A New Beginning Ch. 08

Everyone knew Jack Walker was a brilliant tactician and could think on the fly, but even Rawlings was surprised when his old friend smiled broadly.

"Fine.. we'll make it a Sunday for the Girls day off, the crew will accept that more easily as it ties in with old habits... as for sexual refusal... no, not completely.. I don't want some poor guy that's a bit ugly or whatever to end up using his hand for what will be a fucking long time." He said pleasantly enough.

Everyone waited for him to continue, Walker's eyes had turned flinty hard.

Jack tapped the table.

"Also.. you and I both know that your position isn't strong, I'll let you take six of my PG's at a time for training.. the rest stay as they are, Fuck toys until you change them out after the next jump. As for respected crew members... they will have to earn that right. Prove they can act like humans... just as you must have." He said.

Everyone understood that what Jack was saying was near impossible for most of the Girls, genetically engineered to be less intelligent than average. Most would find it hard to impress.

Jessica hardly blinked as she nodded.

"Fine.. Sunday works. The universal day of rest is perfect... However, I'm actually in a better position than you think." She said politely yet firmly as she then started to tick off points. Many of which she was only just thinking about.

Rawlings and Choi looked at each other. Jessica was again proving her quick grasp of any given situation and negotiating well with Walker. Both her and Walker now focused on each other as they went back and forth with offer and counter offer.

Delacroix watched Rawlings. He looked confident and so did the hard Marine that sat next to Jessica. She once again re-evaluated things and came to a slightly scary conclusion. Rawlings was fully backed by Holly Reed and the 'Lilith'. Both the 'Jean-Paul' and the 'Lilith' held almost all the Marines the four ships had and a good portion of those had proved highly efficient at boarding ships.

The 'Amanda-Maddison' that Walker commanded was a Destroyer class vessel that he had taken over with his remaining crew, a crew that barely filled the required level for a ship that size. Her own vessel. The 'Cornelius IV' matched the 'Jean-Paul' as a Battle cruiser but unlike Rawlings, she didn't have anything close to a full crew, her only advantage being her ship was one of the newer and larger battle cruisers. However, that was offset by her lack of crew and the fact that Rawlings odd-ball crew had mostly stuck with him. Odd-ball they might be, but they had already proved themselves highly proficient in a fight.

She listened as her lover, Jack. Started to give in to Jessica's continued well argued points. Delacroix understood why. Jack was making the same fast analysis and even though they were all friends and this was a friendly meeting between people who wanted to be free of the Holy Company. Facts were facts and everyone understood by now that Rawlings, Reed and Choi were fully backing Jessica on her bid for the PG's to be more than what they had been.

Samantha leaned back in her chair and watched. Regretting her promise of crew members, even if she was getting a well trained Tactical officer in exchange.

*******

Six hours later...

Jessica and Penny ran side by side. Their pace well beyond a normal human's as they hurtled along the main hanger bay of the 'Jean-Paul'.

Neither of them were out of breath or perspiring more than normal as they practically sprinted past Hornet's, shuttles and maintenance crews. Male and female techs hardly spared them a glance. Well used to the two girls running off their excess energy by now. More occupied with the extra Hornets they now had to maintain after taking more from the defeated ships Niles had left behind.

Penny's eyes stopped fluttering as she finished analysing what Jessica had been telling her.

"Twenty six of us in exchange for Fifteen.. do we have enough ZT-360 chips for them?" she asked as they touched the metal wall in unison and turned fast to sprint back along the massive hanger bay.

"Hank pulled all of the chips from our losses.. so we easily have enough... main thing is for you to make sure Walker keeps to the bargain. It shouldn't be too hard as we are taking all his PG's and replacing them with our people. He can't parade slave girls around to undermine you." Jessica replied as she upped the pace. Her feet almost floating along the deck.

"My group?" Penny asked in concern. Referring not to the ex-PG's but the loving little group that she had selected. People that treated her respectfully and that she felt genuine love for.

Jessica had spent nearly two hours with Rawlings and Choi, then trawled through the ex-PGs to find the right ones. Picking a mix of utter simpletons who wouldn't find the duty a problem and a few more intelligent ones to support Penny if she needed it.

"Your group goes with you... already arranged if you agree." Jessica told Penny.

