(Captain 'Kassara', 12:03 EST, 06/26/2035, Location: Unknown)
I lay with Zero safely in my arms, trading my warmth with his, my fingers tracing over his skin, feeling the similarities and irregularities between our bodies by touch. His collarbones were a lot more prominent than mine, and his chest was bulkier, wider than mine. I continued to let my tail coil to find a comfier position wound around his legs, being wary of his injury, doing my best to avoid putting any pressure on his bad leg, whilst tracing my hands back down to his hips. I didn't know where I wanted to look; at his face, so close to mine I could see each individual strand of hair in his eyebrows, or at his body that I had myself pressed against so tightly. Not to mention his more private areas; it was the first time I had seen him naked, and the urge to ogle and stare at his penis was overpowering, but I felt it wasn't appropriate. I didn't know whether it was 'acceptable' as such to be acting that way, and certainly Zero didn't seem to be paying much attention to my exposed areas either.
He had one arm curled behind my neck, his fingers delicately tracing the outside of my hood, sending warm tingles down through my body. I could smell his scent on my tongue in a much stronger fashion now I was up close, it was intoxicating. I could feel the stubble of his chin on the top of my head, I could feel his chest move under my body as he breathed, I could feel his muscles flex and twitch as I ran my fingers down his body.
Even though he had seen me fully naked before, though arguably in much worse circumstances, being in this state made me nervous, yet excited at the same time. Being this close with him certainly didn't help the latter part, my body reacting to the tension between us, in a similar way that his was. I could see it twitching out of the corner of my eye as my hand continued to move up his body, back to his shoulders.
"You can look if you want." Zero broke our silence with his sleep-laden voice, his eyes barely open, struggling to fight his tiredness. With his permission, I did so, pushing myself off of the bed to get a better look at the strange part of his body. It looked…well, odd. Not like any other body part I've seen, but it was slightly intimidating. I hadn't exactly looked at any material myself, but I knew this was his penis, and that if we were to have sex…well, this would be inside me. I gently held onto the shaft with my fingers, watching it twitch as soon as I touched it, the skin on the very top pulling down as it did so, revealing a slightly lighter bit underneath. I could hear Zero's breaths catch as my fingers danced along his dick, the small little noises escaping him. It made me feel excited, an urge arising within me, seeing him squirm with just a few touches.
"You weren't kidding when you said that you had a fair amount of hair down here…" I studied, pulling my hand down to his base, revealing the head of his penis fully. I could smell him…I could smell his arousal. It made my head feel a little light, in a really good way.
"Yeah, must be weird to see." Zero commented, chuckling slightly. "Do you like it?"
"Don't know. I don't think so?" I tried to respond. I hadn't really fully made my mind up, it looked like it would just get in the way and be uncomfortable more than anything else. I let my hand release him, watching the head hide away again. "Aliens are weird. Maybe I'm just not used to it."
"I uh…Didn't know whether I should mention…" Zero started, his voice catching briefly as he cleared it. He must have been pretty nervous. I looked up at him, not the most flattering angle, but I could see his soft eyes still looking back down at me. "I noticed, when you took off your shirt before, you had…well, um, no nipples? But you do now?" He fumbled, his eyes darting away to avoid them. I cracked a grin at him, understanding exactly what he meant. I raised my body, my core strength helping keep me up, sore both from my workout and my general achiness from my injury, but I couldn't pass off an opportunity to show myself off to Zero. I watched his eyes scroll down every scale of my body, before pulling his gaze to my breasts.
"They are hidden by small scutes, they stay hidden unless I'm feeling excited," I explained. "Similar to my vagina as well…" I brazenly lowered my fingers down my front, using two fingers to slightly pull apart my entrance, watching Zero's fixated gaze travel down, his red flushed face spurring me on past my own nervousness. My hands were almost shaking with excitement and tension as I showed off my body to him. I could feel his eyes on me, it made me feel hotter and hotter inside. He placed his hands on my sides, raising them until they rested on my hips, squeezing me ever so slightly.
"Fuck Kass…You're so gorgeous. You have a perfect body," He sighed, his hands still moving up and down over my scales, in such a delicate area. I could feel his eyes traveling up and down me, taking me in.
"You mean it?" I asked, the last of my doubts making a final stand. All of the words I've ever heard about humans not finding Vipers, or other Aliens for that matter, attractive, despite all the evidence I had in front of me proving otherwise.
"Of course I mean it. I'm not gonna sit here and lie and say that it isn't different than what I'm used to, but I find you so attractive, Kass, more so than anyone else." He immediately responded, without a single hesitation. I searched his eyes, his face, for a lie in his words, for a half-truth, for a hyperbole. Nothing. He meant it. Though it was easy to see through his actions, and bodily reactions, having it confirmed by his words made my heart feel like it had jumped into my throat, and made my head go slightly dizzy in the internal happiness that was overwhelming me.
I lowered my body back beside him, my head back on his shoulder, feeling both of his arms wrap around my body and pull me into him, side by side we lay as close to one another as we possibly could. I could feel his warm breath on the top of my hood, his hands warm against my back, pulling me in to make sure I couldn't escape, not that I would ever want to.
"For the record, I've found you sexy for a good while now. I really could never get the image of you naked out of my head, especially after you tried to sleep with me when you were drunk," He started, chuckling by the end of the sentence. I could feel my underlying guilt welling up at the two defining secrets of our relationship he was bringing up, but yet he was laughing about it.
"I don't want to change anything that's happened between us, Kass. But you drove me wild just thinking about you on top of me like that." He admitted. I could hear his voice above my head, which was still snuggly nestled into his neck. He was speaking in a lower volume, his voice deeper than it normally is, occasionally rumbling ever so slightly as he spoke, reverberating through his chest. In combination with the words he was saying, the images in my head he was conjuring, it was turning me on more and more, my desire to do something with him increasing even further. Though, I didn't know what to do, all of this excess energy, but I had no idea how to release it in a manner that he would like. I could make guesses based on my own anatomy and experiences, but he's a human. It was a whole world apart. Literally. I didn't want to make my mistakes of rushing into things, not now. I didn't want to ruin this amazing thing.
