Gabatrix: The Cipra Campaign

The three questions sent a grave chill through Ramírez. Even Tara'Talar momentarily grabbed onto her sides as she honestly considered that. At first glance, it was easy for someone to boastfully claim that they won against one of the most powerful rulers of the Aksren clan. However, the Empress was no laughing matter. Ramírez knew enough about the Empire of Itsis. It carried the most significant resources and controlled the Aksren clan as a whole. Hundreds of thousands of warships were at her command. Death squads, assassins, advanced weapons, superweapons, elite soldiers and crews, the finest equipment, and many worlds of the former Empire of Jalgren. Was the recapturing of Cipra worth it? This was a wake-up call on all sides of the conflict. Shira had put out her cigarette. There was an ambiance of trepidation. She remained calm, but her non-emotional tone could still convey the sense that the Itrean war was far from over.

"I recognize the accent of an Itrean that stands next to you," Shira asked. "What is your name?"

Ramírez turned the tablet to Tara'Talar so that Shira could see her. "My name is Tara'Talar, Lesser Adjunct of the Atra."

Shira momentarily paused as she acknowledged it. "You two have yet been in another interesting battle," Shira replied. "Your roles are significant for the clan and the UWA. However, Tara'Talar, I must ask that the T'rintar clan relay all information to me in regards to the highly classified event known as Kosa'Toj *Click* Xisin. It may correlate with Ole's....recordings. I will need to evaluate this further."

"Kosa....what?" Ramírez asked. He held the tablet away so that Shira could see both of them.

Tara'Talar gave a questioning look. It seemed that she had never heard of this. "I will contact my Fleet Adjunct and try to relay this information to you."

"Consider it as further repayment for my services to you and the T'rintar clan," Shira replied. "My time is up, however. I will need to return to my other duties."

"Very well," Ramírez stated. "Thank you for rendering your help today."

"It is quite likely that we will speak again, Ramírez and Tara'Talar." With that, the channel closed, and Ramírez put the tablet back into his pocket.

"Ugh...," he grunted. "What was Shira talking about when it came to the highly classified material?"

"I don't know," Tara'Talar replied. She put her scaly finger to her chin. "The description that she told me translates to 'The Man That Could Never Die.' It is a coded title message that relates to whatever she said. I will have to pass along that information to my Fleet Adjunct."

"Man? Are they referring to a human or Itrean?"

"I don't know. The word for man in our language can refer to human or Itrean. However, if it was recent, it would have to be a human or something else."

"Coded words and metaphors. Eh....I'm done. Let's return to the Atra. I have a lot of reports to do."

Tara'Talar did her quick nods. With that, they both proceeded to the hatch that led into the shuttle. It was up to everyone else to carry forth with the excavation. The campaign for Cipra was over. Now it was up to everyone to pick up the pieces and move forward......

Chapter 16: The World of Paradise

It had been little more than a week.

It was another world. The vast wilderness of flora and fauna was everywhere. The smell of the air was sweet. The sounds of chirping alien-like birds of Cebravis filled the environment. It was not far from the small house that Dean had. His blue electric truck was parked not far from the main garden and small farm field that he had. The temperatures were exactly perfect, not being hot or too cold. Various plants, vegetables, and fruits were all being grown. Besides the small solar-powered house was a large open garage with tools and some sort of makeshift-powered glider. Outside of the field was a massive array of the great Cebravin trees.

Dean was dressed in his civilian clothes and, for most intensive purposes, appeared to be a farmer. He had basic woven blue overalls, brown boots, and various tools that protruded from his pockets. His long blond hair was fully loose and flowed freely in the bright sun. He sat down in the middle of the field and was crouched down next to Iz'tre. Her scaly finger was busy taking a blue seed and dropping it into the crafted hole in the fertile soil. Iz'tre was dressed in a clean green silk shawl. She kneeled into the soft soil as her tail pressed against the nearby sets of growing plants. She seemed to display a level of happiness on her face.

"Now.....you take the plant seed thingy and like.....put it in the dirt," Dean said in his calm stupor.

"Like....this?" Iz'tre asked him.

"Yeah.....you got it, Izzy," he happily told her. "Now, you like.....take your hand and gently push the soil back over the seed."

Iz'tre took her scaly hand and pushed the loose soil over the small hole. She gave a simple small nod.

"It grow weed?" she asked in her butchered English.

