Chương 69: Planning for the Future
I don't own star wars…
"NOOO." Milky said slowly and deliberately as we sat around the table waiting for her to cook breakfast the very next morning after Zero's little 'job offer'. "Remember back when we used to catch bail jumpers and guys that pissed Torga off?" she said coolly, crushing the handle of the cooking pan as she restrained herself. "It was a fun, easy time that didn't involve us having Short-round scan the ship for listening devices?"
Speaking of, he took that very moment to pop out of the small walk-in storage fridge holding one, he tossed it on the floor, and pulled a hammer from his pouch. And promptly smashed the thing to pieces before moving on stoically to another room.
"I remember those times… so when did we decide to screw with a SITH LORD?!" she yelled at me, looking particularly worried as everyone around the table remained oddly quiet. "This is not a good idea!" she then turned angrily to a rather sheepish-looking Scarlet, who fidgeted in her chair as Baleen abruptly moved her away. "You! You tell him it's a BAD IDEA! They have killed hallways full of people!"
"That's an odd measurement." I noted
"But not inaccurate!" she replied half sarcastic and half-concerned.
"It's a bad idea…" Scarlet admitted nervously, "But Milky-"
"No! Idea bad! Bad idea! We cannot take on a sith lord!"
Caradoc cleared his throat but abruptly sat a little straighter as an angry but concerned Milky's gaze turned on him. "I… could probably face him…" he noted sheepishly, wilting under Milky's fury.
"Why aren't you saying anything!?" she rounded on Yura who was suspiciously quiet, staring thoughtfully into her glass of blue milk. In fact, I expected this conversation to be coming from Yura, not Milky. "You agree with me, right!?"
"It's not a matter of agreeing with you…" Yura began but Xalbaia waved a dismissive hand over her opinion. Slamming the table to get our attention as Onara, sleeping beneath my feet, looked up at her mistress before promptly going back to sleep.
"Look… if my memory of Cipher 3-…Zero, is anything to go by, his plan's already in motion." Everyone turned to her as she sat a in her chair like a scheming supervillain. "…I wouldn't be surprised if he's already set us in Toxitus' sights. It doesn't matter if you or anyone else on this ship disapproves of this, it's GOING to happen… we need to figure out right now if we're going to do that with or without Zero's help…"
Somewhere on the ship we could hear Short-round's detection device whistle awkwardly before being followed by several smashes of a hammer. Xalbaia was right, no matter how much it annoyed me to admit that even in my head. Zero was insistent… And honestly, my bitch of a mother probably would have sent Toxitus down on me regardless.
"…This is probably the best time to face him…" Yura said suddenly, and very… ominous is actually the word. "…With Altora trying to convince the public about your grandfather's 'murder' by the republic she'll probably want him to put Toxitus' attentions elsewhere. And he won't have a battalion of troopers behind him if we act sooner than later…"
I stared at her confused for a moment, "Are you feeling okay?" I asked Yura seeing the grim look on her face.
"No. We're being strong-armed into trying to kill a sith and his apprentice. I'm not feeling okay at all." She replied bitterly as Xalbaia cleared her throat.
"Regardless. We also need to consider how we would take him… if we, and by that I mean you, try to take him on with his apprentice that's a quick way towards a severed limb even with the walking carpet." Caradoc roared angrily but she bravely pushed on, ignoring him. "Not only that but his toxins are another thing…"
"He uses poisons?" I asked concerned.
"…Not exactly." Xalbaia replied rather scientifically "…The chemicals that he constantly exposes himself too? I made them, he refined them. They keep him calm, focused… you need to understand, years ago before you were born he was a berserker, a monster that once tore a man apart with his bare hands… that man being his former master. It is possibly vital that you don't remove the tubes that pump the chemicals into his lungs or the fighting will be worse. Although I also suppose that leaves out our tranquilizer grenades…"
"I thought they weren't ready." I replied as Milky dropped angrily a huge platterful of food between all of us before sitting down beside me as we all began to eat.
"They aren't, but I imagine once Short-round is done we can get back to working on them… Toxitus' mask would filter them out anyway, but he has an apprentice yes?"
"Oh fuck, I forgot about her for a moment…" I grumbled slapping my forehead at the thought of Kaath-Tyi.
"…You said Zero told you that the sith had certain traditions…" Yura said softly, "…and that you had a certain charm." We looked at her, and she took a deep breath. "Well… that could mean he wants you to try and get Kaath-Tyi to kill her master. It wouldn't be that big of a stretch… if we injure Toxitus enough she would definitely take advantage of the moment and kill him for us."
