Today was the day, Shia determined. Today, he was going to do it.

It had now been five days, or nights, since the avali had taken him out of Rai's clutches. Four since they'd started talking to him. Since that day, the shinx had tried his best to make himself useful to the crew. Tried to clean, but he'd quickly learned they had a 'cleaning bot' for that: some round, flat little thing that made beeping noises. Even so, he'd found other ways. Small ways, but still something. Carrying boxes which he didn't know the contents of, fetching things when asked, learning how to cook, small things. The latter had been far easier than he expected, he had to admit.

During this time, he'd also spent more and more time around the crew, talking about things, small things, getting to know them even better. Khaun was a bit on the cold side, but he did care, in own way. Eilumi... had a bit of a perverted streak to him, but ultimately was as good of a friend as one could ask for. He had been around him for less than a week, but already he felt as if Eilumi was a brother he never had.

And then there was Nine. As for Nine... well...

Truth be told, despite both Khaun and Eilumi's assurances that he had nothing to fear from Nine, the gigantic protogen still scared him. He had spoken to the large raw-bot dog-man of course, but not a whole lot.

But today... he was going to do it. He was going to actually talk with Nine. Going to find out what these 'Miniknog' were that they all kept talking about, and how Nine was connected to them.

After a bit of searching, he found Nine in the kitchen area of the ship. He wasn't cooking anything, it wasn't time. In fact, Shia wasn't really sure what he was doing at the moment, but it wasn't important.

"H-Hi... Nine?" He spoke, getting the protogen's attention. Nine turned around, a 'cheerful' expression currently displayed on his face.

"Hello Shia." He greeted the shinx. "How can I help you?"

"I... I want to ask you something" Shia replied.

"You can ask me anything, Shia." Nine replied cheerfully.

"I wanted..." Shia replied with some hesitation. "... To ask you about your past with these 'Miniknog' people."

There was a moment of silence, and tension so thick that you could cut it with Iron. Nine's visor expression suddenly shifted from a look of cheerfulness, to one of something that Shia could only interpret as 'sad'. The Protogen let out a sigh.

"Did Eilumi or Khaun tell you that story?" Nine asked sorrowfully.

"No." Shia replied truthfully. "They only mentioned the Miniknog, and your part in it in passing. They both told me to ask you about it."

"Shia..." Nine began slowly. "That story is not a happy story by any stretch of the imagination. I must warn you, if I tell it to you, you might be shocked. You might be frightened of me further than you already are. You may be disgusted."

"I... I still want to hear it." Shia responded.

"I will promise this. If you do not wish further contact with me, or even wish to return to your planet just to get away from me after I tell it, I will grant your wish."

Some part of the shinx wanted to stop this, to leave this alone. Although, another part of him was all the more curious. He heard a saying that curiosity killed the skitty. 
However, he'd come this far. He'd already opened the box, and there was no going back now.

"I... Okay." Shia agreed.

One thing was for sure though... He would not go back to his planet, regardless of how this story turned out.

"You may want to sit down. This will take a long time."

Shia nodded, and sat down on one of the bean bag chairs, slowly, as to not hurt his somewhat still sore ass hole. It hurt far, far less thanks to Khaun's medicine,  and Eilumi's diligent, if somewhat awkward applications of it, but it still hurt him every now and then.

"Let me start by asking you, what do you know about the Miniknog?" Nine questioned as he followed suit, sitting down on a much larger bean bag chair, which Shia guessed must have been made purely to accommodate the large dog-like person.

"Well, uh..." Shia stumbled as he looked for an answer. "Eilumi told me that they are worse than Rai."

"And they are absolutely right." Nine confirmed. "But I fear they may have understated this. The Miniknog is far, far, far worse than this 'Rai' could ever hope to be." He explained. "However, if you were to visit a Miniknog town or city, you may not be led to believe this, at least not immediately. You would see a civilization that is orderly, efficient, if not blatantly oppressive, to be sure. You wouldn't see people getting raped or gunned down in the streets. No, they keep that stuff below the surface. Both figuratively, and literally speaking. It's in these places, these 'facilities' of theirs, where the real evil of the Miniknog can be found. Where everything goes, as long as it's done in the name of so-called 'science'. Where the cost in lives and livelihoods are a non-object. It's in one of these facilities where this story of mine begins."

Nine's expression changed to a 'stern' one. 

"This is your last chance to back out of this, Shia. To remain in blissful ignorance. Once I start telling this, there is no return." Nine warned.

"I understand." Shia acknowledged, "But... I want to hear it."

"You are braver than you give yourself credit for, Shia." Nine commented. Shia returned it with a weak smile.

"Before we begin, there's one thing you should know about us protogen." Nine went on. "We are not born. We are created. Assembled, out of other living beings."

Shia nodded slowly.

"I do not recall what I was before I was turned into this. Or even if the Mininknog were the ones who created me." He continued. "What I do know, however, is that despite the memory wipes, I still had the desires and personality of my old self... whatever I was. What I do know is that one day I awoke. For the first time that I can remember..."

----

"Awaken, Subject 9."

At that moment, the protogen that would become known as "Nine" shot awake, looking around his location. He found himself in a padded, sterile, white room. He looked towards the source of the sound. 

A loudspeaker hung from the top corner of the walls.

"Good, you are awake." The voice, clearly male from the sound of it, said.

"Who are you? Where am I? Who am I? Why am I here? What do you want with me." Subject 9 Asked in a panic.

"Silence, Subject 9." The voice commanded. 

Nine remained silent.

"Very good." The voice congratulated him for his obedience. "To answer your questions. The first two questions, who I am and where you are.... That's classified. Suffice it to say you are within a Miniknog testing facility, and I am a miniknog scientist."

"The Miniknog?" Asked Nine in response.

The voice ignored him and continued.

"As for who you are, all you need to know is that you are designated 'Subject 9.' Anything beyond that is irrelevant. As for why you are here, If I may turn your attention to the other subject behind you..."

Nine broke his focus on the loudspeaker, and turned completely around. He immediately wished he hadn't.

In full view of him, sitting, bound to a bed sideways and against a wall, was a naked Apex woman. How he knew that this creature was an 'Apex', he was not quite sure. Nor was it important. Her legs, and hands were spread apart, her private parts on full display. Her body was beaten, and somewhat bloody.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Ah, yes. Allow me to introduce you to your cellmate. Your co-subject. All you need to know is that is... or was... a rebel. One who tried foolishly to resist the will of Big Ape. She was captured, stripped, and restrained. Ah, I see you're already ready to go."

Nine didn't know what this voice meant... until he became aware of a certain part of him sticking out. A big, blue, conical, ridged cock, with a huge knot at the base.

Embarrassed, Nine simply stood there. Not sure what to do. Or what these 'Miniknog' wanted him to do. But an idea was starting to present itself. A horrifying idea. He silently prayed to whatever god or entities were listening to his thoughts that they didn't intend to do to her what he thought they wanted him to do.

"Now, Subject 9, you asked what we want with you. The answer is right in front of you. If you still do not understand, I will be as blunt as possible..." The voice returned. "Approach the subject, and rape her."

...They did.

---------

Shia was mortified. He shook where he was. He was beginning to regret ever asking about this. 

"Y... You didn't go through with it, right?" He hurriedly asked.

--------

"No!" Nine shouted. "I won't do it!"

"You will do it, Subject Nine." The voice told him sternly. "Or you will be punished. Severely."

Nine crossed his arms as he turned away from the bound apex woman. "You have my answer."

"Very well. You have been warned. Commencing punishment sequence."

As soon as the voice finished, Nine felt his chest grow tight. 

"AAAAAAAAHHUUUUUGHHHHHH!!" Nine howled with pain as his hands went, instinctively, to his chest. The protogen fell to its knees, and then rolled onto his side as his whole body screamed with pain. 

"MAKE IT STOP!!!" Nine screamed, but the pain continued. His body rolled back and forth as he flailed about. "PLEASE I BEG YOU!!! AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!! STOOOP!!!" It didn't stop.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHGGGHHHHHHH!!!"

Nine felt himself begin to slip from consciousness. Just as the pain was about to overtake him however... it suddenly stopped.

