The Ashen. Too smart for their own good perhaps? They could artificially collapse stars and make black holes. They were also the fathers of the Ashlyn species, a swarm of ant-like creatures with a deadly hive mind. They were resourceful in large numbers and some managed to escape the planet that they were on. They were attacking Ashen worlds and growing in numbers to the point that groups would brake off from the main swarm. One such group had made a nest out of a remote research station deep on the fringe of space at the edge of Ashen territory.

Their was one dominated hel'corian pilot. A surviving mercenary that the Ashlyn had captured. Rather than implanting him with eggs as was the custom the Queen dominated him and had him on hand to serve as a pilot should the hive have need of him. That time was now as computers came online automatically and the Queen had the hel'corian use them. It seems that alerts came in when Ashen grand tech had been used. But why their of all places? That had not been in Ashen space.

The Ashlyn had been aware that in order to win this war they had to acquire Ashen tech This was a colony? Perhaps for it had been terraforming equipment that had been activated and though it would take them awhile to get to the world they were confident that by the time they reached it the Ashen presence would still be small, smaller than the swarm that would be built along the way so the swarm splits again, most staying on the station. The Queen would just have to dominate another pilot from the surviving prisoners so that they were not stranded here. s
The largest Ashlyn is sent forward to start a new swarm. It is send with several workers, soldiers and drones to check out the matter. Over the months it grows larger, it becomes a new Queen. After months of travel the ship finally crosses the galaxy.

It powers down and drifts forward, sensors on passive. There's a castle and a city … the tech was wrong though. No power readings on the scale of the Ashen. But if not the Ashen then who? The swarm was rather large by this point and they had come a great distance across the stars. This warranted an investigation. Setting down in the hills the Queen is moved to a cave. Workers and some soldiers are dispatched to check out the settlement, this world could be ripe for conquest. A few drones join the scouting party though the scouting party is not large they only need to determine the strength of the enemy for all other species were the enemy. The Ashlyn were designed to expand across the stars, to multiple and thrive. These would be sacrificed for the honor of their hive, to determine the strength of their opposition. Would they stay? Would they cut their losses and go? It all depended on what the scouts shared through their hive mind with the Queen.

Octavia was happy to look out the progress of the city. The Trixian fleet had found the planet just a few months ago. The planet was just shy of being habitable before the Trixian scientists had discovered it. It would serve as the perfect test for the Ashen terraforming equipment that Octavia and the handmaidens had found a while ago. The scientists were able to figure out some what how to be able to terraform this barren world.

The Princess marveled at how green the world had become under the use of the Ashen technology. It still wasn't enough to support all the surviving members of the Trixian people. The technicians and scientists would have to continue to tweak the equipment to get it finish working the rest of the of planet. For now it could support just the Princess, her staff, and the city filled with technicians and scientists that were needed to study the terraforming equipment.

Already the city was being called New Trixia by many of its inhabitants. The castle orginally meant to house and defend the population town was beginning to be converted in something a bit more for someone of royalty. There was already of calling the Royal fleet to move most of the population of the Trixian poeple to bring them to what could be there new homeworld. Finally the Trixian people would finally once more would have a planet to call home once more.

Things were shaping up quiet well. While the device that they had uncovered had not be able to complete the transformation but a sizable area was covered now and they had at least one city and a castle so at least they had a base of operations to deal with.

The city grew over the course of the year along with castle adding both an ancient sort of design with the modern flare. Instead of catapults in the towers there were energy cannon for orbital defense for the most part.

Little did anyone know that the Ashlyn had started their long trek across the galaxy.

Over that time too Octavia had the homing device fashioned. A simple gold bracelet that she could easily remove if she wanted to but for the most part it was kept on or at least in easy reach for when Aegir needed to find her. He could have done so with a node of course but for practical reasons she had not wanted that and this was an easy compromise.

Through the year he had visited he often, though it had appeared that he was saddened at times assuming that her duties would require her to assume other roles. He remained helpful though, returning not just for personnel visits with the Princess but as a means of delivering snipets of information about the Ashen and clues that he had gathered as far as operating the terraforming equipment.

But he had refrained from bringing up his concerns for the most part and remained helpful for … what was his angle? Clearly if it were just sex shouldn't he have tried to capture her already? It did not seem as if he were hostile of plotting against hem either.

But it was business as usual when the guards were alarmed as an ant pulled it's way through an open window. It's exoskeleton was red, more of a scarlet coloration and it was about the size of a house cat. Alone it was easy to deal with but it was a through away, a sacrifice as other areas of the city had been probed to test a response and to see how well the Princess was protected.

