Rogue Fury Ch. 11 - The Fight

K'rra paused, her finger trembling, hovering over the Execute button.

There was a time not so long ago when she'd felt the same level of anxiety. Captured on an unsettled world by pirates operating deep inside Federate Space. The pirates had won the lottery, taking down a science vessel crewed mostly by women, while most of the Federated men were at war on the other side of the galaxy.

With the captain missing, Science Officer K'rra took the mantle of command. The crew of four women and one man were lined up outside their smoking ship.

K'rra stepped forward. "This is a violation of Federated Law of Open Space, to detain the crew-"

Her breath was stolen away when a tall, red-headed human slammed his fist into her stomach. K'rra fell to her knees as the pirates laughed. The crew of the doomed ship could do nothing. A hand wrapped in her hair, pulling her back to her feet as the human drew out a blade and placed the edge against K'rra's pale blue neck.

That singular moment was still etched crystal clear in her memory. Her helplessness. Her desire to live. Knowing that the animals that had captured her could do literally anything they wanted, including kill her on the spot. The fear had been palpable, so intense and overwhelming, that her insides felt like melted butter.

"What were you saying, Captain?" The human asked in a tone so full of contempt and mockery that K'rra would have done anything he asked just for one more breath of air. The blade on her throat felt so singular that she was afraid that her gasping attempts to breathe might end her. The human cruelly pressed it harder against her, and she closed her eyes, wishing she believed in some deity to pray to.

All her training, years of stoic principles, drained away in that moment of truth; she wanted to live.

She couldn't even form the words to answer.

The line of the knife shifted away, becoming a sharp point. It scratched its way down her throat as breath caught in her lungs. She was terrified that her quaking might cause an accidental cut.

"Please don't hurt me," she sobbed.

"What was that?" The human exclaimed loudly. "Did you all hear that? This stuck-up Gythian librarian begged me not to hurt her."

The other pirates laughed. K'rra couldn't see them, they and the science crew were all behind her, but she could hear gasps. The sound of hands on fabric, of rough shuffling, whimpering, she knew the others were being mauled and manhandled.

Her head was yanked back, thrusting her chest forward. K'rra had always hated her breasts; there was too much of them. On Gyth, there was an occasional comment from others that she'd make an excellent wet-nurse if her studies didn't improve. It had been humiliating to be considered unworthy of rearing her own children, but being a body part for children of her betters. Once she joined the Federated Navy, she got stares, comments, and on occasion, an unwanted grope. The attention, while at first flattering, soon became tedious, and she considered reduction surgery often, but never found the time for it.

As the knife point wandered down her throat to the top of her uniform, K'rra wondered if she'd be treated this way if she had found a way to have the surgeries done. A gasp from behind her, the flat-chested Flight Officer Kimura being groped against her will, confirmed that nothing would stop these savages.

The blade flicked, and K'rra felt her uniform part. Shocked, she held her breath, wide-eyed as she felt the blade slip inside under the fabric and coldly along her skin. Slowly, her uniform was sliced away, as the pirate held her hair and stared into her terrified eyes.

"Singularity!" one of the pirates exclaimed. "Stop with the show and unwrap her already."

Serrho smiled down at K'rra while holding her hair. "You heard them, impatient to get this party started."

He dragged the blade, cutting her uniform all the way down past her nail. K'rra felt cool steel touch her lower lips and locked all her muscles tight, afraid that he might accidentally trim something off.

She was so relieved when the knife departed that she barely noticed him peeling her uniform away, letting periwinkle breast tipped with indigo nipples spill free. Serrho shifted K'rra around, pulling her bent elbows behind her to give the crew a good look at the humiliated science officer.

K'rra saw the others. The women were all pinned as she was, with a pirate or two holding them in place, hands all over the bodies of the captives. Maxwell, the lone male crew member, was caught between two women, a lizard-like Ryptos and a cat girl Charanx. The two women were toying with him precisely as their male counterparts played with the women, as if they were mere sex toys to be enjoyed.

The looks on Kimura and Terrellia's faces were unmistakable: unbridled horror. Even though they were being roughly manhandled, seeing K'rra clothing cut away, exposing her lewdly, telegraphed exactly what was to come next.

A tsunami of shame washed over K'rra. It intensified exponentially when Serrho reached around to mail K'rra bare breasts, making her cry out as her peers watched.

All stoicism vanished in the assault. Badgered since infancy to never overtly display emotion, K'rra felt waves of feelings with an intensity she had never experienced before. Breathe refused to move through her lungs as her gaze locked with Terrelia's. Her crew was watching her being molested as it happened. Shame and disgust threatened to crush K'rra, rational thought froze like the breath in her lungs, and she could only ride the ordeal out mindlessly.

