Zukka - 1
Part 2: Yesterday is always too far away
Attention Pod 422XE9, estimated arrival on Vegeta-sei in ten standard minutes. I repeat: Estimated arrival…
Zukka startled when the automatic message started. Ten minutes left… she rubbed over her eyes, trying to get the sleep out of her head. A few days had passed since her departure, being in cryosleep always made her lightheaded and exhausted. Thinking about her home leave didn´t help to light up her mood as well.
She grunted, trying to get into a better position for the re-entry into the atmosphere. Not that the little pod would present her with many options. She didn´t like traveling with them, but she was urged to come to Vegeta-sei as fast as possible. Every other option was much slower. And much more comfortable, since the small pod didn´t damper the force with which it hit the upper atmosphere.
Home leave…that almost gave a positive ring to it. Zukka huffed, when she thought about it. She should pick up some award, honouring her to have participated in thirty purges. Probably honouring the fact that she was still alive. And of course the other thing, the urgent thing, the unpleasant occasion… Her teammate Pepper had tried to lighten up her mood, this was an actual honour, she should be happy about it, blablabla. There was only one way to avoid it, but her strained wrist wasn´t a sufficient enough injury to get away with. She rubbed her hand absentmindedly, no, it wasn´t sufficient enough. Getting pregnant wasn´t influenced by it.
She knew it was her duty as a female Saiyan in service to produce one child till her tenth standard year. She knew it was due anyway, she would´ve passed the age in a couple of months. But it was definitely bad luck to be chosen by the royal house for it.
Zukka gritted her teeth when she entered the atmosphere and got pressed hard into her seat. The stupid regulations were something she didn´t like anyway, but currently she hated them. It was a good luck she was a soldier and not a politician, maybe she would´ve thought about trying to do something about it otherwise.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Freeza´s rule extended over the quarter of a galaxy, sharing it with the rest of his family. In his quarter, Vegeta-sei was well-known. Not for containing the strongest race, they weren´t, but for having the highest amount of professional fighters on one planet in the whole galaxy. Making them a blessing and a curse for their ruler. And forcing them to make sure enough capable fighters are produced to constantly fill the ranks.
Before Freeza, the Saiyans had already developed space travel, and with it the necessity for birth control. Since most of the population was in space all the time, the planet was in danger of losing its inhabitants. As a counter measure, the Saiyans soon started to experiment with in vitro pregnancies. The perfect solution for everyone, no restrictions for the female bodied part of the population anymore, no reason to rely on random sexual reproduction, it was flawless. Until the first results came in. Over 90 % of the in vitro children were sterile and had low energy levels. Further experiments with different conditions, different crossings all led to the same results. In vitro reproduction was unsuccessful, but it smoothed the way for one important revolution in the regulation of the population – reproduction was now state business. Saiyan anatomy allowed to make sure sex wasn´t used for offspring anymore, by removing the egg sacks of every female coded person. From then on, pregnancies were delegated, in vitro fertilization was used to cross the most desirable individuals, family became obsolete. A development that wasn´t opposed much, space travel already started to change the social structure on Vegeta-sei.
Freeza´s emergence a hundred years earlier was the most important factor to keep the discontent in the population low, by making the change absolutely necessary. Weak male children were sent away to suicide missions, making them appear useful instead of simply killing them off. Female children with weak energy levels though were trained in science, politics and arts. That way, most of the technical and social development of the planet was ruled by women, making sure there were always enough of them on the planet to produce offspring. And providing enough soldiers for Freeza´s needs.
The female population on the planet also had the duty to produce a child every two standard years, if not medically incapable of it. Female soldiers only needed to produce one in their life. Since around forty percent of the female Saiyans were in service, it made sure that there was never a shortcoming of soldiers to serve their Lord.
And from all of them, the most promising soldiers or scientists were chosen as mothers for a royal child. Every standard year, till a suitable male offspring was produced.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Zukka was one of the few who actually managed to get a high ranking as a soldier, no matter how much the system worked against her. And that was exactly what gave her the honour of her home leave.
When the pod landed, the impact made Zukka bounce up in her seat, hitting her head against the pod´s wall. With a grunt, she got out of the small ship, feeling more and more ready to kill someone. A tall woman standing next to the landing area, grinning at her, seemed a good choice.
“Welcome back on Vegeta-sei, Zukka. My name is Dipal. I was assigned to help you with your current duties. I hope you had a pleasant journey.”
Zukka gave her the best death glare she could muster, but Dipal didn´t seem to notice. She just held her hand stubbornly in Zukka´s direction. Like fuck would she shake hands like a civilian!
“Awesome. Help me get a shower, how ´bout that?”
