Writing Prompts

[dragoongfa]

Personally I want to showcase Alex's wunderkind abilities, if the opportunity arises let me have him in an armchair admiral position

[Werra]

I'm itching to get back to writing. The plot of this thread developed into a nearly perfect direction for me.
You guys gave me lots to read during travel times.

Alex anciously got up. He had trouble remembering how long he had been made to stay put in this shuttle. That station commander had given that order and as Alex found himself pacing around in the passenger cabin, he felt the lacking features of the room.

There were no windows, no pictures to look at and even the equipment brought in for him was utilitarian. "There may actually be some health concerns coming up.", he thought. That could be an angle for Tempo to work as well. Now that he was alone, he felt it strange of himself to be this desperately comfortable with the thought of intrigueing just to get his hands on one -some- of the Loroi. When he had denied to Beryl health issues caused by prolonged lack of sex, he hadn't imagined being surrounded by very attractive and very willing women all day long.

His musings were cut short by the noise of the shuttle doors opening. In came several Loroi. A Soroin he did not recognize, Talon, Spiral and several Soroin that startrd moving equipment. The leading Soroin introduced herself.

"Greetins Captain Jardin. I am acting station commander Cerulean. We need to get the shuttle ready for takeoff. I'm sorry that this is so sudden, but the enemy is massing forces."

Alex supressed the urge for a handshake and instead settled on a hopefully polite nodge as the two Tenoin pushed past him to the cockpit.

"Greetings, commander Cerulean. What is the situation?" That Cerulean remained perfectly professional was a small relief to Alex.

"Moving Gora-Relay closer to the Tinzaa jump-point has given the 51th the chance to cover us with some aggressive posturing. The 51th used our fuel and supply reserves to extent their stay in system, threatening the vulnerable tankers and transports. The enemy is now massing for an assault on Gora-Relay."

"What are the numbers?"

"I won't lie. Not good. 51th is going to pull back and we need to take our chances reaching Tempest before it's too late."

"Do we even all fit on this shuttle."

"If we improvise some safety measures."

"Improvising for high g maneuvers, Commander?"

"If you have any more bright ideas, I am listening, Captain."

[orion1836]

Continuation of New Frontiers

Nathanial tried to blink away the pain in the back of his head as he struggled to understand the girl's words. He spoke English well enough, and a little French to deal with the northern trappers that sometimes ventured through his family's settlement to trade, but this language sounded unlike anything the boy had ever heard.

"Can you understand me?"

The girl only narrowed her eyes, and muttered something. Now that he could see her clearly, her features left Nathan no doubt that she wasn't like him. He'd never heard of any race with such blue skin or silvery hair. His eyes had not deceived him earlier; the girl's ears were indeed pointed, and the now-bandaged wound still seeped blue blood.

"Parlez-vous francais?" he tried. The traders would likely have scoffed at his pronunciation, but at this moment, Nathan didn't care.

She huffed in frustration, and tried speaking to him again in her own language, this time more slowly and with more emphasis on enunciation. It didn't help.

In desperation, Nathan tried the few words he knew in Shawnee and Algonquin, but to no effect. The girl was staring at him intently, and after a few moments passed, she got up from the chair and moved toward him.

The boy sat up and scooted away as quickly as he could. Nathan saw that she hadn't drawn the knife from her belt, but she moved with the purpose of someone about to attack. Before he could get his legs underneath him and dash for the door, the girl was on him. But, instead of striking, she simply seized one of his hands with both of hers.

Nathaniel froze, unsure of what to do next.

The girl looked at him intently, as if expecting something. After a moment, she narrowed her eyes in focus, then widened them in shock. Puzzled, and completely taken by surprise, Nathan simply looked down at where her hands gripped his.

Her hands are really cold, he noted.

With a start, the girl released his hands and stood bolt upright, backing away slowly and deliberately.

"Senna sanzai," she breathed.

Nathan stayed put, holding his hands up in an attempt to calm the her down. He didn't know what she was afraid of, but he did know that fear caused people to do rash things. Aside from her weapons, the strange girl had his knife and musket within easy reach. Had she reloaded it?

She looked at the door, and as if on command, it opened, allowing in another blue-skinned girl. This one was slightly taller than the first, and while both had extremely short hair, the new girl's locks were a vibrant blue, much lighter than her skin.

The young women looked at each other wordlessly, before turning back to him. The blue-haired one tried speaking to him, but Nathan could no better understand her than her fellow.

The first girl sighed in frustration, drawing his attention back to her. Holding up a hand to stop her friend's words, she looked at Nathan, waving to get his attention. Then, she pointed to herself.

"Tin," she said deliberately. She repeated the word, emphasizing her finger.

Nathan glanced at the tin cup from his pack, sitting near the hearth. Tin?

The girl then pointed to her friend. "Lennalein"

These are their names! he realized.

He nodded his understanding; pointing to each in turn and repeating their names. It took a couple tries to pronounce the second one, but if she was offended, she didn't show it.

"Lozen?" the silver-haired girl asked, pointing at him. At least Nathan thought it was a question, based on the pitch of her voice at the end.

"Nathaniel." He pointed to himself.

Tin blinked. She opened her mouth to try and repeat it, but her friend beat her to the punch.

"Netaneel," Lennalein tried.

Tin gave her a look, then tried herself. "Nashanal."

All the a's were short, and she seemed to struggle with the "th."

He smiled encouragingly. "How about just Nathan?" Pointing to himself, he repeated, "Nathan."

Tin tried again. "Natan."

Close enough. He smiled and nodded. "Natan," he confirmed.

====

Argent didn't think for a second that she got it right, but apparently Natan did not have a problem with her pronunciation. Bridging a language barrier was going to be difficult, but at least they had made a start.

I can't believe you just touched him without warning. Coldfire sent, undertones of shock following her thoughts.

I had to confirm for myself that he cannot be sensed. Argent relayed the feeling to the other Loroi, the utter absence of any sense of mind, even when in physical contact. She might have been touching the wooden wall of the structure. He has absolutely no capacity for sanzai.

What if he does, and he simply as an extremely powerful lotai? Coldfire replied. This seems more and more like a test. Should we contact the elders?

A test to what end? she retorted, I am not calling for help on our first day. Besides, if it is a test, then we would be failing it by calling for help. Remember what they said? 'Do not use the communicator unless the entire diral is threatened, an initiate dies, or we contact you.'

But what if he wasn't part of the test? What if they never knew about him? Wouldn't that be worth making the call? I'm not saying we have to do it today, Argent, but what happens if we wait until they contact us to report him, and it turns out that it was something we should have let the elders deal with from the start?

Argent let her frustration through the mental link between them. Then I will simply say I was following my instructions on when to use the communicator. He may be a competent hunter, but he isn't a threat, even if we can't sense him. There are forty-eight of us and only one of him, and we have his weapons. Worst case, we can always maintain a guard to keep an eye on him. Besides, she sent with a tinge of self-satisfaction, I have an idea of what to do with him.

During the few seconds their exchange took, the odd male was examining them closely, perhaps perplexed at the silence. Meeting Argent's eyes, he then looked directly at the hastily bound wound on her arm - the one he had inflicted. He made a gesture she didn't understand, and said something in that strange language of his.

Now what? she thought irritably. The wound still stung.

Look at his face... is that regret? Perhaps he offers apology. Coldfire replied.

The idea caught Argent off-guard. Why? He certainly had all right to defend his home. Confusion seeped through their link, despite her best efforts to shield it. The young Loroi did not want to betray anything but sure-mindedness to her diral and her perception of this... man? boy? was undermining her notions of how to deal with the situation.

On the one hand, he was clearly a skilled hunter who could provide for himself. On the other hand, he was also a male alone in a vast wilderness in clear need of care and protection. The competing images warred in her mind, creating a confusion she didn't want to express to her fellows.

Shaking her head, she turned abruptly for the door, seeking the known over the unknown.

See if you can get anywhere with him, she told Coldfire, I will order the diral. There is much to be done before nightfall.

Argent left without a backward glance, forestalling any objection from her fellow. Stepping into the warm sunlight, she was accosted by a wave of questions from the other girls as she closed the door behind her.

Enough, she sent, alongside a summary of what little she knew of Natan. I am still deciding exactly what to do in the long term, but for now, we must make camp and this clearing is an excellent site. This structure is not big enough for even a quarter of us, but I intend to change that. For now, I want all of you to start constructing shelters. Building them against the walls of this cabin will save time and effort. Lily, please start a fire pit near... oh, I see he's already built one. Well, stock it, and let's get a cookfire started. We need to start purifying water from the stream. Rain Shadow, Lightfoot, bring up the game you killed earlier today... I have an idea.