When Serrho shoved a hand down into her ruined uniform, reaching down to cup her cunt, K'rra thrashed and moaned against her will.

"Stars!" Serrho told the other pirates, "She's gushing like a broken dam. Soaking. Fucking. Wet."

And that was where she broke. K'rra could barely remember the rest, or just ghostly fragments of it. It was the announcement and her hungry, shocked groan she remembered vividly. She recalled being shoved down onto all fours. Serho yanking the remains of her uniform off her ass, exposing her to everyone, and then him shoving into her in one stroke, with no resistance as she squirted in agony. The shame had been monumental. The shame had been thrilling. Slavery came easy after that.

She'd been chasing the dragon ever since. Every humiliating action and act of compliance in slavery, all in the hope of hitting that emotional high one more time. She'd come close, so close, but never met that apex again.

K'rra returned to the here and now. The Execute button blinked.

Tapping it would take so little effort, less than a twitch of her finger.

And like that, it was done.

She pressed the flickering button, and her hastily written program launched.

Subroutines in the palace power systems started looping infinitely.

*****

Hol Vydon leaned back in his throne, eyeing Kaster and his prisoner. "You brought me a Fury as promised hunter... But I don't see my property being returned."

Kaster didn't flinch, "I was told that K'rra was a gift."

Vydon chuckled, "K'rra, is it? A slave who was to warm your bed. A toy. Fuckmeat to enjoy at my expense. What's come over you Hunter of Furys? Have you been unmanned by a sex-slave? Promised your heart and cock to her? Did she tell you the things she did while under my roof? How many kilometers of cock she's serviced?"

"My Lord," Kaster said through gritted teeth. The gunslingers and toughs in the room could feel the tension mounting, and hands began drifting toward weapons. "As I said, I was told she was a gift."

"And who told you this?"

"Your Majordomo."

Hol Vydon feigned surprise, then turned, "Did you tell him this, Syrakk?"

Syrakk bowed deeply, "My Lord, I apologize for the confusion and that it has come to this point, but I said no such thing. The Hunter Kaster was told that slave 8675 was on loan as a retainer so long as he worked the bounty you so generously offered."

Kaster seethed. The Majordomo had originally described her as a mere bonus. Through grinding teeth, Kaster said, "I apologize if I misunderstood the situation. Perhaps I could exchange the slave for the Fury that I've brought you?"

Vydon nodded sagely as if considering it. "The price on the Fury was a quarter million. Would you care to guess the value of my slave?"

When Kaster said nothing, Vydon continued, "A million to acquire her, under special circumstances. Another million in surgeries. Training, food, clothing, upkeep. Her price is easily ten times what you offer."

The statement hung in the air. The silence in the throne room was unnatural.

"What would you suggest?" Kaster said.

The Hol sat back, as if deep in thought. Kaster knew that whatever he said, it was what had been planned when K'rra was first delivered. She'd been engineered to hook men. Every hole redesigned to please. Enough pheromone and oxytocin glands to fill a stadium with a cloud of love juices. From the moment the Hol 'loaned' her, a plan had been set in motion.

Kaster could only hope that K'rra had been earnest in her desire to leave the warlord's house. He thought of their current plan... Had K'rra been the one to suggest separating from Kaster, or had that been someone else's idea? Why had she called through comms? Could she be setting him up also to be owned by Vydon as she was?

No. He refused to believe it. She was his, and he was ready to fight for her.

Vydon stated what Kaster was sure had been the plan from the very beginning, "Join my entourage. Hunt for me. I'll assign the slave to you, to do with as you please."

"And if I refuse?"

Vydon's face did not change, but his eyes flashed with anger, "That would be disappointing. And I don't like being disappointed."

The armed men on the dais around the throne begin readying their weapons. Kaster glanced back at Kae, who shook her head slightly, begging him not to proceed.

"Well then, My Lord, let's hope this is the very last time you are disappointed."

Hol Vydon's eyes narrowed, taking in the meaning instantly. "Kill him."

The lights winked out.

*****

Returning to the playroom, K'rra heard a multitude of couples still in the throes of frantic sex. Turning the lights out had done nothing to squelch their enthusiasm. She saw that there was some light. Luminescent panels cast a pale, sickly glow, offering only the dimmest light to see by. The shapes and bodies of a multitude of partners deep in the act of fucking continued all around her.

The attendant remained in the same spot, tapping at their datapad to determine the cause of the sudden power failure. K'rra walked into the attendant while protecting the bucket. On contact, she reached out for the stunner and jerked her body away. Just touching it had caused a flash of pain so intensely that she nearly dropped the bucket. K'rra had hoped the lack of power would shut down the implant controller unit, allowing her to take the non-lethal weapon.

