Starspeaker IC (Closed for silvertongue217)

[SinisterSpiders]

The night went all too quickly. When Vera woke she felt as though she had just closed her eyes, though her heart was warmed when she felt Jase's body encapsulating her own. Sam's alarm was much less intrusive than Kryten's and Vera pressed herself back against Jase's body, luxuriating in the contact before she knew she would have to drag herself out of bed.


Once more her day was jam packed. Her first appointment was with Tomas to go over the current state of PEACe and to discuss their ideas about future directions. Vera had never really had her own assistant so to speak, but Tomas had always been at her side. She used Kryten to create her appointments but needed Tomas for his counsel and assistance.

After meeting with Tomas has an appointment with their Weapons and Logistics coordinator in order to check their arsenal was fully stocked and to be informed about their new gear. Vera had decided to invite Jase along to that meeting, figuring that he would enjoy seeing their latest gadgets. As he was not yet General she expected it would be an awkward meeting, but she didn't really have the energy to care about that.

She decided that she would make sure she met with Samantha over lunch to organise her schedule and to see what tasks they could delegate to others. Vera hated the idea, she was used to doing everything herself, but she knew that her body needed more rest now and she didn't want to push it and risk any harm befalling her babies.

After lunch would be her usual meeting with the council. At this point in time they were daily, due to the current state of their empire. Normally they would happen every two or three days if times were easy, but they rarely were. She hoped to propose Jase's appointment at the meeting so that he could begin trailing her and learning the ropes in person the following day. Even if most of it would be business, she was looking forward to spending more time with him.

Vera opened her eyes properly then, and went to slip out of Jase's embrace.

 

[silvertongue217]

Jase eyes fluttered open watching as Vera slipped out of bed. He watched her go before moving himself pushing the sheets off and stretching.

"Whats on the agenda for today? Jase asked blinking and shaking the sleep out of his eyes.

"Vera gave me the schedule already" Samantha said appearing in the middle of the room and bringing it up for Jase to look at.

"While you meeting with Tomas I'm going to go work out" Jase said getting up and grabbing some sweats "I'll meet this tech guy with you but I was hoping I could go ahead and have my own workspace you have seen what I can do in my tech room imagine if I had actual funding"

He slid on a simple black fitted T shirt with the peace emblem and grimaced before shaking his head "Samantha your trailing Vera today"

"Great" Samantha said smirking at her

"I'll see you later" He said leaning in and surprising her with a kiss " Samantha will show me where to go"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera smiled, pleased Jase would be going to the weapons meeting with her. Shd returned his kiss and considered his request. She would give him whatever he wanted of course, she just had to figure out where to put it.

"I know you love the Falcon. You could upgrade your gear on that? It would give you a chance to spend time on your girl still?"

Vera grabbed breakfast on the run. This time she took Samantha's advice and grabbed a dry roll to eat, pocketing a pack of biscuits as well in hopes to stave the nausea off for a while. Vera met with Tomas in his office which was near the council meeting chambers. She sat down in the chair opposite the desk and he looked up at her.

"Rough night?" He asked with a frown.

"Hmm? No. Everything's fine. Just a bit tired- there is a lot going on at the moment," Vera explained with a dismissive wave. "It's been a crazy few months."

"Indeed it has," Tomas replied, putting down the data pack he was reading it and sliding to her over the desk. Vera picked it up and saw the action request for the incident between Jase and the guard yesterday. "Were you aware of this?" He asked. Vera sighed and gave the data pack back to Tomas.

"Yes, I found out last night."

"It doesn't look good Vera."

"I know, I know," Vera said with sigh, "I will talk to Jase and come up with a way to address it."

"Are you still certain he will make a good General?" Tomas' eyes assessed her, searching for answers.

"Yes," Vera replied, waving away his concern, "He needs time to settle into life with us. He has a lot of skills that the position requires; more than my uncle ever did. The only thing Jase doesn't possess is the political flair that my uncle had. Though I think that is a good thing. It is time we had someone that actually spoke their mind. We need that honesty at the moment."

