Organism Pt. 02 Proliferation Ch. 01

Location: Deep Space

Unregistered Combat Frigate: Briar Rose

Crew: Forty-eight (Estimate only)

Status: Wanted in connection with multiple system-wide acts of terror, including piracy, attacks on unarmed vessels, and theft of IFC property

Current Bounty: 8,000,000 units

Captain Seraph Reed rested back in her chair aboard the bridge of the Briar Rose, her eyes fixed on the holographic map displayed before her. Her ship was drifting silently through the darkness of space, the only sound being the faint hum of the engines as they powered down to conceal their movements from enemy radar.

Seraph scanned the map in front of her, her fingers tapping impatiently on the armrest of her chair. The Briar Rose was a notorious pirate vessel, feared throughout the quadrant for its skilled crew and ruthless captain. She'd built her reputation on her ability to outsmart her enemies and take whatever she desired through nothing but sheer cunning and the tactical brilliance with which she maneuvered her ship through uncharted space, away from the long arm of the law.

For eight years, she'd served as captain of this infamous pirate vessel. And in all that time, she'd never encountered a target as brain-dead as the one they were currently tracking.

What were these idiots thinking? To say they were off course would have been an understatement. Somehow, this mining vessel had gotten itself completely lost in uncharted waters. Away from the high security sub-light routes only to wind up right on her front doorstep, deep into low security space.

But far be it from her to pass up a lucrative opportunity when it presents itself. This would be the easiest haul she ever made.

"I don't get it," her first mate, Lia, who was standing next to her command chair, spoke up while staring in perplexity at the seemingly random IFC mining vessel that had wandered into their clutches. "Is there some joke I'm not understanding here? Or do these people have a death wish?"

Captain Seraph adjusted her posture, crossing one long, slender leg over the other and resting her head against her knuckles in thought. "They don't send miners this far out without an escort of some kind. This vessel isn't operating within the parameters of IFC security protocols."

"You think they've gone rogue?" Lia asked while flipping the bangs of her short auburn hair out of her eyes.

She shrugged. "It's entirely possible. Though it's more likely they've suffered catastrophic system malfunctions. How it was they managed to get this far off course is anyone's guess." A devious smirk sprouted across her lips. "Either way, I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Even a small commercial mining frigate can carry up to fifteen million tons of unrefined mineral ore in its hold. We've just been set up for life."

"So it would seem..." her first mate responded, her mind clearly elsewhere.

"What do we know about the ship?" Seraph asked, now all business.

Lia tapped a few icons on the datapad in her hand, bringing up a list of ship specifications. "Signature scanning IDs the vessel as the IFC independent mining frigate Cordoba."

"Ordinance?"

"Aside from a fairly basic asteroid defense system, the Cordoba has absolutely no weapons to speak of."

Seraph nodded. "And the crew?"

"Eight-man skeleton crew compensated with an onboard AI system," Lia reported. "Nothing terribly noteworthy."

She turned her attention next to the two tech officers stationed at terminals near the viewing port in front of her. "I want us within visual range of that mining vessel immediately. Make our presence known."

"Aye aye, Captain," the first officer stated while punching keys into his terminal. "Bringing up visual contact."

The ship gently lurched as they moved into position. From the viewport in front of them, Seraph could see the mining vessel clear as day off in the distance. The ship's hull was sleek and streamlined, with a blue and white color scheme typical of most vessels flying the IFC colors. A series of mining lasers were located on the front of the vessel, while the back was devoted to crew compartments and storage.

"Why is it so dark?" Seraph commented curiously. "Not only are the engines dead, there doesn't even appear to be any running lights active."

"All non-critical systems are down," the other tech officer reported while tapping away at his console. "Aside from life-support and that S. O. S beacon, nothing is running right now."

"The automated distress signal loops every twenty seconds," Lia observed warily, suspicion in her voice. "Yet aside from that, they've made no attempts to contact us or flag down any passing vessels in the system. They must know we're here."

"Put us on top of them," Seraph commanded. "Arm weapons systems and then hail the ship."

"Aye aye, Captain! Moving within fifteen hundred meters of the target's forward bow."

"Arming all weapons systems. Missile pods one through seven are primed and ready. Thornbird plasma cannons are running hot."

As the ship grew closer and closer in front of them, Lia furrowed her brow in worry. "Don't you think it's odd, Captain? An IFC mining vessel parks in the middle of hostile space, shuts down all non-critical systems, and starts broadcasting its location to every ship that might be in the area? It's almost like... they wanted to get captured."

"In that case, who are we to stop them?" Seraph retorted blithely. "Hail the ship. Establish communications and let them know they've just been captured."

"Aye aye, Captain!" one of the tech officers responded before bringing up their comms system. "This is the Briar Rose hailing IFC vessel Cordoba on all open channels. Do you copy?"

Silence on the other end. He tried again to establish communications.

"IFC vessel Cordoba, respond immediately. This is not a request."

Again, no response. A nervous quiver began to form in Lia's chest.

"You ever hear of a full communication's blackout happening on one of these things, Captain?"

She shook her head. "Not with an AI onboard. Someone should be picking up the damn phone by now."

Lia was about to respond when their comms system began to pick up a strange noise. It almost sounded like a voice, only heavily distorted.

"The hell is that?" one of the tech officers asked.

"Sounds like a busted communication array," Seraph insisted. "Maybe a damaged encoder. Either way, our guests are in even deeper shit than I first suspected. I'm surprised they don't come with their own little gift bow for how easy they're making this for us."

Her first mate didn't comment; that same worried look was still present in her eyes. Seraph finally turned and glanced up at her.

"What's the matter, Lia? You look nervous."

"I don't like this one, Captain," she admitted with a shake of her head. "Call it a gut feeling, but something about this whole situation just feels wrong. Like we're being set up."

The Captain chuckled at her dismissively. "You've always been too paranoid for your own good, my dear. All we're being set up for right now is a massive payday."

"You don't find this the least bit suspicious?" she huffed somewhat in frustration. "They must have known this system was a hotbed for pirates, but they flew into it anyway. These fools are basically offering themselves up to us on a silver platter right now. And I just can't help but worry that we might be stumbling into a trap."

"There's over sixty million units worth of unrefined ore on that ship, Lia. There won't be another opportunity like this one. We have to take it."

"But Captain..."

Her first mate was about to protest further when she cut her off. "It's an unarmed mining vessel. And there are only eight of them aboard. I think we've got this."

She frowned but otherwise knew not to protest further. There was no point. Whenever Captain Seraph got like this, there wasn't really anything that could stand in her way. Besides, she was right. From a practical standpoint, there wasn't anything about this ship that should have made her nervous.

So why couldn't she shake this feeling of absolute dread looming over her?

~~

Captain Seraph "Scorpion" Reed was a woman who commanded attention wherever she went, and her battle gear was no exception. As the captain of the notorious Briar Rose, her combat harness was both stylish and functional, designed to allow her to move freely while also highlighting her assets.

Seraph's black combat wire armor system consisted of multiple pieces, offering protection from plasma-based armaments and kinetic rifles whilst still allowing relative ease of movement. Her boots came up to her thighs, accentuating her long legs and giving her an air of authority. Her tight fibermesh pants hugged her curves in all the right places, while a black ribbed corset cinched her waist and accentuated her hourglass figure.

Over the corset, she wore a fitted red jacket with silver buttons, gold shoulder tassels, and a high collar, adding a touch of sophistication to her otherwise daring outfit. The jacket had a slight flare at the waist, drawing the eye to Seraph's hips and emphasizing her feminine form.

To complete the look, she wore a red and black beret, which held back her unruly blonde hair, held up in a messy bun. Attached to her belt were two weapons, the hilt of her custom plasma saber as well as a Helios 900 Heavy Plasma Bolt Thrower.

As Seraph made her way through the corridors of her ship, passing by members of her crew all scurrying about to perform their individual tasks, she walked with an air of confidence and absolute authority. As she passed, her men would stop and salute their Queen.

Just another day in paradise.

She descended an elevator and strode along the gangplank towards an EVA shuttle they'd repurposed as a boarding craft. Six members of her crew were waiting near the entrance to the shuttle, checking the facets of their kinetic rifles whilst passing out ammunition blocks. The moment she stopped and let loose a sharp whistle, they all stood at attention.

"Alright! You boys got your shit together?"

"Aye aye, Captain!" they shouted in unison.

Seraph smirked approvingly at that. "In that case, let's go give our guests a proper welcome, shall we?" She gestured towards the shuttle. "All of you get on board. We've got a mining ship to steal."

They slung their rifles over their shoulders and boarded the craft. Seraph was about to join them when she heard a voice call out from behind her.

"Captain! Captain, wait!"

