Octopodded Ch. 02

Rosanna sat in the bushes with a group of podded humanoids, blinking in the light of the afternoon sun. It was hard to credit, but it had only been a few hours since her initial capture. Mistress worked quickly, preparing for the landing party.

The area outside the cave was quiet, long stalks of the soporific flowers filling the under canopy. Above, the waving branches of tall evergreens filtered the light trickling down to her sister slaves.

Rosanna was situated on an outcropping above and to the side of the entrance to the cave, giving them an excellent view of the clearing below. An earthen ramp wrapped around the side, a grass strip leading from the top of the cliff to the small clearing. Everything was quiet but for branches waving in the wind.

She looked down, admiring the contours of the octopus creature sitting on her pussy. It was wrapped around her waist beneath her swollen belly, watching her with animalistic devotion. It had climbed onto her body as she had left the cafeteria cave, settling into position with a wet slap. She didn't question its presence; this, too, was the will of her Mistress.

Running a hand over its bulbous head, she moaned as it stroked its rough tongue over her pussy. She thought about how the one on her head was doing the same to her brain, treating her like a pet. *Good thought* She wanted to stand here and think about her slavery all day, *bad thought*, but she needed to be ready to follow her Mistress' commands. *Good thought*

She focused as her comm chirped. She wasn't wearing her utility belt, but that didn't matter. One of the octopus arms dangling on her shoulder was helpfully curled around the small device. She retrieved the device in the palm of her hand, lacking the fine control necessary to manipulate it with her arms. As she acclimated to her new position, she was certain that with practice she would learn to use these new appendages as if they were her own. *Good thought*

"Rosanna here," she said, careful to leave out any hint of her arousal.

"This is Abbott," came a prim voice. "We have landed near your position. Please give us directions." His tone was clipped.

Rosanna rolled her eyes. Abbott Prosser was an idiot. A well connected idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. She wondered why he had been assigned to lead the expedition, as his only achievement was failing upward to first lieutenant. Even that much power was more than enough to go to his head. She had been ordered around by him like a peasant more than once.

She curved her lips, viciously pleased at what Mistress would do to him. All she needed to do was set the hook and lead him into the trap. She glanced at the comm's readout.

"Direct your path to grid coordinates 543841. You're looking for a small clearing butted up against a small cliff face. Watch for the cave opening, and group up. It's easy to get lost in the forest. Rosanna, out."

"Abbott received," he replied, voice dripping with condescension. "We should be there within minutes, if your directions are sufficient. Out."

Rosanna curled her lips in a snarl. The backhanded insult was an unfortunate pleasure of dealing with the supercilious bastard. Never mind, it wouldn't be her problem for long. A sudden realization hit her. This wasn't her problem at all. Mistress would solve the problem for her. *Good thought*

She stroked her fingers over the Octopus on her waist, taking comfort from its rubbery presence. Ten other podded humanoids crouched all around her, hiding in the long grass that grew at the cliff face. The clearing below was only about ten feet down, not a long drop. She imagined jumping from the top, landing in the circle of green grass as if it was a bed of down feathers.

Her imagination was being silly again. She shook her head, narrowing her eyes. There, against the far edge of the clearing, she could see motion. Was that the landing party? If she had her full complement of equipment, she could have used her spotting scope, but most of her usual gear was hidden somewhere in the cave. Mistress must not think she needed it to accomplish this task. *Good thought*

Her initial intuition was correct. The waving fronds of vegetation soon resolved into a line of heavily armed crew members, scanning back and forth as if they were in a hostile environment.

Damn, they were being overly cautious for what this mission should entail. The spearhead of the unit was led by a woman, who stopped in the middle of the clearing and held one hand up in a fist. The rest of her people spread out behind, forming a circle of troops that watched their surroundings warily.

Abbott wasn't with this bunch. She hadn't expected him to lead the party, but she certainly had thought he would be close behind. She couldn't have missed him. His thin, gaunt frame would be unmistakable. Where was the rest of their party?

The lead soldier raised a hand to her helmet, popping the visor open and waving her hand. The other soldiers followed suit, the red lights around their neck lines making them look like armored beetles.

