“OPEN FIRE!”

The wall of bodies met a line of bullets, scasers thumping loudly as their red rounds zipped through the air, repeaters unleashing metal hell from their fortified positions. Slaves crumbled and fell under the attack, their bodies punctured melting, slamming to the floor and tumbling down the ramp of the freighter.

The distinctive metallic clank and thump of the nail drivers rang out the loudest of the firearms, punching through multiple invaders at a time, sending many skidding backwards from sheer force alone.

“Oh please. Really. Nail guns?” Moltezz smirked, standing tall over her horde as they charged past her. She concentrated for a moment; focused. Her hand shot up and snatched a nail straight out of the air with a satisfying clap, inches away from penetrating her chest.

“Unacceptable.” Her eyes narrowed. The metre-long nail clasped tightly in her fist suddenly surged with heat, glowing bright orange from tip to head. She reeled back and hurled it forward like a javelin. It was a direct hit, the nail skewered one of the defenders, their crudely built cover falling to pieces as the red hot metal punched straight through it.

“I'll take her out! Keep the horde off me!” One of the mech pilots called out, pushing his mech forward through the wave of incoming bodies. The huge rock drill on its right arm began to swat back and forth, carving through the flesh before it with grisly efficiency. The swarm suddenly parted out of its way, like a river around a stone, leaving a clear line of sight to Moltezz.

The mech advanced as fast as it could, stomping forward on its heavy triangular feet. It opened fire. 

PANG-PANG-PANG-PANG

The air around Moltezz grew dark and heavy, and formed before her a pitch black ashen shield that halted the nails in their tracks, their metal bodies unable to penetrate through the air’s sudden, rocky density. She advanced confidently with her full body ashen shield, walking forwards to meet the mech in close quarters. All around them, Slave's torn to pieces by gun fire, stray limbs flying through the air like confetti, celebrating the queen’s arrival.

Moltezz and the mech met in the middle of the battlefield. The mech launched its blood dripping drill towards her. Her cloak of ash dropped to the ground to reveal her imposing figure, her hand rising to meet the drill's body and grabbing it, just behind its spinning, jagged head. The mech hissed and pushed forward with all of its might, trying desperately to crush her, but the alien stood defiant and firm, her muscles quivering slightly under her clothes. But the metal body of the drill was already beginning to creak, and deform around her parry.

“Meek. My expectations were low, and still, they have not been met.” Moltezz scoffed, meeting eyes with the pilot through the mech’s thick, tinted glass.

Her free fist glowed with blinding white and orange light, searing and brilliant. She threw it forward and it impacted the glass of the cockpit with a deafening crack. Bleaching white noise and blinding light filled the hanger in a rippling shockwave.

As the world blinked back into existence, only two smouldering yellow metal feet, half welded to the floor, sat where the mech once stood. Bits of rock drill were embedded in the wall more than a hundred metres behind them. Any exposed flesh from both the horde and the defenders had been half roasted by the heat flash.

The mech was gone. Scattered, melted, destroyed.

The defenders scrambled around, as did the horde, both levelled by the attack. The pain of their burnt skin was slowing them, some had even been blinded. But the horde was quicker than the nomad soldiers; much quicker. They didn't care for the pain, and as long as one of them could see, they could all see.

The second mech turned to face Moltezz, its arms whirring as it brought its nail driver down at her, but her response was overwhelming. A clustered volley of fire bolts flung from her palms drowned the mech's frame in scorching orange fire. Its hydraulics burst, circuits failed, the pilot melted into his flaming, leather chair.

The mech collapsed to the ground with a chest shaking thud, half liquefied by her volley. Molten glass, metal and flaming oil oozed from its immolated carcass.

The heat coming off the flaming mech warmed the air too much and the fire suppression system kicked in. Several small nozzles emerged from the ceiling and sprayed the hangar down with white foam, dousing it into a grey unrecognisable slurry.

There were screams from across the hanger, rapidly muffling as the horde seized the last defenders. Most were still alive, if not a little burnt.

Moltezz turned her attention towards the far side doors which led to the civilian hangars, where the evacuations were in progress. She continued in her stride once more as more Slaves and Nodes poured out of the freighter, heading through every door, vent and access way they could.

“Preserve the station, but pick it clean. Bring back as many as you can alive.”

*

Trent’s foot bobbed anxiously as he waited by the airlock door, armed with a vulcan rifle he’d looted from their ship, his face twitching slightly.

Moltezz is coming, Moltezz is coming… The words repeatedly echoed through his head. The heat, the pain, the pleasure, it all came flooding back at the thought of her name alone. He hated that part of him, the part that wanted to go back to her. He longed desperately for that part of him to die forever, but the more he pushed it down, the more immortal and hungry it felt.

His thought trail was swiftly derailed as the doors hissed open and revealed Oxyi and Geralt, both of whom had a hue of exhaustion and dismay upon their slumped shoulders.

“A-any luck?” Trent asked quietly, peering behind them both briefly. Oxyi pushed past the fox, her eyes glassy and lip wobbling, leaving Trent and Geralt standing in the airlock.