Dipal answered with a sly grin and lowered her hand. “Of course. Already prepared, the award ceremony is today, afterwards there is a meeting with the king and tomorrow…” She typed something on her tablet. “Tomorrow morning you have the first in vitro session! There will be a checkup and if it didn´t work, the treatment will be repeated till it does. Any questions?”
Zukka took a deep breath. She hated politicians. “No.”
“Great. Please follow me.”
Zukka looked at the waving fabric in front of her, reminding her why she hadn´t wanted to return on the planet. She hated everything on it, the condescending assholes living on it, the inescapable bureaucratic bullshit that was even more pestering than usual, probably since it was closer to the victims, even the way they dressed angered her! She was sure the loose civilian clothing was to differentiate them from the tight uniforms the soldiers wore. If it made them feel better… hopefully they won´t forget who was responsible for the many amenities the Saiyans had in this galaxy.
They had prepared an apartment for her, a fresh uniform... she absolutely didn´t mind to change her armor for something more comfortable. Dipal was staying close. Helping with your duties! More like keeping an eye on her. At least she waited in the car in front of the building where the award ceremony took place. It was already embarrassing enough, the last thing she wanted was to be seen by her colleagues with Dipal. Her personal babysitter.
There were others waiting for an award for their duties as well. Zukka eyed them, all male, all grim looking, she wanted to laugh. At least it went over fast, a short speech, a few bows, fist over the heart, we will always serve our King Vegeta and our Lord Freeza!
And then the first of the many inconveniences started. The meeting with the king. Of course it wasn´t necessary, it´s not as if he was needed for the task, nor would he inform her about everything that was going to happen in the near future, it was just a formality. … he could still ask her for a fuck. Usually, it wasn´t a big deal to decline such an offer if she wasn´t interested, but it was the king. The fucking king!
Zukka felt her tail twitching around her waist, she tried to calm herself down while she waited. No need to worry. Maybe she wasn´t his type. Even if, one fuck sure wasn´t enough to ruin her career. It would all go well.
The moment the door opened, Zukka slammed her fist on her chest and bowed down. Her heart was bumping wildly, it was embarrassing. She heard footsteps coming closer, no order to get up, though.
“Group leader Zukka... You probably know you´re the eighth woman chosen for this. What did you do…”
She heard some soft bumping noises, probably looked up her file. Why didn´t he order her to get up? Her back was killing her!
“Ah, I see, you just lead a mission against the Sarati Syndicate. Means you´re probably smart and strong. And good parents.”
“Thank you, your majesty.”
“If you produce something useful, you´ll get a promotion. Better produce something useful, otherwise you´re just wasting your time here.”
Was she supposed to say something to that? At least he saw it like she did.
“Uhm…”
“You´re dismissed.”
Some more footsteps. Zukka raised her head a bit, seeing the door falling shut. With a raised eyebrow, she got up completely. She had expected a lot, that… had been rather short. Almost insultingly short. Dipal was waiting just outside the room, perfectly fitting to the interior. Seeing her in her natural habitat made Zukka even more twitchy.
“How did it go?”
“Short. Obviously.”
“No need for our majesty to bother about the unimportant stuff. It was just a formality anyway.”
“I figured that much out.” Zukka started walking faster, she just wanted to get out of the damn building! Eighth one, right. Only girls have been born so far, one boy, too weak for the occasion. They could just adopt a suitable child, but that´s not how royalty worked, sure. If only women weren´t restricted in their capacity to produce children, making them not fit for the royal job, the problem would´ve already been solved. The first royal child was very strong, as far as Zukka recalled. What was her name…
“I´ll accompany you to your quarters.”
Zukka looked up, startled. She had been lost in thought.
“Right. Afraid something might happen to me on the way or are you spending the night there as well, making sure I don´t bail?”
Dipal huffed. “You can really stop with the sarcasm. I´m only doing my job.”
They walked silently to the car. “So, Dipal, how´s it with you? You got like five children already?”
Slowly, Dipal raised her head from her phone. “I have three. All disappointments. Probably won´t happen to you, with your record…”
“What did they do to disappoint?”
Dipal didn’t answer for a second. She was clearly annoyed. Well, served her right.
“I´ve got two girls and one boy. The boy was barely good enough not to get sent away, still decided to stay in service. One of the girls did the same as well, the third one is promising. Intelligent enough for a good education. She´s still young, though, and my children seem to inherit a certain stupidity, so who knows.”
“Why do you even care?”
Now Dipal looked at her, a grin on her face. “Oh, just wait. Just wait, Zukka.”
Zukka frowned, but kept quiet.
Back at the apartment, Dipal didn´t leave the car. Obviously she wasn´t going to stay and guard her. But somehow…
“How´s it, Dipal, sure been some time since you fucked a soldier?”
