Steampunk Harlots Ch. 22

Cat was advising Liddy about how level the new pictures were looking when they both heard Ving swearing on the bridge. Liddy sighed, knowing full well what that meant.

"We took off too early, didn't we?" she asked Cat.

"I suppose whoever sent the telegram was either being optimistic or stupid. Or both."

Ving stormed out of the bridge to face Liddy and Cat. She paused, not having expected them to be there. Her eyes drifted over to the risque pictures already on the wall. They settled on the picture of Hannah. Liddy just waited until her foul mood was spoiled before talking.

"Looks like getting these pictures done was a good call," she commented cheerfully.

"Yeah, she's still riled up but..."

"Okay, go work it out with her. Come back when you are done."

Ving left to hunt down Hannah while Liddy went onto the bridge with Cat. Inside, Liddy withdrew a rolled up map from a cabinet and spread it out on the floor.

"So, we going to invest in a table for this?" Cat asked, getting down on her knees to help flatten the map.

"I usually just use the lounge. Though this time, I'd rather nobody knew we don't have a plan until we have a plan."

"That..." Cat paused, "makes sense I suppose."

"If the capital is still closed we need to wait somewhere. Long way around the battle lines or turning around. Nothing big enough to find work in anywhere up the coast."

Leira walked into the bridge and took a moment to check out Liddy, who was bent over the map, "So, I take it that Ving's fucking angry hijacking of the redhead I was riding means we aren't going to the big ass city?"

Liddy looked up to see the confused and disappointed Leira standing in an open bathrobe with her hands on her hips.

"Seems like," Cat replied. "Trying to decide where we should put down. Turning around seems like it would be the best call."

Leira got down on her knees and looked at the map herself. She traced her finger along the coast until she stopped at an estuary. "Can this thing land on the water?"

"It's a boat, Leira," Liddy responded with a good-natured tease before smiling. "Yes, it can land on the water. Why would it need to?"

"Hah, very fucking funny. This is where I grew up. If we don't want to turn around, we can drop in for a visit. I know it's not a working place for us but I would like some answers."

"You know what? That sounds fantastic. Let's do it. I think I can alter our course. I don't really want to interrupt Ving at the moment. Cat, go let everyone know what we are doing. Foxy, you as well."

****

Downstairs in the lower deck, Foxy was laying in Mari's bed. "I think I missed something," Foxy gasped.

Easy mumbled something in a questioning tone, not bothering to withdraw her tongue.

"What was it?" Mari asked, keeping her teeth clamped on Foxy's nipple as she did so.

"Liddy just said for me to do something like she assumed I had been listening the whole time. But I really wasn't paying attention until I heard my name."

Foxy continued to move her hips as she held Easy in place with her legs, gripping Mari by her own magnificent breasts. Mari loved the feeling of the soft fur as her breasts were made to run over it. Her nipples being teased by every fibre that touched them. She rose up to press her breasts against Foxy's and crushed them together.

"If it's important, she will have asked who..." Mari got cut off.

"Oh, Cat is telling people. We're heading to Leira's old home. Capital is still closed and Liddy really didn't want to turn around."

"Oh, well that should be... oh, fuck!" Mari screamed as Easy suddenly pushed her tongue inside.

Having both women in her face, available for penetration, was too much for Easy to resist tonguing her lover. A dainty hand began to push its way inside Foxy and the two of them thrust their hips into each other as the fairy penetrated them both. Easy, on the other hand, had the fluffy long tail of a Fox running just long enough to reach her own womanhood and used her free hand to tease herself with it. Soon she felt the familiar sensation of Mari clenching around her tongue as she climaxed. Keeping her going, she whipped her tongue around inside until suddenly her body went limp. Mari fell to the side of the bed, but foxy kept her from falling off.

"Shit, she passed out?" Foxy asked with a note of concern.

"Yeah, a little trick I do inside her gets her like this all the time," Easy responded after pulling her tongue out.

As Mari started to blink her eyes open again, Foxy relaxed and looked at Easy, "So.. um... please?"

