Lovecraft Express
Lovecraft Express
In the maze of cliffs leading into the Pacific that once was California a submarine surfaces. It docks in a secret sea cave below the ruins of Los Angeles. Humans and hybrids disembark and a few make their way to an ancient maglev train even deeper underground.
Robots load crates stamped: TOP SECRET onto the maglev train as a seven foot eight inch wolf-bear with green fur, orange tiger stripes and a purple Mohawk turns his face so that the chrome goggles covering both his eyes at once and permanently affixed to his face can view the crates. He is dressed in a black trench coat which feature armored plates to protect him from bullets and other hazards, tuff boots made for butt kicking and fingerless gloves showing off his purple fingers. A traditional zanbato is strapped across his back making him look like some kind of cyber-samurai as he turns to face a human who looks like some kind of drill sergeant.
"Hey, Sarge!" Kodyax Byzarrowulf asks of Sergeant Franklin Adams, "Did the sub pick up cargo as well on that island?"
"Don't worry about it, Kody," Sergeant Adams says with a tone that brooks no dissention as he gives his subordinate a stern look. "Just another objective achieved, it should show up in your pay as a bonus. Did you spend those vouchers in Chibi?"
"Yeah, I got an upgrade to my cyber-shades and a NASVAR attachment to my PIDMA," Kodyax admits freely with a smirk. "Some nice girls they have there or at least some nice looking androids."
They both laugh at the bad joke Kodyax made.
"These samples absolutely MUST get to Neo-Atlantis, Kody," Frank states in all seriousness. "Our defenses depend on it. What do you recall about the Organization for Global Revolution and Extortion?"
"Organized crime and terrorism for sale around the world; OGRE agents provocateur initiated the second American Civil War that ended up bankrupting the United States of America and splintering it into the five nations we have today." Kody states in response to the question. "They are mainly anarchists and atheists with little organization other than some by laws calling for cells to aid each other for certain operations."
"And we took out a factory of theirs," Sergeant Adams explains, "Well one serving cells interested in bio-terrorism in any case."
"Thos fucker give hybrids like me a bad name," Kodyax growls. "Granted I'm a chimera and on the extreme end as far s hybrids go..."
"Well, most OGRE agents are human and they prefer to keep it that way," Frank states grimly. "There are a few vat jobs but that's the extent of it. Of course they're not opposed to hybrids; they just take a page out of the NAT-C playbook on that front."
"Ug! I'm glad Silver Dragon Security is in Atlantyz," Kodyax grunts, "Are we in Texas now or the Mormon nation?"
"The Mormons are currently in control here I think," Sergeant Adams admits hesitantly as he contemplates this fact. "I know we have to stop in Vegas and that's definitely Mormon turf."
"How long are we staying in Vegas?" Kodyax asks excitedly.
"About a week," Frank returns, "Your time in Chibi was a bonus, Vegas is your scheduled downtime."
Something resembling a colossal octopus with ten arms and eyes on stalks emerges from the sea and starts attacking the robots.
"Defend the cargo!" Sergeant Adams orders at full volume.
Kodyax grabs his sword and charges the thing yelling a battle cry of "Not on MY Watch!" as his normally slow pace quickens considerably. He chops off one arm only to have five more grab his weapon and tear it from his hands. The huge blade is snapped as Kodyax takes out an assault shotgun.
The thing retreats after it absorbs the motes of light that escaped the zanbato after its destruction. Kodyax is infuriated at the loss of his new toy but there is little he can do about it. Dejected, he puts his long arm away and enters the train.
A steel gray rabbit woman with black hair joins Kodyax in his suite aboard the train as the lupursyn was given a field commission to Gunnery Sergeant due to his actions and thus is afforded his own semi private box for the journey. She is dressed in green Army fatigues but her hands and feet are obviously metal. Kodyax knows the rabbit as Keiko Yojimbo a "friend with benefits" of his and the change in her is a little disconcerting to him as when he last saw her, she had no cyber limbs and was a white rabbit.
"Keiko? Is that you?" Kodyax asks incredulously.
"Yeah, I stumbled my way into a death trap on the island," Keiko explains to his unspoken inquiry, "I survived but at the price of all four of my limbs." She sits on his lap and nuzzles him. "Am I still attractive?"
"Yeah, Keiko," Kodyax says before giving her a kiss and feeling up her rack. "Are theses limbs detachable?"
