Monk

"Baba."

I smiled at little Cloud.

"So cute!"

I smelled something.

"But really smelly."

My son laughed and I removed the diaper and cleaned him, Tifa smirked as I worked.

"Better you than me."

"Meh, he gets away with it because he's cute."

"He gets it from me."

She raised an eyebrow and blew her fingernails.

"Can't really disagree with you there, Tifa."

The door opened and Sam walked in.

"No power armor in the house."

The single most deadly bounty hunter I knew looked at Tifa and removed her helmet.

"Apologies. Rough day, lost 20 recruits. Sniper ambush, UNSC."

She looked at me.

"Testing plasmid powers, first time. Should have done training here, safer here. Error in judgment."

"That's ok."

"Child, Adorable."

"I know."

"Want one, duty in the way. Can't have children until new whelps trained. Need other drill sergeants."

She took off the rest of her armor revealing zero suit.

"Talked to other females."

Tifa bit her lip.

"We all agreed, three is good number. You will only be able to indulge in your fetish 9 times."

I could change that... then again I had a lot of work and 9 kids was a lot. With the 4 of us working together we could handle it but more than that would be a bit much.

"I accept your terms, but what about the other recruits?"

"20 killed, neck shots. 50 wounded, saved by aura and healing factor. Spartans, one snuck in and stole fighter."

"Is that a problem?"

"Fighters have working forcefield, might be able to reverse engineer technology."

I thought about it.

"We have enough of an edge."

"And 10,000 systems."

I blinked and stared at Tifa.

"No, we don't."

"But-"

"The UNSC has claimed 10,000 star systems around itself, but the inner colonies are composed of 210 star systems and the outer colonies are composed of roughly 800 star systems. The rest, if they even have colonies, often have less then a thousand people each at most."

Most of said systems didn't even have garden worlds, though honestly I'm surprised at how many garden worlds this universe has.

"So the Front?"

"Were mostly located out on the part of the Rim in Corporate space."

Tifa leaned in.

"Corporations ruling, uh?"

"The UNSC brought back debtors prisons, if you go into bankruptcy you can either go to jail or you and your family can move to corporate space and work it off. In theory."

"There are... downsides to having a corporation have absolute rule. How bad did it get?"

"Some companies played it straight but a lot of companies paid people in company script then charged people for everything, which got them further in debt to the company and it basically became slavery in all but name. They would also round up homeless people, take people drunk at bars, then you had penal colonies with increasingly bullshit crimes."

It was a long list.

"That's Corporate space and you had hundreds of years of abuses while the UNSC looked the other way, as long as they got their cut. Those worlds are where rebel movements are the strongest so that's roughly 150 systems owned by various companies. All we had to do to get them to flip was roll over with our fleet. We told them that the UNSC couldn't protect them anymore and just took over."

"And they're fine with that?"

"The UNSC isn't but these places were so bad for so long that our current policies pretty much make them the most loyal worlds we have."

Tifa motioned for me to go on.

"First thing we do? Management and security are locked down for an investigation, most people are actually clean but the bad apples get tried for assault, rape, murder, an host of things. The clean guys are allowed to take their money and leave. Then all debts are forgiven, then we do land redistribution and hold elections. The people who live in Corporate space are loyal to us because if we lose they lose their land, they lose their property, and their former masters come back and they lose all of their new rights."

"And the UNSC allowed this."

"Yes, but Corporate space tends to be pretty far out from the inner colonies, because if the shit they were doing got back home there would be hell to pay. We are currently making sure everything they did is going back home by the way. It's causing a lot of issues back in the Inner colonies."

"Good."

Right, Tifa lived with Shinra. She would understand it.

"How many worlds in the Front?"

I looked at Samus.

"Currently 200 star systems have pledged for us, the UNSC is upgrading their fleet and the new military government is issuing reforms. The inner colonies will probably stay with the UNSC, so that's 210 systems locked down, and the other 600 are up for grabs. We're currently in negotiations but the fact is the longer the UNSC goes without declaring peace the more worlds they will lose both to us and the Covenant."

"I don't see the problem with that."

"We don't actually hate the UNSC, we just want them to leave us alone and stop being asshats. If they would just cut us loose, give us independence, we could probably work out a deal where we have an alliance with them."

