5 comments/  25726 views/  8 favorites

Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 02

By: HLD



This is a continuation of "Star-Crossed Lovers" and it picks up about a year later. If you have not read the previous chapter, I recommend you check it out. As a word of warning, there's a lot of story in this section, so if you're here just for the sex, you might want to find another story. Enjoy!

***************** 

"Incoming!"

Everyone dove for cover as the call came over the platoon's channel. The shell missed, but not by much.

"Get some fire on that battery!" Lieutenant Burke shouted to anyone who was listening. 

Combat in a vacuum is a strange thing compared to combat in atmosphere. Contrary to what is portrayed in the holos, there is no sound. Just flashes of light and blips on radar displays. It's very surreal. Death comes out of nowhere.

Burke saw Ski spraying the oncoming Federation troopers with his rail gun. Juggs was pumping micro-missiles out of her shoulder-mounted launchers as fast as the auto-loader would feed them. The barrel of Bunny's particle beam cannon glowed white-hot.

Wonder Boy was down, his severed left arm lying on the ground next to him. Zipper stood over the still form, forearm blasters blazing, while Crispy desperately patched the hole in the chestplate of Wonder Boy's armoured suit before he died of decompression. Traylor's headless body lay in one of the small moon's many craters along with the five rescued hostages who huddled together in their vacuum suits.

The rest of the platoon had fanned out and was trying to fend off their pursuers.

Burke switched channels, "Control, this is Katana Six. Where the hell is that retrieval boat?"

"Katana, Control. Retrieval boat inbound. ETA thirty seconds."

On his HUD, a new channel suddenly opened and a face he hadn't expected to see appeared. Lieutenant Burke's jaw dropped. All of his fears instantly evaporated, and he knew at that moment everything was going to be fine.

"Katana Six, this is Archangel. Find some cover. LZ Bravo is about to get hot."

An instant later, four drones passed overhead, flechette rounds pouring out of their electromagnetic rail cannons and into the Federation troops. On his radar, Burke saw two more drones coming in, just ahead of the retrieval boat. They peeled away, leaving two smaller blips heading his way. 

"Everybody, down!" he said over the main channel and then ducked.

The ground around him shook as the pressure bombs exploded. A wave of shrapnel and dirt flew over his head. He looked up and saw that their pursuers were having second thoughts about coming any closer.

"Thank you, Archangel," Burke said with a smile that he had never shown on a battlefield. She blew him a kiss and then the screen closed. He switched back to his platoon's channel. "SOLARs, we . . . are . . . LEA-ving."

The transport flared right behind him, gun pods blazing. Then it gracefully set down. Marines poured out of the side hatches, sending the remaining Federation troops into a frantic retreat. Archangel's drone fighters strafed those who weren't smart enough to turn tail.

Burke fired a short burst of grenades towards the enemy as the fifteen surviving SOLARs and five former hostages boarded the boat, the able-bodied carrying the wounded and the dead.

Looking around, he spotted a Marine gunny waving her men back into the boat. "Got everyone, sir?"

"All present and accounted for," he replied as the last of the Marines boarded. Right on the gunny's heels, Burke stepped into the open hatch, pounded twice on the bulkhead and the pilot took off before the door closed. 

While waiting for the compartment to pressurise, he plugged into the intraship comm system. "Pilot, contact Control: The package is secure. Then get us the hell out of here."

"Aye, sir," the young woman replied, the grin on her face evident even over the voice-only channel.

Burke surveyed the other men and women in the bay. All of the surviving hostages were alive. One of his men was wounded, one woman killed. Some of the SOLARs were slumped in their seats. Others fidgeted, the adrenaline still pumping through their bodies. Just as soon as the pressure was tolerable, the interior doors opened and the room was swarmed with medics.

The platoon leader popped his suit open and breathed the ship's recycled air that was only slightly less stale than his suit's. One of the hostages came up to him. 

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she said, tears in her eyes. "To all your men and women."

"Just doing our job, ma'am," his voice was deep and gravelly. You had better be worth the price we paid to rescue you. 

She patted him on the shoulder before being led away along with the four others the SOLAR team had rescued. He was more worried about Wonder Boy and the rest of the platoon than being thanked. A flight surgeon plugged his monitors into the wounded man's power armour and began taking readings. The rest of the Team was looking on, dread and anticipation on their faces. They were looking for any excuse to hope.

After an eternity, the doctor spoke, his voice grave. "He's going to live. Leave him in his suit until we can get him into a sick bay. The nanobots have him stabilised."

Everyone's gaze went to the other suit that lay on the deck. The blood that had frozen in the cold vacuum of space was beginning to thaw into a pool on the deck. Chief Hayes placed a towel in the neck to sop up the blood and covered the still-armoured body with a blanket. 

No one offered to help, and she didn't ask.

Sixteen out. Fifteen back. Three of the hostages had been killed by their captors before Burke and his team had been able to free them; they were left behind. It was a hell of a price to pay.

"Good work out there, people. There's nothing like infiltrating a base full of bad guys and shooting our way out, huh?" Burke said to the company. After having just lost one of their own in battle, they were in a fragile place and Burke needed them under control. And quickly. There would be time to grieve later. "Chief, secure all weapons. Mister Tran, upload all the combat film and telemetry. Prepare the platoon for debriefing. Everyone else: check your gear for micro-fissures and vacuum breaches. You all know the drill. I want this done quick and by the book. Go."

They both nodded. He pulled his AOIC and LPO aside as the rest of the platoon began their familiar operational rituals. "Keep them busy, especially Zipper. Don't let them bother the docs and keep them away from Wonder Boy and Traylor."

"Hoo-yah," they both nodded the familiar SOLAR affirmative response.

Burke stripped out his armoured shell and went about his post-mission tasks. Two images from the mission were burned in his mind: The flying chunk of debris that had taken Traylor's head clean off, and Archangel, the love of his life, whom he had not seen in over a year.

***************** 

The trip back to the Dreadnaught took a little over two hours. Then it would just be a short hyperspace jump back to the sector base, Citadel Firestorm.

Wonder Boy was blissfully unaware of everything going on around him. The wounded SOLAR had been moved to a medical bunk in the back of the boat, along with the other hostages. Traylor's body was left where she was. As the transport settled into its berth in the battleship's hanger, Burke addressed the thirteen men and women who had gone on the mission with him. 

"Folks, listen up," he said and they fell silent. "Once again, you all kicked ass and took names. You should be proud of yourselves. This is the finest platoon I have ever served in and you have showed me once again that you will never let the Alliance, the Navy or the Teams down."

He paused for a second, looking around the room. "Things are going to get out of control very quickly once we get back. Stick together. Stay humble. You're still SOLARs. You will not talk to the press until you have been debriefed by Commander Stickle. Is that clear?"

"Hoo-yah, Lieutenant Burke," they replied together. The transport settled on the deck. They could hear the docking ring lock around the hatch.

"Get Traylor on that stretcher. We take care of our own," Burke said. She was still in her armour and would stay that way until her burial in space. Four of the SOLARs gently laid her on the gurney while the others lined up on either side, Lieutenant Burke in the lead. On the other side of the ship, the wounded man and the hostages were taken to sick bay for treatment, but the living had one final duty to perform for their dead.

The hatch opened and some sailors rushed in to greet them. The euphoria at the successful mission disappeared when they saw Burke and the other SOLAR's hard expressions. They parted as the honour guard carried their fallen comrade to her final rest. 

After taking Traylor to the morgue, Burke and his platoon returned to the small corner of the Dreadnaught assigned to SOLAR Team 6. He let out a sigh, knowing that he still had to face a mountain of after-action reports, inventories and other paperwork for the mission to be considered complete. The SOLARs headed towards their quarters, trying not to think of the empty spot in the platoon. Some would shed their tears now. Some later. Burke's had to wait. His job wasn't quite over.

He went to the debriefing where he recounted everything he could about the mission while it was still fresh in his mind. The intel people picked his brain for the tiniest details, hoping to glean any useable tidbits of information. Then he had a brief subspace chat with the Team 6 CO, who warned him not to talk to the press.

The war wasn't going so well for the Alliance. The systems that made up the Federation of Free Planets were fighting a holding action. The Alliance had them outnumbered and outgunned. Yet, all the Federation had to do was prolong the war for as long as possible. The war was draining the morale and the economy of the Alliance.

Everyone knew that unless there was a quick and decisive end to the fighting the Alliance would be forced to sue for peace in the next few months. That is, except for a handful of ideological extremists who took the sector prelate and her family hostage. Instantly, public opinion turned against the Federation. There's nothing like kidnapping a five year-old that makes people line up against your cause.

To rescue the hostages, Fleet Admiral von Luck turned to her best special operators, SOLAR Team 6. Once the hostages were located, Burke and his platoon were sent in to rescue them, along with two other SOLAR platoons and a company of space marines in support.

Losing one of his SOLARs was not part of the plan, but he knew that they had inflicted far heavier losses on the Federation than they had taken. It was little consolation, but losing people from his platoon was nothing new to Burke. That didn't make it any easier, but that's why they paid officers the big bucks.

After going through the debriefing and inspecting all their gear, they arrived back at the sector base. The platoon retired to their wardroom while Burke, his AOIC and the platoon's "third-O" met with the prelate, a couple of the other hostages and some public relations officers from the sector force command. Burke was not happy with the political side of the operation but the meeting didn't last long and he only felt like strangling someone one time.

Then they left and went in search of the rest of the platoon. The officers found them a short time later, lounging around in the platoon's common room. The SOLARs were talking amongst themselves, re-living the mission step by step, comparing notes. A cloud hung over the room.

"Hey, Lieutenant," one of them called as they walked through the door, "You want some hooch?"

"Not if you brewed it, Whitey," he replied with a smirk.

"This shit is Anne's mix, not mine," she replied. "You can't blame me this time, sir."

Burke grinned. "The last time I drank one of Annie's concoctions, I was on sick call for a week."

"I can't help it if your stomach went soft at OCS, sir," Anne Rhodes slurred. Obviously, she had been sampling her brew for some time.

"Pass me a glass." He took it and went to the middle of the room. Everyone's eyes were on him. "To Wonder Boy and a speedy recovery."

All the others raised their glasses. Burke took a deep pull on the moonshine. It burned his throat.

"To Traylor," he continued. There was no sense in putting off the inevitable. Everyone would grieve in their own way. For Burke, that meant celebrating her life. "The only person I know who can get lost in a hedge maze and the only one of you sorry motherfuckers I'd want at my back in a knife fight."

"Traylor!" the assembled platoon saluted their teammate. Burke took another swig. The burning wasn't quite so bad the second time around.

As part of their post-operation rituals, there was some other business to take care of.

"Who was the number one shooter today?" Burke asked.

Chief Hayes paused a moment for dramatic effect. "That would be G-M-Three Andrea Stanley, sir."

There was a chorus of groans from the assembled troopers. Burke let himself smile just a little.

"Juggs? Again?" someone said with mock disgust.

"Give me the dragon and I'll rack up as many kills as she has," another SOLAR said teasingly.

"Killing friendlies doesn't count, Crispy," Martin countered. That brought a round of chuckles, even among the melancholy.

"What can I say, boys and girls? I was just born with the gift," Juggs said in a voice that was meant to taunt the others.

"Yeah, you were born with something," one of the men said from the back of the room.

"You'd better get back in the weight room, Easter Bunny, or your boobs are going to be bigger than mine. You're starting to get fluffy." Inwardly, Burke smiled to himself. The taunting and the teasing were part of the platoon's normal interaction and he was happy to see that the death of their teammate hadn't completely taken that away.

"Juggs, the first round is on you, after that you drink for free until you pass out or the MPs kick us out again," Chief Hayes said before the insults devolved further. She turned to the platoon leader.

"Once again: Good job, Team," Burke nodded to his SOLARs. "There will be a memorial service for Traylor once we get back to Citadel Firestorm followed by burial in space. Doc Atkinson says Wonder Boy is going to get a nice new arm and will be good as new in a couple of months. Maybe then I'll have someone to arm wrestle. He's not taking visitors yet, but should be sometime tomorrow. Lieutenant Kato? Mister Tran?"

Both of the other officers shook their heads. They had nothing to add.

"Chief?"

"Martin is taking up a collection for Traylor's family. If you want to send a holo to her husband or kids, we'll put everything in the mail next week. Some of us know her parents, and I think they'd appreciate a note as well," Hayes said. "After-action reports are due by tomorrow at fourteen hundred. I don't want to see any of that sloppy shit some of you turned in last time. Kellerman, Brock: I'm talking to you. . . . Sir?"

"That will be all."

The lieutenant watched his platoon unpack from the mission. The platoon split up into smaller groups. Traylor was not the first SOLAR from the platoon to be killed on this deployment. Some of the others had known her for several years, others for just a few months. Each SOLAR accepted that some of them would be wounded or killed in the line of duty.

It wasn't easy when one of the dead was a teammate, especially as close as the special operators were, but they knew that dwelling on it wouldn't solve anything. In each of their groups, the platoon talked about Traylor and Wonder Boy, sometimes at length, sometimes just briefly. Each was dealing with the losses in their own way.

In one corner, Juggs and Martin had teamed up on Bunny and were taunting him for having the biggest gun but a kill count that was half what theirs was. Crispy, Brockelbank and Kellerman were losing a fair amount of money to Walgroski in a card game. White and Rhodes were manning the still.

The other two officers mingled with the rest of the platoon. They were a tight-knit group, and Burke knew all of their nuances and idiosyncrasies. Much of their activity was routine or at least familiar.

"I'm worried about Zipper." Chief Hayes came up to Burke as he fixed himself a cone from the soft-serve ice cream machine. He decided that one full helping of the moonshine was enough.

"Me, too, Chief," Burke said softly. If there was anyone who had a finger on the pulse of the platoon it would be Hayes. After all, that was her job. 

Zipper and Wonder Boy were the closest of any two SOLARs in the platoon. They had grown up together, enlisted together, went through BUD/S together and were inseparable. Zipper had been standing right next to Wonder Boy when the blast went off. "Have you or Martin talked to him?"

"I have, Martin said she'd see him later," she replied. As the senior enlisted SOLARs in the platoon, it was the chief's and the LPO's jobs to act as the intermediaries between the officers and the other enlisted troopers. They executed the officer's orders and at the same time were the advocates for the enlisted.

"What do you think?"

"I'm gonna get Brock and Crispy to take him down to see Wonder Boy as soon as medical clears him for visitors," Hayes said softly.

"Good idea," the lieutenant said. "I have a feeling we'll get to cash in some of our leave pretty soon and if Zipper has a lot of free time, he'll spend it thinking about stuff that's only going to make it worse. Maybe call Doc Walker and see if someone from psych will have a chat with him, too."

"Roger that, sir."

"What about Whitey?" Burke asked. White and Traylor had been roommates for two deployments and were very close. 

"I think she'll be okay," Hayes said softly. "Alisha and Annie have been pals for a while. I'll talk to her, though. What about you, sir?"

"It probably won't hit me until the service. I'll be okay. You need anything, Chief, you call me. My door is always open for you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hey, Lieutenant," Bunny called from across the room. Togo Easter was the least likely SOLAR in the bunch. He was a big guy, and not just muscular or tall. Samoan, he carried a lot of mass, almost too much to fit into the Valkyrie power armour. He wasn't the fastest runner, nor was he the strongest. But he was death on two legs with virtually any heavy weapon. "Can you settle a bet for us?"

Burke and Hayes smiled at each other. Lieutenant Kato had joined the group there and liked to give Bunny a hard time. This was probably going to be good. "What is it, Bunny?"

"El-Tee says that the greatest sportsman of all time is Shinobi Tam. I say it's Neva Caruso."

"Oh, that's easy, Bunny," Burke said deadpan. "It's Shinobi."

"Caruso's won twenty seven majors!" he protested.

"Which is very impressive . . . Too bad golf isn't a sport."

The other man began to turn red in the face. Lieutenant Kato started to laugh, "Pay up, big boy."

The rest of the platoon got a chuckle at Bunny's expense. Even Zipper managed a smile.

