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The light of the moon danced over the snow, turning the landscape into a glittering, shimmering utopia. Well, as much of a utopia that you can have on a frozen hunk of rock floating in wild space. Mayday hated that you would sometimes sit up late so you could see him coming over the horizon from the depot, but the cold days and nights were much warmer once he was safely back with you. This night was special, though, and you were sure he wouldn't mind you being up this late for once. This was the night you were running away together. This was the night he was saving his brothers. This was the night he was defecting and leaving his life as a soldier behind.
You had lived on Barton-4 your entire life. You were born here, your mother and father meeting each other by chance when the shipping freights they worked on had both stopped for repairs. For you, the planet had been a welcome, if cold, escape from the war that was raging across the galaxy. Until the day the new Empire showed up the only thing you had to worry about was infrequent raids to the settlement. The raiders that made the mountain caves their home had settled down over the past few years, the skilled blaster usage of the rest of the citizens took care of the rest. It wasn't exactly safe, or easy, to live here, but you had heard of much worse places in the galaxy where people had scratched out a living and made a place for themselves. Barton-4 wasn't too bad, under the circumstances.
News made its way slowly here, so when a ship landed at the abandoned depot near your settlement, everyone naturally believed the war had finally made it to the icy planet. You grabbed your blaster and, along with the other citizens, headed straight to the depot, believing an attack by Separatists was eminent, but when you got there it was clear that something else entirely was happening. It only took a few minutes before everyone was disarmed and detained, while your town was looted for whatever weapons you didn't bring along. 'For your safety and security', they said.
Your mayor pleaded with the sour faced lieutenant of the newly christened Imperial Army to return some weaponry to the citizens. Your little town was the only permanent settlement on the planet and, although the raids had become fairly infrequent, it was a target for the raiders that called the mountain caves their home.
The lieutenant scoffed at the request, remarking, "The Empire will not leave its most vulnerable citizens without any protection. A squad will be stationed here to protect your little settlement." The distain that dripped from his voice was clear, and he didn't try to hide the disgust on his face when he spoke of your home. He had no actual idea about the trouble the raiders liked to stir up and how dangerous they truly were, but he left no room for argument when he personally executed the mayor for questioning his decision.
"Does anyone else have something to say about my decision? Barton-4 is now an Imperial Depot, and you all are very lucky you are not being relocated to some other pathetic little shithole planet. Return to your miserable homes and miserable lives before the Empire decides your settlement is more trouble than it's worth." That was absolutely fine by you, the less time you spent in the presence of that foul man the better, and as a group your little town made the frigid trip back home, leaving as a small transport was arriving at the depot.
A couple of days later, the Imperial ship, transport, and the majority of the soldiers were gone. The lieutenant said they were leaving a squad behind for protection, but you didn't see any movement outside the perimeter of the depot for weeks. It was almost like the planet had been completely abandoned. You didn't even see the raiders' usual movements around their mountain.
You were lulled into a false sense of security because of the stillness. You were walking to the little cafe that served the residents of the settlement after a particularly rough day when something hard hit you from behind, sending you flying face first into the frozen ground. Blaster shots flew above your head, but the impromptu battle was over almost before it began. Two raiders were lying on the ground only a few feet in front of you. Dead. You were shocked that they had made it so far inside the settlement without being seen.
You became very aware of the position you were in when a modulated voice said, "Are you alright, me'suum'ika?" You had never once felt truly warm on this rock, but laying there with that warm, heavy body pressing you into the ground and that sinful voice in your ear you could almost imagine what warmth really felt like.
"I-I'm ok," you finally stuttered out, "but, uh, can you, I mean, I-uh, well..." Your face was burning, words and thoughts rushing to your mind and mouth, but the execution of them failing once you actually tried to speak. 'Great', you thought to yourself, 'he's gonna think you're an idiot. Good job kriffing everything up all the time.'
You almost didn't hear the low, nervous chuckle behind you before the weight against your back disappeared and you rolled over. Behind you were five armored men, one of whom was kneeling at your feet, looking to the side with his hand scratching at the back of his helmet as if he was scratching the back of his head in nervousness.
"Sorry about all that. I guess it was a good idea that we waited to introduce ourselves after we had settled into the depot. Seems like we got here just in time. I'm Commander Mayday, and this is Hexx, Signal, Veetch, and Zero." 'Stars, what a voice', you thought to yourself, before he rose to his feet and held out a hand to help you back up.