Penny shot Jessica a look of surprise.

"All of them?"

Jessica signalled a halt and the two girls drifted down to a walk.

"Yes... I won't have any of us change the things we have managed to get... ALL of them." She assured Penny with a smile.

"But Billy likes being on the 'Jean-Paul', it's practically his HOME." Penny objected. Already she had real feelings and concerns for those small few she had become attached to.

Jessica laughed.

"I asked him first... I knew he might be a problem... know what he said?" Jessica asked.

Penny shook her head, slightly afraid.

"Tell me." She said in a nervous whisper.

Jessica turned to fully face the one woman she felt was her equal among the former PG's. Penny was a beautiful looking girl with a massively high intelligence factor. Still... she was behind Jessica in how relationships worked or how much actual love could influence decisions.

"Billy said he couldn't stay here without you... he LOVES you and where you go.. he goes." Jessica told her friend with a sincere smile.

Penny grinned like a loon.

"Really?" she giggled out.

Jessica laughed too.

"Yup.. really." She replied. Grinning from ear to ear because Penny looked so happy.

***************

Nearing Jump time...

Rawlings waited while the shuttles returned to their docks. The crew exchanges were complete and so was the supply exchange. Coordinates were already programmed into the Jump drives and the FTL engines were spooling up.

"Captain Reed.. you all set?" he said into the comm link that connected him with newly promoted Captain Holly Reed.

"Green lights across the board Sir." She replied.

Rawlings switched to interfleet comms.

"In Ten.. Nine.." he started the countdown.

Walker and Delacroix synchronised to the countdown.

The Dragonfly that Jessica and Connor were flying headed back towards the 'Jean-Paul' at full speed. They had deliberately stayed out longer than the Hornet patrol because Connor wanted to practice a fast combat landing.

"What if we miss?" Jessica thought and said.

Connor's laugh echoed in her mind as well as in her ears as he instantly reassured her.

"We won't.. and even if we did. The DF has an FTL and we can catch up." Connor told her smugly.

"Yeah... A small FTL.. it would take weeks to catch up." She retorted while laughing along. Enjoying the prospect and excitement of performing her first combat landing.

The 'Jean-Pauls bay doors were open. They powered towards them at a fast speed, counting down the seconds... if they did it right they would land a few seconds before the 'Jean-Paul' went to FTL.

***

Vippppppp... Vipppppp... Vippppp.

Three Battle Cruiser class vessels winked into existence a mile away, their gun turrets swinging towards the four ships. Torpedo doors opening in readiness to launch the fast and deadly Lancers.

Hornets blasted out of launch tubes.

"Shields UP." Shouted Rawlings while at the same time his ever ready Tactical officer fired off a volley of Hellcats and lancers. Her unorthodox training letting her fire without a command from Rawlings and send their torpedoes off long before the enemy fired. The ships Gatling's roared to life as the defence crew reacted just as quickly.

Aboard the 'Lilith' and the 'Cornelius IV' the same happened.

The countdown continued as Jennifer Delany fired Lancers, recovered from her wounds and now a part of Captain Delacroix's crew. The young woman did as she had been trained to by both Rawlings and Reed. Again, she launched the Lancers before the three enemy ships had fully locked on target all the while swearing at the gunnery crew for not having the Lancers engines already hot.

It was close but meant that thirty two Lancers in total were powering towards the three enemy ships that still hadn't raised their Gatling cover... a difference that would prove vital.

The old Hellcat's burst apart, multiple warheads expanding in a cone towards the incoming Hornet fighters as the lancers raced ahead.

Slower than the fast acting crew of Rawlings and Reed. Delacroix and Walker activated their Gatling's first before ordering Lancers. Hoping to jump before the enemy Lancers could hit. Delacroix looked over at her new tactical officer in surprise when she realised that her Lancers were already away.

"Rawlings lets you do that?" she asked.

"Always Captain." Delany replied as she tapped in the reload codes before being told to.

"Four... Three..." Rawlings voice was calm as his and Reed's crew acted without need of his direct command.

"JUMP." Yelled Walker to Delacroix. Ignoring the countdown.

Vippp...Vipp.

Both the "Amanda-Jones" and the "Cornelius IV" winking into FTL.

"One." Uttered Rawlings calmly. As he watched the old hellcats expanding cone of warheads take out some of the incoming Hornets.