Burke settled down in one of the chairs next to the card game. 

"Want in, Lieutenant?"

"Not if you're dealing, Ski."

"Aw, c'mon, sir, I promise not to clean you out," Walgroski said with a sly smile. "Again."

Burke started to say something else when the comm buzzed. Rhodes was the closest and she answered. "SOLAR Six Alpha. What the hell do you want?"

The person on the other end paused for a moment, taken aback by Rhodes's drunken straightforwardness. "Secure call for Lieutenant Burke."

He got up and sighed. Usually, the Team CO gave him a couple of hours before starting in with the full debrief. "I'll take it in the briefing room."

It was just a short walk down the hall and he flipped on the secure comm screen. After scanning his retina, the channel opened. Commander Stickle's face appeared and Burke was back to business.


Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 02



***************** 

It was about 0300 when Burke finally returned to his cabin. He had been up for close to 34 hours straight, kept awake by coffee and stims. He managed to catch a quick shower on the Dreadnaught but now he was crashing.

The door opened and he stepped inside. He didn't bother to turn the lights on. Dropping his duffel by the door, he stripped out of his BDUs and threw them in the direction of the chair. 

Burke had a single room, a luxury for junior officers. Of course, it helped that he was a war hero. Reaching for the covers, he was surprised when his hand brushed someone's body. 

"Lights!" He instantly shook off his stupor, unsure whether the other person in his room was a friend or foe.

The body in the bed stirred.

"Lights out," a familiar voice yawned. "It's about damn time you got back."

The room once again faded into darkness and Eric felt a hand take his and pull him into the bed. 

In the briefest second that the lights were on, all of the emotions that Eric had buried for the past year came to the surface. He fell into the bed as Maylene's arms wrapped around him.

His lips went to the first patch of skin they could find, her shoulder. Her skin was smoother than he remembered, but that didn't matter. 

She was back in his arms.

Her hands pulled his undershirt over his head and pushed his civvies down. Their naked bodies pressed together. As soon as he felt her touch, Eric's cock was erect, but he was not in any hurry.

Eric pulled his lover close. Her breasts were mashed flat against his chest. 

The rough texture of her burn scars felt soft against his skin. Her hands brushed his back, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up.

Just having Maylene in his arms again made him feel whole again.

At first, Eric had tried to forget about her. A part of him wanted to believe that they just had a wild fling. That their shared loneliness and shared needs had brought them together. The way she left him hurt. 

He never got a chance to say good-bye.

But after some time, he realised that if Maylene had told him she was being redeployed, he would have had a hard time letting her go. Her whereabouts (as well as his) were classified and he had no need to know.

They had exchanged a couple of holos over the past year, but never talked over a real-time subspace channel.

To take his mind off her, Eric threw himself into his new platoon. Fleet Admiral von Luck had selected him to be the ranking platoon leader in a new SOLAR Team. They had a good CO and a strong master chief, but also lots of kids who had never seen combat and whose shooting stars were still shiny.

Eric sublimated all of his energy into training the fifteen young men and women under his command to work together as a team. He took some of the younger officers from other platoons in the Team under his wing and showed them the ropes of being a good leader.

All of that was in an effort to forget about the emptiness he felt every night he went to bed alone. He and Maylene only had a few nights together, but he found that he missed her touch. Her smell. The press of her body.

He wondered if he would ever see her again.

Now, there she was, in his bed. Her arms pulled him close. Her lips found his and they kissed desperately.

Eric mentally dialed down the power in his cybernetic limbs so he wouldn't crush her in his embrace.

He was unshaven but it didn't seem to matter to Maylene. Her bio-mechanical fingertips brushed his back, sending a chill through his body. 

"I've missed you," she whispered in his ear. Eric kissed her cheek and tasted a line of salty tears. "I'm sorry for the way—"

"Shhhhh," he kissed her lips gently, stopping her from saying anything else. The warrior within him gave way to the lover. His hardened exterior, built up by years of training and killing, seemed to disappear as the woman in his arms pulled his body to hers.

Maylene spread her legs and Eric fell into her embrace. They kissed for a long time. The touch of her cybernetic hands made his skin crawl.

He bit her gently in all the right spots. She cried out softly when he cupped her breasts.

Eric could fell the heat radiating from between her legs. 

"I need you inside me," she said desperately.

She was already slick.

His cock brushed against her slit. They both moaned.

Pushing forward, Eric entered her slowly.

Maylene arched her back as he slid his entire length into her.

"Gawd, you feel good," he said as he bottomed out. 

She pulled Eric in and kissed him. It was a deep, wet, sloppy kiss. Eric held his cock inside her, buried to the hilt for a long time, savouring the feel of her body against his.

His lover wasn't in any hurry either. They just wanted to be close to one another. To make up for all that lost time.

"Make love to me," she said finally.

Eric began to slowly rock his hips back and forth. Maylene began to match his slow strokes.

The two settled into a familiar rhythm. It was as if the previous year had never passed. Their movements were perfectly in sync.

Neither was in a hurry. Neither wanted anything more than just to feel close to the other. Neither spoke.

When their coupling ended, it wasn't because their sexual desire was fulfilled. It was because they fell asleep in each other's arms. Their loneliness was forgotten. Their need for each other sated, Eric and Maylene held each other all night, not wanting the morning to come.

************************* 

"General, I think you should see this."

"Thank you, captain." Taking the report in his hands, Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Kravchenko scanned the sit rep. Cursing under his breath, the general turned to his aide. "Mickens, send a message to Fleet Admiral von Luck with my compliments. We're going to lose Iridian and Mombar unless we reinforce them now.

"Aye, sir."

"Colonel Pauley, begin drawing up two plans," Kravchenko said to his chief of staff, then emptied his coffee mug. His voice was grave. "One is for reinforcing the Levari Six system and one is for abandoning it. I want both on my desk in four hours. In either event, I want the Seventh MEF at condition two tomorrow morning. Either we're going to rescue Three MEF or we're about to be the new front line."

She had expected this response and had already instructed the staff to begin working on such contingencies. "We're not just going to leave them out there, are we, sir?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Kravchenko replied.

"Sir," one of the communications techs interrupted, "Fleet Admiral von Luck for you."

He picked up the handset, not wanting this conversation broadcast over the HQ speakers. Colonel Megan Pauley was privy to only half of the conversation. On one level, she liked what she heard. It meant that they weren't going to be hanging Marines out to rot. On another, though, she thought about how many lives this rescue mission would cost.

When General Kravchenko hung up, she could see the warrior's fire burning in his eyes. He barked orders and the Marines around them eagerly jumped to obey. "Cancel the plans to abandon Levari Six. There will be a meeting for all Seventh MEF and Task Force 114 staff at 1530. The first units will depart at 0800 tomorrow. Sergeant Major Ellis!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Tell the kids it's our turn to kick some asses."

"Ooh-rah, semper fi!"

The room began to buzz. After sitting around on the sidelines for close to a year, the VII Marine Expeditionary Force was about to see action. Amidst the excitement, Colonel Pauley saw dread on the faces of the older officers and NCOs. They knew it wouldn't be long before they would be ordering young men and women to die.

She saw it in General Kravchenko's eyes as he stood before her. He spoke softly so only she could hear him, "Look over the intel reports, Megan. The Alliance is moving the Fourth Army into this sector and they are probably headed to Levari Six. That's four corps and probably half the ships they have in this sector. If we don't get dug in there soon, we're going to be up to our armpits in the shit and the cavalry will arrive just in time to keep them from looting our corpses."

"Aye, sir."

"Sector command is giving us the 11th Infantry Division plus two brigades from the 127th Armoured Division, but we'll still be outnumbered on the ground. I'll establish a forward command post on Iridian. You and General Ibrahim will be our eyes in the sky from the Gemini." His eyes darkened. "Sector command thinks this might just be a diversionary attack, but we're not giving up that system. We've got to hold until the Second Army and the sector fleet can reinforce us and drive them back."

"How long?"

"I don't know," the general replied. "But we're going to pour ships and Marines into that system until either they break or we do."

************************* 

"So what do we do now?" Eric asked softly.

Maylene's head rested on his shoulder. Her hair, which had grown out and was just barely regulation, tickled his chest. He turned and kissed the top of her head.

The question hung in the air for a long time. Neither wanted to think about it, yet it was something they could not ignore.

What do I want? Eric asked himself and the answer wasn't obvious. What he knew was that he didn't want Maylene to disappear on him like she had before. But what were the alternatives?

The Navy didn't plan around individuals. She was a fighter squadron commander. He was a special warfare officer. There wasn't much overlap between them.

As he held her, thoughts that were dangerous to his career raced through Eric's mind. He was sure Maylene was thinking the same things. They just didn't want to say them out loud.

Her body felt so warm next to his. They lay there, sharing precious little room on the small twin bed. Their limbs were entwined, their bodies smelled of sex.

"We could—" she started and then the comm buzzed. Both groaned.

Eric rolled out of bed and went to the holoprojector on the desk. "Burke."

"Sir, sorry to wake you so early." It was Chief Hayes. She had a foreboding look in her eyes. "Something big is about to go down. Kellerman and Ski say they heard something about an invasion in the Levari system."

"They also think there's still a monster living in Loch Ness," Burke said softly. This was nothing new, and in fact the rumour mill turned out at least two or three invasion stories a week.

Chief Hayes's smiled went away quickly. "I've heard the rumours, too, sir. The Marines are on the move, though. They're already packing up. The entire Seven MEF . . . and then some."

The part of him that wasn't talking to his platoon chief vaguely heard Maylene's pager going off. Burke thought for a second. "Get the platoon together after Traylor's funeral. I'll talk to Commander Stickle and we'll see if we can separate fact from fiction." 

"Hoo-yah," Chief Hayes said, she was reaching for the switch but stopped. "Oh, and by the way, they cleared Wonder Boy for visitors today. I'm going to take Zipper down to see him later."


"What time?" Lieutenant Burke looked over at his lover, who was scrolling through her datapod with a worried look on her face.

"Probably not until later this afternoon. I'd say around 1600."

"Count me in," he replied before hanging up.

Maylene looked up at him, a cross look in her eyes.

"What is it?" Eric asked.

"The fleet's on the move," she said, reaching for her uniform. "All leaves have been cancelled. I need to get back to the Ark Royal."

Eric caught her hand. He pulled her close. Their embrace seemed desperate. The war was catching up with them.

"When do you weigh anchor?" he asked softly.

"1440."

"That leaves us almost eight hours . . ." His lips brushed her ear lobe. 

"I have to go . . ." she whispered. Maylene tried to pull away, but Eric wouldn't relax his embrace. He didn't want to relax his embrace.

"Maylene . . ." his voice broke as it trailed off. 

"I know, Eric," she melted into his arms. They felt so strong around her. 

The two stayed like that for several minutes. In their minds, each replayed the last time they parted. Neither wanted to leave the presence of the other. But the Navy had other ideas. The war had different plans for them.

Eric savoured the feel of her breath on his chest. His arms held her close, not for his sake—his hands couldn't feel the softness of her skin—but because he knew she wanted to feel his arms around her.

The silence between them was deafening. The chrono on the desk ticked off the minutes.

"Marry me," Maylene said finally.

For a moment, Eric was struck speechless. "What—?"

"Let's get married," she pulled back. He looked into her mechanical eyes. As strange as it sounds, he could see the love and tenderness and hope in their soft blue glow. "Tomorrow . . . Today . . . Right now."

He stammered, unable to reply.

"Eric," she paused for a second, trying to find the words. "I'm sorry for the way I left you last time . . . I shouldn't have just bailed out on you. . . . I've missed you so much . . ."

Her lips started to quiver and her voice nearly broke. If she still had tear ducts in her eye sockets, they would have been wet. Eric pulled her even closer.

"I love you," Maylene said. "I love you, Eric. . . . I know we can't be together . . . at least right now . . . But I don't . . . I don't want to be without you."

Eric didn't reply immediately. He clutched his love to his chest. His eyes watered as he held her. He didn't want to be without her, either.

"How can we make it work?" he asked longingly. The TSN didn't plan for people. The Navy planned for war. They sometimes honoured requests, but made no guarantees.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"Maylene," Eric said, gathering his thoughts. "I love you, too. This last year has been the hardest one of my life . . . But you don't want me. You don't want to be married to a SOLAR. Our lives aren't easy. Not easy on us. Not easy on our families."

"Do you love me?" she asked. Her eyes seemed to bore into him.

"Yes." His voice was barely audible.

"Then we'll make it work," she said simply. 

Eric started to reply, but he could not refute her basic logic, nor her determination. He also could not deny his own desire to be with Maylene. The devil was in the details, though. She was a VR pilot. He was a special operator. They came from two different worlds. Worlds that often didn't mix. Still, Eric only had to look as far as his parents to see a marriage that endured despite the demands of the service. 

She could see the hesitation in his eyes. But she could also see his steely determination. "So . . . will you marry me? Be my husband."

"Yes," he replied, trying to smile through the almost permanent stoic mask. "Yes . . . I want that. If you'll have me, Maylene."

"I will," she said warmly. They kissed tenderly. "If you'll have me."

Eric kissed her harder. His hands went to her breasts, their clothes forgotten. She pulled back and began to laugh. A deep, joyous laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"I guess that means we have a wedding to plan," she smiled and kissed him again. "And Daddy always warned me about Navy guys . . ."

They collapsed into each other's arms, their worries temporarily forgotten.

************************* 

"I've got some good news, some bad news, and some more good news," Lieutenant Burke said to his assembled SOLAR platoon. Since returning to the base, things had happened very quickly for not only this platoon, but for the entire Team. A major reorganisation was taking place, a result of a shake-up in the sector's entire special warfare community.

The room fell silent. Everyone looked around uncertainly. They were all in their dress uniforms, having just attended Traylor's burial in space. There was a silent melancholy hanging over the group. Each accepted that some of their comrades might die or be injured and they accepted Traylor's death stoically. That didn't mean they liked it, though.

The fourteen men and women in the room had spent most of the last year together. They were the "plank owners" of the re-constituted SOLAR Team 6 and they had come to know each other better than they knew their families. Through constant training and combat, they relied on one other, and without exception, each trusted the others with their lives.

Hanging over all of them was the impending campaign. No one knew exactly what was going on, but everyone knew something was up. The platoon's orders hadn't come through, but they all expected to be thrown back into the fight.

"First the good: We're being taken off the line. I think everyone here has at least six weeks of leave and you are ordered to take it. You've earned it. I know everyone has heard about the Levari 6 campaign and we're not a part of it. Go home, catch some R and R. Do anything that doesn't involve the Navy." He paused and looked around the room, making eye contact with each member of his platoon. "Now the bad news. . . . Team 6 is being broken up."

He waited a moment to let that sink in.

"Most of you will be spread out to some of the other platoons, but Admiral von Luck is putting Team 23 back together and some of you will be headed over there with Commander McComas to help stand up the new Team. Some of you are due for an instructor tour somewhere. The rest of you will be stuck with me on Team 6." Burke pulled a stack of files out of his briefcase. "Now for the other good news: promotions and orders."

One by one he called the men and women forward, passing out orders and giving promotions to those who were due. He handed out stripes and told a funny story or two about each, which often brought some good-natured ribbing from the rest of the platoon.

"H-M-One Danielle Martin," he called.

"Aye, sir!"

"Your exceptional service as lead petty officer of SOLAR Team Six Alpha Platoon has earned you the rank of chief petty officer," Burke smiled broadly as she stepped forward. "I have your orders here: you will be platoon chief for Charlie Platoon, SOLAR Team Six. Congratulations, Chief!"

"Hoo-yah!" she replied. There was enthusiastic applause from around the room. No SOLAR in the platoon worked—or played—harder than Martin. 

Of all the jobs in the Navy, being a chief petty officer is what it was all about. In many ways, they are the "glue" that holds the service together. The officers may run the Navy, but it's the chiefs who own it. Within the SOLAR Teams, there was no job more important or more revered than the platoon chiefs. Now, Martin would be joining their exalted ranks, something she had spent the last 14 years of her life aspiring to.

