The Battery Girl (CopperLily & Alec Lifestar)
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Solos =&gt; Topic started by: CopperLily on 27-08-2014, 16:31:18</h2>
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				Title: <strong>The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>27-08-2014, 16:31:18</strong>
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				<span style="font-size: 18pt;" class="bbc_size"><strong>The Battery Girl</strong></span><br><br>A Kinky Steampunk Adventure by Alex Lifestar &amp; Copper Lily<br><br><strong>Characters:</strong><br><br><br><br><strong>Scenes:</strong>
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>27-08-2014, 17:43:10</strong>
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				<div align="center">⚙<sup>⚙</sup>⚙&nbsp; Placeholder for administrative Post WIP&nbsp; ⚙<sub>⚙</sub>⚙</div><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Elias, the inventor</div><div class="spoiler_body"><br></div></div><br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Laelle</div><div class="spoiler_body"><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td>Current energy level:</td><td><strong>⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Current level of arousal:</td><td><strong>⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Code</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div class="codeheader">Code: <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return smfSelectText(this);" class="codeoperation">[Select]</a></div><pre style="margin: 0; padding: 0;"><code class="bbc_code">[table]<br>[tr]<br>[td]Current energy level:[/td][td][b][color=blue]⌁⌁⌁⌁[/color][color=grey]⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁[/color][/b][/td][/tr]<br>[tr]<br>[td]Current level of arousal:[/td][td][b][color=red]⌁[/color][color=grey]⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁⌁[/color][/b][/td][/tr]<br>[/table]</code></pre></div></div><br></div></div><br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">The ship</div><div class="spoiler_body"><br></div></div>
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>28-08-2014, 10:19:08</strong>
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				Biomechanical power had changed everything. Where innovation had been made so difficult relying on water-powered turbines, or cumbersome, heavy steam engines, the discovery that a human's life force, their vitality could be harnessed and used as a source of power led to vast advances. What began as promising demonstrations in universities and laboratories took a step further when it was found that sexual arousal boosted the life force of a human, and that a woman, kept in a state of agitation could provide a great deal of steady power to be harnessed.<br><br>And so were created the Bio-mechanic Assisted Conductors, or BACs - or as they were more derisively known, "Battery Girls". Young women, recruited by the military, screened for "suitability", and posted to one the the Empires airships, naval vessels or outposts, sophisticated harnesses and circuitry allowing her to provide power to her post when placed - usually lightly bound - within it. There was, of course, the inevitable backlash and moral panic, and for the moment, it was mostly lower class girls who filled the ranks of the BACs. It was not a position without risk - it was a combat position, with all the accompanying risks - if an airship went down, the battery girls went down with it. And should the crew be captured...<br><br>There were also more unique risks to the girls hard wired into a vessels systems. Battery girls subjected to continual stimulation, as a ship was made to run at full power for hours on end, or fire it's weapons continually, could succumb to exhaustion or dehydration, their bodies simply giving out from the demands put on them. Even if they did survive the exertion, as the power draw on their bodies drive the harnesses to stimulate them more, some battery girls had their minds broken. Some considered this a less cruel fate - they could continue to serve as BACs, and then live out whatever was left of their lives as wards of the state. Though that was not always what happened - one officer had been court marshaled after it came to light that his vessel had lost four girls during a grueling three-day flight from an enemy fleet, and rather than returning with them, he had sold them to a brothel. The most notorious way was for a girl to be "burnt out", the feedback from the power systems flowing back into a girl being driven to a peak of pleasure, the failure of a ship's power systems heralded by an orgasmic scream.<br><br>Yet despite the, there were no shortage of volunteers. Being a battery girl promised a life of adventure - not a job working in a factory, or nursing soldiers, but seeing foreign lands. The six girls on the <em>HMAS Bella Nova</em> had been awarded high honors for their part in keeping the battle cruiser running during a daring raid, working in teams of three tirelessly for days. And BACs were given a special commission in the military that afforded them a generous pension when their term of service was up, but afforded them no real rank or status. And more than one battery girl had been married by her captain, or a senior gunnery officer that she had served.<br><br>---<br><br>It was that promise of adventure that brought Laelle to the teeming capital, from her small village. For the most part, the elves were ignored by the Empire. They had proven willing to defend their lands, but utterly uninterested in conquest outside it. They were ostensibly citizens, but hardly ever taxed - there was little to tax from a people who primarily concerned themselves with wandering the woods, crafting pretty baubles and rutting with each other. There were enclaves of elves in the city, working as whores or craftsmen or entertainers, but they were a rare enough sight. Her short dress, simple and primitive by city standards, as well as the girl who was within it, drew eyes as she walked into the large, impressive recruiting station in the city center.<br><br>Now the pretty, lithe, scarlet haired girl waited in one of the recruitment center's evaluation rooms, a small, simply room with a cot and a small window to the outside, one of several recruits waiting for evaluation and placement.<br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>28-08-2014, 12:21:21</strong>
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				The Air Fleet recruiting sergeant turned out to be a hulking brute of a man, easily towering over the lithe elven girl even when seated as she was brought from the waiting room – cell might have been more apt a description – by a pimply marine private who looked ill at ease in his starched, bright-red tunic and black cross belts, constantly snagging his musket on some corner or other.<br>He led her into a spacious hall thriving with activity. On the long side of the room, a dozen escritoires staffed with scribes stood lined, and next to each sat a senior NCO, their representing all branches of the Empire’s armed services easily recognised by the trained eye by their different uniforms.<br><br>The Air Fleet’s recruiting post was set second to last on the left side, being the youngest branch of service except for the more recent Imperial Submarine Service, whose recruiter, a blonde man with a friendly farmer’s face seemed even younger than his service.<br>The Air sergeant, in turn, was the complete opposite. His sparse hair was pitch black, the lines in his face, no few of which clearly had been received in battle, and his grouchy attitude were all proof of his taking the oath ranged probably back a decade longer than the introduction of dirigible airships into the Empire’s ranks, much less the invention of BACs.<br><br>When the girl took her seat on the hard, straight-backed chair before him, he watched her intensely for a moment, before he snapped: “Leaf-ear? Wishing ta join the service?” He squinted. “Ya not a run-away, are ya? Fleet’s nat a haven for ya ta play ya tricks in!”<br>Giving her another suspicious glance, he grumbled assent then, looking down at the sheet of parchment in front of him, mostly for effect, for though he had learned to read, the skill being mandatory for making the jump to sergeant, much less in the technical-savvy Air Fleet, he had never been to comfortable with his letter, and also because he knew the act by heart.<br><br>“So, what can ya do? Somehow doubt ya carry a diplo from Tech School with ya in there”, he said with a nod at her barbaric one-piece garments gleefully. “So probably not gonna salute ya and call ya ‘Lieutenant, Ma’am’ any time soon, ha? Battery girl, I assume?”<br>He nodded to the scribe waiting passively at his side, having long since stopped to take any part in the bartering the sergeant seemed never to tire of, and the young man readjusted the clamp holding his shirt’s sleeve well free of his writing hand, dipped his quill into the ink pot before him and began filling out the topmost form before him.<br><br>“Name?”, the recruiting sergeant asked next, and frowned at the exotic name in the even more exotic tongue. “What’s that? Lal?” He shrugged, turning to the clerk. “L-A-I-L”, he spelled out. Who cared for the name of a battery girl that much, anyway?<br>“Wouldn’t supposed you have a last name back in tree city, do ya?”, he went on, then to the scribe: “Put <em>Windplay</em>. That’s what you people like to call yourselves, no”, he added towards the girl, not expecting an answer.<br><br>So it went on, asking her the names of her parents, her age, status of virginity, prior occupations, and skills, all interspersed with the hurtful jibes that at his rank and position, towards a recruit for a post much in demand he would go un-reprimanded for.<br>Next came the measuring, marking off her height against a 6ft. wooden yardstick, the result written down before the clerk handed the form to the sergeant who signed it with a scrawly signature, then held it out to her. “Take that with ya and give ta the techie ta have ya other measurements taken. Come back when they’a done assessing ya and prepare ta make ya mark.”<br>With that, he shooed her off, even before the private could take her by the arm and march her towards the next station of her journey, through the door behind the recruiters’ desks and into a paved courtyard open to the street on one side save for a spiked iron fence, dropping her off at the end of a line of a dozen girls waiting for whatever was to come next.
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>29-08-2014, 13:31:52</strong>
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				Laelle tried to keep her back straight and her eyes forward as the recruiting sergeant towered over her, easily twice out massing her petite form as she followed him to the hall, and began his torrent of questions, many of them derisive. She ignored the pejorative way he called her 'Leaf-ear' - it was an insult, but one any elf who visited the city would become inured to almost immediately.<br><br>"No Sir, I'm not a run-away, and this isn't a trick."<br><br>She shook her head softly at his question, not realizing the attention her garment was drawing. "Yes Sir, I'd like to be a BAC." Without a technical skill, it was one of the few professions she could actually aspire to. She watched the scribe writing on the form, her jaw tensing as her name was misspelled, her lyrical accent apparently making the relatively straightforward name impossible to spell.<br><br>"No Sir, no last name." It was clear he didn't expect there to be an answer, and she didn't really know what her answer would be. By the end of the questions on her parents, her age (19), her virginity (no) - which was followed by any number of comments regarding the sexual habits of her people - and her past, she was visibly upset, trying to hold back a biting comment back, or simply storming out. But if she left, she would never be able to attempt to enlist again. She took the form, a cutting summarization of her life, and held it carefully while she was herded by the private to the courtyard, ending up at the end of a line of girls. She timidly introduced herself to the girl next to her, before she noticed how open the courtyard was to the street, and that the guard posted there was doing very little to deal with the crowd of gawkers gathering outside the gate.<br><br>"Do...do you know what happens next?"
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>29-08-2014, 15:10:31</strong>
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				The girl next to Laelle, now no longer the last in the line of other potential recruits, turned and gave her a scrutinising look, frowning as she noticed the other woman’s pointed ears. She was no taller than the elven girl, but by far did not possess the elf’s lithe, delicate built, her hips and bust full and rounded. Her dirty-blonde hair was cut short so as to ease caring for it, and her tunic and skirt were patched in numerous places, clearly marking her as a prime example of some of the more common aspirants for the ranks of BACs.<br><br>Even so, however, a somewhat haughty expression flickered over the girl’s face, and when she spoke, there undeniably was a notion of superiority in her voice.<br>“They want to assess our energy potentials”, she whispered snippily, the unspoken <em>what were you thinking, silly?</em> clearly implied. She was about to say more, when steps sounded loudly on the flagstones from a trio of men approaching them. The one in front wore thin double silver stripes on the sleeves of his green tunic, with a lightning bolt insignia on his chest. “Junior Lieutenant, engineering branch”, the girl next to Laelle mumbled, whether to impress the naïve elf or just talking to herself. <br>The two men following him wore the same colours, but with the chevrons on their thick upper arms, which made the human girl identify them as corporals. Both of them were heavily laden with a pile of what appeared to be a wild assortment of leather straps and metal.<br><br>“Quiet there”, the bespectacled engineer called sharply, looking up and down the row of girls while his two assistants had dropped their loads onto the clean pavement and started to sort apart individual pieces. It was quickly revealed that there was one for each girl, and apparently each set comprised both metal and leather components.<br><br>“You will now be assessed as for your energy capacities, to allow the Fleet to gauge your use for service as a Bio-mechanic Assisted Conductor as such, as well as recommend specific posts for those of you that we can use”, the lieutenant said firmly, his parade ground voice carrying down the entire line easily. “To do so, you’ll be put into a Conductor Harness now, then plugged into a Recording Graph as a Testing Cycle of energy demands is taken”, he explained, his voice bored as if he had given this speech a hundred times already.<br><br>“Now, first of all, I need all of you to disrobe so Corporals Henley and Bryan can wire you in. Move!”, he ordered, and a small whoop could be heard at that order from a gaggle of day-talers that had stopped by the fence and watched the procedure with obvious enjoyment.<br><br>The two corporals had finished sorting their gear by then, each one holding up a single set now and beginning to strap in the girls as they finished getting naked, some completely unconcerned, even smirking at the impassive soldiers, others slower, bashfully avoiding any eye contact and trying to hide their intimate parts just a little longer by stance and hands.<br><br>The harnesses turned out to be quite solid. They began with two shoulder straps, sewn to a first belt encircling the wearer’s upper body above the breasts. From there, a single strap ran down back and front, with another cross belt below the chest, firmly encasing a girl’s bust between them as the two buckles on the circling straps were locked in place. <br>A third, broader belt circled the waist, locked with an intricate buckle that joined the three meeting straps. From the front of the hip belt, then, another strap ran down the centre of the girl’s belly, this one thinner, and buckled in the back to the hip strap.<br>The broad leather straps were clearly cut in one of a few default lengths, and none fit any of the girls perfectly, pinching in one place and loose in the next, though the corporals with obvious expertise made sure to keep at least the latter to a minimum. Upon closer view, then, it became apparent that the metallic sheen that had been visible before was due to quite a number of studs and plates placed in different locations of the harnesses, as well as to wires running along the length of the straps connecting the former.<br>The centre-piece of each harness appeared to be a petal-shaped metal contact on the crotch strap, sitting well on each girl’s pearl, and accompanied by a series of smaller studs lining the strap, apparently meant to connect to nether lips, entrance and rear hole of the wearer.<br>More contacts sat along the inside of all the cross belts, on both shoulders, and one nestled against the belly button.<br>Between the upper two cross belts, then, thinner straps ran, holding in place each a small copper ring that encircled the wearer’s nipple. <br>From the centre buckle, where all the wires connected, then, issued what appeared to be another, loose strap ending in a copper appendage that the soldiers laid out at each girl’s feet as they finished strapping them in while their officer watched the procedure sharply.
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>02-09-2014, 14:18:57</strong>
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				Laelle ducked her head slightly as she caught the look of scorn on the other woman's face when she realized she was an elf. Not knowing the social signals of the humans, she didn't realize the girl was a commoner, and one from a poor family at that. All she saw was her full bust and rounded hips, which from several glances from the guards were quite appealing, and the haughty expression.<br><br>She fell silent, whatever thoughts she had dying as the trio of soldiers walked in front of the line of waiting women. Her wide, almond eyes flickered over the Junior Lieutenant, then listened while they explained what was going to happen - she, and the rest of the women would be placed in conductor harnesses, and tested to see what kind of energy output they could produce when they were stimulated. Which first meant stripping before the cheering crowd. For some of the human girls, this was clearly something of a humiliating experience, but Laelle was comfortable enough with her own nudity that she simply undid a few of the leather ties keeping her one-piece dress on her, and let it slide from her slender shoulders to pool at her feet, before gently nudging it aside. Her stance was neither meant to hide herself from the two corporals, or particularly to tempt or taunt them.<br><br>She braced herself as the harness's weight came down on her shoulder, then raised her arm as the leather straps were wrapped around her breasts, holding the harness securely to her chest - and rather pleasantly displaying her firm, perky breasts. Another circled her waist - this was where the straps meant primarily for humans got into trouble, as it was rather loose fitting. The corporal did his best to secure the harness to her lithe, slender form, the leather straps tightened to her hips and her flat belly.<br><br>Finally, she parted her legs as another strap was pressed between her legs, various studs and metal bits connecting to intimate parts of her body, and she yelped when the corporal tugged it tight, pressing the metal studs tight. As she was the last girl in line, she was also the last finished, and the officer nodded in approval at the milling line of harnessed girls.<br><br>Looking faintly bored at the dozen or more naked, harnessed girls standing in a row, he looked down at his clipboard.<br><br>"Merly Smith...step forward."<br><br>A girl from the middle of the line stepped forward. "Well then, lets get you hooked up." One of the corporals wheeled the recording graph forward, while the other busied himself with connecting the girl to the contraption.<br><br>"Now then, this is a Grade I conduction harness - it's about a generation out of date. Still sees some use on troop transports or older freighters. Most of the harnesses you'll find on modern vessels also have an internal component, but these do well enough in assessing your potential. Now then, lets get started..."
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>03-09-2014, 00:21:28</strong>
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				At first, not much happened, though all the girls as well as the crowd waited silently, either eager to know what would come next, or eager to see what they knew would come next. After fastening the copper plug into a slot of the cart-mounted testing graph and generator and securing it with a brass clamp, the corporal stepped aside to man the device’s control panel. Flicking a switch and turning two dial switches, the apparatus hummed to life, a row of lights starting to blink as it warmed up, then becoming steady.<br><br>“Ready, Sir”, the soldier reported, and the lieutenant, who had briefly inspected the harness on the dying-of-embarrassment girl that was first in line nodded, stepping back to keep an eye on the paper graph as well as the dials and gauges while the other non-com took his place at the girl’s rear, mindful of the incidents where a girl would not be able to keep the strain and just collapse.<br><br>“Alright, commence test run”, the officer commanded, and another switch was flicked. The only immediate reaction was a deepening in the hum and the graph starting to spill out a record into the tray mounted beneath it. Quickly, however, there was also a notable reaction in the girl as the generator, receiving the program’s demands for power began to use its internal energy storage to provide a low-pitch, but constant stimulus to the girl that evoked the familiar warmth of gentle, teasing foreplay in her and then began to siphon off the generated energy.<br>This first stage, the warm-up, was not very demanding on the subject, able to be upheld for days if necessary, keeping the girl in constant arousal and yielding a steady flow of energy usable for most basic demands. Still, on the untrained and unfamiliar blonde, the effects were more pronounced, her breathing deepening quickly and her flush, formerly confined to her cheeks, growing darker and spreading to her neck, chest and thighs.<br><br>The stage lasted for a few minutes, the steady output recorded by the slow spilling of the graph paper, a single, straight line accounting for the energy that flowed back into the capacitators.<br>Then, however, with a clicking sound the program switched, and with a silent gasp the graph jumped almost three inches before falling again, then to repeat the jump a moment later. The harnessed girl trembled, biting her lips as her hands unconsciously started to cover her crotch, only to be slapped aside by the soldier behind her, and with burning cheeks, she clutched them together behind her.<br><br>It did not take long for the girl to no longer being able to stifle the moans rising up in her in tune with the machine’s increasing demands for her pleasure, and soon she was writhing in the set-up, thighs shaking almost uncontrollably and gasping with every renewed jolt while the graph continued its up and down on the print-out to the sounds of hoots and cheers from the on-lookers outside the compound.<br><br>When her first climax hit her, eyes squeezed shut and fists clenched tightly, the cheer rose to clapping and cat calls, even, but then, the girl was clearly beyond noticing. Her thighs were glistening wetly, clearly to be seen as even though she had sunk to her knees, she kept them wide open instinctively, as if welcoming a rare lover.<br>When the generator fired up again, however, her eyes flew open, panicking almost. “No, no, no more, please”, she groaned, having difficulties to even focus properly on any of the three soldiers, but none moved to humour her, and within moments, another set of orgasmic shivers racked her body.<br><br>So it went on, the entire sequence taking almost a quarter hour and yielding the lieutenant a yard of graph paper and a thoroughly drained girl that had to be lifted back unto unsteady feet and set down on a bench at the back of the compound by the corporals before they hooked up the next candidate. The engineering lieutenant then jotted down a recommendation of his readings and marked the number of the record on the girl’s file to prevent any mix-ups.<br><br>Slowly, but steadily, then, the line moved on. Some of the girls were silent, some loud, some fighting for control, some completely uninhibited, yet all succumbed to the demands of the testing device eventually, which was designed to not only find their maximum output, but also the point after which a girl’s output would invariably dwindle after a number of climaxes and would only increase again after a period of rest.<br><br>Finally, then, with the crowd already widely diminished by the sating of their voyeurism, the line came to Laelle. Some of the spectators yawned, and a few even left their place now with a scoff and a muttering of “dirty elf”, but at least the non-coms showed no particular disdain for the outsider of the group as they quickly went through their routine, and, at their officer’s nod, switched on the test program once more.
