by Jamie Hawke
“Until she wants to create a new one, or loses her focus,” Lamb answered. “If she’s getting the shit kicked out of her, for example, we lose whatever replicas she’s created.”
“So the battle plan is,” Navani said, “we get her and keep her safe enough to continue replicating us in the battle based on what powers make the most sense at any given moment.”
“Okay, so if we all suddenly need a good lay, she makes two of loverboy here,” Sacrada said, then looked pensive before adding, “Actually, a question there—would a replica’s sperm still be able to do the job?”
I frowned, not sure how much I liked the idea of two fake mes getting to do the deed.
“Let’s assume not,” Navani said. “And… stay focused.”
“Sure, sure, why the hell not?” Sacrada leaned back, arms folded. “Oh, I remember—because your crazy ass fucking plan has more holes than a fuck-cushion after this guy’s done with it?”
“A fuck cushion?” I asked, too curious to be offended.
“I’ll buy you one for your next birthday so you can see for yourself,” she said with a wave of her hand as if dismissing me. As if my voice in all this didn’t matter.
“You know, for someone who prides herself on being the angelic sister, you sure act like a bitch.”
“What the fuck did you just call me?” She turned on me, eyes glowing gold. Maybe I didn’t want to piss her off.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But seriously, you don’t talk like an angel, that’s for damn sure.”
“I’m the angelic one,” she said. “Not an actual angel. Means I don’t dress like a slut or give hand jobs for money. Okay? Now if you’re satisfied, how about we both agree that the next time you call me a bitch, I fry your face off and eat it like bacon?”
“Agreed,” I said, trying very hard not to think that was a bitchy and disgusting thing to say. Also, the slut comment—while Sacrada didn’t wear an ultra-tiny skirt like her sister, her battle suit was mighty revealing. Hell, I wasn’t complaining about the fact that it was so tight you could even see the shape of her belly button, and that you didn’t need much imagination to picture her nude.
But if that was her idea of being less slutty, sure. Surrrre.
“Now that that little spat’s over with,” Navani chided us, “how about we land this bitch and get on with it?”
Sacrada wore an expression that showed she wasn’t sure about the use of the word so soon after I’d used it to refer to her, but she didn’t say anything.
We were pulling up to the edge of the city, and my focus had left the conversation to take in this sight. Other ships were coming and going, several patrols making their rounds. The city was the opposite of the place in the short, rolling dunes where we’d picked up Sacrada. Here it was tall spires, thick slabs of metal that stood upright, and spikes sticking out from the metal.
No, not spikes I realized—turrets.
“It’s a military city?” I asked.
“That’s correct,” Lamb said. With a movement of her hands, several of the metal slabs lit up on our display, green lines assessing them. “The spires on the outside are a combination of missiles and sensors, these buildings are mobile defense shields. Line them up, an energy shield forms around the city, or wherever they’re needed. They also have anti-aircraft missiles loaded, and a small fleet.”
“I see why Goros didn’t want to attack the city.”
“Yes, this could’ve helped keep him away, though I imagine Ranger could send more forces and take this place down fairly easily.”
“As he did the Citadel,” Sacrada added.
“Not completely fallen,” Lamb argued.
“Not that.”
That comment earned Sacrada glares from the other two, but I was confused. “They’re on the same side as the Citadel, no? So why did they even let Goros into orbit, much less land?”
“They’re officially on the same side, but now that the Citadel has fallen, I imagine we’ll find many of the outer realms doubting their allegiances.”
“And if they find out we’re with the Citadel?”
“We’re not,” Sacrada said. “At least, not all of us.”
“If they find out,” Navani interjected, ignoring Sacrada’s comment, “we’ll find some friends and some enemies. It’s the nature of the beast.”
We were hailed by the local guard and given clearance, soon flying down into what appeared to be the base of one of those tall metal things, but was actually an opening just beneath it.
They had us exit the ship and go through scans, but when their system didn’t recognize me or understand my powers, a large man guided me off to the side. I looked back to Navani and Sacrada for help, but the woman they started arguing with simply ignored them. The man led me into a metal room lined with mirrors.
“What is this, a disguise?” the man asked.
Figuring the truth would work best here, I explained, “I’m a Marine, from Earth.”
“From Earth?” The man laughed. “That’s a good one.”
“It’s the truth. I’m here to help them with a mission against Ranger.”
“Uh huh.” The guy was barely listening now. He went to the door and opened it before calling out, “Check this guy’s story out.”
A moment later, he returned with the woman from outside. She was almost as large as him, though in a beautiful way. I was starting to wonder if, in most people out here having some sort of superpower, the same mutations had caused an attractive gene to dominate.
“Tell her where you’re from,” the man commanded.
“Earth,” I repeated. “As I explained—”
He started cracking up, his laughter causing his belly to jiggle. The woman, however, glared at me and said, “Strip.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Search.”
I looked at the man for help, but he was still laughing, now holding his hands up and saying, “Not me. I’m not doing it to this whackjob.”
“Strip,” the woman said, ignoring the guy and pulling out a glove that she starting putting on.