You were clearly flustered, but it seemed like fate reached out to you that day and smacked you in the side of the head just enough to give you a bit of courage, and you asked the soldiers to accompany you to the cafe. Mayday (as you learned he was named) and his men followed you on to the cafe, animatedly asking you about your settlement, the raiders, and if there was anyone else as lovely as you that you could introduce them to. That question was answered by Mayday, who simply turned his helmeted head at the questioner and apparently stared into his soul. Mayday later admitted that he opened a private comm with Zero and told him to stop flirting with you.
That first trip to the cafe went fairly well, all things considered. Word had already made its way around about the incident with the raiders, but nobody forgot the very first meeting with the representative of the new Empire only a few scant weeks before. The soldiers that were now in charge of protecting the depot (and protecting your settlement, if the Empire was to be believed) stood at the center of everyone and took off their helmets. In front of you stood five men with identical faces. Clones. You shouldn't have been surprised, you had heard about the Republic's army, but you never actually expected to meet any of them. "I know that us being here isn't exactly what you wanted", Mayday said as they introduced themselves to a very untrusting community, "but we're here to help any way we can. We're short on men, but we will make regular patrols here so we can do as much as we're able to keep the raiders away from your settlement. We want to earn your trust and respect and we hope you give us that chance." Your neighbors may not have trusted Mayday and his men at first, but you trusted them immediately. You trusted Mayday immediately. He saved your life, protected you at potential harm to himself, and he didn't even know anything about you. He did it anyway.
That evening at the cafe you fell in love. You sat and laughed for hours, Mayday's dry, sarcastic humor a balm for the tough circumstances that came with living on Barton-4. He regaled you with tales of battles on far-off planets, weaved descriptions of places that you had only seen on the holonet, and you shared with each other the pain of the loss of loved ones. You were lost in the moment, and time had stopped between you both, but as much as you enjoyed his company the sun was setting and the moon was rising, and as cold as the planet was during the day, it was much colder, and much more dangerous, at night. Mayday, not being one to hide his feelings, offered to walk you home. You accepted that offer and asked him in for caf. You both knew that if he accepted that meant that he would stay the night.
Mayday accepted. That night, and many nights after.
That was almost a year ago. In truth, it was more like a lifetime ago. Your hand touched the warm swell of your belly, your 'ik'aad' waking up and showing their apparent displeasure at you not sleeping like their buir was fond of pointing out. 'This one's going to be just like Mayday', you mused, as your baby aimed another healthy kick straight toward your belly button. 'Don't worry sweet one. We'll all be together again soon.'
It's been a month now since he's been able to come to the settlement. Raider attacks on the depot had been steadily increasing before that visit, culminating in a devastating attack that killed 3 of Mayday's troops. It had been a difficult year for his squad. The raiders, the weather, and the offensive lack of resources the Empire provided for their men slowly chipped away at their numbers. After that attack there were only three men left manning the depot and protecting the settlement, and each loss seemed to weigh heavier and heavier on him. He was tough and he was loyal, but the cracks in his armor were beginning to show, and you didn't know how much longer he could manage, or how many more brothers he could see die before he broke.
You probably wouldn't have even seen Mayday that night a month ago if it wasn't for your tiny bladder deciding that you needed to go right then, waking you up from a deep sleep. Mayday had snuck in and was sitting in his chair at the table by the window, looking out at the stark landscape.
His chair. You wonder how long it took you to think of it as his chair. Your love for him seemed new and old at the same time. When he sat in that chair it looked like he had always belonged, like it was made for him, and it had just been waiting for him to come home.
Seeing him that night was unexpected. The danger of freezing to death during an overnight trek to your settlement was real. "Go back to sleep, me'suum'ika. You need your rest. Growing our 'ik'aad' had been wearing you out." You smirked and got out of your bed anyway, your bladder having waited as long as it was willing. "No chance, love. Let me use the 'fresher, and then I'll make us some caf."
Mayday was still quietly staring out the front window when you brought the hot pot of caf and two cups to the table, pouring each of you a cup. He was quiet for so long that his cup had long chilled before he finally let out a shaky sigh and turned away from the window. "Those bastards left us here without enough men. Lange, Zero, and Track are gone. For what? Some containers that are so important that the new bosses decided not to come back for them? We were only supposed to be in theater for two weeks, but they kept extending us. They didn't even give us enough rations to last the first month and never sent any more." His eyes shone with anger and unshed tears, too proud to show that small bit of vulnerability that would let them fall, even alone with you in your home. You raised yourself to your feet and walked around the table until you were in front of his chair, and you pulled him into your arms, hugging his head to your belly until he pulled you in further.
