Warhawk's Sacrifice - Ch. 6 - Planned Protection - Alpha (Patreon)

Seb twisted off his helmet and set it on the kitchen counter. He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a plastic pouch. After twisting off the top, he took several large gulps. The slightly sweet liquid quenched his thirst and cooled his body from the inside.

After tossing it in the bin, he grabbed his helmet and walked over to the common room. With a heavy thud, he fell back into one of the free chairs. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, taking a moment to rest. The adrenaline high wore off, leaving his whole body tingling with a lingering weakness. He took another swig of his drink. It helped.

Seb heard the familiar wind up of the ship’s FTL drive before it engaged. They were free for now. But they didn’t get any of the supplies they needed, and were now wanted by every major government across the galaxy. Not to mention every bounty hunter.

What’s a bit more pressure? Seb wondered.

He heard the soft footsteps and dragging tale of Nalla approach him from behind. When he opened his eyes, she stood hovering over him. She took her portable diagnostic tool and plugged it into his suit.

“I’m not hurt,” Seb said, sitting up.

“Just because you don’t feel any pain now doesn’t mean there couldn’t be an injury,” Nalla said, her eyes not leaving the device’s interface. He rolled his eyes but relented, knowing she was being thorough because she cared. When her tool dinged and lit up green, she disconnected the cable and let out a sigh of relief.

“See, I told you there was nothing to worry about,” Seb said with a smile.

“That’s better than the rest of the crew,” Nalla said, sliding her gadget in her doctor’s coat. “Eni, Vi, and Zara are all covered in cuts and bruises. Sister Mischa is the same except she’s got a second-degree burn where a laser bolt punctured a weak spot in her armor.”

“What about Iris?”

“She’s sleeping. Physically she seems fine, but I’m not familiar with nakai physiology. Like the ends of her hair are split, blooming into plant-like bulbs. I have no idea what that means or is supposed to represent. I was worried it was a defense mechanism.”

“Hopefully, once Eni and Syn manage to decode her language, we can pull information that would help you.”

“That would be great, because right now I can’t adequately care for her. Even asking her basic questions such as how she feels is impossible. I’d need you there to translate everything.”

“Yeah, being a conduit is not ideal. It’s a shame we couldn’t get any of the supplies we needed. The additional processing would—”

“That’s another thing,” Nalla said, holding up her hand. “Seb, I need those supplies. I can’t stress enough how I can’t care for the team with what I have. I’m almost out of disinfectant. I’m going to have to start using towels for bandaging, and I’ve only got a few bottles of morphonix left, which I’m rationing for only serious injuries. And don’t forget about Roja.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Seb said, letting out a heavy breath. “I know we need those supplies. We need a lot more than just that. This wasn’t supposed to go down like it did.”

“But it did… and now we need to figure something else out.”

“I know, I know. I’ll think of something.”

Nalla nodded and pointed down the hall. “Okay, well, I’m going to ‌make some food for everyone. Hopefully, full bellies will strengthen weakened spirits.”

Before she pulled away, Seb grabbed Nalla’s hand. “Hey. Come here.”

“What?” Nalla asked before leaning down.

Seb pulled Nalla toward his lips and her. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything you do and are doing. You do a great job keeping everyone healthy. I just wanted to say I appreciate it.”

Nalla leaned over and sucked on Seb’s bottom. They shared a few breaths before the pink-eyed beauty pulled away and smiled.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

Seb watched her walk to the kitchen. Her smooth tail perked up, swaying heavily back and forth. But as he gazed at his lover, the shunt of the open elevator doors pulled his attention.

Zara marched down the hall. She was wearing one of Seb’s hoodies and pants, her hair twisted in a towel. Her piercing yellow eyes and scowl informed him she didn’t plan on having a fun conversation.

Here we go, Seb thought.

Before she reached the end of the hallway, Zara began her tirade. “What in all the gods in the galaxy was that?”

“Hello to you too,” Seb said, putting his feet on the coffee table.

Zara hovered over Seb and pointed at her face. “Do you see me laughing? I’m not in the mood to play games. What happened back there? Who were those people trying to kill me?”

“Station security.”

“I know that. But why?”

“They knew we were coming in. The GRC put me, my crew, and my ship all over the holonet. We’ve got a bounty of ten million. My guess is the Timura Outpost owner, Madam Hurona, was looking to make some quick credits.”

Zara opened her mouth, then hesitated before resting her chin on her thumb and finger. “If you’re already exposed, the situation is more dire than we originally assumed.”

“It’s nothing we can’t handle,” Eni said before jumping over the couch.

