Conquest of Paradise Chapter Seven

Conquest of Paradise

Chapter Seven

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Mary ‘Saturn’ Masters

Unsurprisingly, it took all of five minutes for the interrogation to begin. What was surprising was that it was Dr. Ziegler that started asking questions instead of Laura or Nova.

“Tell me, Miss Mary, do you feel any different now that you belong to Gaius?” the German genius asked with bluntness that I (despite the brief time I had known her) recognized as uncharacteristic. It was equally obvious to me that young Pyrrha was, despite her heavy blush and rather adorable attempt and nonchalant disinterest, was listening closely.

“I’m in a much better mood, if that’s what you mean. A nice collar and a thick cock in my throat, followed by a bellyful of cum, can do amazing things for a girl’s outlook you know.” I responded, relaxing back into the fairly comfortable seat with a satisfied smirk. “I’m sure you’ll agree with me once you get the opportunity, Doctor, and Pyrrha as well for that matter. Though how you have resisted having a man like that nearby after being collared…I would have jumped into bed with him as soon as I could.”

“Isn’t that what you just did?” Pyrrha snarked, still blushing furiously, and judging by the somewhat surprised looks the other women gave her, that was as uncharacteristic as Ziegler’s own behavior.

“Nah, a blowjob is small potatoes, really. It’s the adult version of giving your highschool sweetheart a handy, something nice and fun to make sure they remember you fondly until you see them again.” I dismissed the significance the redhead seemed to be placing on my actions with a casual wave. Now that I had a collar again, a Master to serve and a safe harbor for my exhausted psyche, I was feeling more like my old self every minute. “Sex isn’t even that big a deal, its when you get into the really fun stuff that you need to take things seriously.”

“I haven’t gotten to have a good session with Sir, or at least not one involving toys.” Nova grumbled, lifting her eyes to the ceiling for a moment before looking back at the road. “Cortana, do me a favour and start looking for sex shops here in New York and in D.C. There have to be same that weren’t looted yet, and as hot as Gaius pinning me in place with words is, I want some nice leather…”

“Ohh, good idea. I doubt places like that were high on the list of looting locations, compared to places like Best Buy and supermarkets. I agree that having nothing restraining you but your dominant’s command and how much you want to be good for them is incredible, but the absolute helplessness that comes with a full set of equipment is indescribable.” I agreed enthusiastically, mentally considering what items I wanted to find the most. Floggers could be made by hand, and custom-made impact-play was usually better than generic shelf trash anyway, but a good harness and some pain-play tools… Feeling quite pleased with the prospect, I changed subjects. “You know, I gotta ask, how did he collect all of you girls anyway? None of you are military, or at least not organized military. You black-baggers, mercs, militia, what?”

“I’m not sure that Sir wants you to know the whole story yet. Suffice to say, Pyrrha would be dead if not for Gaius, I would be living a life with little purpose, Laura would have suffered extensively, and Miss Ziegler would have found herself ostracized and hunted by law enforcement for her heroism. Even Cortana’s fate is nothing to envy, perhaps the worst of us all.” Nova shook her head firmly, and I raised my eyebrows, though I didn’t voice any protests. I would hardly do anything that might put Nova at odds with Master Gaius, and I didn’t doubt once I was more trusted, I would be filled in. This realization did little to quench my curiosity of course, but mysteries could be fun to unravel. It was one of the requirements for getting recruited by the SHD anyway. You couldn’t exactly do a decent job investigating the cause and effect of societal collapse if you had neither curiosity or problem-solving skills.

“He sounds like a bona-fide hero then…and like a harem protagonist from an anime. Rescuing damsels left, right, and center and winning their hearts and minds. The only difference seems to be the lack of comedy and the fact that you’re not a bunch of cockteases that are constantly trying to make him pick one of you.” I observed, getting a laugh from Nova and Laura while Pyrrha and Angela just looked confused. Wagging one finger at them in a humorously chiding manner, I ‘chastised’ them. “You girls really need to get out more. Hey Cortana, can you get your hands on some classic harem anime for us to watch sometime?”

