“Welcome back to the 1st Annual Rosetta Nebula Pageant, being held here on the Empress of the Stars. Once again I’m your host Lara Steele and you have just seen twenty of most beautiful women in the galaxy. You will now see the rest of our contestants will be introduced and walk down the runway. First however, I would like to once more go over the rules and grading system that is in place here in this our first pagent….”

blah, blah, blah… Rei thought. That woman seemed like she to listen to herself talk. The way she was dressed, one would have thought the brunette was also in the pageant as well. Rei shook here head, as it only meant that this pageant would go long than originally than it was scheduled. The outlaw groaned as she just wanted to get this done and over with. She had things she had to do and little opportunity to do it.

The pageant was being held on the Empress of the Stars, a luxury star yacht, because the cruise line offering it up wanted to use as a way to advertise. It was one of the most elegant ships on the space lanes and had almost every modern convivence that could be thought of. Rei noted almost sarcastically that a moving ship would be harder to hit for pirates and slavers than a stationary hall on some planet anywhere in the galaxy.

Debra, the one of the pageant stage hands held up her hand signifying that the next contestant was about was going about to enter the stage. Ms. Steele must be finally getting done with her part and ready to begin the pageant once more. “Good Luck,” said the tall redhead behind her. Rei had began a friendship with Amanda Kelly while they were getting ready backstage. Thanks, you as well.

Debra pointed to the X on the floor and Rei took her position. The stagehand signaled an okay and whispered something quietly into her headset. Rei tried to pretend she didn’t see it, she didn’t want give herself away by reacting to what could be someone spotting her cover. But the current opened and Ms. Steele spoke to the cameras. “Our next contestant is the lovely, Cleo Mahe, from the Marcus Colony.”

Rei stepped out into spotlight, but she was in disguise. The outlaw was wearing a blond wig that a simply ponytail in the back. She wore contacts to change her red eyes to brown for now. It made it difficult to see but it would keep the wanted pirate from being recognized. The pirate was wearing a white strapless, embroided-sequin dress. Its form hugging dress showed off her curves, leaving a thigh-high side slit so she move as elegantly as the outlaw could down the runway.
Security on the ship had been tight, very tight. Everyone on this crew was female and their backgrounds had been double checked and tripled check. Even the camerawomen had their backgrounds scrutinized. It had been actually easier to sneak in as a contestant, when you who to bribe. That how Rei became Celo Mahe, the elegant contestant. About the only other way to get would be in a box of cargo.

Rei was taking a big risk, but she figured the reward was worth it. In the private holds near the center of ship was a safe containing all the valuables of the guests on the ship. Some of it was jewelry, some of it was money, some of it was data encrypted on data crystals. All of it was highly valuable, and Rei thought that security would more lax on the inside of the ship than on the outside. All she needed was a little downtime…

Lieutenant Minerva Rocha watched Celo Mahe began her walk down the walkway. The agent noted that the white dress was an excellent choice to highlight her exotic skin. However, the young woman looked like she was not confident in those matching stiletto heels. This Cleo was a looker, but she didn’t quite have the polish that the other women had. Minerva wondered how far into the competition she would make it.

The Lieutenant and her partner, Kaitlin Tolan, had been assigned to the augment the ship’s security. As per standard procedure at an important event, the redhead was wearing her red dress uniform. As part of her independent nature she had substituted a short pink dress instead of the standard skirt. Her black thigh highs and white boots completed the look of a serious and yet attractive agent presence at the event.

The problem though was that Minerva and Kaitlin were the only personnel assigned on the security. There was automated security on the outside of the Empress, protecting the liner from the any attackers from the outside. Worse, was that Kaitlin was manning the communications up near the bridge. Minerva was guarding the pageant in the ballroom. The only other thing that represented security was the few crewmembers that performed the parts that could not be handled by the Empress’s automation.

The pageant was being broadcast live but to a sister ship, the Monarch of the Stars, two light days behind the Empress through sub-space communications. The Monarch was then broadcasting live through hyperspace to anyone that was listening. The Monarch was an elaborate trap, filled with not contestants, but Directorate agents ready to take down any pirate or slaver in search of an easy plunder. The cargo bays were filled with makeshift launchpads for Directorate spacecraft to pursue anyone attempt to escape the reach of the ADD.
This meant only two agents were available for the Empress. And for the last few days, they were all alone, having seen nothing outside the ship since that stop for cargo…

Unfortunately, a widely broadcast signal had the capability of attracting anyone, not just desired targets. And while there were no doubt many slavers, pirates, and lowlifes eyeing the pageant with hungry eyes, someone else saw this silver platter as well. 263's ship cruised just outside the system, largely radio silent but still scanning broadcasts that passed it by - mostly looking for distress beacons from women-laden ships it could attack. As such, it soon came across the broadcast of the pageant, looking over the contestants, hostess, and even the guests and crew that found their way on screen.

