Thursday, 22 September 2011

Updates: Kite and General Art

Hi Everyone

Just to let you know that things are ongoing, Chapters 2 and 3 are underway though somewhat dependent on each other.The text is progressing well though and when some art is ready too i'll put them together and the story will continue.

In the meantime here is another picture I was working on (using my original models), using the same characters but NOT part of the Kite storyline.

Hope you like it.

 
All the Best
Jessica

Saturday, 17 September 2011

KITE: The Beginning (Part2)


(contd)
Maeve headed down towards engineering, the sound of drunken shouting growing louder, just as she knew it would, so stupid, so predictable, so masculine, so horny, she opened the door, there they were - always the same, big drunken grunts, in a big drunken mess, she only hoped.. not too drunk. She strode into the middle... "Did you grunts say something to us earlier?"


The shouting stopped and en masse the pride of the ship’s masculinity turned to gawp, unsure of her angle but a rising certainty did form in what passed for their minds –“She's not leaving here unfucked!”

Men started to move around her, cutting off any way for her to escape. The biggest of them, and enormous black man, stepped up to Maeve, leering. "Yeah... us grunts... want cunt.” He pulled down her briefs a little, her labia clearly outlined through the thin suit. “See ya brought us one...” tearing off her briefs.

Maeve watched, smiling, she put a hand on his chest, "Well PK wants Dk" she paused. "Do… you… understand?" she added, very VERY slowly. Mirroring Jessica's move elsewhere, she shifted her weight to one leg, drawing one hand up the inside of her thigh towards her very visible lips.           

The men's leers widened as they close around Maeve. “Oh, we know what girls like you need...” the giant black grunt said, and put his huge hands on her buttocks. “Some real men after all that time with the other ladies... guess you need a cock, not just a pretty little tongue, eh?” He pulled her against him, lifting her hips up, and ground himself against her.

***

Jessica paused, looked back out into the red. “We don’t go anywhere unless there’s something to fight... even if it can’t be fought. Some things...” she stopped and bowed her head. “sometimes you have to go into hell.

“We were at Fosforon Outpost, it was supposed to be a simple mining colony but they were all dead, settlers,  Governor, mobile infantry, marines everyone was dead, but they needed the Volovax ore.. they sent us in to get it.

“Some how... somehow it came through the walls... like a hot wind – how do you fight something you can’t see?. It doesn’t matter sometimes, how fast, how strong or how tough you are.

“Sometimes you wake things that can’t be beaten.

“We fought.. some of us…  died, we took the Volovax and ran, half the Section dead, now here I am Squad Leader.” She looked out again into the red, its lights playing across her young face.

“Damn... and here I had a vision of you battling some kind of alien monster,” Nick said, sounding sympathetic no matter how much he tried to conceal it under a tough surface. He put his big, strong hands on her upper arms, but gently. “I'm not much of a talker... well, the others would say I'm some kind of Shakespeare, if they knew who he was... but if you would like someone you can see and touch...” He looked down into her eyes

***

Maeve ground back and then shoved him away” Don’t damage the whites” she smirked and pulled off her gloves, reaching to her neck she began to peel down her catsuit, pausing at the waist, she smiled again and tugged the front down.

Impatient, the huge black man swept the improvised bar-desk clean with one arm, sending half-full glasses shattering to the floor, and then turning Maeve he slammed her upper body down on it. His strong legs spread hers wide apart, while other men grabbed her wrists. The grunt didn't bother with anything beyond opening his fly, and extracted his huge dark cock, big enough to impress even Maeve as she caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye. Then he slammed it into her, without a hint of foreplay or tenderness. This wasn't lovemaking, just fucking, fucking like beasts.

***

Jessica looked into his eyes “There’s monsters and there’s Monsters.. and some of them can’t be beaten.” His eyes looked kind, that’s an unusual thing these days, raised her hand to touch his hip “and there are worse things than dying.”

***

Maeve grunted, the side of her face hard on the bar-desk as he entered her, his big fat hand pressing her head down to its hard surface, he slammed into her, she grunted again at the force, not completely numb there, she could still feel a little, her muscles tensed squeezing him loosely.

“Yes”, she grunted again ” Fuck... Fuck.. me”. A laugh escaped her “Corps.... Corps wants more!”

