The Long Journey (closed)

[silvertongue217]

The gunfire erupted all around him, plasma turning the ground to cracked glass as he sprinted through the forest. He didn’t slow down instead willing and pushing his body to the extreme as he tried to outrun the hostile fire. The trees of the Androsia forest flew by him the natural beauty warping from the harsh fire it was coming under. The man reflected on it sadly for a few seconds before pushing it back in his mind and focusing instead on reaching his target.

The men currently shooting at him

Said soldiers exchanged startled looks watching as he appeared out of the smoke and fire like a demon. They continued firing at him arcs of plasma shooting and grazing him as he cleared the forest line and catapulted at them. He hit the nearest one first ripping the gun out of his hand before sending a bolt of plasma into the soldiers face, as the body fell he quickly and expertly shot down the rest of the squadron dispatching them in seconds.

The man took a second to catch his breath spitting out some blood and wincing as some of his burns took effect. His hands went up fumbling at the seals of his helmet for a few seconds before he found the button he wanted. There was a faint hiss as it decoupled with his armored suit and he pulled it off revealing a handsome tan face.

“Commander Mayax calling in to command” The man said activating his throat mic “I have reached the village and encountered enemy resistance how copy?”

He waited for a few seconds before swearing and trying again moving towards the crest of the ridge. No matter how hard he tried he got nothing but static which was sadly typical. He had been alone in the field for days know trying to reach the village and protect it before the enemy did a recent meteor storm and hard fighting up in orbit made communications with his attached ship Seegson all but impossible.

Leaving it up to him to complete the mission

He reached the top of the cliff preparing him self for a long climb down to the village. The cliff overlooked the valley the village was nestled in and he could see the smoke and fire rising from the-

“No” He said his eyes widening as he took in the view before him

The view of a village burning to the ground
“Wake up commander!”

Xander Mayax groaned reaching out blindly in the direction of his personal AI Samantha and giving her the finger.

“I gave you an extra five minutes” The AI huffed clearly annoyed “get up or you’ll be AWOL!”

“You’re a bitch” Xander murmured slowly opening his eyes, he rose out of bed watching as the windows to his apartment unpolarized giving him a breath taking view of Fleet Wood City. Hover cars zipped around his window battling the morning traffic as they moved around the city/space station. Xander took in the view for a few minutes before he finally turned in Samantha’s direction. The AI arms were crossed her beautiful face an expression of annoyance as she tapped her heels impatiently, she was stunning as always today in a ice blue dress that complemented her figure.

“Your injections are due in two minutes” She reminded him her voice taking on a clipped tone “or are you planning on dying today?”

“No such luck” Xander replied noticing the warning flashing on his chest “Where would my ship be without it’s captain?”

He got up wincing as his phantom limb groaned in protest, he idly reached down scratching at his left leg as he limped to the bathroom. Instead of warm skin he felt the cool metallic touch that once again reminded him of what he lost. The trick made the phantom pain go away though not the emotional pain but Xander was good at pushing away the emotional pain.

It was what his parents trained him to do

He reached the bathroom, the lights warming up to his specified taste and grabbed the auto injector. He winced noticing the black lines appearing out of his black boxer briefs and snaking up his hips.

“I keep telling you to manage your injections better” Samantha said her sultry voice appearing in his ear “Prolonged exposure-“

“Will lead to my death” Xander shot out before she could finish “Just give me a second will ya?”

He reached down activating the access panel in his mechanical leg. The injection port slid out and he quickly pushed the needle in wincing as he injected the nanite solution directly into what was left of his left leg. The solution went into his blood stream quickly rushing through him like a thousand tiny burning ants. The black lines began to fade disappearing as if they had never been there to begin with.

“Bio signs reading normal” Samantha said her voice relieved

“Great” Xander said dryly looking in the mirror starring at the burn marks covering his face

“Just great”

…………………….

Five minutes later

Xander stepped out pulling on his black and red jacket and shrugging it over his black shirt, he touched the golden insignia over his right breast before reaching over and grabbing the black headscarf. He wrapped it quickly and effectively moving the band back and forth until only his eyes and mouth were uncovered. He gave it a once over to make sure it was secure before grabbing his olive duffel bag and moving to the door of his apartment.

