A Soldier for All Seasons

Major General Anthony Kanu of the Federation sat down with a huff, his knees sore. He examined the large conference room as his colleagues swept in, some faces known to him, others not. Everybody had a serious face, and from the looks of it, nobody knew what this meeting was about. "Shit." He muttered.

Across the table, a friendly brown-haired man pushed him a cup of coffee. "Looks like one of those meetings, huh, General?"

"It does at that. Thanks for the cuppa. Have we met?"

His lips twitched. "Once, six months ago. At that Federation gala on Sanu Prime?"

"Right, sorry, I'm rude." The General blinked blearily. "You're a consultant, right? Mr. Christensen."

"There you go." Tom grinned at him. "How's the wife?"

"Less happy now I'm working on a Saturday morning. I haven't worked a Saturday in years."

Tom smiled, sipping his coffee. "Something must be wrong, if they're paying my Saturday rates."

"Why didn't I become a contractor?" Anthony grumbled.

"Too much duty."

"Too much morals." He grinned to lessen the jab, and was relieved to see Tom laugh.

The table silenced as the pantsuited woman stood up, swiping her hands to make the table project a military map of the Federation-Lunari borders. The General sat up straighter. This was Director Underwood. This woman was the leader of their little project, the leader of Scale - a subsect of the Federation's intelligence. They were Federation funded, Federation condoned - but they didn't get wrapped up in Federation bureaucracy. A military project, but not within the military.

She was a stern, auburn haired woman, who didn't care to dye away the little streaks of grey.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." Underwood started. "Yesterday, the bugs attacked with a fairly significant armada - four cruisers, six warships, twenty mekas. They crashed through our defense at Outpost Zulu easily."

Anthony felt his eyes go wide. "That's their biggest attack in-"

"Years, yes." Underwood smiled grimly.

"I didn't hear anything through the army side-"

"That's because they didn't attack us. Two carriers went to Duzuno, while the whole rest of the armada went through our border with the Lunari, to attack Tallaris, where the Lunari Princess was due to be wed."

"The Lunari Princess-"

"That's right. She's fine for the time being, but the local population is either slaughtered, captured or hiding, with the planet under bug control."

"Fuck." Tom summed it up.

"How didn't we know about it?" One of his colleagues, Colonel Lassiter, asked, head in her hands.

"We did." Underwood said simply. "We knew their ships were moving, from sources I can't tell you about. We even know roughly where they were, thanks to our Buoy Protocol. We told the army an attack was coming on that side, they bolstered a little. Obviously not enough. We didn't think it would be such a large attack, on account of there being no viable Federation targets in that area."

"Translation: There's nothing but backwater colonies and dead fuselarium mines."

Underwood smiled. "Quite. Duzuno sent out a beacon, the army sent some troops. Battalion Three. They landed in a real shitshow of a trap."

Tom leaned forward, elbows on the table. "A trap?"

"They knew when we were landing and how many."

Tom whistled. "Is your theory proven true, then?"

Underwood wrinkled his brow. "Theory?"

Tom paused, hesitating, before Underwood nodded him on. "The boss thinks there might be a mole."

"Fuck." Anthony said eloquently. "Given you've just told what looks like the intelligence leadership, you don't think it's in Scale?"

She shook her head. "I think it's high Federation, real high, but not Scale. I know my people."

Anthony grinned. Underwood was a hard taskmaster and could be a real bitch, but her people loved her. He could see the table sitting up a little straighter.

She sat down and gulped down half of her coffee. "This is where it gets real fucked up."

Tom and Anthony exchanged a look. It sounded pretty fucked up already.

"Our boys landed in a firestorm. They get out of it, not the cleanest battle but we have numbers and we've had worse fights. Considering the fact it was a trap, the casualties were pretty good. Then," She took a deep breath. "Witnesses see a," She picked up a brief from her mass of papers. "Captain Clancy, insist that this fight is a decoy and that the bugs are going to capture the princess."

"How the fuck would he know?" Anthony frowned.

Tom bit his lip. "The real bug leadership, the top of the top, have been known to speak Galactic Common, but they'd never come close to boots on the ground."

