The Inter Planetary Defense Force16

Although they were told to wait on commander Simmons to contact them, the team knew they had to report the attack. A secure and encrypted communication was sent directly to commander Simmons. It was decided that Jace would send it because of her close relationship with the commander. On the off chance it was intercepted, she may be able to disguise the message as a report that wouldn't draw attention from anyone that didn't know that commander SImmons was orchestrating Souside's detention.

"Jalissa - Just checking in. Thanks for sending me to this desolate rock to find traces of those Lego sympathizers by the way. This place sucks. I did find traces of them. It was surprising, but no trouble at all. I did have to fight off some local wildlife attacking the base they set up, but everything is handled and I'm safe. Do you want me to continue looking here? If not I was thinking about following up a lead I came across. Funny that it would take me right back to where my service started. Never figured the Legos would infiltrate that place. I'll plan on holding up here waiting for your response. If I don't hear anything back in a couple rises, I'll move on and follow up on the lead."

"What does that message mean?" Zlacka asked as he watched Jace type the communication into the terminal.

"Basically, attacked by Legos. If we don't hear from you we are moving to Golac, where I first met Jalissa," Jace replied.

"How will she know you mean Golac?" Karg answered.

Jace explained the first time she met commander Simmons was on Golac. It was that meeting that led to Jace joining the IPDF. She also explained that there is a small village there that is now uninhabited. It wouldn't have the defenses of this base, but besides Jalissa, she doesn't know of anyone else in the IPDF that knows Jace would go there.

Sommar knew much about Jace's past and she knew the village Jace was speaking of. It is where Jace grew up in the care of a family the Alliance had placed her with when she was rescued from the Legorthian invasion of Earth. Over time the villagers moved to the cities on Golac and the village slowly withered away.

"What about the prisoners?" one of the officers asked.

"The Alliance built a small detention structure for the local magistrate. It was mainly meant for small-time thieves and drunkards. Manual locks, but basically secure. We can hold them there until we hear from the commander," Jace explained.

The team set a plan. Souside and the Legorthian would be loaded onto the secure transport. Zlacka and one of his officers would pilot it. The rest of the team would escort them in the vessel that Zlacka and his team arrived in.

Everything was staged in a way to quickly load the vessels if there was no response from the commander. The team continued monitoring the security feeds and scanners over the next two rises waiting on a response from commander Simmons. The night before the third rise they were debating whether to follow up their plan to journey to Golac or give the commander more time. The team had made the decision to wait it out another rise, and if there was no response they would travel.

Sommar was working her shift at the security feeds when a notification appeared on the terminal. She opened the terminal's messaging system and saw it was a message addressed to Jace. Sommar quickly moved from the security room down the corridor. She checked room after room until she found Jace in the galley conversing with some of the other officers.

"Jace. You have an encoded message," Sommar said with a hint of anxiety in her voice.

Everyone looked up with blank stares on their faces. Jace stood and followed Sommar back down the corridor to the security room. She took a seat at the terminal and opened the message.

After typing in her security credentials the message was decoded and displayed.

"Get to your chosen point of safety. No need for coded messages. Suspect has been confronted and has fled capital. Believe he is attempting to travel to enemy territory for protection. Vacate current location immediately. Possibility of attack very high. Contact me when you arrive. Do not disclose location in any communication. - J"

Jace called everyone to the security room. She disclosed the contents of the commander's message. Quickly it was decided to load the vessels and get moving. Zlacka and one of his team went to retrieve the prisoners and load them onto the transport vessel. The rest of the team hurried to begin loading the supplies and prepping for takeoff.

Once everything was loaded, Karg and Jace returned to the security room and began the base lockdown procedures. They put the base in low power mode, secured exterior entrypoints, set the scanners to auto scan, and took the defense systems offline. Once they confirmed everything was locked down, they joined the others in the hangar.

Jace and Karg climbed aboard the vessel and strapped in for takeoff. They watched through the viewport as Zlacka's vessel moved out of the hangar and began its ascent. The vessel they were on soon followed, only pausing to verify the hangar was closed before accelerating toward the darkness of space.

The journey was relatively short but fraught with anxiety as the teams constantly scanned for any possible ambush. The nerves of every being on the two vessels were racked anticipating an attack at any point in the vastness of space between them and Golac. A sense of relief washed over all aboard as they reached their destination and began their descent to the abandoned village.

Once they landed Jace, Karg, and another officer exited their vessel and moved into the village to scout ahead. They wanted to make sure the village structures were void of prying eyes which could report their location. As they reached the edge of the village they looked on at what remained.