"And what if the council change their minds?" Tomas asked.

"The appointment of staff in the PEACe Core is my decision," Vera said, hating the arrogance in her tone. "I don't think there is anyone else in this Galaxy with Jase's skill set. He has connections that have been closed to us for decades."

"It looks like the guard did start the fight," Thomas said with a shrug, not bothering to argue further, he knew when Vera's mind was made was set.

Tomas looked at Vera, eyebrows furrowing as he scanned her eyes and hair.

"I think it's time for you to get back to your normal features," Tomas told her. Vera nodded in agreement, thinking of her normal black hair and blue eyes. Despite the fact that the rest of her was the same, she now had Avery's brown hair and brown eyes. "Do you want me to schedule the PGMT?" He asked.

"Sam, will phenoptypic genetic mutation therapy harm harm the twins?"Vera asked in Samantha in her mind.

"I can't find any research either way," Samantha replied, her voice dubious.

"No," Vera said, shaking her head. Tomas looked shocked. "I can sort it out myself. I think we need to focus on getting Avery back. I don't hold any hope that my uncle will negotiate for her release." Tomas nodded in agreement, leaning forward on the desk.

"It needs to be done sooner rather than later too. I think your uncle would be lording it over us if he already knew who she truly was," Tomas said, "If we don't get her back before he discovers her history then we will risk losing the hold you have on this side of the council. We can't let that happen."

Tomas was right. If Vera's uncle knew the truth about Avery's origins he would have used it against her immediately. Her parents had been careful to ensure no one would know of their methods, erasing all but the most secret and high access information about the procedures used. Though if someone tested Avery's DNA and had it cross matched against her own, well, that could be disastrous. Luckily Vera's own medical and genetic records were held in the top most security level, the one only she had access to, the one only she would ever see. Even if a new chancellor came to power they would need her permission to access that file. Though she was concerned that someone may be able to hack into the system for it, there was no point worrying about things she couldn't control. What she could do, however, was get Avery back.

"We can get a task force together for a forced extraction. A small one, two people, three max. It needs to be quick and quiet. Do you think you can get me a consultancy crew set up? We definitely need an engineer on the team if we want our force to go undetected."

Vera knew she could leave that task in Tomas' capable hands. He knew who would be best suited to create such plans.

"Oh, and I think Bomber the CSO pilot should be on the force," Vera added.

~*~

An hour and a half later Vera was making her way to the armory, quickly eating her biscuits as her head spun. The nausea was getting worse with each passing day, and she wondered how long it would be before she was physically ill for it. Nevertheless, she was pleased to see Jase waiting for her outside the armoury. She gave him a smile of greeting before she used the retina scanner and opened the door.

"Colonel Lance," Vera said, reaching out to shake the gruff colonel's hand, "good to see you again. I've brought Jase Crestfield along with me today. He has some very valuable experience and knowledge in the area of advanced weaponry, I think he could provide us with a good insight into anything we might have missed."

Colonel Lance turned to Jase, his expression gruff as he reached out to shake Jase's hand.

"Always good to have an outsider's perspective," Lance said, though not with enough sincerity to convince Vera he was pleased about Jase's presence.

 

[silvertongue217]

"The falcons not going to work" He thought back to her "I cant very well be a general if I am spending most of my time in a small ship decks away from where the bridge is"

"I can see about the ships layout and provide some options" Samantha replied to both of them as they both went their seperate ways.

.....................

GYM

Jase finished his lap and started to slow down. His breath was still even and Samantha had his bio up to let him know he was getting a good work. He stopped drawing in slow even breaths as he grabbed his water and hoped off.

He ignored every one staring at him and whispering that he had just ran a steady fifteen miles and walked over to the weights next. He was used to having Samantha as a spotter but since there were no hard lights in he would have to make do by himself.

"Need a spotter?"

