“Breaker, can you…?” Twitch nodded from him to the display, and he made some adjustments with his powers that caused the display to switch from simple blips to images of spacecraft along with several names and additional information.

  I stared at this, wondering at how we had gotten our hands on so much intel. As far as I was concerned, this was the key. We had just gotten access to what would bring us over to the winning side.

  “Fucking hell.” The man removed a chip from his device and handed it over to Twitch. “I’m done here.”

  “What was it?” Breaker asked, not having seen clearly.

  The man stared hard at Breaker, then backed away. “You all say the Marines are fighting off these things? Well, not all of them.”

  “The Marines… shit.”

  I considered the idea that some of the Marines might be on the wrong side of this fight, but that didn’t fit. My mind couldn’t process the idea, especially when putting together the implication that Earther Marines were guarding the Orion Corp. military complex. My eyes flicked over to Cheri, who was staring at me with wide eyes. I guessed that her voices were likely telling her that we needed to get moving, as my emotion sense was telling me the same. Going up against a bunch of Marines made this harder. Not just because all stories of Earth told of the badassery of those Marines, but because their presence meant so much in terms of the Earth military and Orion Corp. connection. The corporations had their hands in deep.

  “Back to the ships,” Breaker said, a dark expression on his face.

  “But, Breaker,” I protested, not ready to move on from the topic.

  “We can’t discuss this here. Too many eyes and ears. Too many factions are involved in this. To the ships.”

  I nodded, the others quickly falling in. The fact that Earth Marines were involved was weighing heavily on Breaker. We made our way back to the ships. I glanced back at Trunk, who was saying goodbye to his father—the old man staying with his buddy, apparently. I didn’t need to see the aura of forgiveness surrounding them to tell me what their embrace did a moment later. I nodded, glad the two had the opportunity to connect before Trunk rode off to his possible death.

  6

  Breaker was waiting at the docking bay, where the rest of us gathered. He and Andromida debated whether the Marines would be considered enemies or not if they crossed our path, but settled on not. As we had learned earlier, his brother, Drew, was a Marine. That was the deal breaker.

  “But… it doesn’t have to be as complicated as you’re making it sound,” Twitch interjected.

  “How so?” Breaker asked.

  “You’re already halfway into their network, right?” She nodded to the area where our ships were. “If she can get onboard and finish the connection, we can have full access. Basically, make them think we’re just another one—or several—of their ships returning, and if anyone sees us, do what you did on the Paradise Planet.”

  I assumed she meant Aegriss, a point that I confirmed with a glance around, noting that the android wasn’t with us. With so many on the teams, it was easy to lose track.

  The idea of hacking in so that we could board the complex, find their leadership, and kill the snake by cutting off the head sounded good to me. I nodded, eyeing Breaker, sensing the conflict in his emotions.

  Finally, he grinned. “When you say it like that, it doesn’t sound so bad. But… Muerta. She’s either going to bring a large Nihilist force with her, or—”

  “I don’t think so,” Letha interrupted. “Because why are they attacking the Paradise Planets?”

  “To pull away the Marine forces!” Breaker exclaimed. “Of course.”

  “She’s preparing her move,” Twitch agreed with a nod of respect Letha’s way. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of those ships leave the area soon, and when they do, that’s when she’ll strike.”

  Still, it didn’t make complete sense to me, so I asked, “Couldn’t the Nihilists take down Orion Corp.? From what I saw back there…”

  “I’m not sure.” Breaker scratched his chin. “Thing is, the Nihilists and supervillains were working together where we came from, and Ranger was among them, working for Orion Corp. Yes, they were making a move against Orion Corp., but something tells me there’s a reason the Nihilists can’t simply turn on the organization like that.”

  “Could be,” Shimmer admitted. “Honestly, none of us know, and the best way to find out is to get in there and ask… with our fists.”

  Gale laughed. “I like the way this girl thinks.”

  “Long as I get to kill some evil asshats, I’m in,” Cheri said, grinning wide. “Pick team captains, see who gets the most?”