"I love your hips, I love your beautiful patterns, both on your hood and down your perfect body," He continued, his hands grasping onto my hips as he mentioned them, swirling down my back and tracing the pattern on my hood in time with his words. Finally, he pulled himself from our tight cuddle, his free arm traveling up my body, back over my hips, over my chest, and up to my chin. He gently raised my face to meet his, barely inches away I stared back into his eyes, his adorable, stupid, silly grin making the corners of his eyes crease. "And I love your eyes, they are so, so pretty. They are like two little jewels staring back at me." He delivered the final blow, as I felt my tears fall from my eyes before I was aware that they were even coming. I buried my face back down into him, into his chest, ignoring the hair there, and pulled myself back tight to his body. I wanted to cry, I could feel my body telling me to, my chest and stomach heavy. His words meant everything to me. A whole life, and it was only now that I had been told I was pretty, and I didn't know it was something I needed to hear so badly. His hand stroked the back of my hood again, comforting me, as I tried to control myself, not to show this side to him. I pulled myself back up, wiping the tears from my wet eyes, my own stupid, silly grin on my face, I couldn't get rid of it.
"Thank you, Zero. That means a lot to me. Really." I sputtered, just speaking my voice sounded slightly fractured, betraying whatever composure I pretended to have. I moved my head up and planted a kiss as best I could against his cheek, I could feel the softness of his skin against my scales as I did so. He stroked my hood once more before his hand moved to rest underneath my chin, pulling me up to his lips for a second lingering kiss. For a moment all I thought about, every single part of my brain was focused on us, just us, in this moment. No more worries, stresses, fear, just a burning desire for this human who held me in his arms.
I opened my eyes as he broke the kiss, my gaze meeting his again.
"I love you, Zero." I whispered, my voice failing me.
"I love you too, Kassara." He purred back at me, his voice barely above a whisper as well. I nestled back into his shoulder, my hand falling back to his chest. After a few moments though, I could feel him squirm a little bit, before opting to talk to me instead of continuing to move.
"Could you let my legs go? They're getting a little uncomfortable at the moment," He asked, almost embarrassedly. I complied, unwinding my tail slowly from around, and in between, his two legs, watching him stretch them out once they were free from their prison. However, he caught me off guard, and pushed me onto my back, lifting his leg over my tail so he was now straddling me.
"Zero, what are you do-" I started, but was cut off as he leaned back down onto me, one hand behind my hood and the other supporting his weight as he lowered his face down to mine, interrupting me with his lips. His body pressed back against me, his front against mine, and I wrapped my arms around his back, pushing myself back into the kiss. Every time we kissed, I felt I was getting a little bit better, and it was feeling a little less strange, less alien to me. In fact, I think I liked it a lot, it was close, intimate, and special to me. He broke his kiss, moving his lips to my cheek, planting another small kiss there, before lowering further to my neck.
The kiss upon my neck was much deeper, he pressed down into my scales, sending a different kind of tingling feeling through my chest and down my body. It was in such contrast to the kisses I had received on my cheek, and on my lips, something about this felt so good in an oddly carnal way. I could feel the warmth of his kisses travel down my neck, and I let a small noise of pleasure escape my lips, an automatic response I couldn't repress if I wanted to.
He briefly stopped from the path he was starting to take down my body, his soft brown eyes glancing back up at mine, almost as if asking for permission. I gave a small nod without even considering it, my body eager for whatever he had in his mind. His hands traced down my sides back to my hips, as his mouth brushed gently over my scales, towards my breasts. The moment I felt his warm tongue on my nipple, my whole body jolted in the sensation it brought, my breath caught in my throat, the pleasure traveling down my body towards my lower area.
"Ah, it's sensitive…" I managed to murmur to him, and he obliged, the first couple of licks of his tongue had been more forceful, but he was now more gentle, the wetness and warmth of his tongue were eliciting moans that I couldn't hold back. I don't think I could ever describe the sensation, and he maneuvered his tongue deftly across my nipples, flicking it gently across them, sending small jolts of pleasure through me with each lick. My body took over for me, my back arching and pushing my breasts into his face, the source of pleasure, my hand pressed against the back of his head to keep him there, as he diligently continued.
"Ah…fuck…Zero…" I moaned, as he brought his lips down, now gently sucking, the pressure he was providing was driving me wild. In my head, my thoughts urged me on, and I could feel my slit start to ache, not in the way a muscle would, in a more needy way, like a thirst. I needed something down there…
And it was almost like he was reading my mind. As he moved his head across, deciding to pay attention to my other side, his tongue, soft and wet, his hands traveled down the side of my body, down to my hips. The anticipation was making me feel so impatient, an internal force begging for him to satisfy me, and I couldn't help but vocalize this want.
"Please…." I murmured, and on cue, his fingers traced my scales in towards my pussy, and he placed a single digit onto my clit, and with a small amount of pressure started circling his finger. I could feel my entire lower half shudder with his touch, the area around my hips tingling with hot pleasure, and in combination with the sensation of his mouth on my breasts, it was overwhelming. I was whining and moaning, my head pressed back into my pillow with my eyes closed, focusing on the feelings of his body against mine, of his mouth, of his fingers, and the intense, immeasurable pleasure he was providing with such small actions. I had never considered this such a base need, that it could ever provide such pleasure, but here I was, my head in ecstasy and my body in bliss, completely submitted to the will of this human.
"Zero I, ahh-" I was interrupted by a moan escaping my lips as his finger pressed down slightly harder on my clit. "I need…I need more." I breathily demanded, my free hand moving down to guide his fingers lower down. He took the hint, two of his fingers teasing my entrance, before slipping in. The need that my body was feeling was suddenly burning much brighter, as he slowly moved his two fingers in and out of my pussy. He pulled his head up, his eyes capturing mine as he leveled his gaze, before he leaned in and locked his lips once more with mine. I was lost in the moment, feeling his soft skin against my scales, my hips moved with his fingers, unable to resist.
