by J Palliser
"You're going to love our friends, Rachel!" Delaara exclaimed.
10
Nine
Three hours later, the shuttle-craft was setting down in the parking lot of Big Ron's. As they dismounted and Jacen walked his hog out of the boarding ramp, Big Ron himself came out to see what was landing.
"Holy shit!" He exclaimed, turning back inside. "Hey, honey! Jacen and Delaara are back, and they brought Rash and some hottie with them!"
Delaara and Jacen grinned at Becker's wince at the nickname. "Hey, Ron!" Becker shouted, grinning in spite of himself. They walked inside and were immediately greeted by the attractive Drac woman behind the bar. "Rash! Welcome back! Who's your friend?" asked Karlla, smiling at Rachel.
"Hey, Karlla! This is my fiancee, Rachel. Rachel, this is Karlla. She's Big Ron's wife." Becker grinned at the slight shock on his lover and Captain's face.
"Yep, she's my ol' ball and chain." Ron said with a fond wink to his wife. "Well, Captain. I ain't seen you since the Trassian Conflict!" Ron grinned, and Rachel squinted at him a moment.
Recognition dawned on her. "Gunnery Sergeant Gibson??" "Yes, ma'am!" Ron grinned. "Welcome to my bar, Captain. Your food and drinks are on the house anytime you're here," he said with a smile.
Rachel turned to her crew. "Gunny Gibson is the toughest bloody soldier in the Waffen SS who ever walked the face of any planet, anywhere!" She grinned. "I watched him take down 5 Dracs barehanded after the rest of his platoon was killed in battle."
"Those were the days, Captain," he grinned, handing her a beer. "Come on up to the bar, kids", said Ron to everyone. Karlla hugged Captain Weiss. "Any woman of Rash's is a sister of mine," she said. She then hugged Delaara and Jacen. "Jacen and Del are our family too, so anything you need, Rachel. You got it."
"Thank you, you're very kind." Rachel replied with a blush. "Rachel, you're our Captain, our friend, and my brother's fiancee. Ron and Karlla are now your extended family, and Bikers look out for their own." Jacen explained.
"Well, I do still have my Ducati in storage", she said with a smile.
"A Ducati?" Ron was wide eyed. "Karlla honey? How about we both marry the Captain here?" He joked.
"Together? I was thinking of taking her for myself!" Karlla shot back with a laugh.
Delaara chuckled at the easy comraderie in the bar between friends, former enemies, and lovers.
"How long have you both known Ace?" Rachel asked. "Oh, you mean Jacen? About 10 years now," Ron said with a smile. "I never got the 'Ace' callsign. I would have called him 'Reaper', myself."
Rachel thought about it and agreed. "I know what you mean. Ace is a implacable killing machine." She shrugged and kissed Becker out of the blue.
"Mmmhmmm! Needed that one!" She winked at Becker as he grinned.
Delaara said "I have an idea for a new callsign for Jacen."
"Oh?" Rash asked. Everyone turned to Delaara.
"How about 'Cobalt' for his eyes?" She smiled and kissed him.
"I like it!" said Jacen readily.
"I could go with that," said Becker, nodding. "I think it fits," said Rachel, smiling at the memory of her pussy getting wet when she'd first looked into his eyes before finding happiness with Jacob. "Let me check with the Luftwaffe to see if it's taken."
She moved off a ways and checked for availability. She spoke quietly, and returned a moment later, Becker's arm slipping around her waist. "Ok, folks. It's official. Lieutenant Commander Jacen Kruger, your old callsign 'Ace' has been deleted off your records, and your new callsign 'Cobalt', has been approved by Luftwaffe Command. Congratulations, Cobalt!"
"Thanks, Rachel!" He hugged her, then hugged Delaara, kissing her lovingly. "And thank you, sweetheart." "I always thought Ace was a redundant callsign, but it never occurred to me until right now that your eyes are the same color as my wedding dress!" She smiled and kissed him again.
Jacen grinned widely. "I never noticed it either, honey. Your beauty eclipsed all other thoughts in my mind, that day."
Delaara blushed deeply, and Rachel was awestruck. "Does he say stuff like that to you all the time, Delaara?" "Yes he does, Rachel." She blushed even more. "Delaara, as much as I love you like a sister, I swear that if you ever leave him, I will personally hunt you down and make a bloody mess of you! He has a silver tongue, but doesn't use it unless he means it!" She grinned.
