[Book Three] Chapter 38: Thessia

[Book Three] Chapter 38: ThessiaChapter 38: Thessia



Rick was inside his workshop, working on his camo armor with extreme focus. On paper it was doing what it was supposed to do, taking the appearance of anything that the nano cameras glimpsed at on contact. He had two problems with that. The first was making them all work together at the same time and the appropriate way. Meaning, if part A of the armor was touching something blue and part B something red, the armor had to change part A in blue and part B in red. So far it could only change everything into either red or blue. He had to make it so the different parts were autonomous and independent from each other. That meant a second problem, more processing power from the internal computer and more heat generated. More heat generated meant that the material he was using did not insulate the heat signature of the armor properly anymore which was supposed to be one of the pros against a simple tactical cloak who couldn’t do that.

So far he has come up with three solutions. Using the power source of the integrated shield to power up the nano-cams and computer which could be proven dangerous for the shield usage if the amount of energy needed for the camouflage was too high. Another solution was to use the bio electricity produced by the body, just like the omni-tool. That too was problematic for the same reason but it wasn’t as bad. The third solution was to clean the code as much as possible to reduce the work for the computer. There was also the possibility of using a second power source but Rick felt it was like cheating and he didn’t like that. In the end he went through option three: clean the code.

Meanwhile on the side, Tali and EDI were finishing the helmets for the non-human members of the crew. The former was working on her own and the latter on Javik’s. They were almost all done, though since the prothean had two pairs of eyes the visual interactivity’s software had to be updated. Not something really difficult but testing it was problematic as only Javik could and he was currently on a mission with Jane, Kaidan and James.

One thing that had gone very well and was done was the catsuit, or rather the shock absorption part of it since the others were put to the side. Rick had made some leggings first and gave them to Joker for the ultimate test, after having tried them first. It wasn’t perfect but pretty close as most of the kinetic energy was dealt with. He had scared Joker to death by suddenly hitting with a lot of strength on one of his legs or pretended realistically to do so and laughed his ass off when the helmsman had panicked.

The test was done more carefully though and with the proper tool to measure the strength of the hit. When Joker said that he finally felt like a mosquito bite they stopped and looked at the results. So far the material had sustained a good punch before it could be felt slightly which for everyone present for the test was acceptable. Joker was over the moon, he may not have been able to run but he could walk normally without fearing to break a bone. That’s why Rick let him have the prototype. The second test was done by EDI herself since she was the only one who could get shot without being injured. Thanks to her sensors she was able to properly estimate the power from a bullet impact. When Joker asked why EDI didn’t do his test too neither she or Rick had the courage to tell him that they didn’t think of it until it was time to test a gunshot.

So far only two catsuits have been made. One for Kaidan and one for James as they didn’t have breasts meaning the catsuit didn’t need special measurements and adjustments. That’s also why Jane had taken the two with her to the mission.

When the ground team came back for dinner, everyone except Rick was done with their tasks. Taking a break was not in his short term plans however. He still had to mix the guitar and bass parts he had recorded thanks to James playing them for him. It took some time but he was satisfied with his work though ‘work’ wasn’t really an appropriate word as he just had fun doing it. Afterwards he went back to coding the nano cameras and finished in under an hour, leaving only the construction of the camo armor and testing it.

Compiling the results he got from Kaidan and James about the catsuits and adding every single bit of finished work he went to the com room and called Hackett.



“Wald.”

“Stevie.”

“What do you have for me?”

“Lots of things. First the catsuits and the result of the multiple tests done on it.” Rick said, sending the compilation of files with his omni-tool through the transmission. Hackett received it quickly and began to read and see the results.

“That’s impressive.”

“I believe it can be upgraded but I leave that to your engineers. Notably by integrating mass effect fields into the material but their size would be at a cellular level, so it’s quite a challenge for their free time, focusing on the arrangement of the material would be better. Unfortunately so far the suit is only for men, creating one for females is more difficult because of women’s assets. Up to them to find a way to make them fitting for everyone.”

“I’ll pass them the word.”