The huge black soldier slammed into Maeve. He didn't like her laugh. He wanted to make her squeal and whimper, maybe even beg for the mercy he'd never grant. "These uppity bitches!" he wanted to put her in her proper place!

She felt herself opened and close, then opened again as the grunt fucked her, she grunted again, the force expelling air from her but no weakness. Then there was a cock in front of her face, she snacked at it, playfully, “Not afraid – UH!” air driven out again as he thrust inside her, “Not afraid I’ll – UH – bite it  off? UHH!”

“You want more, bitch?!” The grunt in front of her grabbed her cheeks, pulled her mouth open, and thrust his cock in between her lips. He showed no mercy or tenderness intent on thrusting down her throat.

“UH!” Maeve rocked with the force of the big grunts thrusts, her thighs pressed against the edge of the table, she squeezed on him again, not tight, she had be well used... and ill-used many times before.

She took the new one in her mouth, and bit, just a little, and laughed around him.  He started, pulled away a little, a small yelp escaping him, provoking a ripple of laughter among the other grunts. Hearing them he grabbed hold of her face, roughly forcing her mouth further still, keeping her jaws too far apart to bite. He slammed his cock into her, abusing her mouth and throat. The big man, meanwhile, still wanting to break her and make her squeal,  pulled out of her, and started to force himself against her anus instead, stretching her hard. Fiery raw, Maeve felt him enter... dry... now she felt that! But that, that was nothing, they couldn’t even begin to dream what she’d taken. She tightened... she actually tightened on him, even dry.

Around them, the other grunts were getting ready to join.

***

“There are better things than dying, too,” Nick said, and traced a finger up her neck, to her cheek, touching her skin for the first time. He looked into her pale eyes, saw the tremor there, uncertainty? ...or? There were rumours of what was done with... to... corps girls.
 
***

The other cock passed into her throat, hah, she’d taken longer... and fatter than that before, she barely even gagged, she was a long way from the little girl who puked when they trained her back at the Corps academy, that little girl was long gone, and long forgotten, you could almost say long dead…she could take what they had, take what all of them had.


The grunts seemed to take Maeve's toughness as a challenge, and around her, the others started to chant “Break the bitch! Break the bitch!” Sensing that it was going to take more than they were already doing, the two men pulled her off the table, down on her knees, straddling a third grunt who already has his penis in hand. He thrust it inside her vagina, the three grunts all entering her with all their strength. They wanted a story to tell, of how they completely broke a PK bitch.

She actually pushed down... pressed down onto the black grunt and this new one. Her hands reached out towards the other men, she would have smiled if she could but her mouth was held open by the cock of which she reached the base, her nose pressed into his pubes...”They smell” she thought... “of sweat and urine and masturbation”,. Saliva ran down her chin as she stuck out her tongue to lick his sac.

The dirty, filthy grunts kept abusing her, slapping and spanking her body. Their stamina was almost disappointing, though – after a long quarantine with no shore-leave before this mission, they were starved for sex, and it was not long before each of the men using her climaxed.

Someone spat on her face, and the saliva trickled down into her eye.  She laughed then in the short pause before the cock in her mouth was replaced. “Is that all you have?”  She looked at the grunt responsible.. not even blinking. The saliva ran in, thick, and still she stared, this group were disappointingly weak.

***

"Our kind of life", Nick said, "don't last long." 

His arms reached around Jessica’s shoulders, she looked down at them, stepped a little toward him as he closed them around her.


***

Maeve started to bounce, not just pushing but actively slamming down to meet their thrusts. They had no idea, trying to break Maeve through the kind of means that might work on civilians – brutal fucking, degrading words, spanks and slaps... and the black man who had her first seemed to have been the largest of the bunch!

Simple multiple-penetration, she laughed inwardly again, as though that could come anywhere close to breaking someone who'd been through the PK counter-interrogation programme half a dozen times! Then, someone pulled out his cock, and holding her mouth open and nose pinched closed, urinated in her mouth.   

She drank, didn’t they know there’d been times when they survived on this in the PK? Simple creatures these grunts, she slammed down again, beckoning more again, just warming up, heat building inside her from the rubbing,  she felt a little moist but it was probably just their semen inside her.. she wondered how much they could give.

