Chapter 17 - You Remember Some Things; and Relearn Other Things.

You sweep a hand up to go back to the first image. The city skyline at night, with the planetary rings. That's from your home world, your birth world. Its name escapes you, or its being blocked. You scratch an itch on your nose as you try and think through vowels and consonant sounds, hoping to trigger something. Around the 'E' sounds you start to feel a pressure, it's a pinch, like the start of the headaches you got while you were around IVORI's White Device.

"Okay, so that's the feeling." You lean back as you type in the response that the world is your birth planet. After you type, you tap the space key a few extra times and type in a capital 'E'. You start typing consonants after it, waiting to trigger the blocked feeling once again. Nothing. You get to 'Em' and visualizing the characters, rather than the sound doens't do you anything.

But it's not just those letters that make that sound in Human tongues. Other languages use other characters... You close your eyes and start seeing letters spin by, characters in other languages, until your reach the combination of 'Yv-', and your head hurts again. "So that's a start." You back off the thought and go back to the image.

The building. It's important, and it worries you that you don't recall why. You should know. You've seen that building before... and from this angle, and higher. From the air? Did... did you attack this building, for the Empire? No. NO. You can't have destroyed this, it's the CAPITAL, for crying out loud!

It's the capital. Then, is this building the center of of your government? It's certainly tall enough and bright enough. Maybe you confirm that, if you find out what world starts with the letter "Yv-" and the headache stings you again. Yep. That's going to be annoying. Pretty petty of the Empire though.

You add that the building is the capital, then move onto the next question. The academy. Yeah. This one was just past the edge of your memory. They shipped you here from Yv-....from home after.... something. Something happened and the Empire put you on a shuttle and landed you here. THIS is where the teacher and those uniformed students were. All Humans. All Imperial. Their Law. Their History. One Path. It agitates you and you type quickly and briefly that it's an Imperial Academy, in one of their main worlds.

What else is their to say about the retched place? You frown, then you see a flash in your head. A bar of four lights, no.... there are five lights; You can see the fifth. You close your eyes and scroll the screen away. You remember the fifth.

The field is a nice change after the previous image. Whomever picked these images and ordered them knew what they were doing. It's calming. The hills and valley, they were great to run around in. You can't see it from here but there's a river. You remember the river. The dogs used to always find you there, and you'd have collected all the best sticks for them to toss and bring back to you. You laugh as you remember leading them back, muddy and your hands all sore and blistered.

You look down at your hands. They're far from smooth, you see the clauses from trigger work and the backs of your hands shows a few nicks and pocks from combat, but you see old, faded, lines underneath that hint at the childhood memories. You had fun in this place. It wasn't 'safe', but it was a good place. It was away from things. Were you could just be... a son.

There's tears in your eyes as you steady yourself. You type out everything you'd just thought of, and retyping that last bit hurts again. Not in the blocked out memory way, but in a more personal way. If the Empire was rooting in your head, how deep did they go? If they've blocked out the faces of your crew, would they know which ones you've slept with? Would they use them as leverage like they tried to the last time. Would you react as aggressively to the threat?

Twelve shots. They shot me twelve times before I went down the last time. Next time, you'd wear some armor that fucking works.

The next image. The Desert world. It feels tangential, after those personal memories. But maybe that's part of the test too. Ease out of the personal. Something about this world, and it's people, are important.

You stare at the details the curve of the structure, the slope of the raised roadway, the scale of it all. It was more than a city though, wasn't it? It was an offshoot, a port. Not just from the surface into space, but from below the surface into the world above. And below, below the surface was the world of Nykros. At least, that's how someone with just a humanoid jaw would pronounce the name. 

For the insect race, the world's name would have four more syllables, two inaudible to Human ears, and a smell. 

But ultimately it could be translated into Home Soil.

That structure wasn't just a port, but also a massive refinery and factory, with precision techniques and vast, interconnected, synchronized work lines produced some of the most robust ship parts in the Empire. They were Imperial, but not Human. Their colonies had burrowed deep into a number of worlds, but they had little use for the surface. So the Empire and the insect race, the Thradix, it had been the beginning of a quiet union. the Thradix had their own initiatives, and it served the Empire to collaborate with them.

They were building ships for the Empire, and onto the worlds the Empire didn't want, or couldn't control, the Thradix spread. Plague and Locust working in tandem. You frown as your fingers fly over the holographic keys and see your words glow on the screen. Was there anything else?