She stopped and turned around. Her first mate was practically sprinting towards her, huffing in exertion. Lia came to a stop directly in front of her, resting her hands on her knees and taking a few deep breaths to get her racing heart back under control.

"What is it, Lia? We're about to board," the Captain insisted.

After taking a few more breaths, the petite young woman dressed in tight black pants and a brown spacer's jacket finally looked up at her. "Please take me with you."

Seraph shook her head vehemently. "Out of the question. Your place is on the bridge, girl. You know that."

"But, Captain..."

The Captain raised a hand to stop her. "I've heard your concerns, but my decision still stands. You lack the stomach for this kind of work, Lia. I can't risk you getting in the way."

She lowered her head solemnly, a slightly hurt look in her eyes. "I... I understand..."

Seraph nodded approvingly before turning to join the rest of the boarding party.

"Captain?"

She stopped again and peered over her shoulder. Lia was clutching her chest, a look of overt concern in her eyes.

"Promise me you'll be careful?" she pleaded worriedly. "There's something seriously not right about that ship. I'm just sure of it."

After considering the young executive officer for a moment, Seraph smiled before strutting up to her and gripping the back of Lia's short auburn hair, causing the girl to gasp. Whereupon the pirate planted a deep, domineering kiss on her lips, causing her eyes to bulge, whereupon she melted, moaning passionately into her Captain's lips.

Finally, Seraph pulled away, a wicked grin plastered on her face. "The moment I'm back, your ass is mine. You understand me?"

Lia's face was burning at that moment, a doe-eyed look in both orbs as she meekly nodded her head. "Y... yes, Captain."

She sighed contentedly, running a hand down Lia's cheek, past her chin, before stopping at the leather choker collar around her neck. On the front was a gold pendant with the words Property of the Scorpion engraved on the front.

"You'll always be my greatest treasure."

Lia smiled adoringly at her words, her heart aflutter at that moment. She watched as her Captain sauntered away, joining the others on the boarding shuttle. Once inside, the crew shut the inner hatch and commenced the launch sequence. The thrusters ignited, and they rocketed off into space on a direct course for the Cordoba.

As the shuttle made its approach, Captain Seraph approached the front of the ship and spun around, addressing her men, each seated in rows of three along the walls, rifles in hand.

"You all know the score. If any of them give you trouble, put a round in their leg. I'm not putting up with any games from these clowns."

They all collectively nodded their heads in understanding.

"Same shit as usual. Round up the crew, find the captain. Once we have him, we can disable the ship's AI and take over via manual control. Any questions?"

"What about the rest of the crew, Captain?" one of the pirates asked.

She shrugged indifferently. "If they wanna join up with us, fine. If not, we toss them out the airlock alongside their captain. Just remember, we don't kill anyone until that AI is out of commission. Understood?"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

A wicked grin crossed her lips. "Alright then. Let's go make our stack."

"Captain, we just got pinged by the target vessel," the pilot spoke up, tapping a few keys on his console as he guided the shuttle into position. "It looks like they've just... granted us docking permission."

Seraph turned around, giving him a confused look. "What?"

He nodded, seemingly just as baffled as she was. "I didn't even have to try to breach my way into their systems. We just received authorization to dock on one of the outer ports of the ship."

She walked up to the pilot's seat and leaned over his shoulder, staring at the console in bewilderment, then up at the mining ship they were swiftly approaching.

"They're letting us in?"

"It would appear so," the pilot commented nervously.

A chilling silence fell over the shuttle. For the first time since she left the Briar Rose, Seraph felt a nervous quiver form in her heart. She quickly forced it aside, her razor-sharp focus returning.

"Begin automated docking procedures," she commanded before turning back to the rest of her crew. "Safeties off and eyes sharp!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

She gazed back at the Cordoba, a wary glare in her eyes. Try as she might to shake it off, that same nervous dread that could be felt in her first mate had now settled in her mind.

~~

The whole crew was on edge as their boarding shuttle made its approach towards the stern of the large mining frigate.

"Approaching sternside port now," the pilot declared. "Gravity tethers are engaged. Automated docking is a go."

They felt the subtle lurch of gravity tethers pulling their vessel into position, lining up their docking port with the side of the ship. There was a loud clang as the vessel connected to the mining ship, whereupon a green light flipped on on the pilot's console.

"Docking procedures successful, Captain," the pilot declared. "We're now clear to disembark."

She nodded. "Boots up, gentlemen. We're going in." Seraph tapped her pilot on the shoulder and quietly murmured to him. "Keep the engines warm. Got it?"

He nodded in understanding. The others disconnected from their seats and shouldered their rifles. One by one, the pirates exited the shuttle alongside their captain, passing through the docking tunnel before entering decontamination.

"Automated Message: Standby shoreparty. Decontamination in progress," spoke a highly synthesized female voice.

They waited through a brief decontamination cycle. There was a restless tension among Seraph's men that wasn't there before. Not that any of them would admit that with the Captain being present. Her men knew better than to lose their nerve now.

Still, this was starting to weird her out. First, the docking invitation, and now they were being greeted by an automated message instead of the ship AI. Seraph took a moment to check her bolt thrower before switching the safety off.

"Decontamination complete. Welcome to the Cordoba."

The inner doors opened, and the crew rushed in, rifles at the ready. As Captain Seraph approached the center of the entrance corridor, her men all fanned out, covering every blind spot. Eyes peeled for any sign of a potential ambush from the crew.

But no one was there.

"Clear!" one of the men called out before lowering his rifle.

Seraph looked around. There wasn't a trace of anyone as far as she could see. What's more, the ship was unnaturally quiet.

And that's when they began to sniff the air.

"Anyone else catch a whiff of something... off?"

"Seriously, something smells wrong in here."

The captain took a deep breath. Whatever it was the boys were smelling, they must have been nose blind. The aroma permeating her senses was lovely. Like a certain lavender perfume her first mate liked to wear. She had particularly fond memories of this scent. Lia would always spritz a little between her legs for the captain whenever she went down on her.

A warm flush enveloped Seraph's cheeks, but she ignored it for now. "Split up and search the crew quarters. Holler if you find anything."

They split up. While the rest of the crew searched the ship, Seraph made her way to the captain's personal quarters. The room wasn't anything impressive. Little more than a bathroom, a bed, and a small living space. There was an open bottle of spirits resting on the center table and a horribly smashed computer resting in the corner of the room. This didn't make sense. It was clear no one had been in here for quite some time. Where the heck was the crew?

Her foot pressed on something that caused a loud crunch. She looked down to see glass littering the ground beneath her boot next to an overturned photograph. Curious, Seraph knelt down and picked up the photo, turning it over. Staring back at her was a smiling couple, composed of a burly guy with a beard and a rather cute redhead with pretty blue eyes.

She chuckled. "Looks like trouble in paradise."

Seraph tossed the photo aside and stood up. It was then that one of her crew entered the small private quarters and saluted.

"Captain, we just finished securing the bridge of the vessel. Not only is there no pilot, but we can't seem to access the ship AI."

That one threw her for a loop. "What do you mean you can't access the AI?"

"I mean, it's not responding to any console commands or voice prompts," he insisted. "It's almost like someone took it offline."

She gawked at him in silence before shaking her head. "That... that doesn't make a lick of damn sense. Why would they take their own AI offline?"

He shrugged. "Could it have been a mutiny?"

Seraph shook her head vehemently. "Highly unlikely. I know how these IFC ships run. Only the captain has access to the AI core. It's protected by a retinal scanner and several layers of solid titanium."

"So what's our next move?"

She considered everything she was seeing for a moment before finally turning back to him. "For now, keep searching the top deck. We'll reconvene in the mess hall and go over what we know so far."

He saluted. "Aye aye, Captain!"

Once he'd left, Seraph took one more moment to look around the room. To think Lia had been right. Something was horribly wrong about this ship.

~~

Captain Seraph waited in the mess hall located near the center of the crew quarters for her men to finish clearing the top deck. Every report was the same. The crew bunks were all empty, as were the cryo beds. As far as they could tell, no one was home.

One of her men located a crew manifest, which the pirate began sifting through. According to the logbook, this ship was supposed to be under the command of one Christopher Darnell, alongside second in command and Chief Medical Officer Elizabeth Brooke Holloway. The 'happy couple' she saw in that photograph.

Then there was their chief of engineering, Owen Roberd. Communications support Rebecca Kaedn. Navigation's officer Samantha Adlynn. Mining Technician Kevin Dlaney. Support staff Jessica Riley...

... and finally, Lead Science Officer Dr. Jacob Warren.

A rather eclectic group, to be sure. But nothing so out of the ordinary as to explain why they were in the middle of this system. From what she gathered reading the last entries recorded by the ship AI designated as 'Mira', the Cordoba was a standard deep-space mining frigate operating out of Halden Station. It was returning from a two and a half week asteroid mining operation within the rings of LXR-31. A recently discovered untapped source of isogen ore.

