Fanfiction Collection + EPub Links

Crossover: Mass Effect 1 (later on: Star Trek, Mass Effect 2, Harry Potter, Merlin, Skyrim and StarGate)

Plot: Gothic Jump Chain stories

Pairing: N/A

NOTE: A VERY long series, and encompasses a LOT of different fandoms (so read if you have a good understanding of them). Otherwise a well rounded FF and is currently up to 7 Volumes, with the author being very active.

Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect - Part 1

Cosmic Warehouse. Outside Reality.

"My name is Terrella" someone said "And welcome to Jump Chain!".

This was all very odd. I wasn't at home. I wasn't anywhere I knew. You'd think that this would upset me, but I found myself feeling oddly calm for some reason. Perhaps because there was nothing threatening around. I was in a big empty space, and there was only one other living thing nearby.

"Jump chain?" I asked curiously.

While I was staying calm that didn't mean I wasn't confused. Which was understandable as I'd woken up in what seemed to be a massive, windowless and empty warehouse.

After getting up off the floor and looking around I'd run into into what seemed to be a schoolgirl, only she didn't seem that young so I ȧssumed the uniform was a kink thing. I wasn't going to judge, not unless she'd abducted me.

"Ah, right, I haven't explained that part yet" the young woman said "You'll have to forgive me, this is my first time. My Dad was going to offer you a chance to explore the multiverse as one of his little amusements, but I asked him to let me to do this one. He's done loads, and I was getting bored so I took a job as a Jump Chan".

I had to ask.

"Your Dad?"

The young woman sighed.

"Life isn't easy when your Dad's a Cosmic Horror with near unlimited power" she said "But you don't need to worry about that, what you need to worry about is Jump Chain. Basically, it works like this. You pick a universe from the list I put together, which you get explore and have fun in".

That didn't sound too complex, and it also sounded somewhat familiar. Her Dad had to be one of the ROBs I'd heard about. I'd always kind of hoped that one I'd run into one.

"What's the point of this Jump Chain?" I asked "I admit I don't know much about them".

Terrella gestured wildly and enthusiastically.

"Entertainment for me, that and each jump gives you magical items or powers that you buy with points, plus there's looting, romance options, thrills, dangers, and so on. The rewards depend of the Jumper, you might die or decide to go home, or stay in a universe, or you might be able to get enough power to become a god in about ten jumps!" she said "The reward for doing all ten jumps is actually the Spark of an Oldwalker, but that's pretty much being a god".

Again I had to ask.

"And if I refuse?" I wondered "What if I choose to go home right now?".

Terrella smiled at me.

"I'll eat you, mind, body and soul" she told me.

Well that made my choice an easy one. For now I would indulge the daughter of a Cosmic Horror, then later when I was alone, then I'd have a massive panic attack.

"I'm in" I said.

Terrella smiled again, only this time it was less shark like.

"Excellent!" the young woman called out "The first step is to fill out the body mod file so that I know what type of new body to give you".

Terrella gestured at one of the walls which lit up like a computer screen showing some data, that I went over to study.

"There are other ways to change your appearance, but that will depend on where you go on Jumps" I was told "The body mod is mostly for modifying yourself to better survive".

I checked out what on the screen. I had 600 points to spend here.

"Well I don't need a tail and animal ears" I said not liking the look of the bestial option "Which means that athlete looks like the best option, and an average build, costing me 100 points".

Terrella nodded in approval.

"Pretty much, super strength is better acquired through powers" she advised "that way you don't end up looking like you overdid it on the steroids".

That made it even more tempting to select the athlete option.

"Okay, I've got five hundreds points left" I muttered to myself.

I looked over the options. Terrella giggled and I got worried. Then I realised that she might be amused by me trying to guess things. Which made me think it was a good idea to get some advice.

"Any suggestions?" I asked.

She spent a moment thinking about it.

"I'd go with metavore option if you have enough points, as long as you eat enough, you'll stay fit, healthy and in shape without working for it" she advised "If nothing else it will save you money on a gym membership".

That sounded great because no one ever used their gym memberships.

"Metavore it is then" I said.

Then I looked over my list of choices made so far. I'd understood most of them so I hadn't needed any help. Strength was good and so was endurance, but it was better to be able to flee danger and to be able to dodge attacks. Hence why I'd gone with extra speed and dexterity. Appeal might seem shallow, but it was only 50cp.

