---CASSIA HIPPOLYTA SUTLER, SCIENCE OFFICER OF THE GPA BATTLECRUISER LIONHEART POV

I wake to him, dripping his black blood into my mouth. My struggle counts for nothing. The rumbling chuckle in his chest proves he finds me amusing at best. How long have I been out? I remember kneeling and checking on the female officer from the Scout Ship, and then Ed bursting into the Lab. Another crew member from the Scout Ship.

Poor Ed, he didn’t understand the nanorobots, and neither did I. His human body became a husk. Why doesn’t his horrible death concern me? I remember now. Captain Julius sold me out shortly after so he could walk away and be the hero of this ridiculous farce. To say I am bitter is an understatement. Then nothing until now. No. I am wrong. A slight dizziness.

I lick my lips to draw in and savour a couple of stray drops. The taste of his hobgoblin blood is exquisite, dreamy even. My eyes lose themselves in the deep pool of blackness in his eyes. This creature, this hobgoblin, isn’t ugly. He has a misunderstood inner beauty. I embrace his warmth. I instantly appreciate what he is doing for me. How could I ever doubt his intentions?

Captain Julius is my betrayer.

My eyes wander about the Lab. As a Science Officer, I should pay more attention, but for now, I feel content for the first time in a long time. My mind is finally free of control, and decisions are my own. I do note that each bed in the Lab has a body resting on it. The female officer from the Scout Ship lies on the bed closest to me, and an unknown female hobgoblin lies on the other.

I remember the pleasant hum of power reverberating around the Science Lab. Also, my body swaying in time to the vibration. After that, all is a blur until I lean against the cool steel wall of the Lab and slowly slide down to the cold, clinical floor.

Shouting and screaming wake me. My eyes dart from side to side, but everyone ignores me. The hobgoblin leans over the female hobgoblin on the far bed and drips his blood into her mouth. She is awake but confused. He now checks the control panel, so he must be finished.

Captain Julius returns, pushing a trolley. I want to scratch his eyes out, but my legs and arms feel so heavy. The female hobgoblin, though, screams as he takes the human body from the closest bed. He also takes poor Ed, his husk, at least. He also cleans up Titus’ body. I giggle. His neck has a red smile.

His goblin and hobgoblin females wrestle with the screaming and cursing female hobgoblin body on the far bed. Still screaming, they lift her off the bed. Her arms and legs are now bound, and they leave her to struggle on the Lab floor.

I ignore her and instead study the Control Panel. There is a progression bar that lights up one bar. On the far bed, a green haze forms under a transparent dome. My scientific interest blooms within me as I watch the formation taking shape and solidifying on the far bed. The Control Panel confirms the progress. Green lights must mean success; if so, all systems are sound.

The bed closest, the one which the Captain took the human body from, is empty. There is no doubt in my mind that this is my fate. I try to calm myself, yet my heartbeat jumps. The Captain will return for my human body, clothes, and stuff. I need to focus. Empty my pockets. Hide my stuff. I have a plan.

In quick time, there is a pile in the nearby corner. I partially undress to reveal my undershirt, tug it off over my head, and then fix my uniform. The undershirt neatly covers my treasures, which include three vials of his blood, which the Lizardmen didn’t gain in the chaos of battle.

Her whimpers distract me from time to time, but I ignore them.

He returns, and I am quickly in his arms. I blink as I realise I am no longer under his spell. Knowing and accepting are two different things, but resistance will achieve nothing. He makes me comfortable on the first bed, and I feel a sting. My awareness fades away.

A bright light attracts my attention. All around me is a black void. The light beckons. It is my destination; I know this instinctively. The light bends and ripples into a shape. The bright wings are entrancing, just as we are told. Expect an angel to seek your spirit. You have been good and deserve to enter paradise. Joy fills me. I follow the angel. The other light still beams brightly but isn’t as mesmerisingly beautiful as the angel. She extends a long, pale hand on a slim, delicate arm. I reach out. At that moment, I realise I don’t have any limbs, so I chase after her.

