[Book Three] Chapter 35: High Score

Chapter 35: High Score

They had spent the previous day in the arena. At first, because of how the game was made, their score was low despite their exemplary performance. But as they rack in token they unlock handicaps that help them get better scores thus better tokens. In one single day they have unlocked most of the options available and more importantly got quite a following and a few fans. In fact they were doing so well that they did what no one has done before; they broke the scoring. Apparently the maximum score was 9999, a score that should not have been attainable in the first place and yet Jane and Rick blew it up prompting the word ‘ERROR’ to be displayed instead of the score.
Between the many messages from their many ‘number one fan’ and insults from competitors or people that just disliked Shepard ( Cerberus supporters or some racists from other species) some challenges or information were important. One of them was from the admins of the arena, saying they upped the limit of the high score to 20,000.

“They shouldn’t put a ceiling for the scores, it’s stupid. Turians and their need for setting detailed rules…” Rick commented.
“We’ll just have to break their records again.” Jane replied with a knowing smile. “Look at that.”

She pointed at a message from a mom who had brought her daughter to the arena to see their team fighting. The kid was recuperating from a brain tumor  that had been removed a year earlier. While she had healed from most of the damages, she still had to get back the use of her limbs. She had traveled to the Citadel thanks to a small make a wish foundation and when she saw Jane kick ass on the TV she asked her mother if they could watch a match live at the arena instead of another activity that was scheduled.

“Let me guess…”
“Let’s do it!”
“Of course…”
“Come on! She’s a kid that got dealt a bad hand!”
“Oh we’re doing this. There is no doubt about it. I was just thinking about how to make it the best experience for her. In fact the best experience ever on the arena scene.”
“... I’m not going to like this am I?” Jane said with worry.

____________________________________________________________

“Laaaaadies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Armax Arsenal Arena! I’m Thilal Heliana and with me, the beautiful asari, Harella T’Silla!” Said a Turian with a mic.
“Hello everyone!”
“And we have the pleasure to once again be your hosts tonight!”
“It’s always an honor to comment on the matches with you, Thilal!”
“That’s a shared sentiment, my dear. Any expectations for this evening?”
“I hope to see Team Normandy again!”
“Oh! Yes! Team Normandy which took the rankings by storm yesterday!”
“Newcomers at the beginning of the day, Kings by the end of the evening! That’s unheard of!”
“Indeed! And your hope and probably most of our spectators in the arena or behind a TV screen will be answered! For the first match of the evening is one dedicated to the charity Help a Dream by no one else than Team Normandy!”
“Help a dream? Isn’t it a small charity who raises funds to help very sick children realize a dream?”
“It is! And specially for this occasion, we have guests with us!”
“Guests? Now I’m all excited, Thilal! Who might they be?”
“My! Little Lati who was the beneficiary of Help a dream along with her mother!”

As in cue, an asari woman came in pushing a wheelchair with a young asari in it. Harella and Thilal welcome the two newcomers.

“Hello!” said the little one, waving her hand at the camera.
“Oh my! You’re so cute!” Helania exclaimed.
“Thank you.” she replied a bit embarrassed.
“Lati, we’re happy to have you and your mother tonight. Can you tell the audience what your dream was?” Thilal asked.
“To see Commander Shepard kick the butts of the toughest reapers! She’s my hero!”
“She’s mine too!” Harella confessed.
“Boys and girls, children and adults, Commander Shepard is indeed a hero to many!”
“I don’t think I’d be lying if I say that everyone wants to see the same thing as you, Lati.”
“Oh, no one would call you a liar, dear Harella, because it’s the truth! Now, not only Team Normandy is accepting the challenge but I heard they’re going to the extreme!”
“What do you mean, Thilal?”
“From what I heard from the Commander herself, they will be doing this match with no medi-gel!”
“They sure are confident!”
“But that’s not all my dear Harella! They will have one-shot shields, their enemies shield will be stronger and they will do more damage and finally no placed ammo!”

