She had been seen, the senses of the Ashlyn had gone beyond site though many of them had bee new hatched in transit to the world from a colony that splintered off of an existing one. Many had not been experienced in warfare or modern weapon though in combat their hive mind made up for this.

What had truly hurt the pair though had been the fact that they had not choose the best tactics. Oh, they had been prepared for a shoot out but not the flash bang.

It had been contact with Rei's mind where they implanted an auditory illusion to force her hand as they advanced staying close to the walls to get better cover from the shadows but the were disorientated b the explosion, blinded, they were easy to gun down and as soon as the pirate had done so the noise of the drones halted immediately. Either they stopped or weren't there to begin with, Aegir had warned her of their illusion.

The chamber ahead had been a stockpile of weapons that had been tripped from prisoners. Green slime smeared the wall and there was a woman her, a Trixian, probably a royal of some sort given her attire or a noble at least. She was looking in the direction of the pirate having heard the flash bang and the blasts from the brief discharge of an energy weapon.

“Thank the maker! Your not Trixian ...”



All that was encouragement to continue. He had failed this fight, this contest, and he sped up his thrusts eagerly matching the pace of those fingers rubbing against her. He groaned, his member throbbing, the squelch of their joined bodies ringing out loudly in the chamber and then …

There was no explosion inside her, at least she did not feel it and she had almost missed it with the groan of the Hel'Corian pilot that was above her. Had he, yes, he had faked an orgasm. There had been a bang, an explosion? Where those gun shots?

But the Ashlyn senses were superior and even the groan and moans could not mask the detection of those sounds as the Queen jerked her head in the direction of the passage, immediately as if she had commanded them by some means Ashlyn rushed to that passage while a few workers approached along with a few larger soldiers. It had seemed that play time was over.

“Others? Your hopes of rescue are a mere illusion.”

Linked to the hive, every Ashlyn in the area had been under the command of their Queen so their was no need to take the prisoners away, the pilot being controlled no longer though he came out of it lodged inside her, a look of sorrow in his eyes.

“Forgive me,” and he pulled out of her, still throbbing as the Ashlyn carted the two off ...

As soon as flash bang went off, the pirate jumped out to attack. The pair of guards were too blinded and the agent fired a pair of shots at each of the soldiers. They quickly dropped unable to withstand the Trixian weaponry and quickly succumbed to the hits.

Rei spun around to deal with the drones that were coming up behind her. However, there was nothing there now. Were they just illusions, the platinum blonde could not be sure. Aegir had warned of Ashlyn’s ability to perform tricks with her mind. For now the danger seemed to pass for the moment, enabling the outlaw access to the next chamber.

Rei found herself in a room that was a stockpile of weapons. But there was a Trixian there, some sort of noble, perhaps a princess. The outlaw did not understand Trixian culture too well, even though she had lived among them. No, but I been sent to rescue people. Who are you and how did you get here.

Minerva gasped and moaned as she found the thrusts becoming faster….more intense. Despite her attempt to resist, the willpower was reaching her limit as she found herself on the edge of ecstasy as he was bringing her to climax.

Then suddenly it was not stopped, the thrusting had stopped, the gloating by the queen had stopped. The redhead looked up and it seemed that all the creatures had directed their attention elsewhere. Was she too caught up in her own lust to notice what had happen.

However what ever happened seemed to make Queen at least concerned. Ashlyn quickly headed down one of the passages while a few guards and workers began to make their way over to the pilot and the redheaded agent. It seemed that Minerva was not important for the moment as the workers moved to grab her.

W-where are they taking us?

“The bugs brought me here along with several other nobles. I am Baroness -”

Skittering, her pink eyes widen as it was clear that the Ashlyn were approaching and not just one or two either from the sounds of it. And with no apparent way off of the wall Rei would have to abandon the noble. Even if she had some of that blue slime it would probably take too long to apply it. Though there was chittering of sorts quite suddenly.

I am near Rei. I cannot influence their minds but can use Telekinesis. I am holding several in place though others have broken off to take indirect routes. I can feel Minerva nearby … and the Princess, I cannot establish the state of Octavia, he could do little more than sense her at least he had always surmised he could ripe through her senses though had no reason to cause her any pain or discomfort.

Here, I will hold these off for a few minutes longer and while you remain in range of my senses ...

A map. It was far from complete though there was a red dot where she was and another where she presumed Minerva was both she and Minerva where with blue dots and there was another blue dot on the map though in an area that had been unmapped.

Red is Minerva. I sense she is with someone and through tapping into his senses I can tell that the pair are being moved and are in the presence of several workers. I have just gotten in ran of both your minds, the passage I took looped around to here.

