Planet: Sionaq Location: Mt. Ascendance ---- Under the lurid crimson light of a single rusty moon, a woman stepped out of a back door, closed it behind her, turned the key in the lock, and sighed. She was a fox, whose fur had long since gone silver, who had seen many summers and many winters, whose face was made of stern lines that creased easily into warmth. But they were not warm tonight. She leaned against the wall of the alley, pulled a flask out of her jacket, took a swig and sighed. Well. From now on, Lissa Caerleon's little watering hole was under a Victorium-enforced shutdown, and she was an ex-barkeep. This was going to be one cold Survival Week. The fact that almost all of the public gathering places on the mountain were suffering under the same rule didn't really make her feel better. (The few exceptions, of course, were those run by Victorium cronies.) She'd sent her regulars off with a cheery song, but couldn't hold on to that cheer for herself. Damn it, she'd kept this place together for decades, since the days of the old Sovereignty, kept her head down for the last four years since the Great Victorium had managed to get Sionaq in its grip, and now...! Now the city was going to crumble in their damn hands! ...perhaps literally - little bits of brick were falling on Lissa from above. She brushed them off and looked up... There, standing on the edge of the roof, silhouetted against the arc of the moon, was a figure. Their heavy cloak warded off the chill and hid their face. Suddenly, there was something in their hand - a column of light, shifting as if seen through a depth of water - a Whirlblade, the weapon that only a warrior of the Grand Stream could wield! Lissa heard the clatter of metal-heeled boots - the Constables of the Victorium! She stepped backwards into the shadows of the alley, turned to run - but something in her compelled her to turn back, and watch... The Constables stopped in phalanx formation and pointed their guns at the figure. The wind blew hard for a moment, and it pulled back the hood of the cloak - revealing that the warrior was a young girl! Her face was a confirmation, and the Constables began firing. She danced across the rooftop, the Whirlblade spinning in her hand; many of the shots missed, and many others were somehow met in-flight by the shifting blade, bouncing back towards those who sent them. Most of these missed, but Lissa could see something else, from her vantage in the shadows; figures appeared in the windows of nearby buildings, taking careful aim and opened fire; and their shots mixed with the warrior's joyous rebounds, scorching the Constables' armor, making them shout, making them drop their weapons, making them fall. To the Constables, it was as if the warrior was using the magic that the heroes of the Grand Stream were once known for - the power of the Captains Cosmic. And then, suddenly, she was gone; a shadow leaping from rooftop to rooftop. And the Constables shouted and followed her, leaving their injured behind. And Lissa turned, and ran, heading home with all the speed her aged body would allow her, not stopping until she was on the other side of her door, bolted shut, her breath coming hard as she leaned against it. It had been a long time since she'd seen anyone so brave. Brave... and stupid. A few Neo-Union guerillas could take out a few Constables, but the Victorium's hand would come down and snuff them out. Or maybe she was just weak. Maybe she hadn't been holding things together; maybe she'd just kept her head down because she could no longer lift it in pride. She straightened, managed to shrug off her coat and kick off her shoes. Without turning on the lights, she made it across the small room, dropping herself on the small couch and staring out the window, up at the stars... With a start she awoke. Damn, her neck ached, but she pushed herself up anyway - there had been a noise in the darkness, and she wasn't letting herself get robbed, even by someone more desperate than herself. She felt under the couch for the kitchen knife she'd stashed there... Then the light came; not the harsh light of the ceiling fixtures, but a tiny sphere of shifting light; like the Whirlblade, but softer, quieter; and it lit up a face - a prairie dog, soft and round with bright eyes, the face she'd seen on that rooftop. "Lissa Caerleon?" said the warrior, the girl. "Nice to meet you!" Lissa's hand wrapped around the knife's handle; but she could feel, in the warmth of that light, that she didn't need it. But she held it as she stood anyway, in a defensive position, because she'd been tricked before. "Yeah, that's me," she said, putting as much strength as she could into her voice. "And who are you?" Said the girl, "My name's Sunny! I'm with the Neo-Union. Nice to meet you!" Her voice, tho quiet, held an irrepressible joy, and Lissa wasn't sure whether to be annoyed by it or open her life to it. "May I stay the night here? I know it's a danger, but I can pay you, if that'd help." Lissa frowned. How accommodating... "Why here? Why me?" "Oh," said Sunny, "we got your name from our contacts here! I can't tell you who they are of course, but they said you're the most trustworthy person on the mountain, and one of the biggest badasses too!" Lissa blinked, then let out a snort. "You've got the wrong woman. I run a bar-- used to, now." "No, that's right! They said you've been running the place since the Sovereignty was around, and kept it open and safe for