Sweet Venom Arc 03

"Lockblade in the flesh! I've heard a hella lot of things about you!" Theo smiled as he clomped through the airlock and aboard Seeth's ship, taking extra care not to scrape his metal leg and tail against the floor's shiny new plating. He glanced eagerly around the inside of the destroyer.

"Good things, I hope. And 'Seeth' is fine." The Controller replied thinly.

"You got some nice digs! I like it!" Theo continued. "Orion tech has such a reliable gloss to it! If I was gonna go to any of the terra-corps, it would be Orion. They know how to make a rifle that kicks, you know?" He offered out his hand.

"Thanks. It wasn't cheap. Officer Kintrax, was it?" Seeth eyed the dragon's outstretched hand, then shook it firmly. The dragon responded in kind.

"Theo. Seriously though, it is great to meet you. Jace has filled me in on all the guild work you've done out there. Taking Vora Barons on like that alone is... commendable, to say the least. Bah!" Theo pulled a face. "I think my inner Jace just came out."

"I... appreciate it. Can I ask why you wanted to meet me?" Seeth asked cooly, raising an eyebrow. If Theo noticed the edge to Seeth's mannerisms however, he didn't show it.

"Jace has asked me to facilitate the exchange, so I'll be the one taking you planet-side and helping to smooth the whole thing over. Just figured I'd duck my head in and say hello before then! If you're going to spend the whole weekend floating above the planet, I figured I might as well introduce myself, rather than just float about with you awkwardly." Theo grinned.

Seeth contemplated that for a few seconds, then nodded, satisfied. "Fair enough." She replied, allowing herself to relax a little - as much as she could anyway. The anticipation of finally being able to see Diego again was eating away inside her. "I'm just glad this is finally happening."

"Agreed, but he never should have been here in the first place." Theo tutted. "Absolutely disgusting how this all went down. It's not necessarily my place to, but I sincerely apologise on behalf of the draconic empire. Both you and your partner have been treated like shit. I would say though, trust that Jace had his reasons. He's a good man, even if he did fall short this time."

His response prompted a small shift in Seeth's demeanour, her previously harsh stare softening as she analysed the older dragon.

"Huh. It's... refreshing to speak to someone from the DA who isn't a bureaucrat. I appreciate that, Theo."

"Thank me when you're back with your partner! Until then, I'm just another DA dipshit." He laughed in response, his scales creasing around his eyes like old, worn denim. Seeth smiled too.

"When we were teenagers, me and a friend used to call you guys the R-M-Douchbags."

That made Theo laugh harder. "I can't say that much has changed!" He grinned.

At that moment, the doors behind them slid open, and Oxyi stumbled awkwardly inside the hangar. She glanced back at Tivy, who had seemingly pushed her inside and was smiling widely, poking her head around the doorframe. Trent stood a few steps behind Tivy, wearing a similar grin, and flashed Oxyi a thumbs up.

"Erm!" Oxyi cleared her throat loudly, already beginning to blush. "Hello! Uh..."

"Is everything alright, Oxyi?" Seeth asked. "Is Venner doing okay?"

"YES! Yes, Venner is fine. Geralt's looking after her right now. Um, I, we, were just interested to meet the officer who's returning Diego to us! I - WE, we've never met someone from the DA before." Oxyi gestured shyly towards Theo.

Theo smirked. "Draw the short straw, did you?"

"N-No!" Oxyi stammered. "I just, erm -"

"She needs to get better at talking to men!" Tivy shouted excitedly from the door.

"Tivy!" Oxyi screeched, red with embarrassment. Theo however roared with laughter.

"It's alright. I suppose us older dragons can be a little... intimidating." He crouched slightly and reached his hand out to the lioness. "Officer Kintrax, at your service."

"Oh!" Still blushing, Oxyi gingerly reached her hand up and shook Theo's. "Um, Oxyi. T-That's Tivy and Trent." Oxyi pointed behind her, and Tivy waved happily from her perch behind the door.

"Nice to meet y'all!" Theo replied. "Seeth, you didn't tell us you were bringing a crew with you! You'll have to introduce me to everyone!"

"Oh." It was Seeth's turn to feel uncomfortable now, although she did her best to hide it. That's because I was supposed to come alone - I can't believe I let myself get caught up in the moment like that. "Well, they're not really my crew... If anything, we're probably Oxyi's."

"M-Me?!" Oxyi stammered, shocked.

