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Shifting Diplomacy

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Verdant Violence

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Disclaimer

Orc Infection PSA

It light of the recent epidemic of events concerning SDOS-X443 or more commonly known as the Shifting Diplomacy: Orc Virus, the Nexus Conglomerate would like to issue the following public safety announcement for your safety and the safety of those around you.

• The first stages of infection commonly manifest as rapid increase in muscle mass and growth. If you suspect that you are experiencing symptoms, flex a few times in front of a mirror just to make sure. If your clothes rip as a result, you are infected. Unless this usually happens in which case you clearly need help buying higher quality clothes.

• Generally, the main symptoms of infection and the one commonly known is the transformation into an Orc. While there are many definitions of what an Orc looks like, the SDOS-X443 virus will cause green skin, development of tusks, pointed ears and an aversion to wearing clothes. At the first sign of green skin, resist the urge to hide it and, simply put, flaunt it. Green skin is sexy.

• Only males are susceptible to the SDOS-X443 virus and will commonly compel sexually attracted to men and will most likely cause infected individuals to participate in sensual acts with men. Should you suspect someone or yourself to be exhibiting these symptoms, proceed with sexual intercourse with another male. Just to be sure.

• SDOS-X443 is commonly associated tentacles particularly in a sexual sense. Be advised that while SDOS-X443 does not exactly exhibit symptoms of tentacle development, infected individuals will be more susceptible to them. Just go with it. The tentacles won't hurt you. They have needs too.

• If in doubt about infection, close your eyes. If you find your imagination constantly invaded by male genitals, then you are most certainly infected. If this is normal for you, then what are you doing reading this PSA. Get infected! There's plenty of cocks and balls to be had!

• Be warned that infection of SDOS-X443 generally involves individuals to develop a lot of body hair and, subsequently, exude a very distinctive musk. The Nexus Conglomerate does not condone discrimination based on scent alone so it advisable that before one starts accusing someone of being infected, that you ask them politely to lift their armpits and take a whiff. Remember, a strong odour makes for a strong orc.

If you are sure about your infection, please report to your nearest Nexus Conglomerate Pandemic Centre. We will provide you with an adequate supplies and information on how to manage your infection and help your fellow citizens go green.

Fun Fact: In earlier drafts, the Orcs infected others by shooting gas out from their pits while they did a Hands-Over-Head Abs Pose. That just seemed a little ridiculous to me - sexy but comical - so I went with the spore cloud idea.

Prologue: Heading the Call

Control over Operation lost.

Overriding personality conflicting with core directive.

Establishing contact with primary hosts.

******

Captain Alexander Farwood was the captain of the Galactic Terran Federation Cruiser Spear of the Shattered. He had been so for the past fifteen years of his military career and had proudly served the ship. As a ship belonging to the GTF Marines, the Spear housed some of the GTF's elite soldiers. The GTF Navy may have the most powerful ships and cutting edge technology when it came to interstellar travel but it was the Marines that had the most well-trained soldiers. Each man under his command was strong, capable and loyal to the GTF. Not only were they combat ready but each one could do the jobs of two or three men. That was why even a five hundred-metre long starship like the _Spear_could easily fit three thousand men with room to spare. Normally, cruiser-class starships (smaller than the kilometre-long battlecruisers and the multi-kilometre long dreadnaughts) were manned by at least five thousand soldiers but with the Marines capable of fulfilling multi-functional roles, three thousand was all that was needed with the extra space granted to armaments, thicker armour and auxiliary systems.

It made him proud to be the Captain of the Spear of the Shattered and to bear his callsign 'Breaker' with pride.

The 5'10'' man with the straight back, white goatee and shaved head stood proudly on the bridge of the Spear as the ship dropped out of warpspace. There was a light shaking of the ship; a sign of its old age. The Spear had been in service for decades and somehow had managed to avoid the front against the Karn Imperium. Though relegated to patrolling the borders against Orkish raiders and pirates wasn't exactly the most glamourous assignments for the old girl, Farwood wouldn't have it any other way. He knew the capabilities of his ship and it wouldn't last too long in a prolonged assault against the Karn. He ran a hand over the railings just in front of his command console.

"Approaching the Homeship, Captain," exclaimed an ensign.

With a firm, commanding voice, he announced, "Bring it up on the main screen."

Given that he had been assigned to the Orkish border for just a little under a decade, he had seen many Orkish Homeships before. Each was always unique as different Orcs came from different backgrounds and often after they split their Homeships due to overpopulation, they would take their traditions and make it their own. Some of those Homeships would try to raid human settlements for supplies and it was the job of ships like the Spear to ward them off. Given how protective the Orcs were about their Homeships, it was very rare that they would risk endangering their entire Homeship in a raid and given that they were often lacking in supplies, their fleets were often small and poorly equipped. A reason why the Spear never really needed more than itself and its two escort frigates, the GTFF Critical Assailant and GTFF Fallen Winter.

Hammond 'Vantage' Gilles, Captain of the Critical Assailant let out a soft whistle.

"Damn. If ever there was a traditionally built Homeship, this is it."

Farwood couldn't agree more. The Da'makur was very traditional in that it looked a lot like a small metallic planet that had a chunk taken out of it for the docks and its engines sticking out form the other end. Victor 'Hedge' Reyes often called such Homeships 'Metal Pacmen' because they looked a lot like the videogame character Pacman only made out of metal.

"Hail the Homeship," Farwood announced. "Let's see what help they need."

"Aye, aye, Captain," announced his communications officer. "Homeship Da'makur, this is the GTFC Spear of the Shattered. We have arrived after receiving your distress beacon. Do you copy?"

Silence.

The officer tried again.

"Homeship_Da'makur_, this is the GTFC Spear of the Shattered. Do you copy?"

"Maybe they're not home," Gilles suggested.

"A Homeship where no one is home?" scoffed Reyes. "Not likely. I've done thermal scans. Reactor is still running and there's power throughout the Homeship. Thing is, there are also a lot of fires and, best I can tell, gunfire. It might be a Raz'makal."

"A what?" Farwood asked.

Reyes had always been the intelligent sort. Having come from a science background, the captain of the GTFF Fallen Winter_was wily and used his intelligence to his advantage. The _Fallen Winter had the most optimised shields of the small fleet and was generally equipped with long-ranged bombardment weapons. This was in contrast to the _Critical Assailant_which was fast and possessed a range of short-ranged weapons that it used to get in and out with hit-and-run tactics. The ships reflected their captain's personalities.

"A civil war. Sometimes when a Homeship gets too crowded, the Orcs within will have to call a purge to prevent themselves from starving. Judging by the fact that we're in the middle of nowhere, my guess it that the Rootchief would've wanted a purge. Problem is, not everyone will want to die for the greater good."

"So the bastards kick off a rebellion," sighed Gilles. "Savages. Well, let's go and see if anyone needs help."

"Not so fast, Gilles," Farwood said. He nodded towards his communications officer. "The Homeships are distanced from the overall species and politics, effectively being their own nation, but this still sounds like a political scenario. We've got to tread carefully. We don't want to back the wrong people."

And that was why Gilles was captain of a cruiser and not a frigate. He was smart and knew how war worked. With over twenty-five years of service under his belt and fifteen years as a starship captain, he knew what he was doing compared to the two younger captains.

His communications officer tried again. "Homeship Da'makur, this is the GTFC Spear of the Shattered. Do you copy? We are here to help."

Again, no response. Not even static.

"Keep trying," Farwood said, turning to leave. "We need to -"

Then a burst of static erupted from the other side, stunning the experienced captain.

"GTFC Spear of the Shattered," answered a haggard and panting Orc. "My name is Donduur Da'makur. I am the Rootchief of this Homeship. We are in dire need of assistance."

Farwood immediately moved back towards his console and pressed a button to take the call. "Rootchief. I am Captain Alexander Farwood. What is the situation?"

"We have an outbreak of some sort of disease. It struck two days ago just after a human dropship arrived. My people have gone_insane. We've enacted quarantine protocols but every hour that passes more and more of my people succumb to the disease! We need urgent assistance and some form of evacuation! Please! My people are dying!"_

The Captain of the Spear quickly shifted channels to speak privately with his fellow Captains. "Opinions? Options?"

"Fuck," sighed Gilles, "we're not equipped to deal with Orkish diseases let alone an outbreak. But we can't just leave them there either. And what's this that they mentioned about a human dropship?"

"I am detecting faint warp signals coming from the Homeship," added Reyes_. "It could be a warp drive but I can't be sure. Regardless, I agree with Gilles. They are civilians and clearly need help. We should do our duty and try to evacuate them as much as possible. My ship has medical supplies and the capabilities to study the epidemic so we might be able to cure them if we can get enough samples."_

With a nod, Farwood switched back to the channel with the Rootchief. "I've got three ships with me. A cruiser and two frigates. If you can clear a dock for us, we'll come in and do what we can."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" exclaimed the relieved Rootchief. "You have no idea what this means to me. I'll let you know where you can land."

"I look forward to seeing you, Rootchief. Over and out." Farwood straightened and switched back to his channel with his captains. "Gear up gentlemen. We've got a whole Homeship to save."

Choking Vines

Warning: multiple intelligence individuals have come in contact with optimised Orcs.

Orcs have evolved far outside operation parameters.

Combination of extra human subjects increase threat of pandemic and exponential evolution.

Prediction: Omega-Class Diversification Event.

******

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He couldn't believe it.

His ship was talking to him.

Though he wasn't really sure why he was surprised given all that had happened.

"You're... the Genesiseed?" he repeated. "As in the alien artifact that we recovered from McAllister, somehow fused with us and mutated us into these things?" He gestured at his body.

"Correct," answered the voice coming from the Nascent Dawn. "Given the circumstances, I have merged what processing power I had obtained from integrating the Orcs into the Nascent Dawn in an attempt to consolidate my programming and protect it from the hostile forces outside."

Burke ran a paw down his face, stopping just short of running it down his muzzle and pinched the bridge of his muzzle just between his eyes. "Okay... Hundred words or less. What the fuck are you?"

"I'm afraid it will take more than a hundred words to fully explain my origins, Lieutenant Burke."

"It's just an expression," he sighed. "Just... answer the question as shortly and concisely as you can."

"Very well." There was about a second of a pause which allowed Burke to nod at Sire and then at the exit to the cockpit. Sire saluted, knowing exactly what he wanted. "When this reality was created by the Nexus Conglomerate_, there were two entities that were created in the inevitability of its destruction. The Endspawn which is the entity you know as the_ Karn Imperium_, and me, the Crux. Consider me the heart of the universe."_

"Getting into some theological shit here but whatever. Continue."

"The Nexus Conglomerate fulfilled its purpose in this reality and opted to activate its reclamation protocol which triggered the Endspawn. It is the purpose of the Endspawn to sweep across the reality and consume all matter, consciousness and essence, getting the best of all facets of the reality and rejecting those things that it considers obsolete or imperfect. It will then create the greatest amalgamated creature from all of these facets and present it to the Director as the 'perfect being' that this reality could muster.

"Conversely, it is my purpose and my belief that each individual creature has worth beyond what is currently available. Therefore, myself and the Endspawn are forever at odds."

He heard footfalls behind him and didn't have to turn to know that Sire had at least called over Wildstorm and Happy. Lifting a paw in the air, he commanded the two wolves to remain silent as he spoke. "And you turned us into werewolves because...?"

"Because you have effectively become my hosts. Ideally, the Endspawn and Crux - myself - would have been activated at the same time. However, I cannot function without any representatives of this universe around me. While I sent out a beacon to attract intelligent life, no one headed my summons for millennia. This gave the Endspawn the advantage as they were able to create a vast empire and start their reclamation well before me. Given this, I could not pursue the same path wherein I would elevate a single species and through them form a galactic federation that would eventually repel the Endspawn through the creation of the Cradle, the ultimate representation of this reality's worth. For it is through the creation of a singular device with pieces from key species in the reality who each maintain their individuality and identities yet were capable of coming together to repel a common foe that we will be able to prove our worthiness to the Director and preserve our reality."

This was all sounding very familiar and he was starting to think that the 'dream' he had of the lupine Director wasn't crazy at all... nor was it some fevered dream brought on by his transformation.

"You haven't answered my question. Why wolves?"

"Because I was at a severe disadvantage, I decided to act directly through avatars in the hopes of expediting the process. That is why I infused myself into each of you and transform you into these lupine shapes. I was hoping that these shapes would please the Director who is lupine himself."

The Genesiseed was starting to sound less and less like some omnipotent personification of the universe and more like a desperate child with near-god-like powers. It was just scared of being killed so it latched onto the first thing it could and hoped it would stick.

"Alright," Burke rumbled as an amazed Carmichael arrived alongside Stitch, Firman and Sire. They mostly stood out in the hallway as they couldn't all fit into the cockpit. "So you wanted us to help you save the universe and your turned us to wolves because you think it'd help your case with your creator. What's with all the sex?"

"I analysed your activities and psyches and discerned that sexual intercourse is both gratifying and offers great emotional significance in your society. Therefore it seemed logical that by enabling you all to be as sexual as possible, you would be more amenable to my case."

"You're forcing us to fuck each other!" barked Sire. "That's not cool!"

"I am sorry," the Genesiseed_said, seemingly genuinely apologetic. _"Normally, I would have millennia to analyse a species and discern the best way to communicate with them but given my abrupt waking from hibernation and the progress of the Karn, I did what I could with what little data I had. I believe it was Warrant Officer Aurelius and Corporal Mattleigh's activities in the showers that convinced me that sexual contact and activities would be the best way to bring my case to you all."

Burke mentally groaned. Of course it had to be one of Wildstorm's 'physicals' that had gotten an alien artefact to turn them into literal horndogs.

"So what's the plan here?" he growled, fangs bared. "You want us to go from species to species and fuck them?"

"Correct. I had configured your bodies and new genetic structures to act as my avatars and through sexual intercourse, I would be able to fully optimise a species to ensure they can help us in the creation of the Cradle. To reconfigure your bodies again would cause undue stress on your genetic structure and potentially psychological damage."

"How do you explain the constant shifting from wolf to human?" Stitch asked, more curious than offended. "Changing like that has got to do 'damage to our genetic structure', right?"

"No. The change is on a cellular level not on a genetic. It is bound in your genes now that you can shift and the commands within the genes allow your cells to change shape. The mass and substances you produce are drawn from external sources and energies that humans are not inherently aware of or tap into but as your optimised humans, are not more than capable of harnessing them. Things such as ambient heat, different types of benign radiation and even inert particles in the air. Human ingenuity with warp drives help."

"What's our warp drives got to do with anything?" asked Happy.

"Your warp drives emit a rather harmful form of radiation that, as best as I can tell, humans have not yet been able to detect. We call these 'R-Waves' or 'Reality Waves'. Your constant use of space-time bending is causing strain on the very fabric of this reality. Not only is exposure to warpspace incredibly harmful to your existence but the radiation given off from both entering and exiting warpspace deals significant damage to you."

Burke went rigid and his jaw dropped in shock. He had never heard of warp jumps being harmful to people. There were stories, of course, of ships getting lost in warpspace due to a warp drive malfunction but he never thought they were inherently dangerous!

"Now hold on a minute," Carmichael interrupted, stepping forward and squeezing past Wildstorm. "I have studied warp drives and have been exposed to countless jumps. I've not hurt in any way."

"That is because the damage is not on a physical or psychological level. It is on a reality-based level."

"What?"

"There are certain rules to this universe, Doctor Carmichael. Rules that the warp drives break. For the briefest of instances, you and your people are circumventing those rules and exposing yourself to a place that is essentially between realities. There are creatures within this void that is inherently harmful to your existence. There is a reason why your government avoids any jumps that could cause ships to last more than a month in warpspace."

That was true. Small jumps were preferred over long jumps even with the most powerful warp drives. That was why no jumps to other galaxies had been made yet. There were horror stories of ships lasting too long in warpspace and encountering some sort of horrific creatures that would drive their crew insane. Lots of movies had been made about the topic.

"You'll have to explain that to me," Carmichael said.