She was being very somber about this. "Yura is something wrong?" I asked. "I mean specifically for you, I know you're pretty pissed about this." I added remembering I asked her before, but still, she was concerning me.
She jumped suddenly as if realizing I was sitting next to her. "What? Oh…" she shook her head, her lekku wagging from side to side as she brushed me off. "Yeah I'm fine." She repeated, "What about you Baleen anything to add?"
Baleen was predominantly quiet through the whole thing, she looked up from her meal. "…Well I can't say I approve of this whole thing. But frankly I agree that its going to happen anyway… we can either face him now or run until they catch us… I'd rather go out firing a blaster."
"What about asking the Jedi for help?" Milky said suddenly, turning to Scarlet, "Surely they'd jump at the chance…"
Scarlet however shook her head, "Debating, planning, more debating… it seems to me that we're quickly running out of time. Even if they streamlined their process we'd probably be in deep trouble." She sighed, "…Like they'd let us kill him anyway… they would probably try to catch him, and Zero-"she said his name bitterly, "-wouldn't want that."
I let out a frustrated groan and stood up from the table. "…I'm going to have a lie-down…" I told them bitterly, "We'll panic some more later. Good talk everyone…" and leaving them to their conversation I headed back to my room and dropped onto my bed right as Short-round disconnected Zero's holo-display.
An hour later my door opened and Milky entered, dressed in her casuals and her collar. She put the override lock on the door, and suddenly I didn't feel safe as it shut behind her. She glared at me, crossing her arms under her prominent chest, which really did nothing but make her look adorable.
"…We need to talk."
"No conversation ever ends well when it starts with that sentence…" I said, sitting up and leaning against the wall as I sat on my bed. "…What are we talking about?" I asked hesitantly as she approached.
"You possibly dying." She replied simply, her face adopting a very neutral look as she sat on the edge of my bed next to me. "You can't just brush this one off…"
"I'm not trying to… I've just kind of accepted it…" I said with a defeated grunt, "We can't hyperjump anywhere lately without my bitch of a mother's stench being there once we've arrived." Milky nodded slowly and laid her head against my chest, purring softly as she listened to my heartbeat, slowly stroking her soft cheeks against my shirt. "Okay, what do you want? Because once you start purring my pants tend to come off…" I laughed, and she joined me with a chuckle of her own.
"…I think… I'd want a girl… and we'd call her Circe." She said plainly, and I went rigid. Not all of me but most. "But I'd also be okay with a boy, and I'm thinking we'd call him Roland…" she looked up at me with… oh no, she had the bedroom eyes again… the ones I can't resist.
"Milky…" I began hesitantly but she leaned close to my lips, her face inches from my own.
"One word to Xalbaia and I'll be perfectly fertile." She said simply, "…You. Me… right here in bed and we start a family…"
"She's not a gene-therapist!" I said indignantly, "…Although she is a chemical expert… and a part-time ship engineer… and an actual doctor… so I guess it's not much of a stretch, but still!" however she silenced me by slipping a soft velvety hand into my shorts and finding something she was very familiar with. She gently caressed and squeezed my erection like the expert she was, still watching me as her hand absently went to work.
"Aiden…" she whispered softly, making me weaker than I admittedly already was, "…If you say yes, I'll do that thing you like…"
I was about to agree, when something prominent occurred to me. "…You mean everything?" I asked, rather surprised. I just realize that everything we did together was my favorite thing… so that temptation was a moot point.
She suddenly paused and looked at me oddly, she realized it too. "…Huh… we already do that thing you like, don't we?" she said, suddenly chuckling to herself, and I couldn't help but laugh with her… I could think of worse people to have a child with… I could think of a few people who shouldn't have had kids at all.
My biological father for one… my bitch of a mother was another…
…And hell, if I was going to face a sith lord I guess I needed proper motivation… I performed better when I had it. And protecting the mother, or more than likely a mother, of my child was a good incentive…
"…You know if we survive we're going to actually have to find a house somewhere… maybe give up bounty hunting for a while." I said flatly, as her hand started stroking me again. "I mean, you can't really track guys down pregnant, no matter how strong you are."
"Fine." She said quickly, "We could always homestead. Live in the ship for a while… nice little house somewhere…"
"Newt says Cerea…" I noted but frowned. Remembering Newt and how everything was moving. "…Would be good for us…" I added.
