OutBreak Survival

You pick a grape from the conjured fruit bowl - plump, dark purple, glistening with residual moisture. Erza's scarlet eyes track it immediately. You know her weakness for sweets; she's never hidden it.

You pop the grape into your mouth, then turn to her. Your free hand settles around her waist, pulling her closer against your side. She doesn't resist - her muscular body easily leans into you.

You kiss her. Your tongue pushes the grape across, feeling it slide between her lips as she gasps softly. Her tongue meets yours, the sweet burst of juice flooding both your mouths. She bites down on the grape, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

When you break the kiss, you press your lips to her cheek. "You have time," you whisper against her skin.

Erza's breath catches. Her hand finds your thigh beneath the table and squeezes, acknowledging. Something flickers behind her eyes that you don't quite read. She opens her mouth to speak, then closes it. Nods once.

You continue eating with one arm around her waist, your fork moving between plates.

Across the telepathy web, Albedo's voice carries professional clarity. "Robin, Asia, Priestess, Violet, Rin, Roxanne, Mikasa, Sango, Rei, Emilia, and Kurumi - I require your assistance establishing a comprehensive intake system on the Icon. Family registry, current ages, specialties, work experience. Calculate expected service time for the resurrected. Separate those requesting youth contracts."

Responses ripple back. Robin: "Understood. I'll bring documentation templates." Rin: "I'll assist after I finish here - thirty minutes." Asia: "I'll help after breakfast!" The others confirm in quick succession.

You set down your fork. "Musashi, Nova, Hinata, Erza - I'd like the four of you as my guard detail visiting Sandra to pick up Akane. Not expecting hostilities, but caution pays."

Musashi cracks her knuckles with a grin. "Finally something worth doing."

Nova pushes off the wall. "Happy to."

Hinata straightens her maid uniform. "Yes, Goshujin-sama."

Erza's hand tightens on your thigh. "I'll be there."

"I don't see Yoruichi or Rika here," you note. "I'll ask them when we return with Akame if they'll join us to pick up Yugito. We don't know how those guys will react to us."

You pull a phone and a bag of silver rings from your inventory, setting them on the table. You find the familiar rhythm of enchantment. The phone connects to your network first, drawing power from the nearest node. Then you layer the effects: Sustenance, Vigor, Cleanliness, Age Reversal, Zero-Sleep, Aura Ward, Thermostasis. Each ring glows briefly when connected before settling into dormancy.

Kurumu watches from across the table, her blue hair falling forward. She's finished eating but hasn't moved. Her wings are folded tight against her back, her purple bra visible through her sleep shirt. She picks at the remains of her meal, her eyes occasionally lifting to watch you work - then dropping again when you don't look up.

"That's Sandra's package?" Nova asks, nodding at the phone and rings.

"Ya, for Esdeath. A Phone-interface with connected rings," you confirm, not looking up from your work. "Sustenance, Vigor, Age reversal, the basics. She'll be very pleased."

Erza shifts beside you, her scarlet hair brushing your shoulder. She's watching you enchant with quiet fascination - the way mana flows from your fingertips, the precision of each layer. Her hand hasn't left your thigh.

The last ring settles into its enchantment. You count them - twelve rings total, plus the phone. Should be more than enough for Sandra's operation.

"Ready when you are," Musashi says, her katana already at her hip.

You step aside from the breakfast table, "Lets get to it then," moving to a clear section of galley. "Gate." a vertical tear of silver light that widens into a doorway showing Sandra's office. The same cluttered desk, the filing cabinets, the smell of gun oil and stale coffee drifting through.

Erza steps beside you, her scarlet hair catching the light. She closes her eyes for a moment - and her pajamas dissolve in a shimmer of Requip magic, replaced by simple steel half-plate over a practical dark gambeson. Her eyes open, sharp and focused. "Ready."

Musashi leads through the Gate, katana loose at her hip. Erza follows, her armored boots silent on the office floor. Hinata moves third, her Byakugan already activating - the veins around her lavender eyes swelling, her pupils going pale. Nova slips through last before you, her midnight armor rippling from her psionic cloak.

You step through and close the Gate behind you. The silver doorway collapses into nothing.

Sandra's office is empty. Papers stacked on the desk, a half-drunk coffee going cold, the chair pushed back at an angle suggesting she left in a hurry.

"Front courtyard," Hinata whispers. Her Byakugan is active, her gaze piercing through walls. "Sandra is outside with a group - six people. Four men, two women. They have a vehicle - modified pickup with a covered bed. There's..." She pauses. "A female on a crude stretcher. IV drip attached. She's been sedated heavily - vitals are weak but stable. A sword is secured to the stretcher with industrial lock-pins through the scabbard. The blade is... dark. I can see something wrong with it - like a shadow living inside the metal."

"Akame and Murasame." You conclude, leading the group through the hallway to the elevators.

"The group appears to be receiving goods from Sandra," Hinata continues. "Fuel cans, ammunition. The exchange seems nearly complete. They seem to be dragging out the conversation with Sandra, she's faking her expression while they talk."