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>04-09-2014, 20:26:14</strong>
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				Laelle watched the proceedings impassively, trying to keep the nervous flutter in her stomach suppressed. Two girls in the middle of the line failed the test, one because her generation was simply too erratic, producing jumps and spikes that would make it difficult to actually function, and the other simply because her draw was to low. While both seemed upset, they would land on their feet - girls who were rejected from BAC service were still considered for other positions.<br><br>Finally, it was her turn, and the slender elven girl stepped forward, ignoring the jeers from those in the crowd who had not gotten bored yet with the sight of naked recruits wriggling and squirming in their harnesses. To most, elven women were one of two things: exotic, sensual, lithe women valued for their relatively free attitudes toward sex, kept as the treasured pets and concubines of the nobility, or as girls who arrived in the city with no money, and little enough concept of it, whose few employable skills mostly involved parting their legs. Laelle, having volunteered for what some considered a degrading aspect of military service, was clearly in the latter category.<br><br>But the military didn't much care. As long as a woman freely volunteered, and could generate the power needed when she was stimulated, it didn't matter whether her ears were pointed or not. Her test went as most of the others had - beginning with a mild, pleasant background sensation of pleasure, followed by soft yelps and cries of pleasure as it intensified, and finally ending up on her knees, her body jerking softly as several orgasms wracked through her body in quick succession. Finally, she was unhooked from the machine, the officer looking over her charts with a critical eye, making a few notes here and there. Excellent peaks, and good reliability, but with somewhat more variability than was ideal. But well within the range of an acceptable BAC.<br><br>Once Laelle had taken her place back in line, he nodded to the remaining girls. "Congratulations, all of you are qualified for BAC service. The corporals here will escort you back to your rooms, and the quartermaster will be by to fit you with your proper harness. Tomorrow, you'll be given your assignment for your evaluation cruise. Good luck to you all."<br><br>---<br><br>Six months later, a considerably more tan Laelle, dressed in a simple Air Service tunic she was allowed for shore leave, and carrying her harness carefully, stepped off the landing platforms at Port Valiance, the headquarters of the air fleet. Held carefully to her chest was her evaluation report, written by Captain Wallace, and sealed against tampering.<br><br>She had served about the <em>HMAS Jensen Wallace</em>, a courier and cargo vessel. While the airship service had no dedicated training vessels, a ship like that was as close as they got. With three battery girls on board, there was plenty of redundancy while the new girl got used to her harness and the demands of the ship, and with little need to engage in combat, or push her engines hard save to outrun the occasional storm, weaknesses in a girl's abilities didn't endanger the whole crew. Now she would see what fate had in store for her, formally admitted into the BAC, given her mark, and her first "real" assignment. There were dozens of captains here, all who would be going through the returned cadet's files, looking to replace lost or retired girls, or build up the crews of new vessels.<br><br>Approaching the duty officer, she saluted neatly.<br><br>"BAC Laelle Windplay Sir, as ordered." When he held his hand out, she surrendered her file. Within it, though she did not know it's contents, it read:<br><br><em>Captain's Evaluation: BAC Windplay, Lail<br><br>Demonstrates excellent power generation, with good spikes during high demand scenarios. Good timing and an eagerness to please results in a very responsive system. However, shows unacceptable variability during times of prolonged, unsupervised demand, with her mind wandering with a resulting drop in production until the system's demands brings her back to attention, which results in a considerable delay in production. Not recommended for fleet deployment outside of dedicated weapons positions, where direct supervision is the norm.</em><br><br>Below that was a number of charts and figures of her performance, which would in turn determine where she would be sent next.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>09-09-2014, 22:43:44</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The duty officer, a rakish-looking, young Squadron Captain with warm brown eyes smiled as he returned her salute with a sharp, precise motion. Obviously, he did not share the sentiments no small part of the Empire’s servicemen held against elves, some of which, even though <em>Jensen Wallace</em> was all in all a decent enough ship and her captain a fair man, Laelle had had some chance to experience first-hand on her first tour of duty and which had ranged from snide comments by the crew to rough handling by two particular engineer’s mates, but had not even stopped short of some subterfuge by her two ‘wire sisters’, as the BACs informally referred to each other.<br><br>“Welcome home, BAC Windplay”, the captain, a gyro-pilot by the silver insignia on his green tunic, said cordially as he inspected the seal routinely for a moment, refraining from addressing her by first name, which, though traditionally reserved for the ship’s company, was a common manner of address for the battery girls. <br>With a practiced flick of the hand made it land in a mesh tray on the desk that already held a couple other files and documents of various origins to be distributed to their respective recipients.<br>“So, some shore leave and then back to the skies?”, he asked friendlily, then nodded at her answer. “Ah, new recruit, I see. Well, I’m sure they’ll find something fitting for you. Always have some use for your likes”, he said, patting the report that would determine what exactly would be ‘fitting’ for her.<br><br>The duty officer nodded at the private sitting on the next desk and serving as a clerk, who had by now produced a list and copied Laelle’s name – wrongly, again – from the sealed report into the next free line. “Just sign here that you’ve reported – or just make your sign”, the captain instructed, pointing to the right-most row.<br><br>Taking another list from the silent private, he scribbled something down on it. “I’m putting you into C wing quarters. That’s back in the maintenance area, most BACs we have here are quartered there. Not that we have that many”, he added with a tortured grin, having bemoaned a record 60 times in the last month that if there were more on-base girls, he could easily have the additional flying hours in the half-experimental, pre-charged flying machine.<br><br>“We have ample free capacities, but I put you in 231, so you are not all on your own at least. Report to the quartermaster and draw a blanket, unless you’ll be gone in a couple days anyway and prefer to just use your hammy?”, he suggested, nodding at her duffel bag that held her issued personal items, like hammock, toiletries and cleaning utensils for her harness. “Any questions? Good. Report to the duty officer the day after tomorrow, until then have some slack, go to town or whatever it is you do to have a good time. Dismiss.”<br>He returned her salute again, and with a good-natured slap on her behind over the simple green tunic, a gesture that most BACs did not actually oppose on behalf of their soon getting actually grateful for the easing of the pressure the constant demand of their posts put on them, sent her on her way.<br><br><div align="center">⚙<sup>⚙</sup>⚙</div><br>It appeared, though, that the friendly captain’s casual optimism in her speedy reassignment had been premature. When Laelle reported back, the new duty officer, this time a gruff elder line officer stuck at senior lieutenant by some mishap or other, briskly told her that there had been no request for her.<br>She was to be put on standby for the time being, and in the meantime, she was assigned to Captain Madock, the head of the engineer inventors working in the repair sheds and the workshops of the base, maintaining air-worthiness of returning airships, catering to every perceived problem from depleted lightning pistols of the officers to major engine overhauls, as well as enabling the small squadron of gyrocopters of Squadron Captain Bennet, as the name of the officer Laelle had encountered first turned out to be.<br><br>Work with the engineers was dull and their needs for a BAC were limited, though. <br>Most ships had their own girls for any repairs’ needs, and Bennet’s small planes – 6 in all – were recharged only once a week, their limiting factor not the energy the BACs could provide but actually the supply of crystal batteries, and these, unlike the former, were hard to come by and, worse, deteriorated rapidly in the experimental vessels, which had caused the Board of Logistics to impose a strict flying plan for them.<br><br>Laelle ended doing nothing at all on some days, save for keeping her harness cleanly polished and the copper conductors of the Type I piece – contrary to the engineer at the first testing, <em>Jensen Wallace</em> still ran on them – shining.<br>Though she stood at her place on the left wing of the Engineer Company together with the three other resident BACs for the muster every morning, after that, her days usually lapsed into finding some occupation. Her wire sisters, though not openly displaying any hostility towards the elven girl, fared not much better, but even so, they had an edge over her in snaring tasks from their superiors more often. Every Wednesday, the girls were all hooked up on the copter squadron, but that was the only regular job that came up, together with Captain Bennet never forgetting to show up to supervise the charging process and indiscriminately slipping each girl a toffee, sometimes as they were still writhing in their harnesses, sometimes after the procedure had ended.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>23-09-2014, 07:09:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle gave the dashing young Captain, looking the part of the dashing, romantic Air Fleet officer many women dreamed of a smile - appreciating, if nothing else, that he lacked that momentary flicker of disapproval that lived in the eyes of many the moment they saw her bright eyes and pointed ears. She hadn't been mistreated - far from it - but it was always clear that, even among her wire sisters, she was regarded as different. As other.<br><br>"Thank you Sir." She smiled at his reassurance, her eyes flickering to her file for a moment. "Just waiting for an assignment Sir, hopefully I won't be here too long." She looked down at the the list, and signed her name - her proper name - though in the Elven script of her people it was hard enough to tell, and few enough clerks in the Empire knew enough to see that her 'official' name was ever so slightly misspelled.<br><br>"Thank you Sir." She nodded as he gave her her assignment. "I'll do my best to keep the power up." She winked playfully, and went to find the quartermaster to get a blanket for her billet, setting up her few small possessions in her quarters - little more than a cot and a small table in a shared room, clearly meant to be temporary.<br><br>---<br><br>That small space was rapidly, and distressingly, becoming not temporary. The duty officer informed her, with the sort of gruff satisfaction many had when putting elves in their place, that she hadn't been placed - and was on standby. She spent most of her day waiting, hooked to her harness but idle, unless a lightning pistol needed charging, or one of the engineers needed power for a heating element or the like. And when she was used, as often as not, it was for major recharges of exhausted equipment, the low, long power draws leaving her twitching and wriggling in her collar, exhausted and frustrated by the time she was released, collapsing back into her bed, staring at the wall.<br><br>She felt like her dreams were fading away - that she was rotting her, and would serve out her term here, having never seen anything besides the walls of this city, and what little she had seen while on the <em>Jensen Wallace</em>. That she was alone, and this was a mistake - one she couldn't escape from. She tried to distract herself, keeping her billet perfectly regulation, her harness flawless, but idleness preyed on her mind. The other BACs didn't help much, and she found herself with a lot of non-BAC make work as well, lonely and isolated.<br><br>Wednesday, and Captain Bennet, was the high point of her week, and what she looked forward to - a day spent writhing in her harness, properly, rather than the dull ache of a charging station. He seemed to especially enjoy feeding her her 'treat' while she was still hooked in, taking it from his hand like a docile mare. One week, as the power draw faded and she stilled, she was putting away her harness when he went by, looking up at him timidly.<br><br>"Sir can...can I talk to you?" Assuming the Captain agreed, she kept her tone respectful as she spoke. "My file...what did I do wrong? Most of the other girls have been transferred out or reassigned. I tried, I really did..." she seemed lost, and even a little heartbroken at the concept that she was somehow unsuited to being a BAC.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>23-09-2014, 11:37:09</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The captain was in a good mood apparently, and his usual, easy smile brightened when he recognised the caller. Nodding, he paused in his step and waited for the elven girl to catch up with him. Listening to her, his face grew more serious as she went on, his fingers idly playing with a button of his overcoat.<br>“Wanting to get away from me, eh?”, he said jokingly, a flash of his old smile returning for a moment, before he grew serious again. “Well, you know how it is…”, he said softly, clearly sorry that he could not help her out – even though an officer, he was very much a junior one, and after all he had been stuck on the ground in Port Valiance himself for better or worse with his experimental squadron, though even he was due for transfer in another three weeks, and he hoped that Laelle had not yet heard of it.<br><br>“I know how you must be feeling. Usually, here in port we only have a handful of BACs on station, and those are usually those that are unfit for service on the fleet, those coming towards the end of their service and are not drafted by the ships anymore. I – I don’t know your file, but – well, you know how it is… with your likes…”, he said lamely, clearly meaning “with elves”, but not wanting to hurt her further. <br>“You should keep your head up, though. Maybe there’ll be an opportunity?”, he added then, trying to give her some hope, but even to his ears, the words sounded hollow as he dug a hand into his pocket and produced another toffee, a little crumbled already, and offered it to her clumsily. It was really all Bennet could do for her.<br><br><div align="center">⚙<sup>⚙</sup>⚙</div><br>His bicorn hat firmly tucked underneath his left arm, Elias Malcom Davenport III., Major-Engineer and Master Artificer in the Imperial Air Fleet, stepped out into the sun-flooded square in front of the Admiralty Palace, tugged open the top knot of his parade dress tunic and rubbed his neck where the itchy high collar had driven him almost crazy for the last thirty minutes. <br>Who had designed these things at all, and no less for wearing when some irritable three-striper was watching your every damn move!<br>From the first moment he had entered Air Admiral Colburn’s spacey, tasteful teak-panelled office he had felt almost physically the antipathy of the Commander-in-Chief Expedition Fleet, and the way the admiral’s jaws had worked before he had managed to press out a laboured “<em>Major</em> Davenport” in response to his subordinate’s salute had told Elias all he needed to know about the line officer’s position on alumni of on of the prestigious Technical Colleges being commissioned after a mere 4 months military training to fill the badly needed engineering postings of the Fleet.<br><br>Slowly, the young man strolled along the huge building’s impressive front, just in time returning the sharp parade grip of a pair of sentries standing guard over the next entrance. He cast a longing glance across the plaza at the marketers selling fruit, but a quick look at his immaculately shined brown leather boots and then to the dirty square beyond the steps leading up to the Admiralty Palace made him forget about any ideas of walking through the mud to buy himself a quick refreshment.<br>The admiral had been very clear that he was to be back for the Mission briefing in a mere twenty minutes, and Elias had no more intention to embarrass himself in front of an admiral <em>and</em> a bunch of Post Captains than he had to do so before a single gold-striper.<br><br>A little clumsily, he about-turned at the end of the portico, managing to almost trip over his rapier, earning him a pitying jerk of the corners of the mouth from the nearest sentry he chose to ignore. Not that the young academic did not covet his position, but clearly, he had not joined the army for an overly soldierly disposition, but rather because it provided him with a near endless stream of resources and a lenient guiding hand in exchange for his agile and curious mind’s products – at least when Admiral Colburn had not set his mind to once again show the youngster for once again what <em>real</em> soldiering meant.<br>Twice before in his two year’s now he had been sent on appointments meant to put him into his place, and while the one-month-tour as Acting Assistant Engineering Officer of HMAS Illustrious had almost bored him to death, serving as Expedition Officer aboard the Fast Air Frigate Dianne for three months had actually managed to make him notice the more fun aspects of service on an active vessel rather than at his lab and workshop down at the Air Naval Yard #114. <br><br>No, even without every young officer yearning for an independent command, this mission would not be some sort of punishment, and the harshness of Old Collie’s introduction was just the more confession of the admiral’s desperate need for him there. Elias grinned suddenly, making his handsome, clean-shaven face look even more boyish underneath the unruly shock of non-regulation-lenght brown hair than it usually did despite his 28 years, two diplomas and a bunch of patents to his name.<br>A long range recon mission in the sparsely populated eastern border region. The next station admiral would be at least 200 miles west in Farport, and he, Elias, would have his own ship and free hand to find out what exactly it was that was going wrong there. How he would do that, he had not yet any idea, but that would sort itself out. The important part was that he would have a ship, a hold full of spare parts of all imaginable kinds and, no less important, a girl to not only keep him company but to provide him with all the energy he could ever want to power his appliances. It would be – an inventor’s dream.<br><br><div align="center">⚙<sup>⚙</sup>⚙</div><br>Twenty miles away, in a cluttered office of the Board of Logistics in Port Valiance, William Squigget frowned over the heavy manila envelope that a set of priority orders had come in by special courier this morning.<br><br><em>”We, the lords of the Admiralty of the Imperial Air Fleet, by way of Our subordinate Admiral and Commander-in-Chief Expedition Fleet The Right Honourable James Percival Colburn, request and require you to outfit with all due speed HMAS Swiftsure currently lying in dock at Port Valiance&nbsp; in accordance with the following specifications:…”</em><br><br>He let the set of orders sink down again, frowning for the umph-teenth time this day and rubbed his forehead, regarding a stack of paperwork that already dealt with provisions and a myriard of smaller pieces of equipment and waited for the duty NCO to be gathered and delivered to the different quartermasters.<br>Squigget grunted when a knock on his door sounded and at his call a young woman dressed in a mechanic’s overall with the chevrons of a Senior Mechanic’s Mate entered. Seeing as he was merely a civilian, she did not salute, but simply said, “Mechanic’s Mate Silvan, sir, as requested. You ready to go looking for that battery you told us about?”<br><br>Not enough that he had to put up with the unconcerned babbling of the young technician, Squigget grumbled over almost anything from the moment he had to leave his office chair, and when they reached the engineer’s yard, he was positively steaming with suppressed irritation.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>29-09-2014, 08:50:06</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle smiled cheerfully at the Captain, and gave him a playful answer about not trying to get away from him - if she could have been assigned to his squadron, full time, this post might have been bearable. She nodded as he explained that he couldn't do much, nor could he particularly help her. Still, she appreciated it that he seemed to care - and didn't look down on her because she was an elf.<br><br>"I understand Sir." She straightened her back a little bit and nodded. "I'll try Sir." She took the candy, and slipped it into her mouth with a smile. "Thank you Captain."<br><br>---<br><br>All the unassigned Battery Girls had already been herded out into the yard, their harnesses in hand, Mechanic’s Mate Silvan having retrieved a small pile of files detailing their service history, which she surrendered to Quartermaster Squigget as he entered the yard, sensing his irritation and being quite eager to no longer be on his mind at all.<br><br>"Their files Sir - this is our entire..." the woman almost said 'inventory', used to dealing with lightning guns and engine fittings, before she corrected herself..."roster of unassigned Battery Girls." She hadn't seen their files either of course, though there were rumors about all of them. The girl who had been removed from her assignment by her Captain as a mercy, after the rest of her section on the Air Cruiser <em>Relentless</em> had been burnt out, not wanting her to have to relive the event. A couple new girls who had returned from their first cruises, and were just waiting for new assignments. A fewer long term girls, veterans, with specialized profiles that meant it took awhile longer to find them just the right assignment, or who were earmarked for 'special programs' that hadn't quite taken flight yet and needed something to do. And then the elven girl, who no one quite knew why she hadn't been assigned yet - and who thus had a number of rumors floating around about what her file said.<br><br>"Shall I go get the testing equipment? Or are the files and an inspection enough for you?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>03-10-2014, 00:47:41</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Squigget only grunted noncommittally as he took the folder of files from the technician, without sparing a single glance at the short line of girls assembled in the yard.<br>The quartermaster was a portly man, and that only if the one making the assessment was a friendly person, and while he leafed through the pages, even from the short walk, he was panting heavily.<br><br>Melina Silvan was used to uncooperative superiors in general and dealing with grumpy civilian administrators in particular, and so she stood by patiently without interrupting, her fingers drumming against the leg of her blue service overalls. <br>After a while, Squigget’s breathing returned to normal and he began to sort through the papers in earnest. Surprisingly, the newer girls’ files were sorted out and put below the stack of files first. Though he was an unpleasant person, the quartermaster was far too experienced than to not know how to make sure he got the constant requests of full captains for fresh BACs supplied at least half-way, and thus the hell he would and give any of these valuable items of his area of responsibility away to supply some aviso that did not even warrant a full captain but a major only.<br><br>At this point, the burly clerk for the first time looked up and let a cursory glance wander over the line of girls. The sole survivor of <em>Relentless</em>, staring impassively ahead, went to the bottom next. Squigget might have been a man setting priorities, unlike many civilian administrators, he had never sold off more than a few packets of rations, and he had never knowingly let a ship go out with vital supplies exchanged with worthless junk.<br><br>Stepping up to one of the veteran girls, he threw a glance back at the machinist’s mate. “Get me a hand reader”, he said briskly, before starting to ask questions to the girl before him that, in another setting, would have appeared rather lewd, but were second nature to a BAC after a few tours, though some of the new girls listening flushed visibly with embarrassment.<br><br>After a moment, Melina reappeared, carrying a box, maybe the size of a cigar case, with three dials and a number of buttons, while at the top a socket for the connector cable of a BAC harness was visible. Taking it from the Air Fleet hand, Squigget barked a sharp “Get into harness” at the girl before him, and while she scrambled to comply, he continued his rapid cannonade of questions about her capacity for long-term high-level arousal, multiple orgasms and recovery period.<br><br>When she was finally fitted in, he connected the girl to the hand-held testing device, and as he began to flip buttons and crank dials, soon the girl before him was trembling to stay on her legs as the small crystal initiator battery sent request after request for her bio-electric energy into the connector points of her harness.<br><br>When Squigget finally nodded enough, the entire time during which he had not once spared her a look even, the girl with quivering fingers took back the connector cable and stepped back into line. The same happened with the next girl, and the one after that, but always, Squigget seemed to be not quite content with the readings, until he finally stood before Laelle at the end of the line. When he looked up at her, he frowned in obvious aversion. “Ah, right. You’re the <em>elf</em>”, he said, making the mere statement sound like charges. “Well, what are you waiting for? Get in harness. <em>Damn jungle monkey…</em>”, he added, muttering under his breath.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>15-10-2014, 12:48:27</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The machinist's mate, an impassive, carefully cultivated expression of detached boredom on her face while Squigget sifted through the files, sorting girls into what he thought were eligible for assignment and those who were too valuable to waste on something like the request sitting before him, handed over the hand-held reader, doing her best not to look at the girls too closely. It wasn't that she objected to BACs, or looked down on them, but in her line of work, it was easy to start viewing the battery girls as just another part of the machines she worked on and it was...best...if she didn't connect with them much.<br><br>Not one of them enjoyed being evaluated by Squigget. Some of the officers were businesslike, going about their duty with a certain amount of indifference, some - like the Captain - treated the battery girls like something in between your best friend's younger sister and a favored pet, and some clearly enjoyed having a girl quivering on command. Squigget on the other hand was an unpleasant combination of all three - brusque, unpleasant, and heedless to the comfort of the girls he was dealing with - as witnessed by the first girl he inspected, who jerked and writhed as he rapidly went through the settings on the device, stammering out answers to his questions as she clearly struggled to stay standing. She looked glad when he finally disconnected her, still shaking as he moved onto the next girl, and finally, he got to Laelle, his voice dripping with clear derision.<br><br>Laelle had very good hearing, as many of her kind did, and visibly winced at the insult as she slid into her harness with a simple "Yes Sir", her body jerking as he turned the handheld meter on, the harness bombarding her body with stimulation.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>22-10-2014, 19:01:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Squigget gave no sign that he cared at all about Laelle having heard his last remark, and simply continued to hurriedly making sure she was well fitted in before he hooked her up to the portable meter. Again, the transitions were rough, one moment stimulating her to the brink of climax, then again tuning down to a cruelly teasing hum only.<br><br>Jotting down readings, the civilian compared them briefly with Laelle’s file and profiles without care for switching off the reading device which kept going at a medium power level that happened to be the last step of the screening program.<br>“…was to be expected, <em>of course</em>”, he continued to mutter under his breath. “Unstable, unreliable… don’t know why exactly we bother keep them still, anyway…”, he went on grumpily while Melina stepped forward and took the meter from him, turning it off finally and unhooking the Elven girl from the device.<br><br>“Well, damn major’d be grateful for what he gets at all… and I gets ‘er away ”, he said after staring at the readings for a moment, shrugging his shoulders with some finality, signing one of the papers on his clipboard with a flourish and turned to Melina. <br>“That ‘un, ah-“, he rustled through his papers, “Lail – ‘s that even a name? Lail Windplay, gets assigned to <em>Swiftsure</em>. Hook her up, add her to the outfit, you know what to do”, he said briskly, handing her a slip of paper, apparently a copy of the order he had just signed.<br><br>Melina nodded, taking it from him, and she had barely glanced at it when Squigget had turned and was on his way back without another regard for any of the girls nor the NCO. Looking after him, the Machinist’s Mate shook her head in disbelief before turning towards the BACs. “Alright, that’s it. At ease, and dismiss”, she ordered casually, managing actually to make the order sound apologetic. “You, stay”, she added then with a nod at Laelle as she began to coil up the connector cable of the testing device, storing it in the shed before she returned and motioned for the Elven BAC to follow her towards a nearby workshop. <br><br>“You’re assigned to <em>HMAS Swiftsure</em>, an experimental Long-range Air Corvette we’re outfitting for a mission right now. Small ship, single officer, one BAC, so you’ll probably be expected to stand in for some crew duty as well. You have much experience serving aboard?”, she asked, opening the door and ushering Laelle into a cluttered, tiled workspace.<br><br>On two worktables lay a wild assortment of cables, wire, straps, contacts, isolators and a hundred more pieces, interspersed with tools from simple clippers to complicated, delicate pincers and more exotic ones still.<br><br>“She’s equipped with a main and two auxiliary crystal batteries that can keep the ship running at normal operations for 5 days, but normally, you should recharge her every day. System’s quite ingenious, so it’ll do with 3 hours for a complete loading cycle, actually. Action stations has you hooked up, of course, and draw directly. That your issued gear?”, she asked, nodding at Laelle’s conductor harness. “You’ll get a new one fitted, type 4, 5 if I can find the parts, to maximise your output. Ever had one of those?”