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?"