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The Rescue...

Finding One's True Self: Part 50

By Xan Steel

Once Julyna and Altair got Rubicant and Iris settled into a nice quiet spot in the Mess Hall. Julyna mentally thought to Feros asking him to turn on the environmental controls to her quarters, as she needed to have a quiet talk with Altair for a few hours. He mentally told her of a three-day power reserve she could activate and deactivate at will behind her control panel, just inside her door. She thanked him and took Altair with her out of the Mess Hall.

As Altair followed Julyna, he was becoming increasingly nervous, only because she had closed her mind off to him, and he wasn't sure why. Once they reached her quarters, she manually opened the door and went inside as he followed her. She then closed the door, and opened the control panel, and flipped a switch. The room became brighter as a few lights came on, and the air started to circulate again. He watched her walk back to the bedroom, as she turned to look at him. He could see that she didn't look happy. He watched her lift her handpaw and used a finger to beckon him to her.

He walked over to her and was just about to stand before her, when she put her handpaw out in front of her to stop him from getting closer. He spoke, his tone was filled with nervousness, but with a slight hint of irritation. "Lyna, what's this about?" he questioned.

She turned from him and walked a few feet away and turned back to look at him. She spoke with a matter of fact tone towards him. "I want to believe you when you said nothing happened between you and this other female. However, I can't get it out of my head after seeing her younglings that you are responsible for them."

Altair thought they were past this, but apparently that wasn't the case. He hung his head in shame with his ears folding back and spoke, "I wish I could convince you that I'm not, and that I've never cheated on the three of you, but I guess me sharing everything that happened isn't enough."

Julyna spoke up, "No, it not you, it's me."

Altair looked up at her confused, "I, don't understand. What do you mean by, It's You?" he questioned.

Altair could see her eyes water up as she spoke, "I know in my mind you are telling the truth, but that day when she answered the comm half dressed, and I saw those younglings. My heart broke." Altair started to move towards her to comfort her, but she stopped him. "No, not yet."

Altair stopped and watched her start to cry before him. He desperately wanted to comfort her, but she wasn't ready for him. He got down on his knees and held out both his handpaws in an upward cupped expression to her and spoke in a loving tone. "I don't want you to have this pain Lyna, so please let me mend your heart."

She looked at him and saw that, in a way, he was offering his heart to her. This was a normal gesture in a Derlenian relationship, it represented the desire to take away your mates' pain, by putting it on yourself. Her heart gently skipped a beat, as she was hoping he would do this. It showed that he was ready to prove his love to her. She walked over to him and gently took both his handpaws and laid them on her belly.

He watched her carefully, looking for any signs that might help him, help her.

She spoke softly to him, "Altair, are you truly ready to take my pain away? Are you ready to take the test I have for you, to prove your love to me?"

Altair's heart began to race, 'This is it.' He thought to himself as he spoke aloud, "I am."

Julyna knelt so that she could look at him face to face and spoke. "Very well." Altair suddenly felt the link between them sever, as her mind remained closed to him. "Then your task is a simple one. Make love to me, without any help. No mental connection, No mind blends. I want your raw hidden passion, and if you succeed in showing me your love, then I'll give you one extra task to finalize it." Julyna finished.

***

Meanwhile, in the Mess Hall, Feros was busy getting Samantha settled in to their little quiet spot, while making sure she was comfortable. He wanted to make sure that she would be okay before he went off to start making whatever repairs he could to the ship itself. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could get the environmental controls back on, so that everyone could return to their quarters instead of remaining in the Mess Hall.

He made sure there was enough pillows and blankets that he had taken from his and hers quarters, while having some warm Teg'lulu for her to drink. Something that Rubicant would consider tea. Samantha looked up at Feros after having a sip, and once he finished wrapping her up in the blankets and spoke. "Hun, you didn't have to go through all of this for me" she said.

Feros spoke in a loving tone. "I wanted to make sure you would be comfortable after the work you did for Raybia." He gave a short pause there before continuing in his best sultry tone, "Besides, there is enough blankets and pillows here that we could hide under for some fun."

Samantha looked at him with wide eyes, with a tone to match her surprise, "You are a naughty Amarok for thinking of doing something like that in the open!" As he gave a gentle laugh in response.

***

Raybia was getting settled in over by Zalina, Adreena, and Tygera as they all expressed how happy they were to see her again. Zalina brought her over some food to eat, and Adreena gave her a few pillows, while Tygera brought over something to drink. Once they got settled in, they sat in a circle and began to have some light-hearted chitchat.

