If the man thought he had secured an easy job informing the ship of beautiful women that a lockdown was in place and they couldn't go anywhere, he regretted it the moment Liddy handed him a bill. It wasn't that the numbers confused him or that they were so high. After all, he wasn't paying it. No, the regret came when he realised he was going to have to go get the money from someone far more concerned with war and his excuses weren't finding purchase.

“I don't care what some rabble-rousers are up to!” Liddy didn't normally use her aristocratic tone, but laid it on thick to make the man more uncomfortable. “We landed and engaged in business under contract and if our services are no longer needed, then we will be paid!”

The man looked up from the bill, then up from Liddy to the battle raging in the air above them all; the city's ships fired on each other upon emerging from the smog, thinking they were an enemy ship -- until their mistake became clear.

Emma, sensing no better distraction, moved past the man and his guards and through the door they had come through. Their definition of lockdown was rather lax. Although she was wearing a seductive black silk dress that didn't hide the red lace under it, the dress itself was just cover in case of discovery. Her mission was different. Emma could hear Liddy dismissing the battle as irrelevant -- like anyone with more money than sense often did to severely important matters.

Mari was near Liddy and found her task of distracting the men to be as simple as ever, allowing her to watch Emma get through the door. She huffed in boredom to signal Liddy that the elf had gotten through. They continued to keep the men distracted as long as they could so Emma wouldn't need to worry about them getting her from behind; Emma advanced cautiously, sneaking through the halls.

****

Easy, too, had been making efforts to not be noticed while discreetly passing through the halls, but a sparkly fairy with wings catching the overhead light in the dank belly of the city stood out. She felt the wind shift suddenly on her wings and leapt forward to dodge the heavy club that had narrowly missed her. Easy cursed as she turned to see a giant troll and wondered how, even with the noise of battle and machinery, she had failed to hear it.

“Vile! Someone!” Easy called out in panic as she dodged another strike.

She didn't know if he was an Emberborn or simply a monster but Easy knew she was alone until she could find someone to help her.

Running in what she thought was the direction of the battle as well as the last known location of her friends, she couldn't shake the pursuit of the thundering steps behind her.

Easy skidded to a halt once she realised she had run into a dead end. She was certain it was a stock room that had been stripped bare ages ago. There was nothing for her to grab as a weapon or hide behind. Turning to face the giant brute, the tattered remains of what might have been a tunic hanging from his waist, Easy was mustered her courage. She knew her only chance would be if she could dodge him and escape the room.

“I’m here to free you! I just want to help!” Easy called out, trying to buy time.

His tiny face on the brutish head furrowed his brow.

Easy wondered if he could understand her at all. The giant greenish-brown leathery skin was marked with scars that suggested he had been brutalized into submission. She felt a pang of sympathy for him even as he roared and charged. A collar on his neck had a snapped chain that dangled, so whatever control he normally had was gone. His wild swing came in low and Easy jumped as high as she could to get over it, fluttering her wings to control her landing.

“Seriously! Vile! Foxy! Anyone!” Easy shouted at the door as she dodged, hoping her voice travelled.

A loud snarl from the hideous face of the troll was the only response she got. Easy knew she was going to get tired quickly if she stayed in range of the club, but every attempt to get to the exit was thwarted mostly by poor luck than by any strategy from the troll.

As he towered over her, she ducked beneath another swing, trying to keep her wings low when she saw the door between his legs. Easy sprinted forward. Getting under the rags the troll wore, he shifted his stance and Easy felt her path blocked by a leg. She tried to move around but it was the other leg. Easy was safe from the club but now she desperately tried to avoid being stepped on. Backing away from another monstrous step, she bumped into the troll again yet both of his legs were visible to either side of her; fearing a hand reaching to touch her, she spun around. Easy needed a moment to grasp what she was seeing, and it was long enough for it to smack her in the face as the troll backed up. In order to avoid falling over, she grabbed on tightly. Without proper footing, Easy had to keep hold as the troll stumbled about awkwardly. Easy felt her lifeline stiffen and it lifted her upwards until she was almost upside down.

The horrific truth finally sank in.

“Please tell me I am holding onto something else for dear life!” Easy shouted in denial.

She felt a giant hand grip her by her feet and pull her up. Easy wanted to let go but also resisted the grip. The troll made different noises as she squeezed him tightly by the shaft.

Dangling Easy while she struggled, the troll let go of his club and pulled off her clothing, breaking her grip on him. He was amused at her fluttering wings as he rubbed Easy against himself. The troll sat down and let Easy go, using his hands as a cage to keep her between his legs.

Easy got the message. The troll was like any man suddenly finding out what women could do for him and didn't care about her. He rubbed her breasts with his fat fingers and pressed them between her legs. Knowing she certainly couldn't fit him inside her and doubted even Vile could, she had to think of something else. Easy guessed his member's size being a full third of her weight and so would need to do something new. She wrapped her legs around his base and pressed her breasts against his shaft while her tongue ran along the tip. It tasted terrible and smelled worse but she could tell the troll was enjoying himself. A sound that might have been a giddy giggle came from behind her as she ground her womanhood against the giant shaft. Moaning entirely without merit, Easy rubbed her hands over the shaft trying to scale up her technique for getting men off quickly.

