Ord Mantell.
Bacara strode through the corridors to his temporary quarters for the night; he preferred this, although he knew some of his counterparts preferred to sleep with or near the men under their command. Sometimes he needed the distance.
He hoped the Concert had not disturbed his troops, although he expected not. He was quite specific in his expectations of the men under his Command and they all knew what happened to those who failed to meet his expectations.
The Kudos of serving with the Galactic Marines was swiftly removed from them.
Finding his quarters, he entered, did a quick survey of the room, which appeared in order. He dragged his forefinger across one of the small shelves, not that he was going to be here long enough to use it.
Clean.
He checked the small refresher. Water and sonic, both clean, no evidence of the previous occupant. This was a well run base, even though natborns were involved in it. He was ready for a bed, clean water and good food. All a soldier could wish for.
He put his personal wash items out on the shelf in the refresher, in the same order he had since he left Kamino and in his barracks back on Coruscant, not that he spent much time there. He removed his armour, checked it and stacked it in order, ready for a quick armour up if necessary. He removed his chrono and put it on the small shelf next to the bunk.
He drank a beaker of water, relieved himself, undressed to his underwear and then washed up.
He adjusted the mattress and pillow on the bunk to his satisfaction and lay down to settle for the night.
Bacara expected to fall asleep almost immediately as he did normally. He, like many clones, could sleep anywhere.
However, this night's sleep did not come easily to Bacara; he was thinking about the Concert. It disturbed him. He had been against allowing the men to attend and had made his feelings known to General Mundi, as he normally did, but the General would not back down in this case. He suspected he had been speaking with General Kenobi when they were last on Coruscant but they had this agreement, he, Bacara would look after the men but he had been overidden, GAR HQ had authorised this concert.
He also disagreed with High Command.
He had wanted to speak to Commander Cody but even he was distracted it seemed; he had seen the woman who organised this—event— throw herself at him and he seemed to enjoy it.
Bacara felt even more disturbed now.
He rose and fetched another beaker of water and drank it. This whole experience, the concert, the way the men reacted to the artists, unsettled him.
"Drill tomorrow. That's it! That will get them back on track, full pack drill for the men tomorrow."
His men would soon be back on course, as would he.
.
"Mayday? Why are you here?"
It was as much as Hela could say at the moment. She was pleased to see that he was alive and well but she didn't want to go through what they had at 79's again.
"Why do you think?"
"I don't know but you look well."
Looked good, a sight for sore eyes she wanted to say.
"I need to apologise."
"What for?"
"Misjudging you."
"A lot of people do."
"You're not making this easy." He moved towards her.
She took a step back, "Should it be?"
He looked to one side, "Perhaps not."
"I sent you a message, tried to explain. Just like I told you in 79's."
"It was scrambled. It could have been anything. I thought the worst."
"You didn't say that."
"You didn't give me a chance." He paused, "You broke a bone in her face you know."
"Should have kept it out of our business." Hela replied, unrepentant, "Does she mean anything to you?"
Mayday smiled, "I have no feelings towards her either way. Just blowing off steam." or his anger. Now he wasn't sure which.
"Do you blow off steam a lot?" She asked, her stare was piercing .
"Not so much that you'd notice."
Finally she smiled, a little, he knew he was getting somewhere.
"I'm sorry for misjudging you and not trusting you."
Hela watched him, her smile disappeared, as he waited for her to reply.
"Accepted." She said, "now if you'll excuse me I need my beauty sleep."
"You always look beautiful to me."
She hesitated but didn't reply; he saw the small smile come back again to turn up her lips, as she opened the door. She walked in and closed it behind her.
He stood waiting, hoping the smile meant something but she didn't return.
"I suppose that's the best I can wish for." He said to himself and turned back down the corridor.
.
Hela leaned against the door, pulled off her wig, throwing it on the small chair, and ran her hand through her hair, then toed off her boots; all the time Mayday's face was in front of her.
"Damn it!"
She opened the door, disappointed not to see him still waiting, before running barefoot down the corridor, shouting his name.
His head popped around the end of the corridor, seconds later she leapt at him, he steadied himself as he held her to him. Her arms wrapped around his neck.
"I'm sorry too." She whispered in his ear, her breath sending goose pimples along his neck, "want to make up?" She asked mischievously.