“What do you take me for, a bargain-bin VI? Of course I can, I have everything on the Internet at my fingertips. Oohh, maybe we can use the Jumbotron? That could be fun.” The (presumably) distant tech-head responded, sounding amused by the prospect, and I laughed again as I pictured our group sitting in Times Square watching harem comedies on the massive screen, picking off whatever random scumbags stumbled across us.

“So, where are you camped out, anyway? I mean, I can’t imagine anywhere is secure enough for someone like you to set up a full station with the world gone to shit. Unless Gaius has a really impressive safehouse that his fellow Hunters don’t know about?” I asked curiously, a curiosity that only grew as my companions exchanged glances the brimmed with silent conversation

“You think I’m human, huh? I guess I should be flattered, but given your only experience with Artificial Intelligence is that poor, hobbled moron ISAC, I guess its not too surprising that you don’t recognize someone like me.”  Came the response, before the holographic projector on my watch lit up and a buxum blue woman whose skin appeared to be literal lines of code phased into existence. “Smart AI CTN 0452-9, Cortana, at the service of The Black Wolf and whomever else he deems fit. Which, it seems, now includes you.”

I whistled lowly, astonished and honestly a little skeptical. I couldn’t imagine a more advanced AI than ISAC, who was (despite how advanced he was compared to his predecessors) ‘a hobbled moron’, to use Cortana’s charming and entirely accurate description. He wasn’t smart enough to understand context or the concept of ‘grace periods’, leading to who-knows-how-many loyal agents getting labeled Rogue because of things outside their control. Case in point, her own team. He was just too stupid to see the difference between them and Keener, too incapable of critical thinking to realize that abandoning the mission temporarily was sometimes necessary to ensure it succeeded later. On the other hand, her being an AI did make her omnipresent and seemingly-omniscient assistance more understandable, even if she had more personality that I had thought possible.

“See, Cortana was made, in simple terms, by uploading a brilliant scientist’s brain into digital format. That’s one of the things that puts her above ISAC, you know? Not just the IQ of her donor, but the life her donor lived. All those things humans learn over their lives, like contextual thinking, asymmetrical planning, a sense of humor…she has all that.” Nova added, glancing over her shoulder at me briefly, a smirk crossing her lips as her eyes darted to the faint, glowing form. “Of course, her sense of humor can leave something to be desired and some of her plans are a bit…bold, but,”

“Hey now, don’t go picking a fight with me, missy. I think more in five minutes than you will in fifty years. I have every recorded insult in human history at my proverbial fingertips, and I promise that I will use every single one of them in a duel.” Cortana interrupted, posting one hand on a cocked hip with a raised eyebrow. “Just give up before you get started and end up embarrassed. And watch where you’re driving, damnit!”

“Would take more’n what you’ve got to embarrass me, baby blue.” Nova shot back, sounding distinctly unimpressed and unconcerned with the proclaimed prowess of her opponent, who gave a theatrical gasp and placed a hand over her chest like a Hollywood maiden. There was a dramatic pause, before the blonde sniper continued. “Besides, I doubt you could embarrass me in front of the girls anyway. Not after they heard Sir totally ruin me and Laura the other night. Can I mention how amazing it feels to get fucked so hard you can barely walk and have your Master’s cum leaking out of every hole you’ve got? With a fit, sexy girl riding your face while you get reamed? Because it feels amazing.”