Among the women it held as perpetual sex toys on its ship were several ADD agents, whose memories of ADD protocols it had spent time studying. It knew about sting operations and traps like this, but even so, the bait was ultimately too tempting. It couldn't pass up the opportunity to expand its interstellar harem so significantly, or to gain control of a second ship, for that matter. And so, its captured medium-class ADD cruiser set a course for the Empress of the Stars.

The Empress' crew were professionals, no doubt. But they weren't expecting trouble, and they certainly weren't military trained. And in space, sensors are the only means of sight for all but the most skilled crew. As such, the Empress had no chance of seeing 263's ship as it dropped out of warp a good distance away, and slowly cruised towards them. Its make shift stealth systems kept it invisible to the Empress' scanners, allowing it to come in close on the ship's blind spot. Once in range, a smaller shuttle launched from the ADD ship, drifting towards the Empress, containing several of 263's bodies and piloted by a single, sex-ravaged female. The first sign anyone on board got that they weren't alone was the hull sensors alerting them as the shuttle sealed its gangplank over the exterior plates. A contact welding ring began to burn through the hull, finally opening an entrance into a cargo pod.

Lieutenant Rocha’s ear piece crackled to life, Kaitlin spoke, “Lieutenant we have a problem. Something hit the hull of the ship at cargo level. Sensors is not sure what it was but it seems to be fairly large. The Captain is going to send some of her engineers to take a look at it, she would you to meet them down there to take a look.”

Minerva was holding the earpiece with one hand. Roger, I will go check on it. I’ll tell you what I fine, Agent Tomlin. The agent almost instinctively reached for her pistol, but held off for the moment. The agent looked back at the pageant, which seemed to be going on obvious to the agent or the bridge’s concern. The only that seemed to be remotely interested in the agent’s movements, was Cleo who was walking down the walkway. She for a moment seemed to be looking straight at the agent, before she turned to the camera smiled and turned to show her backside to the camera. The contestant began to walk back down the runway.

That might have been weird, but that was Minerva’s concern at the moment. She made her way down through the ballroom doors into the main hallway of the ship. Many of the pricier rooms were on either side of her as this was the part of ship where all the entertainment was. The agent moved down the hall until she came to an elevator. She stepped inside and hit the button for the cargo level where she was sure that the engineers would already be.

As Minerva reached the cargo level, the engineers were already mustering near the breach. They were dressed in standard environmental suits. The leader of the team was already taking her first step into the tunnel, moving cautiously and waving her flashlight around. She was a tall woman, though fairly young-looking, with sharp features and raven hair. A softer, cuter brunette in the back of the group motioned Minerva towards them.

"Don't worry," she called out. "The sensors say there are no bio-hazards. It looks like there's someone in there, though."

"Oh my god!" came the team leader's voice from inside the ship. "There's a woman in here. She needs help. She's... AH!" A loud squelching sound emanated from inside the ship, accompanied by solid thumps and the woman's scream. The rest of the engineers froze, staring into the portal after her. Before anyone could respond, a thick, pale brown tentacle shot out of the hole and wrapped around the waist of the second engineer in line.

"NO!" the blonde woman screamed, her eyes going wide. She dropped her flashlight as her arms flailed in panic, grabbing the edge of the hole as the tendril began to pull her into it. "Help me!" she screamed. "Help, please! NO!" Her strength gave out, and she disappeared into the darkness. The whole scene took only seconds, before the only sign of the two women were the terrified screams coming from inside.

On the bridge, sensors would begin to light up as 263's ship scanned the Empress, looking for suitable sites for the two more shuttles it sent out to latch on.

Minerva arrived just in time to see a team of engineers near the breach. Unlike the agent, the women were better prepared for the breach, dressed in the environmental suits. Already the tall lead engineer had stepped into the breach a flashlight exploring the hole in the ship. A young engineer with a brunette hair waved the agent over. Minerva walked over somewhat gingerly though she knew that engineer thought it was safe.

That’s good there is no bio-hazards. You say there this a manned ship, not debris. The agent instincts told her this wasn’t good. A ship wouldn’t try to enter hear on accident.

