Nexus Effect

Ch.44

“It seems your words were as empty as your emotions.” Medulla huffed from her podium and for the first time in known history, the turian and asari councilors took the side of the petitioner against the salarian councilor. Laiel knew the salarians were shifty, it’s in their nature, but for Valern’s people to completely deny his agreement and proposals for compromise was a new low.

“I warned you that the Dalatrass in charge may well deny any agreements made in this forum. In the end, I do not have the authority to override her. I am sorry, there is nothing I can do but offer the assistance of any volunteers from the STG.” Valern replied and shook his head. Laiel wanted to call the figurehead on his bullshit, but Messana’s gaze calmed him.

“I know of one who might volunteer. Do you know of Mordin Solus? He worked on the Genophage before, to improve it. Surely he would be willing to help.” Jorgal Wrekrov suggested, surprising the council as a whole. All of them knew Mordin Solus.

“Yes, how is it that you know him?” Messana questioned curiously.

“I’ve met him before. We had a rather pleasant discussion on several topics ranging from morality, religion, preference in tea. I even gave him a copy of the Lexicana Urtada.” Jorgan Wrekrov declared with a pleased smile.

“That stone-carved book? How did he manage to carry it?” Laiel asked in surprise while gesturing to the book hanging by a thick chain at Wrekrov’s waist. It was less a book and more a series of thin stone tablets carved from the densest stone of Tuchanka and bound in the hide of a Thresher Maw. It was a short book, only ten ‘pages’, but had a script carved into it at such a fine and small print that you’d think it a miracle a krogan even conceived it.

“He didn’t, It toppled him over. He managed after that though.” Jorgal Wrekrov chuckled and shook his head fondly. “So, do you think you could ask him to help out or not?”

“Actually, I already did.” Valern admitted before using his omni and shortly the doors to the council chamber opened and let the pale and orange salarian into the chamber.

Laiel hadn’t seen him in years, yet compared to most salarians, Mordin Solus was handling his middle-ages with grace. He hardly even seemed a day older in fact. Laiel wouldn’t put it past the clever scientist to illegally modify himself so he could continue his work for longer. Laiel didn’t care, if a gene mod was beneficial, it should be used. His people didn’t understand the asari and salarian aversion to genetic modification. It took ages to convince them to allow medi-gel.

It also took railing Messana so hard she couldn’t walk afterward.

“Good day Councilors, Ambassador. Hello again Archpriest Jorgal Wrekrov. It is a pleasure to see you again.” Mordin nodded with a surprising amount of expression on his face. Is it possible? Was Laiel seeing a salarian with emotions deeper than a shot glass?

“Same to you. I’m sorry your bosses are back-biting word breakers.” The krogan priest commented and Laiel leered over at Valern who seemed about to speak up at the statement, but he subsided when he noticed Laiel and Messana visibly leering at him.

“No comment.” Mordin replied with a bit too much amusement to be anything but agreement.

“Well, ain’t this nice.” A blue huminoud with bright solid red eyes, wearing some quite strange clothing that Laiel didn’t recognize with cybernetics all over his body, most prominent being two tubes linking into his throat to a tank on his back. He walked up the steps to Medulla and held up a paper. Paper. Laiel hasn’t seen physical notary before in his life, but everyone knew what paper was. “Ambassador, I caught that pest back in Andromeda for you. I know this is a decade old, but the Guild said the bounty was still good. I have him bundled up in your office, alive.”

“Who are you?” Medulla asked with a furrowed brow as she took the paper and perked up, her wings buzzing.

“Cad Bane, best bounty hunter in two galaxies. I only came to inform you of the catch before I’m off for another appointment. The credits have already been wired to me through the Bounty Guild.” The blue salarian-like alien said before promptly leaving as casually as he’d entered, everyone was stunned at the audacity of a bounty hunter interrupting a diplomatic meeting between two galactic governments.

“Oo~. Sorry everyone, but something important just came up. Please update me if you come to any decisions, the Empire’s stance is still mostly neutral.” Medulla bowed slightly, but Laiel didn’t miss the predatory gleam to her opaque purple eyes and the practical skip to her step as she left the council chamber.