I will continue after the Princess and suspect that I will only be in contact with you for the next five or ten minutes, that remote blue dot is my goal. You have found another Trixian? I can pass along any message to Minerva at least until I move out of range of one of you.







“...” The Queen barely acknowledged the agent with a glance before looking back to that passage. Several soldiers and drones had been arriving now at her command. She did not like the fact that something was here, something that was distant but closer than she had liked.

Without an answer the workers took the agent along with the pilot down warm passages illuminated by that fungus. Green and blue slime covered the walls and floors in slime. Here they had been secured to the wall by the green slime and left. There were no guards, the Ashlyn confident that they could not escape and both had been low value …. the pilot had some value but with the number of prisoners that they collect there was bond to be a pilot among them.

“You're not alone?” The Hel'Corian asked though that seemed obvious. He did not struggle and was on the opposite wall. His eyes tried to remain off of her nude form and while the Ashlyn had rotated him about the chamber to avoid sticking him to the wall near the blue slime the chamber was better suited to hold one prisoner not two. He had been near where she was earlier before the Ashlyn came to retrieve him.

“That pool of blue slime there, can you reach it?”

The noble had barely began to speak when the Ashlyn approached once more. Though Rei hated abandoning the Trixian, she had little choice as she had no way to free her. Besides that was not the reason the pirate was here. She was hear to rescue a certain redheaded agent, not a Trixian royal who was trapped here.

As she made her way from the chamber, the young woman could hear Aegir in her head once again. The alien explained he still did not could find the person of interest for him, though he could sense that she was somewhere nearby. As for Minerva he could tell that she was too nearby and he seemed to be able to sense her nearby.

The platinum blonde could feel a sudden pressure in her head as she suddenly could see an image of some sort map. It appeared that at one end of the map was Minerva while Rei was at the other, she was going to have to make her way there quickly since the creatures were on to her and Aegi.

Okay, I will try to make my way to Minerva as fast as I can. I did find another Trixian, apparently a Baroness. If you can tell Minerva I am on my way, I think it would make it easier to escape with her.

There was more soldiers and drones that were arriving in the chamber. The agent notice by now the Queen seemed to be more distracted by what was going. It seemed to suggest that there was some sort of major raid or assault going on inside the Ashlyn’s underground lair.

The workers took Minerva and the pilot down a corridor that was illuminated by some fungus. It was little comfort to the mostly naked agent that it was warm. Soon the pair were attacked to the wall by some green slime that would ensure that they could not escape. The workers seemed confident that neither the Hel’Corian or the agent would be able to free themselves so the creatures left to work somewhere else.

Yes there are others. She did not offer specifics as she was not sure how much the Queen read his thoughts while he down here. Still he did prove to be resourceful even while they were bound up in the green slime. Pool of blue slime. It’s far away, but I will try to reach it. Her hands were bound above her head, but Minerva could still move her feet. She struggled to reach out and at least get a foot into that pool of slime. She reached out stretching her body as far as it could go…

Yes, I feel her. Octavia will probably wish to have her rescued if she knew about her. He paused as if considering his options. I will see to her and relay that you are on the way.

Rei was able to make her way along in haste though there was the constant scurrying sounds from this passage or that. The warmer ones. Less scurrying from the others though the were a few that she had heard nothing from. It was a longer round about route and though with the Ashlyn alerted it paid not to get pinned down somewhere. There were far more Ashlyn than she after all.

The cooler passages though lacked the Ashlyn but had those damn spiders. There ware only a few, one less thanks to Minerva. Besides the strange spider-like creature with the cracked chitin there had been a few creatures that looked more or less like giant spiders, the former appearing more like a hybrid between man and spider.

She was nearly there when it was one of those spider creatures that dropped from the ceiling onto her back as she passed under it. The chitin was not as thick as it had recently molted and blended in better to the soil and fungus then the rest of it's brethren. Even so, four legs had latched on to her ribs, two either side, another two had been upon her shoulders and the final two on her upper legs as it moved in and tempted to bite the back of her neck with those fierce mandibles.





“Good, they are close it sounds.” But there was no sense just hanging around here when the Ashlyn were so obviously distracted. He had noted the short answers though was fairly certain that she probably considered him a security risk.

As she stretched her leg out to the closest pool he explained. “The Queen can control only one being at a time, at least one non bug. I think the rest of them have some sort of hive mind … she seems to control the others. When she caught me and some of the others she could only control one of us at a time. She was looking for pilots and I was the lucky one. The others … you've seen the animals right?