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>31-10-2014, 21:24:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle gave Melina a grateful look as she turned off the device, Squigget's thoughtless abandonment of it leaving her still agitated, her heart fluttering and legs shaking as she wrestled with the combination of intense stimulation and emotional turmoil, sagging slightly as she was unhooked. As the rest of the girls obediently headed back to their off-duty stations, Laelle stayed behind, clutching her harness to her as if afraid it was about to be taken away.<br><br>It was all she could do not to cry, feeling like this evaluation had just confirmed that all she was good for was being dumped on whatever posting annoyed the officer the most. That the only reason she'd get any deployment at all was that they <em>had</em> to give the captain of the <em>Swiftsure</em> something, and it might as well be the least valuable BAC in the stable. She nodded at the question, not sitting down.<br><br>"Yes I...my last Captain saw to it that we understood the work that needed to go on aboard a ship as well." Her eyes on the tools, she listened to the description of the power system, thinking it sounded well designed, and glad it didn't draw enough power to require her in it for 10 or 12 hours a day - she had heard of some battle cruisers where the girls had little time to do anything but sleep and eat. Handing over her harness, which while old showed signs of very careful care under Laelle's ownership, she shook her head.<br><br>"No Ma'am, just this one. The <em>Jensen Wallace</em> only had mountings for Type 1 harnesses, and since then..." she looked down. "It hasn't mattered enough for anyone to worry about upgrading it."<br><br>Once the tech dismissed her to get working on actually making her harness, after taking a series of rather comprehensive and intimate measurements, Laelle retreated to her small corner of the barracks, packing her things up in a neat little bundle and then just sitting on the bare bed, her legs pulled up to her chest, staring at the wall - wondering if this was all a mistake.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>02-11-2014, 13:43:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It would take until the next morning, at the small roll-call in the yard in front of the maintenance sheds that marked the beginning of another day of duty for the BACs of the base, that Laelle would see the young tech NCO again. The night had been not too pleasant, the other girls both envious of the elf’s chance to flee the boredom of base duty and scoffing at her for being thrown away on what apparently was a lost cause anyway.<br><br>Now, waiting for the duty officer to register dutifully the presence of each girl, superficially check their presented gear and dismiss them again, throwing the officer a casual salute, Melina waved for the elven girl to join her.<br>“Good morning”, she greeted her friendlily, smiling. “I hope you have had breakfast already, as we have quite a busy day ahead of us. Your new captain is due tomorrow, coming down from the capital to inspect his new command, and I have to have you fitted and everything in order until then.”<br><br>Walking her towards her workshop as she spoke, she made a decidedly more friendly impression than the day before, chatting sympathetically with what she had quickly come to grasp was not exactly everyone’s darling on the base.<br>Reaching her workplace, she pointed for Laelle to stand by the door while she quickly began gathering tools and materials, either stuffing them into a large duffel bag or, the more intricate ones, putting them into a velvet-clad box.<br><br>“You can leave your harness here, you won’t need it anymore”, she said with a sidelong glance at the BAC as she snapped shut the toolbox first, then loosely tied off the string that closed the bag as well and shouldered it with a casual gesture. “So, shall we go?”<br><br><div align="center">⚙<sup>⚙</sup>⚙</div><br>“How long have you been in the service?”, she asked as they made their way down to the fleet yard. A pair of rifle-armed privates watched them approach wearily, and though they snapped to attention when they recognised the chevrons on Melina’s working overall, they only stepped aside when the tech produced a battered-looking pass and had checked the entry at the end of it thoroughly.<br><br>Stepping into the heart of Port Valiance was an experience indeed. Before them, huge halls alternated with open fields, most of them empty, but enough yet also housing the prime of the Empire’s aerial might. Lean frigates and bulky corvettes lay there at their anchoring poles, some hovering a full four feet off the ground, apparently ready to get underway any moment, while others were propped up on mighty timbers, their armour-plated hulls laid open to allow a swarm of technicians to work at their innards.<br>Further out in the distance, they could make out the powerful shapes of two battle-ships as well, being surrounded by a multitude of tiny-looking carts that apparently brought fresh supplies and spare parts to the monolithic ships.<br><br><div class="floatleft">(http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/077/0/e/fantasy_airship_by_yuchenghong-d5yj5xy.jpg)</div>Melina obviously knew her way around here, and leading Laelle down the nearer row of buildings, she finally paused at the edge of one of the long maintenance halls. “Now, brace yourself for a real beauty”, she said with a wink to Laelle before she led her the final few steps onto the yard.<br><br>The hull that lay there was by no means as impressive as the mighty cruisers that they had seen before, barely a third of the length of the <em>Jensen Wallace</em> at the most, but the sleekness of <em>HMAS Swiftsure</em> was of a wild, war-like beauty indeed. Her upper deck, accessible now that she rested almost on the ground by a wooden ladder, was about 20 feet from her keel, suggesting a narrow middle deck that aft grew into a comfortable-looking quarterdeck that no doubt housed the captain’s room in the stern cabin. <br><br>Despite her small size, the small ship was regularly rigged, her triangular sails rising from the mainmast at the centre over her full length, while four powerful air-screws gave her the impression of being able to life up to her name easily.<br><br>“Well, what do you think?”, Melina asked after she had given the girl some time to take in the sight of what would be her new posting.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>16-11-2014, 08:06:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle's feelings were mixed the next morning, the other BAC's assessments of her posting - a combination of jealousy and derision - doing little to settle her heart. She fell quickly into line behind Melina, answering her when needed as they walked.<br><br>"Yes Ma'am, I've eaten." In truth, the elven girl ate sparingly, but had made sure to eat today in anticipation of a long day without many breaks, in contrast to the idleness of the rest of her time here. She seemed to warm up considerable when Melina took a little bit of pity on her, glowing under the small amount of positive attention. She nodded eagerly, setting down her old harness, offering to take the woman's toolkit - after all, she fairly clearly outranked the young BAC any way you cared to think about it.<br><br>"Not long Ma'am. I served for six months on the <em>Jensen Wallace</em> for my evaluation and then..." she looked down slightly. "I guess I wasn't very good at it. I've been here ever since and I had stopped thinking I would ever make my mark." Laelle followed her through the unfamiliar dock, casting admiring glances at the ships, at the idea of the life she thought she'd have. One of the big battleships, or a sleek, fast frigate. Something daring and romantic and not as...ceaselessly disappointing as she had managed thus far. Her dreams never had her as a failure.<br><br>The elf let out a soft gasp as she saw the ship. Her race prized aesthetics, and the ship, small as it was, was undeniably beautiful. Like a race horse, powerful and smooth and simply calling to be allowed to run. Her eyes widened, and she couldn't hide the smile on her face.<br><br>"It's beautiful..." She blushed softly. "I'm going to power all that?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>17-11-2014, 23:24:53</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Melina smiled indulgently at the BAC’s apparent awe and actually let her have a few moments to admire her new field of activity before she tugged her arm lightly to draw her out of her revery and back into the present, though she did so still smiling.<br>“Yes, you are, provided the tests run sufficiently”, she replied, the words, though her tone was friendly, still businesslike – a BAC that did not provide adequate power for her posting was, after all, a danger to her ship and crew, whether that damned her to a boring shore posting or not.<br>The NCO waved at two men that were engaged at one of the airscrews casually, exchanging a few words and a warning to not power up engines before they gave the all-clear.<br><br>With Laelle in tow, the tech made her way up the gangway onto the ship’s polished main deck. “I think there’s a few maintenance B.U.G.s aboard, so you don’t need to swab the deck, even”, she said thoughtfully as she looked first forward, then astern for a second.<br><br>“So, you see”, she began, turning back towards Laelle, “there’s two companionways, one on the forecastle, the other just abaft the mast. Latter one leads right to the engine room, while the forward one comes out next to the galley on starboard and the workshop on larboard.” She pointed towards the different parts of the ship before continuing. “There’s a number of power inlets all over the ship that’ll allow you to plug in conveniently for other jobs as well, if you can’t be at the main one in the engine room – which, by the way, is your default station for ‘all hands’.” She grinned at the condition’s inapt designation on a ship with just a BAC for all of the crew. “Still, you have to know them all so you loose no time in an emergency.”<br><br>Then she turned around, pointing to the small, yet compared to the hatchways luxurious door set into the forward wall of the small poop-deck, next to the ladder that lead up to the quarterdeck on which the steering wheel stood. “That one leads to the Captain’s quarters, the map room and the magazine. First one is taboo for you, anyway, and the latter two are off limits unless you have a reason to be there”, Melina reminded the BAC sternly just in case.<br><br>Then she set down her toolbox and pointed for the elf to do the same with the duffel bag that she had gladly left to Laelle to carry.<br>“So, I’d say we first of all fit on your new harness out here where we have space and light – sleek as they are, these small vessels are all rather cramped below deck, naturally. Get undressed”, she ordered calmly, obviously being used to working with BACs, “and let’s see how it works”, she added encouragingly as she opened the bags and began laying out her equipment and materials on the spotless teak panels.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>30-11-2014, 06:38:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle gawked for a few more moments - one of those lapses of attention that was being used to swiftly sink her career - before Melina's tug brought her back to the present, leading her through the ship, the elf nodding in understanding that this was all contingent on her testing well, that worry gnawing a bit at her stomach.<br><br>She smiled at the idea of not having to swab the deck - while she had grown used to the exposure involved in the task, but that still didn't make it a pleasant one. "That would be nice."<br><br>She looked where Melina pointed, trying to get used to the layout of the ship. Most captains - as she understood it - didn't much consider "I got lost Sir" to be a valid excuse for a BAC not to be at her post. She smirked at the comment about 'all hands' just meaning her for the most part, but she nodded. "The other power inlets - do they have the same draw as the main one, in case I can't get to it? Or are they just for having me...conveniently "on hand" if the Captain is working on the ship?"<br><br>The elven girl looked serious when Melina reminded her that a fair amount of the ship was out and out off-limits to her, nodding obediently. "Of course Ma'am." She couldn't imagine a reason she'd be summoned to any of them, and so marked them off her mental map.<br><br>"Do I have quarters Ma'am, or do I sleep by the engine?" The elf asked as she stripped, reassured by the woman's businesslike, casual tone, which suggested she wasn't inclined to leer at the BACs. Though she certainly could - for an elf, Laelle was pleasantly curved, and her toned body had fared well with the exercise she used to fill her copious downtime. She wriggled into the harness she had been provided, marveling at the feel of new leather and a proper, custom fit that not only placed collection points perfectly on her body, but also fit her like a glove, hugging and highlighting her curves without pinching or chafeing.<br><br>"It's...it's excellent work Ma'am. Far more comfortable than my last one."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>10-12-2014, 23:40:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Melina gave the elven girl a glance showing pleasant surprise at the competence and foresight that her question expressed and nodded approvingly before she turned back to her toolbox and continued sorting her instruments while she explained.<br>“There’re fully connected inlets at the engine room, the rear cabin, on the quarterdeck, in the hatch abaft the mast, on the fo’csle, in the cable tier and one each in the two cargo holds”, she listed without thinking, pausing to allow Laelle to memorise them.<br><br>“Then there’s isolated circuits with their own inlets for the Arc Gun in the bow, the stern guns and for the four lightning carronades on the main gun deck, both battery and individual guns for the latter two. Those can be used in case of a breakdown of main power ring distribution. Similar back-ups are available for the winch on the fore-deck, for the air screws and the sail, as well as for the engineer’s workshop amidships. And last, there’s a portable generator. It’s not as powerful, naturally, as the ship’s systems, but it can be used to power the dinghy, the cargo winches or one of the carronades just in case.”<br>All this came effortlessly. Obviously, the NCO had done her homework, though she did not seem to find it remarkable in any respect, for when she now turned towards the elven BAC with a pair of pincers in one hand and a conductor probe in the other, she looked completely relaxed, not the least pleased with herself.<br><br>She waited for Laelle to have put on the harness completely, then began to adjust the straps to attain an even closer fit, after each step checking the wiring with the probe, sending a small jolt through the closest conductor point on the elf’s skin.<br>“There’s a cot in the engine room”, she explained as she worked. “The system was designed to do much of the regular charging during your resting period, both going to sleep and waking and sleep itself. The system’ll be set to work on a schedule based on your readings of conductivity to achieve the best results. We’re still experimenting with that, but your captain will be one of the engineers that helped design the system, so maybe he’ll tell you more about it.”<br><br>Working her way up to the elf’s pert breasts next, Melina made sure that the conductor rings circling Laelle’s breasts were firmly seated before pointing out to the BAC a pair of symmetrical holes at the sides of the rings. “This”, she explained, “is something that you’re not yet used to, I guess. Type 4 and 5 harnesses like this one can be outfitted with more conductor points than the simpler models. Through here”, she went on, touching first the ring with two fingers, then moving them together to capture Laelle’s nipple between them, “conductor rods can be placed, either screw-ins that’ll pinch your nipples or a solid one that’ll require them to be pierced.”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>11-12-2014, 01:30:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle was clearly a little awe-struck by Melina, a woman who clearly had an important position, at least relative to the elven BAC, but she listened carefully, and she repeated the locations back to herself silently, her lips moving a little as she committed to memory where the fully connected inlets were, where the emergency circuits were for the guns, in case the ship's power distribution systems took damage. Blushing at the idea of being bound to a cargo winch in port, and remembering there was a portable generator. Trying her best not to fail at this, having the feeling this was the best chance she had at being what she had hoped being a BAC would mean. And the feeling that if she let Melina down, it would truly be the death of her career.<br><br>Letting out a soft grunt or squeak as Melina adjusted the harness to it was an even better fit, framing her lean, feminine figure and following her curves like a second skin, Laelle let out a small yelp at each test of the conductor points, the shocks through them sharp, but not enough to hurt. She was pleased that none of them seemed to be dead, and Melina seemed satisfying enough.<br><br>"That sounds...well thought out. And he's one of the designers?" She grinned. "That will probably come in handy."<br><br>She shivered while the woman positioned her harness - and in the process idly toyed with Laelle's breasts - shaking her head. "We didn't have anything like this...I didn't even get trained for the new harnesses." Melina could hear the despondency in the elf's voice - the girl was clearly convinced there was something wrong with her, that maybe she wasn't worth much more than a random depot charging station. She gasped when the engineer gingerly captured a nipple, her eyes widening.<br><br>"Pierced? Is that...the captain's decision?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>21-12-2014, 22:23:03</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“It is”, the NCO confirmed with a nod, giving the elf’s nipples a last firm tug to make sure they were properly centred in the metal conductor rings.<br><br>“Don’t worry too much”, she added then as she realised how insecure the BAC sounded about her new station. “You’ll learn everything soon enough on the job. Just pay attention and keep your ears pricked – you even have an edge on that actually, no?”, she suggested with a sly grin, and unlike many people having made jokes about Laelle’s heritage since she signed up, in Melina’s tone was only the humour of a sister-in-arms, and none of the derisiveness that the few elves that served in the Imperial Forces were all only too used to.<br><br>She bent down next, prompting the BAC to spread her legs to a degree that in a civilian setting would have been more than lewd, but which gave the tech easy access to Laelle’s most sensitive flesh as she began to adjust the crotch strap, which was far more sophisticated than the simple conductor stripe on the Class I harness.<br>The upgraded version had a multitude of contact points. Beginning with a circular one that was placed against the girl’s clit. Next came a pair of spring-loaded clips with rounded jaws that settled on the BAC’s labia, before a short stub that looked like a screw settled against her pussy proper. Then another, pearl-shaped conductor point was adjusted so that it gently pressed into the soft tissue between the elf’s entrances. An empty socket came even further down the strap, but looked unable to provide any actual stimulation, not even like the single conductor stripe of the Class I that would be capable of stimulating a girl’s rear hole as well if positioned properly.<br><br>Melina had just fastened the crotch strap again when her gaze fell upon the gangway, and she muttered a curse under her breath that would have made many privates blush as she scrambled to her feet, unconsciously brushing her hands off on her overalls.<br>“Major coming our way”, she warned Laelle sotto voce. “Look smartly now”, she advised her as she turned to meet the officer, who was wearing a simple duty uniform, the only decorations being the three stripes on his sleeves denoting his rank and the silver buttons on his chest, along with a Dirigible Airship Pin on his left breast pocket emblazoned with a five-pointed star.<br><br>He stiffened formally when he met Melina’s salute by touching the brim of his bicorne hat. “Permission to come aboard?”, he asked, the question denoting that if he were a member of the <em>Swiftsure</em>’s crew, he had not yet reported for duty to the captain or – more likely – if he were the commander indeed, had not yet assumed command.<br>“Come aboard, sir”, Melina said respectfully, dropping her hand again as she waited dutifully for the newcomer to state the reason for his visit.<br><br>“Don’t mind me poking around a bit”, the young officer said cheerfully, which in combination with his high rank marked him as a jump-up immediately, for he did show none of the want for awed respect that protocol did accord to a flag officer vis-à-vis a NCO if he so wished. “Just go on with your duties”, he added, nodding to Laelle before, after a few curious glances about the deck, he disappeared through the aft hatch in the stern superstructure.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>24-12-2014, 05:51:36</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle genuinely laughed, a bright, happy giggle, at the comment about her ears, the joke lacking all the usual acid or unpleasantness that those things normally carried. <br><br>"I suppose I do..."<br><br>Parting her legs, she tried to pay attention to what Melina was doing, knowing that for the most part, especially being the only BAC on the ship, she would have to duplicate those actions on herself. She let out a soft noise as the clips settled onto her labia, not in pain so much as surprise - the harness was considerably more sophisticated than just the conductor points spaced roughly appropriately for a girl of her size, as with the older design of the harnesses.<br><br>A comment died when Melina cursed and got to her feet, Laelle falling into a formal salute, which in times before BACs might have looked absurd - a young woman, nude, her lithe body cross-crossed with a thigh fitting set of straps and little else, rigid and at attention. Once he had acknowledged them both, she relaxed into something closer at ease when he told them to continue about their duties, watching him go with undisguised curiosity.<br><br>"Do you know if he's the Captain?"<br><br>She blushed fiercely. "And this harness is different where it, um...meets my rear. Did they abandon trying to run a conduction point there?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>24-12-2014, 14:46:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Melina, too, followed the officer with her eyes for a moment before turning back to her tools and the BAC before her.<br><br>“Likely he’s the one, yeah. I’ve only read the name of the captain, but at least his rank fits. Also, he’s <em>some</em> captain. Did you see the star on his badge? Command authority’s insignia, that”, she explained while, on her knees before the girl again, adjusting the worm on a piece of metal.<br><br>“Yeah, I did not have the proper parts to add one for your rear orifice. Class III and up come with individual, internal conductor points, you see...”, she explained and showed the part she held in her hand to the elven girl now, revealing a smooth, four-inch piece of shining metal rod, rounded at the top. “I’ve got one to go with your pussy, but with 8th Airfleet inbound, a lot of supplies are reserved to get them fixed up quickly. No spares to be freed for a corvette like this one, they tell me when I tried to draw from the Yard Supply Sergeant.”<br><br>She frowned, reaching for the loose crotch strap and began screwing the shiny appendage onto the screw that pierced the leather, then reached for an oiler can and squirted a small amount of lubrication onto the metal.<br>“I’ll try to get you a can to use, but you can also use spit when fitting it on yourself, or of course use your own lube”, she advised, then added: “One of the perks for that point, after all. Much worse not to have any when you wear a IV. Now, let’s see…”<br><br>Carefully lining up the rod with Laelle’s sex, the tech began to slowly penetrate her, the rod’s diameter only lightly parting the elf’s lips and tunnel, clearly designed not to fill her out, but merely to reach into her and allow for contact while enabling her to wear it for extended times with relative comfort.<br><br>“How’s that?”, Melina asked, adjusting the strap between Laelle’s thighs until it hugged the curve of her mound and sex snugly, then fed the end through the buckle at the belt around her hips, just below her belly button.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>29-12-2014, 05:49:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Ah." Laelle nodded in understanding, even as her eyes fixed on the small, rounded cylinder that was to go inside her. It was certainly more...intimate...than the simple conductor that nestled against her innermost flesh, though doubtless it was also more effective. She nodded softly.<br><br>"Of course...supplies must be tight. I'm...I'm sure I'll manage." In truth, she wasn't sure how she would have felt about a pair of those, one in her rear. She blushed as the woman gave her advice on the device's insertion, letting out a soft squeak as it parted her lips, settling within her. It wasn't large enough of course to make her feel truly penetrated, let alone be painful, but the effect was powerful in terms of making her feel fully given over to the task of being a BAC. The elven girl wriggled a bit as the strap was tightened against her sex once more, nodding softly.<br><br>"It's...I think it's fine. Nothing hurts. You're...very good at this. Thank you - I appreciate it."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>06-01-2015, 22:02:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“I should hope so”, Melina said, her voice somewhat mocking as she bent down again and loosened the strap again, fixing the conductor rod permanently in that position. “It’s my job after all.”<br>She took a few more moments making some adjustments, then rose to her feet again, leaving the crotch strap unfastened for the time being. With Laelle standing quietly, she went over the rest of the harness, checking metal contacts and wiring before finally nodding contently.<br><br>“Alright, that should do for now. Ready for a test ride?”, she asked, not really expecting an answer, as the question had merely been an order in disguise, and she now led the way down the open companionway by the mast, climbing down the short ladder and emerging into the engine room. It was a massive room, taking up almost the full beam of the <em>Swiftsure’s</em> hull, but it was so crammed with engines, generators, wiring and tubes that not much space remained for them to move about.<br><br>One difference from the Cruiser engine room Laelle would be used to was a wall rack against the forward bulkhead. A strong, blueish-green glow emanated from it, and upon looking closer, rows and rows of chrystal tablets became identifiable, being stacked with small gaps in-between them into rails in the rack’s sides. “That’s the batteries”, Melina said with a nod at the configuration. “They’re about two-thirds charged, hence the glow. There’s a cover”, she said, showing the elf a pair of sliding doors that could be latched open for maintenance, as they were right now. “It’s your duty to keep an eye on their charge state”, she added, pointing to a gauge nearby that indicated her earlier words. “When the energy level drops below 35 percent, you should definitely begin charging right away”, the tech advised, indicating a red mark on the instrument’s face<br><br>“Now”, Melina then said and clapped her hands. Turning, she revealed to the BAC a knee-high platform that, unlike the rows of alcoves on a cruiser, stood in the centre of the engine room on this vessel. Upon it, facing parallel to the keel, was mounted a half-cylinder into which had been carved a saddle much alike to the ones used by the Empire’s cavalry lancers. A high back and pommel with curved edges promised a secure seat, which could be even improved by a pair of leather belts that could be looped over the shoulders to avoid being lifted upwards if the ship heaved heavily.<br><br>Resting her hand on the panel containing the prominent socket for the short connector cable that dangled from the waist strap of Laelle’s harness, Melina indicated the seat to the BAC. “You know what to do…”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>10-01-2015, 08:29:47</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Yes Ma'am." Laelle nodded eagerly, and followed her toward the engine room, the small, lithe little elf fitting easily in the tight confines of the ship. Her pale skin glowing a little bit with the glow of the batteries, examining them closely - her old ship had two larger crystals of a less efficient design, rather than the sophisticated bank.<br><br>"How long can the ship run on battery power alone?" It was an important question - while charging time was largely a question of the BAC, how swiftly the batteries were drained was mostly a function of the ship. If she were hurt, blown out, or otherwise unable to provide power, it would give her an estimate of how long she had to recover - or for the ship to seek a safe port and arrange for her replacement.<br><br>"Yes Ma'am, I know what to do."<br><br>Climbing onto the platform, she knelt, settling onto the saddle, not bothering with the securing strap, as the ship wasn't under way. Connecting the panel to her harness, she braced herself. "I'm ready Ma'am..."<br><br>Melina had, through her kindness, found the secret to Laelle's power generation. The elf wanted to impress her, to please her - not to pass this test, to get a good posting, but to please Melina. To make the effort she had gone into to fit her harness worth it. To see approval on her face. To not waste her kindness, not waste something so rare. The readouts on the console sparked to life as the elf let out a shuddering moan, biting her lip. Her power generation was strong, responsive - a little unstable, the girl burning intensely, her eyes hopeful as she looked at the technician.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>11-01-2015, 00:21:44</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“On full charge, a little under 5 days. Under normal conditions, that is, of course”, Melina explained. Then she frowned, not really angry, but still managing to convey a small sense of reprimand. “Didn’t I tell you that already yesterday? Well, anyway, specifications say 115 hours of normal operations and at cruise speed until critical conditions. When the crystals are down to 6% charge, they become erratic. Could work another 5 hours, could fail after 20 more seconds. On Action Stations, 2 hours worth of broadsides, but if this little nutshell gets into a battle that lasts two hours, she’ll be hulked long before that, by my reckoning. This is not a cruiser after all”, she continued her explanation with a shrug as she watched Laelle climb into the saddle.