"Chief Sonya Hayes!"

"Aye, sir!"

Burke paused dramatically for a moment to make her sweat. Hayes was the kind of platoon chief who came along once in a blue moon. Efficient and smart, she knew when to be the platoon's mother figure and when to be its taskmistress. Some of the platoon feared her more than God and at the same time loved her more than their sisters.

"You are due for promotion to senior chief petty officer," he said before pausing again. "However, on my recommendation, you are not being promoted."

There was a collective gasp in the room. Burke smiled inwardly. It was the tradition of the SOLAR teams to promote platoon chiefs after one deployment to make room for a new chief. Often they would go on to serve a staff tour or serve as instructors at BUD/S or some other training school to pass along their wisdom to the next generation of special operators. Of course, that was in the peacetime navy. With the war going on, those traditions tended to fall by the wayside as the Teams found themselves understaffed and overworked.

"You are not being passed over, either . . . Chief Hayes, you are the best platoon chief I have ever had the pleasure of serving with, and I couldn't let you go to waste," he smiled and pulled out two envelopes. "I've got two sets of orders for you. You get to pick one and I'll burn the other. Oh, you can still take the promotion if you want it. You'll get a transfer to Coronado and you can torture kids at BUD/S. Or you can take what's behind door number two: another tour as a platoon chief. Of course that means you'll have to babysit a new lieutenant . . ."




Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 02



"Do I get to pick the lieutenant, sir?" The worried look had vanished from her eyes. Everyone in the room thought of themselves as an operator first and even though they had valuable knowledge to pass on, being in the field was what every SOLAR wanted. And no one wanted to become an instructor with the war still on.

"Sorry, chief," Burke said, a wicked twinkle in his eye. "I've got a special project for you . . ."

The light came on. "You don't mean—?" 

"I do . . . Sub-lieutenant Kato Ikuyo! Front and center."

The young woman stepped forward and snapped to attention.

"I'll take what's behind door number two, sir."

"I thought you might, chief," Burke smiled. "Good luck."

He put one set of orders away and turned to the young officer. "You are hereby promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the Terran Space Navy. I also have your orders. You will take command of Alpha Platoon, SOLAR Team Six effective today at 1130 hours."

Her smile was cut short when he looked up at the chrono on the wall. "Sir, that's—"

"This is the best damn platoon in the best damn Team in the whole goddam Navy. It was a privilege to serve with you all. There is no other group of men and women I'd rather have at my back or trust with my life. I turn over command of Alpha Platoon, SOLAR Team 6 to you, Lieutenant Kato." Burke saluted the junior officer and flashed her a heartfelt smile. "God help us all."

"I relieve you of command, sir." The ceremonial words flowed out of Kato's mouth, even though she didn't quite believe she was saying them.

"I stand relieved."

"Attention on deck!" Chief Hayes snapped and the thirteen men and women instantly came to their feet. "SOLAR Six Alpha departing!"

Burke had intentionally sprung the change of command on the platoon. He didn't want things getting sentimental, but he also wanted to quickly make way for his very able successor.

The assembly began to break up as the platoon mixed among themselves. This wasn't goodbye; there would be a formal dinner later but this game them each and opportunity to mentally adjust to their new circumstances.

"Sir, what will you do now?" Chief Hayes spoke on behalf of the platoon. 

"I don't know yet," Burke shrugged. "My orders still haven't come through. I'm going to take some leave, though."

"We heard a nasty rumour about that, sir," Martin came up and gave Burke a familial hug.

"You did?" His eyebrows went up in mock surprise.

"Hoo-yah, Lieutenant." She was trying to get him to give away the news, but his poker face was on.

"I've got another meeting with Commander Stickle this afternoon so I should know a little more by dinner tonight," Burke said.

"We'll be there, sir."

Lieutenant Burke looked around one last time at the men and women in the room. This was his last platoon command, and his operational career was probably coming to an end. 

Now it was Lieutenant Kato's command. Her platoon.

Then he turned and headed out the door. Wondering what his future held.

************************* 

One week later.

"Are you sure I can't talk you out of this, Eric?" Commander Stickle asked, fastening the collar on his own dress uniform.

"Not a chance, Chuck."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," the senior officer said. "Just promise me this will be your only marriage. You don't want to spend your career supporting two ex-wives like me. And tell me one thing: How did you get the Ark Royal battlegroup pulled out of the Levari 6 operation?"

"If my name had that much weight, I'd have gotten myself assigned to Paradise Station out on 27 Tri." Eric snorted. "Maylene told me they're overdue for spacedock and that the Hornet was close enough to take their place."

"Too bad for you. If the Ark Royal had shipped out, you'd still be a free man tonight. Are you ready?"

"I guess so."

"Congratulations, Eric," Chuck stuck his hand out and Eric grasped it warmly. "You want your orders now or later?"

"You're joking, right? . . . You're not joking! You rat-fuck sonofabitch! Why didn't you tell me this afternoon?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Bastard."

Chuck started to reply, but then the music started and they walked out to begin the ceremony.

With his commanding officer at his side, Eric waited for his bride. He was still in his dress whites, as were as many member of Team 6 and Maylene's squadron who would fit in the small, unadorned chapel.

All eyes turned to the back when the wedding march started. Maylene walked down the aisle. She was in her dress uniform. In her arms, she carried a small bouquet of flowers. Her face was radiant. Her eyes twinkled. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes upon.

Maylene was escorted by the Ark Royal's CAG, who was taking the place of her father for the ceremony. The citadel's chaplain presided.

The bride and groom wrote simple vows. They exchanged rings machined out of platinum and titanium by one of the Team's armourers. Holographic images of their parents stood in the corner as they watched from Earth. It was a simple ceremony and soon Eric held Maylene in his arms. They kissed as the chaplain announced them as Mr. and Mrs. Eric Burke.

A small reception awaited them in one of the mess halls. It wasn't the big elaborate wedding some people have, but it was perfect for a Navy couple. And it was the best they could do with only a week's notice. There was cake and punch, along with a little bit of liquor that was "acquired" from one of the quartermasters and snuck into the ceremony.

Eric and Maylene waited through a long line of congratulators, most of them from Sky Wing 26 and Special Warfare Group One. They circulated throughout the room, taking time to visit with her squadron and his old platoon. Both wore smiles nothing short of Armageddon could have wiped away. 

At one point, Commander Stickle and the Group One CO pulled the pair aside.

"You want your orders now, Eric?" Captain Tom Harrison asked.

Maylene exchanged a worried look with her husband. Eric took a deep breath. "Let's have 'em."

"First of all, we need to get you in the right uniform," Commander Stickle said. The rest of the room had taken notice and fell silent. "Lieutenant Eric Burke, you are hereby promoted to the rank of sub-commander, effective immediately. In addition, because of your exemplary leadership of SOLAR platoons in Team 6 and Team 23, you are awarded the brevet rank of commander in the Terran Space Navy."

Chief Hayes handed Commander Stickle a set of shoulder boards, who turned them over to Maylene. She took Eric's old ones off and slipped the new ones on. Then Commander Stickle reached into his tunic and pulled out a paper set of orders.

"By order of Fleet Admiral Bernadette von Luck, Commander Special Warfare Sector 12, and Captain Thomas Harrison, Commander Naval Special Warfare Group One, you will assume command of SOLAR Team 4, effective six weeks from today," Commander Stickle said. "In the mean time, you are to take your vacation, not talk about anything other than how beautiful your new bride is, and enjoy your honeymoon."

"Thank you, sir." Burke reached out to shake the hands of the Team and Group commander. Maylene did the same and then the two shared another kiss. Her orders were being cut and she was taking her leave, too. Neither knew where they would be in six weeks, but both knew they had at least that much time together.

************************* 

Three weeks later.

"How long have your parents owned this cabin?" Maylene asked, setting her bag down next to the bed. The view out the window was spectacular. Set against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the pristine lake was as picture-perfect as could be found on Earth. There were only a few other cabins around, and none of them within five kilometers.

She let out a delighted—but surprised—yelp as Eric picked her up from behind and threw her down on the bed. Maylene rolled over on her back as Eric fell on top of her. His lips pressed against hers.

"Down boy!" Maylene giggled, only putting up token resistance. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him to her.

His mouth went to her neck, his teeth brushed against her skin. She let out a low gasp.

Eric pulled back and looked into her eyes. "I love you, Mrs. Burke."

"And I love you, too, Eric," she replied. His weight pressed down on her. His lips went to her neck.

After their wedding, the pair caught a transport home where they did the whirlwind friends and family tour. They visited with their parents then went to London for a couple of days. Eric was officially in between commands and without a permanent assignment. With their carrier in spacedock for refurbishment, she was free, too. At least for a little while.

The cabin was out in the woods, far enough from civilisation to be remote, but just a flitter ride away from town if they got bored. Of course, neither Eric nor Maylene even considered going anywhere near another person for the next month.

His strong arms pulled her close. Her hands tugged at his shirt.

The door to the cabin was wide open, but neither of them cared. A warm breeze blew through the room.

Neither of the newlyweds was in any particular rush. They undressed each other slowly.

Eric unbuttoned Maylene's blouse. His mechanical fingers moved with practiced efficiency. He wasn't nearly as clumsy as a year ago and soon his bride lay naked on the bed. She had a hungry look in her cybernetic eyes.

Maylene arched her back as Eric gently ran his hands all over her body. Burn scars covered her chest, but they were healing. The skin, which had once been rough, was beginning to smooth.

The feeling coming from his fingertips wasn't quite as tactile as he wanted, but it would do. Besides, Eric wasn't touching his wife for his benefit; it was for hers.

She moaned softly as his hands explored her body. His fingers sought the inside of her waistband and he pulled her skirt and panties down over her hips.

Maylene spread her legs and pulled Eric close to her. He fumbled with his belt as she pulled his shirt over his head.

They lay together for a long time. Their bodies intertwined. Maylene's body was warm; at least her flesh and blood parts were flush with excitement. 

Eric kissed down her neck to her shoulder. His tongue traced circles along her fire-ravaged skin. She cried out softly when he bit her one nipple.

Maylene pulled Eric's mouth to hers. Her hands tugged at his clothes until he was just as naked as she was. She wrapped her arms and legs around her husband, as if to never let him go.

As he started to mount her, Maylene pushed him back.

Startled, Eric began to protest but soon found himself laying on his back, his wife above him. He looked up longingly at her, matching her stare, losing himself in Maylene's gaze.

She gently took his cock in her hand and guided it to the slick entrance of her sex. With two passes, she coated the head with her excitement and then slowly sat down on him.

Eric's eyes devoured her. He looked past her synthetic skin, bio-mechanical prosthetic limbs, cyber-optic eyes and burn scars. All he could see was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Though they only shared a few weeks together, though they came from different parts of the same navy, and though they had no idea what the future held, Eric knew he wanted to spend the rest of the life with her.

He let out a throaty growl as she sank down on him.

"I love having you inside me, Eric," she whispered.

"You feel so good," he replied. Maylene leaned forward and he took her breasts in his mouth.

He bushed his cheek into the valley between her breasts, savouring the touch of her skin. She put her hands on the back of his head and pulled him in close.

Their hips moved slowly. Together. In rhythm.

In the back of his mind, Eric made sure the power in his arms was dialed down to a level that wouldn't hurt either of them. Then he put his hands on Maylene's ass and squeezed gently.

She lifted up until only the tip of his cock was still inside her. Eric looked up and saw Maylene's head thrown back, her eyes closed.

The two froze in that position for a long moment, then she brought herself down on him with one swift stroke. Both cried out in delight.

They began to move faster. Maylene took control and began to grind her pussy on him, desperate for release.

"I missed you," he whispered as she kissed his cheek.

"I know, Eric," she replied softly. "I missed you, too."

Their lips met again. Their teeth knocked together. Her arms pinned his down. He was stronger than she was, but he didn't pull away.

He pushed his hips forward, meeting her every stroke.

Being close to her made him feel alive. Like most soldiers, Eric was always felt like he was in the presence of death. It followed him daily. Often he was the killer. Not because he like it. But because he was good at it.

Sometimes, those around him died. Sometimes, death seemed to be breathing down his neck. In a perverse sort of way, he reveled in the thrill. Death challenged him. So far, he had proven to be one step ahead.

But everyone's time ran up. Everyone's.

Maylene staved all that away. The nightmares. The shaking. The emptiness he felt when he thought about all the sailors who were dead because he gave them an order that led them into an impossible situation.

Some of the other SOLARs he served with told him how their families kept them grounded in reality. A reality where killing wasn't something to be done on a daily basis. He thought they were full of shit. 

Until he met Maylene. Until he felt close to another person. Over the previous year, he missed her touch. Her smell. The press of her hair on his shoulder.

For a while, he thought they just shared a fling. That they were just two people drawn together by a mutual need. By pain. Then he found himself thinking of her as he tried to fall asleep. Her gentle touch. Her beautiful smile. The warmth of her body.

He needed her. Eric realised that the warrior within would only lead him to a lonely death, if not on some remote asteroid on the far side of the galaxy, then in some corner of the planet he called home. Surrounded by walls he built around himself that kept him from caring too much about other people, because they invariably would leave him.

When he finally had her back in his arms, Eric realised what he had been missing. Even as broken as her own body was, she restored the humanity that had been taken from him. She shared his pain. He shared hers.

And in doing so, they made each other stronger.

Maylene rode Eric for what seemed like an eternity. Her pussy was slick.

She rubbed her clit against the top of his cock. His mechanical hands gripped her ass. Her tongue traced his collarbone. He kissed her burn-scarred breasts.

They cried out together.

The next morning, they woke up in each others arms. Over the next month, not once did they get in the flitter to go in to town. They brought enough food to last them, and the local grocery store delivered anything else they needed.

If they weren't making love in the cabin, they were holding each other outside on the porch or lying together in the grass. A couple of times they went skinny-dipping in the lake, but every night, Eric and Maylene rocked each other to sleep. All the while, they pretended that their days together weren't numbered and that the Navy didn't need them back to fight a war.

************************* 

"Admiral N'Genge says they can't hold out any longer, sir," the comm sergeant said. "The fleet's pulling out of orbit."

"How far?" General Kravchenko cursed under his breath.

"At least back to Mombar, sir."

"Get me the Gemini," he said, reaching for his headset. After a second, the MEF's deputy commander was on the line.

"I just got word, sir," Brigadier-General Ibrahim sounded frustrated. "I'm launching all of our supply shuttles right now. They should last you about eight days. The captain says we're going to hyperspace in a couple of minutes."

Kravchenko looked up at the holographic display of the system. He knew he only had a few minutes to get his final orders in. "Take what's left of Three-MEF back to Citadel Firestorm. We'll hold out as long as we can. Our planetary defenses should be able to hold the Federation for a little while, but we can't outlast a long blockade."

Since arriving in the system, things had not been going well. They initially had driven the Federation forces back and captured some key installations on the ground and placed some defense satellites in orbit around the planet, but over the last month a see-saw battle had placed the future in doubt for both sides. The Federation had never been driven away, though. Not until today. 

Their ships were being forced to the system's other planet, where their orbital fortifications were stronger. Now it was up to the groundpounders to stick things out until reinforcements arrived.

The comm beeped. It was Vice-Admiral Tobias N'Genge. "Hold on a second, Abe."

"Aleks," the admiral began apologetically. "I hate to do this to you, but the Feds just brought in two more battle squadrons and we're getting pummeled up here."

"I understand, Toby," Kravchenko replied. He had been watching the space battle in the 3-D tank and knew how badly outnumbered the Navy was. In truth, he was amazed they had lasted this long.

"I'm sending word to all ground commanders that you are the senior officer on the planet," N'Genge continued. "They won't try to land where you are, but I'd look for them to make a push near the southern pole or on the continent just east of you. The Sixth Fleet is massing near 36 Epsilon so we won't be gone long."

He paused as his command ship shook from what sounded like a missile strike. "I'm sending every dropship I've got with all the supplies we can fit on them. We're also going to leave some orbital mines to cover you for a while."

