The endless toil of the working force of Osiron set against the backdrop of the industrial groaning was everyday for the inhabitants of Osiron Manufactory Tertiary Secundus. The government kept political prisoners, criminals and other unwanted elements of society locked up on this moon, extracting resources and producing luxury goods for the aristocracy on Cyric IV. Jericho was one of the lucky ones, spared the backbreaking mining work or the tedious 14/hour assembly/line shifts or the dangerous menial labor that keeps the manufactories fueled. As a certified technician, Jericho had access to most of the facility and his work kept his mind occupied and his body fit. He liked the hands-on problem-solving, and making do with the resources he has available. For the last 6 years, he had been stuck on this gods-forsaken moon. A political prisoner, if anything. A victim of circumstance. Some of the officers in his old unit disobeyed an order, and now he were stuck here. At-least he hadn’t been an NCO. They were all executed. His old Lt… well, the Empire doesn’t like sedition. He pushed the thoughts from his mind, rubbing his neck. Looking down at his homemade chrono, he tried to recall the date. A mental exercise he had done ever since he got here, to keep himself from losing himself in the monotony of the work. He still believed in freedom.

He passed the orc guards as he went to a non-critical repair in the food-purifying systems. He nodded to the gruff guards, who merely scowled at him as he passed through a guarded door. The guards knew who he were, but they didn’t have to like him for it. Jericho took a dirty rag he had hanging around his tool belt and wiped his neck and brow. The oppressive heat of the ”energy conversion unit”, really a fuel burning station for the machinery, caused Jericho to gasp for air as he walked through the halls, the work-crew around him moving slowly, sluggishly really, the heat sapping their energy. It was a death sentence to be assigned a work detail here, Jericho thought as he felt pity for the orcs, humans and elves who were assigned here to work. Orcs could last maybe 10 years before dying of exhaustion working here, humans 7, and elves, maybe 4 years at the max. Crew death was an everyday occurrence in this part of Tertiary Secundus a load of plasma induction coils would fall on you, you would slip on the oil-slick surface and fall into the furnaces.

Jericho finally exited the fuel unit and took a breath of cooler, but still stale air. The recycled air had been recycled for the past century at-least, importing new air was considered a needless expense even though the scrubbers weren’t operating at 100 percent efficiency anymore. ”Hey Phoenix” he heard a familiar voice call out to him. Jericho stopped and turned, breaking into a smile as he saw the dirty white uniform of a medical worker. He raised his hand in a wave as the half-elf approached, hand in pocket, the other one raising his welding goggles. ”Seran, no sick people for you to make sicker?” Jericho joked as he shook Serans hand, the back of it scarred from a close encounter with some cauterizing acid. ”Oh fuck off will you? I could make them healthier if you could fix the goddamn air filters around here” he smirked back. ”Anyway, what are you up to?” Jericho asked, reaching inside his vest and fished out two sticks, handing one to Seran. He lit them both with the portable blowtorch hanging from his belt. Sarek took a draw from the stick, letting out a puff of smoke, exhaling with closed eyes. ”Ahh, this is the good stuff. Well, I thought I would give you a hand so we could get some decent food that wont give my patients trots and ulcers anytime soon. You probably need a steady hand, and these are the steadiest hand on Osiron.” Jericho shrugged, rubbing his beardy stubble for a second. ”Sure, what’s the worst that could happen” he said sarcastically. ”This way” he gestured.

The pair walked through the corridors. The smell getting progressively worse as they got further towards the center of the facility. Passing through a small habstation, they froze. A terrified scream pierced through the grind of the facility followed by loud screams for help. ”That ain’t a death-scream. This way” Sarek set into a sprint, Jericho close behind. The pair quickly found the source of the plea, a young red-headed elf on the floor huddled in corner, two orc guards cornering her, their intent clear. Sarek and Jericho stopped and crouched behind a corner. Jericho slipped Sarek a heavy wrench, and gave him a knowing nod. He readied a combi-drill for himself, quickly checking the battery. Within seconds the pair were barreling down the corridor, Sarek swinging the wrench right at the skull of the first guard, hitting him with such force that the orc immediately collapsed. Jericho activated the drill and jabbed it right at the base of the other orcs spine, cutting off the nerve-bundles instantly. The orc collapsed as his skull was shattered by Sarek’s wrench. Sarek dropped the wrench and went to check on the elf girl. ”Are you alright?” he asked her as he examined her, finding no physical marks on her. Jericho got the rifles from the guards and stood lookout. The elf on the floor tried the best she could to cover herself ”Y… yes. Thank you! They would have…” Sarek interrupted. ”We know. We know. It’s why we helped. Now, let’s get you out of here” he extended his hand to the elf and helped her up. ”Sarek, we better haul ass, patrol coming this way” Jericho said, his rifle pointing down a corridor where shadows of a patrol could be seen. Thinking quickly Sarek looked at the young girl ”Sorry gal” He said as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. ”I know of a clinic close by, follow me” he yelled to Jericho as they ran from the scene.