Easy gave a devilish smile as she ran her tongue over Foxy's aching flesh in prelude to the penetration and whipcord effect of the tongue. Mari finally became aware of her surroundings again as Foxy dug her claws into the headboard to support herself. She laughed, knowing the feeling well, and pinched the fox by the nipples to tug them and send her over the edge. Although she didn't quite pass out from the climax, she wasn't aware of anything for a while. When she finally did regain awareness, Easy was on top of her, suckling at her breasts as Mari knelt behind the fairy. Foxy held the head to her breasts and gasped as she felt teeth biting into her breasts, thankful for the layer of fur protecting them.

****

Although Hannah had relaxed her quite a bit, Ving was now tense simply because water landings were tricky. Making sure to land well away from the coast to avoid shallow hazards, she had stronger currents to compete with. Everyone else had found some place secure to ride it out while she had strapped herself to the wheel. In the end, as The Lucky Harlot coasted through the water, Ving let out the breath she had been holding longer than she realised. The landing was smooth and soft. The ship rocked with the gentle swelling of the waves and she slowly turned to bring them closer to land.

"Well damn, I thought that was going to be difficult," she muttered.

Down in the hold, Vile let Inky move again after keeping her pinned 'safely' against the wall. "Well, that was less trouble than I was expecting," she commented.

"See? I didn't need your tails inside me 'just to be safe' now did I?" Inky asked somewhat rhetorically.

"No," Vile responded, withdrawing her tails from under Ink's combat skirt. "I suppose not."

Vile smiled as Inky lifted her underwear back into position. She fixed her own clothing and put her breasts away as Astra came in with the rest of the girls, all loaded for combat. Hannah was cradling her trench gun and checking the drum mag, her skirt lined with extra shells instead of the bullets the rest of the girls used.

"Alright," Inky started her briefing. "We are going to visit the fishing village that got shot up when Leira got sold off. We don't know if anyone is alive, dead, armed, or what. So while it is unlikely that this place is enemy territory, that doesn't mean it's friendly territory. You know the drill. Speak softly and carry your weapons openly."

"And open fire at the first sign of trouble?" Astra asked in a tone between a joke and wishful thinking.

"No, break the face of the first sign of trouble. After that, any other signs will be too stupid to take the hint of the soft approach. Those you can shoot."

"I love that breaking faces is your version of the soft approach," Hannah said with a smile.

****

Leira waited eagerly on the bow of the ship looking for a familiar sight while Ving watched her for any directions on where to turn. The whole process made difficult due to a foggy haze on the shoreline that seemed to be getting worse as they moved in. Liddy leant against the rear wall as Cat came in wearing an elegant dress.

"I said fishing village and you put that on?" Liddy scoffed as she admired the cleavage being pushed up by the corset.

"Yes, I really don't think I want to step off the ship, but if I do it's because you need me, and I might as well look right for the only role you would need me for specifically."

"Fair enough. Wearing anything under that?"

"Nothing that can't be removed quickly." Cat smiled back.

"Okay, calm it you two. I need to focus so if you need to fuck, just do it elsewhere," Ving scolded.

"I'm not trying to fuck Cat!" Liddy shouted back. "I mean, sure, later, but I just wondered in case it comes up later on for whatever reason."

"Right, sure." Ving sarcastically agreed a moment before Leira started waving her hands to turn and stop.

Ving spun the wheel and reversed the engines quickly, but not soon enough to avoid whatever they hit. The ship shook and stopped. Leira waived again after looking over the edge to have her shut everything off. Ving went out into the thick fog and looked over the edge. The only thing she could see was the tip of a wooden pier rubbing against the boat. All around them the grey fog blocked their vision. Ving returned to the bridge where, with the assistance of Leira, she brought the ship alongside the pier before dropping the anchor.

****

Cat watched from the window as the girls disappeared into the fog. First the soldiers, then everyone else. She was left alone on the ship, unable to see anything else, so she went into her room after retrieving the device. She tested a few of the vibration speeds on her hand before laying on her bed and putting it where she wanted.

****

Inky and her girls walked down the wooden pier first as the rest followed in the thick fog. Those in the back unable to see those in the front. Inky noticed Foxy was twitching her ears and getting frustrated.

"What's wrong?" Inky asked quietly.

"I can't hear a damn thing out there. If I didn't know better I'd say there were only half as many of us. This fog is also making my fur itch something fierce."

