Aurora, Wayward Pt. 05

I am still learning about all of those functions including advanced space combat tactics, astrophysics, higher forms of mathematics, and hundreds of other subjects. I have a MA of 275. I was not born with it. Becoming a hybrid you could expect a 10 to 20% jump. Aurora has been working to feed a couple of us this data through a mental interface at speed reader paces. Not the subliminal stuff she is working with the public.

The reason being is you would be sharing your most intimate and personal thoughts with the Sentinel in question. They would hear it all. That requires trust. If you cannot trust the leadership put before you; as explained when we put the requirements before you that it would be a major problem. That you could be working for a Penan, a hybrid, or a Sentinel.

Especially during these early days. They refused to learn and wanted to be put into positions of authority. They are the 3-year-olds who wanted the keys to your gun cabinet. They did not come to learn. That is a 30% initial rejection rate.

Our hybrids will be back in the system tomorrow. That ship will remain under an AI leader. The second one will have a hybrid leader in Admiral Breva Rivar. Two hybrids will be aboard the first one. Wira Kel; whose home became the center of a bombing campaign and a slew of arrests throughout all of the systems.

It began with what we found in her condo. The other is a new, Pena office worker and lover of hers named Kinna. She is 2 years out from being a lawyer and with what she is getting each night through subliminal education she might knock that out in half that time.

This is a test we need to do to see how this learning affects us with what we as a society have today. From there it gets even more advanced. You have to prove yourself capable of driving a POV before your parents turn the keys over to you.

The ones who might have the easiest adjustments are the ones who are pilots you would think. You are talking combat at speeds 8 to 10 times faster than you have ever flown. Your reflexes have to be honed. To deal with the stresses of that.

Tracking of enemies who are 'far away' and will be on you in under a second. You are talking the top 1% of 1% of existing pilots who can jump straight into that. They would be able to prove themselves. But that is very few people and not all of them have applied.

That makes those numbers even smaller. Smaller again given other requirements. I have 12 fighters on this ship. Two of them are assigned to hybrids. Five to AI's the other 5 I am looking for that top fraction of a point. Those that believe in protecting our society, our mission, and can work with multiple races.

I was asked why my Sentinels look so different from you. Some of them, like my marines. You know my marines when you see them. We get to where we are dealing with hundreds of other alien races working to do business with our society.

You will have to come to accept that not everyone will look like you. Think like you, or have the same goals as you. You will, as a society, have to learn all of these things. Just as the hybrids will have to learn it all. Except we have to know every bridge position, engineering, gun placement, type, rounds of each ordinance, and the tactics being called out by me for a given fight when a fight occurs.

Every pilot will have a squadron leader. It might be a Sentinel over one and a Penana over some Sentinels. The idea here is to get our people working with the Sentinels the way the hybrids do. We are learning from them. They refused to learn. They knew what was expected.

They knew It was thousands of years beyond their understanding, yet they wanted command positions right off the bat. You have three retired captains in that group. One of whom had taken Drakor blood. The other two will be dead in 20 years if not sooner. It will take 20-60 years to get our population up to the point to understand the ships we will be giving your military.

It will be closed to 150 years before the population might understand the science behind the ship I am flying. Another 100 before they are ready to have a fleet that is only Penan for the defense of their colony. The colony's military if you will that is on par with what the Home Guard has on this one ship.

This is not the largest or most powerful ship the Terran Home Guard has. We have yet to build one of those. They are colony movers and armed to the teeth. But it will lack weapons we do not have. We will work to develop enhancements to the weapons information we do have to create comparable weapons.

The field will be level when we are ready to join the Alien Alliance...324 years from now. We will be ready as a people to join the larger universe. We can show you how but we cannot force you to follow or listen.

These 6 and the others who are talking about being bullied by Sentinels got it backward. You came into this service as privates and wanted to be admirals. Even our admiral has her Sentinel advisors because she is just learning all of these things at a much faster rate.

She is motivated by the hidden enemies that consumed our people. She wants to protect us from these hidden actors. That was the leading reason she retired her commission. She felt she had been fighting the wrong enemy after we showed up and exposed them.

She had the right mindset and she will listen to those Sentinels who are advising her because she does not know it all. Just as I do not know it all. Anyone with an MA of 275 wishes to apply to the Home Guard please know we will fact check it.

As well as your life's background. I had a discussion with one of the governors in regards to pulling up the redacted files in our investigation of a hybrid candidate. I told her we needed the whole truth about them. No secrets.

No means of blackmailing a hybrid. We have to be as honest with you as we can. I have given it to you as honestly as I can. The young are going to have an easier time adapting than the old. The old find it harder to change. You have to find those willing to embrace that change; learn again from the ground up, and know that spot you got is yours because you earned it on the new equipment."

She looked up, "You said as honestly as you can be. What does that mean?"

He smiled, "I was upfront about that in my first press conference. There are elements of the future we cannot release to the public. They are classified.

Those aspects I already told you. Don't ask about them as you will not get the answers. There is such a thing as knowing too much about your own future. I briefed the council on one large piece of that information and it is classified to anyone else.

