The Land Where Monsters Come From

[runawayninja]

Incorporating elements of the alien technology into one of their own fighters had been the capstone of the victory. Moving past most of the fleet and striking at the Core Ship had been a great risk. Earth Command wasn't even sure if what it would do to the invaders, but they had been desperate and this was a last ditch plan, since the invaders were now able to threaten the homeworld, Earth itself. The fighter had made its way through the Core Ship, blasting numerous alien fighters and small anti-fighter ships of larger classes, and managed to the heart of it, the AI Core. It was a desperate battle that had taken all of Rafe's skill at flying and familiarity with his ship, even with the alien technology it was barely a victory. But without the AI Core to control the autonomous functions, the power source of the ship went critical, destroying a number of other alien ships, and the destruction of the Core Ship left the rest of the alien fleet disorganized and unable to coordinate actions.

Rafe had made a mad dash to escape the blast. He had rocketed his ship through corridors, tight spaces, and simply plowed through any ships that tried to stop him. He used every ounce of energy in his ship to try and get clear of the blast, but he was caught in the wake of the blast, his ship dragged by it while withstanding pressures and friction that the ship wasn't supposed to take. Broken and battered, his ship was now adrift, the engines damaged beyond any possible repair. Rafe launched an external camera from the ship and slowly began to make a visual survey to match the diagnostics he had ran. The ship was trashed. Communications, engines, weapons, almost everything was gone, it was a wonder the ship was able to keep him alive. Rafe stared into a reflective surface, slowly taking his helmet off. Long silvery hair, bright green eyes, he was still young, with the beauty of young on his face. That youth gave him the reflexes necessary to do the task he had just done. He managed to use every bit of his knowledge of flight mechanics and engineering to slow his flight, since the blast had sent him careening away from Earth and all that he knew and all he could do was slow it. He was still drifting.

But things were about to get much worse. Much worse. Micro stress fractures in the super-strong omni-glass that covered the front of his cockpit were growing. Clear cracks in the glass were growing visible and slowly making a spiderweb of fractures across the glass. "Oh my God..." He muttered out as it grew and that got louder and more visible. "This is it." This was the end. A hero for his race and now this was the end of his short young life. The only thing that ran through his head was his Emergency Training. There was little one could do against the vacuum of space. The cosmic radiation, the micro particles traveling at hypersonic speeds, the raw lack of oxygen. Twelve seconds, that's how long he'd stay conscious. Then he'd sleep from lack of air and his brain would slowly shut down. There were certainly other effects on the body, unpleasant ones, but the brain death from lack of air is what killed you. He remembered the shattering of the glass and then the sound of the air being sucked out of the cockpit as he struggled for his helmet. He shut his eyes tightly as his training commanded. But after that, his consciousness faded. The only clear memory after that was the feeling of the air being sucked right out of his lungs, and the intense pain from exposure to raw, open, empty outer space.

 

[Wingshadow]

A soothing, pleasant warmth wafted up from below him as he lay on what felt like soft felt, the distant sounds of voices and an ever-present hum in the background drowned out any semblance of space. Had he died and passed on to the other world, the one beyond the reaches of the living? This seemed highly unlikely...

"Is he even still alive?" one of the figures which bent over him asked in a distinctly feminine tone, "You have been tending to him for what seems like eternity. He must be brain dead if he still hasn't woken up."

"You doubt my abilities again, I see," the one beside her replied with an air of offense, "I'm one of the best surgeons and recovery specialists in the known universe and you think I would mess up a procedure as simple as this?"

"Would you please keep it down... Its bad enough that I have to put up with your constant bickering, but the least you can do is let me get some rest during the day," a third voice chimed in.

The four of them there in a small domed room made of metal. The floor was dirt, however, and the door to the right led out into a long hall toward a brightly-lit interior. The roof was decorated with stylized figures of men, women, and monsters floating about in a seemingly endless landscape, independent to each other yet each making up a complex and intricate whole with each other. A central flower stood in the exact center, the dim glow which issued from it lit the room with a comfortable glow. Rafe lay on a small bed-like cot with pillows and woven fabrics draped over the pillows.

At the foot of the bed stood a large tulip-like flower which had bright red petals and was planted directly into the dirt floor. In the center of the flower stood a woman, or at least she appeared to be a woman, with green skin and hair, her clear blue eyes showing clear signs of sleep deprivation. Her chin rested on her right hand while her left pressed against her hip, emphasizing her dismay with her companion's constant state of bickering.