Both Lati and Harella gasped in shock at the revelation.

“Thilal, that’s all the malus the simulator has! Are you telling me they’re doing a match with all of them at the same time!”
“YES!”
“By the Goddess! They’re crazy!”
“That they are! Ah! Boss is signaling to me that people want us to stop talking and start the match!”
“Then we will do so! I like my job, thank you!”
“Laaaaaadies and gentlemen! Here is the first member of Team Normandy! Here is 5’8” of destruction with hair red like fire! First human spectre, savior of the citadel, the Collector’s bane and the Reapers’ worst nightmare Commandeeeeer Sheeeeeeepaaaaard!” Thilal introduced.

As Jane entered the arena, she was holding her helmet in one hand and waving at the crow with the other. The audience was completely crazed and chanted her name. But Team Normandy had two people and Harella announced the second member.

“Next is a mountain of a man at 6”5! Hiding his face behind a now familiar helmet, he organized the defense of the citadel back in 83, was by the Commander’s side while chasing Saren and defeating the Collectors, killed with only his swords a horde of brutes and punched a reaper in the face… I present to you, dear audience. Riiiiiick ‘The Slayer’ Waaaaaaald!”

With being called out, Rick was the one to enter the arena this time and went to stand beside Jane, the crowd just as crazed at his entrance that it had been for her. Unlike her he didn’t wave at anyone and play the game and instead just stood calmly and stoically, ready for the challenge.

“Alright! It seems that they are ready to start but is the audience?” Thilal said.
““““““““START THE MATCH! START THE MATCH! START THE MATCH!””””””””””
“It definitely is!” Harella answered.
“We are ready! Lati, are you?”
“I am!”
“Then start the countdown!” The asari invited the little girl.
“3! 2! 1! GO!”

Jane immediately took a shooting stance, while Rick pulled his shotgun in his left hand and his lightsaber in his right. At the first sight of the enemies, Rick did a biotic charge and cut a ravager in two while unloading two shots in the head of a second, then pivoting on his foot, he kicked a Warp right on a marauder on Jane’s side. The redhead kicked a throw at the same Marauder creating a biotic explosion and put three shots in its head, killing it.

