Aranych wasted no time and threw herself down the corridor, wrapped in her tight black combat clothes and wielding a pair of formidable torso-length blades. Famished were feasting, both on downed Slaves and their own fallen, twisted kin, but they were quickly struck down as the assassin flew past, with a single decapitating flick of her blades.
She reached the control room in seconds, where a single oversized Baron was standing outside the door - a shark with blood-stained teeth and scarred scales. All he saw though, was a flicker of movement, a phantom in the shadows, and instinctively the Baron raised his fist to defend himself.
His defence was useless. Aranych kicked off the wall and drove a pin-point blade straight through his eye socket, the sheer force of the assault sending his entire frame hurtling into the control room and ploughing through the central panel.
The Barons from earlier were still inside. Standing around the dead bull, their jaws wet with his blood.
Riding the shark's body like a surf board, Aranych whipped her dual blades straight through the closest Baron's bodies. Steel met flesh and they were sliced cleanly in two.
Ice cold panic hit the remaining Barons like a shockwave; Aranych had been in the room for less than a second and three of them were dead already. Those closest to her fumbled for their blades whilst the others went for their firearms, fat fingers fiddled with belt straps, handles and hooks.
The assassin launched herself from her corpse-board, driving her blades straight through the next two Barons, cutting through their entire mid section and arms midway through their weapon draw. The following Baron threw his arms clumsily at her, hoping to knock her off her feet, but the Controller ducked smoothly below his swing, her blades a second shadow. Like a striking match Aranych surged past him, drawing her blades. Blood spilt free from his throat and waist.
The final Baron in the closest group shuddered violently as Aranych stabbed her blades straight into his shoulders. She swung around him, keeping him between her and the second gun-toting group, just in time as their barrels lined up with her.
There was no hesitation from the remaining Barons; gunshots rang out loudly, bullets puncturing into the back and spine of the impaled Baron.
"Hell no! I'm outta here! You guys can handle her!" The techie Baroness yelled, slamming her fist down on her wrist controls. Her cloak masked her hideous profile and she was gone, leaving the last two Barons to empty their pistols in the back of their former comrade.
The Controller's gaze hardened and she withdrew one of her blades from her living shield, taking just the briefest pause to think, to listen… before thrusting the blood-stained steel out to her side. An electrical crackle pierced the air and the tech Baroness re-appeared, the blade puncturing clean through her face and neck. Blood quickly followed, popping and crackling as it fizzed over the failing cloaking field. Aranych withdrew the blade as quickly as she had drawn it with an elegant twirl, as the Baroness collapsed to the floor in an undignified heap.
The last two Barons looked mortified, their gaze rapidly sweeping between the crackling corpse on the floor and their now deceased kin, riddled with their rounds. Their pistols clicked uselessly, having run dry several trigger pulls ago. There was no time to retreat; Aranych was on them, she booted her meat shield straight at the closer Baron, sending him tumbling to the floor as the other swore under his breath and fumbled to reload, snatching a fresh magazine off his belt. But as he went to press it into the handle of his pistol, he felt a burning sensation on his forearm, and his eyes landed then on his stump of a wrist. Suddenly, the world was falling and his body collapsed under itself, hitting the floor like a fat water balloon. Pain shuddered through him, catching up to the injuries inflicted. His head rolled, and as it did, his gaze landed on his own hands and feet, in a pool of slowly-spreading blood before his world faded to black.
The final Baron pushed his perforated kin off him and himself to his feet with a furious snarl, raising his arms up over his head so as to crush the assassin. In the blink of an eye, he was face to face with his attacker, hers so close to his that he could almost feel the bat of her eyelashes against his skin. She wore a cold indifference, her bright red eyes staring into his eyes with… boredom. He caught sight of her dual blades falling to the ground in slow motion behind her, willingly left behind in a display of astonishing speed. Her fists were gripped tightly instead around a pair of punch daggers, narrow blades protruding from her fingers with his name written all over them.
Pain flooded through his body long before he could bring his arms down, enveloping every inch of his slobbering frame. A series of rapid, precise punches drove the blades in and out of him with blinding, life-ending speed. A brutal spray of crimson followed every strike as she pummelled him like a doll.