The Thradix... they were ravenous, and anything that wasn't a Thradix could be food. Your eyes widen at the implications of that warning. It had been in an Imperial Briefing, before a mission to a world in 'Purchase Space' a vast swath of barely charted systems. The Empire had long ago claimed them, and hadn't been challenged on by any other government. Surveys showed that most of the worlds were permanently unsuited for Humans. Occasionally a patrol was sent out there on a 'long walk' to cool their heads. It was a punitive detail, one that could last for weeks.

The best you could hope for was a whole lot of nothing, except maybe a chatty bug freighter hauling cargo to make a few jumps with. Otherwise, it was Cold Black.

You rub your chin, the rough beginnings of stubble growing already. It took your mind off the next image, The Cube.

You lick your lips and scroll down. The face of The Cube looming in front of you, over you. It's massive. You have to tilt your head back to see it all, even this far away.

"What is it, Sir?" The echo is in your ears, over your helmet's speakers. You're silent. "Sir?" The voice isn't mechanical so much as distorted by a pain in your head.

"Quiet," You order and step forward, toward the massive, green, lake The Cube is half submerged in. The cube's discolored it somehow, compared to the yellow sulfuric pools you passed before landing here. You walk along its edge, and are mildly aware of your helmet hud telling you that the Troopers with you are poised to rush in front of you from either side.

It's not just that you were the pilot and OC, give a Trooper enough time and she can learn anything, but they liked you.

The lake is frothing something dark and thick, it stains the sands underneath. You're as close as you can get to The Cube from the lake's edge when it laps against your boots.

Your sensors squawk in alarm as the contact allows the suit to directly test the liquid. Sticking your 'hand' in something wasn't as preferred as 'toeing' a suspicious substance, and boots tended to be packed with as many sensors as helmets. You remind yourself of these things to distract you from what's coming up on your helmet.

"It's Blood." You hiss over your mic and hear the battle rattle of the Troopers on either side of you.

"Sir," It's Tina. "We need to go. "NOW." The Cube suddenly pulses loud and bands of blue light run in thick bars along one of the sides facing you. You step back, then see the blood churn in a straight line between you and The Cube. The blood coagulates into a solid path. You advance, and step foot on the surface of the blood. Your suit alerting to you a potential biohazard event given the undocumented variety of blood, and its apparent behavior. 

"Sir!" Tina shouts again, you turn to see her. Her white armor gleams in the red sun, the white plates of her armor are pocked with black marks, the original burns clean out, then a black filler painted over them to restore the armor, but retain the 'character' of the impact. A plated tasset hangs around her hips and her shoulder armor bears dark red stripes, which match those on her chest. The black visor of her armor forms a broad Y. 

There are other's with her, in various forms of the same basic armor. On a ridge, you see the black shape of your Gunship, and the light of the local star catches on a golden figure watching from the ridge. The blood bridge between you and the edge of the water has dissolved. You lock your gaze on the Sergeant's visor, then turn to face The Cube.

You walk down the path and can almost hear the solidified blood dissolve behind you. That's not creepy at all. In fact, as you draw closer to the cube, the blood begins to gurgle and boil.

You reach the metal surface, and even leaning back doesn't let you see the whole enormity of this massive construct. Construct? How did you know that's what it was. You didn't. You didn't know then. You'd learn however.

When you placed your hand upon the metal, and your ring shone, through your black pilot's gloves. Everything goes black, and you start to hear the voices.


The Terrans have returned. Why are they here? Mommy? They're after the Source! We don't know that. Mommy, get up. We've lost contact with the ambassador's shuttle! Radiological Alert! Mommy. Please, get up. Get the civilians to my ship! But Your Majesty- Save them Commander, that is Our order! Mommy, why won't you move?


You see flashes, images, places you've never been and people of a species you don't recognize. You see burning cities, massive ships in orbit of a world on fire, and smoke, so much smoke it's going to choke you. You pull your hand away to grab your throat, and the barrages ceases. 

You fall to a knee, into the bloody walkway. You look up and, centimeters away, on the flat surface of The Cube. 

This was Our Fate.  You blink through a sudden haze of pain that seizes your brain. This was Their Doing. You see ships bearing the old Terran sigil, before the Fall of Earth, on the bottoms of the massive ships, as they fire massive slugs of iron into buildings and launch swarms of missiles to swat down any petulant resistance. What is Your Fate? You see yourself, reflected bare against the surface of the cube.

First, you see yourself as you are in the present, recoving but still a shell of the You of this day. The image flashes and you see reflected, a wilder you, hair loose and in the outfit of an Outlaw. There is another flash, and you see yourself in the Uniform of an Imperial officer. You flash again, and you see no face, until you look down, and see a child, one of the same as the lost species. His body is burnt to the point where you can see some of his blackened bones. He's standing even as he's missing a leg. With a bone and sinew arm, he rests the stub on the end of his arm where you'd rested your own gloved hand.. 