“What just happened? How did a bounty hunter of all people get in here?” Messana asked in extreme confusion and unease as she looked at the C-sec officers who were shaking their heads at their omni-tools and they shrugged in bafflement. The intrusion had been so sudden and casual that the officers hadn’t reacted beyond treating him as if he was supposed to be here.

“That was Cad Bane, one of the most skilled hunters in Andromeda. I’ve hired him before to track down a missing STG agent who had sensitive documentation. The agent was dead, but he went to the trouble of finding the documents, killing the thieves and returning the documents in exchange for bonus pay. He is rather egotistical, but it is not undeserved.” Mordin input before opening his omni. “Now then, I’ve already retrieved all the current data on the Genophage…”

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“How are you adjusting, Martra?” Commander Shepard asked her new crewmate, who was helping HK clean and maintain the blasters in the armory while also chatting up the ancient assassin.

“I’m holding up well. The Normandy is a bit cramped compared to ships from Imperial space, but it’s much smoother. The toilets are a bit insensitive to the bipedally challenged though.” Martra chuffed and finished cleaning the blaster. It turns out HK doesn’t consider exterior cleanliness important for weapons, then again he’s a droid and they don’t worry about that.

“This ship was designed with humans and turians in mind. I could ask the engineers to try and build a separate toilet for you.” Shepard offered the tiger-taur, but she shook her head.

“That isn’t necessary. One of the features Cat-Kut have is that we’re incredibly flexible. Using a human toilet is simply inconvenient, not impossible.” Martra then stowed the gun away before nodding to HK and suddenly began to leave, but gestured for Shepard to follow her into the hangar, which was empty right now. “Now then, as an Imperial citizen I’m used to different customs. I can smell your arousal Shepard. Did you come to me to seek relief?”

“A-ah. No. I was just coming to check in on you. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.” Shepard blushed and maintained eye contact rather than let her eyes drift down.

“No harm done Commander. I’m also having trouble getting used to being surrounded by people who aren’t willing to drop what they’re doing for a quickie. Kaidan was rather polite about it though.” Martra commiserated in the awkwardness that was different cultures clashing.

“You like Kaidan, huh? He’s a good man, but perhaps married a bit too much to his work for my tastes. Speaking of which, since you’ve already broken the awkward question box, I’ve read your medical report. You’re a hermaphrodite right? I don’t see any outward sign of your male parts in the report.” Shepard questioned her new soldier curiously and Martra chuffed in amusement.

“External reproductive organs are a liability. They’re sensitive, chaff, an easy target. We have them internally, thank gosh. I can’t imagine how animals as hung as we are manage to sit with sperm glands that huge between their thighs. Bipeds get around that with forward-facing genitals, we don’t have that luxury.” Martra replied and Shepard blushed.

“Hung?” Shepard regretted the question as Martra rolled over and used her lower forelegs to paw at her belly, which soon had a throbbing red tapered spiny penis emerge from a fairly well-hidden genital slit. Thank gosh they were alone. “O-okay! You didn’t need to show me!”

“Aw, but you’re all flustered now.” Martra winked and her male organ, easily as big as Nora’s, quickly retracted as if on command. Do Cat-Kut have muscles that control that?

“Uh, so you control that?” Shepard asked awkwardly as Martra rolled back over and brushed off her T-shirt.

“Yeah, I technically have a pouch down there to store things too. There is a rumor we could fit people down there if we see it necessary for their survival. I’ve never used it, but I hear a few have seen Cat-Kuts let people crawl into theirs as some fetish or something.” Maltra explained.

“You have a womb-like pouch like a kangaroo? Geez, what didn’t your ancestors plan for?” Shepard questioned with interest as the two walked out of the hanger towards the cafeteria.

“Too much, Commander. Too much.”

