Chapter 23: Are you ready?

It has been 3 weeks since we started traveling to Ker'mins space. After leaving home worlds orbit on a void swimmer, we were brought up to a continent dwarfing hive ship with a retinue of other ships in tow.

I was currently looking out of a piece of translucent tissue on the side of the ship, similar in fashion to the one on the void swimmer that brought me home initially. I was looking out at the cacophony of colours the psionic energy was emitting from the distortion of space.

While I was engrossed in my favourite pastime, Orchid snuck up behind me and proceeded to wrap me up in her arms. Looking out the window with me she said. "Orchid remember back when you were a little-mate-spawn how you would spend our journey back from your old world staring out into these distortions of energy. They made you feel at peace at the trepidation of your predicament. Orchid is glad they still bring you comfort." Turning my head, I planted a small kiss on Orchids cheek before joking "Well of course I felt trepidation stink bug, I was abducted by an alien race I didn't know what was going to happen to me."

A little banter back and forth went on for a while before I got to the crux of the matter. " So what's up dear other than training I've been left pretty much on my own since we entered the ship." "Orchid has been informed that the planet we are attacking still has an active fleet therefore when we exit the branch we want you wearing your new battle armour just in case." I frowned a little at this information "I thought you said this branch took us behind the main offensive shouldn't there be less resistance forces?" Orchid cocked her head a little before realising something. "Orchid thinks there was a little lapse in the information you were given although yes we are currently attacking behind the main offensive, we have always attacked from all direction thanks to how large the Psionic branches, branch in this direction. In essence as far as the prey know they are surrounded on all fronts with no idea how we get to them. Therefore they always defend planets even this far away from our main assault"

Orchids explanation made sense. I got up from were I was standing and gave the lights one final look before heading over to where my armour was stored. It took 15 minutes to arrive and the place was swarming with bio-forms. 'it seems we are going to leave the branch at any second.'

Parting through the forms with ease, as they were all hyper aware of me, I arrived at my power armour, took of Zircon who was sheathed on my back and entered. Once closed up I looked at Orchid who was giving me a weird eye. "what's with the look dear?" Orchid being caught did a classic Orchid pause before saying "Its just- Orchid is jealous that you are inside of another bio-form. She wishes you could enter that deep inside of her.

"Hey phrasing!" I scolded pointing at her with Zircon

"you have a consciousness and an anatomy if I was inside of you the same way I was in this it would basically be Vore and I am not into that" I chastised "Don't ruin this suit for me by saying anything close to that again."

Orchid looked down in sorrow at the scolding she had been getting better at holding her desires back, but sometimes they slip out. knowing this, I paced over to her before rubbing her head gently. "Don't look so downtrodden my sweet, you have been scolded and now things return to normal come take me to Jewel I'm sure she has some instructions for me." I said taking her hand, the vigour returning to her face as I did so.

After another 10 minutes we arrived at what essentially was the Brain of the ship. there Jewel stood with the tentacles on her back jammed into the 'brain' doing whatever a hivemind does when linked with a continental sized ship. Noticing my arrival, Jewel angled her face plate to me and smiled. "My love, I am pleased you are here we are about to leave the branch very shortly. I have barely seen you since we entered the ship as It has been millennia since I have personally overseen an invasion in full awareness and have gotten carried away."

I smiled in understanding at the statement she has not left her world in so long and with her other body in 'robot mode' managing casual commands, she can fully focus and enjoy her invasion here.

A few minutes of catching up later, the room jolted minutely. Just enough to notice but not enough to cause imbalance. Jewel sent a live feed into my visor the perspective was from one of the auxiliary swarm ships outside the hive ship. We had left the branch and arrived 20 minutes away from the target planet.

The planet itself was large, around the size of my old life's Saturn if I recall correctly, it has been a while after all, from the perspective I had been given, the planet looked verdant teeming with green almost entirely green. "What a surprise another jungle planet." I said sarcastically. The Ker'mins were almost godly in there ability to terraform planets with there home world being a giant swamp jungle, they turn almost every planet they colonise into similar worlds they build cities above the water levels and away from the jungles themselves but for some reason they require the whole planet to be 'junglefied' to live there comfortably.

" I can see why you seem to love invading these planets" I said to the room " Not only do you just get bio-matter from sentient beings. But also from all that flora and fauna that comes with the abundance of jungle down there."

Jewel 'frowned' at the statement I gave and corrected it. "While we do find it more then convenient to feed off these planets. We do not love it. We only love you." looking over to Jewel I sighed before commenting "I know that silly it is just something we humans say. Its not the love like we have, its more along the lines of enjoyment for something."

Jewel was about to comment further but Orchid interjected "The queen understood what you meant Apollo-love, but the love we feel for you is so strong the word has lost any other meaning you may garner from it. You may say you love a food or a joke or a moment but we can only feel what you call love exclusively for you only for you and excessively for you."

By the end of Orchids speech the room was feeling dangerous with the emotions I was feeling through the psionic links. When they talk about their love it gets amplified if more hive bio-forms are nearby. usually its just Orchid and Jewel with the guards blocking off most of the emotional feedback from getting to the rest of the hive making their emotions manageable, But with that buffer not there, I could feel the mania of their affection for me passing the Rubicon and I was slightly afraid.

Luckily for me, we had just entered an active warzone and the Ker'mins had started their defensive bombardments from their ships. This caused the levels of crazy to drop as Jewel focused on their attack.

Orchid was still glaring with desire at me. Although I was wearing my power armour, if felt totally naked. Fortunately though, Orchid is easy to calm. walking over I gave her another stroke and said. "When we get back ok?" "Now take me to the ship that will take me planeside when the time comes."

Orchid came to again and stammered. "o-o-Of course Apollo-mate, Orchid will take you there now" Unaware of the trail of liquid Orchid was leaving behind we walked side by side towards the ship. Now I thought I would be going to the planet on a ship like a void swimmer, but I was going to be going down in an invasion nest. An invasion nest was just a fancy drop pod which drones will bring biomass to in order to create more bio-forms during invasion.

Already awaiting me was the guard Jewel had made for me in torpor along we a few hundred elite caste warriors there were 2 freethinkers that looked similar to Orchids old body and a Psionic agitator also there. the only one missing was-

"So you did remember me after all Apollo." Raising my arms in defence at the sudden scare, the stalker variant suddenly appeared from out of nowhere to right Infront of my visor. She continued "Tell me future lover, I can feel your emotions boiling from one to the next in anticipation for the war to come, these other bio-forms do not understand your thoughts and feelings on the matter they see this as a hunting ground but you, this will be the place of your first kill."

"Are you ready?"