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Pictures didn’t really do ships justice, especially warships. They were a lot bigger, a lot more imposing and impressive than one usually got from a photograph. This was something that only really got noticed when someone was actually at a dock looking at one directly, or even about to board. At that point, the sheer magnitude of what constituted a ship really became clear.

The one about to board now was definitely impressed; he wasn’t exactly a regular on ships, he generally had little need to be around them, much less on them. But he had important business on this one, and he was looking forward to getting on with it. It was amazing how small he felt compared to it, though... almost like he would barely be visible.

Then again, almost invisible was his speciality.

As he was brought on board the Promenade by a couple of guards, the ship’s master greeted him. Captain Russe Tanion, a rather short and stuffy man in his mid or late thirties, with a round face and close-cut brown hair under his cap; he didn’t look like the friendliest of men, but was putting on his best face to meet him. “Well, well...finally, we get to meet face to face. And here I was almost starting to think you were as mythical as they wanted you to be, Senix.”

“Mythical is good in my line of work.” Senix wasn’t his name, and yet it was. On the surface, he couldn’t have looked more unassuming - average height, average build, not muscular or fat nor thin or wilting, brown hair and eyes on skin that was just a shade darkened from white. Nothing about him spoke of anything special, he looked about as forgettable as one could get. Even his clothing was average and boring - a light coat of gray and khaki slacks and brown shoes. Nothing at all to draw the eye.

Just like one would hope for a spy.

Senix was an assigned name - S and E for Special Espionage, Nix for Zero, the deepest of all possible agents. Any and all personal details about him were so tightly under lock and key that he might as well have become the label. The number of people who knew who he was, who he had been outside the spy life, could be counted on one hand. Naturally, there was a reputation about Senix, words of exploits so fantastic one couldn’t be sure if they were fact or fiction - and he made absolutely no effort to clear that up. For that matter, even his existence was a matter of debate among many people, who thought that most of what was attributed to Senix was simply the work of many spies operating under a code name to obfuscate the truth. He didn’t mind this story, either.

A face-to-face meeting like this was rare, but necessary - some secrets were only secure if kept inside the brain until being brought to the one who needed to know them. Captain Tanion and one other person on this ship were the targets this time, and the information absolutely could not fall into the wrong hands. So here Senix was, in all his unassuming nothingness, ready to relay his messages. Though he figured he would have to be patient, as Captain Tanion seemed not in any hurry to get to business.

“You’re a stranger to ships, aren’t you?” the captain asked as Senix stumbled a bit trying to follow him. “Can always tell the landbound, they struggle to get their sea legs under them. Once you’ve been on ships for a while, it’s like second nature.”

“Most likely,” replied Senix as he steadied himself. “I don’t typically do ships.”

“You’re missing out. They’re an experience like no other. Some may talk about flying like it’s all that, but you don’t EXPERIENCE flight. You’re locked down in a cozy box being flung from one place to another. A ship is an EXPERIENCE. You’re always, constantly aware that you’re not on your typical terrain. You can walk outside and feel the air against your face. It’s breathtaking.”

“I have scarcely enough breath for myself, I’m afraid I have little desire to have it taken from me.”

Captain Tanion rolled his eyes. “Stick to spying, your humor is far from legendary.”

Of course someone as stuffy as him wouldn’t appreciate it. But Senix paid that no mind. “It seems like things are run very tightly here. Everyone looks busy, all the time. Is it that much work to keep a ship running?”

“Naturally, we all have our duties, but we have to ensure our personnel have some down time.” The captain didn’t exactly sound thrilled about that. “Otherwise they get run-down...the ship can sail fine without too much constant action, but there’s more to it than sailing. Making sure the weapons and technology are fine, keeping things clean, feeding the crew, latrine duty, all that sort of thing. I like to make sure people aren’t idling about when there are tasks to be done, and especially when we’re at harbor, when we can do a lot of things that we can’t out on the open water. And this ship needs to be in good shape...we can’t allow any weaknesses when we go to take on those damnable morphs.”

Senix needed no illumination about what the captain was talking about. The Empire of Bercial wasn’t grooming warships for no reason, after all. Battle was brewing, the conflict was heating up, and there was no question they had their sights set on making use of that might. Of course, he knew that from a little more first-hand experience, as well. That was why he was here.

Bercial was the main power in the world; the other nations of the world didn’t have nearly the level of influence, and mostly had to let Bercial do what they wished around them. It wasn’t that long ago that they restarted their march of imperialism, targeting the continent of Ocidia, where no organized larger nations had been established. The Bercians came aiming to outcompete the native populaces on Ocidia with their new innovation: high-quality slave labor. From animalistic Pokémon, they had engineered an advanced life form, the Pokémorph - the hardiness and supernatural ability of a Pokémon, with intelligence far closer to the human scale. Masses of these morphs had been brought over to ‘backwards’ lands, with Bercian humans at the command, to try to create enclaves of Bercial overseas and extend their influence farther. This usually came at the expense of the local populations, not familiar with their ways of living and unable to overcome the power of the morphs. Many other nations were on edge over this, worrying that this conquest might not be limited to less incorporated regions of the world, but none had the strength to stop it nor the will to risk Bercial’s attentions turning towards themselves.

But something unexpected had happened. Bercial had engineered the morphs in part because of the immense natural loyalty of Pokémon, which they believed would be carried over into obedient servants to their whims while being capable of much more complex tasks. It hadn’t occurred to them that said obedience had been a function of the Pokémon’s lack of higher functions...nor had they realized that their intelligence had quickly advanced from ‘close to human level’ to ‘at least human level,’ with some types going even further. The discontent had been growing steadily, especially with the poor treatment of the morphs and the acts they were ordered to commit. The first rebellion had come around fifteen years ago - as far as Bercial was concerned, without warning - and the Bercians very quickly found themselves outmatched by the very power that they had coveted. The first rebellion had led to others, and the landmass they had been trying to develop was soon out of their control. It had been a severe blow, but Bercial was certain that the morphs would turn on each other soon enough, the fledgling uprisings surely wouldn’t contain themselves without a strong organizing authority.

Then came the second threat. The morph-led societies somehow DIDN’T collapse.

There had been shaky areas, certainly, and no shortage of conflicts. But the continent hadn’t descended into all-out anarchy. Cooperative communities organized and came together, trading and sharing and improving their resources. Indigenous communities were brought into alliance, their interests being supported and promoted, while some of the remaining Bercians started to align themselves with the new normal. The contentious communities were slowly being choked out by the new order, as it grew and spread across Ocidia. And Bercial was starting to face the real prospect that they wouldn’t be able to swoop in and reclaim their prizes in the chaos.

Four years ago, the first established independent nation on Ocidia had come into existence. The Republic of Selindis, born of some of the earliest rebelling communities, had made its official declaration of nationhood, and had been widely recognized by the world - Bercial obviously excluded. And now they were furious, in their eyes this country that was populated by what they considered their property had no business existing. Its success was considered a trial for others to follow - if they allowed it to persevere, all of Ocidia was liable to become established into morph nations, leaving them without any control of a strategic and resource-rich landmass! Not to mention the threat of rebelling in Bercial itself, as morphs serving the empire saw their brethren rise…

Their first approach had been to try to strongarm Selindis into being integrated into the Empire of Bercial, using both promises of cutting-edge modern technology and threats of isolation. That had failed badly, as Selindis was prospering without Bercial and indeed didn’t want the type of world they were selling - the founding cities had been revamped into a dramatically different urban environment, one more attuned to the natural world and cooperating with it rather than competing against it, while non-urban areas were preserved and protected for those who retained a more tribal lifestyle, bolstered by morphs who had joined their communities rather than forced the natives to join theirs. The technology gap that had been anticipated was not there, with plenty of morphs having learned and even improved on what their former masters had relied on. And even if Bercial wasn’t going to play ball, it was clear that other organizing communities on Ocidia and other nations in the world were more willing to get involved in trade - there was not much risk of being cut off.

