Chapter 7: Limitations

            Ginza arrived back at the barge at the appointed hour. She was leery of her general’s reaction to what she had to report. How would this new development be taken when it had never been anticipated? Would it jeopardize the whole mission? Or prove to be a small hurdle to the greater goal? She wouldn’t know unless Morgan had time to digest it. This time Ginza was the one who soul projected into Morgan’s holding cell. There was no fear in being detected by the Spryten alarms since it produced no particles or thermal reads.

            Once inside it was not hard to find her leader. However, upon seeing her general suspended from the hold ceiling her cackles rose slightly. Morgan had always teased her two commanding officers about their friendly rivalry of vying for her affections. It was no wonder since Ginz and Vollo shared the same taste in women. Unbeknownst to the general was just how deep Ginz’s love went for her. Morgan had always made it clear that her preference was more for the gents than the ladies, but she never chastised too harshly Ginz for her little flirtations. She simply played along and drew the lines where necessary.

“General,” she called out, concern rimming her voice. “Are you alright?”

Morgan’s eyes flashed open to look at her second in command. “I’m fine,” she assured her then teased, “Get that puppy dog concern out of your eye, soldier. What’ve you learned?”

Reigning in her concern, she immediately went into her report. “It seems the base has some distressing news for us that may make this recon a bit difficult. Sources on the inside say that the Sprytens are developing a technology that could combat our powers. It seems their strategists have had suspicions surrounding our ‘special abilities’, but have had no proof until recently. Unfortunately, with each battle, their scientists have been dissecting the bodies of our dead soldiers to breakdown our anatomy to see what they could learn. It is believed they have discovered the coding that gives us the kinetic energy, but not enough to harness in themselves. The best they have been able to do is figure out how to combat it. They’re doing this by capturing civilian Messians – some as young as infants – and testing some of this new technology on them. The source reports there may be a slave colony of Messians located just south of the main palace.”

“Fucking bastards,” Morgan swore coldly thinking of the children. “Did the source say what the technology is or its effect on us?”

“Only what we’ve experienced thus far,” Ginza elaborated. “The jolts, the unconscious states, etc. Oh, and a form of suspended animation that jams out our abilities to communicate to one another.”

Morgan grew pensive. It was not a total disaster. As much as she could gather, the Sprytens seemed to only employ these tactics on the battlefield and in their prison camps. When she had been alone in the hold she was capable of all her powers as was Ginza now. Somehow they needed to get in and destroy the technology or use a higher frequency of power to combat it, which would wipe out a good portion of their troop force. What didn’t make sense in all of this was that Cenzo did not seem aware of any new technology. He had been just as surprised by the neuro wave as she was when they had met on the battlefield early that morn. She put that thought aside for later and recalled her other concern.

“Did they have a read on our soldiers?” she asked.

Ginz winced at the question she knew was coming, “They can’t get a read either. Kevlar is doing his best to break the coding on the neuro-scramblers, but he says it may take hours, a full day even.”

“Tell him to work on it,” she ordered. “Get word to the inside source that I’ll need an audience as soon as I land.”

“Won’t that be risky?” Ginz demanded. “You’re asking the source to reveal themselves to you.”

“The station they hold allows access to prisoners,” Morgan assured her. “Don’t fret.”

Ginz nodded assured. The concern popped back into her eyes again as she studied her leader. “Do you need anything? Weapons? Food? A shirt?” she joked, hoping to lighten the situation.

“You know the last is not necessary,” Morgan grinned.

“How many times were you asked that one?” she asked.

“Let’s see, damn near every soldier,” the general guffawed. “You swear they had never seen a pair of breast in their lives. I’ve never been so visually raped in my life. I wonder how they would react to know most of our soldiers (men and woman, alike) train sans tops in the oppressive summer heat.”

“Probably leave their posts and join up with us,” Ginz joked.

“Ha, that’s until they come across your kind,” she teased.

“What you mean, my kind,” she pouted, taking the bait and knowing exactly what she meant.

“The kind that licks carpet not poles,” Morgan threw back unabashedly.

“Unh-unh, I likes’em bare,” she corrected. “You know that.”

Morgan rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Look, it may not be safe for you to be caught on the barge. They may have figured out a trace on soul projection. We can’t be too careful. Go ahead to the palace and see if you can find any potential escape routes as well as the layout: number guards, number of weapons, alarms etc.”

