Chapter 4: A Typical Night

“Ugh...” Zalika commented as her foot stepped on a fallen tree branch. “I think another couple minutes of walking, and we’ll be far enough away from the base.”

Zalika and Bekra were both alone, as it was fairly dark outside. The forest had some buzzing sounds created by the native insects of the planet. Almost similar to the crickets of former Earth, these sounds would go up and down in tone. It was both harmonic and perhaps eerie in its music.

In the vast distance covered up by most of the tree cover, the base’s lights could still be seen as the two walked further and further away together. The goal was to gain as much ground as possible from the location. Zalika was using a flashlight on her augmented arm to light up the path ahead of her. Bekra had a pair of tilons and what looked like an illumination flare in her scaly hands.

“I had a good time today,” Bekra said as she stepped over a large tree root. Her clawed feet gripped its base before she hopped over it.

“Yeah, just more busy nonsense,” Zalika replied. They continued walking through a set of brushes ahead of them.

“Getting a chance to see new faces today is wonderful. How did you not enjoy it?”

“I ... we had to be babysitters. I know the COC is going to have us doing this shit over and over again when next month comes in.”

“Chuang is a great person. I like him. How can you be upset about it?”

“I don’t have a problem with Chuang. In fact, I had the same face as he did when I just got out of boot camp. The problem is he’s going to be like everyone else here. He’s going to get into a tedium. Base in the middle of nowhere. This place is a paradise and a prison.”

“You always say that...” Bekra said with a chirp before she looked down.

Zalika sighed. “I’m not tired of you. I just ... I just wish I could see some combat. That’s all.”

“You hunger for battle?”

“Yeah ... I feel like I keep missing out on all the good stuff. Oshun gets attacked, and I miss it. Aphadus gets hit. This planet gets hit. I can’t win. I’m just tired of the tedium. For all we know, the war will end, and I’ll miss out on all of it. I know I already told you this stuff before ... I just...”

“I’m here for you for a reason,” Bekra told her.

“I know ... I know.”

Zalika could see a small clearing in the forest. The same long grass lined the circular area, and a tiny amount of starlight shined down on it.

“Here it is,” Zalika commented as she pointed at it. “Our favorite spot. Too far away from the cameras to track us and alone spot, nobody will ever come to.”

Bekra stepped past another tree as she tried to look back at the base. The dense forest offered only the faintest trickle of light from the installation, making it almost impossible to see it from their location.

“They can still track us heading to this direction,” Bekra told her.

“They can, but that’s it. Let them use their imagination. It isn’t like our relationship is some military secret anyway.”

Bekra nodded quickly as she walked to the center of the clearing. She snapped the illumination flare on and tossed it to the side to help illuminate the area. Zalika tapped her arm to shut off the flashlight emitter from her augmented arm, allowing her eyes to adjust to the environment quickly.

“Yeah ... that’s much better,” Zalika said. “Freedom ... freedom from it all.”

She gave one big sigh of relief before she walked to the long grass and sat down. Her comfortable camouflage clothing and grass made a perfect cushion on the ground floor while her butt rested on it. The area she laid down upon had a shorter field of grass.

“Chuang is going to have to adjust to these colder temperatures. That’s for sure,” Zalika commented. “I know it isn’t going to bother you.”

“It does...,” the Itrean replied. “We just find warm bodies to be close to help keep us warm.”

Bekra rotated her tail as a bug flew away from the small clearing. Her reptilian-like eyes saw that Zalika was sitting comfortably on her back, looking straight up at the sky. She joined her as she got next to her and sat down.

“Lay down next to me,” Zalika said as she patted the grass. “Ten degrees Celsius is no good without a person to be next to.”

Bekra seemed adjusted to the colder night temperatures. The Itrean moved her tail some more. She couldn’t lay entirely on her back, which caused her body to tilt a little bit towards the human woman. Zalika instead kept the Itrean held close to her as she could feel her soft scales. Bekra’s smaller frame allowed her to be more easily scooped up and moved to her. She turned her head to look at the starlight above her.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Zalika asked.

“What do you mean?” Bekra asked in return.