<br><br>“During a chase, the captain’ll save energy by only powering the bow or stern chasers, one in the bow, two astern. Arc guns, both. Then, flank speed will have its own tug on the batteries, so your regular Action Station’ll still be plugged in, anyway, whether here or on one of the other main inlets”, she went on, leaning forward to inspect the elf’s harness once she had settled and plugged in, making sure none of the straps were snagging on the seat while the console’s control dials woke to blinking life as the control module, still unconnected to the ship’s main engine, initialised and began to run diagnosis and familiarise itself with the readings that told it of the girl’s reactions to its stimuli.<br><br>“Whoa, easy there”, Melina cried out surprised at a particularly strong spike, the power generation and the applied stimulation being recorded as two teetering curves drawn onto an ever-lengthening slip of paper ejected from the control module.<br>“You have a good response time”, the technician said thoughtfully, studying the curves as she collected the print-out. <br>“Though I’ll have to adjust the caps a little. Your response to the peaks is a little too – I dunno, skittish?”, she went on, sounding completely technically, descriptive, lacking the usual disdain that many technicians showed at that particular feature encountered in many of the few elven BACs. “Wouldn’t want you to fry the system in a critical moment, now”, she murmured as she loosened the back panel on the control module and began to work on its innards.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>22-01-2015, 22:19:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle looked sufficiently chastened, bowing her head slightly in acknowledgement of her failure as she strapped herself in, promising she would commit that to memory and not require Melina to explain it to her again. Nodding softly, she listened to the explanation of how the Captain would manage the power draws of the ship, though she knew in truth that if it came to a chase, odds are she would simply be twitching in her bonds in the heart of the ship, trying to keep herself from burning out entirely.<br><br>The elven girl's generation became even more skittish as she felt like she was failing, even this assignment slipping from her grasp, though she was left "on" while Melina tinkered with the controls, testing the feedback. The girl let our a soft moan, and the frustration in her voice wasn't from desire, but from a genuine sense of failure.<br><br>"I...I'm trying Ma'am, I really am..."<br><br>She found herself not quite able to look the technician in the eyes again, all the subtle comments and snubs she had experienced in her short service echoing in her mind while she tried to focus, tried to be what Melina - what this ship - needed her to be.<br><br><em>Please, just this once...</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>02-02-2015, 22:41:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“’Course you are…”, Melina said absentmindedly, fiddling with the innards of the control module. “There we go – no, not <em>that</em> much… a little more…”, the technician murmured to herself as she adjusted some of the machine’s bio-electrical conductors, changing the buzz of stimulation into a more tranquil, but still powerful drone as it reached Laelle’s harness and elicited from her body the response that was her purpose in the Empire’s forces.<br><br>The new equilibrium held for a good 20 seconds, but then another spike shot up on the output gauge, and the over-voltage suppressor gave an angry hiss as a shower of sparks made Melina hastily withdraw her hands and lick a burned thumb in frustration.<br>“Damn it”, she said through gritted teeth, giving first the machine, then the elf an annoyed look, though in truth her anger was not really with either of them but more with the futility of her efforts up to that point.<br><br>“I really don’t -“ she started, then paused when the aft bulkhead clanged open and with a hollow sound snapped into the retaining latch to let through the officer they had seen come aboard earlier. He had discarded his bicorne as well as his coat, now wearing only boots, trousers and a white linen shirt on whose sleeves, a concession to his rank, were stitched the three and one silver stripes that designated his rank, though these, at the moment, where up around his elbows as he had shoved up the sleeves rather messily to not have them get in the way.<br><br>“I was seeing the power gauge yanked up on the supervisor board abaft, Petty Officer”, he explained his sudden entering, letting his view glance over the organised chaos of wires, tubes, straps, gauges, panels and naked elven flesh once. Surprisingly, perhaps, there was no immediate reaction to the girl amidst the machinery, at least not in the way that many machinist crews looked at their BACs often, leeringly, slightly derisively of what technically still were sisters in arms. If anything, his momentary gaze was one of fondness, but a fondness that extended to the BAC just as much as it did to the equipment, as equal parts of a lifetime’s dedication.<br><br>The officer stepped closer, and Melina, just stopping herself short of saluting again, began to explain her difficulties. The Major listened attentively, nodding here and there as he took in the adjustments the tech had made so far.<br>By the time she was finished, the officer knelt by the control unit, and when he looked up, he happened to glance at both of the women at the same time. “There’s nothing wrong with your modifications, I think”, he said slowly to Melina, then shifted his gaze to Laelle, and though he was still clearly speaking to the NCO, he gave her a smile that could have been easily described as conspiratorially, taking from his words manifold the clinical detachment that the terms might have implied.<br>“But have you also tried to adjust the biological compound?”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>05-02-2015, 09:43:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle watched Melina as she adjusted the machine, looking intently at her, trying to keep her arousal in check, holding herself there, another little surge of hope tracing through her - followed by a shower of sparks, and a swear from the technician. Even with her eyes down, she could see the annoyed look sent her way, and the frustration on Melina's voice.<br><br>Melina, who had been genuinely kind to her, had treated her like a person, like someone worth her time, and Laelle had failed her to. Tears were in her eyes, and she was about to stammer out an apology, an offer to fetch someone else, the young BAC utterly crushed, all the snide comments, the little jokes at her expense, all of them flooding back to her. They were right, she was...she wasn't worthy of this.<br><br>Her thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of the Captain, and in her shame she wasn't even embarrassed by her nakedness - if she could however disappear into the tangle of wires of the console, she would have in a second. She looked up at the Captain, catching his smile, a look of confusion on her face as her attention turned to her, before lowering her head.<br><br>Melina looked at the BAC, a frown on her face. "I'm not sure I follow Sir? The girl's power generation is erratic, even more than her profile suggests...."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>14-02-2015, 23:26:41</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The Major nodded, but his smile did not fade as he briefly looked over the curve on the records the NCO handed him. “Do switch her off for a moment, please, Petty Officer?”, he ordered, then put the graph down and turned to the naked girl, giving her a kind smile before briefly inspecting her, in a technical, yet somehow warm way, without either the leering or the derision that often accompanied the treatment of the BACs by their engineering comrades.<br><br>“Now, what’s your name?”, he asked good-naturedly, straining to hear her reply. “Lael?”, he said, trying to wrap his tongue around the musical syllables of her native tongue, then tried again, this time coming actually closer to the actual pronunciation than anyone had ever in all her career in the Air Fleet so far.<br><br>“So, tell me, Laelle, how long have you been serving with us?”, the officer asked, focussing on the Elven girl entirely as Melina looked on with an expression of confusion. “Any service on a capital ship yet?”, he went on, intent to make the girl feel a little more at ease and lift the pressure to perform from her.<br>He chuckled when she answered, nodding sympathetically. “Big brutes, those, are they not? I never really fancied them. Lumbering, that’s what they are, and their systems…”, he shook his head as if he had experienced them first-hand. “Ancient, I’ll say.” He gave the elf a smirk.<br><br>“On the other hand, this beauty here…”, he said, patting the plating of the bulkhead. “She’s a new one, too, barely longer in the fleet than you are – or I, as of that”, he said, now clearly employing a playful tone of conspiracy. <br><br>“Now, Laelle, what we need to do is just get some calibration on the systems. It’s nothing too exciting, I’m afraid, but you can have some off time after that, take care of that and explore the ship a bit afterwards. May I?”, he asked, wiggling a surprisingly warm and tender finger delicately between the central strap of her harness and her skin, running it down her front to make sure that the straps were properly in place. He did not wait for an answer, but then he would not have needed to ask anyway, and few even bothered to explain what they were doing to the BACs at all beforehand.<br><br>“Just relax”, the Major said with another wink, patting her casually on one thigh snug against the saddle before turning to the NCO and pointing for her to flick the switch again, making the demands of the ship’s systems begin to mount once more in the conductor points on the elf’s flesh.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>01-03-2015, 01:53:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle slumped slightly when she was turned off, still not raising her eyes, expect to be hauled off the machine and sent on her way - likely with Melina remaining cross with her for however long she was to remain here for wasting the woman's time crafting a custom harness for her. She heard the officer walk over to her, and gave him a timid smile, answering his question, brightening a little bit as he at least came close to what her name actually was, neither gutting it or resorting to "girl", "knife-ear" or any one of a dozen other shorthands.<br><br>"A...a little less than a year Sir." It seemed natural to talk to him, even as naked and exposed as she was, her positioning putting her in a rather subservient position. "A transport Sir, never one of the larger ships of the line." She blushed again at his commentary on their systems - which she <em>did</em> have intimate knowledge of.<br><br>"This is a nicer design Sir, at least from...well...my perspective." She knew most officers weighed that very little, but given the topic of conversation was likely to soon turn to her failures, she felt it was worthwhile.<br><br>She squirmed a bit, not unhappily, as he slipped a finger between the central strap and her smiith skin, feeling him trace his way down the fit of her harness, her expression docile - he was after all an officer, largely free to touch her as he liked.<br><br>"Yes Sir. I'm...I'm trying Sir, I really am..."<br><br>The elven girl groaned as the panel came back on, insistently drawing power from the girl, who shuddered softly. Melina gave him a long suffering expression as her power levels began to spike and waver again, that same aimless but high potential generation that had marked her record, and frustrated the tech. She had wanted to do well for Melina out of desperation, but she found herself wanting to please the officer out of genuine <em>want</em>. He cared for her, he needed her...she closed her eyes, and imagined his hand on her again, and her power levels leveled out, humming along strong and consistent as the girl trembled and twitched in her harness.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>01-03-2015, 12:41:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias kept his smiling gaze on Laelle reassuringly as the control module began to hum into life again and pelt the girl connected to it with stimulus. He left it to Melina to monitor the output displays, concentrating instead on making the Elven BAC comfortable enough to forget for the moment her performance anxiety.<br><br>“Steady, don’t fight it…”, he advised her encouragingly, seeing her take a deep breath and close her eyes, and though he had no means of knowing <em>what</em> it was that she saw in her mind, he had worked with enough BACs to recognise her attempt to reach that place where it did no longer matter what was expected of her, only to live in the moment and feel and submit to whatever the ship’s systems demanded of her.<br><br>Melina, who had frowned at first at the initial spikes indicating that the girl was flunking once more, mouth poised to say something already, looked on in astonishment as the output graph steadied, telling the officer so in a disbelieving voice. Elias smirked knowingly, nodding. “There <em>is</em> the word ‘biological’ in BAC, Petty Officer”, he said, his voice rather joking than berating, then turning to Laelle again, putting a warm hand on her shoulder casually, then rubbing her upper arm approvingly. <br><br>“Well done, Laelle”, he said, holding the contact for a moment. “What we’re going to do now is find out how you react to different inputs, so the ship gets to know what sort of energy you can provide with different stimuli and can act accordingly. It’ll be basically your own, personal profile. This might take a while as we go through all the settings, so if you feel that you get too worn out to take it anymore, let us know, alright? There’s no need to rush this.”<br><br>For the next two hours, the control module, though still not attached to the ship’s true systems, went indeed through the standard procedures of every piece of energy-based technology aboard. From the constant, droning energy needs of the cruise engines to the mounting crescendos of the Arc guns, from the quick-fire pounding of the small main battery to the back-and-forth needs of the smaller manoeuvre engines, and even the subdued, shallow draw of pumps and winches, the profiling was indeed comprehensive, the procedure something that had only recently begun to be considered in the more modern vessels of the Air Fleet to increase both potential and safety by catering to a girl’s individual needs and preferences.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>03-03-2015, 22:00:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle gave herself over to the machine, keeping her mind on him, on his voice, on her desires, letting the ship's demands take hold, hearing Elias' voice in the back of her mind, the pleasure in his voice confirming that she was doing well.<br><br>Her eyes fluttered open when he put his hand on her slender, trembling shoulder, smiling timidly at him when he rubbed her arm, her expression timid and hopeful, the girl clearly eager to please. "Y...yes Sir." She sunk back down into the harness, the girl settling in for a long cycle, twitching, jerking and occasionally moaning as the ship's equipment put her through her paces. The girl's back arched, crying out in pleasure as the console simulated the guns firing, before she calmed back down, leaving her panting, shivering in pleasure as it measured her responses.<br><br>Melina nodded at the end of the sequence. "That should keep her stable Sir, and safe unless..." she fell quiet, not wanting to actually voice what they all knew, that being a BAC wasn't perfectly safe, and that the girl's cries could easily turn to screams if the ship - or her Captain - pushed it too hard.<br><br>"But I'm impressed Sir. You seem to have a way with her."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>15-03-2015, 15:49:19</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias frowned when Melina voiced her concerns about burn-out. Of course, being a BAC was not perfectly safe, but neither was signing up as a hand for the submarine service, nor enlisting in a rifle battalion, yet quite a few servicemembers seemed to find perverse pleasure in stressing the risks of a BAC constantly while to the major, risking a BAC to flare up was as reprehensible as pointlessly wasting men in the breaches.<br><br>He next shrugged at the subaltern’s comment. “There’s no magic to it, petty officer”, he said. “Just stay alert and open-minded.” It was almost the sole secret of Elias’s success, first with Technical College, then in the Fleet. Too many, in his opinion, just restricted themselves to the static knowledge of their books and manuals and regulations, and no good had ever come from mindless uniformity.<br><br>Wiping his hands on his pants, he turned back towards Laelle then, and his face softened again when he caught her eye. “Well done, Laelle”, he praised as he stretched out a hand to her. “I now need you to do one more thing before you can have a little rest. Stand up for me, please.” He waited patiently for the girl to summon the strength to follow the politely framed order, then stood ready to help her stand.<br><br>“You can lean back against the saddle alright, I just want to check on your conductor points and your bodily reactions”, he explained soothingly as he tenderly began to go over her harness. First, he checked the straps encasing her body for fit, running a finger underneath each one to make sure that there were no sores or sharp digging into her skin, and the embedded wires for breaks.<br><br>“You know”, he chatted idly to ease her mind over the procedure, “on my first ship posting, we had a BAC assigned to the Forecastle Battery. General class cruiser, so naturally no closed turrets yet. After four months on the Southward Station, girl was never again known by any other name but “Tiger-Jen”. Meticuously arranged the straps over the tan lines at the beginning of every one of her shifts, too”, he related with a chuckle. “Guess that’s not gonna happen with you though, no?”, he added with genuine interest in his voice. “Elves are much more used to being in the open uncovered, ain’t that right?”<br><br>As he continued to speak, he finished checking the straps and next leaned closer to inspect the elven girl’s nipples, encased by the metal rings that allowed stimulation to be added to her breasts, but leaving the tender nubs themselves free as of yet.<br>Poking gently, Elias tried to judge her reaktiveness there, and even though he was quite professional about it, a small mischievous twitch around the corner of his mouth betrayed that he did not exactly mind the chance to feel the elf’s firm mounds under his hands and the stiffness of the protruding nobs standing proudly at attention.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>29-03-2015, 03:31:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Melina saw Elias's frown, but kept her gaze even. She took no joy in the risks the BACs took, remote as it was, but nor did she think they were well-served by diminishing it. Those girls, especially ones like this elf, were often viewed as 'lucky', or having an easy task, and thus their service was thankless. She took her charges seriously, and wanted others to do so as well.<br><br>Laelle smiled timidly as he looked down at her, and told her it was well done. Nodding, she came to her feet, a little stiff and weak, but managing a decent at-rest stance, calming at the tenderness in his voice. She stood docile as he ran his fingers over her nearly naked flesh, and there were no sores or chafing - Melina knew her craft well, and the harness fit the young elf like a glove. She giggled at the story of the girl and her nickname, 'Tiger-Jen' clearly having taken pride in that exotic appearance.<br><br>"We are Sir, but it could still happen to me if I spent enough time above decks. My kind spends more time uncovered in the open, but it is usually beneath, or at least within the canopy. But it would certainly take more work than it would for a girl from the Empire proper."<br><br>The girl gasped as he toyed with her nipples, not licentiously, but she was still quite sensitive, both on the buds themselves, and her breasts generally. She blushed softly, and tried to ignore the pleasure she felt. Melina spoke quietly, so as not to disrupt the pair. "I've adapted the harness for both clamps and rings Sir, depending on your preference. I can see her fitted appropriately with your choice before you depart, or of course you can see to it yourself if you prefer."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>01-04-2015, 22:52:59</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“Mh-hm”, Elias made, immersed for the moment obviously in the half-serious, half-playful exploration of the young elf’s bosom. He seemed to enjoy himself, too, and after a moment he looked up from her firm mounds, to see whether she would meet his gaze in so vulnerable a situation.<br>He gave her tender buds another squeeze right on the verge between tender and painful, then rubbed for another second to make the sting go away. “Ha-hm”, he made then, letting go of her almost reluctantly to turn back towards Melina.<br><br>“Well, she seems quite responsive there, doesn’t she?”, he said, glancing back at Laelle speculatively. “Though, I don’t think we should rush to anything permanent… not just yet, anyway”, he went on, thinking. “I think we’ll start with clamps for now, and take a few measurements, then go from there. If you have a spare set of contacts and a pair of piercing tongs, have them stored aboard.” He turned again, regarding Laelle and trying to assess her thoughts about this. Ellias believed to have read in some obscure xeno-anthropologist’s journals that the idea of clamps, or even more permanent attachments, in particular to the breasts, nose and ears, was a source of particular embarrassment to most elven tribes, and so was practically unheard of in the empire, unless with BACs, who had signed their utter consent to such treatment when they had signed up.<br><br>“Alright then”, Ellias said, clapping his hands together. “It appears that we’re done fitting you up, then, and you can have some off time?”, he suggested. “You are housed in the barracks yard-side, no? Not on the docks?”, he said delicately, assuming as much from knowing that she had not been transferred to <em>Swiftsure</em> right away, but had waited some time for this new posting. <br>“We are not due to leaving for another two days, there’s still some installations to be completed, and provisioning to be completed, but that won’t require your attendance, so – maybe you’d like to have a pass written so you can have some shore leave? Mind you, we might not be back to this harbour in a while”, he said, carefully avoiding disclosing anything about their destination or objective yet – after all, a BAC ranked with the enlisted hands, who were subject to stricter discipline and supervision than the higher ranks, and trusted less for fear of accidental disclosure of sensitive information in one of the sailors’ tavern.<br><br>“Just report aboard by stand-to two days from now, alright? Full dunnage, too.” Ellias gave her a comforting squeeze of the shoulder, then winked. “Dismiss”, he said, managing to make it sound like a choice, not like an order, then turned back towards Melina to discuss with her some advanced wiring scheme he had come up with.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>07-04-2015, 06:58:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle couldn't bring herself to quite meet his gaze, not wanting to cement the playful, gentle but undeniably intimate touch as something more than it was, and afraid with the kindness she had experienced at his hand, she would not be able to help herself. And she was quite sensitive, wriggling softly in his grip.<br><br>Melina simply nodded. "Yes Sir, I'll see to it."<br><br>In truth, Laelle was a little skittish about the idea - metal was a rare thing in her people's culture, and elves healed slowly, neither of which lent themselves to idly piercing ones body as a common method of decoration. It also served to separate them from the humans, and was regarded a little bit as...well, ringing one's animals was what the human's also did to <em>livestock</em>. Though beyond merely the practicality of having consented to nearly anything the Captain might wish to do to her to render her fit for service, if that was the only way she would be able to get to serve on a vessel like this, as a real BAC, she would have endured any humiliation.<br><br>The elven girl nodded swiftly to his questions. "Yes Sir, I'm quartered in the barracks." She was practically beaming as he confirmed her would be taking her on, confirming that she would indeed like a pass, and when dismissed, the girl practically scampered off, her step light, Melina looking at the fleeing girl fondly.<br><br>"You've won her over Sir, if nothing else."<br><br>Shore leave was...both more and less than she had hoped. She had put her things in order, and splurged, spending some of her pay on a room in an inn, a genuine inn in the center of the bustling city. She took the days as freedom to gawk a bit, experience the city, and while she likely got better treatment due to her uniform than most of her kind, she was still an elf, and this was most certainly not a city that catered to them.<br><br>Two days and her fill of the city later, she was waiting by the side of the docks, her small bundle of possessions at her feet, harness draped carefully over one hand. "Permission to come aboard Captain?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>07-04-2015, 23:08:58</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The following two days proved exceedingly busy for Elias. A thousand issues had to be resolved as the <em>Swiftsure</em> was made ready to leave port, from the requisitioning of provisions to supervising the last installations and refit works aboard, and the young officer began to almost suspect that the officials of the different departments and bureaus had made it a sport for themselves to send him to the exact opposite end of the yard after each bureaucratic battle they reluctantly had to yield to him.<br><br>After having come home to the room he had rented in the Rose Tavern so late at night that he had had to wake the landlord to actually get in, Elias had without further ado packed his sea chest and duffelback that same night and in the morning had it brought aboard by a pair of longshoremen in return for a few silver coins.<br><br>On the afternoon of the second day, all work ceased for a few minutes when Admiral Gardiner, Colburn’s far more approachable deputy had appeared in the company of the Yard Captain and a small honour guard of riflemen to hold the small ceremony of Reading Elias’s Orders, installing him by law as the rightful commander onboard the <em>Swiftsure</em>, but the admiral’s feet had not even cleared the gangway when the now-Captain of the sleek corvette had discarded his hastily donned uniform coat again and resumed realigning the starboard carronades’ novel aiming system.<br><br>Melina, too, was working hard on <em>Swiftsure’s</em> innards to make sure everything was in top notch condition for the journey and no avoidable dangers were left for the ship’s sole source of energy, and somehow, she had even managed to acquire a small net of fresh fruit that waited for the BAC on the grey fleet-issue blanket covering the narrow cot in an alcove by the engine room.<br><br>Elias, too, finally succeeded in his last errand, convincing the Superintendant of the Arsenal to yield him two boxes of assorted machinery parts, and Elias, now back in the green, silver-laced coat and black bicorne of an Air Fleet officer, watched the four airmen haul the boxes aboard in the first morning light from his place on the quarterdeck before out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something else, and turned to find what, technically, was both the last piece of equipment and the last of his crew, standing by the maintenance shed dressed in the insignia-less officer’s tunic that, traditionally, was issued to BACs as their service uniform.<br><br>“Permission granted”, he nodded, watching if she would remember to salute the jack stirring limply in the small breeze from its quarterstaff on the stern rail. When she reached him to report, he returned her salute sharply, though a friendly smile played around his mouth nevertheless. Elias was by no way ignorant of the necessity of protocol and rank, but he neither was a disciplinarian for the sake of itself, and with only the two of them aboard, he reckoned it would be best if a slightly more relaxed tone was maintained.<br><br>“You know where to stow your dunnage?”, he asked after she had handed him her orders, delivered to her the day before by the port authorities, formally assigning her as “BAC, <em> HMAS Swiftsure</em>”, making her formally a member of the crew and properly subordinate her to Elias’s command. “Have everything you got?”, he added then, the question less formal. Of course, it was rather rhetoric, too, for there was hardly any more time to make purchases except, maybe, via the flying vendors that were active on the docks with permits allowing them to sell their merchandise to the enlisted men that waited for their ships to get underway.<br>Elias waited for her to answer nevertheless before nodding. “Alright then. Bring your kit forward, then get geared up and report back here. I want full power for getting underway, and you probably wanna see some of it, too, hm?”, he explained unnecessarily, then dismissed her casually to return to the binnacle near the steering wheel, beginning to work the controls that would ready the ship for getting underway. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>11-04-2015, 21:33:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle had not been present for the small ceremony investing Elias with the mantle of captain of course, a half-naked Elven BAC hardly the kind of presence that would have been welcome there, her first sight of the vessel in its proper form - and her Captain in his legally mandated role - when she approached laden with the sum total of her possessions. The tunic fit her poorly - it was cut for a human girl, but she attempted to make it work, saluting the jack as she hurried on board, before getting him a sharp salute, wanting to make a good impression having been given the chance to be - well - what she was supposed to be.<br><br>"Yes Sir!" The girl was entirely unsuccessful in hiding her excitement, at genuinely being given an assignment and someone - the man standing in front of her - thinking she might be worth more than recharging lightning rifles in a maintenance shed for the rest of her service. She smiled softly at the other question, nodding. "Yes Sir, this is everything. We BACs...well, we don't need much." That, and she hardly had any money at the moment, even if she had wanted to purchase something.<br><br>"Yes Sir..." she returned his salute, then scampered off. She stowed her gear, letting out a small sound of glee at the little cache of fruit that awaited her, tucking all her things away so that she, and her possessions, took up as little room as possible. The odd status of BACs, and the desire to keep them mostly "out from under foot" played well with the natural tendency of elves to try to remain unobtrusive, Laelle rather enjoying the small space she had been granted. She stripped out of her tunic and donned her harness, carefully checking all the straps and leads to make sure they were in position, excited that the Captain hadn't immediately banished her to the engine room. Once she was properly 'attired' in the web of leather straps and little else, she reappeared on deck, blushing softly as she caught the eye of a few dock workers as she approached Elias, saluting again.