A guy had came up clearly a pilot, he had an easy going smile but Jase could see a hint of tightness around his eyes as if he was currently dealing with some thing. Jase debated for a few minutes before nodding and holding out his hand.

"Jase Crestfield"

"Boomer" the pilot said gesturing at the weights after shaking his hand

"Well Boomer I owe you a drink for being one of the first PEACe guys with the balls to talk to me" Jase said moving and starting his set.

"Ah dont mind them" Boomer said shaking his head "Every one is still reeling from the civil war and the Empress having not been who she said she was"

"Yeah well it shocked me as well" Jase said pumping his arms up and down "I still have to prevent my self from calling her Avery"

"Wait until you actually meet Avery" Boomer said shaking his head "she and I.... well we had a thing"

"Oh" Jase said raising an eyebrow "so does that mean you want to kick my ass?"

"Hardly" Boomer said laughing and shaking his head "I mean when she comes back you will be to busy dealing with the empress I got the better one!"

Jase laughed shaking his head "no comment I already got in trouble once for talking about our love life"

"I heard" Boomer said shaking his head "Mack is an ass hole comes from one of the Imperial core cities the ones that our hoity toity"

"Mmmmmm" Jase said grunting "and what about you?"

"Just a Fringe man and proud of it" Boomer said shaking his head "So have you heard any thing about the rescue mission for Avery?"

"Not yet" Jase said looking up at him "but tell you what I need some ones help with this whole PEACe thing I dont know if words gotten out but I am supposed to be given the title of General how would you like to be my lieutenant? I promise I will make getting Avery my highest priority"

"You serious" Boomer said taking the weights "you dont even know me"

"If Avery is any thing like Vera then she has a good judge of people and has chosen you" Jase said getting up "I need some one I can trust and who is not looking to stab me in the back"

"Think on it"

.......

After his shower Jase met Vera at the place Samantha designated. Together they walked meeting the man who seemed ot be in charge of the weapon program. Jase sized him up noting the animosity in the air already and smirking.

"Be good" Samantha thought to Jase making sure Vera could hear it as well.

Jase shook his head and didnt say any thing instead letting the Colonel guide them to the latest arms and munitions. He ran his hands and eyes over the weapons ignoring Lance's look of displeasure about his stuff being touched before turning to the man.

"Its impressive Colonel" Jase said putting his hands behind his back "however this stuff.... If I may be frank we can do better"

"Better" The Colonel scoffed looking over at Vera "this stuff is-"

"Top of the line?" Jase asked raising an eyebrow "Let me show you some thing"

Jase pulled out his holopad and set it on the table. He keyed in the feed and schematics popped up of various weapon designs he was working on.

"Now some of this stuff is illegal" Jase said ignoring the mans shock "however this technology and the application behind it is not I have many projects that I am working on that can benefit PEACe and prepare for what is coming" He said pushing the datapad over to him.

The colonel looked his eyes widening as he too kit in "and your doing this all by yourself?" The man asked for once a measure of respect coming into his voice.

"Well I have the most advanced AI in the system helping me" Jase said smirking "as well as machines built ot help fabricate while I am gone however imagine what we could do together with a whole team behind us"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera smiled as she watched the interaction between Jase and Colonel Lance. Lance's resistance towards him reduced as their meeting went on and crumbled when Jase showed him the new weapon schematics. They outsourced all of their supply msmanufacturing. Lance looked to Vera for approval, she gave a slight nod of approval and he grinned at Jase.

"Our weaponry laws are due to be reviewed anyway," he said reaching out to shake Jase's hand.

When the meeting was over Jase and Vera walked out together.

"I am planning to have lunch with Sam in my office on the Council chambers, want to come?" Vera asked. The mention of food made her stomach protest and she reached into her pocket, frustrated too find that she had forgotten to grab a snack in the morning. She had to get better at the nausea thing.