More and more lately, it seemed that things were going to come to blows. Bercial was doing plenty of grandstanding, showing off its military might - which was decidedly ample - and rumbling about threatened attacks from Selindis to try to pressure others into disavowing them. Selindis, for its part, had declared that they would defend themselves if attacked, though they didn’t have nearly the level of physical military of the empire. But whispers were that they didn’t need it - there was some suggestion that their natural power was more than a match for the machines built by the humans, especially when they joined together, and especially when enhanced by certain natural resources…

Senix had been on assignment to learn all he could about the organization of the morphs and what they might be hiding. He’d been in Selindis for most of the past two years, gathering information while being as nondescript and invisible as possible. When had had given a recent report, he had been told to deliver certain information directly to Captain Tanion and the “important figure” on board the Promenade...it was an unusual request, especially to pull him out of Selindis, which had only happened twice before, and both times for direct connecting with his superiors. He didn’t like being in the dark about why it was important for him to be here, but that was part of the job, and he figured he would know soon.

“You may be jumping the gun a bit,” he said to the captain as they walked inside the deck. “The mood in Selindis is that the treaty negotiations are going well for them. They believe war will be averted.”

“Heh, they’re fools, but that’s to be expected from beasts,” replied the captain smugly. “We’ve already been given the moving orders. Everyone has. The ‘diplomats’ will make sure they never sign the treaty, they have a list of provisions to argue endlessly and will make sure they’re the ones to walk away from the table...and once some agents here incite a little ‘morph rebellion’ in the name of Selindis, it’ll be blamed on them as a covert act of war. And we’ll be in position to attack in an instant.”

Senix raised an eyebrow at that. “A false flag operation? You know they’ll deny it.”

“We’ll be raining bombs on them before they even get the chance. Once we get the drop on them, they’ll be forced onto the defensive, and if they don’t give up and let us take back over, we’ll get to vaporize them completely. I hope it’s the latter...those uppity slaves deserve to be punished properly for daring to cross their rightful masters.”

“There are still Bercians over there, though.”

“Pah. No one but traitors and weaklings. They could have saved themselves, but they allied with the morphs. We can’t waste time with them. We have enough people over here who are sympathizers anyway. Even my wife thinks we’re going too far!” Captain Tanion scoffed. “I’m hoping to spend some time showing her exactly why she should support us against those creatures, I don’t want her putting my devotion into question.”

“Your wife is on the ship right now? Didn’t you say you were leaving soon?”

“We’ve been given the orders, but we’re not shoving off yet. I certainly won’t be taking her with me, she’s not part of the military and that would be very against code. But here she’s not exposed to any potential sympathizers, no one to counter the message I want to give. By the time she leaves, she’ll be fully on our side.”

Senix couldn’t say that he was so sure about that - indoctrination wasn’t as easy as a lot of people made it out to be. But that wasn’t his place to say, so he didn’t pursue that point any further. “Well, I hope what I have to say will be of some help to your mission. But I do have to ask...what’s so special about this ship in particular? If it’s a maritime thing, then I would expect to be going to the Grand Admiral. Sending me to a particular ship means there’s something here that must be extremely relevant.”

Captain Tanion chuckled. “I’m sure there is. The Promenade is a special vessel. An assault cruiser, yes, but also a specialty research cruiser, with one of the most high-class laboratories in Bercial! We’re responsible for the development of weapons and technologies that will give us an edge over those glorified animals! And the other person you were asked to talk with was no doubt Dr. Fenton Morias, master of research and development on board our vessel.”

Well, now things were starting to come together - Dr. Morias was indeed the other person this sensitive information was meant to get to. Which meant that the information he had given would certainly be relevant to the research, not necessarily the general navy. “A research lab on a ship? Isn’t that kind of inconvenient and risky?”

“It has its challenges, but also its upsides. For one, who would think that the most advanced research lab in the nation was on a warship? And for the development of technologies that are critical to wartime success, having a ready-made test platform is a useful thing. There’s another workshop that exists to assemble some of the units we get for testing. That’s why our ship has a larger staff than others of its size, as well. Because of this, we’re probably safer than most other ships out there - they’ll see what we’re packing and steer clear.”

“Or target you because you’re the biggest threat.”

“If they do that, they’ll regret it. How many people and ships and planes and the like are they willing to lose on us? Because we’ll take as many of them with us as we can.” The captain sounded almost excited at the prospect...Senix had met many military types who liked the idea of going down in a blaze of glory. He rather preferred to survive whatever was coming, but he could understand the appeal of the idea - a grand statement of defiance held an alluring weight to it.

Finally the captain pushed open a door leading into a much more interesting room than the dull gray hallways they had been treading through. It wasn’t quite how Senix imagined a lab, but he could definitely see how it would be immediately recognized as one, with computers and machines and papers and odd devices scattered all over. In one corner was a lab-coated male with shaded goggles over his eyes, watching something flash and spark in a machine of some sort that Senix couldn’t identify by sight. He wasn’t paying attention at all to the arrivals, and only snapped to awareness as Captain Tanion cleared his throat. “Captain! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Business before pleasure today, Fenton. Our guest is here.”

“Guest? ...Oh! Right! I didn’t realize that was today.” Dr. Morias closed the hatch on the machine and removed the goggles, replacing them with a pair of spectacles. With his longish black hair, somewhat hooked nose, and sharp features, he gave the image of a slightly sinister figure, the kind that Senix would imagine being revealed as mad in the third act of a work of fiction. He sounded congenial enough when he spoke, though. “Pardon me...I can get somewhat wrapped up in things.” That seemed to be directed more at Senix than anyone.

Nonetheless, Russe was the one who replied. “Maybe if you made it easier to hear, you’d know when someone was coming.”

“Yes, yes, I know your feelings on the matter, but soundproofing is SO important to me doing my best work.”

“If something happens in there and the alarms fail for whatever reason, we’re never going to be able to find out until it’s too late.”

“That’s why I have the ability to page outside, Captain. Please, you know it’ll be much harder for me to do my research if I allow distractions in. I already leave the door unlocked and that’s dicey enough.”

“Hmph. Fine, but if I get any sense of trouble, I’m pulling rank. Keep that in mind.” Captain Tanion turned to Senix. “Senix, this is Dr. Fenton Morias, one of the best minds in Bercial at what he does.”

Dr. Morias shook the spy’s hand. “Senix...I’ve always wondered if the rumors about you were true. If you’ll pardon my saying so, you don’t look particularly impressive at first glance.”

“That happens to be an asset when you’re a spy,” replied Senix with no affront. “The less impressive I look, the less my enemies believe I’m any kind of character of note for them to attend to. Makes it a lot easier to move around.”

“That makes sense. Well, you’re clearly a valuable asset if you can provide us with advanced information. Why don’t you tell us what it was that brought you here?”

Senix nodded; he definitely wanted to get down to business, as much to sate his own curiosity about why his business mattered here in the first place. “It has to do with recent news of development work in Selindis and potentially other areas in Ocidia. As I’m sure you know, Selindis has been working to develop its defenses in the event of an attempted invasion by Bercial. However, it’s quite clear that even though they have efficient processes and enough material resources, they don’t have the size or means to match production of planes, ships, tanks, or other combat vehicles, nor to maintain the same pace of active weapons production as Bercial.”

“That’s not a surprise - Bercial is many times larger than they are,” said Captain Tanion. “Even if the rest of Ocidia got in on the act, they’d be half the size of our continent.”

“Half the size might get them somewhere with how quickly they can work. But the other half of this is that they haven’t heavily invested in these weapons. Instead, they’re taking a different angle...they’re trying to harvest as much Power Stone as they can.”

“Power Stone!” That was definitely something of interest to Dr. Morias. “Ocidia must have quite a bit of it, but it would have to be something they aren’t able to easily get in trade, with as coveted as it is for morphs.”

“Definitely not. I saw a demonstration of what a morph could do under the effect of Power Stone. One individual high-class morph under its enhancement would be capable of doing significant damage to any vehicle, and would resist a good bit of weapons fire. If two or three soldiers could match one of our ships or planes or tanks, they wouldn’t NEED many of their own. But Power Stone has a definite downside, in that it’s a consumable resource for only a temporary enhancement - a few hours of supercharging from a mass roughly the size of a golf ball.”

