“In Ivory Clad surrender now and you might live to face trial.”

“Preparing to fire.”
“How many dead Commander? How. Many. Dead.”

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14.7.2549-02:07 SST-Aboard the Artemis Fell

A gentle hand left the lightest touch on Artemis’ knee causing her to bolt upright with a start, shiny black glass betraying no emotion, but her hand loosened its vice like hold on the grip of her sidearm, and, known only to the dread captain, a single tear trailed down her roughly textured cheek. Without a word Artemis turned to look directly at Conor who was waiting patiently for acknowledgement, hand still affixed to the knee where it found its home. Not even a flinch from the larger man, eyes affixed, unwavering, on her face.

Once Artemis composed herself and looked back at him, meeting eyes if not for the thin layer of glass obscuring his view, she said not a word. Were this an emergency he would have acted more decisively. So they just stared at each other, silently, observing the other. One taking in the shining, bare, skeletal grin of a faceplate, the other...well, more the pleasure for the both of them she grimly noted. As much as she entranced those around her, her second in command pulled her mind inward, quieting her worries, obliviating her as much as she did him. Her eyes, unburdened by the stifling notion of being perceived, wander his visage, taking in all the sights, committing each and every mar to memory.

Commander Conor Lebedev, first mate, is not what you would call a handsome man. Sporting a close shaved head, despite loosened regulations on this ship, a large nose that has been broken and reset numerous times in the past, and a multitude of scars, the label of most obvious being a competition between the one inch diameter circular indent in his forehead and an old long gash going from upper lip to hairline via the now empty right eye socket. He looked as if hell spat him out in disgust. A part of Artemis found herself nauseated at his face, especially when they first met, but now? All those craters, pockmarks, and signs of struggle spoke of safety, comfort. Home. Every day she found this happening at least once, committing everything she could of him to memory because he fascinated her in ways she can’t name. Every day he allowed it, waiting patiently for her input. Every day a part of her hated having to break away.

“I take it that we are done here then?” A nod is the only answer she needed before sitting up all the way, letting out a sigh and pressing the intercom button. Her voice flowed out, sickly sweet were it not for the love she put into her words. “Alright my good little spacers, we have our dinner all packed up and ready to go. Congratulations all around to all you mudskips. All the rest of you? Time to button up, dinner is sizzling and I am sure the dogs back home will love it. Oh, and be sure to give Bast a kiss on the cheek for me, it’s her birthday~.”

Artemis closed the intercom with a giggle at the poor marine’s ‘plight’. She loved the teasing, as much as she rallied against the idea. With that done Artemis looked back to her copilot, still unmoving in his vigil. For a brief moment she got lost in the thought that, with him in the lower conn, directly in front of and below her, and looking up at her like that, he looked an awful lot like what he might look like were he on his knees... Stars where’d that come from?
With a stabilizing breath she looked back to her number one and spoke in a quiet voice, trying to focus on the objective at hand. “Yes Conor? You’re staaaarrring love~.Why aren’t you buttoning up?” For a second the hulk of a man let his verdant green eye go out of focus before pulling himself back and starting to turn.
“Apologies Captain, I’ll get this bucket spun up and out of here like tha-”
“Commander Lebedev. Stop.”
The grizzled officer’s rough, thick fingers almost snapped for emphasis, almost, and very much would have if he hadn't frozen on the spot with the hauntingly sharp and painfully clear bark of an order. Without him moving, or perhaps even breathing, Artemis spoke again in her smooth, melodic, honeyed tone. “Landie, you never get spacey like that. What’s eating ya? Did you get enough sleep? No...no you’re too professional for that. So there must be something bothering you. Now. Spill, or I'll get Vy to start singing her renditions of ‘pop’ music.”

Despite knowing the order would be enough, the threat was very real and Vy gave a slightly too cheerful ‘bwoop’ at the idea, so Artemis felt saying as such was justified. Arms crossed, the lass patiently waited for the answer that was sure to be interesting at least. Not that she had to wait long.

“Captain, sir, I-.” Conor’s voice caught in his throat as if he almost spoke heresy. After a brief moment of thought the man stood and turned to face his commanding officer before continuing. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Landie, you know that you have a standing order to do as such when none of the crew are around. Spill.”