“The society and the environments that we make. I grew up in the streets of Oshun with me and my brother. I would look up to the night sky to see the stars every night or at least what wasn’t drowned out by the massive city lights. Life was shitty for us ... inexcusable in how children had to grow up on that world after our parents abandoned us.”

“It is horrible,” Bekra agreed.

“You would think that in the 24th century, things would improve, but Oshun is still crap at times. My brother and I were used to it. That’s what we thought life was. It was a cycle of birth, abandonment, reproduce, and then become the abandoner. How could a system like that flourish when I saw others around me continue on like nothing happened? How could I see luxury yachts and pleasure craft take off regularly from my street while the people lived in squalor? To us, it just made no sense.”

“Things improved, though...”

Zalika nodded as she tightened her grip on Bekra’s hand. “Yeah ... Oshun caught onto its problems even if the problems were far from over. The UWA encouraged a new orphan relief program in, which the Oshunians happily agreed to. I knew it was just a joke, honestly. It would have made the Oshun tourist industry look bad if more and more people knew the planet’s economy. The government, therefore, launched a whole campaign to find the people trapped in the gutter. They found a few of us, including me and my brother. I suddenly learned the environment wasn’t so harsh as it should be ... at least.”

“They cared for you and your brother, though.”

“It’s true. The Orphan Care Program on Oshun rescued many children on the streets. New Olympia heard the call of the plight and were the first ones to offer a new home to the orphans. Many agreed, but ... I didn’t want to go with them. My brother and I wanted to stay in Oshun rather than go to another world.”

“Why did you two refuse to go with them?”

“I ... there are reasons,” Zalika said as she seemed hesitant in answering. “My brother and I were a little bit older for children. I was eleven, and he was twelve by the time we were found. I felt ... I knew many of those kids going to New Olympia were most likely going to way better lives than I was. I just felt like I was abandoning Oshun. I didn’t want to leave my world behind. I wanted to help bring awareness and maybe improve things on my world.”

Bekra could tell that Zalika had other reasons, but she said nothing else about it. The Itrean wasn’t going to push the questions any further than necessary.

“Eventually,” Zalika continued. “I had two women adopt us. Things got better and better. You know the rest of this story, though.”

“You felt the need for employment,” Bekra added. “Your brother tried to talk you out of it, but you were stubborn.”

“I don’t know. I liked engineering, but ... maybe it was the fact that I was the one that was armed when I was in the streets. I always had that little pistol to protect us.”

“There is no shame in admiring the gun. The Shal’rein would have respect for you. They consider it an ... I don’t know the word ... ext ... exit...”

“Extension ... Yeah, I know what you mean. Had a heart for the UHN. I wanted to become a marine and ... I’m sorry for telling that whole story again. You already know it.”

“It is alright,” Bekra replied. “I enjoy it, and it helps you stay happy.”

“Yeah ... Now I’m lying down on the grass with you. Thought I was going to die last year with the other clans threatening to wipe us out ... still might happen.”

Zalika continued to look up at the starlight. She could see the twinkling of the various stars in the sky. It must have been thousands of shining dots of multiple colors.

“Do you miss your home?” Zalika asked her.

Bekra seemed to think about it. “My home is with my mate.”

Zalika turned to look at her face. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“A little,” Bekra seemed to answer truthfully. “I still stand by my decision.”

“I’m happy the Itreans have those that don’t always swing the way the majority goes. It would have made it much harder for me to find a woman.”

“We had to ... We didn’t have a choice. The ivons had to father children with women. We had to sacrifice many things.” There was a hint of unhappiness on her face.

“I know, but I can tell that you would have been an ivon regardless.”

“I wasn’t at first,” Bekra tried to explain. “To have to ... rethink what I could love. I was very much against the idea of ... having to have sex with another woman.”

“You adjusted to it. We both adjusted to it.” She paused for a little while. “Bekra, I’ve been thinking...”

“What is it?”

“I was ... if you want, I can undergo a procedure to have myself turned into a man. You wouldn’t have to be an ivon for my sake.”

Bekra seemed surprised to hear it. Her crested head swerved a little bit back on the grass as she looked at her.

