Caged Among the Stars, Chapter 4 (Patreon)

“So what are you thinking?”

“Maybe some CTF?”

“Nah, I bet it’s gonna be something with hostages.”

It’s Mannot afternoon, almost 15:00, which means the final class of the day is about to start. It’s been an okay day, for the most part. Given the amount of people they admit, all of us in the officer’s program have an almost identical class schedule. Still, outside of lunch I haven’t had much of a chance to say anything to Kaylin beyond a friendly nod from across the room.

After our discussion the day before, there were just a few things in class that I couldn’t help but notice. Things that just felt sorta ... off. I’m used to hearing Kaylin’s voice once or twice in each class, when he’s answering or asking a question, or just adding to a group discussion. But there were a few times in our morning Astrophysics class where I saw his hand up and Cmdr. Junpat seemed like she was just ... ignoring him. The same thing happened in the first half of Advanced Xenobiology, but Professor Olin at least called on him once towards the end.

Lunch itself was good, it arguably went even better than I expected. Kaylin sat down with me and my friends this time. He didn’t “talk” anything beyond the occasional grunt or change in facial expression, but that also meant he didn’t insult anyone. Sure, I was probably the only person at risk of being insulted in the first place - I’m still counting it as a win!

Our afternoon Quantum Geometry class was just like our morning classes, but now it’s time for our usual start-of-the-week field test. We have one at the start and end of every week, where we’re split into squads of five, with each group given an objective to accomplish. Sometimes those objectives are different, with all of us needing to work in concert to achieve larger group objectives, but other times they are competitive, pitting each group against each other to see who can achieve their goal first. And I think today, we’re going to be dealing with the latter.

“I think Tuck’s right,” I share my own guess. “We haven’t had a hostage run in a few weeks.”

“The probability of that seems pretty high,” Rev agrees, probably after running a simulation or two. “I’m with Vaiken.”

These training sessions all take place on a large holofield. Left on its own, it appears like any normal grass-covered field, but beneath the surface are thousands of cameras and other sensors, and just as many hard-light projectors. When programmed to work in concert, you can create just about any scene or scenario you could imagine. Buildings, roads, creatures, even people, the projectors can create anything you need.

The field is connected to the academy grounds, but it’s not actually ours - it belongs to Monika City, technically, which uses it for all sorts of holidays and celebrations. Still, we probably use it the most, with training sessions scheduled months in advance. We’re all outfitted in our full tactical uniforms, but since nothing we’ll be interacting with is real, our weapons are for little more than show. Seriously, I’m pretty sure the lasers we used to play tag at my twelfth birthday party packed more power than these.

<Incoming,> Gax-On warns us.

“Fall in!” Cmdr. Geeta orders as she walks onto the field.

All thirty of us line up, shoulder to shoulder, awaiting the next of her orders. Geeta, a Cabrian, is a tough, no-nonsense dom who takes her job as our instructor very seriously. While we all rotate through different roles, now in our fifth year it’s more clear where our skills lie, so most of us end up in the same positions and working with the same people. Our squad assignments come in over our OCIDs, the small cybernetic contact lens that all cadets are outfitted with. It stands for Optical Communication and Information Display, and in addition to allowing us to easily communicate with each other, provides an easy read out of maps, environmental readings, and other information. I’m confused to see Kaylin in my group, instead of leading one of his own.

“Ma’am?” And of course, he noticed too. “I think there’s been a mistake.”

“No mistake, Zekram,” Geeta responds sternly. “You’re with Urmatin today and for the foreseeable future. “

Kaylin’s jaw tightens as she walks away without another word, but he says nothing.

“About time someone put him in his place,” I overhear Cadet Falkin mutter to his own squad.

“The fuck did you just say?” Kaylin angrily questions after hearing it himself.

“No one was talking to you, sub,” he sneers, rolling his eyes and turning away to laugh with his friends.

“Ignore them, Kaylin,” I try and offer support.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he snaps at me before glowering at the back of Geeta’s head.