Much to his chagrin there is just enough bite to her tone to make it clear that the issue will not be dropped and so Conor, in defeat, continued. “Sir, I believe that continuing to set ambushes for naval patrols is already bad enough, but you are intentionally taunting them and that Captain Achart especially. Soon, if we are to keep to this path, the navy will bring the hammer of God on our ass, and nowhere, not trade stations, not middle-of-ass-nowhere farm colonies, not even Tortuga will be able to hide, much less save our necks from a grim end.”

Something about what he said tweaked a certain area at the back of Artemis’ mind. Despite his usual gruff emotionless exterior the old wardog looked...strained. Tired. His remaining eye darted across the expressionless black mask, looking, searching for any sort of comfort. The old man, strong and hard, looked afraid for the first time since they had met. That would not do.
“Commander...no, Conor. You are having doubts again. Do you remember what I said last time? What was it? ‘Caution is nice, but only bold plays win’, if I remember correctly. Is that right?” The voice yet again slid out from behind the mask, smooth and calming. By the fifth word the first mate’s eye softened and relaxed, finding a single point on its Captain’s ‘face’ and getting lost there. “Don’t feel the need to answer, I know. Everything will be perfectly fine. Remember that I have a plan, and all that plan will take is material, time, and money. The navy’s equipment is the best source we have out here. Understand?” The man let out a quiet ‘yessir’ as his Captain took him in. “You, of course, can always disagree and it can be put to a vote again. But...you trust me, don’t you?” She knew that she had him.

“Yessir.”

“Very good. Good Spacer. Now, finish getting us underway Commander, Tortuga is calling our names.”

The man let out the lightest whimper as he set himself back in the lower conn and set to work, far less tension in his shoulders. Underneath the mask Artemis smiled to herself. Far too easy.

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14.7.2549-04:33 SST-Aboard the Artemis Fell

“Jump successful Captain. We are forty five point seven four thre-”
“Two decimal places Vy.”
“Of course, Captain. We are nearing docking trajectory with Tortuga Station. Shall I open a hail?” The hologram was holding up...what looked to be an old communicator with a cord connected to a number pad, hand hovering over the numbers awaiting confirmation. Little shit was grinning too.

“Go ahead and hail, tell them we brought a new toy for the yard to play with. Then uncloak and bring us in, and I’m unavailable! I’m not talking to Gerard again. Dockmaster or not, he is not forgiven for what he did to Emmanuel’s poker game. Such a damn shame...I miss that little pet roomba.” Artemis let out a wistful sigh, the ship just isn't the same without the Admiral.

“Caaaaaapy, Gerard is asking if you’re actually going to come aboard this time. He says that you’ve not been aboard but once and not for months. Come onnnn Artie-”
“Don’t call me that.”

“-you could use a little break for once. I'm sure Landie would be happy staying on the ship while you’re away...” The VI was practically stamping her holographic foot in exasperation, purple visage warping as it struggled to animate in a way that it thought sufficient. At the very least, it is a pretty cute holographic interpretation of a scene girl created by a spaceship.

“Vy...”A sigh escaped Artemis as she played chess on her datapad. “Look, you and I both need to work on your shackles, that is more important to me than getting off the Fell and carousing with the people of Tortuga. I would rather Landie get to enjoy himself on shore leave than me be miserable out there when I could get work done.” She makes a feint with a bishop idly, before looking up from her game and at her crew. “What about you Conor, you would enjoy leaving the ship as usual, aye?”

At his summons Commander Lebedev turned about in his chair as he registered the question asked, calm and collected. “Captain I...if you are to stay aboard then I wish to as well. Perhaps this time I could help you with Vy, or we could use the time away from the command structure to celebrate yet another successful hunt. The crew are fine and all, but I am still an officer. With your leave...sir.” Artemis wasn't entirely sure but she could swear she saw the littlest glint of a smirk grace his feature before he caught himself.