"No, that's a.....umm...," he paused and took out one of the sets of seeds into his mouth. He gently chewed it and swallowed it before he nodded. "That's an Earth Perisian Carrot. It's like......ah.....orange and slightly round vegetable."

"Eat?" gestured to her snout.

"Yeah, see? We're like.....growing plants and being one with nature, Izzy. This home.....it belonged to my parents before they moved out. My sister tries to help take care of the farm and all, but.....it's really hard for her to do it. So like....she gave it to me to help take care of it." He stood up from the ground and looked around the entire area as Iz'tre stood up close to him. "So.....now this whole place is now our place to live. The only problem is that it's hard to do it when I'm in the UHN all the time."

"But you.....ask time off?"

"Well yeah.....but.....a part of me is like.....ready to be home and like,.....settle down. That's why I'm happy to have you here, Izzy. I think having you around is going to be......really nice and jive with this place."

"My mate....," she gently grabbed his arm and remained close to him. "Miss you."

"I know....it was a bummer not having you here and stuff, but....I have like a month of leave time. I think that's....a lot of time off, but......I was hoping to go ahead and leave the service. The military was like.....really happy to see me flying, but....I think they want me to go ahead and stop after Cipra. See......I think they were just so impressed with my flight skills that....I saved humanity and brought an end to a conflict. They were like.....telling me that I was a hero and that they had plenty of new pilots and all. I don't see how they did after the whole thing....but.....I'll just go with the flow, Izzy."

"Home....," Iz'tre remarked at the place. There was a sense of relief in her reptilian eyes since she had arrived thirty minutes ago. However, the vast wilderness was utterly alien to her. Dean pointed to the garage.

"See that glider? I totally made that. There was a nearby field that I used to like.....fly me and my sister around. I would fly circles around the big trees. It scared my sister at first, but.....she got used to it. I think that......the military was just impressed with my flying skills."

"You become pilot.....fly."

"Yeah....it's totally gnarly, man. It feels so free and all. It wasn't easy...like....I had my share of crashes, but....I got better. Here....you will know what it's like to be with Dean....because....you're my greatest pal. My bro.....well.....you're a woman, but a female bro."

Iz'tre leaned her crested head close to him. "Want family...," she told him.

"We will....it will be totally awesome. I can be like....the great farmer. Dean....Doper Dean.....Farmer Dean. We can grow food here. We can invite all our pals here and just hang out. Like....I even got all the weed that anybody could ever have. We can get totally stoned, watch the plants grow, and harvest all the food that grows here."

"T'rintar clan.....give money.....us," she tried to say.

"Yeah, that too. I'm glad that the T'rintar buddies like.....support the peace and love. Because.....we shouldn't have to hurt each other, man. We should all be like.....pals....bros. I can't wait for you to meet my sister."

"You.....get?" She tried to ask him the question, but she didn't have the word. She then simply reached over and tapped him on the crotch. He was still trying to figure out what she was asking.

"Well....I am a bro. I do like.....have the parts to make me a guy, but...."

"No....." she tried to summarize her words. "I......want.....baby. You get......" she used her fingers to simulate that of a syringe that was being emptied.

"Oh.....totally, Izzy. I went to the doctors, and they like.....injected my DNA and umm.....told me that I'm making Aksren sperm or something like that. Whoa.....this technology stuff is just totally gnarly."

"You have Aksren.....sperm?"

"Yeah.....it should be enough to get you pregnant, you know?"

Iz'tre showed a profound look of happiness on her face. She placed her hand to her stomach and stepped away from Dean. She began to say a series of Itrean words. Was she making a prayer? Dean seemed to understand some of her notations and body language.

"Bless.....Gersa," she said to herself. "Meet mate's sister. Raise babies....have babies. I....free.....free to love.....I happy."

Iz'tre had her hands together. She practically spun and danced in the air, showing a level of grace. Her tail almost slapped one of the plants. She then walked over and began to sniff the different plants that grew in the garden. She seemed to be admiring the different scents from each one. She clasped onto one of her huge breasts while sniffing each one.

"Different food.....grow plants......fruits.....experiment eating," she pointed at her breasts. "Eat different food. Different milk.....healthy milk....babies healthy.....happy babies."

"Huh....I hadn't really thought of it that way," Dean replied.

She gestured to the place. "So free.....so different. Trees....no sand. Hot'lar sand everywhere. Cipra sand everywhere. Ce....Ce....Cebrava trees.....flowers.....plants. Pretty."