The one thing that made this trip even worthwhile was the pure number – they didn't last long, but there was always a new, hard cock to replace the ones that pulled back, and they seemed to be ready for two or three tries each. It was easy to lose count of the grunts as they filled her. She started though to see frustration on their faces, from their inability to break her and reduce her to a heap of whimpering female flesh. The slaps came harder and faster now, on her ass, cheeks and breasts, making them blush red.
 
***

Almost despite herself, Jessica let him hold her close, the firmness of his body surprisingly pleasurable, pressing her whole length against him, her face turned up to his, she yielded.. she couldn’t remember when that last  happened

"Can't be afraid to be alive", he said resting his chin a moment against her temple.

He held her tight knowing he held the advantage now... if he cared to use it... that there was no room for her to use her speed or his own strength and weight against him. 

***

“Mmmm, better” Maeve thought, none of them knew the things they taught at the academy, but at least there was quantity. She slammed down again and again and then began to tremble, closing her legs on the man inside her cunt… she let out a little whimper.. wondering if they were fool enough to believe it.

“Nearly there, Man!” one of the grunts shouted as they 'forced' the whimper from Maeve, and it had some good effect – they seemed even more eager, fucking her harder than ever. The black man was back, his huge cock filling her mouth as he slowly forced it down her throat. Two other grunts spread her ass-cheeks wide, and managed to position themselves to push both their cocks into her rectum.

Maeve whimpered again, laughing inwardly, she prepared to push back with all her might when they entered her. They’ll do this bunch, this poor senseless helpless bunch of idiots. And at least they’re not pencil dicks... at least she could feel them… a little, as another of the grunts twitched inside her, yes at least there was enough meat there to feel, she squeezed loosely on him.

The other men blasted their loads on her body – her skin becoming increasingly slick with semen. The giant black man pulled back, and blasted a huge load into her face, deliberately aiming for her eyes.   

***

Nick looked again into Jessica’s pale eyes, wondering how old she was, looking older perhaps after what she'd seen. Still trembling he wondered what he saw in them, desire maybe, he thought perhaps she desired and feared, loved and hated, and quite possibly didn't know the difference.

He closed his hand over her chin and raised her face to his. His touch was firm, without waiting for her response, he leant in and kissed her, pulling her body against his firmly. She tipped a little towards him.

***

Maeve’s eyes remained open, even as the thick cum hit them, even as it pooled there, “It’s nothing, these men know nothing”. She whimpered again as she felt the men behind her push as the one inside her cunt wilted and pushed back with all her strength, toppling them, they fell, one sliding out the other still inside her, she landed on him, as heavily as she could, “You believed it!” she laughed.
           
One of the grunts backhanded her across the face then – angry and frustrated now, emasculated by their failure to break her. The oldest of the bunch, a grizzled man with a cruel glint in his eyes, pushed the men using her aside. “Ah now her type...” he drawled, “an' how to break them in proper.” Instead of starting to fuck her he pressed three fingers up each of her anus and vagina, thrusting in hard, then worked in a fourth in either. He thrust them back and forth for a few strokes, and then folded in his thumbs, pressing both of his hands into her.           

Maeve grunted again, "FINALLY!". There’s a reason she’s so slack, these grunts don’t even know the half of it. Finally there was something inside that could touch her. She rocked back, grunting again, the cum in her from all the other men lubricating his fists, finally, she felt full. 

The grizzled veteran grunted with surprise as Maeve seemed to enjoy what he was doing. He pushed both hands in to the wrists, balling up his hands inside her, and starting to fuck her his fists and lower arms moving like pistons.  

She rocked back onto him “Finally!” she said, grunting, his fists rubbing inside her, finally full, she rocked back, the cum of previous men leaking each time she pushed or dragged out each time she pulled away. Finally she felt something strong.

The man pumped her hard, working her as fast and rough as he could, and although in prime condition, it's a tough job. After several minutes, he pulled back – his arms burning from the effort. And then the giant black man took his place, and started to push huge, dark fists into her. Around them, most of the grunts were spent by now, each of them having climaxed in or on her several times.
           
Maeve began to think, that maybe these men would be enough, maybe after all, together, all of them are enough... for once, she felt them push deep inside, hit her cervix, there was a time she would have yelped at that.. long ago.. Corps took that weakness away... made her strong. If only they weren’t all so WEAK. But maybe this one? He really was the find of this bunch – huge, strong and in great shape, pounding Maeve's holes with brutal power. If he couldn't make her climax, none of the others would come close. As he continued to pound, the last of the grunts drained themselves in her mouth, except the older veteran who aimed straight at her face instead, into her open eyes.