Becker said "It's true. I've never seen him use it to pick up women. Delaara, you're the only woman I've ever seen him say stuff like that to."
"Same here", said Karlla. "Take notes, fat boy!" She glared at her husband. "Yeah yeah. If I said stuff like that to you, you'd break my arm without fucking me first." Ron grinned as she smacked him playfully.
Reggie and Gears came in and saw the little group at the bar. "Hey, guys!", shouted Reggie as they walked over. "Hey hey, Reggie and Gears!" Jacen grinned. "Rash and Rachel got off on the charges since Old Man Raeder found a loophole they fit through!"
Rachel looked confused. Delaara enlightened her.
"Gears and Reggie are married and on leave too, but they serve on Dreschler." She explained.
Rachel grinned. "Good to meet you both. Tell Talon I said 'hello' from me when you get back?"
"Sure thing, Captain," said Gears.
"Do you two have a place to crash for the night?" Jacen asked to Becker and Rachel.
"We were probably just going to head back to the ship. Why?" asked Rachel. "Well, if you want, we do have a spare bedroom at my place," said Jacen with a smile. "Spend the night planetside for a change, and I'll be cooking breakfast in the morning."
"Mmmmmm, I love your crambled eggs and bacon!" Delaara said with a look of pure bliss.
"Do you cook them like your mom did, Fr... Cobalt?" asked Rash.
"Exactly, brother," replied Jacen with a grin.
Becker turned to Rachel. "Let's stay with Jacen tonight. Trust me when I say you will love breakfast in the morning!"
Rachel smiled. "I think I'd like that. Okay, you two. We'll stay." She said. Jacen kissed her lovingly.
Jacen and Delaara grinned.
Rachel looked around. "You know, I really like this town." She said with a smile. "How about you, love?" "Honey, I spent so much time here during semester breaks and summer vacation from the Academy, I already call it home." He said in reply.
"Well then, I think I might just put a down payment on a house while we're here." Rachel winked at Becker. Becker said "Well, if we're going to spend the night, I need to get some stuff from our quarters, Rachel. I'll take the shuttle up and transport back down with our bags."
"Sounds good," she said and kissed him. He ran out of the bar at top speed and jumped in the shuttle. They heard the roar of the shuttle's engines as it took off, and chuckled at Becker's eagerness to do just about anything. "Well, Rachel, Let me go home right quick and get the Warthog. I can fly it back and pick everyone up", said Jacen.
"Sounds like a plan, Commander." She smiled back.
"Ok, folks. I'll be back in a few minutes," he said, leaving the bar to take his hover-bike home. Delaara was smiling widely when Ron started telling one of his famous stories about his romance with Karlla. Rachel had never known her friend had married a Drac woman, and was fascinated. Especially at the fun and flirty disagreements they seemed to have during the narration.
Soon Delaara heard the unmistakable roar of the Warthog landing in the parking lot, followed closely by the thrum of a transporter beam not ten feet away and Becker appearing with two overnight bags for himself and Rachel.
"Welcome back." Said Rachel as he handed over her bag and kissed her lovingly.
"Thank you," he said after breaking their kiss. Jacen came back in and said "Okay, the Warthog's waiting for us when we're ready to go." He walked back up to the bar, slipping his arm back around Delaara's waist, kissing her lovingly, and taking a drink from his beer. Becker took the bags outside and put them in the Warthog himself. He came back in and gave the thumbs-up when he'd finished.
Cruiser and Charlie were next to arrive. "Hey, we heard about Tommy and Gina. Great job, Jacen!" Charlie said as she plopped down on the bar stool next to Delaara.
"Did Shawn and Julie tell you?" she asked. "Yeah, we ran into Julie as we were getting off work, and she told us about them trying to shoot up your bomber." Cruiser said, laughing.
Rachel said "Who shot up my bomber, and why haven't I killed them yet?" Charlie and Cruiser looked at her. Jacen said "Cruiser. Charlie. This is Captain Rachel Weiss, commanding officer of the Graf-Zeppelin, and defacto owner of that Warthog bomber out in the parking lot." He grinned.
"And she's my woman." claimed Becker.
