The Fall of Terra

A scene of intensely ordered chaos had layered itself over the bridge of the flagship, Immaculance. Commands and orders were barked in clipped, firm tones, underlaid by the soft humming of advanced machinery. A great-holo display dominated the centre of the room, which formed a kind of sunken pit centred on the command throne.

Maya watched; the cold metal bands which wrapped around her wrists and ankles felt hard against her naked skin. The steel frame rose up from behind her and held her in a firm, crushing grip. She was bound to it; locked in place, displayed like a captive should be.

The messy hair tumbled down her face and her body glinted with sweat as she writhed against her bonds. A metal rod rose from the floor and buried itself in her pussy. The shaft was already wet and glinting with traces of her arousal. It throbbed rhythmically and her body clenched and relaxed about it in spiralling waves.

If this wasn't enough, the barbells which ran from her nipples and her clit had been hooked up to a nearby machine. Thin, snake-like wires ran between her across the metal floor and through them, she was bombarded by an electric current. Her nerves were raw. Her legs felt like jelly, shaking and trembling with every passing moment.

It had been hours now and she was having a hard time thinking. She was filled with sensation; the clenching of her muscles, the throbbing of her heart. The dryness of her throat and the aching vibration between her legs. She was breathing hard and fast, and every time she tried to tell herself that she'd reached the end of it, the pleasure would mount. The wave would rise. Higher and higher and higher.

How could her body feel like this? It wasn't fair! It wasn't right! And the worst part was? Despite the stimulation, the current that kissed and caressed her folds, the vibrations that churned her up from the inside, she still couldn't cum.

Her pussy was soaking. Dripping. Her labia were pink and swollen. Her knees buckled, and her hips ground shamelessly against the toy inside of her whether she wanted them to or not. But none of it mattered, The neuro-chip she had prevented it. It held her right on the edge and kept her twitching. She was naked, her tits out, her legs spread, bound and chained on an alien flagship and she couldn't even cum!

It sounded like a nightmare, but it had been her reality for weeks.

She was far from the only **** on the bridge. It was flooded with them. Many from species she didn't know, but far too many were also human. Men and women equally. Some were locked into frames like hers while others were bolted to the walls, iron bars twisted around their necks. Many were kneeling, sucking or worshipping their new owners.

Maya tried not to look at them. She tried not to let her vision linger on the faces she knew. On the people she'd called friends. Broken now. Naked, used. Slaves for the Xelluloid Empire. Just like she would one day be.

No! She bucked suddenly, fighting back against the thought even as a new wave of pleasure crested her body. I'm not going to break! I'll get out of this somehow!

They were good words. Truly, they were. But they felt empty. In the time she'd been here, Maya had seen almost every **** submit. Some fought hard and were brought down by punishment. Others surrendered quickly and even seemed to find a twisted joy in their new place.

Only a few like her continued to resist.

She rocked as a near-orgasm whispered through her nerves. Her eyes fluttered closed and her fists clenched. For a few fleeting seconds, it felt as if she was there! Like it would finally happen!

Then the implant whipped it all away again and she was left with an accruing emptiness. Maya leaned forward as far as the frame would allow. Her eyes were wild. If not for her bondage, she'd be writhing on the ground.

Nearby, another woman - who'd once been a cocky second in command and rival of hers - was on her knees worshipping an alien woman's pussy. The alien was massive; she seemed almost a third bigger than a human, with thick, grey-violet skin and bulging muscles. She wore an armband that marked her as internal security, but her weapon had been slung so she could enjoy her ****'s probing tongue.

The captive woman was crouching. One hand ran between her thighs, fingering herself furiously as she sucked and licked the other woman. Spasming jolted through her in time with her probing digits, and as she gave one final shudder, Maya jealous and ashamed in equal measure.

At least she was allowed to cum.