  “We’re not doing that.” Erupa said, Tink balancing on her shoulder in her diminutive form.

  “Right,” Breaker said. “The rest of the ships hold back while my team gets Aegriss into place, then we get in and set the trap. Unless Muerta’s already been through and finished them off.”

  “In which case, the hunt continues,” Andromida said.

  “Huzzah!” Cheri shouted, sword in the air with her goofy grin that I loved so much. Breaker and I shared an amused glance.

  “I’ll plot the coordinates from my ship,” Breaker said, and headed off with his team in tow. Letha nodded my way, then went to hers, Trunk following a moment later.

  “Sounds fun-fucking-tastic,” Tink said.

  “Funtastic?” I grinned. “Sure, every one of us has our idea of a good time.” I couldn’t help but look at Cheri, remembering that amazing blowjob she had just given me. She returned the smile with a wink.

  “Is this our fight?” Erupa asked.

  “It is now,” I replied. “Even if you all weren’t the crazy criminals I took you to be, you weren’t angels. But, now we have a shot, right? And my past, they’re willing to overlook that. We can start again—on the good side of the Citadel.”

  With that, we went to our ship as well, my mind spinning with the thought that some day we might actually be in with the Citadel. I never would have thought it. Mer poked her head out through the door to her room, and groggily asked how it went.

  “We’ll take Orion down in no time,” Erupa replied.

  Mer nodded and closed the door, apparently needing more sleep. By Oram, the amount of sleep she and the other hybrids required blew my mind, but I was okay with it. Less people to entertain. I knew getting some sleep would be important before a big fight, so once Breaker checked in with coordinates and we had departed, I made for my room. My dreams were interrupted, though, by Cheri and Erupa, both nude and rubbing up on me.

  “What a wakeup,” I said, trying to catch my bearings. “Are we there?”

  “No, but we couldn’t wait,” Erupa replied.

  “I… see.”

  My concentration turned to their nude bodies. It was a glorious sight, with Erupa’s toned form, Cheri petite and with the piercing in her left nipple catching the light. Suddenly feeling the urge to give Cheri some payback, I shot up, flipped her over, and ran my tongue along her smooth pussy. She giggled. Erupa moaned as she touched herself and watched. I teased Cheri, pleasured her, then turned to Erupa, ran my tongue along one of her purple nipples, and kissed her passionately before turning her around. She was a big girl, one who liked a bit of excitement, so I took her horns and pulled as I ran my cock along her ass.

  “You like that?” I asked, already feeling her excitement with my empath powers.

  “Fuck you,” she said, reaching between her legs to pull my cock from my clothes, stroking it, and then guiding it into herself with a gasp.

  Cheri stood behind me as I started thrusting, and she grabbed my hips, reaching around and moving with the action. Odd, but when I was able to turn my head and kiss her, feel her breasts against my back once she had torn my shirt off and enjoy the way she caressed my balls, I wasn’t complaining.

  Erupa moaned, loving it, hands reaching for my pants to remove them the rest of the way, but then she pulled away, grinning at Cheri. “Should we do it?”

  “Do what?” I asked.

  Cheri was already nodding, gesturing to some contraption they had fastened to the opposite wall, which I hadn’t noticed until now.

  “Got it on the station,” Erupa noted, grinning. “Thought it might come in handy.”

  “I’m… not into torture,” I said, assessing the harness and straps.

  “It’s not,” Cheri countered, quickly. “We swear, this will be fun. Okay?”

  Without waiting for me to answer, the two guided me over and strapped me in, and then Erupa used her claws to tear away my pants.

  “Really?” I said, feeling very exposed and confused.

  She bit her lip, then said, “We have uniforms on board. I think.”

  “Worry about that later,” Cheri said, and laughed.

  The door opened, and there was Mer with Tink, both looking at me suspended in the air, their eyes wide.

  “See,” Tink said to Mer. “Told you that joining would be fun.”

  “What the fuck is this?” Mer asked.

  “Same question I’ve been asking,” I interjected.