Dipal shrugged slightly. The tip of her tail started twitching, at least some reaction.
“Besides all obvious reasons, what makes you think I want to spend more time in your company than necessary?”
Zukka leaned forward, a sly grin on her face. “Isn´t it your job?”
They had barely closed the door when they started undressing each other. Zukka had her problems with Dipal´s weird robe, too much fabric flying around, her nose barely reaching the height of Dipal´s tits didn´t make it much easier.
“For fuck´s sake, how do you ever get out of that stuff?”
Dipal had just pushed the top of Zukka´s overall down, fingering on the shirt below. “Practice. I suppose you don´t fuck women often.”
Zukka just snorted. She never heard that as an insult. A few minutes later, they were almost naked, breathing heavy, kissing more frantically. She didn´t like sex with women too much, just sometimes, sometimes the little difference was exactly what made it interesting.
They parted, Zukka sitting on top of Dipal, looking at her wet lips, the long sleek hair lying around her head like a halo. Time to destroy the pretty image.
“Say, is your tongue just as good on other body parts?”
Dipal´s tail shivered at the tip, her hands lying on Zukka´s hips pushed her forward slightly.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Zukka sat down on her face, enjoying the pleasant sensation of a tongue on her clit. She caressed Dipal´s hair, streaking it out of her face, grabbing it, a fistful.
“And now show me what tricks you have.”
With that, she pushed Dipal´s face into her, the grunts that followed, the kicking feet making her wet, excited. Sometimes, women weren´t so bad. She moved her hand between Dipal´s legs, laughing, enjoying how she went from struggling to shivering in way too little time, maybe she enjoyed it too much. Or maybe she lacked some air. Giggling, Zukka started to move her hips slowly, noting with some satisfaction that Dipal had grabbed them so hard, it would at least leave some bruises.
“You´re not bad, Dipal. Not at all.” Her orgasm started to rise. No, not at all.
Some time later, Zukka hadn´t paid attention, they lay together in the bed. Looking out of the window, Zukka took a deep drag out of her cigarette. It was somehow surreal, the sight she got. She couldn´t even see the stars, the city was too bright, too dirty. Even if, the air, the damp weather in the northern hemisphere, the damn atmosphere. Zukka´s eyes narrowed. Being on-planet simply sucked on every account.
Some of the ash started falling down on her stomach. She gave it an annoyed look, angling for something she could use as an ashtray and dumping it unceremoniously on Dipal´s back. A protesting grunt followed.
“The fuck you´re doing?”
Zukka eyed her, she had a pretty back. Next time they fucked, she would make sure to get a view at that.
“Smoking.”
Dipal tried to move, but decided against it. Probably too tired. Or too painful.
“Move that shit.” Silence followed. Zukka was sure she had fallen back asleep, absentmindedly rubbing her wrist. It still hurt, an unwelcome dull pain. She should probably put the bandage back on, at least at night.
“What happened with your hand?”
Zukka stopped immediately with her movement, looking straight into Dipal´s face. She had turned around, obviously still awake.
“What?”
“Your hand. Just rubbed it, weren´t using it too much to grab my head… some accident prior to your arrival?”
With a sigh, Zukka continued with the rubbing. “Sort of.”
Dipal looked at her for a minute. “So?”
“What? You want details? Do you get off of that?”
Dipal huffed, making the tray on her back shiver. “Whatever. You came from some mission, probably strained your wrist killing some people who didn´t have enough money for their planet and now you don´t want to talk about it. Suit yourself.”
Zukka glared at her, long. “Y´know, I hardly do purges. People my level are not necessary for them most of the time. And even if, I usually just take care of the ones that try to put up a fight. And if you´re so self-righteous about it, why working for the government?”
Dipal grinned, her eyes already half lidded. “Nothing to be done about it, right? I was just surprised you seemed to be ashamed of it.”
“That was your imagination.” Zukka paused, grabbing another cigarette. “Tell you what, I was actually on some syndicate members, very important mission.”
“You were in charge?”
“Yes.”
“Congrats. Makes way for your promotion, once you deliver a baby.”
Zukka gritted her teeth. Right. “Would´ve preferred if I could´ve just continued with what I started. I like to earn my rank. But whatever, can´t change it anyway.”
“And your hand?” Dipal wiggled her finger at her.
“Would love to say it happened torturing some mob guy, but… “ She laughed, scratching her eyebrow. “I got it stuck in some door back at the station. Happens.”
Dipal giggled, her eyes barely open anymore. “Now that´s embarrassing.”
