Kusanagi, Claire, Liddy and Erica made their way through the forest as quickly as they could. Their altered genetics allowing them to move over the tree's rocks like predators such as lions or leopards. With Vitaly on the run, they needed to catch up with her as quickly as possible. They couldn't let her get off world or worse establish herself on this planet. Despite the lack of technology, the Scientist was very resourceful and could, if she played her cards right, establish a cloning base to build an army or throw others off the scent.
She did it before on a low-tech world called Meridia. There she spent 10 years building a base and unleashed a series of clones that looked like her sending the Federation's intelligence branch on a world goose chase for another 10 years. She may look young, barely out of her mid-twenties, but she was more along the lines of 50 or 60. Which wasn't a surprised due to Federation medical tech and Vitaly's own scientific knowledge.
As they moved deeper Claire stopped and looked around. "Hold up!" she yelled before the team could get further. "Something's wrong here, something feels wrong," she said looking around.
Despite being annoyed, Kusanagi looked around as well and could feel the same. Something felt wrong. Unlike the others, Kusanagi's body was completely mechanical. Only her brain was real. Encased in a metal skull with some of the best human mimicking systems and sensors, she could pass for a human. But it was these sensors alerted her to a tree. She walked over to it and looked at it. After circling it a few times, she considered that her body needed to get re-calibrated, but she saw what she was detected. It was a small thing, however it stood out like a sore thumb.
A leaf, a single leaf on a single part on the tree was purple. But not just that, it was also slowing converting into latex. It still felt organic, with the internal parts of a leaf. But the colour changed due to something in the air, or ground. She pulled the leaf off and looked at it, turning it around in her fingers before noticing the light purple sap leaking from where she had pulled the leaf from.
The thick transparent sap fell onto a flower below it. Kusanagi squatted down and watched as the flower, similar to a sunflower but red and brown on the petals with a green centre. But as soon as the sap fell on it and cover it, the colours changed into variations of purple almost instantly. She just watched, not doing anything as she watched the flora in the area the sap was dripping fall and convert the land into latex. To say she was amazed would be an understatement.
In truth she was horrified at the revelation. Somehow the latex was terraforming the planet. She didn't know the extent, how far along it was or if it could be reversable, but she needed to stop it.
"Change of plans," she said as she looked to her recruits. "We need to stop this latex corruption,"
They just nodded before they looked to some parts of the trees. "We figured," Claire said as she pointed to a patch of the tree she was standing in front of where a section of it was mix of purples. "It's corrupting this world,"
Liddy and Erica pointed to the similar patches of purple. Soil or Liddy and a rock from Erica. Kusanagi nodded and jerked her head deeper into the forest. The three trainees nodded and followed the Major as they moved deeper into the forest. Masks extend out from their implants and covered their mouths. It wasn't clear how the Latex was expanding out, but they didn't want to take chances.
As they ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, it began to turn from a luscious green to a dark and ominous shades purple. Soon they began to slow as their sense of direction began to fail them. Paired with the lack of their GPS systems, that meant they had no idea where they were going. As they tried to figure out what was going one, a thought came to Claire. One that scared her. Summoning her arm cannon, she turned and directed it around her.
"Claire," Kusanagi growled. "What are you doing?"
"It's a trap," she said. "Think about it, we haven't found any signs of Vitaly out here. But what have we seen?"
"Clever girl," a voice echoed across the clearing making heads turn.
"Samus," Kusanagi muttered as she spied the former bounty hunter standing in a tree in all her blue latex glory. "You went missing some time ago, looks like something happened,"
"Oh yes," the bounty hunter moaned. "I was changed from a lonely merc to a Queen of power," she gasped as if she was in heat. "And the pleasure, oh the pleasure… it feels so good," her voice was filled with lust as the lenses of her focused on the four in front of her. "And if you are lucky, you are next,"
"What makes you think we'll willingly follow?" Liddy asked.
"We don't," a new voice chimed in.
The four turned to look and see a black and white serpentine woman slither out of a couple of trees. Weapons were summoned at that point and pointed at the new guest to the conversation.
"Oh, you all taste good," she moaned. "The fear, the… need," a smile spread across her face with fangs extended as she pulled herself from her snake half. "So good," she muttered as she stood a good two heads taller than them.
