Nexus Effect

Ch.18

Projectiles thudded against the damage-resistant bottom of the White-Glint, one glanced against the viewport and cracked it. Krarek rapidly descended and roughly landed the shuttle with the front facing away from the gunfire in the corner nearest to where Mordin and Wrekrov were pinned down. Upon us landing, the duo sprinted for the new cover provided by the armored light-duty spacecraft.

However, before exfiltration could be properly considered, an explosion wracked the aft end of the White-Glint. The girl was grounded, possibly for good. I unfastened the harness I shared with Marrow and patted the downed ship’s dash consolingly before bursting from the door and laying down precision covering fire while Marrow used her ‘biotics’ to raise a barrier.

“Thank you for the assistance. I did not believe we would be reunited so quickly.” Friend Mordin rapidly stated as he swapped out his pistol’s thermal clip for a cold one to more rapidly cool his Scorpion while the hot one was left on his belt to vent it’s heat.

“As nice as it is to see you two, get behind the ship!” Sentinel Marrow snarled since her biotic barrier was taking a pounding. At her demand, we all hid behind the prow of the ship and she dropped her barrier with a gasp. “Hot damn. That was tougher than blocking a barrage of blaster bolts.”

“They’re using Haliat Thunders and ERCS Banshees with extended thermal clips to keep firing. One even has his on a bipod.” Wrekrov growled and patted his own Haliat Thunder affectionately. “They’re wrecking the barrels of their guns by firing them so much, heat sinks be damned.”

“Lament the waste of good weapons later, we have a crisis beyond the obvious. Wrekrov, Marrow’s informed us that if we don’t purge these heretics and consecrate the altar by your bleeding and seeding a female upon it, then Urta may manifest and destroy all hope of peaceful coexistence between the coming Empire and this galaxy.” I dutifully informed him, causing Wrekrov to look baffled.

“But her coming could reunite my people! Cure the Genophage and remind them of the Tenets of War!” Friend Wrekrov protested, causing me to realize I was having what Unit Nexus refers to as a Paragon or Renegade moment. However, this isn’t so cut and dry as that. Wrekrov’s people will get help later, but if Urta comes now, she will destroy far more. “Huh...didn’t think of it that way.”

Oh dear, was I speaking aloud? I’d best check my vocal subroutines for consistency.

“Agreed. While I approve of the Krogan species regaining a sense of direction and order, I do not believe having such a volatile biotic of such power unleashed on the galaxy would be at all conscionable.” Friend Mordin declared in support of delaying Urta’s arrival like a rational person.

“Alright, so we’re blasting through them. Have any tricks, Tiny?” Krarek questioned me and I nodded. My dispute over my erroneous moniker would have to wait until afterward.

“I have a surplus of grenades I have fashioned from scrap.” I announced as I unzipped my suit and reached into my cleavage, retrieving a bundle of grenades that I handed to Wrekrov. I dutifully ignored the gawking of the others as I fished out several more bundles of grenades. I make sure I leave no scrap to waste, so I wonder why they are shocked at the 50 grenades I have produced. “Well, are we not going to volley their line with explosives?”

“Sweet Cheeks, that is one of the hottest things I’ve ever heard you say.” Marrow kissed my visor at the cheek and grabbed a bundle as I zipped my Enviro-Suit back up.

“Noted. I shall attempt to be more aggressive in my vocal interactions.” I grabbed my own bundle while the others accepted their own. I peeked around the corner of the ship and ducked back after getting a snapshot of the enemy positioning on the steps leading up into the mountain cathedral. Calculating. Trajectories predicted according to wind speed and gravitational pull of the planet.

“Shame we won’t have much time in the open to-.” Wrekrov’s words were interrupted by me priming and flinging grenades up and over the ship with mechanical precision, the resulting explosions caused screams of pain and halted the suppressing gunfire long enough for him and the others to break cover, throwing their own grenades at their chosen targets.

By the time my shrapnel grenades had made short work of the outer defenses, several other ships landed in the courtyard before Krogans, Turians, Asari, what-have-you, poured forth and screamed in fury as they charged up the steps, our group taking up the rear as the cavalry, a bit late, slammed into the sealed doors with the Krogans acting like battering rams.