"We're here!" Sally declared in a commanding voice. "Rosanna, where are you?"

Rosanna froze, not sure what she should do. Leading this unit was her friend Sally, the security chief, not that bozo Abbot. Sally was no push over, and could beat Rosanna's butt twice over without breaking a sweat. She had never won a tennis match against the chief.

If she gave away her position now, without knowing where the rest of the landing party was holed up, Mistress might not be able to capture them all in one fell swoop. If anybody was able to get away and warn the ship above, they were all as good as dead.

Indecision kept her frozen, unable to move a muscle. If she did nothing, this would all be over. Her pulse raced.

The tentacle in her brain shifted, spearing her core. She could feel her body straightening. She waved an arm, her lips moving, not under her control. "Hello, the party!"

Sally blinked, looking up at Rosanna's position with surprise. The sun beamed from behind her head, making it hard for them to see her clearly. Still, it was impossible to hide that she was completely nude, and it wouldn't take much longer for them to realize that she had an octopus sitting on her head.

"Mistress welcomes you to Antasia," she declared, not bothering to hide her strange condition.

It was mighty bold of Mistress to take a direct approach. She must be confident of success. *Good thought*

Everything happened all at once. The tall flowers surrounding the soldiers leaned over, expelling their spores into the air, a yellow cloud suffusing the area. "It's a trap!" declared Sally, pressing against her neckline to snap her helmet back on.

Some of the others on her squad weren't quite as lucky, the soporific effect seizing their autonomic nervous systems before they had a chance to react. At least half of them succumbed to the flowers, but that still left five more to deal with.

The soldiers snapped up their rifles into firing position, but Rosanna had dropped into a crouch, leaving them no target to attack. What else were they going to shoot, a bunch of flowers?

They turned around in circles, looking for an enemy. It didn't take long for them to find one. Podded humanoids ambushed them from all sides, a swarm of naked bodies rushing them in silence. They tackled two of the soldiers before they could got off a shot, octopus arms ripping at their helmets.

Rosanna stood at the command of her Mistress, the others around her doing so as well. A singular goal glowed in her head. This party must be captured, for Mistress. *Good thought*

She began to run, legs pumping down the grass ramp. Her brain noted flashes of red light, blistering beams of light firing wildly. The other podded humanoids ran with her, but she only vaguely registered their presence. She had eyes only for Sally, who by now had regained her composure and was blasting her attackers with stunning beams of energy from her rifle.

Many of the attackers fell, tumbling over themselves as they dropped to the forest floor. Splashes of red in the green grass, octopus arms twirling wildly.

Despite the ferocity and increasing accuracy of their fire, there were far too many attackers for them to handle. It was obvious to Rosanna that they were quickly becoming overrun.

Sally shouted, audible over the silent assault of the podded humanoids. "Go lethal! Go lethal! Go, go, go!"

The hum of the energy weapons increased in tenor, actinic blasts of red light lancing through some of the podded attackers. Blood arced through the air as shots slammed home.

The bloodshed spiked her anger. There was no reason to kill and destroy the servants of Mistress! This what was what Dry people always inevitably did. There could be no peace with the Dry, not as long as they killed indiscriminately.

She sprinted at full speed, hands curled into claws. Despite their lethality, the troopers were dropping, one by one. Hands grabbed at their weapons, yanking them from their hands and tossing them away. Octopus arms wrapped around their shoulders and heads, holding them in position as others worked to remove their helmets. One of them struggled, pulling a knife to slice at one of the arms wrapping around his neck.

Rosanna felt a sharp pain at her hip, a scorching burn impacting the octopus straddling her hips. It shrieked piteously, its tentacle writhing inside her. Far from pleasurable, its pain pierced her ears until she would do anything to make it stop.

Eyes wild, she spotted Sally lowering her rifle for another shot. She grabbed hold of the barrel, yanking it downwards. A shot blasted the ground, sending up chunks of dirt which speckled the front of her body. She slammed into Sally, throwing her off balance.

Two others joined her in an instant, holding Sally down. Tentacle arms slapped over the top of her helmet, suckers straining in an attempt to remove it.

