FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“Say… Where are the other teams?" Dave asked, his bass voice filling the comms and bandwidths. Even without recognizing his voice, his ID was spread across all HUDs, making sure everyone knew it was their bulky maintenance worker who had asked the big question.

“No clue. We got our orders, got sent, and docked. Is there an issue?" answered Smowl, their superior by all accounts, although his stern attitude was but a façade.

“No. No really. Or… Maybe I'd like to know what we're going, gun blazing. Plus! It's my first time in 0G! It's fun!"

“Calm down. We won't be in 0G once inside," answered Smowl to the request, beating against the bulkhead to signal the pilot to get them through. “Talo? You got the map?"

“Y- yes. I mean, yes! I'll get us through."

“Good. Boys, let's see what happened to that old carcass!"

A carcass… One Taru watched with glassy eyes, observing what was to be Mankind's spearhead through space. The UEA Gallant. A bounty of technology and potential that had finally reappeared in orbit around Earth. Its parts were built on the stone ground, but everything was assembled in space in the Amazonia shipyard as an investment from the United Earth Alliance. Brainpower, the latest sensor techs, Asterion-generation Engines, complete artificial biosphere, so much had been poured inside that drifting husk.

Even now, six decades later, the Gallant resounded as Mankind's utmost exploit and its greatest shame.

Yet… It was up to them, Taru, and the rest of the ARF team to handle this.

With a sigh, Taru jumped off his seat and straightened his back, hearing his articulations pop altogether while the rest of his squad… Of his friend stood before him. Soldiers like him. People whose duties were to hunt down abnormalities: people with powers like them but didn't answer to the government. Or… The Gallant. Supposedly.

He grabbed one of the bars and pulled himself further, drifting along his colleague towards the boarding pod, starboard. His eyes wandered on the bodies moving as one in their tight suits there to check their vitals and counter their powers should they go haywire.

He watched the faces, the apprehension… Even on Smowl's face, despite him being the oldest and most grounded of the team, through the helmets.

They were ready… It was their job. Yet, something felt… Wrong. Even as a sudden quake shook their vessel, their lights flickered…. And the engine stopped.

“We're docked!" said Smowl, putting up a front as he pressed a button. On either side, the hydraulics set an airtight seal before the doors opened in a concerto of steams to the Gallant.

On the waves, everyone held their breaths in anticipation. After sixty years, the Gallant was back. It would be up to them to enter, to be inside, as the firsts.

“Taru. Your breathing," commented a shy and delicate voice, completed by a poke against Taru's suit. Al… Or rather Sly poked Taru as they stood by the wide open and dark corridors.

“Oh," gargled Taru, before he exhaled. He had been holding his breath too long and had almost ignored the CO2 alarm in his HUD. But he exhaled, feeling better by the second while everyone crossed the threshold and was welcomed by the metallic but cold walls.

The Gallant's design was considered sleek, with most wirings and panels supposedly concealed behind bulkheads while everything was to be checked through panels accessible by everyone. The corridors were made to have a sort of roundish and welcoming curves that contrasted with most ships' cut corners. Even the lights were supposed to imitate the Sun's light to help regulate the crew's hormonal levels.

But none of that was here: the panels had been wrecked, and the lights smashed. Cables and torn-open bulkheads littered the ground, making each step a gamble. Those soft corridors were eerie tunnels as the crew progressed.

Smowl was in front, their quartermaster and de facto leader.

Followed Talo, their mechanical expert possessing the Gallant's map he checked.

Taru was in the middle, virtue of being the squad's medic and checking everyone's state.

Sly was just behind, acting as a sort of jack-of-all-trades among the A.R.F…

And, closing the ballet was Dave, their maintenance guy but also the heaviest when it came to weaponry.

A regular order, completed by their lamps going left and right, observing for any openings and doors. As it was, most passages had been locked, and their hydraulics didn't answer to any prodding despite the electronics working. Such… This situation unnerved the crew, especially as they waited for Talo's prodding and trying to force one door open.

“I don't like this situation," stated Dave as he watched behind with his machine gun raised towards the unlit corridors, going from one to another as they stood in a T-junction.

“You never like anything," answered Taru, his voice low as he punched some commands through his pad… He had access to the crew's vitals; despite the high-stress levels, they were normal.

“Oh… But I like you, fluff butt," chuckled Dave, beckoning the Arctic fox to come closer…. Enough for a firm hand to grip that meaty and barely-concealed ass as they stood in the open.

“And here you are, groping me in a ghost ship. You know we can't strip right now?"

“Yes, you can," intervened Sly, poking at both men's sides with enough strength. They both jumped in surprise at the pain in their kidneys.

“Fuck!"

“What was that?"

“Just a push. I checked the oxygen level and the pressure; it's within Earth's standards. We could remove our helmet," started Sly as he brought a hand to his helmet.

But he was stopped by Smowl's hand.

“Don't! Have you checked for any contaminants? Or any foreign products?" asked the Snowy Owl, retracting his grip as he watched his three teammates suddenly looking down like ashamed kids.

“No. I assumed it was okay," mumbled Sly, bringing a hand to his neck as he scratched it.