Three sound structures stood in the middle of the village. The magistrate's office where the detention facility was, stood in the very center of the deteriorating homes and shops that once formed the village center. The community gathering hall where weddings, gatherings, and protection from violent storms happened stood across the overgrown pathway. A little further down was the largest structure. The tavern.

The tavern was a large three level structure. Jace knew from her time in the village that the uppermost floor doubled as a brothel. The middle level was made up of varied rooms used for storage, our guest rooms for weary travellers. The lowest floor was a wide open room that backed to a large galley.

The main tavern room is where the majority of the villagers spent their coin in the establishment. Patrons could imbibe in drink and get a hot meal. Everything was prepared in the galley on site so the tavern employed many of the village population when this was the last stop before reaching the second largest city on Golac.

Many of those that stopped were security forces travelling from the front lines to the Alliance depot in the city. Jace knew that all too well as she briefly remembered the soldiers that would grope her as she waited on them as they drank the night away. She also remembered the night she smashed the serving pitcher over one young soldier's head that ran his hand under her tunic thinking the young server woman would be delighted by his drunken touch.

As she sliced his face with a shard from the shattered pottery she cursed him and all security officers that had ever tried to lay their hands on her. It was only when the magistrate pulled her off of the bloodied and disfigured man that her anger cooled. As she was placed in restraints, she spat at the group of soldiers and was led away.

"Jace? Are you Ok? You seem distracted," Jace heard Karg say, pulling her back to the present.

"Yeah. Just not all of my memories of this place are fond ones," she returned as she moved down the pathway and began to check the first dilapidated structure they came upon.

Moving structure to structure, the village was cleared. Other than a few skrilla foraging for food, nothing was found. Jace recommended using the gathering hall as the main camp. It was near the magistrates office and the structure was built to withstand violent weather which would give them the best protection if they were to come under attack. One of the team could post up as a guard in the magistrates office to watch over the prisoners and not be far away from the rest of the team.

The scout group rejoined the rest of the team. Soon everything was unloaded and the larger team was carrying the supplies into the village. A makeshift base was made within the two agreed upon structures. A guard shift was decided on and the team began to settle in waiting on their next orders.

Things began to settle into a routine as the team waited on orders. Officers took turns watching over the prisoners, doing patrols, or doing lookout from one of the upper level rooms in the tavern. Jace hated her shifts as a lookout. Just being back in that structure dredged up so many bad memories.

Jace was also getting frustrated because she had a lot of built up sexual tension. Quite a bit had happened over the last few rises. Zlacka and his team arrived at the security base. They were attacked. They hurriedly vacated the base and relocated here. Typically she used sex or self manipulation to deal with the pressure and stress of these environments. The lack of privacy was preventing her from getting the release she needed.

Jace had just returned to the gathering hall from her shift watching over the prisoners. She made her way to the ration containers and grabbed a fluid pouch. She opened it and began drinking. She made her way over to Sommar who was sitting in a chair near the small alcove Jace and Sommar chose for their bunks to give them some measure of privacy when changing.

"Hey, we're starting to run low on rations so we'll probably need to come up with a plan to limit usage," Sommar said.

"Why didn't somebody say something before I grabbed some fluids?!" Jace exclaimed.

Sommar was taken aback by Jace's curt tone. She knew Jace well enough that something was causing her stress. Sommar also knew her well enough to let Jace work it out on her own so Sommar just nodded and didn't respond.

That was the moment Jace knew she had to get away from people before she said something she couldn't take back. It wasn't Sommar. It wasn't Karg, or the officers milling around the gathering hall. It was the waiting, and the tension coiled up inside her with nowhere to go.

Jace realized she just snapped at Sommar who was just making an observation. The response was unwarranted and directed towards the person that least deserved it. She needed a break from everyone to decompress and settle her thoughts.

"I'm going to check on the vessels. They need to be ready to go at a moment's notice if we get orders," Jace stated as she grabbed a carbine and began walking towards the door.

No one argued. She was in charge, and checking the only way off of Golac was a legitimate job -- which made it a perfect excuse.

Jace began walking away from the village. She wasn't so much walking as stomping. She walked out past the magistrate's office, past the tavern without looking at it too long, and out toward where the vessels sat beyond the edge of the village. The path narrowed, then opened up. She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Fuck. I need to apologize to Mar, she didn't deserve that," Jace said aloud to herself.

Jace again started walking in the direction where they had landed the vessels. The sun was lower in the sky. She would do as she indicated and check on the vessels and then return to the gathering hall. The time alone would hopefully allow her to decompress and lose the edginess in her demeanor.