The leader suddenly reported that there was a woman inside in need of help. Almost instantly there was a loud squelching sound from inside the breach followed by thumps and a scream from what Minerva could only presume was the lead engineer. The other engineers, froze staring into the portal in disbelief. The agent tried to react, moving forward while drawing her gun at the same time. Get back!

Unfortunately, Minerva’s warning was too late. A thick, pale brown tentacle shot from the darkness of the breach and wrapped around the blonde to Minerva’s right. She had just enough time to grab onto the edge of the portal as most of her was pulled in. She screamed for help, before she too disappeared into the darkness.
Get back! Get back! The agent pulled the brunette behind her as she began to back up herself. The pistol was up and aimed at the breach, ready to shoot the next tentacle that attempted to shoot out of the breach. The two women needed distance between them and the tentacles if they were going to stand any chance. Still Minerva could hear the terrified screams of the women trapped inside.

Kaitlin shouted into Minerva’s earpiece, “We are being scanned by someone.”

It’s a trap!!! Raise an alert and try to contact the Directorate. Tell the Captain to get us out of here now!

The engineer Minerva was able to reach scrambled behind her and clung to her side, backing away toward the elevator as the screams and squelching continued to echo out of the tunnel. Suddenly, another sound could be heard - the unmistakable tearing of cloth. The pleading screams of the women inside grew even louder as the sounds intensified.

Suddenly, more tentacles began to emerge from the hole. They slithered out slowly, having no clear target to lunge for, but there were dozens of them. Most were the thick, smooth-skinned tentacles that had grabbed the second engineer and easily lifted her into the hole. However, among them were also thinner tentacles, which ended in eyeballs that stared, unblinking around the room. Several narrowed in on Minerva and the engineer behind her, and immediately the tentacles' attention turned towards them.

The ship suddenly shifted, as the Empress' captain must have tried to do as she said and escape. But almost immediately, Kaitlin was back on the comms. "It's no good," she reported. "We've got more boarders. One took out our comm array and then landed near the bridge. We've lost contact with command."

It did not take much for Minerva to convince the remaining engineer to retreat, the brunette had moved behind her and clung to the agent’s side. They could not see anything, but the pair could hear clearly hear the squelching and screaming of struggle inside the ship. Soon the sounds of cloth being torn could be heard with the screams of the pleading intensifying.

Any thought of going in and rescuing the pair of women were dashed as something came out of the darkness. Tentacles, most just as large as the ones that grabbed the blonde engineer came out of the darkness and began to explore the cargo bay. Smaller ones with eyestalks also joined the search. Several of them spotted the pair of still free females and turned to face them.
Almost at once all the tentacles began to turn towards them. Minerva held up her pistol at them and fired at the eyestalks. She and the engineer continued to back away as Minerva attempted to blind her opponent or was it opponents?

The ship shifted for just a moment through the girls slightly off-balance. Kaitlin explained the bad news. The comms were down and the a shuttle landed near the bridge. The Empress was on her own. Shit! We are going to have to make sure the bridge is held. I have an engineer with me and we are trying to make it back to the elevator. We will try to protect the pageant!

As Minerva fired shots at the alien appendages, the thicker, blind tentacles moved forward to create a meat shield in front of the eyes. The bullets sunk into their flesh, tearing holes that oozed green blood, and sharp, inhuman squeals echoed from somewhere within the ship. But still the mass of fleshy vines moved towards them, undeterred. The approached with menacing deliberation.

"Come on!" the engineer behind Minerva beckoned, starting to tug on her sleeve to direct her attention back towards the elevator behind them. "We have to go!"

"I'll hold the bridge as best I can," Kaitlin told her. "Get up here ASAP. We need to-" Suddenly, there was a loud clanging noise, and several shouts in the background. Kaitlin began shouting orders to the bridge crew before the comm went silent.

"No, NO! Please, no!" came a cry from within the breach hole, as one of the women began to plead louder. Clearly, things are not going well inside there either.

Minerva shots hit the alien appendages, but did not hit her attended targets. The thicker tentacles moved at lightning speed moved to shield the vulnerable thinner tendrils. The shots still did damage though, tearing flesh apart and causing green blood to ooze from the large tendrils. Still there were too many to deal with as they continued their unrelenting approach.

The engineer screamed for the two to get in the elevator and Minerva could feel a tugging on her sleeve throwing off her aim. The agent cursed as she followed the engineer back to the elevator.

Things seemed to be getting worse as Kaitlin was asking for help. It sounded like her communications gear had been knocked off as she too got into a gun fight. Then the comms went completely dead.

Worse the women that Minerva had to abandon in the breach. One of them pleaded louder as it was only left to the agent’s imagination to what was going on in there.