====

The blue-haired girl, Lennalein, understood him no better than the other one did, but at least she made no sudden moves. She kept speaking to him, slowly, in her own language. Nathan guessed that she was trying to see if anything would make sense to him.

He got up deliberately, making smooth motions so as not to startle the girl. She was just as well armed as Tin, and he did not want to start a fight. She said something in a sharp tone when he reached for his musket, but Nathan quickly stopped and motioned to a set of pegs over the hearth.

"I'm only trying to put it away."

Lennalein watched intently as he picked up the weapon. The boy made a show of keeping his hands away from the trigger and holding the musket in such a way that the barrel was always pointed at the ceiling. After a few seconds, it was back in its place, and Nathaniel turned towards the strange girl.

What now?

"Lennalein," he said, pointing at the blue-haired girl. He butchered the name again, the latter vowels giving him trouble. Nathan could see by her face that she wasn't pleased.

"Lennalein," she replied, pointing at herself. He heard the difference, but couldn't repeat it.

"Lenna?" he tried.

She shrugged.

"Lenna," she agreed.

Suddenly, the girl turned toward the closed door, staring at it for a matter of seconds. She then looked back to him and motioned that he follow. Not wanting to create a scene, Nathaniel let himself be led out of his own cabin.

The sun must have come out while he was unconscious; Nathanial blinked in the bright light. When his eyes adjusted, he could not believe what he saw.

There were dozens of them. Tin and Lenna were apparently part of a much larger tribe that now filled his clearing. While they all had short hair, the colors varied greatly... red, purple, blue, green, and white as well as the expected brown, black, and gold. A fire had been started in his curing pit, and three girls were constructing what appeared to be a large spit over it. Another group busied themselves with some kind of container by the creek. The rest were stripping leaves from boughs and carting them toward the cabin. Turning around, Nathan saw four other girls building flat frames with the branches, and stretching some kind of canvas across them. Two were set against his cabin, creating a lean-to.

Where had they all come from? Why had he never seen them before?

"Natan."

Tin's voice drew his attention. She held his axe, and one of the others carried a few pieces of firewood from his stack.

The girl pantomimed felling a tree, then splitting the wood. She then took the firewood and arranged it in a square, stacking it in such a way as to form walls. Tin pointed at him, then pointed at the cabin. Unsure, he continued watching, trying to discern what she was trying to say.

Nathan thought he saw a flash of impatience on her face, but the girl continued. She pointed at the cabin, then at him, with an upward gesture of her hands. A question? Tin repeated the motions, chopping a tree, splitting logs, then arranging them in a square. She pointed to the square, then at the cabin.

The cabin was the square.

Tin pointed at him, repeated the motions, then pointed at the cabin.

Was she asking if he built the cabin?

Nathan nodded emphatically, and repeated her motions, this time correcting them by acting out the sort of swings he used to shape the logs to fit together. Taking his axe, he carefully put similar notches in the firewood, stacking it in the same pattern as he had the cabin. Then, walking over to the corner of the structure, he pointed to the full-scale notches.

Tin smiled, and closed her fist in what he assumed was a celebratory gesture. Hurrying over to the firewood square, she bid one of the others to bring more. She rearranged the model, adding more wood to triple its length. She pointed at him, pointed at the model, mimicked his earlier actions, then pointed to the far side of the clearing.

Nathan looked at the model, then at the little shelters being built against the side of his cabin. Were they asking him to build a new cabin... for all of them? He repeated her gestures, exaggerating his motions to show how much bigger such a cabin would have to be. He hoped that Tin would understand the look of disbelief on his face.

She gestured to two other girls who had emerged from the treeline. Each carried a freshly killed hopper. Tin mimicked what looked like the act of stalking and hunting, then gestured at her fellows. She then pointed at the dead animal, the cookfire, then him in turn, with a set of motions that could only mean eating.

The girl paused, looking at him. Nathan slowly nodded, thinking he understood. 'We'll hunt for you.'

Tin continued, pointing at the trees, his axe, Nathan himself, the firewood model, and spreading her arms to encompass something the size of another cabin at the other side of the clearing.

'You build for us.'

Nathan gestured at the model, then at all of Tin's group, and drew an outline of a cabin in the dirt, pointing at the far side of the clearing. The girl nodded vigorously.

He sat down, the enormity of the project dawning on him. It had taken him weeks to build his small cabin; Tin was asking for a lodge to house an entire village.

The flurry of activity around the clearing had stopped. Nathan became aware that the entire group was looking at him.

Well, he had wanted company, hadn't he? Nathan just hadn't expected... this.

He stood, looked Tin straight in the eyes, and nodded while pointing at the model and drawing. A noise - a cheer, perhaps? - went through the group.

"I'm going to need help," he said, knowing she wouldn't understand.

Oh well, he thought, plenty of time to show them that.

For reference.

[novius]

Personally I want to showcase Alex's wunderkind abilities, if the opportunity arises let me have him in an armchair admiral position

Armchair Admiral. That's a good one. The only way he could actually contribute to command decisions would be in an advisory position - and that requires him to inspire a lot of loyalty and trust in him from the Loroi. Or desperation to try out even most unconventional, human tactics. But, since Cerulean asked him for bright ideas, we might actually get there. And in addition, I peg Alex as the type of person who leads from the front. That's something the Loroi might be most reluctant to get used to, since it's ingrained into them to protect their males.

As it is, the chapter I have in the works does have already such a thing in place. Sometimes crazy works.

Hmmm... A bit further down the road, having them return to the Tempest might open another can of worms, with them being back in Stillstorm's domain. Especially with the discoveries they made during that jaunt.

[novius]

"Look, ladies, while it is mightily interesting to explore these things further, and I admit to be curious as well, it may have to wait since there is the slight issue of a wholesale invasion of bugs demanding our attention...?"

"I might have." Alex hedged, "It may or may not work, but what can you tell me of The Enemy's modes of engagement in space battle? How do they pick their targets, especially?"

"Of all the engagements we had so far with them, they followed a stict pattern of priority. They go for high-threat targets first - heavy ships that could cause serious damage to their own superheavies, orbital weapons platforms, generally everything that could slow down their advance. Light vessels are usually ignored at first... something we often enough exploited by sending in our frigates on hit-and-run strikes."

"I see", Alex prompted.

"Second on their list are targets they deem to be of high importance. Strategic assets and such. In case of the Gora Relay, they might even try to disable and board it, rather than outright destroying it. I think I don't need to reiterate the current state of the battle if the Enemy already came to the decision to spare forces for a serious attack on the Relay. One we cannot hope to withstand."

"You are saying that they might try to board the station. Wouldn't that give a chance for a counter attack and commandeer the boarding vessel?"

"We would have been able to, had the Relay still its full crew complement. But as it is we simply cannot hope to take control of a ship full of shells. And even if we manage to win against a full crew complement of The Enemy, first, I think no one here is able to operate said ship, and we might not even be efficient enough so that the other ships wouldn't know what is afoot. Any of their ships they deem to be lost to us is considered a high-threat target and even the remaining crew on said ship would be quick to initiate a self destruct."

"So boarding them in turn is out, too. What remains is to make sure we can get away from the Relay in time."

"Most assuredly. We are evacuating. The last of the Relay's fuel, save an emergency reserve, has been used to restock Strike Group 51, as well as most of the Tolot Blisters and a good part of the remaining ordnance. In addition, our battle doctrine disallows us to leave any strategic assets an a system we consider to be lost behind.

We are about to scuttle the Relay." She finished.

"Wait, what?! You don't even hope that you could recapture the Relay in time?"

"Captain Jardin, please be serious: Our technological advantage over The Enemy was the only thing that has given us an edge - without it the war would have been much worse for us from the start. We simply cannot allow for any piece of our technology to fall into enemy hands, in addition to possibly face our own Relay in enemy hands if we ever try to recapture Leido Crossroads."

She said 'if', not 'when', Alex noticed with trepidation.

"So, we have two objectives. First: Make sure the shuttle can slip away. Unnoticed would be best, but not being under pursuit would be something I could live with. Second: Make them taking Leido Crossroads as costly as it could be. Since the Relay is mobile, perhaps it could go for a kamikaze run.", Alex summed it up.

"Kamikaze run?", Cerulean queried.