"You're right." Underwood massaged her shoulder, trying to get rid of a deep pain. She'd been a boots on the ground soldier, in another life. The injuries still ached her. "I have my people on the way there to search the bodies for any sign of leadership, but I don't know how Clancy knew. He goes and tells the commanding officer on the ground, a, um, Brigadier General Hall. Not sure why he was boots on, but you know how bad our structure is after Papillon Yard."

"I know the General." Anthony interrupted. "He's a pompous fool who should have retired years ago."

Underwood smiled. "Imagine that. Hall threatened Clancy with the brig, so get this, Clancy steals a bug ship and flies off to Tallaris."

They sat back, stunned, the whole room silent.

"How did he even fly it?" Lassiter asked.

The lady in the corner spoke, from the shadows. A sultry, amused voice. The General stopped himself from shivering. "It's not difficult, if you know how. I've done it." He could see Tom eying her curiously, about to ask something, and Anthony subtly shook his head to say no. It was best not to ask too many questions of The Lady. Underwood trusted her implicitly, and that was enough for him. He'd heard...stories.

"So what happened?" Tom switched tack. "He got shot down as soon as he entered their planetspace?"

"No." Underwood exhaled heavily. "He lands, kills a bunch of bugs, marches into the palace, kills a bunch more and rescues the Princess. They were last seen heading into the jungle."

Anthony almost spit his coffee out. "A secret Judge? Or even a Jury?" He asked, referring to the Council's own, the few chosen members from all species, with power of life and death over all and no requirement to adhere to any laws. Jury members were the Judge's support network and they often worked in teams, but a Jury member was still very deadly in their own right.

Tom was thinking along the same lines. "He's not one of yours, one of Scale, I mean? Or one of spec-ops?"

"No." Underwood said firmly. "Military lifer. Forty years old." She scanned down her file. "Bunch of commendations for bravery, few warnings for insubordination. He was, this says, a key factor in winning the Battle of Lagashay a few years ago. His men swear fealty to him, with several records of them refusing transfers outside of his unit."

Anthony grunted. That was the best way to judge a man. The loyalty of his men.

"Now what?" Tom asked.

"Well, the bugs' only hope was in holding the princess ransom so they weren't immediately blown away by the Lunari military tidal wave that's about to shoot them to shit. Without her, they're either getting blown up or sent running. If Clancy can keep the princess hidden for a few more days, the Lunari will arrive in full force — unfortunately for them, their cruisers are far away and already engaged in a tussle on their eastern bug border."

"What are we going to do with Clancy?" Anthony asked suddenly. Underwood smiled - the Major General was always protective with any of the army boys who actually had a brain.

"Make sure he's not court-martialed." She reassured him. "Or, we'll make sure he

is

court-martialed so we can pick him up as one of ours."

"Boss, I'd recommend we send an agent to get the Princess back to her people. If the bugs got her, it would be disastrous." Tom recommended, chin on his steepled fists.

Underwood glanced to the corner of the room, where The Lady nodded.

"My agent has business in that area, regardless. Whether she'll be there in time, I can't say."

"Do you want me to talk to the press about Clancy? Give him the royal treatment?" Anthony offered.

"It's too dangerous." Underwood shook her head. "Because of the General, he might be angry with the Federation. Men who spend that much time with boots on the ground aren't usually big fans of the powers that be."

Anthony frowned, clenching his fist. That much was true, but still...He shook his head. The boss knew best. "He killed like three squads of bugs and rescued the Princess. He might not come back at all - the Lunari will offer him a whole harem of pointy-eared sexpots."

That got a laugh from the room, the levity signaling the end of the meeting.

As they got up to leave, Tom nudged him with his shoulder. "Maybe the bride to be will give him some TLC, huh?"

The General snorted. "He should be so lucky. He's twice her age, and believe me, beautiful young women aren't desperate for old vets."

***

Nate threw his head back and groaned as he unloaded into Ana's hot wet welcoming mouth. She mmm'ed and aww'ed, cooing with delight as her throat gulped around his cock, the sheer tightness of it milking him into her stomach. With wide, teasing eyes, she fluttered her eyelashes theatrically, hands kneading his balls to get all of his hot load out of him. When he'd finished, she cleaned him up with soft kisses and little darts of her tongue.

"Oh fuck." Nate laughed, breathless.

Ana giggled out of sight as Nate looked up at the gray skies. It was going to rain.

"Yeah?" She pressed a kiss to his palm as he tousled her hair.

"Mmm-hmm." He said incoherently.