<br><br>"Where would you like me to connect Sir?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>13-04-2015, 00:04:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias suppressed a smile at her eagerness when she hurried below deck. With the flick of a switch on the control console integrated into the binnacle, the engineer officer connected the main power grid to the engine. All morning, the deck had been softly vibrating with the running main power finally churning in the ship’s innards. The large crystal batteries had been charged fully the other day with the help of the yard’s BACs, and now the ship had at last transformed into an almost living thing that seemed as eager to get underway as its young captain and sole crewmember.<br><br>Pressing another switch, a soft hum sounded as the gangway retracted into the hull with a rumble. Now Elias could not keep himself from smiling at the wonders of the fleet’s latest vessel. With its bare minimum crew complement, <em>Swiftsure</em> was at the fleet’s peak in automated systems, and from his command post at the steering wheel, he had at his disposal a variety of functions that, on larger vessels, often still required all-hands manoeuvres being controlled with a speaking tube from the quarterdeck.<br><br>A third flick finally connected the propulsors to the power grid, and the vibrations on the deck intensified as the ship began to hover. Taking a sideways step brought Elias to the railing, and he nodded at the two line handlers that stood by the quay bollards. They both raised a hand in acknowledgement, then threw the belaying lines loose. Back at the command stand, the next order set in motion the powered anchor drums, reeling in the lines just as the fair-skinned figure of Laelle re-appeared on deck.<br><br>Elias returned her salute, more casually this time. He refrained from telling her right then to cut out with the protocol. Over time, he certainly would, the ship was just too small to go about saluting each other all the time without it becoming silly, but for now, he was going to go with standard procedures. The officer jerked his head at the binnacle. “There’s a connection point at the foot of it”, he said. That would put the BAC in a convenient position to roam the quarterdeck. <br><br>He waited until the control light began to flicker, then burn steadily, telling him that the engine systems were connected to the life source of their bionic energy, now constantly buffering additional energy into the batteries, as well as allowing the systems to draw on the BAC directly in case of need.<br>Reaching up to reposition his bicorne at a more roguish angle, Elias smirked at the girl, judging her reaction to being attached to the system in its life state for the first time before speaking again.<br><br>“So… have you been taught to take the helm?”, he asked. The task was a simple enough one that quite a few BACs, although it was not part of their official duties, were taught to handle the steering wheel under the watchful eye of the officer of the watch on a quiet night, whether to pass the time or as a favour to be repaid.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>18-04-2015, 23:44:16</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The sun was warm on Laelle's skin, the breeze off the port dancing across her skin, and she smiled timidly at the captain as he directed her to the appropriate connection.<br><br>"Yes Sir."<br><br>She scampered over to the helm, causing a not unpleasant amount of bouncing as she did, settling down at the foot of the binnacle. While not the full mounting that was in the engine room, the connection point was clearly meant to have a BAC there for a reasonably long period of time, with a contoured curve for her to kneel on - and she noticed, a small ring to which she could be leashed or bound to if the Captain wished, as well as a long enough connection lead that would allow her to stand and wander around, assuming the power draws weren't enough to drive her to her knees. She connected her harness to the connection point, the elf letting out a soft squeak as the harness went live, and a moment later the ship's systems came alive as they started drawing power from her growing agitation. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus the way he taught her, trying to steady her generation levels, breathing softly.<br><br>She looked up at the captain and shook her head. "No Sir. My old ship didn't have a connection point anywhere near by..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>19-04-2015, 00:41:59</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias chuckled softly at her reply, looking down at the elven BAC with a vaguely pleased sheen in his eye – certainly she was a beauty to behold, kneeling on the deck with closed eyes, her face and chest subconsciously thrust towards the warm sunlight, while a soft shudder seemed to give her a gentle glow.<br><br>“That’s fine”, the engineer said, stepping next to the wheel himself. “Well, I don’t think this is usually done with the girl hooked up during, but it’s not like I had that much of hands at my disposal, have I?”, he said jokingly as he tested the wheel by moving it first to port, then starboard.<br>“But I’m sure we’ll have ample time to rectify that as our trip goes. Just not gonna begin training you in dock… too much things to run into”, he chuckled. “Well then, <em>Wave port goodbye, Maery, and to the wide skies</em>”, he quoted one of the popular sea shanties that filled the taverns and was heard often enough amongst the work gangs.<br><br>Cranking a lever on the binnacle, the humming of the engines increased as the ship slowly climbed, shuddering softly in the wind, then began to slowly get underway. Muttering navigational commands that he would then execute himself, Elias expertly brought the sleek ship onto a course that would keep it clear of the massive behemoths that waited for their restock or refit on the perimeter of the airfield.<br><br>With what small armament they had being all energy-based, <em>Swiftsure</em> was excused firing salute, and so their only goodbye was the slow dipping of the narrow, swallow-tailed command pennant high up the mast, executed conveniently by another flick on the control panel, and the <em>Tonnant</em>, a mighty three-decker airship with an admiral’s flag acknowledged their farewells in the same manner before they climbed higher over the ground, shrinking the sight of the port’s installations slowly to the size of mere toys as the small ship glided through the winds and out over the sea.<br><br><div align="center">⚙<sup>⚙</sup>⚙</div><br>“You know, you don’t have to kneel there all the time”, Elias said after they had sailed through the silent morning sky for the better part of an hour.<br>The wind carried with it the salty smell of the sea even at their altitude. They had turned southwards after clearing the port, and were now sailing parallel to the coast.<br><br>The engineer officer had latched the steering wheel in place for convenience, alertly wandering across the quarterdeck, every once in a while using a sextant to take a bearing of some landmark and scribble a note onto the sailing chart with a piece of chalk.<br><br>“I guess this would become rather difficult real soon, no?”, he went on, stopping next to Laelle. “Maybe we should at least build another saddle up here?”, he suggested, stroking his chin, his mind visibly, despite the closeness of her nakedness, completely absorbed by the engineering challenge posed right then.<br>“Well, anyway…”, he said then, dropping the subject momentarily. “I know what she feels like to me”, he said, waving around to indicate the ship, “how about you? What do you feel about her?”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>22-04-2015, 01:06:43</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle gazed back up at him when he spoke to her, making sure she was out of the way as he took the helm, guiding the ship out of the port. She smiled at his joke, and his promise to teach her.<br><br>"No Captain...I'd very much like to learn in a place where...where accidentally ramming a battle cruiser would not be added to my service record."<br><br>She looked curiously out at the world from the low perspective of her position on the deck, letting out an involuntary gasp as he started drawing power from the engines, and the circuitry in her harness responded by drawing more from her, the squirming girl on the deck a strangely organic audio and visual connection with the ship's systems. She knelt, her body trembling somewhat, but enjoying his presence and the breeze as the agile ship slowly eased its way toward the open sea.<br><br>She looked up when he spoke to her after a long while, her body shimmering in the morning sun, her eyes heavy with agitation from being under power for the better part of an hour. "Yes Captain...but I'm not uncomfortable." Her hair shifted a little in the wind, and she watched him pace around the deck, rising to her feet as he mused, wanting him to be comfortable with her, the lines that kept her harness connected unspooling to keep her connected.<br><br>"If you would like me on the deck more Sir, a saddle or rack could keep me out of the way. But I also don't mind staying in the engine room...I know my place Sir."<br><br>She smiled brightly at his question about the ship, and her rather more intimate connection to it. "She's fast Sir. Eager and sharp...my former post felt like this old, rumbling power. Like a thunderstorm. This ship is...bright. Like a lightning strike. So much it almost hurts..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>22-04-2015, 07:44:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias had smirked at her retort in kind before resuming his watch duties, but when they spoke next, a confused frown crossed his expression for a moment, then he shook his head. “Oh, that”, he said. “I didn’t mean to imply you would be. In the way, I mean.” His fingers drummed on the railing absentmindedly as he judged the waves breaking against the coast on the horizon, then shrugged. “I just meant you could – I dunno, sit, or stand, get a little more comfy, anyway. Your call, though. If you’d rather go below, that’s fine with me.”<br><br>He left it at that, though in truth, he would have preferred her presence on deck. Though he was an engineer through and through, he did not exactly spurn the company of people, and with the <em>Swiftsure’s</em> small crew complement, it had been rather to be expected that the boundaries between ranks would, if not dissolve, then at least get muddied down a little bit.<br>Still, Elias was not willing to pull rank for this. He had worked with BACs before, naturally, and while he was not at all above appreciating a shuddering girl’s curves or participate in one of the occasional harmless jokes with a panting battery girl, he had taken care to never let that drift over into off-watch time on his own initiative.<br><br>He looked alarmed for a moment when she described her impressions of the ship’s power draft, but relaxed again when he determined her answer had most likely been meant figuratively. “She is, isn’t she?”, he nodded his agreement, giving the wheel a little turn to make sure the ship still had steering, the adjustment of course sending another gust of wind over the deck, and he smiled privately at the luxurious feeling of the breeze around his nose – and the lovely sight of the elf’s red locks being tousled softly.<br><br>Glancing at the power indicators, he nodded at Laelle after another while. “I think it’s safe to disconnect you for a while now”, he said. “Why don’t you skip to the galley quickly and have some late breakfast prepared? I trust you know how to brew coffee?”, he added with a wink that was only half-joking considering that the drink was not generally affordable to the lower classes.<br>With a good-natured shake of the head, he underlined the order, for naturally, with the lack of other crew, Laelle would have to fill in for the other tasks that were generally the duties of the crew as well, certainly those of cook and steward.<br><br>“Don’t forget to use the fade-out before you unplug”, he added then, unnecessarily to a trained BAC usually, but the risk of a back-coupling that could occur with simply pulling the connector plug warranting the warning anyway. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>25-04-2015, 04:08:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She smiles, shaking her head softly when he offered to let her go below deck, or choose where she would be connected.<br><br>"I like being on the deck Sir. The breeze and the sun...I'll be comfortable enough Sir."<br><br>Sighing softly, she looked out at the clear sky, still trying to stay out of his way, her hair fluttering in the breeze of the ship changing course slightly. "It is a wonderful ship Sir." Eventually, she sunk down to her knees again, trembling softly as the ship's eager energy drain drew a gasp from her lips, goosebumps rising on her skin despite the warmth of the day, bent over until he fold her she could disconnect, which she did carefully, with her fingers shaking softly as she came down, her breasts rising and falling as the demands on her system faded.<br><br>"Yes Sir. I can cook Sir, and I know how to brew coffee..." She sounded almost proud of the idea, liking the idea that she could be of service, and have some use beyond being a BAC, which seemed like a very lonely position on this ship, without the company of others, or a larger vessel's demands to take up her attention.<br><br>Less than half an hour later, she returned, bearing a mug of coffee and a plate for him, laden with food, the girl using the ingredients that would start to go bad soon. "Here you are Captain, I hope you like it..." she ducked her head slightly, biting her lip. "And Sir, thank you for the chance to serve. I...I very much appreciate it."<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>25-04-2015, 16:45:51</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias looked up expectantly when she brought the food and pointed her to set it down on the small charts table set up to one side of the binnacle to allow for easy navigation while standing watch. <br>He gave her a somewhat sceptical smirk as he put the mug to his lips. With the rarity of the drink’s prevalence in the Empire, in particular in lower classes, there was not exactly an abundance of competence in coffee-making. Many servants would grind the beans too fine, burn the ground ones, or mix up completely the ratios, making the result undrinkable. <br><br>Yet, none of this was true of Laelle’s creation, Elias found out a second later, the hot brew perfect, and he smacked his lips subconsciously after he had set down the mug before nodding appreciatively. “Excellent”, he commented before looking over the food she had brought, silently approving of her choice in going for the fresh provisions first. It was still a fleet thing that meals would grow worse as the journey progressed, unless they had a chance to restock, though at least with the invention of canned goods a decade ago, they at least had not live on ship’s biscuit and salt meat alone for months on end.<br><br>He shrugged friendlily when she expressed her gratitude for the chance to serve. “You’re welcome”, he told her with a light tone, not quite realising how difficult it had been for her to acquire a posting, though he understood enough of it to not correct her assumption of his influence on the entire affair. Of course, he could have had her relieved, but then, he bore no responsibility for her choosing in the first place, and so her thanking him for it seemed a little undeserved.<br><br>He looked up momentarily when a whirling sound came from somewhere forward, then smiled when he saw the source. Four disk-like objects, about a foot in diameter, had appeared from underneath a console by the forward hatch and now apparently aimlessly wandered the deck, leaving a slightly wet gleam on the polished planks as they went, changing direction every time they bumped into the railing or each other.<br><br>“That’s a luxury you’ll like”, Elias grinned at the redhead next to him and winked. “No deck-scrubbing for you, they mean, eh?”, he added, then looked back with professional interest at the scurrying robots. <br>He glanced back at the elf girl again, noticing that she was still wearing her harness. “You’ll have some time off from generating now, just, if you wanted to change”, he informed her. <br><br>It was not that he minded seeing her encased in the leather straps and wires at all, but while on bigger ships, there would always be rotation between the BACs, allowing them to recuperate, and also spend some – less exposed time with their crews, with only one girl aboard, and her being as motivated as Laelle, Elias suspected that she would keep herself in full readiness all the time unless he told her she could, and he did not want her to tire herself out physically and mentally in the very first week of their assignment.<br>“Oh, and at that”, he added then, remembering the plate of breakfast next to him, “don’t forget to have breakfast for yourself, will you?”, he went on, pushing aside the small notion of hope that she would choose to join him for that on the quarterdeck again instead of preferring to spend her free time by herself, though he would not interfere with that, either.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>27-04-2015, 08:27:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The girl managed to look like any one of a number of elven serving girls in the city, save for her...unusual attire...as she set the food and coffee down, waiting expectantly for a moment until the coffee met with his approval, allowing herself a timid smile.<br><br>"Thank you Sir."<br><br>While he didn't seem to regard his hand in her service as something worth noting much, she cared about it - and while she wasn't fool enough to think he had picked her, he had had the chance to reject her, and given her initial trouble with the generator, more than one captain would have dismissed her impatiently, not bothering to try to help her moderate her responses to the devices wired to her. Whether he cared or not, it meant the world to her that he had even given her the chance.<br><br>The girl gawked slightly at the small cleaning drones, smiling softly and nodding. "Yes Sir - they're very impressive. Though I suppose that does mean I'll have to find other ways to keep myself busy." Privately, she was a little surprised - on her previous posting, getting the BACs scrubbing on all fours was considered the highlight of the afternoon.<br><br>"Yes Sir, thank you."<br><br>She scampered off to go change, wriggling out of her harness - he was indeed correct that with no redundancy she was intending to be prepared unless he expressly told her she was off duty. The power generation for the ship relied on her, and she was unwilling to risk not being ready when he needed her. Dressed in the shortened tunic that passed for a BAC's off-duty uniform, she reappeared on the foredeck, quietly crunching on an apple, part of the small net of fruit she had been left, which was apparently all she needed for breakfast. Looking a little nervous, she might remind Elias of a small bird, ready to bolt the moment she seemed in the way.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>27-04-2015, 09:15:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias chuckled at her comment regarding the drones. “No need to assume the worst straight up”, he said with a grin that made his face look boyishly mischievous, far more reminiscent of that of a young Lieutenant than the vessel’s commander, and even though he did not have the roguish charm of Captain Bennet, he looked every bit as approachable thanks to it for the moment. “Why don’t we allot the time saved by them to your off time for now?”, he suggested without change of expression before the girl scampered off.<br><br>Of course, with the crew disposition as it was, there was not really such a thing as a watch schedule, so they both would be pretty much on duty all the time, certainly whenever the slightest need for input arose, and Elias thought it prudent under these circumstances to make sure to sneak in as much free time into both their schedules as possible to start with.<br><br>Meanwhile, it did not dawn on him that the drones’ existence robbed him of the pleasure of the resident BAC working her way up the deck on hands and knees until she re-appeared on deck dressed in uniform, though he shrugged off the thought with a smile as he watched her somewhat insecurely wander over the foredeck while nibbling on her breakfast.<br><br>That’s what he got himself from acquiring his own command – on a larger vessel, though personally he would have still been cautious with trying, he would have had less inhibitions to approach an off-duty BAC, being the captain, no less. But here, on <em>Swiftsure</em>, there was literally no one to turn to for her if she found any unprofessional behaviour of his unwanted, and Elias was sure from what he had seen from her for now that she would not stand up to him, but would grit her teeth and go through with it – her gratefulness for the posting as much an indication as the way she nervously looked about every time a line creaked in the wind as if she expected to be shouted into frantic action by an ill-meaning bosun’s mate.<br>And besides, Elias was not sure whether a girl as grave as Laelle was really given towards the kind of fling that whittled away the time of a long trip between an officer and a BAC, only to be finished quietly when the ship docked again, and the cards reshuffled on the next tour – and whether he wanted that himself, either.<br><br>He laughed softly, taking another sip of his coffee, then, after an alert glance into the rigging, he sat down on the small navigator’s bench by the chart table, beginning to sketch their course southwards.<br><br><div align="center">⚙<sup>⚙</sup>⚙</div><br>The rest of the day went quietly. The wind stayed at a soft breeze that gently tousled the hair of everyone on deck while the sun warmed the timbers pleasantly, almost making it possible to forget that they were on a military craft instead of a pleasure cruise.<br><br>Elias did not issue any commands to Laelle all afternoon, hoping that she would be getting used to being around him without being on edge all the time. At one point, he had summoned her to tell her about the required night-time routine of recharging the batteries, showing her how to read the dials showing the charge status both in the engine room and on the command stand. “Oh, and I’d like you to write a few reports on what it is like recharging in your sleep, alright?”, he instructed as they climbed back on deck. “It’s after all a new procedure, and I’d like to use this tour’s experiences to formulate a few additional pieces of advice for the Technical Manuals”, he explained.<br><br>Safe for that, though, he had left her to her own devices, and even this order had been given softly and politely, more a request amongst comrades really than anything else by the tone of it.<br><br>Elias himself had been busy enough with navigation, inspecting engines and running gear aboard the ship, and what time he had spent quietly by the wheel had been spent on his pondering the set of secret orders that lay on his cabin table, and he was still thinking about his assignment when the sun slowly settled on the western horizon and he began setting a course for the sea, putting the engines to minimum power so that they basically would be held in place by the propulsion and the countering wind drift.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>01-05-2015, 03:26:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Eventually discarding the uneaten core of her breakfast over the side - there were advantages to an airship over the open water - she still did her best to keep busy, cleaning what the drones couldn't reach, cleaning up the mess - and prepping for dinner, and generally trying to keep out of the way. Ironically, given his thoughts, she wasn't nearly as grave as he thought she was - not when she was comfortable at least. She had simply never felt welcome and at ease since becoming a BAC, having underestimated the strength of the dislike for her people among the humans. She would have been...flattered...to know what he was thinking.<br><br>She also would have been charmed if she learned of his concerns about her feeling pressured or unable to take her concerns to another officer. Few would worry about that - many officers treated the BACs on their ships as potential wives at best, and toys at worst.<br><br>Despite her skittishness, she did seem to enjoy the day, the pleasant sun and a soft breeze that kept the temperature down, serving him dinner on the deck as well, along with another cup of remarkably well made coffee, her meal - as it was before - considerably simpler, though she didn't seem to be starving herself. Perhaps it was merely the different metabolic requirements of her species?<br><br>Eventually, he summoned her to explain her nighttime routine, the girl listening attentively. "Yes Sir." Once the sun set, and he retreated to his cabin - a portion of the ship that effectively didn't exist for her - she retreated to the engine room. She was half-tempted to spend the night hooked up to the systems on the deck, under the stars, but thought it best to be in her mounting point for at least some of the time. Redonning her harness, she plugged herself in and settled down, borrowing the thin pillow from her hammock to cushion her head as she fell asleep to the gentle draw of power to charge the batteries. In the morning, if he rose early he'd find her there, apparently peacefully sleeping as she twitched softly, murmuring at some dream she was having, the batteries charged and the engine drawing from her rather than the crystals.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>01-05-2015, 23:40:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias relievedly noticed that as the day went on, Laelle’s nerves seemed to settle a little. He smiled and thanked her when she brought dinner up to him and onto the quarterdeck. He nodded his thanks, even though he was a bit surprised by the second cup of coffee, but he accepted it in good grace, and insisted that she ate with him even as they both had to stand around the open chart table.<br><br>The Great Cabin was, after all, rather luxurious, for a military airship after all. A panel screen divided the room into a day and a sleep cabin, the former taking up the most space and utilizing the three large stern windows. A cushioned sofa lined one wall, and under one window an escritoire holding the captain’s writing utensils and more obscure documents stood. Two comfy-looking, low canvas chairs facing a low table stood in the centre of the room, and a cupboard made from canvas sides, rope and wooden shelves was suspended from an overhead beam on the far wall.<br><br>Elias sighed as he settled into a chair and pulled off his boots before tugging off his uniform jacket. He did not bother to light any more lights than the crystal-powered safety light that swung from an overhead hook as he listened to the soft creaking of the ship’s hull working, the strain of the wind as much taking its toll on the vessel as the sea would on a ship.<br><br>After the excitement of the first day in the air, Elias did not much fancy writing elaborate log entries, so he merely sketched down a few notes to be transferred with some elaborations later to the official log, and soon, he had also shed his trousers, socks and shirt messily onto the empty chair, then padded on bare feet to the sleeping part of the cabin, settled under the covers of the large, though a little sparsely cushioned bed and soon had fallen asleep.<br><br>Though sleeping well, then, Elias had still not been able to help but rise a few times during the night, going up on deck and take a measuring of the north star and the Great Hunter to ensure that the ship was holding position – something he felt he should ensure before relying on the automatic gyros too much.<br>After the first such check, too, he had gone back to bed in trousers and shirt, leaving him to only slip into his sea-boots to go on deck, and in the same attire, looking somewhere between roguish and rakish, he stood at the wheel at sun-up, powering up the engines as he resumed their travel course.<br><br>He remembered that he had not given Laelle any specifics as to what time he expected to see her on deck, and thinking about it now, he figured that it was not too big a stretch on military discipline if he let her sleep as she saw fit – after all, she powered the ship literally in her sleep, so it appeared very much unjustified to call her to duty <em>from duty</em>, and he smiled at that way of putting it, wondering whether he could use that phrase in his draft for a Manual while he enjoyed the morning breeze.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>07-05-2015, 10:14:44</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle awoke with a start - even below deck it was obvious it was well into the morning. Her heart started pounding - without any sort of watch shift, or a morning bell, she had slept naturally. One of the reason elves were regarded as lazy and indolent was that their natural sleep cycles were shifted several hours later than those of humans, leaving them awake late into the night, and then asleep when "Good, hard working <em>human</em> citizens of the Empire..." had begun their day.<br><br>She hadn't bothered to unpack since being posted on the vessel - too nervous the first day, and at night...posted to the rack to generate power overnight, what was the point? She rifled through her belongings to find her towel, swiftly wiping clean the sheen of sweat that had developed from being being connected all night, knowing it would do little to combat the scent of desire on her, but even on an airship water was limited, and she already feared she was running late. Fortunately, perhaps, elves were known for a somewhat lighter scent.<br><br>Scampering up to the deck, she managed a hasty salute, stammering an apology, still adorned in her harness. "Good morning Captain. I'm sorry for oversleeping Sir, I'll get right on breakfast..." Too rushed to even wait for a reply, she scampered off toward the galley - a rather pleasant sight - and returned in short order bearing a freshly cooked meal for him, once again heavy on the perishables and relatively light on the cured food that waited in their stores, along with a cup of coffee, and a single piece of fruit for herself, nibbling on it nervously while she waited, a little bit like a particularly alluring steward.<br><br>"Would you like my report Sir, or do you need me connected to the system for longer?" The suggestion in her tone was that, especially given how she had spent her night, doing both of them at the same time was probably a little much for the young BAC to handle.