Running as fast as they could without falling over, they quickly made it to the clinic. Sarek punched in his code and the door opened up into a sparse infirmary. A single operating table and various tools hung on the walls. Worn-out and jury-rigged machines stood silent, their purpose clearly for medicine, a single light-bulb swinging from a cord in the ceiling.. ”Sarek, what have you brought us now?” a female voice yelled from a room in the clinic, turning on a large and bright operating light as she entered the infirmary. She emerged wearing a pristine white doctors coat, her blonde hair reaching to her shoulders. She looked to be about 40 Jericho noticed. ”Sorry to barge in like this, but we rescued this little thing. Acute inguinal inflammation.” he sat the girl down, her legs shaking. The women blinked a few times. ”Virus caused the inflammation?” she responded. Jericho looked clueless, still clutching two rifles. Sarek nodded and mimicked a shushing motion towards the girl. ”No, antibodies were deployed. White count crashed” The woman sighed. Rubbing her temples with her hand, her eyes closed in contemplation. ”Prep her for immediate hemispheral evacuation” she ordered as she rushed through the back door. Sarek spun around. ”Wait what. Now?” he asked as he ran after her. Jericho looked cluelessly at the girl and shrugged. Jericho heard Sarek call out ”Kim! Are you crazy?! A complete hemispheral evacuation after the deployment of antibodies and T-Cells? The whole system is extremely sensitive.” Kim tossed Jericho a nail-gun looking device, changed to inject fluid into a body instead of nails, as she came back into the infirmary. He caught it clumsily, hastily setting down the two rifles. ”Here, take this and make yourself useful. Inject this into her right arm.” Jericho promptly did as ordered and injected the purple fluid into her. The girl looked at Kim, scared and confused. ”W…what are you giving me”, she said weakly as the drugs did their job, sedating her. ”Penicillin my dear” The girl heard Kim respond, already prepping another syringe, it was the last sight she would see before she passed out.

Kim and Jericho placed her on a stretcher, finally relaxing abit as the girl was by now soundly asleep. Kim slumped on a chair, offering Jericho a stick, which he graciously accepted. Lighting the stick, she took a notebook and scribbled something down. She showed this to Jericho. ”Brave thing. Want to do more?” it said on the page. Jericho nodded slightly, to which Kim smiled in response and wrote some more down. ”You are already dead on this world. Killing guards is an immediate death sentence. You can stay here for the rest of your short days, or you can go with the girl and help bring down the Imperial Government. Not just on this world, but on all worlds oppressed by tyranny.” Jericho looked around the room, taking in what he had been told. Kim was busy burning the papers. He sighed and sat down on the operating table, looking down at the girl he had rescued. He closed his eyes and thought things through, cradling his face in his hands. “What about Sarek?” He asked. Kim shrugged “He’s probably infected too. But with his systems white count through the roof and the high vis’ of his immediate functions, it’s too risky” He looked at Kim after a minute and nodded. Kim got up and grabbed the injection device. Jericho laid down on the table, steadying himself mentally. He felt a pinch of pain as the fluid was injected into his body. His senses deadened and his vision blurred. He felt the room spin around and the ambient sounds of the room muffled. His vision faded to black, and his brain shut down, his mind falling into the cold embrace of oblivion.