"What is your Choice?" The child asks.

You pull back from the machine, the one sitting in the Trooper's training room. The one on your ship, on Golden Dancer. Your ears are ringing and it hurts to think. But you can't get The Cube out of your head. You eyes flinch as you see light stream from your ring. It begins to dim, and as it does, so does your headache.

"Sure beats the hell out of ibuprofen." You wonder as you look at the screen, now it's prompted you for general knowledge. Great, after that last mind fuck you could use something tame.

You go to just hit the send button, but see that a long block of text has filled under the picture of The Cube. Fuck it, you hit send and the screen changes to more instructions.

You will be shown several questions, one after the other, please answer them to the best of your memory.

The best of your memory? That's going to be interesting you hit start and are greeting with the following message.

How Many 'Great Empires' are there in known space?

A) 1
B) 3
C) 7
D) 9
E) 11 or More

You guess that the old Imperial answer would have been 'one' the One and Only Great Empire. Our Empire.

You hit C. Because it was the best shot. 

Answer: C; The following Empires have reached the minimum requirement for a Grand Empire. Twelve Star Systems controlled, each with a population= exceeding 1 Billion permanent, and living, residents. The Quathari, The Gigram, The Urak'tha, The Verdium, The Hollantus, The R'tk'calo, and the Vozi are the Seven Grand Empires, in known space.

You laugh. The Empire, doesn't even qualify as a 'Grand Empire'. That was rich, and you tap the screen for the next question.

What is the caliber of the main kinetic batteries for an Imperial Dreadnought Category Vessel? 

A) Twin Barrel 1M Rail Guns 79 Ton Rounds
B) Twin Barrel 1M Coil Guns 79 Ton Rounds
C) Quad Barrel 1M Coil Guns 79 Ton Rounds
D) Twin Barrel 2M Coil Guns; 316 Ton rounds
E) Quad Barrel 2M Coil Guns 316 Ton rounds

The Empire loves their guns big and heavy. E. 

Which Colloquial Phrase General Rule of the Independent Region?

A) Whoever Has The Gold, Makes the Rules.
B) Might Makes Right.
C) Every Man For Himself
D) Don't Start Nothing, Won't Be Nothing.
E) The Only Rule Is, There Are No Rules.

The Independent Region tends to settle it's own problems, when they crop up.... D.

It starts asking you more questions. Some mathematical, others engineering, and you answer them easily. The numbers moving in your head as easily as the images of the mechanical parts. You smile at how much technical knowledge you can recall. For a pilot, you probably could have disassembled and rebuilt this entire ship. Considering how much work must have gone into removing all the tracers and tags the Imperials would have embedded into their tech, you very well might have. After a while the questions almost feel dull as you mentally calculate the speed required to sling shot around a planet's moon so that you could throw off a high speed pursuit Cutter. 


Last Question: The first time you had sex with Doctor Tomoe, where did you cum? Wait. WHAT?! How was that a valid question? How were you supposed to remember that?

A)Mouth
B)Face
C)Tits
D)Cunt
E)Ass

"Easy now, Your Highness." A voice both cool and and careful breathes into your ear. "This is all part of your exam." Her hand pumps your cock. You stifle a gasp and grit your teeth as the barrier of her latex gloves gives a weird and dry feeling to the hand job. You want to moan outright, but the two of your aren't alone in the room. A thin barrier hangs around you and the noise of the med wing drones around you. It's a high traffic wing and most are coming in for check ups and exams.

Most of them do not expect the usual 'turn your head and cough' to evolve into this.

"How lucky, an exile like me ends up in bed with you, of all the people from home." She kisses against the side of your neck. "Not that I hold a grudge." She twists down and you feel your throbbing cock bend she grips so tight. She nibbles at your ear and you feel her other hand reach down and tug at your balls. "Nice, and healthy; surprising, given what Imperials feed their pilots." She runs her gloved hands up and down your cock again. Then she wraps her big lips around the tip of your dick before bobbing her head slightly to swallow just the head past her lips. You can feel her hot breath and wet tongue rolling over your glans and around the edge of your cock. She pulls back, sucking as she does before pushing her head back to only tease the head of your dick.

Then she wraps her fingers around your shaft and grips gently, but firmly. Her lips slide forward until they hit her first finger, and she pulls back again. She pushes forward once more, tongue pushing up along the underside of your dick, before stopping at those fingers. Tomoe Maeda pulls her lips back and she smiles around your cock. Her blond and black streaked hair pulled back into a bun, and her narrow gaze boring into you as she laps at the tip of your dick.