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“Are you ready to launch, Nomad?” Joker asked over the comm as I sat and waited in the driver’s seat of the Nomad with Penny in the shotgun/turret seat and Liara was in back with Garrus. The fact that it looks like we’re a bunch of aliens all in the car just driving somewhere was both uncanny and hilarious to me. Nobody bothered to bring drink containers to use my precious cup holders besides me though…*slurp*.

“Confirmed ready, Joker. Nora says the Nomad is as capable of high-velocity orbital drop as the Mako and Hammerhead. There is no time like the present to test it out and I have faith in her work.” Penny replied and I felt all warm and tingly inside.

“Roger that. Deploying now.” The hangar had the interior doors sealed in case the mass effect field over the bay doors failed for any reason. Once sealed off, then the bay doors flung open and the field tuned only for small particles like gasses to be withheld to allow the Nomad to drop down towards Xawin without issue.

“Thank you so much for indulging me, Commander. The data Nora got from Therum indicates there’s a Prothean relic here.” Liara said as the Nomad’s sporty design allowed it to angle it’s landing trajectory, then the microjets kicked in and we landed with a fairly tame bounce. Woo! I am a genius!

“To be fair, Liara, we already had a job to come here and scan for mineral resources. It’s only polite to help you out at the same time.” Garrus declared as I drove through the mountainous and cold landscape. “Speaking of which, how long will we be doing these small jobs, Commander? I didn’t expect a Spectre to be treated like a freelancing bounty hunter. Just in the last week we’ve put down a cult leader the Shadow Broker’s info pointed us to, located mummified alien remains, you helped me find and kill Dr. Saleon, hunted down Wrex’s family armor and even helped Tali find older Geth tech for her to cross-reference with Nora.”

“Until we get a lead on Avitus or Tela, Garrus. It’s best to stay busy and the longer we’re away from the Citadel right now the better.” What Penny left implied was that Wrex was a prime target for political assassination right now. The Salarian Union have basically all but left the Citadel in the face of the overwhelming support the Empire has gained in aiding the krogan.

Good riddance I say. The Dalatrass in the third game was basically satan and utterly stupid. It’s sad to see the same holds in this reality. The Empire may just end up replacing the salarians on the council at the rate they’re losing political clout and support, although I don’t think that will actually happen. If anything, the Hannar might even take the place of the salarians before the salarians give up their council seat.

“Wow, this planet is really rich in Palladium, Iridium and has some small amounts of Cobalt. We may even get a bonus for finding this.” Liara said as she used her omni to interact with the Nomad’s scanning suite. “Ah, left up ahead I think Nora. We’ll find something there.”

I nodded and jumped the Nomad over a hill before rounding the snowy bank to the left and skidded into a field-protected garage. Uh…

“Well...uh...that was unexpected.” Penny sheepishly said as numerous rough folks aimed guns at us and opened fire.

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“My poor baby~!” I wailed as I hugged the Nomad. She was all dented and pock-marked from bullets by those ruffians! At least she’s functional and the repairs would be quick.

“I can’t believe we found pirates at random.” Garrus commented as he picked through the bodies and started piling the guns of the dead crooks along with valuables in one pile and the corpses in a line to the side.

“Garrus, what are you doing?” Shepard asked in disbelief.

“Uh, sorting the useful things from the things that need to be identified and catalogued? I mean, sure, usually you wait to strip them, but it’s faster to get it out of the way so they’re easier to identify.” Garrus replied as if it was obvious as he began taking images of their faces, as well as using their omni-tools to pair the images with their personal IDs.

“No, I mean why are you looting them? We should wait until our business here is done.” Shepard replied with disapproval in her tone.

“Oh, sorry. I just figured since they all came rushing in here that the base was clear already. My mistake. Let’s sweep first, then collect any potential bounties.” Garrus readied his sniper rifle again and followed Penny into the small pirate base as I began repairing my precious baby.

“That was fairly stimulating.” Liara commented as she stood next to me while I worked my science-magic on the damage to my precious sporty armored space-hummer.