-Point Allocation (600 CP)

-Build: Average (600 CP)

-Strength x1 (450 CP)

-Endurance x1 (400 CP)

-Speed x2 (400 CP)

-Dexterity x2 (400 CP)

-Appeal x1 (350 CP)

-Shape x1 (300 CP)

-Sense x1 (250 CP)

-Endowed x1 (200 CP)

-Metavore (100 CP)

-Flexibility x1 (0 CP)

"Endowed?" Terrella asked.

Judging by what I was able to tell without taking my trousers off I hadn't gotten much bigger in the pėnɨs department. Just an extra inch or maybe two, plus it hadn't cost much.

"Well I'm certainly not going to complain about that" she said.

For the sake of my possibly already fractured sanity I ignored that and hit accept. Not even considering the Genderbender option.

"What's next?" I wondered.

So far this hadn't been too bad.

"You need to decided the warehouse mods and the companion housing mods for when you pick up a harem" I was told "You have to have a harem, sėx aside companions can be useful. If nothing else you'll have someone to talk when I'm not around".

More stuff came up on the screen.

"Ah, I see, if I buy heat for my warehouse my companion warehouse gets it for free. That's nice" I said "This is like buying upgrades for a base".

I looked through the various options for both of the files before asking about them.

"In other words, everyone will have their own bathrooms and bedrooms and some places to hang out" Terrella explained "And the good news is that there is a door from your warehouse to the companion house so you can visit, you know go through their stuff, hog their nice bathroom, make a booty call".

That sounded nice.

"What's a Force Wall do?" I asked.

I could guess, but it was best to make sure.

"You might end picking up dangerous artifacts during your travels, my thinking was that you'd rather not have someone who can travel the multi-verse coming here and stealing all your cool stuff".

Yeah I should get that then.

"Okay let's get on with it" I said as I made my choices.

-Point Allocation (150 CP)

-Electricity (140 CP)

-Plumbing (130 CP)

-Heat/A.C. (120 CP)

-ForceWall (100 CP)

-Shelving (100 CP)

-Terminal (90 CP)

-Robots (70 CP)

-Housing (50 CP)

-Medbay (30 CP)

-Portal (0 CP)

"Wait why does my companion, who I don't even have yet, get a thousand points spent on his or her place?" I wondered "While I only get 150?".

I wasn't given an answer so I got with things.

Companion Housing Complex Supplement:

-Point Allocation (1000 CP)

-Electric (1000 CP)

-Plumbing (1000 CP)

-Heat/A.C. (1000 CP)

-Deluxe Bedroom (900 CP)

-Deluxe Bathroom (800 CP)

-Dining Hall (750 CP)

-Deluxe Kitchen (600 CP)

-Entertainment Center (500 CP)

-Library (300 CP)

-Garden (150 CP)

-Cleaning Closet (125 CP)

-Maintenance (125 CP)

-Medical Bay (125 CP)

-Rooms with a View (100 CP)

-Phone (50 CP)

-Theme (0 CP)

"Most Jump Chains start with pokemon for ten years, then they deal with the warehouse and the body mods" Terrella informed me once I was done spoiling someone who didn't yet exist for me "But that sounds super boring, so we're not doing it that way".

I was surprised.

"Ten years!" I yelled "I'll be an old man before I could finish more than a few Jumps!".

Terrella didn't seem concerned.

"After the Jump is finished you'll return the same physical age you are now" I was informed "Or you can be younger if you end a Jump younger than you are now. It depends on what upgrades and such that you buy with points".

I had a look at my options. There were a lot of them.

"Before you pick one there are a few things I should mention" Terrella told me "One is that key you have in your pocket, it will always be in your pocket, unless your using it so don't worry you can't lose it. Any door with a lock can be used to access this warehouse, and you can bring friends here too, but the door won't close unless you're between Jumps, so don't use a door out there that's in public".

That sounded really cool. As long as the door was secure it would like having my own batcave.

"You can store anything you want here, but do not leave people in here when you leave, not unless you put them in a stasis pod" I was warned.

I repeated that information to myself a few times to myself so I wouldn't forget, and then I went back to looking at my options.