blacklisters and 'players and synths - everybody!" Her face and voice were nothing but sincere. "They said, if you're in trouble on Mt. Ascendance, go see Lissa Caerleon. Maybe she can help, maybe she can't, but she'll listen to your troubles." "..." Lissa sighed and set the knife down. "Yeah, okay, that's me. Don't know why that's badass, but..." She sat back down on the couch. "Sure, you can stay." She looked up and pointed a finger at Sunny. "As long as you can guarantee there's no Victorium goons gonna follow you here." Gleam held up a hand with her middle finger crossed over her index finger. "I swear on the sanctity of the Survivors of Sideria!" Lissa rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile. "Right, ri-- eck!" She grabbed her neck. Oof, napping on the couch was a *bad* idea... "Oh, can I help? I've got magic fingers!" Sunny wiggled her fingers, and the sphere of light wiggled along with them. Let a stranger put their hands around her neck? Sure, why not throw one more ill-advised decision on the pile. "Okay." The light disappeared, and a pair of strong hands pressed into Lissa's shoulders. Thumbs slid over the muscles there, and she let out a noise-- oh, it'd been too long since she'd hurt so good. And Sunny didn't stop, dextrous, calloused fingers working Lissa's neck and spine, drawing groans and sighs, curling her toes and pushing out yawns of tension released, until her trapeziuses felt like they'd been thoroughly tenderized. "Fuck, that was good," said Lissa. "C'mere, sit down." Sunny came around and sat on the couch, and Lissa leaned against her, and pressed her face into the crook of her neck. It'd been too long since she'd had any kind of nice touch, and if it was right here at her fingertips she was gonna be selfish. Sunny put one arm around Lissa's back, and they sat there for a while, the starlight streaming softly thru the window. Lissa breathed deep and let her heartbeat slow. Sunny smelled good, a warm, vibrant scent with a background note of ash that reminded Lissa of happy days as a child in the forges. She wondered, idly, why she felt so immediately comfortable - was it a trick of the Grand Stream, or was Sunny just that kind of person? It didn't matter. If someone like this wanted to walk into her life for a night, who was she to say no? "Hey," murmured Sunny. Lissa looked up into her face, and she said, "You can kiss me if you want." ...Lissa leaned up, her angular, worldworn body pressing into Sunny's comfortable chub, and opened her lips; Sunny opened hers, and they met in the middle, and it was gorgeous - Lissa's arms felt like they were going to give way, and Sunny supported her, responding with delight to her lips, tongues sliding together, warm breath, far warmer than the cold night, filling Lissa's lungs. The arms supporting her moved, and Lissa felt calloused fingertips sliding slowly against her sides, seeking permission to go upward. In response, Lissa raised her arms, and Sunny broke the kiss just long enough to lift away her shirt and toss it to the side. One of those strong hands slid against her spine, rubbing gently, and the other cupped a breast, giving it a gentle squeeze, the first she'd had since... Since... Lissa pulled back, and Sunny's hands left her body; she gave her an inquisitive look, ready to call the whole thing off if her partner was uncomfortable. "Is something wrong?" "No, no, you're doing fine. I just, I..." Lissa took a deep breath, clicking her tongue in frustration and woe. "I don't deserve this. I failed you." She stared out the window, toward the moon, unable to look Sunny in the eyes. "We all did, our generation - we were supposed to save the galaxy, overthrow all the bad guys, build a better world for you all to live in." She thought of the old Union, seeing the faces of those heroes in the videos of the grand liberation of Brenzhest, and how happy she'd been, how proud, how relieved... "But-- it's the same old shit all over again, isn't it!? We're no better than our parents and grandparents, those stupid old fools who let the galaxy get taken over in the first place!" She pushed the heel of her hand against her eye, trying to hold back the sudden, hot tears. Something soft, warm, against her back - Sunny's breasts. Around her arms, her chest - Sunny's arms, pressing her back into a hug. It was warm and comforting, like she hadn't felt since long before the last time her breast had been squeezed, almost like being a child in her mother's arms. She felt, again, like she didn't deserve it; but that seemed to matter less now, like the warmth didn't *care* what she deserved, but just wanted to share itself and drive away the cold. "Seems like there are a lot of people who gave up, or stopped trying, or weren't trying in the first place." Sunny nuzzled her nose into Lissa's hair, a tickly little warmth. "But there are a lot of people like you - people who kept things going until somebody showed up who was ready to change things." She took a deep breath, her soft form pressing up against Lissa's bones. "I dunno if a generation can be good. I know people can. And you're real good." And now Lissa did cry, longer and harder than she had in four years, all of the frustration and failure and tongue-biting she'd had to endure just to hold things together gushing out. And Sunny held her, was a comfortable, protective presence, gently intimate, safe as hell, until Lissa had cried herself out. She felt... empty, in a nice way, a