A Joytoy’s Journey to become a Hive-Queen [A SCS Fanfic]

“Over time you’ll meet a lot of people. Some good, some bad, some badshit insane. Those last ones are typically the most fun. Nothing beats having a barbie while bashing alien heads in, eh?”

  -  Spatula Queen, 2055

 

“So, you lot go out there and deal with the Hives while we sit pretty and play house maid?” We asked with an amused smile.

“I mean, you do make for a very pretty house maid,” Bloodhound said with a smirk, to which we simply winked at her.

“In essence, yes. You said you can keep the place safe, right? If so it would be better if we finally take out the root of our problems,” Striker said with a shrug.

She had turned out to be the de facto leader of the current group, mainly by virtue of nobody else wanting to do the job.

“Fair enough. We didn’t mean to complain, just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page about what’s planned.”

While we had discussed our next steps, the Sorrow had begun to unload most of Legion’s groundbound units, as well as her industrial capabilities. Resources were harder to come by around here, since most of the stuff dug up was used to build the space elevator, but it would be enough to give her a baseline from which to start building her industrial center.

With a few final comments and preparations the others began to head out, leaving Us alone in the complex. It was strange to sit here, in some HQ, on another planet, with a war going on outside, still munching away at Barbie’s cooking.

After we finished our meal, we stretched, languidly making our way towards the roof where an atmospheric bubble was located to allow for an unobstructed view of the battlefield. With nothing immediately requiring our attention we got ourselves a cigarette and lit it, taking a few pulls while we oversaw all the activity below Us.

The Headquarters was a rather sizable building with pretty darn impressive defences, if you took the time to look for them. Not far from the space elevator, it made for a surprisingly normal sight on this barren rock of a planet. Now Legion’s forces were busying themselves with clean up and setting up around it, Enforcers and Artillery units slowly getting into position. 

Our own forces were already busy collecting all the biomass and moving them towards our Feastmasters and the shuttles that were being prepped for the arrival of the Revenge.

Talking about the Revenge, it had just finished dealing with the Leviathan it was sent after, our Hive-Princess Junior at the helm for the manoeuver. The fight had been a bit of a mess, with the Leviathan evading the first volley of hyper-condensed high energy plasma rounds, but it was done in eventually.

Space combat was a lot different than the few holo’s we’ve seen of it, no close quarters attack runs with fighters weaving around capital ships. If it was close quarters that meant impact more often than not, distances were much bigger as well, and whoever thought that everyone was facing the same way up had never read a single thing about space to begin with.

Nevertheless, things started to become a little easier. Which didn’t mean they became easy, even with two of the Leviathans dealt with the antithesis still had a whole host of orbital forces. This moment of peace would most likely be our only one for the next couple of weeks. Oh well, we enjoyed it while we still could.

Which, as it turned, wasn’t for that long.

Not even twenty minutes after Bloodhound and the others had left to deal with one of the bigger Hives, one of our scouts found a truly massive army of antithesis marching our way. It was led by three Forty-Sixes, which were typically tremendously dangerous, and an army numbering in the thousands, maybe even tens of thousands. Numerically our swarm was smaller, but we had bigger units and were Samurai.

With nobody else around we pinged the rest of the Samurai groups scattered around the area and in orbit, informing them about the incoming attack. It would take some time until someone could come to our aid, but we should be fine. Unless some surprises showed up we would be able to thwart the attack on our own.

Taking the form of a smaller version of Smiley, we took to the air while our forces began to array below Us. Legion’s forces were already poised to attack the moment the enemy forces came into weapons range.

The real Smiley was on her way to help, but, considering the distances in space, she would be a while, probably only arriving after the party was already over. Tiny was at the front, together with a couple of Legion’s Enforcers, forming our beachhead.

Suddenly the massive plasma accelerators that made up Legion’s long range artillery began to fire into the distance, the enemy forces finally within range. Their impact was tremendous, leaving huge craters and scattering both dust and antithesis materials to the wind, but they couldn’t make a dent in the incoming forces.

Hovering above the edge of our defensive line, a couple hundred meters in the air, we waited for the perfect moment to distract one of the Forty-Sixes. They’d be the main threat of their forces and we had to shut them down quickly.

Finally judging them to be close enough, we dove, front claws extended and maw opened with a massive roar, heat building up from deep within our throat until a blue-white cone of jet flames shot out of it, just as we crashed into the first Forty-Six.

Our current body was massive, but so was the Forty-Six, and it took our impact with only a couple of wobbling steps back. It reacted much worse to the jet of flames burning it at thousands of degrees celsius, leaving deep, blackened streaks all over its body, but not able to entirely burn it to a crisp.

The problem was that we weren’t immune to heat this strong either, which limited how much we could use our breath. Ignoring the tinkling sounds of our old and ruined teeth falling to the ground as new ones were regrown, we pushed hard against the fucker and forced it to the ground.

