Iron Relics

Story by Leo_Todrius on SoFurry

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#5 of Living Truce

Written by Leo_Todrius

Commissioned by beardbear

A hundred and fifty years after a cataclysm left Earth uninhabitable, a team of humans return to check the planet's viability... but a shuttle crash plunges them deep into the roots of the cultures that once shared the planet, changing everything forever.


Iron Relics Written by Leo_Todrius Commissioned by Beardbear

Earth... it was an ancient word, one that had come to mean cradle, grave and the biggest mistake that had ever been known. Now it was likely going to be the grave site for six more souls. The atmospheric shuttle shuddered as it penetrated the lower levels of the atmosphere, plunging down beneath the thick clouds of nuclear winter. A purple haze faintly graced the tiny oval windows of the shuttle windows, the limited sunlight that made it through the clouds.

Blue eyes gazed out of the window, looking at the ruined landscape speeding by beneath... sterile seas and rivers, treeless expanses, the broken husks of homes and perfectly aligned keels of automobiles, left behind and rusted until they looked like skeletons. It was the folly of civilization, the folly belonging to every race that had once called Earth home. As bad as it looked, though, the biosphere was on the mend. Scans had indicated the biosphere had stabilized. It was that discovery that had prompted the mission in the first place. Jameson leaned back from the window, sitting against his chair, looking to his five teammates. Jameson's blond hair was soaked with sweat. He couldn't imagine what the others were going through.

The re-entry had been meticulously planned, the Human Interstellar Science Transport sent to take samples of Earth and test its viability after a hundred and fifty years of non-involvement... and yet, with all of the planning, it had been one of the shuttle's primary engines that had been unpredictable. Alarms sounded as the transport hurtled toward the surface, the pilot trying desperately to regain enough control to level their decent or at least come in over more favorable terrain.

"HIST transport to Brigand; all attempts at engine restart have failed. Attempting to bypass power assist for flight mechanics." Came the voice of the co-pilot, Hale. His brown hair was buzzed short, his eyes focused. Despite being scared, Hale seemed to be the most calm of the crew. The radio sparked to life but replied with only static.

"The Brigand's not going to hear us through that atmospheric soup..." The mission engineer murmured from where he knelt at the back of the craft, trying to get the engine to start again.

"Maybe less complaining, Cal, and more focus on living?" Hale called back. The engineer smirked, sliding a replacement circuit board into the engine block. While it didn't do anything to repair the external damage, the initialization procedure identified the problems and bypassed as many of them as possible. The shuttle lurched softly as the engine powered back on. Control boards lit up again. The pilot, a young man with black hair and green eyes, pulled up on the stick, grunting as he used all his strength. The shuttle responded by pulling up from its nose dive, but they'd dropped too far, too fast.

"I'm going to look for a place to set down. Cal, strap back in." The pilot announced. The others grimaced.

"No chance to get back to the Brigand, Trip?" came the voice of one of the last two members of the crew. Ben was responsible for biological sciences and he wasn't entirely sure about the viability of staying on the planet. In the pilot's chair, Trip shook his head.

"Not enough power... We'll be lucky to land." Trip replied, shifting the shuttle's power more into keeping them aloft than forward momentum. The shuttle began to shudder and groan from the strain, but at last Trip's eyes focused on the perfect spot... a perfectly rectangular field next to some mostly intact buildings.

The crew was silent as they waited to learn their fate. Ben reached over and took his partner's hand, looking into Ethan's eyes. They'd been through a lot together, but they knew what they'd signed on for. If this was the end, they had no regrets. Trip tried to slow the shuttle even more, but the damaged engine couldn't take it. The engine cut out again and the transport impacted the field, sending out a spray of dirt as they grazed the surface, plowing along.

Sparks shot out from conduits along the ceiling as the shuttle skidded along, approaching the end of the field... and a rather large Y shaped metal object. Trip and Hale grimaced, fearing for sure that they were going to hit the metal. The shuttle lost more and more momentum before the bow nudged the metal post. The entire crew sighed with relief, going limp in their chairs. Trip started a diagnostic to check for hull breaches and system status, but Hale looked out of the window at the rusted, stripped metal resting against the ship.

"What is that thing?" Hale murmured.

"I think it is a football goal post. It would make sense; the field we landed in is probably a football field." Ethan chimed in, glad his role as mission historian wasn't going to waste.

"Football..." Hale murmured in wonder.

"Propulsion and communications are completely dead... but environmental systems are fully functional. We're not going to get this transport back into space, but we're not going to suffocate or starve either." Trip stated.