He looked around the corridor, "Here?" He arched an eyebrow.
"No. My legs hurt. I need to lie down."
"I think we can accommodate that, ma'am."
"Call me Hela."
She held on, chin resting on his shoulder, as he walked to her quarters and backed in, dropping her gently on the bunk. She watched his face when he knelt over her. Damn she had missed him so much. She reached up, feeling his stubble. He hadn't shaved recently, or if he had it had been early, then their lips met in a kiss, soft, almost tentative at first. She had missed the feel of him and his smell; she took a deep sniff. A mixture of blaster cleaning oil and the supposedly scent free soap they used. It wasn't scent free, but it was not overpowering; he just smelt clean.
Being with him was different to Baylan; Baylan was a distraction, Mayday was more.
She was determined never to lose him like that again.
He pulled his fatigues top off, as she struggled with his trousers.
"Hey, slow down. Let me look at you." He ran his hand through her hair, it stuck up in all directions after the wig and yet it felt like silk. His hand moved down to her laced up top.
"The same outfit as last time? That's not like you."
"It goes with the opening number."
"I like it. Except for this." He pulled at the long lace fastener, it only moved a few inches. He tugged at it pulling her away from the bunk.
"How the Fek do you undo this?"
"Guess!" She teased.
He dragged her with one hand towards him, pulled out his vibroblade, Hela squealed, as he quickly slit the laces, the blade going through them like butter, and dropped her back down.
"Sorted!" He said with a grin before, slipping his vibroblade onto the floor, pinning her down and crushing her into the bunk.
Hela pulled him into a kiss, he needed to stop talking.
Mayday stopped both talking and thinking for a split second, as he attempted to pull her on top. They rolled onto the floor, Hela squealing again as they dropped.
"Oops!" He said, grinning, as they recovered from the shock.
She giggled in response, she was now where he wanted her to be, on top. She pulled the remains of her basque off, and ground down on him, feeling him hard underneath her.
"Need to move," he said, "Can't make it work down here."
This must have been one of the smallest billets he had seen in a while.
He sat up and followed Hela, spying the small desk. He peeled her trousers down and stepped out of his and hoisted her into the desk. They'd sort out the bunk later, most of it was on the floor, then pulled her to him.
"Ready?"
Her breathing rapid she nodded, and gasped loudly as he pushed in.
"Sure?" He left it a few seconds, feeling her heat surround him.
.
Bacara woke up to female squeals and a male voice coming through the paper thin walls of his quarters. Muffled though they were, he could still determine one was female and the other male but who exactly it was, was more difficult.
He turned away from the wall, onto his side and closed his eyes again.
The noises continued.
He sighed and waited, debating whether or not to bang on the wall to let them know he could hear them. He lifted his fist then decided against it, as the noises stopped. He closed his eyes again and as soon as he did so, the noises started again, more muffled now but as he had heard them once, his brain focused on them and could not shut them out. There were no other noises, as the base was in night mode; it was quiet everywhere else.
Then the banging started, the rhythmic banging against the wall.
"Fierfek!" He muttered, wide awake now, "Must be that female and that Falleen, she was always with him or the other human." He muttered to himself. Talking through things aloud, when he was alone often helped him work through problems, although he thought the other human had wandered off somewhere.
The thought that it was Cody with a female flitted across his mind but Cody was not Bly when it came to females and he had seen him heading away from this side of the base, towards where the 501st were housed. Probably to catch up with Captain Rex; they were far too close for a superior and subordinate to be, he concluded. He kept his Captains at arms length.
Unable to return to sleep mode, Bacara rose and started doing some callisthenics, perhaps when he finished the exercise set they would have finished whatever they were doing. He didn't want to dwell on exactly what.
That was unsettling.
Ten minutes later and he had warmed up nicely but was not yet sweating. He stood and listened; they were quiet now.
He went to the fresher, rehydrated with a beaker of lukewarm water, relieved himself and returned to his bunk to sleep.
.
Hela grasped the sheets underneath her, and spasmed as her orgasm swept over her, Mayday was hitting every spot just right and showed no sign of slowing; as the after effects petered out she braced herself, with one hand on the wall, until his thrusts became more erratic and he groaned as he came.