Strength drained from his frame, his limbs unresponsive as the daggers clipped his tendons with a surgical precision. The Baron thumped back against the wall as the Controller danced backwards and snatched her blades out of the air before they could hit the ground, then she brandished both of them against his throat like a pair of oversized scissors. The Baron's arms hadn't even hit his sides before the blades met.
Annihilation. Delivered precisely, overwhelmingly, directly.
*
"They're coming! They're bloody coming! Hurry up with that weldin'! Without Nerin, we got no hope of ever getting this ship moving! So shore up and give it everything you got!"
Multiple squads of Barons hobbled frantically through the grease-covered innards of their ship, rolls of barbed wire clasped in their chubby hands. Gun racks were raided, rifles, pistols and hand cannons deployed en-masse to every Baron available.
The landing bay was nothing short of a wartime re-enactment. Layer upon layer of hastily welded together barricades, cargo box bunkers, spools of razor wire, belts of ammunition and many, many entrenched Barons, all lit under the old-fashioned yellow glow of sodium ion hanger lights. Their weapons were all pointed towards the entrance to their ship, the ramp purposely lowered and waiting for the slightest provocation to fire. Preparations were still underway however, with larger gun emplacements being thrown up with as much care as the Barons could muster, particularly, a twin-linked auto-cannon of significant calibre was close to completion.
The maintenance access panels were similarly guarded, with dedicated squads of Ragers waiting for the moment to let loose and hammer any intruder into paste. The Famished had been sent out already; too much of a liability in a situation like this, they were to serve as the front line and nothing more.
The ship's bridge had been smothered in darkness since their accidental warping into the dreadnaught, stranding them deep in the bowels of the Renewal, but its sensors were still working to some degree. The captain laid his eyes on the local radar scanner, showing a field of dots just outside the ship's perimeter and slowly permeating into the gloomy stone-walled surroundings.
The dots began to gravitate towards a central point, deeper into the dreadnought. It was slow at first, then they began to surge in together.
The Barons in the hangar gripped their weapons tighter as they heard the Famished scurrying towards something, their hungry yelps and chattering fading as they left the ship's perimeter…
Their collective eyes scanned the darkness beyond the ship's ramp as the tak of their bionic feet against the cold stone faded away.
A howling wind briefly swept through the ship, chilling the bones of everyone on board.
The captain swallowed loudly, glancing at his officers for support.
"Looks like something got their attention. Let's hope they do some damage."
The anxiety in the landing bay rose as a shuddering gurgle rumbled through the floor.
The radio in the bridge crackled alive, jolting all the high-ranking Barons together as the tension snapped like a vice.
"Captain! I think something's moving out there!"
The Famished had fallen silent, their hollering slowly replaced with an intensifying screech of metal dragging against stone.
The Barons in the bay focused on a lone, approaching Famished. The whirring of its bionic servos gave a distinctly sickly growl as it limped towards the ramp.
As it entered the orange light of the bay, the Barons watched with increasing horror. Something was straggling its entire chassis. Bright red bloody tendrils looped over and through its body, piercing into its organ sack like poison ivy on a tree.
Its tormented stagger continued up the ramp, its feet catching against the filthy metal with an ear -piercing scrape as its servos continued to whine and protest.
"Light it up!" One of the Barons barked from behind his crate barricade. His words were followed instantly with a barrage of bullets, shells and slugs. The Famished was torn to pieces, collapsing to the ground in multiple blood-soaked pieces. A concerned mumbling echoed through the bay as the tendrils straggling the Famished pooled together and flowed back down the ramp, seemingly on their own accord.
As the echoing gunfire faded, a distant, melodic humming gently replaced the silence, filling each of their ears like a soft caress.
Hands tightened around grips and ammo belts jingled lightly as concern and discomfort grew in the wake of the humming.
"What the fuck is going on out there?! Are you trying to spook us?!" One of the Barons snarled angrily, staring into the darkness for answers. But the haunting humming continued, ignoring him entirely, slowly increasing in volume as it approached.
