(Apple Blossom Ranch, Carceri VII, Imperial Prison and Slave World, Carceri System)
The Imperial system of Justice was a simple one. Those convicted of crimes would face one of four fates. For minor crimes, there would be prison time, or perhaps some fine or other penalty imposed. For larger crimes, however, there was little in the way of mercy shown. The three most common fates were Death, Enslavement, or Exile. Death was mainly for traitors or those who committed crimes against the state. Enslavement was useful for increasing the work force, and keeping those with potentially useful talents around, without the problems that led to them being enslaved in the first place. But some prisoners were either too important to kill, or too dangerous to have enslaved. Or they were simply insane, and no one wished to keep an insane slave around. That always ended badly.
Those who did not fit the criteria for Death or Enslavement were exiled to penal colonies. As one might expect, these places were hellacious places to live, and no one in their right minds would ever move there of their own free will.
Penal colonies could be anything from an isolated island or island chain to a continent they could isolate from the others to an entire planet. Carceri VII was a planet divided into two parts. The three smaller continents were all given over to a penal colony, with no means to get between the continents other than hand-made boats or canoes, unless one used the main continent’s shuttles. The main continent, you see, was primarily agricultural, but boasted what many termed ‘Slave Ranches’. Essentially, these were centers for the breeding, raising, and training of slaves. Some of the best gladiator and pleasure slaves came from ranches, after all. They were raised knowing nothing but their intended role.
Of course, that isn’t to say that new blood was never added to the Ranches. After all, if you didn’t mix the bloodlines up a bit, then you started breeding faulty merchandise, and no one liked that. So sometimes good specimens would be sent to the Ranch, either as a Bull or a Sow.
Now, most Slave Ranches tended to have a ‘type’. Sure, you’d find some that tried to have a little bit of everything, but in Axel Delacroix’s opinion that just left you spread too thin. You needed to specialize on one type, with maybe a couple secondaries, to streamline your breeding, training, and other facilities. What a Felisan pleasure slave and a Gauz mechanic slave and a knelfi office slave needed for their raising and training were all different, and if you built a brand on a certain kind of slave, then people knew where to come. And, of course, there were plenty of Ranch owners like Delacroix who kept in touch with eachother so they could score a bit of an ‘introduction fee’ if they needed to direct someone to one of their friends.
Axel specialized in breeding and raising gladiators, but he didn’t specialize as to what race he bred. Humans were some of his most popular products. Sure, it didn’t make sense that humans would be the most popular when humans were common throughout the Empire, but Ranch-raised human gladiators were rare. Gauz and Ihm (at least the males) were common as dirt in the gladiator ranches, because of their sturdy builds. Even most of the Ranch-raised human gladiators were mostly musclebound brutes (even the women) who were about as bright as a black hole and twice as dense.
Axel’s products were different. He sacrificed some on the raw brute strength, because he made sure to breed for intelligence and cunning as well as strength and endurance. You had to compromise a bit to get a good mix, but that was easy for Axel because of his secondary types. He raised thieves and assassins, which always were in high demand. To help with the cunning and intelligence part, he not only found breeders that exhibited those qualities, but he also made sure to have teachers on staff, so all his slaves had at least basic educations (which could be tailored to fit their specific roles later on).
One of his big sources for these breeders and teachers were criminals who would otherwise be destined to one of the penal colonies on the planet. Which is why he now had a Rear Admiral in the Number 4 stall, and was reviewing the file of the newest ‘Bull’ who had been sent to him from his contact on the processing station in orbit. Strong one, looked like he’d been enslaved during some riots or some such on Choson Ring when the new cult guys started making their presence known. Seems he was one of the leaders or something. Well, might as well put him in with the Admiral and see how he did.
Rear Admiral Han Moon-Hee was less than thrilled with the situation she found herself in. Well, that might have been a slight understatement. The little woman from Korea was RIGHTEOUSLY PISSED. She HAD been a Rear Admiral in the Imperial Navy until she’d had the audacity to turn down Admiral Maddox when he offered to induct her into this weird cult the Emperor was starting. As a Buddhist, that would have been against her beliefs.
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Unfortunately, that meant she was seen as ‘politically unreliable’, and it only took a day for transfer orders to come down, sending her to the front. Once she was out of sight, however, the bastards ‘disappeared’ her, and slapped a collar on her for good measure. The bastards didn’t even lie about it to her, simply saying that she was being sent someplace to ‘consider her options’ and that, in a few months, they would revisit her choice not to join the ‘movement’.
And that was how she ended up on this infernal ranch, stripped naked and pumped full of fertility drugs and other things to make her more sensitive. Today was going to be her first breeding session. She didn’t know whether her rapist would be the Rancher, one of his hands, or a ‘Bull’, one of the male breeders brought in just to make the new generation of slaves. They’d anticipated how very unwilling she was, and had her strapped face-down, bent over a table, with her legs secured apart by a bar. In other words, she was positioned so that the asshole could just take her, no problem.