"Yeah," Keiko responds with a quizzical look on her face until she realizes what he's asking. "That's right I caught you jerking off to amputee porn; pervert!" She lightly slaps him. "All four limbs are detachable, what's on your dirty mind?"
"So in theory I could remove your limbs and make you just a torso," Kody intimates with a lusty grin.
"How private is this box?" Keiko asks as the train gets underway from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
"It is a sleep car," Kodyax prompts as Keiko kneels before him with a clang as her steel knees hit the floor.
Keiko undoes Kodyax's pants so as to expose his sheath and scrotum for her to lick and suckle in order to get his member out and ready to play. The trip via maglev train isn't going to be very long, a few hours at the most barring any unforeseen circumstances but they have a whole week in Vegas to play and the blow job she is giving him is just a taste of what will come. She may be a gun bunny but there are times Keiko just wants to submit to a predator for their mutual pleasure.
This isn't the first time Keiko has offered herself as a living love doll to Kodyax and it won't be the last either as the wolf-bear continually proves himself a capable and loving master but not a strict one. With the trip as short as it's going to be the only question becomes whether or not it's worth it for her to get undressed for him. Half way between Los Angeles and Las Vegas the train stops and red emergency lights switch on.
Both chimeras get an alert e-mail on their PIDMAs that a worm-squid has invaded the causeway and they are needed to convince it to move. Keiko is more annoyed at this than Kodyax as she's been waiting for some quality time with him since Chibi. Fortunately the both get new "toys" to play with, at least temporarily, when they answer the call.
Keiko gets a pair of shiny hand cannons to use as she loves that sort of thing as Kodyax gets a long arm that is a combination assault rifle, shotgun and grenade launcher all in one. The monster in question they are fighting is a hard shelled annelid as big as the train with a mass of tentacles on the front. It looks like something out H. P. Lovecraft's dark fantasies that were published in the pulps of the early 20th Century.
Humans and hybrids alike, including those with so much animal DNA that they resemble the animals from whom they borrowed genetic material from and thus are called chimeras, pile out of the train with some annoyance that their trip has been delayed. One human lines up a missile launcher and is captured and devoured shortly after setting off the rockets. A lesser hybrid with just ears and a tail to indicate her states is shooting an assault rifle at the thing when she is also caught and eaten.
Kodyax is more strategic in his use of his heavy combat weapon and when he is captured he fires grenade after grenade into the thing's gullet to dissuade it from eating him. Keiko is running all over the place in an effort to distract it and all efforts on the part of the monster fail to entangle her. It takes an extraordinary amount of ordinance but the thing is finally persuaded to move on and leave the train in peace after which everyone files back into the train and they continue on to Vegas without incident.
Once in Vegas the mercenaries are put up at the space age replica hotel Saturn X which was built last century in the style of the motor lodges and hotels of that era with a whole floor or three of coffin tubes for maximum occupancy. Les Baxter's "Space Escapade" plays on the local radio as the soldiers pile in for their first night. The hotel has a casino with slot machines and card tables as well as a buffet all in the style that was made famous in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, "The Jetsons" and their vision of the future that never actually came to pass; Kodyax has a run of good luck at the blackjack table with Keiko at his side and cashes in before his luck goes south.
The folks that run the buffet start counting the days when the mercs move on as Kody can certainly pack it in. As they dine they drink alien secretion cocktails from Tron the Beachcomber mugs originally from Tiki Farm which amuses Kodyax more than it does Keiko. When they are ready to retire for their first evening the pair strip naked with Keiko taking off her limbs with Kody's help.
Ancient anime including hentai is available s the pair cuddle in their coffin tube and watch "Captain Future" for a few episodes streamed directly to their cyber-goggles via their PIDMAs before they find some space themed hentai which helps to put them in the mood so to speak. Keiko is at the mercy of Kodyax who gropes her rack and groin to get her started as she groans in pleasurable appreciation. He touches a few other spots on her body before she texts him a command to stop teasing and start fucking her.
Kodyax chuckles at this and pins her to the mat and slowly inserts himself inside of her, which he knows makes Keiko melt as he kills her with kindness. All Keiko can do is lay back and enjoy the show as she whimpers in pleasure as he takes her slowly, surely and sensually. Fortunately the coffin they were assigned is large enough to accommodate them and their activity. .