He pushed his kiss deeper, and I felt his tongue push into my mouth, sliding between my slightly parted lips. It took me by surprise, the odd sensation was so different from how our normal kisses felt. But I liked it, I think. He certainly didn't take any time to wait and pressed his lips back against mine. His tongue was large and flat, it was a weird sensation, but feeling his tongue graze against the base of my fangs set off something inside me, it made me burn up in heat, it made me want to give into him so badly.
But instead I reacted, not of my own accord. My own tongue, much thinner in comparison, grazed against his, almost stroking him as we kissed. I felt his fingers quicken their pace, sending more waves of bliss through me, my body begging for even more. My tongue pushed against his, and around it, swirling this way and that, it felt an intense mix of a strange, yet powerful craving for him, and in return, I felt his efforts double, his lips push harder into mine, soft moans escaping from him into me. He pulled back breathing heavily, staring at me in some sort of awe.
"Fuck, Kass," He panted. "That was so hot."
"I didn't realize kissing involved using a bit of tongue," I admitted. "I wouldn't mind more practice." I continued, running my tongue along my upper lip, my lust overcoming the better of me, ruling my actions. I wanted him so badly, I wanted to explore him, to feel him, and I couldn't get enough of it. He didn't hesitate, he collapsed back on top of me, with a renewed passion for his kisses, his noises encouraging me more and more, it was driving me crazy with this internal heat.
I didn't know where to even put my hands, I started to become conscious briefly of what I should be doing, with all of his attention on me, all the pleasure he was giving to me my mind raced to think of what I should be doing in return. However, that thought was quickly pushed out of my head as his fingers darted back to my clit, and I pulled away from his kiss at the sudden change, a pressure building up in my body very suddenly.
"Zero I'm- " I couldn't even finish my sentence, my tongue refused to work as the pressure erupted, waves of pleasure rippling through my body, my tail spasming with each pulse, as Zero's dark brown eyes gazed into mine, studying my face as I orgasmed. It was overwhelming, almost, quiet whimpers escaping my mouth in between my shallow breaths, my vision narrowed so that all I could see was my lover's face, and his soft hair dangling down covering his forehead. He was wordless, nothing but a satisfied smile on his face, with a hint of smugness hidden within his lips.
He finally released his hold from me, his hands caressing the sides of my body as he lay back down next to me. I could feel his member pressing against my side, twitching occasionally, as he wrapped his arms around my body, and pulled me into a warm cuddle. My scales felt more sensitive than usual, not that I took the feeling of him for granted, but I felt even closer, even more snug just cuddled up next to him now. I was still trying to catch my breath back after his impressive performance, though my mind was already racing to think of returning the favor, the thought bringing all kinds of nervousness up to the front, my mind focusing entirely on how to do what I wanted to do next.
"I love you, Kass," He cooed, planting another kiss delicately on my cheek.
"I love you too, Matthew," I responded, without even thinking about what I said. Elders, I didn't even realize it until I saw his face drop out of the corner of my eye. His dazed smile suddenly dropped from his features into a much more rigid look, his whole body pausing.
"Wait Zero," I started, but he interrupted me. He wasn't loud, or harsh with his voice, but I could hear the pain he hid behind his soft words.
"Where did you…How do you know my name?" He started, his forehead creased with concern. "I…I haven't heard it in years…"
I paused, my mind still recovering from what we had just done together, the contrast to the mood that now soured the air between us was jolting, to say the least. I didn't know where to exactly start. Zero simply encouraged me further to answer with more questions. I could tell he was trying to act in his usual rational manner, but he couldn't hide his emotions well enough. I could see a sort of hurt in his eyes. He paused and let me collect my thoughts before I answered.
"I heard it from the Matriarch when you were in prison." I stated, quietening my voice. I likened what I had just done to someone giving me my old name, calling me by my callsign under Advent. I felt myself get all tense inside and my blood boil just from the Matriarch uttering my previous name. I just hope it wasn't anything like that to Zero.
"Oh." He muttered in response, laying his head back down onto the pillow, looking despondently up at the ceiling.
"I'm sorry, Zero. I hope I haven't upset you badly." I apologized. "It really just slipped out, I know you don't go by that name anymore."
"It's fine, really," He brushed it aside, rubbing his eyes with one of his hands. "It just took me by surprise, I guess. It just has a lot of weight to it; it's a past I left behind. Just feels odd to have it resurface like this." He chuckled nervously at the end. I propped myself up with my elbow to look down at him. He shot me a slight smile of reassurance and cradled my face in his hand. "I'm not mad."
"Promise?"
"I promise." He nodded. I let my head rest down on his chest, his hands laying on the back of my hood and stroking it softly, it was reassuring that he didn't mind. Or didn't seem to mind, anyway. For now, the thought of repaying him back for the favor he did for me had left my mind. Whilst mostly replaced with a feeling of guilt for having ruined the mood so succinctly with a single remark, but also of curiosity. For all the time I had spent with Zero, most of what I knew of him was what he was like now, in X-Com, but not so much of his time before. I never really felt comfortable ever going there when talking to him, but with this opportunity combined with that desire, it was hard not to jump at the opportunity.
"Zero…If you don't mind, we talked a bit about what stuff you did before…Can I ask you a few more questions?" I asked hesitantly. He paused, just for a brief moment, but it was enough to quickly put the thought that I had overstepped into my head before he answered.
"When did we talk about stuff before? Have I ever talked about myself before X-Com to you?" He asked, confusion rife in his voice. I couldn't see his face with my head tucked snugly into him, which made it hard to discern how he felt, for all of what I'd learned in Advent facial cues were still the easiest. But it was getting easier to tell the vocal inflections he used.
"Do you not remember? We played a game of questions ages ago."
"….Oh, oh yeah yeah, I'm with you," He chuckled. "Took me a minute. All the way back when you were a prisoner here. What did you want to know? I can't promise an answer…but I'll try my best." His hands stroked across my hood as he spoke, the pleasant sensation helping to soothe my nervousness at broaching the topic.
"What was it like? Growing up in Advent, as a civilian?"