As the hours past, Tygera and Raybia were the only ones left awake. Tygera gently ran her handpaws over Zalina's and Adreena's heads as she looked at them, watching them sleep. Raybia spoke softly, "I didn't know the three of you were together."

Tygera spoke softly while she continued to look at Zalina sleeping, "If I'm honest I never wanted to be in a relationship while I was on this ship. However, without realizing it, she managed to take my heart and run with it, and while it was difficult for us in the beginning, we did manage to make it work out in the end. What I didn't know at the time was that Zalina and Adreena were already together, but they were having some difficulties with their relationship."

Raybia watched Tygera while deep down she missed Gor. She did her best to hold back her feelings in front of her, but it wasn't easy.

Tygera caught on to her mood change, "Raybia what's wrong?"

Raybia spoke with a soft voice, "I was just thinking of my estranged mate, Fleet Admiral Gor, and family. None of them know that I'm alive right now."

Tygera was surprised to find out about this. "I didn't know you had a mate and family," she said.

"Yes, we separated cycles ago over a disagreement of me going into the piloting academy and leaving our younglings with my elders." Raybia replied with her voice returning.

Tygera sat there with a slightly stunned expression before speaking, "Please forgive my asking, but why would you leave your younglings?"

Raybia looked at her with a soft smile, "We were young when we first got together, having a career was the last thing on our minds, just settling down and having a family was all we cared about in the beginning," she paused briefly. "After our eighth youngling is when things got worse. The government on our home planet made a terrible decision that caused us to enter a war with the Alliance. To be honest, most of the people wanted to join the Alliance then, because they had planned to bring a lot of good to our society in general. Most of us defied our own government and joined the Alliance. Gor did so, but while we argued about it, he always said the same thing, 'I'm doing this to protect our family.' I believed him, and things were fine for a while, however, the war didn't end quickly. In fact, it escalated further, so much so that I joined a few cycles later as a pilot," she said.

Tygera sat there listening intently and spoke the obvious, "I take it that's when he got upset?"

Raybia nodded and continued, "Yes, however, I could no longer idly stand by anymore. The war raged across multiple planets in our solar system. My Elders said they would care for our younglings as the Alliance was looking for more recruits. Gor's reason for being upset with me, was based around the fact that if he should die, at least the younglings would still have an elder to watch over and raise them." Raybia paused there to gather her thoughts and continued. "I understood his reasoning, but I didn't agree with it, because I didn't want to lose him in the first place. I wanted to fight by his side to end this war and make everything safe again for our little ones. Sadly, I would never be allowed to be stationed on the same ship as him. Some arbitrary rule prevented me from being his pilot." Raybia stopped there to wipe away a few tears that started to form in her eyes.

Tygera leaned over and gently embraced her while speaking softly, "Love is such a strange emotion. It makes you stronger in some ways, but weaker in others. It can tear down walls that we would normally hide behind to protect ourselves from being hurt."

Raybia wiped away more tears that had formed and spoke in a soft meek tone, "I want things to go back to the way they were before the war. I want my family whole again, but after these long cycles, I don't know if it's even possible, I don't know if our love has survived all this time."

Tygera gently tightened her embrace, and spoke again in the same tone as before, "I wish I could tell you that it has, but I'm fairly new to this emotion myself, and I'm still learning things along the way."

***

As the hours progressed, Julyna felt all of Altair's love. The way he touched her body, the areas he paid special attention to with his tongue, and how he made her beg for more at the right times. In her mind and heart, he had proven himself over and over, and she knew he was getting close.

She pulled him down and gave him an impassioned kiss, as she felt him thrust deep into her and hold himself there, letting her feel the throbbing of his mating-rod.

Altair spoke through his lust filled and heated panting, "I love you Lyna."

She pulled him back to look direct at him. She could see the love in his eyes and the desire to make her feel his love for her. She pulled him down and softly whispered into his ear. "I love you sweetie, and I feel your love for me." She pulled him back again to look him in the eyes and saw how happy he was. She moved her handpaws to his muzzle and held him there, as her eyes half closed with a sultry smile and whispered, "Breed me."

The words Julyna spoke acted like a spell to him as he began to flood her insides with a long and loud bellow. She could feel every pump of his seed inside her, as it made her involuntarily clamp down on his mating-rod to hold him in place. She roughly nuzzled and licked his chest and neck and heated passion while moans and whines of ecstasy escaped her muzzle.