"This, can't be natural," Inky deduced. "Alright everyone, fix bayonets! If there is something hostile here I don't want to bump into it without being able to stab it."

The soldiers all did as they were ordered and formed closer ranks as they got to the muddy ground of the shore. They moved passed a house of some kind, and after Juno cleared it with Astra, Leira took a look inside.

"This is definitely my village. This is where we mended the nets. Used them a lot for fucking as well."

"Silk is better than fishnet I think, but I agree that it's fun to swing," Hannah agreed with a smile as she placed a hand on Leira's shoulder to help calm her nerves.

"Somewhat sex related," Vile interrupted. "Hope is steaming."

"You can have her back on the ship lovely," Inky started, but paused as she turned to look.

"Holy balls, you are right!" Leira shouted.

Everyone looked at Hope who was examining her own outstretched hand to see steam rising off it unlike anyone else.

Hope then looked down at the holy symbol she wore around her neck and could see the fog stopping before touching it. She touched the medallion and suddenly the steam stopped rising from her hand. Moving it around, she could see the fog part around it. After seeming to realise something, she gripped it tightly with both hands and began to softly whisper a prayer. She moved her arms in what looked like a short range exercise as she did so. Then suddenly the fog blew away like a gust of wind emanating from Hope carried it off. The girls looked around at the Village unobstructed.

About fifty shambling corpses were almost on top of them.

****

Cat moaned in her room as she increased the vibration speed of the device and pushed it harder into herself. Her back arched as she spasmed in shock from the sensation. So close to climax, she struggled to breathe before she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of gunfire.

****

"Spread out and give yourself room to swing if they get too close!" Inky shouted to her soldiers. "Hannah right and Vile left, hang back and take out anything that gets too close! Nobody else fires unless one of us stops to reload! Girls, when you reload, load fire rounds!"

The girls sent volleys of shots into the walking corpses as they stumbled forward. Some that went down got up, and others didn't care much for the damage they sustained. The boom of the trench gun sounded as Hannah blasted apart one that had gotten close to Conna.

Hope, with her eyes, closed in concentration, remained where she was and continued her prayer. The fog was pushed back but not gone. The wall remained at a distance as more corpses came through it. Liddy grabbed Emma and put her behind Hope to hold her and guide her if she needed to be moved. Emma could hear Hope saying something in between the repeated prayers, and put her head close since the gunfire made it so difficult.

"Go for the head!" Emma shouted loudly as soon as she figured out what Hope had been saying.

The girls adjusted their aim and took the extra moments to make sure they had a headshot before firing. The impact was significant but most were reloading. Hannah had already been going for headshots mainly out of habit but found herself with too many targets to cover. Astra fended off one with her rifle until Vile heaved it off her and into a group of them after setting it ablaze. Ving fired her pistol at one coming over a rooftop, but failed to get a headshot before it leapt onto Kilty. It took her to the ground and Ving got in close to put her gun in its mouth to keep it from biting but also to ensure a kill shot. It slumped to the ground and Ving helped Kilty up only to be struck from behind by another corpse. This one, however, landed without a head and Ving could see Hannah flash a smile before finding a new target.

Inky knew the line was collapsing and was about to call for everyone to fall back when she noticed everyone getting back on their feet. The reprieve was welcome but noticed the reason they had stopped coming for them was because Vile had charged forward to tear into the throng of corpses herself. Leaving in her wake, a scattering of charred corpses. The line soon reformed but Vile was exposed.

"Vile, back into line now!" she shouted.

A burst of fire around her demon body cleared Vile enough room to sprint a short distance and leap out of the crowd. The moment she had gotten out of the way, but before she landed, a volley of fire shots tore through the undead. Any clothing worn that wasn't already on fire went up in flames and a firestorm consumed the huddled group. Vile landed and dashed behind the firing line. She felt ashamed to have to be yelled at by her lover when she thought she had done a good thing. If Inky was disappointed, she wasn't showing it.

Suddenly, to the surprise of almost everyone, the horde was further savaged by the outburst of a machine gun. Cat sat in the mud, catching her breath with a belt of bullets around her neck. Laurel was feeding the belts as Foxy fired. With her fancy dress ruined, Cat handed the next belt to Laurel, still out of breath from hauling so much weight from the ship so quickly. Soon, nothing remained moving in front of them.