“Nothing. They’ve both just vanished into thin air, and Plasia…” Geralt paused for a second to gather his composure. “Venner says her guards have fatally wounded her, and the entire wing's life support died a few minutes after her video footage ended. The chances she’s still alive are…”

Trent ruffled his hair awkwardly and nodded. It all seemed to be falling apart so fast. They could both feel the pulsing vibrations running through the metal underfoot, buzzing through the airlock’s connection to the station. They exchanged a knowing, sorrowful look.

Behind them, Oxyi yelled, her voice stuttering.

“W-we gotta go! now! That freighter has just docked! There is n-no more time!”

*

“GET IT OFF! IT’S TRYING TO RAPE ME!” A terrified young girl cried out, pressing her forearm against the throat of the Slave, digging her elbow desperately into its windpipe. The creature clawed at her clothes, its eyes boring down into her soul as it stared its victim down. She pushed hard and tried to fumble for the small blade she kept strapped to the outside of her calf, but the Slave fought harder and managed to pin her down. It was actively salivating at the thought… no, not thought, urge racing through its mind. Lilac saliva dripped onto her face as its arousal rose further.

The girl cried out again. Her wide and frightened eyes stared straight up into the dead, empty irises of her attacker’s.

Please don’t…

A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye caught the girl’s attention. Someone was heading towards them, heavy footsteps thumping at a heart-rising pace.

The Slave suddenly stopped and bolted upright, releasing the girl instantly. She wriggled away immediately and paused a few feet away as an amethyst blur rocketed by. She stared in relief and confusion as a massive fist impacted the Slave’s head. Then, as fast as the figure had appeared, she was gone. The Slave’s body had been launched several meters down the corridor, its head only hanging onto its neck by a small fold of skin.

Hold on guys… I’m coming.

Seeth charged down the station’s corridors, seizing control of any and all nearby Slaves, and killing those that happened to be in her path. A couple more stood ahead of her, illuminated by the slightly amber hue of two wall lights in an otherwise plain corridor. She leapt into a dropkick, both feet forward, one for each Slave. The impact was thunderous, as if a train had crashed into them. Both broke in an instant, their necks whiplashed and their already dead bodies smashed into the wall ahead of them, flesh embedding into the steel.

She landed on her feet and regained her speed, casting a brief eye towards the signposts, watching closely for the way back to the docks. She had a hell of a way to go yet, but she grit her teeth and cracked her knuckles. She would make hell for them on the way.

*

“I - I couldn’t find him…” Oxyi’s chest shuddered with each breath and tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m just a failure… There’s no other word for it.”

“It’s not your fault, Oxyi!” Tivy hopped on the spot, shuffling closer to her, feeling her own eyes beginning to sting. “Don’t say that about yourself!”

The lioness thudded her head back against the seat and shook it vigorously in disagreement.

“I - It is, though! I knew Venner was up to something from the beginning! I should have said something! I should have… I - It doesn’t matter. We need to get the ship off the station. Now.”

Tivy exchanged a hurt look with Oxyi for a few, endless seconds before sadly turning around and hopping up onto the pilot’s chair, slowly pressing the correct arrangement of buttons to initiate the main engine start up.

But the engine didn’t start. It didn't even try to.

Tivy tilted her head and stared at the control panel, pushing her tongue against the inside of her cheek.

She pressed the sequence again, more forcefully this time, ensuring each button was firmly tapped, but once again, the ship did not roar to life… there wasn’t even a splutter. Concern crept over the damaged crew as Tivy’s actions became more frantic, she hopped up onto the control panel from the chair and repeated the sequence once more, every button push deliberate.

“What’s going on, Tiv? We got a loose wire or something…?”

“W-we need to check the reactor! There’s no ignition surge to the primary chambers!” Tivy spun around to address the guys, her pupils tiny dots in her eyes, her little body quaking as she stood on the controls.

Trent, Oxyi and Geralt stood and all made their way silently through the bowels of the ship to the lowest deck, nothing but the clanking of their boots on the metalwork and the various paces of their anxiety-stricken breath to fill their ears. The engine would usually be humming loudly by now, but it was silent, just creaking slightly from behind its armoured door.

Trent approached the door first, letting it slide open and reveal its inner workings, his breath silent as anxiety crept through his chest.

“Tivy! It looks like it's been ransacked!” The three gawked around the room. Various chunks of intricate machinery had been torn out, leaving it gutted and stuttering. Wires sparked against unresponsive, hissing panels, and a sudden splitting *CLANK* made the three of them jump backwards, staring around the damaged reactor with increasing concern.

“I-is it fixable? Can we undock from the station at least?!?” Trent felt increasingly small as he stared into the large and empty engine room. Behind them, a scuttling noise revealed Tivy as she came bounding down the corridor, skidding to a stop in the middle of the room.

Her body physically stuttered, mimicking the conflict in her head. She alternated rapidly between looking at the door and glancing around the ruined reactor. As the group all looked around, they noticed together the small blue drips, on the floor in the middle of the room. It was suddenly clear what had happened.

“Tivy?!”

“W-we gotta get off the ship!” Her eyes focused briefly on a panel on the other side of the room; the gauges on it were anything but encouraging.

“We can’t! We’re one of the last ships docked and the freighter has landed! There’s no way we can find another ride! Can’t we just plug those wires together or something? Just get enough power to undock?”