You freeze after stepping out of the elevator. Everyone stops behind you. "Possible ambush?"

Hinata's pale eyes sweep the compound - rooftops, perimeter fences, vehicle approaches. "No additional hostiles. No snipers. No secondary positions. Just the six and their truck."

"Nova," you say quietly, nodding to the entrance around the corner. "Get close. Invisible. Broadcast what you see and hear through the web."

Nova nods once and moves. Her psionic cloak makes her simply... not there. She slips around the corner, through the entrance, and within seconds you're receiving her feed through the Telepathy Web - visual and auditory, crisp as standing beside her.

The courtyard is sun-baked concrete. Sandra stands with her hands on her hips, Texas accent carrying clearly through Nova's broadcast. A lean man in tactical gear - sun-darkened skin, military bearing despite the civilian clothes - is loading fuel cans into his truck bed while keeping his eyes on Sandra.

"...appreciate the product, Sandra," the man is saying. His voice is flat, professional. "But I gotta ask - where'd you find someone to buy that?" He jerks his thumb toward the stretcher. "Dangerous girl with a cursed blade? That's not your usual inventory."

Sandra's smile doesn't waver. "Darlin', you know I don't discuss sourcing. That's what makes me reliable."

"Come on." A woman beside him - short, buzz-cut hair, nervous energy - leans forward. "Someone's moving serious weight in this region. All the fuel your selling, you made two big purchases yesterday and failed two others. We're not stupid, Sandra. You're middle-manning for someone big."

Sandra's expression remains perfectly pleasant. "I'm a regional coordinator. I move product between willing parties. Anything beyond that..." She shrugs. "Speculation isn't my business."

"The Enchanter," the lean man says flatly. "That's who you're working for."

"If I knew who that was," Sandra replies, her smile widening, "I'd probably be too busy counting money to have this conversation. You got your goods. We got ours. Everybody's happy."

The man stares at her for a long moment. Then he nods, once, and climbs into the truck cab. The others follow. The engine turns over, the vehicle pulls away through the compound gate, and Sandra watches it go with her arms crossed.

"Clear," Nova broadcasts. "They're gone. No tail, no secondary vehicle."

You exhale slowly. Sandra handled that beautifully - gave nothing, confirmed nothing. The sellers are fishing, but they're not hostile. Not yet.

"Let's move," you say.

You lead Erza, Nova, and Hinata out through the compound's entrance. The sun hits your face - hot, dry Bakersfield heat that makes a home's climate control feel like a distant memory. Sandra stands in the courtyard, arms crossed, watching the departing truck disappear through the gate.

She turns when she hears footsteps. Her eyes go wide.

"What the hell-" She stares at you, then at Erza's half-plate armor, then at Hinata's maid uniform, then back at you. "How did you- I didn't even call-"

"Impressive arrival time on our part." You clap lightly. "Just on time to hear the tail end of that conversation. They know but can't prove your contacts. That's a laughable apocalypse situation."

Sandra's hand drifts toward her hip, pure reflex, before she catches herself. She exhales hard through her nose. "Darlin', you can't just walk into my compound unannounced."

"I walked out of your compound escorted by very dangerous armed women," you say evenly. "Your people made the correct calculation in letting your VIP walk out."

Sandra stares at you for a long moment. Then she laughs - a short, sharp bark. "Fair enough." She shakes her head. "You're something else, you know that?"

You pull the enchanted phone and pouch of rings from your pocket, holding them out. "Esdeath's payment. Phone-interface with connected rings. Sustenance, Vigor, Age Reversal, Zero-Sleep, Aura Ward, Thermostasis. Everything we agreed on."

Sandra takes the phone, turning it over in her calloused hands. Her eyes sharpen with professional interest as she feels the weight of the rings. "Well now. These are nice." She tucks them into her vest pocket. "Thank you kindly."

"How many fuel trucks have you managed to locate so far?" you ask.

"Three confirmed operational. Two more if I can get parts from Bakersfield proper - maybe a week on those." She crosses her arms again. "The ones I got are running but need maintenance within the month. Your enchantments gonna fix that?"

"When I get to them, repair will fix damage, but not if there's something missing. Just have a mechanic go over them a week after they're enchanted." You turn toward the stretcher. "Now, Akame."

You quietly cast, "Sleep." a soft pulse of mana settling over the unconscious girl to ensure she stays under. Then Telekinesis lifts her off the crude medical frame, her black hair matted, her tattered uniform stripped to basics, chemical bruising visible along her veins. You pull the IV needle from her arm with a careful tug, the paralytic drip discarded. Murasame floats separately, its locked scabbard giving an eerie energy that might just be your imagination knowing what it is.

"Hinata. Check her vitals."

Hinata's Byakugan activates, the veins around her lavender eyes swelling. "Severe malnutrition. Muscle atrophy from prolonged sedation."

"Acceptable." You turn back to Sandra. "Yugito. You failed to purchase her?"

Sandra's jaw tightens. "Their asking price was too high for me. The transport of that volume alone right now would have been troublesome - and without drawing attention I can't afford. Not possible."