“You would choose to become a L’ivon?” Bekra asked.

“Well ... we wouldn’t call it that here. We have our surgeries to make ourselves a different gender ... but yes, I would.”

Bekra shook her head. “No ... I wouldn’t want you to do that. I would not wish for what had happened to me to happen to you. I would more easily choose to become a L’ivon instead ... maybe...”

“Ugh ... perhaps, for now, it’s best to remain as we are instead of having to do all these unnecessary changes.”

“Just remember what I desire. The choice of becoming a new gender all surrounds the simple reason that...”

“I know ... you want to have a baby,” Zalika interrupted her.

Bekra looked up to the stars. “Minerva has such a cute child. Eve ... to hold her in my arms. Zalika ... my mate, I want a baby.”

“I know you do ... I just ... I don’t want to be the one to carry it.” Zalika seemed to stumble on the discussion. “I just ... I don’t feel like I’m ready to become a parent.”

“You are afraid because of your childhood...”

Zalika seemed a little flustered upon hearing it. Her lip unfurled a little bit as she sighed. “Yeah ... yeah. I don’t want to bring a child into this universe after the shit me and my brother went through. I don’t know ... it feels more than that, though.”

Bekra felt a form of sadness wash over herself. She held it back as she thought about it more and more.

“Give me time, alright?” Zalika said. “We already made our offers to each other. Maybe things will change in the future. Maybe you could end up impregnating me, and you can have yourself reversed afterward. It’s an idea to consider...”

Bekra smiled a little bit as she lay her head on the grass.

“What did you think of the whole flight today?” Bekra asked her.

Zalika started to chuckle a little bit as she contained it. “You build a companion bot and strap a jet pack to it. What do you think?”

“She isn’t just a ... companion robot. She’s a mother and more.”

“She’s a blow-up doll. I can’t believe Mars had such an issue with her awhile back. They worried about an AI that took control of the entire UWAN on Mars. She has that sort of power and wastes it on jet-pack flying skills. Come on...”

“She only uses a companion bot to help her out. She said so herself.”

Zalika waved her hand in the air before bringing it back to her chest. “I don’t care, really. If she wants to play flying cat mother, then let her.” She chuckled again as she thought more about what she said.

“I still think she managed to accomplish something wonderful in her life,” the Itrean remarked with a few clicks in her voice. “To be able to overcome obstacles. It can’t be ignored.”

“Bekra, you realize that a company is trying to take companion bots, make them look like Itrean males, and then market them to the T’rintar clan? Give them a little bit of an AI as basic fathers and a few human men get modified to make sperm to impregnate the women of the T’rintar clan to provide for the bots. Minerva will be nothing eventually. There’s nothing amazing about her.”

“The way you humans sound after the incident ... Minerva will still be unique. Those bots will be nothing like the real thing...” Bekra took her hand and rubbed it on her stomach.

“Precisely.”

Bekra decided not to raise any further issues. She could see that Zalika needed to relax. The cold weather was somewhat of a hindrance, but they had partially adjusted to it.

Zalika took a deep breath. “You know what’ll warm things up a little. I want to fight.”

“You do?”

“Yeah ... like the way we first did it. We were in this same spot months ago. I started to argue with you, and the next thing we knew, we were fighting each other. Then things got very serious.”

“It was an interesting night.”

“I want to do it again. I feel like I need to bash someone’s brains in. I want to beat the shit out of something. I need somebody that can fight back. Think you could handle it?”

Bekra smiled at her. “I’m ready to fight.”

“Good!” Zalika exclaimed. “Get up,” she commanded as she started to stand up. “You know the safe word, right?”

“Wǒ tóuxiáng,” Bekra said in Chinese.

“Yeah, let’s fucking do it,” Zalika said as she looked at the surrounding area. “Just like the ancient past of former Earth. Pure hand-to-hand combat. No rules. No limits. Just like the tribal fights. No clothes either. Fuck the cold.”

Bekra got the hint as she stood up on her digitigrade legs. She began to make a hissing sound at her. She held out her arms outward as her tail slapped the ground in anger. Her thoughts began to rage at the moment.