“I would appreciate anyone coming in and stopping this now!” Easy called out as she felt fingers holding her against the shaft.

Her body was moved with the hands as if he was trying to gratify himself with her body. Easy tried to work her way around so she could be on the other side of the shaft where the grip wasn't so tight on her. Against her sense of standards and self-respect, she felt her body twinge at the teasing.

“No no no! I am not getting turned on by this!” Easy angrily growled at herself.

Denial didn't help as the efforts of thrusting her hips against the giant shaft resulted in him being slickened by her arousal. She could taste the arousal coming from him as well and instinctively ran her tongue through it. The forced moans of earlier were replaced by the thrill of pleasuring such a giant member.

Easy was about to lose herself in the moment when she felt the shaft pulse and the troll making strange noises. She tried to back away but the hands holding her in place got in her way. Sudden horror came over her as his efforts had aimed his member directly at her the moment it burst. By random chance or intentional aim, even after the pressure knocked her off her feet the pulsing shaft remained aimed at her until it finished. Over and over she was doused from head to toe. As the few last spurts landed on her, Easy couldn't breathe or even open her eyes to take in the disgust of what she knew covered her. Slowly, she cleared her eyes and mouth to let herself breathe. A few tentative glimpses confirmed she really didn't want to look at theresulting mess.

The troll was snoring loudly.

Easy tried to look at the door, knowing it would be the best time for her escape. Standing in the doorway were Vile and Foxy with the others behind. She cleared her mouth with her hand again.

“Where were you when I needed you!” Easy whined, trying not to sob in disgust and failed.

The girls stared in stunned silence as they tried to find any part of Easy not covered in seed only to fail as they watched it drip and slide in heavy blobs down her body.

****

Grey didn't have time to enjoy the good news. There was a fleet moving overhead on its way towards the train. It started moving the moment the Steam King's airships started emerging from the smog. Many smaller ships surrounding a massive metal ship that the appearance that until recently the lower hull had been sitting in water for a long time.

They had taken shots at the Steam King's army attacking him as they passed overhead, but what should have been the nail in the coffin of the enemy's morale instead turned into a fanatical frenzy. They were throwing themselves into his guns heedless of their losses and the enormous size of their reserves gave him no rest. The forest had kept the enemy from overwhelming them by slowing them down -- but more were arriving than the defenders could kill.

“What are these lunatics thinking!?” an infantryman from Harlottown asked while reloading.

“That if they take the tunnel, they can still win.” Grey passed back the magazine the soldier had dropped from his tired paws.

“Will that actually work?” Having reloaded, the soldier returned to the firing step and lined up his shots.

“No, we collapsed the tunnel right after coming through,” Grey replied, wondering if the enemy would believe it if they told them.

The Harlottown soldiers around Grey glanced at him surprised. Evidently, they hadn't been told the whole plan.

“Our goal was to guard the tunnel entrance to keep them all focused here while the southern forces swing in to hit their flanks. Since what's left of our fleet is doing their thing I suppose that explains why they haven't been airlifted. But the point was that we were never going to take the chance on them getting the tunnel.”

Their distraction allowed two enemy soldiers to reach the edge of the trench. In an instant, they were cut down by the Scepter Guard stationed with them. The rest of the Guards were scattered all along the forward trench to help prevent a similar breach in their lines.

“Please keep firing, I really want to survive this.” Grey pulled grenades off the bodies laying around him, enemy and ally alike, and threw them against the tide of bodies rushing towards them, wishing the gaps made by the explosions lasted longer.

****

Emma walked down the empty halls, looking for her end goal, and continued to wonder why there were no people around. Since they had arrived it almost looked as if the city was empty -- unless people specifically came to interact with the women on the ship. She knew they had to be managing the conflict and that it was almost certainly a more serious issue than they considered it prior to the lockdown.

Listening was easy once she brushed her hair away from her pointed ears; few noises competed in the empty hall other than the faint buzz of the electrical lighting. It was the sound of voices up ahead that she noticed first, and followed them until she spotted the sources as she peeked around the corner.

Two guards were chatting with the first person Emma had seen in the city who looked like he did actual work. A drab suit on a tired-looking man who seemed weary and needed some sleep. The guards admitted him, and Emma could hear a great deal of commotion on the other side of the door.

Hiding her ears with her hair and adjusting her breasts to show off her cleavage, Emma walked up to the door like she was supposed to be there. She wasn't really sure what room the men were guarding but knew that anything guarded was better than nothing.

The way was immediately barred by each soldier extending their arm towards the other so the rifles that rested their butts on the floor crossed in front of her. Emma could see her reflection in the polished bayonets that sat at eye level. Looking at them she could see they weren't looking at her face when they questioned her.

“What are you doing here, little girl?” one of them demanded.