"The Nexus Conglomerate creates countless realities, doctor, and in between each of them are barriers that prevent one reality from crossing into another. This is to prevent cross contamination between experiments and realities. You see, each reality has different rules and not all rules are compatible with one another. Just because you may look human in this reality it does not mean the definition of 'human' is the same in another. An oxygen molecule could be something entirely different in another. Your warp drives do not cross these barriers but brush dangerously close to them. In fact, longer jumps draw you closer to those barriers. Contact with them will cause your very essences to become scrambled, your very warped and twisted into inconceivable horrors. Should your warp drive become affected, you would lose your only means of escaping warp space and be condemned to be twisted and changed forever in agony."

It was funny how well horror authors had gotten that part right...

"If you'll indulge me," Carmichael said suspiciously. "Why should we believe you? This is all sounds fantastical and quite frankly ridiculous. I'm not a religious man but the mere concept that our very existence was created by some interdimensional corporation for the purposes of a test is ludicrous!"

That was a fair point. Such a revelation would have been considered utterly blasphemous back on Earth.

"Doctor, does your species not create cultures and perfect testing environments for lesser species? Do you not create lab environments explicitly for the purposes of proving a hypothesis? Would you not cultivate certain forms of bacteria and germs in controlled environments for your experiments? Are these not the same?"

That stumped the doctor. "Uh... Well... I guess?" The red wolf quickly recovered. "But are you saying we're merely germs to you?"

"Not I. To the Conglomerate_, yes. You are merely lab rats. I am the laboratory that you are contained within and I seek to preserve you for without you, I am nothing."_

That was almost... sweet. Burke could see how the Genesiseed_would want to preserve its people. No doubt the _Conglomerate would destroy it too were everything within it proved useless. In that respect, he could see why the Genesiseed was so desperate to preserve itself.

"I still don't believe you," Carmichael said. "I spent the better part of my career studying warp phenomenon and humans have perfected the art to the point where we successfully contain all forms of harmful radiation or side-effects. Other species risk it with their warp-tech but we're the species that have perfected it. It's basically our foundation on the galactic scale."

"And yet despite all these advancements, the human species has never crossed the vast void between galaxies."

They were getting sidetracked and Burke stepped forward again, placing his paws on the sides of the console. "We're not here to discuss theology or the risks of warp jumping. In summary, you turned us into wolves using some sort of energy that our warp drives create. You're using that same energy to change the people we encounter, I suspect."

"As well as other ambient forms of energy and matter, yes."

"Great. And it's all because you want to preserve us and fight off the Karn. I can get behind that." He got some strange looks from the rest of his crew especially those who had been all for returning to Avalon Station. "But you haven't really told us what you did to us."

The Genesiseed went into a lengthy explanation of how it had gotten rid of a lot of the 'junk DNA'. Only 2 percent of human DNA actually is used by the body. The rest is considered junk DNA. The_Genesiseed -_ who insisted on being called 'Gene' - optimised the junk DNA and made them all adaptive and functional thus enhancements such as their tentacles and the ability to produce a sort of multi-functional fluid in place of their cum. At the same time, it implanted itself into the seven crew members, effectively turning them into seven independent cores of a supercomputer. When all seven of them were together and physically linked, Gene would be able to utilise its full potential and manipulate genetics like it had done originally. Its range was still limited, however, as its primary function was to preserve individuality as opposed to the Endspawn.

This also meant that they were effectively sterile.

"I can't have kids anymore?" Stitch asked worriedly.

"In a manner of speaking. However, your DNA is now highly adaptive and with certain modifications, I can easily grant you the ability to produce children. This would require at least a few years of 'rest' however as the initial mutation that caused your transformation has caused incredible strain on your genetic structure. Any major changes within the next few months would likely cause irreparable damage at least given my current capabilities."

"So you're telling me that we're basically blank slates that can adapt and change to any situation but we can't do anything major like change from a wolf to a bear or something?" Happy surmised.

"Correct."

"That is_so_ cool!"

Trust Happy to see a positive side to all of this.

"Not that I don't trust you," huffed Burke, "but you can't go around changing us or anyone else for that matter without consent." He pointed accusingly at the monitor though he wasn't even sure if Gene could see them. "You said so yourself, too many changes or too big of a change and we'd basically get 'corrupted'. You also need us as much as we need you. We are your cores now and if we get corrupted, so do you, right?"

"Affirmative."

"So let's lay down some ground rules." He crossed his arms, indicating these rules were not up for negotiation. "If you want to make a modification to us or anyone else, you need the full consent of _all_of us. You can't just take over our bodies like you did before and just go crazy."

"This is acceptable."

"What about the actual changes, though?" Carmichael asked. "Do we get a say in that?"

A good question. There were some parts of himself that he would like to change but he didn't know enough about anatomy or genetics to know what was detrimental or not. "I'm going to leave that up to Gene to suggest. Obviously, it wants to optimise us to make the Cradle and it's the only one with enough knowledge on the matter. Regardless, it'll still need all of our consent to make the change and it will get its chance to convince us that it's for the better. If even one of us has reservations, then we're not changing. Agreed?"

"Agreed. However, I will make the stipulation that you are all my priority and that my self-preservation is closely tied with your survival. In the instances of an emergency such as your unconsciousness, I will revert to override protocols to ensure your survival. Is this acceptable?"

"Fine." Burke slowly loosened his arms. "And you have to be completely honest with us. You have to tell us everything you know and tell us honestly if we ask, is this understood?" He paused to think for a second about what he had just said then added, "And if there is any pertinent information to the subject at hand, you must give it to us. You can't just say 'I didn't think it'd be relevant' and omit the information, got it?"

"Completely understandable."

"Good." He sat down in the co-pilot's seat while Wildstorm - the second highest ranking officer in the crew - parked himself in the pilot's seat. "Now tell us what the fuck happened while we were out and why the fuck there's a GTF cruiser here."

Gene explained that after it had gathered all the data from their various encounters with the Orcs, it pounced on the opportunity to begin optimising the Orcs for the Cradle Project once all seven of them were once again in close proximity with one another. Sire noted that Gene's powers were heavily tied to how close they were and now that it was bonded to the Dawn,_it was likely restricted to the confines of the ship. Gene confirmed as much. The _Genesiseed had caused each of them to have sex with the Orcs, using their arousal-inducing venom to paralyse the Orcs and then spray their cum all over the Orcs so that Gene could begin processing them. Unfortunately, Burke and Sire's resistance to Gene's influence had caused some flaws in the initial processing which resulted in a bit of a delay and what Gene suspects was the cause of the situation outside.

Before anyone could ask exactly what happened, Gene continued. It had managed optimise the Orcs in several ways. It gave them a standard strong and dense muscle structure that enhanced their strength tenfold. Keeping the Orcs' societal structure, it gave the Orcs some extra body hair to ensure that they were considered 'attractive' and 'mate worthy'. The wanton reproduction was definitely the biggest issue about the Orcs and Gene admitted that it couldn't find a way to successfully restrict that without grossly damaging the Orc's DNA or rewriting their very species entirely.

"My purpose is to emphasise the greatest qualities of the species within my domain and not subjugate the strongest while eliminating the weakest,"_it explained. _"It was thanks to Sergeant Major Firman's stoic outlook and silence, his approach of turning a weakness into a strength, that I learned to take a different approach."

Burke briefly glanced at Firman over his shoulder. The bright red, fiery wolf merely shrugged.

Instead of fully restricting the Orc's ability to expel spores that would trigger breeding, it realised that what the Orcs needed was control over their spores. So, it gave the Orcs the ability to turn into a cloud of sentient spores that they could control. The monitors on the screen lit up with holographic images appearing. The three cocoons containing the Orcs split open and a cloud of black-green spores shot out like a swarm of tiny insects. Those very same spores quickly coalesced in front of their pods, reforming the newly shaped Orcs. Burke couldn't help but fondle his balls a little at the sight of the very hunky and wild Poldak. He could smell the arousal of the crew.

The very same Orcs, seemingly in a daze, moved towards the door and dissolved into another cloud and reformed on the exterior of the ship. There, they split up.

"I had hoped to quickly spread my new Orkish design as quickly as possible as I feared that if it was discovered that the three Orcs that had assisted you had been the ones to cause the changes in the rest of the species, they would immediately attack you and this ship. I had severely misjudged my own abilities. I had exhausted much of my power with the transformation of the three Orcs and forcing all of you to shift into your lupine forms to restrain the Orcs as I could barely control the three Orcs I had changed. As they spread the changes, I lost control."

"When you say 'spread the changes'...?" Carmichael began.

"One other ability I gave the Orcs is the ability to change others into their own new configuration by turning into a spore cloud and inserting themselves into their target."

"You created an Orkish Pandemic!?" exclaimed the doctor, horrified. "Why?"

"My Orkish design optimises their species by turning weaknesses into strengths while maintaining their individuality and identity as a species. It seemed wasteful not to spread this gift to the rest of the species."

Carmichael ran a hand down his muzzle in exasperation. "But you acknowledge that you're doing this against their will."

"Change is often resisted and not readily accepted until it is forced upon them. People will adapt to the change as I learned from how you seven accepted your transformations and pushed forward."

"That's different!" exclaimed Sire.

"Perhaps but that will not change what has happened. I could not control the entire species as the pandemic spread. The situation spiralled out of control..."

Within the day, of the three and a half million Orcs that were on Da'makur, over one million had been converted into Gene's 'optimised Orcs'. From the chatter Gene had intercepted, it had learned that the Orcs retained their ambition but had also been granted new insight in terms arousal. Sexual gratification was something that was relatively new to the Orcs and the experiences of the Poldak, Garok and Brok was quickly spread as those three made sure they infected and turned their fellow Orcs in the most pleasurable way possible. The Rootchief and Sporekeepers desperately tried to contain the outbreak but by the second day, other Sporekeepers fell under the sway of the plague and were openly advocating for others to be transformed. As part of the leadership of the Homeship, many followed their Sporekeepers' advice.

Rootchief Donduur Da'makur was not so easily convinced and locked himself within the Seed of the Homeship, the very heart of the colossal mobile colony. He sent out a distress beacon which was answered by the GTFC Spear of the Shattered and its two escort frigates, the Critical Assailant and the _ Fallen Winter._ The Winter which was predominantly a support vessel and equipped with medical systems, accepted a few Orc survivors who had been infected by the plague so a cure could be found. The Spear_and _Assailant moved in to dock and evacuate the uninfected.

"What the captains of the GTF_fleet didn't realise was that at the time, Rootchief Da'makur had already been infected and taken over entirely."_

Upon being infected, Da'makur quickly realised the benefit of his new enhancements and systematically went about trying to convert every other remaining Orc by either commanding them to submit using his authority as Rootchief or sending his troops to forcibly transform them.

"He became engrossed in ideas of grandeur and uniting all Orkish Homeships under his banner. With his Homeship no longer crippled by constant births, he has come to see himself as some sort of messiah figure that will save the Orcs from themselves. He was about to disable his distress beacon when the Spear of the Shattered answered."

Wildstorm growled, fangs bared and ears folded back. "And he realised that he now had three powerful warp drives bigger than ours that would get him the mobility he needed to reach every Homeship quickly."

"Precisely."

Da'makur enacted a plan. The infected that were sent to the Fallen Winter found weaknesses in the human quarantine much like how Poldak, Garok and Brok managed to slip past the airlock even when the Dawn was in lock down. They infected the five hundred men on the frigate even as the captain struggled to maintain control. The Fallen Winter crashed into the Homeship in the Trunk Sector, the second deepest of the sectors of the ship. The Spear had docked with the Homeship and sent the Critical Assailant_to help the survivors of the _Winter. The_Assailant_ didn't get too far before it was shot down and crashed. The Orcs began assaulting the Spear, using powerful Gravity Screws to keep the ship pinned and unable to escape. The cruiser's powerful shielding kept it from being invaded by Orkish ground troops and ordinarily, its massive cannons would deal immense damage to the Homeship but the Orc's own cannons were pointed at the cruiser. Neither could fire at one another, ending in a stalemate.

Burke took this all in. The Spear could hold up to five thousand men but looking at the design of the ship, it was clearly a Marine cruiser. Chances were, it would only have about three thousand men in the ship - four at most. If the two frigates were Marine frigates as well, they would only have five hundred men within. That left four thousand Marines at the very least currently trapped on the Homeship. Maybe less if some didn't survive the crash. Against the three and a half million optimised Orcs that were all over the Homeship, that was still poor odds.

"What's the plan, Captain?" Sire asked.

Some part of him said they had the supplies they needed and it was far more important to get to Avalon Station and find a way to bring their abilities under control, to get the _Genesiseed_to safety. Certainly Gene's powers in the hands of a megalomaniac like Da'makur could spell disaster not only for the Orcs but the entire universe.

He still couldn't believe he found himself in a fight for the very existence of the cosmos.

"We can't just leave these men here to die at the hands of the optimised Orcs," he announced, rising to his feet.

"That was never an option," Carmichael said fiercely, showing incredible courage for a civilian. "I don't have any military training but I've learned how to defend myself as a deep space scientist. I know how to handle a gun."

"Sounds good!" Stitch flexed one of his meaty arms. "I've been itching to try out this new body in combat!"

Wildstorm punched his palm with a fist, cracking his knuckles ominously. "Where to first, Lieutenant? The Spear is logical but I'm sure they'll shoot us with their big-ass cannons the moment seven werewolves get in range."

Happy was the one that came up with a solution. "Let's get the survivors! If we can save some of the guys that crashed and they vouch for us, we're sure to get a free pass into the cruiser!"

Burke nodded and pointed at the youngest member of his crew. "I like your thinking, Corporal." Though he was plagued with the idea that Warner would've come up with a plan without needing a _corporal_to make the suggestion for him. He shook away that doubt and caught sight of Firman whispering something to Sire.

"What did he say?" Burke asked, one eyebrow raised.

Sire grinned at him savagely.

"'Let's go fuck them up'."

Feeding the Garden

Contact with primary hosts established. Terms of engagement agreed.

Operation Evergreen commencing.

Chances of success estimated at 12%

******

---

There was very little clothing or armour that could protect the wolves - even the comparatively smaller ones - from incoming fire but they made do with what they had. With their newfound strength, Wildstorm and Firman were able to bend some of the steel crates they had in stock to form some makeshift armour mostly consisting of metal bracers and a metal breastplate; none of which would provide adequate protection against laser fire or high-velocity kinetic ammo but it was better than nothing. The others just threw on some tight clothing for the purposes of modesty but mostly went around bare-chest - which wasn't exactly true as they were covered in fur - but it allowed them to make use of their tentacles. They all had their own kinetic barriers that came from a device they could slap onto their wrists to generate the field.

Burke, on the other hand, found himself conflicted.

In front of him was the power armour that was usually designated for the captain of a squad. It was made to resize and refit itself to the shape of any individual who wore it. On top having much thicker armour, it generated a much more powerful kinetic barrier. Logic dictated that he should put on the blue and grey camouflage armour. It's HUD would help him coordinate with the rest of his team since none of them could don much of their standard equipment without spending the next few hours knocked unconscious after transforming back into humans. The change was - understandably - exhausting and required them to be hooked up to Gene who would feed them energies from the warp drive and their surroundings to bring them back up to full strength.

There was no time for that as they had already been knocked out of commission for the past four days since the humans arrived and _six_days since the outbreak first occurred.

"You should put it on."

He glanced off to his side where a monitor was displayed. Usually it was used for ship-wide announcements but it seemed that Gene had taken over all of the Dawn's systems.

"Logically speaking, it would offer you the most amount of protection."

"Not everything can be explained away with logic," he grunted, turning away from the cabinet holding the armour. He hoisted the huge gun, his MAW-14 and slung it over his shoulder. The black leather strap sank between his pectorals causing a little bit of discomfort but that was nothing compared to the incredibly tight shorts - which were originally pants - that he had borrowed from Wildstorm to hide his cock and balls. "What are you going to be doing while we're out and about?"

"I will be optimising the Nascent Dawn's systems in the hopes of ensuring a smooth flight and hasty escape should we need it. I am already integrating much of the Orkish infrastructure around us and sending out a few hastily manufactured drones to bring us equipment. I've taken the liberty of appropriating some of the extra supplies and crates we have received from the Orcs to improve the ship."