"Would you like me to try and restore brain function, Nate?" Isabelle said wryly, hands on her hips as she stared up at them, their miniature voyeur.

"If you'd felt what I was feeling, you'd be the same." Nate said lazily. "Remind me to get shot more often."

A slap to his stomach, and suddenly his sky-view was replaced by Ana, scowling, her eyes wet. "Don't say that! That's not funny!" Her nostrils flared, voice shaky.

"Hey, hey." Nate wrapped his arm around her, conscious of her big cum-filled belly between them. "I'm sorry. I was just joking, sweetheart."

Ana's eyes flicked away from him. "I don't like seeing you hurt."

"Then I won't get hurt again, deal?"

"Deal." She smiled, embarrassed. "Sorry, I know I'm being silly, but..." She trailed off as she roamed her hands down to her stomach. "As you can tell, you do weird things to me." She was glowing as she looked at her body.

Nate pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You do amazing things to me. I can't believe you've got so good at that."

"I've only done it seven times!"

They'd been traveling for two days, slow hikes through the sticky jungle, batting off insects and scaring away the poison-spitting monkeys that screeched and skittered at their approach. They were on the way to Saraneve Starport - Nate had reasoned that of the three starports Ana had demanded a ship for when she radioed her people, any potential traitors would certainly lock down the closest one. But Nate also didn't feel capable of reaching the furthest starport, even with his quick recovery, so they'd settled for the second furthest.

Thankfully, the Tallaris waters were, Ana had informed him, magical in origin, blessed by an ancient goddess eons ago. Nate wasn't sure he believed that, but whatever had happened, Nate was relieved they were drinkable, free from parasite and completely clear. He'd survived on ration-bars for now, while Ana had, to her equal delight and humiliation, survived solely on his seed. Nate had been supremely skeptical about that being a viable option, but if anything, Ana seemed healthier than ever, even though she walked as slow as he did because of her full stomach, she was glowing, full of energy. Morning, lunch and dinner they took a break - Nate would set up camp or just sit down on a log while Ana worked up the energy to ask him.

It was a little sick, but he liked to wait for her to gather the energy to 'seduce' him. At night, she'd done a little traditional Lunari dance for him, more formal than sexy, but beautiful under the moonlight, but at lunchtimes she usually just ordered him to take his pants off, unable to ignore her hunger.

He loved her blowjobs, but he also enjoyed their walks. She'd slip her arms through his to support him, and tell her a story from her youth. Most of time, she'd beg for a story from him, a story from the outer galaxy, in some seedy bar after a mission. Isabelle would help him recall the military missions he'd tried to forget. Nate had never considered himself well-travelled, but it had been a long career, and to Ana, he seemed truly worldly.

After their night together, she'd cuddle into him, their heads on his bunched-up jacket, her bountiful ass pressed against his sated cock, and they'd sleep. Nate was ashamed to admit he enjoyed the intimacy, more than anything else. He'd had girlfriends, but they'd never lasted - it was difficult to do anything as career military, and dating within the Federation was fraught with problems. And the mornings, well, he was going to be sad to see her go, since he was quickly getting used to waking with a tongue-bath on his member.

He pecked her on the lips. "You spoil me."

"It's not like I don't enjoy it." She rolled her eyes, blushing. That had been a pleasant surprise. Not only did his cum seem to grant her supernatural ease at swallowing his cock right down to the root, it also gave her incredible pleasure. She refused to elaborate on what exactly aroused her so; the sight of seeing him cum, the taste of it, the smell, but right when he came, her thighs would squeeze together, she'd tremble and moan. Nate would hardly believe it, if she didn't squirt her juices on the ground beneath her. When he'd first noticed, he couldn't stop himself from commenting, and it had taken him thirty minutes to convince her to stop crying and cease hiding behind a tree trunk, so embarrassed was she.

"Ready to get going?"

"I'm nervous." She admitted. They'd stopped for a break at the top of a cliff, looking down upon Saraneve Starport. The Starport was a collection of warehouses that looked like someone had bitten chunks out of, little gaps in their ceilings and sides where various ships sat for quick launches and landings. From above, Nate could see twenty or so launchpads of different sizes, holding everything from tourist-class coach-ships, small trading vessels and even some small fighter ships - probably some adventurers.

