Chapter 1

Their ship rose into the air, with Cora at the controls. Nate hissed as he was pushed back onto his reclining captain’s chair, with Ana trying to heal him of all his wounds.

“Heal me later.” He ordered, standing tall. “We have to get free, first.”

Cora pulled them up hard and fast, sending them into the skies. Nobody chased. Nothing shot them down.

Because, Nate knew, they didn’t have to.

They were deep as hell in bug space — it would take them a long time to get out.

“We need to go faster.” Nate urged.

“This is as fast as she goes.” Cora smacked the controls, bouncing in her seat like it would make the ship fly faster.

“Izzy?” Nate asked.

She flickered, a wrench in her projected hand. “I’ve already adjusted the fuel injection levels. I’ve pulled off the shield power and weapons too, but she’s not flying quicker than this.”

Out of El Faro and into the ominous blackness of space. For a single, exhilarating second, they were alone, and he could imagine an escape.

Then the bug ships blinked into view. Fighters, carriers, cruisers. Ships of muddy brown, formless, shapeless, their bark-armor having different grains.

Cora held the ship still, because there was nowhere to go.

The bug ships were still too, unmoving. Their weapons did not fire.

“What are they doing?” Talia asked breathlessly as she entered the bridge in her meka uniform, free of her meka frame.

“They’re waiting.” Nate said grimly.

“For what?” She said.

“Not what.” Ana answered. “Who.”

Another ship rose from the atmosphere below, from El Faro.

A royal ship, not large, but its brown bark was tinged with a golden circle. The ship flew to the center of the line, taking its place.

The Queen faced them.

“Can we make a run towards the armada—” Cora suggested.

“It’s too far by days.” Isabelle answered.

“We can go back down to the planet.” Sofia tried. “Hide in the rocks, fight dirty, hold out somewhere.”

“There’s no buying time, not this far deep.” Nate replied slowly.

“Incoming hail.” Isabelle said quietly.

“Show me.”

The Queen’s face filled his bridge window. Her face was reddened and burnt, her skin peeling, but she was smiling.

“Greetings, Nathan Clancy.” Her eyes glowed a sinister red, her tongue forking out of her mouth.

“Hi, Queenie.” Nate smiled grimly. “You got a little sun burn?”

“Your people, your primitive technology…when you want to transfer a message, you rely on comms towers and satellites and ship-relays, don’t you?” Her smile widened. “But my people are all connected.” She pointed to the top of her head, to her antennae. “We connect to each other through our minds. I wish you could feel it. It is so beautiful.”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is that I see what my furthest soldier of the hive sees. And, should I wish it, he sees what I see. And, now I’ve wished it, he can transmit his sight across his ship’s hail, to all of your little invasion force, so that they may see you.” The Queen licked her lips, the cracked white skin flaking away. “Would you and your Princess like to greet your allies, Nathan Clancy? They are watching.”

Nate felt his heart thundering in his chest, like it was trying to beat its way out of his ribcage. This was what she wanted — a public humiliation, a public death, so that she broke both sides of their mission.

“Howdy, fellas.” Nate saluted. “Hope you’re giving the bugs hell over there. Give them a bullet or a blast from me.”

“Such courage.” The Queen cooed. Her eyes glowed brighter. “But they can see you all, so bruised and broken. The defeat in your eyes. They can see how you stand alone in your little ship, how you’ve so kindly placed yourself and the Princess in the palm of my hands.”

Ana stood beside him, grasped for his hand. “They can see that we stand unbowed, Queen of the damned. United and together.”

The Queen hissed, her tongue slithering out as her whole body shook with laughter. “Surrender, or I shall fire upon you and they’ll see your bodies floating into space, what’s left of them. Surrender, and show the rest of your Council how to beg and kneel.”

Nate stood solemnly, his jaw raised. He could feel his girls watching him. He could feel the galaxy watching him, wanting to see what he’d do.

He was tired of the pressure. He was tired of having to think of a way to escape certain death. Why couldn’t this bitch just go away? There was so much space in the galaxy, so many planets with natural resources. They could get so far together, with shared technology and trade, if they didn’t have to deal with this psychotic fuck and her endless children.

He felt childish himself, fear turning to hysteria, a manic release of nerves.

“Why don’t you surrender?” Nate snapped.

The Queen stared, amused, her black eyebrow raised.

“In fact,” Nate continued. “One better, why don’t you just kill yourself? It’ll make the galaxy a lot better off. It’ll make me happy, too.”

The Queen’s lips curled. “Is this the best…is this the best—” She cut herself off, her eyes widening a little, eyes glazing over.

From behind, Ana murmured. “Say it again.”