When Jericho next woke up, he shivered from the cold. That was the first indication that something was off. He hadn’t shivered in 4 years. The dark room he was in was noticeably colder than what he was used to, the sound slightly different too. He propped himself up on his elbows, still a bit groggy from the sedation. ”Hello?” he called out into the darkness. Only a silent hum greeted him. The smell was different too. The air was… cleaner, somehow. No stench of rot and rust. He sat upright in the bed, his upper body unclothed. He swung his legs out, setting his bare feet down on the cool metal. He rubbed his eyes, trying to make out something in the darkness, but nothing was there. Suddenly, a door swished open, startling him, light pouring into the small room, a bunk would be a more appropriate description.

Jericho blinked a few times, his eyes paining him with the abrupt change in the lighting. He saw a silhouette of a man enter, wearing a uniform of some sort. ”Finally woken up have you?” A rough voice asked him. Jericho answered him. ”Where am I?” His eyes began to adjust to the light around him, seeing an orc standing in the doorway, leaning on it. The uniform was a dark grey with an unknown rank signifier on the collar, two three-pointed stars in gold or yellow, whatever that meant. ”I’m Lieutenant Rask Noler, and you are aboard the Alliance ship ”Reckless”” he made a salute, pounding his chest twice with his right hand, before raising his clenched fist, bending his arm slightly at the elbow. Jericho just nodded. Rask spoke again ”You’re a mechanic, right?” Jericho nodded again, standing up fully, stretching his legs and body. ”Yeah, I am.” Rask nodded and threw him a duffle-bag that had been on the floor. ”Welcome to the Alliance, report to engineering, your new boss is Sergeant Fireli, chief engineer of the Reckless. Chow is at 1100 hours and again at 1900 hours.” And with that, Rask left the room before Jericho could ask questions.

Eventually, Jericho managed to find his way down to engineering, recognizing the layout of the Reckless as being of the Brazen Frigate Class. While on his way, he had managed to throw on his uniform, a bit too big for his size, but he couldn’t very well complain. The engine room on a Brazen was relatively large for a frigate, most of it being devoted to the over-sized and overpowered engine. It was simple, rugged, could go like hell and required little maintenance. It wasn’t very sophisticated and had troubles performing complex maneuvers at high speed. Essentially a cruiser-engine slapped on to a frigate.

He walked into the engine bay, seeing three other mechanics working on various things. A youthful woman noticed him and greeted him with a smile ”Hey!” She exclaimed, her long-ish pixie cut dark brown hair being kept in place by a pair of welding goggles. She wore drab overalls, dirty from oil, grease and whatnot. Her hazel eyes lit up alongside her smile. ”You must be the newcomer we picked up! I’m Fireli, you can call me Fire if you want” She extended her hand, which Jericho took, shaking it. ”How much do you know about a Brazen Class engine?” she asked him as she led him to command console. Jericho shrugged. ”Abit, I used to fly a Brazen Class some years back. I know my way around it.” He glanced over at the slowly turning engine, seeing two mechanics arguing over some problem apparently. He gestured towards them. ”What seems to be the problem?” he asked Fire. She dismissed his concern with a flick of her wrist. ”Oh nothing serious. Just some sliiiight problem with our warp drive. We can’t go past warp 4.” She scratched her head, looking over at the two engineers. Jericho looked at the engine, snickering at the problem. ”Have you tried replacing the rotary gravimetric capacitors?” He asked. Fire nodded. ”Yeop, and resetting the whole system, so don’t even ask” Jericho walked over to the engine, placing a hand on it. ”Short-shift the plasma conductors rapidly, reversing and re-reversing the flow. Shut off the coolant for 10 seconds afterwards.”

Fire glanced at him. ”Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jericho smiled at her. ”Trust me. We had the same problem on my old ship. A BTL-401 engine might be rugged, but it’s not terribly efficient at converting the plasma, so rarely, a buildup of matter occurs in the conductors.” Fire shrugged, opening a channel to the bridge, telling the captain of the plan. The ship shuddered as they dropped out of warp. ”Here goes” she said to herself as the engine groaned and complained under the pressure of the rapidly changing directions of the heating plasma. With no coolant going to it, they ran the risk of overheating the whole thing, causing a collapse of the containment field. Jericho was counting down the time until they had to turn the coolant back on again. ”Fire her up!” he yelled over the noise of the plasma conductors and relays being rapidly filled and emptied. The engine spun back into life, rotating faster than before. Fire opened a channel to the bridge again, telling them the job was done. ”Warp 4… warp 5…. warp 7…” Jericho heard over the intercom. He smirked to himself, silently congratulating himself on a job well done. Fire turned to him and gave him a bug hug, even though she was nearly a whole head shorter than he. ”You just saved all our asses! Dinner’s on me!” she exclaimed before she was distracted again with another engineering problem. Jericho laughed at her mannerism, before continuing on his duties.

