Lemon Warning! This chapter contains smut! It is clearly marked with -Lemon Starts Here- and -Lemon Ends Here- for those that wish to skip such things.
Chapter 22 – Preparations
“Manned test jump one ready. Activating Slipstream Drive.”
Rylia gritted her teeth in frustration as she listened to Kara’s calm voice via the secure broadcast. Intellectually, she knew everyone else had been right in telling her she shouldn’t go on the maiden manned test flight of the Slipstream Drive. Sure, they’d already done a half dozen test jumps with remote control of the Ghost. Yet there was always the possibility that they’d missed something that would negatively impact sentient life making the jump in some fashion, and Rylia was the last person they could afford to lose.
She’d almost refused their pleas and gone anyway.
The Ghost, their prototype Stealth Assault Shuttle, was arguably even more her baby than she was Kara’s, and not being able to be aboard for the test pissed her off as a result. Enough so that she’d actually snapped at a couple of people, for basically the first time even Momo had seen. Original Rylia’s basically sunny disposition and the amount of fantasy fulfilment the Hazel part of her was getting from all the stuff she was making normally kept her from such displays. Typically, the most you had to fear from her verbally was the occasional snarky remark if you did something stupid. Something which hadn’t held true in the last week, much to the terror of a few of the minions that she’d worked with on various teams.
She honestly felt bad that, even among her summons, only Bruce was willing to risk her ire at the moment, but couldn’t stop herself despite that. There were downsides to being in the body of an Asari Maiden, apparently. You know, aside from the horny energy and less stamina than a human would have had. Doing her best to push past how grumpy having to only watch was making her, she eyed the repeaters closely as the Slipstream Drive on the Ghost activated. Everything looked nominal, right up until the readings blipped out of existence for a brief moment, only to blip back in a moment later.
Thankfully, they were using Quantum Entangled Comms, giving them instant reconnection. Slipspace was weird, being some sort of eleven-dimensional space that hurt even Rylia’s brain to think about. ‘Slipping’ through it was enough to momentarily cut even a QEC connection, but reconnection was instant as soon as the ship was back in real space. The QEC system hadn’t even been that pricey on the Marketplace, thankfully. Mostly as they would have been developed within the next fifteen years or so inside this reality. Since they meant instant, high-security FTL comms no matter the location or distance, they were one of the easiest choices she’d made yet for a Marketplace purchase.
“Successful slip confirmed. On target and no complications, at least so far as I can tell. I’m turning the ship over to the pilot droid to run myself through the medical scanner for any changes. Assuming no complications, return jump should be in one hour.”
A bit of tension left all of their shoulders at confirmation that Kara was fine. Well, despite being unhappy she hadn’t been able to participate directly in the test of their most awesome build yet, things were looking up! Confirming the capability and safety of the Slipspace Drive had been the last thing they needed to check off before planning the raid on the Shadow Broker’s lair…
… … …
-Lemon Starts Here-
Momo reveled in the moans that poured out of Rylia as she explored her lover’s ‘azure’ with her tongue. It was hardly the first time she’d done so, of course, but this time she had Rylia helpless, suspended in the Tentacle Bondage device that was one of Erotic Delights main products. Which meant she had all the time she desired to find every little weak spot. It had taken Momo an embarrassingly long time to realize that Rylia wasn’t a straight up Dom, and it was only tonight that she’d finally truly put the realization that her girlfriend was a switch properly to the test, to results they were both enjoying.
With Rylia still so obviously irritated about the tests of the Ghost, Momo had decided something needed to be done, and had gambled on an aggressive approach. She’d pulled a startled Rylia into a kiss, firmly grabbed her ass to start groping it, and forcefully stripped her. Thankfully, she’d been right about Rylia actually being a switch, with her girlfriend quickly folding as Momo took charge.
An intense make out session had eventually led to their current position, with Rylia suspended by both the ‘bondage field’ of the device and three thick tentacles. Two held her legs spread wide apart, and the third was holding her arms trapped above her head. Momo, meanwhile, was kneeling between those spread legs, taking full advantage of her lover’s helplessness to thoroughly explore her alien anatomy in far greater detail than she had previously.
Momo hummed, trying again to figure out a way to get both clit-analogues with one motion of her tongue. It was proving a fun, but surprisingly hard challenge, since each one was on opposite sides of her lover’s azure. Using her tongue for broad strokes stimulated both, but trying to get more fine and pointed stimulation was much harder.