"Okay so I get that I can store things in my warehouse and I ȧssume that if I learn a kind of magic or pick up tech skills I can use it anywhere, but I don't keep the biological changes right?" I asked.

Having an alien form would prevent me from moving freely on worlds that didn't accept aliens.

"Oh, no, you keep everything" I was told "If you become a different race in a jump, that race becomes an "alt form," after the jump ends, and you can turn into it at will. If there are powers that come from that form, such as telepathy and shape-shifting from being a DC Verse Martian, you'll need to change into it to use those abilities. If you're a super soldier from the Marvel Cinematic Jump, you'll keep those abilities in every form".

That sounded so cool. And it made me a lot more eager to start. Sure I might die, but the risk was worth it. Plus I was smart I'd make a good choice. If not then at least I'd die something more way more thrilling than what was going on in my normal life.

"Okay bored now" Terrella complained "Let me pick a jump for you. Just the first one".

I had a bad feeling about this. Even more so when a huge pinwheel thing appeared from no where and started spinning.

"Oh Mass Effect!" Terrella yelled when the wheel stopped.

Oh not good, but there were worse places I could go. Like Warhammer 40K, Event Horizon, or Twilight.

- Budget (1000cp)

- Race: Human (1000cp)

"Hold on let me roll" Terrella said.

I had to dive out of the way as two massive foam dice rolled across the warehouse. At this point I was thinking that maybe I should take the offered Jump if only to get away from this thing that looked like a young woman. It might actually be better for my physical health as well as my sanity.

"Really a two and a one" Terrella remarked

- Age 2d8 + 20 = 23 (1000cp)

- Eden Prime (900cp)

- Marine (800cp)

- Sentinel Tech/Biotic

- Finesse (500cp)

- Supportive Mindset (350cp)

- Not A Stupid Grunt (50cp)

- Loadout (50cp)

- Extra Credits (0cp)

- Shepard's Flock (100cp)

- Assistant VI (0cp)

"Okay you are all set up" Terrella informed me "And since you let me pick your first jump I'll do you a favour. Just once in the next ten years you can call for my help. Say my name three times and I will appear to aid you in a time of crisis".

Since she seemed to be a Q like creature that favour could be very handy, but before I could ask about it I found myself somewhere else.

(Line Break)

SSV Hastings. On Route To Eden Prime.

"Up and at em, Lt" a female voice said.

I snapped awake at once and looking around I discovered that I was in some sort of shared sleeping space. Above me was a woman with brown hair, who was looking down at me.

"Come one Lt were almost there" she said "You don't want to sleep through your paid leave do you?".

I shook my head.

"Five more minutes Mum" I begged.

This made the woman laugh.

"Sorry Lt, but we'll be planet side soon and you need to grab your gear".

I got up out of bed and noticed that my arm was flashing. Or to be more precise a device attached to my arm was flashing. I pressed the buŧŧon and what I knew to be a VI appeared.

"Good morning Lieutenant Gothic" the female form greeted "How may I help you?".

I had to ask.

"Lieutenant Gothic?" I asked.

My head was all fuzzy. I felt like I should know, but I didn't.

"You are Gothic, Lieutenant Junior Grade, born on Earth, you have been ȧssigned to the 2nd Frontier Division, 212th marine brigade" the VI told me.

For some reason the VI looked like Cortana from the Halo franchise, only she didn't sound like her. This wasn't an AI like Cortana, it was much more limited, but still I knew it would be useful. I now understood that she was my own personal VI which I had created during my training.

That was why I was a Lieutenant. I had new memories of years of training. I'd just finished that training as a Sentinel, having gone through officer trainer rather than enlisting, and I was here to support the 212, not to command it directly. Which made sense I soon realised as while I was a biotic my main area of expertise was more on the tech side of things.

"Ask it about Eden Prime" the woman requested.

The VI only responded to me so I had to repeat the request.

"This idyllic agrarian world was one of the first human colonies established beyond the Charon mass relay. Eden Prime's biosphere is unusually well-suited for importation of Earth-native life. This world's fertility has drawn heavy immigration and development by the Systems Alliance and various corporations" the VI told me "Today Eden Prime is a model of sustainable, organised development. The population is housed space-efficient arcologies that tower over thousands of kilometres of green fields and orchards".

I'd be living on this world for the next couple of years, the Geth wouldn't attack until then, so I was glad that it seemed like a decent place to live.