soft way. What did she want to do now...? "...take off your pants," she mumbled, and Sunny, after one more tight squeeze, happily complied, slipping out from behind her, standing up in front of Lissa, hooking her thumbs into a pair of those synth-stretch pants that were so popular coreward of here, and sliding them down; she did a half-turn to reveal her big round ass, wiggling it in Lissa's direction mischievously, then turned back around to let her cock pop out, balls bouncing beneath it. "Ahhhhh, god," said Lissa, feeling a strange, invigorating combination of intimate connection and cock-thirst. She gestured, and Sunny stepped forward, until said cock was hovering before Lissa's nose; she took Sunny's balls into her hand and gave them a soft squeeze, leading the girl to let loose a little half-moan half-giggle - god, was there any point where she stopped being adorable!? Well, Lissa was going to find out. She tugged Sunny forward by the balls, opening her muzzle and wrapping her lips around the hard shaft, suckling experimentally at it, tongue pressing against the underside; when she'd gotten a taste, she pulled back, just a bit, fondling those cute, heavy balls. "Mmmmm, so making old ladies cry gets you hard, huh?" Sunny's giggle went up and down in a bashful note - no, no point where she was anything less than adorable. "Snuggling hot women gets me hard! Especially experienced cocksuckers like you!" She wiggled her hips a bit, cock bouncing before Lissa's lips. "Ohoho, this one's got a mouth on her~ Well, here's another!" She pressed her lips against the head of the cock and flicked her tongue against the tip, drawing a satisfying squeak from Sunny. Her lips slid forward and back, forward further and back less, drawing more and more of the girl into her mouth; her tongue slid along the underside, drawing delightful gasps and moans, and even more delightful dribbles of precum. Experienced cocksucker indeed! Lissa reached out, around Sunny's bountiful hips, and sunk her hands into the soft flesh of her ass. She squeezed her arms around Sunny's hips, and slid her mouth all the way down until Sunny's crotch pressed to her lips, giving her a grateful, intimate hug that she hoped was one-quarter as good as the one she'd gotten. Sunny trilled with warm pleasure, cock flexing in Lissa's mouth, and put her hands on her head, fingers curling in her hair. Lissa took this as a signal to proceed to the next level, and relaxed her arms, without loosing her grip on Sunny's wonderful fat ass; she slid aaaaaaall the way back along Sunny's cock before sliding aaaaaaall the way forward again, easily swallowing the shaft again, tonguetip pressed up and drawing a long, lazy line along its underside. "Oh! Fuck! Ohfuck ohfuck," gasped Sunny, grip on Lissa's head tightening, bringing a lovely pulling sensation that only encouraged Lissa to keep going twice as fast, sliding up and down the lovely girl's hot cock, drinking in every twitch, every moan, every drop of precum spilling down her throat. "Fuuuuck ma'am I'm gonna--" Lissa held up a thumbs-up without slowing her pace (hah! *Very* experienced!), and Sunny let out a lusty, helpless groan, her entire body stiffening with pleasure-tension, and all at once the dam burst, Sunny's hot cum gushing into Lissa's mouth, her throat working easily to swallow it all even as she milked out every last drop. Sunny let out a noise best rendered as "wghheeshsnmgeh" and collapsed onto the couch, cock shrinking as a goofy grin plastered itself onto her face. Lissa wiped off her lips and scooched over a bit to make room for her, wrapping her arms around the girl and letting her relax into her. "Gosssssh, ma'am. I was just tellin' the truth." Sunny blushed and nuzzled Lissa's cheek. Lissa nuzzled back and reached up to casually grab Sunny's hair, turning her head so she could give her a cum-flavored kiss. "Yeah, and I was tellin' the truth right back." The two of them relaxed on the couch, the square of moonlight moving lazily across the room. "Mmmf," said Lissa, eventually. "We should move to bed, before I get another crick in my neck." "Snuggles ahoy!" said Sunny, lifting Lissa as she rose. "Indeed," said Lissa. "...hey, do you have to go first thing in the morning?" "I've got time to make breakfast!" "Not exactly what I was thinking of..." ---- It was sometime later that the Great Victorium began to fight against itself, in the wake of the death of their Grand Caesar. Victorium presence on the mountain and the planet dwindled, as the bulk of their force was pulled off to fight in the conflict, and the shutdown lifted. But while their hand was lighter now, it was still felt. Once the bar was open again, it saw multiple Constables a week, always in pairs. Some of the clientele wondered if Lissa had become a Victorium sympathizer, she seemed so comfortable with having them there. But the place had gone back to being cheery and warm, and the food was good and the booze flowed freely, so these complaints rarely went past grumbles. And if she made sure the booze was always flowing to the Constables, and made sure to always have a barkeep's ear to their troubles, well, perhaps the return of her bar had bestowed upon her some measure of gratitude. Or perhaps, she knew the things that spilled into a barkeep's ear, and knew just who that knowledge would help, in their fight to make the world better; perhaps, she had become just a little less interested in keeping her head down. ====