"Boa, you know what the Matriarch ordered," Samus warned.
"Oh, I'm aware," the snake woman said in a dismissive tone. "I'm well aware,"
"Boa? As in Boa Handcock? The Pirate Empress?" Liddy asked in shock.
"The same," Boa moaned. "But there is one other who you should be concerned about,"
The four blinked in response before a new voice got their attention. "Hello Major," a soft yet authoritative voice said.
If Kusanagi had any blood, it would be running cold as she turned to look up and see Makima as she hovered in the sky with a pair of wings. Like the demon she had become, with the fanged smile not leaving her face.
"And here I thought you had died Makima," Kusanagi shot.
The laugh that echoed was both enchanting and horrifying as Makima set down, looking at the major. "No such luck. But I have been showed a new purpose,"
"What are you planning? Corrupt us?" Erica asked as she readied her polearm.
Samus laughed as she jumped down from her perch. "Nothing so trivial,"
"The Matriarch wants you," Boa continued.
"And what the Matriarch wants, she gets," Makima finished.
"So do us a favour and come willingly," Samus added. "It will be easier on all of you,"
The group of four looked to one another before firing at the closest target. Liddy and Erica targeted Boa, Claire fired at Samus and Kusanagi moved against Makima. Claire's cannon cut through the trees where Samus used to be. But the former bounty hunter jumped out of the way as the tentacles around her arm formed her arm cannon. She fired several stun rounds at the agent who had similar speed to her.
Both were augmented on a genetic level. Samus had her genes edited by her adoptive Chozo family and the latex which also changed her on the genetic level. Claire had something similar done to her thanks to the agency needing super soldiers. The question was, who would win out? Who had the superior genetics? Claire chased after Samus, both their speeds matching. But the bounty hunter had more flexibility, which allowed her to move in ways that the agent couldn't match.
The agent soon slowed as she lost sight of the former bounty hunter. She tried to extend her sensors out, trying to pinpoint the Bounty hunter, but land around her was covered, or converted, into the varied purples of latex. Relying on her eyes, she tried to focus on her surroundings, looking for the blue of Samus' latex.
Humans, as a general rule of sight, have a 45-degree angle of sight. While this allowed humans to spot land-based predators and swooping animals. But this means that anything outside that cone would be missed. This was how shinobi and Ninja's of old used to stay out of sight in the rafters. Few looked up from this 45-degree angle, unless it was due to one of the other senses detecting something.
Claire failed to look up until it was too late. Samus landed on her pinning her to the ground. "Never rely on your technology. It can fail you," she spoke in an aroused husky voice.
The agent tried to struggle, but was tightly pinned to the ground while Samus placed binding tentacles on her. Claire struggled as the tentacles wrapped themselves round her arms and legs, locking them in place.
"Fuck," the agent growled as the tentacles extended to effectively cocoon her.
"Soon, soon," Samus muttered stroking her with a gentle touch.
OOOOO
Kusanagi pounced at Makima at speed, using her mechanical body to push herself forward faster than any biological being could. But Makima, being enhanced by the latex, managed to move out of the way, but not quickly enough allowing the major to land a cut on her side. She winced as she flew off away from the open field and landed not too far away, looking at her wound. It was dripping with a sticky purple liquid latex substance. As it dripped onto the ground, but began to change everything it touched into latex.
The wound healed quickly, however allowing her to look up and check around. The major was a tricky woman to deal with. She wasn't just a soldier; she was a machine programmed with every piece of combat knowledge the Federation had. She was going to be hard to take down. Makima needed to plan this carefully. Thankfully, she Samus and Bos and set the battlespace for the best opportunity to grab the 4 agents. But that didn't mean that capture was guaranteed, especially with a cyborg like the major.
She had something in mind, but needed to plan it right to get the major to come after her. Once the wound healed, she stood.
"Hiding? I'm not surprised. A coward like you woul…." She couldn't finish as a laser shot at her.
Makima moved before pushing herself towards where the shot came from. She kept her wings close in, they were too big of a target and didn't work inside the forest. Smaller target, harder to hit. As she approached the location where the major was, it was of no surprise to the Demon Queen that she wasn't there. Fire and move had always been a standard tactic for Federations snipers and snipers in general. As Makima landed, there was a soft click before the ground below her exploded and sent her up in the air.
