Needs Must 1b

 Continuing off from last week, Needs Must Part 1B! This part is written by me, and describes Jenny's side of events as the fated pair meet and progressing the story. Once again, I'm very lucky to have Tach as my writing partner on this one, do be sure to check out his other work! 

- - - 

In the weeks following the aftermath of the events on Theseus Jenny had been forced to endure and adapt to a great many things she’d never thought she’d have to deal with. Although specialised doctors could stabilise her body and purge it of infection, they told her that the increased weight was a result of a fundamental change in certain organs and that nothing short of surgeries that she  had not the money to purchase, would be able to return her to her former weight.

A specialised and highly developed virus had been deployed on the station’s decks and whilst there were no known casualties the damage to property had been catastrophic. A strong quarantine was imposed almost immediately, but it was not enough to save the station from desolation. After a few weeks, when the quarantine lifted, most beings fled Theseus and its memories, even its owners abandoned it, content to let it die in the inky void of space, along with the memory of those fateful weeks.

As the station underwent its final exodus, Jenny sent out a summons to the only person she knew roamed so far out in the Fringe. The only person she could rely on.

She wasn’t sure how long it had been since she met Ava, they’d met each other on an orbital transit station on the edge of the Core worlds, back when she was just setting out on her journey into the black. Even back then she hadn’t known what to think of the Pangolin, who if anything struck her as somewhat reserved, perhaps even snooty. Jenny made up the majority of the conversation and truth be told she was glad for it, the trip itself had been stressful enough to organise, it was nice to just talk to someone. When it turned out they’d be sharing the same cabin over the next couple of weeks Jenny had delighted. Here was someone she could relate to, perhaps the last friend she’ll make in a long time. Although Ava perhaps hadn’t shared the sow’s enthusiasm, the two had made a promise during that trip, that should ever the other need aid, it would be supplied.

And so it came to be that Jenny found herself heading towards the now largely abandoned loading docks, anticipating the massive transport that Ada had flown here to assist her. As far as she knew she was among the last to leave the station and she rubbed her arms to ward against the chill of a failing temperature control system. Standing a little over five feet tall and weighing within the range of four hundred pounds, she was bitterly aware of how much bigger she was now than when they’d first met and worse, that her body would never allow her to be much smaller. Her stomach was a round and bloated looking dome of fat, hanging from her love handles as though it were making a break for her knees. It defied clothing, poking through her one remaining flightsuit like a small, pink hill, and was a constant reminder of what had transpired and the need to be far away from anyone living with a memory of the events. She found her hands resting upon its slowly undulating surface and had come to terms that movement these days was no longer a walk but a slow, wide stepped waddle. Along with her growth, although much less noticed by the porcine, was the expansion of her ass which now filled doorways and caused most chairs she sat on to groan their creaking protest. To her chagrin her breasts had been mostly spared the efforts of her body’s recent expansion, showing minimal growth if any. It might have been more bearable to carry around such weight if at least some of it had gone somewhere attractive!

Even with the slowly dying climate control, the waddle to the loading bays from her quarters was long and difficult, and she arrived panting lightly to find an old friend who looked as though the universe had treated her well.

“Ava?” Jenny asked, barely sure herself if this was the same girl she’d met on the transit station. She knew then that Ava had been on track to captain her own ship and their sparse correspondence since had given indication of her success in life, but it was hard to connect the young lady just starting out in life to the proud owner of a massive starship that stood before her. Aside from being cute as heck, the pangolin girl carried herself with a pride that few these days could claim. It was in her bearing, the way she stood. It also made it painfully obvious when her eyes fell upon the bloated and heaving dome of Jenny’s gut. She felt her cheeks flush.

“Oh, sorry. Hi.” Ava looked away for a moment, perhaps to hide how long her glance had lingered on Jenny’s gut. She wished she knew what her old friend was thinking, but she could probably guess. When the pangolin looked back it was to ask where the rest of her belongings were. But it was just Jenny. Everything else had been destroyed in the incident, and she had accrued enough debt with The Empire for simply restoring her body to a functioning state that she was unable to purchase any replacements, much less afford passage on one of the remaining transports.