“You’ve gotta be kidding,” I said, looking around at the mirrors as if I hoped to see through and catch a glimpse of Navani coming to rescue me.
“Two choices here,” the woman said, lifting her other hand to show a shock of electricity run across it. “Strip, or get shocked the fuck up. Either way, I get my jollies.”
“This can’t be allowed,” I said to the man.
“Considering the fact that you’re not showing up in our search, I’d say you better hurry and do what the fuck she says,” the man finally said. “You’re either some sort of terrorist or a spy, and we mean to find out which.”
Another thirty seconds passed, then the woman stepped forward, electricity lighting up around her hand.
“Okay, okay,” I protested pulling off my upper body armor. “But just to show I’m not concealing anything.”
“You have five, four…”
As she spoke, I quickly undid the clasps of my lower body armor, stepping out of it. While it was technically the liquid metal biotech armor form Lamb, in situations like this, it acted just like any other armor.
She cleared her throat and nodded at my briefs.
“No fucking way,” I said, glaring at the two of them.
She grabbed me and then I felt a shock running through my body that hurt, although it was more of a surprise than anything. She reached, knelt, and pulled off my undies, and in the same motion, she had the gloved hand on my ass, two fingers doing their search.
I yelped and shouted, “Get the fuck off, er, out of me!”
And she pulled them out with a pop. Without a glance at the glove, she pulled it off and tossed it in a trash receptacle that jutted out from the wall and then vanished again. A glance at the mirrors and I froze, feeling very awkward at being totally naked like that, and seeing my own ass and front at the same time.
“Can I dress now?”
“How
’re you hiding your identity?” she asked, eyes roaming across my nude form in a way that I knew couldn’t be allowed. The guy was having the same thoughts she was, judging by the way his eyes lingered.
My mind was racing with options. I could fight them, possibly win, considering how others’ powers had affected me so far. But we weren’t trying to cause problems with law enforcement. Then again, I was standing there stark naked, and this lady had just had her fingers up my ass. If that wasn’t fighting business, I wasn’t sure what was.
“You can’t go—” a voice said, interrupted by a yelp and then the sound of the door swishing open.
There stood Navani and Sacrada, neither being rude enough to stare other than with the first initial shock.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Navani demanded. She stormed up to the woman. “Do you have any idea who he is?”
The woman looked her up and down, then her eyes flickered to Sacrada. “I didn’t, until now…”
Before I could even take my next breath, the room exploded with electricity—the man flew back, Navani’s eyes blazed blue as shields rose up before her and me. Sacrada was hit, but the impact only infuriated her.
The woman was standing there, hand still sparking, glaring at each of us in turn. “You won’t leave this room alive, Earther,” she said and turned to point the attack full-on at me this time. Navani and Sacrada moved in for the attack, but so did I.
Just as that first attack in the bank hadn’t killed me, this one hit with a force that should have made me shit myself. But I didn’t. Instead, I was charging her, the blue lightning flowing over my body. Navani and Sacrada paused in their assault, both amazed at what they were seeing, while the man cursed and pressed back against the wall, taking on the metal of it as his own form of a shield, I imagined. I leaped up, powered by the energy that had come off her attack, and slammed my fist into her. She blocked, but the impact still sent her flying across the room, so that her head smacked against the wall and caved in on itself.
All eyes went to me, and I stumbled forward, catching myself on Navani.
“We need to get out of here, fast,” she said, then pointed at the man. “One word of alarm, one person follows us, you’re the first one I’m coming after.”
His metallic eyes glared at her, but he didn’t move from the wall.
“What just happened in there?” Sacrada asked as we ran and she paused to toss me my clothes. The armor morphed and wrapped around me so that by my first step out the door I was fully clothed and ready for action.
“She was working with Ranger, apparently,” Navani answered.
We turned down the main hallway and were out into the processing room, where lines of men and women went about their business with paperwork and trading of goods and whatnot. A guard nodded at us, and we slowed, trying to look inconspicuous. When we passed him, Navani said, “Lamb, you might want to get the hell out of there. Now.”
There was a commotion, shouting, and an explosion, and then the sight of the ship taking off.
“They didn’t like that,” Lamb replied. “I’ll be hiding out, ready.”
As she took off, several ships followed in hot pursuit. At my next step, my legs nearly gave out on me.
“I don’t understand,” I said, my voice low. “Her powers fueled me, but I’m so weak. I thought… I thought sex and stuff was supposed to give me energy.”
“Clearly it’s worked itself out by now,” Navani said, and Sacrada glanced at us, curiously.
“Yes, but… the woman, she… stuck her fingers… you know.”
Navani laughed, in spite of the worry in her eyes. “Were you enjoying it? In the mood for that?”
“I never am,” I said, more defensively than I’d meant.
“Exactly. It’s not sex exactly that fuels your power. Remember? It’s more like the hormones that such deeds activate. You’re not feeling them now, in spite of how close we are because you’re freaking out. But if I were to…,” she took me around the next corner, where there was a drinking fountain, and leaned in, nibbling on my earlobe and said, “…do this, while imagining your cock in my mouth,” before pulling back and staring into my eyes. “Well?”
