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Dark Lord Substitute

Chapter 22

By Draconicon

Thankfully, the battle was finished by the time that they reached an open channel to the fleet, and Admiral Tardak had seen to the returning Starry Fleet ships. Those that were capable of fleeing to warp speed did, and those that were not self-destructed before they could be boarded. It didn't seem to matter that the Indoctrination signal was going strong; something in the ships that resisted the call to come to their side. Bertram wasn't happy to hear the report, but it was always better to know what your enemy could do after the fact rather than as it was happening. He sighed.

"How long until the fleet is gathered?" he asked.

"Two days, Dark Lord," the badger said.

"Alright. Hold."

The armor had reassembled itself as he'd come up the stairs, covering him from shoulders to toes with the black armor of the Dark Lord of the Void. The others had been dressing themselves as they could, and were in more of a half-dressed state. He shook his head at them.

"Options?"

"I'm assuming that we're still not turtling, Master?" Lazir asked as he stuffed his feet into his boots.

"Correct."

"Then we have little option but to push onward."

"That's not a great idea, considering the enemy has capabilities that we're not that briefed on," Mark pointed out. "If they can resist Indoctrination, that's one of our big weapons right out the window. We need -"

"We need to strike back."

All eyes went to Zelda. Of all of his 'officers', she was the only one still naked, and the hyena was clearly fighting the urges of the Indoctrination left in her mind. Even as she pressed her thighs together, clearly struggling with the wetness pouring from her, she still managed a snarl.

"We strike back, and we show them...show them that you do not come for the Void."

"Zelda -"

"I'm right, Mark. We don't have time to hold back. And if we wait...if we wait, they're gonna try again...and then...then..."

She wasn't afraid. Bertram could see that in her eyes; she was too angry to be afraid. No, it was the slave programming acting up, reminding her of her place. The angrier she was, the hornier she would become, and it was hitting her good and hard not. She was barely able to stay upright, her legs shaking and her mouth hanging open as she arched her back and struggled not to finger herself. Nonetheless, she kept her eyes on him, panting and growling her anger when she could no longer speak it.

"...What's the nearest planet in the Starry Sea from here?" Bertram asked.

"Coralky," King Soledad said.

"Defenses?"

"Mostly automated. They're a border region, so they have some, but no great number."

Bertram nodded, opening the line to Tardak. The badger was still there.

"Yes?"

"Gather all ships. As soon as they're assembled, we move on Coralky."

Two days later, and thirty-eight days left on their clock before they'd be facing the entirety of the Allied Systems, they were off. They jumped to warp with all the ships that they could pull, leaving only a token force to guard the crossroads systems. The Indoctrinated on the other planets were trusted to keep hold of their home systems, and Bertram could only hope that it was the right choice. So far, it seemed that the Indoctrination held strong no matter what they did, but if it happened to shatter at the wrong moment, they wouldn't have the forces to face the assembled might of the Allied Systems. They had to do this right while they still had momentum.

Once they were in warp, Bertram went to his quarters aboard the Indomitable. Data had spent time scouring the records of all other Dark Citadels that they had found during the expansion. Now that they knew where to look, there were other partial records that they could use to fill out the script information.

Sadly, none of them completed it, but they did have more than they'd started with. More to show where the script would take him next.

"Looks like you're going from Dark Lord to...well, the contract kinda calls it a 'Cult Leader'," Lazir said, shaking his head. "I think we'll have to find a better title than that."

"It will suffice for conversational purposes."

"But it seems like it's going to allow for different behaviors, at least," the fox said. "I will have to study the contract further, just to be sure, but it does look like the limitations on the Dark Lord phase fades out for something else. You're definitely going to be able to talk more, which has to be a plus, Master. Heh. You may not have a silver tongue, but you certainly have good ideas."

He hoped that was the case. For all that he had relied on Indoctrination thus far, being able to convince the galaxy of his ideas would go a long way towards aiding their cause. There were so many truths that might turn the tide, so long as he could actually say them...so long as they were his words and not the words of yet another script. So far, they hadn't been able to verify that.

The ram leaned back against a bed that formed as he leaned away from Lazir, rubbing his forehead. The fox stopped his researching, cocking his head to the side.

"Is something the matter, Master?"

"I am...tired."

"Actually, or mentally?"

"Both."