Zalika was the first to get started as she began to take her shirt off. Bekra followed suit shortly afterward by doing the same. The T-shirt was easy to remove. Zalika, for one moment, was enjoying it, but her form of role-playing was dominating her thoughts. She could feel the adrenaline start to kick into her system. The thrill of battle and sex was intense, and so was the need to fulfill it. Bekra’s kindness melted away as it was replaced with the hunter aspect. The scavenger and thrasher were being shown as she continued to hiss.

Zalika’s shirt was tossed to a tree branch to reveal a bra that she quickly went to take off. She displayed a look of anger at the reptilian woman as she showed her claw-like hands. Bekra’s mouth and stubble-like beak were opened slightly to show her face of rage. Her row of serrated teeth could be seen.

Bekra had pulled off her shirt to reveal no bra. Her toplessness was revealed to Zalika. The Aksren breasts were no different from human breasts. The top portion of her shoulders and arms had a lair of smooth green and red scales that lined her frame. In the mid-portion of the top of her chest down to her abdomen was an even smoother skin layer that was tan-colored. The soft underbelly consisted of two medium-sized breasts that each had a very light pink-colored nipple to them.

Zalika had removed her bra to reveal more of her dark complexion. Upon taking off her shirt, it was apparent that she was quite strong in physical appearance. Her marine physique produced a strong muscle tone that could be seen in her arms and chest. A line of tattoos could be seen even with her complexion. With Zalika, even if she was taller than Bekra, she had a larger bust. On each breast was a dark areola that could barely be seen with the area’s low luminosity. The muscle and beauty combined perfectly with her frame as she held an attack stance at Bekra.

“Whoever wins gets to be on top,” Zalika said with a determined look at Bekra. She then responded by closing up her hand into a fist and throwing it at Bekra’s head.

Bekra looked weaker in appearance than Zalika, but she was more agile. She quickly veered to the side as the punch missed. Bekra then used her balled-up fist closest to Zalika to deliver a light bash toward her center.

“Mmmph...” Zalika replied as she felt the blow hit her. It was not strong but designed more to push her back. Her hand went to her left breast and side as she backed up a little bit. “Ah! You hit my boob ... fuck.”

Bekra seemed to smile a little bit as she held her hands out like claws. Her tail lifted as she got ready to attack again.

Zalika’s playful attitude got serious again as she threw a series of punches at Bekra. The Itrean woman did her best as she used one hand to block and the other to push it away, but the third punch that Zalika threw was directed away from the blocking hand. Her fist connected as it hit Bekra’s shoulder.

The Itrean hissed a little bit as the fist struck her. It was not a hard punch, but one that still hurt. It was evident by now that both were not trying to inflict any form of physical harm on each other. The topless women were instead sparring and trying to achieve dominance of who was the better fighter.

“Yeah ... fuck you,” Zalika commented after seeing Bekra recoil back a little bit. The reptilian woman backed up a little bit as she seemed to ignore the pain in her shoulders.

They backed up a little bit as they kept a look of anger towards each other. Nothing was said as Zalika took the next step in their struggle to determine who was the better fighter. She began by leaning down and taking her boots off. With Bekra, she began to pull down the long elastic shorts that she had on. She undid the rear flap where her tail stuck out as the shorts started to tumble down to the grassy floor underneath her.

Zalika had more on her than Bekra did. She was quick with her boots.

“Fucking tired of this shit,” Zalika said as she undid the Velcro straps on her boot. “I need to fight ... I need action...”

“I know,” Bekra said.

Zalika practically tossed the boot into a tree as it smacked off the bark. She then grabbed her pants and began to take them off. There was no seductive finesse with how it was done, but the sexual tension was becoming apparent.

As the pants fell to the grass and dirt, all that was left was the underwear. Zalika wore a pair of red, white, and blue panties before she gripped the elastic strap and began to pull it down. Bekra was the same as she took hers and pulled it down. What Bekra wore was slightly different than what Zalika had. The green underwear was similar to very short boxers but still tight to the skin.

The cold temperatures were more evident with the lack of clothing. There was no heavy wind chill, which helped in the situation. To them, though, the cold was not a bother and not something they were worried about.