"That's what she gets for being a good ****," spoke Maya's owner. The captain and commander of the ship whom she knew only as Ashara. The alien leaned back, reclining in her command throne like the empress of her own private kingdom. To all practical purposes, that was exactly what she was. The fleet was hers and Maya was yet to see anyone with even a shred of her authority. As far as the slaves were concerned, Ashara was queen, goddess and mistress all in one.

"That's what you could have," she whispered. "If only you stopped resisting. Look at your friend cumming her brains out. Worshipping my chief of security. As she should. She'll be treated well. But you, little Maya, you're still refusing to see your new place."

Her name.

Ashara had used her name.

One thing Maya had learned early on was that slaves didn't often get to use a name at all. When they did, it was usually one given to them by their owners. Very few were the slaves who got to keep their old one. Maya was one of them, but she was sure it came from no place of virtue. Ashara loved to use it. To tease her with it. To show her the life she'd left behind.

"But you're not the type to surrender, are you?" Ashara asked with a tilt of the head. "You just have to fight and fight and fight. You make it so hard for everyone, you know? Most of your friends have already seen sense. But you just keep dragging it out."

She snaked one arm between Maya's restrained legs. Maya clenched against the cold metal, but there was no cover or salvation. Ashara lined her finger right up next to Maya's swollen, aching clit.

And then she flicked.

Maya screamed. The sound tore from her throat and she bucked wildly against her restraints! After hours of edging, her clit was sensitive and Ashara was far from gentle. She flicked a second time. Hard, fast, beating against Maya's anguished sex. The human soldier gave a ragged cry. Her eyes snapped open and her babbled words degenerated quickly to whimpers. Her legs shook and she thrashed in helpless arousal.

"There we go," Ashara said. "I like it when you dance. Take it as a reminder not to forget your place again."

Gasping, her chest heaving, Maya grit her teeth. Her lower body pounded and her pussy clenched. The vibrating wand filled her world with hazy pleasure and the sharp shock of pain reverberated through her clit.

Surrender, spoke the voice in her head. This will all be so much easier if you surrender.

Ashara's long fingers pressed into Maya's slit next. They felt her wetness, and the burning heat as they traced a gentle pattern back and forth. Maya bit her lower lips but couldn't stop the wanton sound which tumbled from her throat. This was wrong! Her body was being turned against her! It wasn't fair! She wasn't meant to feel like this!

She just wanted to cum…

Her right leg spasmed. Her left felt like jelly. Her nipples were hard, the electric buzz danced across her sensitive skin and the sound of her gasping was as ragged as she felt inside.

"I could get so much for you," Ashara leaned back into her throne. "I hope you know that. Human slaves are all the rage in the empire now. Oh, it'll calm down eventually, I'm sure. But you're new. For now, you're the most prized goods a fleet can bring back. You're female, good-looking. Young enough to be used. A former soldier too. That means you're tough and can take ****."

Ashara shook her head at the imagined fortune she was giving up just by keeping Maya to herself.

"But I like you. I like how you're fighting me. I can see it in your eyes. You don't want to submit. You don't want to break. Within the empire, it's taught that certain species are naturally slaves. Others are naturally masters. Yet more fall between."

She gestured with one hand towards the bridge.

"The worthy can stand as equal citizens. When it comes to you humans, it's not yet been decided exactly where you fall on the scale. You're going to help me find out."

Ashara was poised. Her body was lithe; graceful and refined. She had long, purple hair topped by a set of curling horns that crowned her with regal authority. Her eyes were sharp, feral and yet intelligent. Her skin was smooth and coloured a shade of dappled blue. As for clothes. Well, they were loosely fitting. A tunic that showed off her long legs and clung to her curves. A badge of authority was pinned to her front, while a belt was strung around her waist and a weapon was clipped to it. Ashara being a practical sort who was always prepared for trouble.

There was a set of buttons in the air of the command chair. They controlled much of the bridge, allowing Ashara to quickly interface with her officers when the need arose. But they also commanded the machine to which Maya was connected and so, when the former soldier saw Ashara press one finger down, she had a split second to brace.