  She laughed and walked over to me, eyeing the other ladies. When she was behind me, I tried to turn to see what was happening, but suddenly I felt hands on my ass, followed by a tongue. It was confusing, blissful, and enhanced the blowjob Cheri started giving me a second later.

  “Ladies,” I muttered, but couldn’t say much more as my teeth gritted, my mind taken over by the sensation.

  This was insane, but what else could I expect from my ladies? So, I went with it and embraced the pleasure. And, when I was close and Cheri flipped me over then climbed up to ride me like a trapeze artist, I did my best not to yelp at the pain of the straps or complain too much. Soon I was even enjoying the pain, and while Cheri moaned and clenched her breasts, finger and thumb twisting her piercing. Her rising pleasure ran through me thanks to my empath powers, cancelling out the pain of our weird contraption. As she climaxed, I leaned back and found Tink there, pussy wet and ready. My tongue helped her get halfway to orgasm and my cock, as she spun me around, got her the rest of the way. She at least fluttered up to take some of the pressure off me, and then she climaxed, too.

  Pain and bliss ran through me, mixing like a fine cocktail.

  “You’re up,” Cheri said to Mer, who stood next to Erupa, eyes still wide at the sight.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready,” Mer said, although her aura spoke of pure desire.

  Erupa grinned and stepped forward. “More room for me, then.”

  Only, before either could join in, the call came that we were moving in on the Orion Corp. military complex. Breaker and some others had gone ahead and got the doors open. It was go time.

  “Damn, sorry,” Cheri said to them, grabbed my cock and gave it a few quick jerks to finish me off. I was like a beaten but satisfied marionette, but fucking hell, I loved it.

  “Next time,” I mumbled to Erupa, and my eyes found Mer. “When… when you’re ready.”

  7

  Everything that followed our little bedroom circus act was a bit of a blur, including transferring from our ships to the Orion Corp. military complex. I dreaded the idea of floating off into space but Cheri laughed like this was the best carnival ride ever.

  Ahead of us, a door opened and we followed Twitch into a hanger with Orion Corp. bullshit everywhere, including a metal image of their logo, an actual belt of light with three curled dragons to make up the stars. It had always struck me as eccentric, now more than ever.

  By now Letha, Trunk, and the hybrids and everyone from the other ships had joined us, making our little force something to be reckoned with. A few Orion Corp. employees stood in front of Breaker. A shot went off from somewhere else in the room, and then one of the employees shouted, “Fuck this!” about to shoot at Breaker.

  No way was I going to let that happen. I drew my pistol and fired in one fluid motion. Right through the side of the guy’s forehead and he was down.

  Breaker gave me a nod while some of the enemy started running, others preparing to stand and fight. I was debating which to shoot next when I sensed more aggressive emotions coming our way, which meant another force about to attack. When I turned to face them, though, all I saw was the metal of a wall. It vibrated, then exploded, sending debris flying as a new force came through. To my surprise, this group was attacking both us and the first group.

  “They’ve broken through in at least one other spot!” Twitch made new walls with her powers, although they fell fast.

  Even when there were walls, though, a female figure helped others through via some sort of phasing power. I fired at this figure, only to see my bullets pass right through it without doing any harm.

  Erupa saw this and immediately attempted her shadow travel, followed by a shadow kill. Much like the bullets, her strike didn’t do any good when the Phaser walked right through her, appearing and attacking her from behind with a kick that sent her sprawling.

  My eyes met Erupa’s and I could tell we were both wondering about this super. Erupa’s power sometimes let bullets go through her if she knew they were coming, but her skills had other elements not exactly like a phaser. Still, the similarities were interesting.

  “Phase from this,” Tink said, going small and flying over.

  I focused on the Phaser, trying to gauge her emotions and use them to locate her with each new phase. Two more bullets missed so I darted in with my baton, hoping a shock of electricity would keep her in place, while overhead, Tink tried to get her with pixie dust. As the three soldiers who charged my way were hit by the dust instead, and one fell dead while the others collapsed into fits of screaming and cursing before one turned on the other two, and they retaliated, taking him out.