“It's not. So you'll keep that helmet on, and we'll get back to opening that damned door, isn't it right, Talo?"

“Talo?"

As they turned, Smowl's repeated word echoed from Talo's helmet on the ground. But no traces of him. The door he had been tinkering with for the last few minutes was open. Behind it, the red lights from the emergency system were on, giving an eerie glow to what looked to be botanical gardens with plants as dark as coal.

They watched, agape and surprised.

“TARU!"

Smowl's voice snapped the Arctic Fox out of his stupor and Dave's embrace as his covered paws bounced on the steel ground: “Yes?"

“Where is Talo? You have our status! Where is he?!"

Suddenly, the Arctic Fox seemed able to focus on tapping on the commands to display the crew's state. Smowl, Sly, his, Dave… But Talo? Nothing. Taru tapped on the screen, trying to refresh the information, but it was… Cut.

“No signal, Smowl!"

“No signal? But those suits are supposed to send a signal without any interference! Even from inside a bunker! Can you explain?"

“I can't! I don't get anything!" shouted Taru back, showing on his screen the “out-of-range" message whenever he tried to reach Talo's suit.

“Fuck! And he has the plans!" shouted Smowl, kicking a scrap of metal right into the botanical garden, with a few echos coming from it. “Guys! Power up! And stay on the lookout!"

“We… Should continue. He told me the mainframe access was beyond that room," added Sly as he raised his hand, and air seemed to bend around his fingertips.

“Fuck. Okay. Let's progress. But keep constant watch over each other! Dave, you watch our backs"

“Aye," said Dave, his aura frighteningly hotter by the second. Soon, air distorted like during heatwaves… But he wasn't… hot. Not burning, not yet.

As for Taru, he followed, gulping, as he entered the Gardens with his gun up. If needed, he could help his teammates and amplify their abilities. But he couldn't control ice, nor gravity, nor flames. He was a mere support in the team.

That was why he remained in the middle, anxiously watching Smowl's movements, and that… Owl's slutty ass rolling.

“Shit."

“Is there a problem, Taru?"

“N-No," mumbled Taru, trying not to look at the Quartermaster's ass… That thing was so good to see, but he was on a mission. And a boner wouldn't help.

“Any update on Talo?" Smowl asked as they progressed into what looked to be a clearing.

Those botanical gardens were massive. Just as big as a town, it seemed, and all lit with that eerie emergency light. By all accounts, the plants should have died. But the Gallant had been trying to grow plants that could survive on planets orbiting different stars. Like red dwarf stars, meaning they'd live off infrared.

Perhaps that was how they survived that long? But what happened to the crew?

“Hmm… I'm trying," answered the Arctic Fox as he pinged Talo's suit and… “Wait!"

High-stress level. High dopamine and endorphins, extremely high oxytocin, normal oxygen level. No movement? Pulse high? High blood pressure? Abnormal brain readings?

“What? What is this, Taru?" asked Smowl.

“He's around? Where is he?" continued Dave, his large hands going over the Arctic Fox's shoulder.

“He's… he's," mumbled Taru, tapping on the pad until he got a vague direction. No precise position, only an indication of how close they were. “He's there!"

With a cry, Taru started to run. His friend's blood pressure and adrenaline levels were going up. What was happening? That was weird. Something was happening to Talo. Something terrible, he thought. Was he wounded?

“Taru! Don't run like this!" huffed Smowl behind.

“WAIT FOR US!" Sly added.

“DON'T GO ALONE! WAIT! STOP!"

Taru stopped.

He didn't stop because his friend asked. Nor because he was by Talo. In fact, he still had a few meters to run. But he didn't need to approach as he could see him from there. He could see his friend and partner. However, he did see more than the lithe and talented technician. Talo's black suit had been ripped away and torn into shreds. What remained was capable of reading his body's data but not covering it… Not to hide from what looked to be an insect… And plant on his back.

The creature had the relative shape of a praying mantis with six legs, all joined and locked around Talo with its abdomen raised. However, the resemblance ended when the creature lacked a head, and its surface was closer to bark. Likewise, the fluids that “oozed" from the articulation stuck against Talo's fur.

That thing… It wasn't from Earth or any colony. It was like an alien, a beast that preyed on Talo and held onto it while a sort of… A prehensile dick was jutting out of its abdomen to plunge into Talo's ass. It squelched, it oozed, it pressed inwards while Talo's weak moans filled in where had been the team's stomping.

“What… The hell?" asked Smowl.

“I'll burn that!" exploded Dave, approaching and throwing his minigun aside. Under the suit, his body was surely boiling, and without any second thought, Dave opened his mouth to suck in some air before he would-

“STOP! DON'T!"

It was absurd, silly. But Taru jumped before the Alien, holding out his tablet before pointing to Talo.

“Don't touch it! Don't burn it!"

“What! It's… It's…"

It was assaulting Talo. Its purple “dick" was going in and out of Talo's ass, pulling on the clenching sphincter with enough strength to make the orifice nearly prolapse. But it was doing more as tendrils jutted from the articulations to explore Talo's genitals, prodding them and even grabbing his nuts while titillating his dick.

“It's linked to Talo. We-… We cannot kill it as it is!" mumbled Taru.