Beside her stood a prideful and busty woman with jet-black wings springing from her lower back and a long, arrow-head tipped tail springing from just above her round butt. She had strange markings on her body, similar to runes or the curving swirling patterns ink would make when dropped into water. A tight, leather-like, revealing bodysuit clung to her every curve and accentuated her well-endowed figure. Her playful and lively red eyes gleamed with mischief, but also a hint of wisdom. In her right hand she held a simple data readout, similar in use to the archaic clipboard, while in her right hand she held a stylus, with which she jabbed and made pointed remarks to the third woman in the room.

She had a small red hat perched on the top of her head, and arms coated in a thick layer of black feathers. She bore an aura of dignity, her head cocked slightly to the side as she shrugged and decided to let the matter drop as it was. A robe-like garment was draped over her shoulders, with brilliant greens, reds, and black dyes coloring the finely woven fabric. Her black eyes turned down toward the human and she let out another sigh.

"Fine... Just let me know if you get any progress," she shook her head, "I'm the one who brought him in, after all, and I hate to see him just laying there vegetating."

"That's my line," the flower-woman yawned.

"Sure, sure," the winged woman nodded, "He should be waking up any time now."

 

[runawayninja]

Cosmic radiation from the various X-Rays, radioactive high-energy protons, ultraviolet and gamma rays, pulmonary and circulatory ebullisms, hypoxia, the list of things that were deadly in space kept running through his mind. But the cold pain of space had been slowly replaced by warmth and softness. He let out a soft groan and shifted his position on the cot as he slowly, shakily let in a breath, fearing the effects of breathing in the vacuum of space. But air, sweet air greeted his lungs. He slowly went back to breathing normally and taking regular, steady breaths as he began to awaken again. Slowly, his eyes opened, again fearful that he would expose them to space and that the fluid in his eyes would crystallize from the temperature. At first, the light was too bright for him to see clearly and his vision blurred, but his vision returned to normal quickly and he started to take in the sight of the women around him.

There was only one thought that ran through his head, that his fatigue struggled to vocalize. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

 

[Wingshadow]

The black-feathered woman gasped and jumped back when she realized he had, indeed, opened his eyes. She seemed to be at a complete loss for words, her mouth opening and closing without any sounds coming out.

"No, of course not, beautiful," the winged woman let out a hearty laugh, "You are 100% alive and well... I had to do some pretty complex processes to get you up and running again, but you should feel as fit as a fiddle."

The flower woman merely relaxed against the side of the curved petals and watched the scene before her unfold, unable to leave but feeling quite detached from the entire situation. She wanted to sleep, after all, and these people kept crowding into her room and making use of her healing abilities.

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe found he wasn't even sore or in any kind of pain. He wasn't even tired. "I...I see." He looked around the room slowly and took note of the murals on the roof. He looked at the women and, seemingly for the first time, actually noticed them. "Umm...who are you? And where am I?" He looked around at them once more, not sure if their words that he was alive were true or not. He swallowed deeply, wondering if he might not wish he were dead before long.

 

[Wingshadow]

"You are currently aboard the city-ship Mamono where different races of monster-kind have come together to form a closely-kit community in which we live and are self-sufficient in terms of resources. We scour the universe, seeking to find new life and mates, which we are unable to procure by normal means. You see, our offspring are almost exclusively female, so that is something of a problem for us," the winged woman replied with a smile, "Garnet the Tengu, here, found you drifting in space and quickly brought you aboard for myself and my assistant Plum the Alrune to save and care for."

Plum, the plant-girl as it turns out, merely nodded to Rafe as if to confirm what the winged woman has said was true. Garnet, the black-feathered woman, still seemed to be in shock. Her cheeks reddened and she looked away, apparently deciding against adding to her companion's story.

"See? She even seems to have taken a liking to you," the well-endowed woman laughed, "My name is Julia, by the way, and I'm a succubus. Pleased to meet you, human."

She bent down and grinned at him (giving him a good opportunity to stare at her cleavage) as if expecting him to thank her profusely for saving his life.

 

[runawayninja]

Tengu? Succubus? He only remembered such things from old Earth legends. Maybe they were only translating this in such a way for his benefit. "Alright...well..." He looked at them once more, staring briefly at the succubus' cleavage and turning a bit red at the sight of her ample breasts. "Well...I'm very, very grateful. I...remember the emptiness of space and the pain...but..." He looked down at his body. "What about the radiation? I could die easily from that alone...not to mention the bubbles in my bodily fluids..."