“The camo armor is almost done too. It just needs to be built. There was a problem about energy consumption generating too much heat but I fixed it. There are two other methods for that fix and again it’s up to them to experiment with them to see which is better. While the cost of making one of them is high, it’s actually less than what I thought. Between 80,000 and 100,000 credits.

“This is good news, for what Shepard said it would have been a few hundred thousands more.”

“That’s because the manufacturing of the nano cameras wasn't really done in high quantity. If you have a factory doing the cameras instead of buying them then you reduce the costs. By the way, any news about the TR models from the Salarians?”

“Yes, we showed them the schematics and demonstrations done with them, they immediately agreed to the terms of the deal and several thousands have already been created and given to the troops. They were quite interested in upgrading them from what I gathered.”

“As long as they pay Tali and me the royalties... anyway, the helmets have been a bit upgraded software wise, relating to the tracking target system otherwise beyond the fact that it needs to be tested for non-human species aboard the Normandy it’s ready. For the Salarians they would just need to make it bigger. Otherwise it’s ready.”

“Glad to hear it, I’ll forward the files about it to the engineers, so far they have made a hundred of them.”

“That makes me think... I met Helena and her team at a private clinic on the Citadel, she’s fine by the way though restless. She wants to be the first to get one and from what I understood being second wasn’t an option.”

“Of course she does.” Hackett replied with a sigh. He knew his niece damn well.

“Any news for me?”

“R&D finished the shield prototype. I don’t know how they did it but your explanations for the energy consumption gave them plenty of ideas. The results are very satisfying. The shield could take a couple hits from the main cannon of a small reaper which is a couple hits more than previously. Now they are trying to adapt it to ships.” forwarded Hackett and got a nod from Rick.

“Good luck with that. A simple bubble is easy, one in the form of a ship is way more difficult or they could just create a ship-sized bubble but the power needed for that will be tremendous.”

“As for the ship shields, or rather shuttle ships now, they are finishing it as we speak. They’ll test it by the end of the week, but they are confident it will work.”

“Good. Lastly, among the files is some PR work that could be useful. I also found some artists that could work with the specification I’ve given them. It’s in the dossier named ‘Icon’.” Rick said and Hackett began to look into it for a few moments.

“This... This is good. We can use that.”

“Some of the authors forgo any pay in exchange for their name being displayed on the art. Getting in touch with them would be smart.”

“I see, they are either in it for the cause or the art. Either way they’re highly motivated. I’ll let my PR team have a look and I’ll share that with the other species. Anything else?”

“Besides a list of motivational songs for the troops, especially the ones on Earth? Not really.”

“I’ll take that. God knows they need everything to hang in there.”

“... I was joking.”

“...”

“I do have a list though, I’ll have EDI send it to you.”

“Thank you.”



And with that Hackett was out.





____________________________________________________________





Rick crashed down onto his side of the bed face first, his breath ragged, his body naked and covered in sweat. To his side Dorothea was resting on her back in the same state, her huge boobs heaving greatly up and down.

When Rick had come back to his quarters after talking with Hackett, he was immediately assaulted by the naked woman who dragged him down to the bed and threw him on it. In a flash he too was in his birthday suit with a good deal of his man meat being sheath into her throat. From there on they spent the next four hours going at it and testing many things. Dorothea discovered that she absolutely loved being face down, ass up with Rick mounting her like a broodmare and pounding her pussy away like no tomorrow while grabbing her mane of white hair tightly in his fist and pulling back so hard her head was lifted up from the mattress. Another thing they discovered was that she loved pain. That had been a surprise to both of them when Rick had slapped her ass so hard that it immediately triggered the orgasm Dorothea had been building. After four hours of discovery sex, they had both tapped out.



“Damn, Thea! That was...”

“Yes.”

“It was so sudden too.” he said as he used the bit of strength he had left to shift his body from his back to his side, looking at his lover and letting his hand caressing her glistening midsection.

“I wanted to do it again. After careful self-calibration I believe it was time to make some new tests.

“And the results?” he asked, grinning.

“Satisfactory.”

“Oh, hell no! It was more than satisfactory and you know it.”