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>17-05-2015, 15:32:47</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“Good M- whoa!”, was all Elias could say while returning her sketchy salute before she was off again. The engineer followed her scampering figure with his eyes as she moved swiftly forward to disappear in the galley, her being dressed still only in the harness from her nightly recharge duties affording him a generous view of toned elven rear flesh and lithe legs framed by the leather straps before she returned with breakfast a few minutes later, giving him the complement view of her front. As she approached, his eyes rested on her nude form maybe a scant second longer than what would have been completely innocuous, though still far from what many BACs faced on a regular basis.<br><br>“And a good morning to you, too”, he said with a chuckle when she set down the food, then pointed firmly to one edge of the teak navigation table to make her sit down. He frowned a little at the scarcity of her food selection for herself, but then shrugged it off, for now at least. The first sip of coffee proved excellent again and he nodded appreciatively before buttering a slice of fresh bread, relishing the item in the firm knowledge that there would come a time when they’d have to move to hard-tack.<br>When she asked about her day’s duties, he glanced at the binnacle’s gauges quickly before answering.<br><br>“The dials show a 98 percent charge on the capacitators. Have them counter-checked against the engine room ones, when you’re done here, but then, unless we run into something, I think we’re done with charging for today”, Elias decided. “Since you’re basically working in your sleep, I am fine with you taking some off time”, he went on, taking a bite from a pastry before continuing. “You can start your report if you wish, but I’ll want more of your long-term experience with it really, whether it interferes with your rest over the course of a few weeks and such, so maybe you’ll jot down some notes only for now?”<br><br>He finished the last few crumbs of his breakfast.&nbsp; “I’ll take a fix and have some navigational computations to do in a few minutes”, he explained then with a glance at the marine chronometer, wiping his fingers on a handkerchief and brushing a few crumbs from his pants, then looked up again at the elven redhead almost hanging on his lips, and her eager attentiveness made him smile involuntarily.<br>“Why don’t you – “, he paused, unsure what it was that elves would do in their free time – while he did not share the general contempt that the Empire held elves in, neither did he have much knowledge about them, save for the scarce – and still heavily prejudiced – facts generally known, like that they were a tribal, nature-connected people. “Well, maybe you’d like to rig a hammock on deck and enjoy the sun?”, he suggested after a moment, nodding forward. “You could fasten it to the main mast, and there’s a cleat on the railing that would work well, I’d say, for running it to?” It would look like a pleasure cruise, of course, not like a military ship, but then, Elias decided, what was the harm in enjoying what freedom this deployment gave them?<br><br>Then something else caught his attention in the breeze, a soft smell, not unpleasant, but decidedly anything but innocent, reminding him that she still stood in the alluring attire – and afterglow – of her night’s duty. “If you want, you can also – change”, he suggested with a small grin. “Not that am not enjoying the view, mind you”, he added quickly with a boyish, almost apologetic smirk, “but you’re of course not here for my sake. Also, if you’d like, we can rig a deck pump so you can have a shower?”, he went on, shrugging to take the edge off the words in case she might take them for him being offended. Another thought crossed his mind then. “Oh, and I remember I told you about you taking some steering lessons. So let’s make that your afternoon assignment? Report for duty at two bells?”, he said with a wink that suggested he did not <em>really</em> expect her to <em>report</em>, exactly.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>29-05-2015, 01:04:42</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Perhaps it was the natural elven predisposition toward less clothing, the girl's training as a BAC and several long months of service, or a little bit of the crush the girl was starting to nurse for her superior, she seemed to have little objection to being in solely her harness, nor that she could feel his gaze on her when she approached again. He was subtle about it, not leering or finding excuses to make her linger longer. In some ways, she rather enjoyed the idea of him appreciating her, though she obediently sat down against the navigation table, perching on the hardwood table, her rear pressed rather pleasantly against its surface.<br><br>The ate her food in light, fast bites as she listened to her orders, nodding softly. "Thank you Sir." Many captains would want her attached to the engines regardless of the battery levels, content more to run her ragged than to put more load on their ship. She smiled again, swallowing a slice of fruit, and nodded. "Yes Sir, I'll keep a log. That seems like a good idea. May I go into the map room for some paper and a pen?"<br><br>It was a room normally forbidden to BACs - operational security and that the women had little cause to be in a map room during the course of their duties meant it rarely came up, but nor were BACs commonly issued log-books. Even those officers who valued their BACs rarely thought to preserve their thoughts for posterity. When he gave her leave to do so, the command to look at nothing else while she was in the map room, went unsaid between them, though the serious gone she took when she asked permission suggested she knew that well enough.<br><br>The girl waited expectantly as his attention turned to what he <em>did</em> want her doing, smiling at his suggestion - despite it being a somewhat prejudiced suggestion regarding her culture, it was one she might indeed enjoy. "That's quite kind of your Captain, if you don't think it would be in the way?" She ducked her head a little shyly. "Still hoping for a tiger-striped girl under your command?"<br><br>It took her a moment to realize what he was referencing, and when she did, she turned a bright scarlet. "Yes Sir, I'll change." She ducked her head again when he commented that he enjoyed the view, not saying anything but mentally storing that piece of information for later, listening to his suggestion.<br><br>"That won't be necessary Sir, but I appreciate it. I wouldn't want a set of pumps to ruin the clean lines of your new ship. I can make do with a bucket just fine." She was clearly a little embarrassed, given the circumstances that prompted the conversation, and agreed quickly to report at two bells, if for no other reason than to cease this particular conversation. Gathering up his plate, she once more scampered off, disappearing below deck and changing out of her harness into a tunic, though she took the time to clean and oil the garment to make sure the leather stayed clean and supple, not wanting to ruin the hard work that went into making sure it fit.<br><br>Awhile later she reappeared wearing her 'off-duty' tunic, and carrying her bundled hammock under her arm. She was sacrificing her little cubby below deck, knowing that there was little point in having it - she would prefer to sleep under the stars, and if circumstances demanded her below deck, they likely demanded her fastened in her rack. While not naked or in her harness, the sight of the girl hanging the hammock - and then busying herself with other chores, cleaning places the drones didn't reach and a dozen other small tasks - afforded him a number of glimpses of her flesh beneath. What remained below was her small cache of fruit, a few personal items, and a few folded pieces of paper making up the beginning of her log, detailing her experiences in neat elven script. She seemed...happier, a little less nervous, as she approached him at the appropriate time, giving him a cheerful salute.<br><br>"Reporting as ordered Sir? If...if there's still time to give me lessons?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>30-06-2015, 22:00:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias was enough man to cast a glimpse every now and then towards the scurrying elven girl as she busied herself on deck, and though he also was officer enough not to act on any of the impulses that might have arisen from the comely sight, it caused him to smile contently, quite happy to just enjoy the view as he kept to his own duties, alternating between keeping the helm, plotting the course and keeping an eye on the sky as they steadily glided southwards along the coastline, the waves rolling pleasantly below them.<br><br>Every now and then, a flock of birds ventured from their landside perches to explore the craft crossing their territory, circling the mast and hull for a while in search of some source of food, before they lost interest again and returned home, and Elias was watching one of the groups of winged creatures glide back towards the land under disappointed clamour when the elf stepped up and saluted.<br><br>He smiled and returned the gesture, marvelling once more at the strange but lovely contrast of sharp military bearing and sensuous femininity that Laelle embodied. “As you were. Of course there is. And it’ll be worth the investment, too, to have you be able to make yourself useful. Not that you’re not useful as you are, of course”, he hurried to assure her, his tone apologetic at his slip of tongue. <br><br>“Right, then”, he began, motioning for her to stand next to him. “For now, we’re only going over the most simple of orders. Take the wheel, and just hold it steady.” He waited till she had a firm grip on the Swiftsure’s steering wheel, then let go slowly, giving her time to adjust. Although designed for a light vessel and with the knowledge that the helmsman could not be relieved often, it was a massive instrument, reaching well up to the elven girl’s chest, and the pressure relayed by the rudder lines that via a pulley system moved the fins either side of the Swiftsure’s hull to turn her in her airy element was firmly felt even with the brackets engaged that served to disburden the helmsman by reducing the pressure just so much that the pressure could still be felt to judge the steering ability as long as the course was held steady.<br><br>“Now”, Elias continued his instructions when Laelle was firmly in place, “do you see that mark?”, he said, pointing to an elaborate rope weaving around one of the spokes of the wheel. “That’s the centre spoke. As long as it’s upright, the fins are neutral and we should go merely forward, safe any drift. When the order is ‘Rudder amidships’, that’s what you turn to and hold at.”<br>He went on to explain to her how to turn the wheel with regard to the different commands of the navigation officer, keeping to those for now that did not require her to work with regard of checking the compass herself, which would come later and enable her to hold a course on her own, thus truly freeing him of some tasks for a short time.<br><br>When he called for a halt and took the wheel from her again, engaging the steadying brackets fully, the sun had already sunk to stand orange off the starboard rail just over the horizon. “That’s enough for today”, Elias announced, nodding at her friendlily. “Well done, I’ll make a sailor of you yet”, he said and winked. “So”, he added then, nodding forward to her slung hammock between the rail and the mast. “You’re planning to sleep on deck tonight? It’s alright if you do, but either before or after you do, I want you hooked up for three hours, and not in the hammock up here. Wouldn’t want you to roll overboard with a jerk or jolt, now, would we?”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>11-07-2015, 06:12:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle knew he was watching her, and didn't really mind the idea - her race was much less squeamish than humanity regarding the appreciation of the physical form. That, of course, was one of the many reasons humanity looked down at them. And any last remaining objections she had to the idea of a fellow sailor occasionally sneaking a glance at her was lost when she became a BAC, and spent hours in nothing but a leather harness, writhing in pleasure.<br><br>Once, she even gave him a speculative glance when she was sure he wasn't looking - he was a handsome man, not quite the usual image of the heroic airship captain but handsome none the less. But she doubted he would spare her more than the occasional appreciative glance. Kind as he was to her, she was just a BAC, and an elf at that. Easy enough to look at, but far too beneath his station to ever take to his bed.<br><br>She banished those thoughts as she reported to him, the accidental suggestion of an insult to her utility instantly forgiven - in her own way, she knew the ship couldn't function with out her. Even the smallest ships, like this one, needed two things - a captain, and a BAC. One was of course vastly more respected and important, but she knew she had utility. Indeed, she was eager to show it, after having spent so long being dismissed and shuffled around make-work postings.<br><br>Sliding next to him, she nervously put her hands on the wheel, her small, slender hands dwarfed by the instrument that had clearly been made for human hands, holding it with an expression of grave seriousness, clearly wanting to please him, to not make him regret this small measure of responsibility. The lean muscles of her arms tensed as a current of wind began to push against the vessel and she had to adjust to hold the wheel steady. The girl had a smile on her face when she turned to listen to his instructions, one hand moving for a moment to brush the center spoke with her fingers, as if to commit the notion to memory by couch. The rest of his orders too she practiced by touch, mentally moving her hand rather than turning the wheel while she memorized the commands, at least attempting to get the feeling of where her hands would need to be correct.<br><br>When they were done, her arms ached and her wrists were stiff, but she looked happy, pleased with the idea that she had some utility on the ship beyond her mandated role, and that he trusted her. She blushed softly, ducking her head at his complement. "Thank you Sir. I appreciate you taking the time." In truth, there wasn't a great deal else to do on the ship, but he could have spent it reading, or relaxing, or otherwise engaged in something <em>not</em> teaching him.<br><br>She looked back at the hammock, her expression suddenly worried when he mentioned the hammock. "I...if you'd rather Sir, I can take it down at nights? I don't mind..." Eventually, he stilled her concerns, and she nodded.<br><br>"Yes Sir. I'll put in the hours after I see to dinner Sir. Would you prefer me below deck or by the wheel? Or at one of the other points?"<br><br>Once he had dismissed her, she set to cooking dinner, putting more time into it than was absolutely required, trying to repay him for his generosity. She sacrificed some of her small cache of fruit to make a sauce, using the salt inherent in some of the fish laid into their stores to help give it flavor, boiling rice in the same to distribute it more evenly. When it was finished, she set a place out for him, and as usual, a slightly smaller portion for herself.<br><br>"Would you like me to write down my experiences tonight while connected as well Sir, or just while you have me on overnight duty?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>29-07-2015, 21:38:19</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias raised a placating hand when he saw the concern in the elf’s face. Apparently she was still worried that he would disapprove of her if she conducted herself in anything but strictly regulation manners, even when he himself had suggested that she place the makeshift cot there – and had confirmed it just a few sentences ago. He regarded her figure, clad in the scanty tunic, for a moment, then, realising that this sort of inspection would probably only serve to make her more uncomfortable in turn, caught her eye and smiled.<br><br>“No, I don’t want you to take it down for the night. I was just concerned for your safety in the recharge process”, he explained friendlily, then gave the hammock swaying gently in the wind that drove the Swiftsure steadily on its southerly course an assessing glance. “In fact –“, he said then, turning back towards her and giving her a brighter, sympathetic smile, “I might put a chair for myself out here, too. The breeze surely is something we should enjoy while we can.”<br><br>He winked at her briefly, the gesture clearly more of a caring nature than strictly professional, while remaining ultimately harmless. “As for your recharging cycle… if you have a preference, just go with it, but if you don’t, you can do it up here? Unless you want to sleep during it, that is, then you better use the point in the battery room.” His voice had switched back to his cooler tone when he laid out these orders for her. It was not per se uncaring, quite the opposite, but it also made it clear that when it came to the ship or the safety of the mission, he took those concerns seriously, and prioritised them over her amenities still – or his, and so his insistence on her sleeping below when connected had nothing to do with his being offended by the sight of the writhing young elf on his deck, but was based on the concerns he had uttered earlier, about the threat of her hurting herself out in the open or even falling overboard by some freak chance in her state of bliss. <br><br>He let his gaze rest on her for a moment, for once not taking in consciously her beauty for once, but waiting for her to acknowledge the orders he had just given. When she did, though, his smile returned, and he nodded at her friendlily to dismiss her to making dinner.<br><br>When she had finished with that and served it at the small map table by the wheel, she would find that, just like she had, tonight he had dipped into his personal provisions, too, to make a contribution, and in the light of the sinking sun, a rich red liquid moved gently with the roll of the ship in two glasses that Elias had set on the table.<br>The timing proved to be excellent, then, the wine, while watered down, still fitting excellently with the dish she had created, and when he was done, the young officer looked very pleased with the world at large.<br><br>“That was really good”, he complimented. “If you weren’t so useful anyway, I certainly should have considered taking you along as a mess steward”, he joked, chuckling at the thought. “I mean, it might’ve gotten a little cramped below deck, but… well worth it, anyway.” Another wink went her way after he had with a quick glance at the compass ensured that they were still on course, the motion almost automatic after being underway for a day and a half already.<br><br>With her next question, he frowned in contemplation for a moment before he gave her an answer. “Do write all of it down for now”, he said then with a nod. “After all, there might be connections between your overnight cycles and being regularly connected, so it might pay off to have these experiences as well.”<br><br>True to his earlier words, then, when they had finished eating and Laelle had put away the dishes, Elias briefly disappeared into his cabin, only to return with one of the canvas chairs that belonged to his cabin’s furniture, setting it up a little ahead of the wheel and pointing to the railing, and settled into it comfortably as he made to copy his notes into the ship’s log in the dying light of the day.<br><br>It was about the time that Laelle was close to finishing her cycle then, whether undertaken on deck or below, that he checked on her again, wishing her a good night, and retreated into his cabin again for a last half-glass of wine and getting ready for bed.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>11-08-2015, 00:46:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The girl seemed reassured by Elias's gentle touch, and she smiled nervously when he told her she could keep the hammock up - that whether or not she had understood his orders, that she wasn't in trouble. Contrary to his intuition, his lingering regard on her youthful figure, his gaze lingering on her short, close-cut tunic, was oddly...comforting. She was used to being looked at, even being admired. And his gaze didn't hold the normal things she saw when a human man looked at her - either revulsion at what she was, or a kind of crude, demanding lust, to use her like an object. An animal.<br><br>Elias...just looked at her like a woman. An admittedly attractive woman, but...just a woman.<br><br>She smiled at his request that she perform her charging cycle on the deck - following so quickly on the suggestion that he might put a chair out here and enjoy the breeze, implicitly requesting that she be part of his...view. "Of course Sir - I'm not tired, so I can do it up here. As you say, I'm sure there will be plenty of cause for me to stay below deck during the voyage, so I should...take advantage of the option while I can.<br><br>The young BAC looked surprised when he slid a glass of wine to her, and she sipped it obediently over the course of the dinner, enjoying the flavor, though it was stronger than she was used to, Elven wine tending toward sweeter and fruitier tones. She blushed deeply at his complement. "Well Captain, I'm glad I can tend to those duties without having to hot bunk with some other girl." With the dinner over on a pleasant note, she disappeared below deck for a few minutes before reappearing dressed only in her harness, having clearly taken care in putting it on, conscious of the work that went into making something this nice. She knelt quietly by the wheel, settling into a comfortable position, her log book sitting by her side as the charging system activated, the girl twitching and writhing in pleasure as she began charging the system, the quiet of the night interrupted by the occasional gasp.<br><br>It was perhaps fifteen minutes after he bid her goodnight when her charging cycle ended, and she made her way back down below deck, her movements almost silent, her steps light. She bit her lip, and tried to build up her courage, knocking timidly on his door.<br><br>When he answered, she bowed her head, feeling suddenly quite shy.<br><br>"Captain I..." she stammered, her cheeks pink and her heart pounding. "I thought I...what I mean is that..." She straightened up, trying to find her courage again. "You've been very kind to me Sir, and I want you to know that I appreciate that. That I value that. And that it cannot be easy, being alone with a BAC." She ducked her head slightly. "I wanted to ask if you might...I mean, some Captains I know keep a favorite..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>29-08-2015, 22:58:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				When he answered Laelle’s knock, Elias had already undressed, but not yet lain down, and so he stood in the doorway dressed only in his pants, the soft light from the crystal lamp on the cabin table and the low bio-electrical lights that shone either side of the stern railing casting a soft, bronze complexion on his bare chest and shadowed face.<br>With the make-up of his ‘crew’, of course he had had no doubt about the identity of the late caller, but then, the main reason for his unconcern over his state of undress was more profane, as even though he was not as experienced in ship posts as his rank suggested, he had quickly assimilated the necessity of answering to calls of duty regardless of the time of night, assuming the mantle of unconcern that became second nature to all ship officers, who would, at sea, not bat an eye at even an admiral being seen on deck in his nightgown.<br><br>Sensing her nervousness over what was, strictly speaking, a breach in protocol, to, as a BAC, call at an officer, her captain, no less, in his own quarters without a strictly duty-related reason, he made a conscious effort to smile clearly as he listened to her words, even though he could not hide a frown of confusion as she went on.<br>When she had ended, he resisted the sudden urge to pat her reassuringly.<br><br>“What do you mean, it not being easy being alone with a BAC?”, he asked, the slightest alarm, if not in his voice, then in his expression, in the way he phrased the question. Yes, he had been appreciating the young elf’s slender form, the gracious flexing of her limbs in the throes of her pleasure that powered the ship, but he had never meant for her to feel like he would be willing to even attempt abuse the power that being her superior granted to him. Yet now, her words… they seemed to suggest that… she was afraid that he would… if not force her, then withdraw what she considered a kindness of his? And that she was… offering herself to ensure staying in his favour? He knew that there were officers, not just captains on the larger vessels that employed more BACs, that would lead girls into such arrangements, but to Elias, anyway, those were just as bad as officers, or mates, brutalising their seamen divisions. <br>And while he was powerless to change the one or the other on a grander scale, he had made this opinion very clear to his subordinates on both of his tours and he had actually been lucky enough to serve under Captains on both of these that were at least indifferent, if not favourable of, the ethical views of the young engineering officer.<br><br>His frown deepened as he now believed himself to be implicated in such intentions, not in anger, but in an almost desperate desire to clear himself of the allegation.<br>“Laelle…”, he began, his voice, while not very officer-like, doing away with any thought that she might have had of his being angry. “You don’t… I mean… I’m glad that you… like serving under me… but… there… there really is no <em>quid pro quo</em> here”, he went on, then, realising that the words probably meant little to the elf, added quickly, “What I mean is – you don’t have to… offer me anything to… to keep in my good books.”<br>He made a conscious effort to not let his eyes wander down to look at her naked body, still encased by the straps and buckles of her harness, showing off every sensual curve her lithe body had to offer, and not wanting to stare at her face fixedly, either, he averted his eyes to glance over her shoulder for a moment.<br><br>Elias took a deep breath. It would have been a lie had he said that he had not noticed the girl as more than just another, if valued, part of the ship. He liked her easy-going nature, her obvious embrace of her duties, the <em>almost</em>-unabashed way that she would hook herself up and feed the <em>Swiftsure’s</em> systems with the power of her desire, and he liked the way that she did not take for granted any privilege, yet gratefully took every chance to be happy no matter her station. And yes, he had dreamed, secretly, and guiltily, about her being more than a BAC, and him being more than her Captain – but in his thoughts, this had always been a thing that was because they would both want that, not – not because of compulsion, however subtle or – in this case, imagined.<br><br>He squared his shoulders, focussing back on the elf’s face and making a conscious effort to smile at her reassuringly. “I will not force you into… doing anything for me, alright? And I will not be stricter on you than I have unless you – warm my bed or anything. You must believe and trust me in this, alright?” 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>30-08-2015, 03:12:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Laelle kept her gaze respectfully forward when he opened the door, making no comment on his state of dress - after all, she had come calling on him, and she was still in her duty harness, which left nothing at all to the imagination. She listened to him ask what it meant to be alone with a BAC, and his explanation that she didn't owe him anything, and she didn't have to part her legs to remain in his good graces.<br><br>He could see the confusion on her face as he began his explanation, and then she turned white as a sheet at his kind tone, the gentle, patient way he explained to her that he didn't want to force her to be with him, didn't expect that in payment for anything. The tips of her ears were a bright scarlet, and she shook her head, embarrassed and a little mortified at what he thought she was saying.<br><br>"I...I do...I mean Captain...oh gods..."<br><br>She ducked her head, her blush deepening. "I didn't think you expected anything of me. I just mean..."<br><br>She sighed, trying to collect her thoughts, to hold herself together and not flee into the ship, burying herself in her embarrassment. "I meant it must be hard because, it's just me on the ship. There's no other crew, no one to delegate dealing with me to. Your only other interaction is with a mostly naked girl, and you've been generous enough to allow me to choose my duty station most of the time, which means I'm not below deck where I could be...ignored. And to compound it, that near-naked girl is...well...an elf."<br><br>Biting her lip, she continued. "This...this isn't how I pictured this going Sir. I didn't mean to suggest you expected anything in return. I meant...you've been kind to me, and you didn't have to be. I'm a BAC, your subordinate, and an elf. But you still treat me with kindness, and respect. I was always told that the way you measure the goodness of a person is how kind they are to those they don't need to be kind to." She paused for a moment, trying to gather herself up.<br><br>"You're a good man Sir, you're good to me, and...beyond that, I like...I like being near you. It's easier, I couldn't even have gotten this posting it you hadn't been there, with me, steadying me." It was a private confession, and she hoped she hadn't stepped too far.<br><br>"What I meant Sir was that...if you wanted...I wouldn't say no." She chanced a look up at him, her eyes wide. "Even though I know I could."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>31-08-2015, 20:46:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias listened closely as Laelle made to speak again, and as the words tumbled out with increasing speed, he completely forgot to look away from her, his eyes glued to her face, half-consciously noticing the way the elven girl’s ears flushed pinkly. The man’s lips parted slightly when the course of her explanation revealed how far off he had been in assessing her intentions, but he remained silent as Laelle continued to talk hurriedly, stifling another sudden urge to touch her comfortingly by putting his hand on the doorframe to let her finish unimpeded.<br><br>He could not help but break into a smile when she began praising him, even though a small frown remained lingering in his expression at her continued suggestion of him wanting to be rid of her, as well as of the notion of her ‘teasing him’ in any way untoward.<br>Elias waited patiently until she had fallen silent again before he moved again, running a hand through his short hair in an effort to clear his thoughts.<br><br>“Laelle, I…”, he started, then paused, realising that he was rather unsure of what he meant to say at all, and he just looked at her for a moment transfixed, and he found that just looking at her, in addition to making his heart become wide, made him smile without thinking about it even.<br>“Look, what I mean is just – why do you think it would be… a burden having to “deal” with you and not delegating that? You are a pleasure to look at, and you’re a good BAC, and a good person as far as I can be the judge of that. You’re eager, you’re dutiful… why would I not want to be around you, Laelle?”<br><br>He shook his head, the gesture somewhat implying his loss for words to properly describe what was going on inside his head – and his heart at that moment.