Considering this system is a Demilitarized Zone, it would make sense that an impromptu militia such as this would’ve taken some time to properly organize before arriving. That they did get here so quickly by that reasoning was fairly impressive. “Stay clear! We’re going to blast an opening in the wall next to the doors! They were made to withstand sieges by armies of Krogan!”

At the warning of what is clearly a local demolitions expert, we all stood back as he and his crew began liberally setting up shaped charges in a circle to the right of the door. “If it is made to withstand sieges by your people, how could the people within have been overtaken by bandits?” Marrow questioned morosely, likely already knowing the answer.

“Because it is meant to be open. It is meant to serve the people, not lock them out. Damn these faithless curs!” Wrekrov snarled as he, like several Krogan, all paced back and forth like predators trapped in cages. Odd, aren’t they a prey species of Tuchanka? “At least it is good to see some people still believe that they consider Urta important enough to come at her need.”

“Stand clear!” Shouted the fully armored man of unknown species as he brought up his Omni-tool. All 5 of the tightly arranged shaped charges detonated, blasting a hole large enough for three Krogans astride through the thick wall.

“For Urta!” Wrekrov bellowed and several other Krogan roared in kind with many others joining them still before the towering battle-blessed aliens took the vanguard position of rushing in first, Wrekrov at the head.

The rest of us followed them into a massive firefight. All thoughts fled me, if it wasn’t a red mark on my IFF I left it be, if it was I shot it. I stayed near Marrow and Krarek the whole time, lending cover support to Wrekrov as he barreled into enemies and viscerally slaughtered them with both gun and claw. My shots met only the faces of the enemy, yet that number was dwindling.

Soon enough, the main chapel of the cathedral had the floor coated in blood of many races, mostly Krogan of course. Our side had suffered losses as well, mostly non-Krogan in that case since they are squishier than the hulking reptiles.

“Sweet Cheeks? You can turn off kill-mode now.” At Mate Marrow’s words I turned towards her and tilted my head.

“Hm?” I asked wordlessly, then noted that I was covered in blood. Oh, I must be quite a sight right now. “Apologies. I shall endeavor to be less aggressive in future combat scenarios.”

“No, babe, that was hot, but you need to cool down. It’s already over.” Marrow insisted and I scanned the room. IFF clear, no movements of the downed bandits, ambient temperatures lowering. Confirmed battle completion, reverting to-.

“O-oh keelah…” I fell to my knees and dry-heaved in my visor as Marrow patted my back, causing the blood on me to make a cringe-worthy squelching noise.

“Holy Urta, Tiny! You were like a personification of the Goddess just now!” Wrekrov declared approvingly as he grabbed my shoulders and nearly picked me up to set me back on my feet. “Stand proud! You’re practically a Krogan today!” But I don’t wanna be a Krogan…

We may get a Krogan combat chassis in the future Nora. It was on the list of blueprints Star Swirl gave us...

‘What?!’ I mentally yelped before I noticed every male besides Wrekrov were staring at me and chuckling as they nodded towards me, the women visibly pouting yet nodding too, oh keelah. “Th-that’s great. Let’s see about quelling Urta’s wrath huh? Is there a private altar?”

“Huh? Of course not.” Wrekrov replied in bewilderment as he gestured towards the large slab of stone that was before the enormous statue of Urta carved into the wall.

“Who should the partner be?” Asked one of the Krogans who had come with the militia.

“I vote for the Quarian!” Another said with a chuckle.

“Are you nuts?! The poor girl will die of illness!” Shouted one of the non-Krogan women.

“But she’s the one who proved the most potent female Warrior here and is clearly quite Fertile.” Rebutted another Krogan, the reptiles all unanimously nodding in agreement that I’m the most suited for the sacrifice.

“Mine!” Marrow declared and hugged my filthy helmet to her chest with a glare. “If it’ll spare her the risk, I’ll do it! The lot of you better give us privacy though!”