“Good bye” He said out loud swinging the bag over his shoulders, he turned on his heels and in seconds he was out of the apartment and onto the steel walkways of Fleet Wood City. The once large moon was now a hollowed out starport/city filled with a thousand people and a multitude of species. After the “Great War” species who had spent centuries fighting with one another were finally mingling talking and co-existing. Ever since President Sierra and the Princess of Swarms negotiated the truce the universe was one of peace not one of war, centuries of conflict and pain and fire were replaced with a bright new hope.

Xander looked out on the city trying to come to terms with his new reality. For him war was all he knew, war and hate. What was his exile worth now that the war was over? He could never go back to his home or see his family, back then he had been okay eager even to join the war and help fight the enemy.

It had cost him dearly

“Commander” Samantha’s voice crackled in his ears breaking him out of his thoughts “If you don’t get a move on you’ll be in a lot of trouble”

Zander sighed and shouldered his bag making his way across the catwalks and towards the transit system. She was right, as always he was due in the spaceport in thirty minutes or so and not a second later. The rail car would get him there as long as he didn’t waste any time. He followed the crowds ignoring the excited chatter about todays launch, he boarded the trains with the others and in seconds he was off zipping towards the newly minted base.

………………………..

Xander stepped through the sliding doors and into the newly minted United Species Exploration base. He scowled at the bases grand design and continued resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Ever since the great war had ended the newly formed council of species poured every bit they had into getting this building up and running so it would stand as a testament to the peace so hard fought.

Or at least some thing like that

Xander walked up to the ensign on deck a fresh faced human who’s eyes rose up in surprise. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead brought out his identification and papers wanting to get this over as quickly as possible.

“Commander Xander reporting for duty” Xander said hoping beyond hope this would be fast.

“I know who you are!” The fresh faced ensign said before blushing “I mean of course commander seems silly to check you identification whe-“

“Silly?” Xander said narrowing his eyes “I’m just a regular commander
Ensign and security is paramount to effectiveness”

“Of course” The Ensign sputtered blushing even more “It’s just after your…….” He trailed off noticing the commanders eyes narrowing even more.

“Never mind” He murmured swiping the card and handing it back to him “welcome aboard commander Xander your orders are to report to the Aquilla on Deck B”

“Much better Ensign” Xander said taking the card back and returning his salute. He turned and in seconds he was through the doors and into the sub orbital elevator.

“What was that about?” The guard said coming up to the Ensign “what’s with the dude in the headscarf?”

“Do you not now any thing?” The Ensign said snorting “That’s commander Xander he’s a Marksan you know highly trained warrior assassins who pledge allegiance to no army? When he joined the Tera Nova army in the Great War his people exiled him now he has to wear the headscarf as punishment”

………….

Xander felt the elevator grind to a halt clutching at the bar for support, there was a faint click as the docking clamps aligned and locked in before the elevator gave a soft beep and slid open. Docking bay B stretched out before him the freshly shined floor gleaming and contrasting against the large windows showing the glittering orbit outside.

“The Aquilla is in view to your left commander” Samantha spoke

“I see her” Xander murmured going over to the window to get a better look. The Aquilla hung in front of him like a fat ugly rectangle, it was one of the older super carrier originally designed to launch surface and orbital ships into battle at a moments notice. Originally the heart of any battle fleet in an effort for peace time the massive battle platform had been refurbished and updated going from battle fleet to cutting edge research, science, and tactical platform capable of carrying out a wide variety of research and exploration missions indefinitely.

Three years in fact

Xander watched some of the soldiers and maintenance workers boarding his ship for a few moments, these were the men, woman, and species he would spend the next three years commanding and being with. The flagship was the first to go out and the pressure was on for the council to make it as much of a diplomatic success as possible. Every one was hand picked and every species that made up the council both major and minor had a part to play on it with a decorated and highly public commander at the helm as well.

He scowled at that thought shaking his head as he joined the crowds of people moving into the ships quarterdeck one of the reasons he requested this detail was to get away from the public’s light for a few years. The war was to glamorized there for his taste with no one really knowing what was lost and how many had died. He saw flashes of the fire and smoke from the village and he winced pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to push the images back.

