Alright, this assault is going much better! Nice to have that Justicar finally dead too.
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Ahh, just what the game needs- some good old-fashioned boarding action.
And congrats on killing the Justicar!
And congrats on killing the Justicar!
Of course, they are tecnically a pirate base.
Guessing Elioka will be sleeping better now.
Elioka was pulled away from the corridor by one of the huntresses, right after the door had finally been unlocked.
For a few minutes, she was barely awake, but, when they took away her helmet to check on her wounds, she spaced in again.
“Let’s move... Where’s.. where’s my..?”
“Commander, you need to rest, you’re in no condition to-”
“Just slap some medigel and give me a stim shot already!”
She was still too stiff to move, and her mind was numb from all the biotic stress accumulated in the fight against the Justicar. A couple of asari were standing over her, scanning and healing her with their omni-tools; the stimulant was zapped into her veins and she dragged herself back up.
Alright, plus side: I can move. Everything hurts again, but whatever.
“Did you take my gun back? That thing’s not cheap.”
Elioka looked around to see how many of the squad had managed to get through. It seemed like only two commandos and four huntresses reached the other side, but only the huntresses were in any condition to fight. The door to the conduit had not been closed yet: one of the huntresses was keeping up a biotic barrier to close the breach, while two others were dragging the wounded, the dead and the equipment from the damaged section and into the safe space.
Elioka felt the room spin around her for a second, but she managed to not fall by leaning on one of her rescuers.
“Get me in contact with the fleet.”
“Yes, ma’am.” One of the huntresses held up her omni-tool, opening a holographic window to Myrayme’s command room.
“Commander!” shouted the Admiral. “We lost contact with you!.. I was fearing that-”
Elioka pressed a hand on her forehead, trying to lessen the pain. She could hear some gunfire echoing in the room, but it appeared to be far enough for the time being not to be an immediate reason for concern.
“We were blocked in the conduit and had to waste a Justicar.”
“I imagined there had been something like that. When our sensors picked up the breach in the conduit, I ordered the transport to go offer support.”
“Yeah, much appreciated. That tipped the odds.”
Myrayme nodded and lowered her gaze, flattered by the compliment.
“By the way, did the transport made it?” asked Elioka.
“Afraid not, Commander. It crashed on one of the asteroids after losing control.”
Elioka sighed. “S**t, well, we’ll just be going forward then. Not really a problem at this point.”
“How many troops do you have left?”
Elioka gave herself a look around. “Not many at the moment, but I bet there’s still some huntresses kicking, back in the conduit. We just need to unlock the doors... Speaking of which...” she hinted with her head at one of her caretakers to move to the nearest control panel, and painfully raised her own arm to activate her own omni-tool and move the connection with Myrayme to her own device.
“Commander,” the Admiral gave her a concerned look. “are you certain you want to proceed further? The orbital attack is proceeding on schedule with minimal losses, five of our ships are still fully operational, we can pick you up and finish t-”
“Not a chance, Ray. I just took on foot a f**king Justicar, nothing’s gonna top that. Plus, I have one last thing to try out before we can even start to talk about quitting. Just keep the pressure, we’ll be fine.”
Elioka closed the channel, not waiting for an answer, and limped towards the control panel and the other huntress. “What’s the status here?”
“Safety removed, ma’am. We can open the other doors.”
“Good, let’s see how many are left. Can you access any communication channel of the base from here?”
“I can try...”
“Get to it, as maximized a scope as you can manage, I want to send a message to every loyalist in range.”
Elioka tried to straighten herself up and moved away from the control panel, waiting for the huntress to hack the panel and rehearsing her speech in her mind, and checking of the other survivors of her squad.
“I’ve managed to get us some clout, Commander.” Finally said the huntress. “Don’t know if it’ll be enough to reach every omni-tool in the base...”
“Whatever, we take what we can get, just...” Elioka interrupted herself when the door to the conduit opened, and looked at the other huntresses coming out of it. Luckily, most of them seemed still in conditions to fight.
The floor quaked again, shaken by the bombardment; Elioka closed her eyes and widened her legs to keep her balance; she also instinctively tried to help herself by focusing on a small dark energy field around her feet, but it only resulted in a fit of pain crossing through her brain.
F**king Goddess... Fine, no more biotics for today.
“Commander?”
“Yeah... yeah, I’m fine. Start broadcasting.”
Hopefully nobody starts shooting us in the middle of this. That’d be pretty f**king embarrassing, to be sure...
She waited for the huntress to give her the signal and looked towards her omni-tool.