"Get out of here, Toby," Kravchenko said. "We'll hold."

"Take care of yourself, Aleks. Sector command is pulling out all the stops on this one. We'll be back," the admiral promised. "N'Genge out."

The line went dead. "Are you still there, Abe?"


"Yes, sir," General Ibrahim said. "We're about to make the jump."

"It'll take a while to get enough Marines to take the system back. You'll have to run a blockade, but make sure the ammo keeps coming," Kravchenko's voice hardened. One by one, the Alliance ships in orbit blinked and were gone from the display as they entered hyperspace.

"Roger that. Semper fi."

On the screen, the orbital landing ship Gemini flashed and disappeared. Kravchenko let out a deep sigh as the space around the planet blinked with red dots. Federation ships jumping into the system.

************************* 

One month later.

The warm summer breeze blew over Eric and Maylene. They sat on a rocking chair, wanting nothing more than to be in each other's arms. She leaned back against him. He kissed the back of her neck and down her shoulder. Both were naked.

"How do we give this up?" she said finally.

He didn't immediately reply. Instead, he just held her tight. "We don't. We'll just have to wait a while to come back."

She turned her head and kissed him.

"What will you do?" Eric asked.

Maylene smiled, a hint of mystery on her lips. "My squadron is being rotated home. They've asked if I wanted to teach for a semester at the Naval War College."

"Which will look very nice when you're up for selection to admiral," Eric said, half-teasingly.

"I'm not going to take it," she replied. 

Eric did a double-take.

"I got a better offer," Maylene said, seeing the "why?" forming on her husband's lips. "Citadel Firestorm needs a sky boss. I thought I'd take that assignment."




Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 02



It took him a moment to form the words.

"Unless you'd like me to stay on Earth while you're running around sector 12," she said with a wink.

He was due to take command of SOLAR Team 4 in a couple of days and Naval Special Warfare Group One was based at Citadel Firestorm.

"You've been sitting on this for the last month and a half?" he finally managed.

"No." Maylene kissed him on the cheek. "Your friend—the Fleet Admiral—sent me a voice packet last week and 'suggested' I take this billet. That is, unless you want me to beat you to admiral."

Eric let out a joyous laugh and pulled his wife closer. One hand cupped her breast. The other went down between her legs. 

"Mmmmmm, you do that so well," she cooed in his ear.

"I've had lots of practice," he replied softly. 

Maylene bit her lip as Eric's hand massaged her clit. He couldn't feel it, but she was slick with excitement. Her husband's cum that was leaking out of her didn't hurt either.

She started to buck her hips against his hand.

"Right there," she gasped as he continued to rub her button.

She was close. Her breathing was ragged. 

"Oh, god . . . oh, Eric," Maylene moaned. "That feels . . . so . . . so . . . What the hell?!?"

Eric stopped suddenly and stood. He caught Maylene before she fell and took her in his arms.

She looked into his eyes and saw faintly mischievous laughter. She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled up against his neck as Eric carried her inside to the bed.

The covers had been thrown off the night before. He set her down and took her in with his eyes.

Then he pushed her back. His weight was on top of her and she reveled in the feeling. They kissed eagerly.

Maylene spread her legs with anticipation. She felt his hips push forward and the tip of his cock rubbed against her sex.

Both continued to grind until he found the moist opening to her pussy. She broke their kiss long enough to squeal with delight.

Eric let out a feral grunt when he bottomed out. Their bodies pressed together.

"That feels so good," Maylene purred. "I love the way you fill me up."

"I'm going to fill you with cum," he growled, pulling back so only his head was still inside her.

"Oh, god, Eric," she gasped as he thrust inside her. "Fuck me!"

He didn't reply. Instead he pulled back, only to ram his cock back inside her.

Maylene threw her head back and moaned in ecstasy. 

Building a steady rhythm, Eric made love to his wife. He alternated between hard, fast strokes and slow, deep ones.

When he felt her hands ball up into fists he knew she was close. So was he.

She arched her back to take as much of him inside her as she could. Her eyes were closed. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him close.

"I'm about to . . ." he groaned through clenched teeth.

"Yes . . . Yes! . . . Cum inside me!" she implored. "Cum all over me!"

Eric pulled his hips back and then thrust forward into her. Maylene let out an ear-splitting scream and he felt her pussy fill with hot cum.

His cock pulsed as they came together.

Neither of them moved, but their orgasms seemed to go on forever.

He could hear the blood pounding through his veins. He could hear her heart pounding, and not because he had his cyberneticly-enhanced hearing turned on.

Finally, Eric collapsed into her arms, his spent cock still inside her. The only sounds in the cabin were their ragged breaths. 

They kissed each other gently for a long time.

"I love you, Eric," she whispered.

He bit her neck, right behind her ear. "I love you, too, May."

"So you won't mind having me around if I take the sky boss billet?"

"If I get to wake up with you every morning, no," he replied with a laugh. "But I'm warning you: living with a SOLAR isn't easy. Especially me."

"I think I'll manage," there was a slight teasing in her voice. "Remember, I outrank you, mister."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied mockingly. He leaned in to steal one more kiss. Then his voice became serious. "The Team I'm taking over—Team 4—got beat up pretty bad on their last deployment. I've got some good SOLARs, but a lot of new kids . . . I'm going to have to train their asses off . . . You may not see much of me for a while."

"Sweetheart," her hand went under his chin, and turned him so he was looking into her mechanical blue eyes. "Any chance to see you is better than the last year. I'll take whatever I can get. But you have to promise me something."

"Anything, my love."

"Promise you'll come home to me."

He leaned down and kissed her. "I promise."

Of course, deep down, both knew that was one promise he might not be able to keep. He lived a dangerous life. So did she, as her injuries were sure to attest. However, Eric's lifestyle was imminently more hazardous, and they both knew it. He also knew that if he was ever in the field, all thoughts of home and family had to be pushed aside. In combat, stray thoughts almost always led to death. 

But in this moment, that didn't matter. Those were the words she needed to hear and he needed to say.

They held each other for a long time over the next couple of days before packing up their things and setting the cleaning robot loose on the cabin. Then it was back to the war.

************************* 

"My god, these kids get younger and younger, don't they, Master Chief?" Commander Burke said quietly, surveying the room.

"That they do, sir," Master Chief McDaniel replied. 

They were watching the group from behind a one-way mirror. The Team was one of the few that was operating at its full authorised strength: 96 platoon SOLARs, a 5 member command team and a staff of 12.

"How many virgins have we got?"

"Thirty-five, sir," the old veteran replied. "Remember the days when that was two classes at BUD/S?"

"Only because you made some many of us quit," Burke snorted.

"I didn't make anyone quit, sir," the other man flashed a wicked grin. "But God knows I tried to get you to ring that bell."

"You should have tried harder, 'Instructor' McDaniel." For just a moment, the two flashed back to an earlier time in their lives. Before the war. Before they buried so many of their comrades. When McDaniel's job was to weed out those who didn't have the makings of a special operator and Burke was a smart-assed kid who couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Let's do this."

Along with three other SOLARs, the pair strode out of the small office at the back of the small auditorium.

"Attention on deck!" someone called.

The hundred or so people in the room snapped to their feet and fell silent. Burke, who could walk without making a sound if he wanted, made a point to step heavily, the sounds of his boots breaking up the stillness of the room.

He set his jaw and held his head high. Commander Burke projected confidence. Leadership. Within the special warfare community, his reputation spoke for him, but he wanted those under his command to fell his presence. They were in a serious business, and he wanted everyone to understand where they stood with him.

With a few swift steps, he ascended the dais and took the podium. 

"As you were." The audience sat. The other four people with him took their places on the stage. "Welcome to SOLAR Team 4. For those of you who served under Commander Harper, it's good to have you back. Everyone in this room is here because I want you here. If I don't know you personally, I know your reputation. There are no half-asses in here. If you decide to become one while with Team 4, I will see you gone. If we are in the field when you decide to slack off, I will shoot you myself . . ."

The welcome speech was half pep talk and half scare tactic. He introduced his command staff: the Team's command master chief, the executive officer, the operations officer and the operations senior chief.

Scattered about the crowd were Juggs and Bunny from Team 6, a handful of men and women he knew from previous assignments or even from his own BUD/S class, but mostly they were strangers. Youngsters who had no idea what lay in front of them. They were the best and brightest of the Terran Space Navy and some of the most capable special operators in the galaxy. 

And Commander Burke knew many of them weren't going to make it home.

"Rule number one: Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal," Burke continued. "I shouldn't have to say this, but I will, just to go on record. Every one in this room is going to fuck up. If you do, come clean about it, take your lumps and we'll move on. If you screw something up, tell someone. We can fix mistakes. We learn from mistakes. We can work with you and make sure it doesn't happen again. That's why we train—and believe me, we are going to train until your arms fall off—we train to eliminate mistakes so when the missiles start flying for real, everyone comes home."

He surveyed the room, trying to make eye contact with as many of the SOLARs as possible. "But if you cover something up. . . . If you try and hide something because you think it might look bad on your next fit rep . . . If you lie to me or one of your officers, that's when people die. Liars and cheaters and thieves are liabilities, and I will not have anyone on my Team who is a liability."

There were murmurs of assent from around the room.

"Rule number two: Give one hundred percent." Burke said. "Put out for me and I will go to bat for you every time. Slack off or sandbag, and I put your ass in a sling and shoot it into a star. We are in a war, and holding back will get you and your Teammates killed. If you are having problems at home—money, spouse, kids, whatever—see your chief or your platoon officers and we will help you take care of it. When we go out in the field, you are on my time, and we don't need distractions that can be taken care of beforehand. If you are not willing to give everything you've got for your platoon, you need to turn in your shooting star and go home." 

He looked around one more time.

"Rule number three: Watch out for each other." There was some extra gravity to his voice. "When you go in to combat, you must trust the people next to you. They must trust you. Do not ever let your Teammates down. You might fail in your mission. But you will not ever fail the people in this room. I will ask you to go on missions which have long odds. I will sometimes ask you to do things that seem crazy. But know this: I will never ask you to do anything that I am not willing to do myself, nor will I leave any of you behind."

Burke paused a second to let that sink in.

"The officers and chiefs of SOLAR Team 4 will never let you down. This is my pledge to you. We will provide you with the best training, the best equipment, the best intelligence and the best leadership. The rest is up to you. Look around this room. Look at the person on your right and on your left. Their lives are in your hands. If they cannot trust you, and if you cannot trust them with your life, you need to request a transfer right now and I will put you in a nice safe billet somewhere back on Earth."

No one took him up on the offer.

"I intend for this to be the finest SOLAR Team in the Navy. Do not disappoint me."

Burke sat down. The Master Chief said a few words, followed by a short orientation by the XO. Then it was off to meetings with the officers and platoon chiefs.

He didn't know which he hated worse: getting shot at or all the paperwork. But a part of him felt like he was home.

************************* 

Two months later.

"Sir, why don't they just nuke us from orbit?" asked one of the Marines. His visor was up, revealing his boyish face.

Lieutenant O'Connell took a second to think of his name. The stencils on the kid's helmet had long since worn off. Atkinson. Left over from the 3rd Marine Division.

"Because we're sitting on one of the largest terraforming stations on the continent," he replied. "And no one wants to rebuild these things. They'd rather send troops down and take them one at a time. Besides, our air defense guns would get any nukes they tried to drop on us from orbit."

"Are reinforcements coming?" the boy asked.

"That's what they tell me," the lieutenant replied. "There were two AD turrets in the last drop and Colonel Frazier is sending another company from Omicron Station."

"I mean from off-planet, sir," Atkinson said softly.

O'Connell put on his best reassuring smile. "They're coming, son. Marines never leave their own."

He clapped the young Marine on the shoulder. He walked away, afraid the young man might see the doubt in his own eyes.

The station buzzed with activity. On the surface, the Marines were safe from the Federation fleet's beam weapons, which were easily diffused by the planet's atmosphere. Missiles were also not much of an issue, as long as the air defense turrets were operational. 

A ground assault was more likely, although at this station they had enough air cover to deter all but the most serious assaults. Every now and then the Feds staged a raid or probed their defenses, but they seemed to be holding back. At least for now.

If not for the war, Iridin wouldn't be that bad a place to live, O'Connell once thought to himself. The atmosphere was breathable and the gravity was just a shade under Earth's. The temperature was a little low but the terraforming stations were bringing that up. About half the surface was covered by oceans. The other half was rocky, but slowly being taken over by the plants and trees transported in from Earth.

A few lichens on land and a handful of small fishes in the seas were the most advanced lifeforms indigenous to the planet. So why were they fighting over it?

The fact that it was inhabitable for one. That was another reason why no one was in a rush to use nukes. Why turn a livable planet into a radioactive mudball if you don't have to? It was also loaded with metals and ores. Unlike other planets which had vast colonisation potential, Iridian was one big mine, and the atmosphere made working there safer than mining asteroids in space.

The other planet was the system's real gem. Mombar was where people wanted to live, and for the time being the Federation was sending troops and ships there. But they couldn't let the Alliance have a base this close; that's why these Marines were holding Iridian.

O'Connell walked through the maze of underground tunnels finally reaching the command center. The massive holotank in the middle of the room showed the planet, ringed by a blockade of Alliance warships. A mix of blue and red areas on the surface showed the territory controlled by the Alliance and the Federation.

The red portion was getting bigger with each week as the Federation brought in more troops and more ships. At first they thought this was a feint, meant to draw the Federation away from another target. But now, almost six months into the campaign, it was apparent that this was the big push into sector 12. 

The Alliance ground forces had retreated to the major terraforming stations or to their undersea bases. They managed a few raids but were mostly fighting a defensive war.

Supplies came in irregularly. The Federation managed to blockade most of the planet, but couldn't cover it all. Some fresh troops were landed, but only the most seriously wounded were taken off. The dead were buried where they fell.

"How's it going, Bill?" Major Nakamura offered him a cup of coffee.

"Not so good, sir," he replied. "They hit one of our AD guns this morning and I don't know that we have the parts to fix it. I've got a mobile battery there right now, but if that goes down, too, almost half of the northeast quadrant will be exposed."

They looked over at General Kravchenko, who was staring blankly at the holotank.

"How are things here?" O'Connell asked so no one else could hear.

"The old man's starting to slip," the other man replied. "He's talking less and less. I don't think he expected to be left out here for this long with no relief in sight."

"None?"

The dark look in Nakamura's eyes told him everything. "Echo station fell this morning. Some of them got out, but most of the 35th Marines were killed or taken prisoner."

"Is there any good news?"

"Yeah, the Cubs won the pennant," Nakamura managed to smile.

"That leaves . . . what? . . . Eight stations?" O'Connell thought for a second.

"Ten, if you count Seabase Alpha and Glacier Station Zebra."

"They're chipping away at us one at a time," he finished his coffee and crumpled his cup into a ball.

"Mm-hmmm," the major replied. "And we're next. We shouldn't have sent the 2/28 to Emerald River. Right now, we're the weakest station on the planet and the Feds know it."

************************* 

Four months later.

Maylene rolled over the blinked her eyes a couple of times. It took a second for them to activate. The screen across the room was on. Eric was sitting in front of it. She turned up the magnification on her eyes, first looking to see if the report was rated Secret or better.

There was a crease in his brow and a scowl on his face.

He heard her stirring and turned, his gaze softening.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Did I wake you?"

"No," she lied. She sat up, unconsciously drawing the sheet around her body. Maylene looked him over and saw new lines around his eyes. Each day it seemed there were some more grey hairs at his temples. The burden of command was catching up to him. She knew he hated to send his "kids" out into the field without him. He thought he was made to be a platoon leader, living in the mud with his SOLARs, not sitting in a command center a star system away. "It's killing you, isn't it?"


Eric let out a deep sigh. This was a side no one in the Teams ever saw. Just as Maylene never knew the steely-eyed killer caged deep within her husband, the SOLARs never saw this face: the broken-hearted man who wrote letters of condolence to husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and children, or the worried parent who stayed up waiting to hear how each mission went, and who winced every time the voice on the speaker cried, "I'm hit!"