He leaned over her, one arm underneath, holding her to him and kissing her neck. she lowered the leg she had resting against the wall, the bunk was a tight fit for the two of the. Then he slowly moved to one side, taking her with him. He was surprised they hadn't ended up on the floor again.
"Did you hear a banging on the wall?" She asked, cocking her head to one side.
He smiled, "I thought that was us!"
"Could be." She said, grinning, as she snuggled into his chest, listening to check if there were any more bangs.
"Must have been us." Mayday murmured in her ear.
She blinked at the new scar she had seen, when he first pulled his fatigues top off.
"This is new." She traced her finger around what looked like a blaster burn but then tendrils of angry red scars spread out from it up and over his shoulder. She hadn't noticed how far it had actually gone the first time she saw it, she was distracted at the time.
"This looks bad." She traced her finger around the lines, emanating from the blasterpoint, which was a deep puckered scar. "Did they not put you in Bacta?"
"I was for a time, Plug took it personally, to ensure I survived. He was with me all the time, except when Tank made him sleep."
Hela frowned
"He had been awake so long, he fell asleep standing up and nearly anaesthetised himself."
Mayday paused, unsure if he should have said all that. If it frightened her but she needed to know that one day he may not come back.
Hela was quiet.
"But I'm still here. Takes more than a prototype blaster to get rid of me."
"Prototype? Kriff! What more can they come up with to kill people?"
"Hey! Don't think about that. Just be my Hela for a few hours."
She snuggled into him.
I can do that.
.
Bacara sat at the small desk, his chrono showed 03:17; he had finally banged on the wall but that hadn't stopped them and he was tired. It had been a long campaign and he wanted to rest. He opened his datapad and drafted a message:
To: Base Commander,
Fleet Operations Base,
Ord Mantell.
Sir,
I write to complain about the sound proofing in the renovated quarters in D Wing….
.
Mayday smiled as Hela joined him in the shower, he was all for saving water.
She lathered up the soap and spread it over him, it was her soap, her smell. He would carry it with him for the next few days and he didn't care. He could already see the flared nostrils of his squad as they smelled it on him, and nudged each other.
"Turn around!" she ordered.
"Yes ma'am!"
He smiled at her snorted response and relaxed, as she kneaded the sweet smelling soap into his back muscles, then her hands wandered, around to his stomach and down. He let his head hit the wall, as she took hold of him.
"You okay?" She asked, he could feel her moving against the back of his thigh. He reached behind to reciprocate. She felt good. He wasn't going to last long, this was exactly how he liked it, firm, strong strokes. Finally he could stand no more and turned, he lifted her against him and sandwiched her between him and the wall. He felt her legs wrap around him as he lined himself up and thrust in. She gasped and bit into his neck, on his first thrust.
.
Bacara stretched his neck either side as he entered the shower; he did not feel his normally refreshed self after his disturbed night's sleep. He had more and better sleep in warzones. He turned on the water waiting for it to warm up; it usually took a few seconds before it came through and he was early enough to make it before the morning rush and end of shift change.
He leaned against the wall letting the water warm him through, sometimes this is all the luxury a soldier needed, that and a good ration pack. Ord Mantell didn't do too badly on that front either; they also had a local snack he was partial to— Mantell Mix. Not everyone's cup of chai but he liked it.
His head moved away slightly from the wall. He had heard, no— felt something bang against the adjoining wall.
He let his head touch the wall again; he felt the knock again from the other side.
He recognised the rhythm.
"What the — not again."
He turned the temperature down, he needed this to be ice cold.
.
"Have you got everything?" Asked Mayday, still surprised at the amount Hela needed to bring with her on what was only one day.
"Yes. Everything packed away neatly. Except you. I want to bring you home with me." Her hand touched his face. He needed a shave.
"No can do. Not yet."
He pulled her up into a kiss. She savoured it, unwilling to let go.
Bacara turned the corner, he was happy to be out of that particular billet. He stopped, retraced a few steps and narrowed his eyes.
It was that woman—the singer.
With a clone.
Kissing.
Finally they stopped and walked off together.
Bacara left it for a few seconds, then followed them joining them as they waited for the turbolift.
The clone snapped smartly to attention and saluted as he saw Bacara.