“This is Commander T’lakai, you might remember me from that time I was kicking your a**es out of Mothership Larelei. This is going to be my first and final warning, so, you know, actually listen or something... Your sorry excuse of a fleet has turned sideways and left a trail of hyper-s**t on its way out of the system, your AA defenses are in the process of being totally overwhelmed, and I’ve just spaced your last Justicar straight into the sun. ...This Unforgotten s**t is done. You are done. I could’ve have ordered to just carpet-bomb this crappy junkyard of yours and be done with it without even getting off my a**. I’m not saying you should be grateful or anything, but.. nah, kinda, actually, yes, I do. ...I don’t know what lies your leaders have been telling you all this time... I’m guessing the rumor about me being indoctrinated is still going strong? This coming from the people who actually didn’t want to fight the Reapers, psh-whatever... Anyway, this is how it’s going to go down: those who surrender now get a free out-of-jail card and a lift straight back to Neoilium, where you’ll get to see how peachy and smoothly things are really going on back at Mothership; those who don’t surrender, you get a fifty-fifty chance of either winning a bullet to the face or a one way trip to one of our processing facilities. You choose. And for the Matrons still listening, which I’m guessing are Skirata and Meyra? Unless I’ve been totally wrong in assuming Ajunra was the unrepentant, spineless scum dumping you at the first sign of real trouble?.. Think of it this way: these Maidens are entrusting you to make the right choice. If you tell them to not listen to me, chances are, lots of them are going to have their life screwed. In the permanent sort of way. ...Why you even fighting anymore? You lost whatever high ground you claimed to have the moment your girls opened fire on defenseless civilians, back on Crimdor. ...We don’t need any of you to keep doing our thing up in Neoilium, I’m just giving you the chance to join in before it’s too late. You’ve got time until I boot my way to the main control room. Which is gonna happen momentarily either way.”
Elioka nodded to the huntress, making her stop broadcasting the message, and leaned forward, giving out a long breath. One of the huntresses came to her side, bringing the shotgun recovered from the conduit; Elioka took the weapon from her and straightened up, signaling the rest of the squad.
“Break’s over, b***hes. This space station is not gonna conquer itself.”
“Yes, ma’am!"
*****************
“F**king Goddess on a f**king s**t-stained stripper pole...” Elioka sighed, massaging her forehead while holding it with both hands, resting with her elbows on the holographic table at the center of the command room of the Unforgotten base. “...f**king humped by a pack of f**king vorcha.. riding matronf**king jackhammers.. over a toxic world.. going into a f**king black hole...”
The hiss of the doors opening echoed through her skull, followed by the booming sound of Myrayme’s steps as the Admiral walked towards her.
“Commander..?”
“Yeah, yeah, give me a sec...” Elioka leaned back on the chair, passing her hands over the face and looking at the ceiling.
“Are.. are you alright?” the Admiral cautiously walked to her side, examining her.
“The f**k do you think?”
“Sorry, ma’am.”
“Painkillers timed out, I’ve got a f**king sword through my f**king skull.”
“Maybe you could take a break? I can handle the rest of the mission, I assure you.”
“No, no...” Elioka breathed in and, gathering her strength, she pushed herself away from the table and back on her feet. “...I’ll just have to lay down on biotics for the rest of the month, that’s all. First let’s wrap this up.”
She typed on the omni-interface on the table, calling up a few holograms of the Unforgotten base, of Neoilium and of the nearby solar systems.
“So, where are we standing..?”
“All sections of the base are secured and accounted for, Commander.”
After her speech, there had been a few cells of deserters trying to contact the Blood Moons fleet in order to surrender themselves; Elioka’s squad just had to fight through a few guard posts before the Matrons in charge of the base decided to order the remaining forces to stand down entirely as well, allowing the invading forces to secure the central command. With the main area secured, the few stubborn Unforgotten left were easily isolated and neutralized.
“I.. I wanted to...” Myrayme nibbled at her lip. “...I wanted to apologize for questioning your strategy, ma’am. The combined attack on the ground allowed us to take this base with minimal casualties on both sides.”
“We did lose a whole frigging corvette...” Elioka leaned again on her table, propping herself up on it with her hands. “...that’s kinda a lot.”
“Yes, but- but we did manage to evacuate nearly half of the crew in time. Saving every ship would have been difficult regardless of the strategy, Commander.”
“S**t, Ray,” snorted Elioka. “You’re a Blood Moon high officer, and we’ve fought together. You might as well call me Elio at this point. Not like we’re ever gonna get more intimate than this...”
“Yes.. Elio.” Myrayme lowered her eyes. “Sorry.”
Elioka took a few seconds to reorder her thoughts. The huntresses and commandos working around them in the room, analyzing archives and reordering materials, were trying to be as quiet as possible, but, in her current conditions, Elioka could feel every little noise as a grating screech into her brain.
Guess that’s that hangover s**t humans talked about is...
“Back to business. I want all the ex-Unforgotten brought to Neoilium, like, right now. Have them handled by Lani, she knows how to squeeze all the PR goodies coming from me not killing off their a**es out of them.”
“Right.”
“That’s the first thing. Second thing: everything in here needs to go. Peem should have a salvage team at the ready, call them here, have them clean up everything- f**king everything, are we clear?- and whatever cannot be or is not worth taking away, you blast it off the map.”
“I.. thought we could repurpose this base for our own needs, actually, Commander.”
“Nah, we’re not doing that. Too risky. The time and money we can spend fixing this piece of junk we could use for way better things.”
“Yes, that could be.”
Elioka stepped away from the table and sat back on her chair, closing her eyes.
“C- Elio,” called her Myrayme after a while. “What about the escaped ships? We’ve confirmed Matron Ajunra Raria is not here, so she must have been leading one of them.”
“Right, forgot about that.” Elioka gave herself a thud on the head with her fist. “Stupid brain stopping to f**king work before time... Anyway... what was their last confirmed position?”