It was not easy and despite our strength it managed to get a hold of Us, then turn things around landing on top of Us with a jolt. Pain ran through Us like a flaming hot iron, making Us see stars for a moment, before our internal systems began to adjust our chemical composition and reduce the amount of feedback we received.

One of our wings was ruined, which wasn’t too much of a problem, but we still managed to get upright and tear through the side of the fucking antithesis scum, ripping out one of its legs and burying our teeth deep into its open wound.

Antithesis didn’t make sounds, nor did they react like most would, instead it simply leaned over and tried to crush Us with its sheer weight. This time we were prepared, however. Shifting our form partially we took on the lower body of a Najav, stabilising ourselves and answering its attempted movement with a shove of our own.

It worked, pushing the giant alien over and finally toppling it to the ground for good, which we abused by shifting back to our Wyvern form, while retaining one limb as a pincer that nailed the Forty-Six to the ground. It made moving a bit awkward, but it did work wonders.

The problem we now faced was of a different kind. While we had started to leave some serious wounds in the Forty-Six, it was a model specialised in controlling antithesis, and now a huge chunk of the army made their way over to Us. On their own they were just small fry, not worth even a mention, but together they were a serious threat.

We had to end this quickly.

“Kaysa, Rose!” we said in the virtual realm that existed within our Hive-Queen Legion Control Implant. “15000 points, fast growing, don’t cheap out, we need defences!”

New purchase: Mark VI Devouring Rose (Variant C, 15000 points)!
Points reduced to… 656,827

The Rose appeared between Us and the incoming horde, an undulating mass of Tentacles and all-devouring intent. It would be a stop-gap measure at best, but that was all that it needed to be. In the same moment we purchased the Rose we sent a quick ping to Legion, Bloodhound, and Blitzer, asking for Catalogue accesses. Technically we had all given each other blanket permissions, but protector rules were protector rules, and this purchase required direct consent.

For the first time since our early days we bought another Najav. So far Tiny had been the only one we had ever gotten, since our production capabilities had shifted drastically afterwards. As part of the Progenitor line of Hexclaws, they were originally made to be used for in-combat replenishment of our forces, but for this we needed something different.

And it just so happened that the Najav was exactly the kind of thing we needed for our plans, at least with certain changes.

New purchase: Delta-class Mark IX Progenitor Najav (Upgraded, Variable Variant)!
Points reduced to… 596,812

With just barely enough time we managed to get out of the way of the gigantic egg that crashed into the Forty-Six, still trying to get up from the ground. It wasn’t enough to kill the fucker, but it did pin it down while we could move, and the moment the giant egg started to break open, four gigantic pincers pinned the Forty-Six for good, before the newly born Najav, Micro (Yes, that was her own idea), began to lay into the thing with all the upgraded weaponry that Bloodhound and Legion had put together for her specifically.

Tiny was terrifying, Micro was an outright monster.

Freed from dealing with the first Forty-Six, we immediately dashed for the next one, the last already in a tango with Tiny, who held up quite remarkably against the overwhelming threat of the antithesis in front of her.

Not that we doubted Tiny, she had proven time and again that she could stand in the brunt of overwhelming force and endure. Still, it was good to have Micro now, it would help a lot with the incoming horde.

By the time we hit the second Forty-Six straight on, one of our scouts had already begun to fly circles above the alien masses, dropping multiple Devouring Roses down, ensuring that we could build a defensive wall. And, considering how quickly we could kill the smaller models, they paid for themselves within minutes. That was the benefit of being a Hive-Mind, drone swarms wouldn’t sap your point income, since we were all one at the core.

Fighting the second Forty-Six was a bit easier. With all the death and destruction going around, and all the xenos it was trying to organise, it seemed a bit distracted. Something we immediately took full advantage of, ripping the damn thing to shreds in a matter of minutes.

It left Us able to move towards the last Forty-Six that was still tangling with Tiny, who did her best to hold it back. But even with all her upgrades, her base model was one of the oldest still around, and that hadn’t gotten an upgrade even to this day. Something we would have to remedy shortly. Even if Tiny preferred to stay like her old self.

Finally we crushed the last Forty-Six together, leaving Us with only smaller models to deal with. In this Micro took the lead, having gotten a number of weapons to deal with Mars level small fries, leaving only death and destruction in her wake. The rest of our forces moved quickly after, leaving Legion’s, well, Legion to defend against those that managed to get past Us.

The clean up was easy, but it took time, mainly because we had to ensure no antithesis could manage to grab any biomass. Which led to a sort of game of catch, as our smaller drones hunted down those that managed to slip away. Of course we couldn’t do a perfect job, Mars was a beehive of antithesis activity with way too many of the fuckers around, but we did our best.

“Eyo, hey. Thought I could… help?” a voice intruded on our coms. It sounded young and male, probably around our own age, and it held a certain uncertainty in it.

“Glad to hear from you. We have things under control for now. We’re Myriad, by the way, the friendly huggable Hive-Mind built to devour those that stand against Us.”