Vi and Mischa followed behind. Eni and Vi were dressed down in their sleepwear while Mischa still had her leg armor on but sporting a black sports bra and taped side just under her armpit.

Zara let out a forced laugh, pointing at Eni. “Nothing you can’t handle? Please… enlighten me how you’re planning on handling the entire GRC.”

“You saw Iris, didn’t you?” the pracovi asked before raising her finger. “Oh wait… you didn’t, because you were locked in the back room.”

Zara’s lip curled. “You’re the one who locked me in there!”

“It was for your own protection.”

“I could have handled myself.”

“Oh really? What would you have done? Talk them to death?”

Zara pointed her nose in the air and crossed her arms. “I’ll have you know, if we would have met with the station’s owner instead of you all just shooting everyone, I could have negotiated our way off the station without all the bloodshed.”

“Now, who’s the one who is being unrealistic?” Eni asked, rolling her eyes. “She would have never let us walk out of there. We had a bounty on our head. If we hadn’t started shooting, we’d all be in electronic binders on our way to some supermax prison. You may not know this, princess, but this is how the real world works.”

“Enough already,” Seb said, eyeing the two combatants. “There’s no reason arguing about what-ifs now. What happened, happened. We made it to the ship and jumped. Now we need next steps.”

“The next step is clear.” Eni said before pointing over her shoulder. “She’s resting in her room.”

“Hold on,” Seb said before removing his metal glove and setting it on the table. “Are you talking about Iris?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Are you insane?” Zara asked, placing her hands on her hips. “That thing back there almost destroyed the entire station!”

“Well, it’s not like it’s the first one.” Eni muttered.

“What?”

“That’s… technically true,” Seb said.

Zara’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe this. I’m surrounded by a bunch of psychos.”

“Hey,” Sister Mischa said, eyeing Zara. “You can say what you want about me, but be careful how you address my ward. Sepix princess or not, I will ensure you respect her.” For one of the first times since he’d known Zara, Seb saw fear in her eyes before Sister Mischa continued. “However, I do agree with your concern. In that new form, Iris seemed… different.”

“I agree,” Seb said. “This may sound weird, but when I connected to Iris while she was glowing, she didn’t feel the same. She felt like a whole separate entity and personality. There was so much rage and anger. It was hard for me to get through to her, and it almost consumed me.”

“The role of the inhibitor may be somewhat literal,” Vi said. “There may need to be some way to allow her to offload herself onto you, given all the power.”

“Yeah, like some sort of daisy chained neural network,” Eni added.

“She likely needs training to control herself,” Sister Mischa said. “The nakai built the ultimate weapon, but did not give her the tools she needs. I will work with her on this.”

“That’s great and all, but what are you all doing about the situation you’re in?” Zara asked, crossing her arms.

“As offered previously, I can contact the church and we can seek their protection. But I warn you, doing so we’ll limit our freedoms, and we’ll be placed somewhere in unclaimed space, away from everything. It will be isolating.”

“No offense, Mischa, but I’m not big on giving away my freedoms,” Vi said.

“None taken. Which is why I wanted to make it clear what would be the result should that choice be accepted.”

“I hate the idea of running,” Eni said, jumping from her seat. “We have hundreds of nakai vault locations. We should be out there exploring them.” After the words left her mouth, Eni slapped her hand over her lips and looked at the princess.

“You have what?” Zara asked, wide-eyed.

Vi kicked Eni in her butt. “Eni, you and your stupid big mouth.”

“Dammit…” Eni said before letting out a heavy sigh. “Don’t get any ideas princess. You just keep your mouth shut.”

“So you’re telling me that you have a list of undiscovered vaults all over the galaxy?” Zara asked.

“Something like that.”

“You realize that’s like the greatest find of this generation. Even more so than the nakai sleeping back there.”

Eni hopped up on the couch and jabbed her claw in Zara’s stomach. “As I said. Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself unexpectedly outside an airlock.”

Zara smacked Eni’s hand away, and the two argued. Seb paid little mind, as the two’s bickering was quickly becoming commonplace. His mind focused on trying to find a solution to their problem.

They were being pursued by every faction within the GRC. It left very few places they could go. But all options seemed to either keep them on the run, or so separated from society it would feel like he was back in a cell. That thought brought him back to his years in prison. A smiled formed on his lips. Not because he recalled that time fondly, but because it gave him an idea.

“I’ve got it,” Seb said, jumping up to his feet. Everyone’s heads turned and watched as the captain paced back and forth. “Back in prison, there was this guy nicknamed Pocket. He was a skinny, unremarkable human that probably weighed less than a hundred pounds. Now, when new guys come into the system, they are always put through an initiation of sorts. The prisoners always liked to test the fresh meat to see if they’d crack and break. It’s a kill or be killed system. If you’re weak, people will take advantage of you.”