He paused for a moment, staring at them. "Mates? Then..." He narrowed his eyes. "Am I to be a slave now?"

 

[Wingshadow]

"Well, I had to do some alterations to your body to ensure your survival," Julia stood back upright and paced about the room a bit, "For that reason, you probably wouldn't survive long on your own without regular check-ups over the next few months. Its also entirely possible that you may never be able to leave this ship. Don't worry, though, since you are still perfectly fertile. I made sure that part was still in perfect condition."

Julia laughed again before answering his question, "Oh no, I won't force you to do anything, unless you want me to. I can't promise the others will feel the same way, though. We won't coerce you to work for us, since you are our savior after all. It just makes you all that much more desirable for a mate. By mate, I mean in the conventional sense in that the pair copulates together, I didn't mean slave, you silly thing."

"You were the one who freed us from those awful invaders, were you not?" Plum spoke up, slightly intrigued by his reactions and leaning slightly forward to get a better look at him.

 

[runawayninja]

"I...can't go back to Earth." He looked down at the ground thoughtfully for a long moment. "Well...I suppose this is better than death. I am very grateful to all of you for still being alive. If you need me to be a mate, I suppose it's the least I can do for saving my life."

"Freed you?" He looked down and then at Plum. "You mean from the Hadreon?" The Hadreon were the aliens that had invaded Earth space, a strange mix of technology and biology. He looked at Plum and slowly got up, walking closer to her. "I've...never seen anything like any of you. A humanoid plant..."

 

[Wingshadow]

"I think I will take you up on that offer," Julia smiled, her body language significantly more seductive than before, "You see, its been a while since I last had a proper mate."

She scooted a bit closer to him and carefully watched his movements, like a predator stalking potential prey. It was a bit unnerving, as she had quite an imposing presence. The other two simply ignored her, apparently used to this behavior, but it was clear to everyone in the room that she could have simply taken him there and then if she wished... She was merely toying with him, or trying to respect his wishes, it seemed.

"You have seriously never seen one of my kind before?" Plum blinked, "I'm surprised... The Hadreon certainly knew of us. They would often take us and use us for study purposes... Quite disgusting, I know."

Plum looked away in a slightly shy manner, perhaps worried that he would feel pity her if he heard the whole story of her kind's terrible fate at the hands of the Hadreon.

 

[runawayninja]

He shook his head. "Humans are the only of our kind when we're gone. And I'm sorry to hear that, a creature as wondrous as a sentient plant deserves the utmost respect..." But before he could complement her further, he heard the Succubus' offer. "Umm...right now? Here? In front of everyone else?" She seemed pretty horny and insistent.

 

[Wingshadow]

"Quite the smooth talker, aren't you?" Plum smiled, "That's the first time anyone's said that to me before... Perhaps I should stand up for myself a bit more in the future."

"Don't let it get to your head," Garnet finally spoke up, nudging the Alrune slightly, "He owes me too for bringing him in, but lets not fight over him right now. The poor fellow probably still doesn't fully understand the situation."

"Oh, so you want me to take you right here and now, then?" the succubus took his words as an offer rather than a question, "You are quite the adventurous one... I don't mind if the others watch."

She walked over to him and hugged him, pressing her bountiful chest pressing into his as her arms latched onto his sides and held him firmly. She rubbed her cheek against him, letting him feel her warm, soft body. Her tail wrapped around his waist as if to claim him as her own...

"Hey, listen to me," Garnet smacked Julia, who seemed to completely ignore the Tengu's presence, "Get your claws off him!"

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe watched the girls begin to bicker. He stared for a moment before he slowly pried himself from Julia's grasp. "I think that would be a good idea..." He said to Garnet. "Thank you, I would like to know more about this place before I just...dive it and start mating." He looked at Julia and chuckled nervously. "I think...I need to be careful here. Are there some of...what is your kind called collectively? And are there some that won't...take no for an answer?"

 

[Wingshadow]

"Oh, and I was so close, too," Julia pouted and looked away, pretending to be deeply hurt by his "rejection" when in actuality she was just amusing herself, knowing full well that they would have plenty of time later, "You are always spoiling my fun, Garnet."

