenly hunch over.
"Samara!" Shepard cried out, but Samara could barely hear his words through the agony that was suddenly flaring between her legs. She fell to her knees on the Normandy deck, the sound of crew members rushing to her side surrounding her as her head started to feel light. "Somebody help her! We need to get her to the medbay!"
Samara looked up to see a dark-skinned woman rush down the narrow corridor leading to the cockpit. "Commander, look!" she said, point downward at Samara. "There's something... something down there!"
Her vision getting foggy, the last thing Samara felt before she lost consciousness for the second time that day was Commander Shepard hurriedly undoing her pants, and a gasp from the assembled crew members as the pressure between Samara's legs was suddenly relieved.
BBC Heaven (9/?)
anonymous
November 16 2014, 03:18:37 UTC
* * *
She did her best to look as normal as possible on the way to her office, despite the rapidly growing pain she was feeling. And as soon as her office door shut behind her, Liara let out a choked cry of anguish. Dropping the Prothean databanks to the floor of her office, she pressed a hand between her legs, and felt a horrified chill run through her as she felt something there. A bulge of some kind, small but growing larger by the second.
What did that thing do to me? Liara thought, panicked as her trembling fingers worked the fasteners on her combat armor. She felt light-headed, and it took all of her mental abilities to keep conscious as she stripped off her armored leggings and started working on sliding down the pants underneath. Whatever was growing underneath her clothing, it was getting even larger. And whatever it was, Liara also realized, she could feel it pressing against the fabric of her pants. Feel it as if it were a part of her own body.
Just as she yanked down her pants and the cotton undergarments underneath, she heard her office door slide open behind her. Always forget to lock that door, a voice in the back of her head said, as she spun around in surprise at the sound and nearly fell on her face.
"Dr. T'Soni, is everything alright?" said the heavily-accented voice of the Normandy's ship doctor. Dr. Chloe Michel stepped into the office rapidly, concern on her face. "Commander Shepard asked me to check on you. He said something happened to Samara and..."
The doctor had been in such a rush to check on Liara, it took her a few seconds to notice that the asari in front of her was half-naked. Then, when her eyes unconsciously drifted down to Liara's beltline, her jaw dropped wide open in shock. "M...m... merde!" she cursed, her eyes bulging wide at what she saw.
Liara looked down as well, and saw just about the last thing she would have expected.
Hanging between Liara's legs was a long, thick, and veiny blue cock. Below it were a swollen pair of testicles, the hairless orbs dangling lewdly between her inner thighs.
Some crazy part of Liara's mind wanted to believe that this was some sort of hallucination, or a strange prosthetic that had somehow been slipped inside of her uniform. But she could feel the cold breeze of the Normandy's life support system drifting along the surface of the cock. The surface of her cock, the scaly blue tube of flesh jutting out from her groin like it had always been there. As she watched, she could see the pulse of her rapid heartbeat throbbing through the organ, blood pumping through the recently-grown part of her anatomy.
She looked back up, horror on her face, to see Dr. Michel staring back, along with several other crew members who had heard the doctor's cries and came to see what was the matter.
"By... by the Godd..." was all that Liara got out before she fell to the floor, out cold.
* * *
Coming up next on BBC 2: Unwelcome delays, unwanted desires, and undeniable cravings
Re: BBC Heaven (9/?)
anonymous
November 25 2014, 15:36:21 UTC
A!A: Heh, sorry to fans of this and Slaves. But I've been stricken with a terrible disease that is preventing me from concentrating on writing. Yeah, I've come down with DA:Itis. :)
But I'm going to try to drag myself away from BioWare's latest masterpiece (and it really is good, don't let the banality of DA2 scare you away from it) long enough to get an update to something done soon. Probably will be Slaves first, but I gotta admit that I'm actually much more eager to return to this fill at the moment. Probably because it's shorter, and more probably because, aside from a little more plot that will be in the next update, it's going to be non-stop smut pretty much until the end.
So, hang tight, folks. I'll drag myself away from the Inquisition (and my new waifu Cassandra) sometime soon.