“Are you okay commander?” Samantha asked in concern “your bio’s are spiking”

“I’m fine” He hissed “do you have the schematics of the ship loaded to my H.U.D yet?”

Samantha made a voice as if she wanted to argue before she sighed and brought the ship schematics up on his digital iris. He ran over the schematics for a few minutes before locating his quarters near the aft of the ship. He moved past the mess of people getting settled and kept his head down trying not to draw any attention to himself as he stepped out of the quarterdeck and into the pristine white hallways covered with blue wiring and coolant a few last minute repairs were being done but other than that the deck was freshly painted and shined. The corridor was a bright white contrasting loudly with the electric blue wiring and matching coolant pipes doting each wall.

“It looks nice” Xander murmured nodding at some of the technicians “Make sure you finish up or else you’ll find your self on a here year deep space mission”

“Yes Commander” They said saluting him before moving more quickly

“Commander!”

Xander turned noticing a Volar running up in the crisp white uniform with a blue stripe marking him as a steward. The crisp white uniform contrasted sharply against his shimmering multi colored body.

“Are you my steward?” Xander asked breathing a sigh of relief that his steward was a species from the allied forces.

“Yesssss ssssssir” The Volar said drawing out each S “Lieutenant sssssssyria reporting for duty”

“Great” Xander said being careful not to clap the Volar’s hand, they were well known for the energy discharge their cosmic bodies gave out. It wasn’t capable of killing him but it could do serious harm if given the chance.

“I’d like for you to find my first mate and have them sent to my office” Xander said switching into business mode “I want to meet them and get our plan of attack down before we ship out”

“Yessssss sssssssir” Syria said nodding rapidly before turning and disappearing in a bright flash.

“Fucking A” Xander said rubbing his eyes “Remind me to polarize my lens whenever he’s around”

“Roger”

Xander snorted at Samantha’s faux military voice and stepped inside of his office. He took in the opulent wood paneling, gold finish, and walls of awards and pictures and outwardly groaned. He was a soldier god damn it! Not some luxurious admiral who needed all these things to be comfortable.

“You know my rooms going to be just like this” Xander murmured to Samantha sighing and dropping his bag to the floor.

“You know three years is a long time commander” Samantha reminded him “Why not have a little luxury”

“Makes me look weak” Xander said thinking back to his home planet a harsh practically inhospitable place. There was no such thing as luxury there you either survived or died it was as simple as that.

He missed it more than he could have ever thought

Xander sat down at his desk leaning back for a second before starting on the paperwork killing time until his second in command came in.

 

[slut_in_white]

"Charlie Elizabeth Rook!"

A blonde head lifted up, revealing a pretty, smirking face. "Yes?"

The teacher looked unimpressed. "Pay attention!"

Charlie had to suppress an eyeroll. "Yes ma'am." She was paying attention. Wasn't her fault class moved so slowly that she could both keep up with the lecture and read at the same time.

The teacher seemed to catch the note of sarcasm in her tone and glowered at her. "Good then, you can tell me what year the First Contact War started in." She was suppressing a smirk, clearly thinking Charlie wouldn't be able to answer.

"The first of the battles of the First Contact War started in 2351, when the scout ship Ivalis encountered a hive fleet. It was destroyed, so we wouldn't know what became of the vessel until its remains were discovered, absorbed into hive fleet alpha in 2354, when the Terra Nova fleet officially declared war." The words spilled out of her mouth, almost rote, and she gave her teacher a self-satisfied smirk.

The teacher simply glowered at Charlie once more. "That's... correct. Moving on."

Charlie went back to her book. It was a simple novel, but it was written in Volarian. She was learning to speak it in her spare time, and while she wasn't good enough (yet) to read their greatest literary works, she could certainly speak it passably, and could read well enough to enjoy the smutty romance novel open in her lap.

---------

Nobody had expected Charlie to join the military. She didn't handle authority well at the best of times, and most people figured she'd be headed for higher education on Earth, given her apparent gift for languages. She was what you might call a polyglot. But Charlie knew an opportunity when she saw one; she was particularly adept at picking up new languages without much in the way of formal training. With a little work and a lot of immersion, she could learn to passably speak just about anything. And she knew the military needed skills like that. She knew that, despite her authority issues, she'd be a valuable asset to them, especially with the rumors of peace talks on the horizon.