Nate frowned. What was going on? “Kill yourself, if you want to make us all happy.”

The bug hive-mother let out a feral shriek, her eyes contorting in rage. With a swipe of her arm, the video hail cut off.

Nate was left in the silence of the bridge, looking out over the array of enemy ships blocking their path.

“What the fuck just happened?” He said.

###

Dean roared with laughter, his rifle raised above him. His exosuit was covered in bug blood and limbs, but he felt like he’d been bathed in ritual fire and born anew.

For a small, silly moment, he’d feared for his old Captain. But Nate was the slipperiest luckiest fuck in the galaxy — he’d jump out of the frying pan and end up balls-deep in the daughters of whoever invented the fucking pan. And probably their wife, too.

He stood at the bridge of the bug cruiser. The ship was not under their control — his brothers fought against the bug infantry, in quarters too tight for Dean to vent them out. But it didn’t matter — Dean and the special-ops squad that surrounded him, made up of Lunari, Lops and Voor, they held the bridge.

The bug commander was coated across his suit — they’d never find enough of him to bury.

He slapped the console excitedly. “Open up a hail ship-wide. Fuck, do it across the whole armada.”

“Allow me, fool.” Lazaroth pushed him aside, his long fingers sliding across the console. “I have experience in interfacing with alien techology—”

The holoscreen in front of them suddenly showed General Kanu, standing behind his pilots on board the Destiny. Dean cheered, cutting off his new brother in blood. “General Kanu, sir, this bug ship—”

“The Kint-karren.” Lazaroth interrupted.

“It’s ours, the bridge at least.” Dean snapped his fingers at the Voor soldier, the man that moved faster than he could see. “Opening fire on designated targets and pushing forward to the tip of the spear — we’ll see how willing they are to fire upon their ship.”

“Good work, men.” Kanu praised. “Pelridge, you’re hailing all armada ships, these comms should be kept clean. Stay in formation, I was just informing all ships to hold fast while we wait for news of Clancy’s mission—”

“Fuck that.” Dean snapped, clenching his fist. “Sir, with respect, that’s not the right call. You just saw it, Nate’s got the old queen bitch out of her mind and reeling. He’s gonna sort her out. Are you really gonna let him get all the credit?”

Kanu looked at him with wide surprised eyes, his skin glistening with sweat. “Captain, this isn’t about credit, this is about tactical attrition, maintaining our lives. I can’t share the details, but if Nate’s mission has failed, if there’s a bug queen at his location, we need to retreat to safety before she cuts off our escape route—”

“No.” Dean growled. “You know Nate, you’ve seen Nate.” He stared at the console, suddenly conscious of all the flashing lights that meant his comms were being sent to every ship and squad of the armada. “If he said he’d get it done, he’ll get it done. That’s what Bad Company does.”

Kanu fell silent.

“Come on, General.” Dean begged. “Court martial me til I die, but are we really gonna let him be the only one telling war stories at the end of the day?”

Dean hesitated, thinking about all his brothers in arms, the ones still fighting through the ship, the ones he’d lost. Clara, fighting tooth and nail against the fighters outside the ship. “We spent so long defending, protecting, mourning, because we were too afraid to go all in, like Nate does everyday. Right now, the bugs don’t know who’s got the upper hand between their Queen and Nate, but if we slow down and hold our position, they’ll know that we don’t believe in him.”

He bit his tongue, wiping the back of his hand against his eyes, suddenly overcome with emotion, all too aware of all the eyes that were on him. “You trained us to fight.” He begged. “Let us fight.”

General Kanu paused for a long moment. “You know what the media calls me, Pelridge?”

Dean stilled for a sudden. Could it be…? “They call you Major Brass Balls. The second biggest set in the galaxy.”

Dean saw Lazaroth wince out of the corner of his eyes.

But Kanu only chuckled as he took off his General’s jacket, unhooked his cuff links and rolled his sleeves up. “Time to prove it, don’t you think?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Dean grinned.

“Listen up, men and women.” Kanu barked. “I speak to all of you, brave soldiers of the galaxy’s finest. Across the Federation, the stalwarts of the Revert military, the graceful warriors of the Lunari, the swift slayers of the Voor, the unbending backbone of the Lops.”

Kanu breathed in heavily. “Nathan Clancy and Princess Anariel and his crew, they fight against one Queen, the youngest, the power that grows. You saw the fear in her eyes. But ahead of us, through those bugs, there stands another. She’s old and she waits to be sent to the next life. What say you? Shall we oblige her?”

Dean cheered along with his new brothers, his rifle raised to the heavens.

Kanu smirked. “I say, if one man can kill a Queen, then so too can our thousands, our millions. If Nathan Clancy can stare a Queen in the eye and give her no surrender, then so can we.” He paused. “Am I wrong?”