It didn't help. The key clicked and Maya's body went crazy. Her nerves lit up all at once as the neural network and chip she'd been implanted with fired her senses. It **** them to roar to life, throttling her sensitivity upwards so fast that it tore a cry from her lips! Suddenly, the buzzing of the toy between her legs was agonizing and pleasurable! The kiss of the electricity across her extremities was like the kiss of a lover. Phantom hands caressed her body and rubbed her breasts and her nipples. She felt something hard pressed into her behind, while a ghosty mouth sucked her clitoris and an unseen cock penetrated her pussy.

It was a brutal way for Ashara to remind her that she controlled all of Maya's senses now. Locked in the frame, Maya experienced the world as if she were suddenly the centre of a gangbang. Her body dancing, her orgasm singing, raising, growing-

But never arriving.

She was still not allowed to cum.

She wanted to scream! She wanted to beg! She could only moan. Moan as her body was used. Moan as she was filled. Moan as her senses were twisted and turned against her and the electricity and the throbbing buzz of the vibrator only intensified the violation.

She was being fucked. Being used. Being toyed with and it wasn't even by people who really existed!

Maya's body bent; the pleasure came on in waves. Her chest rose and fell, and it felt like her skin was at once both too hot and too tight. Every nerve was screaming, every part of her that could be stimulated was lighting up. It was a barrage, a constant, overwhelming flood.

It lasted only for half a minute, but that time felt like an eternity. Eventually, the key clicked and Maya hung ragged in her frame. The ghostly echo of pleasure and denial spiralled through her like a drifting mist.

She throbbed. Her muscles clenched. The pleasure boiled between her legs and to distract herself, she cast her eyes towards the holo-display. A world was picked out there; glittering in the void of space like a polished gem.

Her world.

Earth.

The planetary defence web was in chaos. Certain, key segments were burning in space. The guns had fallen silent. The stars were filled with fire and debris; the floating corpses of gutted human ships drifted in morose stillness. Once molten metal had run like blood, but now it had been transformed, transfigured by the cold of space into a ghastly slag that rippled with a rainbow of morbid colours.

The wrecks listed lazily. Some still under power. They bled smoke and fire, belching and shaking as internal detonations ruptured them piece by piece. Others still fought. Grim and taciturn human ships, each one split off from the others. They were brave, heroic.

Doomed.

Ashara was a good commander. Looking at the map of the overall battle, Maya saw what she'd done. A single brutal strike to sever the command web of the orbital grid followed up by simultaneous strikes on the bigger orbital fortresses. The human fleet had rallied, but they'd never met the Xelluloid Empire before. They didn't know their technology. Xelluloid ships employed energy shields, and though the humans soon learned that they could punch through them with enough effort, the price of that knowledge was blood and ****.

By the time it was an equal fight, the human formation had been shattered. Ashara's elements had spread out, forcing the retreating Terran fleet to scatter. When they realised the true purpose - forcing them into a position where none could turn their guns in support of the others - it was already too late for most.

The battle, though not yet over, was certainly lost.

Now the survivors fought in grim determination. Mass drivers screamed and energy lances stitched through space to cut and probe and slice. It was some small consolation to Maya that it was not only human ships which had been destroyed. Ashara had suffered for her victory. Yet, Maya watched with a heavy heart; the horror of seeing her home world laid bare like this was enough to eclipse even the shame and humiliation of her bondage.

"Executrix!" Came a voice from the sensor pit. "Power signature detected! One of the human command ships is active!"

"What?" Ashara spun. In an instant, Maya was forgotten. "I ordered those ships destroyed."

"It was logged destroyed! We cored it! Two direct hits, one to each generator. It was dead in space!"

"Evidently not," Ashara growled. "Show it!"

The holo-display flickered. In an instant, the picture of the overall battle was replaced with the ragged visage of a ship. Maya recognised the stubborn, blunt outline of a titan-class heavy cruiser. Though, it had clearly seen better days. The superstructure was pierced, a single hole punched clean through the fore section of the ship while a long, jagged scar played across its side. It looked like someone had taken a knife and tried to bisect it like a fish. The spinal cannon - a signature of the class - was so much molten slag, and one of its three engines had failed to fire. A dozen minor wounds also marked its surface and through a few of the deeper ones, Maya saw dancing flames.