Pain, not the pleasurable kind, surged with her making her wince. But as she looked up into the sky, an idea came to mind. She smiled as she flipped herself and glided down to the floor.
Kusanagi watched as Makima glided down to the floor, looking a little worse for wear. It was a good thing that the woman still liked to talk allowing her to set up the trap. Makima was much like her, reactionary and planned. But more of the former than the latter. She maybe one of the best agents, didn't mean that she didn't have flaws that she could exploit. But it was clear that the Latex give her several advantages. Flight for one, but she already assumed that given the wings. Toughness was another, as was speed and claws, but outside of that she wasn't sure.
The latex creatures she had taken out required a lot to be taken down. But as Vitaly pointed out, they were little more than warrior drones. Ones made for combat. Makima was something else, in fact Samus, Boa and Makima were all different. Samus was clearly made for combat, given the latex carapace she wore. Boa was the ambush predator who used her body to move though the forests with stealth, like a snake.
But Makima was a different story. She looked like a demon, probably due to her personality, but that made her less predictable than Boa or Samus. Samus would be a straight up fight, using her endurance, arm cannon, body and arsenal to fight. Weapons such as the power bomb, plasma lance, cryo shot and others would make her a tough warrior to fight. Boa again was simple as she would need to trap the snake woman. As for the demon? She's tricky as she didn't know how to react to her.
The original Makima relied on trickery, divisionary tactics and extreme measures. None of which would be useful here, so what should she do? Looking around, the major frowned as she watched the demon a few yards away, limping. Her wings torn, lacerations across her body, leaking the purple latex that acted as her blood. Did the bomb wound her more than she thought? Inwardly, the major smiled and began to move after her. She wasn't going to let this opportunity escape her.
She kept back, not too far but close enough to keep an eye on the devil as they moved deeper and deeper into latex territory. But she did inch closer with each meter, ready to pounce. Soon she did. Makima turned, eyes wide with surprise as she was tackled to the ground by the agent.
"Got you now bitch!" Kusanagi growled.
To her surprise, Makima smiled. "I think not,"
The ground opened up and the two dropped into a deep latex covered cave. Their landing was cushioned by a thick padded latex floor. Once they were at the bottom the pair of them rolled away from each other and Makima showed off her healing abilities. Her wings repairing themselves in a matter of seconds. Kusanagi growled at that.
"Still playing games?" the agent asked.
"Always," Makima answered as several large tentacles shot out to grab the major.
"Huh what the…." The major yelled as she was pulled up into the air eagle spread. "Ahhh damn it…" she growled as Makima flew up next to her. "Fuck you traitor,"
"Wrap around her belly," the demon ordered and the tentacles responded.
A large thick tentacle wrapped around the major's waist before Makima then removed the major's limbs. The agent didn't scream as her limbs were mechanical. They fell to the ground and scooped up by tentacles.
"Put her in a binding cocoon and take her to the ship," she ordered as several latex drones arrived.
OOOOO
"MOVE!" Liddy yelled as she swung her sword at Boa who just danced out of the way while erica pulled back to get a better view of the battlefield.
As Liddy and Boa danced around each other, trading blows or dogging, Erica made her way up a tree and aimed her rifle. Without hesitating, she fired, but Boa moved out of the way and practically swatted Liddy away before she focused on Erica.
OOOOO
The Queen just looked up at Raven who smiled back, showing her fangs. Anger and fear flooded the Queen's mind as the realisation dawned on her about what happened, and what the woman had just said quashing some of her fear.
"What do you mean your throne now?" she barked. "It's my throne! It's always my throne!"
"Not any longer mother," Rina said as she stepped in from the side.
Her mother's face went white as she looked at her daughter. Her shiny armour was gone, replaced with a latex bodysuit and carapace that similarly matched her old knight armour. Only her mouth was visible which was twisted in pleasure. The Queen backed only to be grabbed by several tentacles and pulled up. She screamed causing her advisors to try and grab her, only for more tentacles to grab them as well. Rina didn't react as her mother was pulled into a tentacle.
"Stop! Please," the queen yelled, but her voice was quickly silenced as she was pulled into a cocoon with her advisors soon following.
Raven smiled. "Soon the kingdom, next the world,"