And excel she did. She had to undergo twice as much training in boot camp as anyone else because she kept talking back to the drill sergeants, but they never quite managed to drill her mouthy nature out of her. She learned to keep her mouth shut when necessary, and she learned how to pick her battles, but she never really became the obedient soldier they tried to mold her into.

She fought only in the tail-end of the war, acting primarily as a scout and spy, given that she could actually understand most of the enemy conversations she overheard. She was a pretty good shot, and the missions were often lone-wolf, which she liked because it meant she didn't have an officer breathing down her neck all the time, asking her why her uniform wasn't up to regs or whatever other nitpicky little thing they wanted to bother her about that time.

But then the treaty was signed, and the war was over. Charlie got pulled from special missions into the diplomatic corp. She didn't mind the work, mostly - translations and interactions with native speakers were great. In fact, she loved it, interacting with them instead of attacking them was much more Charlie's style to begin with. What she minded was the return to an infinite number of rules and regs, and the tendency of her CO to pull her off mission if she even had a single hair out of place. It drove her crazy, especially since her relaxed and friendly (if somewhat crass) approach to the other diplomats had gotten her friends and information the military would have never had access to, otherwise.

So when the opportunity to jump ship and join the Aquilla opened up, she leaped at it.

------------

Charlie was already aboard the Aquilla when Xander arrived. She had her uniform on, sort of - she was wearing the dark pants of the dress uniform, and her jacket was on, but it was unbuttoned and hanging haphazardly open, with a plain white tank underneath, her dog-tags bouncing against her chest while she walked. She was pacing across her quarters - much nicer than anything she'd had before, but she supposed that was one of the perks of being an XO - with her eyes closed, listening to a recording of hive-speak. The Hive didn't have a language, strictly speaking, but they did occasionally use sound to communicate, and the language was proving utterly baffling to most linguists. Charlie wasn't faring any better, but she liked a challenge. It wasn't exactly a high-priority project; the Hive's representatives had learned to speak Volarian, and the auto-translators picked that up just fine. It was just the temptation of the puzzle that kept drawing her back to it.

Syria poked his head into the room, the flash of his appearance drawing Charlie's attention. "Lieutenant Rook. Sssorry for intruding. I tried to knock..."

Charlie shrugged, waving her hand. "No worries. What's up?"

"The Captain has arrived, and he wissshess to ssspeak with you. You can find him in hisss quartersss."

Stretching and sighing, Charlie nodded. "Thanks, Syria. I'll head over now." Syria disappeared and she headed out. The captain's quarters weren't far from her own, so she didn't have too much time to prep for her first encounter with him. She stood at the closed door for a moment, considering her appearance, wondering if she should button up. From what she'd heard about the man, he cared more about your ability than your appearance... Perhaps she should test it, see how far he was willing to take that adage.

She opened the door, her arms crossed under her generous chest, and stepped inside. "Captain." It took her only a moment to size him up. He was taller than her by several inches, that much she could tell even when he was sitting down. He was broad, muscled, and tough-looking. She didn't need to have read his file to know he had seen a lot of combat. He bore the head-scarf of an exiled Marksan. There were burn scars on part of his face, but he'd been incredibly handsome, once. In fact, he was still, which was a surprising feat for a man so scarred. Maybe it was just Charlie's particular preferences - she didn't mind a man who looked like he'd seen some action. The scarring just made him look dangerous.

A slow, curling smile spread across her nips and she nodded towards him. "I'm Lieutenant Rook, your XO. You wanted to see me?"

 

[silvertongue217]

He heard her come in and looked up taking in her appearance. His eyes went up and down her body slowly taking her all in before settling on her face. He pushed back and stood towering over here as he went over to her.

“Ms. Rook” He finally said holding out his hand taking hers “It is a pleasure to meet you I have heard some of the reports on your abilities and your skills in the war its an honor to have some one like you as my second” He said making the necessary pleasentries before stepping back.

