Chapter 10

What is chiefly needed is skill rather than machinery.

— Wilbur Wright, 1902.

Sophia glanced down the row at the other pilots and gunners standing at attention. The first class of new Swift pilots and gunners were assembled in the flight hanger for graduation from ground school. They would all be transferring to the colony the next day to begin flight school. It was rumored that there were going to be promotions today and she hoped that she might get one.

The Red Baron had dropped out of hyperdrive two days earlier and was now parked in a geosynchronous orbit over the planet Trenat. The tan and blue planet could be seen outside the large windows in the hanger bay doors. Sophia felt a split second of vertigo as she looked toward the planet. Her mind told her that she should be falling out the window toward the planet even though the gravity generators were pulling her toward the floor.

A door at the end of the hanger opened and Lt. Colonel Ray Walker, Major Mike Jones and Major Karen Green strode through into the hanger. As they approached the stage in front of the assembled Marines Sophia noticed something different about the two men. They had been promoted: Walker to Colonel and Jones to Lieutenant Colonel. Colonel Walker stepped up to the podium.

"Congratulations, Ladies and Gentlemen. You have all passed the ground school portion of your training. In fact, you have all far exceeded the goals that we had established for you," Colonel Walker began, but was then forced to wait while the assembled concubines in attendance to watch the graduation clapped from the stands behind the assembled pilots and gunners. Eventually he was able to continue. "I know that you've all heard the rumors about promotions, and they are true for some of you. Based on your flying skills and leadership abilities, twenty of our pilots will be promoted to Captain. Each Captain will then lead a flight of aircraft. After flight school there will be further promotions."

Sophia was slightly pissed upon hearing that the only promotions would be for pilots even though she understood the reasoning behind it. "Maybe I'll get a promotion after flight school," she thought.

Colonel Walker called the twenty pilots up to the podium to receive their promotion. Aaron was promoted, as was Tiffany. Camilla, the English girl that Reggie was so gaga over was also promoted to Captain. With some disgust, Sophia also noted that Manuel Esteves was promoted to Captain. A member of the Brazilian contingent, he had quite a few enemies amongst the other pilots and gunners. Rumor had it that he treated his concubines like shit, but never did enough to them to get the Civil Service involved. He also treated the other Brazilian teams like they were his subordinates, ordering them around and berating them if they stole any of his "glory".

Once the promotions were finished another door at the end of the hanger opened and Master Sergeant Yamato entered the room. Behind him came three marines, one pushing the life-sized statue of a Sa'arm that Yamato had constructed and the other two pushing supply crates. The four men stopped in front of the stage, Yamato in front with the Sa'arm and crates behind him. In a loud voice Yamato said, "Lieutenant Santini, front and center!"

Sophia was shocked to hear her name called. She rushed forward to stand before Yamato. He turned to one of the Marines standing beside a crate and was handed two bamboo practice swords. Master Yamato tossed one of them to Sophia and as soon as her hand touched the stick Yamato attacked her in a flurry of movement.

Sophia's extensive training immediately took over, guiding her body as she parried the attacks. Yamato pressed her, forcing her backwards as she defended herself. After losing about ten meters of ground, Sophia found an opening and counter attacked. Once she broke Yamato's attack, the match became even with the Master and the Student attacking and parrying in front of the stage. Sophia entered "the Zone" as she called, it where the only things that existed in the universe were her and her opponent. Time seemed to stop; the blows and movements appeared as if occurring in slow motion.

To those people watching the battle, the movements seemed a blur as the two sword masters spun and attacked and parried. The bamboo swords hitting each other sounded like the keys of an old manual typewriter clacking away. Suddenly, in a movement almost too quick for the eye to see, Sophia ducked a cut and swept Yamato's leg out from under him. As he fell, Sophia swung her sword at his neck, stopping it a hair's breadth from his skin.

Sophia's attention snapped back to the present. She had Master Yamato on the ground with her sword at his neck. She stayed absolutely still for a few seconds, not quite sure of how she had gotten there. Suddenly, the room was filled with applause. Master Yamato smiled at her.

"Well done! You can let me up now," Yamato told her.

Sophia stepped back and Master Yamato stood up. He bowed to her and she bowed back. Yamato then indicated that she should stand to one side. Sophia moved out of the way. Once she had moved, one of the Marines pushed the Sa'arm construct to the front. Yamato exchanged the practice sword for a beautifully decorated katana.