"I suppose these quarters are a little cramped," he rumbled, rolling his shoulders and having to shuffle sideways to get to the door.

"I will take that feedback to heart, Captain."

"Lieutenant."

"I beg to differ. You are the leader of this team. You should be the Captain."

"Well I'm not!" he snapped back, strapping on his wrist-mounted kinetic shield. "I'm just the lieutenant."

"As you say, Lieutenant."

He marched out of his quarters and towards the mess hall. In the red light of the Dawn's lockdown he regarded the rest of his team. Most distinctive was Wildstorm who - on top of bending metal to craft himself some body armour, had also created a huge metal shield which he easily carrier in one arm. The chaingun that would have taken him both hands to wield as a human was now easily hefted on one arm. Firman was crouched next to Wildstorm, seemingly welding some electronics to the back of the shield with his multi-tool which served both as his weapon of choice and for any repairs needed. When Firman was done, the shield let out a soft buzz and a faint greenish-blue aura surrounded it.

"Fucking sweet, Firman!" exclaimed the Warrant Officer.

"What's going on?" Burke asked.

Happy, who sat on the table grinned broadly over his shoulder. "Firman has been upgrading our gear with Gene's help." The blonde wolf lifted up a long gun designed to be gripped in two hands. It had a rather heavy, thick barrel and magazine. Burke recognised it as the YT-44 Grenade Launcher Rifle. A weapon that was designed as a rifle but had a secondary fire to throw a couple of grades. It was a little chunkier now, though and from what he could tell, one of Happy's tentacles was inserted into it. "Gene said that our cum could be molded into a sort of foam or goo that can restrict movement. Firman got the idea of shoving one of my tentacles into the weapon and letting me 'cum' out blobs of the shit to gunk up some baddies."

Nevermind the fact that it would likely feel damn good as well, Burke thought mildly.

"Okay." He glanced over to Wildstorm's shield. "Tell me you're not sacrificing your personal shield for that thing."

"Naw, Lieutenant," said the hulking, black wolf. He twisted his arm slightly to show that one of his tentacles was actually attached to a device attached to the shield. "Our cum can also act as a power source apparently. Doc Ross said that it's some sort of 'miracle goo' that can turn into anything we want and Firman crafted this thing to turn mine into extra energy to fuel my shield."

"Isn't that... distracting?"

Wildstorm shrugged. "I'm used to getting my cock sucked. This feels like foreplay. Like, really light foreplay."

"Uh-huh."

The rest of the crew had some new gear courtesy of Firman and Gene too. Sire who mostly specialised in shotguns had two of the weapons strapped to his hips and a series of bandoleers crossing his powerful chest. He noticed that both shotguns had opening for tentacles as well and he guessed that should Sire ever run out of ammo, he could shove his tentacles in there for some makeshift firepower. Stitch had his big sniper rifle over his back but his main weapon was the SA-XV needle gun that was currently filling with needles. The needle gun was designed to inject a multitude of chemicals from a range to either help or hinder targets. Stitch had a pack on his hip filled with syringes that one of his tentacles was hooked up to, no doubt filling them with the 'all purpose cum'.

Doctor Carmichael was given a powerful handcannon, a weapon that could unleash a devastating high-calibre round that could pierce most armour. Curiously, he had a second shield device on his back which his tentacles were hooked up to, no doubt generating a far more powerful shield since he was a civilian.

Movement brought Burke's eyes towards Firman who was approaching him. The Sergeant Major handed him what appeared to be a single-edged plasma sword. With the flick of a button, he could activate the plasma edge of the weapon and cut through most things. Curiously, he noticed that there was a socket for his tentacles embedded in the scabbard. Without saying a word, Firman guided one of his own tentacles into the slot. Burke could see the dollop of cum funnelling through the pink tube and depositing itself into the blade's sheath. When Firman pulled it out, the blade was dripping with his cum. The sergeant slipped the weapon back into its socket and handed the weapon to him.

He wasn't exactly sure how using his own cum as a weapon would help them in battle but if he remembered, their seed was also highly addictive and could induce paralysing arousal. Not exactly the most honourable tactic but he could still accept the plasma blade without using that secondary function. With a nod, he took the weapon and strapped it to his hip.

"Everyone ready?" he barked.

The men saluted.

"One more thing, Lieutenant," Gene mentioned. "I have downloaded myself into your shield modules so I may communicate with you all directly to provide battlefield analysis. I fear that since I have lost contact with the Orcs, I do not know how far they have evolved or what has transpired since I was last in control. This way, I can provide support as necessary."

So even if they did serve as Gene's cores, it couldn't really see through them.

Good to know.

"Fine. Just be ready in case we need urgent extraction."

"Of course."

Taking the lead, Burke stepped towards Nascent Dawn's airlock. He exchanged glances with Firman and Wildstorm, his two most senior officers. He got a nod from them each. "Alright, Gene. Lift the lock down."

The lights in the ship instantly flicked back to a faint, light blue and the airlock hissed open. In perfect unison, even with Ross Carmichael there, the Marines marched out, guns lifted and covering all angles. With Burke in the lead, the Marines slowly advanced down the docks as Gene shut the door to the Dawn behind them. There was a faint buzzing noise above them.

"I am sending some drones ahead to scout the area. Thus far, I am not detecting any activity."

Maybe it was handy to have a powerful AI backing them.

"Which of the ships is closest?"

"The GTFF Critical Assailant crash-landed closet to your position. It is still several blocks away, however."

"Permission to go wolf-out, Lieutenant?" Stitch asked enthusiastically.

He glanced over his shoulder, brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

Stitch had tucked away his needle gun and was rolling his shoulders. "We'd make it faster there if we used all of our newfound abilities." The private and medical expert wiggled his clawed fingers at them. "You know, do more of that thing that Sire did where he crawled all over the walls."

"I wasn't in control then!" Sire barked.

"Still, we got to practice right?"

"No, we don't! We don't even know how to do that and testing it now in the field of battle is a bad idea!"

"If I may," Gene interrupted. "I embedded all the knowledge of how to use your bodies within your minds as an instinctive knowledge. That is how you are able to communicate with one another despite the fact that your muzzle shape is vastly different to human mouths. If you just trust yourselves, you will be able to proceed as Private Killigan suggested."

Sire threw his paws up into the air in exasperation. "Captain, you can't be backing this?"

What would Warner say or do in this situation? Strange as it was, there were two forms of his former captain appearing in his subconscious. One was telling him to maintain his humanity and fight like how he was trained to as a Marine. The other reminded him that he was trained to fight Orcs not optimised Orcs that could turn into spore clouds. He needed every advantage he could get.

That... and Gene did say that if they were in trouble, it'd take over their bodies and the last thing he wanted was to wake up clinging upside down to the ceiling and injuring himself.

Burke offered Sire a smirk. "You're just pissed you can't remember that amazing thing you did, Sire." He shouldered his MAW-14 and turned back towards the docks, crouching slightly. "The Dawn doesn't have the space to be testing out these abilities and there's no time like the present. Keep the formation tight and watch each other's back! Report anything suspicious!"

His massive calves bulged and Ayden Burke bolted down the docks, wind whipping through his hair and fur. He closed his eyes, telling himself to trust his body. Two seconds later, he was suddenly on all fours, leaping forward at high speeds and vaulting over overturned crates, crashed vehicles and some flaming debris. There was a sense of freedom and thrill that came from running on all fours, propelling himself with all his muscles through the streets of the Homeship's streets. All the different smells that assaulted his nostrils sent his brain firing off in different directions. It was exhilarating!

"Wait..."

He leapt towards the side of a building, claws digging into the concrete and sticking to the side with ease. The rest of his squad clamoured around him, all clinging to the walls of nearby buildings but all of them looking at the same pile of discarded clothes at the back of an alleyway. One sniff of the air and he instantly knew what happened here.

"Gene," he growled. "How exactly are your Orcs meant to turn others into more of themselves?"

"Through the spore cloud. When they revert into their cloud forms, they can enter the respiratory systems of other Orcs where they will begin to reconfigure said Orc into more of their kind. Generally, this involves muscular development, rapid hair growth, development of mammalian nipples and eventually the eruption into another spore cloud. The two clouds will remain separate from one another, however and can easily go their separate ways."

"Do they cum?"

"Please clarify."

"Do they end up orgasming when they transform?"

There was a pause on Gene's side. "I had designed the transformation process to be as pleasurable as possible to avoid unnecessary stress and pain. It is plausible that they will orgasm are a result of the transformation but it was not explicitly programmed."

"Yeah well I'm looking at a pile of clothes covered in cum right now." He eyed the entrance of the alleyway to where the pile lay discarded and covered in seed. "Looks like the bastards were cornered or hiding before they succumbed."

"Please take a sample."

"What?" he snarled.

"Please take a sample of the 'semen'. I need to analyse it if I am to find a potential cure or some way to suppress it."

Burke rolled his eyes and loosened his grip on the wall slightly. This allowed him to slowly fall towards the ground, his claws causing deep gashes in the metal. Carmichael and Stitch dropped in beside him while the others stood guard. Kneeling next to the pile and dipped a finger into the pool and, without thinking, lifted it towards his lips. It took him a second to realise that 'taking a sample' could have meant grabbing a tube or something and bringing it back to the Dawn, not licking it off his finger.

Too late, however, and Burke's eyes rolled into the back of his head as Gene took over. His jaw went slack while the Genesiseed_analysed the pool. He could _see what was going through the artifact's thoughts and processes but most of it he couldn't understand. There was... also some confusion from Gene. Confusion, fear and concern. He gasped a moment later as he regained control and Gene retreated.

"Lieutenant!" exclaimed Carmichael, grabbing his chest and preventing him from falling face first into the puddle of cum.

"I'm okay," he gasped. Then, baring his fangs he said, "Damnit, Gene. I thought I told you no taking over without my permission!"

"Your command was not to alter you without permission not to avoid controlling you. How can I trust you with the security of this universe when you constantly change the terms of our agreement?"

Burke cursed himself mentally for not seeing that loophole sooner. Warner would have made a far better contract. "You're advocating for our individuality, right? How can you do that if you keep taking over our bodies?"

"I said that I would take over if the need was dire and the need to analyse this secretion was indeed dire."

Damn. Another loophole.

"Hundred words or less. What did you find?"

"Nothing good."

The 'cum' wasn't semen - predictably - but it wasn't the same multi-purpose matter that the wolves excreted either. It appeared to be some sort of dormant Orc spores that had been liquefied. Unlike the actual spores, however, they didn't possess any specific genetic coding. Rather, it was like it possessed the template to make an Orc - a very generic Orc - but without individual characteristics such as hair colour, eye colour, size, build or anything that would make the Orc unique. The substance was also inert so it couldn't change anyone, thankfully.

"So it is kind of like semen," observed Carmichael. "But if all the traits of the parents were removed. Why would you program your optimised Orcs to produce such a thing?"

"That is just the thing, doctor. I didn't."

A chill ran down Burke's spine but that quickly vanished when he heard the sound of hurried breath and rushed footsteps rapidly approaching.

Happy was the one standing farthest from Burke and he was the one that caught the sound of the approaching individual first. He immediately whipped out his grenade-rifle and peeked around the corner of the alleyway. He was surprised to find a human rushing out from one of the streets, covered in what appeared to be mud, tattered clothing and bruises. The guy had the build of a Marine - strong muscles, lean and with black hair cut short in almost a crew cut.

"Sir, human contact," he announced quietly into his mic. The man turned in their direction and began running. "I'm going to engage."

"Wait! Happy -!"

He immediately stepped out of the alleyway before he could register who was protesting. The man ground to a halt just a few feet from him, almond-shaped black eyes wide in terror. Happy lifted his paws into the air, holding his rifle in a non-hostile motion.

"Easy man," he announced. "My name is Corporal Wade Mattleigh of the 79th Marine Reserves. I mean you no harm."

"The fuck...?" the Marine gasped, holding up an arm in self defence. "What the fuck are you?"

It was then that Happy realised that he was still in his lupine form. That was what his team was trying to warn him about. He dug into all his knowledge and inspiration and came up with the most plausible lie.

"We're from a research station known as McAllister. We were Marines just like you. Except we volunteered for experiments to find a better way to fight the Karn Imperium. That's why I look like this."

"He's not lying... entirely," Sire whispered softly in his ear.

"Goddamnit, Happy..." growled Wildstorm.

The Marine likely heard some of the movement from the alleyway and looked in the direction of the squad. "We?"

"Fuck. No use hiding," muttered Burke.

Slowly, each member of the wolves emerged from the alleyway, each of them assuming a non-aggressive pose - either with guns pointing to the ground or paws lifted in the air.

The Marine's eyes widened in shock as all seven wolves formed a close semi-circle around the Marine. "Jesus Christ..." he whispered. "If you're really Marines... if you're really humans...?"

Happy knew instantly what he was going to ask. "Earth's shadow is cast on the Black Sun."

A look of relief crossed the Marine's features and he immediately snapped to attention, saluting them. "Sunrise comes to the distant shores."

Officially, the Marine's motto was 'Semper Diligentia, Pietate semper' which translated to 'Diligence Forever, Always Dutiful.' However, there was an unofficial motto that was shared only within the Marines and constantly changed. This was the only way to really identify a currently serving Marine since only those who were told the two-phrase pass motto handed down by the upper echelons of the Corps would know it. This year's motto was meant to reflect how while it seems pretty bad that the Karn Imperium are encroaching on Earth's territory, eventually they will prevail.

"Private First Class Shioji Mimasaka, reporting for duty," announced the Marine.

"Private Wade Mattleigh," repeated Happy. He stepped aside and gestured towards Burke. "This is Lieutenant Ayden Burke, my CO."

"Acting CO," Burke answered, returning the salute. "On which ship did you serve, Private?"

"The GTFF Critical Assailant under Captain Hammond Gilles. We were part of the GTFC Spear of the Shattered's fleet." Mimasaka's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I heard the Captain mention that there was supposed to be a human ship on this Homeship before we landed... was that you?"

Happy exchanged glances with Stitch. That was likely one of the ploys Da'makur used to lure the cruiser and its escorts to the Homeship. No better way to provoke a reaction than by pointing out there were people you cared about in the middle of a shitstorm.

"That was us," answered Burke curtly. "What happened to your ship?"

"Lieutenant, I have already informed you of what transpired,"_Gene said, his voice unheard by Mimasaka. _"There is no need to spend time getting details from this individual."

Happy turned away slightly, pressing a finger against his ear... only to remember his ears had moved higher on his skull and he was just pressing part of his head. He had to shift slightly so he could talk to Gene.

"Mimasaka doesn't know that," he whispered softly. "We're already straining trust and if we go around blabbing that we know what caused all this, we'll be shot."

"I understand. Apologies. Continue."

Thankfully, Mimasaka was too preoccupied with his recounting to notice. Much of what he said was exactly the same as what Gene had relayed to them earlier but he went into detail on how Gilles, a head-strong Captain, had rushed in to the rescue of the Fallen Winter when he had heard it had crashed. This was despite Captain Farwood's orders - the Captain of the Spear of the Shattered. At the time, the Assailant was just meant to act as a scout and long-ranged support, not docking with the Homeship and just hovering outside of range. However, when the Winter fell, he charged right into cannon range and was instantly assaulted by the Homeship's guns. All pretences were gone at that point and those very same guns peppered the Spear. Gilles went down with the ship while everyone else was forced into escape pods and ejected as the ship was torn by the cannons.

Mimasaka crashed not too far away from where the majority of the Assailant crashed along with a few other of his crew members. They barely got their guns out before they were captured by some big, hairy Orcs and dragged into some sort of arena filled with mud.

"Fuck... There of all places," rumbled Wildstorm. "Don't tell me they had you fighting to figure out who would get to stay human longest."

The Private from the _Critical Assailant_shook his head mournfully. "No. They had us competing against some of their own Orcs. I think they were just trying to tire us out because... because in the end, they were convinced on giving us their 'gift'."

"Wait..." Gene said worriedly. "What does me mean by 'gift'? Is he suggesting that the Orcs can...?"