"I lost two more kids last night," he whispered.

Not, "two guys bought it this morning" or "we had two casualties". 

I lost them. 

As if he were responsible for them individually. Maylene heard the stories about Eric from BUD/S and from his platoon time in the Teams. She read his IKC citation and had been there when he was presented the medal. The ribbons on his chest weren't just for show, and they weren't for good conduct or joint service. They weren't even earned. They were bought. There was a price to pay for each one, and often that currency was blood.

She knew he took the safety of his entire Team personally. It was what made him the kind of leader men and women would follow to the Gates of Hell because they knew he would bring each of them back. 


And it was what was going to burn him out.

Maylene got out of bed and walked over behind her husband. She put her arms around him. He turned his head and kissed her gently.

"Come back to bed," she whispered. The chrono read 0433. They would be getting up soon anyway.

He knew he couldn't do his Team any good, but it was still hard for him. He sighed, then flipped the screen off. Maylene took his hand and led him through the darkness to the bed.

Maylene lay on her back and pulled Eric close. His head was on her shoulder. She ran her mechanical hands through his hair. Her fake fingernails gently raked his back.

A few minutes later, she felt his body twitch a couple of times and his breathing became slow and regular. Still she held him, knowing what always came on nights like this.

Soon enough, he cried out softly. His speech was incomprehensible, as it always was. But she knew what it meant. His breaths came in short, ragged spurts. He curled up into a ball, his arms and legs—especially the one that was still flesh and blood—sometimes jerking wildly.




Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 02



Pulling him closer, Maylene placed his head on her chest, so he could hear her heart beating. Its steady rhythm seemed to sooth him during the nightmares. She knew that buried deep within his subconscious, in the places where he tried to bury all of his pain and torment, his heart was breaking.

As it did on each of these nights, Maylene's heart broke along with his.

In the darkness, Maylene wept along with her sleeping husband. They shed tears for men and women she had never met and Eric almost never talked about. But she knew their faces haunted his dreams.

And in the morning, he would pretend everything was fine.

************************* 

Two months later.

"Sir, get down!" Master Chief McDaniel called. But it was too late.

The explosion hurled Burke across the room. The world seemed to stop for just a second. There was a flash of bright light, then complete and utter silence.

Things slowly came back into focus. His head spun. There was a ringing in his ears.

He tried to roll over, but couldn't. The power armour felt so heavy. A searing pain started in his gut.

"Holy fucking shit," he vaguely heard someone shout. "Corpsman up!"

Burke tried to speak, but only spat blood all over the inside of his faceplate.

"Hold on, sir," a voice said. A young woman—or was it a man? You never could tell in the armour—held his shoulders down.

Behind her, Burke could see people scurrying around frantically.

Don't worry about me! he wanted to say, but could not form the words. Plug the gap with second squad and kill those fuckers!

His arms groped around for something to hold on to. He tried to stand.

Raising his head, he saw his armoured legs. They were covered in blood. And on the other side of the command center.

A corpsman was in his face. Commander Burke could see his mouth moving, but couldn't comprehend what he was saying. The corpsman reached into his pack and pulled out a SCMU, scanned the gaping wound in Burke's gut, then ripped it open, releasing hundreds of miniature robots and medical nanobots. Their job was to stabilise him and keep him from bleeding to death.

Burke suddenly felt faint. Maybe it was because he knew he was dying. Or maybe it was the suit injecting him with sedatives to keep him from going into shock.

For a brief instant, there was a brief burning sensation in his stomach as the nanobots began cauterising and suturing his wounds shut. Then his entire body went numb.

He tried to give his final orders. But his body failed him.

Before the blackness claimed him, one thought ran through his mind.

Maylene is going to kill me.

************************* 

To be continued in part 3.

************************* 

Dramatis Personae 

SOLAR Team 6, Alpha Platoon

Lieutenant Eric Burke – OIC
Sub-Lieutenant Ikuyo Kato – AOIC
Ensign Vincent Tran – Third Officer
Chief Sonya Hayes – Chief Petty Officer
HM1 Danielle Martin – Lead Petty Officer 
CM2 Terry Brockelbank 
GM2 Togo "Bunny" Easter
HT2 Chris "Crispy" Paymer 
IS2 Anne Rhodes 
TM2 Janine Traylor 
DS3 Jedadiah "Wonder Boy" Gillispie
HM3 Joran "Ski" Walgroski 
SM3 Herman "Zipper" Kitts
GM3 Andrea "Juggs" Stanley 
SN Tatyana Kellerman
SN Alisha White 

Fleet Admiral Bernadette von Luck – CO, Special Warfare Command, Sector 12
Lieutenant-General Aleksander Petrovich Kravchenko – Commanding General, VII MEF
Vice-Admiral Tobias N'Genge – CO, Task Force 114
Brigadier-General Khalid Ibrahim – Deputy Commanding General, VII MEF
Captain Thomas Harrison – CO, Naval Special Warfare Group One
Commander Maylene Torres – CO, VFVA-221 "Heaven's Fury"
Commander Chuck Stickle – CO, SOLAR Team 6
Master Chief Warren McDaniel – Command Master Chief, SOLAR Team 4


****************************  

Glossary of Terms

AD – Air Defense

AOIC – Assistant Officer in Charge

BDU – Battle Dress Uniform, the familiar camouflage uniform worn while on duty.  Rendered largely ineffective in combat in the age of power armour and full body armour, but still worn as the uniform of the day.

CAG – CO for a Sky Wing; the acronym stands for Commander, Air Group, an anachronism from when a naval aircraft carrier supported an air group instead of an air wing

CO – Commanding Officer

fit rep – Fitness Report

HUD – Heads-Up Display

IKC – Interstellar Knights Cross, the Alliance's highest military award

LPO – Lead Petty Officer

LZ – Landing Zone

MEF – Marine Expeditionary Force

OIC – Officer in Charge

SCMU – Self-Contained Medical Unit

sit rep – Situation Report

Sky Wing – Fighter and tactical spacecraft detachment assigned to a deep space carrier

SOLAR – Space, Ocean, Land, AtmospheRe; special operations troopers, direct descendants of the Navy SEALs

third-O – Third officer; in a SOLAR team, this is often an officer on their first operational deployment who is third in command of a platoon, but is there primarily to learn the ropes of command

TSMC – Terran Space Marine Corps

TSN – Terran Space Navy

VFVA – Space navy squadron designation for a virtual reality attack/strike fighter squadron

XO – Executive officer

****************************  

A note on Navy Enlisted Rates and Ranks

Enlisted personnel in the Navy are assigned a rating which indicates their job specialty and a rate that indicates their rank.  In Navy-speak, enlisted sailors are often addressed as a combination of their rating and their rank.  For instance, GM2 refers to a Gunner's Mate, Second Class.  Officers do not have a rating.

Non-commissioned officers in the Navy are called petty officers.  They are the equivalent of sergeants in the Army, Marines or Air Force.  The lowest ranking is the petty officer, third class.  Next up are the petty officers second and first class.  The senior NCOs are the chief petty officers which are no longer addressed by their rate, but simply as Chief, Senior Chief or Master Chief.  

Some of the rates used in this story:

BM – Boatswain's Mate
CM – Construction Mechanic
DS – Data Systems 
ET – Electronics Technician 
GM – Gunner's Mate 
HM – Hospital Corpsman 
HT – Hull Technician 
IS – Intelligence Specialist 
SM – Signalman 
TM – Torpedoman

Below the NCOs are enlisted sailors.  These are usually new sailors and are assigned the following pay grades:

SN – Spaceman
SA – Spaceman Apprentice
SR – Spaceman Recruit

For the purposes of this story, the TSN uses a rank system similar to the US Navy for officers.  From highest to lowest they are:

Grand Admiral
Fleet Admiral
Admiral
Vice-Admiral
Rear Admiral
Commodore
Captain
Commander 
Subcommander
Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant
Ensign

Commodore and above are considered "flag" officers.



Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 03



"Commander?" the voice said. It was compassionate and friendly, with a touch of mischievous humour underneath it. "Commander Burke . . . Come towards the light . . . It's not a mag-lev about to run you over." 

He felt distant and detached. His body was numb.

Eric blinked a couple of times and the room came into focus. A doctor was shining a penlight into his eyes, one at a time.

"Where . . . where is my Team?" he mumbled.

"They're safe, sir," the doctor replied. He had a friendly bedside manner. There were lieutenant's bars on his collar.

"Where am I?"

"Home," another voice said. This one was softer, feminine. He recognised it immediately. His wife. "You're back on Earth."

Eric tried to turn his head, but couldn't. 

"Why can't I move?" he asked, feeling a little bit panicky.

"Because all you've done for the past two years is float in a tank." There was a subtle laughter in her voice. 

"Two—?" he was at a loss for words.

"We had to grow most of your body back, Commander." The doctor's hand was under his chin and he turned Eric's head towards Maylene. "Some admiral with a chest full of medals tried to talk your wife into turning you into a full conversion borg, but she said she wasn't through with your body yet." 

In the bed next to his, Eric's eyes took in the most beautiful sight in the world.

***************** 

Two and a half years earlier.

"Master Chief, can I get another beer, please?" Maylene asked. 

"Right away, Commander," he replied. "And stop calling me 'Master Chief'."

"If you'll stop calling me 'Commander'," she smiled back at him.

"I'll see what I can do, Mrs. Burke." There was a slightly taunting tone to his voice. Even though they were in a social setting, he still regarded her as a senior officer.

This was the last big party before the Team's departure from Earth. Eric had taken command and they went through three months of intense training, the "work up" phase before a deployment. Under normal conditions, this time might be anywhere from six to nine months, but with a war to fight, that time got shorter. And the new SOLARs only got younger.

Special operators are a family unto themselves, but they also have families of their own. The officers and senior NCOs recognised that in addition to having a Team that functioned well together, their families must get along, too. They were their own support network, just as the men and women in the field supported each other.

Like the Team itself, the Team's spouses and children had a structure. Ordinarily, as the CO's spouse, Maylene would have taken the lead in all things related to the homefront, but since she was an officer with her own responsibilities, that duty fell to the XO's husband, Charlie Wilson. Still, Maylene tried her best to get to know the SOLARs under Eric's command and their families as well.

There were 112 men and women who reported directly to Eric. That meant there were probably over 300 people at the Team's big cookout.

Most of the younger sailors were either single or newly married, but many of the older SOLARs had spouses and children. Ostensibly, the unit was based at the Naval Special Warfare Command's headquarters in Coronado, California. At least that's where their families were housed: in some of the high-rise condos along the southern California coast. They trained all over the planet and during the work-up phase were only home for a day or two at a time.

The gathering was on the beach, just north of the historic Hotel del Coronado. There was a friendly game of football going on in the sand, volleyball and even a few people surfing.

The Team was shipping out in less than a week. They were headed back to sector 12, where the Alliance was still fighting off a Federation invasion force in the Levari Six system. This was the last chance for the SOLARs and their families to see each other together.

Eric had disappeared with some of his older officers and NCOs. Knowing him, Maylene thought they were either spiking the punch or perpetrating some sort of practical joke on the younger Team members.

The Team's command master chief took his self-appointed station as the guardian of the kegs. Maylene and a couple of the other spouses were chatting idly as their husbands and wives milled about, often in some sort of silly competition with each other, like who could stuff the most mini-marshmallows in their mouth. Not that it really mattered, but each SOLAR wanted to be the best at everything.

One of the newer SOLARs came over and handed a couple of credit chits to the master chief, who dutifully refilled the young woman's cup with liquid libations.

"Master Chief, can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing, Hudson."

"You knew the skipper at BUD/S, right?"

"Yup."

"Are the stories about him true?"

"Some of 'em are," the older man shrugged non-committally. "Some of 'em aren't."

"I heard he carried a guy four miles on his back during Hell Week. Is that right, Master Chief?"

McDaniel winked at Maylene and rolled his eyes. "Keeps getting longer and longer . . ."

"So it is true?"

"Tell us the story, Master Chief," Maylene said playfully. She had heard this one before, and wanted to get one more dig in at the Master Chief by making him retell a story that was now part of the BUD/S folklore. Plus, as a TSN officer, she wanted some of the younger men and women to hear the story for its moral.

"This was . . . oh, maybe nine years ago." A couple of the other younger SOLARs and some of the teenage children began to gather around as Eric's former instructor went into storyteller mode, his thick southern drawl coming through. "I was doin' my first tour as an instructor at BUD/S. Commander Burke was fresh out of OCS; his butter bars were still shiny and he thought he was the shit. He had a big mouth and liked to show off."

The master chief took a pull of his own beer. "We're always harder on the officers who come through BUD/S than the enlisted guys, and we rode Mister Burke like there was no tomorrow. That shut him up real quick, but he always put out. He stuck up for his sailors and when a guy on his boat crew screwed up, he pushed 'em out with the other guy, no questions asked."

"By the time we got to Hell Week, their class had gone from 143 to 41. They ended up losing another 17 during Hell Week." McDaniel's gaze grew distant for just a second. "One of the candidates was a kid named Kasandra Tallmadge. Good girl, lots of spirit and always gave one hundred percent. Unfortunately, she had knee problems. She got rolled out of Indoc after she blew out her knee on the o-course and started over in Mister Burke's class after six months in rehab."

"Tallmadge was in a different boat crew and they were doin' well for most of Hell Week." He looked around at the young SOLARs who had stopped by. "You all know that most of the people who quit during Hell Week do it in the first 24 hours. After that, just about all the other DORs are injuries. Anyway, it's Wednesday night at about three a.m. and Tallmadge and the Smurfs are about forty yards behind Mister Burke's boat in an around-the-world marathon run, when she steps in a hole."

"She goes down, all screamin' and hollerin'. Same knee she blew up the year before. It's all over and she knows it." The Master Chief lifted his knee up for those around him to see. "She blew out the ACL and the MCL. Even with the best surgery, it's never gonna be the same without bionic reconstruction or a cloned leg."

"Mister Burke hears her and has his crew stop, drops their boat and he goes runnin' back to where Tallmadge is rollin' around on the ground. The corpsman is there and wrappin' it up in ice. They're about to put her on a stretcher when he comes up and tells them to put her down."

"Chief Olsen was in charge of this evolution and he's goin' apeshit. He tells Mister Burke to get his ass away from her." McDaniel took a deep breath and put his BUD/S instructor voice on. " 'Are you a goddam doctor, Mister Burke? What the hell are you doing, sir? Get back to your boat crew!' "

McDaniel switched back to his normal storyteller voice. "Well, Mister Burke just ignored the chief, which only drove him crazier. He's tryin' to find out if she's all right and makin' sure the ice pack's tied on tight. Finally, Mister Burke says, 'Kasi, you wanna quit?' This was her second time through BUD/S and as you all know, that means she's done. She's in tears 'cause she shoulda made it if not for that knee . . . Anyway, she sobs, 'No, sir!' "

The crowd had fallen silent, and more people were starting to drift in. "So Mister Burke gets in the chief's face and says, 'What are you gonna do, chief? Yer gonna put her knee on ice and take her in for an MRI. She doesn't wanna quit and we're not leavin' her! You can ring her out after this evolution, but not 'til we're done!' With that, Mister Burke throws her over his shoulder, orders the Smurfs to 'up boat' and then takes off."

"The chief doesn't know what to say. He's never had a student talk to him like that. Nor had he ever seen a look as wild as the one Mister Burke gave him." He took another swig of beer to clear his throat. "He carried that girl over a mile back to the grinder. All the while runnin' so his boat crew doesn't lose the race. When it was all over, he was out of breath and almost passed out. The chief was madder than a snake, but the el-tee said the lesson was worth more to the class than gettin' shown up by some punk ensign."