"They were trying to break me." Nine explained to Shia in the present. "Trying to turn me against my morals. From what I understand, they were trying to acquire a method to turn rebels against each other. Or at least, that's what I think they were trying to do. With the Miniknog, one can never tell."

He sighed.

"At first, they failed. I tried two more times to resist, but each and every time, they'd torture me.  Eventually... they succeeded."

"It is useless to resist, subject Nine." The voice responded. "The more you resist, the more pain you will receive."

Nine panted as the pain subsided. 

"Also, do not think that sacrificing your own life will spare her this fate. Should you expire, you will merely be replaced with a more... cooperative subject." The voice threatened. "Such is the fate of those who defy the Miniknog."

"Alright, Alright, I'll do it! Just please! No more!" Nine cried.

"Very good. Get up, and begin forced copulation with the subject." The voice commanded. 

Nine, shakily rose to his feet. Amazingly, his cock was still hard despite all of this. With one foot in front of the other, he made his way towards his soon-to-be victim, the guilt for what he was about to do growing with each step. 

If he were capable of emitting tears, they would be flowing from his face at this moment.

"No... please...." He heard her plead with him. "D... Don't!" She began to struggle against her bonds, but it was a futile effort. As futile as his own resistance had been. The bonds kept her tied to the bed, and he doubted that even he could break them. Not that the Miniknog would allow it anyway.

It tore at his soul, if such a thing even existed.

He felt a lump in his throat as he felt the tip of his cock meet her flesh. He was too big for her, he knew that. This was going to hurt her. He knew that. And she knew that. She shook her head desperately, and her useless struggles began anew, in a desperate attempt to get her exposed body away from him. Or at least throw off his aim.

He wondered, if there was some way around this? She was going to be raped, and he was going to rape her. That was unavoidable. But maybe... Maybe he could make this more comfortable for her? Somehow? Maybe play with her pussy for a bit? Play with her breasts? It would not help the situation the least bit, but maybe if he did that, he'd get her wet, and it would be a bit less painful? If nothing else, it would delay all of this-

"No further delays, subject 9." The voice commanded sternly. "Stick it in."

... So much for that idea. Of course the Miniknog wouldn't allow either of them that luxury. With a heavy heart, he pushed himself into her. Slowly. 

"Please... no..." She sobbed. Nine wished he could, but he could not.

Despite his attempt to spare her from as much pain as possible, she still gave a loud scream as he slowly penetrated and violated her most sacred of places. She sobbed loudly as the protogen pushed his massive cock into her, her pain weighing heavily on him as he was forced to force himself in her. Her insides clamped around his cock tightly, He gathered no pleasure from this, at least mentally. But his body disagreed.

When he pushed himself in her as far as he could go, he himself cried. She had stopped her struggles, and had resorted to merely crying.

"I'm sorry!" He rushed to apologize to the weeping apex victim in front of him. "This isn't what I want! I don't want this anymore than you, but if I don't, they'll torture me. Y... You've heard the loudspeakers. Please... forgive me."

"A touching attempt, Subject 9." The voice mocked him from the loudspeakers. "I suppose now is as good a time as ever to inform you that prior to your awakening, we have surgically removed her ability to hear. She cannot hear your apologies, nor us for that matter."

This revelation only further served to upset and disgust Nine, and to make him feel even more ashamed of himself. He realized that to her, he had decided to rape her out of the blue, and there was nothing he could do to tell her otherwise. There was no forgiveness now.

Still, he was not a monster. At least, that is what he told himself. 

He didn't want to continue. He didn't want to pull back and start in earnest. But he knew if he just stayed like this, it would not help anything. The Miniknog would just grow impatient and torture him again, until he continued. But at the very least, if he went slow, he could give her time to acclimate. He owed his victim that much, at least. It was the least, and sadly, the most he could do in this awful situation.

And with that revelation in mind, he pulled himself back, and pushed back into her, slowly. He paused after each slow push in, giving her time to adjust, and pulled back, only to push in again. It wasn't pleasurable, for him, and he doubted her, either. But it was a small hope. A small hope that this wouldn't be as horrible for her as his captors were trying to make it.

But he was fighting a losing battle. Mentally, and physically. She was being raped, and he was raping her, and nothing would change that fact. 

"Trying to take the slow route?" The voice suddenly asked tauntingly. "Ah, I see. You're trying to reduce her suffering. You must realize that isn't going to work, subject 9. You are just prolonging it all the more."

As much as Nine hated to admit to this, the voice was right. By trying to be gentle, he was only making this last longer. He was only prolonging the inevitable. 

With that in mind, he resolved to do the opposite.

He grabbed his victim's hips, for leverage. She let out a choked gasp as he did this. WIth a final gulp, he sped up, as fast as he could. Her cries became louder and more desperate, as the pain he inflicted upon her was made worse by this new, rapid pace.

He would get this over with. As quickly as possible. 

"NO! STOP! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! AAAAAHHH!!"

Nine tried to hold back any hint of enjoyment on his end. Hold back any grunts or moans. But as tight as she was around him, he could not. 

"TAKE IT OUT! TAKE IT OUT!!" His victim wailed. Every cry and every moan she made was like a jab to his heart. It was torture to the protogen, almost as bad as the Miniknog's remote torture.

Almost.

But nevertheless, he kept going. As fast as he could. He caused her more pain, but it would be over soon. And the sooner it was over for the both of them, the better for the both of them.

... Right?

It was not long before he felt his own climax approach. And with it, a relief. The end was finally in sight. He felt a little bit of pre begin to leak out from the tip of his monster cock.

"Don't worry, I won't knock you up." Nine said to his victim. He knew she couldn't hear it, nor would it bring much comfort even if it could. But, if he owed her anything, it was this at least. Besides, he didn't want to even think about what the Miniknog would do with such a baby. Nothing good, that much was certain.

When he felt himself getting close to his edge, he pulled out. His paw went to his cock, and he furiously stroked his shaft, in full view of his victim. Try as he might to suppress it, he couldn't help but give out a pleasureful grunt as he shot stream after stream of glowing, blue gunk out of that monster dick of his, covering his hapless victim, and the bed she lay upon, in coat after coat of the stuff.

He felt himself quivering as his orgasm subsided, both out of the sheer guilt of what he'd been forced to do, and from the bodily pleasure he'd tried so hard to suppress. For the moment, all there was, was the panting of nine, and the pained sobs of his victim.

"Good job, Subject 9." The voice in the loudspeakers said cheerfully, breaking the monotonous silence. "I bet that felt quite good."

The praise of the voice did not make Nine feel any better. In fact, it only did the opposite. He felt horrible. Guilty. Ashamed. And angry. Angry at himself for giving in, angry at the miniknog for doing this. Angry at everything.

"Oh, and for the record." The voice added. "It really does not matter if you ejaculate inside or out. You are genetically incompatible."

Nine angrily turned towards the speaker.

"I've done what you've wanted me to do!" He shouted up at it. "Now please, let us go! It's over!"

There was silence. A deafening silence. For a moment, Nine hoped that the scientist was fiddling with the door controls, that he'd let him go after they'd gotten their jollies.

"Let you go, Subject Nine?" The laughing, mocking voice rang out from the loud. "I'm afraid not!"

"You son of a bitch!" Nine screamed. "You let me go, or I'll-"

"You'll what?" The voice questioned mockingly.

Nine fell silent. He had no answer for that. 

He wanted so badly to make them pay. To wrap his hands around his malefactor's throat, and break his bones. But... it was just a fantasy. He couldn't get out of this room. Even if he could, he couldn't find him.

"You understand now?" The voice questioned. "This is not over. This is just the beginning."

"W... Why?" Nine asked. If he was capable of sobbing, he would have been doing so.

"For science. What else?" The voice responded sharply. "And for the glory of Big Ape."

"It was pretty naive for me to believe that they'd let me go after having me do it once. After all, this was a long term experiment. And to them, I was simply a test subject."

True to their word, the very next day, Nine was forced to do this again. And again the next one. And the one after that. It quickly broke his victim's will, but also Nine's own. At first, it was the same song and dance. He'd refuse. He'd get punished. His body would explode with pain,and he tried to hold out, but he would buckle. Or he'd pass out, and the process would repeat, until relented.

"I tried holding off once, to let them kill me." Nine explained, sorrowfully. "But... But I couldn't do it. I wasn't strong enough. I was too cowardly."