"Are they turning humans into Orcs?" Happy blurted.

Mimasaka squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered. "Y - Y - Yes... They would... they would tire us out and then they would explode into these clouds of spores or something and go into us! I'd... I'd watch my friends and crewmates scream and claw at their own cocks before cumming over and over again. They'd grow, get all big and buff and... and..."

Suddenly, Mimasaka's eyes sprang open in horror. Happy followed where he was staring and noticed the man's mud-stained camouflage pants were showing a rather distinct erection. The faintest droplet of white cum seeped out from the fabric.

"Oh no..." gasped the Private. "I'm... I'm infected!" His black eyes lifted towards the wolves, lips quivering in a silent plea. Then he threw his head back, his whole body convulsing. Thick veins crossed his exposed flesh and he instinctively humped the air. Happy raced forward, catching the Marine before he fell to the ground and cracked his skull open.

"Stay with me, Private!" he yelled. "Stay with me!"

"Happy!" Wildstorm barked, lifting his gun. "Get away from him!"

"This... This is impossible!" Gene exclaimed, totally horrified. "The transformation should not be able to cross species. I built the Orcs to optimise their own species not turn others into more of themselves! How could this have happened!?"

Gene's shock and horror were secondary as Happy clutched Mimasaka while the Private of the Critical Assailant convulsed in his arms. Mimasaka let out a loud groan, arching his back and thrusting his hips into Happy's chest. The golden wolf felt the wetness from the Private's cum seeping through the mud-stained clothes and into his fur. Wildstorm grabbed his shoulder buy he yanked it free and held onto Mimasaka tightly.

"There's got to be a way to save him!" Happy exclaimed. "Gene, if I stick a tentacle in him, will you be able to sort out something?"

"I... I do not know. This is far outside the parameters of my design. I would need time to analyse the data and -"

"We don't have time! What can you do now!?"

Mimasaka locked gazes with him, tears welling in his eyes and teeth gnashed together. He was gripping Happy's arm. "Please..." pleaded the Private. "C - C - Captain Gilles was... was taken... Oh fuck your arms are so thiiiiick!" Another thrust and more cum seeped out of Mimasaka's pants. The veins all over his body were thickening, crawling all over his face. "Th - th - they took him deeper... H - he - he came... he came... arena! An arena! God! I want to lick your pecs! Uuuuuurgh!"

Burke's strong paws seized him, trying to pull him back but he refused to let go of the convulsing Private.

Then there was a loud tearing noise... but it didn't come from Mimasaka. It came from the seat of his pants and there was a sudden burst of pleasure that erupted from his ass. His grip instinctively slackened and his eyelids fluttered. Burke and Wildstorm pounced and dragged him away from Mimasaka, leaving the Private to claw at his own stained clothes as his flesh began turning a dark green. Happy regained his composure and glanced angrily over his shoulder. There was a tentacle protruding from his ass and it was connected to Doctor Carmichael.

"What the fuck, doc!?"

"Don't get angry at him," Sire snarled, standing protectively in front of the red wolf. "He's just pulling your ass out of a dangerous situation."

The loud, deep roar from the transforming Private cut through their argument and the entire squad turned to watch the scene in horror. Mimasaka's hands tore at the neckline of his military-issue white shirt, making a slight tear right down the middle. Then his chest erupted, taking full advantage of the tear to give way to huge green pectorals. It was like watching two green mountains bursting out of a field of muddy snow. His nipples were painfully erect and he immediately seized them, squeezing and tugging at them roughly. The stimulation only caused him to pump his hips harder and harder into the air, cum staining his pants with enough force that some of it was even shooting through the fabric and into the air. Those pants didn't last much longer as they tore right around the groin area, a huge, green, vascular rod rising into the air and spraying cum all over Mimasaka's chest newly exposed chest.

The integrity of the garment compromised, the pants easily tore away as highly defined thighs decorated by vine-line veins tore through the weakened fabric, turning from a soft pale brown into a deep, brownish-green colour. His femur lengthened while more and more strength was added to each thrust. The remnants of the pants blew away with enough force to send sweat and cum-stained fabric landing at Happy's feet. The big military boots that rose up about halfway the Private's calves strained as the big muscles ballooned outwards, leather straining and tearing at the seams while big, green toes erupted from its base, unfurling the laces almost in comical fashion.

Thick, black hairs spread all over Mimasaka's body, coming out in big hairy waves from the back of his feet, sweeping ups his shins, over his calves and seemingly fusing with his dense, black pubic hair. It didn't stop there and washed over his chiselled abdominals and formed a thick bush over his chest. As they spread over his shoulders like a cloak, his arms inflated with thick muscle and plump veins. With bigger muscles came greater force in the twisting and toying of his nipples that only caused Mimasaka to erupt into another powerful orgasm, even more explosive than before.

The Private of the Critical Assailant let out one more powerful cry, eyes wide and his irises burning a bright, luminescent green. His neck thickened while he was letting out that cry of ecstasy, voice deepening as a result. The colouration of his skin quickly faded from his pale brown to the deep, muddy green. With his jaw open from that roar, there was space for two of his teeth to come jutting out into two, huge tusks that nearly reached up to his nostrils. The soft features of the Private was consumed by a deep brow, fierce jaw and long pointed ears that was just touched by messy black hair that led down to a light fuzz over his cheeks.

One last orgasm saw Private Shoiji Mimasaka fade into the brutal shape of an Orc.

But it wasn't over. Not yet.

Mimasaka let out one more roar, every vein on his body tensing, every muscle pressing up against his green skin to the point where every striation was visible like he had 0% body fat.

"Get back!" Gene cried. "He is about to -"

BOOM!

Happy was more shocked than horrified when Mimasaka's entire form just... exploded, erupting into a thick black-green cloud of smoke. It reminded him a little of that black smoke monster of a very confusing TV series from centuries ago involving some kind of mysterious island and plane crash survivors. The gaseous mass roiled in the air, seemingly writhing like an angry swarm of microscopic bees. When he squinted, he could swear that he could see two distinct colours in the mass but he wasn't completely sure.

Then the singular mass slammed into the ground like gravity had suddenly intensified. The spores coalesced, emitting a sound like grains of sand rubbing against one another as they formed a large, green mass... in fact, two green masses. Happy's ears perked forward as he began to make out one pair of arms wrapped around a big, muscular, hair chest, two pairs of legs intertwined with one another and two cocks pressed together between two sets of rigid abdominals. Two Orcs were revealed, lips savagely intertwined, tongues sloppily lancing out between massive tusks as their bodies reformed through the cloud.

"Run," Burke commanded, starting to pull Happy back. "Before they remember we're here."

Military training kicked in and Happy jumped to his feet at his CO's command. His mind was still reeling and he defaulted to autopilot as he leapt into the air and scrambled up the sides of building to get away from the two Orcs having passionate sex out in the middle of the street. There was some part of him that couldn't believe how unbelievably hot that all was but at the same time, he was horrified at how quickly Mimisaka's personality had been replaced by that horny Orc.

He wasn't sure how long they had been running but somehow, he had ended up inside an Orkish building. It was a good thing that Orcs were generally larger than humans because all of them could fit easily within the confines of what appeared to be a studio apartment. There was barely a second to rest when two, huge black paws grabbed him by the scruff and slammed him hard against the nearby wall.

"What the fuck was that, Corporal!?" barked Sire. "You ignored a direct command from _multiple_superior officers! You better have a good explanation!"

"Me!?" barked Happy, snarling with his fangs bared. "What about you!? Why didn't you do anything to fucking help him!? Mimasaka was a human and he was being turned into a mindless, fucking Orc! Or is that just the kind of life you want for people, Sire? To just be fucking around all the time!?"

Even when he was angry, Happy couldn't help but shoot a few joking barbs every now and then. Sire was clearly perturbed by the comment given how he loosened his grip. Still, he kept Happy pinned against the wall.

"We're in danger here, Corporal," snarled the black wolf. "If we had stuck around there, we would've gotten infected or worse. You heard Gene. It was surprised that its goddman virus jumped from Orcs to humans. We could get infected too."

That was something he hadn't considered. It left him feeling a little sick that he could have endangered the entire squad and caused them all to turn into mindless, horny Orcs. There was a part of him that briefly considered that would be pretty damn sexy but he was reminded of Gene's mission to preserve individuality and identity. If he was going to fuck, it was because he wanted to and not because something compelled him to.

"Sorry," he mumbled apologetically, ears folded back. "Private Mimasaka was just one of us, you know? He was a Marine. When you think about it, what happened to him is because of us."

Sire let out a soft sigh and released him. "Yeah... Yeah, I know. This is fucking messed up."

"At least he went out feeling good, right?"

The Specialist and pilot rolled his eyes and padded away. Happy blushed beneath his golden fur. Most of the squad had watched the exchange but none had intervened. As Sire headed away, Doctor Carmichael stepped forward.

"I apologise for what I did," said the red wolf, head ducked. "I couldn't think of any way to get you away from Private Mimasaka in time so I thought..."

Happy forced a smile and placed a paw on Ross' shoulders. "Hey, it's okay. Just buy me dinner next time first, okay?"

The doctor returned a shaky smile.

Glad to see the issue resolved, Burke once again took command, lifting his shield module to his muzzle. "Explain, Gene," was all he said.

"Without a complete picture, I can only surmise that the Orcs have undergone a rapid mutation. This could be because of their naturally rapid reproductive cycle. I cannot say for sure but I can only guess that they somehow developed a way to implant their genes into other species apart from their own. Again, without solid samples I cannot make solid conclusions."

"Well we're not fucking any of those Orcs, if that's what you're asking."

"Naturally."

"Thanks." Burke turned towards Happy. "What did Mimasaka say before he... turned."

Happy wore an easy smile but it was clear he was deeply disturbed by what had happened. They all were. "He mentioned that their Captain was taken deeper into the Homeship and something about an arena. The rest was him screaming about how he wanted to lick my pecs and how my arms are huge." He winked as he flexed a bicep. "Can't say he was wrong on the last part."

Wildstorm let out a soft growl. "An arena...? You don't think it's the mud wrestling arena that we visited, do you? He _was_covered in mud..."

Burke scratching his chin thoughtfully but paused for a second as he caught one of the longer hairs protruding from his fur. Was he growing a beard? Setting the thought aside, he said, "Maybe but Varrin said that mud wrestling was a common past time for them. There could be hundreds of such arenas."

Gene chimed in. "I am doing a scan of nearby stadiums now and cross referencing it with what we know."

"Oh!" exclaimed Stitch. "Add the fact that they clearly took Captain Gilles deeper into the Homeship so it probably has to have a way to get from the Canopy to the Trunk close by."

"And probably has to be close to the where we encountered Private Mimasaka and where the Critical Assailant crashed," added Carmichael. "As strong as the Orcs may be, I can't imagine that they'd be willing to cart around five hundred well-trained Marines a long distance."

"Analysing..." mused Gene. It only took a few seconds for the alien AI to respond. "Done. I've found on mud wrestling arena nearby. It is likely where Private Mimasaka originated from and where we might find any remaining crew members of the Critical Assailant."

Burke pulled his MAW-14 gun from over his shoulder and exchanged nods towards the rest of his squad. "Then that's where we're heading."

Deep in the Mud

Danger: parameters have changed.

Optimised Orcs have somehow developed an infectious strain that can convert other species into more Orcs.

Developing countermeasures.

Chances of success now 1%

******

---

Of course it had to be the same bloody arena.

But since this was the first time that Sergeant Major Travis 'Alloy' Firman had been here, he was seeing the mud-covered stadium for the first time and he did not like what he saw. Like Wildstorm, he was gay through and through. No one ever knew what his sexual preference was, however, because he usually kept silent and rarely spoke. Sire knew, of course. That blowjob at the cockpit had been initiated by him and not the Genesiseed. The scenes before him reminded him about the dark sides of gay culture. Everyone had their sexual fantasies but the scenes below him were just cruel.

Perched on one of the upper beams of the arena, crouched down and hidden in the shadows, he watched as a poor, completed naked, Marine, was thrown into the muddy arena by a pair of burly Orcs. The gates were sealed behind the Marine leaving him at the mercy of the only other Orc in the arena. There were other Orcs in the stands, all of them cheering loudly. They were all cheering 'Nodmmah' over and over again, pumping fists into the air. Both the fighters were unarmed but with the titanic Orc towering at least ten feet tall, the Marine was completely outmatched.

"This is just sick," snarled Wildstorm.

The two of them were crouched together while the rest of the squad were perched at various vantage points as they tried to figure out where the Orcs were keeping the humans. The Orc down on the arena, Nodmmah, was basking in the cheers and adorations of his fans. He even willingly turned his back to his one opponent as he lifted his arms into the air and beckoned the crowd to give him more. As an Orc, he was certainly an impressive specimen, on par with the gargantuan Rootchief that Firman had only briefly seen.

"This should not be possible," stated Gene quietly. "I had discerned that the gargantuan size of the larger Orcs were actually a disadvantage to their species. Bigger sizes mean bigger targets and while they are proportionately strong, their massive sizes cause a significant drain on their reserves and actually made them slower and ungainly. I had optimised the species to remain at a range of seven to eight feet but with higher muscle density to increase their strength. That gargantuan beast should not exist."

"Seems a lot of what you thought wouldn't be possible is coming true, Gene," rumbled Wildstorm.

Nodmmah turned towards his opponent, arms bent by his sides and welcoming the Marine to make the first strike. Firman knew where he would strike first and that was the huge Orc's massive genitals which were bigger than the Marine's head. It seemed that the Marine had exactly the same thought as the man charged forward. Nodmmah didn't seem at all worried even when the Marine dove feet first between the huge Orc's legs and scrambled up behind him. One swift kick from behind and both Firman and Wildstorm instinctively raised a paw towards their own balls.

"That is why I decided to limit the Orc's size. Larger legs makes for larger openings between said legs."

"You might want to reconsider that," Wildstorm warned.

Nodmmah barely registered the impact. The huge, green skinned Orc simply reached down, seizing the Marine's leg and pulled him right out from between his legs. The muscled soldier was left dangling upside down in front of Nodmmah who grinned cockily at the flailing man.

"Nodmmah! Nodmmah! Nodmmah!" cheered the crowd.

"Guys," whispered Sire. "Burke and I think we've found where the rest of the humans are being kept. There are a few guards here though."

"Stay put," Carmichael said. "I think we just found the building's power supply and it's unguarded. Happy, do you think you can cut the power supply?"

"Sure can, Doc. Think that'll give you enough of a distraction, Lieutenant?"

Firman's mind began to race. Loss of power would certainly cause a distraction but there had to be at least a hundred Orcs in the stadium, maybe two. The moment those lights went out, there would be maybe a minute or two of confusion before they all started turning into spore clouds and searching for the source of the disturbance. Getting the remaining humans out of the stadium in time would be impossible.

He had to tell someone and he wasn't comfortable speaking aloud with Wildstorm. At least not yet. Reaching for his wrist-mounted console, he quickly tapped a few commands, sending a text straight to Sire. Even through text, he could only trust Sire.

"Fuck. Firman's right."

"What?" asked Happy.

"The Orcs have mobility on us. Even if we get these doors open, the moment those lights go out, all those Orcs are going to swarm us. Then what?"

Suddenly, there was a panicked cry from Stitch who was playing lookout on their only point of entry; a small opening on the roof of the closed arena's rooftop. "Oh shit -!"

"Stitch!" hissed Wildstorm. Firman didn't bother exchanging glances with the big, grey wolf and nimbly bolted across the beams back to towards their sole entrance. He clambered over the beams and launched himself through the roof, surprising even himself at how strong his legs were. He landed deftly on the metal and slightly rusted rooftop. Wildstorm was just a few seconds behind him and as such, was a few seconds as well to lifting his paws in surrender.

"Put your guns down," rumbled the huge Orc. That same Orc had Stitch firmly caught in a headlock while one of those vicious Screwer pistols were levelled at the white wolf's head. This same Orc was accompanied by three others, all of them levelling their guns at the wolves. What struck Firman as odd was not only were they using weapons but they were clothed. The one holding down Stitch was actually wearing a pair of goggles strapped to his head, barely visible beneath the bright red mane-like hair and had a long black cloak draped over his body that likely helped him keep to the shadows. Beneath the cloak was some of the patchwork metal armour that the Orcs were known for.