Myrayme moved closer to the table, typing on the interface to move and resize one of the holographic maps.
“They were moving up again, probably through the far route we’ve seen them use before, getting up to Rimmock, then making a turn from above Jhurope.”
“So, to Crimdor again?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“Fine.” Elioka tiringly passed one hand over her head and sighed. “So.. we can cut by going directly through Elempar, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then. We just go through it.”
“I’ll depart as soon as we’ve embarked all of our prisoners and civilians, Commander. We can drop them on the run, when we pass over Neoilium.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
“Yes, ma’am. But.. but, Elio, I think you should really go to rest now. That is, dropping off to Neoilium as well.”
Elioka rolled her eyes, but she was too tired even to respond, giving room for Myrayme to continue to make her case.
“Even if we engage Raria, it’s likely going to be only a space battle anyway. Three damaged ships with demoralized crews will be child’s play. You can just tell me what terms to give if they’re willing to surrender, I think, and I’ll be good.”
Elioka turned up her nose, giving the Admiral an annoyed look; then, she held up her hand with index and thumb stretched out, pointed at the Matron’s probable position on the map and mimicked a gunshot.
Myrayme uncomfortably cleared her throat and nodded. “I see. I just thought, after what you did today...”
Elioka slowly shook her head and finally managed to cobble together another few words.
“Not the Raria b***h. She’s got to go down no matter what.”
So the Unforgotten are not completely dead yet, but they're very close to being so. Hopefully we don't have another upset and lose the fight against the damaged fleeing ships.
Elioka didn’t like leaving Myrayme for the final chase against the Unforgotten, but she had to admit she wouldn’t have been able to do much in a space battle, regardless of her own conditions.
She was too tired to put up with the triumphal welcome Enlikla had prepared for her at Mothership Larelei, so, after reaching the planet’s surface, she decided to re-route her transport to land directly at the military training base.
After ordering one of her lieutenants not to be disturbed for any reason, and after having another quick medical checkup in her quarters, the asari stripped to her underwear, threw herself on her bed and fell asleep almost immediately, even though it was barely midday in that region of Neoilium.
Luckily, she was so exhausted that she had a completely dreamless rest. When she woke up, the white sun of Neoilium was still shining from the open window of her room, mercilessly spreading its warmth everywhere.
Goddess.. still feeling awful...
Elioka tried to wave at the window’s panel to close it, but her biotics were still unresponsive, so, in the end, she ended up calling for her VI.
“Zac, just close the f**king window and lower temperature...”
“As you wish, Commander.”
She felt as tired as she was when she went to bed, moving her limbs hurt just as much, but now she also felt all sticky and covered in sweat, so she decided to fight the pain, crawl her way to her bathroom and take a shower.
The cold water woke her up entirely; she didn’t feel strong enough to do any exercise as she’d have liked to, therefore she decided to just lean back on her chair, stroll towards her desk and check for any update on her inbox.
“W- the f-?” she narrowed her eyes, reading through the last messages on the chat, with a disconcerted look on her face. “How long was I asleep? ...Zac?”
“Approximately 18 hours, Commander.” Answered steadily the Virtual Intelligence.
“F**king Goddess!.. No wonder I feel like s**t...”
She gave out a long breath and lowered the back of her chair, stretching her legs under the desk.
“Send me some juice and e-bars, before I drop out again.”
“Right away, Commander.”
One f**king day! Wasted! ...I’m still this messed up. F**king Justicar, every time, she has to ground me in a bed for a month? Not gonna happen this time. Oh, well, if not this one, not gonna happen any OTHER time after this one, for sure...
She tried to focus on the last reports, but ended up just looking absentmindedly through her holo-screen, re-thinking of the last battle against Welima, until the VI had her food and drinks delivered.
She might have been the last, she found herself thinking while giving the first avid bites to the energetic bar.
Last f**king Justicar if Thessia has fallen. And I mean, like, even if it HASN’T, those f**kers always liked to throw themselves head-first into danger, regardless of their actual chances.. wouldn’t surprise me if some jumped straight on a Reaper to try and solo it. ...Didn’t really understand how they even managed to survive this long until I had to face them directly.
In retrospect, she wondered if maybe it would have been better to keep at least one as a prisoner, to attempt squeezing whatever secret their Order might have had to grant them that sort of biotic power, but she quickly discarded the idea.
Even if I wanted, there’s none less, even if there were, no way I’m risking one of them getting loose on Neoilium, and, even if I could keep one trapped safely, no way any of those stuck-up sanctimonious c**ts would have told me anything. Besides, no way I can’t get where she was with practice, practice and more practice. ...And, even then, perhaps some of the Matriarchs could have something to share on the Justicars. Faraldae’s intel on the Matrons was passable, guess she really hopes I’ll let my guard down with her...
At her fourth bar and second juice, she finally felt her head clear enough to focus back on the transparent screen, and stretched one of her arms forward, starting to type with one hand while she kept eating with the other.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blood Moons – Group Chat
Eliokoyakshi: Im back b***hesBlood Moons – Group Chat
lilTramp121: ELIOS BACK!!!
HZ=Alara: ELIOOOO
lilTramp121: sup Elio
Imina207: Elio!