"That's a tough one to start with." He paused, giving his answer some thought. "I guess I'd say it felt very orderly, very safe. Lots of Advent presence, especially in our districts. The human districts that is. But also very restrictive. Curfew at 7, mandatory schools, colleges, and Universities with long days, and generally the Peacekeepers' job was to come down hard on whatever crime committed. It wasn't rare for a thief to be thrown in jail for a fairly long time. I know now that some of these things aren't good, especially with the strictness of the Peacekeepers, but at the time, you saw on the news it was a good thing, you were taught in the schools it was a good thing historically, your friends and family told you it was a good thing. It's only from a different lens that these pieces start to fall together." He explained, his low voice mostly monotonous, I could feel the rumbling in his chest as he spoke against my hand.
"Why did you leave?"
"When I had to. Seeing your face on one of those little wanted boards that usually show the faces of X-Com terrorists has a sobering way of freaking you out. I hadn't even done anything wrong."
"Then why?" I asked, raising my head to look up at him. He seemed a bit distant, staring up at the ceiling instead of really meeting my eyes.
"It's why I joined X-Com. A friend showed me a video of X-Com helping humans in school on her phone. Didn't see her the following day. Things start clicking into place, and I had to leave. Wipe the slate clean." he muttered. His voice wavered briefly; I could tell it was a bit of a soft spot for him. But I felt it too, that feeling of realization that everything you believed could be wrong, it was soul-crushing. And I could feel that with him now. I raised myself up in front of him, cutting off his line of sight to whatever spot he was staring at on the ceiling. I clasped against his cheeks with my hands, the bristles on his chin poking into my palms, and I locked him into a kiss. I felt his arms wrap around my back and pull me in, and his lips moved around mine. It felt oddly more intense, more special than the ones we had before, yet softer and gentler at the same time.
After a few seconds, he broke off the kiss, staring back up at me with a gentle smile, and caressed my cheek with his hand.
"One day I'll be able to go back to living a normal life. Once we beat back the Elders. And…I hope I get to spend that life with you." He proclaimed. I felt myself melt inside, the words I wanted to say catching in my mouth before I could get them out, and a stupid, stupid grin plastered on my face.
"I hope the same, Zero. I love you."
"I love you too."
(Captain 'Zero', 15:22 EST, 06/29/2035, Location: Unknown)
With the Avenger back in the air and traveling, we had got back to our routine of scanning for resources we could salvage, for remnants of battles, survivors, and any leads into potential operations for us. X-Com had coordinated with the Liberated and other resistance groups to re-establish new bases, new fronts for our war against Advent, though I guess part of me is still concerned that setting up these new places just invites us to more attacks from Advent, from the Chosen, or more coordinated attacks from the Vipers, as was the last attack on our havens.
Kassara had been diligent in her recovery routine, keeping on top of the various stretches and workouts that had been prescribed to her. She still couldn't move particularly fluidly, and not quickly at all. At least her scales had healed up almost perfectly, back to their mesmerizing patterns. It was hard not to keep my eyes off of her, and impossible to keep her out of my thoughts. I hadn't found the time to spend some more time alone with her since we were last able to, but whilst I was waiting for such an opportunity, my mind was very busy imagining what might happen, what we might do.
Whilst it was my first sexual experience with an Alien, it didn't feel…It didn't feel like it was something so far removed from my previous experiences. But at the same time, it was all so new and exciting, yet felt so taboo. I only hope that I'll get more opportunities to explore her more, to be as close as we can be.
Kass was currently on duty to watch over the Matriarch, a duty I was thankful I didn't have to take part in anymore; she was a nuisance, to describe her as nicely as I could. Kassara had told me of how the Matriarch winds her up on purpose, pressing and prodding at her buttons to elicit a reaction of some sort. But I think she also enjoyed being able to see her at least, to a certain extent. At least, she didn't spend a lot of time complaining about having to take shifts watching her. I was surprised that she was still supposed to be taking guard shifts, considering she had only been out of the infirmary for 4 days, but I guess she was starting to be in better shape and could handle herself.
Goblin however hadn't done quite as well. His recovery has been a little slower. His fight with the Viper King resulted in him receiving two broken ribs, from when he was coiled by the King. I hate to imagine how much force he must have been squeezed with to get such an injury from that. So he's had to take it pretty easy in comparison to Kassara; no working out, and certainly no guard duty. But at least he's been up and moving around, and surprisingly he's being a lot nicer to Kassara. No glaring, no hushed words and curses underneath his breath, no going out of his way to avoid her.
It had taken me by surprise, I'm not really sure where the change came from, it was just the other week that he was shouting her down in the cafeteria asking her about the very situation that we had just seen. Because he was asking her if she would shoot the Viper King. But she didn't, did she? Instead, she spoke to him, delaying the inevitability of her being attacked.
But here he was, hanging out in the Rec room with me, without a single word about Kassara, chatting with Angel, Brick, and Firehawk as if there were never any disagreements between us. Meanwhile, Deadbolt was set up on the pool table, again, trying to explain the rules to Mox, with little success so far. It was…it almost felt like this could be a new normal. Maybe there was a chance that we could get along as a squad again, instead of being seemingly split into two teams of those who support having a Viper in X-Com and those who don't.
"You gotta be more careful next time, Goblin. You should be happy that it'll heal quickly." Brick chastised, pulling me from my thoughts. I could already tell that she wasn't serious with her remark, the tone in her thick accent betraying her meaning.
"I'd be happier if it meant I could still do anything other than sit on my ass all day." He complained, earning a snort of laughter from Firehawk.
"You're just upset you don't get to go to the gym as usual, aren't ya?" She mocked. "Thought you were starting to look a little smaller."
"Shut up, I'll get it back in no time." He protested. "At least I won't shrink down to Zero's size any time soon." He muttered, glancing over towards me, followed by the gazes of the other three people, all sizing me up. Firehawk and Brick were pretty tall, but at least Angel was still roughly my height.
I started my retort, but I was cut short, as the lights suddenly turned red, lighting up the room in a hazed glow of danger, alarms sounding in the background. Everyone looked to each other confused at what was going on. For a few moments, we stood still, looking around the room as if it might give us answers, until the red flashing suddenly stopped as the entire room fell into pitch darkness, not even a glint of light permeating through the curtain of black that enveloped us.