Even their mates. The reason I gave them that piece was so they could share some of the burdens that Freia and I have shared alone since arriving. So that if the two of us are gone. They know it and can stay focused. Gone to another system or gone as in killed.

They have to live with that information and adapt to what the future holds. To keep the Home Guard focused on its goal of protecting our people, feeding our people in this time of crisis, and moving our people to a safer system that is not killing them daily or all at once in over 300 years.

To those on the stage with you, I can bring up the footage from the surveillance cameras that shows the actions you took to get removed from the ship. Raise a hand if you would like me to do that?"

The 6 of them looked at each other and no hands went up. He looked at the host, "They were removed for cause."

The host sighed. "Well, that is our show for today."

She looked up at the screen as the others left in a hurry. "You came on strong and laid it out for them. Some candidates may withdraw because of what you said. What are your thoughts on that?"

He nodded, "Get the learning on the ground that is being offered. A year or two of that and they might understand just how out of their depth they will be if they cannot work with Sentinels. We need them to get our people moved and ready to survive and thrive. Those that reapply will be reevaluated.

Those that don't belong in the Colony militaries and not the Home Guard. There will be no Sentinels in the colony militaries as they have to live under the Home Guard code and colony militaries work at protecting a segment of our population and not the totality of it.

I would also address those businesses who sent requests for Sentinels to run their facilities on Trisan for the next 25 years. If it is not a life or death item needed to sustain our population they can forget it. Sentinels will not support it and they will have to reconstitute their business on Pena or Drisen as they are both under Quarantine.

They would have to work with the local governments on that matter as to any regulations and such. That is politics. Right now, we have 2 businesses. One small pharmaceutical firm that is producing a drug used by several thousand of our citizens for a memory disorder.

This is likely caused by the metal in our planets. We could confirm that then we could close that business by moving them to a colony ship; if only they were willing to do so. They have to live under Home Guard rules and the colony rules that would be established by newly elected colony leaders.

The other business will have to run there because the resource to make the material only exists on that one planet in quantities large enough to support the rest of the population. That is 100 Sentinel factory workers and 40 lab factory workers. At the moment, that is all I am authorizing for Sentinels workers on Trisen.

They have to give me justification. 'Expense' or 'living in a cold world I don't want to do' are not reasons. I have had that argument with several leaders of the industries."

She nodded, "I will add this impromptu interview to tonight's newscast."

He nodded and smiled, "I expected you would." He ended the call.

---

For the next 3 nights, his bed was empty except for him and Aurora who collected samples laying on him all night long. She had talked privately with Freia and she had found a lover in Vivian as Rocan expected she would. She still loved him deeply but Vivian was still upset about his reaction to her decision.

---

He was in his office off the bridge when Vivian walked in and took a seat. She looked across at him. "I need to know what you found so wrong about my decision?"

He looked at her, "This statement is not to hurt you. If that had happened to that little girl you used to be. You were assaulted. Crying and climaxing from what they were doing. What trauma would that have caused you? It stopped the physical pain but not the mental pain. You still need to deal with that.

Lena needs to understand that what you chose is not the right option until those metal demons have been exorcised. Then she has to realize any injuries in those areas. She might climax from them instead of feeling pain."

She sat back, "What can I do to make this right?"

He looked at her, "Talk with one of the doctors and work through the mental so those demons have dissipated. Some group counseling with Lena might help you both. I still care for you deeply, very deeply. I am just concerned about what your choice is going to produce in the future. Pain is a part of life.

I don't want you not sharing my bed with Freia. I wanted the opposite of that. Two ladies to spend my nights with Aurora in the mix to collect samples and ride me all night long if they desired it. Just as she has done for the last 3 nights alone."

She looked at him, "What about this mental interface between Freia, Aurora, and you. If I wanted to be a part of that?"

He looked at her, "Get Doctor Trose to sign off on it. Know any nightmares of your past we will feel and we will work to comfort you back to the here and now. I do not object as long as the Doctor clears it. Dr. Trose. Not Ariel. She is a tougher audience. You can explain what it brings to the table.

Three minds working to help you sort through those demons and not removing them but muting them. Not judging you but helping you. Those memories are there. They are a part of you, it is a part of your past and it made you who you are today. A damned Marine."

She laughed at his last statement. She got up to leave and he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. He kissed her passionately while he slipped his hand inside her blouse and his hand over her breast. She moaned into his mouth. He pulled back and looked at her. "To be continued tonight with Freia and you. You can go first."

She smiled, kissed him quickly, and left the office. He heard from Freia mentally. * I had been holding that back from you for days as I talked with her. I think you got her to understand it was about more than her. It was also about Lena living a normal life. *

He thought to her, * Also about you. She has one more lesson to learn and she will have to learn it from you. Spar with live blades and graze a cut across her stomach. I am betting she screams a climax and is ready for more when she should be holding the wound closed. She needs to realize when she is in combat and she feels that. That climax is actually pain because she has been injured. That lesson is yours to teach. *

He heard her mentally sigh, * You know we have sword training coming up in an hour. *

He thought back, * Exactly. You need to understand my concerns as much as she does. You do not fully understand my concern and will not until you are a part of it. I will be in medical checking on the status of our crew when you bring her in. *

She responded, * Alright. *

---

He was in medical when she was brought in and Freia thought to him, * You were right she had a major climax and charged at me. Shocked the hell out of me. I put her in a telekinetic shield, put my weapon away, and went and held her stomach. I released her and she realized what had happened. She was in shock. I brought her up myself. As she could barely walk thinking about that. *

She was laid upon the table and he looked at her, "The babies are fine. It was not that deep; just deep enough to open up your chest. She looked at him, "I could have died continuing that fight. Just climaxing left and right without realizing that."