Re: BBC Heaven (9/?)
anonymous
November 25 2014, 22:51:37 UTC
As would I. But I'm a big Slaves fan and they just landed at the much-anticipated secret sex base! There's gotta be at least a little smut involved with that... right?
Re: BBC Heaven (9/?)
anonymous
November 26 2014, 01:38:53 UTC
Of course. What's been started must first be finished. But might it be the next long!fic after Slaves? In fact, if A!A wants to collab on a DA!fic, I might be up for that.
Re: BBC Heaven (9/?)
anonymous
November 27 2014, 12:22:39 UTC
A!A: It's funny, but I've been asked before about DA fics, and despite my love for all things BioWare, I never really felt all that invested in that universe. Or least, not enough to divert from my focus on ME smut. But DA:I might end up changing that in the end, as it's really gotten me interested in the lore in a way I wasn't before.
(And I gotta confess: the latest pic by MintoFoularis http://rule34.paheal.net/post/view/1487471 was hot enough that I almost started thinking up a "the Inquisitor's female advisors help him celebrate a hard-earned victory" fic before I remembered I'm already in the middle of two fics ;) )
But yes, that's looking WAY into the future. For now, trying my best to devote some time on this Thanksgiving weekend to do a Slaves update, and maybe try to get back to this fill before getting back to work. Now if I could just make myself go to sleep now, and not spend the next few hours exploring the new zone I just unlocked in DA:I... :)
The three of them sprinted forward, as the canyon walls widened out into a small clearing. Near a large opening in the cliff face was a shuttlecraft, blackened and scarred from weapon fire. "Eclipse?" Shepard asked to his team.
"Don't see any of their markings," Ashley said. "'Course they could be trying to stay incognito down here. Don't want us to know who they're working for."
Opening up her omni-tool, Liara scanned the shuttle. "Strange," she mused. "Its registration appears to be classified. By the Asari Republics."
Ashley looked back at Liara incredulously. "An asari shuttle? You think it might have been stolen?"
"I don't know," Liara said. "Whoever's it is, though, they're not going anywhere in this ship. The engines are completely inoperable. We should probably investigate further."
Shepard nodded, taking the lead and heading for the opening in the rocky cliff face. Activating his assault rifle's light, he cast it down to reveal a small, grimy-looking room. "Looks clear," Shepard said, before jumping down into the gap and into the abandoned facility.
Ashley glanced back at Liara and gave her a small smile. "You ready for this, Liara? Just say the word and I'll be sure to watch your back."
"I'll be fine," Liara said, stepping past Ashley and jumping down after Shepard. Almost as soon as her feet hit the floor, she started hearing the gunfire.
Panicked, she glanced around until she saw Shepard's light ahead of her. As she heard the muffled thump of Ashley quickly following them down, Liara dashed forward to Shepard. "What's going on?" she asked.
"No idea," Shepard said, pointing to a hallway branching off from the room they had entered, an open doorway at the end of it. "Maybe whoever came in that shuttle just met up with our Eclipse looters. We'd better move."
The three of them marched quickly down the hallway, weapons at the ready. As they moved closer to the sound of the gunfire, they could hear someone shouting.
"You won't take me! I'll die before I let them put me away again!" a female voice screamed over the loud rattle of gunfire. Just as Shepard and his team reached the end of the hallway, a man in yellow armor suddenly appeared in the doorway in front of them. They only had a second to register his terrified face, before a sudden biotic bolt sent him flying away and out of sight. The loud thump and crack they heard soon after left little doubt about his fate.
Glancing through the door, Liara could see the large room in front of them, lit by several portable lamps and flares. From her knowledge of Prothean architecture, Liara guessed it to be some sort of common room for the science facility. But any furniture or objects of comfort had long since rotten away, leaving only crumbled rubble for the combatants in the room to dive behind.
"There!" Shepard pointed, drawing his party's attention to the bright flash of gunfire. An asari in Eclipse armor was leaning out of cover and firing across the room, at a target near to the door where Shepard and his team were standing. As she ducked back behind cover, the asari merc began to shout again.