The tubes are monitored for suspicious and illegal activity like smoking pot of snorting coke. Having sex in the tubes is fine, the attendants who end up stuck in the booth watching all the video feeds actually hope for it as it means free pornography for them, and the recordings usually end up on Screw-View, a kind of public access site for free porn on the inter-webs generally associated with U-View, an all purpose site except porn for fear of the Nat-Cs which features videos of old cartoons, films and feeds from various video sources that folks post for free. In fact the attendants recognize Kodyax from him many action videos of him taken by various firms for promotion and entertainment purposes.
Eventually Kodyax's knot forms fully trapping his cock in Keiko's pussy. He shoots his load into her while howling in pleasure which can be heard outside the coffin tube and the other mercenaries just smirk as they know what that sound means and a betting pool is set up as to whom did he fuck tonight. Inside the coffin tube Keiko and Kodyax cuddle on the mat as they drift off to sleep with the rabbit torso held tightly in the wolf-bear's arms much to her delight.
The hybrids wake up in their tube the next morning, get dressed and go to the breakfast buffet before trying some of the slot machines. State of the art slots centered around classic sci-fi abound in Saturn X. Lost in Space, Space Patrol and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet are the three machines they play and while thy don't do as well as at the blackjack table they still quit while they are ahead and make a good profit between them which they use for the day's activities.
Near the Saturn X motel is the International Science Fiction Museum which both Kodyax and Keiko are eager to visit. The Vegas location is just one of many with other locations in Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle just to name a few. Each museum is a little different with much of the Philadelphia collection dedicated to books and media related to those stories, Houston is based around perceptions of NASA and space exploration and Seattle is dedicated to cyberpunk and undersea media primarily.
Vegas' branch of the International Science Fiction Museum is dedicated to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood its archives holding the bulk of what was salvaged when Los Angeles and its surroundings was hit with a terrorist attack using suitcase nukes way back when. Each franchise has its own wing with costumes, props, weapons as well as general futuristic tools, and mock ups of vehicles used in each series.
All the incarnations of Star Trek are in one long wing opposite the exhibit dedicated to Star Wars in all its forms. Tom Corbett, Space Cadet has its own wing as does Lost in Space and Space Patrol. Each wing has commentary that folks can tune into with teir PIDMAs and both chimeras do that gladly as the pair meander through the halls and marvel at the collections with great enjoyment although a few humans comment that they could be on the modern incarnations of any of the franchises as aliens if nothing else should they apply themselves.
Kodyax asks an attendant android about Max Headroom, Buck Rogers and flash Gordon as those series are not present and is told that the Max Headroom display is in Seattle as they got most of the cyberpunk material including Max Headroom and Robocop while Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon are in Philadelphia as they are considered literary series that had visual media produced based on the original comic strips. Tek Wars and Starship Andromeda are included in the Star Trek exhibit as Tek Wars was created by William Shatner and Andromeda as created by Gene Roddenberry who also created Star Trek and because of that Earth: Final Conflict is also in the Star Trek wing. Star Gate, which Keiko is curious about is in Houston as is Dr.Who in memory of a famous furry resident of Dallas: Fuzz Wolf.
Fantasy movies and television shows are not covered by the International Science Fiction Museum in its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet which says that most branches do not touch on any aspect of fantasy or any aspect of science fiction that readily lends itself to fantasy such as steam punk even though fantasy came out of sci-fi and to many is still very much an aspect of general science fiction. Oddly enough the Philadelphia branch does have some fantasy but visitors are advised to look to the Fairy World permanent faire in Eugene, Oregon, Union of Territories and the Dungeons and Dragons museum in Chicago. Also mentioned is the Paizo Palace in Seattle which is apparently across the street from the branch there but not affiliated with it.
Visiting the museum takes all day and all the credits they won that morning but for both chimeras the experience was well worth the money spent. Lunch and Dinner are spent in the rooftop Gene Roddenberry buffet and café, although they were tempted to eat in the To Serve Man bistro atop the branch's collection of Rod Serling's memorabilia. Later that evening the chimeras attend a live demonstration by the Aliens Among Us Association which proves to be quite amusing as it tries to convince people that all America's woes were the work of alien beings from outer space who are still here today.
Neither chimera has the energy for sex after their foray to the museum but they do get some shower fun in before going to sleep. Morning is a repeat of yesterday save they play poker instead of slots and make a killing before cashing out. Despite the fact she lost her feet in battle Keiko is proving to be quite the lucky rabbit.
