by Rowan Bishop
…Settlements should be encouraged in the region during final terraforming phases, but they will have little use once viability has been achieved in the northern latitudes.
From an early edition of “Minora” by The Bureau of Planetary Engineering, Church of Nova Sol
Nobody, in fact, sat tight. Just as Bin Ar-Drezar suspected they wouldn’t.
Both Titans and Banshees began furious preparations to get off base as quickly as possible, loading supplies and weapons far beyond what their vehicles were meant to carry.
Akyra needed to begin searching the planet—or at least the regions surrounding Zebra—as quickly as possible if she meant to preserve her career, even if that meant disobeying orders from both Bin Ar-Drezar and Colonel Weir in the short-term.
Raemus needed not only to move his most loyal Titans away from Bin Ar-Drezar’s watchful, suspicious eyes but also to move his rebellion to the distant region of Pergamon—both under the pretext of continuing his role as escort for the Banshees.
Very early the next morning, after Akyra prayed with her two soldiers for their speedy recovery in the outpost’s hospital, the newly formed convoy passed under the giant gun turrets of the outpost’s gates, and rolled out upon the immense red, furled plains to the north.
Their convoy now consisted of the two big, black, burly armored troop carriers under Akyra’s command, surrounded by a string of Titan assault and support vehicles, eight in all. It was enough capacity to deliver nearly fifty elite soldiers—Banshees slightly outnumbering Titans—and a devastating amount of firepower on just about anything that might get in their way.
They passed small towns initially, and immediately Akyra wanted to know why they weren’t stopping to ask questions. But Raemus insisted they press on, for anyone who had made such a big deal out of assaulting the base and stealing the Bio-Teck cube wouldn’t keep it so close to Zebra. They would keep moving, he told her over their private channel, to the larger towns, where people gossip more, where secrets are harder to hide.
They traveled at high speeds for two days, gathering red dirt everywhere, in and outside of their vehicles. But the time also allowed Akyra the chance to raise the spirits of her team again. They were going to get the job done. And whoever was behind the heist was going to get some serious payback.
Raemus also laid out the plan to get to Pergamon, where Xerxus was known to have strongholds, and the best bet to recover the Bio-Teck cube, whether Xerxus had it or not.
But after two days of cold desert travel, everyone needed a rest from the breakneck speeds they were maintaining. Raemus knew of a place safe enough for a few hours. At least until rumors of their arrival travelled across the town. Best of all, he told Akyra over their private channel, “it’s got showers. Hot, steamy showers.”
Akyra was nearly encrusted in the commander’s seat of her vehicle with a dense layer of grime. “Say no more, Raemus. Hot water, a lot of soap, and a little privacy for a change is all this lady needs.”
Raemus laughed over the comm. “Privacy? You’re on Minora, Akyra. Privacy isn’t a big feature around here.”
Akyra didn't’ reply right away. “Like… no privacy? Ever?”
Raemus laughed out again. “See you in the showers, captain.”
Akyra asked, “Literally?”
But there was no answer.
The large town they finally entered was riddled with all the signs of galactic neglect, a large swath of poor residences and desperate businesses constructed from the cheapest materials people could find. As fas as the eye could see, not a single structure was more than a single-story. Just like the convoy, the entire town was covered in the red dust that plagued this part of the equatorial region.
But the people, perhaps emboldened by their poverty, were welcoming and kind to the convoy as they rolled down the one main road wide enough to handle the military vehicles. Some waved, recognizing the Titans. Some even welcomed them with shouts and calls.
But the convoy pressed onward to the center of the town, remaining alert for any hostiles, until it came to the one building Raemus had predetermined a safe house. It was strong enough to offer a small defense, while full of people he spent the last year building relationships with.
It would be safe enough. At least for a few hours to clean up and get some decent fresh food.
The center of the building was open in the middle, covered by a wide sunscreen, creating a warm, humid greenhouse despite the frigid temperatures outside. In the bright, warming sunshine, six pipes poked out from the terra-cotta walls, from where the hot water began to flow. The floor was sparse, although here and there a few large ferns grew from round planters.
The people of this place offered their loyalty to Raemus and his Titans, for the Titans had occasionally come to their aid when no one else would. And because of that loyalty, everyone would wait and watch Raemus and his closest brothers shower first.
The matrons cleared and cleaned the bathhouse, brought out countless towels and soaps at great expense.
Raemus led his highest ranked soldiers—First Sergeant Akino, Lieutenants Tomohiko, Sinjin, Jenzen, and Nix—down the wide, dark hallway, naked except for the red towels they draped over their muscled shoulders. The many other Titans and all the Banshees stood against the walls of the shower room and hallway, most with nothing on their skin but their own red towels, watching with great pride as this mighty leader and his favorites ceremoniously went before everyone else.
When they left the shadows of the wide hallway and entered the brightly lit open square, they were greeted by the lovely chanting of many the local residents who came to watch and pay homage. They sang beautifully, clapping their hands softly, their melodies enchanting, but Raemus barely caught their words over the powerful streams of water gushing to the hard stone ground. He knew the chants were prayers. They were always praying to The Almighty, always singing joyful praise. Perhaps that was why he cherished these people so much.