Emma tried to think of something to say, an excuse, a suggestion, or even a command, then just sighed heavily when she came up with nothing. “Fuck it.”

Her hands touched the wrists of each man and she sent the magical command to lift each of their arms as they held the crossed rifles. Both men jolted their arms up and soon fell to the floor clutching at where the other had involuntarily stabbed them in the throat. As they died, Emma stole a pistol from them and hid it in her purse.

“Sorry boys, but I haven't the time for mercy. Blame the king who wouldn't free my people to avoid a war.”

Emma opened the door a sliver, seeing a narrow hall and hearing a lot of raised voices. She moved through and closed the door behind her. The voices got louder as she got to the end of the hall. There were far too many for her to understand what was being said. When she poked her head through the heavy curtains, she saw why.

It looked like a giant amphitheatre, able to seat hundreds. She was at the top of a giant balcony surrounding a stage in the middle. The seats ringed around the generals yelling over a map in the centre. Below the balcony where the orchestra pit might be in an actual theatre were men sending and receiving messages over the radio. Every square inch of space seemed to be full of people and activity.

As she walked around the outside edge of the balcony seating, the fewer things made sense. The ‘stage’ where the generals worked made sense even if there seemed to be far too many of them at once. But the seating area was full of all kinds of people who were either jostling for a view, applauding at random, or passed out in the chairs. It occurred to her that the whole reason the halls had been so empty was because everyone was there.

“What the hell is this mess?” Emma asked herself rhetorically.

“War court. Your first time?” answered a weary man on the young side of middle-aged in the suit of a clerk.

Emma nodded, realising she could at least answer honestly. “Yes. I'm afraid I haven't quite figured it out.”

“Well,” he paused to look down her dress. “Every general brings their staff to applaud their decisions. The problem is, aside from things not going well in the field, is that there's also a riot happening down below. Everyone knows the troops aren't in the city, so they come here to keep safe since there are still guards to offer protection. While here, we need to support our leaders, though some of us pass out from the effort.”

“Seems like they aren't even paying attention to anyone up here,” Emma replied as she looked around and spotted a staircase that led down below the balcony.

“They aren't. Things are going poorly.” The worry in his voice was palpable. “The army still hasn't broken through the mountain and the generals just keep shouting at them to push harder. Our navy is in disarray and fighting with the locals over the city. To top it all off, we have to worry about the Emberborn sneaking up here.”

Emma had led him over to where the narrow staircase would take her down to the stage. “Look at the bright side.”

“Bright side?” he asked, puzzled by the warm smile she gave him.

“It will all be over soon,” Emma replied as she brushed the hair off her pointed ears.

The man was horrified as he watched the elf walk down the stairs, her hips swaying seductively as he struggled to comprehend just what was going on.

When she reached the bottom, she saw the guard but he was facing away from her. Inspecting his ornate uniform and kit, she took a moment to plan her next move. Emma took a deep breath, adjusted her dress to let her move a bit more freely, and shouted.

“Hey, assholes!” Emma plucked the pin from the grenade on the soldiers' belt as everyone turned to face her. “Emberborn freedom!”

The guard with the live grenade was the next thing Emma manipulated with the spectral hand, throwing him onto the map table. The generals were still staring in confusion when the grenade went off.

Chaos followed.

Guards from around the room responded. Emma swatted their weapons away as they fired. Some rounds hit the wall, others the spectators, but when Emma got close to the generals they suffered from their guards deflected fire.

Emma fired her pistol when she could, reaching out to touch those near her to stop their hearts when she could. She lept onto a side table to kick the sword from the hand of a fat general she was sure she had pleased earlier. As he fell over, she picked it up and stabbed it into him before moving on. Emma could see some guards coming after her, but noticed they were also acting as if they thought others might also be attacking them as well. The living generals were human shields for her as she dodged through them to avoid presenting a target as she set off more grenades and ended more lives with her touch.

By the time the shooting stopped, the stage was clear of the living. Emma stood at the centre, surrounded by the balcony viewers above who had remained, and the radios below were now totally ignored by their operators.

“Order the army to surrender!” Emma commanded. “Order the navy and anyone down below to cease fire! Tell them all to surrender or you will die by my touch! My people will be free!”

****

Liddy felt her dress rising over her hips as the man she had spent the last hour browbeating for her payment helped relieve her of it. Her breasts were pressed against the door the moment her dress was thrown to the floor. Playing with the lock to make it sound like she secured her bedroom from intrusion without actually doing so, she felt the man behind her stiffen as his manhood between her legs pressed harder while reaching its full length. He slid between her thighs and Liddy moaned as it rubbed against her womanhood.

“I told you getting me my payment would benefit us both.” Liddy hadn't even expected him to come up with the money but certainly didn't mind the resulting circumstance.

“The general didn't even listen, he just approved.” The man assumed the chaos of battle made the issue far too minor to concern themselves with.