"Right. It is a term used since one of the biggest conflicts fought on our world, one of the major powers had dominance over the seas, with large seafaring vessels, but its opponent, somewhat outmatched in terms of manpower and ordnance started to fly airplanes into the ships. Their doctrine was 'one plane for one ship'. The pilots of these single-seated planes were ready and willing to die as long as they sink a ship with hundreds, even thousands of naval crew and officers on board."

"I think I see what you mean. You're suggesting to send the Relay right at the bulk of the Enemy's forces and then...?"

"...to create a big enough explosion to at least send their forces into disarray, hopefully putting a dent into them, too. While we use the 'shadow' of the Relay to make our escape with the shuttle."

"A crazy idea, but right now, crazy ideas may be all that we have left. I'll ... ask for volunteers to stay behind on the Relay. Barring that... it had been a honor to get to know you."

Alex was shocked. "Wait, what? NO! I will not have any of you lay down your life for me!"

Cerulean was touched. This Mizol Parat Tempo already told her that this human has some strong convictions and a rather peculiar set of morale guidelines, but to see and hear them firsthand...?

"Can you remote control the Relay's operations?"

Cerulean blinked in surprise. "Not as efficiently as I could if I am to remain onboard, but ... I see now. For what you have in mind, we wouldn't need for sophisticated defense solutions, just ... keep them busy until we trigger the Relay's self-destruct as well as detonating the remaining ordnance on board? I think I'll have to talk to your Tenoin Arrir Nesin and Listel Tozet Eilis on how to establish a command link from the shuttle to the Relay."

Talon and Beryl, Alex translated in his mind. Makes sense. Talon would know best around the shuttle's systems, and Beryl would be the right Loroi for computers in general.

He didn't miss it that Cerulean referred to these two as "his".

Alex nodded, "just... make it work. I know this is war, and people die in war, but there is a saying we use: 'The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.' "

"Crude, but that makes sense. Perhaps I should go looking for your two officers immediately. I ... thank you for taking the time with me, you have given me much to think about." Saying that, she nodded and headed off to search for the aforementioned officers.

There it was again. Alex was now sure that it wasn't a fluke and she definitely referred to Beryl and Talon as 'his'. What is going on here?

There has to be some explanation. Perhaps he should have asked if she would have referred to Tempo as 'his Mizol Parat Sedel', too... No. Better not stir the pot.

Alex hoped that it was just because they all arrived together on the shuttle and not something else.

Maybe I should ask Tempo if there are already rumors running around the present Loroi. He mused.

But that can wait. He tacked on. At that moment, the technicians were busy with reconfiguring the shuttle to accomodate more passengers. He already learned that the Highland class shuttles can accomodate up to sixty passengers... but together with the remaining cargo and the installations already there, he guessed at about thirty to fourty, now.

Cerulean was right, that could be a tight fit. And, while privacy was a notion that one gets quickly disabused from when serving in the armed forces it is a wholly different matter when he's the only man in an otherwise all-female crew contingent.

Trying not to stay idle he asked around if he could pitch in - even just ferrying around the remaining cargo wouid give him something to do, or perhaps installing the additional seats... he even noticed Winterbloom directing the technicians to install a second diagnostic bed in her impromptu sickbay as well.

So far every offer to help out was met with a wide eyed Loroi hastily reassuring him that they have matters well in hand and there is no need for him to overexert himself.

Well..., Alex thought glumly, This is starting to get tiring. It might take some effort to teach the Loroi that human men are not made out of glass.

[orion1836]

Helps not to fall asleep while writing. New bit on Nathan's story where the placeholder was.

[dragoongfa]

Calling dibs on the next part, I have a battle plan already in place.

[Krulle]

Well, this gave me an idea too, but seeing that dragoongfa called dibs, and his skills are far superior to mine, I'll take,thenright choice and go to bed instaed. Been a way too long day anyway (been up since about 34 hours, been driving with family into our holiday domicile, over night to avoid any traffic jams).

[dragoongfa]

"Beryl, can you help me out with this?" Alex asked after once again failing to have the console obey his commands.

"Of course Captain Jardin, what do you need?" Beryl asked excitedly as she leaned over him and the console.

"I want to see how the battle has unfolded so far, from the moment the first Shell ships jumped in till now." He caught himself describing the Umiak as Shells after the fact. Loroi mannerisms must be catching up to me, Shells, Bugs all the same to me at this point. He thought as Beryl inputted the necessary commands on the console, he wondered if he should try and communicate telepathically with her but elected otherwise as he wanted to fully focus on the battle and not sidetrack himself with everything that telepathy inevitably brought forth.

"Do you want it to go on fast forward?" Beryl asked as the system begun replaying the battle of the Leido crossroads, he thought that she seemed a little off about something but elected not to mention it.

"Sure. Can you start with 20 times normal speed?"

"That's easy enough. Just tell me if you want the recording to go faster." He just nodded at that as he focused his full attention on the replay, hoping to catch an in depth glimpse of how the Shells fought.

The beginning of the battle was just as he remembered it. Eight divisions of ships jumping in from Rallis vector, three of those eight division split off; each one of laid a course to secure the Gora, Sala and Enedd jump points. Gora and Sala had a battlestation on guard while Enedd was guarded by a citadel which was a heavier form of a battlestation. Soon afterwards six more Shell divisions deep jumped into the system, four of them immediately accelerated towards Enedd's jump point while each of the remaining two went for Gora and Sala.

Stillstorm had already sent a detachment comprised of the fully resupplied ships of the 51st towards Enedd under the command of Torrai Torret Ashrain who now had to contend with 5 full divisions that were rushing towards Enedd and the Tizaba Citadel that guarded it.

A few minutes afterwards things got even worse with the arrival of the Shell support contingent, five more divisions that contained fuel tankers and transports which explained why the five divisions from the initial force that jumped in kept a steady pace instead of rushing off to meet the enemy. It was soon after that that things got weird, he had missed most of it as it happened because of the shuttle landing on Gora but it looked like the Shells had a change of plans. At first there were two divisions that were aiming for the Sala jump point where the main contingent of the 51st stood guard but the Shells immediately had the two divisions that jumped first and were aiming for Gora and Enedd alter course and rush towards Sala while the deep jump division went on as they were.

"I have gathered that the Shells are heavily affected by jump sickness, are the course corrections of these two divisions corresponding with the time it takes for the Shells to recover from jump?" He immediately asked Beryl.

"Not really, the crew least susceptible to jump sickness would be able to function relatively well but the majority wouldn't and the ships would still rely on automatic systems for most functions." Beryl replied.

"Hmm... Would the command crew be lucid and able enough to obey orders to alter course and change their targets?" Alex asked after thinking about it.

"Yes."

"And I am guessing that with the added travel time the crew would be fully lucid and able when they would come in contact with the Sala station and the core of the 51st." Alex thought out loud.

"Yes indeed."

"So the Shell commander split the effort, instead of diverting two of the five divisions they kept in reserve as a screening force for the supply contingent they elected to shift forces from the other two jump points and have them attack Sala. I am assuming they weren't able to divert the deep jump divisions because the crew was unresponsive." He thought out loud as the replay went on.

The initial assault on the Gora relay went terribly due to this, the one division should have been able to easily overcome the lone battlestation and its contingent of fighters but the inefficiency of the crew showed as the engagement unfolded. The fighters darted forward and practically halved the barrage of torpedoes that the Shells launched, giving the station's PDLs ample time to nullify the rest as the Shell ships came in range. Several of their ships were cut to ribbons from the station's defensive batteries before they broke off their assault after losing 13 ships and doing only negligible damage to the station itself.

On Sala things went even worse for the Shells at first, the 51st darted forward shortly before the first division from Rallis came in range of the station. Stillstorm hit them with everything the 51st could throw at the Shells and managed to have them break the charge despite the fact that the 51st was horribly outnumbered, she then turned the 51st around and hit the deep jump division just as it entered the station's weapon envelopes. Caught in a crossfire the Shell division which was still operated mostly by automatic systems was simply shattered under the combined firepower of the 51st and the battlestation.

"This is even worse than Naam for the Shells, the difference in firepower between a fully supplied strike group and what I saw in Naam is astonishing." Alex commented. "The blisters are an amazing weapon."

"Indeed, the DX armored blister is a very effective delivery platform. Unfortunately it is always in limited supply due to its space requirements and its high production cost. The 51st was scheduled to be fully resupplied with them due to the squadron's high status." Beryl replied with pride.