The locals were cooly dressed in light, nearly see-through garments. Many wore tattoos on their faces, or around their breasts, or down their backs. They audibly sighed with elation when Raemus handed his towel to an attendant, along with a smile and the coin that wasn’t expected, and stepped into the streams of water.
The other Titans followed their brother into the water.
As much as the hot water water simply felt wonderful as he cleaned his body, he knew how important this cleaning ceremony was to the locals, being the sort of story that would quickly become lore. Which he didn’t mind, though it definitely eliminated this place as a safe house ever again.
Being in a position of power within The Church—at least military power—meant Raemus’ life was nearly void of intimate, private moments. Raemus was used to this and felt pleasure by allowing himself to be watched as he soaped up his body repeatedly, lingering in the rush of the water, immersing himself in this gorgeous cacophony of soulful song, the jingle of bracelets and trinkets, the clapping of happy, thin, labor-worn hands, the rumbling of water upon the stone floor, and finally, perhaps most intensely, the sweet musk of jahobi oil soap spreading throughout the open air room.
In such ceremonies of this, so simple as bathing, he admired the will of these poor town dwellers, and he embraced their poverty.
Between rinses, he caught a glimpse of Akyra and her closest entourage leaning against the far wall. She was holding her red towel to her chest, its length almost touching the floor. While it covered much of her, he could see her hips and thighs through the growing steam. Many of the other Banshees were lingering about the shower room, in and around groups of singing locals, all of them almost naked in their towels as they waited their turn.
There was no mistaking that Akyra’s eyes were locked on him. That gave him an unexpected feeling of arousal, adding a small thrill to this typically spiritual practice. He’d bathed in the presence of naked women before, most of whom chanted songs of spiritual ecstasy, but Raemus had never felt the strong passion of being
watched by someone who seemed as physically attracted to him as Akyra seemed to be.
The kiss they shared, constantly replayed in his memory since the night of the spiderbot assault, seemed so fresh on his lips, her taste and smell constantly on his mind.
More than ever, he enjoyed being watched as he prolonged his shower in front of everyone. Especially in front of the matriarch of the Banshees.
Akyra locked eyes with Raemus as he pushed water from his long hair. The hot water ran down and around the strong muscles of his shoulders, tickled over the two long scars across his heavily built chest, in and out of his abdominals, spiraling down the length of his thick cock, rolling off the large head, finally splattering on the ground around his feet.
She watched the water travel down his body, momentarily lost on the luxurious, warming sight of his cock. With a start, however, she looked back to his eyes, knowing she was caught staring.
Raemus grabbed some extra soap and, knowing that Akyra and her girls were carefully observing, slathered it against his chest, quickly applying it to the length of his cock, up and down several times, until it began swelling—just slightly. He wanted Akyra to see just how much he liked having her watch him.
He knew it was a foolish, prideful act. But in the moment they shared as she unabashedly looked on, he couldn’t resist showing her what she obviously wanted to see.
He noticed many of the local women and most of the Banshees were now watching Akyra, who hadn’t moved a muscle in several minutes. The energy between the two captains was undeniable to anyone in the shower room.
Then, in a sobering instant, he felt foolish about the whole thing.
I’m defiling a beautiful gift from these locals with my own thoughts of touching Akyra—and the way I want her to touch me.
He quickly rinsed and took a towel, as those in his group had already done.
He nodded to the attendant, turned and nodded to Akyra, who was now the only Banshee remaining against the back wall, alone in his vision.
The Banshees and the Titans took their turns as groups of tired, grubby, and increasingly horny soldiers showered themselves clean—while entertaining thoughts that were unquestionably dirty.
All the while, the local women clapped and sang their beautiful prayers of gratitude to The Almighty.
It wasn’t long before Raemus felt regret for putting on his deliberate cock-show for Akyra. It wasn’t his style. It was simply dumb. He was captain of a Titan Class company, dammit. He didn’t thrive in theatrics, but… he couldn’t help the exhilaration of seeing Akyra watch him naked, obviously attracted to him.
Soon, his regret turned to shame, for he knew his greater cause allowed no time for self-serving pursuits, no matter how sexy she’d looked, barely hiding behind a single, narrow towel though the rising steam.
As he began to suit up in his battle armor, immaculately cleaned by the ladies of the house for a few coins, he stopped to watch some of the Banshees finish grooming each other. He stood in plain view, watching Polli, Emilia, Jexica, and Rayeley among others, sitting naked on stones, combing and braiding each other’s colorful hair, tying in feathers and bright cords of fabric, singing their own melodic prayers in beautiful harmony. They were strong women, bright faced despite two days of running from Zebra.
And I’m distracted by the idea of Akyra’s pussy. What’s wrong with me?
He recalled Akyra confiding in him privately on the first day of their exodus from Zebra, saying that if she didn’t succeed in finding the Bio-Teck cube—or at least destroying it so it doesn’t stay in the wrong hands—she’d be stuck in this planet, labelled a traitor for disobeying her superiors. That should have riddled her with anxiety. But it didn’t. She kept her head up. Her orders to her team were clear and objective every time.