“On it,” Ginz confirmed, seeping away. “Be strong, general. I’m sure Vollo and the others are safe.”

“We could only pray,” Morgan agreed, not convinced; her thoughts traveling to her missing troops.

At that moment, the ten remaining Imperial Elite hung in suspended animation within the bowels of the barge. Vollo was trapped in his head trying desperately to free himself. He had been trying to dissect the technology that held him locked in place. The animation offered little movement, which proved difficult in his efforts. If one were to push the limits of the bonds they were immediately treated to a punishing jolt. He had witnessed with helpless terror as Shogun, the strongest of the men, shock himself unconscious trying to break his ties. This was in response to one of the Spryten soldiers’ discovery of a female body among their ranks.

The scene still sickened him as he and the rest of the crew were forced to watch the soldiers tear into Delta, one of the Elite’s top soldiers, like a pack of ravenous wolves to a wounded sheep. Her uniform had been disrespectfully torn in strategic places, bearing only her small breasts, pert derriere and lower midsection. With help from the neuro-holder, which kept her still and pliant, as many as three Spryten soldiers had their violent way with her. One force fed her his rather pathetic cock, while the others had taken on the other orifices with twisted delight; thrusting and pumping into her without restraint or care.

Fists had rained down on Delta’s beautiful face and body with menacing forces, leaving marks and bruises in their wake. It had been easy for them to identify her feminine curves from the line up. As a soldier, she was built like the stealthiest ninja warrior, with toned muscles and lithe legs, which were, now, contorted to convenience the Spryten rapists as they pummeled her; laughing as they did. Her nose appeared to be a running faucet of blood and mucus. Her eyes were open, but blackened by their repeated punches. Her once bowed lips were swollen to twice their size and twisted harshly out of shape, covered in a nauseating drool of bodily juices.

Vollo had lost track of all semblance of time and space. The stench of fresh semen muddled with bloody tears coming from Delta choked his burning throat. Once that group had had their fill of her, another set of three took their place, repeating the torture. By now, Delta could not even be conscious to this onslaught. Fucking monsters! As the carnage ensued, his gaze had fallen to Ava, who sat diagonal to him. She had yet to be discovered, but the fear in her eyes was palpable. She knew it was only a matter of time before these beasts did the same to her. She had been spared for the moment, because her great build made her ambiguous to the Sprytens, but as soon as they searched her…

Vollo gained her attention and with his eyes, willing her to look away from the sight. Only Shogun’s grunts and growls of dissatisfaction and pain could be heard as he tried desperately to save Delta, in vain. Since their discovery of Delta, he had tried to break his bonds. Vollo had known it was pointless to try, but the large man was willing to risk his life in his attempt. Shogun was a seven foot monster of the battlefield. Fully armed Sprytens cowered in fear when they’d seen him barreling down on them. His long unkempt dreadlocks, which surrounded his crown like a lion’s mane, hung back like a mantle, covering his bulging and ripped muscles. His large thighs and calves tore up the ground like a tractor in full till. He was an even more impressive sight when he sported his large, electrified axe that hacked and cleaved flesh from bone in one swing.

Despite his nightmarish visage, he was the gentlest among them. His main concern was always for the welfare of his fellow soldiers. He was the first to charge into battle and the last to leave the field. A commendable trait, but one that was doing them no good use now. He merely rattled and shook in his bonds taking each shock as it came. It was sad and disheartening to watch. Vollo understood his friend’s desire to help, but knew their current limitations. Their bonds only allowed their eyes to move and despite looking away from the scene, the soldiers’ lascivious comments crammed into his ear like hungry leeches.

“Whoa, this one’s got quite a mouth. Look how much she can take.”

“This ass is pretty nice, too. So tight.”

“Oh yeah, we need to keep this one for a bit.”

Hold on, Delta, Vollo said more for himself then her since he was unsure she could hear his assurances. As soon as we can, we will wipe the face of the earth with them. I promise.

It was a hollow promise since he wasn’t sure what lay before them at their final destination. If this was what would happen on the barge, what lay waiting for them in the palace dungeons? Vollo feared only the worse. His one hope lay with his general – wherever she was.