Everything seemed to be going fine when they were stopped about halfway through their return trip back to Halden Station. According to the most recent entries, the ship picked up a transmission of unknown origin from an as-yet unexplored planet. Under IFC protocol, they were sent down to the planet to investigate.

After that, the entries just... stopped.

The last entry was over a month ago, according to ship logs. Since then, there were no further records of the ship or the crew's activities, or why they'd veered so far off course as to end up here of all places. The only way she'd get any answers would be to locate and salvage the ship's black box. But that was something she could worry about once this vessel was safely back at Blood Rock Station.

At that moment, one of her crew returned with another report. "Captain, we just finished sweeping the back of the crew quarters. There's something in the medbay I think you might wanna see."

She set the crew manifest down and followed him towards the medbay. That strange aroma only got stronger, and she felt a weird sparkle between her legs the closer she got. Whatever it was she was smelling, it was obviously different from what her men were breathing in, because they were all keeping their noses plugged. Something that unnerved her more than she cared to admit.

Upon rounding the corridor and entering the medbay, she was greeted by yet another baffling and slightly disturbing sight. What appeared to be some sort of quarantine unit stood at the far end of the room. The glass surrounding it had been melted through, and some sort of strange black mold had begun to grow all along the walls and ceiling, leaving a slimy trail towards one of the ventilation ducts.

Her face flushed all over again. Was this the source of that peculiarly pleasant smell?

"What do you think this stuff is?" one of her men asked curiously while reaching out to dip his finger in the black slime.

His hand was immediately swatted away by his buddy. "Don't touch it, dumbass! There's no telling what kind of diseases that shit will give you."

Ignoring the others for now, Seraph approached the broken quarantine unit. The smell wafting off the room was incredibly heady. Blends of that perfume mixed with the smell of leather and scented candles. Her mind was being filled with images of Lia chained up to her bed, writhing naked in her bonds as the Captain had her way with those soft, supple curves she went crazy for. A perfect kitten made to mewl for the Pirate Queen, her pretty little spoils of plunder.

An overwhelming urge to touch herself struck the Captain. She could feel her underwear becoming noticeably damp.

"Captain? You alright?"

Finally snapping back to her senses, she quickly rubbed her eyes and shook the haziness away. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." Tearing her gaze away from the black mold, she inspected the melted glass a bit more thoughtfully. "Something busted its way out of this quarantine unit."

Hearing that caused a wave of fearful trepidation to pass among the ranks of her men.

"Err... Boss? Maybe we should go back," one of them suggested.

She immediately snapped her gaze back at him, glaring sharply. He gulped, raising a nervous hand up placatingly towards the perturbed pirate.

"I'm... I'm just saying. We don't know what that shit is. What if it makes us sick?"

Another crewman nodded in agreement. "He's right, Captain. For all we know, this crap is the reason the crew is gone."

"We have a job to do," she insisted. "Or have you all forgotten there's sixty million units at stake here?"

"I haven't forgotten, Captain," the first man argued. "But what good are units if you're dead?"

His buddy scoffed at him derisively. "Just how chickenshit are you?"

He shot him a death glare. "I ain't chickenshit! We just don't know what we're dealing with!"

Seraph looked around at the nervous, bickering faces of her men before taking a deep breath and letting loose a sharp whistle, immediately calling for attention. Once everyone was silent, she smiled brightly.

"Very well then. We'll take it to a vote."

They all nodded in agreement.

"All in favor of returning to the Briar Rose and blowing this ship to hell?"

Three of them raised their hands.

"And all in favor of finishing the job we started and getting rich?"

The other three raised their hands.

"Well, it would appear we have something of a stalemate on our hands," she declared while calmly walking between her men, one boot in front of the other. "Now, how do you suppose we'll resolve this?"

"Perhaps a revote, Captain?" the first guy to speak up offered.

She came to a dead stop in front of him, a wicked gleam forming in her eyes.

"Actually... I have a better idea."

A loud pop preceded the bright purple trail of Seraph's after swing as she grabbed the hilt of her inactive saber and swiped it sharply across the insubordinate crewman's neck. A ring of blood formed around the space where her superheated energy blade passed completely through him, at which point his head rolled merrily off his shoulders, a look of stunned surprise still plastered on his lifeless face. The headless body then collapsed to the floor, blood spurting from the neck stump as the remaining crew all backed away in fear.

She held the purple energy blade aloft, its glowing surface taking the form of a cutlass, and pointed it directly at the remaining members of her crew. "So the current vote is now two to three in favor of pressing forward. Or did you still want that revote?"

They all collectively shook their heads, whatever fear they may have had of this ship now replaced with the absolute terror they held for their Captain. With a victorious smirk, she switched off the superheated blade and placed the hilt back on her belt.

"Excellent. In that case, I'm recommending we divide into two teams and search the lower decks." She turned to the men who voted with her. "You three start with engineering." The Captain then turned towards the two remaining men who voted against her. "And you two... will be with me. We'll see if we can find the security room and then start working our way down to the mining deck."

The two men who had voted against her swallowed reflexively.

"Everyone clear on their assignments? Good. We'll maintain an open radio channel just in case things get pesky. Otherwise, I don't want to hear any more nonsense about returning to the Briar until this ship is ours."

~~

Seraph and her two reluctant crew members eventually managed to find the security room. However, much to her frustration, someone had gone through and completely sabotaged the servers. It looked as though repairs had been started, yet something forced whoever was working on these machines to abruptly stop.

More of that black fleshy material coated the walls. At first, it was just small patches of the stuff seemingly oozing out of the vents, but the deeper in they went, the more they found. Until eventually they reached a point where they were literally wading through the stuff, passing through entire tunnels of this tough yet pliant material.

The aroma of sex was heavy in the air around her, making her head swim and her skin tingle all over. Her two winey crewmembers kept insisting it smelled like rotted flesh to them. But for the time being, she chose to ignore that particular detail. This place was starting to freak her out enough as it was.

"Hear that?" the man to her right spoke up, pointing his rifle down a long corridor.

"Quit fucking with us, dude," the one to her left insisted angrily.

He shook his head, palpable fear in his voice. "I'm telling you... we're not alone."

"Both of you keep moving," Seraph commanded sharply, doing her best to keep her mind off that distracting smell. "Give me one reason to place a bolt in the back of your heads and I swear to God, I'll..."

Her words were cut off by the sound of their radios kicking on.

"Captain, are you there?! Captain, come in!"

She placed a finger up to the communicator in her ear. "Ross, is that you? Report! What's the situation?"

"We've got contact!" he shouted through the receiver, his frantic voice punctuated by the sound of kinetic fire and what sounded like the shrieks of some sort of inhuman creature. "Hostile contact! But... but it's not the crew!"

A hideous knot formed in her gut. "S... say again, Ross?"

"There's some sort of creature onboard! Our weapons aren't doing shit! It's... no... no stay back! Stay baaaack!"

There was more frantic screaming and gunfire, followed by a demonic bellowing wail, whereupon the line went completely dead.

"Ross, come in! Ross, report!" she shouted angrily through the radio.

Nothing but silence. It was then she could hear the sound of skittering legs along the walls. Looking at her two crewmen, they were both staring in petrified horror at something directly behind her. One of them brought a single trembling finger up and pointed.

"C... Captain..."

She slowly turned around. On the walls and ceiling directly behind them were three ghostly white creatures with razor-sharp maws, needle-like fangs set into a chilling grin, with two beady, glowing yellow eyes. Each was about as large as a medium-sized dog and looked like some sort of unholy cross between a piranha and a scarab beetle. They didn't so much walk as they did slowly skitter towards them on four pincer legs.

A deathly chill ran up her spine as she backed away from the harrowing sight. "What... the... fuck?"

One of them opened its mouth and let loose a blood-curdling shriek. At which point they unloaded on them, with both men firing their automatic weapons while she blasted the third one away with repeated shots from her heavy bolt thrower. The gunfire tore them to shreds, bits of black tarry flesh and blood splattering and coating the walls, yet they did not fall. Instead, the creatures remained planted firmly in the fleshy material, even as they were completely torn to bits.

As they lowered their smoking weapons, what remained of the inhuman creatures began to sprout tendrils of that black, fleshy material which wound around the corridor in a spider's web pattern, completely cutting off their escape.

"The fuck were those things, Boss?!" the man to her left shouted hysterically.

"How should I know?!" she shouted back before holstering her gun. "Come on. We're getting off this fucked up ship."

"But they just sealed off the corridor."

She laughed at that before drawing her saber again. "Oh please, I'll cut through that crap in no... time... flat..."