“We need to sweep through all the other chambers of the cathedral anyway. You two be sure to satiate Urta, Priest. It’s going to be difficult finding adherents to refill these halls without ambient battle-rage clouding everyone’s minds.” Another Krogan declared as the rest of the militia trooped through the two doors in the rear of the main chapel.

“I will.” Wrekrov grimly promised as our group approached the altar, which was mostly a massive slab of stone set before the sexy overly-voluptuous massive statue of Urta carved into the wall. The slab and the statue were likewise splattered in blood, but this didn’t deter Wrekrov who retracted his helmet and sighed as he began stripping off his armor. “Sorry about this Marrow.”

“Trust me, I know how important this is. The last thing we need is for Urta to manifest and-.”

“What is going on here?!” Came a demanding and overpowering woman’s voice from the statue in a sultry south middle-eastern accent. Said statue was glowing with turquoise light. “I can feel the blood of the invaders. I just projected myself here and suddenly things have taken a turn. What is happening?”

“Goddess Urta! Mother of us all! Grand General of All Wars! I am merely a humble Priest in your service! Our cathedral was overtaken by bandits, but we have since regained it!” Wrekrov prostrated before the altar, naked as the day he was born. He was exuding immense joy at finally hearing the voice of his goddess, while I was feeling awed. I can’t speak for the others though.

“Oh. Well, shit. Sorry. I would’ve come sooner to reinforce you, but you’re very far away. Where is this cathedral that it is so far and has bandits of all things to harass it?” Urta demanded curiously before Marrow took his natural form and flew up to the face of the statue, standing on the bust. “Wait, little Marrow?! But you’re supposed to be in the Milky Way!”

“Aunt Urta. Please leave! You projected to the cathedral of the Krogans, a local alien species that has worshiped you since their ancient eras. You can’t be here! Not yet! You’ll spark a war of extinction for the Krogan!” Marrow pleaded to his far-distant aunt, who hummed in consideration.

“So, your duties are making good progress, I guess. Fine. If it’ll cause so much trouble I’ll be leaving. Priest!”

“Yes my Goddess!” Wrekrov replied instantly, refusing to look down from the high-up face of his deity.

“Keep up the good work! Although, I sense my presence there is weak, it is still enough for me to have felt the dire straits of my followers. I give you my Blessing as my Missionary! Remind the people of my glory as you always have, but now carry weight behind it!”

“I shall succeed or die trying!” Wrekrov declared proudly and I gasped as I backed away from the turquoise light that shimmered over the Krogan.

“Good man. Oh and Marrow, I can feel your biological clock running overtime, you found someone?”

“B-bye now!” Marrow flew back down to us as Urta cackled playfully, her voice fading as the light coming from her statue dimmed to nothing. “Geez! At least she isn’t Granny Wiatr, she’d have fixated on that instead of just noting it.”

“So, before I get dressed, can I assume that the traditional consecration of the altar is unneeded?” Wrekrov questioned Marrow, who nodded with relief in his expression even as he turned back into an Asari. “Just checking.”

“You just got Blessed by Urta. I wouldn’t be shocked if you could ignore the Genophage and knock up any female Krogan and also get female eggs that survive.” Marrow snarked, then we all as one paused before we looked at Mordin as he stared up at the statue. “Uh, hey. You haven’t said anything since we saved your bacon.”

“That wasn’t Biotics. That is unexplainable by all fields of science. I have just witnessed something absolutely no sapient will believe without seeing it themselves.” Mordin stated, his Salarian monotone laced with awe. “There are still mysteries out in the universe. Fields of science and wonder to be discovered…”

“Shame Salarians live such short lives.” Krarek commented soberly, himself in his own species’ middle-age, he could probably sympathize with such lofty dreams being out of reach due to the restraints of time.

“I have been addressing the Salarian lifespan since I began work on my first doctorate. I will already see perhaps several more years than an average Salarian, but even so, it will not be enough. It never will. Not after seeing that.” Mordin declared with lament in his tone.

“Now, about the Genophage.” Wrekrov grunted with a look at Mordin as he sat against the slab of the altar and began working his hardsuit back on. Uh-oh. Did Mordin admit this to him?