“Now I don’t like to waste time” He said clasping his hand behind his back and striding over to the large holo display “we are set to begin our journey in exactly thirty minutes once we are underway I plan on taking us through the ropes since this is a new vessel we will break her in since the nature of our journey and the time is entirely new certain rules will have to be bent and modified rules you and I will discuss in greater detail when we have the time” He explained turning to her.

“So tell me XO will you always be displaying your chest” He said nodding at her uniform “while I know during our journey these will be one of the rules that get bent are you sure it is a good idea to start before we are even underway?”

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie snickered at his question. Well, at least he was straight to the point.

"I could button up if it bothers you," she answered honestly. "But you and I both know these formal uniforms aren't exactly comfortable. I'm only wearing this because we have to wear the dress uniforms for the formal send-off. If it makes you feel better, I'll be selecting a more... utilitarian uniform once we're underway. I can't promise all my buttons will line up, but I won't be falling out of my shirt any time soon," she promised, winking at him.

 

[silvertongue217]

He looked at her for several times before shaking his head “I can see why they put us together Rooks” He said going over to his desk and pulling out a bottle of fine vintage whisky.

“I am sure you know of my file” He said unscrewing it and pouring them each a small glass “My battles and exile as well as this” He said nodding at his legs “if you have then you know I am a military man through and through I am not suited for peace much less a peace faring vessel”

He walked over handing her the drink their fingers lightly touching for a few seconds “I will trust in you to help me toe this new line I find my self in” He said taking his own and clinking it against hers “to help me figure out how to operate a peace faring vessel”

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie couldn't help but smile. She liked him already. Strong, firm, but aware of his limitations. She respected his accomplishments, but she could tell already she was going to respect him too.

She took a sip from the whiskey and hummed, enjoying the fire as it rolled down her throat. "I look forward to it, captain." She took a seat opposite him, putting her feet up on the table, and then eyed him for a moment. "Mind if I ask you a personal question?" She offered the question, but then didn't wait for an answer. "Why did you agree to take this position? I mean, if you don't consider yourself suited for peace, why take a position as head of a peace-time research vessel?"

 

[silvertongue217]

“Never be afraid to ask me a question” He told her shaking his head slightly “you’re my XO I want you to ask me any thing you need to” He said regarding her feet on his desk before wisely choosing to let it go.

“Because we aren’t a war any more” He said regarding her “and every one needs to come to terms with that plus I am good at war that doesn’t mean I haven’t grown tired of it its about time to put some good into the world or well the universe

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie nodded. It was certainly a thoughtful answer. "Point taken. Still, it's not everyone who would leap headfirst into a three year mission doing something this foreign to them." A smile curled her lips again. "Brave. Or maybe stupid. Either way, I respect you for doing it."

 

[silvertongue217]

“And why are you doing it” He said raising an eyebrow at her “your a beautiful girl and even though you have penance for lipping off you could become a teacher at the newly minted Alliance university so why sign up for a three year space mission? I know you’re the adventure type but still most people ran from this mission like it was a sinking ship”

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie grinned. "Cause my CO sucked." She looked down at herself. "He was a man who would pull me off-mission for a single hair out of place. He loved regs more than he loved his wife. I'm sure you can imagine how well we got on."

 

[silvertongue217]

“I see” Xavier said a frown crossing his mouth “A shame I was hoping they wouldn’t give me some one who was forced into the position” He said draining his whiskey in one smooth gulp.

“Well I hope you will stow that and focus on the task at hand” He said watching her “I wont have any mutiny on my ship I know there are a lot of people who didn’t want to be here but I wont let them sow that shit into the people who do”

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie frowned, crossing her arms. "Hey, I didn't say I was forced into the position. There were other places I could have gone. This just seemed the most... intriguing. I won't lie to you, I fit pretty well at the diplomatic corp, except for my CO, but I might have given up that position to take this one even if he hadn't been my CO. It just would have been a harder decision." She pulled her feet down off his desk and leaned toward him. "Come on, how could anyone not want a chance to join this kind of expedition? We're an exploratory ship. Who knows what we'll find? You seriously think I'd give up the chance to be one of the first people to set foot on a newly discovered planet?"

 

[silvertongue217]

“Now that’s more like it” Xavier said the first hint of a smile coming onto his face. He laughed and got up checking his chorno watch in his HUD.