"Sounds nice" the woman commented.

I scanned the marine carefully as I wondered who she was. I sort of already knew, but couldn't be totally sure.

"Ashley Madeline Williams" the VI said out loud "Gunnery Chief in the 2nd Frontier Division. She was born on April 14th, 2158. On the colony world Sirona in the 61 Ursae Majoris system".

Ashley Williams turned and gave me a mildly annoyed look.

"You could have just asked for the details Lt" she chided, before realising she might not want to talk to an officer than way "No disrespect meant sir".

I shrugged.

"None taken" I told her "Madeline".

My head was becoming clearer now that I was remembering that this was a Jump Chain and that my memories of universe, aside from the video games I'd played, were incomplete and real. Oh I knew everything I needed to know in order to do my new job, but nothing else. I had no family in this universe that I could recall, no childhood, I only remembered my years of training and the trip to Eden Prime on this ship. Most of that didn't seem real. This was like I'd read about this life in a book rather than lived it.

At least I now understood what was happening. Myself and other marines were being transferred to Eden Prime in order to join the 212 as part of an expanded garrison.

My job would be to provide tech support, not just for the marines as it turned out, as I recalled more I knew I'd be helping out the colony. Which sounded good to me I had to wait 2 years for Shepard to turn up so I needed something to do. Assuming of course that whole Shepard's Flock thing only applied when Shepard was actually around.

I had weeks of shore leave coming up, while this meant that some of the marines would be leaving the planet, once they had settled in, to go visit family, I didn't have anywhere to go.

So I'd rented an apartment within the colony, which thankfully hadn't eaten into my starting credits. I ȧssumed that there would be officer's quarters for me at the base, but I could live in two places.

As the new memories cleared up I realised I'd been given very good training and even some gene modding.

In the years before first contact, human genetic research was quite advanced, even allowing for the "uplifting" of animal species that lingered uneasily on the borders of sapience. However, after making first contact with the turians and joining the Citadel, there were concerns that such modifications might lead to Earth's unique biodiversity being lost, so the Alliance Parliament passed the Sudham-Wolcott Genetic Heritage Act in 2161, leading to strict controls on genetic modification.

As current law stood, modification of natural abilities is all good and legal, but acquisition of new ones is not. For example, using gene therapy to increase muscle mass is all fine and dandy, but adding the ability to digest cellulose was not.

Over time, human genetic research had developed to such an extent that basic genetic flaws could be corrected, either in utero or shortly after birth. Most human governments offered free ȧssessment and correction therapies to its citizens, which had nearly eliminated genetic diseases from the human gene pool.

All Alliance soldiers receive gene therapy, which is provided by MarsGene, upon enrolling, though most genetic therapies take years to come into their full effect. I'd been greatly improved by the body mod options when I'd started the Jump Chain so that must be why I'd not been modified much during my training. At least not in terms of genes I had a bunch of implants for my biotics, most of which were internal.

All asari are naturally biotic from birth, though not all choose to develop their abilities. Biotics of other species are individuals who were exposed to dust-form element zero, sometimes called eezo, in utero and because of this develop eezo nodules throughout their nervous systems. These nodules can generate mass effect fields when energised by electrical impulses from the brain.

Eezo exposure is by no means guaranteed to result in biotic ability. On the contrary, most foetuses that are exposed are not affected at all. Others will develop brain tumours or other horrific physical complications. In humans, only about one in ten eezo-exposed infants will develop biotic talents strong and stable enough to merit training, and these abilities are not always permanent. In extremely rare cases, humans who were exposed in utero but did not manifest biotic talents as children can develop them during young ȧduŀthood through additional exposure.

Once a person has been identified as having biotic ability, they may be outfitted with a surgically implanted amplifier, usually installed around the time of puberty, in order to make their talents strong enough to be useful. Then they must then develop conscious control over their nervous system, which is a long, slow, difficult ordeal (except for the asari, who possess a degree of control naturally).

Once trained, a biotic such as myself can generate and control dark energy to move objects, generate protective barriers, or restrain enemies. Biotic abilities are activated using a technique called "physical mnemonics", in which the biotic uses a physical gesture to cause neurons to fire in a certain sequence, sending an electrical charge through their eezo nodules and creating the dėsɨrėd effect. A biotic may enhance certain aspects of his or her biotic abilities by installing implant upgrades called bio-amps.