They were sitting still, frozen — nobody was setting off with the bugs above. But they could see activity still, engineers, pilots, even civilians. People were trying to get a ship to escape the planet, sensing trouble coming. Nate even spotted tiny passenger ships setting off — pilots bribed to take the risk that the bugs wouldn't bother shooting down small fry.

Or perhaps they were just heading for a different, safer, part of Tallaris — as far as he knew, the bugs hadn't spread out from the Palace and the surrounding town, but there wasn't much news you could get in the jungle.

No sign of bugs yet. In the miniature figures he could see atop the cliff, he didn't see the panic nor the gunfire. Had the bugs retreated to their carriers in the skies above, confident they'd catch the Princess fleeing?

Confident in the treacherous agents they had planetside, perhaps.

It was the ships he couldn't see that worried him - the main warehouse, the largest, had a closed roof. In theory, that might carry a ship meant for the Lunari Princess, but it also might carry a military carrier, carrying troops commanded by whoever the Lunari traitor was.

Or it might not hold anything at all. Nate was counting on the Lunari slipping a transport ship for Ana through the chaos of a Lunari-bug battle above the planet — but there was no sign of the Lunari bringing their armada just yet. What was taking them so long?

"Me too. As long as we stick together, we'll be okay."

"Maybe I'm wrong about everything. But the lights going out before the bugs attacked, them turning up at the bridge-"

"I believe you." He squeezed her hand.. "Don't overthink it. You were smart to get sent ships sent to all three ports. Let's hope we get lucky."

"We've got this far." Ana added. "May the Goddess keep us-"

A crack of thunder interrupted her, so loud the planet shook. Nate and Ana snapped their heads up to see the deep purple lines crisscrossing against the planet's forcefield shield. Because of the nature of space, the fact that missed projectiles could travel endlessly, most planets had a shield that prevented projectile hits while still allowing ships to pass through easily. It was barely visible until it was struck, at which point it sizzled. Beyond the shield, the large bug ships, holding still in space like they had been for the last few days.

Ana had been craning her head up for days, hoping to see her people fly in to blow the bugs into pieces, but there was nothing there.

"What? Did the bugs just shoot the planet? Are they going to nuke the towns?" Ana gasped.

Nate paused, frowning. "I don't know."

"If I may," Isabelle coughed, voice emanating from Nate's armguard. "I believe the fire was from a Lunari ship arriving in near-planet space. Military reports suggest Lunari military will occasionally fire a single shot at friendly planets in order to signify that help is coming."

"Yes!" Ana cheered. "They're finally here!"

"I am only speculating." Isabelle added.

"You're right, Isabelle. I just know it. Nate," She tugged at his arm. "We have to get up there."

Nate grimaced. "Okay, but we do this my way.

Slowly.

This is the last chance your attackers have to get you."

"Okay."

They made their way carefully down the cliff range. It was too steep and too craggy to go down directly so they had to take a circuitous route, back and forth. At their feet, translucent salamanders darted into bushes at their approach, while they had to take care to avoid the rattling bushes that signified rattlesnakes. As they walked, each step kicking up a little cloud of dust on each step, they kept craning their heads up to see the action above.

At first, nothing, and then the bug ships started to move, leaving the atmosphere of the planet. They were getting ready for a fight. It took hours to safely navigate down the mountain, but finally they reached the Starport. Nate was relieved to see Lunari engineers and porters moving machine parts with their forklift trucks while engineers stepped around with clipboards, conducting safety tests. He was

more

relieved to see Ana's stomach contract to a more normal size - he really didn't want her to return to her people looking pregnant.

Still, they had to stick to sidling alongside the huge cargo boxes, slipping through the shadows — even in his jacket, Ana looked far from conspicuous, legs bare, ass peeking out from under his jacket's hem. He needed her to fit in — she needed some clothes.

He pulled her to the side as they approached the Starport entrance. The whole Starport was more industrial than glamorous, which made sense - neither tourists nor Lunari upper-classes would use this Starport, not when there was one much closer to the Little Palace. The main warehouse had a simple sign with its name, and then a lot more signs describing the various levys, taxes, regulations and rules of using the starport.

"Ana, let me go in first to scope it out. They'll be looking for you more than me. Maybe I can buy you some clothes, a disguise."

She frowned but nodded. "Be careful."

"Don't worry, Isabelle will look out for me."