“Which means unless they have plenty of stores of it, they’re looking at needing to conserve their supplies, right?” guessed Captain Tanion.

“Correct. I am not fully aware of how much they have, but they have been finding places to harvest it and definitely have storehouses.”

The captain grunted. “A dangerous equalizer. Damn! If only humans could harness that kind of power themselves.”

“Well, we can, in a way,” countered Dr. Morias. “Machines designed to use Power Stone can have great impact...some of our test weapons have shown a lot of promise. The Lance of Kalathorr, for example.”

“Yeah, but imagine if a human could be supercharged like they were. We’d be able to meet them man to beast, rather than vehicle to beast.”

“I daresay the man would still be as outclassed as if neither one was enhanced,” Senix remarked.

“He’s right, you know,” agreed the scientist, leaving the captain grumbling. “There must be more, though. That all is too straightforward.”

“There is. The morphs know that their success hinges on Power Stone. But they have not been able to get supplies from the other collectives...all of them are too nervous to provide support, fearing that they would be left vulnerable to attack. Selindis has been making efforts to try to cultivate the growth of Power Stone instead...they have been running experiments to try to generate reproduction of Power Stone in hidden facilities. So far they have been unable to create consistent growth, but the potential is there.”

“Really? Bercial has never been able to accomplish this. We know it’s possible, it is some kind of organic-like material, albeit one poorly understood...but our attempts to catalyze haven’t been successful to date.”

“I don’t know the details, but I know they’ve managed to get sporadic success. If our experts here had access to those facilities, I’m sure they could understand what was going on, and possibly even perfect the process.”

“I’m absolutely sure I could,” stated Dr. Morias, with the kind of giddy grin that gave Senix that vibe again. “If we could get recurrent supplies of Power Stone...our victory would be absolutely ensured. They would have no chance if limitless resource was combined with my work!”

“I’m assuming your work has something to do with Power Stone, then?”

“Indeed! I’ve been researching it for years, trying to find ways to take advantage of its incredible potential even without the natural channeling ability of morphs! And to overcome its weaknesses...the dissolution of Power Stone after its energy is consumed is such a tricky matter to deal with, and one of the main reasons it hasn’t been effectively used to power weapons. While we’re able to get response with some, the ability to actually connect to the physical power source falls apart, and this affects the housing itself...the Lance of Kalathorr is one of the few that can successfully let loose its energy blast before powering down, and the stone housing has to be replaced afterwards. But now...now I think we’ve hit an important turning point! After years of study and trial and tribulation, I’ve cracked the code of the Power Stone, and have perfected it!”

NOW it was getting good. “Perfected it? You mean Power Stone can get even better?”

“Precisely!” At that moment, the machine in the corner whirred down, and the scientist hurried back to open it and bring out its contents, using thick gloves to hold it up. A baseball-sized sphere of glowing, radiant white rocky material - so potent that Senix could sense the incredible energy housed within from even his distance away. “Behold! Enhanced Power Stone!”

Not exactly the most pithy label, but this stuff almost spoke for itself, as far as Senix was concerned. “Enhanced Power Stone...I’ve never heard of it.”

“Almost no one has. Only a very few even know that it exists. In fact, all of it that does exists on this ship alone. Power Stone is not easy to come by in Bercial, and the risk of the morphs discovering our research are too great to spread it around until we can produce Enhanced Power Stone much more routinely. But I have been producing a fair bit here, almost enough to start active testing with it. Using a highly complex process, it compresses the material of thirty times the mass of ordinary Power Stone into one cohesive structure. The increased density allows for a nanoscale restructuring that allows the material to retain its coherence by preventing it from being drained to true emptiness. And that means it is capable of recharging itself over time! Not only an effective power source, but a natural battery! Were we to use this, we could launch bolt after bolt from the Lance of Kalathorr, rest it, and then resume fire, all without having to do any extensive repairs! And that’s just the weapon we have...the possibilities have grown even greater with this!”

“The main problem with keeping this up has been getting enough Power Stone to actually make it,” added in Captain Tanion. “It takes a LOT. But...if we were to, say, have access to a facility that could manufacture Power Stone...and then build a facility that would process it into Enhanced Power Stone…”

“Then no one in the world would be able to oppose Bercial.” Senix let out a low whistle. “Impressive. This stuff could be the key to supreme power. It would definitely put Bercial decidedly over Selindis, and probably make conquest of the whole continent an inevitability.”

“As it should be!” crowed the captain. “But we need it to stay quiet until we have the ability to actually execute. We’re supposed to be getting some test weapons for the ship before we leave...some tests out in the open water would give the brass confidence to start expanding testing and production.”

“This information is very useful...it means that we can start requesting more ample supplies of Power Stone, with the promise of having an endless supply when we retake the land that’s rightfully ours.” Dr. Morias was slipping the Enhanced Power Stone into a case, where Senix could see numerous other similar objects; the value of that case alone had to be massive, no wonder they had been keeping it so secret. “The more I make, the better head start we’ll have...all we need are a few vehicles with EPS-powered weapons and they’ll be surrendering within days. Your information has been most valuable, Senix...you’re worth every bit of what they’ve invested in you.”

“Happy to help,” replied Senix modestly. “Bercial’s fortunes will definitely turn on this.”

———

Senix wasn’t sure he was expected to stick around after his information delivery, but it was never considered polite to turn down a meal invitation. So when Captain Tanion offered, he wasn’t about to say no. He’d expected it to be in the main mess hall, but it turned out the captain had a private dining suite not too far from there, and Senix was one of the few esteemed guests to enjoy it.

That wasn’t all he was enjoying, though. In addition to the food, he was also getting some unexpected attention - from the captain’s wife.

He had noticed it as they were eating, feasting on nice seafood dishes prepared by the cooks, as well as some hearty sides and lavish desserts - Senix was fairly sure this wasn’t the average meal, and probably beyond even the usual for the captain. Perhaps his information really WAS worth all that effort. But throughout the meal, he could see it, those fleeting looks and the flushed face of the woman sitting not far away from Captain Tanion - and it was obvious that it wasn’t just awe at his spy history.

Gloria Tanion was not quite what Senix expected. She was clearly close in age to Russe, but definitely looked younger and more attractive - he had definitely married up, and probably on the strength of his career and status. Shining blue eyes and sightly amber hair that was just a little on the long side, She seemed to have an extra little bit of vibrance to her compared to her husband. Seemingly a lucky man, yet, Senix had to wonder if she felt the same luck was hers. He got the impression of a certain distance between the two...and if he had to wager a guess, he would put that more on Russe’s side than Gloria’s. He seemed a career-minded man and comfortable in his own importance, and the way he had spoken about her earlier left Senix feeling like he was much more practical than passionate in his manner. Did he see her as a trophy rather than a partner? He wasn’t entirely sure, some people had sides to them they didn’t show to many, he could have Russe all wrong, but somehow Senix had the feeling her eyes wouldn’t be drawn to him if all was well between them. Especially because being eye-catching was not a quality he ascribed to himself.

“I’m really looking forward to when we can finally take it to those degenerates,” Russe declared towards the end of the meal, lifting up his wine - Senix noted it was his fourth glass, and while he didn’t seem outright drunk, he certainly had some lubrication. “The arrogance of them, rejecting us like that...we created them! They owe their very existence to us! And this is how we’re paid back? Pah! We made them, we can un-make them!”

“That sort of thing might be why they aren’t exactly happy with us,” Gloria said - Senix saw her angling slightly away as she said it, an anticipation of a bad reaction. He wondered idly if that was a familiar thing to her...she didn’t come off as someone who had suffered abuse to his initial glance, but that too could be a well-hidden thing.

Russe didn’t seem to be making any such motions in that direction, thankfully. “Well, that’s something they should deal with, because it’s true. There wouldn’t be a single morph in the world if it wasn’t for us humans creating them! How can they not worship the ground we walk on?”

“Well, I can imagine it’s the same thing as when a father or mother has a conflict with their child,” pointed out Senix. “They may appreciate being alive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they like who made them. Especially if they see them as bad people.”