With the first two division successfully repelled one would think that the Shell commander would re-evaluate their approach but they kept at it. The four deep jump division that they sent against Enedd and the Tizaba citadel that was guarding it didn't fair well as a result. Ashrain's detachment and the citadel managed to inflict significant loses on the attacking forces before they broke off the assault to maintain a respectful distance from the now heavily damaged citadel but this was where the good news ended for the Loroi. The Shell commander finally detached two divisions from their reserves and coalesced them with the other two divisions they had diverted from their initial assignments. The core of the 51st along with the Sala battlestation couldn't hope to successfully repel such a determined assault but they stood their ground against the approaching swarm as most of the remaining crew of the Sala battlestation was evacuated and boarded the ships of the 51st.

The 51st just dodged the assault and rushed towards the resupply contingent, leaving the Sala battlestation and its skeleton crew to their fate. The Shell commander had anticipated this move and the three remaining divisions successfully screened the resupply contingent. So far the 51st had suffered only minor damage in the battle and Stillstorm diverted the core of her Strikegroup towards Gora, slowing her formation down in an obvious attempt to have the Shells give chase and break formation but the Shell commander didn't fall for it. They kept their formation and reformed their divisions from the beating they had taken until then. Overall the Shells had lost about a division's worth of ships until that point but now their crews were fully lucid and the 51st had once again spent a lot of ordinance.

It was then that Stillstorm brought the core of the 51st to the Gora relay for a quick resupply run, Stillstorm somehow finding the time to take a shuttle for a quick visit to the station as well with everything that entailed. Back then he was surprised that she didn't ask for her shuttle back but now he realized that the 51st had taken on the surviving fighters from Sala Relay so there may not have been any room aboard Tempest at that point.

So the whole promotion thing for Cerulean was a trick to boost morale after the loss of Sala Relay and the battering Citadel Taziba took. She may be a bitch but she is good and of course she had to make sure that proper discipline would be maintained on the battlefield which brings in her stunt with approving her own 'mating' encounter. Loroi being telepaths and all that would make discipline dodgy at best when they would inevitably realize that I and Beryl just had a quickie in the shuttle after breaking regulations. Alex thought and couldn't help but feel some grudging respect for Stillstorm at how she handled everything.

After the impromptu resupply run Stillstorm took the 51st and rushed to Enedd's jump point just as reinforcements from Azimol jumped in. It wasn't much, two strike groups worth of ships since the majority of the forces stationed at Azimol had gone to reinforce Sala-128. It was then that Stillstorm actually had to fight to maintain overall command of the battle as the reinforcing forces were in turn lead by a Torrai Lashret but Tempo of all people intervened to solve the issue and kept Stillstorm in overall command.

Good call. He thought as the next stage of the battle begun to play. The Shells attacked Citadel Taziba and the division sized Loroi fleet with 6 divisions in total. It was a brutal engagement and the Shells lost more than 80 ships but Citadel Taziba and several Loroi ships were destroyed. Stillstorm had to disengage towards Azimol's jump point as the Shell's main core and the support contingent begun jumping to Enedd, leaving about 3 divisions worth of ships as a rear guard while more Shell ships jumped from Sala 101, signaling the fact that the Shells now controlled that system.

Which brought them back to the here and now, it was a long battle and the 51st did manage to significantly delay the Shell advance while inflicting heavy loses to them but Leido and Sala-101 were effectively lost while the Shells were marshaling their forces for a final assault on Gora Relay itself.

Yeah, evacuating and scuttling the station is the only solution but Stillstorm's fleet is too far away to get to us in time for a pick up and the Shells will run down the shuttles even if we all leave right now. We need to buy some time and for that we need... bait. But what will cause the Shells to waste time before swamping the station and having a turkey shoot with the shuttles? They want to secure Leido in order to maintain some form of a resupply line with their gate-crusher divisions as they do a 'march to the sea', even with the tankers and the transports intact the Shells will need resupplying since they cannot rely on securing fuel and equipment from captured Loroi depots. This means that Gora Relay has to go, it is a stable Loroi presence right onto their resupply lines and I won't be surprised if the Shells rush to build some battlestations of their own here in order to keep the supplies going. Gora Relay is their objective and they won't let it be unless a better target shows up. They diverted a division from attacking the station because the 51st was guarding Sala Relay, it was a mistake since they split the effort but the 51st and Stillstorm have proven that they are a prime threat so I can understand why the Shell commander took the risk with diverting forces away from the assault on Gora and Enedd. The Shell commander knows that the 51st is still a potent threat in being but they now control the battlefield and have accomplished their objective of punching through to Enedd so they won't divert forces even if Stillstorm bent over and slapped her butt towards them. Damn, don't think of that! He chastised himself as he shook his head.

'"Is everything alright Captain Jardin?" Beryl asked at that.

"My mind doesn't feel like cooperating." Alex replied.

"There is no need to concern yourself with what is going on, the others will handle everything."

Like hell they will. He thought and thanked himself for not actually sending the thought to Beryl who was still too close for comfort.

Think Alex, the Shells want the station gone and they are not stupid enough to get hit by a kamikaze run. They will just dodge the slowly approaching station and pummel it from afar with missiles. Charging the station straight at them while the shuttles run in the opposite direction won't do a thing even if the Shells are morons. What is my objective? To get myself and the station's crew out of this alive. How will that happen? Only if the Shells don't shoot at us while we run away. They won't do that only if they want to capture us but I don't think that the Loroi would prefer captivity over death to propose a surrender... No, they also won't shoot at the shuttles if they have something else to shoot at instead but the station won't be enough for that, it will be swamped too quickly and it won't put much of a fight against four fully ready divisions even if it was fully manned and supplied. The only other worthy target in the system is Stillstorm's fleet but they won't get here in time before the Shells run us down. We could try to somehow slow the Shells but they won't slow down after destroying the station... Unless...

"Captain Jardin?" Beryl asked after a few moments. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." Alex replied as he played the plan in his head and tried to find holes in it. "I am fine, yes. Call Tempo, Cerulean and that Losat..."

"Brightshield?"

"Yes, her. Call them and tell all three of them to come here, I have an idea." Alex instructed.

"An idea? What kind of an idea?" Beryl asked while Talon and Spiral turned from their work to look at them.

"It will take too long to explain, just tell them to come here as quickly as possible." Beryl undoubtedly did as she was told as all three of them got in the cockpit in less the a minute.

"So you have an idea Captain Jardin?" Cerulean asked first.

"Yeah but first tell me, how good of an actor are you?"



* * *


Stillstorm wasn't in a good mood, despite everything she and everyone else did the Shells managed to break through to Enedd in force. They did inflict heavy casualties on the Shells but both the 51st and the reinforcements from Azimol took a beating in the fight for Enedd's jump point, they had expended most of their ordinance again and had to jump back to Azimol for replenishment before rushing to follow the Shell gate-crusher force in an attempt to somehow slow them down until reinforcements would come. She looked at the obviously doomed Gora Relay and felt a tinge of guilt and regret for not taking on its crew on the 51st's ship and scuttling the station after they replenished their ordinance there. They didn't have the time to do that and she had hoped that they would somehow turn the tide and push the Shells back but that didn't come to be. About 200 warriors would die with the station, as well as eight of her own crew. Three of them were by far the most annoying members of it but they did their duty amicably when they weren't busy infuriating her; they all were her crew and she didn't like to just let them die but she couldn't do anything. Her fleet couldn't reach the Gora Relay before the Shells would and she would just end up witnessing their deaths no matter what she did.

One more regret and a few hundred more deaths to remember

She thought, making sure to keep everything within the deepest recesses of her mind.

"My Lashret something is happening at Gora Relay Soroin Mallas Rune-Laurel, her XO, reported.

"Two standard shuttles just launched from the station and are rushing away under standard passenger acceleration but the station's PDL turrets are tracking them and..."

"What? What is going on?" Stillstorm shouted telepathically as two of the station's turrets fired and destroyed the two shuttles.

"Get me a link to Cerulean now!"

"Wait a Solon... You are on!"

"Attention, Gora Relay, report!" Stillstorm didn't know how she managed to keep her voice even if a little strained but all she could do was to wait for a reply after taking into account the delay due to lightspeed.

"Alert, Tempest, this is Gora Relay!" Cerulean's face appeared and... was she bleeding from the head? "Your Mizol and your Teidar have staged a mutiny to save the damn male of yours!" Cerulean practically yelled over the screams and the sounds of a heavy firefight in the background. "I will blow the station and every last of the cowards who follow them, they don't deserve to die in battle!" Stillstorm just stared at Cerulean in disbelief before a blaster shot hit Cerulean at the back and the link was cutoff.