Dorothea chuckled and turned to her side to be face to face with him. She was clearly messing with him and loved his reactions. She hadn’t had the need to use her dampeners at full capacity this time and was quite proud of herself. Mimicking Rick she used one of her hands to explore his chest slowly.



“I wonder... Why do I like it?”

“It’s sex, Thea. The body is wired to enjoy it to perpetuate our species. Can you imagine that much physical work and it felt awful? Species would go extinct quickly.”

“That asks the question how did it happen instinctively but that’s not what I meant.”

“No?”

“No. What I meant was... Why do I... crave you? Your touch, your... warmth... Your presence. My body feels so hot when you’re close.”

“... It’s either lust or love. You should ask others though, I’m not the most knowledgeable about that. Biologically wise I could though.”

“...”

“...”

“I see.” Dorothea replied pensively. “I will ask.”

“Now... Snuggling time or one more round?” Rick said as he pulled her toward him and buried his head in her voluptuous chest.

“Snuggling.” was the answer he got and Dorothea turned around showing her back. In no time he was spooning her.

“Any update with your body?”

“I reached 50% of my dampeners.”

“That’s amazing, you’re adapting so fast.”

“Perhaps because it’s fully mature, and not constantly evolving like children’s.”

“That may be a possibility. Did you change your mind on the experience or you're still good??”

“Not at all; If anything I’m even more glad to have gone through with it.” she replied, grinding her ass against his groin to tease him.

“Still no problem?”

”Sometimes. It’s difficult to understand and find an answer to what I’m feeling.”

”Does it make you angry?”

”... No but it does make me irritated.” she answered after a moment of thought. That made Rick chuckled softly, prompting her to raise a brow in puzzlement.

”It starts with irritation at first then time adds tiredness which leads to anger. In the end anger is what you feel most of the time.”

”It was like that for you.” It was a statement more than anything else.

”Yes. But to be fair it took years and I never had the best of upbringing. As long as you have people you love around you and a hobby to make the irritation go away for a time or simply disappear, you’d be fine.”

“I see.” she replied, turning around and melting chest.



“That’s not right.” said Liara.

“What is?”

“Jane, a team was supposed to be there from what that leader told me when we landed. That place is deserted.”

“I don’t like it one bit.”



Rick had his shotgun out, at the ready and walked slowly through the middle path of the place. He looked around searching for any movement but found nothing. Switching to his thermal vision he saw two warm shapes laying on the ground next to each other. Immediately he switched back to his normal vision and pointed his shotgun, changing his stance. He knew what he was about to find at the end of the way but still stayed vigilant just in case the reapers made some new type of ground troop with low body temperature. It was unlikely but better safe than sorry.



“You found something?” Jane asked, taking a shooting stance as she saw her brother being more than careful.

“Yeah.” he replied as he reached the front and lowered his shotgun before crouching down and disappearing behind the benches. As Jane and Liara joined him they saw him examine two dead asari scientists. “Their throats were slit. Judging by the position of their bodies and the lack of blood on the ground they were not killed here but placed. From the wound’s angle the killer is around 5’11”. It was quick and precise so the one who did this is well trained in assassination.”

“Let’s stay on our guard and let’s find this artifact.” Jane said as she began to look around.

“You don’t feel it?”

“Feel what?” asked Liara.

“A beacon is here. You were right.” Jane said as she began to look up at the status of the goddess.

“Yes. Now we just need to activate it.”

“I can’t believe it... All this time, there was a prothean beacon here... Being engineered by them is one thing but growing through a beacon and keeping quiet about it when the situation is... What were they thinking?!”

“They weren’t Liara. Because the matriarchs were old and in charge they believed they had all the wisdom in the world. When you start thinking like that, it’s the beginning of the end.”

“Thessia is burning! Those... Those...”