Just like the first day, every time he'd violated his co-subject, he'd done it fast, rough, and hard. Trying to get it over with as fast as possible. He told himself that he was reducing her suffering as much as possible by doing fast instead of slowly.  
But deep down, he knew he always knew he was kidding himself. He wasn't helping her. He wasn't reducing her suffering. He wasn't helping anyone... Except his masters.

As time wore on, she broke, more and more, resisting less and less, as did he. After what he'd assumed was the first week, she wasn't even tied to the bed anymore. She'd been left to wander in his cell, to huddle in her little corner until the loudspeakers prompted Nine to violate her. He in turn resisted less and less, requiring less torture to get on with the act. To get it over with as fast as possible.

Soon, she didn't even cry, or resist him when he approached. She'd open her legs, and allow him to have his way with her. Long after, he'd even wake up, to find her riding him! Or sucking his cock eagerly to get him going. Every time he'd stick it in, she'd moan, not cry and protest for him to stop, but moan happily. He didn't know how long it'd been since their first encounter. Months? Years? Decades? Not decades. But it felt like it.

Her displays still sickened him. As did what he was made to do. It didn't help that he himself, as much as he tried to deny it, was starting to enjoy this. Enjoy her company. Enjoy the feeling of her around his cock.

One day however, he awoke, expecting the same cycle. But when he looked around... She was gone.

"Good morning, Subject 9." The voice in the loudspeakers greeted.

"Wh... Where is-"

"She has been removed from your cell, and relocated." The voice finished. "Were you getting attached, Subject 9?"

He hated to admit to it, but he could no longer deny that yes, he had gotten attached to her, as she had to him. And now, she'd been taken away from him, just like that.

"I only found out what happened to her much later. She'd been taken to another part of the barracks, where the soldiers had used her as a sex slave. I... I never got the chance to apologise to her. She died from a disease later on. I... I can only hope she's found peace in a better place."

"Not to worry, Subject Nine. You will have a new co-subject soon." The voice said encouragingly. "For now... get some rest. You've earned it."

Sure enough, a day or two later, he'd woken up to find himself with another subject, another victim. The voice had given him the same commands. But this time, there was no resistance. No talkback. Just a rough rutting, and him retreating to the back of the room to sleep off whatever guilt still remained in him.

They had switched tacts at this point, as well. No longer resorting to torture... but talk.

"It's only natural, Subject Nine." The voice would reassure him. "You're just an animal."

"You're just a spoke of a wheel. One turning before you were ever brought here." It'd say another time. "One too big for you to fix. A cycle you have no control over. You might as well just indulge. Do not pay your victims any mind, Subject 9. They will come and go. Hail Big Ape."

And... it worked. Eventually, he no longer cared about his victims. They were just a passing phase, passing faces. They'd be resisting and crying one day, and broken slaves the next. Only to be shipped off to who knows where. He indulged in his worst excesses. The days of them having to torture him were long gone. 

This was his life. This was their fate. There was no escape. There was no hope. So he might as well try to enjoy it.

He didn't know how many he'd hurt. He'd lost count after the third or fifth such victim. Sometimes, they didn't even make it out of his cell alive. Sometimes, he was simply too big, too rough for them. And their bodies couldn't take it. In those cases, he'd go to sleep, and they'd drag some other poor victim to replace her some time later. They cared even less than he did.

------
Shia, naturally, was horrified at all of this. He was more terrified of Nine now than he'd ever been. Every fiber of his being was telling him to run away, run away from this monster. 

Or... part of him did, at least.

Another part of him felt something else. Sorrow. Sympathy? And worry.

His thoughts went back to Rai, as it often did. He wondered... if Eilumi's pack never showed up, would this have been him? Rai might have simply been joking that day, but somehow he doubted it. Somehow he knew that rat had wanted one of the two to force themselves upon the other. And... as much as he hated to admit this. He knew which one of the two it would be.

It would have been him. He could no longer deny it. He was weak, weak-willed. He'd been broken upon Rai's will so soon, becoming his obedient slave so quickly. All Rai would have had to do was threaten him a little bit, and he'd have been the one violating Eilumi. 

Eilumi said he would have forgiven him if that was the case, but Shia was still not so sure.

If Eilumi's pack hadn't rescued them both... this could have been him.

And with that thought, something else began to gnaw at Shia. Something that compelled him to stay. Another realization. This Nine, was obviously not the same Nine that had been stuck in that facility. The Nine of that facility would have taken advantage of him by now, forced himself upon him, just like Rai- No, worse than Rai. 

But he hadn't. Something had changed.

And now, curiosity drove him forward to find out what.

'Curiosity killed the skitty' Shia thought to himself. But it was far too late now. He'd opened this box, and now he was going to see where it went.

"S.... So what happened next?" Shia asked shakily. "It... It couldn't have gone on forever."

"No. No it did not." Nine responded with a heavy, mournful sigh. "They say all good times don't last."

"Right."

"The same goes for bad times."

------

Alarms blared outside. Nine could hear the frantic shuffling of feet and ordered shouts. 

The base was under attack.

'... Again.' Nine thought with annoyance as he drove his cock into his latest victim. Her sobs filled the room as he filled her up to the hilt, and he felt the addicting sensation of a pussy wrapped around his cock.

Rebel attacks were nothing new to Nine, so he felt no need to stop. He instead began to slam his hips into her unwilling body with the same amount of gusto as he'd done to his previous victims. They'd happen every so often. The rebels would launch an attack, sometimes even managing to breach one or two floors. Only to be captured or killed by security.

And since he was located far at the bottom of the underground facility, well, he had no need to worry. If anything, it just meant that he'd have another pet to play with after this one was done. Another wheel to turn.

Or at least... that's what he'd thought.

The alarms continued blaring as he increased his pace, and his unfortunate victim's cries increased in volume.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!! AAAAHHH!" She cried. Nine could only sigh to himself. It was the same song and dance as always. The alarms would go off, and they'd cry for help. Help that never came.

Although, he had to admit, these alarms were going on for a little longer than they normally would. Still, no matter.

WIth his rough, frantic thrusting, he felt his orgasm coming along. Soon, he'd fill her with his cum, pumping her belly full of his sticky, glowing juice. Maybe even inflating it a little. 

"SECURITY ALERT! BREACH IN SECTOR 5!" The loudspeakers, this time with a different voice, rang out.

If he had been more aware of his surroundings, he would have realized that Sector 5 was where he was. But he'd spent his entire time inside this cell, so he did not, and kept at his hapless victim.

He didn't know it at the time, but this time was different. This time, they'd been better equipped. Better organized. They'd breached further. He heard fighting outside. Gun blasts, screams. 

Yes, this time was different. This time... they had help. This time, they had a vanguard at their front. Eilumi and his pack. Him, Khaun, Renali, and Eityu.

----

Shia had to wonder who Eityu was. But he resolved to allow Nine to finish his story before he asked.

"Oh, you should have seen them back in their prime." Nine said. "Before loss crippled their pack cohesion, they were an unstoppable whirlwind. Despite them being much smaller than the Miniknog defenders, the four of them blew through them like a hurricane. They were less like four separate avali, and more like one creature split into four parts."

----
Nine was close now. He was going to cum inside of her. Soon this rebel attack would be dealt with. And it would be back to business as usual.

Or so he thought. 

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!" His victim once again screamed.

Suddenly, the door flew open. He'd seen it open every now and then in the later months, as they'd just dump a new subject in now without prepping her up first. He'd been that cooperative. The miniknog guards would come in, dump off his next victim, and then leave.

"H-HELP! GET THIS MONSTER OFF ME!!" His victim cried out.

Nine turned his head to the side. And saw what she saw... Two rebels. Both males. Armed with stolen miniknog rifles. Not looking happy with what they saw in front of them.

And he'd been caught, red handed.

'Shit.'

It was the last thought in his mind before the butt end of a rifle met the side of his head, knocking him out.

---

Nine drifted in and out of consciousness as he felt himself being dragged along the cold floor of the facility. Two rebels held his arms on their own. They talked among themselves, but he couldn't make out what they said. 

He saw blood. Bodies. Everywhere. The Rebels had been thorough, and merciless. He drifted out one more time.

"Wake up, beast!"

Nine came online once more.