"As you all know," the small man began, "we have done extensive research into close combat tactics for dealing with the Sa'arm. We have determined that the only weapons to be effective, short of guns, lasers, or grenades, are edged weapons. Even so, look at the effectiveness of this."

Yamato turned to the statue and chopped at one of its legs with his katana. A chip flew out of the armor but the sword did not penetrate. It took Yamato six swings at the same place to sever the leg.

"If you do not directly hit a joint it is not very effective, is it?" he said. Master Sergeant Yamato turned to a Marine and exchanged his katana for another one. The one was in a black scabbard, the handle wrapped with red. "Let's try this one."

Yamato drew the katana from its sheath. The blade was also black and those people closest to him could hear a faint humming sound coming from the sword. In two quick swipes, Yamato severed the front legs of the Sa'arm. The sword made barely a sound as it passed through the armor of the construct. As it toppled forward, Yamato held the sword out under its head. When the fake Sa'arm hit the ground its dick-shaped head rolled across the floor, coming to rest against the feet of a gunner standing in the front row of graduates.

Colonel Walker stepped up to the podium.

"Vibroblade technology!" he told the assembled personnel. "Every Swift pilot and gunner will receive a blade. It is part of your uniform and part of your identity. In the days of horse and rider cavalry every rider had a sword. You are the Confederacy's air cavalry. Take care of it. There may come a day when your blade will serve you better than a stinger or a rifle."

Yamato, who had joined the Colonel on the stage, continued, "I'm sure that you have a lot of questions. For now, let me tell you a little about this technology. Each sword is tailored to its own user. That means that it can't be taken away and used against you. The blade is powered by rechargeable energy cells located in the hilt. When you are off duty or in your Swift, it will be recharged by either your pod or your aircraft. In the field, the scabbard functions as a solar collector to recharge the blade. Without power, the blade is dull and brittle. It is made of carbon fiber and other exotic materials. Under power, the blade is capable of cutting almost any material. Some materials are harder to cut than others. For example, I could not walk over to the hanger door and cut through it in one swing. However, if I worked at it, I could make a hole in the door given time."

A pilot in the front row raised his hand. Colonel Walker indicated he could speak.

"What's to keep us from cutting our own legs off if we slip?" he asked.

"The technology, as I understand it, works by breaking molecular bonds. Each blade can be tuned to sever some bonds but not others. There are threads woven into your flight suits that resist being cut by the blades. An accidental slip may cut you, but it won't cut your leg off," Walker explained. "Are there any other questions?"

No one had any.

"Second Lieutenant Santini," Walker said. "Come up here."

Sophia had wondered why Master Yamato had left her standing in front of the stage. Upon hearing Walker's command, she mounted the steps and approached the podium.

"Lieutenant, Master Sergeant Yamato informs me that you have achieved the highest scores in your class for hand-to-hand and martial arts combat. Because of your outstanding achievements and excellent military record, you are hereby promoted to First Lieutenant," Colonel Walker said. He then removed her gold bars and replaced them with the silver bars of a First Lieutenant.

Sensei Yamato approached her and bowed low. She bowed also.

"From this day forward," the martial arts master began, "you shall be known as Master Santini." Sensei Yamato pinned a crossed scabbard and katana medal to her chest. A small bar hanging below the medal had a single word written on it in Japanese: godan.

"My God!" Sophia thought. "He has advanced me to a 5^th degree black belt. I am now his equal!"

Yamato bowed low to Sophia then presented her a vibroblade katana. It was a beautiful weapon, about 60 cm long with a dark black blade and a red over red wrapped hilt. As soon as she grabbed the hilt of her sword, she felt a tingling sensation in the palm of her hands and the sword began to hum.

"The sword is now attuned to you and no other can use it," Yamato said. "Please hand your sword to me."

Sophia handed the sword to Yamato. As soon as it left her hand the humming stopped. Yamato handed it back and it immediately began to hum again. Then Yamato handed her a scabbard. It was black, except for an Asian style drawing of a leaping tiger carefully etched into the finish. Sophia knew immediately that Sensei Yamato had done the etching.

The sword stopped humming as soon as its tip entered the scabbard. With her sword now sheathed, Sophia bowed to Sensei Yamato. After completing the ceremony, Sophia assisted Master Yamato in handing out the other medals and swords.

Four students achieved fourth degree, or yodan, and received a katana with a hilt wrapped in blue and gold and seven students achieved third degree, or sandan, and received a katana with a blue hilt. Tim "Taz" Sample, one of Tiffany's gunners made third degree and joined the other third and fourth degree students in earning the honorary title of Sensei. They were now qualified to teach martial arts.