That earned a snot from the captain. “Don’t tell me you have sympathies for them, too.”

“Not at all, but I make a point of not having strong emotions one way or the other. There are psychics and empaths among them, and if I was carrying hate for them in my mind, I would be discovered in an instant. And that would prevent me from acting as an agent in service of Bercial.”

“Hmph. I suppose that’s fair. Bloody hell, why’d we create so many different types of them? Mind readers and whatnot...that was never a good idea in the first place! Should have just been some of the more labor-useful ones, not the whole kit’n’kaboodle. But nooooo, some jeenyus decided that variety was the spice of life!”

“I think you’re too hard on them,” said Gloria, sounding slightly hurt.

“Bah. You’ve spent too much time around them. You have to understand, THEY made US their enemy. They could have been part of our glorious empire of Bercial, but they rejected us and betrayed us. And I don’t care how many you knew growing up, any one of them could do the same to us over here.” Russe slid his wine glass over to Senix. “Senix, would you kindly pour me another of the blanc? It really is divine, I’m surprised you won’t try it.”

“Sadly, the life of a spy requires teetotaling. People who imbibe may let things slip that they don’t want revealed...such as, you know, the fact that I’m a spy.” Senix poured for the captain and more gently slid the glass over. “Not that I don’t miss it some days, but one must make sacrifices sometimes for the greater good.”

“You said it, friend.” Russe lifted his wine glass in a toast to that sentiment. “We may have to go back to the days when we don’t have them to fob all the hard work onto, but better than ever having to concede anything to them. We’ll manage, we did it before and we’ll do it again. And what we’re doing here will be the key to that...I’m certain that our work will go down as the thing that turned the tides and showcased the unwavering power of the Empire of Bercial. Not only will we put those animals in their place, everyone else will know exactly who’s top dog in this world.”

“They will indeed,” replied Senix simply. No point in not just going along with it, as the captain downed his wine. He could sense the tension in the room, coming from the captain’s right...Gloria seemed more than uncomfortable. It was clear that her reaction to such notions as what Russe was promoting were beyond what Russe had led on before. Clearly he knew, and clearly he was trying to convince her, but he doubted that something like this was going to sway her much. Perhaps he should have excused himself, let the two of them have a private moment of discourse and slipped off the ship to go back and await his next orders...

But he wasn’t done with his business just yet.

———

Russe woke up in his quarters...but not in a way he was familiar with. Rather than in his bed, having slept soundly and gotten refreshed, he was sitting on a chair. With his wrists bound behind his back. And his ankles bound to the legs of the chair. And his mouth firmly muffled by a tight gag. And his body stripped completely naked.

To say it was a bad situation was understating it already...but it got a lot worse when he looked up and saw Senix standing there, a sinister smile on his face. “Oh, good, you’re awake. Means I got the right dose of that knockout drug. Always hard to tell how alcohol’s going to affect it.”

Of course, with his mouth covered firmly, Russe wasn’t able to ask any questions. But Senix didn’t need to hazard too many guesses as to what was going through his head. “Oh, don’t worry, you’re going to be alive when I’m done here. You might have a few other issues to deal with, but you’ll be around to deal with them. I admit, this was a little bit unplanned, and maybe off the script, but, well, I felt like I had to take an opportunity when it was presented...and after all, I think it’s something that’s more needed for her than me.”

The captain’s eyes widened as he saw Gloria come out of the restroom. She was also completely nude, her beautiful body on display for both of them to see, but she was decidedly NOT tied up or restrained in any way. And the way she was making eyes at Senix was clearly not something Russe was used to or okay with. Not that Senix was entirely caring about that at the moment, as Gloria leaned up against him, a finger teasing him a bit. “You really are a stunning woman...I get the feeling that you don’t feel like that’s appreciated enough.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” A sidelong glance at her husband’s shocked face was immensely satisfying to Gloria. “There was a time I thought he was like a dashing prince, a hero who stood to protect and defend us...I should have seen it as a warning sign that he thought of himself the same way, but for so long I didn’t. Wasn’t until a lot more recently that I realized, I was just another medal to him, an award for his display, someone to parade around...and a liability when I didn’t serve as his mouthpiece. That was my mistake, I refused to see the signs...heh, I’m going to owe my brother an apology, he warned me about him, but, well, I had stars in my eyes.”

“You’re hardly alone in the world for that. I have no doubt you’ll find someone who appreciates you more for you. But at the very least, I can help you go out in a blaze of glory.”

“You have no idea how much I wish for that...I was wrong to settle for less, for the sake of ‘decorum.’ Decorum, hah, a nice way of saying don’t rock the boat...well, I think some boats need rocking.”

Senix grinned wider as Gloria stepped away, sitting back on the bed, spreading her legs enticingly. Already wet, at that. “You caught on earlier, didn’t you? I’m impressed...no one here even gave it another thought.”

“It was mostly a guess...but there was something about you. A vibe I got...I guess because I know the vibe a little more than most anyone else around here. And you could tell what I thought of that, couldn’t you?”

“I could. And far be it from me to ignore such a signal. But let’s catch your ‘dear husband’ up with what’s going on, because he still doesn’t have a clue.”

If Russe thought he was shocked before, he didn’t know the meaning of the word. He stared, transfixed, as the shape of Senix started to blur and warp. The image of the nondescript human slowly grew, the clothes slowly fading and being replaced by a powerful orange and white scaly hide. The average frame grew, and grew, not just taller but broader, more muscular. A chiseled chest, beefy arms, powerful legs, wicked claws tipping the fingers and toes, a long tail with a potent flame blazing at the end, and a face slowly lengthening into a draconic snout with sharp fangs and two crest-like horns on the back of his head. The final flourish was his wings spreading out wide, completing the revelation.

A Charizard morph. The spy had been their enemy all along.

“Rrrr...damn, it’s nice to drop that Illusion...feels so stuffy in that tiny shape, I don’t know how the Zoroarks do it.” The Charizard morph’s voice was deep, powerful, the tiniest bit growly, and he stretched out in display of the two humans - one of whom was very into it, the other not so much. He was mostly nude himself - only wearing some kind of techno bracer on his left arm and a harness-like belt around his chest with a couple of small pouches on the sides. “Call me Raodan...not that you’ll be calling me anything, out loud anyway,” he added to the still stunned Russe. There was so much confusion and chaos running through the human’s mind, and he wasn’t planning to resolve a bit of it.

Sometimes it was fun being psychic. Most Charizard morphs weren’t, but thanks to his parentage, he’d inherited a degree of ability it in - not the proficiency of one whose type was aligned with that, but more than enough to work on unsuspecting humans. That was how he was sure his cover hadn’t been detected by anyone else, and why he was sure he wasn’t misreading the signals from Gloria. And why he was certain that Russe was now soundlessly calling him unspeakable things, none of which were his professed name - as with Senix, a false one, but real enough as far as he was concerned. But as he turned to Gloria, he was more focused on what she thought of him - and he wasn’t going to probe deep in, he didn’t need to, her eyes were drinking in his body like she was parched. “God...you’re a gorgeous beast…”

“Thank you. I think like should be fair to like, no?” He leaned over her, looking enormous compared to her, and his muzzle pressed against her face, his tongue slipping out to mingle with hers. She moaned into the kiss, body shivering in eager anticipation as she pushed into him, savoring his heat. His arm wrapped around her as he came down further, laying her back onto the bed in a half-embrace with him, caressing her body with his nice, hot hands. An ostentatious display as much for her benefit as a taunt to Russe, eliciting precisely the mixture of anger, embarrassment, and humiliation that he wanted to get out of him.

Of course, Russe wasn’t the only one getting a rise out of it. And there was another element added in soon, the mortification when Russe registered what Raodan was packing...that long, thick, ridged spire of deep red flesh growing from the Charizard’s slit, visibly steaming and drooling blazing fluid from the tip. It rubbed against Gloria’s nethers, not entering but stroking along the surface, bathing her labia in intense fire and leaking some of that pre onto her clit to linger and steam there...she moaned and gasped into the kiss as she felt it, shivering from the fierce rush of pleasure. Raodan was wildly, intensely hot, but all his type innately had fierce control over what their heat could do, and he wouldn’t dare damage her with it. Something he was sure she knew as well...morphs had been designed, after all, for the sake of benefitting their ostensible masters, and undoubtedly a few had had this in mind, scandalous as it was said to be.