"Give it up, Justicar! You may have taken out these clowns, but I've got ten more guns in this facility, and they're gonna be here any minute!" the Eclipse merc screamed. "Surrender now and maybe I'll be merciful and have them kill you quickly!"
Liara turned to Shepard and quietly spoke. "Justicar? You don't think..."
"Maybe. Regardless, I think it's obvious what side we're on in this battle," Shepard said, before turning to his other companion. "You think you can take the shot from here?"
Reaching behind her back, Ashley stowed her assault rifle and retrieved her sniper rifle. "Roger that, Commander," she coldly stated, before kneeling down and drawing a bead on the Eclipse merc through the open doorway.
"Any minute now, bitch," the asari mercenary taunted, as she started to rise up again to take another shot. "Any minute and my people will..."
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As they entered, Liara turned to stare at the crumbled rubble where the now-dead merc had been firing. A regal-looking asari rose to her feet from behind cover. As she turned to see the newcomers to the fight, recognition gleamed in her blue eyes, and she gave Shepard a warm smile.
"This is unexpected," Samara said, holstering her rifle as she stepped around the dead bodies of her defeated enemies. "It is good to see you again, Shepard."
"You as well," Shepard said. "I suppose that shuttle outside must be yours, then."
Samara nodded. "The woman that you helpfully took care of for me was a fugitive Ardat-Yakshi," she explained. "I tracked her for several months before discovering that she had obtained false identification and signed on to this Eclipse company. While my people have softened their stance on individuals with her conditions somewhat, unfortunately my target had murdered several innocents over the course of her flight." She glanced down at the other bodies of Eclipse mercs around the room. "I did offer her companions the opportunity to surrender and leave peacefully, but apparently their loyalty to their comrade was greater than their self-preservation instincts."
"Damn, looks like you haven't lost a step since the war ended," Ashley exclaimed, obviously impressed.
"She was saying something about comrades," Liara said. "Ten other people in the facility. Perhaps a bluff?"
Samara glanced across the room. "Most likely, but still... it would be best to be cautious."
"I see two doors out of here," Shepard said. "Samara, I know you've already taken care of your target, but if you wouldn't mind..."
"Not at all, Shepard," Samara said with a smile. "It would be an honor to fight alongside you again."
Shepard gestured towards Liara. "It would be an honor for me as well, but actually I'd like for you and Liara to take one of the doors. Ash, you and I will take the other."
"Very well, then," Samara said, retrieving her weapon and looking over at Liara. "Shall we be going, then?"
"I'm with you," Liara said, her eyes lingering on Shepard as he and Ashley stepped across the room to the other doorway. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to look away and follow Samara in the opposite direction.
The door they reached was closed and unpowered. Activating her omni-tool, Liara worked to route power into the system. "Samara, you said you tracked your target to this Eclipse group?" she asked as she spoke. "In your investigations, did you determine why they came to this facility?"
"I have my suspicions," Samara said. "I am acquainted with one of the administrators at the Ardat-Yakshi monastery that my target Lelina escaped from. She informed me that, during her time there, Lelina became obsessed with the Protheans. Learning their language, studying information about their artifacts. According to one of Lelina's friends, she had become convinced that the Protheans had discovered a cure for her condition. No doubt she hoped that this cure could be found in this previously unexplored facility."
As her omni-tool worked on activating the door, Liara furrowed her brow. "Hmm. I must admit I've come across similar hints in my own studies. Evidence of the Protheans studying the Ardat-Yakshi condition and attempting to reverse it. But I never came close to comprehending these fragments until I met Javik and received his aid. I wonder how Lelina was able to discover this on her own."
"There has been a great quantity of Prothean knowledge unearthed since the war ended," Samara said. "It might be possible that Lelina was able to obtain Prothean data that hasn't become widely available yet."
"Still, to have taken such a great risk, coming to Eden Prime on such a gamble," Liara said, as the door in front of her finally activated and slid open. "She must have been desperate to remedy her condition."