"Wake up and face your death like a man, you raping peice of shit!!" A gruff, male voice shouted at him.

His sensors sprung to life, as he looked around. To his left and right, he saw apex. Scientists, still in lab coats, armor, though lacking their helmets. Captured facility staff. They were shaking, quaking. Some of them pleading for their lives, some of them crying, some of them trying to bargain their way out of this.

And in front of him, a line of Rebels. Weapons drawn, and aimed right at them.

It didn't take a scientist to figure out what was going on here. Instinctively, he tried to get up, but found his hands bound behind him. He looked down, and saw his feet similarly tied with ropes.

"So, the shitbags are awake." A smaller voice called out from among them. Nine couldn't spot it, it must have been behind the other rebels somewhere. "Good, let's get this over with, so we can get the fuck outta here."

He briefly saw a purple-coated bird-raptor person walk around in the back. She was preoccupied with something. She looked at Nine, and her eyes went wide.

As he looked around, his mind raced with thought. Fear gripped him. The fear of death. 

Part of him wanted to plead. Wanted to beg for his life. Wanted to find a way out of this. But.. but as he thought, something else came to the surface of his thought. An emotion thought long buried.
Guilt. 

He thought the years had caused it to be buried. Beneath all the pleasure. But now... not it was all coming back. All those faces. All those cries. All those bodies. All that stolen pleasure. It came back to him, and hit him like a kick to the groin.

'You deserve this.' He thought to himself. He couldn't deny it either. All the wrong he'd done, all the rape he'd commited in that cell of his. It was all on him. He deserved to die.

He feared his death, yes. But despite that fear, deep down....
He was ready to die. To face whatever harsh judgement awaited him in the next life. 

"READY!" One of the rebels, presumably the one in charge, shouted. At that moment, the rebels raised their guns.

"No, gods!" One of the scientists yelled. "D-Don't kill us!" Another one yelled. Nine remained silent, only switching off his visual sensors, and looking off to the side.

"AIM!!" The commander yelled.

This was it. He was going to die. There was nothing he could do about it now. There was nothing he wanted to do about it.

"F-"

"WAIT NO! STOP!!"

Nine felt a breeze blow towards him.

"The fuck?" "The hell are-" "Get out of the way!!"

"No!"

Nine switched his visual sensors back on, and looked in front of him. His view was blocked, by the form of a bird-raptor, standing in front of him, back to him.. Their arms were outstretched, to block the oncoming fire.

-----

"Eilumi?" Shia guessed.

"No, I'm afraid not."

Shia's attention turned towards Eilumi as he entered the room.

"So you've finally asked him." Eilumi said, with a hint of sadness as he sat down besides the shinx. Shia nodded sadly.

"Oh boy." Eilumi said. "Oh, and before you ask, no it wasn't Khaun either."

"It's ironic, really." Nine added, speaking to Eilumi. "But back then, You and Khaun were both among the most fervent voices calling for my death."

Shia watched as Eilumi nodded regretfully.

"Yeah, we were kinda stupid back then."

"No you weren't." Nine responded. 

Eilumi shrugged. 

"Well, sitting here now... I'm glad the execution didn't take hold, at least for you, and I'm glad you're here with us now."

Nine's expression showed a crooked smile with a sad-looking eye.

"So if it wasn't Eilumi or Khaun who saved you, who was it?" Shia asked.

"You don't know?" Eilumi asked with a hint of surprise. Shia shook his head. He thought about it.

"There was only one among us there that would stand up for him. And that one was-"

----

"Renali?!"

Nine watched as three more of the raptor-birds stepped forward, in front of the soldiers. They didn't join the one in front of them, however. In fact, they were looking quite angry with the purple-coated avali in front of Nine.

"Renali, the fuck are you doing?" The brown-coated avali he'd later know as Eilumi shouted. 
"Get out of the way!" The blue coated one he'd come to know as Khaun shouted as well.

"No!" Renali shouted back, refusing to move an inch. "I will not allow you to gun down this one!"

Nine was likewise confused. What the hell was this crazy bitch doing?!

"Have you lost your Nexus-damned mind, Renali?!" Eilumi yells back. "Do you have ANY idea how many people that beast has raped and even killed in this facility?!"

"You think I don't?!" Renali yelled back. "I know what he's done-"

"Then get the FUCK out of the way, and let the firing squad do its job." Eilumi growled. 

"I refuse!" Renali hissed back. "Do YOU Know what he's done, and more importantly, WHY?!"

"Because he's a shitbag in a facility of shitbags. What's there to know?" Eilumi shot back.

"How about the fact that he's a victim too?!" She yelled. Everyone looked at each other. The rebel soldiers were quite unsure of what to do in this situation, so for the moment, they were content to simply let the avali argue it out.

"You're crazy!" Khaun replied back angrily.

"I'm NOT crazy. I simply read the reports. And if you had done the same, you'd see that this poor creature is just as much a victim of the miniknog's cruelty as the other."

"Okay, this is all touching and all, but if you get your girlfriend to move so we can carry on with this-" The commander started. All four avalis looked at him with the hardest looks, and the sharpest teeth they could muster.

"SHUT IT!!" All four shouted at the same time. The commander jumped a bit. He looked like he was going to shout back, but he didn't.

"As I was saying," Renali continued. "If you'd read the reports, you'd know he was forced into this. He didn't want this. They tortured him into doing this. HE. HAD. NO. CHOICE."

NIne could not believe what he was hearing. Was this girl... sympathizing with a worthless creature like himself? No. No, he had to put a stop to this, now. For all of their sakes.

"Please. Stop." Nine finally spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "I see what you're trying to do, but... They're right. I'm a worthless beast. A rapist. A monster. I deserve to die."

"See?" Khaun said in response. "Even HE agrees with us. He's guilty."
"So move out of the way, and let us put him, and the rest of these shitbags out of everyone's misery. Including theirs." Eilumi order.

"No!" Renali spoke back. "If anything, him saying he deserves to die only proves the opposite."

"That doesn't even BEGIN to make sense!" Eilumi protested.

"It means, that unlike the rest of these pieces of crap," She looked about at the gaggle of miniknog staff as she spoke. "This one feels remorse and regret for what he's done."

"Yeah, and?" Eilumi said. "The hell is your point?"

"He can be salvaged." She finished.

... Was this girl crazy? Him? Salvaged?

Suddenly, there was movement. Eyes shifted at the white and blue coated avali, made his way towards Renali, and stood at her side.

"... You too, Eityu?" Khaun said slowly.

"Look, I trust this guy about as far as I can throw him." Eityu said, giving Nine a dirty look in the process. "But I should remind you that Renali is the psychologist of our pack. If she says there's good to be found in this bastard, then by the Nexus I'm going to believe her."

The pack was split in two, the four of them, and the rebels were at an impasse. The commander was growing restless, as were the others, but still said nothing. The air was thick enough to cut it with a blade.

Eilumi, after many moments of silence, let out a loud sigh.

".... Fine. Have it your way." Eilumi finally relented, earning a harsh stare from Khaun. 

"Thank you, Eilumi." She replied happily.

"...But I'm warning you now, Renali... this creature is your problem. And yours alone." He responded harshly. "If we wake up and find him trying to violate you or any of us, I will not only put him down for good, I will also hold you personally responsible."

"... I understand." Renali replied.  

"Let's hope so." Eilumi replied back. "Nexus help us all."

Renali nodded towards Eityu, and the two of them turned around. Nine watched as the two of them cut his leg ropes, but kept his back end ropes on.

Understandable. He would not trust himself to have his hands free either.

The two of them lead him away from the firing wall, and they were soon joined by the other two of the pack.

"Any more objections, lady?" The commander sighed with irritation. "Don't tell me you're going to go wishy-washy Protectorate on the rest of these bastards."

"Yeah, take me with you too!" One of the scientists yelled out. "Me too!" A miniknog guard shouted as well.

"No." Renali replied with spite. "You may continue, commander."

"Thank you." He said.

As he was led away down the halls, he heard gunshots in the distance. 

Eventually, the five of them came to an elevator. It was a tight fit, but all five of them were able to fit inside.

"Tell me, big guy." Nine looked down towards Renali as spoke to him directly for the first time. "What's your name?"