Ava seemed to understand, “Alright... are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, where’s your ship docked?” Jenny nodded. She couldn’t wait to be away from this place. The memories.

“Uh, you know I fly a cargo transport right? No docking collar?”

Jenny looked confused for a moment. “But then how do we get on board?”

At this, and with perhaps the slightest hint of smugness, Ava withdrew a small rectangular device from her pocket and held it up for Jenny to see. It was featureless, save for a small dark screen towards the bottom.  “Teleporter.”

Jenny’s eyes widened. “How do you have one of those? I thought only the top of the line ships had anything like that.”

“All the large transports have them now.  They’re no good for cargo but they weigh a lot less then all the hardware you need to dock.  And you know how important weight is when moving cargo.”  Ava then paused a moment, the pangolin’s eyes glancing back downwards to the exposed ball of Jenny’s gut, causing another blush to ripple across her features and her hands to move slightly downwards as though there were a hope they could conceal her shame. “I better do this one at a time.” She continued, before pointing the wand at Jenny.

“Wait, what?” Jenny had never been teleported before, it was technology beyond what she thought she’d sample in her life time. Weren’t there rules or guides to this? Was it even safe? Whatever questions she had on her tongue were cut off as the world dissolved into a brilliant galaxy of sparkling lights, only to be replaced swiftly with the interior of the teleporter room. Her stomach lurched as she slid from the artificial gravity of the station into the weightless environment of Ava’s ship, her feet instantly leaving the floor. Before she knew it she was flying smoothly towards a door leading into the rest of the ship and, having been out of zero-g for some time had not the reflexes to slow herself before she went through. For a moment everything looked fine, as though she’d just keep flying ahead. And then she heard the most horrible squeak and felt the familiar pressure on her stomach and hips that accompanied her body getting caught trying to move through something she was too big to properly fit through. 

All around her, it felt like her bubblegum pink stomach pushed up at her, keeping her arms from reaching the doorframe - keeping them from reaching anything. She could barely even see anything but her own breasts as they smooshed against her chin, framing the round horizon of her gut. Gulping down a rising panic, she tried to smooth the wobbling surface of her stomach enough to reach the doorframe, to reach a wall so that she could pull herself through, but all she managed was to set her whole body jiggling. 

“Are you stuck?” The voice took Jenny by surprise, causing her to jump, before her cheeks filled with a familiar crimson blush. She was glad that Ava couldn’t see her sheepish expression.

“Yes.” She squeaked, trying not to pant from the small exertion she’d been placed under.

“Okay, hold on.” She felt something lift from her backside, how long had Ava been back there? And then, a second later, two firm hands were planted on her ample backside, one for each cheek. After a little grunt, Ava began to push. For sickening moment, Jenny wondered if the pangolin girl would be unable to push her free. What a horrible end to the day would that be? She imagined Ava having to leave to purchase some sort of lubrication, or worse just crawling beneath her heaving stomach and leaving her there. She didn’t have to dwell on these thoughts long though, as with a strained little squeak and a gentle murmur of dissatisfaction from the metal frame of the door, Jenny’s ponderous bulk was dislodged.

As though she’d been launched from a catapult, Jenny found herself flying down the hallway, the sudden movement leaving her without any time to grab onto one of the handles that flew past her. Two doorways slide past and flailing to grab hold of anything to stop her trajectory, Jenny thought she might have seen a third just before her flat snout collided with the wall. To see it from behind, it must have looked like a spring compressing, first her face impacting against the wall with a dull THUD, then her momentum carrying her considerable stomach and legs to attempt to occupy the same space as her head. She was still spinning when Ava glided gracefully past and into the cockpit.

