Fate of Terra

Chapter 13.4 - Adaptation

Aki had trouble breathing she was laughing so hard. "I-I'll --damnit Kat! I'll take care of you whenever you wan- nooo stop." She was still squirming and laughing when Michael tossed her into the roman-style bath. Kat and Michael stripped as she sputtered to the surface. Just as Aki had reached the edge of the bath, desperate to make her escape, she felt Kat sit on her back facing the bath, so her upper body was pinned to the marble floor. Kat pulled down her soaked skimpy boy shorts so that her bright red ass was hanging over the side and pointed upwards.

Michael jumped into the water where her legs were flailing and his hands joined Kat's which were roaming all over the petite girl's smooth body. Kat tickled Aki's sides and she struggled under her tormentor. Michael leaned down and licked her exposed naughty bits from slit to rosebud, drawing a squeak and a moan. Straightening his back again he and Kat shared a look.

Kat's hand came streaking down to catch the girl's teeny pussy so Michael didn't have to swing underhanded. He instead concentrated on her plump red ass cheeks and the both of them began to spank their victim mercilessly. Aki squirmed and cried out at the treatment, but they continued, ignoring her and alternating their strikes. Kat had a devilish smile as she felt her hand getting sticky as it came into contact with the smaller girl's leaking cunt.

Not long into their fun, Rin walked into the room. "Hey, Aki called and told me it was urgent. I came as soon as- Oh shit!" She turned to run out of the room as Michael and Kat turned to her with hungry expressions. Michael had Pandora lock both hatches and slowly stalked towards her. 

"No!" Rin shrieked and ran around the room in not-quite mock terror. "Aki, you traitor!" Michael took her down like she was a gazelle.

Kat dragged Aki over by her legs and positioned her, feet pointing out towards her twin. She stood one leg on either side of Aki, facing her head, and looked down at her with a wicked grin. "I believe you said something about a pussy slave..." Kat told her breathlessly. She dropped to her knees, straddling the poor girls face. "So how 'bout you get to worshiping. You'll have a lot to teach our new addition after I get through with her." Aki moaned in satisfaction.

Rin raised her head and gasped as Michael began to knead her ass. "Will we get a chance to torture her?" She asked.

Michael chuckled. "Kat's running the show, but I don't think she'd mind if she had a couple of beautiful assistants." He laughed. "You could also bring Dejah? God, she's sexy with those claws."

Aki let out a muffled giggle as Rin, thigh's rubbing together in excitement, panted, "We've got to bring Aurora. She'll want to get in her own punishment for lying to the bridge crew."

Laughing, Michael said, "Well, we can't leave Stacey out. She has quite the dominant streak. I didn't tell you all what happened when I caught her with Aurora on the bridge last week..."

* * * * *

Mara felt exhilarated as she came aboard the Intrepid after her victory. She was met with Tanya who bowed as she approached. A smile split her face as she looked down at her wonderful, eager student. She had started helping train the young blonde girl how to fight a couple of weeks ago and it had become an incredibly rewarding experience. The girl really was gifted and Mara knew if she had been born on her world she would have become a warrior queen with many consorts. She gave a melancholy sigh as she thought about home.

Tanya pulled her back from her thoughts as she beamed up at her trainer, friend, and role model and said, "I saw you blast through those B'Amuf ships like they were nothing. You were amazing!"

Mara chuckled. "Those from the captured worlds that chose to come along were - I believe the Terrans call it - 'scared shitless' when we rushed out in front of them." She said with a smile. "But Michael deserves most of the credit for driving them towards us." 

Indeed she owed Michael a lot. He'd even modified all of her ships for free. Enhancements they wouldn't have been able to afford if they had worked for cycles, some that weren't even available anywhere else. Now that she stopped to think about it, she likely commanded the most formidable mercenary group she knew of.

Tanya shook her head. "He was really impressed that you timed it when you did. He knows that if you came in behind the B'Amuf they would have felt backed into a corner and fought all the harder. You would have suffered many casualties. As it was, you were able to pull it off without losing a single life."

Mara beamed at the praise. Then she frowned. "We still lost a lot of AI-controlled ships. If he wants, we would be willing to work off the-" 

Frowning, Tanya told her, "Of course not. It wouldn't be a gift if he asked for anything in return. Besides, construction bots are already trawling the solar system for the destroyed hulks. They'll be collected and sent to the new facilities he's creating around Jupiter for the science organizations on Earth that want to look beneath Europa's ice. In the end, he'll be able to replace nearly all of his losses and then some and he won't even slow the production schedule to do it."

Mara smiled at the pride she heard in the young girl's voice. She knew Michael was lucky to have such a devout follower. She reached out and ruffled Tanya's hair. "Come, little one. Let's see if your balance has improved..."

* * * * *

Michael and Kat sat at a picnic table in a quaint park down on Earth. 'So what do we need to improve on?' He asked in private. '831 ships lost isn't all that much when you look at the scale, but I'm sure it could have been much less.'

'I believe it's necessary for us to grow another AI that's proficient in tactics and store it in a giant computer core aboard the Intrepid,' Pandora told them in their heads. 'I simply couldn't keep up with all the variables required in the middle of a battle. I didn't have the processing power available to me. Additionally, I think it's necessary for me to be available for other things in combat. I couldn't focus on hacking the enemy systems when I was calculating formation movements. I should have been able to spot that beam weapon they used before they fired it, but I didn't have the time to spare.'

'We need to change the weave so it's less predictable and shave off the time individual ships are exposed,' Kat added.

Michael nodded. 'It can definitely be improved. I always wondered why we're not extending our lines by sending ships around the weave to try and flank them, forcing the enemy to react to us instead of staying in one spot.'