“Miss Nova, please…” Pyrrha groaned, her ability to appear aloof apparently compromised at last. It was cute, really, and I couldn’t wait to see what kind of girl she would turn out to be once she finally gave herself to Gaius completely. Just what kind of sub would she be, I wondered? The shy and demure kind? The worshipful kind? Would her embracing of her inner desires make her a brat, perhaps? A demanding, disobedient girl that had to be punished regularly? I could tell that Nova was that kind, and I was getting more Predator/Prey vibes from Laura than anything else, which was rare. Most humans, wrapped up in modern societal training and ‘civilized’ behavior, just couldn’t place themselves in the position of being hunted down and enjoying it. Hell, I couldn’t do that, and I was probably the most naturally submissive person I had ever met! Although, now that I thought of it, being hunted and having to ‘defend’ myself…no, no, I don’t think I would enjoy that even as part of a scene. At least not for quite some time, it was too much like what I was living right now. Gaius was no Cleaner or Riker, wouldn’t ever actually rape me or hurt me or burn me alive, but as things stood, I don’t think I could handle even the slightest reminder of that terror and helplessness.

“Ah, alright. You’re lucky you’re so damn cute, or I would see if I could make you blush so much you passed out.” Nova moaned in over-the-top disappointment, before straightening up slightly and looking more serious as we turned another corner. “DZ Gate up ahead, ladies. We shouldn’t be more than a couple of blocks from the Post Office once we go through, but I wouldn’t get too comfortable. Nova to Black Wolf, requesting instructions.”

“No threats within the Darkzone in this area, but there is a larger band of Rioters moving to attack the Post Office. Thirty hostiles, moderately armed. Their leader has an LMG and it looks like some of them have grenades. Either they got really lucky in their looting, got really lucky jumping some JTF patrols or other gang-bangers, or someone is supplying them to cause trouble.” Gaius radioed back promptly, tone sardonic, and I snorted. While it was certainly possible that one of the other options was what had happened, the Rioters were by-and-large kids and basement-dwellers that were either desperate or on a power-trip. Taking on the Cleaners or the Rikers and winning was highly unlikely, and as little fondness as I had for the JTF right now, they were more than equipped enough to handle any Rioters that actually tried to throw down with them. “Cortana is accessing gate functions now, we’ll ride the vehicles right up to the field, give ‘em a little shock and awe before. Pyrrha, you will help Mercury and Neptune get Angela inside immediately. The rest of us will clean up the survivors before joining you. Understood?”

“Understood, Sir!” we all responded together, straightening in our seats despite him being in another vehicle entirely. As easygoing as the man seemed to be, there were times for military discipline, and this one certainly one of them.

“Lock and load, ladies. Check your gear, prep your weapons, make sure your extra magazines are ready to go. Pyrrha, take these smoke grenades, use them to create some cover for yourself and Angela as you head inside. Laura, you and Mary will flank them and advance right into them, I’ll take out anyone with better weapons. Check your fire, I don’t want any blue on blue. Cortana, are the JTF aware that we are en-route?” Nova spoke quickly and decisively, taking the lead of our sub-unit with swift grace.

“No, but they will be. Gaius wants to make a good first impression on them, really play into that ‘hero arrives just in time’ angle. The minute that they put out their first SOS, I’ll answer and have them hunker down and hold. We’ll swoop in and save the day after they get scared, but before they suffer any serious casualties.”

“Mister Gaius really is a cunning man. I don’t know how I feel about him playing such games when people’s lives are on the line, though…” Angela mused, looking as unsure as she sounded, and I shrugged slightly as I checked my sights.

“A few injured JTF guys now is better than a lot of dead JTF guys later. Remember, my team and I are labeled as Rogue. He hasto give the JTF a reason to toe the line and play ball, or we won’t be able to get anything done. We’re good, but even with his planning and Cortana on our side we can’t win this fight without the full support of the JTF and the Second Wave agents.” I explained, confident in my estimation of my sort-of Master’s goals and reasoning. “And the JTF definitely can’t win without us, so its important to start that relationship early and well.”

“You’ve got a pretty good understanding of how Master Gaius thinks for someone who only just got collared by him. Not bad, Mary, not bad at all.” Laura regarded me with something distinctly like approval as we passed through the gates, and I didn’t even try to restrain the small smile that crossed my face at that.

