They found her in a cargo bay. The dark skinned woman looking for all the world like a human girl with a dark tan, white dye job, cosplay ears, long tail and a body glove that managed to look comfortable while still showing off a lithe, powerful physique and the prerequisite jaw dropping curves that made the wider galaxy a true feast for the eyes if nothing else.

Her tail flicks back and forth as she lounges atop a cargo container, she'd clearly found herself a safe, warm spot and was trying to relax after her close brush with death.

"Excuse me miss, could you come down here?"

The Takra waves him off, not moving otherwise. "Later, Nezbet needs sleep after hard burn."

Jaruna snarls loudly enough to get the Takra to look over with a raised eyebrow. "He wasn't asking bitch. Get down here or I'll come up there and bring you down here."

She blows a raspberry down at them, not even bothering to lift her head. "You and what army Can'nidor'nidor? Nezbet's warform more than enough to go hand to hand with you. But you said him?"

That apparently got her attention, ears perking up like a cat hearing or seeing something interesting and rolling over. Her eyes code wide and her tail waves excitedly as she takes a delicate sniff of the air, like a house cat finding a particularly juicy mouse.

"A human'man!? Here?"

Jerry resists rolling his eyes. "This is a human ship you were rescued by you know."

"Docking bay crew who assisted Nezbet in her escape weren't human, all were women, didn't figure anything particularly special was afoot save for all the guns strapped to this thing. Figured some merchant types had gotten tired of being pushed around by pirates and decided to push back. Not bad choice, certainly got firepower to make choice stick. Nezbet wishes she could have seen some of their faces! Almost as good as killing pirate admiral in the bath. Look of surprise was priceless, though her head was much pricier. 8 figures made, many slaves rescued, another glorious day for a warrior of the Takra'Takra Empire!"

"Well she's certainly not lacking in confidence." Jerry mutters to Jaruna.

Nezbet takes this opportunity to drop to the deck, her large braid of white hair bouncing merrily behind her.

"Still you are a human'man yes? Such great luck! All Takra are on prowl for a human'man, every clan hopes daughters will find and marry human soldiers, even more wish to join Undaunted, and not just for man candy buffet you know?"

"I know, I was just reading about a Takra stalking an Undaunted soldier on Centris. You wouldn't happen to be from the Arli'Toss clan would you?"

Disgust colors the feline woman's face, her nose wrinkling as if she just smalled something foul.

"Hah!? Nezbet will forgive this, for an insult cannot be made from ignorance, but Nezbet is from the far superior Arli'Shet clan, the Arli'Toss are a sister clan... country bumpkins if you ask Nezbet. Still, would rather talk about you than those hayseeds human'man. Your uniform says you're someone important. So does Can'nidor'nidor body guard."

"Wife. I'm his wife."

Jaruna growls, hands tightening on her shotgun a bit. She'd later explain to Jerry that a ‘Nidor’ was one of the Takra languages for "annoying creature", and doubling up a word in their slightly odd tongue emphasized it. So Nezbet was straight up turning her species into an insult to needle her.

"Wife? Human'man got tamed by Can'nidor'nidor?"

Jaruna blushes slightly. "Call it a meeting of equals, cat. He's hell in a fight, so I figured a man that bad ass would make for one hell of a hubby."

Jaruna smiles, displaying her many, many pearly whites.

"I was right."

"Oh! If he's that good, he might just be the man Nezbet is looking for! Come human'man, have a match with Nezbet! Will give you lots of strong kittens if you can defeat me!"

Far from wait for a response, Nezbet lunges straight for Jerry. He'd more or less been expecting her to try this and shifts his stance perfectly before winding up and meeting her with a hard punch to the temple, sending her reeling to the deck plates.

"Mrow!?"

The confused alien woman writhes for a moment before popping up.

"That was quite a hit human. Might have even stunned Nezbet a bit in war form." She licks her lips, eyes locked on Jerry with enough of a hunting intent to make the man shiver. "Still, is enough of hit to tell Nezbet she's found what she's looking for. Nezbet shall therefore skip to the point yes? Can always spar later, will be good fun. Better foreplay. See how human'man can handle Nezbet's war form. Nezbet would like to formally..."

"OH NO YOU DON'T FLEABAG!"

Masha stands at the entrance to the cargo bay, eyes already blazing with green fire as she strides closer.

"I'll be damned if I let the likes of you beat me to proposing at random when I just finished my courtship display."

Jaruna nods sagely. "See? Told you she was showing off."

"It was pretty obvious, even without your commentary in my ear piece Jaruna. Still a good show for all that."

The Apuk officer immediately perks up. "Wait! You were impressed?"

"It was a hell of a fight. But I..."

Jerry is interrupted by the sound of twisting flesh and crunching bone. When he looks to his left, he immediately double takes and leaps back. Where Nezbet had been standing, a massive sabertooth something or another stands, looking about like the feline equivalent of a werewolf. The fangs alone were the size of Jerry's forearms.