“NO! You want to die slowly in a metal box?!? You plug a surge capacitor into the ship's systems and you’ll fry the air support! We’ll die from an overload before Moltezz can even get to us! W-we… Maybe we can - I… T-that!” Tivy’s eyes spotted something, and she jerked towards it, the others following her closely. “I - I need tools! I might be able to use the charge in this capacitor to -“

Her words were cut short by a thud coming from upstairs, the distinctive hiss of the airlock, opening and closing…

They all stared at each-other in silence. Oxyi and Trent instinctively reached for their weapons.

“Tivy, can you and Geralt make a start on your plan? Remember, we just need to undock and get away from the station, even if it’s just a few metres. We can radio for pick-up if we’re lucky… Trent, you come with me.” Oxyi pointed at the ceiling. “Let’s hope this is a friend, but if it’s not, I might need back-up.”

The team split into pairs; Trent and Oxyi raced back through the ship’s corridors, leaving Tivy and Geralt to attempt to salvage some power from the wrecked reactor; they just needed enough to break their connection from the station.

Oxyi brought her shotgun up to her shoulder and took the lead, Trent a few paces behind her, mimicking her stance with his vulcan rifle. Exiting the lowest deck, they cautiously paced down the corridor into the main deck of the ship, ears twitching as they listened closely for noise.

There were multiple sets of quiet footsteps throughout the ship.

The pair made their way down the ship’s main corridor, with a few blind doors on each side of the wall, leading to the different areas of the ship. The first two were just bunks for the ex-soldiers of the craft, the third was the lounge and kitchen area, the biggest room on the deck.

Oxyi turned the first corner, shotgun at the ready - and she shuddered in her skin as a monochrome Slave stood in the centre of the room, facing away from her, currently staring around the bunk.

*BANG* - *CHU-CHINK*

The slave dropped to the floor instantly, the back of its furry head full of steel buckshot.

“Not friends, then?” Trent gulped, but was met with a firm shushing gesture from Oxyi, who immediately turned towards the next door. She readied herself and waited next to the opening for a second, before pouncing around the corner. It was the same as before, but this time, the Slave was turned around and looking at her.

*BANG* - *CHU-CHINK*

More buckshot through more flesh, the Slave dropped to the floor with another thud, blood slowly pooling around its head.

The room appeared clear and so Oxyi moved on again, a gentle haze of smoke wafting from the barrel of her weapon.

The lounge and kitchen was next and Oxyi carefully crept down the corridor once more towards its door, pausing next to it and cleanly leaping around the corner with her weapon ready.

The room initially appeared empty, but then Oxyi caught sight of something huddled behind the white, glossy breakfast bar directly ahead of her.

“Show your hands or be shown your innards!” She yelled, strafing into the room, her weapons sights fixed on the crouching figure.

It grunted back and crawled around the bar, keeping cover between it and Oxyi.

“Trent! Flank this guy!” Oxyi yelled, having made her way into the middle of the room.

Trent appeared in the doorway, took aim with his weapon and opened fire, the vulcan rifle spitting a handful of needles in a loud roar. In less than a second, the Slave collapsed, cut to pieces.

“Hell yeah! Teamw-UGH!“

The air was immediately punched out of his chest; something had ambushed Trent from behind, and was dragging him away from the door and out of Oxyi’s line of sight.

“Trent!” She ran to the door, shotgun raised.

She heard Trent’s rifle clatter to the floor, followed by two thumping noises and a sickening, muffled crack.

Before she had any time to think, Trent suddenly reappeared in the doorway, held up by a much larger figure behind him. The two rapidly approached the lioness.

“Hello again, Oxyi! Let’s try this one more time, shall we?”

Behind him, a feline Node held Trent’s limp form up in the air as a shield as she approached Oxyi. The lioness’s eyes bolted open as she recognized her.

It was the Node from her flat!

Oxyi tried to get a good shot at the feline, but she held the knocked out Trent in front of her perfectly and charged across the room.

The lioness side-stepped the charge and flicked her shotgun towards the Node’s form, but felt it twist violently in her grasp as the Node grabbed the front of the barrel and pointed it away from her. A wicked grin spread over her face as she dropped Trent to the floor with a thump, and yanked the shotgun out of Oxyi’s hands.

Oxyi let the weapon go and went for her pistol strapped to her side, rapidly retreating from the Node as far back as the room would let her, but the feline followed. Her larger size made her no less nimble, and Oxyi could only fire a couple more glancing rounds into her stomach before the Node had grabbed her wrist.

Her options were running out. She fumbled for her knife, unstrapped it from her thigh, and thrust it as hard as she could with her free hand, but the Node caught that too, now holding both of Oxyi’s wrists with overwhelming strength.

In the blink of an eye, the Node wrenched Oxyi’s arms to her sides and headbutted the lioness in the face, and let her fall onto her back with another thud. She immediately pounced over her body and knelt on her shoulders, preventing Oxyi from fighting back.