Perhaps there’s more to this woman than being a superb commander. She’s willing to sacrifice everything in order to fulfill her contract. There’s definitely more to this woman than I know.
He found Akyra in a small alcove of the building, already dressed in full battle armor, hair up, headset on, fitting her gloves. Not knowing what else to say, he got right to business. “I can’t expect our little visit here to be much of a secret at this point.”
She nodded, smiled wryly without looking at him. “Tough to keep a secret when two full-sized units descend on a safe house with no warning.”
They faced each other but found it impossible to make eye contact.
Raemus wanted to grab her to him, to feel her close. Even with the clunky armor. He’d never felt that before so strongly. “Let’s send two squads out and search the neighborhood. It’s time to start looking around.”
“One of mine and one of yours?”
Never had he felt this urge to press himself onto a woman before. In truth, he never knew this type urge was so powerful. “That’s what I was thinking. I’m going out with the first one.”
“Funny, I was planning on doing the same thing.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“Feel clean?”
Akyra laughed awkwardly. “Captain?”
“Yes?”
“Excuse me, I’m going to get a squad together. If… if I could get… around you?”
This is what it’s like to be horny for someone, is it! From her red face, it seems she feels it, too.
By the time they were in the lanes of the squalid ghetto, armed to the teeth and ready for action, Raemus was simply furious at himself.
What am I, a young Titan pledge at indoctrination? I’ve seen naked women before! I’ve shared showers with women before. Many women! I’ve been aroused… But this!
He groaned to himself and slapped his helmet a few times.
Levi cut into his thoughts over the comm. “Captain? Banshees want to move up and take the lead.”
Raemus held up a fist to halt his squad along a row of squat broken-down shop fronts. “What? No way.”
“Captain, they say it’s their mission. They take the lead.”
“Noble. But no. We provide protection. We take the lead.”
There was a pause, and Raemus motioned for the group to begin moving forward again. Before moving himself, he peaked back down the narrow lane to see the six Banshees in their red armor, also hugging the shopfronts, behind his own guys.
Akyra’s voice broke in just as he saw one of the red Banshees lean out into the lane to see him. It was Akyra, of course, breaking radio discipline to get her point across. “Hey Raemus! I don’t need any macho tactics. We can take lead just fine.”
“Akyra, I know this town a little more than you.”
“Maybe that’s a fault. It’s my mission, big guy.”
Raemus actually gulped at her emphasis on big.
Comical. Back in the showers I was trying to tease her, but I’ve only gotten myself worked up. Fuck. I’m such a dumb bast—
Just then a rocket streamed down the uneven lane and exploded against the ground halfway down their patrol line.
Which meant it exploded right next to Akyra.
“Get inside! Get inside!” Raemus shouted to everyone, and no one wasted time following his orders. Titans and Banshees kicked in doors and windows, diving out of the open area.
Raemus waited just long enough to activate his visor scanners and make an immediate reconnaissance of the shops further down the way. His equipment highlighted the faint residual stream of heat the rocket left behind. His eyes followed that line right to a dark, open window forty meters away.
Do the unexpected. That’s the Titan way.
He shouldered his weapon, activated his exo-muscle system mid-stride, and began a mad sprint toward the window. He attempted to zigzag as he ran, but his focus on destroying whoever was in that window muddled his ability to follow basic tactics.
Instead, he fired continually as he ran, round after round of explosives in and around the window.
Metal, glass, and dust flew about the rising firestorm he created, and by the time he
arrived, there was no longer a window. Or a wall.
He realized he might have just ran into a trap, but he was experiencing a fury greater than he’d ever felt before. Someone almost killed Akyra! And this someone needed to die. Right now. By me.
He did swivel his head around, looking for signs of other hostiles poking out of doors or windows, but the lane seemed clear. For the moment.
By the time he edged his helmet around the burning exterior of the crumbling shop, Levi, Tomohiko, and Aejax had raced to him, giving him the cover he needed.
Inside, the place was destroyed, flames covering all the broken and scattered furniture. Among countless shoes and sandals, all blackened and ablaze, lay the broken, burning body of a man still clinging to a rocket launcher. His body was bent horribly and his lips were tight in a display of final agony.
Seeing the creature who almost took Akyra’s life only made him more angry. He unholstered his sidearm and shot a slug into the dead man’s chest.
“What you got, captain?” Levi said next to him, obviously startled by Raemus' unusual behavior. “One of Xerxus' spies?”
Raemus realized he was breathing a lot harder than he should be. “Fucker fired on her.”
The rest of Titans moved into a secure perimeter, securing the rest of the lane.
Levi patted Raemus on his armored shoulder. “Well… that’ll teach him.”
It occurred to Raemus right then that he’d been distracted by Akyra just when their attacker had stuck his weapon out the window. If he was doing his job, this might have turned out different. “Damn right.”
Levi laughed, pointing to the body inside the shop that was continuing to char. “You want to ask him who he’s working for?”