Sucking on one left the other unattended, and the tongue movement required to flick both was devilishly tricky even with Rylia so vulnerable and her Azure lewdly spread by Momo’s fingers. Already, Momo was having ideas about new toys that could try to solve the issue, but that was for later, when she didn’t have a moaning girlfriend she needed to fuck into a better mood. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
Deciding she’d explored the clitoris analogues enough, she shifted to plunge her tongue into Rylia’s depths, enjoying the way her spine helplessly arched as the intense number of nerve endings at her azure’s entrance went wild. It didn’t take long for Rylia to cum, again, having already cum twice while Momo was experimenting. But one of the nice things about Asari is that they were all rather thoroughly multi-orgasmic. Honestly, Momo could buy her lover’s theory that the race had been genetically modified for sex. They were certainly well suited for pleasure, particularly for a species that didn’t even need physical sex to reproduce.
Enjoying the unique, slightly citrusy taste of Rylia’s cum, Momo spent a few more minutes toying with her, deliberately building her up without letting her cum this time. Grinning as little whimpers and whines began increasingly joining the moans, Momo reached down for the remote that controlled the tentacles. Familiar enough with the controller by now, she blindly made the selection she wanted, pulling back only just as a more phallic pair of tentacles rose up between Rylia’s legs.
A whine of loss was soon replaced by a moan of delight as the first tentacle filled her lover’s azure and the second began lubricated her rear entrance with obvious intent to fill that hole too. Grinning and letting it get to doing that, Momo stood and stripped the last piece of her other clothing that hadn’t been lost yet. A fairly skimpy and utterly soaked black thong. Kicking it clear across the room, she noted when the second tentacle was fully hilted, and used the remote again.
This time, the effect was for the bondage field and stronger tentacles to adjust, lifting Rylia’s plundered bits up, even as it lowered her upper body down toward the floor. Specifically, down to juuuuustttt the right height for Momo to step forward and swing one leg over her lover’s tits, then press her dripping pussy down into Rylia’s face. Her Good Little Toy didn’t need any more hint than that to get to work, her own tongue happily digging into Momo’s sex.
Moaning herself as that very talented tongue got to work, Momo rewarded her girlfriend by using the remote once more, setting both tentacles penetrating her to vibrate and thrust on low. It wouldn’t be enough for Rylia to cum from again, not yet, but Momo would let her do so once she had her own first orgasm. After that? Well, they’d just have to see how many more times Rylia could earn an orgasm before one of them passed out…
-Lemon Ends Here-
… … …
Rylia was in a much better mood, after her night with Momo, and everyone else seemed…relieved. Which made her feel a bit guilty, but she did her best to push past that. She was still allowed to be human and get upset about things! Er, well, allowed to Asari, she supposed. That phrase had some problems when encountering alien life, didn’t it? ‘Allowed to be a sapient’ just didn’t quite have the same ring to it.
Anyway, she was in a better mood!
Which was awesome, because it was time to start doing the actual planning for taking down the Shadow Broker! As the one who’d been collecting all the data up to this point, even if she wouldn’t be involved with the assault team, it was up to her to start the briefing! They weren’t taking any risks of leaks, with the entire group, all five of them plus Kix, gathered in a makeshift war room off Rylia and Kara’s lab/workshop. That space was under the land that had once held the scrapyard, and which was still covered with holographic illusions showing that scrapyard being slowly cleared out.
The room wasn’t that makeshift, since Rylia had thought ahead, bringing in some decent furniture, wall displays, and the secure holoprojection table they were all seated around. She was at the foot of the table, not the head, since she was only doing the background brief. After she was done Bruce, who was at the head of the conference table, would lead everyone through the actual planned operation and their parts in it.
For the moment, Rylia stood and flicked on the central holo-projector, showing a world wracked with massive storms.
“Alright ladies and gent! This is Hagalaz! Based on my own dubious future-knowledge, Kara and I sent stealthed recon probes using Kryptonian hyperdrives to investigate this planet some time ago. Thankfully, they were able to confirm my dubious future-knowledge, by locating a custom-built cruiser-sized vessel that routinely rides within the storms for concealment.”
Rylia punched the advance button for the holoprojector, and it moved on from showing the planet to showing the best scans they’d been able to get of the Broker’s ship. It was very clearly a one-off special design, matching absolutely nothing any of them had ever seen. Heavy armor, scarred despite how thick it was, massive lightning rods and capacitors to store the captured energy from the storm, and a layer of what the display quickly labeled as motion dampeners.