"YOU WANT US?! COME GET US?!" One of the Barons yelled back defiantly, prompting a wave of hooting and chants, fat fists slammed against chests in a wave of desperate bravado.
Their hollering eventually gave way to the indifferent humming once more, closing in all around them. What once felt like a soft hug now felt closer to an intimate strangulation, suffocating their senses as it resonated through the room.
It was somehow alluring, threatening and hypnotising all at the same time, when a screech cut through the melody like nails on a chalkboard.
"What the hell is that?!"
A lump of claws, jaws and bloody tendrils emerged from the dark, two stories tall and towering over the Barons. It was an amalgamated lump of flesh and metal, dozens of Famished sewn together and held in place with the same bloody tendrils, like meat in its netting. The various heads that permeated its bulk all barked and snarled furiously as the limbs lining its base heaved its mass in unison, propelling the serrated, frenzied mass forward.
It lugged itself up the ramp and straight into an onslaught of firepower, hammering against its disturbing aggregation like a storm on a tin roof. But the tide of lead wasn't enough to hold its advance back, the creature tore through the razor wire and snatched at the nearest Barons, dragging their meat into its shredding core. Once it latched on, it was impossible for its victims to free themselves as every twist, turn, every desperate struggle they made only resulted in more teeth, hooks and blades snagging into their flesh.
At the rear of the defence, a particularly large Baron hauled a rocket launcher onto his shoulder, aiming it at the heart of the scrawling amalgamation. But before he could pull the trigger, a massive metal harpoon punched straight through his chest with a loud, rumbling twang, sending his bulk hurtling backwards as his innards exited his body. His blood was channeled out of the harpoon, like it was a tap straight into his heart, rapidly exsanguinating him. The rocket launcher clattered to the ground - tip first - and a massive explosion ripped a gaping hole in the Barons defences. The shockwave visibly shook the entire landing bay, sending poorly maintained lights clattering and smashing to the floor.
The emplacement rattled off shell after shell, knocking lumps out of the amalgamation as a Baroness cackled madly behind the singing lead thrower, hot brass casings raining over the floor either side of her. But her rampage was short lived as a harpoon slammed into her chest, the sheer force of it knocking her whiplashed corpse backwards and stapling her to the wall. The emplacement collapsed beneath her. Blood flowed freely from her chest like water from a burst pipe.
The Famished abomination continued to claw its way forward, its limbs snagged in razorwire as bullets tore away at it, when the Barons at the back of the bay caught sight of a second aggressor, slithering towards the ramp. Her eyes immediately locked onto those watching her as she drew a fresh harpoon from her quiver, fixed along her tail, and notched it in her makeshift siege bow. Her grin widened in line with the draw of the steel cable string.
TWANG
The echo from the string rang above all.
They would be hunted down and extravasated, one at a time.
*
"I don't know who the hell that is, but they're coming for you! And they're gonna kill you all!"
"Shut up, meat!"
A sky blue czarite gripped at the bars of her cell, teeth grit furiously as she growled at her Baron captors. Her body was covered in numerous healing cuts and scabby welts, but she was more muscular than most prisoners held by Barons. Just outside her cell was a table covered in surgical tools, and a rage engine, taunting her with its future installation.
"Never! I don't care if they kill me! They're gonna kill you and that's all that matters, pig!"
"SHUT UP, MEAT!" The Baroness repeated, more fiercely this time as she spun to face the czarite, spittle dripped down her maw. "Its not too late to put you on the chopping block, like we did your friends!" A wicked grin grew over the hyena's face, but quickly dropped as the czarite remained steadfast, her fists clamped around the bars of her cell.
"Try it! I'll knock your teeth down the back of your throat!"
As they spoke, a shuddering metallic groan vibrated through the ship. The sound of carnage followed, screaming and fighting.
The Baroness glanced over her shoulder towards her kin. There were eight of them in total, all the same species, all dressed in the same barbarian way, their mangy fur stained with sweat, blood and more. Cleavers, knives and even a selection of fireaxes were strapped across them, but the rest of the group was a few metres back, snarling at each-other angrily about what best to do about the prisoner.