I frowned, confused, but then felt it. A surge of energy ran through me, similar to the chill I might get, and rush of blood when I was turned on. The result was a slight burst of energy, kind of like a healing of my muscles and fatigue.
“That works?” Sacrada asked.
“I think so,” I said.
She gave me a doubtful look, then said, “Well, since we need to get this over with and find my sister… you’re going to love this.”
This time she stepped forward, placed one hand on my face as her leg moved between mine, her thigh rubbing my crotch. As more energy started to flow into me, she leaned in so that our lips were about an inch apart. I could feel her warm breath on me, and when my chest rose with my heaving breathing, she tilted her head to the side and pressed her breasts against me. “So… working?”
I nodded, breathed out again.
“Teasing works too, apparently,” she said with a grin as she pulled away, then glanced at the doors nearby. “We need to hide for a sec. Good timing, because I really need to use the ladies room.”
“What?” Navani said. “Didn’t you think about that on the ship?”
She shrugged. “Yes, but Lamb offered me some of that energy water you have, and it goes right through me.” She pointed behind her, where several guards were moving through the crowd but hadn’t spotted us yet. “Come on.”
With that, she pulled us both into the ladies room, much to my consternation. I was still feeling the surge of energy from her, while she left us for a stall that looked nothing like what we had back on Earth. Here they had raised platforms with holes at the top, where apparently people were supposed to squat. The walls were like white metal, with a sliding door that went up and down, closing behind her.
“You two check the window for a way out while I take care of this,” Sacrada said, and Navani turned to me with a frown.
“Actually,” Navani considered me. “Can you pull up your screen this far away from Lamb? I’m not really sure how it works, but I think it should since you have the suit from her.”
I tried, and the screen came up. Remembering that only I could see my screen—aside from Lamb when she was around, I nodded. “It’s there.”
“Good. You did just defeat that lady, after all, and she seemed pretty powerful. Any updates on levels or…?”
I checked, and the percentage bar showed I was very close, but not quite up to the next level yet, which I told her.
“Damn.” She went to the window, checking it and found that it had bars, then turned back, frowning. “Well, keep on it. If we get a chance to go up against anyone else sometime soon, we’ll let you do the dirty work to get that next level.”
“And if I die in the process?”
“We’ll do our best to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
The toilet flushed, and Sacrada emerged, giving us a nod. “Situation?”
“Bars,” Navani said. “Metal.”
Sacrada grinned. “I got this.” She stepped up next to them, then burst into her glowing golden form. Placing her hands on the bars, they lit up as if about to melt, when suddenly an alarm went off and her powers vanished. The bars were half melted.
She cursed, tried again, but nothing happened.
“We might have that chance to fight much sooner than I’d thought,” Navani said, eyes glowing blue as she looked at the walls. “Five of them nearby, converging.”
“I don’t understand,” I admitted.
“Power dampener,” Navani explained. “They must have a super nearby that can cancel out attack powers. It wouldn’t matter to something like my blue sight, but fire so powerful it can melt metal? You bet it would catch that.”
Sacrada looked furious, so furious that she stormed up to me and said, “And his powers? This weird getting stronger thing. Would he
be able to break the metal?”
Navani looked confused, then grinned. “Yes, I imagine so.”
“Well then, hotshot,” Sacrada said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed one of my hands and stuck it into the fold of her suit, moving it so that I cupped her breast. My cock shifted, I gulped, and my hand massaged that perfect, soft breast as I salivated. “Enough?”
“Let him kiss it, see what that does,” Navani said. “Quick.”
Sacrada gave her a doubtful glance but was in a hurry. She pulled her outfit aside so that her breasts were there for me to see, then said, “Do it.”
“I’m not sure this is the best way to—” I started, but she sighed, grabbed me by the back of my head, and thrust my head into her breasts. First, she moved them across my face, then stopped with one cute little, hard nipple brushing against my lower lip.
Hell, I might as well. With full gusto and passion, I leaned into it, bending at the waist to cup her breast and lick it from bottom to nipple, then trace around her aureola before taking her nipple in my mouth and letting my tongue explore it.
She bit her lip and seemed to be trying to fight the urge to moan, to love what was happening, while my boner pressed uncomfortably against my outfit.
“Now,” Navani said.
But neither of us heard. I pulled back, letting my lips suck on her nipple as I did, and then licked across to her other breast as one of my hands started tracing her body, moving down past her ribs, across her hip bone, and then—
BAM! The door slammed open and I processed the fact that Navani had been shouting for us to stop as three guards entered.
“Dammit!” Sacrada said, stepping back and covering her breasts. A sight I would sorely miss.
All I could think about was that these bastards were responsible for that moment of perfection ending, and I wanted to make them pay for it.
They barely had time to process what was happening as I charged into them, tackling the first. I wasn’t moving as fast as if I’d had sex, but the hormonal reaction to being able to go to town on Sacrada’s breasts was working its magic. My speed and strength were greatly enhanced so that when I leaped up from the first one and kicked out the knee of the next, he fell with a scream and went out as soon as my fist connected with his head. I felt the surge as my power increased from having landed a combo, and turned, ready for more.