K'rra continued deeper into he room as if nothing had happened. She stepped on copulating couples a few times, nearly tripping. Occasionally, hands would grip her calves, trying to pull her into the orgy as well. She ignored these and continued on carefully to the center of the room.

Waves of arousal pulsed through K'rra. She could tell Jae was broadcasting everything, affecting everyone with her arousal. When K'rra approached the bed, she saw Jae, bent over, her skintight bodysuit had been pulled down to her knees. Bared-assed Jae was in a position very unbecoming of a Fury.

Meaty hands were wrapped around her hips, pulling the Fury's entire body against that scarred naked human behind her. The bounty hunter slammed into Jae furiously, making her cry out with each impaling thrust. Judging just by their faces, K'rra could tell they were both near climax.

K'r took the bucket in both hands... Then froze.

Jae tipped her head back, her eyes and mouth wide open, looking tortured. Then a wave of blinding light rushed through K'rra, causing her to nearly drop the water-filled bucket. K'rra's implants buzzed furiously, almost making her drop to her knees as an orgasm swept through her. Blind and delirious, she staggered trying to find balance. Reaching out her hand, she found one of the bedposts and she clenched it like a life preserver.

Something deep in her mind reaffirmed that this is what it meant to be a slave, focused on the pleasure of others, enjoying what bliss they could share when allowed. Her hand cupped her sex, feeling the vibrating implant dancing on her nub. She wanted to drop to her knees... But something prevented her. She had to stay on mission, no matter what blissful distraction begged to sway her.

As the climax subsided, K'rra could hear others all around her in the throes of their own crescendos. The noise of dozens of couples all climaxing in unison was deafening, and unheard only moments before.

On the bed jae had collapsed, held up by the bounty hunter angrily driving into her. He wasn't sated and wanted more. Jae on the other hand was senseless, quivering in his grasp as he used her like a rag doll. K'rra gave Jae a moment to catch her senses, then flung the water from the bucket across the two.

*****

Kaster's blade erupted casting a flash of light below the dais. Hunters fired their weapons from around the Hol, each intent on collecting Vydon's favor.

The changing lights, from brightly lit chamber, to pitch black, then the glowing sword threw off many practiced gunmen's aim. Bolts flew randomly from the dais at Kaster, most missing and streaking into the crowd of petitioners and hangers-on. There were screams as blaster bolts flew through the crowd, hitting several innocents.

Not so innocent, thought Kaster as his Focus helped guide him to block a shot that would have winged him.

In the dim light, with the bright glowing blade in his face, it was impossible to see with his eyes alone. Kaster reached out with other senses, feeling the Focus around him like a vast pool of water. Within that pool ripples of life essence, of dangers, of the rot of death permeated everything. He let the ebbs and flows guide him, moving his feet to make his body follow the riptides of probability that ended in safety. The currents were swift-moving, safely swirling to danger in a heartbeat without warning. Kaster trusted in himself and let the surges pull him along, drifting in their wakes, and joining the tide of life and hope.

Hol Vydon saw a dancing blade of light just meters away, as the wielder danced around lightning bolts meant to kill. Guards, just dark, hulking shapes, rushed around Vydon to protect him as the air filled with sizzling energy beams. One moment, Kaster was blotted out by the massive shape of a bodyguard; the next, he was visible as a specter as the guard was struck down by a blaster to the back or a blade slashing through his front.

Vydon rolled off his throne to hands and knees, crawling frantically away from the chaos of flashing blades and deadly streaks of light. He moved silently, hoping to vanish in the smoke and chaos.

Kae slammed her wrists together, and the manacles released. She could see Kaster just ahead of her, his blade vanishing and reappearing in blurred arcs, flashing then hiding behind his body as he fought. Thick arms grabbed her clumsily, one gripping her jumpsuit at the back of her collar, another wrapping awkwardly around an arm, trying to find a grasp.

She kicked out, managing to spin around face to face with her attacker. He refused to let her go, and she was unable to see the currents of Focus as well as Kaster. Kae slammed the manacles together again, then grabbed the being's collar and ripped it back. Her captor knew better than to struggle away from her and instead leaned in. Against an unarmed opponent, it might have been the right move. Kae simply dropped the now armed manacles into the opening, then kicked away from him with all her might.

Kae was unable to escape. She slipped her arm away, but her captor still held her by the neck. She ducked in toward him, panicking that the manacle bomb would go off any moment. It did. There was a loud pop, and the man's tunic puffed out violently. He then jerked back away, screaming and releasing Kae, who dropped to the floor.