Nezbet roars out a challenge... and is immediately met by Masha stepping in at near mach speeds and shoving her jaw closed with a mighty uppercut. Not to be outdone, Nezbet returns the favor, batting Masha across the room and denting a bulkhead. Far from injuring the Apuk warrior, it just seemed to piss her off more, and Masha returns to the fight with a burst of brilliant green warfire as Jerry and Jaruna quickly back off further to survey the situation as the alien warrior women clash with incredible ferocity.

"Shit they're really going at it. Want me to intervene? Or should we see who wins and gets to join the marriage?"

"I'm not letting either of them join the marriage based on a bout with someone not in the marriage who's spoken a sentence or two to me, and nary a word to Syl or any of you. Hell Nezbet hasn't even asked me my name yet. They want to fight to get in, they can fight you, Ghorza, Eymali or me for the right to apply, never mind actually join the marriage. Gaucha's a bit different, but she's not going to impress me with a cat fight, literally or figuratively. I'm dealing with these idiots before we have to go back into dry dock for repairs on this cargo bay.”

"Yeah, that warfire's already scorched the ceiling. Good thing we don't have critters in here. If we did and they were out of stasis to prepare for arrival, we'd have a stampede on our hands."

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It was time to put some of his new training with Cascka to work. He takes a deep breath, and slowly exhales... before accelerating himself fast enough to slow down time.

It was a subtle technique. Vernon and the nerd squad figuring it out on their own was damn impressive. Jerry's attempt was imperfect... but it gave him just enough of the time he needed to get up to the two combatants, now in the middle of another exchange of blows.

A leg sweep and a throat grab has Nezbet heading for the floor on her back in continued slow motion. Shock starting to color her bestial face as time starts to flow back in. Jerry couldn't hold the field as long as Vernon apparently could. He reaches for Masha to do the same thing, but as time starts to come back in, accidentally wraps his hand around her fiery red mane, dropping her on the deck by his feet by her hair.

"That's enough!"

Nezbet collapses to the deck, transforming back to her normal form as her stomach growls.

"Didn't... have much energy anyway. Need to eat."

Parts of her clothing and some of her hair were a bit charred but were otherwise undamaged. Masha was much the same, no real damage, but had a red hot blush that probably had increased the Tear's thermal footprint to external sensors in its own right.

Jaruna stomps up to join them, looking down at Masha and chuckling.

"Looks like someone just learned something new about herself."

She leers at the other woman, as Masha fights and fails to get her face under control.

Jerry continues to stand there, waiting for Masha and Nezbet to recover slightly.

"Now... Gaucha, I'm flattered. Really. But this is really not the way to impress me. In fact it's doing the opposite. That goes for you too Ms... Nezbet was it? Either way, in your case I don't know who the hell you are so I'm disinclined to accept your proposal when you've barely said five words to me and not yet shown the most basic courtesy to at least speak with my wives."

"I told you I'm Nezbet, a proud warrior of the..."

"Takra'takra empire, right we got that bit bitch, put a sock in it, my husband's talking, and if you're trying to make him our husband you best damn listen."

Jaruna looms over the scene, not so subtly emphasizing the massive combat shotgun that Jaruna had taken with her everywhere since Wichen had finished it for her. Jerry suspected she showered with it.

"Thank you darling."

"You got it handsome. Not that I think you needed the help, but you shouldn't have to teach manners, especially to would be fiancees. That's your wives job."

"Right... about that. I'll at least consider you both, Gaucha, we've been working together for a bit now, so you go talk to Syl and some of the other wives and if Syl puts her stamp of approval on it, we can go on some dates. Your claim will predate Nezbet's, so you'll go first in that sense... which means you, Ms. Nezbet, can spend some time getting to know people and making yourself known. Same condition, if Sylindra, my first wife, approves of you, then I'll at least consider some dates. If you try to fight Syl for that approval or are on anything but your best behavior while trying to ingratiate yourself to my family... I'll skin you myself, that clear?"

The exhausted Takra nods from where she's still laying on the deck. "Clear'clear hu-man'man. Though talking like that? Commanding like that? You have tone of one who orders and that order happens. Ship’s troops have good discipline. Clear eyes. If this really all yours, you master and commander of this place… then Nezbet will fulfill your demands and rituals, no fight needed cept for fun. Is well worth investment of time. Nezbet pledges to turn over full share of bounty from this incident to you as dowry, should we wed."

The feline alien’s stomach growls loudly again, punctuating her statement.

Jaruna grunts. "Wasn't that supposedly in the 8 figure range?"

"High 8 figures. Should be very wealthy woman soon. Bigger share than Nara, ended up losing ship and property. Did all tracking and hunting. Nara good muscle, not so creative. In own head too much. Will retain some of it to rebuy personal items and like, but bulk goes to clan... is still Nezbet's in the end. Clan pools resources yes?"