“BY THE SPIRITS! DID YOU SEE THAT?!”
“I DID! Biotics with their feet!”
“We’re ten seconds in the beginning of the match and already three…”
“Make that five! Wald just charged again and vaporized the head of a marauder with his shotgun and cut down another.”
“The Commander just took down two more in one shot to the head! Probably thanks to an armor piercing mod!”
“By the goddess! The round is already over!”
“And it’s just under half a minute! This is insane!”
“Were they holding back yesterday?!”
“It seems like it. My! What beasts! And I say that as a compliment!”
“The only downside is that it’s insanely difficult to comment properly.”
“True! But the performance we are seeing… I feel privileged to see it with my own eyes and with such company!”
“I feel the same. Hopefully with the new round beginning and Banshees entering the fray we will have more time to comment.”
“Let’s hope because here it is! Round 2!”
“Shepard charged a marauder and sent it flying towards Wald who dodged by an air breadth and put a grenade on it!”
“Poor marauder just exploded among three of his friends and began to float around!”
“It was a lift grenade and Wald just did a biotic charge detonating the primed Marauder!”
“The biotic explosion broke all their shields and the Commander is shooting them down one by one at incredible speed!”
“Ah! Here come two brutes on each side of the participants!”
“How will they deal with… Wald just charged one and decapitated it! Following up with a dodge of the second brute’s claw with a roll to the side!”
“The claw is so big that he used it as a platform to jump onto the brute’s back and severed its head too!”
“Everything is not that easy on the Commander’s side! She dodged a charge but the second brute got close and is about to stri… DID YOU SEE THAT?!”
“If you mean Wald throwing his sword right onto the brute attacking the Commander and her picking it up and with one swift move cutting it in half along the first brute she had dodged then yes!”
“This is outstand… Wow! Wald used the same move he used while fighting the Reaper on Rannoch and dodged a rocket from a ravager!”
“And now he charged it without any weapon in hand not having any ammo left! He’s crazy! Wait… Is he…”
“NO WAY! Wald hit the ravager head on, grabbed the rocket launchers with his bare hands and sent the modified rachnis right onto another brute that was sneaking on Shepard!”
“My! That’s some powerful muscles he has in his arms!”
“And Sheppard is using the sword to deal with the two of them ending round 2!”
“It lasted exactly one minute thirty seconds! Thilal, I think they are on their way to break another record!”
“That’s what it looks like. What do you think, Lati?”
“I think they’ll get an error again!”
“What confidence!” Thilal praised.
“Breaking the game a second time? That means they’ll make more than 20,000 points!”
“The programmers are going to eat their keyboard if that happens again! Especially a few hours after making the change!”
“Ah! I’d like to see that! Let’s cheer with all we have! Team Normandy!”
““““““““““NORMANDY! NORMANDY! NORMANDY! NORMANDY!””””””””””
“Let’s do a recap before the third round begins. Wald is out of ammo and Shepard will be too soon.” began Thilal.
“Yes! I think she has half a clip left, maybe one full at best.”
“That left only their biotics and Wald’s plasma sword. That’s not much.”
“Has it been anybody else down in the arena, I would agree with you but somehow I don't think it will be a problem for team Normandy.”
“I got the same feeling.”
“Well, we’ll see for ourselves right now! Round 3 begins!”
“Ouch, what bad luck three banshees right out of the bat!”
“Or not! Both sent a Wrap to a different banshee and did a biotic charge right in, detonating the things’ barrier!”
“I didn’t know Shepard could charge too?!”
“Rumors say that she was trained in her biotics by Wald!”
“Oh! Shepard is out of ammo!”
“It was a well placed last shot, though right into the banshee’s head. She sure made it count!”
“And Wald did a backflip to dodge a claw! Wait did he…”
“Made a handstand instead of landing back on his feet and shot two warps on a ravager hiding behind a wall and in a cursive trajectory with said feet? Yes, he did!”
“That’s amazing! I… I don’t have the words to properly do justice to what we’re seeing right before our very own eyes, Harella!”
“Me neither! This is insane!”
“Wait! Shepard is now charging a Ravager, detonating him!”
“Ewww! Its sack exploded! That’s disgusting!”
“And she just sliced it in half and didn’t bother to check if it was dead!”
“Can’t blame her! There are still banshees left and Wald is dealing with them alone!”
“He seems to be doing quite fine! He pulverized the head of one of them with a biotic charged fist! Wait! Watch out!”
“Hell! He didn’t even bother to look at the sneak attack for the second Banshee! He knew the Commander would take care of it!”
“Poor Banshee got stabbed right in the belly by Shepard!”
“She left it right there for Wald to take it, slicing the Banshee and killing it in the process, while she put a barrier up to protect them from a Marauder attack!”
“Where does that guy come from! And how did she know it was there?!”
“I don’t know! Perhaps her battle sense is that good!”
“This is amazing! I think we’re watching the greatest performance ever seen in a simulator!”
“I believe it… AND STOP! With Wald somehow increasing the length of his sword he took down in one fell swoop the two remaining Banshees while the Commander threw a grenade at the marauder!”
“The time, Harella! Did you see the time?!”
“3:18! The quickest match in history at the highest difficulty! ”
“The quickest but the most intense!”
“I think we just witnessed the start of a legend in the battle simulator world, Thilal.”
“I think so too, dear Harella and… Wait! They seem to be talking to each other!”
“Someone put the mics in the arena on!”
“...Didn’t break a sweat. Are you sure it was the real challenge and not just a warm up?” Rick said dejectedly.
“Yes…I admit it was a bit lackluster.” Jane replied.
“Well… Hope the kid is not too disappointed by the performance.”
“If she is, we could always try again.”
“Not with the max score locked. What’s the point if we get an error everytime? There is no thrill, no guesses to see how far one can score. How can anyone enjoy looking at a match when you already know the results? They should have removed the limit already.”
“Maybe they could come up with a real challenge too while they’re at it.”
“Yeah… Like copies of us? Now that would be interesting.”