As they discussed the night before in the shower the chimeras visit the international Mystery and Horror Museum which also has branches in Seattle, Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia. Again the focus is on Hollywood in Vega, but very little television except shows that were based on old time radio, in fact old time radio really shines here even though it did have a presence in the Sci-Fi museum they went to the day before. Murder she wrote, Perry Mason and Matlock all have their own wings even if all of Alfred Hitchcock's films are lumped together in one huge hall. Anything to do with Edgar Allen Poe is in Philadelphia according to the FAQ while Seattle and Philly share Lovecraft works, Boston has all the material from the Jaws franchise in its own exhibit including material from Benchley's other big work: Beast.
Boston also had Dark Shadows with all the crime media related to Mystery is in Chicago. Classic movie monsters have their own wing although there is a lot more on the Creature than anything else as the bulk of Dracula and Frankenstein material is in the Philadelphia museums although material from the Fly and the Blob movies are here in the Vegas horror museum.
Slasher films have a huge presence although there is signage that a museum just for them is being built in Dallas. Zombie movies are all in New Orleans as are everything to do with the Exorcist and demons/devils by admission of the Vegas site. Above the Slasher wing is the Cannibal Buffet where Kody ax and Keiko take their meals while visiting the museum with gruesome animatronics that amuse both chimera, especially when robots come by and measure Keiko and estimate her calorie content but they take one scan of Kodyax with the mixture wolf, bear and human DNA and scurry away so as not to upset him.
Visiting the International Mystery and Horror Museum takes all day like the Sci-Fi museum did and was even more expensive when all was said and done. The evening's entertainment came from attending a live performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show that they found endlessly amusing. It was exhausting again but the chimera feel a little more frisky that night and have a good night fuck before going to sleep.
Day four sees their holding out as they keep winning and then go out to Luxor and Frankie's Tiki Room before coming home. Days five and six are spent lounging around the pool and having some fun. Finally on Day seven, the last day before moving on they visit the Rat Pack museum which strangely enough includes Liberace and Wayne Newton along with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior among other entertainers.
Kodyax is not as impressed by the Rat Pack museum as he was with other two they visited earlier in the week but still was entertained by the experience. Many of their fellow mercenaries are either missing or have to stay behind to work off debts incurred by their stay at Saturn X but the chimeras have actually managed to make a profit as they move on to the next site. When they arrived in Vegas it was expected they would go on to Chicago, then Philadelphia and then Atlantic City before boarding another submarine for Neo-Atlantis but squid-worms have destroyed the track from Vegas to Chicago.
A hidden track to Dulce, New Mexico in the Republic of Texas is opened up for them as the leave Vegas behind. Kodyax and Keiko o over virtual souvenirs, some of which are physical items that will be claimed later once their journey is ended, they got in Vegas including a chainsaw sword Kodyax bought to replace his lost zanbato. Keiko giggles at the fact that Kodyax now resembles a modern slasher classic vigilante in the Bloody Beast of Boston with that weapon purchase from the Ultra-Punk outlet in the Horror museum to which Kodyax just smiles fiendishly.
"OK, Kody," Keiko says in an annoyed tone, "You found that comment too amusing, What gives?"
"Oh, nothing much," Kodyax lies, "It's just that in my younger years I did some acting for Ultra-Punk's media labels."
"Don't tell me you WERE the Bloody Beast of Boston?" Keiko asks incredulously to which Kody just nods. "They never did credit the actor who played the monster..."
"They never do s I was under contract with the company that created me. They got the proceeds from my work until they went under." Kodyax states with a fiendish grin. "Now I get a portion of the royalties by arrangement with Silver Dragon Securities."
"Does Musashi get a part of that too?" Keiko asks. "Since he's the CEO of Silver Dragon and holder of at least my contract right now, Not that I want to switch mind you, Mister Mitsubishi is one of the best employers I've had."
"He should," Kodyax concedes, "I'm glad he picked up my contract as well." The emergency lights go on again and Kodyax grumbles: "No what?"
"ALL SECURITY PERSONNELL!" A digitized voice shouts over the train radio to everyone on board. "SHARK-WORM ATTACK! REPEAT: SHARK-WORM ATTACK!"
"Here we go again!" Keiko sighs and shakes her head.
Just like when the squid-worm attacked earlier Kodyax and Keiko are given the same kinds of weapons as last time. This time, however, there are two of them but unlike the squid-worm; shark-worms have telescoping jaws that are like huge jigsaw blades. While the shark-worms are smaller than the squid-worm, as the two of them together are roughly equal to the squid-worm in size, they are more agile but not so quick that the mercenaries can't hit them.
