War of the Pussy Snatchers - Finale

"Not only are we of the Hive we are one with it," Katie explained. "A shared consciousness with individual components who can still think and act independently but always in service to the Hive. I have countless Hivesisters and I am also a Hivedaughter. I have two Hivemothers who are more important to me even than my biological mother. Our glorious Queen and her beautiful consort the Princess Cassandra are my real mothers now."

"Jeez, do you use those honorifics every time?" Derek joked. "That's quite a mouthful. Myself, I always called y'all the Pussy Snatchers."

When Katie stared at Derek with anger and confusion he felt compelled to defend himself by saying, "Because you, uh, snatch women and y'all like eating... well... you know."

"That-" Katie stated unequivocally, "-is the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard of. The Pussy Snatchers? Give me a break."

The two walked in silence a bit longer before Derek added weakly, "It's a reference to this old sci-fi movie..."

"I know it's a movie reference!" Katie snapped back.

"Alright then, Hivesisters it is," Derek agreed as he rolled his eyes at Katie's back.

"Stop rolling your eyes at me," Katie grumbled.

"Damn, you got eyes in the back of your head, girl?" Derek asked with shock and some embarrassment.

"Your tone said it all," Katie said cheekily as she turned back and gave him a delighted, full-toothed smile.

Hot damn, Derek thought. That smile could make a brother's heart stop.

Derek tried to do the right thing and not stare at Katie's butt as she walked ahead of him but those buns were so perky and bouncy in her tight pants that Derek found it impossible to look away. They walked another mile through the thickening forest until Katie pulled up short ahead of Derek.

"What is it?" Derek asked as he brandished his gun up to his shoulder with alarm at Katie's sudden and unexpected reaction and pointed it at the trees beyond their fixed point.

"The battle has started," Katie whispered. "My Sisters are dying. I thought they were just going to attack one of our fortifications but somehow they found our secret headquarters."

Katie side-eyed Derek suspiciously as Derek slung the strap of his rifle back over his shoulder and dropped the gun to his side. She sometimes forgot which side he had fought for.

As he held his hands up placidly Derek tried to defend himself, "Hey, don't blame me. I'm just a grunt in the HDF. Never schemed once in my entire life."

"I find that hard to believe," Katie replied derisively.

Derek ignored the snide comment and asked her, "How far away are we now?"

The African-American soldier had been wary of Katie's strange abilities at first but grew used to them over the last few days they spent together. The tactical advantages her powers provided had saved them from detection several times already.

"At least ten miles still,," Katie estimated, her voice strained with worry for her Sisters. "Through unfavorable terrain. We can be there by nightfall if we hurry."

"Damn that's a long trek," Derek huffed before adding concernedly, "The sun's already on the wrong end of the sky. Can't you call any other Soull... I mean other Hivesisters and see if they can come get us? Should have done that days ago really."

"You mean the other Pussy Snatchers?" Katie chided him with her mischievous, unforgettable smile.

"Ha ha ha, fuck you," Derek replied.

"Actually, I've been communicating with them this whole way ever since we arrived within range of the psy-extension towers," Katie admitted. "Sorry I didn't tell you. They had to know I was safe. I told them I needed more practice foraging and trekking on my own to progress with my training and they agreed to let me venture to the lair unaccompanied."

"Why would you do that?" Derek asked loudly in frustration at the knowledge that the several miles they'd walked these last few days could have been avoided. "We could have been there days ago! What were you thinking?"

Katie turned and looked at Derek intently until Derek got the message.

"You did it for me, didn't you?" Derek sighed with realization. "What would your Sisters have done if they found me with you?"

"They would have 'rescued' me," Katie answered simply. "Then they would have immediately executed you for crimes against womankind."

They both stood silently for a moment with the soft afternoon sunlight fading through pine needles above them until Katie added glumly, "How did everything get so fucked up?"

Derek considered thoughtfully for a moment before answering, "I think this conflict has been coming for a long time. I also think the methods of this war have become more brutal and unpredictable than either side expected."

"I agree. But you don't have to worry, Derek. I promise I'll keep you safe."