Oxyi kicked and thrashed around but the headbutt had left her dizzy and disorientated. Her ears were ringing and pain surged through her forehead. Blood dribbled from her nose and down her chin. Her eyes slowly focused, but was only met with the victorious grin of the Node, staring down at her with insidious jade eyes. Try as she might, she couldn’t shift the seven foot tall feline off of her. She kicked out with her legs again, but it was useless; the Node was perfectly balanced and overwhelmingly strong.

“I’m going to savour this. Moltezz sent me directly, to rectify my little mistake from last time.” She brought her head low and licked the blood dribbling from Oxyi’s nose, in a slow, taunting fashion. “The Rewritten will not be denied! I will not be denied!”

Slowly, the Node reached down with both hands, her fingers dancing against the sides of Oxyi’s neck. She pressed her fingers against the lioness’s fur and skin and slowly formed a grip around her neck, applying an increasing pressure against her throat. Her smile widened as her grip tightened.

Oyxi kicked and fought back again. Images raced through her mind, flashbacks of the attack back in her flat. The Node was too strong to move. Pinned down, she would feel the fight drain out of her, strength fading. She began to turn a pale blue as the veins in her neck bulged between the Node’s fingers; she could hear her flesh and bones creaking under the pressure.

Watching the life drain out of her prompted a seductive, soft giggle from the feline Node.

“Mhmm, look at that, you’re turning blue! Such a perfect colour for you. Matches your eyes.”

It was a slow, deliberate strangulation. She inhaled every detail of Oxyi's struggling form, closely watching the pained creases around her eyes; oh, how the lioness’s skin deformed around her grip.

The Node bit her lip and let out a satisfied moan.

Just as Oxyi looked fit to faint, she relinquished the grip and Oxyi sucked in a long, desperate gulp of air; just enough to keep her conscious.

“Enough foreplay. Let’s -”

“LET HER GO! NOW!” A familiar, alien voice called out.

The Node stopped and shuddered, going weak for a second and leaning on the breakfast bar to her side.

“S-Seeth? W-what are you doing here?”

She stood from Oxyi, prompting the lioness to take another huge gasp of air and cough it back out, twisting on the floor in pain.

Slowly however, the Node’s shock faded. Her temper steeled and she snorted loudly.

“Hmm. Good try.”

The remaining Slaves aboard the ship charged out from the far rooms following a brief commotion, and the struggling bodies of Tivy and Geralt were dragged into the room. Tivy screamed out with Seeth's exact tone, but it faded back into her own as the Slave held her out like dirty laundry.

“Gotta admit, that was pretty creative. You had me for a few seconds.”

Geralt fought and twisted in his captor’s grasp.

“Let us go, let us go you fucking -”

He looked up at the Node, and froze. All colour drained from his face, and he went limp in the Slave’s arms.

“N-Naomi?”

The Node grinned, looking him up and down.

“Hey, dad.”

A billion thoughts hung shrewdly in the silence that followed. Geralt choked back tears as best he could.

“Y-you're not immune?!? I - I thought it might run in the family! Naomi, I'm so sorry -”

Naomi rolled her eyes at the old man.

“Oh shut up, will you? You don't need to feel sorry for me, dad. I've achieved more in a few weeks with the Rewritten than I ever did before with you. We were a family of underachievers, you know that.”

Geralt couldn't summon the words. His eyes kept bouncing around her new body. He barely recognised her.

“And now, you get to see what a big, strong Node your daughter has grown into whilst I corrupt your friend!” She paused for a second to meet his eyes. Her face softened for a brief moment as she watched him retch in pain. “Moltezz is going to make me her go-to Node after this, dad. I'll get her to treat you right, better than the others.”

She turned on the spot and picked up Oxyi from the floor, holding her by the neck with a single hand and pressing her against the wall, the other hand began ripping at Oxyi's clothes.

“Naomi... please... I'm begging you, leave her alone...”

She tore off Oxyi's belt and flung it across the room, then ripped at her pants.

“Stop it, you thug! Stop! Stop! Stop! That's our friend!” Tivy yelled out, trying to claw at her Slave with all of her might, but it held her firmly from behind.

“You don't have to do this!” Geralt tried to wrench too to his arms free, but once more, the Slave's iron grip held tight.

She tore Oxyi's underwear off in one clean motion, exposing her womanhood and Naomi's grip intensified; a deep hunger surged through her and she quickly pulled out her thick manhood, already erect and buzzing with excitement.

“Seems a bit unfair doesn't it?” Naomi laughed, her breath hot and body trembling. “Go on, fight. Give it everything you got, Oxyi.” She cackled, releasing her grip on the lioness’s neck, and pressing herself up against her.

Oxyi pushed as hard as she could, her heart pounding against her ribs. She pushed with every ounce of might her oxygen starved brain could muster, her muscles straining and she clawed helplessly at the Node's chest.

Naomi didn't move an inch. She stood firm, unimpressed and unmoved.

“Shhh, it's okay. It'll be over soon.” Her hand seized the lioness’s throat again, brushing Oxyi's fumbling defence aside and seizing one of her legs, yanking it upwards and around her waist.

Naomi buzzed with excitement and hunger, half drooling as she pitched the tip of her cock against Oxyi's nethers. “For the record, I hope you become a Node. It’ll be such fun hunting together.”