The girls slowly moved forward, most stabbing their bayonets into the skulls of the dead to make sure they stayed that way. Vile stomped them with her hooves. Emma lead Hope forward for a bit when suddenly all the fog swirled away. They could see the stream of it flow through the air, condensing into a black smog as it entered a large structure ahead.

"The town hall," Leira mumbled.

Hope opened her eyes and felt faint, getting caught by Emma to keep herself upright. The eerie quiet was shattered by screams and shouting up ahead.

"Anyone injured, hang back and finish here! Everyone else forward to the hall!" Inky ordered.

They moved up quickly to the hall, but the front door was locked and the screaming inside intensified.

"Vile! Open the door!" Inky ordered, backing up.

Vile heaved her hoof into the wooden door and smashed the bar keeping it closed to splinters as it swung open. Hannah moved in first and fired quickly at the two corpses that turned to face her. They fell to the floor, burning from the special ammunition. Inside they could see a mass of people huddled against the far wall with a man in the middle who seemed to be protecting them with a pistol. Between them, however, was a black form made out of what looked like some kind of thick ink. It turned to look at them, the only reason they knew it 'turned' was because they could make out a face in the form of bubbling liquid.

"This really looks like a thing we should be shooting," Hannah commented with her weapon aimed at it.

"Yes, kill it before it kills us all!" the man with the gun yelled in panic.

The only thing that kept Hannah from pulling the trigger was the tone in his voice. She had heard it before when someone wanted something done before anyone could ask questions. Usually by silencing a witness or political opponent. How that made sense at the moment she couldn't quite fathom, but the monster turned towards him and hissed angrily instead of regarding her.

"It's accusing him," Foxy said in stunned revelation. "It's hissing, it's using words. Betrayer... murderer..."

"That's nonsense!" he shouted in manic denial, a tone Hannah was certainly familiar with.

She turned her weapon on him, "So, what exactly is this thing's beef with you?"

He spluttered his words as he looked between the epitome of danger ready to kill him and the black oil monster. Vile moved in close to the monster in case she had to burn it quickly, thinking that no bullets would work very well on a liquid.

"I did nothing! Nothing wrong! I am a good man!" he shouted, finding some resolve.

"So then, that mean you sold me into slavery for my own good?!" Leira shouted as she walked in.

"You're alive?!" his resolve fled him again.

"Yes, I am, and as it turns out, you really did improve my life for my own good," Leira either ignored or failed to notice the monster watching the exchange. "I have a home now, a family, nobody telling me to shut up and be grateful that I was fuckable enough to keep around. How many times? Using me yourself or to seal a deal with some traders? Yeah, I admit I liked it. Maybe because I thought that was how I was supposed to think."

Hannah figured either he was out of bullets or too stunned to react when Leira yanked the gun from his hands and slammed it into his face. Leira fired three shots into his groin before the gun clicked empty.

"Whatever you and everyone else here did to me made me who I am. I'm okay with that because I am fucking amazing! So you know what? I forgive you. For everything! I've had my revenge. I'd say you can fuck yourself from now on but... well... how about you just die as miserably as you lived. Alone and unloved. I am neither now."

Leira left the hall and reached out to slap Easy in her open palm at the doorway as they exchanged smiles. Vile noticed steam rising off the monster but it didn't turn back into fog.

"This thing is melting, I think," she stated.

Ignoring the moans from the man on the floor, they all looked at it as it regarded them. Hope arrived and gasped as she saw what was before her.

"Why are we looking at a necroform and why isn't it killing us?" she asked in surprised confusion.

"We don't seem to be its enemies, and it started to melt after Leira settled up with the bleeder on the floor over there," Liddy explained.

"These things form when a lot of death happens and spirits of the betrayed remain unsettled. It is an engine of revenge. It should be killing us all the time, not just watching."

"Maybe it knows we are on its side," Vile offered. "That whatever it wants will get done by doing nothing. Foxy said it was saying words."

"They don't speak," Hope stated with less certainty than she would have a few minutes ago.

"I doubt anyone in your order has my ears," Foxy countered. "Why would it ever say, 'burn ship'?"

"We are not burning my ship," Liddy stated with resolve.