"I don't care really." Milky replied. "Cerea, Naboo, Endor… let's just go somewhere. Anywhere." She purred against my cheek, carefully licking my neck. "…You might die Aiden…" she said softly, "And let's be honest I'd only get in the way…" she looked me in the eyes, begging, pleading… she had taken that look before, but it was normally in the middle of our baby-making. "…Win or lose… let me have this. Let me have your baby…"
She felt my throb in her hand, and she smiled weakly, "…Please?"
…I couldn't say no to her… not now not ever.
"…Fine. Let's talk to Xalbaia…" I said in defeat. If I was being honest with myself it was going to happen eventually, and I was probably going to lose my head soon… or something just as vital.
She kissed me, like a lover would, long and loving. No tongue or erotic prodding, just a firm connection as her emotion flowed into me. Then she stood up excitedly, "I'll be right back okay? Just stay…." She looked at my pants and smiled, "Focused."
She left me alone in my room and my thoughts, I scowled and rubbed my forehead. A kid. A real kid… she wanted my kid… I mean I know what she said… how she said it. And she's always asked for it… but now that the idea was out there…
Oh fuck… she wanted me to be a dad!
I can't be a dad! An emotionally stunted runaway imperial alien fetishist!? Fuck how was I going to explain to my kid about Scarlet? And Yura!? Oh god damn it Scarlet and Yura… what did this mean to my relationships with them? And not only that but Tolara and Kavilla! I slapped my head with both hands… they were going to be aunts! How was that going to work?! I… need to talk to someone… anyone.
I scrambled through my draw full of coms… at first, I was going to go for a random one… but then I grabbed one…
It rang for a moment, I stared at it as I began pacing in my private bathroom. "Answer…" I said firmly. "Come on answer… I need to talk come on…"
"…Aiden?" Tolara's face appeared, she looked sleepy. Apparently, I just woke her up. Oh right, time differences… I forgot sometime. "Aiden what's the matter? Are you alright?"
I don't know how that was always the first thing on her mind. But I always appreciated it. "…Is Kavilla there too?" I asked. Knowing the odds were probably low.
Tolara frowned at me, "We haven't slept in the same room since you were 8 Aiden." She noted, "…Wait I'll get her. We take turns to be in command…" after a few more moments of waiting Kavilla's face appeared and she looked concerned.
"Aiden what's wrong? Are you alright? Do I have to kill somebody?"
I laughed and sat down on my toilet, rubbing a hand through my head nervously. "…I need to talk to someone."
"Are you in trouble?" my sisters said together, suddenly I felt like I was 13 again when I called them in the academy.
"Not… particularly." I said, keeping my own issues with Zero down, this was something else. "…If I were to tell you I was thinking about being a dad how would you react?" They stared at me, I think I broke them… "Girls?"
"Which one of your partners is to be the mother?" Tolara asked diplomatically. "…If it's Newt I will be having a strict word with her."
"No. Not Newt…" I shook my head, "Milky. We've… been talking."
Their faces struck identical looks, they looked at each other. "…That would be your Cathar Holo-girl, Right?" Kavilla asked, "…I could think of worse."
"Former holo-girl." I noted but Tolara snorted. "Tolara." I added warningly
"I was betting on your Twilek." She added almost hilariously. Kavilla glared at her rather scandalously.
"You… You said it would be the Togruta!" she shouted annoyed.
"Please, Yura is far more stable than the republic spy." Tolara replied, rather flatly. "She'd never be able to settle down and have children, she likes the job too much. Like Newt… who I will still be having a word with…"
"I guess that makes sense… why we didn't expect it to be Milky, she's more of a breeder…" Kavilla noted and I laughed.
"Sisters… your brother is stressed out…" I said nervously, unable to take the back and forth any longer. "How would you feel?"
"Who cares how we feel." They answered together.
"Aiden it's your life. If you had knocked up some hussy in the academy we would be annoyed but you're a successful bounty hunter and it's with a woman who loves you." Tolara said pleasantly. "Honestly. You're lucky. All our relationships if you can call them that were arranged by mother and were only broken off by careful manipulation…"
"And Newt." Kavilla added. "...Sometimes blasterfire."
"We would be happy to become Aunts for our precious little brother…" Tolara said, ignoring Kavilla and continuing. "Any child of yours is family to us."
"…And if I don't raise them imperial?" I asked, "…Milky might not want her baby anywhere near you."
Tolara's eyebrow twitched and they exchanged a look. They had a 'psychic' conversation with each other, but then Kavilla answered. "…Any child of yours is family to us…" she repeated firmly, "Aiden… if you want this baby, then we support you. We will support you because regardless of everything we're family. Even if your child grows up to be some republic superhero we'll still love him."