'Rin said that Isaac thinks he can utilize the magnetic technology Revarjah's race uses to see our broadcasts earlier,' Kat told them. 'If we can figure out how to encompass everything in the view, it might cut down on the time delay we experience on observing light at a distance.'

'We need to make a plaque for the twenty-four fighter pilots we lost,' Michael sighed. Kat reached out and squeezed his hand. She looked at him critically to make sure he wasn't blaming himself. 'We'll  be adding them in the Reception Hall for all to see as they come aboard and then add to it as needed. I've scheduled a service for tomorrow at noon.'

'The Council's prong lost thousands,' She reminded him. 'Our losses were miniscule in comparison.' Michael shrugged that off.

Pandora asked, 'What are we going to do for the crews of the new destroyers?'

Michael said, 'Actually, with all the aliens coming with us to take back their planets, many of them have been asking to serve on the crew of the Intrepid. I'm not saying we stick them all on the destroyers, but we could afford to give them maybe a third of the positions on them and integrate the rest into shipboard jobs.'

Kat nodded. 'Stacey, Dejah, and Aki are organizing a Christmas party onboard. We really picked the applicants quite well if they're choosing to spend time aboard rather than with anyone on Earth,' She shared. 'The number of families onboard has doubled in the past month. Hopefully, if this enterprise takes more than a year, they won't all start feeling homesick...'

Michael smiled. 'Do Aki and Rin know about their birthday presents?'

Kat snorted. 'No, but it's only a matter of time before Aki hears there are now dolphins in the beach area!'

Chuckling, Michael told them, 'We've got quite a few new animals that the aliens requested we try to clone for their worlds. I feel like we're traveling in the Ark.'

Just then, he looked off into the distance and nodded at Kat. "Wow, she looks like she's about to pop," Kat remarked. They both got up as one and turned towards the pregnant woman walking past the playground, head bent in sadness, a small girl clutching her hand and watching the approaching couple.

"Kimberly?" Michael ventured as he neared. Kat dropped to her knees and began entertaining Sarah. She was quite the serious child.

"Yes?" She asked, surprised.

He smiled. "I believe we have a mutual acquaintance... One James Merrick to be exact."

Her eyes widened. "You knew Reaper?" Kat grinned at that. When Kimberly said 'Reaper,' it was with affection and not the fear or disgust you'd expect with a nickname like that.

Nodding, Michael told her, "He's currently leading my fighters aboard the Intrepid, much to his dismay."

Her mouth formed an 'O' and her entire body began to tremble as she realized who she was talking to. Kimberly thought she'd recognized him from the address, but who expects the most powerful person in the world to be walking around the suburbs in baggy jeans and a T-shirt. Then her eyes narrowed and she demanded, "He's alive?! That son of bitch!"

Michael kept his smile internal. "I had wondered about what impression he expected to leave after liquidating all his assets and leaving himself penniless. However, that's not why I'm here. I'd like to offer you a place aboard my ship."

Kimberly frowned. "Why?" She asked.

"I'm in need of more teachers," He laughed, somewhat truthfully. "And I thought you might appreciate the chance to chew out my new Air- err Space Marshal." He paused and then turned to Kat. "That doesn't sound right." Turning back to Kimberly he waved a hand. "Whatever. I'll figure out his rank eventually."

She paused and thought about it. She knew there was something else to this and yet she couldn't help but think about how difficult the past few weeks had been. She kept expecting the world to change now that her husband was gone, but it just kept rolling along. Sarah was depressed and suffering in school. And she 'did' want to give Merrick a piece of her mind. The entire planet knew the Intrepid was due to leave soon and he still hadn't come to visit her. 'Maybe... No, could he have? Why do I care?'

She looked at Michael and then away, blushing. After a moment of finding nothing else to look at, she turned to look down at her daughter who was smiling at Kat. Kimberly froze. It had been the first time she'd seen her smile since her daddy had died.

Michael's eyebrows rose. 'It seems we were more right than we thought,' he spoke to Kat in her mind. "Would you like to see him again?" He asked with a grin.

Kimberly blushed even deeper and started shaking her head. "No, that's- I-yes... But," She sighed. People had noticed that she was out of it to. Not that she had been going to work as she had started her maternity leave. Her eyes widened. "What about the baby?" She exclaimed, a hand going down to rest on her stomach.

"The Intrepid has better, more advanced facilities than you could find on Earth," He assured her. Kimberly sighed in indecision. Finally, she reached down and grabbed Sarah's hand and walked a ways away under a tree and knelt down to talk to her. 

'What do you think?' He asked Kat.

She gave a snort. 'Do you even have to ask? It's a good thing his new quarters are so big.'

Pandora, curious about Human interactions, questioned, 'Won't he dislike the idea of courting a woman with two children who obviously used to belong to another man.'

Michael shook his head and Kat laughed, 'They'll be lucky if they even do anything resembling courting before they're hitched.'

Kimberly returned with a nervous look on her face followed by her grinning daughter. She looked at the two of them and finally gave a slight nod. Michael asked, "Do you need to get anything before we leave? We have people that take care of boxing up everything and closing accounts when they ship off with us."

"Nothing we can't do without," She admitted. "Just some personal items. But how are we-" She was cut off as a dropship screamed downed on their position, the Shuttle braking at the last second and hovering a foot off the ground.

Kat laughed, "Looks like Zoe wants some payback for leaving her all hot and bothered."

Kimberly took a deep breath and squeezed her daughter's hand. Then she stepped forward to enjoy the second chance she'd been given.

* * * * *

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