As Jace walked she looked on the landscape. They had arrived in darkness and they hurried to the village to secure it. Because of all of the bad things that had happened to her in this place, Jace had forgotten how beautiful the land around the village was. Then she saw it. A meadow.

Tall grass swaying in the breeze, wildflowers scattered through it, sunlight warm on her face. No voices. No alarms. No one watching her, waiting on her, or needing an order from her. Just wind moving through the grass and the distant hum of insects.

Jace felt her shoulders drop for the first time in rises. She walked a little further in, until the village was out of sight behind her, and lay down in the grass.

Jace was feeling the calming effect of her current surroundings lifting some of the stress from her body. The light breeze washing over her skin. Grass under her back. The warm sun above. It was calm. It was peaceful.

As Jace lay there enjoying the privacy, her hands began to roam over her body. She knew she would have to return soon, but she also knew she had found a way to take the edge off. A moment alone where she could release the pent up frustrations and stress within her.

Jace raised her tunic and let her fingertips trace over her sex. It was warm and familiar. It was also aching to be touched. Knowing time was limited Jace didn't hesitate or tease herself.

The fingers of her left hand began to slowly stroke her labia. She needed to build up some of her secretions before plunging those fingers inside of herself. Firmly she stroked those puffy lips, urging her juices to flow.

With each stroke Jace dipped her fingers deeper and deeper between her folds. The slickness there was getting more prominent and she knew very quickly she would be able to slip those digits into her waiting hole. She sighed in anticipation and need.

When the moisture was just right, Jace did exactly what she had planned. Two fingers easily slipped inside of herself. She didn't waste any time and they were soon as deep as they could go.

"Yessssssssss. I needed thisssss," Jace hissed into the emptiness of the meadow.

Jace began to work her fingers in and out of herself. Her back arched to allow her to drive her hand deeper on each stroke. Her hand became a blur as her tempo increased.

Jace was enjoying this self manipulation but her mind reminded her she was limited on time. As much as she would like to draw this out and bring herself to a hard climax, any release would suffice. Jace then raised her right hand to her mound and sought out her clit.

Quickly she located that hard nub. She pushed back the hood that kept it hidden and placed two finger tips directly upon it. She pressed hard against it and began rotating those fingers in a tight circle over the hardened nub.

"Mmmmmm," she moaned

Her hands began working in concert with the other. They played upon the nerve endings and pleasure centers they touched. Jace's hands began to push her pleasure higher. Her body responded and began to twitch.

Jace's eyes were clamped shut. Her focus was on her climax and nothing else. She didn't think of the mission. She didn't think of owing Sommar an apology. She was greedy and self absorbed in this moment.

Jace felt her stomach muscles beginning to draw tight. Her thighs tensed and pushed together. Here it was. The release she was craving. It was right there and ready to crash over her.

Her communicator chirped. "Jace. Check in. We need you back at the base." It was Zlacka's voice.

"No. Not now. Not yet," Jace thought and focused harder.

"Jace. Come in. We received a message from the commander. It's urgent."

Jace's mind began to over power her body. It began to register the words coming from her communicator and pushed the approaching pleasure wave back. Jace doubled her efforts and her hands began to work even faster.

It was no use. Her mind was telling her she needed to respond. Her brain began to diminish the feelings her body was experiencing. Jace was quickly realizing no matter how hard she tried, her brain was going to win this fight.

"Ugggggghhhhhh. Fuuuuuuuccccckkkk," Jace cried out into the meadow as she pulled her hands away from her body.

She lay there even more frustrated now that she had taken herself to the precipice of pleasure only to get jerked back to reality. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She knew she had to respond and she had to do it now or Zlacka would come looking for her.

"I'm here. What's the message?" Jace pouted into her communicator.

"I need you to return and open the message. It's encrypted to your pass key. It has something to do with the commandant," Zlacka replied.

"On my way," Jace said holding back the huff she fully intended on answering with.

Jace lowered her tunic and stood. She picked up the carbine and slung it over her shoulder. She left the meadow and was again on the path. Her feet once again began stomping as she made her way back to the gathering hall.

"As soon as I open this message I'm grabbing Karg, or Mar, or even the fucking Lego at this point. I need someone to get me off! I don't care who knows anymore, " Jace thought to herself.

As she approached the village another thought hit her, "If this message is Vicker is on his way here, I'll kill him just because he interrupted me. He even had me thinking I would fuck the Lego!"

Jace cringed at the last detail of her thought. She looked up and she had made it to the gathering hall portal. She reached up and pushed the door open and stepped in. Immediately all eyes were on her awaiting her return to open the communication.