I share a look with Tuck, but otherwise keep my mouth shut. No need to antagonize him worse. Once we get started, we’ll have too much else to focus on to worry about it anyway.

“Today’s exercise is a standard insurgency scenario,” Cmdr. Geeta starts to explain, walking back and forth in front of us cadets. “A group of raiders has attacked a recently established settlement near the edges of the GU’s territory. They have captured several key locations and taken numerous hostages.”

“Told ya.” Tuck and I share a quick fist bump.

“Your objective is to take back as many captured points as possible, with the ultimate goal being to end the insurgency while keeping civilian casualties to a minimum,” Geeta finishes explaining. “Details on your assignment will be sent to your OCID. Proceed to your squad's starting point, and then the exercise will begin. Move out!”

“See you out there, bro,” Tuck says, having his own squad to lead.

“Good luck.” We clap the backs of our right wrists together twice, a handshake all our own.

Aside from Kaylin, I’ve also got Gax-On, Astella, and Cadet Tv’kom, a Numerian. As we move to our starting positions, I decide to have Tv’kom and Gax-On both running point. Numerians have long, cone-shaped ears that can hear about five times better than a Cabiran’s, and while Gax-On won’t be able to read the actual thoughts of the holo-constructs, they are programmed to give off enough of a psi-signature that he’ll at least be able to pick up on their location. That’ll leave Kaylin with me just behind them, and Astella will bring up the rear, her natural Yarlatan size allowing her to easily dwarf the rest of us.

Once we’re in position, I tell the rest of my squad their marching orders. There are no complaints, not even from Kaylin, though it looks like he wants to say something. But before he can, blue lights begin to flicker all around us as the holo-projectors kick on. All around us, trees begin to sprout from the ground, each flickering in an outline of blue light until the images settle into place, and we’re suddenly standing in a forest.

We’re not on a planet I’m familiar with, the trees each bearing square and orange-colored leaves. The sky is a hazy pink, and off in the distance I can see some tall buildings topped with rounded glass domes. I also see plumes of smoke, which means our target is that way. After confirming everyone understands the assignment, we move out.

Not to brag, but things go exceptionally smoothly for our squad. Just like I hoped, between Gax and Tv’kom, we’re able to not just avoid and raider parties in the forest, but are also able to locate a few of the locals who are in need of first aid or protection. Obviously these holograms and their injuries aren’t real - but neither are the first aid kits each of us is outfitted with.

It doesn’t take long until the five of us are traveling with four of the “local” inhabitants, intending to find a good defensive point to drop them off in until the danger has passed. This is exactly what we would be expected to do in the actual field - help people. For all the flash and grit that might come with this job, that’s really what it’s all about.

“Wait.” Gax announces, pausing  as we near the settlement. “I’m getting some weird readings.”

“Hail!” Before he can continue, a Cabrian in a GU uniform walks out of the brush, his hands raised. “Finally, reinforcements.”

“We’re here to help however we can,” I assure the man. “Where are--”

“Get your hands up,” Kaylin orders on my left, his stun pistol aimed at our holo-ally.

“Zekram!” I shout! “What are you--”

“His uniform is untucked, the pistol at his hip isn’t standard issue, and even if there was a person alive who actually greeted someone with ‘hail,’ he should have used his OCID to establish contact first - not walk right up to us in the middle of an active engagement.” He takes a step forward, still aiming at the man’s chest. “He is not GU.”

I’m at a loss for words, shocked that Kaylin would do something like this - until the GU officer’s face flips to an angry grimace.

“You offworlders think you’re so smart, don’t you?” he snarls, putting his hands in the air.

Immediately the rest of us all aim our pistols at the man.

“Good eye, Zekram,” I praise before turning my attention to our current target. “Take us to whoever you stole that uniform from.”

The man, his hand still up, begrudgingly leads us to a small home just outside the city limits. Inside are several of his fellow raiders, who are all forced to surrender given that we outnumber them and already have one of them captured. There are also a few hostages along with a few GU officers - including the one our friend stole his uniform from.