The channel screamed with a thousand different tongues, every language of “NO!”

Kanu smiled in satisfaction. “Pelridge, full steam ahead, take the tip of the spear. Find me a Queen.”

A Lops general flashed up on screen, his jaw set. “General, the Lops ships will board the next bug carrier. I’m afraid I am a failed leader — I can no longer contain my soldiers’ discipline. They demand to fight.”

Kanu blinked. “Understood, go ahead.”

A pale and thin Voor face narrowed his eyes, his high-collared black robe lined with a red trim. “Our ships will gladly strike against the next round of bug shield generators to buy a thirty second window for these indisciplined Lops, but we cannot sustain anymore blows.” His nostrils flared, though Dean didn’t know if it was anger or embarrassment.

Above a camo-green uniform, the Revert bowl on screen reflected the light of lasers and plasma missiles, his head holding six strong twigs of equal height. It was Treeleader Six. “Revert transport ships en-route to Voor swift arrows — our maintenance team brings our strongest Reverenium to reinforce your armor. Please let them work in the fullness of our alliance.”

The Voor clan leader stiffened suddenly, his eyes incredulous. “We would be…we are,” He corrected. “Most grateful.”

A long haired Lunari man sniffed with contempt, his face framed by two long curtains of white hair. “The Lunari Federation will launch an official complaint with the Council, General Kanu, for our mighty ships have been deliberately marginalized, to showcase many more decades of Federation propaganda on our holonetworks, no doubt.”

To Dean’s surprise, Kanu only smiled. “Reverts, drop back from the spear-tip, I’m giving you time to rotate to your unhit sides. Lunari forces, fill the gaps.”

The Lunari leader smiled thinly and nodded.

The comms disconnected until Dean was left face to face with General Kanu, who sat in his Captain’s chair, one leg thrown over the other casually.

How was he so lounging so leisurely?

At least he was sweating, Dean thought.

“Sorry, sir.” He said, out of reflex. No matter how giddy he was, it was a breach of rules and etiquette to question a superior officer, let alone a galaxy hero.

Kanu smiled. “You seem to have Clancy’s gift for inspiring others, Pelridge. What do you say, son?”

“Sir?”

“How about we send these fuckers packing?”

“Sir, yessir!”

###

Nate frowned, crossing his arms. “What’s happening?”

Ahead of them, the bug line was unresponsive. They simply waited. The Queen’s ship was still.

“I think…” Ana said quietly, nibbling on her lip. “I think she’s struggling with her newfound desire to do what you told her to do. To kill herself.”

Nate gaped at her. “Are you serious? I…” He held his hands out, staring down at his fingers. “What the fuck am I?”

The Lady was pale-faced. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Are you sure, Princess?”

Ana scowled at her. “He’s not a freak, he’s our Nate, he’s our hero, that’s all.”

Nate shuddered, staring at the Queen’s ship. What was happening on that bridge? “You think she…”

“If I may,” Isabelle chimed in. “I suspect that, upon being burned and injured so badly, the Queen imbibed and bathed in a large concentration of the El Faro water. Since you only just dispensed your seed in, it’s likely she received a large dose inside and also skin-applied.”

Nate felt sick. “I could do that to any of you.”

“No!” Ana’s soft touch held his cheek. “You would never. We don’t respond to your words, my love, but your intent.”

“But I’m mind-controlling you—”

She laughed, gazing into his eyes. “Haven’t we taught you anything, my love? This has nothing to do with the mind.” She took his hand and brought it to her chest. “You bond our hearts. Haven’t you seen us change?”

“I mean, of course you’ve changed—”

“Not physically.” Ana kissed his lips. “But as you fall in love with us, we fall more in love with you. It’s reciprocal, beautiful.”

He paused, silent. They had changed, as his feelings deepened for them. Cora had been a willing sex partner at the beginning of their bond, but now she fluffed his pillow, fed him breakfast while she sat on his lap, stroked his hair.

Lunar had thought of him as Master since they’d first bonded, but now she used her blade to slice his fruit into small pieces, massaged his feet after spars. She used her tongue to lick his sweat from under his balls.

Talia, too — she’d gone from eager sex nympho, desperate to be one of the girls, and that hadn’t changed, but she sent ‘couple’s goals’ content to his armguard. Videos with loving captions.

When he makes you want to be a better person.

When you wake up early just to spend more time with him.

When you watch him while he sleeps like a creep, just because you love him so much.

Even Sofia, who still grumbled about his sexual control and mumbled about how she was only remaining so her irradiation could be healed. As his feelings for her grew, she responded. Ana had told him she’d been asking about his ring finger size.