<br>His gaze went down for a moment, more to compose himself, but in the process awarded him another unexpected glance of the elf’s lean, perfectly shaped body, and Elias looked up again with the half-mischievous, half-guilty grin more proper to a boy caught doing something improper than to the Captain of an Imperial vessel.<br><br>“I…”, he began again to pass over the moment, then settled quickly for a route that felt right, “I do like being near you”, he mirrored her words, smiling. “I mean… not just… as a BAC… but you – yourself”, he tried to explain. “And well, we will spend a lot of time with just ourselves on this posting probably, so… I guess… that’s for the better of us both then if we can keep one another some company?”<br>He rubbed his chin as he tried to come up with how to continue from here, and then his eyes lit up and he took a half-step back. “Well… would you… would you like to come in, then, and… just… relax and… enjoy your off-duty time?”, he asked, stepping fully out of the way to allow her to enter the spacious, yet Spartan enough cabin that was his home for this journey.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>01-09-2015, 18:14:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Thank you Sir."<br><br>It was enough to be let into his room, rather than him sighing impatiently and sending her packing off to her hammock or duty station. Slipping into his room, she took it in quietly - it was sparsely decorated, having been lived in for only a few days, but generous given the size of the ship and what she was used to as a BAC.<br><br>Keeping her eyes down she perched on the edge of one of his chairs, trying to think of what to say, and how to saw it.<br><br>"It's not that I don't think you'd want me around Sir. It's just there's nothing to distract you, nothing else really to focus on. And as you say, I'm eager, I'm dutiful, and half the time you see me I'm naked and writhing in pleasure. Y...you must have needs, and for me to be constantly reminding you of them..." she blushed again, the tips of her ears coloring.<br><br>"Unless I'm just flattering myself, at which point I beg your forgiveness Sir, for keeping you up at this hour."<br><br>She looked down at her hands, folding them nervously in her lap. "And the truth is Sir...I like being near you when...when I'm on duty. Feeling your hand on my head, or listening to you steer the ship nearby. It helps me focus, it helps me...be better at being me. And I like that feeling..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>20-09-2015, 21:20:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias could not take his eyes off the lithe elf’s body as she slipped past him willingly, settling on one of the chairs after a moment’s hesitation. She looked almost lost in the room, cowering on the edge of the piece of furniture as if intimidated by the relatively generous size of the cabin.<br>Only when Laelle had sat the human officer regained enough of his wits to close the door again and turn back to walk to his own seat, yet remained standing after a brief moment, watching the Elven girl as he tried to figure out what to say next.<br><br>“I don’t <em>need</em> distraction, Laelle”, he said after a pause, then, a curious stress on the word, and a strange softness now appeared in his eyes that shone in the light of the reading lamp on the low table and a standing lamp near the bed. The canvas divider had been taken down to make the cabin appear bigger, sacrificing the privacy of the sleeping area, but then, such was no great concern on a vessel with <em>Swiftsure’s</em> outfit, nor did Elias himself care much for such.<br><br>“What I mean is…”, Elias went on before the BAC could say anything, now sitting back down in his own chair again after all, “is that yes, I do have needs, and I would be lying if I said that you do not remind me of them, but… they are not your duty, Laelle. You… you should not feel obliged to care for them just because you are dutiful. Actually – you must not. Do you understand?” The words, though spoken intensely, were at the same time clearly devoid of any ill will, indicating that they were not just spoken out of a sense of professionalism of the Captain, but more importantly out of genuine conviction that they expressed the right way for Elias.<br><br>“Also”, he went on after another pause, smiling to lighten again the intensity he had just created, “that does not mean, either, that I don’t gladly help out with your – performance, then. If you think that helps. Though we might have to find a way to factor that in your experience report.” He winked at her, then averted his eyes momentarily to give her a moment to register what he had said, using the opportunity to take a sip from the half-empty glass of wine that stood on the table.<br><br>That, then seemed to give him an idea, and he looked up at her again, his eyes again less the Captain’s but at least those of just a brother-in-arms, a fellow service member’s, or even – a friend’s? “Do you care for a nightcap?”, he asked, pointing to his own glass. BACs, unlike crew members, were not generally allotted rations of spirits, though it was not unheard of to reward them with it, or even garner their willingness to exchange – other services for that.<br><br>“So… “ Elias started again after she had made the decision, and suddenly, the young officer found himself curiously looking for words. He definitely did enjoy the girl’s company, all he wanted was for her to not see the superior officer in him first for anything that would happen between them off-duty – and if he were honest with himself, Elias could not deny that he did hope that there would be happening something between them.<br>“Do you… I mean… what do you think of our cruise so far? How… how does the ship feel to you? And… I mean… I have to admit, I really don’t know what it is… like to live on board as a BAC. How is, like… your bunk, and everything? Are you… are you comfortable aboard?”, he went on, faintly blushing as he realised that he was probably rambling in his loss for words.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>23-09-2015, 08:55:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She sat, taking in the expansive living area, admiring the sparse but well crafted decor, and despite her own worries, she found herself finding his concern for her well being, his desire to make it clear that he expected little of her, charming.<br><br>"I understand Sir." Her reply was simple, straightforward, and while there was more to it than that, she wanted to let him say his peace. It was a rare man who would turn down a near-naked elven girl offering herself to him, and she wanted to hear what he had to say. Nor did she want to cause friction with him, and the intensity of the tone he used suggested arguing would cause just that. She blushed softly at his next suggestion, demurring slightly.<br><br>"I believe that may be an...individual quirk of mine Captain. None of the other girls I've talked to mentioned it, and we...well, we do talk among ourselves."<br><br>The young elf failed to hide her look of surprise when he casually offered her a drink, used to those being reserved for celebrations - and then usually only in small measures as 'treats' to the girls, or in exchange for something in far less supply aboard a ship. Smiling, she nodded. "Yes Captain, that would be nice." It felt silly, almost over-formal, to be sitting in his room like this, but she was already well beyond her duties, having come into his cabin. She could see he was ill at ease as well, and smiled brightly to help defuse his tension and seriousness.<br><br>"The cruise has been pleasantly uneventful - I'm sure that will change at some point, but for the moment it's been lovely. I almost forget that I'm not employed on someone's pleasure yacht." She ran her fingers over the wood of his table, feeling the connection to the ship itself. "And she's a lovely ship Sir. They all have a character, and well...BACs feel it differently than other people do. She's bright, and eager, but there's a steadiness to her. It's nice. It makes my duties more pleasant."<br><br>She took a sip of her drink, savoring the unfamiliar sensation of it on her tongue. "As for my accommodations, they are what I expected. I don't take up too much room Sir. They're not as nice as yours, but I am, after all, just a BAC. I've no reason to complain. And the mounting system in the engine room is...more comfortable than most. It could be worse - I could be posted to a commerce raider." Commerce raiders, converted merchant ships, were notorious for being cramped, and over-gunned for their size - a problem for the crew, and one that was often solved by sacrificing space for the BACs, until their "posts" were little more than a cubbyhole, or a set of padded shackles on a bulkhead.<br><br>Laelle took another drink, her cheeks flushed, and bit her lip, deciding to be bold - and direct.<br><br>"Sir what if I..."<br><br>She paused for a moment, her heart pounding. "What if I wanted to care for you? What if I...I didn't need to feel obligated because I am dutiful but..." she ducked her head shyly, suddenly feeling very timid. "What if I wanted that? To be dutiful, in every respect, not because of obligation, but because of desire?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>01-10-2015, 22:28:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias found himself returning her bright smile with one of his own without conscious thought, and once more, the eased expression, along with the soft light of the cabin and the informal atmosphere decidedly pronounced his youth in that moment.<br>“Well, we shall figure something out to account for that – quirk nevertheless. After all, even if not all your peers share that particular one, they probably have some of their own?”, he mused, for a second so absorbed by the technical implications that it completely blocked out the more… sensual aspects of the matter before he focussed on Laelle again and smiled.<br><br>“But that can wait until tomorrow, then”, he said, idly busying his hands with stroking the polished wood of the deck chair’s frame as he continued to listen to her opinion on the cruise and the ship. He nodded at her assessment as she paused to drink. “Well, I can tell you as much, we’re in for a few more quiet days at least, until we reach Farport, from where we will set a course for our mission proper”, he explained, picturing before his inner eye the map of the eastern Empire, following the coastline to the large garrison town that served as the hub for both policing the uncounted isles and archipelagos of the southern sea and the patrols along the crags and cliffs of the eastern borderlands.<br><br>Considering her next remark, he chuckled, having the decency to blush lightly at her indication that a BAC’s comfort was not exactly amongst the prime concerns of the Admiralty’s ship builders. “Well”, he said after a moment, shifting somewhat in his chair, “after all your, ah – level of content is somewhat critical to this – or other – vessels”, he said slowly, then broke into a grin. “Well, I’m glad you are comfortable on board this ship, anyway.”<br><br>He mirrored her taking another sip of his drink subconsciously, then regarded her for a moment in the ensuing silence. She started speaking before he could, and he leaned slightly forward without thought to listen. The Elven girl’s tone of voice immediately made it clear that there was something… unusual to her speech, and Elias could feel his heart beat faster in an anticipation for her next words that right then, he could not have easily put in words, even though he was fully aware all of a sudden what he wanted her to say – what he wanted her to feel.<br><br>When the words came, then, he felt the heat rising in his cheeks and ears, the changed tone of his skin masked by the shady light of the cabin, but probably discernible to the sharp eyes of an elf if she meant to look for it. For a long minute, silence followed, only disturbed by the thousand small sounds of the ship’s planks and rigging moving gently in the night’s breeze.<br>Opening his mouth then, Elias, for the first time in a long while, found himself lost for words. Then, a detached part of his mind wryly observed, it had been a long while since he last had wanted something – someone so badly.<br>Full realisation hit him all of a sudden. The feelings must have grown in his mind for a while, strong as they were, but then, he had not registered up to now, not consciously, how much Laelle touched him. It was not just her physical beauty, either, and it was not merely that he wanted to have her for a night, though the tingling feeling in his stomach at that thought made it clear that it was part of his infatuation. But then, it was also her personality, he realised in that moment. The way that she had looked for his approval earlier in the day, how she had put thought and effort into so small a task as making dinner, and the way that she had come to his cabin tonight, against protocol, just to thank him, and – to tell him… that she had… feelings for him?<br><br>He closed his mouth again, looking at her as a wave of affection swept over him as he regarded her demurely lowered head. He cleared his throat softly, then tried to speak anew, and this time, his voice once more obeyed his will, though it was low and held just the slightest tremble of – not exactly insecurity, but caution, the caution of a mindful customer walking slowly in a glass manufacture, admiring but careful not to break anything as he went about to pick his choice.<br><br>“I… I would say that… you’d not be alone in that desire, Laelle”, Elias started softly, resisting the urge to sweep her up in his arms right away. “I would like it if… if you cared for me… and let me care for you… beyond what’s our duty. It... it would be not exactly regulations, mind you”, he added with a half-joking tone. That, while true, was hardly a true hindrance for anything that happened on dozens of ships between BACs and other service members. “It’s just that… I would… I would not want… for you… to feel trapped in something you did not sign up for”, he went on slowly, looking for the right words that framed his concerns properly. “But… you are certainly not the only one… if you do… that is finding something desirable in this ship’s company.” He paused, his eyes, dark with emotion, set on her, hoping that she would look up at him as he waited for her answer.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>05-10-2015, 12:23:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She found herself blushing as the young officer seemed to turn toward the practical, and technical, implications of her confession. "I'm sure each of us has her own...quirks. That's why they take measurements for us, isn't it? Why we have files?" Her tone was a little defensive, knowing that - for one reason or another - that file had kept her grounded until Elias had taken pity on her.<br><br>Laelle nodded softly at his description of their journey, noticing that even while being fairly candid with her he didn't disclose their mission proper, and she didn't press - that wasn't her place, and she didn't want him feeling like she was taking advantage of the kindness she had been shown this far.<br><br>"I'd like to see Farport Sir..." There was an unabashed enthusiasm in that statement, guileless and genuine, and Elias might get an understanding of why Laelle might have signed up for years of kneeling nude on a deck powering a ship in the first place. When she spoke next, she caught his blush, the cabin still reasonably well lit to her bright, almond-shaped eyes, and she allowed herself a soft smile at the thought of that, even as her heart dangled out on the precipice of what she had just offered him, her pulse pounding in the long silence.<br><br>He was...cute...the way he seemed to consider what she said, struggling for words. Half the officers in the fleet would have already made their move, whatever it was, and he was...well, she had meant what she had said. He was a good man, and kind to her. A man deserving of faith, and devotion...and her dutiful intentions, if he would accept them. She wanted to be under his hand again, feeling his surety, his confidence in her...and so she waited, her head bowed slightly, demure and a little anxious while she put that decision in his hands.<br><br>She almost gasped when he said yes, and smiled shyly, giggling at his joke. "Correct me if I'm wrong Captain but I believe the man in charge of correcting a BAC out of regs is...well, the Captain." There was a flirtatious hint there, but also a promise - that he could trust her. She looked up, her own eyes glimmering, and she smiled.<br><br>"I don't feel trapped. I wouldn't have come to you if I did." Feeling suddenly emboldened, she rose, moving to sit across his lap, hoping brazen consent would help reassure him. "I want this. I want to serve you." She kissed the line of his jaw.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>19-10-2015, 23:13:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias’ mouth opened in surprise when the effectively naked girl draped herself so brazenly on his lap, and her lips brushed over the closely shaven skin of his cheek. While he was far from angry at her forwardness, it was unexpected, and for a moment, he said motionless as he regained his senses. Then, however, a wide smile spread over his face, and his approval, subconsciously at least, was at the same time blatantly obvious from the bulge in his pants pressing up against her butt as she settled down.<br><br>“You’re right,” he acknowledged after a short moment of consideration, smiling at her, his eyes finding hers that now were only a few hands from his face, and mischief sparkled in the grey irises. “It would indeed fall on the captain to correct you – of course, that would require that he saw fault in you, though.” His expression grew softer with his next words. “And I don’t see any fault in you,” he went on then, affection shining in his gaze now.<br><br>Carefully, almost hesitantly, he placed a hand on her shoulder, while the fingers of the other settled on her mid-thigh, a natural position for holding her in place in his lap. The feel of her upper body’s skin against his own bare chest made him smile in appreciation at both the softness and the warmth that made for a very comfy position.<br>“You know, you are a beauty,” Elias said after a moment, his words sounding somewhat distracted, as if he were not really talking to her but to himself before he looked up at her again.<br><br>“I mean it. There’s more to a beautiful girl than just looks, but you… you seem to have that. And that is something that is not easily read in those files of yours. In fact – while they are supposed to show those individual traits in you… the way they are kept for now are hardly adequate at being much use. That is one of the reasons I want to re-write the manual and need your experiences on that. If we could have each of you at your full potential, we could double our efficiency.” His expression glowed with excitement at that prospect, while he failed to see in that moment the other implication – that it meant then that Laelle had been grounded mostly for the one entry right at the top – ‘elf’.<br><br>Elias’ fingers toyed idly with the shoulder strap of her harness for a minute as he just enjoyed her closeness. It had been a while since he had just enjoyed a woman’s company, and somehow, the fact that they were on the ship alone, loneliness practically a given, made the simple closeness of even her just sitting on his lap incredibly more sweet even than it was to begin with.<br><br>“Well,” he began anew after a moment, seeking her gaze, “you are not a BAC while you’re here with me. BACs don’t come to their captains’ quarters,” he stated matter-of-factly, telling her that even though the practice around the fleet might be different, he would have none of it. “So, in here, we’re both… off duty,” he explained after looking for the right word for a moment. It did not feel completely fitting, but it was the best for now, he decided. More might come later.<br><br>“So… when you’re here with me… you don’t salute me, or call me Captain. And – since you’re on break – you should also get out of those straps,” he added then, tugging at her harness, though the wink he gave her made it clear that he was more interested in more access to her soft body than in remedying a state of dress he found undesirable.<br><br>“Will you – spend the night?”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>27-10-2015, 22:15:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She allowed herself to be pleased at his surprise when she sat on his lap, enjoying the way the elves viewed intimacy and its capacity to take humans by surprise. Why should she not be forward, given his interest? As she settled down, she felt other signs of his approval, and gave him a gentle, almost coy smile as she nestled herself against his length.<br><br>Blushing deeply when he said he didn't find fault in her, she ducked her head just slightly, voice soft. "If you do Captain...I would happily do what I would to correct it." She intended it to sound submissive, tempting, suggesting just how much she was willing to be his. She felt his hand grip her slender shoulder, the other against the smooth muscle of her slender thigh, and she enjoyed his hands on her, being held by him, and having closed the physical distance between them. She hadn't realized how much she had missed the affectionate touch of anything person, and how little the occasional candy from an officer's hand, or someone tugging an ill-fitting harness tight substituted for it.<br><br>Her cheeks colored again, and she smiled. "Thank you Sir."<br><br>She listened to his excitement at the project, to unlocking her potential, and if he didn't realize the implications of his statement, Laelle did almost immediately, her gaze lowering a little, even her sharply pointed ears seeming to drop just a fraction. "Well then, I should help with such a project..." Though part of her wondered if her log book, and his findings, really would help. Or if the fleet would just dismiss that as well, information drawn from an elven BAC's mind having the same value as the energy extracted from her body.<br><br>She nodded at his instructions, and the statement that she wasn't a BAC here, that somehow her status changed when she entered this room, though she truly didn't know how that worked, or why it was necessary. But she accepted it with a smile. "How generous of you, letting me out of my uniform..." She winked, helping him remove the web of straps that covered her body until she was truly nude before him, settling back down on his lap.<br><br>"Though I...I kind of liked calling you Sir...like this..."<br><br>At his final question, she smiled softly and nodded. "If you'd like me to, I'll spend the night."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>30-10-2015, 00:02:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				He realised that he had held his breath when she had slipped off his lap to undo her harness, and when she finally stood before him completely naked, he smiled at the private realisation of how much he had coveted her from the moment he met her, not as a BAC, but as a girl, without admitting it to even himself. Without the straps encasing her, even though they had left little to the imagination before, her lithe figure was even more lovely, he decided, the leather no longer framing and encasing her with an air of military efficiency and coldness.<br>Not that he could not see an appeal in that, too, but that, then, was more of an aspect of passion and lust than of the yearning for closeness and tender affection that he experienced in this moment, and for that, though he would have never foreseen it, the lack of harness was, apparently, no small factor.<br><br>He oomphed theatrically when she hopped back onto him, curling up in his lap once more, and he reflexively wrapped one arm around her shoulders, drawing her warm body against his bare chest gently while with the other he gave her nose a playful flick out of an impulse. “Nothing less but what you deserve after a long day on station,” he returned her cheekiness and added a wink of his own.<br><br>He cocked his head at her next remark, looking a little crestfallen for a moment, but then recovered, shrugging and smiling at her with a shadow of mischievousness, but also a small trace of worry that he might have gone too far with his feelings. “I did not say that you could not call me that… like this,” he said after a moment, putting the same stress on the last two words that she had. For a moment, he was silent, then he added, in a now serious voice, “I just mean… well, I just… I hoped that, at least, in here, I could be… something other than your superior”, he finished after a moment’s consideration and shrugged, trying to give the statement an air of indifference that he did not feel at all. <br>He had been about to say ‘more’, but then, he had no idea of whether she would welcome that forward a statement of intention at all, much less at so early a time, even as all of a sudden, he knew that he wanted her far more than just as a distraction for this assignment.<br><br>He mentally shouldered aside the concerns he had about that after a few seconds, renewing the gentle pressure of his embrace, cradling her in his hold so that her head rested close to his shoulder. He marvelled privately at the way her Elvish litheness at the same time made her appear vulnerable, in the way that she was a good half head smaller than him and probably weighed little more than half of what he did, yet at the same time also displayed a solidness and strength that spoke of her endurance and not once gave rise to any impression of frailness.<br><br>Meeting her eyes yet again, he studied her expression for a moment, subconsciously enjoying the tender urge of protectiveness he felt for her as he looked down on her while he tried to at the same time convey the meaning this had to him and search for her real, her own opinion on the matter. “I want you to want to stay because you liked that. Not because you feel it your duty, or because you want to do what I like,” he explained softly, in a voice that even with their closeness almost did not carry to her unless she really listened, indicating that he was not even sure he wanted to bother her with these finer points of the emotional turmoil that coursed through him right now.<br><br>“I would like you to stay very much,” he added then in the same voice, and almost as if it had a life of its own – in any event he did not recall having made a conscious decision to do so – his free hand rose to gently stroke her cheek, slowly, as if trying to commit to memory the feeling of her skin against his fingertips.<br><br>Elias sighed. This was all crazy – he knew Laelle for little more than three days, yet he felt drawn to her like he had never felt before with anyone, and he was afraid that he would drive her away – or worse pressure her into anything she did not truly want – if he let his desires free rein now in response to her call at his door.<br><br>Returning to the present from his thoughts once more, he smiled at Laelle again, realising that they had now sat silently for quite a while, her cradled in his arm and his fingertips by now gently tracing along her shoulder and arm, all while the straining tightness against her bottom, separated from her skin only by the material of his pants, was a constant reminder of his desire for her.<br><br>“Well…,” he said, hoping that it would not sound too awkward, “how about we go… to bed, then? No need for us to get all cramped up in this chair,” he added with a trace of humour as he nodded towards the cot against the port bulkhead, luxurious, on board a ship, for a single man, yet a tight fit for two. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>09-11-2015, 11:07:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She shed her uniform, and settled back onto him, giving him a playful pout at the feigned burden of supporting her weight on his lap, nestling against him as he wrapped her in his arms. She smiled, looking up at him playfully.<br><br>"And what to <em>you</em> deserve, after a long day on station."<br><br>Listening to him carefully, and hearing the worry in his voice, and the concern, she nodded softly, finding it endearing how he tried to navigate the waters of respecting her, and his own needs. But beyond that, she could feel his need for her, the way he held her, her smaller form tucked safely against his. And he spoke of his concerned, in a soft, tender voice - that he wanted her to stay for her...but that he did want her to stay. She gave him a gentle, wry smile - humans had to make this all terribly complicated, cloaking everything in layers of shame and implied meaning, taking something that should be simple and making it boundlessly complex. Privileged as they were, there were times that she did not envy them.<br><br>"Then stay I shall."<br><br>Allowing him to cradle her, to stroke her cheek, she waited for his invitation to go to bed, and she nodded. "That sounds like an excellent idea..." It was spacious compared to any bunk she had had, and while a tight fit with two people, in truth she took up very little room. About halfway to the bed, she stopped, placing a delicate finger on his chest, looking up at him despite her nakedness.<br><br>"But I want you to do something for me." She smiled, cutting off any protest with a finger to her lips. "You will not find it burdensome. I want you to be yourself with me. Your true self. And I want you to trust me when I say I am here of my own will and desire." She went on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, and whisper in his ear. "And while you do, I want you to contemplate that the things you said are not mutually exclusive. You can be <em>more</em> than my superior, and my superior at the same time. I can stay because I like it, and still wish to do things simply because you like them. Perhaps, my Captain, you should set your mind to what it means for those things to all exist in the same, willing girl."<br><br>With that, she crawled into his bed, looking expectantly up at him.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>17-11-2015, 23:00:27</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias had already opened his mouth half-way when Laelle’s small, soft finger came to rest on his breastbone, and despite being her commanding officer – and, probably, by her assessment and plans, anyway, it appeared, also her superior in other respects potentially – he found himself shushed rather easily. Then, he <em>was</em> interested in her views on the matter, he consoled himself in his mind, and while he remained silent as she brought forward her request, the thought brought a smile to his face as he listened.<br><br>He had to admit he rather liked the cheeky way that she addressed her own desires in, and whereas quite a number of his peers would have regarded her bold freshness as insubordination most likely, Elias never once thought it anything but charming.<br>“That sounds reasonable,” he agreed. “As long as you do the same? Be yourself with me.”<br><br>He knew was starting to grin almost stupidly when she rose on her toes to kiss him lightly, the warmth of her lips against his cheek stunning him momentarily in reverie of the gentle contact. He followed her lithe figure move as she sank back down again and seductively completed her walk towards his simple cot, crawling on top of the service issue wool blanket and the thin down comforter, the only private comfort that Elias had decided to spend some coin on in expectation of rough and cold nights while afloat.