The Arctic fox then stepped aside and pointed to what his tablet showed.

Tendrils were sprouting out of where the “insect"'s head would be. Long but thin, purple tendrils that were going all over Talo's head. And inside his ears. In that situation, with that dumb smile, the techie didn't seem to mind or even understand what was happening or what was around him. He smiled, his eyes cross-eyed… All the while, the creature's tendrils were going through his ears, fiddling with his brain.

Everything, Taru showed it to his crew with his tablet.

“If we kill it, its tendrils might… Lash out against his brain. We might kill him."

“Piss!" shouted Dave, his eyes going back and forth on the display and then to Talo. Even Smowl wasn't any different, though his focus was… More on the creature than Talo himself.

“What can we do then? That beast is fucking him and doing something to him," continued the Quartermaster.

“I don't know. If I had access to proper medic gear. An operation table, nanobots… We'd still have to haul him back to the ship and back!"

“What about the botanical archives?"

Everyone turned to Sly, cocked brows glancing back at him while he pointed up towards the carcass of a drone, with lights turning up and down.

“The Gallant was the first to integrate a biodome for his biosphere. They must have had a botanical archive linked to all the drones. They establish the standard," continued Sly.

“How could it-“ started Dave before Smowl's hand stopped him.

“Continue, Sly."

“The creatures currently fucking Talo is…Living. I think. The drones should have information about it. Weaknesses. Or if there's a way to paralyze it. It's better than dragging everything back."

With that, Sly turned an eye towards Talo right when the poor techie moaned out loud and… Humped the air. All the while, the bulge formed by his belly had grown so much that it was obscene. His skin was outstretched and the fur wasn't dense enough to cover the naked bulge.

“I don't like it," mumbled Dave.

“Sounds legit," said Smowl as he looked, too… Then turned to Dave and Sly. “You two. Go search those archives. You'll need the firepower in case there are more creatures."

“What about us?" asked Taru, his voice low as he checked the vitals again. Same thing.

“You'll monitor Talo. And I'll watch for more of those things. Agreed?"

Everyone in the squad nodded… And slowly, Dave and Sly turned talons, stepping away for their search.

“Is it necessary to separate ourselves? They might get caught," added Taru once confident his teammates were out of earshot. “And we're not sure if they'll get a solution."

“If not… We will reconsider other options. But in the meantime, we'll wait," grumbled Smowl as he sat on a fake rock, his weapon between his legs while Taru joined him.

With a snap, the Quartermaster bent a fluorescent tube and threw it on the ground, producing a green light that starkly contrasted with the emergency lamps.

“Still no update on Talo's condition?" asked Smowl, glancing over to see the creature still humping Talo while the poor fucker was moaning and crying his heart out, seemingly climaxing from what the monitoring told.

“No urgency. He's not dehydrated, and he's… Enjoying it. But he will need some psychological support back at base."

“Sure. Remind me we'll have to send them an answer soon. But for the moment, let's delay."

Delay… Taru grumbled at the thought but did so as he focused on the display and taped it to get more details. Foreign fluids and hormonal cocktails are pumped directly into Talo's brain. But so far, nothing terrible has happened to him. Nothing that would require an immediate extraction. But Taru's eyes were wandering, and worries wracked his mind. He still kept checking with the others, watching how their heartbeats were faster.

As the light dimmed, Taru cracked a fluorescent tube and continued checking without thinking.

Behind him, he could still hear the creature's mechanical movements and Talo's plaintive moans. Every time the beast hit the techie's prostate, it made him wheeze and moan. Taru could even predict when he would cry by checking the vitals. He looked at them, watched a peaking approach, and…

[I]HRMPH!

[/I]Too soon!

Taru's eyes turned behind him, and he watched Talo still squirming but not relaxing. He hadn't cum. Yet.

“Y-Yeah… Deeper, sir," mumbled a different voice. One that made Taru's neck nearly snap as he turned to Smowl. To the veteran and Quartermaster.

To the big man whose beak was covered with saliva as those big yellow eyes rolled in their sockets. Smowl's fingers twitched in the void as if he grabbed onto something while his glassy gaze was focused on the ceiling and… He didn't move.

But Taru's eyes could see the suit and how… Tense it was.

“What are-“ asked the Arctic Fox as he lifted and noticed them.

The roots. The tendrils were all around them, concentrating around Smowl. He stepped around them and jumped to avoid them as he approached the Quartermaster.

“Smowl, snap out of it; we need to… move?"

As he approached, he finally saw. The roots had coalesced behind Smowl and formed a spear that went… Right into Smowl's ass.

The back of the suit, at least around the ass, had been ripped open, and now, the Quartermaster's swollen and gaping rim had been swallowing the tendrils. In and out… In and out went the spear as it progressed into the man's ass, dragging and pulling the clenching sphincter. But it was only the beginning…

Taru approached, trembling, and dared to put a hand on Smowl's shoulders, but no response… And he felt it, the rigidity of the tendrils under the suit.

“Smowl… Smowl! Snap out of it! Smowl! Move! Use your ice!" cried Taru as he jumped back and watched the tendrils suddenly squirm and… Thrust.