She angled her hips and moved to thrust deep inside her, her body quivering, her every nerve and cell aching to couple with Oxyi. The tip of her dick was just starting to part Oxyi's lower lips when -

*CRUNCH*

Naomi froze. The noise was coming from down the corridor, where she’d had her last slave on guard.

Suddenly, Naomi jolted backwards and lost her grip on Oxyi, like an unseen hand had pulled her back.

The Slaves around the room all let go of their targets, and turned to face the walls. Simultaneously, they placed both their hands against the panels, reared back their head and slammed their faces into the metal with as much force as they could muster. Each head split and splattered with the same awful crunch they had heard just moments prior. Their dead bodies dropped to the floor, blood oozing down the wall.

Oxyi spluttered for air and fell to the floor, reaching for the nearest solid object and holding it up in front of her for defence. Geralt and Tivy ran over, Geralt immediately pulling his jacket off and wrapping it around Oxyi’s torso. They helped her to her feet, then went to check on Trent’s unconscious form, all three of them watching Naomi closely as she stood in the middle of the room, perfectly still, her posture awkward and stiff.

An amethystine hand appeared around the top of the doorway.

“You should have stayed aboard the freighter, Node. Moltezz has sent you to your death.”

Seeth rounded the corner. She had ditched her mask and biosuit, and her purple skin was stained in dried blood and blue slime. She surged towards the Node and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air effortlessly. Naomi's neck cracked audibly as Seeth's fingers dug into her flesh.

“FUCK YOU! DO IT, SEETH!” Oxyi spat through gritted teeth, snot, tears and dribble clinging to her fur.

“DON'T DO IT, SEETH! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER! PLEASE!” Geralt cried, reaching out towards the pair.

Oxyi and Geralt clung onto each-other for balance as they both screamed at Seeth, neither paying any attention to the other.

Seeth paused, and she turned her icy stare towards Geralt.

“There is no helping Nodes, Geralt. I'm -”

“No! There has to be a way! She could stay with us, you can control her!”

“You can never trust a Node, Geralt. I’m sorry.” Seeth’s voice was firm. “It’s far too risky, especially with Oxyi. We can’t put her at that kind of risk!”

“I… I know!” Geralt doubled over, tears spilling from his eyes and splashing softly against the metal floor. “I know, It’s just… I’m her dad.”

“I can make it quick.”

Geralt slowly raised his head and stared longingly at his daughter, then at the large purple hand that clung to her throat. His gaze followed her arm and across the Controller’s body, until his eyes locked with hers. Seeth’s eyes stared right through him, cold and angry. He quickly looked away.

“No, it should be me to do it… I’ve let her down, I let her get corrupted... I -” He took a deep, painful breath in. “I should have been better. I should be the one to end her suffering. It's not what I want, but it's the only peace I can give her.”

Seeth stood still, deep in thought as Naomi's statue-like posture remained firm in her grip.

“Fine. I understand.” Seeth let the Node drop to the floor, still puppeting her form on landing. “Take her somewhere private, I'll make her walk with you. If she tries anything, just call out and I'll end it.”

“T-thank you.” Geralt gathered his composure, passing Oxyi over to Seeth to support her, and grabbed a pistol off the floor. He left the room without so much as glancing back. Naomi followed, her walking was mechanical and forced, and left behind a strained, difficult silence.

Father and daughter walked in a painful silence through the ship, stopping in front of the airlock which still connected them to Barru X.

“Okay Seeth, make her kneel down!” He yelled out. “Then a moment of privacy, if you would!”

Naomi knelt down and placed her hands behind her head, still stiff and awkward for a moment, but then her body shuddered violently, and her motion became more organic again.

“You… back in control, Naomi?”

“Yep.” She stated bluntly, looking up at him with hurt, dagger-like eyes.

“I'm sorry, Naomi. I'm so sorry. It's not your fault that you're this... thing.” Fresh tears welled up around Geralt's eyes.

The Node stared at him for a long moment, and then her face softened.

“For what it's worth, dad. You did well by me. None of this was your fault.”

“Yes it was!” Geralt yelled back, his fist tightening around the pistol.

“No it wasn't. It wasn't even your night to look after me, it was mum's night. It was her best friend's birthday, she’d gone out and I had some friends over, we got drunk and we went off into the woods even though we knew people had been going missing... You couldn't have stopped us even if you tried.”

“Naomi -”

“- Dad. It's okay. I mean it. If you had tried to control me, I would have ended up corrupted one way or another.” Naomi signed; the venom in her voice had faded completely. “Promise me you'll move on with your life? And find someone, better than mum, someone who actually makes you happy. You deserve better after the way she treated you.”

Geralt stared down at his daughter, his eyes frozen in place. His hand was shaking as he raised the gun.

“I will.”

*BANG*

The round pinged off the floor next to her. Geralt reached over and pressed the button to open the airlock, revealing the empty corridor back to Barru X. The sudden warmth of the space station wrapped around them both like a blanket, as Naomi looked at her father in shock.

Geralt threw his arms around her, hugging her close. Slowly, unsure at first, Naomi reached around, and hugged him back.

“You listen to me, baby girl. You turn heel, you leave and you never, never come back. Seeth will kill you if you do, you understand!? I'll get myself a nice new wife if you find yourself a nice Mark, somewhere away from all this and just be... just be whoever you are now. Just promise me you'll never come back!”