Altair claimed her like never before, not once, not twice, but three times. Only on the third time did Julyna finally blend minds with him, as they both felt the rush of their connection over take them. It was beyond intense, as the third time was rough, and perhaps to the outsider a little violent. The biting and grunting they both did to each other, the raking of Julyna's handpaws down his back as she reached his rump and smacked it hard a few times, as her legs bound around Altair's waist and pulled him into her with each thrust.

Their passion was raw and unbridled. Nothing was held back with this blending of their minds. So much so, that she rolled them over and sat on top of him and began to ride him as hard as she could, as the itch that needed scratched was deep inside her. Julyna's breasts bounced before him in a beautiful display and it wasn't long after watching her ride him, that he grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her down. Flooding her insides again as she looked at him and spoke in a sharp raspy voice, "Give it all to me, don't hold any back."

He didn't and she could feel his mind tell her so, as she also felt his seed start to flow out of her. She looked at him and saw that his eyes had rolled back, and that he was lost in this level of passion for her.

Julyna felt his body tremble under her once he finished, as she laid down on him, as her own body softly trembled as well. She could feel him slowly and gently wrap his arms around her to hold her. They both looked into each other's eyes, as they saw tears of love and joy gently fall.

***

As the days passed, there wasn't much that Feros could do to repair the ship. There simply was to much damage. He did, however, manage to get most of the crew quarters nearby the Mess Hall up and running to help alleviate the somewhat over crowdedness. Which did help with mounting tensions among the crew. There's a lot to be said about personal space, and not having enough.

Doing this, however, did cut down the amount of power the ship had remaining by three days. Only because not every room had its own reserve power. It was also during this time that they received and automated response from Dr. Graphra's Station, stating that they had two escort ships and one cruiser headed to their location to assist in their rescue. They would, however, be arriving in five days' time.

***

The next few days were difficult for both Iris and Rubicant. With as tired as he was, she had a hard time feeding him when she did get him to wake up. She discovered that during her meditative sleep next to him that he had nearly depleted his mental energy. Even with all the help he was given during Raybia's encapsulation, it was only just enough. She knew that three days of rest wasn't enough, and he would likely need at least seven days just to be able to wake up on his own.

Because he didn't have formal training to better manage his mental energy while encapsulating a consciousness, and nearly draining himself. Iris realized just how close she had come to losing him. When she told Julyna and Altair is when the reality set in for them, as it became apparent that they needed to begin his training.

***

Once the fifth day came, is when things took a darker turn for the crew of the Kestrel. While their rescuers did arrive, so did an unexpected Alliance Capital ship. Things, however, turned ugly as the Alliance ship began firing on the rescuers and the Kestrel, as the rescuers in turn fired back. Everyone on the Kestrel began to head towards the escape pods that were left, as the ship kept getting rocked by missile fire.

They tried to fit as many crew members into the escape pods as possible. However, the pods where only designed to hold two individuals at a time, and they were trying to fit at least six individuals in them with almost no success.

Tygera with Julyna's help place Iris and Rubicant in one escape pod with Feros and Samantha.

The ship was rocked hard from a short series of missiles impacting on the hull. They had no viable way of knowing what was happening outside with the battle.

Altair had told Julyna and Tygera to get into an escape pod with Raybia and Gytaroo, as he would see if he could get the transporters working and beam the rest of the crew to one of the other ships.

However, once the pod launched, a single Hemlock missile had managed to make its way into the interior of the ship and detonated on the engine core.

From the little window on the pods, everyone watched as the Kestrel exploded. Within an instant Rubicant's eyes opened wide as Iris felt the link between her and Altair sever, as she knew Rubicant could feel it, and likely Julyna. Iris then saw Rubicant's eye start to glow.

She put her forehead to his, and spoke to him mentally in earnest, 'Rubi, no! You can't encapsulate him, it'll kill you if you do because you don't have the energy to do it!' She felt him stop, but she also felt a deep sorrow over take him, as she in turn blended minds with him to share in that sorrow with him.

***

Over the course of a few hours, the Cruiser that came to rescue them managed to collect all the escape pods. Sadly, only Ten pods managed to survive the attack from the Alliance Capital ship.

Once all of them were on board, Tygera stepped out and began to do a head count of all the survivors. This is when she noticed that Zalina, and Adreena weren't there, as well as Altair. She reigned in her emotions, only because for now Julyna was not doing well, with the loss of Altair, and it was very likely that Rubicant and Iris were the same as Julyna.

The door to the cargo bay, in which all the pods were in, opened to reveal a small group of six individuals. Tygera noticed the rank of one of them as Captain and proceeded to head to them as Samantha joined her.