"So, what, we wait for rescue?" Jameson asked.

"Wait being the key word... The Brigand doesn't have another entry shuttle. They'll have to approach the Dwarf council on Mars and requisition one, and they haven't exactly been the most receptive to us." Cal smirked.

"Well, if we're going to be here a while... We might as well carry out our mission." Jameson said, feeling a bit more assertive. The others turned to look at him for a moment but Hale smiled at that.

"Sounds good to me kid. Cal, Trip and I will try to get the radio working again so they can find us when they return. Jameson, Ben, Ethan... You have your work cut out for you." Hale said. The scientists unstrapped themselves from their chairs and stood up, stretching a bit before they headed to get environmental suits for the first foray onto Earth in over one and a half centuries.

****

The old double doors creaked and then popped open, allowing the purple light from the outside to spill into the long forgotten halls. The sound of the distant wind was accompanied by the faint hiss of every breath that came from the humans' environmental suits. Jameson, Ben and Ethan moved into the building, looking around with keen eyes, shoulder mounted lights adding spots of illumination as they advanced.

"I was right, it is a school..." Ethan grinned, feeling quite lucky at their find. Ethan moved forward, coming up to a glass display case. While the images inside had faded, there was enough left to see what they depicted... Sports teams, debate teams, students with high grades. What surprised Ethan, though, was the makeup of the students. There were elves, orcs, dwarves, humans and even other species all working together with seamless harmony... the way things had once been.

Ethan felt a pang of sorrow in his heart, wondering what life would have been like for the children of Earth if the world hadn't ended in the name of technological advancement... if the entire network of fusion reactors hadn't melted down. Ethan lifted his head, looking over at Jameson as the blond continued down the hallway, holding out his scanner pack. He approached a water fountain and pressed the metal bar. Nothing emerged.

"Thirsty?" Ben smirked.

"Just trying to see if I can get a water sample, but a hundred and fifty years is a long time for water pressure and plumbing." Jameson replied.

"We're in a high school, for all we knew it never worked." Ethan grinned.

"I can't imagine what it would have been like... I envy your research Ethan. There isn't a single human left alive that has memories of living on Earth, but you manage to hold onto our past." Jameson said as he moved forward, pausing. He turned, angling his lights up to hit the wall above their heads. Ethan moved over, reading the words.

"Truce High School..." Ethan murmured, "We landed in Truce?" he murmured in surprise, looking around with more interest.

"Truce?" Ben asked curiously.

"It was the site of a peace treaty that put an end to racial tensions, at least until the chain reaction." Ethan replied.

"I've got trace levels of radiation but they should be well within the save limits. Ben, can you confirm?" Jameson asked. Ben reached to his hip and pulled out his own scanner pack, turning it on. It began probing the surrounding areas, showing a layout of the school. There was a soft chirp as an indicator appeared, then another, until eight spots of higher radiation appeared in all. Ben was baffled.

"It's only my preliminary guess, but for the most part if looks survivable... but there are a few hot spots around here." Ben said. Jameson's brow furrowed.

"I haven't picked up any hot spots." He said, moving over. Jameson and Ben compared their scanners before the answer became clear.

"You're looking for lethal radiation from the chain reaction..." Ben commented, "My scanner's set to a broad spectrum." Ben said.

"So there is a radiation source that isn't the same kind of radiation as the reactor fallout?" Ethan asked, confused.

"The closest signal is this way." Ben said, leading them down the hall, past several classrooms and rows of lockers before they turned, heading toward a set of stairs leading down half a story.

"It might be some sort of reaction certain objects had to the radiation, releasing their own energies... but I have no idea." Jameson said, shaking his head.

"I guess the good news is that our mission's largely been a success so far?" Ethan asked. Jameson smiled at that as he opened the door ahead of them.

"It does look that way, despite all the bad luck we've had so far." Jameson smirked. The three made their way down the stairs, emerging into a locker room. There were bins full of towels, showers, everything one might expect. While Ben tried to narrow in on the radioactive hot spot, Ethan moved over to the office seated in the corner of the locker room. The door was locked but the windows made it easy to see in. There was a newspaper on the wall, pinned up with thumb tacks. 'Dwarves complete terraformation' read the headline, the sub heading discussing space colonization in general. Ethan had to admit it was lucky that so many had been off world when the cataclysm came, or their corner of the galaxy would have become very quiet indeed.

"I found it!" Ben called out, gaining the attention of the other two. They moved over, looking at where Ben was picking up a rather large ring of metal. There was a slight gap in the ring through which a smaller needle like protrusion extended.

