The air rippled as though super heated and the metal corridor buckled under a shuffling wall of power. With a shredding rend the weapon crumpled backwards as the barrel and then the mechanism were flattened by her response.
A cough of acrid smoke slipped from the fractured device and with a soft crack it spat sparks and smoldering chunks of casing onto the ground before the warped panel closed over and hid the destruction she had wrought.
Realizing that she had been condemned to some sadistic training ground where her reflexes and endurance were to be brutally tested to their very limits Maria piqued her senses and moved onward, startled by the damage she had just caused. Her latent power had suddenly been exposed as having bloomed into a weapon of significant ferocity. Feeling psychokinetic power at her fingertips, Maria felt strangely grateful to the Mistress. No one else had managed to bring out this hidden ability to such extremes before, and it felt wonderful to have successfully grasped it. She almost yearned for more painful bondage lessons to help refine it and expand it still further, to fully develop the power that had previously only been a curse or a burden.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Shit. I’m freezing. Can’t we make a fire?” whined Gary.
“No we can’t, you idiot. You want to tell the Stalkers where we are? They’re bound to be combing the area for us, now keep quiet, I’m almost done,” snarled Steven, listening in on a commandeered hand radio, sifting through the frequencies and assessing the plans of their enemies before revealing what he had gleaned from the coded references.
“The Stalkers are out en masse trying to find us. They’re concentrating on the ambush vicinity, so the base should be pretty undermanned.”
“If they’re so far away, why can’t we—” Gary began and suddenly flinched into a ball, covering his head in terror as Steven leapt to his feet with his rifle cradled, cocking the weapon and glowering fiercely.
“Christ Steven! Okay! Sod the fucking fire!” he exclaimed, thinking that Steven had snapped because of his insistent complaining.
“Shut up! I saw something,” Steven hissed, squinting into the blackness, the soft radiance of the moon trickling through the forest canopy and providing only the slightest of illumination, but one his advanced senses could readily penetrate.
Anna span and drew pistols, her four arms taking aim into the direction in which Steven faced, her last pair clasping a heavy machine gun. The belt of bullets dribbling from one side of the heavy weapon swayed from her sudden rise, as she remained steadfast and immobile, awaiting a target.
Paul held forth a similar weapon and the reloaded grenade launcher, his formidable muscles able to lift the mighty firearms as though they were child’s playthings.
Fumbling awkwardly for his rifle, Gary finally got it free and rolled over, remaining on his back and forging a random aim into the nebulous depths.
Silence fell, the pensive quiet saturated with fear and stained by the hesitant breath of the four mutants.
“Where?” whispered Anna, never breaking eye contact with the dark scene before her.
“I swore I saw something just by that big oak,” he muttered, suddenly uncertain now that he could detect nothing.
“The one about twelve meters in front of us?” questioned Anna with puzzlement, seeking confirmation that this was the one he meant because she couldn’t see anything there.
“Yeah. Right next to it,” he answered softly, squinting, turning his head and peering at the spot with intense distrust.
The group scrutinized the woods, the scene open enough to reveal any approach. No one could have gotten so close without being spotted so Steven had to be mistaken. The stress of this personal and still private mission seemed to be making him jittery to the verge of full-blown paranoia.
Anna stepped forward, moving slowly, keeping her feet steady and well placed, her weapons covering an astounding arena of possible attack vectors thanks to her extra limbs. The others held their positions, ready to cut down anyone who moved on her. After nerve wracking minutes she reached the tree.
With a swinging jolt of motion she leveled her arsenal to face the area behind the trunk and after a moment her tensed form sagged slightly.
“Nothing,” she noted, and moved back to them with a more casual attitude, all sense of danger gone.
The others began to flip safety catches back on and lower their arms, settling back down with pulses racing. Steven remained upright, letting his weapon wilt but still staring at the night.
“I saw something. I know I saw something.” he muttered quietly.
“You saw a shadow. A cloud over the moon. A bird. It happens,” offered Anna, sliding the pistols back into their holsters.
With a dismissing shake of his head he stubbornly retained his suspicions and sat back down, keeping his rifle close and ignoring the concerned stares of the others.
“So how do we attack the base?” asked Anna, gaining little response from him as he continued his solitary vigilance. “Steven!” she snapped, grabbing his attention.
“What?” came a curt reply, his tone irritated at being disturbed.
“Forget it will you? There’s nothing out there, so tell us how we hit this base.”
Keeping an occasional glance to the forest he brushed aside the leaves on the ground and drew in the dirt, the moon granting enough light to see his basic patterns.
“The car pool is our best bet. We can take the guards with silencers and set explosives to cause a diversion as we head downwards,” he stated.
“Why downwards?” asked Anna.
“That’s where the prisoners are most likely to be, aren’t they? So with the chaos of the fires we get the prisoners and take the lift to the roof, snatch a helicopter and some hostages, take out any other choppers to buy us some time and get clear.”
“What if we get air pursuit from another base before we set down?”