“No. The Krogan are not ready, not yet Wrekrov.” Mordin said soberly. “There are still more Bandits like these all over Tuchanka. Warbands led by warlords, no centralized government, barely any cultural foundation besides this incredibly real religion. If Krogan were to breed at their normal rates or even gain a slight increase in population and they realized it, there are too many variables for a Warmonger to come to power. I must introduce the modifications, at least for this time, to keep Krogan wars from happening. The next war could rob us of your people and this.”

Mordin gestured to the temple in awe. “Imagine what Warlords like this Harjral would do if they thought they could keep their numbers up and destroy all you have worked for, just because they thought the past, this culture you keep alive, is not worth it. That they think they can waste the men on such self-destructive impulses while the women are nothing but breeding stock. I will cure the Genophage, but not today, not with the risk present without a radical leader ready to take charge and prevent such actions.”

“You could’ve just summed it up with: Find the right one for the job first, then we’ll talk.” Wrekrov huffed and finished putting his armor on, then slapped Mordin on the back hard enough to send the Salarian stumbling. “You’re a good guy, but a cruel one. So, since I am now the Archpriest, you still interested in reading from the Lexicada Urtada?”

[01001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

Tuchanka stinks. Literally. It reeks. I’m going to have to stand in the sonic shower both naked and in my Enviro-Suit to get the stench of the planet off of me. Also to run it on decontamination mode to lower my collected radiation so I’m not a risk for others on board. They’re all good on that front, not me. I still suffer from the issues of being synthetic there.

That aside, it took me several hours to repair the thruster gimbal on the White-Glint to get her back to the White-Out. The time was mostly because I had to hitch a ride with some locals willing to help me out since I impressed them with my combat prowess in order to get to the nearest scrapyard and then back again with the parts I needed.

It turns out the Church of Urta actually operates on donations! Seriously. They didn’t have any vehicles in the cathedral’s motor pool because the church had to sell everything to maintain the building. Yeesh.

“Do you think she’ll be back in ship-shape again?” Paretia questioned me while I was hip-deep inside the port-side thruster. I bet I’m giving anyone out there a really nice shot of my ass~.

“She’s already flight worthy, but by this point I’d be better off completely gutting Krarek’s old hauler and incorporating it’s parts into White-Glint or using it as a hangar queen to help keep our shuttle flying.” I called behind me as I repaired the nozzle.

“Aw, but it’s the street-legal one.” Paretia mewled and I breathed a huff out of my nose. Of course. The little junker is the one that can actually go on planetary city traffic lanes. Ugh...now I have to upgrade that piece of shit too.

“Fine. Now could you make yourself useful and pull me out of this so I don’t have to wriggle?” I requested and wasn’t disappointed by the Turian’s hands groping my ass. “Mm~, I knew you’d do that, but could you actually pull me out?”

“Aw, but I was hoping I could watch Marrow fuck you like this.” Paretia-wait, what?

“Damn it Paretia, you spoiled the surprise!” I felt hot. Marrow was going to give me a surprise dicking? Like this?

“What?” I yelped and bit my lip at the familiar sensation of Marrow’s massive maleness pressing against my covered groin. “Well, too bad. I’m-.” The near-invisible seam around my sex peeled open with ease and I squeaked and spasmed as he began feeding that monster to my hungry cunny. “Ahn~!” I grabbed the nozzle of the space-faring turbine and mewled as I gyrated, easing more and more of his cock into me.

“Hnng~! I can’t believe how sexy this is~!” Marrow growled, his fake-Turian hands changing back to his softer chitin as he groped my thicc booty and began gently thrusting into me. “When mother talked about how legendary Wiatr’s first breeding through a window was, I didn’t think it would be this incredible.”

“B-breeding~?” I whined, noticing he was still wearing a condom like always though. “D-don’t stuff me in here~! I’ll get stuck!” That oddly enticed me more!

It is illogical to enjoy the concept of getting entrapped. Why are We enjoying it? Geth Queried through our mutual pleasure, yet I had no Answer.

“You’re driving me crazy Nora! Now I’m gonna fuel this ship!” Marrow picked up the pace and I wailed in pleasure as I orgasmed quickly, then I felt the wonderful heat of his seed filling me...