A second groan rang out, this one sounded closer than the first.
"You know meat, we're discussing how best to survive. We Barons, we're good at surviving. We have to be. You were the only one of your batch who willingly ate the meat we put out. We know you're a survivor too. We're in this together now." The hyena's eyes narrowed as she stared at the czarite. "If you do what I say, maybe you can survive a little longer."
"Need more fighters to buy you time, huh? If you let me out of the cage, the first thing I'm doing is stabbing you in the throat." The czarite scowled. "I don't care if I die! I want you and your fucking cheer leader squad reduced to paste! I'll do anything to make it happen!"
A third groan rumbled through the floor, directly beneath their feet.
"Fine!" The Baroness growled, suddenly lunging at the czarites hands and tightening her fists around them. "We're nearly out of food, so you're up next! I'm gonna break your hands and then drag you out of that cell and slit your damned throat!"
The czarite squeaked in pain as the Baroness squeezed her fists onto the bars tightly, gritting her teeth and trying to pull herself free -
- When a massive ebony hand erupted from the floor and snatched the hyena's ankle. The Baroness spluttered in surprise and immediately let the czarite go, fumbling for a cleaver on her belt. The hand squeezed, and with a loud crunch yanked the Baroness down, her entire leg disappearing into the floor as her body slammed in the ground.
"Fuck yes! Tear the bitch to pieces!" The czarite shouted, jumping up and down excitedly as pain soured the Baroness' face. The other hyenas rushed over as fast as their tubby bodies would allow, just as the floor creaked loudly again and the felled Baroness was dragged deeper.
"Get me out! Something's got me!" She cried out, her face going sheet white as the creature below tugged again. Her frame cracked, her hips splitting in two as she was forcibly pulled through a hole too small for her. Her eyes found the czarite's gaze, fear on one side of the bars, glee on the other. She felt her body go numb, and with a final pull, the Baroness was swallowed into the floor.
The jagged metal hole snagged with clumps of fur and skin. The others quickly gathered around, one of them falling to his knees and reaching down with a chubby, gloved hand.
"I got you! We need to stick toge-GLURK -"
His sentence was strangled short by a thick, brown, dripping tentacle snatching his throat. It wrapped around his neck and, seconds later, he was pulled into the hole too, head first. His larger frame immediately plugged it, catching on all the same jagged metal as his predecessor.
The others grabbed onto his body and pulled him backwards, their mitts latching onto his legs and pulling with all the strength they had. A muffed crack reverberated through his body and through the hands of the Barons holding him. Then, his flailing figure went limp.
He too was ripped through the floor, his entire body dragged through the hole, leaving even more fur and blood dripping from the damaged panelling.
The remaining Barons cautiously leaned over the hole, and peered down into the gloom. A pair of large, almost cute amber eyes stared back at them, her face speckled with golden freckles and fresh crimson blood. The two dead Barons were draped against the stone floor either side of her. Specifically, the dreadnought's floor.
"She breached the damn hull?!?"
Tentacles reached and latched onto the edges of her breach. A dark, ebonite creature crawled out of the hole, like a demonic spider emerging from its den. She stepped forward towards the Barons and her tentacles unfurled, tainting the walls with their black ichor. This room was hers now.
Adrenaline surged through the Barons' spines, as fear deep and primal stirred within them.
The hyenas launched into a frenzy, drawing their weapons and charging towards Ink. The giantess snatched the closest one by the neck and threw him back towards the cells. The Baron's head slammed between the bars with a meaty crunch, his corpse slowly sliding down to meet with the floor.
Five remained.
The very largest charged straight towards Ink, teeth bared and knife drawn, but was met with a fist of steel, ploughing straight through the Baroness' face, sending her to the floor with a thunderous thump.
"Hell yeah! Tear them to pieces, big girl!"