“I don’t want that Queen bitch to love me.” He said suddenly. “I just want you girls, forever.”

Ana smiled an unknowable smile. “Then make us safe, Nate. Kill her.”

He took a deep breath, considering the royal ship, the brown bark marked by the faintest golden circle. “How?”

She squeezed his hand. “Connect to her, like you do with us. Her mind, heart, soul. She said she controlled the hive of bugs, that she had a connection that spanned all of space. They listen to her, so make her listen to you.”

Nate took a shuddering breath. This was beyond him, surely. Ana asked him to fight without a gun, to use powers he didn’t know he had. Or rather, powers he pretended he didn’t hold, because he never wanted to acknowledge them, out of fear it would all disappear.

This beautiful life he’d built, with his lovers.

“I’m just a guy.” He said quietly.

Ana kissed his neck lightly. “No, you’re not. You’re the man. The man with the biggest cock that drives us wild. The man that made a Princess into his personal adoring cockslut, abandoning her people for you.”

Cora encircled his back, resting her head on his shoulder blades. “The man that fixes us broken girls that can’t look at ourselves in the mirrors. The man that fucks our asses and makes us love it, makes us love being sodomized like pornstars.”

Lunar took his other side, entwining her arm with his. Her gleaming dark hair tickled his neck as she laid her head down. “The man that bonds the hardiest of warrior women, that makes us into wanton whores, fighting for your affection and attention.” She said breathily.

Talia knelt in front of him suggestively, her hypnotic doe eyes looking up at him. “The man that takes teenage celebrities, holonetwork hotties, and turns them into submissive sluts.” She kissed his cock through his pants. “Sluts who want nothing more than to bee bred, barefoot and pregnant.”

Sofia stood above her, legs either side of the kneeling meka pilot. Nate expected fire but he found only tenderness in her eyes. “The man that bonds his own instructor.” She swallowed. “The man that takes noble Voor women and fucks them in public for thousands to see. That dominates them so throughly that they can never deny that they are owned.”

Behind Sofia, the window that showed space shimmered as Isabelle stepped out of it, a holoprojection of his AI girl. She wore a demure white dress…and a collar around her neck with a long leash trailing on the ground. “The man that has an ancient AI girl desperately, foolishly, in love with him.” She said softly. “Entranced by his bravery and his good heart, his capacity for love and his desire to change the galaxy.” She blushed. “A girl that dreams of one day being able to touch and love and be loved by her man.”

Ana smiled, her breath in his ear. “So you see, you’re not just a guy. You’re the man.” Her teeth tugged on his earlobe. “And all that’s keeping you from you and our future is that monster in her ship. She’s inside. She’s waiting. Take her. Own her.”

Nate closed his eyes, feeling his girls, feeling the beat of their hearts. He concentrated on the spark he felt when Ana spoke to him, in his mind.

He followed it back until he could see her bond. Their bond. And once he could see that golden link, as thick as a tree trunk and as solid as the strongest metal, he realized he could see the others.

Golden links, connections between him and his girls, links that shimmered with something like running water, a water than ran both ways, an impossible river of conflicting currents.

Ana was right — as he changed them, they changed him. As he loved them, they loved him.

When Talia nuzzled his crotch, he could feel himself become stronger, feel the links flare brightly. Whatever power this was, it was connected to pleasure.

Nate didn’t know where it had come from, but it was meant for carnality, for sex, for pleasure, for love, an endless loop of joy.

And to be strong enough for this, he needed more.

“Girls,” He murmured, his eyes still closed. “Pleasure me.”

“Yes, Master.” They chorused. He felt them strip him and themselves. He felt their breasts pressed against him, the soft curves of their flesh. He felt their tongues, licking behind, suckling below, slurping in front. Caressing hands, loving kisses, soft moans.

With their golden links trembling and brighter than their sun, it was easier for him to spot the other link, the tenuous thread that led out of his ship, across space, into the Queen’s ship.

He followed that thread and found himself in a new place, a new mind.

It was dark and wet, a sewer of dank air and dripping blood. But the flower was not stone, but breathing flesh that rose and fell. The purple glowing sacs on the ceiling lit up the body on the floor.

The Queen, only she was small, like a child. Her many legs curled up under her, she was more pathetic than frightening. Her listless eyes looked up at him.

They exchanged no conversation, but he could see her, see through her. She was full of anger, boundless rage. She was sick with worry for her endless children, of the responsibility of being the hive-mother.

But most of all, she was piercingly lonely, the Queen that ruled alone, separated from birth to death, condemned to never associate with those beneath her.

“I can be there for you.” Nate lied. “I can love you. I can make you happy. You can feel it already, the connection between us.”