Naomi took a deep breath and nodded slowly, staying close to him the whole time.

“Now, you gotta go! Just run, okay? I love you, baby girl! Be safe!”

They broke their hug, and Naomi stood, shyly. She turned to leave and sprinted down the corridor, then stopped half-way to look back.

“Go! Before the others find out!” Geralt fired another two shots into the floor. “I love you, Naomi!”

She smiled.

“Love you, Dad.”

And then, Naomi was running down the corridor, bolting through the hanger without pause and into Barru X’s now abandoned middle decks. Her long legs carried her quickly, and it only took a couple of minutes before she was out of sight - and earshot - of anyone.

Naomi came to a stop in the dead centre of an empty corridor, with nothing but blank, silver, metal panels on either side of her. Her legs stood stone still, and slowly she placed both her palms up against the wall. Her eyes stared at its featureless surface, shaking in their sockets as she awaited what would happen next.

Deep within her, Seeth's voice manifested, as if it spoke from within her spine.

“~ Disgusting little thing. You deserve so much worse than this. ~”

“~ You’re going to let me go now, right…? ~”

“~ You’re awful. You wouldn’t even say goodbye to your own father. ~”

“~ How could I? You wouldn't give me control of myself! ~”

“~ You would have assaulted him the second I let you go! I'm just glad he bought it. ~

“~ STOP THIS! Haven’t you humiliated me enough?!? You don’t even know what I would have done! ~”

“~ Do not LIE to me, Naomi. You cannot conceal your intent or your feelings from me. ~”

“~…~”

“~ The fact you would even consider doing that to him. That. After he saved your life - after he begged me to let you live. There is no hope for you. ~”

~ “He’s a fool! He’d have done the same in my shoes!” ~

~ “The thief thinks that everyone else also steals. He is a good man; a damn idiot, but a good man and an even better father. He showed his heart to you, and you wanted to tear it out.” ~

“~ Y-you’re not seriously going to do it, are you? Betray your own kind? ~”

“~ This isn’t about that. I’m giving him the closure he deserves. I’m sorry, but you can’t be helped. ~”

“~ Please don’t… Seeth. I’m begging you! DON’T MAKE ME- ~”

*

The quiet chatter between the group immediately ceased as they finally heard Geralt padding slowly back into the room. His shoulders hung low and he wore a defeated grimace, and dragged his feet heavily. As he entered however, he exchanged a look with Seeth and a small, thankful nod; the most he could muster. She returned it gently, and turned to face the others.

Trent was up on his feet now, but his left arm was broken and he looked anything but battle ready. Oxyi was wheezing loudly; she’d found herself some new trousers, but looked rough as all hell. Her eyes were red and glassy, her posture weak and battered, but she still had her shotgun, clasped in her hands tightly. Tivy stared straight at Seeth, shaking from tip to toe. Her eyes bolted around the purple giant’s figure to avoid the bloody messes pasted over the walls and floor.

“I assume the ship isn’t working?” Seeth pushed on.

“Tivy had a plan, but it didn’t work.” Geralt spoke softly, placing a hand on Oxyi’s shoulder.

“Then we need to get back on the station and find new transport.” Seeth paced out the room and glanced back to see the rest following her movements, in their various states of injury. “We’ll beat this. Just stay with me.” Seeth tried to sound upbeat, but her voice lacked heart. She wanted to push them on in the same way Diego had done, but she just wasn’t him. And he wasn’t even here… Keep it together, Seeth, we can do this… But she just wasn’t sure that everything would be okay this time.

They all approached the airlock and hit the button. Nobody noticed, or at least had the heart to mention, the bullets embedded into the floor, and the lack of blood. The airlock hissed open and the group were immediately hit with a wall of acrid air, and the distinct smell of burnt fur and skin. Even though the walk-way back into the hanger was empty, the distant sound of struggle and violence was clear as day.

Seeth strode ahead as the group shuffled along behind her, pushing into the hot air with all the might they could muster. The three Marks in that moment all shared one, uniform and terrifying thought; Moltezz. As Seeth approached the end of the connecting walkway, she stopped and pressed herself up against the wall, peering around the corner into the hanger bay.

Her heart skipped a beat and she threw up her hands towards the group, ushering them back onto the ship with urgency. Right in the middle at the lowest level of the hanger, Moltezz stood, a pillar of ruby and flame. Her eyes glanced around at the various different spidering walkways and potential paths in the huge hanger bay, each a potential hiding spot for her targets.

“I know you’re here, Seeth. I’ll have my Nodes check every dock until I find you. I’ve got all the time in the world.” Her voice bellowed out, echoing around every corner of the hanger. She held her hand out and produced a bright orange fireball, clasping her fist around it to extinguish it and opening her palm to reveal the hell ball again, repeating the action in a calm, almost bored manner. “I’ll smoke you out soon enough.”

The Nodes began to split up and search the hanger’s upper decks, jogging quickly from dock to dock. One thing was certain; their time was running out.

The gang kept their voices as low as possible, whispering as quietly as their panicked states would allow.

“Back on the ship, now!”