Upon meeting the Captain, a male Phalynian, greeted them. "I'm Captain Kartol of the Sartorgan Defense Force. My apologies for having not gotten here sooner to prevent this disaster," he said.

"Tygera, First Officer and second in command of the late Kestrel. Please forgive my Captain, Julyna, for not greeting you. She just lost one of her mates and is having it rough," Tygera said in a slightly sad tone.

Samantha spoke next in greeting, "Doctor Samantha Pagri, head doctor for the crew of the late Kestrel."

Kartol looked at Tygera and spoke softly, "Do you need some time yourself?" he asked.

Tygera closed her eyes and gently shook her head, "I'll mourn my losses later, right now I need to work with you to get things with us settled," she replied.

"I understand. Well to start with, we have plenty of spare rooms for the rest of your crew, and we have several psychologists on board to help those that need it. It'll take us five days to return to Dr. Graphra's station. Sadly, though he won't be able to take everyone on board his station as it is rather small." He turned to Samantha, "Doctor I'm sure you are likely going to want to speak with our head Doctor to arrange crew checkups. So, I'll let him get in touch with you later today." As Samantha nodded in understanding.

***

It took a couple of hours after initial checkups were done on each member of the crew, but all forty remaining members were placed in their own private quarters. Captain Kartol gave them some time to mourn the passing of loved ones and friends.

During this time however, Kartol's Operations officer informed him of several spikes in Aurorian radiation that began to appear in the quarters of the Kestrel Crew. When Kartol reviewed the information, he told the officer to ignore it, and to pass it off as a false reading due to having been in battle. Even though he personally knew otherwise.

***

During this time, while in her temporary quarters, Tygera was unsure how to feel with the loss of Zalina, and Adreena. She loved Zalina very much, but in the short time of being with her and Adreena, she had never really formed a bond with Adreena. This upset her, because she didn't feel the loss of Adreena as deeply as she did with Zalina. It didn't feel right to her, because her tears only came when she thought of Zalina. Was she cruel in this? Did this make her a bad lover and mate? She didn't know. She laid in bed that night, curled up into a ball weeping until she fell asleep.

Tygera dreamt that night for the first time in a long time. She dreamt of seeing both Zalina and Adreena there sitting next to her in bed. Zalina was the first to speak to her. "My dear sweet Tyg. I know you are in question of your thoughts, but know this, you are not a bad lover or mate."

Adreena then spoke to her, "I know our physical time together was short, but we have not left you, and will not leave you," she said with a smile while brushing Tygera's cheek softly.

Tygera openly cried before them, "I'm so sorry I couldn't bring you with me."

Zalina leaned in and kissed her cheek softly, "Sweetie we will always be with you. Remember the Aurorian radiation that covered the ship?"

Tygera looked at them both and nodded softly as Adreena spoke again, "It was weird to feel me leave my own body, but after finding Zalina, we both began to search for you. I don't believe we are dead, but in that same instance, I'm not sure how we will come back to the physical." Adreena finished.

Zalina spoke again, "For now we will be by your side, and you might catch glimpses of us."

They both leaned in and gave Tygera a few gentle nuzzles, and kisses before fading, just as Tygera woke up with tears streaming down her cheeks.

***

Meanwhile, in the temporary quarters of Julyna, Iris, and Rubicant. They sat in a circle, meditating together for the first time. This is when they discovered Altair, Irina, and Mortora near them, and using their combined focus they brought them in.

He felt weird not having his body, but they were able to see him. He went over to Julyna and held her as she wept, while trying to comfort her. He spoke softly to her, "Shhh, it's okay sweetie, I'm still here and have no plans to leave your side."

Julyna held him tightly before trying to speak through her tears, "I wish you, could have come, with us. I wish you could, be there for our, first younglings."

He kissed her cheek softly, "I'll be by your side everyday watching and when they learn to meditate for the first time, they'll be able to see me. Plus, you'll have Rubi and Iris there to help out."

Julyna nodded, "I know, I just wish I could have you in the physical, instead of my meditation and dreams."

***

Irina went over to Iris, as Mortora went over to Rubicant. Iris knelt as little Irina came over to her, while Iris opened her arms to embrace her softly.

Iris spoke softly to her, "I'm happy to finally see and hold you Irina."

Irina held her tightly and spoke gently, "When I came to be, I had thought the reason I didn't live was because you didn't want me. Pawpaw said that wasn't true though."