“It seems that they can only implant their eggs into males for some reason. She hasn't with me since I have some value in bringing them across the galaxy whenever she controls me … that's it almost there ...”

It had been at that moment that Minerva heard that voice in her head. How's my favorite Lieutenant holding up? I'm close enough to sense you now and your companion. Rei is near. She's on her way though can't take the direct routes.

Just then she had managed to get her big toe in that pool of slime and collect a sizable glop of her big toe.

The voice had told Rei that he was going to relay the information to Minerva while he was trying to track down the princess.

The outlaw made way as quickly as she could, she heard more scurrying noises as it sounded like there was many creatures reacting to her presence. She had little choice but to dive into a tunnel that would take a longer round about way to the redheaded agent. There were far too many Ashlyn for Rei to deal with.

The platinum blonde made her way through the tunnel wary of any Ashlyn that might be waiting for her. What the pirate did not know was that there was a spider waiting above, its chitin was colored so that it blended with the ceiling. The creature waited patiently until the young woman was directly underneath it.

The Outlaw let out a shout when something landed on her driving her to the floor. The young woman could feel some sort of limbs latching on to her ribs to ensure a secure its grip. Another pair of limbs on her shoulders while another were on her upper legs. The platinum blonde reached for a pistol in hopes of driving off the creature even as it closed to attempt to bite her in neck. Is she could not fire the pistol quick enough the creature would get its bite…

Minerva struggled to stretch out her leg as far as she could. She so far could not reach it, but it did not prevent her from trying. The pilot seemed relieved though at her comments explaining that help had to be close.

The alien explained how he thought Ashlyn worked psychicly. The part about hive minds made sense, from what she had seen and read, she had suspected the Ashlyn were controlled by their Queen. However the ability to control only being at the time, did mean that the Ashlyn abilities were somewhat limited. I am sorry you had to go through that.

The fact that the Ashlyn needed pilots however was interesting, it meant they either had no space travel capacity themselves or found little reason to develop their own. I am surprised how they have no space faring capacity of their own.


It was then she had heard a voice in her head, it was Aegir explaining that Rei was nearby. I am doing better now, but I need to get free. They have me secured in this hallway.

It was then that the agent got some of the slime on her big toe. Carefully the redhead brought her leg back so that she could slather some of it on the green slime that was securing her to the wall.

With it's position of superiority the spider had been about to end this quickly. It may not have had the same link to the Queen that the Ashlyn had but it had a form of empathy with the hive and thus set about carrying out the order of destroying all intruders. It was about to do just that as blasts of light hit it square in the face. The thing was that they were blind shoots too given that Rei could hardly move barely getting her head around her pinned shoulders, barely seeing it.

But just seeing it had been enough, Blind luck perhaps. She could hear a squeal and the creature recoiled a bit in pain. It was blind in many of it's eyes, temporary but it would be enough for Rei to recover.

The spider had two rear facing eyes that were unaffected and two others that could see the hazy outline of the pirate well enough to spring forth to attack once again.

The shots would attract attention to her position but there had been no choice, her life had been on the line and thus she had little choice.

Minerva would hear these shoots too, dreadfully close now. However, their had been no Ashlyn though given that this was one of the cooler passages … had their dislike of the cold been that great? Even knowing or narrowing down her position they would not brave it. Could she use this?





“I am debating whether or not being dead would have been better if it could have halted the spread of the bugs.” He pondered this for a moment. “I think they just force others to bring them places. I have not seen any technology among them save for what they scavenge from others. They can over run an area quickly so getting ships is easy. When they get too large I think a smaller group brakes off and starts it's own colony from what I've observed.”

Blaster shots rang out as Minerva displayed some of her flexibility bringing her leg up and her foot back. The pilot glanced toward the direction of one of the passages. “That was close ...”

The blue slime was like a hot knife going through butter. Green slime dissolved readily at such contact and while it had not fallen away straight away it did give her more wiggle room to get more slime to get free. It had not take her long and the pilot grinned, happy that she had escaped.

“You can try to get out of here,” he spoke quickly seeing that they might not have too much time. “But it will be tough with the mental link that they have. Kill the Queen and I think they might be a bit messed up and confused.” It was just a theory but escaping when every bug in this place was looking for them was probably going to be damn tough …

The creature was on top of her, pinning the pirate to the ground. Rei at the moment had high doubts on why she was even here, though at the moment she was fighting for her life. She could barely see the creature’s head in her peripheral vision as she struggled to turn her head. It was enough though to try to make a few shots. With luck she would be able to score a hit or maybe even two against the creature.