She barely blinked, ‘that’s part of first week training’.  and took it all, idly thinking on how something that would break others can become something one needs, strange what one can need to feel alive, she pushed back.

The pounding was good, hitting some of the right spots, maybe this time? She felt the warmth on her face running down her neck. This black one was a find alright, maybe she might even use him again.

The huge trooper grunted louder with effort as he tried to pound her if not into submission, then at least to orgasm. There was hardly an inch of her body not covered with semen or worse. His black skin was growing slick with sweat as she pushed him to the limits of his power.

Sensing the grunt weakening  shouted “Come one - you’ve got more than that haven’t you?”
She pounded backwards onto him herself, “Anybody? IS that all there is?”, she reached towards the other men, but they slouched back, spent. “You useless...”

The black man finally pulled back, gasping from the effort, spent... and with him unable to do it for her, none of the others even would even attempt. “Hnnh... f-fuck!” he groaned. “You should go fuck one of the pistons down at the engine deck, c-cunt...” None of the men met her gaze. 

Maeve stood, looking at them all in disgust, their fluids trickled from her, thick white, frothy from the continuous pounding, she wiped it up with one hand and tasted it.. “I guess that’s all you have.. all these grunts.. can’t finish ONE PK cunt”. She grabbed the uniform of the black grunt.. “You did the best”, wiping the urine and semen from her face and body on his uniform as her gape slowly, slowly closed. “Here’s your prize” as she tossed it in his face. 


The grunts could maybe still have beaten Maeve, maybe there were enough of them for that – maybe they even wondered the next day why they hadn't – but for now they were beaten. Worse, they were crushed, emasculated... some of them seemingly unable to believe that a woman could go through what they put her through. The next women they had would suffer as they reasserted themselves, but none of them even thought of that now.

***

“No-one else is going to come in here,” Nick murmured in Jessica’s ear, as he all but crushed her body against his. “I want you...” He pushed forwards towards, his hand sliding to the small of her back.

She stumbled a little at the forcefulness of his pressing against her ‘til they backed against the viewing port, she looked up at him, her breath light and fast, her hands slid up to his shoulders. She wondered, why is she yielding?

She pushed back... finally… pushed him away and turned away… wondering why it hurt to do so? She looked out into the red, for what felt like a long time, and when she turned back, as silently as he’d arrived the cat had gone again. 

***

Maeve pulled on her boots, tied her whites around her waist and left them all behind. She went to the head, “A shower and then back in to the barrack room”, the others would never know she had gone.

Jessica? She didn’t care if Jessica knew.

She stripped, hanging her whites and washed, washed the filth and the fluids off her – “No matter what they do to you... a little soap and water and you’re clean.” She laughed again. But like Jessica half a ship away, there was a twinge of sadness she couldn’t quite place
           

Sunday, 4 September 2011

KITE: The Beginning (Part1)



Additional Material by John
Special Thanks to 
Avuk, Imbrium, Spacebabes, Fullytank, KN, Ash and Strange Beasties

Prologue
The Sixth Day

The man was dead.

The breath still huffed from his lungs, there were still involuntary sounds as he moved, but everything that had made the man into something vital and unique was gone, there was only meat left.

She cowered back into the cleft, the stench gusting towards her, his body still flopping, the light long gone from his eyes, but not from the burning yellow beyond, did they see her?

She checked her gun again, though she knew it too was dead, the power packs drained.

She closed her eyes.

She listened to the huffing of what had been the man.

And the low growl in the darkness beyond.


Chapter One
The First Day

The shuddering finally began, rolling from the front of the bridge back to the Captain’s chair. She never liked this part of a mission, as the great ship lumbered towards the dark heart of the ring of light that formed the jump point ahead of them. The shudder rolled again, the consoles rattling, she always thought it felt as though some great hand was rattling the ship like a stick against railings. She watched the screen as the ring filled it and the darkness of Hyperspace approached, her stomach lurched, she never liked this part, as the deck shuddered again.

