Tor Ri Leng, Tor Ri Leng!
It was an old prayer of protection handed down by his forefathers, uttered during times of stress. Commander Ving Li Shen could not help but utter it now.
How many times did he have to go through training a new officer on ops missions? Especially one that had a lot of disregard for the Moon-Guards and the traditions of the Zodan Empire.
"Give me strength!" he muttered softly, as he glanced at the younger man before him, tromping towards the cave's entrance. "I'm so gonna need it."
Tall and lithe, and hair that shone line a silver beacon, with gold wisps threaded through, the junior officer moved with a feline grace that often startled Ving. Yet, he had to admit the man could hold himself well in a fight. He'd watched the man spar during training for this practice mission, and his form was naught but splendid to see.
Something within him, however, did believe that Officer Quan Shei Imotra could be a candidate for Upper Commandment. Ving still held his opinions to himself. He would give a full report on this young insubordinate when the two finished this blasted assignment. Which he hoped ended soon.
To make matters worse, they had to find a princess. A spoilt princess who volunteered to be part of this training mission. Stupid princesses. If he'd seen one Lotus-petal smiling Empire princess, he'd seen a dozen of them. The Emperor was known for his many wives ... and trails of children.
He glanced at the young man before him. Less than a half-decade younger than him, Quan could almost pass as one of the Emperor's many bastard children too. Except it was said the junior officer was the son of a royal duke and a high-born lady of the Imperican Domain. Most people from there were of light skin and hair physical characteristics.
Still, the hybrid officer's jade-tinted aquamarine eyes showed he was of the Zodan Empire also. Most Zodan purported varying shades of green or aquamarine eyes. Occasionally one saw pure jade-amber eyes, like his own. He flipped his long dark braid off his shoulder as he marched behind the other man.
They were on their way through this thick foliage, to locate the Princess Amiandra Lo-min. He didn't know how many times the selfish little imp tried to get him in her bed. And being one of the favorite children of the Emperor, he wasn't about to put his neck on the line for her little whims.
He glanced back over at Quan, and wondered if the man would be tempted by the delicate prettiness of the princess. He hoped not. Ving viewed the ground as he almost tripped in a small hole. The ground was soft and slightly muddy after the light rain they'd had this morning. He looked back up to see if Quan had any problems.
His eyes rested briefly on the man's backside when a gold chain hanging out of it caught his attention. During ops missions they weren't allowed to wear adornments so that that type of thing didn't interfere in any way with their assignment. At least it wasn't against regulations to carry them in your pocket. Ving didn't feel like reprimanding the younger man, so ignored it.
What Ving found he couldn't ignore, was the way Quan' high tight buttocks swayed so pleasingly as the junior officer walked in front of him, his step light and quick. Ving shook his head, trying to clear his wayward thoughts. What had made him think that Quan's butt was attractive in the form-fitting white uniform the junior officer wore? It cupped his bottom cheeks, defining the smooth muscles of them quite appealingly.
He'd been struck by the younger man's soft beauty from the first moment he'd come aboard the Lotus-Prime. No person's presence, male or female had ever affected Ving so damn instantly, and on many levels. Ving groaned.
Quan halted to look back at him.
"Everything alright, sir?"
Ving nodded. "Just will be glad when this is over."
For the first time on their mission, Quan smiled at him. "Yeah, me too. I don't like them either."
Quan recently transferred to the Emperial Ship Lotus-Prime. Had he been on training missions on other ships? "This is not your first then?"
Quan took a deep breath, evidently catching his breath. "No, sir. I went on a few real missions back on the China Star. I thought that my mission training period was over actually."
Ving grinned. The China Star was one of the oldest ships in the Shodan fleet. Said to have come from Earth, where their people partially originated from. Old, but still one of the most impressive ships in the whole Emperial Space Navy. The captain was well known for his maneuvers and training of his personnel.
"I know Captain Maikin, he is thorough. They should have listed that on your record, but then we didn't get the transfer order files right away. The sunbursts have been interfering with ship-to-ship communications of late."
"Those from the Doriahn sun emit radically only periodically around the seventh month, sir. So, I'm sure the records are there now."
He nodded. "It's good to know you are prepared then. Let's continue. I don't believe we have much further to go."
The younger officer nodded an affirmative of his head and then spun around to begin heading up the trek again. Ving's eyes once more strayed to the man's butt. It perturbed him a bit that he found Quan's ass so appealing. He shook the thought off quickly and proceeded after the other man.
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