Of The Force

Expected

Cordelia returned to her quarters the next morning, still on a high from her experience with Vicrul in the TIE Fighter. After he’d left, she’d hardly been able to continue on with her work, her mind continually drifting back to what they’d shared, leaving her face pink with shame…and exhilaration. Laying on her bed, her legs pressed tightly together, she tried to keep the memory from resurfacing, leaving her staring out into space once more. She wondered how long it would take to reach Pasturrian. Some time in the night, the Steadfast had launched into hyperspace, and was currently speeding towards their destination.

Valour would be awake soon and Cordelia almost considered holding off on her sleep to join him while he broke his fast. But after a few moments in the darkened silence of her quarters, her eyes were quickly losing the battle against sleep. Within moments, she was asleep.

When Cordelia awoke, something felt different immediately. The Steadfast wasn’t moving. From the moment she arrived, the ship had been making its way slowly through the void of space. When it had jumped into hyperspace, she had felt it immediately. Now the sudden lack of movement felt odd. Instead of lingering on the feeling of discomfort, she stumbled her way into the refresher and washed her face. She’d need to make her way to the communal refreshers to wash her body before work, but she wanted to eat first, her stomach already growling. Glancing at the small clock at her bedside, she quickly dressed and made her way towards the dining hall.

As she entered, her eyes found Valour immediately. Her son sat a head taller than the other children at his side, his dark head of hair seeming to absorb all the light that touched it. As she grew closer, he caught sight of her and turned a dazzling smile on her. A smile that was missing a tooth.

“What happened!?” She gasped in shock, taking hold of his face in her hands.

“Mom, it’s nothing. Aanrah didn’t realize how close I was and her staff caught me.” He said, shaking free of her grip.

Cordelia turned her gaze on the small girl whose eyes grew wide before she turned away. Taking a deep breath, Cordelia looked around, searching for one of the Knights to endure her wrath. But none were there.

“Who is watching you?” She asked, taking in the group of children around the table.

“No one, they said they could trust us. And would know if we misbehaved.” One of the other children explained.

Cordelia smiled to them, trying her best to conceal her displeasure. Though she supposed it was a good thing, this was exactly the chance she needed to sneak away with Valour. Heaving a sigh, she let her annoyance dissipate and patted her son on the head before she went to gather a plate for herself.

Arriving in the hangar bay a few moments before her shift, Halsi was waiting for her, an unusual - and concerning - look of excitement on her face.

“What’s going on?” Cordelia asked the older woman.

“We’re on first rotation to Pasturrian. Rizo will be along shortly to dismiss us and give the official word. We are free from our duties for two days!” She almost squealed.

Cordelia couldn’t contain her look of pure confusion when she continued to look at the older woman. In all of their previous interactions, Halsi had been short, to the point, and down right stand offish when they spoke. It had settled when she realized Cordelia wasn’t someone she would need to babysit, but they hadn’t become friends, and she’d certainly never used this tone in Cordelia’s earshot.

“Just our shift?” Cordelia asked, trying to gain as much information from the older woman.

“The entire hangar! We have these two nights, then the other two hangars will rotate on. A total of six nights in Pasturrian. I might even contract an illness and be unable to work for the following days.” The older woman joked.

Cordelia nodded and stepped back as the rest of their shift began appearing, all of them waiting for Rizova. Glancing over her shoulder, Cordelia immediately found her TIE Fighter, the ship, exactly where it had been the last week. Hidden within was four days’ worth of rations and four sets of clothing. The pants might be a little short on Valour, but they would make it work. As for where they would go, she wasn’t certain. They couldn’t return to Bakura, that was certain, they would find them within a day. Cordelia had heard tales of expeditions out of their known galaxy, into a different galaxy entirely. The tales were short, and often no one returned to tell the tale, but why would they? If she made it to a new galaxy, why would she ever return? But it was dangerous. The hyperspace paths were uncharted, and she had no way of knowing her best chance.

Rizova breezed into the hangar bay with a bright smile, the entire crew standing at attention when she appeared. Stopping before them, she clapped her hands together and smiled brightly.

“As I am certain you have all heard, our hangar has been chosen for first rotation onto Pasturrian. You will have a two days’ reprieve from your duties, but after that, do not expect any leniency. Nor do I expect you to play on my kindness by faking illness.” She gave Halsi a pointed look, that sent the crew laughing. “You are not required to spend your time on Pasturrian. If you’d simply like to enjoy your time off catching up on rest, it is your choice. My one condition, regardless of how you choose to spend your time, enjoy yourself!” She said with a bright smile.

The crew quickly dissipated and Cordelia turned to go work on her ship when Rizova’s voice stopped her.

“I’m sorry Cordelia, I’ve received a missive that the Knights are expecting you on Pasturrian. Vicrul will arrive to collect you in -” She lifted her wrist to check the watch there when a ship glided into the hangar. “Now.”

It wasn’t the Night Buzzard, which Cordelia found odd, but when the Ship landed and Vicrul climbed out, she couldn’t contain her scowl. Rizova laughed when she caught sight of Cordelia’s face and turned to her desk to flip through a stack of papers there.

Vicrul approached, wearing black leather pants that hugged every mouth watering curve of his muscular thighs. His shirt was a deep green button up, only half way buttoned to show off his sculpted chest, dusted with light brown hair. He was dressed far nicer than anything she’d seen around the Steadfast before.

“What are you doing here?” Cordelia hissed at the man approaching her.

“Here to collect you, of course.” He said in a tone that suggested she’d just asked something ridiculous.

“I have no intention of going to Pasturrian. Gambling is not my thing.” She said, turning to make her way to her TIE.

Vicrul grabbed her hand and spun her back to him, the movement with enough force that she stumbled into his chest.

“Vicrul, I did not agree to go.” She growled, trying to pull away from him.

“Are you certain? I could have sworn hearing you say ‘Yes! Yes, Vicrul, yes!’ while I was between your thighs last night.” He said with a grin of pure masculine satisfaction.

Over his shoulder, Rizova coughed pointedly. Looking over in absolute horror, Cordelia saw her superior giving her a knowing smile before mouthing ‘go have fun’.

Cordelia looked back to Vicrul, debating whether she could throw him from the hangar or simply choke the life from him for embarrassing her and speaking of such things out loud. As if he saw the murderous intent written across her face, his other arm came around her, pressing her in close to his chest.

“Come, Cordelia. Come enjoy yourself. Come see the wonders of Pasturrian. I promise you’ll enjoy yourself, and if you don’t, I’ll make up for it by having you come on my tongue, or my cock. Ladi’s choice.”

“Please, go.” Rizova said with a laugh. “Before the man starts licking your boots.”

Cordelia looked into Vicrul’s ridiculously handsome face, his eyes filled with all sorts of wicked mischief. She needed to get the ship ready. With a two days’ reprieve, this might be her only chance to escape. But with Vicrul snooping around, especially if she refuses him.

She sighed, and Vicrul grinned in a way that said he knew he’d won.

“Let me go change, and we can leave.” She said, making her way towards the hangar exit, but Vicrul’s hang tightened on hers.

“No need. I have something for you.”