"Are you sure you should be touching that?" Ethan asked.

"It's not a harmful radiation, but what is it?" Ben asked.

"Looks almost like some sort of nose ring to me..." Jameson commented. Ethan moved to get a better look.

"But it's so big..." Ben murmured.

"We should pick up the other pieces; take them back to the shuttle lab. We need to run more tests, but so far these are the only variable with the potential to affect habitability. We need to know more." Jameson said. The other two nodded, looking to Ben.

"Where's the next piece?" Ethan asked. Ben looked at his scanner.

"Looks like... a big room, maybe the mess hall." Ben said, tucking the nose ring into a sample case on his hip before leading them toward the rear locker room exit.

****

After an hour and a half in the unlit school, the bright lights of the transport were a welcome change for the scientists. Ben remained in his environmental suit, setting their finds onto a tray in the science lab. They had found one nose right, two rings, a thick and heavy earring and four metal bracelets. The items showed a variety of cultural influences and all had the slight, baffling radioactive signal... but the computer had not yet been able to determine any risk of damage to human tissue. Ben turned and moved out of the lab, shutting the door before he reached up and removed his helmet, taking a breath of fresher air. He looked up as Hale moved forward.

"How's it look out there?" Hale asked, running a hand over his short buzzed hair.

"Bleak but livable. The radiation from the cataclysm has faded away, but it killed off so many species before it ran its course. We should contact the Elves and Dwarves; see what species they have in their seed banks. If we could re-seed Earth it could go a long way toward making it more habitable and cleaning up the contaminants in the atmosphere." Ben explained.

"I'll make that a priority once we're rescued." Hale replied. Ben shook his head a little.

"No luck with the radio then?" Ben asked.

"Cal thinks he might be able to get it to broadcast a simple beacon for them to home in on, but its going to take a while. The rest of us were going to try and get some sleep." Hale said. Ben glanced over his shoulder at the lab before looking back at hale.

"I might run a few more tests before I turn in myself. I want to see if I can run one of the objects through decontamination." Ben said.

"Good luck with that. Just don't stay up too late." Hale smirked, turning to head off. Ben smirked as he lifted his helmet and slipped it into place before moving back through the airlock into the lab. He looked at the rings and the bracers, then the readout on the screens. Every biological scan deemed them harmless, but they were still producing some faint degree of energy. It was baffling... but Ben had to see if they could be cleaned.

The selection of which one to decontaminate was fairly simple. The large nose ring was the simplest design with only two pieces. It would be the least missed if the decontamination process failed. Ben lifted the ring up from the tray and started moving it toward the sterilizer, though as he held it in his gloved fingers, he started to gaze at the ring, feeling a strange sense of contentment washing over him.

Ben wondered what strong, strapping male might have worn the ring, what its ceremonial or social purposes were. He admired the bronze color, the thickness, the weight of it. He started to think how sexy it would be to have such a nose ring, to break the monotony of style that the humans had fallen into. The scientist continued to gaze at the nose ring, entranced by it, feeling a stiffness forming in his pants.

He could see it in his mind, how amazing and powerful he'd look with that. The other guys didn't even know what they were missing. Ben licked his lips as all rational thought fled from his mind. Fears of contamination disappeared as he was mesmerized by the rather simple metallic ring. Ben couldn't resist anymore. He reached up and pulled his helmet off, dropping it to the floor where the visor cracked. He panted gently, bringing the ring up slowly, his finger instinctively pulling the bar back.

Ben's hands almost trembled with excitement as he slid it into place, feeling the metal resting against his septum... and with it in place, he let go. The bar slipped through his flesh and the nose ring was his, filling his nostrils, hanging all the way down to his upper lip. A wave of pleasure flowed through Ben, the likes of which he'd never experienced before. The danger of contamination, breaking rules, it only served to arouse him more... and that too was something Ben couldn't resist anymore.

The scientist began to pull and tug at his environmental suit, trying to get the straps and buckles open. Before long he got the crotch panel open and revealed his swollen manhood, bloated and red with blood... but it looked different than usual, darker than usual, almost as if it had gotten a tan. Ben gazed down at his meat with pride he'd never felt before. He reached down to stroke himself off but he almost cringed as he felt the synthetic materials of his glove on his cock. It was just too sterile.

It only took a moment for Ben to pull his glove off, revealing that his cock wasn't the only aspect of his body changing colors. His fingernails had shifted from a neutral white to a dark brown, thickening. Hair was starting to sprout from his fingers as well, but Ben didn't pay attention. He wrapped his fingers around his shaft and moaned, knowing that was how it was supposed to feel.