Tell me about it. Zukka finished smoking, not yet able to sleep. The cryo was still in her bones and anyway, Dipal had done some great work keeping her mind on the shit that was going on. It had been her first solo mission, she had been in charge, they got a good lead and now… someone else was going to continue with it. Because she had other duties. Will be great once she heads back and worst case it´ll be a boy, keeping her longer on the planet… groaning, she rubbed over her eyes. Fucking promotion, they could keep it. All of it.
Next morning, Zukka felt a headache forming, too little sleep and too little enthusiasm. Still better than Dipal, trying desperately to put make up on some pretty bruise next to her mouth.
“Oh, good morning pretty. I like my work on you.”
Dipal turned around, her eyes small. “You just made sure I won´t fuck any soldier ever again! Look at that! I have to work!”
“Ah, civilians, can´t appreciate some nice markings.” She grinned, showing her teeth, silently hoping Dipal would hit her. Then she maybe would´ve developed some respect for her.
The whole way to the clinic was equally frosty, at least she didn´t accompany her inside. Not that it took much time, half an hour probably, Zukka barely realized it had started when it was already over. They drove back quietly. She felt somehow disappointed, just like the previous day after the meeting with the king. This was it. The big moment, now there could be the future king starting to grow inside her, and yet it was so unspectacular.
Back at the apartment, Dipal stopped at the front door, handing a tablet to Zukka.
“In three days there will be an evaluation of your progress. If the embryo hasn´t settled, we´ll try again.” She raised the tablet. “This contains your future assignments. You should look through them, in case you have some special whishes.”
Zukka eyed the tablet, slowly taking it. She was glad she got something to do during the time on planet, just not so sure it was something she actually liked.
“Great. And you?”
“What about me?”
Zukka smiled, a sly smile while she grabbed Dipal´s chin in her hand. Barely reached it without having to stand on her toes. “Not gonna stay and watch over me? Gotta say, I´m sorry for the inconvenience, but you still look so much better with a bit of colour on your face.” She slowly rubbed over the dark spot.
Dipal pushed her hand away, not even trying to hide her annoyed look. “I don´t know what you soldiers get off on, but here it is not common to leave visible traces of sex. You might wanna get accustomed to that again while you´re here. And by the way…” Dipal eyed her from top to bottom. “You should dress appropriately. Civilian clothing, try to fit in.”
Zukka shortly looked down on her, tight pants, tight shirt, angry look to Dipal. Now she returned the smile, her eyes cold, turning around and walking back to the car. “See you in three days.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It had worked. Zukka sat on her bed, the loose dress she wore lying in waves around her. Now it was final, her time as sentient incubator had begun. It was seemingly all she was now, her rank forgotten, two soldiers were now constantly living in the small anteroom at the entrance to the apartment. No one seemed to care that they were just second level, Zukka could kill them without even blinking. And still there they were, protecting her or whatever. With a huff, she angled for a pack of cigarettes, fingers gliding over the cupboard, a few seconds before she lifted her head. A few minutes later, she started screaming.
“WHO the FUCK went through my stuff? I barely have PRIVATE belongings, am I not even allowed to keep the fuck I own?”
Guard one just stared at her, waiting till she stopped screaming or maybe just standing there since it was his duty. Guard two looked way more agitated, trying to calm her down. Not that she cared particularly much.
“The instructions say that you are not allowed certain substances during your pregnancy. You can see here.”
Zukka slammed the tablet out of his hands, smash on the wall. “I can smoke what I want!”
Guard one seemed to have awaken. “No, you can´t. The child has topmost priority, you will not try to deliberately harm it. If you refuse, we are allowed to use force.”
A dry laugh was all Zukka answered. Force, huh? “You don´t wanna mess with me, you little asshole.”
Guard two kicked the remnants of his tablet away from his feet, trying to avoid her look.
“Those are the rules, if you like them or not. Try to be a bit more grateful for the honour you received.”
There was one thing Zukka really liked about being on planet. Doors that could be slammed. And she made sure everyone in the building heard it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They followed her. Everywhere she went, the two guards didn´t leave her side. And they seemingly didn´t care when she got mad. Maybe they knew she wouldn´t use force. After all, they were royal guards, red insignia on the collar of their overalls. There was hardly something Zukka had more respect for than her king and the people who were chosen to serve directly under him. Still annoyed the fuck out of her.
And then the teaching… she understood, the only way the female cadets got some experienced fighter to train them was during the one year leave for pregnancy, it was definitely important and Zukka had looked forward to it, somehow. She just hadn´t expected it to be so boring. Even the older cadets were simply horrible, barely practiced in actual combat, some of them hadn´t even killed before. She yearned for a decent fight, but that was also on the list of precautions, she could accidentally get hurt. At least now she understood why her male comrades hated their yearly one month stay on planet to train cadets so much. Not just for the forced absence from work, as she had assumed.