"What's going on?" Brick asked, with no response even hoping of being given by the group of similarly clueless people. We stood waiting for something to happen, for the lights to come back on, or the alarms, or the door to open and shed some light into the room, but nothing came. The only thing that changed was the start of a nausea in my stomach, like riding a rollercoaster, my chest starting to lift upwards inside me, and we always realized what was happening.
"We're going down!" Goblin concluded. "Get to the floor, and get away from the pool table!" He ordered as we splayed out on the floor, my arms bumping into someone else's as we got down, and the feeling of falling faster and faster grew as we felt the ship plummeting to the ground.
I heard the balls on the table strike against the cushions as the room start to spiral, the cues clattering to the ground, glasses shattering as they fell from the tables and from behind the bar. The seconds felt like minutes, wondering if we were all okay, how high up we were, thinking about if Kassara was okay.
But after those few seconds, a dim red light flowed throughout the room, as the emergency lights showed the damages done to the rec room, though thankfully it didn't like anyone else was hurt, or near enough to any of the things falling down to get hurt. The falling started to ease, the spinning slowed, the turbulence rocking the avenger slowly fading away until it felt like we were merely descending to land. With a hefty shudder as we hit the ground, I finally felt stable again, the nausea in my stomach starting to settle, as I clambered back up to my wobbly legs, still bathed in the soft red light.
"What happened?" Deadbolt broke the silence, as we stared around the room, awestruck, all trying to figure out the answer to his question.
"I…I don't know. I'm fairly sure we've uh, landed, for lack of better term. But I don't know what caused us to." Goblin grumbled, his hands holding his ribs.
"I think I'm winning the pool game now." Mox announced, drawing our attention to the table, with significantly more balls missing from the tabletop than there were before. He was met with a wry smile from Deadbolt, who was about to shoot back a remark before the ship shuddered once more underneath our feet. I was almost knocked back to the floor by the first one, mostly down to the fact I didn't expect it. A rhythmic pounding against the hull as the floor shook in tandem, the skeleton of our ship creaking and groaning around us. A pause. Bang, Bang, Bang. Three more shudders accompanying the loud noise that seemed to come from outside the ship.
"We're being attacked." Angel commented, his face setting into a determined grimace, as he started heading for the door. As he started to move, the speakers in the room crackled to life, as Bradford's voice, slightly faint and faded, echoed over our heads.
"All capable soldiers ready up to the armory, we have been grounded by an Advent ship, we need to get out there and take the fight to them before they cripple the Avenger. Target is an EM pulse beacon, and Advent artillery cannons. Give 'em hell soldiers"
And on the command of Central's words, Deadbolt, Mox, Brick, Firehawk, and Angel all began to head to the door, all rushing to head down to the armory as soon as possible. I watched as they left, leaving just me and Goblin behind, in the broken mess of a room, knowing we wouldn't be able to help defend the Avenger, as the ship shook with more shots of their cannons.
Goblin eased himself down into a beanbag, sighing to himself. I followed suits, dragging a beanbag around to face him, as there wasn't exactly a functional computer screen that worked. We wouldn't even be able to see the progress, we wouldn't know how well the fight would be going out there, if anyone was getting hurt, or worse; killed. No, we got the pleasure of listening to the thundering outside and just wondering if it was gonna stop.
"Just my luck that I had to be out of action for the best fight.." Goblin huffed, leaning his face against his closed fist.
"You're upset you're missing out on the fight and not worried about it?" I asked quizzically, more bemused than anything else.
"Yeah, of course. Aliens think they can ground us, we'll show 'em who they picked a fight with. Except I can't, just have to sit here because I can't move faster than a snail on steroids." He grumbled again, eliciting a chuckle out of me with his crude comparison.
"Recovery that bad huh?"
"Nah, not entirely. More sore than anything else, hurts like a bitch if I try anything other than walking. I can put up with it though." He asserted. "What about your leg?"
"Practically good as new. Well, not really, but it doesn't hurt anymore at least, just feels stiffer when I run. Like it's cramping a little." I explained, pulling up the bottom of my trouser leg to see the wound. All the remained now was just a bruise, albeit a purple, fairly nasty-looking one. I prodded it to show him there wasn't any pain upon touching it.
"Hell of a stunt we pulled, huh." He paused, briefly. "Glad you had my back against the King when he had me in his coils." He nodded.
"Of course." I shrugged it off, remembering back to that incident, how terrified I was, how scared I was, but also how much adrenaline was pumping through my system and just overriding all of those inner feelings.
"You know I have your back too right? I'm not gonna let that snake coil you either." He asked, rhetorically. "It's not the last we see of him."
"Well, hopefully, next time will be the last, anyway." I affirmed, partially jokingly, knowing how much of a tough opponent he was meant that I doubt he was going to make it easy for us. He paused, not seeming to acknowledge my joke, or that I said anything. Instead, he was staring at his feet, seemingly in thought.
"Sorry man, I'm gonna go. I can't sit around and do nothing whilst everyone else gets to have all the fun. I'm gonna go down and help out in the armory as much as I can. You gonna come?"
"I'll pass. I'll probably go to my room for a bit or something. Wait this out." I motioned my head to the thundering against our ship, in their three-round bursts, a quarter of a minute between each volley.
"Alright." He acknowledged, clambering to his feet and also heading out into the hall, hobbling slightly with his injury. I sighed and tried to push my tenseness from my chest, the feeling of helplessness weighing down on me. Maybe having a lie down in my bed whilst I waited for this to pass wouldn't be a bad idea, or blank out the noise by going to the shooting range, be ready and on standby should they need me in the end. Better than doing nothing.