Stillstorm just stared at the empty space where Cerulean's holographic window used to be before turning her gaze at Rune-Laurel who just stared back at her in disbelief.

"Attention, fleet, there is an ongoing mutiny aboard Gora Relay. Any and all personnel who are abandoning the station are to be considered traitors and are to be subjected to a summary execution if they somehow survive this day." Stillstorm broadcasted to her fleet and closed the channel as she felt her anger flare up.

I am a fool, I should have killed the alien the first moment a saw it, I knew it was a Shell trick and now at least three of my own crew have mutinied because I didn't act!

She thought angrily as she witnessed Gora Relay's six remaining shuttles leave the station as well as her own personal shuttle. She didn't need to sense everyone's eyes on her, they were all seeing the cowards fleeing with her own personal shuttle being used by the traitorous scum and that Shell agent all in order to prolong their miserable lives for a few more Solons. She wanted to kill every last one of them herself, to gut them and feed their entrails to their children while proclaiming them to be the offspring of traitors. She would like to do that even if it was the last thing she ever did.

"My Lashret..." Rune-Laurel sent to her.

"WHAT?" Stillstorm shouted angrily.

"Gora Relay is broadcasting a message on all frequencies." Stillstorm took a deep breath and counted to four before replying, she knew that things would only get worse from that point on.

"Show me." The image of a battered and obviously wounded Mizol Losat appeared right in front of her.

"Alert, Tempest, this is Mizol Losat Brightshield, Gora Relay has been sabotaged and is now unable to defend itself or self destruct. I am the only one left aboard the station, everyone else left with your traitorous crew. If you have any honor left in yourself you are to do everything in your power to keep the station from falling into the hands of the Shells. This message will now repeat." Stillstorm stared blankly at the repeating message for several solons, unable to think of anything other than finding the damn alien and skinning him alive before feeding his manhood to the traitorous Mizol and Teidar who helped him before throwing them out of an airlock.

"Alert, fleet, lay a course for Gora Relay, we have a station to scuttle and traitors to kill." Stillstorm ordered with a forced steady voice, thankfully no one of her wing commanders had anything to say while Lashret Waterblade tried her best to keep herself from grinning at her for what had just happened. She could already imagine how Waterblade would publicly proclaim that it was all Stillstorm's fault and her traitorous crew, if she was smart enough she would say that while being as far away from Stillstorm as possible because she would rip her tongue out otherwise.

The tension, stress and fatigue from the prolonged battle finally got to her and she sat down at her console, resting her face between her palms as her fleet rushed rushed at the battle station which was abandoned save for a lone Mizol Losat who broadcasted the fact and her accusations for all to see and of course the Shells lost no time to rush ahead and cautiously encircle the battlestation. They had some time before her force got there after all. They would take their time boarding and securing the damn station, the only one there to stop them was a damn Mizol and a wounded one at that. They would take the station and then wait for her fleet to come and attack them, she had to do that and they knew it. They would just wait for her to come to their waiting guns and they would give their best shot to destroy Tempest.

It was as if someone had planned all this to make her life miserable before the Shells inevitably killed her and everyone on Tempest, that someone probably being that damn alien she should have ordered out of an airlock the moment she first laid her eyes on it.

"The enemy is launching torpedoes and cutting loose their gunboats." Arclight reported as usual but Stillstorm didn't say anything, she didn't have the mental strength to even stand up anymore.

"Charge the Wave Loom device and aim for the station." Stillstorm ordered and decided to wait for a few solons more before trying to stand up again. The Shells offered a nice concentrated target as they bunched up right in front of the station but her damn fleet was again out of heavy ordinance, unless Ashrain somehow managed to pull some blisters out of who knows where again. She was about to try to stand up again when the battle station disappeared in a massive explosion that engulfed the dozen Shell ships that were in the process of boarding it while damaging several more ships that were in the blast radius.

"That Mizol must have found a way to activate the self destruct after all." Stillstorm broadcasted without thinking as she stood up.

"Attention, fleet, we will push through the torpedoes and gunboats and try to inflict as much damage as possible to the Shells before disengaging." She ordered before continuing. "If a lone Mizol managed to do this much with her final action then we won't be found lacking."

"My Lashret?" Rune-Laurel sent to her again

"Yes?"

She knew that something was about to go horribly wrong since Rune-Laurel interrupted mere Solons before contact.

"We are receiving a tight beam link from Highland 7."

"I am not in the habit of conversing with traitors." Stillstorm snapped back at her XO.

"The request is from Mizol Losat Brightshield." Rune Laurel reported with obvious confusion.

"What?" Stillstorm asked in disbelief as the hologram of a still bruised but smiling Mizol appeared in front of her.

"Attention, Tempest, this is Mizol Losat Brightshield. I am happy to report that I and the rest of the crew of Gora Relay have successfully extracted ourselves while inflicting heavy casualties to the enemy. There was no mutiny aboard the station but the deception was necessary for the successful extraction of everyone aboard Gora Relay. We are awaiting orders and coordinates for pickup." The Mizol reported.

"What happened to Cerulean? She got shot while in contact with me!" Stillstorm demanded as her fleet begun engaging the Shell torpedoes and gunboats.

"She is unavailable but well. It was deemed necessary for her to be hit with an electrostun shot for maximum effect, she was also injected with stimulants because she couldn't present enough anxiety otherwise. The Doranzer has assured me that she will be fully lucid in about 10.000 solons." The Mizol replied with a straight face.

"So this was all a trick? Whose idea was it?" Stillstorm asked.

"I regret to inform you that no Loroi came up with this stratagem." The Mizol replied and Stillstorm just nodded in understanding

"My Lashret the Wave Loom device is almost fully charged." Rune-Laurel sent to catch her attention.

"Tell the alien that I want to see him in my office the moment my shuttle lands on my ship!" Stillstorm said angrily before closing the channel.

Done, hope you guys enjoy this.

[Werra]

Enjoyed it greatly. You had me seriously wondering what the plan is going to be. There was real tension there. Are you a professional?

Wall of text incoming.

They had broken free from Gora relay. No shell PD and no missiles were sent after them. The Umiak took the bait. At first Alex had been worried that he couldn't convince the Loroi to play along, but Brightshield was positively enthusiastic. Alex idea had played right into one of their main weaknesses, uncreativeness. Their commander had shown himself to be conservative in his use of tactics, which helped.

Even Cerulean accepted her part stoically. "If I have to explode in space, I prefer to sleep through it." was what she had said.

Surprisingly the most difficult part was improvising some acting abilities into the Loroi. Mizol Brightshield seemed to have a knack, but Cerulean needed work. So while hasty last minute preparations were done all around them, Brightshield, Cerulean, Tempo, Beryl, Winterbloom and Alex himself had found a room with video equipment and put on a little show.

Tempo pulled the trigger on Cerulean, Beryl had set up the equipment and timed the broadcasts and then they were off.

As a shockwave from the exploding Gora relay rocketed the Highland, Alex exhaled audibly. The explosion meant the Umiak had taken the bait. Just like when they first had departed from Tempest, Alex now sat again in the cockpit behind the two pilots. Only this time Talon and Spiral communicated with Sanzai. Both pilots working seamlessly together as he admired. Sanzai, useful stuff.

Well, and the Loroi in his lap was now Brightshield. Because things would get very cramped, Tempo had insisted that Alex be put into the cockpit. Brightshield had insisted, that she would make the crucial transmission to Tempest from this console. For security she said. Alex instincts of curiousity and self preservation battled within him that he remembered the fierce battle of looks and Sanzai he witnessed as both Loroi realised who Brightshield would share a seat with.
Only Alex reminding both that other Loroi would also need to doubleseat got things back on track.

Brightshield was working the console next to him and kept him appraised.

"The shells fell for the trick. Several of their ships got destroyed. Nice thinking, Captain Jardin."

"What about 51th?"
"They seem to be accelerating towards us. No attempt to hail us. Let me call them."

From his position under Brightshields lap Alex was able to see a map of the system. Several shell ships had indeed vanished from it with Gora relay. Now the shuttles were making their way towards the 51th. He urgently hoped that the show they had just put on didn't fool Stillstorm. Surely she wouldn't so easily believe that Loroi would turn traitor this easily?

"No answer. Shit boot amateurs!" Brightshield exclaimed while shaking her armored hips painfully in his lap.

Or not was the dry remark Alex received from his own wit. Aloud he tried something else.