Minerva shots hit the alien appendages, but did not hit her attended targets. The thicker tentacles moved at lightning speed moved to shield the vulnerable thinner tendrils. The shots still did damage though, tearing flesh apart and causing green blood to ooze from the large tendrils. Still there were too many to deal with as they continued their unrelenting approach.

The engineer screamed for the two to get in the elevator and Minerva could feel a tugging on her sleeve throwing off her aim. The agent cursed as she followed the engineer back to the elevator.

Things seemed to be getting worse as Kaitlin was asking for help. It sounded like her communications gear had been knocked off as she too got into a gun fight. Then the comms went completely dead.

Worse the women that Minerva had to abandon in the breach. One of them pleaded louder as it was only left to the agent’s imagination to what was going on in there.

The two women seemed to catch a break as the elevator doors slid closed. Through the crack, one of the alien eyes watched them go, and then disappeared from view. As the elevator began to move up, the engineer fell to her knees, shaking. "W-what was that thing?" she asked, still in shock. "What did it want with us?"

Minerva had time to answer, but after a moment, her vision flashed. Suddenly, her sight was filled with another scene, swarming with those tentacles. The two women who had been captured were suspended above the writhing mass. Their suits had been torn to shreds, baring their breasts, stomach, and crotches. The blonde engineer was whimpering and moaning as her firm breasts were squeezed by tentacles, forced to protrude proudly. Meanwhile, the black haired woman was staring at a tentacle hovering between her legs. "No..." she pleaded, but a second later it thrust forward into her sex. She screamed as she was penetrated, and it began to thrust into her roughly. A second later, the visions faded, and Minerva was back in the elevator.

Minerva and the engineer managed to get into the door just in time. Through the crack in the doors, Minerva could see an alien eye looking straight back into her. The elevator began to move up, leaving the alien tentacles behind for now. The engineer finally collapsed in in a heap on her knees. She began to asks questions.

Minerva opened her mouth but she said nothing as her vision flashed. She saw what was the inside of an ADD shuttle. At least that what she thought it was, it was hard to tell with all the tentacles swarming around. Above them were the two engineers that had been captured by the thick tentacles. There uniforms were torn to shreds, only bits remained around their neck, arms, and down around their ankles. Minerva could see the blonde engineer whimpering and moaning as her full breasts were being seized and forced to protrude outwards. The raven haired lead engineer was shaking her head as she looked down at a tentacle hovering between her legs. Her head jerked backwards as she was penetrated, the tentacle wasting no time as it thrusted away. Minerva became dizzy as she the vision faded, her body back in the elevator.

The brunette was still on her knees, here eyes looking up in desperation. They are ratkar. They seem to be here to rape us. The agent shook her head as she reloaded her pistol. She never heard of them using any psionics, was someone leading them. That made sense how else would they have been brought over by spacecraft. We will have to keep moving and stay ahead of these creatures if we are going to escape.

263 watched the two girls disappear in the elevator, confident that it would find them again before long. It took particular delight in letting the more aggressive of them see the fate of those it had captured. Such visions often inspired fear and foolish choices in the women it stalked. For the time being, it turned its focus to other things. As several of its bodies engaged in ravaging the women it had captured, others began to move towards the ventilation systems. They climbed inside, and began to spread through the ship, even as more bodies began to pour out of the other shuttles latched on around the ship.

The elevator took Minerva and the engineer up towards the bridge, where they could rendezvous with Kaitlin and the bridge crew. Beside her, the other girl began to sniffle. "We're going to be okay, right? You're from the ADD, aren't you? They'll come and save us from those things, won't they?" she asked.

The Lieutenant tried to force a smile towards the engineer in an attempt prop up the cute brunette’s morale. The ADD will send their strike team as quickly as possible. We just have to stay ahead of the ratkar and get into a defensible position. They are not very smart and we can limit the ways to get to us.

Secretly the redhead was actually really worried. It would be at least half a week before anyone on the Monarch would realize what was going on and probably another day longer before they caught up.

Worse whoever had organized the ratkar knew what they were doing. Not only did they predict the Directorate’s plan but they had also sent the ratkar in a way where they would be most effective. Had the tentacle creatures had just hit the cargo bay, the crew could disable portions of the ships and seal the creatures in to buy time. Now the bridge, the nerve center of the ship was under assault. If Minerva could just make it in time to fight them off.

Still Minerva felt sorry for those participating in the pageant. They probably had received no warning of what was going on. They would be sitting ducks for any ratkar that found them.