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Liara nodded. "Of course," she said. The two of them quieted, not wanting to make any further sounds as they made their way deeper into the compound. Liara glanced down as they went, noticing that the dusty, ancient floor at their feet appeared to be undisturbed. No footprints, no sign that anyone had been this way besides them.
They really should have turned around, knowing that there was no sign of enemies in this direction. But Liara's curiosity had gotten the better of her. The thought of an undisturbed Prothean research facility filled her with a buzz of excitement. If Samara noticed the lack of footprints, she said nothing, simply following beside Liara with her weapon at the ready.
Eventually, the hallway took a turn, and Liara saw an open archway in front of them. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a glimpse of what lay inside: a glowing pedestal with a hovering orb atop it.
"What is that?" Samara said, quickening her step as she attempted to keep up with the excited younger asari.
"Whatever it is, it's undeniably Prothean," Liara said. She glanced around the new room for any sign of danger before holstering her pistol. Slowly, almost reverently, she approached the smooth, featureless orb.
Samara looked around the room they had entered. Around the pillar were several tables, covered with long-ago deactivated Prothean datapads. "Over here," Samara said, drawing Liara's attention to something on one of the tables. "Looks like a Prothean computer terminal of some kind."
"Hmm," Liara said, breaking her focus on the larger Prothean artifact at the center of the room to look down at the darkened terminal. "No power, though. We might still be able to retrieve some information off it, but we need to bring the databanks back to the Normandy first." She glanced back at the center of the room, and the orb hovering there. "I'm much more interested in this device."
Samara followed Liara's stare to the floating orb warily. "Perhaps it would be best to wait for Commander Shepard to arrive. Allow him to return the databanks from this terminal to the Normandy and see if..."
Liara frowned. She knew that Samara didn't mean anything by it, but the implication that she should wait and let Shepard handle things for her aggravated her to no end. She was sick of having to rely on him to handle everything. While she was forced to watch from afar and see him walk off with Ashley afterward.
Prothean artifacts were her field. And she was sure she could get a basic understanding of what this device was intended for without any outside assistance.
Walking over to the floating orb, ignoring Samara's warnings, Liara placed her hands on the surface of the device.
And almost immediately, she knew she had made a terrible mistake.
"Aaaaaaaagh!" she cried out. As soon as her palms made contact with the surface of the orb, she felt agonizing pain flare across her entire body. It felt like every atom of her body was being torn apart and reassembled in the most painful fashion imaginable. Despite this, she found herself unable to remove her hands from the surface of the orb.
"Liara!" she heard Samara call out behind her. But the sound of the Justicar's voice was distant, as if coming from across the galaxy. "Let it go, Liara!"
"I can't..." Liara groaned through gritted teeth, straining with all of her energy to remove her hands from the orb, only to feel them locked in place as if by powerful magnets. "I can't... let go..."
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But by the time Liara summoned up the will to open her mouth, Samara had already grasped onto the orb herself, trying to wrest it from Liara's grasp. Immediately, Liara saw the same pain she was going through on Samara's face as well, the normally calm and serene Justicar gasping out as the agony of the device filled her body as well.
She didn't know how much longer it went on. Minutes, hours... the pain seemed endless until finally, she felt herself falling back to the floor, her hands finally releasing their grip on the device before she crumpled down and passed out.
* * *
"This way!" Shepard yelled. "I heard it from down there!"
Ashley struggled to keep up pace with Shepard. With his enhanced muscles and stamina, though, she was having a hard time keeping him in sight as he dashed through the facility.
They had heard Liara's screams, loud and clear even though they were on the other side of the building. At the first sound of them, Shepard had dropped his search for any signs of danger to rush towards the sound.
To be sure, Shepard was one of the best soldiers Ashley had ever seen. But sometimes, he was just a little too eager to drop any caution at the thought of a friend being in danger. Ashley hated herself for it, the petty thoughts filling her head when Liara could be in mortal danger. But part of her couldn't help but feel those old pangs of jealousy again.