(Captain 'Kassara', 15:22 EST, 06/29/2035, Location: Eastern United States)
I was coiled on top of one of the chairs, switching my new gun from auto fire to single, the small clicks and clacks as I moved it back and forth synchronizing with the seconds that passed. Shen had been quick to procure me a new weapon, it felt pretty much the exact same as my previous firearm. It was very kind of her to finish such a project so quickly, especially as I wasn't fit for duty yet. The Matriarch was quiet. She hadn't bothered me, she hadn't once called out to me, patronized me, or even really looked at me, other than when I first entered with Samurai. But, like Samurai, she didn't seem to be one for conversation today, so my shift ended up being rather, well, boring. Not that this bothered me, it was just unusual. It's a really good thing that I had other thoughts to keep me entertained, certain particular thoughts about Zero, ones I hadn't been able to really remove from my head for the past few days regardless.
Without any warning, the emergency lights that occupied the corners of the room bathed our room in a bright red, a wailing siren accompanying the lights to make sure we didn't miss it. I picked my gun up and readied myself, seeing a similar state of tension arise in Samurai, both of us confused about what was happening. I turned to the Matriarch, stood at the bars, hands clenched around them, looking up towards the sirens as the power cut off, and we were left in the dark. I refused to move, in fear of tripping over what I couldn't see anymore, though I faced towards the door briefly, not understanding what was going on, until I felt the floor slip away from underneath me. Or, at least that's what it felt like. I only realized that it wasn't me falling on my own, but the entire ship, after a few moments had passed and the feeling of falling started to increase within me, tightening my chest and tensing my entire tail, yet I was still on the floor, unmoving otherwise.
"We're going down, hold on to something!" I called back out to Samurai. I wasn't able to see if he was able to or not, I just pressed myself against where I thought the wall was, guessing correctly luckily enough. I could feel the room start to spin around me, I could hear the chairs and tables moving across the metal floor, scraping with their horrible choruses, and the chess pieces clattering to the ground, whilst the ship continued to spin faster and faster.
The red lights flipped back on, dimmer than they were before, the ship still plummeting down, spiraling out of control. I could see the Matriarch grinning, still braced against the bars of her prison, only removing her smile when she noticed I was looking at her. I saw Samurai clinging onto the door, fallen to his knees, and trying to keep himself from sliding across the room. Thankfully, the spinning began to ease, and the sickness in my stomach gradually lessened as we came to slow, and eventually, a complete stop, with a thud accompanying it. We had hit the ground. Samurai looked over towards me, looking every bit as confused as I thought I probably looked. Mid-flight, grounded without any weapons fire on the ship, and all the power going out, it didn't make sense. How did they even spot us in the first place? The Avenger was supposed to be an Alien ship, it should slip by most of the sensors out there, and we weren't flying over any populated areas. Theoretically, they shouldn't have known to target us, right?
Bang, Bang, Bang. The Ship shuddered around us, the sound echoing throughout the room, the tinny sound reflecting off of the metal in the room into a faint ringing, before the rhythmic pounding came once more.
Bang, Bang, Bang.
"All capable soldiers ready up to the armory, we have been grounded by an Advent ship, we need to get out there and take the fight to them before they cripple the Avenger. Target is an EM pulse beacon, and Advent artillery cannons. Give 'em hell soldiers" Bradford's voice, low and gruff, commanding and determined, echoed throughout the room. Without pausing for a moment, Samurai readied his gun and started heading straight for the door, which would leave me alone to guard the Matriarch.
"Hey, you're on duty here!" I called out after him. He stopped, merely giving me a small shrug.
"Yeah and? You heard Central, we have a ground fight to win. It's not like she can get out anyway, neither of us have the keys to get her out." He dismissed, not even waiting for a response before he continued to head off.
I get it. I wanted to go as well. Hell, I had my gun in hand, I was itching to give it another shot, preferably not at the Matriarch. But I couldn't leave her alone, it was my job to watch her. Grudgingly. Plus, I still hadn't recovered, I was still sluggish and weak. I sighed, watching the door close behind him, and turned to face my 'Mother', the sly smirk returning to her face once more.
"What? Don't bother me please." I sighed, slumping back onto one of the chairs, after pulling it up from the ground with my tail.
"I wasn't going to do anything, Don't you worry, Kassara," She mockingly nodded, bowing her body in a curtsy. I rolled my eyes, grabbing the fallen chess pieces and slowly putting them back on the board in their right places, amidst the thundering against the hull of the ship continuing.
"Why are you acting all smug? The grinning, the smiling, what's going on?" I caved, demanding an answer from her as I turned around from the table.
"What do you mean?" She smiled again, feigned ignorance. I felt myself scratching at my fangs again, trying to figure out whether I could even be bothered with her. Why I still continued trying at all was already beyond me.
"Nothing. Never mind." I sighed, looking up at her. "You're not worth the effort."
"Now, daughter, no need to be like that." She said sorrowfully. I just ignored her. It was all a game to her, I was sure of it.
"Tell me," She started again. "I saw what happened on your last mission. Not all of it. Not the fight. Not the Viper King himself. How amazing it must have been to see such an impressive Viper in the flesh." She continued, her voice low, almost dreamy sounding.
"He was impressive, yes. He's very intimidating." I admitted. "He still wanted to kill me."
"I know, X-Com doesn't really give him a choice in that, do they?" She asked rhetorically, moving on before I could refute it. "It gives me hope, Kassara. That there's still a future for Vipers."
"He's a tyrant. There's no future for me there, for certain. And I doubt there's one for other Vipers." I responded adamantly. She seemed to hesitate, shocked at my defiance. The rhythmic banging against the ship was almost comical as she paused
"That's not how you should think, it's selfish, Kassara. X-Com is warping your mind away from us." She reprimanded. "I see you are too absorbed with that human toy of yours. It won't work out Kassara. It never will."
That sentence left a sour taste in my mouth. The derogatory comments hurt, but I did my best to put on that straight face, not to let it show. Not to give her the satisfaction. The anger was boiling up inside me, bubbling to the surface. But I let it simmer there, just underneath, away from her eyes.
"Kass," A deeper voice broke the tension, in combination with the sound of the metal door clanging open. Goblin stood in the door, gun held by his side in his hand, his eyes slightly panicked, alert, I couldn't really describe. "Bradford needs your help on the ground, need all the help we can get at the moment."
The feelings of anger flowed away in an instant, as my mind turned to give my full attention to Goblin, eager to help and fight the attackers. But I remember I was still on duty…but if Bradford told me himself?