He nodded, "You have to retrain your brain. You feel that in combat; especially when I put you in a fighter, you are going to have to know you have been injured. The only way to explain it so you would understand and accept what I was telling you. It had to be shown to you first hand."

She nodded, "I understand what you meant now. You're going to put me in a fighter?"

He smiled, "Our fighters are called arrows. In my day they called them nails. Different models. They were used to breach a ship for a boarding action. A squad in EVA suits doing decompression of ships section by section. I was a fighter pilot. I left out it was for the Gresan Marines. Self-sealing EVA suits. Won't take care of the injury, but it will keep you from getting hit by exposure."

She nodded, "Where did you usually go in at?"

He smiled, "Fighter and shuttle bays. Sometimes engineering. Once it was a single stab and move on a bridge that killed the crew. Other colonies worked to copy our design but we had better pilots because they had more combat experience. They were better Marines as far as being trained in space combat."

She nodded, "Alright. You wanted a sniper in a fighter because of what?"

He smiled, "When I call graduation day. You will find out."

She smiled, "Alright. Lesson learned. Dr. Trose cleared it. She thought it was a good example of forced family therapy to try and help me with that issue. Experimental, but she liked the idea."

He looked at her, "When I broke your hymen did you climax?"

She thought back and closed her eyes and nodded, "I guess I did. I wanted to feel more of that. I wanted all of you. I wanted you everywhere. I wanted the rush and the excitement."

He smiled, "You're a captive audience and Aurora is here to install that implant. Lay back and she will knock you out for about an hour and get it installed."

He thought to Aurora and Freia, * No discussions on the stealth fighters or stealth in general. Those are to be kept secret for now. I have plans for those. *

Freia thought back, * We have not talked with the council and Frodor kept it from being known when we grabbed her with the shuttle. I am sure you have your reasons. I trust you, as Aurora trusts you, lover. Thank you for agreeing to this. *

Vivian smiled, "Thank you for letting me be one with you. Another fucking marine. I should have guessed by the way you moved on the ground with the assault forces. Repelling, and all of that. A Marine Space Pilot."

He nodded, "Created about 250 years from now. We are introducing it sooner. Now you know why I wanted a marine up here. You can repel boarders and you can board the other ship. You got two options."

He left her to Aurora and felt her mind connect, she asked * Freia knew all this about you being a Marine. You had it redacted from your file. You wanted to show them a space-based marine. How you earned all of those citations. Some of them in hand-to-hand combat situations.

It was there for everyone to see; except it wasn't defined. I replayed that image and the list of awards you got a hundred times and thought you were a fucking amazingly skilled warrior. Am I allowed to tell anyone? *

He responded, * Only after graduation. *

---

Four hours later Rocan and Aurora were on approach for the Governor's compound. The Governors traveled with minimum security as then knew they would have to go aboard The Spartan for decontamination. He brought the 2 who were on uncontaminated worlds with him.

They left their shuttles on his battleship and traveled with him. He brought 6 marines to guard the shuttle. He landed it on a pad further out but that got a lot of cameras rolling. He let the governors go out first with their details and then he and Aurora traveled out. He was in a Black suit with an emerald green tie for a change. He had the entire compound under surveillance from the Spartan; looking for snipers or any surprise attacks.

This was the first time the public had an idea that his physique was not all an EVA suit. He had the wide shoulders, the narrow waist, and the long silver hair with his silver eyes. He had Aurora on his arm. She wore an emerald green cocktail dress with a split up the left leg to just below her hip. She carried no weapons and he had his sword only. They had reporters throwing questions left and right. One of them shouted out over the others, "Some say your allegiance is to the Sentinels. That they have brainwashed you."

He looked at the man, "When those someone's come and stand face-to-face with me, then I will address the answer to that question. Otherwise, they are shooting off at the mouth, much like yourself."

He walked in as some of the other reporters laughed at the man. He walked past the security to a round table. They had seats across from the Penna Governor. She nodded after everyone was seated and the cameras were removed from the room.

Aurora looked over, "For a private conversation." Aurora fried at least 10 listening devices in the room, "Probably left by your press corp. You will know when they complain and don't seem to have rumors about what you are up to."

She nodded, "Thank you. This was one conversation we wanted to keep private for now. We have seen how you work and wonder if some things are missing from your past, Rocan."

He smiled, "Bring up my service record redacted on the display for them." She did. He thought. * Flash over the top black bar in the top middle of the page. *

She looked at it as it became unredacted. 'Grenan Marine Corp Space Base Fighter pilot and Boarding Team Flight Commander.'