“H-Harder, sir! Take- Me! Devour me!" moaned Smowl as he cried out loud, and the tendrils bulged more from beneath the suit.

Taru nearly froze as he… Shifted the display, turning away.

“What is it doing to you? Smowl. Maybe I can… Undo it."

But no…

No amount of products Taru could carry would be enough to flush out the amount of narcotics going through the Quartermaster's system. Nor undo what the tendrils had been doing.

“… Smowl," whined Taru as he watched it. As he watched the internal vision of the Tendrils going inside Smowl's ass… And the part going through the man's urethra. He winced as he saw the black shapes take root in the prostate, spreading inside it like cancer while it progressed on both sides. He gargled as he saw the thing going down the vas deferens, breaking apart any organs' resistance. And how they gripped Smowl's testicles from the inside. They pierced, though the only reaction was a delighted howl.

“More! I'm yours!" cried Smowl, his tears weighing on the white feathers and enough to reveal the tendrils below. Even if Taru removed the helmet or shredded the suit, it wouldn't be enough.

He watched, frightened, disgusted, and yet curious as more tendrils slithered. They rooted themselves in the soft flesh beneath the feathers. How they pumped more drugs into Smowl's systems until they were the only thing keeping him from a total cascade failure.

“S- Smowl," croaked Taru, stepping back as he watched it.

An alarm had popped on the screen: “Internal Organ damage," and even before the display led him to the vision… He knew.

He knew as he had noticed Smowl's groin growing bigger and bigger until the suit started to burst open, and… Smowl's genitals popped free. His cock was entirely covered by the wood-like tendrils but smaller. However, his scrotum was big… Large… And green beneath the dropping feathers.

“Hhha… Yes, sir. Eat- Them good," groaned Smowl as his hands were… Pulled up by the tendrils puppeteering him.

Inside, Taru watched the gonads surrounded by a liquid and held tight in the middle of the swollen scrotum by the tendrils. He watched… That cocktail of chemicals and corrosive substrate was pumped both inside and outside, and how the damage was adding up.

80%. 50%... 10% left. 0%.

And here was the sight of delight as Smowl looked down at Taru, his beak contorting into a rabid smile.

“Come… Taru. Sir is hungry. He needs you, too."

But Taru didn't approach.

Taru fled.

Taru ran across the artificial jungle, back into the red lights, with tears in his eyes. He… He couldn't do anything as he watched more fluids pumped into the Quartermaster's system… before the connection cut off due to the interferences.

“FUCK! FUUUUCK!" he shouted, crying, swearing for what felt like the first time in his life. “DAVE! SLY! I NEED YOUR HELP! WHERE ARE YOU?!" he shouted, his croaking voice betraying what he felt as much as the tears covering his sight. “SMOWL! SMOWL! THEY GOT HIM! THEY'LL GET TALO! I- I NEED YOU!"

He shouted as he continued, almost running in a circle around the jungle until he stopped by a door. An open door illuminated by a broken green tube.

“Dave… Sly?" said Taru, his breathing ragged as he stopped. The tube still gave off a bit of light; it had been cracked perhaps when Smowl and him started their vigil, thought Taru. But then… He gargled, pushing down the need to throw up. He remembered Smowl's grin.

“Dave. Sly. Please. Be… Around," cried Taru as he frantically pushed on the monitoring system as he followed the corridor. There was… Sly.

He couldn't get Dave's information, perhaps due to the interferences.

But Sly. He could watch him. He could see his vitals. He was alive and well. No… Foreign body inside him. No tendrils up his ass, nothing. But… he was cold. And asleep.

“Sly… A- Are you sleeping? Where are you?" mumbled Taru.

He trembled as he followed the corridor to what was marked to be the medical bay. It wasn't the botanic archives like they said. But… He couldn't care less. Maybe they went there to find a solution. Maybe there was the gear Taru could use for Talo. It… it would have been great!

“Guys! Please! I'm here!" he shouted, but no answer.

Only the slow hum from the mechanics, the buzzing from the emergency light, and the sound of the recovery pods disposed in rows answered. The cocktail of liquids in those blue cuves allowed people to recover faster without muscular degeneration and to prepare them for cryosleep.

Still, he had the feedback from Sly's presence; he was nearby. Surely. Taru gulped, pushing against the saliva and bile that had been building up in his mouth. He… Maybe there would still be a way to help Smowl. The Gallant had some top-shelf cybernetics gear in stock. Plus… Some programs had some organ regrowth available for veterans.

As long as Smowl endured… As long as he was alive when they got him. Yes. It was possible.

“SLY! I need you! Here! Right now! ASAP! And Dave! We'll need his strength to carry Smowl here! Do you hear me?!" shouted Taru as he turned the corner to where Sly would be.

But only more recovery pods.

All of them were turned on, the fluids rotating to keep the mixture from hardening and turning into unusable mush. And all but one were empty.

The others had been emptied. And inside the last one in the row was Sly.

Sleeping in a fetal position with a rebreather over his mouth. His helmet was gone, and his suit had been left on. But he was clearly in that state of suspended animation. Why?