After freeing our colleagues (holograms just like the others), we make sure the area is secured and hand over the civilians we’ve rescued so far. They should be safe here until we are able to evacuate the area. By which I mean we finish the exercise and this all goes back to being a grassy field.

With that handled, we continue on. The streets are empty as we move further into the settlement, which is not a good sign. We avoid any open areas, staying close to the walls as we try moving closer to the colony’s center. Just as we start to approach one of the larger buildings, Gax stops us again.

<I am getting a strange reading from inside.> He looks towards our current target. <I can sense something, but not what, nor how many.>

“I can hear voices inside,” Tv’kom says, cupping a purple hand around one ear. “Three, maybe four? They don’t sound very calm.”

“Front entrance is a no-go then,” I decide. “Let’s scope around and try to find another way inside.”

We don’t have to look very long, finding an unlocked door on the east side of the building. It seems to be some sort of public square, once that’s seen better days. There are different stands (maybe shops) but most of them have been destroyed or toppled over, produce and other items scattered on the ground.

As we move further inside, we see that the center of the building is a large, open air space, currently occupied by what appears to be more of the raiders - along with a few hostages of course. Tv’kom silently signals us towards our left, and we move carefully and quietly around the perimeter until we come across an open alcove with ample cover. There are also more civilians hiding here, who immediately cower away when they see us.

“Wait, we’re here to help,” I speak-whisper, flashing the insignia on my uniform. “We’re with the Galactic Union.”

Though that doesn’t calm them entirely, they at least stop cowering, an older Ataxian woman approaching me with fear in her eyes.

“Please, you have to help us,” the terrified woman begs. “They arrived two days ago and have been ransack--”

“What’s the situation?” I turn to see Cadet Falkin and his squad entering from the same direction we did.

“We just arrived a few minutes ago,” I explain in a low voice as the others gather close. “The lead raider is the man ranting in the center there, and he’s holding the settlement’s leader hostage.”

“Have you scoped out any tactical positions yet?” Falkin asks next, already reaching for his pistol.

“No, because nobody needs to start shooting people,” Kaylin responds in disgust. “Maybe we should try talking to him first?”

“He’s clearly an immediate threat,” Falkin, another dom,  responds. One of the other cadets with Falkin rolls her eyes.

<The use of force should be seen as a tactic of last resort,> Gax-On adds, agreeing with Kaylin, and he’s right.

“We don’t even know why they’re doing this yet,” I point out. As officers (in training) of the Galactic Union, we’re expected to use every tool at our disposal to resolve situations like this - and diplomacy is just as much one of our weapons as our stun-pistols.

“Of course you’d agree with him,” Falkin sneers.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I poke him in the chest, speaking a little too loudly.

“Who’s there?!” The raider leader shouts in our direction. Shit.

“Way to go,” Falkin grouses. “Alright, we’ll fan out.”

“Seeing as we arrived here first, that makes me the lead on this,” I remind my fellow cadet. None of us outrank each other, so the leader of whichever squad reaches the objective first is the one in charge - meaning me. “That means the rest of you are standing down while we try talking to him. Zekram, you’re with me.”

I ignore the looks of anger Falkin and some of his squad give us, Kaylin and I both walking out from behind our cover with our arms up, weapon’s holstered.

“Don’t shoot,” I start as we carefully approach who I think is the leader of this raiding party. “We just want to talk.”

“That’s all your people ever want to do.” He sounds a bit crazed as he talks, gun still aimed at his hostage. “Talk. Meanwhile, my people are starving, dying, while your government sits back and does nothing!”

“What’s your name?” Kaylin asks in a friendly tone. “Where are you from?”

“Don’t pretend like you care,” the man mocks. “It has been six months since the Galactic Union stopped delivering supplies, since they stopped even responding to our messages for help. Your word means nothing.”

“That’s not true, we want to help you as much as we do the people of this colony,” I try to assure, piecing together the holo-raider’s backstory. “There has to be some explanation.”