Suddenly the creature that the squealed and recoiled in pain. The outlaw attempted to kick out the monster off as best as she can. She hoped to be able to get some breathing space from the creature that had dropped from the ceiling.

The outlaw wanted to spin around and fire into the creature, she would use as much of the gun’s energy as needed to ensure the creature was dead.
The outlaw knew she was generating a lot of attention with this gunfire, but she no choice if she was going to live.

She does needed to get a little further to rescue the agent…

Nothing can be done about that right now, what happened in the past had already happened. We need to worry about now. The agent was struggling to bring that huge dab of blue slime back on her toe. The last thing that she wanted to do was drop the slime. It was here that she used the conversation to steady her nerves as she brought the slime towards her body. Right now that would be trying to escape.

Noise from gunfire filled the air, causing Minerva to hesitate. It sound like it was really close, which meant that she would have to hurry.

The woman somehow she managed to get her foot again some of her body. The Green Slime that had pinned her body down dissolved as soon as the blue slime made contact. It didn’t get her free, but it enabled the young woman to free herself if she can.

You should try to escape too. She didn’t know how long they would have until whatever battle stumbled into them. And being completely the unarmed and naked was not how the agent wanted to face the Ashlyn. But unfortunately, the redhead had little choice in her circumstances at the moment.

Rei managed to get out from beneath the creature since it was scurrying back. Flipping over, still prone, she fired at it a few times the creature hit once more from the first three shots but rather than going back it lunged forward as if realizing that she could just gun it down unless it had cast a well place line of webbing at her to tangle up the blaster though it was too disorientated to aim that well.

The creature though was knocked back as it pressed in before getting close enough to strike. She was able to cause it to dance like a marionette as shot after shot slammed into it and the creature deposited itself on the floor of the passage quite still and unmoving as smoke waifted up from the prone body. It was quite dead casting her in an eerie silence.

I've found her! You are not far from Minerva's location. Unfortunately I cannot sense the Ashlyn.

Words formed in her head. With that mental map she realized that he had to be moving quick given his usual slow pace to cover the ground he had. Without any obstacles or Ashlyn to deal with she may have done so but for his typical speed he should be a bit behind schedule unless he had some means of acceleration in bursts she was unfamiliar with.





“Your right,” he conceded. He sighed though she was very flexible as she brought that slime up to free her self bit by bit. The green slime fell away with ease as the green slime was introduced and he realized that a few globs of the blue would set her free.

He considered escape. It was easier with two people, the Queen could only control one person at a time and the other bugs lacked that ability.

“Sure, but you'll have to free me once your done. There's no blue slime on this side of the room,” they had only pinned him up on that side of the chamber though he was moved slightly each time the chamber was small and where she was she was just close enough to the remnants of some of the blue slime.

Gun shots sounded close. Minerva frees herself giving rise to the fact that they had to have wanted the retain the pilot but had been less concerned about her or maybe thought she was too far away, with their physiology being different perhaps they were unaware that she could reach the slime.

Freed Minerva had easy access to the blue slime and could free the pilot easily enough. The option now was to go towards or away from those blasts, certainly the Ashlyn would be attracted there.

Rei found herself lucky to escape that grasp of the giant spider. She rolled over on her stomach, firing in a prone position. The creature was not intimidated by her shots and leaned forward to shoot some webbing at the platinum blonde. Fortunately for the outlaw, the creatures aim was off and the webbing shot over her head.

The giant spider was knocked back shot after shot, each one making the creature jerk from the shot. After what seemed like an eternity, the monster finally dropped to the ground. Smoke rosed from the remains of the creature as it finally stopped moving. Rei kept her gun trained on the spider to ensure it was truly dead before she attempted to move again.

It was then that a voice entered her head. It was Aegir and he quickly given an update of where he was. The pirate found herself momentarily dizzy from the updates though she quickly recovered from that. She sound found that he seemed to be moving far faster that she would have thought been possible for him. Okay, how are you moving so quickly.

The young woman had kept up her exercise routine that made her a great agent. It enabled her to be flexible enough to get the few globs to spread over her body. Each glob was used to dissolve more of the green slime until she was finally free.

The pilot was in worse shape, there was no blue slime anywhere need him so there was no way he could free himself. If he was to get free, it would be up to the naked redhead to gather enough of the blue slime to free the pilot.

There was more gun shots, and they sounds like they were close. The agent knew it meant that there was some sort the battle nearby, which meant that there would be more Ashlyn arriving in the area to deal with the threat.

The agent didn’t have much time she quickly grabbed a large glob of blue slime. If she was going to get the pilot free, she was going to have to do so now!