 

[silvertongue217]

Jase left feeling a lot better about becoming a general then he had before. After Colonel Vance saw what he could do all pretense of him being just a smuggler were cast aside. They talked shop for several minutes and Jase was already mentally reviewing what he could do once he became general.

"Yeah I can do lunch" Jase said threading his fingers with her and walking forward with her. They walked in silence for a few seconds earing certain looks from whoever they passed. Most were nods of respect a slight widening of the eyes to let Jase know they were shocked at seeing him with her.

Of course there were the others, the ones who couldn't help but stop the look of disgust and anger cross their eyes at seeing their beloved empress walking hand in hand with a smuggler. Jase ignored those however and instead walked with her to their lunch.

"Did you know Avery had some one?" Jase asked looking over at her "A man named Boomer?"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera had a feeling that she should try tp keep he appearance of her relationship with Jase to be professional, but as his fingers laced into hers she didn't have the heart to pull away. Soon enough her womb would swell and she wouldn't be able to hide it anymore, so letting people see some affection between her and Jase was probably a good idea.

"I had a feeling they were together, but I wasn't sure until I talked to him the other day," Vera replied.

"Avery and I had learnt through experience that we need to be very discreet about our dalliances. Like I said earlier, loving me can be dangerous." This part she spoke directly into his mind.

 

[silvertongue217]

"He is a good guy" Jase thought back to her ignoring the whole loving my is dangerous thing (except for a slight roll of his eyes).

"I met him in the gym hes going to be my second in command" He said out loud opening the doors to their suite and gesturing for her to come in. He was about to walk in as well when some thing caught his eye.

On the opposite wall this was written in red

SMUGGLERS BEWARE

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera was about to walk into the suite when she saw the writing on the wall.

"Frack!" She pushed Jase back into the cruise and stepped out, shutting the door behind her.

"Sam, can you please scan the room for any threats?" Vera snapped, "Kryten get me security up here right away!"

"Yes ma'am," came Kryten's voice, as unflappable as ever. Vera's stomach tumbled with hers and she reached out for Jase's hand.

"When I was young, after I had just come into my post, I started a relationship with a guy I had met during my training, Matt. We were in love, or whole future laid out before us. It wasn't long before everyone found out even though we were discreet. Then one day he was sent on an unprecedented solo mission. He was a damn good pilot, but they sent him on a suicide mission before I could stop them. I kicked the responsible council member off the council, but she swore it wasn't her." Vera spoke into his mind. She finished just as security jogged up to them. She motioned to the room, they could see it for themselves.

 

[silvertongue217]

"why dont you go ahead and go into the other room" Jase said noting her distress "Samantha"

"I got it" Samantha said appearing next to her "come on Vera let Jase handle this" She said nodding at the door and walking with her through.

"Did you hear the story?" Jase asked turning to the guards.

"Yes sir" The lead gaurd said

"Great" Jase said folding his arms "you probably dont like me or think im this" he said jerking his thumb at it "I dont give a frak what you think of me I do however care about keeping the empress safe" He remarked.

"So two things one profesional one personal profesional side start posting two guards outside of the chambers at all time personal one tell any one in the ship if they want to fuck with me then do it to my face" He remarked eyeing them all down.

"Yes sir" The commander said clearly a little spooked "we will get to the bottom of this" He said before nodding his head and gesturing at his men to fall out.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera knew she would have stayed and sorted the issue out with Jase, but she let Sam lead her past the writing on the wall and into the dining room where their lunch was already waiting. Vera eyed it with suspicion.

"They are going to need to learn to take orders from Jase," Samantha said, "Let him deal with it. You sit down for a while."

Vera nodded, taking a seat in a doing chair away from the food, though her first was desperate for it.

"Ktmryten, please have some freshly prepared and tested food brought up here ASAP." Vera said, Kryten replied in the affirmative.

 

[silvertongue217]

Jase watched htem go before shaking his head and sighing "Krysten security footage"

"certainly"

A holo screen popped up showing the footage. Jase watched his eyes narrowing at the same guys from the Falcon incident were shown painting the message.

