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Moaning loudly into Tanda's shoulder, Viscia quivering violently against him as he finished her off. Viscia very much enjoyed this part, and Tanda always seemed to know precisely when to wrap his arms around her body and pin her to him as she finished. "That was... Amazing." She managed between gasps.
Holding his prey tightly as she shivered, Tanda looked Viscia in her glossy eyes with a grin. "Well, you were definitely more aggressive than normal. Anything wrong?" He replied while gently releasing his hold.
Visca slowly removed herself and laid beside Tanda, happily savouring the way the heat spread around her core. " I just wanted to thank you properly for helping me. You know, get the right implants for my piercings and augments. I didn't know Terrans had so many ways to customize their body. Or that it would work for Aasteran."
Tanda chuckled and reached for his trusty water container, taking a swig before replying. "Pretty sure you enjoyed that more than I did. But you're welcome. Your piercings are beautiful. The way you got that lady to line the outer edge of your hood with LED and the inner portion with a few strands of Mood cord was brilliant. I really like it."
The cords of Viscia's hood smoothly shifted from green to pink as her eyes narrowed on Tanda. Slowly she crawled back onto him and pushed her face into his neck. "Do we really have to go to work today?"
"Fraid so." Tanda replied, wrapping his arms around Viscia as she crawled back onto his chest. "We need to finish installing the fold core into the Blazing Sun. It should only take a few hours, though. After that... How about taking a few days off? We can go rent a cabin in the Earth biome and take a few days to ourselves."
Viscia wrapped her tail around Tanda's leg and gently nipped at his neck. "That sounds like fun... Ready for round two?"
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Dr. Edmon sprinted down the hall towards the location of the alien being, cursing as he was followed by multiple titan guards who easily kept up with his strides. "GO! Run ahead and make sure the creature is safe." He tried.
"Can't do that, doc. Orders are to protect the specialists running the experiments on the thing. That means we can't leave your side."
Dr. Edmon swore as he finally turned into the hall, noticing the Eaenhreph known as Yirphayen was looking at the newly created hole in the wall. "Well, there's our culprit. I swear if it killed my research subject, I'll have it ejected from the station."
Upon reaching the section, Dr. Edmon breathed a sigh of relief as the creature though obviously marred in multiple burn marks, still seemed alive. "What the hell was that!" He demanded of Yirphayen, who had admittedly, erected an impressive net of hard light around the creature.
Yirphayen chimed a tune of triumph, seemingly proud of its achievement of capturing the creature. "I have apprehended the enemy as it can't hide from my perception. You may secure it now."
Dr. Edmon groaned in frustration as he eyed the captured creature trembling in the corner. "We were running an experiment. We wanted to see its natural behaviour, and now the operation is ruined."
Koma deflated as he realized exactly what kind of mess Yirphayen just caused. "Shouldn't the area have been blocked off then, Doctor?"
Dr. Edmon sent a message informing the approaching medical staff of the situation and how they were safe to approach the creature as he continued to glare at Koma with annoyance. "We weren't sure of the creature's abilities, how it perceived its surroundings or detected sounds or even its thoughts. It could have been psychic for all we knew. And so as to not alarm it, we made things seem natural. Rest assured, it was heavily monitored within the maintenance corridor."
Yirphayen harmonized its apology as it witnessed a swath of carbon forms with odd equipment charge around the corner and towards the creature. "I apologize. I only wanted to reveal its location."
"Well, that's good and all. But you blew a hole in the station wall. That's a breach of the law, and I'm charged with upholding it. As such, I'll have you follow me." One of the titan guards stated, stepping forward from out behind the doctor.
"I would suggest following the guard Yirphayen. It'll be okay." Jack chimed through a nearby speaker and alarming the gathered group.
"I will do so then, Jack." Yirphayen chimed in response, turning towards the large mineral encased carbon form. "I will follow you."
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Michael awkwardly sat in an office. Srettia fidgeting to his left, unwilling to meet his eyes while seemingly lost in thought, and Yirphayen across from him, surrounded by four titan guards. "He... It blasts a hole in the wall, and it's my fault?"