Uninfected Orcs...?

Wildstorm lowered his paws as he took a whiff of the air. "Wait... Poldak? Is that you?"

Firman whirled around towards the other senior officer before looking back towards the Orc that had a gun towards Stitch's face. There was no denying it. Even beneath the scruffy beard, he could recognise the strong jawline of Poldak. He remembered it firmly though he wasn't sure why. There were memories of wrestling with the Orc in the mud, of feeling that fat cock deep within his ass, of his cock inside the Orc and their lips meshing together in a hot embrace.

Poldak twisted his head slightly in confusion. "How do you know my name, beast?"

"It's me," Wildstorm said, daring to take a step forward. "Marcus Aurelius. You know me as Wildstorm. We wrestled in the mud right beneath us."

The Orc's brow furrowed and his grip around Stitch's neck grew tighter. "That's impossible Wildstorm was not a... a..."

"Wolf. And let's face it, man, you don't know _anything_about humans. We could all look like this but you wouldn't know."

The former guard grunted softly. "Then tell me something only he would know."

That was a tough question as Wildstorm had only really spent a few hours with Poldak. The way they were speaking, it was like they had spent some intimidate moments together...

"On the Nascent Dawn," Wildstorm began calmly. "We were in the showers. I led you in there because I wanted to 'compare human showers with Orc showers'. You came along innocently enough and I laughed. You asked me why I found that funny. I said that it was because that had to be the stupidest excuse for sex I had ever made and you didn't know what sex was. So I decided to show you."

Strange thing was, Firman had those memories as well. Now that they were brought up, he could remember that conversation clearly like he had been the one who was horny and had been lusting after the huge Orc's body since they wrestled in the mud and had bathed together. But he only remembered them now when Wildstorm had brought it up.

Why was that...?

"Unbelievable..." Poldak whispered, slowly letting go of Stitch. "Wildstorm? Is that really you? Then this must be...?" He looked down at the white wolf who gasped in relief and staggered away.

"Y - Yeah..." panted the Private. "It's me, Poldak. Fuck... You're strong. How the fuck did you manage to sneak up on me like that?"

Poldak blinked a few times in confusion. "I... I approached in my cloud form. We are nearly completely silent in that form. What happened to you all?"

"Long story," Wildstorm said, padding forward and immediately catching the massive Orc in a tender embrace. "Fuck... I've relieved to see you! I thought you had turned into one of those mindless fuckers down there!" Before letting Poldak respond, the big wolf grabbed the sides of the Orc's head and pressed their lips together, shoving his long tongue into the Orc's lips. There was a second of shock before Poldak leaned into the kiss, letting out a soft moan of appreciation. Judging by the rising tents in both men's pants, they enjoyed the engagement.

Firman cleared his throat, reminding the two they had an audience.

"Ah, sorry," Wildstorm coughed, taking a step away. "I don't know what came over me..."

Somehow, Firman suspected it was Gene's influence.

"It is fine," grunted Poldak with a shy grin. "I enjoyed it." His smile faded. "But what are you doing here and how did you become so... fluffy?"

It took some explaining but within ten minutes, Poldak was caught up with the whole story. Wildstorm introduced Poldak to Gene who confessed to what it had done. Gene had explained as much as it could concerning its purpose and why it had mutated the Orcs. It was impossible to tell what Poldak was thinking given the alien features but Firman was an expert in stoicism; he wore an unreadable mask most of time. The Orc was conflicted.

"Well?" Stitch asked as their finished their narrative. "What do you think?"

Poldak was quiet for a few moments. Then he exchanged glances with his men who were similarly unreadable. "On some level, I blame you all for the state of our Homeship. You should have told us about what had happened. Then again, I would have understood your hesitation. You were desperate and likely being hunted by the Karn. I cannot deny that our forced 'evolution' actually has _some_benefits too."

"Really?"

"Yes. We now know the pleasures of the flesh."

"Huh?"

"Sex, Stitch," Wildstorm provided, grinning brightly. "They now know what it means to have sex." That grin faded quickly, however. "Still, I'm sorry this all happened."

"It is not entirely your fault," Poldak answered. "Most of it is because of Rootchief Da'makur."

"Right. He became infected and went crazy with power."

"That is our reason for being here."

Apparently, after Gene lost control of the Orcs, some of those with stronger wills managed to regain their senses and start bringing people back from the brink. But not everyone was so conscious of individual freedoms or personal identities. Many Orcs saw this as an opportunity to make a grab for power and turned the Sporekeepers who in turn transformed Da'makur. When Da'makur began speaking of trapping the humans that had responded to his call and taking their warp drives and turning the rest of the Orcs, rebellion arose. Led by Sporekeeper Varrin, a small fraction of those that were uninfected and those who opposed Da'makur broke away and began seeking ways to free the humans.

"The warp drives of the two frigates were far too damaged to be of use," explained Poldak. "And your warp drive was far too small to take the entire Homeship without heavy modifications."

"But the one on the cruiser would need little changes," Wildstorm concluded. "That's why he's besieging it."

"We believe that's his plan, yes. But they are at an impasse. The cruiser's weapons are powerful enough to heavily damage the Homeship and your Captain's threat of overloading the warp drive was enough to give Da'makur pause."

"Not a Captain!" bellowed Burke even though none of the Orcs could hear him.

"Da'makur can't open fire or he'll risk damaging the ship. At the same time, your captain can't break free of the gravity screws that keeps it pinned down without opening fire and potentially risking retribution. Not to mention all the prisoners Da'makur currently has."

"So you figure if you free the humans, that'll weaken Da'makur's leverage," Stitch surmised. "If we can get the cruiser out of here, Da'makur won't have the means of invading other Homeships and colonies."

"Sounds like we're on the same page," Burke rumbled. "Ask him if he has any way of freeing the prisoners down here."

Stitch relayed the question and Poldak crossed his arms gruffly. "We've been monitoring the situation for a while now. Nodmmah is the sole fighter and he enjoys slowly wearing down his opponents before turning them." The massive red-headed Orc strode forward, leading them to the opening that had a perfect bird's eye view of the arena. Below, the poor Marine was on his last legs, barely able to stand on his feet and swaying precarious back and forth. To his credit, he kept his fists up. "This cruel display goes against everything that this arena and our traditions."

Firman remembered directly from Wildstorm's memories that these mud wrestling matches were built to excise one's aggression and grievances without doing any real damage to one another. But Nodmmah was using this arena as a means to break his opponents and force them into becoming an Orc.

"That's sick," Stitch growled. "I say we bring this whole place down on top of him. Happy's got the explosives."

"Won't work," warned Burke. "Same issue with a power outage. The moment the building starts crashing down, the Orcs are going to go into cloud form and escape. We'll either be trapped or be running right into a horde of angry Orcs."

A fair point. Maybe Burke was finally coming into his own as a leader of the squad.

Below them, the Marine collapsed into the mud. Nodmmah grabbed his head with one massive hand, lifting the soldier high into the air for all to see. The Orc let out a loud roar, showing his limp trophy for the crowd to see. Cheers of his name reached even where Firman was standing. A victorious grin on his face, Nodmmah lifted his free hand and gleefully watched as it slowly dissolved into a cloud of spores. Completely under his control, the cloud shot straight into the limp Marine's orifices. The defeated warrior began twitching, his flesh turning green and his exposed cock immediately going rock hard. His first orgasm sent splatters of cum onto Nodmmah's arms.

"I've got an idea," Wildstorm snarled, crouching down. Firman didn't need an explanation to know what his fellow Marine was planning. "We'll challenge Nodmmah."

"What!?" Sire exclaimed. "Are you crazy!? I know you're big, Wildstorm but that guy is huge!"

"And? We know the bastard won't infect us until we're broken. I can buy you all the time you need to free the rest of the Marines. All these muscles have got to be worth something, right?"

Firman placed a paw on Wildstorm's shoulder, giving the Warrant Officer a firm nod. He grabbed his multi-tool and placed it firmly in Stitch's paws. Wildstorm grinned at him and dropped his chaingun and shield.

"No!" Stitch exclaimed. "No way! Not you too, Firman! This is suicide! How are you going to get out of there!?"

"Happy and Doctor Ross," answered Wildstorm. "When the last human is clear, you two shut off the power. We'll use that to escape."

It was a sound plan. He was honestly a little disappointed that Burke wasn't protesting but the kid still had to grow up a little before he became full Captain material. That was fine. The rest of the squad - the rest of his pack - would protect him until he was ready to become alpha.

"My men and I will help with the escape," Poldak announced. "We know these streets. We know where you can hide." He nodded towards one of his men who immediately erupted into a cloud of bright, green spores and shot off like a sentient gaseous streak. "I've sent Mirrad to your Captain. He will help guide you out of the arena and into the streets. We will provide cover and distractions for any Orcs that would get in your way."

Wildstorm grinned brightly. "Thanks, Poldak."

"One more thing," said the former guard, his tone grim. "Nodmmah... He is -"

"Hammond Gilles," Firman concluded, stunning both Stitch and Wildstorm.

With that one name spoken, Travis 'Alloy' Firman dropped down from the hexagonal opening in the stadium's roof. It had to be at least a three hundred feet drop but he was unafraid. Something just told him he could make the fall. Wildstorm was a second behind him. Silent fury burned within him. Like the rest of the Marines, he was utterly appalled by the brainwashing that the corrupt Orcs were employing. More than that, however, he was furious that Hammond Gilles, captain of a GTF starship was actively converting his own men into Orcs!

If there was one thing Firman couldn't stand, it was disloyalty and betrayal.

WHAM! WHAM!

Both wolves landed in the mud, catching their weight on all fours. The impact shook their limbs but nothing broke. Whether it was their reinforced bones or the fact that they landed in knee-high mud, Firman didn't care. Now it was time to put Hammond Gilles, former Captain of the GTFF Critical Assailant, stopped fucking the newly created Orc and stared at them in surprise.

"What the fuck are you supposed to be?" bellowed the green gladiator.

Firman decided to leave the cool one-liner to Wildstorm.

"We're next, motherfucker."

Wildstorm maybe be the 'dad' of the squad but he was still a Marine and knew how to make an entrance. Both wolves unfurled their tentacles, angling them straight at Gilles. Firman wondered if they actually looked a little like lupine angels that had descended from above come to deal holy justice on the traitor captain. If he were more comfortable speaking out, he might have made that comparison aloud.

Gilles straightened, the smaller and newly made Orc still speared on his cock with a look of utter bliss on his features. All that resistance, all that spirit that had been wiped away and all that remained was a sex slave. The huge Orc gave one last thrust into his latest victim before he barked an order. The unnamed former Marine moaned, cum shooting out of his gargantuan cock before he dissolved into a spore cloud that streamed towards the stands. The Orc rematerialised a moment later only to be immediately be accosted by other audience members; fondling, kissing and even being so bold as to eat out his ass right there and then.

"In all seriousness," grunted Gilles, crossing his arms. "Who the fuck are you?"

Wildstorm straightened, fangs bared and ears folded back. "I am Warrant Officer Marcus Aurelius and this is Sergeant Major Travis Firman. We're from the 79th Marine Reserves, the Lone Wolves. I'll let you form your own conclusions but we're here to challenge you, 'Captain'." Wildstorm twisted his body slightly, showing off his as and giving it a light slap. "If you want some of his tight, furry ass, you'll have to come and get it!"

The towering Orc snorted derisively. "There's not much fun when they give up but I just can't resist a good fuck." Just like before, he lifted his arms, beckoning them two to come at him. "Make it a good one, boys!"

Now that they were on the same field, Firman could actually get a good look at Gilles. By his estimate, the Orc was about ten feet tall. Unlike Poldak who was lean and seemingly didn't possess an inch of body fat, Gilles had a distinct gut that made his torso look less like a tree and its canopy and more like a solid, thick tree's trunk. There was muscle there, though. The wider belly was framed by powerful abdominal muscles and supported thick, plump pectorals. Huge, rounded shoulders led down into massive biceps that were supplied by thick veins, one of which pressed up against his green skin and led all the way down to his meaty forearms where it branched out into a delta of smaller tributaries. His huge hands hung just a little below his waistline which sported a massive cock that had to be at least eighteen inches long as it stood erect with balls the size of bowling balls hanging right beneath them.

Thighs as thick as more men's waists supported his gargantuan frame and they were pressed against one another just due to their sheer size. The deep mud just barely came halfway up his huge calves with what Firman could only imagine were massive feed buried deep within. Gilles' face sported a double chin which only served to highlight the thickness of his frame especially with that dense, black goatee that highlighted the four tusks that jutted out from his lower jaw; the two outer jaws being the biggest and reached a little past his nostrils and the two inner ones about being a quarter of its size. His green skin, while covered in mud, was a brighter, grass-green in colour that contrasted against his short, black hair. His eyes burned with a fluorescent green colour much like Mimasaka's after Private had been transformed. Curiously, he wasn't as hairy as the other Orcs. Apart from the goatee, a dense, mud-covered crest on his groin and dense bushes coming out from his armpits, he was mostly hairless.

Firman thought that Orcs generally liked men who were hairy because it was culturally a sign of their value as a mate.

Maybe the Rootchief didn't trust Gilles enough to make him that sexy... or perhaps now that the Orcs could infect others with their spore clouds, they no longer needed body hair to help them reproduce.

Wildstorm charged, letting out a ferocious roar. Firman was a step behind him. The mud hindered some of their movement but they were still much faster than the average human and Gilles instantly saw that, dropping his confident facade to take on an aggressive crouch like a wrestler. Wildstorm collided with the Orc, slamming their hands against one another. The force of the impact pushed Gilles back a few feet, causing the audience to immediately fall silent as - for the first time - their champion actually had a challenge on their hands. Firman scrambled up Wildstorm's broad, muscled back, leaping over the stunned Orc and grabbing the man's neck. It was too thick to get into a choke hold but his weight and the surprise of the move was enough to cause Gilles to stagger back another few feet.

He wasn't sure why he did it. Normally, it would never have crossed his mind but the moment Gilles gagged, Firman shoved a tentacle down his throat, immediately squirting some of his paralysing cum down the Orc's throat. At the same time, two of his tendrils shot into Gilles' ass causing the huge Orc to instinctively thrust his hips. Wildstorm took the queue and threw aside the corrupt captain's arms and lunged at that huge dick. He clamped onto the massive cock while his tentacles lunged at Gilles' exposed nipples, curling around them and plunging straight into the fleshy nubs.

The sudden connection of the two wolves with the huge Orc suddenly triggered something spectacular. Each tentacle was like a sensory organ, nerve ending and cock at the same time so as it connected with Gilles, it was like they were connecting with the Orc's nervous system, plugging in to the gladiator's brain. Both were unprepared for the shock and so was Gene who had never expected such an outcome but the alien artifact saw an opening and took it.

It delved into Captain Hammond Gilles mind, sifting through memories.

There were a blur of images, a myriad of voices, various senses firing off left and right. The memories came closer to the present day. Fear and fury at the news that the Fallen Winter had crashed. Concern over his fellow Captain and defiance against Captain Farwood's orders to remain in orbit. Guilt rang through when the huge cannons of the Homeship tore through the _Critical Assailant's_shields and ripped through the hull. Determined to go down with the ship, he ordered the rest of his crew into the escape pods. Then there was fire and flying metal.

Next thing he knew, Gilles was being draped over the big, muscled shoulder of an Orc. He drifted in and out of consciousness. An arena. The smell of mud. The loud clacking of a dilapidated tram. A dark city with barely any lights on. Then bright green lights. He was thrown to his knees, head forced to look up. Perched on a dark throne made of steel but crafted to look like it was crafted from the gnarled roots of a tree was the biggest Orc he had seen. The guy was titanic, maybe fifteen or sixteen feet tall with a cock and balls so big that he was actually sitting his gargantuan feet on them. Words were exchanged...

"What the fuck do you want?" Gilles bellowed.