"If I hadn't been there and seen it with my own eyes, I'da thought this was some bullshit story," the Master Chief looked around, especially at the younger SOLARs, who had just earned their shooting stars. "But Commander Burke is the best goddam Team leader we've got. He won't just leave you, even if yer dead. He's got the IKC to prove that. He'll carry you if he has to, but he also expects you to carry the guy next to you if he goes down. One more thing, and this ain't really talked about as much . . . there were eight guys in Mister Burke's boat crew when they started Indoc. All eight of those guys finished BUD/S. Not a one of 'em quit. I ain't never seen that neither, and I know it was 'cause Mister Burke wouldn't give up on his guys and he wouldn't let his guys give up on him, neither."

There was some murmuring among the gathered. All of them had heard some variation of the story; it was, after all, now part of the SOLAR training lore. But to hear it from someone who was there—as an instructor, no less—gave it some extra weight. For some of the younger guys, in that moment they realised not only how privileged they were to serve under Eric, but also the responsibility of having to live up to the example he set.

The crowd started to disperse. But the young SOLAR who asked the original question stayed for a moment longer. "So what happened to the girl?"

McDaniel blinked a couple of times. No one had ever asked him that part of the story. He gulped down the rest of his beer and broke into a wide smile.

"She went back to the fleet, served out her enlistment, then left the Navy," he said. 

"So she just gave up?" Hudson asked, a twinge of disgust in her voice. More than anything else, SOLARs hate quitters. "I thought you said she had a lot of spirit."

"She does have a lot of spirit. Wanted to be a SOLAR more than anything," McDaniel replied. "Enlisted sailors only get two shots at BUD/S. Tallmadge spent three weeks in a regen tank getting her knee grown back, which she paid for out of her own pocket, went to college, got a degree in business, then—thanks to some lieutenant with a big mouth named Burke who pulled some strings for her—got a commission and went through BUD/S as an officer. Some of you may know her; she got married a couple of years back and changed her last name to Frazier. Last I heard, she's a platoon OIC out in sector six with Team 19. . . . If you show him you'll work your ass off, Commander Burke will move Heaven and Earth for you."

***************** 

Maylene cried out as Eric entered her.

Her fingernails dug into his skin. He grunted and thrust forward as hard as he could.

"Oh, god," she whispered. 

Eric filled her up. He pushed all the way into her.

Maylene lifted her hips up to meet his thrusts.

After a romantic dinner, or at least what passed for romantic on a deep space battlestation, neither Eric nor Maylene was in the mood for much by way of preliminaries.

She let out a satisfied grunt every time he bottomed out. He moaned with pleasure when her lips sucked on his neck and ear.

Her legs were spread wide so she could take as much of him inside her as possible.

There was a slapping sound each time their bodies met, followed by a sucking sound as they pulled apart.

Both of their bodies were soon covered by a thin sheen of sweat. Their uniforms were left strewn between the door and the bed.

Eric bellowed when one of her fingers entered his ass.

Maylene squealed when he pinched her one hypersensitive nipple.

"Yes . . . yes . . . fuck, yes!" she cried.

His only reply was to pound into her harder.

"Fuck . . . me . . . harder!" Maylene's voice devolved into a series of unintelligible sounds. Feral.

Her husband's vision blurred as he tried desperately to stave off the orgasm. Eric tried valiantly to wait for her to start cumming before his own release, but he didn't know how much longer he could resist.

"May . . . I'm about . . . to . . ." he moaned.

"Yes, Eric . . . cum in me," she gasped. "Cum all over me."

With that, they both seemed to burst with pleasure. Neither stopped moving. Neither wanted the feeling to end.

It wasn't just the orgasm they savoured. It was the coupling. The joining of two people. As their broken bodies convulsed with pleasure, they each felt whole. 

At the moment when their climaxes reached their peaks, both Eric and Maylene Burke melded into one being.

He vaguely felt himself shooting off inside her. She flailed her arms around, consumed by desire.

Eric's eyes rolled back into his head. Maylene tried her damnedest to keep her mechanical hands from peeling the skin off her husband's back.

They collapsed on to the bed, his weight pressing down on her. They tried to catch their breaths, but their lovemaking was so intense, both blacked out for a second.

When they came to, they lay in each other's arms. Their breathing was ragged. The blood pounded through their veins.

For each, nothing in the universe mattered except for the person in their arms. 

Eric jerked wildly and then rolled off Maylene, worried that his weight was too much for her. She rolled with him, determined not to let him go.

Her head rested on his chest. Neither spoke for a long time.

Finally, she looked up at him, her eyes glowing softly in the darkness. Her hair, which had been so neatly styled earlier in the night was a mess. She unceremoniously brushed it aside.

He smiled gently at her. His strong arms wrapped around her. His heartbeat was comforting.

"I love you," Eric whispered. He craned his neck and his lips met hers.

The last week had been tough on both of them. The latest offensive had kept her busy on the citadel, running combat space patrols and managing the sky around the battlestation. He was preparing for a field deployment, running some final training drills and making sure his people were ready to go to war.

"I love you, too," Maylene purred.

Silence fell over the pair. As if neither wanted to be the first to break the spell. Or acknowledge that their time together was coming to an end.

"When will you be back?" she asked finally.

A long moment passed before Eric replied. "That depends on if we get our asses handed to us when we get to Iridian. . . . A couple of weeks, maybe a month."

Of course, he didn't know. The Alliance had been planning to retake Iridian from the Federation for several months, but after the first shots are fired, battle plans have a tendency to fall apart very quickly.

Navy SOLARs aren't frontline soldiers, but they would be needed throughout the campaign. In theory, Eric was a Team CO and that meant he would see very little direct action, but that didn't mean he would be far from the front. 

He wanted to tell her more, but that information was only given out on a need-to-know basis, and she didn't have the need.

Their minutes ticked by on the chrono.

Promise me you won't do anything crazy, Maylene wanted to say, but she knew better. Eric was a headstrong leader who put the welfare of his sailors before his own. He led from the front, which made him a leader men and women would follow, but it also meant he exposed himself to unnecessary risks.

"What are we going to do when the war is over?" she asked instead. The war seemed to be winding down. The superior resources of the Alliances were slowly overpowering the Federation. The invasion at Iridian was stalled and it seemed to everyone around that a truce—if not an outright peace settlement—was coming soon.

Both of them had spent the past few weeks discussing their future together. Combat soldiers generally don't think any further than the moment they are in because distractions often lead to death, but for the couple, it was a way that they could connect and convince themselves that there was something greater for them to pursue.

"I was going to retire and live off my wife's admiral's salary," Eric teased.

"That's funny because I was going to wait for my husband to make captain and spend my time playing hopscotch while he was away," Maylene snorted.

They tickled each other playfully for a moment that ended in a warm, sloppy kiss.

"I was thinking that we'd cash in some of our leave," Eric said once his wife settled her body against his again. "Take a trip to a deserted island in the Caribbean or maybe out on Fiji Prime and make babies."

"That sounds like a good idea," Maylene replied after a moment. "Would you want to leave the Navy?"

Eric shrugged. "Would you?"

"I don't know," she said. "What would we do?"

"I've never thought about that, honey," his gaze grew distant for a second. "I've spent all of my adult life shooting things . . . I'm not good at much else."

"You're good for a few things," Maylene said with a cybernetic wink, and reached down to stroke his flaccid cock.

"I don't think anyone would pay me for that."

"I married you so I wouldn't have to pay."

"You should ask for a refund."

"How about I just wake up next to you every day for the rest of my life?" Maylene whispered.

They fell silent for another long moment. 

"We could buy that cabin from Mom and Dad and retire," Eric said softly. 

"You'd go crazy out in the woods."

His hand reached under her chin so she was looking him in the eyes. "I don't ever want to be without you. I don't want to lose you. Whatever happens, I want to grow old with you."

"Even if I'm scarred and ugly?"

"Computer," Eric called. "Lights to twenty percent . . . Maylene . . . I love you. I love every inch of your body."

He ran his hands over her burn-scarred skin. "When this war ends, we're going to reserve two tanks at the nearest hospital station and they're going to grow our bodies back. I'm going to touch you every day . . . I want to feel you with my own skin, not these machines . . . I'm going to make love to you every night and wake up with you in my arms every morning. . . . When you're sixty I'm going to beat the shit out of all the lieutenants who want to bag an admiral so they can get on the promotion fast track . . . I love you."

Maylene's eyes flashed. "If any twenty year old lieutenant wants me when I'm sixty, you'd better let me have him."

It was his turn to snort. He smacked her across the backside. "I might have to go down to pri-fly tonight and kick the crap out of that one kid . . . Henderson . . . who's always making those dough eyes at you."




Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 03



"Don't you go crushing that young man's dreams," Maylene huffed.

"I'll leave his dreams alone; it's his throat I'll crush," Eric replied playfully before pulling her close. "My love . . . I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy. You've put up with a lot of shit with me running this Team and you've probably passed up a choice assignment or two for us, so whatever you want is fine with me. I just want you to be happy . . . I want us to be happy."

"Then we'll figure it out when you get back." 

***************** 

"What the hell happened?" General Kravchenko stared at the screen.

"The Feds shot down two ASVs, sir," the sensor tech replied. "SOLARs on some sort of strike mission."

"Are there any survivors?" Major Nakamura asked.

"Aye, sir," another tech said. She put her hand to her headset. "Say again, Thunderbolt . . . how many casualties?"

The room fell silent for a second, awaiting a response. "Six dead . . . eight injured . . ."

"We've got their location . . . 87 klicks east-northeast of here."

"Do we have any units in the area?" Major Nakamura pulled up the 3-D terrain map.

"No, sir."

"What about the Federation?" General Kravchenko asked.

"Not yet, sir," the tech replied.

"If they think everyone was killed, they might leave the crash site alone." He paused for a second, the wheels in his head turning. "Get the CSAR bird in the air with fighter cover. Bring them in."

"Aye, sir."

Kravchenko continued to stare that the terrain map, hoping that the Federation wasn't sending a team of their own. 

***************** 

"What the hell happened?" Commander Burke asked, trying desperately to make his voice tempered and even, as if he were in control. Inside though, his stomach was churning.

"Thunderbolt One and Two are both down, sir," the young man at the flight control station said. "They're reporting in now."

"On speaker," Burke said .

". . . SAM came out of nowhere . . . crew dead," the voice over the speaker was interrupted by static. "Lieutenant Maxwell is unconscious . . . Chief Hamilton is dead . . . eight injured . . ."

"Do we have anyone in the area?" Burke recognised the voice as Bunny's.

"There is a Marine base about 90 klicks west-southwest," the flight controller said. "They're launching a CSAR mission right now."

"Where are the Feds?"

"Closing in." There was a grimness in the controller's voice.

"Who's going to get there first?"

"Not us. And even if we do, they've got more fighters in the air. I don't think their ground control knows how close the Feds are, sir."

"Get me the CAG." Burke reached for the handset. The person on the other end picked up. "Thunderbolt One and Two just got shot down."

"I saw," Captain Ariel Spinelli said. She already knew why he was calling. "It's a good thing there aren't any Federation ships in this sector. The ground fighters won't last long against the Feds in the area, though. We're launching a strike squadron to provide air cover. We'll have a rescue bird ready in twenty minutes."

"Thanks, CAG," Burke and hung up. "Who's in command on the ground?"

"It sounds like Easter is running the show, sir."

"Bunny," Commander Burke called over the open microphone.

"Aye, sir!"

"We're coming for you. Can you hold for an hour?"

"Hoo-yah, Commander Burke."

"Keep your heads down and find some cover."

"Roger that, sir."

Burke switched the microphone off. "Wave off the Marine CSAR mission. Have them get their fighters there to provide cover for our guys, but tell them the zone is too hot for a medevac."

"Aye, sir."

"XO!" he called. "Rescue mission leaves in 20 minutes. Every SOLAR who can get suited up by then needs to be on that ship."

"Hoo-yah! You heard the man, you apes! Move!"

***************** 

Juggs leaned back against the young Marine's chest. She turned her head and kissed him. He responded by thrusting upwards into her.

His hands reached around and groped her large breasts, pinching the points on the ends. She shuddered with pleasure.

The woman between her legs was doing a hell of a job, too. When her tongue wasn't on Juggs's swollen clit, they licked the man's balls.

"That's it . . . yes!" she moaned. "Right there . . . right fucking . . ."

The pounding on the door broke her out of her bliss.

"Give us a minute, goddamit!"

She was so close, she almost didn't hear the sound of someone keying in the override on the door. Juggs was well one her way to her second orgasm, but the look on her LPO's face shut her down cold. She stopped bucking against the two others. All three waited for him to speak, fear and dread in their eyes.

"Bravo platoon just got shot down on Iridian. The skipper wants everyone ready to go in 16 minutes." Then he turned went looking for the rest of their platoon.

It took a second for the words to sink into Juggs's still-foggy brain, but once she understood them, she shook off the coital cobwebs and reached for her combat gear.

"Sorry, kids. I've got to go," she said to the young couple. They stared at her somewhat bewilderedly. She gave each a friendly kiss. "We'll continue this when I get back."

By the time Juggs got to the launch bay, there were fifteen SOLARs assembled. Only two were completely suited up and they were helping the rest of them get into their power armour.

Commander Burke was assisting another SOLAR with his rocket pack. More SOLARs were coming into the launch bay. It seemed everyone was answering the call. 

A pair of Navy transports were powering up, their crews scrambling to get them ready to fly. Two dozen unmanned drones were also being prepped with air-to-ground missiles.

"Listen up!" the XO shouted over the noise of the launch bay. "Bravo platoon got hit in grid 4331. We're uploading maps to your suits now. The Feds have at least three companies in the area. The Stardragons will be flying CAP and the Black Eagles are our air support. It looks like we're going to have to shoot our way in and our way out. . . ."

The briefing continued as more SOLARs got suited up and checked each other's gear and weapons.

Soon, the loadmaster for the first transport gave the ready signal and the first group of SOLARs began boarding. Commander Burke was in this group along with Juggs and a handful of other operators.

He wore a wry smile. He leaned down so only she could hear. "Did we interrupt you?"

"Just breaking in a couple of jarheads, sir," she replied with a smirk.

"This could get real ugly, real fast, Andrea." That caught her off-guard. He only called his SOLARs by their first names when he was dead serious. "Keep your eyes on the newbies, especially Dixon and Winters."

"Hoo-yah, sir."

"Bunny's okay, but we lost Bradford and Lieutenant Maxwell." His eyes darkened. "The rest of the KIAs were from the flight team. Listen . . . if things go bad, we're gonna make a break for the Marine base. They're sending some fighter cover, but we're still going to be outgunned."

What was unusual about this exchange is that the Team CO almost never gave this much detail to a petty officer second class. But with the exception of the Master Chief, Juggs knew Commander Burke better than just about anyone else in the boat and he was letting her know he was entrusting her with a leadership role on this mission. They had trained and operated together for almost two years and she knew what he wanted and how he wanted it done better than some of the officers, chiefs and LPOs on the Team.

She nodded grimly. "Well get 'em, sir."

The look on Burke's face matched hers and he continued on down the line. The aircrew was strapping the SOLARs into their seats. Commander Burke lumbered up and down the aisle, offering words of encouragement to each of his sailors. There were 23 SOLARs in this ship, which could accommodate 50 in a tight squeeze.

When the call came that a platoon had been shot down and needed rescue, everyone who was able scrambled. It's what SOLARs do. No one gets left behind.

Alpha platoon, the Team's command element and a handful of other SOLARs who weren't on leave were in this boat. Delta and Echo platoons were in the other. Two full squadrons were providing escort. They were headed into a hornet's nest and everyone knew it.

"It's a good thing we caught their fleet with their pants down," the pilot told Commander Burke over the intercom. "If they'd been on this side of the planet when we jumped in, we'd be in a world of shit, sir."

"How many fighters do you think they can bring in?"

"That's the trick, sir," the pilot said. The boat shuddered as they hit the atmosphere. "If they have an FTL carrier, they can jump in, drop off four squadrons and then jump out and we're fucked. If not, they have to send them the long way. Four minutes, sir."

"Roger that," Burke said, then switched over to the platoon's channel. "Four minutes!"

Still strapped in, everyone began going over their equipment and sealing their suits. They powered up their beam weapons and checked the feeds on the missile and grenade launchers. At two minutes, they would get into drop formation and at 10 seconds, it would be safeties off.