That was my goal. With a little competition the UNSC would be forced to clean up their corruption and become a better government. Because if they did not... Humanity would have options.

Starfire

I'm used to this. The paperwork, I mean. The dealing with people I actually quite enjoy, it's like being back in Blupendor with my father. That said this should be a most joyful day but my feelings are mixed.

"This doesn't seem like much."

"It's what we could realistically get."

"We have the better fleet and have had much more victory in combat."

"While that is true that is irrelevant."

"How can it be irrelevant? We are stronger and have the strength to protect more people."

"Star, what is the goal of the Front? The fundamental goal."

I thought about it.

"To live."

"Close. Our goal is to be left alone and to be in charge of our own affairs. Our goal is not conquest, it's not to impose our way of life onto others. We simply wish for our people to live in peace."

I looked at the treaty.

"We're giving them a lot, intelligence and an agreement to an alliance, and we're only getting 1000 systems in return? The UNSC has 10000 systems."

"The UNSC claims ten thousand systems, a little more than 1000 of them are actually settled. We are getting 300 settled systems and 700 more unsettled ones to use as buffer space."

"We gave more."

"This is true and it's why we are getting as much as we got."

"Then why so little?"

"Because we have a duty to defend what we take. The Front's legitimacy is built upon being able to defend our people, because of this we can never refuse battle. If we take too many systems we will not be able to defend them."

I closed my eyes, remembering my father's most wise words.

"You wish us to keep our pledge of protection."

"If we do not keep our word, can anyone trust us?"

"No... They can not."

I looked at my little blumdore.

"We only take what we can protect. Yes, I understand."

"There's also the fact that a lot of those worlds were loyal to the UNSC or had very mixed feelings. We're taking the areas that wanted to leave the most before the war happened."

He put a hand on my shoulder.

"So we are no longer enemies?"

"Rivals still, probably, but we have no desire to destroy them. We just want to be free."

I looked at him and got up. I locked the door, I took a breath.

"The psions altered me."

I looked away from him before finding the courage to look into his eyes, I didn't like talking about this at all as it was most distressing.

"I don't know how to fix that."

"It can't be fixed."

I took a breath.

"They made it so I could bear the offspring of any sentient being."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

I looked away.

"It changed me. If that part of me is activated, turned on, and I am taken... I would belong to the man that did it for the rest of my life."

I looked back at him.

"You freed me from them, what they did to me was most horrible. By the rites of my people, I am yours. I apologize for holding this from you."

He came to me and kissed me.

"It's ok."

"I... I am ready."

I took his hand and took him to the wall, a portal opened and we were on our private island. I went to the hammock and took off my clothing then I went into the hammock and spread my legs open. He went down, smiled at me, and licked me, I felt the pleasure as he licked the entrance of my womb. I focused on trying to activate that part of me, that part of me that was defiled forever. He got up his cock erect and he entered inside me. I put my legs around him, holding him to me.

"I trust you."

There was no going back. The psions had kept me pure to increase my price, they had abused me and kept me away from food, with him, I had been loved and cared for. Once I had been defiled my destiny was always to be a slave but if that must be so I will choose my master.

Mark is a most wonderful man, a most wonderful father. I panted and felt energy run down my spine, I clenched him close as his seed entered inside me and then we collapsed. I felt my chest constrict, felt it release. I belonged to him now.

"I love you."

He kissed me. I was safe and I was loved, that's all that mattered.

Monk

I got up. Tifa was out cold, Star was snuggling next to her, and Sam was out like a light.

Cloud was crying, and someone had to help him. I got out of bed and walked to his room, I placed my hand on his forehead.

"Hungry, little guy?"

I got out a bottle and then fed him and cradled him in my arms, he cooed as he drank and then yawned and burped. I smiled at him, as I held him.

"Sleepy little guy."

I was tired but somehow this was a fine kind of tired, I got up and put him back in his crib.

"See you again, little guy."

I got up and turned and looked at Sam.

"I tried not to wake you up."

"Sleep is hard for me."

She took a breath.

"People are hard for me."

I got up.

"Want to talk about it over hot coco?"

"Sounds sufficient."

I got up and we went to the kitchen. I made some hot coco while Sam looked around.

"You holding up ok?"