With careful, deliberate strokes, Ben started to jerk himself off, his thickening hand sliding up and down his meat... meat that seemed to grow with every thrust. Six inches, eight, ten, twelve. Each pump made it longer and fatter and darker, the flesh turning purple and then brown. The mushroom shaped head started to flatten a bit, looking far more animal. It wasn't the only thing.

Hot breaths passed in and out of Ben's nostrils, nostrils that were widening. His nose had once been slight and angled, now it was broad and manly. His body seemed to be heading that direction in general. Ben's chest piece grew tight, his sleeves filled out more and his pant legs groaned with added mass... but all Ben could focus on was his shaft.

Ben tipped his head back, grunting and moaning, feeling the hot metal resting on his lip. He felt so alive, so amazing, so powerful. The endorphins were so strong that he hadn't felt the pain of the building pressure in his head even as two sharp horn tips began to break through the skin. The horns curved out and up from his temples, pushing through the flesh, extruding out at an impressive rate.

Ben brought his other hand down to work his changing cock, panting and moaning, his moans turning into moos. As his horns stretched out wider and wider from his head, his face moved to follow suit. His nose grew wider, his lips stretched and then his face pushed out. Ben could feel his teeth flattening, but he didn't care. He felt amazing. The only discomfort came from the tightness of his environmental suit but that discomfort faded as the suit tore and cracked, reveling furry muscled flesh beneath.

The fur that had started from his chest and groin had spread rapidly through the suit before coating his hands and creeping up his neck. The fur covered his cheeks and chin, grew into his hairline and covered his nose. Before long Ben wasn't really human anymore, what with his muzzle and horns. His nose ring no longer seemed too big on the huge male... but there was one change remaining. As Ben's shoes stretched and cracked, it wasn't a foot that emerged... but a hoof. His toes had grown together, his toenails growing over the flesh like a shield.

One loud moo came from the minotaur's lips as he felt himself slip over the edge, his furry balls sending thick yellow spunk to shoot from his fat cow cock. Benjamin shuddered in bliss, feeling so incredibly amazing. He had to share the pleasure with the others... He had to let them feel the joy. Ben turned, moving toward the lab airlock. He opened the panel and switched to the manual over-ride, convincing the computer that the lab had been sterilized and was ready for a maintenance cycle. The inner door opened and then the outer door opened, breaching any barriers between the rest of the crew and the mysterious objects that had been recovered.

****

The crew had been told to rest and that's just what Hale had done. He'd felt exhausted after the crash, at least initially. He'd nearly passed out when a wave of energy had filled him. He tossed and turned, shifting on his bunk, reaching up to scratch at his face. His fingers found the grating tips of stubble. Hale didn't think much of it and tried to will himself back to sleep, but something was most certainly happening.

Hale had always been rather meticulous about his appearance, keeping his hair buzzed short. While it kept him looking clean cut, it didn't take long for the dark brown stubble to grow out to be just as long as the hair on his head, and once it had caught up it all started to grow at an accelerated rate.

The co-pilot's hand drifted up, lifting his shirt to scratch at his stomach, a stomach usually kept clean now covered in hair. While Hale was used to the occasional appearance of stubble, a hairy stomach was not something he was used to. His brown eyes opened and he looked down, his eyes widening in shock. Sure enough, his stomach was hairy, as were his arms and even his hands.

Hale pushed out of bed and stumbled over to his mirror, looking at his reflection... a reflection he didn't recognize. His hair was getting shaggy and so was his beard. His forming mustache grew down over his upper lip and his bottom lip looked swollen. As confused as Hale was about the hair growth, he reached a finger up and slid it along his lower lip. He winced as he found something sharp - a tusk.

Pulling his bottom lip down, Hale saw that he now possessed not one but two distinct tusks. They pushed out of his jaw, growing up past the lip line, curving gently to either side of his mouth. Hale looked at his reflection, at the beard and the tusks. He reached up to touch his ears, feeling how the lobes had stretched into points. Hale knew it had to be the artifacts, and if they were affecting him he'd have to warn the rest of the crew.

Hale turned and moved for the door to his cabin but before he got there he collapsed, groaning as his legs ached and throbbed, growing out longer. His arms stretched as well, his shirt riding up on his torso. Hale had never felt so empowered or so weakened before in his life. He lay on the floor, convulsing gently, watching his skin shift from pink to yellow to green, the brown hair making such a nice match for it... and the more he watched, the more he felt alright about it all... He'd never dreamt he'd look so good in green.