"Commander Mayday!" Bacara acknowledged him, one of Cody's Commanders, returning the salute, nostrils flaring as he took in the Commanders scent. That was not regulation soap.
Then the turbolift opened. They both let Hela walk in first, although Mayday seemed eager to follow straight behind her.
They all stood silently in the lift. Mayday watched Hela's face, her lips were twitching, as if to speak. If worse came to worse. He could kiss her again, that might make her shut up.
No she wasn't going to talk, she was eyeing Bacara up; he could see it. Jealousy flared up in him. Her eyes going up and down Bacara's body then finished on his hair. It was regulation.
"You ought to change your hair. Match your tattoo."
Mayday closed his eyes for a few seconds. There. She'd said something.
"Ma'am?"
Mayday could see the Commander was struggling.
"Change your hairstyle. It's too severe for you."
Mayday struggled to get his breath, as he watched Bacara's hand move up an inch, then drop back down.
Then she touched him, or tried to reach his head, she managed his fade, at the side of his head.
Bacara tensed at the touch.
"Ooh, so soft."
Nobody had ever called Bacara soft.
The turbolift stopped at his level.
"I think not Ma'am." He turned his head quickly to the side, away from her hand, almost a twitch, then he strode off.
Bacara could at least get some food; his stomach growled, he cursed his metabolism, a byproduct of his advanced ageing but he could live with that, so long as he was away from that female.
"That Bacara," said Hela, as the doors closed, "Needs a woman."
Mayday snorted, "Perhaps he likes men."
Hela snorted in response, "No he's definitely a ladies man."
"That's the last thing I would call him."
"Oh he is but he just doesn't know it yet."
Mayday chuckled, "Dini'la." he muttered.
"There's a girl in the chorus." She added, ignoring his muttered comment.
"What?"
"For Bacara. Tall for a Pantoran. Dancer. Athletic build. Can do the splits every which way. Juno is her name. I could introduce them."
"No!"
"Why not? Plug and Cara worked."
Mayday stopped and turned to her, "You engineered that?"
"Of course."
He snorted.
"It worked out well didn't it?"
"I don't know. All I know is he gets ribbed by the others because he's got a picture of three Tooka's in his locker. And he takes it everywhere."
"Three Tookas?"
"He said it's Mummy Tooka, Daddy Tooka and baby Tooka. The Mummy and Baby have red fur, the Daddy has brown fur."
Hela looked unconvincingly innocent.
"Do you know anything about that?"
"Only that the red hair gene is dominant there."
"You know what I mean."
"I'm not very good at drawing."
"Hela?" He asked accusingly.
"Lilli likes Tookas."
"Lilli?"
"Cara's daughter."
"She has a daughter?"
"Yes. A small version of a female."
"Very funny!" He snapped.
"She gets on well with him. He colours better than me."
Mayday didn't want to know any more.
"Plug's a good medic. He's fitted in well. Saved my life."
"From that new blaster?"
"Yes."
"Then, he has my eternal gratitude."
"And mine"
He stopped and pulled her to him, "Are we good now?"
"We're good."
There was no way she was telling him anything about Baylan; he was a distraction. Mayday was the real thing.
"So all I need are Bacara's contact details." She continued.
"No!"
"Who's his Jedi?"
"No Hela. You can't."
She turned and arched an eyebrow.
"Juno doesn't have Tookas if you're worried about that. She has an Akk dog, if that's more his style."
Mayday ignored her it probably was.
"It is miniature, although he can take a nasty bite of your ankle. She keeps him in a bag."
He frowned, not understanding the need to have an Akk dog that you then carry around in a bag. He was still trying to understand that while she continued.
"Zur hates it and I think the feelings are mutual. It growls every time he's near it. Not keen on it myself. But it could be a fit for Bacara."
Mayday paused, picturing a miniature Akk dog and Bacara, before he said "No!"
"We'll see. I'll ask Ben." She pulled his bicep closer.
"Sometimes you talk too much." He tried to deflect her.
"Ooh! That's not very nice. I thought we agreed we needed to talk more."
"About us."
"Oh! Okay."
They walked along in silence.
"I still think Juno would be…."
Mayday pulled her to him, slipping a hand behind her head and kissed her, while backing her into the wall. It seems to be the only way to shut her up about Bacara.