"These old ships", she thought to herself, "it's a wonder they hold together long enough to pass through the jump points safely at all. Where the HELL is the new ship she was promised? What? Three years ago now?" The shudder rolled through again, the vibrations seeming to resonate her lungs, and this time, this time there are other worries.

"Entering hyperspace now, Captain Lin, expected ETA at Iridanus IV... 64 hours", the pilot broke her concentration for a moment.

Yes, other worries, the Corps, the PhiKappa (or PK) Corps, Earth's elite, or what passes for it these days, highly trained female operatives, if this truly were a simple watch patrol, then why were they here?. If it were a simple mission to visit the outer colonies, smash a few heads, remind them EarthGov is always there, then the grunts could handle that.

Yes, the presence of the PK Corps was a worry.

And then there’s the worry of the men, the mobile infantry men could be trusted to do a job, but they could be an unruly mob and the presence of the Corps presented a problem, the grunts always became restless when they got the scent of pussy in their nostrils.

No, Captain Lin Jie was not a happy woman, not at all. The ship shuddered again as it passed through the eye of the Jump point storm... she always hated this part. She always hated all of it.

***

The lights faded to orange as the ship entered hyperspace, Jessica Travis paused, slowly they brightened to white again as the shuddering stopped and Jessica finished cleaning the refraction chamber of her pulse rifle, her slight fingers dancing delicately over its fragile lenses,  her long auburn hair pulled into bunches in order not to fall into the rifle’s optics, before finally placing the gun, butt first, on one of the transit containers in front of her and resting her cheek against its reassuring smooth coldness as her clear grey-blue eyes wandered over her comrades around her in the barrack room.

There was Miyuki, the youngest, rawest recruit, already dressed in her regulation whites, red boots and gloves, shined and smooth on her legs and arms, her red and white breastplate and red briefs to protect her modesty in the whites that cling so tightly to the body's every curve and line. They may only be preparing to go the mess, but they knew. The Corps has standards to uphold, no matter where or what, they were Corps, and that demanded respect. Miyuki sat, her knees together, hands on her knees, watchful, nervous.

Behind her Dayna was smoothing her whites, dark hands in stark contrast to the uniform whites running up and down her thighs to ensure its fit, the shiny fabric clinging to her, pulling tight. To the right of Dayna were  Faizah, Alison and Maia, sat on her bunk, feet perched on one of the transit containers, a bowl beneath her as she shaved herself, for comfort in the tight fitting uniform. Her long dark hair draped across her pale body as she bent to inspect herself, long fingers checking for any remaining stubble, pushing her soft skin to the left and right.

Next to Maia was Catherine, already dressed, she was praying, but she knew to stick close to Maia. When trouble occurred, next to Maia was a safe place to be. The habit had stuck even out of the fire. Jessica pondered, Catherine may be a problem, disheveled, her hair untidy... the sign of an untidy mind. Jessica pondered and worried too… Catherine had seen combat, and it’d taken its toll on her, already.

Yes, Catherine had seen enough death and killing, but not as much as Maeve, oh yes, she was a war horse alright, she leant against the wall by the door, her whites pulled up only to mid-thigh as she injected the cortisone into her groin, sighing as if the pain relief were instant. "She's seen the lot", thought Jessica, more experienced than all of them, war had taken a toll on her body, there's no knowing how much more she could take, it’s a short brutal life in the Corps. Maeve pulled up the catsuit, slipping her arms in, smoothing it to her body. 
  
 
With a hiss of releasing hydraulic pressure, the door slid open, Christina Rand, Section Commander, entered.

"All right.. Ladies! Prepare to move in...", she dramatically paused to exaggerate checking a watch, "FIVE minutes", still standing in the open doorway.

Jessica replaced her pulse rifle in the locker, already uniformed she too checked and smoothed the uniform on her thighs, belly and hips, pulling up her boots and gloves, watching as Maia, Dayna and Maeve scrambled to finish, she moved to stand by Christina, she glanced at the Commander, she hoped her glance conveyed the message "I know.. but they’re good troops." Maia was last to finish, pulling on her gloves, Jessica shouted the order to move out.

They entered the hall, "Ground Pounders...GROPOS", mobile infantry grunts, all around, they heard the cat calls, the wolf whistles, but it meant nothing, they marched to the mess, even without shouting time, they were in unison, they were the elite, Corps is Corps, and everyone should remember that.