-  -  -

Departure from Theseus hadn’t exactly been uneventful, Jenny was surprised to learn just how antique Ava’s ship was, in many ways. Despite the sophisticated level of tech evident in the teleporter, the vessel itself was small and relied on artificially generated gravity. That had been a shock, to say the least. The pig’s body had become adjusted to life aboard Theseus. Gravity had been about 7N, a full thirty percent weaker than Empire Standard. After Ava engaged the grav generation, Jenny felt everything sag in ways that it never had. More than ever she felt the effects of her weight, as though someone had tied sandbags to her chest, waist, arms and legs. In just moments she was wheezing, thankful that it didn’t take a lot to convince Ava to return turn it down. 

On the bright side, the pangolin had somehow managed to secure her ship. The dinky little salvage pod was practically unusable in her current state, but it was the only possession she had left. She’d thought it lost to the quarantine, and had therefore been overjoyed to hear about its apparently effortless recovery. If she looked, she could see it clinging to the side of the giant trader from the cockpit window.

After the business with the doorway, Ava plotted their destination and taken Jenny on a ‘tour’ of the ship. It was… claustrophobic to say the least, and Jenny would be bunking in the kitchen until other arrangements could be made. The pangolin had asked what her preferred destination was, but truth be told Jenny didn’t really have anywhere to go. She’d long since cut ties with her family and the few friends she had left after the events on Theseus. Without any credits, she had few opportunities to settle down elsewhere. And so Ava told her that they were headed to some dingy little privately owned recycle factory in the middle of nowhere. She kept quiet on what the profit of this little venture was, but even knowing nothing about trade lanes Jenny knew it couldn’t have been much. 

In a ship like Ava’s there’s not a lot to do but eat, sleep and play VR games. Thankfully the ship automatically tracked and limited her rations or else Jenny was sure she’d have ballooned up even fatter. As it was, she might have even lost weight. Not a lot, the doctors told her she’d never get below 400 pounds, but enough to make it so that she didn’t have to spend five minutes squeezing herself through every doorway. Her suit even fit a little less snug.

As the ship made its drop from lightspeed, Jenny buckled into her (newly washed) suit and tried to ignore that the way it sat showed off a great deal of stomach. She was just finished getting dressed when she saw Ava gliding past on the way to the teleport room. Squeaking, the pig scrambled to pull herself into the hallway, not keen on being left behind.

“Can I come?” She asked, poking her head out of the doorway.

“Sure but I’m not sure there’s going to be anything interesting.” The pangolin warned, glancing back at her.

“That’s alright, it’ll be nice to get off the ship is all.” Jenny smiled, she could already feel the energy in her legs. It had been weeks since she’d had a decent walk. “Plus maybe they have a restaurant.” And some unrationed food would be good too.

Ava crossed her arms (Jenny had an ever increasing respect for just how at home the pangolin seemed to be in zero-g). “It’s a military base, I’d be surprised if they had food that wasn’t in bar form.”

“Still, you never know!” She felt herself breaking out into a grin as she emerged in the hallway and brushed past the pangolin. It was a tight fit in the teleporter room, Ava was forced to press in against her stomach, but at least Jenny hadn’t wedged in the door like last time. A blush still managed to find its way across her snout and she wondered if she’d ever be able to afford the kind of surgery that would make her ‘normal’. 

That thought still lingered on her mind as Ava reached into her pocket and pulled out the teleporter’s control wand, pointing it between them before activating it.

She’d expected the bright lights that danced across her vision, she didn’t expect the pain that followed. The sort of pain that stabs itself into your skull the morning after a night of binge drinking. The pain spilled across her skin, digging in like fishing hooks, dragging her in different directions. Although she couldn’t see anything, she felt herself being wrenched apart, imagined herself exploding into a million pieces. She wasn’t sure when she started screaming, but she heard her voice fade away with the pain, to be replaced by nothing. For a moment, there was a silence and stillness the likes of which she’d never known. And then? Only darkness.