Then more came soon thereafter. More of the Ashlyn, these with more purpose as directed by the Queen's desires. Right now the Ashlyn were vulnerable though from her dealings with other humanoids she had learned that these humanoids had not been prone to sacrificing individuals as freely. Capturing a leader and placing her in the hive so they could not use the same sot of tactics that the Ashen had employed against them in the past.

The numbers on this planet made for a quick and easy conquest of the planet and soon the activated Ashen tech would be there's.

Workers and soldiers crawled onto the castle though open windows, crack they widened with their mandibles or even doors that were open as defenders were overwhelmed by the insectoids.

The Princess was being lead away from the throne room to safety when up ahead they heard the scuttling of these creatures followed by a buzzing sound as a group of these bugs rounded a corner, workers in the front spraying out a sickly green adhesive while the dog-sized soldiers and winged drones came forward a tentacle extending from each side as they lashed out against the guard attempting to get at the Princess.

It was starting to become late in that evening, and the Trixian royal was starting to get sleepy. She yawned and began to move back from the window to head off for a nice refreshing bath before heading off to bed. However no soon did she move away the window, when she was pulled away by one of her handmaidens. "By the Goddess, what is that," shouted An.

Standing right there where the Princess had been just a moment ago was a giant insect like creature. Its entire hide was colored a very angry red and it was the as big as one of those cats the humans like to speak of. An took no chance and quickly drove her polearm into the beast, killing it before it could threaten Her Royal Highness. Instantly the brunette handmaiden reached up and contacted the castle garrison.

"Enru, alert the guards. We had something come through the window after our Princess." For a moment the radio was completely silent. Then slowly it crackled to life as it sounded like it was distorted from some sort of interference. The blonde handmaiden responded, but she sounded desperate. "The castle is being overrun. There are creatures pouring through every window and every opening in the castle." An could hear shouts and what sound like blaster fire in the background. "We are just holding are own. I can't send anyone up to help you.[/color]

"Curse them. I have to get you out of here your Highness." the handmaiden declared. Before the pink haired royal could protested, the Princess was dragged passed the throne room to a hallway that would take the pair to a secret tunnel out of the castle. No sooner did they start running down the hallway then the sounds of buzzing getting louder. Soon more of the ant like creatures appeared and began to spray some sort of sticky substance on An legs. "Ah what in the world is this stuff." She found herself stuck and helpless as more creatures began to fly towards the two Trixians.

"Run Princess, Run. Save yourself." The handmaiden brought up her polearm to try to defend herself. But one of the creatures simply lashed out with a tentacle and quickly disarmed her. All Octavia could do was run for her life hoping to get away...

Some of the insects dealt with An, while she was stuck fast she still tried to threaten the Ashlyn though her weapon was battered away by deceptively long retractable tentacles on the sides of their bodies.

Others came at the Princess driving her on as they attempted to close in. Random sounds of combat erupting as the swarm pressed on.

What had begun as an exploratory scouting force quickly amounted to more of these things joining in when the hive found that these defenses were meager. The Ashlyn were use to facing the Ashen and most other defenses were meager so the Queen directed her hive in taking the Princess as a counter measure.

Right now they were vulnerable. If discovered there was nothing to stop the Trixians in simply dropping bombs on them.

The sounds of fighting seemed to be rather fierce back towards the throne room now though she heard the Ashlyn behind her and that was perhaps what gave her enough warning to evade a gout of green sticky slime fired in her direction that had been meant to secure here.

Little did she now that her mind was being attacked. Illusions of other Ashlyn up ahead might have given her pause if not for her mental defenses that allowed her to shrug off the attempt easily enough. She was not even aware that they were trying to heard her in a direction of their choosing though soon due to their hive mind the Ashlyn came to realize it.

Still as she rounded a corner there was a dark haired woman there that she recognized though never had been introduced to. Evelyn tossed a grenade though rather than exploding on contact there was a delay with this one.

“Princess quick!” She gestured quickly. She was one of the standard military, an officer by the insignia on her uniform.

The grenade explodes with enough force to decimate the front ranks of the Ashlyn but they are relentless and keep coming.

Evelyn waits for the Princess then rushes onward down a corridor drawing another grenade as they run and fiddling with this one so it explodes on impact she waits to use it.

“I've been disarmed of my sidearm. Are you armed Princess?”

There was nothing the Princess could do for her handmaiden who still struggling to free herself from the sticky substance. Already the Ashen were closing in on the brunette.