The same went for his size, which he knew was drawing considerable envy and sense of inferiority from Russe. Considering how badly the human male was dwarfed in every dimension, that was understandable...at full mast, Raodan was packing close to treble Russe’s best measure of length and easily double the girth. And the Charizard was drinking it in...perhaps it was a bit petty, but after listening to the bigot spew his hate and revel in the thoughts of his kind’s subjugation or genocide, he wanted to hammer it in just how badly OUTCLASSED the captain was in every regard. And he had a feeling Gloria wanted the same thing, she didn’t share his opinions and in fact was disgusted by them, far more sympathetic to morphs...perhaps she had really wanted one of them, but social pressures had forbidden such a thing. She would fit well in an environment like Selindis, where there were a fair few humans who shared such interests...he had not-so-subtly suggested that after the war was defused that it wouldn’t be too hard to arrange her travel there. That, however, would be for her to consider later on...for now, an indulgence like this would have to suffice.

Finally Raodan broke away from the kiss, looking down at the gorgeous human woman with a gaze that was at once passionate and hungry. His mind was picking up on Gloria drinking in his muscled form, the vivid scaled hide that almost glowed from the fire within him, the exotic features that tantalized her so deeply. He swore he saw her eyes dart over to the bound male momentarily before saying, with a decent bit of volume, “Ohh...take me, Raodan, fill me with your fire, show me what a real man can do.”

It was tough for the Charizard to decide if her words or Russe’s agony was more enticing. He settled for 50/50 and didn’t linger on the question, instead focusing on dragging the pointed tip of his cock down to nestle in those snug folds, already quite wet and hissing a bit with his sheer heat. With a growl, he plunged in about halfway, driving a cry of ecstasy from Gloria and a muffled wail of anguish from Russe. She was taut around him, unsurprisingly given his size, but clenched and constricted actively even further to play with him, to encourage him to go deeper. A dribble of volcanic precum leaked from him, wetting her even more and intensifying the heat within her body.

He began to thrust, and she began to cry out, over and over. How much was sheer reaction, and how much was display? It didn’t matter to Raodan, so long as he genuinely brought her wondrous pleasure, and her mind was making no secret of his success. His thickness delved ever deeper as he humped into her, the ridges popping in and out with loud, slick slurps, lewd sounds that drove in the experience to their audience, ensuring that even if he tried to close his eyes, he wouldn’t be able to block it out. Not that he would be, Raodan could tell that he was unable to look away, Russe cursing him and her and himself and everything else but completely unable to disengage. And he made sure that the point of their coupling was as visible as possible to the human male, so he could see his deep red cock visibly stretching the pussy he had been so proud to ‘own’.

Soon Raodan was pressing in quite deep, spitting his fiery fluid into Gloria, her body tightening and pushing into him. “God, Raodan...you’re so big...and so hot...I’ve never felt anything this good before. Take me all the way, I need all of you, right now!”

Who was he to refuse her? Raodan tightened his hold on her briefly and drove in to the hilt, Gloria’s body yielding readily to him, allowing him to pierce deeper than any human could hope to. She wailed out in rapture, body jerking and squirming in climactic glory, the hiss in the air intensifying as her nectar flowed around him, visibly steaming in the air. Their mixed scents were filling the room, undoubtedly adding another dimension to Russe’s experience...and the captain was now fighting another problem, all of it was eliciting a natural response that he did not want. The stiffness between his legs was impossible to hide, if they had been looking, but Raodan didn’t need to see to feel the human’s embarrassment.

Gloria’s orgasm settled after a bit, and she wasted no time asking for more. “Give me more, you fiery stud...I dare you to try to breed me.”

Raodan grinned broadly. Not something possible without outside intervention, but like hell he minded pretending. “I’m gonna fill you so full you’ll already look it.” And then he went into the next gear, pulling out quite a ways and then driving in with much more vigor, getting more heavenly cries out of Gloria and raising his own lust and heat even further. Already he was spurting heavily into her, his searing precum leaking out as he withdrew and then squirting out as he speared in and took up the precious space within her. The mess on the bed was getting more and more obvious, steam starting to cling to the air as thick as their scents. To anyone who might have come in unknowing, it looked for all the world like a straight ravaging, but Gloria had been perfectly primed for him, and took his new force without a hint of discomfort or distress - if anything, she was trying to amplify it, pushing up into him where she could and clinging to his cock as he tried to drag it out, letting those ridges pop in and out more audibly than ever.

And Russe was taking it all in while shaking. Ignorant as he was, he truly believed Gloria could get pregnant at a moment’s notice from a morph, and was certain that he was watching his wife get knocked up by their enemy right that moment. Raodan could sense the torment watching that thick staff pump in and out of her, usurping what he considered his rightful claim, and unable to deaden that hard-on that continued to betray him. All of his thoughts, the Charizard noticed, were focused on the slight to himself - no concern for Gloria, no questioning what had happened, just wounded ego...no wonder she had been so eager, this had to have been the norm for the captain. Even if he wasn’t Selindis’s enemy, it would have been sweetly satisfying to do this.

He wasn’t going to last much longer, the intense stimulation Gloria was providing was doing a number on him and he could feel his cock throbbing madly. It wasn’t all her, either - the Power Stone dust that had gotten into his nose from the lab visit earlier had him a bit more amped up than usual, it wasn’t enough to get the full rush but enough to loosen him up. He thrust in harder and faster, making clear that he was going to finish things, and Gloria’s voice was getting louder and higher as she got closer as well - despite recently reaching her climax, his intense heat was bringing her rapidly back to the brink. All they needed was a little bit more…

Finally, Raodan let out a roar, a bit of flame jetting from his mouth as he his his peak, gushing a thick, heavy load of blazing spunk into Gloria’s womb. The raw visceral heat shoved her back into the rush of ecstasy, as she cried out long and loud with her second major orgasm, rocking underneath the Charizard morph as she was filled with his essence. Their bodies clung tight to each other as Raodan pumped out as much seed as he could offer, flooding her so fully that some had no choice but to leak out around his cock, even as thick as he was...the evidence of his orgasm was laid bare to Russe, leaving absolutely no doubt to him that she’d been seeded by him. Claimed, in his view, irrevocably tainted by morph seed...that was a sacrosanct thing in the Bercian military, absolutely no one could be trusted who had been sexually conquered by a morph, it was too likely that they could be subverted.

Information which Raodan was glad to take in. He let out as much as he could into Gloria, helpfully ensuring her easy breakaway from the unworthy male, but eventually found himself unable to release further. He slowly pulled out, the sticky slurping sound and the sight of his cum-covered cock rubbing in the reality to Russe. A puddle of mixed fluids dribbled out of Gloria, though much of Raodan’s offering remained in her, his seed thickening somewhat as it cooled outside of his body, remaining a pool of warmth within her. “You were marvelous...I only hope I gave you as much pleasure as you gave to me.”

“Oh my...I can’t help but feel I got the better end of the deal,” Gloria replied breathlessly. “That was everything I could have hoped for. I won’t be settling for inferior anymore, that’s for certain…”

“And my hope is that you shall never have to. Hm, now then…” Raodan turn towards Russe, who was red-faced and stewing in a melange of emotional turmoil. “Heh, looks like someone enjoyed the show a little more than they wanted to admit. Bet that boner of yours is aching, eh?” The sting in the human’s mind for having that pointed out was so satisfying. “Well, don’t worry, I have just the thing for that...after all, it would be RUDE to leave you out of the fun.”

The panic that evoked was even more satisfying. Raodan slashed away most of the bindings, only leaving the one holding the human’s wrists behind his back, and then snatched him up and hauled him to the bed. The gag was removed, but Russe couldn’t get one word out before he choked, Raodan arresting his voice as he thumped him down on the mattress. His head was very close to that puddle of Charizard and human female emissions, making him wince. He squirmed around underneath the weight of Raodan, but that accomplished nothing...trying to kick out was useless, the buff reptile wasn’t remotely fazed even where Russe’s feet connected.