She said nothing, but her focus was absolute.

Nate met her gaze evenly. “But first, you need to do something for me.”

###

Oriko One turned to him. “Captain Pelridge reports from the Kint-karren that all bug presence has been eliminated across the ship, not just the bridge.”

“Good.” Kanu dismissed. “That was quick.”

Oriko One smirked. “He says the alliance infantry on board is particularly inspired. He told them that they’ll personally meet Clancy and the Princess if they record over twenty bug kills.”

Kanu snorted. “He’s a cocky bastard, isn’t he? I don’t know if he’s inspiring them or if its the possibility of meeting Nate.” His gaze scanned his bridge, checking all his station officers were at ease, and landed on his wife.

She was watching him, his silent support, even if her presence was probably against Federation regulations.

He raised an eyebrow.

“It’s Nate.” She told him quietly. “He’s got a special sort of charm, doesn’t he?”

“Don’t you get any ideas, he’s got enough sass—”

Kanu flinched as the battlefield stilled for a moment. Change was never good, not when the fight was going well, because that meant the enemy had changed tactics, had learned.

In front of him, the chaos of so many ships, so much weapon fire, it all dissipated.

And began anew.

It was a skill all its own to read the battlefield, but the General was an old hand at it.

But what he saw made no sense.

It was a slow wave of madness.

The individual small bug fighters flew in erratic patterns, like their flight systems had a glitch. Some flew into each other, creating fierce explosions of debris.

One changed course, zooming towards an asteroid.

The wave grew.

From the carriers, bugs swarmed out of the hangar — without ships, without exosuits. They climbed over each others shoulders as they desperately leapt into the coldness of space, a torrent of suicide, of black and brown creatures that quickly turned a frozen blue.

The cruisers turned to one another, lasers bright, plasma pinks and purples corroding into their bark.

“What—what’s happening?” Oriko One muttered.

“They’re killing each other.” Oriko Two gasped, gripping the helm controls tightly.

“They’re killing themselves.” Banks corrected from the tactical station. He looked over at Kanu, his mouth open. “Sir, w-what do we do?”

“Incoming hails from half the armada, sir.” Oriko One squeaked. “They’re all asking what to do.”

Kanu growled, pounding his arm-rest. “You take advantage, fools! Open armada-wide comms!”

“Open!”

“Listen,” Kanu snapped. “Fire, fire, fire. Kill them all, kill every last bug. I am watching you. If I sense any mercy from you, I will have you shot, whatever race you are, whatever rank you have!” He spat.

He clenched his fist. “I shall personally inspect every weapons system of every ship once we return. If you still have torpedoes in your racks, bullets in your turrets, if your plasma coils are not scarred from overheating, I shall have you stripped and dropped onto the furthest frozen planet.”

Kanu stood up abruptly, the adrenaline sparking through him as he watched the chaos unfold. “You want revenge? Take it!”

The comms cut off. The ship trembled, and the trembling did not cease. The Destiny shook as every single ship fired, unleashing their judgment on the bugs that were already destroying themselves.

Kanu shivered, exchanging a glance with his wife. Maybe she was right. Maybe Nate did have a special sort of charm, because who else but a Queen could cause such madness in the bugs?

###

Under Cora’s piloting, their ship flew across to the Queen’s ship. While they all held their breaths, the bugs didn’t respond. Nobody targeted them — none of their ships even turned.

They flew alongside the Queen’s ship. Before Nate could even suggest a boarding routine, a large seam in the brown bark opened, and a ramp unmounted.

The doors had opened up.

Nate and his crew boarded, not knowing what they would find.

But he was confident, because he could feel her.

They walked past her crew — each floor was decorated with the slumped remains of her guard, each wall painted with their blood and brains.

They found her in the bridge, long spindly legs limp and spread out, web-like, beneath her sobbing form. Her many eyes looked up at them, her mouth croaking out a raspy voice. “W-what did you do? How?” She wailed.

Nate did not answer as his girls spread out, warily pointing their guns at her.

She gasped out, breath hyperventilating, staring out at the black space like it would provide her answers. “So much death. All of my children, my loyal trusting children.” She dry-retched and coughed up black bile onto her large torso.

Her eyes looked past them, to the bug carriers that sat above the planet El-Faro, the cables that sucked up the water into the ships. “You said those words to me and I did not falter, but every one of my new generation, my children that incubated while they grew strong on the waters, they began to choke, to die.”

She looked at him, betrayed. “It’s something in the water, isn’t it? You put your poison in?”

Nate saw no reason to lie. “It’s my seed.”

Her many eyes were all disbelieving. “Impossible.”