Her voice slowly trailed off as more of those freakish things appeared from porous openings in the material, where they skittered towards them through the gaps in the weblike barrier between them and escape. The three pirates began backing up while firing on the encroaching enemies, shredding them to mulch, forming even more of those thick webs between them, and the only way out, until they pretty much covered the entire corridor.

The creatures continued their advance, nimbly skittering along the walls, ducking and weaving through the gaps in the web as they pursued them like beings possessed. Showing little to no regard for their own safety. They eventually hit a wall as the corridor T'd off into two different directions.

"More of them!" one of her men shouted before firing on the group charging at them from the right.

"They're coming from all sides!" the other added hysterically while firing on the group charging from the left.

Seraph and her two crewmen found themselves surrounded as they desperately fired on anything that approached from the three corridors. One of the creatures came to a stop and sprouted a set of three pink, slimy tails with red bulbs on the end. The bulbs opened up like fleshy flower petals before launching three orbs of glowing green slime at them.

The three goopy projectiles hit the man to her left, splattering across his face, chest, and right leg, knocking him to the ground. Whereupon the glowing green material began to swarm around him, growing impossibly fast, forming webs, and weaving a net around his body.

"Get it off! Get it off me!" he wailed desperately while fighting against the material as it spun around his wrists and ankles, forcing his arms across his chest and his legs closed tightly together.

His buddy dropped his weapon and tried to pry the material off him, but it was like trying to pull apart steel. He could only watch in horror as the hapless man's terrified screams were cut off by the material completely covering his face, and from there, the rest of his body in an airtight cocoon.

"Leave him!" Seraph commanded before holstering her pistol and drawing her saber. "This way! We'll cut a path through!"

Immediately abandoning his flailing friend, he picked up his rifle and followed the Captain as she cut a path through the corridor to their right. The sound of the cocooned pirates muffled shrieks of terror as he was dragged away to God only knows where by those freaks, fueling their legs to move faster.

Seraph cut everything between them and freedom down to size with her cutlass, doing her best to avoid getting any of that black material on her while her remaining crewman covered their flank, firing on the still pursuing creatures behind them.

Eventually, they reached a point where the black flesh gave way to metal corridor once more, and the pursuing creatures came to a dead stop, seemingly unable to chase them any further past that point. The two remaining pirates dead sprinted through the next doorway before slamming it shut behind them.

Only then did they take a moment to stop and catch their breath. Their ears were ringing and their hearts pounding in their chests, having just run on nothing but pure adrenaline throughout that entire ordeal. Yet somehow, they were both still alive.

"Captain, your jacket."

She looked at her sleeve to see it was coated in black flesh, which was now slowly growing across her entire jacket.

"Fuck!" Seraph quickly stripped the jacket off and threw it aside, tossing her beret off as well just in case, before frantically checking her skin-tight armor for any traces of the material. "Do you see any more on me?"

He shook his head. "What about me? Any of that crap on my back?"

"No, I think you're good," she assured after giving him a once-over.

He turned his gaze back to the closed door. "Why do you think they stopped?"

She shrugged, still huffing from the exertion a little. "My best guess? They can't walk on anything but that black shit."

"Okay, but seriously. What the fuck were those things?" he asked, terror leaking back into his voice.

"How should I know?" she asked angrily. "Look, we can't worry about it right now. Let's just focus on getting back to the crew deck and getting the hell off this ship."

"Coming here was a mistake," he insisted. "I should never have agreed to this."

"Shut up!" she snarled back at him. "For your own sake, just quit talking and follow me."

"Do you even know where you're going?"

Seraph took in her surroundings, noting they were in a barely lit space containing rows of what looked like cargo containers.

"This must be storage," she deduced. "There should be a maintenance hatch nearby that'll take us back up to the crew deck."

The moment she said that, a pair of effeminate voices giggled viciously in the dark, immediately bringing them back on high alert, their weapons trained on the source of the sound.

"My my... I'm getting a sudden sense of deja vu," an unsettlingly sanguine female voice spoke up from the shadows. "What about you, sister?"

"Absolutely," another voice, just as predatory, just as disarmingly sultry as the first, responded. "This reminds me so much of our dearly departed Owen."

"Who's there?!" Seraph shouted, her bolt thrower snapping from one sound to the next. "Show yourself!"

"Hear that, sister? She wants us to show ourselves."

"I don't like her, sister. She was mean to that poor manthing."

"Maybe we should cheer him up a little?"

All around them, the two could hear what sounded like dainty little feet pattering along the tops of cargo containers. They both began firing indiscriminately at the sources of the sound, spotting through the bloom of kinetic fire and plasma bolts two lithe figures darting about at inhuman speeds, giggling playfully as if this were all just one giant game.

"Our guests are so jumpy, sister. Especially the male."

"I can see him trembling from here."

"Do you suppose he'd be more inclined to stop shooting at us if he saw what we looked like?"

"Maybe, sister. All the same, I don't think it matters. He knows he's a dead man either way."

The panic-addled crewman quickly reloaded his weapon with a fresh ammunition block and continued to fire. All around him, he could see sparkly inhuman grins and yellow eyes. Yet nothing seemed to hit its mark. He lowered his weapon and began to hyperventilate.

"Oh shit... oh shit, we're fucked. We're fucked!" he shouted, the fear at last consuming him. "I'm getting out of here! I'm getting the fuck out of here!"

Having completely snapped, the pirate dropped his weapon and sprinted away.

"What are you doing?! Get back here, you moron!" Seraph barked at him.

He rounded a corner behind a set of containers. Whereupon she heard some sort of scream... but it wasn't him. The thing almost sounded human, but something about it was off. Like a demon trying to imitate the shriek of a human female. This was followed immediately after by her last remaining crewman screaming at the top of his lungs in abject horror before going silent.

All was quiet. Seraph was alone now in the dark.

"Looks like my wonderful daughter just caught the last of her little manthing friends, sister."

The other woman giggled sadistically. "So it would seem. But now she's all alone."

"Aww, you're right. That makes me a little sad."

Seraph continued to fire her pistol at the inhumanly fast figures darting about the tops of containers. When all of a sudden, her gun stopped functioning. She looked down at the smoking weapon frantically, smacking it a few times to try and get it working again, but nothing helped. She'd overtaxed the barrel, causing it to heat up to the point it melted down the internal circuitry and ruined the power cell, turning the gun into little more than useless slag.

The pirate bellowed in irate fury, tossing the weapon at one of the containers with an ugly clang before drawing her saber.

"Come out, you damn harpies! Stop hiding and face me!"

They both just continued to giggle at her, further earning the Captain's ire.

"She really wants to see us, sister."

"Can we play with her, Master? Pretty please?"

"She looks so lonely by herself. We want to help her smile."

"Or at least... we want to carve one on her face after she stops screaming."

Seraph slowly backed herself up against one of the containers, gripping the superheated blade firmly in two trembling hands.

"But would that be fair to my darling niece, Samantha?"

"Not at all, Jess. My dear nephew had so much fun hunting those other three manthings. Let's not spoil this for my beloved daughter."

Upon hearing those names, her eyes grew wide with shock and realization. Those were both names listed in the crew dossier!

The one named Jess sighed in a melancholy tone. "Very well then. I suppose we'll just continue to watch for now."

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll still be plenty fun watching her try to run away."

"Better start running, little manthing. My darling niece is coming for you next."

Seraph didn't think. She just took off towards the direction of the maintenance tunnel mentioned in the ship layout. Those infernal harpies kept giggling all around her, tailing the Captain from above as she carved her way through a cargo container and rounded another corner where the entrance to the hatch was located.

She came to a dead stop, her heart sinking into a deep pit in the back of her chest. The hatch was completely clogged with that same black material!

The Captain began desperately hacking away at the fleshy substance, desperate to carve a way through. But it was no use. The stubbornly resilient material just kept reforming the moment she cut into it, all while those infernal sirens laughed at her expense.

"Uh oh. It would seem we left a bit of a mess, sister," Samantha commented.

"Too bad, so sad," Jess taunted cruelly.

Seraph spun around with her blade out in front of her, eyes wild, darting around for any sign of movement like a cornered animal. Fear and anger had slowly begun to override her senses. She needed to get out of here. She needed to find a way out of this hellish place!

The sound of something darting down one of the containers caused her stomach to bottom out.

"Hear that? My daughter's coming for you, manthing."

"Run, run, run as fast as you can."

As the sound grew closer, Seraph sprinted away, every fiber of her being now focused solely on finding a way out before whatever was making that hideous growling noise managed to catch up to her. It seemed like her pursuer was trying to giggle like her mother and aunt were both doing. But it didn't sound the same at all, more like some unholy cross between a hyena and a snarling abomination.