“I don’t want excuses!” he cries out, though his grip on the old man seems to loosen. “I want my family to survive.”

“We both know killing that man isn’t going to get you that,” Kaylin tries to explain calmly. “But if you all will stand down and tell us where you’re from, we can--”

“Up there! They’re going to shoot!” one of the other raiders shouts, pointing at the second floor balcony - where Falkin has his pistol trained on our hostage taker.

And then everyone starts shooting.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

To say that we failed the exercise in an understatement. As soon as the first shots were fired, the entire area became a battlefield. All of the raiders went down - but so did a lot of the civilians. And the fact that we only failed because of Cadet Falkin disobeying protocol doesn’t matter - we all got dressed down by Cmdr. Geeta. She made us run laps around the field’s perimeter afterwards, and most of us are only finally hitting the showers now.

“What a shitshow,” I complain as I lean forward, letting the hot water run over my back.

“Sorry I missed most of it,” Tuck says on my left. “My squad never even made it out of the forest thanks to a raider in a stolen uniform.”

“This was a rough one.” I don’t mention that thanks to Kaylin, my own squad didn’t fall for that same trick.

Kaylin hasn’t really spoken since the scenario ended, and is currently quietly seething on my right. All of the showers at the Academy use a special water that’s been treated with additives that help with soreness and improve muscle growth. It always feels great after a workout, but I’m not sure it’ll work on our wounded prides.

“Can’t believe how badly you all fucked that up for us,” Falkin loudly declares as he enters, taking up a spot on the opposite wall.

“The only reason we failed was because instead of following protocol you decided to literally get caught pointing your gun at the person with a hostage,” Kaylin corrects him with a glare.

“Well we wouldn’t have failed if we had just done my plan in the first place,” Falkin scoffs, taking a step towards us. “That’s what we get for letting a sub dictate our orders.”

“Your plan got all of the hostages killed!” Kaylin shouts, closing the space between him and Falkin.

“Hey, that’s enough.” I decide to physically get between the two of them before a fight starts.

“Better listen to your dom, bitch,” Falkin sneers.

“What the fuck did you just call me?!” Kaylin flies into a rage, trying to practically climb over me to get to him.

“Kaylin, stop!” I shout, physically holding him in place so he doesn’t swing at Falkin.

“Un-fucking-believable!” he growls when he finally gives up, stomping off to a far corner of the shower and glowering at the wall. I don’t see him again until we’re both finished with our showers and getting dressed, when he follows me out into the hall.

“We’re not done talking,” he tells me, and with a sigh, I silently lead us back to my dorm room.

“What the fuck was that?” he asks as soon as the door is closed.

“You mean me stopping you from punching Falkin in the face?” I ask with one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah.” He rolls his eyes. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need your fucking help.”

“I never said you couldn't.” I try to reason with him. “I was just trying to help you avoid a fight.”

“I can handle fighting a prick like Falkin.” He points in the general direction of the showers. “Or do you suddenly think being a sub makes me weak like everyone else?”

“I know you can handle yourself!” Why is he so frustrating?! “I’m just trying to help you not get expelled!”

“Why do you even care!?” he shouts, practically in my face. “Why are you doing any of this?!”

I don’t have a verbal answer - I grab the sides of his face, and kiss him. And for a second, he kisses me back. But then it stops just as quickly, and he’s shoving me away.

“So you do...” He stares at the floor with a hurt expression. “The only reason you’re doing any of this is because you want--”

“This is new,” I try to assure him that my intentions to help him really were pure. “It didn’t happen until after. And if you’re not interested, we don’t have to--”

I’m silenced by another kiss, one that quickly turns aggressive, even frantic. Still standing in the middle of my room, we wrap our arms around each other, our hands gradually moving lower and lower. It isn’t until I feel Kaylin start to stroke me through my pants, his fingers moving towards my fly, that it occurs to me we need to set some ground rules first.

“Wait, what are your lim--” I start after breaking our liplock.