Derek nearly laughed out loud at this pretty little white girl assuring the protection of a large, battle-hardened soldier who had already fought in two foreign wars and now a civil war. He presumed she was joking him again but the look on her face was totally earnest. When they did run into the members of this so-called Hive maybe Katie's adorable sense of protectiveness for him wouldn't be such a poor thing to have.

"I'll keep you safe too, Katie," Derek promised quietly enough that Katie wouldn't hear the declaration.

The march of the onetime enemies continued without further incident excepting the disquieting sound of gunfire and artillery rounds that grew ever louder as Derek and Katie approached their destiny. They ducked their heads and took cover when a fighter jet swooped overhead with a screaming sonic boom left in its wake. The plane was so intent on its final destination that it passed over Derek and Katie without noting their presence.

That old and familiar sense of anticipation mixed with anxiety that Derek always experienced before the start of a battle slowly resurfaced. The nerves and shaking had lessened over time as Derek saw more intense combat but that vague sense of unease could never be entirely dismissed. He focused that anxious energy instead on his mental and physical preparation for the coming conflict.

This situation was too insane. In a few hours, Derek would actively participate in an armed insurrection against the military of his own country. That betrayal would never sit well with him but neither would murdering innocent women who'd done nothing wrong. Killing enemy soldiers in battle was one thing but he had an idea of what else the HDF had been up to in their labs and it sickened him.

Their journey stopped dead in its tracks when Katie dropped her weapon, grabbed her head and fell to her knees screaming at the top of her lungs. Derek trained his rifle in a semicircle facing the trees of the surrounding forest but a quick scan of their environment showed no present danger. Katie began howling in pain using an unearthly loud keening wail and Derek tried his best to quiet her.

"Katie, what is it?" Derek asked as calmly as he could manage with panic setting in. "Katie, someone is going to hear you if you don't stop screaming like that. Katie, please talk to me."

Derek reached out to grab Katie's shoulder and while she flinched away from his touch she did stop screaming. Her eyes looked hollow, even deader than the non-sentience Derek normally discerned within them. Katie's gaze darted about as if she detected enemies encroaching from every direction.

"Katie, what happened?"

"Our Great Mother," Katie sobbed as tears ran down her face. "Our Queen is dead. I can't feel my Sisters any more. It hurts, oh Goddess how it hurts. Everything has gone so terribly wrong. We were too late to help them, Derek."

Derek stood stoic and silent as he considered what their various options were at this point.

"So it's over then?" Derek asked carefully. "What's to stop you from walking away and leaving this war? Why don't you go back and live your life again? What is there left worth fighting for?"

Katie shook her head vehemently and had to take several deep, calming breaths before she could answer coherently and keep from becoming a blubbering, unintelligible mess. Bile rose from her esophagus and Katie had to lean over and vomit the meager contents of her stomach before she could respond to Derek.

"I can't feel them any longer but my Sisters are still there," Katie finally responded. Your army... they'll kill them all. I can't walk away knowing the only friends and family I still have in this world are in danger. You have no involvement with this, so do as you will Derek. But I'm going."

Katie's expression turned resolute despite sorrow and despair so evident that it pained Derek to see. Katie cocked her rifle and held it pointed in front of her as she made her way through the thick growth along the forest floor. The sun had nearly died in the west but the black of evening was cut through by the terrible rumble and brief flare of explosions illuminating the path to the east. Only a few miles away now. Night had fallen upon the world and before morning broke Katie expected she would die but not before taking as many enemies to the grave with her as she could.

"Katie, wait!" Derek shouted as he rushed to catch up with her. "I'm not letting you go alone!"

Katie whipped around in a huff of impatience. She felt dead on the inside and wanted to get on with the rest of her demise already.

"You do realize we have no chance, right?" Katie argued. "If you follow me you'll only be marching to your death. Why would you help me? This isn't your fight."

"B-b-because," Derek stammered, a nervous habit he thought he'd broken during his first year of active duty. "Because I like you, Katie. You promised to protect me. Do you know no one's ever promised me that before? Why can't I promise to protect you too?"

Katie stood there stunned by Derek's admission of affection for her and by his solid reassurance. The man kept finding ways to surprise her.

