Alephkeller

Chapter 21 of Risk Compensation, "Mandala", is now complete.

The title references the sacred art form depicting patterns of life and death.

Summary: "Back on Mars, Forty finally comes face to face with a terrible adversary -- one who confronts her on her role in humanity's puzzling predicament."

Big revelations, here. I hope you enjoy.

Pheromone use is rarely authorized without a ton of scrutiny or approval from a high authority (in Earth's case, it was the Admiralty Board -- who didn't approve it. After emergency measures and the attack on Phoenix, it was Axla -- who expanded their use)

If an injection kills/hurts a male because a daxy troop wants to illicitly inject him, she is liable, and so is her CO.

Quartermasters, commanding officers, etc. therefore have to keep careful track of any pheromone weapons on the field and provide oversight.

The truth is that it's an area of dispute in modern daxy society (as we see in the stories) -- the big compromise is that most of the time, they only use synthetic pheromones which are less powerful and wear off, while still pacifying a target for a time. Huntresses are allowed to carry pheromones with less scrutiny, but they're the exception.

A martial claim is a mate who is taken during a military campaign. This isn't always authorized (that is, snatching people off the battlefield), but it can be authorized by authorities overseeing Induction (like Axla did near the end of the war).

It would;

You wouldn't be assigned to someone who wasn't understanding of your situation.

In this part, Rax drops a bombshell of a revelation onto Miles. An urgent message from Shepard soon follows. Meanwhile, Matthias confides in Asyx as he awaits his ultimate fate...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46265299/chapters/212325181

Drawing by:

https://www.blackestmanamultis.com/

Touched up by:

@doc-art

If a male is gay, will he still be forced to be a female's mate?

Do female Daxys see gay and bisexual men in the same way human men see lesbian and bisexual women?

So the daxy are pretty sexually conservative, but not in the same way modern (or ancient, for that matter) Christianity and the other Abrahamic faiths are. It's pretty unique and alien.

They wouldn't necessarily see it as an inherent defect to be fixed, but males are still too valuable to leave them unassigned. This would be noted during the Assignment process (assuming the male was open with it) to any interested females, without any prejudice -- both parties would know what they are getting into and that the man may not be comfortable with sexual things.

So no, not really to #1, but would they be assigned still? Absolutely. And they would be expected to be a husband and father still, just because that is an inherent duty to them that comes with being male in the same way that females in their society have a duty.

Ch. 16 - "Me and My Woman"

Ch. 17 - "All the King's Men"

Ch. 18 - "Heaven and Hell"

In the latest one (18), a changed Axla and Paxi clash over interrogation tactics and injections as her desperation to save her son pushes the Administrator to a breaking point. Then, Rax comforts Miles after he receives an ominous warning.

Thanks @doc-art for the little sketches for ch. 18 (top) and ch. 17 (bottom)!

Full versions of the comics @doc-art drew are included below, but they have some mild spoilers, so I cropped em to just one panel above to remove the context ;)

I'm glad you are enjoying it, my friend <3

I do hope to do second drafts once the trilogy is finished and get them all published, but first, I need to finish book 3 (that way I can go back and improve the story, having the end in mind).

Do the Daxy give birth to males for whatever species they have as a mate?

Like Daxy daughters and human sons

Yes -- I've thought of making human females and daxy male children (from a daxy F and human M) possible, but just incredibly rare. In the canon stories, though, I haven't confirmed or denied that it's possible.

Great question!

Relevant daxy drawing by @doc-art

Ch. 14: Asleep at Heaven's Gate

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46265299/chapters/141015400

Ch. 15: Family Matters

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46265299/chapters/142975072