"Indeed..." Garnet sighed, "We are collectively known as Monster Girls or Mamono, as we call ourselves in our native tongue. Some of our kindred would gladly take your seed even if you protested, some might even preferring it if you protest. I would be careful about wandering about the ship without escorts. Most of them should leave you alone if you are with Julia... I think that it might actually be more out of self-preservation than genuine respect, however. Most of us are good natured enough, though, so don't assume we are all just a bunch of sex-crazed maniacs."

"You can stay here with me at night if you like," Plum suggested, "Unless we have patients to treat no one usually comes in here, and I can make sure you get a good night's sleep. Plus, I can give you your check-up exams at the same time."

"Just make sure you two actually get some sleep," Garnet rolled her eyes.

"Would you like a tour of the ship?" Julia hugged him again, albeit with a bit less lust and more genuine excitement.

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe wasn't sure how to take this. He wasn't used to all of this attention. "I...suppose so. I think that might be a good idea, but I doubt I can see it all. My name is Rafe, by the way, if that matters much..." He looked at Garnet who seemed to be the most focused and the most informative. "What....exactly did you do to my body that I can't leave this environment? How...badly was I hurt?"

He looked at Plum thoughtfully and nodded to her. "I thank you for the compassion, it is much appreciated." He gave her a warm smile.

 

[Wingshadow]

"I really wouldn't know," Garnet shrugged, "You looked in pretty bad shape and you were in recovery for nearly three months. Plum here had to feed you and care for you constantly throughout the night, which is why she's so sleep depraved... Among other reasons."

"Well, for one thing I had to reconstruct your circulatory system and regrow some of your damaged tissues," the succubus answered, "Your lungs are a quite a bit more delicate than before, only being able to breathe this current atmosphere at the time being. I might be able to strengthen them in time, but for now if you would try to go back to earth your lungs would collapse. The air pressure there is simply too low."

Plum silently nodded to Rafe, "Its a pleasure to meet you, Rafe. Your company is all I could ever wish for as compensation for my trouble."

"Well, aren't you altruistic?" Garnet huffed, "If I hadn't gotten to you faster, you probably would have died. I'm surprised you were able to recover as quickly as you did. I figured you might be unconscious for another year at least."

"You are still so doubtful of my abilities..." Julia pretended to be hurt by her words, curling up into a ball on the floor as her wings wrapped around her, "Why are you my friend? You are so mean to me..."

"Cut the crap-" Garnet snapped.

"So, lets get started on that tour, shall we?" Julia jumped up and captured Rafe's arm in hers and pulled him toward the hallway leading to the main part of the ship, "It will only take a little while, then we can get to the important stuff..."

"Your true intentions just keep slipping out, don't they?" Garnet sighed and followed after them after waving goodbye to Plum.

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe looked at Garnet like he were about to be dragged away by a spider. "I thank you, Garnet, for coming with us." He could see that she was trying to prevent Julia from molesting him any more than she had. Rafe felt lost and confused and while the offer to just mate with a lovely young woman with huge bountiful breasts was very appealing, he wanted to just get some bearings first. If he dove into something he didn't understand too soon, he might just get into a very bad situation.

 

[Wingshadow]

"This is the central gardens, where we plant and harvest the vast majority of our produce needs," Julia declared enthusiastically as she pointed toward the scene that lay before them. Tall winding staircases reached from the very top to the bottom of the huge ship, spiraling out of view in both directions. They crossed through transparent floors which each held acres of crops. Small figures tended to the long rows of plants, with a few Alrune's who stood around the edges of some of the fields.

Julia then took them over to one of the mass transit vehicles, which resembled a short hover-train with what appeared to be a spider-woman at the controls. She nodded to them and opened the doors, revealing a rather packed interior filled with various sorts of creatures.

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe looked about at the fields in wonder. He hadn't seen such a huge ship before, even several of the Behemoth Class Battleships from Earth could fit into here alone. "This is...so big! I've never seen anything like it..." He slowly followed them and then gulped once they entered the train. He was looking at the various women and the interesting and varied types they came in. He stared at each of them and wondered what they were thinking about him. "There are...so many different types...my people come in different colors, but that's about it." He started thinking about the possibility that their DNA was far more mutable, but it was quickly drowned away by all the exposed flesh.