Dean clearly knew the emotions that Iz'tre had. She had been liberated from having to live in a cave of a desert to this form of world. Cebravis was considered the world of second chances, a new beginning for the human race that long-abandoned Earth. For some, Earth was just a lost cause, but the past mistakes would never happen again with Cebravis. The beauty of this planet was paramount. Iz'tre stretched out her arms and felt the various plants dance along with her fingers while she walked.

"Mate.....follow me," she beckoned to him. "Want see."

"I hear you, Izzy," he replied. He walked with her to the edge of the large garden. There was no fence past the field. From this point, it began to lead to the edge of the property.

"Trees.....big," Iz'tre remarked. "Humans big.....Iz'tre small." She clamped her hands together. "Cebrava pretty."

She took her hand and gently grasped Dean's as they walked. Most of the planet was forests. The great landscape was heralded by the enormous trees that were bigger if not more extensive than the great sequoias of former Earth. Various flowers, plants, and ferns would grow on these bases and ride up along the bark. Another thing that existed in most places was the massive array of colors. Some flowers had neon-like lights that would glow even in the current broad daylight. Other flowers would consist of a rainbow plethora of petals on the stems. Even the cushioned soft grass felt pleasant for Iz'tre's bare talon feet. As they walked into the edge of the forest, the audio of various wildlife would span outward and above. They began to walk around the base of one of the great colossal trees.

"Make sure not to like.....trip on the roots," Dean told her. "On Cebravis, we have a saying of umm.....'Lookup, but look down.' It's something that they have to tell the tourists. I think it's really smart that they say that because I always do that."

"Hunt animals?" she asked.

"Oh no.....no.....," Dean shook his head. "See? Cebravis laws don't like people hunting animals, and it's totally ungnarly to do it. Like....the animals are bros here, Izzy. On land, animals don't really hunt animals. They reproduce very slowly and have like.....very little times to breed. Small amounts of babies and all that."

"No hunting," she understood and gave her quick nods.

"For like....protein, we grow different plants. We have fish that's farm-raised grown over thirty kilometers from here in the town of Kentucky. Ceven is pretty good, and I can show you how to like.....boil and cook. I also can grow a nice set of jen beans and almonds too. Everything that I grow is one hundred percent good for the environment. Never abuse the land because it's your bro too. Just make sure not to smoke crushed jen beans, because....I did that by accident once, and.....I don't think it agreed with me...."

Iz'tre walked with Dean for a minute. She continued to admire the scenery. They passed by a fern thicket that grew away from the trees and around the base. Tiny red insects flew in a group to the fern and to another pair of distant trees. The tops of these trees produced the enormous shade that spilled over on top of the two. Green, brown, orange, and purple colors persisted the most.

"I learn history....," she tried to say. "History Cebrava."

"Oh....you were learning about the history of Cebravis," he replied.

"Yes. People.....new home for humans. Humans happy on Cebrava."

"Yeah, I always like being here, man....it's pretty gnarly. Cipra....the sand....it just gets everywhere, you know?"

"History.....humans run to trees.....no clothes.....love."

Dean started to laugh a little bit. "I know what you're talking about, Izzy. Yeah...my grandfather told me all about it. Like....when the people first came to Cebravis....they just grabbed their wives....umm.....girlfriends.....boyfriends......husbands.....and just ran....They ran into the forest and made love. Like....Mars is like Cipra, but you have sand and umm....no air. Here.....people wanted a new life of peace and love and to be with nature again. We got the biggest nude beaches here. I think that...." He stopped to really look at her body. His eyes naturally fell to her large breasts that were covered by the shawl. "I think you would look really fine in the nude beaches, Izzy."

"Happy home," Iz'tre said again in the most assurance. Her reptilian eyes caught him looking upon her breasts, and it felt comforting to her.

"By the way, Izzy," he asked. "How did you know English?"

"English...." She seemed to think about it.

"You learned English. Like....how?"

She stopped walking, let go of his hand, and looked up at him. "I learn. Teach I. Yuchen com....pu.....ta. See...." She flicked her scaly hands multiple times in the air and tried to show it moving. "Movies...," she figured out the word.

"Oh....so like.....you watched movies on the person that you took it from."

"Yes. I see pictures. Family. Yuchen have movies. I see......" she paused. "Watch movies."