"How is that ship still alive?" Ashara demanded.

"I'm not sure, Executrix," the luckless sensor officer answered. "Human ships are rugged. Not as advanced, but commendably tough. It may just be sheer luck…We logged almost ten such ships in the defence fleet. This is the only one that remains functional."

"Even one is too much!" Ashara snapped. "Kill it. Burn it out of the space."

"We can't," a weapons officer growled. "The battle moved on. We have no ships in position. The Subtle Knife is nearest, but she reports she needs at least seven minutes to move into position for the kill."

Ashara's eyes narrowed. In void warfare, seven minutes was an eternity. Maya mused that someone's head would roll for this oversight.

"Human ship is transmitting!" Another officer called. "Dispatching orders to all ships still capable of hearing! They're going to abandon the planet."

The bridge crew gave a ragged cheer, but Ashara's face was grim and cold. Her eyes bore into the hologram, and after a few moments, she spoke with a heavy tone.

"No."

"Executrix?"

"I will not leave enemies at my back. Target and destroy the human ships."

"But we'll lose more of our own than if we just let them go. We defeated them easily this time-"

"I said wipe them out! We won easily this time because they didn't know how to handle our shields! If they learn, their next strike will be more effective. I will not allow that information to filter back to their colonies. Burn them."

"There are too many. They're pulling back! The enemy fleet is responding! We're killing them as fast as we can, but we won't get them all."

Silence filled the bridge and if looks could kill, the human fleet would have detonated then and there from the glare Ashara shot at the holo-display. It was clear even to Maya that some human ships would escape. Many were exploding; detonating in space as they tried to give cover to their peers. But more would get away. She realised with a surge of pride that some of them were sacrificing themselves. Moving into position to take blows or to shield their smaller kin from damage.

Mostly the ones who had suffered damage to their FTL engines.

**** before surrender.

"It's fine," Ashara said slowly, biting off each word. "The situation is salvageable. The information won't spread fast enough. Send word to kill as many as possible. Then prepare to move on the world."

"Executrix, are we not going to give our fleet time to rest and prepare? We own the orbit now. They can't hurt us. We should prepare and-"

"If the fleet were dead, we could prepare," Ashara snapped. "But now, we must act assuming every minute that they're building a counter attack to free their homeworld, and we must also assume that at least some of them will be able to defeat our shields. We move now. I want that planet captured and our own defences in place before they come at us again. Is that understood?"

The chastened officer gave a tight nod.

"Yes, Executrix. Your will be done."

"If my will was done, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. What of the command ship? What do we know of it?"

"It's pulling away. The Subtle Knife is on route, but estimates they won't arrive in time. It'll escape."

Ashara scowled.

"Do we have an ID on that ship?"

"Negative, Executrix. None of our intel covers specific ships. It's a Heavy Cruiser, but beyond that-"

"The Celestial."

Ashara turned again, regarding Maya now with a frown.

"What did you say?"

"The Celestial. It's the name of the ship," she glared up at her captor even as she hung ragged, her hair framed her face and her body glinted with sweat. "Under Captain Severian. Senior captain, slotted for admiral position but refused to give up command. Three citations for outstanding performance. I don't know how you managed it, but the one ship you let slip was the one you should have killed."

Ashara's face clouded with anger and Maya realised too late that she'd pushed too far. Seeing the Celestial fleeing had filled her with a kind of hope she had given up since her capture and she'd spoken before she could think better of it.

Ashara's jabbed down on the button again and Maya jerked! Her body twisted, and her cries filled the bridge. She shook in the throes of an orgasm she wasn't allowed to have, and as the denial stabbed through her - icy and sharp like a spear - she saw Ashara lean forward.

"That was a most unwise thing to say."