When she got too pregnant to even train, real hell started. Her whole body was aching, missing movement, missing action, missing agility. The more the little prince grew inside her, the more she felt like something tried to make her explode to crawl out of her bloody remnants. Another thing that didn’t go as expected, no one really marked the day when they could finally see it was a boy. Even the commander of the royal guard was present, but obviously knowing it was a boy wasn´t good enough. Still had to be strong after all.
Zukka had no doubt about that, some of his kicks had made her knees weak. Maybe he would just bite his way out through her spine, also possible.
She hadn´t seen Dipal in a while, somehow missed her. She was the only one who hadn´t treated her like some delicate puppet, but obviously her job was already done. With a sigh, Zukka heaved herself on her bed, her stomach looking like a moon, swollen and chubby and immensely big. All of her muscles gone, not that they had been very defined before. Her body was strong but didn´t want to show it, especially not now, her breasts and her hips even wider than before. Zukka just hoped it would go back to normal once she delivered, it had been hard getting into the standard uniform before, they simply didn´t accommodate to breasts.
At least someone was happy… Zukka´s thoughts trailed to her parents, she had thought about visiting, since she was already here anyway. But then again she hadn´t forgotten how they had treated her, back when she was about to be send away to Vegeta-city, training for the best. She knew her parents did have an arrangement, they were both distantly related to the royal family and somehow managed to manipulate the state controlled assignment of the best fitted pairs for offspring to produce her. The only way to get into the royal family again, and they knew only the best fighters were first choice for the mothers of kings – and they thought she wouldn´t make it. Not that Zukka cared about it, she only ever wanted to fight and it made her even prouder to have earned her ranks, despite the efforts both of them had put to keep her from achieving anything. If she had complied… probably ended as another chemist in her mother´s lab. Just the thought about visiting made her feel sick again, and she had just emptied her stomach. And her father… he was a commander, higher rank than her, like hell would she want to see him so he could look down on her. Or worse, finally being proud, finally had she achieved her life´s duty.
With a twist of her lip, she retched, vomiting stomach acid on the floor. There was nothing left in it, not after the little prince had kicked her a few times in the gut that morning. She would become a commander, and then she would meet them again. Everyone could birth a child, only a few made it to top rank. There was no doubt which was more honourable in the end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Her legs were swollen, her breasts were heavy and ached with every movement, no matter how careful she was, she had to go to the toilet every half hour, either he pressed on her bladder or he kicked her and made her vomit. She could only sleep in one position anymore, even the two guards finally seemed to care about her, trying to help her get comfortable. Now she knew why they had to force every woman into pregnancy. The Saiyans might be warriors, but this was simply torture.
Absentmindedly, she rubbed over her belly, feeling the slight movement underneath it. It was disgusting, something growing inside her, only feeling horribly weak kept her from ripping it out of her. She was supposed to spend two standard months with the thing inside her. The little prince. Bonding with him. She had read the articles, she had to after continuous nightmares about being eaten from the inside out by her offspring, she knew it was necessary. Didn´t make it better in the end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After the Saiyans were not longer dependent on random, sexual reproduction, it was just a small step for the government to take over. Offspring should be raised by the state, but there had been harsh backlashes. Children who grew up without physical affection showed decreased intelligence and socially incompatible behaviour. It took some lines of children to figure out the problem. Two standard months were the limit. Children needed to be imprinted to an adult, two months were enough for the fast developing Saiyan offspring. Two more months showed even better results, but were not mandatory for the adult in question. Mostly the mother´s took care of it, being on planet, and that way another problem was taken care of: Most children liked to stay in contact with one parent, if the parent was available. Four months old children were given to educators, after reaching puberty they were assigned to their destined work groups in military, science or other fields. Having the opportunity to talk to a close person made most of them more motivated in the line of work they were assigned to.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It seemed logical to Zukka, someone should take care of the children. With reluctance she could even see the benefits from staying with the little creature inside her for two additional months. But staying in contact for the rest of her life? Sure the king would take care of it, once the little prince was old enough to start training off planet. If he even made it that far. That was none of her business though. And oh was she glad it wasn´t.
Two weeks before the calculated date of her birth she woke up by horrible pain, going through her lower body in waves, only a tail injury felt like that. But it wasn´t her tail. She felt wet between the legs, it could only be one thing. It was too dark to see the blood, it didn´t matter, she knew it finally happened, the little monster tried to crawl out of her. She felt her breathing getting ragged, cold sweat formed all over her body, her eyes became frantic.