"Where are they?"

"Fort Wayne, Indiana." Sandra pulls a crumpled note from her back pocket. "Group called themselves the Heartland Collective. Maybe thirty, forty people. Well-armed, paranoid. They got her maybe a week ago - she apparently burned through her energy protecting civilians, then collapsed. They've had her sedated since."

"Send them a message," you say. "Tell them The Enchanter will visit them directly to negotiate."

Sandra raises an eyebrow. "You're going to Indiana."

"I'm going to Indiana."

"Well shit." She grins. "I'll get the word out within the hour."

You open the Gate. Silver light tears open before you, showing the Anchorage galley - steel walls, the smell of conjured food. Akame floats through first, followed by Murasame. You step through, and one by one your guard follows, Hinata, Erza, Musashi.

Nova materializes beside you as the Gate closes, her midnight armor rippling into visibility. "Clean extraction," she says. "Nobody in the compound raised an alarm. Sandra's guards saw you walk out and decided that was above their pay grade."

Akame settles gently onto the gurney next to Esdeath, her black hair splayed across Esdeaths. Even unconscious, there's something coiled about her - the lean muscle beneath malnutrition, the calluses on her fingers, the way her body rests like a drawn bow.

Murasame is placed beside her, its scabbard sealed with industrial locks.

"Please pass on to Rika and Yoruichi, that we'll meet back here in an hour. Yugito pickup." you say, turning to your guard detail as they calm. "I need to talk to Nami about her new ship first."

Musashi nods, her hands settling off her katana. "Understood." Erza's armored shoulders shift - she's watching you with that particular intensity she gets when you mention other women, but she holds her tongue. Hinata murmurs acknowledgment, and Nova simply flickers once in confirmation before drifting toward the command center.

You head for the bridge.

The Anchorage's bridge is dim compared to the galley's conjured light - screens glowing blue, the hum of enchanted systems beneath the steel. And there, pacing beside the captain's chair with her arms crossed tight over her chest, is Nami.

Her orange hair catches the monitor-light. She's wearing a fitted blue tank top and cutoff-design skirt with half-heel sandals. The moment she hears the hatch open, she spins - and the relief that floods her face is almost comical before she tries to mask it with irritation.

"You took forever!" she snaps, but her voice cracks on the last syllable. "I've been sitting here for-"

You cross the distance in three strides. Your hand cups the back of her neck and you kiss her - hard, deliberate, swallowing whatever protest she was building. Her fingers clutch your t-shirt, pulling you closer, and a small moan vibrates against your lips.

When you break the kiss, her brown eyes are glazed. "Been waiting, Captain?" you murmur against her mouth.

"Shut up," she breathes, but she's smiling.

You push her backward. Her calves hit the captain's chair and she sits - hard - her hands gripping the armrests. You grab her ankles, lifting her legs, and her breath catches audibly.

"Here's what's going to happen," you say, pressing your lips to her left calf. She shivers. "I'm going to strip you and taste you right here on this bridge - where you've enjoyed my kiss plenty of times." Your mouth moves to her right calf, kissing the smooth skin. "Then I'm going to walk you naked through the teleportation circle to your new ship."

"You're-" she starts, her cheeks flushing crimson.

"And I'm going to taste your virgin lips one last time on your new captain's chair." You kiss higher, along her inner thigh, and her legs tremble in your grip. "Slowly."

Your hands reach behind her back. The bra clasp yields with a practiced flick, and you pull the tank top over her head in one motion, the bra following into your inventory. Her breasts spill free - nipples already hard. She gasps at the exposure, her hands instinctively moving to cover herself before dropping to the armrests again.

You unbutton her skirt. The small zipper descends. You hook your fingers into both skirt and panties, pulling them up her lifted legs in one smooth motion - revealing the neat strip of orange hair between her thighs, her pussy already glistening with arousal.

"You're wet," you observe, tossing her clothing into your inventory.

"Of course I am!" Nami's voice is high, breathless. "You just - you can't just say things like that and expect me to-"

You lay her legs over your shoulders and kiss the crease of her inner thigh, inches from her sex. Her hips buck involuntarily. Your tongue traces a slow line along her slit - just barely parting her folds - and the sound she makes is somewhere between a whimper and a scream.

"Oh god -" Her fingers dig into the armrests. "That's -"

You taste her properly. Your tongue slides between her labia, dragging upward to her clit, and Nami's back arches off the captain's chair. She's sweet, slick, her virgin pussy clenching around nothing as your mouth works her open. You circle her clit slowly, deliberately, feeling her thighs shake against your shoulders.

"Wait - wait, I can't -" She's panting, her orange hair splayed across the chair's headrest, her breasts heaving. "I've been thinking about this all morning and if you just - right now - I'm going to-"

You pull back just enough to meet her desperate eyes. Her lower lip is swollen where she's been biting it. "Going to what?"

"You know what!" She reaches down, grabbing your hair, trying to push your mouth back where it was. "Don't stop, you bastard!"