  As I stood by the wall I prepared, sensing an aggressive push from the other side and dodging as the Phaser came through again with the slice of a blade. She turned to me, eyes wild but otherwise seeming like the type of woman who could live next door, or maybe work at the local mining headquarters. Tough, but not the type to be on a space station trying to kill me. She gave me one more snarl and then was gone, apparently moving on.

  A glance over showed that Breaker and his team were facing their own problems. A dark, hooded figure was moving through gaps in another wall—not quite phasing but changing its shape and makeup—and Breaker and his team were charging over, indicating a direction to go. Apparently, we were running. I joined in with my team.

  “How much of this place do we have control over?” Twitch asked Aegriss.

  “All of it,” Aegriss replied. “At least for now. I feel them trying to reconnect, to get back in and push me out, but for now we’re golden.”

  “Can you get us stats on employees, or bodies? I want to see where everyone is.”

  “Cameras as well as heat signatures,” Aegriss grinned as Twitch pulled up her mini-map to show the station’s maps along with the blips showing where everyone was at this moment. As the path divided, we separated, heading for the areas under attack, searching out our prey—Muerta.

  “What’re we doing?” Andromida asked up ahead as we rejoined them. I was near the back, careful to keep an eye out for pursuers.

  “I have her.” Twitch pulled up a mini-map. “Here, watch…”

  On the map, the blips being tracked disappeared as the figures they represented dropped dead.

  “Set it as the target,” Breaker said, leading us into another room.

  Alarms blared, gas seeped in, and the floor and ceiling of the passages started to close in on us, attempting to crush us at the same time that a laser grid hit, preparing to fry us. Bursts of electricity hit the floor, moving toward us. Breaker and his team took care of this. Gale hit the floor with lightning to short-circuit it and Aegriss worked the lasers.

  “Fuck this,” I said, searching for a way out, wondering how we could make it down the hall in time to not be squished.

  Two Orion Corp. security guards appeared at the far end and prepared to fire at us.

  “I’ve got them,” Erupa said, and in a flash she came up in the shadow of one, killing him with a slash to his throat. She jammed the other’s arm up in where the wall was descending to slow it. I couldn’t help but notice the euphoria she got off it. Letha’s big green friend moved in, pushing the wall back so the rest of us could charge past.

  “We have too many of us in one place,” Shimmer shouted. “Divide and conquer!”

  Something hit me as I made it through, but I spun and, as the door closed the rest of the way and the wall pushed back, I got off a shot.

  “Am I hit?” I asked, turning to see Cheri at my side.

  “Energy blast, but you’re good,” she replied, although her voice seemed to come from a distance, as if I heard it through water. Everything was a haze, my ears ringing, but Breaker had a hand up, waving us over.

  “…teams according to ships,” I caught him saying over the ringing, which was finally fading. He indicated three directions on his mini-map. “Letha, you and your team here to keep the enemy off us. Ezra, you and yours here.” I noted the passage that led around to the location, seeing that our route would take us through a large room. To the rest, he said, “The rest of you split up with them to ensure they have proper coverage. Let’s go!”

  I nodded, motioning my team up as I led the way.

  The first group we encountered as we charged through included that female Phaser. She half-turned my way and I saw her long hair, piercing eyes, and full lips behind her sneer.

  “I recognize you,” she said through gritted teeth. “But you’re on the wrong side. You do realize that, right?”

  “Not anymore,” I replied, and tried to strike, only to have her reach back with her free hand and pull someone through the wall.

  Her new pal was a man with his chest exposed, red skin pulled tight over his massive muscles and covered with skull tattoos. He wore a necklace of bullet casings and had black hair in dreadlocks falling over his shoulders. With a grin, he thrust out a hand as if none of the fighting was happening. The action made sense in a way, since we had been as close to friends as our kind often knew how to get. His name was Muuaji, though most called him Maji for short, because that meant killer in Theramuse slang.