Imina207: still at camp?
lilTramp121: how are you Elio?
DrClamashi74: Welcome back, Elio! Feeling better?
DrP333m: bout time
DrP333m: starting to think bad
SuperMicco777: Hi Elio!
DrP333m: Lani called off the parade you know
DrP333m: if you want to go back to motrshp
DrP333m: just sayin
=EVLani=: It’s fine, Elio, don’t worry.
=EVLani=: We can do the official celebrations when you feel better.
=EVLani=: No need to run hiding in the jungle X’D
DrP333m: lol
DrP333m: its a trap
DrP333m: keep running
=EVLani=: So funny, Peem,
=EVLani=: sooooo funny.
DrP333m: so anyway
DrP333m: elio
DrP333m: totally killed a justicar
=EVLani=: THE LAST (maybe)
DrP333m: how’s it feel
DrP333m: ?
Eliokoyakshi: pretty f**king s**tty right now
Eliokoyakshi: was totally satisfying back then
Eliokoyakshi: now cant biotics for s**t for a week.
Eliokoyakshi: Typical, really.
HZ=Alara: Sooo
HZ=Alara: totally defenseless in your room right now?
HZ=Alara: Maybe good time to make my move…
HZ=Alara: <.< >.>
DrP333m: lol
Eliokoyakshi: Sure
Eliokoyakshi: give it your best shot, see how it turns out.
Eliokoyakshi: Shea the f**k r you doing here?
DrClamashi74: Had to return to make a checkup of the engines.
DrClamashi74: Nothing serious, don’t worry.
DrP333m: ya new ships fine
DrClamashi74: I would have gone back to the mission already, but Peem told me the Rimmock system is not safe right now.
Eliokoyakshi: ya, better wait it out.
Eliokoyakshi: Unforgottens are done
Eliokoyakshi: almost
Eliokoyakshi: Ray just needs to mop up the last.
=EVLani=: Yes, about that, Elio, I’d need your opinion on some issues
=EVLani=: about the new prisoners and colonists, I mean.
Eliokoyakshi: Right.
Eliokoyakshi: We’ll meet up at MoS when I can walk straight again.
=EVLani=: Ok thanks.
Eliokoyakshi: One thing I can say already
DrP333m: *drum rolls*
Eliokoyakshi: We’re going to do Blood Moons reforms all the way, like you already said, but more.
DrP333m: moar
HZ=Alara: Like what?
HZ=Alara: Details plz
Eliokoyakshi: We don’t know how long we’re staying here & we need to keep dumb M&Ms in check.
1_Sergy_1: wt?
DrP333m: lol
DrP333m: maidens
DrP333m: & matrons
Eliokoyakshi: So the BMs are gonna get turned into an actual government agency.
DrP333m: sweet
Imina207: It’s the only way forward, really.
DrP333m: feeling mad with power already
lilTramp121: lol
Eliokoyakshi: We need to stand up, both in duties and perks, and I want the next generation to be the main pool for our recruits.
HZ=Alara: What about all the girls we’re training here?
Eliokoyakshi: Just a few, maybe.
DrP333m: why even bother with all then
Eliokoyakshi: Because
Eliokoyakshi: They’ll be the teachers for the actual next Blood Moons.
Eliokoyakshi: We build the new infrastructure, then reap the benefits.
Eliokoyakshi: Blood Moons are in charge of the government, we should have laws and regulations in place.
HZ=Alara: Like what?
Eliokoyakshi: Like hierarchy, code of conduct, stuff like that.
DrP333m: inb4 BMs become new justicars
lilTramp121: lol
=EVLani=: We’re really just trying to order things, so that we have a working system for the future. We’ve removed the corrupt government, now we need to build one in its place.
HZ=Alara: Things work fine now, why change?
Eliokoyakshi: And, if you had some sort of law-defined authority, Alara, I might have actually had to take your opinion in consideration.
Eliokoyakshi: While right now your just a name on my screen.
DrP333m: lol
DrP333m: dont get your lekus ruffled alara
DrP333m: nothings really gonna change for us
DrP333m: not really
Eliokoyakshi: says you
DrP333m: lolright
DrP333m: whatever
Eliokoyakshi: Blood Moons are to govern Neoilium, forward research to recover asari technology and to find a way back home, and to keep order in the colony, and to fight against any potential threat.
Eliokoyakshi: We’re not doing it like Matriarchs, with every one of them doing whatevs.
Eliokoyakshi: telling the plebs “I’m just helping”
Eliokoyakshi: just “following the tides turn”
SuperMicco777: #F**ktheTides
=EVLani=: A BM should be a public servant, like Elio says, having ranks and codified privileges, but also duties.
=EVLani=: It legitimizes our government and would make the people happier.
Imina207: Even just some clearing up would be nice.
Imina207: ffs Elio is Commander but gives orders to Admiral?
Imina207: wtf?
DrP333m: kinda like that at this point personally
DrP333m: commander is cool
=EVLani=: That’s really minor s**t.
SuperMicco777: How about Primarchess Elioka?
DrP333m: psh f**k that
DrP333m: not being turian posers
SuperMicco777: What’s a turian?