Ink's eyes locked onto the figure across the room, to the sole surviving prisoner. A czarite... A maddening grin stretched across her face as the Barons at her sides charged. Immediately swept up by her tentacles, looping over their wrists and squeezing until their weapons clattered to the floor. Ink acted on the one to her left first, her hands seizing the Baron's head and jaw. The Controller's eyes didn't even blink, didn't flicker away once from the imprisoned czarite's captivated gaze, as she heaved the Baron clean off the floor by the head, and proceeded to do exactly as she had asked.
Jaw was severed from head and head was severed from body, before the corpse was launched at the others, sending two Barons to the ground as she turned her attention to the other ensnared Baron on her right. This one had managed to bring a tentacle close enough to his maw to clamp his teeth around it, unbeknownst to him that he'd chosen his method of execution as Ink lifted him like a corn on the cob and drove her teeth straight through the back of his neck, spitting the chunk out as his body went limp but keeping the corpse in her tentacles grasp.
The last two were still untangling themselves from being floored as Ink stomped over, raising the latest victim into the air like a guillotine and slamming it down on the two of them. There were few sounds quite as satisfying as that of mauling two Barons with another Baron. The fleshy thwack brought a wide, visceral grin to the imprisoned czarite's face as she watched her captors' pinned feet go from kicking and struggling, to twitching, to still.
The intense violence of the mauling had left not just Ink, but the entire corridor completely drenched in Baron blood, dripping from the ceiling and walls as her makeshift blunt guillotine had not survived the butchering intact.
The blood-drenched Controller turned her attention to the cell, stomping over, grabbing the bars and pulling them apart. The metal quickly gave way to her immense strength.
The czarite's face dropped from excitement to fear. But Ink dropped to her knee, and held out her hand. The czarite hesitated.
"A-Are you going to hurt me?" She asked, glancing Ink cautiously up and down.
"Me? No… I'm a friend. You are a Baron captive, right?" Ink replied with an unsettling, gore splattered grin.
"Y-Yeah…" The czarite stammered.
"What's your name?" Ink asked softly, then caught herself. "No. It doesn't matter. That's your old name now."
"W-What do you mean?"
Ink's mind flashed back to the freighter, all those months ago.
"You're not the only one who's been the victim of the universe's cruel tendencies. I'm not here to hurt you, or make you feel weak. But if you like, you can join us? I need someone who is willing to get their hands dirty with me, to exact some much needed revenge."
"On the Barons?" The czarite asked, her face more curious than fearful now as she processed Ink's words.
"If you like. There are plenty of terrible people who need to be… destroyed. I offer you the same gift I was given, and never again will you find yourself in a cage. You will be reborn, and as such, you will choose your new name."
"That does sound good…" The czarite replied, her confidence slowly building as Ink appeared to be affable. "What is this gift? It doesn't… involve eating does it…?"
"No!" Ink giggled, shaking her head. "It is much more fun than that. It'll make you big and strong, like me."
"That sounds good. Real good." The czarite's hesitation completely evaporated as she stared into Ink's eyes.
"Then come with me." Ink held out her blood drenched hand once more towards the prisoner. "And we'll tear this place apart together."
*
Back in the landing bay, things had gone from bad to worse for the Barons as the amalgamated Famished continued to rampage through their defences. Anyone who got too close was subjected to their endless barrage of bladed limbs and hooks, only dragging them deeper into its core the more they struggled. Its sheer mass and size demanded the Baron's full attention, as bullets and shells slowly stripped the outermost layers of Famished away.
But slithering in and out of the frenzy was the serpentine Controller, her body able to lay almost completely flat to the floor to use the baron's defenses against them, before darting her torso upright and firing a harpoon across the bay. Each one was lethal to an obscene level, impaling Barons and pinning them to anything remotely sturdy enough to endure their combined weight.
The battle was in her favour already, but the Barons weren't giving up. Many of them were sticking rigidly to their makeshift bunkers, continuing to pump out lead with the hopes of catching either the snake, or finally downing the turned Famished.
She slithered through the still-smoking shell casings and cargo box trenches, her body tingling as she felt a set of eyes land on her from above. Three Ragers in the maintenance walkways high up were peering over the edge, with their weapons drawn as their engines spun into a furious hum.