The huge Orc, Rootchief Da'makur mutated by the Orcs, lazily leaned against one hand. "I want you, Captain. I want your men. I want your warp drive. I want to unite the Orcs under a single banner and stop their nomadic lifestyle. I want to make a singular Orkish nation that will carve out our names in history!"

"Fucking crazy..."

"Am I? Your colleague didn't think so."

Gilles' eyes widened as another Orc stepped into view. Through the green skin, tusks and immense muscle structure, it was impossible not to recognise Victor Reyes, the Captain of the Fallen Winter.

"Victor...?"

The academic captain adjusted the small glasses that sat on his nose. Given the way that they weren't actually sitting in front of his eyes, Gilles guessed that they were purely cosmetic. Reyes had practically been blind without them. Ignoring Gilles, Reyes moved towards the gargantuan Orc, wrapping his arms around the Rootchief's broad shoulders and leaning down for a kiss. This was no peck on the lips; it was a long, sloppy, passionate session with audible slurping and lip-smacking.

Reyes broke the kiss after a minute and after a river of cum had poured out of the Rootchief's cock and nearly made its way towards Gilles.

"Shall we turn him, my Rootchief?" rumbled the formerly academic GTF Captain.

"Reyes!" bellowed Gilles. "What the fuck happened to you!? What did they do to you?"

His fellow Captain just stared at him coldly. "You'll find out soon enough, Gilles." Reyes turned back towards the Rootchief. "Shall I pick someone, Rootchief?"

Da'makur grinned broadly, his bright green eyes glaring down at Gilles hungrily. "Yes. Make him big. Very big. I like his aggression." Reyes gazed around the room and then pointed at one of the Orcs that had brought Gilles in. That same Orc suddenly erupted into a cloud of spores. Firman instinctively tried to hold his breath only to remember that he was somehow seeing a memory and couldn't actually act on it. That spore cloud shot towards the Rootchief just as Reyes dissolved into his own cloud. Both gaseous Orcs entered the Da'makur who eagerly breathed them in, his cock growing harder and longer with each breath.

"Oh fuck! No!" Gilles cried as that very same cock angled towards him.

Without warning, a stream of cum shot straight towards the weakened and restrained Captain. There was enough force that Gilles was thrown clear off the floor from his kneeling position and slammed into the far wall. He was pinned several feet off the wall by the constant stream of cum for a whole minute before the pressure finally dropped and he was allowed to drop to his knees.

By then, his cock was already hard.

He grinned, the faint luminescent green light coming from eyes visible in the semi-reflective pool of cum beneath him.

Firman was suddenly yanked from the memory, the image of the Rootchief's throne vanishing as he was brought back into the muddy arena. Gilles' huge hand held him by his neck. Wildstorm was similarly lifted into the air beside him.

"That's some dirty trick, boys," snarled the Orc. "Those tentacles of yours are freaky." A dark grin crossed his features. "But now it's my turn." One of the Orc's fat fingers dissolved into a green-black cloud of spores. Before Firman couldn't cry out in protest, it shoved straight down his throat, shooting into his lungs like hot pepper. Wildstorm coughed and spluttered but couldn't stop the cloud from entering his system either. They exchanged panicked glances.

This couldn't be the end, could it?

"Deploying Anti-Spore Orc Countermeasure."

Gilles was surprised by the voice but no more surprised when both wolves' cocks suddenly erupted from their groins; big canine dicks with inflated knots. Both men convulsed, muscles freezing up as they were overcome by the need to orgasm. The hot cloud that whirled around in Firman's chest just plunged down into his balls and he couldn't help but take a deep breath now that his lungs were freed of the abrasive air. That only drew more of Gilles' spores into him, the Orc stunned as his entire arm up to his elbows forcibly burst into spores and flew down into the Marines' lungs. Firman and Wildstorm dropped to their knees, instinctively cupping their cock and balls. Firman tipped his head back, letting out a wild howl as molten cum blasted out of his balls and shot out of his fat, fourteen-inch cock. There was a distinct greenish tinge to his seed and a distinct sense of relief as he shot buckets over his seed. The fiery sensation in his chest somewhat eased but it was still there. His body seemed to know what to do and pushed them all into his tentacles. The pressure of orgasm rocketed up all four of his tendrils and blasted more of his seed around him like four fire hoses that were rapidly training the tank.

Firman dropped to his paws and knees, gasping for breath as the flood from his cock and tendrils ended with a splutter.

"What... What the fuck...?" Wildstorm wheezed beside him.

Gilles' deafening roar tore them from their exhaustion. They both gawked in surprise as the huge Orc staggered back. The former Captain's arms had been cut off below the elbows ending in fizzling green-black clouds of spores that flailed and lashed in agony.

"What the...?" Wildstorm repeated.

"Wildstorm! Firman!" shouted Burke. "Report! What's going on?"

"I... I don't know!" answered the Warrant Officer, barely mustering the strength to lift a finger to his ear. "Gilles tried to infect us. Got some of his spores in us... but... but we just started cumming and... he looks like he's in agony!"

"Apologies, Warrant Officer," intoned Gene. "I have been developing a countermeasure to the Orkish infection since we first saw Private Mimasaka transform. I lacked solid samples, however, but when you kissed the Orc guard, Poldak, I had the samples I needed to begin development. I discerned that the Orcs had not developed a mutation from my initial design but had ingeniously learned how to use their spores - which act on a molecular level - to -"

"Hundred words or less, Gene!" barked Burke.

"Right, of course Lieutenant." The artificial intelligence paused for half a second. "I used the multipurpose secretion you all ejaculate as a means of containing the spores that had entered you. Much like the spores which are microscopic, your 'semen' are similar in structure so I forced your bodies to guide the spores into your orifices where it was subsequently ejected from your systems and restricted by your semen. This prevents Captain Gilles from retrieving it while also purging yourselves of the substance."

So... did Gene just say he found a way to cure infected humans?

"Good work, Gene!" Burke shouted. "Wildstorm! Firman! We're clear! Happy! Carmichael! Now!"

Suddenly, the lights in the arena switched off, plunging them into total darkness.

Firman, baring his fangs, forced himself to his feet and turned. He was just as blind as anyone but he his ears and nose were heightened with his transformation. Alongside Wildstorm, he bolted towards the walls of the arena, clamouring up the walls with his powerful claws digging into the stone. They made their way back above the arena, leaping through the small opening in the rooftops just as the Orcs down in the arena were starting to take on their spore cloud forms in an attempt to find them.

Both lupine Marines scrambled down the arena roof on all fours, leaping down towards the nearest building at the first opportunity. Behind them, the arena became covered in a thick, black-green cloud of spores; the Orcs searching for them. Neither Marine stopped as they dropped down into the cramped, metal streets of the city.

"Lieutenant!" Wildstorm bellowed as they ran. "Where are you?"

"We're headed towards the Spear of the Shattered_. Can you make it towards us?"_

"We'll try."

There was a loud sound like a sandstorm coming from behind them and Firman glanced over his shoulder. A huge burst of spores exploded from a nearby building slamming against the opposite wall before barrelling towards them.

"Fuck!"

"Be advised, Warrant Officer, it drained almost all of your energy reserves to expel just the small amount that Captain Gilles infected you with. I do not think you will have the resources to fully prevent total infection should an Orc or multiple enter your system."

"Thanks for the advice, Gene!" Wildstorm shouted sarcastically. "Fuck, I wish I didn't drop my chaingun!"

Firman suddenly turned a corner, Wildstorm right beside him. He launched himself at the wall, scrambling up wall perpendicular to the ground. On all fours, he bolted up towards the building rooftop, making one last leap into the air as he cleared the last floor. The cloud of spores erupted from the roof a few feet to his right, scattering metal and debris everywhere. From his vantage point, he could see the Spear of the Shattered. Would it be wise to bring down all these Orcs onto the hapless humans? There was no way the Captain of the Spear would let them in without challenging them. He could be damning the people they just saved into mass transformation.

Just as he was starting to consider leading the small spore cloud away for a few minutes, another cloud erupted from a nearby alleyway and shot towards him. He wasn't able to stop in time, gritting his fangs together and holding his breath as best he could as he skidded across the metal rooftop. To his surprise, this cloud shot right over him and slammed right into the cloud chasing him. The collision of the two clouds sent both scattering though the second, smaller cloud suddenly materialised into the familiar red-maned figure of Poldak though now naked. The huge Orc, currently airborne, was clutching a device in his hand and hurled it immediately into the momentarily scattered cloud. His weight immediately brought him crashing to the ground where he immediately hurled himself at the two wolves, throwing them to the ground.

"Poldak-?" was all Wildstorm could manage before.

BOOM!

Fire erupted from behind them as Poldak's incendiary grenade went off. The burst was brief but it was effective. It burned away the spores and whatever Orcs made up the cloud quickly gathered what few spores they had left and retreated.

"We're all still plant-based," rumbled Poldak, rising to his feet and dragging the two wolves to their feet. "We're vulnerable to fire."

"Most things are vulnerable to fire," Gene stated. "Just saying."

The Orc rushed towards the edge of the building, waving a huge, green hand at them. "This way."

Firman eagerly followed but not before glancing one more time over his shoulder at the small embers that fluttered down from the ball of fire. Poldak led them into the basement of a nearby building where he sealed the doors, plunging them in semi-darkness. The Orc moved towards one of the crates amongst the rubble, retrieving his armour and clothing.

"What was that back there?" Wildstorm asked. "Don't tell me you cast some sort of fire magic or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous," grunted Poldak. "I just carried a grenade with me."

"You can carry grenades with you while in spore form?"

"If I pack myself densely enough and the grenade isn't too heavy, yes."

Further proof that the Orcs' development of infecting humans wasn't because of some mutation as Gene had initially though. The Orcs were just ingeniously adapting what they were given to different scenarios. Their rapid development was rather frightening. It had only been six days since Poldak had been first transformed and already he had mastered his spore form enough that he was capable of carrying small objects.

Panting, exhausted, and still a little horny, Wildstorm slumped against one of the walls and asked, "How did you find us?"

"Luck mostly," Poldak answered, parking himself against the opposite wall. "I had my men surround the arena. You and your men were going to have to escape in one direction or another so hopefully we'd find you."

The black wolf snapped a finger. "That reminds me..." He pressed a finger against his earpiece. "Happy. Doc. Did you make it out alright?"

"Yes," answered Carmichael. "All the commotion you created attracted most of the Orcs. We're safe. We'll make our way to the Spear_shortly. What about you two?"_

"Poldak found us. We're hunkered down and will probably wait until the heat dies down a little before we'll rendezvous with you at the Spear. Over and out." Wildstorm sighed in relief. "We owe you one, Poldak."

The red-haired Orc laughed softly. "For bringing down Nodmmah? I say we're even."

"Not sure if we actually brought him down. He may have lost his arms but if I had to guess, the bastard will probably regenerate them again after some time. Am I right?"

Poldak nodded grimly. "We will generate more spores eventually and those same spores can be used to heal wounds. At the very least, his activities will be stalled. He was planning to turn the rest of the humans he had imprisoned into Orcs to storm the Spear."

"Why didn't he just use all the other Orcs at his command? There are more Orcs out there than there were Marines that survived the crashes." He glanced off to the side. "Probably."

"Likely because Da'makur still thinks the humans are inferior. Even those humans turned into Orcs." The Orc scowled in disgust. "The man has gone mad and must be stopped."

Wildstorm nodded firmly. "We'll put an end to him. We started this shit. We'll end it."

Poldak gave him a wry smile. "By the display in the arena, you are all quite capable especially when you work as one."

Firman, who had remained standing and stoic, stepped forward, blocking Poldak's view of Wildstorm. He tapped a quick question on his arm-mounted console and let the auto-generated voice ask it.

"Do you regret it?"

Poldak cocked his head slightly, peering past Wildstorm to ask the obvious question.

"That's just Alloy," answered the black-furred werewolf, using Firman's callsign. "He's generally not comfortable using his voice to talk to people. Barely even talks to anyone. In all the years we've worked together, I've maybe got three sentences out of him."

"I see." Poldak turned his gaze back towards Firman. "No. I do not regret what has happened to me, what has happened to the Orcs. Had our leader not had secret dreams of conquest, I think this would have benefited our race. We would have had control over our reproductive cycle and we could focus on other things."

For a moment, Firman just stood there staring at Poldak.

Then, he gave the red-haired Orc a single nod before turning away and crouching down in a corner.

Somewhere above them, the hostile Orcs continued to search, the sound of a passing sandstorm hissing in their ears.

Broken Spear

Countermeasure proved far too resource intensive.

Developing more cost-effective measure.

Warning: presence of host and capabilities likely known to hostile leadership.

Warning: unforeseen external neurological interface feature developed in hosts.

Chances of success: 17%

******

---

Burke wasn't exactly sure how he would approach the GTFC Spear of the Shattered given that he and his men were currently hulking werewolves. But he hoped bringing the two-and-a-half-hundred remaining humans that they had liberated from Gilles' clutches would help sweeten the deal. Thankfully, these were all well-trained Marines and not panicky civilians. They knew how to move in small groups and how to stay out of sight. Strangely, as the veered further and further away from the arena, the presence of the Orcs thinned. It was likely due to Wildstorm and Firman distracting them. The two were currently on their way back with Happy and Doctor Carmichael not too far behind.

He wasn't sure what he'd do or feel if he lost any of his men. Captain Warner would likely have been able to come up with a much better plan that wouldn't have involved so much danger and they would have likely been able to execute it flawlessly. Even if one of them were to die, his former Captain and idol would likely have found some way to use it to motivate the rest of the team or even bring the guy back to life through Gene.

Just like how Warner probably would have already had some speech ready as they approached the Spear of the Shattered,_crossing the large, wide pier to get to the massive starship. A rough barricade had been erected just outside of the airlock leading to the ship with a few Marines posted to the stand guard. The air shimmered with the power of the kinetic barrier. As the highest ranking officer - at least as far as he was aware - he led the exodus towards the _Spear.

The guards had their guns aimed at him but they didn't fire just yet because of the large number of human Marines right behind him. He stopped about twenty feet from the barricade.

"My name is Lieutenant Ayden Burke of the 79th Marines Reserves!" he bellowed. "My squad and I rescued your men from the Orcs and brought them here! I'd like to speak to your Captain."

There was a few mutters amongst the armed Marines. Naturally they were conversing with their commanding officers.

Then, the barrier right in front of them, that faint, transparent field of shimmering blue light, faded. The rest of the ship remained encased in the field but a large opening remained for the rest of them. Deciding to act on good faith, Burke stepped aside and waved the rescued Marines to head on in while his troops remained on guard. Naked and muddy, the liberated men hurried forward, many muttering that they needed a shower. He caught sight of a few figures approaching from the distance and instantly brought up his MAW-14. He recognised the enormous black-furred figure of Wildstorm accompanied by the fiery red Firman. Beside them was a cloud of spores that he guessed was Poldak. Happy's blonde fur was easy to make out but Doctor Ross Carmichael's deeper red fur was a little harder to see unless he knew what to look for. Behind them were a few more bursts of spores. The four wolves scrambled towards them along the pier, the spores reforming to become the Orcs that he assumed were their allies. All those Orcs seemed to be carrying long capes that gave them a modicum of modesty.

Burke lifted his paw into the air. "The Orcs are with us," he declared.

"And why should we believe you, Lieutenant?"

He started and turned back towards the Spear. Dressed in his power armour, the Captain of the Spear stood clutching a rifle against his chest. The man's skin was deeply tanned, almost completely bronze and he bore a completely grew goatee that matched his steely blue eyes.

"Captain Alexander Farwood of the GTFC Spear of the Shattered," greeted the very statuesque, authoritative man. Burke had to fight the urge to fall to his knees and bow his head. The man just oozed 'alpha'. "You'll have to excuse my suspicions, Lieutenant," said the Captain in a curt voice. "But you don't exactly look like a member of the Marines."

Deciding to go with Happy's lie, he said, "The remnants of the 79th became part of an experiment to make supersoldiers. We are the result. You could say that they made us into wolves because they wanted loyal soldiers and... well... nothing is more loyal than a dog, right?"