Commander Burke kept on ear on the flight crew's channel and the other on his Team's. A countdown appeared in one corner of his HUD.

At fifteen seconds, the drop tubes opened and the first SOLARs stepped into them. The dropmaster counted down in everyone's intercoms. When he hit zero, the first group of SOLARs was launched out of the tubes. 

In the grand tradition of the airborne, the highest ranking officer went first, followed immediately by the senior NCO. Then it was the rest of the officers before any of the other enlisted sailors.

At thirty thousand feet, Commander Burke fell from the sky, the maneuvering thrusters on his suit guiding him towards the landing zone. Fighters streaked around the sky, some chasing away the Federation air support and others covering the ground forces.

When he was at three thousand feet, his rocket pack fired, slowing his descent. The two ASVs had crashed close together, the survivors circled around, fighting off the incoming troops. Though outnumbered, SOLARs are among the finest and most determined shooters in any armed services, and their equipment more than made up for numerical inferiority with sheer firepower.

Burke and McDaniel touched down at the first crash site. It was organised chaos. The dead and wounded lay under the relative shelter of the downed ASV. Anyone who could shoot was engaging the oncoming Federation tanks and infantry.

"Master Chief, get the wounded and dead ready for transport," Burke said, his voice eerily calm. Rockets and grenades fell around him, but he seemed impervious and unfazed. His calm was infectious and the panic left those around him. 

Within a couple of minutes, the SOLAR's heavy guns combined with their close air support had temporarily driven the Federation back. It was a similar story at the other crash site.

"Get that bird in here!" the Master Chief barked. 

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the dropship settled on the ground, its fore and aft ramps down. The wounded and dead were loaded first, followed by the crash survivors and finally the rescuers.

Commander Burke surveyed the scene as the last of his Team went up the ramp. Alliance fighters raced around the battlefield, suppressing enemy advances. The dropship's gunpods poured withering fire on anyone who managed to get close. When he was sure everyone was accounted for, Burke stepped on to the boat.

"Let's go," he pounded on the bulkhead and the dropship lifted off, its ramp still closing.

They were at two thousand feet and climbing when the first missile hit. The hull shook and everyone who wasn't strapped in reached for something to hold on to.

The second missile struck and the ship lurched.

A red klaxxon light began to flash. The SOLARs and air crew were all shouting. They were falling from the sky.

When Commander Burke regained consciousness, he was still inside the ship.

The Master Chief was standing over him, slapping at his helmet. His ears rung.

"We've got to go, sir!"

It took a second to clear his mind, but he saw most of his SOLARs were up and moving. There was a large hole in the side of the boat.

"How far—"

"About two klicks to the perimeter, sir," Master Chief pulled him to his feet.

Another SOLAR was lying next to him. Burke reached for her.

"She's gone, sir," the Master Chief said sternly. "We have to go! Now!"

Burke looked down at the woman's still body. Paulina Ramirez. He said a quick prayer for her, and then followed the Master Chief. There were thirty or so SOLARs and Navy sailors forming a defensive perimeter. Most appeared to be in good shape.

"What the fuck happened?" Burke asked the dropship pilot.

"Goddam Feds hit us with a pair of AAMs, sir," he replied. "We're lucky they added the extra armour to these new boats."

"We're lucky we had the best damn dropship pilot in the fleet or we would have been killed in the crash," Burke said. "Or we wouldn't have landed so close to the Marines."

The other man snorted. "The best pilot in the fleet wouldn't have been hit in the first place."

"What about the other boat?"

"They got away, sir," Master Chief McDaniel said. "We're just outside the range of the Marines' AD turrets. We've got to move before they hit us from the air."

"How many?" Burke asked softly.

"Thirty-six of us made it, sir." The Master Chief's face was grim. "We need to go."

"Can we carry them?" Burke nodded in the direction of the crashed ship.

"No way, sir."

"We'll blow the reactor once we're out of range," the pilot said reassuringly. "It's the best burial anyone's gonna get on this rock, sir."

Burke sighed inwardly. SOLARs never left their dead or wounded behind, but he also knew he couldn't risk the lives of his surviving Teammates, either. He nodded.

"Saddle up," the Master Chief shouted over the main channel and then they got moving.

A Marine patrol met them at the perimeter of the base. A mushroom cloud rose over the hills where the retrieval boat had gone down. 

Eric dropped his head for a second, hoping that the families of his dead SOLARs would forgive him for not bringing their bodies home. He hoped they would understand his first priority was the living.

***************** 

"Eric . . . Eric, can you hear me?" There was a lot of static on the line. Maylene's face was barely visible. The audio was scratchy. The Federation signal techs were doing a fine job of jamming the base's transmissions.

"This channel isn't going to stay open much longer, Maylene," Eric said, hoping he was getting through. "We'll be fine once the First Infantry arrives."

". . . Can't hear . . ."

"I love you, honey," he said and then the line devolved into unintelligible static.

Commander Burke sighed. Since their arrival two days before, half the Marines were now dead, including General Kravchenko. A surprise attack caught them all flat-footed. He was now the highest ranking line officer, and even though he wasn't a Marine, they had quickly looked to him for command.

The campaign for Iridian was slowly going the Alliance's way. Reinforcements arrived, but the Federation made one more push to take control over the main strategic ground points, including the terraforming stations.

After fighting off the initial attack, Burke knew the Feds would be back. They needed some place to dig in and try and hold off on their own. Already undermanned, this station was the most likely target for a large ground assault.

"We've probably only got a couple of hours, sir," Lieutenant O'Connell said. He was now the senior Marine who wasn't dead or wounded. General Kravchenko had been killed in the first volley, and the base commander, Major Nakamura, was severely wounded.

"Pull everyone back," Burke said quietly. At least he had gotten through to Maylene and let her know he was still alive. Even if it was only to tell her good-bye. "Strip all the tanks and vehicles for useable equipment. Seal off the entrances and retreat underground."

"Aye, sir," the lieutenant said. "We can rig the micro reactors in the power armour to blow. That'll be a nice little surprise for those bastards."

"Good thinking, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir." He was a little older than Burke, even though he was a junior Marine officer. He started out as an enlisted Marine, made Gunny and then got a battlefield commission to lieutenant. He was a good Marine, but an inexperienced officer. It was his idea for Burke to take command of the garrison after General Kravchenko and Major Nakamura had been removed from the chain of command.

Burke resisted at first, but quickly realised that the Marines and sailors needed leadership, and he was it. Never one to shirk his duty, Burke quickly took command and the Marines seemed eager to carry out his orders.

"Can we collapse the tunnels on top of us?" Burke asked.

"I think so, sir," O'Connell waved one of his Marines over. 

"I don't mind falling back underground and letting the Army engineers dig us out." Burke said.

"Roger that, sir," the Marine agreed. "Hey, Goodall . . . can we drop the ceilings at all the entrances?"

The man who lumbered over was more machine than human. A 7 foot tall full conversion cyborg, Goodall was basically a human brain encased in a giant combat robot. His thick armour was dented and burned, but he was still fully functional. Bristling with weaponry, Goodall was the pinnacle of 24th Century human fighting capability. And all he had to do was sacrifice his humanity.

"No problem, sir." The cyborg's synthetic voice was surprisingly gentle. "General Kravchenko had us start laying charges about a month ago. We can control all of it from the command center."

"Very good, Staff Sergeant," Burke said. "We'll blockade the tunnel entrances and set up checkpoints. If they break through, we'll fall back to the second level and bring the mountain down on top of us. By the time the Feds can dig us out, the First Infantry will be here."

Lieutenant O'Connell and Staff Sergeant Goodall both nodded in agreement. What neither wanted to consider was whether the Feds had brought in some underground tunneling robots which would make quick work of any obstacles the Marines could put up. They didn't have enough explosives to collapse all of the tunnels.

"Oh, Lieutenant?" the cyborg said, a touch of laughter in his mechanical voice.

"What's up?"

"Seeing as we're about to be overrun," he continued. "As is my right under the Volunteer Bionic Warrior Act of 2318, I'd like to request immediate transfer to my clone body."

Both officers snorted at the cyborg's joke. A century before, many of the early cyborg soldiers had problems adjusting to their new bodies. Not physically, but psychologically. Although still vaguely humanoid, they clearly were no longer human. These soldiers were seven times more likely to have a nervous breakdown or snap under pressure, and since they were often encased in super-powerful robot bodies, they were hard to bring down if they went on a homicidal rampage.

After a couple of studies by the psy-ops people, two changes were made. The first was an artificial head that was a near-identical copy of the soldier's human face. It helped to preserve some of the soldier's perceived human features and when they looked in a mirror, they saw something familiar. 

The second measure was a provision that guaranteed any cyborg soldier immediate transfer to a specially-grown clone body that would be stored at the sector's medical facility. This "safety valve" provided a psychological outlet for any soldier who decided he or she no longer wanted to be a walking combat robot. By knowing that they could go back to being a "normal" human at any time, cyborg soldiers were volunteering to be put into bigger and more monstrous bodies that were much more effective in combat than human-sized and human-formed robots.




Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 03



A century later, when combined with the extensive psychological evaluation all cyborg conversion volunteers underwent, cyborg soldiers were now mentally more stable than their fully-human counterparts.

"I'll put the paperwork in right away," O'Connell clapped him on the shoulder as he walked away.

Within a few minutes, all of the Marines and sailors were underground. Sentries were placed, barricades were constructed and the survivors prepared for the inevitable.

Commander Burke ordered the most seriously injured to be moved into the medical center. He walked around in his power armour, trying to buoy morale where he could.

But like all officers, the weight of the dead hung around him and he looked for some place away from everyone else, if only for a few minutes. His thoughts were on the fallen SOLARs and Marines and in a quiet moment, he shed his final tears for them and recorded a message for his wife that he hoped she would get if his body were recovered and his suit weren't too badly damaged.

"Sir?" someone called from the door to General Kravchenko's quarters, which Burke had temporarily taken over. "Have you got a minute?"

"Come in, Juggs," he blinked his eyes a couple of times and the mask of command came over his face. "What can I do for you?"

The other SOLAR came in and sat down across from him. Burke was out of his armour, although it was still close by. He shed his jetpack—it wouldn't do him much good underground anyway—and he could get suited up in a matter of minutes. They were also far enough underground that any assault would take a long time to get to them.

Juggs was wearing a pair of coveralls she must have borrowed from the Marines.

She looked like she was searching for the words. After a few moments, she spoke. "Sir, I don't think I've ever thanked you for everything you did for me . . . for us . . . With Team Six and Team Four . . . We would have followed you into the depths of hell."

Burke chuckled with a slight trace of bitterness in his voice. This was about as sentimental as SOLARs ever got. "This place has the sulfur smell and in a little while, there will be the fire . . ."

Both laughed. A nervous, maudlin laugh.

Gallows humour.

"Sir . . . I was wondering . . ." Juggs shifted uncomfortably. "I was wondering why you . . . you never . . . you know . . . bunked with any of us."

Burke looked the younger woman in the eyes. "Because I need SOLARs, not lovers."

"Other lieutenants bunk with their platoons." That much was true. Some of the military psychologists believed that by taking lovers who were also brothers and sisters-in-arms, the bonds of trust would be strengthened. Like the Spartans of old, they also believed that people would fight harder for their lovers than simply for fellow soldiers.

He shrugged. Fraternisation between officers and enlisted wasn't illegal as it has been three centuries before, but Burke's preference was not to get too personally involved with those under his command. It hurt less when he lost them. At least that's what he told himself.

Juggs walked around the desk and stood before Eric. She looked into his eyes.

"Sir," she began. She licked her lips, as if gathering her courage. "I've been wondering . . ."

Her hand went to the zipper on the coveralls. Eric's eyes got wide as her large breasts spilled out. The nipples were erect.

"Andrea," he said quietly, almost giving in to temptation. "I can't . . . not without Maylene . . ."

"Are you sure?" her voice was husky and filled with long pent-up desire.

He shook his head and smiled ruefully. "Our marriage isn't like that."

Juggs flashed him a disappointed smile. "I understand . . . but will I get a shot once we get out of this?"

"You'll have to talk to her," Eric grinned as Andrea put her breasts back into the coveralls. "I appreciate the offer . . . and if I were ever going to bunk with any of you sorry apes, you'd be at the top of my list."

"Oh, now you tell me, sir," she said with a laugh.

"Andrea . . ." Eric's voice trailed off wistfully.

She nodded, both understanding what might have been.

"I'll ask her when we get out of this mess, sir," Juggs said, slipping back into the role of subordinate NCO.

She was on her way out the door when she heard Eric call to her. "Don't be too anxious; Maylene might want you to bring those two jarheads with you!"

Both chuckled, fully comprehending that their actual odds of surviving were pretty slim.

************************* 

They didn't have to wait much longer. The attack came quickly. The Marines followed the plan, but sure enough the Federation troops blasted through the rock and dug new tunnels into the complex.

The defenders were ready, though. Despite their superior numbers, the attackers paid a steep price for every inch of ground they took, but they eventually shot their way to the command center.

"Sir, get down!" Master Chief McDaniel called. But it was too late.

The explosion hurled Burke across the room. The world seemed to stop for just a second. There was a flash of bright light, then complete and utter silence.

Things slowly came back into focus. His head spun. There was a ringing in his ears.

He tried to roll over, but couldn't. The power armour felt so heavy. A searing pain started in his gut.

"Holy fucking shit," he vaguely heard someone shout. "Corpsman up!"

Burke tried to speak, but only spat blood all over the inside of his faceplate.

"Hold on, sir," a voice said. A young woman—or was it a man? You never could tell in the armour—held his shoulders down.

Behind her, Burke could see people scurrying around frantically.

Don't worry about me! he wanted to say, but could not form the words. Plug the gap with second squad and kill those fuckers!

His arms groped around for something to hold on to. He tried to stand.

Raising his head, he saw his armoured legs. They were covered in blood. And on the other side of the command center.

A corpsman was in his face. Commander Burke could see his mouth moving, but couldn't comprehend what he was saying. The corpsman reached into his pack and pulled out a SCMU, scanned the gaping wound in Burke's gut, then ripped it open, releasing a thick syrup filled with thousands of miniature robots and medical nanobots. Their job was to stabilise him and keep him from bleeding to death.

Burke suddenly felt faint. Maybe it was because he knew he was dying. Or maybe it was the suit injecting him with sedatives to keep him from going into shock.

For a brief instant, there was a brief burning sensation in his stomach as the nanobots began cauterising and suturing his wounds shut. Then his entire body went numb.

He tried to give his final orders. But his body failed him.

Before the blackness claimed him, one thought ran through his mind.

Maylene is going to kill me.

***************** 

"Why can't I move?" Eric asked the doctor again.

"I'll release the spinal block in a second, Commander," he replied. He pressed a button on the com panel. A trio of orderlies came into the room. 

"Ladies first," the doctor said. They elevated Maylene's bed. 

She had a smile from ear to ear. Eric looked into her eyes. It took him a second to realise the difference. The mechanical glint was gone. Their previous sapphire blue was gone, instead replaced by pupils that were duller and at the same time more radiant.

The doctor pressed a series of buttons on the collar around Maylene's neck. Lights on the collar flashed and then went dark. He removed the collar and set it on the table next to her bed.

Her arm twitched a couple of times, then she feebly lifted it. The smile on her face was irrepressible.

"Your turn." The doctor pressed the buttons on Eric's collar and sensation returned to his body. 

He felt tingling in his fingers and toes. Looking down, Eric willed his fingers to move and they did. His reflexes were slower than he'd have liked, but he was moving!

"Why am I so weak?" he asked, trying to lift his arm.

The doctor laughed gently. "Because you've never used these muscles before."

"Two years?"

"That's how long it takes to grow back seventy percent of a body from scratch." The doctor poked Eric in a couple of places to test his reflexes. "If they hadn't put you into stasis immediately, you'd have died. You're a lucky man, commander. Not many people can say they lost everything below their lungs and lived to tell."