It had started back on the Normandy SR-1, when Ashley and Liara had realized that Shepard had been spending a lot of time with both of them. They had agreed to confront Shepard, and make him realize that it had to be one or the other. Shepard had had the dopiest look on his face then, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But eventually, after an eternity of glancing between the two of them, he had chosen Ash. And while she had felt sympathy for Liara, walking away broken-hearted, part of her couldn't help but thrill at the fact that it had been her Shepard had wanted.
But ever since then, there had always been that doubt. That thought that maybe Shepard believed he had made the wrong choice. The way he looked at Liara sometimes, how he always seemed to take her advice during the final days of the Reaper war. She knew that she was being stupid. That Shepard was a man of his word, and would never fool around on her. But sometimes... times like these for instance... she couldn't help but wonder.
Breathing hard, muscles aching, Ash finally caught up to Shepard as he stepped through an open door into a Prothean lab of some kind. Ash immediately noticed the pedestal in the center of the room, and the Prothean orb hovering there. And then she saw the two crumpled bodies lying on the floor and gasped.
"Ash, check on Samara," Shepard instructed her, before rushing over to Liara.
Just like you'd expect, that bitter bitch in her brain said, even as she tried to ignore it and knelt down to check on Samara. Immediately, she could see that the older asari was breathing, and a check of her pulse told Ash that Samara's heartbeat was rapid, but steady.
"She's okay," Ash said. "Just out cold."
Standing up, Shepard let out a relieved sigh. "Liara's okay, too," he said, before turning his attention to the center of the room. "They were both lying around this artifact."
"Maybe it's like when you found the beacon," Ashley posited. "Gave them some messed-up visions or something." She suddenly remembered something. "Or like that orb you found on Eletania. Still remember how terrified I was when that thing knocked you out."
Shepard stared deeply at the hovering orb. Then, before Ashley could stop him, he began removing the gloves from his combat armor. "Shepard, what are you doing?" Ashley said nervously. "What if it..."
"I'll be okay, Ash," Shepard said. "I just want to see what they saw."
As Shepard reached for the orb, Ashley saw Liara stir. The asari raised herself up partway from the floor and, seeing what Shepard was doing, shouted. "Shepard, no! Don't touch it!"
But too late. Shepard's hand hit the surface of the Prothean orb and...
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"Liara, what did you see?" Shepard asked her. "When you touched the orb, did you have any visions?"
Liara shook her head. "No, it just... hurt. It was the worst pain I experienced in my life. I don't remember anything other than that."
Coming to as well, the three of them turned to see Samara starting to stand up. "It was the same for me," Samara said. "I saw no visions that I can recall."
"Samara, I'm so sorry," Liara said, immediately rushing over to help the Justicar to her feet. "It was my stupidity that made you touch that device. If anything has happened to you..."
"No need for apology, Liara," Samara said with a comforting smile. "I do not appear to have suffered any lasting injury."
Liara looked down at herself, running hands over her body to search for injuries. "Nor I. Strange."
A look came across Ashley's face. Before any of them could stop her, she yanked off one of her own gloves and pressed against the surface of the orb. Shepard gasped, but just as with him, nothing seemed to happen when she touched it.
"Heh," Ashley chuckled. "Thought maybe this thing was made by a Prothean misogynist or something, only wanted to torture women." She turned and looked at Liara and Samara. "Or maybe... it only hurts asari to touch it."
Liara frowned, then suddenly remembered. "The terminal," she said to Shepard. "There's a Prothean computer terminal over there. Maybe we can find out more about what this device is from the terminal's databanks."
Shepard nodded. "Good idea," he said to Liara, giving her a smile that made Liara's heart swell. "Retrieve the memory banks and we'll bring them back to the Normandy." He then turned his attention to the other asari in their party. "Samara, I assume that blasted-up shuttle outside was yours?"
Samara nodded. "Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as stealthy as I had hoped in my tracking of Lelina and her companions. I was planning to locate one of the Eclipse's shuttles after my battle was concluded, but now that you have arrived... I hope it wouldn't be too much of an imposition upon you to... 'hitch a ride,' as you humans put it."
"Not a problem," Shepard said. "We'll bring you back to the Normandy and drop you off at the next starport so you can get back to Thessia."