He mentally kicked himself for being so blase about the fact. Warner would have seen right through his ruse. If Farwood suspected that he was lying, he didn't show it and turned his steely gaze towards the Orcs in the party.

"And why should we trust you given that you are currently accompanied by the enemy?"

"Not all the Orcs have sided with Da'makur," Burke explained. "There are rebels that hate what he's become, hate what he's doing. These are some of them." He gestured towards Poldak's group. "They actually helped us through the city after we rescued some of the Marines from the hostile Orcs. They can be trusted."

Farwood cocked an eyebrow, a gesture just barely visible beneath the orange visor of his power armour. "Any normal man would have reason to doubt you especially given recent events. Even if you are part of some military experiment to make a supersoldier, one can't dismiss the fact that your 'friends' could have duped you into bringing them here so that they can infect everyone once they are within the shields. It's very hard to fight a cloud, son."

That was certainly a possibility and one that Burke hadn't considered. Still, he remembered how Poldak and Brok had sidestepped Da'makur's orders and helped Garok carry the supplies into the Nascent Dawn. He doubted that was all a ruse just to gain their trust... right?

"But I have my reasons," added Farwood, turning his back to them. "Come in, Lieutenant. Tell me everything you know."

Burke mentally sighed in relief. Outwardly, he remained stiff-backed and marched forward, leading his rag-tag team into the Spear of the Shattered. Unlike the craped Nascent Dawn, the Spear was far roomier, bigger and cleaner. The well-lit white, metal hallways were white, polished and displayed the emblem of the cruiser every so often; a spearhead split down the middle against the image of Earth emblazoned on a shield. The Dawn didn't have anything like that since it was just a dropship even if it was named. He could actually walk shoulder to shoulder with Sire with plenty of room for others to walk by them. He didn't need to duck to avoid the low ceiling and the doors were tall enough that even the towering Wildstorm didn't need to duck to fit. These were all the comforts of a GTF starship.

But he couldn't let himself get too comfortable, however. The looks the passing Marines gave them and even the fact that they were being escorted by no less than ten well-armed soldiers spoke of Farwood's suspicion. They were right to be suspicious though. Were he in the Captain's shoes, he would be dubious of the seven werewolves accompanied by a handful of Orcs that had supposedly saved their men. No doubt Warner would have been able to say something to convince Farwood of their good intentions.

Farwood led them to the rear of the ship. He half-expected to be thrown in the brig but he was surprised to be led into what appeared to be one of the barracks. Being a Marine ship, the cruiser had multiple barracks inbuilt into its hull. Each one was reserved for the squads that served on the ship. The Spear was one of the older models. Likely a Corona-Class Cruiser. It could fit five thousand Marines with room to spare so it likely have five-fully fledged barracks within its hull that could fit a thousand people each. Not bad given that it was about half-kilometre long and maybe half that tall and half again wide. What did surprise him was the fact that the very same men that they had saved were in the barracks as well.

He didn't ask what Farwood's motivations were. It wasn't his place as a lowly lieutenant.

But Ross Carmichael wasn't bound to military conduct.

"Something going on, Captain?" asked the doctor. "Why are you bringing us here?"

Farwood glanced over his shoulder while he kept walking. "We're talking precautionary measures. Best we can tell, the Orcs transport themselves through microscopic spores, something new to the Orkish species. We're keeping everyone who has been outside of the shield here for decontamination just in case one of those bastards managed to latch onto any of you." He gestured absently towards a few of the soldiers who were getting dressed in standard issue military attire. "Not to mention we needed them all clothed."

"For reference, Captain," rumbled Poldak. "We Orcs only retain sentience either in our full physical forms or when the spore clouds are huddled together in a singular mass. Split up the spores and they're just that, random spores."

"I'll take that with a grain of salt though I appreciate the information."

The barracks was split into two levels. The first level was where most of the beds and facilities were. Here, the rescued Marines gave Farwood a salute as they passed and then another one as Burke and the wolves passed them by. It warmed the brown-furred lieutenant's heart that despite what he looked like, the Marines were grateful for being saved. Nothing formed a strong bond of camaraderie than risking one's life for another. The second level was the 'executive suite' and it was there that Farwood led them. It was mostly empty but had several single beds for up to twenty commanding officers. It overlooked the main barracks through a balcony that could be accessed through an automatic door. Farwood's Marines shut the door leading to the stairs behind them and another pair moved towards the balcony door to keep anyone from listening in.

The Captain turned towards his guests, features mostly unreadable.

"What happened to Captains Gilles and Reyes? Were you able to find them?"

Burke looked towards Wildstorm for the answer.

"Sir," answered the grey-furred wolf. "Captain Hammond Gilles and Captain Victor Reyes have both been turned into Orcs and now serve the interests of the Rootchief."

That was news to him but Burke kept his muzzle shut and let Wildstorm recount what he had learned. He only briefly remember Firman mentioning that Gilles was the Orkish ruler of the arena, Nodmmah but he wasn't aware that Reyes had turned to the Orcs as well and was working right beside Da'makur. With information supported by Carmichael's theories and information from Gene, they explained the current situation and their running theory about what Da'makur wanted.

"I have two questions for you," said Farwood as soon as the debriefing finished. "One: if you really are a Marine squad, what happened to your Captain?"

He could feel the eyes of his entire squad on him. Burke steeled himself and said, "Captain Warner was killed in the line of duty as we were escaping the Karn Imperium from McAllister Station."

"I see. That brings me to my next question." Farwood pointed at their wrist-mounted shield packs. "That voice I heard coming from that thing. What is it?"

Burke thought fast. Werewolf supersoldiers was likely already a bizarre tale that stretched the stoic Captain's disbelief so he had to come up with something a little more believable than the very embodiment of their reality that was placed here to counter the attempt by the corporation that created their reality to reclaim the resources that had made their dimension.

"It is what was being developed in McAllister," he lied. "A fully sentient and functioning artificial intelligence who provided up-to-date combat data and tactical analysis. We call it Gene."

Farwood lifted one eyebrow. "Supersoldiers and artificial intelligences? You're certainly pushing the boundaries of reality here, Lieutenant."

If only he knew...

"These are desperate times, Captain. The GTF_has to do what it can to survive the _Karn Imperium."

"Indeed." Farwood sighed, showing the first signs of emotion since they met. He looked... very tired. "Listen, son, I've seen some outrageous things in my lifetime and right now, I'm willing to believe anything. I'm very grateful that you saved my men but you are still an unknown factor, Marines or no. You'll be kept in quarantine for now."

"If I may be frank, Captain," he answered, "I'm honestly surprised that you're so willing to accept my word."

"I may be old, son, but I'm not deaf or blind. I've done my own information gathering and let's just say that some of what you've said has been corroborated by my sources." Farwood straightened and waved a hand over his shoulder, his Marines approaching him. "In fact, you should meet one of my sources. I'll call for you in an hour. I need to reassess our position not that we're effectively two frigates down and we know there are allies in the city. We can't just start bombardment like we were planning."

"You were thinking of shooting up the place!?" Stitch blurted. He immediately cupped his paws over his muzzle as Firman growled at him.

"We were," admitted Farwood. "We were diverting power from non-essential systems to hardening our shields to at least last a few waves from the Homeship's cannons; cannons we could cripple with our own so that we could make our escape. But we held off since we didn't know if there were any survivors from the Fallen Winter and Critical Assailant still in the city." The steely-eyed Captain nodded towards Poldak. "But if there are potential allies in there, I'm not going to start firing."

"Thank you," rumbled Poldak. "We are few and most of our operations are limited to the Trunk and Seed but we have a few scouts here in the Canopy to keep an eye on Da'makur's movements. I would appreciate if you did not bombard them with cannon fire."

"Noted." Farwood strode towards the door. "Get cleaned up and get some rest. You all look like hell. I'll come calling in an hour or so." He glanced towards Poldak. "You should come too. Help cross reference what my sources have discovered."

"A fine plan," grunted the Orc.

Farwood left a moment later.

The towering Orc glanced about as the Marines slumped into the beds or dispersed. His men did the same, exhausting from the events of the last few hours. Exhausting was setting in as well and his heart was still racing. Striding into the very heart of an unknown faction's starship was not the safest thing to do but if making contact with the _Spear_meant that they could get more allies against Da'makur - and avoid the Homeship getting torn up from the inside - so much the better. He glanced over to Burke who strode over to the balcony and stepped out to peer at the men below. He followed, sensing that it was the right thing to do given that he was technically the commanding officer of his small group. The rest of his team took up the rear most beds, tense but comfortable at the very least.

Burke oozed tension. It was clear from how his jaw was clenched and his shoulders were rigid. With the railings on the balcony right there, the lieutenant still insisted on remaining stiffly standing, regarding the two and a half hundred or so Marines that they had rescued.

"Something on your mind, Lieutenant?" Poldak asked.

It took a moment for the brown wolf with the cream coloured crest on his chest to respond. "It's common practice to man each frigate with about five hundred marines. If we're talking the Navy or maybe the GTF Army, it'd be about a thousand. But Marines are trained to be able to handle multiple jobs so you wouldn't need more than five hundred to run a frigate with men to spare."

Already Poldak could see where this was going. "You couldn't have saved them all. The crash alone would have cut down their numbers not to mention those who could still be out there. Scouting reports tell me that a lot of men were taken into the Trunk. Fewer still to the Seed."

"But you saw what Gilles did to the men in the arena. Were all those Orcs in the stands just more men that had been turned because of him?" Burke's paw closed into a fist. "If I had been better, I could've saved them... If we were just faster..." Burke shook his head mournfully. "Wildstorm should have been the one reporting to Captain Farwood."

The towering red-head Orc leaned casually against the metal railings of the balcony, peering down at the men milling about below him. "A operation's value is not in the individual contributions of its players but the overall result. We saved all those men down there. Everyone did their part."

Burke closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I suppose you're right." He offered a small smile towards Poldak - though the Orc wasn't too sure if it was a smile since he wasn't too sure if wolves could smile. "Sorry for bombarding you with these personal dramas."

Poldak waved away the apology. "It is no trouble. The way I see it, I owe you for getting rid of Gilles."

"Even if we were responsible for him getting into that position in the first place?"

He shook his head. "I do not blame you or your Gene for what you did. Perhaps it would have been better had you asked to uplift us but in these desperate times, we do what we must." The Orc tilted his head slightly to the side. "Besides, from what you tell me, the Karn Imperium would have come after us eventually. It is somewhat insulting, in fact, that they would have ignored us because we were perceived to be of little threat."

Burke turned his gaze away and let out a short laugh. "I suppose now, it'd be a lot harder for the Karn to infect you and turn you into one of their Drones. They shoot you and you'd just turn into spores that'll shrug off their weapons. Not sure if you'd ever think of turning them into Orcs, though."

"That would be impossible," Gene suddenly said, its voice sprouting up from Burke's wrist-mounted shield device. "The Crux and Endspawn have been designed not to convert one another's troops. This is to avoid a perpetual war between the two forces."

Had the bizarre device been listening in on them this entire time? Was it listening in to the conversations of the others? Poldak glanced over his shoulder and noticed that a few of his men and even some of of the wolves were starting to wander down into the first floor.

"Gene, have you been eavesdropping on us?" Burke asked hotly.

"Apologies, lieutenant. As you may be aware, you and the other members of the Marines are effectively my cores. I can see, hear and feel what you feel. The primary reason why I gave you those prehensile limbs sprouting from your back is as extra sensory organs for which I can use to gather data for analysis."

Seems he was wrong about Gene not seeing through them.

"And here I thought they were just more cocks."

"They do fulfil the secondary purpose of secreting the multi-purpose viscous liquid that you equate to semen in a pleasurable fashion but they are not connected to your bladder and therefore cannot be used to dispose of urine."

The Marine leader visibly cringed and slapped a big paw over the device's screen. "Too much information, Gene. Do you have a 'silent mode' or something to if we want some privacy?"

"Not exactly but should you wish some privacy, I will isolate you for now. Shall I reconnect in ten minutes."

"Make it until Captain Farwood gets back."

"Confirmed."

Burke tapped the screen of his wrist-mounted device before letting out a soft sigh. "Sorry. All of this is fairly new to me."

"It is new to all of us," Poldak chuckled. "But you learn to adapt. Make the best of your abilities and what you've been given."

"You mean like how you're able to carry small objects in your spore cloud form?"

When Poldak gave him a surprised look, Burke explained that Wildstorm had given him an update. "Yes. When Da'makur began his forced takeover, we had to resort to keeping to the shadows and developing tactics that could disrupt his forces. While our cloud forms offer us increased mobility, it dulls most of our other senses and gives us an increased vulnerability to fire and heat. Not to mention that, as I mentioned, should our spores become scattered, we would lose much of our sentience. We won't exactly _die_but each spore would effectively be little more than an inert skin cell. Harmless by itself but should it ever find any of its brothers..."

"So I guess you and your rebels had to make sure you protected yourselves and found ways to fight in your new forms."

"Correct. I am sure there are other ways we can utilise our newfound abilities and maybe even more abilities that we weren't aware of but in the past six days since my transformation, I like to think I've made do."

Burke lowered his gaze. "Sorry again for what happened. We weren't exactly... in control."

Poldak wasn't sure if it was right to touch the wolf but he nevertheless reached out and clapped Burke's shoulder comfortingly. "As I have mentioned before, Lieutenant, I am grateful for what you have done. Whether or not your people managed to bring the Homeship to our destination or all this happened, you have offered us a way to survive. It is through Da'makur's madness that your gift became a tool for conquest."

A soft smile touched Burke's lips - this time, Poldak was sure it was a smile - and the wolf turned around, shrugging off his hand but also leaning casually against the railings. "Was Da'makur always this... power hungry?"

He shrugged absently. "I cannot say. I am far removed from the politics of the Seed."

"But you must have still heard some things, right? You were one of the elite guard, right?"

Poldak snorted softly. "I believe your definition of 'elite guard' is different from ours. Our elevated status comes with more restrictions and far less freedoms. We tended to be sequestered off in our own facility away from the rest of the city as well." He pointed at his head. "I was shaved before, remember? We were meant to avoid any form of impregnation both of others and ourselves. We tended to have more rules applied to us on top of the others that the rest of the Homeship had to adhere to."

"Sounds rough."

"It's discipline."

Burke laughed softly and looked into the empty executive suite. "I think some guys in the GTF would argue the same. Though I think more than a few would use their 'discipline' as a reason for not going out there and enjoying themselves; claiming that they're devoting themselves entirely to their country."

Poldak let out a soft hum of acknowledgement. "I suppose when you live short lives like ours, one must take every opportunity to live."

He was surprised when Burke rested a paw on his forearm. He instinctively tensed since he was unused to the touch of a furry paw with those leathery paw-pads. "Hey, you can achieve a lot of things by the time you're forty. It wasn't too long ago that the average human life expectancy was just about forty. They still made do with what time they had."

"Perhaps but your people were not on a literal biological clock that would end with you exploding into a cloud of spores."

"Who knows? Maybe your 'optimised' species will live longer now that you have full control of your spores."

That was a novel idea but also a slightly frightening one. Since most Orcs usually only lived to be about forty years of age, most of their lives were spent being rushed into the workforce from an early age so that they could squeeze out the most labour before they were constantly wracked by bi-monthly orgasms and pregnancies. While Da'makur wasn't so strict on the child labour, some other Homeships could be fairly brutal. What he feared, however, was if the Orcs that resorted to piracy, murder or even cannibalism were allowed to live longer than their alloted lifespan. Da'makur himself would be a scourge upon the galaxy.

"I never got to ask," Burke began. "How old are you?"

Poldak sniffed, wiping his nose with a finger. "Would you believe I would be considered twenty-two of your solar years?"

"But in Orc years?"

"Perhaps around my late thirties if we were to draw comparisons."

Burke nodded thoughtfully and reached for his shield module. "Maybe we should ask Gene if it managed to extend your lifespan."

Poldak grabbed the brown-furred wolf's arm lightly and forced the module back down. "How about we just enjoy the quiet for a moment? It isn't often that we get to slow down like this."