Starting to run low on energy, Seraph shut off her saber and ducked into an open container, hiding herself behind a crate of portable mining lasers. She took a few deep breaths to get her lungs back under control before quickly clasping a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise as the monster landed on top of the container she'd ducked into.

It hissed and snarled in that same near-human tone that made Seraph's skin crawl. She'd never been so terrified of anything before in her entire life. Risking a glance over the crate, the pirate caught sight of a ghostly white figure with elongated forearms and razor-sharp talons crawling by on all fours. She immediately ducked back behind the mining lasers, all her focus on just not making any noise.

When it seemed like maybe the creature had lost her trail, she very slowly, gingerly stood back up and exited the cargo container, keeping a death grip on the hilt of her saber. One step in front of the other, she quietly crept around the container, keeping a hand on its surface and her eyes peeled for any sign of that thing.

Something warm and slimy landed on her shoulder, and she stopped. Seraph reached over and wiped the clear substance onto her hand. Noting it appeared to be some sort of drool. Slowly, she looked directly up.

Its face was a hideous mockery of the human visage. An affront to the female form given life. The creature's twisted features were at once uncannily familiar and yet so disturbingly wrong in every sense of the word. Its smile, especially, stretched far too wide to be anything but that of a monster. And its sunken, glowing yellow eyes, bulging with gleeful bloodlust, were so far removed from anything remotely human in appearance they could turn a grown man's legs into stone.

For the longest time, the two just stared at one another. Despite the fact that the beast was slobbering all over her in ravenous excitement, that hideous smile stretched across its face, Seraph could not find the will to move a single muscle. Instead, she just stood there, frozen, not so much as blinking out of fear that it would spell her demise.

Until at last, she found the will to speak.

"You are one... ugly motherfucker."

The creature let loose a blood-curdling shriek, and her legs took off sprinting through the maze of containers yet again. It sounded like the wail of the damned, a cruel imitation of a woman's voice at its most perverse.

It took off in pursuit, cackling in that demonic fever dream of a voice that made the pirate's legs move even faster. Closer and closer it gained, crawling along the side of the metal containers far quicker than she could hope to run.

Off in the distance, she saw a tunnel. Another corridor! If she could just make it there, she'd be free! Seraph willed her legs to move faster even as the creature continued to gain on her. Suddenly, it pounced, leaping through the air to grab her.

The pirate bellowed furiously as she spun and sliced the creature's face clean off its elongated skull moments before landing directly on top of her. Seraph's blade fell from her hand as the now faceless corpse knocked her to the ground, whereupon they both went sliding back several feet.

Her breaths were coming in short, quick bursts as she willed her arms to push the startlingly heavy monstrosity off of her, whereupon she scooted away. At last, that hideous face that would forever haunt her dreams was no more. The creature was dead.

"It's gone... it's gone..." she chanted to herself, trying desperately to get her breathing under control before she hyperventilated. Slowly, her heartbeat began to return to normal.

Whereupon it stopped dead, and her blood ran frigid as the faceless creature rolled over and lurched up. Black blood pooled around the gaping wound where its face used to be, forming a latex-like seal.

Once more, that hideous smile returned as it pressed through the black seal, the creature's face seemingly regenerating from within its own body. Seraph backed away, shaking her head over and over again in denial.

"No way... no fucking way..."

Like a nightmare come to life, the creature's new face burst out of the black seal, whereupon it shook the remaining coating away. Its beady eyes set on her yet again, at which point Seraph righted herself and dead sprinted for the corridor, forsaking her remaining weapon entirely.

The door slammed shut moments before it pounced on her again. Working like a madwoman, Seraph bypassed the door's internal security on the wall-mounted console and forced a quarantine lockdown, shutting the reinforced blast wall down on top of it.

She slowly backed away as the creature continued to scream and claw in a blind fury at the door, banging on it repeatedly while she trembled from head to toe. Her nerves completely shot, tears now streaming down her face as whatever remained of the once fearless Pirate Queen melted away.

Those freaks could keep this damn ship. She just wanted to go home!

As she backed away, Seraph felt something squish beneath her boot, bringing her once again to a dead stop. She slowly turned around, only to see, much to her utter dismay, that the corridor she'd been so quick to seek shelter behind was in fact completely coated in the black flesh.

"Oh shit..." she quietly whimpered like a frightened child.

From around the bend, a large black tentacle jumped into view faster than she could fully react. Seraph managed to turn around to sprint away, only for the inhumanly fast thing to snatch her by the ankle, dropping her to the ground.

She screamed hysterically as the eel-like appendage dragged her across the black flash, clawing desperately at the rubbery material, flailing for anything to grab onto that might save her from this wretched fate. When that didn't work, she rolled on her back and tried pulling at the tentacle itself, but it would not give.

"Please! Please no!" she sobbed, pulling with all her might to get the unyielding vice around her ankle free.

But of course, nothing worked. And as she was pulled closer and closer towards her final destination, a dark opening in the floor from whence the tentacle intended to drag her down, never to be seen again, panic completely overrode all sensibility, and she once again rolled onto her stomach only to begin clawing at the material in a mad bid to get away.

"Lia! Liaaaa!!!"

She shrieked her lover's name with the last of her strength, reaching out as if she might somehow save her, might somehow grab her wrist and pull her to safety moments before being swallowed up by the floor.

~~

It was all around her, coating every part of her body. Seraph couldn't move, couldn't breathe; she could only struggle and squirm as she descended deeper and deeper into the literal bowels of this nightmare ship. It felt like she was being swallowed, like she was traveling down the throat of some alien creature as she slowly descended down further and further into what she assumed was the creature's stomach.

"No wait! Please!" the Captain cried in desperation while trying to claw her way back up. "Don't eat me!"

As she descended further down, all traces of light vanishing away into a black abyss of nothing, Seraph's life flashed before her eyes. Was this really to be her fate? Swallowed up by some eldritch monstrosity? Her legs hit the bottom of this fleshy tunnel before slowly being swallowed by a round orifice that clung tightly to her frame as she passed through. It was suffocatingly claustrophobic, the walls of membrane pressing tightly against her body on all sides. Whereupon she finally dropped into a large pool of green liquid with an ugly splash.

Seraph burst up from the surface of the shallow pool and gasped for breath, her hair now fallen in loose wet tresses down past her shoulders, eyes wild and frantic as she darted around, trying desperately to orient herself to her surroundings. The pirate was shaking like a leaf in the wind after that ordeal. She was so sure she was about to be digested or worse.

Looking around, she could see she was in some sort of large, circular room. Or maybe room wasn't the right word; it looked like she was now occupying a large black stomach. Trails of glowing green bioluminescent energy provided an eerie source of light in the otherwise lightless cavern. The pool she was lying in only came up to her waist while she was sitting on her knees. And the smell, while bizarre, was not unpleasant.

"Hello?" she called out into the fleshy cavern. "Anyone there?"

The sound of quiet moaning brought her back on full alert. A woman was hanging on the fleshy wall, her arms and legs seemingly having been fused with the material. Her belly was heavy with child, and her breasts were actively lactating. Around her mouth was a mask of that same black material, forcing her lips open like a ring gag. She didn't appear to be conscious.

A wave of dread washed over her as she slowly backed away. That was when Seraph began to feel it. Looking down at her hands, the pirate began to notice her armor was melting, literally dissolving away right off her body.

"I've gotta get out of here," she murmured fearfully to herself.

Seraph attempted to stand, but her feet slipped out from under her, sending the pirate right back into the pool. The floor appeared to possess absolutely no friction to speak of whatsoever. Making it next to impossible to stand up despite repeated attempts to do so.

She started to panic again, worried at first that this crazy acid bath was digesting her. But upon closer inspection, Seraph noted the only things that seemed to be dissolving away were her armor and clothes. The pool left her completely naked, but otherwise did not seem to burn or eat away at her skin in any way.

Her relief was soon cut short, as the pirate began to notice she was not alone in that glowing green pool. What looked like small, round, white bugs began to emerge from the bottom and started swimming towards her. She looked from side to side, clutching at her naked breasts. They were coming from all around, swarming her.

One of the little bugs crawled up her leg, and she swatted it away. "Get off me!"

Since standing wasn't an option, she attempted to escape the pool by crawling away on all fours, swatting bugs out of the way. During which time one of the little round insects climbed up the side of her leg, over the swell of her exposed rump, before pressing itself into her tight pucker.

"Waaahaaa!" she shouted in a mixture of shock and disgust as the round bug pressed fully into her tight ass, causing her to instinctively clench, raise up, and clasp her butt. "What are you doing?! Get out of there!"

While she was distracted, another bug swam beneath her legs and burrowed itself into her waiting cunt. Once again, causing her to squeal hysterically before shutting her legs tight and sitting back on her haunches. Desperate to protect her orifices from further invaders.