Of course, once she had the money, she had to think of another reason to distract the men. Liddy was pulled from the door and thrown to the bed on her back where she couldn't help but pick up the scent of the other women who had used it. She was quickly mounted without preamble and felt the man sliding into her.

“Don't worry, I won't charge for this. You feel too good inside me for that,” Liddy lied, wishing instead she had a massive Emberborn man inside her as he panted with the effort.

“I know women just need to feel their purpose fulfilled.”

The specific meaning of his statement confused Liddy but she wasn't going to question it. She just hoped the others were at least trying to enjoy themselves.

Blaze could be heard through the door to Liddy’s room. Getting slammed against it with each thrust, the man her legs werewrapped around put into her. What had started as sounding entirely faked turned into actual pleasure as it continued. Her mechanical hand held the man to her breast where his tongue worked around her nipple. Keeping as many soldiers distracted from the palace proved remarkably easy as more kept showing up. Her feet barely had any time to touch the floor as one man finished before another lifted them back up to take his turn.

Harriott was right in front of Blaze, on all fours pleasuring a man sitting on the stairs with her mouth while another thrust into her from behind. Her breasts swung back and forth with her red hair as each thrust pushed the man deeper into her throat in between quick gasps for air. She swallowed the seed from the man on the stairs and was lifted to bare her naked body to the other men waiting as her legs hung over the arms of the man behind her. As he still managed his thrusts into her, another man joined him in sharing her womanhood. Harriott thought about what the man she was legally bound to would think of two men pumping their seed into her womb at the same time. She moaned as the hands gripped her breasts and felt them pulled on as leverage for getting the men deeper inside her body. Her climax came as the tragedy of the seed belonging to both men spilt out of her as they withdrew.

Mari was in her bed, hearing Harriott calling for more. Cat tasted good to her lips, feeling the favour returned from the woman below her. They both enjoyed tasting the men that entered the other as they thrust themselves inside. Mari felt the chains that connected her breasts to Cat's and moaned at every scream the aristocrat let out. Her own breasts were more accustomed to the abuse and were large enough to put far more pressure on Cat when the rough thrusts moved them. As the man finished in Cat, she tasted his load with her lips pressed against the flesh that contained it until her hair was yanked hard to lift her head. Lips were forced apart to feel the man slide into her throat. It lasted a short while as the wide legs of Cat proved too tempting and Mari watched as he entered her. She felt the man finish inside her as her tongue ran down the shaft of the man entering the woman above her, catching the drips into her mouth.

Paje worked her hips over the man she was riding. Again with Juno in Inky's bed, she watched as her friend was being molested by the two men sharing her. Playing with her breasts as her client held her hips, though she didn't even try to influence them, she watched Juno getting her face covered with a man's seed. Leaning over, Paje kissed her and licked the seed from her face to let her see again. The kiss was ragged as the man violating her bum did so without mercy.

“You can love me if you want,” Paje whispered.

“But you aren't her,” Juno whispered back, as surprised to hear Paje say the words as Page was.

“No, but I can love you back.” Paje wasn't sure how the words had slipped from her but she didn't want to take them back.

Their conversation stalled as the men broke them apart to keep making use of their mouths.

****

Foxy felt terrible about what happened to Easy. A bath meant for cleaning machine parts was the best they could find for the poor fairy, and they got her as clean as she could be under the circumstances. She struggled to be supportive while keeping her nose as distant from the stench as possible.

“Sounds like this whole place is in chaos now,” Vile commented, trying to fill the awkward silence as everyone tried to avoid looking like they were avoiding the smell of Easy.

“We need to regroup at the ship.” Foxy had already been leading them in that direction but seized the chance to talk about anything else. “Nothing more we can do down here.”

“It feels like we ran through the length of the whole city.” Leira was sharing Tonna with Ela as the former snake-woman relearned how legs worked.

“We need to find some kind of major corridor. Something that will take us back to the front of this place. But it will probably have lots of people.” Easy was determined not to be ignored despite her scent.

Signs of the riot were all along their path through the narrow metal corridors. When they did open up into a major hallway the sounds of panic felt out of place. People rushed in the direction they wanted to go and as the girls watched, they saw them all as Emberborn.

Foxy tweaked her ears. “Heavy steps coming from the rear. Keep out of sight.”

The girls moved to ambush the pursuers; they didn't have to wait long until a squad of palace knights came into view, running full tilt down the corridor. Just as Foxy was about to order the attack the suits skidded to a halt. She wondered if their ambush had been detected. The suits turned around and started taking fire from behind them where another group of knights, marked with the letter H in hasty daubs of paint, charged them.

“Our girls are in the other suits!” Foxy called out.

As the two groups smashed into each other, Vile charged into the fray and started throwing her weight around. The rest, unable to shoot without risking injury to Vile or the others, just watched as the confused melee unfolded. When it was all over, Vile looked between the friendly suits to guess what one might be Inky; she settled on the one with the sword.

“What's a horny bitch like you doing in a place like this?” Inky asked, grabbing Vile by one of her ivory horns and pulling her closer as she lifted her helmet.