“Not likely, but if so, hopefully Sarah’s telekinetic powers’ll be present to swat the choppers and knock out any incoming missiles, otherwise we’ll have to fight for it and ditch early to make an escape on foot.”
The plan was reckless but bold and was the only one they had. Disguises were not an option to the mutant band and the act of bringing in mutant prisoners to conceal those less human amongst them was a cliché easily seen through by any sensor sweep. A shock assault was their one chance. They had to hit the enemy while they were undermanned and complacent in their superiority and then get out while they were still reeling from the bloody nose the guerrillas had given them. Despite the danger, everyone in the group felt good to have direction again, to go on the offensive against the mundanes for the first time in years.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Turning onto a fresh stretch of passage the tunnel behind Maria suddenly snapped shut as a weighty panel descended with hydraulic savagery.
The deafening clang of its landing reverberated around her until it slowly dwindled into silence. Jumping with shock Maria span and clapped her hands to the smooth barricade, trying to lift it and failing miserably. After a final prolonged attempt she stopped and dropped onto her seat, wondering why her retreat had been denied.
Stepping tentatively forward, her mouth dropped open as a solid bank of small holes opened in the distant end of the passage. A hiss preceded a collection of steam coughs from one half of the barrels and she hurled herself aside as a blizzard of tiny darts whizzed through the space she had just deserted. The small barbs rattled against the metal barrier and she slammed to the wall, her rash evasion stunning her.
Undeterred by her lack of readiness the opposite bank of needles launched from their tubes. The projectiles lashed towards her as she flicked herself away, her speed reduced to leave her legs trailing.
The tardy limbs accepted a dozen stinging bites and dropping onto her flank she cried out, the small thorns lodged in her flesh, their numbing bite making her legs throb. The lowest reaches of the barrels opened fire, making her roll aside and churn the sheat
hed nips in her flesh as another wave clattered brightly upon the metal barrier.
Striving against the pain of the needles she threw herself to her feet and scuttled forward with speed. Shielding her face with her forearms she held up a mental wall to help deflect the incoming shards, just as the arsenal of weapons began to fire a single splinter at random with a rhythmic speed.
Charging forward, her haste increased with each successful sting that marked her physique, her one desire was to clear the corridor and escape the hail of tiny darts. The fangs continued to afflict her body, making her scream in subdued pain as she committed herself to her dash for freedom. Pin pricks sank into her thighs and chest, her breasts and shielding forearms, her attempts at evasion proving more difficult as she drew closer, her warning of an impending attack being diminished with each step.
A final stab ate into her hip and she flung herself to the right, jerking rigid and screaming as the bristling armies of weapons were shifted in their shallow bored tunnels.
Riding out the dregs of her pain she took a breath and propped herself up, clenching her teeth and taking hold of two bunches before yanking them out, the tips dragging at her hide and creating detonations of harrowing ardor.
Continuing with the agonizing task she fought on, tugging them out and clapping a hand to the freed zone before shrieking as she outlasted the aftermath brought as a consequence of such careless removal.
The last one came free and she threw it aside in anger before ambulating onward, her skin flecked from dozens of tiny pinprick spots.
Without warning the ground gave way as a trapdoor dropped her crawling form into a pit, her reflexes too impaired to allow her any chance to evade it or escape.
The clumsy landing irked her wounds. The harsh impact made her shriek and shudder as jolts of havoc galloped from her amassed trauma. Without warning she was plunged into subtle darkness as a weighty transparent panel slid across and sealed with a hermetic hiss during her moments of paralyzed pain.
Interior hatches sprang open and let mechanized assailants leap out to commit their programmed crimes with startling cybernetic celerity.
Automated heavy trammels clamped about her wrists and ankles, grabbing the extremities and holding firm as their interiors welled with an inflatable rubber cushion to compress the area and establish an inescapable grip.
Maria yanked at them but found that the extended hydraulic arms that held the cuffs were far too strong for her to defeat or even move. With a soft whine the robotic arms extended, pushing her hands and feet into the corners of the floor, leaving her rear loitering dangerously exposed in the air.
Crying out with dismay she tugged at the automatons, her fingers clawing at the featureless ground, her hindquarters thrashing from side to side in a frantic bid to avoid whatever foul violation was intended for her.
The machine stood ready to pounce until she paused for a mere second to catch her breath. Her rear was suddenly breached and something inserted. Maria yelled in anger and then gasped as she heard a steady sibilant growl when the device started to inflate itself within her tracts. Her fight to break free increased drastically as she felt it expanding outward, leveling its strength against her innards.
Straining her muscles she tried to spit the accursed tool out but already it was of such a size to have her sphincter erupt with stretched anguish the moment she tried to eject it.
Sobbing and croaking with dismay she yanked and spasmed, the intruder growing ever larger, threatening to cause heinous trauma unless it stopped. When it finally fell silent it had formed itself into a bloated massive sphere within her tracts, one that made her canals throb with an awful cadence.