They were walking out of the arena as they talked leaving behind a gaping audience, incredulous at what they just heard as if the last three minutes and eighteen seconds had not been enough. Everyone came out of it when the young voice of Lati as heard.

“Look!”

Everyone looked at her and saw her pointing her finger at the scoreboard. Once again, just under the displayed time was written ‘ ERROR’ in big red letters.

“By the Goddess!”/”By the Spirits!”
““They did it!””
“They broke the score again! This is amazing!”
“How many times did we say that in the last five minutes, Thilal?”
“I don’t know and who cares?! They broke the 20,000 Maximum score when it was just implemented today!”
“You had called it Lati!”
“I did! Eheh!” replied the young asari in a mix of pride and embarrassment.
“That you did, young one! We’ve seen something amazing thanks to you tonight!”
“Hmmhmm. And for that and being a very good guest, Armax Arsenal is giving you and every child getting help from the charity Help a Dream a one year free subscription to…”

____________________________________________________________

Jane and Rick had exited the arena and went back to the apartment, getting applause and shout of congratulations from any passerby that saw their match. It had been difficult to make their way through the crow but Rick being Rick he just walked through without a care in the world and people just opened a way like Moses opened the red sea. Jane stuck close behind him and simply smiled and waved.

The moment they were home, Jane jumped into his arms and kissed him hotly. It was clear to Rick that the act they played had made her very horny and he wasn’t about to deny her and put a stop to what she was doing.

“That was amazing what you did for that little girl!”  she said breaking the kiss and removing his helmet to look into his eyes.
“She’s a kid and stuck in a wheelchair. I respect how strong she is, I would have gone mad, trapped in my own body like that. She did not.”

She kissed him again but this time briefly, to show how much she appreciated what he had done.

“Let’s take a shower.”
“A shower? We didn’t even…”
“I don’t care. I want to take a shower and get my ass fucked under the hot water.”
“That’s very specif…”
“NOW.”

Doing his best to not sigh, Rick carried his sister up the stairs towards the guest’s bathroom to satisfy her lust.

____________________________________________________________

Ashley had spent the previous evening with her family in a small bar who also served food in the upper wards, not far from where Sarah and Abby worked. They talked about everything and nothing when Lynn shut up everyone and pointed to the Holo screen on the wall a few feet away. Wondering what that was about she saw her lover and her commanding officer showing to the galaxy who were the best fighters, live. Between Abby’s and Sarah’s teasing, Lynn's unrelating flow of questions and the presence of her mother which forbade her to drink herself comatose, she had a rough night.
That was why, early in the morning, she paid them a visit to give them a rant and to vent. She wasn’t expecting to hear some loud moaning the moment she entered their apartment. She recognized that type of moaning everywhere, the type that meant ‘Rick’s cock is making my pussy submit by pounding it to oblivion’. With a smile she silently crept up the stairs and walked toward the master bedroom. There as she expected she saw a very naked Jane riding cow-girl her, or rather their, favorite cock like there was no tomorrow. Wanting to play a slight prank and to get in on the action, Ashley undressed herself completely and sneaked behind the redhead. In one swift move she was behind her and cupped firmly Jane’s big bouncing boobs in her hands. The redhead moved forward to get away but couldn’t as her entirety of Rick’s appendage was lodged inside her cunt and Ashley pulled her back.