Iris leaned back to look are Irina as she could see her Memaw's tears falling. Iris spoke in a loving tone, "Sweetie, your Pawpaw speaks the truth. When I first discovered I was carrying you. I had never felt happier in my life, and when I told your Pawpaw I felt his happiness leap. We both were excited to have you entering our lives."

Irina looked at Iris as a few tears fell and spoke softly, "I just wish I could've lived. Though I guess this is how we are going to see one another from now on."

Iris leaned in and hugged her tightly again, "Just being able to see you, even if I have to meditate to be able to see you. Makes me happy beyond words, and I know your Pawpaw will be just as happy."

***

Mortora embrace Rubicant tightly and held him close. He spoke softly to her, "I've been so upset with myself for not having you stay with us. I never wanted you to leave."

Mortora leaned back a bit to look at him and smiled softly to him, "I know, but I also know the GrandMaster would have been upset with you."

He gave her a serious look before he spoke softly to her, "I shouldn't care what he says, I should've ignored him, and kept you with us. At least then we could have saved both you and our youngling."

She leaned in and kissed him and then broke the kiss and spoke again, "Life doesn't always go our way sweetie. I followed through with what the GrandMaster said of my own accord. I wasn't about to let you upset him. Looking back though, Life had a greater roll for me to fill."

"Saving your people?" he asked, as she nodded in response.

"Yes, both of us saved them, and it did confirm one thing to me as I watched Kimen." She stated as Rubicant gave her an 'Oh' look. She nodded in response, "Yes, that your species is my species evolutionary successor. Which also means that my species is not originally from this galaxy."

Rubicant looked her in thought for a moment, "Does that bother you?" he asked.

She looked at him briefly before giving him another kiss, "What do you think hun?" she said with a smile.

***

The next day Julyna went to the bridge to talk with Captain Kartol, as he had requested her presents when she was able. As she arrived on the bridge, one of the crew members escorted her to the Captain's office.

Kartol stood up and greeted her as she came in. "Ah Captain, I'm glad to finally meet you. I hope you are feeling much better."

Julyna shook his handpaw that he had offered to her. "Thank you for your concern, and yes after meditating last night I am doing much better. Though I'm no longer a Captain since I no longer have a ship."

Kartol spoke, "Nonsense, you are always a Captain, with or without a ship. Please have a seat." He said as he offered her a chair on the other side of his desk.

Julyna sat down as Kartol spoke again, "I'm been in contact with both Dr. Graphra, and Headquarters. Dr. Graphra is excited to finally meet you, and the Sartorgan government is allowing anyone that wants to remain within our borders, full Asylum. I've also been contacted by the GrandMaster, and he is planning to meet you at Dr. Graphra's station within a few days-time," he explained.

Julyna sighs softly before speaking, "Thank you for letting me know. I wasn't sure what we were going to do after we got to the station. Have you mentioned this to the other members of my crew?" she asked.

"No, I figured I would update you first, and let you use the Mess Hall to inform them when you were ready too," he replied.

"I thank you, but I worry what will happen if some of them return home," Julyna said.

Kartol smiled, "You don't have too. The Asylum is long standing as they figure that there would be some that might go home first. They even extended it to their families should they want to bring them," he explained.

This made Julyna feel better and knew that, of the survivors, they could find a new home if need be.

Kartol spoke again with some concern mixed in his voice, "There is something else I wish to inform you of," he said as Julyna cocked her head to the side slightly. "Sartorgan officials are concerned. They are unsure if the Alliance is wanting to go to war with us, since they crossed our borders. Without requesting permission, I might add, and destroying two of our ships before leaving."

Julyna sat there stunned, as she wasn't aware that the other two ships were destroyed. She spoke softly, "I'm sorry to hear about the loss of those two ships and their crew." Julyna paused briefly while hanging her head. "This whole ordeal has been nerve racking for all of us."

Kartol studied her for a moment before speaking quietly, "Are you perhaps wishing you had never found the progenitor?" He watched as she looked up at him. Her expression was a mix of happiness and sadness as he watched her eyes begin to water up.

Julyna hung her head and spoke in a strained voice, "If there was any wish that I had, I wished that our positions were switched, and that my ship and crew had ended up in his galaxy."

***

Later that day Julyna informed the surviving members of her crew as to what the Sartorgan government was offering them, and what had happened during their rescue. Many of the remaining crew members didn't feel safe going back home and would remain. The rest was unsure what to do, especially for their families. In the end everyone decided, for now, to remain in the Sartorgan borders until they could contact their families over a communications channel.