"Subject Nine." Nine responded. "That's the only name I've ever had. And the only one I'm worthy of."

"Well that won't do." Renali "We'll have to think of a name for you, but for now... let's just drop the 'subject' part. Okay... Nine?"

"If you insist."

-----

"We never did find a better name for you." Eilumi lamented. 

"It's fine. I'm used to this name by now." Nine replied.

"I know." Eilumi sighed. "And anything else would just sound weird."

Nine nodded, and continued.

"The next year or so was rough. For the first several months, the ship's brig was all I saw. I was out of one cell, and into another. Though, it was different. I had no 'co-subjects'. No commands. Nothing. Just the daily visits by Renali, and my own thoughts. My own guilt."

His 'eyes' closed.

"I tried to end it all. Multiple times." Nine said. Eilumi looked on in surprise. "Yet every time I did, Renali came in and stopped me."

"I..." Eilumi stuttered. "I never knew about that. Renali never told us."

Nine nodded sadly.

"Save for the occasional visit by Eityu, or an overly-protective Eilumi or Khaun, Renali's visits were the only interaction I ever had." Nine continued.

"I was always afraid you were going to try to escape, or hurt her in some way..." Eilumi confessed. "It alway scared me when she'd go back into the brig. By herself. With Mr. Big and Scary here." Nine nodded sadly. "I was always afraid that one day, she wouldn't come back out alive. Or that he was doing something to her."

"I never did though." Nine said back. "I never tried to escape, or hurt her in any way. Nor anyone else that visited."

"Yeah, I was kind of a shithead towards you." Eilumi recalled sadly. "But you never once lashed back at me."

"You even threw something at my head once." Nine reminded him.

"Yeah..." Eilumi replied as he scratched the back of his head guiltily. "Renali had some... very choice words for me after that. To put it mildly." He chuckled a bit. "She was a real sweetie, and a packie through and through, but daaaaamn, you did not want to get on her bad side."

"Which, I found, was very hard to do." Nine replied. "... At least, it was for me."

Shia nodded. The more they described this 'Renali', the more it was starting to remind him of Veera.

"As much as Renali always told me that what happened, and what he did wasn't my fault, I never could quite bring myself to believe it. I never wanted to. In fact, I still don't."

Eilumi could only nod. 

"But during one such visit... I came to a certain decision."

----
The door to the brig opened with a hiss. Nine looked up from his spot on the floor he had been sitting upon as a lone figure entired.

"Hello, Nine." The friendly tone of Renali entered the troubled protogen's auditory sensors.

"Hello, Renali." Nine replied, cordially, but sadly. As he always did.

"How're you doing today?" She asked as she sat in front of him.

"It's the same. Nothing's changed." Nine lamented. "I still hear them. Their pleas, their wails. I still see their faces, still see the tears flow down their faces. Still see the pain I've caused. "

"Nine..." Renali said as she reached out to him. But he continued. 

"It haunts me every night. Every moment of waking day. And only when I have these conversations with you is there any sort of respite."

"Nine... You are never going to get over this if you keep dwelling on the past."

"... I can't. I just can't. I cannot forget, I cannot forgive myself."

"Nor should you, but you must move on."

Nine was silent.

"I appreciate what you are trying to do, Renali. But... you should know this is not going to work."

"Are... Are you having suicidal thoughts again, Nine?" Renali asked slowly, those soft black eyes of hers boring into the large protogen's facemask 'eyes'.

"I am. And I do not believe I will ever stop having them." He sighed. "I should have died on that firing line. I fully deserved it."

"That wouldn't have accomplished anything. That still won't accomplish anything." Renali replied sternly.

Nine was silent again.

"Why did you bother to save me?" Nine asked sadly. "Why do you keep trying?"

There was silence.

"I know this is going to sound silly to you, being much bigger than myself." Renali said to him. "But... you're big, you look strong. But underneath it all... you are weak."

Nine look at her, confused and a bit irritated.

"No, I don't mean that as an insult." Renali quickly added. "It's the motto of my pack. That we protect the weak and the innocent. And uplift them."

"But I'm not innocent." Nine responded.

"You were a victim. Forced to commit wrongdoings you wanted nothing to do with. That's close enough." Renali replied. "And I will never stop trying to help you because of it. No matter what it takes."

Nine's continually sorrowful expression changed to a weak smile.

"You are too good for this universe." Nine told her. She smiled back sweetly. "But... But I'm beyond saving."

"Stop saying that." Renali chided him.

"This universe is all just the same shit happening over and over again. One big cycle, the size of-"

"STOP IT!!"

Renali's yell caused Nine to stop in his tracks. He jumped slightly from her sudden outburst. 

"Listen to be Nine, and listen to me good. That 'Cycle' stuff? It's a load of monkey crap!!" She continued, her anger not subsiding. "They wanted you to believe your life is predetermined, that there is no hope for the future. That you have no choice in anything, no agency whatsoever. That once you started raping against your will, you'd be lashed to this 'cycle' forever. That there's nothing, just this grim cycle. And maybe, just MAYBE, deep in that laboratory, that was the case."

She took a deep breath, and continued.

"But those days are gone. That laboratory is now nothing but a ruin, millions of lightyears away. Me, Eilumi, Khaun, and Eytuli. We saw to it that you will never go through that ever again. Don't you understand?! Your decisions are your own now."

She looked up at Nine with a very hard look. One that made him shrink internally.

"If you are as caught in this 'cycle' as you claim you are, you could have easily overpowered me. You could have done to me like they made you do to so many inside that base."

Renali threw her hands into the air

"...But you haven't!" She shouted.

"You think I'm not tempted?!" He yelled back. "Every day I see you, I feel myself trying to slip back into old habits. I have to hold myself back, every time I see your pretty, fluffy, avali body, hear your soft voice, I have to restrain myself."

"You've been doing a good enough job so far. And it's been months now." Renali replied. 

Nine had no response to that.

"Look, let me ask you this.... What do YOU truly want?" She asked. "Do you want to become the obedient little rapist monster they always wanted? Or do you want to be something else?"

"I... I don't know." Nine responded. "I don't want to be a monster... but I don't know what else I can be-"

"I didn't ask what you think you can be. I asked what you want to be."

Nine couldn't answer her.

"... Think about it, Nine." Renali said as she got up. She turned around, and headed for the door.

"Renali... wait."

Renali stopped where she was immediately. Only inches away from the door. She turned around and listened.

"You said... that you do this because you 'protect the weak and innocent.'" Nine asked.

"That's right." She confirmed sweetly with a nod.

"I.... I wonder..." Nine asked, with a slight hesitation to his voice. "What if I could do the same? Is.... Is that an option to your earlier question?"

A grin formed on her lips. She walked back to nine, and once again sat down by him.

"I was beginning to think you'd never ask." She replied. "Of course it's an option!"

For the first time, a smile, a genuine, hopeful smile took shape on Nine's visor.

"I may never be able to completely forgive myself for my past. Nor do I expect anyone else to do so either." He spoke. "But... If I can prevent others from being forced to do what I was made to do. If I could save others from what I put my victims through."

A realization hit Nine as he said this.

"The facility I was at... it wasn't the only facility, was it?" 

"I'm afraid not." Renali said with a sad sigh. "There are always more Miniknog labs. Always space pirates looking to make a quick pixel off the black market slave trade when the Peacekeepers aren't looking. Always more isolated incidents.

"Then... I've made my decision. Of what I want to do. Of what I want to become." Nine spoke with determination, his visor changing expression to follow suit. "I want to redeem myself. Or die trying. By protecting the weak, as you and your pack does."

He felt a smaller pair of paws take his own. He looked down, to see Renali take his paws in hers. Or put hers in his.

"You don't need to do it alone." She said as she rose to her feet. She pulled his paws up, bidding him to do the same. He did so, rising to his feet. 

"Come, Nine." She commanded, and Nine nodded. He pulled him by the paw, and he followed her to the door.

"But the others-" Nine began with concern.

"I will handle them." Renali answered him before he could ask.

The door opened with a hiss, and for the first time since his arrival, he stepped out of the brig. And onto the rest of the ship.

----

"Yeah, I was NOT happy to see him out and about when she came with him in hand." Eilumi commented. "We had another argument, and Nine almost retreated back to his cell. But I relented. As long as Renali kept him under control."