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Captain Roy Benitez

I suppose I shoulda been flattered when they picked me to command JTF operations in New York over people that had been in longer than me. Probably had something to do with all those medals they tried to bury me under. For that matter, I was pretty damned pleased The Powers That Be were smart enough to avoid putting some paper-pusher talking-head in charge during the current crisis. The last thing this city needed right now was some political appointee making it harder for my boys and girls to do their jobs.

Unfortunately, none of that made me any happier about dealing with said crisis. And my mood wasn’t going to improve given current events, that’s for damn sure.

“Goddamnit, of course they would attack right after we sent out that salvage group.” I growled in irritation as I snapped off a couple of shots. I managed to hit one of the attacking Rioters in the thigh, sending him to the ground with a scream, before I was forced into cover again as his buddies blazed away in my general direction.

“Think positive, Captain! Their aim is so bad we might actually be able to survive this fight!” one of my girls, a National Guardswoman whose husband was a doctor and whose unfailing good cheer honestly kept a lot of us moving forward, chirped with a smile as she reloaded her carbine from behind her bit of cover a few feet away.

“Damnit, Charlotte! Stop being so cheerful all the time!” I grumbled, popping off another round at a particularly enterprising fellow with a shotgun, who shrieked rather girlishly and scrambled into hiding. “Someone get on the goddamn radio and get that salvage team back here! If they hit them from the side, we can roll this whole group up and be done with it!”

“Aye, Captain!” I heard someone say from my other side. “Salvage One, Salvage One, this is Post Office. Under heavy attack, return immediately to assist. Repeat, the Post Office is under heavy attack, return immediately to assist!”

There was a long moment of silence, or at least a lack of verbal communication, as we continued to exchange gun-fire with the dwindling but uncowed Rioters. That in and of itself was strange, this lot usually broke and ran pretty quickly after getting stuck in. They didn’t have the fanaticism of the Cleaners or the experienced hatred of the Rikers or the outright professional soldiery of the LMB to keep them on the field. There was something strange going on here, for sure.

Of course, my bad day immediately had to get worse after that realization, as my1 salvage team was currently fifteen minutes away at the very best, and engaged in a firefight of their own, though fortunately with significantly fewer opponents. Which meant that unless I got really lucky and some reinforcements showed up out of nowhere with a lot of firepower, we were in deep shit.

Fortunately, it seemed God Almighty was as fond of me now as He had been during 9/11, because reinforcements out of nowhere is exactly what happened, as two armored Humvees came around a corner and roared down the street. Rioters scattered as the two vehicles charged right into their midst, and there was a cascade of metallic clattering and the ear-rending crack-bang!of flash-bang grenades, even as white fog began to spread. Door thudded open and shut as the two trucks disgorged their passengers, and I felt a huge swell of relief as no less than a half-dozen Division Agents stepped out, their rapid and accurate gunfire killing more Rioters in the opening seconds than my people had killed in the last few minutes.

Two more agents, one obviously somewhat injured and being supported by the other, and a pair of young women in strange and unmarked body armor rushed out of the artificial smoke, moving from cover to cover towards the doorway until they were inside the base. I wondered what it was all about, given the fact that Agents weren’t known for leaving the field unwon, but if I had to guess, it would be that the blonde woman was some sort of VIP. She had the look to her, even her pure-white armor looked fancy.

“Goddamn, look at them go!” Charlotte cheered, attracting my attention back to the battlefield, though from what I was seeing it wasn’t much of a battle any longer. Whatever had been driving the Rioters into the teeth of our defenses, it was gone now. I was watching their fighting spirit, and their numbers, crumble away like sand in the face of our reinforcements. One of the new arrivals, one who was (like the two women now inside the base) without paraphanalia or markings, grappled with the Rioter leader. A brute of a man, easily a foot taller than her and probably over a hundred pounds heavier, he wouldn’t have looked out of place in a B-rank action film from the 80’s. Three heartbeats later, he was down and either unconscious or dead. I was no martial artist, but I knew professional kick-assery when I saw it, and this girl was by God a professional ass-kicker. Parried a punch, stepped in, legs around his neck, twisted him to the ground and rolled back to her feet. Flawless, without hesitation, and obviously effective.