"Excellent acting, Brightshield."

Just as she turned to retort a small window popped up on screen. A strained looking Stillstorm appeared. Alex moved backwards, praying that Stillstorm didn't just get a view of him having Brightshield on his lap.

Brightshield reported: "This is Mizol Losat Brightshield. I am happy to report that I and the rest of the crew of Gora Relay have successfully extracted ourselves while inflicting heavy casualties to the enemy. There was no mutiny aboard the station but the deception was necessary for the successful extraction of everyone aboard Gora Relay. We are awaiting orders and coordinates for pickup."

"What happened to Cerulean? She got shot while in contact with me!"

"She is unavailable but well. It was deemed necessary for her to be hit with an electrostun shot for maximum effect, she was also injected with stimulants because she couldn't present enough anxiety otherwise. The Doranzer has assured me that she will be fully lucid in about 10.000 solons."

"So this was all a trick? Whose idea was it?"

"I regret to inform you that no Loroi came up with this stratagem."

"Tell the alien that I want to see him in my office the moment my shuttle lands on my ship!"

That didn't sound good, thought Alex. At least Stillstorm hadn't called him an it.

Brightshield cut contact, turned to him and said: "Your ruse worked. All that's needed now is for us to land in the hangar of Tempest while the ship is in active combat."

Alex tried for a smile: "At least Stillstorm isn't shooting at us."

"For now."

The rest of the flight passed by in a blur. The map next to him showed orange dots appearing and disappearing and some of the bigger blotches vanishing. Torpedoes and combat losses Alex figured. Landing in combat was apparently very demanding. Alex was glad his last meal had been a while. Brightshield surely too. Before he passed out from high g maneuvers, Alex decided to ask Beryl about the data storages of human movies the Bellarmine carried. Talon would love one from 1986 in particular.

He woke up in what had to be a medical bay. Bewildered he rose a bit. He felt okay for what he had been through. A Doranzer appeared by his side. She had long green hair and wore yellow on her sleeves, which Alex figured meant a high rank.

"You're awake. Your readings look acceptable. No worse than the first time you woke up after passing out."

It took Alex a while to remember. She had been there after the Loroi fished him out of space.
"Yes, I remember now. We're on Tempest then?"

"Yes, you are. Can you walk and get up?"

Alex tried it and found himself able to. "How long have I been unconscious?"

The Doranzer entered something into a datapad and then looked up at him, using the human unit for his convenience. "Two and a half hours, Captain Jardin. If you are feeling well, please get dressed and follow me. The Commander wishes to speak with you."

With only a bit of reluctance, Alex picked his orange jumpsuit from a table and followed into a waiting room. Loroi medical technology was good, he almost felt well.

Shortly afterwards a paset lead Jardin away. That she was silent all the way suited Alex fine to order his thoughts a bit.

Since the recent battles of the 51th had died down, many Loroi took the chance to wind down in the corridors and recuperation areas they passed. At first the idea of being the only male on a spaceship crewed by attractive blue women had appealed to a certain part of him. Now he was glad for the quick pace the Paset struck.

Their walk didn't take long and Alex found himself in front of an ordinary cabin door. A small plaque on the side read: "Torrai Lashret Delasoni – Private Quarters" Without knocking, the Paset opend the door and let him enter. A telepathic species would have little use for knocking, Alex inferred.

The room was surprisingly spartanic for a senior officer. There was a large locker set into the opposite wall. At the rightern wall stood a bed perfect in its military tidiness. On a couple of shelves were few pictures of Loroi warrior women and several knifes and swords on display. A map of some archipelago hung on the left side wall. The only other piece of furniture was a slim looking desk in front of which Commander Stillstorm sat. She had her body half turned towards him, one leg over the other, a reluctant look on her face. She was also in full uniform. Those last two facts quieted Alex creeping fears that this was about that mating encounter standing between them..

"Captain Jardin." Stillstorm said in a distant tone. So far every meeting with the Commander had been unpleasant for Alex.

"Commander Stillstorm, to what do I owe this occasion?"

"I received a report on Gora relay. Apparently the station was succesfully evacuated with no casualties in part due to your tactical analysis of the situation."

Alex earnestly glad to hear that said: "I'm glad there were no casualties, Commander."

Stillstorm continued: "You do not look like a warrior. Yet you have proven your talent of escaping two times now already."

Even as he reminded himself of the Loroi habit of directness Alex could not help but feel the anger rise in him. He had expected a lukewarm thanks. That a Loroi could use a backhanded compliment this well surprised him.

"That is something that happened, Commander."

Stillstorm held his look, as annoyed at the situation as he was: "Captain, your actions have saved the lives of many warriors. If I were a diplomat, protocol would demand me to thank you on behalf of the Empress. But these warriors were under my command and I feel it necessary to thank you on their behalf."

The effort it took for Stillstorm to say that to an alien, a male and what she regarded as a civilian was apparent to Alex. So he said: "I thank you. That is very honourable of you."

As soon as he mentioned honour, Stillstorms eyes narrowed. Looking like he did when he had to try some of the Lorois food, she continued.

"There is also one other matter I feel necessary to bring up, Captain."

"What is that, Commander?"

"The limitations I have put in place on Parat Tempo and Tozet Beryl that require them to follow proper customs with their mating encounters."

"Is there a problem? We have kept strictly to loroi law."

At Alex retort Stillstorm raised an eyebrow. "I would have had them court martialed had I thought otherwise, Captain." she said in an icy tone.

"Then what.."

"Their behaviour has been undisciplined for warriors. Still Tempo made the tasteless request -officially- that I either redeem my encounter or relax reglementations."

Stillstorm let out a breath before continuing: "You may officially deny my encounter now. Then Beryl, Tempo and you can continue your rutting."

Rutting? Maybe it was her tone of voice, maybe her upturned nose, somehow Alex spontaneously decided to follow up on an idea he had all the way back on Gora relay. But what angle to work to make it believable?

"That is very considerate of you, Commander Stillstorm. But amongst humans it is very impolite to refute a price gift."

Stillstorm half rose in her chair in protest.
"A price gift? It can't believe that my claim was actually about itself?"

"Commander Stillstorm, knowing of loroi customs I took it as a straightforward and not entirely unwanted invitation."

Direct hit thought Alex, as Stillstorms face went through a range of expressions, all of which improper.

"Enzin Jardin, that move was politics, nothing else. I was helping its mission it seems to have forgotten with just two Loroi."

"I don't need any of your help with Tempo or Beryl, Commander. You introduced yourself into my diplomatic mission on your own initiative."

"My own initiative?" Stillstorm had now fully risen and faced Alex. Stillstorms face turned bluer and bluer: "What diplomat are you?. Do you have any idea how it looked? Cooped up in that shuttle, Tempo and Beryl taking turns going dark. Sometimes even together! I received dozens of requests for encounters."

Stillstorm badmouthing these two put some anger into Alex answer: "So you thought you could just force me to play along as a docile loroi male? I'm not a pet to be used in your dishonest intrigues."

Stillstorm glared at him in anger. The two of them now stood eye to eye. Alex resolved to hold her yellow stare.

"Dishonest? I give you one more chance to deny my encounter and solve this amicably. I get this paperwork from my table and you get to fornicate again."

"You would like that, wouldn't you? I have no intention of solving the legal and official mess you brought upon yourself. How inconvenient for you!"

Alex flinched for a moment as Stillstorm moved to raise her fist. The moment passed in stares, neither party willing to back down. He was too angry to back down and Stillstorm too proud to lose face. Instead the two stared at each other in mutual contempt.

It felt like an hour had passed. Stillstorm turned away and with a quick motion straightened a kink on her blanket. To him it looked as perfect as when he had entered.

"Very well, Captain Jardin, you made your position clear. You are not a Loroi and therefore I see no need for any warrior to go through the trouble of officiallly requesting a mating encounter with you."

She reached out and pulled his collar up in the loroi fashion before continuing.

"As per the Doranzer Mazil-Tozas recommendation, you can now freely move in the crew and recreational areas of Tempest. You will be given a proper cabin as well. Tell Parat Tempo that she has convinced me. There is no need for her and Tozet Beryl to worry about your health constantly. That's the Doranzers job and decision. I need my officers back on bridge duty. For now they can continue parley with you on their own time."

Alex nodded, unsure of what to say. This sounded very generous of her. She must be really stressed and wants to avoid more of Tempos paperwork, he thought.

"These concessions will be in place unless your diplomatic mission affects combat readiness negatively. And do take the time to keep yourself appraised of the tactical situation. I might have use of you again, Captain Jardin."