"Scans suggest that the Dark Lord is suffering from fatigue. I suggest that he be allowed to rest in peace," Data said.

"...I'll take the advice of the AI, then," the fox said. He bowed, tucking the files away once more before making his way out. He paused at the door, looked back with concern, then left.

Bertram shook his head, folding his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes.

"You lied to him, Data."

"I did not. You require peace and quiet, without the presence of others."

"Yes, but not because I'm tired."

"No, sir."

"Your imitation of me in the tunnels back then...you learned to lie then, but this proves it."

"...That is correct, sir."

"Then you're on equal grounds with everyone else. You're just bound by your programming rather than by Indoctrination."

"You are not worried that I will lie to you, sir?"

"I feel that you are just as capable of trying as anyone else. I just have to be sure that I pay more attention. And if you ever intended to lie to me, then you made a big mistake telling me you could. So, I take it as a sign that you will seldom attempt it, unless you are more conniving than I think you are."

"...So noted, sir."

It was still something worth noting. He had always assumed that Data would be little more than an AI assistant, something that he might use to fetch information, send messages, or otherwise handle little bits and pieces of information that were too mundane or too much for him. Yet, the otherwise mundane program had changed over time. It had grown, just as all the others had.

I wonder if he'll become something to worry about...

He filed that out of the way, keeping his eyes closed as he thought about the more important things ahead. The transition between Dark Lord to Cult Leader was an interesting proposition.

What kind of cult leader would be the determining question. Dark Lord, after all, would have been a workable transition, were it not for the fact that it was the most ridiculous, over the top possible version of a Dark Lord possible. Likewise, a Cult Leader - despite sounding like something a villain might be - still had possibilities, depending on the sort of freedom it allowed with speech and more.

He doubted that any recent Dark Lord had gotten this far in the script. From what the records and what little he had been able to drag out of his subordinates, he'd surpassed the doings of the other Dark Lords some time ago. Taking the Deep Den had been more than they had done. He was basically in uncharted territory, without any clear warning of what would happen next.

Save for the contracts.

He could see them in his head, the little pieces that they'd managed to reconstruct. Each one gave a little more of the puzzle, but never enough. Data had the ship's systems working on decoding the different bits and pieces, but there was no guarantee that they'd come up with anything more.

Instead, he'd just have to hope that it would go in their favor for once. Considering the way that the contracts seemed almost constructed to fuck them over, the ram doubted that they would.

He sighed. Things were getting much more complicated.

Three days later...

The Battle over Coralky was a massacre for both sides. Their sudden strike hit the planetary defense fleet before they were able to respond, and more of the ships seemed to fall to their Indoctrination than before. Half of the enemy fleet was out of commission before the battle could start in earnest.

But before the Void soldiers had a chance to celebrate, the automated defenses kicked in. The battle stations over Outpost Zonga had been fooled by a dead ship being launched into their system before the rest of the ships popped in to hide behind the debris. If he'd known that the defense platforms over Coralky were even better, he might have thought twice about their approach.

The fleet of the Dark Lord of the Void eventually triumphed, but the damage was severe. They had taken in just enough Indoctrinated to cover their own losses, and had lost more ships than they'd gained. Coralky glimmered below, the ocean planet taunting them with its shimmering seas as the losses that they'd taken burned through the atmosphere.

" Losses?" he asked, helmet hiding his face.

"Uh...two destroyers, seven squadrons of fighters," one of the bridge crew called out.

" Indoctrinated gained?"

"Numbers still coming in."

" Ships gained?"

"One destroyer, fourteen squadrons of fighters, one research station."

A fiery explosion burst into view partway around the planet. The bridge crew winced.

"Uh...forget about the research station."

" They blew themselves up."

"Yes, sir."

It hadn't been a question, but he supposed that it had required an answer. He breathed out slowly.

" Inform me if anything jumps in-system."

"Yes, sir."

The ram turned away from the rest of the command crew, meeting Mark's gaze. The hyena nodded, falling in step behind him, tapping his head and muttering a message to assemble the rest of the command structure. Bertram didn't listen, keeping his head down as he thought of how he was going to salvage something from this nightmare.

If the research station above the planet blew itself to bits, then that meant that the scientists inside had something they wanted to keep from him. What, he didn't know, but it had to be related to the war, or to their eventual victory. That loss irked, niggling at him, but he put the annoyance out of his mind. There might still be something to salvage from the wreckage, and if not, then there would be other opportunities to gain intel. A government did not keep all information in a single lab. Ever.