The day went on much as one could expect. Mechanical breakdowns happened often, so the engineering crew were tasked to capacity. The chime rang, signaling the end of the shift. 8 hour shifts were a blessing Jericho thought. He caught up with Fire as they went to the galley, talking about engine modulations and gravimetric resonancy. ”So… what’s for dinner?” Jericho asked as they found a table, sharing mealtime with maybe 50 other crew-members. Fire smiled, her white teeth showing slightly. ”Same thing that always for dinner. Hard-packed protein bars and oatmeal.” They found an empty table, sitting down. Jericho gingerly took a sip of the cloudy liquid, coughing and harking at the taste of the acrid water. Fire laughed in response. ”What the hell is this?” Jericho sputtered, coughing up fluids. He wiped his mouth and grabbed some clean water from his canteen. ”It’s a mixture of various minerals and vitamins. Drink up.” She said to him. Jericho grimaced at the liquid, lifting up the metal cup once again and quickly downing it in as few gulps as possible, stomaching the flavor a bit better this time. The food was bland and tasteless, not surprising to Jericho, so he didn’t waste time savoring it. ”Would you like to join me in my cabin?” Fire asked him out of the blue, her eyes giving nothing away. She was leaning back into the chair. ”You have your own cabin?” Jericho asked, raising an eyebrow. Fire smirked, leaning her head back, eyes closed. ”There’s perks to being a chief engineer” Jericho snickered. ”Of course there is” He remarked. He gestured with his hand. ”But sure, lead the way Chief”

Fire sashayed her hips more than usual as she lead Jericho through the metal corridors to her quarters, not many crew were roaming the halls at this hour. Either eating, working or sleeping. She punched in her command-code at a terminal next to a door, the door sliding open and the lights flickering on inside. The room was more ostentatious than Jericho’s previous room, that much was to be expected. There was a large bed that looked out of place on a military ship, and something that looked like a homemade still for distilling alcohol. ”Come on in” She called to him, her goggles already tossed on a chair and her tool-belt taken off. Jericho entered the room. ”Just take a seat on the bed” she said as she went to get two glasses and poured some clear liquid in them. She handed a glass to Jericho as she sat down in his lap, clinking their glasses together. ”Here’s to a wonderful future work relationship!” They both took a sip of the strong alcohol. It wasn’t half bad Jericho thought as he downed the rest of it, enjoying the beautiful woman sitting in his lap. She put down both glasses on the floor and looked directly into Jericho’s eyes. ”Would you like to fuck me?” she said, dead serious. Jericho cocked his head at her request. ”That’s… rather direct.” Fire nodded and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. ”We might die tomorrow so just live for today. And besides, I could use a good fuck” Jericho smiled at her. ”Well, you’re the boss” he kissed her fully on the lips for a good while before she broke contact.

