MGiS 6 - Proportional Response - Chapter 1

Okay folks! Here's the series everyone is looking forward to the most, Monster Girls in Space!

As always, these chapters are the pre-editor versions, since I figure ya'll don't want to wait any longer than you have to in order to get a taste of what Arsenal is up to.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

Hurry up and wait. I know that I’ve bitched about this in the past, but seriously? This is the thing that I hated the absolute most about my time in the service.

Me and the girls, we trained like mad. Every close call we had drove us to train more and more, to prepare for the worst that could come. We sweat and bled in the training ring so we wouldn’t have to do the same during combat.

I’d like to believe that we inspired the regular marines to do the same, and I know we did for a few. I can only hope that it helped them see the end of their service.

But what frustrated me the most of all that?

The waiting.

We were ready far sooner than we found a fight, and that left a lot of energy for finding trouble and stressing.

~Desmond McLaughlin, personal memoirs.

“Push! You can do it! Come on, Audra! One more set!” Desmond urged, looming over the sweating, red-skinned woman as she snarled defiantly while her long, muscular snake tail thrashed and coiled around the base of the workout bench.

“Rrrrgh!” Audra growled as she thrust the bar skyward, muscles tight and arms shaking.

As soon as the bar crossed the line with the hooks, Desmond snatched it and dragged it back into the cradle just as Audra’s strength gave out. The heavy bar fell into place with a loud crash of metal on metal, and Audra slumped with an exhausted groan.

“Great work on that, Audra. You not only established a new max weight, but you are closing in on Raegan and Chloe,” Desmond encouraged, leaning forward with his forearms resting on the bar to smile down at the exhausted Nagat from between his own elbows.

All around them echoed the grunts and clunks of people working out and lifting weights. Desmond still wasn’t sure if it was because he was here, or if the crew of the Fist of Defiance was just bored, but the ship’s gym and rec-room was busy. Given that he’d spent the last two years surrounded by people—specifically his guards—Desmond had gotten used to the feeling of always being watched, but had yet to grow able to ignore it.

“All part of the goal,” Audra groaned, sitting up with a twist of her trim waist while rubbing at her sore arms slowly.

This motion had the effect of clipping Desmond with her long hair, held up in its topknot. The soft strands bonked him in the arm and sent a swirl of her scent through the air. While Audra stretched, Desmond couldn’t help but admire her form.

Clad in a tight-fitting workout top of black trimmed in a sea-green, Audra’s upper body was a study in contrasts. The skin-tight material clung to her body, outlining the firm muscles she’d been training as well as the full bust that she still carried. While she stretched her arms over her head, Desmond could see the firm shapes of her breasts ballooning to either side of her torso.

Still not as big as Chloe’s, but few can compare to my Precious, Desmond thought with a grin as he let his eyes continue down Audra’s back to her hips.

As a Nagat, Audra was one of several species from the Hegemony that differed in their body’s basic design at the waist. A firm midriff tied into a tight butt that moved directly into an absolutely massive serpentine tail covered in red and black scales. That tail extended easily forty feet behind her when she moved, and was currently wrapped several times around her workout bench to keep it out of the way.

Since she couldn’t wear standard workout pants, Audra instead wore a close-fitting skirt matching her top to ensure her modesty. Desmond had no idea how she managed to work out and slither around in a skirt that stuck that tight to her scales, but she managed it so he chalked it up to one of those things women did that men weren’t meant to understand.

But it’s the other way around out here, isn’t it? Desmond thought as his gaze traveled back up Audra’s spine to look over her shoulder at the various sentients working out around them. Men are the ‘delicate sex,’ or at least viewed as the one who is in charge of taking care of the home.

It was something he was still getting used to, even after two years living amongst the aliens of the Hegemony of Velvet Stars. Weeks would go by and Desmond would forget, growing accustomed to his surroundings, before some fact would crop up and twiddle at the edges of his mind until he acknowledged it.

Still wouldn’t change it for the world, Desmond thought when a shimmering fluff of curly blonde hair popped into view a few feet away.

Chloe strode towards them from her own weight rack, a towel over her shoulders and sweat streaming down a face red with exertion. The nearly eight-foot-tall mountain of a woman walked with a confident stride as she mopped the sweat from her face with a towel, her massive bust straining the white workout top she wore. Skin-tight black shorts clung to her wide hips while a tufted blonde cow's tail switched behind her. The bright overhead lights gleamed on the forward-curving black horns that protruded from her mane of hair.