SuperMicco777: >:]
Imina207: Cmon
SuperMicco777: I’m just saying...
HZ=Alara: lol
Imina207: That’s not funny
SuperMicco777: We’d be keeping alive their traditions
SuperMicco777: if, you know, the guys themselves are all gone by now...
HZ=Alara: Ah, yes, “turians”...
HZ=Alara: The martial race of bird-like prigs allegedly hailing from Palaven...
DrP333m: lol
SuperMicco777: We’ve dismissed that claim.
Imina207: OMGss you guys are so mean
=EVLani=: ^this
=EVLani=: Anyway, back on track, these reforms would make people happier.
Eliokoyakshi: Right.
Eliokoyakshi: Show them that we’re accountable &stuff.
HZ=Alara: Duties like what?
Eliokoyakshi: If you screw up, you don’t just get a f**k you and an bio slap on the neck, you actually get punished
DrP333m: lol
Eliokoyakshi: for starters.
Eliokoyakshi: Also, for example, I was thinking we show commitment, like, staying on track forever.
Eliokoyakshi: meaning, like, you don’t just start making babies in a century because you “feel like”
Eliokoyakshi: show the MMM-stages is varren s**t.
=EVLani=: Or, if you do, you stop being a Blood Moon.
Eliokoyakshi: and are sanctioned. People need to see this isn’t just a club you join for instant power.
SuperMicco777: not anymore...
DrP333m: lol
DrP333m: guess you had to wait for ptero to kick it
DrP333m: before pulling out the celibacy clause
Imina207: ...
lilTramp121: ew
DrP333m: I know I know
HZ=Alara: F**K YOU PEEM
DrP333m: Im a naughty vorcha
=EVLani=: That’s really offensive, Peem.
DrP333m: lolsorry mama lani
DrP333m: wanna come up here clean my tongue with soap?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elioka pushed herself away from the desk, with a grim look on her face.
“F**king slime...”
She wished she had the strength and time to fly up to the space station and plaster its floors with Peeemsy’s face right then and there, but in truth, she knew that comment made her so upset mostly because she had yet to talk with Sulysy and she felt guilty about it.
S**t it’s been more than a year. How did time pass so f**king fast?
She had promised to herself to talk to her right after defeating the Unforgotten; that would have been the perfect occasion after all. Her idea was to walk into the Mothership and ask Sulysy to have a private conversation face-to-face.
But then that coward c**t Raria had to escape and muck it all up...
With the enemy fleet on the run, and with her wounds after the fight against the Justicar giving her trouble, it had been easy for her to just forget and delay, it was almost an instinctive reaction at that point.
I can’t do this again. She deserves it. Pain or no pain, I have to go, right now.
The planning for a future government that really should have been discussed years ago... ah well, it's like this for most revolutions. That aside, thank you for the "Ah, yes, 'Turians'..." bit. Nice to see the Asari haven't forgotten Shepard's pain.
Glad you liked it; well, these are the members of a reactionary group, so, of course, they would be against the stance of the old Council...
Elioka reached Mothership Larelei with a splitting headache. She had thought about taking some painkillers, but she didn’t want to risk being too jumpy when she met Sulysy.
Enlikla was there to greet here at the landing platform of her transport, but Elioka barely looked at her as she walked down.
“Elio! I didn’t expect you to come back so soon..!” Enlikla came after her, distractingly typing on her omni-tool. “Are you feeling alright?”
“I need to speak with Lys.”
“Oh. I see.” Enlikla stopped for a few seconds, then she startled and quickened her steps to reach Elioka again. “Is there.. is there something wrong?”
“No. Not really.” Elioka finally reached the first elevator and leaned on its wall to catch a breath. “It’s nothing, I just need to have a chat with her...” she sees Enlikla is about to step in, so she raises her arm to stop her. “Alone. Lewina! Get me to whatever level Lys is.”
“In a moment, Commander T’Lakai.” Readily answered the VI, closing the elevator.
Elioka found Sulysy in her study, working curved on her desk. She entered the room quietly, moving towards her while searching for the right words.
“Who’s-?” Sulysy looked up. “Oh, it’s you. Hello, Elioka.”
“Hi.” Elioka breathed out, making a few steps on the side. “I thought I’d pass by, Lys, see how you’re doing and stuff...”
Elioka kept her eyes low, but she could see something was wrong with Sulysy. She couldn’t really say what exactly, though.
“I’m fine.” Answered her. “You, on the other hand, are looking like s**t.”
Elioka chuckled, moving her hand at the back of her neck. “Yeah...”
Well, this could have been a lot more awkward...
“...Did Lani told you the news? I haven’t seen you on the chat lately.”
“I.. read the chat, but, you know... Too busy.”
“Yeah.. yeah, I get that.” Finally having reached her, Elioka sat on the corner of her desk, mustering the resolve to look straight at her again.
“I just wanted you to, you know.. be sure to know how things went.” Elioka cleared her throat. “With the Unforgotten, I mean.”
Sulysy made the holographic screen disappear, closed her eyes, and slowly breathed out, nodding slightly.
“Yes, I understand.” She answered. “You don’t have to worry about it, Elio. We all have a lot of responsibilities, and we have to focus on the colony.”