Grenades launched into their gullets prove to be the best method of convincing the shark-worms of moving on to easier prey, especially after one simulacrum soldier who is at the end of her life expectancy anyway, cloned from the DNA of pop stars of the last century, decides to play suicide bomber and purposefully get eaten so the explosives have maximum effect. Bill collectors would come after the company for her debts but get nothing due to the fact you can't collect from a corpse as even her internal organs are worthless on the black market. As the surviving shark-worm retreats the train moves to the back ops facility at Dulce.
Heavy tanks and helicopters bearing the emblem of a globe being crushed by a human hand attack the facility as the mercenaries have to man the hidden defenses to survive the OGRE onslaught. The missiles and turret howitzers are archaic by of the standards of this day and age but were state of the art a hundred years ago. Mole missiles from the heavy tanks destroy the train's engine which means another means out must be found.
As Kodyax mans a flak cannon a military zeppelin is found that partially uses alien technology for its operations and with this discovery the order is given to clear the skies. All upper tier armaments, including the ones being manned by Kody and Keiko, concentrate on he helicopters as the cargo is transferred from the train to the zeppelin for the journey. Once the choppers are shot down a massive electromagnetic pulse wave is generated to disrupt the tanks as the zeppelin takes off from the top of a false mesa.
Kodyax and Keiko fly above the deserts of New Mexico and Texas on the way to Houston hoping the worst of their ordeal is finally over. But things are never that easy as an OGRE helicarrier descends from the clouds above as gliding paratroopers take off and land inside with the help of Sergeant Adams. As OGRE troops begin to take over the airship Sergeant Adams is revealed to be a sleeper agent of the cartel put in place for just such an occasion.
Nobody has any firearms in the airship but all the OGRE troops, covered uniformly in black from head to toe with their logo emblazoned on their chests, have shock maces that act to overload a person's electrical system with voltage applied. Kodyax has his chain sword is intent on using it to even the odds. A slasher flick is in the making as Kody stalks the terrorists one by one to butcher them wholesale with his weapon as he leaves the leader he looked up to but now sees as a traitor for last.
The non-commissioned officer tries to use his former authority to get Kodyax to stand down but unfortunately for the human, the lupursyn will hear none of it. Sergeant Adams holds a supercharged cattle prod reshaped to look like a medieval bar mace in his right hand while Kodyax has both hands on his weapon which looks the nightmarish offspring of a shotgun marriage of a katana and a chain saw, the bladed teeth of which are currently spinning fast enough to be able to sever limbs quite easily right now. A staring contest ensues between the two soldiers while the airship actually does keep on traveling along during the whole ordeal with the helicarrier close behind as the human nor the hybrid seems to blink.
Outside of the zeppelin the helicarrier has its engines clogged by aerial jellyfish and starts to smoke. Inside the zeppelin Sergeant Adams swings his mace at Kodyax only to have it bounce off his coat harmlessly. Kodyax takes the opportunity to lop off his hand which makes the human drop to his knees.
Kodyax takes the opportunity to decapitate his former commanding officer and now turncoat with extreme prejudice as larger aerial jellyfish descend to attack the helicarrier. The helicarrier is too busy fighting jellyfish to pursue the zeppelin as it escapes the notice of the jellyfish, the larger ones are roughly the size of a modern skyscraper, and makes it to Houston without incident. Once they arrive in Houston the cargo is loaded onto a rocket as OGRE helicopter gunships approach.
The two hybrids, Kodyax and Keiko, board the rocket to guard the cargo as a countdown begins for lift off. Other mercenaries fight the gunships to make sure the rocket goes off as planned. The rocket takes off with a hitch and enters the stratosphere only to fall back to Earth and splashes down off the coast of Cape Canaveral in Florida, Atlantyz.
While in space the pair are weightless in their capsule as they look out the windows and see years worth of space junk as satellites of all types, commercial and military (including the beginnings of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars; missile defense system that was supposed to destroy Russian nukes before they got the to the US) just float about around them. They think they see a flying saucer cruise by them before going back to Earth but they put that down to their overactive imaginations still stimulated by their time in Vegas. A lot of things for the two to see but no trouble as they complete their rocket slingshot to their next destination.
A submarine is waiting for them in the Atlantic t receive the cargo and take it Neo-Atlantis as originally planned. The trip to Neo-Atlantis is uneventful, which actually disappoints the hybrids who are still on guard duty, as they wait on the arrival of their original weapons. As the trip comes to a close Keiko and Kodyax are set up to guard the cargo until someone official comes to claim it.