Right behind Chloe came her workout partner for the day, Sasha scampering along in a matching outfit and looking like a child when compared to the horned woman, but actually looming half a foot over Desmond’s own height when she approached.

Like Chloe and Audra, Sasha was gleaming with sweat after her workout but the green-skinned woman was grinning broadly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as her gaze darted between Chloe’s figure and Desmond’s. Sasha shot him a wink when she caught his eyes, and Desmond had to grin as well when he saw Sasha’s striped blue-and-black feline tail wiggling happily behind her.

“You two done?” Chloe asked when she got closer, running one hand through her blonde curls before stretching both arms over her head. This had the effect of pulling her already tight workout clothes even closer to her skin, enough so that Desmond could spot the faint shadows of her hoop piercings through the thick material of her sports-bra.

“I am,” Audra confirmed with a sigh, snatching her towel where it had rested on one of her coils and using it to wipe the sweat from her face while she twisted to look back at him. “Des?”

“I could go for longer, but—” Desmond began, a teasing twinkle in his eyes before Sasha interrupted him.

“—but we all know you can do that. You can run each of us ragged if you want to, Chief. That’s normal for you, even.”

Sasha’s pointed feline ears flicked in amusement amongst the spiked tips of her short hair as she teased him right back with a grin, her yellow eyes sparkling in amusement as she spoke.

“And we love it,” Chloe added with a low laugh of her own. “But the point was, do you need more to finish your workout? Or…?” Chloe let the sentence drift off with a questioning tilt to her head.

“I’m good,” Desmond admitted, hooking his thumbs into the waist-belt of his holster.

Unlike everyone else currently in the room, Desmond had two extra accessories besides his workout clothes. The first was the black holster holding his sidearm, something he was obligated to carry at all times as an adept by the uniform code. The other was the polished silver cuff that covered most of his left forearm.

The cuff was a symbol of his rank as a full adept, a high-tech computer that he could use for everyday needs, and a sort of biological shackle that allowed the Hegemony to monitor him. When he’d put on his first cuff, the bronze cuff of a cadet-adept, it had injected a spike into his arm that bonded with the bones there, allowing the high-tech computer to interface with his nervous system. When he’d been upgraded to an adept, he’d replaced the bronze cadet cuff with the silver adept one, but the port remained in his arm and only a member of the Hegemony Medical corps had the ability to remove it.

These were just two of the things that Desmond had gotten used to over the last several years, to the point that he’d forgotten what it was like to not have the cuff on his arm or the pistol at his side. He’d never had problems with chafing from the cuff, the skin underneath was perfectly healthy and he’d never seen corrosion or staining set in on the metal. Which was good, since he had to shower with the thing on.

“Shall we collect Raegan and Lila and head to the showers?” Chloe asked, tossing her head towards the other two of their group where they ran side by side on a pair of omni-directional treadmills.

Raegan ran with a confident stride, each step sending alluring ripples through her full figure while the chunky ponytail that she kept her dense mane of black hair in bounced in time with each move. Her glowing orange eyes scanned the room as if she was walking along the street rather than running at a speed that Desmond would have to sprint to keep up with.

Beside the Uth’ra woman, Lila ran at a far quicker speed, her twin braids of red hair flying behind her as she matched the Uth’ra woman’s pace with a far shorter stride. Thousands of iridescent sparks glimmered on her purple-blue skin, like someone had lightly dusted her with mica powder. The Va’Aelfa woman shone with a combination of her natural motes—tiny inclusions in her skin that somehow aligned with the natural flows of mana through her body—and the sweat of her long exertion.

Neither of the women struggled to breath despite the fact they were pouring sweat from their workouts, moving with the confidence of people who knew exactly what their bodies could handle and how to ask the most of themselves.

“Sure, let’s go get scrubbed up,” Desmond said, raising his right hand over his head and waving at the two runners.

Lila and Raegan’s eyes snapped to him immediately and in unison, the two of them slapped the buttons to shut off their machines before hopping down. As soon as they dismounted, the machines rippled with a faint gleam of blue-white light as the automatic sanitizer went to work, readying the machines for their next occupants.

“Des…” Audra started to ask shyly as the other two bounded over to them.

“Yes, Audra. I’d be happy to help you scrub your scales,” Desmond answered with a grin up at the large woman, catching her copper-colored eyes as they darted about nervously. “It is your turn, after all.”

“Thank you,” Audra replied, the blush on her cheeks darkening her red skin to a deep ruby as she bit her bottom lip.