****

Trip grunted gently in his sleep, feeling an ache in his bones. He'd felt them many times before, but not in years. It was the sensation of growing pains, but as Trip moved under the covers; his body didn't feel quite right. If anything, it felt more like it had a few years ago. His legs and arms were stockier, his torso shorter... With every passing moment, Trip was shrinking. He had started at five foot eleven and was down to five foot six... but while his body compressed, that mass wasn't disappearing. It was being converted.

The pilot's bones strengthened, his muscles thickened and his body grew quite dense. His shirt grew tight across his chest as curls of black hair grew out from his collar. Trip rolled over though he was in for a rude shock, nearly crushing his erection. His eyes snapped open at that and then he groaned, his arousal hitting him all at once.

Trip closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the heat radiating out from his groin. As he hit five feet tall, his shaft seemed larger merely by comparison. Trip reached a hand into his pants to give himself a few strokes, but that wasn't enough. His sword needed a sheath and he was going to get himself one. Trip pushed out of bed, his green eyes focusing on the door. He moved forward, each step cementing his changes.

Trip's black hair grew out, hanging past his eyebrows, covering his ears, dropping down the nape of his neck. His shoulders broadened, his back hunched and his chest pushed out. His shirt was stretched so tight it tore around the arms, the fabric slinking down to reveal a hairy chest with curls of black hair. Trip made it as far as the next bunk room, slamming his fist against the door panel.

The metal barrier slid open, revealing Jameson sitting on his floor with his back to the wall, panting as he masturbated with one hand and stroked his blond mustache with the other. The change had caught Jameson by surprise, his cock growing longer while the rest of him compressed. His mustache covered his upper lip and hung down past his jaw on either side of his chin as a shorter coating covered his cheeks. Even his brow seemed thicker, tougher.

Jameson looked up at Trip with a look of fear, confusion and lust. Trip, however, lacked any fear. He charged forward and grabbed Jameson by the neck, tossing him onto the bed. Jameson grunted as the pilot came down on him, grinding their fat cocks together. Jameson gazed up into the green eyes of his apparent partner as Trip tangled his fingers in the blond scientist's shirt and tore it open.

The blond moaned loudly as a thickening forest of hair was revealed, his nipples the only meat still visible through the thickness of it all. Trip reached out, grazing his fingers through the hair possessively before he leaned down to kiss Jameson. Jameson felt Trip's strength and dominance and gave little resistance, and as they embraced, their changes continued. While Jameson's beard remained stylized, Trip's started to grow out with abandon. His mustache thickened, the hair on his cheeks pushed out and the black hair flowed down from his jaw.

Jameson's feet twitched and throbbed as they made out, his toes growing fatter and longer, the arch of his foot elongating and his heels growing. Trip's feet followed suit, their bodies solidifying in their more compact, durable forms. Trip's tongue pumped in and out of Jameson's mouth and Jameson welcomed the squirming muscle, feeling the pilot's black mane of a beard cover him.

As much joy as Trip got from frotting against Jameson, he had come with a purpose. His muscled hands grabbed Jameson's thick hips, lifting them up. Jameson instinctively spread his legs and his ass cheeks in the process. A lewd, hungry grin crossed Trip's bearded face before the dwarf thrust forward. Jameson arched his back, clenching his ass around the barbarian's tool. Hundreds of years of evolution had been stripped away, reducing both men to writhing beasts of sensual passion... beasts that were no longer human, but dwarves.

Trip pounded into Jameson, filling his hairy ass with dwarf cock, stretching him and exploring his depths. Jameson was so far into his lust that his cock began to spray and drizzle cum all over his stomach and even as Trip joined in, he kept thrusting through his orgasm, his cock churning the cum inside his partner. The two were lost to the pleasure, that much was sure.

****

Ethan yawned a bit as he laid back on his bed, tapping his finger on the tablet computer resting on his be. Work had helped distract him for a while, but the crash had really taken a lot out of him. He was exhausted and stressed and his muscles were quite stiff. He scrolled through the history of Truce High School, of its formation and the peace celebrations. There were a few articles about various sports wins but then... then came a flood of articles. 'Human Ambassador's son transformed into Dwarf', 'Rash of Transformations', 'Identities of new Generation Optional'. Ethan was absolutely stunned.