"Hey, Rash!", Charlie grinned. "Didn't know you were in town!" She hugged him tight. "We had some business up at HQ, and Rachel gave us all 48 hours shore leave. We're spending the night with Cobalt and Redfox." he said with a smile before kissing his Captain.
Rachel said "Tell me more about the assholes who shot up my bomber." Cruiser took up the slack. "Captain, nobody has to worry about them ever again around here. They're facing 30 - 50 years in a penal colony for discharging illegal slug thrower firearms within Lake Walker city limits, and they didn't even nick that warbird out there." he grinned.
"It's true, Captain", said Jacen. I did a check on it the night they shot it up while Delaara and I were in bed."
Rachel sighed in relief. "Good. But before you head back,-"
"Get it inspected at HQ. Way ahead of you, boss." Jacen grinned.
They heard a noise from the parking lot, and Shawn came in with Julie after parking their cruiser. "Hey, Rash!" Julie said, running over and hugging him. "Is this the Captain Weiss we've heard so much about?" she asked with a smile.
"Hey, Julie! Yeah, this is Rachel, my fiancee. Rachel, Julie and Shawn here are some of Jacen and I's oldest friends." He said.
"Good to meet you both. We've become quite popular around here, it seems." Rachel said, blushing. "You're our family, Rachel. Of course you're gonna be popular. Especially when you show up riding that Ducati." Jason grinned.
"Mmmmmm, Ducati!" Ron said with his eyes closed and a smile on his beared face.
Karlla slapped him. "Down boy!" she laughed.
Ron said "One of these days, Karlla. Right in the kisser!"
"Promises promises, big boy!" Karlla stuck out her tongue at him, grinning.
Rachel leaned close to Delaara. "Are Ron and Karlla always like this?" she asked, amused.
"Pretty much, yes," said Delaara with a grin. "I think it's what makes their marriage work. Humor."
"Ron, honey. It's your turn to change Vinnie," Karlla said almost tenderly.
Jacen looked surprised. "Ron! When did you have a kid?" "5 months ago. We've been raising him as best we can. We have nannies come over, and some even stay the night to help take care of him until we get off shift. He's the main reason we've been looking to hire on more help. We have Sally during the day as bartender, but we need some more help." He shrugged and went into the back room with a smile.
"Gunny Gibson is a father..." Rachel smiled. She looked at Becker and saw in him a great dad. He was young, impetuous, rash (which was how he'd earned his callsign), and completely devoted to her. He'd shown much interest in starting a family, and she knew that he was wise beyond his years.
"Yes, he is. And a damn good father, too. I know how to pick 'em, hon." Karlla was grinning in pride at her choice of a husband.
In many Drac-Human relationships, the human had to be tougher than average, for the most part. He or she also had to be willing to suffer for their love. With Karlla, however, in spite of their frequent arguments, Ron seemed to be doing much better than average.
Delaara had leaned in close to Jacen, and he sensed that she wanted to say something. "What is it, sweetheart?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"I want to have a baby with you, Jacen." She said in a whisper. "I want to be a mother." "Just as I want to be the father to our children when they come, Delaara." He smiled at her lovely face and kissed her softly.
"Then it's settled. As soon as this tour is over, we can transfer to the Academy and become flight instructors." She was smiling even wider.
Jacen grinned. "I'll talk to Commander Stanson and see if we can get things set up." He said with a reassuring squeeze of her hand.
Ron came back in from the back room, towelling his hands dry. "Honey, Vinnie's changed." He grinned. "Suze is about beside herself, though. You might wanna have a talk with her."
Karlla said something in Drac that sounded none too nice, and threw the hand towel she had at him so he could keep cleaning the shot glasses. "Fine, then you make sure those glasses are spotless, soldier. I'll be doing an inspection later!"
"No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection, Karlla!" He shouted to her retreating back as he grinned.
"Idiot!" She shot back with a laugh.
Delaara laughed. "Ron, you two act as if you hate each other, most of the time." "It's how we blow off steam, darlin'. Trust me on this. We love each other with all our hearts, but if we don't keep it interestin', we would be at each other's throats over some issues." Ron shrugged and grinned.
After 30 years as a Waffen SS Sergeant Ron Gibson was still a solidly built man. He'd developed a beer gut since retiring, and had grown his hair long with a chest length beard to match, both of which were showing some gray here and there, but nobody in the galaxy would be stupid enough to try to take him in a fight. He'd earned every combat medal available to soldiers, and most of them twice over.