Jessica led her squad to the mess, opening the doors she saw the unruly rabble inside, looking more like a high school canteen than a respectable military organisation. She ordered the squad in but at the sound of her voice, the place quietened... silence radiating outwards from her as the troops, turned to look at the source of the female voice.

A shout went up..."Grunts like CUNT!"

Jessica noticed Miyuki flinch, stepping then in front of her troops, her heels ringing on the metal floor amidst the silence following the shout.

"Grunts like CUNT!" The shout rang out again.

She took a step further into the room.

"Grunts like CUNT!, Grunts like CUNT!" The shout was taken up as a chant.

Jessica led her squad another step into the room.

"Grunts like CUNT!, Grunts like CUNT!" The roomful of men pounding their cutlery on the tables in their meaty fists. "Grunts like CUNT! Grunts like CUNT!"

Suddenly one of the ground pounders was standing in front of her, stretching, a large muscular brute, towering several inches above even Dayna, his shaven head glistened sweatily under the harsh yellow lighting. Jessica always wondered why Mess lighting was yellow, she wondered if it was to make the food look less grey. He roughly thrust his hand between her legs, his meaty fingers pressing at her. "You got a juicy one huh?"

"Move your hand if you want to keep it" she replied coldly.


Stiffening he looked at her with a mixture of surprise and ridicule... "Cunt... I could snap you!"

She paused, his fingers moving again on her, trying to press inside, she beckoned to him. He paused, confused then lowered his face closer to hers in order to hear..

"You may be stronger..." she whispered to him, "but we're faster!" she finished as she broke his nose with the heel of her hand.

In an instant he was on the ground, blood pouring from his nose, and the chants of 'cunt' turned to coarse laughter,  the more experienced troopers not surprised in the slightest. One would think the grunts would learn eventually, but it had become almost ritual for the PKs to take down a large loudmouth every time there was a longer jump or some new men arrived. Better do it hard and fast to get it out of the way.

Dayna stepped up behind Miyuki, having seen her tense during the exchange, as big and strong as many of the men, put her hands on the young girl's shoulders. Her grip firm, reassuring... but almost possessive. ”Don't worry, Miyu, we'll look after you...”. Miyuki relaxed but with Dayna behind her she didn’t see the hungry look in her eyes, but Jessica had seen that in the troops many times before. Dayna also liked cunt.

Maeve, on the other hand, looked with more interest at the grunts, as though making mental notes and evaluations about them. The veteran has been through too much to be able to feel any particular desire for relationships or intimacy, but she did like her men, as large and as rough as possible, sometimes two or three at a time, or even more. Anything to sate that feeling of emptiness inside her. No love or affection, just men.

Jessica stepped forward, her heel poised above the big man’s groin, “Does anybody else want to try?” Her gaze scanned the room with a cold look of disdain. “That’s what I thought”.

 She looked down at the big man his face covered with blood. “Do YOU want to try again?” she asked, but he shook his big bald head, small droplets of blood flying from his nose. Disappointing.

“No? That’s also what I thought”, she lowered her heel onto him anyway and ground a little.

She motioned for the squad to sit, Corps never served themselves, and then motioned for the mess staff to bring trays of today’s slop.

Maeve sat a few seats away from Jessica, had never made any particular secret about her resentment of the new Squad Leader.  Dayna and Catherine sat either side of Miyuki – the young pair had made friends quickly. Both of them relatively new and inexperienced. Maeve looked across the table at them, she and Dayna already had a pool on which of them will be KIA first

Jessica, sitting last, turned her attention back to her squad, “They're ok, Miyuki still shaken, she'll have to toughen up, that one. Maia, smiling, like she has forgotten it already, Dayna, looking hungry, Catherine, somewhere else, Maeve, well Maeve's Maeve, sullen, resentful, but a damn good fighter.”

The food arrived, the usual slop, but in the Corps you learn to accept what you can get, they ate, gratefully and quickly. And before the grunts were half finished, they were done.

“Squad! Attention” shouted Jessica, the grunts flinched en masse, and she led her troops out of the mess, the noise rising only when the door closed behind her. The lights were dimming for artificial night on the ship, she led her troops back to the barrack room, watched them from the door as they flopped onto the bunks, pulling off gloves and boots, she waited a while, she’d protect them the best she could. She closed the door, leaning against the wall a moment and headed to the observation deck, there’s something magical about the way the clouds of hyperspace move, enveloping the ship like a soft red... she paused, why?... like a womb. She headed towards the turbolift.