Yet, something was… Weird. Perhaps Sly's fur was greener inside the liquid. Maybe his… Horns looked less like horns and more like wood. It was hard to notice every detail of Sly's features inside the rippling liquid.

“Sly? What is this?" gargled Taru as he looked at his friend through the glass. There were no traces of wounds, and nothing was broken. Why was he inside it?

“Dave?! Sly… Smowl needs us! DAVE?!" shouted Taru, looking over his shoulder. But nothing.

He heaved, finally giving in to the need to remove the helmet to breathe fresh air. He couldn't breathe in that suit, he couldn't… He could only remember the sensation of the tendrils going under the fabric when he reached for Smowl's shoulders.

“Heavens," he mouthed while he passed a hand over his damp white fur and leaned to tap on the Recovery Pod's control panel.

“Please… Please… Just… Let's… let's wake you up and check for Dave. Let's… Let's find him. Grab the data you got. Free Talo. And bring Smowl back to Earth."

Taru's fingers danced on the screen, pushing every button he could. Surely… Surely Sly didn't drop into the cuve by himself. There was a reason for this. A surely good damn reason Taru tried to search as he taped. Vitals: All good with… Strange readings about his teammates' heartbeat?

He wiped his brows while he continued his thorough check. The pod was locked, through and through… The regulation system had been activated, and Sly had been primed for cryosleep. The pod had been set up on the emergency batteries that could last a few more decades… It was. It was as if someone had prepped it.

And then, Taru saw it. A little glitch over the red “open" button. He… touched it.

“Taru, Smowl… Or whoever sees this. Do not follow through with the procedure. Do not go into the labs."

Dave's face appeared on the screen, his face coated with sweat and his leathery skin covered with what looked like claw marks. Whatever had assaulted him might have been closer to a beast and not human.

“This is important. The Gallant isn't safe at all. There are creatures roaming within the labs, and… one of them bit Sly. He should still be in the pod, waiting for extraction. Please, send him back to earth for examination. Whatever is happening here, is linked to the Gallant's arrival. Or something."

Dave's voice was ragged. Even now, his pupils were dilated, and sweat kept pouring over his face. His skin glistened as he took another sharp breath.

“Smowl. Take Taru with you. We haven't found any way to save Talo in the labs. Truth is… There was no databank worth left; everything was overtaken by plants and… Creatures."

The screen shifted. Dave's face disappeared, replaced only by the words: “Initializing recordings". And followed what would be Dave's frontal camera. The Labs, as they could be called, were a mix of experimentation rooms coupled with server rooms. The walls were made of glass panels, most surfaces of sleek steel… And yet, it seemed plants had overtaken that place. Tendrils and… Roots. And branches were sprouting from the columns hosting the servers. A jungle had been seeded within most rooms, and the floor was broken to make allowance for the root system. It was… As if nature had invaded the place and taken it for granted.

The video continued, bringing forth Dave's harsh breathing as he glanced around, his headlight pointing either at a corridor barred with branches or an almost intact server room. Yet… There was a low growl.

It was distinct in the video, but it seemed Dave didn't hear it as he continued towards the server, pushing aside vines while he tried to connect with the system.

“Dave," said Sly in the recording. “Taru or Smowl didn't follow us?"

“No. My suit isn't pinging Taru's tablet anymore. He must be too far," continued Dave as he extracted a component from the rack. A drive he suddenly linked to his suit instead of the computers. “Do you find something?"

Dave suddenly turned to see Sly doing the same thing, albeit shaking for no reason.

“Nothing. The drives are wiped clean."

The recording went back to the linked drive and the suit's screen, but there was no data either.

“Fuck. How's that possible?" asked Dave with a low growl, pulling another drive to connect it: no dice. “Those drives should keep their data for the next thousand years."

“What if the crew purged them?"

“Themselves?" scoffed Dave, turning to Sly, visibly shaking.

“It's the sole option. They saw… or did something. And had to remove that information."

“It's absurd. Maybe there were pir—"

Before Dave could continue, there was a growl. And the camera shifted. And turned from a calm view to an utter chaos. Someone… No, something. A sort of beast jumped on them both. Dave rolled and kicked, although the camera focused on the beast's head, trying to bite Dave clean. Those massive fangs were shining, dripping with a white fluid. There were no eyes, no fur, only some bark on what could resemble a feline's head.

“LET ME GO! YOU BASTARD!" shouted Dave, growling while the creature nearly nicked him. But then… A bar hit the beast's neck.

It growled, scowled… And turned away from Dave towards Sly.

“Oh no! YOU DON'T!"

Yet, the beast did. It jumped on Sly and pounced on the poor soldier who didn't have Dave's strength to protect him. There was a yowl of pain while Dave's camera started to flash. Light came from beneath the suit, and… Soon, a burst of flame appeared out of the Hippopotamus' hand, hitting the “beast" square in the back. And it yelped, too, letting go of its prey to jump away into an open crawlspace, probably from where it came from.

“Son of a bitch! Sly? Are you with me?"

“Y- yes!" answered Sly, then he growled as he reached for his suit. His shoulder had been bitten, and the creature's teeth had shredded the fabric like it was paper.

“Shit. Let's get you bandaged. There was a medical bloc on the way."