The young royal Trixian screamed as she attempted to try get away from the creatures. It sounded like the entire castle was one big battle ground with the sounds of battle emanating from every possible direction.

Still she did have concern for the scientists and technicians that made up the city below. If these creatures were attacking the castle this hard, she could only wonder right now what was going on below in the town. Little did the pink haired princess realize that she was the real prize the creatures sought.

The sudden sound of intense fighting from throne room suddenly snapped her Highness back into the hear and now. She looked back in time to see one of the creature fire off a gout of green slime at her. The young Trixian just managed to get out of the way as the wall became coated in the stuff.

As she came round a corner, the Princess saw there was a dark haired Trixian in the uniform of the Royal Army. She was clearly some sort of officer, though Octavia did not have time to figure out her rank. The woman tossed a grenade behind the royal woman as it hit the front ranks of the creatures and exploded.

Though it killed a bunch of the creatures, more simply took their place as they chased after the Princess. The soldier asked if Princess was armed. No, I was about to head to my room for the night when they attacked. We have a find a way to get out of here. Maybe even get to Rei the scientist's ship.

The defenses had been light in the estimation of the Queen and so the all out attack was launched. While the settlement of scientists was indeed being attacked the bulk of the Ashlyn were at the castle to achieve their objective.

Evelyn grimaced. She was hoping that the Princess had something. She was nearly out of grenades and figured that dealing with these things unarmed was not going to go so well.

She was a captain, a demolitions expert who got unarmed. She had the grenades only because she made them, a fanatic who liked blowing the hell out of things enough that she tended to have a few explosives of her own design on her.

“Right. We'll have to get out of the castle first. Come on, this way.”

It feel to her to protect the Princess now with her life if necessary and that was probably going to be now as they rounded a corridor and found that they were trapped with Ashlyn behind.

At the other end of this corridor was a mass of Ashlyn soldiers … yet Octavia saw nothing and only then realized that Evelyn was reacting to something that wasn't even their. These things could mess with perceptions it seemed though they were not strong enough to cut through her natural defenses.

The Ashlyn realized that the Princess had been immune to simple mind inducing effects but her companion wasn’t and they were just attempting to delay them a few seconds so that they could catch up to deal with the Princess.

At the end of the corridor there was a secret passage that they could take to exit the castle at least and hope to make it to the ship before anyone else did.

Octavia had no idea that she was the objective of the attack and that the creatures were throwing themselves at the castle to try to capture her. Right now their numbers were actually working in their favor as the Trixian soldiers could only get off a few attacks before being overwhelmed.

The Princess nodded to Trixian captain as she led the pair down a corridor, with luck the two women would be able to make it the next floor with out having to deal with these awful creatures. The two Trixians only had a single grenade with them, something that shouldn't be used in the tight confines of the castle.

The two Trixians ran around the corner when Evelyn suddenly froze in place. Octavia looked down the hallway but couldn't see anything. [color=Pink]Come on. We can not let them catch us, the hallway is empty we can make if we just to end of the corridor.

Her Highness ran as fast as she could to the corridor, for she knew there was an secret exit that would allow her and Evelyn to flee the castle before it was too late.

Evelyn may have argued the point seeing another wave of the bugs but the Princess rushed through them as if the were no even there. They swarmed over the Princess as she moved straight though them.

Some bit and chomped down fiercely but there was no blood.

What was going on here? She was wide eyed for a moment and proceed to follow, moving though the bugs as her heart pounded. An illusion? By the time she catches up to the Princess though the secret passage is opened then closed behind them.

They travel a brief way to another room closer to the entrance. The Ashlyn had already been here from the looks of the green slime smeared along the walls and floors. One Trixian was secured to the wall, a black haired scientist that was unconscious though It was impossible to break the grip of the slime.

A peak outside the room had similar effects, the Ashlyn had been through here before. Dead Ashlyn and retrained Trixin soldiers were here.

" Prncess? Here.”

She gets a few weapons from the restrained soldiers. She finds out the Ashlyn swept though the corridor coming from the entrance though now it was question of what to risk.

Octavia looked back at the soldier who seemed to be frozen for a moment before she decided to run and catch up with the Princess. Together the two ran over to end of the corridor and open the secret passage. The two Trixians disappeared into the passage before anyone could notice them giving the pair a moment of temporary safety.