We couldn’t help but smirk at the delivery, knowing exactly the kind of expression it would leave behind, even if we couldn’t see his face yet.

“Err… Okay… I’m just gonna go with that. You’re that smoking hot joytoy from New Savannah, right? Friend of mine told me about you. Didn’t think I’d meet you like this, though…”

“That’s Us,” we replied, finishing off a model Thirty-Eight, before turning to see if we couldn’t find the figure.

Despite all our senses and bodies, and Us being Samurai, it was impossible to pick up where he was, and any attempt to find him through a direct link led nowhere. Kaysa informed Us that he blocked any such attempts through various countermeasures, and the protector’s rules about information insight about Samurai.

“Good, good… So, you don’t need help anymore?”

“You tell Us. Does it look like it?”

“Uhm… no?” His tone made it clear it was a question.

Listening to him was kind of cute; he seemed to be the kind of guy who didn’t quite know how to approach women. Or anyone else, really.

“We’re not going to tell you that you can’t take your share of points, but if there’s another emergency somewhere feel free to head over. We got things in hand here.”

“Yes, ma’am! Uhm, for now I don’t see anything I’m suited for.”

“Who are you even?” we asked, slowly making our way back to HQ while the rest of Us continued their onslaught.

“Oh, me? I’m Nightstalker, the Eternal. Bringer of plagues, feaster of blood. Proper Vampire stuff, you know?”

We blinked at that, not believing our own ears. He didn’t just honestly call himself Nightstalker, the Eternal, did he?

Deciding not to scratch at his ego right at that moment, we simply accepted it and continued on with the conversation. We shouldn’t be throwing stones from our glass house, considering that our own name might be a bit over the top. Of course, with the difference that we hadn’t picked it ourselves.

“Pleasure to meet you. If you don’t have anything else we could have a sit down, relax a little. We can take care of the swarm without direct oversight.”

“Oh, I can find something else, no worries,” he said with an awkward laugh, “I mean, unless you insist, I’m sure I can-”

“We insist.”

Truth be told, the only reason we did, was to get to know the person calling himself ‘Nightstalker, the Eternal’, but we also had to admit to a certain amusement in making him squirm a bit. We couldn’t be sure, of course, but he sounded like the kind of guy who didn’t have many friends, and those that he had were just as weird as he was.

“Yes, ma’am!”

And his answer was instantaneous, as if programmed.

By the time we made our way back to the HQ, the rest of Us were busy cleaning up the mess. Massive amounts of biomass were collected and redistributed to our Feastmasters and Broodmothers, although we did notice a horde of strange cybernetic rats nibbling on some of the antithesis remains.

Deciding not to question it, since they were very obviously protector grade tech, we instead walked inside of the atmospheric bubble after shifting down to our Kitsune form. For clothes we decided for something more enticing, if only to see how our dear edgelord would react. With our preparations made, we walked inside, finding a rather pale looking man sitting awkwardly at the kitchen table, a number of cybernetic rats running around. That at least answered one question.

The moment we entered, his eyes locked on our figure, obviously checking Us out even if he immediately stopped when he noticed what he was doing. Perhaps it was because of the pale skin, or maybe it was because of the awkwardness, or maybe even because of our smoking good looks, but he was blushing so fierce it would make Bloodhound’s blush look tame, and that was saying something.

“Nightstalker, we assume?” we asked with a smile before we made our way over opposite him, one of our Queen’s Guard moving to prepare some drinks.

Typically, that would be the task of our personal maids, but they were still aboard the Revenge helping control the thing.

“Uhm… yeah…?” His answer was meek, an octave too high, and sounded like a question. Very much the socially awkward kind of person I imagined someone who called themselves ‘Nightstalker, the Eternal’ to be.

“Myriad, a pleasure. Only arrived today, been a bit busy. You’ve been around for long?”

He swallowed, then gave a meek half-nod, half-bow when our Assassin placed a glass in front of him. “Uhm… Kind… of? I’ve been here for like… a week… Done my best, tried to help, but you know… sometimes your skillset isn’t needed…”

“Oh, we know the feel,” we said, lavishly leaning back with our own glass in hand, not hiding a bit of our figure and smirking inwardly at his distracted glance. “Not that we have much of those problems recently. Being a Hive-Mind of a couple ten thousand drones does wonders to help with working around skillset limitations.”

“Uhm… About that? Can I… Can I ask how you got there? Like… I know Hive-Minds, sure… But it’s like a really weird thing to get into, no?”

“And being a Vampire isn’t?” we replied with a smirk, making him wince. “But you’re right. Being a Hive-Mind is different. And sure, we can chat a bit until the others return… We’re pretty certain that we’ll have a lot of work ahead of Us. We should take any free moment we can get.”

“Yeah…” he muttered, his expression growing more serious, “So many xenos around…”

“Indeed. So, our story, where to even begin… Probably best to start the day everything changed. We had just gotten done with a couple of clients and the next one on the list had some strangely wholesome tastes…”