“Bu-but it’s a dead end! She’ll find us! We need to run!”

“I don’t know if she’s out to kill me or not! Maybe we -”

*HISS* - *CHUNK*

The airlock closed loudly behind them.

They all froze.

After a moment, Seeth peered out behind the corner once more… and was met with Moltezz’s hot glare.

“Ah! There you are. Don’t fret, I’ll come to you.” She flicked her palms out and produced two brilliant plasma jets from her hands, pushing her up towards the highest level in an elegant, if utterly horrifying fashion.

Oxyi threw herself forward and took aim with her shotgun, firing several shells in quick succession at Moltezz mid-flight. Her aim was true but the pellets vapourized long before impact, fizzling out of existence and sending bright sparks scattering around the hanger. Oxyi stared in disbelief, but fumbled for her pistol in defiance.

Moltezz landed on their hanger level with a meaty thump, shaking the walkway slightly and halted her plasma jets. Instead, she now held out her hand, and continued her idle fireball play menacingly as she strode towards the group.

Seeth grabbed Oxyi by the collar and pulled her back into the airlock tunnel, rounding up the rest of the group and charging back into the ship. Her brow thick with sweat and heavy with worry as the airlock opened, and then closed behind them.

“What the hell are we gonna do?!” Trent cried, panicked as he looked around the ship's interior desperately for anything of use.

Seeth tore some piping off the wall, and tried its swing. Before they could formulate any further plans however, the ship rocked and a bright red firebolt punched straight through the airlock, melting an amber-lined, head-sized hole through the plating.

Moltezz stood at the end of the corridor, still playing with her fireball, a cocky smirk plastered over her face beneath her coal carapace.

“This has been fun, but the act is nearly over. Surrender yourselves to me, and reveal Diego's location.”

“We don't know where he is!” Oxyi screamed, her voice hoarse and raw, hot tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she loaded more shells into her shotgun.

Moltezz rolled her eyes, and let a cascade of fireballs roll over her hands and forearms.

“Odd… I thought that would be a lie.” Moltezz pondered for just a second, then her steely gaze refocused sharply. “Surrender now. Drop your weapons and walk out with your hands behind your heads, and I may consider some mercy. I'm going to count down from ten! For your own sake, I suggest you do not let me reach zero.”

It felt as if their brains were being pressure-cooked inside their skulls.

“Th-the DA weapons we have are useless against her! What do we do?!”

“Ten.”

“There's nothing! The reactors are dead!”

“Nine.”

“C-can we- will this...? I-”

“Eight.”

“Tivy, I need you! Mimic my voice again, I think I can -”

“Seven”

“She's going to fucking boil us! There's only one way out and she’s right there!”

“Six.”

“Seeth, can you pile stuff up at the doors?!”

“Five.”

“We should surrender... We can't take her!”

“Four.”

“W-would she really kill me...? I don't understand!”

“Three!”

“Hey, guys!”

The crew jumped and looked about as a new voice hit their ears.

It felt impossible. Their hearts dropped to the floor and shot straight back into their open mouths.

“Two!”

“V-Venner?!” Seeth stuttered.

The milky white rat peeped her head around the corner, her soft rose eyes meeting the panicked expressions of the entire squad.

“I uh... I docked on the other side of your ship, I guessed you were having trouble, since you're the last ship docked at the station... You... need a lift?”

“ONE!”

The gang dropped everything and ran for the other airlock. Moments ago this side led only to the deep vacuum of space, but Venner had flown close with her private ship and opened an energy tunnel between the two. A hazy web of blue particles connected the two ships, and it was just one no gravity jump between them. Seeth scooped Trent, Geralt and Oxyi under her arms, and Tivy grabbed onto her neck and she pounded across the airlock, clearing the several metre-long gap in a single bounce. Venner floated along after them.

Seeth landed cleanly in the opposing ship and dropped everyone gently to the floor, letting herself breath again only once Venner had landed, closed the lock and cut the net.

“...Zero?”

*

Moltezz waited and listened closely, but couldn’t hear anything coming from the ship. She struggled for a second, unsure of what to do - an unusual state for her to find herself in. Their conversation had been muffled and blurred, and she’d hardly caught any of it.

“Nothing?” Her face twitched; she seemed almost hurt.

“I... guess this is where it ends for you, Seeth. I expected more. But I won't be subjected to another ambush, I meant what I said.” She steeled herself, taking a long, deep breath and slowly surging with heat. “Fine. If you won't meet me halfway, I cannot extend my kindness any further. I shall not be mocked or underestimated!”

*

Venner's ship pulled away into space, and the group watched from the drop bay as their old ship began to glow bright orange before exploding into shrapnel, a visible shockwave rippling through the area. Venner's craft was far enough away already to prevent any damage to them.

They all looked at each-other, still processing what could have just happened. The bright orange fireball faded into nothing as their ship pulled away, becoming just another dot in the atmosphere as both it and Barru X shrank away.

“What… does this mean?” Trent asked, wincing in pain at his limp arm. “What do we do now?”

“This means war, Trent.” Seeth stated bluntly, her breath hot over her lips. “This means -”

“Stop, stop it stop it stop it!” Tivy waved her arms around frantically. “Just... just breathe and relax for a second, everyone!”