Zalika’s panties fell to the grass. She went and tossed them among her other discarded clothes. The woman stood naked before Bekra as she clenched her fist back and forth. The line of tattoos continued downward along her body. The most recognizable was one that had a picture of a bayonet and blood that dripped from it. It was located on the right leg near her hip. The blood dripping would move upward till it was lined with her crouch. The curly pubic hair was thick along her vaginal entrance.

Bekra, on the other hand, was different. The smooth tan skin ended the moment it reached the crouch. What was there was a cloaca-like opening that had a slight bulge. It was shaped very similarly to a human vagina. The Itrean woman lacked any type of hair along her opening due to her physiology. Instead, the cloaca was among the same size as Zalika’s vagina. It consisted of two parts that Zalika could see all too well, even with the inadequate illumination. The first part was on top of the other as it consisted of an Aksren penis that was still tucked into the opening. Beneath it was a vagina.

The green and red scales flowed down towards Bekra’s digitigrade legs and toed clawed feet. In her nakedness, she held out her arms and claws wide. She hissed and even spat a little bit as she moved to her side. Her tail even slapped the ground as a display of ferocity.

Zalika, in her nakedness, bared her teeth as she held up her fists and got into a battle stance once again. A part of her admired Bekra and her beauty, and the other wanted to relieve her anger and frustrations. Both desires would be sated this night if they had it their way.

“Come on, you coward, and fight me,” Zalika taunted her in her role-play. “You come and attack my home and take everything. You Aksren bitch.”

“You humans...” Bekra replied. “You can’t even take care of yourselves. You come and start begging for us to help you. You are pathetic. You can’t even have a fleet that even comes close to ours. We should take all your men and women and rape them for our benefit.”

They were taunting words, even if they were role-playing. The desire to eliminate the pent-up frustration was daunting. Both of them began to walk around in a circle as they looked at each other with anger and determination.

“You Itreans ... can’t even save yourselves,” Zalika joked. “Throw a disease onto yourselves and watch your men die off. Now you have to have ivon to go and fulfill your lusts. I bet they have a hard time getting it up one another.”

Bekra made a hiss and a growl-like sound. “Poor human woman. Watch all your men come to us. All the human women will have to have each other ... just like us.”

Zalika charged forward as Bekra responded the same a split second later. Both their hands locked on each other. Adrenaline surged as hatred and anger bellowed in the air. It was like some ancient tribal dance of assertion. Their hands were interlocked as both began to put as much strength forward as possible onto each other.

Zalika, while she was taller, had to work more. Bekra’s clawed feet would press down and anchor into the grass and dirt. Zalika’s smoother feet had a much harder time doing so. She did have a little more strength than Bekra, but only by a small margin. Technically, neither was moving the other.

It was war in its purest form. Both were gritting their teeth as they continued to harvest more and more of their anger at each other. The cold temperatures began to wane almost completely as both were starting to get a workout.

“After I’m done, I’ll have my way with you,” Zalika told her.

“I will have you down on your back. You will feel it as I drive my dominance into you,” Bekra said.

It was a line that almost made Zalika chuckle, but her desire to relieve her anger and frustration outgrew it quickly.

It was now turning into a war of endurance. Zalika was expelling more energy than Bekra. In reality, evolution and bioengineering were on Bekra’s side. Humans were technically stronger than the Yutilians and the Aksren, but bioengineering ensured the best genes were brought to the surface and passed onto the next child. Even Zalika could see that Bekra would ultimately win in a long-term fight. It was a strategy that the Aksren clan used to their fullest extent. The concept was to wear out your opponent completely.

Zalika stumbled back as Bekra began to push forward more and more. The raptor had to be stopped. It was all that was on her mind. Memories of her childhood rushed into her mind. Stealing food and watching out for other children who were stronger than her ruled her thoughts. She had to do it, or she would starve for another day. The dark memories briefly resided while she fought the woman in front of her.

She could not give up, far from it. She pulled back as Bekra drove forward. Zalika’s smoother feet and legs did help her in one aspect. She hoped to pull a trap on Bekra, which partially worked. She backed up so much that Bekra stumbled a little bit as she was driving herself forward. When this happened, Zalika broke the lock of her hand’s grip and spun. This caused Bekra to keep pushing forward. Zalika went to Bekra’s side before the woman threw a punch at her closest friend’s nose and crest.