I blink. The clinical white ceiling of the Medical Lab looms over me. Where did the angel go? What of paradise? I struggle but can’t move. My wrists, ankles and neck are bound to the bed. I turn my head to the right. The direction will be correct if I am where I think I am.

On the bed beside me, my human body lies happy and content as if in death, an angel blessed it. I feel a tear run down my cheek. Before me, there was another. She screamed and yelled. She fought and resisted, and it made no difference.

He leans over me to survey his creation. Why else?

“You are a primitive, insensitive, callous arse!” I spit in his face but miss. He chuckles.

He slices his hand, and his blood drips into my mouth. I try to move my head, but his other hand holds my skull in a painful grip. A second face, a human female, peers over my bed.

“I am next, Lord Klar. Say I am, please!” she whines.

“Yes, Diasha. You will soon be a strong and majestic female hobgoblin. My lover and possibly a future wife.”

She screams in delight and jumps about. Shortly after, she appears on the opposite side of my bed. Her face is a picture of pure joy.

Instead of accepting my state, I swear and curse him. He seems to expect this. Meanwhile, I am experimenting. Ed was on the right path. Nanorobots. I sense them in my bloodstream, and as his blood falls on my tongue, more of Lord Klar’s nanorobots invade my body. His are different, more potent, and sophisticated. They open my mind, and I allow their noise in.

My human body didn’t have any resistance. I understand that now. The volume and the fact that normal humans can’t host them destroyed Ed’s body. This non-human hobgoblin body is the exact opposite.

His nanorobots are different, with one but. An extensive change to the basic design and not on a purely scientific basis. There is something else, invasive but influential and striving to succeed. The basic nanorobots within this body succumb to its influence. My body generates heat as a result, and instantly cooling water washes under my body to compensate. A unit operation in complete balance. A wonder and a miracle.

After a time, I am in his arms again, and he returns me to my corner, propping me up against the wall. I don’t give any sign other than I am catatonic. He doesn’t seem to notice I am like the first time he forced me to drink his blood.

Diasha insists on being laid on the nearest bed. Even after he tells her it will be an age until her new hobgoblin body finishes growing. He blows her a kiss as he leaves the Medical Lab.

My attention is on my nanorobots. The ones in his blood have completed their mission and converted the basic nanorobots my body once hosted. I am aware when they finish, as they seem to stand at the ready. After several heartbeats, they disperse throughout my body and float. Go passive, perhaps? Whatever their previous instructions, this body didn’t need their attention. Is that it?

He returns to the Lab and checks the Control Panel. Diasha’s female hobgoblin body is close to being ready.

The bound one now speaks again. I don’t understand why. Gaining his attention isn’t always a good thing.

She waves the metal cuffs on her wrists at him. “I rejected her offer. What would make you think I would be happy with yours?”

Approaching her, he bends down and flicks her nose. As she stirs to anger, he chuckles, infuriating her even more.

“I have transformed you to ask you one simple question.”

He asked her if she wanted to live. Her body was near death, and this was the only way. They continue their conversation, and I force their words into the background.

I single out my nanorobots and try to wake them. What I am thinking doesn’t directly message them. In desperation, I forget about the one and try to command the many. Relaxing, I mentally call them to attention. As one, they respond. I am almost giddy with power. Mentally, I imagine my hearing improving and allocate a quarter to do my bidding. A picture comes to mind, and I feel my face warm. The rest hasten to obey, to satisfy my vanity.

She lets out a shout, and I think I am caught. Is my face red? No, I am probably a bright, green-skinned creature, and she saw it? They continue to talk to each other, and I resist the urge to sigh in relief.

“Wipe the dopey look off your face. This is serious. GPAs only GPAs are prepared, down to their gene level, for this transfer process. Their seeing-the-light knack is essential. The technology, in a controlled manner, makes the entire transfer possible. The GPA dies and is directly reborn into the new flesh. You may see and feel something different as a subject, but that is the scientific process with a dash of Shifter magic to ensure the GPA doesn’t mistake the invitation. So how does this work for two random humans?”