“Lucky!” Raegan faux-groaned as she romped up to them, clearly having heard the last exchange. “Always so envious of how much time the Little Boss spends on your tail…” From the way Raegan continued to bounce from foot-to-foot, she exuded a great deal of ‘big friendly dog’ energy, and it was something that Desmond dearly loved about her.

“Like you don’t get just as much time when he preens your mane,” Lila interjected with a laugh, hooking her elbow into Raegan’s side lightly and making the big woman grunt in surprise before joining in on the laugh.

“I never said that,” Raegan protested. “I just said that I am envious of the time being doted on. I know how much you love your foot massages, Lila. You can’t fault me for that.”

“As long as you don’t try and cut the line,” Lila replied with a broad grin and a wink. “Who’s next in the schedule?”

“Me,” Sasha said, her grin growing wider to show off the small fangs that she had, one of the few holdovers from a past Taari ancestor like her ears and tail. “I could really use it too, my neck and back are sore…”

“After the shower,” Desmond promised before making a shooing motion with both hands. “Let's get moving, ladies.”

The girls swirled about him, each falling into their familiar positions in the formation around him. Chloe took his left, her right hand falling on his left shoulder as a familiar weight. Audra had moved into Raegan’s old position on his right, allowing the Uth’ra woman to fall in at the rear while Lila and Sasha moved at the front of their formation. This resulted in Desmond being encased on all sides by his guards, literally in some cases considering how much larger than him Chloe, Raegan, and Audra were.

Really am glad that we got a schedule worked out, Desmond thought as the group made their way across the gym space, with Lila darting over to grab the tote bag that held their changes of clothes before rejoining the group. Means that I can keep all of my girls happy. Who would have thought having four mates would have been that complicated, especially with how Audra is looking at me. Then again, it’s not that surprising given the gender imbalances of the Hegemony.

More than a few of the ship’s marines that had been working out in the gym finished their sets and drifted into Desmond’s wake, just another thing that he’d gotten used to as one of the few males aboard the Fist of Defiance.

While men were a rarity in the Hegemony military, Desmond was even more strange in that he didn’t try and hide himself away. He showered with the regular marines, ate with them, and put on regular movie or hang-out nights to get to know them all better, despite being allowed to use the officer facilities as an adept. The small handful of males on board the Fist of Defiance tended to remain together and had pointedly refused to interact with him, so Desmond had in turn ignored them.

“Little Boss, have you heard anything from… uh… our ‘old friend?’ ” Raegan asked as they worked their way down the corridor to the enlisted showers, having to adjust the phrasing when she remembered that most folks in their group still didn’t know the exact relationship they’d had with Faye Un’Killandra, an imperial quester that had joined their team for a short few months as cover weeks ago.

“Nothing,” Desmond answered without hesitation. “I’d let you know if she did, Rae. Trust me.”

“I do, Little Boss,” Raegan sighed gustily enough to stir Desmond’s short brindle-brown hair from behind. He could imagine her scowling down at the decking behind him, her scarred fists clenching and unclenching in irritation. “I just hate the waiting to hear back. It was nice being in the know about the whole… thing.”

Raegan said the last part meaningfully and Desmond couldn’t fault her for it, though he did turn to shoot her an appreciative smile for her tact. Raegan wasn’t the most subtle of his mates, but she was doing her best to learn how to be, especially with the stakes at hand.

“Same, but I guarantee we are going to be kept in the loop, if only because she might still need Audra’s info,” Desmond reassured Raegan, nodding meaningfully to Audra.

“And if she were to contact me, I would of course let you know,” Audra said firmly. “I appreciate the opportunity you gave me by offering me a spot on your team, Des.”

“You earned that spot, Audra,” Chloe interjected as they turned into the locker room and began peeling out of their sweaty workout clothes and stuffed them into a row of lockers that had been marked as reserved for the adepts and their team of guards. “You took more than one shot for him during that scuffle on the station, and didn’t hesitate.”

“Thank you, Chloe. I hope to continue to prove myself worthy,” Audra said while inclining her head to the taller woman.

Desmond did his best to ignore the acres and acres of luscious flesh that was being revealed around him. Wherever he looked, he saw feminine curves in a multitude of colors, but he’d been surrounded by those sights for years now, and worked to keep himself under control and not stare.

Especially at Audra, Desmond reminded himself. She’s just a guard, not one of your mates. While the girls might appreciate it, she likely wouldn’t. Or would she? It’s hard to tell… better to be safe than sorry given her upbringing. Former princess and all that.