“Surprise!”
“ASH!”
“Very naughty of you, Skipper, to keep him all to yourself!”
“That’s not… YES!” Jane screamed, interrupting her defense as Rick slapped her ass hard.
“You can talk if you want but don’t stop moving those hips of yours!”
“I wasn’t keeping him all to myself.” said Jane, defending herself properly this time as she began to gyrate her hips instead of bouncing up and down.
“How long has it been going?”
“The morning after killing her clone.”
“It’s been almost a week! And none of you said anything?!” Ashley was clearly upset at the news and pulled on Jane’s nipple making her moan appreciatively.
“I don’t kiss and talk, you know that.”
“And I was a bit busy being fucked stupid and made love to!” Jane replied leaning back on the brunette’s c-cup to feel her nipple being pulled further. “It’s not like we were doing it everyday. Just the day we fixed our relationship, and last night.”
“If I wasn’t so happy that you finally got back on good terms and good terms only I’d tan both of your asses red! Now come on, Skipper! Cum on that cock and let me have a turn!”

The only acknowledgment she got was Jane going back to bouncing on her brother’s dick fast and hard. She had been at it for a while now and was pretty close to reaching her climax. Ashley let go of one of the breasts she was holding to reach the redhead’s clitoris and began to massage it to make her come faster while nibbling on her neck. Rick raised himself and latched his mouth on the free tit, sucking and biting the nipple without restrain. In no time, Jane came, letting out a very loud scream with her body jerking around. When her body shut down, Rick took her down with him as he laid back onto the mattress. His cock, still hard as still and well lubricated with his sister’s love juice, was pulled out. Not wasting the opportunity, Ashley’s mouth took it in and began to clean it up while enjoying Jane’s taste on it. Once clean, she then attacked her boss’ cunt, grabbing her ass firmly and spreading it to have a better access. Every drop of cum that Rick had deposited from earlier coupling was sucked and eaten by the brunette shamelessly in loud slurping sounds.
When nothing once left, Ashley pulled back up and used the back of her hand to clean any juice that Jane had unknowingly left on her lips.

“My turn.” Rick’s lover simply said.

____________________________________________________________

After spending the whole morning in bed the trio was relaxing in the hot tub. Jane still felt embarrassed about their last round of sex as Ashley did like she said she would when they had left Mars. Lick the redhead’s pussy while Rick’s balls hit her forehead as he fuck the said redhead’s ass. That one had been fine for Jane. It got embarrassing when Ashley ate Rick’s hot and fresh creampie out of her ass while she was cleaning his cock with her own mouth. She would never admit it  but she had enjoyed it immensely and would not mind doing it again. More and more the idea of keeping Ashley in the relationship with Rick was appealing as she was the one she knew the most and knew her the most. They were very good friends, despite the hierarchy - which didn’t mean anything anymore as they were both of the same rank now - and understood the life of a woman in the military. That wasn’t a surprise that Ashley was her primary confidant, just before Liara, as a result. That’s why if Rick had to keep someone in his life other than her, she hoped it would be the brunette.