There were so many thoughts, so many emotions jumbled around in Shia's head at that moment. He did not know what to think, or where to start with what question to ask next. In the heat of the moment, he asked the first random question that popped into his head.

"Did you and Renali ever... do it?" Shia blurted out.

Shia's eyes went wide as both of them stared at him. He mentally slapped himself for even asking such a stupid, and inappropriate question. 

'Out of all the questions you could have asked.. You HAD to ask THAT one?!' His inner self screamed at him.

"I... I didn't mean... It was..." Shia stumbled over himself, his paws went over his head out of sheer embarrassment.

He heard the loud chuckle of Eilumi next to him. He lifted a hand from his face and saw Nine with a paw over his own visor. Under it, he could barely make out the expression of irritation.

"Eilumi, what have you been doing to him?!"

"I haven't been doing anything!" Eilumi claimed innocently.

"I don't believe you." Nine responded accusingly.

"You can check the video feeds if you don't believe me." Eilumi protested in response. Shia had no idea what a 'video feed' was, nor did he care at the moment. "It's not my fault that Shia is a lil' perv like me and Khaun."

Shia groaned with embarrassment, and once again buried his paws in his head. 

"If Renali were here," Nine grumbled. "She would slap you upside the head, Eilumi."

"If Renali was here," Eilumi countered. "She'd be taking Shia to to the bedroom and-"

"Stop." Nine commanded. "Stop. Right. There."

"Alright, alright!" Eilumi relented "Sheesh big guy, sheesh." 

NIne let out an embarrassed growl.

"To answer your 'question', Shia." Nine continued with a groan. "No, we didn't 'do it'-"

"Yes you did." Eilumi interrupted accusingly.

"No, we didn't!" Nine protested back. "Well... not directly at least. I'm way too big, you see."

"Yeah whoever told you that there's no such thing as too big of a cock... is a moron." Eilumi added in. "Still, She did have... other methods."

----

"How's this, Nine?"

"I'm not exactly comfortable with this, Renali."

Nine looked down upon his gentle female avali friend- no, Packmate. He was sitting on a large beanbag chair, especially made just for him and his size. He was slouched back, so he was laying upon it. On his stomach, was laying the avali in question, Renali. She was slowly stroking his very hard, very large cock in her very lubed-up talons. Both of them.

She was giving him a very plain view of her behind, her pussy and her ass, in return. He could see the moisture drip from the former. And a lot of him wanted badly to pick her up and drop her down on that cock of his. 
He'd always found her pretty, and attractive. Despite her being a completely different species than himself. During his time in the brig, he'd had to hold himself back to prevent himself from mounting her. He could do it, of course, just like he could pick her up and force her onto that cock now. Yet, he didn't want to hurt her. Not like the others so long ago. He wanted her to enjoy it, to moan his name as she was pleased. He wanted to please as well as be pleased.
But he knew that wouldn't be possible. He could certainly do it, but he wouldn't fit, and it would cause his avali packmate no small amount of torment. Or possibly even death. 

So as always, he restrained himself. He didn't even let her know how he truly felt, and kept it pent up inside of him. However, she'd always been one step ahead of him. And when she'd noticed him staring at that lucious raptor behind hers, she'd lead him to this room, and started to do this with him.

"You should have told me a long time ago." She chided in a soft tone. "Nothing good can come from keeping yourself pent up like this."

"You aren't getting anything out of this." Nine protested.

"All in good time." She responded back soothingly as she squeezed his cock, moving her talons up and down along his length slowly.

He gave out a light moan as she did.

"This.... This is making me feel guilty." He admitted to her.

"There's no need to feel guilty." She said in response, giving him a quick little stroke before returning to her previously established pace. "You are doing this with a member of your pack. Nothing to be ashamed about. But if you want me to stop."

"No. Don't stop." Nine replied quickly. "But I'm worried about what might happen if Eilumi or any of the others see us doing this."

"Join in. What else?" She giggled lightly. "After all, all activities are pack activities. Even sex. ESPECIALLY sex. And... You're a part of this pack now, Nine. And besides..."

Renali opened her mouth, exposing her razor sharp raptor teeth. And more importantly, her long snake-like tongue. With it, she gave a long, slow, soothing lick along the back end of Nine's glowing penis. She started at the base, and worked her way up to the tip, giving it one more teasing little flick before resuming her steady stroking. 

"... It's been more than a few months already since you've left the brig." She finished. "They aren't as hostile to you as they were."

"It's still awkward to talk to them, though." Nine complained in turn.

"Give it time, Nine." She said "They'll warm up to you."

Without warning, she began to speed up her strokes. Her hands were rapidly rubbing the length of his cock, and he felt that it would not be very long before his orgasm would follow suit at this rate.

"If you keep this up, I'm..." He gave out a groan. "I'm going to cum!"

"That's the idea." Renali said back, giving the back of his cock another quick lap with her wet tongue.

"I should warn you, I tend to cum a lot." Nine informed her worriedly.

"Don't worry, the cleaning bot can handle it."

He felt himself letting go. With a loud moan, he embraced his climax, his penis shooting his glowing blue jizz up into the air, and onto the floor. Lots, and lots of it. Enough to fill a small bucket, at least. He shuddered as he felt the pleasure wash over him.

"Wow, you weren't kidding." Renali commented. 

"I told you." Nine repjlied with an embarrassed, crooked grin.

True to Renali's earlier words, the room was soon filled with the angry beeps of a very pissed-off cleaning bot darting into the room, and the whir of a vacuum as it drank up all the cum off the floor.

"Hey, leave some for me, stupid drone!" Renali joked. The bot, having virtually no intelligence of its own, ignored her as it went about its task.

"So, you feel better now?" Renali turned her head behind her as she spoke to her large protogen packmate. 

"I do. But-"

"That's good. Let me know if you need relief again."

Nine felt her about to slide off of him. He quickly grabbed her hips with his large paw, stopping her.

"Nine, what-" She suddenly asked, looking back. NIne had a naughty grin, and a four-pointed star for an expression on his monitor.

He extended his other paw towards her behind, placing a finger on her drenched pussy.

"Oooh." She moaned softly as her outer folds were touched.

"I can't in good taste let you go without receiving anything in turn." Nine informed her, as his finger along the outer edges of her folds. "I know my cock is far too big for your body, and I can't lick you thanks to my visor. But I can still do this, at least."

"Mmmm, Nine." She moaned in response. Nine, feeling that she was no longer trying to slip off of him, let go of her hips. 

He felt that her folds were already quite drenched, so he didn't need to waste any time. He took one large finger, and slowly pushed it into her wet pussy, a loud, long moan filled the air as he did. As he did, he took his thumb, and placed it over her clit, and began to flick and play with the small nub.

"Oooh, that's good." She told him in turn. This was all the confirmation he needed to continue.

He withdrew his finger back, and pushed it back in, and slowly began to pump her with it, while at the same time flicking at her clitoral hood with his thumb. He felt her in turn begin to back into his hand as he finger-fucked her softly, giving her hips the occasional twist left or right. The protogen's electronic grin grew as he heard her moans become heavier and more frequent, the noises becoming music to his ears.

"Mmmh, more, Nine!" Renali begged.

Nine obliged the female on his stomach, thrusting his finger in faster and deeper into her depths. Wet slishes and slaps filled the room as well as louder and more frequent pants and moans as the female avali pushed herself back into his finger harder and harder in turn with each thrust, treating the large object like a cock.

"Aaaah, Ahhh, AAAhhhh!!" Renali yelled lustfully into the room as he finger-fucked her.

Suddenly, a loud yell filled the room as the protogen felt her body clamp down around the offending appendages, her muscles rippling and trying to massage his fingers as moisture spilled onto his fingers, and dripped out of her folds. Her whole body shuddered and shivered as she was overcome by her climax.

She lay there on her stomach, shuttering in the aftermath of her orgasm.

"Did I do good?" Nine asked as he slowly pulled his thoroughly drenched finger out of her womanhood. 

"Mmmmm" Was he only response at first. It worried Nine just a little. Suddenly, he felt her rise to her hands and knees, turn around, and crawl up to his visor with a satisfied grin on her face. Before he could ask, she planted a kiss straight onto his 'face'. Said 'face' changed into a heart, but only for a brief moment, before returning to a happy, contented smile.