"You and your co-pilot Jack are responsible for keeping Yirphayen under control as it won't allow anyone else to escort it." Commander Soto replied, somewhat confused at the situation and contemplating why the base commander had him handle the situation. "It's got diplomatic status, so we can't really do anything. But... I may be forced to keep it contained within a section of the station to restrict its movement if it continues blasting holes in things."
"If I may. Yirphayen is unused to living with beings that require atmosphere. I will continue to teach it proper rules and etiquette."
Michael nodded and looked to the commander. "We'll be out of your hair in a day or two anyway. Can you just let it slide one last time?"
Commander Soto huffed in frustration and pulled up some ancient rules on foreign dignitaries. "Hmm, Let's see... I'm not really used to this shit, ya know? The brass seems to think that since I have the most experience with aliens, I can handle all the crap that comes with it... Ahh found it. I can pardon Yirphayen as per the olgrends accord. But if he does it again, It's a harsh penalty, like, says here up to two hundred years in confinement. Is that acceptable?"
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"No. The situation does not warrant that. We will accept being confined to the ship until our departure and reassess the punishment upon our return."
Commander Soto thumbed his datapad and handed it over to Michael. "Alright, then that's agreeable. Yirphayen is hereby confined to the Blazing Sun until otherwise noted, dismissed. Ohh, and next time, unless you're here in person, I won't accept your defence argument. Understood, Jack?"
"Yes, Sir!"
Michael stood and walked towards the door. "Thanks, commander. I hope the next time we meet, it's in a bar."
Commander Soto waved him off and continued his daily paperwork. "Agreed."
Michael grabbed Srettia's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Let's head back to the ship, alright?"
Srettia nodded and waved to the pale-faced Koma as he departed another direction.
"Did you two get into a fight?"
"Nope, no fight. Not really, at least." Michael replied, stepping into the lift with Yirphayen and Srettia. "Just a misunderstanding. We'll sort it out when we get back to the ship."
"Ahh, I see. Much like our own misadventure, it seems."
Michael looked at Srettia, who seemed to find her feet incredibly exciting and smiled. "I don't think it's anywhere near as big as blowing a hole in the wall and ruining an important experiment."
"I apologize for my behaviour. It wasn't my intention to do such a thing." Yirphayen replied with a low tune, moving off the lift as it arrived in the hangar.
Michael carefully pulled Srettia off the lift and began walking towards their disassembled ship, waving at Tanda, who seemed excited to see the group. "Bahh, it's fine. They should have put up some warnings or a sign or two. I get going for realism, but It's just plain stupid not to have any station notifications."
Finally reaching the ship, Yirphayen moved up the ramp singing odd tunes to Jack as he entered. Srettia, on the other hand, just stood beside Michael, still somewhat deflated. Noticing this, Michael gave her hand another squeeze and smiled as Tanda walked over.
"Michael! Glad you dropped by. I'm just finishing up the installation and needed to talk with Jack. I think Viscia wanted to speak with Srettia as well; Pretty sure she's in the cockpit finishing up the final calibrations and programming." Tanda proclaimed, stopping a bit away from the duo.
"Hey Tanda, How ya holding up?" Michael responded. "I think Jack is just settling Yirphayen in. The dude just blew a hole into the maintenance tunnels and is confined to the ship now."
Tanda looked at the ship, then towards the couple and shook his head. "Why'd it do that? That's a good way to end up charged with terrorism. Especially considering this is a military base."
"Apparently, some big brains were running an experiment and let one of those goblin things run around in the maintenance shafts. Yirphayen detected it, blew a hole in the wall and captured it with a hard light net of some sort."
"And how's that his fault? Tanda asked, seemingly confused at the situation.
"Ahhh... He kind of incinerated the first one they wanted to run tests on. Seeing as how he got in the way twice... Well, they figured it be easier if it's stuck on the ship." Michael replied, receiving a notification from Jack that Dr. Leviye was watching over Yirphayen in the engine room and that he'd be out momentarily. "Jack's just finishing up some shit. He'll be out asap."