Biotic abilities fall into three general categories: Telekinesis, the use of mass-lowering fields to lift or hurl objects; Kinetic Fields, mass-raising fields to immobilise objects (in combat, usually enemy projectiles or enemies themselves); and Spatial Distortion, the creation of shifting mass-effect fields which rip apart any objects caught within them.

While Biotics possess extraordinary abilities, but they must live with minor inconveniences. The most obvious issue is getting adequate nutrition. Creating biotic mass effects takes such a toll on metabolism that active biotics develop ravenous appetites. The standard Alliance combat ration for a soldier was 3000 calories per day; biotics are given 4500, as well as a canteen of potent energy drink for quick refreshment after hard combat.

Another issue is electric charge. Electricity accumulated in starship drive cores must be discharged, and so too must the electricity in a biotic user's body. Biotics are prone to small static discharges when they touch metal.

Unfortunately, human biotics also face suspicion and persecution, beginning with the popular misconception that they can read and control minds. Biotics symbolise the dehumanisation of mankind to people philosophically or religiously opposed to gene modification and cybernetics. Militarises are the only organisations that always welcome biotics, offering them huge recruitment incentives, and the best training. Like what I'd gotten.

While being a biotic was interesting I really wanted to learn more about gene therapy because ȧssuming I survived the coming Reaper invasion (Which was something I had years to worry about, and perhaps I'd come up with some way to help) I'd be able to use that knowledge in other universes were as knowledge of biotics was only useful in this galaxy since it required element zero which only existed in this reality.

For example I knew that the Citadel's own genetic restrictions allowed for the creation of life for scientific or medical reasons, but forbid the creation of new sapient species. A few products had slipped past the regulations, most notably Sirta Foundation's medi-gel. That was something else I wanted to look into. Medi-gel could save a lot of lives in other universes.

Of course I had to survive ten years in this galaxy first. As I picked up my bag and followed Ashley, who seemed to have decide to escort me, I wished that it was possible to access my warehouse and lock myself in. But the rules, which I now understood, prevented it.

Cosmic Warehouse Rules

As long as you are inside the Cosmic Warehouse, the doorway cannot be closed. Living people can't be stored in the Cosmic Warehouse unless they kept in a stasis pods. Other people can enter the Cosmic Warehouse with you, but they leave when you do. When the door to the Cosmic Warehouse closes, time stops inside it. Only one door to the Cosmic Warehouse can be open at a time (unless you have the Portal and Link options). The gateway to the Cosmic Warehouse is only as big as the door that created it.

The Reaper invasion was about five years away so I could stock up the warehouse with five years of supplies or just stick myself in the stasis booth I'd had installed. The issue there was that the door to the warehouse wouldn't close fully while I was inside the warehouse. I ȧssumed that the ROB or ROBs behind this had set things so anyone doing a jump chain couldn't simply hide for ten years.

Perhaps I could take the stasis booth out of the warehouse and install it somewhere so remote that the Reapers wouldn't find it? Of course that ran to risk of me sleeping through the end of the Jump, and I simply had no idea what would happen if I did that.

"Lt get a move on!" Ashley Williams called out "They won't hold the shuttle for you".

I grabbed my bag and hurried on after the Mass Effect character. I could worry about Reapers later.

(Line Break)

Apartment/Cosmic Warehouse. Eden Prime/Unknown. 2 months later.

While I was inside the Cosmic Warehouse, it did feel as if I was also within my apartment on Eden Prime because just behind me was the door and I could see my apartment by simply looking behind me.

I even went back and jumped over the threshold a few times while thinking about easily I was moving from one reality to another. However since I'd done this many times before it got boring very quickly. Sometimes I would open and then close the door to the cosmic warehouse, and go on to open it up elsewhere in my apartment just because it was so cool.

The novelty had worn off somewhat I had to admit, but only the giant warehouse bit. Getting to live on another planet was still way cool. And it was a nice world too. Unlike Earth there was no overcrowding here, or any real pollution, and if there was crime I'd never seen it.

Still while I'd enjoyed settling on a new world I did have work to do and my leave was almost over. Soon I'd be too busy to dedicate my time to preparing for the future.