“And yet…”

She rocked back and forth, letting out a keening wail. “And yet I’ve destroyed us all.” She sniffled. “W-who made you? What is your ancestry?”

Nate felt cold. “I never really knew. Had a sister, many years ago, before your people killed her. A lot of us…we got raised by the military. You made us, in a away.”

The Queen shook, her fingers to her mouth, sharp teeth biting at her nails. “It cannot be that this empire, the greatest ever seen, that it falls because of a man’s seed!” Her words grew into a scream.

The bridge was silent, for a long moment.

Cora broke it, amused. “In fairness, he tastes incredible.”

“No, no, no.” The Queen shook, dribbling from her mouth. “Not my children, not like this. All we’ve worked for, no, no—” Her head snapped up and she scowled at him. “Let me see your hive-mind, if you have broken mine.”

Nate opened his mouth, but he was struck with a falling sensation, like he’d been kicked out of a speed-racing ship. He gasped for breath and when he blinked, he saw himself.

His own mind…not his mind, he realized. Ana’s mind, for the Queen spread her gaze and her power across their link.

Nate was frozen, along with the girls. They could only watch as Ana’s mind unfolded.

Ana hid away in the library of her mother’s palace. While the palace court was awash with whispers of her mother’s brutal crackdown on dissidents, she hid herself in books of Lunari legend. Her favorite was the legend of the Taranasar, the great man who’d brought her people together, not apart. She flipped from page to page and dreamed of a great man who ruled with kindness, instead of the evil queen.

“Whoa!” Nate held his arms out for balance as the scene changed, and they were wrenched to a different memory.

Ana was older now, but still young. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled as she met tribe after tribe, Lunari of mountainous planets, those that lived underwater, or in the clouds. Everyone loved to meet her, charmed by her as much as they were disgusted by her mother.

Nate watched in fascination, but Ana was open-mouthed and shivering as her memories unfolded.

“My daughter is very special.” The Empress said to her guard. “She must be protected and sheltered from those that would harm her.” And so, as they flitted from memory to memory, Nate watched as Ana lost herself in fairy-tales, of heroes and princesses, because she was rarely allowed to explore the real world.

The bug Queen’s voice trembled as she spoke, her voice booming like a deity from the heavens into the memories. “Now I see. Of course it would be her, the royalty, the child of the longest Lunari bloodline, receiver of gifts thought mythical.”

Nate furrowed his brow. He didn’t understand.

Ana was on her knees. “What is this?” She shouted. “Let us out!”

But the memories only sped up as she grew older. Ana examining herself in her bedroom mirror. Ana pretending to be a submissive slave. Ana pouring tea for an imaginary friend, blushing demurely. “Yes, Master.” She murmured.

The Queen laughed, tinged with hysteria. “She dreamed of the mythical hero, and so she turned herself into what the hero would want. The Taranasar famously had magical seed and thousands of children, an almighty conqueror with submissive slaves, so she made herself into one.”

Ana rocked back and forth. “This is wrong, this is lies!”

Nate’s world changed, and then he was back in the jungle as he first encountered Ana. Only now their encounter was narrated by the bug Queen.

“You met a hero who saved you, the first hero, so you made your dreams a reality, didn’t you?” Her cruel voice mocked. “How quickly did you submit to him? How quickly did you pleasure him after he saved you?”

Nate swallowed, breathless, as he saw Ana examining her changing body in the mirror. “Your powers changed you, not his. You’d seen what he liked in his armguard, in his holonet, and you became it.”

“It’s not true, it’s not!” Ana sobbed.

“But it is…” The Queen hissed. “And when the man you designated as the new Taranasar met others, you knew that they must join, whether they wanted to or not.”

An image of Cora, flicking through like a video reel. “She took the longest to change, didn’t she?” The Queen said silkily. “Because your powers were growing, because your mind needed time to subjugate her.”

Nate watched as Ana and Cora slept together, night after night, while he was in Judge training. Ana’s hand rested on Cora’s heart.

Ana wiped her face, her beseeching eyes seeking out Nate’s, but he couldn’t look at her, because he was trapped by the constant memories.

Lunar’s face, her stern countenance as she stood in her battle skirt, when Ana came to visit during the Judge training.

He could hear the smirk in the Queen’s voice. “You came to visit him as he trained, and you saw that your hero needed comfort and protection. So you chose another for him, and worked away at her.”

“I barely met her—” Ana protested.

“How does it work?” The Queen wondered. “Does it take a touch, a seed left to grow like a parasite? Circumstances helped, I’m sure. Maybe it is almost natural, at first.”

Nate’s stomach trembled as the memories changed again, contrasting the stern Mediator warrior with the loving slut she now was, lapping away his seed from Ana’s swollen cunt.