This gave Samara a smile. "Actually, I have another journey in mind. A visit to someone very dear to me on Lesuss. But I should be able to book passage to there just as easily. I thank you for your hospitality."
"Alright, considering we're not dodging any fire from Eclipse mercs after all the noise we just made, I guess Lelina was bluffing after all," Ashley said, as she put her glove back on and took the Prothean artifact with both hands. "Let's get going. I think I've had enough gun battles on Eden Prime for one lifetime, thank you."
"You and me both, lady," Shepard said to Ashley with a smirk, and the two of them shared a laugh as they led the way out of the building.
Behind them, as she finished removing the Prothean databanks from the terminal, Liara wasn't sure if the lurch she felt in her stomach was at the sight of Shepard and Ashley together... or something else. She looked over at Samara to see the Justicar holding a hand to her forehead. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Samara said, but with a noticeable lack of certainty in her voice. Seeing Samara's discomfort, Liara suddenly felt a sharp pain. Not in her head, but on a place on her body that would be inappropriate to place a hand on in polite company. But just as soon as it was there, Liara felt it abate. Trying to ignore the troubled feelings she was having, Liara followed Samara out of the facility and to the waiting Normandy shuttle.
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"There have been many changes since I was last here," Samara said as she stepped through the airlock onto the deck of the Normandy. Looking into the cockpit, she smiled as she saw the familiar ballcap poking up from the pilot's seat. "But it seems like something will never change."
Turning around in his seat, Joker gave Samara a surprised smile. "Hey, Samara! Long time, no see!" he said, then gave Shepard a scathing look. "Commander, you should have told me we were going to have company coming! This place is an absolute mess. I'm so embarrassed."
"Yeah, some things never change," Shepard said to Samara with a grin. "Come on, we've got a few hours until we reach the next port. I'll give you the tour if you want." He turned to his right. "Liara, did you want to... Liara?"
Liara was leaning a hand against the bulkhead, eyes distant. "I'm... I'm fine, Shepard," she quickly said. "I just need to lie down for a bit."
"You sure you're okay?" Shepard said, walking over to Liara with a concerned look. "Maybe you should have Dr. Michel take a look at you."
"I said I'm fine!" Liara suddenly exclaimed, Shepard taking a step back in surprise at her loud response. "I'll be in my office, just... just give me some time to rest," she said, more quietly, before turning and walking down to the lift.
Ashley looked at the departing Liara in confusion. "I'll check in on her later, Shepard," she offered. "Probably just nerves from being back in combat after so long. I remember when I used to get like that back when I was in training. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Thanks, Ash," Shepard said. "I just hope it isn't something to do with that device," he said, before turning to Samara. "You feeling alright, Samara?"
Samara hesitated. "I... believe so," she said. "Perhaps some aches still remaining from touching that relic, but nothing too troubling."
"Speaking of which," Ashley said, hefting the large orb in her hands. "Guess we better decide what to do with this thing."
"Put it in the life support room for now," Shepard advised her. "Nobody in there right now to tamper with it."
"Roger that, sir," Ashley said. "I'll meet you up in your cabin after you're done giving Samara the grand tour. I... uh... think we're going to need a debriefing after that mission," she added suggestively.
Shepard grinned and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "An Alliance Commander's work is never done," he said, as Ashley turned and made her way to the lift.
"I am glad to see you have found happiness, Shepard," Samara said, watching Ash leave with a warm smile. "You bore so many burdens during our battles with the Reapers. If anyone deserved a long rest with a loving companion after all that, it would be you."
This gave Shepard a laugh. "You sound a lot like Ash, actually. After she got back from where the Normandy crash-landed, she was ready for the two of us to retire somewhere. But the galaxy still needs to be rebuilt, and I don't intend to rest until as many people as possible have the same opportunity to find their own happiness as I do."
"Shepard, you are truly a s... self..." Samara stared to say, before a sudden and sharp bolt of pain forced her to suddenly hunch over.
"Samara!" Shepard cried out, but Samara could barely hear his words through the agony that was suddenly flaring between her legs. She fell to her knees on the Normandy deck, the sound of crew members rushing to her side surrounding her as her head started to feel light. "Somebody help her! We need to get her to the medbay!"