The seeing-the-light she mentions, yes, I did, and then an angel drew me away to follow another path, and then I awoke in the hobgoblin body…

“How did it work for you?” he retorts. His question has my interest.

She grunts out loud. “I am a Shifter, my magic…” she mutters. “Fluck! I didn’t entirely believe her, but it must be true if you are or have transferred a human.”

“Yes,” he says.

How can she be a Shifter? We were told they were all hunted down. Extinct.

The rest is about a Tinuna, also a Shifter, and her controlling the Observation and Scout Ships to the point of knowing what is happening here. How powerful is she? I have tasted his blood, but this Tinuna tells her his seed is the key and she needs to become his wife? What a hideous prospect.

I crack open one eye when I overhear her scream with pleasure. Her face is in a state of pure bliss. She is in the foetal position, and his seed leaks from her sex.

Another voice returns…

“I beg for your seed, Master. Fill me as many times as you need to sate yourself. My lovely green body is now yours. My will is now your will. Please…”

He must’ve tied her down! So she could seek him out when she transferred into her hobgoblin body. He has his way with her multiple times until I fear her body is lifeless from death and not from exhaustion. I understand now, his sexual prowess is relentless.

Shortly after, Captain Julius returns and places her human body on a gurney. There is a momentary silence, and then his fingers turn my head from side to side.

“A little gift, my dear,” he whispers, and I feel a sharp prick behind my ear.

I am losing consciousness. My face is going numb! As my mind clouds, I order all my nanorobots to cure me. The hobgoblin and Captain chat in a surreal, far-off, distant conversation. Julius will take the Scout Ship and return to Earth as a hero. This annoys me, but my anger drains as I pass out.

Intense moaning and carnal screams wake me. How long have I been out? The Captain! He tried to kill me; I am sure. They’re going at it, bringing my attention back to the present. Yuck. Again, he pounces on her with a savage, intense lust. When done, she crawls over his body, purring out adjectives of appreciation. She traces her fingers across his chest while they discuss returning to the planet below. She will find some clothes and get to work programming the shuttles.

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“Don’t worry about a thing, my love. I will make certain we arrive safe and sound,” she purrs. He caresses her cheek, and they leave the Medical Lab together, I assume, to head off to the shuttle bay. Her words, though, haunt me. What does ‘we’ mean? Him and her or all of us?

I need clothes, but I need to use this Lab first. This disgusting green body I am imprisoned in needs to be stronger. Survival. The first one said the process could be reversed by growing a human body. I didn’t know how to work the Control Panel now, but I had faith in myself. Given time, I can also learn to operate the panel if a beast like him could.

Grabbing the three vials of his blood, I drink them all. Next, I repeat Ed’s gambit and inject another batch of nanorobots into my body. I take a single step, and the thirst hits me. The far bed is spilling water, and I climb on. I tolerate the cold metal surface because the relief from dehydration is almost immediate. My nanorobots heed my command to convert the new arrivals, like unwavering loyal servants.

Leaping from the bed when the conversions are almost done, and my bare feet land in a sticky mess. I know, but I can’t help but look down. His seed, specifically his excess seed, pools at my feet. The Shifter valued his seed. I am trying to convince myself, but am I desperate enough to measure that value by taking a sample from the floor? Locating clean test tubes, I avoid deciding what to do with this find by filling several tubes with what I can gather from the floor.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I find my bundle of treasures where I left them and search for clothes. Overalls or even a lab coat will do. I find overalls in a room across from the Lab. A lovely, soft bed is there, and I resist the temptation to curl up and descend into ignorant sleep. I spill my treasures on the bed, stretch my undershirt over my slightly larger frame, dress in the overalls and fill the pockets with my treasures.

Precautions are next on my list. Diasha’s words are still haunting me. After some checking, I find a locked cupboard. I press my battlecruiser identification into the green skin under my wrist and feel it energise by drawing warmth from my body. One touch on the electronic seal, and the door clicks open. I ignore the energy weapons, rifle, or pistol types. Unless I am badly mistaken, my destination is a primitive planet.