"Stop it! Please! That's so sick!" she railed against them while swatting bugs off her body. "Get out of my body!"

And then she felt it. The round creatures inside her began to vibrate. Almost like one of her egg toys she'd use to tease Lia with, only this was far more intense. A moan of arousal escaped her lips, and she bit down on her thumb, her cheeks flushing. This didn't make sense. Why was she so hypersensitive right now?

She needed to get out of this hellish place. Rather than waste time crawling, Seraph elected to instead dive headfirst into the pool and swim to the edge. Upon surfacing, she grabbed the side of the pool and attempted to pull herself up.

Whereupon her wrists and neck slipped straight through the material. Whatever this stuff was, it could seemingly change from solid to liquid to back to solid again in an instant. She slipped right through the black flesh, at which point it locked her wrists and neck in place like a pillory. Seraph pulled and tugged with all her might, but the stubborn flesh would not yield its grip. She was trapped!

Those wretched bugs continued to vibrate inside her, sending unwanted sparkles down her lower half. Why did it feel so damn good? She didn't want this. Seraph didn't want any part of this!

"Let me out!" she screamed, keeping her legs and ass tightly clenched to prevent more of those things from getting inside her. "Someone, let me out!"

The bugs vibrated again, causing her to moan as another wave of unwanted pleasure passed through her before subsiding. Seraph hung her head pitifully, too exhausted to keep struggling.

"Please..." she begged. "... I just want to go home."

"This is your home now."

A woman's voice caused her to snap her head up and gasp before looking around. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

The wall in front of her parted, a seam splitting down the middle, forming a rather vulvic opening from which a figure emerged. A curvy woman with long crimson hair, ruby lips, pointed ears, and glowing yellow eyes. More bizarre than that, however, was her long segmented tail and strange outfit. It looked almost like bondage gear, only upon closer inspection, Seraph noted her clothes appeared to be composed of the same material the walls were made of.

Was this freak wearing that black flesh?

The crimson-haired woman smiled sultrily at her, revealing a set of gleaming phosphorescent canines that sparkled in the bioluminescent ambiance. "You must be the infamous Pirate Captain Seraph Scorpion I've heard so much about. I must say, I'm a huge fan of your work."

"Who are you?!" she flared angrily, her rage coming back with a vengeance. "Where the hell have you taken me?! What is this place?!"

"This..." As she spoke, she sauntered up to her, gently placing a hand on Seraph's cheek and caressing it. "... is your new family, my pet. We've been waiting so long for you to arrive. And I'm so happy you took the bait."

In spite of herself, Seraph withdrew fearfully. She could feel this freak's bony talons through the black gloves she was wearing.

"Aww, now what's with that face?" The woman cooed like a consoling mother, dropping to a knee and gently petting her hair. "I promise you'll be very happy here. Whether you want to be or not."

She narrowed her gaze at the unsettlingly gentle woman in realization. Her face was familiar to her. From a dossier she read back on the top deck of the ship.

"You're Elizabeth Holloway. The Medical Officer of this ship."

"I go by Brooke if you must know. Elizabeth was my mother's name," she admitted taciturnly before standing back up and placing a hand on her hip. "Not that it truly matters. The only title you'll be using in my presence from this moment forward is Queen. If I ever deign to let you speak again, that is."

Seraph scowled up at her nastily. "Whatever game you're playing, I'm not interested. So either kill me or let me go. Otherwise you're just..."

Brooke snapped her fingers, and the bugs in her ass and pussy started vibrating again. This caused the pirate to gasp and moan as she began writhing in her bonds. She let her squirm for a moment before commanding the bugs to stop. Whereupon Seraph slumped in her bonds, having been brought to near orgasm yet again.

She grunted in discomfort as Brooke gripped her hair and forcefully pressed her face into her crotch.

"Enough talking, pet," the domineering redhead commanded. "It's time you acquainted yourself with your new purpose for living."

The moment her nose was pressed against this woman's underwear, Seraph's mind went completely blank. Such intoxicating aromas... not just lavender perfume, but the smell of her favorite wine, the scent of her lover's hair fresh out of the shower.

"That's it. Breathe it in," Brooke encouraged, a vicious grin on her face. "This is the scent of your Queen. The scent of the hive at its most potent. As my first pet, you will serve your Queen, and by extension, the hive without question. As do all who come to join our brood."

Her head was swimming in it. Seraph felt drunk at that moment. Inebriated by this heady fragrance. As the Queen pulled away, her mind was left in a fog, meaning she barely noticed her feet and legs sinking into the floor.

"Now then. Let's get a few more of these adorable little critters inside you. I promise you'll feel so much better after a nice long orgasm session."

It finally seemed to click what she was saying, and Seraph sobered up enough to realize that black rubbery flesh was now creeping up her legs and enveloping her thighs. Once again, the pirate began thrashing around as her legs were forcefully pulled apart. Held in place by the malleable liquid muscle that could go from soft and pliant to hard and unyielding in seemingly any shape or form it desired.

"Shhh. Shhh. Relax, my pet," Brooke insisted gently while stroking her hair again. "It's useless to struggle. The hive bends to our every command. Its form and function are constantly evolving to suit our needs."

The pirate began screaming all over again as her ass and pussy were invaded by those nasty bugs once more. One after another, they crawled inside her, making her wail hysterically with each new round carapace that invaded her cavities. Two swam around to her weighty breasts and clamped onto both her nipples

"We are the ones in control here. Not you. And the sooner you take that lesson to heart and learn to let go of all those silly thoughts of resistance, the sooner your prison will become ceaseless ambrosia." With a wicked smirk, she raised her hand in the air again. "Here. Let me show you what I mean."

Brooke snapped her fingers, and the Captain's body jolted. Her back arched, and the breath was robbed from her lungs as those hellishly pleasurable bugs all started vibrating inside her at the same time. Her ass, her pussy, her nipples, damn near every single one of her pleasure buttons were being forcefully pressed over and over again as she swiftly and brutally crested over the hill.

The first scream of pleasure leaped from her throat as her belly tightened hard around those smooth, round marbles. Another one soon followed, each mounting one after another as she grunted and groaned and panted through each tightening of her holes. Each dazzling sparkle of lighting pleasure coursed through her body.

"See? Doesn't it feel so unbelievably good, my pet?" Brooke offered with a sadistic giggle even as she continued to scream and seize in overwhelming pleasure. The Queen left her there, sauntering over to the pregnant woman hanging on the wall before gently caressing her cheek, stirring her awake.

"Our dear Rebecca has learned to embrace her role as a mindless breeding cow, and soon you'll learn to embrace yours as well." She gripped her by the chin lovingly and rubbed their noses together. "Isn't that right, my sweet little wall pussy?"

Like a complete zombie, the brainless girl grunted through her gag while nodding her head yes. They swirled their tongues together, the mindless breeding slave drooling for her Queen as they kissed. Brooke glided her fingers down to caress her swollen belly.

"You couldn't have come at a more opportune time, my pet. Poor sweet Rebecca here has been so hard at work breeding drones for the hive. We finally decided to give her a break so she could have Jess's next child instead. But soldiers take much longer to breed than workers do."

The Queen's gaze then shifted to a corpse hanging on the wall behind Seraph, one of the Scorpion's men, now hanging there dead with a gaping hole in his chest, his body ready to be converted into biomass.

"At least by conventional means anyway."

Seraph was barely coherent. The bugs in her belly, having begun to alternate their currents, vibrating now at varying intensities, molding themselves to her anatomy in order to ring out every last belly spasm, every last orgasm, every last bit of pleasure she could experience before it swiftly turned to pain. Whereupon they just kept going anyway.

Meanwhile, Brooke's hand glided down further to Rebecca's dripping wet pussy, where she started teasing her a little. The breeding cow tilted her head back and her eyes crossed, tongue extending out through her round gag as she panted in heat.

"Mmmm, you're such a broken little mess, aren't you, my sweet," she cooed into her ear before turning back to Seraph. "This little pussy is always dripping wet now, isn't it?"

Again, the cow just brainlessly nodded her head. Brooke gave her breast a little squeeze, causing milk to shoot out.

"Your udders look fantastic now, too. I remember you used to be thin as a rail, but now you're all filled out." Finally, she pulled her fingers away from her pussy before sticking them directly in Rebecca's mouth, who began greedily licking them clean. "Who's a good little wall pussy? You are, aren't you?"

Rebecca moaned and panted as her breasts were milked and played with.

"You know... the girls and I are going to be so sad when we finally have to return you to the hive," Brooke admitted. "Even with our gene implanted inside you, the human body wasn't meant to hold up to this for as long as you have. Your reproductive organs are already showing signs of breaking down." She licked at her ear and gently nibbled before whispering. "But rest assured, you'll live on forever in the hive when we convert you to biomass."