The recording cut. And it returned to Dave's face as he sighed.

“I know shit about infection. But only five minutes later, Sly couldn't walk or speak. He grumbled to me when I tried to talk to him. By the time we reached the medical bloc, he started to attack me. Fuck… He scratched me and bit me. I'm infected, too. I feel sweaty and sick. I hear… Sounds that are not here. I hear Smowl calling me to devour him… It makes no fucking sense."

Dave breathed again, his little ears fluttering as he turned away.

“Taru. Take a copy of Sly's vitals. Be quick. I'll go to the cockpit. I should be able to turn on the reactor there. And maybe activate Gallant's computers. It might be enough for the techies to get access to the systems. Dunno."

Then, Dave returned to the camera, smiling.

“Don't do anything crazy. Dave, out."

The recording cut on Dave's smile, making Taru's guts churn with disgust, anger, and envy. Whatever had happened to Sly, it seemed to happen to him, too. But he was ready to go to the cockpit. Yet, the engines hadn't been turned on.

Maybe… It was only a question of minutes.

But Taru didn't want to wait.

His friends had been picked off one by one. And taking the way back through the gardens to the ship's entrance sounded like… A folly. What if something grabbed him like it had grabbed Talo? Or worse about the tendrils. Or that… Tiger-liked plant? Shit.

“What were they doing here?" grumbled the Arctic Fox as he observed Sly. In the vat, he seemed so calm and restful. Nothing. No twitching nor movement. Only a dull peace that would continue for years until the batteries switched off or someone extracted Sly.

“Dave is right. It's… The sole option to salvage the mission," groaned Taru as he taped on the panel, locking it again.

It would have been a waste of everyone's life if he returned. They'd be condemned to die or… Worse, within that ship. And more would be sent inside without a clue of what's happening. If they managed to get the ship back online, they'd be able to send all the unpurged data. Even the backups?

The idea crossed Taru's mind as he passed a hand below his collar, feeling the cold air rush inside his suit before he stepped away from the pods, glancing back over his shoulder.

“I'll be back, Sly," mumbled the Arctic Fox as he passed the door towards the cockpit. On the way, Dave had torn open most hydraulics or used his powers to melt the wirings: as proved by the melted bulkheads here and there. Using their powers wasn't advised as it drained and sickened them. But if… Dave was indeed infected, it was… A good idea.

Using his flames would slow down the infection. And... if he turned feral, he would be too weak to do any damage.

Taru grimaced at the pragmatic reasoning he had, but he couldn't deny it.

“Dave. Just… Hold it together," moaned the Arctic Fox as he jumped over a half-open door. Around him, the red lights were dim while the bulkhead was overtaken by roots and plants sprouting here and there. Whatever had grown in the labs also crept into the higher levels.

The further the Arctic fox ascended, the less steel held its presence… Soon enough, he walked on branches and roots while the cockpit remained further ahead. He tried not to retch or puke, inhaling slowly as he chased the vision of Talo and Smowl from his mind.

He didn't want to end like them, so he adjusted his grip over his gun and glanced down, carefully advancing until… Steel reappeared. He was back in a civilized spot. Before the door leading to the cockpit. It was… Closed. But not locked.

“What…?"

Taru groaned in surprise and yet was even more surprised when hearing a groan through the door. Low… pitiful. Pained. Dave's voice. Was he wounded?

Instinctively, Taru reached for his tablet but couldn't find Dave's vitals. Had… something happened to him so bad his suit couldn't record his details?

Taru gulped, swallowing his fear and pride as he pressed the door's button and… Gasped.

Dave groaned again as the beast bit him. He groaned while the teeth sunk into his neck, eliciting a sharp spark of pain followed by a shiver going through the Hippopotamus' spine. Along with it, his muscles tensed, and his fingers dug into the metal, weakly. He surely didn't have enough strength left to summon his flames.

More than that, he was covered with bleeding scratches.

Yet… it didn't stop him from moaning when the beast above seemed to sink deeper into him. The posture was too obvious, and the hip movements were obscene… The beast's groans were deep but not aggressive. Plus, Dave smiled.

Dave smiled stupidly while the creature pushed within him, its enormous cock bulging through his belly until it gained a soft shape. His eyes rolled in their sockets while saliva dripped from his mouth, and… he begged.

“Y- Yes. More for the green" begged the Hippopotamus, his tongue dropping out of his mouth as the creature started to hump back and forth… Away went the shaft's shape… Back went the shape when the flat cockhead hit the Hippopotamus' depths.

Beneath them, rubbing against Dave's chest, a green goo spread and covered the metal floor. It spread on it, forming a sort of… primeval ground from which sprouted vines and roots. Out… of the creature's fluids.

The tendrils were slow, initially. Their sluggish growth was barely enough to recognize their presence. But then, they bounced and spread as if given life. They extended up, then around Dave, wrapping around him… Around his face and body. Soon, those rolling eyes disappeared beneath the wrapping tendrils. Even his mouth. More tendrils jumped inside the wide-open jaw, eliciting gargles and gurgles. But no aggressive reaction from Dave. He remained docile as the beast fucked him, his belly got rounder, and the green overtook him.