You stayed like this until you felt him pull in a deep, ragged breath, and then he leaned back in his chair, pulling you down so you straddled his lap. "I need you tonight, me'suum'ika. I need to feel you." Mayday's hands left your back and trailed down to your hips and he pulled you forward, grinding his codpiece against your clothed core and rocking you in a steady rhythm. Breathy moans escaped your throat as his hand slipped underneath your night shirt and rested on your rounded stomach before traveling further north and grazing the underside of your breast. "Take your shirt off for me. I want to see you." It never really got warm anywhere on Barton-4, and your skin pebbled when you were exposed to the cold air of the room, but warmth bloomed under Mayday's fingers as they slowly circled your nipple, then slipped down your torso and stopped over your belly. "So perfect, me'suum'ika" he drawled, before lowering his head and softly grazing his lips over your rounded stomach. "So beautiful."
Mayday continued his gentle push and pull, one hand on your hip, the other cradling the back of your neck, pulling you down until he captured your lips in a deep, languid kiss, your tongues melding in a sensual back and forth punctuated with the occasional nip at each other's bottom lip. "Can you come for me like this?" he whispered into the crook of your neck. "Can you let go for me?" His hand on your hip tightened, and he helped you speed up your motion, your hands grasping at his unruly hair, tugging lightly and pulling a pained moan from deep within his chest. Heat was gathering in your core, pulsing as strong as your heartbeat and ready to overflow. "I'm - 'm so close," you sighed as you pulled his hair a little more, exposing his neck as you grazed your teeth down the column of his throat. Barely a handful of thrusts later, and you were both shuddering, your releases taking hold of you together.
You both sat there, your legs splayed over Mayday's lap for what seemed like hours, your heart pounding against his armor and breathing in sync with each other. You held each other in silence until he spoke and bared his hopes and fears about his future. You had talked to each other about the future before, of course, but it was only in terms of 'what-if' and how to make your family work if you had to hide the fact that you were a family. There had been no discussion about what would happen after he left the service, if he could even leave it if he wanted to. He had told you truthfully that he didn't know what to do if he was no longer a soldier. He and his brothers had been created for that purpose, trained and sent off to war. They were good soldiers, and they would do their jobs, he said, and he was a Commander. He would never abandon his post or his men.
"We're going to leave," he said as his voice broke through the silence. "We've been talking about it. The boys and me. I requested reinforcements today after..." He trailed off, turning to look out the front window. "We're gone as soon as they get here. I don't know where we'll be going, but I want you to go with us. With me. And if the day comes and I haven't made it here, I want you to go without me. I'll make it back to you. I promise." He turned to face you, a fierceness radiating from his deep brown eyes that you had never seen before that night. "Love, you couldn't keep me from going if you tried. I will follow you anywhere, and we'll make our home wherever we land." You smiled and ran your hand over the rounded curve of your belly. "I don't care if we end up on Tatooine, as long as we're together."
This time, he did let a tear slip out, falling slowly from the corner of his eye to his chin, before landing on his chest plate and disappearing into the cowl around his neck. "I wish I could stay here with you forever, me'suum'ika, but I have to get back soon. We dealt a big blow to the raiders, but Veetch and Hexx are guarding the depot alone, and the raiders could come back. I can't leave them on their own."
You sighed, knowing that he was right. "Before you go, let me get some food for you to take back. You won't have to cook any of it, it just needs heated. One less thing for you to worry about at least." You rose to your feet and you expected Mayday to stay at the table waiting for you to finish, but he rose as well, and followed you over to your little galley kitchen. You worked in silence, you raiding your small pantry and conservator for easy to heat meals and treats for him and his brothers while Mayday packed them away to take with him when he left.
"Well then. I guess you need to go..." the sadness in your voice was clear, as were the tears that threatened to fall. "Almost. There's one last thing I need to do before I leave. It's time to put you to bed, me'suum'ika."
"Love, I doubt I'm going to fall asleep. You know how hard it can be for me sometimes." And he did. You were a very deep sleeper, true, but first you had to fall asleep. And once you woke up? You may as well stay up at that point. Your mind wouldn't stop, even when you were trying to sleep, and sometimes it would take reaching the point of exhaustion before you would finally close your eyes and rest.
Mischief flashed in his eyes, and he smirked, the first smile you had seen grace his lips all night. "I know. I'm gonna make sure you're completely exhausted and asleep before I leave." You were sure your earlier release had thoroughly satisfied you, but your body reacted to his words instantly, and fresh wetness bloomed between your thighs. "Now, go on to bed."