"I love you so much, Renali." Nine told her.

"And I, you, Nine." Renali responded. "And so does the rest of the pack. Even if they're less... expressive about it."

----

"Those were better days." Nine sighed, and Eilumi nodded sadly.

Shia's cheeks were quite flush by now. Not to mention he had a raging hardon from that little story.

"I... I deeply apologize for embarrassing you further, Shia." Nine quickly said once he realized what exactly he'd done.

"So who's the little pervert distressing Shia now?" Eilumi teased.

Nine's expression changed to that of annoyance. "Oh hush up, you."

Some time passed, and Shia finally calmed down, and his mind was a little more clear. Now he was ready to ask another question, one that had been in his mind for a while, but the previous talks had gotten him too flustered and too panicked to ask it. Now though, was the time to do so.

"What happened to Renali?" Shia asked solemnly. "I know she's... gone, but what exactly happened?"

They both paused. Neither of them wanted to actually answer that question, by the looks of things. But now there was no recourse. They sighed, and answered him with two words.

"Oridan 6."

"What's... that?" Shia asked in response. 

"This... this will be hard for us to explain, so bear with us." Eilumi said sadly.

"It was the greatest failure of our lives." Nine explained. "It was the planet where she died."

Shia nodded slowly.

"Several years after I became a part of this pack, and a few years after the destruction of The Ruin, we were assigned a mission. An SOS signal was coming from a world called Oridan 6. It was a world that contained an Illuminate colony, but it also had a Protectorate, er, now Ex-Protectorate colony as well. Back then, humans and avali didn't get along. Some still don't. We were given orders to investigate the Illuminate colony, to check up and see if they were alright. When we got to the planet, we'd found out that both colonies had been attacked by the militarized cult known as 'The Occasus'"

"Isn't that the same cult that summoned that tentacle thing that destroyed Earth?" Shia asked. Both Eilumi and Nine nodded.

"Right you are, Shia. Right you are." Eilumi confirmed.

"After getting the ship into high orbit." Nine continued, "We beamed down. But what we didn't know is that the cult had set up jammers specifically to prevent ground assault teams from beaming in."

"It's all my fault" Eilumi cried. "I should have deployed drones, or had us take the dropship."

"No, Eilumi. It's not." Nine replied back. "Drones would have given away the ships position and possibly drawn any surface-to-space defense systems they had. Or in-space reinforcements. As for taking the dropship, it would have been swatted out of the sky by their anti-air defenses."

"I... I suppose so." Eilumi replied sadly.

"Anyway, When we beamed down, we were split up. We were supposed to beam outside of the Avali colony, but instead, we beamed all over the place. Like what happened back in the 'maze' we found you in, Shia, but much worse." 

"I was fortunate enough to be beamed off into a nearby forest. Eilumi was ambushed by cultists, but I was able to save him in time."

"I had it handled." Eilumi grumbled.

"Sure you did." Nine replied dismissively. "Moving on."
 
"Khaun and Eityu had found each other by the time we found them. The only one left to find... was Renali."

"If only we knew." Eilumi sighed.

"Yeah." Nine responded sadly. "As we continued towards our objective, something that took us several days, especially considering we could not call the dropship nor beam back to the ship, we found a hill. And on this hill, there were cultists. Doing some sort of ritual sacrifice on it, with captured prisoners they'd taken from both colonies."

He paused.

"And one of those prisoners... was Renali"

"Oh no.."  Shia said softly.

The other two nodded slowly.

"When we found her, she was tied to an upright altar. She was beaten, bloody, and had fluids coming out of her orifices. She wasn't moving." He paused, this recollection being particular for him. Eilumi continued where nine left off.

"We gunned down the cultists, and untied her. But..." He gave a sniff as he continued. "It was too late. She was already gone. From what we'd learned from the survivors after the battle, she'd been beaten, tortured, mutilated, and even raped by tose fucking cultist bastards." Eilumi's anger rose. "We were told that they wanted to do the same to some avian kids they'd found in the ex-protectorate colony they'd also gotten raided. But she protected them, and told them to do it to her instead."

"She died as she lived... Protecting others." Nine finished. 

"I held the limp, lifeless body of Renali in front of me." Nine continued. "I cried her name. I myself am incapable of shedding tears, but my packmates certainly were. And they did so in plenty. It even started raining, as if the planet itself cried. For her, and for the others the cultists had taken."

"That's horrible!" Shia cried. "I'm so sorry!"

Eilumi sniffled. He was still hit hard by this. They all were. Shia reached over, and patted Eilumi on the back.

"Thanks, little buddy." Eilumi said thankfully as he did. Shia simply nodded.

"It's been hard on us all. Even Khaun." Nine added in. "ESPECIALLY Khaun."

"So what happened after that?" Shia asked, after a moment of silence. 

"We heard more cultists coming." Eilumi replied. "They'd heard what happened to their buddies up there, and had come to reinforce this ritual sight. Only to find every one of their cloak-wearing comrades dead."

"I took the body of Renali," Nine explained. "Threw her over my shoulder, and we fought off the cultits reinforcements. With a fury we've never mustered before."

"Or since". Eilumi added.

"It was just the three of us against what must have been over 30 to 40 of them. We even chased them back to a bunker they'd been using as an outpost." Nine continued. "No cultist was spared our wrath."

"Not that Occasus cultists ever surrender, mind you." Eilumi added. "Holy martyrdom and all of that."

"Yes, well, even if they had, we wouldn't have accepted it anyway." Nine commented in turn. 

"They had other prisoners inside the bunker." Eilumi continued the story. "Both from the mixed-race ex-protectorate colony, and avali from the Illuminate colony we'd been sent to check on. We'd learned that both had been thoroughly destroyed by the Occasus, and their surviving populations carted off to similar places on the planet for Nexus-knows-what purpose."

"We saved them too, but only when our battle rage had subsided." Nine resumed the story. "As for Renali, well... After we evacuated whatever captives left alive that we could find, we laid her to rest at the very bottom of the bunker. We then collapsed the bunker with whatever explosives we could find and muster. The place served as a tomb for our fallen packmate." 

"With the bunker, and one of the jammers it had knocked out, we were finally able to safely beam back to the ship." Eilumi continued the tale. "We shipped the freed prisoners off to the nearest Peacekeepers outpost, and then came back with whatever Avalon Exploratory Forces and Avalon Defense Forces we could contact. Though a lot of them, especially the ADF, didn't want to get involved with this, they technically had to since this was in Avali space. Of course, the AEF was more responsive. Back then, the ADF was still quite xenophobic, while they'd always shoved us xenophiles in the AEF instead. Back then, the Illuminate was still isolationist, so the reinforcements we were able to get were not that many. Still, it was enough. What ensued was a two month long guerilla campaign across the planet. Our pack, being the first to land, led the offensive."

He took a breath before continuing.

"Our pack's personal motto was soon adopted by the other reinforcements. Even some of the other ADF ones."

"Protect the weak?" Shia recalled.

"Correct." Nine confirmed. "Although the campaign was long and hard, we eventually did clear the planet of the cultists, and liberated the survivors held by them."

"Little did we know, however, that the 'massacre of Oridan 6' would have far-reaching effects on avali society as a whole." Eilumi continued. "After the fighting was over, we sent our report to the council. The Illuminate... tried to deny responsibility for their failure to respond, and even downplay the severity of it. But... They failed. The word was out by then about what had happened on Oridan 6, among the citizens, among the military, among those outside of avali space, those in it. Everyone knew. Everyone knew the truth: The Occasus War had come to Avali space."

He took a breath before continuing.

"Not only that, other horrors had reared their ugly heads right under everyone's noses. Piracy and slave trading, something that the humans had managed to keep a lid on while Protectorate was still around, had run rampant and was now on our doorstep as well. Not only that, but the damn Miniknog were starting a buildup of weapons and soldiers to conquer what was left of the galaxy after the other races had collapsed from The Ruin Crisis and the Occasus Wars that followed. Not to mention hostile USCM factions were having a meltdown to unite what was left of humanity outside of the Occasus, while ironically only accelerating their downfall even further, and were intent on dragging everyone they could into it."