"You've really taken charge and gotten to grips with things over the last six months. And there was a lot to get to grips with. I for one don't know if I'd be here if it wasn't for you." Seeth suddenly smiled. "Oxyi, you keep working on that confidence of yours, and in no time you'll be unstoppable."

Oxyi looked genuinely taken aback, but secretly pleased at Seeth's words. "Y-You really think so?"

"I do. Yo-"

Just then, Seeth suddenly felt a wave of connections to her brain, like thousands of tiny branches of electricity reaching out their feelers and tickling at her senses. It was a sensation that she was intimately familiar with, but hadn't felt in months. It was unsettling how fluid the transition was. Sharing a brain with so many others so seamlessly, their neurons available to browse at your leisure. Parts of her body tingled as the metaphorical doorway of the hierclasty beckoned her with an almost seductive poise.

"Seeth? You... okay?" Theo asked, having noticed immediately the change in Seeth's expression.

Nodes and Slaves were tingling at the edges of her mind, the connection weak, but there. There was zero doubt in her mind. They were here. She could feel them, although they felt more guarded than before, as if the other Controllers were blocking direct entry, as if they expected her presence.

Before she could utter another word however, the destroyer vibrated and shook, rocked by the sudden appearance of a titanic new craft now in orbit around the planet. Oxyi shrieked and staggered back towards the door, where Tivy was now hiding behind Trent, peering fearfully out at the strange ship.

Seeth pointed past the dragon, through the thin horizontal window to the side of the airlock at the enormous attack-ship that had appeared in orbit around the planet.

"W-Why is there a dreadnought full of corrupted warping in?!"

Theo spun around and stared at the ship. A rush of anxiety visibly shook the old dragon on the spot. Old memories flashed before his eyes.

What the fuck is THAT doing here?!

"The corrupted?! Does that mean the other Controllers are here too? Oh shit, a-are they here for Diego too? This can't be a coincidence!" Oxyi spluttered, moving forward and pressing her face up against the glass to get a better view.

"Following us to Barru X was one thing, but warping balls deep into DA territory...? Wait... are those...?" Seeth stepped forward too, staring at the craft intensely as she spied the clumps of 'escort' ships hovering around it. Most had already begun to descend towards the planet's surface, some more violently than others, as though they'd been caught off-guard. "T-Those are fucking Vora Baron barges! What the fuck is going on?!" There is no way they're working with Barons, is there?!

Theo tapped quickly on his gauntlet, sending out an emergency distress signal to any and all nearby fleets, including the crew on the ground.

"Shit. It's gonna be about three hours before any backup gets here. The local garrison here is small, nowhere near enough to hold for that long without losses." His piercing aurelian eyes locked onto Seeth's. "I don't expect you to help us, Seeth. I wouldn't even dream of asking. But I know I'd sure as hell appreciate Lockblade right now."

In the distance, a bright orange fireball flickered and caught Seeth's eye. A descending ship erupted into a burning inferno, falling apart mid-descent.

"I'll gear up and take Venner's ship to the surface, can you make sure I'm not shot down on the way in?" Although the Minitaur might have seemed like the more appropriate ship to take into combat, she was worried about its size; the destroyer would be greatly slowed by the planet's atmosphere during its descent, and would therefore be an easy target for Moltezz. Venner's ship, which they'd docked in the destroyer before leaving the space station, would be much more manoeuvrable, and able to descend and ascend quickly.

"Done and done." Theo tapped a few more buttons on his gauntlet. "Follow my lead when you're ready to launch, we'll touch down in the nearest evac point to your boyfriend's location."

"You got it." Seeth nodded firmly and turned tail to grab her gear. The airlock hissed open behind her and swiftly closed as Theo returned to his own craft.

How the fuck did they even know he was here?!

"Wait, wait!" Oxyi stuttered. She had regained her composure somewhat following the dreadnaught's appearance, and she marched up to Seeth with a newfound air of confidence. "I'm going with you!"

"No, you're staying here." Seeth stated firmly.

"Hey, what happened to 'my crew?'!" Oxyi argued. "Let me help you! I want to get Diego back just as much as you do, and you know I can hold my own! I've fought this corrupted lot twice now!"

"Oxyi." Seeth pulled her SAFU sling over her shoulders, secured it around her chest and turned to face the lioness. "You do know someone from the DA. You've lived with her for the last six months."

"You... You're..?"