There was no one home to care. All the same, Brooke liked to think her dear friend Rebecca was still around in that head somewhere. Even if it was hopelessly scrambled beyond all repair.

With that thought in mind, she turned her attention back to her newest prospect. Who was moments away from blacking out. Brooke snapped her fingers, and the pleasure bugs stopped. Seraph collapsed in her bonds, coughing and spluttering as she worked on drawing oxygen into her body.

Every nerve was on fire. Every muscle in her lower abdomen and legs felt like concrete. A wave of nausea hit her, whereupon she started dry heaving, yet nothing came up.

"There, there," Brooke spoke reassuringly while kneeling down in front of her again. "It's over now. Relax."

Her whole body was leaden as she quietly huffed for breath. The Queen gently placed her talon beneath the exhausted woman's chin and tilted her gaze up to meet hers once more.

"This is but a taste of what's to come. Give it time. With enough mutations, I'm certain you'll..."

Seraph spat in her face, much to the Queen's surprise. "Fuck you, bitch!"

Brooke wiped the saliva off her cheek and looked at it. Still somewhat baffled by what just happened. Whereupon she snapped her gaze back to Seraph, who immediately withdrew, already regretting her decision.

"My my... you're a fiery one, aren't you?" She didn't seem mad. If anything, the Queen just looked horribly amused. "Well, not to worry. I have just the cure for that."

She stood up in front of Seraph, who began to hold her breath in anticipation of Brooke pressing her nose against her crotch again. Instead, she watched in abject shock as a prominent bulge began to form in Brooke's black stretchy underwear. This bulge grew and morphed, forming into a thick, black, veiny cock with two weighty testicles dangling from between her legs. It was throbbing and erect, pulsing with bioluminescent energy.

"Open wide," Brooke gently instructed while gripping the shaft of her cock and steering the head towards her mouth.

Seraph clamped her lips shut and shook her head vehemently in refusal. The Queen giggled in amusement.

"Such a cutie."

Four small black tendrils grew out from the base of her cock and wormed their way into Seraph's tightly clamped mouth. The Captain tried desperately to pull away as the invaders wriggled their way behind her teeth. A sharp pain in her upper and lower gums caused her eyes to pop open upon feeling the tendrils become as hard as steel. She gagged and wretched miserably, the taste of blood saturating her mouth as her jaw was forced wide open by the unforgiving prongs.

"There we go. Much better," Brooke spoke in that same nurturing tone while caressing her cheek with one hand and rubbing the shaft of her cock over Seraph's lips with the other. "Now take a deep breath for me."

She gripped the back of her hair in an unyielding vice while guiding the head of her erection into the Captain's mouth. With her jaw forced open, it slipped in with little resistance. Brooke sighed in pleasure as she choked around the intrusive phallus, snaking down her throat, completely sealing it shut.

"That's it. Oooo," the Queen moaned in delight, taking her down to the hilt. "You have such a tight little throat, pet. I simply love it."

Every muscle was engaged. Her eyes were shut and watering, all attention focused on just holding her breath and not gagging on the long, thick cock. She'd taken her completely to the base, to the point Seraph now felt the Queen's balls resting on her chin.

"You've done this before, I can tell," Brooke praised while slowly pulling out of her throat. Seraph choked and coughed, gasping for breath while rivers of drool leaked from her open mouth. "Now let's work on stretching you out a little."

Back down the Queen went, forcing the full length of that monster down Seraph's throat. She could feel it shifting and changing in her throat, molding itself to her, or perhaps molding her to it. There was truly no way to tell.

"This is just what you need, my pet," the Queen insisted, setting a steady rhythm of in and out. "My special gift. A perfect blend of Master's genes and mine."

She started to move faster. It felt like Seraph's throat was on fire.

"Between the pheromones and our gene seed, it won't be long before you're a happy little breeding hole just like Rebecca." A sadistic smirk spread across her lips as she thrust her cock in and out of her throat. "Of course... what we're turning you into is something a bit different."

The smell of those intoxicating pheromones returned, and her mind swirled in a cloudy haze. There was truly no avoiding it now. If the Captain wanted air, she had to breathe in this witch's brew.

Slowly, her eyes glazed over, and her throat began to relax. She hadn't really noticed before, but the Queen tasted like rich, decadent chocolate. How was she doing that?

"Now you're starting to get it," Brooke encouraged, moving her hips a little faster. "Keep breathing it in, pet. We'll get all those nasty, bad thoughts out of your silly little head. I promise."

Her pupils dilated and her face flushed. Seraph wasn't aware of it, but she was moaning now. Slurping up the Queen's cock and running her tongue all along its length. Brooke tilted her head back and shuddered in pleasure, gripping her hair tighter and moving faster and faster.

"That's it. Just like that," she moaned, gripping her head with both hands and really starting to face fuck her. "Take my gift, pet. Take it!"

With one last thrust, Brooke hilted deep inside her throat, groaning in sweet release. Her swollen sack tightened and flexed, pumping her gift into Seraph's belly.

"That's a good girl," she praised with a vicious grin on her face. "Get it all down. You can do it."

The Captain swallowed everything, her eyes rolling back into her head. This sweet bliss, this thoughtless euphoria, it was like all her cares and concerns were melting away. Slowly, the swollen sack shriveled into nothing. Depositing the last of Brooke's gift down her throat.

Without warning, the black rubbery flesh that composed Brooke's underwear leaped off her body and wrapped around Seraph's face. Her eyes bulged, and she yelped as her air supply was cut off. The black material formed a tight mask that completely wrapped around the lower half of her head, covering her nose and mouth.

The Captain began to struggle violently. She couldn't breathe!

"Easy. Easy," Brooke insisted, clasping her face in her hands to stop her thrashing. "Relax."

Seraph shot her a pleading, frantic look.

"Just give it a moment to take over. The hive will breathe for you now, my pet."

Finally, she started to feel it. A set of gills on the sides of the mask began to expand and contract, causing her lungs to do the same, completely free of her own conscious muscle movement.

"It took Rebecca some time to adjust too," she assured. "But this way, you won't suffocate during feedings. Master loves to face fuck his pets for hours. Trust me, you'll see."

Seraph's head was swimming again. Her eyes fluttered as that sublime-smelling pheromone was forced into her nostrils. Brooke snickered sadistically at her.

"It's so much easier when you just accept it, wouldn't you say? Believe me, I know better than anyone how tempting it is to fight it."

The pheromone-drunk pirate peered up at Brooke curiously.

"We were all given the same ultimatum by Master," she explained. "It was no different for me when he held me in his gaze." Brooke sighed wistfully while gently stroking Seraph's hair. "There was a small part of me that wanted to resist, to fight back against the change for the sake of my unborn child and dishonest lover. But Master did such a good job stripping all my cares and concerns away. Once he's inside you, life becomes so blissfully simple."

She clutched at her belly lovingly.

"What's more, I believe my child will be much happier in this life than he ever would have been as a human. As we propagate our hive, he will one day go on to create his own."

Brooke placed both hands on Seraph's face, a sinister grin sprouting across her lips.

"But first, he needs a cradle. A place for my precious baby boy to finish developing. That's where you come in, my pet."

Seraph's eyes slowly grew wide with fear. Brooke petted her cheek reassuringly.

"Don't worry. This won't be unpleasant for you. Far from it. As my personal flesh cradle, you'll hold the honor of carrying my son inside you. As he grows, you will nurture him. And in exchange, we will nurture you with ceaseless bliss."

It was becoming increasingly harder for Seraph to remain objective. Something was snaking through her mind, erasing her thoughts. What did this crazy bitch just pump into her?

"That's a fair trade, wouldn't you say?" Brooke offered amicably. "Nod your head if you agree."

Despite the pheromones and whatever substance had just been pumped into her system, Seraph simply stared up at her, neither nodding her head nor shaking it. Brooke giggled in unbridled amusement.

"Still not quite convinced? Well, that's okay. After I fuck my child into you, we'll work on taking care of the rest of those defiant thoughts. I promise, once we're done with you, you'll be the same breed of mindless pleasure hole that our dear Rebecca is."

With those words, she stood back up. Seraph could feel the pool of green liquid start to drain behind her, followed by the sensation of her fleshy prison molding around her, changing its shape. Once again, she tried to pull away, but it was useless. Her muscles had lost all strength, and her own mind was now fighting against her.

"For now, however, I'm eager to get my darling child into his crib. So what say we go ahead and knock you up, pet?"