Rosanna moved her hips over Sally, squeezing her thighs to hold her in place. She leaned forward, giving the security chief a good view of her breasts while she inspected her captive.

Sally's helmet was an interlocking design, meant for hard use on hostile planets. Tearing it off would be quite difficult without damaging it irreparably, but if you knew where the manual release was located, it was child's play. She ran one hand down the side of Sally's neck, stabbing down with her index finger.

The helmet popped off, removed by the pressure exerted by the octopus suckers, and was discarded. Sally's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Rosy? What the fuck is going on here?"

The tentacle of one of her octopus arms wrapped around Rosanna's right breast, giving it a light squeeze. "You are Dry. You cannot understand until you have been made Wet."

She smiled with pity as the octopus she wore as a belt relaxed its remaining arms, climbing onto Sally's chest. Three of its arms had been blown off, big gaping wounds oozing blue ichor. It left a trail of liquid behind as it pulled itself up her suit. Sally stared at the beautiful creature in disgust.

"First, you shall be made into a Tentacle. Understanding will come. In time, you will yearn to be podded. I cannot imagine living Dry. I wish to be podded more than I can say. Serving Her is the purest form of living."

She realized it was true. Somewhere along the way she had accepted her destiny and wished to embrace it. Being podded was more exciting than sex. Being Mistress' Tentacle was Purpose.

Sally cursed like the sailor she was, her jaw moving uselessly as the octopus maneuvered its way over her face. She tried to bite an arm as it flipped past, but its spongy surface survived the force without injury.

The two podded humanoids lifted up her shoulders, giving the octopus easier access to her head. It rotated into place, the injured arms making it tilt off balance. Its eye blinked slowly, red with distress. To counter the odd angle, the remaining arms wrapped around Sally's head, some of its suckers sticking onto her nose.

She didn't stop cursing until the octopus hammered down on her head. She turned white, her eyes rolling as it ate its way into her skull. Her body shook, once, twice, then was still. Her lips moved involuntarily.

She blinked, eyes suddenly more vividly blue than before. The tentacle had pierced her mind, making her Wet. Her new hat rolled its eye, the angry red coloration around the periphery fading. Implantation was complete. She was a Tentacle.

It was only now that the adrenaline was fading that she evaluated her own condition. She had gotten incredibly lucky. The octopus on her waist had acted like armor, absorbing most of the energy from the blast, leaving only a small, red mark on her right hip.

Her muscles ached from the short run, belly protesting from her adrenaline fueled movements. She stroked her chest, hoping that none of her precious cargo had been injured. She needed to birth more octopuses to spread her mistress' commands.

Sally was still being processed, her mouth working as the tentacle plugged itself into her mind. Now that the initial rush of the attack was over, Rosanna relaxed, sitting back and looking around the clearing. The other soldiers hadn't fared much better than Sally, their helmets removed, cute octopuses perched on their heads like hats.

In several cases the soldier's helmets had been destroyed. The podded people must have been unable to figure out where the manual release was located. She marveled at the twisted metal, impressed by how much strength their octopus friends possessed.

It hadn't gone smoothly for all of them, however. One unfortunate crew member's head had been crushed like a grape, nothing left but a wet, red hole in the top of an armored suit. She looked away, distressed by the waste. Death was Dry; only the living could be Wet.

She wondered about what was happening elsewhere. Abbott was still out there somewhere, and the landing party must have left a pilot behind on the shuttle for a quick escape, if necessary. If they found out what had happened here, the jig was up.

Sally stirred beneath her, blinking cerulean blue eyes. "I am Wet," she declared. "I am a Tentacle. Mistress commands me."

Satisfied that her friend was sufficiently under control, Rosanna stood up and gave her an arm. The surrounding podded humanoids stood back, waiting silently.

Rosanna got a good look at the octopus on Sally's head, surprised to see that the bloody stumps had sealed up. Looking closely, she could almost see the ends of tiny wiggling appendages in the center of the wounded areas. Their octopus friends had amazing regeneration properties! She marveled at her Mistress and what she was capable of. *Good thought*

Sally stood, staring straight ahead as the tentacle worked itself deeper into her mind. "I obey. Yes, others must be made Wet."