"I was born in the DA, trained in the DA military for eight years. Trust me when I say this, you have no idea the hell and the carnage that will be waiting down there. And it won't just be the corruption we're fighting this time, those are Vora Baron barges too." Seeth gestured to one of the barges which was currently hurtling towards the planet at break-neck speed. "I almost lost you to just the Vora Barons. I refuse to put you at risk here."

"B-But -" Oxyi started to protest, but Seeth interrupted her.

"Stay here, with your crew. They need you, so look after them. I'll be back soon, Diego with me. I promise."

*

Still tucked within the soft, warm sheets of her bed, Karen nuzzled her head into the crook of Diego's neck, purring softly. A slither of white morning sun seeped through a crack in the curtains, and cast its light across the bed.

Diego rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned a quiet whine. Slowly he pried himself up, prompting an unhappy groan from the dragoness as she weakly grabbed at him, playfully attempting to keep him between the sheets.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, I promise. I just need to stretch my legs." Diego smiled.

His smile quickly faded though as he padded across the thick woollen carpet towards the window, now that his back was turned to Karen. Despite still being half asleep, he could remember the... events of the night before with a harsh and unwavering clarity. Did I do the right thing? Diego thought to himself. The rage he'd felt only a few hours ago had fully dispersed from his body now, leaving him with an uneasy feeling in his chest...

He stretched his arms above his head and poked his muzzle through the crack of the curtains, peaking out at the day ahead.

Immediately, he knew something was off.

The fields outside were... frosty, a stark contrast to the warm early-summer heat of yesterday evening. The strands of grass adorning the grounds were tipped with a glistening white as far as the eye could see. He hadn't noticed the cold; Karen's heating must have kicked in automatically.

There was something grey moving in the distance amongst the far hills. Humanoid, and holding what looked like a rod, or maybe a rifle?

Suddenly, it unleashed a volley of sky-blue vulcan fire into the sky, and Diego knew. The manor's sound shield might have prevented its mechanical BRRRRRRR from reaching their ears, but Diego knew the harrowing sound of a macro-vulcan rifle well enough to hear it clearly, even in its absence.

"Karen. Karen, you need to get up, now."

"Huh?" He could hear the rustle of sheets behind him as Karen rolled over. Her voice was soft and muffled. "Why? What's Fairylin done?"

"There is an active dragoon in the distance, and it's just opened fire." He craned his neck up towards the sky, but couldn't see what the mech had fired at.

"What?" Karen sat up, rubbing her tired eyes wearily. "What do you mean?"

Diego pulled his head out of the curtains and quickly looked around for something to wear, but all he had was his suit from the previous night.

Oh fucking hell, that'll have to do, he thought as he pulled the buttonless shirt over his arms.

Suddenly, the whole manor shook violently. The building creaked, followed by the sound of shattering glass outside the room.

Karen froze. The colour drained from her face as Diego finished pulling on his clothes, and made for the door.

"Get dressed, Karen. We might need to leave, quickly. I'll go see what that was."

His firm but calm voice commanded a sense of relief in her, and one limb at a time, she pulled herself free of the covers, despite her quaking body's attempts to stay within the safety of the sheets.

Cautiously Diego exited the bedroom, stepping out into the hallway. Glass from the windows opposite him was strewn over the floor, littering the thick carpet with sharp, shining daggers. In the distance, he spotted the cause of the shaking.

A barge had crashed into a nearby field. It had ploughed through the once pristine paddock, leaving a dark, burning trail of clawed mud behind it. Its damaged carcass was not completely eviscerated however, and he could just about make out figures scurrying out of its burning exterior.

"We've got a crashed ship. Let's get you to the panic room in the basement." Diego instructed, his gaze locked on the barge.

"Panic room! Yes! Perfect!" A third voice called out from downstairs. It appeared that the ruckus had also woken the Thornscales, and Fairylin's voice definitely sounded more shrill than usual. "Wait, D'Boris! Where are you going?!"

Diego heard the front door creak and, from above, watched as D'Boris hurried out of the manor, shuffling with all the might his bare-footed, tubby body could manage, down the road and back towards his own house.

"Ugh! Silly man! They have their own panic room!" Fairylin called out after him. "Fine! Leave me here then! I'll have a better time with Karen than with you anyway! And I bet hers is bigger!" But D'Boris paid no heed to her yelling and continued on, with all the effort he could muster. Something had scared him, that much was obvious.