Venner came back into the room, a med-kit in one hand and a box of rations in the other.

“Your cuttle is right, just wait a second. Let's get you lot somewhere safe first, and then we can talk about offing the bastards who did this. I don't mean to be rude, but you all look a state, including you, Seeth.” Venner gestured broadly to the broken group, and eyed the dark purple-black bruises around her neck. Seeth’s gaze dropped. Trent cradled his broken arm, Geralt stared dead-eyed at the floor, Tivy was vibrating all over and eyes were bolted open, and Oxyi wheezed and clung to her shotgun as if her life depended on it.

They were safe, for now. Venner's cosy little ship would get them somewhere far enough away from here that they could recover and recuperate, but the damage was already done. Barru X was lost, hundreds more lives lost to the Rewritten, but above all else, their team was incomplete. Plasia was gone, probably dead, and they’d lost their black-scaled lizard, who’d rescued them only a few days ago. 

But that now felt like another lifetime.

They rested their weary bodies for a while, trying to calm down and get their breaths back, sitting in the drop bay of Venner's ship, nothing more than a couple of lines of wall mounted seats and luggage racks, bare and minimalist. They sat in silence, each staring at the particularly rusted floor, until finally, Seeth spoke her thoughts.

“I ran across the entire station. After I teleported... Don't ask about that right now. But - I couldn't find him anywhere.”

“H-he was just gone, wasn't he?” Oxyi replied, leaning forward in her chair. “I looked everywhere I could, but he’d just vanished!” She weakly thumped the empty chair next to her, her hands curling up into fists.

“We need him back.” Seeth looked the lioness in the eyes, tears threatening to spill. “I need him back...”

“We all need him back.” Trent sighed, slumped low on his seat. “He had a plan to fight back. Without that, we're just a bunch of nobodies.”

They all went silent again.

Each pondering their mistakes and what they'd do differently if they had the chance.

Lost loved ones.

Missed opportunities.

Consequences and hindsight.

Their burden was shared but it was of little comfort, that was, until Tivy hopped off her chair.

She cleared her throat.

“Rah! I hate doors!” She twisted and pretended to kick a door off its hinges, and then threw her hands up in the air triumphantly. They all recognized the impression instantly.

A series of sad but soft giggles filled the room, as frowns eased into small smiles.

“He doesn't actually hate doors, you know.”

The group settled again, the tone a little lighter than before, each one clinging to a shed of hope. They didn't know what the plan was, or what they should do next, but none of them were ready to give up yet.

“Whether he hates doors or not, maybe… maybe we should think about opening some.”

*

Back in the cockpit on the ship, Venner sat with her husband, both in comfy  pilot’s chairs and looking out over the endless space ahead of them. An awkward silence had hung in the air between them for quite some time now, but it was finally broken when something caught Robin's attention.

“Hey, Ven, we got a ship in close proximity... Oh shit, it's the DA!” He went into a panic, scrambling for the new pistol strapped to his leg. His panic shifted into confusion as another light flashed on at their station.

“It's hailing us...? They don't do that. What do they want?”

Epilogue

Slowly, consciousness returned to him. He twitched his fingers. Feeling gradually prickled its way up his limbs, tingly and painful.

His eyes came into focus, but all around him he could see was black; complete darkness. He wasn’t alone, though. There was something there, he was sure of it.

He tried to move, but felt his arms tied behind his back. He was kneeling on the floor. Cold metal was secured fastened around his ankles, wrists, thighs and tail. A collar was tight around his neck.

Suddenly, there was a light.

A figure appeared in front of him, held in exactly the same fashion as himself. Chained to the floor, kneeling and collared, bathed in a cone of brilliant white light shining down from above against the darkness. He couldn't make out the figure's species, but he was reptilian at the very least, and stripped naked.

A zero appeared above his head, along with a single green light.

For a while, there was nothing, just this lone figure in their spotlight.

Then, a loud clack rang out and a second figure appeared, a few metres away from the first. Held in exactly the same fashion and illuminated the same, with the same zero and green light, this one was a female tiger, also naked and vulnerable.

A soft chime played.

The zero above the first figure had changed.

One hundred and fifty.

The chime played again, but this time, it was for the number above the second figure.

Sixty.

The chime sounded again, the number above the first figure increased.

Two twenty-five.

One final chime played, the first’s number increased again.

Two fifty.

Then, nothing. An agonising silence.

Another minute drifted by and a second amber light flicked on above both figures' heads.

More nothing.

A loud, harsh buzz filled the room and a red light appeared above both of them.

The first figure's number flashed to green. The second figure's number flashed red.

Another loud buzz filled the room and the lights dropped, leaving only the floating numbers and the traffic-light-like arrangement visible against the darkness.

Then, those details faded too.

A few more cold minutes dragged by.

Suddenly, the light bathed him.

He heard several clicks and clacks. He tried to glance up, but the spotlight was blinding. He looked down at his arms, and noted that his black scales had stopped bleeding, at least.

Diego took a deep, slow breath and waited. That was all there was to do.

A chime sounded.

There was a brief pause, but then, after a few seconds, another chime played.

Followed by another, faster this time.

And another, faster again.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another…