They shared a long kiss while the rest pulled themselves out of their armour entirely.

“That charge the boys gave us didn't last as long as it should have,” Conna commented.

“It lasted until we took out this lot,” Hannah replied. “We can leg it the rest of the way.”

As the Emberborn stared at their friends in their underwear, Astra made a mistake. “What’s that awful smell?”

Easy sulked.

“Nothing,” Foxy replied in a special tone that translated into ‘Don't ask’.

“Who is that?” Kilty asked, hoping to get an actual answer as she nodded towards Tonna.

“It’s me!” Tonna replied, expecting it to be sufficient before the blank stares forced her to continue. “Tonna.”

“She got hit with a magic disruption gun that messes up Emberborn, but just fixed her curse when it struck her,” Foxy explained. “Not that she knew it when she jumped in front of it to save Vile.”

Terror at losing Vile, relief that she had been saved, and heartfelt gratitude rushed through Inky in a quick series of moments before she ran over to embrace Tonna tightly.

“Right, let's move quickly now. Things were getting lively in the sky when we came down. We need to get back to the ship.” Hannah snapped everyone back into action and they were all rushing down the corridor with as much caution as they could spare.

****

Hope was wandering about the palace. In full armour she was hardly stealthy but, as it always seemed to be, there was nobody around to see her. She checked every door she could find to see what it hid. Offices, bedrooms, storerooms, and even empty guardrooms. Without any noticeable indication, she couldn't even find her way back to the ship much less the throne room or any other important location. Getting caught would be a welcome relief since it would let her ask someone for directions. So accustomed to empty rooms, she almost left the moment she found an office with a man behind the desk in the dark.

They stared at each other for a moment. Each of them took in what they saw. Her weapon and armour, his bottle of drink and a pistol on the desk.

“Well, hello there.” Hope entered with a warm smile and friendly tone knowing what he had been planning to do with the gun under his hand while the other had just filled his glass.

“Who are you?” he asked as the armoured woman walked into his office, and he studied her beautiful face and golden hair.

“I am Hope,” she replied as she leant her mace against his desk with a heavy thud.

“I…” the man sighed heavily as he shamefully looked towards his gun. “I don't have any of that left.”

“That’s why I am here. There are so many who need hope and I want to give it to them. But I need your help.” Hope moved behind the desk and adjusted his chair to let him face her.

“How?” He had the tone of a defeated man.

“Shhhh…” Hope pressed her finger to his lips. “Not until you have some of your own to give.”

Hope kissed the man on the lips as she cradled his face in her hands. She could taste the drink in his mouth and appreciated that he had been having the good stuff. With well-practised effort, Hope started to strip off her armour during the kiss. Letting the man breathe, she kissed his cheek and licked along his ear, letting him look down at her quite visible breasts as the cloth hung loosely from her.

He reached up to grab her, and Hope smiled at her breasts being held firmly as she knew that sometimes the basic pleasures made life worth living again. With her help, the clasp holding her thin robe fell away to let him slide his tongue over the mounds in his hands and force a gasp from her lips. He felt her straddle him in his chair and wondered briefly how she shed her armour but decided he didn't care as he felt himself slide into her. The mystery of how she freed him from his trousers was ignored. Her hips moved slowly as he felt himself moving through her. The tender touch on his neck as her hands caressed him felt like genuine affection after a lifetime without it.

Hope felt her body lifted as he got to his feet, hearing the crash of items as he swept his desk clear, and wondered if the gun might go off as he laid her down on the surface. She smiled, ignoring the gun since it hadn't been an issue, as the face of the man looked alive as it gazed down at her body. Hope watched his eyes as he gazed at her face, moving down to her neck and breasts as they heaved, and finally resting on the belly that he took the initiative on penetrating. Watching him enter her with strongly determined thrusts while her legs were held wide in his hands. She held her breasts to amuse him and herself while spicing the pleasure with a touch of pain from her pulls.

He pulled her off the desk for a moment to flip her over and push inside once again. This time he held her by the arms as she was bent over the desk. His thrusts pressed her breasts into the hard surface and Hope did what she could with her feet to push herself against him in rhythm. The new position pressed his manhood against her insides in just the right way that she let out a hard moan when the climax shook her.

Hope could hear him about to do the same and pushed off to give her space so she could turn and get to her knees. Taking him into her mouth, she looked him in the eyes as he covered her teeth and tongue with his seed. As he fell back into his chair, she licked him clean while holding him in both her hands.

“Now you have something with which to give hope to others.” Hope smiled as she continued to lick the softening member.

****

Liddy signed off the radio. Knowing Hope and Ving were all right calmed the growing unease within her once her guests had left and the distraction over. Raised voices outside the bridge heralding the return of their friends was a welcome relief. Liddy opened the door to see Harriot in uniform waving out the door.

“Have Hannah and the others returned?” Liddy asked, trying to stay in the door to keep an ear out for any radio contact from Emma.

“Trixie!”

Liddy narrowed her eyes. “So this isn't good news.”