This was madness, Kae thought, she'd never trained for a physical fight like this. Her talents lie on an entirely different set of skills. If only she'd done the talking, she'd have Vydon eating from her hand right now.

Kaster sensed more than saw that Hol Vydon was fleeing on hands and knees. He moved up the stairs to the dais, chasing him, then sensed a great danger approaching. He spun with Blade as a hunter flung himself at Kaster. The hunter was fast getting inside the Blade swing and catching Kaster's arm. Kaster could feel a sickly projection of death rushing toward him and shifted his body just in time as a knife blade slipped up under his ribs. Kaster's last twist prevented the blade from piercing a lung.

He tried to back away from the blade, but his assailant was lightning fast, slicing inward. Kaster felt the blade slice through his diaphragm and immediately sputtered, choking on his inability to draw breath. Kaster shoved forward, feeling the knife penetrate deeper, but frustrating his attacker's desire to slice open his whole front. Striking out with an elbow, Kaster made stars flash in the assailant's skull, a flash of a distraction, but one that allowed Kaster to sweep his Blade around, taking off the attacker's hand, and nearly taking Kaster's off-hand with it.

As the hunter screamed in agony, backing away frantically, Kaster dropped to his knees, feeling blood rush out from the gash. Being unable to breathe properly was bad, but the blood loss would kill him in moments. The tides of the swirling energies all around him turned dark with nearly every beat; the flow of Focus was grim. With no other alternatives, Kaster pressed his Blade to the wound, cauterizing it. It would buy him a little time, internally, though he knew the blood loss continued.

"You're going to be alright," a panicked voice whispered in her ear. For a moment, he was furious, no, things were definitely not alright. But as the words echoed in his mind, he found himself letting go of the worry. Fingers patted his belt and withdrew the second WaveBlade pomel. When it erupted, Kaster saw Jae standing over him like a tiger mother protecting her young. He coughed and blackness swirled, threatening to take him.

*****

"Fuck!" the hunter screamed as water splashed across his naked body.

The atmosphere of horniness that had permeated the playroom like a thick fog vanished in a moment. Jae gasped in surprise, soaking wet from the splash of the bucket.

"My apologies, sir. I was tr-" K'rra started, but was interrupted when the hunter lashed out in the dim light, grabbing her by the throat.

"What in the void are you doing, girl? I'll tan your ass crimson you fucking slag!" the hunter screamed while lifting K'rra by her delicate neck.

"Red! Red! Red!" K'rra tried to croak out as she was being lifted and choked. Her cries were reduced to hoarse whispers as the hunter shook her violently.

"Hey!" Jae called out, trying to stand and pull her jumpsuit up to her hips.

"There's more cock waiting for you once I take care of this bitch," the hunter said while shoving Jae away from him back onto bed.

Jae let the push drop her to the bed, then bounced up off it, ducking under the hunter's arm. She hooked her own arm across his throat as she stepped past him and kicked back behind his knee. The hunter tumbled to the ground, releasing K'rra as he went. When Jae turned around to face him, he was already coming up off the ground with fists up, ready for a fight.

"This is the thanks I get for slipping you some sweet dick?"

Jae lashed out in a fury, striking him with repeated blows until he crumpled. Seeing the violence, multiple slaves called out, "Red! Red! Red!"

The voices and all sounds died in an instant as K'rra turned on the sound dampener. It was unnaturally quiet, although Jae could hear her heart beating. K'rra reached out, grabbed Jae's hand, and dragged the Fury to the rear exit.

An attendant stepped in front of them, mouth moving as they asked a question. The confused attendant then tapped their ears, trying to figure out what had happened. The sound returned once K'rra and Jae slipped out the exit.

In the hallway, K'rra deactivated the dampener, and sound came spilling back all around them. The commotion in the playroom was cacophonous.

"This way!" K'rra yelled as she raced down the utility hall. Jae tried to keep up but was busy pulling her jumpsuit up to cover her chest. Just thinking about what had happened in the last few minutes made her blush to her very core.

K'rra waved from the frame of a service stairway, "The dungeon is just one floor down."

As Jae moved past her into the stairwell, K'rra tossed a distraction drone down the hallway, trying to back it around a corner. The marble-sized orb floated through the air, emitting whispers that sounded like a hushed conversation. When she ducked into the stairwell herself, the attendant came out through the playroom door, still looking confused and marching toward the noises.

The two dashed down the stairs and spilled out into a staging room for the dungeon. A vast variety of racks and stockades for every species imaginable lined the walls several deep. A wall of lockers ran along one side of the room, some open, showing various bondage costumes and harnesses.