I could not avert the tragedy at Eden Prime. Saren would attack with Sovereign the instant the discovery of the Prothean Beacon was made. If I did something prevent the archaeological find, things would continue peacefully with no one aware of trouble until Reapers were pouring out of the Citadel. If I deliberately arranged for the beacon to be discovered early, the attack would come at a time that would force the Alliance to follow up on it without the capacities of the SSV Normandy.

The road to success in Mass Effect 1 was very narrow and doom awaited potentially on either side if I buŧŧerflied stuff too much, hence my planned light touch during the events of the first game.

Still I had been preparing, as best I could. I'd already started to fill my warehouse with things from the Mass Effect universe. I had data pads full of useful information, such as how all the ME technology worked. A lot of this knowledge was next to useless since Element Zero only existed in this reality, but not all the tech here required Element Zero, and even some of the stuff that did might become usable else where if another way of creating Mass Effect fields could be found.

Also I'd gotten some house hold tech stored away. You don't see it in the game, but they have really good household appliances here. Like coffee makers that produced drinkable coffee very quickly. And toasters with very, very simple VIs installed so that the toaster won't let the toast burn.

A virtual intelligence was basically an advanced form of user interface software. VIs use a variety of methods to simulate natural conversation, including an audio interface and an avatar personality to interact with. Although a VI can provide a convincing emulation of sentience, they are not self-aware, nor can they learn or take independent action. Which meant they weren't good company, and thus talking to my toaster was very dull.

The door bell suddenly rang, and I closed the door to the warehouse and went to answer the bell. Before my front door could be fully opened by me Ashley Williams made her way into my apartment.

"This is a surprise" I said.

I'd made it clear that I wanted to get closer to Ash, if only because it increased my chances of joining Shepard on her mission, she was a woman I'd seen her file, but I'd not been sure if Ash saw this as an attempt to be her friend or as an attempt to get inside her pants.

"Not a word of this to anyone," said Ashley while squeezing my ċȯċk hard enough to more than get my attention "If anyone finds out we broke regs we'll both be in trouble, but hey a girl has needs".

I hadn't really expected this despite having known Ashley Williams for for a couple of months. I really didn't expect her to whip my ċȯċk out and start playing with it. Guess she hadn't taken my attempts to get to know her as an effort to get inside her pants, and it had worked.

Thank you Jump Chain for the body mods, I was so much more handsome and appealing these days.

As for Ashley the graphics of the games didn't do her justice in the slightest. She still had the dark hair cut short like she did in Mass Effect 1 and 2, and her armour was the basic Alliance model. But she was more beautiful in real life, at least in my opinion, and she had a fierce look in her eyes.

While the Alliance uniform wasn't exactly flattering for the female form. I would have admitted if asked that Ashley was able to pull it off. However it did look better on my floor.

"Okay-okay. I promise" I said as she took her top off.

I licked each of her nɨppŀės lightly as she continued stroking me. The taste of her skin was pleasant, but while she seemed to enjoy me going to town on her bȯȯbs she did stop me before long.

What remained of her outfit fell around her ankles as she kicked off her shoes. Now she was standing before me in only a black thong. I looked over her body, which I figured made her a little self-conscious but at the same time I could tell that she liked the attention. Finally she slowly slid the thong off too then tossed it onto my face.

At this point I couldn't stand not touching her so I grabbed her around the waist, pulling her onto my ŀȧp. We'd made our way into my small apartments living room by now. And at some point I'd gotten onto the couch.

"Easy there big guy" Ashley said, no doubt amused at my eagerness.

She gave me a nervous yet somehow also happy look, before guiding my ċȯċk inside her. She set a slow pace, gently rolling her hɨps as we enjoyed the feeling of each other. The occasional soft mȯȧn escaped her lips while I had manged to stay calm. But not when she started thrusting her hɨps down on me faster and harder.

My hands travelled up and down her back, occasionally stopping to grab her ȧss. She held onto my shoulders while keeping the fast pace. She'd have fallen off me had she let go of that I was sure.

We were both breathing hard now, mȯȧning and grunting and turning damp with sweat. Time and thought all went away, there was just the movement of her body as we fuċkėd.

"Ash..." I muttered.

That was all the warning she got as I came inside her. It seemed to be over way to soon, but given how loudly she called out my name as I ȯrġȧsmed I figured that it must have been long enough.

Chapter End