The Gemini were legendary for the flat expressions always found on their mottled-gray faces - but as empty as Grand Admiral Karak’s black eyes might have been, his choice of words conveyed plenty. “Even by your standards of measurement, this course of action would appear suicidal.”
A sigh left Kennedy’s lips as the human stepped back and forth, craning her neck up to gaze at the myriad of alien faces making up the Fleet Council. Her gray eyes briefly fell onto the only human up in those seats before they returned to Karak, her short black hair bouncing as her head turned back and forth in an effort to crack her neck. “Sir, with all due respect - I’m insane, not stupid. I’ve checked the probe data up, down, sideways, inside out, and it’s feasible.”
A few murmurs traveled through the council and the various gathered officers, before a slight raise of the hand from Karak silenced every voice in the room. “I have studied your proposals extensively, Commander Martinez. The probe data appears to support your plan. However, we have no assurances that the picture painted by our probes is accurate, particularly given the rapid development of orbital infrastructure-“
“Which is why we need to move now, before they’ve got the whole system on lockdown!” There were a scant few pilots that could get away with interrupting the Grand Admiral. Kennedy had only barely earned that privilege after over a decade of time as one of the fleet’s top fighter aces - and even then, she had to take great care not to abuse it. “I can get us a complete picture - three days, one stealth ship, that’s all I need!”
Karak’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, almost too slight to notice. “If you were to launch such a mission and be captured-“
“I’m not gonna get captured. Futas won’t even know I’m there.”
“I have heard many such proclamations, Commander, from many officers who are no longer with us.” He tapped a few commands into his terminal. “I just I’ll not allow one of our best pilots and a valuable ship to be lost attempting so reckless an endeavor. Your proposal is denied, and your are dismissed.”
It was far from the first time Kennedy’s hare-brained ideas had been shot down by Karak. Most of the time, she managed to hold back her fury, to keep her opinions to herself… but not on this occasion. Maybe it was just the stress of recent missions, maybe it was sleep deprivation, maybe it was just years of pent-up frustration that had finally hit a boiling point - whatever the cause, no small degree of shock rippled through the council as Kennedy abandoned all pretension of respecting authority and just let him have it.
“But you’ll let us all slowly fucking die, right?!” She threw out her arms wide. “Every year, there’s fewer of us, and every year there’s more of those freaks running around, spreading all over the galaxy! If we’re ever gonna have a chance, we need to go on the offensive! We need to hit them where they’re vulnerable, make them feel the pain for once!”
“Commander, you are out of li-“
“I’ll tell you what I am, I’m sick to death of running! More and more worlds fall to those things, more and more races get taken out — and all we do is grab a few thousand survivors, pat ourselves on the back and run to hide somewhere! Because we’ve all just decided to be fucking cowards!”
“Commander, if you wish to remain an officer of this fleet, you would be well-advised to cease this outburst at once.”
Oh how she wanted to flip the little gray bastard off as she left - only the concern over losing her pilot status kept her restrained. She was nonetheless in a huff as she marched away, mumbling curses under her breath. Should have know this would be useless - it was always useless. The admirals preferred sitting in their little bubble, pretending like the Futas wouldn’t eventually find the fleet, over actually considering some sort of action. God forbid they take a goddamn risk even once - better to spend the next hundred years withering away to nothing.
Storming out of the chambers, she finally had to let out a growl of frustration, marching right up to a window and punching the tristeel frame around it. Bitterness fermented in her heart as she stared out at the only home she’d ever known: the Nomad Fleet, a collection of thousands of vessels, from warships to civilian craft, all collected from numerous species that the Futas had pushed to the brink of extinction. A century prior, the last pockets of humanity had been rescued by this fleet, saved from assimilation in a daring rescue mission and joining a dwindling band of wanderers trying to stay alive as the latex menace spread over the galaxy.
She at least didn’t have to spend much time sulking before relief arrived. Said relief took the form of the woman who’d become her one port of sanity in between fending off pirate raids and Futa hunting parties: Shali, an incredibly sweet doctor of the feline Matulian race. With her big, cute ears, soft pink fur, fluffy tail, and heterochromatic eyes, she looked an awful lot like what Kennedy’s ancestors would’ve called a catgirl. The pilot didn’t care much what she was called - what matter is that her girlfriend was the sweetest person alive, a fact she demonstrated upon finding the human, noticing her frustrated expression, and moseying right up to hug her. Kennedy could hardly stay mad with the love of her life purring and rubbing that soft forehead against her shoulder, Shali’s long blue hair cascading down her back.
“Didn’t go well, I’m guessing?” Shali asked, tail wrapping around Kennedy’s leg. The pilot nodded, eliciting a smile from the catgirl. “Well, then I might just be able to cheer you up, because I’ve got some great news.”
“Karak has terminal brain cancer and less than a week to live?”
Shali giggled. “Better.” She leaned up to kiss her lover on the cheek. “The project we’ve been working on in medical is finally ready for the next stage… and I convinced Weivi that the best, most fit, pilot in the fleet, with the best ass of any human ever, would be a fantastic test subject.”
Kennedy raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? What’s the project.”
“Latex infection resistance.”
Her eyes widened as she turned to face Shali. “Wait…. What?!” A way to resist the infection would be their holy grail… but as far as she knew, no medical procedure in the universe was effective. “Fuck… I thought they’d given up on that whole idea decades ago.”
“So had I, but we found something promising. It’s been… very effective in animal trials, but…” She bit her lip. “There’s a catch.”
“Lay it on me.”
“It… it requires a very specific genetic combination… something not found in any sapient species.” The catgirl sighed quietly. “You’re a top compatibility match, Kennie, but… we’d need to… conduct some procedures, first. Genetic procedures. You… you wouldn’t be human anymore…”
“Fuck, if it means being immune to those monsters…” she leaned down and kissed her girlfriend on the lips, rising back up with a confident smile. “So what’s the deal? What have you gotta turn me into to make this work?”
What would Kennedy need to become?