Several leather-clad sentients of differing species and sexes looked up from the conversation they were having near the double doors to the dungeon itself. K'rra reflexively went into protocol mode, curtsying before she realized that marking herself as a slave would limit her ability to travel through this area. Jae followed in wide-eyed horror, trying to take in the many instruments of torture and delight.

The lights here were dim, flickering crimson bioluminescents cast dancing shadows mimicking many human tales of hell.

A tall, severe-looking human wearing crisscrossing leather straps and a black bob haircut snarled, "And what do you think you are up to, slave girls?"

A human man showing off his pierced nipples, leather cap, and studded codpiece, and a wolf-like alien on its hind legs with dual floggers thrown over each shoulder, turned to look at the intruders.

"We've been sent to ensure the safety of our Lord's most valued prisoner, Indy-Ra." K'rra made up on the fly.

"Surely I must be dreaming..." Fury Jae said absentmindedly, still staring at the rows of restraining devices. "There really is a hell."

The woman barked, "Slaves? Come for the Lord's prize? Unlikely. Get on your knees, Now!"

K'rra fell to her knees, the implants threatening to sting her if she failed to comply. Jea ignored the trio, still fascinated and lost in thought.

"Are you deaf, slave girl? Your mistress gave you an order." The nipple pierced man said.

"I expected a serious fight... Only to find actors guarding the cage," Jae turned to the trio. "How you've kept her here is a mystery I'm dying to discover."

The man with capped nipples strode at Jae, curling his fingers into meaty fists. "Your mistress gave you an order-"

His demand died unsaid as Jae delivered a knife-hand blow to the center of his chest. The force of it cracked his sternum and sent him flying backward in a heap, laboring for breath.

The Volgarian dropped to all fours, looking even more wolflike, then sprinted and leaped at the Fury. Jae dropped to all fours herself, letting the beastman pass over, then snapped a kick up into his torso, sending him sprawling with a yip. She recovered back to two legs with ease and strode towards the sputtering woman.

"Stop, Now!" she screamed while pointing a control wand at Jae, "I'm warning you!"

Jae snatched the wand out of the woman's hands while backing the domanatrix into a nearby Andrew's Cross, "K'rra, how do we use this on her?"

K'rra jumped to her feet and joined the Fury, "We don't have time. She was a slave once, too..."

"And you torture those who were just like you... Pathetic." Jae sneered. K'rra worried that the Fury was delving too deeply in her emotions now. The stoic veneer that all Furys adhered to was completely missing.

A part of K'rra thought it was no different than her own journey, from a world of intellect to one of pure feeling and carnality. She pulled on Jae's arm. "We have to go."

Jae followed the slave as they pushed their way into the dungeon itself.

Bioluminous artwork in the shape of many layers of flames decorated the small auditorium. The overhead lights were out, but there were participants strapped to or milling about some of the racks.

"This way," K'rra whispered to Jae, "The long-term cells are at the far end, and they have a staff of regular guards."

They passed a rotund human man hanging by his wrists from a suspended bar. A bright red Wotin woman in black leather struck him with a flogger, "Who's been a bad mayor?"

The two drew almost no attention as they moved through the torture room. Jae took everything in with disdain, strutting across the room even though there was an air of uncertainty in her eyes. The mission at hand gave her an avenue to push thoughts of what had just happened out of her mind. She forced herself to concentrate on the rescue.

"This is it," K'rra said. A thick security door stood in their way.

K'rra observed the control panel, then waved her datapad over it.

"Can you hack it?" Jae asked.

"No need," K'rra explained. "With no power, there will be a manual release-"

Jae ignited her Blade and shoved it through the control panel, then turned, pushing it through the door itself. There was a pop, then a hiss, and the doors slowly slid open.

"Who goes there?" A man called from inside.

With WaveBlade still lit, Jae strutted in. K'rra heard blaster shots and the distinctive swing of a WaveBlade, more shots, a small explosion, and then quiet. When K'rra peeked in, there were bodies on the floor and a reception desk that had a burning gash sliced through it. Emergency lights lit the floorboard, casting a shallow light.

"Which cell?" Jae asked.

"A guard might have helped with that."

"No matter, I can find her," Jae said as she walked down a hallway with a dozen numbered doors. She held up her hand at each door, focusing on sensing something imperceptible.

At the last door at the end of the hall, she flicked her Blade through the wall next to the door until the hydraulics ruptured and the door slid open. Jae rushed in, and K'rra followed, using her datapad as a makeshift torch. Indy-Ra was covered in dark bruises and criss-crossing slashes. Just at a glance, K'rra could tell the woman had suffered a grotesque level of physical abuse. That she was comatose was a blessing.