The walkway was around twenty feet high, making the jump dangerous, if not lethal for the top heavy Ragers. They peered over the safety railings together, the last strings of sanity in their brains battling with the whirring engines stapled crudely to their backs.
The Ragers' focus became collectively lost as they stared at the snake laying between their fortifications, her body splayed out invitingly. It was only a fleeting moment in reality, but that glance into her eyes was echoing through their synapses over and over. A pointed, enticing grin graced the snake's face as her eyes seemingly called out.
Taunting whispers rattled the Ragers' brains.
Jump… Jump… Jump…
The middle Rager slammed a hand onto the railing and heaved himself over, but the second he felt the pull of gravity, a harpoon punched straight through his chest and sent him hurtling into the bay ceiling with an almighty THWACK. The rage engine shattered like a grenade as it was squeezed between him and the ceiling, shredding him thoroughly and his body hung like a chandelier, slowly dripping blood onto her below.
The other two Ragers swiftly followed, undeterred by the gruesome display as they vaulted the railing in the same manner. The Controller quickly slung her makeshift siege bow over her shoulder and reached for a pair of 'daggers' on her belt. In the blink of an eye, her immense form reared up and lunged towards the Ragers mid-air. The daggers found their mark, piercing through both of them like a titanic snake bite and carrying their split bodies down to the ground with a bone-breaking impact.
The remaining Barons began to panic. They'd finally brought the amalgamated Famished down, but not before it had trampled through all of their defensive lines, shredded many of the ambushing Ragers and taken a few Barons down with it.
The sharp twang of the Controller's bow reverberated repeatedly through the landing bay. There was no more covering fire, no one left to call targets, just a hunter prowling amongst her kills. The remaining Barons banded together, lugging their lead throwers and abandoning their defenses entirely, heading for the bay door that led deeper into their ship.
Panicked glances failed to locate the snake as she remained low, navigating the warzone with ease. The bay door refused to open and only creaked in protest to their frantic hammering on its emergency release.
"Hurry up with that door! We need to retreat to the command deck!"
"I'm trying! Nerin was supposed to fix the mechanism!"
"Well she's bloody dead now! Just pull it!"
Hands and claws latched onto any pry-able surface as the Barons huddled around the door desperately. Hungry, guttery roars shuddered through their skin as the remaining dismembered Famished crawled out of the defences, dragging their ruined bodies towards the Barons.
"Fucking shoot them!" The leader cried out, pointing a shaking hand at the approaching Famished as he rammed his shoulder into the door desperately.
The Barons at the rear spun around again and opened fire desperately.
Primitive prey respond to primitive tactics.
The serpentine Controller rose from the ruins and let loose a volley of shots. Each harpoon speared its whales, ripping through the cornered Barons with deadly efficacy. Blood frothed over the floor in sticky gushes. Only when all but the leader were dead did the door finally give way, just enough for him to squeeze through and stumble deeper into the ship as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.
Although there was no hope to be found there. Every corner he turned was a slaughter. A brief glance into the prison wing revealed the mutilated corpses of the hyenas, the wing splattered with crimson and black splashes. His heart pounded in his chest as he threw himself towards the captain's deck, his tools and weapons jangling frantically with every thumping step taken.
But when he got there, the captain's deck was cloaked in darkness, and filled with an eerie silence.
Words choked in his slobbering throat as he slammed his hand in the direction of the light switch, eventually finding it after several clumsy attempts. A harsh light revealed the room.
The captain was dead, along with his body guards; each of them executed and laid about the room, their still warm blood soaking into the ship's computer consoles. He barely had time to process their deaths, when he suddenly felt a warmth running down his chest. His hand smudged crimson over his skin, instinctively reaching for a taste, before everything went black. Like his kin, his corpse would fall to the floor in multiple, precisely sheared pieces.
With the Baron dealt with, Aranych flicked her blades out, shedding the blood from the steel then quickly sheathed them. As she did so, the serpentine Controller made her way onto the deck, scanning the room for any remaining Barons. The pair nodded to one-another before Aranych departed; a quick search through the hierclasty confirmed that the Barons had been completely exterminated, and there was little reason to stay aboard this blood-slicked rust bucket any further. The snake however was keen on searching the vessel. She wanted her trophy, her prize, her tail tip swishing back and forth as she craned her neck to survey the room.