The historian dug further into the articles, finding everything he read hard to believe. The articles had been published in the twenty first century and yet they were crediting the changes to magic, but then Ethan found embedded video. He opened up an old youCast video and watched as an elf teenager slipped a collar onto himself and began to change. His muscles bulked out, his teeth grew sharp, his face forced into a muzzle and fur exploded from his body. In no time he was a drooling, snarling werewolf.

Ethan gasped at that, but reminded himself how good people were at special effects... but if it was a special effect, how was it all over the news? And had it started at Truce? Ethan expanded his search to racial transformations. The bulk of the results came from around the time of Truce High's opening but there were stories and legends dating back centuries. There was documented evidence of the elvish general Yulan turned into an orc by his enemies during the opening years of the war, even a legend passed down as oral tradition about an elf born with the heart of a dwarf until he was turned into one and accepted by the Cobalt Mountain.

While the records showed a variety of means, there seemed to be one particular commonality among them all... trinkets. In many cases there was an object imbued with magical properties. Even a day before, Ethan never would have believed in magic. He came from a world of science, a world in space... but while the Dwarves hid beneath the surface of Mars and the Elves lived in the oceans of Europa, they all had a connection to Earth. This was their past, and it all made a strange sort of sense. It was then that Ethan remembered the radiation not deemed harmful.

Ethan sprung out of bed and moved for the door but he stumbled and nearly fell, his feet hitting the deck far before he expected them too. He grunted and winced, assuming it was a difference in gravity. He reached for the door panel but his hand missed it, hitting the wall too high. Ethan tried to shake his disorientation off, not realizing he was already four inches taller than he had been.

The scientist emerged from his quarters and climbed up the ladder toward the science deck. He'd been given the most remote quarters, not that he minded. Usually it meant he was undisturbed while studying. Ethan rose up to the science deck, his eyes falling across the lab... and a most startling discovery. The lab doors were open - both of them. Ethan gasped and reached for the last rung, but as he did he was grabbed by the wrists and lifted up, his body dangling at the mercy of a furry brown minotaur.

"Lover... I have a present for you..." Ben said, his voice sinfully deep. He brought a pair of the bracers up, clamping them around Ethan's wrists. Ethan gasped out as a heat spread into his body. The minotaur dropped him and Ethan crawled back, trying to pry the bracers off but he could feel the energy saturating him. His forearms bulged, his biceps and triceps swelling. His arms became huge and then so did his chest. Ethan watched his shirt grow tight... but he wasn't just growing.

Ethan panted as he watched dark black lines swirl up his arms, settling into tribal tattoos, a pattern that had been lost for centuries. As the tattoos sunk into his flesh, a green tinge spread out from them, wrapping around his arms. His natural body hair darkened as the pigment spread, turning black. Ethan moaned gently, looking at his massive, dense arms. His upper torso didn't match the rest of his body, at least not yet. He looked back up at Ben, at his boyfriend... now a Minotaur.

The minotaur strode forward, stroking his huge cow cock, licking his muzzled lips, his heavy nose ring hanging from his nostrils. Ethan looked up at the massive male and felt an instinctive attraction as well as the underlying love of Ben... and he could see the appeal of the nose ring. The magical objects had been designed to be attractive, to enhance what the wearer was. Ben's hand dripped with minotaur sperm as he came to a stop in front of Ethan. Ethan reached out, wrapped a green hand around Ben's wrist and pulled his lover's hand closer.

Ethan opened his lips and began to lap at the hand of his lover. Ben moaned as he watched Ethan give in so easily, coating his lips and tongue in bull slime. Ethan groaned in delight at how different it tasted, so much saltier and muskier, potent like the embodiment of sex itself. Before long the fury brown hand was clean and Ethan plunged his lips around the bull's cock itself.

Ben grabbed onto Ethan's head, ramming his boyfriend's skull around his cock. Ethan flexed his arms as he sucked, reaching out to rub the minotaur's furry legs. Ethan's arms and chest were fully green now, the coloring spreading outward from his core. The color spread up his throat and across his jaw, a jaw line that was changing. Ethan had never been a robust man, but with each slurp of the bull cock in his mouth, his mouth was widening, becoming squarer.

As Ethan's lips turned dark green, they began to swell and round, looking more plump and juicy. Ethan's jaw popped as his lower jaw began to extend, giving him an under bite. Ben couldn't believe how strange it was to have the lips at different points, but he soon tipped his horned head back as he felt the next set of changes. Two slightly yellowed tusks were rising up on either side of Ben's shaft, anchored deep into Ethan's jaw.