Eighty-seven of the pilots and gunners earned a second degree black belt, or nidan. They each received a katana with a black and gold wrapped hilt. Aaron, Reggie, and Tiffany all made second degree. The remaining two hundred and one students earned a first degree black belt rank, or shodan. They all received katanas with black wrapped hilts. One of those receiving a first degree rank was Manuel Esteves. As Sophia presented him his katana, he gave her an angry look and snatched the sword from her hand.

Master Yamato had witnessed the exchange and whispered to Sophia, "Watch out for that one. He thinks all women are inferior and he will try to prove that he is better than you."

"I will be careful, Master," she replied.

"You may call me Ken," he whispered back with a smile on his face. It was obvious that he was proud that his student was now his equal in the fighting arts.

"I will be careful, Ken," Sophia said

The celebration following graduation had quickly turned into an orgy. Led by Ann and Tammy, who had embraced the polyamorous lifestyle with gusto, several multiple partner groupings had formed on the sofas and rugs in the den. Reggie was being double teamed by Bonnie and Uma, Aaron was in a tangle of arms and legs that belonged to Wanda and Jessica, Kyle had Tammy bent over an arm chair and Ann was being double penetrated by Darren and Marty. Sophia was currently being kissed and caressed by Kelly who had turned out to be extremely bisexual, even before augmentation. Sophia was enjoying herself with Kelly, but she couldn't keep someone else out of her mind.

"Let's go somewhere else and find some entertainment sweetie," Sophia said to Kelly.

"Where?" Kelly asked.

"I have an idea, but if it doesn't work out we can come back here. Put your shirt back on," Sophia replied while zipping her flight suit up.

Sophia belted her sword on and led Kelly out into the hall. After consulting the AI, a short walk brought them to a pod door. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal Ken Yamato in a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt.

"Lieutenant Santini. This is a surprise," he said.

"This is not an official visit, Ken," Sophia replied. "May we come in?"

Ken stood aside and let the two women enter his pod. His pod was sparsely decorated, containing only a bed, exercise mat, sofa, and kitchen table. Against one wall was a small shine that contained some candles and a rack that displayed his swords, his traditional katana and his new vibroblade weapon. As the door closed, Ken turned and faced the women.

"What can I do for you, Kitten?" he asked as he looked the women over.

He was intimately familiar with Kitten, having spent numerous hours with her in training. The other woman, girl really, was new to him. She stood several inches taller than he did and had almost white hair. She was dressed in a T-shirt and tight shorts, a uniform adopted by most of the female concubines. She had large breasts and her nipples were hard, creating tiny hillocks on the tight material of her T-shirt. As she had passed him, he was certain that he had caught the scent of womanly arousal emanating from her.

"I thought that we would do something for you," Kitten said as she began to unzip the front of her flight suit. Before Ken could react, she had peeled her suit back to reveal her firm, hard breasts to him.

"I can't. It is inappropriate for me to fraternize with a superior officer," he stammered.

"We are off duty now and as far as I'm concerned we are now equals. Both of us masters of the martial arts and friends."

Sophia moved forward and kissed him. He resisted for a second but soon returned her kiss with passion. Sophia knew that he had left his concubines on another colony world. She was certain that she was the first female contact he'd had in at least 4 months.

"Oh my, look what we have here," Sophia heard Kelly say from below her. She broke her kiss with Ken to look down. Kelly had pulled his shorts down exposing his rapidly hardening cock to the air. Kelly was helping him along by stroking him slowly and gently.

"It's not the longest one I've ever seen but it sure is the thickest," Kelly said with a giggle.

Sophia had to agree. Ken's cock was only about 6 inches long, but it looked to be as big around as a beer can and uncircumcised. Kelly was now pulling his foreskin back and forth, exposing his glans and then hiding it. Every time it was exposed she licked the end of his prick. Ken let out a groan of pleasure.

Sophia peeled Ken's shirt off of him and then began to finish undressing herself. She removed her katana and placed it in an empty space on his display stand. Sophia thought that it looked appropriate sitting there. She kicked off her shoes and stepped out of her uniform. By the time she was naked, Kelly already had Ken on his bed and was doing her best to try and get his cock into her mouth. She worked at it but could only get the first couple of inches past her lips. Ken was kneading one of Kelly's magnificent breasts and tweaking the nipple. Sophia knew from experience that if he kept that up he would make the young woman cum.