The other crew members were standing, too, all the remaining soldiers paired with a new octopus friend. The clearing belonged to her Mistress. Her mind worked, trying to figure out what else needed to be done to accomplish her Mistress' goals. Plenty of time had passed, enough that the rest of the landing party should have found out what was going on by now. Did they need to seek them out and implant octopuses on them as well?

Her feet began to move, turning her back towards the cave. She laughed, realizing that this was not on her shoulders. She didn't need to come up with a plan. Her Mistress was in control of them all.

She walked through the entrance, other podded people following her in a single line. From her previous stay, she knew the next side passage lead to the mating room, filled with octopus spawn. They marched past, heading down the far hall towards the strange little cafeteria.

The rest of the complex was a mystery to her, but she supposed that Mistress would reveal it to her as necessary for her duties. She was just a small Tentacle, part of a larger whole.

She stepped back into the cafeteria room, the beige tables providing a strange sort of familiarity. The room was empty, but they soon started to fill it up, lines of podded humanoids standing against the walls. Rosanna's feet carried her to the end of one of the tables and she turned around, facing the others as they piled in.

Sally stood next to her, gurgling with happiness. Her joining must be going well. The rest of the soldiers took the far table. She looked around, noting the lack of Regina or Brenda. Were they somewhere else, performing duties for Mistress?

A communicator beeped and she reached for the unit gripped by one of her octopus arms, but it wasn't hers. She tilted her head and looked at Sally as the woman raised her own unit to her lips.

The speaker crackled. "Captain Roger, calling expeditionary force. Expeditionary force, come in please."

Sally pressed the button, staring far off into the distance. Her lips moved, the rest of her face without expression. "Security Chief Sally here, what's going on, captain? Situation nominal on the ground here. The aliens are even trying to feed us some of their food."

A podded humanoid had retrieved a plate of fruits, serving a row of others who had sat down at the far table. Tentacles had voracious appetites; she was feeling rather hungry herself.

"It's the shuttle crew," replied the captain. "I can't reach them. Can you send a detachment to check up on them?"

"Aye aye, captain, I'll send Roberts now. I don't think we'll be here too long, the xenos look friendly."

"Good, tell the salvage crew to get back to work when they can extricate themselves safely. We still have a job to do here."

"Aye captain," replied Sally with clipped diction. "I will let them know. Sally out."

The communicator chirped as she cut the connection, dropping her arm to the side. She stood still, waiting for further commands from Mistress.

Motion came at the far wall, more podded humanoids marching into the chamber. She was pleasantly surprised to see that they were led by Regina, who appeared uninjured.

Following in the rear were faces she recognized. Yes, that was definitely Abbot and the rest of his crew. They must have been ambushed by Mistress and mated with octopus spawns before they could warn the captain.

A wise smile on her face, Regina walked up to her and clasped her arm. "This mission has been a complete success, thanks to your efforts. There is nobody else who remains Dry on this planet."

Rosanna burped, feeling the eggs sitting heavy in her belly. How long was gestation for octopus spawn? She was eager to experience a birthing. She ran her hands over her swollen belly. "I'm feeling so full," she moaned.

Regina pressed a hand over her belly button. "You are eager. This is good. However, it is not yet time. You must carry them for me a while longer. Our spawn will be necessary to assault the ship, and I lack sufficient room to house them all here."

She grinned. "I think you will like what comes next, however. Since the expedition leader has been captured, your voice is not necessary to convince the captain that everything is going well. You are ready to be podded."

She ran her hands down her own hips, highlighting her swollen belly. "This body is ready, too. Do you want to take the next step?"

Rosanna nodded, happy to be transformed by Mistress, ready to be turned into her perfect slave. Regina lifted a finger, turning to walk down the tunnel in the far side of the chamber. "Follow me," she said.

The tunnel had been dug out wide enough to fit a decent sized truck. The ground was smooth under Rosanna's feet, a transparent red coating covering the natural rock. The passage was dotted with a series of human sizes holes, leading to what appeared to be small alcoves. A dim blue glow came from each chamber, many of them filled with large, oblong eggs.