Ethan and Ben gazed at one another with love, growing just as much as Ethan did. The human's spine stretched, his legs elongated, his hair grew shaggy and black and his eyes turned to a brilliant shade of violet. The green swept across the rest of his face, covering his nose as it broadened and the nostrils flared. Even Ethan's legs were thickening like the trunks of trees, but all that growth left little room for his clothing.

The sound of fabric tearing came as his shirt gave out, splitting down the middle. It fell off harmlessly, revealing slabs of emerald muscle and black chest hair. The pants were the next to go, the underwear horribly stretched over a massive mound of orc meat. The tent began to stretch, rising upwards before the elastic split. The underwear launched off of Ethan's groin like ammo from a slingshot as a fat log of green cock sprung out, the mushroom shaped head disappearing beneath a layer of flesh as Ethan's foreskin re-grew, swallowing up and recapturing the fleshy gland before a gush of precum leaked from the tip.

It was more than enough to send Ben over the edge. He bellowed a resounding moo through the halls as his furry brown balls tugged up and his shaft began to pump his seed down Ethan's throat. Ethan gulped at the sperm, swallowing it greedily, some rolling down his chin to drip on his chest. He reached to rub the seed into his chest hair proudly, knowing now just as always he belonged to Ben.

****

Grunts, moans, gratified screams and wet sloshing filled the reactor room of the HIST transport. Cal had been trying to restore the radio when he'd noticed the drop of power in Lab containment. A quick view of the security footage revealed what Ben had become, and soon the rest of the crew. Cal had locked himself in to try and shield himself from whatever was going on, but as scared as he was... he was also aroused. Cal sat on the floor beneath a reflective ceiling, staring at video feeds of fucking orcs and dwarves and minotaurs, better than any porn he'd ever seen... particularly because he'd only seen straight porn until now, but there was something about the corruption of his crew that was irresistible.

Cal pumped his hand up and down his cock, watching the others go at it, not paying attention to the fact that his knuckles were getting hairy or that copper colored strands of chest hair were starting to poke up from his collar. Cal's only regret was that he felt so tired and heavy. Perhaps that weakness was what made them susceptible. Cal readjusted his back against the wall, not realizing that he had to keep changing positions because his body was shrinking. His vertebrae compacted, his ribs grew tighter together, the bone density of his arms and legs shifted as they shrank, reinforcing how thick and durable they were.

The engineer watched Ben mount Ethan, then Hale stumble in on Trip and Jameson to join in on their fun. Cal felt like such a pervert, but being a pervert felt so good. He reached up to pinch his fat, plump nipple and as he did, he tipped his head back and let out a moan... but through half lidded eyes, he noticed something was different. There was redder in his reflection than there should have been.

Cal's eyes opened slowly, taking in his appearance. He watched as fuzz grew in across his upper lip, turning red. There was a flutter in his heart, a feeling of pride and a pull. He'd been forced to remain clean shaven since he entered the service and he had entered the service before he'd had anything to shave. The fuzz was manlier than he'd ever been allowed to get and somehow that was sexier than even working his cock.

Cal reached up and stroked the red hairs, and to his delight, he felt them grow longer in his hand. He pet and stroked them, all but pulling them longer with his fingers. He felt the mustache stretch out around the corner of his lips, dropping down longer. His fingers moved to pet the mustache in the middle, trying to coax it thicker, but as much attention as he gave to his stache, the changes spread.

Stubble was pushing out across the engineer's cheeks, making them as red as fire like the hair on his head, hair that was growing wilder and pushing out as well. It grew down his neck and hung over his ears, brushing the tips of his shoulders. Cal groaned hard, panting as his heart raced. His cock remained perfectly hard without being touched, the engineer gleaning so much sexual gratification from his forming manly traits. His mustache continued to grow longer on the sides but the hairs were spreading out wide and frizzing out. Cal wanted to concentrate his manliness. Using the reflection above him, he carefully braided one side of his mustache and then moved to the other. He felt the thick cords hanging down on either side of his mouth, freeing him up to pet the fuzz on his cheeks, fuzz that was growing out into a burly, bushy sheet of red hair... but it wasn't long enough yet.

Cal raked his fingers through his growing burls of red hair, feeling them stretch and grow, fanning out wider. His face disappeared behind a mane of red and he loved it, but it wasn't just his face. His hair was hanging heavier from his head, draped over his shoulders. Cal loved it all. It was as if he had gone hair mad. He felt his beard grow to two inches in length, then four, then seven and ten. His fingers began to manipulate the hair as if he was back in the engine, curling them into more braids. He felt masterful, manly and powerful and it all went right to his cock.