Samara looked up to see a dark-skinned woman rush down the narrow corridor leading to the cockpit. "Commander, look!" she said, point downward at Samara. "There's something... something down there!"
Her vision getting foggy, the last thing Samara felt before she lost consciousness for the second time that day was Commander Shepard hurriedly undoing her pants, and a gasp from the assembled crew members as the pressure between Samara's legs was suddenly relieved.
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She did her best to look as normal as possible on the way to her office, despite the rapidly growing pain she was feeling. And as soon as her office door shut behind her, Liara let out a choked cry of anguish. Dropping the Prothean databanks to the floor of her office, she pressed a hand between her legs, and felt a horrified chill run through her as she felt something there. A bulge of some kind, small but growing larger by the second.
What did that thing do to me? Liara thought, panicked as her trembling fingers worked the fasteners on her combat armor. She felt light-headed, and it took all of her mental abilities to keep conscious as she stripped off her armored leggings and started working on sliding down the pants underneath. Whatever was growing underneath her clothing, it was getting even larger. And whatever it was, Liara also realized, she could feel it pressing against the fabric of her pants. Feel it as if it were a part of her own body.
Just as she yanked down her pants and the cotton undergarments underneath, she heard her office door slide open behind her. Always forget to lock that door, a voice in the back of her head said, as she spun around in surprise at the sound and nearly fell on her face.
"Dr. T'Soni, is everything alright?" said the heavily-accented voice of the Normandy's ship doctor. Dr. Chloe Michel stepped into the office rapidly, concern on her face. "Commander Shepard asked me to check on you. He said something happened to Samara and..."
The doctor had been in such a rush to check on Liara, it took her a few seconds to notice that the asari in front of her was half-naked. Then, when her eyes unconsciously drifted down to Liara's beltline, her jaw dropped wide open in shock. "M...m... merde!" she cursed, her eyes bulging wide at what she saw.
Liara looked down as well, and saw just about the last thing she would have expected.
Hanging between Liara's legs was a long, thick, and veiny blue cock. Below it were a swollen pair of testicles, the hairless orbs dangling lewdly between her inner thighs.
Some crazy part of Liara's mind wanted to believe that this was some sort of hallucination, or a strange prosthetic that had somehow been slipped inside of her uniform. But she could feel the cold breeze of the Normandy's life support system drifting along the surface of the cock. The surface of her cock, the scaly blue tube of flesh jutting out from her groin like it had always been there. As she watched, she could see the pulse of her rapid heartbeat throbbing through the organ, blood pumping through the recently-grown part of her anatomy.
She looked back up, horror on her face, to see Dr. Michel staring back, along with several other crew members who had heard the doctor's cries and came to see what was the matter.
"By... by the Godd..." was all that Liara got out before she fell to the floor, out cold.
* * *
Coming up next on BBC 2: Unwelcome delays, unwanted desires, and undeniable cravings
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NOW!!
^_^'
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But I'm going to try to drag myself away from BioWare's latest masterpiece (and it really is good, don't let the banality of DA2 scare you away from it) long enough to get an update to something done soon. Probably will be Slaves first, but I gotta admit that I'm actually much more eager to return to this fill at the moment. Probably because it's shorter, and more probably because, aside from a little more plot that will be in the next update, it's going to be non-stop smut pretty much until the end.
So, hang tight, folks. I'll drag myself away from the Inquisition (and my new waifu Cassandra) sometime soon.
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(And I gotta confess: the latest pic by MintoFoularis http://rule34.paheal.net/post/view/1487471 was hot enough that I almost started thinking up a "the Inquisitor's female advisors help him celebrate a hard-earned victory" fic before I remembered I'm already in the middle of two fics ;) )
But yes, that's looking WAY into the future. For now, trying my best to devote some time on this Thanksgiving weekend to do a Slaves update, and maybe try to get back to this fill before getting back to work. Now if I could just make myself go to sleep now, and not spend the next few hours exploring the new zone I just unlocked in DA:I... :)
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