Her gaze landed on the captain's station, its bulky analogue computer flashing idly, waiting for input. She slithered over and pressed her finger onto a single key, bringing up the log-on screen.
THE KRYNYTH - INSERT PASSWORD
***A Few Hours Later***
"We have been here for less than a month and our ship has been breached twice. Considering the levity and grandstanding at our relationship's conception, I am anything but impressed with this." Moltezz's voice was dangerously calm, a searing heat simmering in the air. They were in the infirmary, the Molten Mistress standing tall with her arms folded.
"I can completely understand your perspective." Kay-Ex responded with customer-service-level passion. "But it appears in this instance that your intruders actually came with you."
"They were on the ship before we arrived?" Moltezz raised an eyebrow. She was glaring at Kay-Ex, her eyes flickering with fiery sparks. The synth had remodeled herself even more since last they'd seen each-other, with her long legs now taking her to just under Controller height.
"Yes. Our engineers discovered their warp drive was malfunctional. We suspect that it interpreted empty areas of the Renewal as suitable locations to warp to, and they became stranded after that." Kay-Ex said in her usual, irritatingly positive tone.
The Molten Mistress stared at the bot for a few moments, then sighed sharply.
"Regardless. I allowed the ORG onto our ship. You were supposed to be aiding us. What have you been doing all this time? I've lost good Slaves thanks to your incompetence - don't interrupt me, I don't want to hear another word from you!" Moltezz snapped as Kay-Ex went to retort. "I have words for Salem. Now begone, get out of my sight."
Moltezz turned away and knelt down beside Mina. She was lying down in one of the infirmary's beds, hooked up to a drip, her chest bandaged tightly. The goblin had survived the ordeal thanks to Tani's quick thinking, but was looking significantly worse for wear. Worse than the stab wound was the dimness in her eyes. Her girls had been torn to pieces and only three had made it; specifically, ones that had been carried by Tani's rabbits.
Mina had remained silent since she'd woken up, with the goblin refusing to so much as even glance up as Tani called out to her.
"You look terrible." Moltezz shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mina. I was aboard the ORG's vessel. I should have been here."
It seemed that the goblin's trance was broken as Moltezz perched herself at her bedside. A ghost of a smile flickered briefly on her tired face.
"Its not your fault." Mina replied, her throat dry. "The corruption did a lot of things, but my pack were still just goblins, and goblins ain't fast."
"No, they're not." Moltezz gave a soft smile. "Still. I know how close they were to you. It's dangerous to personify your Slaves." She glanced then at Tani too, who was sitting on Mina's other side. "The Slaves are a means to an end, they serve the Rewritten and nothing more." The Controller's tone was firm, but gentle. "You need to keep your distance, especially in the hierclasty."
"But those are our girls!" Tani replied, the hurt visible in her eyes. "I… T-Thank you, my queen. But I don't think that's the right path for us -"
"Could you show me how?"
Tani was taken aback. "M-Mina?!" She spluttered. "I-I know it hurts right now, b-but -"
"You know nothing." The goblin snapped back. "They aren't our girls, not anymore, and it's dangerous to think they are. The Mistress is right."
Moltezz nodded solemnly, but smiled with gentle pride at Mina. "I will melt their ship into slag and we'll make something fun out of it. Something to remember your pack."
"Thanks, but there's no need. They… They don't really matter all that much." She replied, her voice low and emotionless.
The words cut the rabbit like a dagger to the heart, her ears visibly drooping as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'd just hoped my best friend would be willing to fight to the bitter end to save my girls and I guess that isn't true."
"Mina!" Tani cried out, twisting away sharply. "Thats not fair! I did my best! I tried so hard to save your girls! A-And you just said they don't even matter! So make up your mind, are they just Slaves or not!" The words lumped in her throat like a cannonball.
"I'm the one who had to make the sacrifice!"
"I got you out alive! I saved your life!" Tani cried out, thumping her feet against the floor loudly.