So many missions, never before had she been… afraid. Not like this. The logic part in her brain, the part that knew how children were born wasn´t working anymore, she just started to panic, feeling her eyes getting wet, she hadn´t thought she would ever be glad to see her two guards, both clearly disheveled, at least they knew what to do.
It wasn´t blood. He would not come out by himself. She didn´t believe it, not even a second, they actually had to sedate her completely, she couldn´t even feel embarrassed when she woke up again.
After a moment of confusion, Zukka realized. Her body was back to normal. A pretty massive wound was on her stomach, she didn´t care. That was the kind of injury she knew. It was a clean cut, definitely not a bite wound. How in the hell had Dipal managed to go through this three times, Zukka couldn´t understand. There was nothing but respect for her.
Half an hour later, Zukka already got up, slowly walking down the corridor, she had been told where the little monsters were kept. Get a look at him, facing her nightmare. He was screaming when she arrived at the window, showing his toothless mouth. It was such a fragile little thing, so harmless, so different from what she had imagined.
“Group leader Zukka.”
Startled, Zukka looked up, involuntarily taking a step back. It was the Commander of the royal guard. If he was here… she shot a short glance at the window.
“Commander Nappa.” She bowed slightly, ignoring the pounding pain in her lower body.
“Congratulations. You´ve done a good job on Prince Vegeta in there, he has one of the highest power levels ever recorded in an infant.”
“Is that so?” Should she feel pride? It wasn´t really her doing, she had only provided her body.
“When you have recovered you get another audience with our king. This will include your promotion.”
Zukka felt her heart rate increasing. A promotion, directly from the king? Maybe it wasn´t as good as it should have been, not actually done anything to earn it, still. A promotion. By the king. A smile formed on her lips. Now who else could say they got something like that?
“… and I will personally see for the prince´s and your safety for the next month.”
Zukka looked up again, she had been distracted by the good news. “Sorry? You… personally?”
He inclined his head. She couldn´t make out his expression, it was simply bland. Obviously, he was not surprised by her reaction. “Our future king should have the best treatment. In a few days then. Group leader.”
“Commander.” She tried to bow again, waiting till he was gone before she got up, no matter the pain. That… had been unexpected. She wasn´t quite sure if it was good or bad.
The little monster had stopped screaming.
Definitely bad.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Meeting the king had been just as short as her first visit, though Zukka was too happy to care about it. Captain… her previous resentment against her promotion for not having earned it was blown away. She had earned it. She had probably lost years of her life with that pregnancy, and it wasn´t even over.
The commander proved to be very difficult to handle, he didn´t simply stay quiet when she screamed at him. And she screamed at everyone, just like the little monster didn´t stop screaming. They expected her to deal with it all, carry him around, calm him down, let him drink from her breasts, that´s when she put a halt to it. A lot of threats were thrown around, mostly revolving around demoting her again, they simply didn´t understand. She could hardly hold the prince without the utmost disgust, the thought that the little creature would get near her with his mouth! Pumping was uncomfortable, but at least she wasn´t afraid the machine would try to bite her.
Three weeks was all it took. She had barely closed her eyes when the bawling started again, the middle of the fucking night, like some sort of divine punishment. She couldn´t… there was no other possibility, why else was there no help? It was their future king, no matter what she said, she got no help. He needs bonding, sure, Zukka could imagine, she could imagine when she looked down on it, barely even thinking straight anymore, last time she slept was too long ago, only half an hour here or there…
Without hesitating, she grabbed a jacket and stormed out of the apartment, the two guards didn´t even notice it before she was out on the street, probably calling the commander. They should, try to find her, it didn´t matter, she just needed to GO! Her hair flung into her face by the wind, it was cold, she hadn´t even thought about changing into something else, but she was already breaking the law anyway… her Ki started to warm her up, quickly taking the steps to the tram. Didn´t matter anyway.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Hey.“
Zukka barely heard it, a faint noise, nothing that could wake her up, not now, finally…
“For fuck´s sake!” Zukka jumped, looking frantically around, trying to find out who just kicked her in the stomach, still tender from the operation. It took her a few seconds to focus, to figure out the face.
“Dipal?”
“As I live. Nice place you found for a nap. Not a bit loud?” She looked around the club, a lot of people for the hour, all the talking was loud enough for Dipal to almost scream.
“I don´t care, no one bothers me here. And you won´t either! Who the fuck sent you?”
Dipal rubbed her nose, sighing dramatically. “One of your guards, probably thought you´d rather talk to a woman. Come on now, it´s late, let´s go.”
Zukka´s face hardened. “You can forget that. I haven´t slept in fucking WEEKS! I will not return back to that hell-hole before I haven´t slept for one fucking night! And now piss off!”
Dipal didn´t move, she just slowly crossed her arms, watching Zukka. “So that´s final?”