"Mother frakkers" Jase murmured shaking his head "Samantha tag them please and tell me where they are"

"You sure thats a good idea?"

"Tell me"

"there in the mess hall" Samantha said "but Jase-"

"dont" Jase growled going into the room with Vera "Are you okay?" He asked his voice concerned.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera could see Jase's anger the instant he came into the room. She sat up straighter in her chair.

"Jase?" She asked, "What is it ?"

 

[silvertongue217]

He shook his head "The guys who did this are the same ones from the Falcon incident" He said brining it up and showing her it.

"I dont think this is going to work babe" He said shaking his head "if its like this now what are these people going to do once you make me general?"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera's heart ached at his concern, she could understand it, and if she was honest with herself she was more than a little concerned.

"What alternative is there?" Vera asked, she got to her feet, closed the distance, and grabbed Jase's hand, resting it on her stomach, above their babies. "Once we make the announcement of your appointment to the fleet we will need some good spin. I will get some journalists to write some positive pieces on you. It will al be true anyway. If you can impress Lance you can impress almost anyone. They will see you as an underdog, they will like that. At a time like this leaders need to be seen as human, accessible. I am sure most of them will approve of you soon enough.... And if they don't? Frack them!"

 

[silvertongue217]

Jase sighed rubbing her belly before looking back at the picture.

"If you say so" he said his tone not quite believing it.

"For now I shall let you deal with them" He said waving his hands at the guys before going and sitting down to eat with her "I doubt you want me to get thrown into the brig" he remarked eating slowly.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

"We'll deal with them together tomorrow, once we've had a chance to get you appointed and had the announcement made public," Vera said, taking her own seat once more and pulling over a plate of the fresh food that had just been sent up.

"I never worked very closely with my uncle, though I could have. I should have. We can change that. As you said, we're a team. I don't want to reprimand those bastards without you, to have them think that I am going over your head.They need to learn to respect your position whether they like it or not."

Vera sighed in relief as the food travelled down her throat, her body starving for more sustenance. She smiled at Jase over her plate.

"I will talk to the council this afternoon and have your appointment to General officiated. I will need to go to the meeting alone, but after that you will be free to come to whichever of my meetings you want to," She informed him. They ate in silence for a few moments before she spoke again.

"You mentioned Avery and Bomber earlier?" Vera said, looking up at him, "I have asked Tomas to get a retrieval mission together. You can assist him if you like? I know what you're like on covert missions. There's no one better to plan it than you."

"Oh," Vera had a thought then, she got up and went to her bedroom, retrieving the armor Jase had made for her and shucking off her dress, pulling it on. Her concerns were confirmed as it struggled to buckle around her breasts and abdomen. "Do you think you could make something that can grow with me?" She asked, a grin on her face as she returned to the dining room.

 

[silvertongue217]

"sounds good" Jase said even as the pit in his stomach tightened. This was actually happening! He was going to be a general and even more crazy a general for PEACe.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Jase thought to Samantha as he ate his food.

"Your not going any where" Samantha reminded him amused "Not with Vera and the babies here and not with what is coming look I hate PEACe as much as you but like it or not Vera is NOT her parents we could turn this into a force of good and remove the over sights that allowed the miner incident to happen"

Jase sighed and nodded "sounds good" he murmured shaking his head.

"I can plan it" Jase said snapping up at the mention "I promised him I would help him out and I want him promoted as well so far hes the only guy on this fraking ship who has accepted me"

He watched her go turning and biting his lip when he noted her coming back in the armor he had made for her. His eyes traveled up her body hungrily before he frowned and realized what she was asking him.

"you dont need combat armor during your pregnancy" he growled getting up and shaking his head.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera's smile tightened, shaking her head.

"You never know what I will need in the future," She told him "I'd rather have it made now than need it later and to have nothing. Please, Jase."

Vera let out a heavy sigh.