"Whatever." The goblin twisted away herself, leaving the pair back to back. "We're 'in this together' up until someone needs to die. Then it's the goblins first. It's always the goblins who die first, that's just how it is. We're the meat shields. Not even the corruption can change that."
"You're such a fucking bitch sometimes, Mina! I tried my best, I really did!" Tani stood from her chair sharply, pulling her ears down around her face and marching straight for the door. "But I guess the corruption couldn't fix that either! My best is never enough! NEVER!"
And with that, the rabbit departed, all-but-running out of the infirmary and past a tired-looking Leech, and an ever-mischievous-looking Navarta.
"Soooooorry! I know I'm late! We were… busy!" Leech huffed, her skin still covered in red smudges. She glanced over her shoulder after Tani. "Meadows got bombed, did they?"
"Busy, hmm?" Moltezz didn't try to hide the annoyance in her voice as she eyed the various green kiss marks over Navarta's body, as well as her inflated breasts. "We had Vora Barons on the ship, but they've been dealt with. We lost some Slaves in the process."
Leech went to respond when, in the corner of her eye, she spotted a certain wolf, also in one of the infirmary beds, having a quiet sip of water and watching the drama unfold in front of him.
"OH MY GOD, VENTER!" Leech screamed. "Why are you here?! Are you okay?!"
"Y-Yeah." The wolf replied timidly as all eyes in the room focused on him. "I was upside down for a while is all, and -"
"THE ORG DIDN'T GET YOU DOWN?!" Leech had known they were coming for Jaxxx, she'd just assumed…
"Um, no. Apparently they'd been told to leave your 'stuff' alone."
Leech smacked her palm against her forehead. "FUCK. I left you chained to the bloody ceiling?!"
"Yeah… You kinda did." Venter nodded, clearing his throat. "But it's okay. I'm fine."
"How did you get down?! I wrapped you up so tightly!" Leech began to make her way over to him when she was cut off by Ink, bumping into her back as she padded into the infirmary and headed straight towards Venter herself.
"Good timing. Ink helped me down." Venter smiled as Ink came closer.
The giantess pulled up a seat close to Venter and sat down, a tentacle looping around his shoulders and squeezing him lovingly as he leaned in towards her.
"Good… I'm… glad." Leech frowned. She noticed then someone else, a new czarite, sheltered beneath Ink and clutched close to her. She appeared to be pushing herself up against Ink's gigantic breasts as subtly as she could.
"Ooh! New Controller time? Shall I get her in a tank?" Leech asked, clapping her hands together excitedly as her emotions ping-ponging back and forth.
"NO!" Ink hissed defiantly, pulling the czarite closer. "I found her! I saved her! I want her!"
The czarite appeared bewildered, but wasn't resisting or upset. She eyed Leech warily, and continued to lean in towards Ink.
Leech's throat creaked, and she glanced at Moltezz for support. "But Salem said -"
"If the new girl is happy with that arrangement -" Moltezz stood from Mina's bed and turned around, making towards Ink and the new czarite "- then the ORG has no say in this. New Controllers will only get the tank treatment if they want it." She addressed the czarite. "We'll meet formally soon, but right now, if you have any objections to spending the night with Ink and changing your life forever, now is the time to raise them."
The czarite shook her head, quite casually, considering the circumstances, and hugged her arms around Ink's thick, muscular waist.
"Good. Today has been a good day. Tonight will be even better." Ink grinned, her eyes shining proudly like beacons. She turned towards Venter, her tentacles curling around the three of them like an organic privacy screen.
A low "what-the-fuck" escaped Leech's lips as she leaned a little closer on the spot, trying to see past Ink's tentacles. She could just about make out a single finger playfully tickling Venter's chin, and the wolf lapping it up like a hungry puppy.
Next to her, Navarta cocked her head, her tail caressing Leech's back.
"Ksk-ksk. Something wrong, Vik-Leech? Do I sense some jealousy?"
"Eat shit, Inflate-a-tit. I think I was just double cucked…"
"Ksk-ksk. You really are a cry-baby."