Chapter 3

After that night, Roc was a different man; he had experienced the Joy of Sex. Sergeant Kelley didn't care, and showed him that she didn't care. She woke him up earlier than necessary, it's an Army tradition. "Get yer ass outta bed Private!" she yelled into his ear, interrupting the dream about Roc's first orgasm. Mary saw that his dick was erect again. "What is this unsatisfactory boner you have here Private?" Roc was still trying to wake up and was mumbling incoherently. She rolled him out of his sleep chamber onto the cold, steel floor. "Go take a piss and report back to me." Roc's giant naked form padded to the latrine so he could relieve himself.

While Roc was performing his daily ablutions, Mary was reviewing what she had to do to get him Battle-Ready equipment-wise. Unfortunately Roc had been too large for any of the normal issue personnel equipment, so Mary had pieced some things together. Together they had tested as much of the gear as was possible and she hoped the untested collaborations would work as they were supposed to.

Mary had an anti-psy helmet cobbled together with a special comm-link. There were only two channels active on it; a private channel to/from his Sergeant and receive only on the emergency channel. He also had a specially fashioned web belt with a first-aid kit, synthetic rations and other sundry items. When Roc left the shuttle, he would be issued his blaster and a bandoleer of grenades. To make things simpler for him, there were only two types of grenades. Smoke+ in front and sonic stun in the back. The smoke+ grenades formed a cloud that would mask visual/radar/thermal/olfactory detection; it would also prevent radio communications, but that wouldn't affect the abilities of the Rics.

Mary looked at her Private. He was the same, but different than the untrained lump of flesh she had inherited. He stood 2 meters tall and weighed 135 Kilograms, all muscle. Speaking of muscle, his cock made an impressive bulge in his fatigues, even when soft. With his blonde hair and blue eyes Roc was standing tall, an example of how you can "Be all you can be, in the Army." He might also be "An Army of one", he was big enough; combat would decide that.

Sergeant Kelley led her Private into the assault shuttle, where they were issued weapons prior to being strapped into their seats. This landing was supposed to be an uncontested landing, so the shuttle would actually set down to land the troops. Roc looked to his Sergeant for any last minute instructions. Mary looked at Roc seriously and uttered the following wisdom, "Don't get your balls shot off."

His reply was a hesitant "Hooya Sergeant."

The brass may have said it was going to be an uncontested landing, but the pilot wasn't taking any chances. The shuttle bobbed and weaved until even Mary was looking a little ill. It finally landed with a thump and they were hustled off. A perimeter was immediately set-up, relieving the Fleet Marines guarding the landing site. Nearby armored cargo shuttles were bringing the mark VIII Synthetic Troops down from the ship. Mary could hear them forming ranks; she tested her comm. link with Roc. "Sergeant Kelley to Private Roc, this is a test, do you copy?" Part of Roc's training had been becoming familiar with a lot of equipment that was common-place to regular soldiers, but new to Roc.

"Private Roc to Sergeant Kelley, I copy you five by five." Roc then bent over and whispered in Mary's ear, "Why did you call me on the radio if I'm right next to you? Doesn't that seem sort of silly?" Mary rolled her eyes up into the back of her head. She didn't answer him, but switched channels and told her L.T. that they were proceeding on their mission. She then crouched down and led Roc through the underbrush. They moved in a low-profile manner, changing directions a few times while Mary consulted her GPS.

They made their way to a hill over looking the field the Synthetic Troops would advance on. The enemy troops would probably not assume a large formation; they were known for their hit and run tactics. They used some aboriginal-type of humanoids for their scouts. A few of some form of shaggy, tall, spindly creatures had been captured. They were from the Rics home world and were their natural servants. It seemed that they couldn't survive without the Rics. The few that had been captured soon died, with no apparent cause.

Mary was positioned at the top of the knoll watching as the formations of vat-grown soldiers moved forward. She could see a bunch of ugly yellow clouds moving slowly over the battle field. The fact that there was a light breeze blowing and that the clouds were moving was not strange; however, Mary would realize later they were moving against the breeze, which was strange. Now, she saw Roc frozen on the hill, sticking up like a sore thumb. Mary hissed at him, "Get down! You'll give our position away!"

Roc was pointing to the north and saying something. Mary was torn between getting Roc under cover and performing her mission. Suddenly, two things happened that made the decision moot. The 'clouds' over the Synthetic Troops let loose with a deluge and a smoke+ grenade exploded obscuring Roc.

The deluge appeared to be more of a type of paint, than rain, bright yellow paint. It fell on the blue soldiers who now had bright yellow blotches on them. Every vat-soldier thought that the one in front of him was being taken over by the Rics, so he fired his laser at him. Mary tried to inform command on the emergency channel, but the smoke + grenade blocked the transmission. Mary's heart sank as she heard the whine of lasers as the Mark VIII Synthetic troops blasted each other. The Rics have out-foxed us again!

Although Mary was in an artificial 'dead zone' created by the grenade, she knew that a general recall was being ordered. She had to find Roc and get them out of there to meet with the shuttles, or they would be trapped on this planet. Mary couldn't see her hand in front of her face, so she moved slowly towards where she had last seen him. She whispered as she inched forward, "Roc are you OK? Don't move I'm coming to you. Can you hear ... oomph."

She tripped and fell on something big and muscular... Roc! Mary felt along his massive form, checking for wounds. Her hands moved up his legs, as Mary held her breath. Mary released her breath in a "Whoosh" as her greatest fear was proven wrong. Her hands double-checked to make sure his over-sized package was still in good condition; it took her several minutes as she wanted to be sure, like any good Sergeant would. Mary was well pleased when Roc moaned and his cock twitched in her hands. Mary's hands stayed on his area-of-interest for several more moments before she sighed and moved up his broad body.

Roc appeared intact, although his shirt had a large, tattered hole in the chest and his bandoleer of grenades appeared to be missing. Mary slapped his on the cheek a few times to see if he was awake. The only response she got out of Roc was a low groan. Damn, I need to be able to see! Mary knew that there was an abrupt drop to the right, so she grabbed Roc by his combat boots and dragged him to the left. It took longer than she had estimated and she fell several times, but she finally dragged Roc into the clear. Unfortunately, it was not only clear of the concealment of the smoke+ grenade's effects, but also clear of concealing brush. Mary dragged Roc the 50 meters to a grove of trees.

Mary slumped to the ground, out of breath. Roc is a heavy son-of-a-vat; I need to rest a bit. While she was regaining her strength, Mary examined Roc's unconscious body. Most of the front of Roc's camouflaged uniform blouse was burnt off and his chest had minor burns. Mary treated hi wounds with his first aid kit. She then injected Roc with a stim-tab. Roc groaned as the medication entered his system, but when he did not display any other reaction, Mary grabbed another stim-tab thinking such a large man might need two.