One of the orderlies removed the rails from the two beds and then the other two wheeled Eric's bed over next to his wife's. 

He felt Maylene's gentle touch on his hand. It was the most pleasurable sensation he had ever felt. With a great effort, Eric turned his palm over and entwined his fingers around Maylene's, the squeezed her gently.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too." There were tears in her eyes, as well as his own.

The doctor and orderlies stepped back for a second to allow the couple to share this moment.

"We've got about a month of therapy before they'll release us," Maylene said.

"I don't suppose the war's still going on, is it?"

Eric's wife chuckled. "No, honey . . . it ended when we took Iridian back. The armistice has been in place for almost twenty-three months now."

It took a second for that to sink in.

"Don't worry," Maylene winked. "I'm sure the Navy will find something for you to shoot or blow up. Grand Admiral von Luck has some big plans for you."

"What about you?"

"I've got big plans for you, too."

"No, May . . . what about you and the Navy?"

"I think they'll find a job for me, too," Maylene said with an amused smile. "The Navy needs every live body it can get. Isn't that right, Doctor?"

"That's what I hear, Admiral."

Eric's eyebrow shot up. His wife laughed and soon he was laughing along with her.

***************** 

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this," Eric whispered.

Maylene scoffed. "Sweetheart, you spent the last two years in regen. I don't want to hear about waiting."

Holding his wife in his strong arms, Eric carried Maylene over the threshold into their cabin.

After a brief convalescence, Eric and Maylene took some leave together. Despite the end of the war, the Alliance only downsized a little bit. The armistice was fragile and there was still a lot of space to protect from pirates and rogue factions. While Eric's body was being grown back, Maylene was promoted to captain, served one tour as DCAG for Air Wing 44 and then took command for another tour. 

Due to her exemplary service and because some senior officers left the Navy after the war, she was promoted to commodore admiral right before taking her leave to undergo clone reconstruction herself. The grievous nature of Eric's wounds necessitated him being put in a stasis tank while his body was grown back, but Maylene's arms, legs and eyes were cloned, then transplanted on to her body before a brief three week regen stay to grow new skin. 

She timed her reconstruction to end at the same time as her husband's. Physical therapy for both went quickly. It is always easier to relearn how to use flesh and blood limbs than bonics, and both Eric and Maylene left the hospital early. 

Despite being unconscious, the "brevet" before Eric's rank was removed and his promotion to the rank of commander was made permanent. As he learned how to use his arms and legs again, Eric got word from Grand Admiral von Luck that he was going to be tasked with standing up a new SOLAR Team. She didn't give him any details, nor did she give him the option of turning down the assignment. But first she ordered him to spend some time with his wife.

They went back to his parents's cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It hadn't changed much since they were last there. The neighbours were still few and far between. The view was spectacular. And once again all Eric and Maylene had eyes for was each other.

Since leaving the hospital earlier in the day, the pair was always touching. It seemed that neither could believe that they could actually feel each other with their own flesh and blood.

They didn't take the simple brushing against one another for granted. Eric's skin tingled as Maylene's fingers entwined around his own. The hairs on Maylene's arms stood up as he traced circles around her palms.

Eric carried her straight to the bed, and set her down gently. Neither paid any attention to the butler automat that brought their luggage in, then went to work preparing dinner.

His hands caressed her body. He was tempted to tear her clothes off, but he also wanted to savour the first feel of her he was going to get since being roused from his coma.

Maylene squealed with delight as his hand gently cupped one of her breasts.

"Undress me." There was an eagerness and desperation in her voice. Her hands went to his clothes, pulling at zippers, tugging at buttons and trying to slip his shirt over his head.

Where their mechanical hands were always kind of awkward and clumsy, the cloned limbs were nimble and dexterous. 

"I love the way you feel, May," Eric said.

She purred in response. "I love having you touch me. . . . Remind me why I made you wait a month."

"You can't blame me for that," he replied with a huff. "That was your idea."

"Actually, I think it was my mother's idea," Maylene said with a smile. "Something about waiting until we were a hundred percent before resuming our rabbit-like behaviour."

Eric kissed her neck and pinched her nipple. The one that had been burned off in the fire. 

She cried out when he bit her lip when he did it again. More aggressively this time. Her voice was heavy with desire. "Remind me not to take any more of her advice."

"I think I told you it was a bad idea a month ago." Their eyes met. Eric stared into his wife's eyes. They twinkled, laugh lines in the corners.

"And here I thought you were just being your usual horny self."

"I'm the horny one?" Eric stopped caressing her breast long enough to dig his fingers into her ribs. They both laughed.

"Yes, you are." Maylene pulled her husband to her. "I was a pure little innocent girl until I met you."

"I don't think there was anything innocent about you when we met."

"I was, too, innocent. My daddy even says so."

Eric snorted. "What's that move you taught me? The Spanish corkscrew?"

"It's French corkscrew, sweetie."

"I rest my case." He pulled her in for a deep, passionate kiss. Eric's hands went to her dress. He pulled it over her head and threw it across the room.

Maylene wasn't wearing a bra. In addition to growing her skin back, the medtechs lifted her breasts, making them as pert as they had been when she was right out of the Naval Academy.

She gasped when Eric kissed her right in the middle of her chest. 

"I love you," she whispered. His hands went to her panties. Eric pulled them down over her hips and she was naked.

Then it was her turn to finish undressing him. Maylene pressed her body against Eric's. She started to pull him close but he pushed her away.

"Stand up," he said unexpectedly.

"What?"

"Stand up, May." Eric rolled her off the bed.

Maylene took a step back, unsure of what he wanted.

"Let me look at you," he whispered.

Her arms reflexively crossed in front of her, but he gently swatted them away. The windows were open and sunlight flooded the cabin.

"You are so beautiful." Every woman loves to hear those words. Especially women whose bodies have been ravaged and disfigured by fire.

Eric's fingertips brushed her skin. 

"No," he admonished when her hands went to his body. "Put your hands behind your head. . . . Yes, just like that."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Eric devoured his wife with his eyes. She saw the hunger in his gaze. Maylene blushed as he ogled her. A part of her was embarrassed. A part was flattered. All of her was in love.

Tentatively at first, Eric reached out. She jumped slightly as his fingertips brushed her now-smooth skin. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Goosebumps covered her from head to toe.

She wanted to reach out and touch him, too. But just watching the way Eric's hands roamed her body turned her on. He was examining and exploring every inch of her body. The scar tissue was all gone. Her skin was perfectly smooth.

On the human body, the pads of the fingers have the second-highest concentration of nerve endings per square inch. The highest is the genitals. 

For a special operator, having those tactile sensations often meant the difference between life and death. Setting demolition charges, disabling a booby-trap, or assembling a weapon in seconds were vital tasks in Eric's line of work. In his work, Eric could get by with the bio-mechanical hands that were provided so generously by the Terran Space Navy.

In the year that he was separated from Maylene, Eric was okay with his synthetic limbs. But when they were together, he cursed the day he volunteered for the Navy. They robbed him of feeling. Of his humanity.

When they were first recovering at the hospital, both had little strength and control over their cloned limbs. The sense of touch returned, but it took a couple of weeks to unlearn some of the reflexes and instincts that came with partial bionic reconstruction.

And then there was Maylene's (mother's) whole abstinence idea.

As he promised before, Eric reveled in the simple act of touching his wife. His hands lingered on the parts of her body people generally don't think of as sexy. 

Maylene giggled as he gently traced her ribs. She gasped as he ran his hands over her hips and squeezed.

"Your skin is so smooth." His voice was barely audible. 

"That's the beauty of regenerated skin," she replied, just a touch of laughter in her voice. "No acne. No blemishes."

The smile disappeared for just a second. There were tremors in her voice. "No burns."

Eric stood and took is wife in his arms. Their nude bodies pressed together. They felt each other's warmth.

He felt so . . . alive.

Pulling the woman he loved close, Eric forgot about everything else. He forgot about the Navy, the war, the men and women who died under his command. It all went away.

He turned her so they were facing the mirror hanging over the dresser. Eric stepped to the right so they were standing side by side. "What do you see?" 

Maylene started to say something but couldn't. 

"You were beautiful before." Eric's voice was soothing. In the mirror, their eyes connected. "Now . . . now I never want to let you out of my sight. . . . Or out of my reach."

There were tears in Maylene's eyes. It was a long moment before she spoke. "I used to wonder what you saw . . . in me. I was so . . . ugly."

Eric turned so he was facing his wife. "No, May . . . You were never ugly. Burned . . . wounded, yes. . . . Ugly, never."

"I love you," she whispered.

In response, Eric kissed her deep and hard. She threw her arms around him and he led her to the bed.

Eric's weight pressed down on her. Their limbs intertwined. 

"What else did you see?"

"I saw you," she whispered. "As I was meant to see you. When I blink, I don't get the thermal image or the nightvision . . . I didn't zoom in to twenty times magnification . . . I saw us . . . together."

"And we'll always be together, my dear."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Your skin is so soft," Maylene whispered. Her fingertips traced circles around his shoulder blades.

"So are you."

They shared one more kiss, then Maylene pushed him back. "I want you to make love to me."

Eric smiled gently. It was the smile only she saw. None of his SOLARs had ever seen this expression. "I thought you'd never ask."

"But first I want to do something to you," she said, rolling him to the side. "Something I've wanted since that first night we were together."




Star-Crossed Lovers Ch. 03



Maylene pushed Eric on to his back. Maylene propped herself up on one side. Her hand ran over his chest. 

She kissed him tenderly. All the while, her hands worked lower. 

Eric gasped when her fingers wrapped around his erect cock. He moaned as she began stroking him.

"I love the way you feel," Maylene said softly. Her hand wrapped around his shaft. "You are so hard for me . . ."

He could feel her breath on the head of his cock, but she didn't take him in her mouth. Eric moaned as Maylene expertly manipulated his sex.

Neither of them could have done this with their mechanical hands. They lacked the tactile sensitivity.

But now that they were flesh and blood again—now that they were whole again—her touch allowed her to perform all the subtle movements that drove him crazy.

"That feels so good," Eric slurred. His eyes hooded over with pleasure. 

Each pull only seemed to make him harder. His breathing became short and shallow.

Maylene's other hand cupped his balls and squeezed gently. He jumped with surprise.

"Don't stop," he implored desperately. "Don't ever stop."

Forming a ring around his head, Maylene's hand moved faster.

"Do you like that, sweetheart?" There was a wicked glint in her eyes.

"Yes!" Eric gasped. 

"Am I going to make you cum?"

His response was to let out a moan. Eric arched his back.

"Am I going to make you cum?" she repeated.

Eric's eyes fluttered open into a look of pure, unadulterated lust. Maylene's gaze matched his.

"Yes," he whispered. "I'm going to cum all over you."

Maylene squeezed both the head of his cock and his balls at the same time. "Then cum for me."

His response was to thrust up with his hips. Eric's eyes rolled back into his head.

In response to her nimble touch, his cock began to pulse. She pointed it at her chest and thick drops of cum squirted out of the head.

Eric let out a low moan.

"Cum for me," Maylene whispered.

Her hands never stopped moving. To Eric, the orgasm seemed to go on forever. The sensation of being touched was driving him crazy.

When the room stopped spinning, Maylene was straddling his hips. One hand held his cock, which was still rigid. She rubbed it against slick entrance to her pussy.

Her head was thrown back. Her breasts jutted forward. Maylene's other hand massaged her chest, rubbing his cum into her skin. Her eyes were closed.

She cried out when he cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples.

Maylene bit her lip as Eric entered her. She settled down on his length, slowly accommodating his girth.

"I've missed this," she panted. "I love having you inside me. . . . Can you do it again?"

Eric only smiled. "Nothing in this world could stop me."

Very slowly, Maylene began to grind her hips. Her husband recovered quickly. The sensation of being close to his wife eliminated his refractory time. 

Looking up, Eric took in the heavenly vision of his wife. Her nude body seemed to glow in the sunlight that shone through the windows.

Her face, the only part of her that had not changed since they met, was radiant. Her movements were soft and fluid and continuous. They had never noticed before, but the bionic limbs were sometimes halting and stilted.

She seemed so . . . so natural.

The two fell into a familiar rhythm. Not hard. Not fast. Loving.

Eric's hands roamed her body. She squealed with delight when he rolled her erect nipples between his fingers.

She cried out when he thrust up into her. She purred when he pulled her down and kissed her.

Their bodies were in motion for close to an hour. When her legs grew tired, Eric rolled her on to her back. She put her hands on his ass and pulled him into her.

They explored each other as if for the first time. In some ways, it was.

Finally, they came together. Their breathing was ragged. Their bodies were covered in sweet perspiration. They were exhausted.

And a little while later, they did it all over again.

***************** 

"Two minutes, Omega!" Commander Burke's voice sounded over the intercom.

The dropship rocked. He couldn't tell if it was from the turbulence or the flak. The special forces operators in the boat scrambled to their launch tubes.

Master Chief Stanley's voice resonated through everyone's helmet. One of Burke's first recruits to Strike Team Omega, she blossomed into her role, first as a platoon chief, now as the Team's master chief. Burke may have been responsible for the operation, but she was in charge. And no one would have it any other way. "I want a nice clean dispersion. Watch for clear firing lanes. Check for friendlies. No close calls like last time."

The two platoons replied with a chorus of "hoo-yahs".

Burke checked his helmet's HUD one more time, reviewing the status of each member of the strike team and their part in the mission.

"All squad's report ready, sir." 

"Very good, Master Chief," Commander Burke replied. "One minute to launch."

A light blinked in the corner of his display signaling an incoming message on the command channel. A window opened and a familiar face appeared. Burke had to suppress a smile.

"Omega Six, Archangel," she said. 

"Go ahead, Archangel."

"Marine Force Silverhawk reports operation successful." Her voice was all business. "You should have clear entry into LZ Dakota."

"What about egress?"

"No guarantees, Commander. Your time on target needs to be under twenty minutes. After that we can't guarantee air cover."

"Roger that, Admiral."

"One final order, Omega Six." She flashed him a slight smile, as if to tease him a little. 

Eric gaze softened for just a second.

"Make sure you come home, Commander. It would piss me off to no end if I had to replace that suit you're wearing."

The thirty second clock was counting down.

"I'll try my best to bring it back, Admiral."

"Commander, just so we're clear: I'm ordering you not to get killed."

"You can court-martial me if I die, ma'am."

She blew him a kiss and the window closed.

"You two ought to get a room when you do that, sir." The Strike Team's command master chief had access to the command channel and it was her business to listen in on any orders that might come down from on-high.

"Juggs, you're just jealous that I'm sleeping with her and you're not." No one called her that any more. At least not in public.

"You wish, sir," the master chief snorted. "You wish."

In the corner of his eye, Commander Burke saw the countdown hit zero. He shot out of the launch tube, followed by 31 of the finest special operators in the galaxy. 

He was back to doing a job at which he excelled: leading men and women into harm's way. He compartmentalised everything else in his life, but a little corner of his mind knew that the one person in the universe who loved him more than anything was watching over him. After all, that was her job.

***************** 

Glossary of Terms

ASV – Atmospheric SOLAR Vehicle; an atmospheric transport specifically tailored to SOLAR missions

Automat – Short for automaton, robots programmed for a specific task or task set. By law, they cannot be human or human-formed and are intentionally limited in their decision-making abilities and artificial intelligence capacity

BUD/S – Basic Underwater Demolition/SOLAR school; basic training for TSN special forces.

CAG – Commanding officer for a Sky Wing; the acronym stands for Commander, Air Group, an anachronism from when a naval aircraft carrier supported an air group instead of an air wing

CAP – Combat Air Patrol

CSAR – Combat Search and Rescue

DCAG – Deputy Commander Air Group, second in command of an air wing

DOR – Drop On Request, when someone voluntarily leaves training

LPO – Lead Petty Officer

pri-fly – Primary Flight Control, an area of a carrier or battlestation that controls flight operations

SOLAR (Space, Ocean, Land, AtmospheRe) – Naval special warfare operators, direct descendants of the Navy SEALs