Tanda smiled and pumped his fist. "Excellent!. Thanks, Michael." Waving, he turned around promptly trotted back to the ship's rear, seemingly engaging in conversation halfway there.
"Well. Let's head into the ship and get ourselves sorted out, shall we?" Michael said, guiding Srettia up the ramp.
However, upon entering the ship, Michael came face to face with Viscia, her eyes wide as her tongue greedily scented the air. "Well, I was going to ask for your input on how I set up the controls. But I guess congratulations are in order first. Figured your trial period was a bit odd with how well you two got along." Viscia stated with a smile.
Srettia hung her head, seemingly annoyed at something Viscia had said. "I didn't mean to."
"Ahh... I don't know how you don't mean to mark your mate... But I guess I'll give you two some room. It's a bit stuffy in here." Visca replied, her inner hood shifting from orange to brown.
"Ahh, that's mood cord! Brown is bad, I think? I guess we do need to talk, don't we." Michael said, pulling Srettia past Viscia and leading the way to their room.
The two sat on their bed in silence, and Srettia finally looked Michael in the eyes as she began to tear up. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I really didn't mean to. I didn't want to claim you without your permission. I know Terrans take it slow and do things differently... I'm sorry.."
Michael's eyes went wide as he suddenly put the pieces together, realizing that he's basically now a married man. "Uhh... Yeah. This is a bit odd." He stated. "Well... I mean, I didn't intend to get married or claimed, I guess... So soon, or the equivalent... But uhh... I guess I kind of understood what I was getting myself into when you explained the whole trial thing. So I shouldn't be too surprised."
Gently shifting to be beside Srettia, Michael brought her into a hug, tenderly rubbing her back and letting her get the tears out of her system. " I, I'm not too good with words, as you know. But I don't think we should worry too much about it. Sure it was unexpected, but honestly, it's not like I regret being with you or anything. In fact, I'd say it's the opposite... And while I suppose I would have liked to have a bit more time to sort things out between us... I guess, well, I guess I'll be introducing you to mom as a wife instead of a girlfriend when we get to Earth, eh?"
Srettia quickly pushed Michael down and slid her hands under his shirt, only pausing as the sounds of footsteps echoed through the interior bulkheads... "Ahh... We have visitors, don't we." She sniffed, laying her head on his chest.
"Sure do... We'll continue after we kick all these guys out. Deal?" Michael stated, ruffling Srettia's hair. Much to her annoyance.
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"Both ships successfully secured Admiral. Zero casualties on our side. Eighty-three on the Briolb side. Two-hundred-fifty-six successfully captured, including the leader." Leda communication reported.
"Good. As long as we have the leader, we can figure this mess out." Admiral Miles replied, reading another report off his implant.
"That took far too long." Chrarada added, standing from her chair.
"It was our first operation in peacefully securing a Briold ship. Cut them some slack." Commander Brown stated, defending her troops, though understanding that Chrarada had a point.
"It would have been faster if you killed them all and focused on capturing the leader. I don't know why you wanted to use non-lethal measures." Chrarada replied.
"Seven Eaenhreph, eight Voktlix and multiple corpses from unidentified species confirmed between the two ships." Coms reported interrupting the argument.
"That's why." Admiral Miles replied. "I will not put the lives of innocent species at risk just because it would be easier to destroy the ships. Now. I just received word that the Blazing Sun is about to depart for Earth, and I would rather like to speak with Captain Michael before he departs. Commander Brown, I'll leave the cleanup in your qualified hands." He stated with a slight chuckle.
Chrarada Straightened herself and gently motioned Ethuci to follow. "I would have words with our newly appointed Diplomat Srettia as well." Admiral Miles paused mid-step and looked over to Chrarada, who had a sly grin plastered on her face. "Oh, don't give me that look, my dear Admiral. I've read up on the concessions you afford Diplomats. I wouldn't send one of my own into Terran space without such an affordance."
"I see... Well, that does change a few things. I guess we should have a sit-down with your diplomat and sort things out before she leaves." Admiral Miles stated, leaving the CIC.
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