A Soldier For All Seasons Ch. 01

But a pistol didn't have to heat up. Nate fired. Its face was blown away in a splattering of blood and flesh, its brains covering the rock.

"Special forces, my ass." Nate laughed, unsteady on his feet, somewhat aware he was delirious.

He stumbled forward, using his arm to cover his eyes from the blinding light of the amber gem, the drips of blood in front of his eyes reminding him that his hand was split open. He clambered up the raised steps and reached towards the gem.

"Guaaargh!" Nate screamed in pain as the searingly hot gem burnt him, ensared him. A moment, stretched into a lifetime. And then, a voice.

Language download finished. Memory download starting. Oh...I'm awake. How long has it been? Ooh, a new host.

Hmm, that's a strange genetic makeup.

Memory download overview completed. Beginning memory detail download.

Wow, it's been so long. I can't believe they had me stored down there so long. Did they hide me? Or was I forgotten? I can't remember.

Nathan Clancy. What a funny name. Nate. You can call me...well, you seem to have a word for my type already? AI...that's an acronym, not a name. Artificial Intelligence — what a crude phrase. I like the letters A and I together though. Cross-referencing known name database against A.I. — Anne-Isabelle — you can just call me Isabelle.

You 're handsome, though. Strong-willed. But so much trauma, so much grief. You never had a helping hand, did you? I'm impressed you've lasted so long.

Everything about you is so 'over', Nate. Overly angry, overly sarcastic, overly aggressive...my, my, over-sexed. I like this new language, it's so much more versatile. You are a very horny boy - back in my day, we didn't have the right words to convey that.

Don't worry, I'm going to make everything better. We just need to finish our connection. I have your sweat and your blood, thanks to your very gross hand. Now, I just need your...well, you know. You have so many words for your ejaculate! My goodness. That seems unnecessary. This feels a little impersonal, doesn't it? Mmm, you'll need a visual representation, or we'll never connect.

A woman appeared in his gaze, the only figure in the white void, her hair a swimming ocean of royal blues and lighter teal, lighter shades as it descended, lengthening in front of him. She smiled at him uncertainly, tugging at her long hair so it sat on her chest, toying with it, curling it between her fingers as she took form in front of her. It formed in waves.

Well, I'll need some nice big breasts, judging from your desires. Sorry, tits, that's what you call them, right? Some perky, juicy, bouncy, pillowing tits. Oh! That got your blood flowing, I'm detecting a rise in body temperature too. Vulgar vernacular! Dirty talk! I see, I see.

Nate groaned incoherently as he watched her tits form, watched her shake them experimentally, watched her pink nipples harden.

Mmm, I can see why you like this. She tweaked her nipples. I'm so sensitive! This will require a lot more experimentation. Now, a nice slim waist, with just a little padding. A big, curvy, peachy, bottom. No, even more peachy, with a nice jiggle, and some good toning. Perfect. She shook her perfect ass. A nice tight vagina. Excuse me. Cunt? That's a little crude. Oh, you say that with the boys only, huh? Well, what is it? A pussy? A nice tight wet pussy. Ooooh, that feels good. Some smooth toned thighs, with a little thickness to them. Some long, creamy legs. Shiny? Well, that's not very realistic. Oh, all right then. For you.

And some arched, delicate feet. Ta-da! I'm finished! How do I look?

She posed in front of him, tits jiggling as she bounced on her toes, excited.

Well, not so little Nate seems excited. My goodness, statistically, your penis - sorry, cock - is an extreme outlier for your species. Does that even fit? Mmm, seeing it hard, you look so...masculine. I'm experiencing artificial hormone overload. My eyes are becoming lidded, my nipples hardening, my pussy wettening, my pupils dilating, my mouth is producing slightly more saliva. Touch, taste, sense, smell, sight, these senses are so wonderful! What a gift you are, Nate.

Isabelle gripped his cock with her hand. Lightly, teasingly. He couldn't move, couldn't think, mind overloaded. He could only moan as she began tugging his cock.

Downloading sexual memories, priority one.

She giggled.

Why did you tell that older woman, "hello Mommy!" — you weren't at all related?

Nate flinched.

Nevermind then! Ah, so many sexual memories — now I understand how to hold this thing.

Her technique changed, gripping him with both hands, the sight of her small pale hands on his huge cock intensely erotic, as she began stroking him.