You raise your hands and put them on the back of her head, as she bobs down on your dick again. This time you hold her there, and you feel her breath over your cock. Whenever she inhales through her nose, cool air tickles the tip of your wet dick inside her mouth. When she exhales out her nose, hot air passes down your shaft and between a gap she allows with her first two fingers, before she clamps them down again.

You hold her there for three breaths, each time your cock swells a little bit as she massages the root of your cock with her other hand. Her fingers circle your taint and tug gently on your balls as she hums over your cock. The third time she relaxes some of her fingers to let her breath tease the top of your shaft, you pull your hands, and her head, down. You pitch your hips up at the same time, and the forces meet in the middle as her lips push her grip apart and press hard against the base of your cock.

While she's down there you can see down her back to where her lab has shifted to reveal the thick globes of her ass. And by the Bright Lady, what an ass. You could rack up gelatin shots on that butt and those thick, heavy, cheeks would still jiggle better! There's too much of each cheek for three hands, if you had them. You want to reach down and slap a cheek, but right now the head on your cock deserves your attention.

You hold your head there for a moment, and in your grip her head rocks to the sides. She doesn't try and pull off, or make any signs of wanting release. Instead she just swallows and swallows, and you can feel your cock pulled by her throat as you fuck past her lips, mouth, and tongue to a hot wet suck. Her cheeks grow red as her eyes flutter and as you feel the spittle pool on your cock, you pull upwards. Slowly, you edge your way up and the sucking that had been started out as teasing grew desperate. 

Her cheeks were tight against your cock as her nostrils flared trying to suck air in, her throat nearly unblocked. You can imagine the rush of air when you finally pull enough dick out of her throat for her to breath again, barely. The short sharp flares of her nostrils drag out into longer easy breathing. 

Then you start pulling her face down onto your dick again, and you keep this up for what feels like hours, but a clock on Maeda's wrist only counts off minutes. You feel your cock starting to throb, but you aren't going to splatter her face, that'd be to easy to spot in place like this, and even if she cleaned off her face, the scent would be a risk.

So as you pull her face completely off your cock, you pull a hand back to where she can see it. Her eyes are red and crossed, and spit strands extend from her lips to your cock. She's cockeyed, and focused on yours, but as your finger waggles into view, she switches targets.  You point over her back to where her her butt has been bobbing this entire time.

She smiles as she sits up and swings a leg over your body, giving you a look at her bare ass as the lab coat flutters upwards. Her cheeks slap against one another as she shakes her butt in front of you. The heavy slapping still doesn't rise above the clatter and bustle of the med wing around you. You reach out and spank her ass with the flat of your hand, and Tomoe arcs her back and hisses through grit teeth.

You slap her other cheek with your other hand, and swings her hips out of reach of one hand, only to catch your other hand slapping her right cheek. Her ass is as red as her face when you grab her sore cheeks. Your fingers dig into her raw cheeks and you spread them wide, revealing the tight rear entrance of her ass. Her tongue runs over her lips as she flexes and winks at you, over her shoulder. 

You line up your spit soaked cock and press the head against the entrance. Maeda gnaws on a knuckle as you push into her, and feel a sudden cool gel around the head of your cock. She put something up there beforehand. With a grin, you pull her down all the way, filling her ass with your cock in a single thrust. She hisses in through her nose as she grinds her hips to the sides. Her cheeks flatten against your abs and squish deliciously together as she bounces up again. 

You pound that fat ass again and again, as the lube splurts out with each odd thrust and now you're making quite the racket. Her ass clenches around you and you see white as your cock nearly doubles in girth to flood her colon with as much spunk as your balls can empty.

"FUCK." You look down at your cock. Standing there in front of the machine, you tap the letter C. 

You hit enter as the machine tablulates your answers, and the option screen pops up.


>Strength Output Assessment: Complete: Rating 13: Acceptable. 
>Visual Acuity Exam 
>Stamina Test 
>Reflex and Flexibility Test 
>Memory and Knowledge Exam: Complete: Processing Memory. Knowledge Rating 21: Equal to Saved Goal.
>Interpersonal Test 
>Probability Awareness Test 
>Anagyros Calibration (2/7) Locked 
>File Available: Remaining_File_02 
>File Available: Remaining_File_07 DCT_TM_2013-5-24912


You click on the file and the following message appears. SHIP CMO: <IEO DCT_TM_2013-5-24912>, additional notes: Good stuff, Medbay Sink, ;o<3.

You nod and look at the machine. You could take a break, and see what the 'Good Stuff' is, check in on Zoraida, or maybe keep going with the machine?


What do you do?