"Or her." Tolara added, "Another fine member of the real Kane family." She said with a smile.
"Firemane." I said sheepishly. "My kid would be a Firemane."
"Well love them anyway." Kavilla smiled, "…Are you okay?" she asked finally, as I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
"Yeah." I wiped my eyes, "I'm fine… love you both. I just needed someone to talk to."
"Call us anytime Aiden. We'll be here for you…" Kavilla said firmly.
"One way or another." Tolara added,
"Goodbye sisters…" I said, and turned off the com…
…That felt a little more final than I wanted it to be, all things considered, it might be… but I felt better. Lighter. I stood up and left my bathroom, waiting on Milky to return. It was a long time… finally my door opened again, and she entered with an annoyed-looking Xalbaia. The Falleen glared pointedly at me, as Milky sat on the bed watching her pleasantly.
"Okay. Let's get this out of the way. Yes. I can in fact gene-treat Milky to allow you two to have a child easier…" she continued to glare at us however. "But I can't just stick her with a needle and she's suddenly ready for it. I'll need time to prepare and a trip back to Tattooine for the chemicals necessary to start with." She turned to Milky, "It won't be easy. You'll need to take pills, I'll need to inject you. And most importantly… and I need you both to pay attention, for maximum results you need to abstain from sex until the treatments on Milky are done."
"…Why?" I asked a little amazed that she really did know all this. Although I guess if she helped with my bitch of mother's pregnancy with me I shouldn't be surprised.
"To let your sperm count build…" she said simply, "And to let Milky's body adjust to the change. It sort of like a…" she struggled to find the words, "…Like a blaster that you need to charge up before you fire. The more you wait, the better the effect. So…" she looked at me, "Keep it in your pants until I'm done with Milky… and you two can tell the others we're doing this. I don't want to be on the receiving end of this one."
"I guess we're going back to tattooine…" I mumbled, as Milky laid her head on my shoulder, looking fairly disappointed we couldn't start right away. "Better go tell Yura." Milky harrumphed as she walked past Xalbaia and out the door, "…Thanks Xalbaia…" I said causing her to actually jump, "It means a lot to Milky…"
"Yes well…" she sighed, "…I've met worst parental possibilities when I was a practicing doctor. I just never expected to be doing this with Altora's son… to think if I never even met you I would still be hustling Tuuba for Torga…" she laughed, "Then again… if I never sent Knights to find a damn sith holocron Babayaga wouldn't have kicked me out…"
…Holy fuck…
My mind clicked as I looked at her… everything was so clear all of a sudden. I tapped my head, slowly as the idea formed… and then. "Holy fuck!" I shouted, she jumped at my sudden exclamation as I rushed forward and hugged her. She trembled in my grip, apparently not used to the attention. "I have an idea!" I held her at arms distance, smiling at her before I tossed her aside and ran out of the room to the kitchen where Milky just finished telling Yura to send us back to tattooine.
"I know what to do! We set a trap!" I shouted to them as they blinked at me.
"Okay…" Baleen said hesitantly, recovering faster than everyone else as they continued to watch me. "How?"
Short-round suddenly popped into the kitchen, carrying a handful of transmitters, and I grabbed one before he could smash it. "Zero. If you can hear me." I said to the device. "I need you to tell me where I can find the sith holocron you were going to inform Knights about, I know you know where one will be. Because its you." I gave it back to Short-round who stared at me. I grinned at everyone, "…We're going to lure him to it."
Bonus
Stupid Aiden. I thought to myself as I watched another bug blink out of existence. Those aren't from Zero… I had listened into his conversation with his sisters. And I couldn't help but feel… left out. Annoyed even…
But strangely I felt prominently sad…
Still though, there was some wisdom in it being Milky… I certainly couldn't have a baby in my position. With my lifestyle… with my family…
I frowned as another bug blinked away, sighing in response… I don't even know why I bugged the ship… there was no real reason to. Not officially… sometimes I just liked hearing his voice, even if the words that came out were more negative recently…
…I missed him… and it hurt me that he felt this way.
But it would all be over soon if all the conversations I've heard recently are to be believed… with the air clear, without Altora. Even I'd be more… available…
"Zero. If you can hear me." Aiden said to one of the bugs "I need you to tell me where I can find the sith holocron you were going to inform Knights about, I know you know where one will be. Because it's you" I stared at the com for a moment and scowled… I was going to have to talk to dad…
The things I do for my idiot boyfriend...
End of Chapter
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