Bekra was fast, but she had little time to pull out of the way as the punch connected. It was a partially stunning blow as the reptilian woman recoiled a little bit. Bekra’s tail lashed a little bit and hit Zalika, but it wasn’t enough to stagger her. Instead, Zalika went and did a lashing jump kick into Bekra’s back.

The combined strikes caused the Itrean to fly forward and away from Zalika. It appeared at first that Zalika had the upper hand now. Bekra readjusted herself before she turned around to look at her. No blood has been drawn so far. The punches, kicks, and swings simply didn’t do enough damage.

“Surrender, Aksren,” Zalika commanded. “I’ll show you mercy.”

Bekra smiled. “Mercy? The Itreans do not have the word for it. The only good humans are the ones that remain in shackles, cages, or adorning our walls.”

Zalika didn’t have time to react as Bekra turned to look at the forest walls beyond the clearing they stood in. Then she ran forward, practically disappearing into the trees.

For Zalika, she stood in the same light of the clearing. Her friend and opponent had gone into the darkest region of the forest, away from the base’s little funneling light. It posed a problem for Zalika. There was no solution. The safe word had not been dropped, and the battle wasn’t over. The enemy had to be found. The goal of the marines was to flush them out. A hiding enemy was something little that could be done.

Zalika’s only response was to tap her left arm. The augmented limb activated as the flashlight emitter turned on. A bright path could be seen where the light was directed. The beam was intense, flooding her visual eyesight and oversaturating any faint light around it. While her vision forward was clear, she could not see anything from the side.

The cold was once again starting to set in. Zalika could see her breath in the cold air. She had heard the distant rustling of bushes but nothing else. Bekra had vanished and was using the darkness to hide.

“Damn...” Zalika said quietly to herself. “The odds are not in my favor.”

She began to walk in the brush and away from the clearing in the forest. Even the small moon of Teverest provided any hope of illumination besides her augmented arm. A part of her knew that the ending was coming. Bekra had full access to the forest and could see far better in the dark than she could. This, in combination with her abilities, made her a natural stalker.

The thoughts ran through her head. Like a stage play, a part of her was waiting for this to happen. The desire to win or lose would result in the thing that she needed more than anything. She placed her other hand on her vaginal opening and could feel her wetness. She pulled it away as the cold air pierced into her fingers.

She continued to walk as she heard a tree branch pop and crack. Only her ears could give her a clue before she turned her arm up. She directed the light at the origin of the sound.

“Nothing...,” she said out loud. “Gee ... hope no one’s going to ambush me and try to take advantage of me.”

Her light revealed only a cracked branch. If there was anything there, it was gone.

“Fucking hell ... ugh...” Zalika said. She turned her attention forward and began to walk once again. A swarm of insects stormed away from the brush and flew away together.

She knew she was a sitting duck. Her mind played out the events that were going to transpire. Bekra was going to ambush her. There was nothing that she knew could happen. The only course of action she could take was to walk forward and let the event occur.

There was another crack and rustling in the bushes. The sound followed up on the tree next to her. Even with her stalking skills, Bekra was still a weighted mass that was jumping on the trees around Zalika. It was tranquil, and the slightest sound could be heard. Zalika finally shut off the light on her arm and began walking back to the clearing.

A few seconds after turning around, Zalika heard another set of movements above her. It was too late. A massive hissing sound could be heard as an enormous amount of weight slammed onto her back and shoulders. It was not a kick or form of slashing attack but the feel of somebody jumping onto a person’s back and neck. She knew that if this was a deliberate assault, she would be dead by now. The Yutilians and Aksren could unleash an all-out attack on a human body with ease and simplicity. Even if they were weaker physically, the ability to be night stalkers was apparent.

“Mmph...” Zalika felt it as Bekra ambushed her. She could feel the weight press down on her. The soft scaled arms were wrapped around her chest and neck. Bekra then wrapped her digitigrade legs around her stomach.