"I wish I could go on the retrieval mission with you, but without Avery here to take my place I can't leave. It is too tumultuous right now. All I know is that she really needs to come back. Jase, this is why I am glad you're going to be on it. There are some things about Avery and I that... Well, if my uncle finds out he could destroy us both. "

 

[silvertongue217]

"I will look into it" Jase relented shaking his head "but im not going to be dropping you into combat siltations any time soon" He warned her growling out the last bit.

He was about to tell her that she wouldnt be needed for a simple smash and grab when her words caught his attention.

"Wait a minute" He said leaning in and studying her "what is the connection between you and Avery? I have been meaning to ask but I havent had the chance what cant your uncle find out?"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera sighed, her stomach tightening as Jase asked that question. She hesitated, there was only one other person in the universe apart from her and Avery that knew the truth. However, she loved and trusted Jase and she was sick of keeping secrets.

Vera turned, unbuckling her armour as she went back into her room to change into her dress, speaking as she did so.

"I've always thought of Avery as kind of a sister... but the truth is a bit more complicated than that. She is somewhere between a sister and a clone," Vera said as she tugged her dress on. She avoided looking at Jase, not wanting to see any horror in his eyes. "When I was seven my parents decided that they would need a clone, back up, someone to take my place if anything ever went wrong with me. So they had Avery conceived. Her genetic material matches mine except for her phenotypic expression of hair and eyes. I naturally have black hair and blue eyes. She is brown and brown. Like you see on me now."

Vera walked over to the window, observing the planet beyond, afraid of making Jase hate her as she continued.

"When she was born they had to speed up her age so that she could catch up to me. They used the incubators that artificially age stem cell created organs for medical procedures to age her. It was insane; dangerous and unprecedented. When she caught up we were both fourteen. We then trained together for the PEACe core, and then went our separate ways. When my parents died Tomas and Avery came up with a plan that she could be a back up for me, so I could go and observe missions, or work on ones that I would be better suited to. "

The processes she spoke of were highly risky and illegal, they were also well beyond the moral boundaries of most people. The thought of it made Vera herself feel ill, she couldn't imagine what Jase would think of it.

 

[silvertongue217]

Jase leaned back listening to her speak. He could tell from her body langauge she was about to reveal some thing he would NOT like.

And he was right

"So let me get this straight" he said getting up and narrowing his eyes "your parents basically created a life and then perverted it like the typical mad scientist they were they then stuck you with said clone and forced her to life a life she might or might not have wanted"

"Then your parents died and you decided to have her act as your double? Did she want this or agree?" He asked folding his arms and giving her a pointed look.

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera struggled to maintain eye contact with Jase, her own disgust at the situation threatening to tear her apart.

"Avery had a choice. She was happy with her role as a CSO officer and fine with swapping places when we needed to. I was given some special... Adjustments... after she caught up to my bio age that she wasn't. We both knew there were some missions better suited to my skill set than hers. She needs to be retrieved, for her safety and mine. Her medical records, as well as results for any genetic testic that would be done on her, are heavily encrypted, but my uncle took one of our best decryption specialists with him... It wont be long until they notice something weird is going on."

 

[silvertongue217]

Jase sighed pinching hte bridge of his nose and pacing

"you know im trying here I really am to ignore the reasons I hate PEACe and instead focus on the fact that I know you are a good person" Jase finally said looking at her "Korlift aside hell even this aside the fringe planets hate you! Yet you have fringe soldiers who do believe in you like Boomer" He said with a wave of his hand.

"I know you didnt choose Avery no more than you choose Korlift and what happened to me..." He trailed off his eyes widening.

"No" Samantha hissed appearing across from her her arms crossed "you didnt"

"I would have known if you came" Jase said narrowing his eyes "but I was created.... as a prototype to you wasnt i?"

 

[SinisterSpiders]

Vera 's breath was shaky, a million different excuses and justifications coming, but nothing that would do the horrors they spoke of justice. So, he knew about his enhancements.

"Yes, I think so..." Vera breathed.