“Like I said...you’ll be getting out of this alive. But I rather suspect you won’t be running any more ships.”

A silent yell was all that come from Russe as that thick cock smashed into him, driving in deep, a fair bit further than Raodan had given to Gloria on the first go. The sudden stretch and heat was mildly painful...might have been a little more if Raodan wasn’t dulling it with his psychic abilities. He started to rock in and out, working himself towards the hilt, showing no mercy to the human - he wasn’t just going to make Russe ‘tainted,’ he was going to make the human surrender to him, and make sure to work towards the spots that he knew would bring the human pleasure.

And that was just the start...he shoved Russe’s face down, into the puddle of fluids. “Lick it up, bitch. Taste the taste of your betters - me AND her. Last taste of her you’re getting, so better savor it.”

“First taste, too,” Gloria said, mildly mockingly. “Couldn’t have paid him to go down on me even once.”

“Sacrilege. He should have been worshiping you. Guess all his passions were towards death.”

“Too true. Make the most of it, Russe, it’s the closest you’ll get to me ever again.”

The defeated human conceded, his tongue reaching out to lick along the fabric and take in the taste of Gloria and Raodan. Though, the Charizard’s stuck out far more, hot and spicy, burning on his tongue and down his throat and he swallowed it down...he wasn’t even sure he could recognize Gloria’s contribution at all, he didn’t know what she should have tasted like. His eyes were pleading as Gloria vacated the bed, heading back to the bathroom. “Much as I’d love to watch this, I’m guessing my time’s pretty short...don’t want to be here when the fires start, otherwise it’ll be a lot harder to slip away.”

“I’ll make sure you have a good bit of time to take your leave, but starting now might not be a bad idea.” Raodan didn’t break stride as he spoke, giving Russe hard thrusts and making sure he kept licking up the mess on the covers. “I hope you find someone much better for you, Gloria. You certainly deserve it.”

“I’ve learned a few good lessons, I think I know what to look for now. Do me one last favor, Raodan, and don’t go easy on him.”

“Spy’s honor,” replied the Charizard with a fierce grin. She smiled sweetly at him, and then gave Russe a much more malevolent smirk before turning into the bathroom and shutting the door. Now there was nothing Russe could focus on apart from the morph ravaging him at that very moment, the taste of burning heat cloaking his tongue and throat in a way that he couldn’t relieve. The heat in his ass was even more powerful, he could feel that burn from his pucker to the very deepest spot that thick cock could reach...it felt like the thing was warping his innards around it with how thick it was, but the heat overshadowed that by far.

And Raodan was making sure that, physically, it wasn’t at all painful. The Charizard was very much enjoying working the male up, steadily feeding into his unwanted arousal and dulling anything that might have interfered with the pleasure. The fact that Russe’s cock was still quite hard, even throbbing a bit as it leaked pre onto the bed, was a sign of his success...he make sure to give some psychic attentions there as well, stimulating the human’s gonads to ensure he couldn’t escape it. “Feeling a little tense, bitch? Like you’re getting close to popping? Shitheads like you are all the same...acting all tough, but insecure little bitches at heart, desperate to make people think you’re so incredible when there’s nothing worthwhile about you. Deep down, though, you KNOW you’re inferior...you know that when you’re faced with someone better than you, you’ll roll over because you know that’s what they deserve and what you deserve. That boner you have is proof of where you belong, all that arousal you feel is proof of where you belong.”

He knew the humiliated human was succumbing to his taunts, he could feel Russe’s struggles weakening. The human probably had no idea he was psychic, that he was providing plenty of insidious aid to that submission...if he did know, it wasn’t clear in his thoughts. The puddle of cum was mostly gone now, apart from a few stray smears, so Raodan changed tactics, lifting Russe up and gripping him against his muscular body as he rut harder, imposing on the human as totally as possible. The ridges popping in and out, the gushing precum smearing through him to make the heat burn fiercely wherever his cock touched, the invisible tingle he added to Russe’s cock and balls and prostate, the latter getting a physical and mental mauling it was woefully unprepared for...Russe was mewling involuntarily now, the first noises he was allowed to make, and it was deeply mortifying him, and deeply satisfying Raodan.

“I”m gonna cum in you, bitch. I’m gonna shove my dick as deep in as it can go and pump buckets of hot, thick spunk inside you, so much you’ll think you’re gonna swell up. And you’re gonna cum, too, you’re gonna squirt your pitiful load all over this bed and get off like you never have before.” Raodan growled deeply as his claws raked dangerously against Russe’s skin, driving in with a violent ferocity as steam poured off of him and sweat poured down Russe’s body. “And you’re gonna lay here afterwards, until they find you, decide you’re too compromised, and send you packing. And you’re gonna sulk for a while, but you’re gonna remember all this, how you felt when you were conquered, how GOOD it felt to have a morph’s cock in you, defiling you and putting you in your place...and you’re gonna jerk off to it, start trying to find more images and stories and all that to satisfy your craving while you try to pretend you don’t want it...and at some point, you’re gonna break down and bend over for another one, let them use you like the pitiful bitch you are. And you’re gonna hate it and love it all at once, and you’re never gonna be able to stop, you’ll never be able to keep yourself from satisfying that craving...until one day you realize you’ve stopped hating it, because you’ve...ngh, figured out...your place!”

The speech designed to goad Russe had somewhat of a backlash on Raodan, the enticing thoughts working him up to the point where he couldn’t held back anymore. With a roar in the human’s ears, he slammed in and unloaded, his lava coursing into Russe’s body and pouring sheer heat deep inside him. And, just as he had claimed, Russe was unable to hold back his own climax, a weak and pitiful cry seeping out of him as he splattered lines of white on the bedclothes, cock pulsing vigorously in a clear sign of surrender to Raodan. The deluge of jizz within him couldn’t be fully contained, leaking out around the Charizard’s cock just as Gloria’s had, and he could feel it dribble down his taint as Raodan leaned him forward a bit, tightening his hold as he ground himself inside Russe to paint him further. He felt Russe’s mind slip, going passive...he hadn’t passed out, but the overload had caused him to submit completely, unable to do much except accept the torrents of pleasure going through him. All the better, the words he’d just spoken would be harder to impede in this state.

Raodan’s release was quicker, slightly less voluminous than the first, but still quite robust and satisfying. As his cock ceased fire, he let Russe slump onto the bed, the defeated human panting, moaning, shivering from the remnants of his pleasure, wrists still bound tight to ensure he wouldn’t be doing much of anything even when he recovered. Out the morph’s dick came, and he smeared what whiteness he could on that abused ass, making it all too clear what had happened for whoever found him. He would have loved to impose more on him, but his business was far from done, and he couldn’t forget what he needed to do. This wasn’t it, this was personal satisfaction more than anything; losing one ship’s captain wouldn’t set Bercial back much if at all. But if he could corrupt this bigot into a morph slut, well, that was worth the time.

More or less wiped up, he turned and headed to the door, pausing before he left to look back at Russe. “If I ever see you again, bitch, I hope it starts with you begging for my dick again. Heh, maybe by that time you’ll be hoping the same thing. But until then…” He smirked a little. “I’m gonna finish up here, and then I’m going to go EXPERIENCE flight.”

———

It should have been more dangerous with his human illusion dropped, but Raodan wasn’t worried by this point. He had other ways of moving around without being interrupted, and he knew exactly where he needed to go. He’d pretty much expended the rush he’d gotten from the Power Stone dust from earlier, but someone like him never went without a store. From one of the pouches, he pulled a fragment of Power Stone. Smaller than the usual, it was intended to provide less intense energy for a shorter period...he had a few of the normal-sized ones, but those seemed likely to be overkill for what he had planned.

He palmed the fragment in his big hand, letting the surge pulse through his arm and spread through the rest of his body. His energy flared up within, doubling and redoubling, a rush that made him feel close to unstoppable...it ceased welling up within seconds, and he opened his hand to let the inert residue scatter like dust onto the floor. NOW he was ready.