"Training whelps, going all right. Some have potential, some have potential beat into them. Works either way."

I put down a cup, she sipped it.

"Problems?"

"During work, nothing. During mission, nothing. Outside... not comfortable with it."

I let her continue as she sipped her hot coco.

"I know combat, killing people, know sneakcraft, know investigation. Back home there was always vengeance, now there isn't."

"The Covenant is still out there."

"Not me out there, used to being out in field. Training others always short period of time before next mission."

She looked self-conscious.

"Was not raised by humans. Talk like bird mom, like bird dad... miss them."

I gripped her hand, she froze and then gripped me back.

"It's ok."

"I don't like this. Not used to being human, not used to doing people things. Always on mission, always more fights, always more revenge. Feel like wheels are spinning."

"It's ok to be human."

"Does not mean I am used to it."

"So you dislike this life?"

She blushed.

"Not lonely, just not used to this. Like caged lion."

She looked at me.

"No."

"No what."

"Not ready to be seeded. Not enough trained whelps to take over, performance will suffer. Also wish to wait until alien gives birth, wish to learn from her."

I smiled at her.

"So you want kids."

"You will be allowed to indulge fetish."

She removed her hand.

"Very well."

"Arrangement is sufficient. Harem requires less emotional load, more support."

"You like the cuddle pile?"

I smiled at her and Sam blushed, turning red. I had my reply.

Monk

Laurel Adams, governor of Biko, looked nervous. Then again having the Star Forge show up in your system is kind of an intimidating thing. This is the Kolaqoa system. Biko is the only inhabited planet in the system and has three moons. It has an asteroid belt, a few gas giants, and one rocky lifeless planet with an active core. It would be worth terraforming.

"Quartermaster General, what brings you to my system?"

"The Star Forge is making some rounds, we're going to build up your systems defenses."

I had made sure to scrub the Covenant's fleet records, they were back to square one with attacking us. I didn't have any active malware on their current fleet but I could keep them chasing shadows and making bad decisions. Still it was only a matter of time until they found human systems again. They still had a base on Harvest, which had more or less gone dark in an effort to hide itself.

But Harvest was in USNC space as per the treaty, so not our problem.

The Star Forge went to the star and started spreading out its payload.

"Um, I see objects going toward our world."

"That would be Biko's new defensive network. Hope you don't mind but I only have a week to fortify your system against future attacks so we're going to spend the first 24 hours of that setting up your forcefield network."

He blinked.

"Force field network?"

"Yeah, can't have the Covenant glassing your planet, that just looks bad. So first step is we're going to set up a planetary forcefield."

"That's possible?"

"I'm good at my job. Problem is you need a volcanically viable world to power it, but Biko has that so we are good. That will help protect your world from attacks from orbit, after that we are going to set up smaller city-wide forcefields over all your cities and then we will transport smaller modules to protect singular buildings. After that we have to install more forcefields around your system to protect other things, and after that we set up the jamming array."

"Jamming array?"

"Yeah, I studied the Covenant's ships and found the frequency they use to go into slip space. I know a bunch of people in your system have their hearts set on a rematch with the aliens but I'm kind of a really lazy guy so... I hope you don't mind if I just, you know, toss them into the sun."

The governor blinked.

"What?"

"I'm going to set up an interdiction field. If the Covenant jump inside that field it will just transport them into the local star, and I am pretty sure their ships can't survive that."

"Is there a way around that?"

"Yeah jump outside the IF. That still gives you enough warning to scramble the fighters and summon help, it's the difference between no warning and a week's warning."

"Oh! Anything else?"

"Oh yeah, we are going to set up automated defenses, create a Carrier to protect the local system, and set up a local fleet. Like I said it's going to be a busy week but I assure you we are going to bringing a host of party gifts."

"Oh thank you. Do you wish to visit our world?"

"Sorry, can not go there, lots of work here. But there are a bunch of people looking for leave."

"We can work with that."

"Yeah thing is I need to send the Military police in first, I don't want some drunk idiot causing you good folks any problems."

He looked at me and nodded.

"That is completely understandable."

"Thanks."

I cracked my neck and ended the communication. I went through my computer, looked for intel reports, and shuffled off what I could find to the right people. The Front would take most of the fighting during this war and I had no desire to play fair.