It was hard to keep from cumming. Cal wanted to make the pleasure last as long as possible. He shook his head, feeling his thick red hair cascade down his broad shoulders and back. His chest was covered in a mountain of hair. His beard stretched to his Adam's apple, his collar bone and then descended over his rounding chest and swelling stomach. Cal was embodying the idealized form of the dwarf, a manly man with no regard to anything but his strength, pride and pleasure... and the engineer had never felt more at home.

Cal shuddered as he came without even touching his shaft; spurts of ivory cum splattering out across the radiation shielding that covered the floor. He moaned deeply, huffing and panting, but still he worked his beard and hair... not just for the sake of enjoying it, but to get ready. Slowly Cal stood up and dusted himself off, removing his baggy and ill fitting clothing. He ran his stubby fingers through his hair before he pushed out of the reactor room. It was time to go join the party and take part in some team bonding exercises.

****

The board room of the Brigand was empty, the U shaped table barren except for the admiral at one end and Trip on the other. Trip's black hair and beard seemed steely in the spot light of the otherwise dark room. The admiral scrolled through reports from the various crews that had been sent to deal with the issue, as well as the medical staff and the forensics laboratories. Trip was slightly wary of the long silence, but he understood the protocol. At last the admiral looked up, still not used to having a Dwarf on his ship.

"Trip, you and I have served together for a few years now... You even saved my son's life on two occasions, or I'd probably be calling you by your last name still. So when I ask this, please understand, I mean no disrespect.... But are you sure your faculties have been restored after the... frenzied period you told us about?" The admiral asked.

"While it is true that certain sensations are still heightened, I do believe that I have the capacity to perform my duties until a cure can be found." Trip replied. The admiral slowly lowered his tablet computer to the table, taking a soft breath. The space hardened veteran had never looked so dismayed.

"There is no cure, Trip. The biology labs have run every test. Your genetic sequence has been completely altered and we have o way to reintroduce your original genes from the archive back into your body. There is no going back for the foreseeable future." The admiral stated.

"Then what of the rest of the crew?" Trip asked. The admiral slowly lifted his hands.

"As long as they can perform their duties, they will be allowed to do so... Your expertise is invaluable to say the least. Once clean up is complete, we can move to phase two of our plans on the surface." The admiral said.

"Clean up?" Trip asked, tilting his head a bit.

"Well... we couldn't risk other teams being converted from exposure. Even environmental suits and radiation shielding didn't save your team from the effects. We've dispatched drones to collect the radioactive charms and dispose of them safely. We've identified over fifty thousand so far." The admiral explained. Trip ran a hand through his thick beard.

"It is amazing to think that so many went to such efforts to become something other than they were." Trip murmured gently.

"It's tragic that you had to be forced to change without your consent. I'm so sorry Trip, for you and your team." The admiral murmured. Trip shook his head at that.

"It was worth this, and so much more, to be able to go home again. In a way, maybe it is a blessing. We discovered a part of our past that we forgot, where none of the species of Earth were restricted behind racial barriers. For all we know, there are members of the elvish elders and the dwarf council that were once another race. Our history is full of vicious wars and amazing peace. The destruction of Earth may have shattered us; perhaps rebuilding it can unify us." Trip said. The admiral nodded gently, seeing the wisdom in the words.

And it might be harder for the dwarves to refuse to help us if they see you and your team working the front lines." The admiral grinned gently.

"Almost like ambassadors?" Trip asked.

"Perhaps we could make some headway. If only they'd known the rescue craft was going to help dwarfs instead of humans, they might have relinquished it a little faster." The admiral chuckled.

"Oh, I think we found plenty of ways to pass the time." Trip chuckled.

"Well, I think you and your team should have two more days to pass the time before returning to active duty. If you need any reasonable accommodations, talk to the quarter master and we'll see what we can do. In the mean time, you are dismissed." The admiral said, standing up before he left the room. The door slid shut behind the admiral, leaving Trip in the spot light. He sat there for a moment, taking it all in.

"Fifty thousand radioactive charms..." he murmured softly. The one thing that he hadn't mentioned, the thing that Ethan had discovered in the archives... was that there had been at least ten times as many charms in the Northern continents alone before the fall. The drones could only find the ones that were left 'tagged' by the cataclysm. There were many more artifacts out there, waiting in silence for someone to try them on. Trip had a feeling he and his team would likely have a very successful side business once they dug into the real meat of making Earth habitable once more. With a grin on his face, he stood up and headed toward the door with new purpose.