His and Holly's Gatling cover ripping apart Lancers. Their own Lancers close to impacting on the newly arrived ships, a bright light show began as the Lancers started to bore through the shielding.

Vipp... Vippp...

The 'Jean-Paul' and 'Lilith' winked into FTL before the last few enemy lancers could find them, passing through empty space that the two remaining ships had been in.

"Go to Blue." Commanded Rawlings once they were in the black space of FTL.

The two crews relaxed, the tension left them feeling exhausted.

***

"Fuck me... That was close." Connor said to Jessica as they detached from the neural link.

Their last minute combat landing a new experience for her. She was still processing but thinking clearly.

"How the hell did they find us?" Jessica wondered out loud as she pulled off her flight suit. The vaginal and anal tubes detaching with a slurp as she dropped it to the deck and reached for her Marine gear.

"Fucked if I know." Conner replied as he picked up her flight suit and hung it back where it belonged. His eyes carefully avoiding her nudity as she dressed.

"We must have missed something... Karen's info must have been flawed." Jessica responded. Her eyes fluttering slightly as she multi tasked getting dressed and thinking about how Niles' ships had found them.

Conner nodded but kept his eyes firmly on the bulkhead.

"You decent yet?" he asked throatily.

Jessica blushed slightly.. she understood him well and the very human blush was a result of starting to understand the concept of modesty. The neural link was giving her far more insight into a normal human's mind and affecting her.

She hurried to zip up her jump suit.

"yes.. lets go." She answered him once she felt decent.

***

Rawlings looked over the records, researching the space station that watched over Kellos.

From his records. Jerry Rawlings could see that 'Heaven Five' was a Holy Company Station that was manned by some of the best. Getting past the station would require some manipulation.

"Get me Choi." He said into his comms link.

If things went bad. Rawlings wanted Choi's Marines and the Enhanced Girls ready to launch a boarding attack on the station. Hopefully it wouldn't be needed as he was planning to avoid conflict and count on the fact he was still officially a HC Fleet captain.

Holly's beacon blinked and Rawlings flipped the contact switch. With both their ships in the same FTL space, they could communicate.

"Problem Holly?" he snapped out, suddenly worried her ship might have been hit despite the fact his readings told him that the 'Lilith' hadn't sustained any damage.

"No Sir, just checking in." she replied. Her voice held a hint of her own fears.

"In case I got hit?... all good here, more pissed that Walker and Delacroix jumped early." He grunted out.

"Can't understand it Sir.. both of them know it's better to stick together." Holly agreed.

Rawlings sighed. He did understand.

"Walker fell hard when he met Delacroix, never been the same since... Same for her in a way... I'm pretty sure they won't take risks now that they are on the run.. won't think like Fleet anymore." He told his former aide.

Holly was silent for a while and then replied.

"Understood Sir... it's everyone for themselves now." She said sadly.

"No.. not us Holly... Captain Reed... we stick together, like always." He replied.

"Yes Sir... Sir?... how did Niles' find us?" she asked seriously.

Rawlings shook his head, the answer wasn't one he liked.

"Looks like we might have missed one of his spies, that or the 'Amanda-Maddison' has a beacon on it we missed.. Set your intelligence team on it, I'll do the same here." He replied.

Holly said she would and signed off. Leaving Rawlings to go back to his analysis of 'Heaven Five'.

********

Two weeks later...

Jessica was sat with Gibbs as they watched the Marines go through yet another boarding simulation. All of them were now trained in the techniques. Each team a mix of former PG's and regular Marines. They were working well together and Gibbs gave Jess a smile.

A specialist team was standing by for a more rigorous simulation. Made up of Gen enhanced girls that were smarter, faster and stronger than the rest. A team Jessica would personally lead into combat situations.

"Teams look good Sgt Davis well done." He congratulated her. Using her honorific while on duty.

"Thanks LT.. even the girls we got from Walker have shaped up nicely." She agreed with a smile.

Part of that was the newly installed ZT-360 chips and the rest down to hard work from the PG's that Walker had exchanged for girls Jessica had already trained with the help of Choi and Gibbs. Once on board the 'Jean-Paul' it had taken little to show them that their lives could be very different.

Gibbs shook his head.