Hannah came through the door in her underwear, catching Liddy off guard for a moment as she couldn't help but appreciate the sight of the scantily-clad redhead covered in sweat. Once Liddy reached her face, she saw the concern.

“Ving is fine.” Liddy saw the relief on her face. “She's finishing up.”

“Anyone else not here?” Hannah stole a bar towel to use on herself while letting Easy pass quickly to reach the bath first.

“Just-” Liddy paused when she caught a whiff of the smell. “Ving and Laurel are together, of course, Hope called in to say the king is locked down with his royal council in his court, but Emma is in the palace somewhere. Everyone else is…” Liddy trailed off as Tonna waddled up to the door and entered the ship.

“Hey, it's me, Tonna! Got my curse broken and now I have my legs back. I’m going to go steal one of your dresses.” Tonna looked down at her breasts. “No, I am going to have to steal someone who has a bigger bust than yours.”

Liddy sighed. “I will take that as a win for me.” She pointed at Hannah sternly to stave off any comments on the matter. “Hope said there is a private dock for the royal court so we are going to go find it. You can man the radio after you get dressed and wash up.”

Hannah saluted sloppily and went to go clean up.

****

Grey was dead on his feet tired until he realized he wasn't on his feet. He was laying down with his head in his mother's lap, looking up into the sky. His ears were still ringing with cannon fire even though the shots had finally stopped.

When the racer flew overhead and landed nearby, he held up the sceptre weakly before letting his arm flop back down the moment it was taken. The sceptre guard had been expended in a desperate charge right before the shooting stopped and the surrender came.

As he drifted off into a well-deserved sleep, he could hear something through the ringing. A soft voice singing a lullaby he couldn't remember ever hearing before yet felt so familiar.

****

Hannah felt good. The bath being big enough for her and others to quickly wash while Easy got scrubbed clean by Mari. Vile worked her fingers through her hair, drying it quickly with the little magic she had left. Fresh underwear selected specifically for her plan, covered by a green silk dress held in place with a red leather corset. The crown was set upon her head and the amulet rested on her breasts. As ready as she was ever going to be, Hannah went back to the bridge.

“Good news and bad news.” Liddy didn't take her eyes off the view while at the controls.

Hannah could tell the bad news was more of a minor annoyance than anything serious from the tone. “Do tell.”

“I found the giant stained-glass window of the palace court and the associated dock.” Liddy gestured as the ship came around again and offered a view.

“That dock looks like it's for a personal flyer and not a full ship.” Hannah noticed the mechanisms on the outside. “And it doesn't even look like it's been deployed.”

“If it was down and extended then maybe we could jump it but…” Liddy trailed off, not needing to explain further.

The radio squawked to life. “This is Ving! We got the sceptre. Grey was alive and the reinforcements finally showed up.”

“Hello, lover. Do you see the dock here? Any ideas?” Hannah answered, holding the heavy microphone close to her lips, wishing Ving herself were that close to her.

“Like what? Docking ‘through’ the window? You crazy bitch,” came the reply.

Hannah looked at Liddy, who didn't refuse the idea in the instant Hannah gave her to think about it. “Think you can tap the glass a bit before we knock?”

“I saved one round for just a special occasion.” Ving pushed her cocky tone through the radio as she flew around to line up an angled shot that wouldn't punch right through the glass.

Liddy hauled the ship away for a wide loop. They both watched as they came around to see Ving swoop in and deliver an explosive round into the beautiful stained glass that would have cost a fortune. Liddy managed the throttle and aimed right for the damaged section near the base of the window.

“Docking the hard way! Everyone brace!” Hannah called out as she took her own advice.

The Lady Harlot smashed through the window, pushing aside the thin iron braces for the glass with the sound of twisting metal. Liddy had ducked, shielding her eyes in case her bridge window shattered, then killing the engines so they wouldn't drive too deeply into the structure in case they suddenly ran out of room.

The ship soon came to a rest.

****

Inky was in full uniform with all her girls minus Laurel around her. They were all armed, and as soon as the ship settled, they were out the door. Rifles at the ready, they spread out into the court. Instead of an armed response, they were met with the huddled mass of nobles taking refuge against the barricade they had been hastily building in front of the main door. Inky surmised they had been preparing for the rioters to be battering it down at any moment.

As the soldiers checked the nobles for any holdout weapons, Cat and Leira got to work trying to extend the small docking platform. Easy came out to help just as they finally figured it out, with Mari following behind her lover, spritzing her with perfume.

When Ving finally docked, she shared a hard kiss with Hannah, who greeted her and took the sceptre as she passed her betrothed her favourite red dress.

“I'd be wearing it but I don't want it to get ruined,” Hannah whispered with a wink.

Ving quickly redressed as Laurel joined her comrades, and very soon all the women were standing opposite the fifty men who made up the authority of the entire eastern kingdom.

“Greeting everyone! I am Queen Hannah of the western kingdom. Your navy is routed and your army defeated. I am here to accept your fealty.” Hannah noticed the fancy bed being used as part of the barricade. “But I am far too modern for a kiss on the hand for that. Vile, if you wouldn't mind fetching me a bed.”