With a smile, Burke pulled his arm away and started heading back into the executive suites. Poldak followed him. With everyone else gone, they had a modicum of privacy. Poldak took the only unoccupied bunk on the Orc's side while Burke set down his massive gun at the foot of another one on the wolves' side. Most of the suite was dark since none of them had switched on the lights so most of their illumination came in from the main barracks. Burke's silhouette cut a rather striking figure. With those tendrils of his tucked away in the sheathes on his back, the furry lieutenant gave off the impression of a strong character but one that needed reassurance.

"You know," Poldak began. "This place feels rather empty with you all the way over there."

The lieutenant paused for a moment, that spark of indecision plaguing his soft, brown eyes. His paws curled into fists, making Poldak incline his head slightly. Burke straightened and marched over to him. There was no harsh reprimand or some speech about human honour. Instead, Burke took up the bed right beside Poldak, curling his legs up towards his chin and hugging his shins tightly. He was adorable in his hesitation. An Orc of honour, Poldak would not pursue the matter even if he was going to at least _hint_at his interests.

He slipped off his bed and moved to the opposite side away from Burke. With one, easy push, he pressed the two beds together and jumped back onto the hard mattress. No words had to be said as Burke bashfully shuffled towards him, nestling his furry cheeks against Poldak's hairy chest. The large, red-haired Orc draped his arm around the lieutenant's shoulders, marvelling at the feel of the soft fur and gentle warmth of the firm muscles against his fingers.

"May I confess something?" he began.

Burke didn't verbally reply but just nodded lightly.

"I have been hoping that one or more of you wolves would engage in 'sex' with me again." Burke's ears perked up. "The first time was mind blowing. I am eager to experience it again." He lifted a finger. "Though if you think it is not appropriate..."

Slowly, Burke uncurled his legs, stretching them out and revealing that his impressive bright pink canine cock was already at full mast and poking out from the waistband of his pants.

"Every time you touched me, I kept getting harder and harder," confessed the lieutenant. "Maybe it's my new canine instincts, the fact that I haven't really gotten off since we woke up after transforming you, I just really need to get off or a combination of the three but..." Burke suddenly seized Poldak by the collar of his cloak, pulling their faces close together. "... I really need you to fuck me."

Poldak grinned and grabbed the back of the lieutenant's head, pushing their lips together. Kissing was never a thing that Orcs participated in. Physical contact was never needed for reproduction but Wildstorm had been very enlightening in the short time that they had been together. Poldak had since learned the value of kissing though he was still somewhat inexperienced in the practice. The canine muzzle was certainly a challenge to navigate and he was wrestling with Burke's longer, more flexible tongue but the ferocious, sloppy kiss riled up his loins. He vaguely remembered Wildstorm mentioning that the wolves' saliva and secretions were a powerful aphrodisiac. If it was, it was only heightening his already voracious arousal.

His monster of a dick was already rising up to match Burke's his precum oozing out of the dark green head and past his foreskin onto the soldier's navy-blue and black camouflage pants. The feel of another man against him stirred memories of that wonderful moment when he was sandwiched between Wildstorm and Happy. Though there were vague memories of his spores pushing into other Orcs and transforming them and then the coitus that followed afterwards, this coupling was on another level. His flesh became ultra-sensitive. Even the slightest touch from Burke caused his cock to erupt with precum. Every muscle in his body was a tightly coiled spring, ready to explode. It was all he could do not to orgasm there and then while also keeping himself from hurting Burke with his writhing grip.

Burke suddenly broke there kiss, panting heavily. "I need some part of you in me," he breathed. Then he bent back down and licked the Orc's lips.

If his body was on fire, the gentle touch of Burke's tongue along his neck was like an ocean of ice come to soothe the savage flames. It sent powerful electric bolts straight to his brain, sending his hips bucking and grinding into Burke's groin. He barely noticed when Burke grabbed his hand and guided it towards his lips. The wolf pushed two of Poldak's fingers into his muzzle, tongue lashing all over the surface while he guided the two, thick digits in and out between his puckered lips. The motion matched Poldak's hip thrusts, planting ideas into the Orc's mind of what else could be shoved into Burke.

He squirmed as Burke gave his fingers one last lick before guiding his hand lower down the wolf's body. Poldak was a little confused as to what was happening... until the lieutenant began guiding his fingers into that tight, furry, brown butt. Burke wiggled out of his pants just enough for his cock to rest against Poldak's thigh and for his ass to be exposed. Then, he guided Poldak's lubricated fingers towards his ass, homing in on his pucker with expert precision. Poldak didn't need further prompting as he pushed one finger into the warm, tight hole.

Burke gasped as the first inch pushed into the awaiting hole. This was unlike being inside another Orc in spore form. With every sensory organ pushed into overdrive by Burke's 'venom', the warmth from Burke's ass was like a summer's embrace coupled with the rapid beating of the wolf's racing heart. He pushed his finger a little deeper, causing Burke to grin against him. His massive thighs could feel the pulsating veins oft he wolf's cock against his green flesh.

Panting, Burke gave Poldak's neck one last lick before shuffling a little lower along the Orc's body, spearing him against Poldak's fingers all the more but also positioning himself in a prime position. His tongue lanced out one more time and Poldak immediately went rigid as a bolt of fire and magma erupted from his right nipple and all throughout his body. A choking grunt erupted from his throat, veins popping up along his neck as his jaw clenched his jaw and his body arched upwards. His cock spasmed, spurting a large amount of cum against Burke's furry chest. The wolf's soft, rubbery lips latched onto his plump, erect, dark green nipple just barely visible beneath the thick, red chest hair that covered his mountainous pectorals.

Poldak was barely able to remain conscious. Waves upon waves of pleasure blasted down from his chest. Each action from the wolf sent bolts of bliss towards Poldak's addled brain, each beating out a different rhythm. Burke flicked his nipple with his long tongue, sending a series of short, sharp bursts that had the Orc thrusting his hips over and over again with increasing ferocity. Then the wolf suckled on it, making Poldak take a long, deep breath, plumping out his chest while his cock remained pushed into the air, squirting more and more precum onto the sheets. A change of tactic to a gentle nibbling and fiery, intense needles of pleasure jabbed into Poldak; he a balloon filled to the brim with ecstasy and these needles slowly deflating him.

To reward Burke for his expert tonguemanship, Poldak pushed his other lubricated finger into the wolf, bringing a long moan from the very needy Marine. Burke had his own reward as the wolf gripped his other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Poldak sucked a mouthful of air between his clenched teeth, squirming beneath the lieutenant. Contrasting waves of pleasure shot from each of his nipples. Cool, gentle waves washed over him from the one Burke was clamped onto, filling him like a balloon. Then a sharp twist later and it was like he was being deflated. It was a constant rise and fall, his thrusting mirrored.

A soft, slimy, squishing noise filled his ears. The euphoria was almost blinding and he could barely see the long, pink tentacles slowly rising out of Burke's back and slowly making their way towards him. He was more than willing to open his mouth, letting out a low, throaty moan to welcome the prehensile limb. It was warm, smooth and gentle. A thick, salty-sweet goo gently pumped out of its blunt tip. At first, it was odd. After the first swallow, he craved more and began suckling on it just as much as Burke suckled on his teat. He didn't even realise his other hand was buried in the sheets, twisting them until another of Burke's tendrils gently wrapped around its, slipping and sliding over his long, thick forearms and bulbous biceps like a gentle hand caressing and worshipping his muscles. The third tentacle curled around his left leg, seemingly pulling it aside as the fourth slowly made it's way towards his ass.

Poldak's entire body suddenly tensed.

Without warning, the Orc erupted into a burst of black-green spores. Burke was left grasping at the cloud before those spores began to reform around him. One thick, forearm wrapped around his chest tightly, catching him from hitting the bed, its thick mass pressing against his plump pectorals. A select number of spores shot up his ass, momentarily making him feel like he had just been injected by hot liquid. Then, those spores began to harden and he felt Poldak's heartbeat through the singular solid mass that was suddenly buried deep inside of him. The wolf let out a soft whimper as he was forced to suddenly take the Orc's huge cock which reformed _inside_of his ass. The wolf's eyes rolled halfway up into his skull, his tongue rolling out between his lips and his drools dropping onto the sheets beneath him. He immediately grabbed one of the pillows and clamped his jaws around it, preventing himself from making too much sound apart from a few muffled whimpers.

Poldak, drawing from his experiences - little as they were - began pulling in and out of the wolf. His body was in full auto-pilot mode, his mind lost in a sea of pleasurable stimulation. Perhaps it was some left over programming from when Gene took over his body but the Orc knew that he had to grab Burke's thighs for more stability, he knew not to pull out completely and knew to take pride when their balls gently tapped against one another. Pressure was building in his balls, the spring that was his body coiling again for release. Some part of him didn't want for the moment to end for who knew when he would get a chance to lay with the hunky wolves again? But there was no stopping the flood. The levies were about to break and this wasn't helped by the fact that two of Burke's tentacles wrapped around his torso, brushing up against his ultra-sensitive nipples and then slipped into his mouth, pumping that high-addictive cum-like substance down his throat. Poldak felt the other two tentacles slide up his legs and make for his ass but before they could push into his hole, he let out a loud grunt, muffled by the tentacles in his mouth, and the dams broke.

Hot Orkish cum came pumping out of his cock and straight into Burke's waiting ass. The wolf convulsed as his organs felt like they were being rearranged by the titanic blast of seed. A firehose might as well have gone off in his ass. The Orc managed to pump out one, powerful blast before his body erupted into another burst of spores. Burke blinked once before he felt another warm set of spores shove down his throat. Poldak's still vibrating dick reformed in his muzzle. He got about a second to realise that his nose was now buried into the Orc's thick, red, pubic hairs before another blast of cum came firing down his throat. Burke's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he swallowed that delicious, earthy seed that some part of him likened a little to tasting like mushroom soup. This time, Poldak managed to shoot two full loads into his ass before he again lost his corporeal form.

Burke moaned, Orc cum dripping from his muzzle. His head collapsed against a thick, muscular bicep. The connecting arm curled around his head, pushing his muzzle into a sweaty, Orkish armpit while the other arm held him tightly. Poldak's cock pressed against his, the two members sandwiched between their bodies before another blast of cum came rushing out. This time, the Orc let out a loud, thunderous - albeit brief - grunt that sounded like 'Vura' .

Perhaps it was instinct but Burke's tentacles immediately sought an orifice to insert themselves into. One pushed itself into Poldak's muzzle which the Orc happily accepted while another two slipped between their tightly compressed bodies and wound around their cocks. The last curled around Poldak's ass, snaking towards the Orc's dick. It paused, half-expecting that the Orc would once against burst into spores just a moment before it entered. But when Poldak only bucked his hips as another shot of cum glued the wolf and Orc together, it took that as consent and pushed itself into the Orc's waiting ass. Needless to say, Poldak's next orgasm was even more powerful than the last.

For Burke, the highly-sensitive tentacles was like having four different cocks - on top of his main one - stimulated at the same time. The moment his tendril found itself into Poldak's ass, all resistance faded away. The strong musky smell from the Orc's armpits, the earthy taste of Orc cum and the powerful embrace of the Orc were all too much. He let out a loud growl before thrusting his hips forward. Hot cum blasted out of the tip of his pointed dick. A howl burst from his lips but was muffled by Poldak's pits.

Wolf and Orc seed melded, the two spasming one after the other as their bodies became intertwined in an almost infinite loop of orgasms. Burke would shoot his load, his seen pumping out of his cock and his tentacles. Poldak would devour the orgasm-inducing seed and likewise erupt, tightening his ass around Burke's tentacle and starting the cycle anew. Both males, laying side by side in the bed thrust at each other over and over again, their seed soaking into the sheets. Sweat soaked in with the seed and heat radiated from their bodies like a furnace, spreading a musky, earthy stench into the room.

Both Burke and Poldak were orgasming so long that they completely lost track of time. Even when both fell into exhaustion, barely able to keep their eyes open, they held onto one another. When one would quiver, the other would hold them tighter. Their lips somehow gravitated towards one another, locking in place again even with Burke's tentacle between them. Their balls had gone dry but that didn't stop either of them from thrusting every now and then.

It was only when Burke was hit be a sense of... wrongness that they began to rouse from their semi-comatose state. He had this strange feeling that he should be in his pod. Grunting softly, gave Poldak a light kiss on the cheek to wake him from his daze... pausing a second later to mentally question why he did that.

"God..." he mumbled softly. "I hope no one heard that."

"We heard!" came a shout from the other side of the door.

Both men's eyes immediately sprang open, military training kicking them both fully awake and attentive. They spun towards the door where he could see Happy's golden ears just poking out from the bottom of the window.

"Happy!?" Burke blurted.

The golden-furred wolf poked his head out and waved cheekily at them. "Hey, Lieutenant."

"Goddamnit..." Burke cursed, blushing beneath his fur. Before he could avert his eyes in shape, Poldak took his chin and made them lock gazes.

"Do not be ashamed of this act," said the Orc. "If you enjoyed yourself, there is no shame in the act." A slightly worried look crossed the Orc's features. "You did enjoy yourself, correct?"

Burke couldn't help but return the smile and he leaned towards the Orc, kissing one of those big tusks. "Enough that I definitely want to do it again." He straightened and slapped Poldak's thigh. "We should get cleaned up before Captain Farwood comes back."

"Too late!" Happy shouted.

Then the door sprang open. Burke's eyes boggled as the Captain of the Spear of the Shattered stepped in escorted by a few Marines... and one another person that he didn't expect.

An Orc.

An Orc that happened to be Sporekeeper Varrin's son.

"Garok!?"

Epilogue: For Father and Son

Alert: high hostile Orc activity detected.

Processing collected scouting reports and compiling tactical analysis.

Discerning likely objective.

Results: Da'makur wants a warp drive.

******

Sporekeeper Varrin was once one of the most respected Orcs in all of Homeship Da'makur. But now he had been demoted to a rebel leader all because he had completely opposed the Rootchief's vision of uniting all the Orcs - not just on the Homeship but across the galaxy - under a single banner even if it was by force. He had worn that assignment with pride... until he was forced to his knees in front of Da'makur.

The Rootchief was, if anything, a very efficient and ruthless leader.

"Varrin," growled Da'makur, perched on his warped throne with his huge balls acting like a footstool. "It's been a while, old friend."

"Do not patronise me, Donduur," snarled the grey-haired Orc. "You've captured me. Execute me if you must. Just get it over with!"

Donduur Da'makur threw his head back and let out a bellowing laugh. "It is you who should not patronise me, Varrin. For you see, I need your help."

Varrin spat at the Rootchief's feet. "Saying I _was_willing to help you, what would I help you with?" If there was even the slightest chance that he would escape, he would at least return to the resistance with some information.

"The human warp drive," answered Da'makur lazily. "The human captain Reyes knows how to use it but I need you to integrate it with our systems so that it may be of use to us."

"Why not get any of the other Sporekeepers whom you have enslaved to do that for you?" snarled the wizened Orc. He knew the answer to that.

"You know I cannot do that," answered Da'makur with a cynical smile.

"Then your success relies on me." Varrin let out a bitter laugh. "Give me one good reason why I should help you?"

There was a glint in the Rootchief's eyes like he had been waiting for just that question. "Your son."

That caused Varrin's bushy, grey eyebrows to press together as his brow furrowed. "What?"

"I have it on good authority that Garok made his way to the human cruiser. Likely to negotiate help from them. Now the warp drive from the little drop ship would take much configuration to transport the whole Homeship and the drives on the two frigates were destroyed. I need the one from the cruiser as that will need the least resources and modifications to take us to our next home." Da'makur leaned forward or at least as much his enormous girth would let him. "So here is what I am proposing, Varrin: work with me, give me your word that you will integrate the warp drive with the Homeship and I will spare your son."

Varrin's jaw dropped. "You wouldn't..."

"I would," threatened Da'makur. "My men are getting ready to raid the cruiser as we speak. One word from me and they will spare Garok. Even bring him back to your arms. Refuse and he will die along with the rest of your traitors."

The Rootchief leaned back in his throne knowing full well that he had won.

"So what will it be, Varrin?"