“Right, and going back home.”
“Of course.”
“Yeah.. yeah...” Elioka moved her eyes on the rest of the room. There was still something that felt wrong with her, but at the moment she was too tired and too relieved of how smoothly that conversation was going to think about it.
I don’t even know what I was worrying about... She seems fine. F**king idiot I am, angsting about visiting my best friend for nothing... She just needed time to get better, like I told everybody.
“I just.. I wanted to tell you again... I’m sorry, Lys. I wanted to come earlier, but...” she shrugged. “I guess I was just being a p***y. I wanted to show you.. that I’m not going to make that sort of mistakes again, you know?”
“That’s fine. I understand.”
Elioka gave her a hopeful smile. “I hope so.” Her hand crawled to Sulysy’s on the desk and she leaned towards her. Sulysy met her gaze, but Elioka could see only tiredness in her eyes.
“Alright.” She finally said, giving Sulysy a few pats on the back of her hand and leaning back. “We’ll talk again soon, ok? I mean, like, in private, like this.”
“You have my IP, Elio.” Sulysy moved her eyes away, reopening her terminal. “We can talk anytime, you don’t need to find the time to come here in person.”
There was some coldness in the last remark, but Elioka didn’t want to prod Sulysy and ruin the conversation, so she let it slide.
“Ok.” She finally said, leaving the desk and stretching her arms. “I guess I’ll go sleep for another day, then...”
“See ya.”
*****************
“Look...” Elioka moved around the holographic table in the command room of Neoilium’s spaceport, with a hand on her side and one on her forehead. “...I’m totally in favor of a bigger outpost on Miklor’s Vortex, that’s just strategically sensible...” She sighed. “But, in all honesty, the colonizing Hikeleum idea is steaming s**t.”
Admiral Myrayme, standing not too far away, cleared her throat and lowered her gaze, uncomfortable. “I must agree with Elio.” Even after years, Elioka could see she still felt somewhat out of place in the Blood Moon Commanding Circle.
Enlikla, Sulysy and Peeemsy on the other hand were sitting on the other side of the table, although only Peeemsy was there in person, the other two being in holographic connection from Neoilium’s surface.
“We have to look further ahead, Elio.” Calmly answered Sulysy. “Neoilium is unstable and with little available land remaining.”
“Varren s**t.”
“It may not seem so now, but, in a few years we could have a new generation to handle. Even like this, the new batch is quickly growing; in another decade we’ll have thousands of new Maidens, who will need space and work.”
Elioka shook her head. “Most of them will be put to work in outposts and that sort of stuff... Besides, if anything, wouldn’t it be better to establish a true colony on Bonos? That system also has a habitable planet, and it would give us an opening for the outer arm. I think we can secure the system in a decade, without being reckless about it...”
With proper security measures and help from the military fleet, Sheassze had managed to travel beyond Miklor’s Vortex and reach the Bonos system, a rare solar system placed between their galactic arm and the outer one, but, once there, it had been forced to retreat back into Neoiliac space for safety reasons: the only habitable planet in the system, close to an asteroid belt, was patrolled by old and alien automated ships of unknown origins. The lack of life forms aboard had raised legitimate concerns about them being somehow connected to the Reapers, and, although their design and size did not support the claim, Elioka had agreed to temporarily avoid the Bonos system.
It had been three years from then now, though, and, in that time, Neoilium’s fleet had more than doubled.
“By the time we could set camp on Bonos...” answered Enlikla. “...it’d be already too late, we’d already be having an overpopulation problem.”
“That’s supposing that there aren’t any complication in securing the new system.” Added Sulysy.
“How-? I mean..!” Elioka let out a frustrated grunt. “How are we facing an overpopulation problem?! I thought mainstream asari culture hated purebloods, Matrons’ will to f**k and make babies is just that strong?”
“Elio.” Sulysy stared at her, answering in a dry tone. “Newsflash: we influence mainstream asari culture now. You agreed with us when we decided to work to remove the stigma against purebloods...”
“Which we’re totally cool with, by the way.” Quickly added Enlikla.
“...you can’t complain if now Matrons do not feel as bad about making them. They have no alternatives anyway.”
“I guess... I just, I don’t know... Seems like wasting resources for nothing. We barely have them under control here, now we’ll have to take care of an entire new planet?”
“If that’s the issue” continued Sulysy. “Then Hikeleum is ideal to test our ability to handle a peripheral new settlement. Whereas Bonos is far away and hard to reach, Hikeleum is right next door, so it can handle your paranoy as well.”
“Ah!” chuckled Peeemsy, who, as always, seemed more busy with her own work than with following the conversation. “She’s kinda right, Elio.” She added. “We’re gonna have energy shortage in a few years if we don’t build more power plants, which does not bode well for your plans of expanding further the fleet. You’re just worrying too much. We can take Hikeleum, then, by the time we’ve secured Bonos, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of new blue girls to stuff that place as well. Plus, if we have new land to build plants on now, the research branches could take more space on Neoilium for our work. Don’t you want new toys? If Bonos is Reaper-controlled and it ends up being the door back home, we better have as much as possible, right?”
At that point, even Myrayme seemed to falter. “She.. does make a good case, Elioka.”