“We actually had to build an entire second generation of probes to get these scans, as our initial set couldn’t survive the storms while maintaining stealth. Note that the Ghost has been specifically equipped to do so, using what we learned from the probes. That said, there are a number of hazards just getting into the ship, such as the lightning capacitors that harvest power from the storm for the Broker’s ship.”
Bruce was the one that would go over those obstacles, and how the team was going to tackle them, so Rylia moved on. This time, when she shifted the projector, it showed a small Salarian-built frigate docking with the massive cruiser, while both were in a lighter patch of storm then the Broker’s vessel normally rode. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“The armor is thick enough that we have little data on the internals of the ship. However, the one critical detail we have gathered is that the ship is resupplied only very rarely. Always by the same ship, likely to minimize how many people outside the Broker’s ship have any idea where to find it. The ship thus becomes our only real clue to extrapolate from. Thankfully, it wasn’t that hard to track down.”
Another advance of the holoprojector version of a slideshow, this time to show the frigate in question, docked elsewhere.
“While the ship is originally Salarian-built, it’s an older model, lost to Terminus Pirates a couple of decades ago. Regular port of call is Omega, with a mixed crew aboard. Yet, the Captain and First Mate are both Salarian…who suspiciously look a lot like two of the senior crew that were supposedly killed by the pirates.”
Lucy, who was seeing this data for the first time, leaned forward at that, raising a finger. Rylia waved for her to say whatever was on her mind, and wasn’t too surprised by the question.
“What are the odds this whole thing is STG run, given the Salarian connection?”
Rylia shrugged, but she’d expected that question, so she had her logic in order.
“Not very likely, but not impossible. While the loss of the frigate could be intentional, and the two Salarians could be STG, the limited future-knowledge we have doesn’t support it. The STG, if they knew the location of the Broker vessel as that would imply, would never have allowed it to stay in the hands of a former test subject. Still, it isn’t entirely impossible that the Yahg was a pasty of some sort, merely allowed to believe he was the Broker.”
Lucy nodded acceptance, even if she looked a little less than fully convinced. Which was fine. Rylia wasn’t completely sure she could trust any of her ‘future knowledge’ either, after all. Though enough things had checked out, such as Miranda’s situation, that she was considering it at least mostly reliable. At least the bits that were already established before she started sending butterflies with lasers on their heads out to derail things.
“More likely, what we’re looking at is a pair of traitors who were working for the Broker from the start and stole the vessel specifically for resupply use. While not explicitly a stealth ship, Salarian frigates are universally stealthier than most Mass Effect craft. Acquiring it to make quiet supply runs for his main base is somewhat logical, and keeping the crew from knowing where they were going wouldn’t be overly difficult. In fact…”
Rylia trigged another ‘slide’ advance, shifting the holoimage to one that displayed a breakdown of the known crew of the frigate…including a high rate of turn over figure.
“…we’re fairly sure that the high rate of turn over for this particular ship means only the officers have any interaction with the Broker. We hope this means that his ship is largely automated, with a minimum of crew and mostly mech-based security. This would fit well with the Broker’s desire for absolute secrecy, and also be a best-case scenario for us. For that, however, it’s time to turn this discussion over the Bruce, since he’ll be managing the team for the actual assault.”
Rylia motion for Bruce to take the floor, even as he stood and took control of the holoprojection.
“As Ms. T’aani said, I’ll be commanding the teams for the assault itself. We have scans of both the outer hull, and some penetration into the interior. Based on those, I’ve determined the surface assault isn’t viable with most of our assault force vulnerable to the lighting discharges. As such, we’ll need to go in from the docking port area the resupply frigate uses. From there, we’ll have three goals for the assault team when things kick off…”
Rylia sat and listened as Bruce walked everyone through the plan. She and Kara would only be involved in this operation in the sense that they were assigned to pilot the Ghost. Still, even if she never intended to lead troops, absorbing what she could from the tactics involved would likely come in useful sooner or later. Even if it was just in planning what sort of gear would best suit future units when they started working on the Terminus Systems.
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: Rylia still has to deal with being in the moody body of an Asari Maiden, even if it doesn't pop up much beyond her horny levels ;-). Getting snappy and pouty about not being able to play with her new toys is absolutely a side effect...
A/N 2: Of course, Momo has the cure for that. It also gave me a chance to show something a bit different about Rylia compared to many of my main characters. Specifically, that she's a switch. Somewhat similar to Izumi in My Hero Automata, she defaults to 'Dom' but is perfectly willing to enjoy being on the 'Sub' side with her lovers too.