Indy-Ra lay naked on a slab set in the wall.

"Indy-Ra, we're here to rescue you," Jae said as she rushed over to the slumbering Fury. "Indy! Indy!"

Indy-Ra didn't respond. Her chest moved, showing that she was still alive, but there was no other indication of life.

"Step back," K'rra said as she tapped furiously at the datapad. She scanned the sleeping woman and reviewed the vitals that were displayed. "She's comatose, vitals stable, heart rate and breathing normal but labored. There's no indication she'll wake any time soon."

"We have to get her out of here. You take the head and I'll take the feet. If we run into trouble, I'll need to drop her to fight it off. We need to get out and get back to the ship."

"No," K'rra said. "I can't leave. Kaster is still here. I have to find him..."

*****

"To me!" Hol Vydon yelled. "A hundred large to anyone with me!"

Struggling to breathe, Kaster looked up. He'd made it to the top steps of the dais and fell back down to hands and knees. Vydon was deeper in the audience room, gathering forces, somewhere beyond the ridiculous throne. In the darkness behind him, he could hear the whirring of a WaveBlade as it cut through things and blocked blaster shots. Through his Focus, he could feel the ripples Kae made. She was panicking and broadcasting fear, struggling to defend herself with the Blade. She was dodging from cover to cover and trying to get close enough to trained bounty hunters who were taking well-aimed shots at her. With every moment, she was being lured away further from him.

"Kaster! We have to run!" she screamed from behind him. He could feel temptation gnawing at her. This was not the type of fight she'd trained for. Every moment drained her resolve to stay. "Kaster!!!"

He pulled himself up to the top of the dais, struggling to breathe. Closing his eyes, he focused on the cut diaphragm. Like waves in an ocean, he pictured it flexing and relaxing, helping to push air in and out of his lungs. With great effort, he created a compartment in his mind to repeat the thought on an endless loop. Breathing came easier now, but was still labored with internal bleeding.

Pushing himself up, Kaster got to his feet. It was then he realized he couldn't remember where his WaveBlade was. He turned to look down the steps, spotting it lying at the bottom of them in a pool of his blood. He must have dropped it after cauterizing the wound.

"Hold! Don't kill him," Vydon yelled from the dark. "He's mine."

Kaster lifted his hand, wanting to call his sword, but there was nothing left. He staggered, turning back to the voice of Hol Vydon, watching as the warlord strode with a full entourage of rough, armed men surrounding him.

Vydon, sensing that Kaster was not at his full capabilities, advanced ahead of his men.

Without a Blade, Kaster knew he could not defend himself. He turned to go down the stairs and tripped over feet, tumbling painfully down them and into the pool of his blood. The searing pain in his chest made him want to scream, but there was no breath. When he looked down, he saw the fall had reopened his abdominal wound, and blood seeped out freely. With the greatest of effort, he rolled onto his back and watched as Hol Vydon descended the stairs, coming straight to him.

Kaster pushed with his feet using every remaining bit of strength he had left. He slid a few feeble centimeters, nothing more. He could no longer feel Kae's presence, fear had gotten he better of her, and she'd obviously fled.

Hol Vydon paused and bent down. He pulled a combat knife from a severed hand, the very weapon that had cut through him earlier. Hol Vydon inspected the bloodied blade, looking very satisfied with himself. He descended the last few steps to stand over Kaster, the bloody knife in hand at his side.

Kaster held up a hand, trying to force Vydon away by sheer force of will. Vydon took the gesture as one of surrender.

"Oh no Hunter Kaster. You steal my property, kill my employees, sully my home, and pervert my slave." Hol Vydon held up the dripping knife. "And for all that, for all that Arrogance! You will die slowly. Years! Years if I can help it."

*****

Hol Vydon looked down through the haze, not bothering to hide his smugness, "You could have made me so much money. And you threw it all away for a slave. A tight little hole."

Kaster saw dim light flickering across the warlord's face. In the warlord's fist was the bloody knife. The room beyond Vydon was hard to focus on as it spun.

"There are fires burning, Lord." An armored guard said.

"Put them out!" Vydon yelled in unbridled fury. "And give me a moment with this... scum..."

The thick haze blurred Kaster's vision, making it hard to keep track of the portly man, the one who would take his life, slowly and methodically. As if the spinning room or dimming lights weren't already threatening him. Kaster could feel himself dying. The jittery waves of Focus told him organs were already starting to fail.