“Oh, not you too, Ray!..” she sighed, raising her hands in frustration.
“Hikeleum would be easily defensible, due to its proximity...” continued the admiral, looking at the holomaps. “...if Dr. Iessiari’s security systems and mechs are sent as auxiliary tools as well, we wouldn’t have many problems policing the new colonists either. As I understand, that is your main concern.”
“Damn straight it is.”
“I am in agreement with Governor V’mosava, then. Having Hikeleum as an experimental ground, closer to our main base of operations, would be the easiest route to see if we can manage two planets at the same time with our current resources.”
“And?” Asked Elioka, tapping nervously on the tip of the table and leaning forward to the opposite side, where Myrayme was standing. “What is your tactical evaluation?”
“It’s hard to say right now, but, after having defeated the last forces of Unforgotten at Crimdor, we haven’t had any hostility in our controlled space for seven years now. We have little knowledge of this Galaxy, so anything could happen, but I would agree Hikeleum to be a safer place, both for inside and outside threats, compared to Bonos. Since time is also of the essence to avoid power shortage or overpopulation problems, it might be the ideal solution.”
“Fine.” Elioka pushed herself back from the table. “Since I’m apparently the only one against this...”
“Come on, Elio, be happy:” chuckled Peeemsy. “You’re officially Overlady of an interplanetary empire.”
“Psh-whatever.”
Sulysy and Elioka have a complicated friendship. Comes with putting down rebels and building a better generation for the Asari, I suppose.
Colonizing a new world may stress Elio, but it's a good feat for the growing government.
Colonizing a new world may stress Elio, but it's a good feat for the growing government.
Always the optimist, right?
It's up to you though- is it going to be butterflies and flowers for the Asari?
Or is there a Fallen Empire lurking around the corner?
Or do you discover another Justicar...
Or just some nasty aliens?
That depends, besides possible external threats, lack of Influence might cause the government to fall, it is, after all, oligarchic...
Perhaps so, perhaps no, I don't know, we'll see what happens.
As for external threat, that does depend on the magnitude, yes.
Perhaps so, perhaps no, I don't know, we'll see what happens.
As for external threat, that does depend on the magnitude, yes.
Unlike its predecessor, the exploration vessel Lipera had been built as a scientific ship from scratch rather than being a retrofitted transport spare from Mothership Larelei. As such, it was able to perform relatively better in its task, and, most importantly, more safely.It had been nearly twenty years since Sheassze took over the research efforts after dr. Myrayme’s unfortunate passing; since then, she had had the chance to catalogue several planets and more than a dozen solar systems. Though she lacked the same enthusiasm of her predecessor, she was certainly intrigued by the discoveries made during her time at the helm of the Lipera.
“We’re approaching the star, doctor.” One of her assistants called for her, distracting the scientist from her report to the Blood Moons.
Since the route through Bonos had been deemed off-limits for the time being, Elioka had ordered her to continue onward through the middle arm of the Galaxy, hopefully looking for an alternative and safer route that would lead them to the edge. Unfortunately, the survey of the Aludra system had revealed the presence of other unidentified vessels. Following the new security measures, Sheassze had originally retreated from the system immediately, reporting back to Neoilium, but, after analyzing her report, the Blood Moons agreed in sending her back there, with the military fleet on standby in the nearby system, ready to come to her rescue if needed.
The reason for this was that, unlike with Bonos, where the old alien ships, although functioning, showed no life form on board, the vessels in Aludra were shown to contain life signs of some sort through the long-range scanners. Commander Elioka was legitimately concerned of the possibility of some Unforgotten still at large and wanted them to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
“We’re receiving some transmission, doctor, it’s.. it’s...”
Sheassze blinked a few times and frowned, looking at the screen.
“What th-?”
*****************
“You know, Peem.. when you told me, eight years ago, that you wanted to start making utility mechs to speed things up, I knew this would have happened...” sighed Elioka, sipping from her cup, laying on the side of the holographic table, with her legs crossed over it.
A few of the Blood Moons present physically in the room chuckled, taking shots of the modified mech with their omni-tools.
The machine, refitted with grotesquely oversized silicon prosthesis on its chest and lower back was stiffly bending up and down on the side of the furniture, letting out the occasional soulless comment.
“Oh. Yes. Big Mommy. Yes. Show me eternity.”
“I didn’t say it,” continued Elioka. “because then you’d all jump on me, but I could feel it, you know? Deep within my lekus...” She wrapped the sex-bot in a biotic field and turned it upside down, letting it fall on the ground, where the machine continued its fretting amongst the general amusement of the other asari present either in person or through hologram.
“The only thing I am surprised about is that it took so long for one to crop up, really.”
“It’s.. quite peculiar.” Said Enlikla, hiding a smile.
“Still less horny than your average Matron.” Interjected Peeemsy’s hologram.
“I know, right?”
“Commander?” When Myrayme called for her, Elioka gestured to everyone to be quiet and turned to the Admiral’s hologram.
“What.”
“We’ve an incoming transmission from Dr. T’somi.”
“Finally!” She left her cup and sat up. “Break’s over, take that thing out of my sight.”
As one of the Blood Moons levitated the mech out of the room, Elioka turned her attention entirely to Myrayme, eager to hear the news.