However as soon as they came out of the room, it became clear what exactly what the Ashlyn planned to do with the Trixians. On the wall was one of the scientists. The raven haired Trixian was unconscious and her hands and legs were bound up in some sort of hardened green slime that was smeared along the walls and the floor. The scientist's clothes were mostly gone only a few shreds remained up around her neckline. The soldier and the Princess struggled to get the scientist free but it was like she was stuck in concrete.

Evelyn finally took a look outside the room and motioned to Her Highness to take a look. The pink haired Princess went over the door and could not believe what she saw. Everywhere down the hallway were more of the dead oversized bugs and blast marks everywhere. However it looked like things had gone badly for the Trixians. Everywhere there was restrained naked Trixian soldiers including a handmaiden, Octavia was quite familiar with. Enru!!

The blonde handmaiden looked up. She like the others were bound up in the green slime and had most of her clothes dissolved off her. "Princess, I'm sorry there was too many of them. We couldn't hold them off."

Evelyn handed the Princess a rifle. The young royal had some training in how to use a rifle but she was hardly proficient in its use. Don't worry Enru, we will get out of here.

"No," said the handmaiden, Enru turned her head towards the Evelyn, "Captain, you need to make sure the Princess gets to safety. She needs to get on a ship and off this planet above all other priorities. You must make that happen, understood?"

“Understood.” Evelyn snaps off a salute. She had managed to arm herself from one of the several blasters that had been discarded here though many were stuck fast in this his green slime there were some that weren't. She wondered about the slime, it was some sort of adhesive and had to be an acid of some sort too as the clothes in contact with it had been dissolved away though there were no burn marks had been on the flesh though.

She wondered if the creatures had a way of dissolving the slime. She guessed so but it didn't matter as she did not intend being ensnared by it.

Grabbing the Princess by the arm she was ready to depart …

Damn that hive mind though! The worker perked it's head up hearing those shuts in the corridor. If not for the connection it had with the Hive it would not have understood the words but it did now.

Princess!

Through the Hive Mind it had relaid what it heard. Others were coming and soon the pair could hear the skittering from down the hall as the closest Ashlyn moved towards the location.

The Princess tried to give protest, but she was cut off by the bound up handmaiden. It was ironically that it was the Enru taking the brunette role of sacrificing herself for the Trixian royal. "Sorry your Highness, your safety is more important than anyone else's. You must escape and the longer you protest, the longer you put yourself and the Captain in danger. You must escape and escape now."

The Princess felt a jerk on her arm as Evelyn forced her to the pink haired beauty to start to move. The Princess had to hold back her tears as she was forced to leave so many of her subjects behind.

As they began to move out they heard the skittering of what sound like more of the creatures. The Trixians would have to make there way out of the castle before it was too late.

The Ashlyn were closing in. With their hive mind they were encountered more f frequently now as some popped out from passages. Workers mostly who had tried to snare them up in their green slime.

Their came a snap decision the royal hanger was near here and contained shuttles. The could be used to get to Rei's ship seeing that the shuttles were not space worthy craft.

They had killed several Ashlyn by then but had little choice. It was either trying to press though to the hangar from here or work their way down to the kith to use the service entrance.

Evelyn considered both options as the bugs pursued them. “Which way, Princess? The Hangar or the kitchens? Both options should get us out of here.”

The worker creatures seemed to crawl out of every place possible. It was everything the pair of Trixians could do to keep one step of the monsters and the green slime that spit out the Octavia.

There was little they could do as they were chased into the royal hanger. There were shuttles here to get to the city and back, though they not able to go to space. At least she would be able to get to Rei's ship from here.

Let's use the shuttle. That will be the safer of the two options. Once we are on board we won't have to worry about them. Besides there little time to lose.

The creatures were almost upon them. Octavia turned and fired a burst from her rifle. She closed her eyes as she fired as she had no choice but to protect herself. She does didn't want to see the carnage in front of her.

Evelyn nods and rushes in the direction of the shuttle. Little did the Trixians realize that the bugs were intelligent. They had displayed a little cunning through the use of their illusions but not actual intelligence not until now at least for they realized upon discovering the hanger that it could be used as an escape method for the Princess.

Thus as the captain opened the door she barely had enough time to go wide eyed as a stream of green slime knock her back and restrained her struggling body up against the hull of another shuttle.

Doors to each shuttle open and worker Ashlyn begin to stream out along with Ashlyn drones that came at the Princess. The bugs ranged in size from cat sized to that of a medium sized Labrador sized dog.

Tentacles whip from the sides of scarlet colored bodies as they relentlessly came forth knowing some would perish but their goal was insight as they begin to disarm and restrain her if possible with a single minded determination.