Thick smoke swirled around the man standing over him. Kaster wanted to lift his hand, but it was so heavy he couldn't get it off his chest. He was too tired to even speak at this point. Given a choice between being tortured to death and just letting his organs fail, he was considering using the last of his Focus to let himself go peacefully. A euphoria washed through him, a feeling that everything was as it should be. He wanted to relax into that feeling and cast aside the universe of pain and frantic action.

But K'rra was not here. The thought of her made him fight the euphoria. He refused to succumb. The image of her kneeling before him drove him back from the soothing dark.

It made no difference. He could even turn his head. He was forced to stare up at Hol Vydon, who was calling for a medic. Whisps of haze obscured the warlord. The dark shapes of armed men surrounded him, guards still willing to fight. It was a shame he and Kae hadn't been able to do more damage. Kaster would happily let go if he'd been able to kill Vydon.

As the last vestiges of light faded Kaster saw a WaveBlade ignite just beyond Vydon. The noises sounded far away, the Blade arced in neon swoops, men scattered and fell. Vydon ran clumsily, heavily away.

The WaveBlade danced with precision and speed. Too much to be handled by Kae, he knew Jae had completed her mission. That meant K'rra was nearby. He tried to speak, but couldn't.

A second WaveBlade danced in the murk. Blaster bolts flashed. It was getting hard to see the people moving around, dancing, falling. Their noises were distorted and so far away.

K'rra's face filled his vision. She was blurred, as if someone had shifted all the colors to grey. When he smiled painfully, he saw the terror in her eyes. She knew how close he was to slipping away. He had to let her know that saving her was enough for him. Nothing else mattered. He drew in an excruciating breath.

K'rra worked her datapad scanning his vitals. Her face twisted in horror as the device reported his injuries. He was suffering from a lacerated diaphragm and liver. "Oh no... Hang on, Sir... please! Hang on..."

K'rra looked around frantically for anything that might help. A thick haze hung in the room from the smoke manacles, blaster shots, and small fires still burning. There was nothing that resembled a first aid kit, nor had they brought one. Even if they had, she would need specialized gear to stop the massive internal bleeding. She needed hemostatic gauze, or organ repair nanos, neither of which would be in a run-of-the-mill aid kit. She leaned over him, apologizing, and pressed down on his newly cauterized wound.

Kaster thrashed violently, groaning loudly. His eyes focused on K'rra but with a fevered cast. He tried to speak but couldn't around the pressure K'rra was placing on his abdomen.

"Shh, relax, Sir. Please just relax. There's massive internal bleeding, your liver's been punctured. Pleas sir..." Tears flowed down K'rra pale blue cheeks in rivers, as she continued applying pressure even though it was causing agonizing pain in her master.

He struggled feebly, then froze concentrating on nothing else but drawing a breath. "I'd offer you freedom, but I know it's not what you want... Go... be a good slave to someone worthy...

The words she said were unintelligible. Wet drips dotted his face.

"I just wish we'd made it to that library..."

And his eyes lost focus, staring up past her into the gloom.

K'rra pressed down on him desperately, "Fight, Sir. Fight it damn you! Just hang on until we can get to the ship."

She begged his internal bleeding to stop, the din of battle faded around her. Someone screamed her name and tried to pull her away, but she refused to leave him. She stayed there until darkness took her.

A pale, blue-skinned woman in translucent silks knelt before her Master.

*****

"I'm getting tired of the moping. Is she ever going to snap out of it?" Kae asked.

"She needs time," Jae said.

"You've been saying that for months."

"You sound anxious."

"I am," Kae said. "It's grinding me down, she'd like a robot. We tell her to clean, she just goes through the motions. Tell her to kiss or fuck, it like touching a mannequin, there no soul. No to mention this creepy shit."

Jae said nothing, just glanced into the medical room of the Outlander where K'rra knelt in front of the autodoc. On the medical table of the autodoc lay Kaster. The machine was locked down in full stasis, suspending him in a timeless state. No cellular activity could occur, as if frozen in time.

"She's becoming a liability," Kae said. "We blew that last job on Farquaat babysitting her."

"It sounds like you are leading up to something."

"I am. A no-pay bounty is going around the commsweb right now."

"We're not selling her to Hol Vydon, we swore to finish the job on him," Jae said, crossing her arms. She turned to look her sister in the face.

"It's not Hol Vydon. He's still offering a cool million for her, which is why we keep getting jumped by hunters. Look, we could kill two birds with one stone, give her to the pay bounty and we no longer have to babysit..."

"And," Jae finished the thought for her sister, "If she's not with us there won't be as many hunters sniffing around."

"Exactly," Kae said.

"The Outlander is her ship. Are we supposed to hitchhike once we deliver her?"