“Not gonna lie but that felt good.” Ashley said from Rick’s left side as she rested her head against the edge of the tub with her eyes closed.
“Missed me that much?” Rick joked.
“Yeah. I’m still waiting for my mind shattering orgasm though, not fair that EDI was the only one to get one.”
“I’m good but not that good. It was situational for EDI, she’s not used to feeling that way. The experience was rather tame in truth.”
“I’m surprised that we both got out of it without any bruises or bite marks.” commented Jane.
“Is that regret that I hear in your voice, Skipper?”
“Noooo. Yes? Maybe. I’ve seen you sporting them so many times and it was so hot! On Miranda too. Aaaand that one time with me before going through the Omega-4 Relay.”
“Excuse me if I don’t always feel territorial and dominant.”
“It’s not a complaint! I’m perfectly happy and satisfied with what we did.” his sister replied and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Besides, it would be awkward to explain them to everyone tonight.”
“Oh Shit!” Jane exclaimed, straightening herself up. “I forgot to buy supplies for the party!”
“It’s fine, we have plenty of time. Who did you send an invite to by the way?” Rick inquired.
“Well, the whole ground team and Joker, Steve and Traynor. I also invited everyone from our time against the collector.”
“Is that a lot of people?” Ashley asked.
“Hmmm… Seven people?”
“If they are on the Citadel to begin with.” Rick said.
“They all answered that they were coming, so they must be. Wrex is invited too.”
“Who are they?”
“There is Jennifer and Miranda that you already know. Samara, she’s a justicar Rick traveled with for a few years before settling on Eden Prime, then Kasumi who’s arguably the best thief in the galaxy. Who else?” Jane wondered aloud tapping her index on her chin.
“Grunt. Pure tank-bred krogan. He’s Red's unofficial adopted son.”
“He’s not!”
“He is, you’re such a mom to him.”
“I’m not…”
“Then there is Zaeed, an old merc who created the Blue Suns before they turned bad, courtesy of his associate at the time that erased his whole involvement in the company when he took over and left him for dead with a bullet to the head. He probably is the one with the most experience, if you don’t count Wrex and Samara since they are centuries old. That’s about it.”
“You forgot Jacob.”
“Who?”
“Jacob! You know… Tall, black, former corsaire and biotic?”
“...”
“He was always hanging in the armory.”
“... I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
“You spend months on the ship with him and you don’t even remember him… I don’t know if I should be impressed or not.” Jane said, rolling her eyes.
“I spent months on the SSV and I only remember Joker, Doc and Adams.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Ashley asked incredulously.
“No, why? No point in remembering extras or learning about them in the first place.”
““Wow.”” the women replied, astonished.
“Have you met any of them since then? Or just be in contact?”
“No.” Ashley confessed.
“To be fair, most of them died when the SSV was destroyed. Their names are on the wall in front of the elevator on the Crew Deck.” Jane defended her argument.
“And without that wall, you won’t be able to recall more than three names, I bet.”
“Not true!”
“Really? Go ahead, give me three names.”
“Easy! Pressly, Jenkins and…” Jane had begun with full confidence, naming people but got stuck at two. She tried to remember but failed.
“See? You can’t, because you didn’t know squat shit about them or what they were doing because they were just there and average. Had they been missing you wouldn’t even have noticed. People like Minnie, Kenneth and Gabby? They are talented and you remember them easily.”
“I can’t believe I can’t name three people.” Jane whispered in total despair.
“Me neither.” realized Ashley.
“Not your fault, that’s just life. You don’t remember every pebble on your road, just the ones that were different from the others. Honestly? You could leave the whole crew behind, beside Joker, Doc, Traynor, and the three in the engineering deck and you could still fly the Normandy without any change. Especially the two that are guarding the scan to get to the com center, what’s their purpose besides just standing there?”
“I… Oh my god, this is so depressing.” admitted the redhead.
“It isn’t. Anyway, you can’t blame me for not remembering Jake.”
“Jacob.”
“Whatever. Is Mordin coming? I want to see him drunk.”
“No, he’s stuck working on the crucible. That would have been interesting to see.”

The conversation stopped there and they remained silent, simply enjoying the bath. When Rick exited the tub to take a shower the girls had a quizzical look.

“Do you really think that no one won’t start another round if we start washing ourselves in the tub?”

The answer to Rick’s question was obviously no. Taking a quick shower, cleaning himself up and dressing himself, he  removed all of his clothes from Jane’s closet and drawers to put them in the one in the guestroom. He liked his relationship with Jane to be a secret and with Kasumi coming for the party he knew that it wouldn’t be that way for long if things stayed as they were.
So the girls wouldn’t have to, he went to Silversun Strip to buy everything needed for the Party. Food and alcohol for Levo and Dextro alike. Getting back to the apartment he made the necessary preparations and the only thing missing for the fun to start was the guests.