Slinking down to the floor, she looked up at him naughtily, her hazel eyes glimmering with lust. Her deft fingers quickly had his zip undone, stroking his cock through his underwear. Jericho placed a hand on her head, stroking her hair and caressing her ear. She managed to pull his underwear down a bit, his 9-inch cock springing up, already hard for her. Fire licked her lips, the sight of such a beautiful specimen of a man making her wet. She felt her nipples harden as she gingerly took hold of it, licking all along the underside of the cock, flicking her tongue at the sensitive tip before planting a kiss on it. Gently, she took the tip of his cock into her warm mouth, eliciting a groan from Jericho. He felt her tongue gently swish around the head, suckling on his penis as if it were a lollipop. With one hand, she gently stroked the wettening cock while she sucked on it, with the other, she fondled Jericho’s testicles, feeling their weight and increasing his mounting pleasure. Slowly, and deliberately she went lower down on the cock, bobbing her head up and down as she continued taking more and more of that delicious cock into her mouth. She looked up at Jericho and smiled at him. Jericho looked down, caressing her hair and ears with his hand. Fire hummed around his cock as she reached halfway down, the vibrations and her tongues causing Jericho to buck his hips. Reaching down with one of her hands, Fire managed to remove her overalls and her bra, letting her beautiful 34B breasts spring into view. She tried deepthroating more of Jericho’s cock, but found herself gagging and immediately pop off his cock, gasping for air. ”Sorry! I’ll learn it eventually” She smirked up at him, jerking hos cock off furiously with one hand before placing the tip of his dick between her lips and once more bobbing her head up and down the hard, throbbing cock. ”It’s okay…” Jericho managed to stammer out, his eyes closed from the pleasure of her cock-sucking. ”Just don’t stop” He threw his head back, groaning. Fire loved the feeling of sucking his penis. She gave one last long suck before allowing herself to stop. Jericho opened his eyes and glanced at her. She looked so vulnerable on her knees, some drool mixed with precum hanging from her chin, looking up at him with lustful, pleading eyes.

”Take it off” he ordered her. She responded instantly, slowly and sensually removing her overalls, her pants and her top. She spun around after letting Jericho admire her bare butt for a few seconds and presented herself. Jericho whistled at the sight of her body. Her pussy cleanly shaven, her breasts perfectly pert. Jericho removed his shirt, showing his rugged body, slightly scarred from his previous life. Fire walked over to him and placed a hand on his chest. ”So firm…” she said quietly as she sat in his lap. They kissed once more, tongues dueling for supremacy.

Fire reached down and grabbed a hold of his cock and guided it to her wet hole. Pausing for a second to savor his tip at the entrance, she suddenly plunged herself down the hard pole instantly. She let out a moan as she felt the cock penetrate her to her deepest. Jericho likewise, groaned at the tightness of her wet pussy. Fire stayed in his lap for a few seconds, getting used to his size before slowly, laboriously ascending his pole, letting her slick, constricting hole milk him every centimeter of the way. She reached the tip of dick, slowly descending once more, the feeling of her pussy being slowly filled by a big cock arousing her even further. Jericho placed both hands on her hips, flicking his tongue at one of her nipples. As she reached the base of his cock, she started moving herself up and down at an increased pace, Jericho controlling her tempo with his hands. Moaning wildly, she wrapped her arms around his back, holding on for dear life as her hips moved on their own volition. Jericho gave her bum a light slap. ”Oh shit…” she moaned out, biting into Jericho’s shoulder as she came hard on his cock. She screamed as her orgasm tore through her body. Fucking through her orgasm, Jericho slapped her bum harder this time, furiously kissing her when she stopped screaming. Fire rode him with wild abandon now, her moans following the sounds of flesh slapping together. Jericho grabbed her hips firmly and lifted her up, throwing her on the bed. Flipping her around, he lightly grabbed her hair and thrust firmly into her from behind. The pressure from her vice-like pussy on his dick felt amazing to Jericho. Feeling up the ass that he had been admiring all day long was just an added bonus.

He could feel his inevitable release nearing, thrusting faster and harder into the whimpering woman. ”Fire… where do you want me to cum…” he hurriedly groaned, continuing to penetrate her warm, wet depths. Fire let out a long moan before stammering in-between gasps and moans. ”In…. in me” Jericho buried himself to the hilt, let out a yell and his cock exploded with cum in her delicate womb. Feeling his cum in her pussy brought her over the brink once again, pussy milking his cock and constricting on his cock even more. They both yelled out in pleasure as they came together. Jericho collapsed on the bed next to Fire, both of them panting heavily. ”That was great, I really needed that” Fire said, stretching her arms and legs, giving Jericho a quick kiss. ”You can sleep here if you want” she said, her eyes closed already. ”I might need a wake-up fuck in the morning” she finished as her breathing steadied. Jericho laid his arm around her, pulled her close and went to sleep.