The combat knife and sheath I take and strap them to my inner thigh under my overalls. There is a small pistol, but I doubt I can hit anything with it. I would need practice, which would need spare ammunition. Shaking my head, I pass. There is a combat suit. Not heavy-duty assault level, more hostile environment, wild animal protection.

I strip down. The combat suit fits like a second skin, my build larger than an average male human. There are slots in the suit, like pockets, but tailored. Searching in the cupboard, I find nothing, then I slap my head and fully open the door. Water processor, check. First Aid Kit, check. Grav Parachute, check. Ammunition Pack, check by five. Small Pistol, check. Concealing the shimmering combat suit under my undershirt and overalls seems wrong, but I do. The gloves for the combat suit are separate, and I stuff them inside my overalls. A bare head and, worse, naked, wide green feet are still a problem.

Footfalls reach my ears, and I close the cupboard doors and hasten towards whoever is most likely coming to fetch me.

As I round a corner, I stop in time to avoid crashing into a jogging Diasha. She flashes me a wide, welcoming smile. I first notice her spacesuit and boots, and I point at them.

“Silly, have you been looking for clothes?” That smile again. “There are a few sets in the cargo bay. You can take your pick. Hurry though, Master is keen to leave.” She swivels about on a heel and, looking over her shoulder, offers me her hand. I wave her hand away while trying to match her smile.

“Let’s race!”

“Let’s!” she replies.

We are neck and neck racing through the corridors. I deliberately take a wrong turn. The recovery means I need to follow Diasha. I enter the cargo bay several seconds behind her. Better still, the shuttles are ready. The Shifter, Linmere, his goblin wife, Luda, and his hobgoblin wife, Koria, are heading for his shuttle. Before Diasha can signal or call me over, I hurry after the three.

His two wives choose the front seats and buckle themselves in. The Shifter selects the middle, which leaves me in the last row. The cargo bay door closes, and I feel the shuttle lift off. Decompression of the Observation Ship’s cargo bay begins, and its cargo bay doors open when done. We are quickly away, heading into space.

“Here.” The Shifter passes back a set of boots. “They should fit.” She smirks.

“What?” I ask.

“You may not have noticed, but our Lord Klar utilised the same, or near the same, parameters for you and Diasha. You would easily pass as sisters if you weren’t mistaken for twins first.” She cackles out loud. Luda and Koria peer over their shoulders.

“You told her?” asks Koria.

They all laugh at my expense. I busy myself putting on my perfectly fitting boots.

Shortly after, we enter the planet’s atmosphere. The temperature in the shuttle rises, and we can all feel the initial atmospheric drag. Turbulence hit us, testing our seat belts, but nothing severe. This seems to be a typical planet fall shuttle ride.

As I settle back, the front of the shuttle rises and continues to do so. Koria and Luda hang on to their seats. The Shifter grabs her seat belt while I hold the seat belts to my left and right. We are upside down when the seatbelts rip. As we fall, a beam weapon cuts away the entire side of the shuttle, cargo bay, and surrounding fuselage. The pressure difference sucks the Shifter and me out immediately. I don’t know about Luda and Koria. Maybe they were lucky and held on to their seats.

Despite my best efforts, I tumble out of control. I think I hear shouting and then nothing. As I plummet to the ground, at least I know Diasha meant her and Lord Klar when she says ‘we’. A small useless satisfaction.

Perhaps accepting my fate calms my tumbling, but whatever the reason, I am grateful. At that exact moment, I remember my combat suit, particularly the Grav Parachute. Making no sudden movements, I lower the zip on my overalls until the combat suit slots are within reach. Flicking back the outer shell of the slot reveals the activation button of the Grav Parachute, which I push.

Thankfully, I don’t come to an immediate stop. There is a gradual slowdown.

I observe and try to get my bearings. There is a chain of islands of volcanic origin beneath me. I will know shortly if I will get my boots wet or not. An immense landmass appears across the horizon, probably a continent, given the visible mountain range, even though I can’t even guess at the distance. If I follow the islands, hopping from one to the next, their general line will head me in the right direction.