Second, by second, his skin disappeared, wrapped by what seemed to be a cocoon. His ears were covered. Nothing remained apparent: not his muzzle, nor arms, nor legs. Finally, his weak moans stopped, and he dropped forward, let go by the beast… Whose eyeless face turned to Taru, licking its teeth.

“New brood. New brood!" exploded a cacophony of voices through Taru's mind, a tempest. Voices that came from nowhere and everywhere. Most… Known. Friends? Superiors? Teammates? Smowl's? Dave? Sly? Talo? Their voices were shouting at him, drowning him out. He gasped for air, bringing a hand to his mouth as a retching need overcame him. He felt sickened, burning from the inside, and worse.

“New Brood! Are you ready, freshie?"

Taru blinked, seeing both the creature and Smowl. The quartermaster smiled at him, offering an arm. The vision was… surreal. The smell, the texture of the feathers against his hands, even the natural tremor within the Quartermaster's voice was here.

He gulped, unable to fathom… if what he heard was a work of his mind or the creature who sat, a leg over the other. With a tilted head. With such… A sapient poise.

“What… do you want?" asked Taru.

“Breeding! Bodies! What do you mean? I want you to feel good," chuckled Dave's voice.

A hand landed on Taru's cheeks, rubbing them despite no one standing there. A phantasmal hand reached for the Medic's crevice. Leathery, rough… Big fingers prodded his ass and tugged on it, tugged on his rim until he couldn't resist the caresses and assault. He squirmed and stepped aside, but the sensation was there, just like the first day he had joined the squad. Oh… His hole clenched even further, but the feeling continued, and his prostate was… Touched.

“Hhh… S-Stop this!" cried Taru, his body weak as his prostate clenched and sent shocks through his spine. His legs were about to give out, and he could feel his erection pressed against the suit's rigid fabric. The contact was rough. It stroked his dick… Made him wish it stopped, but it didn't. No, it worsened when he reached for his bulge and started to rub it like the pervert he was.

“Bearer unhappy! Bearer bearer bearer! Taru, what's on your mind? You can tell me."

The peppermint scent assaulted Taru's nose, making him almost faint like every time he entered Sly's room. Even if he was the jack of all trades, Sly had an affinity for Botanics, and his room was rife with them. Green plants, aromatics from Earth, and stations. He even had an original wheat sprout hanging heavy from its growing seeds.

No sight… But the perfume of rich humus still hung in the air.

“My… Friends," moaned Taru as those false fingers traced circles around his prostate, massaged it. He… Trembled as the fire within his prostate grew bigger. He had to bite his lips. “They… Are… What have you done to them?"

“Purpose! Brood! A cog… Survival! We're all a cog in the machine, the grand grind of mankind," said Talo, his voice mingling so well with the beast. “Once you find your place, what you're good at, you can thrive. Give yourself some time."

The sensations kept stretching, mixing, and playing with Taru's mind as those fingers were replaced by something else. By … Dave's shaft.

A big… Large… Veiny shaft going inside him. Taking him inside made the Arctic fox walk funny, but it felt good. Always.

It couldn't be the creature, only his memories. But what a good memory that was when that cockhead pushed through his rim for the first time. It stretched him thin and made his hole burn, but at the same time, the lube eased it off. That was some high-quality product that numbed the pain and replaced it with… pleasure. A numb pleasure as Dave pushed further inside and deeper, his enormous shaft giving a loving but firm squeeze to the Medic's organs.

“Hhh… Don't. Fuck with my head. And-… And release them!" moaned Taru, almost bending over and squealing when that cockhead hit his depths… And Dave managed to give a last thrust before pulling.

His eyes nearly rolled while tears streaked down his cheeks. He was so tired, so exhausted… But he could only feel so good. Fighting against his weak knees was impossible. His suit's insides were so damp with fluids shifting his legs reminded him of his sticky fur.

It was only the beginning as the memory rolled on… He pulled, nearly yanked on his hole. Then, he rammed inside him with enough strength Taru's eyes bulged. And Dave continued.

Taru would have given him the greenlight to do so with a raised thumb. But it was a different moment, a different Taru, an absent Dave.

“Breeder! Happy! Can't! We choose, Taru."

The feathered fingers were beneath Taru's chin, making him raise his eyes to meet with the beast's and Smowls. Did they? Yet, the beak pressed against his lips like so many times before while the other hand went between the legs. A part of his mind knew the suit was there, but Smowl's fingers were stroking his stiff and needy shaft. He was about to explode as the Owl's tongue prodded his mouth.

He should have been gagging from it as it reached the uvula. But no… And he had to breathe, to inhale, to fill his lungs.

“Stay calm, Taru. I'm just inside. Breathe," said Dave.

But when he breathed, another tongue went in. Its taste was sweeter, sweeter than honey and anything he had eaten at base or on earth. Sweeter but not cloying, with a refined taste reminding him of cider but faint. It prodded inside his mouth, merging with Smowl's before they separated and followed a different dance, each.

His eyes rolled as he was… He was… He was…

Cumming. He came. He exploded. He ruined his suit's inside. It had been such a passing and fleeting moment. But Dave's cock in his ass continued and looped. It continued as well as Smowl's hands…. It continued. Followed the sensation of those feathery buns pressing against his cockhead.