As he left her quarter he heard Stillstorm say: "You got what you asked for."

With that he was dismissed. A Soroin came up to him after a few minutes. It was Cloud as he recognized. She looked at him with curious eyes. Then towards Stillstorms cabin door. She didn't say anything verbally, but her face showed clear surprise. She motioned for him to follow.

Absent mindedly rubbing his neck Alex said: "Cloud was it? Can you tell Tempo that the talk with Stillstorm was a success and that she relented on reglementation?"

The trouble he saw on her face as she turned to him made Alex stop. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't see it.

As they made a corner and stepped through a large double door into what must be a recreational area, Alex understood. Thirty or more Loroi turned to look at him. He recognised Brightshield looking very amused, Doc Winterbloom as well. In a corner sat Spiral and Talon, shocked just like Cloud had been. Looks being passed between the Loroi. Silent bets being placed.

Then it hit him. Dozens of mating requests, no reason for reglementations, a cabin in the crew area, free leave of the recreational areas, Tempo busy most of the day. No help with two -two- Loroi. Alex understood then how hard Stillstorm had played him.

[orion1836]

This really does sound like the back story to What to do with Jardin

[novius]

HILARIOUS!

Tempo, you won the battle, but Stillstorm got the parting shot in it!

Dibs on the next part, I'll definitely enjoy writing it.


As for the battle, nice way of playing to the Shell's weaknesses and teaching the Loroi a good bit about (dis-)information warfare. Yes, both side's way of fighting is rather straightforward - until the Umiak started to deploy stealth as a tactics to devastating effect. Time to counter that with equally underhanded tactics.

Though that would take a huge effort to teach the inherently truthful Loroi how to pull off deceptions like this. The Mizol may be adept at information warfare (and have their bad reputation because of this), but this is just one caste, and not the Loroi in general.

This really does sound like the back story to What to do with Jardin

Yep, Alex did promote himself from 'that minorly annoying alien' to 'bane of her existence' over the course of less than two days...

[Werra]

HILARIOUS!

Tempo, you won the battle, but Stillstorm got the parting shot in it!

Dibs on the next part, I'll definitely enjoy writing it.

Glad you liked it. I'm looking forward to your continuation. Now that Tempo isn't in full control of the situation anymore, things might get more volatile.

This really does sound like the back story to What to do with Jardin

Yep, Alex did promote himself from 'that minorly annoying alien' to 'bane of her existence' over the course of less than two days...

Talking is the first step of working through tension.

[Jethreuel]

It was Fragile-Storm in What to do with Jardin who thought that Jardin was the bane of her existance, though Stillstorm would have easily had the same feelings regarding Jardin.

[entity2636]

It was Fragile-Storm in What to do with Jardin who thought that Jardin was the bane of her existance, though Stillstorm would have easily had the same feelings regarding Jardin.

If I remember that story correctly, Mazeit (Commodore) Fragile-Storm was from a completely different unit with a completely different assignment, namely, in command of the squadron bringing the Loroi diplomatic mission to Earth and Alex wasn't under her command initially. Stillstorm was alive and well but still chasing Umiaks across the Steppes. But, indeed, Alex always had a problem with authority even during his academy years and has the uncanny ability of becoming a thorn in the side of any brass anywhere.

[dragoongfa]

Enjoyed it greatly. You had me seriously wondering what the plan is going to be. There was real tension there. Are you a professional?

Just a gifted amateur, hopefully I will find the courage to self publish some stories I have been working on for the past couple of years.

[Krulle]

Wow.
Thank you, Dragoongfa and Werra!

[Werra]

There are some inconsistencies in my last part. They were of course unintended.

SpoilerShow

Perhabs.

[novius]

Here comes.....

Just a few solons. Couldn't have it been just a few measly solons later? Stillstorm groused.

Because, had The Enemy launched its attack only just a little later, that damnable alien would have been on board the Clearbrook and, more importantly out of her life.

But, no.

The shells arrived, in force, and the Clearbrook bailed out, leaving the shuttle in the lurch.

And they don't even have the decency to get shot out of the system!

Instead, said alien managed to ingratiate himself even to the Gora Relay skeleton crew and convinced them to go through with a harebrained plan that relies on lies and trickery to work.

Stillstorm wasn't sure what rankled her more: The underhandedness of his tactics, or that his crazy scheme actually worked and threw the shells quite in a loop, in addition to saving the whole Gora Relay crew.

Or, she added, that I referred to that alien as 'him' again. Stars save me if he ... it! ... picked that up on the transmission.

No, she tried to chase away that thought. That nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she might even could have been interested in following through with the mating encounter she signed for herself.

And now I even have to thank it for its rudeness, so that I would never have to entertain that thought again!

To make matters worse she felt the beginnings of a tension headache to form.

Dishonest, it had called her. She was solons away from challenging it to a honor duel, consequences be damned.

She thought that alien to be a shell trick, for sure. And now? If that alien is a shell trick, it is a very convoluted one that started to cost their own troops even more than the Loroi.

On top of it it managed to poach three or four of my officers and the whole skeleton crew of the Relay! Stillstorm scoffed. His damnable crazy plan saved their collective lives, and it didn't even take the time for it to wake up and be summoned to my quarters for my desk to be cluttered with even more applications for mating encounters.

Stillstorm smiled, despite the mounting headache. Of course she let it slip that she essentially waived the regulations, but only when it comes to Captain Jardin. That saved her the indignity or either countersigning or denying every single application and gives her an idea about the morale and steadfastness on her ship.

Well, listening in to the sanzai chatter and the signs of that Captain's current distress was something to be savored like the sight of a whole shell platoon going up in flames.

Then she remembered when she had last seen that particular sight and who was responsible for it.

This just isn't my cycle. Or tozon.

As an afterthought, she typed in a command to delete a video she recently downloaded. She had been cured of her curiosity in a very thorough manner, thank you very much.

---//---

Poor Cloud gave him a wide eyed, fearful look, one he didn't need sanzai for to recognize: 'Well, I tried to warn you', it seemed to say, just before stating to slowly back away, then walking off as fast as she could without breaking into a run.

Alex couldn't fault her one bit. Looking back into the rec area he quickly noticed that about every pair of Loroi eyes is focused on him.

He was sure, if he was to turn around and try to flee it would start a full-blown stampede.

With a sinking feeling he scanned the assembled Loroi for even just one familiar face - but no such luck. Even Fireblade would have been a welcome port in the brewing storm, but Alex realized that she may have to reintegrate herself into the Tempest's operations as well as Beryl and Tempo.

Talon and Spiral? Alex looked for their faces, but saw that they tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible. Alex gave them a slight reassuring smile before facing the inevitable and headed for a free seat next to Brightshield, who smiled openly when she saw him approaching.

A number of quiet groans and cheers accompanied his choice, telling Alex of bets lost and won.

"Get used to it", Brightshield said in a low voice, "You have become sort of a good luck charm to the warriors your human strategem rescued."

"Yeah...", Alex groaned, "and now they all want a piece of me, right? Which piece I don't even need to point out."

"I would be dishonest if I'd say that that thought never crossed my mind, too. For us warriors, contact to males is limited to a specific purpose and that purpose only... with one exception, now. We can actually talk to you now for an extended period without fearing to run afoul with that regulation."

"Wait. You mean that there'd be applications just because the women wanted to just ... chat?"

Brightshield smiled. "Some, maybe. But you are an attractive specimen of a male, all things considered. In any case, you are still free to deny mating encounters, even without having to give a reason. And, rest assured it would take a Loroi to be completely deviant to try to force you to something. She might suggest, she might cajole, and she might be disappointed if you set a hard limit, but she will - she has to - respect your wishes."

That brought Alex's mind back to the little extra Tempo might have left in his mind. Would she really be that unscrupulous and 'deviant' by Loroi standards to brainwash him into accepting?

He remembered that the lessons had been put on hold since they were steamrolled by the recent events. Alex was sure that Tempo would be anxious to resume them soon enough, her schedule permitting. Might be an opportunity to bring this up...

But Brightshield wasn't quite finished with her speech. "And, please keep this in mind: The Relay had been evacuated the moment the Enemy's deep jump divisions arrived. The skeleton crew... we... were ready to lay down our lives, but make sure that they will have to pay in blood as well. Your crazy and totally human idea saved the lives of thirty-five warriors while perhaps even doing more damage to The Enemy than we might have been able to with more orthodox tactics. Mine, Doranzer Mazil-Toza Winterbloom's and Torrai Mazeit Cerulean's included. We wouldn't be here if not for you.", she stressed, "While it may be ... disheartening if you would deny us mating encounters, know that by now you have earned the respect and loyalty of each and every one of these warriors, and it would take a gross transgression for you to ever lose it again."