He was the kind of soldier about which heroes are made and songs are sung. He loved running his bar and serving the best drinks and food for bikers in Walker Lake and all along the west coast. People came from as far away as New York or even London to try the buffalo wings. He gave discounts to Kriegsmarine crewmen, Waffen SS, and pilots, making Big Ron's a favorite watering hole for off duty personnel and cadets alike.
Being a Friday night, the dinner and dancing rush started a bit early. Jacen and Delaara started helping out at the bar, pouring beers and mixing drinks for customers. Some were a bit shocked to see a Centauri in a t-shirt, leather jacket, and skin tight jeans serving mixed drinks, but then shrugged and smiled as they also noticed the Drac warrior with the huge tits serving drinks alongside her slightly shorter fellow bartender.
Jacen continued drawing drafts for customers, and several cadets at the end of the bar recognized him. "Jacen!" One of them shouted.
Jacen had been out of the Academy for three years, but recognized cadet Sal Santiago. "Hey, Sal! You guys graduating soon?" He asked.
"Yeah! How you been, man?" Jason had been Sal's first student flight instructor in standard pilot training, and Jacen had told him that he would make a great fighter pilot.
"Not bad. My wife and I are on leave right now, and decided to give ol' Ron and Karlla a hand tonight." He grinned. "Man, you guys are all over the scuttlebutt at the Academy, same as Rash and Captain Weiss!" He looked at Delaara mixing up a Mojito and whistled. "Dude, how did you bag such a hot lady?"
"I owe it all to clean living and fancy footwork, Sal," he grinned in response. "What have you heard about Rash and Rachel?"
"Just that Old Man Raeder got the authorities to back off on them, since they're engaged or something." Sal shrugged.
"That's some accurate scuttlebutt, Sal," said Jacen with a grin. "Well, they say that you and your lady are the best fighter pilots in the galaxy too, and you two hooked up after shooting each other down." He looked disbelieving at that.
Delaara moved over to them and slipped her arms around Jacen's waist. She told Sal "It's all true, cadet."
Sal and his friends were openly eyeing Delaara and making appreciative gestures without being too vulgar. "Ladies and gentlemen", Jacen addressed the 10 or so trainees. "This is my wife, Lieutenant Commander Delaara, former commanding officer of Gladius Wing, Centauri Imperial Fleet, and currently executive officer of the 501st Interceptor Squadron under yours truly."
"Commander, we've read your reports and watched the mission footage from the Bren incident out by Belarus IX. That was some hot flying!" Cadet Janet Ryder said. She'd had a huge crush on Jacen after meeting him at the Academy when she was still a rookie and he was about to graduate. "I also read your reports on the incident at NZ8-257. That is so romantic!"
The other female cadets in the group were all smiling and nodding at the dashing pilot and his Centauri lover. Delaara and Jacen blushed a bit.
"Well, it was a bit embarrassing when we got rescued," said Jason. "We were sleeping naked on the beach when theDönitz's away team beamed down." Delaara and Jacen both grinned at the memory of Karl Reager's amusement, Gabi Cranz's embarrassment on their behalf, James Kline's appreciation of the situation, and Commander Wulf's outright shock.
The Cadets all laughed at that, but their respect for the duo wasn't diminished in the least. "Hey you two. No lollygagging with the rookies!" Ron chuckled. "We need some more beers for the group at your 5 o'clock, Cobalt and Redfox!"
"Roger that, Sarge", said Jacen with a grin for the Cadets as he and Delaara turned back and started drawing more beers for the other customers.
*** It was nearly 0200 hours when the last customers left for the night, and Jacen was exhausted. Becker and Rachel were still dancing together on the dance floor, and doing a very nice waltz. Karlla was happily putting Vinnie to bed for the night, and Big Ron had a huge grin on his face. "You guys are lifesavers! Spring Break at the Academy is great for business, but hell on my back." He gave Jacen and Delaara a simultaneous bear hug. "Now, grab those two lovebirds on the way out, would ya?" he nodded to Becker and Rachel.
"As soon as this song's over, Ron", said Becker as the song was winding down. "Ron, it was good seeing you," said Jacen. "We're going to be spending the rest of our honeymoon by ourselves, just to let you know."