“Try to force me.”
“I could call the commander.”
“I guess that option was dismissed already. Can´t hurt the bonding mate of that little creature.”
“Our Prince, Zukka. What is wrong with you?”
She huffed, not caring to answer that. How could everyone be okay with it was the question!
“You know what, this is ridiculous. I´ll give you that one night. Just move your ass, my car is outside.”
Zukka still didn´t move, just eyeing her suspiciously.
“I´ll drive you to my place! I cannot leave you alone and I can´t sleep here! You need more of an invitation?”
“I will hurt you if I end up back there. You have no idea what I can do to you.”
Dipal waved her hand, leading the way when Zukka finally got up. She fell in a light slumber on the way, barely listening to Dipal phoning someone that she would stay away for one night. She hadn´t lied. She hadn´t.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It wasn’t her bed. She blinked, a few times. It wasn´t the damn apartment. Groaning, Zukka got up, rubbing her eyes. Right. She was at Dipal´s. And a look on the watch at the wall also told her that she had slept really long.
Dipal was already up and eating, Zukka just flopped down on the table, grabbing a cup.
Dipal raised one eyebrow, not bothering to look up from whatever she was doing. “Took your sweet time.”
“Hm.” Zukka chewed slowly, savouring the moment. It was so peaceful.
“I took the day off, didn´t want to leave you here. Made some calls.”
“Aha.”
“I organized some help for you. It will be the same shit for the next two or three weeks, it´s just fair someone helps you out a little.”
Zukka rubbed her eyebrows, eyeing her over the table.
“Oh. First one to think of that.”
“Till now you did behave.”
Zukka huffed, in a way too good mood for another snarky reply. They kept quiet till Zukka finished her breakfast.
“Hey Dipal, can I see your scars?”
Dipal looked up, a calm expression was obviously what she had went for, didn´t work. “What scars?”
“Your scars. Baby scars. Where they cut out the little monsters.”
She rolled her eyes, thinking about it for a while before she got up and ripped her shirt up, looking expectantly. Zukka was mesmerized by it, one straight scar, right from her belly button down, following the line of hair, a small white line, how could she have missed it…?
Dipal slapped her hand away. “No touching. You think I let you fuck me again?”
Zukka grinned, looking up at her face. “Think you´ve got so little self-restraint?” Dipal huffed, letting the shirt glide down again, smoothing the edges with her tail. “You looked at me like I was some rare treasure. I´m not completely unperturbed by that.”
“You are not rare. That´s even crazier. You did that three times and got this nice scar…”
“I had children. That´s not a battle wound.”
“You say that. Not me”
“Zukka, you are probably the only person in history who makes such a fuss about this. You´re a fucking soldier!”
Zukka shrugged, as if she hadn´t heard that enough lately. “So what? Did I know theoretically what was about to happen? Yes. Didn´t change the fact that it… I was not prepared for this! I have never had anything to do with something like this, okay? I haven´t seen children, last time when I was one! Do I really have to justify myself?”
Dipal looked at her, long. “The way you act, you shouldn´t expect pity.”
“I never expected it. I just don´t want to hear all those fucking accusations anymore.”
Dipal just shook her head, grabbing the tablet again. “Whatever. Not much longer till you can leave the planet for good. Guess you won´t miss it.”
“Not a second. All this assholes telling me what to do…”
Dipal grabbed her jacket, the first time Zukka saw her wearing some kind of uniform. It had the royal insignia on it. An unwelcome feeling started to form in her stomach. Dipal noticed her stare, seemingly enjoying the moment.
“I know we are all drilled to respect our king and everyone who is affiliated with him. We, the diplomats and public servants, are a part of it. Maybe start to respect us as well.”
She waved her hand, signaling Zukka to get up. Zukka eyed her, not sure if she liked the smug grin on Dipal´s face or if she admired her. A little. A bit.
Barely back in her apartment, a lot of screaming followed. The commander was less than pleased, but Zukka decided not to care. She got a help, unfriendly and demanding, but it was worth it. Sleep was worth it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He developed quickly. Zukka was amazed by how fast he learned, barely a few weeks old he gave his first attempts at walking, his first attempts at speaking, the tiny teeth stumps already grown out and capable of eating normal food. The more he became a person, the less Zukka felt inclined to think of him as a monster. It was her little monster though. He started getting attached, demanding to be in her presence all the time, screaming and crawling after her.
She didn´t mind it as much as she thought she would. A little smile crept on her face, while she was trying to get some work done one evening. He was dependent on her, he couldn´t live without her. She liked the idea, it was… it made her… powerful. Maybe that´s what kept the women on the planet in order, giving them a little satisfaction to fulfill their duties.