Masha rises, dusting herself off, scowling. "Well I admit I can't compete with tens of millions of credits in dowry..."

Jerry holds out a hand, stopping her mid sentence. "You aren't. So don't worry about it. I don't care about the money. Money in general really. It's nice, but we make plenty of it already. I care about having the right people in my life and in my family. Nor will Nezbet's offer of dowry weigh in on any decision I make about her proposal. Or anyone else's. It's just the person as they are, nothing more and nothing less. Jaruna, see our guest to some quarters... and maybe swing by the mess hall."

"You heard the man, come on cat, let's get you fed."

Nezbet bows, clearly somewhat deflated, and follows Jaruna out of the cargo bay, leaving Jerry alone with Masha, who looks pleased to be alone with the skipper. An emotion that leaves her face quickly as she realizes the serious look on Jerry's face.

"Now... Masha. The hell was that little stunt earlier?"

The use of her actual name immediately had Masha's attention, and the sharp edge in Jerry's tone had her unconsciously shifting to the position of attention, she was being called on the carpet and she damn well knew it.

"Uh... you'll have to specify... sir?"

A nod of the head lets her know "sir" is the correct form of address at the moment.

"The one where you landed and beat the shit out of a bunch of boarders on my ship."

"You said you were impressed! Sir."

"I was impressed. It was a hell of a fight, but in case you've forgotten, you're a fighter pilot Masha, not a Marine or part of the ship's internal security troops. I needed you out in the void. What would have happened if even more pirate gunship or fighter reinforcements had come in? Did you even know about the third corvette we had to see off? The rest of Geirr flight was down one ship when it very much could have needed all four. If you weren't out flying and had been in a position to respond to a boarding party and repelled them I'd commend you, but you were out flying and you landed and handled them yourself instead of leaving it to the security teams."

Jerry holds up a hand to hold off any comment she might have wanted to make, he wasn't looking for a discussion.

"And even if I set aside matters of work, and this very much is a work matter, it's not like you weren't already making an impressive courtship display. You became the first Undaunted ace today, and I will be putting you in for a commendation for that. Your flying was absolutely brilliant, easily as good if not better than your fight on the ground. So you've left me in the awkward position of needing to commend and reprimand you at the same time. So I figure I'll split the difference and beat the medal I'll be giving you directly into your thick skull by way of reward and punishment. I assume making it a ground fight for a display is something of Apuk tradition, and I understand the Apuk value their traditions. However if we were going by tradition you'd most likely be a battle princess and we'd likely have never met even if you weren't already married. Not everyone gets a story book perfect meet cute like Vernon Shay and Princess Miro'Noir."

The mix of compliment and critique rocks Masha back on her heels harder than a straight up dressing down would have. It made it clear Jerry wasn't angry with her. Anger was something she could have dealt with. Instead he was disappointed, and that was a much harder emotion to take.

"Th-that's actually a very good point. I'm sorry about my lapse in judgment sir, it won't happen again."

"I know it won't. You're a sharp officer and a better pilot, you just... got a little enthusiastic. Plus you are an Apuk, so what to anyone else would have been an incredible risk to your person and would have you getting more than an ass chewing was more about putting a hole in our small combatant craft screen and being an incredible risk to the various persons of the pirates you killed. So let me underline this. If you risk this ship or yourself in a dumb ass manner that doesn't directly pertain to your duties as a Naval Flight Officer again without authorization you'll be cleaning floors for a month with your rank suspended. And if I have to fight you to get you and your warrior honor to comply I'm down for that."

"No sir! That won't be necessary. I ah. I understand."

"Good. Dismissed."

Masha turns on a heel, marching her way towards the door when Jerry calls out to her again, his normal tone of voice returned.

"Gaucha."

The use of her call sign, the look on his face, also suggested the ass chewing was formally ended and he was speaking to her more casually.

"Speaking of bulkheads, from the updates I'm getting in my neural link, you're probably going to want to get the folks cleaning your mess up free booze or some similar luxury, apparently some of those pirates are damn hard to scrape off my bulkheads."

Masha's face bounces a bit between pride and embarrassment at that. "I'll ah. Swing by and get names and get everyone a couple of six packs of appropriate beverages."

"Probably a good idea. On the other hand, you're probably getting your drinks bought for a bit, the video started to circulate on the ship's internal net before we secured from general quarters. Apparently there's an anonymous post asking for someone to leak your gun cam footage from your fighter so they can edit the whole thing together and push it out to the rest of the Undaunted."

"...I uh. Shit. Probably should have thought of that. The cameras. You're not the only one with access."

"No, no I am not. For what it's worth, if you do become my wife, I don't mind showing off how amazing my wives are, so it's neither here nor there... but I'm more interested in less grandiose romantic displays. You'll have to approach me as you. Just you. Nothing more, nothing less. No need to fight a one woman war. No need to make yourself a hero. You're a professional, you're intelligent, beautiful, charming when you want to be, and that's plenty."