I try to memorise the islands’ size, shape, and order as I descend. An island is beneath me. Shortly after, I can confirm that a forest is waiting below me, not a volcano. The device seems to speed up the braking as the treetops rise to meet me. My boots lead the way through the tree branches and foliage. My descent path isn’t in my control, but fortunately, I land between two tall, mature trees, and my boots land gently on the ground cover around them. I push the activation button again and close the outer shell of the slot.

Square boxes nestled on a high clearing are my destination. Civilisation? A settlement, at least.

---

The Lizardmen are a busy and robust species. While under the control of the She Slime, we were aware of each other, but anything beyond that was a mystery. Observing from the jungle cover, I note they act with purpose. Carting and handling building materials. Hunters returning with the game. Typically, a deer-like creature, fur with pads and toes, no hooves slung over their shoulders. In the centre, a matriarch female is busy directing them all.

Straining my hearing, a few words reach my ears. Their lisping, hissing speech.

Pain explodes from the back of my head.

---

My head no longer aches as I open my eyes. Through the night darkness, I realise a human female is staring directly at me. A rope binds our chests and another at our hips. Between our stomachs is an oval. We hang off the floor, naked, our wrists bound above our heads. A hook loops through our bindings.

“It is hopeless,” she whispers.

“Where are we? Who are you?”

“We are where we have always been. Incubators for the Matriarch’s eggs. The She Slime’s control would make us oblivious to our fate. Not now. Never again.” Tears run down her cheeks, mixing with her sweat.

Humidity, I realise. The Matriarch is alone with several males. Plenty to fertilise the eggs, but few to nest on them.

“When they hatch, one of us will be their first meal. The lucky one.” Her chest hitches, wriggling us both.

My nanorobots absorb the moisture present and repair my body. Without commands, this is their default mission, their duty even. Yet, they have done more. My arms aren’t tired. I inspect them and admire my new, lean biceps. Stretching as a test, I sense the muscle groups across my shoulders. They shrug off what would otherwise be a painful hanging effort.

My legs wrap around hers. I hoist my body up, using hers. My hands grab the hook’s shank as the binding rope rises from the bend. She whimpers as she bites her bottom lip. Her will to fight is long gone. She simply endures an ordeal now.

Using my legs under her buttocks, I lift her body up.

“Unhook your hands,” I hiss.

“My wrists are…”

“Now,” I growl.

Her face twists in pain as I feel her arms move. Then they fall to lie between our chests, and her body leans back. The strain is incredible, and yet this travesty of a hobgoblin body, augmented with nanorobots, sucks moisture as necessary to succeed. Her wrists are an angry red. I turn the hook until the point clears my bindings.

“Ready?”

She doesn’t respond, so I let go. The drop is short for me, and our bindings hold her shorter body off the metallic floor of our prison. I use my teeth on my wrist bindings. Try to encourage her to do the same. She shakes her head.

I use my teeth on her wrist bindings and then force her to wrap her arms around my neck. My hands support her buttocks. In this fashion, I plod towards a dim light.

My nanorobots are busy following my commands. The moisture in our prison fuels them as I demand more from them. Every moment, I must grow more robust.

We pass several pairs of human incubators. Female and female. Occasionally, female and male. No male and male, curious.

“We can’t escape,” she whines.

“Quiet,” I snarl.

I hear and feel her taking a deep breath. Is she going to scream? My head snaps forward. Her head snaps back and then dangles limp to one side. Her weight hangs from me, and yet, without great difficulty, I continue my march.

I hold back a chuckle. The dim light sits within a painted-over exit sign. How appropriate.

“Save me.”

She is hanging high on my left. Another human incubator. Her rasping voice lacks energy. There is only one way to save her, yet my humanity forbids me from ending her life. Shaking my head, I search the small desk by the doorway.

Within the coils of rope, is a small knife. I am busy cutting my companion away from me, although I hold her up throughout the effort. She is unconscious as I lower her body to the floor. Holding the egg to my stomach, I stand.