“Meh, you’ve been in one firefight you’ve been in them all.” I shrugged, uninterested in the violence of combat. I’d much rather be tinkering, or doing lewd things between the sheets. I’ll fight if I have to, but I’m not one for combat, despite how good at it I am.

“No, I mean how we encountered them. You just drift-turned into this garage without even knowing it was here. What if we hit a wall?” Liara clarified and I shrugged.

“The Nomad would’ve kept us safe then too, although she’d have a much nastier scrap on the hull.” There! Now she’s good as new! “Alright then, these pirates have whatever it is the scanners have picked up.”

“Hopefully they didn’t damage it.” Liara grumbled as we followed after Shepard and Garrus through the base. It was a small and humble thing. These pirates were probably just in-system roaches who had the misfortune of getting their hands on what we were after.

“So, what do you think, Shepard? Do I look religious?” Garrus’ voice asked from up ahead.

“I think it looks ridiculous.” Penny commented with amusement as we reached the door.

We entered to see Garrus wearing a hilariously oversized krogan priest robe over his own bulky armor, which was the only reason it didn’t just slide off of him. The sight caused me to laugh and Liara giggled. “Aw, I guess Urtaism doesn’t suit me.” Then a crow landed on Garrus’ head, using his crest as a perch. “Huh? Is something on my head?”

“A crow? Did they steal it from a human ship? Hey there, are you someone’s lost friend?” Penny reached up and let the crow respond by nudging her fingers, so she petted it’s head.

“Thank you, law bringers.” The crow said in a serious woman’s voice and Penny yelped as she yanked her hand away while Garrus froze. “These ruffians had taken something precious from a ship of my followers. Deliver this crow safely to the Citadel, it will know where to go.” The crow then began preening and I groaned in displeasure at us stumbling into a charm of sorts for one of the Empire’s many goddesses.

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

The trip to the Citadel was boring, especially with all the extra security protocols being observed for both Wrex and the living charm to the Imperial Goddess of Justice Velka. Martra volunteered to be the bird’s caretaker until we arrived, which made everyone even happier to have the Imperial on board since the crow with it’s too-intelligent beady eyes disturbed everyone else.

It had an especially piercing gaze for me. I’m too scared to ask why, so I just gave it a wide berth. That said, I also didn’t get to chat with Martra the couple of days travel it was to the Citadel. I didn’t get to have snu-snu with Shepard because she was so busy preparing the ship for resupply and shore-leave and all that other important stuff.

The only upside was me compiling the performance data taken from using the Nomad and finding out that Tali was far enough along her gene mod regimen that she could actually stop taking immuno boosters whenever she got her lips on my male organ. She was halfway done with her treatment, just a few more weeks and she’ll finally be free of that suit. If she wants. I know I like my suit even though I don’t need to wear it.

That aside, the trip to our port-of-call was boring and I was looking forward to stretching my legs-. “Engineer Nora’Feell, report to the airlock. Engineer Nora’Feell, report to the airlock.” Uh, convenient. I’m nearly there and I was going to leave the ship anyway to go shopping for some scrap. The BX droid is surprisingly complicated and I need more components to rewire it’s brain.

The sight of C-Sec didn’t fill me with confidence. “I was already on my way, what’s up?” I asked and was relieved to see the two glorified police officers, one turian the other human, not reach for their cuffs.

“Nora’Feell?” I nodded in confirmation. “I am officer Globnion, this is my partner O’Roark. We have orders to deliver you to Ambassador Medulla’s office at the Imperial Embassy. You are not under arrest, you can decline, but the Ambassador insists it is important.”

“Uh, okay. I’ll come along. Should I bring anyone?” If this is a trap, which I doubt, I’d rather not have to fight my way out solo.

“It is advised that you bring your sister Yola’Feell and your friend Tali’Zorah. It involves them as well, but they don’t need to know firsthand, hearing through you is enough.” Officer O’Roark spoke up and I nodded.

“Let me go fetch them, I won’t keep you waiting.” I hurried back towards our rooms. Time to meet the local Empire representative. Oh...and uh...my future sister-in-law. Uh...oh shit…