He moved quickly, yet surprisingly silently for such a large creature - despite his size and glowy nature, he’d learned a few tricks for being hard to detect. One of those he was using now, spreading a psychic aura in a large sphere around him that would dissuade people from using the hallways he was taking, reminding them of things they needed to do that would take them further away. A subtle trick, but an effective one, people rarely questioned those sudden whims and if they had no reason to think they were induced, it tripped no threat detection within them. It allowed Raodan to move unimpeded to his real target: the lab of Fenton Morias.

As he approached the lab, he allowed himself some farsight to look inside before he got there. The human scientist was busy at his computer, finishing a backup of the system and research onto an external drive - a measure he had been induced to by Raodan during his earlier visit to the lab, without his knowledge. Raodan’s psychic powers weren’t normally that effective, but the Power Stone dust had given him more than enough oomph to weave that simple directive into him, in such a way that he wouldn’t question it. As the scientist was finishing the drive, the key machine finished creating another instance of Enhanced Power Stone...oh, his timing really was perfect.

Fenton never noticed Raodan entering - he was, as always, too engrossed in his work, and Raodan was silent enough to not be disruptive of his concentration. That was, until he grabbed the human, lifted him, and held him against his body with one arm, using his powers to mute him just as he had Russe. “Oh, good, you finished for me. How nice of you.” Fenton struggled against him, but his arms were pinned and he wasn’t particularly effective trying to get Raodon’s grip to loosen as the morph had the computer disconnect the drive. Deftly, Roadon pulled out a padded bag from one of the pouches and slipped the drive and cable inside, stowing it for safekeeping. “This computer, it has the entire contents of your research on it, doesn’t it?”

Fenton didn’t answer verbally, but his mind quickly betrayed the truth. With a sinister grin, Raodan drew his free hand back and drove it forward, his claws coated in a dark energy. The power of the Shadow Claw sent him easily into the computer, obliterating many of the internal components in its path, including the hard drive. For good measure, Raodan went at it a few more times, turning the machine into scrap in short order. He could almost feel Fenton’s mind screaming at the utter destruction of years of work. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. You have a backup! Or, I suppose it would be more accurate to say, I have a backup.”

Next order of business. Raodan stepped over to the consolidator machine and opened it up, revealing the radiant form of the Enhanced Power Stone. “Color me impressed, human...I didn’t think you would figure out anything about Power Stone that we hadn’t already. But now I think it’s time I get some PERSONAL experience with this, and see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.” He opened the consolidator and took out the lump of Enhanced Power Stone...immediately upon contact, he felt his arm twitch at the jolt of power that raced through it, he didn’t even have to try to absorb the energy, it pulsed into him automatically. “Shit! That is insane. This stuff is charged up beyond anything I’ve ever felt. Oh, yeah, I can imagine a buncha guys who’ll love to get their hands on this and see its full potential.”

He quickly stowed away the stone in a pouch separate from the drive, but already he’d taken on at least as much power as a full stone, if not more. His body was keyed up and ready for anything...and there was only one outlet he had. “All right, time to get you primed,” he growled as he yanked down Fenton’s pants, causing the human to squeak out in protest. That protest went ignored as Raodan unsheathed his cock once again - the Power Stone had recharged him and gotten his balls churning overtime, he’d have plenty to give and the scientist was getting it all.

That fiery staff speared into Fenton hard, and immediately the human let out a strained cry. Raodan had no worries about letting him be as loud as he wanted now...after all, the soundproofing was VERY good in this lab. And he wasn’t holding back either, letting out groans and growls as he humped in and out, delivering his third human rutting of the day in furious fashion. His body was so pumped up that he was humping harder and faster than he’d even gone with Russe, plunging in deep and soaking Fenton’s anus with raw liquid heat that gushed out like a geyser.

It rapidly became clear that Fenton needed no special attention to fall under Raodan’s sway; the human’s arousal picked up rapidly and prominently, and before long the cries were getting less strained and more amorous. Perhaps he was a secret morph slut, or had a rape fetish, or just was incredibly sensitive, or maybe the power of the Enhanced Power Stone was making it easier to subjugate him...Raodan wouldn’t be able to figure that out here and now, but he was going to use the effect to his advantage. He drilled into Fenton, gripping him tighter and hammering him with both his hips pushing and arms pulling, slamming home with loud lewd squishes and slurps.

In less than a minute, Fenton tensed around him as he came, his semen shooting onto the wreckage of the computer. That didn’t stop Raodan from continuing to ravage him, but it did spike his own arousal and trigger another impulse...he drove in and out, letting those ridges pop free loudly before plunging back in, milking Fenton’s orgasm for all he could, and then another psychic impulse rapidly eliminated the human’s refractory period and got him hot and horny again. The Charizard then turned towards the consolidator machine, shifting his grip and slowing his assault as he freed up his right arm again. As he continued to fuck Fenton, he made the human watch as he raised his fist and brought it down, over and over again, on the consolidator, the wild flames of a supercharged Fire Punch creating critical damage and melting of the internals. A half dozen blows were all that were needed, but Raodan went overkill, landing close to two dozen and effectively ensuring that there was no possible chance of it being repaired.

The destruction fueled the morph’s arousal like kindling - more for the fact of what it represented than the destruction itself, the blows landed against the empire’s plots and acts against them, the destruction of one of their ambitions and their attempts to dominate them. Now he was the one dominating, and doing so against one of their own, who was crying out in raw need, his mind a chaotic conflict of disaster over the destruction and desire over the dicking. Raodan hadn’t even realized the fire was still clinging to his hand as he brought it back to Fenton, only barely dissipating before his grip returned but the lingering heat leaving redness on Fenton’s skin. He was panting and roaring as he savagely violated the human, throbbing dick ready to come alive and spew like a volcano once again.

He didn’t restrain himself, roaring animalistically as his orgasm crashed through him, gushing a geyser of scalding spunk deep inside Fenton, the human jerking as the intense heat overwhelmed him. It was clearly too much for him, and Fenton came once again, Raodan again making sure that the white jets desecrated the remains of the machinery, a final withering insult towards the ambitions of the humans. Just like Russe, he felt Fenton’s mind slip into that complacent state, much more quickly and readily, though he hadn’t imposed anything on it to influence him. Yet. And he wouldn’t, not until he came down from the high of his own climax, all he wanted at the moment was to empty his balls into his bitch, give him all the fire he could possibly handle and then some.

And boy, did he ever give...it felt for a bit like his balls would never empty, and by the time he finally tapered off Fenton was actually visibly distended in the torso, so full of spunk that it could be seen as a lump under his shirt. Something to thank Power Stone for as well, they knew enough to know that it enhanced volume as well, and a pinch of dust was considered a good fertility aid. But it was one thing to know that and another to FEEL it...and Raodan suspected that he was getting much more of the effect than the dust users. And hell, was it satisfying.

He’d finally calmed down, though he was panting hard, steaming heavily from his mouth and nose. Fenton was a sweaty mess, his shirt damp, and molten seed was leaking out of his rear down his legs and onto his pants. There was no cleaning up for this one, most likely...he probably wouldn’t have much time anyway, Raodan had a task for him. With his fire in Fenton, it would have been a lot easier to influence him already, but the satisfied and complacent mind was complete putty in his claws, and he seized the opportunity.

“Now then, here’s what’s going to happen. Your knowledge of enhanced power stone and how to make it is going to go dormant. You will be unable to remember anything about it until the trigger phrase is spoken by a psy-capable Pokémorph. You will destroy, as completely and irreversibly as possible, as much of the infrastructure of this lab as possible, and when you are finally apprehended by your authorities, you will readily confess to having been controlled and sabotaging the ship’s lab under psychic influence. You will tell them that you have been planted with a psychic lock that will release in seven days, at which time you will be able to tell them who did this to you. On the sixth day, a Pokémorph will break into your cell and take you with them; you will not resist this action. You will obey the next one to take you on in Selindis, until they are satisfied at your change. The trigger phrase is ‘now you are a true ally of the morphs.’ And now you are bound.”