“We are about to set off XO” He said moving around and going towards the door “button up your shirt and let go meet our crew brave new worlds and the entire galaxy is waiting for us” He told her opened the door and holding out his elbow.

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie stood and buttoned up most of the buttons, leaving the top two undone, and smirked at his proffered elbow. "Careful captain, you might start giving people the wrong impression. Me, most of all." She winked at him and slipped her arm into his, and the two of them headed for the bridge.

 

[silvertongue217]

“Oh you know they will talk anyways” He said leading her out into the blue and white hallways “and we will be pending a lot of time together” He reminded her “managing a ship of almost six hundred members” He said escorting her down to the CIC. They stepped into the elevator and moved down smoothly.

“Do you have any questions about my plans for the first week?” He asked looking over at her “were going to be putting this ship through its paces that way we can finally relax”

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie considered the question. "I think it's a good idea. What exactly are you thinking?" She pulled up some of the ship's specs on her HUD, then whistled. "Holy hell, this ship's got some real speed in her. Not bad for a floating brick."

 

[silvertongue217]

“It was designed to be self sustaining as well” He said as they walked out onto the deck.

“At ease” he said at their salutes “I will learn all your names and the like shortly” He said before turning back to her.

“We have a good mixture of every thing from scientific needs to arms our biggest attribute is our self sustainability we come with a forest lake and hydro generators which is basically a beach”

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie grinned at his mention of the beach. "You're making it sound like this trip is going to be a tropical vacation," she responded, chuckling. "But it's good to know that basic supplies won't be an issue."

 

[silvertongue217]

“Oh I doubt it will be any thing like that” He said shaking his head and stepping onto the command deck “ready to get under way XO?” He said activating the holo computer and cycling through the systems before selecting the COM.

He made his captain address short and to the point chatting about their mission and their goals. He came off as stern but welcoming. Meanwhile the mighty ship detached from it docking points moving up into the stars before moving forward as they crept away from orbit. He made sure every thing was going correctly moving like a machine as they left on their mission.

 

[slut_in_white]

Oh I doubt it will be any thing like that

Charlie just chuckled. "Spoilsport."

As the ship made its way out into orbit, she spent her time checking in with most of the crew. She'd been here for a few days before Xander had shown up, so she knew about half of them by name already. She checked in with them, showing a surprising empathy for the crew, despite her somewhat crass manners. They'd make a good team, she recognized. The brass had done well putting them together on this crew.

 

[silvertongue217]

Six hours in

“Alright good job every one” Xavier said nodding at every one and giving one of his rare smiles “we managed to get this bucket out of charted space with no damage the night crew is coming in so every one can go ahead and move when their relief comes in”

Every one nodded and thanked him and he gave a few more friendly pats before stepping off and sighing. He could feel his leg itching and turned moving over to the elevator.

“Missing your treatment again” Samantha purred into his ear “shame shame Commander”

“Shut it” He growled waiting for the elevator to come up.

 

[slut_in_white]

She supposed he didn't know she was behind him, and she realized he was probably talking to someone in his earpiece, but that didn't stop her from grinning and leaning against the wall just inside her peripheral vision. "Shut what, captain?" Her tone was light, conversational, but there was no question from the look on her face that she was teasing him, just a little bit.

 

[silvertongue217]

“Oh just the damn AI in my head” He said laughing and watching as the elevator slid open “reminding me to take my medicine are you going up or down?” He asked ignoring Samantha’s swoon in his ear and the she is cute as he stepped into the elevator and waited for her.

 

[slut_in_white]

Charlie smirked. "Up, same as you. Our quarters are right down the hall from each other." She stepped into the elevator behind him.

She knew she shouldn't ask, that it wasn't really any of her business. Her curiosity was a powerful thing, though, so after a moment of fighting with herself, she finally blurted, "What's the medicine for?"

 

[silvertongue217]

“For my synthetic leg” He said reaching down to tap it with his knuckles with produced a metallic ring “during the war it was blown off by an enemy mortar they managed to patch one in at the battlefield but it was done sloppily and my body didn’t take to it I have to take a nanite injection every few hours it helps keep the connection” He said explaining as he hit the button for up.