She was so enraged by what the leaders of her species had done and the apocalyptic results of their choices that she didn’t have the words to express how she felt. Jane put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down and reminded her that they needed to activate the beacon. Getting her focus back the young asari began to analyze the antic plaque at the feet of the statue. Understanding the activation mechanism she asked Jane and Rick, who were able to interact with protheans technology thanks to the beacon found on Eden Prime, to find the diverse switch scattered around the temple. It took five minutes at best for the two humans to do so as they followed the feeling the protheans tech was giving them. As a result, the goddess crumbled revealing a beacon the size of the one on Mars, making them realize that it wasn’t just a beacon but a whole archive.

Jane was the one who used it, while Liara was watching and Rick was fumbling something on his omni-tool. A VI presented itself, reminding Jane of Vigil on Ilos. However this one’s name was Vendetta and had enough power and was well enough maintained that its physical appearance was that of an actual prothean unlike vigil who didn’t have enough power and was too damaged to properly manifest. The first thing it did was check the time in the protheans cycle then determined that it was the next one and that harvest from the reapers had already begun when it looked outside and saw the destruction brought by the old machines. Just as it was about to deactivate Jane held it back and began asking questions about the protheans, the reapers and their war. When the subject of the catalyst was broached something unexpected happened.



“Alert. Indoctrinated presence detected. Activating security protocol.”



Immediately the team pulled out their weapons as Vendetta dematerialized. The alert came from none other than Kai Leng who brought out a holographic and flying transmitter revealing the Illusive Man.



“It still won’t work, Wald.” the man said seeing Rick using his omni-tool.

“No loss in trying but you’ll get it before you die, I give you my word on that.”



TIM gave his usual spiel, putting forward his ideology and arguing with Jane. When he had enough he simply ordered Kai Leng to get the data in the beacon and to deal with Shepard. Something that the assassin took pleasure in getting to the task. Despite running and jumping around Leng was not particularly a difficult opponent. His shields were strong, true, but he was simply armed with a sword and so had to get close to hurt the members of the team. There was nothing to be afraid of. The gunship at his back providing covering fire and blinding the group with a bright light while Leng was recovering his shield however, was a pain in the ass. That was the greatest difficulty of the fight, second only to the pathetic taunts the assassin was shouting.



“God it’s pathetic for a grown ass man to act like a chuunibyou. Seriously! Without the gunship I would have smeared the floor with you already!” yelled Rick as he charged the man with his biotics, breaking his shield and sending him flying away.



Once again Kai Leng requested the help of the gunship while he recharged his protection. Once done, he ordered it to target the pillars supporting the ceiling, making the whole building shake and destabilizing the team’s footing. Not missing the opportunity he rushed Liara and tackled her down, knocking her out. Just as he was about to end her with his sword Jane who was a few feet away charged him but missed as he dodged. He kicked her in the stomach and she was sent backward. Rick, not missing the opportunity, got close with his shotgun but was disarmed. Now fighting with his bare hands he did his best to dodge the sword, slicing his way, waiting for an opportunity to strike back.

Jane got back on her feet and tried to attack Leng from behind. It failed as Leng dodged by a hair breadth, grabbing her extended arm and sending her with force to the side where she rolled and fell through the floor into a gigantic hole that the ceiling had created as part of it came down. However Rick was vigilant and sent a curved pull towards her, catching her in free fall. His sister was saved but that left him wide open to Leng who thrust his sword into his lower back. As Jane began to float up, incapacitated she saw her brother laying down on his face a pool of blood forming around him. She could do nothing but helplessly watch as Kai Leng simply walked towards the beacon’s console and, as she rightly believed, retrieved the entire data it contained. Just as the man exited the temple, the pull effect on her stopped and she fell down again, this time however she grabbed the edge of the floor and quickly got back on the ground. Immediately, she went after Leng, gun drawn and began shooting with everything she had at the man, who simply got on the gunship and flew away right under her disbelieving eyes.



“Jane!”



Hearing her name being called out, she turned around and saw Liara crouching down looking over Rick. Immediately she ran towards the both of them, the asari applying medi-gel to make the bleeding stop.



“Got... data.” he said between a gargle of blood.

“I know! I’m sorry! I...”

“Da...”



Rick said no more, his sentence unfinished, Jane and Liara alone and in the silence of the temple and their failure.