On those last psy-enhanced words, Raodan could almost feel a sort of click in Fenton’s mind. The human would now obey his directives, without fail. Not that there were too many to obey...a bit of extra damage, though Raodan had already done a fair bit, and then laying in wait until he could be spirited away to Selindis for some deprogramming. His bosses had given him a choice - destroy the scientist’s mind entirely, or bring him in to try to turn his knowledge to their benefit rather than their detriment. To him, it seemed such a shame to waste what was still a quite brilliant mind, one that could benefit them enormously...if he were to not have such a strong allegiance to Bercial, nor his prejudice against morphs, there was so much good he could do.

Finally, Raodan released Fenton, allowing the human to stumble against a table. He seemed almost to be in a daze as he pulled up his pants, completely disregarding the utter mess that he was, and started to take a hammer to some of the other machines. And Raodan had just one thing left to do...he stepped over to the corner, where the two cases of Enhanced Power Stone were just sitting there. Even through the barriers, he could feel the energy radiating from them, there was no question this was his target. Making sure they were securely shut and locked, he found a strap and lashed the two together, making sure he could carry them both in one arm. Willing his cock back into his slit with some effort, he made his way out of the lab, making sure to rapidly close the door so the sounds of destruction wouldn’t be audible for long.

Out in the hallway, Raodan felt an excitement running through him that was amped up by the charge still within his body. It had gone as well as he could have hoped for. All the Enhanced Power Stone in the world was in his hands. The secret to synthesizing more of it was in his hands. And now all he needed was for these hands to leave with that bounty. He pulled the lone one out of his pouch and held it in his hand, focusing on drawing on that intense power...it flowed through him so quickly, so easily, way faster than ordinary Power Stone, and of course at a far greater magnitude. It was almost too much, it felt like his body might burst with all that energy...it needed to come out, needed to be released!

And he knew just how to do it. It was always a thrill to go out in a blaze of glory.

Flames swirled around him as he charged up, his body glowing brightly before he let out an ear-splitting, echoing roar and thrust himself forward in a devastating Flare Blitz. The inner walls of the ship crumpled on impact, caving under the furious power - the attack was lingering far longer than his usual, and nothing was stopping him in his rampage! His mind worked quickly to identify people and steer himself away from them - his goal wasn’t to leave bodies, just to cripple the infrastructure - though there were still a couple close calls from panicking humans not sure what to do. He might have singed a few of them from the trailing flames, but no direct hits as he punched through the hull of the Promenade, tearing the metal open behind him, making it flower out a bit.

Not that he was done, of course. Flying out and away from the ship a bit, he opened his mouth, and let loose several violent Fire Blast attacks, the blazing salvos crashing against the ship’s hull and putting huge holes into it. Not enough to sink the vessel, but the extensive damage was absolutely certain to put the Promenade out of action for a long, long time, with over a dozen large holes and several fires. Bells were ringing, the ship was being rapidly evacuated already...it was chaos, but Raodan wasn’t sticking around to see it, instead swooping away from the harbor and heading out over the open ocean, taking his haul with him.

———

The open ocean wasn’t exactly the safest place for a creature like Raodan. Granted, over or in the open ocean without a vehicle wasn’t really safe for anyone, but especially not for a creature that wasn’t exactly fond of the water in the first place. But Raodan felt like he could fly forever with the way he felt with that stone in his hand. Even with all he’d done back at the ship, he hadn’t really drained much, if any appreciable amount, of the stored charge of that Enhanced Power Stone at all. Which made sense on some level, a smaller amount of Power Stone gave a ton of energy and this stuff was highly concentrated. Had he been without, he would have needed to use some of what he’d brought with him; instead that could be used to a different purpose.

Several hundred miles off the coastline, after about four hours of flying, he saw the submarine surface. Down he swooped, landing gently on the vehicle and approaching the hatch as it opened for him. He quickly climbed down and closed it, so that they could get on their way back to Selindis as soon as possible - there was a lot to report on, after all, and a lot of updates to provide to those who could make the most use of them. Any delay would be troubling, especially since Bercial would certainly not take the damage of their ship lying down...but he’d confirmed that they were planning an attack anyway, so in the end it didn’t really matter much.

The Slowking captain of the submarine saluted him as he approached. “Agent Raodan. You look like you have some very important items on your person.”

“VERY important. We need to get our best and brightest on this stuff ASAP, and on the plans I got.” Raodan held up the Enhanced Power Stone in his hands. “This shit is FIRE. My attacks tore through that ship like it was paper. We outfit our special forces soldiers with this, and we may not need anything more.”

“It looks impressive…” The Slowking reached out to touch it, and then yanked his hand back like he’d been stung. “Mercy me...that’s actually terrifying. I can’t believe they came up with that.”

“It would have been a nightmare if they’d gotten to use it in weapons like they were suggesting,” agreed Raodan. “But the good news is, they put all their eggs in one basket. Most of those eggs are now smashed, and the only one that’s not should be ready for pick-up relatively soon. How soon until we’re ready to report?”

“We’ll be in range by tomorrow morning. I’ll make sure Intelligence is on the horn bright and early for you. Let’s get all this in a safe place.” The captain took the cases of Enhanced Power Stone and the bag with the drive in it, using his own psychic powers to cart it all away easily and lock it somewhere safe. Raodan was rather glad to be rid of them all; even without the stone in his hand, he still felt like he had an excess of energy. Useful, exciting, but definitely dangerous, someone could get addicted to that kind of power, and he didn’t want to be that someone. But, as he already had, he’d use it if it meant keeping Selindis safe and dealing blows to the ambitions of Bercial.

“You look like you’ve had some excitement.” Raodan turned, and smiled as he saw a familiar face - one that was easily described as the epitome of average, just like the rest of him. It was like looking in a mirror, if that mirror had been a few hours ago.

“You could put it that way. Was worth it, though. Hope you don’t mind if I say I’d like it to be as long as possible before I Illusion as a human again, though.”

The real Senix snickered. “I imagine we must seem a lot less impressive than a reptile that can fly and breathe fire. Also, I assume my reputation is going to be in burning tatters now.”

“Probably, but I sent you out in a blaze of glory. You know my style.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to hear this story.” Senix didn’t sound at all bothered by the fact that he was probably outed - then again, this had been his idea in the first place. He’d approached their Intelligence agency just over a year ago, revealing everything - after spending time embedded in Selindis, he’d come to realize that they embodied the spirit of the ideals he’d held far more than his own country, and turned into a double agent for them. He’d been feeding Bercial mostly false information since then, sprinkled with just enough verifiable truth to be compelling but not revealing. And he and Raodan, the agent assigned to work with him on counterintelligence, had gotten very close during that time. “So the reports about the Enhanced Power Stone were true, then?”

“Yep, and it’s probably even more than what we had heard. Thankfully it sounds like it was pretty localized...though we’ll have to verify that more certainly with Dr. Fenton Morias after he’s sprung. Once we’ve cleared his head a bit, he’ll probably be plenty forthcoming.”

“So you preserved him, huh?”

“I think his knowledge will be useful. It’s clear he’s got some smarts when it comes to Power Stone, he can probably help us utilize it better. Heh, though he’s probably gonna be disappointed that we’ve been synthesizing the stuff for three years already...he thought he was gonna be able to swoop in and get our ‘troubled facilities’ running.”

“I’m sure he’ll survive...well, I hope he does, anyway, if you went to all that trouble of trying to make sure he did. So I suppose I should be looking forward to chaos as soon as we’re off this submarine, no?”

Raodan grinned wider. “Depends on whether you wanna deliver one last parting shot or just go dark. Though they might try to find you if you go dark, thinking that you were an unwilling captive or something.”

“Might be best to let them wonder for a while. Leave them unaware of just how many falsehoods they’ve gotten. But I think it’ll be chaos anyway...so how about we go have a ‘debriefing’ before it all hits the fan? You look like you could stand to blow off some steam anyway...among other things.”

The Charizard morph growled lecherously as he put his arm around Senix’s shoulders. “Definitely...it’s a steamy story anyway, I think you’ll like the...re-enactments.”