"And the Illuminate simply ignored it."  Everyone turned to see Khaun entering the room. "The galaxy was changing for the worst, and if our people wanted to have any hope of surviving the oncoming storm, had to change with it."

"Oh hey Khaun, didn't see you come in." Eilumi greeted him as he sat down next to Shia.

"I heard you over the neural jack." Khaun replied. "Didn't really feel like adding to this conversation. But I decided to come in and be a part of it anyway. All activities are pack activities, you know."

"Right you are." Eilumi said in response. "Anyway, since you missed out on most of it, you can help us finish this story."

"Right." Khaun replied flatly. "It was clear to everyone that the Illuminate, as it stood, was a dead end. It needed to change, or we needed to change it. As to what happened... A bit of both. A new faction, one that before had been a minor, oftentimes ignored voice in the politics of the avali councils, gained a lot of support amongst the people, and amongst both branches military factions, and took power. Both the ADF and AEF mostly backed it, if not for two entirely different reasons."

"A lot of things changed under this new 'Reborn Illuminate'." Eilumi said, taking over from Khaun. "We became more interventionist. We knew that ignoring the galaxy's problems was no longer an option for us. Oridan and other incidents proved that all too much."

"They also began recruiting from other species." Nine threw in as well. "A practice that before had been almost entirely AEF-exclusive, and had been heavily frowned upon in the past. Now, it's more commonplace. Even among the ADF."

"We've also begun uplifting more primitive species that we came across, in order to create trade partners and to bolster our own defensive efforts." Eilumi finished. "There were other changes too, but they aren't as interesting."

"Worth noting that our official motto was adopted as official doctrine by the reborn illuminate. In honor of Oridan. Protect and Uplift the Weak."

So that was the whole explanation. It had certainly gone on longer than Shia expected. There was a lot of information for the young, primitive shinx to process. Things and events that he had no knowledge of.

There was only one more question that he had on his mind. He'd just found out what had happened to Renali. The kind hearted 'psychologist' packmember they'd have. But... 

"What happened to Eityu?" He asked. 

Eilumi let out a sigh.

"Eityu.... Lost his life not long ago. When the Miniknog and Reborn Illuminate began engaging in open border conflict with one another." He explained. "Something that was bound to happen eventually, but it came sooner than expected."

"Especially after we found out that it was the pre-VEP apex that were the Avali's original malefactors so many millennia ago, NOT the humans." Khaun added.

"Right. We boarded a Miniknog prison vessel, attempting to rescue some prisoners for the Apex Rebellion, when Eiytu took a stray hit from a miniknog rifle. Khaun tried to save him back on the ship, but...he didn't make it." Eilumi resumed.

"In fact, we'd originally come to your world to get away from all of this. All this fighting, all this death, all this suffering. This was supposed to be an easy mission. Go to this primitive world, do some brain scans, map the planet, get some scientific and sociological data, and then report back to the council. Easy-Peasy. A much needed break from all the chaos and troubles we've seen. It was supposed to give us time to sort our remaining pack out."

"And then you got sucked into it yet again." Shia finished sadly.

"Er, I wouldn't go that far." Khaun said, but Eilumi shook his head at him.

"I'm very sorry." Shia replied mournfully. "I'm very sorry that I asked all of this. Very sorry I made you recall all of this. I should never-"

"Shia, stop. It's not your fault." Nine responded reassuringly. "It's really not."

Shia did something none of them expected upon hearing Nine speak again. He got up, walked over to Nine, and gave him a tight hug.

"Shia... I...." Nine's visor changed to a 'surprised/shocked' expression. "I... I thought that after hearing what happened at the facility, you'd be more scared of me, not less."

"And I was scared of you." Shia replied. "I was even more scared of you when I heard the story at first. But... But after hearing it all... Now... Now I respect you more than anyone I've ever known."

'Not that I've known very many people,' Shia said to himself sadly. But he didn't need to let that little detail slip out at this point in time.

The shinx felt the arms of the large protogen reach around him, and pull him close in a hug as well. 

"That's sweet of you, Shia." Khaun commented approvingly in response to this scene.

--
Shia spent the rest of the day hanging around Nine, having, ironically, felt more comfortable around him despite his confessions. Or maybe, because of them. He'd ask Nine how various parts of the ship worked. And Nine did his best to calmly explain things. Shia still could not understand most of it. But it had been more about the conversation than the actual knowledge. 

However, at one point, a particular subject arose amongst the two.

"Say... Nine?"

"Yes Shia?" Nine asked softly.

"Do.... Do you think that Rai could ever be redeemed like you?" 

Nine kneeled down in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"First of all, I do not consider myself redeemed. Not by a longshot." Nine began. "And second of all, while it's possible that his near-death experience gave him the wake-up call he so desperately needed to rethink his life..." Nine let out a long sigh, as his expression changed from a 'worried' one to a 'closed eyes' one. "I do not believe so."

"But... why not?" Shia asked. 

"What I did... I was trapped in a miniknog facility, with only a voice giving me orders, and torturing me if I didn't comply with it. I had no choice in the matter, I know this, but I still feel the guilt anyway. Rai however? He did what he did completely of his own free will... at least as far as I'm aware." Nine replied sadly. "So, as much as I hate to say this, no, I do not think he could be redeemed." 

The more Shia thought about it, it did make sense. Rai reminded him more of the Miniknog scientists than Nine himself. Especially with what he'd attempted to make him and/or Eilumi do at the end.

At the end of the day, Shia went to sleep in the living room. Surrounded by his new friends, in a giant ball of floof and fur.

----

"Wake up, slave."

Shia's eyes flew open. He looked around, and found himself back in Rai's shack. Sure enough, he was sitting up on that scratchy, ramshackle bed of his, with oppressive wooden walls all around him.

'No. Not again!' Shia thought as he saw Rai, with his raging hardon, and an even more menacing sneer to go along with it.

"But... How? How am I back here?" Shia whined as Rai pushed him down, back against the bed. He wasted no time. Shia saw his tormentor line up his cock with his rear hole. 

"You still don't get it? Do you, Shia?" Rai hissed. "I will always be here. I will always be-" 

A pair of large, white furred hands shot towards Rai's neck from behind. It lifted him into the air, and roughly turned the rat around so it was facing it. From where the shinx was sitting, Shia could just barely make out the dark figure, looking at his captured prey with utter contempt, a glowing black and red visor making itself known in the darkness.

"-Fought against as long as any of us draw breath!" It finished, in a familiar, robotic voice.

Shia looked on as Nine came into view.

"Y... You're a hypocrite, you know." Rai choked out as he struggled within the protogen's durasteel grip. "You've done way worse than I have... and... and yet you think you're in a position to judge me?! ME!?"

"I do." Nine growled back. "For precisely that reason."

"You think you can 'redeem' yourself? How laughable!" Rai choked out as he continued to struggle. "Face it, you're no better than me, and you'll never be better than me! You will always-"

Nine tightened his grip around Rai's throat, causing him to cut his words short as his taunts were replaced with gurgles.

"Enough! Trouble my son no longer! Begone!"

And with that, Nine threw Rai through the wall. Shia ran over to it, watching as Rai fell, fell into the infinite blackness which this room hovered above, the rat's screams growing fainter and fainter by the second.

"Did... Did he hurt you again, Shia?" Nine asked. 

"N... No." Shia responded, still scared. Still shaking.

He felt Nine wrap him in a warm embrace. 

"There there... you'll be okay." He cooed, the little shinx calmed down in the gentle giant's embrace.

"Will... Will I be doomed to keep having these dreams forever?" He sniffled.

"I don't think so." Nine replied as he gently stroked the shinx's head.

"But... I don't want to have them anymore. I don't want to be a weak victim." He cried. 

"Then... you know what you must ask your new friends, Shia." Nine told him.

-----

Nine, or 'dream Nine' had cuddled and comforted him throughout the duration of the dream. When he awoke, he found them gone, in the kitchen already preparing breakfast. As they sat around, and ate their meal. Shia spoke up.

"G... Guys." Shia started. Eilumi looked at him curiously.

"Yes Shia?" Eilumi asked curiously.

"I want to ask you something." Shia replied.

"Go ahead."

"Can... Can you help me get stronger? So that I too can protect the weak? ... Like you guys do?"

Eilumi smiled at him.

"... I was beginning to think you'd never ask, Shia."