The pool seemingly swallowed her body up before changing its shape, twisting and molding into some sort of demented, fleshy, breeding bench. Seraph's body was forced down on all fours, wrists and arms cuffed in place by the leathery material, along with her thighs, ankles, and calves. Her butt was forced high into the air, keeping her spread nice and wide. Finally, thick bands of leathery material tied her down by her waist, back, and neck while keeping her breasts exposed.

Seraph had a similar device to this in her room back on the Briar. And just like the model she used on Lia, this one was equally inescapable.

"Comfy?" Brooke inquired. "I sincerely hope so because you're going to be there for a while."

She lurched in her bonds and moaned fearfully as a tentacle sprouted from the wall and invaded her pussy. The round marble bugs inside her were seemingly sucked up into the long tentacle. Having apparently done their jobs.

"I'll leave the ones in your ass where they are to make this a bit more fun for both of us," Brooke assured. "You're going to be bred now, my pet. I want you to be as comfortable as possible while I put my child inside you."

Seraph watched with timid trepidation as a bulbous red pod formed on the wall behind Brooke. The pod opened up, whereupon a red, crablike creature crawled out on eight spindly legs before skittering down the wall.

"Ahh, here it comes now," she declared excitedly. "Master's gift for our breeding session." Her face became heated as the creature crawled up her leg. "While I'm breeding you, Master will be pleasuring me in return. This way, everyone gets to have lots of fun."

The crablike creature crawled up Brooke's leg before placing itself below her dripping wet opening. It flipped around, revealing a fleshy orifice from which two phallic protrusions formed and swelled.

"Mmm, I'm ready, Master," she moaned, running her hands along her naked breasts. "Give it to me."

As if responding to her eager request, the creature plunged its two phallic organs into her pussy and ass, causing her to gasp and shudder obtusely. It molded around her body, forming into a set of red, fleshy underwear to replace her black ones. Brooke collapsed to her knees, clutching at her sex with both hands while huffing and panting in euphoric pleasure.

"Oh fuck... oh Master!"

Her belly tightened, and she came right there on the floor. After taking a moment to get over the initial shock, Brooke giggled before shooting her gaze back up at Seraph, a devious smile sprouting across her lips.

"Apologies, pet. Master is just as eager to breed you as I am, it seems."

She rose back to her feet, and Seraph's eyes grew wide. A red phallic organ twice the size of the one filling her throat was forming on Brooke's crotch, along with two equally weighty testicles. The phallus grew erect right before her eyes, pulsing and throbbing in anticipation. Had her breathing not been forcefully controlled by the organism in her mouth, Seraph would have been hyperventilating at that moment.

"Master made this tool especially for you, my pet," Brooke explained while bopping her on the face with its girth. "I hope you're as excited as I am. You're about to help bring new life into the galaxy."

She made her way behind her, prompting Seraph to begin moaning and whimpering in protest, repeatedly shaking her head from side to side as she pulled and tugged against her restraints. If the pirate let this happen, there would be no going back, she was certain of it. Brooke gripped her by the waist and guided the head into position, sliding it up and down her soaking wet folds as Seraph fought and struggled to close her legs.

"Now, I know realistically we just met," Brooke admitted while taking hold of Seraph's hair and pulling tight. "But I see no reason to stand on ceremony for this."

A low, guttural scream emanated from the pirate's diaphragm as the Hive Queen plunged that monster into her, burying it to the hilt. There was no warning, no preparation, no mercy. Brooke hilted in her, violently filling and stretching her to capacity.

"Fuck, you're tight, pet," she grunted in pleasure while swirling it around inside her. "I'm sure Master is pleased right now. I certainly am.'

Seraph's eyes were already starting to cross.

"If it's a little painful, pet, that's alright. You'll adjust in time, I'm certain."

Brooke started moving her hips back and forth, slowly at first, savoring the sensation of pumping her thick red cock in and out of her pussy. She kept a firm grip on the pirate's hair, who groaned and grunted through every thrust, those weighty balls slapping repeatedly against her inner thighs.

"Feel that, pet? This is breeding. This is being filled and stretched until your belly is heavy with child. My child. For which your womb shall provide the incubator."

On and on it went. Occasionally, Seraph felt a tentacle slap the absolute fire out of her ass, driving home what this woman was turning her into. How did she let this happen? It was just supposed to be a standard loot grab. Seraph was a pirate captain, not the breeding bitch of an alien psychopath!

"Get used to this feeling, pet," Brooke insisted. "Because it's not going to end. After you give birth to my darling child, you'll become my first concubine."

She leaned forward and glided her hands down Seraph's sides, cupping her breasts in each palm and fondling them between her fingers.

"Every day, for the rest of your natural life, you will be rutted and fucked like a sex doll. I will use you to breed Royal Guards. And you will spend your precious few moments between hard fuckings on your knees with your face buried between my legs. You will worship this pussy every day and revere me like the queen I am."

Her hips moved faster and faster, small tendrils sprouting from her black gloves, which licked and lapped greedily at Seraph's breasts and nipples. The pirate could feel something deep building up. She couldn't take much more of this.

"You're about to come again, aren't you, little slut?" the queen snarled viciously in her ear. "That's right. Come. Come from me planting my baby in you, little flesh crib. Squirt for your queen while she knocks you up."

Out of nowhere, she snapped her fingers, and Seraph's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She shrieked at the top of her lungs as the round orbs in her tight ass started vibrating again.

"I'm about to do it, slut. I'm about to fill you up." Brooke pistoned in and out of her faster and faster. "Take my child. Take it!"

With one final thrust, she hilted deep inside her. Seraph went completely cross-eyed as her whole body tightened, all light and sound being drowned in a blanket of white noise as she was made to endure a full-body orgasm the likes of which she'd never felt before in her life. Even Lia couldn't compare. Nothing would ever compare again.

This bitch had done it. She was broken.

"Mmm, that's a good girl." Brooke's abdominal muscles flexed in a downward motion as her balls squeezed and pumped, sending the slowly developing embryo into Seraph's womb via an insemination vector. "Fuck, it's such a relief finally getting that release. This little guy was starting to get restless."

Nobody home. Seraph's eyes were permanently crossed, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm as the gills breathed for her. Everything was tight, neurons firing off in her brain, flooding her with dopamine as her pussy was filled to the absolute brim. With a relaxed sigh, Brooke slowly pulled out of her. White fluid dribbled down Seraph's thighs as the queen's cock went limp.

"I've gotta say, that's an exceptionally satisfying little cunt you have, pet." As she spoke, she released the death grip she had on the pirate's hair, finally letting it fall languidly down in front of her. "I'll be taking a copy of your genes at some point for my own use. I'm curious how it will feel being fucked by Master with a pussy as tight as yours."

She sauntered around Seraph and knelt down, gripping her by the chin and forcefully jerking her head up again, a sharp, commanding gaze in her eyes.

"Let's get something straight here, slut, you may be part of our family now, but in terms of hierarchy, you are at the very bottom of the totem pole. A glorified breeding hole and nothing more. I am Master's queen, his favorite. Remember your place or you'll be reduced to a DNA smoothie."

Seraph slowly nodded her head up and down, her mind having effectively shattered. Brooke snickered at her maliciously.

"That's a good pet. Now listen closely. Master needs some information out of that useless brain of yours. Which means you have the honor of being probed." A vicious scowl formed across her face as she jerked back on Seraph's hair roughly, causing the pirate to whimper. "This is a one-time thing only, flesh crib. Once we have the information we need, it'll be nothing but hive tentacles and my cock you'll be getting."

But of course, she couldn't respond. Brooke sighed wearily.

"Such a waste..." she insisted while shaking her head.

From the wall behind Brooke, a large bulbous knot began to form. This knot split into four fleshy petals, from which a massive black trunk slithered forth. On the end of this long, snakelike trunk was a face that, had Seraph been in a more lucid state, she might have recognized as that of the lead science officer of the ship, Dr. Jacob Warren.

Brooke smiled lovingly as the face slithered up to her. "Master. I was just prepping the newest addition for interrogation."

They kissed passionately for a moment, whereupon Jacob set his gaze on the flesh crib in front of him, his marble black eyes fixed to hers, dazzling the brainless blonde with his multicolored hypnotic gaze.

"Open wide, slut," his queen commanded bitingly.

A round orifice formed in her gag as her jaw was stretched uncomfortably wide. Jacob's jaw, meanwhile, seemed to unhinge completely as it stretched open like an anaconda. From the back of his throat, a writhing tentacle slithered forth, different from the others. This translucent organ glowed with brilliant phosphorescent blue and green lights. The tentacle forced its way into her mouth, and she gagged and wretched, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as it seemed to bore directly into her mind.

"That's it. Relax," Brooke insisted. "Relax, pet. Let the brain probing do its job."

The sensation of cold water rushing through her veins preceded her vision fading entirely as all went dark.

"Relax..."