<br><br>For a moment, then, he just stood and gazed at the sight of the elven girl looking back up at him on all fours. He could not help the thought that, apart from the fact that she was, by most human standards – definitely by Elias’s personal one – a beautiful girl, in that position, she clearly had something – yes, he thought, something pet-like about her. It was in the way that she poised herself, something in the expression in her soft, big eyes that somehow communicated the idea that she would not at all mind to be petted, to curl up against a leg gratefully.<br><br>Of course, Elias then realised with a start. That – that must have been what she had been trying to say. That she, in a way, did not mind so much that half the fleet saw in her no more than a beast of burden, really, more so than in other BACs? No, he then corrected in his mind – this was probably not so much about duty, though that specific inkling might be an asset for that, too – but this was probably more about her true self, not her role with the fleet – and at least as far as he was concerned, he would much rather have had a pet than a beast of burden.<br><br>Realising that he was still standing a few steps from the bed where she waited, he smiled wider and approached her slowly until he came to a rest at the edge of the cot.<br>Smiling down at her for another second, his hand reached out to indeed softly tussle the hair at the crown of her head, and he chuckled in delight at that taste of her body.<br>Then a mischievous mood hit him, and while making sure he was not hurting her, with a playful shout he grabbed her by the shoulders and flipped her round so that she came to rest right in the centre of the bed, noticing absentmindedly how light she felt in his grip.<br>He followed right after her onto the bed, straddling her hips as he leant over her. For a moment, he braced himself against her shoulders, pressing her into the thin mattress, then&nbsp; he regained his balance and shifted his grip to her arms, and with his elbows flanking her armpits, fixated her wrists high above her head in a firm grip.<br><br>He smiled at her smugly, his face only a hand’s length from hers in that position, his body balanced on his knees and elbows for now.<br>“I do like <em>that</em>,” he declared with playful triumph in his voice, then, on an impulse, bent down to kiss her, square on the lips this time, and the sudden softness of her mouth against his made him linger for another moment before he came up again, looking a little more thoughtful. “And that,” he added, his voice more sober. “I’m not – hurting you, am I?” he asked then, nodding down between their bodies, which for now were still separated by a good three inches of empty space at least, and though Elias rationally suspected that her slender body would actually be much more resilient than her lithe build suggested at first glance, he wanted to be rather safe than sorry.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>20-11-2015, 01:07:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She watched his mixture of surprised, almost boyish pleasure at her willingness, the kiss on his cheek, the prospect of taking her to his bed, and the dawning realization on his face as he looked back at her, on all fours atop his bed. She smiled then, thinking that perhaps he might be coming to understand her - what she was offering. What she was <em>truly</em> offering when she offered herself to him. That while her people might be viewed as lesser beings by many humans, there was a way to conceive of that that was not demeaning. A way to cherish, instead of exploit, that still allowed her nature to shine through.<br><br>It was ironic, she thought, that it was easier to communicate that displayed like this than it had been with words. She gazed up at him as he slowly approached the bed, smiling with a sort of timid adoration as he tussled her hair, as he predicted the girl clearly enjoying the affectionate gesture.<br><br>She let out an surprised, but not alarmed, squeal as she was flipped over, her diminutive form easily moved as he wished her, until she was pinned beneath him, squirming in mock effort until the pressure on her shoulders stilled her, and her hands were pulled above her head, held firmly, but not painfully. She gazed up at him, her eyes soft, pliant, playful and willing, and she arched her body up against his, reveling in his newfound triumph, and confidence regarding her.<br><br>"I'm glad you do..." She parted her lips as he kissed her, a satisfied expression on her face, and shook her head. "No...it will take more than that to hurt me."<br><br>Gazing up at him, she rocked her hips up slightly, pressing against his still-clothed form. "And you will come to know that too, in time." She tiled her head up, straining once more to peck him on the cheek. "But that is why I chose you Sir." The word 'chose', as if she had selected him - in a way, she had, as she could simply have denied herself her interest, cloaking herself in duty and regulation to cover her where her duty harness did not. "Because even now, you ask after my comfort." She winked playfully, squirming a little more in his grip to give him the sensation of the submissive creature writhing beneath him. "But I believe it is time to set your worries aside for a moment, and enjoy what is given to you."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>30-11-2015, 23:31:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				“I am enjoying myself right now,” Elias said warmly, smiling down at her. “And I don’t worry about it particularly, it’s just – I don’t want to find out by accident.” His eyes fixed on hers, conveying his heart-felt interest in her and her well-being. His grip on her wrists tightened reflexively at first, and he looked at her with an expression of mild surprise when she began struggling, but then he saw her smile and he understood that she was probably trying to challenge him playfully.<br><br>He exerted a little more pressure on her arms, pinning them against the mattress a little harder still, and a mocking frown appeared on his forehead. “There’s no way out of this,” Elias admonished her with a fake growl in his voice as he bent down towards her, lowering his body at the same instant. His groin connecting with her hips, his stomach with her belly and his chest with her breasts, he effectively pressed her against the bed with considerable part of his weight. <br>Making her feel his presence like this, then, was not only meant for her, but the young officer found that also it provided the most delicious sensation for himself. Both the smooth skin of the elf under him itself as well as any movement she made caused pleasant shivers to race across his body, and right where their middles connected, she could now feel very distinctly the throbbing hardness of his manhood trapped between them.<br><br>He bent a little lower still, his breath washing over the side of her neck as he stole a quick kiss from her lips, then moved on to her cheek before gently nudging her with his nose. “None other than asking me nicely, anyway,” he added in a soft whisper. It was clear that this message, again, was part of the underlying affection he felt for her, not of the pretence they both seemed to enjoy.<br><br>“So,” he added then, and this time the playful seriousness was back in his voice, gently mocking her helplessness, “I guess I really should see what you have to <em>offer</em>…” He stressed the last word pointedly, as if disapproving of her suggestion that it was given, rather than his for the taking. “You should let me know then what your kind <em>is</em> indeed good for, then… except powering the ship’s guns? I don’t have a lot of experience with elves, after all, so maybe you could help me out a little there?”<br><br>He shifted slightly, taking a little more weight back onto his knees and lifting his upper body a few inches so as to grant himself access to her breasts. He, too, shifted his grip on her, taking both of her wrists in one hand, which meant if her struggles had been for real she might just be able to escape now, trailing his now free hand down along her arm teasingly.<br>Finding her exposed armpit, he scratched gently at the tender skin there for a moment, trying to determine her sensitivity at that spot, then moved on to circle her breast once with an outstretched finger before slowly following the soft curve of the perky mound to its apex, poking at her nipple playfully.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>22-12-2015, 10:33:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She smiled back up at him, feeling his grip tighten reflexively, gently and playfully testing him, gauging his interest in the idea of a struggling captive, of subduing the object of his desires and claiming her for his own. She let out a soft squeak without a hint of pain in it, and settled beneath him as he growled, using his larger form to pin her down, his body pressed to his, trapping her between him and the mattress, her body warm and smooth and small beneath his, her breath excited.<br><br>"So I see..."<br><br>She blushed when he kissed her lips, giving him a reassuring grin to show him she enjoyed the game, and knew that he would relent if she wanted him to - and doing her best to communicate that she didn't. When he freed her hands, she didn't move, keeping her body open and exposed as he trained down his arm, wriggling as he tickled her, before gasping as he moved to her breast, following the firm, rounded curve to it's sensitive peak.<br><br>"What my kind is good for..." She replied, her voice almost musing. "You mean what use might a handsome young officer have for a lithe, willing and...<em>flexible</em> little elf, who quite plainly adores him? An elf whose people are far less inhibited regarding the bedroom than your own, and who spends her days being ruthlessly agitated by the ship's systems with very little to think about but the rare and fleeting feeling of your touch on her?"<br><br>She pressed her hips up meaningfully. "I cannot imagine what use you might find in such a creature."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>25-01-2016, 22:22:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<hr><div align="center"><em>3rd Ellyversary Celebratory Post Comitted to my Longest-Present Playing Partner</em></div><hr><br><div style="text-align: justify;">Elias grinned when he felt her shift ever so slightly beneath him, and though none of them said anything about it, he got her meaning, the mutual understanding of his assurance that he would not really force her offset by her likewise unspoken display of consent, and after another moment, after the elven body had gone still again and with a playfully-firm look that told her to keep her position, he let go of her wrists entirely, leaving them above her head on the narrow cot on their own.<br><br>Instead, his now freed hand joined the one already occupied with her breast, cupping the other firm mound of perky flesh, his fingers digging into her skin firmly, but tenderly. His skin, clearly, then, was that of an officer, for even though there was the occasional callous on his hands that proved that as an engineer, he was not merely a man of theory, but rather fully capable of taking apart and put back together an entire steam engine by himself if necessary, it was nowhere near the roughness of a man who had sailed on the forecastle since his fourteenth summer.<br><br>The young officer took his time exploring the BAC’s modest curves, though there was no hint at all in his demeanour that would have suggested that he found any fault at all with Laelle’s body, but quite to the contrary, he seemed to find an almost absurd pleasure in the fact that, indeed, he could almost completely cup each of her breasts in one hand almost perfectly. He did not waste too much time on that, though, then, as he began to focus his attention onto her nipples again, simultaneously taking each perky nub of pink elven flesh, glowing softly in the crystal lamplight, between two fingers each and started rolling them between thumb and forefinger tenderly, teasing them to engorge and protrude even more stiffly with want before increasing the pressure softly and starting to tug on them slightly.<br><br>“You seem to be good for <em>this</em>,” he mused with soft humour in his voice, his sparkling eyes catching hers for a brief observation of her reaction before returning towards her curves once more, his own enjoyment of the situation evidenced by the pressure she could feel against her thigh where his groin strained against it through his pants, the faintest trace of wetness along with the rigidness of his erection against her skin both proof that his body, in any event, could think of quite a few – or, anyway, one particular – uses for the lithe girl.</div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>17-02-2016, 07:43:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She gazed up at him, bright, clever almond eyes submissive and longing, her hands remaining above her head of her own volition, participating - as she could - in her restraint. Gasping as he took hold of her breasts, his pressure firm but not painful, she arched her back up to press herself a little more forward, as if in offering. By the standards of her people his skin was coarse, but she knew for a human he had all the marks of a man of status. The kind of man who would be entrusted to captain a ship alone. The kind of man - if she admitted to herself that this was a consideration - who might be allowed the affectation of keeping the company of someone like her.<br><br>Laelle lay in the bed beneath him, reveling in the comfort of the soft mattress and well-made sheets (compared to those afforded to a BAC at least), and the sensation of his body atop hers, the feel of his hands on her skin as he explored her body, fingertips tracing the small but perky breasts, a squirm emerging from her as he teased her nipples, never enough to hurt, but only just.<br><br>She blushed, nodding softly. "I would hope so...to offer myself so and then be found wanting..." She parted her legs a bit, letting him press himself against her, moving just slightly enough to rub the cloth between them. "I would be mortified..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>29-02-2016, 22:05:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias grinned at her reply, both the content and the earnest tone in which it was delivered, in the twilight of the cabin. “I would assume you would feel that way,” he said after a moment gathering his thoughts. “Unless that,” he went on then, and as he spoke, one of his hands abandoned the firm warmth of her bosom to gently caress the curve of her flank as it slipped downwards, “unless such assessment were to… spur you to greater heights, yet, I might assume?”<br><br>He said the words jokingly, not really meaning by them that he found her, as a member of her race, to be wanton, nor that he found her lacking individually, yet as soon as they had left his mouth, he saw how they might be taken as such. “Not that you were under any need to pursue such,” he added thusly, softly, apologising for any offence he might have caused if not in words, then at least in tone.<br>His hand, meanwhile, concluded its downwards journey, cupping the side of her rear for a moment, appreciating another soft spot on the elf’s otherwise lean body, before he shifted his form slightly off her and to the side so that he was rather straddling her thigh now, with his hip against the mattress bearing at least part of his weight while still pinning her to the cot rather effectively.<br><br>He traced his hand inwards slowly, his fingertips barely grazing her silken skin, and he marvelled at the feeling with blissful calmness as he drew them towards the apex of her leg, noticing absentmindedly how her flesh became warmer as he closed in on the darker-coloured flesh of her folds, and his leg hooked over hers moved slightly to make her spread her thighs a little more widely to expose more of her pussy to sight.<br><br>Though Elias could still feel the throbbing of his own arousal against her thigh, the twilight of the cabin, the sound of the elf’s soft breathing, the rustles of her slight squirms, and the velvety feel of her skin against his projected a strange, tranquil atmosphere that left the young officer mesmerised by that almost meditative form of lovemaking, and in that strange state of mind, he felt closer to the BAC than he had ever to any woman before.<br><br>He paused before his fingers actually touched her lips, and his eyes sought her gaze, not so much because he doubted her consent anymore, but because he wanted this moment to last, wanted to see the expression on her face, and wanted for their union to be one of the mind as well as the body. “Forgive me if what I am about to ask might sound foolish,” he said softly, his fingers now that they were resting applying a bit more pressure unconsciously, making the situation slightly more – real in that moment. “I figure you have heard quite enough… foolish things from men... humans, I mean. I was just wondering… is this,” he gave a vague shrug that encompassed the whole situation, “is this at all like what… like how your people – love?” he asked, leaving it rather unclear whether he meant the last word as a parlour term for the carnal activity or the emotional concept, and as he waited for her answer, his hand moved tenderly, carefully, to slide over the pink flesh of her outer lip for the first time, marvelling at the texture and intimate detail of every quarter inch.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>16-03-2016, 09:15:16</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She grinned up at him, feeling his hands along her flanks. "Greater heights?" She winked playfully. "Am I not being persuasive enough?" She gave him a flirtatious, submissive pout, before kissing him a little more boldly when he immediately apologized.<br><br>"I am harder to break than you think. I am harder to offend as well. You needn't be so cautious with me, though I do appreciate it."<br><br>Recapturing the intimacy of the moment, she pressed her rear against his hand, before making sure her slender form was out of the way as he shifted, letting him regain his balance - yet noticing he kept enough of his weight on her to keep her pinned to the cot. While she had no doubt he would let her up if she insisted, it was a powerful - and welcome - feeling to be held like that. Letting him part her legs a little more to let him get a better view of her sex, she smiled up at him, her eyes welcoming and reassuring, letting him explore his new, and exotic, partner. Nodding once, she welcomed his fingers to her, listening to his question with an expression of care and attentiveness, not judging him for what he asked.<br><br>She gave his question some consideration, letting out a soft little squeal of pleasure when he finally touched her. "We are...more free with each other, not so worried about what stands between us. In this moment, we are...what we make of ourselves. I..." she blushed slightly, confessing something. "I will admit I like the idea of being pleasing to you, of serving you, but it is only because we will it thus. My people...we use this to express our true selves."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>01-04-2016, 23:15:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias did not reply for a moment, sliding his finger all the way down to where her lip ended in the delicate wetness of her entrance. He brushed over the sensitive flesh laying so exposedly before him once, deliberately slow so as to savour the moment, then he withdrew his finger again. He looked up at her, smirking, then brought his hand up to playfully flick a finger against her nose. “You are <em>very</em> pleasing, I’ll say,” he said in a mock-stern voice as he let his fingertip rest on her nose for e second, then began drawing it downwards, over her lips first, where he added another finger, then trailing down over her chin. Slipping downwards to her throat then, he made the transition to his open palm sliding over the taut skin and delicate structure underneath it, pausing his motions when he reached the very centre of her neck, his fingers lightly curling around her throat without exerting any pressure.<br><br>“I’m neither looking to break nor offend you,” he said seriously after half a dozen heartbeats of just holding her like that, and with his words, he pressed the tiniest bit, just so much that the sensation of his hand on her neck would be all the more real.<br>The he slid his hand downwards again, past her collarbone and for a moment, it seemed as if he would pass through the valley between her breasts to explore her pussy again, but then he stroked upwards again, cupping one of her breasts in his hand, kneading the firm, perky mound with an as-of-yet unseen vigour, almost as if he meant to challenge her assertion that she was harder to break than by what he had done so far.<br><br>“I sure would not mind,” he started, and his voice, much in contrast to the erection straining against her leg with pulsing strength, was remarkably casual safe for a mischievous, playful undertone, “to find out about your true self.” His fingers switched once again to the very tip of the elven girl’s youthful breasts, taking between them the sensitive pinkish nipple and starting to roll it between them, slowly and gently at first, but increasing in frequency and force as he grew more attuned to her reactions to his ministrations.<br><br>“I mean… are you… is this, after a day on duty… something you still enjoy, really? Aren’t you,” he winked at her while his thumb brushed over the very top of her nipple once, then twice, “sore and – spent?”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>08-05-2016, 09:02:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She let out a soft, longing sound as he traced his finger down her, followed by a playful yelp when he flicked her nose, a grin on her face. She parted her lips ever so slightly as he drew his finger down once more, as if to suggest other things they might be used for, arching her neck at his passage, stiffening just slightly as his hand came to rest curled around her throat, her body holding itself there willingly even if he exerted little force.<br><br>He could feel her heartbeat flutter beneath his hand, and she relaxed once more when he let her go, cupping her breasts, groaning as he kneader her flesh a little more forcefully, but still far from causing her discomfort. She squirmed and wriggled beneath him as he toyed with her, her eyes bright when he asked her if she wasn't too tired after a day in the harness.<br><br>"It is different, to be with someone. Sore, perhaps yes, but that's a pleasant sort of soreness. And as for spent..." Her eyes flashed in realization, and she leaned up, kissing him rather boldly. "You don't realize it, do you? That first day, when I was struggling in the harness and you helped me...it was the image of you, the feeling of your hand on me, the idea of being presented like that, in front of you, that steadied me. It's <em>still</em> what steadies me. And after a day of dreaming of that..." She pressed her hips up against him. "I would very much like to know what it's truly like."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>19-06-2016, 22:53:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Elias gasped playfully when she leaned up to kiss him, though he did not try to stop her. If anything, the joyous smile on his face grew wider and a playful twinkle appeared in his eyes as he for a moment caught her lip in-between his, sucking lightly. When she relented back again, he looked down at her thoughtfully for a moment, his hands still engaged in teasing the budding tips of her breast.<br><br>Then he smiled as he came to a decision apparently. He gave her breast another gentle squeeze before he began directing his hand downwards. His palm stroked over her taut belly, sliding smoothly over her skin past her navel and encountering the silky expanse of her pubic mound.<br>He transferred more of his weight onto the bed now and at the same time drew a little closer to her, so that now her flank was firmly pressed against his own body, with his own arousal against her hip. <br><br>“Well… my hand is on you now…,” he said, his breath aimed playfully against the side of her neck. While the straining hardness against her side made it clear that he was utterly enjoying himself, suddenly Elias knew that, right now, he wanted nothing but to concentrate all of his efforts on the young elf in his bed and watch her reaction. A fascinated aspect appeared in his eyes as his eyes sought hers and held her stare with his, and unconsciously, his foot rubbed against her calf.<br><br>Without looking, his fingers slipped a little deeper still, finding by touch alone the slightly fleshier tissue of her nether lips, and then they brushed over the firmer texture of her pearl. “You don’t sound very steady now,” he chuckled teasingly as his fingers returned to the spot after a moment, starting a slow, tender rhythm on the centre of the Elven BAC’s lust. “Maybe you need more… steadying?” he grinned, and settled comfortably against her shoulder, content, obviously, to wait and watch for her climax.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>06-07-2016, 02:40:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She kissed him eagerly, and then hung suspended for a brief moment when he caught her lip, her abdomen tight for the moment as she held herself suspended. Falling back down, she wriggled softly, trembling as he toyed with her breasts, made sensitive from her service.<br><br>Groaning when he squeezed her, she gasped as he drew his hand downward, until it rested above her mount, feeling him press against her, his body pressing down on hers. She nodded softly, grinning up at him.<br><br>"It is..."<br><br>Shuddering as he explored her, brushing against her pearl, she blushed deeply, closing her eyes in pleasure, spending a day - and much of her life - in frustration and agitation leaving her relatively easy to bring to climax. She could feel it building, but before that...<br><br>A slender hand reached up, holding one of his wrists, guiding it for a moment away from her loins and back to her breast, pressing his palm against her flesh until he could feel her heart beat - strong, and steady. "This is steady Sir...and this is your doing. All of it." She let go of his hand, letting him return to what he was doing, and in short order the cabin was filled with a cry of pleasure as the girl came, not from the relentless manipulation of her impersonal harness, but from another's touch.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Alec Lifestar</strong> on <strong>29-08-2016, 22:41:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: comic sans ms;" class="bbc_font"><em>Another anniversary post tonight, no. 900, and there's no one who deserves it more <br>nor whom I'd rather give it to than my most amazing and longstanding partner here on E. <br>I hope you enjoy and that we get to talk again soon!</em></span></div><br><br>“Well, maybe you and I have a different idea of… steady,” Elias said with a small laugh, but nevertheless he rested his palm where she had guided it, gently pressing his skin to hers to feel the thrumming of her life against his hand. In fair honesty, he would have been a little uneasy if her heart rate had not shown any reaction to what he was doing to her, but he found that he had nothing to worry there, for while the beat was strong and rhythmic, for his definition of <em>steady</em>, it certainly lacked slowness, her blood rushing with her excitement rather clearly.<br><br>“I surely don’t mind doing it,” he went on, his hand still over her heart while the other played with her nether lips, “I really don’t…,” he went on, his voice dying down to a murmur at what felt like a confession.<br><br>He tenderly continued to stroke her throughout her climax, at the same time prolonging the sensation and aiming to make her feel the most of it, but also soothing her heated flesh then in an attempt to soften the decline of pleasure after its peak. It was not really that he had a plan for it, or learned how to do it, but went with the moment, trusting to the feelings of the moment. In every time he had been with a woman, that approach had served him rather fine, and the better the more he seemed to have a connection with, which, honestly, he never had felt more than with the elven girl now lying panting in his cot, her modest curves heaving and falling as she caught her breath again.<br><br>Eventually, with a last soft rub over her clit, then, his fingers disengaged from her sex, trailing upwards softly to her bellybutton, then resting on her stomach. With his other arm, Elias propped himself up next to her, looking without <em>quite</em> looking at her. Resisting the urge to cradle her close, kiss her neck and rest his forehead against her temple, the young Engineer-Officer suddenly felt a twinge of awkward.<br><br>That was it, was it not? Sure, she seemed to have had enjoyed herself a great deal, but – surely, he suddenly thought, that was all it had been, a nice mix-up from the mechanical day-to-day attention the propulsion systems gave her. Surely, however, she would have nothing to do with her Captain gushing over her like some foolish student from the College of Philosophies, and his cheeks reddened, almost imperceptibly in the dim light, with embarrassment as he withdrew his hand from her stomach.<br><br>“So… that… I guess, that would make you feel better, no?” he asked, sensing the awkwardness of the question, but unable to improve on it, and even so, right then the idea of her spending the night here, in his bed, with him – while utterly desirable, also sounded incredibly…<em>silly</em>, and improper to boot, and surely not something she would – nor he should – endorse in the least.<br>&nbsp;<br>“I - I guess…,” he began after a while, not meaning to give the impression that he was sending her away right after the act, but also not wanting to create the impression that he wanted to get comfy with her. “I guess it’s about time we both were to settle down?” <em>In our respective berths</em>, his tone said rather unmistakeably, though inside, his stomach churned at the prospect of having to sleep <em>without</em> the warm slender body of the girl against him.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Battery Girl (CopperLily &amp; Alec Lifestar)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>14-11-2016, 04:00:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The laughed softly at his joke, her smile showing that she was laughing with him, rather than at him. "Perhaps Sir...but I know what it is you do to me."<br><br>She sighed softly as she came down from her climax, and she shivered gently in pleasure, her body slowly recovering as he trailed his hand up her, under his gaze yet not the focus of it. She felt his mood shift, she quirked her head to the side as he seemed to suggest she leave, her bright, almond eyes searching his expression. He was too cautious, too careful - too burdened by what was proper and expected. They were alone, and beyond that, on a vessel a Captain's word was law. And yet...<br><br>Sighing softly, she laid her head against him. "If you'd prefer to sleep alone, I'll go. But..." She looked up at him searchingly. "I...I would also like it if you asked me not to. It's been a long time since I enjoyed the warmth of another."
			</dd>
		</dl>
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