"I like you too, Derek," Katie finally admitted. "But are you certain you want to die helping some silly teenager who's playing dress-up and pretending to be a soldier?"

"I've been willing to die for far less worthy causes," Derek replied. "And you're more brave than any soldier I've ever served with."

Katie held out her hand to Derek and he took it. Her palms were sweaty and shaking with nervous tension. In contrast, Derek's hand felt as cold and strong as steel. He squeezed Katie's hand back as he stared into her strange yet beautiful eyes.

"You're with me then?" Katie asked grimly. "To the death?"

"To the death," Derek agreed.

~~~

Skern flinched backward as the skull of the young soldier next to him exploded into a shower of blood, bone fragment, and brain matter that splattered the Captain's face. Skern promised to provide cover to the private as he leaned around the corner of the hallway intersection but as soon as the enemy sighted him preparing to engage a strafing maneuver a responding barrage of gunfire discharged the youngster from his short military career.

"Motherfucker!" Skern growled as he used his elbow to wipe clean Pvt. Menendez's final thoughts from his cheek and forehead.

With an angried roar, the contingent assisting Skern in his assault pushed the headless corpse to the side and rushed around the corner to provided suppressing fire as Skern led the charge. More of his soldiers fell to the Soulless enemy's bullets but the sudden onrush put the defenders back on their heels and those who survived their counterattack retreated to the next intersection where they could rally around the segment of the building they still held.

The fighting had been deadly and close-quartered with lethal combat spilling from room-to-room until several casualties were incurred on both sides. Skern knew he possessed superior numbers and firepower. The casualties the HDF contingent suffered were numerous but through attrition his force slowly gained more and more territory within the base. It was only a matter of time now before they stamped out all resistance.

Skern admittedly presumed the infiltration would be a far quicker and easier endeavor than it turned out. The first Soulless women they came upon wouldn't fight even to save their lives. They sat broken and disengaged, apparently content with waiting to die. The attractive ones were captured and passed around to be used by the soldiers not currently engaged in combat. Some of the less desirable ones were still used in this way but most were put down with a quick tap to the back of the head from a soldier's handgun. No cleanup necessary, this building would be burnt to dust and then scorched from the earth entirely until all evidence of a Soulless occupation at the site was eradicated.

But just when victory appeared virtually certain a new group of women appeared out of nowhere racing to rescue and protect the Soulless who had been rendered helpless by their alien master's demise. These ones did not possess the training or fighting experience of Skern's army but they fought just as ferociously and knew the floorplan of the base perfectly. They used this knowledge judiciously, trapping hapless soldiers in corners and flanking contingents who wrongly assumed their rear was well-guarded. Skern's side was still winning but their side had suffered far more casualties than he would have liked.

A few times Skern sighted a young woman firing at his squad with deadly accuracy before grabbing catatonic Soulless women and dragging them to safety. The short, attractive Latina girl handled her rifle like a seasoned vet despite her youth and seemed to be leading this surging resistance. She had been lucky so far, escaping safely from several encounters that left her compatriots either dead or wounded. Her only injury was a visible limp that left her running hobbled like a coward. But that scurrying rat was running out of holes to hide within. If she were killed all the better but Skern preferred her to be taken alive.

After the Soulless invasion of their world and the revealing of the perverse sexual methods they employed for conquest Skern took a strict vow of celibacy. Now that their threat had been mitigated Skern had designs on the captured war leaders of the Soulless that tugged at his crotch even while in the midst of battle. Skern would make his officers hold that spic girl down while Skern used his prick to slowly break her before letting every single one of his soldiers take a turn with her. If she was a good fuck maybe Skern would keep her around for longer as his personal fucktoy. The thought of turning all the Soulless leaders into his own personal sex-slave harem had Skern popping a full raging hard-on while he rampaged throughout the base killing any woman who dared raise a firearm in his direction.

After another furious volley back and forth the Soulless band retreated further back again. This was a large compound but the boundaries controlled by the Soulless were shrinking rapidly. Skern ordered his men to take a breather before pursuing but not a moment later they were under attack yet again. This was the first time since the infiltration began that the Soulless took the offensive. What was it about this particular hallway that made it so important to hold?

More Soulless women and the HDF grunts opposing them met their demise as their warm blood sprayed new coats of red paint that covered the walls and floor of the narrow hallway. Skern was pleased to see through the haze of smoke and gunfire that the dark-haired girl whom he now considered his main adversary flew backward when she took a bullet through the shoulder. She slipped on the blood-slick floor getting back up to her feet but managed to right herself just in time for a retreat. She fired backward with her handgun during her flight and managed to shoot the soldier standing beside Skern right between the eyes. That lucky bitch had escaped them once again.

The few Soulless still left alive following the resolution of the skirmish were licking their wounds or dying in agony in the hallway they'd unsuccessfully assaulted. A few of Skern's officers traversed the hallway and used their rifles to help the gravely wounded along. They found one of the Soulless resistors had only suffered a superficial flesh wound and after pulling her shirt apart to see her goods and viewing her attractive face and blonde hair beneath her helmet two of the soldiers grinned at each other and dragged her away screaming.

"Haha, they won't be back after that!" one of Skern's officers shouted at him with a pleased grin plastered over his face. "I saw only four of them left and they're all hurt! We got 'em, sir!"

Skern kept his gun close at hand anyway as he carefully examined the hallway. A set of large steel doors were the only real feature of note. No lights showed through the crack beneath the doors. Skern tried turning one of the door handles but found it locked.

"What do you suppose is in there, Sergeant Jones?" Skern asked.

The soldier who'd just spoken exuberantly at their victory studied the door for a moment then shrugged his arms.

"Some electrical or mechanical controls most likely," Jones guessed. "Why?"

"I want these doors open," Skern growled. "Something doesn't feel right here. Get the C4 and blow that shit apart!"