They had had more than ten years of peace after the destruction of the Unforgotten, discovering that there might have been more survivors had been extremely annoying. If that was indeed the case, Elioka wanted to get rid of them quickly and silently, before they could take hold again amongst the general population.
Especially now that the new colony was expanding, she didn’t want to deal with any internal problems.
“I...” Myrayme looked at something out of view, with a disconcerted look on her face. “Goddess.”
“What. WHAT.” Elioka walked closer to the hologram, narrowing her eyes. “Have they been attacked?”
“No, it’s not that... They’re not... Wait, I’m forwarding you the file.”
Elioka impatiently looked at the table, only to see a large and grotesque creature take form through the holographic emitter, accompanied by a blubbering series of chirps and hisses.
Elioka was left stuck with her mouth open, not even knowing how to react to that sight, as a crude translation accompanied the ghastly sounds coming out of the alien:
“Hello, fellow space travelers! This is frontier outpost Xlypryth Cho, a government facility under the purview of the Qavborvurg Mandate! We hope our advanced translation software is presenting this message in an understandable format. We’d like to welcome you into our space! We’re ready to assist you in whatever means necessary in your travels. Please, feel free to respond!”
The asari reunited in the command room were reacting more or less the same way, even Peeemsy had put aside her usual tinkering to look at the big, flabby creature.
“The f**k is that?” finally said one of the Blood Moons.
“Gross.” Added another officer. “Looks like the secret lovechild of a hanar and a f**king yagh.”
“Eh.” Chuckled Imina. “When you put it that way it’s kinda cute.”
“Lol.” Peeemsy shook her head, accompanied by all sorts of other comments from the rest of the Blood Moons.
“Ew, no! What the f**k?”
“I see where she’s going...”
“...aww, poor jell-o freak, all lonely, looking for friends in space...”
“Ah ah!”
“Psh,” Elioka stuck out her tongue, disgusted. “I see some here are keeping with the old asari tradition of f**king on First Contact...”
Another series of chuckling passed across the room while the Commander took back her place at the table and replayed the message.
“I.. have to say. I was not expecting.. this.”
“Oh, you’d know something about it, wouldn’t you, Elio?” asked Peeemsy with a smirk.
“But seriously...” Elioka waved away the quip and spoke louder to calm the rest of the Blood Moons down. “The f**k are we gonna do about this.. thing?”
“I know what Imina wants to do about that thing...”
“F**king Goddess, guys... focus.”
“Elio,” called Myrayme. “Dr. T’somi is asking what should she do now. Does she have to answer? Approach?”
“Approach?! F**k no! It could be a trap.”
“We can’t just not do anything, Elio.” Said Enlikla. “We’re going to risk a diplomatic incident like this?”
“A diplomat- Lani, whoever even are these people? They could just be drifters, pirates, the f**k I know?”
“Well, they must come from somewhere…” added Sulysy, who had remained quiet for the entirety of the reunion. “...it is.. interesting. But I guess we should have expected the possibility of some form of life in this Galaxy as well.”
“Agreed.” Added Imina, nodding to her. “Though, admittedly, it wasn’t really a priority...”
“We do need to make a statement, Elio.” Continued Enlikla. “Can’t risk making enemies before even knowing who they are. At least for now, then we’ll have time to think what to tell to the people too.”
“Holy s**t!” Elioka cringed. “I totally forgot the people! What are we even gonna tell them? They’ll just want to go there, start f**king the slugs, I just know it...”
“We can think about that later, Elio. Right now it’s better to focus on what to answer to these aliens.”
“Right. Well, just.. hm... Tell Clama to keep it on the safe side for now, she can answer and be polite, but keep the distance, and get the f**k off the moment she can, just to be sure. If we’re gonna have diplomatic meetings with these guys, it’s going to be on safe ground.”
“I agree.” Said Sulysy.
“Ya, me too.” Added Enlikla.
“We need to know more, Elio.” Said Myrayme. “They are a new potential threat of unknown magnitude.”
“You think I don’t know?”
“Girls, girls...” Peeemsy shook her head. “...why you all have to be so gloomy? Didn’t it cross your mind that these natives might know stuff about this Galaxy? Stuff that might help us in getting out of it?”
Elioka resisted the urge to facepalm.
How did I not think of that?!
“Right.. still...”she curved towards Peeemsy’s hologram. “...we can’t risk revealing our intentions before knowing theirs. So, moot point for now.”
Peeemsy shrugged, returning to type on her console. “Just sayin’...”
“Go tell Clama what she’s got to do, Ray. We’ll wait for you.”
“Right away, Elio.” Said the Admiral, putting the transmission on hold.
Elioka took back her cup and stretched her neck, looking at the still image of the alien. “Hope everybody has clear schedules, because this is gonna be a long night, guys...”
Sex bots... and "hot" aliens. Guess the poor Asari are getting desperate enough and still don't want get purebloods- meaning, hello there, sexy alien? 
Poor Qavborvurg!
Poor Qavborvurg!
Some things just never change...Sex bots... and "hot" aliens. Guess the poor Asari are getting desperate enough and still don't want get purebloods- meaning, hello there, sexy alien?
Poor Qavborvurg!