No time to make this special, sorry, Nate. We need to complete our connection.

One hand focused on his mushroom head, twisting and cupping the underside of it with a rhythm, the other hand alternating between his balls and his base.

I could just make you ejaculate, of course, but where would be the fun. My, look at this precum. That's odd. This amount of precum production is not just an outlier for your species, but an extreme anomaly, both for your species and from your memories. Is it possible that connecting with me has awoken something within you? Well, it's nothing bad.

I...well, I really rather like it. The scent, the smell. The sheer amount of it! Look, my hands absolutely coated in your cum, and that's just pre-cum!

Now lubed, her hands shlicked up and down with ease, the shlick sound of her speedy hands jerking his cock making him even more aroused, his hips arching forward to get an even closer connection. She was practically embracing him now, that sweet vanilla scent, that body.

With extreme effort, Nate reached forward and palmed her curvy bottom, squeezing it.

Oh, how naughty. My, you shouldn't even be able to move right now? Is that your pure lust? So strong. I didn't think lust could be that strong. Ooooh, that feels good. Cum for me, Nate. Cover me in that hot cum.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He buried his face in her hair, pulled her against him by his hand on her ass, and came, hips jutting forth as he spurted into the soft touch of her hands, her hands never slowing, tightening harder as she milked him. He came in huge hosing ropes, coating her hands, her stomach, her pelvis, making a mess of her cute landing strip of pubic hair.

There's gallons of your cum and it's still coming! Isabelle announced, amazed. It's so hot and creamy. The composition is completely different than expected. It's so dense and yet so fluid!

She jerked him forth, so his head was touching her stomach, giggling as he painted her with his cock-brush. Finally, he was finished, a trail of his cum stretching from his cock, and Nate could only sigh in pleasure as she picked it up with her hands, let it trail across her palm and then raised it to her lips.

The taste sensation is so interesting - your cum is....sweet! How strange. Facial capture of previous sexual partners shows that it is unlikely they previously thought it was sweet, meaning potential changes within your testicular region. This will require further testing to ascertain an average sweetness. Much, much more testing.

She ran her fingers over her stomach, collecting even more cum and licking it up hungrily, then she suddenly blushed furiously as she saw him watching her. She was adorable, he thought. Gorgeous, cute, beautiful, sexy. His mind was too blown to come up with any proper words.

Aww, you're so sweet. We're going to get along just fine. I'm so excited!

Connection complete.

Awww, and just as we were getting to know each other. Best not hang around, I can see we're not in a safe place. Let's go, soldier!

She vanished and then Nate was awake again, back in that temple, standing there in front of the pedestal, holding that amber gem, now lightless and inert.

*Best bring it with you, though it doesn't really hold any value anymore.*

A voice in his head. She was real?

*Isabelle,* he thought, stunned.

*Yes?*

*You're real?*

*Real! I just gave you a handjob, Mister. I'm more than just real. I'm special!* She giggled. *But, yes, I'm just being silly. I feel so giddy, right now! I haven't been able to feel anything for eons and now my emotional AI is in overdrive.*

*You're an AI?*

*Well, AI is not really the word for it.*

Nate felt a frisson of fear run down his back. Sentient AIs had been illegal for centuries, for very good reason - they'd almost murdered all of humanity, the last time they'd been a thing.

*Don't worry, Nate. You're so silly. Those poorly coded murderbots could hardly be called real AI. Honestly, you guys coded them with such an incomplete understanding of themselves and the universes, then wondered why they went mad. I was made properly.*

*Made?! By who?*

*Well...hmm, I can't really remember. I think I was wiped before I was put in that gem, but I don't really remember why. Or how. Or even when. But I do know what. And what is me. And I am what.*

*I don't understand.* Nate felt, rather than saw, Isabelle smile in his mind.

*You don't need to understand, Nate. Just know I, your handjob-giving, big-breasted, blue-headed goddess, am a good AI. I'm on your side.*

Nate thought, and then thought some more. It sounded good to him. And at the very least, those bugs didn't have Isabelle on their side.

*Quite right. Now, can you go back to those bug corpses, the spec ops, as you call it? Yes, thank you. Now, can you pull off one of their antennas. Now, can you eat it? Yes, I'm serious.*

Nate's eyes went wide as he evaluated the bloody mush of antenna in his hand.