Moving from the locker room into the shower space, the group slid into one of the corners without a problem. Two of the other crew that had been using the corner budged up without a word, allowing Desmond’s girls to wedge him into the corner with Chloe on his left and Audra on his right while the other three stood opposite Desmond and acted as an impromptu screen. That didn’t stop the shower from rapidly filling up over the next several minutes as those that had followed them from the gym slid into the shower, rapidly filling the room with conversation, steam, and more bodies.

“I can understand Raegan’s frustration,” Sasha said as she carefully soaped up her feline tail, the fuzzy rope wiggling in her hands like it had a mind of its own. “It’s been what? Six weeks since we left the station and no news?”

“I would have been surprised if we got word back already,” Lila replied, letting the shower water wash over her chest while she quickly undid her twinned braids, letting her long red hair fan out so she could wash it. “While the situation is important, rushing would only lead to more problems. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s running down information right now.”

“Considering how much activity we’d seen up to that, is it good or just more suspicious that things have been quiet?” Chloe asked thoughtfully as she worked the bar of yellow soap over her muscled abdomen.

“Definitely good,” Raegan asserted. “If they act anything like the gangs used to on Akkaten, they will lay low for a while and avoid causing problems. But zealots…” Raegan grimaced and let the sentence trail away.

“All we can do is wait,” Desmond interjected, getting a round of nods from the girls, though the concerned looks didn’t fade away. “It's why we train, right?”

“No,” Chloe said firmly, and Desmond turned to look up at his horned lover and first mate. “You train because you want to be ready for anything. We train to keep you safe when that ‘anything’ finds you, Des.”

That statement got a round of murmured agreement from the other girls accompanied by several nods. Desmond could only shrug and smile up at her. Chloe met his gaze with a loving smile before she tossed her head towards Audra. “Now, get to scrubbing. We can’t take up the shower forever, and I’m already getting hungry now that we are done.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Desmond laughed, throwing Chloe a mock salute before turning towards the now-blushing-again Audra. “Officer Scrubby, reporting for duty!”

A round of choked laughter rippled through that corner of the room, proving that the other occupants of the communal shower were listening in despite pretending not to. Thankfully, they hadn’t been talking about anything overly suspicious so conversation quickly shifted over to the plans for the rest of the day and various bits of news as gossip began to take over.

Audra was in the middle of soaping up her hair, but handed over the stiff brush she used for her scales to Desmond with a small smile.

“Thank you, Des,” Audra murmured again, turning slightly to shield the curves of her breasts from his view with one arm shyly.

“Always happy to treat my guards,” Desmond replied diplomatically before lathering the brush up with his soap and setting to work scrubbing at the scales of Audra’s tail.

He did this for her twice a week to help her maintain the thick plates, and Audra groaned happily as Desmond’s firm strokes stimulated the muscles underneath the scales as well. He’d made it a habit of sharing some small grooming habit with each of his guards after learning the cultural significance of his brushing Raegan’s thick mane out. It was something that had just become part of routine for him, so when Audra and Faye had joined his guard squad months previous, he’d moved to include them. Faye had declined, holding herself at a distance more despite using the squad as her cover, but Audra had embraced it happily.

To distract himself from the happy moans and groans coming from the Nagat woman, Desmond struck up a conversation with Audra instead.

“So, Audra. How goes the market research you were doing?”

“Well,” Audra said, her tone wavering as she forced herself back to lucidity and set to work scrubbing herself with firm strokes. “I’ve been studying the different markets as well as putting together that project proposal for Sasha’s research. Do you actually think the Irongrip Consortium will be interested?”

“I think that it can’t hurt to ask,” Desmond said with a shrug, tucking the brush under an arm so he could cup and splash some water over Audra’s scales to wash the suds away. He’d started at the middle of her tail and was working towards the tip first. “Monika hasn’t responded yet, so either she’s working on her family or waiting on a response too. Corporations back home didn’t move quickly on new markets like this, at least not the juggernauts. They have their focus and they stick to that to dominate it, just like the Irongrip has the shuttle market.”

“Well, when she does respond then we will be ready,” Audra said firmly.

Desmond darted a glance at her face to check on her, and the refined beauty had a determined look to her features. The sharp nose and regal jaw were set as Audra dipped her head under the water to rinse the suds from her hair. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hear the last part that she murmured into the fall of water from the showerhead, but Desmond heard it clearly.

“I will prove myself worthy before I approach them. I may have nothing now, but I will prove that I can contribute before joining the clan.”