It was easy to do what Mayday said, he was a Commander after all and was used to giving orders. But more importantly to you he meant what he said. You knew that he would not leave you until he had wrung every bit of pleasure from you that night and you were fast asleep in his arms. He would be gone in the morning, but he had left like that many times before, duty calling him back long before either of you wanted him to leave.
He followed you to your bed, carefully unwinding the wraps around his armor as he walked. "Take those off" Mayday said, pointing at your sleeping pants. "They're going to be in my way." You watched as he removed his armor piece by piece, reverence clear in each movement as he stacked each piece precisely, in the same order as the many other times he's removed them before, and then removed his body glove, exposing his tan, scarred skin. You had spent many nights with him tracing those scars, kissing them, and hoping that he would never be burdened with the pain of new ones. When he finished undressing, he stepped to the head of your bed, then kneeled down on the mattress between your open and welcoming legs.
You were sitting up on your elbows watching him with anticipation, knowing exactly where his attention was focused and waiting as patiently as you could. "You're going to hurt your neck and your back if you keep trying to watch me like that. Lay down and let me take care of you, alright?" You were about to answer when Mayday dipped his head and ran the flat of his tongue through your folds, gently sucking your clit between his warm lips as he reached the top. You would have been unable to stay propped up on your elbows even if you tried, and you let your head fall back to the mattress as Mayday continued his gentle assault.
A ragged moan left your lips at the attention he paid to the center of your pleasure. It was glorious and torturous, and you knew you would soon lose your mind to the pleasure. He ate your pussy like a starved man, showering lavish attention on your lips, lapping up your sweet wetness, and gently flicking and sucking on your clit until you thought you may lose your mind in pleasure. You were oh so close, but he would pull away letting the raging fire in your lower belly cool to a simmering warmth. Groaning in frustration you reached down and grabbed his hair, hoping to pull him closer, but he just chuckled against your thigh. "I'll wear you out one way or another. I promise you'll sleep so good tonight."
He continued his assault as you writhed against his mouth, desperately chasing the release he had just denied you. Your legs would be sore in the morning, you knew, the stretch from Mayday holding you open as he devoured you and the burn from his beard a welcome and loved result of the night's current endeavor. He was steady and dependable, knowing exactly what moves to make, where to place his tongue to pull shuddering sighs and breathless moans from your throat, when to give you more when you needed more to get you over that crest of release, and when he should back off and stretch out your pleasure, taking you to the very end of the cliff and pulling you back before you could fall over.
He continued to gently suck and lick at your clit while your cunt fluttered around nothing. You had long since released your grip on his hair and were instead lightly running your fingers through it as you sighed blissfully, your hips occasionally griding toward his mouth on their own, as natural instinct had won over your own strength and energy. You were worn out, and Mayday smiled against your cunt as he finally readied himself to bring you reprieve. He inserted one long, thick finger and began pumping slowly, searching for that one spot that would take you over the edge. The obscene sound of the wetness between your thighs reached your ears, but you were far beyond caring.
He continued his slow assault, rubbing that small rough spot at the front of your walls, keeping in time with his own breathing. Slowly he added a second finger, and then a third, as he continued the gentle licking and sucking on your folds that had kept him busy since he had taken you to bed. Finally, as he felt your walls start to contract around his fingers, he returned to your clit and took it between his lips, this time not stopping until he had taken every last bit of pleasure that your body was able to give. As your release washed over you, you felt a fresh burst of wetness at your core. Mayday lazily finished his job, his moans occasionally breaking through the exhaustion that was quickly overtaking your body.
When he was done, he carefully pulled your blanket back and rolled you over on your side and slid in behind you, bringing the blanket over you both and pulling you close to him. You felt his cock, hard and insistent, at the small of your back, but he made no move for his own pleasure. "Mayday", you sleepily called out to him, pressing your hips back to let him know that you wanted him this way too, that you weren't too tired to feel him inside you. That you wanted him inside you. When he kissed your shoulder and pulled you closer he didn't respond, so you lifted your leg and draped it over his hip, wiggling your own hips for good measure so he would know that you wanted this. "Please, love. I want to feel you before you go." He could never deny you anything, and he pressed in slowly as your eyes struggled to stay open. Moaning in tandem together he gently rocked into your hips and reached down, slowly drawing circles around your clit until another weak orgasm pulsed through your body. You vaguely heard Mayday groan behind you, and his shallow thrusts stutter, but your body had already began falling into sleep, and the last thing you remembered was his breath on the nape of your neck as he continued his slow, steady rocking, and his lips on your cheek, a barely whispered 'I love you' making its way into your dreams.