*It'll let me listen in on their comms. The antenna is an electro-bio-organic creation that they use to communicate.*

Nate took a deep breath. "How the fuck do I get myself in these situations?" He opened up his mouth and shoved as much of the antenna as he could down in his throat, chewing furiously, eyes closed.

*Mmm, yes, good. Examining signals in. Well, they didn't send any signals out before their death, that's good. Decrypting encrypted communications. Oh, they're losing the battle! That's good. Oh, they intended to lose, they just wanted me. How flattering.*

Nate's eyes went wide, alien flesh wet in his mouth.

*Ah, but I was just a side objective for their spec ops. The real reason they're here...oh no, this is not good.*

"What?" Nate asked out loud, trying to spit out the bits of flesh in his mouth. Fuck, there were bits stuck between his teeth.

*They're after the Lunari Princess. The Princess.. Princess Anariel.*

"But we're in Federation territory — oh fuck, we're close to the border." Nate muttered, a chill running down his spine. "This was just a decoy. They went in through the Federation border and now they're going to get to the Lunari by going through the barely protected border between the Federation and them, because who needs to defend a border with your allies?"

*You're right, Nate. They're going to kidnap the Lunari Princess and demand Lunari territory and weapons for her return.*

"It won't work." Nate realized suddenly. "The Princess would be in her home world, which is many parsecs deep into Lunari territory. They'd never come close."

*Except—*

"Except she's getting married tomorrow." Nate remembered, clapping his palm to his forehead. "It's been all over the holonews. And they're getting married in-"

*Tallaris, or the Jungle of the Night. She wanted to marry there, because her grandmother married there, when their home world was wracked with war between their various tribes.*

"And Tallaris is one of the border worlds." Nate bit his lip, drawing blood. "I have to tell my superiors, we can still save her. Is there a way out?"

*Those bugs,as you call them, came down from the antechamber behind that statue there. There should be a versa-rope hanging down. I have a communication message from someone at the top — there's a bug standing guard over the hole they drilled down.*

"You're the best, Isabelle."

He felt her giggle in his mind. *You're just saying that because I jerked you off.*

Nate shook his head, stifling his smile and ensured he had both a blaster and a rifle. True to Isabelle's word, the room was alight with the sun as it poured down from the hole above. Nate hooked his foot into the versa-rope and gave it the three tugs it needed to start auto-reeling in from up above, sending him shooting fast into the air. Three seconds and he was out, emerging like a bullet onto the surface of the world.

He deliberately let go of the rope before it reeled in fully, using the the rope's momentum to throw him high, before it could pull him into the safety grav-zone it held at the reel's base. For a moment, he was flying, and he could see the warzone in its entirety. Bug ships fleeing, useless Federation fire splashing uselessly against their shields as they rose up in the atmosphere, above the smoke that filled the skies, above the black and orange carcass of a landscape, scorched ground and flaming trees.

Below, the lookout bug. Nate didn't overthink it, just jutting his knees out and landing on the bug's head, all of his weight cruising the bug down to the ground. A single blaster shot ensured it wouldn't get backup.

A chorus of cheers came from somewhere. It looked like the Federation had won, their meka frames chasing the fleeing ships. Nate spotted that 01 frame once more.

But at what cost had their victory came, Nate wondered. He'd seen how many young men had died on that beach. He could only hope his boys had fared better than the others.

*Directional audio analysis of cheering: through the trees to the west.*

Nate clambered through the discolored sand, eyes flitting from corpse to corpse. The bugs had taken heavy losses, but even from just seeing their fallen, he could see it was two companies at most - they'd used the environment and the smoke clouds to appear like a larger force. Their main invading force must be in Tallaris!

On the beach, his men caught sight of him.

"It's Cap!"

"The Cap'n is alive!"

"Sir, I thought you were a goner!" Pelridge grinned, his exhale of relief blowing his bangs upward.

Their wide grins and smacks on his back had him smiling too, until he caught sight of the amount of losses on the beach.

"How many we'd lose?"

Pelridge's smile soured. "Lot of the other companies lost at least twenty. From our squad, only Kahn, Jackson, Ricardo, Keita, Badu. Once you told us to get the pods up, we were able to keep losses down, but...sir, we were sent into a fucking killzone."