“Oral only. You can pull my hair, but it all better stay attached to my scalp, and if you try to hold my head down, I will bite your dick off,” he states with a look of warning. “And don’t expect me to call you sir. That work for you?”

“Uh, yeah.” I nod like an excitable teenager. “I’m okay with that.”

Without another word, he drops to his knees. His hands return to my belt, making quick work of it and the zipper of my fly. He tugs my pants halfway down my thighs, taking my underwear with them. Reaching in to fish out my already erect cock, he aims it himself as he opens his lips.

I let out a soft, involuntary moan as I enter his mouth, the heat more soothing than the shower we just finished taking. As I move one hand to his hair, I can’t help but consider that this is not how I would have expected this to go, given our respective dom and sub levels. But if this is what Kaylin is comfortable with, I can make it work.

He looks so good on his knees, his plump red lips wrapped around me. I use my hand to guide him up and down my shaft, giving him the occasional tug on his hair, but taking care never to pull him too roughly or down too far. I start to give him small words of encouragement, petting through his hair as I tell him what a good boy he is, and hearing the low whines and moans that escape from his mouth in return. When I look down between his legs, I can see just how hard he is.

“Take your cock out,” I finally give him my first official order, and it feels good. Right. “Show me how much you’re liking this.

My words make Kaylin shudder, never taking his mouth of me. His hands quickly scrabble at the front of his pants, fumbling as he tries to open his zipper. When he finally manages, his cock springs out, his bright red skin making it look almost hot to the touch. He takes himself in hand, struggling at first to find a rhythm that matches the one set by his mouth.

I’m still happy to let Kaylin set the pace here, at least until I get the chance to learn more about what he likes. But I’m not complaining as I start to rock myself in and out of his lips, and neither does he. In fact, he uses his free hand to reach up and start to fondle my balls, bringing me closer and closer to finishing. Which makes another important question flash in my mind.

“Do... Do you want to swallow?” I ask the sub on his knees with some hesitation, grinning when I receive an almost frenzied nod in return. “Of course you do, because you’re such a good boy.”

The vibrations around my cock from the moan he gives at that praise are what push me over the edge, and with a low goan, I start to cum. My hand still in Kaylin’s hair, I’m careful not to hold him down as I unload. I don’t really need to be though, because Kaylin forces me all the way down his throat all on his own, swallowing every drop. I’m panting when he finally pulls off with a wet pop.

“I need... I need you to...” He sounds breathless as he continues to stroke himself. “Tell me I can cum.”

“Cum,” I quickly order. “Cum for me.”

With a low groan, Kaylin doubles over on himself, his free hand cupped right in front of his cock as he unloads. He squeezes every drop from himself before sitting back on his heels and exhaling deeply. Then, with pants still half undone and a hand full of semen, he gracefully stands, walking to my sink to wash his hands and face.

“Phew.” I let out a breath of my own, watching him clean up from behind. “That was... Great.”

“Thanks, you too,” He tells me over his shoulder, a playful glint in his eye. “And for the record, those aren’t my full limits. Just my limits for this time.”

“Does that mean there will be a next time?” I try not to sound too hopeful.

“Maybe,” he teases, stuffing himself back in his pants. “Do I look alright? The last thing I need is for someone to figure out what we’re up to.”

“What would be wrong with that?” I’m confused. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”

“We know that, but it won’t stop anyone else from making assumptions,” he points out. “It’s just easier this way.”

“Who cares what anyone else thinks?” Since when did other people’s opinions start mattering?

“I have to care about what they think.” He fixes me with an unimpressed look. “Or did you miss the part where the only way most people think a sub can make it anywhere in life is by sleeping their way to the top?”

“But we’re not... You’re not...” Even I’m surprised by my reaction, not expecting to feel this hurt.

“I should go,” he says with a sigh.

“Wait, I’m sorry,” I try to stop him as he heads towards the door.

“It’s okay, Vaiken,” he assures me. “We’ll be fine.”

When the door closes, I know I want us to be much more than fine.