“Yes, yes.” The Queen shivered. “I see it all.”

Talia flinched as she saw herself in Ana’s memory, sitting at the Destiny before the Jubilee. Coming to visit bedridden Nate as he recovered from fighting Jarek.

They could all feel Ana’s joy as they rescued Talia from the Burning Light.

“Do you remember?” The Queen said. “How you felt when Clancy said he needed a meka pilot for the mission? Even then, you planned for this. Did the meka pilot ever have a chance to escape?”

Ana clutched at her hair, buckling to the ground, tears pouring from her eyes. “It wasn’t like that! She wanted this!”

“Oh, of course.” The Queen mocked. “They all did, in the end.

They heard a snap of fingers and Nate watched himself argue with the Princess as she pushed him to feed Sofia his seed.

“This is a good thing, Nate.” Ana said in the memory. “She’ll be happy.”

Nate tore himself from the scenes. “T-that’s not true. It’s my seed that she drank, it’s my seed that healed her, that changed her.”

The Queen laughed. “Your cum is a conduit, certainly, but it is the power of the Princess. Whether it is magic or deformity, there have long been rumors of the royal bloodline. And it is why the Empress took her from tribe to tribe, using her daughter to charm them, why she was guarded so closely, sheltered from one and all.” The bug monster’s tongue slithered as she licked her lips. “Why do you think the Empress never speaks of her husband? The bloodline is a secret.”

The Queen stared at her hands mournfully. “How did I not see it earlier? She acted like your whore, so I saw only a whore.”

Nate snarled at that, closing his eyes and concentrating on her invading presence in his mind, spreading through his bonds. With an effort that made him groan, he forced her out. When he opened his eyes, he was looking at Ana in the bridge of the Queen’s ship.

Ana was on her hands and knees as she cried, her hands grasping at his legs. “Nate, I’m not, I’d never…” Her words dried up as she shook.

Nate could say nothing, his mind a whirl of thoughts and emotions. He’d always thought he’d been doing something to the girls, guiltily enjoying their love and lust. But it was Ana, it had always been Ana, making her childhood fantasies a reality, making him into the Taranasar of her dreams, the all-conquering man who’d take her away from the evils of her mother, from her loneliness.

Ana took his hands in her own. “I’ve only wanted to l-love you, Nate.” She begged, her hands shaking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m your good girl, aren’t I? Tell me I’m your good girl.” She pleaded.

Nate shook himself. This was his Ana, his Princess, the greatest thing that would ever happen to. The love of his life that had given him the strength to do miracles. So what if she’d collected other broken lonely girls to share in their love?

She’d only ever done it for him.

He’d never let the Queen bitch come between them.

He tugged Ana to her feet and held her tight, embracing her as she wept. “It’s okay, my love. You’re mine and you always will be. My good girl.”

Ana shuddered in his grasp. “Never let me go.” She whispered. “I’m nothing without you.”

“And I’m nothing without your love.” He kissed her.

Behind her, the Queen looked sick, her attempts to separate them failed.

She looked at him scornfully. “All this time, all our plans foiled. Your Federation worships you. Your Council made you a Judge. What would they think if they knew…you were right all along. You really are just some guy.”

Nate didn’t let go of Ana as she nuzzled his neck. The Queen wasn’t worth another thought. He had no more time for this inhuman wretch of a being who’d devoured and terrorized the galaxy to feed her desire for more power, far more than she’d fed her own her children.

“No,” He said simply. “I’m the fucking man.” He slipped his sidearm from his holster and shot her in the face. Her face melted away in searing orange, her body falling back with a thump.

It was as simple as that. Dead, she was pitiful, robbed of her power, but Nate had no pity to give her.

He rubbed Ana’s back as he watched the bridge window. The ships alongside them were still and lifeless. The consoles showed no life signs on board, because the Queen had done as he asked.

Every bug was told to kill themselves from their Queen, the deity in their mind, controlling them as little or as much as she wanted. The hive was as weak as their most untouchable figure.

This Queen being dead didn’t mean all the bugs were dead, since some bugs would remain from the other hive, the old fading Queen. But it was more than enough.

Nate had no doubt that all across the galaxy, the bugs were killing themselves. The Council armada would be able to push through to the other Queen, to kill her too.

It was a new galaxy that he looked out over. The whole galaxy was free to explore and reclaim again, every colony able to recolonize.

It would be a fractious time. The Council would fight among each other, battle bonds being tested as every race sought to regain their old land and new ones too.

They’d need someone to unite them, to mediate their problems. But that wasn’t Nate, not anymore.

He’d done his part.

Ana shivered in his arms.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He told her softly.

“It is?” She looked up at him, her shoulders hunched.