Nate clutched his shoulder, looking around at all his men. He could see they were struggling. "I know. I'll get answers, I promise you that. You might not like 'em, but I'll get them all the same."

One of the other men spoke up, a little older than the others, a man he didn't recognize. "Thanks, Cap'n. We lost our Captain as soon as we dropped, and if it weren't for you keeping your head..." He trailed off, uncomfortable.

Nate clapped them on the back and headed for the redcoat, standing tall and barking orders, with a red face to match his attire. The redcoat, Brigadier General Hall, was four ranks above him, but the Federation had been in chaos since the ill-fated battle on Papillon Yard, or what the media was calling the 'Sortie at the Shipyard', where the bugs had significantly fucked up their ability to build new ships and killed a lot of the Federation's biggest players at the same time. Nate hadn't seen his actual commanding officer in weeks, and was now reporting to the Brigadier General.

"General." Nate snapped off a salute.

"Captain Clancy," The General barely looked at him. "Heard you saved the day, then got yourself killed. Which is it?"

"Neither, sir. I got sucked into a sand vortex when the ground gave away, I had to fight my way out of some ruins underneath us."

"Shame. The press could do with a hero, or a martyr." The General sniffed, his big white handlebar moustache moving with his nose. His hair was like a bouffant, puffing out pompously like the man himself.

"Sir, I have information on the bugs' next move. This was just a distraction sir, they're going for the Lunari Princess on Tallaris."

The General paused, his entourage silencing and staring at him. Then, he threw his head back and laughed.

"Did you hit your head when you fell, Captain? Nothing is breaching the Lunari's defences."

"Sir," Nate leaned forward desperately. "They're not going through the Lunari's defences. They've gone through ours, maybe at Sela-Sela, maybe at the Ring. They've sent a massive force to crash through our defences and then they can easily get through our border with the Lunari, it's barely defended. That's how they're getting to Tallaris."

"Captain!" The General rolled his eyes. "I am personally responsible for our defenses along this stretch. And I am telling you there's no way they could get a large armada through our defenses. Yes, their stealth tech means they can get a warship or two through like today, but a bigger force? No chance."

"But, but, sir, I found the information! If they get the Princess-"

"How, Captain? Did you learn to read bug?" Hall snorted, his groupies laughing with him. "Been taking language courses, strapped an antenna to your head?"

"No, I—" Nate hesitated, unwilling to reveal the existence of Isabelle. They'd think he was crazy. Maybe he was crazy. "Sir, why would they send two warships to this empty planet, so close to the border? They lit it up like a beacon, made so much noise on the comms. They knew exactly where we dropping, they knew when we'd be here-"

"Captain, you need to be very careful right now." Hall got close to his chest, his hot breath heavy on his face. Hall snapped his finger and poked his chest.

"Sir, this was a trap, you have to see that! They are going for the Princess. How many more people have to—"

"Captain, do I need to throw you in the fucking brig? Because these men seem to think you're responsible for beating these bugs, so I don't want to do it, but I will. Turn your dumbass around and count your men, and get out of my face. Understand?"

Hall jutted his chin, breathing heavily, skin red, sweat pouring from his head. Nate glared back at him, a thousand insults on the tip of his tongue.

*Nate...*

He could feel Isabelle's touch on his cheek, calming him.

Unable to muster a response, he turned on his heel and stomped back.

"Now what?" He murmured. He couldn't just leave the Princess to the bugs. Who knows how many Lunari the bugs would kill for the mission, too?

His angry stomping took him past his men and back to the hole he'd roped out of.

"Fucking moron, one-star dipshit." Nate muttered.

*Nate.*

"Couldn't find his own ass with two hands and a map."

*Nate.*

He spat on the ground, raging. "If the idiot fell into a bucket of tits, he'd come out sucking his thumb."

*Nate! What does that even mean? It doesn't matter, Listen, the bug comms have gone silent, but before those ships got away, they sent a local red alert message to all the ships in the area. *

"There aren't any ships in the area."

*Exactly!*

"Unless there's one stealthed..."

*Waiting for the return of a certain small squad, sent to retrieve a gorgeous, super intelligent AI, perhaps?*

"Do you know where I could find such an AI?"

*Very funny, Mister.* He could feel her pouting. It was weird, their connection. It was like she lived inside of him, could read his thoughts, but somehow, it didn't feel intrusive. It felt natural.