 

[Wingshadow]

"You aren't thinking anything strange, are you?" Garnet's eyes slightly narrowed, "We aren't all related, you know... Only the subspecies are. I have absolutely no relation to Succubus, for example, although I am related to Harpies, Black Harpies, and Sirens. We each have different personalities and preferences, however, so its not like we are too similar."

"This is the central hub station, where we can travel on the express line to either the front, the back, or the residential areas of the ship," Julia explained as the train stopped at a larger station, and many of the monster women stepped off, "From here I think we should head to the recreation area. It has wide public baths and saunas, and its one of my favorite places to let loose and relax... Say, wanna take a bath with me?"

"You just don't quit, do you?" Garnet rolled her eyes, "Come on, we can drop her off at the recreational center after we are done with the tour. We should head over to the flight deck and the waste management plant. I personally find those two highly educational as they are essential."

"The flight deck just has a lot of your cousins running around pushing buttons. Sure, its flashy and all, but its hardly worth our time since it gets boring after a while. The waste management plant isn't much better... It just has a bunch of slime girls oozing around cleaning the sewers and taking mud baths. Besides, it stinks down there, too," Julia moaned.

"That's due to the scent of the micro-organisms that feed off the waste, it has nothing to do with the lack of cleanliness of the actual facility. I know for a fact that the slime girls take very good care of that place," Garnet huffed.

"Whatever... So, where do you wanna go, beautiful?" Julia turned to Rafe.

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe smiled at Garnet. "Actually, I would like to know more about how your ship works. I haven't seen anything like this before, it dwarfs the biggest ships on Earth, we don't even have buildings this large. All of Earth's pilots have to know a lot of astrophysics and engineering, so I am really interested to know how a vessel this large gets by..."

He looked at Julia. He didn't want her to feel bad. "But after the tour...well floating around in space leaves you feeling kinda skunky..."

 

[Wingshadow]

"I'm only one of the co-pilots," Garnet admitted, "I hardly know all the knowledge and technological specifics that were put into our beloved home's construction. I merely know how to manage and fly it. Due to its large size, fast maneuvers are all but impossible, so we rely on our support craft to provide landing teams while we have to hold stable flight patterns far from the gravitational pull of the planets and stars."

She shook her head and began to lead them toward the transport that would take them up to the primary control bridge.

"It was constructed by our finest minds and builders over a period of two hundred years, piece by piece brought up to be pieced together while in space. It was our only choice, as our males began to die off at a steady rate of one percent every twenty years. If we wished to prevent our eventual extinction, we had to live in space, forever wandering, forever searching for proper mates with which to continue our race," Garnet sighed, "come... Behold the main bridge!"

She pressed in the combination for the doors to unlock, which peeled back almost instantly upon confirmation. The bridge had a wide front screen which wrapped around nearly 360 degrees, showing all sides of the ship. Dozens, if not hundreds, of technical officers sat at desks monitoring the vitals of the ship and coordinated with each other in shifts to keep everything moving smoothly and keep themselves fresh and alert. Above them was a balcony where the main pilots sat, all variations of Harpies, who were cautiously looking over the trajectory of their current flight path. One of them turned and saw Garnet, nodding to her.

"Its my turn to take my shift, so if you would excuse me," Garnet gave them a polite bow before taking the pilot's seat, "Feel free to head down to the recreation area if you wish, I'm sure you would like a nice long soak."

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe smiled and nodded, bowing politely to her. "Thank you Garnet, I really appreciate your compassion...I owe you more than I can repay." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek softly before he left the flight deck. Solo now, he did head for the transport to the recreation area, or at least, what he thought was that. He felt a little nervous since he was by himself now.

 

[Wingshadow]

"Hey, sexy," Julia appeared beside him and clamped down on his arm again, "Come on, let me show you around the springs"

She led him along to an elevator shaft, pressing in a combination to bring them to one of the lower floors. Pleasing music began to play in the background, making the situation just that much more awkward before reading their floor.

"So, have you ever been to a public bath before? I should warn you, we don't have gender-segregated baths," she grinned, "Come in with me, won't you? I promise I'll be nice."

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe blinked and stared at her, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. He let her lead him and laughed nervously. "Be gentle now..."

He looked at her and nodded. "I have...in a manner of speaking. In the Space Forces, we didn't have private showers when I was in training. Officers like me do when they're commissioned, but in basic I had to shower with other men and women. It wasn't too awkward, mostly just joking...but...all women? This'll be new for me."