Seeing their leader defeated, and so easily at that, broke what little spine the attackers still possessed. They broke, throwing down their weapons and either surrendering desperately or fleeing in panic. Those that fled didn’t make it far, precise salvos of rifle fire dropping them in their tracks, while those that surrendered were roughly disarmed and chivvied into a line. Concerned that I was about to see five summary executions on my doorstop, I got to my feet and waved my troopers after me as I hastened down the stairs.

“Thanks for the save, Agents, my people will take these folks into custody for you.” I said loudly as I approached, holstering my pistol with an honestly thankful, if tired and strained, smile for our rescuers. “Charlotte, you and your squad can take them out to the lockup, leave them there until we can get interrogations set up. Unless the Agents wanted to speak with them now?”

In all honesty, I hoped they didn’t, because I wanted to know who the non-Agents were, and while SHD had a Presidential Order backing them to the point they outranked everyone but the President, I wasn’t anymore inclined to roll over and play fetch for them than I ever had been for the FBI.

“No objection from my team, Captain. Black Wolf?” one of the Agents, who evidently was the SHD unit leader, shrugged with a frown, glancing over into the smoke. Everyone, even the Rioters who were being dragged to their feet, looked over as well, and more than a few people gasped.

It wasn’t his height or build, though he was certainly tall and powerfully built. It wasn’t the stylized wolf mask covering his face, though it was certainly intimidating. It wasn’t even his equipment, though it wouldn’t have been too much of an exaggeration to call him a walking armory. No, what caught our attention and drove the air from our lungs were the decorations on his armor.

A half-dozen crimson SHD smart watches. Whoever Black Wolf was, he had personally killed at least six Division Agents, maybe more. The fact that he had a squad following him around and had just saved our collective asses calmed my instinctive desire to label him a dangerous enemy that had to be dealt with promptly, but only just.

“None of the grunts will know anything useful, just the leader. If it wouldn’t cause Captain Benitez and his people undue stress, I would recommend their execution.” Black Wolf responded, tilting his head and regarding the Rioters, who flinched almost simultaneously. One even pissed himself, and Black Wolf snorted before looking away from them to meet my own eyes. “However, Executive Mandate or not, I’m not inclined to run roughshod all over you, Captain. Deal with them as you see fit, but know I am trusting in your ability to keep them under control.”

In other words, as long as it didn’t look like the Rioters would cause a problem for the base and the people in it, either by breaking out or requiring so many guards that base security was compromised, he was willing to leave the prisoners under my control. I suppose I was meant to feel grateful for that, and I honestly did appreciate that he wasn’t trying to step all over my authority and my people, but I couldn’t help the instinctual bristling at the implication that my people and I couldn’t handle five punks.

“Appreciated.” I grunted, and he nodded amiably, as if he had done me a great favour but was being modest about it.

“Not a problem, Captain. You obviously know what you’re about, or you wouldn’t be in your position and this base of operations with be a burned-out husk.” His tone was genial as he watched the zip-tied prisoners get man-handled away, before looking over at me again. “I would appreciate it greatly if you would get Doctor Kendel and Mr. Rhodes to someplace relatively private for a briefing. There is a great deal to do, and we all need to be one the same page so that we can get it done.”

“…yeah, alright. We can chat in the SHD Command Center. No one there right now, since you folks are the first Agents we’ve seen since the Dark Zone fell. Just head straight to the back and take the stairs. I’ll grab the Doc and Paul, then meet you down there.” I agreed, having a feeling that this meeting (and any resulting activities) would drive me to the drink…or to the nearest Priest.

I’m getting to old for this crap.

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Now we’re coming up on the real action! After a quick meeting and introductions, we’re going to have the Russian Consulate extraction and (much more enjoyable) the raid and capture of the U.N. Building! As always, please consider supporting me on Patreon for several benefits, including early access of ONE WEEK for chapters!