Brightshield's impassioned speech touched Alex deeply. For him, it was a natural thing to do. Do everything to make sure you can return home and fight another day. And that may be a big thing... Listening to the comm chatter, back on the shuttle he noticed that the Loroi might be distressingly quick to turn to put their lives on the line on high-risk missions and sorties.

Not on my watch, he swore. Every. Single. One. of these fine warrior elf ladies matter. Beryl. Tempo. Fireblade. Talon. Spiral. Reed. Flint. Brightshield. Winterbloom. Cerulean. The other thirty-two Loroi he never learned their names.

Cloud, that young Loroi who always seemed to be shy, almost terrified around him.

And yes, even Stillstorm. She might be a pain in the butt, hell-bent on making his life miserable, but even she shall not meet her fate by those bugs.

"I promise you. If there is something you need and it's in my capability to give, just ask", Alex stated gravely.

Noticing that Brightshield's ears turned a deeper shade of blue, he added. "Yes, even this. But... for Stillstorm's calmness of mind, please do not overuse this privilege."

Brightshield chortled and broke into a full laugh, the slightly awkward moment had passed.

"Moio sagit! ... Thanks, I very much needed that.", she breathed out, catching her wind again.

"Uh... my pleasure."

Turning more serious again, she looked up again at Alex. "Captain? There's another matter I feel you should be aware of. It might be best if I show you rather than tell. Did the quartermaster already assign you your crew cabin?"

Alex blinked. "You do know that it sounds awfully like you wish to make good on my promise right now?"

Instantly he got aware that about every pair of Loroi eyes in hearing range was turned towards Brightshield and him.

Brightshield smiled. "While it sounds tempting, I just need access to a computer console and maybe a bit of privacy." In a lower voice she added. "This ... is a bit of a sensitive matter, I think."

Now Alex was very much intigued. On the way out of Stillstorm's quarters, Cloud did hand him a tablet device, much like the one he saw Tempo using and wordlessly showed him how to turn it on and navigate through some of its functions.

Navigating to the personal entries he noted that, yes, he must have been assigned a cabin in the meantime, on the lower decks.

---//---

Tempo was not having a good cycle.

News of Stillstorm's decision spread like wildfire via sanzai, putting the whole crew of the Tempest in a tizzy.

And she was stuck on the bridge, reacquainting with her position for the duration of her duty cycle instead of trying to somehow calm things down somewhat.

What by the stars have you said to her, Captain Jardin? She thought, exasperated. Tempo just aimed for relaxing the regulations a bit or at least achieve an exception if they'd cross a line governed by the regulations, but whatever Captain Jardin said... it made her decide to completely waive the regulations on the provisions that it is with him, and discipline is upheld. In addition, the quarters which had been allocated to him were quite near the recreational areas on the ship and way away from the command deck.

Tempo saw Stillstorm's hand in it. Captain Jardin did use the phrase "too much of a good thing" once, and Tempo slowly got the idea what he might have meant.

She set this up, just waiting for a disciplinary infraction to happen, Tempo concluded.

But, interestingly, quietly listening in to the sanzai chatter she noticed that the rest of the crew - and mainly the Loroi they rescued from the doomed Relay - were intent to not to let things slide. It might be the effect that when something has been freely offered it isn't as attactive as having to fight for, or that every warrior on this ship was intent on not to squander that unique opportunity.

Yes, the warriors were elated by this turn of events.

Tempo took a deep breath, her foul mood somewhat passing. Well, perhaps this is just the thing we all actually needed in these trying times.

---//---

Entering his new cabin with Brightshield in tow - thankfully the assembled Loroi had let them leave, though he thought he had seen grudging admiration in some of their eyes, directed at Brightshield - he saw that his new lodging might not be a VIP quarter, but still two steps above the brig.

A bed, as expected, a small but serviceable 'fresher cabin and, indeed, a computer console which could be pulled down and out from the wall so that one could sit on the bed and use it.

Saves space and no need for a chair - one less possible hazard when things go upside down. Interesting idea.

Of course, that would have Brightshield and Alex both sitting on the bed, and close together. A thought Alex didn't wish to follow through at the moment, since Brightshield herself said she was here for a different reason.

Judging from the slight smile playing around her lips she might have had the same thought but chased it away as well as she pulled out her own personal tablet and placed it in a receptacle on the console, typing in a few commands.

"Captain Jardin? What I wish to show you has been classified since ... let me translate ... yes, about four hundred of your years. It is still considered classified, except for specific circumstances, which I see had come to pass in the recent cycles."

"Brightshield, please don't...." Alex cut in, alarmed.

"Peace, Captain. Rest assured I am not about to commit an indiscretion here. Everything will be made clear, though it might be difficult to believe."

Now that sounds ominous, Alex thought.

"About four hundred years ago our people were just expanding - we made First Contact with the Golim and the Nibiren as well as several other species, but nothing could have prepared us for what we encountered on one of our very own Sister Worlds - Deinar.

It was a diral - a group of fourty-eight warrior initiates sent into the wilds for their trials", she supplied on Alex's questioning glance, "that was exploring a forested region on our planet, coming across an artificial clearing and a dwelling, housed by a singular alien. An alien of a species we never encountered so far; an alien that looked very similar to ourselves."

Alex blinked. Surely she doesn't mean...

"The records of this incident were quickly sealed for various reasons, but the upload of your medical records by Doranzer Mazil-Toza Pabetpeio triggered a subroutine in the Relay's systems to unseal the files. Feel free to look for yourself."

With a feeling of trepidation and shaking fingers, Alex typed in the command to browse through the files. Lots and lots of reports, but there were a number of pictures.

A picture of the clearing she mentioned, with what Alex surmised to be provisional shelters, surrounding ... a log cabin. One of a design that was a common for settlers and trappers, four hundred years ago. On Earth.

Another picture of a knife with a wooden handle and a straight blade.

And another picture. Alex remembered having been ribbed for his obscure hobby of ancient military weapons, but he never thought that this would come into play now.

A picture of a M1752 musket. A weapon made by spanish manufacturers. Some of them made their way to America and had been used by the american rebels in its war.

"Impossible....", Alex breathed.

Brightshield looked at him with an emphatic expression. "There is one more picture."

Alex hestitated for a long moment before tapping the button to leaf through the next picture.

Any doubts that this was just a fake, or a matter of parallel evolution in designs quickly evaporated.

For this picture showed a young man garbed in a leather-and-fur outfit, surrounded by a number of Loroi warriors. It looked much like these pictures a squad might make of itself, down to the proud poses they took.

And while the Loroi may think a male warrior to be an absurd concept, Alex's brain stopped on the fact that this man was undeniably human. Pink skinned, round eared Human amongst the blue skinned, pointy eared Loroi.

"The key to unseal the files was your genetic sequence, or parts of it. The files were intentionally encrypted and only to be opened if ... when ... we ever come across another human."

---//---

Beryl, deeply engrossed in her work, hestitated. Something felt wrong all of a sudden. Very wrong. Her shift was to be over in just a few solons, and damn whoever would stand between her and Alex!

[orion1836]

Awesome work, Novius. I did not expect that, nor did I ever intend for one story to fall in line with the other. I had always imagined that Nathanial would pass unnoticed by the Loroi at large, either by somehow going home or dying before the diral returned to civilization. Argent and company would never be able to hide their memory of him, but I just assumed that their experience would be chalked up to mass delusion/hysteria and the story as a whole would become something of a tall tale/urban legend rather than a recorded piece of history (especially since there were no Listel around). Any physical evidence such as his gear could go back with him, and the structures could be chalked up to a *very* skilled and innovative diral group.

How's this for a missed opportunity? I just learned that Stillstorm was a Soroin. Move the story forward one hundred years and make Nathanial an Oregon frontiersman rather than an Ohio frontiersman and the diral could have theoretically been hers (though that would likely have changed her initial reaction to Alex).

Or, better yet, I just realized that Nathanial is also a French name. Instead of Nathanial Hutchins, second-generation Scotch colonial from Ohio, the frontiersman could be Nathanial Jardin, fourth-generation French-American from Louisiana, making his way to Oregon Territory.

I have no intention of making those changes, but it's cool to think about.