“Did you go through that?” Vi asked.

“Yeah, everyone did. I went down swinging and ended up in the infirmary for two weeks after my first week.”

“Sounds like what we would do to new recruits in my old gang,” Sister Mischa said with a slight smile.

“Mischa, you were in a gang?” Eni asked with a cocked brow. “Well, you just became ten times more interesting.”

Seb clapped his hands. “Hey, I’m telling a story here. This is important.”

Eni hopped back on the couch. “Oh right, sorry.”

“Anyway, the first day Pocket came through, he caught the eye of this printaghast named Kara. He was named after karasaur given his sharp pointed teeth. This guy was a gigantic piece of shit. Super sick abuser type. Well, Pocket caught his fancy, and he told Pocket he was coming for him. Now, Pocket wasn’t big, but he was smart. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to outrun Kara given we were all in the same block. He was too weak to fight him, too. So he came up with the plan. The second day he was there, he sat across from this big onigaram guy nicknamed Axe. He started giving him his commissary items, anything he wanted. Then when Kara finally pushed Pocket, Axe did what an Axe does best.”

“What did he do?” Vi asked.

“He cut Kara down to a smaller size, and didn’t get in trouble because no one ratted him out.”

“I don’t get it…” Eni said, tilting her head. “So, we need to hire a bunch of prisoners?”

“No… Zara said, waving her finger. “He’s saying we need someone who can protect us from the GRC. I see what you’re getting at Sebastian… Smart.”

“Who can protect us from the GRC?”

“The GRC,” Seb said.

Eni threw up her hands. “Now, I’m really confused.”

“The GRC is semi-democratic body that really only works when they are in agreement. However, there are three big players that carry the most weight: the United Human Coalition, the Liolai Collective, and the Freelight Syndicate. What we need is to create a divide. All we need is one GRC member large enough who will protect us from the others. The political gridlock this will create should give us enough freedom to be mobile.”

“You do realize the size of the request you’re asking for, right?” Zara asked.

“I know. Which is why I need you to speak with your father. We need to understand the cost.”

“I can, but I’m warning you, it’s going to be high.”

“Just do it.”

“Okay, I will on our next stop.”

Eni pushed herself between Zara and Seb. “Wait a minute. You’re not talking about doing what I think you’re doing, are you? We just got out from underneath her thumb and now you want to put us right back under it?”

“Unless you all have any better ideas, I don’t see another way,” Seb said, shrugging.

The room went quiet for a few seconds before Syn spoke over the intercom. “If it helps, I’m in agreement with the Captain. The alternatives keep the Amnesty and its crew on the run and in pursuit by multiple high-level threats. The Captain’s suggestion reduces the threat risk significantly while giving us time to pursue other alternatives.

“I still don’t like it,” Eni huffed, crossing her arms.

“Syn, how long until we arrive at our coordinates?” Seb asked.

“Fourteen hours, Captain.”

“There,” Seb said, glancing at everyone in the room. “You all have fourteen hours. If you don’t come up with a better plan, Zara will make the call.”

As everyone stood nodding in agreement, Nalla shouted from the kitchen. “Food’s ready!”

Everyone smiled as they rushed over to the oversized counter. A colorful spread of pasta, bread, fruits, and vegetables filled the room with an enticing aroma. Several large pans held the entrée, which was composed of fist-sized noodles, full of brown meat and floating in a red sauce.

Everyone stood patiently in a line while each crew member and passenger filled their plate. When everyone had their food, they all returned to the common room to eat. Over the next hour, all worries and concerns slipped away.

The group joked and laughed about their previous exploits on Timura Outpost, even going as far as drawing a tally board on the nearby wall of the number of stations they’d destroyed. While Zara wasn’t bemused, Seb did notice her crack a smile every so often. As he glanced around the room, seeing everyone’s smile helped him relax.

This is just what we needed, Seb thought. Everyone is smiling, laughing, and coming together over a hot meal. No fighting or arguing. Nalla was right. Food is one of those things that helps pull everyone together.

After the conversation winded down, Seb gathered the plates to clean. He didn’t mind washing dishes. He’d had plenty of practice in prison. Without Syn’s drone, it was an easy problem for him to fix. The No Scrub spray allowed just for a few sprays and a rinse of water.

As he washed the dishes, the other members of the crew all parted to their respective abodes. Nalla hung back to help put away the leftovers. Once she’d put everything away and wiped up all the surfaces, she approached Seb’s side. Her tail wrapped around his leg and her hand slid up his back.