"Glad to hear they're both fine." Karen sighed, poking her head out from her bedroom. She was now dressed in a woollen jumper and a pair of leggings. "There'll be enough room for all of us in there. I'm sure the defence fleet is on its way."

"Alright. Let's get to the ba-"

A blood-curdling scream suddenly filled the manor, precipitated immediately by the sound of more smashing glass, and a sound that Diego did not quite recognise.

It sounded a bit like gurgling, like... something wet?

Karen's eyes widened with fear, and she looked over to Diego for support.

"Stay upstairs. I'll check it out."

Diego held his breath as he vaulted over the bannister, and landed softly on the ground floor below. He turned towards the kitchen, and immediately found the source of the strange noise.

Fairylin was locked on her knees in the kitchen doorway, tears streaming down the corners of her eyes. Her hands were desperately clawing at a thick, brown tentacle that was forced into her mouth. It bulged against the front of her throat, pushing deeper into her body with a threatening pulse. Thick, black goo dripped along the length of the appenditch, running down Fairylin's chin and neck, staining her purple skin.

A giant Controller, ten feet tall with long purple dreadlocks, dark ebony skin and large, piercing amber eyes, stepped into the doorway.

"Wow! Look at you! The dark prince!" The monster giggled. She was so tall that she barely fit inside the room. The tentacle sloooorped out of Fairylin's quaking body and returned to its place against its master's back, and the dragoness went limp, collapsing to the floor with an undignified thump. Her eyes glazed over, her face caked in this black slime that dribbled between her lips. Diego wrestled his eyes away from Fairylin's body, back onto the towering corrupted czarite that was turning to face him.

"Karen! I need you to deactivate the collar!" Diego called out. He ripped the wooden bannister beside him out of the floor with a loud wooden crack, and gave his makeshift club a couple of test swings. "We've got intruders!"

"Y-You broke the pad! I'll need to find the spare one!"

"Then do it! Quickly!"

The monstrous Controller stepped forward over Fairylin's lifeless body, her lamp-like eyes locked onto the lizard with a ravenous hunger. Her murky ebony body was tightly bound in black tactical gear and an oversized rifle was strapped across her back, but the armour did nothing to obscure her obscene figure, or defined muscles. Six brown tentacles protruded from her back, licking the walls and leaving massive black streaks over everything they caressed. One of her tentacles lurched up the stairwell and lunged towards Karen, who had been peering over the bannister. She screamed and stumbled back, scrambling towards her bedroom and slamming the door shut behind her.

"Good. Just me and you now. You can call me Ink." She giggled, showing a glimpse of her razor teeth from behind her glossy black lips. "I want you to know who brought you in. It's important I'm recognised." Her eyes narrowed hungrily, and the floor creaked beneath her as she stepped forward.

"So, you're what Leech and Moltezz have been up to... What the fuck are you doing here? How did you find me?!" Diego yelled, trying to get a look at Fairylin between the giantess' legs as she approached him down the hallway.

"Commanded by the Molten Mistress herself." The Controller rolled her eyes at the mention of Moltezz, but she quickly refocused her gaze on the lizard, biting her lip hungrily as she eyed the lizard up and down and took another step towards him. "I'm here to bring you in. Now, are you going to come the easy way, or the fun way?" She flexed her arms menacingly at him, her tentacles still whipping at the walls impatiently.

"Moltezz sent you?" His grip tightened on the makeshift club. "Karen! The collar!" He yelled, backing away. His eyes searched for a more capable weapon or any kind of escape, but she was already so close, daring him to try something with a threatening flourish of her tentacles.

Diego grit his teeth, his knuckles white. "If I -"

"No trade." Ink cut him off, her grin ever wider. "I already know what you tried to 'arrange' previously. You're coming with me."

"KAREN!" Diego yelled again, backing up to the far wall as the Controller took another menacing step forward, her tentacles almost close enough to touch him.

Ink waited for just a second, glancing up and squinting in anticipation. But the bedroom above them remained quiet, not even a creak of a floorboard gracing their ears.

"Tut-tut. This is the company you keep? Useless." She laughed condescendingly, then launched herself at him. For such a large Controller she moved frighteningly fast, and Diego only had a brief moment to swing his club at her. The club was immediately snatched from his grip by a constricting tentacle. It curled around its midsection, before snapping the club into an explosion of tiny wooden splinters. She locked arms with him, tentacles wrapping around his limbs and binding him tightly before lifting him up and forcing him backwards, pressing him against the hallway wall.