The little monster was playing on the ground, seemingly unaware of the attention. Zukka sighed, trying to get her attention back to the task. The promotion had been great, she was very proud of it, the workload though… not enough that her help was gone the moment the little monster started babbling, she got her own troops to organize and delegate, purely office work, she didn´t like it at all. Didn´t even know one of the soldiers under her command, yet, and the secretary she was entitled to get was not yet available. For whatever reason.
And the training… still boring, nothing changed, just more stressful. The little monster was always with her. And Commander Nappa. Everywhere she went, he went. She wasn´t sure if he should take care of the little monster, bond with him or whatever of keep an eye on her. Either way, it was nerve-wrecking.
Two low-level groups on planet EF447 to guard an official festivity. Criminal activity strongly suspected.
Zukka tipped her finger nervously on the table. That was not really what she had expected to do as a Captain. Organizing schedules. Just not her own. She stopped tapping and tried to focus, her tail wiggling behind her. When the little monster grabbed it, she at least had an excuse to take a break. The prince needed entertainment.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The girl was wheezing, most likely a rib or two broken, her face already started swelling. Still standing, but courage didn´t matter much if there was nothing to back it up.
Zukka fell out of her fighting stance. This was not worth her time. The girl looked at her, confused, her legs shaking slightly. What was her name again, Arktan?
“Session´s over, Arktan. Get out of here.”
It took a few seconds, but she didn´t complain. Good girl. Zukka was barely out of the room when she saw something much more interesting anyway. Her little monster… floating in front of the viewing window.
“How… how is he doing that?”
The commander glanced at her, seemingly angry. “Sometimes it´s easier for them than walking. Mind to tell me why you interrupted your session?”
Zukka could barely divert her eyes from her son. She hadn´t known it was possible, it was amazing!
“Captain!”
“I´m sorry commander, I…” She tried to calm down, not glancing back at the little monster. “Recruit Arktan is nowhere near level two in her fighting abilities. Strength is good, technique not. No need for me to waste my time, she can just as well train with some of the regulars.”
“She was recommended by commander Ceapa.”
Zukka restrained from rolling her eyes. The girl was still standing behind her. “Yes, she was. Still unsuitable. I won´t stay that much longer on planet, shouldn´t I use my time for something more productive?”
Without a word he grabbed the little monster and stalked off. No need in running after him, she would catch up for lunch anyway. Still wanted to throw something at him.
“So you aren´t training me anymore, captain?”
She turned around slowly. Arktan tried to stay confidently, the tears in her eyes weren´t helping much.
“I don´t see much sense in beating you once a week.”
She nodded weakly. Zukka´s thoughts were already with the commander again, how she didn´t want to see his face or spend time with him. But there was no way around it. Better get it over with.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lunch went by quietly, as usual. Zukka wasn´t very talkative and to be forced to spend time with a superior didn´t change that a bit. The morning session had not been good on the mood either and Zukka struggled internally not to look at her watch. She just wanted to get away.
“Your behaviour earlier was unacceptable.”
Zukka stopped chewing for a second and looked up. So they weren´t finished yet.
“That girl had been recommended by a commander, you don´t decide who to train or not!”
She swallowed, slowly setting down her chopsticks. “Was he her father?”
“That is not important.”
“Of course it is! I am here for a limited time, I should train cadets with potential. She had none, you saw that, too and I´m sure the commander will get over it!”
Nappa gave her a dirty look. She couldn’t care, it wasn´t much longer till she got rid of him, the planet, the bureaucracy and the little monster as well. There was no need for ground debates, she had enough on her mind without it.
“That has nothing to do with it. You train, who you are told to train. No excuses!”
“I already told her I´m done with her.” She hesitated a second, it wasn´t worth it, just a few weeks more… “If this is the common practice, why do we still choose the next king from the strongest offspring?”
He grinned. He had the audacity to grin! “You know as well as me that the power level at birth is just a reference. The first male child was unfortunately weak and unsuitable after all, but we are in no position to waste resources.”
Zukka felt anger rise in her. So that´s how it was! If the right people made demands, they were fulfilled. Everyone else…
“You fucking assholes! Is it nice playing everyone as you like it? I don´t even know why I felt respect for this!” She clenched her teeth, trying not to speak too loud. It was still a public space. “It is bad enough we have to work for our Lord, we could at least…”
“You have better ideas? It is working fine for our people, and that is the most important factor here, captain. No one cares if some people are offended. No one cares about you. If you decide to make a scene, I will deal with it. Or maybe you prefer to keep your job and shut your damn mouth!”
He continued eating as if nothing had happened. Zukka just stared at him, speechless. She knew corruption, it was everywhere. How could she have thought her own people were any different. How indeed.