“I can take care of this,” Nalla said. “You can go upstairs and change out of your gear.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Seb said, smiling. “You cooked. I can clean.”

“Can I at least help?”

“I’m almost done. Just need to dry these off and put them away.”

“I can do that.”

“Only if you want to.”

With Nalla’s help, it only took a few minutes to clean all the pans, plates, cups, and silverware. After she placed the last plastic plate in the cabinet, Seb came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. The two stood in the kitchen slowly swaying side to side, just enjoying the moment of holding each other.

“What are you doing after this?” Seb mumbled.

“I need to check on the crew and see how everyone is doing with their injuries.”

“What about after that?”

Nalla turned around and wrapped her arms around Seb’s neck, playfully squinting up at him. “Why do you ask? Do you have something in mind?”

“Well, I need to get out of this armor and get a shower. I was thinking you could join me.”

Nalla glanced behind her before turning back and looking up at Seb. Her lips twisted in a half smile as she considered his offer. “Just you and me?”

“Yeah… I wasn’t planning on inviting everyone from dinner.”

“I don’t know. Last time when I went up to your room, I thought we were going to have some alone time. However, when I got there, Zara was all over you.”

Seb let out a sigh. “I promise that was a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?” Nalla said, leaning back and crossing her arms. “She was nearly on top of you, naked.”

“She was coming on to me,” Seb said, wide-eyed. “It wasn’t anything!”

“I… I saw your bulge.”

“I can’t help it. It has a mind of its own.”

Nalla slowly shook her head as she backpedaled into the hallway.

“So is that a no?” Seb shouted.

“Bye Seb.”

Seb slumped forward as he watched the pink-haired beauty turn into Roja’s room.

Cockblocked by Zara again, Seb thought. She really is my worst enemy.

As he started down the hall, Sister Mischa exited her room holding a towel around her neck, in a tight, black bra and panty. Seb’s jaw dropped.

Her supple chest bounced with each step, pressed together by her elbows as she gripped on her towel. The ship's light created shadows on each crevice of her abdomen. Her powerful thighs flexed, drawing his eyes to her perfectly round bottom that her panty string disappeared into. While battle scars covered her red body, it didn’t detract from her beauty.

Mischa gave Seb a small smile when she saw him stare. She paused in front of him and pointed a finger down at the ground. “You might want to pick up your jaw from the floor.”

“Going for a shower?” Seb asked after a short laugh.

“Nope, just felt like strutting around the ship in my underwear. What do you think?”

“I should probably get a shower, too.”

She took in a quick sniff. “Yeah, you probably should.”

“You don’t need a hand, do you?”

Mischa cocked her brow as she looked Seb up and down, as if mulling over the idea. “I’d break you.”

“I’m more durable than I look.”

Mischa laughed as she walked into the shower, waving. “Goodnight, Seb.”

Frustrated beyond belief, the captain retrieved his glove and helmet before marching back toward the elevator. After a brief ride, his doors opened to his room. He quickly undressed and tossed the gear haphazardly around the room as he stumbled his way to his shower.

Seb couldn’t wait to be coated in the instant warm waters. He jumped in and stood motionless, just letting his body relax. It was his favorite time to let his mind wander, and he had a lot to think about.

Am I making the right call? Seb wondered. Eni’ early concerns were valid. We just got out of Zara’s grasp and it feels like we’re jumping right back in. Only this time it’s not just with her, but potentially her father and the rest of the ten families. And I believed Zara when she stated that the cost would be great.

As he lingered in the water, his mind thought about the distinct possibilities. Maybe the vaults? Is that worth giving up for our freedom? The potential of earnings would be staggering. A lifetime of credits and adventure. What I always wanted. I’d be throwing that away just to keep Iris with me. A life for a life, so to speak. I’d never dream of giving up Iris. But if I’d been asked while I was still locked in a cage, I’d give up anything and everyone for that. Funny how quickly things change. Maybe I’m becoming too soft. It’s possible that’s not the answer. Maybe one of the girls can come up with something different.

Seb lost track of time for how long he stayed, treating the shower more like a spa after he finished cleaning himself. But it was Syn’s soft voice that called from his room that pulled him out of his daze.

“Captain, you have a visitor at your door. Should I let them in?”

Seb smiled, assuming Nalla took him up on his offer. “Yeah, let them in.”

He heard the pressurized hiss of his doors open, building his excitement of what was to come. After turning off the water, Seb grabbed a towel and quickly dried himself off. Once he finished, he wrapped the towel around him and strutted out of the room.

He expected his tailed lover to be waiting for him on the bed. However, instead of pink, he saw red.