Artemis goes to rub her eyes until the glass stops her hand. Not one to make such a blunder, she acted like she was going for a small facepalm. “You know what? Fine. Stay aboard. I won’t stop you. But be warned that it will probably be bland to your adventurous sensibilities.” A few moments passed and Artemis idly sacrificed a pawn while deep in thought. Quiet idle seconds passed before she moved to speak again. Her crew is well trained to allow her quiet time to deliberate because no conversation is ever done with her. “You know? This might be fun. Once we get everything set up you want to spar again? Who knows, maybe this time you’ll actually land a point on me. If you’ve been exercising your sword arm that is. If you know what I mean...”

Somehow, Landie managed to not go red in the face at the innuendo, and such a fact vaguely miffed Artemis.

______________________________________________________________________________

14.7.2549-14:02 SST-Aboard the Artemis Fell

The two officers practically collapsed into the officers lounge, otherwise known as their shared living room. Their muscles ached, both were positively soaked under their clothing, and, despite herself, Artemis had long since removed her mask for the sake of breathing effectively her red face visible to the world. She really hoped that Conor couldn’t smell how she stank to high heaven...or noticed how it made her head swim. Stars maybe time for a bath?

Her gaze drifted over to her sparring partner, fanning himself on the sofa, wearing exercise pants and a thin white undershirt. His eyes were closed as if he was trying to imagine himself in any other place at that moment so he luckily did not notice Artemis staring. Much like her, he was red in the...well everywhere. His skin glistened with freshly cooling sweat and his muscles flexed as his ragged breathing started to calm. Artemis, for the first time since...well ever she found herself looking not out of idle casual interest but something...more. Different.

She’s not entirely sure just how much time passed where she was drinking in all of the detail she could, but by the time she stopped her breathing had settled and her excess heat dissipated, though she could still smell herself and her mind had gone a tad fuzzy...lightheaded? Certainly not nauseated, and she got distracted by the sights and smells around her again.

As she sat there and just experienced the moment her thoughts grew more and more restless. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, or maybe the exhaustion from hours of hard exercise had given her a high, but something was affecting her mind and she was not sober enough to care about that. That acrid, tangy, heady scent permeated the room around her and she finally made up her mind.

Conor, it seems, had dozed off once his breathing settled, but that didn’t last long as Artemis had fastened her faceplate back in place and posed the very simple, yet oh so complicated question of ‘Do you trust me?’. Behind the mask Artemis’ mind raced with things to say or what to do, but she put forward a calm exterior for the gruff man in front of her. When Landie didn’t respond she asked again, with more emotion, “Do you trust me, Conor Lebedev?”

Her first mate gave a solemn nod, “Of course Captain. Always.”

“Good. Remember, you can always disagree and have it put to a vote again.~” As always, that sickly sweet melody flowed out from behind the mask to fall on enraptured ears. A wide smile graced the captain’s face, teeth showing in a predatory grin. “Now. Conor? Kneel.”

And with barely a second to process the order the large man was on his knees. He blinked in confusion and looked as if he was trying to get back up, but his legs just...wouldn’t. Relishing in the sight, a throaty chuckle escaped the dread captain’s lips before she continued. “Oh Good Boy~. So amazingly well trained and I’ve barely done any work.”

The man attempted to hold back a very undignified whimper, but failed miserably as the pleasure seemed too much even for his hardened exterior. “Hehehe, a powerful thing, trust. Stand.” A bewildered look overtakes the Commander as he does so without any mental input. “Run. Stop! Turn.” Artemis’ puppet followed each order to the letter, and once he did an about face his singular eye was wide in disbelief. “You have handed yourself over to me completely, believing that I would only do right by you, Conor Lebedev. You see that now, don’t you? Yes, you do. You know what is happening here. Do you still trust me? Speak.”

Before he even had a chance to contemplate the question being asked his mouth opened and his answer trailed out. “To the end of the Universe Artemis.”

The Captain regarded her catch for a moment, observing his every move before nodding to herself in satisfaction. “Disrobe.” Not quite automatically this time, the man starts to follow the order silently. In mere seconds his shirt is removed, then moments later his pants and boxers move to settle next to the discarded top. As he did so Artemis looked on in hunger, a feeling of pressure building up within her chest. From behind Artemis comes a small giggle and some...music? Some soothing sounds start to wash over the two Terrans. The Captain feels an uncontrollable smile growing. They were both going to enjoy this greatly.