Vile looked up and saw the bed Hannah was indicating. “Right.” Vile nodded in motion towards the bed but then turned around quickly. “I’ll go get Liddy’s.”

Some of the girls could hardly contain their laughter and a few snorts were heard.

“Really!?” Liddy shouted, tired of the old joke. “There is a perfectly good bed to use right there!” She wagged her finger at it. “Use that!”

The moment she pointed more sternly at it, the door exploded with white fire and consumed the bed with it.

“Well, that worked,” Hope commented as she walked through the debris.

Liddy’s shoulders dropped in defeat.

Vile suddenly realised she had to follow through with the joke at that point and went to fetch the bed from Liddy’s room.

“Right! Who’s first?” Hannah called out.

“What makes you think we are going to surrender to the likes of you?!” called out the man wearing a golden crown -- and a cape that more closely matched Hannah's crown than his own.

“Comprehensive military defeat. Air superiority. The fact your workforce has rebelled and is siding with us granting them permanent freedom,” Hannah replied casually.

“Our generals can't be defeated!” The Steam King responded, unwilling to believe Hannah rather than simply being in denial.

“Well, you say that,” came the voice from the demolished doorway.

Emma walked through the debris, carrying a sack in her spectral hand. She dumped it onto the floor, spilling rank pins everywhere.

“Just how many generals did they have?” Inky asked as she inspected them from a distance.

“A fucking lot!” Emma was annoyed at the fact. “I wonder if they would have fought better if I had killed them all earlier and thinned their ranks.”

Liddy ignored her bed being dragged into the court as she went over to embrace Emma, relieved to finally have the whole family together again.

“That settles that. Any other excuses?” Hannah asked her question, and as the men dithered she got onto the bed Vile had brought in and gestured to Ving.

The men seemed confused as to what Ving was doing until the corset fell away and the dress dropped. The red lace that should have covered her breasts only supported them instead. The garter that held up the fishnet stockings did nothing to hide her bare womanhood.

“Like I said. I am not a traditional woman. I will take your seed as your fealty. A kiss can be a lie. This, considerably less so.” Hannah gestured to Foxy.

Foxy moved over to the Steam King and took his cape and crown from him. The pistol in his face kept him from protesting to the Emberborn fox. She handed the cape to Ving who put it on Hannah as she knelt on the bed with her knees wide open.

“I now possess the four crown jewels of the old Emperor. Pay your fealty to me and I will possess the land he did and be your Empress.” Hannah wanted to skip to the fun part but kept her discipline as she made her point.

“You are no Empress! You were never of any noble birth! You are nothing but a street punk whore!” the Steam King raged.

“I prefer the term harlot,” Hannah replied in an annoyed tone.

The Steam King paused, trying to understand how that particular term was a sticking point.

“I don't mind the term punk so much, it's new, but since I own your city now, you can address me as the Steampunk Harlot!”

In a bizarre twist of historical uniqueness, the former Steam King became the first king ever confused into submission. His nobles understood the situation.

“If I may.” One spoke up and Hannah waved him forward. “I feel that my wife might prefer I remain a traditionalist.”

Hannah smiled and held out her hand. “A loyal husband is, of course, encouraged to remain loyal.” She received the kiss on her hand and watched the man move to the other side of the room. “Who is next?”

Another man came forward and approached Hannah on the bed. He touched her face as he looked at the soldiers to make sure he was allowed. Slowly, he opened her mouth and then unfastened his trousers to pull himself free. Hardly able to believe he was being allowed, he pushed into her mouth and felt her lips close around him. He felt her tongue sliding along his shaft as it pushed into her throat. Unable to contain himself at the thrill of it, he lost control and grunted. His seed burst out and he felt himself forced out of the wonderful mouth to lay it on her face. When he was finished, he went to join the first man.

“Next,” Hannah called with a smile on her face as his seed dripped down.

The following man decided to use Hannah’s large breasts around his shaft to force the seed from him. She held them tightly around the thrusting manhood, grateful for the oil Ving had fetched in anticipation like the good wife she intended to be. The slick skin let the rapid thrusts continue until another burst of seed fell over Hannah’s face and neck.

Hannah didn't need to call for the next man. She pulled him onto the bed to straddle him, the teasing having been too much. Feeling him enter her forced her first climax almost immediately, and she looked at Ving who wore a teasing smile.

Other men, eager for their turn, put themselves into Hannah's grip as she shared her mouth between them. Her hips rocked back and forth until she felt the man on his back burst inside her. She laid down after getting off the man only to be mounted by the one who had been in her right hand; she hung her head over the edge of the bed to admit the man in her left entry.

A new man straddled her and made use of her breasts as he watched her throat expand and contract with the movement within it. They both finished with their seed covering her breasts.

Hannah took the time to arrange the next men. On top of one again, another making sure her bum was as full as her womanhood while sharing a pair in her mouth. Both thrusts between her legs pressed against each other within her and triggered the most sensitive spot she had, causing her to shake again in climax.