"She's a slave, she can't own property. Besides, if we accept the no-pay contract, we can negotiate the ship in lieu of payment."

Jae signed, she knew she was in no position to care for K'rra. The slave hurt to her very soul. Two fugitives on the run would never be able to look after her, care for her, and provide her the support needed to help her heal. But neither would slavers. Then again, no-pay bounties were often charity cases, family hoping to find a kidnapped victim, aid workers absconded, or simply a long shot hop of find a missing person.

"Who put up the no-pay?" Jae finally asked.

"The Crimson Fleet."

"Why would they want her?"

"Don't know. Gyth's are very rare slave stock. Maybe she was stolen from them."

"Gythians also don't work for pirates," Jae said.

"The bounty claims she's a lost sister. Maybe they do work with pirates? It's hard to know what a Gyth would do... they never even really leave their homeworld, yet here's one tight in front of us."

"A lost sister..." Jae considered the implications. A Gyth on a pirate fleet would exponentially increase the competency. Maybe that's why the Crimson Fleet was making waves with its relentless raids into Federated Space. The Federation had thrown small fleets and bounties at it, but came up empty-handed. Meanwhile, the Crimson Fleet grew in strength, more ships and crew pledging to it every passing month.

And as she had said earlier, two fugitives were not providing K'rra with the care she needed. If she were a member of the Crimson Fleet and Hol Vydon had stolen her away, well, that might add an ally in their fight against the gangster.

Jae finally said, "Alright. Let's talk to them. If K'rra was one of them, they might actually be able to help her where we cannot."

Kae smiled, "Excellent. I'll set a course."

*****

K'rra followed along as she had been told. The twins took her from her Master's ship to a space station on the edge of Coalition Space. As with many Coalition infrastructure, it was privately owned, run down, and barely maintained. It catered to pirates, mercenaries, and criminals. Everyone was armed, and no one took a second glance at a naked slave being led on a leash through the corridors. What caught a few eyes was the pair of exceptionally fit twins in skin-tight bodysuits, one with a blaster on her hip, the other with a pommel of a WaveBlade.

The hotel existed as nothing more than a meeting place for all manner of illicit deals. Its client rarely actually spends a full sleep cycle. K'rra was led to a room and told to kneel in its center. The twins were alert and paced, K'rra paid no attention, intent only on keeping her mind blank to dull the pain of loss.

A man entered and began negotiating with he twins. K'rra couldn't be bothered even to look up. She didn't care what happened to her, only about the memories of her Master. Even thinking the word brought such heartache that she closed her eyes, whispering her new mantra a hundred times, "I will not let you die."

At some point in the long conversation, K'rra realized she was being sold. As a slave, this was of no concern to her, nor to any of her property. Service, actively performing any act told of her, was a small release allowing her to focus a small part of her mind away from the all-consuming pain.

When the group talked of her Master, she interrupted them, "I will not leave him. I may be a slave, and will perform as such for my owner, but I will not leave my Master behind."

The group was quiet for a long moment after that, then negotiation began again. In the end, the man agreed that they would take Kaster in stasis along with the slave.

K'rra was led from the hotel deck of the station by a new owner. The occasional tugs of the leash gave her direction, but she still refused to look up. Eventually, the two made their way to a shuttle deck. There was a short ride through space, then K'rra entered a new ship. From her experience in the Federated Navy, she could tell the ship was newly constructed. It was clean in a way that only a vehicle can be in its first year of service.

Taken to a luxurious stateroom, she was told to kneel. It was only right for K'rra to do so. A new owner would want to claim her, judging from what little she'd seen of the room, he must be the captain. He sat down on the massive bed that dominated the room, but she still refused to look up at him. She could only think of Kaster's stateroom, tiny, with a bed that barely accommodated the two of them.

The door hissed open, and K'rra heard a familiar but long-unheard voice.

"K'rra? Is it really you?"

Confused and afraid her mind was playing tricks on her, K'rra turned, losing all composure demanded by protocol.

"Science Officer K'rra of clan Ry'attahk?" Captain Riley asked. She was naked, her face harder than K'rra remembered. Eyes that had once been wide with wonder now held a shadowed intensity, carrying the ghosts of choices that could never be undone.

"Captain!" K'rra cried out in equal parts misery and joy. She jumped to her feet and rushed into Riley's arms, burying her face on the human's pale shoulder. The tears came in river flows as she tried to crush herself into the woman she'd once considered a friend and colleague. "I've done such terrible things... and lost people because of it..."

Captain Riley stroked her friend's bare back, "Shhh, you're my crew. You're among friends..."

For the first time in months, K'rra dared to hope. Life would go on.

Fini