The door opened in front of her, and she saw the Rancher, Delacroix, enter, followed by a naked man wearing a collar like hers, with an… acceptable physique. OK, so he was built like a god sculpted him from marble, and most definitely more ‘gifted’ than her late fiancé had been. He was a Marine, and had recently been promoted to the Royal guards when the attack on the Imperial Palace happened. She was just glad he wasn’t alive to see what was going to happen to her now.
The Rancher looked at her, and said, “Well, Sow #4576, it is time for your first breeding. I’ve got a new Bull I’m testing out with you, so be a good girl and accommodate him.” He looked at the naked man, and said, “You have one hour, and I expect no less than two attempts. Do well, and you’ll have your pick of women, and an endless supply of them. Do badly, and I’ll make your life hell. I’ll be watching the cameras.” And then he turned and left the room, locking the door behind him.
The Bull walked around to Moon-Hee’s side of the table, running his hand along her to check her body. Once he was behind her, she felt his fingers rubbing between her legs, one of them sliding gently back and forth across her clit. Despite herself, she had to stifle a moan as she began to get wet. She hadn’t had any companionship that wasn’t battery-operated since David had died.
When the Bull judged her to be sufficiently prepared, he moved behind her, and she could feel him positioning himself, the tip rubbing against her folds, before he thrust hard into her, causing her to unleash a moan even though she hated what this man was doing to her. She tried to think of David, of their last time together before the attack, but the Bull’s thrusts drove that out of her mind. His hands reached under her to cup her petite B cups, and she could feel his breath hot in her ear.
“Rear Admiral Han Moon-Hee.” The Bull whispered her name in her ear, shocking her from making some biting comment. She opened her mouth to say something, but a gasp was all that came out as he pinched one of her nipples. “The name’s Mirikon. I’m sorry we had to meet like this, but this is a rescue. Please play along while my team arranges extraction for you and the other targets.”
Grunting softly, she whispered angrily, “Taking advantage of this rescue attempt, aren’t you?”
“Be lying if I said there weren’t benefits, and wearing the fake collar is interesting, but we’re being monitored, so until the team is in position, I need to stay in character. And unfortunately, that means following the Rancher’s orders. He’s currently in his office watching this feed. The audio is crap, so all he can tell is that I’m whispering sweet nothings in your ear, and you’re pissed as hell while I do it.”
“H-how do you know all that?” She shuddered as a small orgasm ran through her, but the man kept thrusting even as she came.
“Because I’m in contact with my team. And sorry for this, but I have to keep in character.” He stopped leaning over her now, and grabbed her hips, before thrusting harder, and faster. Moon-Hee shook her head, denying what was happening, until she felt him thrust hard into her once more, and felt a warmth spreading inside her as she shuddered with another orgasm.
The man was just now pulling his softening cock out of her poor, abused nethers when an explosion rocked the building, cutting the power, and sending them into darkness as the lights went out in the windowless room. Without saying a word, she could feel the man moving behind her, and felt… a blade? Maybe a claw? Something sliced the bonds on her ankles, allowing her to close her legs, and then the man moved around to the front of the table and freed her wrists! Now she was just naked, pumped full of fertility drugs and aphrodisiacs, and most certainly seeded by this man who had come to rescue her while raping her. It was all very confusing, but if it meant getting out of here and getting revenge on the bastards who ruined her life, then she was willing to forgive, if not forget.
The door burst open as two women in special operations armor stood there, weapons at the ready, lights on their suits filling the room with a harsh white light. She turned, and saw that the man had already removed the collar he said was a fake. One of the women nodded, to him, and handed over a pair of bracers. “Here you are, Master. Sorry we don’t have time for you to get into the suit armor.”
From the bracers the man pulled a set of clothes and armor suitable for what a civilian contractor might wear, as opposed to the military-grade suits the two women wore. He produced similar clothes for her. “Get dressed, Admiral. We’re going to have to fight our way out of here. The situation’s getting a little hairy, so we want to be gone before Sona and Jaynie start needing to use the heavy weapons.” When she was dressed, he handed her a simple heavy pistol, like an Officer would have. It felt right in my hand.
The man looked her over, and nodded. “Now, we’ll secure the other targets on our way out. Unfortunately, you weren’t the only political prisoner held here. But we’ll get you out of here, and to our ship. Then, I believe Empress Merida would be quite happy if you’d come join her in kicking the hell out of her brother’s fleets.”
Han Moon-Hee, disgraced Rear Admiral, lover of a Royal Guard slain in an assassination of the Emperor, smiled wickedly at that, like an evil spirit promised their pound of flesh. “Oh, it would be my pleasure.”