The restraints opened and slithered back into their nests, letting Maria collapse into a loose heap. Her hands ferreted between her cheeks and found a small protrusion, the automated nozzle now sealed to stop her from deflating the ball. With a sneer of loathing she started to worm a finger through her anus and tried to claw at the ball, to pierce the rubber. The material was far too dense leaving her only hope being to somehow eject it.
The pressurized murmur of atmospheric change rose in volume, making the metal groan as the influx of air built up within the tiny cell. Maria felt her flesh rippling under the rising power, the clamping hold making her fight her inhales, the drawing off breath being thrust into an acute gasp as the chamber forced it down her throat, the cramming influx threatening to rupture her lungs should she not combat its zeal.
Clawing at the ground and the clear ceiling she fought to keep control of her breath, her ears popping, the welling force crushing her, making everything waver before her eyes until she was swooning from her ordeal.
With a roar of effort she launched her mind force up against the roof, the pain in her lower abdomen fueling a venomous release of potency. The entombing panel cracked and then exploded upward into shattered tiny fragments as the air blasted out, exploiting the compromised integrity of the hatch. The sudden freedom brought an unexpected crash of pain into her system as she was stripped of the brutal weight.
Felled by the shock, the minute pieces of hardened safety glass rained down onto her body as a drizzle of tiny pellets.
The debilitating effects started to pass and she leapt up and dragged herself free, moving into the corridor and fighting to keep conscious, as her assailed body demanded only recuperative coma.
Bracing herself she formed into a ball, closed her eyes and strained her internal muscles to try to eject the awesome ball. With a cry of pain she dropped the attempt, her rear being opened to a degree she could no longer handle.
Sobbing with frustration she tried again, having to stop again as the pain grew to intolerable levels. Reaching back she grabbed the small nozzle and pulled on it as she tried again, gaining a little more before being forced to give in yet again.
The nozzle gave a slight chug and expanded a little more, revealing that at regular intervals it would continue to steal another measure of air and steadily grow inside her.
“No! Oh God no!” she roared and doubled her efforts, aware now that the longer she left it in, the harder it would be to get rid of the accursed toy.
Applying her will, pulling at the nozzle, her face grew red with strain and beads of sweat formed to join her free-flowing tears as she tried to get the ball out. Again she taught the tissue of her sphincter another lesson in elasticity, making it a little looser, gaining a little more space. Bit by bit the ball started to emerge whereupon the ordeal only grew worse because when she dropped her latest attempt she had to endure the slithering passage of the sphere back into her as her anus hungrily gulped it back in. The feel of it gliding back in to punish her tracts as her sphincter sighed with relief made her slam her fist to the metal corridor in bilious annoyance.
“Come out, dammit! Coooome oooout!” she yelled, pulling at it again as she heard another soft snatch of air emerge from the nozzle, the sound making her wilt and sob in misery.
With a bellow of rage she tried again, almost reaching the widest part of the orb, her anus churning with havoc as the skin was stretched to an absurd new degree. The agony peaked and overcame her capacity to handle it and she released her hold. A final squeeze of her internal muscles failed to eject the device and with a swift dive it was swallowed up by her anus, the massive orb vanishing back into her tracts, her body arching up into the air as her rear gripped once more to the small nozzle.
Weeping in morose apathy she grabbed it again and this time applied every portion of her flagging energy and willpower. Closer and closer she drew to her goal and with a final screaming push she cleared the widest area of the inflated balloon. With a screech of pain it rode out of her and popped free, her sphincter throbbing from the brutalized stress of passing something so ridiculously huge from her tender body cavity.
Laying on the floor, panting and wheezing from exhaustion she looked at the orb and was appalled by how huge it had grown within her. Casting the atrocious implement aside she lifted herself up an
d crawled onwards, her anus churning with contused trauma.
The mindless tortures were getting worse, and weakened by them she was in no condition to try and evade them anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Crouching in the branches of the oak tree, Kirsten meditated upon their words. After the vague shimmer that her passing created had been spotted by the senses of the feral mutant she had truly concealed herself and kept quiet as she let them convince themselves that they had seen nothing. Now that she was appraised of their plan she did not know what to do. If they attacked the base they would almost certainly find the new mutant. If she lied and said that the mutants were liquidated, they would go back to the base in time for the attack. The killing of her Mistress was a definite possibility and with the woman dead, Kirsten would be free.
The confusion of the mutant rampage would more than overshadow the loss of one mutant Hound and the authorities might assume she was dead and forget about her. She could leave that hideous dungeon of despair and return to the forests, for she had only been abroad for a short while and she had already become addicted. The sensation of wanton living was a most seductive lure, more potent than the most refined narcotic. She had been reprogrammed as a beast, so if she could slough off the yoke of domestication that the Mistress had imparted she might yet restore herself to the caste of a wild creature of the forests - loose and untraceable. Her skin would keep her safe and freed of all trace of civilization she could merrily flaunt her new psyche. Every burden of life could be forsaken. There would be no more weight of city life, of being a slave to the Knights, of being used to hunt mutants and kill for the zealous objectives of others, all of it could be shaken off and discarded. No more taunts, no more insults. The hatred and loathing for her could be removed simply by distancing herself from its reach.
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