In the stillness of the night Mayday silently crept from your bed and thanked whatever gods may exist for the possibility of a life that he believed he would never experience. 'How did someone with no purpose beyond war end up with someone so precious at my fingertips?' he thought to himself as he watched you sleep, your chest rising and falling peacefully. His feet refused to move no matter how his mind tried to force them, needing to go but his heart refusing to let him leave. After a few moments his mind won out, reminding him that the next time he saw you would be when you were leaving, and nothing would be able to keep you away from each other. He slipped out the door and began the frigid trek back to the depot and did not look back, afraid that if he did, he would return to you and never leave again.
When you woke up the next morning you knew it would be a while before you saw him again. The depot, and your settlement, were critically unmanned now, with only Mayday, Hexx, and Veetch remaining as your protectors. They were spread far too thin, and their job was now far too dangerous to allow them the freedom to visit the settlement as often. It would all be okay, though. Mayday said it and you were sure of it. Reinforcements would come and you would leave, and everything would be okay.
A month passed, cold, slow, and so lonely. Your pregnancy was becoming harder as well. There was little medical assistance here, but you saw the little, nearly broken down med droid a couple times a month, and your settlement had an elder who swore she used to be a midwife on Naboo that you visited frequently. They both were certain that you only had a couple more weeks that you would have to deal with an aching back and swollen feet before the baby would arrive. You were ready, and you had already stowed a few essentials for their arrival in your 'leaving town' bag.
You were stuck inside your home today because of a sudden storm, wishing your love was there with you waiting out the storm. Mayday commed you several times a day, but it was never the same as having him beside you. You missed him more than you could express, but you knew that he would be free of all the suffering that he and his brothers had to endure soon. You just had to be patient and wait until the time was right.
In the late afternoon he sent you a message. "Good news, me'suum'ika. Those reinforcements finally arrived..." You read the message over and over again until the words were seared into your mind, hope and fear and nervousness mingling together to keep you on the edge, ready to run as soon as you saw him and making the hours drag on the longer you waited.
The storm raged on as the day turned into night, and silently you worried about Mayday and his brothers making it safely to your home. You worried about their contact as well. There was nearly no visibility, and the winds were fierce. It would be difficult and dangerous to land in these conditions, and so you sat at the table by the front window nearly all night, waiting for any sight of Mayday, or anyone else for that matter. The storm continued to rage until a scant few hours before dawn, when it thankfully died down and the land was as still as an old painting. Not long after two men who shared Mayday's face showed up at your door. They were kind, but insistent that if you were leaving with them it had to be now. The one with the short blond hair, Rex. promised you that they would wait until just before sunrise for Mayday and his brothers before taking off, giving them as much time as possible to make it to the ship. "Don't worry yourself," Rex told you as you continued to gaze out your front window, "he won't be left behind. We'll come back for him if we have to". The other man, Echo, added "That's right. There are a lot more ships up at the depot than they said when they let us know they were ready. It might be too hard for them to sneak away right now."
You knew it was true, and you remembered what Mayday had said that night a month ago. If something happened and you couldn't leave together, then you should go anyway, and he would follow as soon as he could. It was too dangerous to hang around as long as any Imperials were still on the planet. You couldn't wait for him for too long or you would be noticed, and everyone would be in danger. You took one last look at the empty chair where Mayday should have been and sighed, before grabbing your bag and following the men out your door to make the trek to their ship, into the cold and onward to a new future.
As the night went on you continued to wait for Mayday or his brothers to walk up to the ship so you all could leave. You waited and waited until the first rays of light crested the top of the mountain before turning and walking up the ramp of the ship that was going to deliver you to your new life. You didn't yet know where you would end up, but as long as you were together everything would work out. You knew if Mayday was held up, there was a good reason for it. He would be here if he could, and you said a silent prayer for him as you sat down and readied yourself to leave. As you strapped yourself into the seat of the ship the two clones came in, 'two brothers', you silently corrected yourself, then pulled out your comm to read the message Mayday sent you yesterday afternoon one more time. "Good news, me'suum'ika. Those reinforcements finally arrived. Have your bag by the door and don't act any different than you normally would if you have to go out. Hexx and Veetch have been working with someone we trust to get us all out of here, and they've been waiting for us to say the word. Just keep watch for us on the horizon. I'm going silent on comms since this shabla Imp is here with his nose up our shebs. I love you, me'suum'ika. You are the reason I live. Not some stupid war, and not for the glory of some Empire that doesn't care whether any of us live or die. You are the bright moon that leads me back home. I'll see you tonight."