Inside the barrack room, Maeve watched the others lounge, undress, squabble… she had an itch.

***

Some people are scared of hyper-space, saying that there are... ‘things’ living in it, dark and ominous, or merely that it gives them horrific night terrors. Hyperspace pilots tend to be more superstitious than old Earth sailors. But to Jessica – once she'd arrived – it's nothing like that. Outside the reinforced observation window, patterns shifted in crimson, with occasional brighter spots of orange or even white, or purple hazes. In the corner of her eyes, more complex patterns formed, then melted away as soon as one focused on them. It was always so easy to just watch, letting time melt away...

“There's nothing like it, is there?” a deep male voice behind her. Then, quickly, “Sorry, ma'am, didn't mean to startle you... I wouldn't want a dose of what you gave to Weber.” Still, despite the apology, the man's voice was even, relaxed, belonging to someone with an easy confidence.      
           
 
Jessica turned quickly at the sound, ‘He's quiet this one, not like the others, big lumbering hounds, no this one, he’s a cat’. The trooper was tall and while he was well built, he was leaner than the man she broke before. That didn't have to mean much, though – many of the more brutish grunts bulked up their muscles with drugs and without really learning how to use them, and this man looked like he was far more capable. None of the overblown bravado of men like the one in the mess, either – not a man who felt he has too much to prove. Certainly someone who had seen combat. Maybe even alien combat.

She looked back out into the red "No.. there's nothing like it." She looked back at him.. unlike a grunt to even think of things like this, what was that on her face she thought for a moment.. 'Am I smiling?' 

***

Things quietened quickly in the barrack room as they undressed and rapidly fell asleep, one thing about the Corps, like food you took sleep when you could get it. Maeve watched… was Miyuki crying? 'That girl will have to toughen up... or die, one or the other... the quicker the better.'

Quieter and quieter, Maeve sat up, the itch was worse… quiet. She slipped to the door and out into the corridor.
           
Whilst half a ship away one ground pounder looked Jessica over, not leering like most of the grunts would, but not concealing his interest either, for Maeve, mindless brutishness in her men was a good thing, as she made her way through the metal corridors of the ship. She was a veteran, she knew which kinds of places the worst scum would be drawn to. Someone was certain to have used a far corner of engineering room to set up a still and a secret bar – they're all too predictable. And the only thing more brainless and horny than a grunt was a drunk grunt.

***

Jessica looked out into the shifting tides of hyperspace, not watching but knowing she was being watched, no good Corps Squad Leader doesn't know how to watch without looking, almost subconsciously she switched her weight to one leg, pushing out her hip and accentuating her legs, the curve of her back and bottom, at least this one could communicate in full sentences, she felt suddenly sad, but not sure she could remember why.
The man's eyes opened wider for a moment, a little surprised at Jessica's easy display of her body. “Nick Harrington, PFC,” he said, “Private First Class” – was there a hint of resentment in his voice? He was a few years older than her, yet still a private (albeit the highest grade). Still, the way he looked at her was appreciative, and unlike most grunts, he didn't eye her with the kind of gaze usually reserved for holo-porn. “If you prefer the deck for your own, ma'am...” he began, feeling fairly confident that she didn't want him to leave.

Jessica shifted her weight to her other leg, looking over her shoulder, not sure why she was doing this, could she be feeling lonely? "No - I don't need anything to my own" she said, finally turning and leaning against the viewing port. "What about you soldier? You have anything to your own?"           

Nick made a noise halfway between a scoff and a sigh. “Not a single thing, ma'am. You heard of Fomalhaut VI? Turns out there wasn't anything to fight, but what there was… was an alien mold, got into all the equipment. You know the quarantine steps – Evacuation, Decontamination, Purging? We had to have every single piece of equipment or personal property incinerated, then six months in quarantine, no outside contact.” He cracked a wry smile. “Only upside is, this mission can't be any worse than that one. Not that we've been told what the mission is yet, of course...” He took a step closer to Jessica. “What was your last mission? Or was it the kind you can't talk about?”

***
(...contd)