“Show me how it's done, freshie."

Taru's eyes rolled when he was back inside his Quartermaster's plump ass. That soft and wide hole was always compared to Taru's. Between the two, Smowl always had the best ass, and even Taru couldn't complain when he had his first moment with Smowl. The night when the quartermaster invited him to his quarters.

“Anything weighing you down? It's only… us," continued Talo, adding to the choir while at its center, Taru remained silenced and gagged, his throat bulging further and further. Likewise to his stomach.

The Techie's hands might have been made for mechanics, but his soft touches on the Arctic Fox's legs relaxed them, as did his arms. Four pairs went for each limb, massaging and undoing the knots within his muscles. All the tension and pressure left his body. He was so weak, so unable to move.

And yet… As his knees and arms faltered, he didn't fall.

“I'm holding you. We're holding you," continued Dave, then everyone's voice, tagging along in his brain. Worries and doubts formed and disappeared within Taru's mind. Waves and waves of thoughts seemed to dim as the sensations worked and crashed over him. A hand over his side, a mouth nibbling his ear, the cock pushing his depths… Or a delicious massage all over his spent cock without feeling any soreness. He was in bliss…

Even the pressure in his throat unraveled, leaving behind the honeyed flavor as well as his crewmates' hungry mouths. Talo, Smowl, and Dave were taking turns with him, taking his attention as they kept riding him, fucking him, massaging him, nibbling him, licking him.

He was at the center of their loves, their desires, the moments they spent together.

And then… A whisper.

“Hey, buddy. Are you ready for the freshie?"

Dave's voice and laughter was all so sweet. Sly had barely joined the team and Dave already roped him into one of their nights. If the smell hanging over the quarters the Saturday morning hadn't given them away to Sly, that request would.

But no… No. No. No. No.

“Relax… You are made for this."

Dave's cock still rushed inside him, crushing his guts. But so was the hand, stroking them and spreading them apart. Somehow, a cold rush of air pressed against Taru's ass. One that made him gulp as he looked over his shoulder.

It was there, ready to take, claim him, ruin him. He was there, Sly. He is a bit shy, a bit ashamed of his cock's size. A bit smaller than Dave, so it would be a breeze.

“Are you sure? Tell me if it hurts."

Taru didn't say a thing. He was still kissing and kissed, his mouth nothing for a tool of pleasure, much like the rest of his body. Still, he nodded as he observed Sly approach and press his smaller dick against the gaping orifice.

And thrust.

Thrust through, pierce, and hit Taru's guts square. The Medic squirmed as he was outstretched from within. His organs were crushed, and his body weighed down by the fluids in his stomach. Yet, those same fluids gave him that lovely round belly he used as a support.

He yowled in pain and pleasure, then he gargled as Dave's cock hit him in the back of his throat. He clenched his teeth, clenched his eyes shut, and swallowed his saliva while the men went to town.

His ass was on fire, burning bright from the large penetration he endured. Who… What… Was inside was bigger than Dave, bigger than any man Taru had taken. And yet, that was only the tip. The further it progressed, the wider it became… And the stronger was the pressure against his organs. Without a glance, he knew the tip would be seen through his guts… A feral and intuitive knowledge as well as the one he should have died. But didn't.

No… He remained alive as something held him down. Something… Someone strong. Yet, Dave held him down and then lifted him … Like an embrace, a caress, a hug after a rough night. Taru breathed and heaved, crushed by those powerful arms, while his partner-

Something hit… The rim.

Like a hammer, a rock. Something large and massive.

“Here I come," said Sly with that joyful voice as his mouth was back on Taru's lips. The saliva was honeyed and sweet, perfect. Perfectly fit as they were… Somewhere?

Taru's mind was slipping away, ever so slowly. They were in the ship? Or somewhere else? But he wasn't sure.

“Relax, Taru. We're not on a mission. We can have our fun," said Sly with that soft and encouraging tone, ignoring the crushing embrace and… What was hitting Taru's hole. And then… It passed.

Something way wider than anyone's cock, or arm. But it suddenly went thinner, like it locked Taru. Or whatever went in. It was… Big. Pulsating. Pumping. It pushed something round and big… but it was good. Maybe that was one of the toys Sly tried with him. Or something else?

“Yes. I know it's big. But you will accommodate just fine."

Sly's voice encouraged Taru to endure the pain and sensation. It made him squirm, cum… And cum again when those heavy round things squeezed his organs. But Sly kept him grounded as his friends were pleasing him, touching and teasing him. Even when he was still raw from the injections and their last run in the street… Yes. Taru listened.

He listened to the tendrils going inside his ears and teasing him, playing back memory after memory.

If he didn't, he might have noticed how strapped he was to a beast's belly. How his belly glowed with wonderful and lively eggs waiting for the creature to pull his knot: waiting to be freed from their incubator. He might have noticed his friends gone or too busy… or their own ship being overtaken by plants.

Or even… Earth as they landed on it. A fertile world that would receive those fertile seeds and foster them until they were bigger than trees. And capable to devour anything that wasn't them.