Sophia climbed into bed with them and straddled Ken's face. She leaned forward and nudged Kelly aside so that she could suck Ken's dick too. The two women shared blow-job duty as Ken licked Sophia's smooth, dripping cunt. Within seconds, Sophia had an orgasm, causing her to scream out in ecstasy. Sophia flipped herself around to face Ken, his chubby cock poised near the entrance to her pussy.

"I need you in me!" Sophia yelled. "I need you to fuck me!"

Kelly grabbed Ken's cock and pulled the foreskin back away from its swollen head. She spit on the head to get it wet and placed at the opening to Sophia's oozing vagina. Sophia settled herself down onto Ken's member, slowly sliding about an inch of his length inside. She let out a groan and stopped pushing.

"Are you OK?" Ken asked, concern showing on his face.

"Mmm hmmm," she replied breathlessly. "I've just got to get used to its size. I'm still cumming and my pussy is contracting. Just give me a minute."

After a few minutes, Sophia began to lower herself slowly once more. She rocked herself back and forth, working a little more of his prick into her with each movement. The width of his cock caused each movement to rub her sensitive clit, which kept her on the verge of another orgasm. Finally, she felt her pussy lips settle onto his pubic bone. He was in!

"Damn, you fill me up! I feel like I'm going to split. It feels so good," she cooed. "Fuck me, Sensei! You taught me how to fight, now show me what you know about fucking!"

And show her he did. Much of Sophia's considerable sexual experience had been with high school boys and college men. Most of them couldn't fuck their way out of a wet paper bag. Sophia had experienced a lot of wham, bam, thank you ma'am.

Ken Yamato, like Aaron, was an experienced cocksman. Once puberty arrived, Ken's cock quickly grew to its current size and, unlike most men of Asian descent who tended to have small penises, his cock was impressive. Ken grew up in a close-knit Japanese community in San Francisco and it wasn't long before word of his endowment was known.

When Ken was thirteen, he fell hopelessly in love with a neighborhood girl named Sora. Ken and Sora had pledged their undying love to each other and after a while Ken had convinced her that he would love her forever and that they should consummate their love. Plans were made, and on a day when Sora's mother was to be working, Ken and Sora met in her bedroom.

As fate would have it, Sora's mother was sent home early that day because of a accident at work. She arrived home just in time to hear Sora cry out as Ken attempted to penetrate her. Sora's mother rushed into her room where she found them naked on Sora's bed; Ken's penis perched at the opening to Sora's womb. Sora's mother removed one of her shoes and proceeded to beat the tar out of Ken who was desperately trying to find his clothes and get out of the house. The angry mother finally chased him out, but not before she had seen the size of his manhood. Sora's mother forbade Sora from ever seeing Ken again.

Ken was heartbroken and tried to contact Sora. His phone calls were not answered and no one would answer the door when he knocked. Finally, one day the door to Sora's house opened as he was knocking. Sora's mother stood in the doorway dressed in a kimono. She invited him inside.

"I don't want you to see my daughter again," she told him after he had entered. "Sora is to be married to the son of a family friend. His father was good friends with my late husband. His father owns a very successful business. Sora will be well taken care of."

"But I love her!" Ken pleaded. "And I can take care of her. I get good grades and I'm going to go to college. I will be successful one day."

"Maybe so. But this man will inherit money and that is a sure thing. I must make the best decision for my daughter's future," she replied. "Besides, you think you are in love, but you are not. You are a young man; you are in lust, not love."

"That's not true. I love her and I'll love her forever!"

"Bah. I saw you. You weren't thinking about love that day. You were going to have sex with no protection. If you really loved my daughter would you put her at risk for a pregnancy? No, you may think you are in love, but you aren't. Your wang is doing your thinking. Your big wang."

As she finished her sentence a strange look appeared on her face. Then she smiled at him.

"I know what you need," she said as she untied the belt of her kimono. She slipped it off of her shoulders and it dropped to the floor leaving her naked before him.

"I will make you forget Sora, you'll see. No girl can treat you like a woman can. I know other women who will beg for you to sleep with them when they see what you possess," she told him softly.

Ken was mesmerized by the sight before him. Sora's mother was barely thirty years old and was still a good looking woman. Her breasts had begun to sag a little, but her stomach was flat and her ass firm. What drew his attention the most was the bushy black patch of long, thick pubic hair covering her pussy. Sora's pubic hair had been thin and sparse and he had thought that was how all women were. The sight of her hairy pussy made his cock ache.