“You’re my good girl, aren’t you?” He rose an eyebrow.

“I am.” She smiled, hesitantly. “Of course I am! I…I never meant to use these powers, I didn’t know, I would never—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” He soothed, stroking her hair. “Right, girls?”

Cora nodded emphatically. “You gave Nate his magic cum, and you set us up, big deal.” She blew her hair out of her mouth. “Now I just know who to thank for him.”

Lunar smiled at Ana. “I have no doubt that you know your place before our Kyrios, that is all that matters. I’m grateful you brought us together, although I think he would have taken me regardless.”

Talia bit her lip. “It’s kinda hot, actually. You and Nate both made me into a slut just for him, right?”

Sofia crossed her arms. “You may have encouraged him and given his seed its strange powers, but he would have had to feed me to heal me.” She blushed. “And you were not around when he dominated me so thoroughly.”

The Lady was silent as she watched them all. “You’re all pretty fucking insane.” She pointed a warning finger at Ana. “But stay away from my brain, woman. Princess or not, powers or no powers, I’ll kick your ass.”

Ana cried as he held her. “Thank you, thank you. You…you love me?”

Nate rolled his eyes. “Of course I love you. You just wanted me to have all the good girls, how could I hate you?”

Ana grinned as she wiped her face on him. “I still do.” She admitted. “There’s lots of lonely girls who would bloom with your love, out there. Lonely girls like I used to be.”

Nate kissed the side of her neck. He felt giddy like a schoolboy now he knew he was free of the bugs, now he know that it wasn’t all him with these mind-bending powers. “There’s a sexy Lops girl I wouldn’t mind seeing a lot more of.”

Ana beamed as she saw the image of Gwen in their bond. “She’d be such a good girl for you.”

*And, we can’t have The Lady reporting back to her secret agency boss about your powers, can we?* He said in her mind.

She shivered. *Certainly not! I can feel how she wants you. I won’t have to do a thing. It’s a long flight back.*

“Your mother knows about your powers, then?” He said out loud. “She tried to keep you sheltered. Maybe she was afraid of what you’d do with them.”

Ana caressed his chin, admiring him adoringly. “She won’t know how far they extend.” She raised an mischievous eyebrow. “Maybe she should learn first hand.”

Nate felt his cock grow between them, at the thought of teaching the snobby Empress a lesson. “So much to do, but there’s one thing above all others.”

“What’s that?”

“If you or I managed to change Cora’s body so drastically, maybe we can make one, or find one, to place Isabelle into.” Nate smiled at the thought of his loyal AI girl. “She’s waited long enough.”

*Oh, Nate.* Isabelle said quietly.

“I’m sure we can make something work.” Ana agreed, excitement in her eyes.

“Another broken girl fixed.” Cora squirmed her thighs, holding herself.

“Let’s go home.” Nate told the girls.

“Back to the ship.” Talia nodded.

“Back to that beach we left, maybe.” He amended. He looked at the girls hungrily. “With the bugs almost gone, there’s going to be a lot of planets that need repopulating.”

The girls stilled as one, turning to him with hope in their eyes.

Nate continued. “We’d best show the public that it’s safe to start multiplying.” He grinned at their excitement. “We’ll need to promote having very large families.”

“Oh!” Ana smothered him in kisses.

“Nate,” Talia held her hand to her stomach. “I can’t wait!”

“You can wait.” Cora said firmly. “I want to be pregnant first.”

“I should like you to breed me very much, Kyrios.” Lunar said breathily.

“I never thought I’d be a mother.” Sofia admitted.

“Are you sure you want to?” Ana asked as they stepped back onto their ship. “I’m the most dangerous woman in the galaxy, so it seems.”

Nate gave her a firm spank as he walked behind her. “I’ll have to be careful with you. You’ll need a strong hand and lots of disciplining.”

Ana squeaked. “I’ll get the handcuffs!” She darted ahead.

Isabelle slid out of the walls, wearing only a long tee white shirt that was imprinted with the words ‘AI girls have more fun’. “It may be difficult to get the seclusion you desire, Nate. They’ll be giving you lots of awards, you know.”

“Lots of names, too.” Cora rolled her eyes. “Something lame like The Man That Ended The Bugs.”

“He has the only title that matters.” Lunar argued. “Kyrios.”

“Big Daddy.” Cora fluttered her eyelashes, giggling.

“Sir.” Talia squeezed her breasts together.

“Judge.” Sofia ran a finger up her thigh.

Nate smiled as Ana came back into view, holding pink handcuffs and bouncing happily. “Lunar is right. There’s only one title that matters,” he said.

Ana winked at him.

Nate felt his cock harden. It was going to be a good flight back home.

“You can call me Master.”