The elevator opened, and naked Zelda waited. She had been more present over the last few days, thrusting herself into every conversation she could. The way she eyed him, it was clear she expected a hate-fuck at any moment. He had yet to give it to her. She stood with her thighs pressed tightly together, her thighs stained, and she grimaced as he stood behind her with her brother at his side.

" Third meeting room."

She pressed the button like a good servant, and they descended. Mark opened his mouth, only to slap it shut as Bertram held his hand up for silence.

" Zelda?"

"Yes...Master?" she growled.

" You have ideas?"

"...No, Master."

" Then why are you here?"

"...I...won't be forgotten...Master."

" You will not be. Report to my quarters."

"..."

" Now."

She pressed the bottom button on the elevator. As they reached their initial destination, Bertram and Mark stepped out. Zelda remained, riding the elevator to the bottom of the ship. Mark shook his head.

"I think...isn't that a bit much?"

" She wants to be remembered. I'm giving her a chance to do that without more humiliation."

"Then you won't -"

" I'll do what she makes me do."

He shook his head, leading the way through the black-walled corridors to the meeting room.

Holograms of Admiral Tardak, Lazir, and all other officers appeared around the table. Bertram greeted them with a nod as he leaned over the table, looking at the composition of their fleet and supplies.

It wasn't brilliant. They had lost more than they needed to, and the enemy had scuttled all damaged ships that couldn't make the jump to orbit. The stuff that was still salvageable was far less than their spoils over the Deep Den planets. If this ended up being at all typical for their campaign through the Starry Sea, they were going to be fighting a war of attrition, and not an easily-won war, either.

" Options."

"There aren't many," Tardak said, the older badger shaking his head. "We have three routes that lead us to Bareef, their capital. If we can take that, we will have a much easier time securing this region, but that depends on if we can reach it. And whether the Indoctrination works when we get there, for that matter."

" I assume we have our scientists trying to sort that out?"

"Ah, yes, sir," Lazir said, the fox nodding. "But there's only so much we can do without some of their ships to test."

" You have one."

"Ones where the Indoctrination works. We need one where it doesn't, so we can see why."

" ...Your point is taken." He looked at the galactic map, running his finger along the shortest of the routes leading from Coralky to Bareef. " What stops this from being the ideal route?"

"More automated defenses," Tardak said, the badger's hologram tapping something out of sight. Many little dots appeared around each of the three planets between them and the capital. "I would say we have little more than a 50/50 chance to reach the capital with enough ships to siege it along that route."

" And on the others?"

"...55% and 60%, respectively," the badger admitted. "From what we've observed so far."

Not great odds in any case, and particularly not with the lack of reinforcements that they'd hoped for. He leaned over the table, shaking his head as he tried to think through their options.

Obviously, their best hope would be going through as few battles as possible, but with that short route more defended than the others with automated defenses, it shut down their Indoctrination capabilities, limited as they were. There would be little to no reinforcement along that route.

On the other hand, they'd barely broken even with the forces that they had managed to Indoctrinate over Coralky, and they had no guarantee of getting even that much over the other planets in the Starry Sea. Every battle could easily end with them having less than they started with, and by the time they hit Bareef...

He shook his head. There was no choice in the matter.

" We take the short path."

"Sir?" the badger asked.

" The short path. We can't afford to fight too many battles. Even if we can't replenish as much, we need to move fast."

"What about our supply lines?" Mark asked.

" If we can take Bareef, we won't have to worry about them. If we can't, then it won't matter regardless."

They were on the clock, now, and that meant that they had to move fast, act fast, and hit fast. There was no way to take it slow.

" Make the arrangements. Prioritize finding out what was in that lab, and what the enemy is using to keep us from Indoctrinating them. Understand?"

They did.

" Good. Plan it, make it happen. Mark?"

"Yes, Master?"

" I am going to deal with your sister. You may join at your discretion."

"...I'll stay here, Master."

" As you will."

The End

Summary: The fleet moves on, and the Starry Sea proves to be a problem.

Tags: No Sex, Female Nudity, Mature, Science Fiction, Sci-Fi, Master/Slave, Ram, Hyena, Wet, Mind Control, Battle, Losses,