"I can't, I've got to watch over this one," I motioned towards my Matriarch, still behind her bars, dressed in a light blue shirt, as loosely fitting as all the others on her slender frame.
"She can wait, she won't be able to get out. Bradford's order, Kass."
"Yeah, Yeah, coming. I need to get my stuff from the armory." I explained, moving towards the door he was holding open for me.
"Yup, I'm heading there myself." Goblin agreed, waiting for me to pass by him before he closed the door. I hurried up through the ship to get to the armory, not able to move that fast myself due to how weak I felt compared to my normal self, but I was surprised that Goblin was still keeping pace.
"Is Zero out there already?" I asked Goblin, a fleeting sensation of worry crossing my mind.
"He should be getting there about the same time as us, I'd expect. Bradford needs help from the wounded soldiers as well, that's why we're all going out, even like this," He chuckled to himself.
As we approached one of the later turnings towards the armory, I heard Goblin behind me call out.
"Left up here Kass," He instructed in a friendly manner. I hesitated, knowing that straight on was the way to the armory. I stopped where I was and turned around to ask him if he was lost. I didn't even get a chance to react as he didn't slow down, and he barrelled his shoulder into my arm, specifically my arm that was holding my gun. It clattered to the floor in front of us, and I whipped towards Goblin, raising myself on my coils to berate him for his clumsiness. But I didn't. Instead, I had turned my head to see him holding his shotgun pointed straight at me. A wave of panic washed over me, my body wanting to make a run for it, to try and bash into him and figure my way out of it, but I managed to resist. Instead, I was left only with questions as to what was happening, and why he was doing it. Had he been mind-controlled?
"I said, left up here, Kass." He repeated gruffly, keeping around 8ft between me and him, out of my reach. "Arms up, get moving."
"Or what?" I asked, defiantly. He moved quickly, raised his gun, and hitting me on my head with the butt of it, I almost felt my consciousness leave me as I collapsed onto the floor, scrambling to get back up. I felt my scales on my face start to wet with something, blood, I think, coming out of my nose.
"Get moving."
I complied, turning around, hands in the air, and making my way down the corridor. There were only crew quarters up here though, I was struggling to try and think what his plan was, and more importantly why? I thought we had been on good terms recently, had something changed that?
"Right, up the stairs." He ordered again, and once more, I complied, words racing in my mind as I grew tenser and tenser, the sense of foreboding washing over me with a new level of fear each second that passed.
"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly as I asked it. I didn't care to worry myself about that insignificant detail with the situation I was in.
"The roof." He answered, matter-of-factly.
"Why?"
"You'll see." He continued. For some reason, my fears moved from my own well-being to a new possibility. Maybe he had done something to Zero? I would kill him if he had, no matter what that meant for me.
Thinking about him gave me a confidence. An undeserved one maybe, but I welled up my courage, and whipped my tail around, striking out at Goblin's gun before trying to take whatever advantage I could see, to wrestle him to the floor, to coil him, anything to preserve my own life against him. But those thoughts of what I could do were swiftly buried, as he simply took a step back away from my tail, as if he anticipated my movement, swiftly drawing the blade from his back, slicing it across the lower part of my tail, burning, searing pain shooting up my tail from where he had cut me. My dark blood spotted onto the floor from the wound, as I let out a hiss of pain, recoiling as he struck me. He once more leveled his shard gun at me, cocking it once more. "Nice try. Move." He ordered coldly.
I slithered up the stairs, as slow as I could get away with, but a poke in my back with the barrel of his gun hurried me up. The door in front of me slid open, the warm, fresh afternoon air breezing across my face. I could hear the echoes of the weaponry from the fighting below, the droning of small transport ships flying in to drop off more troops, the thundering of their canons firing against the ship, the rumbles moving through my body as they struck. I looked back at Goblin, who ushered me forwards, closer and closer to the edge, until I could look over the side, and see the small specs of the combatants below, red hot rounds flying across the wooded fields we had crashed in, the trading of fire between the two sides, and the large black train-like transports, where I could see the canon moving with every shot fired into our ship. Though, it would take a little while longer to do any irreparable damage.
"So, this is an execution?" I asked, my voice trembling as I spoke. I was desperate inside, desperate to find any way out, but the fact remained; I was too sluggish to save myself with my actions. I didn't want this to be the way it went. After I had worked so hard for X-Com, to prove myself to all of those that hated me, after I thought I had earned my freedom from this persecution. After I had finally begun what I've always longed for since I joined, finally being able to pursue things with Zero. Oh, how he plagued my mind even as every thought of mine should be to save my own skin.
"Yeah," He answered. It was not as gruff, as cold as he had been previously. It sounded….sorrowful. Like it was something he didn't want to do, but had to. "It is."
I could feel my lungs doing their best to pump air in and out of me as fast as they could, but it felt like I couldn't breathe at the same time, it was horrendous. I was scared. The last time I could even compare how scared I was now to, would be defending that relay, pinned by their entire squad. Even then, I think I was more ready to accept death then than I was now. I felt almost cheated if this is how I had to go, but I think more importantly, I had more I wanted to live for.
"Why? If I'm going to die at least let me know what for." I stated, as resolutely as I could. My fangs scratched at my lower lip, trying to think of how to get out of the situation, resorting to stalling for now. I kept my hands raised by my sides, still staring at the battle below, everyone oblivious to what was happening above.
"You know why. Can't have a traitor here, you're a risk. A threat. I'm saving us." He stuttered, fumbling over his words. I tried to turn my head to look at him, but he quickly shut that down before I could.
"One move, and I shoot. Got it?" He shouted, his voice hoarse, carried easily over the wind of the summer afternoon.
"I thought I had proved myself to you. Was it not enough to not almost die for X-Com? Multiple times?" I argued, speaking softly, trying my best to persuade him, not to make myself an adversary. I thought to how my Mother conducted herself, how she weaseled her way with her words, manipulating how those responded to her. I had to do my best to emulate it, maybe I had the same talent in me.
"IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU" He bellowed. I could hear his ragged breaths, in between his sentences. He was mustering up his own courage, to kill me. Was he struggling?
"Then who is it about?" I asked. I took my chances, I needed to face him, I needed him to not just see me as an alien. Cause that's all he ever saw me as, isn't it? I slowly turned my head, exceedingly slowly, hands still raised at my sides. He was too clever to know even without my weapon I wasn't defenseless. But he seemed to let me continue to turn. "Is it about Zero? You?"
"Of course it's about Zero," He huffed, cocking his gun towards me. He stared at me, burning hatred in his eyes. "I will save him from you, all I need to do is pull this trigger." I had to remind myself not to be antagonistic, not to rile him up like I would have in any other situation, to any other person. It's the only shot I had.
"I care deeply about Zero. I love him, Goblin. Something you wouldn't understand. You would destroy Zero if you shot me right now." I argued, again trying to keep my voice soft, yet not condescending. Though, I'm not sure if I managed it. I could see the sweat on his bald head, I could see his unbridled rage in his face. I couldn't understand.
"I understand perfectly," He seethed, his teeth clenched as he responded. "More than you could understand yourself."
It clicked into place. It all fell down so perfectly into place, all the pieces of a puzzle finally connected and the picture is revealed. The dawning of that fact over me both relieved me and terrified me. Relieved, because I understood. Because I knew what he was going through and why he was doing this. Terrified because I knew that there was nothing I could do to stop what he was doing. The only reason he hadn't shot me was because of Zero. He didn't want to hurt him.
"It's Alphabet," I stated my conclusion, dropping my arms from my side in my own disbelief as I realized I was right. I saw his face ball up with anger as I said her name. "It was never about me being an Alien. It was because I killed her."
"Maybe I didn't give you enough credit," He wryly smiled, grimace plastered to his face. I could see his finger tight over the trigger, halfway pressed down already. It would take only the slightest movement to shoot, I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything to stop him physically. "I loved her, and you took her from me. Now, I'm gonna take you from Zero."
"That'll just hurt him, as hurt as you are now he will feel the same if you do this." I whispered back to him, my voice leaving my throat as I tried to speak. I understood the pain, I understood him. I almost wanted to cry, the emotions I was feeling at the same time were an overwhelming mix that produced nothing but a blank expression on my face. That I understood how he felt, the pain he had inside, but also that I had to die for something that I couldn't blame myself for, in his eyes. There wasn't anything I could have ever done 'right', in his eyes. It was useless.
"I know!" He shouted at me, spittle flying from his cracked lips. "I have tried, I have tried so so hard to forget about her, to not kill you at any point you've been on this ship, and that is only for Zero's sake. Only for him, got it? I would kill you without a second thought if he didn't care. You don't deserve to be here! She didn't deserve to die!" He was screaming at me, tears blossoming from his eyes, the anger fading away, I could see nothing but pain in his gnarled expression. "It should have been you all along, and I'm gonna correct that."
He leveled the shotgun once more at my face, swallowing hard as his lips trembled, holding back all of his pain as best he could.
"I'm sorry, Goblin," Was all I could manage to say, as I closed my eyes, letting myself experience the wind on my back, letting my mind trail off to a happy place, thoughts about Zero, or Brick, or Deadbolt. But mostly Zero. Every time we had kissed, every time his skin grazed mine. I wish it could have turned out different. I could only listen as I heard the gun charge up, the sound of the accelerators within the gun spinning, ready to accelerate the shot into me.
'Bang'
I…I didn't feel falling. I didn't feel a pain, I didn't feel…anything. Except the breeze on my back. And my thoughts about my friends, about Zero, didn't stop. I opened my eyes, expecting to have woken up in my bed, like it was some cruel dream, or to be on the floor, the last remnants of my senses playing tricks on me.
But no.
I watched as Goblin's body fell forwards to the floor, a single hole in the back of his skull, his gun clattering to the floor as his dark red blood started to leak onto the floor. I wanted to vomit, I want to cry, I wanted to scream in praise that I was still alive. But I was motionless. I just let my eyes trace back towards the door. And sniper rifle in hands, there he stood, the red heat sinks of his gun flaring down.
"Zero?" I could only manage, before I fell forwards, my hands catching me. I felt so sick, I couldn't handle it. I watched as his boots approached me, his gun set aside on the floor. I felt his hand on my back, and I leaned forwards, waiting for him to catch me in his arms.
"You're safe now. I've got you." He whispered. It was all I needed to hear.
AN: So, I owe an explanation. It's been over a year since I last uploaded for ACV. I really didn't want to leave it this long, but I hope I can return to some sort of frequent uploading looking forwards. But I meant it when I said I'm not giving up on this. I will complete this novel :)
I have had a difficult past year. Not including covid, I've had a battle with depression, whilst completing my final year of University, whilst my parents split as well. It's been a time. But, I'm in a better place now, and I've now officially completed my Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering! I'm just sorry that my hobby had to take such a huge hit during this time.
I cannot give enough thanks to all of my patrons, to all of those who have continued to support me for my work despite a lack of uploads, and to everyone who continued to help me along the way in my discord as well. To my patrons, both current and past, you guys have really helped me this past year. Having money to make ends meet has been insanely helpful, and I sincerely wish all of you the best for your help. And a massive thank you to Reedle for help with the chapter, and throwing a few ideas my way I was able to weave into the story.
So, without further ado, a special thanks to my Patrons for supporting me! (Seriously, thank you all. I will be including all of my patrons, both current and past for the sake that there are some that have donated over the past year that deserve credit. Also, if you have donated and are on my discord and I haven't been able to give you the correct role, please bother me and let me know!)
Draco Avalon
Sean White
Rycroft
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Commander Duct Tape
MNBullsEyeBen
CommanderKnight
Wowza
BlindHawk
TheGreen
Tucker Tardiff
Hue Mann
Burnao
TheHighlanderWolf
Facenor
Zachary
Madah
MisterWho
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ReedleDeedleDee
Roxirin
TemplarPraisingTheSun
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Picothea
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Bard
Alfa
Sergeivetlugin
Laurentoun
Dayanara Serges
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