The next morning when he woke, Fire was gone from the bed. He snickered and sat up, rotating his shoulders, not used to sleeping in a soft bed. It felt nice. He swung his legs out and yawned. He grabbed his pants and underwear from the floor, putting them on. He got up and stretched, doing a few morning exercises. Almost as if on queue, the door slided open, Fire entering with her cute smile on her lips. “Oh hey! You’re up!” she beamed at him. She threw an earpiece to him. “Come. Cap want’s to see you. The girl you rescued woke up by the way”

The bridge was a half-circled room with a central holographic emitter that could be used to plan battle actions and review tactical data. The captains chair was placed near the back of the bridge on a slight raise, behind it were two stations, currently manned by two humans., offering a view of the entire bridge. To the immediate right and left, maybe 15 centimeters lower along with the rest of the bridge were two additional stations, first officer and gunnery. The helm and engineering console being placed in-front and between the captains chair, tactical and first officer. A main view-screen being placed on the far wall.

“Cap! Look what I found” Fire announced her presence her usual way, carefree and joyous. The person sitting in the central chair swiveled around in it, his orcish face haggard and scarred, one of his tusks broken. Despite the aged and worn look on his face, his eyes shone with determination and strength. The orc got up from his chair, rising to his imposing 2.20 meters. Glancing at Jericho, he straightened his uniform, before walking over to him, his boot-heels clicking on the metal flooring.

Towering over Jericho, he extended his hand to him. Jericho shook it, noticing the firm, strong grip of the orc. “I’m Captain Trelkor. You must be the latest addition to our crew. Looks like Kim pulled through after all and finally brought us someone useful from that moon. Welcome aboard son” Jericho straightened his back. “Thank you, Sir.” “Good job on fixing our engine problems yesterday. Appreciate it.” Trelkor let go of his hand. “At ease. Do you have any previous military experience?” Jericho nodded, relaxing a bit. “I served as a combat engineer during the Lycunin invasion.” Trelkor nodded thoughtfully. He coughed, but regained his composure. “I’m putting you on our mobile strike-force. They need someone who knows their way around computers and turrets and drones. Dismissed” Trelkor saluted Jericho, taking his seat again in his chair.

Jericho followed Fire as they left the bridge heading for the infirmary. “So, how is she?” Fire was busy quietly talking to herself, doing calculations in her head by the looks of it. Jericho’s question shook her from her daydreaming. “Huh? How is who?” Jericho snickered. “The girl I brought with me” Fire suddenly recalled who he was talking about“Oh! Lili. She’s okay. Abit shaken up as one might imagine.” Sighing, Jericho raised an eyebrow. “Lili? That’s her name?” Fire shook her head, looking at Jericho. “Oh no, her full name is Liliandrias Celestrian.”

The doors to the infirmary slided open and Jericho whistled at the sight. Looking into and around the modern infirmary, he was astonished at the cleanliness of it. “I haven’t seen something this clean in 6 years. “ he remarked casually. The doctor was an elf, female with flowing blond hair. She was wearing a white lab-coat, pristine and freshly cleaned by the looks of it. Around her neck hung a stethoscope. Currently, she was busy injecting something into the red-headed Lili, sitting in a chair. As soon as she saw Jericho, she jumped up from the chair and ran to him, hugging him in a loving embrace. “Thank you thank you thank you” she spouted out. Jericho looked down, the top of her head only barely reaching his neck. He was abit unsure as to what to do. “You’re welcome. How are you holding up?” Lili released him from her embrace and looked up at him, her blue eyes shining brightly, framed by her wonderful orange-red hair. She was wearing a spare lab coat, a bit too big for her size. “Great! The air is wonderful, the food is better and people are so much nicer” Jericho and the doctor chuckled. She had been born on Osiron and knew nothing else. “Right. I better go meet my new squad.” Jericho said, leaving the three people in the infirmary.

++Thunder resounded through the valley, the darkness momentarily being broken by the flash of white. Rain poured from the sky, drenching the huddled men in its icy embrace. Wind howled through the trees, chilling them all to the bone. Jericho checked his rifle. He had a full clip. His finger rested on the trigger, his barrel peering out from his position. He spotted something moving, a person or an animal he couldn’t be sure. Imperial policy for disobedient citizens were clear. Death. Collective punishment. His squad leader clicked a command in his earpiece. Time to go. Lifting his rifle from his vigil, he got to his feet from his kneeling position. ++

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