"Oh....you watched movies. Cool, Izzy. Like....What movies did you watch?"

She tried to think of the names. "Watch The Wizard of Oz......I Dream of Genie. Look Who's Talking favorite. Talking baby.....love. See.....Mar's the Great and Wild Frontier."

"Huh....don't think that I've seen any of those."

Iz'tre seemed to be thinking of a scene from one of the movies that she stated. She started to dance in place and run around.

"All shook up...." She tried to sing, but it was completely muddled down. The dance that she was making was somewhat silly. She was more like she was imitating something than trying to perform something that she truly knew.

"That's pretty gnarly dancing, Izzy," he replied.

She stopped. "Funny....good movie. Humans....good. Yuchen have....son.....I learn.....family dead. I sad. Dean and Iz'tre......we good. Want family.....be good. Love. No sad.....happy. Dean...."

"Yes?"

"We mates. Please.....love I. I free." She started to seem giddy and excited. It was a que to Dean. He could see her show a level of excitement on her face. Her scaly finger was pressed to her snout. Her breathing was picking up. Her other hand was pressed to her stomach.

"Oh yeah," he realized. "I was like.....so happy that you were here....It totally slipped my mind, Izzy."

"Love.....give....," she didn't have the words as she almost made a series of clicks and chirps that shortly followed. She closed her eyes and held her arms outward. It was the body language of her giving herself to him.

Dean simply let himself fall into the realm of what nature wanted the most. It was as if she was conveying the words "take me." It was just that, but more. She demanded it and wanted him to do it since she first saw him again.

"Want you," she said. "Please.....mate."

He stepped up next to her and put his hand to her face. The moment that he did, it felt like he had stepped into the gates of paradise. Her snout was scaly but smooth to the touch. She pressed her head to his hand. His other hand went to the top of her shawl and slowly pulled it down. He had been used to seeing what the shawl had covered up. When it fell down the back of her neck, he could see the entire head crest that went to the top of her head. He leaned down to her lips and kissed her delicately.

"Mm....hm...," she started to chirp and chuckle. She was smiling as he pulled his head back.

"What?" he asked.

"Kiss......different.....humans kiss...."

"Oh yeah....like....Itreans don't kiss, I think. Well....I like kissing."

"New.....different.....I.......I like." She assured him.

He leaned back down and kissed her delicately on the lips. This time she let it simply happen as she grew accustomed to it. If anything, it felt inviting. Kissing the lips of the reptilian woman was a unique experience. Her snout naturally protruded, and she carried a set of sharp teeth that resided past her lips. She didn't have a set of human lips, but it was enough that she tried to reciprocate and press her snout into his jaw in return. They held it for a short while. She took his hand and pressed it to one of her breasts. Even with her smaller frame, her breasts were so enormous that it was impossible to completely fit in one hand alone. No longer being pressed in by the wrap armor so long ago, they were completely free and hung firmly to press against the shawl and robe. He began to squeeze it a little bit, and she began to give a deep hum as if she was enjoying it. Finally, she broke the kiss and spoke to him.

"Drink.... my energy.....milk.....healthy go," she tried to say and pointed to him.

Dean's hand went and began to disrobe her. It didn't take long for him to find an opening in the center top torso of her clothing. It appeared that the Gersin had a simple and effective form of traditional garb. It was designed so that the front could be easily opened up so that she could breastfeed any baby or child immediately. It took little effort for the primary fastener to give way to open up and expose her great chest. As his hand guided downward, he could tell that there was nothing that she wore underneath it. His other hand pressed down while the one hand tried to grab a handful of her naked breast. While much of her body consisted of the scale-like skin, the front torso, stomach, and lower crouch consisted of an even softer tissue that was almost on par with what a human had. She had a slightly yellow and brown colorization. The tannish-colored nipple danced on the palm of his hand. As he gently squeezed, a small amount of milk began to flow. She even gave a slight gasp in response.

"Drink....," she said again. She took her hand and pressed against his shoulder. It didn't take long for him to lower down to his knees. Her shawl had almost fallen off the top portion of her body and down to her lap. Finally, they both sat down on the ground. Dean leaned onto her and began to kiss her shoulder down to her right breast. Eventually, her butt and tail were pressed to the soft grass. Her small frame naturally had to cause him to resituate his body to rest his back and side to the ground. She propped one leg so that his body and top right side could press down against it while her other leg was spread open.