Space Odyssey: Spectre

Jace stopped listening once they started discussing the Xenar. It was less to do with the fact that they were no longer on the verge of fighting and more to do with his own situation. Private Charlie had noticed his distracted state when he did not answer any of her questions, so she hit him which pulled him from eavesdropping on his second in command talking with the chieftess.

"You really should stop listening in on others." Charlie pointed out as she literally pointed at a slightly inclined bed. "Lay on that bed, computer do a scan of Spectre Jace. See if you can find anything foreign."

Jace laid on the bed and then watched as a blue light washed over his body. Afterwards he looked over at Charlie who stood at his side and pulled a device from the wall. "All of this stuff is really old, but it is somehow still operational." She looked over the device for a few minutes before nodding.

"It looks like there is nothing wrong with you. Your brain is as normal as can be. Your body is just fine. The only thing the medical equipment detected was the nanobots, but those are normal for us." Charlie nodded, "I will let Nila know."

"Thanks, you have the equipment to check if the nanobots are acting as a contraceptive, right?" Jace asked nervously, getting a quizzical look from Charlie to which he just shrugged in response. "Just check me."

Charlie nodded, and after a few minutes where her expression changed several times she gave him a confused expression. "How did they manage to do that? Only time and a specific nanobot serum can undo that."

"I do not know, but I was not poked or prodded and I know I got a new shot recently. So this is definitely their doing. The chieftess said that it happened after my armor was removed when they did a scan of me. All that happened during that time was a light washed over me like the thing you just did to scan me." Jace explained as he slid off the bed. "Am I good to go?"

"Yes, but I caution against sexual activity with Nila or Vana until-" Charlie stopped mid-sentence as her eyes widened and she looked right at him. "Wait does this mean that they intentionally wanted to get-"

Jace nodded and grunted, "it does, apparently their entire species is female-only and they need the seed of males of other races in order to reproduce. The better the male, the more they want him."

Charlie stared at him with a shocked expression for another minute before nodding. "Okay, but regardless you need to refrain from sex with members of our squad until I can get another contraceptive serum for you. Unfortunately that means until we get back to Vexical Empire territories. I was not worried about it since I knew we were all up on our shots for the duration of the trip, but now…"

"Yeah, I know." Jace sighed and pulled on his helmet as he walked back towards the airlock. He soon arrived as Josef arrived with a crate and Jul'an with a few data chips. He had put his helmet on so he just waved at them as he walked towards his second in command and the chieftess.

"Welcome back Spectre Jace," The chieftess purred as he approached them. "Your second in command has been rather combative. Although I can understand why, I snatched up not just her boss but her man as well."

"Stop instigating. Or should I remind you that as much as you have advanced technology I can hold my own against you despite your technological advantage." Jace pointed out as he crossed his arms and looked at Nila, "are you giving her just the excess? We can not afford to hand over anything experimental as well."

"Just a few Victorium weapons that are rather common. One of those Pyre pistols that you Vexical soldiers use, along with a box of ammunition. That is just about it. But we are also giving them a few explosives." Nila answered with a nod. "In turn they are giving us a few different weapons."

"Speaking of those weapons here they come now," The chieftess glanced back and they looked to see a centuria without her helmet on walking towards them. She had short hair and Jace instantly recognized her as the one he fought in the test and then slept with. She only had a toga on that was quite revealing and she was walking behind another that was carrying the box that undoubtedly had the weapons inside. She was carrying a gold orb like before.

"Is this…" Jace looked over her for a moment, he bit his lip in thought.

"My niece? You are supposed to be resting." The chieftess cooed as she welcomed her to their tight circle as Josef and then the other centuria exchanged the cases of weapons. "I see you brought the information for our new friends."

Nila grabbed the datachips from Jul'an who was rudely staring at the chiefess' niece. "You are dismissed Jul'an." She growled and then handed the datachips to the chieftess' niece and grabbed the orb out of her hands and shoved it into Jace's hands. "Can we go now?"

"Oh? Someone is feeling impatient." The chieftess chuckled. "My niece, was there a particular reason that you came? Your armor and helmet should be getting their etchings and alterations right now."

The chieftess' niece smiled and held up something that she was keeping hidden behind her hand. He could tell the chieftess' shock when she froze and did not react. The chieftess' niece stepped forward and handed Jace the plate that looked gold. "I noticed earlier that you had markings on your body. That particular technology was something we, the Centuria, developed a long time ago. We no longer use it but I felt a need to add a mark to you, the same way you have imprinted a mark on my soul."

Jace tilted his head slightly before reaching his hand forward. She then reached forward with the plate and put it in his hand and held her own hand there. Then there was a painful feeling as the gold material seemingly melted and disappeared moving into their hands.

He could feel it slip past his armor and into his body.

[^%*&#@* was added to the system. System update in process.]

Jace blinked in surprise before he felt a voice in his mind. {You have a wife. Hmm… how curious.} He looked at the chieftess' niece who waved at him before walking away. {It seems you have only managed to access so much of these ancient nanobots.} Jace frowned and glanced at the Chieftess. "If that is all, we will head our separate ways. I hope to hear from you soon about opening up formal communication."