The egg is heavy and half the size of a human torso. I imagine a fully formed newborn, perhaps capable of walking, like most reptiles, will hatch in the days ahead. My stomach rumbles. I glance at the egg and dismiss the notion.

Hissing voices are drawing closer. Shaking her shoulders to wake her, I discover her broken neck. Did I do that? I hear the slap of their feet on the ground vegetation. Lifting her body, I tuck it into a patch of darkness amongst some rubbish. The handle on the door scrapes. I lurk on the hinge side but well back from the door swing.

Through the half-open door, a reptilian head peers in. A thinnish tongue extends and then rapidly retracts. I am already in motion, my strength and weight behind the door. Something snaps, perhaps, his wrist. Then a crunch. I trap his head at the eyes, between the edge of the door and the doorjamb.

His limp body falls forward as I draw the door back. I am confident he is dead, especially after I pierced his brain through the eye with the knife.

I am naked with a knife and an egg. The word survival reminds me of my sole purpose. I am confident that the Lizardmen will hunt me down in the morning. Therefore, I have the night to ensure they don’t.

Opening the door, I lean over and fetch the dead Lizardman’s body into the incubator. With his spear in hand, I peer into the night, somewhat surprised my vision is so vivid, better than I would have thought possible. Starlight? My hearing is superior as footfalls on the ground vegetation reach my ears.

My favourite kill technique is to drive the spear into the back of the neck and upwards, pining bottom jaw to top jaw. This prevents them from yelling as their blood flows down their throat. I withdraw the spear as they turn while struggling to identify their attacker. I then stab again, this time under their lower jaw but targeting their brain. Five down and more to go.

There are four incubators in this settlement. One sizeable wooden cottage. I assume the Matriarch sleeps there. Several roof-only huts. Three huts with walls and one under conversion. All on the edge of the clearing. They are in view, but I am trying to understand the reasoning. I suspect viewing from above would be difficult when using the naked eye at speed. With the lush forest vegetation nearby, perhaps there is enough to mask detection from ship sensors. Whatever the reason, I am convinced the layout serves a purpose.

The roof-only huts, with two sleepers, are easy kills. I set my lucky egg down and then creep between the sleepers. A spear in my left and right hands, I thrust into their open mouths or eye sockets to skewer their brains.

Overflowing with confidence, I enter my first hut.

There are four. What is worse is that the Lizardmen aren’t side by side but in a star-type layout, their heads in each corner of the squarish hut. The layout makes sense to me now. The roof-only huts were their first hastily built shelter. Large roof area to account for the lack of walls, with the occupants sleeping side by side in the centre. The finished huts are more permanent, transforming the roof-only huts into proper buildings.

Standing in the centre, I stab towards one of them, withdraw the spear, line up the next, and strike again. I hear groans from the first. The third shifts and blinks his eyes when I thrust at his neck. The fourth is awake, loin cloth only, reaching for his spear as I face him. I sweep his spear aside and impale his neck.

I give up on trying to dislodge my spear; instead, I reach for his spear and turn to face my first target. His clawed hands are around his throat. His eyes open; they open wider when I thrust into them.

A pain explodes into my torso, below my ribs. I tug my body back and feel every sliver of the blade and shaft of the spear as it withdraws. My second target, now done, slumps to one side, his spear loose in his lifeless hands. The third, with a hand on his throat, stabs with his spear at me. I twist my body to avoid another wound, and he overextends himself to lower his aim to stab my right thigh. I command my nanorobots to stop my bleeding. A quick thrust into his chest drops him. A final gurgle escapes from between his lips. The fourth is still alive, trying to extract my spear. His death is quick as I rip the spear from his throat.

I stagger to and use the hut door for support. Scooping up the egg, I limp naked into the forest. A rising dawn helps me find my footing.

If the Incubation Room and my time on the Observation Ship have taught me anything, I need to find water. Fortunately, I crossed several streams on my way here.

Behind me, the noise of their pursuit reaches my ears. Their response is swift. I can only assume the huts nearby heard the gurgles and spear thrusts. My leg strengthens as they draw closer, and I can only marvel at the capabilities of my nanorobots.

I pick up my pace.

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