Ving watched, aching to involve herself, as man after man gave their seed to the woman she loved. The noises of pleasure that sounded through the court forced her to climax without any physical contact.

Hannah could hear Ving moan, and as new men took their place and felt more seed landing on her breasts, she wished she had already been married so they could share the fealty as ruling monarchs. Her mouth free for a moment she shouted.

“As Empress, I declare this woman my wife and Queen!” Hannah held out her hand. “Queen Ving, will you join me in accepting this fealty?”

“We'll have a formal boring wedding later. This is how a real one is meant to be,” Ving replied as she stripped off her dress and got onto the bed.

Hope muttered a prayer to make it official.

From then on, the lovemaking was between the wives. The men who penetrated them and gave them their seed were a pleasurable ambience. They kissed, men pressing themselves between their lips and being licked by the tongues of both women before spilling seed into both of them, without ever breaking their passion. Their breasts pressed together to cover Ving in all the seed Hannah had to give her. Ving shook in climax as she felt filled with a man giving her the first of many in her wedding bed.

Inky watched everything going on. As happy as she was for her friend, she tried to keep focused on anything else that might happen. That's when she saw Paje and Juno holding hands. She was relieved beyond words to see Juno finally showing a fondness for someone else. A pair of curious tails wound up her legs adding yet more distraction. Inky was enjoying the test of her discipline.

Eventually, only one man remained. The former Steam King. As Hannah and Ving laid on the bed, both covered in the seed of almost fifty men, they watched him approach.

“Oh no, not you.” Hannah wagged her finger at the defeated man. “I already own your holdings. I have taken your wealth, your power, and even your crown. You don't get to have sex with me now. From where I’m laying, even in the seed of fifty men,-”

“Forty eight,” Ving corrected.

“-forty-eight men, I have already more thoroughly fucked you than ‘I’ have ever been,” Hannah declared.

He struggled to find words before settling on a petulant, “What now then?”

“This war could have been avoided if you had just freed the Emberborn. All this death because you wouldn't let people live free.” Hannah turned to Vile. “Think you can light his pants on fire and throw him out the window? I don't want to blind him on his way down.”

Vile grinned in vicious pleasure before stomping over to the former king, grabbing him by his neck, and throwing him out the hole in the window their ship had made with his pants aflame.

“This mean we have to get to the aftermath of all this?” Ving asked, snuggling up to Hannah.

“Fuck that,” Hannah replied. “Other people can worry about that. I have a wife to make sweet love to.”

************************

**** One Year Later

************************

Liddy marvelled at the imperial yacht. A far cry from what she knew Hannah had expected to retire with when she first signed on to her ship. The iconography of a red H set in a green one painted on the hull next to the name ‘Steampunk Harlot’ made her smile.

“She just went with that name, didn't she?” Emma asked as their courier ship pulled alongside the yacht in the air to let them dock.

“Hannah never lets things go like that,” Liddy smirked.

Blaze opened the door for them, and followed close behind as her bodyguard duties to the Imperial Chancellor required.

It took some searching, Emma splitting off to catch up with Mari and Easy when she spotted the married couple at the bar, but Liddy found the royal couple on the forward deck. She saw Hannah lounging in a chair holding a mirror to help tan her face evenly. Liddy tried to ignore the glare in her eyes as she looked at Ving, who was straddling a powerful-looking man in the chair beside the Empress.

“Well, you have truly mastered the art of useless nobility,” Liddy stated with a cocky tone.

“I should hope so,” Hannah quipped quickly in reply without moving. “I’d hate to think I learned nothing from you.”

Ving couldn't keep her hip movements in her normal rhythm at all as she laughed and fell forward onto the chest of the man inside her.

Liddy clicked her tongue at the naked women. “Glad to see you two haven't changed a bit.”

“Maybe I haven't,” Ving replied. “But she certainly has.”

As Hannah set down the mirror, Liddy saw the massive bulge in her belly and squealed in joy and excitement as she rushed over to rest her hands gently on it.

“Congratulations! You have any names yet?” Liddy asked excitedly, and squeaking when she felt a kick from the baby inside her friend.

“Well, if it's a girl, we thought about naming her, Trixie.” Hannah paused just for a moment to let Liddy get excited. “But I mean, what kind of sadistic bitch would name their kid ‘that’ of all things.”

Liddy reached up to throttle Hannah before remembering a baby was depending on her. “Good job, kid. Not even born and you already saved your mother's life.” Determined to get back in some way, Liddy carried on. “Who’s the father? Or do we need to teach you how math and statistics work?”

“Excuse me!” Ving interrupted with a little heat. “If that's how you are going to act, you can have this back.”

Liddy took the box Ving handed her and recognized it as the one holding the artefact. “You are the father?! It worked that way?! Of course, you took out your emberstone! Anything else?”

“Yes, of course,” Hannah replied and waited until Liddy was excited about the answer. “We used your bed.”