~~~

Sherri and Catherine huddled fearfully in a corner of the mechanical room as they listened to the battle taking place in the hallway just outside. Sherri had Eden bundled tightly to her chest while Catherine crouched over Cassandra's unconscious form protectively. Eden hadn't made a sound for quite some time, staring with silent alarm at the raucous noises emanating from the hallway instead. Those bursts of gunfire sounded so loud and close that the noise was almost deafening. The walls enclosing this room were strongly built but bullets still managed to penetrate through the concrete and forced the hiding women to take cover behind some machinery to avoid becoming collateral damage.

Sherri couldn't feel her Sisters any longer but for the first time she was glad for it. How many women died trying to hold the hallway that led to the room where the Princesses Cassandra and Eden hid themselves? Feeling the pain and deaths of Sherri's Sisters and knowing they were sacrificing their lives and suffering to help protect her would have been knowledge far too harrowing to possess after already losing her Queen today.

"I think it might be over now," Catherine whispered hopefully.

As if on cue, they heard a voice growl, "I want these doors open! Something doesn't feel right here. Get the C4 and blow that shit apart!"

Sherri almost thought she recognized the voice of the man speaking but she couldn't quite place where she knew it from. Whoever it was, they sounded like a real asshole.

"Oh Goddess, we're screwed," Catherine whimpered.

While still holding onto Eden with one arm, Sherri pulled her piece out of the front of her pants and carefully undid the safety of the borrowed pistol before cocking it.

"Til the last breath I fight," Sherri proclaimed. "I'll die before I let them take Cassandra or Eden."

Catherine looked back and forth from Cassandra to Eden, from Eden to Sherri, and from Sherri to that dreaded door and back while sheer terror twisted her features. She wasn't prepared for any of this shit, she was a writer, a reporter, an editor. Not to mention old and overweight. The worst things that ever happened to Catherine were missing deadlines or being turned down for sex. Stressful situations tended to make her perspire large amounts of nervous sweat and her armpits and buttcrack were already dripping plenty of evidence to that fact.

Catherine wasn't even sure why she still cared. Caring about things was antithetical to her nature. Two years ago, these women meant nothing to her. Now Catherine was debating internally whether or not she was worthy enough to die for her Sisters. They were all so brave and strong, they made Catherine feel pathetic in comparison. She had never given herself to any great cause or pursuit, choosing instead to spend her entire life solely in service to her own ambitions for wealth and power. But it was never too late to change.