"I'm actually surprised at how quickly they have adjusted. Walker's PG's are even dumber than most." Gibbs said with a frown.

"On standard tests .. yes, but I had Doc Collins look them over and she tested them with some kind of reasoning skills test... told me they wouldn't pass basic high school but had pretty normal reasoning skills." Jessica told him with a nod and smile.

"Yeah, Doc's kind of interested in your girls, told me she's fascinated by how you have all adapted." Gibbs replied with a wondering shake of his head. He himself had thought Jessica was unique and was working hard to reconcile the way he had always thought the other PG's were just sex toys.

Most of the crew were getting on with the new program and happy to treat the girls decently, even if it did fly against everything they had all assumed in the past.

Jessica nodded her agreement as she reset the simulation, this time in Zero-G as it was a standard requirement for the marines to train without gravity.

With a good deal of confidence, she signalled the next team to run it. Most had grasped Zero-G combat and many of the former PG's excelled at it.

"Honestly... I'm surprised too, when I was in basic training I knew I was different to the other girls... Never thought I would be seeing this though." She said and gestured to the teams.

Gibbs looked at the gathered Marines, some sitting at rest and chatting away to comrades, others checking their equipment in a buddy system. All of them including the former PG's acting like there was no difference between them. He had to admit to himself that he thought of them all as Marines now.

"Ahh.. some things don't change though." He laughed out as he spotted one girl lustily sucking a cock. Another with her battle armour discarded, jump suit around her ankles as she rode a fellow marine.

Jessica shrugged.

"We are what we are LT... we have a physical need for sex and get a great deal of pleasure from it too." She laughed along as she saw the girls glazed looks of pleasure. Understanding that like almost all pleasure girls, the one giving oral would have nubs in her throat very similar to a clit.

"Talking of needs... any chance?" he asked with a grin. It was rare for Gibbs to ask. He usually waited for Jessica to initiate things.

Jessica arched her eyebrow at him, they had had sex in his room a few hours ago.

"You don't actually need to." She laughed out. While wondering why he was breaking his own rule.

Gibbs shrugged.

"But you do." He pointed out. Still smiling.

"I think I'll manage thanks... Hank... I mean Captain Choi will sort that out when we finish up here." She told him with a rueful shake of her head.

Gibbs looked at her a bit strangely.

"I've never asked... but what happens if you don't ... you know... get enough?" he asked seriously.

"We were told our organs would start to shut down...after they start to cannibalise us from the inside that is." She said with a grimace at the grisly thought.

"Shit!!". He exclaimed in horror. "That's so fucked up."

"Yeah.. not nice." She agreed.

"Sooo... when you try not to... and I know you do try not to.. you run the risk of that happening?" he said as he thought of all the times Jessica had held off having sex until she could see Hank Choi.

Jessica shook her head.

"No.. I don't let it get that far... running and masturbation let me manage it so I can do what I do. And I have you guys.. it helps." She told him frankly.

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully.

"But you still have to have more sex than what Choi can provide... so you two can never be like a proper couple... I'm sorry Jess." Gibbs said after thinking about it for a while.

"He doesn't like what I have to do Gibbs... I don't either, not now I know what Love is... It is what it is and I'll keep as much of me for Hank as I can... can we change the subject?"

Gibbs realised two girls were watching them, both former PG's from the PI's they had retrained. Both had high intelligence for Gen enhanced girls.. roughly around high school level, both fiercely loyal to Jess.

"Carry on Sgt Davis." He said with a real hint of regret in his voice. It wasn't just the Doc that found Jessica and the girls fascinating.

"Thank you Sir." She replied with a smile, the presence of Daphne and Rebecca prevented further delving into her personal life.

It wasn't that she disliked talking about things with Gibbs, but talking on this particular subject was something she wanted to avoid since she had set a few things in motion. She wanted to get the full results before talking to anyone and that included Gibbs, even if she did think of him as a friend.

Dr Samantha Collins was doing more than just looking into the way Jessica and the others were changing mentally, she had already indicated that the Company had probably lied about what would happen if they didn't have regular sex. Her initial findings told Jessica that while it would become increasingly frustrating and highly uncomfortable, going without sex would most likely not be life threatening.

Watching as Jessica turned and marched away to do as she had been ordered, Gibbs sighed and shook his head.